The Sun.
London, England, 1806-03-28 00:00:00

preceiltig reigns; MO triat:y icry wise rfigi}ettidn:
are suggested:
That •Cominiss]en was pcin the
death of !aim:, the First, Init vt-is retiewitd by El's
suecessjr,,and remained in force till t 698, when it
was disolved, and the Atrairs of the Navy were re-
stored to the management of the Board of Princi-
pal fnicei's, which bad been established by Edward
'the Sixth.

-During the disturbances in the Reign of. Charles
the First; the managing Officers were direeted by the
King to refuge obedience to the orders of Pailia-
ment ; and a number of
.Ships having been 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 forty guns ; but under the
careful management of very able men, in different
CoMmissions which he appointed, such 'vigorous
measures were pursued, . that in five years, though
engaged within that time in Wad' With the greatest
Naval Power in Europe, the Fleet sVhs increased to
150 Sail, of which more than a third part had two
decks. The Navy was indeed raisedby him to a.
height which it had never before reached; from.
which,hoss ever, it again declined, during the short
and feeble Administration of his son, at the latter
part of the second period.
On the Restoration of Charles the Second, the
Duke of York was immediately appointed- Lord
High Admiral; and, by his advice, a Committee was
named to consider a Plan, proposed by himself, for
the future reguletion of the Affairs attic Navy, at
which the Duke himself presided.
heall Naval Affairs he appears to have aced with
the advice and assistance of Mt. Samuel Pepys,
who first held the office of Cletk of A&s,
:and
was afterwards. Secretary of the Admiralty ; a man
of extraordinary knowledge in all that related: to
the business:of that Department, of great talents,
and of the most . indefatigable industry. All the
proceedings -of the Duke of York, in the manaee-
ment of the Navy, either when he was. Lord High
Admiral, or after he came to the Throne, are mi-
nutely detailed, in a. great number' of manuscript
voluMes, in the Pepyslan Library, at Cambridge, of
which 18 volumes have, at our desire, been sent for
our perusal: •
The powers Which had been before granted to the
CommiskiOners of the Admiralty and the Navy
Board were recalled,' and the entire management,
was put into the hands .of the Duke, as Lord High
Admiral ; by whom three new Commissioners were
appointed ..to act- with the Treasurer of the. Navy;
the Comptroller,. the Surveyor,, and the. Clerk of
the, Aas, as principal 'Officers qud Commissioners
of 'the Navy.
. In 1661, those instru&ions and standing orders-
for the gnidance of the principal Officers and Com-
missioners of the Navy, and the superior Officers
in the Dock-yards, which are still foice, were
'sent to the Navy ;Beard by the Duke of York.
These had. been formed under his direction by Mr.
Pepys, • and had been found, ever since, of great
use and value in the management of the Naval De-
partments. • ,
It appears, that after the Duke's appointment,
great progress was very speedily made in the re-
paration and increase of the Fleet -,- but ion his return
from his Command at the end of the Ditch War,
which commenced in f 664, he found that, thodgh
he tad authoriied the Navy Board to.make all the
addition to their Establishiriene which the exigencies
of the War might require, yet the same careful. Ma-
nagement had not -been continued during his ab-
sence. The example of zeal arid industry get by Mr.
PepyS, in his office of Clerk of the Ads, 'had not
'been sufficient, without the presence and authority
'of the Duke, to prevent neglea in
,the .other De-
partments, and. the Fleet and Dock-yards bad suf-
fered greatly in consequence of it.
After a minute inquiry into the circumstances, a
state of the case was, by order of the Duke, drawn
up by Mr. Pepys,, and sent to the Navy 'Board, in
*hid' the duties of the Board, and these of each
MeMber of it, taken from the "instruaions before-
mentioned, are stated in different heads, and. under
each head the errors and miscondua that he disco-
.vered in the execution ; requiring-a written answer,
in a short limited time, from each of them. The
answers were given, and, io reply, a second paper
was sent to each, pointing out . what part of the
charge remained unaccounted for ; but finding, at
the same, time, that part of- the blame, was justly to
be imputed to the irregularity andeemissness of Go- •
vernment, particularly in the supply .of money for
Naval purposes, in consequence of the "'deplorable.
condition of the King's treasure," he continued those
Officers hi their .employments,.warning them, that
on any new neglect they would 1:a removed.
The Duke of York remained Lord High Admi-
ral till 1673, when, in consequence of the test re-
quired by Parliameot, tp which he would. not sub
mit, he resigned ; and that Office was, in part, put
in commission, and the rest retined by the King.
Prince. Rupert was put at the head of the Commis-
sion, and Mr: Pepys was, at the same time, raised
. to the Office of Secretary of the King in all Naval
Affairs, and of the Admiralty,; by which means his
influence was increased, the current business, by the:
King's direCtion, cane 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, ill
1679 ; at which time there were in sea-pay, 'and in
excellent condition, 76 sail of the line, all furnished
with stores for six months, eight fire-ships, besides
merchantmen, and a numerous train of ketches,
smacks, yachts, &c. 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 then suddenly took place;
the loose dissipation of the King having still 'added
to his great pecuniary difficulties, he was induced to
give up the plan which he had formerly purSued
with so muckzeal, of supporting and increasing the
Navy, on account of the expellee attending it.—
The Duke was sent abroad,'and Pepys to the Tower.
A new set of amen were made Commissioners of the
Navy, who, though of fair moral character, were
without the experience, ability,' or industry, which
that important situation requires. . .
All the wise regulations formed during the ad-
ministration of the Duke of York: were negleeted;
and such supineness and waste appears to have pre-
vailed, that at the end- of not mufe tharr.five years,

• • ,
when he' was :e e. to the office of Lord High ,
Admiral, only is. Shi, none larger than d feurtki,,,
rate, with two Fire-shipS, ,were at sea ; tlif?se in;
liarboUr were quite unlit for service; even the ;If.)
new Ships whica be had left building had been
feted to fall into . a state of great decay; arid bardit:7,
any stores were found to remain in the Dock-yards,' •
The Orst a& of the bake of Yon his return wti,
the re-appointment of iVtr. Pepys as Secretary of to
Admiralty; and his whole condUd on that oettsio•l
In. the management of the affairs of the Navy t4/1,4
the most conspicuous marks of professional knOT-
ledge, ninderation, and economy, mixed with firm •
ness and wisdoiu. He proceeded with great ea--
nestnes to the examination of the superintending. •
,Officers, but gave them a year of trial to corr.re-
the abuses which their former neglect had as-
lowed. At the end of that year, observing, txa
reform made,- and them unequal to the task, the
greateet pains were taken to find out the al,le*t..
and most intelligent men, to whose care the re-
establishment of the Navy, the remedy of abuses,
and the restoration of order and clischplinz vver.2tq
be committed.

In the Manuscript Collections of 'Mt. Pepys,
there is a Paper, prepared by the Duke's coin-
mand, containing a list of all the great Sin *-
builders in England, with their chataaerst in respt
of fitness for the objetts which he had, in view.
Among these, Sir Anthony Dean is stated to be
a man -of by far the greatest abilities; one, :10--
deed, without whose assistance the proposed Rea
form could not be made : but on being
to, he declined the -employment, his professional
emoluments being greater than those otcered to
4itn. By the, advice of Mr. Pepys, a fall coin=
-pensation was given to hint for the loss of those
emoluments; and he was, with three others,
joined with the former principal Officers in a ,n3,..\•
Commission.

• These new Commissioners were men, in the words ,
of Mr.
.Pepys, possessing " a practised knewledge,
in every part of the works and methods of the Navy,
both at th Board and in the, Yards ; a general mas-
tery in the businesS of accounts, vigour of mind,
and approved industry and integrity :" and:to each
of them was committed a distind brine!' of the pro-
posed Reform, for Which his talents were the most
suited.

These old Commissioners, whose conduct had
been most. complained of, were not permitted to,
interfere in the measures of Reform, cvtiich the rest
were instru6ted to pursue. They were not:
how-
ever, displaced, no wilful transgression being: laid to
their charge, but were direaecientirely to confine
their attention,, to :he business of a Committee of
Accounts. '

An estimate, formed by Mr. Pepys, for the com-'
plete repair of the Fleet and Dock-yards, and the
supply of Stores, was laid before the new Commis!•
sionerS, in which the whole Expense was limited to
400,0001. a-year, to be supplied in weekly payments
for three-years, in ivhichrtime the whole was to be
completed; and this was considerably less than
what had annually been expended by the fortner
Commissioners, during the few years of remissuesj
and .waste.

' The Commissioners, after„ full consideration of the
plan; undertook what was proposed to then ;; and
it appears Soil the very full fl‘caunt cf the whole
proceedings, .left by Mr. Pepys, that they performeh
what they had under taken, in leas tizn than wit
allowed for it, at less expence.
In two years• and a half after the Commissi-
oners were appointed,. the King visited the Dock-
Yards; and, finding every thing accomplished to his
satisfaetion, and the whole business .arranged, he
dissolved the Commission, with marks of higtrap.•
probation, and then restored the Management to
the regular Boards. The Commission was open 4
at Lady-day; t es 6, and was -closed on the t,:th of
oelober, itisg ; and, by a List left by Mr. Pepys,
there were, on the 18 th .of December, 168 d

Of Ships of the Line at sea, or going forth
Ditto - repaired

Under repair ' -
To tv reiuired
"
iiewly come in from sea

IQB
with a considerable number of Vessels of snaaller

size.

Those measures which hal been so judiciously
planned, and so ably and expeditiously executed,
gave, as might be expeEted, the most general satis-
faEtion.

(To be continued.)

CORN-EXCHANGE, MARCH 28: —This day the
fresh Wheat arrivals are but few, and the demand
for fine samples keeps up their price, other qualities
bave few buyers • Barley at little alteration; _Malt is
very heavy of sate;' Beans are rather lower; there
are further arrivals of Foreign Oats, not of the best
quality, and they are cheaper; in Flour and other
articles but little variation.

SMITHFIELD MARKET, M4TRCU 28.

This day's market was but thinly supplied with
different kinds of Cattle ; Beef, Mutton, and Pork
are something reduced in price since Monday's mar-
ket ; Veal sold at last price, and the trade was ra-
ther flat. ; The sales in the Hayniarket were some-
what dull ; Hay and Clover fetched better prices
than our last report ; Straw continues the same as
per last.—We subjoin au accurate statement of tha
prices and numbers :

To. sink the Offal per stone of 81b.
Beef 4s: zod. to ss 6d.—Mutton ss. od. to ss. tod.—Veal
6s. 61. to Bs. od.—Pork Ss. 6d. to 6s. od.
Beasts 4:3.—Sheep 274o.—Calves 1 t3.—Pigs 350.
SINIITHVELD HAYMARKET.

Hay 31. os. to 41. sss.—Clover 41. 4s. to 51. sos.—Straw,
11. s6s. to 31. 3s.
•

It has been a custom, certainly not the most ad-
vantageous to adventurers, to construe some'of our
late Lottery Schemes with a 10,0001. Prize to the first
drawn Number on the first day.—To divide this
sum into ten Prizes, on the first and third, pt
1001. each to first drawn Tickets, by which a con-
siderable number of holders of Shores of Ticke
may be benefited, is no less a novel than a most in
teresting circumstance—so interesting, in fad, tha
it alone carries such weight with it, as must render
the present Scheme one of the most popular and
attrattiye experienced for many years.

•