The siderable degree wherever Trade is carried on. Legislative System therefore, which has been proposed to prevent these Depredations, and which is particularly explained in the Eighth and Ninth Chapters, cannot fail to be interesting and useful to every Commercial Port in the British Empire, inasmuch as the remedies which are suggested, are in many respects applicable to every situation, and to most circumstances which are likely to occur. A source of general information, (in many respects new,) respecting the various authorities under whose jurisdiction the Police of the River is conducted, will be found detailed in the Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Chapters; while the Penal Laws which attach to Maritime Offences, and particularly to Local Injuries, as they relate to the Thames below and above London Bridge, cannot fail to be useful and interesting; and to those who follow Nautical Pursuits, the Abridged View of the Statutes applicable to these affairs, detailed in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Chapters, and the General Laws and Regulations of the Port of London, which are comprised in the Seventeenth Chapter, (a Compendium never before published,) can hardly fail to be acceptable, since every material duty to be performed, and every evil to be avoided, is brought within a very narrow compass. For the purpose of securing purity, and regular and proper conduct on the part of the Officers under the Marine Police Establishment, a perusal of the Instructions under which the various Classes act, as detailed in the Appendix, No. VII. will shew the labour which has been bestowed in systematizing this part of the design, for the purpose of rendering their services effective and useful. The Author has endeavoured in this Work, to draw a circle round every object that can be considered in any degree useful to the Commerce and Navigation of the River Thames; and under an impression that all that can be considered important or necessary will be found within this Circle, he humbly hopes, that his anxious labours to promote the interest and extend the security of the Public, will not prove in vain. He has only to regret, that in an investigation so laborious and extensive, where much time and attention is necessary, the numerous interruptions he has experienced in consequence of the various Public Duties he has been called upon to perform, may have unavoidably occasioned imperfections, which, under other circumstances, could neither have occurred nor furnished an excuse for soliciting the indulgence of the Reader. With respect however to the legal part of the Work, where the danger of misleading the Public is not only obvious, but would in this or any other instance be unpardonable, the utmost attention has been bestowed with respect to the accuracy of the Abridgements of the Statute Laws, thefe being stript of many of those terms which are not familiar to common Readers, it may be hoped, will prove beneficial in conveying that species of useful knowledge to Commercial and Nautical People, which could not otherwise be easily obtained, while it furnishes a kind of Index to the principal Statutes at large, which relate to Navigation, Commerce, and Nautical Offences, in all instances where interest or curiosity impels the mind to pursue more elaborate researches. Where Offences are exposed, and various classes of Individuals implicated in the details which are given in this Work, it is from a genuine desire to warn those whose errors and vices are brought under the review of the Public, against a repetition of the same evil courses. It is not punishment in any case, but prevention in all, which has stimulated the Author to record those various proceedings which constitute the mass of turpitude, which has so long afflicted the Trade of the River Thames. A hope source of the most genuine gratification : Nor ought he to be suspected of insincerity or motives of a personal nature, since the efforts which are exemplified and explained in this Treatise, have attached to him no personal advantage; while at the same time, he is not a candidate for any situation however elevated, in the System he has proposed. Whether his efforts relate to the formation of the important design of a River Police, or to the Work now offered with all possible deference to the consideration of the Public, he can only in general. state, that he has spared no labour to render both as far as circumstances would admit-beneficial to the Commerce, Navigation, and Revenue of the Port of London, and (he hopes) generally useful to his. Country. Westminster, May 20, 1800. Introduction.. CONTENTS. Rise and progress of the Commerce of the River Thames. A short account of the various Chartered Companies for Foreign Trade.- The progress and increase of the Navigation, and of the Shipping and Tonnage, in the Foreign and Coasting Trade, at different periods in the course of the Century.-A Gene- ral View of the present state of the Shipping, Vessels and Boats, in number 22,500, and the manner in which they are employed.—Reca- pitulation of the whole Commerce and Shipping of the River Thames in 1798, and of the Property remaining stationary therein.-The annual amount of the whole calculated at above seventy-five Millions Sterling of Property ex- posed to Depredation.-General Observations on the present Harbour of the Port of London. -Arrangements with respect to Shipping and Craft in the various Trades.-The extent and magnitude of the Coal Trade.-The average |