p. 600 | HOW SUNDAY IS OBSERVED IN THE BRITISH NAVY

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 30, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 38.

HOW SUNDAY IS OBSERVED IN THE BRITISH NAVY.

By A. Bartholomew, Sergt. R. M. L. I.

An Interesting Letter.

HONGKONG, China, May 25, 1894. DEAR SIR: Thinking that perhaps it would interest and also enlighten a few of your readers, I would like to contribute to your valuable paper a true description of how Sunday is observed in the British navy, and what influences the Sunday service and daily morning prayers have on the men.

The Church of England service is compulsory at least once a week, on Sunday, and prayers are supposed to be read every morning, circumstances permitting. When lying in harbors where there are nonconformist chapels, nonconformists are permitted to land to attend their different chapels, under the command of an officer or petty officer. Now, this looks very well, and I wish myself that every man would attend church or chapel; but I wonder how many of the people who admire the marines as they march through the streets to and from church, know the real feelings in many hearts at being compelled to attend church whether they like it or not. How many of the people have been on board a British man-of-war between the hours of six and ten o'clock, and have heard the cursing against church and navy for this so-called day of rest? How many of these men who advocate the compulsory attendance of these men at church, would continue to do so could they hear the fearful language of the men on a Sunday morning, as I have heard and am still compelled to hear? Ask any man who has served in the British service afloat, and he will tell you that there is more cursing and swearing on a Sunday morning than on all the remaining six days; and yet we bear the name of "Christian nation."

I will give a few details of a man-of-war's routine on Sunday morning. At 5:30 A.M. the men are turned out and the hammocks stowed. Breakfast is piped at from 5 to 6. At 6:15 the hands fall in, and in most ships the upper deck is swept and sprinkled with water, after which the decks are dried and the men coil down the ropes and clean the brass work about the upper deck. At 7 o'clock the watch below are piped to clean mess deck. At 8 A.M. the men repair to their guns and clean them. At 8:30 the hands are piped to clean, that is, put on their best clothes. In hot climates this is white clothing. They are allowed half an hour in which to dress themselves; but before the time is half gone, ship's corporals and the master at arms, who is responsible for the cleanliness of the mess deck, are ordering the men off the deck, half dressed, to the upper deck, where they are at once found fault with by the boatswain of the upper deck. In fact, Sunday morning in the British service causes a man to be in a continual state of excitement as to whether he is doing right or wrong; and can you wonder that men who are only human, curse the day on which God has ordered men to rest, or at least the day to which man has changed it?

At 9 A.M. the decks are swept, and the final touches given for the captain's inspection. The men fall in for inspection at 9:30, the captain inspecting the men as well as the ship; and as a rule more of the men get into trouble on Sunday than on any other day of the week.

After divisions, the men are allowed to stand easy for ten minutes, after which the watch and carpenters are piped to "rig church." Ships without a chaplain, when lying close to a ship that has one, usually send their men to that ship. Church rigged, the bell is tolled for church, and the men are compelled to go whether they wish it or not. If slack in moving, they are very soon moved along by the ship's corporals. So you can imagine the state of mind which the men are in when they get to church. Ships carrying three hundred hands are provided with a chaplain, who, as far as my experience extends, interests himself very little in the spiritual welfare of the men, beyond reading the church service, preaching a sermon, and reading the prayers every morning.

In ships carrying less than three hundred men the captain performs the chaplain's duties, and is it reasonable to suppose that the men can have any respect for a service which is conducted by a man who they know is not, in a good many instances, even a moral man? This is not so much the fault of the captain of the ship as the system which compels him to make a hypocrite of himself.

On one occasion when holding church on board, we were not permitted even time to say, "Amen," the commanding officer shouting out, "Clear lower deck;" and this happened when we were lying in harbor, with the anchors at bottom. The worst men in the ship, with no respect whatever for religion, remarked very strongly upon this. What a farce in reality is the British service!

I ask you whether this is doing the men any good, first, to drive them to church; second, to permit men who are not even in a good many instances moral men, to conduct the service of God on board ship; and, thirdly, why do the souls of three hundred men require a spiritual adviser, and all below that number none at all? Is it not time that such things as these were altered, and men allowed to attend church of their own free will? God says that he has given man a free will, to serve him as man pleases; so, surely, it is not the place of man to compel men to attend the service of God whether they wish it or not.

I have had nearly seven years' experience in the British navy, four of them being spent afloat, and, though a Christian man, I am decidedly against compelling men to attend church, as it is contrary to the word of God. If Sunday is to be kept as the Sabbath, let its observance be voluntary and not a mockery. I am sure the British public do not know the truth on this subject. In fact, even the majority of the officers know nothing about it, for it does not interest them. To them the men are simply human machines. This is one of the reasons that the men are embittered against the service. They say, "We are treated like dogs," as in reality they are as far as the value of their salvation is concerned.

The workingman ashore has his day of rest to himself, and can attend church or not as he pleases; but the man of the service has none of this. He is driven here and there as his superiors please, and if he were to even hint that he requires the Sabbath of God, would most likely be taken before the captain and punished. The present system is demoralizing in every way, and the sooner it is done away with the better for both men and country.

I will now conclude, hoping that this wrong may soon be righted, and the men allowed to have a free will in their service to God.

I remain your friend in His service, A. BARTHOLOMEW, Sergt. R. M. L. I. H. M. S. Linnet, China Station.