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ake this business into their hands, and it could not fail of being prosperous; especially in the hands of such as those mentioned at the close of the second letter, and with our lovely and amiable Queen, VICTORIA.

BRITISH SEAMEN'S GRIEVANCES IN THE
ROYAL NAVY.

SIR,—In an evil hour, on May 23d, 1827, our late patriotic King, William the Fourth, when High Admiral of the Fleet, was prevailed on, by the advice of irreligious and designing counsellors, the enemies of the best interests of his brother tars, to sign an order quite alien from his own truly British spirit, for the exclusion of all religious books and tracts from on board the ships of the fleet, excepting such as had been approved, or, rather, pointed out, by Dr. Cole; and for that purpose the several chaplains of his Majesty's fleet received the orders of their respective flag-officers, captains, &c. to correspond with Dr. Cole in these and in all other matters relating to the religious instruction given by them to the ships' companies. Years have passed away since this vexatious command was first enforced, and many a pious officer has mourned over its evil influence; and yet no efforts equal to the magnitude which the infringement of the rights of 33,700 of our brave countrymen, serving on board 574 vessels of war, have demanded at our hands, have yet been made. Petitions on other subjects have been presented to the throne, and to an enlightened Government; and the ear and the heart of the Monarch have responded to the nation's pleas. But are her seamen to wait for other ten years ere their civil and religious freedom be perfected? Is Dr. Cole to be sovereign arbiter of what books they shall be permitted to read? Is he to continue the moral barrier in preventing the perusal of books and tracts so unexceptionable as those of the Religious Tract Society? Are the chaplains of the navy to submit to an uncontrolled authority over their consciences; and, in the 19th century, is one individual to say to men, to whom, from the Spanish Armada down to the triumphs of the Nile and Trafalgar, Britain owes a debt of gratitude, and of which she is so often so justly proud, "You shall not read any book but what I allow?" Surely the time has arrived when such details as are contained in

the following extract of a letter to the Editor of the Record, from a respectable individual, residing in a foreign colony of this country, ought to rouse the dormant zeal of all the friends of civil and religious liberty throughout the land, on the behalf of Great Britain.

"This is a station, too, in which frequent opportunities are afforded of being useful to English sailors, as one or more of Her Majesty's ships cruise in the straits at all times, which frequently come to anchor in this harbour. Four have, during the last five months, been lying in this port. I thought it my duty to try to do some good to my kinsmen according to the flesh. I selected half a dozen tracts, and enclosed them in a brown paper envelope, and sent one of these little parcels to each mess of a man-of-war of considerable size, that was at anchor here for some weeks, hoping this might be the most effectual way to distribute them among all the ship's company. They were all returned, however, by no other person than the chaplain; saying, in a note which I have by me now, 'It is contrary to the rules and regulations of the Admiralty, for any of Her Majesty's ships to receive on board any tract not approved of by those to whom their lordships have entrusted the same at home?' Is this statement true? If true, is it right that an anti-Evangelical chaplain should stand in the door of usefulness, pleading the legality of their position, incurring the woe, and verifying the fact denounced by our Saviour on the Scribes and Pharisees, 'Ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.' None of these things move me, for to save some is a paramount 'regulation.'

"To another of Her Majesty's ships I sent, in the same manner, a quantity of tracts. The next day the captain, who had heard that some books had been distributed among the messes, gave orders that they should be immediately collected and thrown overboard."

The British and Foreign Sailors' Society, with their kindred auxiliaries, owe it to their Christian consistency to promptly labour for the removal of this crying grievance. Neither to them, nor to the Christian churches of Britain, nor to the constitution under which it is our privilege to sit in freedom and in peace, does it reflect any honour, that one individual, however high in office or great his influence, should be entrusted with an instrument so powerful for good or evil, as has been committed to Dr. Cole. These fetters must be dissolved forthwith, or Morrison and

Ellis, and Williams and Yate, and Harris and Timpson, have written in vain; and societies which profess to mourn over the moral destitution of our seamen, the obstructions which they have thrown in the way of successful enterprise, or who have endeavoured to awaken our sympathy to guard them against the temptations which beset them by crimps and evil associates, as they enter our sea-ports after protracted voyages, will prove themselves guilty of insincerity, unless they at once labour to snap the fetters, which for ten long years have thus been imposed. Our lovely and benevolent youthful Queen will surely respond at once to an honest appeal, and the order shall be issued that her seamen shall all be free, as privileged Britons, entitled to their birthright-pure scriptural Christianity.

An Ex-SECRETARY of a Mariners' Society.

GRIEVANCES OF BRITISH SEAMEN IN THE ROYAL NAVY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PATRIOT.

SIR,-Most sincerely do I sympathize with the Ex-Secretary of a Mariner's Society, in his solicitude to awaken the Christian community to consider the grievances of seamen in the Royal Navy, as appears by his generous appeal in their behalf, in a recent number of the Patriot.

I am not fully aware what provision is made for the Christian edification of the Army, but I have the best evidence that there is a lamentable deficiency of it in the Navy.

Every one ought to be informed, in some good degree, of the magnitude of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, especially as it has been a subject of so much glory, that

"Britannia rules the waves."

In 1835, the total number of her vessels of all sizes, including about twenty steam ships, was 574. The total number of men employed in the Royal Navy, as voted March 4, 1836, were 33,700 men, of whom 9,000 were marines, and 2,000 boys, exclusive of the Coast Guard, and seamen of the revenue cutters, about 7,000.

Religious instruction is said to be provided for this important body.of men, but to what extent may be judged of from the following statement, which I give from a small volume, full of various useful information relating to seamen, entitled Britain's Glory in the Evangelization of her Seamen, by the Rev. T. Timpson:

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Chaplains in the Royal Navy are not so numerous as the mention of them, in connection with the magnitude of this service, might lead any one to imagine. The Navy List for October, 1835, contains only 62, of whom 30 only are on the Active List, and the other 32 on the Retired List. These Chaplains are appointed of course only to ships of the line and the larger frigates.

"Libraries for the Royal Navy.-Until within the last few years, no provision was made for the religious reading of sailors on board ships of the Royal Navy; but about the year 1829, a selection was made of certain books and tracts to be placed on board the larger ships; the following is a list of the library for each ship of the line, and each frigate has half the number of the same." These are specified and enumerated by Mr. Timpson. He then proceeds

to say:

"Grievously deficient as this selection of books and tracts is acknowledged to be, in point of number, information, and sound Christian doctrine, it is believed to have been useful in some instances, in awakening a spirit of serious reflection in the minds of seamen; though every intelligent person will perceive that it is altogether unworthy its designation as the "Library," for a crew of 800 or 900 men on board one of the most majestic ships in the Royal Navy of Great Britain! Pious zeal has, however, succeeded in obtaining from the Lords of the Admiralty, in addition, permission to supply the ships of war with Bibles. Still, religious liberty is seriously infringed in relation to seamen of the Royal Navy, for every effort of the great religious societies, by their accredited agents, or even pious captains themselves, to further the progress of the Gospel among sailors in the King's service, by means of religious books, is strictly forbidden. Regulations and restrictions must be needful, regarding the admission of religious instructors and books among the seamen of the navy; but a positive and exclusive rule has been established, grievously intolerant, religiously considered, in the name, and as by the command of his present Majesty, while Lord High Admiral of England. For the honour of religion, we trust that this prohibition will be withdrawn by a like order of his most gracious Majesty."

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Mr. Timpson, in a note, gives a copy of the obnoxious order," which is as follows: Admiralty, May 23, 1827. His Royal Highness the Lord High Admiral having ppointed the Rev. Samuel Cole, D.D., the senior chaplain

of Greenwich Hospital, to superintend the issue of religious books to the fleet, and to correspond with the several chaplains of his Majesty's ships on the subject of their clerical duties, it is his Royal Highness's direction to the captains and commanding officers of his Majesty's ships, that they do not suffer any tracts or religious books to be received on board the ships of the fleet, except such as shall have been approved and pointed out by Dr. Cole; and that they order their respective chaplains to correspond with Dr. Cole on all matters relating to the religious instruction given by them to the ships' companies, and generally regarding their sacred duties. By command of his Royal Highness, J. W. Croker. To the respective flagofficers, captains, &c. of his Majesty's ships and vessels.'

I have heard many exclaim against this ill-advised and obnoxious order; but what steps may be necessary to be taken, to get it rescinded, I am not prepared to say. I cannot, however, help wondering that it should be suffered to exist, for "ten long years," without remonstrance from the pious captains and admirals in our navy.

Many, besides myself, have been surprised that evangelical clergymen do not remonstrate against such a restriction; more especially such clergymen as the Rev. Mr. Marks, of Great Missenden, and the Rev. Mr. Scoresby, of Exeter, the former of whom was once a lieutenant in the navy, and both of whom have, by their writings, manifested a generous and enlightened regard for the spiritual welfare of seamen. I cannot but wonder, also, that Capt. Bazalgette, the zealous and eloquent Secretary to the Naval and Military Bible Society, and Capt. Elliot, the benevolent "father of the Sailors' Home," have not taken up this

matter.

I am not perfectly acquainted with the whole circle of pious officers in the Royal Navy, but there are others--not a few of them known to myself - besides those abovenamed; and I trust that this paper will meet the eye of some of those excellent persons, so as to lead them to adopt proper and prompt measures to effect the withdrawal of an ungenerous, unnecessary, impolitic restriction, unworthy of the British character and Government.

With sincere good wishes for the honour, the discipline, and the efficiency of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, I remain, yours, &c. PHILO-MARINUS.

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