Government wisely determined that in all cases of an encounter with
smugglers the first aim of the Preventive officers should be to
capture the smugglers themselves, for they could be promptly impressed
into the service of the Navy and be put to the good of the nation
instead of being to the latter's disadvantage.

As everyone familiar with the sea is aware, the seamanship of the
square-rigged vessel and of the fore-and-aft is very different. The
latter makes special demands of its own which, for the present, we
need not go into. But we may assert with perfect confidence that at
its best the handling of the King's cutters and the smuggling craft,
the chasing and eluding in all weathers, the strategy and tactics of
both parties form some of the best chapters in nautical lore. The
great risks that were run, the self-confidence and coolness displayed
indicated quite clearly that our national seafaring spirit was not yet
dead. To-day many descendants of these old smugglers remain our
foremost fore-and-aft sailors, yet engaged no longer in an illicit
trade but in the more peaceful pursuits of line fishermen, oyster
dredging, trawling during the winter, and often shipping as yachts'
hands during the summer.

But because we are to read fact and not fiction we shall scarcely find
the subject inferior in interest. Truth often enough is stranger, and
some of the tricks and devices employed by the smuggling communities
may well surprise us. And while we shall not make any vain attempt to
whitewash a class of men who were lawless, reckless, and sometimes
even brutal in their efforts, yet we shall not hesitate to give the
fullest prominence to the great skill and downright cleverness of a
singularly virile and unique kind of British manhood. In much the same
way as a spectator looks on at a fine sporting contest between two