service; and if the chaplain be a clergyman, who applies himself
zealously to his duties, he has a congregation before him, who show by
their attentive looks, that they are under the power of religious
impressions. Almost all ships commanded by post-captains have
chaplains and naval instructors, and where there is no chaplain, the
commanding officer is expected to read prayers on Sundays. In port
the crews of the Queen's ships have the opportunity of observing the
sacred day, either on board the flag-ship, the ordinary, or in the
dockyard chapel. I believe every ship in the navy is provided with a
library; and first, second, third, fourth, and fifth-rates have
schoolmasters. To men and boys desirous of entering the service, the
preference is given to those who can read and write; and an admirable
regulation has lately been adopted, which will contribute further to
advance our navy in the intellectual scale. Boys are entered as naval
apprentices, to the number of one hundred each, at Devonport,
Portsmouth, Sheerness, and Cork. They remain for one year on board the
flag-ship, under a systematic course of education, and are then
drafted into sea-going ships. The happy effects produced by mental
cultivation were felt in an especial degree, when the Discovery ships,
under Captain, now Sir Edward Parry, were blocked up with ice, and had
to pass so many dismal days and nights in the Polar Sea. A school was
established both in the Hecla and Fury, under able superintendence;
and men, whose time would have hung heavily during their icy
imprisonment, were kept in good humour and cheerfulness by the
intellectual occupations in which they were engaged. Captain Parry's
remarks in attestation of the moral effect produced by this means, and
on the uninterrupted good order which prevailed among his men, are
cited in page 243 of this work.

It would add greatly to the intellectual and spiritual improvement of