Admiralty of England

“ When a man enters His Majesty’s service, his life is no longer to be considered his own; it belongs to his king and country, and is at their disposal. If we are lost, there will be no great difficulty in collecting another ship’s company in old England, as brave and as good as this. Officers as experienced are anxiously waiting for employment; and the Admiralty will have no trouble in selecting and appointing as good, if not a better captain. ”

“ Success so inadequate to expectation was the occasion of much uneasiness and censure in the nation. The First Lord of the Admiralty was charged with negligence and incapacity, in conducting the maritime affairs of England. The magnitude of the object, and the strength of the combined foes of Great Britain required the first abilities, penetration, and industry; neither of which adorned the character of Lord Sandwich, the First Minister in the Naval department. ”

“ No one can deny that the Admiralty—Whig and Tory, without distinction, are blundering eternally—but as the resources of England seem illimitable, failures are rendered nugatory—and errors, when remediable, heedless of the expense uselessly occasioned, are corrected. ”

“ Though, by act of 2d William and Mary, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are vested with all and singular authorities, jurisdictions, and powers, which have been, and are vested, settled, and placed in the Lord High-Admiral of England for the time being, to all intents and purposes, as if the said Commissioners were Lord High Admiral of England, yet there is this remarkable difference in the two patents by which they are constituted, that the patent of the Lord High Admiral mentions very little of the military part of his office, but chiefly details his judicial duties as a magistrate ”

“ Sir,—You have been spoken of to me by Sir Charles Douglas and Captain Philemon Pownoll, for your good conduct in the various services upon Lake Champlain, in so handsome a manner, that I shall receive pleasure in promoting you to the rank of a lieutenant, whenever you come to England; but it is impossible to send you a commission where you now are, it being out of the jurisdiction of the Admiralty. ”

“ Any one who will contrast the British navy of to-day with the British navy as it might and would have been under the administration, say, of such a First Lord of the Admiralty as the present Duke of Somerset proved himself in every department of the naval service five-and-twenty years ago, will understand the recent outcry in England for a safer and more powerful fleet. ”

“ On discovering this mutinous spirit, a committee of the admiralty, with Earl Spencer at their head, repaired to Portsmouth, with a view of inducing the seamen to return to their duty. This was on the 18th of April; and five days later the admiral returned to his ship, when, after hoisting his flag, he informed the crew that he had brought with him a redress of all their grievances, accompanied by his majesty’s pardon for their offence. These offers were cheerfully accepted, and every man returned to his duty. ”

“ The Admiralty Court has acquired remarkable prestige because nowadays foreigners more and more often refer marine disputes by consent to its jurisdiction, and it looks as if the Admiralty Law of England might soon spread all over the world like the Roman Jus Gentium. ”

“ On attaining the rank of admiral, 21 March 1878, he returned to England, and for a couple of months in the summer had command of an evolutionary squadron in the Channel. In June 1879 he was appointed principal naval aide-de-camp to the queen, and in August first naval lord of the admiralty, in which post he remained till the change of ministry in the summer of 1885, when he was granted a special pension of 500l. ”

“ The French desired that a joint commission should sit to settle all maritime claims. The English council said that they had no power by law to consent to such a commission; their own Admiralty Court had been constituted for the express purpose of dealing with maritime questions, and dealing with them by the civil law of Europe, not by the common law of England. The complaints of French merchants against English cruisers must be heard there or nowhere. ”

“ With respect to the realm of England, the origin and powers of the court of admiralty are placed upon a footing which leaves them no longer subjects of speculation or uncertainty. Sir William Blackstone, in his Commentaries, Vol. III. chap. 5, p. 69, informs us,-upon the authority of Sir Henry Spelman, Glossary, 13, and of Lambard, Archeion, 41,-that the Court of Admiralty was first erected by King Edward III. Sir Matthew Hale, in his History of the Common Law, Vol. ”

“ At first called ‘Keeper and Governor’ of the king’s ships, later, ‘Clerk of the king’s ships,’ this official held, sometimes really and sometimes nominally, the control of naval organisation until the formation of the Navy Board in 1546. His duties included all those now performed by a multitude of highly placed Admiralty officials. If a man of energy, experience, and capacity, his name stands foremost in the maintenance of the royal fleets during peace and their preparation for war ”

“ Time passed by. I had furnished steam hammers to the principal foundries in England. I had sent them abroad, even to Russia. At length it became known to the Lords of the Admiralty that a new power in forging had been introduced. ”

“ Only by mutiny did the Admiralty yield to our demands. What I did I would do again! We took our risks in the Thames against the guns that were levelled at us; we’ve taken our risks down here against the French to help save your squadron, and we’ve done it. The men have done it, because they’ve been loyal to the flag, and from first to last set to make the Admiralty and the people know they have rights which must be cherished. ”

“ The portico, which was intended as an ornament, rather disgusts than pleases, by the immoderate height and ill shape of the columns.
In this office are transacted all martime affairs belonging to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty, who here regulate the affairs of the navy; nominate Admirals, Captains, and other officers to serve on board his Majesty’s ships of war, and give orders for the trial of those who have failed in their duty, or been guilty of other irregularities. ”

“ The history of the war up to date has proved that the British admirals were well informed. It is true that the rank of an admiral would not have been necessary for that; for it is an old habit of British Governments to announce in the most pathetical tone of voice their readiness to enter into negotiations, and to sign conventions, of this sort. England was always enthusiastic about right and justice in maritime warfare—provided she could by these means bind the hands of other nations without committing herself to anything. ”

“ If you take a little of the best Port Wine, the best Champagne, the best Claret, and the best Hock and mix them together, the result is disastrous. So often is it with a Board of Admiralty. That’s why I have suffered fools gladly! But Lord George Hamilton and Lord Spencer had an awful time of it. To both of these (I consider) great men I am very specially beholden. Lord George Hamilton more particularly endured much on my behalf when I was Director of Naval Ordnance, fighting the War Office. ”

“ The composition of the fleet is given in the comparative tables further on.
Great Britain. The British navy has been the most powerful navy in the world for three centuries, and it is to-day more than equal to the combined forces of any two Powers—probably equal to any four in actual warfare, as allied forces never can develop their full strength from lack of one supreme directing authority. The Naval Department is administered by the Board of Admiralty of six persons, consisting of the first lord, first sea lord, second sea lord, junior sea lord, controller, and civil lord. ”

“ If the stronger character is a layman, he may be ignorant of, or see no danger in waiving, naval traditions that are embodied in no statute or regulation, but are not embodied simply because their cogency has never been questioned. In other words, the autocracy of the Admiralty is a necessity of executive administration, but can only be exercised safely if its enforcement is continuously tested by professional opinion.
How many people, I often wonder, really appreciate how singular a body is that which is made up of admirals, captains, commanders, and lieutenants of the Royal Navy? ”

“ With K. K. at the War Office and Jack Fisher at the Admiralty British householder may sleep in his bed o' nights unafraid.
By another happy concatenation of circumstance Admiralty is represented in both Houses. With Winsome Winston in the Commons and Jack Fisher in the Lords, the Navy will have a good show. Only doubt is whether First Sea Lord will think it worth while to devote to Parliamentary duties the measure of time exacted from First Lord of Admiralty. Essentially a man of action, he has little patience with custom of talking round a matter. ”

“ A Naval War Staff at the Admiralty is a very excellent organisation for cutting out and arranging foreign newspaper clippings in such an intelligent disposition as will enable the First Sea Lord to take in at a glance who is likely amongst the foreigners to be the biggest fool or the greatest poltroon, who will be opposed to his own trusted and personally selected Nelson who commands the British Fleet. ”

“ For it is well to consider, that a scold resembles a snow-ball—it always gathers weight as it rolls along. Thus the Admiralty send down, by post or by telegraph, a rap on the knuckles to the old admiral—very moderate as naval things go, but such as, in civil life, would make a sober citizen frantic, though it merely squeezes out a growl from the venerable commander-in-chief. Straightway he rings for the secretary, and issues a smartish general order, in which the wretched captain of the offending ship catches the reprimand, with a most usurious allowance of interest. ”

“ After enduring many insults, and witnessing the hostile measures which were preparing in the ports of France, the energies of the British nation were again aroused, and in the spring of 1755 considerable augmentations were made in the Army and Navy, and fifty companies of Marines were directed to be raised and placed under the control of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. These companies were formed into three Divisions, and stationed at Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth, and an Act of Parliament was passed for the “Regulation of the Marine forces while on shore.” ”

“ A sound beating at some not vital point, which could have been demonstrated to be the result of maladministration, would probably have roused the nation into taking the Admiralty and the navy in hand, and would have been for our good. ”

“ The barbarous and wanton folly which could induce an officer bearing his Majesty’s commission to commit so unwarrantable an act, as to remove a great national curiosity from a position in which it had stood for ages, defying the hand of time, and affording to the enlightened traveller an object of such singular interest, will, it is hoped, be visited with the severest displeasure of the Admiralty. ”

“ He is even said not to have been a man of business; yet the Admiralty was a place which can scarcely be managed by an idler, and the Secretaryship of State, in this country, can never be a sinecure. He had certainly one quality which is remarkable for conciliation, and without which no minister, let his talents be what they may, has ever been personally popular; he was a man of great affability, and of shrewd wit. ”

“ He had, upon one pretence and another, been shifted, by the manœuvres of the captains, out of different ships, until he went up to the Admiralty to know if there was any charge against him. The first lord at once perceived the charge to be preferred, and made a mark against his name as not fit for anything but harbour duty. ”

“ We are at war with the second Naval Power in the world. When complaints are made that we have taken too many transports or armed too many auxiliary cruisers, or made use of too many colliers or supply ships, I must mention that fact. The statement that the Admiralty have on charter, approximately, about one-fifth of the British Mercantile Marine tonnage is correct. ”

“ Is there the slightest fear of invasion with them, even for the most extreme pessimist? I might mention other subjects; but the great fact which I come to is that we are realizing—the Navy and the Admiralty are realizing—that on the British Navy rests the British Empire. (Loud cheers.) Nothing else is of any use without it, not83 even the Army. (Here the gallant Admiral, amid laughter, turned to Mr. Brodrick, the Secretary for War, who sat near him.) We are different from Continental nations. No soldier of ours can go anywhere unless a sailor carries him there on his back. ”