Publisher's Synopsis
A single glance at the map will make the reader acquainted with the position ofthe eastern coast of the Island of Great Britain, as connected with the shores of theopposite continent. Together they form the boundaries of the small sea that has forages been known to the world as the scene of maritime exploits, and as the greatavenue through which commerce and war have conducted the fleets of thenorthern nations of Europe. Over this sea the islanders long asserted a jurisdiction, exceeding that which reason concedes to any power on the highway of nations, andwhich frequently led to conflicts that caused an expenditure of blood and treasure, utterly disproportioned to the advantages that can ever arise from the maintenanceof a useless and abstract right. It is across the waters of this disputed ocean that weshall attempt to conduct our readers, selecting a period for our incidents that has apeculiar interest for every American, not only because it was the birthday of hisnation, but because it was also the era when reason and common sense began totake the place of custom and feudal practices in the management of the affairs ofnation
