The small island of Nantucket, lying in the vicinity of Rhode Island, is too barren to grow corn; its peaceful and industrious inhabitants are therefore obliged to procure elsewhere the prime necessary of life, by bartering against it the produce of their coasts. The schooner had taken to Philadelphia a cargo of dried fish, and was returning with a lading of flour. So little did friend Jenkins, in his simplicity, suspect that we should detain him, on learning his errand, and the necessities of his fellow-islanders, by which it had been prompted, that he had persuaded himself he had merely to relate the artless tale, to be allowed to proceed. He did not dilate on the particular service he had rendered us, however he might be sensible that, but for him, our best accommodation might have been sought within the narrow limits of our boats. "The flour," he said," can be conveniently stowed in the frigate; let it be taken out, and permit me and my crew to return to Nantucket, with a paper addressed to the vessels of your nation we may chance to fall in with on our way. The schooner is old and crazy; she will not tempt them, and will fetch but little at New York; while the advantage, for which we shall be ever thankful, will to us be great." A humane feeling, not to speak of gratitude for a benefit received, might have yielded to this suggestion; a portion, at least, of the cargo might have been generously added to the boon; and the schooner might have been reckoned among the worthless craft directed to be scuttled or burnt; but the barbarous usage of war ordered it otherwise. She had sailed from an island, the inhabitants of which professed, it is true, to be in amity with all mankind, but whose position brought them into a more strict relation with those who were hostile to us; she had carried a supply to an enemy's port, and was to be delivered over to the court of ViceAdmiralty on our arrival at New York. Our stay there was short; but, on our eturn from the next cruize, we anxiously hastened on shore, to inquire fter our 66 friends," and the captive crew. Men of Nantucket! honest Quakers! it was in vain that you assembled daily on the beach, to watch the approach of your companions, with the promised succour. And you, wives, children, and relatives of the long ex pected" friends!" it was in vain that you mingled with the throng, while as yet a gleam of illusive hope burst on you, and you did not forebode the extent of the calamity that was to befal you. Never were you to witness the return of the well beloved, and to press them to y your bosoms!all yes, all!-were swept off by the contagious fever which then raged in the jail of New York. Among our prizes was a brig-of-war, the Raleigh, which had been just fitted for sea, and, as her officers inform ed us, bore the first commission issued by Congress. She was to make a trial of her strength in a cruize off the island of Martinique; and we captured her within the Bay of Chesapeak, precisely five hours after she had sailed from Baltimore, in Maryland, on which account our sailors christened her, "the five hours' frolic." This was not the only fatality that hung over her, as the sequel will show. The captain and the two lieutenants, having very obsequiously surrendered their swords on the quarter-deck; the former, a fine young man, was conducted at midnight to the great cabin, to become the inmate of our commander. Several of his brother officers, provided they became acquainted with this, must have taken high umbrage, and have condemned it as an act of over civility to a rebel, who, according to them, was entitled to no other than the harshest treatment, and whose partizans would, in their rooted opinion, never have an opportunity to retaliate. They were tender towards the traders, but relentless to those of any note in the armed vessels that fell into their hands. "Who a are you, sir said, much about the same time, in a stern tone of voice, an officer of this persuasion who commanded a consort ship. The captain.""Put a broom in his hand; he will make an excellent sweeper. "And you, sir?" to a spruce gentleman, who, fearful of being plundered, had clad himself in his best suit."A merchant passenger. him over to the cook, to scour the coppers." And this was still the usage; and thus the interrogatories were addressed to the selected few." "Hand "How do you do, Mr. -? I'm glad to see you," was the salutation of old Stephen Turmidge, one of our quarter-masters, to an inferior officer of the brig. "It is now some years since we met at Weymouth, where your poor mother, who kept the dayschool, always said that your wild frolics would bring you to harm. You remember that you borrowed of a neighbour of ours a horse, which you afterwards sold for a good price at Knightsbridge; and this was what gave you a free passage to America, although you could not have been without money." The identity was too clear to be mistaken; for, besides the strong marks which nature had imprinted on our renegade, an accident had distorted one of his limbs. He bore, however, an excellent character among his ship-mates; and such was the opinion entertained of his probity, that he was to have been entrusted with the first rich prize which might have been captured on the intended cruizing-ground. Our excellent poet, Prior, in his Alma, speaking of the Swiss Cantons, which are partly Catholic, and partly Protestant, tell us that there "One may be A heretic or true believer, And the above example may be cited among a thousand, to shew that a rogue on one side of the Atlantic, or, indeed, any other great ocean, may on the opposite side become an honest man. Politicians can best explain why this should be; but, in taking what may not be altogether an unphilosophical view of the subject, it may be remarked, that men are not always like plants, which flourish best in their native soil, and dwindle when they assume an exotic character. The French, who excel in dyeing, consult the waters of the particular rivers which best suit their colours. Thus, the blacks are dyed at St Hippolyte; the glaring colours at Nimes; the dingy ones, such as the boue de Paris, at Alais; and so forth. Now, in the same way as they deal with the waters of their streams, to make them conducive to the perfection of each varying tint, might we not consult the soils of our numerous colonies and foreign possessions, to ascertain which of them, according to the colour of the crime to be expiated, might, by a contrary effect, contribute most efficaciously to discharge it, denying further growth to the rank weeds by the agency of which it acquired, in a moral sense, its particular hue. Those on whom the experiment might, I think, be successfully made, should not be branded with a red hot iron, nor have the chin punctured and stained, as is the case with the Christian slaves in the empire of Morocco, for that would be worse than hanging them outright, as, with any such ignominious badge, their reformation could not be expected. Neither should they be treated altogether as convicts ;* but, having been started with the requisite means to forward their industry in their new estate, should be subjected to a mild surveillance, until they might, by their good conduct, acquire the right of denizenship. Such a measure would throw some discouragement on the manufacture of hempen cords; but I think too highly of the sensibility of my countrymen in general, not to be persuaded that the mas ter-manufacturers, and their headworkmen, would join with the great majority, in rejoicing to hear, in the process of time, that John Doe, who had basely uttered bank notes, which he knew to be forged, had, in his remote asylum, committed no greater fault than that of forging excuses for having abruptly quitted his family, friends, and fire-side; and that Richard Roe, who had the wicked audacity to fleece both the farmer and his sheep, had become as innocently meek as a lamb. And so with regard to other capital offenders and their offences. The Raleigh brig was useful to us as a tender, in making several captures; and drove others of the enemy's vessels on shore, by a vigorous pursuit in the shoal waters we could not venture to approach. We were without the bay of Chesapeak, returning to New York, with the most valuable of our prizes, when a large brig, which we presumed had mistaken our flotilla for a convoy of American merchant vessels, sailing from the ports of Virginia under our protection, bore down on us in the evening. Besides our own prisoners, our consorts had delivered * Several of those who have been aggregated and coerced, for a limited time, whether in the settlements abroad, or in the convict-ships at home, have, on their enlargement, evinced but little improvement. They had breathed an air of moral pestilence, and were lost in their own esteem. VOL. XI. 2 B theirs into our charge, insomuch that they were with difficulty guarded by a ship's company which our successes had considerably weakened. As we could neither receive her crew with safety, nor spare hands to man this our new capture, the tender was ordered to escort her to the senior officer's ship, the Phoenix, anchored a few leagues distance off Cape Henry. The two brigs were no sooner out of our sight, than a fearful scene ensued between them. The prize, le Gentil, carried eighteen hands, with six nine-pounders on deck, and ten others stowed in the hold; while the Raleigh had a crew of ten men only, with as many four pounders. The Frenchmen were not long in hoisting up the spare pieces of artillery, and mounting them on their carriages. On either side the preparations for action were made, and the matches lighted, when a thick fog suddenly interposed, and in all probability saved our little tender from being blown out of the water. Le Gentil, which we knew to be very richly laden, reached in safety, under favour of the mist, the port of Baltimore; but we had to despair of the Raleigh, conjecturing her to have fallen into the hands of the enemy, as we did not hear of her for some days after our arrival at New York. She was reserved, however, for another fate; she followed us with new captures; and was finally converted into a letter of Marque. On her passage to the West Indies, in exercising the great guns, the strain was so vehement, and the resistance of the decayed timbers so feeble, that her side fell out. On this new description of float, the crew were picked up by the boats of the Experiment of fifty guns, which chanced to be near; but the ill-fated Raleigh, what remained of her standing, at least, and her valuable cargo, were ingulfed. We were becalmed; and the fog became so dense, that the bowspritend bounded our view, when we were stepping forward on the quarter-deck. The ship-bell, which, from the condensed vapours, gave out an unusually deep and solemn sound, was tolled minutely to keep together our fold; but our great anxiety was within board. While our people were exhausted by fatigue, each circumstance favoured the rising of the prisoners. They were, for greater security, stowed in the hold, on planks laid over the casks, like so many Africans, newly embarked on the coast of Guinea, with centinels, who had orders to pour in their bullets on the slightest disturbance, planted over them. The masters and mates of the American merchant-vessels, whom it became necessary to keep apart, as the most mutinous and daring, were confined in the steward-room abaft, with the range of the bread-room in their rear. They awaited the signal from their crews; and, peeping alternately through the scuttle, threatened us with a severe retaliation, when we should become their captives. I say us, for the idlers, who were at watch and watch, had to visit them; and in that number I carried, for the first, but not the only time, a ship-cutlass at my side, and a brace of pistols in my belt. Our peril soon drew toward a close; a favourable breeze sprang up which brought us safely into port. "Paris These Recollections will be continued under several heads, such as before the French Revolution"-" France, during a part of the Directorial and Consular Governments"-" Albania," &c. &c.; but they will be occasionally blended, as in the present Chapter, in order to give them a greater interest by their variety. My friends-those belonging to the Navy more particularly, who form a numerous class-are desirous that this production should appear and as, in this early part, I describe with impartiality, and without fear of offending either party, a portion of the long-past events of the American War of Independence, as they came under my notice, it may be attractive to the United-States-men. London, 1st February, 1822. J. S. * As "there be land-rats, and there be water-rats," so their are land-fogs, and water-fogs, which prevail in the same latitudes. We were not so far to the southward as the Carolinas, where the planter, on his rising in the morning, used to estimate the fog by the number of drams which, to expel it from the stomach, it would be requisite for him to drink in the course of the day. A six-dram fog was a very moderate fog; but when it came to sixteen! NOTICES OF OLD ENGLISH COMEDIES. No. II. THE CITY MATCH, BY JASPER MAYNE. THOUGH this Play ought not, in strictness of chronological order, to be noticed till we arrive at the writers of the reign of Charles the First, yet we trust we shall stand excused with our readers if we venture to anticipate a little in bringing before their attention one of the most excellent of our early comedies. Its subject being City Manners, it will perhaps with more propriety follow the play noticed in our first Number, than be introduced in any subsequent period of our remarks. Jasper Mayne, the author, was a beneficed clergyman, and the translator of Lucian's Dialogues; the former of which circumstances may perhaps account for the absence, in his plays, of the indelicacy and obscenity which overspread the dramatic productions of the time, and the latter for the pure and attic wit which is plentifully strown in his dialogues. He was, say his biographers, much admired in his time for his wit and humour, and no one who reads his plays, will doubt that the admiration was well bestowed. He has been compared to Dean Swift, and probably, were more of his books extant, the comparison might be sustained with some degree of justice, One anecdote of him still preserved, will shew, that, like the Dean, he was a humourist, and sometimes carried his jokes to an unseemly and unseasonable pitch: One of his servants waiting upon him with attention, in his last illness, was told by his master, that if he would look in one of his chests, after his death, he would find something that would make him drink. Expecting, of course, from this, some handsome remuneration for his trouble, the man redoubled his attentions till they were no longer necessary. the death of his master, he searched the chest for the promised reward of his pains, when, to his surprise and dismay, his legacy proved to be a red herring! On Amongst the divines of the 17th century, wits appear to have been rather scarce. If we except the names of Hall, Donne, Fuller, Eachard, and South, we do not remember any who have left behind them a distinguished reputation for wit. The productions of Hall as a satirist, have deservedly gained him a high name in this character. The pretensions of Donne are more questionable: his poetry abounds in conceits rather than in wit, and his sermons have still less of the latter quality. Fuller possessed very strong powers of humour; upon the whole, however, he was rather a punster and player upon words than a true wit. Eachard's "Grounds and Reasons" are. impregnated with much of the spirit of Swift, and are still highly entertaining. South's reputation was doubtless deserved; many proofs of his powers may be met with in his sermons, and more in his controversial tracts. To these names we think we shall be justified in adding that of Jasper Mayne. We will now proceed to the playWarehouse and Seathrift, two rich merchants, determine to make a trial of their two young heirs expectant, Frank Plotwell and Timothy Seathrift, by pretending to go on a voyage, and giving out a report of their deaths. They take leave of their family, and Warehouse thus, in parting, enjoins his nephew: 66 -- You must be constant, nephew. Plot. Else I were blind To my good fortune, sir. Ware. Think, man, how it may In time make thee o' the city senate, and raise thee Plot. Yes, and make me on horseback. To the sword and cap of maintenance. (Aside. Ware. Have the people vail As low to his trappings, as if he thrice had fined For that good time's employment. Plot. Or as if Ware. Then the works (Aside. And good deeds of the city to go before thee, Besides a troop of varlets. Plot. Yes, and I To sleep the sermon in my chain and scarlet. (Aside. Ware. How say you? Let's hear that? Plot. I say, sir, I To sit at sermon in my chain and scarlet. Ware. 'Tis right, and be remember'd at the Cross. Plot. And then at sessions, sir, and all times else; Master Recorder to save me the trouble, And understand things for me. Ware. All this is possible, And in the stars and winds; therefore, dear nephew, You shall pursue this course; and, to ena ble you, In this half year that I shall be away, Cypher shall teach you French, Italian, Spanish, And other tongues of traffic. Plot. Shall I not learn Arithmetic too, sir, and short-hand ? Ware. "Tis well remember'd; yes, and navigation." Frank Plotwell's two gay companions, Bright and Newcut, call upon him, and the following sprightly dialogue ensues: "Bright. Is thy uncle Gone the wish'd voyage? Plot. Yes, he's gone; and, if He die by the way, hath bequeath'd me but New. In Ovid There is not such a metamorphosis Bright. They have the Gresham dye. Dost thou not dress thyself by 'em? I can see My face in them hither. Plot. Very pleasant, gentlemen. Bright. And, faith, for how many years art thou bound? Plot. Do you take me for a 'prentice? New. Why, then, what office Dost thou bear in the parish this year? No batteries in thy head, to signify Bright. No furious jug broke on it, Plot. Did you contrive this scene By the way, gentlemen? New. No, but the news Thou shouldst turn tradesman, and this Pagan dress, In which, if thou shouldst die, thou wouldst Aurelia, the sister of Frank, runs away from the sempstress to whom she was apprenticed, and being assisted by her brother, imposes herself upon the town as a lady of fortune, in hopes of meeting with a rich husband. At the same time, Dorcas, the daughter of old Seathrift, and sister of Timothy, tired of the puritanical manners and conversation of Mr and Mrs Scruple, with whom she had been placed to learn godliness, gives them the slip, and becomes servant to Au relia, without knowledge of her real character. Dorcas still retains enough of her puritanical education to make her mistress heartily tired of her. The following scene, which takes place between Aurelia and her woman, reminds us strongly of Ben Jonson. "Aur. Ere I'll be tortured With your preciseness thus, I'll get dry palms With starching, and put on my smocks myself. |