from the sale of her cargo over and above the $185,000 he had paid as ransom. He was also offered a large sum for the ship herself to fit out as a privateer, but part of his agreement with the British captain was that she should not be used for that purpose, and so she was laid up during the rest of the war. Upon the conclusion of peace in 1815, the India and China trade of Philadelphia was renewed with great vigor, and ship-building became more brisk than ever before. The war had nearly obliterated the whaling fleet of New England and New York. Unable to replace those lost or destroyed as quickly as they desired in their own ports, the whaling owners resorted to Philadelphia, and in the seven years between 1815-1822 sixty-four ships, ranging from three hundred to four hundred tons, were built on the Delaware for the whale fishery to hail from New Bedford, Nantucket, New London, Sag Harbor, and other whaling ports. A peculiarity of these transactions was that most of the contracts for building whale-ships were taken by New England builders and then sublet to Philadelphia yards. At the same time, that is, in the decade following the peace of 1815, a new element of ocean commerce came into being. This was the inauguration of regular packet-lines. The pioneer of this enterprise on any considerable scale was the famous “Cope Line,” founded by Thomas P. Cope in 1820, and employing at first five ships which were among the largest and best vessels then afloat. This line continued to run until the Civil War. Its ships were from five hundred and sixty to one thousand two hundred and eighty tons. They sailed from Philadelphia the 20th of each month and from Liverpool the 8th, their trip-time averaging thirty days and being almost as regular as the modern steamship lines. In addition to this regular monthly service, extra ships were frequently despatched as the exigencies of trade and travel might require. Mr. Cramp, in one of his reminiscences, relates an interesting anecdote of the Cope Line. Soon after Jackson was inaugurated President, he appointed John Randolph, of Roanoke, Minister to Russia. The Cope Line being then far ahead of all other channels of ocean travel from Philadelphia to Europe, Mr. Randolph presented himself at its shipping-office. In his usual grandiloquent manner he said to the first man he encountered: “Sir, I want to see Thomas P. Cope.” He was shown to Mr. Cope’s office, and said to him, “I am John Randolph of Roanoke. I wish to take passage to Liverpool in one of your ships.” Mr. Cope replied, “I am Thomas Cope; if thee goes aboard the ship and selects thy state-room and will pay $150, thee may go.” Mr. Cope apparently could see no reason why a Philadelphia ship-owner and head of a great packet line should stand in awe of even a Virginia statesman.