If anye one marryner or soldier stole awaye from her Majesty's service without lycense of his captaine, he was to be hanged. If anye one did mutinye aboute his allowde proportion of victuals, he was to be layde in the bilboes during the captaine7 s pleasure. As for all petty pillferings and commissions of that kinde, those were generallie punished with the whippe, the offender beinge to that purpose bounde faste to the capstan; and the waggerie and idleness of shippe boys paid by the boats way ne with a rodde, and commonlie this execution is done upon Mondaye mornings, and is soe frequentlie in use, that some meere seamen and saylors doe believe in good earnest that thev shall never have a faire winde until the poor boyes be dulie brought to the chest, that is, whipped every Mondaye morninge. xYgainst flogging in the Navy. — R.
F. Stockton. There is one broad proposition upon which I stand. It is this. That an American sailor is an American citizen, and no American citizen shall, with my consent, be subjected to the infamous punishment of the lash. If, when a citizen enters into the service of his country, he is to forego the protection of those laws for the preservation of which he is willing to risk his life, he is entitled, in all justice, humanity and gratitude, to all the protection that can be extended to him in his peculiar circumstances. He ought certainly, to be protected from the infliction of a punishment which stands condemned by the almost universal sentiment of his fellow citizens. A punishment which is proscribed in the best prison government, proscribed in the schoolhouse, and proscribed in the best government on earth — that of parental domestic affection.
Yes, sir, expelled from the social circle, from the schoolhouse, the prison-house and the army, it finds defenders and champions nowhere but in the Navy. Look to your history, that part of it which the world knows by heart, and you will find on its brightest page the glorious achievements of the American sailor. Whatever his country has done to disgrace him, and break his spirits, he never has disgraced her. He has always been ready to serve her, and he always has served her faithfully and effectually. He has often been weighed in the balance and never found wanting. The only fault found with him is, that he sometimes fights ahead of his orders. The world has no match for him, man for man, and he asks no odds and he cares for no odds, when the cause of humanity, or the glory of his country calls him to fight.
Who, in the darkest days of our revolution carried your flag into the very chops of the British Channel, bearded the lion in his den, and woke the echoes of old Albion's hills by the thunder of his cannon and the shouts 1 It was the American sailor. And the names of John Paul Jones and the Bon homme Richard, will go down in the annals of time forever. Who struck the first blow that humbled the Barbary flag — which for a hundred years had been the terror of Christendom — drove it from the Mediterranean, and put an end to the infamous tribute it had been accustomed to extort? It was the American sailor. And the name of Decatur and his gallant companions; will be as lasting as monumental brass.
In your war of 1812, when your arms on shore were covered by disaster — when Winchester had been defeated and the army of the North-west had surrendered, and when the gloom of despondency hung like a cloud over the land — who first re-lit the fires of national glory, and made the wTelkin ring with the shouts of victory? It was the American sailor. And the names of 'Hull and the Constitution will be remembered as long as we have anything worth remembering. This was no small event. The wand of Mexican prowess was broken on the Rio Grande. The wand of British invincibility was broken when the flag of the G-uerriere came down. That one event was worth more to the Republic than all the money that has been expended for the Navy.
Since that time, the Navy has had no stain upon its escutcheon, but has been cherished as your pride and glory. And the American sailor has established a reputation throughout the world — in peace and in war, in storm and in battle — for heroism and prowess, unsurpassed. He shrinks from no danger, he dreads no foe, and yields to no superior. No shoals are too dangerous, no seas too boisterous, no climate too rigorous, for him. The burning sun of the tropics cannot make him effeminate, nor can the eternal winter of the polar seas paralyze his energies. Foster, cherish, develop these characteristics and stimulate his ambition by rewards. But above all save him, save him from the brutalizing lash and inspire him with love and confidence for your service.