PREFACE.
LETTER: I., II., III., IV., V., VI., VII., VIII., IX., X., XI., XII.
FOOTNOTES.

L E T T E R S

WRITTEN IN FRANCE,

TO A

FRIEND IN LONDON,

BETWEEN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 1794,

AND

THE MONTH OF MAY 1795.

By Major T E N C H, of the Marines,

LATE OF HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP ALEXANDER.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD.
M.DCC.XCVI.

PREFACE.

THE following Letters were written under very adverse circumstances, in a part of France remote from the beaten track in which travellers generally keep, and where curiosity has seldom led to observation. As connected with that stupendous object, which has concentrated the attention not only of Europe, but of every quarter of this planet where human communications reach, they are offered to the Public. A considerable part of the collection was unavoidably dedicated to matters which must, from their nature, be uninteresting to a majority of readers; but the author trusts to the importance of the subject to compensate for the poverty of the relation. Since his return to England they have been revised; and would have been earlier sent to the press, had not reasons of a private nature interposed to procrastinate his intention.

LETTER I.

The wayward fortune of your friend has again[A] exposed him to be taken by the “insolent foe,” after an unsuccessful, but I trust not inglorious combat, against very superior force. This disastrous event happened on the 6th instant.[B]—— — —— —— —— —— —— — —— —— —— —— ——

To our great surprize, the enemy’s ships continued to fire upon us after our colours were struck. At first we conceived, that this unprovoked prolongation of hostilities arose from their not seeing that we had surrendered; but when their knowledge of this event could no longer be doubted, and the firing did not cease, some among us, joining to this conduct a recollection of the decree of the convention, which forbade quarter to be extended to Englishmen, were almost ready to believe, that it was designed to be executed upon us; and so irritated were our seamen, by this apparently wanton continuation of attack, that they had once nearly determined to renew the fight, and sell their lives as dearly as possible. At length, however, their firing ceased.

Knowing from sad experience, that in such a situation all distinction of property is confounded, and that the officers and public stores of the ship become at once the indiscriminate prey of the enemy and their own crew, I left the deck, and descended into the bread-room. There I had in the morning deposited one of my trunks, out of which I filled a clothes-bag with such necessaries as I thought would be most useful to me, and left it in the charge of my servant, while I endeavoured to save a part of what a very large trunk, lodged in the marine store-room, contained. But this resolution I was incapable of effecting. The cock-pit, which I was obliged to pass through, presented such a scene of misery, as banished every feeling, but sorrow and pity. I found myself encompassed at once by the dead and the dying. The groans of the latter, joined to the cries of the wounded, on whom operations were performing by the surgeon, and to the blood which overflowed my feet, filled me with horror and disgust.

It “quelled my best of man;” and, after two ineffectual attempts to penetrate across this stage of woe, I returned to my servant, and made a few farther arrangements of what was left to me.

By this time the French boats had boarded us, and taken possession of the ship. When I attempted to ascend to the deck, I found every hatchway guarded by French sentinels, who refused to let me pass. In vain did I expostulate with them; all the answer I could obtain was, “Citoyen, tels sont mes ordres. Je suis républicain!” At length I saw a French officer, and begged his interference, which, after some hesitation, was granted, and on his speaking to the sentinel, I was suffered to proceed to the deck, where I found all that confusion and disorder reigning which I had expected. The Admiral had, I learned, been already sent away. I enquired for the French commanding officer, and was directed to a respectable looking old man, to whom I presented my sword, telling him, at the same time, that I hoped, and trusted, we should be allowed to retain our private property, and be protected from pillage. He answered me, that we certainly should. I had, however, but just turned from him, when a French officer seized on my cross-belt, and demanded it. On my refusing to comply with this mandate, he said it was arms; which I denied, and bade him, if he thought I had not made a full surrender of those, to search me. To all the arguments and protestations which I could use, this gentleman thought proper to answer by force only; so that, finding farther resistance vain, I yielded up the belt to him, when his motive for diverting me of this dangerous implement of war, at once appeared—a large silver plate, which was attached to it, being the bait. This he very composedly took off and put in his pocket, trailing the belt carelessly along after him as he marched away.

The commanding officer being extremely urgent that we should quit the ship directly, I got leave to make another effort to recover some more of my effects; but universal plunder and uproar had now taken place. The store-rooms and cabins were broken open and pillaged, and the most brutal excesses committed. I was surprized to find the French seamen and soldiers even more forward than our own, in searching for wine and spirits, and equally eager to intoxicate themselves: a new trait in their national character.

About four o’clock I quitted the Alexander, carrying with me my bag, which was all I had been able to save, and was conducted, with several other officers, on board Le Marat, a name of ill omen, and not too predictive, thought I, when I heard it proclaimed, of the virtues of humanity and generosity. Here I found our gallant and respected commander, who introduced me to Captain Le Franq, the commander of the ship, by whom I was civilly received. This gentleman speaks very good English, which he learned in the last war, when he was a prisoner in England and in the East Indies. In a very candid manner, he repeatedly desired us not to be under any apprehensions about the treatment which we were to receive; for that if he, or any of his officers or men, should be found guilty of ill using prisoners of war, the republic would punish the offenders. When we complained to him of having been plundered, he protested, that he had given the strictest orders to forbid it to those who had boarded us; and that he was sure they could not be the authors of our losses, as his officers were all gentlemen (he spoke in English) and his men in a state of the most exemplary discipline. We answered, that among the great number of boats which had boarded the Alexander, from every ship in the squadron, it was impossible for strangers to point out either the names or the persons, or the ships to which the parties might belong; and that we chiefly attributed our losses to the precipitancy by which we had been compelled to quit our own ship. Upon hearing this, Captain Le Franq very fairly and honourably proposed, that one of ourselves should be selected, and sent on board the Alexander, in order to bring away whatever could be found belonging to any of us. We thanked him for his offer, and embraced it; but the officer who went on this service was able to obtain very little. Some few articles, indeed, he did recover; and to-day, as many more of us as chose to go again on a similar errand, were permitted, and French officers were sent with us, to enforce the order for a search: it was conducted in a very open and liberal manner, although it ended almost as fruitlessly as the former, the possessors of their newly-acquired property having taken effectual means to secrete nine parts in ten of it from our scrutiny. My large trunk, however, I discovered, close to the door of the store-room, wherein it had been deposited. I blessed my good fortune, and sprang to it: but what was my mortification, to find, that of all its former treasures (having closely packed it with my most valuable articles) nothing remained but two bits of black ribbon, serving to fasten my gorget!

We had been more than two hours in Captain Le Franq’s cabin, without having had any refreshment offered to us, when, at about six o’clock, supper was announced. The captain, inviting Admiral Bligh, and all of us, to follow him, led us into the ward-room, where we found the banquet spread, and all the officers of the etat-major, or ward-room mess, assembled. I was no stranger (as you know) to the customs of the French on land, which were never remarkable for delicacy and cleanliness; but I had never before seen their mode of living on board their ships of war. Our entertainment was served up on a large clumsy deal table, which was placed (to speak in sea-language) not fore and aft, but athwart ship, very awkwardly and inconveniently, surrounded by benches and lockers, and in place of a table-cloth was covered by a piece of green painted canvas. Sweet are the joys of hunger, on such an occasion! After a fast of thirteen hours, and that in a day of such unceasing agitation as we had passed, neither this circumstance, nor the garlic with which the meat abounded; nor a want of knives and forks, and a change of plates; nor the battling of the mousses (dirty ragged cabin-boys) for the scraps which were left; nor the appearance of the company, who all sat with their hats, or red caps, on; nor their vociferation of the word Citoyen, the only title they used in pledging each other to republican toasts, could prevent me from making a most satisfactory repast. Nothing short of the evidence of my senses could, nevertheless, have made me believe, that so much filthiness could be quietly submitted to, when it might be so easily prevented. Indeed, a ship is in all situations very unfavourable to scrupulous nicety; but no description can convey an adequate idea to a British naval officer, who has not witnessed it, of the gross and polluted state in which the French habitually keep all parts of their vessels, if I may judge from what I see in this. And to complete the jest, Captain Le Franq has more than once boasted to us of the superior attention which he pays to the cleanliness of his ship.

In the course of our conversation at supper, we learned, that this squadron had been purposely dispatched from Brest, to intercept us on our outward-bound passage, being furnished with exact intelligence of the time we had put into Plymouth, and of our force and destination[C].

But to proceed with the adventures of your friend in a regular detail. After supper, Admiral Bligh, and those officers who had saved their beds, went up into the cabin, where places to sleep in were allotted to them, while a sail was spread below, for the majority who had lost their’s, in which number I was included. This humble couch, which was as good as circumstances would allow our hosts to furnish, or as we could reasonably expect, would have been perfectly satisfactory to us, had we been permitted to retire to it. But our entertainers, no longer checked by the presence of their chief, who had retired, and elated by victory, and by an anticipation of the triumph which awaited them at Brest, on the novel and glorious atchievement of capturing a British 74 gun ship, now called for a fresh supply of wine, and began to sing, in a loud key, republican songs, which were interrupted only by questions to us, that delicacy should have withholden them from asking. One of them, taking a candle in his hand, begged me to look at two prints of heads, as large as life, of Pelletier and Marat, “Ah!” said he, pointing to the latter, “behold the friend of the people! he who shed his blood for them!” I looked, as he had desired me, and thought I saw all the diabolical qualities, by which that monster was marked in his life-time, depicted in this portrait. Prudence, however, kept me silent. Poor Pelletier came in for no share of this gentleman’s eulogy; and as to Robespierre, they all spoke of him, and “his reign,” with great bitterness and detestation.

We were compelled to rise at a very early hour next morning, the sail on which we had slept being wanted. I would willingly have walked on the quarter-deck, according to the English custom; but it was so crowded by the men, and so greasy and slippery, that I found it impracticable. The captain, overhearing us talk on this subject, very gravely said, that he never allowed his people to eat between decks, but always made them do so upon deck, in order to keep his ship clean. When we saw that after these meals they neither scraped nor washed the decks, we were at no loss to account for the state in which we found them; and no doubt those whom it professionally concerned, duly noted this curious improvement in the œconomy of a ship of war.

About eight o’clock the boatswain and his mates went to the different hatchways of the ship, and summoned the crew in a loud voice, “aux prières.” My ignorance of what these prayers might be, did not long continue. The quarter-deck was immediately thronged by men and officers, who with united voice sang the Marseilles Hymn, with a fervor and enthusiasm of manner which astonished me. I had heard it at a distance on the preceding evening; and upon enquiry learned, that it was thus publickly performed twice a day, by order of the government. The sublime music of this fine lyric composition, the gaiety breathed by the Carmagnole, and by many other popular airs which are continually in their mouths, during their most ordinary occupations, must produce a prodigious effect on the pliant minds of Frenchmen, and highly contribute to invigorate that spirit of idolatry for a republic, and that hatred and contempt of monarchy, which it is so much the interest of their leaders to encourage. I need not point out to you the good policy of such national establishments, and how deep a knowledge of human nature they manifest; perhaps no other country is so culpably indifferent to the foundation of similar institutions as our own. We fire, indeed, a few lazy guns on the anniversaries of the King’s birth, accession, and other similar occasions; but we never stimulate the passions of our soldiery, by recalling to their memories, in periodic exhibitions, the days on which their forefathers won the fields of Agincourt, Blenheim, and Minden; nor re-animate the ardent energy of our seamen, by public recitals of the victories of a Russel, a Hawke, a Rodney, and a Howe. And yet the histories of the greatest nations, both ancient and modern, sufficiently demonstrate the power of such exhibitions over the human mind; and justify me in affirming, that no people ever rose to superlative dominion who did not employ them. How would the flame of heroism be enkindled in our youth, on hearing these celebrations performed by the veterans of Chelsea and Greenwich! And what still more important sentiments would be diffused through the mass of our people, if they were frequently reminded of those glorious æras, when John was compelled to sign Magna Charta; and when the declaration of the rights of the people was made the foundation of William’s throne!

This digression towards a country, which busy remembrance points to with unceasing anxiety, could not be suppressed. To proceed with my observations here:—The republican spirit is inculcated not in songs only, for in every part of the ship I find emblems purposely displayed to awaken it. All the orders relating to the discipline of the crew are hung up, and prefaced by the words Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, ou la Mort, written in capital letters. The bonnet rouge, or cap of liberty, is erected in several places, and crowns the figure on the prow of the ship, which represents the demagogue whose name she bears, and on which is written an extract from the declaration of the rights of man. In the cabin (to which the officers are entitled to resort at all times) Liberté & Egalité are pourtrayed in female characters, the former brandishing a sword, and the latter nursing a numerous offspring, with impartial attention to the wants of all. But a picture of another sort also caught my eye: it was pasted on the outside of a door, which led to the apartment of an officer, and represented the prime minister of Great Britain conducting to a guillotine his blindfolded sovereign. The person to whom it belonged, on seeing me regard it with mingled indignation and contempt, would have begun a conversation on the subject, had I not prevented him by turning my back and walking away. Indeed, next to the poor emigrants, Mr. Pitt, or “Ministre Peet,” as they always call him, seems to be the primary object of their abhorrence. Hated name! never breathed but in curses, never coupled but with execrations! To hear them, one would suppose that he is the only man in England hostile to their growing republic. Even Captain Le Franq, who has certainly hitherto behaved towards us with more delicacy than the other officers, did not scruple to call him “a Robespierre.” To argue with these people I find impossible; “but to be grave exceeds all power of face.” My only resource, on such occasions, is to ask some question foreign to the subject they wish to talk upon: even here I can make no progress; I am either repulsed by want of common knowledge, or bewildered in contradiction. Having established it as a maxim, that some degree of information may always be gained by talking to men of their own professions, I am as inquisitive as I modestly can be, about their naval institutions. But, if my question be heard by more than one, such shocking abrupt oppositions of opinion follow, and so pertinaciously does each party defend his assertion on the most ordinary points, that my only alternative, to prevent a perfect equilibrium of mind, is to place the little confidence left at my disposal in the champion who has been least violent and vociferous; agreeably to the old observation, which says, the still stream is the deepest. Their ignorance, indeed, upon almost every subject which has been stated, is deplorable. One of them, in pure simplicity of heart, asked me if London were as large as Brest? I was contented to answer him, by saying I had never seen Brest. He was greatly surprized, on being informed that London is a sea-port; and, to recompense me for my intelligence, told me Paris did not enjoy that advantage, as he had heard, for he confessed he had never been there. A second had read Shakespeare, “and did not like him; he was too sombre.”—“Pray, sir, do you allude to any particular play?” He seemed confounded; but, after some hesitation, said, “Yes, to Paucippe.”—“To Paucippe!” exclaimed I; “you mistake the name, there is not any of his plays which bears such a title.” He was confident he was right, and therefore I begged to know the fable of the piece, or the names of the other characters; but with them, this critical reader did not pretend to any acquaintance. I need not observe to you, that none of these officers had ever served in the navy of France, but in the most subordinate capacities, under the king’s government, except the captain, who had commanded a cutter under Monsieur de Suffrein, but who had nevertheless been bred up in the service of the East India company.

We anchored in Brest-Water about three o’clock this morning, and I presume to hope we shall very soon be sent on shore; but whether, or not, on parole, does not seem quite clear. They answer with great ambiguity, and apparent unwillingness, to all questions on this head, pretending that they are ignorant of what is customary, but assuring us that we shall be treated well. To be shut up in a prison, in this cold and dreary season that is coming on, is what I dread to look forward to. We frequently describe to them the parole which is allowed to all French officers in England. But, whatever is to be our lot, I shall not wonder at their taking almost any step to rid themselves of so numerous a troop of intruders on their society and table. Their own mess consists of sixteen persons, besides the captain, who lives in common with his officers, although this association, they tell me, is forbidden in their naval instructions; but it seems these little deviations are winked at, in certain cases, to prevent the too weighty tax of a separate table. We breakfast every morning at nine o’clock on Gloucester cheese (taken out of an English prize) good brown bread, called pain d’egalité, which they bake on board, and a thin acid claret, of which the Frenchmen drink very liberally. This does not seem to argue the scarcity of flour among them, which has been so much insisted upon in England. A hint of this was dropped, and great derision followed, on their part, at the idea of starving such a country as France, by cutting off a few casual supplies by sea. We dine between twelve and one, and sup between six and seven o’clock. On all these occasions there is a sufficient quantity of provisions provided, though the dirty state in which it is served up, would disgust a Hottentot. I have mentioned before, that during our meals we are surrounded by filthy ragged cabin-boys, whose appearance, contentions and impertinence, are intolerable. Among this crew of little blackguards, two were pointed out to me as the son and nephew of Delcher, who is one of the representatives from the Western Pyrenees to the convention. It is certain, that when I challenged the boys with it, they confirmed it to me, and seemed to glory in their situation. I was also shown a third boy, about eleven years old, who is the son of an emigrated nobleman. In him, nature is not quite subdued: “Le petit —— pleure quelquefois,” said one of the lieutenants to me.

I have forgotten to mention before, that on the day of our being brought on board the Marat, we were shown their furnace (which is the oven) for heating shot. It is well contrived, and the balls, by means of a pair of bellows, would soon be made red-hot; but I doubt not that “even-handed justice” will oftener render this dreadful implement of destruction, like “the ingredients of the poisoned chalice, rather the plague of the inventor,” than the destroyer of the objects of its vengeance. The motion of a ship at sea must, I apprehend, not only cause its effect to be very precarious, but its use very dangerous. Be this as it may, every thing here was prepared, the faggots were laid, and the shot were placed between them; and they assured us, that in the moment we had struck, they were just going to heat them for us: a confession which, considering the odds that we had fought against, was not very honourable to republican gallantry. All their ships of war, they told us, were provided with similar furnaces.

In the little time I have been in my new situation, nothing has surprized me more than the quantity of English articles I every where observe. The cheese, as I said before, was Gloucester; to which I might have added, that the plates it was served upon were Stafford, and the knives it was cut by were Sheffield, while the coats, hats, and shoes of those who were eating it, were also chiefly of British manufactures. “Prize, prize,” is the only answer we receive to our enquiries. Surely what one of their officers told me cannot be true! Seeing me just now looking up one of the arms which help to form this capacious port, and which is crowded with shipping, he assured me that they were all English, and not less than 400 in number. It is too well ascertained, that the French have been, during the present war, wonderfully successful against our trading vessels. Their frigates, I am informed, cruize in small detached squadrons to the westward of Europe; whilst we confine ours almost totally to the Channel, which I presume to consider a very injudicious disposition of them, in a war wherein the enemy have no privateers, and when consequently the little ports on the French coast, within Ushant, should be less objects of our jealousy than heretofore. Provided our grand fleet can, after a parade off Brest, return into Spithead or Torbay, without being materially damaged by the weather, we seem to be satisfied, and conclude that all is going on well on the waters.

How I shall be able to procure money for bills on London, during my probable term of residence in this country, is not the smallest of my inquietudes. I have hinted the difficulty to Captain Le Franq; but from his real or assumed ignorance, one might be led to suppose, that paper-money had always been the only currency of France. The little cash I had by me, I took care to secure in my pocket, which escaped unsearched. It is, however, very inadequate to administer to my wants, stripped as I am almost to my last shirt. Small as it is, something like an attack was made upon it just now. An old militaire, who is captain of the troops on board, came to me, and, with many professions of esteem, offered to serve me, by giving me, in exchange for English guineas, twenty-four livres in paper, each; assuring me that I should subject myself to disagreeable consequences, by offering to purchase with gold, when I might land. He brought the assignats in his hand to tempt me: but I begged leave, with a profusion of compliments, to decline this courteous proposal. Surely gold and assignats cannot be deemed by all Frenchmen of equal value! Nous verrons! At present all is mystery to me.—This said captain has a son on board, a fine youth, who is a corporal in his father’s company.

Admiral Bligh is gone on shore to-day with the French captain, in order to be taken before the representatives on mission here. He will probably gain some intelligence of what we are destined to, and we expect his return with impatience. We are too well acquainted with his feelings and sentiments, to doubt that he will hesitate to sacrifice even his own personal comforts to promote ours, and to prevent our being separated from him.

Upon surrendering our swords we were given to understand, that they should be restored to us, agreeably to the usages of war among civilized nations, but nothing has been lately said of this restitution; and the French officers, on being asked about it, only shake their heads, and plead ignorance.—How unlike the polished generality which once distinguished Frenchmen towards enemies, who, in submitting to the imperious necessity of war, yielded up arms without a stain!—— Adieu!

LETTER II.

Our situation here is extremely irksome. The captain of the vessel and his lieutenants are men of ferocious manners and brutal behaviour, high-flying patriots, whose supreme delight consists in blaspheming all revealed religion, and in abusing the English nation. In the day-time we have nominally the liberty of walking upon the deck; but this privilege is frequently so curtailed, by the caprices of our gaolers, as to amount almost to a prohibition. At night we are crowded into a small cabin, and hardly allowed light enough to undress ourselves by. Luckily, however, I have recovered my mattress and a couple of blankets. We eat with the officers of the ship, who are allowed a traitement, or table-money, of three livres six sols a day, besides a ration of provisions, for each of us; so that the fault does not seem to be imputable to the government. But either the markets of Brest are extravagantly dear, or these patriotic gentlemen make an advantage of us; for hardly a day passes in which we have a sufficiency of any thing but coarse brown, or rather black, bread, so full of sandy particles as to be almost uneatable. Our breakfast at first was bread and butter, and a small red wine; but of late the butter has been taken away, and either Newfoundland salt-fish, or salt herrings, substituted in its place. These, indeed, are petty grievances, which would be easily tolerated, were they not incessantly aggravated by the disagreeable tempers, and debased sentiments, of those with whom we are obliged to live and converse. We are surrounded by American vessels, but cannot hold with any of them the smallest communication. A hope of hearing from England, or of conveying aught to it, must not be indulged. We have been told, that if we choose to venture the experiment of sending open letters by the post through Switzerland, we may do it; but that they must be first taken to the representatives, who will order them to be read, and forward them, if they contain information of a private nature only. This precaution is reasonable enough; but I have been assured by an officer of the ship, who is in a civil capacity, that I may spare myself the trouble of sending any, for that to his knowledge they are always thrown aside, and forgotten, in the office to which they are carried. The number of prisoners on board is about four hundred, nearly all of whom are English; and three more vessels appropriated to a similar use, which also seem quite full, are moored close to us. On the return of some frigates from a cruize, a few days since, we received an accession to our number which surprized me:—twenty emigrants—who for the crime of being Englishmen were taken out of an American ship at sea, after which the vessel was suffered to proceed on her voyage to Philadelphia, and the rest of the cargo remained unmolested.

I find that I acted prudently in not parting with my guineas. Since I have been here, my brother-officer from Le Marat has honoured me by a second visit, and offered thirty livres for a guinea, pointing out one of the serjeants of the guard, through whom the business might at any time be transacted. I again begged permission to decline this benevolent gentleman’s proposal, and also two others of a similar tendency, which were made to me here. Nor did the event deceive my expectation; for to-day a little Jew, who mounts a cockade, and belongs to a frigate in the harbour, came on board, and secretly gave me two hundred and fifty livres for five guineas, declaring it to be the market price on shore. What think you of these specimens of republican honour and delicacy to children of misfortune, like us? I was so transported by indignation at those who had thus endeavoured to cheat me, that I could not help asking them, on their attempting to renew the subject, if the law did not forbid the depreciation of paper, when bartered for gold. This regulation, they pretend, relates to French gold only. To exchange a louis for more than its nominal value in assignats were criminal: but mark the curious distinction! An English guinea, and a Portugueze johannes, are articles of merchandize, whose worth depends on the election of the buyer. Well! I have yet four English guineas left! Let me look at them! Oh “ye ever-young, loved, and delicate wooers! whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow on Dian’s lap,”—and before whom even the sternness of modern republican virtue melts into thin air,—tenaciously will I treasure ye up!——Adieu!

LETTER III.

ADMIRAL BLIGH has been allowed to visit us twice or thrice since our separation took place. He still remains on board Le Marat, with his son, a little boy of ten years old, and two young midshipmen, who are also permitted to be with him. Until this day he has been unable to give us any information, and was even ignorant of what was to be his own lot. He is now promised to be sent, on his parole, to Quimper, in Bretagne; and in addition to innumerable proofs of kindness and regard, which I have experienced from him ever since I have been under his command, he has honoured me by obtaining leave for me to accompany him, as his aid-de-camp and interpreter. Since my last letter he has been on board La Montagne, to see Vice Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse, the commander in chief of the fleet here, and who acted in that capacity against Lord Howe on the first of June. He told me that he was very politely received, and was pressed to accept of pecuniary assistance, which he declined; but Admiral Villaret plainly hinted to him, that he was obliged to suppress much of the regard which he wished to show to him, from the delicacy of his situation, in the present temper of the times. Monsieur Renaudin, late commander of the Vengeur, who was taken, after the sinking of his ship, on the first of June, and is just returned from England, has visited him on board Le Marat. This gentleman declares, in loud terms, the humanity of the English, and the polite attentions he received from many of our most distinguished naval officers, whose generosity left him no want: Of this list I remember the names of Lord Howe, Admiral M‘Bride, Captain Bentinck, and Captain Schomberg. Monsieur Renaudin also made a tender of his purse to Admiral Bligh; but I have reason to believe, that it was not done with that explicit frankness, which could hope to supersede the offer of Monsieur Villaret, even had it been made previously to it. By the way, the re-appearance of Renaudin, does not a little astonish the French; for the convention, in order to gratify the national vanity, and inflame the minds of the people against the English, had publickly announced, that Le Vengeur, with all her crew, sunk with colours flying, disdaining to accept of quarter from slaves whom they despised; and a decree was even passed, to perpetuate this heroic resolution, by erecting a monument to the memory of the event.

I am sorry to say, that Monsieur Renaudin echoed the profession of his commander in chief, in lamenting that the political prejudices which reign here will prevent him also from acting up to the extent of his wishes, in attending to the English, and the Admiral in particular. What evils do not these political phrenzies generate? Be this as it may, I am all alive at the thought of the scene about to burst upon me; and there are moments when I am almost tempted not to regret a captivity, which opens an inlet into this extraordinary country at such a period as the present; but these momentary illusions flit before the memory of the scenes I have left behind. Can curiosity, all-powerful as it is, stand in opposition to love and friendship? Let me, however, but quit La Normandie, and then we will strike the balance. To-morrow I am to bid adieu to her darksome round: how joyfully! And yet I shall not leave without a tear of commiseration those gallant comrades, with whom I have so lately fought, and so severely suffered.

The few remarks I have been able to make are entirely nautical. I shall detail them to you when I can revise them at my leisure at Quimper. From a fear of being searched, I have used some extraordinary precautions to secure them; and if they be found they will not be easily understood, for I have so transposed the natural order of the sentences, and so intermixed words from all the languages which I could recollect (not excepting that of New Holland) that it would puzzle the interpreter of the convention to decypher them.—— Adieu.

LETTER IV.

THAT leisure which I so lately looked forward to at Quimper, seems likely to be afforded to me here. I was removed from the prison-ship on the 8th instant, and allowed to bring my servant with me, expecting to be sent immediately on parole; but this event, like the resolutions of the Dutch councils, seems to be put off ad referendum. We receive daily assurances that it is to take place, and are daily disappointed of seeing it arrive. I enjoy, however, the society and conversation of the Admiral; and as he does not speak French, I am the chief medium through which he communicates with those who surround him, Captain Le Franq, who is married, living almost entirely on shore. So that here I remain, with nothing to do but to ask and answer questions from morning to night. These are chiefly nautical; and as you know my sentiments on the consequence of all naval concerns to Englishmen, I am induced to believe you will concur with me in thinking the subject momentous, however trite the remarks, or unimportant the observations of your correspondent may prove.

Whether Selden’s assertion, that “we have an hereditary uninterrupted right to the sovereignty of our seas, conveyed to us from our earliest ancestors, in trust for our latest posterity,” be perfectly deducible either from the nature of things, or from the authority of history, I shall not stay to enquire. But I will venture to affirm, that when we suffer this right, however acquired, to depart from us, the sun of England may be truly said to be set for ever.

When the question of the relative naval strength of the two nations is agitated, which it often is, I am tempted to cry out to my country, in the words of the Grecian oracle,—“Trust to your wooden walls.”—I am the more confirmed in this opinion, from reading every day in the bulletins of the astonishing successes of this people, both in the Pyrenees, and on the frontier of Holland. They openly boast of being able, in a short time, to penetrate to Madrid; to force the German powers to peace; and to totally subdue the Dutch.—And then “Delenda est Carthago.” I accuse not those with whom I converse of using this, or any other Latin phrase; but you will smile on being told that they habitually call us Carthaginians, and themselves Romans. They pay us, however, the compliment of declaring, that we are the only enemies worth combating. They stigmatize the Spaniards as cowards: at German tactics, when opposed to the energy and enthusiasm of republicans, they laugh: Dutch apathy can alarm no one. But this respect is confined to our naval character. Our impotent interference and puny attempts on the Continent they treat only with ridicule and derision. This spirit is not new: A noble lord, now high in rank in the British army, told me nearly twenty years ago, when we were on service together in America, that when he was very young, and travelling in France, a general officer, on hearing him relate that he was designed for the army, expressed his surprize that any Englishman, to whom the choice was left, should hesitate to prefer entering into the navy. Are the scorn and contempt of our enemies necessary to teach us in what our true grandeur, our real national pre-eminence, consists? It is certain that at present we far surpass them in the number of our ships, in the dexterity of our seamen, and in the interior regulations of our service; but I am persuaded, that they will hereafter strain every nerve to equal and exceed us. I know, that by very high authority the naval power of France has been denominated “forced and unnatural;” but let those who apply to it epithets so devoid of knowledge and reflection, remember the short period in which Louis XIV. created this navy, and its resurrection in 1778, when, to the astonishment of all Europe, notwithstanding its wasted and disastrous condition but fifteen years before, it suddenly started up, singly, to contest the empire of the sea with Britain, and for four years (until the 12th of April 1782) poised the scale of victory against its formidable antagonist.

Nature has denied to France a port in the Channel, capable of receiving large ships; but if art can supply the deficiency, they seem determined to employ it to its utmost extent. Whether the works at Cherbourg are proceeding or not, I cannot exactly learn; but it is certain, that the scheme of rendering it secure for line of battle ships is not utterly abandoned; and who can doubt, that it will either be carried on there, or in some neighbouring port, with accelerated vigour, on a return of peace? Their warlike spirit now runs so high, and is so universally diffused, that many years must elapse ere it will subside. It is a train of gun-powder, to which, in the present temper of the people, a spark will give fire. A hatred of England is fostered with unceasing care. In nothing does this inveterate spirit against us demonstrate itself so bitterly, as in the abhorrence with which they always mention our taking possession of Toulon: “You gained it like traitors; you fled from it like poltroons.” On the celebrated measure of making them a present of four ships of the line, and six thousand of their best seamen, which were sent to Brest and Rochfort from the Mediterranean, they often make themselves merry, and us serious, by pointing out the ships as they now lie near to us, equipped and ready for sea; and by affirming, that the supply of men thus received enabled them to fit out those cruizing squadrons which have so sorely distressed our commerce.

How incumbent upon us, then, is it become to guard against the effects, which a propagation of this principle will inevitably produce! Naval perfection is, I am well aware, like all other perfections, placed beyond human reach; but the road to excellence is open. In it we have advanced before our rivals in all branches of naval superiority but one: I mean ship-building. Our vessels want length, and in the construction of their bottoms are undeniably very inferior to those of our enemies. Hence the continual escapes of the French fleets from ours, by superior sailing, when we want to bring them to action, which no skill, diligence, or bravery in our commanders can surmount. We possess models from which we might learn to correct our errors, and supply our deficiencies; but these patterns we are more ready to destroy than to imitate, as if fearful lest comparison of them with our own productions should demonstrate our inferiority. Thus do we continue obstinately to grope on in a dark and superannuated track, merely because our ancestors preceded us in it. The truth is, the art of ship-building has been cultivated in France by men of science, enlightened by a previous study of its theory: whereas in England it has been committed to the management of those, who for the most part have certainly had no room to boast of a scientific education, or a laborious examination of principles; and who could justly lay claim to the merit of observation only. In a country so eminent for mathematical acquirements as ours, is it not extraordinary, that this most useful branch of knowledge should have been so rarely applied to national advantage? What treatises on this important subject can we oppose to those, which have been published by French academicians, and by Bouguier in particular?

“Oh! for a bridge to pass over two hundred thousand sans-culottes!” I hear often exclaimed. Not that bridge which, according to Milton, Death consolidated across Chaos, could be more fatal to the remaining innocence of our first parents, than such a structure, in the shape of a superior fleet, would prove to their English descendants. To prevent its erection, or to have a chosen band of pioneers ready to destroy it, must be our concern. I am, however, well convinced, that hitherto they have never seriously intended to invade us. This bug-bear has now for more than a century been employed to affright us; to cramp our foreign efforts; to diminish our sum of productive labour, one of the most important of national considerations; and to debauch the manners of our artisans and peasants in camps and barracks[D].

I have been curious to hear their account of the signal defeat, which they experienced on the first of June. This ship was not in their fleet, having been launched since; but Captain Le Franq commanded on that day L’Entreprenant, of 74 guns, and some of the other officers were also parties concerned. Not the invincible superiority of British seamen in fighting and managing their ships, but “Treason! treason! joined to the ignorance, obstinacy, and cowardice of Jean Bon St. André, caused the loss of the day.” This naval dictator, who from a Hugonot curate at the foot of the Pyrenees was raised to be a member of the convention, and delegated by that body to superintend the equipment, and direct the manœuvres, of a great fleet, is never mentioned but with execration. His star set with that of his master, Robespierre. I have heard an officer assert, that he saw him, in the heat of the engagement, seized with a sudden emotion, start from Admiral Villaret, near whom he was standing, in the stern-gallery of La Montagne, and run pale and breathless down to the lower gun-deck, under a pretence of encouraging the men; nor could he be drawn thence, until the danger was over. “His seamanship,” continued this gentleman, “consisted in having made one short passage. He might be a good ecrivain ou secretaire; but for the marine! Oh! le vilain——!” But for him, they say, the action would have been renewed, agreeably to the wishes and representations of Monsieur Villaret; for “the English were beaten, and might have been destroyed.”—I cannot help thinking, that if Jean Bon St. André really did prevent a renewal of the battle, he is not altogether so obnoxious to the reproaches of his fellow-citizens as they describe him to be, France is not the first republic which has profited, by declining to combat a victorious enemy.—A second cause of the disaster of the day arose from Lord Howe having gained possession of a copy of the French signals, which was procured by “the guineas of Pitt;” so that he was enabled to divine all their intentions, and to counteract them. It is certain, that some of their captains were gullotined, after the return of the fleet to Brest, but whether on a suspicion of cowardice, or perfidy, I know not. How consolatory to French vanity are these satisfactory solutions of this dreadful overthrow! Happy people! who, in all your conflicts against other nations, conquer by superior skill and bravery only; and are never vanquished but by disparity of number on the side of your enemy, or by treachery among yourselves!

An error, which you with myself, and all other Englishmen, have fallen into about this engagement, I must beg leave to correct, or at least to offer you my reasons for believing it to be one.—Lord Howe’s account of the action states, that two ships of the enemy were sunk. Of Le Vengeur we will not speak; here proof is positive. But I am persuaded she was the only one. This the French positively assert; and I beg leave so far to join with them, as to observe, that when in Admiral Montagu’s squadron (of which the Alexander formed a part) we were chased, on the ninth of June, by the shattered remnant of their fleet, which was steering to Brest, it was composed of nineteen sail of the line. Now, I apprehend it to be certain, that on the day of battle this fleet consisted but of twenty-six ships, six of which were captured and brought into England; so that it should appear the seventh, Le Vengeur, made up the original number. But beside the strong presumption which this circumstance affords, I have received assurances from so many quarters (and particularly from one not remarkably friendly to the present system) that I am convinced one ship only was sent to the bottom on the first of June. Indeed, in matters of this nature, owing to the passions of those engaged, and the innumerable causes which obstruct vision, we should always receive similar relations cum grano salis. In Lord Rodney’s action of the 12th of April 1782, a French ship, said to be Le Diademe, was supposed to be sunk; but I believe subsequent accounts clearly evinced that such an event did not happen. However, the French are more than even with us upon this head; for I have heard some of them positively affirm, that they saw three, and others four of our ships, among which was the Queen Charlotte, go down on the first of June. And when I assured the gentleman who furnished me with this last piece of information, “on the evidence of his own senses,” that he had been deceived, he only shook his head, and continued, like your friend, a sceptic.

The remainder of this letter shall be dedicated to a detail of those detached parts of their naval institutions, customs, and present state, which I have been enabled to pick up. In general I think them inferior, because less easily practicable, to our own, but many of them deserve consideration. “Fas est et ab hoste doceri.”

The discipline of their men struck me at the first view as contemptible; and yet I must confess that I was surprized by the state of subordination in which I afterwards found them. The seaman or soldier addresses his commander by the title of Citoyen, and receives in return the same appellation; but in the five weeks I have lived among them, I have witnessed only one instance of disobedience. The offender was a soldier, who refused to assist in performing some of the ordinary duties of the ship. A court-martial, or conseil de discipline as they call it, was immediately holden upon him, by order of Captain Le Franq, who prosecuted. It consisted of a lieutenant of the ship and three seamen, and of two serjeants and a corporal of the troops. The prisoner pleaded ignorance of the law on this head; and that when he had voluntarily enrolled himself to serve as a soldier, it was under an idea of not being compelled to do that which ought to be the result of inclination only. This defence was deemed so unsatisfactory, that the offender was sentenced to three months imprisonment on shore.

All the judicial institutions of their navy, and the punishments allowed to be inflicted, as well as the cases to which they apply, are strictly defined. The conseil de discipline is impowered to try only inferior officers and men. The officers of the état major (answering nearly to those of our ward-room) and all above them, can be tried only by a board of officers, who assemble in the admiral’s ship. Neither of these courts has the power of condemning to death: all offences of a capital nature must be tried before the revolutionary tribunal. The punishments enjoined are flogging in certain cases, the number of lashes being limited; running the gantlope; ducking from the yard-arm; confinement on shore, or in the lion’s den (boatswain’s store-room); stoppage of pay; and degradation. The three last extend to officers. A prisoner’s allowance of wine is always stopped. No man can be punished but by a sentence of the conseil de discipline; and, in carrying on the service of the ship, it is positively directed, that no “French citizen” shall, on any account whatever, be struck; but he may be pushed as violently as may be found necessary. For giving a box on the ear an officer would be cashiered; but to dash a man’s head against the ship’s side, so as to crush his nose, or beat out his teeth, by rushing suddenly upon him, is allowable.

The ranks of officers differ from ours: those only who command line-of-battle ships, and frigates carrying 18-pounders, are properly styled captains. Other frigates are commanded by lieutenants; and vessels of 20 guns or under by ensigns. Common courtesy, however, with them, as with us, annexes the title of Captain to all commanders. Agreeably to this classification the pay is regulated, but it is at present found so grievously inadequate, as to cause great complaints; and yet the French are unanimous in affirming, that all ranks are not only better paid, but better fed, clothed, and treated, than under the old government. Besides his pay, every officer, including the warrant officers and midshipmen, is allowed a traitement, in lieu of the table which was formerly kept at the king’s expence. The traitement of admirals and captains is very handsome, and suited to their rank, as they are enjoined to keep separate tables: that of Captain le Franq is 24 livres a day. No half-pay has yet been settled upon, or even promised to, the French officers. The seamen are divided into four classes: the pay of the highest class is 40½ livres a month; of the second 36½; of the third 33½; and of the lowest 30½.

Their gradations of command are very similar to our own, from the captain to the lieutenants, ensigns, and boatswain. The office of pilote, which formerly answered to that of master with us, is abolished. It is particularly enjoined, that the officers be put at five watches, if the state of the ship will allow of it. The lieutenant of the watch is stuck up on a little pedestal, which overlooks the helmsman, whence, except in emergencies, he never stirs during his guard, the ensign appointed to assist him, who is distinguished by wearing a gorget, being charged to superintend the execution of his orders.

The general uniform of both their navy and army is a blue coat, with a red waistcoat and breeches: the naval facing is white edged with red, and that of the soldiery red; both services wear gold epaulettes. The naval button is an anchor, surmounted by the cap of liberty, and encircled by the words “La République Française.”

Of the minute regulations established for dividing prize-money, I cannot speak; but the general principle on which its distribution is founded appears to me worthy of attention. Two-thirds of every prize are put into a common stock, which is shared by the whole navy, and the remaining third is divided among the captors. A captain receives but in a proportion of 5 to 1 to a foremast-man; a captain of troops, and a naval lieutenant, as 4 to 1; a naval ensign, subaltern of troops, surgeon, and commissary, as 3 to 1; midshipmen, boatswains, gunners, &c. as 2 to 1; and quarter-masters, and the lowest rank of officers, as 1½ to 1. The first part of this system, which relates to the common stock, were valuable, if it could be impartially carried into execution; but from the daily fluctuation of the parties concerned, I do not see how it could be reduced to practice among us, without giving rise to perpetual lawsuits. Some modification of the latter part would render its adoption very desirable in a country where, hitherto, this important part of the reward of naval toils has been apportioned with the most cruel and insulting contempt of the feelings and necessities of the lower orders.

Drugs and instruments of surgery are, I apprehend, very scarce at present in France, as hand-bills are distributed over the fleet, enjoining the officers who may board prizes to be particularly careful in preserving them for the use of the republic. Those belonging to our surgeons were seized upon this pretence; and, notwithstanding representations were made to reclaim them, as private property (which they were) they were neither restored, nor an equivalent for them offered. Every French 74-gun ship is allowed a surgeon and five assistants. How many lives might be saved in our fleets, were our medical establishment equally liberal! Permit me here to observe to you, that the faculty owe obligations to the revolution. It is well known that they were heretofore, in France, treated in many instances highly unbecoming the regard so justly due to a profession, whence mankind derive so many benefits. Surgeons on board (and I am told on shore) are now considered with all the respect due to gentlemen, and live in the society of the principal officers.

The French marine corps, which, similarly to ours, was instituted for the service of the navy, is abolished, and troops of the line embarked in their room, who are subjected, by an express order, which I have read, to all the general regulations of the crew, and placed under the absolute command of the sea-officers. The detachment on board this ship belongs to a regiment in the Western Pyrenees: it is composed of stout healthy young men, who, if not formidable from discipline and knowledge of tactics, are full of energy and republican enthusiasm. I must here remark a vulgar error, which prevails too much among Englishmen who have never travelled out of their own country—that the lower orders of the French are puny debilitated creatures, inferior to ourselves in physical powers. Could these persons be present at a muster of the seamen and soldiers of this ship, they would find their size and strength the same as their own, and in hardihood they are certainly superior to us. I never before saw people support cold so well; this is owing to their having no stoves on board to heat themselves by, a privation which extends to the officers, not from election but necessity; for Admiral Bligh’s stove was immediately transported to La Montagne, for Admiral Vilaret, and one which belonged to the ward-room of the Alexander, became the prey of Monsieur de Nieully.

All their men seem to be well supplied with clothing. It is furnished to them by the government at an easy price, which has remained the same, while on shore it has been trebled. Of this they are obliged to keep up a stated quantity, and whenever men are turned over from one ship to another, a list of their clothes is sent with them, and if it falls short of the prescribed regulation, the men are forbidden to be received. Each man is supplied with a hammock and two rugs, but no bed. In case men belonging to ships are compelled by bad weather, or any other cause, to remain for the night on shore, there is a receiving-house, to which they can retire, where they are both fed and lodged until they can be sent on board.

The allowance of every person in the fleet, without distinction, is as follows, and like every thing else is decimalized, or regulated by periods of ten days. On four of them they have half a pound of fresh beef, on two of them half a pound of salt beef; on two of them half a pound of salt pork, and on the remaining two four ounces of salt fish, with oil and vinegar to eat with it; one pound and a half of soft bread daily—no butter or cheese; on fresh-meat days, a soup for dinner made of the beef, with a little thickening in it; every evening a soup composed of four ounces of rice, pease, or beans, and oil; a wine quart of thin claret daily—such is the ration in port. At sea, salt beef and pork are served on the fresh-meat days, and, except in exceedingly bad weather, bread is every day baked; when this cannot be done, the same quantity of biscuit, of an excellent quality, is issued. I have seen them grin, when grinding it, at a recollection of its superiority over the black unpalatable stuff, which, they say, bore the same name under the former government. You, who well know the allowance served in our navy, may, if you please, compare the two institutions, and decide which is preferable. I am of opinion that this is best calculated to preserve health, particularly in long voyages and hot climates; but how far British seamen could be brought to relish its adoption, is not so evident. Observe that these pounds are French, which exceed our common weight by full two ounces; and that nominal or purser’s pound, which is used by order on board our ships, by a great deal more.

I remember to have formerly treated the measure of sending a frigate off Brest, to count the number of the fleet, or to see whether it had sailed, more lightly than it deserved. I now see that both roads may be inspected, particularly the outer one; and even of the inner one a sufficient degree of information may be generally gained by a good glass. The French boast of the holding-ground in Brest-Water; but if I may judge from the frequent dragging of anchors which happens in moderate weather, it must be far inferior to that of Spithead. The truth is, they are in general shamefully careless in mooring their ships: they over-lay each other’s anchors, and thereby cause foul berths, without reflection or ceremony.

Of real seamen they have few left, many thousands of their best having been drafted early in the war, and sent to serve as soldiers on the frontiers. Robespierre (whose execution was certainly the triumph of humanity, but not of the allies) by annihilating their foreign commerce, destroyed the only nursery which can ever supply the consumption of a numerous navy. Their ships are, therefore, filled with landmen, who, previously to their being drafted for actual service, are sent on board certain vessels fitted on purpose, where they are taught all the elementary parts of practical seamanship. The number of boys on board is likewise very great, and for their instruction (as also for that of such men as may be desirous of improvement) a schoolmaster is allowed to every ship, whatever be her size. It is enjoined, that these preceptors be capable of teaching the theories of navigation, gunnery, fortification, and the common parts of the mathematics; and farther, that they be men of good moral characters, and great suavity of manners.

They have a naval committee for examining of midshipmen and inferior officers, to determine whether they be qualified to take charge of prizes. Nothing short of irremediable necessity will justify a commander for entrusting a prize to the direction of any person who has not undergone this examination.

They water their ships in the roadsted from floating tanks, which are brought alongside, whence the water is forced by pumps through hoses into the casks on board.

Every ship is furnished, at the public expence, with a superb set of charts of every part of the known world: those of our country are particularly excellent: there is hardly a little harbour in Britain or Ireland which is not laid down in them. With us this important charge is left to the prudence and honesty of a master; and how many accidents have befallen our ships by a neglect of it, need not be here enumerated.

I am assured, that there are in the dock-yard here three covered docks, under which the workmen can carry on their operations in all weathers.

An experiment, of covering by a strong wooden case the rudders of ships to the water’s edge, which leaves them only just room to work, is now trying on two or three of their frigates. It is intended to prevent the rudder from being unshipped, if struck by a sea.

The ponderous guns with which they used to overload their ships are displaced for others of a size more manageable. No ship now carries heavier metal than a French 36-pounder. Their first rates have sixteen ports on the upper and middle deck, and fifteen on the lower, except La Montagne, whose upper and middle deck are pierced with seventeen ports, and her lower with sixteen; so that, exclusive of those on her quarter-deck and forecastle (twenty in number) she mounts exactly 100 guns. They do not, however, in any of their ships, turn their quarter-decks to so much advantage as they might. In this ship the five aftermost and most useful ports are blocked up by standing cabins, and have no guns provided for them.

When the fleet weighs anchor, each ship’s signal to heave up is made in succession. This method prevents the confusion which we experience in weighing all together; but, on the other hand, it precludes that emulation to be first, which a competition causes; they are accordingly very tedious in performing this operation.

Official bulletins of all public events, which the convention find it their interest to promulge, are printed on board La Montagne, from a copy transmitted from Paris, and distributed, at the expence of the government, to the officers and seamen of every ship. This is a popular measure, which wonderfully flatters the lower orders, who deem themselves in possession of all the secrets of state, and conclude that politics are no longer a mystery. I frequently read these chronicles, which are always filled with details of victories over their foreign enemies, and addresses to the convention from the departments. I was greatly diverted in reading one of the latter, from the “Popular Society” at Brest, on the occasion of the Alexander’s colours being presented to the convention, by the Major of Admiral Nieully’s squadron, who was dispatched expressly to Paris on this important mission.—“Behold,” says the orator, “Pitt himself virtually brought to the bar of the convention, when the British banner is prostrated before your august assembly!” Notwithstanding this flourish, and fifty more of the same sort, I am told that the inhabitants are strongly suspected of incivism, and closely watched.

It has been customary to extol the French signals, as superior to our own; but any man capable of judging, who will compare the two codes, must be convinced, that those now in use in the English fleet are more simple in their principle, more exact in their arrangement, and more easy in their comprehension. The French were long our masters in this art, which lately our naval officers have certainly carried beyond them. Their superior dexterity in making and answering them must not be confounded with the signals themselves. In this respect, from being earlier and more closely trained, I fear it will be found (though with many exceptions on our side) that they surpass us. There is on board every French ship a class of youths, called pilotins, who attend solely to this part of naval duty. They are placed under the direction of an experienced quarter-master, and hold a rank immediately below that of midshipman, into which body they are promoted from time to time, according to their merit.