introduction to this paper the author explains that its subject-matter

is the result of the speculations and experiments of earlier years; and he describes the incident which at the later date induced its publication. It appears that at the capture of the _Mars_, man-of-war, a manuscript was discovered on board which contained the results and conclusions of some important gunnery trials which the French had been carrying out. This manuscript, being shown to Robins by Lord Anson, was found to contain strong confirmation of his own views both as to the best proportions of guns and the most efficient powder-charges for the same. He had not published these before, he plaintively explains, because, “not being regularly initiated into the profession of artillery, he would be considered a visionary speculatist.” But fortified by the French MS. he no longer hesitated to submit his proposal to the public. Briefly, the paper is an argument for a more efficient disposition of metal in ordnance. Robins states his case in language simple and concise. Large shot, he says, have naturally great advantages in ranging power over small shot; in sea fighting the size of the hole they make and their increased power of penetration gives them a greatly enhanced value. Hence the endeavour made in all cases to arm a vessel with the largest cannon she can with safety bear. And hence the necessity for so disposing the weight of metal in a ship’s ordnance to the best advantage; all metal not usefully employed in contributing to the strength of the pieces being not only useless but prejudicial to efficiency. He then proceeds to prove (not very convincingly, it must be admitted) that there is a law of comparison to which the dimensions of all guns should conform, and by which their weights could be calculated. For every pound of bullet there should be allowed a certain weight of metal for the gun. So, taking the service 32-pounder as having the correct proportions, the weight and size of every other piece can be found from this standard. He observes, however, that in actual practice the smaller the gun, the greater its relative weight; the 6-pounder, for example, weighs at least eighteen hundredweight, when by the rule it should weigh ten. The proposal is therefore to utilize the redundant weight of metal by increasing the calibre of the smaller guns. At the same time it is proposed to limit the stress imposed on all guns by reducing the powder-charge to one-third the weight of the bullet, for all calibres; this smaller charge being almost as efficient for ranging as the larger charges used, and infinitely less dangerous to the gun. The publication of the pamphlet came at an opportune moment. A new spirit was dawning in the navy, a new enthusiasm and search for efficiency were abroad, which in the next half-century were to be rewarded by a succession of well-earned and decisive victories. Interest in the proposed change in armament was widespread, both in and outside the royal service. And a significant commentary on the proposed regulation of powder-charges was supplied, this very year, by Admiral Hawke, who reported that in the fight off Ushant all the breechings of his lower-deck guns broke with the repeated violence of recoil, obliging him to shoot ahead of his opponent while new breechings were being seized. Some time was to elapse before the arguments of Robins gave signs of bearing fruit. Experiments carried out at Woolwich in the seventies by Dr. Hutton with all the facilities ensured by the patronage of a ducal master-general of ordnance merely extended and confirmed Robins’ own results. In ’79 the carronade made its appearance, to attest in dramatic fashion the value, at any rate for defensive work, of a large ball, a small charge, and an unusually small windage. As offensive armament it represented, of course, the _reductio ad absurdum_ of the principles enunciated by Robins; its dominant feature of a ball of maximum volume projected with a minimum velocity was, in the words of an American authority, “manifestly as great an error as the minima masses and the maxima velocities of the long gun system, to which the carronade was thus directly opposed.” Nevertheless, the carronade (whose history we deal with in a later chapter) did excellent work. Mounted upon the upper decks and forecastles of merchantmen and the smaller classes of warships, it emphasized, by the powerful and often unexpected blows which it planted in the ribs of such adversaries as ventured within its range, the comparative inefficiency of the smaller types of long gun with which our ships of war were armed. To the clearest-sighted of our naval captains the relative merits and defects of the carronade and the small long gun were evidently clear. In the year 1780 we find Kempenfelt advocating, in a letter to Sir Charles Middleton, a weapon with a little more length and weight than a carronade: something between it and a long gun. Robins’ arguments against the still prevalent types of small pieces have proved convincing to him, and he transcribes the whole of the _Proposal_ for the consideration of his superior. “Here you have, sir,” he writes, “the opinion of the ablest artillery officer in England at that time, and perhaps in Europe.” Once more the versatile and gifted pen was called in aid of politics. In 1749 he was persuaded to write what his biographer describes as a masterpiece of its kind: _An apology for the unfortunate affair at Preston-Pans in Scotland_.[84] But soon an opening worthier of his talents presented itself. The East India Company, whose forts in India were as yet ill-adapted for defence, required the services of an expert in military fortification. An offer was made, and, as Engineer-General to the Company, Robins left England for the East at the end of ’49, to the great sorrow of all his acquaintance. They were not to see him again. In the summer of the following year he died of a fever, pen in hand, at work upon his plans in the service of the Company. * * * * * So ended a short, a brilliant, and a very honourable career. Benjamin Robins possessed in an exceptional degree the power, inherent in so many of his countrymen, of applying the truths of science to practical ends. An individualist deriving inspiration from the great masters of the past, he followed the bent of his enthusiasms in whatever direction it might lead him, till ultimately his talents found expression in a field undreamed of by himself or by his early friends. In the realm of gunnery he was an amateur of genius. Partly for that reason, perhaps, his views do not appear to have been considered as authoritative by our own professionals; the prophet had more honour in Berlin, Paris and Washington. Speaking of the rifle, the true principle of which was admittedly established by him, the American artillerist Dahlgren wrote in 1856: “The surprizing neglect which seemed to attend his labours was in nothing more conspicuous than in the history of this weapon. Now that whole armies are to wield the rifled musket with its conical shot, one is surprized at the time which was permitted to elapse since that able experimenter so memorably expressed his convictions before the Royal Society, in 1746.” Of the value of his work to the nation there is now no doubt. Of the man himself an entertaining picture is given in his biography, published, together with his principal papers, by Dr. Hutton, from which many of the foregoing notes have been taken. Among other eminent men who have given their life and labours to the public service, and whose efforts in building up the past greatness of England have been generously acknowledged, let us not forget to honour that distinguished civilian, Benjamin Robins. [Illustration: TUDOR SHIPS UNDER SAIL From the same MS. as plate facing page 60]