but to undeceive them in this Particular it is evident that a Cruising Man of War in two Months time plows more Sea and wanders further between Heaven and Earth than a Merchant-ship does in a Year by reason he Chases every Sail he sees to discover what they are when as a Merchant-ship like a Carrier's-Horse goes only the direct Road to come at his Port the nearest way he can besides he is heavy laden so that a Man of War runs two Foot to his one Then he is oblig'd to stay her for Freight and often for Convoy which taken altogether often keeps him in Port or Harbor nine Months in a Year whereas a Cruising Man of War is out at Sea nine Months in a Year so that it is hereby very plain that in two years there is more to be Learned in a Man of War both as to Action the way of Command and otherwise than by being seven Years in a Merchant-man but many hold this Argument hoping thereby to be thought to understand the Sea The other School shall be for the Sons of Commanders kill'd in their Majesties Service and the Sons of Gentlemen that are willing to be bred up to the Sea where they shall be Taught every thing necessary to qualifie them to make Officers as particularly Navigation Fortification Gunnery Languages the Exercise of Pike and Musket c. They shall be lodged in pretty decent Apartments and have Tutors and good Orders among them sufficient for their Education and Instruction in things of this nature which will be of great Consequence to this Kingdom and then when it is seen that this is well manag'd it may be presumed many well minded People that have got Estates by the Sea and have no Heirs of their own may leave their Estates or good Legacies to the Support and Maintenance of these Schools which may properly be called the Academy for the Sea Encouragement for Commanders and Seamen in Their Majesties Service for Taking the Enemies Ships Goods and Effects I. THat all Privatiers belonging to the Enemy who shall hereafter be taken by any of their Majesties Men of War shall be forthwith Condemned in the Admiralty Court without any account given to the Prize-Office and be shar'd among the ships company which so made her Prize pursuant to the usual Method This was done the last Dutch War when the Swan Privatier being taken by Captain Young his then Majesty King Charles II. bought her of the said Captain and made her a Man of War in the year 1675. As also the Hunter in like manner bought of Sir John Berry AS to Privatiers that great Encouragement ought to be given for the taking of them by reason they are in a state of War and Defence whereby their Majesties Commanders do come to an Engagement with them and oft find them well Man'd wherby they not only destroy those Ships of Prey which greatly disturb the Traffick and Commerce of the Kingdom but kill and lessen the number of their Mariners and consequently destroys the Naval Force of the Enemy and leaves our Merchant-men the better liberty to Trade II. All Ships of Merchandise c. taken out of the Enemies Harbours Ports Creeks or from and under any Castle Fortification or Fort or off or from the Shore or at Anchor under any Head-land by any of their Majesties Men of War together with any Goods Effects and Merchandise that shall be seized by them shall be condemned in the Admiralty and shared as aforesaid That all Commanders that shall take the Enemies Ships by dint of Sword from under their Guns ought to have the Encouragement thereof for that they run an extreme risk hazard and danger of their Lives thereby giving the Enemy constant Allarms making the People uneasie and putting them to a great Charge in Guarding their Coasts besides bringing an advantage to their Majesties in their Customs of such Goods so taken thence And that if the Prize be taken at Anchor it may nevertheless not be disputed for that it is to be supposed all Men during the time of War will Anchor in as great Safety as may be III. All Merchants Ships and Goods belonging to the Enemy and taken as Prize at Sea on Board all Foreigners viz. Swedes Danes Portuguese and other Nations that shall be taken trading with their Majesties Enemies with Contraband Goods shall be Condemned in the Admiralty and one third of her lading so Condemed be given to the Captain Officers and Seamen that so took her as Prize and paid to the Captain as soon as the Commissioners receive the Mony and not according to the former method at ten days after payment of the Man of War which is not sometimes till two or three years after That this Encouragement will put the Commanders to a strict searching of all Foreign Ships for Contraband Goods which otherwise would slightly be view'd or for a small Sum of Mony prevail'd upon to suffer them to pursue their several Voyages to the great Disservice of the Nation but the hopes of this will put them upon the contrary Design IV. That all Salvage adjudged for Retaking any Ship shall be distributed to the Captain and Ships Company according to ancient Custom as likewise one 3d part of the Goods taken and Condemned from Swedes and Danes c. Wheras now if those Ships be not Condemn'd the Capter has no benefit of the Goods that are Condemn'd thro' the want of a Proclamation made full to that purpose which is very hard upon the poor Sailers in their Majesties Service who by that means have got nothing all the War This Encouragement will hinder any Embezelment being made after retaking a Ship and cause the Captain to take more care in seing her brought safe into Port. And by this the poor sailers will be certain of getting something when their Proportion is ascertain'd by Proclamation whereas at present if one of their Majesties Ships weakens her self to send a Swede or Dane into Port he may be in danger by hapning to meet with one of his own rank and besides the Seamen put on Board the Swede or Dane are in danger of having the Ship retaken and being carry'd into France where they fuffer great hardship and for all this as the Case now is have no benefit if the Ship as well as the Goods be not Condemn'd V. That all Commanders that shall meet with and Fight the Enemy to the utmost extremity and being over-power'd shall happen to be taken and his Ship sunk burnt or so extremely disabl'd that they cannot carry her off but are either forc'd to sink or burn her themselves the said Commander shall be allow'd the full value of what he makes out to have lost by the saidCapture and shall receive his full pay the time of his Captivity and in Case he the said Captain be disabled in his Limbs or Body as not being able any more to go to Sea shall have a Pention during the Interval he shall
Usage and Hardships sustain'd in my Imprisonment in France my Memory is prejudic'd but sure I am there is a good Foundation for wiser Heads to work upon and when the Parliament have it under their Consideration it will be at their Election to Enact this for a Year or what time they please and under what Regulations shall be thought fit and according as it shall be found in that time it may either be made use of or not ENGLAND's GLORY c OR A PROPOSAL MADE BY Capt. George St. Lo. FOR THE Raising Twenty Thousand SEAMEN QUALIFIED As here under-mentioned for the Service of Their Majesties and the Kingdom in Manning the Royal Navy on any Occasion without Impressing in a Month's time after setling the Office Hereby humbly proposed for that purpose THE Qualification of each Seaman is That he shall understand the Mechanick part of a Sailer which is to Reef and Furl and take his Trick at Helm and be a Man at all Calls properly called a Haulboling so that half a Ships Complement of such Men before the Mast will be sufficient to well Man any Ship for Masters-Mates Midship-Men Quarter-Masters Quarter-Gunners and other small Officers will go voluntarily with their respective Commanders and several others may be supposed for Preferment which will not be of this number And therefore the said Twenty Thousand able Seamen with the help of the Warrant-Officers Voluntiers Officers Servants small Officers and Water-mens Apprentices who are sent by their Hall together with the Sail-Makers Armorers Carpenters-Crew and Chirurgions Crew will be sufficient to Man Their Majesties whole Fleet. This Method of bringing in Seamen without Impressing will be of vast Advantage to the King and Kingdom 1. In saving the great Charge of Conduct-Mony and Bounty-Mony 2. In saving the Charge of hiring Smacks Ketches and other Vessels for Impressing of Seamen which stand the King in 30 l. a Month each Vessel one with another or thereabouts and of these each first and second Rate Ship hath three or four and a third and fourth Rate Ship hath one or two besides the Captains of each Ship according to the Rate and Bigness have Imprest Mony some 100 l. some 50 l. some 20 l. Besides bringing in their Bills of Charges and Disbursements which have sometimes amounted to two or three Hundred Pounds a Ship to my knowledge all which by the Method hereafter mentioned may be saved to the Crown and Kingdom which in Conduct Bounty and Imprest-Mony with the hiring of Vessels as aforesaid cannot be reckoned to amount to less than 60000 l. per Annum By this Method the King being assured of having Men ready to Man his Fleet on any occasion in a Month's time will save the vast Charges of keeping the great Ships in Pay all the Winter and besides prevent the Danger of ever being Invaded by any Foreign Enemy as was like to have been this Year for after the Summers Expedition is over and the Fleet come in it would be a great Encouragement to the Seamen to be paid off and their Tickets paid at the same time which would give them Credit at any time prevent the great Abuse of Ticket-buying and enable Seamen to reap the Benefit of their Labour themselves as now they do not and though the King should give 20 l. per Cent for Mony so to Pay them his Majesty would save vastly by it And upon issuing out his Royal Proclamation at any time have Men sufficient for his Service again And here it may be Objected perhaps from a Book lately set out by one Henry Maydman a Purser That Seamen are discouraged from Their Majesties Service by the Abuses of their Commanders To which it is Answered It is a sign that that Purser hath Sailed with honest Captains that would not let him pinch the Men for the Men never fare better than when a Captain and Purser disagree I observe he carefully conceals his Employ of Purser well knowing that of all Officers such a one in this Case is the least to be Credited for let Commanders see that the Pursers do not wrong the Men and let them be paid their Majesties Allowance and the Tickets at Payment of the Ship or upon tender afterwards they are very well encouraged and care not for hard words from a Captain which break no Bones ☞ But that which discourages Seamen is the want of their due Pay and the lying of their Tickets several Years without Payment unless sold to a Ticket-buyer which occasions the Proverb among them Of going to Sea for a Knife and Sheath This would likewise prevent the Impressing of Land-men altogether unqualified which often breeds Sickness in the Fleet as also Water-men that were never at Sea upon whom it is now very hard For Instance a Water-man is Imprest out of his Boat that has a Wife and four or five Children to maintain in his absence his Boat is unimployed and receives damage his Wife and Children must become burthensom to the Parish or if she has Credit perhaps runs her Husband in debt more than he can get up in a Year or two Likewise when a Ship comes home after a long Voyage the Men are Imprest who perhaps have some of them Ventures on Board which they are snatch'd from without having the liberty of going to their Families and disposing of what they have or even to refresh themselves in which Case their Ventures are lost the Men Dissatisfied and their Families half Ruined Also many Persons have been lost on the Thames and other Places in endeavouring to Escape as particularly Ten or Twelve Persons lately in Boats were Drowned Shot and Died of their Wounds in making off from from a Ship that had Prest them and the Sand-Barges at Plymouth when a Press is thereabouts lye wholly Unemployed by the Absconding of the Men which hinders the Working of Husband-men for want of that Sand to Manure the Ground so that many Teams of Horses and Yokes of Oxen lye still on that account to the great Damage of the Country This would also prevent the great Abuses by Persons pretending to be Press-Masters who to get Money often do very ill things sometimes occasion Murder and generally such Disorders as bring an Odium upon Their Majesties Fleet undeserved Besides it is very hard upon Lieutenants who in Pressing cannot but spend more than their Pay and sometimes are Turned out for Impressing those that have Protections which by this will be taken off So that no Man as the Case now stands would be a Lieutenant were it not for the Prospect of being advanced to Captain In the next Place it is hoped no Man's Private Interest will be thought equivalent to Ballance against so great a Publick Good and Ease as this will be to the King and Kingdom The Reasons that have induced me to undertake this great Work are drawn from my Dear-bought Experience when Prisoner in France where I lay two Years and two Months under great Hardships and
for each Man so ordered for them to furnish for one Year which Office may be called The Office for Registring Shipping and small Craft And in case of failure after a Months Notice given by Proclamation to Forfeit to their Majesties the Ship or Vessel they shall refuse or neglect to furnish men for And that this may not seem an Hardship upon the Subject it shall be herein demonstrated that it is the Interest of all Persons concerned to comply herewith and that the Money or Forfeiture is not the thing desired for if they can provide Qualified Men under that Rate or for nothing it is the same thing to us for the Money so given is to be bestowed Gratis on such Men as will go in the Service It is Proposed The Reasons are I. That every Oyster-Cock Fishing-Smack or Hoy for Trawling and Drudging shall find a Man Qualified as before-mentioned and every three Peter-Boats the like to Serve Their Majesties in time of War Because they offered the late King James if they might be Incorporated that they would find him 500 good Men to Serve him at Sea on any occasion and now great part of these People have Protections and Serve not at all tho 't is more Reasonable they should Serve the Present Government than the Late and this way their Quota will hardly amount to more than they Voluntarily offered before II. That each Ballast Lighter find two Men tho they have but two Men work on Board them There are now but Sixty Six Ballast Lighters tho they ought to be Eighty but Sixty Six will find a Hundred thirty Two Men. These Men are Protected by their great Interest and very fit to Serve Their Majesties They will in a Tides time take up twenty or thirty Tun of Ballast which comes to about 30 s. of which the two Men that Labour hard have but one Third between them the other two Thirds are divided between the Ballast-Office and owner of the Lighter who having so great profit for little or nothing the Lighter being not worth above 60 l. and all Foreigners pay 4 d. per Tun more than others ought to contribute toward the Defence of the Sea which their profit comes by III. That each Row-Barge and Tilt-Boat find Two Seamen as above These Men are fit for the King's Service and what they usually givefor Protections may be near sufficient to find the Men proposed IV. That each Western Barge carrying 12 or 14 Men may find four or five Men and more or less according to the number of Men they Employ These Barges have a great and certain Profit pay no Custom or other Duty and now when they come for London leave their Men at Kingston at Charge and hire others there that are not liable to be Imprest so that they would willingly contribute to be free and easie V. That each Ware Barge and such like find two Men at the least For the Reason aforesaid VI. That all Coal-Lighters Close-lighters and such like find one Man They now pay for Protections and by that means have very good Men for 14-5 a Week and get vastly by bringing Coals c. through Bridge having 12 d for the Carriage of each Chaldron besides the advantage of the Measure if they be Woodmongers VII That all small Craft viz. Ketches Hoys Smacks Coasters Traders c. not exceeding forty Tun each find a Man This they would gladly do that they might not be liable to be Imprest and get by it too in regard they might then make the more Voyages when they have no Interruption VIII That all Colliers for every Fifty Tun they Measure at Ninety Five Foot each Tun shall find a Man The Colliers by this would be much the gainers in saving the extraordinary Charge they are now at for Men sometimes giving 8l a Man each voyage which at other times they might have for 30 s. and when their Men are Prest in the Swin or Gun Fleet they are forced to give 40 s. or 3 l. a Man to be brought up the River I have known some Colliers clear 4 or 500 l. in a voyage all Charges paid They will make five or six Voyages in a year now this War time and by this Method may make more IX That all Merchant-Ships Trading beyond Sea or lying at home by the Wall find a Man for each fifty tun they measure and if they are not like to go to Sea that year and thereof give notice to the Office when they bring the Men or pay the Mony that a Memorandum of it may be Enter'd in a Book for that purpose and if after a 12 Months time they come again and make Affidavit that such a Ship has not been at Sea in that time the Office shall repay them two Thirds of the Mony they have given or paid for their Men. When they have made a Voyage and come into Plymouth or other places their Men are Prest their Goods it may be perishable and their Markets lost or to prevent that they are at vast Charge in hiring Men or procuring Protections to bring their Ships about so that it would be their Interest thus to contribute to save them the much greater Expence they are now at as aforesaid some Ships having to my knowledge given four and five Pounds a Man for Hands to bring them up to London from the Downs X. That all Ships or Vessels belonging to Ireland New-England or other Plantations under the Government of England and trading hither be obliged upon their coming to any Port of England to give security to find their Quota of such Men during the War Because being Subjects to the Crown of England and liable to be Imprest as others are they ought for their Freedom to contribute towards the War in regard also that their Safety is concerned in the Publick Good and also many Ships this War for want of Hands being pressed there out have been cast away and taken XI That no hired Ship or Vessel Employ'd in their Majesties Service on any account whatsoever for carrying Provisions Stores Soldiers or otherwise may be exempted from this Contribution Because such Exemption would occasion many Disputes and great trouble to the Office and be made use of as a Pretence whenas these Men receiving their hire which they will take care shall be sufficient they ought as well as others to find their Quota XII As to the Watermen in the River of Thames it is thought reasonable that every three Boats or Wherries should find a Man not exempting the King's Queen's or Noblemens Watermen who have Badges and Coats which usually protect them and abundance others wear Bromagem Coats as if they belonged to Noblemen and Gentlemen tho they do not thereby deceiving the Lieutenants and keeping themselves from being Impressed Suppose there are 6000 Watermen belonging to the Thames one third part of them are at Sea already Prest or Voluntiers so that the rest at home have the benefit now of
be otherwise taken Care of and provided for That the Encouragement mention'd therein will put all Commanders upon the Emulation of behaving themselves valiantly to the utmost extremity encourage the Nobility and Gentry to send their younger Children to Sea when as they find that the Government makes a competent Provision for them as now the contrary has a different Effect And this Article being the Case of a great many honest Gentlemen is the rather hoped will be taken into Consideration for that it is of great Consequence to their Majesties Service and generally observ'd in all Governments that Rewarding well and Punishing well is the chief means of being well served therefore 't is hoped this will be put into Execution for Encouragement at Sea which is our chiefest Strength How to Share a Prize Taken by a Man of War Reasons for the Sharing a Prize according to the Method on the other Side I. The Moiety of what the King gives in any Prize is to the Captain and the Mony to be paid into his Hands to be shar'd among the Ships company after paying one fifth part to the Commander in chief of the squadron or Fleet ☞ Tho Admiral Russel has been so generous not to take any thing on that account during this War I should be glad that I could say so of all the rest of the Flag-Officers The Captain having a Moiety is in regard of his being answerable for any Plunder made before the said Prize be brought into Port and delivered into the Prize-Office in which case he also loses his own Share and as he has the Care and Conduct of the Ship and is liable to answer for all misdemeanors it is thought reasonable he should be allow'd one half according to ancient Custom and have the Distribution of all such Mony as the King in his Bounty shall think fit to give in such Case II. The Lieutenant or Lieutenants are to have seven Shares The Lieutenants having 7 Shares which is one share more than the Master has is in respect to hisCommission and that he Commands the Master III. The Master Six Shares The master having six Shares which is one more than the rest of the Warrant-Officers is in regard he Commands them IV. The Minister Chirurgion and all Warrant-Officers five Shares The Masters-mates tho not Warrant-Officers have five shares as well as they in regard upon the Watch they Command the Warrant-Officers V. Masters-Mates as Warrant-Officers five Shares  VI. Midship-Men 3 Shares The Midship-Men have 3 shares as being Officers and having a Command over the Seamen VII Gunners-mates Boat-Swains-Mates Carpenters-Mates Chirurgions-Mates and all of that degree to have three Shares The Warrant-Officers Mates having command of their respective Crews are thought fit to have three Shares VIII Quarter-Masters Quarter-Gunners Cocksons Corporals and all of that Rank to have two shares The other small Officers have two shares to make a distinction betwixt them and the Seamen IX And so able Seamen and ordinary Seamen to have one share each  If this be put into a Proclamation that all Men may know what their respective Shares of Prizes taken will be it will cause a great Easiness in the Fleet prevent Animosities and making Parties there which are more likely on this account than any other and if any such Divisions there be their Majesties and the Kingdom are the losers by it The Reasons of the differences betwixt the Captains of Men of War and Commissioners of the Prizes are first the undue Appraisements Secondly The great Embezelments which they meet with from Prize-Officers which often puts the Captains upon Plundering the Ships before they deliver them in To prevent these Inconveniences the following Proposals are humbly offer'd whereby the King may not be Cheated and the Captain and Ships Company may have Right done them Proposals The Reasons I. When any Captain shall bring or send a Prize into Port and deliver her into the Prize-Office appointed for the Appraisement of the said Prize on behalf of the King the Captain to be there or ot chose two others in his Absence whose Names shall be sent to the Commissioners Prizes who shall give them power to Act along with the two Custom-House Officers and Prize-Officers in the Appraisment of the said Prize Two Custom-House Officers are conceiv'd necessary to be joined with the two Prize-Officers that the King may not be defrauded of his Customs as formerly and the Captain being there or two in his behalf will prevent any Fraud to the King himself or the ships Company II. That for the advantage and encouragement of the Buyers the Goods shall be Appraised in small Quantities and not whole Ships Cargoes together as formerly which will be a great Augmentation to the price That the Goods Appraised in small Quantities will give liberty to small Merchants to buy whereby the price will be much augmented to the advantage both of the King and Captain c. III. That the said Goods so Appraised be sold afterwards by Inch of Candle and set up at the price Appraised by which Means the value will again be much augmented and prevent any thing of Fraud The Goods being sold by Inch of Candle after Appraised will prevent any Fraud or private Contract which wrongs either King or Subjects and will much heighten the value of Goods IV. The Sale will be free and publick and timely notice given to all Persons particularly to the Appraisers who shall be allow'd to bid so that neither the King nor the Captain be wronged The Sail being free and Publick the Appraisers Custom and Prize-Officers are free to bid being to be sold to the best Chapman It is conceived necessary that there be a Seaman Comptroller of the Prize-Office which would be a great Advantage to their Majesties and make all sides easie Encouragement for English Privatiers 1. THat such English private Men of War as shall take any French or other Enemies Privatiers or Ships having Letters of Mart may have the whole without Payment of Tenths by reason in doing this they venture their Lives and Estates for the Publick Good such Prizes being but of small value 2. That all such Prizes as shall be taken off the Enemies Shore or at Anchor under any Fort or Castle or within any Port Harbor Road Headland or Creek of the Enemies Country may pay no Tenths by reason of the great Hazard and Danger the Men thereby run of their Lives and of losing their Vessels which will not be done without Encouragement 3. That they may pay no Tenths for any Salvage that shall be adjudged to them for Retaking any English or Friend's Ship by reason they have often Retaken small Vessels for which they have had but a fifth part amounting to not above the Charge of bringing them in and the Charges of the Law and yet have been obliged to pay Tenths of such Fifths to their great Discouragement the which is so much the more reasonable to be
England's Safety Or a Bridle to the French King c. IN THESE LYE THE STRENGTH AND GLORY OF ENGLAND This Encouraged England must Flourish London Printed for Will. Miller at the Gilded Acorn in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCXCIII 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 Majesties Ships of War Privatiers or Merchant-Men to Encourage the better Defending them ALSO An In-sight 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 of all such as shall be Kill'd in Service both Seamen and Officers And a Provision for Gentlemens Younger Sons and the Sons of Commanders Kill'd in the Service to qualifie them for the Sea in order to make Officers 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 Burthen to the Kingdom By Captain George St. Lo. London Printed for W. Miller at the Gilded Acorn in St. Paul's Church-yard where Gentlemen and others may be furnished with Bound Books of most Sorts Acts of Parliament Speeches and other sorts of Discourses and State-Matters as also Books of Divinity Church-Government Humanâ—… Sermons on most Occasions c. 1693. To the KING and QVEENS most Excellent MAJESTIES HAVING as I humbly conceive found out a sure Method for the well Manning Your Majesties Fleet the Strength and Glory of Your Dominions and Terror of Your Enemies on any Occasion in a Months Time without the Trouble or Charge of Impressing As also a Method for the Breeding of Seamen and Encouraging Navigation without Charge to Your Majesties I humbly presume to lay the same at Your Majesties Royal Feet in hopes of Your Gracious Acceptation and Countenance of my Endeavours for the Service of Your Majesties the Ease of Your Subjects and the General Benefit of Trade That GOD may ever Bless Preserve and Prosper Your Sacred Majesties for the Good of these Your Kingdoms as well as the Vniversal Benefit of Christendom Shall always be the Prayer of Your Majesties Most Obedient Dutiful and Devoted Subject and Servant George St. LO To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament Assembled I Cannot but give this Honourable Assembly some short Account of the Tyrannous Insults and Barbarous Threats of Our Enemies the French in Particular against these Two Houses of Parliament at the beginning of the War IT being my Misfortune to be Disabled and Taken at Sea in the Year 1689. I was carried to Brest under very hard usage and nothing could I hear but of having my Self and Men sent to the Gallies and that they did not question but in a Twelve Months time to have all the Parliament of England there to Row their King in a Galley using the most Reproachful Names to this August Assembly that their Malice and Madness could think of and so far they proceeded in their Barbarity and Confidence of Victory that they took upwards of Seven Hundred English Prisoners part of them my Ship 's Company Hand-cuff'd them two and two together fastning Sixty Couple in a Rope in that manner driving them from Brest and other Places to Thoulon in Provence being several Hundred Miles Beating Whipping and so hardly using them that several of them died under their hands And when they came to Thoulon hearing of the Success of Their Majesties Arms in Ireland they changed their Resolution of putting them into the Galleys but travelled them back again to Rochfort under such miserable harsh and severe usage with Hunger Cold Travelling and Beating c. That many of them Died by the way who were then knock'd out of the Irons and left often in the Fields without Burial And when any of them broke Prison which their Misery forc'd them to desiring rather to dye than live so their Guard when they took them would Chain them to a Wall without shelter from the Weather and there let them lie Languishing for several days together as particularly John Hutchin's Yeoman of my Powder-Room and many others And for my own part they took Me out of the Hospital at Brest before half Cur'd of my Wounds and would have carry'd me on Horse-back though the Chirurgions declar'd it would certainly Kill me at length the Chirurgions prevail'd to have me carried in a Litter with Lieutenant Walker one of my Lieutenants who was likewise Wounded They Carry'd us thus Eight Days in Company with three Deserters whose Noses were slit an Inch up their Cheeks burnt with a Flower-de-luce their Hair cut off and their Ears cut with their Legs tied under the Horses Belly and their Hands chained yet they were better mounted than those in Company with me to whom they would neither allow Stick nor Spur Their Names were Lieutenant William Clutterbuck one of my Lieutenants Mr. Rowley the Vice Admiral of Brandenburgh and one Mr. Carbonnell an English Merchant of French Parents who was first taken up under pretence of being a Spy and still detained in Prison and now pretend Debt upon him We were guarded with the Povost Marine and four Arches giving out by the way That I was an English Lord they had taken so that all the Country People came flocking to see me When we came to Nantz they clapt us up in the Castle where there were two Hugonots and a Priest one Monsieur La Noa that had been a Prisoner Two and Twenty Years Seven Years in a Dungeon where he never had any Light but while he Eat Sixteen Years before brought to Tryal and then because too old to go to the Gallies they Condemn'd him to perpetual Imprisonment and all for writing a Book Reflecting on the Archbishop of Paris and though they could not prove it upon him yet they used him so severely it being the Barbarous Principle of the Cruel French King rather to punish twenty Innocent Persons than let one they think Guilty Escape They would not allow us any Provision though we sent to the Governor unless we would give half a Crown a Day each then we desired the Allowance only of Bread and Water telling them we had no Mony but for all that they would not allow us any without paying for it and Six-pence a Day found us Four Bread which we were forced to give or starve thus we liv'd on Bread and Water Fifteen Days and then the other Three consented to pay for other Victuals but because I found such living did me good for my Wounds I continued it Five and Twenty Days with the help of two Pound of Cheese which I had unknown to my Guard but if
what maintained them all before and therefore three Wherries may well find one Man more easie than a Hackney-Coachman can pay 5 l. a year when he is at so great charge in keeping of Horses and continual wear of his Coach None of the Servants belonging to the King Queen Noblemen or Gentlemen are exempted from paying the Poll and other Taxes and since they are always paid by their Masters for what they do even beyond what others would and have Coats and Badges given them tho it be allowed that their Persons shall be protected from going to Sea themselves yet they ought to pay their Quota to find Men as well as their share of other Taxes and the rather in regard of the Encouragement they have always had at Sea where a Waterman's Apprentice that has served him five year is allowed 23 s. a Month when a Captain 's or Warrant Officers Apprentice that hath served five years actually at Sea has but 18 s. a Month and by this Method the King will have always Good Men instead of Boys usually sent by the Watermen XIII That all foreign Built Ships contribute one 3d part proportionable to their Burthen more than Ships Built within their Majesties Dominions or what other Proportion the Parliament shall think fit This hath been done on other occasions for the Encouragement of English Navigation and to put a difference betwixt home Built and foreign Bottoms This Method is intended to comprehend all Vessels and small Craft throughout England as the Sand-barges at Plymouth to find one Man and the Keels at New-Castle one Man or more the Cobles to the Northward and all manner of Fishing-Boats and small Craft to pay proportionable to the Method before proposed Likewise that Ship-Carpenters Calkers and Sail-makers as their employs relate to the Sea shall furnish such a Proportion of Men from their several Yards for their Majesties Service as shall be thought Equitable and Armorours are sent by the Office of Ordnance And to render this Method the more effectual it is thought necessary that the Masters of all Ships Vessels and small Craft that are to find a Man shall bring one qualified Seaman for each Ship or be obliged to go themselves tho they may be excused from bringing the rest of their Quota on paying 5 l. each and this cannot be reckoned hard considering the great Trouble and Charge they are now at for Protections which by this will be saved and that is considerable for sometimes it hath cost Men more in obtaining Protections than would pay their Quota according to this Method for seven Years And to make it the easier upon Masters and Owners of Ships that they may not be at all the charge for finding their Quota if it be not provided that no private Seaman shall have above 30 s. a Month which would make them amends It may be however enacted that all Seamen in Merchant-ships shall pay to their respective Masters and Owners towards their Charge in finding Seamen for their Majesties Ships half a Crown in the Pound for all Mony they shall receive for Wages over and above 23 s. a Month that as they are so great Gainers by the War they may be assisting to the War having now sometimes 3 l. a Month whereas in time of Peace they have but 23 s. and 25 s. a Month and a Seaman in a Collier has now 8 l. a Voyage which used to be but 30 s. So that by this way the Masters and Owners will rather gain than lose and no one will be prejudiced for the Seamen pay only out of their extraordinary Wages And in case a Vessel exceed 50 Tun and amount not to 100 Tun if she be above the one half of the 50 Tun in dispute she shall find a Man for that as well as if she measured the full number but if she come short of the one half of the 50 Tun in dispute then she shall not find any thing for the odd Tuns she measures over and above even fifties the Measurers to be sworn to do Justice between King and Subject and to be supervised by the Commissioners of this Office as occasion offers this to be understood as relating to Ships going Voyages by Sea and not In-land Vessels And by this Method instead of having 2 or 300 Lieutenants a Pressing and forcing Men to go against their wills we shall now have 5 or 6000 Men going about with mony in their hands to get Men for their Majesties Service who will hereby be encouraged to go willingly which will be a great ease on all sides and more expeditious than before because English-men may be better led than drove and a willing Boy is better than an unwilling Man Perhaps it may be objected that it will be hard for a Ship or a Vessel lying by the Wall to contribute in this manner and others for Covetousness or some sinister Ends of their own to get the Charge taken off themselves may start other Objections It is answered It is no more hard for a Ship lying by the Wall thus to contribute than for an empty House to find a Militia Man c. On the the other hand all good Men and well-wishers to the Government so far as I can find by discoursing them are willing to it as knowing that it will save them great trouble and charge in Protections when they may at all times have Men cheap and free from being Impressed to follow their occasions and besides have Convoys more ready to attend them when the Fleet is well Mann'd the Ships clean and all in good Order And I am very well assured there will not be one Ship or Vessel the less on this account but if any Objection be made by those Concerned against any Particular hereof it is humbly desired they may be personally heard themselves by a Committee what they have material to offer as plain matter of fact without Lawyers and we do not doubt but to give good Satisfaction therein This being duly put in Practice all over England Wales c. according to the Method proposed will it 's not doubted with Ease when the Office is Settled furnish Their Majesties Fleet in a Month's time on any Occasion with at least Twenty Thousand Seamen if not more and better Men than now because then the rate of Wages will fall from the present Unreasonableness occasioned by Impressing and People will take them that will Serve the Cheapest and so be content with the worse Men themselves but the King cannot have ill Men because they must be all Qualified as abovementioned and Examined to that Purpose by the Commissioners appointed for this Office who must be such as have been Commanders of Men of War and no other and such men as they approve of shall have some Paper or Attestation under their Hands before they be received on Board any of Their Majesties Ships of War And in case any Person or Persons shall bring one Man to the Office
and after Examination and Approbation shall send another in his Room he or they so Offending shall Forfeit to Their Majesties 20 l. for every such Offence to be Recovered as is hereunder mentioned and paid into this Office for the Uses aforementioned in regard the Commissioners are answerable to Their Majesties for all Unqualified Men sent on Board Their Majesties Ships of War And if any Master Owner or other concerned refuse or neglect to find such Man or Men to be approved of as aforesaid or to pay the Five Pounds for each Man within the Month Limited by Proclamation he or they shall Forfeit the Ship or Vessel for which they have not found Men or paid their Money as aforesaid to be recovered into this Office by Prosecution in the Exchequer or at Common-Law and to be by the Officers thereof Sold and Employed in the Encouraging such Qualified Seamen as shall be fit for Their Majesties Service for which Encouragement or Gratuity many will be willing to come in and poor Seamen that come out of France and want Cloaths and Necessaries or are otherwise Distressed will gladly come to this Office and receive Five Pounds to go to Sea bringing his Landlord or some other Security to be bound for his going accordingly as must likewise all those that are brought on the account of any Ship Vessel or small Craft for when any fails the Vessel they Serve for is to be Accountable and therefore the Master or Owner on giving his Gratuity will be careful what Security he has that his Man or Men shall go And that such Master or Owner may not be put to any great trouble upon the failure of his Men when there is any such failure the Commissioners of this Office will send to the Master or Owner concern'd for the Bonds of the Persons so failing and put the same in Suit for which it is conceived necessary that some quick way may be provided for recovering the forfeiture without long Trouble or unnecessary Charge to the Office And if it shall happen that any of these Men so provided as aforesaid shall receive Preferment the Man so Preferr'd shall be obliged to find another in his room And now for the regular and effectual Management of this great Affair so much conducing to the ease and benefit of their Majesties and their Kingdoms It is humbly Proposed that there be appointed for the Principal Office in London five Commissioners all Sea Commanders that have well merited in their Majesties Service whereof one to be Superintendant and any three to make a Quorum That there be an Iron Chest in the Office with a Slit on the Top for any Person that brings mony instead of Men to see their mony put into that the King nor himself be not wronged That there be five different Locks to this Chest whereof each Commissioner to have a Key and therefore to be opened only when they are all present that there may be no Fraud in the Case That there be also a Secretary Clerks Messengers and other Officers necessary for this Service That there be a Sub-Commissioner for the same purpose at the Ports of Plymouth Bristol Newcastle Yarmouth and elsewhere as thought most convenient with a Comptroller Secretary Clerks Surveyors and such other Officers as shall be necessary That there be a like Iron Chest in each Port with three Locks whereof the Commissioner to keep one Key the Comptroller another and the Mayor of each Town the Third and the Chest to be never opened without the Mayor being present with the Commissioner and Comptroller and seeing what mony is taken out and for what use and that an Account thereof under their and the Mayor's Hand be from time to time transmitted to the principal Office in London where an exact Register shall be kept That there be a Measurer in each Port and Three for London to measure all Ships and Vessels that they may not be under-rated If it be Objected that the Creating new Officers necessary for this Service will be another Charge upon the Government It is humbly Answered That the Officers employ'd are to be such as have well deserved of the Government that are disabled in the Service and have a Pretence to Pentions or half pay which by this means will be saved as well as the other great Sums before and after mentioned to which this Charge is no way Equivalent Besides it will be an Encouragement to Commanders and Officers in the Sea Service that there are Employments capable of Rewarding them in which also they may yet serve their Majesties and so not be a Charge Unprofitable Now for a Demonstration how to raise the 20000 Seamen proposed In the first Place About this time Twelve Months a Fleet of 470 Colliers Loaded at Newcastle came over the Bar in two days and joined 70 Sail more that came from Sunderland with Coals which I am assured of by Captain Banks that was then their Convoy they were from 60 Tuns to 400 so that one with another they may be allowed to be near 200 Tun apiece And at the same time those that are Light and Repairing and Loading at Newcastle and unloading at other Ports with what Trade from Milford and other parts of Wales for Ireland and some parts of England with a sort of Coal called Culm for Smiths cannot be reckoned at less than as many more making together 1080 Sail which at 200 Tun apiece one with anther may find four Men each which in the whole raises 4320 Seamen There are likewise belonging to Newcastle and Sunderland about 300 Vessels call'd Keels constantly employ'd in Lading Coals that carry five and six Men apiece and may very well afford to find among them about 500 Men. So that the Colliery of England modestly computed finds alone 4800 Men and yet cannot be supposed to be one seventh part of the Shipping of England Then for the Watermen there were this year mustered on Board their Majesties Ships of War 1100 good Men that went voluntarily into their Majesties Service who will go again with their respective Commanders besides those that were sent by their Hall And we cannot suppose but that allowing three Boats or Wherries to find a Man without exempting any on account of Privilege That way there will not go less than 1500 or 2000 Men which must be qualified as above and what Apprentices they send that have not been at Sea before are not to be reckoned in this number The Western Barges Ware Barges Row-Barges Tilt-Boats and Ferry-Boats will find 500 Men. The Ballast-Lighters will now find 132 Men and ought to find 160. The Peter-Boats and Oyster-Cocks formerly offer'd 500 Men and cannot now find less if not more The Coal-Lighters and Close-Lighters are so numerous that I know not what their Quota may amount to Thus the River of Thames furnishes 3732 Men without reckoning Merchant-Ships and Coal-Lighters which may be considerable In the next place as to the Fishery about Eight
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
time of Peace as well as War to be ready at all times for their Majesties Service It is humbly Proposed that all Ships Vessels and small Craft shall for each Man they find in time of War pay 5 s. per Annum in time of Peace as an Acknowledgment to this Office And that Seamen in Merchant-Ships may not still pretend they have nothing allow'd them if they lose their Limbs whereby many Ships have been lost for want of defending them This Office in case it be thus setled will for the future pay and allow to all Seamen wounded and disabl'd in Merchant-Ships and likewise in private Men of War two third parts of what is allow'd to Seamen in their Majesties Ships of War in the like case Now to demonstrate what may undoubtedly be saved to the King and Kingdom by the foregoing Method I find that the whole Fleet by the List of the Line of Battel consists not of 36000 Men with Fireships and Tenders and now we need not half the Tenders we had before there being no occasion for them to go a Pressing And when the great Ships are come in and paid off that is the 16 first and second Rates and 18 of the third Rates with Fireships which together take up about 21000 Men Officers and all their whole Pay may be saved during the Winter which at the Method usual in the Navy of allowing 4 l. a Man per Month to pay all Wages Victualling Wear and Tear amounts to 84000 l. per Month and that for six Months comes to 504000 l. At the same time we shall have a Winter Squadron which will be 15 third Rates and 13 fourth Rates besides fifth and sixth Rates And then we shall not want 10500 Men to be at all Calls by reason the others are got already Thus besides the said 504000 l. which may be saved each Winter by paying off the great Ships there may be likewise saved 60000 l. at least in Conduct Bounty and Imprest-Mony and the hiring Vessels for Pressing so that by the whole it appears besides saving the King these vast Sums yearly his Majesty will always have Men on any occasion for his Service his Ships may be ready to Sail Clean and in good order No Pretence can be made use of for lying still for want of Men when the Terrors of Pressing and frequent Mischiefs attending it are prevented Protections taken off because no need of them Merchants and Traders will have their Liberty to Traffick to their own advantage as well as the encrease of their Majesties Customs and the universal good and benefit of all their Majesties Kingdoms those concern'd are generally willing to it wishing it had been done before for that it would have saved them a great deal of Mony and if this be done I shall have the Satisfaction of Serving their Majesties Effectually upon the French for their Barbarous Usage to Me and I doubt not but it will have that Effect as not only to regain our Ancient Glory and put us beyond the Danger of being ever attempted by them or any Foreign Enemy for the Future but that their Majesties Royal Navy may go and Command where they please and have none dare to oppose them And herein I have taken Care as near as may be not to disoblige or reflect on any Person But it cannot be avoided but that so great a Publick Good will Retrench the Profit of some Officers as the Secretary of the Admiralty and his Clerks c. who may for that reason endeavor to obstruct and object against it in which Case I desire to be rightly understood that what I do is purely for the Service of their Majesties and the Kingdom and not to bring a disadvantage to any Man But that they may not be Sufferers for a General Benefit their Majesties if they so please may compensate their Loss by Sallary or otherwise as their Majesties shall think fit Provided always that in Case any of their Majesties Men of War lose her Men in Action or by Sickness or otherwise and being abroad cannot be supply'd from this Office with safety to the Ship such Ship for her Security may Impress as formerly but so as not to disable any Merchant-man ☞ And in case this Office be thus setled and that the Law-Bill lately in being be reviv'd and bestow'd upon it It is humbly Propos'd besides what additional Encouragement is given to Seamen wounded and disabled in their Majesties Ships of War Privatiers and Merchant-men That there shall be likewise two large Schools Erected near a Rivers side in some Cheap Country where the Children of all Seamen kill'd in their Majesties Service shall be taken into one of these Schools at twelve years of Age and be there Taught the Mathematicks That they shall lie in West-India Hammocks which in the day time may be put into Lockers that there may be no room lost for their Lodgings and every thing be in good order so that then it will be wondred where they Lye ☞ That there shall be a Ship in the River near the School where on Play-days or other fit Times the Boys shall go on Board and Learn to Splice and Knot Reef and Furl c. whereby they may know all the parts of a Ship and understand the Mechanick part of a Sailer in two or three years time as well as if they were at Sea and then they may be drawn off to Sea every year as occasion offers when they will want nothing but to get their Sea-Legs ☞ These Youths so drawn off yearly shall be put out Apprentice for three Yearsto Commanders or Lieutenants of Men of War or Warrant Officers in their Majesties Ships and not for seven Years to Masters of Merchant-men as is done to the King's Scholars in Christ-Church Hospital where after their Majesties have been at great Expence in their Education for three Years and in putting them out Apprentice at 40 l. charge in Mony and Clothes they are bound for seven Years to Masters of merchant-Merchant-Ships who alone have the benefit of them without any advantage to their Majesties or the Youths tho at their going out they are examined as to their Qualification for the Sea and perhaps are better Artists than the Masters they are put to whereas if they had never been Taught any thing or were even took out of the street they might as well be put out for half the Mony and the Masters be bound to teach them as much as these and after all the Charge their Majesties are and have been at on this Account and that there are Ten drawn off to Sea every Year for these 18 Years past there are not now Ten of them in their Majesties Service tho otherwise there might have been many had they been bound to Commanders or Officers of Men of War ☞ There are a great many People have entertain'd a Notion that those bred up in Merchant-men are better Seamen than those bred up in Men of War
condescended to for that several Ships have been Retaken which have paid his Majesty 2 or 3000 l. each for Custom 4. That whereas many Ships that have lain in Ports Harbors and Roads of this Kingdom without any Seizure or Molestation of the Vice-Admirals or Governors have been found out to be the Enemies Goods and seized by private Men of War and Condemn'd as Prize the said Vice-Admirals or Governors have very much obstructed them in the Condemnation thereof and sometimes after Condemnation have claimed the same to their Use or the Use of their Majesties to the great discouragement of private Men of War without whose Diligence and Intelligence they had never been discover'd or seiz'd Therefore it is proposed that in such Cases they may have no Molestation or Impediment but have their Prizes according to their Commissions which grant them all they shall take as well in Ports or Harbors as upon the Sea 5. That the Tenths of all other Prizes may be remitted to them concern'd in private Men of War for their Encouragement for the Reasons following viz. I. The French King doth at this time do the same which hath so Encouraged their Privatiers that they have fitted out many Ships of good force and much annoy'd and disturb'd our Trade the French Privatiers having taken about 600 of our Ships whereas their Men of War have not taken Sixty II. This Encouragement will enable the Concern'd to fit out better Ships than now they have and get Men to Man them by contracting to take Care of all such Men as shall be Wounded and the Wives and Families of them that shall be Kill'd or Drown'd which at present they cannot afford to do III. There is more Reason to make this Remission of Tenths to the English private Men of War than the French in regard of the Prohibition and the small Trade of France 6. Whereas it may be objected that unless some Officers be put on Board each Prize the private Men of War will be at liberty to do what they please and such Officers cannot be maintain'd without Duties to bear the Charge It is answered That each private Man of War at the taking out of his Commission doth not only oblige his Ship self and Owners but also gives two other sufficient Securities in 3000 or 1500 l. Bond not to abuse their Majesties Subjects or Allies but to make Satisfaction for all Injuries done by them and to pay Customs c. And besides the Custom-House Officers presently put Waiters on Board to look after the Customs which the private Men of War pay themselves without Charge to their Majesties And by this propos'd Encouragement the Customs will be Encreas'd by the prize-Prize-Ships so that it will pay twenty times more than their Majesties have or will receive for Tenths And Besides the Encouragement of English Private Men of War will be very beneficial to this Kingdom not only in the Encreasing of Customs and weakning the Enemy as aforesaid but in breeding of Seamen they being oblig'd by their Bonds to carry two thirds Landmen and but one third of their Complement Seamen 7. And if it be objected that by thus Remitting the Tenths the Advocate Receiver c. employ'd therein will lose their Salaries the Proposer humbly hopes it will not be thought Reasonable that the private Interest of two or three Persons without advantage to the King or Government should be preferr'd before so great a Publick Good as this Encouragement would be both to the King and Kingdom Lastly It is demonstrable that this Encouragement to Privatiers will prove of no small advantage to his Majesties Customs for Example they frequently Retake rich Ships prevent Ships being taken and one Ship retaken oftentimes brings in more Customs to his Majesty than the Tenths will amount to in a whole Year so that both his Majesty and Subjects will be much the Gainers by this Means Therefore 't is to be hoped these Proposals will meet with their Majesties Compliance for that their Majesties may at first give it only for a Year or what time they shall think fit to see the advantage of it and afterwards to do therein as they please FINIS
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