necessarily resulted in great improvements in the art. [Illustration: FIG. 49.--The _Royal Charles_. 1673.] The expenditure on the navy in the time of the Commonwealth was enormous relatively to the total national revenue. In the year 1656-57 four-fifths of the income of the country was devoted to the sea service, in the following year two-thirds, and in 1658-59 nearly three-fifths. These are figures which have never been approached at any other period. The ships built during this time were of moderate dimensions. Only four were of 1,000 tons. These were the _Dunbar_, of 1,047 tons and 64 guns, built in 1656; the _London_, built in the same year, of the same tonnage and number of guns, though of different dimensions; the _Richard_, of 1,108 tons and 70 guns, built in 1658; and the _Naseby_, built in 1655, of 1,229 tons and 80 guns. All four were renamed at the Restoration. Charles II. and his brother, the Duke of York, afterwards James II., both possessed in an eminent degree the fondness for the navy which distinguished all the members of the Stuart dynasty, though, unfortunately, after the first naval war waged by Charles against Holland, the condition of the fleet was allowed to deteriorate very rapidly. As a sample of the type of warship of the first class built in this reign, we give, in Fig. 49, the _Royal Charles_, which was constructed at Portsmouth dockyard in 1673, by Sir Anthony Deane, to carry 100 guns. This illustration and that of the _Sovereign of the Seas_ are after pictures by Vandevelde. This ship was the largest in the navy, excepting always the famous old _Sovereign of the Seas_ and the _Britannia_. The latter was built at Chatham, by Pett, in 1682, and carried 100 guns, and measured 1,739 tons. The _Royal Charles_ created as much sensation in its day as did the famous ship built for Charles I. There is a beautiful model of the _Royal Charles_ in the Museum. [Illustration: FIG. 50.--The _Soleil Royal_. 1683.] The following table gives the leading dimensions of the _Royal Charles_ and the _Britannia_:-- --------------+---------+----------+----------+----------+------------ | | | | | Name of ship. | Length. | Breadth. | Depth of | Draught. | Complement. | | | hold. | | --------------+---------+----------+----------+----------+------------ | ft. | ft. in. | ft. in. | ft. in. | Royal Charles | 136 | 46 0 | 18 3 | 20 6 | 780 Britannia | 146 | 47 4 | 19 7-1/2| 20 0 | 780 --------------+---------+----------+----------+----------+------------