labor till after the treaty of Ghent and the declaration of peace, except that of privateering, in which it is very evident from his letters that he was desirous to engage, and doubtless refrained in deference to my mother's wishes.

In July, 1815, he sailed from Salem in the employ of some of his friends there in the ship Exeter, for Teneriffe and Batavia. This voyage occupied nearly a year, and was not devoid of interesting incident, of which he gives an account in his narrative, but of which I shall here notice only certain references in his letters to matters having no connection with the direct object of the voyage.

Arriving at Teneriffe on the 26th of August, he was subjected to a quarantine of eight days in an open roadstead, where he anchored in fifty-five fathoms, and the rolling of the ship was worse than when at sea under sail.

By the English papers sent off to him by his consignee he here received the first intelligence of the battle of Waterloo, of which he says, in a letter to my mother of August 28th:

"The English papers sent me by Mr. Little afforded such an overwhelming flood of astonishing and extraordinary news as almost bewildered me, and required the recalling to my mind the great events that had astonished the world for two years past to persuade myself that I was not dreaming. The great emperor and king-he who has shaken Europe to its foundations, and made almost every sovereign in it bend the knee to him, is reduced, in the short space of three years, from this tremendous, and to short-sighted mortals secure elevation, to the dreadfully humiliating degradation of flying for life and surrendering himself to the captain of a British ship of war! What wonderful vicissitudes has not this man witnessed! Is it not astonishing that he should not have preferred death?

A CLASSICAL SCHOOL AT LANCASTER.

165

"That mankind continue to sympathize in his fall is, I think, evinced by the generosity which they display in making a proper provision for him in so very salubrious a climate as that of St. Helena. Here I should doubt if even with the assistance of his friend, the D-1, he would ever have it in his power to disturb the world again. It is not improbable that on my return I may call and see him."

His next letter, written at sea, January 16, 1816, contains the first allusion to a gentleman whose acquaintance he had made during the preceding year while at home in Lancaster, and whose warm friendship he retained till the end of his life.

I have heretofore given an extract from one of his letters expressing his wish that his sons should have the best possible advantages of education. This had been a ́ prominent object in his mind during the time he was at home, and in order to secure it he had proposed the establishment in Lancaster of a school of a superior order to those which were then common in the country, and offered to defray whatever additional expense might be necessary to secure the services of a classical teacher. In return for this the town authorized him to select the teacher, and he at once applied to President Kirkland, of Harvard College, who was his personal friend, and through his aid secured the services of Jared Sparks, then a young man just starting in a career which is now recorded in the pages of literary history. I shall have more to say on this subject when speaking of my father's life in Lancaster. I have mentioned it here only in explanation of the following paragraph, which contains further evidence of the importance he attached to the subject of education, and his determination that no

effort on his part should be wanting to provide for his sons the best means that the country afforded:

"I am not without apprehension that Mr. Sparks may not be willing to remain longer than the first year, especially for a salary which he seemed to feel some reluctance in accepting. Whatever part of this salary I may have to pay (and this depends on the number of scholars) I had much rather pay it, and even add a hundred dollars to the annual amount of it, than that he should leave. The pernicious effects to the pupils of a frequent change of masters I am so well aware of that I should be willing to make considerable sacrifices to avoid it. The advantages to the boys of being educated at home, compared with that of sending them away at so tender an age, is so obvious and striking that I would make great efforts and sacrifices of my own convenience to secure it. I hope, therefore, that means will be found to induce Mr. Sparks to remain at least three years. I feel so much the importance of laying a good foundation for education, and that the means of enabling my boys to do it is as dependent on me as the superstructure will afterwards be on themselves, that I am not less anxious to accomplish the one than to impress on their minds a conviction of the truth of the other."

The voyage to Batavia and back was completed in August, 1816, and he then remained at home for nearly a year, at the end of which time, being then in his fortyfourth year, he entered upon what may, in some respects, be considered as his most remarkable voyage; not indeed on account of the dangers of the seas, but of the unjust and outrageous treatment to which he was subjected at the hands of his fellow-men, and the courage, skill, and adroit management with which he finally extricated himself and achieved a triumphant success.

CHAPTER X.
1817.

Sails in the Ship Beaver from New York for the West Coast of South America.-Seized at Talcahuana.-Plots to Take the Spanish Frigate Venganza.-Seized with Fever.-Is Sent to Lima in the Brig Canton.

No opportunity offered for the prosecution of any such enterprising voyages as seemed especially attractive to my father till 1817, when the news was received. of a revolution in Chili and that the people had emancipated themselves from the government of Spain.

This event, by freeing the commerce of that country from the paralyzing restrictions to which it had hitherto been subjected, seemed to offer flattering prospects to those merchants who should be first to avail themselves of the opportunity.

My father's knowledge of the wants and resources of the country gave him advantages which few of his countrymen then possessed for undertaking a voyage thither. This knowledge he at once proceeded to turn to account by submitting a plan of a voyage to John Jacob Astor, whose sagacious mind was not slow to perceive the very great advantages it offered, though he fully appreciated the attendant risks.

His favorite ship, the Beaver (the same mentioned in Irving's "Astoria"), had just been repaired at an ex

pense nearly equal to that of building her anew, and was then in fine condition for such a voyage as was proposed. The cargo, consisting principally of European manufactures to the amount of $140,000, and the ship and stores, valued at $50,000 more, formed an aggregate such as no other individual in the United States would (or, perhaps, at that time could) have risked on such a

voyage.

Mr. Astor's wisdom and liberality in leaving the whole management to my father's discretion was the best evidence of the confidence reposed in him, and the only exception in which my father's wishes were overruled was a chief cause of the subsequent misfortunes which befell them. This was the shipment of a large quantity of arms and ammunition, which my father considered would excite suspicion, and, perhaps, be made the pretext for confiscation.

A single paragraph of my father's narrative betrays, in a few simple words, the depth of feeling he experienced and the crowd of reflections which pressed upon him at starting upon this new adventure, so full of causes, both of hope and apprehension, for the future; calling up such reminiscences of the past, such tender thought of all he was leaving, and such anxious fears of the possibilities involved in the years of separation which must necessarily ensue. My mother had accompanied him to New York and remained with him till his departure, having me, then in my third year, in her company. He took leave of her, and sailed on July 1, 1817, on a fine day, with a fresh westerly breeze.

"Before the day closed a trial with other vessels bound to the east