60 Naval Affairs of Great Britain. [JULY, 



may be punished without trial ! It may reasonably be wondered why 

 some of our soi-disant patriots, in the House of Commons, do not 

 demand a list of officers who have suffered dismissal without an official 

 inquiry into their conduct ; for the consultation between three lords of 

 the Admiralty, who do not call on the party for his defence, cannot be 

 designated an official investigation. We know that the principal cause 

 of dismissal is to be found in the circumstance of our officers sometimes 

 seeking employment in the service of our allies, rather than be forced 

 into jail, or starvation on the miserable pittance at home, given as a 

 remuneration for long and hard services. Instead of taking away the 

 commissions of honourable men who have offended in the above man- 

 ner, it would be wiser and juster to inquire into the cause which led 

 to the necessity of their seeking subsistence abroad. 



The Admiral's observations on the expediency of introducing steam- 

 vessels in our marine for the purposes of war are, on every account, 

 worthy of the most serious attention : 



' f I observe that in the French navy-estimates for 1829, the minister of 

 marine demands an extra sum of 7,000,000 francs for the express purpose of 

 the construction of steam-vessels ; but I have not yet been able to learn that 

 our attention has been turned as seriously as the importance of the subject 

 requires, towards any preparations for this new species of maritime warfare. 

 Here I am afraid our old habits and prejudices again oppose the progress of 

 improvement, and that, while we look back with deep regret on those golden 

 days when an order in council directed that no two-decked ship should in future 

 be built larger than the Repulse, and no frigate larger than the Euryalus, we 

 cannot yet screw up our courage to try experiments with armed steam-vessels, 

 trusting, I suppose, that sailing will last our time ; but that in the event of 

 any extraordinary emergency requiring it, we may be able to purchase a suffi- 

 cient number of the Leith and Dublin traders to answer our purpose. It is 

 very true this may be possible to a certain extent; but as it is the bounden 

 duty of those entrusted with the conduct of public affairs to prepare against 

 evident dangers, and not to lavish the public resources in guarding against those 

 which no longer exist, why, may I ask, do we not reflect that we are misap- 

 plying the funds granted for naval purposes, when we employ them in the 

 construction of vessels which are no longer required ? and that half the sum 

 expended since 1815 in twenty-eight-gun ships and ten-gun brigs, would have 

 created a respectable flotilla of steam-vessels, and enabled us to try in time 

 all those experiments with this new species of force, which appear now to be 

 delayed until the emergency for its employment actually arrives ? We have 

 still every thing to learn with respect to their equipment for war, and how 

 many invaluable days and weeks will be lost, while (with all the mistakes and 

 miscarriages inseparable from the want of full information and experience) 

 we are hastily arming and fitting out a number of vessels constructed for other 

 service, and but imperfectly adapted to the purposes of war." 



We are not unaware that a strong prejudice exists among professional 

 men against the introduction of steam-vessels into the British navy. 

 " Steam-jacks," as they have been termed, are the abhorrence of many; 

 but when it is known that other nations are intent upon employing this 

 powerful agent for warlike purposes, we should not be astern of the lighter, 

 or behind our neighbours in making experiments to ascertain its eligi- 

 bility. Though the French may be said to be " young in steam," they 

 are not backward in attempting to satisfy themselves of its capability in 

 hostile operations : indeed, we know that at this moment no fewer than 

 seven " steamers" of one hundred and eighty horse power, and carrying 

 from ten to fourteen guns, accompany the French expedition against 

 Algiers. 



