insulting the governments & distressing of trade. He is of obscure parentage, in his youth served aboard the navy in the meanest stations, & from some unaccountable whim or humour of some of the officers (thus some ladies take a liking or fancy to a monkey, lapdog or parrot)...he is arrived to be a warrant Commodore in America, where like a beggar on horseback he rides unmercifully...hated by the common sailors, & not beloved by his best officers; laboriously indefatigable in running to & fro, & in expending of paper, true symptoms of madness. Knowles sued Douglass for libel and was awarded £750. When Douglass appealed, Knowles contended that the only problem with the original judgment was that it should have been for £10,000, and therefore he was suing Douglass again, this time for £9,250. The superior court ruled in favor of Douglass. The incident seems to have made a lasting impression on Knowles. The following year in Jamaica he was much more cautious, advertising for recruits, offering financial incentives, and consulting with local authorities before resorting to impressment. In 1758, an anonymous pamphlet attributed to Knowles proposed a plan to solve the navy's recruiting problem by building hundreds of free houses for navy men and their families in Massachusetts. If implemented, the plan would have dramatically reduced the navy's dependence on impressment. See also War of Jenkins' Ear King George's War Notes References Citations Bibliography Further reading Riots and civil disorder in Massachusetts History of Boston 18th century in Boston 18th-century riots North End, Boston 1747 in the Thirteen Colonies