abroad to certifie c. whereas the Parties aggrieved would find of the Officers that are Witnesses of the Chance enough to let them know the truth thereof and not Persons interested in their Cure a Shoar and never saw the Mischance I will say no more but thus That the best Constituted Pollicies that ever yet were in the World nay go so high as God's Church they are Humane and Servants or rather Subjects to time which corrupts and rusts the most durable things and therefore for its perpetuation it must undergo some time of cleansing away the Corruptions after which it may re-assume its pristine Vigour and Beauty So I say if the Navy may undergo a cleansing and scouring so may this also viz. of the right Chanels in the first Act and Institution thereof and pare off all evil by Orders or by Constitutions crept in as by Allowances of Wages and Sallaries to Receivers Pay-masters Clerks Chyrurgeens c. Sale of Lands and Rents and make due Elections and also for due accounting with the Pay-master Although I accuse not yet it is not to be doubted That Corruptions have not failed to be here also and therefore I do heartily recommend it to the Inspection of the Supervisors and Visitors of the same And for an encrease of the Revenue That whereas of late Years the Ships of small Complements seldom have Chaplains to supply the place that those Groats are ordered for the Chest I confess for some time before that Money was begged of the King by some Navy Officers I think as odd a sort of Request as Gift to beg the Money stopt out of Mens Pay to enrich them but now it goes to the Chest to relieve the Limbless and Maimed Sailer from whom it is taken I say no more but that if the Ships which are fitted out only for the Chanel had no Chaplains put on Board them save some in the Flags and only the Allowance of the Chaplains Eighteen Shillings per Month be given to one whom the Captain or majority of Officers shall chuse to read Prayers and do the Offices for the Dead the said Eighteen Shillings per Month added to his other Pay would be a sufficient Recompence for the same but any that goes out of the Chanel should have Chaplains and they able as I said before But in the Chanel there is the greatest Ships and most Money given away and for the least purpose for very seldom have they Opportunities for other than Prayers and that rarely for they are either coming in or going out heaving working or coming to Anchor or bad Weather in the Chanel so that I say the use of such Missions serves to a very little purpose viz. to instruct Men to a Godly Life For the Prayers I spake before of would amount to as much and many poor maimed Men be relieved with the same the which is no small Sums in the great Ships which are in the Channel but when Ships are to go on a Foreign Voyage they should never go without able Men. Secondly To Provide for the Poor Male Children of the Nation That is a great part of the product of the People of the Nation are poor People who are not able to provide for the Fruit of their own Bodies so that in the Reign of the said good Queen Elizabeth was devised and enacted a Law for an equal Tax to be raised from all Estates Personal and Real for the Relief of the Poor and therein prescribed a Method to keep the Poor on work to avoid their being idle and useless in the State that they might not live in Idleness and Looseness at the charge of their Neighbours which part of the Law took so little effect that no Workhouses were used out of a general pity to the Poor which made that defect so that of that Act only one part took effect viz. the poor were provided for in their Wants which fell upon them by Converting the Lands of the Monasticks and Recluses into Lay Possessions on which depended great numbers of People Poor and Idle but for that part which was to provide for their Idleness that they might not live useless and burthensome Members of the State took I say no effect but that they and their Children also bred up in the said Idle Life are generally Heirs of their Parents Poverties by which they are constant sharers of their Neighbours Estates and Labours and are of no more use to the State than by their generally fruitful Procreations and serve to people the Nation of which there is great want considering the Situation Product and Manufact thereof sufficient to afford Maintainance and Employment for five times the number and especially upon the Seas to Employ five times the number which would Employ and Maintain ten times the number on the Land Now that there might be a kind of willing Constraint if I may say so on the People to addict themselves to Maritime Lives which might produce the effect of producing Seamen and encreasing our Maritime strength If there were a Law enacted that every poor Boy of a Parent that receives Alms from the Parish shall at the Age of Fourteen Years be brought to the Sheriff of every County with an Indenture made by a Justice of Peace and bound to the King until he comes to the Age of Twenty four Years as the former Law directs which Sheriff shall cause a Pass to be made and convey them from Parish to Parish at the Countrys Charges to London to a general Hospital viz. at Greenwich the great new House that stands void there it might soon be fitted into an excellent general Hospital where should be Officers appointed to keep them viz. a Superannuated Captain to Command the House a Purser to Victual them with Petty-Warrants from the Victualling-Office a Boatswain Gunner and Carpenter all Superannuated Officers each to take a Squadron of them under their care to go with them and Employ them in the Yard at Deptford to serve the Caulkers and such Work as Boys may do and to have Junke to the House and pick Oakam there and dry it ready for all the Yards and some of them that are fit to be taught there to Write and Read and learn Navigation to be divided and ordered into Squadrons by the said Captain and lodged in Beds and Hammocks as if on Board and also at every one of the King's-Yards let there be a proportionable Hospital provided to keep a convenient number of them to be sent from the general Hospital from time to time as they shall dispose of them viz. all the King's Officers Warranted that have Servants allowed them if there be Servants in these Hospitals should take of them to be Turn'd-over with their Indentures and bound to them by the Commissioner of the place who shall serve them in the full of their Indenture made to the King also at the general Hospital should be a Commissioner of the Navy whose particular Station shall be
by the Lord High Admiral whose Office is to execute all Orders from the Admiralty for fitting out of Ships what allowance of Men the Unrigging and laying them Up Building and Repairing of Ships or Houses they direct the manner of doing it they represent to the Admiralty the Quality and Condition of Ships Houses Docks c. the Qualities and Conditions of all Officers for Preferment viz. Warrant-Officers if not some Commissioned In fine they represent the whole Affair of the Navy to the Admiralty and receive Orders from them which they put and cause to be put in Execution by making By-orders grounded upon them They Contract and Pay for Assign-Bills for Payment for all Stores Wages and Victuals and all the Expence of the Navy and Audite all the Accompts and avouch all the Payments to the Treasurer by a Ledger which Ledger the Pay-Master of the Navy for the Treasurer passes into the Exchecquer every Year which undergo the Examination and Casting again of the Auditor of the Exchecquer which Ledger contains the Treasurer's Debtor and Creditor Accompt which Examination being over the Treasurer hath a Quietus out of the Exchecquer for his Acquitment But yet in general these aforesaid Commissioners are of very great Trust for they so negotiate the Affair of the Navy that not an Officer or Person in it but what comes under their Cognizance Their Office is partly Military and partly Civil-Military for they Execute or Direct all Councils of War which in the Roads or Rivers where no Admiral is they are Deciders of all Controversies between Man and Man concerning Debts to be defaulted out of their Pays They have Power to mulct any Man's Pay for Neglects and Offences committed They examine into all Men's Facts the lesser to punish by Pecuniary Mulcts and the greater to represent to the Admiralty and in the Interim to suspend them from the Service and in fine to do Justice between the King and the Subject To their Commissions from the Admiralty is generally added Commissions of the Peace for those Counties where it s thought the King's Affairs will lead them whereby they are enabled to Act in Civil Matters by doing Justice no any appertaining to the King's Affairs to decide Matters of Justice between any in the Yards or in their Travels commit any to Prison for Burglary Murther or Petty-larcony and may sit on the Bench at Assizes or General Quarter-Sessions And in fine may do any thing that a Justice of the Peace can do within the Limits of his Commission And for the Military he is the very Image and Deputy of the Lord High Admiral to put in Execution the Power which the Admiralty delegates unto him And if he be President of a Council of War he sits by virtue of a Commission from the Lord High Admiral and as his Proxy In fine It is a Place of very great Trust and Business and requires Men of Knowledge Wisdom Justice and Experience of the Naval Proceedings and of Courage also and Conduct for they are many times called to Sea to wear Flags such as have been made out of the Commanders at Sea Knowledge and Experience of the Navy to soon decide any Controversie arising between Officers concerning their respective Duties else the Officers will be apt to put Novelties and to raise Scruples if they know the Commissioner is not able to decide them whose Umpirage ought to be absolute in any of the Yards also when he is alone But when there is a Board it may be appealed to the Board but if the matter be not very great and grievous it were better to abide by his Umpirage For the Others will not care to meddle within his Precinct concerning any one in the Yard or Ordinary except they do belong to any Ship in Extraordinary And though there is a Captain who will assume the Power yet a Commissioner may grant Relief to a Wronged Person against the will of his Captain if the Ship be within the Harbour But of late Years the Commissioners of the Navy have been eclipsed and lessened by the Captains and the Rules of the Navy and the Antient Customs much broken For the Authority and Business of some have been stretched to that length that they themselves know not the end but of that I shall speak when I come to their particular Post As for a Commissioner of the Navy I have known him to bear very great Authority in the Harbour and at Pay and have done great Justice to particular Men who have been wronged by their Commanders unjust and merciless Spleen so that the grieved Officer and Mariner have rejoyced when they have come where a Commissioner was who would take the Captain to Task for his Inhumane or Unjust Dealings and reprimand him severely and if worthy would transfer the Matter to the Admiralty where the Commissioners Representation should be heard to the Others disadvantage And if a Ship came into the Harbour and the King's Affairs stood in need of hands he would not scruple to order one Ship 's Company to work on another to clear her for the Dock Rigg Re-fit and what not by which the Service might be furthered But as I said before the Case is much altered and the Hinges of that Affair quite Lame they will not move any way except you would have them go Backwards But I will not meddle with Particulars lest I should come within the Account of an Informer the which is reckon'd a thing of great Odium in the Navy-Affairs But I greatly admire that the Officers of the Upper-Rank should brand any one that lets them know of any fowl Fact with the Odium of an Informer and seemingly nay openly treats him unkindly It has seemed strange unto me and looked like the unjust Steward who not only Wronged his Master himself but shewed others to do it or looks like a Great Man's Steward who discourages or is angry with any one that comes to him and tells him That such an one hath cousened his Master or stollen his Goods of which he is the Head Steward what might be the Reason that generally in the Navy-Office and through the Practice of the Navy one that Informs of Cousenage or Theft in the Navy is stiled with an Odium and generally hated and discountenanced as also a Ticket-Buyer or Ticket-Monger as they in hatred term him and is looked upon as some ill Office done by him But in my mind these Two Persons are the King's Friends the former to deter Thieves and Unjust Men from their Evil Practices and the latter I shall speak to when I shall arrive at the Ticket-Office But these Treatments are very strange to me and seem as if there were a general Agreement against them as Evil Men and not fit to negotiate in the Navy But I shall say no more at Present but hide my Face with Shame and follow my Discourse of the Commissioners who are of that weight in this Aflair that if they be right and
to Oversee the same and by his Clerk enter all the Names in a general Entry-Book and dispose them to their Places Yards c. keeping a fair Ledger of their Names Places Whence Time Whither Disposed and When and also shall at their Matriculation or Entrance cause on one of their Arms to be made a Mark in the Skin with Powder that may never be gotten out viz. a K or what other Letter may be thought good to signifie whose Servants they are in case they should desert their Service that it should be a damage sufficient to any one that entertains them to deter them from it I do herein but mark out the rough Lines of the Projection which must be amply Polished by the Act of Parliament and by the Admiralty to methodize it It would be too tedious for me here beside it would be Presumption in me to light a Candle to the Sun I will only hint a few things necessary thereto viz. if such Orders were That no Merchant Ship shall go to Sea but shall receive of the said Commissioner to every Six or Ten Persons the Ship shall carry one of these Boys they to bring their Certificate for their clearing as from the Custom-house so from the Commissioner of this Affair and at their return to give the said Commissioner an Account of what is become of the Boys and return them and pay or Account with the Commissioner for the time they had served them at the rate of so many Shillings per Month as they are Years old and if the Commissioner and Master does agree then he to take him for the King's Term or else the Commissioner upon the receipt of his Wages out of which he is to allow for Cloaths in the Voyage not exceeding Five Shillings per Month to order him elsewhere Cloathing him with the remainder and dispose of him without further Charge to the King if possible So that after the time he is so put abroad whatsoever Money he clears at his return he must have an Account Debtor and Creditor kept for him so that he must either clear so much as the King hath been at Charges with him at five Pence per diem which Account he must clear before he receives a Certificate from the said Commissioner that he is Manumised or cleared the Service And in the mean time if he serves any other Master and produces not the said Certificate of his Manumisement the said Master is chargeable with the said Wages all except so much as he hath received in Cloaths which must not exceed five Shillings per Month and what he shall have gained beyond his Charges should also be justly paid him at his Manumisement Moreover all the King's Officers that shall take them for the whole Term should pay for one Boy Ten Pounds and receive them at Sixteen Years Old which Moneys should be stopt out of his Pay for every one that wants Servants hath not Ten Pounds to lay down which Servants shall be paid Wages by the King to his Master for every Year they shall serve of the Indenture so many Shillings per Month as they are Years Old which Servants will be better to the Officers than such as they can get themselves for they never need fear the running away of them if they run they are to be found easily by their Marks that they cannot deceive any one that Entertains them the said Officers having the same Right to gain them again with their Wages for their absent time as the King hath for such as he puts abroad to Merchant-men The same Privileges to all Carpenters Caulkers Rope-makers c. that shall take any of them So that every one will covet to take the King's Servants for the certainty of them and they well consequently prove better Servants knowing they cannot shift their Services And also there should be a Respect had to them in the Service during their Indentures by the Commissioners to see them not wronged by their Masters And also at the end of their Indentures or before according to their Deserts they should be preferred Now every Parish that hath not one Boy to send to the King should be joyned to the next adjacent Parish for the relief of their Poor who sends above two Boys Yearly as aforesaid this to be done by the Justices of the Peace in their respective Divisions and every Overseer and Church-warden of every Parish shall at every petty Sessions at one set time in the Year produce to the said Justices a Recept from the Sheriff of the Boys delivered the Year past with the Names and Ages of the said Boys and also the said Sheriff shall at the passing his Accounts for his Year deliver into the Exchequer a true Roll or List in Parchment of the Boys sent that Year containing the Age Name and Place of Abode of the said Boys and when and whither sent with the Commissioner's Receipt for them which should be transacted by a Post Letter of Advice to the Commissioner when he sends which should be answered by the Commissioner whether received or not In the said Roll given into the Exchequer their Names should be set Alphabetically for easie finding them which should be there filled up and kept safe to be examined by any one that shall enquire after any Boy viz. their Parents Relations Friends c. who may have liberty to redeem them out of the Service paying so much for every Year the King has been at Charges with them by Methods ordered for some may have Estates fallen to them or Parents And also once every Year the Commissioner at the General Hospital shall by his Clerk transmit into the Exchequer a fair Ledger Book of all the Boys entred and sent out that Year from whence received and to whom bound out that a good Account may be had thereof when desired Also the Justices of the Peace at the Binding the Boys to the King should take care that he binds none that are not sound in Body and for his guidance therein should receive a Presentment signed by the Minister Church-wardens and Overseers of the Poor of that Parish containing the Age Name and place of Abode and soundness of Body and Limbs of the said Boy and that they desire may be received into the King's Service according to the said Act and if it may be let the Parent if alive or nearest of Kin sign it also I say I do only hint the matter and will hereto add That the Benefits hereby would be in a greater degree than I can set forth and be of little purpose to endeavour it would only serve to lengthen my Discourse and yet come short of every Intelligent Man's Reasons which they may collect out of their more large Speculations Wherefore I only affirm That within Ten nay Seven Years would be added to our Naval Strength many Thousands of good and able Mariners and Artificers and would be an ever-living Seminary thereof and for their constant
Subs are to be minded that he nor any of his Instruments shall be negligent in their attendance but be ready to make Dispatch in their Issues and not to be morose and short in their Answers and prolong the time in effecting the Import of the Notes and Bills that are signed to them by the Master-Builder his Assistant Master-Attendant or Clerk of the Survey for they all sign upon them respectively but that Boatswains Carpenters c. must give long attendance for Dispatches protracted for Lucre many great Evils ensuing to the Affair thereby Yet the Commissioner is commonly to and again and if he be sharp sighted and willing to give hinself the trouble will apply a seasonable Spur as well to them as all other slow Proceedings which is a great branch of his Office to quicken spur and enliven the whole Affair within his Jurisdiction Fifthly The Master-Attendant is an Officer of Business and Trust for transporting of Ships in and out of the Harbor taking care for laying the Ships all that enter the Port at safe moreings that they damnifie not each other do not break loose c. to take care to unstore ungun unrigg and unballast them and bring them to and from the Dock and heave them into the Dock and out provide Balast and all manner of Rigging Cables Sails Anchors and Cordage for them suitable and answerable Stores for their Voyage And on their Returns again to survey the Boatswain's remains and take care for the laying them up for Preservation the Clerk of the Survey being the Surveyor's Instrument for Surveying the Stores of as well the Boatswain's Stores under the Master-Attendant his Oversight as also the Carpenters Store's under the Master-Builder's Oversight passing their Accounts by the Vouches signed by the Builders and Master-Attendant of their Remains and of the Captains their expence at Sea The Master-Attendant also commands and directs the Labourers of the Yard orders the cutting and making of Rigging at the Rigging House appoints and directs the Ordinary that is the Boatswain's Servants and extraordinary Men born on the Ships in Harbour and takes notice of the respective Persons under his Command of their either Neglect or Attending their Duty All which he performs by his Substitutes as by the Boatswains of Ships for the Ordinary and when he detaches Labourers to work on Float to clear Ships heave Balast c. And for the Labourers the Boatswain of the Yard although warranted works them yet subordinate to the Master-Attendant The said Yard-Boatswain also directs the Teams of draught Horses for drawing of Timber c. and heaving it out of Vessels by Labourers also all manner of Stores received in and cleaning of the Docks and Yards providing of Shovels Pickaxes Hand-spikes Ropes Blocks and all Instruments to doe the said work and for heaving in and out Ships at the Docks The Master-Attendant also appoints Pilots for carrying Ships in and out of the Harbour and signs their Bills for it as also the Huyes and Lighters hired for carrying of Balast His business is of large Extent and he ought to be a Man of good Knowledge as of the Practice of the Navy so of the Shoals and Tides of the Harbour a Man of Care Industry Courage Temperance Justice and Honesty and well encouraged and supported in his Commands So ought also the Checque Builders c. in their respective Stations appointed by the Commissioner of the Place and also of the Board Whereas if he be void of Knowledge great Damages will ensue to Ships in their Transportations and Ridings he not being acquainted with the Shoals and setting of Tides and the lyings of Moreings in the Harbour the elder Boatswain indeed may be his Guide who officiates under him but they will be apt to be cross and think they are wronged of their Birthright whose opinion I cannot condemn Neither can I think it either just expedient or safe to the King's Service to put a stranger who never served nor knew the Practice of the Navy over the heads of able Men who have spent their whole days in the said Service and therefore I cannot forbear to say here as I have else where said in the Preferment and Encouragement of Clerks For it is hard measure that a Man shall be neglected and put by Preferment not for any Inability but that he hath not made Interest enough or is not willing to down with his dust although he has served his Life long and is a Man of much Experience and Merit which sort of Men as I have elsewhere said are Modest and backward to offer to buy as I there called it their Fetters One thing I have forgotten to hint before the which perhaps may not be unfitly applyed here it being an Observation I have made in the Navy viz. That it is the Opinion and Practcie of many not the best Officers that they will bid the highest rate for Advancement concluding that when attained they are arrived into the Land of Canaan viz. Rest but not of Promise to them but was promised perhaps to more meritorious Men but that their Money and Interest came short yet of Rest they are resolved to make it concluding that their Profits being encreased their Cares should be abated And therefore they do resolve to live quiet and secure and act that part that shall procure them that and let the World go round if their Policy fail not their sleep shall be sound and let the inferiour be industrious and full of cares But I think it is altogether unsuitable to the Mind of a good Man or Christian a good Officer or Leige-man to his King and Country and also should think the higher his Office the more his Cares not only in the sight of good Men but required by God For the Sword of Justice was never designed by him to be put into the hands of one who will sheath it and play the Truant Wherefore I am well assured that it would contribute to the Welfare and Promotion of the Glory and Strength of the Navy and Nation and be most agreeable to the Dictates of God Almighty to let Justice be plentifully administred through the whole Series of the Affair that the least Member thereof may gather enough for the Expence of his Family of that Heavenly Dew or Manna which is the Emanations of Heaven upon Man and he that hath Justice in him hath although but weakly one of the Cardinal Attributes of God I will end this Paragraph with a Declamation against the Injustice of some years past To dispose of the places of the biggest Ships unto young uncapable Men that never served in the Affair nor I beleive never will when need requires it but like the Drones in the Bee-hive live at home and spend the Honey and the publick Service serve only them Nay one Employment hath not been enough but two or three of the best I mean of the middle Stations of the Navy I say two or more have
certain Costs the King shall be at for the Maintainance of his Maritime Strength and not fall under the power of any Interest to make it cost more and with surety and safety performed as by the Contractors is made appear to be is a Condition most desirable and requisite for the Navy to be constituted and setled in But if it does appear to the Wise and Knowing That it would better answer the ends aforesaid to be managed by the King's Commissioners then to that end I will make a few steps that way and premise as in the Heads aforesaid That it does consist of a Comptroller a Surveyor and a Treasurer all resident at the Office except an Emergency calls them to the Ports to avoid which there is needful to be an Out-rider or Riding Surveyor whose business should be to visit the Ports and Fleet and to enliven and quicken the Affair and spur all the remote Instruments to the diligent and careful performance of their Duties in their respective Stations and to mark all Errors and to give account thereof to the Board for Redress That Provisions be not damnified by tossing them to and from Ships and suffer great Damages and Demurrages of the Vessels by leaving them unspent whiles they may be preserved and that the Instruments do not make slow and slack Dispatches under small pretences for Lucre and study chiefly their own Profits or to damnifie any one that negotiates with them by undue and unpracticable Proceedings and Delays of Payments the which would bring a general Disreputation on the Action and cause it to be the more chargeable to the King and is also extremely hurtful to the Affair Wherefore Fifthly The Clerk-Accomptant of Receipts Issues and Returns should be a Man of great Abilities Honesty and Justice rightly to state all Matters to the Board and to pass all the Accompts under the Approbation and Allowance of the Navy-Board that they might be engrossed into the Treasurer of the Navy his Ledger and exhibited to the Exchequer so that Estimates might be made upon all Exigencies that may offer The Clerk of the Actions of the Board ought to be a good Clerk and Secretary to dispatch good Instructions and Reprimands in proper Terms and to preserve all Precedents and Orders in good Method for Review when needful The Clerk of the Cutting-house ought to be sworn to do his Office justly and faithfully as also to see that his Packers under him be Sworn and do execute their Office truly and justly to mark the Contents faithfully and right The Clerk of the Cooperidge also to be Sworn to see the due Gages put on all Casks for Beer The Salters under the Clerk of the Cutting-house his Inspection ought to do their Office carefully and painfully and the Boat-takers and Wharfingers to be diligent to provide for the Transport of the Provisions where ordered and to give them quick Dispatches also to receive the Returns carefully and to preserve and return them to the respective Offices where they are to be reposited for Repairs Re-package Disposal and Ordering and not to let Vessels lie by with Demurrage for want of Deliverance to the Loss and Discomfort of the Owners and hinderance of the Affair In which there is no small matter to be considered in the doing Right and Justice to the Brewers Bakers and to the Cheese-mongers c. according to their Contracts and to the Owners of Vessels for their Fraights and Demurrages In which if it be not rightly and exactly performed the Commissioners cannot easily do Justice and judge aright between the King and them according to their Contracts and Agreements for Abatements or Allowances c. It is a great point of the Surveyor's Business to judge and determine of Defects by himself or to choose two Men Sworn thereto as their Contracts respectively shall intimate and direct Sixthly The Agents and Store-keepers abroad ought to do all the same thing that is done at London but by the Orders and Directions of the Commissioners at the General Office for Victualling at London the said Agent buys Provisions contracting for the same to be served in as the Season offers and as he hath Directions from the Commissioners with whom he keeps a continual Correspond and without whom or their Directions he can do nothing of moment He draws his Bills for Money on them and receives Money from some Receivers of Taxes as the Commissioners aloft can get Assignments from the Treasurer of the Navy and he from the Lords of the Treasury on parts of the Revenue He indents with the Pursers he superinspects the whole Affair of Victualling at that Port if there be no Commissioner or Riding Surveyor at the place which in all times of Action extraordinary there should be and whensoever any one is there then he supersedes him The said Agent is a person placed in great Trust for he has the Oversight of all even as a Commissioner aloft has and indeed his Office imports all that theirs does viz. For the prudent managing and quick dispatching only it lies not at his door to take care that there be sufficient Provisions at the Port or Monies to supply all Emergencies he is only to give the Commissioners constant and timely Account and to do and see put in Execution all the Commissioners Orders and Advices that he from time to time shall receive from them and not to give any Allowances for Damages or allow any thing of moment for Demurrages Casual Accidents or Mistakes without advising them first and receive ample Instructions from them for it And in fine he is an Image or Deputy of the Commissioners yet more properly a Husband or as the name more properly signifies an Agent to act or do yet as a Substitute to and put in by the said Commissioners unto whom he is only accountable and no where or otherwise concerned than as his either general Instructions or particular Orders direct him His general Instructions ought to prescribe him his Methods in general for supplying of Ships wants by what Vouchers or Warrants he should order Deliveries whose Orders he must obey without appealing to them for Advice and whose not and whatsoever he hath not in his general Instructions he ought to advise the Victualling Board therewith and expect their Orders therein He is of principal moment at the Port I say he being Resident and in the absence of a Commissione is to cause the whole Affair to move by his Dictates and gives his Orders to the Store-keeper for issuing and receiving and also for Deliveries to Brewers Bakers and Coopers c. And next under him is the Store-keeper who is warranted by the Commissioners also but Sub to the Agent He receives and issues by the Dictates and Orders of him He takes care for the Cutting Salting Packing and Stowing of the said Provisions and the Transporting them on Board the Ships receiving them back as Returns and taking care for Sifting Repacking Overhalling and preserving them
Visit all the Sea Ports Rivers and Creeks of every Parish and place where Maritime People Inhabit as Seamen Fishermen Hoymen Ferrymen Bargemen c. within their several Counties and there shall send for or summon before them the Church-wardens and Overseers of the Poor who shall give them account of what such Men live within their Precincts their true Names Sir-names Ages and Aboads which said Accounts shall by the said Vice-Admiral be drawn into a fair List and sent unto the said Office and there be entred into the said Books Now the Vice-Admiral might by his Warrant send to the said Parishes to send in to him by such a day appointed at a most convenient place for their ease the said Account and in case any shall neglect the said Duty or Conceal any Man that hath used the said Practice and place for the space of Six Months from between the Ages of Eighteen and Sixty that are not worth one Hundred Pounds clear when Debts paid or in such sort as the Lord High Admiral shall direct his Warrant to the Vice-Admiral the Nature and Substance of the Vice-Admirals to contain the substance of the High-Admirals which Returns or Presentments least they prove to be false by Concealments and Partialities they should be required upon Oath After which if the said Vice-Admiral shall upon his Visits find false or partial he should send to the Quarter Sessions next his Information of that Officer's Perjury under Hand and Seal to the Clerk of the Peace who should file the said Information against that Church-warden or Overseer of the Poor and proceed against him in behalf of the King as for Perjury and punished by the Judgment of the Bench. If the Laws extant are not sufficient to impower the Lord High Admiral to do these things as here mentioned there might be a Clause added to his Power as the King and Parliament shall think meet for the better governing of the Maritime Affairs by which Methods aforesaid being duly observed and kept it would cost the King for keeping the said Office but a small matter which would soon be saved in the great Expences for Pressing of Men beside the great Abuses done in the Countrys be prevented if the Vice-Admirals be good Men. Also if the said Law were That if any Parish shall Conceal any one between the said Sessions and summoned and not bring him forth That for every Man so Concealed and proved by the Oath of one Man That he was in the Parish by the space of Twenty four Hours and not seized by any of the Parish then the Vice-Admiral's Deputy shall take Distress upon the said Church-wardens or Overseers of the Poor for Ten Shillings for every such Man and for every time so Concealed to be born by the Parish equally out of the Parish Rates I only add That if the Lord High Admiral 's Warrants to all the High Sheriffs of England that they do send their Warrants to the Constables of Hundreds Wapentakes c. and they to the Petty-Constables or Tything-men That they should make a like Presentment viz. The Constable of the Hundred should deliver it in every Assizes or Goal-delivery which Presentment the Petty-Constables should be sworn to the truth thereof before some Justice of the Peace before the High Constable receiveth it and then he should from thence draw one Presentment for the Hundred to give in at the Assizes and say as from the Petty-Constables under their Oaths thus presenteth out of which Presentments the Clerk of the Assizes shall give the Admiralty the needful Account at the end of every Circuit there to be entered into the Office aforesaid For many Men when War is do betake themselves to live with their Friends in the Inlands and follow their Occupations and at the end of the Wars do return to their Maritime Lives or wait to make slips into Merchant-men but this being duly executed by Vice-Admirals Custom-houses and High-Sheriffs and trinsmitted unto such an Office as before mentioned and there well digested into Method and duly kept so it would enable the Lord High Admiral at all times to give the King his Council and Parliament when required a true and certain state of the Kingdom as to Maritime Strength and also enable him to collect them from all Places in little Time less Charges and less Trouble to the People in their Disquiet of the Country So there might be made good Estimates of the Increase or Decrease of our Maritime Strength at any time to be gathered out of the Ledger-Books of the said Office and only Communicable to the Admiralty and yet farther at the King 's or perhaps the Lord High Admiral 's Order Proclamation might be made upon the Exchange or put out in Gazattes Requiring all Merchants Owners of Ships c. to signifie by their Letter to the said Office where their Ships were by their last Advices and whither bound and where expected next with some Estimate of the Ships number of Men Burthen and some value of Cargo that care proportionably might be taken for their Protection and Preservation the which may often prevent the sudden Seisures of the Subjects and Wealthy Effects of the Nation for it is not possible that Merchants c. can be privy to the Intrigues of States which ought to have their Paths in Secret and Select Councils As for the Methodizing these things I do not project but only hint the Basis and Foundations thereof that the Superstructures might be raised thereon to perfection by the Skilful Architectors of the Wise Legislators and State Politicians of the Nation IX The Measures necessary to be taken in our Present Wars with the French and in point of Balancing of Trade for the future And First For War it being our present Condition IT would be an extraordinary means to Facilitate our Desires if we did bid at a large rate for the whole subjecting them in the West-Indies and for the doing of which we should have an especial eye of Intelligence whensoever they shall send any Succours thither and if the strength of ours already sent were not sufficient to perform it in December next a sufficient Supply with Land-men and all Military Provisions with Artillery should be sent for the effecting it and never upon making Peace should they be restored to any Command there I mean in any part of America So would our Collonies thrive undisturbed and be a mighty help to our Navigation and as much an Abatement to them For the whole Commands of those Parts being once brought under one Interest it would be like a well-twisted Cord made up of many Threds although some thereof were not of any strength of themselves yet by their near conjunction and twisting together with the others all being twisted one way acquireth a considerable strength For the Interest of the French in those parts have of late Years thriven to a great degree not only to the Extirpating of us out of St. Christophers
or laid out upon some Publick Work-houses for that same Manafact by some Person that that Hundred shall present at a General Quarter-Sessions to be intrusted by them for that purpose And in case some Hundreds are not fitly situated for the said Manufact or that they do refuse or neglect to present a Person to carry on the said Work at the said Quarter-Sessions That then the said Justices of the said County at the said Quarter-Sessions may cause the said Money to be paid unto a Person of some adjacent Hundred in the said County who is as before said duly presented to employ the same to the said Manufuct And whereas I have in this foregoing Discourse for the increase of Maritime People which by a sort of willing Constraint are addicted to Maritime Lives by taking all the Male Children of Poor and Indigent Parents and Binding them to the Sea c. So I here project That all the Families of poor Parents that are not able to maintain them be also bound unto these Persons who are intrusted with the Stock and there to be imployed in the said Manufact until they shall be of the Age as is directed for the Binding of poor Children in a former Act For the maintaining the Poor And whatsoever Parish or Tithing shall not present one Boy as before mentioned or one Girl as here specified at a certain Petty-Sessions held for that District every Year That the Justices of the Peace of the said Division or District shall present the said Neglect at the next General Quarter-Sessions and the said Bench shall make an Order of Sessions to lay that Parish to the next adjacent Parish for to help maintain their Poor which Parish doth present above two Boys or Girls as is before expressed the said Justices of the Peace of each Division shall for that purpose at every General Quarter-Sessions give in a List or Roll to the Clerk of the Peace of what such Children are every Year bound out which shall be Entered on a Roll of Record to be kept by the Custos Rotulorum of that County which Roll should be duly called over at one set Quarter-Sessions in every Year and that Affair duly Setled I do not herein endeavour to Dictate or Methodize the way in particular for the Act of Parliament but I do only hint it Rough-hue it out to be Regulated and Polished by the Skilful Again Those Men Intrusted with the said Stocks might be injoyned to find Work for the Aged or Decrepid of any Parish from whence the said Stock was Collected viz. Such Aged as craveth Alms of the said Parish and the Rates and Natures of the said Works might be setled and agreed by the next Justice of the Peace the Overseer of the Poor to take care for the same to see it be done by the said Justice for the Poor that they be not too hardly dealt with by that Person And if the said Poor cannot do enough of the said Work at that said Rate for their Maintainance then the said Justice to order how much more the Overseer shall allow them towards their Subsistance by which Idleness may be prevented Notwithstanding there hath been a former like Act for every Parish to erect a Work-house for their Poor yet that took little effect for that the Parishes are often too little for to erect a House for Work and no manner of Work of Manufact was set on foot so that that Act proved generally to be of none effect in that point A brief Summary of the whole VVork AS God Almighty hath made Fire Air Earth and Water the wonderful Works of his own Hands in the Creation of the World and therein hath put Man and given him a Dominion over all the Creatures he hath been pleased to furnish his Immense Globe with and given them all living Breath in Common yet unto Mankind hath he given a more particular and inestimable Gift viz. a Portion of his Holy and Divine Spirit that by Wisdom and Justice he might Rule and Govern the same To which he has added by the Writing of his own Finger Laws of his Almighty's Invention to be a Guide and Pattern for him And also more particularly Inspired Princes Prophets Priests Evangelists Apostles and Teachers to promulgate his Will and yet more that there might nothing be lacking to compleat Man's happiness in this World and in the World to come viz. to all Eternity and be left without all manner of excuse he hath sent from his own Bosome his only begotten Son the Heir apparent and Lord of the everlasting Inheritance and given him to be a Sacrifice to satisfie his Justice to wipe out all the Stores of the Sins of all Mankind and not only so but to amplifie and confirm the Doctrines of those holy Men hath promised he will continue his Holy Ghost to guide Man to the World's End and preserve him from the implacable hatred the Devil hath unto him Yet notwithstanding all these helps Mankind by the instigation of the Evil one together with his own evil will and affections falls into the abominable Sin of Pride the very sin that moved God to Disband and Expel out of his Heavenly Mansion some of his Glorious Hoast I say it is this sin of Pride by seeking for Dominion over others is the cause of those great Devastations of Countries of Blood shed of Men the one endeavouring by Policy and Strength to gain the other's Right not caring for God's Laws promulgated by those holy orders of Men aforesaid or by God Incarnate Wherefore it is of absolute necessity for all good Men by Christian Policy and united Strength to resist the Proud for God giveth Grace to the humble to be content with their own and to defend it yet whensoever right is put into the Balance of War God giveth it an Issue according to his Divine purpose by which Issue he transfers Rights from the one to the other Now there is not only a right of Dominion belonging to Countries by their Divisions and Subdivisions of Land but also of the Seas for every Country bordering upon the Ocean hath a particular Dominion in the Seas viz. to govern it and to keep and preserve it from Pirates and Robbers that Men might pass in safety about their Lawful Occasions and also to take the Product thereof as Fish c. as God hath endued it with Now the Dominion of the Narrow Seas being from antient History always allowed and granted upon all Treaties and Conditions of Peace made between all the bordering Nations to be the proper Right of the Imperial Crown of England God having placed it an Island in the Deucalidan Ocean which makes the Narrow Seas and stored it with Ports and Rivers convenient for the receiving of Ships beyond any other Nation in Europe and furnishing it with Timber and Iron of their own Product for the building of Ships and also a People sufficiently apt for the same as it were pointing unto
us with his Almighty Finger to Rule and Govern in it which our former Princes have done without sparing Blood or Treasure to accomplish it But now the French King maketh very large Efforts to the bereaving us of that Right and Pirating Roving and Ravaging in it he having been increased in Shipping Navigation and Wealth by our late Impolitick Proceedings First by permitting the uneven balance of Trade with us And Secondly By directing or suffering the changing the ancient and Expeditious Methods of the Discipline and Government of the Navy Royal putting it into the hands of designing Projectors to enrich themselves only confounding the Affair exhausting much Treasure to multiply great Ships of little use to our purpose and neglecting of lesser Ships which we now want discouraging and disanimating Warranted bnd Standing Officers Mariners and Seamen by blind-folding Pretences of strict observance of Duty needless and from preserving the Mariner from being rooked of his Pay by having liberty to dispose of it as he pleases for which purpose he hath not been allowed an open Market for the same on Shoar to bring it into Money into his Pocket nor yet on Board allowed a Market where more than one Seller for Cloathing and other of their Wants which Methods I say have greatly disanimated all the Maritime People under a Commission Officer And I fear by the Novels introduced have brought Distraction and Confusion on it to the great impeding thereof Wherefore it is high time if it be not too late to awaken out of this Lethargy to recover our Dominion Honour and Prowess before it be past recovery now in this instant War with France to effect which the Nation must not spare Blood nor Treasure although it prove a Work of time and great Maritime Expences must be continued until it be gained without which no lasting Peace or Happiness can be expected for us to enjoy for the Sword being drawn by so many hands to carve themselves a share out of this said Maritime Dominion we are not able to judge how Sides may be taken or with whom we may happen to deal with before the Seas may enjoy a setled Peace Wherefore I emplore the King and Estates in Parliament to put the Navy into a posture of great and constant defence to dispoyl this Common Enemy of all his Commands or Collonies in the West-Indies and his Navigation of Fishing on the Banks of New-found-land but first to put the Navy into its former Methods of Expedition near unto what was practised when England did such Braveries at Sea as before spoken of and by expugning all the Novel and hurtful invented Intricacies and retain only the Laudable which is the principal and proper Work of the Lord High Admiral or Lords Commissioners for executing the said Office by appointing and choosing Experienced Wise Just Valiant and Religious Commissioners of the Navy Flag Officers Captains Commissioned and Warranted Officers all well approved in their Principles for the maintaining of the Monarchical Government of this Nation both in Church and State as by the Laws thereof established and to lay by all Vncapable and Irreligious Persons unjust Cowards Private-Interest-makers Trickers Dissemblers Designers Party-makers Debanched and Disloyal Persons to the said Government and by inviting and incouraging all good Men qualified as aforesaid and setling of Just Safe Expeditious and well experienced Methods in the Government thereof affixing and establishing Rewards and Preferments independant upon private Interest Bribes or immediate Superiors Commanding and also giving them ample and full Instructions for the performance of their respective Duties in doing which they shall be safe from violence or wrong done them by their Superiors not suffering Methods and Instructions to be either leapt over or broken like Cobwebs and they left to Despotical and Tyrannical Power I say the King Commissions the Lords of the Admiralty under him and by his Dictates unto them from time to time to Govern Fight and Manage the said Navy and to perform which they Constitute Commissioners of the Navy to negotiate under them and by their Dictates and Approbation to prepare and provide Ships Men Stores and all Necessaries Provisions Moneys c. and to Dispose Account and Order the same as Deputies of the Lord High Admiral having each his distinct Class or Order to act in yet a certain number thereof confirms all Actions viz. three of them whereof one is needful to be the Comptroller him unto whose particular Office the said Matters do more immediately relate whose Clerks in each Office are under their respective Inspections and Directions for Dispatches to keep them to their Duties duly observing their Errors in Methods and Protraction in Dispatches yet not wholly confined to their respective Offices but to mark all Errors in all others nay of all Degrees and Orders of the Navy under the Lord High Admiral but if they are designed to live at ease and let Business slide and do Justice as the unjust Judge did because he was wearied by the Complainant that he could not rest and no otherwise If he let Officers do their Dispatches at their Leisures Secretaries Clerks c. do most of the business I say if their Actions are with too much Grandeur and Deliberation and promulgate their Pleasures at too great distances and through too many Doors And if they move in the Affairs as some Country Justices doe to do Justice to their Country for at their procuring the Commission it was but to give them Authority to punish those that offended themselves or Friends in their Domestick Rights or slighted their Grandeur but to serve their Countrey or take pains to distribute Justice to relieve the oppressed and restore Men to lost Rights maintain Peace and Amity in Neighbourhoods punish Malefactors and Offenders and for doing this and many more good Offices spends his Time and Moneys at Assizes and Sessions he never intended any more than to live well himself and let the World Sink or Swim I say if such like proceedings be in the Navy then I conclude it has gotten a filthy Disease the Lethargy and to a waken it out of its Drowsinefs there ought to be some sharp Applications Wherefore I project that there should be another Officer created in the Navy viz. a Superseding Officer such as the French call an Intendant but I affect not the French Name nor Manners but the Latines or Romans a Censor one that should Censure all Officers in the Navy under the Lord High Admiral and be Commissioned by him to go and fit at all Boards Inspect all Officers and Books and observe their Methods and Practices in dispatches and censure dictate direct and correct the Errors quicken the Dispatches hear all Grievances and Complaints suspend all Contumelious Negligent Dishonest Disloyal and offending Officers refering them to the Admiralty for their Appeal whither he should transmit their Faults in a fair written Accusation taken before him at the place by his Clerk for that Purpose
say suffer himself to be Pist upon by every Inferior that the Captain will either favour or connive at this is so true and common to the knowledge of all that know the Navy that it may pass without farther proof So that if any one should not be tempered for this usage but be so hardy as to vindicate his Right he is certainly ruin'd and turned to seek his Bread elsewhere perhaps in his Latter Days and must not expect to be heard in his own Defence I confess there is no General for so I speak but does admit of particular Exceptions that is there are some Moderate Men in their Commands but too too few and they not fully arrived to the design which is yet more viz. to have the Office of the Purser annexed to the Captain then were they as Absolute and Despotical as the King of France is and of late hath proved to be over his Subjects and he no doubt did concurr in the design of Contracting the Navy of England under the Despotical Power of a Few for the purpose rather than many To which I say and no other tended these discordant and incohering Circumstances which caused Jarrings Disheartnings and thence the Murmurings and Complainings in our Ships and the Navy abundantly weakened And as to the Safety and Welfare of the Navy for the Victualling to be deposited into the hands of the Captain What may be the Effects thereof I cannot so well speak to because it is not yet agreed how to order it Some project after the Dutch Example Others for the King to Victual and the Captain to act by an Instrument under him And a third a mixt way As to the Dutch way the Captains agree with their Admiralties at a certain price for so many Mens Victuals for such a Ship under their Commands and the Particulars thereof are specified and a Scrivan or Muster-Master of every Ship is sent beside a General Muster-Master in every Fleet to keep Checque and Muster all the Fectives noting all the Dead and Runaways and by his Book the Captain is paid for Victuals and the Bills are paid which he draws home viz. for Wages to Men He pays when abroad according to Instructions of all which the Scrivan keeps due account with him Now the Victualling of the Dutch is chiefly Groat or Oatmeal Grey-pease Stockfish Butter and Cheese c. and a little Flesh once a Week Now they have not Flesh in their Country to do as we do therefore if the King will alter the Quantity and Specie of his Victualling he may but it will not agree to the Temper of his Subjects but cause a great murmuring First By his Sea-men And Secondly By the Farmers Gentry and Nobility of the Nation that the Product of their Lands be not bought off and expended with the Money they are taxed to maintain the War with and urge That the Strength of the Navy would be impaired and weakened thereby and be the cause of an Universal Disquiet And next the King must put in Captains stockt with Moneys or Security for the performance of their Duty else the Ships would never be in readiness to Sail for want of Provisions to act together the Money else would be spent that should buy them and few would trust them and the Men would be abused with wants and cannot nay dare not complain It may be said Why with us more than the Dutch I Answer The Dutch are a different People by Nature and different in their Government which is partly Democrasie and partly Aristocrasie they are severe Justiciaries and strict Performers of Contracts to the Publick in which from one degree of Office to another they are all sharply lookt to and therein are not pestered with so many Methods pretending to avoid wrong whereas 't is only a Mist cast before our Eyes and proves a burden to the Publick and has contrary effects to the intention and makes the Proverb true That the more Cooks the worse Broth For the Dutch if any should be caught Cheating or Abusing the Publick he must run his Country or never hope to escape great Punishment with Confiscation of all he has for such is the Hatred of them all to those that hurt the Publick for every one reckons himself a Sharer in the Publick Wrongs that if his Wrong hath taken wind and it be considerable two to one but before he can withdraw the Mobile will cut him off and none dares to countenance his Escape for fear of the Mobile Remember the De Wits for if such profuse exhausting of Treasure and Misapplication from the true Intentions and Plots against the Publick had been committed there as have been here they would not have Escaped but if the Publick Justiciaries had not done Justice the Mobile would have Carved it out themselves So I say their Constitution is far different from ours for Interest runs not so high there Now would they who labour for this Alteration in the Navy also bring the Nation under such a Government as they are then they may expect it should answer the end as theirs does But it is not better than ours nor half so well if our Constitutions had been preserved and Private Interest cast out and Commands carried so Moderate and Just as theirs but it is plain and obvious to me that this Practice and Endeavour is only the Basis of the Work or Design on foot which I e're while compared unto Babel and a Superstructure to be thereon built to have the Navy in a few hands who would be Absolute and Despotical therein And if they do design to have the Navy after the Dutch Government if they would have it thrive in like manner as they do they must intend to alter the Government of the Nation into a Commonwealth as theirs is or else it will never frame as theirs for the Reasons I have before mentioned but I think it is past their skill yet I could add many more Reasons but it is needless and therefore I would have them put out of hopes of ever Ingrossing or Enslaving the Navy of England under a Despotical power and consequently of turning the Government of the Nation upon Hinges which have but few Joynts the which is very dangerous in a Monarchy but not so in a Commonwealth who by their long-continued and beloved Constitutions having been accustomed by Allarms of being Robbed of their Liberties will on any Allarm as a Flight of Sterlings cast themselves into an orderly Flock when they espy a Hawk at hand but in a Monarchy it is altogether unsafe to put their strength at the Devotion of a few hands Moreover it is against all Maxims in Policy to make any Alterations in a long-setled and approved Method of Management in a material part of the Government Strength and Wealth of a Nation This Project was on foot in King Charles the Second's Time who Answered And Captain When your Men suffer unto whom should Men complain To your self for
Justice He said He would be Just The King said He had a good Opinion of his Captains but laughed at the Project and so it died for that time And as for those who would have them Victualled by the King and the Captain account with him for it instead of the Purser they are thus Answered That their Projection is yet more open for Despotical Power for then it will be brought to a far heavier burthen for the Nation by the Commissioners Providing and the Captains Commanding who will have the King's Purse open at their pleasures and every one must bow to them for a piece of Bread and what Rule an Admiralty will have over them to keep them to Methods and Prescriptions or a Navy-Board is pretty well seen by a handful out of a full Sack aforesaid and therefore those that are for this way are more beside the Mark for here they have a means to make it a greater uncertainty of Charges and have a greater influence on the Affair and create Necessities at their Pleasure and will account at their Leisure And as for those that are for a mixt way when they have formed and declared their Method I may be able to give them a full Answer and in the mean time I will only pursue my Purpose to unravel the Proceedings of late in the Confused Methods left standing of the Babel-Builders and that is First There is created a Captains Clerk for the Captains Mustering Ticketting and ordering as well of the Purser's Books as of all the Expences of the other Officers who has a Midshipman's Pay for his Service and double Midshipmens Pay more added to enable the Captain to gratifie his Creatures that deserved his Favours and for some time he had Orders for double Pay I hope this was not for nothing but that part of the Building soon fell down I say here is new Charges for him to place it upon his Cocswain Steward Servants or whom he thinks good to deserve it The aforesaid Clerk I say being one chosen by him on hopes for him to prefer him to some Office as he will deserve by promoting his Interest by the sole management of the Purser's Books and the Officers Accounts and after his Master's turns are served therein then his own must be next and all the Officers Instructions given them must be laid aside and serve no longer than those ends they like of and the Officers must Trump up to this or undergo what I have said before and if this be not Babel-Building aspiring to reach their Heaven Wealth and Despotical Power the great Object of their Industry and this to be raised out of Confusion I know not what to term it unto But I doubt not but the Quick-sighted will take timely warning to prevent the design of Enthralling the Power and Wealth of the Nation and settle it again in good Order Method and Government As to Command the needfulness and necessariness thereof is out of all doubt acknowledged by all that would live under a Government in any Nation City Ship or Community but the manner of this Command is that which makes all Governments differ of which I will say in the Originals thereof none differs which is thus that whatsoever a Superior Officer does or commands to be done at his own will or choice viz. that he may do it or leave it undone which Act or Order if it exceeds not the bounds of Justice Lenity Kindness and such favourable Command as a Man might expect from his Father Relation or Friend it is well and according to the first Institution of Government and requires Allacrity in Obedience but if it be Rigid Austere Morose nay Inhumane and such a Command as he may expect from his Captor or Enemy then also he may obey But how As Tyranny is obeyed wishing ill success even to that which he is out of necessity laying his hand to For Mankind how weak soever they may be thought to be in the Wiles of Pollicy yet this knowledge they have by Instinct of Nature if they are not told it by others That from him that commands him he may expect as his due Justice and Protection from all Wrongs from others and to receive none from himself nor any hardship but what the Service must of necessity force his Officer to lay upon him without doing any Man wrong to favour him for if he does at any time do wrong to another to favour him he by secret Instinct disallows the Justice and in his heart pronounces his Officer unjust and expects the like Justice towards him when the wind of his Favour changes so that Superior Officers according to the Steps and Degrees of distance they were from the Commanded ever were and indeed ought to be as the Patriarchs of old were their Sons Grandsons c. divers Generations had their degrees of Command over the whole Lineage and all by due course of Seniority in the Order of Government Instituted by God Almighty so that whenever they were by the unfitness of the Senior to govern or conduct forced to alter they always chose one of the same Lineage nearest of Kin to govern and conduct the Tribe this being God's Institution to his Peculiar People for an Example to the rest of the World but the other Governments then in the World as they were practised might be supposed to be Despotical and Tyrannical As Nimrod the mighty Hunter who began the First Empire in the East and was worshipped as a God and the Grecian Empire after but after that the Justice of the Western Empire or Roman in their Conquests may not in this Island easily be forgotten although Pagans but I leave it to History and pursue my purpose and follow the Patriarchs and Fathers of Israel our Pattern for so were all stiled that sate in Judgment or led the People and they ever Treated all that came before them with the Appellations of my Sons and Daughters Likewise also did all Generals and Commanders treat all that came before them for Justice to be done them or to have Justice done on them Mildly Friendly and with great Clemency and was sorry for the Offender even as a Father is sorry for his own Son when he is forced to correct him But other sorts of Government run parallel in the World as those mentioned and also thereof are now extant who may run their Bounds which God hath allotted them for the Scourge of Mankind to serve his Eternal Purposes These also I say are obeyed as I said through the Law of Necessity who carry their Commands over all whom by Policy and Strength they have gotten under them by Austerity and Morosity it being their Pollicy of Command to imitate Greatness in Apparel Habiliments Attendants and Retinue using overmuch Haughtiness and sleighting Reservedness accompanied with Opprobrious and Villifying Terms to their Inferiors even before the Faces of all Spectators and spurn even themselves and their Caps cast at their Feet in undue