was called to the succession of the Swedish Throne, he abjured not the doctrines of Popery, but those of Calvin; and conformed not to the Protestant Religion (in the enlarged sense of the term, as applied to a converted Papist), but to the peculiar tenets of the Lutheran Church. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, F. C. London Institution, THE passage of Voltaire alluded to in Dr. Hodgson's letter to you is to be found in the "Questions sur l'Encyclopédie," at the word Amazones. The celebrated Author, after having related the story of some female warriors who have shewn what intrepidity their sex is susceptible of acquiring, says: "L'histoire Arabe est pleine de ces exemples; mais elle ne dit point que ces femmes guerrières se brulassent le teton droit pour mieux tirer de l'arc, encore moins qu'elles vécussent sans hommes; au contraire, elles s'exposoient dans les combats pour leurs maris ou pour leurs amans, et de cela même on doit conclure que loin de faire des reproches à l'Aridste et au Tasse d'avoir introduit tant d'amantes guerrières dans leurs poëmes, on doit les louer d'avoir peint des mœurs vraies et intéressantes." Voltaire proceeds to notice several other women whose exploits are related in history, such as, Marguerite d'Anjou, wife of Henry the Sixth, the Countess of Montfort in Brittany, Jeanne d'Arc, or the famous Pucelle d'Orléans, &c. &c. The late wars in Spain and in Switzerland might have furnished him with new instances of female bravery. I do not recollect having met with these remarks in the Histoire Géné rale of our Author'; but this commu nication will probably satisfy your Correspondent; and having the original work at hand, I thought that your Readers might not be displeased with the own words of the learned and shrewd Philosopher of Ferney. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, M X. Jan. 12. OST sincerely do I unite with your Correspondent B. D. in than half a century a British Settlement has been established at the Bay of Honduras; but on June 20, 1812, and not before, the first stone of a Church was laid by Colonel Smyth, the Lieutenant-governor. In the colony of New South Wales, three Churches have been erected, at Sydney, Paramatta, and Windsor, on the Hawkesbury. But each of these is said to be too small. for the population, and many more are wanted. This evil, Mr. Urban, will never be fully obviated, till the British Government shall think proper to send out Bishops duly authorized to superintend the cause of Religion in the East and West Indies. Surely the present very respectable Bench of Bishops will not suffer the India Charter to be renewed without this most necessary provision. The excellent "Considerations on I Mr. URBAN, Hertford, Nov. 14. of your Correspondent in his account of the Wycliffe family: the male line of which did not become extinct on the death of Ralph in 1606: it was continued in his uncle William, who is mentioned by your Correspondent himself to be living in 1611. David, the grandson of this William, was the last Wycliffe who was in possession of the family estates, and he mortgaged them in the beginning of the last century to Marmaduke Tunstall, esq. from whose descendants the present respectable proprietor has de rived them. I happen to be in possession of several interesting documents relating to this family, one of the most antient in England, and the decay of which I have always considered a sub ject of great regret. These papers, and a degree of personal knowledge acquired from a residence of nearly half a century in the neighbourhood, have supplied me with many particulars res respecting the family, which I shall readily communicate to such of your Magazine for December, in lamenting the want of Churches your readers as may take an interest in different parts of the King's Fo reign Dominions. For perhaps more the subject. * See p. 16. SENEX. To Precursor to Forest Trees and Timber, &c. addressed to His Royal Highness WILLIAM DUKE OF CLARENCE, Admiral of the British Fleet, &c. SIR, A Fleet indis S the Admiral of a putably composed of the most distinguished officers and seamen the world has hitherto produced, I humbly presume to address your Royal Highness on the means of supporting the Navy; the subject-matter of which, being mostly drawn from official documents and actual experiments, will shew that policy, economy, and the safety of the State, require the adoption of efficient measures to ensure a supply of good ships for the present, and a permanent succession of durable timber in future, as well as more skilful management in the preparation and appropriation of it for use: trusting that, should your Royal Highness condescend to investigate the matter, and submit the result to your august Brother, the Prince Regent, such a vigorous and wise system would beestablished for the permanent support of the Navy, that the Nation may have cause to feel that gratitude towardsyou which is justly due to James Duke of York, who, supported by his brother Charles II. not only regenerated our naval power after the Restoration, but, as Lord High Admiral, directed the principal officers and commissioners of the Navy to apply to the then most scientific and intelligent body of men in Europe, respecting a supply of timber for the Navy, which produced the most beneficial effect. The Royal Society having directed the attention of those able men Sir Wm. Petty, Dr. Hook, and Silva Evelyn, to this subject, the valuable Works published by the latter excited such a spirit for planting, as to have been the means of principally furnishing the supply of oak timber for the Navy, until the commencement of the French Revolutionary War in 1793, when the neglect of the judicious measure pursued by James began to be seriously felt; and has put the means of supporting our maritime strength in such jeopardy, that, without the speedy and effective exertions of the Royal Power and of Parliament in directing the good sense and spirit of the Nation, our Navy is in danger ere long of becoming imbecile, and the personal skill and bravery of our seamen rendered abortive, from a defective and rapid decay of the material.-In such dilemma, I venture with great deference to examine the cause, and with humble duty to suggest a remedy; earnestly hoping that, through the exertion of your Royal Highness, the formation and construction of our ships of war with more durable materials, and the 'providing of an adequate permanent future supply of Timber within ourselves will be fully established; and that William Duke of Clarence will be entitled to that merit and applause of his Country for improving the Navy, which his illustrious Brother Frederick Duke of York has justly obtained for bettering the Army. I have the honour to be, with great respect, Sir, your Royal Highness's most obedient and very humble servant, January 1. W. LAYMAN. "The great decrease in Naval Timber is the more alarming, and calls the more for the attention of Government, from its being occasioned not by any temporary causes, but by such as must inevitably render it every day more general and rapid. Thére is no reflecting person in the kingdom who does not feel and acknowledge that the existence of every thing valuable to us as a Nation depends upon maintaining our naval superiority; and yet for more than forty years we have remained in a state of apparent insensibility, although it has been demonstrated, that the article most essential to the preservation of our Navy has been gradually diminishing, and that the causes of that dimination are of a nature not to afford the smallest prospect of a probable change, unless the most vigorous exertions are made to provide a substitute for those resources on which we have hitherto relied, and which we know are in a progress of rapid decay and ultimate failure at no very distant period. During the short time I remained at the head of our Naval concerns, I suggested the appointment of the Commission of Naval Revision, under a deep impression, that the state of Naval Timber, and other matters of essential importance to the Naval service of the Country, required an immediate and radical investigation. If there are any parts of the 14th Report of that Commission which it is expedient expedient to conceal, still much useful information might be given to Parliament and the publick, consistently with such reserve. I am not aware that any good can result from such a determined concealment. If there is just cause of alarm from the increased decay and scarcity of an article so essentially necessary to the existence of the Empire, the knowledge of such an impending danger would be the strongest incitement to the publick at large cordially to concur in every measure which Government may think necessary to ward off so serious a calamity. "If an example be wanting of the benefits to be produced by the diffusion of a knowledge of the state of timber in the kingdom, a very strong proof is to be found in the effect which was produced by the writings of Evelyn. The vast quantities of great timber consumed by our Navy during the present reign were chiefly the produce of the plantations made between the Restoration and the end of the 16th century on private property, in almost every part of England, as well as in the Royal Forests, particularly the Forest of Dean; and which had been occasioned by the publication of the state of timber in this kingdom, and by looking at the danger of a scarcity boldly in the face. "Thus it appears, that while at this time we are experiencing the practical good effect, and reaping the very fruit produced by the system of promulgating the extent of the wants of the Navy in former times, a line of policy is adopted (that of concealment) the very reverse of that which past experience has proved to have been so eminently beneficial. "It would seem as if the successive Governments of this Country had invariably become disheartened, and had therefore abandoned all attempts to place this important branch of our naval resources upon a permanent basis, because the members of it could not hope to live to see the success of their own measures. But, if this course of policy is to govern all our actions, -if, because we may struggle through the immediate difficulties we have to encounter, and are able to ward off any imminent danger in our own lives, we are therefore to pursue the narrow policy of neglecting to provide for posterity, with what reproaches will after-generations load our memory! shall we not be certain of drawing down upon us the execration instead of the praises of posterity? "It is evident, that some general system ought to be adopted for securing a sufficient and permanent supply to our Navy; and in promoting such an object, I think we ought all to agree, whatever be our differences of opinion in other points." Henry Viscount Meiville to Mr. Perceval, June, 1810. SUPPORT OF THE NAVY. It is a truth universally admitted, that the power, wealth, and existence of the British Empire depend on maritime superiority. The support of its Navy is, therefore, an object of the greatest national importance; and to have the means of it within ourselves, must ensure our safety in the same degree, as to rely on foreign powers for that which is essential to our strength and prosperity must be supine and dangerous. Towards this support, timber must be considered the most essential article; and as, from misapplication in use, and the immense increase in consumption, with the neglect of home supply, Great Britain has fallen into the hazardous policy of depending on other countries for precarious and expensive supplies of perishable materials to prop her Marine; by which our ships of war have been defective, and are now going rapidly to decay, and millions have been added to the public debt, as well as the continu ance of such policy being at present a great chain upon our finances; it is a duty incumbent on us to investigate our resources, and establish within ourselves permanent means for supporting our Navy. The home supply of oak timber has hitherto been derived either from private property, or the Royal Forests; but it appears by papers presented to Parliament, that the Comptroller of the Navy stated to the First Lord of the Admiralty, by letter dated 23d March 1802, that "the consumption is now so much more than the growth, that the article will soon cease to be supplied, if the same system is allowed to go on." And by other papers, dated the 24th and 29th of March 1804, that the Navy Board recommended to the Admiralty the appointment of " some competent person or persons as Purveyors-general in the purchase of Timber for the Navy, and that the purchases might be made apparently on account of the agent." But this knowing trick, all others, and to the public money; it becomes a public question, without any intention whatever of reflecting upon the individual members of that Board (for many of whom I have great personal respect), or upon the timber merchants who happen to be particularly eniployed. My object is to examine the principle as to a home supply of timber, and effective good ships for the support of our Navy, without any regard to persons. Home Supply of Timber. This measure, by doing away competitors, will certainly keep down the price of the present stock of timber; but it will be the means of preventing future supplies, as the price of the production will be forced below its real value. But, ut, though the immediate demand be answered, we may be in danger of future want, and not feel our necessties till it is too late. : From Private Property. The supply to be expected from private property must depend upon the profit arising from plantations of oak trees being greater than the profit to be derived from the produce of the land in cultivation, or the annual rent added to the accumulated interest thereon, from the time of planting until the trees are felled; which indi viduals, planting with a view to profit, will naturally do, when the annual increase in the value of a tree by its growth is less than the annual interest of the money it would sell for. And as trees, like animals, are thrifty in youth, healthy and vigorous; young oaks, until they contain about a quarter of a load of timber, will pay 71. per cent. per annum by their growth, and some may pay 51. per cent. until they arrive at half a load; but if left growing till they arrive at a load of 50 cubical feet per tree, the increase will not be equal to 31. per cent.; and if allowed to stand till they reach 80 feet, the most thriving oak will only pay 36s. per cent. for standing, at the price hitherto given for timber. To yield a profit equal to the annual rent of land during the last century, taking 8s. 3d. for the average rate in the year 1700, and progressively increasing to 20s. 6d. in 1800, amounting, with the accumulated interest in that period, to 1410l. for one acre, the price of naval oak timber requires to be upwards of 20l. per load. And if the average value of the rent of land taken at present at 33s. per acre per annum should only increase from the year 1800 *" As to the management of affairs among yourselves, that which I shall principally recommend to you is, that there be due and timely information gotten of the quantity of each sort of goods needful in the Navy, which are to be bought, and of the prices; in both which I desire you not to rely wholly on the information of Purveyors, or any person; but to use all means to be fully informed, to make your contracts at your public meetings in the Navy-office; and in contracts of great value, to give yourselves some days for enquiring, before concluding the contracts; that so you may not be misguided by a supposed necessity of buying of any one merchant, when possibly others might furnish cheaper and better; and by this method, as the King's contracts may probably be made with better husbandry, so will it be no small advantage to his Majesty, in that it will take away all occasion of calumniating his officers, it being impossible but the least reproach, however unjust, upon officers so highly intrusted as yourselves, should, by the diminution of your authority towards your inferiors, redound very much to the disservice of his Majesty. JAMES. "Whitehall, January 14, 1661. To the Principal Officers and Commissioners of the Navy." to 1 to 1900 in the proportion it did from 1700 to 1800, the profit of one acre from rent and accumulated interest will amount to 53177. in the next 100 years; to equal which, if an adjoining acre was planted with oaks, and produced 50 loads of naval oak timber at the end of that period, it would require to be sold for upwards of 661. per load. Such is the prospect of a future supply of large oak timber from private property, when the present scanty stock is exhausted; which from demi-official information (for there never has been any regular survey) was admitted in 1802 to be only equal to 18 years' consumption for our Navy. From the Royal Forests. With respect to the Royal Forests, of which 115,504 acres are withheld from the Royal Family and the publick for the ostensible purpose of supporting the Navy, it appears from the elaborate Report of the Commissioners, &c. appointed by Parliament in 1788, that for 57 years preceding, the supply of timber to his Majesty's Dock-yards from these dignified wastes averaged only 1356 loads annually; which, in the proportion of timber then consumed in the construction of ships in the King's Dock-yards, is only equal to the building of a ship of 642 tons, being less than the smallest frigate of 32 guns in his Majesty's service, and is little more than half a cubic foot from an acre, which, at the average rent of what the land would have let for, cost the publick at the rate of upwards of 681. per load, without the carriage, when the highest price given to individuals for siinilar timber at that period was only 41. 58. per load. And in 1802, from a greater supply being demanded, the Surveyorgeneral of Woods stated to the Navy Board, that "the quantity of improving timber in his Majesty's Forests is by far too inconsiderable to afford the smallest expectation of the continuance of even the annual supplies the Yards have lately had. Indeed, from the survey made in 1783 it appears, that in four forests the quantity of decayed timber exceeded the sound, and that the whole quantity of sound oak timber fit for naval purposes then standing in six of the forests out of ten, and containing 83,738 acres, was only 50,456 loads, being not equal to one year's consumption, even at that time, as stated by the Commissioners appointed by Parliament, although in 1788 the whole tonnage of the Navy consisted of only 413,667 tons; which in 1810 amounted to nearly 800,900 tons, and the consumption of timber was stated at 100,000 loads per annum, and in 1812, at110,000 loads for hull timber, without including ordnance or masts, &c. which, at the average produce on private property of 50 loads of oak timber per acre, in 100 years would require 220,000 acres, of which 2,200 must be felled and planted every year to yield a supply equal to such consumption. But it is a melancholy fact, as shewn in an account laid before the House of Commons, dated November 26, 1803, that in the New Forest, of 66,942 acres, "the number of oak trees in an improving state, which may be considered fit for naval purposes, were only 8,012, containing but 8,322 loads" of timber; which, from Parliamentary records, appear not to be equal to three months' consumption tion in the King's Dock-yardonly. It is true, that, owing to the energy and remonstrances of the late Lord Melville, more attention has of late been paid to this subject, and an attempt made to improve these dignified wastes by planting 32,000 acres, as stated in the House of Commons last Session. But admitting that quantity to be properly fenced and planted with oaks producing the best ship timber, and to be as carefully managed as on private property, such plantations cannot be expected to produce 16,000 loads of oak timber annually during the present century; nor can the whole 115,000 acres, after great expence, and under the best possible care, be made equal to supply the present andincreasing consumption for the Navy. It were delusion to hold out such expectation, and the extreme of credulity to credit it (of which the late distinguished Statesman, who was most zealous in the establishing of supplies for the support of the Navy, seemed fully aware); as in his Letter to the late Mr. Perceval his Lordship says: "Having, I trust, satisfactorily shewn, that the consumption of timber for the support of the Royal Navy, as well as for other uses, is immensely increased. |