escape. Certainly if it had not been for the time thus lost to no
purpose, the Commodore would have run alongside his opponent, and
the fate of the little 36 would have been sealed. On the other hand
it must be remembered that it was only the bursting of the gun on
board the _President_, causing such direful confusion and loss,
and especially harmful in disabling her commander, that gave the
_Belvidera_ any chance of escape at all. At any rate, whether the
American frigate does, or does not, deserve blame, Captain Byron
and his crew do most emphatically deserve praise for the skill
with which their guns were served and repairs made, the coolness
with which measures to escape were adopted, and the courage with
which they resisted so superior a force. On this occasion Captain
Byron showed himself as good a seaman and as brave a man as he
subsequently proved a humane and generous enemy when engaged in
the blockade of the Chesapeake. [Footnote: Even Niles, unscrupulously
bitter as he is toward the British, does justice to the humanity
of Captains Byron and Hardy--which certainly shone in comparison
to some of the rather buccaneering exploits of Cockburn's followers
in Chesapeake Bay.]

This was not a very auspicious opening of hostilities for America.
The loss of the _Belvidera_ was not the only thing to be regretted,
for the distance the chase took the pursuers out of their course
probably saved the plate fleet. When the _Belvidera_ was first
made out, Commodore Rodgers was in latitude 39 deg. 26' N., and
longitude 71 deg. 10' W.; at noon the same day the _Thalia_ and her
convoy were in latitude 39 deg. N., longitude 62 deg. W. Had they not
chased the _Belvidera_ the Americans would probably have run
across the plate fleet.