Religion in the British Navy, 1815-1879: piety and professionalism

摘要

In an impressive sequel to Evangelicals in the Royal Navy, 1775-1815: blue lights and psalm singers (Woodbridge, 2008), Richard Blake contends that evangelical Christianity exercised a pervasive influence on the Royal Navy in the post-Napoleonic period, leading to the normalisation of piety among all ranks and the strengthening of professional discipline. Notwithstanding the studies of Roald Kverndal and Gordon Taylor, this is the first detailed study of its kind, and makes bold claims for the role of religion. According to Blake, an unpopular tradition of high church 'clerical orthodoxy' dominated the Navy in 1815. This was progressively displaced as a new generation of officers and chaplains, imbued with 'a new spirit of vigour and enterprise', rose to prominence in the succeeding decades. These seafaring evangelicals achieved their ascendency by associating themselves with humanitarian causes, encouraging greater lay participation in religious activities, contributing to debates concerning how best to professionalise sailors and giving practical relief on shore. The Crimean War represented an important turning point, as daily prayers and lay exercises on ships became commonplace. By the 1870s, evangelicalism had come to 'modify and refine the ethos of the high Victorian navy' (10-12).