Some of the expedients mentioned in this bill, I shall readily concur with the noble lord in censuring and rejecting; I am very far from thinking it expedient to invest the governours of our colonies with any new degree of power, or to subject the captains of our ships of war to their command. I have lived, my lords, to see many successions of those petty monarchs, and have known few whom I would willingly trust with the exercise of great authority. It is not uncommon, my lords, for those to be made cruel and capricious by power, who were moderate and prudent in lower stations; and if the effects of exaltation are to be feared even in good men, what may not be expected from it in those, whom nothing but a distant employment could secure from the laws, and who, if they had not been sent to America to govern, must probably have gone thither on a different occasion? The noble duke, who has vindicated the bill with arguments to which very little can be added, and to which I believe nothing can be replied, has expressed his unwillingness to concur in any measures for the execution of which new officers must be appointed. An increase of officers, my lords, is, indeed, a dreadful sound, a sound that cannot but forebode the ruin of our country; the number of officers already established is abundantly sufficient for all useful purposes, nor can any addition be made but to the ruin of our constitution. I am, therefore, of opinion, that no new officer was intended by those that drew up the bill, and that they proposed only to furnish those that loiter in our ports, at the expense of the publick, with an opportunity of earning their salaries by some useful employment. I know not, indeed, my lords, whether any good effects can be reasonably hoped from this provision; whether men accustomed to connivance and negligence in affairs of less importance, ought to be trusted with the care of our naval preparations, and engaged in service, on which the prosperity of the publick may depend; and cannot conceal my apprehensions, that such men, if commissioned to superintend others, may themselves require a superintendent. But, my lords, this and every other clause may, in a committee, be carefully examined and deliberately corrected; and since it appears evident to me, that some law is necessary for the security of our commerce, I think this bill ought not to be rejected without farther consideration. Lord WINCHELSEA rose again, and spoke thus:--My lords, as the known sincerity of that noble lord allows no room for suspecting, that he would bestow any praises where he did not believe there was some desert, and as his penetration and acuteness secure him from being deceived by any false appearances of merit, I cannot but applaud myself for having obtained his esteem, which I hope will not be forfeited by my future conduct.