vessel, which proved to be the Wasp, Captain Jacob Jones, bore down upon the Frolic, and the two brigs came to close action, off the island of Bermuda. The superior fire of the British guns gave every reason to suppose that the contest would speedily terminate in their favour. This expectation was favoured by the main-top mast of the Wasp being shot away in a few minutes after the battle commenced, and falling with the main-top sail yard across the fore-top sail braces, her head became unmanageable during the rest of the action. To counteract the effects of this disaster, the Americans shot a-head of the Frolic, raked her, and then resumed their position on her larboard bow. The fire of the Wasp was now obviously attended with great success, and the braces of the Frolic being shot away she became unmanageable. After laying some time exposed to a most destructive fire, which she was unable to return, the enemy boarded, and hauled down the British ensign in forty-three minutes after the discharge of the first shot. On passing from the bowsprit to the forecastle, the Americans were surprised to see not a single man alive on the deck of the Frolic, except the seamen at the wheel, and three officers; and of the whole crew, consisting originally of one hundred and ten men, all, except twenty, were numbered among either the killed or the wounded. The Frolic, it appears, mounted sixteen thirty-two pounders, four twelve pounders on the main deck, and two twelve pound carronades; while the Wasp mounted only sixteen thirty-two pounders, and two twelve pound carronades the superiority in number of cannon was therefore on the side of the British, and the number of men was nearly equal; but the violent storm of the preceding day had crippled the Frolic, and it is to this cause that Captain Whinyates, in his official letter to Sir John Borlase Warren, the admiral of the station, attributes the disastrous result.

On the afternoon of the same day, his majesty's ship, Poictiers, of seventy-four guns, commanded by Captain Sir John Beresford, hove in sight, and after re-capturing the Frolic, and making a prize of the Wasp, carried both the rival brigs into Bermuda. On the return of Captain Jones to the United States he was every where received with demonstrations of gratitude and admiration. The legislature of Delaware appointed a committee to wait upon him with their thanks, and to express the pride and pleasure they felt in recognizing him as a native of their state; the congress of the United States passed an unanimous vote of thanks to the captain, bis officers, and his crew, for their distinguished gallantry and success,

sand dollars as a compensation for the loss BOOK V. they had sustained by the re-capture of the Frolic; and as a still more substantial testimony CHAP. I. of approbation, the captain was immediately appointed to the command of the Macedonian frigate.

Other naval triumphs yet awaited the Americans; and the complaints of the British nation respecting the mode in which this war was conducted were augmented by the intelligence of the capture of another frigate, under circumstances very similar to those which took place on the capture of the Guerriére. Early in the morning of the 25th of October, the Macedonian frigate, Captain John Surman Carden, being in latitude 29 N. 29° 30" W. descried a ship, which proved to be a frigate of the first class, under American colours, cominanded by Cap tain Decatur. At nine o'clock in the morning the vessels were brought into action, and the Macedonian being to windward, had the advantage of engaging at her own distance. After the battle had raged about half an hour Captain Carden came to close quarters. In this situation it was soon discovered that the superior force of the enemy was, if possible, more advantageous to him than it had been before, and the only hopes of the British commander rested upon some fortunate occurrence, which might turn the engagement in his favour, or at least afford him an opportunity of escape. With this hope the battle was continued for upwards of two hours, and until the British frigate became perfect wreck-an unmanageable log." The mizen-mast was shot away by the board, the top-mast carried off by the caps, the main yard shivered in pieces, and the rigging completely destroyed; all the guns on the quarterdeck and fore-castle were disabled and filled with wreck except two; several shot had struck the vessel between wind and water; a large proportion of the crew were killed or wounded and the enemy, who was comparatively in good order, was preparing to place herself in a raking position. In this disastrous situation Captain Carden was reduced to the painful extremity of surrendering his majesty's ship. Every effort that gallantry and skill could effect had been put forth, and no other alternative remained. To have continued the action longer would have been a wanton sacrifice of the lives of his brave crew; the Macedonian could no longer fight, and had become a mere target to receive the enemy's fire.

a

The noble and animating conduct of the brave crew of the Macedonian rendered them dear to their country even in misfortune. The first lieutenant, Hope, was severely wounded in the head towards the close of the action,

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BOOK V. fellow sufferers, nor any representation of the dangerous nature of the wound, could keep him CHAP. I. from his post; after a slight dressing had been applied to his wound he again rushed upon deck, and displayed, says his captain, that greatness of mind, and those persevering exertions, which may be equalled, but never can be excelled. The loss of the British was very severe; thirty-six men were killed, and the same number severely wounded, many of them without hopes of recovery, in addition to which thirty-two were slightly wounded, constituting an aggregate number exceeding one-third part of the whole crew. The masts, hull, and rigging of the American frigate had suffered considerably, but not at all in comparison with the Macedonian, and her loss in killed and wounded amounted only to five of the former, and seven of the latter.*

The mere superiority of force on the part of the Americans will not fully account for all the circumstances of the capture of the Macedonian. The United States frigate seems to have been manœuvred and fought with a high degree of skill, as well as bravery; in all engagements between English and French ships, where the latter were superior in force to the former, the success of the English depended as much upon the display and exercise of skill and seamanship as on superior bravery, and these advantages generally decided the contest in a short time after its commencement. But in the action now under consideration, as well as in that between the Guerriére and the Constitution, the seamanship displayed by the Americans was at least equal to that exhibited by the British; and when to this is added the disparity of force between the two frigates, the result of the battle may be satisfactorily accounted for. With France, Spain, or any of the European powers, the superiority of force on the part of the enemy has seldom stood in the, way of victory, but in engagements with American vessels it was

found that nothing short of an equality of force could secure and maintain the renown of the British navy. The reception of Captain Carden on board the United States was truly characteristic-on presenting his sword to Captain Decatur, the gallant American observed, that he could not think of receiving the sword of an officer who had that day proved that he knew so well how to use it; but instead of taking his sword he should be happy to take him by the hand. The congress of the United States, and other public bodies, emulated each other in awarding_manifestations of public esteem to Captain Decatur and his crew, and the spirit of naval enterprise was cherished and inflamed by the honours and distinctions showered down by a grateful country on the heads of her heroic defenders.

The naval campaign of the present year was closed by another American victory. On the 29th of December, the Java frigate, Captain Lambert, being off the coast of Brazil, on her passage to the East Indies, perceived a strange sail, which was soon found to be the American frigate the Constitution, now under the command of Commodore William Bainbridge. After some time spent in nautical manœuvres, for the purpose of obtaining advantageous positions, the two frigates came into action about two o'clock in the afternoon, and the fire of the Americans was directed with so much skill and precision against the masts and rigging of the Java as to carry away the bow-sprit and the jib-boom, and to disable her from preserving the weather gage. The contest having raged for upwards of an hour much to the disadvantage of the British, Captain Lambert endeavoured to extricate himself from the raking fire of the enemy by ordering his ship to be laid on board; but at this critical moment, when the disasters of the day might have been retrieved, his foremast was shot away, and the main-top mast went over board, leaving the ship totally unmanageable,

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BOOK V. Monroe, the secretary of state, addressing a letter to Mr. Russel, the chargé des affaires at CHAP. I. the court of St. James's, dated the 20th of June, stating that the war had been resorted to from necessity, and of course with reluctance, and commissioning him to apprise the British government that the government of America looked forward to the restoration of peace with much interest, and a sincere desire to promote that blessing on conditions just, equal, and honourable to both parties; that it was in the power of Great Britain to terminate the war upon such conditions; and that it would be highly satisfactory to the President of the United States to concur in any arrangement to that effect. The causes of complaint against the British government were represented as numerous and weighty; but the orders in council, and other blockades, were considered of the highest importance; and Mr. Russel was authorised to negociate an armistice by sea and land, on the conditions that the orders in council should be repealedthe impressment of American seamen discontinued and those already impressed restored; and as an inducement to the British government to discontinue their practice of impressment, Mr. Russell was further instructed, to give a positive assurance that a law would be passed, to be reciprocal, to prohibit the employment of British seamen in the public or commercial service of the United States. On the arrival of these instructions, Mr. Russell hastened to execute the important duties which now devolved upon him; and on the 21st of August, he addressed a letter to Lord Castlereagh, proposing an armistice, upon the terms specified in the above instructions; assuring his fordship at the same time, that the proposed arrangement for prohibiting the employment of British seamen, would prove more efficacious in securing to Great Britain her subjects than the practice of impressment, so derogatory to the sovereign attributes of the United States, and so incompatible with the personal rights of her citizens.

Lord Castlereagh, in his answer to this dispatch, bearing date the 29th of the same month, informed the American ambassador, that the prince regent felt himself under the necessity of declining to accede to the propositions contained in his letter of the 24th instant, as being on various grounds absolutely inadmissible. In making this communication his lordship announced that measures had already been taken to authorise the British admiral on the American station to propose to the United States an immediate and reciprocal revocation of all hostile orders, with the tender of giving full effect, in the event of hostilities being discontinued, to the provisions of the edict for repealing the orders in council, upon conditions therein spe

cified.

On the proposition submitted by Mr. Russell, relating to impressment, his lordship observed, that he could not refrain from expressing his surprise that the government of the United States should have thought fit to demand that the British government should desist from its ancient and accustomed practice of impressing British seamen from the merchant ships of a foreign state, preliminary even to the suspension of hostilities, and simply on the assurance that a law should hereafter be passed to prohibit the employment of British seamen in the public or commercial service of that state. His lordship further remarked, that the "British government now, as heretofore, was ready to receive from the government of the United States, and amicably to discuss, any proposition which professed to have in view, either to check abuse in the practice of impressment, or to accomplish, by means less liable to vexation, the object for which impressment had hitherto been found necessary; but they could not consent to suspend the exercise of a right, upon which the naval strength of the empire mainly depends, until they were fully convinced that means could be devised, and would be adopted, by which the object to be attained by the exercise of that right could be effectually secured."

On the receipt of Lord Castlereagh's letter announcing the determination of the prince regent not to accede to the proposition for a suspension of hostilities on the conditions proposed in Mr. Russell's note of the 21st of August, the American ambassador signified to the British government his intention to embark immediately, in the ship Lark, for the United States; and on the following day an admiralty order for the protection of that vessel, as a cartel on her way to America, with the requisite passports for his free embarkation, were transmitted to Mr. Russell from the office of the secretary of state.

While this diplomatic correspondence was passing in England, a negociation contemplating a similar object was commenced in America. On the 30th of September, Sir John Borlase Warren, the British admiral on the Halifax station, addressed a letter to Mr. Monroe, apprising him of the revocation of the orders in council, and informing the American secretary that he had the commands of the prince regent to propose, on the one hand, "that the government of the United States should instantly recall their letters of marque and reprisal against British ships, together with all orders and instructions for any act of hostility whatever against the territory of his majesty, or the persons or property of his subjects;" and to promise, on the other, if the American government acquiesced in the preceding proposition,

"that

instructions should be issued to all the officers under his command to desist from corresponding measures of war against the ships and property of the United States, and that he would transmit without delay corresponding instructions to the several parts of the world where hostilities might have been commenced." This overture was subject to the qualification, that should the American government accede to the proposal for terminating hostilities, the British admiral was authorised to enter into an arrangement with the United States, for the revocation of the laws interdicting the commerce and ships of war of Great Britain from the harbours and waters of the United States; and was accompanied by an intimation that, in default of such revocation within a reasonable period to be agreed upon, the British orders in council, repealed conditionally by an edict of the 23d of June last, would be revived.

In reply to this dispatch, Mr. Monroe, in a letter dated from Washington, the seat of government, on the 23d of October, after adverting to the failure of Mr. Russell's negociations, states, that "experience had sufficiently evinced that no peace between the two countries could be durable unless the question regarding the important interest of impressment were settled.”

The claim of the British government," says the American secretary, "is to take from the merchant vessels of other countries British subjects. In the practice, the commanders of British ships of war often take from the merchant vessels of the United States, American citizens. If the United States prohibit the employment of British subjects in their service, and inforce the prohibition by suitable regulations and penalties, the motive for the practice is taken away. It is in this mode that the president is willing to accommodate this important controversy with the British government, and it cannot be conceived on what ground the arrangement can be refused." "He is willing that Great Britain shall be secured against the evils of which she complains; but he seeks, on the other hand, that the citizens of the United States should be protected against a practice, which, while it degrades the nation, deprives them of their rights as freemen, takes them by force from their families and their country into a foreign service, to fight the battles of a foreign power, perhaps against their own kindred and country." suspension of the practice of impressment Mr. Monroe considered as the necessary consequence of an armistice; but it was by no means intended that Great Britain should suspend immediately the exercise of a right on the mere assurance of the American government that a law would be afterwards passed to prohibit the employment of British seamen in the service of

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the United States. All that was meant, as the BOOK V. supplementary instructions sent to Mr. Russell on the 27th of July distinctly explained, was, that a clear and distinct understanding with the British government on the subject of impressment, comprising in it the discharge of men already impressed, should take place; but it was not held necessary that the several points should be specially provided for in the convention stipulating the armistice. The American secretary, in conclusion, intimated, that if the suspension of the British claim to impressment during the armistice, interposed any difficulty in the way of an accommodation of the existing differences, there could be no objection to proceed without the armistice to an immediate discussion and arrangement of an article on that subject.

The powers invested in Sir J. B. Warren were not sufficiently extensive to allow him to enter on the question of impressment; and thus, by the punctilious tenacity of the rival states, the sword was prevented from being returned to the scabbard.

In the annual exposition submitted by the President of the United States to the senate and house of representatives assembled in congress on the 4th of November, the message adverted to the negociations undertaken for the purpose of arresting the progress of war without waiting the delays of a formal and final pacification; but while a faint expectation was held out that they might result favourably, Mr. Madison held it to be unwise to relax any of the measures of government on that presumption. The expedition into the Michigan territory, confided to the command of General Hull, was represented as a measure of precaution and forecast, with a view, in the first instance, to its security, and in the event of a war, to such operations in Upper Canada as would intercept the hostile influence of Great Britatn over the savages; obtain the command of the lake on which that part of Canada borders; and maintain cooperating relations with such forces as might be most conveniently employed against other parts. This expedition, though favoured with the prospect of an easy and victorious progress, terminated unfortunately, and the cause of these painful reverses was under the investigation of a military tribunal. A distinguishing feature of the operations which preceded and followed the surrender of General Hull and his army, was the use made by the British of the merciless savages under their influence, in violation of the laws of honourable warfare-contrary to the benevolent policy of the United States-and against the feelings sacred to humanity. The misfortune at Detroit was not without consoling effects; the loss of an important post, and of the brave men surrendered with it, inspired every-where new ardour and devotion; every citizen was eager to fly to arms to protect his brethren against the blood-thirsty savages let loose by the British on an extensive frontier; and Brigadier-general Harrison, with an ample force under his command, was proceeding on his destination towards the Michigan territory. On the Niagara frontier, a detachment of the regular and other forces, under the command of Major-general Van Rensselaer, impelled by their military ardour, made an at. tack upon a British post, and were for a time victorious; but not receiving the expected support, they were com pelled to yield to reinforcements of British regulars and