Great Britain's groans, or, An account of the oppression, ruin, and destruction of the loyal seamen of England, in the fatal loss of their pay, health and lives, and dreadful ruin of their families

Great Britain's Groans, &c.

INTRODƲCTION.

I May ſay of the Seamens Miſeries as Queen Eſther ſaid of the Jews, that were contriv'd to be Ruin'd by wicked, curſed Haman; that if they and their Families had been ſold for Bondmen and Bondwomen, I might have held my peace, although the Adverſary and Enemy could not have Recompenc'd our Gracious King William's and the Nation's Damage; but to be deſtroyed, die and periſh, in ſuch dreadful Numbers, more than the World ever ſaw, without ſighting; and ſo many of their Families Ruined in their Pay alſo, are two deplorable miſeries, and I fear doth cry aloud in the Ears of the Lord of Hoſt, who hath ſent ſuch dreadful Loſs of Shipping and Merchandize this laſt Year, ſince I repreſented their Groans before in part, that I believe England never groaned under the like; and I am afraid, in plain Engliſh, that God will not always let the poor and Miſerable be mocked, without either helping of them, or conſidering their Caſe; And if there be an Hundred Thouſand Pound or more wickedly gotten out of Ruined, Sick and Dead Seamens Pay, I fear the Publick hath loſt above Three Hundred Thouſand Pound Cuſtom, and the Nation above Three Millions of Riches this year; and Ruining, alias Running the Seamen out of their Pay, with the two fatal Letters, Q. R. will never make us amends, eſpecially when ſo many have thoſe Letters ſet on their Pay, when they have firſt loſt their Healths in the Service, and then ſet a-ſhore ſick, and there die. But this is but one part of their miſeries, among ſome Millions; which I will leave to your Honours to conſider of, and of what fatal conſequence, and what prodigious Charge their Ruin coſt theſe Nations, beſides the Loſs of their Lives and Pay.

And indeed their miſeries to me ſeem to be not only great miſeries, and new miſeries, and fatal miſeries, but big-bellied miſeries; miſeries that beget more miſeries, breed more miſeries, and bring forth more miſeries in a plentiful manner; and if not remedied, are, in my Opinion, like to increaſe more and more; and if God 〈…〉 to ſcourge our Sea-Affairs, or do ariſe to hear the Cry • of the Poor, the Oppreſſed, the Fatherleſs and the Widow; then we muſt expect to be more and more ſcourged: But how God will order it, is beſt known only to himſelf: The Task his Providence layeth on me, and which hath coſt me the breaking of more Reſt in my bed, by my thoughtfulneſs of it, within theſe three months, than all my own concerns in the World ever did break my Reſt, theſe thirty years. And I propoſe not any advantage to my ſelf in the world, by what I write, except it be, that if the Seamen of England be not Ruined, I ſhall eſcape, among the reſt, from being made a Prey to our Enemies, who are advantaged in a great deal of our Seamens Ruins, too plainly to be hid.

And now therefore I will repreſent ſome of them.

1. The firſt miſery I ſhall begin with, is that which I think firſt began with them, This War; and I think, never began before, either in theſe Nations, or any Nation, and that is, their being paid moſt times on board Ship this War; and this hath been ſo very dreadful a Loſs to them and their Families, I cannot eaſily Repreſent it; they have not thereby had the Liberty God and Nature alloweth the reſt of Mankind, of ſpending their mony upon the Earth, of laying it out, at the beſt hand, of ſending it to their Families, and of Paying their Debts honeſtly, and getting Credit for time to come; and I ſuppoſe if the • had been Paid but half ſo much on Shore, once in two years and had a Months Liberty on Shore, it might have been better for Themſelves, Families, and Relations, many of whoſe Wives, Aged 〈◊〉 , or Poor • nd Miſerable Maſters and Dames, have loſt a great 〈◊〉 of their Hu • bands, Children or Servants Money, this War, to their very great Ruin and Miſery; and in the Payment of two Hundred Thouſand Payments on board of Ships, this War, I do look on it to be Two Hundred Thouſand Miſeries to their Families. Many have ſpent near half the money Receiv'd, in going Sixty or an Hundred miles to the place • where their Hu • bands were paid.

And Secondly, The turning from Ship to Ship, as near as I can calculate, in my Underſtanding of the Seamens Affairs, having this War had Acquaintance in every Man of War almoſt in the Fleet, and do Judge one Man with another, that ſtayed any long time in the Fleet, hath been turn'd over Ten times; and that in Forty Thouſand men is Four Hundred Thouſand miſeries to themſelves, and Four Hundred Thouſand miſeries to their Families, or Relations, But it may be that will be wondred at. But I look upon it to be much more.

For, Thirdly, This and the other foregoing miſery have been, in my Opinion, both fatal and fruitful Miſeries, for.

Fourthly, That fatal Miſery of above an Hundred Thouſand Seamen ſick, this War, may owe its Birth, half of it unto the two firſt mentioned Parents.

And Fifthly, That deadly miſery, and loſs to the King and Nation, and Seamens Families; of above Forty Thouſand Seamen dead this War, as I will undertake to prove by the King's Pay-Books and Muſter-Books. God knows, If the two firſt miſeries were not the Parents of above half theſe poor ſouls death, few of them, in compariſon having been kill'd by ſighting.

And Sixthly, Again, the Sixty or Seventy Thouſands Run out of their Pay, as there have been this War; as I will undertake to prove by the King's Pay-books and Muſter-books, and I will ſo order it, that any Ship's Book may be examined by a Committee of Lords or Commons, to know the Truth of it; and it ſhall not coſt His Majeſty Two Pence for my pains; for I do not this for my own Advantage, but the King's and the Nation's; that the Seamen may not be Ruined, and we Ruined in their Fall; For I look upon the Seamen of England, tho they are many times deſpiſed worſe than Dirt, yet to be as good a ſort of Dirt as the Walls of R •… nny Marſh, that if they are broken down, the Sea will overflow the whole Marſhes, and it will be then no matter how fine the Houſes are therein, or how great Eſtates any in that Marſh have gotten by helping the French this War to Intelligence, and do them Service.

I ſay, the Water would overflow all the Marſh, if the Walls were ruined. God grant the Loſs of Forty Thouſand Seamens Lives, this War, and the Ruining, 〈◊〉 Running of Sixty or Seventy Thouſands of their Pay, to the Ruin of many of themſelves, and multi •… des of their Families, may not provoke God in Judgment to ſend us ſuch another Year's Loſs as this laſt hath been. The Nation, I fear, will groan under it, if God ſhould ſcourge us ſo again; and then it may be, it will be thought worth while to conſider what ſhould be the Reaſon that the French, with ſix or eight Ships, ſhould be ſo wiſe as to meet our Eaſt India Ships in three or Four ſeveral places, ſo exactly, to take them home to France, as if they had been the Convoy, and waited carefully for them; and many of our Ships, only to receive double Pay, and keep the Seamen on Board Ship all the War, until we have loſt more men than would Man all our Fleet together, if alive;

And we having about 160 Ships in Pay this Year, it is a little ſtrange, and they not Ten Ships in a Body, and yet they know where to meet our Eaſt India Ships, and our Weſt India Ships, and our Gninea Ships; and this is fatal to England, that ſeems to be under the Judgment of Iſrael of Old, Iſaiah 59.10. We grope for the Wall, like the Blind; we grope as if we had no Eyes; we ſtumble at Noou Doy as in the Night; we are in deſolate places, as dead men. And God deliver theſe Nations from what is mentioned in the Four Verſes following.

But Seventhly, Another dreadful Miſery attending the Two Firſt, is, many Ships having had their Number of Men buried two or three times over before they are paid; and ſome have had their Number of Men, Eight or Ten times over, before they are paid, as I can prove by ſeveral Ship's Books, if occaſion be; for if I know my own Heart, I dare not aſſert any thing but ſuch as my Conſcience will witneſs, to the beſt of my Underſtanding, to be Truth, and what may, the moſt material part, be proved by the King's Books, and the others by the dreadful Experience of multitudes of miſerable people. And,

Eighthly, Another Miſery is, that there is ten or twenty Thouſand knows not where to find their Relations, (dead, or gone out of ſeveral Ships, as by the Ships Books will appaar.) Who are now looking after their Money, except it may be ſome times thoſe Curſed Plagues of the Seamen, the Cheats, and Ticket-buyers, and Purſers, and Knaves that agree together, to have Two or Three Hundred Pounds Raiſed in a Ship, as hath been made appear. But how ſad is it for the poor Widows, or Relations, of thoſe that carned their Money, to have them preſt from one Ship to another, until they do not know where to find them, or when they died. And it is to be feared there is Ten Thouſand Seamen more dead this War in the King's Service than can be proved by the King'e Books; ſome receiving their money by Letters of Attorney, after they are dead, to ſave Adminiſtring; and as I ſaid, many being never enquired after at all, looks as If they were dead.

9. There is another miſery, by being turned from Ship to Ship, and not paid; and ſo the Captain of the Laſt Ship commands their Tickets from them for the other Ship, and carrieth them away to the Straits, or where he pleaſes, that the poor miſerablk Seamen have not liberty to have a Penny of money for their Tickets, to buy themſelves Cloaths, or their Families Bread; And it may be the other Ships they came out of are paid in the mean time, and their Wives or Friends loſe their Payment at Broadſtreet, becauſe the Captains are at Sea, and have their Tickets; and whether ever the Seamen groaned under theſe miſeries before, I know not.

10. When the poor miſerable Wretches come from the Straits, as many did lately, and the Captains give them their Tickets again, they have not one Days liberty and freedom from the Preſs, to come up and look after any money for them; and ſome men are paid off in the laſt Ship, and yet have money due in 2 or 3 other Ships, and not one days liberty to ſhew their Heads to get a Penny for the ſame. But if any Curſed Ticket-Buyer meets them, it may be they muſt ſell them their Pay due in a Ship or Two before, at near half loſs: And this War hath been the greateſt Encouragement to Extortioners and Villains to Cheat the King, and to Ruin the Seamen, that ever was in the World, if my Underſtanding fail me not. And again,

11. This Ruining ſo many Thouſands of Seamen, hath been a pretended Neceſſity to help Ruin the reſt, either in their Pay, as aforeſaid, or by their totally loſing all their Pay, that are made Run, and have no Friends to look after it; For I can ſhew under the Hands and Seals of near Thirty in one Ship, that are made Run in other Ships, or in their own where they are ſtill; and they did deſire to have the Books ſearched, why, or when they were made Run: But that would not be admitted without Petitioning; and the Men cannot have leave to come up to Petition; and ſo their Pay may be loſt until Dooms Day. But whether the Nation will thrive the better, God knows. Indeed we thrived better when we beat the French: But after that the Seamens miſeries came 〈◊〉 thick and Threefold, as may be ſeen in the laſt part of my Book: And how we have thrived ſince, let the Smirna Fleet, and the Eaſt India Ruines, and Weſt India and Guinea Loſſes ſpeak; For I believe God would have the Nation conſider what he ſpeaks by them. And,

12. Another miſery to the Nation is, That as Capt. St. Lo hath publiſhed to the Parliament, and to all the World in Print, that it coſt the Nation above Five Hundred Thouſand Pound a Year, the not paving off our great Ships every Year, and yet he faith we might have a Winter Squadron beſides, of fifteen Third Rates, and fourteen Fourth Raſes, beſides all our Fifth and Sixth Rates, and that would be Money ſaved.

And 13. The ſaid Capt. St. Lo, one of the Commiſſioners of the Navy, hath publiſhed, as aforeſaid, That it coſt the Eing, beſides about ſixty thouſand Pound the Year preſſing men; and if there be preſt Ten Thouſand Men in a Year, it coſt the King, by that Rule, fix pound a Man for preſſing of the ſaid Ten Thouſand Men.

14. He ſaith, That the Colliers give 7 or 8 l. a man for Seamen, by Reaſon of the Preſs; which before they did uſe to have for 30 s, and likewiſe do ſometimes give 30 or 40 s, a man for men to bring them up the River; and if ſo, then I ſuppoſe I may modeſtly Judge, that the Collier-Trade, and Coaſting Trade of England, is at much more than an Hundred Thouſand Pound the Year extraordinary Charge, becauſe of the Preſs. And,

15. It may be modeſtly ſuppoſed, That if there be Forty Thouſand Seamen more imployed in the Merchants ſervice for other Voyages, and they have about 30 l. the Year a peice, which is 50 s. per month; and they uſe to fail for 30; then there is 20 l. a Year extraordinary charge for every man in the Merchants ſervice; and that is Four Hundred and Eighty Thouſand Pound the Year extraordinary charges, becauſe of the Ruin and ſcarcity of Seamen, and becauſe of the Preſs. And alſo the Merchant Ships are forced ſtill, for to ſupply the Ruin, Deſtruction, Death and Loſs of the Seamen in the King's Ships.

16. Whereas had the Seamen in the King's Ships been preſerved, incouraged and increaſed, as it could not have been modeſtly computed, but they ſhould have increaſed 30 or 40000 Men this War, if they had been paid off every Year, as the French and Dutch do, and their Lives ſaved on ſhoar; and this Million of Money ſaved every Year, would have been an help to England, towards our Loſſes. But,

17. If the French ſave Five Millions of Money this War (that we waſt) and have got (as it may be feared) Ten Millions of Shipping and Riches from us, this muſt at Seven Years end be a ſad difference; but in the end of my Book, I have ſhewed, how Purſer Maidman Publiſhed in Print, That a French Marqueſs had told the French King, he might make the Engliſh ruin themſelves. But I hope that our Gracious King William, and the Two moſt Honourable Houſes, will prove that Marqueſs a •… yar for time to come. But indeed our Seamen's Miſeries and Ruin hath been too great, and too fruitful. And that,

18. Another Miſery to the Seamen is, when coming home of long and hard Voyages, tr • y are Preſt away before they come to Land, and have not liberty t •… re •… eſh themſelves, with freſh Air and freſh Proviſion, neither to receive their Pay; but it may be ſent away of long Voyages again, to the •… langering of the ruin of their Health, Lives, and Pay, and ventures cominng home. Many Maſters paying them almoſt what they pleaſe, or li •… arſed Villains make their Friends go to Law for their Wages, and all becauſe of the Preſs.

19. This way of management hath been alſo very fatal to many Tradeſmen and Inhabitants in this City and Suburbs, concerned with Seamen; for the Seamen are not ſafe one Day from the Preſs to ſhew their Heads, after they are Paid, if it were to ſave their Health, and Lives, and Money. And thus in Fifty Thouſand Merchant Seamen kept from coming to London, and about Forty Thouſand imploy'd in Men of War, and Tenders, and paid moſt part on Board, it may be modeſtly computed the Tradeſmen and Inhabitants of London, have loſt ſeveral Years the taking of near a Million of Money a Year, at Ten Pound a Man, for Cloaths and Victuals, and all Conveniences for to ſit them again to Sea, to ſerve his Majeſty freely; and many of them from laying out all their Money in Goods, to return home to Scotland to their Friends. For it may be modeſtly judged, a Fourth, if not a Third part of our Seamen, are Scotch.

20. And what a Miſery it is to have our Seamen ſo dwindled away as the Government, to be forced at ſeven Years end, to preſs, and hawl, and tear Seamen from all Merchant Ships coming home, and all over the City of London and Suburbs, and very many Watermen, and the Collier-Trade to boot; and that with more violence now, when they have not Eight of their Enemies in a Body this Year, and yet to be at more trouble to get Men for to fit out half a dozen Ships now, then was to ſit out the whole Fleet, when they were well paid, before they beat the French; and yet, though this work of Preſſing hath been almoſt all this Year, yet the ſcarcity of Searen hath been ſuch, that we have had Four or Five of our biggeſt Ships lain ſeveral Months not Mann'd enough to go out to Sea. And,

21. By this dreadful Preſs from Year to Year, the Seamen of England are hindred from ſeeing their Families; ſo that it may be ſadly laid to Heart, how at this rate of turning them from Ship to Ship, until they die; or if by the King paid off lovingly, they ſhall be catched in a Day or two. How then it can ever be expected, by any thinking Men, that the Seamen's Wives, Friends, Parents, or Relations, can ever ſee their Husbands, or Friends again, either in London, or any Sea-Port-Town of •… gland or Scotland, while this War laſteth.

22. Except the Seamen fly away (as if they were afraid and aſhamed to appear) by Hundreds or Thouſands, as they have been forced to do of late; and as Joah ſaid to David ſteal away as Men that flee in Battel; which 〈◊〉 old David, 〈◊〉 be of a ſad conſequence to him; as they that preaſe may read 〈…〉 beginning of the 19 Chap. of the 2 d. Book of • amuel: and therefore he adviſed David to ſpeak comſortably to them.

But by the preſent management of our Seamen, they have been many of them, forced to fare miſerable card, as it ſeems they did in ſeveral hips, on ſmall Beans, called by them Horſe-beans, two Days in the Week, and pinched for 〈◊〉 Ale, called Water, until they have ſix or ſeven Pound a Man due for Victuals and Water-money, as by the King's Books will appear, yet they are never like to come to ſee if His Majeſty will pity any of their Miſeries, provided there be but ſo much care taken, to ſet two or three Ships Companies to Preſs diligently in London, it ſcares them away from the City, worſe than their Enemy's Guns ever did ſcare them from Fighting. But as ſome of them ſaid, when they had hid a Day or two, to be kept as if they were in a Goal, they could not indure; and ſo, as they came privately to London, they ſtole away with ſpeed and ſecreſie. And they that can think they will ever come chearfully again into the Service, muſt have a ſtronger Belief than mine; whereas many of them ſaid, had they had but one Month's liberty to have ſpent their Money freely, they would have as freely gone into the Service again. But not to have one Fourteen Days liberty, now at 7 Years end, for thoſe poor Souls that eſcape with their Lives, ſeems to me to be miſerable miſerable, deplorably miſerable: And whereas, had they been paid off yearly, and had liberty on Shoar, and their Lives preſerved, multitudes of Seamen we might in reaſon have expected to have had to ſpare, and ſave many hundred thouſand Pound per Year, as aforeſaid. But,

23. If our Seamen be ſo ſcarce, and ſo deſtroy'd, when our Enemy's Fleet is all laid up, it may be inquired what we ſhall want when their Fleet is all out. And if all our Ship's Books be examin'd, what we have now, and what number will be needful to fill them up with Men, it will be found to be near fifteen Thouſand Men, notwithſtanding all the extraordinary charge of ſome Millions of Money for time paſt: And if thoſe in the Service now, be never ſuffered to ſee their Families or Relations, it may be conſidered by all thinking Men, how thoſe who do grow up for time to come, will ever be incourag'd to come into the Service of the Nation, ſo freely as others have done formerly; ſeeing thoſe that come into the publick Service, muſt reſolve to renounce Wife and Family.

24. It may be inquired, if Men are turn'd from Ship to Ship, until they are Sick, and then ſet on Shoar for cure, and there dye, and be then Qd. or Rd. out of their Pay; how in this caſe it can be ſafe, to be in the Service of the Nation, for time to come, or for any Tradeſmen to truſt them that are therein, if there be not care taken to ſecure the Pay of thoſe who are ſo miſerably turned over from Ship to Ship, until fallen ſick, and ſo ſent on Shoar, and ſo dye, and Runn'd out of their Pay.

25. And if there be ſixty odd Thouſand Quaeried and Runn'd out of their Pay; if there be a Sitting to pretend to relieve them twice in a Week, and there be twenty Petitions in a Week heard, that is one Thouſand in a Year, and ſo at that rate, if all Petition for Relief, their Petitions will be ſixty Years in hearing, pro rato. And,

27. If ſome are kept a Year, or more, before they are Relieved, whoſe caſe is juſt, then it may be conſidered, how very unjuſt and cruel it muſt be to delay Juſtice to them. And to prove the many Cruelties and Injuſtices put on Ruined Seamen, thoſe Certificates and Affidavits (laid up in the Navy-Office) of thoſe who are Relieved, will be ſufficient witneſs; beſides the many Thouſands whoſe dreadful caſe is ſuch, that can get no Relief.

27. And if Sixty Thouſand of the miſerable Seamen are Run out of their Pay, as by the ſeveral Ships Books will appear, this may admit of a double ſerious Conſideration: one of which God in Juſtice will require of the Nation; let it be paſſed over as ſlightly as it will, by thoſe who have all along helped to ruin our Loyal Seamen and their Families; and that is, How many are unjuſtly, and cruelly, and ſhamefully, and unmercifully Run out of their Pay? And if but a ſixth part are made Run wrongfully, their Groans and Cries will cry louder to Heaven for Juſtice or Vengeance againſt the Nation, than all the other five parts will do us good. And indeed, the wiſe Man fuith, Ecoluſ. 34.22, 23. The bread of the needful is the life of the Poor; he that defraudeth him thereof, is a Murderer. He that taketh away his Neighbours living, ſlayeth him; and be that defraudeth the Labourer of his hire, is a blood-ſhedder. And when one prayeth, and another curſeth, whoſe Voice will the Lord hear? Now this is Printed with our Church-Bibles, and will witneſs to the World, That it is a killing, a bloody, and blood-ſucking thing, to take away the Hire of the Labourer, and not ſuch a ſlight thing as ſome (that have riſen almoſt from the dunghill, on the ruins of others) may ſuppoſe, and therefore worthy to be the more •… ly inquired after, and the more eſpecially ſince there is a more pro •… Number of Ten Thouſands of Men Run out of their Pay, than ever the World ſaw in ſo few Years, and ſuch fatal Loſſes or Ships and Merchandize followed the ſame.

But 2dly, Suppoſe the other Fifty Thouſand be made Run Juſtly, then it may be ſuppoſed greatly uſeful for the Information of the Honourable Houſes (that would encourage the Seamen) to known and be informed what dreadful uſage, or Fatal Management, or miſerable diſcouragement the Seamen of England and Scotland have met with this War, that ſhould make them Run away ſo many times Ten Thouſand out of the Service of ſo gracious a King, and ſo good a Country, where God, Angels and Men will bear them Witneſs; they will lay down their Lives at any time for the Seruice of both; and that they have always been Lovers of King William, and Couragious for their Countrey, and will, if led on, go up to the Muzzels of their Enemies Guns, in defence of their Couetrey; and have never loſt one Ship, by their default, this War; and have never run away for fear of ſighting, or being kill'd: By which it appears there has been ſo great a number of miſeries thrown on ſome of them this War, which they eſteem worſe than Death; and yet there is a further miſery of their converſing with ten times more Death by ſickneſs, in ſome Voyages, than by their fighting: For when there hath but about thirty or forty men come home alive, that went out in a Ship, and the Ship, it may be buried Three, Five, or Seven Hundred Men in a Voyage; and they that eſcaped with Life to come home, have not had ſo much mercy ſhewn them, as to be paid off on ſhoar, to get a little 〈…〉 and Strength, and to let the Wives, or Relations of about Forty in Seven Hundred, ſee that there was ſome eſcaped, and come home again.

And to be plain, this kind of ſtewing to death in Ships, tho it have been, it may be ten times more fatal to the Seamen than fighting; yet it is not ſuch a Death as the Seamen expect or love; and it is a death of no profit to the Nation; it weakens, and is the way to Ruin our Seamen, but kills not one Enemy. If Forty Thouſand of our Seamen be turn'd from Ship to Ship, until they die, this killeth not one Enemy; but if they loſe their Lives in ſight, they do uſually kill a greater Number of their Enemies, and that is ſomething of Comfort; and their Wives, or Aged Parents, uſe to get Bounty-money, and not be baſely run out of their Pay, after they are dead: And I muſt faithfully declare my Opinion, that they that would hide the dreadful Ruin and Deſtruction of the Ten Times Ten Thouſand Seamen Ruined in their Health, Lives and Pay, and would not let his Majeſty, and the Two moſt Honourable Houſes of Parliament know the Truth of their Miſery and Deſtruction, are Enemies to God, to the King, to the Nation, to common Juſtice and Equity; yea, to common Moral Honeſty and prudent Policy; For the Seamen of England muſt be made uſe of as long as England is an Iſland, both in Peace and War; and there is not one Soul in England ſafe, in Life and Eſtate, if our Seamen were deſtroyed: And if by our Bleſſed Saviour himſelf, it was declared to be a damnable thing of thoſe who ſhould be bid to depart at the Laſt Day, as accurſed, that did not give meat to the Hungry, and drink to the Thirſty, and Clothes to the Naked and Strangers, and Viſits to the Sick; then I would appeal to all Mankind, how much more a damnable thing it muſt be, inſtead of giving, to take away the Bread from the Hungry, or be ſo unmerciful to the Strangers and Widows, to run them out of their Pay wrongfully, and then make them wait a Year or Eighteen Months for Juſtice, and pawn ſome of thoſe Clothes that ſhould help to cover their Nakedneſs, to help them while they petition, and give 5 s. a peice to a Fellow or two ſet to take in their Petitions, and get them anſwered, as many have done; I do really declare I have ſometimes thought that Dives's Dogs might be ſeveral Degrees kinder to poor Lazarus than ſuch Fellows are to poor Ruined Seamens Wives; for they Kindly licked his Sores; and did not ſnap and ſnarl at him, and tear his Clothes off his back; and beſides, Lazarus came to beg mercy, theſe come to ask but Juſtice; and that which the Nation will ſmart for, I fear, by ſome ſeverer ſtrokes, if they have it not; and in plain honeſt love to our gracious King William, and good Old Engliſh Intereſt; and to Honeſty and Policy, I will declare my Opinion faithfully, That if there be not wiſer, or honeſter Tools to be found in England, than thoſe who on the one hand help to Ruin, or have helped to Ruin ſo many Scores of Thouſands of Seamen in their Lives or Pay; and on the other hand, have not either Wit enough or Honeſty enough to have our extraordinary Rich Merchant Ships waited for as carefully, with all our many Scores of Men of War, to ſecure them home to England, as the French can do with Eight or Ten Ships to ſecure them home to France. I ſay, in ſhort, if there be not better Tools, God Almighty knows when there will be better work; For our Caſe is like to be ſad, and I would ſay as Chriſt did to the Phariſees, concerning St. John Baptiſt's Miniſtry (tho in another Caſe), If our Loſſes be from Heaven, they are dreadful; and if from •… en, they are ſhameful and ſcandalous, and ruining and miſerable: And if, as St. Paul ſaith, a little Leaven will leaven the whole Lump; then the Almighty God knoweth in what places or Nations a man or two in half a Score, may poyſon, miſlead and befool all the reſt. And now I think of this, there is a place of Scripture comes into my mind, concerning Iſrael of old, that God did threaten them to do a marvellous work, and a wonder, Iſa. 29.14, 25. For the wiſdom of the wiſe men ſhall periſh, and the Ʋnderſtanding of the Prudent ſhall be hid: and woe to them that ſeek deep to hide their Counſel from the Lord: and their works are in the dark; and they ſay, who ſeeth us, and who knoweth us. And indeed, to make no Application (wanting parts) I muſt leave it to the Wiſe and Learned to Judge of the meaning of this place, and that before mentioned, of groping as the blind that have no eyes. And indeed in England we have a kind of a Proverb, That there is none ſo blind as they that will not ſee. And if that be a true ſaying, there's certainly much more danger of the King's being cheated, when they that ſhould ſee to have it puniſhed, do all they can to have it ſmuggled up, as ſome in Offices of the Navy Concerns have been publickly accuſed to do in the buſineſs of ſtealing the King's Stores at Portſmouth; and if our Ships that are in the King's Service, cannot ſee the French in a great while, when in the mean time a Merchant Ship is not ſafe to go 40 Leagues on our own Coaſt, but is in danger to ſee a French Ship, and be taken, which hath been a great Riddle to me all this War; and I have wondred at it, and have conſulted how another Nation might be ſo ſerved; and my Reaſon tells me, they might be ſo ſerved ſeveral ways, as one is by giving Men of War Command to lye in ſuch and ſuch a place, and not to Cruiſe all over the Channel; and in the mean time, if people had a continual Correſpondence with their Enemy from a Sea-Port Town, as Deip may be in France, to Rye in England; then if the one Nation did know the ſtation of the Ships of the other Nation, they might ply up and down in other parts free and ſafe; and if a Ship or two come almoſt into the Harbours, and takes away a Prize, and there be a Man of War or two, there ready to go out after them, yetif the Commanders of the Men of War will not go out after them, as a Captain or Two would not lately, either for want of Will or want of Orders, at Margate in Kent; then the Enemies Ships may be ſafe enough. And indeed, I have many times thought, That when Thieves come ſo near the Houſe, it is very dangerous to have any of their Friends within doors: And it may be ſometimes they have too many, the more the pity. But I wondred at one thing, which is, of all the Intelligence that is carried to and again from Rye to France, I knew but one Commander that was ſet to catch them, that took any, and that was Capt. Grantham, and he took the Owler that carried over that Mournful News to England, and Joyful News to France, laſt Year, of her moſt gracious Majeſty's Death, before it was publickly known in England, and Capt. Grantham was preſently turned ont of his Imployment; and, as he ſaid, The Lords of our Admiralty never ſent him word what it was for. And indeed, if it were to pleaſe the people of Rye, or thoſe Sea-Port Towns, they ought in Gratitude and Thankfulneſs to acknowledge their Lordſhips Kindneſs, and endeavour to make them amends. But it ſeems Capt. Grantham never was ſent for, neither ever went to enquire the Cauſe; and he is not a beggarly Fellow to cry Peccavi, for taking the Owler, or examining her Men ſeparately (if that were his Crime:) and whether there were another Owler taken before, all this War, I know not, or whether there were Men ſet to watch, that would not, or could not ſee them.

But for the people of Rye, or any other Town or place, if they do correſpond with France, and do help to betray us, in my mind, they are worſe than Beaſts, to betray their Native Countrey; for, as the Scripture faith, The Ox knoweth his Owner, and the Aſs his Maſter's Cribb; ſo none but worſe than Beaſts would betray ſuch a brave Country as ours is, into the hands of the worſt of mankind, that hath Really plagued the Chriſtian World, and deſtroyed more Hundreds of Thouſands of Men, and more Hundreds of Towns and Cities, and more of the Proteſtant Religion, in Twenty Five Years, than the Turks have done this Hundred Years. And this may be plainly known by thoſe who are converſant in the Hiſtory of this laſt hundred years, and the Weekly Villany of the French for this Twenty Five Years: And I cannot with my Eyes and Spectacles, ſee how the biggeſt Traytor and Villain in England can ſecure to himſelf Two pence of what he hath, if our Seamen were Ruined, and the French prevail over us; For if an Iriſh, or a Popiſh, or French Rogue, or Jeſuit comes, he may diſpoſſes thoſe that were their greateſt Friends; and the French King cannot be expected to be kinder to the Engliſh than he was to his own Loving Proteſtant Subjects, who did help to keep him in the Throne when his Uncle would have put him by, for being a Baſtard; and yet, like an ungrateful Wretch, he hath Ruined them, in their Religion and Eſtates more effectually than all the bloody butchering Perſecutors ever did; and his Dragoons hath out-done all the Heathen Tyrants in the World, for Rooting out Religion effectually: And therefore I do look on his Friends in England to be void of Grace and Reaſon, and Honeſty and Policy, and common Senſe. And ſo much for that.

But I had almoſt forgot the Remainder of our Seamens Groans; for I think I may in the next place,

28. Repreſent in part the dreadful miſery, in their being turn'd over ſo many Hundred times, to the Loſs of their Pay, in their dreadful waiting, till they meet with thoſe fatal plagues of the Seamen, the Ticket Extortioners, who have ſwallowed up a great deal of their pay at half Loſs, to the ſhame of the very Name of Common Moral Heathen Honeſty, and which will certainly cry for Vengeance, if thoſe oppreſſed be not relieved; for by this turning men over, as I ſaid, ſo many Hundred Thouſand times, it cauſeth many Hundred Thouſand of Extraordinary Troubles in their waiting; and many poor and wretched Seamen have been removed into three or four Ships in ſix or eight months time; and it often falls out, that one of thoſe payments due, if it be but for thirty or forty ſhillings, is paid part one year, and part another; ſo that if their poor Wives, or Relations, wait a year or two, as they oft times do, for the firſt payment, then they are liable to wait another year for the ſecond part of the ſaid thirty or forty ſhillings due at the ſame time to the Seamen in the ſaid Ship, as the King's Books will make appear; only it may be Twenty Shillings before April, and Ten Shillings after; or it may be Fifteen Shillings before Michaelmas, and Sixteen Shillings after; and it is ſo managed, that the Ships having not any ſet days appointed to pay ſuch a Ship, (as ſometimes it falls out) they expect a Ship will be paid next week, and perhaps it is a month; or next day, and it is a Week or Fortnight, and all theſe help to plague and torment the poor Ruined Seamens Families, who in Five Hundred Thouſand Turnings over, may be forced to wait, ſuppoſe but Ten Days for each payment, is Five Millions of Trouble; which would be ſaved, if the Seamen were, as formerly, kept to their Ships a Year or two, and then paid. But now another dreadful miſery is, by this turning over: It is common to protend to pay a Ship, and it may be there is left Nine Months in hand; and perhaps not fifty men in that Ship hath money due ſo long: But they that have a year, or two years, or more pay due, are turn'd into other Ships; and when I think of the Seamens miſeries this War, if I were to repreſent them at large, I might write a Volume as big as a Church Bible; therefore what I have written, or can write, is like a painted Fire on a Wall, they and their Families feel the Heat of the devouring Flames, in their Lives and pay; and it may be ſome will, to paliate the buſineſs, ſay, That it is ſubject to all men to die. Now to that I will anſwer, it is true; and I have ſuppos'd the dying of people in the Bills of Mortality; wherein ſuppoſe there dieth Twenty Five Thouſand in a year, which is the moſt; and there be a Million of people in all, it is but one in Forty; and many Count the City more ſickly than the Countrey; and if ſo, it is but the whole Number of people dead in Forty Years, which is about a ſixth part every Seven Years. But our Sea-Affairs, by the Ships Books, will prove, that there hath been more buried in Seven Years than the Honourable Houſe of Commons hath reckoned will man the whole Fleet the next Year; and yet I ſuppoſe not above one in twenty, with ſighting againſt their Enemies: And except thoſe two or three thouſand poor Seamen dead in France; the reſt are all dead among thoſe that ſhould be their Friends, and by their Death have not hurt one of their Enemies.

And now I ſpeak of thoſe who die in France, I will mention one miſery, and deplorable miſery more.

29. Of the moſt dreadful Number of Seamen taken into France in men of War and Merchant Ships, loſt this War, thoſe who eſcaped with their Lives, and were brought back to Plymouth again, thoſe poor Souls had not one penny of money, nor a Rag of Cloaths, but ſuch Louſie ones as the French gave them, were forced to beg or ſtarve to London; and if they periſh on the Road, as the Lord knoweth who hath, and who hath not: But beg or ſtarve is generally the Word; and when they come to London, here they muſt have no money, nor cloaths, but wait Orders what Ship to go into next, naked as they came. And if the Citizens of London will truſt them for cloaths, they may; but if they do, they muſt expect to be threatned to be ſhot, or have their Boats ſtaved at the Ships ſides at Pay-Day, if they go for their money, or come to bring Cloaths to ſell the Seamen, which is a common practice of late. So that the dreadful miſery of the Seamen, as I ſaid before, begets more miſeries; For if they have not money nor Cloaths before, nor cannot be ſupplied at Pay-Day, this is adding miſery to miſery: And another thing I would obſerve by the way, That before the giving about Sixty Thouſand pound a Year to the Double-pay Officers, under whoſe management (it ſeems) the Nation hath loſt near an Hundred Ships: I ſay, before that, the Seamen taken into France, had the Forty ſhillings a peice his moſt gracious Majeſty uſed to allow them, when taken in the men of War, which is now denied, and taken away from them; which makes me wonder what is the real meaning of that ſaying of the Wiſe King Solomon, Prov. 22.16. He that oppreſſeth the Poor to increaſe his Riches, and he that giveth to the Rich, ſhall ſurely come to want. Now this Text is fit for the Learned to conſider of, whether the Ruining, and Running our Seamen out of their pay, after they have been turn'd from Ship to Ship, until they fall ſick, and then ſent on ſhore, and there die, with ſeveral other miſeries thrown upon them, be the way to increaſe our Riches any more than giving double Pay to many that it may be never ſaw a Gun fired in Anger this whole War.

And another Miſery on ſome poor Seamen, or ſmall Officers is, If a Man be a ſmall Officer, though it be but 30 or 40 Shillings per Month, and have ſeveral Lodgers that he hath Fed and Clothed, when they had no Money, if they leave a power for the Friend or Landlord, to receive their Pay, it ſhall not be paid, becauſe he is a ſmall Officer; though by the way, thoſe ſmall Officers that never had an opportunity to Cheat the King, and the Seamen, in their Tickets and Pay; theſe have no double Pay, neither a Penny more than formerly: And yet, if any poor Widow in Scotland deſires one of theſe Officers of 30 or 40 Shillings a Month, to receive her dead Husband's Money, it ſhall not be paid, which to me ſeems to be a puniſhing the Righteous with the wicked, which Abraham did believe God himſelf would not ſerve the Sodomites. And,

30. Another way of depriving poor, miſerable, ruined Seamen of their Pay is, though they are diſcharged fairly, by reaſon of Sickneſs or Diſtraction, and ſtand fair in the Ships Book, and have Tickets given them, regularly Signed by all the Officers, to receive their Money, yet if the Commiſſioner will pleaſe but to ask they that have theſe powers and Tickets, where ſuch a Man is, or in what Ship, and they do not know? As who can tell where a Man is a Year or two after he is diſcharged, (when it may be he has been in ſeveral Ships,) then the Commiſſioner will not pay one Penny of the poor Man's Pay; ſo that if the management of the Seamens Pay be examined, I am afraid it will be found to be all Will and Pleaſure, alias all Arbitrary: And, indeed, many Thouſands have found it ſo; and that makes me think of the Thouſands of Prentices in the Navy, if they be poor Watermens, or Widows Prentices, &c. if the Commiſſioner pleaſeth, he will pay the Prentice, notwithſtanding the Indenture. But if it be ſuch as the Commiſſioner pleaſeth to ſtop the Money on board of Ship, by Indenture, the Prentice ſhall have not a Penny, though it may be his Maſter hath not been at Twelve Pence Charge in a Year, for the Prentice, ſo that there is no certain Rule, but all left to will and pleaſure, whoever is ruined.

Now it may be ſome will think, I have met with Difficulties in the Pay of the Fleet my ſelf. Now as to that, I never uſed to complain in my own Cauſe; neither did I ever petition the Navy-Board for but one Run, of all that ever I was concerned with, and that was for a poor Widow at Lynn; and had it anſwered, but it was 2 or 3 Years paſt.

And indeed, I have received a Thouſand, or Fifteen Hundred Payments, of Seamens Pay, my ſelf, as the King's Books will make appear, and I bleſs God, I never had any Complaint againſt me, to be called before them: For I bought moſt part of what I bought, at Two Shillings, or half a Crown profit, and ſome at Three Shillings profit in the Pound; and I do not know of one above that profit; for I bleſs God, I always hated Extortion and Oppreſſion; and had I gotten half in half, as ſome curſed Extortioners did, I had, as I received at firſt 2 or 3 Thouſand Pound per Year, doubled it, and doubled it, to have made it up above Twenty Thouſand Pound by this time, and ſo have had a curſed great Eſtate, as it may be ſome others have, out of the ruines of the Poor, and the Cheating of their Country: For there be ſome who have grown up like Pumpkins, from a Dunghill, to a prodigious bigneſs, and are like Maggots in the poor Sheeps backs, that the bigger the Maggots grow, the more the poor Sheep is eaten up. But I pray the God of Heaven and Earth, to ſtir up ſome publick Spirited Perſons, to conſider how dreadful a thing it is, that our Maritime Sheep ſhould be thus eaten up, and devoured, for want of looking after.

And now I will return to the poor Seamen. I found by ſad Experience, That ſo ſoon as the Seamen had beaten the French, their Miſeries began to be multiplied, as I might ſhew more largely; and I was not eaſie to buy their Pay at dearer Rates, than I would ſell, If I had been to ſell and loſe to another: For that is the Rule that Chriſt himſelf ſaith is the Subſtance of the Law and the Prophets, To do as we would be done unto, and that is in the Church-Catechiſm; and which Rule, I believe, is planted by God himſelf, in the Law of Nature, and by which all Mankind ſhall be Judged at the great Day: And if theſe Nations will not learn their Catechiſms, I believe God will whip them: I ſaid ſo laſt Year of the Eaſt-India-Company's Concerns, that God did Command all Mankind, To do as they would be done unto. And what they learned, God knows; they have, I am ſure, been ſo whipped this Year, that they, nor their Fathers, never knew the like. And God will, I believe, plead the Cauſe of the Poor.

It were well now, under this ſearching Rod, ſince it appears God is riſen up in Judgment againſt our Sea-Affairs, that we would oblige our ſelves, as Chriſtians, to ſeek and enquire after all the Cauſes of it, if poſſible, both of Sin, the procuring Cauſe, and Men's Knavery, Foolery, or Negligence on the other hand. But this, by the way, I ſay, I bleſs God, inſtead of taking advantage of the miſery of ruined Seamen's Pay, to buy it at half loſs, I have left off buying any at all, for near three Years, neither ever will buy any in this World; and for the next, as Job ſaith, there the weary are at reſt, and there the wicked ceaſe from troubling. There Mankind will not cheat and ruine, and plague and oppreſs one the other.

And now I have ſaid this, it may be ſome will ſay, I am mad indeed, to loſe the getting of ſo many Thouſands of Pounds, and now to trouble my ſelf with the miſery, the knavery, and ruins of Mankind, and get nothing by it, but rather run the hazard (if any will be my Enemies) for telling the truth, to be ruined my ſelf. And in anſwer to that, it is true, I do in the preſence of the Eternal Bleſſed Jehovah declare, in whoſe proſence I write, That I do not know of one Falſhood or Lye, in whatever I have written, as repreſented by me; and I know that God will bring every work to Judgment, with every ſecret thing, whether it be Good or Evil; and ſo I would write every Line, as that which may be brought to be known to theſe Nations, for to be conſidered of, and as that which I would have it, all found Truth in the great Day.

And now, having ſaid this, and conſidered of what I have repreſented, of the dreadful Ruins and Deſtruction of our Engliſh and Scotch Seamen, and there is not one Soul of them knoweth what I write for them: And indeed, it is a mercy they do not know their miſeries together; and while they know it apart, they groan under it apart. And for thoſe who are dead, they cannot complain; and thoſe who have been ſo far provoked to go away, and ſerve other Nations, they will not come again, I ſuppoſe quickly, to complain: and indeed, as Job ſaid, 6. & 5. Doth the wild Aſs bray, when he hath Graſs, or loweth the Ox over his Fother. If the poor miſerable ruined Creatures, loſe the Graſs and Fother at home, with Q's and R's, it may be they will bray; and ſince they beat the French, and are ſo dreadfully ruined in their Pay and Liberty, ſome have Sworn by their Damnation, They would ſerve the French, or any Nation, rather than be ruined at home. Who can help their Swearing: Solomon ſaith, Oppreſſion maketh wiſe Men mad. And if ſo, who can expect any other from them, that are not over-wiſe. And when I have repreſented a few of their miſeries, if the Lords of the Admiralty were ordered to lay before the Parliament, the method of ſome Commanders abuſing the Seamen, or cheating them, or their Families, or the Nation, in the Seamens Tickets and Pay, which ſome have been accuſed of publickly: and alſo, the Commiſſioners of the Navy, were to repreſent what number of Petitions the poor, and diſtreſſed, and miſerable Seamens Wives, Widows, or Relations, have laid before them, for Tickets kept from the Seamen for their Pay; and let the Account-Books, and Ship-Books, be alſo ſearched, to ſee how many hundreds of Pounds worth of Seamens Tickets have been received publickly, by, or for the Commanders of ſome Ships, while they had liberty to receive them without ſo much trouble as to forge Powers, with all that other curſed Villains have forged; and how this miſery hath helped to make the Seamen miſerable in the loſs of their Pay: and to make their Families more miſerable, by pretending to hinder the poor ruined Seamens Wives from getting a Clerk to ſearch the Ship's Books their Husbands belonged to, or dyed in, to ſee whether they be ſtanding faſt, or run out of their Pay. This, I ſay, would be a means for the Parliament and Nation to ſee ſomething of Cheating the King, and the Seamen publickly.

And as I ſaid the Seamens miſeries are fruitful, ſo is their being Cheated of their Pay made a help to their miſery.

For though there be perhaps Forty or Fifty Clerks and Clerks Boys can ſee the Books, and though the Captains Clerks of every Ship, and the Purſer of every Ship, hath Books of all the Seamens Names, and can give out Copies of what Names they pleaſe to thoſe that can forge powers to receive Seamens pay, to the value of Two or Three Hundred pound in a Ship, and the Captains and Purſers make out Tickets for the ſame, to offer to Sale, without powers, and to keep men open upon the Ship's Book a whole Weſt India Voyage after they are gone: Yet theſe Things, though proved, are not minded to be repreſented to the Parliament.

But if a poor Seaman's Wife, or a poor Seaman in the Hoſpital, would ſee whether he be run out of his pay, or whether it be received by one or another, they may petition the Navy-board, and give the Clerk of the Petitions a ſhilling for the petition, and his Boy ſix pence, to remember his Worſhip, that he may put his Maſter in mind, that ſuch a man in ſuch an Hoſpital deſires to Know whether he be not Run out of his Money in ſuch and ſuch a Ship's Book, where he was ſick, or turn'd over.

And, it may be, in this time of extraordinary need of Seamen, the poor Seaman is preſt away again, with the Hoſpital-Certificate in his Pocket, and that taken from him, and he ſent on Board of the Ketch, to be carried away before he get the Book ſearched.

But if he be Old and Craſie, and have not money to buy himſelf off, it may be Shame, or Fear, will make them clear him again; and then he may look after his petition again; and that is a better miſery than ordinary, to be miſerable enough, to be ſent to the Hoſpital in London, and have liberty to look after his money due in two other Ships.

whereas, had he not, it may be he would, if Living, and like to come again, have been Run out of it, if gone away, they expecting he would not come again, they then ſet down in the Book, paid the Party.

And how many of theſe paying the parties there hath been this War, that the party never had a Groat of I know not; neither what a fatal miſery it hath been to poor Seamen's Wives, the not having liberty to be rightly informed how their Husbands ſtood in the Book, without petitioning the Navy-Board; as if the Wives being truly inform'd by one of the Clerks, (tho ſhe never look into the Books) would be the blowing up of the whole Book: But if I am not miſtaken, if I had not left off Ticket-buying above three years ago, but had taken all the Advantages of Sea-mens miſeries, this Trick it ſelf might have helped me (with a good Friend) to get the Books ſearched privatly and ſo have bought Seamens miſerable pay at the ſame curſed price, as ſome others have bought it at: But bleſſed be God that my Mother taught me the Catechiſm to defy the Devil and all his Works, the vain pomps and vanities of this wicked World.

And now I think of the Church Catechiſm, of defying the Devil and all his Works, and teaching us to do to all men as we would they ſhould do to us, makes me think alſo how honeſt men may Buy the Seamens pay, at two or three Shillings in the pound profit, as I did; and ſo long as they do, as they would be done unto, may ſerve the King the Nation, and the Seamen therein: But thoſe that buy at ten or twelve ſhillings in the pound loſs to the poor Seamen, (as many have done ſince the Seamen beat the French;) thoſe I do take to be ſuch as the miniſters and people, and whole Church of England are bound to curſe every Year; for I find in the Book of Common-prayer, that in the Comination there are theſe ſeveral Curſes.

Curſed is he that removeth his Neighbours Land-mark.

Curſed is he that maketh the Blind to go out of his way.

Curſed is he that perverteth the Judgment of the Stranger, the Fatherleſs and the Widow.

Curſed is he that ſmiteth his Neighbour ſecretly.

Curſed are the unmerciful and extortioners.

Now there is not a Miniſter in England allowed to take upon him the Cure of Souls in the Church of England, but is bound to declare his aſſent and conſent to this by Act of Parliament; and theſe Curſes are to be read once every year, and all the people are bound to ſay, Amen.

Now the proving that the generality of ſeamen have been extorted out of half their pay, by Ticket-buyers, and been very unmercifully dealt with, will prove to all mankind, that they that have been unmerciful to them, and they that have been Extortioners to them and their Families, are a curſed Generation by the Doctrine of the whole Church, and by the Aſſent and Conſent of near ten Thouſand Miniſters; and then again, if this ſo ſolemn a Curſe be dreadful as being the work of the whole Church; and if one Accurſed Act of Achan did trouble the whole Hoſt of Iſrael, and made them flee before their Enemies until it was Diſcovered, and the Author puniſhed; then who can tell how dangerous it may be to theſe Nations, to let ſuch unmercifulneſs, curſed unmercifulneſs and cruelty go unpuniſhed; for if God Requires the Authors of ſuch horrid miſeries to be found out and puniſhed, he expects it ſhould be done, or this Nation, muſt ſurely expect to be Corrected, for St. Paul ſaith, God is not mocked, for whatſoever a Man ſows, that ſhall he alſo reap.

And I am ſure, ſince the running and ruining of the Seamen and their Families, our poors Book is riſen to be twenty Seaven months to the Year, and we are alſo in Debt, ſo that I doubt our poors books next year, muſt be about twenty eight, or Thirty months in the Year to get us out of Debt for our poors Tax and ſince we have had ſo miſerable a number of poor ruined ſeamens. Widows or Children, our poors Taxes are ſo exceeding high, and our Trade in the mean time is ſo way-laid, that when his Majeſty ordered the payment of ſeveral Ships, it hath been ſo managed, that tho the men are diſcharged and paid off, the King is put to the charge to pay them off near thirty miles from London, and the City and Country way-laid to catch them if they come to London; and thoſe poor ſouls who eſcaped with their Lives, where an Hundred or two in a ſhip died, and ſeveral ſcores ſent on ſhore ſick, when they came in to be paid, yet not a ſonl of them ſafe from the Preſs one day for their poor Wives to take care of them, or they to bring their mony to their Wives, or to eat freſh proviſion, and get a little ſtrength to Recruit again before they go out, or to lay out their mony at beſt hand in London, or to return it home to Scotland; but when the King pays them, they are, many of them, preſt away in a day or two very miſerably, and the City of London and Subarbs, (who muſt ſupply them with Bread and Cloaths when they come from Captivity, or they may ſtarve,) are diſappointed in taking any of their mony; and I think if we have loſt above a Thouſand merchant ſhips, and near an Hundred men of War, it may be modeſtly computed, that there hath been near twenty Thouſand carried Captives to France this War; and yet let the City ſupply them what they will in their diſtreſs, they ſhall be ſure to be paid far enough off from their taking any of their mony, ſo that tho the City of London hath been always Loyal and Faithful to K. William, and ready to aſſiſt him with their purſes and perſons, and the ſeamen of England always Loyal and Ready to lay down their Lives at any time for His Majeſty and the Nation, if led on to the muzels of their Enemies Guns; and yet I will challenge all mankind to ſhew ſuch Examples of the Cities being deprived of the ſeamens Trade, and the ſeamens being ſo Ruined in their pay in their Liberty, and in their Lives with ſuch fatal Ruin, and for ſo long continuance, ſince England was a Nation.

And indeed, however it comes to paſs, the providence of God, by my extraordinary Zeal to aſſiſt all Seamen to ſerve his Majeſty, and theſe Nations, hath enabled me to know more of their Caſes than, it may be any private man in England; For as I have aſſiſted Thouſands, and that as cheap as for ready money, to encourage them chearfully in the Service: ſo among their Deaths, and being turned over, or preſt from Ship to Ship, I ſhall loſe about a Thouſand pound, and that by about Four Hundred men; and of all thoſe Four Hundred men, there are near Three Hundred and Forty Dead, or gone I know not where; and I, bleſs God, that I buy my Experience of the Seamens miſeries, thus dear, for inſtead of Repining againſt his holy providence, I find he fitteth me with Content, and with an Heart to compaſſionate the miſeries of thoſe that I have loſt ſo much by, and all the reſt of their Ruined Companions.

And I may almoſt admire how ſome that have been Raiſed up in the Ruines of the poor and miſerable Seamen, can have their Hearts ſo hard and obdurate; yea I ſay, Caſe-hardened: as to help Ruine them more and more, and, in the mean time, ſmother up what they can of his Majeſties and the Nations Loſs in our Seamen; and the King and Nations being cheated of a multitude of money or Stores.

I had written much more largely, of the miſerableneſs of the Seamen, and the method of the King's being cheated, and the Seamen being cheated, but that I was afraid it was too large to trouble the Two moſt Honourable Houſes with, and ſo haue, in theſe I aſt Four Days, drawn up this ſhort Breviate of what part of their miſeries came readily to my mind, having not time nor patience to look over my other book, conſidering that every miſery that is Repreſented, the Cauſe being found out, the Cure will be quickly underſtood.

It doth ſeem ſtrange to me, that the Nation, which doth all in general agree, ſuch as are men of Senſe, Honeſty and Love to their Countrey, and the true Proteſtant Religion, that they have Cauſe to bleſs and admire at the good, miraculous and gracious providence of God, in Raiſing up our moſt gracious King William, to be a means of a Deliverance for us, and a Defence for theſe Nations, and oppreſſed Chriſtendom.

I ſay it is ſtrange that we ſhould ſee Cauſe to bleſs God for this, and even enjoy our ſelves under our own Vines and Fig-Trees, and yet at the ſame time let the Seamen of England be Ruined and dwindled away ſo many Ten Thouſands of them, and not mind them, and yet call them the Walls of the Nation, as if it could be ſafe and ſecure to dwell in any Houſe in the World after the Walls are thrown down: For my part, I do faithfully declare my Opinion before God and man, That if theſe abide not in the Ships (as St. Paul ſaid of the Mariners that were with him in the ſtorm), there is none can be ſafe; and I am ſure our Scamen cannot abide in the Ships, if they are kept until they are ſtifled to Death for want of freſh Air and freſh proviſions, and ſo thrown half of them over Board.

Neither will they, I fear, abide in the Ships, many of them, if they ſee their ſhips are priſons for ſeven years, without Fourteen Days Releaſe, and eſpecially if they ſee many of their Priſon-Keepers beat and abuſe ſome of them like Dogs, and it may be call them Dogs, and eternal damn'd Dogs, into the Bargain; and if, as Purſer Maidman ſays, in his book called, Naval Speculations, printed by Mr. Gilliflower, That in ſome ſhips the Officers muſt live like ſlaves in Algier, if they cannot, like Spaniels, fawn enough on the Captains. I ſay, if the Officers live ſo, what muſt the poor ſeamen do, that are liable to be beaten by Captains and inferiour Officers alſo.

But however, we have ſome worthy Admirals and Commanders, that will not abuſe the ſeamen, neither ſuffer the Officers to abuſe them; and this I ſpeak to their praiſe.

And now coming to a Concluſion, I bleſs God, who hath put it into the King's Heart to ſpeak for the ſeamen, and that for their encouragement.

And thus I have plainly laid down ſome of their miſeries. And I might begin again; for more of their miſeries crowd in upon me. But theſe before-mentioned, if well redreſſed, will remedy moſt of the reſt. But when all is done, if any of the Tools, who have helped to Ruine them already, be left to Ruine them again, I cannot help it; my book is done, and the Lord Jehovah bleſs our Gracious King William, the Loyal Lords and Commons, and theſe Nations: ſo prays

W. Hodges. Hermitage-Bridge, Decemb. 25. 1695 FINIS.