ON THE ORIGIN AND USE OF NAVAL SIGNALS. WHEN we read at our fire-side the account of an engagement, or other interefting operation of an army, our attention is generally fo much engaged by the results, that we give but little attention to the movements which led to them, and produced them; and we feldom form to ourselves any diftinct notion of the conduct of the day. But a profeffional man, or one accustomed to reflection, and who is not fatisfied with the mere indulgence of eager curiofity, follows every regiment in its movements, endeavours to fee their connection, and the influence which they have had on the fate of the day, and even to form to himself a general notion of the whole fcene of action at its different interefting periods: He looks with the eye of the general, and fees his orders fuc ceed or fail. But when we think, for a moment, on the fituation of the commander of a fleet, confined on board one fhip, and this ship, as much, or more closely, engaged than any other of the fleet; and when we reflect that here are no meffengers ready to carry his orders to fhips of the fquadron at the diftance of miles from him, and to deliver them with precifion and distinctness; and that even if this were poffible by fending small ships or boats, the viciffitudes of wind and weather may render the communication fo tedious, that the favourable moment may be irretrievably loft before the order can be conveyed-when we think, 1 fay, of all these circumftances, our thoughts are bewildered, and we are ready to imagine that a fea-battle is nothing but the unconnected struggle of individual fhips; and that when the admiral has once cried havoc, and let flip the dogs of war," he has done all that his fituation empowers him to do, and must leave the fate of the day to the bravery and skill of his captains and failors. Yet it is in this fituation, apparently the most unfavourable, that the orders of the commander can be conveyed, VOL. LVIII. with a dispatch that is not attainable in the operations of a land army. The scene of action is unincumbered, fo that the eye of the admiral can behold the whole without interruption. The movements which it is poffible to execute are few, and they are precife. A few words are fufficient to order them, and ther the mere fighting the fhips must always be left to their refpective commanders. This fimplicity in the duty to be performed has enabled us to frame a language fully adequate to the business in hand, by which a correspondence can be kept up as far as the eye can fee. This is the language of fignals, a language by writing, addreffed to the eye, and which he that runneth may read. As, in common writing, certain arbitrary marks are agreed on to exprefs certain founds used in speech, or rather, as in hieroglyphics, certain arbitrary marks are agreed on to express certain thoughts, or the fubjects of these thoughts; fo here certain exhibitions are made, which are agreed on to exprefs certain movements to be executed by the commander to whom they are addreffed, and all are enjoined to keep their eyes fixed on the fhip of the conductor of the fleet, that they may learn his will. It is fcarcely poffible for any number of fhips to act in concert, without fome fuch mode of communication between the admiral and the commanders of private ships. We have no direct information of this circumftance in the naval tactics of the ancient nations, the Greeks and Romans; yet the neceflity of the thing is fo apparent, that we cannot fuppofe it to have been omitted by the moft ingenious and the moft cultivated people who have appeared on the great theatre of the world: and we are perfuaded that Themistocles, Conon, and other renowned fea commanders of Athens, had fignals by which they di rected the movements of their fleets. We read, that when geus fent his fon Thefeus to Crete, it was agreed on, that if the thip fhould bring the young 5 X prince prince back in fafety, a white flag fhould veral fhips of the navy, not to be openhe difplayed. But those on board, in ed till they fhould arrive in a certain latheir joy on revifiting their country af- titude. It was on this occafion (says ter their perilous voyage, forgot to hoift our hiftorian Guthrie)" that we meet the concerted fignal. The anxious fa- with the first regular set of fignals and ther was every day expecting the fhip orders to the commanders of the Engwhich should bring back his darling fon, lish fleet." But, till the movements of and had gone to the fhore to look out a fleet have attained fome fort of unifor her. He faw her, but without the formity, regulated and connected by fignal agreed on: On which the old fome principles of propriety, and agreed man threw himself into the fea. We on by perfons in the habit of directing find, too, in the hiftory of the Punic a number of fhips, we may with conwars by Polybius, frequent allufions to fidence affirm, that fignals would be nofuch a mode of communication; and thing but a parcel of arbitrary marks, Ammianus Marcellinus fpeaks of the appropriated to particular pieces of naSpeculatores and vexillarii, who were on val fervice, fuch as attacking the eneboard the fhips in the Adriatic. The my, landing the foldiers, &c. and that coins both of Greece and Rome exhi- they would be confidered merely as rebit both flags and ftreamers. In fhort, ferring to the final refult, but by no we cannot doubt of the ancients having means pointing out the mode of execupractifed this hieroglyphical language. tion, or directing the movements which It is fomewhat furprising that Lord were neceffary for performing it. Dudley, in his "Arcano del Mare," It was James 11. when Duke of in which he makes an oftentatious dif- York, who first confidered this practice play of his knowledge of every thing as capable of being reduced into a fyl connected with the fea fervice, makes tem, and who faw the importance of no express mention of this very effential fuch a compofition. He, as well as piece of knowledge, although he muft, the King his brother, had always fhowby his long refidence in Italy, have ed a great predilection for the fea ferknown the marine difcipline of the Ve- vice; and, when appointed Admiral of netians and Genoefe, the greatest ma- England, he turned his whole attention ritime powers then in Europe. In the naval occurrences of modern Europe, mention is frequently made of fignals. Indeed, as we have already obferved, it seems impoffible for a number of fhips to act in any kind of concert, without fome method of communication. Numberless fituations must occur, when it would be impoffible to convey orders or information by meffengers from one fhip to another; and coaft and alarm fignals had long been practifed by every nation. The idea was therefore familiar. We find, in particular, that Queen Elizabeth, on occafion of tire expedition to Cadiz, ordered her fecretaries to draw up in ftructions, which were to be communicated to the admiral, the general, and the five counfellors of war, and by them to be copied and tranfmitted to the fe to its improvement. He had ftudied the art of war under Turenne, not as a paftime, but as a fcience, and was a favourite pupil of that most accomplished general. Turenne one day pointed hin out, faying, " Behold one who will be one of the first princes and greatest generals of Europe." When Admiral of England, he endeavoured to introduce into the maritime fervice all thofe principles of concert and arrangement, which made a number of individual re giments and fquadrons compofe a great army. When he commanded in the Dutch war, he found a fleet to be little better than a collection of ships, on board of each of which the commander and his fhip's company did their best to annoy the enemy, but with very little dependence on each other, or on the orders of the admiral; and in the differ ent 1 ent actions which the English fleet had with the Dutch, every thing was confufion as foon as the battle began. It is remarkable, that the famous penfionary De Witt, who from a itatesman became a navigator and a great fea commander in a few weeks, made the fame representation to the States General on his return from his firft campaign. In the Memoirs of James II. written by himself, we have the following pafLage: "1665. On the 15th of March, the Duke of York went to Gunfleet, the general rendezvous of the fleet, and haftened their equipment. He ordered all the flag officers on board with him every morning, to agree on the order of battle and rank. In former battles, no order was kept, and this under the Duke of York was the firft in which fighting in a line and regular form of battle was observed." This must be confidered as full authority for giving the Duke of York the honour of the invention. For whatever faults may be laid to the charge of this unfortunate prince, his word and honour ftand unimpeached. And we are anxious to vindicate his claim to it; because our neighbours the French, as ufual, would take the merit of this invention, and of the whole of naval tactics, to themselves. True it is, that Colbert, the great and justly celebrated minifter of Louis XIV. created a navy for his ambitious and vain-glorious malter, and gave it a conftitution which nray be a model for other nations to copy. By his encouragement, men of the greateft fcientific eminence were engaged to contribute to its improvement; and they gave us the firft treatifes of naval evolutions: But it must ever be remembered, that our accomplished, though mifguided fovereign, was then refiding at the court of Louis; that he had formerly acted in concert with the French as a commander and flag off cer; and was at this very time aiding them with his knowledge of fea affairs. In the memorable day at La Hogue, the gallant Ruffel, obferving one of 2 Tourville's movements, exclaimed, "There! they have got Pepys * mong them." This anecdote is given on the authority of a friend, who heard an old and respectable officer (Admiral Clinton) fay, that he had it from a gentleman who was in the action, had heard the words fpoken; fo that what has long been a matter of general opinion, may now be confidered as fully authenticated. It was on this occafion, then, that the Duke of York made the movements and evolutions of a fleet the object of his particular study, reduced them to a fyftem, and compofed that " Syf. tem or failing and fighting inftructions," which has ever fince been confidered as the code of difcipline for the British navy, and which has been adopted by our rivals and neighbours as the foundation of their naval tactics. It does great honour to its author, although its merit will not appear very eminent to a carelefs furveyor, on account of that very fimplicity which conftitutes its chief excellence. It is unquestionably the refult of much fagacious reflection, and painful combination of innumerable circumftances, all of which have their influence; and it is remarkable, that although fucceeding commanders have improved the fubject by feveral fubordinate additions, no change has, to this day, been made in its general principles or maxims of evolution. Accordingly, the failing and fighting inftructions of the Duke of York were accompanied by a fet of fignals for directing the chief or most frequent movements of the fleet. These alfo were contrived with fo much judgment, and fuch attention to diftin&tnefs, fimplicity, and propriety, that there has hardly been any change found neceffary; and they are still retained in the British navy as the ufual fignals in all cafes when we are not anxious to conceal our movements from an enemy. Notwithstanding this acknowledged merit of the Duke of York's fignals, it Pepys was fecretary to the Duke of York. 5 X 2 muft * must be admitted, that great improve- much to this fubject, have greatly imments have been made on this fubject, proved it, and have even introduced a confidered as an art. The art military new principle into the art; and by this has, in the course of a century pait, be- means have introduced it to the most come almost an appropriate calling, and fimple form of reference to the code of has therefore been made the peculiar failing and fighting inftructions, by maktudy of its profeffors. Our rivals the ing the fignals immediately expreffive, French were fooner, and more formal- not of orders, but of fimple numbers. ly, placed in this fituation, and the These numbers being prefixed to the minifters of Louis XIV. took infi- various articles of the code of inftrucnite and moft judicious pains to make tions, the officer who fees a fignal their military men fuperior to all others thrown out by the admiral, reads the by their academical education. A more number, and reports it to his captain, fcientific turn was given to their educa- perhaps without knowing to what it retion, and the affistance of scientific men lates. Thus fimplicity and fecrecy, was liberally given them; and all the with an unlimited power of variation, nations of Europe must acknowledge are combined. We believe that M. de fome obligations to them for informa la Bourdonnais, a brave and intelligent tion on every thing connected with the officer, during the war 1758, was the art of war. They have attended very author of this ingenious thought. ON THE DISADVANTAGES OF FINE WEATHER *. SIR, very hard upon "unlearned gentle men," if they cannot find fome employment to footh, or enable them to forget their difappointments. I do not, Sir, pretend to clafs my felf with learned gentlemen, yet I can make a tolerable shift with a rainy day, and I am fo little addicted to gadding, and fo much diflike formal parties of pleafure, that a fmart fhower, or even a complete focking rain feldom interrupts my purfuits. But I am not lefs * See pe 667, " On the Pleasures of the Clofet," to which this is an answer, written August 1796, SHAKSPEARE. an object of compaffion than thofe "un- I am, Sir, a married man. My wife (I hope I may speak candidly, for 1 am not writing an epitaph,) is a very good kind of woman, but has taken it into her head, that health is the greateft of all bleffings, and to be provided for by all and every means, either in our power or out of our power, however paradoxical that may feem. Our children are as healthy as any in the metropolis, or any where elfe, and you would fuppofe fhe had little to complain of on that score, yet the very cir cumftance that ought to afford her most comfort, is the very one which creates her greatest anxiety. Healthy and robuft as they are, fhe is apprehenfive left they fhould become lefs fo, if cooped up at home, and is therefore never happy unlefs when he takes them abroad 1 to get the fresh air," and take ex ercife; and to induce me to join in all thefe little jaunts, fhe never fails to difcover that I look pale, that I eat lefs than ufual, or have a fever, or a coldnefs and fhivering, or that my rheumatifm may return, or fome other alarming fymptom muft be driven away by driving me out of doors. All this, Sir, is not fo eafy a matter to be accomplished as you may imagine; for it is attended with a very great lofs of time, and pretty confiderable expences; fo that if your correfpondent has any pity to fpare from the "unlearned gentlemen on a rainy day," it will be very kind of him to bestow it upon men of moderate incomes on a fine day." Unfortunately, too, I happen to have a fet of relations and acquaintances, who are remarkably tenacious of good health, and are always forming fome agreeable party for the "firft fine day," and so much am I pestered with these engagements, which nothing but rain can prevent, that I am afraid it has worked a strange and mifanthropic change on my temper, and that I am become fo great an enemy to my country, and my climate, as to wifh for repeated fhowers, without any regard to the price of hay or the scarcity of wheat. When a hearty rain has faved me the mortification of idling away a whole day in the country, I never think whether the ground may not be too wet for fowing, nor whether the farmers have houfed their crops. I think only of myself, which you will fay is very felfifh, and I allow it; but confider what a misfortune it is to have one's happinefs connected with the weather, and to reflect, that though I preach œconomy to my family, they cannot practise it, unless it drop from the clouds. Yet all this, though bad enongh, is not the worst. This relates chiefly to the fpring and fall. Thefe, Sir, are the misfortunes of a fine day, coming fingly and unaccompanied, but they are nothing to a fucceffion of fine weather. Then, it is, Sir, that my wife, whofe fkill in medicine is great, difcovers that we are all very bad; that the metropolis. is a moft unhealthy place, and the environs little better; that we fhall pofi tively contract afthmas, fore throats, colds, agues, and confumptions, if we ftay any longer; that we shall lose our appetites and flesh, and become pale and wan, weak and feeble; and thatthe most important of all difcoveriesthe temple of Hygeia is fituated in the ifland of Thanet! Thither we must all go, in fpite of all my remonftrances, in spite of my offering to obtain from the phyficians a certificate of the good health of my family. No-they are all very ill, or they fancy they are, and phyficians tell us, that difeafes of the imagination are as afflictive to the patient as real gouts and fevers. I need fcarcely add, that it is the fashion in all such disorders to take the most expenfive method of cure. And, now, Sir, I hope I have convinced your correfpondent, that however deferving of pity unlearned gentlemen may be in a rainy day, yet there are objects much more deferving of pity in fine weather, a kind of weather, Sir, which modern manners have rendered friendly only to expence and idleness. It may ripen the corn and mature the fruits of the earth, but it obliges us at the fame time to meddle with them in a very sparing way; and I am certain, had it not been for the profpect we have of a wet feafon, my affairs would have been rather embarrassed. There is no evil fo great, but what we may derive fome benefit from it, and unless the months of Auguft and September deceive me, I am certain I fhall wind up, at the year's end, a better man by twenty per cent. than I can poffibly do under à continuance of warm weather and a ferene fky. Indeed, Sir, as I faid before, it is very hard to have one's temper turned differently from that of other people, but neceffity has no law. I can derive no pleasure from your auzure fkies-your gentle zephyrs the fanning of the trees-cool grot tos |