ABSTRACT
The British navy has now been long afloat: a thousand years at least “its flag has braved the battle and the breeze,” and all through these ten centuries there has been flogging on board, and plenty of it too; for although the “cat” has had a vigorous enough life on land, it seems to have found its native element when at sea. In the army, there is but one act for the government and discipline of its separate corps. In the navy, there are the original Articles of War of 1749, then enacted for severe discipline and summary punishments, in order to govern the unruly and insubordinate spirit of sailors of all nations, pressed from all quarters to form the crews of British ships of war, and several acts to amend those laws and ameliorate their severity, especially as regarded the many sentences of death.
