each class of Officers. (h) In a charge which was also given by the superintending Magistrate, the peculiar duty of each class was explained, with the strongest injunctions to conduct themselves with purity, attention, prudence and discretion,-warning them of the vigilance with which their conduct would be watched, and the infamy and disgrace which would unquestionably follow any departure from the line of rectitude they had solemnly sworn to pursue, in case of detection, which from the system of Checks which was established, was rendered unavoidable.

The delivery of the first, and all subsequent Ships which have been placed under the care of the Institution, commenced by pasting or nailing upon the Main-mast, a printed paper in large characters, entitled a Caution against Pillage and Plunder, (i) which the Police Constables were instructed to read aloud as soon as the Lumpers and Coopers were assembled, and before they began working. (k)

At first, the necessity of adopting these and other preventive measures, and the labour of examining,

(b) See Appendix No. VI. for the Instructions to these respective Officers, and the Oaths of Office administered to each.

(i) See Appendix No. VII.

(k) Some months since, a gang of Lumpers, after coming on board to discharge a West-India Ship, quitted their employment instantly on the appearance of the Police Officers, and on their reading the Caution. The reason was afterwards discovered; they went on board for Plunder, under an impression that the Ship was not under the Police; finding themselves disappointed, they resorted to an unguarded Ship.

instructing, and bringing into a state of discipline such a number of Officers, was excessive. For although the appointments were chiefly made on the recommendations of the West-India Merchants and Ship-Owners, yet it was not to be expected where the applications were so numerous, that all who were employed could be correct characters. This important deficiency was therefore to be made up by discipline, instruction, and superintendance. It was necessary, not only to teach every man his duty; but to establish those checks which would secure the performance of it. It was a new experiment to overawe delinquents, by convincing them that in the system which was established, there existed a sufficient portion both of vigilance to detect, and of strength and resolution to seize every person detected in, or charged with the commission of crimes, and to convey them instantly before the Magistrate, whose powers are well-known to every culprit.

From the constant perambulation of the Police Boats, both by night and by day, with power to seize and apprehend delinquentsconveying stolen Property; they speedily began to see their danger. The strength opposed to them was systematic and regular. Firmmess and perseverance were the leading characteristics of the design. No relaxation of discipline could be dispensed with. The duty assigned each individual, must be carefully and punctually performed. Means existed of immediately discovering every, act of inattention or neglect. The first was noticed by

by a severe reprimand and admonition. The latter by an instantaneous dismission. It was laid down as a fixed principle, that immediate access to the Magistrates might be had wherever an occasion required, by the lowest Officer on the establishment. When a complaint was to be heard, a grievance redressed, or information to be given, theparty, without the mediation of any one, had full liberty of applying to the Magistrates who heard the whole circumstance, and such orders were made as the nature of the case required.

Hence has this new Establishment afforded an undeniable instance, to exemplify the wonderful effect of Police Institution properly systematized.

The powers which the Officers were known to possess; the control under which they acted, and their immediate connection with Magistrates, who devoted their whole attention to the object, -all these operated as a host against Criminal Confederacies. While common Watchmen, from their want of discipline and authority, excited no dread, and operated in no respect to prevent the evil, these Ship-Officers, acting under the instruction of the police Magistrates, produced an effect beyond what was possible to have been conceived, -not only in the protection of the Commercial Property, but also in the preservation of his Majesty's Revenue: while the combined strength of the Establishment contributed, in an eminent degree, to the general security of Shipping, and Commercial Property, against the iniquitous design of Incendiaries, and the dangers of Conflagrations.

CHAP. CHAP. V.

The immediate effects of the River Police Institution, in the protection afforded to West-India PropertyExemplified by a comparison of the Old and New System, in delivering the Cargoes of Ships and Vessels with Sugar, Rum, and other Colonial Articles. -The unaccountable conduct of a certain portion of the Ship Owners noticed :-Animadversions thereon. -The injuries which Property sustained, by the disposition shewn to deny every countenance to the New Police System :- The success of the design evinced, by its surmounting all difficulties:-Its utility proved by the honourable testimony of 51 reputable ShipMasters in the West-India Trade: By the public approbation of the Wharfingers: By the Resolution of the West-India Committee; and the public testimony of the Body of Planters: - A Statement of additional proofs of the benefits which have resulted from the Institution, by the general effect it has produced in over-awing and restraining the commission of acts of Delinquency, by those Classes of Aquatic Labourers who were formerly the chief Agents in facilitating the conveyance of Plunder; and by the Criminal Purchasers in the vicinity of the River :The utility of the Institution also proved, by the diminution of the Custom-house Sales: - By the Punishment of about 200 Offenders, and by the general

P

general vigilance of the System, by which in the course of the first Season, the Saving to the Individuals and the Revenue is estimated at 150,000/.

As in Military Warfare an enemy is intimidated

by the power, strength, and superior position of the opposing army so in the arrangements which are formed for the conquest of Delinquency, are impressions excited in proportion to the apparent energy of the design, and the features of vigilance, which it exhibits wherever danger is to be apprehended.

The various and extended ramifications of a System, calculated in its nature to attack at once the whole mass of Turpitude which existed, and to meet and oppose the hydra in all the different forins which it assumed, were contemplated by the enemy with a mixture of dread and malignity, which afterwards manifested itself by ebullitions of rage and disappointment.

Conscious however, of the insults which had been offered to the injured Laws of the Country, by a course of delinquency unparalleled in its extent and magnitude, the conquest became less difficult than in cases of Military Warfare.

The various classes of Offenders perceiving that every vulnerable point was guarded, felt for once

the