challenge we have mentioned before, on the register of a vessel bound to Boston, where the Constitution then lay. Captain Dacres was of course informed of the declaration of war; for in addition to this fact, he had previously captured an American vessel, with a considerable quantity of specie on board. He therefore was not "carelessly cruising about," but prepared for an encounter, if any of our "bunches of pine boards" could possibly be suspected of such temerity as to stand his assault. If he was not, he had scandalously neglected his duty, and there was no occasion to measure keels, and scantling, or to weigh balls, in order to account for his deplorable defeat.

The "British officer on the American station" sums up his calculations by saying, that the superiority on the American side in this affair was, in weight of metal, as three to two;in number of men, "all picked" too, and no doubt " in buckram," as nine to five;-and in size of the vessel, as three to two. The correctness of this statement may be fairly inferred from the crew of the Constitution being all picked men, not a single boy among them, which is the first instance of the kind ever known, and that of the Guerriere including nineteen boys. This pitiful, half-sided manner of coming at the truth is carried through the whole Synopsis, and with such a childish art, that our contempt of the falsehood is lost in our amusement at the shallow folly which it betrays. It is a fact well known, that the crew of the Constitution, gallant fellows as they were, were not " picked men," but fresh, with no extraordinary degree of discipline, and that they had never been at sea in this ship before. But admitting all the points of superiority urged by this writer, how are we to account for the full result of this memorable action? The author of the Synopsis shall do it for us.

"With such a disparity of force, no one can wonder at the result of this action. But certainly had the Guerriere's men been half as well skilled in the use of the great guns as the Constitution's were, the proportion of killed and wounded would not

have been so great as seventy-eight to fourteen, nor one ship made a complete wreck of, while the other suffered no material injury in hull or rigging! These are lamentable truths, that betrayed a laxity of discipline on board our ships, which in the course of time would have ruined our navy. Thanks to the war

with America, so fatal a catastrophe is not now likely to happen again!"

The truth is here acknowledged at last; it was in reality "a want of skill in the use of great guns," "a laxity of discipline," that lay at the root of these disasters, and we cannot help thanking this "second Daniel for teaching us that word.” These acknowledgments, made in the very agony and bloody sweat of mortified pride, concede all that we ever contended for, and thanks be to the war with Great Britain, we have at last forced her advocate, even in a work expressly intended to deny these things, to confess, that the inferiority of her officers and men is in truth the great cause of our repeated triumphs on the ocean.

In our next we shall go on with a cursory examination of the succeeding section of this curious article, which is continued by driblets through several numbers of the British Naval Chronicle. The writer, in fact, appears to have been afraid to administer the whole dose to honest John Bull at once, lest it should turn even his stomach.

Account of the paper war between the crews of the Essex, the Phabe, and the Cherub, in the bay of Valparaiso.

WHILE the Essex, the Phoebe, and the Cherub, lay together in Valparaiso bay, letters were sent from the British vessels to the crew of the Essex, by the hands of a British prisoner on parole, to induce them to desert that vessel. These letters were always delivered to captain Porter, who, provoked at these attempts, sent them to captain Hillyer, with a letter remonstrating against this conduct. This produced a correspondence between the two commanders which fell into the

hands of captain Hillyer on the capture of the Essex. While this was going on, divers queer letters and messages passed between the crews of these vessels. Captain Porter had adopted the well-known motto of "Free trade and sailors' rights," and captain Hillyer opposed it with, "God and our countryBritish sailors' best rights-traitors offend both." The best poets and letter-writers on either side were put in requisition, and a diverting paper war was carried on for some time. The copies of most of these forecastle productions were lost, but the following were found in a book belonging to one of the crew of the Essex, who fell in the action which afterwards took place.

"On board the frigate Essex, March 9th, 1814. "The sons of liberty and commerce on board the saucy Essex, whose motto is "Free trade and sailors' rights," sends their compliments to their oppressed and pressed brother tars on board the ship whose motto is too tedious to mention, and hopes they will put an end to all this nonsense of singing, sporting, bunting, and writing, which we know less about than the use of our guns. Send the Cherub away and we will meet your frigate, and fight her, and then shake hands and make friends-and whether you take us, or we take you, you will be sure to be gainers; for in the first case, you will, no doubt, for your long services in a cause which every freeman detests, be turned over to Greenwich hospital, or to a new ship, on your arrival in England. If we take you, we shall respect the rights of a sailor-hail you as brothers whom we have set free from the black hole, and place you in future out of the reach of a press gang."

"From the Sons of Liberty."

SONG.

A pleasant new song, chanted by Nathan Whiting, (through his nose, for the amusement of the galley slaves on board the Phoebe, who are allowed to sing nothing but Psalms.

OH! Johnny Bull is much perplex'd,

And what d'ye think's the matter?
Because the Yankey frigates sail

Across the salt sea water.

For Johnny says the Ocean's mine,
And all the sailor lads too;
So pay us tax before you trade,
And part of each ship's crew.

"What, pay you tax," says Jonathan,
"For sailing on the water?
"Give you our lads of Yankey breed?
"I'd sooner give you a halter.

"Free trade and sailors' rights, John Bull,

"Shall ever be my toast;

"Let Johnny but these righs invade,
"And Johnny Bull I'll roast."

John didn't mind, but took our ships,

And kidnapp'd our true sailors;

And Jonathan resolv'd to play

The d―l among the whalers

Away went frigates four or five,

To cut up Johnny's trade,
And long before the year was out
The squire grew sore afraid.

Some found frigates, some found sloops,

Belonging to John's navy;

And some they took, and some they burnt,

And some sent to old Davy.

The saucy Essex, she sail'd out,
To see what she could do;
Her captain is from Yankey land,

And so are all her crew.

Away she sail'd so gay and trim

Down to the Gallipagos,

And toted all the terapins,

And nabb'd the slipp'ry whalers.

And where, d'ye guess, we next did go?
Why down to the Marquesas;
And there we buried under ground
Some thousand golden pieces;

Then sail'd about the ocean wide,
Sinking, burning, taking,

Filling pockets, spilling oil,

While Johnny's heart was aching.

At length he muster'd up some spunk,
And fitted out three ships, sir:
The Phabe, Cherub, and Racoon,
To make the Yankeys skip, sir.

Away they scamper'd round Cape Horn
Into the South Sea Ocean,

To catch the saucy Yankey ship,
They had a mighty notion.

North, east, and west, and likewise south,

They fumbled all around;

"Why, where the d-l can she be,

That she cannot be found?"

At length to Valparaiso bay,

They came in mighty funk;

The Yankey boys were then on shore,
Some sober, and some drunk.

Some rode horses, some rode mules,
And some were riding asses;
Some tippling grog, some swigging wine,
Some dancing with the lasses.

The signal made all hands on board,

Each man unto his station;

And Johnny he came swaggering by,

But met some botheration.*

The Phœbe nearly ran aboard of the Essex, by accident, as captain Hillyer said.