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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	french_a	great_a	king_n	16,597	5	4.3459	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44082	An humble representation of the seamens misery in the loss and abuse of them in their payment, and their being oftentimes extorted out of the one half of it by some, and cheated of it all by others with the mistery of some officers and masters, humbly represented to His Majesty, and the two most honourable houses, the Lords and Commons of England in Parliament assembled ...	Hodges, William, Sir, 1645?-1714.	1694 (1694)	Wing H2331; ESTC R17273	23,958	12

But if I mistake not If the Honourable Houses will see one of the Bonds of a Hundred Pound a piece that the Seamen shall not carry out any Woollen Cloth neither near Forty other sorts of English Goods out of England to India neither bring home any Silks or Callicoes neither near Forty other sorts of Goods from thence it may be they will see the Seamen are thereby musled more than God would allow the Oxen to be And many times in those Long Voyages if half the Seamen were to perish for want they have not Forty Shillings apiece Venture to buy any thing to save their Lives And it doth so fall out in those Voyages that at Three or Four Years end when the Poor Miserable Seamen do come home they have not some of them Forty Shillings apiece to Receive the other being due as is pretended to the Captain or Pursers or some Officers or another except it be Two moneths or Threes Pay that is paid at the East-India-House and that should be payd one Moneth every Six and sometimes their Poor Wives or others are forced to wait near Six Moneths more after it is due and it may be wait Three or Four Hours in a day sometimes into the bargain I have wondred at the Misery of the Poor in that Case if a Woman washeth and scowreth for her Living she may lose the Earning one good part of the Value of a Moneths Pay in looking after it and I do wonder that the East-India Company can see or hear of the Misery of the Poor Seamens-Wives or Relations waiting so tediously and not have their hearts melt for their Miseries I do know that Solomon saith A good Man is merciful to his Beast But I do remember another Scripture saith The tender Mercies of the wicked are cruel And I do remember that Excellent Universal Doctrine of Christ the Marrow of the Law and Prophets that is taught our Children in the Church-Catechisme To do to all Men as we would be done unto And if those in this Age that can let the Miseries of the Miserable be Increased and Delighted in were so served themselves they would think it Miserable to have not one Penniworth of Bread at home neither it may be One Shilling hardly of Credit and to be made Run Thirty times Three or Four Miles for Twenty or Thirty Shillings as it may be some do several Moneths after it is due seems very miserable And I do remember God said of Jerusalem Wo to the oppressing City And I do wonder sometimes how this Age can delight to see the Misery of the Poor as I know some cannot but see in several places where my business hath led me to see poor Wretches waiting by great multitudes in great Distress and Poverty it hath been ready to fetch Tears from my Eyes And I have sometimes thought surely our Most Gracious God will arise for the Cry of the Poor and Sighing of the Needy and 't is the Cause of the most miserable sort of Poor in England I have been pleading and hope God will graciously Incline the Two most Honourable Houses to pity their Case And I can no more tell the Tenth part of the misery of the Seamens Families then I can tell the tenth part of the villany of some others who either do Cheat the King or Abuse the Seamen And if the Two most Honourable Houses can find out a way to Relieve the one and punish the others it may save the King and the Poor Seamen peradventure much loss for time to come and if in any little hints I have given of any thing it shall be thought worth while to Inquire more after it if the Lord our Gracious God and Merciful Father please to Preserve and Assist me I shall be willing to give farther Light into some things and that without Prejudice to any One Living For I bless the Lord I am in Charity with all Mankind and do not know any but are so with me And for my King and Countrey I would serve them both faithfully for Love and without any design against either For I do think that they that would now betray the King and Countrey now that God hath by his Miraculous Hand United us thus are by their Treachery void of Grace and Reason and Common Sence And if His most Gracious Majesty will these Three Nations and all the Confederates so heartily United have enough to do to deal with that common Plague of his own Subjects and the Christian World the French King I wonder who would defend our Treacherous Dealers against the French if like Spannels they were layd under the French Kings Paws who hath Ruined all the Protestant Interest in his own Nation that helped him to keep in his own Throne And he hath been a Plague to Protestants and Papists round about him and to think he would be kind to a Protestant Church here is all Nonsense or Malice and my Fathers Two Dogs in Kent had more Sense alwayes for though they did it may be snarl sometimes about a Bone they alwayes did and would Unite against the Tanners Dog who would beat any one of them but they alwayes joyned together and beat him This is a homely Comparison but a Real Truth I have seen it And indeed it is said by the Prophet The Ox knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib And I think hardly any Beasts or Asses in the World would betray such good Pasture as we have in England into the hands of the worst sort of Beasts of Prey And if I do not mistake in my Judgment the French King and his People are like a Body that hath the Rickets that hath a great Head and great Arms but poor Crooked Legs hardly able to bear up the Head and Arms and would hardly have stood until this time but they have gotten many Treacherous Tools to help to Splinter them up And I think the French in Ruining of his People makes Soldiers as Naturally as any Gentlemen can make Tobacco-Stoppers at a Coffee-House by breaking of whole Pipes So If the French Ruine a Family it may be he makes Two Soldiers both Father and Son must go for Soldiers or Starve But Blessed be the Lord that is not our Case The Poorest People in England live so well most of them that they are not forced to go for Soldiers and they that go for Love it is pity that any of them should be Cheated of part of their Pay And another thing now at the end of the Chapter is this That those who get good Mens Children by way of wheedle and List them and after will sell them to their Parents or Friends or Wives for Three Guineas or Five Guineas or Ten Pound is a great deal worse than Robbing on the High-way A Neighbour of mine did sell many so and a Stranger that had gotten a Farmers Son in Kent a Relation of mine would have Sold him me for Three Guineas But though I did

An Humble Representation of the Seamens Misery in the Loss and Abuse of them in their Payment and their being oftentimes Extorted out of the one half of it by some and Cheated of it all by others with the Mistery of some Officers and Masters Humbly Represented to His Majesty and the Two most Honourable Houses the Lords and Commons of England in Parliament Assembled Humbly sheweth To the Most Excellent Majesty of King WILLIAM the Third May it Please Your Most Gracious Majesty IF Kings on Their Thrones be as the Sun in the Firmament First then That was a Happy Day to these Nations and indeed to all Europe when God caused You to Arise and Shine on these Three Nations Secondly None but Evil Spirits and Beasts of Prey can wish for Your being Set that they may walk about and Devour Thirdly As Your Gracious Influence doth in it self shine Comfortably unto all these Nations So Fourthly Those that by Reason of any Clouds or Gross Vapours have the Influence of Your Majestyes Mercy I was a going to say and Justice also hid from them have the more Cause sadly to lament of which Number is many Poor Distressed Seamens Families And I will Avouch for the Seamen of England and Scotland they have been hearty and truely sincere in the Interest of Your Majesty and these Nations as any sort of Men whatever having never lost you one Ship this War for want of their Fighting if they could but be led on although there have been so many brave Ships lost by Cowardice Folly or otherwise this War as no Age before ever saw the like And Fifthly I hope as Your Majesties Gracious Influence hath shined on the Commanders Good and Bad to double their and the Officers Pay which will Cost Your Majesty more in Two Years time extraordinary than all the Customs came to in the Two Reigns of King Edward the Sixth and Queen Mary as by the Accounts of the Exchequer and the Pay-Books in Broad-street will appear and in the mean while instead of the Poor Miserable Seamen being doubled in their Pay they are doubled many of them in their Misery being made run from their being set Sick on Shore but I hope if the Representing their Case can pierce thorow the Clouds and come to Your Gracious Sight it will appear that they were very gross Clouds that could hinder either Justice or Mercy from Shining on so Faithful and Useful Loving Subjects as the Seamen of England have been and will be for all these Darknesses that have befallen their Families And may it please Your Most Gracious Majesty If I can serve God and Your Majesty and the Interest of these Nations in Representing the Case I will Rejoyce And if for my Unworthyness I should meet with Reproof I will in Doing and Suffering Remain Your Majesties Faithful Loving Subject and Servant WILLIAM HODGES To the Most Honourable The LORDS Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled May it Please Your Lordships I Did Humbly make bold to Represent some of the Seamens Miseries last Year to your Lordships and some of Your Lordships were Graciously Pleased to le● it be Represented to His Majesty and there hath been since much Mercy ordered out to many Thousands of them but there hath been a Load of Misery fallen on some Thousands since if not thrown on them which I intend in some measure humbly to Represent if it be worthy of Your Lordships Perusal and Your Lordships shall find they have been so Faithful to His Majesty that they deserve at least to be saved from Ruine and therefore that His Majesty might be sought to for Relief I shall Rejoyce But however I will beg Your Lordships Pardon and Remain His Majesties Faithful Subject and Your Lordships most Humble Servant WILLIAM HODGES To the Honourable The Knights Citizens and Burgesses in Parliament Assembled Humbly sheweth I Did Humbly Presume the last Year to Represent to Your Honours the Misery of the Seamens Families for want of their Pay and Your Honours did so Provide for their Relief that they have been more happy in their Payments since that there having been a Large Supply of Money sent into the Pay-Office for that purpose to the Rejoycing of the Hearts of Thousands But now there is other Miseries either fallen on them or thrown on them there being some Thousands set Sick on the Shore and are made Run And there are some other Miseries have attended the Miserable Seamen before that are Humbly Represented to Your Honours for Relief And also I have Represented how it is possible His Majesty and these Nations may be Cheated and the Seamen Abused and Cheated also And if Your Honours can find out a way to Relieve the Miserable Seamen and to save them and the Nation from being Cheated of Fifty or a Hundred Thousand Pound a Year it will be worth Your Honours Trouble But however I Represent their Case to Your Honours I do not intend to Represent it so among the Seamen for it is well they do not know their Misery together and while they know it separately they only do bemoan it and groan under it apart And if Your Honours think it worth Your while to Peruse their Case I will as last Year Print enough to give every one of Your Honours one but not one to go about the Streets For if I do not mistake my own Heart what I do is to serve God and my King and Countrey without either hope of Profit or any Prejudice to any whose Knavery may be smelt out by my Simple Discourse And I am sure there is none that are Honest can be Prejudiced by what I Represent of Knavery no more than those who are Honest Men and go to Aldgate-Church where there is a great Crowd can be prejudiced by the saying of any that there is sometimes Pick-Pockets amongst them for so there is to the loss of Honest Mens Money sometimes in that Church and other Churches and Meeting-Houses and more then that some Friends of mine have had their Pockets pickt at the Assizes in Kent in the very Court where the Judges sate But it may be I shall prescribe a Remedy that if well applyed would clear away the Thieves out of the Nation in a few Years But I humbly Intreat Your Honours Pardon for this great Troubling of You and I do assure Your Honours I am His Most Gracious Majesty King WILLIAM's Faithful Subject and Your Honours Humble Servant WILLIAM HODGES To His Most Gracious MAJESTY And To the Two Most Honourable Houses The LORDS and COMMONS in Parliament Assembled Humbly sheweth THAT the Last Year the Loyal and Faithful Seamen of England having met with great Disappointment in many of their Payments and it being Humbly Represented to His Majesty and Your Honours there was so great Relief Ordered that Thousands have cause to Bless God for at this day and to Return Thanks to His Majesty and Your Honours and there being some Hardships and Miseries on

know the Cheat I would not hinder His Majesties Service for I said it was as good a Cause as ever was in England And so I suppose the King payd Three Pound for the same man I might have had for Three Guineas and if I had bought him I suppose they would have Introduced themselves into other Companies and Listed another in his room and so had Six Pound and Six Shillings of His Majesty and my self But may it please Your Houours though I know how the King and Countrey may be abused at Sea I am more Ignorant how he is Cheated by Land But I do verily believe there is so much of that as it will not be half found out this Seven Years And indeed I think we should be the happiest People under the Face of the Heavens if we knew the worth of our Mercies and were true to our King and Countrey We are Blessed be the Lord Happy in our King who is a Lyon in the Field with as True Courage as ever any of the Brave Heroes of Old had and as much Mildness on the Throne as ever any English King had and seems to be the Darling of Heaven and Good Men And we are happy in Loyal and Faithful Lords and Commons in Parliament and might be so with our selves if we did not study Wit and Knavery more than Wisdom and Honesty And for my own part I must beg for Pardon for all my Weakness and Folly in Representing these things And indeed as St. Paul saith Ye suffer Fools gladly seeing ye your selves are wise And it may be some things that are foolishly Represented may have Cost His Majesty and the People of the Nation some Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds to Pay for in some Years past And if that His Majesty would Graciously be pleased to Order out a Committee and His Majesty would send out His Proclamation That all Seamen that have had their Pay Received wrongfully and their Tickets Detained wrongfully and that if they have been so served they shall have Redress And if they have since this War actually run away and yet their Pay is Received by the Captains Clerks or others that the Seamen shall on their Information of the Kings being Cheated thereby have their own selves excused and have leave to Sue them that have Cheated so the King of their Pay And that without Charge at Law by being heard freely And if also the said Committee should have leave to hear how much Money hath been Received as Bribes to excuse Seamen from the ●ress and that the Seamen or Master shall have their Money again of the Officers or Commanders who took it and if Complaints were heard freely it might be a likely means and way to inform the Honourable Houses that it would be worth while to make Laws against Cheating the King and Countrey and against Buying and Selling the Kings Subjects either by Land or Sea and also against many other Enormities that cannot be easily Represented And for my Mistakes in the manner of Representing I beg Pardon But for the Matter of it I fear this Age knows it to be miserably true And now I commit what I have written to the Blessing and Protection of our Most Gracious Lord God from whom I do heartily beg Mercy for His Majesty and all Your Honours and for all these Nations and that in the Blessing of God on these Nations He and all Your Honours and me and all my Family may be safe for all Time and all Eternity And to the Eternal God the Father Son and Holy Spirit Three Persons and One Glorious God be the Everlasting Honour Glory and Praise to Eternity Amen So Prays His Majesties Faithful Loving Subject And Your Honours Faithful and Loving Servant And Old England's Loving and Faithful Inhabitant and not Betrayer William Hodges Hermitage-Bridge Feb. 22. 1694.