to arrange the affair,
if possible, himself. He accordingly attempted it; but finding no
disposition to meet his views, he at length declined the appointment,
saying that he would not risk his credit by commanding a worthless ship.
This brought the question to a point; and he was allowed to alter the
_Indefatigable_ according to his own plans. They were entirely
successful, for she became an excellent sailer and a most efficient
ship.

Sir Edward was remarkably accurate in judging of a ship's qualities. For
this he was probably indebted in the first place to the practical
knowledge of ship-building which he acquired, when he assisted to
construct the squadron on Lake Champlain, and to his very close intimacy
with Lieutenant (afterwards Rear-Admiral) Schanck, an enthusiast on the
subject, and who always regarded him with peculiar pride and attachment,
as a pupil of his own. The general knowledge which he thus obtained,
could not fail to be improved in the course of his own service. Many
illustrations may be given of the correctness of his opinion in this
respect. The _Bordelais_, a French cruiser taken by the
_Revolutionaire_, carrying 24 guns on a flush deck, 149 feet long, was
bought into the service, and commissioned by Captain Manby. She was one
of the fastest and most beautiful vessels ever seen, but so dangerous,
that she was called, in the navy, "the coffin." Sir Edward saw her
alongside the jetty at Plymouth, and pointing out to her commander the
cause of her dangerous character, recommended the means of guarding
against it. His advice was always acted upon, and the _Bordelais_
survived; while two other captured sloops of war, the _Railleur_ and
_Trompeuse_, built after her model, but on a reduced scale, foundered
with their crews on the same day. When the 10-gun brigs were introduced
into the service, he condemned them in the strongest terms; and being
asked what should be done with those already built, he replied, "Put
them all together, and burn them, for they will drown their crews." His
prediction has been too correctly fulfilled in the fate of these
vessels, of which six were lost in the packet-service in six years and a
half, with two hundred and fifty people. At a much later period, when
the beautiful _Caledonia_, the most perfect ship of her class, was about
to be made the victim of an experiment, he implored, but unfortunately
in vain, that she might be spared.

The _Indefatigable_ sailed from Falmout