202 Naval War of 1812 



ever seen ; but it is equally impossible not to admire 

 Broke's chivalric challenge and successful fight, or 

 the heroic death of the captain of the Reindeer. 



Nor can the war ever be fairly understood by 

 any one who does not bear in mind that the com 

 batants were men of the same stock, who far more 

 nearly resembled each other than either resembled 

 any other nation. I honestly believe that the Ameri 

 can sailor offered rather better material for a man- 

 of-war' s-man than the British, because the freer in 

 stitutions of his country (as compared with the Brit 

 ain of the drunken Prince Regent and his dotard 

 father a very different land from the present free 

 England) and the peculiar exigencies of his life 

 tended to make him more intelligent and self-re 

 liant; but the difference, when there was any, was 

 very small, and disappeared entirely when his op 

 ponents had been drilled for any length of time by 

 men like Broke or Manners. The advantage con 

 sisted in the fact that our average commander was 

 equal to the best, and higher than the average, of 

 the opposing captains ; and this held good through- 

 out the various grades of the officers. The Ameri 

 can officers knew they had redoubtable foes to con 

 tend with, and made every preparation accordingly. 

 Owing their rank to their own exertions, trained by 

 practical experience and with large liberty of- ac 

 tion, they made every effort to have their crews in 



