`` the comfort and welfare of our brave sailors or aviators , and even our good beasts , is always foremost in the considerations of the admiralty , '' a meaningless platitude , to one who had ever visited in a hospital ; or had , as laurence , been forced to subsist from time to time upon such provisions as were considered suitable for the consumption of those brave sailors : rotting meat , biscuit-and-weevil , the vinegar-water beverage which passed for wine .