o the provision made in this clause
only to expose it to contempt and ridicule, may, in particular
circumstances, be rational and just. To settle the price of corn in the
time of a famine, may become the wisest state, and multitudes might, in
time of publick misery, by the benefit of temporary laws, be preserved
from destruction. Even those masts, to which, with a prosperous gale,
the ship owes its usefulness and its speed, are often cut down by the
sailors in the fury of a storm.

With regard to the ships which are now in distant places, whither no
knowledge of this law can possibly be conveyed, it cannot be denied that
their crews ought to be secured from injury by some particular
exception; for though it is evident in competitions between publick and
private interest, which ought to be preferred, yet we ought to remember
that no unnecessary injury is to be done to individuals, even while we
are providing for the safety of the nation.

Mr. FAZAKERLY spoke to this effect:--Sir, though I cannot be supposed to
have much acquaintance with naval affairs, and, therefore, may not,
perhaps, discover the full force of the arguments that have been urged
in favour of the clause now under consideration, yet I cannot but think
myself under an indispensable obligation to examine it as far as I am
able, and to make use of the knowledge which I have acquired, however
inferiour to that of others.

The argument, sir, the only real argument, which has been produced in
favour of the restraint of wages now proposed, appears to me by no means
conclusive; nor can I believe that the meanest and most ignorant seaman
would, if it were proposed to him, hesitate a moment for an answer to
it. Let me suppose, sir, a merchant urging it as a charge against a
seaman, that he raises his demand of wages in time of war, would not the
sailor readily reply, that harder labour required larger pay? Would he
not ask, why the general practice of mankind is charged as a crime upon
him only? Inquire, says he, of the workmen in the docks, have they not
double wages for double labour? and is not their lot safe and easy in
comparison with mine, who at once encounter danger and support fatigue,
carry on war and commerce at the same time, conduct the ship and oppose
the enemy, and am equally exposed to captivity and shipwreck?

That this is, in reality, the state of a sailor in time of war, I think,
sir, too evident to require proof; nor do I see what reply can b