The shipping belonging to France was then, it would appear, only one-ninth of that belonging to the Dutch, or one-fifth of that of Great Britain, which, on the authority of Dr. Charles Devonport, had doubled between 1666 and 1688, while her royal navy had in the same time increased from 62,594 to 101,032 tons.[1]
British clearances, 1688, and value of exports.
1692.
From another return[2] we for the first time ascertain
the annual clearances outwards from Great Britain,
and the value of the cargoes of the ships. These
in 1688 amounted to 190,533 tons of English, and
95,267 tons of foreign vessels, the gross value of these
exports being 4,486,087l., showing an annual increase
not merely steady but rapid during the previous ten
years. War, however, again harassed the people.
France, the old enemy of England, now sought to
pluck from her the laurels she had won from the
Dutch, and to claim a maritime supremacy over both
nations. Her naval force had now become so formidable,
being augmented by numerous privateers,
that it played havoc among the merchant vessels of
Great Britain, destroying or capturing nearly the
whole Smyrna fleet, consisting of many richly laden
vessels, as also two of the English men-of-war which
accompanied them.[3]
War with France. Such a disaster upon the element where England claimed supremacy was keenly felt, not merely by those persons who were interested in maritime affairs, but by the entire nation, while the direct loss sustained by the English was estimated by the French at one million sterling.[4] The Turkey
- ↑ 'Discourse on the Trade of England,' vol. i. pp. 129, 363.
- ↑ Chambers's 'Estimate of the Strength of Great Britain,' p. 68.
- ↑ A list of these vessels will be found in the Gazette, No. 2888.
- ↑ The French navy was, however, nearly destroyed in the great battle of La Hogue, fought by Admiral Russell on May 12, 1692.
