employed to assist the Revenue, such vessels consisting of ships of
the fifth-rate, sixth-rate, and especially the armed sloops.

In the present volume it has been necessary, owing to the limits of
our space, to restrict our consideration of cruisers chiefly to the
most important of these, viz. those of the English Custom House and
those of the Royal Navy. Under such a mixed rule it was obvious that
many difficulties arose, and that the clashing of interests was not
infrequent. For instance, between the English Custom House cruisers
and the English Excise cruisers there was about as much friendship as
there exists usually between a dog and a cat. Similarly between the
former and the Naval cruisers there was considerable jealousy, and
every display of that pompous, bombastic exhibition of character which
was such a feature of the life of the eighteenth century, and the
first years of the next.

Although the Revenue cruisers were employed primarily and ordinarily
for the purpose of protecting the revenue, yet from time to time they
were mobilised for coast defence. On different occasions during the
eighteenth century they were lent to the Admiralty, and well supplied
with men and arms in readiness for actual warfare. After the third
quarter of the eighteenth century these Revenue cruisers seem to have
been built in greater numbers and with some improvement as to design,
which, seeing that they had so frequently been left well astern by the
smuggling cutters, was more than necessary. There was issued in
November of 1780, by the Board of Customs, an interesting letter that
shows how closely these cruisers approximated to vessels of war, even
when they were not under the jurisdiction of the Admiralty. This
letter was sent to the Collector and Controller at the different
English Customs ports, and began by referring to the fact that many