The reader will recollect those regrettable incidents on the North Sea
belonging to the eighteenth century, when we had to chronicle the
names of Captains Mitchell and Whitehead in that connection. Unhappily
there were occasional repetitions of these in the early part of the
nineteenth century on the south coast. It happened that on the 19th
of March in the year 1807 the _Swan_ Revenue cutter, a vessel of
considerable size (for she had a burthen of 154 tons, a crew of
twenty-three men, and was armed with twelve 4-pounders, two
9-pounders, and a chest of small arms) was cruising in the English
Channel and found herself off Swanage. It should be added that at that
time there was a kind of volunteer Preventive Guard at various places
along the coast, which was known as the "Sea Fencibles." The Swanage
"Fencibles" informed Mr. Comben, the cruiser's commander, that there
were three luggers hovering off the coast, and these volunteers
offered a number of their men to reinforce the _Swan's_ crew so that
the luggers might be captured. To this Comben replied with a damper to
the volunteers' enthusiasm: "If I was to take them on board and fall
in with the enemy we could not do anything with them."

So the _Swan_ sailed away from Swanage Bay to the eastward and at
midnight made the Needles. It now fell calm, but the luggers hove in
sight and approached by means of their sweeps. As they came on, the
cutter, instead of preparing to receive them in the only way they
deserved, did nothing. But one of the _Swan's_ crew, whose name,
Edward Bartlett, deserves to be remembered for doing his duty, asked
Comben if he should fetch the grape and canister from below. Comben
merely replied: "There is more in the cabin than we shall want: it
will be of no use; it is all over with us." Such was the attitude of
one who had signed into a service for the prevention of smuggling