We are now, however, clamorously called upon to change the long-established system, to increase indefinitely our fleet, and to keep it full manned on a war establishment. We had much better at once be at war, a result to which such a measure as that recommended would be likely enough to lead, Whenever the necessity for it shall actually exist, of which the Government may be presumed the best judge, let Parliament vote 50,000 men, and the Admiralty will find no difficulty in adding thirty sail-of-the-line, of as fine ships as any in the world, to the twenty-one already in commission; for which additional thirty, masts, sails, yards, and every necessary article of gear are in complete readiness in our (neglected) dock-yards and it can hardly be doubted that those persons, so clamorous for war, will be among the first cheerfully to submit to a war tax in time of

peace.

3. The last charge is that, from the reduced state of stores in the dock-yard, and of shipwrights, a fleet such as a war would require, could not be sent to sea. This would be indeed a serious charge if true. As there is no effect without a cause, so the cause of this alleged deficiency is rather a curious one. A Noble Marquis, one day in want of a Riga spar for his yacht, was told there was not one in the yard where he inquired; and all the newspapers in the United Kingdom echoed the cry, that a Riga spar was not to be found in any of Her Majesty's dock-yards; nay more, by a figure of speech called amplification, neither masts, spars, nor yards were to be had even for the supply of ships on the peace establishment. But the story of the deficiency of such a spar as the Noble Lord wanted is quite true; and it is also true that there are none of that kind in any of the yards, and the reason is this: the purchase of Riga spars has been discontinued for the last three-and-twenty years, that is, since the conclusion of the war, because the prices

demanded became so enormous, and their place could be supplied so advantageously by the substitution of Virginia, red pine, and New Zealand coudie spars-all of them equally good and much cheaper than, and the last superior in toughness and strength to, Riga spars. In the year 1833 a member of the then Board of Admiralty, who in ancient times had heard, like the Noble Lord in question, of the superior qualities of Riga spars, made an attempt to procure a supply by public contract, but the prices asked were so enormous, that the Board declined accepting any of the tenders. We are not singular, however, in the deficiency of these kind of spars. Le Baron Tupinier says that the northern market is closed against them, and that no more Riga spars are to be got; and, what makes the matter worse, they have not been able to supply their wants with Virginia spars; that in consequence they are reduced to the necessity of making their topmasts of several pieces (hune de l'assemblage ;) fishing, I believe we should call it, all round the mast, throughout the whole length. On inquiry I find that the reason for their not getting Virginia spars is, that the French, in their naval estimates, put down the prices at which contracts are taken. The American timber-merchants are soon informed of these, and raise their demands accordingly. The British public, however, may rest satisfied with the assurance that there are in the several dock-yards, not only made-masts, main, fore, mizen-masts, and bow-sprits, for thirty sail-of-the-line, already stated, but as many more in component parts, ready for putting together, with all the necessary stores for the equipment of a fleet to the extent of fifty sail-of-the-line; and with regard to topmasts, for the want of which the French are so much distressed, it appears we have upwards of three hundred spars, sufficient for all the topmasts of one hundred

as

sail-of-the-line. The details of the principal stores could be given, if necessary, or expedient, which, for obvious reasons, it is not. Many of the most important, and of foreign growth, are in store for three, four, five, and even six years' consumption-but I have already occupied more space than the subject may be thought to deserve. I shall, therefore, only remark that, with regard to the number of shipwrights, if any judgment may be formed from a comparison of what they were in the height of the war, with what they now are, it will be said that they are amply sufficient for all the work required of them. In the year 1813, when 148,000 men were voted, the number of shipwrights employed was about 5000, including other artificers immediately connected with ship-building; at the present time, when 34,000 men are voted, the number employed is 2360; the proportion being, that the latter number, in this view, would be sufficient for 60,000 men serving in the fleet; but of course the number to be employed must depend on the nature and quantity of the work to be performed.

In conclusion: I cannot hesitate to affirm, and I do so neither rashly nor vauntingly, nor without due research, that, if any confidence is to be placed on official statements and returns, at no former period of profound peace, in the whole history of Great Britain, was her navy in so efficient a state, as to the number, condition, and equipment of the ships in commission, and the number and superior qualities of the petty officers and effective seamen borne on their books: nor were the number, the dimensions, and the condition of the ships in ordinary, and the preparations and stores in the dock-yards for increasing the active and efficient force of the fleet, at any time more satisfactory, than at the present moment-the commencement of the year 1839.

$2. MANNING THE NAVY.

Notwithstanding all the clamour that has been raised, there is not the slightest ground of apprehension regarding the efficiency of our ships of war; but the case is different with respect to the manning of them. It is here where the shoe is likely to pinch. We may crowd into our harbours of Hamoaze, Portsmouth, the Thames and Medway, as many as we please of those "moveable fortresses," those " stupendous masses," there to repose on their shadows, but without men they will not, to pursue Mr. Canning's metaphor, "ruffle their plumage and start into life and animation." The important question then is, what means are to be adopted equal to the manning of the fleet on the breaking out of hostilities? It has been asserted that the whole of the seamen in the United Kingdom would not be sufficient to man the navy in time of war, without distressing the merchant service. Though there can be little doubt that the number of seamen, in the coasting trade, has been somewhat on the decline; and one of the causes is the multitude of steam-vessels, still rapidly increasing, which swarm in the Thames and other rivers, and along the coasts of the United Kingdom; which have had the same effect, as to the diminution of sailors, that the railroads have on posthorses. It is to be hoped, however, that a sufficient number will yet be found available for the naval service, without having recourse to means that would distress the mercantile marine, the main source indeed from which they must spring; and I think, it may be shown, that there are seamen enough for both.

That on the first breaking out of hostilities, recourse must be had to the legal and constitutional measure of impressment, no doubt can be entertained by any unprejudiced man;

without it the ships-of-war for a long time must continue to "repose on their shadows," while those of the enemy are reaping a rich harvest undisturbed. That it is both legal and constitutional has been so clearly shown by that able lawyer, Judge Foster, as not to be controverted. Even that powerful champion for the rights and liberties of Englishmen, Junius, in speaking of the impress, says, "I never can doubt that the community has a right to command, as well as to purchase, the service of its members. I see that right founded originally upon a necessity which supersedes argument. I see it established by usage immemorial, and admitted by more than a tacit assent of the legislature. I conclude there is no remedy in the nature of things, for the grievance complained of; for if there were, it must long since have been redressed." And he further observes that, “with regard to the press for seamen, it does not follow that the symptoms may not be softened, although the distemper cannot be cured."

There is no doubt that the mode of carrying impressment into effect may be so modified, as to remove a great deal of that odium which has generally been attached to it. It may be confined to the pressing of seamen afloat; no pressgangs need parade the streets, enter houses in search of poor fellows just returned from long voyages, to tear them away from their parents, their wives, and their children these are the things that make impressment hateful. Perhaps it would be desirable that no general press-warrants should be issued, by which the protected and unprotected, the aged and infirm, the landsmen as well as seamen, are indiscriminately swept away to the rendezvous, huddled together in a confined room, till regulated, as it is termed, when probably not one in five are found fit or