I should like, before closing this narrative, to offer a few words of advice to youngsters on joining the Navy. The first need is strict compliance with discipline, which at first perhaps is not easy. Discipline has always been, and must continue to be, the mainstay of any public service. With this fact always before him, an officer not only carries out the orders of his superiors, but also acquires the power of enforcing his own orders when he is placed in a position of responsibility. There have been great changes since I joined the Service. Officers and men are much more highly educated. The discipline is no longer the same, and the methods of enforcing it are changed. This only means that influence and character play a more important part than force does. This, again, means that a more delicate and arduous task falls on a youngster who joins the Navy. His tact and his example are more important than ever; and, with a higher education and another class of men to deal with, his character tells for more every day. He must never forget that he has to set before himself the highest standard of efficiency and conduct at home and abroad, at sea, and on shore. Let him never forget that he is an officer serving under the flag of the Realm which is Mistress of the Seas. I have written about my midshipman life as being by far the most interesting part of my naval career. The rest ran over a good many years; but, though I had some interesting times, I have no more war service to account for. During my midshipman years fortune favoured me more than is usual in the lot of a naval officer. My only regret (if I may so call it) is that I was not of riper years during the stirring period. Thereby I should have gained more experience for the good of the Service. I remained on in the Navy until 1886; but my deafness (contracted by jungle fever during the Mutiny) increased considerably; and, what with that and other personal affairs, I thought it best, after mature consideration, to retire from the noble profession I could no longer follow with satisfaction to my country or to myself. THE END _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_ Transcriber’s Notes Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained. Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. Text refers to ships named “St. Jean D’Acre” and “St. Jean D’Arc”. As they may be distinct, both names have been retained here. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Middy's Recollections 1853-1860, by Victor Alexander Montagu