622 Hetrqfpect of Domefiic Literature — Hifiorij. 



ing Fa6lions in 1570. Of tliefe, Bana- 

 tjne.'s Journal is tlic principal: penned 

 in a ftyle abiwe the freneral writing of 

 riie period, but at the fame time with 

 fucli prejudices as u)ay be eafily fuppol- 

 ed to have fallen to the lot of the fccre- 

 tary of John Knox. I\Iary and Mail- 

 land arc continually fpol<on of with equal 

 virulence ; though it mull be owned, that 

 it contains many important particulars 

 which throw confideniblc light on the 

 character, inanncrs, zeal, fuperllition, 

 and calamities of the day. The other 

 contents of the volume, though curious 

 in themffhes, i-re lefs important. 



Among the works of a minor nature, 

 to the authors of which the rifing gene- 

 ration are indebted, there ure two that 

 we record with pleafure. One is ]^Ir, 

 Baidwin's " Hifloty of England ■" the 

 Other Mrs. Hei.mv.s's " HiJIon/ of Scot- 

 land." Mr. Baldwin's work, written in 

 u plain familiar ftyle, comprehends a 

 fumcient number of ftriking fa6ts to give 

 children a general idea of the courfe of 

 our liittory, without fatiguing their at- 

 tention or coufuling their memories. 

 ^Irs. Ilelmes's narrative is conriufted by 

 way of ronverfation between a father 

 and his children ; it is written with eafc, 

 and is accompanied by moral refle(!:tions. 

 We think them both very likely to prove 

 attra6tive to young people. 



Mr. Anlkkw's " Hijioricul Rcricw of 

 the Moral, Rclipioua, Lilcrari/ ai:d Po- 

 litical Churaitcr of Ike Englijh ]S'ulioH, 

 from the eurliejt I'erioda" will be read 

 wit!» interelt ; though it is at prefent 

 bronjht down no lower than the rci<jn of 

 Claries I. 



Connc<~U^d alfo with this clafs are Mr. 

 PiR rick's '' Ahrfioirs of the Rife and 

 t^ro«r(fi of the Royal A'azy," conmien- 

 cing with the reign of Henry VII. Till 

 '.he reign of Henry VII [., he obfervcs, 

 the Engiifli had no confideral)le oecafion 

 to affert their fovereignty at fea ; though 

 even at that time their navy was not fo 

 powerful as to enable them to do with- 

 out tlic alliftauce of foreigner;;, as it ap- 

 pears they were obliged to hire fliips 

 from Hamburgh, T ubeck, Dant/ie, Ge- 

 noa, and \'enice. Henry Vlil. died on 

 January the asth, 1547; when, upon 

 fhefaireft calculation, the toiniage of the 

 navy amounted to lljG'Jf! tons. At the 

 <?lole of Edward VI.'s reiiin, it appears, 

 if any tiling, to have been rather lower: 

 but to have diminirtied nonfiderably by 

 the end of Mary's. The great reftorer 

 of our naval power wa-s I'Jizubeth; who 

 is rcpiefcnU'd, by one account, in 15S8, 



to have pofleflcd no fewer than 42 flilps 

 and W-fTels in her fleet ; one of the largell 

 of which, however, liie Ark Royal, car- 

 ried no more tlian 55 guns and 4i!5 men. 

 During the laft twenty-five yeai-s of her 

 reign, Ihe is reprefented ahnoll to hav* 

 doubled her navy. To James I., it 

 feems, we are indebted for the firft pro- 

 clamation which forbade Englifli I'ub- 

 jeits to export or import goods in any 

 but Enclifli bottoms; he is ufually alTen- 

 ed to have added nine ihipsof wai to his 

 fleet, and, in 1610, built the largell fliip 

 that had been known. Her burthen was 

 1)00 tons, Ihe carried 04 pieces of ord- 

 nance, and was named the Prince, or 

 Prince Iloyal. The diliicultiesof Cliarlcs 

 I.'s reign, with the elleCts of the unpo- 

 pular meafure of levying Ihip-money, 

 might have reconciled us even had we 

 been forced to acknowledge that the 

 progiefs of our navy at that period was 

 retarded; but from Mr. Derrick's Me- 

 moirs it appears, that not only the ivit 

 of our iliips was increafed at this time, 

 but their form improved, and that to this 

 fnperiority of building much of the fuccefj 

 of our navy, in the time of Uie Protec- 

 tor, is to be attribute<l. We come now, 

 iiiy?. Mr. D., to a very bufy period of 

 our naval hiltory, when we had to en- 

 counter with the greutcfi maritime power 

 in Europe, and when our force had been 

 confiderably reduced : Prince Rupert 

 having cpiitted tiie kingdom in the year 

 Id 18, with '..'5 iliips uiuler his command, 

 n(jne of which ever returned. On th« 

 lit of March, U]5'i, our navy conlitled 

 of 102 veiVels; the largeft, the ii'o?trfi^72, 

 beini of the burthen of 1141 tons, and 

 carrying 600 men and 100 guns. In 

 1658, we find the number inert aftd to 

 157; though after Crou}weir3 death, 

 Mr. D. informs us, the funds for the 

 fleet were diverted to various other jmr!- 

 pofes. The bounds of our navy noW 

 rerjuire a more extended notice, for 

 which we mull refer our readers to, the 

 work itfelf. The uugmenuition and im- 

 provements which our iieets received in 

 every fuccecding reign, evince the fiea- 

 dinefs of that policy which has fo much 

 increafed our national greatnefs. In 

 1007, the number of our Ihips was in- 

 creafed to 323; though at the dole of 

 the war, the next year, they were re- 

 duced to QGG. Ttom the account of 

 Queen Anne's reicn it appears, that, al- 

 though there were 25 (laps lefs at her 

 Majelly's deceafe than at her acccilion, 

 there was an incrcafe of tonn.nge in the 

 uavy of 8199 cons. Under Geo'-gc 1. 



our 



