I replied, that it would not be very easy, nor, if it were, would it answer any good purpose, for us to discuss a question that had puzzled the wisest heads, both in his country and mine, for the last twenty years; that my present business was a case of its own, and must be considered abstractedly; that the fortune of war had thrown me in his power, and that he made a bad use of the temporary advantage of his situation, by allowing my men, who, after all, were poor, ignorant creatures, to be seduced from their duty, to desert their flag, and commit high treason, by which their lives were forfeited and their families rendered miserable; that whatever might have been the conduct of his government or mine, whatever line pursued by this or that captain, no precedent could make wrong right; and I left it to himself (seeing I had no other resource) to say, whether he was doing as he would be done by. "As for that matter," said the captain, "we privateersmen don't trouble our heads much about it; we always take care of number one; and if your men choose to say they are natives of Boston, and will enter for my ship, I must take them. Why," continued he, "there is your best man, Thompson; I'd lay a demi-John of old Jamaica rum that he is a true-blooded Yankee, and if he was to speak his mind, would sooner fight under the stripes than the union." "Damn the dog that says yon of Jock Thompson," replied the Caledonian, who stood by. "I never deserted my colours yet, and I don't think I ever shall. There is only one piece of advice I would wish to give to you and your officers, captain. I am a civil-spoken man, and never injured any soul breathing, except in the way of fair fighting; but if either of you, or any of your crew, offer to bribe me, or in any way to make me turn my back on my king and country, I'll lay him on his back as flat as a flounder, if I am able; and if I am not able, I'll try for it." "That's well spoken," said the captain, "and I honour you for it. You may rely on it that I shall never tempt you, and if any of mine do it, they must take their chance." Captain Green heard all this conversation; he took no part in it, but walked the deck in his usual pensive manner. When the captain of the privateer went below to work his reckoning, this unhappy man entered into conversation with me--he began by remarking--"What a noble specimen of a British sailor you have with you." "Yes," I replied, "he is one of the right sort--he comes from the land where the education of the poor contributes to the security of the rich; where a man is never thought the worse of for reading his Bible, and where the generality of the lower orders are brought up in the honest simplicity of primitive Christians." "I guess," said Green, "that you have not many such in your navy."