The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-03-28 00:00:00

PM:ft R Ernßr sr Till e•SIesIISSIO%I as FOR ISIVISING 4!.10 nicrsr- INU THE CIVIL AFF AIRS OI Ins MAJESTY'S NAVY. Ta the King's Most Excellent Majesty. The Fird Itqwwt of the ap:.eintei to revise the ssat-ns am, wort- of ecennoting for the recei:d And ex ',dame of Mon! sill and likewise the iostruc t;oret awl Stunditig tlra io fir the governm mt of the Civil Deport views of It,; M 0001 Naval Smiler ; and to ar. 104 frame a ...Killer digi•et of the same , liaviog car. falls id ipt Igo .11,11'• f/1 aeclutr!Hi: fur %ow.' and Stores, and Lk .tei.tt• the whole b ty of sin ki 0 d •ry arid the present extensive scale of C.. Naval sm. vice and to take inflames for keeping rip the said sv.tenv and direst hi all time tnenm:: And who were further re , gaited to take tot, their p macular gonsoleratton, alt such ftil etvieos as lose been male by the clilTe,ent Boards of Itoquoy and S Ica Committee on Fioance, and have not yet been adopted; and mtamitte which of the 'am', appear to b.: pia no:able ond eon:Merit with tl.. arxxl of the IletTtee, and to consider and device the best meami of carrying the sante into execution, in the most convenient and ex peditious manner, and to repent en all the matters aforesaid, fir •n time to time,...; they shall see occasion. We have proceeded to the exectoian of the trust, which Your Majesty has been pleased to repose in us, in the order which seemed the most likely to enable u. tit accomplish the obje,ns for which we were appointed. With this view we have not only considered, with trait attention, the many tiseki suggestions in the very able Reports ofthe different Boards of Enquiry, and Seidl Committee on Finance, but have deemed it accessary also, carefully to peruse all such official err other authentic documents, as could give us in formation concerning the administration or the Civil Affairs of thi- Navy, from the cattiest times. By observing what changes have, at different tines, taken place in th , system of management ; what abuses have prevailed ; what means have been tried to prevent their continuance; and what success has attended the treasures, which, on former occa sions, have bee. , adopted; we thought it probable that we might receive information that would assist us in judging of the alterations which might now be necessary, to adapt the whole to the present very extensive scale of the naval service t and that by comparing what was accomplished in times of the greatest oxertion, by the number of artificers and labourers then employed, with what is now done in the Royal Dock Yards, as well as by obtaining in formation from merchants-builders of the work per formed ley the numbers employed in private yards ; additional meal.; might be acquited of judging of the industry of those at present in Your Majesty's service. From the whole, we hoped to be able to form some estimate of what may, in future, be ex peehtsl, and of the establishment which may, under proper regulations, be adequate to the management and support of the raval force, which may be deemed necessary for the security of this country. To the numerous official documents, and written or printed authorities, which we have petused, we shall rein- as the occasion may require, and shall, therefore, now only give, as briefly as see can, such a general view of the means, which, Jetting dif ferent periods, have been taken for providing a na val fence for the defence of this country, aid for the civil government of the navy, as may render it un necessary to be so full in those references, or in our observations upon them, a s lo t t h e sa k e o f c l earness might otherwise be reepoisite. The whole of our Naval History may be divided into three peniods : the first, comprehending all that preceded the reign of Henry the Eighth ; the second, ending with the Restoration of Charles the Second; and, the last, coming down from the Re storation to the pruent day. DutinK the first period, it apnears, that our Kings had neither arsenals nor el se:le-yards ; their or:ly permanent naval force consisted of fifty-seven yes ., eels, each carrying twenty-one men mad a hey, well ?Inked and fitted for war, which the Cinque Potts were hetiod, Jay their Charters, to furnish on forty 'says nctice from the Crosvit. When, in case sear, a greater force was lecatited, slips were hired from mertharrs at home, or from those in Daottic. il i amburgh. Lubec. Genoa, end other peers, to vete fi,ted out from various motives by ;aware ad venturers, shared in the advantages acquired trading vessels, having, in those rime-, no protec tion four ships of wit- belonging *et their respeetive Ceram:es:3 s were teats:4oy armed for their own clzte, the foundation of the Navy of England was laid by Henry the Eighth. He constituted an Admiralty and a Navy Board, and dining his reign, the Tii nity-hou se, tenc: the Dock Yards at Deptford, Wool w:cli, and Portsmouth, were formed : the regula tions which be made Ire the Civil Government of Naval Affairs were, in the teign of Edward the hietli, revised, errangNl, and turned into ordinances, uhicb form the bast- of all the sulnegirent instruc tents given to the oflicets, to whom the manage ment of the Civil Affairs of the Navy has been committed. 'Die officers then appointed were, the Vice Admi ral of England ; the Master of the Ordnance ; the Surveyor of the Marioe Cerise;; the Treasurer, Comptroller, General Surveyor of the Vidualling. art k of the Ships, ar,d Clerk of the Stores. Particular duties were allotted to each member; and they were order. el to meet retce a week at the Office on Tower 11i,1,t0 consult together f .r the Rood order of the navy, and to report their proceed ' fags once a month to the Lord High Admiral. But the ships belongieg to the Crown, or pmviiled by the Civil Department of the Navy, still formed only a part cf the naval force employed in time of War. In the fleet by which the Spanish Armada was delayed, theta were 176 ships with 14,9911 men, elf which only 34 ships, with 6,22.5 met:, be longed to the Cross n ; and this mode of adding in the naval force by hi:edsbips, :appears to have been crntinued doe n to the end of the 17th century. No considerable alreration in the civil govern ment of the navy took place from the reign of Edward the Sixth, till the year log ; when, in cnaseepience of many abuses which were corn pleased of, the principal officers were suspended; raid Commi.eio ne ,, wet. appointed, with powers to n 'anAge, settle, and put the affairs of the Navy into a right course; and to take such measures as they ttight deem necessary, to prevent the continuance of the many great frauds and abuses which pre ya'led- A similar commission was issued in 1613 ; aad a very fuil, able, and minute report, was made l'Y the Commissioner, thea riavned, in which chose frauds and abuse: are detailed and ciplalueJ ; a eery iistina account of the state of the Navy, at the time, is given, as well as of its state during the four preceding reigns; and many very wise regulations are suggested. That commission was determined epoe the death of James the First, but was renewed by his successor, and remained in force till 1628; when it W4l dis solved, and the affairs of the Navy were restored to the management of the Board of Principal Officers, which hat been established by Edward the 6th. During the disturbances in the reign of Charles the First, the managing Officers were direeled by the King to refuse obedience to the orders of Parlia ment ; and a number of ships having hens carried away by Prince Rupert, the Naval force was, by these means, reduced to so low a state, that at the beginning of Cromwell's usurped Government, he had only 14 ships of war of two decks, and some of these carried only 40 guns; but under the care ful management of very able men, in different commissions which he appointed, such vigorous measures were pursued, that in Ave years, though engaged within that rime in war with the greatest N +vet po's'er in Europe, the fleet was encreesed to 150 sail, of wbich, more than a thi- d part had two decks. ThoNevy was indeed raised by him m a height which it had never before reached; from which, however, it again declii rd, during the short and feeble administration of his sun, at the latter part of the second period. On the Restoration of Charles the Second. the Duke of York wes immediately appointed feed High Admiral; And, by his advice, a Commieee was named to censider a plan, proposed by himself, for the future repletion of the Affairs of the Navy, at which the Duke himself presided. In all naval affair r, he appears to have ailed with the advice and assistance of \ Ir. Semite! Pepys, who, first, held the office of Clerk of the Aets, and was afterwards Secretary o' the Admiralty ; a of extraordinary knowledge, in all that rel itee to the business of thet department. re great talents. and of the most indefatigable industry. All the I proceedings of the r:f Yolk, in the manage maet of the Navy, either e hen he was Lord High Admiral, or after he came to she throne, ate mi nutely detailed, in a greet number of manuscript volumes, in the Pepysian Lihrery at Cambridge; which 18 volumes have, at our desire, been sent for our perusal. The powers which had been before granted to the Commissioners of the Admiralty Uln.l the Navy Board were recalled, and the entire manegem 'n: was put into the hands of the Duke, as Lord High Admiral; by whom three new Commissioners were appointed to aa with the Treasurer of the Navy, the Comptroller, the Surveyer, and the Clerk of the Ails, as principal Officers and' Commitsioners of the Navy. In 1661, those instruelinns and standing orders, for the guidance of the principal Officers and Com missioners of the Navy, and the superior c leers in the deck-yards, wdich are still in force, were sent to the Navy Board by the Duke of York. These had been formed no ler his direelion, by Mr. Pepys, and had been found, ever since, ie great use and value in she management of the navel departments. It appears, that after the Duke's appointment, great progress was very sp e ely made in the re paretion and increase of the B -et; hut on Isis return from his commend, at tee end of the Dutch war, which commenced in Itifie, he found that, though he had authorized the Navy Beard to make all the addition to vete est iblishment which the exigencies of the war might tequire, yet the same careful ma nage:relit had not been continued during his absence. Toe example of zeal and industry set by Mr. Pepys in his office of Clerk of the A.nt, had not been suf ficient, without the presence and authority of the Duke. to prevent neglerf in the other departments, and the fleet and dock-yards had suffered greatly in contegirence of it. After minute enquiry into the circumstance', a state of the case was, by order of the Duke, drawn up by Mr. Pepys, aad sent to the Navy BeerJ, io which the duties of the Board, and dime of each Member of it, teken from the instrtietions before. mentioned, are stated in different heads, and under each Least the errors and miazoecluet that be dis cevtied in he execution ; requiring a written an swer, in a qscnt limited time, from each of them The answers ne re given, and, in reply, a second pa per was sees to each, pointing out what part of te, charge remained unaccounted for; hut finding, at the same time, ti at a part of the blame was justly to be imputed to the irregularity and remissness of Government, partitlarly in the supply of money for Naval purposes, in toesequence of the " deplorable condition of the King's treasure," he continued those Officers in their employments, warning them, that on any new ncgleet they would he terneve.t. The Doke of York remained Lord High Admi ral till Wee, when, in consecptence of the test re. spired by Parliament, to which he would not sub mit, he resigned ; and that office was, in pert. put in commission, and the test retained by the King. Prince Rupert was put at the head of the Corninis. sine, and Mr. Preys was, at the same time, raised to the office of Secretary of the Kieg in all Naval Affairs, and of the Admiralty ; by which means his irfluence was increased, the current business, by the King's dire&ion, came to be left almost entirely to him, and, on extraordinary occasions, when the Commissioners met, the Duke of York assisted : the careful management which he had established was, consequently, not departed from, or relaxed, till 1679; xt which time there were in sea-pay, and in excellent condition, 76 ships of the line, all fur nished with stores for Aix months, eight fire-ships, besides merchantmen, and a numerous train of ketches, smacks, yaohts, itc. with more than 12 000 seamen there were also 30 new ships building, and a good supply of stores in the dock-yards. But a complete change thus suddenly took place; the loose dissipation of the King having still added to his great pecuniary difficulties, he was induced in give up the plan, which he had formerly pursued with so much zeal, of supporting and increasing the Navy, on account of the exp-nce attending it. 1 rte Duke was sent abroad, end Pepys to the', ewer. A new set of men were made Commissioners of the Navy, who, though of lair mural el—as - deter, Were without the experieece, abiley, or industry, which that important limatism requires. All the wise repletion% termed :luring the ad ministrat;nn of the Deke of York were negleeeed ; mid such supineness end waste Appe:tri to have Tailed, that at the Cod of nes cure wee five yeart, • • when he was recalled to the ()Mc., of bird High Admiral, only •l 2 ships, none larger than a fourth rate, with two fire-ships, were at sea t. those in har bour, were quite unfit for service ; even the 30 new ships which he had left building, had been suffered to fall into a state of great decay; and hardly any stores were found to tern tin in the Dock Yards. The first a.f of the Duke of York on his return, was the re-appointment of Mr. Pepys, as Secretary of the Admiralty ; and his whole conduB on that occasion, in the management of the affairs of the Navy, bears the most conspicuous marks of professional know ledge, moderation, and coconomy, mixed with firm ness and wisdom. He proceeded with .great ear. nestness to the examination of the superintending officers, but gave them a year of trial, to correB - the abuses which their former neglea had allowed. At the end of that year, observing no reform made, and them unequal to the task, the greatest pains were taken to tind out the ablest and most intelli gent men. to whose care the re-establishment of the Navy, the remedy of abuses, and the restoration of order and discipline were to be committed. In the manuscript colletlions of Mr. Pepys, there is a paper, prepared by the Duke's command, con taining a list of all the great ship-builders in• Eng land, with their charaCters, in respeB of fi•ness for the obje•Rs which he had in view. Among these, Sir An'hony Dean is stated to be a man or by far the greatest abilities ; one indeed. without whose assistance the proposed reform could not be made ; but on being applied to, he declined the employ ment, his professional emoluments beiag greater tkan those" offered to him. liy the adyiee - of Mr. P:pys, a full compeusati.in was gi►eu to himfor the loss ut those emoluments ; and he was, with three othei.s, then joined with the former principal offi cers in a new commission, these new Commissioners were men, in the words of Mr. Pepys, possessing a prafiised knowledge of every part of the wotas and methods of the Navy, bosh at he Board and in the yards ; a general Mas tery in the business of accounts, vignur of mind, and approvea industry and integrity ;" and to each of them was committed a distiller branch of the proposed rt-finm, for which his talents were the most suited. Those old Commissioners, whose eondutt bad bee, ml.t complained of, were not permitted to interfere in the measures of reform, which the rest were in strudled to pursue. They were not, however, dis pl iced, no wilful transgression being laid to their ch.orge. bu• chreeled entirely to confine their attention to the business of a Committee of Accounst. An estimate, formed by Mr. Pepys, for the com plete repair of the Beet and duck-yards, and the supply of stores, was laid before the new Commis. sinners, in which the whole expenee was limited to 409.0001 a-year, to be supplied in weekly payments for three years, in which time the whole was to he completed ; and this was considerably less than what bad annually been expended by the former Commissioners, during the few years of rer&ssoess and waste. Tile Commissioners, after full consideration of the plan, undertook what wzts proposed to them ; and it appears from the v►ry full account of the whole proceedings. left by Mr. Pepys, that they performed what they had undertaken, in less time than was allowed fc r it, and at less expence. In two years and a halt after the C'ammissioners were appointed, the King "tidied the Dock Yards: and finding every thing accomplldied to his sates taElion, and the whole business arranged, he dis solved the Commission, with marks of his high ap probation, and then restored the management to the regular Boards. •I'he Commission was opened at Lady-day. lbb6, and was closed on the liith of Oftober, lead; and by a list left by Mr. Pepys, there were, on the 18th of December, 1648 Of Yhips of the Line, at sea, or g9ing forth - Se Data - - repined - 41 93 T.Twler repair 8 T. he rei.awd - Newly crone in trout Sea - 4 106 with a considerable number of vessels of smaller size Those measures which- had been so judiciously planned, and usably nd expeditiously executed. gave, AS might be exoeetrd, the most general satisfaction, The revelatMa took pia,' within two months •ilter the business o the Committee was completed; but the Naval regulations were wisely left mialeer ed ; the basines., of i.e Admiralty continued fur some time to he carried on under the immedirte di retiion of the King, by Mr. Pepvs, till the arrival of Admiral Herbert and Capt. Russell, from the fleet, into whose hands, he says, he silently let it fall I " and, under the system formed by the Duke of York, with his aid, the Civil Government of our Nsvy has ever since been carried on. ‘N'r have stated those proceedings the more fulls., not only because the system under which the civil affairs of the Navy have ever since been con duffed, was then methodized and settled ; but be cause Ova circumstances give very useful Mb:rotation, and hold out an example which weil deserves atten tion in the present times. The rapid decay of the fleet, and the waste of stores, during those few years of supineness, spew, from experience, how essential it is to the safety of this country, that the most effenual means should be taken to guard against any negligence in the dock-yards; and the great work of re-establishing the fleet, and restoring order, industry, and discipline in the dock.yrads, accomplished in so short a time, by the Commissioners then chosen with in much care, proves, in the most convincin7 manner, how much depends on having the civil 'affairs of the navy placed under the management of men of real ability, pr , fessional knowledge, and uninterrupted industry. And we think It our duty to recommend to Govern ment, that, in the choke of them, no other circum, stance, but that of their being the Attest that can be found, for the execution of the various and important duties they are to undertake, may be regraded. It is far from beiag our intention in what it may be our duty to propose, to depart from the princi ples on which those ancient regulations and orders are founded. They have stood the test of time, and have been found by ion; trial to he aeii adapt ed to the great objeAs of their institinion ; but those orders and regulations, though in every way suited to the state of our naval force as it the stood, have necessarily required many additions, in - .;onsequenee of du vast increase of that fore: waica cis si.tee 1 taken place ; and Those atlctitionsitatlng been fleet; sionally made as circrmsranceroccnrred. the prin ciples of the general system Wlsitt they were meant only to extend, do not AppeAr to have been always kept in view : d'fferent nrders have been toUni„ in certain cases, incompatible with rash other ; writ/ have become o:iv)lete, And those given to one d yard have' not, on all occasions, been given tw the rest, though necessary to preserve uniformity in the management. The inconvenience ?rising from those Canter, new • turally increasing wit'r the progress of time, and • the ertention of the service, the attention of the Ada mirtilty came at length to he necessArly cilied to it; and in their orders to the NAvy linar.l, dated the 24th of June 17434, And 23d of June 1767, the stated, " that though the orders and instruftione' -iven the general - - -sent of the yards and purptwes ed witßt • issued pirernmee. erdinaries nety be sufficient for the wiee inteaded by them, yet, as they are dispersed • out corder or methed in a variety of warrants at different times, through a long wiles cr e years, • they 'ln not afierd, in a proper and deer Mermen . the information necessary For the eoneu* of the officers and workmen of The yards; and the, therefore diral the Navy Beard In proceed im mediately to arrange and digest she said orders and instriretions under proper heads, so as to compose one uniform body and system out of the whole, tak ing care where there are any repetitions (li t he same order, to adopt that where the sense is most tlearly exelained, and best enforced ;" but the arrangement • thus proposed, owing te variant Causes. has never betnearried into effete*, end, from the lase greet addition to our-navy, and the accumulation of ore ders and instrucems in consequence ot it, still issued without any retrospeet or system suit inv. larer, the evil which the Admiralty bad it in slew to ernedy, is now imeetesele increased ; and the bringing into clear and regular order, sweat es let present a great and undigested mass, is a wirk of se great magnitude and difficulty, that it could not leasonahly be expelled to be accomplishei by a Board leaded, as the Navy Board, has been, whit siness. Great progress was, however, made by one of our number, while he was Curnptrofler of the wavy& • a book, in which all orders and erguielinns, prier to the year 17.46, were classed and digested under . distinct heads, which he had prepared, was submitted to the perusal of the Commissioners appointed ie.. 1787, to " enquire into the fees, gratuities, per qiiisites, and emoluments of the several Paleic Offices. and also into the abuses that may exist in the same ;" who, in their Six:h Beport, thus express themselves, " The nu:nerJus regulations, and 'tending orders, which have front elms tait e time been made for the good government of** v Dock-yards, riquire to b e rev i ewe d , put in of** der, and cennettee, so as to lee referred to ; on every °auto.) ;" and they ad.l, Mao ;doe)! Bnevi have, since the Peace, had the measure . under consideraticon, and a considerable progress . • has been made therein, • We have seen and examined the mode of its execution, which wa e • highly approve, and rec•;mmend being carried fully t . z into elfdd." And. the Commissiotiers of Nagai Engetry, appointed in 180, observe, that " The e necessity of revising the iesttudions, and digesting, ' the immense mars of orders which have since been ; • given to tee Officers of the Yards, was seen by tar kite Earl Howe,. and Sir Charms Middleton, whales they ['raided m the Adroiralty teed N acv Repradoee e and, the latter had made some profeess in so awful . a work, when he quitted the Davy Board: one since that time the suhjeel has not been adverted Wilt no steps have been takes for forwareieg the ' and it seems to have been laid aside, arid forgotten." In another part of the same they add, " It is much to be regretted. diet very useful work was not accomplished, as it . • have greatly facilitated the business of the De* . • Yards, and afforded to the Navy Board, a megrim hcnsive view of the standing regulations, wherebre they world have been enabled to keep a better, check ern the •ene observance of them, than in the course of this R?port will appear to have existed." The Digest Book prepared in the manner approve •• ed of, and tecammeoded by those deferent Boards: of Enquiry, has been given to us ; and, after be— stowing the fullest consider 'eon on every part of it, making such alterations as appearee trs us to be necessary, and completing is by see addition of aUi the orders and instil/liens down to tire preeera Jay. we proceeded to prepare, as the •ueitee of our first Report, the instill:lions for the guidance oo the resident Commisiosser, and the penciled (Acne of the dock arid rope-yards, concurrirg, as we do, with the Commissioners of eelquiry, in thinking. 1 .1 that there is the most rice mien for thee.' In these insti weiono, the (stigma plan of the Duke of York and Mr. Pepys has beer, follovred, and forms the basis ot what we here done our ail the branches of duty contained in it. We began by ce iling upon the Commissioners of •i die Navy to transmit to us, cope s of el warr e i s , sten:ling orders, and instruct.) •s, is,ued fly 1. sit Board, from the earliest per Me to the present tie e s and, from the collalion wire's we received swer to that precept. we steeetee all sec • is • ire conflated with the duties of the r e e y e ! L ee • the dock and rope yards, sad sent them Commissioners. requiring them forthwith to v. - mit them to these nfficers, with dire liens t • is the same into their immediate ceinsideratioe. ea. in his own department. and to point our wiser part •4 those orders they considered to he incoi•sistent with .• the present extended scale of the navel service. ansl what other instructions they might deem reenisite to render the executioo of their respatiee duties •s more clear and intelligible to them s desiring, aloe, that the Commissioners would inform us whether they themselves cony 'ered those inst. uelicins 1.1) no • sefficient for the good government of tee drffereet officers, or if they did net, that they ivotrid suggest What might further appear to them to he aecees et y. Returns from the principal officers in the Jet k- Tares were sent to us by the Cemmissioners, witn an assurance, the it any thing else should occur to themselves, it should be communicated aeteeable to our regeisieen t htlt no commueicetien ^f the k i nd having been m a d e to us, t h e instructions, aft in corporating what appeared useful m tneeuggestions feign the officers in the dock-yards, were again sent • to the Navy Board. desiring to have their eppese ee ti c tier, or a st a t e me nt o f suc h e i teret i ons as they would think it advisable to make; and they have I since returned them to te e proposing some settee :Mtn, a pert of which we have adopted. -. r w