The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-08-25
Aua. IS, 1859

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]. 49, = The British NAVY. a*E
rna history of the British Navy forms one Of
,ha ,ao.t exciting pages in the annals 81 man
r.aa. We allude not to its earlier exploits in
The Time Of ALFRED and the Danes, nor yet to
ia more recent achievements under the PLAN-
rAerxxrs. Thesa were all well enough in
their way but they were the deeds rather Of
soldiers than Of sailors, Of hired merchant
vessels, in . great measure, not OF a regularly
organized, national, marine. We ailude to its
history from the time Of HENRY VII, when
tho Great Harry was launched, TO the latter
portion OF the reign OF GEORGE III. when
navigation had been reduced TO science, and
the genuine old sea-dog suppianted the soldier
and became lord Of the sea- II soon began 10
appear evident that soldiers, except few ma
rine@ had become an obsolete idea in man.
of.war and that sea- fights would always be
gained by that ship (other things being equai,)
which had the greatest number of experienced
sear,en on board They alone, IL soon became
apparent were capable Of struggling with the
winds and waves, and turning TO advantage
ali the variations In the weather. England had
The largest sea-coast, the largest maritime
population, the largest commerce, the most
harbors. and the best sailors. Her people were
descended from nations that had been pi-
rates In all time from the Saxons and Danes,
and other jewellers upon the stormy waters OF
the North Sea and the Baltic. In their island
home they had for centuries been accustomed
to the perils OF the deep. There was, there
fore, among them, passion for the sea-
and an aptitude for the seaman's life, 10 be
found among no other people. The Spaniard
and the Portuguese might triumph for awhiie'
one Of them might discover America, ana me
5 other might find the way to India around the
Cane of Good Hope. But we who look back
on the past from, All elevated point, can readily
perceive. what was hidden from contempora-
rtes. that the ultimate prevalence of the Eng
Iish Navy was inevitable
II seems strange TO us that there could have
been any doubt upon this subject, from the
time of the great Armada, so roughly handled
BIZ the winds and waves that assist the energy
Of her sons in guarding the shores OF Britain
A mighty squadron, the mightiest in some re-
epects that had ever burthened the waters.
crowded with veteran soldiers whose pro-
wess was unrivalled upon land, laden with the
heaviest artillery that had ever been cast with
chane racks, thumb-screws, and all lmagin-
able instruments of torture, for ballast, APP
rroach the shores Of obstinate, iEtractable,
uncompromising England, whose people will
not consent to be slaves, and therefore must
be scourged into submission. The blood of
Old England rises; her Queen appears at
the head of her assembled host their enthu-
siasm 10 unbounded they tell her not to be
alarmed, for that they know their duty from
every port, and bay, and creek, and inlet, issues
the tiny craft of England's unconqhered ma
riners her DRAKEs and her FRoBisHERs, her
HAwKrKsKs, and her RALEIGHs, command her
navy few in numbers, and small in size, when
compared to the huge shoal of Spanish Leyia-
thans that threaten to swallow them up.
the winds and waves conspire against
the sacriligious foe whose mission is TO
PROSTATE the temple of British freedom
they dispense his Armada they hurl his ships
upon the rocks; they bear upon his rear the
swift sailing craft of the English avengers,
who know how to shape their course and
gather strength from their fury they fall
one by one, on their dismantled craft; from
smooth beneath the roar of their artillery
from night to night, the shores of old England
are illuminated with the blaze of burning
ships and shake beneath the shock Of explo-
ding magazines the miserable remnants of the
expedition Mt last retire in terror from shores
which they might we'll believe to be guarded
by internal spirits; the long agony of suspense
is over, and England emerges from the con-
test, greater, freer, more glorious, than ever
with 40 superior on land. and without rival
upon the waters Of the deep From that time il
became a settled maxim with English sailors
that there was always war with Spain under
the tropics. and from that period may be dated
the rise of those splendid buccaneers whose gal
iantry makes us half forget that they were pi-
rates, or, II we remember it, remember it only TO
regret From that time, too, may be dated the
supremacy of the British Navy, though for
more than two centuries { had to dispute the
empire OF the seas with Spain, with Holland,
and with France, though Dutch feet once
attacked an English fleet SO near to London
that the guns were heard in that metropolis
and though, during our Revolutionary war
combined French and Spanish squadron
rods triumphant in the channel. at the pc
Rod W hen our war Of 1912 commenced, Grea
Britain had not rival upon the face of tn
waters. She had encountered them all il
q France, Holland, Spain, and Den
mark, and all had fallen before her. Sh
promised herself an easy victory GU
s'haIf-dozen fr-built frigaies, with n bit o
striped bunting at the mas thead, - as CANNING
contemptuously designated our navy. Never
was astonishment more profound than it was
in England when it was discovered that, man
for man and gun for gun, she was no match
for as upon the ocean. This episode in the
history OF the British Navy, is more painful
10 the historians Of Great Britain than all the
rest of her naval record.
But the oden time has passed away. The
history Of the British Navy, thus tar, may be
sealed up. 1t enters upon a career entirely
new, and any glory it may gain in future,
must be considered as altogether disconnected
with that which was gained under the old state
Of things. In future, naval battles will be
fought by soldiers as they were in the US of
THkNIsToCLKs. Steam has produced an entire
revolution. The weather gauge has become an
obsolete idea Steam enables q vessel to sail
Tor rather move) directly in the teeth OF the
wind Fleets will be formed in line, or in
column, with all the precision of soldiers en-
gagged in a pitched battle. There will be no
moro battling good arrangement, by changes
OF wind. The opposing fleets will meet, form,
march, counter march, attack, retreat, call up
reserves, and manGuvre in every respect pre-
ciseiy as soldiers do on land. The invention of
ty in the use of the bow. The application of
steam has neutralzed the English superiority
In searnanship. Not he who can best handle