POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 37 



who supported, and still approves the mea- 

 sure, is said to have made four hundred 

 thousand dollars, and Mr. Gray of Salem 

 must have been a great gainer." 



Whether Mr. Gray used the words 

 quoted, or whether he gained or lost by the 

 embargo, the writer is ignorant, but it is 

 a fact, as the diary of Capt. Lamson shows, 

 that four days before the Non-importation 

 Bill became operative and twelve days be- 

 fore the embargo, Mr. Gray dispatched 

 the ship "Wells," under Capt. Lamson, 

 with a cargo to Alicante. 1 It is fair to pre- 

 sume that at this time then Mr. Gray did 

 not feel that an honest man's vessels had 

 better be tied up at the wharf. It is also 

 true that, judging from Capt. Lamson's 

 "Diary," the "Wells," despite her capture 

 by privateers from Algeciras, and the bond 

 for five thousand dollars exacted, made 

 good profits for Mr. Gray during the years 

 1808 and 1809, and was only ordered 



"Ship * Wells,' Lamson, cleared from Salem for 

 Alicante." Salem Gazette, Dec. 4, 1807. 



