to take charge of any English vessel afterwards. And if the ship is released, and any thing given by the pirates to the master, such gift and his share of the ship are to go to the owners of the goods. And any ship of less burthen or force than before-mentioned, is forbidden to yield to a Turkish pirate, not

direct acts of aid or assistance, or by encouragement or incitement, are in contemplation of law guilty of the offence. Their conduct, under such circumstances, amounts to an endeavor to commit a revolt, by overthrowing for the time the lawful authority of the commanding officer of the ship. U. States v. Morrison, 1 Sumner, 448.

The offences of mutiny and revolt, of an attempt at mutiny and revolt, and confining the master, have been further defined and punished by the Act of U. States, 3d March, 1835, ch. 313, which is as follows.

Sec. 1. That if any one or more of the crew of any American ship or vessel on the high seas, or on any other waters within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, shall unlawfully, wilfully, and with force, or by fraud, threats, or other intimidations, usurp the command of such ship or vessel from the master or other lawful commanding officer thereof, or deprive him of his authority and command on board thereof, or resist or prevent him in the free and lawful exercise thereof, or transfer such authority and command to any other person not lawfully entitled thereto, every such person so offending, his aiders or abettors, shall be deemed guilty of a revolt or mutiny and felony; and shall on conviction thereof be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars; and by imprisonment and confinement to hard labor not exceeding ten years, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence. And the offence of making a revolt in the ship, which now is, under and in virtue of the Act of Congress, passed the thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety, punishable as a capital offence, shall, from and after the passage of this Act, be no longer punishable as a capital offence, but shall be punished in the manner prescribed in the present Act, and not otherwise.

Sec. 2. That if any one or more of the crew of any American ship or vessel on the high seas, or any other waters, within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, shall endeavor to make a revolt or mutiny on board such ship or vessel, or shall combine, conspire, or confederate with any other person or persons on board to make such revolt or mutiny, or shall solicit, incite, or stir up any other or others of the crew to disobey or resist the lawful orders of the master, or other officer of such ship or vessel, or to refuse or neglect their proper duty on board thereof, or shall unlawfully confine the master or other commanding officer thereof, every such person so offending shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence.

If the person, substituted as master, in case of the death, removal, or resignation of the original master, be grossly incompetent to the duties of his station, from want of skill or bad habits, or profligate and cruel behavior, the seamen may be justified in refusing to do duty, or to remain by the ship. So held on an indictment for an endeavor to commit a revolt under the Act of Congress of 1835, ch. 40, § 2. U. States v. Cassedy, 2 Sumner, 582.

So, where there is a deviation from the voyage in the shipping articles. U. States v. Matthews, 2 Sumner, 470.

It was held, in the case of The U. States v. Rogers, 3 Sumner, 342, that a ship, engaged in a whaling voyage, without having surrendered her register, or taken out an enrollment and license, pursuant to the Act of 1793, ch. 52, was not an American ship, within the purview of the Act of 1835, ch. 40, and that an indictment would not hold under this Act, against the crew of such ship, for an endeavor to make a revolt. But the Act of U. States, 4 April, 1840, ch. 6, has made registers lawful and sufficient papers for vessels engaged in the whale fisheries. See Appendix. >

having double her number of guns, without fighting (b); an extraordinary instance of the courage and skill which the Legislature of those times attributed to English seamen, and which the exploits of succeeding generations have so often and so gloriously exemplified!

*By the same statute it is enacted, "That if the mariners or inferior officers of any English ship, laden with goods and merchandises as aforesaid, shall decline or refuse to fight and defend the ship, when they shall be thereunto commanded by the master or commander thereof, or shall utter any words to discourage the other mariners from defending the ship, every mariner who shall be found guilty of declining or refusing as aforesaid, shall lose all his wages due to him, together with such goods as he hath in his ship, and suffer imprisonment, not exceeding the space of six months, and shall during such *time be kept to hard labor for his or their maintenance "(c).

(6) 16 Car. 2, c. 6, and 22 & 23 Car. 2, c. 11. (c) 22 & 23 Car. 2, c. 11, s. 7.

OF THE LAWS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF MERCHANT SEAMEN; AND HEREIN,

(Ss.)1. Legal Provision for Seamen disabled in fight with Pirates and Enemies.

2. Corporation erected for the relief of maimed and disabled Seamen, and of the Widows and Children of Seamen

killed, slain, or drowned in the Merchant Service, or who have contributed to the fund raised for that purpose.

3. Provisions for the relief of Seamen falling sick at Sea, hurt in performance of their duty, or shipwrecked or captured. 4. Punishment of Master forcing Mariner on shore, or wrongfully leaving him behind.

1. THE Legislature has not been less studious to reward and provide for deserving mariners, than to punish the fraudulent or the fearful.

To this purpose it has been enacted (a), "That when any English ship shall have been defended against any pirates, enemies, or sea-rovers by fights, and brought to her designed port, in which fight any of the officers or seamen shall have been killed or wounded, it shall or may be lawful to and for the Judge of His Majesty's High Court of Admiralty, or his Surrogate in the port of London, or the mayor, bailiff, or chief officer in the several out-ports of this kingdom, upon the petition of the master or seamen of such ship, so defended as

aforesaid, to call unto him four or more good and sub[† 190] stantial merchants, and such as are no † adventurers or owners of the ship or goods so defended, and have no manner of interest therein, and by advice with them to raise and levy upon the respective adventurers and owners of the ship and goods so defended, by process out of the said Court, such sum or sums of money, as himself and the said

(a) 11 & 12 Wm. 3, c. 7, s. 11. See also 22 & 23 Car. 2, c. 11, s. 10.

By the Hanseatic Ordinance, art. 53, a seaman disabled in defending a ship against rovers, is to be maintained during

his life at the common charge of the concerned in a general average. And the Hanseatic Ordinance is of the year 1614 to the same effect. Tit. 14, art. 3.

merchants by plurality of voices shall determine and judge reasonable, not exceeding two pounds per centum of the freight, and of the ship and goods so defended, according to the first cost of the goods; which sum or sums of money, so raised, shall be distributed among the captain, master, officers and seamen of the said ship, or widows and children of the slain, according to the direction of the Judge of the said Court, or his Surrogate in the port of London, or the mayor, bailiff, or chief officer in the several out-ports of this kingdom, with the approbation of the merchants aforesaid, who shall proportion the same according to their best judgment unto the ship's company as aforesaid, having special regard unto the widows and children of such as shall have been slain in that service, and such as have been wounded or maimed." (1)

By two subsequent statutes, seamen in the merchants' service disabled in fight against a pirate (b), or enemy (c), were to be admitted into and provided for in Greenwich Hospital, the great asylum for decayed and disabled seamen belonging to the royal navy.

*2. But that hospital being found insufficient for this addition to the primary objects of its institution, another national establishment was erected by the 20 Geo. 2, c. 38, by which act a corporation was created, composed chiefly of eminent merchants, by the name of "The President and Governors for the relief and support of maimed and disabled seamen, and the widows and children of such as shall be killed, slain, or drowned in the merchants' service." To this corporation the management of the fund to be raised under the provisions of the Act was entrusted, with power to purchase land and erect an hospital, to supply vacancies that might occur in the places of president, assistants, governors, and members, and for making and altering the by-laws, constitutions, and ordinances of the said corporation.

This statute, except so much of it as is above stated, was repealed by the 4 & 5 Wm. 4, c. 52; and by this latter Act it is now provided, "That the said president and gov

ernors, and their † successors, shall and may provide [† 191] in such their hospital, for the reception of such seamen

as shall be rendered incapable of service by sickness, wounds, or other accidental misfortunes, and those who shall become *decrepid or worn out by age; or shall provide for such sea

(b) 8 Geo. 1, c. 24.

(c) 8 Geo. 2, c. 29, s. 10.

(1) There is no corresponding provision in our law. >

*men by allowing them certain pensions, or otherwise, as shall seem meet and most for the advantage of the said charity, and also relieve the widows and children of such seamen as shall be killed, slain, or drowned in the said service, and also relieve the widows and children of such seamen as shall die after having contributed, during a term of twenty-one years, to the funds of the corporation, provided such children are not of the age of fourteen years, or, if of that age or upwards, not capable of getting a livelihood, by reason of lameness, blindness, or other infirmities, and are proper objects of charity: and also relieve the widows and children (such children being proper objects of charity as aforesaid) of such seamen as, at the time of their death, shall have been receiving, or have been entitled to receive pensions, under and by virtue of this act, from the fund to be created, as decrepid or worn-out seamen; and that no seaman shall be provided for, by a pension or otherwise, as decrepid or worn-out, unless such seaman shall have served in the merchant service for the space of five years, and shall have, during that time, paid the contribution required to be paid by the act of the 20 Geo. 2, or by this act "(d). And in providing for this class, a preference is to be given to such as have served longest and contributed most (e).

To provide a fund for this charitable institution, all masters of merchant ships, and owners working their own ships, are to pay two shillings per month, and all seamen or other persons employed in any merchant ship, one shilling per month (ƒ). The master is to deduct this monthly duty from the wages of the seamen, and to pay it, as also the amount due and owing from himself, to the receivers appointed under the authority of the act (g). And in order to ascertain the times of service and payment of the contribution, the master, or other person having care of the ship, must keep a muster roll or account of the ship's company, in a form prescribed by the Act, and signed by himself, in which shall be entered

his own Christian and surname, and the Christian [† 192] and surnames of all the officers, seamen, and other persons employed in the ship, and against each name, the age, place of birth, and quality of such seaman, or other person, and the time and place when he entered into the service of such ship or vessel. He must also, during the whole course of the voyage, continue to keep the muster roll, and from time to time enter therein when and where any such *master, officer, seaman, or other person, shall be discharged (d) 4 & 5 Wm. 4, c. 52, s. 2. (e) Sect. 25. (f) Sects. 5 & 6. (g) Sect. 7.