An ANSWER to the Objections, against Making the River Darwent Navigable.  
Objection I This Navigation wi●● spoil the Fords of the said River, remove Mr. Thomas Stanhope's Two Private Horse-Bridges over it, and ruin his Mills upon it; And the said Mr. Stanhope, cannot be Recompensed, nor the County Accommodated.  
Answer. THE River Trent, into which the Darwent runs, is Famous for its many Fords, and yet is Navigable: And in this Part of the River Darwent, are but Two Fo●ds of any Note; and Those but seldom used: But there is never a Ford in it, but what is deeper than any of the Fords in the Navigable Part of the River Trent: And therefore, the Fords in Darwent will not be Altered; for they are Deep enough already; and will carry as Great a Burden, as can be carried down, or brought up the River Trent: Mr. Stanhope's Bridges may be still enjoyed, without Prejudice to the Navigation, by the Help of Draw Bridges, to be Drawn-up while the Boats pass; and, according to the Bill, cannot be touched, till he have Satisfaction: And the Mills will not be prejudiced by the Navigation; for the Boats will Pass and Repass the Back-Water; and a Lock made in the Wear, will (when the Boats, etc. come to it) open, to give them Passage; and then close again, and keep the Water for the Use of the Mills; which will not be hindered half an Hour, at any Time: And 'tis Provided by the Bill, That Satisfaction be made, before the Wears be touched. My Lord Chesterfield has likewise Mills upon the said River; and is Consenting to the Navigation: And there are no Other upon this Part of the River, but His, and Mr. Stanhope's.  
Object. TWO That the River is so Rapid, as to Wear away the Ground on each Side, unless defended by Waterworks and Fleightering; which the Navigators will be empowered to destroy, in whose Land they please; and so give away his Land: Besides, this will glut Derby Market with Corn from Remote Parts; and so Abate the Price, to the Damage of One Hundred Towns in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and D●rby Shire, who Resort thither to Sell their Corn.  
Answer. BOTH Parts of this Objection, Represent the Navigation, as Prejudicial in those very Instances, wherein it is highly Advantageous: 

For, by the Bill, the Undertakers are, from Time to Time, after the River is made Navigable, to Stop and Repair the Breaches and Hurts, in the Banks thereof, at their own Proper-Costs; which will ease the Owners, of the Adjoining Lands, of the Expenceful Waterworks and Fleighterings; which, they complain, the Rapid Course of the River, now obliges them to make: And, as to the Corn, the Navigation will rather Advantage those Towns, who use Derby-Market: For, as This will bring more Carriage of Cheese, Butter, etc. to Derby, That will occasion greater Quantities of Malt to be carried back; and then the Market will carry off more of their Barley.  
(2.)  will take the Pains to make the Comparison, will find, that all Sorts of Corn, for these Twelve Months last, (to go no further back) have been as Cheap, and some Sorts Cheaper in Derby-Market, than at Nottingham and Newarke, which lie lower upon Trent; And if Corn cannot be brought from the Remote Parts, (the Objectors are so Jealous of) to those Towns, so as to sell it Cheaper than at Derby; there is no Danger of glutting the Cheaper, and more distant Market of Derby with it.  
(3.) There is a Fair Prospect of sending Corn down oftener, than it will be brought up, from the Remote Parts: For, what we can carry down the Stream for Three Pence, (suppose) will cost Twelve Pence to bring up against it: And therefore, if Corn be so much Dearer below, as to pay that Three Pence with Advantage, it will be sent down: Whereas, before we can fetch it up, it must be so much Dearer at Derby, than at those Places below, as to pay the Twelve Pence, with Advantage: And as, in Truth, considerable Quantities of Corn have, of late, been sent down the River; so, in all Times, it has been sent down more frequently, than brought up: For this has never happened, but in Time of great Scarcity, when the Country could not Subsist, without Supply.  
(4.) This River will Ease the Carriage, and bring Corn from Leicester-Shire, and those Parts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, that have most Benefit of Derby-Market: And of this, several Towns in Leicester-Shire are sensible, and have Petitioned for it.    
Object. III Corn will be Sold at Derby, which else would be Sold and Tolled at Nottingham; where, out of the Tolls, they Pay the King a Fee-Farm Rend of Sixty Pounds per Annum, and Maintain a Bridge at the Yearly Expense of Two Hundred Pounds.;  
Answer. THAT Rent is reserved out of Lands granted to them by the Crown, and not out of the Toll: And they have Lands settled, for Repair of the Bridge, sufficient to keep it in Repair: Nor ought the Profit of the Town of Nottingham, overbalance the Public Good, and the Advantage of all those many Places, which would have Benefit by this Navigation. Nor will Nottingham, in Truth, lose much of its Toll; for, if the Trade of Derby exceed that of Nottingham, so that Barley Fall with Them, and Rise with Us, and that We have Occasion for Their Barley, We shall Buy in their Market; as, is well known, was formerly done, till Nottingham (by the Benefit of their Navigation, and the Carriage of Goods Thither, by Those who would not willingly Return Empty; and therefore, took back Malt from Thence, to Places which Derby used to Supply) gained a great Part of that Mault-Trade, which Derby was before in Possession of: And Derby pays a Fee-Farm-Rent of One Hundred Pounds per Annum, to the King's Majesty, and Repairs a very Large Bridge over the River Darwent, besides several other smaller Bridges; and has only the Toll to Enable them to Pay the same.  
Object. IV That the Abating of the Price of Corn, will discourage Tillage, and destroy the Breed of Horses employed therein; which are some fit for Coach, and some for War.  
Answer. THIS is urged, with Respect to the Public; and so it is frivolous; Because the Discouraging Tillage Here, by fetching Corn Cheaper from Other Places, is an Encouragement to it in those Other Places; and will There employ as many Able Horses, and more, if the Cheapness of Corn causes more to be spent: But, take it either in Relation to the Public, or to those Counties, and the Answer to the Second Objection Answers it: And We may urge, in Favour of the Navigation, That it will (as has been showed) Encourage Tillage; and consequently, more of these useful Horses, and cause more of them to be Bred: And however the Carriage from Wilne-Ferry (whither Trent is now Navigable) to Derby, being now but Eight Pence for a Quarter of Corn, the Navigation will Save but that Eight Pence; which can never destroy Tillage, tho' it should so much lessen the Farmer's Profit.  
Object. V That, as to the High Ways to be saved by the Navigation, they extend but Five Miles; and none that Repairs Them, desires it.  
Answer. 'TIS a real Benefit, tho' small; and tho' it were neglected: But, in Fact, several of them have Joined in that Petition; which is Presented by the Inhabitants in and near Derby.  
Object. VI It was never known, That ever any Trent, or Darwent Waterman, ever made a Seaman.  
Answer. Tho' this were true; yet greater Numbers may yield some Seamen, tho' very few have yielded none: And, 'tis certain, that they are, by This, better prepared to become Seamen, as much as Watermens, in any River, are; and more than the Watermens, that Row the Thames-Wherries; which yet have afforded Seamen: But, however the Fact have heretofore been, the Nature of the Thing speaks Unanswerably on Our Behalf.  
Object. VII There are more, by Thousands, set on Work by this Present Land-Carriage of Lead, Corn, etc. than will be employed in the Water, upon any Occasion whatsoever.  
Answer. THIS is the only true Objection, allowing for the Hyperbole; but it is Frivolous; for, during the Navigation, there will be many more set on Work for the Land-Carriage, than will be employed upon the Water; and there are not more set on Work now, than will be then, by Land and Water; for all the said Land-Carriers will be Employed then, that are now, except those who carry from Derby and Allestry to Wilne-Ferry; and they are not so many, as will be Employed upon the Water; and are all Derby-Men, and Consenting: For those that bring Led out of the Peake, will carry as they do, or further; for they now lay it down at Derby, or at Allestry, two Miles before they come to Derby; but then they'll carry it all to Derby; and the same Carriers that carry from other Parts to Wilne-Ferry, will carry to Derby: And if some Miles are cut off, which will lessen that Price, 'tis but lessened as the Labour is, and their Returns will be quicker; and they'll have the Advantage of being Loaden Home again.  
Note. BUT, on the Other Hand as That Shortens the Land Carriage of very great Quanties of Lead, Cheese, Butter, and other Commodities, which are now sent to Wilne-Ferry; so it Delivers them from the Impositions, and Hard Usage they find, by reason of the Monopoly There: For, there is but One Person, that is the Owner of the Wharfe There; and, by a particular Privilege, carries Goods up and down the River; and so may and does Exact what Price he pleases; and is a Trader and Merchant, as well as a Waterman; and so himself may, and does take the Advantage of a Good Market, to the Prejudice of other Traders, whose Goods he then neglects to Carry; and they must let their Goods lie there, until it be his Pleasure to Carry them down the River; or give him his own Rates; or send them to Nottingham, which is Twelve Miles further, by Land Carriage; and the same Case up the River, from Gainsburrow to Wilne Ferry: All which would be Saved, in Making the said River Darwent Navigable.  
Note. THE Undertakers do it at their own Charge; and no Mills will be Pulled down, nor Destroyed; only Locks made in the Wears, to Carry up the Barges; nor no Fords Spoilt, they being Deep enough already, to Carry-up Flat-Boats; and the Fords upon the River Darwent, are Deeper than Those upon the River Trent; which River is already Navigable.  


Some Places, that have Petitioned for the Navigation.  The High Sheriff, Deputy-Lieutenants, Grand Jury, and Gentry of the County of Chester, at their last General Quarter-Sessions, held for the said County: The Salt-makers, Salt-Carriers, and other Inhabitants of the Town of Namptwich and Middlewich, have Petitioned, That the River Darwent may be made Navigable.  
The Mayor, aldermans, Gentlemen, Cheese-Factors, Pot-makers, and the Inhabitants of the Town of Newcastle, in the County of Stafford, have Petitioned for the same.  
The Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Cheese-Factors, and Inhabitants of the Market-Town of Uttoxiter, in the said County of Stafford, have likewise Petitioned for the same.  
The Bailiffs, Sheriffs, Aldermen, Justices of the Peace, Gentlemen, Tradesmen, and Inhabitants of the City and County of Litchfield, have likewise Petitioned for the same.  
The Bailiffs, Gentlemen, Cloath-workers, and Inhabitants of the Ancient Burrow of Burton, in the County of Stafford, have likewise Petitioned for the same.  
The Gentlemen, Gun-smiths, Whitesmiths, Lock-smiths, Cutlers, Sword-slippers, Nailors, & other Tradesmen of the Market-Town of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, have Petitioned for the same.  
The Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of the Market-Town of Atherson, in the said County of Warwick, have likewise Petitioned for the same.  
The Gentlemen, Tradesmen, and Inhabitants of the Market-Town of Ashby de la Zouch, in the County of Leicester, have likewise Petitioned for the same.  
The Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Freeholders, Farmers, & Inhabitants of the Market-Towns of Loughbrorough & Kegworth, in the said County of Leicester, have Petitioned for the same.  
The High-Sheriff, Justi●●s of the Peace, several Deputy Lieutenants, at the last General Quarter Sessions, held for the County of Derby, have likewise Petitioned for the same.  
The Knights, Gentlem●● Tradesmen, Lead-Merchants, Miners, Grovers, Freeholders, Farmers, and others of the several Market and Fair Towns of Derby, Worksworth, Ashborne, Crich, and Duffe●●d, and other Townships and Villages, viz. Carson, Middleton, Cromford, Hopton, Cawlow, Bradborn, Kniveton; And the Gentry and others of the Hundred of High-Peake, in t●● County of Derby, have likewise Petitioned for the same.  
〈…〉 of London and Westminst●r, have likewise Petitioned for the same.