OBSERVATIONS ON A LATE Scandalous Paper Reflecting on the Admiralty, etc.  
Said to be written By an ENGLISH Sailer.  
Humbly Offered by one who is not a Sailer, tho' of long Service in the NAVY.  
Published by John Nutt near Stationers-Hall, 1699.   

OBSERVATIONS ON A Scandalous Paper, Containing (among other Things) Several Reflections on the Admiralty.  
THO' I have not hitherto thrown away much Time, in Perusing the many illnatured Pamphlets that have lurked about the Town; yet have I, with more than ordinary Observation, read over a Book just crept out among the Crowd, on which is bestowed the Title of, The State of the Navy, etc.  
As to its Author's Reflections, on those Gentlemen who are entrusted with the Management of the Offices of the Navy and Victualling, I shall leave it to such of them (if any) who have for a long time sucked in the Sweerness of those Employments, to perform that bitter Task, of making the Brightness of their Integrity shine, through the many Clouds this Gentleman has drawn over them; and shall only confine my short Discourse to what he lays to the Charge of the Admiralty; in which Office, though I have not been particularly concerned, yet have I not been wanting, in some measure, to inform myself of the Nature thereof, and am not wholly a Stranger, to the ill Treatment those Gentlemen daily receive, notwithstanding the Services they have done their Country during the Fatigue of the late War.  
This ingenuous Author, at his first attacking them, does peremptorily affirm, That the Mismanagements of the Offices of the Navy and Victualling, proceed from the ill Conduct of this single One, the Admiralty, which he terms their Fountain; without considering, that the Purest Waters, when they once entangle themselves with other Channels, that they must unavoidably fall into, seldom fail, by such Conjunction, of losing great part of their Original Virtue; though what remains in the Fountain, keeps its Purity.  
From what Fountain this Gentleman has derived his Knowledge, I cannot judge; but 'tis somewhat apparent, that if once it had good Qualities in it, it has now had the ill Fortune to mingle with a Pool of Troubled Waters.  
I can hardly be Master of so much ill Nature, as to put him in Mind of one Observation of his on Solomon and Hirams Navies, lest being thereby led to reflect on it, he should at last discover himself to be a greater Ape, than any he says were contained in those Noble Machine's; for what Notion this Canting Gentleman can have of the Oeconomy then in Practice, for the Preserving and Well-employing the Invincible Armadas of those Princes; or what sort of Shipmen they were, whose Experience in Sea-Affairs, Entitled them to the Conduct of them, I am altogether a Stranger to; though I am apt to believe, his Ignorance in that, and the present Discipline of our Navy, run Parallel one with the other; otherwise, he would have found out more proper Persons for the carrying on so great and intricate a Business, than a Number of Old Females, Inhabiting a Place, from whence, 'tis more than probable, he gathered the scattered Fragments which he has maliciously taken the trouble of jumbling together.  
I find this Gentleman's Stomach too Squeemish, to admit of any one's being Qualified to sit at the Admiralty-Board, but a Seaman; for to that intent he Quotes the Sea-Commanders of Solomon; a Prince, whose Country, I am apt to believe, afforded but little choice of that kind. But if my Author had taken the trouble, to have informed himself a Little (for Much I doubt he'll never know with greatest Application) of the Constitution and Business of the Office of High-Admiral of England, he would have agreed with me, That Persons knowing in other Matters, as well as Seamanship, are absolutely Necessary to carry on so intricate an Affair: But since his want of Enquiry, renders him altogether a Stranger to this, I cannot judge him in the least capable to discover, wherein the Gentlemen who now Compose that Board, are wanting, either in Qualifications or Inclination, to serve their Country; but do rather suspect, that he has industriously gathered his Scandalous Reproaches from Persons who have thought themselves Disobliged, or whose uneasy Tempers, like his own, induce them to fly in the Faces of others, chief for the sake of Mischief, and not with the least intent of Benefit to their Country: And if I guess right, this is not the first time the Pen of my Antagonist has been dipped in Gall.  
In another Place he takes Pains to insinuate his own mighty Apprehensions, That the trusting the Affairs of the Royal Navy any longer in the present Hands, may be of Fatal Consequence, in regard they may embarrass the Naval Affairs, and retard the Erterprises thereof, by ordering Squadrons and Cruizers in such Stations where they cannot be Serviceable; but sure I am, he cannot believe, (unless he is an Original of downright Folly) that these Gentlemen will so little regard even their own Safety, as wilfully to do what may prejudice their Country; whereas others, (whoever they be that succeed) for want of the Experience which a Nine Years War, and an Industrious Application, must give, (though otherwise Persons of greatest Probity) may unadvisedly fall into such Errors as my Author mentions. Besides, Are not the future Actions of these Gentlemen, as liable as any others, to pass the strictest Scrutiny of that Great and Wise Assembly which our Country has made choice of? These Things weighed together, wherein does appear the Advantage a Change will introduce; unless the worthy Gentleman, with whom I am now in Contest, be silenced with the Offer of the Chair? His Qualifications, for which I did vainly hope to find in the Body of his Book, since on the outside he borrows the Name of a Sailor.  
However, I find he would have them out, Right or Wrong, because they have been so long In; as if the length of a Man's Service to his Country and Prince, Renders him Guilty of an unpardonable Crime: But then I hope he will befriend his Country, by Nominating a Set of those un-erring Gentlemen he has in his Eye, to Fill their Places. For my own part, I cannot think a Thousand Pounds a Year, is so very Tempting, (especially, where a Man has a Competency of his own to afford him Bread) as to Induce many Men to Expose themselves to the the constant Clamour and Reproach, which I doubt will always attend the Actions of those that Fill this unlucky Office; nor can he, in Common Justice, think it Reasonable, that others should have the Benefit of that in Peace, which these Gentlemen have Toiled for in War; wherein, tho' their many Services are now forgotten, and Crimes daily laid to their Charge, yet I cannot find any Facts proved, able to Stagger me in my Opinion, that in Consideration of the length of their Service, and Experience in the Business, they are the most proper Persons to carry on the Affair with which they are at present Entrusted,  
I cannot omit taking notice, that in several Pages of the First part of this Gentleman's Book, he Insinuates the Hardships done to the Seamen, during the late War, and particularly, in the turning them over, after having made one Foreign Voyage, into Ships bound on another, without suffering them to come on Shoar to tell their Grievances; to which I dare boldly say, that had there been more Instances of this kind, than he can be furnished with, from those Persons whose Materials stuff up his Book, yet the frequent want of Men, and the many Services which the greatness of the Action required them for, might sufficiently excuse it. For my own part, I wish all Imaginable Happiness and Satisfaction to these poor People, who Wade through so many Difficulties and Hazards for the Bread they Eat; and I would not have them Despair of finding Advantages and Ease in Peace, which they could not Enjoy in War: But I should be much to blame, did I not tell this their pretended Champion, that he shows himself rather an Enemy than a Friend to the Government, by publishing a Doctrine like this, in regard it may tend more to Its Prejudice than he is capable of Judging, though perhaps not to that Degree as he does wish.  
Lastly, As to what he Insinuates relating to the Victualling the Fleet in the straits, under Command of the Earl of Orford, and particularly that part wherein he says, It was called the Vinegar Fleet, by reason of the sour Wine the Sailors drank; I refer myself to any of these Men, he says were so sourly Treated in that Expedition, whether the Wine which was daily delivered to them, was not as good, as what the Admiral himself, or the Captains drank at their own Tables. Which being matter of Fact, I do not think it worth my while to expose any other parts of his Ignorance or Malice on that Subject.  
FINIS.