On the forty-fourth day, the second reading of the bill was postponed to the fiftieth; but the grand motion being debated on that day, nothing else was heard.

On the fifty-first it was again put off; but

On the fifty-sixth day, being read a second time, it was, after some opposition, referred to a committee of the whole house, to sit five days after. In the meanwhile,

On the fifty-seventh, it was ordered that the proper officers do lay before this house an account of what persons were authorized, by virtue of the act in the 4th of queen Anne, for "the encouragement and increase of seamen, and for the better and speedier manning her fleet;" to conduct seamen or seafaring men taken upon privy searches made by applications to justices; and what number of seamen or seafaring men were returned; also, the charge attending the same.

On the sixty-first day, moved that the said account should be read; which being done, the house resolved itself into a grand committee on the present bill; and the first clause being read, proposing the blanks to be filled thus: that every volunteer seamen, after five years' service, be entitled to six pounds per year, during life.

Sir John BARNARD rose, and spoke as follows:—Sir, as it is our duty to provide laws, by which all frauds and oppressions may be punished, when they are detected, we are no less obliged to obviate such practices as shall make punishments necessary; nor are we only to facilitate the detection, but take away, as far as it is possible, the opportunities of guilt. It is to no purpose that punishments are threatened, if they can be evaded, or that rewards are offered, if they may by any mean artifices be withheld.

For this reason, sir, I think it necessary to observe, that the intent of this clause, the most favourable and alluring clause in the bill, may lose its effect by a practice not uncommon, by which any man, however inclined to serve his country, may be defrauded of the right of a volunteer.

Many men have voluntarily applied to the officers of ships of war, and after having been rejected by them as unfit for the service, have been dragged on board within a few days, perhaps within a few hours afterwards, to undergo all the hardships, without the merit, of volunteers.

When any man, sir, has been rejected by the sea officers, he ought to have a certificate given him, which shall be an exemption from an impress, that if any other commander shall judge more favourably of his qualifications, he may always have the privilege of a volunteer, and be entitled to the reward which he deserved, by his readiness to enter the service.

If such provisions are not made, this hateful practice, a practice, sir, common and notorious, and very discouraging to such as would enter the service of the publick, may so far prevail, that no man shall be able to denominate himself a volunteer, or claim the reward proposed by the bill.

Admiral WAGER spoke next, to the following effect:—Sir, it is not common for men to receive injuries without applying for redress, when it may certainly be obtained. If any proceedings like those which are now complained of, had been mentioned at the board of admiralty, they had been immediately censured and redressed; but as no such accusations were offered, I think it may probably be concluded, that no such crimes have been committed.

For what purpose oppressions of this kind should be practised, it is not easy to conceive; for the officers are not at all rewarded for impressing sailors. As, therefore, it is not probable that any man acts wickedly or cruelly without temptation: as I have never heard any such injury complained of by those that suffered it, I cannot but imagine, that it is one of those reports which arise from mistake, or are forged by malice, to injure the officers, and obstruct the service.

Lord BALTIMORE rose next, and spoke to the following effect:—That the practice now complained of, sir, is very frequent, and, whatever may be the temptation to it, such as every day produces some instances of, I have reasons for asserting with great confidence. I have, within these few days, as I was accidentally upon the river, informed myself of two watermen ignominiously dragged by force into the service to which they had voluntarily offered themselves a few days before. The reasons of such oppression, it is the business of those gentlemen to inquire, whom his majesty intrusts with the care of his fleet; but to interrupt the course of wickedness, to hinder it from frustrating the rewards offered by the publick, is the province of the representatives of the people. And I hope, sir, some proviso will be made in this case.

Admiral NORRIS rose and said:—Sir, if any such practices had been frequent, to what can it be imputed, that those who employ their lives in maritime business should be strangers to them? Why have no complaints been made by those that have been injured? Or why should officers expose themselves to the hazard of censure without advantage? I cannot discover why these hardships should be inflicted, nor how they could have been concealed, and, therefore, think the officers of the navy may be cleared from the imputation, without farther inquiry.

Sir John BARNARD spoke again, to the following purpose:—Sir, it is in vain that objections are made, if the facts upon which they are founded may be denied at pleasure: nothing is more easy than to deny, because proofs are not required of a negative. But as negatives require no proof, so they have no authority, nor can any consequence be deduced from them. I might, therefore, suffer the facts to remain in their present state, asserted on one side by those that have reasons to believe them, and doubted on the other without reasons; for surely he cannot be said to reason, who questions an assertion only because he does not know it to be true.

But as every question, by which the liberty of a Briton may be affected, is of importance sufficient to require that no evidence should be suppressed by which it may be cleared, I cannot but think it proper that a committee should be formed to examine the conduct of the officers in this particular; and in confidence of the veracity of those from whom I received my information, I here promise to produce such evidence as shall put an end to controversy and doubt.

If this is not granted, sir, the fact must stand recorded and allowed; for to doubt, and refuse evidence, is a degree of prejudice and obstinacy without example. Nor is this the only objection to the clause before us, which appears very imperfect, with regard to the qualifications specified as a title to the reward. The reward ought not to be confined to those who shall hereafter be invited by the promise of it to engage in the service, while those who entered into it without any such prospect, are condemned to dangers and fatigues without a recompense. Where merit is equal, the reward ought to be equal; and, surely, where there is greater merit, the reward proposed by the senate, as an encouragement to bravery, ought not to be less. To be excluded from the advantages which others have obtained, only by avoiding the service, cannot but depress the spirit of those whose zeal and courage incited them, at the beginning of the war, to enter into the fleet; and to deject those from whom we expect defence and honour, is neither prudent nor just.

Nor is it, in my opinion, proper to offer the same reward indiscriminately to all that shall accept it; rewards ought to be proportioned to desert, and no man can justly be paid for what he cannot perform; there ought, therefore, to be some distinction made between a seaman by profession, one that has learned his art at the expense of long experience, labour, and hazard, and a man who only enters the ship because he is useless on land, and who can only incommode the sailors till he has been instructed by them.

It appears, sir, to me, a considerable defect in our naval regulations, that wages are not proportioned to ability; and I think it may not be now unseasonably proposed, that sailors should be paid according to the skill which they have acquired; a provision by which an emulation would be raised among them, and that industry excited, which now languishes for want of encouragement, and those capacities awakened which now slumber in ignorance and sloth, from the despair of obtaining any advantage by superiority of knowledge.

Sir Robert WALPOLE then rose, and spoke as follows:—That this charge, sir, however positively urged, is generally unjust, the declarations of these honourable gentlemen are sufficient to evince, since it is not probable that the injured persons would not have found some friend to have represented these hardships to the admiralty, and no such representations could have been made without their knowledge.

Yet, sir, I am far from doubting that by accident, or, perhaps, by malice, some men have been treated in this manner; for it is not in the power of any administration to make all those honest or wise whom they are obliged to employ; and when great affairs are depending, minute circumstances cannot always be attended to. If the vigilance of those who are intrusted with the chief direction of great numbers of subordinate officers be such, that corrupt practices are not frequent, and their justice such, that they are never unpunished when legally detected, the most strict inquirer can expect no more. Power will sometimes be abused, and punishment sometimes be escaped.

It is, sir, easy to be conceived that a report may become general, though the practice be very rare. The fact is multiplied as often as it is related, and every man who hears the same story twice, imagines that it is told of different persons, and exclaims against the tyranny of the officers of the navy.

But these, in my opinion, sir, are questions, if not remote from the present affair, yet by no means essential to it. The question now before us is, not what illegalities have been committed in the execution of impresses, but how impresses themselves may become less necessary? how the nation may be secured without injury to individuals? and how the fleet may be manned with less detriment to commerce?

Sir, the reward now proposed is intended to excite men to enter the service without compulsion; and if this expedient be not approved, another ought to be suggested: for I hope gentlemen are united in their endeavours to find out some method of security to the publick, and do not obstruct the proceedings of the committee, that when the fleets lie inactive and useless, they may have an opportunity to reproach the ministry.

Admiral NORRIS spoke next, in substance:—Sir, though it is not necessary to enter into an accurate examination of the gentleman's proposal, yet I cannot but observe, that by making it, he discovers himself unacquainted with the disposition of seamen, among whom nothing raises so much discontent as the suspicion of partiality. Should one man, in the same rank, receive larger wages than another, he who thought himself injured, as he who is paid less will always think, would be so far from exerting his abilities to attain an equality with his associate, that he would probably never be prevailed on to lay his hand upon the tackling, but would sit sullen, or work perversely, though the ship were labouring in a storm, or sinking in a battle.

Mr. GORE then spoke as follows:—Sir, the danger of introducing distinctions among men in the same rank, where every man that imagines his merit neglected, may have an opportunity of resenting the injury, is, doubtless, such as no prudent commander will venture to incur.

Every man, in this case, becomes the judge of his own merit; and as he will always discover some reason for the preference of another very different from superiority of desert, he will, by consequence, be either enraged or dispirited, will either resolve to desert his commander, or betray him to the enemies, or not oppose them.

I remember, sir, though imperfectly, a story which I heard in my travels, of an army in which some troops received a penny a day less than the rest; a parsimony which cost dear in the day of battle; for the disgusted troops laid down their arms before the enemy, and suffered their general to be cut in pieces.

General WADE then spoke to this effect:—Sir, I cannot but concur with the honourable gentleman in his opinion, that those who are already engaged in the service, who have borne the fatigues of a long voyage, and perhaps are, at this hour, exposing their lives in battle to defend the rights of their country, ought to have the same claim to the reward proposed, with those who shall hereafter offer themselves. Nor, in my opinion, ought those who have hitherto been pressed into our fleets to be discouraged from their duty by an exclusion from the same advantage. For if they were compelled to serve in the fleet, they were compelled when there was not this encouragement for volunteers, which, perhaps, they would have accepted if it had been then proposed, Every man, at least, will allege, that he would have accepted it, and complain he suffers only by the fault of the government; a government which he will not be very zealous to defend, while he is considered with less regard than others, from whom no greater services are expected.

A prospect of new rewards, sir, will add new alacrity to all the forces, and an equal distribution of favour will secure an unshaken and inviolable fidelity. Nothing but union can produce success, and nothing can secure union but impartiality and justice.

Mr. SANDYS rose, and spoke as follows:—Sir, the efficacy of rewards, and the necessity of an impartial distribution, are no unfruitful subjects for rhetorick; but it may, perhaps, be more useful at present to consider, with such a degree of attention as the question must be acknowledged to deserve, to whom these rewards are to be paid, and from what fund they are expected to arise.

With regard to those who are to claim the reward, sir, they seem very negligently specified; for they are distinguished only by the character of having served five years; a distinction unintelligible, without explanation.

It is, I suppose, sir, the intent of the bill, that no man shall miss the reward but by his own fault; and, therefore, it may be inquired, what is to be the fate of him who shall be disabled in his first adventure, whom in the first year, or month, of his service, an unlucky shot shall confine for the remaining part of his life to inactivity: as the bill is now formed, he must be miserable without a recompense; and his wounds, which make him unable to support himself, will, though received in defence of his country, entitle him to no support from the publick.

Nor is this the only difficulty that may arise from the specifying of so long a service; for how can any man that shall enter on board the fleet be informed that the war will continue for five years? May we not all justly hope, that alacrity, unanimity, and prudence, may, in a much shorter time, reduce our enemies to beg for peace? And shall our sailors lose the reward of their hazards and their labours, only because they have been successful? What will this be less than making their bravery a crime or folly, and punishing them for not protracting the war by cowardice or treachery?

But let us suppose, sir, those defects supplied by a more explicit and determinate specification; there will yet arise an objection far more formidable; an objection, which the present state of our revenues will not suffer to be answered. The consideration of the greatness of the annual payment which this proposal requires, ought to incite every man to employ all his sagacity in search of some other method, equally efficacious, and less expensive.

We have already, sir, forty thousand seamen in our pay, to whom eight thousand more are speedily to be added: when each of these shall demand his stipend, a new burden of two hundred and eighty-eight thousand pounds must be laid upon the nation; upon a nation, whose lands are mortgaged, whose revenues are anticipated, and whose taxes cannot be borne without murmurs, nor increased without sedition.

The nation has found, by experience, that taxes once imposed for just reasons, and continued upon plausible pretences, till they are become familiar, are afterwards continued upon motives less laudable, are too productive of influence, and too instrumental towards facilitating the measures of the ministry, to be ever willingly remitted.

Mr. BLADEN spoke next, as follows:—Sir, it is obvious, that when the balance is unequal, it may be reduced to an equilibrium, as well by taking weight out of one scale, as adding it to the other. The wages offered by the merchants overbalance, at present, those which are proposed by the crown; to raise the allowance in the ships of war, will be, to lay new loads upon the publick, and will incommode the merchants, whose wages must always bear the same proportion to the king's. The only method, then, that remains, is to lighten the opposite scale, by restraining the merchants from giving wages, in time of war, beyond a certain value; for, as the service of the crown is then more immediately necessarv to the general advantage than that of the merchants, it ought to be made more gainful. Sailors, sir, are not, generally, men of very extensive views; and, therefore, we cannot expect that they should prefer the general good of their country before their own present interest; a motive of such power, that even in men of curious researches, refined sentiments, and generous education, we see, too often, that it surmounts every other consideration.

Lord BALTIMORE then spoke again:—Sir, to the expedient which the honourable gentleman who spoke last has suggested, and which he must be confessed to have placed in the strongest light, many objections may be raised, which I am afraid will not easily be removed.

The first, sir, which occurs to me on this short reflection is not less than the impossibility of putting his scheme in execution. The prescription of wages which he proposes, may be eluded by a thousand artifices, by advanced money, by gratuitous acknowledgments, the payment of money for pretended services, or by secret contracts, which it would be the interest of both parties to conceal.

But if this objection could be surmounted by severity and vigilance, would not this expedient help to defeat the general intention of the bill? A bill not designed as an immediate resource, a mere temporary project to supply our fleets for the present year, but as a method for removing the only obstruction of the British power, the difficulty of manning our ships of war.

It is, I hope, sir, the intention of every man who has offered his sentiments on this occasion, to contrive some general encouragement for seamen, which shall not only invite them to assist their country at the first summons, but shall allure others to qualify themselves for the publick service, by engaging in the same profession.

This is only to be done by making the condition of sailors less miserable, by entitling them to privileges, and honouring them with distinctions. But by limiting the merchant's wages, if such limitations are, indeed, possible, though we may palliate the present distress, we shall diminish the number of sailors, and thereby not only contract our commerce but endanger our country.

Mr. TRACEY spoke next, to the following effect:—Sir, I know not for what reasons the present method of advancing rewards at entrance is practised, of which, however specious it might appear, the success by no means encourages the continuance. The sailors, though not a generation of men much disposed to reflection, or qualified for ratiocination, are not yet so void of thought as not easily to perceive that a small increase of constant wages is of more value than several pounds to be paid only at once, and which are squandered as soon as they are received.

Instead, therefore, of restraining the wages of the merchants, it seems probable, that by raising those of the king, we may man the fleet with most expedition; and one method of raising the wages will be to suppress the advanced money.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL spoke next:—Sir, if the sum of money now paid by way of advance can be supposed to have any effect, if it can be imagined that any number of seamen, however inconsiderable, are allured by it into the fleet, it is more usefully employed than it can be supposed to be when sunk into the current wages, and divided into small payments.

The advance money is only paid to those that enter: if no volunteers present themselves, no money is paid, and the nation doth not suffer by the offer: but if the wages are raised, the expense will be certain, without the certainty of advantage; for those that enter voluntarily into the fleet, will receive no more than those that are forced into it by an impress; and therefore there will be no incitement to enter without compulsion. Thus every other inconvenience will remain, with the addition of a new burden to the nation; our forces will be maintained at a greater expense, and not raised with less difficulty.

Lord BALTIMORE said:—Sir, I cannot but concur in opinion with the honourable gentleman who spoke last, from my own acquaintance with the sentiments and habits that unalterably prevail among those who have been accustomed to the sea, a race of men to the last degree negligent of any future events, and careless about any provision against distant evils; men who have no thoughts at sea, but how to reach the land; nor at land, but how to squander what they have gained at sea. To men like these, it may easily be imagined that no encouragement is equal to the temptation of present gain, and the opportunity of present pleasure.

Of this any man, sir, may convince himself, who shall talk to a crew but half an hour; for he shall find few among them, who will not, for a small sum of present money, sell any distant prospect of affluence or happiness.

Whether I am mistaken in my opinion, the honourable members who have long commanded in the naval service can easily determine, and I doubt not but they will agree that no motive can be proposed to a sailor equivalent to immediate reward.

Sir William YONGE spoke next:—Sir, that some distinction ought to be made to the advantage of volunteers, if we intend to man our fleet without compulsion, is obvious and incontestable; and to avoid the necessity of compulsion ought to be the chief end of this bill; for nothing can be less to the advantage of the nation, than to continue the use of such ungrateful methods, and yet increase the publick expense.

We ought, therefore, in my opinion, to determine upon some peculiar reward, either to be advanced upon their entrance into the service, or paid at their dismission from it.

But as I see, sir, no reason for hoping that all the encouragement which can be offered, will raise volunteers in a sufficient number to secure our navigation, and assert our sovereignty, it seems not proper to confine our consultations to this part of the bill; for since compulsion is on many occasions apparently necessary, some method requires to be considered, in which it may be legal.

What new power ought to be placed in the magistrate, for what time, and with what restrictions, I am far from assuming the province of determining; but that some measures must be taken for compelling those who cannot be persuaded, and discovering those that will not offer themselves, cannot admit of doubt; and as the magistrate is at present without any authority for this purpose, it is evident that his power must be extended, for the same reason as it was given in its present degree—the general benefit of the whole community.

Sir John BARNARD then spoke to the following effect:—Sir, if the intent of this bill be to enable one part of the nation to enslave the other; if the plausible and inviting professions of encouraging and increasing seamen, are to terminate in violence, constraint, and oppression; it is unnecessary to dwell longer upon particular clauses. The intention of the bill is detestable, and deserves not the ceremony of debate, or the forms of common regard.

If a man, sir, is liable to be forced from the care of his own private affairs, from his favourite schemes of life, from the engagements of domestick tenderness, or the prospects of near advantage, and subjected, without his consent, to the command of one whom he hates, or dreads, or perhaps despises, it requires no long argument to show, that by whatever authority he is thus treated, he is reduced to the condition of a slave, to that abject, to that hateful state, which every Englishman has been taught to avoid at the hazard of his life.

It is therefore evident, that a law which tends to confer such a power, subverts our constitution as far as its effects extend; a constitution, which was originally formed as a barrier against slavery, and which one age after another has endeavoured to strengthen.

Such a power, therefore, in whatever hands it may be lodged, I shall always oppose. It is dangerous, sir, to intrust any man with absolute dominion, which is seldom known to be impartially exercised, and which often makes those corrupt, and insolent, whom it finds benevolent and honest.

The bill proposes only encouragement, and encouragement may be given by his majesty, without a new law; let us, therefore, draw up an address, and cease to debate, where there is no prospect of agreement.

Mr. WINNINGTON spoke as follows:—Sir, the payment of an annual salary will, in my opinion, be to the last degree inconvenient and dangerous. The yearly expense has been already estimated, and arises to a sum very formidable in our present state. Nor is the necessity of adding to the publick burden, a burden which already is hard to be borne, the only objection to this proposal.

Nothing can more contribute to dispirit the nation, than to protract the consequences of a war, and to make the calamity felt, when the pleasures of victory and triumph have been forgotten; we shall be inclined rather to bear oppression and insult than endeavour after redress, if we subject ourselves and our posterity to endless exactions.

The expenses of the present provision for superannuated and disabled sailors, is no inconsiderable tax upon the publick, which is not less burdened by it for the manner of collecting it by a deduction from the sailors' wages; for, whoever pays it immediately, it is the ultimate gift of the nation, and the utmost that can be allowed for this purpose.

It must be confessed, sir, the persons entitled to the pension are not sufficiently distinguished in the bill; by which, as it now stands, any of the worthless superfluities of a ship, even the servants of the captains, may, after five years, put in their demand, and plunder that nation which they never served.

Nor do I think, sir, the efficacy of this method will bear any proportion to the expense of it; for I am of opinion, that few of the sailors will be much affected by the prospect of a future pension. I am, therefore, for dazzling them with five pounds, to be given them at their entrance, which will be but a single payment, and probably fill our fleets with greater expedition, than methods which appear more refined, and the effects of deeper meditation.

Lord GAGE spoke in the following manner:—Sir, nothing is more clear than that a yearly pension will burden the nation, without any advantage; and as it will give occasion to innumerable frauds, it is a method which ought to be rejected.

As to the new power, sir, which is proposed to be placed in the hands of the magistrates, it undoubtedly reduces every sailor to a state of slavery, and is inconsistent with that natural right to liberty, which is confirmed and secured by our constitution. The bill, therefore, is, in my opinion, defective in all its parts, of a tendency generally pernicious, and cannot be amended but by rejecting it.

Mr. Henry PELHAM spoke next, to this effect:—Sir, I cannot but think it necessary, that on this occasion, at least, gentlemen should remit the ardour of disputation, and lay the arts of rhetorick aside; that they should reserve their wit and their satire for questions of less importance, and unite, for once, their endeavours, that this affair may meet with no obstructions but from its natural difficulty.

We are now, sir, engaged in a war with a nation, if not of the first rank in power, yet by no means contemptible in itself; and, by its alliances, extremely formidable. We are exposed, by the course of our trade, and the situation of our enemies, to many inevitable losses, and have no means of preventing our merchants from being seized, without any danger or expense to the Spaniards, but by covering the sea with our squadrons.

Nor are we, sir, to satisfy ourselves with barely defeating the designs of the Spaniards; our honour demands that we should force them to peace upon advantageous terms; that we should not repulse, but attack them; not only preserve our own trade and possessions, but endanger theirs.

It is by no means certain, sir, that in the prosecution of these designs we shall not be interrupted by the interest or jealousy of a nation far more powerful, whose forces we ought, therefore, to be able to resist.

A vigorous exertion of our strength will probably either intimidate any other power that may be inclined to attack us, or enable us to repel the injuries that shall be offered: discord and delay can only confirm our open enemies in their obstinacy, and animate those that have hitherto concealed their malignity to declare against us.

It is, therefore, sir, in no degree prudent to aggravate the inconveniencies of the measures proposed for accomplishing what every man seems equally to desire; to declaim against the expedients offered in the bill as pernicious, unjust, and oppressive, contributes very little to the production of better means. That our affairs will not admit of long suspense, and that the present methods of raising seamen are not effectual, is universally allowed; it, therefore, evidently follows, sir, that some other must be speedily struck out.