leaders; and the Democratic party, then newly come into power,
determined to endear itself to the hearts of the people by cutting
down the expenses of the Government, and to this end they attacked
first the appropriations for the navy. A gallant fight was made
against the total abolition of the navy; and finally it was decided to
retain thirteen of the ships-of-war on the list, while the others
should be sold. With these thirteen vessels, of which the most noted
were the "Constitution," the "Constellation," and the "United States,"
the navy was placed upon a peace footing. Even this moderate squadron,
however, brought out much opposition from economically minded
statesmen; but the aggressions of the Barbary pirates, and the war
with Tripoli which opened in 1801, gave the sailor lads active
employment, and for the time the outcry of the economists against the
navy ceased.

Of the various wars with Tripoli and the other states of Barbary, we
have already given some account. The political bearing of the
Tripolitan war upon the war which afterwards followed with Great
Britain was slight; but, as discipline for the sterner reality of
naval warfare with the nation long reputed to be "mistress of the
seas," the experience of the Yankee tars with the turbaned infidels
was invaluable.

Let us, then, return to the shameful recountal of the injuries
committed by the British upon the American flag on the high seas. Even
while the United States was at war with France, and thus aiding the
British, the outrages never ceased. American sailors were still
impressed. American vessels were boarded, and often seized, on the
slightest pretexts. Even the ships of the Government were not exempt,
for the British respected no right save that of greater power.

It was in November, 1798, that the United States sloop-of-war
"Baltimore," of twenty guns, and under command of Capt. Phillips, was
in charge of a convoy of merchantmen bound to Havana. On the morning
of the 16th of that month, the sloop, with her convoy, were in sight
of their destination, and could even see the solid, towering walls of
the Moro, rising high above the low-lying shores about Havana. The
breeze was fresh and fair; and all hands expected to cast anchor
before night in the beautiful bay, oh the shores of which stands the
chief city of the island of fruits and spices. On the "Baltimore" the
jackies were busily at work holystoning the decks, until they
glistened with the m