When the Duke of Wellington received a very intrepid battalion
returning from a bloody campaign it was observed that he said
nothing of their courage, praising only their discipline
and subordination to command. Civilians were surprized. The
field marshal’s reason was ready--Englishmen are expected to
be brave, but obedience is a higher honor. War itself, as a
science of slaughter, is not a lofty kind of work, as the
most courageous warriors in later days always admit. Yet the
military profession is an elevated one in civilized countries,
because it is a discipline of character in the principle of
authority.--BISHOP HUNTINGTON, _The Forum_.
(2213)
* * * * *
Hon. Richmond P. Hobson, in relating some of his experiences after he
and his men were captured by the Spanish, tells the following story:
The next day, when it seemed uncertain whether or not a remnant
of the Inquisition was to be revived, when the enemy did not
know whether it was his fault or ours that a ship had been sunk,
and rather inclined to the belief that he had sunk an American
battleship and that we were the only survivors out of several
hundred, the men were taken before the Spanish authorities
and serious and impertinent questions put to them. Remember,
they did not know what it might cost them to refuse to answer,
Spanish soldiers of the guard standing before them, making
significant gestures with their hands edgewise across their
throats. Our seamen laughed in their faces. Then a Spanish major
questioned Charette, because he spoke French, and asked him this
question: “What was your object in coming here?”
And so long as I live I shall never forget the way Charette
threw back his shoulders, proudly lifted his head and looked him
in the eye as he said:
“In the United States Navy, sir, it is not the custom for the
seamen to know, or to desire to know, the object of an action of
his superior officer.”
Obedience to the right, is an all too rare virtue, yet upon it depend
the foundations of society and the spread of God’s kingdom. We are
privileged to know and also to obey.
(2214)
* * * * *
The Princess of Wales, according to _The Youth’s
Companion_, has trained her children so carefully in habits
of obedience and veracity that they are nearly models of what
children should be in those particulars. Upon one occasion,
however, they were sorely tempted. This was when their loving
and beloved grandmother, Queen Alexandra, brought them a big box
of bonbons. But when the sweets were offered to them, one child
after another reluctantly but firmly declined to take any.
“We like them, but mother has forbidden us to eat them,”
explained the eldest prince.
“You can have the sugar-plums if I say you may,” said the
indulgent Queen. “I will tell mama all about it when she
returns.”
Prince Eddie wavered momentarily, then reiterated his refusal.
“We’d like them,” he sighed, “but that’s what mother said.”
The Queen was slightly annoyed by this opposition.
“But if I say you may--” she said.
Prince Eddie stood his ground, a hero between two fires--the
wishes of his adored mother and those of his equally adored
grandmother. His sisters and his brothers followed his lead.
When the Queen went away she put the bonbons on the nursery
table and there they stayed for months untouched, a handsome
monument to the thoroughness of the princess’s training and the
respectful love and devotion of her children. (Text.)
(2215)