in the feveral departments of the ordnance, and fome other offices, the duty of which confifts both of land and fea fervice; together with the falaries or allowances allotted to each office, and the fignature of the officers themfelves fet oppolite their falaries or allowances. The military quarter book contains the complete corps of engineers: it confifts of the names of the officers, their pay, and the fignatures of the agents who receive it. These quarter books are entered in the ledger, and that entry is figned by three or more board officers. This fignature is the authority to the auditor for the rate of the allow ance; and the fignature upon the quarter book, of the perfon receiving, is the evidence of the pay ment. A debenture is an inftrument that defcribes the debt due from the ordnance: it contains-the name of the creditor-the fum due-the rate of computation-for what par ticular fervice-the time when it was performed-and, whether pay able out of money applicable to the land or fea fervice: it is figned by three officers of the board, of whom the lieutenant-general, or, in his abfence, some other board officer, and the clerk of the ordnance, muft be two. The debentures are numbered, and fent to the auditor in bundles, with a lift to each bundle, containing the number and date of each debenture, the name of the perfon entitled, and the fum. The debenture, indorfed by the perfom named in it, or his affignee, is the voucher to the auditor for the pay ment. The laft clafs of payments entered in the ledger, is that of imprefts paid; which comprehends every fum iffued upon account during the period of the account, and the name of the perfon to whom it is iffued. The impreft bills, which are the inftruments that authorise the treafurer to advance the money, contain the fum to be advanced, the perfon to whom, and fometimes the fervice: these are never produced to the auditor, but are retained by the treasurer until the imprefts are vacated by debentures; after which, their end being anfwered, they are depofited with the other ordnance papers, in the Record Room in the White Tower, under the clerk of the ordnance. This impreft account is figned at the foot of it by all the board offcers, and is the authority by which the auditor allows the treasurer the articles contained in it. The auditor examines the com❤ putations and caftings in thefe books, lifts, and debentures; and, having compared them with their correfpondent entries in the ledger, he from them forms the official account; which agrees in fubfiftance with the account in the ledger, but is different in its form, and in the arrangement of the articles. In the ledger, the payments, both upon the quarter books and by debentures, are entered in the fame order in which they appear in those books, and in the debenture lifts, diftinguifhed only into payments for the land and fea fervice; but in the official account they are dif pofed and claffed under various diftinct heads of fervice, according to fuch divifions and arrangement as it has been customary for the auditor to make ufe of in his office. Another difference is, that in the ledger the treasurer enters only the impretts paid by him during the time of the account; but the au ditor in his account charges the treafurer with the total fum remaining infuper at the foot of the pre ceding account, and difcharges him, at the foot of the account depending, of fo much of that fum as remains uncleared by him, with the addition of the fum iffued by him on impreft during the period of the account. At the end of the ledger, is an abstract of the whole account; which, after the balance is agreed between the treasurer and the auditor, is figned by the treafurer, and attefted by him upon oath before one of the barons of the exchequer. The total charge upon the treafurer, in the account before us, is 2,732,3891. 15. 10ld. of which 1,752,8741. 128. 7 d. is the fum remaining infuper upon the last preceding account. The total difcharge is 2,731,5681. 125. 4 d. of which the fum remaining infuper (being the amount of the imprefts iffued by the feveral treasurers of the ordnance, from the year 1673 to the 18th of December 1780, and not cleared) is 2,092,3531. 79. 44d. ́and the balance of cafh remaining in the hands of the treafurer is82ol. 13s. 6d. This inquiry into the proceed ings of the auditor of the impreft, relative to the accounts of the treasurer of the ordnance, gave us no infight into the manner in which the bufinefs of the ordnance is conducted to obtain this knowledge we had recourfe to the chief clerks, as the efficient officers in the feveral branches of this department. We examined John Bod dington, efq. fecretary to the board of ordnance; Robert Mackenzie, efq. fecretary; and Mr. Nicholas Wittwer, minuting clerk to the lieutenant-general; John Vigden, efq. first clerk in the office of the furveyor-general; William Nettlehip, efq. first clerk to the clerk of the ordnance; Mr. Thomas Day, late clerk in the office of the storekeeper; and Mr. William Weaver, first clerk to the clerk of the deliveries. From these examinations, and from the inftructions for the government of the office of ordnance, given by king Charles the Second, in the year 1683, submitted to our inspection, and which, with very few alterations, are the rules that govern the office at this day, we have been enabled to obtain fome knowledge of the manner in which this extenfixe branch of the public expenditure is tranfacted. The office of ordnance is governed by a mafter-general, and a board under him, all appointed by feparate letters patent. The board confifts of five principal officers-the lieutenant-general-the furveyor - general — the clerk of the ordnance-the storekeeper-and, clerk of the deliveries,-any three of whom form a board. The mafter-general and lieutenant-general are each, by vir tue of his office, in two capacities; the one military, the other civil: in their military capacity the mafter-general is commander in chief, and the lieutenant-general fecond in command, over the artillery and engineers. In his civil capacity the mafter general is intrusted with the entire management of, and control over, the whole ordnance department : all warrants from the king, privy council, or, in fea affairs, from the board of admiralty, and all letters from fecretaries of ftate, conveying orders relative to the ordnance, are directed, not to the board, but to the mafter-general; and the board carry them into execution under his authority, and in confequence of his direction: he can do alone any any act, which can otherwife, if he does not interpofe, be done by the board: he can order the iffue of money; but that order must be executed in the established mode, that is, by debenture figned by three board officers. The board are fubordinate to the mafter-general they act under him, purfuant to his fignifications or directions: if he docs not interpofe, they are competent of themfelves to carry on all the official bufinefs: they make contracts and agreements for the purchafe of ftores and performance of fervices, and direct the iffue of money and ftores; but if the mafter-general chufes to exert the power intrufted to him, he can control all their actions. During the abfence of the maftergeneral, or the vacancy of the office, the whole executive power devolves upon the board: all warrants, letters, and orders, are directed to the lieutenant - general and principal officers: they can order, fign, execute, tranfact, and perform every fervice or matter incident to the office of the ord nance. The lieutenant-general, in his civil capacity, is the first in rank among the members that compofe the board: his fignature is effential to a debenture, to warrant the pay. ment of it by the treasurer; unlefs he is abfent abroad, in which cafe, any other of the principal officers is empowered by the king's inftructions to fign it in his ficad; or unlefs, as has been ufual, his majetty appoints an affiftant and deputy to the lieutenant-general, to act for him in his abfence. The prefent lieutenant-general has no deputy, the last appointment of this kind was that of the furveyor-general, by warrant dated the 11th of April 5 1750. It is the duty, likewife, of this officer to fuperintend all the officers and minilers in the various departments of the ordnance, and to fee that they perform the duties of their feveral employments. The other four principal officers have each of them, independent of his being a member of the board, a feparate and diftinét branch of bufinefs committed to his manage ment. The furveyor-general, or masterfurveyor, as he is ftyled in his patent, is the fecond board officer: his peculiar duty is, as his title imports, to furvey all ftores received or returned into the store-houses of the ordnance: he is interpofed as a check upon the quality and quanti ty of the ftores received into the magazines: at the Tower he executes this duty by his clerks; at the out-ports, and foreign garrifons, officers called clerks of the furvey are appointed to this fervice, who regularly make their returns into his office. It is his province to examine the account of every expenditure; and therefore the price book, which contains the price allowed by the board for every fpecics of flores and fervice, is lodged with him; and all bills for pay for ftores delivered, and fervices per formed, with their proper vouchers, are tranfmitted to him for his examination and allowance: he compares the prices charged, and fees that they agree with the terms of the contract, agreement, warrant, or order, on which they are grounded: he examines and paffes the accounts of thofe officers, or others to whom money has been flued on account; and after he has finished his examination of any demand or expenditure, he forms a bill, figus it, and tranfmits it to the clerk of the ordnance, as the ground ground for a debenture for payment. The repairs of the buildings belonging to the ordnance at the Tower, and the direction of the artificers, workmen, and labourers there employed, are intrutted to his care. The clerk of the ordnance pre. fides in that office, in which are recorded and preferved all the original authorities, inftruments, and vouchers, that warrant, defcribe, and authenticate the proceedings of the ordnance: he is the accountant of the ordnance; and as fuch, keeps the accounts of all the cafh and ftores belonging to the whole department: he draws up the annual estimate for parliament, and the monthly elimate for the treafury. The treafurer fends him an account of the imprefts from the exchequer, as foon as he receives them: the articles that compofe the voluntary charge, and the imprefts vacated, originate from accounts examined and fettled in his office; and the inftruments by which money is paid, or iffued, are formed by him. He makes out the quarter books for the payment of the officers, from the appointments, whether they are by commiflion, patent, warrant, fignification, or order; all of which, with the falaries annexed to them, are entered in his office. All debentures for the payment of money, either for ftores deliver.d, or fervices per formed, are made out by him, from the bills tranfinitted to him from the farveyor-general: he vacates the impreits flued to, or the debts due from, the perfons ramed in the debentures or quarter books, by entering fuch fums in the margin: he draws all impreft bills ordered by the board: he keeps the impret account; and is the proper officer to call upon the fub-ac countants to clear their accounts: he prepares the official letters to the treasurer, directing the payment of ready money debentures: he draws up, figns, and tranfmits to him, the lifts of the debentures in course ordered for payment. Having by thefe means full knowledge, and keeping an account of the receipts and payments, he becomes a check upon the treasurer. It is part of his duty to attend at the receipt and return of all stores into the magazine of the ordnance at the Tower: he keeps a journal of thefe receipts and returns; and has access to the journal kept by the cletk of the deliveries, for the iffues: from hence he forms a ledger, and becomes a check upon the ftore-keeper. He takes his account of the receipts and iffues by the ftore-keepers of the out-ports and garrifons, from their accounts tranfmitted to the board, and referred to his examination. The ftore-keeper (or principal ftorc-keeper, as he is called, to diftinguifh him from other ftore-keepers) has the custody, and keeps the account of the ordnance and ftores received into, and iffued out of, the Tower. The ftore-keepers at the out-ports and garrifons keep the accounts of the like articles under their charge; but their accounts are fubject to the examination both of the principal flore-keeper and of the clerk of the ordnance; and for that purpofe each store-keeper, and every other perfon who becomes accountable for flores (except the gunners of fhips) tranfmits an account of his receipts and iffues, with the vouchers and orders, to the boa d, who ref r them to these two officers for their joint' examination. The clerk of the deliveries is the officer who fuperintends and keeps the the account of the iffues of the ftores and ordnance: he prepares, pursuant to the direction of the board, an inftrument, called "a proportion," directed to a ftorekeeper, authorifing him to ifiue certain ftores, particularly fpecified to a place therein named: this inftrument, being figned by any three board officers, he delivers to the fore-keeper as his warrant for the iffue: he receives from him the articles fpecified, and delivers them to the perfon who is to receive or convey them; if the articles be arms or ammunition, he takes an indent, by which the perfon receiving engages to render an ac count of them. Such being the duty of thefe officers, both collectively as a board, and in their feparate capacities, we proceeded to inquire by what general rules the bufinefs of the ordnance is conducted in the feveral departments. The bufinefs of the ordnance may be confidered as comprehend. ed under what relates to the receipt, and what relates to the expenditure, of the money applicable to that fervice. The money provided for the ordnance fervice is received by the treasurer from the exchequer: it is diftinguished under two heads-for the land-and, for the fea fervice. The money for the land fervice is contained in two accounts- the eftimate for the current year-and the account of fervices performed, and not provided for. The money for the fea fervice is 51. per cent. of the 'fum granted by parliament for the feamen. Every year the clerk of the ordnance draws up, and prefents to the House of Commons, three accounts-first, an estimate for the current year-fecondly, an account of the expence of fervices perform ed, and not provided for-and, thirdly, a state of the debt of the ordnance.-The effimate is an arrangement of the ordnance fervices under general heads, and states the fum that will probably be wanted for each head of fervice during the year: it is divided into the ordinary, and, the extraordinaries. The ordinary comprehends the permanent establishments, and certain ufual fervices; the fums estimated as neceflary to answer these esta blifhments and fervices are taken or computed from what has been the ufual expence of them in the preceding years. The extraordinaries confift of fums that will probably be wanted in certain garrifons, either in Great Britain or elsewhere, or for cafual fervices; thefe expences are calculated either upon the effimates of engineers, relative to the contruction of new or the repairs of old works, in thofe garrifons or divifions; or from the ufual annual expences of fuch cafual fervices. The account of the expence of fervices performed, and not provided for, includes fervices that were unforefeen, and the exceffes of expences beyond the provisions made for them: it has been the ufage of office to infert likewife, in this account, fome fervices, which, though foreseen, were yet omitted in the estimate; but the two lat estimates have been formed with a view of avoiding as much as poffible, the neceflity of coming to parliament with an account of unprovided fervices. The state of the debt of the ordnance, contains fuch of the debts incurred in all the preceding years as can be afcertained, and remain unpaid; either no provision having been made for them by parliament, or the provifion made for them having been otherwife applied. Af ter the fums in the estimate, and in the |