revolutionary war.

"In the course of this year we visited every harbour, nook, and
corner, on the east coast of Newfoundland, that the ship could be
squeezed into; and the seamanship displayed by the captain, in
working the ship in some most difficult cases, was not lost upon
the officers and crew. With respect to his personal activity, I
have often heard the most active seamen, when doubting the
possibility of doing what he ordered to be done, finish by saying,
'Well, he never orders us to do what he won't do himself;' and they
often remarked, 'Blow high, blow low, he knows to an inch what the
ship can do, and he can almost make her speak. On our return from
Newfoundland, he applied to cruise after smugglers in the winter
months, instead of being kept idle in harbour until the season
opened for visiting Newfoundland again; but this did not come
within the scope of the management of that day. In 1787, we
returned to our station at Newfoundland. The summers there are very
hot, and on the birthday of the good old king, George III., the 4th
of June, the ship's company obtained permission to bathe. The ship
was at anchor in St. John's harbour, and the captain prepared
himself for the public dinner at the Governor's by dressing in his
full uniform, and mounted the deck to step into his barge, which
was ready to take him ashore. The gambols and antics of the men in
the water caught his attention, and he stepped on one of the guns
to look at them; when a lad, a servant to one of the officers, who
was standing on the ship's side near to him, said, 'I'll have a
good swim by-and-by, too.' 'The sooner the better,' said the
captain, and tipped him into the water. He saw in an instant that
the lad could not swim, and quick as thought he dashed overboard in
his full dress uniform, with a rope in one hand, which he made fast