rder him to
do his duty. This duty proved to consist in standing over the three
malcontents with a loaded pistol, threatening to blow out the brains
of the first who should flinch from his work.

Three sailors were impressed after the war had begun. Learning that
the ship on which they found themselves was to cruise upon the
American station, they with one accord refused to serve. The response
to this was "five dozen lashes well laid on." Being still mutinous,
they received four dozen lashes two days later, and after the lapse of
two more days were flogged with two dozen more. But all the beating to
which they were subjected could not compel them to serve against their
country; and they were accordingly ironed and thrown into "the brig,"
where they lay for three months. When released from "the brig," they
found the ship at London. Here they heard of the glorious victory of
the "Constitution," and determined to celebrate it. By ripping up
their clothing into strips, and sewing the strips together, a rude
American flag was made; and with the most astonishing audacity the
three sailors hung this emblem over a gun, and gave three cheers for
the stars and stripes. This naturally brought them another flogging.

Flogging, however, could not always be resorted to in order to bring
American sailors into subjection. It is estimated, that, when war was
declared, there were five times as many American seamen in the British
navy as were in the whole navy of the United States. To attempt to
keep this immense body of disaffected seamen in order by the lash,
would have been impracticable; and soon the custom arose of sending
the more refractory tars into confinement at some English prison.
Dartmoor prison was for a time the principal place of detention for
pressed men; but, as it soon became crowded, it was given over to
prisoners of war, and the hapless seamen were sent to languish in
dismantled ships, known as "hulks." These hulks were generally old
naval vessels, dismasted and stripped of all their fittings. Anchored
midstream in tidal rivers, the rotting hulks tugged at their rusty
chains, as the tide rose and fell, groaning in their bondage, and
seeming as much imprisoned as the wretched sailors by whom they were
tenanted. The captives lived in misery and squalor. Crowded together
in stifling quarters between decks, they were the prey of vermin of
all kinds. Their miserable diet, and lack of proper exercise, caused
the scurvy in