A perfect officer?

[anteros_lmc]

One last thing before I go....Basil Hall again, on the character of the "perfect officer" and the necessity of being willing to sacrifice personal honour.

"There is a still further and very delicate refinement wanting to complete this negative part in the definition of a perfect officer, which consists in his being ready to place even his private character in jeopardy, and sometimes to expose it almost to the certainty of misrepresentation, when the public service appears to demand so formidable a sacrifice. An honest man, on all such occasions, will ask himself but one question, "What is most advantageous for the country?" and he will then follow the course directed by his best judgment, without reference to any personal consequences, good or bad, to which his measures may possibly lead.

It may be added, that in moments of severe trial, men are too apt to lose sight of the vital distinction between the imputation of dishonour and its reality."

Remind you of anyone? Hmn? ;)

Hall, B., (1865), The Midshipman; being autobiographical sketches of hits own early career from fragments of voyages and travels by Captain Basil Hall, R.N., F.R.S, Bell and Daldy, London.