: To those who, by their influence in the State, stimulated by true Patriotism and a Love of their Country, shall, at the present, or any future Period, carry into Effect the Designs which are proposed for giving Permanency, Utility, and Success to the Institution of A RIVER POLICE, for securing Commercial Property, in the Port of London, against the unexampled Depredations which have been heretofore experienced, and improving the Morals of the Maritime Labourers, This Work is humbly, and Respectfully dedicated, by THE AUTHOR. (-13 Grant .5-22-25 11760 PREFACE. T HE importance of the Work now offered to the consideration of the Public, can only be appreciated by a General Review of the various matter it contains. The Subject is in many respects new; while the Details which are given will be found interesting in no common degree; inasmuch as the renovation of the Morals of a numerous body of Individuals, and the protection of vast masses of Commercial Property against Fraud and Depredation, is the principal object in view. In discussing a great variety of topics, which will come under the review of the Reader in this Treatise, almost every rank of Society will find beneficial Information; but particularly those Classes who are concerned in Navigation and Commerce, and who follow Nautical Pursuits. From the numerous ramifications of a Commercial intercourse of unexampled extent and magnitude, 2 multitudes multitudes of Individuals concerned in different kinds of Property exposed to danger on the River Thames, become more or less interested. In fact, it may be said to affect a considerable proportion of the men of Property in the whole of the Metropolis, and almost every person engaged in Commercial and Nautical Pursuits in every part of the British Empire, since all are exposed, more or less, to the injuries and inconveniences which the suggestions contained in this Work are meant to remove and to prevent. To judge accurately respecting the numerous Public wrongs, which are detailed in this Volume, the Reader is referred to the unexampled magnitude of the Navigation and Commerce of the Port, as exemplified in the First Chapter; and also to the account of the nature and extent of the Depredations and Injuries as recorded in the Second, Third, and Fourth Chapters. For the purpose of forming an opinion of the remedies which have been applied, and the success of an experiment attempted under many disadvantages, recourse must be had to the details which are given in the Fifth and Sixth Chapters. It will be seen in the Seventh Chapter, that it is not the Port of London alone which has experienced the injuries arising from Depredations on Commercial Property, but that it prevails in a con siderable i siderable degree wherever Trade is carried on. The 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. |