It is worth telling, to illustrate the character of Bainbridge, that, in 1796, he was returning from Europe in the merchant-ship _Hope_, of which he was the captain. One day the _Hope_ was overhauled and boarded by a British warship, and the boarding officers compelled a muster of the crew. The mate’s name was McKinsey. He was an American, of course, but the lieutenant at once decided that he was a Scotchman. However, at the suggestion of Bainbridge, McKinsey entered a state-room, and with pistols successfully defied the lieutenant, who then carried off a common sailor. As the lieutenant left, Bainbridge declared that a man should be taken from the first British merchantman met, to replace the one taken. The lieutenant said Bainbridge would not dare to do so. Five days later the _Hope_ fell in with a British brig, that had a larger crew and eight guns to the _Hope’s_ four, and Bainbridge at once carried out his threat, in spite of a stout resistance. He was one of the greatest of American naval heroes. CHAPTER IX WHIPPED IN FOURTEEN MINUTES THE REMARKABLE BATTLE BETWEEN THE YANKEE _HORNET_ AND THE BRITISH _PEACOCK_--THE BRITISH SHIP WAS SO PRETTY SHE WAS KNOWN AS “THE YACHT,” BUT HER GUNNERS COULD NOT HIT THE BROADSIDE OF THE _HORNET_ WHEN THE SHIPS WERE IN CONTACT--AS HER FLAG CAME DOWN A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS WENT UP, FOR SHE WAS SINKING--THE EFFORTS OF TWO CREWS COULD NOT SAVE HER--“A VESSEL MOORED FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXPERIMENT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN SUNK SOONER”--INFAMOUS TREATMENT OF AMERICAN SEAMEN REPAID BY THE GOLDEN RULE--CAPTAIN GREEN, OF THE _BONNE CITOYENNE_, DID NOT DARE MEET THE _HORNET_. The battle between the _Constitution’s_ consort _Hornet_ and the British brig _Peacock_ was the sixth of the war and a most remarkable illustration not only of the skill of the Yankee gunners but of their willing--their eager energy when fighting against the slave-drivers of the sea. It was fought off the mouth of the Demerara River, South America, on February 24, 1813. The _Hornet_ was what was called a sloop of war. She had been originally rigged as a brig and was sent to the Mediterranean in that fashion, but after the trouble with the African pirates was ended she returned home and together with the _Wasp_ was changed into a three-masted instead of two-masted rig. She was armed with eighteen short thirty-twos and two long twelves.