An Humble Representation of the Seamens Misery in the Loss and Abuse of them in their Payment, and their being oftentimes Extorted out of the one half of it by some, and Cheated of it all by others; with the Mystery of some Officers and Masters, Humbly Represented to His Majesty, and the Two most Honourable Houses, the Lords and Commons of England in Parliament Assembled, Humbly showeth, To the Most Excellent Majesty of King WILLIAM the Third. May it Please Your Most Gracious Majesty, IF Kings on Their Thrones be as the Sun in the Firmament. First then, That was a Happy Day to these Nations, and indeed to all Europe, when God caused You to Arise and Shine on these Three Nations. Secondly, None but Evil Spirits and Beasts of Prey can wish for Your being Set, that they may walk about, and Devour. Thirdly, As Your Gracious Influence doth in itself shine Comfortably unto all these Nations: So, Fourthly, Those that by Reason of any Clouds or Gross Vapours have the Influence of Your Majesty's Mercy (I was a going to say, and Justice also) hid from them, have the more 'Cause sadly to lament; of which Number is many Poor Distressed Seamens Families: And I will Avouch for the Seamen of England and Scotland, they have been hearty and truly sincere in the Interest of Your Majesty and these Nations, as any sort of Men whatever, having never lost you one Ship this War for want of their Fight, if they could but be led on, although there have been so many brave Ships lost by Cowardice, Folly, or otherwise this War, as no Age before ever saw the like. And, Fifthly, I hope as Your Majesty's Gracious Influence hath shined on the Commanders Good and Bad, to double their and the Officers Pay, which will Cost Your Majesty more in Two Years time extraordinary, than all the Customs came to in the Two Reigns of King Edward the Sixth, and Queen Marry, as by the Accounts of the Exchequer, and the Pay-Books in Broad-street will appear; and in the mean while, instead of the Poor Miserable Seamen being doubled in their Pay, they are doubled many of them in their Misery, being made run from their being set Sick on Shore; but I hope, if the Representing their Case can pierce thorough the Clouds, and come to Your Gracious Sight, it will appear that they were very gross Clouds that could hinder either Justice or Mercy from Shining on so Faithful and Useful Loving Subjects as the Seamen of England have been, and will be, for all these Darknesses that have befallen their Families: And may it please Your Most Gracious Majesty, If I can serve God and Your Majesty, and the Interest of these Nations, in Representing the Case, I will Rejoice; And if for my Unworthiness I should meet with Reproof, I will in Doing and Suffering, Remain, Your Majesty's Faithful, Loving Subject and Servant, WILLIAM HODGES. To the Most Honourable, The LORDS Spiritual and Temporal, in Parliament Assembled. May it Please Your Lordships, I Did Humbly make bold to Represent some of the Seamens Miseries last Year to your Lordships, and some of Your Lordships were Graciously Pleased to le● it be Represented to His Majesty; and there hath been since much Mercy ordered out to many Thousands of them: but there hath been a Load of Misery fallen on some Thousands since, if not thrown on them, which I intent in some measure humbly to Represent, if it be worthy of Your Lordship's Perusal; and Your Lordships shall find they have been so Faithful to His Majesty, that they deserve at least to be saved from Ruin; and therefore that His Majesty might be sought to for Relief, I shall Rejoice: But however, I will beg Your Lordship's Pardon, and Remain, His Majesty's Faithful Subject, and Your Lordship's most Humble Servant, WILLIAM HODGES. To the Honourable, The Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses in Parliament Assembled, Humbly showeth, I Did Humbly Presume the last Year to Represent to Your Honours the Misery of the Seamens Families for want of their Pay; and Your Honours did so Provide for their Relief, that they have been more happy in their Payments, since that there having been a Large Supply of Money sent into the Payoffice for that purpose, to the Rejoicing of the Hearts of Thousands: But now there is other Miseries either fallen on them, or thrown on them; there being some Thousands set Sick on the Shore, and are made Run: And there are some other Miseries have attended the Miserable Seamen before, that are Humbly Represented to Your Honours for Relief; And also, I have Represented, how it is possible His Majesty and these Nations may be Cheated, and the Seamen Abused and Cheated also: And if Your Honours can find out a way to Relieve the Miserable Seamen, and to save them and the Nation from being Cheated of Fifty or a Hundred Thousand Pound a Year, it will be worth Your Honours Trouble: But however, I Represent their Case to Your Honours, I do not intent to Represent it so among the Seamen; for it is well they do not know their Misery together; and while they know it separately, they only do bemoan it, and groan under it apart: And if Your Honours think it worth Your while to Peruse their Case, I will, as last Year, Print enough to give every one of Your Honours one, but not one to go about the Streets: For if I do not mistake my own Heart, what I do, is to serve God, and my King, and Country, without either hope of Profit, or any Prejudice to any whose Knavery may be smelled out by my Simple Discourse: And I am sure, there is none that are Honest can be Prejudiced by what I Represent of Knavery, no more than those who are Honest Men, and go to Aldgate-Church, where there is a great Crowd, can be prejudiced by the saying of any, that there is sometimes Pick-Pockets amongst them; for so there is, to the loss of Honest men's Money sometimes in that Church, and other Churches and Meeting-Houses; and more than that, some Friends of mine have had their Pockets picked at the Assizes in Kent, in the very Court where the Judges sat: But it may be, I shall prescribe a Remedy, that if well applied, would clear away the Thiefs out of the Nation in a few Years: But I humbly Entreat Your Honours Pardon for this great Troubling of You, and I do assure Your Honours, I am, His Most Gracious Majesty, King WILLIAM's Faithful Subject, and Your Honours Humble Servant, WILLIAM HODGES. To His Most Gracious MAJESTY, And, To the Two Most Honourable Houses, The LORDS and COMMONS in Parliament Assembled, Humbly showeth, THAT the Last Year, the Loyal and Faithful Seamen of England having met with great Disappointment in many of their Payments, and it being Humbly Represented to His Majesty and Your Honours, there was so great Relief Ordered, that Thousands have cause to Bless God for at this day, and to Return Thanks to His Majesty and Your Honours; and there being some Hardships and Miseries on the Seamen at present, which it may be supposed, have not been truly Represented to His Majesty and Your Honours; and therefore may with the greater hopes be expected to be Relieved: And some of them are as follows. First, There is many of them that are turned from Ship to Ship, that have Money due in Three Ships, to this day unpaid. Secondly, Some Thousands have been set on Shoar Sick, and many of them either Dying or Continuing Sick; And some sent to the Hospitals, and yet for not going on Board their Ships again, they are made a Run. Thirdly, Some that their Ships going away before they were well, and they not being able to get to their Ships, have gone on Board of other Ships, and they are made a Run, although still in His Majesty's Service. Fourthly, Some that have been pressed away while their own Ships have been in the Dock to mend, or otherwise, and carried on Board of others of His Majesty's Ships, have yet been made a Run. Fifthly, Sometimes when Men are either a Pressing, or on Shoar about the Ships Business, or with the Captains Leave, are by the Clerk of the Check made Run. Sixthly, Sometimes when a Man hath Twenty Pound due in a Ship, and is discharged by the Captain, and hath a Ticket given him for his Pay, yet by the Clerk of the Check he is made Run, although he was Entered the next day on Board another Ship. Seventhly, It is of late it seems so severely carried on against the Poor Seamen, that if they have an R— on the last Ship, they are made Run for the other Ships they were in before. Eighthly, By that means it is not safe for Landlord, or Chandler, or Tradesman to trust the Families of the Distressed Seamen for Rent, or Bread, since if that a Seamen be honest, he may be turned over out of the first Ship into another Ship; and in the second Ship he may fall Sick, and be set on Shoar, and there die, and he made Run; as is visible now right or wrong, to put a Q. or an R. on their Names; and at Payday, if none were there before, if they Return not to their Ships again, and that they cannot do, if Sickness or Death Prevents; or also, if their Ships be gone to the straits, or to the West-Indies, that it is impossible to follow them; or if they are pressed on Board of other Ships, and lose their Pay for the former, it will be Miserable, and look like great Cruelty. Ninthly, Another Misery is, that the Captains of Ships make out Tickets for several of them, and keep them; and the poor Wretches that are the Seamens Wives, know not of them; and so are put by their Pay at Payday, for the Captains or others having their Tickets. Tenthly, There is no Law made to punish the Captains for keeping the Tickets, whereby the Misery of the Seamen is Great and Deplorable, and like to Continue, if not Relieved. Eleventhly, When Seamen are turned over into other Ships, the Captain of the last Ship demands the Tickets for the other Ship; and so if the Seamen would get either Bread for their Families or for themselves on Credit of their other Pay they have been sometimes hindered, and sometimes lose the Payment at Recals also. Twelfthly, When the Seamen see that those that go to Newcastle have Six or Seven Pound a Voyage; and it may be it is Earned in a Month; and others in Merchants Ships have Fifty Shillings or Three Pound the Month, and their Families have a Constant Supply; and they that serve the King, so served by one Misery or another, or by their Captain's Knavery their Tickets detained, than it may be some Seamen do in good earnest run away; and under the Notion of these running away, there are some Thousands of others made Run, or have a Q. put to their Pay, which must be Petitioned for, or their Pay lost, as if they were run indeed. Thirteenthly, It is in the power of the Captain, or the Captain's Clerk, or the Clerks of the Office, or the Clerk of the Check, or the Purser to put a Q. or an R. on any poor Seaman's Pay, and that is as bad as an Execution almost; since if a Man have a Q. or an R. in one Book, and stands clear in all the rest, is made Run in all the Rest, sometimes; and none that I ever heard of, is called in question why the Q. or R. was put on Fourteen, The poor Seamens Wives or Friends, it may be, know not of it until Payday, and then lose their Payment; and after waiting Two or Three Years, are forced to begin again; and it may be, they live in Scotland, or in the North or West of England; and when they hear of it, to come up to Petition, it may be the poor Wretches are, Fifteenthly, Forced to wait Ten or Twelve Weeks to get a Petition answered; and at last, it may be, they cannot send to the straits or West-Indies for to have Certificates from the Commanders, or to get the Tickets from their Commanders, and so are in danger to lose all at last, and that is poor Relief, and I fear the Cries will Reach to Heaven. Sixteenthly, After the Seamen have had all this Affliction, and those that have trusted them, are many of them Broken and gone away, yet there are some Commanders so unreasonable; as to hinder those that trusted them, from coming on Board to Receive their Money at Payday, but set Centeryes to threaten to shoot those who come on Board to look for their own Money. Seventeenthly, Some Commanders have set Centeryes to keep away those from coming on Board that had to sell for the Seamen at Payday, threatening to shoot them, or sink their Boats, whereby the Seamen cannot safely be trusted before Payday; neither furnished so Plentifully and Cheap, as they might at Payday to the Discouragement of Trade, and hindrance of the Seamens having Choice of Goods. Eighteenthly, A Tradesman might have gotten a Clerk to Receive the Money due on Bills from Seamen at Pay Day, for One Shilling the Pound; And, Nineteenthly, The poor Seamens Wives might have had their Husbands Pay Received by a Clerk at Payday for One Shilling in the Pound, and now the Clerks are hindered from that, whereby a poor Seaman's Wife may go to Portsmouth and wait a Month, spend Forty Shillings going and coming, and give One as much more to look after, and provide for her Children in that time, to Receive a Tickets Money of Five Pound, that might have been Received for Five Shillings by the Clerks. Twentiethly, The Seamens Families were in such great Distress before, that they sold their Pay some of them at half loss, and there being none Appointed to hear their sad Complaints, and to Relieve them against such as Extorted their Pay at half loss, neither to call those Captains to Account that kept their Tickets, or Received their whole Pay wrongfully. Others since that have Extorted their Pay at half loss since; and also some Commanders have detained their Tickets still, although I am afraid the Groans and Cries of their Misery hath cried in the Ears of God and Man; and it could never be supposed, that they that sold their Pay at half loss could serve so freely next time, seeing none regarded to Relieve them. 21ly, There hath been near Twenty Thousand hath died in Their Majesty's Service since this War, as by the several Ships-Books will appear, if examined, by the Sword or Sickness; many of whom have been made Run, and some that have had their Runs taken off with great difficulty or loss: And if Your Honours would consider, how the Misery in some respects do far exceed the Misery of the other Poor in England; the Families of poor Labourers in City and Country, have, 1. Their Wages commonly once a Week, or once a Month; the Seamen sometimes none in Four Years. And, 2. Other poor Women can many times in the City and Country go to their honest Masters or Mistresses Houses, and have many a good Meals Meat in a Year, yea, it may be sometimes in a Week; But the poor Families of the Seamen, though they have the best Master on this side of Heaven, yet His House will not hold them all; and so if they have neither Money nor Credit, may starve; unless the Parishes keep them: And One in particular I knew, that by relation, as appeared after she was dead, did perish, and to the shame of he that was then Churchwarden of Shadwell; he would not Support her, because as he pretended, she had not paid Scot and Lot to the Parish; and at the same time she Owed me Ten Pound; and I Lent her more Money while Sic●, but knew not her Case so Bad and so Extreme Miserable, until after her Death; and her Husband in a Man of War Three Years, and I was forced to lay down more Money to Bury her, to have her Carried out of the House, her Goods not being all worth Six Shillings: And I suppose, the last week, I being ordered by the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor to see His Majesty's Gift distributed to the Poor in our little Precinct: In going round our poor place, there was near a Thousand to receive Relief, besides Children; of which, and others not Relieved, although very poor, I suppose we have near Three Thousand, and great part Seamens Families, exceeding poor; and we have but about a Thousand Houses in our Precinct: But the poor Seamens Families are sometimes Four or Five in a House at our end of the Town, very poor; as there is Four or Five Families of others that are Richer, sometimes Lodging in a House in Westminster and London; and I suppose we have Two Hundred Families, all whose Goods, if sold together would hardly yield Twenty Shillings the Family; therefore the Misery and Poverty, and the Calamity of the Seamen is exceeding great, and their Case very deplorable, and to be sincerely laid to heart. And I bless the Lord, I have done my part to Assist them this many Years; and most especially, to Assist them in the Service of Their Majesties and these Nations; and in doing that, have lost by near Three Hundred of them, as by my Books will appear. But yet if they ruin me, I am still by the Providence of God stirred up to plead their Cause, and they know it not; neither are like to do: And now I will show Your Honours, that since this War I might have oppressed the Seamen so much, as to have gotten some Thousands of Pounds by the Means following; and if the Pay-Books be searched, it will appear I have Received of their Pay, to the Number of near a Thousand Men; and if my own Books be Examined, I have trusted them some Thousands of Pounds; And as to what I have trusted, I can appeal to my own Conscience, that I know not, that one with another, I did take more by Six pence in the pound profit on trust, than others did ready Money; and for their Tickets that I paid ready Money for, I do not know, that for the whole time I bought above One in Ten of any Seaman for above Two Shillings and Six pence in the pound profit; whereas, had I extorted in trusting. I might have gotten, it may be, a Thousand Pound extraordinary that way; and had I bought at Eight or Ten Shillings in the pound profit, I might have made a Thousand pound Three Thousand in the first Year and halfs time; and the said Three Thousand at least Seven or Eight Thousand in the rest of the time; and so have gotten a Confounded Damnable deal of Money out of the Miseries of the Seamen; yea, gotten the Devil and all; enough to send myself to Hell in the getting, and my Posterity there in the spending of it: And it is not for nothing, that some that were hardly worth a Penny before the War, are now worth Hundreds or Thousands out of the Seamens Pay; and that could, it may be, buy Thirty Eight Pound for Eighteen, and pay them down but Twelve; and let them trust for the other Six until after the whole Money was paid, and then let them threaten to put them to trouble before they got the other Six. May it please Your Honours, I have considered of my sad Expressions before; but if there were a Committee Appointed to hear the Seamens Complaints, and their Families, and that they should have Relief of all that hath been Extorted from them above Two or Three Shillings in the Pound for the Year 1689, and 1690, and above Four Shillings, or at most, above Five for all that hath been Extorted out of their Pay, since you might hear so sad a Discovery that hardly the World can parallel: And I fear, If Your Honours do not Arise for the Cry of the Poor, and the Sighing of the Needy, I fear the Lord will; for he hath promised it in the 12th. Psalms, and the 5th verse. And for the Poor Miserable Seamen to be Ruined in their Pay by those who buy it at half loss, and were almost Beggars before the War; some of them seems to me to be like what that Wise King Solomon said, That when the Poor oppressed the Poor, it was as a Sweeping Rain that left no food. Prov. 8.23. And it is a Comfort to me, that when others have Raised their Estates on the Seamens Misery, I can with a good Conscience beg of His Majesty and all Your Honours for the sake of Christ, and for His Majesty's sake, and for the Nations sake, to call those to account that have Cheated the Poor Miserable Seamen; and for the many Hundreds I have received their Pay, if there be One in Ten that I have had above Half a Crown in Twenty Shillings Profit for all Money paid them, let me Answer to any one of them that will call me in Question: And if the Seamen once hear that they may have Relief, they or their Families will readily Complain; and let them who have Cheated them of all, or part, be made Examples of, that all Israel may hear and fear, and do no more so wickedly; and if any have Cheated them of half, and afterward made them over to others at full Value, let the first be punished for their Offence, and the last only for what is his Transgression: And now I will show Your Honours how I could have Cheated His Majesty many ways, if I had been Employed in several Offices as follows, Viz. If I were a Captain of a Ship, I could, if none did provide a Remedy against it, Cheat him as followeth, Viz. First, I could Cheat Him of the greatest part of my Service, that is, run to and again, and hardly meet an Enemy to fire a Gun against in Two or Three Years; although at the same time, and all the time, a Merchant Ship should hardly stir without Convoy, but she should meet an Enemy, and be taken. Secondly, If I had Three Hundred Men in my Ship, and Forty or Fifty run away, I could then make out Tickets for them, and receive their Pay; and that might Cheat my Honest Master of 300 l And I never called to Account for it perhaps. Thirdly, It may be, as many more would die, and their Families knew not where they were; and I could Cheat their Families, and receive their lay, 250 l Devilish Profit. Fourthly, It may be, several Masters of Ships would give me Three or Four Guineas apiece for Seamen; And they would also give me their Pay to be gone, and I could keep them open in the Book a Year after they were gone, and the Purser should have their Victuals, and I their Wages; and in Forty such Men, I should Cheat my Dear Honest Master, whom the World admires, 500 l and the Pursers' Victuals Cheat my Master 200 l and no body blamed. Fifthly. I could have Twenty Servants of my own, some paid Midships-mans' Pay; and all able, except two or three, to cover the rest; and the brave Seamen that acted Midship-Men, should some of them be paid, but able to discourage them, and make them mad, and my Master, it may be, he would be Cheated 100 l in extraordinary Pay that way. Sixthly, I could make out Tickets for many other men's Pay; and if their Friends looked after them, it should be spyum sportum non spyum steallum; and if not found out, receive their Pay; if found out, my Wife or my Clerk had mislaid them; and by this, Cheat the the Seamen themselves of 350 l and none Redress the Seamens Miseries at last. Seventhly, If I saw an Enemy's Ship, wink at it; especially if she was almost as strong as I; and if my Seamen or Officers would not be Content, then Sail heavily after them until Night, and then Sail another Course, and so lose them by Consent, unless it were more minded. Eighthly, If I got a Merchant Ship that would hardly fight, and did therefore take her; if the Seamen had either a Sword, or any thing out of her as Prize after we had took her, I, or my Lieutenant would take it away from them, that the Seamen themselves should swear by their Damnation, If they see Twenty Ships, they would not speak of it, since the Captains had most of the Plunder, and the poor Seamen Broken-Bones, or Death many of them. Ninthly, If but a Privateer or two came up with me, as they did to the Diamond, I could run into the Hold to save my Wretched, Debauched Life, for fear they should shoot at our Ship before they took her: And if a Seaman should offer to witness against me, I would have a Friend at the Council of War should be sure to Browbeat the Seaman; and say to the Seaman, Sirrah, Where were you when the Captain went into the Hold? And if the Seaman had his Wits ready, he might answer, Between Decks, at my Gun, where I was Quartered; and yet I need not fear being hanged these hard times; for the times are happily altered: For about Ten Years past Men might be hanged for nothing, and now they can hardly be hanged for Love or Money: And so Cowards and Knaves go unpunished oftentimes. Tenthly. I could Swear, and Damn, and Beat the Poor Seamen; and Beat my Officers, if they would not Beat the Seamen; and 'Cause the Poor Seamen to think, though they loved my Master dearly, yet they would run away, and lose all their Pay rather than stay with me, to be abused like Dogs, although the Admirals were all good Men. Eleventhly, I could Abuse the Master, or it may be, keep him a Prisoner, while I knock my Ship on the Head, as the Mordant was, and yet come off well enough, by being Tried by good Natured Commanders. Twelfthly, If there were an Order that I should Receive no Man's Pay but my own Servants, I could do well enough still, and it may be better; for I could make out as many Tickets as before, and make Powers to them, Witnessed by myself and my Clerk, and leave Blanks for Jack-a-Noaks, and John-a-Styles, or it may be, my Wife's Nurse, or her Chair-Woman should receive them; or it may be, sell Three Hundred Pounds-worth to a Ticket-Buyer for One Hundred and Fifty Pound, and they would help me to Cheat my King and Country; and if One in Ten came to hear of it, when the Money was received, the Ticket-Buyer should Hector them out of their Money; or it may be give them half so; that in Forty Pound discovered, they should get it off for Twenty, and have at last One Hundred and Thirty Pound clear gain; and if I could get, as beforesaid, Twelve Hundred Pound in a Voyage; and if other Captains would be like me, or if their Clerks were but Industriously Knavish, they might Cheat my Master and the Seamen half, so much as I could myself; and so in One Hundred and Fifty Ships, the King may be Cheated of a Hundred Thousand Pound the Year: But I hope the other Commanders would be honester: But I think of a Story; I had a certain Ticket called a Hog, and when it came to be paid, as I remember, they that were to pay it, said, It was a Captains Hogg, and there was Twenty or Thirty in that Ship such Hogs; and I could not but think of the Fancy, if I lose my Money: For I suppose the Ship is allowed but Fifty Men; and thought, if Fifty Men produce Twenty Hogs, what may Fifty Thousand do? That is Twenty Thousand. And if one Hog with another be worth but Five Pound, I do think verily it will pay for as many Hogs as have been killed for the Fleet these Two Years; and I should be sorry if the Captains should have so many Hogs, and in the mean time Six or Eight Thousand Seamen run out of their Pay; therefore I do wish it were Felony to receive a Seaman's Money for time to come without a Lawful Power. And so I will take my leave of my Captain's place, not being able to tell half my Cowardice and Knavery. And now if I were a Lieutenant of a Ship, and gave my mind to be Industrious: It may be, if I were not taken care of, I could act as follows. First, In going a Pressing, get Forty shillings or Three Pound a Man, sometimes of Seamen, when I had Catched them, to let them go again; and my Most Gracious Master should have the Lame and the Lazy, and them that had not Money, or could not borrow any; and so I would get many a Guinea that way; and in the mean time it may be, I would be several Months in a Catch to press Men for our Ship; and it may be, it should cost His Majesty Eighty or Ninety Pounds for the Vessels here, and I would not carry on Board above a dozen Prest-Men into our Ship; and it may be, sometimes not above Five or Six Men for Forty Pound Charge; and if the Accounts were Examined, it may be such things may prove too true: And, it may be, my Captain would sell some again for Three Guinaes' a Man. Secondly, It may be, the Colliers from Newcastle should come Three Hundred Sail in a Voyage, and carry Three Thousand Men, and they should be searched; but I would take, it may be, a dozen of Salt Salmon, and a hundred Bottles of Newcastle Ale in a day; and it may be, when I had gotten what I could that way, get Two Guineas or Three of a Ship, to let that Pretty Old Man, or the other Pretty Lad alone; and it may be, that Fleet of Colliers should pay extraordinary Wages, because of the Press to Three Thousand Men Six Thousand Pound, and the King not get Fifty Men in the whole time out of them, and so the King and People all Cheated; and that is too bad indeed. Thirdly, I could make the Master of the Vessel that I sail with, instead of carrying off Prest-Men for the King, to carry a Fraight of Coals for my use, as a Neighbour of mine was served, and, I think, threatened to be killed into the Bargain, but he Unhorsed the Lieutenant. Fourthly, If it were after such a time as that Brave Admirable Russel did Burn the French Fleet, I could, if but one Ship to fit out, Press all over the City of London, and Suburbs, and the Collier's Trade to boot; and it may be, in the mean season there might have been a quarter of the Fleet spared at the same time, so that the Tradesmen of London should not have one Month's time in Three or Four Years: If I could help it free from having the Customers pressed away, although the French Fleet were beat; and if I could but have my Will, I could be a Scourge to many hundreds, and yet all for my own Profit, if not to abuse the Subjects of the best of Kings, to make them groan or complain, and say, it was never so in Israel. Fifthly, When I was on Board my Ship, I could beat and abuse the Seamen, and call them Dogs, and Eternal Damned Dogs; and let them see, that if the Devil stir up Mankind to plague one another here, how sad a Master he himself is. But however, as to this abusing the men, I could not do that in some Ships; for some Commanders I could name, would not let me; and these Brave English hearted Commanders are such as do really Encourage the Interest of our Gracious King William, and have Plenty of Seamen, and I honour them, though they know me not, and we have as brave Admirals as in the World. Sixthly, If I were, as I said, Lieutenant, and other Officers according, we could beat the ordinary Fellows stoutly also, until Twenty or Thirty of them should bind themselves to me, and other Officers; and then, if they never did hardly a Pennyworth of work, they should have able Pay, and so we should get bravely, and the King pay for all, and all Cheated. Seventhly, If our Ship were to be paid, if the Captain would let me, I could get, it may be, Two or Three Guineas to let one of my own Gang of a Tradesman come on Board at Payday, and set Centuries to fire at all others, but whom he pleased to come with him; so that if this Tradesman be never so great a Knave, yet the Poor miserable Seamen must buy of him, or go to Sea without ; and if any honest man had trusted some of the Seamen before, if they come on Board but only to Receive their Debts, I would order the Centuries to fire at them, so that though I pretended to serve the King, I could act as if I would discourage all his Seamen that I could, and all that would trust them, and so the Seamen should be abused as much as possible, and have no more Credit in this Age of the World, if my Villainy prospered, and such an Age never was before. Eighthly, It may be, if I pleased, I could abuse the Master of our Ship, and he should hardly say, his Soul was his own; and so Contradict him, that if the Ship were lost, as madly as the Brave Shpip the Seadgmore was, yet there should be no Body did it, and so no Body would be much blamed for it, let it be never so shamefully fooled away as that was. But now, If I were but a Purser of a Ship, I could do many pretty Tricks also, if my Captain did not mind me, or hinder me: And that many do not, I am afraid, as they should do in this Age. First, I could, it may be, take up short of my Sea-Store of Provisions at my going out, and it may be, in Fourteen days after we were off from the Land, put the Seamen to short Allowance; and than it may be, Secondly, Purchase at last their short Allowance of many of them very Cheap, as follows; buy Twenty Shillings short Allowance at Ten Shillings, pay them with a Gallon of Brandy at Ten Shillings that cost me Five Shillings, and so get Fifteen Shillings; and in Two or Three Hundred Men that is Money indeed, if the Devil were not in it. Thirdly, If Men died on Board, or on Shoar, charge them what I please, because they cannot answer for themselves, and Cheat both Living and Dead. Fourthly, I could, it may be, serve them as one Purser Swain in the Rose from New England served an Acquaintance of mine; after his Ticket was made out clear of all Debts, and the Ticket sold at Two Shillings in the Pound loss, then charge in the Book Five Pound for Tobacco to the Man before the Ticket was paid, and by this Trick I lost Five Pound myself. Probatum est. Fifthly, It may be, if my Captain and I could but hang together first, if my Captain would keep Twenty Men on the Book all the time we were out at Sea, though they were run away, I might get twenty times ten Pound by that trick also, and no body find it out. Sixthly, If I were in the straits, and my Captain would let me, I could pretend to buy Beveridge-Wine for the Seamen to mix with their Water instead of short Allowance Beer: And I could buy Sour Decayed Wine that was almost like Vinegar, and one Hogshead go as far as Four good ones, and so kill some of the Men with Gripes; and if the Captain would but be kept Drunk, I could help to find him Liquor; and if he did hear the Master and Chirurgeon Complain it had killed some Men, and it would kill the Rest; and if the Captain did but say, Let them die and be damned, than I should think myself secure. Seventhly, If the Captain made out Forty or Fifty Tickets for Seamen, I must sign them; and it may be, his Clerk; and I would smuggle twenty more, and get the Devil and all of Money that way: And I remember a Purser, an Acquaintance of mine, told his Wife and I one day at Dinner, he brought home Nine Hundred Pound one Voyage: But saith he, by that time, I went to a Procurer, and got a Whore and a Bottle of Hedge-Wine, a Ticket was presently gone: From whence I observe three things, by way of Diversion: First, Bad-gotten Goods seldom do prosper. And Secondly, As the Gentleman said by his Monkey, A Bad Life, and a bad End. And Thirdly, That which is got over the Devils back, is apt to be spent under his belly: And that is bad Interest indeed, and yet Daily Improved. But now, If I should tell all the tricks that could be played to get Money in a Pursers' Employment, it might cause the Price to rise double before I purchase one; but however, they must remember to be kind to the Commanders, in giving them Fresh Provision: And so much for the Trade of a Cheating Purser. And I suppose those that are honest need not be offended with me, for it hurts not them, if they have not a sore place: A little Rubbing of others will do them no hurt to be sure; and if any do seem to be hurt, I shall fear it is something amiss with him, but if he smiles in my face and is pleased, I will then conclude he is a sound Man. And so much to that; the Honest will be glad, if others be mended. But as to the Gunners, the Honest Men, I hope will not be displeased to hear some have been such Fools to play the Thief, until they were hanged for stealing of their Master's Powder: But I wonder how it should almost come to Light, for I do not remember that ever I heard of one pennyworth of Profit any one had to discover any goods stolen from His Majesty; and I fear, if any Seamen discover it, they must expect rather to be beat by some small Officers then Rewarded with Preferment for discovering the Theft of the Gunners; but I do remember one Gunner had hidden Seventy Four Barrels of Powder; and Honest Loyal Captain Mitchel made his Men search twice, and at last found it, and sent the Gunner to the Marshalseas, and he came off, because it was not sold away: And I think the Carpenter and Gunner of the Exeter were like to have come short home; but it seems they had others to Convey away their Prize, and so escaped first: But the next time being not long after, the Gunners Powder took fire, and blowed up near a Hundred Men, and so the Pretty Gunner was hanged, for all there was but Twenty Barrels of Powder: And if a Man should multiply and divide by the Rule of Loss and Gain with time. If one Ship steal Twenty Barrels, and another Ship hid Seventy Barrels, what may One Hundred and Fifty Ships do? And if One Year do so much, what may Seven Years do? And the Price of Powder, I do hear, was Fifteen Pound the Barrel at New England before the Nonsuch came away, and I judge the Gunner bought none, neither was I there to see him fell any; but the Ship is gone to France, with what's left; and as to the Breda, being blown up with about Four Hundred People on Sunday Morning, I do suppose the Gunner of her, or some of their Company was a going to Church, or something otherwise in the Powder-Room; but His Majesty lost a Brave Ship, a Brave Commander, and as Brave Men as most in the Fleet; and I do wonder, if the Gunner of the Elizabeth had carried away his Seventy Barrels of Powder, how he would have passed his Accounts: But I remember a Story of an Old Gunner, dead several years past, That if a Man were as just as Job, there must be Money; and if he were as very Thief as any in Newgate, Money, Money, Money; I say no more. But suppose, if I were Store-keeper at some place, like to our Garrison of Portsmouth, I could agree with the Gunners to go half Snips; and we would sell our Powder to a Merchantman, and send it away at Noonday; and Fortune often favours the Bold, so that it might succeed; and if taken, it was so many Barrels ordered for such a Ship: and if the Gunner of the Man of War own it, and it went clear the Merchantman had it, and so the Gunner and I would drink Friends; and hardly any one ever think of it, or mind us But in my Opinion, if there were a Law made, That both the Thiefs and the Receivers should be also served alike, and also those Hoy-Men, or others, that helped to Convey it away; and I suppose the pretty Creatures need not be hanged, for now People are not willing to testify against such to take away their Lives perhaps; but if there were a Law made, That if any were found guilty of stealing, or conveying away the King's Goods, that they that are guilty shall have the Middle Joint of their Finger on each Hand next the little one cut off to mark them, and then let them be sold to Virginia, or some other Plantation for perpetual Slaves; and to take Security of the Merchants here, that they shall Transport them; and the Buyers beyond Sea, to give Securities to the Governor there, to keep them during their Lives; and if any of them do make their Escape, then on their first Landing in England again to be hanged; and that Master of a Ship that brought them again, to have his Finger on each Hand cut off, and he to be sold in their Room: And if the many sorts of Thiefs in England were all served so, it might peradventure, clear England of Thiefs in Five or Six Years time, since the Motto of theirs is, A Short Life and a Sweet: And they have got a Trick to cast off their Shoes some of them when they are hanged, because they will not die in their Shoes; and therefore their short Life and Sweet should be turned into a Long Life and Bitter, and then they would rather work here at first, than be always Slaves; and this Medicine would, it may be, serve Clippers and Coiners: But in my Opinion, they that furnish them with Broad Money, and help off with the Small, are the greatest Villains; since it is Reported a Poor Fellow will work for half a Crown a day a Clipping of Money; and for Thieving many bring up their Children from Six or Seven Years old to it; and People are unwilling to Prosecute them sometimes, for fear of their Death; but this would prevent that fear: But this is out of my way of a Gunners Employment, except I am a Thief also; and then I should have many other things to steal besides Powder too many to enumerate here: And if I were a Boatswain, as I should have Charge of abundant of things, so might steal the more; but it may be, their neatest way would be, if I could get the Store-keepers to be but Confederates with me, I might not need to steal the things myself, perhaps he will sell them for me: But I cannot imagine how we could Convey away a Cable of Twenty Inches worth near 100 l and sell it for F●urteen or Fifteen Pound: I fear this would be passed my skill, although I have Conversed with many Thousands this War, and been on Board of almost all the Ships His Majesty had, some Three or Four Years past; but I have a bad Memory, and apt to forget above half my Skill; only, if I were a Boatswain, and must Sign the Seamens Tickets, if my Captain had Forty Hogs, I should expect to have some Two or Three Pigs, except I had been found out to have Cheated the King of some Stores, and the Captain winked at that, and then in Civility I must let his Hogs pass free, and one kindness doth deserve another among good Natured Men; and of all Mankind, theirs are the most true one to another, if they go to the Gallows, nay to Hell, they will commonly keep Counsel: And if I were a Carpenter, I might improve my Talon, as other Officers, to steal something out of a Hundred things; for I sign no Tickets to get Hogs and Pigs; and if I were a Master of a Man of War, I could not tell what to steal; but if I signed the Seamens Tickets, as I must do in my place, if the Captain or his Clerk do Cheat the King and the Seamen of Fifty Hogs, I should expect to take Tithe, to have at least Four or Five besides my Supernumerary Servants; and this, and being Drunk or Mad, and letting a Ship be knocked on the Head, is the greatest Feats of this Age that I could think of at present. But if I were a Minister in a Ship, I could make a shift to be a disgrace to the most Excellent National Church in the World; and instead of Reading Prayers often, and Preaching, and Reproving the Seamen for their Blasphemy, I could keep Company Night and Day with the Worst Officers in the Ship, and Drink and Swear as fast as they; and so dishonour my Holy Profession: But if the Honourable Houses of Parliament pass an Act against Swearing, Cursing, and Blaspheming, I hope there will be some better Regulation in the Minds of Mankind: And as there is as Able and Reverend Bishops, as hath been for this Last Age of the World: It would be a very acceptable Work to God, and to the Church, to send Sober, and Sound, and Courageous Ministers on Board the Fleet: And as to the preventing of the Thievery in the Fleet, if there were but this encouragement, That whenever any Seaman could discover any Goods of the Kings to be Stolen, or Conveyed away in order to Steal, that in such a Case, those Two or Three Seamen that should make Discovery of it, and that the Goods were found out, than the said Seamen should have their own Pay ordered to be paid them, and have a free Discharge out of the Ship, and a Protection from the Press for a Years time; there would be Seamen enough to watch the Stealing of any Stores, and the first two discoverers, might have also half the Value of the Goods discovered, and the Officer that purloined it, to lose his Pay, and be sent into some of the I lantations for his Life-time, to learn to be Honest: And it may be, he would be so, when Two of his Thieving Fingers were cut off for a Medicine and Mark. And for the Captain's Clerks, I do think, they have Cheated so many People this War, besides Cheating of the best of Kings; I think there aught to be Five Hundred Pound Security that they should give, that they shall not Cheat the King or the Seamen by getting Tickets wrongfully made out: I remember Two or Three of them told me they had opportunity to make out many Powers, they having near a hundred People in each Ship that had been dead or gone away, that they did think none would look after: But I advised them to beware; for, said I, if their Friends here you Received their Money, you may be sued for it Seven Years hence, except you will be Vagabonds, and Run your Country, besides Cheating the Living and the Dead: But whither they took my Counsel is unknown to me; one is gone to Eternity, and the other I think is now a Captain himself: But however, I think it were the way to save abundance of Money to the King Honestly, to make it Felony for any to come to Receive a Seaman's Pay wrongfully, or to detain their Tickets wrongfully, and would be much better than that sad Trick of making all the Poor Honest Miserable Seamen run, that by Sickness or Death cannot get aboard their own Ships again when they are set Sick on the Shoar, and their Ships leave them: And among all the Mysteries I have been speaking of, it is pity so much should be excused, and the Seamens Miseries only aggravated with Misery: And I will speak something of my skill, how I could abuse the Miserable Seamen, if I were Master of a Merchantman; and that several ways; as Back-beating of them, and Belly-beating of them; and at last, after a Miserable Voyage, keep them Ten or Twelve Weeks out of their Pay, and abate them at least Two or Three Months Pay right or wrong; and if they will not take it, let them go to Law for it, and spend half their Pay; and this Cursed Custom may bring a Curse on much Navigation, if not prevented by some Law; for now it is very Common, and Poor Seamens Families do want that Money to buy Bread that some of their Masters Cheat them off: And indeed, there did use to be a pretence of Damage formerly: And if a Poor Beggarly Fellow that was not worth Four Pence, could get any Men to buy an old Ship fit for nothing but to break up, or to carry to Sea, to drown Rats and Mice; such a Fellow would take in Merchant's Goods; and if the Ship did swim, and came home again, though the Seamen pumped, it may be, Ten Days together, to save their Ship and Lives, yet if the Goods were damnified with Wet, the Poor Miserable Seamens Wages, which could hardly save the Ship, yet they must pay for the Damage; and now there is many stop part of their Poor Seamens Pay, although there be not any Damage; and it may be, that shall buy the Master's Wife a Silk Gown; or it may be, help him to Maintain a whore, with as much Confidence as some Commission Officers do; and in my mind, that is too saucy for Masters of Merchant Men to pretend to: But they that are honest themselves, will pay their Men honestly, and these Masters I Love and Esteem, and they are a Credit and Encouragement to our English Navigation: And I have known several Brave Worthy Men Commanders of East-India Ships, and other Voyages who have fed their Seamen well, and paid them well, and God hath Blessed them with Riches, and with the Love of the Seamen also: But it is a sad thing how some others do act: For is it possible for a Commander of an East-India Ship to have so Little, and so Bad Provitions, and to deny them such Necessary Subsistance, that there might be several Men in a Ship really perish for want? I have heard of near Twenty Men have been supposed to perish in a Ship that way, when Sixty or Seventy Men have not been allowed a Pound of Butter to their Water-Gruel, and not Two Pound of Sugar; And when the Chirurgeon of the Ship hath Complained, the Captain hath said, Doctor, What need you trouble yourself: And in my Judgement, it is a sad thing also, that they should not be so well provided with matter, as the Hogs are in the Ship: And it was a shame, that the Modena from India that is now missing, should be forced to borrow Water of other Ships, so soon almost as she came out of her last Harbour, where they might have had Water enough; and if she be lost for want of Water, I suppose her loss to the Company will be near One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pound; and to the King near Twenty Thousand Pound: And were it not for Luker of Stowage, and Freight of Goods, that it may be, every Tun of Water might hinder the Stowage of near a Tun of Goods; and so the Captain might lose about Twelve Pound Freight; I know not what other Reason can be reasonably rendered for such bad Usage to be put on Men, to deny them Water, that God alloweth to Man and Beast: And indeed, in my Opinion, it was a very Dreadful thing, that any Captain should be Charged with hurrying of his Chirurgeon out of the World last Voyage, by taking him out of his Bed, and Keell-halling of him, that is, it seems, to put him down on one side of the Ship into the Water, and Dragging him up on the other, when he was a Sweeting; and that he died in two days afterward. Now surely, We are at Land the freest People in the World; and it is pity that such Cruel Barbarousness should be used on the Water, that any Commanders should not only Barbarously abuse their Ships-Company, but kill them, as some have been accused of; besides many others supposed to die for want of Food sufficient to support Nature: And it would be happy for the Poor Miserable Wretched Seamen, if they had but as good Plenty of Food and Water, as the Captain's Hogs have in some Ships: And if there were a search into the East-India-Companies Ships Books, I suppose there were some Ships carried out about One Hundred and Seventy, or One Hundred and Eighty Men apiece, and brought home but about Thirty, or about Thirty Five of those they Carried out: And if the Books of the Beaufort and the Rochester were Examined, it might fall out to be them, or some such; and the Samson hired near Fifty Indians to help bring her home: And if from the Year 1675, until the Years 1690, the East-India-Companies Ships have Buried a quarter part, if not above half the Men they carried out of England with them, than the Honourable Houses will see how greatly they Increased Seamen in Fifteen Years time; and if they carried out not above a quarter part of Goods thither that they did in Value bring home again to England, than it may be supposed there was much Silver and Gold went for the Rest; and indeed, who could ever think that we should have our Guineas Rise to pass at Twenty Five Shillings the piece; and that if we have Ten Millions of Silver-Money, that there should be Four Millions Clipped off from it; and yet that Silver should be so dear, that our Mild-Money is worth Twelvepences in the Pound Profit to melt down; and this is the fruit of our having Two Millions of Goods more from France, or otherwise, in times of Peace; some Years more than they had of us: And, until we have a New Coinage for our Money, I fear it will be so still, if Peace comes: But however, if our Old Money continue to be Clipped as it is, we shall keep that, and have abundance of Counterfeit also added to it. But if there were Money ordered to be Coined, that were Three Hundred Ounces for a Hundred Pound Sterling-Money, it would be heavier by a third part than our Clipt-Money; and a Million of Mild Coined in a Year at that weight, would call in another Million of Old, and have a Million and a half of good New Money in the room of a Million of Old; and no Charge to the Nation; and there might be One per Cent. allowed to the Bank, or the Goldsmiths, or the Chamber of London to carry in Silver, and have it out every Month, would be Twelve per Cent. per Annum: But this is by the way of Diversion; for I was pleading for the poor miserable Seamen: If there was Encouragement for them to be Victualled constantly, as well in all Merchant-Ships, as the King doth Victual in the Royal Navy; and if they were paid fully for all that was pinched out of their Bellies; and also that none should be abated any thing out of their Pay and Wages for Damage, except it were for their own neglect: This would be the way to keep the Seamen from running out of the Land in time of Peace; and also that there might be some way found out, that they might have their Wages of Merchant-Ships, without going to Law half a Year, or a Year; and that they might not be kept out of their Money near a quarter of a Year after they are come home, as some of the East-India Ships do: And seeing that the Poor Souls have been out many of them Two or Three Years, and are Pressed into His Majesty's Service, I do wonder how the Commanders can think the poor miserable Seamen must do for to fit them out in His Majesty's Service, if His Majesty's Ships goeth out to Sea in half that time before they are paid: In my mind, this is far from the Law of God to the Jews, that were not to Let the Hire of the Labourers rest unpaid one Night, Leviticus 19.30. And that because their Heart was set upon it, and indeed the Lord himself did take care for the Beast under the Law, that the Oxen that did tread out the Corn, should not be muzzled: But if I mistake not, If the Honourable Houses will see one of the Bonds of a Hundred Pound a piece, that the Seamen shall not carry out any Woollen Cloth, neither near Forty other sorts of English Goods out of England to India: neither bring home any Silks or Calicoes; neither near Forty other sorts of Goods from thence; it may be, they will see the Seamen are thereby muzzled more than God would allow the Oxen to be. And many times in those Long Voyages, if half the Seamen were to perish for want, they have not Forty Shillings apiece Venture to buy any thing to save their Lives: And it doth so fall out in those Voyages, that at Three or Four Years end, when the Poor Miserable Seamen do come home, they have not some of them Forty Shillings apiece to Receive, the other being due, as is pretended to the Captain or Pursers, or some Officers or another, except it be Two months or Three Pay that is paid at the East-India-House, and that should be paid one Month every Six; and sometimes their Poor Wives or others are forced to wait near Six Months more after it is due; and it may be, wait Three or Four Hours in a day sometimes into the bargain. I have wondered at the Misery of the Poor in that Case, if a Woman washeth and scoureth for her Living, she may lose the Earning one good part of the Value of a Months Pay in looking after it; and I do wonder that the East-India Company can see or hear of the Misery of the Poor Seamens-Wives or Relations waiting so tediously, and not have their hearts melt for their Miseries: I do know that Solomon saith, A good Man is merciful to his Beast: But I do remember another Scripture saith, The tender Mercies of the wicked are cruel. And I do remember, that Excellent Universal Doctrine of Christ, the Marrow of the Law and Prophets that is taught our Children in the Church-Catechisme, To do to all Men as we would be done unto: And if those in this Age that can let the Miseries of the Miserable be Increased and Delighted in, were so served themselves, they would think it Miserable to have not one Pennyworth of Bread at home; neither it may be One Shilling hardly of Credit, and to be made Run Thirty times Three or Four Miles for Twenty or Thirty Shillings, as it may be, some do several Months after it is due, seems very miserable: And I do remember, God said of Jerusalem, Woe to the oppressing City. And I do wonder sometimes, how this Age can delight to see the Misery of the Poor, as I know some cannot but see in several places, where my business hath led me, to see poor Wretches waiting by great multitudes in great Distress and Poverty; it hath been ready to fetch Tears from my Eyes: And I have sometimes thought, surely our Most Gracious God will arise for the Cry of the Poor and Sighing of the Needy; and 'tis the Cause of the most miserable sort of Poor in England. I have been pleading, and hope God will graciously Incline the Two most Honourable Houses to pity their Case: And I can no more tell the Tenth part of the misery of the Seamens Families, than I can tell the tenth part of the villainy of some others, who either do Cheat the King or Abuse the Seamen: And if the Two most Honourable Houses can find out a way to Relieve the one, and punish the others, it may save the King and the Poor Seamen, peradventure, much loss for time to come; and if in any little hints I have given of any thing, it shall be thought worth while to Inquire more after it, if the Lord our Gracious God and Merciful Father please to Preserve and Assist me, I shall be willing to give farther Light into some things, and that without Prejudice to any One Living: For I bless the Lord, I am in Charity with all Mankind, and do not know any but are so with me: And for my King and Country, I would serve them both faithfully for Love, and without any design against either: For I do think, that they that would now betray the King and Country, now that God hath by his Miraculous Hand United us thus, are by their Treachery void of Grace and Reason, and Common Sense: And if His most Gracious Majesty will, these Three Nations, and all the Confederates so hearty United, have enough to do to deal with that common Plague of his own Subjects, and the Christian World, the French King: I wonder who would defend our Treacherous Dealers against the French, if like Spannels they were laid under the French Kings Paws, who hath Ruined all the Protestant Interest in his own Nation, that helped him to keep in his own Throne: And he hath been a Plague to Protestants and Papists round about him; and to think he would be kind to a Protestant Church here, is all Nonsense or Malice; and my Fathers Two Dogs in Kent had more Sense always; for though they did, it may be, snarl sometimes about a Bone, they always did, and would Unite against the Tanner's Dog, who would beat any one of them, but they always joined together, and beat him: This is a homely Comparison, but a Real Truth; I have seen it: And indeed it is said by the Prophet, The Ox knoweth his Owner, and the Ass his Master's Crib: And I think hardly any Beasts or Asses in the World would betray such good Pasture as we have in England, into the hands of the worst sort of Beasts of Prey: And if I do not mistake, in my Judgement, the French King and his People are like a Body that hath the Rickets, that hath a great Head and great Arms, but poor Crooked Legs, hardly able to bear up the Head and Arms; and would hardly have stood until this time; but they have gotten many Treacherous Tools to help to Splinter them up: And I think the French in Ruining of his People, maketh Soldiers as Naturally, as any Gentlemen can make Tobacco-Stoppers at a Coffeehouse, by breaking of whole Pipes: So, If the French Ruin a Family, it may be, he makes Two Soldiers; both Father and Son must go for Soldiers, or Starve: But Blessed be the Lord, that is not our Case: The Poorest People in England live so well most of them, that they are not forced to go for Soldiers; and they that go for Love, it is pity that any of them should be Cheated of part of their Pay: And another thing now at the end of the Chapter is this, That those who get good men's Children by way of wheedle, and List them; and after will sell them to their Parents, or Friends, or Wives for Three Guineas, or Five Guineas, or Ten Pound, is a great deal worse than Robbing on the Highway: A Neighbour of mine did sell many so; and a Stranger that had gotten a Farmer's Son in Kent, a Relation of mine would have Sold him me for Three Guineas; But though I did know the Cheat, I would not hinder His Majesty's Service; for I said it was as good a Cause as ever was in England; And so I suppose, the King paid Three Pound for the same man, I might have had for Three Guineas; and if I had bought him, I suppose they would have Introduced themselves into other Companies, and Listed another in his room, and so had Six Pound and Six Shillings of His Majesty and myself: But may it please Your Hovours, though I know how the King and Country may be abused at Sea, I am more Ignorant how he is Cheated by Land: But I do verily believe, there is so much of that, as it will not be half found out this Seven Years: And indeed, I think we should be the happiest People under the Face of the Heavens, if we knew the worth of our Mercies, and were true to our King and Country: We are, Blessed be the Lord, Happy in our King, who is a Lion in the Field, with as True Courage, as ever any of the Brave Heroes of Old had; and as much Mildness on the Throne, as ever any English King had, and seems to be the Darling of Heaven and Good Men: And we are happy in Loyal and Faithful Lords and Commons in Parliament, and might be so with ourselves, if we did not study Wit and Knavery more than Wisdom and Honesty: And for my own part, I must beg for Pardon for all my Weakness and Folly in Representing these things: And indeed, as St. Paul saith, Ye suffer Fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise: And it may be, some things that are foolishly Represented, may have Cost His Majesty, and the People of the Nation, some Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds to Pay for in some Years past: And if that His Majesty would Graciously be pleased to Order out a Committee, and His Majesty would send out His Proclamation, That all Seamen that have had their Pay Received wrongfully, and their Tickets Detained wrongfully; and that if they have been so served, they shall have Redress; And if they have since this War actually run away, and yet their Pay is Received by the Captain's Clerks or others; that the Seamen shall on their Information of the Kings being Cheated thereby, have their own selves excused, and have leave to Sue them that have Cheated so the King of their Pay: And that without Charge at Law, by being heard freely: And if also the said Committee should have leave to hear how much Money hath been Received, as Bribes to excuse Seamen from the ●ress; and that the Seamen or Master shall have their Money again of the Officers or Commanders who took it; and if Complaints were heard freely, it might be a likely means and way to inform the Honourable Houses, that it would be worth while to make Laws against Cheating the King and Country, and against Buying and Selling the King's Subjects, either by Land or Sea, and also against many other Enormities that cannot be easily Represented: And for my Mistakes in the manner of Representing, I beg Pardon: But for the Matter of it, I fear this Age knows it to be miserably true. And now I commit what I have written to the Blessing and Protection of our Most Gracious Lord God, from whom I do hearty beg Mercy for His Majesty and all Your Honours, and for all these Nations; and that in the Blessing of God on these Nations, He, and all Your Honours, and me, and all my Family may be safe for all Time and all Eternity. And to the Eternal God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Three Persons, and One Glorious God, be the Everlasting Honour, Glory and Praise to Eternity, Amen. So Prays His Majesty's Faithful Loving Subject, And Your Honours Faithful and Loving Servant, And Old England's Loving and Faithful Inhabitant, and not Betrayer, William Hodges. Hermitage-Bridge, Feb. 22. 1694.