It was early in the year 1806. Near a wharf in Staten Island rode the good ship Leander tugging at her anchor.
A crowd of young men, some of them from New York and Long Island, came hurrying onto the wharf. Many were college men, others were working boys. Some were dressed in fashionable clothes; while others, who shouldered their way huskily through the crowd, wore plain homespun and carried kits of tools or bundles of clothes. Among these young men was William Steuben Smith, the grandson of John Adams, ex-President of the United States. With his father’s permission he had left college to sail on the Leander; but he had not consulted his grandfather.
He and the other young men had signed ship’s papers to sail in the Leander, yet few of them knew where they were going. It was to be a mysterious voyage. A number of the men had been told that they would get much gold, and at the same time help to free an unknown suffering people from slavery. Others had been persuaded to join the expedition by being assured that they were going south to guard the Washington mail. Few, if any, had seen their new employer and commander, George Martin.
The ship’s boats filled rapidly and rowed out to the Leander. All the men were set on board. Then she weighed anchor, and, with sails spread, was soon briskly cutting her way through the waves of the outer bay. And when Sandy Hook was passed, she stood out to sea.
Then, there appeared on deck a most romantic figure, in a red robe and slippers. The word went round:—
“It’s our Commander, George Martin.”
And George Martin, though the young men did not know it, was Francisco de Miranda.
The red robe flapped in the wind around his well-built form. His gray hair, powdered and combed back from his high forehead, was tied behind with a ribbon. While from either ear stood out large, wiry, gray side-whiskers. As he strolled across the deck, examining the young men with his piercing, eager, hazel eyes, he smiled pleasantly, showing handsome white teeth.
They crowded around him, hoping to hear where they were going. Some even asked the question. But he, ignoring it, shook hands with each one, and conversed in a delightful manner, now asking the college men about their studies, and now speaking to the others about their work. Still the mystery remained—whither was the ship going?
Day after day went by, and the mystery deepened. The Leander took her course southward. George Martin, mingling with the men, chatted affably. He related his adventures, he told of his sufferings, escapes, and many perils, and of his friendships at Court and of all the romance of his life. Then he waxed warmer, and spoke of his great idea—of Equality, Fraternity, and Liberty for all men. Thus he aimed to sow seeds of heroic deeds and Freedom, in the minds of the young men.