OFFICERS’ QUARTERS.
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The cadet captains are by this means made to feel that they have certain responsibilities, while it constitutes a decided check on aimless loafing, which is a bad thing for all boys.
It is now time to take leave of the Britannia. Her story has been followed pretty closely for 46 years, from the day on which Captain Harris received his first batch of cadets on board the Illustrious; and it is hoped that the life on board and the various vicissitudes of the ship under successive administrations have been described with sufficient accuracy to give a true picture of this institution—an institution which has had a bearing and influence upon the efficiency of the Navy during all these years, the importance of which can scarcely be overrated.
Sir William Martin stated nothing but the truth when he wrote to Captain Harris, in 1861: “There is no man in England whose opportunity of doing good to our country, for ages to come, is greater than yours.” And if it was true in regard to Captain Harris, it must be held to be equally applicable to his successors in command, and, in a lesser degree, to the large number of officers and masters who have assisted them.
How have they discharged this heavy responsibility?
CADETS’ DORMITORY.
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It is impossible to pass a verdict otherwise than favourable on the whole, keeping in mind, of course, the fact that those immediately responsible for the conduct of the establishment were always under orders, with regard to general principles, from the Admiralty.
Mistakes may have been made at headquarters, errors in discipline, teaching, and so on, may have crept in on board from time to time. To err is human, and a great administrative department such as the British Admiralty must, of necessity, deal largely in compromises. You cannot find, on this earth, any corporation, institution, or structure which combines the highest degree of excellence in all the attributes which go to make up its composition; and in the conduct of the Britannia there must always have been conflicting elements difficult to reconcile.