the men with combustibles had scarcely time to get as low as the cockpit and after store-rooms, before the fires were lighted over their heads. When the officer intrusted with the duty last mentioned had got through, he found the after-hatches' filled with smoke from the fire in the ward-room and steerage, and he was obliged to make his escape by the forward ladder. 13. The Americans were in the ship from twenty to twentyfive minutes, and they were literally driven out of her by the flames. The vessel had got to be so dry in that low latitude, that she burnt like pine; and the combustibles had been as judiciously prepared as they were steadily used. The last party up were the people who had been in the store-rooms, and when they had reached the deck they found most of their companions in the Intrepid. Joining them, and ascertaining that all was ready, the order was given to cast off. Notwithstanding the daring character of the enterprise in general, Mr. Decatur and his party now ran the greatest risks they had incurred that night. 14. So fierce had the conflagration' already become, that the flames began to pour out of the ports; and the head-fast having been cast off, the ketch fell astern, with her jigger flapping against the quarter-gallery, and her boom foul. The fire showed itself in the window at this critical moment; and beneath was all the ammunition" of the party, covered with a tarpaulin'. To increase the risk, the stern-fast" was jammed. By using swords, however (for there was not time to look for an axe), the hawser was cut, and the Intrepid was extricated from the most imminent danger by a vigorous shove. As she swung clear of the frigate the flames reached the rigging, up which they went hissing, like a rocket, the tar having oozed from the ropes, which had been saturated with that inflammable matter. Matches could not have kindled with greater quickness. 15. The sweeps' were now manned. Up to this moment everything had been done earnestly, though without noise; but as soon as they felt that they had command of their ketch again, and by two or three vigorous strokes had sent her away from the frigate, the people of the Intrepid ceased rowing, and as one man they gave three cheers for victory. This appeared to arouse the Turks from their stupor, for the cry had hardly ended when the batteries, the two corsairs, and the galley, poured in their fire. The men laid hold of their sweeps again, of which the Intrepid had eight of a side, and favored by a light air, they went merrily down the harbor. 16. The spectacle that followed is described as having been both beautiful and sublime. The entire bay was illuminated by the conflagration, the roar of cannon was constant, and Tripoli was in a clamor. The appearance of the ship was, in the highest degree, magnificent; and to add to the effect, as her guns heated, they began to go off. Owing to the shift of the wind, and the position into which she had tended, she, in some measure, returned the enemy's fire, as one of her own broadsides was discharged in the direction of the town, and the other toward Fort English. The most singular effect of this conflagration was on board the ship; for the flames having run up the rigging and masts, collected under the tops, and fell over, giving the whole the appearance of glowing columns and fiery capitals. 17. Under ordinary circumstances, the situation of the ketch would still have been thought sufficiently perilous; but after the exploit they had just performed, her people, elated with success, regarded all that was now passing as a triumphant spectable. The shot constantly cast the spray around them, or were whistling over their heads; but the only sensation they produced, was by calling attention to the brilliant jets d'eau (zha do) that they occasioned as they bounded along the water. Only one struck the Intrepid, although she was within half a mile of many of the heaviest guns for some time; and that passed through her top-gallant sail. 18. With sixteen sweeps and eighty men elated with success, Mr. Decatur was enabled to drive the little Intrepid ahead with a velocity that rendered towing useless. Near the harbor's mouth he met the Siren's boats, sent to cover his retreat; but their services were scarcely necessary. As soon as the ketch was out of danger he got into one, and pulled aboard the brig, to report to Lieutenant-commander Stewart the result of his undertaking. . . . . 19. The success of this gallant exploit laid the foundation of the name which Mr. Decatur subsequently acquired in the navy. The country applauded the feat generally; and the commanding officer was raised from the station of a lieutenant to that of a captain. Most of the midshipmen engaged were also promoted. Lieutenant-commander Decatur also received a sword. Death of Alexander Hamilton.—Parton. [In July, 1804, occurred the unfortunate duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, the latter of whom was then vice-president of the United States. The former was noted for his brilliant talents, his revolutionary services, and his distinguished merit as a member of the Cabinet of Washington, by whom he had been very greatly esteemed. Burr also was a man of genius, and had borne a conspicuous part in his country's history; but he was deficient in integrity, and was of loose morals. The due!, which resulted in the death of Hamilton, had its origin in a political quarrel. The following is extracted from "The Life and Times of Aaron Burr," by J. Parton.] 1. In the evening [before the duel], both the principals were engaged, to a late hour, in making their final preparations, and writing what each felt might be his last written words. The paper prepared by Hamilton on that occasion, in the solitude of his library, reveals to us the miserable spectacle of an intelligent and gifted man who had, with the utmost deliberation, made up his mind to do an action which his intellect condemned as absurd, which his heart felt to be cruel, which his conscience told him was wrong. 2. He said that he had shrunk from the coming interview. His duty to his religion, his family, and his creditors forbade it. He should hazard much, and could gain nothing by it. He was conscious of no ill-will to Colonel Burr, apart from political opposition, which he hoped had proceeded from pure and upright motives. But there were difficulties, intrinsic" and artificial, in the way of an accommodation, which had seemed insuperable";-intrinsic, because he really had been very severe upon Colonel Burr; artificial, because Colonel Burr had demanded too much, and in a manner that precluded a peaceful discussion of the difficulty. 3. "As well," this affecting paper concluded, "because it is possible that I may have injured Colonel Burr, however convinced myself that my opinions and declarations have been well founded, as from my general principles and temper in relation to similar affairs, I have resolved, if our interview is conducted in the usual manner, and it pleases God to give me the opportunity, to reserve and throw away my first fire, and I have thoughts even of reserving my second fire, and thus giving a double opportunity to Colonel Burr to pause and to reflect. 4. "It is not, however, my intention to enter into any explanations on the ground. Apology, from principle, I hope, rather than pride, is out of the question. To those who, with me, abhorring the practice of duelling, may think that I ought on no account to have added to the number of bad examples, I answer that my relative situation, as well in public as in private, enforcing all the considerations which constitute what men of the world denominate honor, imposed on me (as I thought) a peculiar necessity not to decline the call. The ability to be in the future useful, whether in resisting mischief or in effecting good, in those crises of our public affairs which seem likely to happen, would probably be inseparable from a conformity with public prejudice in this particular.” Doing evil that good may come, though not the crime it is to do good that evil may come, is a dreadful error. It was the vice of Hamilton's otherwise worthy life. It proved fatal to him at last. . . . . 5. Few of the present generation have stood upon the spot, which was formerly one of the places that strangers were sure to visit on coming to the city, and which the events of this day rendered forever memorable. Two miles and a half above the city of Hoboken the heights of Weehawken rise, in the picturesque form so familiar to New Yorkers, to an elevation of a hundred and fifty feet above the Hudson. These heights are rocky, very steep, and covered with small trees and tangled bushes. Under the heights, at a point half a mile from where they begin, there is, twenty feet above the water, a grassy ledge or shelf, about six feet wide and eleven paces long. This was the fatal spot. Except that it is slightly encumbered with underbrush, it is, at this hour, precisely what it was on the 11th of July, 1804. There is an old cedar-tree at the side, a little out of range, which must have looked then very much as it does now. The large rocks which partly hem in the place are, of course, unchanged, except that they are decorated with the initials of former visitors. One large rock, breast-high, narrows the hollow in which Hamilton stood to four feet or less. ... 6. For the very purpose of preventing suspicion, it had been arranged that Colonel Burr's boat should arrive some time before the other. About half-past six Burr and Van Ness landed, and, leaving their boat a few yards down the river, ascended over the rocks to the appointed place. It was a warm, bright, July morning. The sun looks down, directly after rising, upon the Weehawken heights, and it was for that reason that the two men removed their coats before the arrival of the other party. There they stood carelessly breaking away the branches of the underwood, and looking out upon as fair, as various, as animated, as beautiful a scene as mortal eyes in this beautiful world ever beheld. 7. The haze-crowned city; the bright, broad, flashing, tranquil river; the long reach of waters, twelve miles or more, down to the Narrows; the vessels at anchor in the harbor; misty, blue Staten Island swelling up in superb contour" from the lower bay; the verdant, flowery heights around; the opposite shore of the river, then dark with forest or bright with sloping lawn; and, to complete the picture, that remarkably picturesque promontory' called Castle Point, that bends out far into the stream, a mile below Weehawken, and adds a peculiar beauty to the foreground-all these combine to form a view, one glance at which ought to have sent shame and horror to the duelist's heart, that so much as the thought of closing a human being's eyes forever on so much loveliness had ever lived a moment in his bosom. |