The flattering reception given to the first edition of this work again calls me before the public. Having no prepossessing adjunct to annex to my name in the title-page, no word, nor even letter, to denote the slightest connexion between that name and the professional subject treated of in these pages, I may be permitted to state my motives for undertaking a task, of such apparent difficulty to a landman, as a narrative of naval actions.

It is now upwards of 13 years since the subject first engaged my attention. I was then a prisoner, or détenu, in the United States of America, and recollect, as if it were but yesterday, the impression made on my mind by the news of the Guerrière's capture. Having, during a few years' practice as a proctor in the island of Jamaica, learnt not to place implicit reliance upon what an American swore, much less upon what he loosely asserted, I expected, very naturally, to derive consolation from the result of an inquiry into the actual force, in guns, in men, and in size, of the contending frigates. My acquaintance, while professionally employed, with many matters relating to ships, facilitated my labours; and the degree of intercourse, which had necessarily subsisted between several officers of the British navy and myself, gave, I confess, a spur to my exertions.

I soon ascertained that official letter-writing, so far from, being a fair representation of facts, was a political engine made use of by the government, to draw recruits to the army from the western states, to render the war popular throughout the union, and to inspire the nations of Europe with a favourable opinion of the martial character of the United States. I found that, although the republic was divided into two parties, democrats,

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