en there is no reason
to believe the stranger an enemy. It varies the incidents of a tedious
passage, and shows that you are not alone on the face of the waters;
that others are traversing the ocean and tempting its dangers, urged by
a love of adventure or thirst of gain.

The captain looked at the strange vessel through his spy-glass, and said
it was standing towards us. We approached each other rapidly, for the
stranger carried a cloud of sail, and was evidently a fast sailer. By
the peculiar color and cut of the canvas, the captain was led to
believe we were about to be overhauled by a British man-of-war. This
announcement gave me pleasure. I longed for an opportunity to behold one
of that class of vessels, of which I had heard so much. But all the crew
did not participate in my feelings. Two of the sailors, whom I had good
reason to believe were not "native Americans," although provided with
American protections, looked unusually grave when the captain expressed
his opinion, manifested no little anxiety, and muttered bitter curses
against the English men-of-war!

I then learned that the British navy "the wooden walls of Old England"
whose vaunted prowess was in every mouth, was manned almost exclusively
by men who did not voluntarily enter the service, prompted by a feeling
of patriotism, a sense of honor, or the expectation of emolument, but
were victims to the unjust and arbitrary system of impressment.

It is singular that in the early part of the present century, when
Clarkson, Wilberforce, and other philanthropists, with a zeal and
perseverance which reflects immortal honor on their names, labored
unceasingly and successfully to abolish an important branch of the
African slave trade, no voice was raised in the British parliament to
abolish the impressment of seamen a system of slavery as odious, unjust
and degrading, as was ever established by a despotic government!

At that time Great Britain was engaged in sanguinary wars, and her flag
was borne by her ships on every sea. It was difficult to man her navy,
the pay being small, and the penalties for misconduct or venial errors
terribly severe. Therefore, when on the ocean, British ships of war
in want of men were in the habit of impressing sailors from merchant
vessels, and often without regard to national character. American ships
were fired at, brought to, and strictly searched by these tyrants of the
ocean; and when foreigners were found on board, whether