78 CAPTAIN ZACHARY G. LAMSON 



The seizure must be followed by a fair 

 trial, where evidence could be produced on 

 both sides ; and if the capture was declared 

 illegal, damages could be demanded. But 

 with an impressed seaman, whose personal 

 liberty should be worth more than mere 

 property, there was no such investigation. 

 The British officer had the crew mustered 

 on the quarter-deck and picked out those 

 whom he believed, or professed to believe, 

 English. Had he been honest, he must at 

 times have made a mistake ; but, as a matter 

 of fact, he too often picked out the best men 

 irrespective of nationality. Many of the 

 men thus impressed had certificates of 

 American naturalization or protection ; but 

 the English pointed out, with truth, that 

 these certificates could be procured by any 

 English sailor from an American consul 

 for a dollar or two, and were in fact a mat- 

 ter of barter among the sailors. 



Strange to say, the feeling in the United 

 States against impressment was strongest 

 in that section of the country where its evils 



