The wars of England with France and Spain spread turmoil upon the
high seas during the greater part of the eighteenth century. Yet
with an immense tenacity of purpose, these briny forefathers
increased their trade and multiplied their ships in the face of
every manner of adversity. The surprising fact is that most of
them were not driven ashore to earn their bread. What Daniel
Webster said of them at a later day was true from the beginning:
"It is not, sir, by protection and bounties, but by unwearied
exertion, by extreme economy, by that manly and resolute spirit
which relies on itself to protect itself. These causes alone
enable American ships still to keep the element and show the flag
of their country in distant seas."

What was likely to befall a shipmaster in the turbulent
eighteenth century may be inferred from the misfortunes of
Captain Michael Driver of Salem. In 1759 he was in command of the
schooner Three Brothers, bound to the West Indies on his lawful
business. Jogging along with a cargo of fish and lumber, he was
taken by a privateer under British colors and sent into Antigua
as a prize. Unable to regain either his schooner or his two
thousand dollar cargo, he sadly took passage for home. Another
owner gave him employment and he set sail in the schooner Betsy
for Guadaloupe. During this voyage, poor man, he was captured and
carried into port by a French privateer. On the suggestion that
he might ransom his vessel on payment of four thousand livres, he
departed for Boston in hope of finding the money, leaving behind
three of his sailors as hostages.

Cash in hand for the ransom, the long-suffering Captain Michael
Driver turned southward again, now in the schooner Mary, and he