It has already been stated, that a captain’s time is generally so much taken up with official duties, that, even if he be so inclined, he cannot devote an adequate portion of his attention to the moral care of the important class of rising officers of whom we are speaking. But it requires only a slight acquaintance with any description of public business to shew, that although a commanding officer may often not be able to execute a required task himself, he may usefully superintend its right performance by another. Indeed, it will happen, in most cases, that such work will actually be better done by another person, under his inspection, than it could have been done by the chief himself. This observation applies, in a remarkable manner, to the numerous and varied duties on board a man-of-war. Nor is it too much to say, that in a well-regulated ship the captain is bound not to attempt the execution of all, or, perhaps, any of these duties himself, but rather to devote his attention to their right performance by the officers especially named to such charges. It is on this principle—that is to say, exactly in the same spirit by which every other duty is carried on afloat—that I consider it of so much importance to the well-being of the Navy that the captain should be provided with a duly-qualified officer in a most essential department of his discipline, at present absolutely vacant. He cannot, by any exertion, execute the duties of instruction himself; nor is there any other person on board to whom he can delegate them, at least as things are now constituted; and the consequences, we all know, are in many cases every way deplorable. Fortunately, the remedy for these evils appears neither difficult of discovery, nor costly in its application; and as it has had the advantage of frequent and successful trial, it is to be hoped that, ere long, its adoption as a matter of official regulation will become general throughout the Navy.