Pl)P(UL.\-
Tiosj sei'
‘ NaVal Power.
To this may be fnbjoUe'd'.the lift of captures from the feveraBhQfftile
pdWers, from'the* cörAtnëficfetïien^o&Ctlié war, fit©;» January i Ap-pp Sifter
premifing that many of .them were already included ;in the above Rate
G f t h e - n ' a v y : - M
“ Fifties.. /Total.’ .
Preaoli ,. • b .-':S.4 ! r\ r3 7 . :
Spanifh 8 ‘ " 1 4 ' f ^ ‘ o 3
Dutch i 8 „ ■ 1 icj
* •& £ * -jzsAf* *1-n- '4801'
iPrivatèêiS'!of all nations - - H *
- Grand total — ■ Ï-312
For this immenfe ( fleet, the. number of feai^.en(,a,nnnaUy Wgt^d,
amount Sifrom a hundred jetja, hu-ndred-ja|idai_tw£U.ty t n u m ber,
almoft",incredible,,and „which H o l i e r £ o u f i t iy ,^ g g n i o^niocl|f,n,
.could .ha-ye fu p p lp i ^ I^Chjna,,indeed, h a l ^ f f l ^ e j p b a b j ^ ^ ^ j ^ he
faid to live,on the w a ter/ but
ferior to Bririfh, feamen.
-, T h e naval power of G re a t I^rikin,"eq®ftitotes fp ftrjkigrgg.ndflrropr-
tant a feature in th e national portrait, tV j^ it'‘^ ^ its J $ a ^ ^ l^ .i: flluftra-
tion, „Eyfeii in the-Saxon times-we find" torrfok Mbhr flcets’-meatigUed
o f the fraail veflels then ‘in ufe. Qne o f the Northumbrian m^ a E qhs
aflembled a numerous fleet hear Jarro, -the'''Xp#ia‘ifery» o r ’Bedap inv an
extenfive haven o f the time?, now become' marlh. Abfrik^the
year 5 8 2 , we find that Alfrefl 'dkedted a'pow&ffub fleet again ft tó ie
Danilh invader?3; but it is tb jjp reg retted that.jthe.^ ear-1 y yrritefs.ib-ave
n o t been more particular-witfl regard- to the nhtpbcr■ahchforn£ ,bfWie
veflels. T h e fleet of-Edgar is aifo celebrated*/vbut, th e b ^ h .o r' oft the
Saxon Chronicle.,affures us, that 'the Trmame'flf ^‘UP;ÉthWlfê'cF ft]
in the year 1009, exceeded- any which England had ever before beheld;
and as William of M almefbury computes that of Edgar at four hundred
veflels,' this may probably have amounted to five hundred of thé' Snail
fhips then known. ' But the devaluations .of thé Danes and'Norf|pihs
«ecafiohed fu c h a decline in th e naval-power of England, .th it Richard I.-
3 See After Vita A 1F. St. Croix, Hift. de la'puifance navale de l’ An^léterrejParis'iytó,
2 vols. 8to»
I was
was obliged to have recourfe to' foreign veflels for. his crufade. In the
reign: of.John we, ..for the firft time,, find commemorated a fignal
v iâory of the'Englilh and .Flemings, oyer the French fleet. of .Philip
Auguftus, which was-,computed at1 feventcèn hundred ftiips,. or rather
boats \ The I nglifh monarch John, infolènt in profpprity, mean in
ad\ ei fity, in the pride, of his triumph, Was the firft who ordered the
s a l u t e to be paid by foreign veflels to the national flag. The fleet
of England thenceforth continued to be always refpeftable, ànd>#igene-t
ralljLpi^oripus,..• liï'jMjg U’y g n .’eb Eduard III-,, it, „h^d.^aejmiredTuch
pre-emine|ge,|that*. in lù^idd^oiri-, the firltjfffjuck intEha-land.-Iie ^p,
pears „in a- fhip,,fl&n fyrpbol Qfptmkner^ëiiiâiia iparm^p igowgr; but
the .pfepondepanc.e- of ,thV Ep-gbtln aLiii/mcup^wçij-tlicri^cinpl'rancé,-
only bec mu. pcim incut and dfcijive, a littk, more than a u nÿjtv- agrJ»
after Jthe.b,attle qf- Laidrogue. ■ „Sgaifo.h^fk yielded ïthè fehteft,, finite the1
defl^H<ftise.n. .o£j,ner great, armada ; and HroJland, ^ h a d . ?telÿ«Çfi?,
djiçed m ^tte^mava^con^fe undeMGlJajiles&IL, fo,,that .InA^e r a M , remained,
anmGreat Britain mainte.ips, à fixed^|ùp^ori|;y ~pydr tb e
fm-the me^amfra.pf, fhips,.^the \Etench flWldersi 1 certainly pxcçflj „ but,
in the,fdji| p f /hips, .fpirited,, alert, anfl Ikjl&li fia&envinQ ,Jb'untry caiu
pretend to vie; witn^Great\Bpitaife. , The, prog,re%„in numbcr-p£ \ eflels.
has been more r-apidan djlis reign, than at any fto-mer 'period,, às may
appear from the comparative ftatejnent iii’tli'c iîote^.y inch1 iVdml'cs etery
milita?f‘veuef, from the firft ra’f^ to the frigate'3.,
1 hojfpcl’iàl flipeiijitendanoe^ïl'We. navyï -||. cp^mitÊed^Jo. t^ie board
®f admiralty, cornpofedt o f adinirals of known fkill, andKo£tJra^j's>,;\t3vefd'
diriparfiality generally ’ regarâs ment âl.TOf»in llhis 'im^rta îft'fervice.
- Near Dam, in .Flanders, A . D . 121J. Damme, now inland,;a league N. E . o f Bruges, was
formerly a maritime town, and the fea.wadied its .walls. , Guioc. Differ. Belg.
'James 11. j _
:\Utll,am'm. _ a ü M
,A n% 3/ r l .
'■ 1 / T - à* 206
Geoifjtf v f k 4 p:' - l i - 1b ■ - ■ "20S
i j ,'r it î^ 2?^,
M m m .
iG e o r g e lll, m M ~ , - J * 1 , 343
jlfâeï; 5 ' -J - 7S7
x . T h ç
N aval
P ow e r .
WOL. 'I .