THE monſtrous Miſmanagements in our Naval Affairs, have not only tired the Tongues of Complainers, but the Pens of Writers, in repreſenting Grievances of ſo high a nature, and of ſuch fatal Conſequence to the Engliſh Nation. Our Maritime Miſcarriages have been the anxious Concern even of the whole Kingdom: They have been the induſtrious Care of Parliament, who have unravell'd all the Myſtery of Iniquity, and laid the Common Grievance of the good People of England in this point before his Majeſty in an Engliſh Addreſs. Whether that Addreſs gave being to the preſent Commiſſion of Admiralty, is not worth our Enquiry: but if Perſons had been puniſhed, as well as their Crimes diſcovered, it might have deterred ſucceeding Commiſſioners, who now by the Succeſs of their Predeceſſors may be encouraged to raiſe their Fortunes to the ruin of the Kingdom. Vice unpuniſhed has a very attractive Virtue in it, and men eaſily tread the Path to Riches, tho never ſo wicked, when they ſee others paſs with ſafety before them. When men have loſt all ſenſe of Honeſty and Conſcience, what Crimes will they not commit? eſpecially ſuch as can leap over all Fences of Law, or can have recourſe to Noli proſequi's or Privy Seals. But it ſeems the Crimes of the late Commiſſion of Admiralty are forgiven, tho they'l never be blotted out of the Book of the Peoples remembrance, ſince this Age is likely to feel the Effects of their Management. An ill Star has influenc'd our Horizon hitherto, and the Sons of the Sea have been under a fatal Direction. But you ſay, Sir, we have a new Commiſſion, upon which you deſire my Opinion.

You know it does not much lie in my way to be acquainted with Perſons, but Things: I am no Courtier, nor never deſire to be one. All the knowledg I have of your Courtiers ariſes from the Influence their Management has upon the Publick. If I have an ill piece of work put into my hands, it matters not who made it; he was either ignorant, no Artiſt, or a cheating Knave, and conſequently not worth my Acquaintance. You know Men as well as Things, and may eaſily gueſs how they will prove, by their Temper and Inclination, before they come into Office, and by comparing their Principles with the Principles of thoſe whom they ſucceed; for if they are caſt in the ſame Mould, they'l encline the ſame way, and their Management will produce the ſame Effects: If they have no more Honeſty, nor more Skill in Naval Affairs, and are no better Friends to Trade and the Engliſh Intereſt than the others, your new Commiſſion is like ſome Revolutions, an Alteration without a Change; you have only chang'd your Shilling for two Sixpences, and got not one Farthing by the bargain. I could give you a better account of your new Commiſſion, had not your demand been ſo ſpeedy; for we have ſcarcely yet felt the Influence of our new Maſters, and hardly know whether it be worth while to drink their Healths. I cannot ſo well tell you what they are, as I can tell you what they ought to be, which if I ſhould do, perhaps they'l be angry with me; and therefore, to fight cloſe and ſure, and avoid the Fireſhips of the Gate-houſe and Newgate, I'll tell you what they ought not to be.

They ought not to be men of ſlaviſh Principles; for we Tarrs ſee ſo much Slavery abroad, and like it ſo ill, that we ſhall never endure it at home. No one in the world ſhall ever perſwade me, that a Perſon who declar'd the Navy of England uſeleſs by voting for a Standing Army, is fit to have the management of it. The very notion of a Standing Army contains in it all the Villanies and Rogueries that ever the World ſaw; for Slavery, Popery, and all the Devildoms of the Univerſe are its inſeparable Accidents. Now if this Principle of a Standing Army is to ſucceed the Doctrines of Paſſive Obedience and Non-reſiſtance, and this muſt ſerve for a Teſt now as the others did in the late Reigns, no man can have a right to an Office, till he has firſt quitted his Right to Liberty. When men of ſuch Principles are under the influence of the Royal Favour, there needs no Proclamation to tell the methods of acquiring an Office.

Theſe men might ſurely be contented with the Advantages they receive by trumping up a Standing Army to the ruin of their Country, without reflecting upon others, who endeavour to maintain this Government according to our Conſtitution, and are not willing to put their Liberties under the Conduct of a Land Force. 'Tis true the Prince of Orange came over by their Advice, and at their Requeſt; and they in requital have ven him three of the moſt potent and flouriſhing Kingdoms of the Univerſe, and more Mony to ſupport him in them than to many of his Predeceſſors. They brought him over to reſtore their Liberties to them, and deliver them from the Slavery of a Standing Army; d'ye think they are now mad, to take up the ſame Fetters they ſo lately knockt off? Theſe men tell us that the Nation cannot be ſecure without a Standing Army, and we ſay our Liberties are in danger with one; and certain it is a good King will acquieſce with that Security the People provide for their Liberties and the Kingdom: They'l take ſpecial care in this point; for the Liberties and Rights of the People are more valuable than the Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown. They are born Freemen, and are in actual poſſeſſion of their Rights the firſt minute they draw their Breath, a Title a King as ſuch cannot have, his Right depending upon the Conſent of a willing People. A King may forfeit and loſe his Crown, and the Regalities thereof may devolve upon the People, as the Legal Centre of all Honour and Dignity; but an Engliſh-man can never forfeit his Liberty and the Rights he was born to. If he be convicted of High Treaſon without the Privilege of Gavel-kind, and his Eſtate becomes confiſeate, his Son, notwithſtanding this, is Heir to his Liberty and Property, and enjoys all the Privileges of a Freeman: His Cauſe is pleadable at Bar in a Court of Juſtice; he muſt be tried by his Peers according to the known Laws of the Realm: So that an Engliſh-man can upon no account forfeit his Right. Now the Liberties of the People being ſo valuable, firm, and laſting, this Government has more reaſon to conſide in their Security than any heretofore; for this King was brought to the Throne by worthy Patriots, ſuch as oppos'd the Tyrannies of the late Reigns, and ſuch as this Government has not made fat and lazy by Offices of Profit and Truſt. Theſe men are ſtill living, and have nothing but their Liberties to leave to their Children; which being their laſt Stake, they'l be ſure to manage it well, and not ſuffer it to be taken away by Invaders from abroad, nor by Standing Armies at home.

Indeed the Attempt of ſettling a Standing Army ſuppos'd the People eaſy, and willing to quit their Rights at once; for Standing Armies are contrary to the Conſtitution of any Government where the People have the leaſt Right. Souldiers are but Badges of Slavery in any Country where they are found; and what is the notion of Guards, but a ſuppoſition that the People are not able to defend themſelves? and if ſo, they are a Prey to any body. The Miſeries of thoſe Countries where Souldiers are, are Arguments to thoſe where they are not to keep them out. Like ſo many Caterpillars they waſt and deſtroy the moſt fruitful Provinces: They carry a ſort of Charm about them, that nothing proſpers where they come; and even in thoſe Countries where they are found ſometimes neceſſary, as lately in England, they are confounded Evils, and men can hardly diſtinguiſh which is moſt dangerous, the Remedy or the Diſeaſe. We found our War attended with many Inconveniences beſides our quartering of Souldiers: our Trade and Commerce decay'd, as the Trade of War encreaſed; nay the Heavens themſelves ſeem'd to be angry at us, and beſtowed one continued Frown upon a baſe and degenerate Age. The Sun (as if aſhamed to behold our Enterprizes) ſhrowded his Head in thicker Clouds, and denied the favourable Influence of his Beams to an Apoſtate Country: Nature withdrew her wonted Bounty from us, and fed us with Fruits as immature as our Actions: The Seaſons alter'd upon us; we knew Summer nor Winter, Spring nor Autumn, any otherwiſe than by Menſuration of time. What Storms then did we meet with on the Ocean in Seaſons little expected? The whole Courſe of Nature ſeem'd to go Retrograde, as we declin'd from our antient Principles of Virtue and Liberty. But now we have aſſum'd our priſtine Courage, and the Genius of our Country informs our Parliament; now we have in ſome meaſure rid our ſelves of our Armies, the cauſe of our multiplied Curſes, the Heavens ſmile upon us, the Seaſons of the Year return to their antient Courſe, being all unwilling to curſe a fruitful Land with Barrenneſs upon the account of a few Thiſtles that ſtart up in it, and to deſtroy a brave and glorious Country upon the account of a few ill Men.

I have, Sir, made the larger Digreſſion upon this Subject, to vindicate thoſe worthy Engliſh Gentlemen that put down the Army, believing them to be true Friends to us Sailors, in laying aſide the Support of Armies, and truſting altogether to us; but if you ſuffer thoſe who were for a Land Army to be our Directors and Governours, as they are wholly ignorant of Maritime Affairs, they ſuperintend us with an envenom'd grudg upon the foreſaid account: for the Diſpute in your Houſe was not whether an Army was ever uſeful, but whether an Army was a better Security to our Kingdom than a Fleet; and the Members of your honourable Houſe knew very well, that of the two Supports propos'd for your Realm, you ought to chuſe the beſt, and that you had no occaſion of both when one would ſerve Now (if I may ſo ſay) we Sailors carrying our point in the Houſe of Commons againſt the Souldiers, muſt of neceſſity be hated by the Army Folk; and if any of theſe Army men or but one of them is in your New Commiſſion, we are fall'n moſt damnably to Lee-ward, and God knows when we ſhall fetch up the old Honour and Glory of the Engliſh Navy.

But I now, Sir, tack about upon your new Commiſſion, or your new Commiſſioners, which you pleaſe; for take the Office entire, 'tis Linſey-woolſey, half new, half old; new Commiſſioners with all the old Officers. It is perhaps beneath the Dignity of great Perſonages to have any knowledg of their own in Naval Affairs, and therefore are forc't to truſt to the Judgment of others. You know, Sir, taking of Minutes, writing a Letter or Order is a mighty piece of Buſineſs not to be left to the Judgment of a new Secretary; 'tis neceſſary to have one that ſerv'd the old Commiſſion, elſe how ſhall we ſteer the old Courſe? for whoever conns the Ship of the Admiralty, the Secretary is always at the Helm; he knows all the Reaches, Buoys and Shelves of the River of Parliament, and knows how to ſteer clear of 'em all: He is the Spring that moves the Clock-work of the whole Board, the Oracle that is to be conſulted on all Occaſions; he ſits at the Board behind a great Periwig, peeping thro it like a Rat out of a Butter-firkin, ready to miſrepreſent the Caſe of any Complainer, by telling the Commiſſioners that he complains out of prejudice, that he has written or ſpoken againſt the late Commiſſioners, that he is mad, &c. and indeed what man in his Wits would endeavour to mend an Adminiſtration ſo corrupt and rotten as ours, or to complain of Grievances, when 'tis juſt like flinging of hot Water to windward at Sea, which certainly flies back in your face and ſcalds you?

It is obſervable that they follow the Example of the old Commiſſioners in that unaccountable whim of gazetting all Complaints that are tranſmitted to them. If A. B. ſends them a Letter, can't they deſire A. B. to attend them, without telling the world the ſubject matter of A. B's Letter? A. B. knew of it before, and the knowledg of it can be no advantage to any beſides the Party complain'd againſt.

You know, Sir, for ſome years laſt paſt the noiſe of an Invaſion has been a neceſſary Imagination in our Government, and has been preſented to us as a neceſſary ſhooing horn to draw on you know what; for if there be any meaning in it, it muſt be a few more Land-forces, and a great deal more Mony, as if the Children of England were but one Remove from Naturals, and willing to make Ducks and Drakes with their Mony, and play it away as Boys do Cherryſtones. Had the noiſe of an Invaſion the latter end of laſt Seſſions been real, and our Intentions to prevent it ſincere, our good Lords of the Admiralty would have ſent our Fleet from the Downs before the 15th of July. We have made a fine Summer's Work of it, conſidering the great Danger they told us we were in in the Spring. Some of our great Ships have ſail'd from the Medway to the Downs, and from the Downs to Medway: Over the Water, Maſter, for a Penny. At this Rate our great Ships may ſpoil the Trade of the Deal-hookers, and our ſmall Craft be ſupplanted by the King's Frigots. Did they not now give any body time enough to diſembark upon our Country? The Enemy might have come upon our Coaſts, and faſtn'd their Hazers to our Rocks, and tow'd away our Iſland, and made it a part of the Continent, in ſo long an Interval betwixt Counſel and Action. We have made but a very indifferent Figure at Sea this year, if we conſider England as the moſt Potent Nation of the Univerſe in ſhipping, having Ships enough to beat the whole World twice over, and a good Fleet left for a Reſerve into the Bargain. But ſuch Actions as theſe muſt be done by the natural Sons of the Sea, and the management of the Fleet muſt at ſuch a time be under the Conduct of men, whoſe Heads are not cramm'd with Land-Notions, and who would manage Fleets as they do Land-Armies aſhoar. And this leads me to diſcuſs a new Point, the late Notion of Fortifying of Gariſons for Security of our Shipping.

This fortifying of Gariſons to ſecure the Fleet, looks ſo much like intrenching, which for ſeveral Years together in Flanders coſt the Engliſh Nation ſuch a woundy deal of Mony, in Spades, Pickaxes and Wheelbarrows, that I can't down with it. Such a Notion as this may ſute the Governments of Sally and Madagaſcar well enough. But the Engliſh are yet Maſters of the Sea, and have no occaſion of a Subterfuge that I know of: Our Guns on board Ship have hitherto been their Defence, without the Auxiliary Aſſiſtance of Platforms and Lines. But the laſt year we had an Author ſtarted out with an Anſwer to all the Books written againſt a Standing Army, encourag'd in that pious Work by the Court Party; wherein he tells us, Pag. 66. That the French from Stokes-bay may be able to deſtroy our Fleet at Portſmouth. His Subject required ſomething to be ſaid of Fleets and Bays; and Stokes-bay, Soulbay, or Torbay are the ſame to the folk he wrote for. But pray, Mr. Poſitive, what ſort of Guns muſt the French have to deſtroy our Ships at Portſmouth from Stokes-Bay? If you build them a Platform a top of Gilkicker or Stoke-Church, you may do ſomething tho you're a woundy way off ſtill: But being a good Pilot, you may perhaps bring them from Stokes-Bay into Portſmouth Harbour, notwithſtanding they muſt firſt engage the Caſtle; and then entring the Harbour, muſt by the poſition of the Sands fall ſo near a Platform of Guns on the Starboard ſide, that one may fling a Bisket Cake aſhoar from the Ship. If they get by here, they next paſs a Caſtle upon the Point, and all the Point lined with Cannon, and within Musket Shot of the Enemy. Next they have on the Larboard-ſide, the whole Gariſon of Goſpert, its Caſtles, Lines, and Platforms to engage; beſides in the midſt of that Harbour a Caſtle and a great many Guns at the Dock. Now, Mr. Infallible Courtier! the French are in a very good ſtation, Goſpert rakes 'em fore and aft, and Portſmouth peppers their Quarters and Sterns: you have e'en fairly brought them on, how the Devil will you get them off? And pray remember I han't ſpoke one word of Southſea-Caſtle all this while, which I am ſure upon ſuch an occaſion would have one ſlap at their Arſes; nay the very Pot-Guns at Rhyde would do 'em ſome miſchief. Now let the world judg whether the Author of that Book deſerv'd 500 l. for ſuch a Notion as this: I dare engage they won't give me half the Mony for my Book, tho it contains plain Truth and matter of Fact, wholly deſign'd for the Intereſt of the Engliſh Nation.

It is evident, that it is none of our Intereſt to lock up our Ships in the Cheſt at Chatham, nor to ſecure them in the Harbours of Portſmouth or Plymouth. Our Ships were built to keep the Enemies from our Harbours, and not our Gariſons built to defend our Shipping. Our firſt Conteſt ought to be upon the Water, where if we are beaten (which I think we ſhan't be under a good Management) and we fly for Refuge to our fortify'd Harbours, the Enemy will hardly follow us thither, for 'tis none of their buſineſs to knock their Heads againſt Stone-walls; their buſineſs then is to land upon us and invade us, being well aſſured if they can get the Land, the Forts, Gariſons and Ships will come in of courſe. For my part I never queſtion'd the Courage of my Brethren the Tarrs, nor their Conſtancy and Fidelity to the Intereſt of the Engliſh Nation; they can do Wonders when under a good Management and Uſage. This Notion of fortifying of Gariſons to ſecure Shipping, looks alſo as if we were afraid of ſome new Imaginary Evil; here is ſomething ſtarted up in the room of an Invaſion, the Fears and Jealouſies of our Courtiers grow like Muſhrooms: but I'le ſay that for 'em, that they never advance a terrible Goblin but there's Mony in the Tail on't. I hope our doughty Author that encounters and anſwers all Mankind, when our Gariſons come to be fortify'd, will be at leaſt Sir Chriſtopher Wren in the Action; 'tis pity this wonderful Notion of his ſhould go without a farther Reward.

As the Sancho Pancha to this Quixot, follows a nameleſs Squire with a Book about fortifying Dover Peer to ſecure the King's Ships: this he ſays is a Manuſcript of Sir Walter Raleigh's to Queen Elizabeth, which he found amongſt ſome mouldy Records. Now all the Reaſon in this Book is not worth an Eggſhel. What can you gather from it? Why this: Sir Walter Raleigh thought the fortifying of Dover Peer a ſecurity to Ships of War in the Days of Queen Beſs, therefore it is neceſſary now. How far this Conſequence will hold water I can't tell: But to ſay that Queen Elizabeth had a very pitiful Navy, not ſo good as our fifth and ſixth Rates, yet by the Choice of good Commanders ſhe routed and deſtroyed the Invincible Armado of Spain, and therefore we ought to follow the ſame Example, is good reaſoning, and advantageous to the Realm. We may err in Particulars, but what has been generally acted for the good of the Realm, practiſed and approved by many Ages now extinct, will always hold good, and ſtill be our help. Our Author dos not beg our pardon for not telling us how much Mony it will coſt us to cleanſe Dover Peer, how many Loads of Mud are in it, nor whether there is not more Mud there than will cover the whole County of Kent, tho he is ſo civil in his Epiſtle to ask Sir W. Raleighs pardon for publiſhing his Manuſcript, tho Sir Walter dy'd about 100 years ago. Whence the Devil this humour of crying all things down our Fathers have found uſeful came, I can't tell; But certainly men were never more out of love with old Things, and the approved Maxims and Ways of our Forefathers than now: How many Fleets have rode in the Downs ſecure of all Tempeſts? tell me how many Ships we loſt there, or have been forc't from their Anchors thence during the War? Now ſuppoſe we had as much Mony in England as there is Mud in Dover Peer, what advantage would the fortifying of it be to the Engliſh Navy? Perhaps we might loſe more Ships in one year in bringing them into the Peer, than have and will be loſt in the Downs from the beginning of the World to the Reſurrection. If our Author be made Pilot to bring them into the Peer, I'le lay my Cap to a Trunnel that he's hang'd in a Months time. But what need all theſe Projects, theſe Chimaera's? who amongſt us is afraid? For our parts we are not: give us but good Commanders, good Pay, and better Victuals, we defy the Devil and all his Works. Don't you remember what we did at la Hogue, we can ſhow you ſuch another Trick whenever there is occaſion for it. We have abundance of Attempts to ſet us beſide our true Intereſt in Naval Affairs; pray when, Sir, will you give a fair puſh to ſet us before the Wind for the Honour and Glory of our Country?

Thus I hope I have overſet the Vanity of two Authors, tho the deſign of my writing was to ſhow you the Miſcarriages of the Navy, the Wrecks they have already made, that you may ſteer clear of them, and find out e're it is too late ſome Method to put us in a right poſture for the defence of your Nation.

I ſhould in the next place proceed to the Navy Office, and give you an Account of the hard Uſage of the Sailors there; the impious Method of buying their Tickets, of keeping them out of their Pay upon the account of Q's and R's ſet upon their names in the Navy-Books; and the abominable Practices of the Officers of the Pay-Office, &c. But another Method is taken to inform your Honourable Houſe of their Grievances.

I could alſo inlarge upon the abominable Practice of preſſing the Seamen for the Service, and ſhow how inconſiſtent it was with the rights of a freeborn People. Indeed the abuſes of the Sailors are ſo many and ſo great, that a man knows not where to begin or end.

Perhaps, Sir, you never heard of ſuch an Office as Slop-ſeller to his Majeſty's Navy, and therefore I muſt acquaint you with the Original of that Office. A certain Perſon in K. C. the 2d's time got in with one of the Royal Whores, and ſhe got him a Patent to be Slopſeller to his Majeſty's Navy, which is as much as to ſay ſhe got him empowered by the King's Sign Manual to cheat all his Sailors; for no Slops were to be ſent on Board, and ſold to the Sailors, but what belong'd to this Perſon; at this rate he got at leaſt 50 per Cent. Now this Patent is ſtill in force, and the Seamen under this Government have met with the ſame Uſage. This has been the general Complaint of the Sailors of the whole Navy; but the Officers of the Navy finding it profitable to themſelves, have ſtill ſupported the Cheat: For the Slopſeller allows 12d. in the Pound to the Pay-Office for ſtopping the Slop-Mony at the Pay-Table. If you pleaſe ('tis very eaſy) to examine the Books of the Pay-Office upon this Account, you'l find that the Poundage receiv'd in that Office upon this and the Account of Tobacco, amounts to about 80 Thouſand pound during the laſt War.

Let us now deſcend to the Victualling, the loweſt and moſt corrupt Office of the Navy. The Cure of the Navy is done but by halves; for tho the Head may be eas'd by Cephalick Medicins, yet if the lower Region of the Stomach be infected, its noxious and poiſonous Vapours will aſcend and affect the Brain. This is the Condition of our Navy. The Head is only ſhaven to prevent the Frenzy: without Bloodletting and other neceſſary Applications to effect a Cure, the whole Body labours under an ill Habit, which, till remov'd, our Ships Rudders will hardly cut water, and our Ships, the Walls of our Iſland, will be a weak Defence, and their Cannon as inſignificant as ſo many Squibs or Crackers. From the Votes of your Houſe the laſt Seſſions by the Admiralty, I ſpell the whole Affair of the Navy; the Victualling and Navy Offices being rather conſtituent parts than dependent Offices upon it: and I thought that your Votes condemning the ill Practices of one, had ſuppos'd all the reſt; that this was as clearly underſtood as if it had been verbally expreſt; that ſince you were over Shoes, there was no occaſion of your being over Boots too in the Augean Stable of the Navy; and that there was a little neceſſity for you to ſtir a thing that already ſtank over the whole Kingdom. I hop'd the general Reſentment of our Repreſentatives in Parliament carried ſuch a force in it, that the thing reſented had no need of Retroſpection. I little thought to have heard of any more Complaints, or to have imploy'd my Pen any more on this Subject: But we ſtill labouring under the ſame Miſmanagements and Adminiſtration, I ſhall with Fidelity inform you of the paſt and preſent State of the Victualling; which Hints, I hope, by your greater Wiſdom may be improv'd to an effectual Redreſs.

I told you the laſt Seſſions the Qualifications of thoſe Commiſſioners; and methinks it is great pity, that ſo many worthy Patriots as brought his Majeſty to the Throne, Men valuable for their Parts and Skill in Buſineſs, ſhould want Imployments, and his Majeſty be forc't to pick up a Journyman Apothecary, one that was hir'd at 50 s. per menſem Surgeon of a Ship to the Weſt Indies upon the Revolution, to be a Commiſſioner in that Office. But how much ſoever Men of Merit and Worth are neglected it matters not, provided our Country and Government were well ſerv'd, which cannot be done by ill men, that have neither Honeſty nor Senſe.

When men are eſtabliſhed Commiſſioners, what is their firſt buſineſs? If they have bought their Places, then they muſt do ſomething to make good their Purchaſe Mony; they muſt get ſomething to live at a great rate; they muſt provide ſomething for their Childrens Portions; they muſt lay by ſomething to make their Peace, when they are found tardy; and they muſt reſerve ſomething to live upon when they are old; and after all their Somethings, 'tis ten to one if the People have any thing left beſides Taxes. Now the Victuallers having nothing allow'd them beſides their Salaries, they muſt find out ſomething too for themſelves; and ſince they have no Perquiſites, they muſt make ſome. Upon this account they ſeiz'd to their own uſe the Boards-Ends in the Cooperidg, which Boards Ends are pieces ſaw'd off from the Pipe-Staves, when they are cut into equal Lengths to make the Cask. Theſe Boards-Ends were formerly ſold for the King's advantage, and were ſometime the Perquiſite of the Maſter Cooper when the Victualling was in Contract. The largeſt of theſe Boards-Ends will ſerve to make Buckets for the Navy's uſe, the ſhorter to make Canns, and the leaſt may be ſold to Bruſh and Hourglaſs makers. Indeed the Boards-Ends themſelves are a great loſs to the King, but the loſs is much advanced by the manner of ſecuring them to the Commiſſioners uſe; every Commiſſioner but one having a Labourer appointed for that Service, and paid out of the Nations Pocket. Theſe Labourers are not under the Check and Command of the Officers of the Yards; their Buſineſs is to carry in their Fardel of Boards-Ends to their Commiſſioners, and then their day's Service is over. And if at any time their Complement of Boards-Ends falls ſhort, then they ſaw the new Staves to pieces to make Ends. Mr. John Bridgar, the Overſeer of the Cooperidg, once found a Labourer at this piece of Service, and immediately diſcharged him; upon which the Commiſſioner made his life uneaſy by an inveterate grudg upon this Account, and at laſt made his Office uſeleſs; and though the Perſon he diſcharged was for ſome time out of Service, the Commiſſioners as a Reward of his Iniquity, prefer'd him to a much better Emyloyment in the Cutting-houſe.

I ſhall not inſiſt here upon the ſmall Perquiſites of Beef and Pork, the common Proviſion for their Families; nor on the deplorable Condition of the King's Bavin-ſtack torn to pieces by theſe Miſcreants, from which 100 in a week have been carried into two of the Commiſſioners Houſes.

Another of their Perquiſites is the Ox-Tongues, which formerly were diſtributed to the Ships of War in number according to the Proportion of Proviſions the Ship received: To every 160 pieces of Beef (each Ox, one with the other, being computed to make ſo many pieces) was allowed a Tongue: But now the Ships have allow'd according to their Rates what number of Tongues the Commiſſioners pleaſe, which Tongues they receive once a Year; the Overplus of Tongues, which is very conſiderable, falling to their own Diſpoſal. At Chriſtmaſs the Lords of the Treaſury and their Officers have ſo many; the Lords of the Admiralty ſo many, Commiſſioners of the Navy ſo many, of the Victualling the reſt; beſides each a Quota of Marrow-bones. Thus theſe kind Creatures make Preſents to one another out of the publick Stock of the Kingdom.

This Office has followed the Example of moſt Offices in the Kingdom, in ſtifling ſuch Complaints as have been brought againſt their Officers; and with good Reaſon too, for the little Thieves are privy to the Embezlements of the great ones; and no Puniſhers are found when all men are guilty. We muſt make no Precedents of this Nature; thus the whole Axle-Tree of our Offices would crack, and the ſetting of a ſmall Star would be portentous of a black Night amongſt them. Time has been when the Victuallers have prefer'd one of their Creatures ſoon after a Complaint againſt him for drinking K. James's Health, and have pardon'd another upon his Confeſſion of Embezlements. But of this I have ſpoke more at large in another Book, as of their buying and ſelling to the Office; ſo that I ſhall no farther urge what has been inſiſted on already, but ſhall leave it to the Conſideration of your Honourable Houſe how far detrimental it muſt be to the Nation to have Officers buy of the King, and ſell to the King at their own Price; and whether this ſort of Practice has not been a main Cauſe of the Deficiency of our Funds? The vaſt Eſtates got by Perſons receiving ſmall Salaries in that Office, are evident proofs of the ſiniſter ways by which ſuch Eſtates have been acquired.

The Commiſſioners and Officers, by making Intereſt for their Friends to ſell in Proviſions, have too often been the Occaſion of bad Proviſions being brought into the Stores; for when Goods are bought by favour and affection, the Quality of the Commodity is not conſidered, but the Gratuity given the Officer is the principal Verb. By this means the Victualling was a long time ſupply'd with Bread made of undue Mixtures, as Horſe-Beans, Peaſe, Rye, Barley, &c. Nay damag'd Peaſe have been bought out of the Office, afterwards dry'd over the Bakers Ovens, ground into Flower, Bread made of it, and ſold into the Office at the ſame price as if made of all Wheat. Theſe mixtures paſt a long time in the Office, to the Advantage both of the Buyer and Seller; but God knows very little to the Advantage of the poor Sailors, who dy'd by Thouſands in Nevil's Squadron in the Weſt-Indies. This Practice was known to, and countenanced by the Commiſſioners, but no ſtop put to it till Mr. Kelly a Bisket-Baker mov'd in that point, when ſome of the Bread was left upon the Bakers hands; and being merchantable only with the King, they knew not how to diſpoſe of it, and therefore apply'd themſelves to others who had Intereſt enough to paſs it into the Office, who bought it of them. I could tell you the Names of the Perſons who bought this ſophiſticated Bread, and ſold it into the Office; but they being Members of your own Houſe, I muſt forbear. I could tell you alſo of another that ſells Wheat to the King, and far from being the beſt, at the beſt price; and of another that ſells Flower to the Office for Sea-Service, which after the Labourers have broken the Lumps in it, is bak'd into Coarſe Bread. Perhaps you never yet heard in a former Parliament, when Wright the Purveyor was accuſed as having got a prodigious Eſtate in the Victualling, and excus'd by Sir Rob. Rich, that Sir Robert at that time ſold him Oxen. You cannot tell, Sir, the many pretty ways we have of obliging ſome ſort of People. 'Tis true we Tarrs only feel the Effect of this Management; we only at preſent are gut-founder'd and poiſon'd: But theſe Storms at Sea may in time reach the Land, your lofty Turrets and ſtately Edifices may feel the fury of the Storm, which may level you into a Condition equal with our ſelves. For how can your antient Conſtitution, the old and approv'd Laws of the Realm, ſubſiſt under ſuch perpetual Lopping? for every Member thus corrupted is a Bough cut off from the Tree of your Conſtitution, which ſuffering ſuch Amputations, will in time wither and ſhrivel to nothing. If you do not reſtrain your own Members, who ſhall ſet Bounds to the Multitude? When ſuch as ſhould be Patrons of our Liberties, and Examples of Juſtice and Honeſty to others, are corrupted by evil and ſiniſter Rewards, they ſtagger the People of the whole Realm; theſe men break down a whole Pole of the Hedg at once, and leave a Gap for thouſands to follow them.

But before I leave this Head, I muſt tender you one Cake more of Horſe-Bean Bisket, which certainly muſt ſtick upon any man's Stomach endow'd with common Principles of Humanity; which is the Lives of many Thouſands of Sailors loſt upon this account, the meaneſt of which did more Service to his Country, than all the Miſcreants that fed them with corrupted Food; they are dead and gone, and their Service to their Country is quite loſt: all you can do is to prevent the like for the future; which I wiſh were done for the common Good of the Realm.

But getting of Eſtates, and not getting wholſom Proviſions for the Sailors, has been the buſineſs of the Victualling. A certain Perſon might well enough ſtick in the Skirts of Admiral Ruſſel about the Mony Impreſted to the Admiral for victualling in the Straits; this Mony was diverted out of the proper Channel of the Victualling, and the other loſt twice as much as the Admiral got by that Bargain, for otherwiſe the Mony had paſs'd thro his Hands; and you know, Sir, the Nations Mony will ſtick to the Officers fingers. This Gentleman needed no ways and means of getting Mony, for every body muſt acknowledg it a comfortable Importance, for a man to be chief Commiſſioner of an Office, and his Son the Treaſurer; for the one to order Payments, and the other to make them, eſpecially in an Office that always paid out of Courſe, as the Victualling has done.

I cannot forbear mentioning one practice in the Victualling, which I think very invaſive on the Liberty of the Subject, which is, their ſelling of Protections to freeborn Engliſh-men; the Labourers and Workmen being firſt to take Protections from their Secretary at 12 d. apiece to ſecure them from the Preſs. The Laws of our Land ſay no man ſhall be kept indurance without Cauſe of Action; and an Engliſh-man has a native Right to his Liberty, and is upon no Account to be under Conſtraint but by power of Law: Now for theſe men to ſell an Engliſh-man that Right he is born to, makes our Government look more like that of Algiers, than the Country of a free and independent People. We have a fine Revolution indeed if we are forc't to purchaſe our Freedom from thoſe that are in our Pay, and wear our Livery. If you ſuffer theſe men to ſell our Liberties for a Shilling, they'l in a little time ſell your Country for a Song.

Had the Commanders of our Navy taken no more Care of their Hounds, than the Victuallers have done of their Sailors, we ſhould have had as great a Mortality amongſt the Dogs as we had amongſt the Men. This is another abuſe upon the Sailors and Nation, to have a Kennel of Hounds aboard Ship to eat up the Sailors Victuals; and the Folk in Spain could think you no otherwiſe than hair-brain'd, to ſend a parcel of Huntſmen Commanders of the Fleet. This was a Dog-trick put upon the poor Sailors, who inſtead of handling of Sails, and hawling the main Tack aboard, were imploy'd in that pretty Diverſion of looking after Hounds: It was one man's buſineſs at leaſt, to fling the Bones over board when the Captain's Dogs had din'd. And who victuall'd the Captain's Poultry, his Sheep, Hogs, &c? Theſe were never born upon the Purſers Book, and yet they had Proviſions when the poor Sailors wanted it.

And now, Sir, I have given you a ſhort View of the Condition of the Navy: do you think under ſuch a Management it will ever anſwer your Ends, or be that ſecurity to the Realm your Honourable Houſe has propoſed? I endeavoured the laſt Seſſions, in my Seamans Opinion of a ſtanding-Army, to ſhew that the Navy of England was our beſt and chief ſecurity; I am of the ſame Opinion ſtill, but muſt needs ſay it can never be ſo under this Management. Our Forefathers found the Advantage of their Shipping, tho made but of Wicker and Hydes; and I hear our old Sailors often talk of one K. Edgar, that uſed in a great Navy of theſe Frigots to coaſt upon this Iſland every Year, by which means he kept his Kingdom in Peace, which before was almoſt every year invaded by Foreigners. Certainly our Fleet is of more advantage to us, and a greater ſecurity to our Iſland than Foreign Alliances; The native ſtrength of our Kingdom, which never yet fail'd us, will always be a better Support to us than any Auxiliary Prop can be. Auxiliaries may as well offend as defend us. Mercenaries ſerve thoſe moſt that pay them beſt. But Nature has plac'd our Country by it ſelf, contiguous to no part of the World; and as we ſtand by our ſelves, we ought to be our ſelf-defenders ſince we are capable of being ſo. But if we'l incapacitate our ſelves, by letting our Shipping, the Bulwarks of the Kingdom, run to ruin, we muſt feel the Effects of our own Folly. We have but one Security left us, and like unthinking Sinners, we neglect the one Thing needful. We have but one ſort of People amongſt us, I mean our Sailors, that are our conſtant and ready help, and thoſe we abuſe after a moſt barbarous and inhuman manner. Are theſe the grateful Returns of our Country to Men that have done us the moſt ſingular Services? Are theſe the Rewards of Valour and Bravery? Are the Sons of the Britiſh Seas thus requited for their good Services to their Country? Tell it not in Gath, publiſh it not in the Streets of Askalon! Let not the Heathen World be acquainted with our Shame! Tell not how our young men have fallen, not by the Sword and deſtroying Bullets, but by bad Proviſions and noiſom Scents! Let not our infamous Annals be handed down to Poſterity, but draw a Sable Curtain over our Enterprizes, to hide them from the view of ſucceeding Ages! Let our Maritime Affairs be buried in the Bottom of the Deep, and their Memory in eternal Silence! 'Tis too hard a Turn of Fate to be the ſcandalous Wonder of this, and of future Ages. If you have any love, Sir, for your Country! if you have any kindneſs for the beſt conſtituted Government in the World! if you have any Bowels of Pity for your Children that are to ſucceed you, employ your Intereſt to revive the Credit of our ſinking Navy; otherwiſe your antient Eſtates may in time be the Poſſeſſion of men of a ſtrange Language, who ſhall diſturb the peaceful Urns of your noble Progenitors, and not carry your Children away Captives, but make them Slaves upon their own Freeholds.