f Nautical Economy. 19 



encounters by the sailing and the evolutions of ships, it is 

 evident that victory may greatly depend on the qualities and 

 characters of our floating batteries. On land it is not to be 

 expected that any advantage can be calculated on from in- 

 herent superior celerity of movement, as the agents in each 

 case must be supposed to be possessed of the same physical 

 powers ; in such case, it must be skill and valour alone that 

 can give the ascendant: but, at sea, not only is ability 

 advantageous, but increased facility of execution may be 

 possessed by the superior architecture and equipment of 

 vessels. In the instance of preponderating force being pos- 

 sessed by the enemy, celerity of motion in the retreat be- 

 comes of augmented benefit ; as it is also, when, from the 

 inferiority of the enemy, pursuit must be resorted to. 



A large ship of superior velocity has the power of making 

 every ship of inferior force its easy prey. The same may 

 be said of fast-sailing fleets, which ought always to have the 

 ships composing them of equal powers of sailing ; as the 

 velocity of the whole must be regulated by that of the 

 slowest, in order to insure her protection. 



Our enlightened naval historian. Captain Brenton, vol. i. 

 p. 40, of his work, says — " Whoever reads with attention 

 the history of our naval actions in the East or West Indies, 

 America, or the North Sea, will readily attribute the 

 failures of Hughes, Rodney, Graves, Byron, and Parker, to 

 the miserable state of our shipping." And further on, he 

 observes — «* The Dutch, Spanish, and R\i'ssian armaments of 

 1787, 1790, 1791, called forth men who applied themselves 

 with much assiduity to the improvement of the marine ; the 

 suggestions of officers of experience were attended to ; the 

 best and most approved models were selected and built 

 after; and the Cotirageux, of seventy -four gims, taken from 

 the French as far back as 1761, was the favourite of the 

 service : the Leviathan was as near a resemblance to her as 

 the builder of Chatham dock-yard could produce ; and in 

 the actions of 28th and 29th of May, and 1st of June, 1794, 

 under the command of that high-spirited nobleman, the 

 late Lord Hugh Seymour, this ship was one of the earliest 

 in action." 



Captain Brenton attributes the glorious victory under 

 Lord Howe, in a principal degree, to the fast sailing of 

 the Queen Charlotte and Royal George, ships of enlarged 

 dimensions, which brought the enemy to action, by cutting 

 the line at the desired time before the others. 



From the same work we extract the following remarks, as 



C 2 



