h to deliver another of her terrible broadsides,
seeing which the enemy surrendered. She proved to be the British sloop
of war _Levant_, of 21 guns.

In this battle the _Constitution_ had 4 killed and 10 wounded, while on
the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ 35 were killed and 42 wounded. Of all the
battles in which this famous ship was engaged, there was none more
remarkable than this. When Stewart advanced to the attack he believed
both his enemies were frigates. The manner in which he baffled every
effort of the two to rake him, while he repeatedly raked them, was one
of the many proofs that the American navy contained no finer seaman than
he. The grand old _Constitution_ seemed to anticipate every wish of her
commander and responded with a promptness that could not have been
surpassed. The discipline of the crew was perfect, and, after all,
therefore, it is little wonder that one of the last acts of the famous
ship was the most brilliant of them all.

It is stated by Richard Watson Gilder that when Captain Stewart was
talking with the respective captains of the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ in his
own cabin, the two fell into a dispute, each charging the other with
failing to do the right thing during the engagement, and insisting that
if it had been done they would not have been defeated. Stewart sat
amused and interested until he saw they were becoming angry, when he
interfered.

"Now, gentlemen," said he, "there's no need of your growing warm over
this affair; no matter what evolutions you made, or what you did, the
end would have been the same. If you don't believe it, I will put each
of you back on your ship with the same crews and we'll fight it all over
again."

Neither of the gentlemen was prepared to accept this proposal, and there
can be no doubt that Captain Stewart was warranted in his declaration,
and his prisoners knew it.

Stewart started for home with his prizes, and early in March anchored in
Port Praya. While there, three powerful British frigates approached,
which, through a series of singular coincidences, were blockading Boston
at the time the _Constitution_ made her escape some months before. They
were anxious, above everything else, to capture the most dreaded ship
in the American navy. Stewart knew that his only chance was to get away
before they shut him in, for the experience of the _Essex_ at Valparaiso
proved that the neutrality of no port would protect an American cruiser.

Accordingly, he lost no tim