peculiar qualities, resulting from circumstances of past history, that we speak of events which transpire within their borders as being characteristic of the place, just as we should of any person whose idiosyncrasies were well known, and we instantly recognize the effect of these peculiar characteristics in the action of individual members of the community.

There is, perhaps, no town on this continent whose name carries with it such distinctly marked associations of this kind as Salem, Massachusetts. There is certainly none which sustained a more important part in the early history of the country, and none which has retained so many outward evidences of its former character.

The stranger who wanders to-day through the quiet streets of Salem, or lingers about her deserted wharves, is impressed with the Sabbath-like stillness which pervades them, and the vague sense of departed vitality with which they are invested. Old-fashioned homes of spacious size, whose walls in long-past days have echoed the greetings of old-fashioned hospitality, stand apart in the shade of patriarchal elms or lindens, and seem to plead with mute eloquence against the innovation of modern improvements. Great warehouses stand, empty and silent, on the vacant wharves which once resounded with the notes of busy commerce. In my younger days a peculiar feature of the streets was the frequent presence at the corners of an old cannon, made to do duty as a corner-post. It had a picturesque effect, and was so suggestive of past history that I cannot but regret the lack of taste which suffered them to be removed. They were most frequently to be seen in

the streets nearest the wharves, which were then lined with ship-chandler's shops, sailors' boarding-houses, slopshops, etc., and were filled with the motley crowd of sailors, longshoremen, and the various amphibious bipeds inherent to such places. All these have long since disappeared, like frogs and tadpoles from a drained marsh, and no sight, sound, or odor remains that is suggestive of marine or commercial life.

There are, however, no signs of the poverty we are accustomed to associate with decay. The evidences of wealth and refined culture are obvious, and an aspect of comfort and respectability is seen even in the plainest dwellings, while the tidy cleanliness which everywhere prevails affords no suggestion of squalor or want. But the sources of prosperity are not perceptible. The machinery of life is out of sight and hearing, and the man whose interest in life is dependent on the ceaseless activity which is the characteristic of our new and growing towns is apt to turn with a sneer of contempt from a place which seems so dead to everything like active enterprise.

Yet the present serene and quiet condition of Salem is the final result-the "ripening off," after fermentation-of such elements of activity and enterprise as have never been surpassed, and have exerted so important an influence on the destinies of the country that they should not be forgotten.

The part which Salem played in the great drama of the revolution was unique, and constituted a vitally important factor in the sum of events which led to the final consummation.

It should be borne in mind that we entered upon that contest with the first naval power in the world without a single ship of war; with our commerce ruined, and the ports of Boston and New York in the hands of the enemy, a fate soon after shared by Newport, Philadelphia, Savannah, and Charleston. Salem saw her opportunity and proved herself equal to its demands. She turned her vessels into men-of-war, armed and manned them, and sent them out to prey on British commerce. During the war upwards of one hundred and fifty vessels, carrying more than two thousand guns, were sent out of her port, and more than four hundred and fifty prizes were captured and sent in by them. They cruised in the English and Irish channels and the Bay of Biscay; they brought arms and munitions of war from France and the French islands; they intercepted the transport ships bringing reinforcements and supplies from England to the troops in Boston and New York; they raised the rate of insurance on British ships to twenty-three per cent., and compelled England to employ her navy in convoying merchantmen, and in repeated instances achieved success by the most desperate feats of valor.

A very active part in the promotion of this service was taken by my grandfather, Stephen Cleveland, a sketch of whose career will serve as an appropriate introduction to the adventures of his eldest son, my father.

In the year 1756, when he was but sixteen years old, he was seized by a press-gang in the streets of Boston, and served for several years on board an English frigate. She was first under the command of a very gentlemanly

STEPHEN CLEVELAND.

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officer, who was beloved by his crew, and who afterwards became Sir William Trelawney, Governor of Ja

maica.

He was succeeded by a contemptible dandy, who, among other acts which excited the ire of his crew, used to go at night in disguise between decks to overhear their remarks upon himself. On one occasion he was recognized by one of the men by the dim light of a lantern, and, springing from his hammock and calling him by the name of one of his shipmates with whom he pretended to have had a difficulty, he gave him such a thrashing that he kept his bed for a fortnight, and was, of course, ashamed to make known the cause of his sudden illness.

My grandfather's service in the British navy was during the "old French war," and the ship to which he was attached was for a time one of a squadron watching a French fleet in one of the Channel ports. He was promoted to be captain of the foretop, and afterwards midshipman. After his discharge and return home he entered the merchant service, and became not only an accomplished seaman, but, as I have often heard my father say, he seemed to have an intuitive skill in naval architecture, and a better knowledge of proportions in the building, sparring, and rigging of ships than any man he ever knew.

This knowledge was turned to account in a most efficient manner in the service of his country in her most trying days. His advice and assistance were in constant demand for the construction and fitting-out of the privateers.

The brig Pilgrim was built under his sole direction, and proved one of the fastest as well as most successful of the whole Salem fleet. She captured and sent in more than fifty prizes, and was finally run ashore on Cape Cod to escape capture by the Chatham, a frigate of sixty guns.

He was finally commissioned by the Continental government, and sent to Bordeaux in command of the brig Despatch, to procure arms and military stores.

The date of his commission is August 8, 1776, only thirty-five days after the Declaration of Independence, so that it must have been one of the earliest naval commissions issued by the Continental government. It is signed by John Hancock, and was accompanied by a minute letter of instructions from a committee of Congress, of which Benjamin Franklin was chairman. He was the first to display the American flag on a government vessel in a European port, and was much feted and caressed during his stay in Bordeaux.

A curious illustration of the necessities to which the country was reduced is afforded by the fact that, as we had then neither money nor credit, he carried out a cargo of oil, fish, and potash, and made his purchases with the proceeds. He accomplished his object successfully, after two narrow escapes from capture on his return.

The spirit of active enterprise engendered by the war found vent, when peace returned, in the opening of new channels of commerce. The merchants of Salem then found themselves in possession of a fleet of vessels which had been built expressly for privateers, and were much too large for the short voyages to which they had hereto