I. That an Account of all Shiping in imploy be given in by a day set. A penalty on Commanders imploying unregister'd Vessels. The penalties to be divided between the Informers, and to the use of married Seamen; the recovery there­of to be provided for by the speediest Methods.

II. That all Seamen between 6 and 60 Years of age offer themselves to be Re­gister'd; yearly, if required by Proclamation. To encourage Registring that all the Register'd be allow'd Smart Money and Pensions, tho' wounded, when Licensed in Merchants Ships. And this will also cause a good defence of Merchants Ships.

III. That Bounty Money be given to all that come into his Majesty's Service, by the times set.

IV. That Licenses be given each Year to as many as can be spared from his Ma­jesty's Service, which have been longest in it, to go into Merchants Ships.

V. That their Wages be stated and clear'd to them when discharged or turn'd over to another Ship.

VI. That a Moiety of their Wages be paid to their Wives, or other Assigns, eve­ry six Months, during their foreign Voyages.

VII. That all Vessels sailing with licensed Men and Register'd, shall not be li­able to any interuption or stop in their Voyages.

A Penalty on any Master entertaining an unlicensed Sea-man; an Officer to go on Board all Vessels coming in and going out of Port, and examine their Licenses; the Master refusing it, to be liable to a Penalty: The Master ob­lig'd to have a List of his Ship's Company always fixed up in some publick place of the Vessel.

Ships coming home from foreign Voyages not to be liable to the Penalties, till 20 days after they arrive in the Port they are bound to.

VIII. A Penalty on such as shall Conceal, or knowingly entertain unlicensed Seamen.

A Reward to be given to such as shall discover an unlicensed Sea-man; to be paid to the discoverer by the Collector of the next Sea-Port, and sent by the Officer who Conveys such Sea-man, with allowance for his Journey.

IX. That, for Increase of Sea-men, Licenses be given to any Land-men to serve in Merchant's Ships for two Years; who shall afterwards be oblig'd to come in­to his Majesties Service.

Land-men to bring Vouchers for their being such. A Penalty on vouching falsely; on counterfeiting Licenses, or personating another.

X. Certificates to be given to Masters of all Vessels above 50 Tuns.

XI. Certificates to be given to aged Sea-men.

THe ground is a Register with a Dicipline annexed, interwoven with En­couragements; by which all advantages to be made in the Sea Service, either in the King's or Merchants Ships, will fall to them who shall be the for­wardest in complying with their Duty.

The Register of Sailers (tho' all are commanded to it, and will find them­selves obliged by their Interest to come into it) is so far voluntary, that no [Page 2]Man that stands out will be under the Penalty of one peny, or the least corpo­ral Punishment, or any new Obligation, but being denied the advantages proposed to those who shall actually do what he refuses with the Condition of them.

The Penalties on Masters of Vessels, and some others, tho' sometimes ne­cessary, will be liable to no exception, when it shall be consider'd, that no one can be here incurr'd but by obstinacy and willfulness; and that when they shall be acquainted with the whole Course, the observance will appear so plain­ly their advantage, that all temptation to the breach thereof will cease; for that they will thereby have more Men, at all times, and on much easier terms then at present they have.

The Officers for this Service need not be formidable as to their number or charge; one Register and a Clerk will be sufficient in any out-Port to receive such as offer themselves or Vessels to be Registr'd, and to make their returns to the head Register in the Port of London; and to give out the Certificates and Licenses: And the going on Board and examination of Licenses may be performed by the Custom-house Officers used to such sort of services, with some small addition for this.

The Registring of all Shiping in imploy will be a useful measure whereby to know whether the Sailers as to their number, have complyed in Registring themselves; and for ascertaining the Masters: A pretence under which it is judged that three times the real number shelter themselves from the King's Service.

The Registring or survey of Sea-men yearly, will give a certainty of what number may be depended on for the Service of the following Year for the King, and what may be Licensed for the Merchants.

The giving Licenses to serve the Merchants, to such as have served the King, is the greatest Encouragement that can be given to Sea-men; it being the expectation of those extraordinary Gains that makes all the hiding and sculking; and 'tis therefore but just that they who have readily complyed with their Duty should have them; and not they, who by their refractories are the cause of all the difficulties the Service now labours under.

If the Reward to the discoverers of absconding Men be made equal to the Bounty Money, 'twill soon appear to them more their Interest to take it them­selves for coming into the King's service, then to let another have it for bring­ing them in.

The making the Merchants Ships the Nursery of Sea-men, as 'tis the natu­ral way, and that by which all ours have been bred, so 'tis still to be pursued: 'Tis to be seen how useless raw Men are in the King's Ships: That Men accu­stomed to easier living on Shore, cannot bear the hardships of a Sea-faring life, that therefore the giving them so long time in Merchans Ships will har­den them by degrees, and make them serviceable.

The ways in present use for imploying Sea-men either in the Kings or Mer­chants service, appear to be nothing but a confused scramble for Men; as if a thing taken up on some sudden occasion, when there was not time to use Or­der, or fall into Discipline.

'Tis the duty of all Sailers to serve the Nation in War; and for their readi­er complyance therewith, several advantages have been given them: The tra­ding Vessels to get Men for their use, outvie the King's advantages by giving greater Wages: For the gain of these, the Men hide till they think the dan­ger of a Press over; being then sure of Imployment, and double gains for their whole time: By which means the greater advantages come to them who avoid the duty.

If it be thought expedient for the King's service to give yet greater Encou­ragements, the Merchant is still ready to bid against them: So that the grea­ter the Advantages are that are given to the deserving on the King's part, it does but advance them higher to such as reserve themselves for the Merchants.

The husbandry of such conduct to the publick, which pays on both sides, I shall not insist on, but shall farther show, that this will be the consequence: For tho' it were urged that it must come to an end, for that such charge could not be born by some parts of Trade, yet when Trade is reduc'd to consist in almost nothing but what is of absolute necessity to us (how far 'tis come to­wards that I do not determine) the price must be paid let it be almost what it will: This is visible in the Trade to Newcastle, upon which the Wages are whatever they please to demand: But Penalties would be too great an advance for them at once to get over, being always liable and made the Interest of the Officers and others also to look after.

How far such offer of Advantages will prevail may appear by a late Expe­riment; when for six weeks together there was offer'd three Months pay as a Bounty, (and what Advantages can be given greater then ready Money) yet with such success to the Fleet now fitting out, as shows how little such ways alone are to be depended on.

The mischievous Effects of this growing daily more dangerous to the Na­tion, several expedients have been offer'd for redress; in which a Register is laid down as a foundation by most, tho' with some difference in the practice of it.

'Tis the opinion of some, that a voluntary Register should be established, for a set number of Men, who, 'tis expected should enter themselves into it, being prevail'd on by the Advantages and Privileges given thereby; and that all others be incapable of those Advantages, and left at their liberty to take their chance, of being press'd; or escaping it, and making their best Market on the Merchants.

Voluntariness and Liberty indeed sound well, but let it be consider'd how far they are so in this Case, and what effect they may probably have to­wards a Redress. If these Privileges be things at a distance, as the being excused from Parish-Dutys of Constable, &c. they usually weigh not much, and are things such Men think themselves little concern'd in; but a true test will be, what will they be worth in Money? (for all Advantages are are reduceable to Money, either gain'd or saved) will that be more then the Bounty-Money late offer'd? Why then should it expect a better effect? But, granting that they will come in upon it; the Traders will have so many the fewer, and they who stand out, the greater Advantage from them: What hold is there then on these Registr'd Men, but that they should run into their service? If it be answer'd, that they are Listed into the King's service, and shall be accounted Deserters, and liable to be prosecuted as such; the volun­tary Register proves nothing but a new way of Listing; and those in it under a much severer obligation, than is here offer'd; and all the circumstances will appear to be the same as before, that the greatest Advantages will accrue to them that stand out, and the hardships lie on those that do their duty.

From the foregoing Considerations, I inferr the necessity of a Discipline, with the Encouragements: By which I understand, a steady course of ob­liging all Equally to do their Duty, by giving the Encouragements to those only who actually do it; and that they may have the first Advantages, who have already that way deserved them.

I shall now show how that may be done, under the Propositions above inserted. The first step into the Register intitles them to Pensions, if hurt [Page 4]in the whole course of their Service: They have Bounty-money when they come into the King's Ships: They have their Pay when turn'd over; which is a redress of one of their greatest Grievances: And having served, such time as their Numbers found will allow for their being relieved, will have all the Advantage to be made in Merchants Service; which (tho' probably the price of Wages per Month may fall) will be to them greater Earnings than at present; for that they may with good assurance and security em­ploy their whole time, without the loss of any by hiding in Times of Press.

The manner and time of relieving, and giving out Licenses, may properly be at the time the great Ships are laid up; the Register, or Survey, having been taken the fore-part of the Year: The Licenses for the whole following Year, to be given to a proportion of each Ship's Company; the remainder, some to be kept for the relief of such as are to be licens'd out of the Cruising Frigats, when they come next into Port, and the rest to be dismiss'd with Furloes, till their attendance shall be required the next Spring.

The suffering none but licens'd Men for the Merchants, will be no hin­drance to Trade; they can now have no more than the King's Service can spare; and by this way they will have as many; and having them at all times without interruption (whereas they now hide, and lye still out of all Service half their time) it will be equal to double their number; beside the additional Provision of permitting Land-men for their Service; and being secure from having their Men taken from them in the middle of a Voyage, or when their Business most wants them. Nor need the Traders be at a stand one day; for the Men, now protected in their Service, may be allow'd the Licenses till the King's Ships come in, and then it directs others to be assigned them.

What is offer'd for the bringing Land-men into the Sea-service, is from this ground, that a War necessarily puts a great stop on some Handy-craft Trades and Manufacturers, who can turn themselves to no new thing which will bring them in better Earnings than the Merchants Service, which is an Employment that has something in it of Trade also; who, when they shall see that they may have a certainty of time, will, probably, good numbers of them take to it, who will not venture in under the apprehension of being press'd the next day.

The want of Sea-men will be every day greater, by the course of natural Mortality, which takes away a constant proportion; by the losses at Sea in Storms and Hurricanes; by Fights and Imprisonments; by the want of the usual Supply from Trading Vessels; and by the greatest of all, as to the King's Service, the improvements made in the Arts of evading the present ways of bringing them into the Service.

All which enforce the necessity of a speedy and effectual remedy; lest the Cure come too late; or an imperfect one being offer'd at, prove the same in effect as none at all; and give some Men an Apprehension that any future Attempt will be fruitless and in vain.