Gentlemen

My last of the 4th instant from Falmouth as also copy of my former Letter from Sheepscott river dated the 16th ulto I hope you have received before now —

This comes to Acquaint you with my Arival at Boston on Saturday last, haveing Stop'd a few days at Portsmouth on my way from Falmouth. it will also inform you of the State of the Ship is in at present, and my thoughts of what is Necessary to be done to Equip her for the Sea.

As it is my duty to Acquaint you with the property, & Trim of the Ship I command so I hope you will have patience with me untill I tell you all that I have been Able to Observe concerning either.

In the first place I think something ought to be done in the Standing of her masts, to try if it may not have a good Effect on her Sailing; her bottom is allow'd to be as fine as any thing of the kind will admitt of. we have alter'd her Trim frequently and find great difference in her going, but yet we never have been able to make her go as fast as Some other Ships we have fallen in with. One great hope I have that She is cappable of Sailing fast is That She is the most ticklish Ship to keep in trim that ever I was Acquainted with — for I have repeatedly found that the unequal Expence of one days Provisions & water would put her out of Trim — From this circumstance I am Persuaded that She will One day Sail fast if her Trim can be discover'd. One great disadvantage we have had in Triming her, is that we had little or none pigg Ballast wherewith to make the Experiment consequently when we have been Obliged to alter, the men & Guns was our only resource — both of which bring great inconveniencys, the one being as defecult to keep Still in the place you want them, as the other is to trans­port fore & aft.

2dly Such a quantity of Gravel Ballast as we are Obliged to cary to Stiffen the Ship, takes up a great deal of our room (of which there is but too Little at best) then being mix'd in with the water Casks fore and aft, it composes Such a dead Mass that a Ship thus ballast[ed] feels her Self no more then an Island, and as it Layes so much higher then Pigg Ballast the weight deepens a Ship more then it Stiffens her for carying Sail, consequently when her body is in the water like a Loaded Vessell — 'tis not possible for her to Sail so fast. This I have frequently found by our Ship her being commonly so deep That when ever we have press'd her with Sail She has gone less Swift then before —

To go best close haul'd She ought to be on an even keel That is 14 feet 3 inches forw'd & aft — Togo Large, or afore the wind She must be 10 or 12 inches deeper aft then forward — and there is not a good Property a Ship can have (Except room within, and Speed of foot) but this Ship may boast of — when brought to her courses upon a wind She proved a much more weatherly Ship then the Hancock — but in fine weather the Hancock bore the bill —

She has been now Nine months off the Ground, Six of which pass'd before we Sailed from Nantasket - How can it be Expected that the finest bottoms will Sail foul equal to clean Ships - For the future then let me intreate you Gentlemen to Order Matters so that your Ships may have an equall chance with those they are Obliged to face — dont Suffer them to go out foul nor Cruize long in any particular Station Especially in this our State of infancy when we neither know what our Ships can do nor have expert men to mannage them —

When the Marine Board meets here, I shall consult them concerning many things Necessary with which I would not take up your time at present — Shall now proceed to mention some things which respect my Self more particularly.

In my former Letters I gave you the Outline of our Late Cruize, with­out entering into a circumstantial Account, or giveing my Opinion of men, & things with that freedom I now propose to indulge my Self in this.

I take the Liberty to assure you, That when I enter'd into the Conti­nental Service I had not one Single thought whither I Should be placed the third or the Thirteenth upon the List, my ambition was fully Satisfied when I was favour'd with a Commission placeing me where I now am — and Altho I did then forsee that one day or other I might possibly fall under the Command of one man, whose Ability I had reason to doubt — yet I was de­termined that happen whensoever it might — I would Obey and follow his instructions with all that Zeal which becomes a faithfull Servant to the Publick, who will never neglect or loose Sight of his duty for any private veiw whatever — With these Sentiments I enter'd into the Service and have constantly made them my practice ever since — my conduct on our late cruize under the Command of Capt Manley will Abundantly prove the truth of what I here advance, for Never did a Pilotfish follow a Sharke, or a Jackall follow a Lion, with more Assiduity and Complisance then I follow'd him at Sea for Six or Seven weeks (chiefly in bad weather Latitudes) — and that without any regular System of Signals, or instructions for my direction dureing which time he led me into Severall Scrapes by his misconduct — and at last left me in one to Shift for my Self.

I hold it criminal to asperse the character of any man, much more the Absent, and in some cases Scarcely Justifiable to Speak all the Truth for which reasons were I not under a Necessity I Should now Say Verey little of Capt Manley — but inasmuch As I find my Self involved in a chain of difficualtys by his blunders & misconduct, I must in justice to my Self Say, That he is totally unequall to the Command with which he has been intrusted — he being ignorant, Obstinate Overbearing and Tyranical be­yound discription — a man under whose command none can live with pleasure but such creatures as himself — and those Also must be of his own makeing — Such is That Fellow of yesterday, Mr Stephen Hill whom he promoted over all Other Officers heads to Command the Fox, who by his ignorance and Misconduct lost her at last, for had he Tack'd when Capt Manley and my Self Tack'd on the Enemey he might have weather'd them whilst we were engaged with the Flora or had he keept the wind with me even after Manley left us, & Tack'd to the South'd from us he might have Escaped — but to bear away, & run to Leward with all the Sail he could crou'd when a Third Ship of the Enemey was then in Sight to Lewward discover'd the most Stupid ignorance in Nature.

All these things will Abundantly appear when ever a court martial happens, which god Grant may be Soon.

I have been curst with another composition of the Fool and Knave, I mean a certain Mr Palmes who had a Commission as Capt of Marines on board the Boston which Commission he has distroy'd by casting it into the fire. his disobedience to orders & frothy foolish conduct Obliged me to lay him under an arrest — but as there is no means here of bringing him to a Court martial I shall leave it to you how to deal with him — in the mean time I shall take Notice of him another way. I am Gentlemen [&c.]