Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	say_a	ship_n	vessel_n	2,979	5	10.5881	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59941	England's safety, or, A bridle to the French King proposing a sure method for encouraging navigation, and raising qualified seamen for the well manning Their Majesties fleet on any occasion, in a months time, without impressing, and a competent provision for all such as shall be wounded in service against the enemy, either in Their in Their Majesties ships of war, privatiers, or merchant men, to encourage the better defending them : also an in-flight into the advantages may be made by the herring and other fisheries, in respect to the breeding of seamen, and otherwise : together with a proposal for the maintenance and education of the male children ... : also encouragement for commanders of men of war, privatiers and seamen, in taking any ship, or effects of the enemies, and all to be done, without any sensible charge or burthern to the kingdom / by Captain George St. Lo...	St. Lo, George, d. 1718.	1693 (1693)	Wing S341; ESTC R21733	30,938	54

Nineteen Months of that time all alone in an uneasie and Disconsolate Condition ☞ When I was first brought Prisoner thither I lay four Months in an Hospital at Brest for Cure of my Wounds and was sent to Nants before half Cured While I was at Brest I was Astonished at the Expedition used in Manning and Fitting out their Ships which till then I thought could be done no where sooner than in England where we have ten times the Shipping and consequently ten times more Seamen than they have in France but there I saw Twenty Sail of Ships of about 60 Guns a piece got ready in Twenty days time they were brought in and the Men Discharged and upon an Order from Paris they were Careen'd Keel'd up Rigg'd Victualled Man'd and out again in the said time with the greatest Ease imaginable I likewise saw a Ship of 100 Guns there had all her Guns taken out in four or five Hours time which I never saw done in England in twenty four Hours and this with greater Ease and less Hazard than here which I saw under the Hospital Window and this I am sure I could do as easie in England I likewise saw on the other side of the River an imitation of a Ship with a Tire of Guns where the Men were often Exercised and instructed in the Practice and Use of the Great Gun as if they were at Sea which very much contributed to their Skill and if the same were done and practised near our Sea-Ports it would be of great use in fitting Men for the Sea-Service in which we need not be ashamed to learn of them for they are ready enough to imitate us in any thing for their Advantage The aforesaid Ships being so soon out again put me upon Enquiry how the Men were got so quickly and I found that the Seamen were all Registred by the Intendant Marine or Commissary of each Province near the Sea which puts that King to vast Charge in paying great Salaries to them their Provosts Marine Arches and other Officers for taking Account of all Maritime Affairs for a Merchant Ship cannot go to Sea without leave from such Intendant who appoints what Seamen they shall have and so many Land-men to be trained up in the French King's Pay as is thought necessary which Method he hath used for these Fourteen Years past in all probability in hopes of an Advantage over England These Officers Register not only Seamen but Watermen Fishermen and all other Persons belonging to the Sea or Trading in any River of France as the Loire Seyne c. who upon Proclamation are always to be ready to serve on Board the Fleet as they have been all this War and upon Failure by his Arbitrary Power Hangs them up at their own Door without Tryal or Mercy So that to the wonder of the World tho he has not above the Tenth part of Merchant Shipping as aforesaid which is the Nursery of Seamen he gets out his Fleet ready to Fight the English and Dutch who are so much Superior to him in Naval Strength that it is very much Admired at Abroad and look'd upon as ill Conduct in us Thus the French King when his Fleet is out at Sea is at much greater Charge than we in regard of the Encouragement he then gives to his Officers both in Pay and Provisions which brings his best Nobility to his Service who when they are sufficiently Qualified are Preferred to Command and never makes Masters of Merchant-men Captains of Men of War well knowing that there is as great an improbability in most of them to well understand the Nature and Command of a Man of War as 't is for a Gentleman of 500 l. a Year that perhaps knows well enough how to manage his own Estate understands Martial Discipline to Command in a Castle in a time of Action or for a Captain in the Militia to be as fit to make a General-Officer as one that has been in several Campains Sieges and other Actions and will sooner prefer one of his Warrant-Officers that has been trained up in his Service than one of them tho that is also very rare for he will sooner Reward them with Money for any brave Action and give his Commands to his People of Quality ☞ And tho the French King by the Means aforesaid is at more Charge than we when his Fleet is out yet when they come in he is at much less for then he pays off and lays up his great Ships as we may now do by the following Method which saves him vast Charge in the Winter when his Men go out a Privateering and make a Harvest upon our Merchant-Men which he Encourages by giving them his Tenths of what they take Which I could wish was done in England And here I cannot forbear mentioning one generous Action of that King who as he Punishes well takes care likewise to Reward well For when I was taken in the Portsmouth by the Chevalier Demany Knight of Malta in the Marquess a Ship of 60 odd Guns all Brass but twelve tho' he could not bring my Ship in she was so much disabled he dying in forty eight Hours of his Wounds told the Second Captain upon his Death-bed That nothing troubled him but that he should die in debt to his Relations and Friends which being represented to Monsieur Saignelay who then was on Board the Fleet and by him to the French King the King thereupon did much regret the loss of such a Man saying He had rather have lost the Ship than the Captain and ordered the Payment of his debts out of his own Bounty which came to 22000 Livres which is near 1800 l. Sterling Thus it being the Method of the French King to furnish himself with Seamen on any occasion 1. By Registring them 2. By his Arbitrary Power Hanging them in case of Desertion thereby like Death sparing none to the Sea or Gallows In England it would be found both difficult chargeable and needless 1. It would be very difficult as well as chargeable to Register Seamen here because not one in ten is a House-keeper and therefore not with any certainty to be found 2. It would be needless in regard we have not occasion as the French have to take all our Seamen but a moderate Proportion only which may be done by Registring all sorts of Shipping and small Craft using the Sea or any River Port or Harbour in England Wales and Berwick upon Tweed as Merchant-Ships of all sorts Fishing-Boats Oyster-Cocks Row-Barges Western-Barges Lighters of all sorts Tricker-Boats Hiber-Boats Stow-Boats and the Trows at Bristoll Smacks Hoys Ketches Coasters c. by what Names soever Differenced and giving them a certain Number or Mark of Distinction as is done to the Hackney-Coaches That each of them according to their several Burthens Trade and Profit shall find one Man or more for Their Majesties Service or be obliged to pay Five Pounds into an Office to be Erected for that purpose

Years since I was Convoy to the Herring Fishery at Yarmouth for two Years and found that the English had then about 700 Vessels employ'd in that Trade carrying from 8 to 20 Men apiece so that allowing them to carry 15 Men each one with another it amounts to 10500 Men and great part of these Vessels belonging to the Cinque Ports they pretend a Privilege that they will never suffer a Press among them whereby their Majesties are deprived of the Service of so many able men but by this method their Vessels will be obliged to find their Proportion as others do or pay their mony to provide others and so their Majesties will have the benefit of their Service as of Right doth belong to them The Town of Yarmouth as I have been informed by the Magistrates thereof hath formerly had 1500 Ships belonging to it but now much decay'd by the choaking up of the Mouth of the Harbor The Dutch had then near 3000 Busses and Doggers a Fishing there with three small Ships with Flags for Convoy belonging to Ankhusen the Commanders coming on Board me all at once told me That that Town had once 1500 Busses and Doggers belonging to it Their Vessels carry above 20 Men one with another being near a 100 Tun each so that at that rate there came 30000 Men from that one Town They make three Voyages in a Year beginning at the Islands of Orknay and Shotland and following the Fish through the Channel to the North-Foreland Whereas we have the conveniency of taking them up so near hand that at Yarmouth what they take in the Night they can carry ashore in the Day and return to their Fishing again at Night whenas the Dutch are by their distance from home obliged to be at great Charge in Gibbing Pickling and Barrelling them up to preserve them Sweet and must lie out at Sea in all Weathers which we are not exposed to and yet to our great Shame and Detriment both to our Selves and Posterity we have in great measure lost that so advantagious Trade of the Herring Fishery which is a Seminary for Seamen and a Maintenance to so many thousand Families in Holland who are at much more pains Charge and Trouble than we in England need be to whom it doth of Justice Ancient Right and Situation appertain During the time I was Convoy to our Fishery there as aforesaid my Business was to see that no Foreigner should Fish in sight of the Shore because the Fish drawing thither to Spawn the best Draughts are there and besides the Waurope of the Dutch is bigger than ours and their Gear stronger they have bigger Vessels than we and more Men and so would be too hard for ours and drive us off the Fishing Ground if it were not for our Convoy for some of their Vessels have 340 Nets apiece which will reach upwards of two mile It happened once I saw a Dutch Vessel driving near the Shore upon which I fir'd a Gun and brought the Master on Board me I asked him how he durst go there to Fish he told me ingeniously it was for the advantage of the Draught there I asked him what Fish he had taken that Night seeing his Nets white he told me 19 Last each of which contains 12000 Herrings so that computing them at 20 s. per Barrel his Nights work came to 228 l. with which and what he had taken before he was forced to run immediately to Holland for fear of their stinking so that admitting each of these 3000 Vessels take 50 Last of Fish each Voyage and three Voyages to be made in one Season at 10 l. each Last it amounts in the whole to 4500000 l. This I thought to be incredible they told me also these Herrings in paying Duties for Staves Hoops Salt Packing Importing and again Exporting for the Rhine and other Countries bring in a considerable Revenue to the State and then to our great Shame these Herrings taken upon our own Coast are likewise traded with to England and there sold for Two-pence apiece and sometimes more And by this it is very demonstrable what the advantage of this Fishery might be if Encouraged The French were there but had not then above 100 Vessels tho they finding the Sweetness have much encreased since they would be pressing in for the Shore for which reason I sometimes took several of their Masters on Board me and then set Sail to the open Sea and there put them all on Board one of their Vessels to shew them Sea-breeding and they having no Boats were two or three days before they could get into their own Vessels again and this I did purposely that they of all others might not have the Encouragement of over-running us in our Fishery The Pilchard Fishery in the West is very considerable I have known 500 Boats at a time in Mounts-Bay catching Pilchards If they be rated according to their several Burthens or the number of Men they employ I doubt not but they will raise a considerable number of Seamen as will also the New-found-land and Iseland Fishery which if encouraged would turn to good account and that is no way better to be done than by letting them have free liberty to Trade without the Danger of Pressing their Men. And now since I have taken the pains to get 20000 Seamen for their Majesties Service which I doubt not but by this Method will easily be done and without oppressing any only laying an Embargo for one Month and obliging all Masters and Owners of Ships not to allow above 30 s. per Month to any private Seaman I humbly conceive it but reasonable some Care be taken of those that lose their Limbs or are otherwise disabled in such Service for which purpose in the first place it is Proposed 1. That the Poor's Chest at Chatham be regulated and to that end be put under the Care and Inspection of the Commissioners of this Office and in regard that the present Revenue of that Chest consists of the Seamens Deductions which in time of Peace fall short and are of no competent Support for the poor disabl'd Seamen It is in the second place Proposed ☞ 2. That if the Law-Bill which was lately in being were revived and setled upon this Chest for the Relief and Support of Seamen wounded and disabled in their Majesties Service it would not be felt by the Subject and at the same time be a constant Fund for this use enough to support it and whereas a Seaman has now at the most twenty Nobles a Year for the loss of a Limb he should then have at least double that Sum and so be Happier without his Limb than with it for the Smart will be forgot when the Mony is present And here my chief design should be to prevent that common Evil too often seen in things given to good uses that the Pillars to support it may not be the Caterpillars of it And that this Office may be kept up in