HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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abaft, in proportion to the length, as to be in danger of oversetting with even aslight shock of the sea, or being compelled to steer otherwise than directly fromthe wind; but it must not, at the same time, be forgotten, thatthe navigators of thattime were not prepared for any other course. Their vessels were totally unfur-nished with such sails as might have enabled them to haul close upon it; evenhad the formation of the hulls permitted it: they had therefore nothing to fearfrom the consequence of the measure, which they were unable to carry intoexecution. T he principles of ship building, and the grand proportions to beobserved in all the chief dimensions, had been, as it were, traditionally handeddown through a series of years, so that it would have been deemed the height ofscepticism to have doubted the propriety of them in any one particular. Likethe gallies of ancient Rome, they were extremely long, narrow, and lofty ; veryunstable, and, of course, perpetually exposed to a frequency of accidents, whichwithout our knowlege of the cause, would be now almost incredible; especiallyas we know them never to have ventured out of their ports, except in the sum-mer months, and when the wind blew perfectly favourable to their intendedcourse. In short, all maritime powers embraced and adhered nearly to the sameprinciples, notwithstanding they alike experienced the same inconvenience.

The Spanish ship of war, built in the same age, allowing for those triflingpeculiarities which distinguish the vessels of one country from those of another,as well as that of every cotemporary maritime power in the universe, bearssuch a resemblance in the decorations, to that in the Pepysian collection,as may convince all persons, who are not too fond of indulging doubts of theauthenticity and dependatice on such kind of proof, that it is not totally incor-rect nor much exaggerated. On the rest of the ships which composed the Englishroyal navy, at this time, it is needless to make any remark, or to attempt anyparticular account: they were of force far inferior to that already described, thelargest not being of more than three hundred tons burthen, and their numbersextremely limited, so that they amounted to no more than seven or eight vessels,some of which were mere pinnaces. It is well known, as already observed, that,previous to the commencement of the reign of king Henry the Eighth, ships werehired occasionally from the Venetians, the Genoese, the Hans Towns, and othertrading people : these, with some others supplied by the Cinque Ports, formedthe strength of the English fleet. As soon as the service for which they werehired was performed, they were dismissed.

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