HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

271 .

whom wore on his arm a golden bracelet, weighing sixteen ounces. Thiscircumstance, immaterial as it is, has perhaps more relation to the presentsubject of enquiry, than any thing which occurs subsequent to the reign ofAlfred. Some interesting points of information are given with respect to thevessels composing the navv of that prince ; but except in that instance, andthe present, very little specific information is to be met with, as to the state ofMarine Architecture in Britain, or the form of its shipping, from the time ofJulius Ca?sar to the Norman conquest.

Godwin appears to have revived, on this occasion, the splendour of Cleo-patra herself, nor could a galley which required the exertion of fourscore per-sons to row it be deemed a contemptible specimen of nautical mechanism,-when it is remembered, that the cotemporary gallies of war used in the Medi-terranean, were furnished with only one fifth part more. The death of Hardi-canute, after a short reign of two years, afforded an opportunity for the re-storation of the Saxon line, in the person of the pious Edward, surnamed the-Confessor. No material naval occurrence took place till after the first elevenyears of his reign, when Godwin, whose power and ambition had risen to anheight which caused even Majesty to tremble on its throne, having failed inan attempt to dethrone the king, who had lately become his son-in-law,,repaired to Flanders, where, for the purpose of recovering his fallen power, hepurchased and hired a number of vessels, which having manned with his ad-herents, who received no inconsiderable reinforcements from adventurers anddesperadoes, fugitives from various nations, he immediately put to sea, with anintention of making a descent on the British coast, near the place where thetown of Sandwich is now situated. Edward, on his part, having been in-formed of the meditated attack, was not behind hand in his preparations to-repel the invader. The earl, finding his intention discovered, retreated back,to the harbours he had just quitted ; and Edward, imprudently considering thedanger as past, not only permitted his seamen to disband, but having laid uphis fleet, suffered it soon to fall into an unfit state for service. The politicand wary Godw'in, on the other hand, being informed of this circumstance, soauspicious to his hopes, put to sea with his whole force; and being joined otfthe Isle of Wight by Harold, with a squadron of vessels which he had col-lected in Ireland, he now became master of the sea ; and having seized all- thevessels fit for service which he could find in the different harbours along thesouthern coast, proceeded up the Thames for the avowed purpose of attacking