of Ships of the Line. 225 



after the peace of Utrecht, to discontinue their construction, 



and confine their ships of the line to those of two decks, 



mounting 74 and 84 guns. The constant patronage, however, 



given by the French government to its naval architects, 



amongst whom were many excellent mathematicians, was at 



length rewarded by seeing its fleets, in the war which broke 



out in 1778, again reinforced by three-decked ships of the line 



of superior force, and endowed with every desirable property, 



in almost as eminent a degree as those of two decks ; and a 



further improvement in 1786, which increased the force to 



120 guns, and carried the length to 209 feet, may be said to 



have completed the triumph of the French constructors. At 



this time, and until 1796, the largest three-decker in the 



English navy was the Victory, of 100 guns, and 186 feet long. 



In 1796, the Ville de Paris, carrying 110 guns, and 190 feet 



long, was built at Chatham ; and the battle of St. Vincent, in 



1797, put into our possession the San Josef, of 112 guns, 



which was, for many years, the largest and finest ship in the fleet. 



The Spanish navy, at this period, possessed several ships of 



equal size and excellence with the San Josef. The almost 



uninterrupted alliance of Spain and France during the 



eighteenth century, and the consequent introduction of science 



into the Spanish dockyards, ultimately produced similar effects 



on the naval architecture of these two nations. One splendid 



proof* of the science of the French naval architects fell into 



our hands by the capitulation of Toulon in 1792, and gave 



rise to the increase of dimensions which has so much improved 



our three-decked ships of the line ; but it was not till 1809, 



that the British navy could boast of the Caledonia, of 120 



guns, and 205 feet long. But, although modern science has 



achieved such a victory, it cannot be said to have made any 



successful attempt beyond it as far regards the number of 



decks, which, two centuries ago, had reached its present limits. 



We cannot cite the instance that has occurred in the Spanish 



navy, of an efficient ybur-decked ship, in contradiction to this 



statement, because it had not the merit of being originally 



built as such f, and could not have undergone the alteration 



* The Commerce de Marseilles. 



+ The following description of this famous ship is given by James, in 

 his Naval History, vol. ii. p. 66 : — 



" TheSantissimaTrinidada was built at Havana, in 1769, as a 112-gun 



