LIFE OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM HENRY ALLEN.

THE glare of victory is always enticing and beautiful. Whether the hero who was successful in this struggle falls or survives, he is sure of the plaudits of admiring millions. He wears the laurel on his brow, or it is wreathed by the hands of a grateful country round the urn that contains his ashes. Victory always brings with it, its own reward: and to those who have the nobleness to esteem a good name dearer than life, the loss of life itself is more than remunerated, by the reverence which is paid to their memories.

But there is another class of men who have still more potent claims on the gratitude of their countrymen. The man who bravely contends to the last, and, when he finds defeat inevitable, sacrifices his life for his country, is entitled to all that reverence which the proudest victory could yield. He has no animating thoughts to sooth his dying hours: the prize for which he contends is rifled from him; and his fast receding existence admonishes him that he never will retrieve the loss which he

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lowed so long, and with such devotion, abandons him in his dying moments. It then becomes a grateful country, entertaining an honourable jealousy of such noble feelings, to be kind to the ashes of such men.

WILLIAM HENRY ALLEN, whom it now becomes our painful duty to notice, was born at Providence, Rhodeisland, on the twenty-first day of October, 1784. His father, William Ailen, on the breaking out of our revolutionary troubles, was appointed a first lieutenant in the army. He continued in the army until the restoration of peace, and commanded the Rhodeisland line of troops at the battle of Saratoga, when he was advanced to the rank of major. He was present and actively engaged in most of the battles which were fought during our revolutionary war; and, in 1786, was appointed, by congress, senior officer of the legionary corps raised in Rhodeisland. In the year 1799 he was appointed, by the legislature of that state, brigadier-general of militia.

Although it is not a subject immediately connected with the present biographic sketch, it may be not improper to state that major Allen had, for a short time, the charge of the unfortunate Andre. He sat up with him the whole night previous to his execution: Andre conversed with him on a variety of subjects, in which he uniformly spoke of the American character in terms of the strongest respect, and expressed his gratitude for the kindness and delicacy with which he was treated during his confinement. So affecting was this interview to major Allen, that, to this day, he cannot relate the circumstance without great emotion.

The mother of William Henry Allen was the sister of the present governor of Rhodeisland. It was the intention of his parent that Henry should have received a liberal education; and he went through the preparatory studies. He panted, however, for more active life; and, notwithstanding the pressing remonstrances of his parents, he entered the navy, as a midshipman, in May, 1800.

In three months after his appointment he was ordered on board the frigate George Washington, commanded by captain Bainbridge, to carry presents to the dey of Algiers. On his de

parture he writes to his father, "I now bid you a short adieu; but should it be the last, you shall have the satisfaction to hear of my good conduct in my station as an officer and as a gentleman." This cruise was attended with peculiarity of incident. The demand of the dey of Algiers, that the frigate should be employed in carrying his presents to the grand seignior at Constantinople, and the unavailing reluctance and remonstrances of captain Bainbridge, are circumstances generally known. It was the first time that the flag of an American frigate had waved in the harbour of Constantinople. The fine order of the ship, and the excellent discipline observed amongst the officers and men, tended to impress very high ideas of the American character, in a quarter of the world where before it was unknown.

Commodore Bainbridge returned to America on the nineteenth of April, 1801, when a reduction of the navy ensued. In eight days after the return of the subject of the present memoirs, and while he was solacing himself in the hope of once more visiting his family and friends, he was ordered on board the Philadelphia, under the command of captain Baron, to scour the Mediterranean sea again. He bade to his friends a cordial adieu, and entered on the service with that promptitude that ever distinguished him. Nothing material transpired during the cruise. The ship returned to the United States on the twenty-seventh of June, 1802. For the first time, after his entry into the service of his country, was he now enabled to enjoy the society of his friends, and to visit his paternal abode. This, however, was but a short repose allowed him from the fatigues of naval service, for in October, 1802, he sailed in the frigate John Adams, commanded by captain Rodgers, to visit, for the third time, the shores of the Mediterranean. From his letters, during this period, we shall make only two extracts:

"During our stay at Malta we had an opportunity of visiting most of the public buildings; and amongst the rest, the superb church of St. John. The floor is laid in different coloured marble, in Mosaic, representing tomb-stones of the different knights who distinguished themselves in fighting and in falling in defence of Christianity, against the infidels. On every side there

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with the most superbly embroidered tapestry, representing the birth, crucifixion, and ascension of our Saviour. The death of the Saints are likewise represented in the same manner, and they appear like the most beautiful paintings. The wings are divided into chapels; and here they show us crosses and Saints in abundance, and the rich attire of the bishops and clergy, embroidered with gold. In an inner chapel we were shown a number of relics, one of which they declared was a fragment of the cross on which our Saviour was crucified; another was the palm of the hand of St. John. The body of St. Clement was exposed, lying in state. This was a room that the French soldiers did not penetrate: it is said that they robbed this church of half a million."

During the voyage, he was informed, by his correspondent, of a report, which afterwards proved to be unfounded, that a younger officer was advanced over his head. This is the manly reply of a boy of seventeen: "I am too well grounded in old principles to mind such assaults now. If the government decide thus, I can say amen, with all my heart."

Commodore Rodgers returned from this cruise in December, 1803.

Early in the year 1804 he was ordered on board the frigate Congress, lying at Washington, of which he was appointed sailing-master. This frigate sailed on the first of July, under the command of captain Rodgers, for the Mediterranean. On the outward-bound passage, while the ship was lying to, in a violent gale, Allen was on the foreyard, assisting the sailors in taking a reef. Letting fall that part of the sail on which he had hold, he was precipitated headlong into the sea, to the depth of twenty feet, passing in his fall very near the anchor on the bows. Fortunately he arose near the mizen chains, and, by taking hold on them, narrowly escaped inevitable death as the ship was then drifting very fast. While cruising off the coast of Tripoli, captain Rodgers intended, if the command should have devolved on him, in consequence of the illness of commodore Baron, an attack on that place. He took Allen with him in the schooner to take the soundings, preparatory to the anticipated assault. They entered the harbour with muffled oars; and, after taking