From Lower Deck to Pulpit Part 4

Soon there was a cl.u.s.ter at boats round the ship, which had conveyed from the sh.o.r.e all manner of commercial men--Jews with watches for sale, and tailors with their patterns--for no bluejacket would be without his private suit--and others with articles of food. Only a limited number, however, were allowed on board.

My uncle, who resided at Kingsand, had noticed our early arrival in the Sound. He had been requested by my mother to keep a sharp look-out for the 'Emerald.' She had given him money to purchase some food to bring afloat to me. He fulfilled his request with the greatest satisfaction, for an hour after we had anch.o.r.ed, he was on board, with a basket of provisions, enquiring for me. I gave him a hearty welcome, all the more so on account of the basket he bore, as I had foregone my biscuit and cocoa that morning and had had nothing to eat. I will just add that the contents of his basket were eagerly devoured by me and my mess-mates.

My father, so it afterward proved, had been on the Hoe every morning recently, to see if the 'Emerald' had arrived, but on account of the fog this morning he did not walk there, knowing that such a fog would hide the Sound from view, so he contented himself with making enquiries, and was told that no ship had come from sea. As the day wore on he chanced to be in a shop in Plymouth, when one of the stewards of the 'Emerald' entered it, to purchase. That was enough!

He flew away, bringing with him a large box of the best provisions that money could buy--it had been packed a whole week in readiness for my home-coming, so as there should be no delay when the ship arrived. A waterman rowed him down the Sound. In my heart I knew there was some mistake, as otherwise my father would have been one of the first to board the ship.

However, about 3 p.m. someone called down the hatchway for me.

Instantly I bounded away to the gangway, there to greet my father, who was now on board. We spent an hour together, and at 4 p.m. all visitors were 'piped' out of the ship. The coal was shipped--for we had been coaling all day.

The boats were hoisted, and the anchor weighed. Being a member of the drum and fife band on the 'Emerald,' whose work was to play marches while the capstan was being manned, I must say that our march on this occasion was out of place. A gallop would have been suitable. With four men on each capstan bar, it was nothing less than a maddening whirl, whilst the cry sounded--

"Heave ho! The last time my hearties."

We left Plymouth for Portsmouth to payoff. One of the Portsmouth outfitters had made it his business to come to Plymouth, and to take the return pa.s.sage in our ship. Truly he was a highly favoured man.

Nor was he idle, for he was measuring men for suits of clothes the most of the night. I suppose he did not mind such night-work. We sighted Portsmouth in the morning, and after doing the customary steam trials, proceeded up harbour. Here, as at Plymouth, there were all cla.s.ses of business men waiting in boats to besiege the ship.

Most of them met with disappointment, as only a few were allowed on board. This matter was the cause of complaint being made in an evening paper, which said: "No such restriction was ever manifested by any other ship coming home from a foreign station," and after dwelling on the treatment which had been shown to many who had come alongside the 'Emerald,' the paragraph concluded with words to this effect:--"That the 'Emerald's' commission had been far from being a happy one," words which contained a great deal of truth.

In the course of a few days we made fast alongside the jetty, and returned stores. This taking a month, then came paying-off day. This day is generally a.s.sociated with the idea of a nice sum of money, but it was far from being so in my case as you shall see. My father had asked me at Plymouth if I should have sufficient money to pay my railway fare from Portsmouth to Devonport. Antic.i.p.ating I should receive enough for this purpose ort paying-off day, I replied in the affirmative. But during the month at Portsmouth it gradually dawned upon me that my money due would amount to but a very little.

Accordingly, I wrote home, informing my parents of the same, requesting them to send me three pounds.

Having no curios with me save a folding looking-gla.s.s which I bought at Cape Breton Island, and a figured handkerchief from the Jamaica exhibition, I went ash.o.r.e one evening at Portsmouth and bought a few little presents to carry home to my relatives in order that they should possess something to regard as a token of the 'Emerald's'

home-coming. I did not inform them they were bought at Portsmouth, and for a time they were prized as presents brought home from foreign parts. I gave my father a walking-stick, but I rather think that he from the first knew it was a native of England. Anyhow, the joke has been discovered since, and has caused much laughter from time to time in the home circle.

Three days before the dispersion the chaplain sent for me. On going aft to his cabin, he said, "Cowling, you may have the harmonium." I thanked him heartily for this present. Not desiring to take it home with me, I sold it to a local musician for seventeen shillings, with which I bought a reefer jacket to wear home. At last the happy day came. The captain, with his officers grouped on the quarterdeck, and the paymaster with his staff, began the work of payment. On the seaman's name being called, he stepped toward the pay-table and gave his number on the ship's book; then receiving the money due to him walked out of the gangway. It was now my turn, and although some of the men received from sixty to eighty, and one a hundred pounds, mine was the modest sum of three shillings and sixpence, despite the fact that I had been receiving eightpence a day in addition to most of them--five pence as the organist, and threepence for being a flute-player.

How do I account for the contrast? In this way. Some men did the washing of others, charging threepence per piece, and a shilling for scrubbing a hammock, and others owned a sewing-machine with which in spare time they made uniform suits. Washing and sewing men were bent upon having a good pay-day. These two cla.s.ses of men would seldom buy any article from the canteen. I should not say they were n.i.g.g.ardly or selfish--their course probably was governed by self-denial, or it may be that their future marriage day was the solution of their conduct.

As for myself, I never could eat with relish any service food, consequently most of my wages was spent in canteen food, and the remainder on sh.o.r.e. Therefore on paying-off day I received my few shillings as contentedly as those did who were the recipients of many pounds, for I had utilised my money in one way, and they were about to do so in another. That is all.

Little groups of men gathered on the wharf to wish each other 'good-bye,' as it was not likely they would ever meet again. I often think of Collins, who belonged to the same section of the starboard watch as I. He was a very witty fellow. He was asked one day where his messmate Jack Frost was? In reply he answered, "He is on the fore-yard shooting sparrows for the sick." This was amusing, considering at the time we were in a heavy gale far out at sea. On another occasion a civilian at Halifax asked him, "What do you sailors get to eat at sea?" "We live on wind and chew daylight," was his answer.

When outside the dockyard gates I made off to a restaurant for refreshment, and then caught the train for Devonport, reaching it at 8 p.m. My father and a friend were on the platform to meet me. We took a cab to the quay, from which a waterman rowed us across the harbour. Then a journey of another three miles in a carriage, and I was at home, sweet home. My mother and sisters, who had been on the tiptoe of expectation for the last hour, now bounded out of the room as the front door was opened, and I cannot describe what transpired in the lobby for the next few minutes. The tears of joy being wiped away, we all sat down to supper, my companion--he who tasted the leather strap in our school days--being invited to swell the number, and to complete the welcome home. Supper ended, I was made the recipient of various gifts from my parents and sisters. Amongst other things which my mother gave me was a jersey which she had knitted-- every st.i.tch of it. It happened one day that my sister took the work in hand and did a little in the making of it, but when my mother discovered this transgression, she lovingly unravelled the st.i.tches, for she said "she desired to make it all herself." Such is a mother's love! Every winter since I have worn the jersey, and even now am wearing it on this cold December day as I pen these lines.

Six weeks' leave were granted me for my absence of three years, which is the naval scale--that is a fortnight for each year, and I carried in my pocket the liberty ticket. Let me tell you what is written on it: The bearer's name, his height; the complexion of his hair, the colour of his eyes, his visible marks (if any) and the nature thereof, also a statement to the effect that he is free from arrest up to a given date which is specified--if not on board his ship at the authorised hour on that date he is regarded as a leave-breaker and punished accordingly.

The six happy weeks pa.s.sed away all too quickly, and I returned to the Royal Naval Barracks, or, as is understood in naval circles H.M.S. 'Vivid' From here, I was drafted to the gunnery college, H.M.S. 'Cambridge.' It was on this ship that I first saw our present King, he having come on board to inspect the guns' crews at drill, accompanied by his brother, the Duke of Edinburgh, who at the time was Commander-in-Chief of Devonport. After pa.s.sing through a course of gunnery, which lasted eighteen months, I was sent back to the 'Vivid.' Being entirely out of touch with a seaman's life, I requested to "see the captain" with a view of changing my rating to that of a ship's writer. He granted my appeal conditionally, which meant, that if I were in harbour when the next examination took place, I should be allowed to sit, but if away on a foreign station, of course it would be impossible. To qualify myself in order to succeed in pa.s.sing this examination I received private tuition when ash.o.r.e, for which I paid very dearly. Meantime an order was received by the officials to send a draft of bluejackets to Portsmouth to bring to Devonport H.M.S. 'Rupert.' We went to Portsmouth by train.

Whilst engaged in taking ammunition on board, a box of heavy cartridge fell on my right foot, and took off the tip of a toe.

I was barefooted, as it was a wet day. Being carried to the sick berth, my foot was treated and bound, and I was ordered to my hammock. On arrival at Devonport, the sick-berth steward took me to the hospital in the naval barracks, where I lay in bed six weeks. You will perceive that my right foot has been unfortunate. It was the right foot which was jammed in the crevice of the rocks the right foot upon which the Portuguese man-of-war was flung, and now again the right foot which received the fall from the ammunition box.

Time wore away, and I was in a state of expectation as to what date the examination would take place. To my bitter disappointment I was told there was to be none that year. Then I began to fear lest before the next I should be sent away to sea, and thus lose my opportunity to enter. Again I was drafted to the 'Cambridge,' as one of her ship's company, and I still resumed my scholastic tuition ash.o.r.e. A thrill of dread used to seize me when observing the ship's corporal walking along the deck bearing a slate, as it was an indication that someone was to be called upon to prepare for sea. Is it I? was the thought which filled my mind. However, the year had nearly pa.s.sed away, and I was deeply anxious over the forthcoming examination.

"Surely there will be one this year, as there was none last." Such was my reasoning.

One day at the conclusion of my lesson, my tutor said he had very, unpleasant news to break to me. It was this:--That an examination would be held for civilians only, and that an order had been received stating that no seaman should be allowed to change his rating. Oh, I thought, was ever any disappointment so vexatious as mine? I left his house with a wounded spirit, and, having crossed the harbour, walked toward home, a journey of three miles, weeping bitterly and praying nearly all the way. The very heavens above seemed to me as bra.s.s, and my horizon appeared dark as the blackness of night; not a streak of light could I find. For two years I had been studying and working hard to qualify for this examination, and had spent most of my earnings in tuition, and now the issue was that in spite of my utter dislike to a naval life as a sailor, I must still pursue it.

The memory of that awful journey comes to mi mind very forcibly at times, and when I hear or know of any sore disappointment occurring in one's life, I fervently pray to G.o.d that such disappointment may be immersed in the waters of kindly help and sympathy. May the Christ of Gethsemane comfort all wounded hearts, all crushed spirits, and make sorrow the seed of a new hope, even as He did in my life.

On reaching home that evening my parents observed that I had been weeping, and on asking the cause, the pent-up grief again burst forth. Gradually I became calm, and conveyed to them the news which I had received from my tutor, the naval schoolmaster. They both agreed there and then, that by G.o.d's help I should be released from my unbearable life, and that steps should be taken immediately to that end.

Shortly after I came home from sea I attended the Congregational Church at Cawsand, and here, under the influence of my pastor's preaching, made a decision for Christ. He soon put me in harness in church work, and for more than two years I studied theology under him, he kindly coming to my home every Monday evening to help me in that direction. Occasionally he set me an examination paper, and a.s.sisted me educationally in every way. This course of theological study began while I was yet in the navy, and often when boat-keeper at the lower boom of the 'Cambridge' have I spent hours in study. To test my preaching abilities, the Rev. Stephen Stroud, for such was my pastor's name, would take me into his church, where in a pew he would sit as a listening critic, while I preached from the pulpit.

The next day I went to him and intimated my parents' decision in consequence of my vexation, and that they wished to purchase my discharge if possible, whereupon he gave me a letter to take to the commander of the ship. In the course of a few days I stood before him on the quarterdeck, and made known my desire to quit the service, and my detestation of a sailor's life. He did not thwart me in any way, but said the request would have to be brought before the Commander-in-Chief of the port, and the Admiralty.

CHAPTER VI

LEAVING THE NAVY

Nearly three weeks had pa.s.sed--oh, what an anxious time it was! Was there another sorrow in store for me? G.o.d forbid. Well, one day at noon, just as I had reached the ship in the staff gig, to which boat I belonged, the quartermaster rushed to the gangway and shouted-- "Cowling, you are wanted on the quarterdeck immediately." I lost no time in getting there. In another minute I stood face to face with the captain, who informed me that the Admiralty had granted my discharge. "Right-about-turn! Quick march," was the order of the master-at-arms, but, believe me, it was more of a run than a march.

My messmates were forehead awaiting the result, and as I approached them a dozen voices shouted--"How goes it?" "All's well," I replied.

"You are fortunate," said they. Dinner was now piped, but I wanted none--my desire was to get on terra firma as speedily as possible. I pulled my bag from the rack, turned it upside down on the deck, distributing all the clothes contained therein, to the value of fifteen pounds. Then I wished my messmates 'good-bye' and went ash.o.r.e in a gig, feeling like a bird released from a cage. Thus ended my naval career, extending to a period of seven years and nine days. I keep in my study an envelope containing my discharge paper and the receipt for same, which cost eighteen pounds. In reading it, as I sometimes do, my thoughts are carried backward to the day of liberation.

My messmates had decided to present me with a beautiful Bible, which I never received, for this reason. Scarcely a week had pa.s.sed from the day I stepped on sh.o.r.e a free man, when an order was sent from headquarters for a large draft of seamen to be sent to different parts of the world. Nearly all my former mates were numbered amongst the draft. Consequently they were scattered far apart, and no steps could be taken to carry out their intention. The kind feeling which prompted it I appreciate and accept, as showing what they would have done had the opportunity been forthcoming.

Even in the weeding out of the 'Cambridge' this large company of men, I observe G.o.d's providence at work in my own life, for doubtless I should have been included in the draft, having been in harbour three years, which is considered a long stay. My discharge was granted me in the nick of time. "He doeth all things well."

I found employment on sh.o.r.e in Plymouth as a contractor's clerk, and devoted more time to religious studies, for I now felt that as the greatest obstacle in my path had been removed, G.o.d would surely open my way to enter His service. He did. By the recommendation of my pastor I was admitted into Cliff College, Derbyshire, completing my training in London.

Though for six years I had nearly become a Baptist, that is, a Congregationalist, I now stepped over the line, having studied the New Testament with an unbia.s.sed mind, to get at the real truth of Scriptural baptism. Being convinced that immersion was the Scriptural mode, I forthwith became baptised in Bow Street Baptist Church, London.

Shortly afterwards, I was invited to the pastorate of a Baptist Church in New Whittington, Derbyshire, where I laboured for a brief period, and at which place I first met the young lady who is now my wife. In the autumn of 1899 I accepted the call to my present pastorate, that of the Ashwater district of Baptist Churches.

Understanding that under the new regulations existing which precludes Cliff College students from being recognised as fully accredited ministers, I set to work to overcome the difficulty by pa.s.sing the two Baptist Union examinations.

Such, then, in brief are a few outstanding incidents of my life, and such is the road I have travelled to enter the ministry--a hard road and painful, bedewed with tears, and strewed with withered leaves of disappointment and weary watchings, but I am bound to confess that it was the path marked out for me. No better training was ever afforded any minister, and to-day I can thank G.o.d for it all. What is the great truth which my career teaches me? This: that "G.o.d is in the heart of things, and all is well." That He is in every human life, directing, controlling, and superintending it. That nothing happens by chance, and that it is He alone who can transform the wilderness of blighted hope into a paradise of joy; can convert the vale of tears into the sunny path that leads upward to His throne--He alone who can chase away the darkness of night and bring in the sunshine of morning. Unto His name be all the glory!

I cannot but hope that should any darkened life read this little sketch, that such an one may be inspired and comforted by so doing, believing that He who gently cleared my way, granting me the fulfilment of my heart's desire, will in like manner repeat His loving-kindness in that one's life.

"Lead, kindly light, . . . .

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me."