On a general survey of the operations of the year it cannot be said that either party had displayed much energy. The French fleet had done nothing proportionate to its pretensions and its paper strength. In 1692, the King of France was believed to possess 110 rated ships and 690 other vessels of war. This figure is of course absurd, unless we are to suppose that it included all the lighters and row boats employed in his harbours. The fleet carried 14,670 cannon, and was manned by 2500 officers and 97,500 men. We may presume that this estimate covers the dockyard workmen. Ninety-seven thousand five hundred men was more than the whole number of Frenchmen liable to be drawn by the _classes_, and it is very doubtful whether the French king ever had the service at sea of one-half of them at any given moment. Still, when all deductions are allowed for, this was a great force. It had done nothing in proportion to its size. There would have been no difficulty, considering that all Ireland except the north was in the hands of King James, in establishing a naval station at Bantry Bay, or even at Dublin, and from either of these ports the French could have done something effectual to stop the passage of Schomberg’s army. They were content to land their troops in Ireland, and then to return. But we certainly did very little to prevent them, and the feeble conduct of Herbert in the action of Bantry Bay promised very ill for the future. The winter afforded the English Government an opportunity to prepare for a vigorous campaign, but it was neglected. The first joy over the Revolution was followed by a reaction. The two sections of the victorious party, the Whig and the Tory, began to quarrel and to struggle for predominance. These factions were nowhere more acutely felt than at the Admiralty. It is said by several authorities, and denied by nobody, that Herbert had fallen back into the dissolute habits of his early life. He was addicted to excesses which are ruinous to a man’s nerve and energy. It is certain that the work of the Admiralty was so badly done that the French privateers were very successful against our trade. In the new establishment of pay, made in 1694, it was said that the increase of salary was given in order that the officers might no longer be able to make their poverty an excuse for not doing their duty. Given the moral level of the Restoration and the Revolution, it is not incredible that captains, who were sulky at the loss of their table money, did refuse to exert themselves in defence of the merchant ships unless they were bribed. The old complaints of bad rations, bad pay, and bad beer were loud in the fleet. At last it was found necessary to make a change at headquarters. The existing Board of Admiralty was dissolved, and replaced by another with the Earl of Pembroke at its head. Torrington was very indignant, and threatened to resign the command of the fleet in the Channel. He