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This great reputed god, being of more estimation than many of the rest of like sort, though of as little worth as any of the meanest of that rabble, was majestically placed in a very large and spacious hall, and there sat, as if he had reposed himself upon a covered bed. On his head he wore a crown of gold, and round about, and above the same, were set twelve bright, burnished, golden stars. and in his right hand, he held a kingly sceptre.

He was, of the seduced pagans, believed to be of most marvellous power; yea, and that there were no people throughout the whole world, that were not subjected unto -him, and did not owe him divine honour and service. That there was no puissance comparable to his. That in the air, he governed the winds and the clouds.; and, being displeased, did cause lightning, thunder, and tempests, with excessive rain, hail, and all ill weather. But, being well pleased by the adoration, sacrifice, and service of his supplicants, he then bestowed upon them most fair and seasonable weather, and caused corn abundantly to grow, as also, all sorts of fruits, &c., and kept away from them the plague, and all other evil and infectious diseases.

Of the weekly day which was dedicated unto his peculiar service, we yet retain the name of THURSDAY, the which the Danes and Swedians do yet call Thor: Day; in the Netherlands it is called Dundersdagh, that is, THUNDER'S-DAY, whereby it may appear, that they anciently intended the day of the god of thunder; and in some of our old Saxon books, I find it to have been written Thunres-deag. So it seemeth, that the name of THOR, or THUR, was abbreviated of THUNRE, which we now write THUNDER.

ADDRESS TO AN EGYPTIAN MUMMY: THE success of the ancient Egyptians in preserving their dead by the operation of embalming, was surprisingly great. For a proof of this we have only to turn to the fact of our viewing at this day, the bodies of persons who lived three thousand years since. This ingenious people applied the powers of art to the purposes of their religion, and did all they could to keep the human frame entire after death, fondly thinking that if it proved a fit dwelling, its former inhabitant, the soul, would return at some distant period, and animate it afresh, even upon earth The following Address to a Mummy was written a few years ago, and attributed to Mr. Roscoe; but the recent opening of the Mummy of HORSIESI, son of NASPIHIRIEIGORI, a Theban, having called public attention to the subject, the lines may be thought, by many of our readers, more than commonly interesting.

AND thou hast walked about, (how strange a story!)

In Thebes's streets three thousand years ago;

When the Memnonium was in all its glory,

And time had not begun to overthrow

Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous,
Of which the very ruins are tremendous.

Speak! for thou long enough hast acted dummy,

Thou hast a tongue, come, let us hear its tune;
Thou'rt standing on thy legs, above ground Mummy!
Revisiting the glimpses of the moon;

Not like thin ghosts or disembodied creatures,

But with thy bones, and flesh, and limbs, and features.

Tell us, for doubtless thou canst recollect,

To whom should we assign the Sphinx's fame;

Was Cheops or Cephrenes architect,

Of either pyramid that bears his name?

Is Pompey's Piliar really a misnomer?

Had Thebes a hundred gates, as sung by Homer?
Perhaps thou wert a mason, and forbidden

By oath, to tell the mysteries of thy trade.
Then say what secret melody was hidden

In Memmon's statue which at sun-rise played?
Perhaps thou wert a priest, and hast been dealing,
In human blood and horrors past revealing.
Perchance that very hand, now pinioned flat,

Has hob-a-nobbed with Pharaoh, glass to glass;

Or dropped a half-penny in Homer's hat,

Or doffed thine own to let Queen Dido pass,
Or held, by Solomon's own invitation,
A torch at the great temple's dedication.

I need not ask thee if that hand, when armed,
Has any Roman soldier mauled or knuckled,
For thou wert dead and buried, and embalmed,
Ere Romulus and Remus had been suckled!
Antiquity appears to have begun,

Long after thy primeval race was run.
Thou couldst develop, if that withered tongue

Might tell us what those sightless orbs have seen,
How the world looked when it was fresh and young,

And the great Deluge still had left it green,

Or was it then so old, that History's pages
Contained no record of its early ages?

Still silent, incommunicative elf?

Art sworn to secrecy? then keep thy vows;
But pr'ythee tell us something of thyself,

Reveal the secrets of thy prison-house;
Since in the world of spirits thou hast slumbered,
What thou hast seen, what strange adventures numbered?
Since first thy form was in this box extended,

We have, above-ground, seen some strange mutations,
The Roman empire has begun and ended,

New worlds have risen, we have lost old nations,
And countless kings have into dust been humbled.
While not a fragment of thy flesh has crumbled.
Didst thou not hear the pother o'er thy head,

When the great Persian conqueror, Cambyses,
Marched armies o'er thy tomb with thund'ring tread,
O'erthrew Osiris, Orus, Apis, Isis,

And shook the pyramids with fear and wonder,
When the gigantic Memmon fell asunder?
If the tomb's secrets may not be confessed,
The nature of thy private life unfold:

A heart has throbbed beneath that leathern breast,
And tears adown that dusty cheek have rolled,
Have children climbed those knees, and kissed that face?
What was thy name and station, age and race?
Statue of flesh-Immortal of the dead!
Imperishable type of evanescence!
Posthumous man, who quitt'st thy narrow bed,

And standest undecayed within our presence,
Thou wilt hear nothing till the Judgment morning,
When the great Trump shall thrill thee with its warning.
Why should this worthless tegument endure,
If its undying guest be lost for ever?

O let us keep the soul embalmed and pure
In living virtue, that, when both must sever,
Although corruption may our frame consume,
Th' immortal spirit in the skies may bloom!

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LONDON.

JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE, AND

Sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders in the Kingdom.

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TERATURE & EDUCA

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SUPPLEMENT, NOR

Magazine.

FEBRUARY, 1834.

{O PRICE

ONE PENNY.

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ROYAL NAVY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

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EVERY THING that can tend to illustrate the history of the ROYAL NAVY, must always be regarded with feelings of the highest interest by Britons. Associated with the most brilliant passages of our annals, the essential protection of our mercantile enterprise and national prosperity, and rendered illustrious by the names and deathless examples of a Nelson, a Collingwood, or a Blake, it is difficult to reflect on the "wooden walls" of our country, without a glow of enthusiasm, or burst of patriotic feeling. It cannot, therefore, be either an uninteresting, or an uninstructive task, to trace the rise and progress of the British Navy, from the slender "coracles" of the aboriginal inhabitants of these islands, to the magnificent structures which float, by the aid of science, in majesty on the deep; and it has been our object, as far as could be effected within the limits assigned to us in this paper, to concentrate, in a chronological narrative, the most important events which have distinguished the NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

The subject may properly be divided into three periods. In the first we shall embrace the period between the invasion of Britain by the Romans, and the commencement of the reign of Henry the Eighth; the second will end with the death of George the Second; and the third will comprehend what may justly be termed the "golden era" of British naval history; viz., from the accession of George the Third to the present time.

SECTION I. (B.C. 52, to A.D. 1509.) THE inhabitants of the British isles appear, at an early period, to have possessed some acquaintance with maritime affairs. We learn from the Welsh Triads, that the ancient name of Britain was Clas Merddin, the "Sea-defended green-spot," an appellation (as has been well remarked by. one of the most eminent of our writers,) which may seem VOL. IV.

to have been prophetic. At the period of the invasion of Britain by the Roman general, Julius Cæsar, fifty-two years before the commencement of the Christian era, the Britons, or Cymry, certainly possessed a naval force; and, in an engagement which took place between the Roman fleet and that of the Veneti and their allies, the Britons, the vessels of the latter are said to have been so firmly constructed, that the beaks of the Roman ships could with difficulty make any impression on them. These vessels were built of oaken planks; their sails were made of skins, and their anchors were attached to iron chains or cables. The barks, however, which were generally used by the Britons, were constructed of osier twigs, covered with skins, and resembled, in construction, the fragile fishingboats, or coracles, still used on the rivers of Wales.

The Saxons, who settled in Britain about the middle of the fifth century, and who had been previously renowned for their piracies at sea, seem to have been impressed with the necessity of keeping up a formidable marine. Their vessels, we are told by Aneurin, a Welsh bard, were single-masted, carrying one square sail. They had curved bottoms, and their prows and poops were adorned with the heads and tails of monsters."

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King Alfred, who ascended the throne in 872, has generally been considered as the founder of our maritime power. At that time England was overrun by the Danes, and Alfred, with the wisdom and sagacity which distinguished all his actions, speedily perceived that the most effectual method of ridding his country of its foes, was by crippling their power at sea. He commanded his first fleet in person, was extremely successful in his naval engagements, and is said to have suggested a variety of improvements in the structure, as well as to have greatly increased the size of his vessels, some of the largest of which carried at least sixty oars.

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After the death of Alfred, the naval power of England | seems to have lain dormant until the invasion of William the Conqueror, in 1066. It is true that, in the tenth century, we read of the vast fleets possessed by King Edgar, but, like the other naval armaments of the early ages, they must chiefly have been composed of small boats. In 1066 William sailed for the coast of England, with a fleet of nearly 900 vessels, (of the nature of which the engraving in the preceding page presents an illustration,) and landing near Pevensey, in Sussex, with an army computed at 60,000 men, gained, in a few days, the battle of Hastings, which led to the rapid subjugation of the whole kingdom. The Normans had always manifested considerable regard to the sea, and the position in which the Conqueror was placed after gaining the English throne, rendered a strict attention to the improvement and extension of the navy a matter not only of prudence but of necessity. To contribute to this result, he gave exclusive privileges to certain towns on the coast, which were called the Cinque Ports.

Richard the First, who bore so distinguished a part in the Crusades, fitted out large fleets, one of which he conducted from Sicily to the shores of the Holy Land, capturing in his progress a large ship of the Saracens, defended by 1300 men. His successor, John, appears to have devoted considerable attention to the improvement of the navy. He asserted the exclusive right of the English nation to the dominion of the seas, and in the year 1214 issued a mandate to his chief admiral, ordering him " to arrest, seize, and make prizes of all ships whatever found therein."

Of the description of vessels generally employed in the following reign, some idea may be formed from the following account of an action with the French, who "with eighty stout ships, threatened a descent on the Kentish coast. This squadron being observed by Hubert de Burgh, Governor of Dover Castle, he put to sea with forty English vessels, and having got to windward of the enemy, and run down many of their smaller craft, attacked the others with quick-lime," which blinded them so effectually, that all their ships were either taken or sunk."

The engraving in page 76 represents the class of vessels used for the transport of troops and horses to the Mediterranean during the Crusades. The ship on shore was adapted for the latter purpose; the opening, or as it was styled the port," (whence the term port-hole,) was caulked up after the horses had all been shipped, and was under water when the vessel floated. Ships of war seem then to have been provided with at least one tower, which was called the "castle of the ship."

In the reign of Edward the First, the first English admiral was appointed,-Roger de Leybourn, Admirallus maris regis, A.D. 1297. The reign of Edward the Third, (1327-77,) was greatly distinguished for successes at sea and on land, as well as for the advancement of the commercial prosperity of the country. The most interesting events in this reign, when England began to assume a high rank as a naval power, are the battle of Sluys, on the coast of Flanders, and the siege of Calais. The English fleet off Sluys, which was commanded by the king in person, perceiving, saith the old chronicler, "on their approach, that the French ships were linked together with chains, and that it was impossible for them to break their line of battle, retired a little, and stood back to sea. The French, deceived by this feint, broke their order and pursued the English, who they thought fled before them." The English then engaged, and, after a battle which lasted thirteen hours, defeated their opponents with immense loss. Thirty thousand French were slain, "of whom numbers, through fear, jumped off their own craft into the sea, and were miserably drowned: 200 great ships were taken, in one of which only there were 400 dead bodies." This account is evidently greatly exaggerated. The armament which was fitted out against Calais in 1347, was the largest which had yet quitted England, consisting of 738 vessels, navigated by 14,956 seamen; twenty ships only, however, of this number, belonged to the Royal navy. During the siege, which lasted eleven months, the allowance "to a marinere for his diet by the daye was iiid.” In the reign of Edward the Third the bowsprit seems first to have been used.

From this period, with the exception of the short, but glorious, reign of Henry the Fifth, until the latter end of the fifteenth century, there is nothing of interest in our naval annals. Nautical knowledge, however, was gradually extending, and a variety of inventions and improvements were introduced into the marine. The use of cannon at sea, and the invention of the compass, were the most im

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portant of these, and to the latter may probably be attri buted the discovery of the New World. Considerable difference of opinion has existed amongst naval authors, as to the period when cannon were first used in naval warfare; Charnock, generally no mean authority in such matters, affirms that they were not introduced until the reign of Henry the Seventh; but there is conclusive authority for stating that they were employed for this purpose so early as the thirteenth century, in a sea-engagement between the king of Tunis and the Moorish king of Seville. They were also used by the Venetians at sea about the year 1380; and Froissart speaks of cannon having been used in the Flemish fleet, which was taken off Cadsand, in 1387, by the English, under the command of the Earl of Arundel. The guns were not then, as now, pointed through embrasures, or port-holes, but were mounted so as to fire from the top-side, or gun-wale, of the vessel.

The engraving at page 77 represents the style of shipping which prevailed during the principal part of the fifteenth century. The poop and forecastle seem to have been extremely bulky, and disproportionate in their elevation. Some of the sails were splendidly adorned with armorial bearings; and we recognise, near the summit of the main-mast, the "round top," where the pilots were stationed, a term which is yet used in the navy, though applied to a part which occupies a very different position on the mast.

Henry the Seventh, on gaining the throne in 1485, put the navy, which had been greatly neglected, into a respectable condition. In 1488, a large ship called the Great Harry, which may be properly termed the first ship of the British navy, was built at a cost of 14,000l. It had three masts, and was accidentally destroyed by fire at Woolwich, in 1553. We have now brought down our notices to the reign of Henry the Eighth, who may be designated the founder of the ROYAL NAVY. Strictly speaking, before this period there was no national establishment. In time of war, the requisite number of vessels, many of which can hardly be considered in any other light than as mere transports, were furnished by different sea-ports. The Cinque-ports, and their dependencies, (Dover, Hastings, Sandwich, Rye, Winchelsea, Hythe and Romney,) on condition of certain privileges, were bound by their tenure, to furnish the king with fifty-seven (and sometimes a much greater number of) ships, each containing twentyone men and a boy, for fifteen days, once in every year, free of all charge; but in case of their being detained for longer service, they were paid and victualled by the king; the master of a vessel receiving six-pence, and the seamen three-pence a day each.

SECTION II. (1509-1760).

THE recent discovery of the vast continent of America, gave an extraordinary impulse to maritime affairs, about the period of the accession of Henry the Eighth. That monarch settled by his own prerogative the constitution of the Royal Navy; he founded the dock-yards of Woolwich, Deptford, and Portsmouth; he made laws for the planting and preservation of timber; he established the "fraternitie," or corporation of the Trinity House, for the improvement of navigation and the protection of commerce; he instituted an Admiralty and a Navy Office, under the direction of commissioners; in creased the salaries of the officers and seamen, and placed the naval service, for the first time, on a distinct footing. In 1512, considerable advantages were gained by a fleet which was fitted out against the French, under Sir Edward Howard, the Lord High Admiral, whose vessel, the Regent of 1000 tons, which took fire during the action, is said to have had a crew of 700 men. All the vessels of 200 tons and upwards, in this fleet, were first called “ships royal." The pay of the admiral at this time, was 10s. a day; the captains were allowed 1s. 6d.; and " every soldier, mariner and gunner, had 5s. a month for his wages, and 5s. for his diet," in addition to certain allow. ances called dead shares, granted to the fleet.

In 1515, the Harry Grace de Dieu, of 1000 tons, the first double-decked ship ever built in this country, was launched at Erith, on the Thames. This vessel mounted seventy-two pieces of cannon, of almost all the various sizes then in use; and it was not until the middle of the following century, that guns of the same calibre were placed on the same deck--an important improvement. Her regular establishment consisted of 349 soldiers, 301 mariners, and 50 gunners, making altogether, 700 men.

SUPPLEMENT FOR FEBRUARY, 1834.

The imposing number of guns carried by the Harry, and other ships at this period, however, seems to have been for little else than show; for it is mentioned by an old writer, as a remarkable circumstance, that in an action between a British and French fleet, off St. Helen's, in 1545," 300 cannon-shot were fired on both sides."

Henry the Eighth, was the last English monarch that hired foreign ships in time of war; for with all his exertions, the British fleet was often partly composed of Hambro', Lubec, Dantzic, Genoese, or Venetian auxiliaries. In order to remedy this, as far as it was possible, an act was passed to encourage British merchants to build ships for their own service, fit for men-of-war, enacting, that such ships should be exempted from certain duties, and that when required for the nation, their owners should In 1546, the receive 12s. per ton per month, for their use. first regular list of the navy was published, from which we learn, that it then consisted of "20 shippes, 15 Galleasses, 10 Pynnaces, and 13 Roo Barges," admeasuring The expense 12,455 tons, and navigated by 8546 seamen. of maintaining the navy in 1549, was under 17,000%, Queen Elizabeth, seems to have been deeply impressed with the truth of her father's maxim, that "whosoever commands the sea, commands the trade of the world; and that whosoever commands the trade, commands the riches of the world, and, consequently, the world itself." She so greatly encouraged the prosperity of the marine, that she justly acquired the distinguished title of "Restorer of naval power, and Sovereign of the northern seas." The most interesting event in this reign, is the defeat and dispersion of the invincible Spanish Armada*; it consisted of 130 ships, of an aggregate burden of 57,868 tons, carrying 2,630 pieces of cannon, 19,295 soldiers, and navigated by 10,538 mariners and slaves; besides which, there was an immense fleet of smaller vessels, loaded with stores, and with arms, which it was intended to distribute to those by whom the Spaniards hoped to be joined on their arrival in England. At this period, the Queen had thirty-four ships in an efficient state, besides eight others in dock. The former were of an aggregate burden of 12,590 tons, and navigated by 6,279 men; the weight of metal is not accurately known, but it is supposed, that the largest vessel carried about sixty guns. By the aid, however, of merchant-vessels, the Queen was enabled to bring about 140 ships into service. The English fleet, commanded by Charles Lord Howard, of Effingham, assisted by Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, and other illustrious naval heroes, put out from Plymouth, and after harassing the Spaniards in their passage up the Channel, joined another squadron off Calais, where they came to an engagement with the enemy, in which he suffered such great loss, that the Spanish Admiral endeavoured to retreat to Spain, without attempting to effect any of the objects of the expedition. But this design was not permitted by Providence, for a series of violent storms completely broke up and dispersed the remainder of this mighty armament, a great portion of which was wrecked on the coasts of the British isles; and more than 20,000 men are said to have perished, from the effects of war and the elements. During the remainder of her reign, Elizabeth greatly harassed the Spaniards at sea.

Gunpowder, which had previously been imported from abroad, at a great expense, was now first manufactured in this country.

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The reign of James the First was one of the most inglorious in our naval annals; but the encouragement which had been given to the marine during the preceding reign, greatly fanned the flame of naval enterprise and dişcovery. Great improvements were also made in the construction of ships; James the First wisely patronized Phineas Pett, who has been styled "the most able and scientific shipwright that this country has ever boasted of;" he reduced the cumbrous top-works which had previously disfigured our vessels; strengthened them with cross-beams, and materially increased their length. In allusion to this subject, Sir Walter Raleigh remarks in his Discourse on the Invention of Shipping, "In my own time the shape of our English ships hath been greatly bettered. It is not long since the striking of the top-mast hath been devised; together with the chain-pump. We have lately added the bonnet and drabbler (sails.) To the courses we have devised studding-sails, top-gallant-sails, sprit-sails, and top-sails. The weighing of anchors by the capstan is also new. We have fallen into consideration of the length of See Saturday Magazine, Vol. III., p. 92.

cables, and by it we resist the malice of the greatest winds
that can blow. We have also raised our second decks."
In the earlier part of the troublous reign of Charles the
The "navy estimates," at this period, were about £80,000.
the French and Spaniards. This unfortunate monarch, in
First, various important expeditions were fitted out against
from the commencement of his reign, greatly improved
despite of the difficulties which beset his career, almost
and extended the naval power of the country. Many ships
Sovereign of the Seas," a magnificent vessel, built by
of a large class were constructed, amongst which the
Peter Pett, under the direction of Phineas Pett, at Wool-
wich, in 1635-7, is the most celebrated.

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This ship, of which we give an engraving, (p. 80,) was the
From a
largest hitherto built in England; her model was considered
excellent; and she was in nearly all the celebrated actions
with the Dutch in the seventeenth century.
description written by Thomas Heywood, we learn that she
was gorgeously decorated with carved-work:-" she was
(he says) in length, by the keel, 128 feet; her main breadth,
48 feet; in length, from the fore-end of the beak-head, to
the after-end of the stern, 232 feet; in height, from the
bottom of her keel, to the top of her lanthorn, 76 feet;
sons upright; had three flush-decks, a forecastle, half-deck,
She hath eleven anchors, one of which
bore ten lanthorns, the biggest of which would hold ten per-
and round-house.

The Sovereign
is 4400 lbs. weight, and is of the burden of 1637 tons."
were called fourteen "murdering-pieces."
She was pierced for 132 guns, amongst which were what
of the Seas was cut down afterwards, with great advantage
to her sailing qualities; she was nearly rebuilt in 1684,
was destroyed by fire at Chatham, in January, 1696, having
when her name was changed to the Royal Sovereign; but
been sixty years in service*.

The direction of the navy was finally wrested from the
away twenty-five ships, none of which ever returned; and
king in 1642. Six years afterwards, Prince Rupert carried
ment of Cromwell's usurped government, that he had only
Extraordinary exertions
such was the reduced state of the navy at the commence
fourteen two-decked vessels.
recovered their supremacy at sea; Blake and other dis
were, however, made; in the following year, the Parliament
tinguished officers were appointed, and in 1654, the fleet
pay was then raised from 19s. to 24s. per month.
was increased to 150 sail, manned by 20,000 seamen, whose

In 1649, the Constant Warwick, the first frigate, ac was launched; but Mr. James, in his Naval History, is of cording to Pepys, which had ever been built in England, first vessel answering to the modern description of a frigate, opinion that the Southampton, 32, built in 1757, was the as she carried her guns on a single whole-deck, a quarter deck, and a forecastle.

In 1652, a war broke out with Holland, which lasted memorable actions took place between the English and until April, 1654. During this contest, many severe and Dutch fleets, under the command of Admirals Blake and Van Tromp, which gave rise to some of the most interesting passages in our naval history.

In 1655, the important Island of Jamaica was annexed executed the most brilliant naval exploit which has, to the British dominions. Two years afterwards, Blake perhaps, ever been recorded: the destruction of the Spanish action so miraculous," says Clarendon, "that all men who West India Flota in the harbour of Santa Cruz,-" an knew the place, wondered how any sober men, with what courage soever endowed, would ever have undertaken it; At the death of and they could hardly persuade themselves to believe what they had done! Whilst the Spaniards comforted themselves with the belief that they were devils, and not men, who had destroyed them in that manner." Cromwell, in 1658, the navy consisted of 157 vessels, mates were first laid before Parliament at this period. maintained at an annual charge of £400,000. Naval esti

The reign of Charles the Second was fruitful in naval a transcendent mastery in all maritime knowledge;" he glory. Mr. Pepys remarks, that that monarch "possessed paid great attention to the welfare of the navy, and appointed his brother, the Duke of York, (James the Second,) Lord High Admiral, shortly after the Restoration in 1660. There were two wars with Holland during this reign; the first continued from February, 1665 until 1668;

* The first division of the British Navy into rates, was made by six in number, each consisting of two classes, to which differen complements of men were assigned. command of Charles the First, in 1626. These rates were, as now,

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and the last, which broke out in 1671, was not concluded until 1674. The victory off Lowestoffe, on the 2nd of June, 1665, by the English fleet, under the command of the Lord High Admiral, was the most splendid which had hitherto taken place. The relative loss of the combatants appears almost incredible;-upwards of fifty Dutch ships, and 6000 men were destroyed, whilst the English only lost one vessel, the Charity, of 46 guns, and 590 men killed and wounded. The jealousy of the Dutch at the rapidly-increasing commerce and naval power of England, was not diminished by the result of these contests, which, however, nearly exhausted the resources of both countries.

James the Second, who had, whilst Lord High Admiral, gained considerable reputation as a naval commander, made extraordinary efforts, during his short and disturbed reign, for the restoration of the marine, which, during the latter years of Charles the Second, had fallen greatly to decay.

At the period of the Revolution, in 1688, the French had attained a very high rank as a naval power. Louis the Fourteenth, then in the noon-tide of his prosperity, embraced the cause of the dethroned monarch, and a war, which lasted eight years, broke out between the two countries in 1689. During this period, such was the vigorous administration of William the Third, that the navy was increased more than one-half, both in numbers and in tonnage; and, at the conclusion cf the war, in 1697, the French had received indisputable proofs of the superiority of the English at sea, amongst which the memorable action off Cape la Hogue, in 1692, may be adduced as an instance. In 1691 Plymouth Dock-yard was esta

blished.

In 1696 that most princely of institutions, Greenwich Hospital, was founded. The pay of flag-officers, commanders, lieutenants, masters, and surgeons, was nearly doubled, and the naval estimates were increased to 2,000,000l. during this reign.

Shortly after the accession of Anne, a war broke out with France and Spain, in the course of which fifty-two French ships, carrying 3092 guns, were captured.

But little attention appears to have been paid to the navy in the reign of George the First; during the war with Spain, however, (1718-20,) a splendid victory was gained off Sicily, by Sir George Byng, afterwards Lord Torrington. George the Second entered into another war with Spain in 1739, in consequence of which the sizes of the various classes of our ships of war were considerably increased. France joined in the contest against Britain in 1744, but at its conclusion in 1748, the naval strength of the country, so far from being weakened, was greatly advanced; the enemy's loss, however, was very great; thirty-five French

and Spanish ships of the line alone having been either captured or destroyed.

In 1744, all prizes taken by His Majesty's ships were, by royal proclamation, declared to be henceforth the property of the captors, a measure equally to be commended on the score of its wisdom and its justice. The year 1747 is memorable for the victories gained respectively by Lord Anson and Admiral Hawke over the French. Our loss during this war only consisted of one seventy-gun ship, and a few vessels of a small class.

Another war broke out with France in 1755. During the few intervening years of peace, considerable attention had been paid to the navy; many new vessels were built, and improvements made in naval architecture; in January, 1756, it consisted of 320 vessels of the various classes. Two brilliant victories were gained over the enemy in 1759, by Admiral Boscawen and Sir Edward Hawke; many prizes were made, and such was the rapid increase of the navy, that, at the king's decease in 1760, it consisted of 412 ships, 127 of which were of the line.

We now enter upon the reign of George the Third, a period in every respect the most interesting and important in our naval annals.

SECTION III. (1760-1833.)

FEw princes ever ascended a throne under happier auspices than George the Third. The naval superiority of the country had been placed, by a series of glorious successes, beyond all dispute; and its commerce and internal prosperity were increasing in an extraordinary degree.

In January, 1762, England declared war against Spain; it, however, lasted only for a short period, a general peace being concluded at Paris in February, 1763, between France, Spain, Great Britain, and Portugal. The enemy's loss during this war (1755-63), was very heavy; 111 vessels, (93 French and 18 Spanish,) including 42 line-ofbattle ships, being taken and destroyed, whilst our own loss only consisted of nine vessels, the largest of which was of fifty guns, a fact almost incredible. Fifty sail of the line, and ninety-four smaller vessels, were built during this war, most of which were constructed in merchants yards. In the following year (1764,) Parliament granted 10,000l. to Mr. Harrison for his time-piece for discovering the longitude.

The Aurora frigate, on board which the celebrated Falconer, author of the Shipwreck, served as purser, was lost in 1771; she is supposed to have foundered at sea, but her fate remains a mystery.

The disastrous contest between Great Britain and her

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