THE CHANNEL FLEET IN SCOTLAND.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 107, 28 October 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE CHANNEL FLEET IN SCOTLAND.

I At a meeting of the Commission of Bie Free Church General Assembly, kid at -Edinburgh under the residency of the Rev. Dr Candlish, flodeirator, a discussion took place with eference to the proceedings of the Jhannel Fleet while ofF the coast of Scotland. Tbe discussion was introduced by the Hev. Dr Begg, whofirst called attention 'o what took place last year when there Wre offensive scenes of Sabbath desertion in the East; but this was bought to be purely inadvertent, since '1 application to . the Admiral in th-5 Clyde not to allow visitors on, Sundays, pe acquiesced, * ,and no such, scenes occurred in the West. A similar application was made this year by the SabEatK Alliance;df . Scotland, but it had ot been complied with. Admiral 'acres - ipote from Sunderland tHat Divine service, would be regularly performed on board her Majesty's ships, >nd no irregularity would be permitted to desecrate the day. >Nq visiting would h- permitted- during Divine service ; "but," said the Admiral, Vmy qrders nre to 'give every facility to the inhabits in the vicinity of the ports I call >t to visit the squadron ;-,,and, although "ley will not, be specially =|nvi ted to do ■o onrSunday more than qnotherdays, I see no reason -to fear a greater amoun t °f desecration of .the day , than will happen in officers and othera landing bm the squadron, which I do not sup-

pose the memorialists will endeavor to prevent." Upon the receipt" of this reply a communication Was addressed to the Duke of Somerset, as First Lord < of the Admiralty, who replied on July ] 31sfc, that he was "not preparedlo i lessen. the facilities afforded to the- in- ■ habitants of the ports at which the Channel' fleet touches, of seeing the ships of which it is. composed, by making any new regulations to prevent her Majesty's ships from being visited by the public on Sundays." Well, then, continued Dr Begg, it would appear that the responsibility of opening- the ships on the Sabbath Day rests with the Admiralty. The wor-ship—-whatever worship there was — ' seems to have been hurried over at a ' very early part of the day, because the newspapers inform us that these ships were thtown open at 11 o'clock, at the Very time that the ordinary worship of the Sabbath commences. Of course, even had it been otherwise, there would haye been no real excuse. We do not hold that the Lord's Day is just a day of 24 ; hours, like any other day of the week, and that it is equally a desecration to violate the Sabbath after public worship as at any other time. But here is tl e monstrous nature *of the arrangement as it Stands, that at 11 o'clock the ships of the fleet were thrown open, crowds of people flocked towards the shores of Leith, steamboats plied from the pier to the sbips-^these steamboats loaded with multitudes of people ; and Leith was more crowded, it is said, than at almost any other time, and- the whole of that day after 1 1 o'clock was desecrated by this process of sightseeing. Now, this seems to be a most important question even in reference to the Government of the country. No doubt, men say, " If people choose to violate the Lord's Day, how can they be hindered ?" But that is not the question. If people violate the Lord's Day the sm is with themselves ; but if the Government of the country hold out temptations to the people to violate the Lord's Day, the sin will rest to a large extent with them. I say it is a most solemn thing that they should violate, and teach the people to violate, a part of the Divine law. After some discussion, the Commission instructed the Sabbath Committee to take such steps as they might think expedient, in the way of communicating with presbyteries and ministers on the subjecf, to abate the evil complained of."