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      THE SMUGGLERS' METHODS

      It was not till June of 1746 that the Committee issued their second report, and the evidence therein contained is even more interesting to us than any which had hitherto been given. After the Solicitor to the Commissioners had shown how biassed juries frequently were towards prisoners brought up on charges connected with smuggling, how they declined to bring in a verdict against them even in spite of the clearest of evidence, another official (the Surveyor of the Searchers in the Port of London) stated that when he had received information that there had been a run of goods in a certain locality and had even received information as to the road along which they would be brought, he had been compelled to travel by night and carefully to avoid all the beaten paths. Indeed, if people whom they might meet on the road noticed a Custom House officer and any soldiers together, their design would immediately be suspected and warning would promptly be sent to the smugglers, who would hide their goods. He added, also, that he remembered on one occasion that a couple of vessels landed in the Isle of Thanet as much tea as could be loaded on the backs of two hundred horses.

      But it was when the ex-smugglers came to give their evidence that the real secrets of the trade were unfolded. Robert Hanning, who for years had been one of the most distinguished members of the industry, informed the Commission that formerly he was the principal dealer with the smugglers when he resided at Dunkirk. Some idea of the colossal business which he had carried on may be gathered from his admission that he had sold teas, brandies, and wines to be run into England to the extent of £40,000 per annum. And let us not forget to bear in mind that of course this probably represented the value of the goods when they were put on board. What they actually realised after they were smuggled into the English market must have been something considerable.

      Hanning was followed by a certain Captain Joseph Cockburn, who had a very instructive story to tell, which must have amazed even the Commissioners. This gallant skipper was now commanding one of his Majesty's sloops, but prior to that he had been engaged in privateering, and before that had commanded several vessels employed in smuggling. From his very infancy he had been concerned in the practice of running goods, and his apprenticeship had been served to a smuggler at Rochester, who was nominally a fisherman. Consequently, with an accumulated knowledge obtained first as a smuggler and subsequently as a pursuer of smugglers, there was not much, if anything at all, in connection with the work which could have missed his attention. He proved himself a veritable encyclopædia of smuggling information, and even the following brief summary will show that his experience was something exceptional.

      First of all, he instanced the case of five cutters which he knew were constantly employed in running tea and brandy from Boulogne into Kent and Sussex. They imported at least six tons of tea and two thousand half-ankers of brandy every week. He estimated that the six tons of tea would be purchased abroad for £1920. The two thousand half-ankers of brandy, even if they cost but ten shillings apiece, would represent the sum of £1000; so altogether there was a total of nearly £3000 being carried out of the country in specie every week by these five cutters alone. But he also knew of five other cutters which were constantly employed in fetching brandy and tea from Middleburgh and Flushing, and he reckoned that these ten cutters in the aggregate smuggled into the United Kingdom each year goods to the value of £303,680. Possibly there was no living person who possessed so perfect and exact a knowledge of the smuggling trade, so we can have little reason to doubt for a moment the veracity of his figures.

      Passing, then, to describe the methods employed by these men, he divided them into two classes. Firstly, there were those adopted by the cutters and smacks which did little else than smuggle, and, secondly, there were the British ships which primarily carried on a legitimate trade to foreign parts. As to the first class, the practice of these cutters and smacks was to put to sea from whatever port to which they belonged—London, Dover, Rye, Folkestone, or wherever it might be—having on board a small number of hands, their professed object being to fish. Having stood some distance away from the land, they would be met during the night by a number of smaller craft, and under cover of darkness would take on board from the latter large crews, much merchandise, and a considerable amount of money. The smaller craft rowed or sailed back to the beach before daylight, and the bigger craft, now well supplied with men, money, and merchandise, stood on their course for some Dutch or French port. There they purchased such goods as they required, disposed of those which they had brought, and again set sail for home. The vessel was again met at a convenient distance from the English shore by smaller boats if a favourable signal had been flashed from the land; and, using the darkness of the night, once more both the cargo and the supernumerary men were put into the boats, after which the latter ran the stuff ashore in casks already slung and in bales, while the smack headed for her harbour whence she had set out. As she had just the same small crew as before no suspicions were aroused, and it was presumed she had been out fishing.

      But additional to these comparatively large vessels there were smaller craft—open boats, yawls, and little sloops—which in fine weather were wont to run across from the south coast of England to Boulogne, Guernsey, and from the west of England to the Isle of Man. They also loaded up with as much cargo as they could carry, and, since they were able to be beached, the process of discharging their contents as soon as they returned was much simpler. These smaller craft also were in the habit of running out well clear of the land and meeting Dutch vessels, from which they would purchase similar kinds of goods and run them in by the usual methods. In these lesser craft were frequently carried a great many stones, anchors, and heavy weights by means of which the half-ankers of brandy could be sunk near the shore and afterwards taken up as required. The exact way in which this was done we shall discuss fully in a later chapter.

      Some of the cobbles, "hovelings," and small fishing craft that were accustomed to run out to big sailing merchantmen under pretence of shipping pilots to take them into the next port, were actually engaged in smuggling all sorts of goods out of these ships. Perhaps it was a lurking sympathy with the men engaged in a trade with which his earlier years had been so intimately associated that made Captain Cockburn suggest that it was because the Dutchmen brought such large quantities of fish into Billingsgate that the English fishermen found their work unprofitable, and were accordingly driven to devote themselves to smuggling. But from evidence in other documents it would certainly seem that Cockburn was speaking the truth and that the fishing industry was not a very good livelihood at that time.

      Then, secondly, there was the smuggling that was carried on by the trading sailing ships from abroad. Great quantities of goods were being run into the country by colliers—they were usually brig-rigged—by corn-ships, packet-boats from the Continent and other vessels trading with Holland. At least, one thousand five hundred vessels were engaged in this trade, "and," added Cockburn, "he scarcely ever knew one of them return without some prohibited or high duty goods." The smuggling from these vessels was done in various ways. There were the pilot-boats and fishing craft which frequently met them near the coast, as already explained. Another way was for the merchantmen to put into harbours, roadsteads, and rivers, where they lay at anchor under pretence of waiting for orders. Another method still, that was as simple as it was successful, consisted of landing their goods at outports on such holidays as the King's birthday, &c., when the Revenue officers were absent. Cockburn admitted that he had done this himself and had run great quantities of brandies, teas, and Spanish liquorice even as much as nearly a ton of the latter at a time. But besides these two classes there was a third. The whole of the coasting trade in those days was of course done in sailing ships; and inasmuch as there were no railways for carrying merchandise there was a good deal more encouragement for the sailing ship owner than there is to-day. The methods of smuggling adopted by these coasters was a little more complicated, and this was done by such means as fraudulently obtaining permits, by cockets clandestinely obtained, by false entry of one sort of goods for another, and by corrupting the Customs' officers. To prove his case the captain gave the following examples, all of which he had himself employed since the year 1738!

      As regards the obtaining of permits fraudulently, he said that he had gone to Dunkirk, taken aboard 2040 gallons of French brandy and cleared for North Bergen in Norway. Of course he had no intention whatever of steering for that port, but in case he met any of the

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