On the sixty-second day the affair was put off; but on the sixty-third,
the house resolving itself into a committee, a clause was offered, by
which five pounds were proposed to be advanced to an able seaman, and
three pounds to every other man that should enter voluntarily into his
majesty's service, after twenty days, and within sixty.
After which, Mr. WINNINGTON spoke as follows:--Sir, this is a clause in
which no opposition can be apprehended, as those gentlemen who declared
their disapprobation of the former, were almost unanimous in proposing
this expedient, as the least expensive, and the most likely to succeed.
The time for the reception of volunteers upon this condition, is, sir,
in my opinion, judiciously determined. If it was extended to a greater
length, or left uncertain, the reward would lose its efficacy, the
sailors would neglect that which they might accept at any time, and
would only have recourse to the ships of war when they could find no
other employment.
Yet I cannot conceal my apprehensions, that this bounty will not alone
be sufficient to man our fleets with proper expedition; and that as
allurements may be useful on one hand, force will be found necessary on
the other; that the sailors may not only be incited to engage in the
service by the hopes of a reward, but by the fear of having their
negligence to accept it punished, by being compelled into the same
service, and forfeiting their claim by staying to be compelled.
Lord BALTIMORE then spoke to the following effect:--Sir, to the reward
proposed in this clause, I have declared in the former conference on
this bill, that I have no objection, and, therefore, have no amendment
to propose, except with regard to the time limited for the payment.
As our need of seamen, sir, is immediate, why should not a law for their
encouragement immediately operate? What advantage can arise from
delays? Or why is not that proper to be advanced now, that will be
proper in twenty days? That all the time between the enaction and
operation of this law must be lost, is evident; for who will enter for
two pounds, that may gain five by withholding himself from the service
twenty days longer?
Nor do I think the time now limited sufficient; many sailors who are now
in the service of the merchants, may not return soon enough to lay claim
to the bounty, who would gladly accept it, and who will either not serve
the crown without it, or will serve with disgust and complaints; as the
loss of it cannot be imputed to their backwardness, but to an accident
against which they could not provide.
Mr. WINNINGTON replied:--Sir, though I think the time now fixed by the
bill sufficient, as I hope that our present exigency will be but of
short continuance, and that we shall soon be able to raise naval forces
at a cheaper rate, yet as the reasons alleged for an alteration of the
time may appear to others of more weight than to me, I shall not oppose
the amendment.
Sir John BARNARD next rose, and said:--Sir, with regard to the duration
of the time fixed for the advancement of this bounty, we may have
leisure to deliberate; but surely it must be readily granted by those
who have expatiated so copiously upon the present exigencies of our
affairs, that it ought immediately to commence. And if this be the
general determination of the house, nothing can be more proper than to
address his majesty to offer, by proclamation, an advance of five
pounds, instead of two, which have been hitherto given; that while we
are concerting other measures for the advantage of our country, those in
which we have already concurred may be put in execution.
Mr. PULTENEY rose up next, and spoke as follows:--Sir, I take this
opportunity to lay before the house a grievance which very much retards
the equipment of our fleets, and which must be redressed before any
measures for reconciling the sailors to the publick service can be
pursued with the least probability of success.
Observation, sir, has informed me, that to remove the detestation of the
king's service, it is not necessary to raise the wages of the seamen; it
is necessary only to secure them; it is necessary to destroy those
hateful insects that fatten in idleness and debauchery upon the gains of
the industrious and honest.
When a sailor, sir, after the fatigues and hazards of a long voyage,
brings his ticket to the pay-office, and demands his wages, the
despicable wretch to whom he is obliged to apply, looks upon his ticket
with an air of importance, acknowledges his right, and demands a reward
for present payment; with this demand, however exorbitant, the
necessities of his family oblige him to comply.
In this manner, sir, are the wives of the sailors also treated when they
come to receive the pay of their husbands; women, distressed,
friendless, and unsupported; they are obliged to endure every insult,
and to yield to every oppression. And to such a height do these
merciless exacters raise their extortions, that sometimes a third part
of the wages is deducted.
Thus, sir, do the vilest, the meanest of mankind, plunder those who have
the highest claim to the esteem, the gratitude, and the protection of
their country. This is the hardship which withholds the sailors from our
navies, and forces them to seek for kinder treatment in other countries.
This hardship, sir, both justice and prudence call upon us to remedy;
and while we neglect it, all our deliberations will be ineffectual.
Mr. SOUTHWELL then spoke to this effect:--Sir, of the hardships
mentioned by the honourable gentleman who spoke last, I have myself
known an instance too remarkable not to be mentioned. A sailor in
Ireland, after his voyage, met with so much difficulty in obtaining his
wages, that he was at length reduced to the necessity of submitting to
the reduction of near a sixth part. Such are the grievances with which
those are oppressed, upon whom the power, security, and happiness of the
nation are acknowledged to depend.
Sir Robert WALPOLE, the prime minister, then rose, and spoke as
follows:--Sir, it is not without surprise that I hear the disgust of the
sailors ascribed to any irregularity in the payment of their wages,
which were never, in any former reign, so punctually discharged. They
receive, at present, twelve months' pay in eighteen months, without
deduction; so that there are never more than six months for which any
demand remains unsatisfied.
But, sir, the punctuality of the payment has produced of late great
inconveniencies; for there has been frequently a necessity of removing
men from one ship to another; and it is the stated rule of the
pay-office, to assign every man so removed his full pay. These men, when
the government is no longer indebted to them, take the first opportunity
of deserting the service, and engaging in business to which they are
more inclined.
This is not a chimerical complaint, founded upon rare instances, and
produced only to counterbalance an objection; the fact and the
consequences are well known; so well, that near fourteen hundred sailors
are computed to have been lost by this practice.
The PRESIDENT of the commons, who always in a committee takes his seat
as another member, rose here, and spoke to the following effect, his
honour being paymaster of the navy:--Mr. Chairman, the nature of the
employment with which I am intrusted makes it my duty to endeavour that
this question may be clearly understood, and the condition of the
seamen, with regard to the reception of their pay, justly represented.
I have not been able to discover that any sailor, upon producing his
ticket, was ever obliged to submit to the deduction of any part of his
wages, nor should any clerk or officer under my inspection, escape, for
such oppression, the severest punishment and most publick censure: I
would give him up to the law without reserve, and mark him as infamous,
and unworthy of any trust or employment.
But there are extortions, sir, by which those unhappy men, after having
served their country with honesty and courage, are deprived of their
lawful gains of diligence and labour. There are men to whom it is usual
amongst the sailors to mortgage their pay before it becomes due, who
never advance their money but upon such terms as cannot be mentioned
without indignation. These men advance the sum which is stipulated, and
by virtue of a letter of attorney are reimbursed at the pay-office.
This corruption is, I fear, not confined to particular places, but has
spread even to America, where, as in his own country, the poor sailor is
seduced, by the temptation of present money, to sell his labour to
extortioners and usurers.
I appeal to the gentleman, whether the instance which he mentioned was
not of this kind. I appeal to him without apprehension of receiving an
answer that can tend to invalidate what I have asserted.
This, sir, is, indeed, a grievance pernicious and oppressive, which no
endeavours of mine shall be deficient in attempting to remove; for by
this the sailor is condemned, notwithstanding his industry and success,
to perpetual poverty, and to labour only for the benefit of his
plunderer.
[The clauses were then read, "empowering the justices of the peace, etc.
to issue warrants to the constables, etc. to make general privy
searches, by day or night, for finding out and securing such seamen and
seafaring men as lie hid or conceal themselves; and making it lawful for
the officers appointed to make such searches, to force open the doors of
any house, where they shall _suspect_ such seamen to be concealed, if
entrance be not readily admitted; and for punishing those who shall
harbour or conceal any seaman."]
Sir John BARNARD upon this rose up, and spoke to the following
effect:--Mr. Chairman, we have been hitherto deliberating upon
questions, in which diversity of opinions might naturally be expected,
and in which every man might indulge his own opinion, whatever it might
be, without any dangerous consequences to the publick. But the clauses
now before us are of a different kind; clauses which cannot be read
without astonishment and indignation, nor defended without betraying the
liberty of the best, the bravest, and most useful of our
fellow-subjects.
If these clauses, sir, should pass into a law, a sailor and a slave will
become terms of the same signification. Every man who has devoted
himself to the most useful profession, and most dangerous service of his
country, will see himself deprived of every advantage which he has
laboured to obtain, and made the mere passive property of those who live
in security by his valour, and owe to his labour that affluence which
hardens them to insensibility, and that pride that swells them to
ingratitude.
Why must the sailors alone, sir, be marked out from all the other orders
of men for ignominy and misery? Why must they be ranked with the enemies
of society, stopped like vagabonds, and pursued like the thief and the
murderer by publick officers? How or when have they forfeited the common
privilege of human nature, or the general protection of the laws of
their country? If it is a just maxim, sir, that he who contributes most
to the welfare of the publick, deserves most to be protected in the
enjoyment of his private right or fortune; a principle which surely will
not be controverted; where is the man that dares stand forth and assert,
that he has juster claims than the brave, the honest, the diligent
sailor?
I am extremely unwilling, sir, to engage in so invidious an undertaking
as the comparison of the harmless, inoffensive, resolute sailor, with
those who think themselves entitled to treat him with contempt, to
overlook his merit, invade his liberty, and laugh at his remonstrances.
Nor is it, sir, necessary to dwell upon the peculiar merit of this body
of men; it is sufficient that they have the same claims, founded upon
the same reasons with our own, that they have never forfeited them by
any crime, and, therefore, that they cannot be taken away without the
most flagrant violation of the laws of nature, of reason, and of our
country.
Let us consider the present condition of a sailor, let us reflect a
little upon the calamities to which custom, though not law, has already
made him subject, and it will surely not be thought that his unhappiness
needs any aggravation.
He is already exposed to be forced, upon his return from a tedious
voyage, into new hardships, without the intermission of a day, and
without the sight of his family; he is liable, after a contract for a
pleasing and gainful voyage, to be hurried away from his prospects of
interest, and condemned amidst oppression and insolence, to labour and
to danger, almost without the possibility of a recompense. He has
neither the privilege of choosing his commander, nor of leaving him when
he is defrauded and oppressed.
These, sir, I say, are the calamities to which he is now subject, but
there is now a possibility of escaping them. He is not yet deprived of
the right of resistance, or the power of flight; he may now retire to
his friend, and be protected by him; he may take shelter in his own
cottage, and treat any man as a robber, that shall attempt to force his
doors.
When any crews are returning home in time of war, they are acquainted
with the dangers of an impress, but they comfort themselves with
contriving stratagems to elude it, or with the prospect of obtaining an
exemption from it by the favour of their friends; prospects which are
often deceitful, and stratagems frequently defeated, but which yet
support their spirits, and animate their industry.
But if this bill, sir, should become a law, the sailor, instead of
amusing himself on his return with the prospects of ease, or of
pleasure, will consider his country as a place of slavery, a residence
less to be desired than any other part of the world. He will probably
seek, in the service of some foreign prince, a kinder treatment; and
will not fail, in any country but his own, to see himself, at least, on
a level with other men.
Nor will this bill, sir, only give the seamen new reasons of disgust,
but it will tend, likewise, to aggravate those grievances, which already
have produced a detestation of the publick service, scarcely to be
conquered.
The officers of the navy, sir, will hardly be made less insolent by an
increase of power; they whose tyranny has already alienated their
fellow-subjects from the king's service, though they could only depend
upon the character of probity and moderation for the prospect of manning
their ships in succeeding expeditions, will probably, when they are
animated by a law like this, and made absolute both by land and sea,
indulge themselves in the enjoyment of their new authority, contrive new
hardships and oppressions, and tyrannise without fear and without mercy.
Thus, sir, will the bill not only be tyrannical in itself, but the
parent of tyranny; it will give security to the cruel, and confidence to
the arrogant.
That any man, at least any man bred from his infancy to change his
residence, and accustomed to different climates and to foreign nations,
will fix by choice in that country where he finds the worst reception,
is hardly to be imagined. We see indeed, that men unqualified to support
themselves in other countries, or who have, by long custom, contracted a
fondness for particular methods of life, will bear very uncomfortable
circumstances, without endeavouring to improve their conditions by a
change of their habitations. But the temper of a sailor, acquainted with
all parts, and indifferent to all, is of another kind. Such, sir, is his
love of change, arising either from wantonness, or curiosity, that he is
hard to be retained by the kindest treatment and most liberal rewards;
and will, therefore, never struggle with his habitual dispositions, only
to continue in a state of slavery.
I think it, therefore, sir, very evident that this new method of
_encouraging_ sailors will be so far from _increasing_ them, that it may
probably drive them out of the empire, and at once ruin our trade and
our navy; at once beggar and disarm us.
Let me now suppose, sir, for a moment, the bill less pernicious in its
consequences, and consider only the difficulties of executing it. Every
seafaring man is to be seized, at pleasure, by the magistrate; but what
definition is given of a seafaring man? Or by what characteristick is
the magistrate to distinguish him? I have never been able to discover
any peculiarities in the form of a seaman that mark him out from the
rest of the species. There is, indeed, less servility in his air, and
less effeminacy in his face, than in those that are commonly to be seen
in drawing-rooms, in brothels, and at reviews; but I know not that a
seaman can be distinguished from any other man of equal industry or use,
who has never enervated himself by vice, nor polished himself into
corruption. So that this bill, sir, if it shall pass into a law, will
put it at once in the power of the magistrate to dispose of seamen at
his pleasure, and to term whom he pleases a seaman.
Another expedient, sir, has been offered on this occasion, not equally
tyrannical, but equally inadequate to the end in view. It is proposed to
restrain the merchants from giving wages beyond a certain rate, on the
supposition that the sailors have no motive but that of larger wages, to
prefer the service of the merchants to that of the crown.
This, sir, is a mistake which might easily arise from a partial and
imperfect knowledge of the affair, with which very few gentlemen have
opportunities of being well acquainted. The wages, sir, are the smallest
inducements which fix the seamen in their choice. The prospect of kinder
treatment, the certainty of returning home in a fixed time, and the
power of choosing what voyages they will undertake, cannot but be
acknowledged very reasonable motives of preference.
On the contrary, sir, when they are once engaged in a ship of war, they
know neither whither they are going, what dangers they shall encounter,
what hardships they shall suffer, nor when they shall be dismissed.
Besides, sir, I do not think it possible by any law to limit the wages
to be paid by merchants, since they will change the term of wages into
that of a present, or admit the sailors to a small share in the freight,
and so all the precaution we can take will become ineffectual.
In the mean time, sir, how much shall we embarrass our own commerce, and
impair our natural strength--the power of our fleets? We shall terrify
our sailors on the one hand, and endeavour to starve them on the other;
we shall not only drive them from us by unheard-of severities, but take
away every motive that can induce them to expose themselves to the
danger of suffering them.
If we consider, sir, with what effect methods nearly approaching these
were practised in the reign of the late queen, we shall find that not
more than one thousand five hundred seamen were raised, and those at the
expense of more than four thousand pounds; so that the effects bore no
proportion to the means; our laws were infringed, and our constitution
violated to no purpose.
But what reason, sir, can be assigned for which it must be more
difficult to supply the fleet now with sailors than at any other time?
This war, sir, was demanded by the publick voice, in pursuance of the
particular remonstrances of the merchants, and it is not to be supposed
that the sailors or any other body of men engage in it with a particular
reluctance.
I am, therefore, inclined to believe that the suspicion of great numbers
hid in the country, at a distance from the coast, is merely chimerical;
and that if we should pass this bill, we should do nothing more than
grant an oppressive and unconstitutional power of search for what, in
reality, is not to be found.
How oppressive this power may become in the hands of a corrupt or
insolent magistrate, any man may discover, who remembers that the
magistrate is made judge without appeal, of his own right to denominate
any man a sailor, and that he may break open any man's doors at any
time, without alleging any other reason than his own suspicion; so that
no man can secure his house from being searched, or, perhaps, his person
from being seized.
It may, indeed, be alleged, sir, that this will be only a temporary law,
and is to cease with the exigence that made it necessary: but long
experience has informed us, that severe laws are enacted more readily
than they are repealed; and that most men are too fond of power to
suffer willingly the diminution of it.
But, sir, though this law should not be perpetuated, every precedent of
an infringement of our constitution, makes way for its dissolution; and
the very cessation of an oppressive law, may be a plea, hereafter, for
the revival of it.
This bill, therefore, must be confessed to be at once violent and
ineffectual; to be a transgression of the laws of justice to particular
men, without any prospect of real benefit to the community; and,
therefore, cannot be passed without deviating at once from prudence and
our constitution.
Captain CORNWALL then rose, and spoke to this effect:--I have observed,
sir, that every man is apt to think himself ill treated, who is not
treated according to his own opinion of his deserts, and will endeavour
to diffuse his own notion of the partiality and tyranny of the naval
officers; general clamours, therefore, are little to be regarded.
I have had, from my early years, a command in the sea service, and can
assert, that I never knew more than one instance of injustice, and that
was punished with the severity which it deserved.
The PRIME MINISTER rose next, and spoke to this effect:--Mr. Chairman,
it is with uncommon satisfaction that I see every clause of this bill
regularly debated, without unbecoming impatience, or passionate
exclamations. I am willing to collect from this conduct, that the
disposition of every gentleman is, on this occasion, the same with my
own; and that every expedient here proposed will be diligently examined,
and either be seriously approved, or be calmly rejected.
Such coolness and impartiality, sir, is certainly required by the
importance of the present question; a question which cannot but
influence the prosperity of the nation for many years.
It is not necessary to remind any gentleman of the importance of our
trade, of the power of the enemy against whom we have declared war in
defence of it, or of the necessity of showing the world that our
declarations of war are not empty noises, or farces of resentment. But
it may be proper, sir, to remark, that this is not the only enemy, nor
the most powerful, whose attempts we have reason to provide against, and
who may oblige us to exert our whole power, and practise every expedient
to increase our forces.
The war has been, hitherto, prosecuted with the utmost vigour, with all
the attention that its importance requires, and with success not
disproportioned to our preparations; nor will it ever be suffered to
languish, if the powers necessary for carrying it on are not denied.
Nothing is more evident, sir, than that the natural power of the nation
consists in its fleets, which are now, by the care of the government, so
numerous, that the united power of many nations cannot equal them. But
what are fleets unfurnished with men? How will they maintain the
dominion of the sea, by lying unactive in our harbours?
That no methods, hitherto used, have been sufficient to man our navies,
and that our preparations have, therefore, been little more than an
expensive show of war, the whole nation is sufficiently informed; it is,
therefore, not doubtful that some new measures must be taken; whether
any better can be suggested than are offered in this bill, must be
inquired.
With regard, sir, to the clause now under our consideration, it is to be
remembered, that little more is proposed by it, than to add the sanction
of legality to a power which has long been exercised by the admiralty,
without any other authority than that of long prescription, the power of
issuing warrants of impress upon emergent occasions, by which sailors
are forced into the publick service.
This power, in its present state, must be allowed to have no foundation
in any law, and, by consequence, to be unlimited, arbitrary, and easily
abused, and, upon the whole, to be justifiable only by necessity: but
that necessity is so frequent, that it is often exercised, and,
therefore, ought to be regulated by the legislature; and by making such
regulations, we may rather be said to remove than introduce a grievance.
The power of searching for sailors, however it has been represented, is
far from setting them on a level with felons, murderers, or vagabonds;
or, indeed, from distinguishing them, to their disadvantage, from the
rest of the community, of which every individual is obliged to support
the government.
Those that possess estates, or carry on trades, transfer part of their
property to the publick; and those ought, by parity of reason, to serve
the publick in person, that have no property to transfer. Every man is
secured by the constitution in the enjoyment of his life, his liberty,
or his fortune; and, therefore, every man ought reciprocally to defend
the constitution to which he is himself indebted for safety and
protection.
I am, therefore, sir, unable to discover in what consists the hardship
of a law by which no new duties are enjoined, nor any thing required,
which is not already every man's duty. Every man, indeed, who is
desirous of evading the performance of any of the duties of society,
will consider every compulsion as a hardship, by which he is obliged to
contribute to the general happiness; but his murmurs will prove nothing
but his own folly and ingratitude, and will certainly deserve no regard
from the legislative power.
There is in the bill before us, sir, encouragement sufficient for
volunteers, and an offer of greater rewards than some gentlemen think
consistent with the present state of the national revenues; and what
remains to be done with respect to those who are deaf to all
invitations, and blind to all offers of advantage? Are they to sit at
ease only because they are idle, or to be distinguished with indulgence
only for want of deserving it?
It seems generally granted, sir, that such drones are the proper objects
of an impress. Let us then suppose that every man who is willing to
serve his country, has laid hold of the reward proposed, and entered a
volunteer. The fleets are not yet sufficiently manned, and more sailors
must be procured. Warrants are issued out in the common form. The
negligent, the imprudent, the necessitous, are taken. The vigilant, the
cunning, and those that have more money, find shelter and escape. Can it
be said, that those whose circumstances, or good fortune, enable them to
secure themselves from the officers of the impress, deserve any
exemption from the publick service, or from the hardships to which their
companions are exposed? Have they discharged their debt of gratitude to
the publick so effectually by running away from its service, that no
search ought to be made after them? It seems evident, that if it was
right to seize the one, it is likewise right to pursue the other; and if
it be right to pursue him, it is likewise right to hinder him from
escaping the pursuers. It is then right to vest some persons with the
power of apprehending him, and in whom is that power to be lodged, but
in the civil magistrate?
Every man, sir, is obliged by compulsive methods to serve his country,
if he can be prevailed upon by no other. If any man shall refuse to pay
his rates or his taxes, will not his goods be seized by force, and sold
before his face? If any particular methods are proposed for obliging
seamen to contribute to the publick safety, it is only because their
service is necessary upon more pressing occasions than that of others;
upon occasions which do not admit of delay, without the hazard of the
whole community.
I must confess, sir, there are instances in which the hardships of the
seafaring part of the nation are peculiar, and truly calamitous. A
sailor, after the dangers and toils of a long voyage, when he is now in
the sight of the port, where he hopes to enjoy that quiet which he has
deserved by so long a series of fatigues, to repair the injuries which
his health has suffered, by change of climate, and the diet of the
ships, and to recover that strength which incessant vigilance has worn
away; when he is in expectation of being received by his family with
those caresses, which the succours that he brings them naturally
produce, and designs to rest awhile from danger and from care; in the
midst of these pleasing views, he is, on the sudden, seized by an
impress, and forced into a repetition of all his miseries, without any
interval of refreshment.
Let no man who can think without compassion on such a scene as this,
boast his zeal for freedom, his regard for bravery, or his gratitude to
those who contribute to the wealth and power of their country; let every
man who declares himself touched with the pity which the slightest
reflection upon such a disappointment must naturally produce, sincerely
endeavour to obviate the necessity of such oppressive measures, which
may, at least in part, be prevented, by assigning to magistrates the
power of hunting out of their retreats, those who neglect the business
of their callings, and linger at once in laziness and want.
There are great numbers who retire not from weariness but idleness, or
an unreasonable prepossession against the publick service; and, surely,
nothing is more unreasonable, than that bad dispositions should be
gratified, and that industry should expose any man to penalties.
Upon the whole, sir, I am not able to discover, that any man should be
exempted from an impress merely because he finds means to escape it, or
because idleness or disinclination to the publick service prompts him to
abscond.
If any men deserve indulgence, in opposition to the demands of the
publick, they are rather those who have already, in some degree,
discharged their duty to it, by contributing to bring in that wealth
which is the consequence of a prosperous and well-regulated commerce,
and without which war cannot be supported.
It is not without grief and regret, that I am obliged to represent, on
this occasion, the obstructions which the war has suffered from those at
whose request it was undertaken; and to declare, that the conduct of the
merchants, has afforded proof that some law of this tendency is
absolutely necessary.
The merchants, sir, who have so loudly complained of the decline of
trade, the interruption of navigation, and the insolence, rapacity, and
cruelty of the Spaniards; the merchants, who filled the nation with
representations of their hardships, discouragements, and miseries, and
lamented in the most publick manner, that they were the only body for
whom the legislature had no regard, who were abandoned to the caprice of
other nations, were plundered abroad, and neglected at home; the
merchants, after having at length by their importunities engaged the
state in a war, of which they have themselves certainly not the least
pretensions to question either the justice or necessity, now, when by
the natural consequences of a naval armament, sailors become less
numerous, and ships more difficult to be equipped, contract in private
with such sailors as they are inclined to employ, and conceal them in
garrets, hired for that purpose, till the freight is ready, or the
danger of an impress is past, and thus secure their own private affairs
at the hazard of the publick, and hinder the operations of a war, which
they, and they only, solicited.
The danger of having other enemies than the Spaniards, enemies, sir,
more active, more powerful, and more ambitious, has already been
mentioned; a danger so near, and so formidable, that he will not be
thought very solicitous for his country, whom the bare mention of it
does not alarm. This danger we are, therefore, to obviate by vigorous
preparations, and unanimous resolutions; nor do I doubt but both our
enemies, if they find us united, will repent of attacking us.
Sir, the most efficacious method of manning our fleets, which law or
custom has yet put into our hands, is that of suspending our commerce by
an embargo; and yet the whole nation knows how much, and by what means,
it has been eluded: no sooner was it known that an embargo was laid,
than the sailors flew away into the country, or hid themselves in
corners of this great city, as from the most formidable danger; and no
sooner did the embargo cease, than the banks of the river were again
crowded with sailors, and all the trading vessels were immediately
supplied.
As I cannot doubt, sir, that every gentleman is equally zealous for the
success of the war, and the prosperity of his country; and as the
insufficiency of the present methods of providing for them is apparent,
I hope, that either the regulations proposed by this bill, to which I
see no important objections, or some other of equal use, will be
established by a general concurrence.
Lord BALTIMORE spoke next:--Though no gentleman in this assembly, sir,
can more ardently wish the success of the British arms, or shall more
willingly concur in any measure that may promote it, yet I cannot agree
to the clause now under our consideration; I disapprove it both from
moral and political motives; I disapprove it as neither just nor
prudent.
The injustice of so flagrant an invasion of the liberty of particular
men has been already exposed; nor is it, in my opinion, less easy to
discover the imprudence of exhausting all our supplies at once, and
sweeping away all our sailors, to supply a single exigency.
It has often been remarked, sir, in favour of a standing army, that it
is requisite to have a number of regular forces, who, though too weak to
oppose an invasion, might be able to establish discipline in a larger
body. An observation which may, with much greater justness, be applied
to the seamen, whose art is much more difficult to be attained, and who
are equally necessary in war and peace.
If our stock of seamen, sir, be destroyed, if there is not left in our
trading vessels a sufficient number of experienced artists to initiate
novices, and propagate the profession, not only our ships of war must
lie useless, but our commerce sink to nothing.
Nor have I reason to believe the naval power of France so formidable, as
that we ought to be terrified by the apprehensions of it into any
extraordinary methods of procedure. I am informed that they have now
very few ships of force left in their harbours; and that they have
exerted their whole strength in the American fleet.
I am not, therefore, sir, for providing against present dangers, without
regard to our future security; and think nothing more worthy of the
consideration of this assembly, than the means of encouraging and
increasing our seamen, which will not be effected by the bill before us.
Land forces may be hired upon emergencies; but sailors are our own
peculiar strength, and the growth of our own soil; we are, therefore,
above all other regards, to attend, if I may use the term, to the
preservation of the species.
Mr. VYNER next spoke:--Mr. Chairman, as there can be no stronger
objection to any law than ambiguity, or indeterminate latitude of
meaning, I think it necessary to propose, that some word of known and
limited import, be substituted in the place of _seafaring men_; an
expression which, if I was asked the meaning of it, I should find it
difficult to explain.
Are _seafaring_ men those only who navigate in the _sea_? The term is
then superfluous, for all such are evidently comprised in the word
_seamen_. Are they bargemen or watermen, who ply on rivers and transport
provision or commodities from one inland town to another? In that sense
nobody will affirm that it is a proper word; and impropriety in the
expression of laws, produces uncertainty in the execution of them.
Captain CORNWALL rose up:--Sir, the term _seafaring men_, of which an
explication is desired, is intended to include all those who live by
conveying goods or passengers upon the water, whether the sea or inland
rivers: nor can we restrain it to a narrower sense, without exempting
from the publick service great numbers, whose manner of life has
qualified them for it, and from whom their country may, with equal
justice, expect assistance, as from those who are engaged in foreign
traffick.
Mr. VYNER replied:--Sir, I am far from concurring with the honourable
gentleman in his opinion, that the inland watermen are, by their
profession, in any degree qualified for sea service, or can properly be
called _seafaring men_.
All qualifications for the service must consist either in some knowledge
of the arts of navigation, or in some familiarity with the dangers of
the sea. With regard to any previous knowledge of naval business, it is
well known that they have no advantage over any common labourer; for the
manner of navigating a ship and a barge have, for the most part, nothing
in common.
Nor are these watermen, sir, more able to stand firm in the terrours of
the storm, or the noise of a battle, than those who follow any other
occupation. Many of them never saw the sea, nor have less dread of its
danger than the other inhabitants of the inland counties. They are,
therefore, neither _seafaring_ men, nor peculiarly capable of being made
_seamen_.
But the hardship upon particular men is not the strongest objection to
this clause, which, by obstructing our inland navigation, may make our
rivers useless, and set the whole trade of the nation at a stand. For
who will bring up his son a waterman, who knows him exposed by that
profession to be impressed for a seaman?
It seems, therefore, necessary, sir, either to omit the term _seafaring
men_ [Footnote: Agreed to be omitted.], or to explain it in such a
manner, that inland watermen may not be included.
Lord GAGE spoke next:--Sir, so much has been urged against the
compulsive methods proposed in this clause, and so little produced in
favour of them, that it may seem superfluous to add any thing, or to
endeavour, by a multiplicity of arguments, to prove what common reason
must immediately discover. But there is one consequence of this clause
which has not yet been observed, and which is yet too important not to
be obviated by a particular proviso.
It is well known, sir, that many of those to whom this act will extend,
are freeholders and voters, for electing the representatives of the
nation; and it is therefore apparent, that elections may be influenced
by an ill-timed or partial execution of it. How easy will it be, when an
election approaches, to raise a false alarm, to propose some secret
expedition, or threaten us with an invasion from some unknown country,
and to seize on all the seafaring voters whose affections are suspected,
and confine them at Spithead till the contest is over.
I cannot, therefore, sir, but think it necessary, that if this clause be
suffered to pass, some part of its hateful consequences should be
prevented by an exception in favour of freeholders and voters, which,
surely, is no less than what every man owes to his own security, to the
welfare of his country, and to those by whom he has been honoured with
the care of their liberties.
Mr. Henry PELHAM then said, as follows:--Sir, I do not rise in
opposition to the proposal made by that right honourable member, nor do
I think this the proper time either for opposing or approving it. Method
is of the highest importance in inquiries like these; and if the order
of the debate be interrupted by foreign questions, or incidental
objections, no man will be able to consider the clauses before us with
the attention necessary to his own satisfaction, or to the conviction of
others; the mind will be dissipated by a multiplicity of views, and
nothing can follow but perplexity and confusion.
The great end, sir, for which we are now assembled, is to strike out
methods of manning the fleet with expedition and certainty. It is,
therefore, proper, in the first place, to agree upon some general
measures, to each of which there may, undoubtedly, be particular
objections raised, that may be afterwards removed by exceptions or
provisions; but these provisions should, for the sake of order, be
inserted in particular clauses, to be separately considered.
Of this kind is the exception now offered, to which I have no objection
but its present impropriety, and the interruption of the debate which it
may now occasion; for I see, at present, no reason against admitting it
in a particular clause.
When it is considered how much the success of the war may depend upon
the determinations of this day, and how much our future happiness and
security may depend upon the success of our present undertakings, I hope
my solicitude for regularity and expedition will be easily excused.
Sir Hind COTTON answered:--I am not able, sir, to discover any imminent
danger to the nation in suspending our attention to the clause before
us, for a few moments; nor, indeed, do we cease to attend to it, while
we are endeavouring to mollify it, and adapt it to our constitution.
The exception proposed is, in the opinion of the honourable gentleman,
so reasonable, that he declares himself ready to approve it in another
place; and, to me, no place seems more proper of its making part of this
bill than this. As a connexion between the clause and exception appears
necessary and immediate, I cannot see why it should be postponed, unless
it is hoped that it may be forgotten.
Mr. PULTENEY then spoke:--Sir, that this exception should be forgotten
there is no danger; for how long soever it be delayed, I will never
agree to the act till I see it inserted. If we suffer the liberty of the
freeholders to be infringed, what can we expect but to be charged with
betraying our trust, and giving up to servitude and oppression those who
deputed us to this assembly, as the guardians of their privileges, and
the asserters of their birthright; a charge too just to be denied, and
too atrocious to be borne.
Sir, the right of a freeholder is independent on every other
circumstance, and is neither made more or less by wealth or poverty: the
estate, however small, which gives a right of voting, ought to exempt
the owner from every restraint that may hinder the exertion of his
right; a right on which our constitution is founded, and which cannot be
taken away without subverting our whole establishment.
To overlook the distinctions which the fundamental laws of our country
have made in respect to different orders of men, and to regard only the
accidents of affluence and necessity, is surely unjust in itself, and
unworthy of this assembly; an assembly, sir, instituted principally to
protect the weak against the strong, and deputed to represent those, in
a collective state, who are not considerable enough to appear singly,
and claim a voice in the legislature.
To expose an honest, a laborious, and an useful man, to be seized by the
hands of an insolent officer, and dragged from the enjoyment of his
right, only because he will not violate his conscience, and add his
voice to those of sycophants, dependents, and prostitutes, the slaves of
power, the drudges of a court, and the hirelings of a faction, is the
highest degree of injustice and cruelty. Let us rather, sir, sweep away,
with an impress, the drones of large fortunes, the tyrants of villages,
and the oppressors of the poor; let us oblige those to serve their
country by force, whose fortunes have had no other effect than to make
them insolent and worthless; but let such who, by contributing to
commerce, make every day some addition to the publick wealth, be left in
the full enjoyment of the rights which they deserve: let those, by whose
labour the expenses of the war are furnished, be excused from
contributing to it by personal service.
It is necessary, sir, to have our laws established by the
representatives of the people; it is necessary that those
representatives should be freely elected; and, therefore, every law that
obstructs the liberty of voters, is contrary to the fundamental laws of
our constitution; and what multitudes may, by this law, be either
hindered from giving their votes, or be terrified into such a choice as
by no means corresponds with their judgments or inclinations, it is easy
to foresee.
I am, indeed, of opinion, sir, that this clause cannot be adapted to our
constitution, nor modified, by any expedient, into a law, which will not
lay insupportable hardships upon the nation, and make way for absolute
power. But as it is necessary that a constant supply of seamen should be
provided, I think it not improper to observe, that there is one
expedient yet remaining, by which, though it will not much assist us in
our present exigence, the fleets of this nation may hereafter be
constantly supported.
We have, at present, great numbers of charity schools established in
this nation, where the children of the poor receive an education
disproportioned to their birth. This has often no other consequences
than to make them unfit for their stations, by placing them, in their
own opinion, above the drudgery of daily labour; a notion which is too
much indulged, as idleness, cooperating with vanity, can hardly fail to
gain the ascendant, and which sometimes prompts them to support
themselves by practices not only useless, but pernicious to society.
This evil, sir, cannot be better obviated than by allotting a reasonable
proportion out of every school to the service of the sea, in which, by
entering early, they cannot fail to become proficients; and where their
attainments, which, at present, too frequently produce laziness and
dishonesty, might enable them to excel, and entitle them to promotion.
Mr. WINNINGTON replied:--Sir, notwithstanding the confidence with which
some gentlemen have proposed this amendment, and the easiness with which
others have consented to it, I declare, without hesitation, that I
oppose it now, and intend to oppose it whenever it shall be offered,
because it will defeat all the other provisions which shall be made in
the bill.
I will venture to say, sir, that if every man, who has, by whatever
tenure, the right of voting, shall be exempted from the necessity of
contributing to the publick safety by his personal service, every man
qualified for the sea will by some means acquire a vote.
Sir, a very small part of those who give their votes in this nation for
representatives in senate, enjoy that right as the appendage of a
freehold; to live in some towns, and to be born only in others, gives
the unalienable privilege of voting. Any gentleman, to secure his own
interest, or obstruct the publick service, may, by dividing a small
piece of barren ground among a hundred sailors, exalt them all to
freeholders, and exempt them from the influence of this law.
However, sir, I am not less a friend to the freeholders than those who
propose the exception in their favour, but, in my opinion, the great
interest of the freeholders is the preservation of their freeholds,
which can only be secured by a vigorous exertion of the power of the
nation, in the war which is now declared against the Spaniards.
Mr. BARRINGTON spoke next:--Sir, by the observations which I have
opportunities of making at the place which I have the honour to
represent, I am convinced of the influence that this law will have upon
all the boroughs along the coasts. There, most of the voters are, in one
sense or other, sir, seafaring men, being, almost all of them, owners of
vessels, and in some degree acquainted with navigation; they may,
therefore, be hurried away at the choice of an officious or oppressive
magistrate, who may, by partiality and injustice, obtain a majority,
contrary to the general inclination of the people, and determine the
election by his own authority.
Sir William YONGE then said:--Sir, if every freeholder and voter is to
be exempted from the influence of the law, the bill that we are with so
much ardour endeavouring to draw up and rectify, and of which the
necessity is so generally acknowledged, will be no other than an empty
sound, and a determination without an object; for while we are
empowering the government to call seamen into the service, we are
exempting almost all that are able to serve from the denomination of
seamen: what is this but to dispute without a subject? to raise with one
hand and demolish with the other?
In the western parts of the nation, sir, where I reside, many who vote
at elections claim their privilege by no other title than that of
boiling a pot; a title which he who has it not, may easily obtain, when
it will either gratify his laziness or his cowardice, and which, though
not occasionally obtained, seems not sufficient to set any man out of
the reach of a just and necessary law.
It is, therefore, sir, undoubtedly requisite that the terms of the
exception should be explicit and definitive, and that only those should
be exempted who have such possessions or qualifications as this assembly
shall think a just title to exemption. For on the western coast, from
whence great supplies may be expected, almost every sailor has a vote,
to which nothing is there required but to hire a lodging, and boil a
pot; after which, if this exception be admitted in all its latitude, he
may sit at ease amidst the distresses of his country, ridicule the law
which he has eluded, and set the magistrate at open defiance.
The PRIME MINISTER spoke next:--As I think, Sir, some exception may be
just and proper, so I suppose every gentleman will concur with me in
rejecting one of such extent as shall leave no object for the operation
of the law.
It is, in my opinion, proper to restrain the exemption to those
freeholders who are possessed of such an estate as gives a vote for the
representative of the county, by which those whose privilege arises from
their property will be secured; and it seems reasonable that those who
have privileges without property, should purchase them by their
services.
Counsellor BROWN spoke next:--Sir, the exception proposed will not only
defeat the end of the bill, by leaving it few objects, but will obstruct
the execution of it on proper occasions, and involve the magistrate in
difficulties which will either intimidate him in the exertion of his
authority, or, if he persists in discharging his duty with firmness and
spirit, will perhaps oblige him sometimes to repent of his fidelity.
It is the necessary consequence, sir, of a seaman's profession, that he
is often at a great distance from the place of his legal settlement, or
patrimonial possessions; and he may, therefore, assert of his own
circumstances what is most convenient, without danger of detection.
Distance is a security that prompts many men to falsehoods, by which
only vanity is gratified; and few men will tell truth in opposition to
their interest, when they may lie without apprehension of being
convicted.
When, therefore, a magistrate receives directions to impress all the
seamen within his district, how few will he find who will not declare
themselves freeholders in some distant county, or freemen of some
obscure borough. It is to no purpose, sir, that the magistrate
disbelieves what he cannot confute; and if in one instance in a hundred
he should be mistaken, and, acting in consequence of his errour, force a
freeman into the service, what reparation may not be demanded?
I, therefore, propose it to the consideration of the committee, whether
any man ought to claim exemption from this law by a title, that may so
readily be procured, or so safely usurped.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL spoke next:--Sir, the practice of impressing, which
has been declaimed against with such vehement exaggerations, is not only
founded on immemorial custom, which makes it part of the common law, but
is likewise established by our statutes; for I remember to have found it
in the statutes of queen Mary, and therefore cannot allow that it ought
to be treated as illegal, and anti-constitutional.
That it is not inconsistent with our constitution may be proved from the
practice of erecting the royal standard, upon great emergencies, to
which every man was obliged immediately to repair; this practice is as
old as our constitution, and as it may be revived at pleasure, may be
properly mentioned as equivalent to an impress.
Mr. VYNER answered:--This word, sir, which the learned member has by his
wonderful diligence discovered in the statutes, may perhaps be there,
but in a signification far different from that which it bears at
present. The word was, without doubt, originally French, _prĂȘt_, and
implied what is now expressed by the term _ready_; and to impress any
man was in those days only to make him _ready_, or engage him to hold
himself in _readiness_, which was brought about not by compulsion,
pursuit, and violence, but by the allurements of a pecuniary reward, or
the obligation of some ancient tenure.