red them if one of them had not coughed; on which he
received the execrations of the others, and the whole party was
instantly handed out. We immediately cut the strings of their trousers
behind, to prevent their running away (this ought never to be omitted),
and, placing them and ourselves in the farmer's waggon, made him put his
team to and drive us all to Quebec, the new-raised men joining with our
own in all the jokes which flew thick about on the occasion of their
discovery. It was astonishing to me how easily these fine fellows
reconciled themselves to the thoughts of a man-of-war; perhaps the
approaching row with the Yankees tended very much to preserve good
humour. I became an enthusiast in man-hunting, although sober
reflection has since convinced me of its cruelty, injustice, and
inexpediency, tending to drive seamen from the country more than any
measure the government could adopt; but I am not going to write a
treatise on impressment. I cared not one farthing about the liberty of
the subject, as long as I got my ship well manned for the impending
conflict; and as I gratified my love of adventure, I was as thoughtless
of the consequences as when I rode over a farmer's turnips in England,
or broke through his hedges in pursuit of a fox.

A tradesman at Quebec had affronted me, by refusing to discount a bill
which I had drawn on my father. I had no other means of paying him for
the goods I had purchased of him, and was much disconcerted at his
refusal, which he accompanied with an insult to myself and my cloth,
never to be forgotten. Turning the paper over and over, he said, "A
midshipman's bill is not worth a farthing, and I am too old a bird to be
caught with such chaff."

Conscious that the bill was good, I vowed revenge. My search-warrant
enabled me to go wherever I could get information of men being
concealed--this was easily obtained from a brother mid (the poor man
might as well have been in the hands of the holy brotherhood). My
companion stated his firm conviction that sailors were concealed in the
house: I applied to the captain, and received orders to proceed by all
means in execution of my duty. The tradesman was a man of consequence
in Quebec, being what is there called a large storekeeper, though we in
England should have called him a shopkeeper. About one o'clock in the
morning, we hammered at his door with no gentle tap, demanding
admittance in the name of our sovereign lord the king.