s
orders are certain additions and observations which were subsequently
appended to them by an unknown hand. As it has been found impossible
to fix with certainty either their date or author, I have given them
by way of notes to the text. They are to be found in a beautifully
written and richly bound manuscript in the Admiralty Library. At the
end of the volume, following the Instructions, are diagrammatic
representations of certain actions in the Third Dutch War, finely
executed in water-colour to illustrate the formation for attack, and
to every plan are appended tactical notes relating to the actions
represented, and to others which were fought in the same way. The
first one dealt with is the 'St. James's Fight,' fought on July 25,
1666, and the dates in the tactical notes, as well as in the
'Observations' appended to the articles, range as far as the last
action fought in 1673. The whole manuscript is clearly intended as a
commentary on the latest form of the duke's orders, and it may safely
be taken as an expression of some tactician's view of the lessons that
were to be drawn from his experience of the Dutch Wars.

As to the authorship, the princely form in which the manuscript has
been preserved might suggest they were James's own meditations after
the war; but the tone of the 'Observations,' and the curious revival
of the word 'general' for 'commander-in-chief,' are enough to negative
such an attribution. Other indications that exist would point to
George Legge, Lord Dartmouth. His first experience of naval warfare
was as a volunteer and lieutenant under his cousin, Sir Edward
Spragge, in 1665. Spragge was in fact his 'sea-daddy,' and with one
exception all the examples in the 'Observations' are taken from
incidents and movements in which Spragge was the chief actor. One long
observation is directed to precautions to be taken by flag officers in
shifting their flags in action, so as to prevent a recurrence of the
catastrophe which cost Spragge his life. Indeed, with the exception of
Jordan, Spragge is the only English admiral mentioned. Dartmouth was
present at all the actions quoted, and succeeded in constituting
himself a sufficient authority on naval affairs to be appointed in
1683 to command the first important fleet that was sent out after the
termination of the war. These indications however are far too slight
to fix him with the authorship, and his own orders issued in 1688 go
far to rebut the presumptio