Their first proceeding was to stop absolutely the comfortable old system whereby all the superior officers of a Packet stayed at home at ease, while the mails entrusted to them made their distant journey to Barbados or Jamaica under the charge of a common seaman, who felt his way across the Atlantic by rule of thumb. None of the officers lost a penny by this arrangement. The captain, or the owners whom he represented, whose profits were made largely out of the passengers and in a less degree out of the sum paid for the hire of the Packet, with a small annual salary, received every item of these amounts without deduction whether he made the voyage or not; and in these circumstances the natural inclination of mankind to turn their employments into sinecures was constantly asserting itself at Falmouth. In fact, the idea that so long as the commander, whether on board or not, was nominally responsible for the safety of his ship, no further questions ought to be asked, seems to have been elevated to the rank of an accepted principle of conduct at Falmouth, recognized by agent and commanders alike. There was therefore a good deal of indignation when, in 1793, the agent, Mr. Pender, began to upset established practice, and went so far as to lay down the rule that, in the absence of the commander, no officer of lower rank than the master was to assume charge of a Packet. Mr. Pender explained that he was acting under instructions from headquarters; but the commanders could not believe that headquarters would be so unreasonable; and it needed a sharp, peremptory minute from the Postmaster General to convince them of the fact. Of course this new arrangement was more costly to the commanders than the old one, for the master would not act as the captain’s deputy without receiving considerably more money than would have contented a common sailor. At the same time the Postmaster General reached the pockets of the absentee captains in another way, for they laid down that any commander who, by shirking voyages in time of war, abrogated his functions as a fighting officer, should receive only the salary paid in times of peace, which was two pounds a month lower than the pay of the war establishment.