To the honourable the Commons of England assembled in Parliament Captain George St. Lo his proceedings against me, for my fidelity to my king and my country : together with the mast material consequences of them, whilst I was store keeper of His Majesty's dock-yard near Plymouth, under him, and acted in that employment.

The Answer.

Captain St. Lo upon his meeting the third Turn of Wood, ordered the Carter to call me to him; and being in the Yard with two or three of the Officers, when the Carter came to tell me thereof, I quickly left them; and in going to wait on Captain St. Lo, I met the Carter standing still by his Cart, and asked him where the Commissioner was, he told me at my back Yard a looking upon the Wood; then I ordered him to carry the third Turn thither that he might see it; Bue when I came home, Captain St. Lo was gone, so I went instantly to seek him, and found him at his own House with Captain Beaumont, Commander of the Mountague, and Mr. East∣wood his own Clerk, I told Captain St. Lo, I desired to know his Pleasure with me, Whereupon he was angry with me before them for taking the Wood, and said it might serve for many Uses in the Yard, which Opinion I endeavoured to remove, but he laying his Commands upon me, for bringing all the Wood back into the Yard, for the Master Ship-wright to Survey it, and (after all my Perswasions) persisting therein, I parted from him with intention of obeying them; But it being then half an hour past 7 a Clock, I found the Carter was gone home; And the next Day was Fast-Day, and no body Worked. These reasons I acquainted Captain St. Lo with on the Fast-Day, (several hours before he made his Cmplaint) and that very Morning by 9 a Clock, the Master Ship-wright and Clerk of the Survey came to my House to Survey the Wood, and their Report of it to Captain St. Lo himself and me too was that they had Surveyed it according to his Order, and that 'twas such Old rotten Wreck Wood, as it wou'd not serve for any use in the Yard, and that it was worth but three shillings of their Money, and not above five shillings of any other bo∣dies, it having lain so long in the Water; Their Report of the Wood made me conclude, that I had not committed any Fault at all; I desired Captain St. Lo over and over, not to ma•••• any Complaint against me, and did tell him I confess chat I had been at a great Trouble, and some Charge, in Removing all his Majesties from Plymouth to the Dock, and because the Wreck-Wood hnd lain 7 or 8 Years under the Stores, and was not Charged on me in any of our Surveys, (it being none of the Kings) I further said, that it did belong to me by Virtue of my Warrant, as a Perquisite for Fuel only.

I did indeed, as the Service required, By Order and War∣rants from the Master, Attendant, and Clerk of the Survey only, Issue Canvas to make Sails, and Junck to make twice laid Stuff, Pursuant to my Instructions from the Navy-Board, which was carryed out of the Yard from time to time to be wrought up, according to the Practice of all the other Yards, and par∣ticuldrly Plymouth Yard, before I went thither; But had Captain St. Lo given me any Directions for altering my Me∣thods in such Cases, or acquainted me with his Dislike there∣of, I should have Complyed with them, or at least endervoured to have given him due satisfaction therein.

I still believe that Captain St. Lo his constant Inter∣medling with me and my Business on such Vicious Terms, was utterly inconsistent with the Justice and Freedom of the present Government, Whose Laws, ha∣ving (to my knowledge) never Disobeyed, I doubt not, but (by the Justice of your Honourable House) they will Intitle me to the Rights and Priviledges of an

English Man, Though they have been Invaded, and ta∣ken away, by Captain St. Lo, and Mr. Bridgeman, which Charge it behoves me to prove directly upon them both. For, that I may thereby Discover to what ill Purposes, their Power, their Wit, and their Subtilty, have been made Use of, in Carrying on their Persecution of me; and to make it appear, that Captain St Lo had not taken an Antipathy against me alone; I shall give a hint of his many Strange Complaints against the Other Yard-Offi∣cers, during my time and since.

Upon the Faith of a Christian I affirm, that Captain St. Lo his several Accusations against me, are Meer In∣ventions and Contrivances, only. I did Order Three Turns of Old Wood to be Carryed to my House for the Fire, But not in a Surreptious manner, and he wronged me very much, in Suggesting any Disobedience to his Command, of lay∣ing the third Lead of Wood down in the Yard, by ordering it to be Carryed to my House, when his Back was turned; For he had not then seen me since his meeting with it coming up thither, neither did I know his Pleasure therein, till all the Wood was really laid down at my House, (as my Answer to this very Accusation does particularly Explain) It's true indeed, I did tell him that the Old Rotten Wreck Wood was my Perquisite, Which in his Opini∣on and Mr. Bridgeman's, was a most unpardonable Fault, Nevertheless, if I can't sufficiently prove it to the Pub∣lick, that my Claim was Just and Legal, I'll publickly own my self a Fool (for their Satisfaction) and Thank Captain St. Lo for his great Care and Pains, in giving me this pressing Occasion to Publish my Folly; But to give some ground for my Presumption, that I may not be in the Wrong, of all the Complaints that ever Captain St. Lo made against the Dock-Officers under him, and pre∣tended to make them out, he was never known upon Examination to be in the Right: And further, surely the Inditing of this Complaint was a Fancy more pleasing to him than ordinary, that he cou'd stay at home from Morning till Iwening, to Contrive me Trouble, And wilfully Neglect the Serving Almighty God in Publick, with Fasting and Prayer, in Disobedience to the positive Order of the Day; As may partly be proved by a Pro∣clamation of their Excellencies the Lords Justices for a General Fast, Dated the 23d of May, 1696. However, that nothing may be wanting in me to do Captain St. Lo Right, I must own I have been told, he was so Generous in the Postscript of his Complaint against me to Mr. Bridge∣man, as to leave the Matter wholly to his Discretion, whether to take any Notice of it or not. No Gentleman hitherto, wou'd side with Captain St. Lo in his Erroneous Notions against me; but purposely Directing this last Complaint of me to Mr. Bridgeman in particular, he joyned with him very readily in it, without knowing any thing of my Defence, tho' altogether a Stranger to me; But his Remissness in Publick Business, has since Evidently ap∣peared to my Country's Loss, (as may be seen in the Votes of your Honourable House, Dated in 96 or 97. By whose timely Assistance, I was immediately ordered to be Dismissed my Stock-keepers Employment, without the Navy-Boards Concurrence, (who were my Masters) and on the 2d of July, 1696. he sent his Friend Captain St. Lo a Letter, for no other Business but only to advise him of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quick Success of his Complaint against me, which so Elevated Captain St. Lo, that several of his Friends and Relations were troubled at it, particularly Mr. John Addis, discoursed him in these words. Sir, I am come from Plymouth, and if you was but there, to hear how the Go∣vernment cry out upon you, for what you have done to Mr. Gaselee, you would be ashamed of your self. Captain St Lo Answered, I do not care what any body says of me, for I am Resolved not to see the King Cheated by the Officers of the Navy, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 my self Disrespected. Then Mr. Addis told him, if you continue this Temper Sir, People will be afraid to speak to you in a little time, And, that no one bore him a greater Respect than my self; withal, I am much concerred that your Reputation should suffer in Changeing Mr. Gaselee with such odd Accusations as you did; Therefore I desire you Sir, by all Means, immediately to acquaint: Mr. Bridgeman, that you did not th••nk to have Mr. Gaselee turned off his Employment upon your Complaint, but only Reprimanded; And to desire of Mr. Bridgeman, that Mr. Gaselee might be Restored to it again: These Arguments of Mr. Addis's so touch'd Captain St Lo. that he thereupon came to himself, and wrote to Mr. Bridgeman, just as Mr. Addis had Dictated to him. But that Letter Mr. Bridgeman never answered, Whose Remarkable Silence, and Former Forwardness (to do me wrong) moved Captain St. Lo to Write several Letters afterwards in my Favour, both to the said Mr. Bridgeman, and the Navy-Board. And now I shou'd be very Ungrateful, if I did not Acknowledge that the Na∣vy-Board, Sir Edward Gregory, and Captain Greenhill (the Commissioners of his Majesty's Yards for Chatham and Portsmouth) have since done me very many kindnesses; But for Mr. Bridgeman, his unalterable Prejudice against me, has cunningly caused me much more Mischief, than all my Friends have been able to do me Good.

I have mentioned all the Favours that ever Captain St. Lo conferr'd upon me, and they indeed (notwithstand∣ing his repeated Injuries to me, and the very great Scan∣dals Occasioned me by them) wou'd still have required my heartiest Acknowledgments, had he not Retracted them in a very short time; Which is another Point ought to be Demonstrated. Captain St. Lo his Writing thus for me and against me, did consequently cause some Reflections upon me. And to Salve them, 'twas expected, I should confess my self Guilty of some Faults, (which God knows) I never thought of. An Expedient I cou'd not in Conscience yield to, Wherefore I did not only undergo the Grievous Effects of his further Displeasure, but was in∣dustriously Characterized by him to my Superiours, for an obstinate Fool, As if his Taking away my Livelihood, had been too small a Punishment for me, and his single Evidence of my want of Wit, could justifie him in acting unjustly by me. And after in his ta∣king away of my Good Name too, Whereas others have since taken me for a Good Natured Fool. Moreover, to aggravate my Misfortune, I continued under Captain St Lo his Command 3 Months after I was ordered to be Dismiss'd my Employment, to hear my self daily Char∣ged with False, and Imaginary Faults, out of a Politick Design, to Countenance Captain St. Lo his Artificial Com∣plaint against me to Mr. Bridgeman, and their Under∣hand Transactions concerning it. I'll cite but another Instance, to prove how unadvisedly Captain St. Lo acted in his Station (with Respect to the Publick's Interest) wherein I was particularly Concerned, and beg Pardon for my Tediousness. About the latter end of July, 1696. Captain St. Lo made a Contract with Mr. John Neele a Merchant of Plymouth, to serve a quantity of Masts into the Kings Stores there; and before the Contract was Entred, or any Officer saw it, he signified his Anger at a distance, For our not having yet been at Plymouth to re∣ceive those Masts, and the Clark of the Survey came to my Office to acquaint me therewith; presently after I met Captain St. Lo, and told him I did not understand his Plea∣sure about Receiving the Masts on Mr. Neale's his Contract at Plymouth, for all the Kings Stores were removed from thence; Whereupon Captain St. Lo pulled off his Hat ve∣ry low to me, and bare-headed in the open Yard before Captain Bridge, and Boat-swain Browne told me, what must he come and ask leave how he should make a Contract, I answered him, No Sir, and that I thought an Officer might ask him a Question, relating to the Duty of his Employment, and the Kings Interest, without any Offence; he did me fol∣low the Contract, and that was all the Satisfaction I could get of him.

In a word, to Sum up the Premises, I not only endea∣voured all I could for fourteen Months together, to car∣ry on my Business to Captain St. Lo his Satisfaction, (without Betraying my Trust, or Divulging his Errors) but on all Occasions, gave him the Respect that was due to a Superiour Officer; Yet after my going through a constant Fatigue of Business at the Admiralty Office, at Plymouth, and at the New Dock-Yard from the 18th of March, 1688. the 1st of October, 1696. (besides ser∣ving above 8 years and a half in thr Navy as a Clerk in Deptford Yard) I palpably lost my Store-keepers Employment most Ignominously, to Gratifie the said Captain St. Lo his Temper, and Mr. Bridgeman's Inte∣rest; Who, (that they might bring over some Great Persons to a real Belief, of my being no more than de∣servedly punished) have been my most Inveterate Ene∣mies ever since I came away from Plymouth, and will not in the least pitty my Case. But for my Comfort, till the former of those two Gentlemen can prove, Mr. Elias Wasse, Mr. Richard Lea, Mr. Robert VVaters, Mr. John Addis, and Mr. Tempell Holmes, to be Notorious Knaves, and me an Obstinate Fool, as well as Represent Us so; I shall have some reason humbly to hope, that the Honourable the Representatives of our Country, will not only be∣lieve them to be very honest Men, but me also a Perseve∣ring Christian. And to prove Captain St. Lo his singular Hand at drawing up of Complainsts against others be∣sides me, the several Originals of those before-mentio∣ned, and a great many more, (not so proper for me to insist upon) may beseen at the Admiralty Officenear White∣hall, or at the Navy-Office in Crutched Fryars, London.

Aboard his Majesty's Ship the Warspight in Chatham Harbour, this 7th of January, 16••8.

Robert Gaselee.