Sir William Martin, then in command in the Mediterranean, writes on January 18th, 1861:-- On the whole, all whose opinions are much esteemed are convinced that you have done great good. There is no man in England whose opportunity of doing good to our country for ages to come is greater than yours; and assuredly the Navy is greatly your debtor. Sir Sydney Dacres, on September 14th, 1862, writes:-- I must write to congratulate you on the success that has attended your exertions in working out such an important change in the education and training of our young gentlemen, as the system pursued in the _Illustrious_ and _Britannia_ most certainly has proved itself to be. The last three years' experience has convinced me of the vast improvement of the present system over the old plan of bringing boys from their homes, often without even the rudiments of education, and hardly knowing what order meant. I am sure your great satisfaction must be in looking at the very small number of your boys that have got into serious scrapes, and the manner in which, as a rule, they are spoken of by their superiors; and I cannot conclude, my dear Harris, without adding what is a great pleasure to me, that without exception they all look back with esteem and respect on their captain, who was ever ready to be kind and considerate whilst training them in the right way. Those who were under Captain Harris--and there are not a few still living--will assuredly endorse this statement; their recollection is that of a superior who, while most emphatically captain of his ship, exercised his authority with never-failing kindness to all, and of whom a disparaging word was never uttered. Captain Harris, as has already been stated, suffered for his efficiency. His request to be appointed to a sea-going ship was, in fact, refused on the ground that he was doing such good work in the _Britannia_; and when he was superseded, in October, 1862, without being given another command, he not unnaturally felt that some more practical appreciation of his long and valuable services might well have been displayed. This apparent injustice remains unexplained; he was not again employed, and died at Southsea, on January 15th, 1865. Captain Harris married, in 1843, Sophia, daughter of Captain Penruddocke, of the Scots Guards, leaving three sons and two daughters. Captain Harris was, no doubt, consulted as to the framing of the new regulations, and great indeed must have been his satisfaction on finding his long-cherished scheme adopted at headquarters. The circular was to come into force in May, 1857; that is to say, it would affect naval cadets who were to join in August of that year. It commences with regulations for the new "five yearly" examination for lieutenant, which does not come within our scope; and the details dealing with the entry of naval cadets will be found in the appendix.[2]