Said certificates; and when such committee shall find cause, they
shall forbid or suspend the taking in of any child, until they
receive full satisfaction that such child or children are duly
qualified according to the rules abovesaid.
And that such children as may be presented to be admitted in
pursuance of the will of any benefactor, shall be examined by the
said committee, who are to take care that such children be qualified
according to the wills of the donors or benefactors (as near as may
consist with such wills) agreeing to the qualifications above.
The Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen present each their child
yearly, but the rest of the governors only in their turns, which may
happen once in three or four years.
No child is continued in after fifteen years of age, except the
mathematical scholars, who are sometimes in till they are eighteen,
and who, at the beginning of the seventh year of their service as
mariners are at His Majesty's disposal; and of these children there
is an account printed yearly, and presented to the king the 1st of
January, setting forth, (1) each boy's name; (2) the month and year
when they were bound out; (3) their age; (4) the names of their
masters; (5) the names of the ships whereof they are commanders; (6)
what country trade they are in; (7) the month and year when they
will be at His Majesty's disposal.
