A.—4

56

The most efficient ships, in which a high standard, of discipline (associated with kindness, courtesy, and sympathy) is maintained, arc always the happiest. Men-of-war which are really efficient in gunnery and torpedo work, coaling and steaming, boat-pulling and games (proficiency in each of which can only be obtained after much hard work) are probably correct in all essentials, including the mental. and moral well-being of officers and men. Without good discipline the above achievements are not within reach. There is an old saying, " Without work no happiness." This is entirely borne out in the Navy, as men serving in a smart and well-ordered ship are invariably happier than the same men would be if serving in a slack or slovenly ship. In the former case they take pride in their ship, and in themselves, and their discipline. In the latter case they are quite conscious of not fulfilling their mission. Very briefly, the following arc the most essential rules for teaching and maintaining discipline : — (1.) All officers must be thoroughly disciplined, and must be as efficient as possible, so as to win the respect of their men. (2.) Justice must always be given—infinite pains being taken in hearing defaulters. (3.) Unkindness (including sarcasm, i.e., unkind words) must never be allowed. (4.) Courtesy must always be practised. (5.) Reproof must always be impersonal, for it is administered because the offender has not acted up to the high standard of the Navy. (6.) Kindness from a superior must never be mistaken for weakness. (7.) Discipline must be maintained. Nothing is more injurious to discipline than to give way to insubordinate demands or refusals to carry out legitimate orders. The administration of discipline is perhaps best described in the attached copy of a letter from the famous Admiral Lord St. Vincent to a young Commander (Fane); and, as one of the many proofs that Lord St. Vincent practised what he preached, the following copy of a letter from General the Duke of Richmond to Admiral Lord St. Vincent is attached. Amongst the thousands of examples of the splendid results of discipline, one of the most famous is that shown in Sir Edward Poynter's painting "Faithful unto Death." This well-known picture represents a Roman guard on duty in one of the palaces during the destruction of Herculanseum, who, although he might perhaps have made his escape, prefers to remain at his post, faithful unto death. In expansion of the above brief Notes on Discipline, the following quotations may be of use to those who are anxious to study the deportment which they should adopt towards others, so as best to practise and maintain discipline : — Character. —It is character that our modern life waits for, to redeem and transform it, and conduct as the fruitage of character. Character and Service. —Never should we forget the close connection between character and service, between inward nobleness and outward philanthropy. We are not here to dream, or even to build up in grace and beauty our individual life ; we are responsible, each in our own little way, for trying to leave this sad world happier, this evil world better than we found, it. In this way slackness is infamy, and power to the last particle means duty. What men want is not talent, it is purpose ; not the power to achieve, but the will to labour. Order is Man's Greatest Need. —What comfort, what strength, what economy there is in order— material order, intellectual order, moral order. To know where one is going and what one wishesthis is order ; to keep one's word and one's engagements —again order ; to have everthing ready under one's hand, to be able to dispose of all one's forces, and to have all one's means of whatever kind under command—still order ; to discipline one's habits, one's efforts, one's wishes ; to organize one's life, to distribute one's time ; to take the measure of one's duties and make one's rights respected ; to employ one's capital and resources, one's talent and one's chances profitably —all this belongs to and is included in the word " order." Order means light and peace, inward liberty and free command over oneself; order is power. and moral beauty consist, the first in a, true conception of order, and the second in submission to it, and in the realization of it, by, in, and around oneself. Order is man's greatest need and his true well-being. Sacredness of Work. —All true work is sacred ; in all true work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divineness. Some of the commonest faults of thought and work are those which come from thinking too poorly of our own lives, and of that which must rightly be demanded of us. A high standard of accuracy, a chivalrous loyalty to exact truth, generosity to fellow-workers, indifference to results, distrust of all that is showy, self-discipline and undiscouraged patience through all difficulties —these are among the first and greatest conditions of good work ; and they ought never to seem too hard for us if we remember what we owe to the best work of bygone days. Judging. —How often .we judge unjustly when we judge harshly. The fret and temper we despise may have its rise in agony of some great unsuspected self-sacrifice, or in the endurance of unavowed, almost intolerable, pain. Whoso judges harshly is sure to judge amiss. We are all inclined to judge of others as we find. them. Our estimate of a, character always depends much on the manner in which the character affects our own interests and passions. We find it difficult to think well of those by whom we are thwarted or depressed, and we are ready to admit every excuse for the vices of those who are useful or agreeable to us. To judge is to see clearly, to care for what is just, and therefore to be impartial —more exactly, to be disinterested —more exactly still, to be impersonal. Perhaps it were better for most of us to complain less of being misunderstood, and to take; more care that we do not misunderstand other people. It ought to give us pause at a time, to remember that each one has a stock of cut-and-dry judgments on his neighbours, and that the chances are thatmost of them are quite erroneous. What our neighbour really is we may never know, but we may be