THE KING'S MEDAL WINNER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 140, 11 June 1909, Page 6

THE KING'S MEDAL WINNER.

AN AUSTRALIAN. At the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, %n 6th March, the King's medal was presented to Mr Charles Arthur Campbell Russell; the successful cadet of the term in the cadets' training cruiser Cornwall. The presentation was made by Admiral Sir Wilmot H. Fawkes. The Commander-in-Chief, addressing the cadets, said he need not re-

mind them that they had a great heritage. They had great traditions which had come down through the service through the centuries; they had great examples in those noble sailors, who had made the Navy what it was, and thereby helped to make the British Empire of which they were all so proud. They had to uphold those traditions, to try to keep up the estimation and esteem in which the Navy was held, and to keep up the reputation of the Navy which the world looked upon as one of the great maintainers of peace, and, if the time should come, to try to keep it as victorious as it was before. And they must remember, in addition to what they had to do as officers, that they were gentlemen, and he hoped that wherever they went, all over the world, they would uphold the character of the -English gentleman. They could not all get to the top of the tree in the Navy, but they could all lead happy lives in the Navy, and if they tried to do their duty, and did their best, it did not much matter in the end whether they had got on or no t —that they must leave to fortune. What were the influences that would help them? They might get on the Admiral's list and secure high positions, but if they had not good health these would not be much use to them. The next thing he recommended, them to be was to be generous. He did not mean generosity .as regarded money, but in their opinion of others. j They would find in life a certain numj ber of people who were always think - I ing how other people should treat them. Those people he did not think much of, and what they had to think !of was what was due from them to others. They must have zealous loyalty for their superiors, they must show the good comradeship which was due to their equals, and remember the consideration which was due to the men they would command. If they only did that they would follow them everywhere. Then they must remember, again, that they represented Christian England wherever they went—the country that had done so much to spread the Gospel throughout the world, to liberate the slave, and to secure liberty in many parts of the world. He hoped they would show by example what religion was. If they read Nelson's despatch from the Nile they would find there a great i deal of what he had said. They would find very little of himself and no selfi advertisement at all. God had blessed England' with a great victory, and there was much in Nelson's despatch about those who had helped him, but very little about himself. He knew he had given rather a sermon, but if he could help them to get on and do well in the service he was very pleased. Admiral Fawk.es added that Canadians had been Commanders-in-Chief at Portsmouth and the Nore, and he hoped that some day one of his successors at Devonport would be an Australian.