Commissioners who perform the functions of that important state officer; for the history, duties, and peculiarities of this office, the reader is referred to the article "LORD HIGH ADMIRAL." THE FLAG OFFICERS of the Navy consist of three gradations of Admirals; viz. ADMIRALS, VICE-ADMIRALS, and REAR-ADMIRALS. Each of these are again sub-divided into three classes, according to the flags which they respectively bear, and may be thus classified : Thus we see that the particular mast-head at which the flag is displayed, indicates to us whether it belongs to an Admiral, Vice-Admiral, or a RearAdmiral, while the colour of that flag denotes the squadron of each respectively. There are about 210 of this class of officers in the service. THE POST CAPTAIN is the officer in immediate command of an individual vessel. Ships may be, and frequently are, commanded by those who hold a lower rank in the service; but this is the highest officer in the Navy whose duties are restricted to a single vessel. When on any temporary occasion the senior Captain in a naval enterprise is invested with a command similar to that of an Admiral, he is styled a COMMODORE. The Captain of a ship is responsible for the discipline and efficiency of his crew, as well as for the general observance of good order throughout the vessel under his command. By his authority all punishment is inflicted, but its execution must take place in the presence of the ship's company and officers; and an account of all the circumstances must be inserted in the log-book, of which an abstract is furnished every quarter to the Admiralty. The Captain is responsible for the safety of the ship both at sea and in port. If any business of a public nature is to be transacted with foreigners, it of course falls into his hands as supreme head of the officers. Not only do all general orders proceed from him, but when bearing the flag of an Admiral, the latter, though virtually commanding the vessel, transmits his orders to the crew invariably through his flag-captain. So that the rare occasions which give rise to the Admiral's interference, are not allowed to break in upon the general attention paid to the Captain. There is no necessity for enlarging on the education, judgment, and general ability, which the natural exigencies of the service call into action among these important officers. The government of several hundred men, the proper maintenance of the national dignity, the unlimited command over so many lives and so much property, afford full scope for the exercise of the best attributes of our nature. In the Navy there are about 760 Captains. COMMANDERS form the next rank; and until they have served in this capacity one full year at sea in command of a ship of war, naval officers are not eligible for Captains' commissions. Vessels are committed to the charge of these officers, in the same manner as to post-captains; and many of them are, in every professional respect, except in etiquette, pay, and precedence, fully equal to the higher officer. They usually command the smaller class of vessels, or are placed on board those of high rating, which are under the command of a Captain. Being almost essentially Captains, they by courtesy receive that designation in the ordinary intercourse of society, but on strict professional business they are more specifically described. There are about 1000 Commanders in the Navy. The LIEUTENANTS in the Navy are, as the word implies, the immediate substitutes or deputies of the officers in command. Though the office of Lieutenant is less responsible, yet it is far more laborious than that of the Captain. He practises a general supervision of the whole ship, and attends particularly to proper cleanliness and regularity throughout the vessel. For this purpose he inspects every part of her once a day at least, and reports her condition to the Captain. Besides this, his duties, as they are strictly practical, involve considerable labour; as, for example, in stationing the men when the ship is commissioned; in exercising them at the guns; in regulating the expenditure of certain public stores; in taking the immediate command when coming to an anchor or getting under weigh; in granting leaves of absence when the ship is in port, &c. There are about 2750 Lieutenants in the Navy. Besides these officers, each vessel has a sailingmaster, surgeon, assistant-surgeon, purser, midshipmen, &c. Not only does the pay of each officer differ according to the class of vessel he commands, but the relative rank is also influenced, and it is therefore desirable to know the different classes and denominations of vessels in the Navy. There are 1. Rated ships, viz. : 15 First Rate. All three-decked ships...... ....... ing one of her Majesty's dock-yards; and all are under 400 and not less than 250 ....... ...... ...... 81 26 2. Sloops and bomb-vessels; all such as are commanded by Commanders 3. All other smaller vessels, such as are commanded by Lieutenants or inferior officers.. 225 For particulars respecting the relative precedence of the different ranks in the naval service of the country, the reader is referred to the article on the subject of Precedence in general. CORPORATE AUTHORITIES. "We bring you now to show what different things JOHNSON. IT has been the practice to say that the monarch never dies, because the kingly office survives in his successor; and as a further manifestation of this official continuity, certain other rights and immunities, which are closely connected with the government of numbers, have been preserved from the extinction that would inevitably follow the death of their possessors, by conferring a sort of "legal immortality" upon the whole body in which these privileges are vested. By the perpetual succession which is maintained in the constituent elements of corporations, the integrity of the compound is preserved, while its laws and regulations are transmitted with its privileges for the guidance of those individuals who may in after years contribute to its constitution. The associated persons who, by an imaginary immortality, are invested with these continuous duties and immunities, are styled BODIES POLITIC, BODIES CORPORATE, or CORPORATIONS; they are very numerous, and their objects have been either the advancement of religion, the diffusion of learning, or the encouragement of commerce. For these high purposes, they possess a perpetual identity; a capability of purchasing and holding landed property for themselves and successors; a power of contracting liabilities affecting them in common, or each member in proportion to his share; a right to sue and be sued, grant and receive, as a single person; being bound by their common seal, and in every other respect considered as possessing individuality. Corporations are either aggregate or sole. The former accords with the more usual definition of the word Corporation, viz. a number of persons united into one society, and preserved by a continual succession of members; of this kind are municipal bodies, universities, &c. A Corporation sole, on the other hand, consists of an individual and his successors, who, for the maintenance of perpetuity in the office they hold, are invested with the legal capacities already detailed as characterizing a corporate D d |