A Short History of the Royal Navy, 1217-1815. Volume II, 1689-1815

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY 1217-1815
BY DAVID HANNAY
VOLUME II 1689-1815
METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON
First Published in 1909
I submit this second part of the Short History of the Royal Navy to the kindness of the reader and the animadversions of reviewers with a profound sense of its deficiencies. That some were inevitable where so much had to be told in so narrow a space is no excuse for such errors as I have committed. It is my sincere hope that they are not very frequent nor very gross, and that my book does at least indicate the main outlines of the polity and the achievements of the navy. It is my pleasant duty to thank the Reverend William Hunt for his kindness in revising my proofs, and for the many excellent suggestions he made. I have also to present my thanks to Messrs. Blackwood for giving me their permission to make use in Chapter III. of matter published in Blackwood’s Magazine ; and to the proprietors of the Saturday Review for allowing me to make use of articles on the mutinies of 1797, formerly published in that periodical.
DAVID HANNAY


A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY
Authorities.—Burchett, Memoirs of Transactions at Sea 1688-1697 ; Lediard, Naval History of England ; Colomb, Naval Warfare ; Troude, Batailles navales de la France ; Delarbre, Tourville et la Marine de son temps ; Toudouze, Bataille de la Hougue ; Lambert de Sainte-Croix, Marine de France 1689-1792 ; Code des Armées Navales ; Crisenoy, L’Inscription maritime ; Calmon-Maison, Châteaurenault ; Martin Leake, Life of Sir John Leake ; De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewesen .
The Revolution of 1688 drew a line across the history of England, and marked the termination of the great struggle between King and Parliament. From that time forward it was settled beyond all dispute that when the two differed the last word was not to be with the king. Our sovereigns have ruled by a Parliamentary title, and the authority which conferred the Crown must always be superior in fact, if not in theory, to the Crown itself. Within Parliament the dominating body must necessarily be the House of Commons, which has the command of the purse. After 1688 the Crown, or the aristocracy, could only govern by securing the support, by means of pocket boroughs, by persuasion or corruption, of a majority of the Lower House. The navy, like the rest of the nation, was deeply affected by the change. From this time forward we hear little of the personal influence of the king. It was to the House of Commons that the navy appealed. Officers who wished to push their fortunes no longer thought of securing the goodwill of the sovereign or of a favourite. They became members of the House of Commons and earned promotion by serving a Parliamentary party. In one way the change was for the manifest good of the navy. It now had a master who might be unwilling to pay handsomely, but who both would and could pay whatever he chose to promise with a regularity far beyond the power of the king. In the years following the Revolution there were indeed complaints of wages in arrear and of necessities neglected. But this was only during the first period of strife. The increasing wealth of the nation supplied Parliament with ample means, and after a time the money was always regularly forthcoming. In another way the change was not so good. A great deal of party spirit was introduced into the navy, and there were times when Whig and Tory animosities interfered with the loyal discharge of duty.