2S6 Mr. Seppings o?i a new principle of constructing 
structure, whereby the lives of hundreds might be thought to 
be endangered, together with the great opposition raised 
against propositions for any material change in long esta- 
blished customs, may have occasioned this backwardness in 
naval improvements. 
This heavy responsibility, together with the obstacles which 
are so frequently thrown in the way of projectors, has, with- 
out doubt, deterred many men, eminently distinguished for 
professional abilities, from attempting to carry into effect their 
ideas on this most arduous and dangerous undertaking: to 
which may be added, that not merely their professional repu- 
tation, but even their peace of mind, might have been hazarded 
thereby. For if the ship should be lost, although from a very 
different cause to that of the construction, yet would the weight 
of censure fall upon the new principle; and the projector 
would have to endure the whole burthen of the charge, that 
his schemes had occasioned not only the loss of the ship, but 
also, which is of far more consequence, the lives of some hun- 
dreds of his fellow- creatures. Whilst, on the other hand, 
should the experiment succeed, there would not be wanting 
those who would be ready to detract from that merit which 
he so richly deserved, and which would be purchased by him 
at so great a risk. 
The writer of the present paper, in his various propositions 
for the improvement of naval architecture, has constantly kept 
in view these two leading axioms, “ That the strength of a 
fabric consists not so much in the quantity of the materials 
of which it is composed, as in the disposition, the connection, 
and the security of its several parts."' And, “ that the strength 
of a ship, let its construction be what it may, can never 
