The National Register.
London, England, 1815-09-24 00:00:00

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1815.

No. 404.

POLITICAL. DISQUISITION.

DESTRUCTION OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Whilst the triumphs of our arms, the success of our
plans and the pacification of troubled Europe, engross all
our atten.!ion and fill our hearts with joy, let us not be
Ilaz7led by the sunshine of the hour. Let ns look be..
vend the momentary accomplishment of our wishes, and
see whether future dangers may not threaten the duratiou
o' our prosperity. In a word, let us look to our Navy?
It has been the foundation of our greatness and is still
the pi:lar of our power. With it we deride the hostility
of the world, and render even war tributary to our support.
Unequalled in numbers, in valour resistlnss, it has given to
oar small island the trident of the *4ves, and a leading
influence on the Continent. Like the oaks of which its
vessels are composed, it 114. s grown stronger in the midst
of conflicting storms. Shall peace destroy, what war has
only served to brace and to encrease ? : Shall the sceptre
of the seas be carelessly resigned, bees se we have proved
it cannot forcibly be torn away from us ? Such is the ob-
ject of stur present inrestigatiou.

It has lately been anneunced, and the resol‘itien has
partly been carried into effect, that the British navy, op
being placed on the peace establishment, would be reduced
to a small number of ships of the line, frigates and brigs,
not calculated to employ more than 1210.00 sailors. The
number of seamen on the war establishment, was, if we
are not mistaken, little short of 150,000. This is certainly
a mighty reduction, and in.point of state economy an im-
portant oue. Bit when the true interests 9f .the country
are considered, it will be found most likely to prove fatalto
our naval power. It 4 supposed that the seamen turned
out of employment, will apply to the merchant trade ttpd
contribute to enlarge the sphere of that commerce, which
notwithstanding the shackles which war imposed upon it,
embraced the world. It is hoped that those who will
prefer ,resting from the labours of the sea, will return to
their ancient homes and former occupations, anti will assist
in extending the agriculture or augmenting the mann-
factural produce of the country. But these surmises and
hopes are
_chimerical and to an alarming extent already
contradicted by facts. Instead of engaging In the titer-
*tit trade or resuming the occupations of
Vv.!. VII. .A'u, CGCC/K

PRICR gid.

the greatest part of our discharged seamen emigrate!
America offers them advantages, which even in time
of war, they had not always •sufficient patriptism to
resist, and which they now eagerly hasten to enjoy. The
payment of their arrears supplies them with the means,
when they gre not furnished by the Americans them-
selves', of repairing to the United States, 'where they
find employment and higher salaries than in England,
and where, after a short residence, they acquire all the
rights of citizens. The immediate effect of this emigra..

tion must be, in time of peace, a proportionate enerease
of the American trade, to the prejudice of ours. It must
also augment their sentiment of power, and th,eir disposi!.
tion to insult and to attack us. In time of war) the 'aids.
chief would be incalculable. In America, the press for
sailors is unknown : their engagements are voluntary, and
for no longer period at a time than a aruieet. lipnee they
are sure to make good terms with Captains or the State;
and as they can quit the service when they please, Felder
numbers are induced to enter, the hope of making
their fortune in a single expedition. The cause for which
they are constantly told they fight, is also calcplated to
seduce their feelings and excite their enthusiasm, whilst it
produces a disheartening effect on their antagonists. The
device, No Impressment, an(' Sailor's Rights, always
floats at the mast head of every American vessel going into
action, and, with the similarity of language and affinity of
blood, creates a prejudice in the minds of our tars, which;
during the course pf hostilities, has but too frequently
irevealed itself by their desertion, an,d now continues to
act upon them as a magnet, and to encourage their
emigration. Freed by Peace from the restraint which
the fear of punishment, or the disgrace pf being con•
sidered as traitors imposed upon them, they pass in
crowds into the service of the United States, and if the
harmony between the two nations lasts but two short
years, they will feel themselves at the renewal of the con-
test, called upon as American citizens tb defend their
adopted country. In this manner will the naval stretgth
of England have been quietly and silently transferred to
I, her bitterest enemy, and at the hour of war she may find
one hundred thousand of her best sailors marshalled on the
American decks to sweep her fleets from the waves.
is true tint notwithstanding the rapidity 'with

their youth, II —it
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