READING OFF THE SEXTANT.
THE decade included in the ’seventies is somewhat bare of incident as compared with its predecessor.
The first event of importance was the departure of the Rev. R. M. Inskip, in 1871, after being connected with the institution for over thirteen years. The keen interest which this gentleman took in his work has before been referred to; and it is well illustrated by a very elaborate diagram which he prepared, and which, together with some explanatory notes, is now in the possession of his brother, Captain G. H. Inskip, R.N., of Plymouth.
Mr. Inskip, always intensely solicitous for the proper advancement of his late pupils in the service, conceived the idea of constructing a diagram from which, in conjunction with an alphabetical list of the names of all the cadets included in the period under consideration, it could be seen at a glance what class any individual took when passing out of the Britannia, and how he fared afterwards up to the time of passing for sub-lieutenant, and in some cases beyond this.
The heads under which this information is imparted are as follows: Died; Left the service; Passed for sub-lieutenant at the proper time; Lost time; Class obtained when passing for sub-lieutenant; Promotion for passing well, and all distinctions obtained, including the Royal Humane Society’s medal, the Beaufort Testimonial, etc.
This remarkable diagram, containing particulars concerning all cadets who passed out of the training-ship from 1858 to 1871, is far too cumbrous to be reproduced in this volume; but, in an explanatory paper printed in 1875, the author sets forth the object he has in view, as follows:—
The Navy being the right arm of our national defence, it will be satisfactory to those who take an interest in the welfare and efficiency of the young officers who are in future to command our ships and fleets, to be enabled to form some correct idea as to what extent the cadets sent out from the training ship since her first establishment have maintained the classification assigned them on leaving—that is, whether on passing their examinations for sub-lieutenant they have or have not kept the position they were considered to merit, as indicated by the certificates originally awarded them.
Mr. Inskip then proceeds to a minute analysis on these lines, with regard to the cadets who passed out up to December, 1868, and who would have been qualified by age and servitude to pass for sub-lieutenant by June, 1874; the total number under consideration being 1,606. Not content with a general analysis, he institutes a comparison between the first four in the first class, the first and last four in the second class, and the last four in the third class, in each year’s examinations out of the Britannia; in other words, the best, medium, and worst results of the training.