England and Napoleon (1801-1815). Various
Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу England and Napoleon (1801-1815) - Various страница 7

Название: England and Napoleon (1801-1815)

Автор: Various

Издательство: Bookwire

Жанр: Документальная литература

Серия:

isbn: 4064066233020

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ in commerce,’ says the Hon. gentleman opposite to me (Mr. Fox). Look round, Sir, on the state of the world, and can such an argument even from such a man need farther refutation?”

      “And what, Sir”—so Canning went on in another passage—“what is the nature of the times in which we live? Look at France, and see what we have to cope with, and consider what has made her what she is? A man. You will tell me that she was great, and powerful, and formidable before the date of Bonaparte’s Government; that he found in her great physical and moral resources; that he had but to turn them to account. True, and he did so. Compare the situation in which he found France with that to which he has raised her. I am no panegyrist of Bonaparte; but I cannot shut my eyes to the superiority of his talents, to the amazing ascendency of his genius. Tell me not of his measures and his policy—it is his genius, his character, that keeps the world in awe. Sir, to meet, to check, to curb, to stand up against him, we want arms of the same kind. I am far from objecting to the large military establishments which are proposed to you. I vote for them with all my heart. But, for the purpose of coping with Bonaparte, one great commanding spirit is worth them all. This is my undisguised opinion. But when I state this opinion thus undisguisedly, is my Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Pitt) to be implicated in a charge of prompting what I say? …

      “Sir, of all the imputations to which that Right Hon. gentleman could be subjected, I confess I did think that of intrigue and cabal the least likely to be preferred against him by any man who has witnessed his public conduct. … No, Sir. Never did young Ambition, just struggling into public notice and aiming at popular favour, labour with half so much earnestness to court reputation and to conciliate adherents, as my Right Hon. Friend has laboured since his retreat from office not to attract, but to repel; not to increase the number of his followers, but to dissolve attachment and to transfer support. And if, whatever has been his endeavour to insulate and individualize himself in political life, he has not been able to succeed wholly, even with those who would sacrifice to his wishes everything but their attachment to him—if with the public he has succeeded not at all, what is the inference? what but that, retreat and withdraw as much as he will, he must not hope to efface the memory of his past services from the gratitude of his country?—he cannot withdraw himself from the following of a nation; he must endure the attachment of a people whom he has saved.”

       Source.—Clowes: The Royal Navy, 1900. Vol. v. (1803 to 1815), p. 15.

       Table of Contents

      Models of many of the most typical vessels which were added to the Navy during the period under review are to be seen at Greenwich. Among them are whole or half-block models of the following ships:

Name. Length of Gun-deck. Beam. Depth in Hold. Tons. Men. Guns. When and where Built, or how Acquired, etc.
Ft. In. Ft. In. Ft. In.
Caledonia 205 0 54 6 23 2 2,616 875 120 Launched 1808, at Devonport. Designed by Sir W. Rule.
Hercules 176 1 48 4¼ 21 0 1,750 590 80 Launched 1815, at Chatham. Designed by Surveyor’s Dept.
Bulwark 181 10 49 3 20 7 1,940 590 74 Launched 1807, at Portsmouth. Designed by Sir W. Rule.
Java 171 11½ 44 1 14 3 1,458 480 60 Launched 1815, at Devonport. Designed by Surveyor’s Dept.
President 173 3 44 4 13 11 1,533 480 50 Taken 1815, from the Americans.
Chesapeake 151 0 40 11 13 9 1,135 315 48 Taken 1813, from the Americans.
Lively 154 1 39 6 13 6 1,076 284 46 Launched 1804, at Woolwich. Designed by Sir W. Rule.
Euryalus 145 2 38 2½ 13 3 946 264 42 Launched 1803, by Adams, Bucklershard. Designed by Sir W. Rule.
Lacedemonian 150 4 40 0½ 12 9½ 1,073 264 38 Launched 1812, at Portsmouth. Built after the French Hébé, taken in 1782.
Barbados 140 0 36 7 16 0 800 195 36 Ex. Brave. Taken from the French, 1804.
Eden 108 6 30 8 9 0 451 150 28 Launched 1804, by Courtney, Chester. Designed by Sir W. Rule.
Andromeda 129 7 СКАЧАТЬ