1817	State of the British Navy

THE abstract for the year 1817 * differs from all that have preceded it in the series, by the double arrangement of its classification, owing to the revival, by an order in council, of the ancient and only reasonable practice of rating the ships of the British navy ; namely, according to the number of carriage-guns of every sort which they respectively mounted. The memorial from the board of admiralty to the prince regent, recommending the alteration, bears date November 25, 1816 : and the order in council establishing the new ratings, according to the plan submitted, issued in the month of February, 1817. Although this memorial of the board of admiralty was not seen by us, until every abstract of the 28 was printed, and every note attached to them prepared, we find that we had anticipated nearly all the reasons urged by the board for the necessity of some amendment in the classification. The following are the two concluding paragraphs of this important memorial: " We trust that we shall be excused for observing to your royal highness, that it is wholly unworthy of the character of the royal navy of this kingdom to maintain this system, which though introduced by the accidental cause we have mentioned, and without any design of deception, yet may give occasion to foreign nations to accuse us of misrepresentation, when we state that a British frigate of 38 guns has taken a foreign frigate of 44, when in fact the British frigate was of equal, if not superior force. We therefore humbly recommend that your royal highness will be pleased to order, that the rule for stating the force of his majesty's ships, which prevailed prior to 1793, and which in fact never was formally

* See Appendix, Annual Abstract No. 25 ; also, in particular the notes belonging to it.

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