The captain of the convoy may be, therefore, harassed by them
with prosecutions, in which it may be difficult to make his innocence
appear. The convoy may be sometimes accused of deserting the traders,
when the traders in reality have forsaken the convoy, in confidence that
they should either arrive safe at the port without protection, or be
able, if they should happen to fall into the enemy's hands, to charge
their misfortune upon the negligence of their protector.
The eighth clause, my lords, is so far from being such as might be
expected from merchants, that it seems rather to have been drawn up by
men who never saw the sea, nor heard of the violence of a storm. For who
that had the slightest idea of the uncertainty and hazard of a sailor's
condition, who that had been ever told of a shipwreck, or but looked on
the pictures of naval distress, would propose that no ship should retire
to a harbour, or quit the station to which it was assigned, _on any
pretence whatsoever_ without permission, which sometimes could not be
obtained in many months, and which never could be received soon enough
to allow of a remedy for sudden disasters, or pressing calamities.
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