New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-09-13
MlDDlES GET DIPLOMAS.
secretary Bonaparte on the Duties of
an Officer and a Gentleman.

annapolis Sept l2-Secretary Bonaparte this
oIhins delivered 20 eighty-ive midshipmen OF the
-'s1 olass the diplomas which they have earned by
special summer course. instead of waiting TO De
s-euualed with their classmates next February.
= "'H M. bonaparte arrived at the Court OF Honor
- ront OF Bancroft Hall, in which the graduation
Ae'eises took place. he was received by a company
OF marines and the academy band. and the shore
battery fred salute OF seventeen guns in his
honor The Secretary In his address said I'm part:
Young gentlemen, you begin to-day the work Of
learn how 10 DO this work--wiIh what success the
Gays before you Will show. Hereafter you belong
tenuon This morning shall say but few words as
First-It is The profession OF a gentleman. To say
TINS IN your case is not an ebuItion or snoooish-
each che OF you it is q legal duty 10 behave as
gentleman, and each OF you may be tried and pun
little time since had no difouiJy in sustaining the
hndings Of an examining board mat an oflcer VINO
gentleman was professionally disqualified" for pro
ton may Veil be- asked {or the Word is grossly
abused In common usage. II means sometimes Inc,
nothing As used IN the laws and resuau t SOW gov,
ana your brother officers have duties beyond the
9uueS OF others that you nave obligauos Wt men
or you are required a measure Of selt-contTol, a
readiness for sef-sacTihce. sensitYeness IN honor
charitable TO exact OF all your fellow citizens More
may not Be. he is and is thodsht Of always and
everywhere as man entitled to respect. II is a
Vice due your country at your hands part of the
as officers you be known for such simplicity and
truth such mOdesty Of demeanOr and such purity
Of life viii earn for you the respect of good men
RELIGION or philosophy; from you they are but The
not Re gentlemen in that sense wherein every good
Second-Your profession is the profession of arms;
you have chosen a military life. When the Presl-
fected TO see some incongruity in his choice q
On % Ray D 9 the Mny Ss SAW s
icen citizens al of them, whether oflcers or men
should not suoh workingmen pass IN review before
the chief officer Of our nation as appropriately on
nsmen on any day? ' The distinction really lies not
IA the labor nut IN the motives ana methoos OF
work not for their good bat for hers; not that
toll but that she he safe and peaceful and
hlHored And as they toll 70 other ends. so they
think and speak OF other things; they have little
thought of their rights but great thought OF their
more or gen less than their iust dues what they
shall get is left TO their countrys laws What they
rests and rests only, in her need. Your profession
is school lifelong school. OF self Sacrihee ana
school been more timely TO our countrys happiness
saw not long ago the prediction that lin forty
years war would be a lost art" This sapient de-
the BEAUTIES Of peace and the horrors Of war which
tine during ali the history Of civilized mankind too
often as a prelude to bloody and disastrous wars.
come Tl ao lost art for am not gifted with that
confidence in my omniscence which has been
YOuchsafed 10 some among my countrymen. but
am quite ready 20 say that this happy consumma-
ton will not be attained IN forty years or eighty,
than men John Stuart MIL thought there might be
a planet wherein two ana two made hve, and
day may come when We shall have no need or
policemen tails. of lawyers or courts, OF physl-
clans or nurses undertakers When that
day comes II will, perhaps, be time 20 think
whether we could do without soldiers and sailors.
but not before
The old English chronicle in noting the death
Of an early Norman king says piously. May God
grant him peace. for he loved peace modern
historian referring 10 this entry. remarks that II
may seem at first sight a strange comment on
prince nearly all OF whose Teisn had been passed
IN arms, but adds that II embodied large Measure
OF truth. The king in question loved peace SO
we'll that he fought during wellnigh his whole life
ereien SO IL is with the great nations of modern
times II they love peace, as. after all every wise
and good man does they must fight when needfulf
and Be- ready to fight whenever needful TO get and
keep a peace founded on Justice and good faith,
honorable 70 themselves and useful TO mainland
No man loved peace" such as this more truly
than George Washington. and none warned his
couatrvmen more earnestly and frequently that
only adequate preparation for war at any time
al all times could assure them the peace ne
loved And IN YOU and your comrades. young
gentlemen I greet with confidence those who VIII
see that America enjoys such peace. and only such
peace as Washington would wish her TO have
The presentation OF the diplomas was made IN
Memorial Hall. the largest room in Bancroft Hall.
which was used to-day for the first time. The d.
Dlomas of the first thirteen star members or
The class were handed TO them in the order In
which they stood In the examinations