HISTORIC SKETCHES. 



Fi-r. 9 '. 



of tho triangular ruler, and the thread at ita utmost tension 

 from the footis u to tho pencil-point, and from tho pencil-point 

 to o. When the edgo of tho ruler has moved from A u to the 

 :i L M, tho pencil-point will have traced out tho curve K N, 

 whilu thu st i ing will bo in tho ponition indicated by the dotted lines 



H N, N M. When the ruler's 

 edge occupies tho position v o, 

 P the pencil - point will have 

 traced out the curve K N o, 

 and the string will be in the 

 position indicated by the 

 thick lines HO, o o. Simi- 

 larly, when the ruler's edge 

 occupies the position E p, the 

 pencil-point will have traced 

 T out the curve K N o Q, and 

 the string will be in the posi- 

 tion indicated by the dotted 

 lines H Q, Q P. By turning 

 tho ruler E F o, and reversing 

 the operation, the lower part 

 of the curve K s z v may be 

 traced ; the change of position of the ruler's edge, and the string, 

 being shown by dotted lines, which are lettered E T, u w, H s, 

 8 T, H v, v w in tho diagram. 



It will be seen as well from the construction of the mechanical 

 means for producing tho parabola as from examination of the 

 diagram, that the leading principle of the parabola is that the 

 distance of every point on it from the focus is exactly equal to 

 a line lot fall from tho point in question perpendicularly to the 

 directrix. Thus in Fig. 90, H N, the distance from the focus in 

 a straight line to the point N, is equal to N L, the perpendicular 

 let fall from N on the directrix c D. Similarly H o is equal to o F, 

 u Q to Q E, HS to SR, and H v to V u. A straight line drawn 

 through any point in the curve at right angles to the axis is 

 called the ordinate of that point. Thus, if we draw an indefinite 

 straight lino x T, at right angles to the axis A B, passing through 

 the point o and the focus H, H o is the ordinato of the point O, 

 and H z the ordinate of the point z. The part K H of the straight 

 line A B, intercepted between K, the vertex of the parabola, and 

 the focus H, in which the double ordinate o z cuts the axis A B at 

 right angles, is called tho abscissa of tho points o z. In like 

 lianner Q a is the ordinate of the point Q, and K a its abscissa. 



To find tho focus of any given parabola, as Q K v in Fig. 90, 

 draw tho axis A B and the directrix c D, and at tho point K in tho 

 straight lino B K make an angle, B K o, equal to 60. From tho 

 point o in which K o meets the curve draw o H perpendicular to 

 A B ; tho point H is tho focus of tho curve. Make K A equal to 

 K H, and through A draw c D at right angles to A B: CD is tho 

 directrix of tho parabola. 



HISTORIC SKETCHES. XXII. 



ADMIRAL BYNG ON THE lira OF MAECH, 1757. 



" EVERT person in the fleet who, through cowardice, negligence, 

 or disaffection, shall in time of action withdraw or keep back, 

 or not come into the fight or engagement, or shall not do his I 

 utmost to take or destroy every ship which it shall be his duty to 

 engage . . . every such person so offending, and being con- i 

 victecl thereof by the sentence of a court-martial, shall suffer I 

 death." This was the article of war upon which the life and 

 honour of Admiral John Byng were given in charge to a naval 

 court-martial on the 28th of December, 1756. The trial took 

 place on board the St. George, in Portsmouth harbour, under 

 circumstances of unusual excitement. All England was smart- 

 ing under a sense of the disgrace which the conduct of tho 

 prisoner had appeared to bring upon it, and there was a uni- 

 versal cry for thorough investigation into the whole affair. 

 The populace were deeply imbued with tho spirit which actuated 

 all ranks, from the king downwards, and as Admiral Byng waa 

 brought to Portsmouth from Greenwich, under the escort of a 

 strong guard, he was insulted in every town and village ho 

 passed through. 



It is, happily, an event of most rare occurrence when a British 

 officer's courage is called in question ; and it is a matter of 

 satisfaction that in this case of Admiral Bvng the personal 



courage of the accused was admitted to be unsullied. Bat the 

 way in which ho had conducted himself in the Mediterranean, 

 when not his own honour only, but that of the kingdom also, 

 was entrusted to his keeping, was said to hare been snob as 

 greatly to tarnish the national glory. What that conduct was, 

 and the result of it to tho man most concerned, will be shown 

 in this sketch. 



In 1755 war, which had for a long time threatened, broke out 

 between England and France and Spain. Various indecisive 

 actions had been fought between the ships of the several 

 countries, and a few collisions took place between detached 

 bodies of troops ; but there were not any operations on a large 

 scale till in the early part of 1756 the French determined on 

 reducing the island of Minorca, which was held by General 

 Blakeney for the British. All the previous winter they had 

 been secretly preparing for the enterprise, though they had 

 skilfully concealed the aim and objects of it. Indeed, until 

 February, 1756, the British Ministers were not aware that the 

 expedition was meant for any place in the Mediterranean, bnt 

 fancied that the British possessions in North America were 

 tho destination. Convinced, however, at this time, of the actual 

 designs of the French, the Government took steps, albeit tardily, 

 to frustrate them. 



A squadron of ten ships of the line was fitted out, and the 

 command was given, on the 1st of April, to Admiral Byng, with 

 instructions to proceed forthwith to Gibraltar, and to inquire 

 there whether the French fleet from Toulon had passed the 

 strait. If they had, he was to detach Admiral West, his second 

 in command, with a portion of the fleet, to North America, 

 where it was still supposed a blow would be struck. If they 

 had not, he was "to go on without a moment's loss of time to 

 Minorca." Failing to meet the enemy's fleet there, he was to 

 go to Toulon, and blockade it in that port. Imperative orders 

 were given him to use his utmost diligence to protect the island 

 of Minorca and Gibraltar. 



As soon as he found what work was marked out for him, 

 Admiral Byng complained to the Admiralty of the inadequacy 

 of the force assigned to him. He had not a single frigate for 

 reconnoitring or signalling purposes ; the ships he had were 

 foul, the crews weak both in number and health ; and there 

 were not any marines on board of them, that valuable arm of 

 service having been withdrawn in order to make room for a 

 regiment of soldiers he was to take to Minorca, and for another 

 he was to pick up at Gibraltar. Bnt his protests produced no 

 effect ; the only answer he received from the Admiralty was an 

 order to proceed as already instructed, and on the 7th of April 

 he put to sea. 



Owing to the foulness of his ships, on the sides and bottoms 

 of which weed had so collected as to impair most materially 

 their sailing qualities, the admiral did not reach Gibraltar till 

 the 2nd of May, and there ho found there were not enough 

 stores to replenish his squadron, and that the governor would 

 not part with the regiment which Byng had been instructed to 

 take from him to Minorca. While lying in Gibraltar Bay, the 

 news reached him that a fortnight before the French admiral, 

 with a strong fleet, had appeared off Fort Mahon, Minorca, and 

 had landed the Due de Richelieu, with an army of 16,000 men, 

 to besiege the place. The governor of Minorca was away 

 (General Blakeney, eighty-two years of age, was deputy* 

 governor), and there were many of the officers of the garrison 

 on leave of absence ; the fortress of St. Philip, though very 

 strorg, was very ill supplied ; and there was not any assistance 

 from Nature, in the shape of rugged cliffs or difficult beaches, 

 to defend the place. General Blakeney did his best to prepare 

 for the siege, with his 3,000 men againet 16,000 of the enemy. 

 Under these circumstances Admiral Byng's instructions " to go 

 on without a moment's loss of time to Minorca " should un- 

 questionably have been acted on to the very letter, yet the 

 admiral waited in Gibraltar Bay till the 8th of May, and did 

 not sight Minorca till the 19th. 



Though tho British flag was still flying from the citadel of 

 Port Mahon, the place was closely invested. The Due de 

 Richelieu was pressing the siege with all his power, and M. de 

 la Galissoniere, the French admiral, was cruising off the island 

 with a fleet about equal in strength to the British admiral's. 

 General Blakeney had sunk some vessels at the month of the 

 harbour to prevent the French fleet getting in, and so succeeded 

 in relieving himself from the fire of the ships' guns ; bat by 



