1813	The Frigate Classes	147

classifying the British navy. A three-decker, certainly, would be called a four-decker, a two-decker, except of the R and U classes in the Abstract, a three-decker, and a quarter-decked one-decker, or regular frigate, a two-decker ; but is not the old 98 now called a 104, the old 38 a 46, and, a much greater advance in figures, the old 24 a 34 ? If England does not adopt the plan, other nations will. America, indeed, has already begun to build flush three-deckers, or ships, in the disposition of their guns, not unlike the Swedish Chapman's 94-gun ship mentioned at a former page. France has already built a few flush two-deckers, similar to the Leander's class ; and, if she follows the advice of a very ingenious writer on naval affairs of her own, she will by-and-by have flush three and flush four decked ships. " We ought, for the future," says M. Dupin, " to construct our line-of-battle ships without a poop, and compensate that reduction by continuing the battery from the forecastle to the quarterdeck. We should then have ships of the line with four, and with three, complete batteries:" " Nous devrions à l'avenir ne construire quo des vaisseaux sans dunette, et compenser cette suppression, en continuant la batterie des gaillards, depuis l'avant jusqu'à l'arrière. Alors nous aurions des vaisseaux à quatre et à trois batteries complètes." �

Our remarks on this subject, as well as those we formerly submitted on the equalization of the calibers of guns, � are merely thrown out as loose hints, to be taken advantage of, if thought worthy, by the abler heads of those to whom the subject professionally belongs. We are aware of one objection to placing guns in the waist : the inconvenience, while those guns are in use especially, of working the sails. It is a rare innovation that produces good without some alloy of evil ; and perhaps a clever rigger could dispose the ropes and halliards in such a manner, that the force of that objection would be considerably weakened.

Resuming our subject, we have to notice that, besides the two anomalous classes of " frigates," the cut-down 74 and the 50, a few ships were constructed, to which the name of frigate properly applied, and which, with a little more care in constructing and equipping them, would have been able to cope with the President or ether of her class-mates. The Endymion is already known to us as a remarkably fine frigate ; but she mounted only 26 guns on the main deck. Another pair of guns on that deck were deemed indispensable ; and as fine a frigate as ever swam, having the ports for that number of 24-pounders, was then lying among the ordinary in Hamoaze. The Egyptienne, of 1430 tons, was this frigate ; but, to save expense we suppose, it was

* See vol. v., p. 12. � Dupin, Force Navale, tome ii., p. 156. � See vol. iv., p. 280.

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