That the whole bill, my lords, is unnecessary, cannot be denied, if it
be considered that nothing is proposed in it which is not already in the
power of your lordships, who may call at pleasure for the lists of the
navy, the accounts of the cruisers, the duties of their commissions, and
the journals of their commanders, (as you did in the sixth of queen
Anne,) and detect every act of negligence or treachery, and every
instance of desertion, or of cowardice.
Nothing is necessary to the regulation of our naval force, but that your
lordships vigilantly exert that power which is conferred upon you by the
constitution, and examine the conduct of every officer with attention
and impartiality; no man then will dare to neglect his duty, because no
man can hope to escape punishment.
Of this bill, therefore, since it is thus useless and inconsistent, I
cannot but suspect, my lords, that it was concerted for purposes very
different from those mentioned in the title, which it has, indeed, no
tendency to promote. I believe, my lords, the projectors of it intended
not so much to advance the interest of the merchants, as to depress the
reputation of those whom they have long taken every opportunity of
loading with reproaches, whom they have censured as the enemies of
trade, the corrupters of the nation, and the confederates of Spain.
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