Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/382

 *sorted to by the French cruisers appears to be placed beyond all doubt. In this protest he states that while on his voyage from Baltimore to London he was boarded by a French armed brig under English colours, when he with five of his crew were taken on board, and though the vessel's papers when examined left no doubt of the nationality of his ship and cargo, being American, the officer in command of the French brig insisted that the cargo was English property, and assured Martin that if he would admit the fact, and formally acknowledge it, his full freight should be paid, and he should have a present of one thousand pounds. But the overture was spurned, the master declaring the whole to belong solely to Aquilla Brown of Baltimore, merchant. "Whereupon the French officers thumb-screwed the said master in the cabin of their said brig, and kept him in torture to extort a declaration that the said cargo was English property, for nearly four hours, but without the desired effect." A vessel heaving in sight, Martin was liberated, but it was not until the Cincinnatus reached the English Channel that she was relieved by H.M.S. Galatea, and finally reached Dover. Mr. Rufus King, minister of the United States in London, personally examined Captain Martin's thumbs, and said "they still bear the marks of the torturing screws, and the scars will go with him to the grave."

But with all these drawbacks to the progress and success of American shipping, and the great