Note 55 — Chapter V

I give this clause at length, because it is about the first step towards a change in our Navigation Laws, which had become necessary to render them practicable, after steam had been introduced for the propulsion of our ships. This mighty instrument of civilisation, about which I shall have a great deal to say hereafter, drove itself through numerous Acts of Parliament, and showed how vain were legislative measures when opposed to the progress of science.