g on high; and the devout Frenchmen
ascribed its escape to a miracle, although its destruction would have
been more miraculous still.

It did not take long to convince Phipps that in this contest his fleet
was getting badly worsted, and he soon withdrew his vessels to a place
of safety. The flag-ship had been fairly riddled with shot; and her
rigging was so badly cut, that she could only get out of range of the
enemy's guns by cutting her cables, and drifting away with the
current. Her example was soon followed by the remaining vessels.

Sorely crestfallen, Phipps abandoned the fight, and prepared to return
to Boston. His voyage thither was stormy; and three or four of his
vessels never were heard of, having been dashed to pieces by the
waves, or cast away upon the iron-bound coast of Nova Scotia or Maine.
His expedition was the most costly in lives and in treasure ever
undertaken by a single colony, and, despite its failure, forms the
most notable incident in the naval annals of the colonies prior to the
Revolution.

The French colonies continued to be a fruitful source of war and
turmoil. Many were the joint military and naval expeditions fitted out
against them by the British colonies. Quebec, Louisbourg, and Port
Royal were all threatened; and the two latter were captured by
colonial expeditions. From a naval point of view, these expeditions
were but trifling. They are of some importance, however, in that they
gave the colonists an opportunity to try their prowess on the ocean;
and in this irregular service were bred some sailors who fought right
valiantly for the rebellious colonies against the king, and others who
did no less valiant service under the royal banner.

CHAPTER III.

OPENING OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. -- THE AFFAIR OF THE
SCHOONER "ST. JOHN." -- THE PRESS-GANG AND ITS WORK. -- THE
SLOOP "LIBERTY." -- DESTRUCTION OF THE "GASPEE." -- THE
BOSTON TEA-PARTY.

It is unnecessary to enter into an account of the causes that led up
to the revolt of the American Colonies against the oppression of King
George and his subservient Parliament. The story of the Stamp Act, the
indignation of the Colonies, their futile attempts to convince
Parliament of the injustice of the measure, the stern measures adopted
by the British to put down the rising insubordination, the Boston
Massacre, and the battles at Concord and Lexington are familiar to
every American boy. But not every young Ame