The British had gained victories on land.
The Canadian frontier, near Detroit, had been the scene of American reverses, and the people were beginning to despair.
The victory gained by Captain Hull raised the people into an elysium of excitement.
England had been empress of the seas, but on her own domain she had been beaten.
It was no use for any English apologist to declare the Guerriere to be an inferior ship, for she had been lauded to the skies, and her invulnerability praised by poet and statesman.
When the British squadron left the English coast, the London Naval Chronicle took for its motto the distich:
"The winds and seas are Britain's domain,
And not a sail but by permission spreads."
And the Guerriere was praised in the most fulsome language.
The people of Boston were almost frantic with joy.