Chap. IX.

during the Reign os §tueen Ann.

CHAP, IX.

Naval Expeditions and 'Transactions of the English* with other Occurrences *

during the Tear 1706.

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I S H A L L begin my Relation of theTransactions of this Year, by men-tioning two or three at Home. TheYear was ulhered in with theThanks of the House of Gammons to theDuke of Marlborough, for his great Ser-vices performed to Her Majesty, andthe Nation, in the last Campaign, andfor his prudent Negociations with HerMajesty’s Allies. The eleventh of Fe-bruary, Her Majesty declared, in Coun-cil, the Port of Gibraltar to be a freePort, and ordered Directions to be sentto the Governour accordingly.

It appearing, in the Month of March,that no less than near twelve Thousandabout Seamen were wanting, to man Her Ma-°f jesty’s Navy, Both Houses of Parliament,. zy ' severally, took that important Affairinto Consideration, and, on the four-teenth, the Commons, after some Timespent therein, came to several Resolu-tions. (a)

A Squadron of Men of War, underthe Command of Sir Edward Whitaher,being appointed to convoy the Yachts,with the Duke of Marlborough, and 0-ther Persons of Distinction to Holland,they departed, the eleventh of April,from the Gunfieet , and the fourteenth,in the Morning, left the Yachts withthe Centurion Man of Wat, going intothe Maefe.

Th e sixteenth of the same Month,the Lords Commissioners of England andScotland, for treating of a Union be-tween the two Kingdoms, had theired - first Meeting, at the Cockpit, White-hall. A Matter of so great Importance,

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that it had been attempted almost in e-very Reign, from that of Henry VIII.down to the Glorious Reign of QueenAnn> in which it was brought to Perfec-tion, the Lords Commissioners having,after four and forty Meetings, two ofwhich Her Majesty honoured with HerRoyal Presence, agreed upon the Ar-ticles of the Union, and after having in-terchangeably signed and sealed the In-struments thereof, the twenty-second ofJuly, presented them, the next Day,to Her Majesty, in Order to be laid be-fore the Parliaments of both Kingdoms,for their Approbation.

I shall now only just mention theBattle of Ramifies, on the twelfth ofMay, in which the Armies of Her Ma-jesty and Her Allies, under the GreatDuke of Marlborough, obtained a Com-pleat Victory over the French ; Butwithout entering into a Detail of theCircumstances of that Glorious Day,shall return to the Fleet.

Sir John Leakeb Proceedings on theCoaf of Portugal, and in the Mediter-ranean, the Earl o/’Peterborough con-tinuing Admiral of the Fleet.

Towards the Conclusion of the fore-going Chapter, we left the valiant andfortunate Sir John Leake, with a Squa-dron of Englijh and Dutch Ships, underhis Command, on the Coast of Catalo-nia, After a tedious Passage, of thir-teen Weeks, he arrived in the River of- Lisbon , pretty much streightned for

Provisions,

TWals of (a) They resolved, (1.) That in Order toVAnn. man the Navy, for this Year, the Justices ofPeace, and other Civil Magistrates, be impower’dand directed to make Search after Sea-men thatlay concealed. (2.) That the said Justices and Ci-vil Magistrates cause such Seamen, when found,to be delivered to such Persons, as should be ap-pointed to receive them. (3.) That a Penalty belaid on such Persons as should presume to . concealSeamen. (4.) That a Reward be given to suchPersons as should discover and take up such hid-den Seamen, (y) That Conduct Mony be allow-ed. (6.) That Sea-men being turned over fromone Ship to another should receive the Wages dueon the former Ship. ('/•) That able-bodied Land-men be raised for the Sea-Service. To bring theseResolutions to Effect, They ordered,^ that theCommittee, to whom the Bill for the Encourage-

ment and Encrease of Seamen, &c. was commit-ted, should have Power to receive a Clause orClauses pursuant thereunto, and to receive aClause for discharging of such Seamen, and otherInsolvent Persons, as were in Prison for Debt,and delivering them into Her Majesty's Service,on Board the Fleet: Which, being pass'd into anAct, received the Royal Assent on the nineteenthsThe same Day, the Lords address’d Her Majestyon the fame Subject, praying Her to take it intoHer Royal Care, and employ proper Persons toconsider of effectual Means to restore the Disci-pline of the Navy, in Order to be laid before theParliament the Beginning of the next Session. Pur-suant to which Her Majesty, a few Days after,caused a long Proclamation to be published, forthe better putting in Execution, the Act of Parli-ment abovesa id.