I doubt not but some of your lordships will imagine, that I am now indulging chimerical speculations, that I am ascribing great force to weak motives, and supposing men to act upon principles which, in reality, never operated in the human breast.  When I think disadvantageously of others, my lords, I am, indeed, always desirous to find myself mistaken, and shall be pleased to hear on this occasion from any of your lordships, who have conversed at large among mankind, that it is not common for one man to neglect his own interest for fear of promoting that of another.  In the present question, my lords, I have only supposed that envy may be one motive among many, and wish its influence were so small, as that it might have been less proper to mention it.

The practice of insurance, my lords, whether it contributes or not to the number of the captures, undoubtedly increases the clamour which they occasion; for as the loss is extended, the complaint is multiplied, and both the merchant and insurer take the liberty of censuring the conduct of the naval officers, and of condemning the measures of the government.  The ministry is charged with neglecting the protection of commerce, with oppressing the merchants, and with conniving at the enemy’s preparations; that they who most eagerly solicited the war, may be the first that shall repent it.

Another cause of the frequency of our losses in the present war, is the general circulation of intelligence throughout Europe, by which it is made impossible to conceal from our enemies the state of our armies, our navies, or our trade.  Every regiment that is raised, every ship that is built, every fleet of trading vessels that lies waiting for the wind, is minutely registered in the papers of the week, and accounts of it transmitted to every nation of the world, where curiosity or interest will pay for information.  The Spaniards, therefore, need only regulate their schemes according to their instructions from Britain, and watch those fleets which are frequently sent out, for they may be confident that some masters will wander from their protectors, enticed by avarice, negligence, or temerity, and that they shall have opportunities of enriching themselves without the necessity of engaging the convoy.

To protect ships which are to be steered each at the will of the master, is no less impossible, my lords, than to conduct an army of which every private man is at liberty to march according to his own caprice, to form and pursue his own plan of operation, and to dispute and neglect the orders of his leader.  Nor is it more reasonable to subject the captains of the ships of war to penalties for the loss of a vessel, over which they have no authority, than to require from an officer in the army an account of the lives of men, who perished by disobeying his commands.