Constitution of forty-four guns, he, on the 17th, fell close in with a British squadron, consisting of one ship of the line, four frigates, a brig, and a schooner, the nearest frigate within gun shot. It was a dead calm, and the only headway to be made was by towing. The enemy attached all his boats to two frigates, and by so doing, gained on the Constitution, so as to bring some of his bow guns to bear on her. In this situation they continued all day, the Constitution occasionally firing her stern chasers; and it was not until the next morning that a light breeze enabled her to escape from an enemy so much superior in force, as to render a contest desperate. The whole chase lasted sixty hours, and during all that time the gallant crew remained at their stations without a murmur. Nothing, we think, can evince a more decided superiority of activity and skill on the part of the Americans, than this extraordinary escape from two frigates towed by the boats of a squadron of seven vessels. It is related on good authority, that the enemy himself expressed his admiration of the skill with which Captain HULL manœuvred his vessel and effected his escape.

The public notice taken of this affair, and the praises bestowed on Captain HULL, induced him, on arriving at Boston, to insert the following card in the books of the Exchange Coffee House:

"Captain HULL finding that his friends in Boston are correctly informed of his situation, when chased by the British squadron off New-York, and that they are good enough to give him more credit for having escaped it than he ought to claim, takes this opportunity of requesting them to transfer their good wishes to Lieute nant Morris, and the other brave officers, and the crew under his command, for their very great exertions and prompt attention to his orders while the enemy were in chase. Captain HULL has great pleasure in saying, that notwithstanding the length of the chase, and the officers and crew being deprived of sleep, and allowed but little refreshment during the time, not a murmur was heard to escape them."

It was naturally to be expected that a man, who had the honest pride to decline monopolizing that praise, which he was conscious ought to be shared with others, would, when oppor

tunity offered, distinguish himself in the most honourable. manner. Those who are themselves conscious of desert, are the last to claim that praise which belongs to others; and those who feel a capacity to acquire reputation, are ever the most liberal in according it to others. It is only little, stinted minds that are anxious to claim that glory, which they can only gain by defrauding their associates; liberal hearts are not afraid even to resign what they can so easily acquire.

Accordingly, we find Captain HULL, on the nineteenth of the ensuing August, with the same vessel, the same officers, and the same crew, falling in with a large frigate, which struck to him after a close action of thirty minutes. She proved to be his majesty's ship the Guerriere, rated at 38 guns, and carrying fifty; commanded by Captain J. R. Dacres, who some time before had politely endorsed on the register of a merchant ship, an invitation to Captain HULL to give him a meeting of this kind.

In this action, where there was a vast disparity of loss on the part of the enemy, we think we can trace some of the effects of Captain HULL's generous self-denial, on his officers and crew. Whatever may be the fashion of considering soldiers and sailors as mere machines, without capacity of being operated upon by any excitement but that of the fear of punishment, we are convinced that all men, high or low, are fond of glory, and that this fondness is one of the strongest incitements to brave actions, even in the most common minds. Mere discipline, however indispensable it may be to constitute a soldier or sailor, is but a tame inspirer, when compared with the impulse given by the hope and expectation of renown. It was from this conviction, that all the distinguished commanders we ever heard or read of, were careful to celebrate the valour of their officers and soldiers, and to bestow on them. the glory of every action. Men, let them be what they may, will assuredly make greater sacrifices and exertions in an engagement, where, if they conquer, they share the glory, than if it is all to be given to their commander, let them love him ever so well. Small as may be the portion of this glory which falls to the share of each man, still we are to consider, that though

he is not individually named in the records of the times, or transmitted to future periods in the page of history; yet, in that little circle by which every being, however insignificant, is surrounded, he moves an object of wonder; and is a hero • among the little men of his little world. In our minds, therefore, that commander not only displays his magnanimity, but his knowledge of mankind, who assigns a large portion of his fame to his followers. They will fight the better for it, and the world will make him ample amends for his generosity, inasmuch as this liberal self-denial is a much more rare and heroic quality, than mere personal courage, or military skill. Captain HULL has not been at sea since his return from the cruise which terminated in the capture of the Guerriere, having been, we understand, employed in settling the affairs of a deceased brother. It was reported, but without foundation, that he was under some disgust at the command of the Constitution being assigned to Capt. Bainbridge, who, as his senior officer, had undoubtedly a right to claim it according to the etiquette of the service. Capt. Hull, we are confident, knows too well the duty which he owes to his country in this period of danger to desert his colours. The sailor as well as the soldier is a man who in war by defending his country, makes her amends for the care she extends to him in the time of peace. Their duties are reciprocal, and we think the officer who in time of war retires permanently from a station where he has been placed in the time of peace, ought to have the strongest motives for such a desertion.

This gallant officer is still in the vigour of life; of pleasing, unaffected manners, and of unblemished reputation in all the relations of social life.

In reverting to the victory obtained by Capt. Hull, over one of the finest frigates in the British navy, we cannot but view it as one of the most important events that has oc curred in the history of this country for many years past; important not from the loss sustained by the enemy in this single ship, but from it effects in having in a great measure dissolved an enchantment under which the people of the United States had so long laboured with regard to the unequalled skill and prowess of the British sailors. Without

giving into the visionary folly of those who anticipate the downfal of the British navy, by the exertions of our little fleet, we hail this event as the dawning of a glorious era for our country; as the parent of a well-founded confidence in ourselves, without which neither nations or individuals can ever be distinguished.

When

Dazzled and awed as we have been by the glory of England, in her naval victories over France, Spain and Holland, and fascinated with the splendid achievements of a Nelson, our imaginations had become infected with a sort of superstitious reverence. The power, the wealth, the lion-hearted prowess, the eminence in literature and the arts, of that illustrious nation, have ever been the theme of wonder in this youthful country. With the fond credulity of a child, she has been ready to receive the most exaggerated impressions of a nation to whom she once looked up as a parent. Britain lost the government of these colonies, she retained, through the instrumentality of her writers, an influence over our minds deep, lasting, and invincible. Her historians, philosophers, and poets, still keep possession of our understanding, our imagination, and our hearts; and there is hardly a reader in America, that does not still cherish in his bosom a pure and respectful affection for the soil, at least, that produced such inestimable fruits of genius. Indeed, for the most part, we receive all our early impressions of mankind, and of the world at large, from the writers of Great Britain, and are accustomed to submit to their decisions, not more from reason than from a habit which has grown up with us from the cradle. This cordial sensation, united with this early habit, naturally disposes us to receive, without inquiry, the most extravagant opinions in favour of that country.Authors in every nation except this, if they wish to become popular, must in some respects flatter the vanity of their countrymen, and administer a little occasional adulation.The historian, if he does not absolutely falsify events, will naturally so detail them as to gild the successes and varnish the defeats of his friends; while the poet will swell their achievements to a magnitude utterly disproportionate to their real

dimensions. Those who compare and examine the events thus celebrated, can easily reduce them to the standard of impartial truth; but with the majority of readers they pass for irrefragable chronicles.

From these causes had arisen what we conceive was an exaggerated opinion of the superior skill and prowess of the British sailors, compared with our own unpretending tars, who as yet hardly know the extent of their own power.

Every man of the least observation is aware of the tyranny which early, and long-cherished opinions exercise over the human mind, and of the intensity of thought, and labour of inquiry, necessary to free us from their dominion. Our reason once brought into subjection to the belief of what is either true or false, is prone to submit with quiet and indolent resignation, rather than undergo the trouble of further exertion. This is more especially the case with opinions implanted early in life, when reason, unfortified by experience or reflection, is assailable on all sides, and is overcome, not by the force of the attack, but by the weakness of the resistance. The mind of man has this analogy to his body, that if once completely subjected, it loses that clastic vigour and energy which are necessary to regain its freedom, and either quietly acquiesces in its vassalage, or resists with such weakness and indecision, as serve only to rivet its chains.

Once

The effect of long established opinions on the destinies of mankind, is sometimes altogether extraordinary. let a nation adopt an opinion that any other nation is its superior in valour, force, or military skill, and it will generally cherish that opinion when the foundation on which it was first erected has mouldered away. Nations often retain this superiority in the minds of men, long after the circumstances in which it originated have ceased to exist, and live upon their hereditary renown, as a man lives upon his credit when his capital is exhausted. To reason against established habits is a vain undertaking; and even demonstration, though it may produce conviction, often fails to produce acknowledgment; for there is a pride in human nature that revolts from a confession of error.