duty he has to perform and her
authority he has to admit. He can retain his freedom and initiative
and enterprise. But he has to obey the laws of Nature, acknowledge
her authority, submit to her discipline. No soldiers were more full of
independence and initiative than the Australians, but no troops at the
end of the War realised better than they did that success can only be
achieved through strictest discipline as well as freedom and
initiative. The lover also knows that only through the sternest
discipline and constraint upon himself is his object attained. Thus
there is an imperative necessity upon a man to be orderly in his
behaviour, loyal, faithful, dutiful, and obedient to the ideal within
him. Any failure in loyalty and obedience is a sin against Nature and
a sin against himself. The call of honour and of humanity is upon
him, and that call he has to obey without hesitation.

Equally are men expected to be ready to _exercise_ authority, to
maintain discipline and preserve order. The exercise of authority is
no less an obligation and duty upon men than obedience to it. And
the one has to be practised just as much as the other. Or, rather, the
exercise of authority has to be practised more, for it is more difficult
and more valuable. And the proper exercise of authority,
maintenance of discipline, and preservation of order, is a duty men
owe ultimately to Nature herself. For it is from Nature that they
finally derive their authority and to Nature that they are ultimately
responsible.

Whether as captain of the eleven or as head of the house at school,
as manager of an office or a business, as policeman or foreman, as
corporal or Commander-in-Chief, as administrator or Prime
Minister, whether as nurse, parent, or schoolmistress, a man or
woman is in his position of authority directly or indirectly on the
appointment or choice of those over whom he has to exercise
authority. He is there to exercise authority for their benefit. They
have placed him--as the public place the policeman--in authority for
that purpose. And they have a right to expect that he will exercise
his authority with decision, maintain discipline with firmness, and
preserve order with even-handed justice. For only then can they
themselves know where they are, get on with their own duties and
affairs, and fulfil the law of their being. Ultimately those in authority
are chosen by, and are responsible to, those over whom they
exercise authority. A