Evening Star Newspaper, April 25, 1881, Page 5

TAR. DOUBLE SHEET. --&prid ISsl. néinued from First Pas M. Mullany, Edward Middicton, of the . and others, o¥a and housetops on Farragut fully oceupled by spectators, At s of Mra Hoxte’s charming rest- be northeast corner of the sauare, Dablgren, widow of Adairal Dabl- Gexeral Ricketts, Mrs. Commodore | =. Commander Beardsiey. Mra. J. B. | Mrs. Mary Clemmer, Mra. Faller, | rs. Hoxie), and Miss Jacqueline | . Lieutenant Hoxte’s niece. he Statue Unveiled. The cricmonics began with prayer by Re ister of Hartisc Arthur Breeks, The ste" as then unveiled. This part of ‘the program fell to the hands of Quartermas- ter Knowlcs, who was with the Admiralon the flagsbip wen he was lashed to the rigging at the battle of Mobile bay, He was assisted by James “ty, who was boatswain on the same flagship. During the ceremony of unvelling, Bartboisr: gsins hotsted and hauled down the Admtrs\'s flag, The unvelling was of ftaelf full of iredents; an admiral’s fig was dis- played: 1 drums of the several bands beat four ruiti+=: the Marine band played an appro- priate selection, while in the rear at Lafayette square an «%mtral'a salute of 17 guns was fred from a pave battery. At the sound of tne first gun tie troops came to a “carry” arms, aud wher i was fred, to a “parade rest.” ‘The View of the Statue. Agreat s:out went up from the multitude as the flag that veiled the statue was withdrawn showing the gure and features of the grand old Baval cap He ts represented standing on the deck of Lis tamous flagship, the Hartford with one fcot resting on a pziley-dlock, and with a teic-copte glass tn his band. The face and pose of the oid hero combine at once to tell the story ci his character, and that of the great task before lim, and which for the time betng commands tis soul and all his faculties. The ". —Te30- The figure {3 ten feet $a most noble expression 15 thoroughly characterist tute, watetty reViant. The President's Speech on Accepting the Statue. Then Secretary Hunt approached the speak- €r’s Stand sud Introduced President Garfield in the follow words: Ladies ard Gentlemen:—I have the pleasure to tatroduce to_you the President of the United States, who will accept, on behalf of the nation, this statue of our tilustrious naval hero. Presider. Ciarfleld was greeted with loud ap lause, abd spoke in a loud, clear voice, as fol- = WS: Fellow-c'tizens:—It 1s the singular province of art to teak down the Mmitations which separate the generations of men from each other, and allow those of past generation’ to be comrade and a36oclates of those now living. This capital is silently being p with the heroes of other tin fen of three wars havo taken the! 1n silent eloquence as guard- laps abd ¢uards of the nation they loved so well, aud 2s the years pass on these squares and public Will be rendered more and more popu. re and more elowaent by the Presence of a heroes of other days. From Sil quarters of the country, from all genera- tions of its life, from all portions of Its service these heroe ine by the ministry and mystery of art to take thelr places and stand a3 perma- Bent guard: of our nation’s glory. ome to ball this hero who comes Wn from the surowds of his fag- with the smoke and glory of | victory, bringing sixty years of national Ife | and honor to take bis place as an honored com- patriot aud perpetual guardian of his nation’s 101 : Tn ine name of the nation I accept thi3 nobie Statue, ana his country will guard It as he guarded his country. [Applause.] Address «i Hon. Horace Maynard. Hon. Horsce Maynard, of Tennessee, then delivered following oration: They Wio visit the wondrous pile of Saint Sophia are taken to a remote coruer of one of the galleri«s. where, inserted In the pavement, asmall tcblet inscrived with the name only, Menricus Dandolo. Here, the tradition 1s, and the generai belief, was buried the blind old Warrior Dogeget Venice, and hither, from year to year, come thousands, Christians and Mos- Jems, tO ge7e upon the honored name, and to | do reverence to (he memory of the renowned commander. Venice is dlecrowned; the bride of the Adri- atic no longer celebrates her annual espousals: upon her towers and palaces Time has stamped the tneffaceable mark of decay; but,after nearly ‘Seven centuries, the fame of Henry Dandola is undiminished as a conspicuous actor in the World’s affairs. Great men—the great In thought and, still more, the creat In action—are Une greatest of God's earthly things. They are the peculiar riches first of their own land; then of the age in which they live; lastly of the race. It 13 well, then, that their itves be cherished and their noble deeds recorded, In the alcoves of the ltbrery, by !nseriptions for the pubdite eye, in monumental bronze and enduring granite. So thought the American people when, full ten years sgo, they followed to the grave the remains of ‘hetr great Admiral. By their chesen representative in Congress they invoked the assistance of art to embody and preserve his priceless memory. Models of designs were submitted by many of the most gifted aud suc- cessful masters, each emulous to connect his Bame ina'ss*lub'y with the undying the naval chieftain. After much discussion and long deliberation, a full leagta poruatt figure was adopted In preference to more complex— some of them bighiy allegorical—designs; and @ malden artist was selected at the Instance of widowed affection, which detected ia her handiwork the most exact reproduction of the loved and idolized original. Tne result 1s the lage here to-day. it would be vain, perhaps Indelicate, to enter the domain of art criticism and attempt to de- cide beforehand what must be determinea by the be ohnireed jadgment of men. We here and now dedicate our work ve — We leave posterity to pass upon its merits, Not the symbol, not the sign, bat the thing Signified, «b.orbs our present attention—the great charac er which, in the fullaess of its lutation, Las passed into history. Professional life of the naval officer ts, by its very conditions, withdrawn from the Public eye. At home only on the wave, he passes amovg his countrymen almost a Stranger and unobserved. In tnis regard he is Uke his Own great ships, which show thelr masterful powers not at anchor and in port, but on the wide sea, In the agony of the storm, or amid the peallng thunder of war. Itig not strange, then, that, when in our re- vent civil strugyie the early naval successes electrified the bation, the name even of the great captain—ior at that time he was bat a captaln—was unfamiliar fo the eye as well a3 to the ear of his countrymen. Thi3 1s my apol- ogy for a biographical sketch. Wid Glasgow Fi it was born July 5, 1set, tn the state of Tennessee, at a point in Knox county on the Tennessee’ river, opposite AD early frontier post, still kaown as Camp- keli’s Station. His interest in the state of which he w: lative anda citizen continued ihrough life, although after entering the naval Service be Lever made tt his residence. fils name ts that of an early settler, no doubt a iriend of bls fatuer. possibly a kiisman of his mother. His father, George Farragut, was a native of the Island of Minorca, of an ancient and still subsisting family, who, in early yoatn, attracted by the contest for American fndepen- dence, abandoned his island home, arrived on Zhis continent in 1776. promptly took sides with the colonis's, serving unl the close of the War, and avsin in the war of 1S12. After the Revolution he settied in Tennessee a3 2 farmer, and the real estate records show him to have been a considerable proprietor. Tue mother Of the admiral was a native of North Carolina. According to the usage of that period, he en- Yered the navy Defore he was ten years of age, his appolniment bearing date December 17, 15) It would carry me beyond the limits this oc- casion prescribes to recount how, at a still earlier age, he had attracted the notice of the jate Commodore Porter, to whom, a3 his “kind friend and guardian,” be attributed his ap- polntment, and acknowledged through life his et obligations, 2 and with wnom, to the a closest relatio! iene the relations of His intrcduction to the service wi Essex, under the eye of his di mahal ber tron, on the cruise which ended in her capture by the combined attack of the British frigate Phebe and sloop-of-war Crerub, after one of the moet sangu! and gallantly contested battles in maritime warfare. This action was fought March 2s, isis, in the harpor of Valpa- Faigo, with so little regard to the neutral Fights of that port as to be a precedent danger- ous to feeble communities, when a powerful belligerent is Intent on driving a troublesome | — ay oo on carried away a portion cf the midshipman’s clothta, and he received nis baptises m7 fire and blood SL an age when most lads are busy with kites | and gaires Young as he was, be -eems to have been strong iy impressed With the details of this famous bate, and to have studied them with acriticale;e. It was his first lesson in naval | tactics, His school'rg, to use an apt though homely ‘word. was timited and desultory; first at Ches- ter, Pennsyivanla, under a Swiss schoolmaster, a “queer cid individual” he calls him, who had been one cf Napoleon’s celebrated guard; then aboard — under the instruction of the chap- jain, and pally in the American consulate a' ‘Tunis. Thore who knew him to | by Congress to Lave a potential voice in tnis and knowledge of several 1 yes not familiar even to educated men. In the training of youth, more by far depends upon the schoiar than upon the school. Diligence superadded to natural abiiity never falls of success. ‘They who breathe the calmer atmosphere of biography will retrace the successive steps by which this rare aud choice spirit attained a loftiness adequate to the achievements which bave given occasion for this day's ob. |”; servance—the promotion from grade to grade till he reached the rank of captain, then the highest in the service; upon what ships he safled and what seas were. ploughed by their keels; bis marriage at twenty-two; the deathot his wife seventeen years afterwards, followed in three years by ‘a second marriage, to her Who survives him, aud who was thought worthy monument of the nation’s honor. We note his [easel at Norfolk at the time of the Nat. burner “Insurrection” in 1831; at Charleston in the days of “nullification,” in 1933; and at Mare Island in , during the ascendancy of the Victlance Committee, where he displayed great judgment combined with eflictent adumin- istrative abilities, He was present in November, , at the capture by whe French fleet of tie great casule of Vera Cruz, and deduced from {tthe obliga- tion on his profession to “keep those at home informed of the dally Improvements tn other navies.” On the breaking out of the Mexican war, eight years later, he Was auxious to lead a naval altack on the same great fortress, Hs Views were not deemed practicable by the Navy department, and the castle surreudered to the army under General Scott. He thougat it an opportunity lost to the navy, and e3peci- ally to Lue older officers, pot one of whom, he | Said, regretfully, “will ever wear an adm'rat’s flag. which they might have done If that casile had been taken by the navy, which must have been the result of an attack.” The Crimean War, in 1854, attracted the attention of ali milt- tary students. Farragut applied for orders to g0 thither as a professional observer, especially Lo visit the fleets cf England and of France. No action was taken by the Navy department on his suggestion, and he was shortly assigned to duty ou the Pacific coast. After an absence of years he returned, and at the beginning of the rebellion was living with family relatives at Norfolk awaiting orders. + Farragut was now sixty years old. By line- age, by birth, by citizenship, by marriage, and by continued residence a southern man, be was expected to espouse that side in the coming struggle. But he had been more than fifty Years in the navy, serving under the flag, ac- customed to look upon the nation asa waole, and to love it in Its entirety. His professional duties left him neither time nor tnel{nation for the narrow politics which had warped and dwarfed so many noble minds. He had seen the growth and devolopment of the country, and could appreciate by universal contrast the pe- neficence of the government. He had witnessed maby Civil couvuistons, and knew how much or evil and how little of good usually attends them. Naturally, he admonished his friends and neighbors so earnestly that they looked upon him as a “‘croaker,” an {ll-omened prophet; and when be condemned the belligerent atutude of Virginia, and sustained the defensive meas- ures of President Lincoln. he was impatiently informed that a person of his sentiments couid “not live in Norfolk.” The same day, April 13, he took passage, with his family, for Balti- more, and arrived just after the encounter In the streets of Baltimore city between the moo and the Massachusetts troops on they. way to the defence of the capitaL He cast in his lot with the Unfoulsts of the south; with Winslow and Carter and ‘ison and Anderson and Thomas and Candy and Percival Drayton, and maby ancther, both in the army and the navy, Whose names Ume would fall me to tell, wiio gave up ail, even hope itself, to their country, and counted it gain-—unseitish devotees toa cause they esteemed without parallel among Ubings below. Farragut’s lifework nad now be- gan everything hitherto had been preparatory. rilty years of naval service rallied to maintain the nattonal existence. At the outset of the contest the capital was Daturally the first point to be attacked, and the point at all hazards to be defended. ‘The effect of it3 loss would have been incalculable, both upon the popular resolution and upon foreign opinion. To this point the attention of tne country, especially in the north and east, and of Europe, was principally directed. This gave to the eee in the east an all-absoroing interest, and the public were less attentive to me ts Operations {n the west and south- west One of the earliest displays of confederate Strategy Was the closing‘of the Misstssipp! from Cairo to the mouth, thus, at the first, admon- ishing the people of the northwest how great would be the inconventence of having any part of the central highway to the gulf under the control of a rival goverament. If they were alarmed they were also indignant, and resisted with amazing energy this interference with one of thelr most valued rights. It is note- worthy that he who afterwards became the great soldier of the war should, from the be- ginning, have conducted the military opera- tions employed in reopening the mighty stream. ‘The clearing-out ef the Cumterland as far up as Nashville, and of the Tennessee to the Mus- cle Shoals, the first winter of the war, formed a part of the campatgn which reduced Belmont, Columbus, Hickman, Island No. 10, and other obstructions quite down to Memphis. Meanwhile a movement was organized of which New Orleans was the objective. and Farragut selected by the Secretary of the navy to take charge of It. After furnishing him with all the force he considered necessary, he re- minded him in his order that the dep irtment and the country required of him “31c2e3s;" and success was explained to mean “the cer- tain capture of the city of New Orleans.” This was by far the most popu!ous aad—com- mercially, 1f not poiitically—the most import- ant city in the whole confederacy. Just before the war it had the largest export trade of any city in the country, perhaps Io the world. In the last war with Great Britain, while tre defence of this city by Gen. Jackson on the Plains of Chalmette had crowned our arm3 with honor and filled the nation with joy, it hadalso attracted the attention of tne ¢a- gineer bureau to the works necessary for its protection. These had been recently strength- ened and additional batteries had been con- Structed. A considerabie tieet of vessels haa been collected as auxiliary, some of them of hovel construction, and supposed to be very pone Every concelvabie method of attack ad Deen anticipated. But tt is always the ua- expected which is not provided for. ‘0 break Uhrougn the obstructions, pass be- tween thetwo forts, Jackson and St. Philip, suppress the hostile fleet, steam up to the city and demand its surrender, was the end to be achieved. Tor its accomplishment, Farragat had a ‘leet of fifty vessels, carrying over two hundred guns—far the most powerful naval expedition that had ever sailed under the flag. General Butler was ready to co-operate with a inilitary force of fifteen thousand men. We all know, historically, that, after a feat in naval warfare, which had no precedent or Parallel, the great mariner, on the 25th of April, 1362, nineteen years ago this day, from his flagship, the Hartford, at ancbor off the city, dictated the terms of surrender to the municipal authorities, restoring the chter south- ern port to its national allegiance, and opening It OLee more to the trade of the world. ‘Tho country felt instinctively that asignal Victory had been gained for the cause of the Union; but how, or at what cost, was not clear. Parragut had not taken the press into his con- fidence; no reporters were there to throw -a glamour around even ordinary manwavres. “Perfect silence 1s to_be observed,” was the in- Junction under which he had satled. The Spectators were all actors and too busy to op- Serve, and the rhetoric of the seaman 13 usually brief and unadorned. But even now the Imagination kindles at the details of the com- Dat recited under the constraint of afficlal re- ports. Ameng all the battle scenes familar trom childbeod, on the water and on the land, or In the realm of fancy, I know of none more awfully picturesque. It is Homeric, Miltonic. ‘The time Is the darkest hour of the night, made more opaque by the smoke from hundreda of uns, whi Mashes were the momentary umination; friends from foes difficult to distinguish: a powerful current to stem, with imperfect pllotage; vessels aground ex: the enemy’s hot- wo test fire;‘vessels losing tneir headway and’turo- Ing dows stream; barrier-chains, bombs, ‘rams and fire-ratts; vessels ablaze and vessels cut Sheer to the water's edge; vessels wholly dis- appearing with all on board, going down in tbe true spirit of the old nautical refrain— ‘The ship shall be our coffin, Our grave shall be the sea, Amid the uproar and carnage the direct gentus of the battle remained ‘self-poised and confident. Flag-Lieutenant Watson remarks that, during a critical period in the fight, stood coolly abip slowly uttle compass which was attached to his watch cha‘n, though most of the time during the engagement he was forward, observing the conflict.” It was the triumph of mind over matter—of the mental and moral powers over the forces of nature—a subject that great artista love to This wild, eventful narrative derives addi- Uonal fascination from the recurrence of names familiar to us by years of social or official inter- ‘The effect of the capture of New Orleans was most marked; leas, Tam lined to think, in What, at that time,were termed the loyal stai pees ones ‘aud in Europe. oe ae held ‘ichmond reads now lke avin & madhouse. It was deciared, Tavings of and I suppose with good reason believed, recognized by both and France. For the Union oflicers and toilets there, no invective was too bitter. Against the gent in command > & presidential was Issued, and, 0 reason &by, in addition to professional attain- iments, be acquired a wide general information, and yet no one has dared to gay, ‘I See you.’ There ts a reign of terror doomed .” Vor several days ‘dhimeelf to the restoration of the apthority the establishment of public Order; then leaving the place to the effective of General Butler, and acting under the orders of the Navy departmant, he passed on up the river to complete the iabor of Teopening it. This proved to be a troublesome and pro- tracted undertaking. For more than a year the | navy, under Fe { and Porter, and the army, under Grant and Sherman, the first four ames of the war, c0-operated until the fall of | Vicksburg, July 4, 1363, and of Port Hudson, a few days afterwards. The mighty Snes 1 was now unobstructed from the mouth to the souree, and the war in that part of the fleld | virtually closed. . The year 1864 witnessed the operations which | resulted in the reduction of Mobile, Both Far- | ragut and Porter concurred in the opinion that H Mobile should be attacked directly after the fall of New Orleans. Af that time it was | believed that the task would be comparatively easy. Porter's language was, “Mobile would fall to us like a mellow pear.” But the Presl- dent of the United States thought the political importance of the river much greater than that of the Guit City. And looking at it from this distance of time, and in the light of subsequent events, I must say I think he was right. Mean- time, the defenses of the bay had been greatly strengthened, and, what was of more conse- quence, the enemy had recovered from the panic Into which tt have been thrown by the early naval successes. On the other hand, new | factors had ban introduced Into the maritime | conilict. On our side, the peculiar clas3 of tron-clad vessels known as monitors, ot which four were available at this juncture; aad to | Meet them torpedoes had been planted in ua- kDown numbers;—according to Farragut, ‘Geil- ish inventions,” “devilish means for our de- | struction,” in the handa of ‘the demons who | would explode them.” "The battie was fought on the 5thot August, 1864, and resulted in a victory more brilliant and dramatic than even that of New Orleans. AS exhibitions of naval strategy—the wisdom to devise and the energy to execiite; the skill to prearrange and successfully combine the ac- Uon of subordinate commanders—the relative character of the two combats must be leit to the decision of professional criticism. This a Uon, unitke the other, occurred In broad day- light, and in the presence of non-combatant Spectators, who afterwards described it 10 the graphic language of eye-witnesses. If Would be difficuit to overstate the effect upon the public heart, Picturesque incidents of the battle were widely published and eagerly read. To the landsman, Farragut, fast in the maintop of the Hartford, was the hero of his fancy. He had read of ships going nto the fight with their colors uatied to the mast, but to bind the Admiral to it seemed a much flercer tone of defiance. No wonder that orators grew eloquent and posts were freshly inspired! This engagement, however it may be regarded by strategists, Was practically the turning-point of the deadly strife. Hitherto very many in tho country looked upon the war for the Union a3 a predestined failure. Political parties were ready to goto the people upon this dishearten- ing postulate. But from this time forth all doubt was gone, the end was visible and not far off. The re-election of Mr. Lincoln in No- yember, the battle of Nashville in December, the march to the sea, Fort Fisher, and the sur- render of Appomattox Court-house were as the closing scenes in the grand last act of the national tragedy. Great as was the effect upon opinion at home, it was even greater upon opinion abroad. They: who had beillttled our successes and magnified Gur defeats; who had derided our commanders and extolicd their antagoniats; they who ha given every moral support to the case of our undoing,and had furnished such material ald 43 lo be adjudged gulity of tort by an international tribunal aud mulcted in damages,—they saw the tide had turned, and thenceforward took side ike the gods, with the victorlous cause. like gut himself they spoke in language of admiration and eulogy. ‘*Columbia’s Nelson,” sald one who wrote In sight of Trafalgar square, and who adds: ‘The 5th of August, 186i, was a brillant day for the United States navy.” Another speaks of him as one “whose feats of arms piace him at the head of his profession, and certainly constitute him the first naval Officer of the day.” The Prince de Jotaville, no mean authority, declared that the quallties shown on this occasion, as 1n so many otiers, by Admiral Farragut, placed him “‘incontrover_ tibly in the first rank among the naval officers of ali nations.” It has been said that the voice from the distance usually corresponds with the verdict of history. ‘This was the last service of the veteran Sea King during the war. Long exposure in tne Gulf, the responsibility of large command, and the intense and unremitting energy requtred Were agtrain upon his healta too severe to be endured, For thls reason the command of an impportant expedition to which he had been as- sighed by the Secretary of the Navy,—who re- garded him a3 “the great and successful hero of the war,” and spoke of him as the “Great Admiral,”"—was, on his own representation of his physical sufferings, revoked and another substituted. Neither the government nor the veople had been Indifferent to his achievements. The ex- Pression of popular enthusiasm had reached the capital of Dixte, and, {f we may credit one of thelr bistorians, were exceedingly distasteful. In July, i562, he received a placein the newly ereatcd rank of rear-admiral. In December, 1864, ne Dee a law creating the grade of vice-admiral, and in July, 1866, another cre- ating the grade of admiral, the first time either | grade kad been known in our gervice. It wa3 i understocd that an houor to Farragut had | been intended, and he was promptly advanced. ils few and brief remaining years were full | of honors. Soon after the close of the war hs was invited, with four other gentlemen of | pea , to accompany the President of the | “nited States on a tour through the principal cities of the country. Two years later, command was given him of the European squadron, aud the Franklin was assigned as his flagship. ‘This cralse, which Continued late into the second year, was fo Some of its aspects the most remarkable ever tmade byan American vessel. It extended wae around Europe, from the Neva to the osphorus. The admiral visited in person every considerable city from Moscow to Stam- boul. Forty years passed since, as a mildsbhipman, he had been tn European waters— forty years of vie progress, At every int he found subjects for study and food for thought. Everywhere pubiic honors awaited him, and private hospttallty,—repeated | ten years later, when anotner citizen of the | Tepublic, without trappings or retinue, and | Sustaining no officiai rank, made a tour around | the earth. I shall not contend with them who claim these testimonials as national rather than Meher en honors to the country through the cltizen—albelt in no other of her citizens was our country ever so honored. We are forbidden to discover in these manifesta- Uons a desire to make good any want of comity during the uncertain years of the war; since the government which ‘had been our steadfast friend was even more profuse of courtestes than some others with which our relations had been strained. With the return of the Admiral to America, hear the close of 1368, his sea Iifeended. Tne | Dext summer he revisited the Pacific coast and Was greeted with the same welcome that met him elsewhere. His long residence there, before the war, had gained for him a host of friends, who gathered lovingly around him. When he returned to the east his health gave | Way and was never re-established. ‘ne fol- lowing season a steamer was placed at hts ser- Vice by the Navy department, and conveyed him with his family to Portsmouth, N. H. Bat the breath of the Sea and the invigorating at- | Mosphere of New England had for him no life= | sustaining power. ‘the hand of death was | upon him, and he breathed bis last the 14th of August, 1870, just on the verge of three-score | years and ten, and after almost sixty years in the public service, three-fourths of wich had been given to acuve duty, either at sea or on Shore. His countrymen, with obsequies suit- | able to his rank and high renown, buried him near the commercial metropolis, in which, at ‘the close of the war, he had made his resid save, ‘So passed away, in the fullness of years aid of fame, the great Admiral—a gorgeous sunset after a resplendent day. The incidents of his life aptly illustrate the Union for the preservation of which he devoted ‘his ripest powers, ‘The Constellations of the south shed their influences around his cradle, and after life’s fitful fever he sleeps well under a northern sky. ‘The north and the south, the east and the boundless west, are country to which, and not to a secrated, his manly gifts; and itis no solecism ‘Uo assert that in this case the whole is greater than all its parts. And when the timecomes— | as ee oes ane ne aoe of the pales Bee! 1 glory and the surpassing prosper! or the nauon, rejoice that they, too, retain their bi ht in this matchless in- heritance, they will have nothing but blessings and benedictions for the brave, true-hearted Man of the sea, who labored and un- ey to prevent its being throwa, Way, ‘The character of Admiral Farragut would be left Incomplete were no mention made of the for the accomplish- ment of the eternal purposes. God was in all i ooene The pe rps a and genlal- pirit, Woman's teudernesss "While he lon was almost to also 3 personal qualities, no warlike deeds, the old hero on the roll which bis countrymen will jastins Rpg ae Mined ot juity redou to-day. Pu'chrum ost i reipublice—pleased, thrice blessed, are the benefactors of the republic. It ig relatéd that Mr. McDuffie, when In Congress from South Carolina, announced in his place one morning. with his usual tone and manner, that ne had for presentation a petition for the relief of the widow and heirs of one Decatur; as if recollecting himgelf, ho added, with Peculiar emphasis, “op say of ‘one Decatur; for af ie reso reoguen ‘who shall speak ‘there was but one. | of our navy growth and the ornament. The navy hss Ways been a subject of just pride to the Ameri- can people. They have watched its condition With jealous care; and if sometimes our law- Potage have not adequately provided for its wel- fare, they have failed in that to repre- sent their constituencies. I know not how widely the —— prevails that the condition leaves uch to be desired, especi- ally when compared with the navies of s>me of the other great powers. If we look only tothe number and tonnage of the ships, thelr struc- ture and armament, the inferiority is unque3- tonabie and great. Before accepting this as the true standard of comparison, however, two considerations should be borne in mind: First. Naval architecture is in a transition state. The introduction of steam as a moior, the experience during our war in the use of armor for defense, and the now character of ordnance—both guns and projectiles—have pre- sented to the naval constructor a varlety of important problems not yet satisfactorily solved. Several governments have been busy with them. Engiand, Daturally taking the lead, bas built many ships of great power with very complicated machinery, each one supposed to be an improvement upon all the preceding. Russia has several curious structures, novel 10 principle, and believed by the high officer whose name tney bear to be very effective. Sweden is known on the sea by a class of small ships, exceedingly swift and armed with a single formidable gun; while Italy, not usually reck- oned a navai power, may fairly boast of tloat- ing fortresses. But none of these warlike con- trivapces have been subjected to the cructal fest of battle. In thls particular, naval scieace bas had iitile benefit from actuai experience since the close of our war. The primary le:son at Hampton Roads is yet studied. The second consideration to which I hie adverted is the remote probability that we sh sll soon, certainly before the end of the cen‘ury, be involved in war with elther domestic or foreign enemies. The generation which tasted the bitterness of our late conflict must all pass away before our countrymen will again appeal to the last argument in any domestic contro- versy. The men of that epoch look on war as a miserable remedy for political maladies. With foreign ations long-continued peace may be boped for as the oe result of our traditional policy—friendly relations with all, entangling alliances with bone. May we not, therefore, wisely decline to en- ter into competition with the European powers, to which waris an ever-present menace, in costly Haval expertments, likely to grow obso- lete and even decay before we shall have occa- sion for them? ‘heir experiments, whether successful or not, will inure equally to the ben- efit of all. Why should we, like them, keep fleets and squadrons in commission any more than vast armies, always marshaled and ready to move at the tap of the drum? We have training-ships and cruisers, and, If more be re- quired, there are navy yards, and materials, and machinery, and skilled labor, and intelll- gent constructors. As long as the country ad- heres to the pian of building its own ships, of Selling but never buying, the navy wiil be found equal to any emergency. At what junc ture Was our government so feeble on the ocean as at the outbreak of the rebellion? Yet in what recorded war were operations on that element £0 vast, or the successes so many and brilliant? ‘Tne nautical history of that conilict 1s certainly a bright page in the history of war- fare by sea. Not ships, ther, but they who navigate them, constitute the naval service; men selected ia youth with the greatest care from every part Of the Country alike, educated by the govern- ment In all the learning that can benefit or adorn their profes:ion, disciplined in minutest details, and trained to large command—em- phatically, picked men. With some opportun- ity of knowing whereof I affirm, I hesitate not 10 declare tiem equal to any other naval ser- vice tn the world, whether considered in a body or compared man with man. Jn most pursults men’s labors are manifest; they publish thetaselves. But the pursuits of the Laval officer are so remote, so far away from Popular observation, that the extent and vari- ety Of his labors aré not appreciated, and be bimseif 13, probably lost sight of until some conspicuous achievement brings him {nto no- tice, Yet few Itves are Duster. On the list of the Navy itegister are rear-admirals who, during their long career, have been unemployed jess than three years each, all told. Besides the €v6r-recurring duuies on ship-board, these seif- cepying men pass thelr toilsome lives in superiniending the building of all the na- Uonal vessels; in inspecting and testing every article in their rigging and arma- ment; in the oversight and Care of them, and of all the pubile property appertaining to them; in surveying and mapping our coast, and in preparing charts of distant ports; in kindling and Watching the beacons which nightly, from headland to headland, encircle the domain, sentinels of light, upon whose prarenyed and perpetual flashes depend the ves and property of all who sail along our shores: in cultivating the sciences essential to the different parts of their profeasion,—to Havigation, for instance, geography and as- tronomy, chemistry and electricity to subma- rine warfare, and always mechanics and the higher mathematics; in arctic and antarctic exploration; in devising new pathways for the world’s commerce, and in embellishing our Cities with the monumental remains of buried civilizations. Always and everywhere the honor of the re- puna sate in thelr keeping. They become he tag. Their dignity and manly bearing lend it an added grace wherever on the globe duty requires them to carry it. Their devotion to It ig never chilled or abated by any private griev- ance; by any sense of personal injustice, how- ever mortifying or stinging; by any accession of the sullen, direful wrath which gave man- Kind the earliest, perhaps the greatest, poem. Abroad they maintain the national character without assertion or compromise. Every repre- sentative of the government 1s consciously strengthened by their presence, and latroduces them with pride as his countrymen. J have sald these things because I know they are true, and because it has given me pleasure to bear testimony to them at a time which gains for our words a hearing. The people of the United States will surely eat their dally bread more thankfully, and in greater security, to believe that the same service which in our day of sorest need gave us Farragut, will also furnish a champion for every foe within our Coasts or on the high seas. Mr. Maynard’s speech was much applauded, and was remarked upon ag a fine effort of the kind. Address of Hon. D. W. Veorhees. Upon the conclusion of Mr. Maynard’s oration Senator Voorhees, of Indiana, delivered an oration as follows: Ladies and Gentiemen: This 1s an cccasion en which the best emo- tions of the American heart are inspired. We are here to pay ceremontal honors to the mem- ory of one whose deeds of peril, andof high renown, in defense of his country, adora more than half a century of bis country’s history. No good life is ever wholly extinguished, even in this world. He who has lived for the welfare | Of bis fellow-men, for the cause of free and en- lightened government, and to enlarge the boundaries of human happiness lives on for- ever, Oven here upon the chores of time. For the benefactors of the human race there fs no death, The centuries may move on in an end- less procession over their graves; human g0- Clety may be transformed by the storms of re- voiution; the world may be carried by the spirit of pi 88 from old conditions to new ones, yet the influences of the philanthropist, the hero, and the law-giver, in eternal strength and beauty, will keep pace with them alf, and give color and shape to the conduct of re- Motest generations. It is in recognition of this great fact that statues and monuments have arisen all over the face of the civilized globe. The influences of the Illustrious dead are always active in the affairs of the world, and the wish has been strong in every age to per- petuate their form and features, and to trans- mit them to posterity. As the student of an- Uquity toils amidst the rulns of former clvill- valions in Rome, Greece, Egypt and Asia he constantly encounters the rms and the faces of such as were supposed to have had the strongest control over the events of their times. Indecd, the desire of the human heart to keep alive the virtuous examples of those who have passed away is as widespread and universalas the race of man. In some form or other itis manifest everywhere, on every shore, and in the customs of and kindred beneath the sun. Fré@m the pol- ished works of Phidias tothe moundsof the American Indian the idea isthe same. Nor is this principle in its broadest signincance con- fined alone to honors paid to thegreat. For every worthy life, however humble, that goes out on the ebbing tide into the vast ocean of eternity there are hs and tears, and some frail memorial is erected as a mark of love and memory. In every human breast there are re- curds which tell of the dead who still live; in every ear there are voices, at times, which no one else can hear, and to every eye there some- times comes a face not seen the experience of individual grief and — tion of the honored and beloved dead, but wi nation mourns, and brings forth its laurel Wreath of fame to crown the triumphant hero, then the scene changes into the pomp and pag- eantry of the present hour. This day and hour the government of the United States unvells to the world the statue of Farragut; the statue of @ naval commander first in American history and second to no one who has handled ships tn battle since the day on walch Taemistocles beat Xerxes at “sea born Salamis.” Happy and fortunate is he who stands fa brass or mar- ble at the behest of a grateful country, and in time to be gazed by those who knew monu- On but few have such |, but few such hosts who in the bosom of Ris nt from there to the sunset side of the Mississippi and down to the gulf of Mexico, make their mute appeal for recognition at all times and pisces of national giory. No monument has erected to these warriors of the sea and ‘the lana; per! none wiil ever be; they nead none fashioned by human hands.’ Did I say they had no monument? Not so; the existence of the American Union is their monument, and every bay, and stream, and feild where they Died bas a Voice to prociatm that the memory of tbetr lives, aud of their deaths shall never perish. “*They fell devoted, bat undying: ‘The very gale their namea seams sighing; The waters murmr of their name. The woes are peopled with their fame; Giatine Hin ith thei * Their epirits wrap ‘Their memory sparkles o' : Their memory fParkies o'er the founts.2; Koll mingling wit In estimating the wonderful career, and the splendid achievements of the great ‘Admiral Whose statue stands before us, awe naturally look to the source of bis training, and the schooi of his experience. The American navy presents @ most instructive and tuspiring theme for thought and investigation. Its history ts full of national and individual honor. Indeed the profession of the sailor has developed tn all countries and ages the loftiest and most strik- ing qualltics of manhood. From those far dis tant regions of superstition and of song, whera- in Romer described the long, black, high beakcd snips, which bore “the fatr tress'd son of Arcbata” (o"t in the Trojan war to the present time the ocean bas been tne home of brave men aud the the. ter of immortal achtevements. From the rest- less bisom of the great deep history has ob- tained its most brillant examples of human enterprise and endurance. There are reasons, obvious to all, why this should be so. Tne dominion of man over the earth and sea. a Glvipe grant of power in the begianing of time, Jas been more dificult of enforcamert on tne waters than on the lands. The assistance of Selence 13 more necessary to the progress of feets than to the march of -armies, and such assistance was latein coming. The mysterles of the marner’s n@Bule and compass were slow in being revealed. With what eager Interest aud solicitude we even yet follow Columbus as he sailed from the bar of Sattes, early tn the morning of the 34 of August, 1492, and steered boldly into an unknown Ocean, ex; a as he went in the first radimentsof navigation, and feeling nis way In the uncertain, twilight dawn of nautical science! But the light grew stronger as he sailed on, and his discipies since, at Une opposite poles of the earth, and under the equator, and In all the four quarters of the globe, have touched the utmost limits to whica. human courage inspired by a thirst for knowl- edge can attain. The waters of the world, however, assume their most practical and his- torleal aspect when considered as the higk- ways and the battle-fieids of nations. It is in This respect that they have enriched the an- nals of mankind more amply than in any o he! Exploring expeditions, voyages of discovery, the great cuirents of commerce, peneiicentand glorious as they are in the peaceful progress of the human race, are all subordinated by the pen of the historlan tothe warlike navies of Une world. The first and leading thought of the student of American history In connection with te navy of the United States is that it has done more, far more in proportion to its strength, to establish and fustrate the American character among the nations of the earth, than any other branch of the public service, and at the same Ume has not received that fostering care or fenerous liberality from the government which its record justifies, and indeed demanas. While every American Heart beats high at the memory of our naval victories, yet, as a rule in our his- tory, whenever the spirit of an extraordinary economy has penetrated our pubite affairs it has first been found operating on the small, but glorious American navy, It has never been thought necessary for the American Republic to maintain a naval force more than equal to that of @ third-rate European power. This is Lot a policy originating with the people, for their pride and affection would dictate a difter- ent course. It 1s perhaps more due to the geographical position of the United States than 10 any Other cause. Although we are embraced by more than eleven thousand miles of sea- board, yet we have no immediate neighbors sufliciently formidable to call for large arms- ments for Its defense. Emergencies may arise, however, in the future as they have in the past, when the absence of a respectable naval forea for a first-class power will ve felt as a criminal pemiecy of the public safety and the national conor. The origin of the American navy 1s full of curious interest row, and strongly Mlustrates the statement I have just made. Wnen our forefathers were preparing for independence, a little more than a hundred years , their thoughts dwelt upon the creation of a navy, rather as 1t appeared to be a necessary part of an organized government, than as a means of successtul warfare. It is true their first steps Were taken prior to the declaration of inde- pendence, and merely to redress grievances, and resist oppression, but they were in reality form- ing a government for themselves long before the 4th of July, 1776, On the 13th of October, 1775, the Conuuental Congress enacted its first iryislalion on the subject of a navy, It was in tLe rature Of a resolution creating a marine ecinmittee, composed of three members, and d reciing them “to tout two ewift sailing ves- seis, the one of ten, and the other of fourteen gurs. to cruise to the eastward, to intercept the supplies and trabsports intended forthe British army ct Eoston.” Under this resolution two vessels were Cquipped, one named the Lexing- ton, and the o.her the Providence; one 1a com- memoration of that hallowed spot where men first died for American liberty, and the other iu cevout recognition of that high power which rujcs the fate of nations. The Lexing- ‘on and the Piovidence! They were the first to nde the waves by American authority, and the Lexington was the first to carry the Amerl- can flag in & sca fight to victory. The marine committee was afterwards -increased to thir- tcen members, one from each colony, and ad- ditional ships of war were ordered to be built, In October, 1779, a “Board of Admiralty” was established which superseded the marine com- mittee, and? consisted of five commissioners, two members of Congress, and three who were not. Major General Alexander McDougall, of the army, became the first “Secretary of the Marine” in February, 1731; and in August of the Same year the system was again ee by the sppointment of an Agent of rine, who assumed full control of the whole service. In the meantime a few small vessels crept out from blockaded harbors, and constituted the navy Of the Infant government. As nearly as can be ascertained there were never more than cne hundred and fifty guns afloat at any one time, under the American flag, during the fevo- lution, On the other hand, in order that oo. land's Claim to be mistress of the sea should continue to be upheld, there were in the service of the crown, according Jo her own account, an average of over 26,t seamen employed against her revolted colonies as long as hos- tiles existed. In the midst, however, of the Vast English armament, holding the keys of every outlet on the Atlantic coast, and stand- ing guard, as it were, over an Imprisoned peo- ple, the American crutser of the revolution mitted to and fro, and often siruck its quarry like a daring bird of prey. It is aston- ishing to the modern reader, whose idea of the War tor American independence Is that of a land fight from Lexington to Yorktown, to find recorded in an English work of credit a itst of Ubree hundred and forty-two English vessels captured in the single year of 1776 by American ships of war. There are names also in connec- ton with this early period of the navy of the United States which call for mention wherever Patriots and heroes are honored. Hopkins, ‘styled commander-in-chief, by act of Congress, December 22d, 1775; mn, Wickes, Nichol- son, Hazlewood, Barry, body keg Biddle, Saifinstall, Whipple and others filled the morn: jog of our naval history with brilliant and un- fading light. But there is another name bs- Jopging to that galaxy which, like the most luminous star in the firmament, deserves to be pointed ovt alone. In the laiter partot De- cember, 1775, the first layed by a regular American man-of-war W: in the Delaware, on board the Alfred, twenty-eight Years old, and the sentor lleuten- ant ever regularly commissioned in the naval service of the United States. From the open- ing to the close of his career upon the ocean it was one of unbroken triumph and splendor. Though not native born, yetno American spirit ‘was ever more flerce or vehement for Ai 3 orale lor victory or death, mert- de tne can fought on unt each ship was acharnel house, atd the gallant Englishman at last wailed down his flag. The Richard went to the ttom soon afierwards from the Injuries re- cetved in (bis terrible engagement with a vessel one-third superior in effective armament. We need nol Wonder therefore when we read in the historles of that pertod that great Interest was excited throughout Ew when the victor ar- rived in Holiand with remarkable prize, and the circumstances of her capture bezam® Known. It appears that the Briush govern- ment was Geeply mortified and bitterly in- censed. A demand was at once made upon the Dutch government for the release of all the English prisoners, and for the delivery of the creat American sea captain as a pirate, British price was hurt, and thirsted for an ignobie re- vepge. This foul scheme was thwarted, and in Yebruary, 1 after an absence vf more than ‘bree years, the commander of the Bou Homme Richard landed in Philadelphia covered with iwwperishabie honor. [love Unis great, herotc cbaracter, and I have dwelt upou it here be- cause tbe fsct 1s too often forgotten that under his con mand a bate was fought on the ocean 1a support of American liberty, which im- pressed the mind of the world as strongly as Ube batUe of Bunker Hill, or of Saratoga. [ ve dwelt upon it also in order to remind the an people that the American navy, how- Jnlshed its resources, Las in every crisis Of our history, from the very beginalag, not | only met every duty, but astonished the world with its bril lant and bioody expioits. othe omi- | cers of the navy by whom I am surrounded to- day, can icok proudiy back through the acbieve- juenis of Lhelr profession to the very first, find- ing nothing for suame, nothing for wali nor humillation. ‘Those who bave sealed their de- | Votion to thelr country with tbeir blood, who have passed away im smoke and flame winder ‘the flog at sea, had thetr les of herote duty as ilUstrious as any tn the istory of tbe ages. The spirit of the navy was high and fearless from the hour of tt creation, and it hes ever since remained a conspicuous ee for the development of all manly vir- eB. eyes fixed upon exam. | €8, Admiral Farragut was born on the 5th day of duly, 1501, withia twenty years of the close of the revolution, and within twelve years after the formation ef the government. He was bern amidst the associations of the great strug- gle for lberty, and he listened in his infancy to Ube then recent glories of the war for American independence. His father was a soldier of 1776, | and be heard frem him, in childish wonder, the | thrilling deeds of our anerstors by lana and sea. It fs true that the Bavy of the revolation had ceased to exist, Dut its memory was still | fresh. It Is a strange fact that duriag a period of more than fifteen years after the close of the revolutionary War this government possessed bo navy atell A Careful historian on this sub- ject says: “While Washington and his mintsters ap- | peared to be fully sensible of the importance of @ navy, the poverty of the treasury alone would have been deemed an insuperable objection to encountering tts expense.” It would seem, therefore, that the policy of abandoning the navy on all occastons, aud in | reference to any otber branch of the public service, a5 a sacrifice to the spirit of economy, bes an’ eariy and a high origin; and yet I ven: ture to protest, in the light of American his- tory, that it 1s a policy far more honored in the breach than in the observance. Without a navy our national character abroad speedily sunk into contempt and derision. With what a bit- ter pang We how read that the miserable pirates of Algiers and other Affican baroarlans for a number of years, and without any attempt at concealment, captured American vessels of com- merce and sold American cluzens as slaves to te Turks! Cooper, tn nis “History of the Navy of the Uvited States,” makes the following palu- ful and humiliating statement: “in the meantime, the Dey of Algiers, discov- ering that a new country had started into exist- ence, which possessed merchant vessels and no ciuisers, a5 & matter of Course, began to prey on its commerce. On the 25th of July, 1755,the | schooner Marla, belonging to Boston, was seized outside of the Straits of Gibraltar, by a corsair, abd her crew were carried into slavery. This upprovoked piracy,—though committed uncer the forms of # legal government, the act deserves this reproach,—was followed, on the 30th of the same month, by the capture of the ship Dolphin, of Philadelphia, Captain O'Brien, who, with all his people, wa3 made to share the same fate. On the 9th of July, 1790, or a twelvemopth after the organization of the federal government, there stil remained in captivity fourteen of the unfortunate persons Who bad been thus seized. Of course five bitter years had passed in slavery, be- cause at the period named tke United States of America, the country to which they belonged, did not sufficient naval force to compel the petty tyrant at the head of the Algeriue government to do justice ! In looking back at events like these we feel it dificult to persuade ourselves that the nation was really 0 powerless, and cannot but sus- pect that la the strife of parties, the struggles of Opinion and the pursuttor gain the sutfer- ings Of the eistant captive were overlooked or forgetten. *.* * Algiers and Portugal had long been at wer, end ‘though the latier gov- erbinent seldom resorted 10 active measures avainst the town of its enemy, 1c was very use- Tul to the rest of the Christian world by main. taining a strong force in the Straits of ‘Gioral- tar, rendering it dificult for any rover to tlad her way out of the Mediterranean. Contrary io all expeciaiions this War was suddenly termi- bated in 1793 turouzh the agency of the British consul at Algiers, and. as It was sald, without the knowledge of tne Portuguese government. This peace, or truce, allowed the Algerine rovers to come again into the Atlantic, and its consequences Lo the American commerce were soon apparent. A squadron consisting of four ships, bree xebecks and a brig immediately patsed the stralis, and by the 9th of October, 1793, four more American vessels had fallen into the hands of these lawless barbarlans, At the same time the Dey of Algiers, who had commenced this quarrel without any other pretense than a demand for tribute, refused all accommodation, even menacing the person of the ceneperedin ysoyesel by the Ai ican gov- ernment should be venture to appear within his dominions! During the first crutse of the yessels mentioned Uney captured ten Amerl- cans and made one hundred and tive additional priscners.” Shortly after these diegraceful humiliations came on also ageneral mariume war in Europe, in which American merchantmen, as neutrals, were buffeted and captured by the belligerent powers, and especially by France, with scarcely a pretense of respect for our ational character. Then at last the young Republic awakened to the fact Unat In order to command respect as a member of the family of nations she must be = vo enforce her rights, and to punish iawless aggression in distant parisof the world, 2s well as at home. These considerations of national necessity launched the old United States, the Constitution, and the Consteliation, 1m 1797; Ube first three ships of war ever afloat under the en organization of the nav, They Carried in all one hundred and twenty- six cubs, and were speedily followed by twelve additions) vessels which were entitied to carry twenty-two guns each. The creation of the Navy department took place under an act of ‘Congress of April 27th, 1798, and from that time forward the arrogance of civilized natlons was, at least to some extent, rebuked, and chastise- ment instead of tribute was paid to pirates. Early in the dawn of this revival of the navy, when its glories were blossoming afresh, Far- Tagut Imbibed his first lessons of patriotism and invincible courage. It required no astroi- Pika afitte aes Maan to divine their influ 7 He entered the world, and received his first an though not a declared war against France, were the pride of the navy, when the unisbment inflicted by our ships on the Bar- 'y powers was ringing through the worl and when the names of Decatur, Porter, Preb! Banbridge, Somers, Truxtun, Lawrence, Stew- art, Hull, ay RE and Perry were zapidly kk a blazing constellation, to the zenith of e. The Pe nal the Gi i, int they presaged a life, in many reg] re a romance thsn an ordinary reality. It reads like fiction, and yet | American valor ths steered into tits distant region, where the found al! that she requtred, throagh ber OWN Aclivity; abd having swept Ube seas of Ler enemtes, she bad now retired to these iutUe-frequented Islands tO refit, with Une so- curlty of a ship at home. It is due fo the om- cers, who so promptly adopted, and 80 suc- cessfaliy executed this plan, to add that Mis enterprise, self-reliance ‘and skill tn- Gicated & man of bold and masculine fotception, of great resources, and of @ igh degree of moral courage: qualities that fre indispensable in forming & naval cap- fain. | In the way of service vo the public, per- heps the greatest performed by the Essex was In "protecting the American ships of the Pa- cific, nearly all of which would probably have fallen into the hands of the enemy but for her appearance in Uhat ocean. Hut the posttive injury done the English commerce was far from Uifling. The Essex hed now captured about 4 00 Cons of Its shipping, mage near four hun— Gred prisoners, and for the moment bad liter. ally destroyed 1{s Tisherles in this part of the world. In Oatobe: Sue DAG Satied trom Ametica alone, with six mouths provisions and the usual stores in her; and in October, 1813, she was lying in perfect’ security, at an island of the Pacitie. Toundd by pri "8, And Lu possession Of a p Necessary to render a frigate tent.” ture of triumph, repose, and se- tolast. That great power whose le the arth, and whose sips of bulwarks of her existence and yon the track of the Essex in overwhelming force, ier brief but brilliant career Was destined to close In a desperate and fanguinary contest, with Ube odds of uwo to one hoor, was against ber. On the 2th of March, Isi4 In @ disabled condition, the Essex encountered the Pbabe and the Cherub, one a vessel of heavier rate than herself, and the two together carry- ing five bundred’ men as against two hunared aud fifty-five on board the American, Captain Porter had repeatedly chulienged the Pace, hig superior in gun: d men, to Single combat, and no higher compliment was ever paid to the refusal of the Bagtish captatn to engage except with two shtps against ove, Farragut, young as he was, had bis opin- fon of the conduct of the captatu of the Pha-pe, and itis found recorded in his journal. “Ae ‘Was Cealiny; with a far inferior force,” says Far- Tagut, “sid it was ignoble in the extreme, on bis part, not to meet his toe, when he had the ghost of an excuse for doing so ship to ship.” Porter, however, had taught even British Courage the value'of discretion, and the chiv- alry of the ocean was, for once’ at least, disre- garded by british officers in thelr anxiety to Gestroy a formidable antagonist. The action which ensued was sublime for its courage and horrible tn its detatls on the part of the Amer- ican. We read in history that sometimes youth- ful warriors have been carried to felds of bate in order to recetve the Daptsta of military fre, Not one, tn all the long annals of war, was ever made more familiar with the appalling aspects of dangrr, carnage and death than Par- Tagut became, at’ Porter's sid ESSeX, of Valparaiso, when years of age. During pearly three verrif) he was baptised and consecrated to the servi oULtry, pistol in band, and covered with ood of ihe wounded and the dead, He taw the ship of bis frst love geable; he saw her bul by the enemy; he saw p ry ehot rly all her guns dis- | abled; he saw her berth deck, eveerage, ward- room and cockpit flied with the wouuded, who were scmetimes shot to death under the hands Of the surgeon; he saw Dut se five men, | Cificers inctu: havoc of ht for ou he saw Lieutenant M night when he was tbe only commissioned oficer Who could join Porter on the quarter deck for copsuliation; he saw the ship on fire and the flames springing up the hatchways; he heard the roar of powder explodions below, and then only he beard the order to cease the unequal hight, and with bitter tears and choking sobs, as he has himself recorded, he saw the flag of his country lowered to Ue catculating and un- geberous foc. What a scuool of instruction for one whose last birthday marked Dut twelve }cais Gistance into the world! 11 is pheasant to resd that when Porter returned to New York a great ovation sprang upin his honor, the people went wild over his splendid fame,’ un- hitched the horses from his carriage and ‘with Tthelrown bands drew him all over the city. We can eastly imagine that the grief of young Farragut over the loss of the ex found at least some consolation in Lhts patriotic circum- slance. Which be has carefully recorded, But the war of 1si2 did not teach, m by any one example, the lesson of duty at home, or of Tespect abroad. The Essex has @ ‘two-fold right to mention on an occasion like this; she was the training ship of Fari youth, and conimanded by David Porte the whole line of-nav: z y, ican side in the war of Isiz was @ blaze of national glory. The very air was redolent of the fame ot American men-of-war, and satiors’ rights have never since been invaded on their decks, The highest value of war to civilized goverbments dves not consist in mere physical Conquest, In the acquisition of territory, the Spollation Of clues, ine accumulation of wealth from tbe enemy, or the collection of an indem- bitying war debt from the vanquished. Tne nation which makes war except in defense of its existence, or for the protecuion of its honor, in the persons and rights ot its citizens, or- ganizes murder and robbery. The war, how- ever, Which was declared on the isth Gay of June, 1Si2, by the United States against Great Britain, was upheld by causes 4s sacred as ever inspired men in battle; and the results Which ty accomplished were more precious to the American name than the treasures of the world or the subjugation of kingdoms. The history of this country in {ts relauons with Great Britain, during the first twelve years of the present century, even Low cannot be dwelt upon by an Américan without feelings of Wounded honor and burning resentment. It is obvious at a glance that the yor Republic was not welcome amongst the monarchies Of Hurope, and that she was to be brow-beaten, and insulted, especially by the English goverpment. The interests of tne American people all lay in Ube direction of peace; at home they were rapidly ryt ce | toose great industries which ensures a nation progress, while as early a8 1507 they had bullt Up 4 foreign trade Which employed 700,000 tons ‘Of American shipping alone. They were the sweets of the first period of prosperity afver the revolution, and Uhey did not want war. Their forbearance Was great, and endured too jopg. American commerce was made the sport of blockades, maritime decrees, orders in coun- ciland the construcuion of belligerent rights; the right to feize and search American ships Was enforced with shot and shell in American Waters; native born American seamen were aregged from beneath their country’s flag and impressed into the British service, woul 1s a relict, aud the student of history exults in his heart, when he reaches tbe polit at which the Congress of the United States threw down the Gage of battle. At that time the by a consisted Of nearly eight hundred eficient war Vessels In active service; the American navy consisted of seventeen; and yel we emerged from What war a new Foard in the eyes of the world, and more indebted for our national pres- Uge to triumphs ugon ‘the ocean than to victo- ries on ibe land. May ardoned for saying that the respect of the world for our for- eign policy rests, DOU SO TUCK On the arts of diplomacy, a5 upon tbe heroism of the navy; not so much on the dispatches of mip- isters of state a8 upon bulletins announcing Ube prowess of American valor at sea; not so uch upon the records of the State department: a8 Upon those which are flled In the deparunent to which naval warfare belongs. It has long been said that actions speak louder than words, and it is ¢qually true that thelr memory ts more respected, and more enduring. The work per- formed by the guns of the Constitution, the United States, ine Essex, the Ea the Hornet, the Wasp, and otber American will be remembered longer and with more salu- tary consiceration by foreign cabinets than any Giplomatic communications ever received by ‘hem from ibis government. When the colors Of Engiaud were pulled down under Amey fire on the Macedonian, the Guerriere, Frolic, the Java, the Peacock, the Boxer, Bumerous other ships Of war, the si vincibility of the British navy was bro 3p ever, and the Ame.ican Character ence, established and res| and on every shore. The victaries of McDonouga op the lakes taught the the earth @ lesson of respect and wares the United States, more powerful ‘circular, i te ! i i Se ied FREE: i i i eI 8 4 i Ep ! ‘ ‘ zl i ie lnk