Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

on all to stand in an opposition, which it would be very difficult completely to reconcile.

For our own parts, we think them both wrong, though with a cast of right in each; and as, in the order in which we have now stated them, they coincide with the distribution of our subject, which destined our concluding_communications under the present head, to the consideration of the existing prospects of seamen on board and on shore, it is our intention to sift them pretty closely. The first will furnish us with more matter for this article than we shall be able to overtake; we admit its premises, but contest its conclusions; considering, on the contrary, the best prospects of the navy as identified with what it represents as its present hardships. We fear that we are still more at issue with the second, for we neither admit the past depravity of seamen, nor entertain hopes of any so great improvement in them in time to come, as it anticipates. Of this, however, in its own time and place; we now consider, first, the circumstances which, as we think, are at present working a great change in the constitution of the navy as hitherto developed, and which are generally indicated in the above tissue of complaints; and, next, the consequences of that change, with their consequences again, either as already manifested, or likely progressively to appear.

It is certainly very true, that, at no period of our history, did the naval force kept in employment bear so small a proportion to that restored to civil life as at present. In former times, a fraction has been dismissed, not more than the increased demand for seamen in the merchant service, consequent on the return of peace, rendered necessary; or than was expedient besides this, to enable all to relax the bow a little, that it might recover its elasticity. But now the fraction only has been retained, the great mass dismissed, and, from a variety of circumstances, not even any considerable demand for men created in the merchant service. The consequence is, that all ranks are daily turning their thoughts more and more into extra-professional channels; the officers, particularly, are all becoming civilians in some department or other, farming, studying, talking politics or

religion; and daily acquiring new characters, which must materially influence their views and conduct whenever they return to the duties of their profession. And it is probable that the surface of the mirror, thus under course of polishing, will never again refuse to reflect the hue of surrounding objects; in other words, that the navy will never again be the peculiar profession which it has hitherto been, distinguished from others not less by its manners than pursuits.

Be

It is equally certain, that opportunities of acquiring personal distinction are infinitely more rare now, than they were during the course of an active war; but this, at the same time, is generally understood somewhat more literally than the facts will bear out. It is a different kind of merit which is now in demand in the navy, from what was then required; and we think that naval officers are scarcely yet sufficiently aware of this. Several names have shot up to distinction among them since the peace; need we instance those of Tuckey, Basil Hall, and Parry; none of them, we believe, very materially supported by interest; all, certainly, upon grounds which no interest could supply. Where these have led, others may follow; a first opportunity may be wanting, but not more. sides this, however, we noticed the other day the name of a first lieutenant, (Lieutenant Peake, of the Euryalus,) who had received a present of a sword and silver cup from the ship's company with which he had served, in acknowledgment of his judgment and attention. There can be no distinction more honourable than this at any time; but, as we shall presently shew, it never was more difficult to deserve it than now;-at the same time that we cannot help thinking that the means of doing so would be materially facilitated, were naval officers to form a matured opinion on the subjects which we are now about to bring before them: our own thoughts on which, we confess, we submit here rather for their use who can understand and appreciate them at just their value and no more, than for the amusement of general readers, to whom, with all our care, we can scarcely hope to make them uniformly interesting or intelligible.

The next topic of lamentation above adverted to, is the present lack of

prize-money; and one very desirable change produced by this means in the situation of our seamen, with regard to their discipline and morals at least, is not generally considered, viz. that they are thus rescued from that state of uncertainty respecting their future resources, which used to be a sort of warrant for every excess. They have no longer the bank of what was often a delusive hope, to draw on:-they have lost their ticket in the great lottery of plunder, which spread widely its demoralizing effects among them. But this loss is considered only as temporary in the navy, and perhaps elsewhere; another war, it is presu med, will restore it. We are not of that opinion; we think the days of prize-money, at least of its most lucrative branch, mercantile spoliation, now nearly for ever gone; and there are several reasons which concur in making us think this. We burnt our own fingers last war by the excess to which we carried the system; and there can be little doubt that many of our distresses since its close were legitimately attributable, and are at present very currently attributed, first, to the unnatural activity which we thus gave to our own capital, and next to the ruin which we thereby brought on our foreign customers. But, besides all this, the world will not now tolerate our continued exercise of a right founded on the same barbarous prescription which once sanctioned, in like manner, the ransom of prisoners of war, and sack of enemy's towns, but which has been unable to protect these outrages, and will be unable to cover this;—the truth is, we will not tolerate it much longer ourselves. It is owing, probably, to the long-continued success of French aggression and usurpation during the late war, that the tide of public opinion runs now so strong in favour of justice and equity; the nations of Europe so long groaned, with reason on their side, so long sought consolation in the midst of their

calamities, from the consideration that they were unjustly inflicted, that now the maxims of morality have acquired a weight with them, for which it would be difficult to account on other grounds. We are under the same influence, the great majority of us at least, such as were cordially opposed to the adverse side; and, in truth, certain classes of oppositionists in this country seem in nothing more unfortunate, than that from the turn which their politics took during the late war, they missed this schooling; and now,accordingly,cannot even believe the great powers of Europe in earnest in their professions on this score. These professions, however, with the maxims on which they are founded, are to a point opposed to that system of mercantile spoliation to which we allude; they are, in particular, opposed to that exercise of it without warning, which, in the shape of embargo, or otherwise, has hitherto characterized every commencement of hostilities with us. This, accordingly, we venture confidently to predict, will not even be attempted by us next war, whatever time it commences; in like manner, we shall then be far more ceremonious with neutral commerce than hitherto; and ultimately the whole system will be abandoned.* And the change which we have noti ced, therefore, in the situation of our seamen on this point, may thus, we think, be considered a permanent one; and we shall allude to it in this light, accordingly, in the remainder of our speculations.

The last ground of despondence, however, above quoted, is the most serious; notwithstanding which we admit also its general truth. The old system of British naval discipline is, indeed, rapidly subverting, or rather, we may say, it is almost already gone; and scarcely the ground-plan of that which seems destined to supply its place is yet laid. Still, however, there are aspects in which we can view even this fact with satisfaction; and al

The truth is, that if we once come to be ceremonious with respect to neutral bottoms, we shall be driven the whole length here contemplated, in mere self-defence. The carrying nations are far more deservedly the objects of our jealousy than any belligerent need ever be; and we should indeed begin to fear for Old England, were another Holland to grow up across the Atlantic. But where force cannot be used, and reason will not apply, we must employ the weapons of a deeper policy; and instead of allowing neutral colours to protect mercantile property, allow mercantile property to protect even belligerent flags. We should have no carriers then, and no rivals.

though we own that the mist still hangs low over the future edifice of naval rule, to our eyes it already looms large in the midst, and shews not unworthy to succeed the Gothic fortalice in which we have hitherto confided.

The old system of discipline in the navy was one of pure coercion. It was a rod of iron, roughly, although not on the whole harshly, wielded; and did its work excellently well in the state of civilization to which seamen, and without offence we may add, their officers also, had attained when it was in full force. Within the last twenty-five years, however, its maxims have been progressively, nay, even rapidly, modifying; and now many of them scarcely live but in the recollection of individuals. This took its definite rise from the great mutinies of 1797, when the grievances of the navy, as many things were called which were then quite necessary, were for the first time freely canvassed by sailors themselves. It was subsequently promoted by the long period of comparative idle ness which in the navy succeeded the battle of Trafalgar. And it has never wanted the assistance of the selfish and intriguing on shore; particularly at the very beginning, and of late years again, when it has come to constitute the politics of some even of the highest ranks of British society, to identify themselves with the mob, and scruple at no topics of declamation calculated to excite their sympathy or applause.

The entire change, however, thus produced, has been indeed a very remarkable one, and can only be completely understood by professional men. We could illustrate it, however, a little, in several ways; but it will suit our purpose best to attempt this by sketching superficially the modifications to which the old system of punishment alone has been subjected, and the difficulties with which naval officers have had to contend generally, in consequence, within the interval in question.

Even previous to 1797, the old punishment of "keel-hauling," for slight offences, had entirely gone out; but so fresh was it at that time in the recollection of the seamen, that a modification of it, in the shape of a very rough and unceremonious ducking, was among the punishments currently inflicted by the delegates, on such as gave them any offence, during the period of their usurped command. On the other hand, " running the gauntlet," a much more severe infliction,* was currently resorted to as late as 1803; and we ourselves saw it ordered, for the last time probably, in 1804, by one of the most humane and popu lar officers in the service. Down to 1806-7, nothing was more common than to hear midshipmen, particularly the day-mates, commanding the people, as they saw occasion, to be started with a cane, or rope's end,† when their offence was not considered of sufficient importance to bring them to the gang

When a man was to be keel-hauled, a very strong, but limber (flexible) rope was rove through blocks on the fore or main-yard arms, the bight, or middle part, passing under the ship's bottom. The culprit was strongly secured to this on one side, and such additional weight was added, as carried him, when dropt over, quite clear of the vessel, and almost immediately brought him to hang perpendicularly from the other side. He was then run up out of the water by the whole strength of the ship's company, and had thus merely a ducking and a fright; the last, we should have thought, fully shared in by the officer commanding the infliction, lest any thing should have gone wrong. When a man was sentenced to run the gauntlet, the ship's company was drawn up in two lines round the deck, every man provided with a twisted yarn, called a nettle, about equal to one tail of the common ship's cat. The criminal was then stript to the waist, and secured so as to stand on a grating, which was drawn leisurely round between the files, and every man inflicted a lash, with what will he might. The chief severity of this punishment consisted in the awkwardness with which the strokes were drawn, by which they cut in unusual places about the sides, and under the arms. It was not otherwise so severe as an ordinary punishment; and so much was this understood, that sometimes, although rarely, it was prefaced by one or two dozen at the gangway.

+ A man thus served, was facetiously said "to buy goose without gravy," possibly because there was no effusion of blood under this, as under the more formal punishment at the gangway; and the expression has since come to denote any unceremonious punishment, or even reprimand. We notice this, however, to shew how freely it was originally acquiesced in by the men, and even made the subject of their mirth; which, indeed, was still further testified by its being continued during the mutiny by the delegates.

2

D

[ocr errors]

way; and the boatswain's mates, by whom these orders were executed, almost to the present day, carry, in consequence, rattan-canes or rope's-ends in their hands, as badges of their office. About the same period also, these men, whose duty on board in some degree corresponds to that of sergeants in the army ashore, familiarly struck the people when remiss in executing their orders; and long after this privilege was withdrawn from them, and every one knew that it was so withdrawn, the threat to assume it, on particular occasions, on their own responsibility, was just their common phraseology, which hurt no one's feelings, and wounded no one's ears. The great dog was chained, and could no longer bite, but to bark was still expected of him. Yet, only in 1809, we have a feeling recollection of a midshipman, then on promotion in a flag-ship abroad, who very nearly lost all his prospects in life, because his memory was better than his judgment on this score; having been formally complained of to the commander-in-chief, for thus only once presuming, as it was by this time called, to "take the law into his own hands." The privilege of doing so, however, still remained with the lieutenants; until about 1813, when it came to be confined, although still with grumbling, to first lieutenants only; in which state it continued till the end of the war. But this year, the captain of a ship has, with his first lieutenant, been brought to a court-martial, on the complaint of his ship's company, on a very similar subject to this, and both have been dismissed the service by its sentence;-a very hard sentence certainly, and which we hope may yet be remitted, were it but in compliment to the standard so lately hoisted in the fleet; but its full severity will be better understood when the following circumstances are further taken into consideration.

It so happened, of necessity perhaps, that when this change was first set a-going, the candle, if we may use so vulgar an image, was almost at once lit at both ends. The Board of Admiralty in commission in 1797, was, of course, very much alarmed at the lengths to which the seamen then went; and the Commissioners of every successive Board since, have had at once to meet the abstract question in Parlia

ment, and oppose the clamours excited about it by interested individuals without. They very early, accordingly, issued instructions on the subject of lenity; to enforce which, periodical returns of the punishments inflicted were soon required; and, as the human mind always warms in the pursuit of its object, dissatisfaction has now long been freely expressed, where these have been numerous. We rather think, indeed, that we have heard of instances, although we cannot now charge our memory with them, of ships being paid off out of rotation, and recommissioned under other offi cers, when hints on this subject have appeared to be disregarded. The seamen, on the other hand, already prepared for change by the success of their demands in 1797, (which did not very materially point at innovation in discipline, the old system of which they did not then feel a severe yoke,) were not slow, at the same time, to open their eyes more and more, daily, to its real nature, when they found it clamoured about on one hand, and admitted to be harsh, on the other, on shore; and, as we have just seen, the oldest customs of the service came thus, in succession, to be considered intolerable severities. Placed between the two, commanding officers of the navy had first to subdue their own prejudices, which, in the beginning, as was natural, ran all in favour of the old methods, the traditions of which-the traditions of the old Western Squadron, the school in which many of them have been educated, are still favourites in their mouths. They had next, when once got under. way by the spirit of the times, to resist the bias which must have inclined many of them to go to excess in acting on the new maxims;-Sailors seldom do things by halves in any case; and it takes a good deal of ballast to be able to resist the temptation to go all lengths on novel principles, which are at once favoured by inferiors and superiors, and are in themselves plausible, and even unanswerable in the abstract. Between the two extremes they had then to shape a course, each for himself; for there is not even yet a general principle of relaxation laid down; and in the beginning, the differences of system were accordingly numerous as the ships in commission, and appeared to a practised eye in

*

every thing even in dress and rigging. But all were naturally led to look about for indirect methods of punishment, such as might reconcile both parties, and perhaps evade limits too lately set to a once absolute authority, not to be irksome. Of these, however, it was soon found, that on board ship, under existing circumstances, there was but a very limited choice. No place of solitary confinement can there be spared; extra labour, besides that every one is, in the ordinary discharge of his duty, as much tasked as he ought to be, has been always observed to make regular work first odious, and then slovenly, for no powers of body can keep all watches. The means of dieting are necessarily few, where such is the sympathy felt for a man whose grog has been stopped, he is almost sure to get drunk on the compassion of his comrades; and unusual punishments of a different nature from any of these, were necessarily unpopular where habits were yet strong, information limited, and at least as much jealousy entertained, that the new bounds set to authority should not be evaded, as there might be desire on the other side to give them the go-by. One thing only assisted them, which was the war with America. We are as certain as we can be of what is matter of mere opinion, that our defeats in that short struggle were quite as much owing to the sort of disorganization which thus prevailed at the time, in the navy, as to any difference of relative force which characterized each combat; we had never before found it ne

cessary to calculate that difference so curiously as we then condescended to do; and it is remarkable, that even our naval engagements with the French were about the same period more equally contested than they used to be. But still, these very defeats, by irritating at once the seamen and their officers, suspended the operation of other agents in the cause; and, had that war continued, we are well persuaded that the tarnish which it seemed to leave on our former laurels would have been well rubbed off. With its termination, however, the assistance derived from it terminated also. Six years have since elapsed; and if the consequences are not now so evident as formerly, it is either that, in a time of profound peace, the efficiency of our ships does not require to be so minutely looked into; or that, possibly, commanding and inspecting officers are deceived, in some measure, by the reduced allowance of seamen in each ship on the present establishment, and impute those difficulties to want of men, which we are certain proceed from far deeper and more enduring causes;-or, finally, and much the most probably, that the worst period of a difficult crisis is already over-a new and vigorous system is replacing an old and worn-out one-its parts are falling imperceptibly into their places, by their own gravity, and already beginning to perform the functions for which they have been severally provided.

All this, then, we not only admit— we assert it; and we very readily appeal to every competent witness, in

* One captain obliged his officers to wear the old-fashioned cocked hat-another tolerated an opera one—a third, a round--a fourth, a straw—a fifth, a foraging-cap, &c. Coats were cut differently-surtouts were of every pattern side-arms became so ano. malous, they were at last made subjects of official regulation. One man was content with royals, as his ship had been fitted from the dock-yard-another had sky-scrapers, moon-rakers, jolly-jumpers, royal and sky-studding-sails besides. One ship had a jiggermast fitted to her spanker-another the like, together with a gaff, to her mizen staysail a third, the same to her main-topmast staysail-a fourth, was gaffs to the mast-head, and perhaps the only course she was in the habit of setting in a convoy was a crossjack or a spritsail. These were not whims in those days; they were really traits of character, marking both individuals and the times. A good observer could then predicate of his friend's disposition literally" from the cut of his jib ;" and Peter Pattieson himself, or other such like chronicler, (O si sic ullus !) need ask no more complicated account of the spirit of the age, than just the fact.

In point of fact, one of the articles of charge against the officers to whose case we adverted in our last paragraph, was that they had inflicted unusual and unprecedented punishments on their people; and they were condemned specially on this count, the articles of war only authorizing officers to punish undefined offences" as in such cases is usual at sea." So dangerous is it, even in an innovating age, to innovate against įts spirit.

« VorigeDoorgaan »