exclaims in another letter, "when I act like this, may I die unpitied and forgotten, and no tear be shed to my memory. May I lie on some barren shore, and may my bones whiten in the sun, be pelted by the pitiless storm, and may the name of Allen be blasted with infamy." "If I am acquitted honourably (says he, while writing to his father, in other words, if captain Baron is condemned) you may see me again, if not, never.” "We lay here (says he, in another letter) ready, at a moment's warning, to wipe from our flag that disgrace that has been entailed upon it by our blood. When I suffer my memory to dwell on this, I feel that I can trifle with existence at pleasure." At length this question was put at rest, by the condemnation of Baron, on which lieutenant Allen makes this dry remark: "How the court can reconcile some passages of their opinion with others I know not, unless cowardice can be divided into two kinds, personal and official."

At the time of the sailing of the Chesapeake, the United States were at peace with all the world. The government, however, intended to maintain constantly in the Mediterranean a small naval force, occasionally to visit the coast of Barbary. The knowledge of such a force in their vicinity would have the effect to restrain their hostility. This measure was salutary and judicious in another point of view; it usefully and advantageously employed the young officers, who were thus acquiring a knowledge of their profession, and qualifying themselves to render service to their country thereafter. Our ships in the Mediterranean had heretofore been furnished with supplies at an expense which was deemed heavy, and as we were now at peace, and had no enemy to meet or encounter, the government conceived that the Chesapeake might herself carry out such supplies, of every kind, as the squadron would require during her absence from the United States; and thus she was rather a storeship than a cruiser. She had also two ladies, with their servants, and several gentlemen, passengers; and was further burthened with their luggage Captain Baron was aware that his ship was not in fit condition to proceed to sea; but trusting to the circumstance that the country was in profound peace, and therefore could not be molested, he unfortunately sailed, unprepared as he

was, calculating that he should be enabled, long before he approached the European shores, to have his ship in order. Captain Baron's conduct, on this occasion, was certainly culpable and imprudent. He ought not to have relied, implicitly, on the faith of the existing peace; he should have been in complete readiness to repel aggression before he quitted our ports; he should have looked to his guns alone to protect the flag from insult. The conduct of the British, however, was base and dishonourable. The Bellona, seventy-four-Triumph, seventyfour-the Leopard, fifty-and Melampus, thirty-eight-under the command of commodore Douglass, were lying in Lynnhaven bay. They were freely receiving from our country supplies of every kind of which they stood in need; they were partaking largely of the hospitality of its inhabitants; yet at this moment commodore Douglass held in his possession an order from his admiral to take, forcibly, out of the Chesapeake, a part of her crew; and he was meditating to execute this offensive order in a manner the most irritating to our country, and the most derogatory to our navy. Had the object of commodore Douglass have been simply to take the men, and to produce the least possible irritation, he would, most obviously, have followed the Chesapeake out to sea, with his whole force, and there would then, perhaps, have been no reproach on the navy had she surrendered without firing a gun. Commodore Douglass dared not send the Melampus, as she was a frigate of the same class with the Chesapeake, and might, therefore, not have succeeded. The Leopard was sent: she was of force to insure to the British success, even had the Chesapeake been in complete order; and yet the force was not so overbearing but that the Chesapeake ought to have fought; and had she not have fought, and fought well, the navy would have been disgraced.

When commodore Baron was preparing to leave the ship, all the officers were called on deck to witness his departure, a respect always paid to the commander when entering or departing from his vessel. He now left her, passing through a line of officers: but no tear of regret was shed-every brow was contracted, every countenance was stern; and captain Baron, beholding the repulsive looks of his officers, fainted.

Intrepidity, however, exposes only part of the character of lieutenant Allen; his private affections were as warm as his public. While his mind was inflamed by a sense of indignant sensibility, and he is pouring into the car of masculine confidence the complaints of his lacerated mind; letters of the same date, to a female friend, are replete with domestic tenderness and affection. With this correspondent all is quiet and serenity; he enters into all the levities of ordinary converse, and seems as anxious to veil his heroic and indignant passions, as if this indulgence was criminal in such intercourse. At one time his heart seems hovering round its native hearth, and in the next glowing with all the ardour of impatience to avenge his country's honour. Let it be mentioned, likewise, that his conversation was peculiarly marked with this character. Of this the following fact may be related in evidence: Seven duels resulted from the action of the Chesapeake, and yet none of them affected him? He never fought a duel. Not one of the subordinate officers was more decidedly opposed to the conduct of the commodore than lieutenant Allen, yet such was the uniform correctness, propriety, and delicacy of his conduct, that he commanded the esteem of that officer's most sanguine adherents. Having accustomed himself, from the first outset of his naval career, to strict subordination, while in service, and to polished society in his hours of relaxation, the characters of the gentleman and the sailor became, by long habit, incorporated in one. This union became the apex of his ambition-to receive, on the one hand, the thanks of his superior officers for his promptitude and skill, while in their service; and, at other times, to shine the ornament of polished circles. With the officers on board the Chesapeake he was peculiarly a favourite. This kind. attention he thus acknowledges in a letter to his correspondent:

"It is a gratifying reflection to know that I leave the Chesapeake beloved by my messmates, and respected by all: they have all been forward in manifesting their esteem for me in the most unequivocal manner; it has been requited with my warmest gratitude. What can induce more self-satisfaction in any man than to find that he is most beloved by those who have known him the longest? It must silence, forever, the

tongue of detraction; and believe me, my dear sir, the love of my friends, who are ever dear to me, will ever be an inducement with me to deserve their love, and to aspire to superior correctness."

During the operation of the embargo, in 1808, the Chesapeake, to which he was still attached, cruised off Block island, and captured several vessels violating that law. From motives of delicacy he desired to be excused, and was excused, from boarding any vessel belonging to his native state. In a letter, on this subject, he says, "I knew that I should be compelled to detain such vessels for the most trivial article, and this would have wounded my feelings. Even had I met those which I could have suffered to pass, I might have laboured under unjust suspicions, when other officers might be equally just without such imputations." His correct conceptions of the duty imposed by this painful office, are illustrated in a letter which he addressed to his father, in answer to one received from him, interceding for his assistance in behalf of some of his old associates in their endeavour to reclaim their property thus taken. "Nothing, my dear sir," he replies, "could give me more pleasure than to have been useful or instrumental in serving those young gentlemen you speak of in your letter: it required no request of yours to induce it; but vain are our desires-impotent the will that exceeds the means of performance. This has often been my lot, and, I believe, that of many in the Chesapeake. Need I say that my feelings have ever been on the rack while cruising off the island! But, sir, had this been your vessel, her situation would have been precisely the same. It is impossible that I can be of the least service to those young gentlemen." Mr. Allen remained in the Chesapeake, in this service, until February, 1809, when he was ordered, by government, to join the frigate United States, while lying at Washington, under the command of commodore Decatur. The commodore was himself absent, and the equipping of the frigate was a duty that devolved on his first lieutenant, who was not, for the space of two months, absent a moment from the navy yard. This ship lay part of the time at Norfolk, and the remainder of the time was engaged in short

cruises on the coast, until the declaration of war against Great Britain, in 1812.

Shortly after, the United States frigate sailed upon a cruise; and on the twenty-fifth of October, 1812, in latitude 29, N. longitude 29, 30, W. fell in with his Britannic majesty's ship the Macedonian, commanded by captain Carden. She was a frigate of the largest class, mounting forty-nine carriage guns, and reputed one of the swiftest sailers in the British navy.

When this frigate first hove in sight, and while orders were given on board the United States to prepare for action, lieutenant Allen mounted aloft; and after watching her closely for some time, at length discovered the English pendant. He descended to his comrades, who were impatiently awaiting him below, and jocosely pronounced the frigate a lawful prize. The enemy having the advantage of the wind fought at his own distance, and the contest was kept up for one hour and fifty minutes. The United States poured such an incessant fire, that the shouts from the crew of the Macedonian were distinctly heard, who, from that cause, apprehended her to be in flames. Her colours were, nevertheless, hauled down shortly afterwards-in which engagement she lost her mizenmast, fore and main topmasts, and mainyard. She was likewise much damaged in her hull. Thirty-six were killed, and forty-eight were wounded. On board the United States five only were killed, and seven wounded. The American frigate received so little damage in this engagement, that she would still have continued her cruise had it not been necessary for her to accompany her prize into port, on account of the crippled state of the British frigate. Any comments on this splendid action, an action so glorious to the arms of our countrymen would surely now be needless.

In the United States frigate lieutenant Allen was most assiduous in exercising and training the crew to the use of the artillery. The accuracy with which the guns were directed, and the celerity with which they could be fired, evince the improvement of their discipline, and indeed could not be surpassed. After captain Carden had gone on board the United States, lieutenant Allen requested the other officers to go in a boat, which was ready for