The analogy between the clerical and the military professions in this regard has been pointed out many times; but perhaps the closeness with which the medical profession approximates both in its adherence to the line of duty has not been appreciated as fully as it should be.
_Duty_ .-- The reason for the predominance of the idea of duty over any other in naval training is due, of course, to a realization of the fact that more can be accomplished by officers having a strict sense of duty though otherwise lacking, than by officers having any or all the other qualifications, but lacking the sense of duty.

As an extreme instance of the doubtful value of highly trained officers who lack the sense of duty, we need but to point to those traitors who, in the past, have turned their powers in the hour of need against the cause they were engaged to fight for.
One cannot pursue the path of duty when that path becomes difficult or disagreeable unless the sense of duty is so strong as to resist the temptation to leave the path.

To train a man to be strong in this way, we train his character.
There are several ways in which a man is tempted to leave the line of duty; of these perhaps the most important are danger, sloth, and love of pleasure.

No human being is perfectly strong along any of these lines; and some are most tempted by danger, some by sloth, and some by love of pleasure.
Sloth and the love of pleasure do not act as hinderances to efficiency in the naval profession any more than they do in other callings.
There is no profession, business, or vocation, in which a man's efficiency does not depend largely on his power of resistance to the allurement of sloth and pleasure.

In all walks of life, including the usual routine of the naval life, these two factors are the main stumbling-blocks to the success of any man.