care that no irregularities or abuses are suffered therein, and that the boards and every part of the hospital be kept in the most perfect state of cleanliness. 15. You are to be careful that all the officers and guards do their duty punctually, and in the event of any vacancy happening, by death or otherwise, you are to direct the next officer in seniority to do the duty, until I shall have had an opportunity of enquiring whether he is a proper person to fill it up. And as an encouragement to all on board, you are from time to time to send me an impartial account of their behaviour, that I may be able on all occasions to approve of your choice of one from amongst themselves, and not be obliged to put a stranger of their heads. And it is to be understood by you, that in all cases where any person is appointed by me, that the moment he enters the hulk, I have no longer any private knowledge of him, but if he neglects his duty, you then are to treat him and report of him to me, just as you would treat and report of any other person. In short, you are answerable for the conduct of every one on board; you are to take care not to make any other distinction between them than such as shall be warranted by superior merit, which with me will ever be the strongest inducement to confirm your appointment. over any 16. The following yearly allowance of cloathing, if required, may be issued by you to each convict, viz. two jackets, two pair of breeches, four pair of stockings, three pair of shoes, two hats, two neck handkerchiefs, one waistcoat, and one blanket. The utmost economy, however, is to be observed by you, and though you are allowed to go to this extent, (but on no account beyond it,) yet you are to make as much less do as you can, without running any risk of injuring the healths of the convicts, and you are to give me an account in the pay-book of the several articles issued by you at the end of every quarter. 17. The clothes and bedding of convicts making their escape and dying, (except such of the latter as may have died of fevers or any contagious disorder, in which case the surgeon's opinion of the propriety of preserving the same is to be taken,) are to be carefully preserved and issued by you to such of the others as shall stand most in need of them, without any allowance being made to the contractors of the same. And if convicts escaping or dying leave any private clothing or money behind them, an inventory of the clothes and a memorandum of the money, are to be minuted in the occurrence-book on the day of the escape or death, and you are to sign your name thereto. 18. The private clothes belonging to convicts, (an inventory of which is to be entered in the occurrence-book,) are to be carefully preserved, and punctually delivered them on their leaving the hulk, and their money, if they have any, is to be kept in your hands and accounted for by you, in a book to be opened for that purpose, an abstract of which you are to deliver to me, at the end of every quarter, in the following And no fee or reward whatever is to be taken by you, or any person for you, for this, or for any thing else done for the convicts. A fee or reward, either in money or goods, taken by you, or by any person belonging to the hulks, from the contractor who supplies the provisions and clothing, or from any person having permission to sell things on board, will be considered as taken from the convicts, because, in fact, they must be injured by it, at least to the extent of the value of what you receive; and it may be fairly presumed, that such presents are made with a view of seducing you from your duty, the better to enable the person who makes them, to repay himself not only for what he bestows upon you, but a great deal more: which of course will be at the expense of the convicts in one way or another. This offence is of the most heinous nature, inasmuch as it is a robbery committed on the unfortunate, and will not admit of an excuse. On the other hand, your conduct will be equally blameable, if, from any improper motive, you should be induced to encourage, or not prevent an extravagant use of such necessary articles as the contractor, by his contract, is bound to provide for the use of the hulks. At the same time, therefore, that you see the terms of the contract fairly fulfilled by him, you are to be careful not to exact any thing that may by him be justly deemed an imposition. 19. You are not to keep any pigs or poultry on board the hulks, nor to permit any other person to do so, for the purpose of selling any part thereof to the convicts, with whom neither you nor any other officer or guard are to have any sort of traffic whatever. 20. The chaplain is to read prayers and preach a sermon every Sunday throughout the year; and on Christmas-day and Good Friday, in the chapel on board the hulk; and to the end that divine service may be decently and devoutly performed, you are to take care that every convict is clean in his person and dress, and that no improper behaviour or inattention be shown during the time of service. The chaplain is to visit the sick in the hospital occasionally, and to show himself at all times ready and desirous of administering to them such spiritual advice and consolation as they may stand in need of; and, on the death of any convict, you are to give the chaplain timely notice, so as to ensure his attendance at the funeral, which is never to be suffered without the burial-service being performed, and one of the officers of the hulks, with six at least of the convicts attending, which is to be inserted in the occurrencebook. 21. If convicts misbehave at their work, they are on no account to be beaten by the officers or guards, but these are to use gentle and persuasive means to induce them to alter their conduct; and if that will not do, they are to complain of them to you: and, on their return on board, you are to punish them according to the nature of their crime, under the direc tion of the act 19 Geo. III. c. 74., taking care to do it in the face of all the rest of the convicts, so as to make it an example to the whole. A minute to be made of the name of the convict, the name of the complainant, the nature of the crime, and also of the punishment inflicted. On the escape of a convict, a strict enquiry to be made into the cause, and to leave no means untried to recover him: and if his escape has been occasioned by the negligence of any officer or other person belonging to the hulk, a minute to be made of all the circumstances in the occurrence-book, and transmit a copy thereof to me; and, if proof can be had of any officer or other person or persons being concerned in effecting the escape of any convict, you are to proceed against him or them as the law directs. The name and description of every convict making his escape should be sent immediately under a cover, directed to the sitting magistrate at each of the public offices in London. 22. Both you and your officers are to watch and make minutes from time to time of the behaviour of the convicts, so that you may be able to form an opinion of their disposition to reform; and, at the end of every quarter, you are to deliver to me a list of six who shall have served more than half their time on board the hulk, and whose conduct, in your impartial opinion, make them fit objects of mercy, in order that I may enquire particularly into the ground of your recommendation of them, and report thereon to the Secretary of State for His Majesty's consideration; and in executing this part of your duty, you are to act impartially; for if it should appear that interest, or any sinister motive whatever, has influenced you in your opinion, the most marked disapprobation of your conduct will follow the detection. You are, therefore, to prepare a character-book, to be kept in the clerk's office, for the inspection of all the officers, in the presence of whom, and the chaplain, you are to have a general muster of all the convicts on the first Sunday in every quarter, and enquire into the conduct of every man since the last muster; and against each name put one of the following You are to make known to each man the mark put against his name, and the effect it is likely to have in shortening the time of his confinement; and to mark the first column in such a manner as will best describe the conduct of each convict, from his first confinement up to the present time. * 23. A regular daily account of the state of the hulks is to be kept by you, and transmitted to me weekly: and a weekly account of the convicts' labour is to be annexed to the quarterly-book, agreeably to the annexed forms. 24. You are, without delay, to make me acquainted with all extraordinary circumstances that occur on board the hulks, or in any manner relating to the convicts under your care. (Signed) A. GRAHAM. The conduct of the subject of this memoir was so conspicuously meritorious, and his remuneration at the same time so very inadequate, that he was presented with a sum of money by an unanimous vote of the House of Commons. * The following return was made from Portsmouth, 1st October 1811. Captivity. Portland. Laurel. Very good, religiously disposed, and attend the sacrament, |