at night on the Delaware river, above the English shipping; but,
unfortunately, the proper distance could not be well ascertained, and
they were set adrift too far from the vessels, so that they became
obstructed and dispersed by the floating ice. On the following day,
however, one of them blew up a boat, and others exploded, occasioning
the greatest consternation among the British seamen. The troops were
aroused, and, with the sailors, manned the wharves and shipping at
Philadelphia, discharging their cannon and small-arms at everything they
could see floating in the river during the ebb tide.

"The scene must have been a very ridiculous one, and we cannot wonder
at Judge Hopkinson making such comic use of it. The British must have
imagined that every keg was the visible part of a torpedo, intended for
their destruction."

"We cannot wonder at their consternation, while in constant danger of
being blown into the air," said Mr. Jackson Harmar. "Just place yourself
in their position; and, knowing that several attempts had been made to
blow up the ships, how would you have acted?"

"I should have made quite as much noise, I suppose," replied old Harmar;
"but then it was so laughable. I don't think the folks aboard of those
ships slept for a week after finding that there was powder in the kegs.
That, I believe, was Bushnell's last attempt to destroy the fleet."

"For my part," remarked Wilson, "I never liked such contrivances; and it
is a very pregnant fact that in most cases they have failed, when, from
the skill and science displayed in their construction, success was
anticipated. It's my opinion, God works against such things. As much
as I hated the enemy, I could not sanction such wholesale murder--for