The crews were raised by the _classes_, the predecessors of the _Inscription maritime_, a great system of naval conscription. Like so much else in France, this also was founded by Richelieu, but it was perfected by Lyonne and Colbert, and was finally established by the _Ordonnance_ of 1689. All Frenchmen engaged in working in ships or boats throughout the whole coast of France, and on the banks of rivers large enough to carry a lighter, were held to be subject to serve in the _classes_. They were divided into seven, which were to serve successively for periods of four years. All seafaring men, waterman or lighterman, were inscribed on the lists of the Commissioner of the District. During the four years of their liability to serve the king they were not allowed to engage with private employers. It was calculated that the total number subject to service was 60,000. The obligation began at the age of ten, and lasted till the man was too old to work. As a compensation for this unlimited obligation a retaining fee was promised to men not serving, and those who had served at sea were entitled to a small pension when their period of liability to service was over; while hospitals were established at all the ports, and employment in the dockyards was promised to all who were so severely hurt as to be unable to go to sea, but were still capable of doing some work. This famous institution exists in a modified form to-day, and has often been the subject of admiration among ourselves. On paper it no doubt possessed immense advantages over our rough-and-ready system, or no system, of raising crews by bounties and impressment. Yet whenever the French Crown endeavoured to use all the resources provided by the _classes_, the neatly constructed machine broke down. The seafaring population rebelled against its severity, and in practice the king was constantly driven to impress men very much in the English fashion, without regard to their class. In the last years of the reign of King Louis and until the Revolution, the financial distress of the French Government made it impossible to provide half pay, and the hospitals were neglected. The _classes_ was in fact a more uniform and grinding oppression than our own impressment, and was not more efficient in producing crews.