men for want of that method and self-confidence which nothing but experience can give, and thinks by severity to force respect. Men of good heart and good understanding outgrow this, and perceive their error; but it is a perilous stage through which they pass; and sometimes, before the captain has acquired experience, the crew have become desperate. We could instance an officer, in whom, when time had ripened him, the elements of firmness and gentleness were mixed in such perfect union, that no man was ever more heartily or more justly beloved by those under his command; but he had been trusted with command too young, and the remembrance of the severities which he had then exercised, and of their consequences, troubled him on his death-bed. But examples of a different nature might be cited; men might be named who have shewn themselves incapable of shame or remorse, and whose unendurable tyranny has sometimes proved fatal to others, and sometimes to themselves. Persons acquainted with the navy will recollect one case of shipwreck, where the captain is vehemently suspected to have perished, either because some of his crew seized that opportunity of avenging themselves, or because none of them would stretch out a hand to save him. And in a case of capture (how recent or how remote is of no consequence), the crew of a king's ship are reported to have fired without ball, in order that they might be made prisoners, and thus delivered from a state of oppression under which they had neither remedy nor hope. It is true, that tyranny and oppression are provided against by martial law, but these offences are not in their nature so definite as mutiny; neither are they, nor can they be punished with the same severity, even if there were or could be the same disposition to punish them. Had it not been for a mere accident, Captain Lake would have received no other punishment than a private reprimand, for an act which nothing but accident prevented from being murder. Other instances might be given; but the invidious labour may well be spared, where the object is not to declaim against evils which have existed or may exist, but to shew by what means they may be prevented. The system of limited service, increase of pay in proportion to length of time, with a discharge upon full pay for life at the expiration of one-and-twenty years after the age of twenty, seems to afford those means. Were that system thoroughly established in the army and navy, volunteers would never be wanting for either; and when it was known that men might retire from the service of their country at any time after the age of one-and-forty, with such a capital as, if prudently employed, might afford them a comfortable provision for life, no other bounty would be required to tempt them into the service. Calculate the chances of life and of war, and it will be found that no great additional expense would be incurred by thus giving the bounty at the end of the term instead of the beginning; but if an additional yearly million were necessary, it would be well bestowed, and a hearth-tax or poll-tax for such a purpose would be cheerfully paid by the people of Great Britain. |