The Spanish navy augmented by Philip V. He armed, at the same time, a large fleet of ships, built in the ports of Cadiz, Malaga, Carthagena, and Alicant. In 1718, his marine consisted of fifty ships of the line, dispersed over the seas of Sicily and Sardinia, of bomb-ketches, fire-ships, and batteaux, for the purpose of landing troops to take possession of the island of Sardinia. (113) He had besides a powerful squadron in the Indian seas, to check pirates, and five ships of war to convoy merchant vessels from New Spain. 10. In 1733, the Spanish marine being employed in Africa, in the recapture of Oran, and in Italy, the Catholic king was obliged to form new armaments; but during this war his ships were employed in transporting troops into Italy, and in voyages to the Indies. After peace was concluded with the emperor, another war arose with England, that gave the utmost activity to the fleets of Spain. New Georgia, Porto-Bello, St. Augustin, and Carthagena, in America, became the scenes of action. The defence of the latter place, will ever be considered in history as one of the most illustrious monuments of Spanish valour. In the Mediterranean there occurred only the engagement off Toulon, in 1744, which gained the Spanish Admiral, Don Pedro Navarro, the pompous title of Marquis de Victoria. 11. The Spanish marine, having no further occasion to signalize itself, remained inactive for a long (113) See my geographical, political, and natural history of Sardinia, vol. 1, page 161, &c. Decay of the Spanish marine-its revival under Ferdinand VI. period, and gradually fell to decay. The Marquis d'Ensenada, being made minister under Ferdinand VI. exerted himself to raise it from a state of ruin. He procured English shipwrights, French architects and geometricians, formed schools, fortified the harbours, filled the dock-yards and arsenals, and made, or improved, other establishments, connected with this great object. The disgrace of this minister was not felt in the department which he quitted. They continued to work and build ships, and when Charles III. ascended the throne of Spain, the marine was in a prosperous state. 12, According to the representation given by the learned M. Bourgoing,(114) it appears, that after the peace which terminated the disastrous war of 1761, Spain had only thirty-seven ships of the line, and thirty frigates. In 1770, she possessed forty-one ships, from 58 to 112 guns, twenty-two frigates, eight large hoys, nine xebecks, and twelve smaller vessels of war, amounting, in the whole, to one hundred and two vessels of all sizes. In 1774, she had sixtyfour ships of the line, eight of them three-deckers, twenty-six frigates, nine xebecks, and twentyeight smaller vessels of war; in all, one hundred and forty-two. In 1778, Spain reckoned sixty-seven ships of the line, thirty-two frigates, besides other vessels, making in the whole one hundred and sixty-three; and at the end of the war, notwithstanding all the (114) Tableau de l'Europe Moderne, par M. Burgoing, tom. 2, p. 128. State of the Spanish marine.-Holland. losses she suffered, she retained nearly the same number. At the close of the year 1792, when war was declared against France, she possessed eighty ships of the line, six of which were wholly incapable of service, and fourteen hardly fit for sea. The war against the French republic has not been injurious to her marine. The present contest with England, which remains to be terminated, will leave her many losses to repair; and the Spanish government is now engaged, with activity, in rendering its marine capable of seconding the efforts of France against the usurpations of their common enemy. Section III. HOLLAND. § 1. HOLLAND is nothing more than a bank of sand and mud, raised by accident, and which accident may, at any time, destroy. The situation of its sunken land, below the level of the sea, has obliged the inhabitants to oppose the violence of the waves, by dikes, to dig canals in every direction, large enough to facilitate internal communication, and draw off the stagnant waters which covered its surface. Familiar with water, the Hollanders have been compelled to seek their chief subsistence from the sea. Necessity, which first made them fishermen, soon taught them how to cure and preserve their fish, to make them an object of commerce, procure in exchange from neighbouring countries, what they Industry of the Dutch; progress of their commerce. wanted in their own, and thus augment the pleasures of life. The riches which this industry brought into the state, enabled them to pursue other branches of trade that opened new sources of wealth. The strength of Holland increased with her opulence; she dared to take arms to obtain her freedom, and she succeeded in the attempt. Commercial and industrious, Ishe knew how to create, at the same time, territory and liberty, commerce and colonies, a useful navigation and a formidable marine. Emerging by the force of genius from the bosom of the ocean, she seemed to have more right than any other power to rule over its waves. 2. The decay of the Spanish marine, occasioned by the many losses which it sustained under Philip II. and by multiplied and ill concerted expeditions, transferred the sceptre of the sea to the hands of the Dutch. The pride of Spain could not have been better humbled than by the prosperity of a people whom its oppressions had compelled to throw off the yoke it had imposed. Having formed their country into a federal republic, the Dutch, stimulated by revenge and by their wants, commenced privateering, and formed a marine at the expense of the Spanish, whom they every where beat, and of the Portuguese, whom they detested. France and England, who saw nothing in the progress of this rising republic, but the humiliation of the Spanish monarch, assisted the Dutch to preserve their conquests and spoils, the whole value of which was not then known. Thus Greatness and superiority of the maritime power of Holland. the Dutch gradually secured their establishments wherever they wished to carry their arms, and strengthened themselves in their new acquisitions, before other nations became jealous of their power. By their industry, they gradually gained possession of all the commerce of that age; and, by means of their squadrons, became masters of every sea, 3. The power of Holland soon essayed its strength, and made itself known in the political world, by its energy, its economical resources, and its good fortune. The glory of Spain and Portugal, eclipsed on the ocean, disappeared before her fleets. From the suppliant she became the ally of France. The forces which she displayed abroad were the fruits of her maritime exploits. The riches acquired from the Spanish and Portuguese in Asia, contributed to support her mighty armaments. Her seamen appeared like conquerors on those distant coasts, and took possession of the most advantageous positions. If Holland did not, at once, snatch from her enemies all the commerce of those opulent regions, she strengthened herself there in such a manner, as to indicate that preponderance which she eventually obtained. She has abused this ascendancy by rendering the commerce exclusive, by seizing on the Spice-Islands, and monopolizing the spice-trade. 4. By its maritime prosperity, this republic was in a situation to enter into close connections with the northern powers, and to exercise great influence in that |