"Sam": or The history of mystery./ By C. W. Webber.

"SAM: " OR, THE HISTORY OF IYSTERY.
several men. Mr. MIoore sailing master, was wounded, and
his limb amputated. Mr. Collingsin, midshipman, had his
limb amputated, but he died. The Dispatch was so disabled
that they were obliged to take her in tow, and they brought
her into Salem, after being out seventeen days. The Dispatch had eight carriage guns, twelve swivels, and a complement of forty-one picked men from different ships in the
fleet. This was the first sea fight. The Tyrannicide was the
first vessel that was built for the public service, and her commission was signed by John Hancock. The Dispatch was no
prize to the crew, excepting a small bounty on her guns.
And yet this-worthy man in his poverty comes not within
the letter of the law, and instead of his bounty, must accept
a hearty recommendation to the generous care of his fellowcitizens.
Our narrative carries us on to the period when the downfall
of British authority in the colonies has become a fixed fact
in history, and the United Thirteen Colonies a firm-rooted
empire on the face of the New World! "Sam," as we have
now perceived, is stretching his huge arm toward the sea.
A constant alarm was kept up by British cruisers, which
hovered on the coast of New England, and landed occasionally
to obtain supplies. Lieutenant Mowatt, who commanded one
of these cruisers, chased a vessel from the West Indies into
Gloucester harbor. The boats sent to take her being repulsed
by the townspeople, Mowatt fired upon the town, and attempted to land. But he was again repulsed, with the loss of his
boats, and thirty-five men taken prisoners. Narraganset
Bay was much annoyed by a squadron of British cruisers,
and Bristol was bombarded to frighten the inhabitants into
furnishing a supply of provisions. Mowatt was presently
sent to Falmouth, (now Portland,) where, a few months
before, the loading of a royal mast ship had been obstructed
and Mowatt himself arrested and treated with some rudeness.
On the refusal of the inhabitants to give up their arms, after
allowing two hours for the removal of the women and children, a bombardment was commenced, and that rising town
of five hundred houses was presently in flames. The townspeople, not to be so frightened, stood to their arms, andl
defeated Mowatt's attempt to land. Such outrages did but
exasperate feelings already sufficiently inflamed.
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