What He Prayed For

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 27, 6 July 1905, Page 18

What He Prayed For

Elsewhere in this issue we have referred to two notable upheavals in British naval history, of which the recently ended mutiny in'tto'Rush sian fleelf lbjflms a curious and instructive counterpart. According to Lecky (' Ireland in the Eighteenth Century ') and James (« Naval History ') the unfair and unstrual distribution of prize money was one of the heavy budget of grievances that led to tne mutinies of Spithead and the Nore. It was also— worse luck for the men—one of their well-grounded subjects t>f i complaint tha.t remained rankling in the breast of Jack -Tar kftng after the (bones of Parker and his fellow-leadets *-*rere nibbled clean by the fish that swam in the North Sea. Some weeks ago ' T.P. told the 1 - following 'fctfry i~ point .— 1 A Lieutenant of H.M.S. " Revenge," just before the battle of Trafalgar, discovered one of the gunners on his knees before his gun. What the are you doing ? " shouteft the amazed and angry lieutenant. " You're not afraid, are you ? " ' '"Afraid ! " cried the gunner scornfully, rising from his knees ; "no,. l'm not afrafyd ; ( I was praying." ' " What iwere you praying for, if you're not afraid ? " retorted the lieutenant. **■' I was praying, sSf," was the response, " that the enemy's shot may be distributed in the same proportion as the prize money— almost all of it among the. officers ! •" '