Action; which Assessment shall be made and levied as in cases of Robberies.

To prevent frivolous and vexatious Actions against Revenue Officers, by which they are peculiarly liable to be harassed, it is enacted, by § 25 of the Stat. 28 Geo. III. cap. 37; that no Writ shall be sued out against any Officer of Customs or Excise, or against any person acting by their order, in their aid, for any thing done in execution of their duty, until one month after notice in writing, shall have been delivered to them, or left at their abode, by the Attorney for the person who intends to sue out such Writ; in which notice shall be clearly contained, the cause of action, the name and abode of the person in whose name such Action is to be brought, and the name and abode of the Attorney; on which the Officer may tender amends, &c. as in the case of Actions against Justices of Peace.

THUS while the Author has had occasion, in the course of this Work, to deplore the injuries sustained by the Revenue and the Public, from the loose conduct of not a few of the inferior Officers of the Customs and Excise, he has felt it his duty, in this and the succeeding Chapter, to submit to the Reader, and particularly to the consideration of those engaged in Commercial and Nautical Pursuits, a Summary View of what is incumbent on the several Parties to perform: perform :-The powers with which Revenue Officers are invested; and the danger of resisting their lawful authority. In the foregoing detail of these Duties and Powers, the Functions of the Civil Magistrates, to whom Appeals are to be made wherever Grievances are suffered, is a strong proof, among many others, of the utility and necessity of a well-regulated River Police, not more for the purpose of restraining and preventing the Commission of Crimes, than for securing the rights of Innocence, and protecting upright Officers in the lawful discharge of their duty.

CHAP. XV.

Further Regulations of PENAL POLICE on the River Thames, which may be enforced by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, as Magistrates; and by other Justices of Peace, acting for the Cities and Counties adjoining the River. Respecting WATERMEN plying on the Thames; their Apprentices, Boats, &c. Gravesend Boats. The catching and selling FISH. The Importation and Sale of COALS.Security against Accidents from GUN-POWDER, FIRE, &c. on the River.-Rules and Penalties under the WET-DOCK Аст. -The Acts respecting the Navigation of the Thames, WESTWARD OF LONDON,

In addition to the various Regulations already detailed in the preceding Chapters, there remain to be noticed certain subjects of considerable importance to the Police of the River Thames and the Port of London; and which depend on the positive enactments of a multiplicity of Statutes, giving jurisdiction over Offences, on or near the River, to Magistrates in the adjoining Counties of Middlesex, Surry, Kent, and Essex. These, therefore, it becomes useful and important to bring under the Review of the Public,

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Public, in as concise a manner as may be, consistent with explaining the grounds and reasons on which those Laws have originated, and the Evils which they were intended to remedy.

The Laws thus to be considered may be arranged under the following heads :

I. The Acts relative to WATERMEN on the River
Thames: Their Apprentices: Their Boats:
And the Gravesend Boats.

II. The Acts for preventing Frauds and Mono-
polies injurious to the Public, in the Importa-
tion and Sale of FISH.

III. The Acts regulating the Importation and Sale of COALS; and the Conduct of Colliers on the River.

V. Such Acts as inflict Penaltics and Punishments on carelessness with respect to GUNPOWDER, FIRE, &C.

V. The Provisions of the WET-DOCK ACT not
noticed in any of the former Chapters; as far
as they relate to the improvement of the Navi-
gation, and the security of the Docks and
Works.

VI. The Acts respecting the Navigation of the
Thames WESTWARD of London exclusively.

An account of such Maritime Regulations and
Offences, as respect the River Thames and Port of
London,

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London, in common with the other Ports of England, and nautical affairs in general, shall be reserved for a subsequent Chapter; which will be found important, not only to Merchants, Ship-Owners, and Seafaring persons, but to all who take an interest in the Welfare of this Commercial Metropolis; and to whom a general and summary view of the Penal Statutes which have been made for the Security of their Persons and Property, must be useful for the purpose of guarding them against convictions for Offences, of which it is to be feared that few are sufficiently aware.

I. RESPECTING WATERMEN.

The following Preamble to the Statute 2 and 3 Phil. and Mary, cap. 16. will shew the state of the Watermen on the River Thames, previous to the interference of the Legislature on the subject.

"Whereas heretofore for lack of good Govern ment and due Order amongst Wherrymen and Watermen exercising, using, and occupying Rowing upon the River of Thames, there have divers and many misfortunes and mischances happened and chanced of late years past, to a great number of the King and Queen's subjects, as well to the nobility as to other the common people, that have passed and repassed, and been carried by water, by reason of the rude, ignorant, and unskilful number of Water

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