Britain was then, as now, essentially a commercial nation, and the outcry of her merchants when the ravages of American privateers drove marine insurance rates up to thirty-three per cent., and even for a time made companies refuse it altogether, was clamorous.

But there was another side to the story.

Privateering, like all irregular service, was demoralizing, not alone to the men engaged in it, but to the youth of the country as well.

The stories of the easy life and the great profits of the privateersmen were circulated in every little town, while the revels of these sea soldiers in the water-front villages were described with picturesque embellishments throughout the land.

As a result, it became hard to get young men of spirit into the patriot armies.