' In this inquiry there has been no
occasion to use figures relating to the time of Lord Brougham's
observations. We will take the last three great maritime wars
in which our country has been engaged. These were: the war of
American Independence, the war with Revolutionary France to the
Peace of Amiens, and the war with Napoleon. The period covered
by these three contests roughly corresponds to the last quarter
of the eighteenth and the first fifteen years of the nineteenth
century. In each of the three wars there was a sudden and large
addition to the number of seamen in the navy; and in each there
were considerable annual increases as the struggle continued. It
must be understood that we shall deal with the case of seamen only;
the figures, which also were large, relating to the marines not
being included in our survey because it has never been contended
that their corps looked to the merchant service for any appreciable
proportion of its recruits. In taking note of the increase of
seamen voted for any year it will be necessary to make allowance
also for the 'waste' of the previous year. The waste, even in the
latter part of the last century, was large. Commander Robinson,
in his valuable work, 'The British Fleet,' gives details showing
that the waste during the Seven Years' war was so great as to be
truly shocking. In 1895 Lord Brassey (_Naval_Annual_) allowed
for the _personnel_ of the navy, even in these days of peace
and advanced sanitary science, a yearly waste of 5 per cent.
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