isparity of force, the injury
done by the American fire cannot be deemed satisfactory, and suggests
the consideration whether the voyage to France under pressure of a
diplomatic mission, and the busy preoccupation of making, manning, and
firing prizes, during the brief month of Channel cruising, may not
have interfered unduly with the more important requirements of
fighting efficiency. The surviving officer in command mentions in
explanation, "the superior size and metal of our opponent, and the
fatigue which the crew of the 'Argus' underwent from a very rapid
succession of prizes."

[Illustration: Diagram of the Argus vs. Pelican battle]

From the broad outlook of the universal maritime situation, this rapid
succession of captures is a matter of more significance than the loss
of a single brig of war. It showed the vulnerable point of British
trade and local intercommunication; and the career of the "Argus,"
prematurely cut short though it was, tended to fix attention upon
facts sufficiently well known, but perhaps not fully appreciated. From
this time the opportunities offered by the English Channel and
adjacent waters, long familiar to French corsairs, were better
understood by Americans; as was also the difficulty of adequately
policing them against a number of swift and handy cruisers, preying
upon merchant vessels comparatively slow, lumbering, and undermanned.
The subsequent career of the United States ship "Wasp," and the
audacious exploits of several privateers, recall the impunity of Paul
Jones a generation before, and form a sequel to the brief prelude, in
which the leading part, though ultimately disastrous, was played by
the "Argus."

While the cruise of the "Argus" stood by no means alone at this time,
the attending incidents made it conspicuous among several others of a
like nature, on the same scene or close by; and it therefore may be
taken as indicative of the changing character of the war, which soon
began to be manifest, owing to the change of conditions in Europe. In
general summary, the result was to transfer an additional weight of
British naval operations to the American side of the Atlantic, which
in turn compelled American cruisers, national and private, in pursuit
of commerce destruction, to get away from their own shores, and to
seek comparative security as well as richer prey in distant waters. To
this contributed also the increasing stringency of British convoy
regulation, enforced w