Page:A Tour Through the Batavian Republic.djvu/17

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THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC.
5

and devoid of accommodations, and I had an opportunity of remonstrating with the captain of the republican on the subject, I prevailed on him, though not without difficulty, to permit us to remain in the prize. I now learned that the name of the corsair was The Chasseur, Captain Blackman, of Dunkirk, and that her depredations on the English coast had been uncommonly successful.

The whole business of our capture was over in little more than half an hour, and with unspeakable soreness and oppression of heart, I saw the vessel steer from the English coast. The high lands of Yorkshire, towering in the clouds, were in sight, and with eager eyes I gazed on them till they appeared to sink in the water. What, under other circumstances, would have been a spectacle which I should have admired, chilled my soul. There is something congenial to an ardent mind in whatever displays the spirit of adventure and courage. On former occasions my departure from land, and rushing on the broad bosom of the deep, have filled me with sublime and solemn emotions: the receding