*

adversary, though more buoyant upon the whole, would not be riding the gale out like a duck in a pond. It will not be hypothetical to deplore the frigate straining her timbers, and shipping seas; and it would be enough for her to contend with the war of elements, without seeking to vanquish a superior in battle. It may not be uninteresting to exhibit the armament of a modern seventy-fourgun ship.

Formidable as an American frigate may be thought, she could scarcely withstand the force of the blows which a ship of the foregoing armament could inflict; and provided the seventy-four, by obtaining the weather-gage, could choose her distance, in that event, the United States or the Constitution would have only one effective line of defence;† for although a carronade with its huge mouth will project a shot to a great distance at a great elevation, it bears no proportion to the range of long guns

* The load-draught of a 74 is 23 feet; that of an American frigate 20 feet 6 inches.

+ She would have only 15 24-pounders to oppose to 14 32-pounders, and 15 twenty-fours.

when pointed horizontally. But facts render unnecessary every speculation of this kind. Decatur's courage was never doubted; yet when he commanded the United States, in company with the Macedonian and Hornet, he had not the confidence in his force to defy the power of the Valiant and of the Acasta, but sought safety in the nearest port that offered him shelter and protection. They who support the doctrine of 74s in disguise are Reviewers and Parliamentary country gentlemen; men who will never be seriously consulted as oracles in the rig, the build, or the trim of a ship; for it will be no cynical asperity to suppose that not one of either profession was ever in blue water, or out of sight of land. On this subject it would be becoming in them to acquiesce in the implied decision of a British naval commander, who has expressed his ardent wish "to be once more " opposed to the Constitution in a frigate of similar force "to the Guerriere."

The next care of Captain Bainbridge was to remove the wounded and prisoners from the prize to his own ship; an operation of no easy performance. Of eight boats originally on board the Constitution, only one had escaped destruction in the engagement; and every one belonging to the Java was shot in pieces. Night came on misty; the two frigates were distinguishable only by lanthorns suspended on hoard of them, and the dissonant cries of the mariners, awakened to the sense of their danger, close and crowded in a small boat, produced a scene of tumult, confusion, and horror. But, as it is. common in the tropical regions, the haze on a sudden

cleared away; the constellations of Magellan and of the Ship sparkled in the sky, and shed their light over the solitude of the sea; and as the luminous Cross of the South began to bend, it told the boatman, consulting it with uplifted brow, that the hour of midnight was come."*

The Java being reduced to a perfect wreck, Captain Bainbridge decided on burning her; while she was on fire, her guns, still loaded, dispensed successively, their martial thunder, as the spreading flames enveloped their chambers. At length her magazine exploded, and she vanished in a pillar of smoke. The Constitution stood in for St. Salvador, and at the entrance of the bay captured the Eleanor, schooner, from London, with a valuable cargo. She anchored under the stern of the William, whose prize-crew, put on board from the Hornet, were on the yards rolling up their sails. Captain Lambert languished of the wounds which he received in the action till the night of the 4th of January, and was interred, the next day, with military honours in Fort Saint Pedro, the Portuguese governor, Conde dos Areas, and his staff, attending the funeral.

The triumph of the American flag in the three actions which I have described affords a sufficient evidence that when the navy of the Republic is augmented, it will be found the most formidable one hitherto opposed to Great Britain. In spite of the infatuated indifference which

*The two great stars which mark the summit and foot of the Cross of the South having nearly the same right ascension, the Constellation is almost vertical whed it attaings its meridan.

HUMBOLDT.

marks her policy to the United States; in spite of the apathy with which she views the growing maritime puissance of that new power; the contest for the empire of the sea will be between England and the North American Union; and should the republican fleets be combined, in a maritime war, with those of the ancient enemies of Great Britain, it will task all her energies to assert the inviolability of her naval dominion.

February 24. 1813.

The British sloop of war Peacock, Cap. tain Peake, is taken, at the entrance of Demarara river, by the American sloop of war Hornet, Captain Lawrence, after a close action of 20 minutes, when the British vessel, being cut to pieces in her hull, with 6 feet water in her hold, hoisted an ensign, union down, from the fore-rigging, as a signal of distress; her main-mast going at the same time, by the board. Cap. tain Lawrence immediately dispatched his boats to her assistance, and every exertion was practised to keep her afloat till the wounded and prisoners could be removed. The pumps were set to work, the guns hove overboard, and several shot-holes plugged. But the united efforts of both crews could not keep her above water; and she foundered in five fathoms, carrying down with her nine of her own sailors, and three Americans. Captain Peake was killed early in the action.

April 10. Arrived at Boston (N. E) the United States frigate Chesapeake, Captain Evans, from a cruize of 115 days. From Boston she ran down by the Madeiras,

Canaries, and Cape de Verds; thence to the equator, where she cruized six weeks; thence along the coast of South America, down by Barbadoes, Antigua, and most of the windward islands; thence on the coast of the United States, between Bermuda and the Capes of Virginia, by the capes of Delaware, by New York, and thence through Hell Gate* back to the port she sailed from. She captured during her roving cruize the British ship Volunteer, from Liverpool to the Brazils, with a cargo valued at 150,000l. sterling (arrived at Portsmouth, N. H.): brig Liverpool Hero, from Liverpool to the Brazils, cargo dry goods, hardware, and jewellery, (cargo taken out and vessel burnt); and brig Earl Percy from Cape de Verds to Brazils. Soon after the arrival of the Chesapeake, Captain Lawrence was made post into her from the Hornet; her former commander having been appointed to superintend the building of a 74.

ACTION

BETWEEN THE SHANNON AND CHESAPEAKE.

June 1. The American frigate Chesapeake, Captain Lawrence, is taken by the British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, who, with unexampled celerity, carries the

A celebrated strait near the west end of Long Island Sound.