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THE 



STAR OF THE WEST 



OB, 



internal glen art ftaiiral Bt^ures. 



ANNA ELLA CARROLL, 

AUTHOR OF THE " GREAT AMERICAN BATTLE," ETO. 



Our country's glory is our chief concern : 
For this we struggle, and for this we burn ; 
For this we smile, for this alone we sigh ; 
For this we live, for this would freely die." 



THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. 



NEW YORK: 
MILLER, ORTON & CO 

1857. 



E33g 

.Ca 

**H 



Entexsd according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

W. S. TISDALE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. 



>" 






II. TINK')N, PRINTER A STSHEOTYPKR. 



TO 

COMMODORE CHARLES STEWART, 

OF THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

"When the honor, the rank, the commission, or the subsistence, 
of any class of Americans is at stake, the Constitution does not 
allow secret proceedings to be instituted against them ; because an 
act so perpetrated directly interferes with their inalienable and fun- 
damental rights. It forbids all conclaves, or cabals, which are 
invested with power, to make deductions upon the accusations they 
themselves have made when, unseen by the public eye, the parties 
so arraigned have been denied the means of personal explanation 
or defense ! 

As Americans, we claim to belong to a nation distinguished for 
its freedom, its justice, and its intelligence ; and to deprive a citi- 
zen of all that is dear in life, while absent and unconscious; to 
malign his reputation, without opportunity of defense, and thus 
bring upon him shame or destitution, is a crime by the laws of God 
and the country, and cannot but endanger the safety of the people ! 
Whatever proceeding, under our institutions, tends to elicit truth 
and justice, requires the sanction of religious obligation, the exami- 
nation of witnesses, and a faithful record ! 

The board of officers that have recently sat in judgment upon the 
reputation, fortune, and happiness, of the entire naval corps, have 
exercised just such discretionary power as we know to be at war 
with the Federal Constitution, and at variance with the spirit and 
intent of the law of Congress. 

No class of citizens in our land are more tenacious of their rank 
than officers of the navy ; and the desire for honorable promotion 
is cherished with an interest that no suffering nor sacrifice can 

8 



IV DEDICATION. 

remove. Is it for the mere consideration it confers, or the addi- 
tional pecuniary advantage it involves? No; but because of the 
voluntary surrender of a life-service to the honor, usefulness, defense 
and glory of their country. And hence, no apparent rank, however 
high, no compensation, however adequate to his personal ease and 
comfort, ever atones, in the estimation of a right-minded and gal- 
lant officer, for the sullied honor which has destroyed equality with 
his associates in the service. 

To the integrity, the talents, the distinguished services, and the 
lofty patriotism of the senior post-Captain, the highest and the 
oldest officer of the navy, of whose record the whole country is 
proud, the author now respectfully dedicates these pages. 

The noblest motives that could actuate an American belong 
to him. The great exploits of the navy belong to him. The 
most enduring and substantial benefits of this great arm of the 
public service have been conferred by him ! No greater glory, 
therefore, has been shed upon our country's history than that 
reflected by its distinguished citizen, Commodore Charles Stewart. 
He surrendered a lucrative and honorable position in the commer- 
cial marine, and, under the commission of lieutenant, entered the 
service of the navy the 9th of March, 1798. In 1800, during our 
hostilities with France, he commanded the small schooner Experi- 
ment, of twelve guns, with which he captured several armed vessels 
of the enemy ! He subsequently secured the La Diane from his 
adversaries, a three-masted ship, and, with his small force, put to 
flight a brig of eighteen guns, which ordinary sagacity would have 
assumed to be an impossibility. 

In 1801, when the reduction of the navy was made, under Mr. 
Jefferson, this brave officer was retained to reflect his own heroism 
upon the service, and, like the stars he displayed in so much tri- 
umph, to add new lustre to the American name! When the war 
was waged against Tripoli, the gallant Stewart was in the squadron 
of Commodore Preble, and was ready to enter the second conflict 
with a hostile power. We find him commanding the Siren, and 
actively engaged in burning the Philadelphia in the very harbor of 
the enemy, and afterwards received upon his deck the illustrious 
officer to whom that achievement was especially committed! The 
naval encounters of the subsequent four years won for the young 
lieutenant a reputation which has grown brighter ever since; while 
the navy acquired for the fame of our country, under her flag, so 



DEDICATION. V 

gallantly borne by bim, a halo of light which has never been over- 
shadowed ! 

Very early after the cessation of these*hostilities, Commodore Stew- 
art was tendered the commission of Captain, bearing date the 22d 
April, 1806, a position under which he lias sacrificed every personal 
consideration to the honor of the American flag and the fair fame 
of his own pure and beautiful name. In order to become familiar- 
ized witli the ocean and the practical arts and habits of navigation, 
Captain Stewart, with the permission of the Government, entered 
several private expeditions for exploration and trade ; thus enlarging 
his experience for the service during the seven years interval which 
preceded our war with Great Britain in 1812; so that imbued with 
every quality to defend the honor and glory of his country, he was 
prepared to rush into action on the first summons to the battle! 
President Madison, supposing there was no other way to save our 
armed vessels but by drawing them into the docks for protection, 
would have adopted that policy to shield them from the foe, but for 
the timely counsel of Commodore Stewart! To him, therefore, are 
we indebted for the fresh pride and exultation that was awakened 
for our country on the ocean in the last war with England, as 
every note of victory from that scene of action sent a new throb of 
joy, which was consecrated to the just and glorious interests of our 
nation ! 

Commodore Stewart commanded the frigate Constitution, and 
while cruising on the Portuguese coast, he engaged in a conflict 
with the Gyane and Levant, two English vessels, and conquered 
both ! At the close of this war, it was at once seen that our ocean 
victories, so important in their national bearing, had resulted from 
the wisdom of Commodore Stewart, to whom the administration of 
Mr. Madison had deferred ! And the Congress of the United States in 
1816 — February 22d, passed a resolution requiring the President to 
present this illustrious officer with a gold medal, expressive of the 
high sense the country entertained for his character, conduct, and 
services ; and the Legislatures of New York and Philadelphia like- 
wise tendered similar exhibitions of praise. lie then followed our 
pennant upon the shores of South America, in behalf of liberty, 
and watched the condition of these new born republics ; where 
from 1821 to 1824 he commanded the squadron of the Pacific. 
When science and humanity demanded, we found him penetrating 



VI DEDICATION. 

the ices of the poles ; when despotic vengeance demanded, we found 
him there too, nobly executing the mission of this great nation! 

And now, with what indignation and shame do we recall the fact, 
that Commodore Stewart was made the distinguished victim of that 
irresponsible cabal, whose judgment the President of the country, 
without a single disinterested channel of explanation or enquiry, 
adopted! But the verdict of the people rejects the decision of that 
President and Board ! And grateful for the eminent public services, 
which have given prestige to the Navy, and elevated and adorned 
the history of the country in the sight of all mankind, the Author, 
as an humble representative of millions of her countrymen, re-affirms 
the truth of history, and inscribes this evidence of her admiration 
and confidence to Commodore Charles Stewart. 



CONTENTS. 



THE FIRST AMERICAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 

CHAPTER I. 

Americans pensioners upon foreign governments, fifty years after the Declaration of 
Independence, in respect to nautical knowledge— Spain's advancement at that time— 
The Italians and Portuguese— The Danes and Norwegians— Knowledge of the Torrid 
Zone — Of the Frigid Zone — Russia's discoveries and their extent — England's explora- 
tions—Transfer of the Whale Fisheries— Owen— King— England's tenacity in pursuit 
of a northwest passage — The first American who proposed a scientific exploration — 
Hon. J. N. Reynolds — His enviable distinction, 13 

Section I.— Act of Congress authorizing Expedition— The universal concession as to its 
authorship — Its effects upon men of science — Its benefit to France and England — The 
Geographical Society of England, France, and the United States make the Southern 
Continent on the same day — President Jackson — Mr. Reynolds' attainments as a 
scholar — His enthusiasm in the cause of Science — His address in the hall of the House 
of Representatives — His resolution to accomplish this undertaking — Mr. Jefferson, 16 

Section II.— The tonnage of the United States— The early settlers— John Smith's survey 
—The Pilgrims— The jealousy of England— New England enterprise— New York— The 
Indians— The envy of France and England— Cause of the French Wars— Ammunition 
obtained from the enemy, which saved the American cause — The institution of the 
American navy, 19 

Section III.— The American spirit — The carrying trade— Berlin and Milan decrees— The 
extension of our commerce; — Introduction of cotton — Internal improvements — Their 
effects upon national interests— The demand for the merchants— Discovery of the 
Pacific Ocean — Balboa, 22 

Section IV.— Charles V.— Magellan— Columbus— Court of Seville— What led to the dis- 
covery of the North American Continent — Hudson Bay Company — Reynolds' belief in 
a northwest passage — Memorials for a survey of a Northwest Expedition presented 
to Congress — The Press in its favor— The commercial community— The inhabitants of 
Nantucket — Resolution of Congress, in its favor, passed, 26 

Section V.— The Navy Department— Samuel L. Southard— The next Session of Con- 
gress — Governor Branch — Administration of General Jackson — Mr. Reynolds goes 
abroad, • 30 

CHAPTER II. 

Discoveries by whale ships — European constructors of maps — American fishermen — The 
mariners of New Bedford and Nantucket consulted — The Seal Trade — Emperor Alex- 
ander of Russia — Captain Palmer, 32 

Section I.— East India Marine Society— The want of nautical knowledge in the Ameri- 
can Navy — Island of Sumatra— Sunday Isles— Feejee Isles— English bounties — Friends 
of the country — Ship Mentor, . . • 35 

Scction II.— French Expedition— Kings of Denmark— England — Want of American 
charts— Our consul at Oahce— The national dignity of the Expedition— Its purpose— 
I's accordance with Mr. Jefferson's views, 37 

Section III.— The religious view— Outlets of the Northern Polar Seas— The North Polar 
Seas inhabited— Cause of the ice in those regions — A million and a half of square 
miles unexplored by man— Captain Cook in search of a Southern Continent — His 
want of proper information, 40 

Section IV.— Weddell— Briscol— Reynolds in the Antarctic Ocean— Isabella— Catherine 
oi Russia — Cause of the introduction of Philology, 43 

Yti 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



Section V. — Advantages of the Exploration in the eyes of statesmen — Congratulatory 
letters — Hon. J. K. Paulding — James E. De Kay — Prof. Silliman — Hon. Benj. Rodman 
— Hon. Joseph Delafield, 40 

Section VI. — Payment of the debt for practical science and intelligence — Winslow 
Lewis, Jr. — Hon. H. D. Gilpin — Henry Junius Nott — Caleb Cushing, . . .49 

CHAPTER III. 

Origin of the Aborigines — Mr. Duponceau — Woman's influence — President Washington 
— Sir Humphry Davy— Cuvier — Origin of the Gipsies— Sandwich Islanders — Hon. John 
Pickering, 53 

Section I —Prof. Charles Anthon — Prof. Josiah F. Gibbs — Prof. Charles Grey — Botany 
— Zoology— Dr. Charles Pickering— The patriotism of Reynolds — The final passage of 
the Bill — Earner's speech — The eight States which recommended it — The distinguished 
commanders, 55 

Section II. — Eight years before Congress — Twice adopted by the House— The first impe- 
diment to its being carried into effect — Its correspondence with the views of Jefferson 
and Monroe — Channel of New York — Our commercial marine, . . . .59 

Section III — Hon. Michael Hoffman— Mr. Ripley— Reynold's Report of 1828 — His 
knowledge extraordinary— His Declarations — The want of proper maps and charts 
for the country — Tyre, Greece, etc. — Foreign nations keeping our commerce in lead- 
ing strings — Reynold's remarks, 62 

Section IV. — Capture of America by the Barbary Powers — Burke — Coast of California 
— Four hundred islands made known by Reynolds — The tonnage, men, and capital 
engaged in the whaling business — The wealth of the fisheries, . . . .66 

Section V. — Did the execution of the Expedition meet the design of its projector, and 
the intention of Congress? — Incompetent officials — Hon. Mahlon Dickenson — The 
French Government — Energy of Americans — President Jackson — The attempt to 
strangle the Expedition — The action of Congress judged by a committee — Instructions 
of the Secretary, 69 

Section VI. — Forbearance towards the dead — Willful perversion of the object — General 
Ripley's report— Dutee J. Pierce — Commodore Downes' letter — Attempt 1o curtail the 
Expedition— Lord Byron — Commodore Hull — Samuel L. Southard, . . . T3 

CHAPTER IV. 

The effect of the delay on Congress — Vacillation of the Department — General Jackson's 
order — Jealousy fomented between officer and citizen— Treatment of the Scientific 
Corps — The American Revolution — Reasons assigned for the delay of the Expedi- 
tion, T8 

Section I. — Commodore Jones — Refusal of money by the Department — Extra pay pro- 
vided by Congress — Prevarication of the cabal — Incongruous report of the Head of 
the Department — Anecdote, 82 

Section II — The draw on the Treasury — A national Expedition — American Artists — 
Lieutenant Wilkes — His ridiculous purchase in Europe — The Naval Board ap- 
pointed, 85 

Section III. — The Instruments detained — Degradation put upon Science — American 
seamen shipwrecked — The effect of a frigate, 89 

Section IV. — Hull, Biddle, and Aulick — The Peacock — Commodore Jones resigns — Cap- 
tain Kearney — Poinsett appointed to direct the Expedition — Captain Gregory— Lieut. 
Gedney — Wilkes declares his superior's want of talents, 92 

Section V. — Captain James Armstrong — Commodores Chauncy, Bainbridge, and Hull — 
The instrument of the cabal — Appointment of Wilkes, ...... 96 

CHAPTER V. 

Celebrated Report of 1837 — The Macedonia — Expedition delayed three years after being 
ordered by Congress — Governor Wise's speech— Ingham's defense — The force given 
to Wilkes, 105 

Section I. — The Macedonia withdrawn — Wilkes' Squadron — The squadron under Jones 
— Dodging Congress — Van Bureu and Poinsett — Wilkes' falsehood, . . . 109 

Section II. — Entomology — Crustaceology— Paleontology— Cuvier — Deshaye — Agassiz — 
Hostility to Reynolds, 112 



CONTENTS. IX 



Section III. — Deception practised on General Jackson— Prof. William R. Johnson — 
Kearney's squadron — Dr. Reynell Coates — Wilkes' subterfuge to thwart Reynolds — 
Reynolds' letter to Poinsett, 116 

Section IV. — Collision between Poinsett and Van Uuren — Attempt to implicate PauMing 
— Various letters from Members of Congress favoring Reynolds' appointment to con- 
trol the civil department of the Expedition — Cincinnati Republican — The results 
accruing to Science from Reynold's efforts, 120 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
CHAPTER I. 

Invention and effects of printing — The commerce of the world controlled by a railroad 
through this continent — Anglo-American enterprise — Joel Barlow — Erie Canal — Rail- 
road from Portland, Maine, to Nova Scotia, 13T 

CHAPTER II. 

Four and a half days' travel from New York to California by railroad — Columbus — 
Twenty-four days between New York and China — The opium trade — Tobacco versus 
opium — English jealousy — Tea trade — The road in a moral and educational view — 
The tliree routes 143 

CHAPTER III. 

Value of the whaling trade — Grants of Texas lands to aid the road— The central route — 
Canals, . 160 

CHAPTER IV. 

Romanism opposed to the road — Gold of California and Australia — Silver mines of 
Sonora — Laborers and manufacturers benefited by the road, 171 

CHAPTER V. 

Effects of the gold of California upon real estate, commerce, currency, labor, and manu- 
factures — Telegraph — Method of laying the submarine telegraph — Congress and the 
Pacific Railroad — The democratic administration against the road — The American 
party and Millard Fillmore committed to the road, ....... 180 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP OF WAR ALBANY, COMMANDER 
GERRY, OFFICERS, AND CREW. 

CHAPTER I. 

The Author's apology — Commander Gerry — Captains Eagle and Mitchell sent in search 
of the Albany — Ports visited by the Albany — Elbridge Gerry — His participation in the 
Declaration and Constitution — Governor of Massachusetts— One of the original seven 
signers of the Declaration of Independence— Presided over the United States Senate, 
in 1813 — Captain Gerry — His official acts — Names of the officers of the Albany, . 187 

CHAPTER II. 

Last seen of the Albany — Anecdote — Long Cruise — Captain Gerry's religious character 
— He was a Communicant — Elbridge Gerry, Jr. — Lieutenant Bleecker — Nicholas Fish 
Monis, 199 



CULPABILITY INVOLVED IN THE LOSS OF THE 

ALBANY. 

CHAPTER I. 

Who caused the loss — The Albany's Defects — Secretary's letter to Newton — Newtou's 
letter at the Gulf of Samana— Dobbin's approval — The order for the fatal cruise — 
Newtou's excuse— Officer-like conduct of Gerry, 209 

1* 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER II. 

Elbridge Gerry first proposed an American Navy— Jefferson's opposition— Newton's 
life saved by Gerry— Yellow fever— Newton's antecedents— Loss of the Fulton— Acci- 
dents to the Missouri— Dobbin's call on Newton for Commander Gerry's letter— New- 
ton's Staten Island letter, 219 

CHAPTER III. 

Gerry deceived— Dobbin's expressed ignorance of the Albany's defective condition, 
after her loss — Newton rewarded, 229 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 
CHAPTER I. 

Foreign navies — Navy Retiring Board — Noble daring of Lieut. Rolando — Pierce and 
Dobbin— Affray between Captain Perry and Heath— Shubrick, .... 232 

CHAPTER II. 

Stribling and Diaboleto — Commodore Hull— Pendegrast's inefficiency, . . . 247 

CHAPTER III. 

Commodore Perry — Japan expedition — Captains Graham, Inman, and Levy — Abolish- 
ment of flogging in the navy— Conduct of Pierce, 257 

CHAPTER IV. 

Cost of a naval education — Corruption — Mallory, a foreigner, aims to destroy the navy 
— Insufficiency of the bureaus, 269 



AN AMERICAN HERO THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 
CAPTAIN BARTLETT'S VINDICATION. 

CHAPTER I. 

Chief Justice Gilchrist — Lieutenant Bartlett on duty when broken in the service — No 
official notice — The devotion of his wife, 278 

Section I. — Testimonials of his Commodore, commanders, associates, and subalterns — 
Extraordinary strength of this evidence — Letters of Commodores Lavallette and 
Montgomery, 283 

Section II. — Captain Bartlett in command of the Ewing — Prof. Bache's testimony — 
Bartlett at the mouth of the Columbia River — Wilkes' ignorance as to the mode of 
entering the channel of the Columbia — Benton's prophecy — Bartlett's Report, . 289 

Suction III. — Contrast between the sea service of Wilkes and Bartlett — Lieutenant 
Moffat, a naval Commodore — The military and civil services of Bartlett in California 
— Montgomery's letter — Several high offices filled by Bartlett in California — His legal 
attainments — Elected by the people to the chief magistracy — His extraordinary tact 
in administering the government — Conduct as Judge, 295 

Section IV. — Bartlett the first to suggest lighting the approaches to San Francisco— 
His improvements upon the old system — Why he was sent to Paris — How he was 
instructed, 302 

CHAPTER II. 

The appropriation of his labors by the Lighthouse Board — Plenary power with which 
Bartktt was invested — Misroon's falsehood — Testimony of Professors Bache and 
Henry, ..." 307 

Section I. — Bartlett goes to Paris before the creation of the Lighthouse Board — His 
discretionary power continues — The Board's Report — The number of lights purchased 
by Bartlett — The interest exhibited among the Savans of Europe — Letter of the Audi- 
tor of the Treasury, 311 



CONTENTS. Xi 

Suction II.— Bartlett's integrity unimpeachable— His services— His lawful claim— The 
unjust deductions of the Secretary of the Treasury, gjg 

Section m.— The Secretary's knowledge of Bartlett's services— Bartlett's philanthropy 
—Incident— His appeal In behali of the Cape de Verde Island sufferers— Misroon his 
enemy — Bartlett's associations, 3^3 

Section IV.— The American Consul, Heart— Bartlett's generosity— His family— Com- 
mencement of his naval career— His gallant action as a midshipman, . . . 881 

Section V.— Bartlett's messmates on the Fairfield— His advantages as a linguist— Com- 
modore Wadsworth— His friendship with Captain Montgomery— Commodore Perry's 
letter— Bartlett's first naval services, # 337 

Section VX— Bartlett as a Hydrographer— Joins the Portsmouth— His conduct there— 
The Author's defense founded upon data and vouchers, 840 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 
CHAPTER I. 

Our commercial relations— The Federal Republic of Central America— General Francisco 
Morazan— Destruction of the republic— General William Walker— His first expedition 
—President of Lower California— Invasion of Sonora— Commercial company formed 
in California— Grant of land— Castellan, the republican democrat— Chamorra. the 
aristocrat— Cabanos— The priesthood unite with the autocrat Chamorra, . . 345 

CHAPTER II. 

The battle of Rivas— Its effect upon the Nicaragnans— Battle of Virgin Bay— Granada- 
Romish church used as a fort— Battle of Granada— Walker is offered the presidency 
of Nicaragua— He declines in favor of General Corral— St. George cannonaded— 
Walker reinforced— Arrival of Colonel Fry and Parker H. French— Expedition against 
San Carlos— Padre Vijil— Walker's forces augmented— Display of firmness— Treason of 
General Corral— His execution— Rivas president— The " N%caraguen.se " newspaper 
started— Col. French sent as minister plenipotentiary to Washington— Is not received 
—Shamefully treated by the Pierce administration— Natural scenery of Nicaragua— 
Schlessinger, * & g55 

CHAPTER III. 

Battle at Santa Rosa— Schlessinger's treachery— Battle of Rivas— German deserters- 
Individual prowess — The testimonial at Nashville, , 370 

CHAPTER IV. 

English interference— American enterprise— Popularity of Gen. Walker— His election to 
the Presidency — Inauguration— March of Christianity in Nicaragua, . . . 8S3 



THE ROMISH SYSTEM A POLITICAL CORPORATION. 

CHAPTER I. 

Rome opposed to the circulation of the Bible— Contrast between enlightened freedom 
and Romish ignorance and servitude— Power of the Confessional— Secrets extorted by 
confessors — Ballot-box, 302 

CHAPTER II. 

Rome opposed to printing and freedom of the Press— The Council of Lateran— Pro- 
hibited books— Booksellers subjected to penalties and restrictions— Penalty of " ex- 
communication " for reading " heretical " books, 401 

CHAPTER III. 
Encyclical letter of Pope Gregory XVI.— Arrogated power of the priesthood— Rome 
persecutes beyond the grave— Political agents of the Papacy in America— Blighting 
effects of Popery— History of the interdict of Venice fulminated by Pope Paul V., 410 



Xll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Pope and the sword — The claim of the Romish church to infallibility — Preposterous 
claims of the Pope — Bull against Queen Elizabeth — Leo III. — " Ceremonies of the Holy 
Ro man Church"— Romanism the same now as ever, 480 

CHAPTER V. 

Bishop England's authority — The "Host" — Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati denounces 
republicanism — Bishop Flaget, of Kentucky, against our republican government — 
The canon laws, 441 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Eternal City — The effects of Romanism and Protestantism contrasted — Luther — 
America is Bible ground — The Jesuits and state politics — Spies — The silent Press — 
America the last battle-field of Popery, 449 

ROMANISM OPPOSED TO OUR LIBERTIES. 

CHAPTER I. 

First prayer in Congress — Washington the Protestant — Franklin — Pownal's prophecy — 
Brownson and McMasters betray the objects of the Papacy in America — Romanism 
opposed to progress — Marriage — Absolution — Power of the Pope, .... 456 

CHAPTER II. 

The sacrament of marriage — Dispensation — Romanists disqualified from holding trusts 
under Protestant governments — Creed of Pope Pius IV.- — Sacrifice of the mass — The 
wafer-God — Purgatory — Saints — Images and relics — Indulgences — Bills of exchange 
on Purgatory — Council of Trent, 467 

CHAPTER III. 

The bishop's oath — The Jesuits — The Bible— Forgery — The commentary of Menochius — 
Bellarmine — Curse of Pope Benedict VIII. — The Council of Constance— Maynooth 
College — Dens' theology — Pope Urban II. — Pope Sixtus V. — The Inquisition— Roman- 
ism unchangeable — Illustrations of the spirit of Popery — The nature of Romanism, 4T7 



A PROTESTANT EDUCATION FOR AMERICAN 

CITIZENS. 
CHAPTER I. 

Papists opposed to public schools— Education— " Christian Brothers "—Rules of the 
Order— Archbishop Hughes — Romish convention — Proscription of Americans by 
Franklin Pierce— Bible banished from our schools, 498 

CHAPTER II. 

Superficial education at Romish seminaries — Sisters of Charity — Jesuistesses — Their 
plan of operations — Hypocrisy — White and black veil, 510 



CHAPTER III. 

jprived of the Bible — Roc 

CHAPTER IV. 

ustiniani — Dangerous te 

CHAPTER V. 



Pupils in Romish Seminaries deprived of the Bible— Rome afraid of the Bible— Interest- 
ing narrative, 513 

CHAPTER IV. 

The fruits of Romanism— Dr. Giustiniani— Dangerous tendencies of Romish instructions 
— Dogma* of the Jesuits, • 526 



Cardinal Wiseman— Ribbon societies— Pope Barberini— St. Peter and Jupiter— Rome 
persecutes genius — The power of Popery in America, 534 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF EDWIN 0. PERRIN, 541 

" " " SIDNEY KOPMAN, ...... 651 

m .« u NATHAN RAMSEY, 555 




3P?-/ - 









^. 




THE 



FIRST AMERICAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION, 



CHAPTER I. 

Whatever tends to increase the stimulus 
to commercial or maritime research, adds to 
our national resources, and becomes an impor- 
tant element to the foundation of our national 
power. 

For fifty years after our independence as a 
nation had been acknowledged by the civilized 
powers of the earth, and more than forty after 
our present matchless form of government had 
been adopted, we remained, for maritime and 
scientific knowledge, wholly pensioners upon 
foreign governments. 

We had not given a single impetus to a 
national enterprise ; we had not contributed a 
single dollar for the promotion of scientific 

18 



14 FIRST AMERICAN 

intelligence ; we had not taken a step to ad- 
vance navigation as a science ; our ships sailed 
by charts which we had no part in making ; and 
not a mathematical instrument had we then con- 
structed. Even Spain, with her exclusive sys- 
tem of monopoly, had shamed us by contribu- 
tions to geographical knowledge, in the form 
of numerous charts. The Italians and Portu- 
guese had ventured into unknown seas and 
made important discoveries. The Danes and 
Norwegians had pushed into the Arctic regions 
and planted colonies on the ice-bound shores 
of Greenland. The torrid zone, supposed to 
have nothing but sandy deserts and a vertical 
sun, had been found to teem with organic life, 
and with a denser population than the tempe- 
rate zone. The frigid, too, no longer lay under 
perpetual snows, and navigators had seen plants 
grow, and flowers bloom, in its partial summer. 
Russia had made discoveries in every part of 
the globe. Her expeditions had penetrated into 
Tartary, north of Thibet, and under the snow- 
capped ranges of the Himalaya and Imans, and 
the northwest portion of our own continent. 
While in the Southern Ocean, she had gone as 
far as the 70th parallel of latitude, and boasted 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 15 

of having discovered islands that Cook never 
saw. 

England, however, had been preeminent in 
her scientific explorations. Under her auspices 
the whale-fishery was transferred from East 
to West Greenland. She had sent Owen to 
the southeastern coast of Africa, King to the 
Straits of Magellan, and constructed charts for 
that almost unknown passage to the Pacific ; 
while, for three centuries, she had persevered 
in her attempt to find a northwest passage, no 
generation having yielded to its supposed im- 
practicability. 

Thus were we occupying a national position 
which humiliated the American character in the 
sight of the whole scientific world, when the first 
man, who was a citizen of our country, a son of 
our soil, appeared, to elevate by his efforts, the 
scientific intelligence of the people, and to equal- 
ize our condition, in this repect, with every for- 
eign government of the Old World. Hon. J. N". 
Reynolds, of New York, was the projector of the 
first exploring expedition in the United States. 
An expedition which, though shorn of much of 
the magnitude of its original design by the scan- 
dalous action of weak, incompetent, and unfaith- 



16 FIRST AMERICAN 

ful officials of the government, has, nevertheless, 
been pregnant with beneficial results to this na- 
tion — the greatness or limit of which no human 
eye can foresee ? This American, then, con- 
ceived and accomplished for his country, what 
the most undaunted navigator had not before 
imagined, or had the moral courage to propose. 
And he stands alone, at an unapproachable dis- 
tance, possessing a claim to this distinction, not 
merely for having attempted, but having actu- 
ally accomplished his purpose ! 



SECTION I. 

The act of Congress which passed the 14th of 
May, 1836, authorizing the First Exploring Ex- 
pedition, was the result of the arduous labors of 
that single individual. No one within the pre- 
cincts of Congress ignored that fact ; while he 
received from the scientific professions and the 
country, the highest evidences of honor it was 
in their power to bestow. And when we con- 
sider the immense public benefit which has re- 
sulted to the country in its commerce, science, 
literature, and arts, by the services of Mr. Rey- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 17 

nolds, we cannot but invoke the judgment of the 
American people to these results. 

His labors have become to all the subsequent 
expeditions which we have accomplished, what 
the "tamping bar" of England is to miners. 

They have guided our men of science in their 
explorations, as that bar guides the miner 
through inflammable gases, without the fear of 
being fired by the rocks. Nor was the effect 
of that first efficient action of our American Con- 
gress confined to our exclusive national benefit. 
The governments of France and England very 
soon appropriated the valuable information eli- 
cited by Mr. Reynolds in maturing out that ex- 
pedition. The Geographical Society of England 
was in session when the news of our contem- 
plated exploration reached Europe, and the 
deepest interest was so instantly awakened, that 
similar expeditions were at once fitted out by 
both England and France. And soon the Lion, 
the Lily, and the American Eagle appeared in 
the same constellation ; and, what is more sin- 
gular, the ensigns of France and the United 
States made the Southern Continent the same 
day! 

Americans will remember that it was under 



18 FIRST AMERICAN 

the administration of President Jackson that 
this exploring expedition obtained the sanction 
of Congress, and in the success of which Jack- 
son felt the deepest solicitude. 

Mr. Reynolds having been early distinguished 
for excellence and eminence in classical attain- 
ments among his contemporaries, soon became 
noted not only for science, but for literary dis- 
tinction ; and, with all his acknowledged ability, 
he seems to have singularly striven for that 
modest incognito which, fortunately for his coun- 
try, he has not been able to maintain. His love 
of wild adventure, and his travel around the cir- 
cumference of the earth, had given him extraor- 
dinary experience as a navigator, and his enthusi- 
asm in the cause of science had brought him into 
notice through his works at an early age. While 
his address in the Hall of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, on the 3d of April, 1836, on the sub- 
ject of the surveying and exploring expedition 
to the Pacific Ocean, and South Seas, with his 
inimitable discussions upon the manner, that 
expedition was finally dispatched, will ever re- 
main among the classical productions of the 
English language in this country, and wherever 
that tongue is spoken or read. 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 19 

It is not wonderful that when this American 
surveyed the earth in its magnitude, and beheld 
the natural greatness of his native land, her une- 
qualled institutions, the genius, enterprise, and 
energy, of his countrymen, that he should have 
mourned to see American libraries filled with 
the maps, charts, and histories, of what science 
had done in other nations, and that he made the 
resolution of the boy, voluntarily acted out in 
the man, his purpose to stimulate and develop 
these national resources. The only wonder 
is, that this had not been done before ! For, 
although the survey of the coast had been re- 
commended by Mr. Jefferson, the work had but 
then been commenced. And much of its merit 
was, therefore, neutralized by such national ne- 
glect. 

SECTION II. 

In the meantime, we had more tonnage than 
all the nations of Europe together when Colum- 
bus discovered America, and owned a navy 
larger than was all the effective force of the 
Old World at that day. 

Americans, do you wish to know what made 



20 FIRST AMERICAN 

you so early able to compete with England in 
familiarity with the ocean ? It was the severe 
hardships to which the early settlers of our 
country were inured. Six years before the 
Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, John Smith 
had coasted from the James River to Ports- 
mouth, and surveyed all the islands and harbors 
of New England. This was in 1614. When the 
Pilgrims came, in 1620, they went to work and 
built ships at once, in order to survey the south- 
ern coast, and traffic with the natives. In less 
than fifty years after that, the American tonnage 
was great enough to excite the jealousy of Eng- 
land ! Even when, in 1665, Massachusetts had 
a militia of but four thousand, she owned one 
hundred and forty vessels of between twenty 
and one hundred tons burden. So of New 
York, at that time in British power. The very 
first thing her colonists did was to hollow out a 
tree, to cross the adjacent waters, and commune 
with the settlers. Indeed, maritime enterprise 
has been the earliest characteristic of the Ameri- 
can people. And this drew the seafarer and 
emigrant to the Atlantic shores. The Indians, 
at the dawn of the seventeenth century,' prowled 
around the dwellings of the emigrants, and the 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 21 

necessaries of life were raised in scanty supplies, 
because these sagacious adventurers were busied 
in fitting out expeditions to ascertain the inden- 
tures on our coast, its rivers and harbors. The 
fisheries, then, were more ardently pursued than 
any other enterprise, and from them, in connec- 
tion with lumber, and the fur trade, the nation 
received its first impulse, and its first resources. 

Very soon this maritime enterprise of America 
excited the envy of France against England, and 
this was the primary and efficient cause of the 
first and second French wars, in which America 
became the common battle-ground. The Ameri- 
can privateers displayed, at that crisis, naval 
skill which rendered them the pride of the mo- 
ther country, while they added wealth to their 
own enterprise. These French wars then made 
the trying ordeal by which the American people 
were trained for the battle of Independence. 
We took, by these means, a step from base sub- 
serviency to England to the rank of a maritime 
nation, of no small account ! Nearly two thou- 
sand vessels were captured by American enter- 
prise, from the enemy, in the War of the Revo- 
lution. It was by this success solely, that ammu- 
nition and clothing were obtained for our cause, 



22 FIRST AMERICAN 

in the darkest and most critical periods of that 
contest. General "Washington declared that this 
saved him from a retreat, and from the possible 
necessity of being obliged to disband the Ameri- 
can forces. At one time, when besieging Bos- 
ton, there were but two barrels of gunpowder 
for twenty thousand men ; two English ships, 
laden with military stores, came in sight just 
at that crisis, which were captured by Captain 
Manly, and appropriated to American use. 

The maritime affairs of the country, after the 
War of Independence, were managed by a Com- 
mittee, and we had no navy until 1794, several 
years after the present Constitution was adopted. 
In 1798, four years after its organization, our 
little navy humbled the fierce corsair in the 
Mediterranean, and gave promise of the future 
glory which it achieved for the country in 1812. 

SECTION III. 

It is remarkable that, as Colonists, more genu- 
ine American spirit was discoverable in behalf of 
commerce, than after we attained our nationality. 
Then it penetrated into dangerous shoals and 
sand-banks. It sent men of science twice into 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 23 

distant parts to observe the transit of Yenus 
over the sun, and which duty, in consideration 
of the imperfect construction of instruments at 
that period, was performed with astonishing 
accuracy. But, from the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence to the Second War with England, in 
1812, not a dollar was expended by government 
to aid a scientific exploration, with the exception 
of the small amount appropriated for an expe- 
dition to the Rocky Mountains. 

The Americans enjoyed the entire carrying 
trade during the French Revolution, when all 
Europe was in arms, and this gave our country 
an impetus to greatness, and an increase in 
wealth, without a modern parallel. 

This, as might have been anticipated, awakened 
jealousy on the part of France and England, 
and, in 1806, led to exactions on our commerce. 
The Berlin and Milan decrees followed in 1807, 
and caused non-intercourse, which resulted in the 
war of 1812. Our navy had not been then pro- 
perly increased, and though it won imperishable 
glory on the seas, we merged from the conflict 
with a weak commercial marine. But, after the 
war, commerce again took its onward march, our 
fisheries extended themselves from our own coasts 



24 FIRST AMERICAN 

to the shores of Brazil, around all the capes of 
the Pacific and Indian oceans to the Maldives 
and Islands of Japan. 

Cotton, which had been several years before 
introduced into the country merely as a botani- 
cal experiment, now became an article of pri- 
mary importance, and took rank over all else, 
while the machinery of the North was at once 
ready to fabricate it, and millions of the race 
were soon clothed in this material. 

From that period manufacturers began to in- 
fluence national economy. The sugar of the 
South, and flax of the West, were then brought 
into general use. Internal improvements soon 
developed new markets for both agricultural and 
manufacturing articles ; the necessaries of life 
were at the command of all ; the inhabitants of 
the interior sought the commerce of the sea- 
board, while the traveller from the seaboard 
penetrated into the interior. Thus was the great 
impulse given to individual labor, which indi- 
rectly opened the resources of the nation. 
In laboring for themselves they benefited their 
neighbors, find soon, almost by intuition, con- 
cluded that this labor, divided among the three 
great interests of the nation, would best sub- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 25 

serve the happiness of the whole. This called 
for the merchants. They sent their keels into 
unknown seas, and, in a sober business spirit, 
they sacrificed to utility. They caused the na- 
tional industry to combine all the elements of 
productiveness, so that every atom should bear 
its fair proportion in the great result. 

Our fathers, in the midst of gloom and adver- 
sity, saw with prescience the rising glory of the 
western orb. They beheld afar the gardens they 
planted and the treasures which would be un- 
folded to their children through the shedding of 
their blood ! 

The knowledge of the most enlightened nations 
was confined to a circuit of but a few thousand 
miles, several years after Galileo had taught the 
sublime doctrine, that the eighty millions of fixed 
stars seen through a telescope were centres of 
other systems. The mere existence of the Pacific 
ocean was unknown until 1513. Then Balboa, a 
Spanish commander, crossed the ridge, which 
divides the Andes Mountains at the Isthmus of 
Darien. Immediately it became a desideratum 
to open a passage, by sea, to this unexplored 
ocean, and thus to reach the Moluccas and Ep«t 
India possessions of the Spanish crown. 



26 FIRST AMERICAN 



SECTION IV. 

Charles the Fifth sent Magellan, in 1520, for 
that purpose, and the straits of his name bear 
witness how he fulfilled the trust ! 

He ascertained the southern limit of this west- 
ern continent ; and is said to have wept in tri- 
umph, as this mighty ocean appeared before him. 
And while the Pacific was traversed and the 
Spice Islands reached, Magellan fell ingloriously 
by the spear of a native. His labors and suc- 
cesses were second to no voyager, save Columbus. 
And he must ever bear the palm of immortality, 
because he opened the pathway to a new hemis- 
phere ! which was soon penetrated by others, 
who found New Holland, New Zealand, and 
numerous other islands in the Indian, Pacific and 
Southern oceans. When the fact became known, 
as to what Magellan and his successors had done, 
the greatest excitement prevailed among com- 
mercial nations. The Court of Seville tried to 
keep secret this new route to the Moluccas. But 
this only roused other nations ; the Hollanders 
soon doubled Cape Horn, and with incredible 
energy the extent of the southern hemisphere, 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 27 

in this western world, was made known. The 
history of the enterprise of our own land teaches 
the impossibility of computing the results of sci- 
entific research in advance. 

We know that England's efforts for a northwest 
passage to India led to the discovery of the North 
American continent. We know that the Hud- 
son Bay Company was opened by the same 
means. And neither Cabot, Hudson, Davis, or 
Baffin dreamed of the Newfoundland cod fish- 
eries and the whale fisheries of Davis 7 Straits, 
which were opened in the same unexpected 
manner. Mr. Reynolds declared that no insuper- 
able obstacle remained to prevent the final and 
complete success of English enterprise for this 
northwest passage. He showed that nearly the 
whole extent had been traced on a map, and that 
the effort was commended by all men of sense. 
"Let her have it," said the true American, "a 
nobler field and a wider range has opened the 
South to us," as he pressed upon the attention 
of Congress the necessity of a voyage of disco- 
very, with scientific appliances, to increase our 
national knowledge of the Southern and Pacific 
oceans. 

In 1826-7, Mr. Reynolds first brought the 



28 FIRST AMERICAN 

importance of this subject before Congress, ac- 
companied by petitions from inhabitants of the 
several States, praying the aid of the govern- 
ment to carry the same into effect. Among 
these were a memorial from the State of New 
York, dated October 19th, 1827, signed by the 
Lieutenant-Governor, Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, and almost the entire Legisla- 
ture. One from North Carolina, with the high 
officials of that State, and its House of Commons. 
A third from Virginia, dated Richmond, Jan- 
uary 1, 1828, sustained by the Speaker of the 
House of Delegates, and most of the members 
of her Legislature. And a very earnest appeal 
from the Maryland Legislature, accompanied by 
a cogent preamble and resolutions. 

The House appointed a Committee to consider 
the application, who entertained a favorable 
opinion of Mr. Reynolds' novel project ; and 
who, desirous to promote inquiry, moved its 
special reference to the Navy Department. Dur- 
ing the interval between the first and second 
sessions of that Congress, the proposed expedi- 
tion was much discussed in the public journals, 
and it is a significant fact that not a solitary 
press in the country opposed the measure. While 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 29 

the commercial community, and particularly such 
as were interested in the fishery, whale, or fur 
interest, came to the support of Mr. Reynolds' 
measure, as one man. This class of memorialists 
had, more than others, felt the want of this 
expedition ; and their ardor in its behalf was 
marked with energy. The memorial from the 
inhabitants of Nantucket was commended to Con- 
gress in the report of the Secretary of the Navy, 
who evidenced much laborious and extended re- 
search, and set forth the necessity of protection 
to our commerce in the Southern Ocean, with a 
zeal becoming its magnitude. 

The session, however, was too near its close 
to pass a law on the subject, and, in lieu of a 
bill, the House voted a resolution, affirming the 
expediency of sending one of our small public 
vessels into the Pacific and South Seas, and 
requesting the President of the United States 
to allow such facilities to the Navy Department 
as would enable this exploration to be under- 
taken. 

These resolutions reflected, at that moment, 
the sentiments of all our great commercial cities, 
the Legislatures of the States, comprising more 
than half the population of the Union, and re- 



30 FIRST AMERICAN 

presented on the floor of Congress, by one hun- 
dred and twenty-nine of its members. 



• section v. 

The Navy Department went about the work 
it was thus empowered to do, for there was 
neither time nor pretext for delay. The Pea- 
cock was repaired for the expedition — officers 
of approved skill were ordered to be in readi- 
ness — seamen were enlisted — books and mathe- 
matical instruments ordered — and the aid of 
scientific counsel sought by correspondence with 
men of science throughout the country. 

Samuel L. Southard was then Secretary of the 
Navy, and, giving- to the expedition the sanction 
of his highly cultivated mind, did all that prudent 
foresight could suggest to render it alike useful 
and honorable to the nation. The succeeding 
session of Congress, the reported bill of the pre- 
ceding one passed the House of Representatives 
by a large majority. In the Senate, too, there 
was known to have been a decided majority in 
its favor. But the detail of the plan elicited a 
difference in opinion, and in the confusion inci- 
dent to the close of the session, Congress finally 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 31 

adjourned before the bill, as modified, was reached 
by the Senate. This was the termination of 
President Adams' administration. 

Under General Jackson, Governor Branch of 
North Carolina was placed over the Navy De- 
partment. He was opposed to the expedition, 
and the tone and feeling of the new administration 
corresponded with his view. "Retrenchment and 
economy" had been the party watchword, and, 
under its specious pretence, the expedition, so 
well-matured and auspicious of such salutary re- 
sults to the country, was suspended ! 

It was then that Mr. Reynolds went abroad 
and gave five years of his life to the circumnavi- 
gation of the globe. He penetrated the South 
Seas, and sailed along the confines of the Antarc- 
tic circle. He confirmed, by personal investiga- 
tion, all the information previously derived from 
others, and, with an abiding conviction that honor, 
interest, duty, and humanity, called for this na- 
tional expedition, more than ever before, he 
returned to the United States, to that end, in 
1834, and renewed his labors before Congress, 
which were most happily triumphant. 



32 FIRST AMERICAN 



CHAPTER II. 

Our whale ships, in their untried paths, had, 
for years, been discovering new reefs, new is- 
lands, and new dangers ; and these facts were 
always communicated to whatever vessels they 
might chance to meet. Instead of the beaten 
track, these American whalers, after doubling 
Cape Horn, made their voyages along the Span- 
ish main. And, for more than thirty years, the 
European constructors of maps and charts ap- 
propriated this very information, obtained through 
Americans, to their own benefit, and without ever 
alluding to the name of the individuals from whom 
the information was derived. 

The annals of no other nation furnish the same 
record of daring and successful enterprise that is 
presented by the silent and unobtrusive action of 
the American fishermen ! 

Mr. Reynolds ascertained, from this pure and 
original source, the topography of the whole 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 33 

range of seas from the Pacific to the Chinese 
and Indian oceans, and visited Newport, New 
Bedford, and Nantucket, in 1828, to consult the 
log of each of the sturdy mariners he might find 
in port, and to commune with them on the great 
commercial importance of the national enterprise. 
So, of those engaged in the seal trade. The 
occupation of these men is still more adventurous 
and daring. In the smallest vessels they sweep 
the rocky shores of Patagonia, and the islands 
around Cape Horn, and the whole coast of South 
America. They skirt the eastern and western 
shores of Africa ; they circle the islands of the 
Pacific ; plunge into the Southern Ocean, and are 
often close to the limits of the Antarctic circle ! 
When the Emperor Alexander of Russia sent out 
two ships for discovery, they became, on one oc- 
casion, involved in a thick fog between the South 
Shetland Islands and Palmer's Land ; to their 
great astonishment, as it dissipated, they descried 
a small vessel, of fifty tons' burden, between their 
ships, with the American flag at the masthead ! 
The Russian commander hoisted his colors, and 
sent an invitation to the American captain to 
visit his ship. After the customary interchanges, 

the commodore inquired of the captain as to 

2* 



34 FIRST AMERICAN 

their present locality, and was informed that 
they were in sight of the South Shetland Isles ; 
" and if you wish to visit any of them in particu- 
lar," added the American, "it will afford me 
pleasure to be your pilot." "We were felicita- 
ting ourselves," said the Russian, " that we had 
made a discovenj, until the light showed us an 
American vessel alongside, which now offers to 
pilot me into port, where several of his own na- 
tion are at anchor ! We must surrender the 
enterprise to you Americans, and be content to 
follow in your train. I behold, before me, a 
pattern for the oldest nation of Europe, since, 
instead of making discoveries, I find here the 
American flag, a small fleet, and a pilot." 

Captain Palmer was the American, and the 
Russian commander, Stanjykowitsch, was so 
highly impressed, that he named the coast Palm- 
er's Land, which name is still inscribe don Rus- 
sian charts. 

Mr. Reynolds afterwards visited the whole of 
the extensive group of islands north of Palmer's 
Land. In 1831, a British vessel touched at a 
single spot, and substituted an English for the 
American name ! 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 35 



SECTION I. 

The memorial of the East India Marine Soci- 
ety, fully setting forth the enterprise of Ameri- 
cans in behalf of commerce, and urging the expe- 
dition, projected by Mr. Reynolds, slept in man- 
uscript until 1835, when it was communicated to 
Congress by a call of the House. 

The exposure of so many of our citizens to 
shipwreck on seas, on coasts, and among islands, 
without a chart to guide them, and often their 
massacre by savages, for lack of maritime power 
to enforce respect, had become alarming to that 
class of our countrymen engaged in maritime en- 
terprise ; for it was a well-known fact, that only 
a few years before, when the government sent 
the Potomac to avenge the savage slaughter of 
our citizens on the coast of Sumatra; on the 
news reaching here that the "Friendship" had 
been captured, the Department had not a single 
chart of that coast, against which it ordered a 
heavy armament ! And the captain, having to 
rely on his wits, with such information as he 
could gather, ran the frigate on the shore of 
Sumatra before he knew he was in anchoring 



/ 



36 FIRST AMERICAN 

distance ! At the beginning of the present cen- 
tury we had, at least, thirty vessels, in a single 
season, at the Island of Sumatra, on account of 
its trade in pepper. And the English and Dutch 
had almost allowed our sagacious merchants, by 
direct and indirect traffic, a monopoly of the com- 
merce of the Sunda Isles. And yet, there we 
were, with no chart by which to sail a United 
States vessel ! What a shame ! There, too, were 
the Fejee, or Betee Islands. Captain Cook named, 
but did not visit them. They consisted of fifty 
or sixty, without any data by which their harbors 
or dangers could be made known. 

We have seen how differently other nations 
have acted under like (circumstances. England, 
ambitious to rule the waves, paid, before 1770, 
three millions in bounties, to compete with the 
Dutch whale fisheries, and, before 1786, had 
drawn six millions, and upwards, for the same 
end ! The American whale fishermen never had 
a cent of bounty in all their lives ! 

These sailors, too, have been the best friends 
of the country ; and the fisheries reach the inter- 
ests of every class of our people. Oh, how many 
brave spirits have been the victims of mutiny 
and massacre, because the government remained 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 37 

so long indifferent to the fate of seamen, or the 
means to advance their welfare ! 

The capture of the ship Mentor, of New Bed- 
ford, December 6, 1831, illustrates our position. 
That vessel struck the rocks near the Pelew Is- 
lands, not then mentioned on any chart, and, after 
losing an officer and part of her crew among the 
breakers, the captain and remainder of the crew 
were made prisoners by the natives. The recital 
of the death of some of these, the barbarous 
treatment of others, and their escape, as well as 
the condition of those left as hostages in the 
hands of the Pelew chiefs, is enough to sicken 
the heart of the most obdurate. 



SECTION II. 

The question may now be asked, "Are the lives 
of our mariners less precious than those of for- 
eigners ?" We know that many ships, freighted 
with human souls, have sailed from our coasts, 
never to return. Other nations have not paused 
under like circumstances, to consider the expense. 
The French expedition to ascertain the fate of La 
Perouse, who commanded the Boussole, and As- 



38 FIRST AMERICAN 



trolabe, in 1791, was more creditable to that go- 
vernment than all its discoveries. The kings of 
Denmark bound themselves, by their coronation 
oaths, to protect their inhabitants when exposed 
to the Arctic regions. So, England no sooner 
knew that several of her whale ships were locked 
into the Arctic seas, than the Admiralty antici- 
pated the government. The expedition was fit- 
ted out, and the distinguished Captain Ross ten- 
dered the command. And the French govern- 
ment, subsequently, on learning the loss of the 
Silloise, in the polar seas, offered one hundred 
thousand francs to any nation that might extri- 
cate the suffering crew. 

Mr. Reynolds found the charts given of the 
Pacific defective, and islands, like the Gallapago 
group, without any chart indications whatever. 
The American whalers, therefore, were the con- 
stant prey of the natives. Our consul, at Oahu, 
wrote, at that time, to Commodore Downs, that 
often fifty or sixty Americans were confined in 
the fort, and not a single whaler entered without 
mutiny ensuing, and constant desertion thereby 
occurring. Similar reports were made from other 
consulates ; all going to prove that no commercial 
and free people should withhold their contribu 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 39 

tions, while a spot of ground remains on the 
whole earth unexplored ! 

Mr. Reynolds showed, by the most incontesta- 
ble evidence, that the national dignity and honor 
called for the expedition he had matured for the 
United States ; that our commanding position, as 
a commercial nation, required it, that nature and 
her laws must be better understood, in a country 
like ours, where so much mind is ready to act 
upon matter, in subserving the great purposes of 
life ; and that the astonishing progress we had 
made, imposed the duty upon our statesmen of 
making surveys of new islands, remote seas, and 
unknown territory. He, therefore, conceived a 
plan for our first national exploration, which 
should be worthy of the magnitude of its impor- 
tance ; and proposed that an enlightened body 
of naval officers should be joined harmoniously 
with a corps of the most scientific men of the 
country. 

Not only to attain to high southern latitudes, 
but to explore from the west coast of South 
America, running down the longitude among the 
islands, on both sides of the equator, especially 
south to the very shores of Asia, was the field to 
which Mr. Reynolds invited the attention of 



40 FIRST AMERICAN 

Congress and the country. His views of the 
detail were in exact accordance with those ex- 
pressed by Mr. Jefferson, in 1803, in instructions 
he gave to Merriwether Lewis, for the expedition 
across the continent. This letter settled the con- 
stitutional scruples of the strictest construction- 
ists, and stands side by side with the Delaration 
of Independence by the same author ! 

SECTION III. 

A religious not less than a commercial view 
called now for this enterprise. There is no other 
way to make known the "salvation of our God 
unto the ends of the earth " but in pursuing geo- 
graphy as a science. God, in His wise provi- 
dence, left the figure and magnitude of the earth 
for man's investigation, and has stimulated this 
exertion by the "unsearchable riches of Christ!" 
The Bible and missions follow the moral and 
political movements of this nation, and are close 
to the American navigator who ploughs the ocean 
for new islands or continents ! 

And while patriotism, science, and commerce 
have interests, that of the Protestant faith has 
still more staked upon these results ! In this 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 41 

connection with the utility of American researches, 
let us remember that those nations most prover- 
bial for wealth have scarcely a name in history, 
while the hardship and adventure of others, even 
though they failed to be successful, have been 
entitled to admiration and respect. 

It is well known that but two outlets exist to 
the Northern Polar Seas ; these are Bhering's 
Straits and the Spitzbergen Seas. Mr. Reynolds 
clearly demonstrated why the British navigators 
had failed in finding a northwest passage, which 
resulted entirely from adhering pertinaciously to 
the injudicious instructions of the British Ad- 
miralty. He maintained that the existence of 
this passage was no longer a question of doubt, 
and could be attained by keeping mid-channel 
through Bhering's Straits and rounding the head- 
land of our continent, thence into the Seas of 
Spitzbergen. He insisted, from the results of 
personal experience, that ice is never found in 
the main ocean, remote from the land — not even 
at the Pole itself ! And all subsequent investiga- 
tion has confirmed that assertion. 

The entire surrounding coast of the North 
Polar Seas is inhabited. The Laplanders and 
Fins occupy the European part ; the Samayedes 



42 FIRST AMERICAN 

and other rude tribes the Asiatic part, and they 
subsist on reindeer and fish — the Esquimaux race 
occupy the American part. Many large rivers of 
Asia send their sluggish currents of fresh water 
into the Polar Seas. This cause, on such an ex- 
tent of coast, produces ice, which is drifted by 
northern currents, in the spring, between Green- 
land and Spitzbergen. It there collects, and is 
finally forced by pressure into the adjacent bays 
and islands. This was the route on which the 
British expedition was bound, and necessarily 
impeded it. 

It was indeed remarkable that at the time Mr. 
Reynolds projected the first scientific expedition, 
there was more than one million and a half of 
square miles in the southern hemisphere that had 
never felt the footprint of man ! Nor had the 
keel of a single navigator ever divided its 
waters ! Who can tolerate such culpable na- 
tional neglect? Some may inquire, were no 
efforts made before those of this American to 
explore the high southern latitudes ? We answer 
that, in 1772, Captain Cook, accompanied by 
Lieutenant Freneau, made the first voyage in 
search of a southern continent. They got as far 
as sixty-eight degrees of south latitude, and there 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 43 

encountered ice of six or eight inches in thick- 
ness. It concentrated around the vessels, and 
sooner than attempt to go around the ice — sum- 
mer having almost closed — Captain Cook retro- 
graded, and went in pursuit of other discoveries 
northward. 

Had Cook possessed then the information Rey- 
nolds did, in 1834, he would have selected 
another meridian and pursued his journey south! 
For Reynolds proved that same ice to have come 
from large islands east from Palmer's Land. 

SECTION IV. 

In 1773, Captain Cook left New Zealand on 
his second search for southern lands. But again 
the ice arrested his progress ; and he declared it 
his opinion that the mass of crystallization ex- 
tended to the Pole, or joined to some land south- 
ward, which must be as frigid and sterile as the 
ice itself. 

Weddell, who attained in his day to a higher 
parallel than had been reached by any other 
man, did not agree with Cook at all, as to the 
ice extending to the Pole. His views encouraged 
Mr. Reynolds, and confirmed his own experience, 



44 FIRST AMERICAN 

although he denied Weddell's assertion that cold 
was more intense in the distant Antarctic regions 
than in the Arctic. Briscol subsequently went 
out in the employ of Messrs. Enderby, of London, 
in a whale ship, in 1832, and the existence of 
southern land seemed to have had confirmation 
by him. But the mainland taken by him, .in the 
name of his sovereign, had been visited by our 
own sealers fifteen years before, and furs were 
taken then, by our people, in the American 
name ! 

Mr. Reynolds had beheld, on board two vessels 
— one of one hundred and sixty, the other of 
eighty tons burden — the castellated region of 
the Antarctic, with its floating pyramids of ice ; 
and he declared it as his opinion, that the nine- 
tieth degree, or South Pole, could be reached by 
the navigator, and that the effort ought to be 
made by the country, in connection with other 
objects of the enterprise. 

Without government patronage he had sought 
adventure, and satisfied himself; and he plead, 
earnestly, before the Congress of his country, 
that it might sanction his project, only to add 
new lustre to the annals of American philosophy, 
and add nautical glories to the imperishable 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 45 

honor which connects itself with that name. He 
appealed to his countrywomen, at the same time, 
and contended that "their views of public meas- 
ures were the silken and golden threads in public 
opinion." And, when we consider that the jew- 
els which Isabella suspended from her person, 
enriched the world with a continent, when mon- 
archs hesitated, and ministers disputed, with ve- 
hemence and weak superlativeness, we shall not 
disclaim the fact, that it was woman, truly, who 
gave new hopes to liberty, when the race from 
whence it sprung was almost lost ! 

When our republic was in its infancy, the 
great Catharine, of Russia, sent to General 
Washington a request for the vocabularies of all 
the Indian tribes in our country. The result of 
this gave rise to a new science, which she insti- 
tuted, and has modified the grammars and lexi- 
cons of every language in Europe, which this 
science of philology now pervades. 

After Mr. Reynolds' admirable expose* of the 
nature and utility of the expedition to the South 
Seas, on the 3d of April, 1836, members of both 
Houses of Congress no longer doubted it was 
fully worthy of the patronage of the government. 
And, on the 14th of the succeeding month, they 



46 FIRST AMERICAN 

demonstrated that wise concurrence, by giving 
to it the sanction of law. It was clearly manifest 
that, by it, the capital of human knowledge would 
be extended, the boundaries of science enlarged, 
and a substantial fame would, thereby, be added 
to our great republic. 

SECTION V. 

Our statesmen were, then, convinced that it 
was the policy of the government to point out 
harbors for our seamen, and save them from 
captivity, shipwreck, and famine, on unknown 
coasts, rather than to keep a useless fleet up the 
Mediterranean, to contract the follies and vices of 
European aristocracies ; they, therefore, rightly 
estimated the value of this American deed, by 
the moral sublimity of the motives which had 
incited it. Congratulatory letters from men, 
eminent for learning and science, came to Mr. 
Reynolds from all sections of the country ; and 
a full interchange of their views as to the per- 
sonnel of the expedition was thus elicited. 

Hon. J. K. Paulding suggested the frigate 
"Macedonia 7 ' should be attached for the benefit 
of scientific pursuits and occupations ; and that 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 47 

Gaptain Catesby Jones should be appointed to the 
command. James E. De Kay thought the em- 
ployment of scientific citizens of the country a 
sine qua non, with such an harmonious arrange- 
ment as should impartially reward whoever might 
merit distinction. Professor Silliman, of Yale 
College, regarded the expedition so vital to na- 
tional honor, whether as connected with science, 
navigation, commerce, or the humanity of the 
country, that he urged, with great pertinacity, 
the acquisition of the highest scientific talent it 
possessed, without regard to the expense ; that 
meteorology, zoology, volcanoes, earthquakes, 
geology, mineralogy, magnetism, and electricity, 
osteology, entomology, ornithology, and natural 
history, generally, might each command its ap- 
propriate investigation. 

Hon. Benjamin Rodman, of New. Bedford, the 
home of the mariner, gave vent to his national 
and natural fervor at the same period, when ad- 
dressing his American brother : 

" I congratulate you on the success of your darling plan, and 
now there is a hope of a national duty being performed. I see no 
way that we can look for improvement, but by the means which, 
through your exertions, more than those of any other man living, 
are now appropriated for it ; and may Heaven bless you and the 
enterprise." 



48 FIRST AMERICAN 

Thus did Mr. Reynolds soon concentrate the 
wisdom and virtue of the people. The seamen 
felt a thrill of inward joy to find preparations for 
a more stable protection, and the merchant 
breathed more freely when he saw that the moral 
influence of the nation was about to be cast upon 
the side of commercial intelligence and enter- 
prise. But such had been the advancement of 
the age, that geographical discoveries and an 
amended chart, would not alone satisfy the men 
or the wants of our country. Animate as well 
as inanimate creation needed, therefore, a critical 
examination. And commanders of liberal minds 
and expanded views became essentially necessary 
to the expedition. In this spirit, Hon. Jos. Dela- 
field, President of the Lyceum of Natural His- 
tory of New York, after thanking Mr. Reynolds 
for the fund of information he had been, through 
him, enabled to communicate to that Institution, 
said : 

'Your [Reynolds'] efforts have been so far crowned with suc- 
cess. Your former services, present exertions, and the better part 
of a life devoted to the South Sea discoveries, have identified you 
with the expedition. We have long watched your untiring exer- 
tions in this matter, and trust the time has arrived when the wishes 
of your friends are to be gratified in learning that the superintend- 
ence or direction of the civil department is to be chiefly committed 
to you." 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 49 



SECTION VI. 

The time seemed now to have arrived when 
the gratification of discharging the debt for prac- 
tical science and intelligence, too long due foreign 
nations, could be experienced. How ? By taking 
our national stand on the same platform of prac- 
tical intelligence. This was the first opportunity, 
and is it wonderful with what eagerness our wise 
and prudent men embraced it ? 

Winslow Lewis, Jr., of the Society of Natural 
History of Boston, in common with other friends, 
addressed the Author of the expedition : 

"I congratulate you on the successful termination of your appli- 
cation to Congress, in behalf of a South Sea Expedition. It was to 
your unmeasured zeal and untiring exertions that this great under- 
taking owes its existence ; and I learn, with much satisfaction, that, 
it still continues to have the advantage of your personal presence 
and experience." 

And as science as well as commerce relied on 
this exploration to enlarge their boundaries, Mr. 
Lewis urged the propriety of a practical anato- 
mist to accompany the expedition, with a special 
view to the advancement of natural history. 

So desirable did it seem in all eyes that this, 

the first American voyage of discovery, should j 

3 



50 FIRST AMERICAN 

worthy of the genius and enterprise of the na- 
tion, that the whole mercantile influence of the 
country looked upon it as eminently conducive to 
the commerce and navigation of the country, as 
well as to human prosperity and happiness. 

Hon. H. D. Gilpin, of Philadelphia, in address- 
ing Mr. Reynolds, dwelt upon the necessity of 
calling men of real science to its aid — men of the 
same courage, disinterestedness, and persever- 
ance, as those who had distinguished expeditions 
of the kind in the Old World. 

"But," said he, "to yon who have studied the subject so fully, 
and devoted to it so much thought and experience, it is scarcely 
necessary to say anything as to the contemplated arrangement." 

It was so manifest that Mr. Reynolds, in ma- 
turing his plan, had consulted all the great Euro- 
pean voyagers of discovery, that there appeared 
an entire unanimity in the conclusion of the 
scientific corps of the country, as to the solid 
additions which would be added thereby to the 
treasures of knowledge. So we find Hon. Henry 
Junius Nott, suggesting the expediency of con- 
fining men to a single branch of science, if possi- 
ble, and insisting on the importance of having 
an individual familiar with the languages and 
with philology. 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 51 

" The commercial investigations," said Mr. Nott, to the author, 
" I presume you will take under your own charge. I am happy to 
learn the voyage to the South Pacific is resolved on, and one of 
your activity, perseverance, and practical good sense, is to be con- 
nected with it." 

"I have often had this question put to me," writes Captain 
Thomas AP C. Jones, "as to 'what situation, if any, will Mr. 
Reynolds occupy in the expedition ?' 

" The answer, I presume, is with yourself; for it cannot be de- 
nied that to you, and your unwearied exertions, is due the credit 
of so interesting the public on the subject, as to induce Congress to 
pass the law. Who, then, has a better claim to participate in its 
toils, and to share its honors, than he who may justly be called the 
originator of the voyage ? Who can bring so much valuable know- 
ledge, derived from various sources, some of which you alone have 
been permitted to draw from, as you could? I mean not to flatter, 
when I say, not another citizen of the United States. 

"Then it cannot be doubted but that any commander, qualified 
to conduct the enterprise as the law contemplates, as well as the 
executive head under whose auspices it will be sent out, will gladly 
avail themselves of your services, to aid them in organizing the 
scientific department, and further identify you with the expedition, 
by assigning yoii some honorable station in it." 

Captain Jones, in this same letter, showed, by 
luminous argument, why a frigate should be at- 
tached to the expedition ; why able officers should 
be engaged for that particular service ; why it 
should be both of a military and scientific char- 
acter ; and why Mr. J. N. Reynolds, the great 
projector, was entitled to paramount considera- 
tion in its connection. 

The fact that the United States had, up to 
that moment, done nothing but abandon its own 



52 FIRST AMERICAN 

survey of the coast ; that its books, maps, and 
charts, were but the imperfect productions of 
private individuals ; that England, France, Russia, 
and even Spain, had acquired a more accurate 
knowledge of the Atlantic and Pacific seas, was 
continually humiliating Americans, and subject- 
ing them to national and individual mortification 
abroad. In this view of the case, Hon. Caleb 
Cushing, present Attorney-General of the United 
States, then a member of Congress, thus ad- 
dressed Mr. Reynolds : 

" I think great credit is due to you for the successful exertions 
you have made to awaken the attention of the public, and of Con- 
gress, to this subject; and I hope that justice will be done to you 
in the arrangements to be made for the expedition." 

When at Madrid, Don Martin Fernandez de 
Navarette, a distinguished author and, then, su- 
perviser of the government bureau of maps and 
charts, in showing Mr. Cushing the advances of 
science, in all other enlightened nations, referred 
to the total absence of any from the opulent na- 
tion of the United States. For, even at that 
time, Topino had reaped precious results in the 
Mediterranean for Spain, and she had not been 
idle in collecting charts of the East and West 
India seas. 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 53 



CHAPTER III. 

There was another problem which this expe- 
dition was well calculated to solve, and in which 
every American has the deepest interest ; and 
this was the source of the aboriginal population 
of America. And strong hopes were now enter- 
tained that some American might by these means 
explain it. We had already taken the prize medal 
at the Royal Institute of Paris, for the best essay 
on the original languages of our country ; Mr. 
Duponceau, our countryman, was the author. 
But the fault of our people has been to study 
man too little, and hence the neglect of his dis- 
tinguishing characteristic, speech. 

In order to disseminate the benefits of our well 
organized society, and to extend the blessings of 
our heaven ordained government, we are called, 
as a people, to place high before mankind our 
elevated system of morals, and our pure Protes- 
tant religion. 



54 FIRST AMERICAN 

Who doubts that the science of philology, now 
eliciting the attention of the most remarkable 
talent of Europe, got its first impulse from a 
woman ? We all know that, when Catharine the 
Great, of Russia, made her vocabulary of two 
hundred names, and sent it to President Wash- 
ington, for specimens of the Indian languages of 
North America, which he furnished, that she no 
more penetrated the vastness of that effort to 
the world, than did Sir Humphrey Davy com- 
prehend the brilliant results to chemical science, 
when he deduced observations from a frog, sus- 
pended on an iron hook ! No more than New- 
ton, as he watched the apple which fell from his 
tree, foresaw its effect on the laws of gravitation ! 

The facts, then, alone are needed, to bring to 
philology the prestige Cuvier has given to 
geology ! These must be had by studying the 
unwritten languages of the earth. In no other 
way, can we reach the affinity one nation bears to 
another. This science already has dispelled much 
that was fabulous and superstitious. The gypsies, 
a remarkable race, dispersed over Europe, and 
occasionally migrating to our own country, are 
shown by their language to belong to Hindosian, 
and not Egypt, as was supposed. The Hunga- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 56 

rian and Laplander, though geographically apart, 
are found to have a common origin. The Sand- 
wich-Islander and the inhabitant of Otaheite, 
though twenty-five thousand miles distant, 
sprang from one family ! Seeing, therefore, how 
great an addition might be made to this science, 
by the American exploration to the South Seas, 
Hon. John Pickering, of Massachusetts, offered 
Mr. Reynolds his suggestions on the great impor- 
tance of employing a competent individual for this 
branch of knowledge, in which, so much of 
moment to the country might be attained. 

SECTION I. 

Nor were his thoughts on this matter peculiar, 
for we find similar suggestions, supported by 
argument and learning, from the pen of the dis- 
tinguished Charles Anthon of New York. It has 
been a favorite theory with the learned professor, 
that the early races of the American continent 
were identical with those from whence the inhabi- 
tants of the South Sea Islands have descended. 
The mummies found in the caves of the West, 
with the accompanying fabrics, strongly resemble 
those of the Sandwich, and other islands of the 



56 FIRST AMERICAN 

Pacific. The language, which would decide the 
question, he thought, the expedition would then 
test. All the knowledge of the Indo-Grermanic 
languages was acquired by this science, and this 
might be the time to fill the gap in the early his- 
tory of the American nation ! 

Mr. Reynolds, like his friend, had given much 
research to this subject, and they alike concluded, 
as we believe justly, that the North American 
Indians never were the original settlers of America?! 
soil ! 

As might have been expected, the joy of Pro- 
fessor Anthon was soon indicated to Mr. Reynolds, 
and supposing he had accepted the appointment 
of corresponding secretary, in the intended South 
Sea expedition, he referred to it as a just mark 
of executive favor ; and adds : 

" If I know you well (and our long acquaintance leads me to think 
I have some claim to that privilege), no one could have been selected 
at the head of the scientific corps, better calculated to bring all 
things into full operation, and to direct them in such a way, as 
must lead to ultimate success. A mere naval officer would not have 
answered for such a post. A mere civilian would have been 
equally unfit. An individual was required, who should be conver- 
sant with both elements, and in whom enlarged and liberal views 
should be found. Not the result of information obtained from 
others, but the offspring of his own matured and manly intellect. 
I am glad to find that our executive has had the good sense and 
discrimination to select such an individual. It would have been 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 57 

too bad for another to have reaped the harvest of praiso, after 
your untiring exertions had fostered so goodly a crop. Let me con- 
gratulate you, and express the earnest hope of the final success, 
which awaits yourself, your companions, and our common country." 

Professor Josiah F. Gibbs, of Yale College, 
soon seconded the motion of Professor Anthon, 
for an anthropologist and philologist. To the 
former, the physical conformations, features, 
complexions, habits, customs, political institu- 
tions, languages, traditions, literature, and, above 
all, the moral and religious impressions of the 
people, belonged for investigation. To the lat- 
ter, the phonology, or sound of language, its rad- 
ical words, its syntax, etc. Thus, the connection 
of the different tribes of men can be learned, and 
their common origin defined ; their progress and 
present location. This discovery in language is 
a new development of the human mind, and will 
become the best means of learning its operations. 

Except the mountains of the Moon, in Central 
Africa, the South Sea explorations promised 
more new facts from an investigation of the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms, than any part 
of the known world. Professor Charles Gray, 
of the Lyceum of Natural History, New York, 
zealous in support of the expedition, communi- 

3* 



58 FIRST AMERICAN 

cated with Mr. Reynolds upon the necessity of a 
practical botanist to be connected with the expe- 
dition. "We remember that the East India Com- 
pany set an example, worthy of imitation, in the 
splendid botanical collections of her Wallich ; 
and, in a commercial, as well as purely scientific 
view, it seemed impossible to compute the value 
of vegetable discoveries to the enterprise of the 
nation. 

Zoology, too, came in for its proper and im- 
portant share in Mr. Reynolds' programme of 
the South Sea expedition. He perceived that 
the original character of the inhabitants of the 
islands of the Pacific was rapidly changing ; that 
the globe itself was occupied by a race of people, 
totally unlike their early progenitors, so that it 
was impossible for us to say from whence our 
own species sprang ; and that very much may be 
gathered from the animals, which are found, in a 
newly discovered country, to give an idea of the 
character of its inhabitants. The tortoise, huge 
and helpless, for example, would not have been 
found at the Galapagos had it not been evidently 
useful to that people. With these ideas, Dr. 
Charles Pickering, of Philadelphia, pressed upon 
Mr. Reynolds the great propriety of giving to 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 59 

this branch of science the amplest scope for in- 
vestigation. 

SECTION II. 

The patriotism which dictated Mr. Reynolds 
to collect all possible light, in aid of the expedi- 
tion, was fully impressed, at this period, upon 
the intelligence of the country. The safety of 
our commerce, and our seamen, and the national 
honor, were all involved. The three great pow- 
ers of Europe had concentrated all the knowledge 
of a maritime nature on the globe, and now, 
the first step to place us in their rank in mari- 
time discoveries, was presented ! Hon. A. Beau- 
mont, of the House of Representatives, and Pe- 
ter S. Duponceau, of Philadelphia, expressed 
similar views in their letters to the author of the 
expedition, at the same period. 

When the bill, authorizing the exploration, was 
on its final passage in the House, a very large 
majority of the members voted for it, headed by 
the Hon. John Quincy Adams. It was then that 
the Hon. Mr. Hamer, of Ohio, the friend and 
neighbor of Mr. Reynolds, addressed that honor- 
able body. Mr. H. said : — 

"He bad known Reynolds from his boyhood, and knew bim 



60 FIRST AMERICAN 

well. He came from his neighborhood, in Ohio, where he was 
educated, and studied law. He was a man of as pure principles 
and fair character, as any man on that floor. His efforts in this 
cause had been wholly free from any selfish considerations, and, in 
all he had done, in the last seven or eight years, to promote it, he 
had been actuated by those feelings of patriotism which should ani- 
mate every American heart. He had no doubt, if the expedition 
was authorized, Mr. Reynolds would be employed to accompany 
it ; for he possessed more information in regard to those seas, and 
was, every way, better calculated to make the expedition what it 
ought to be, than any man within the circle of his acquaintance. 
He was in possession of all the facts in reference to that portion of 
the globe which was to be examined and explored, and he possessed 
the entire confidence of all who knew him. His writings had at- 
tracted the attention of men of letters ; and literary societies and 
institutions had conferred upon him some of the highest honors 
they had to bestow. Still, this gentleman, who was an honor to 
Ohio, and the whole country, might not accompany the expedition. 
But that fact would have no influence upon his course. Mr. H. was 
authorized to say that Mr. Reynolds' zeal for the success of the 
measure, and for the interest of the expedition, would continue un- 
abated ; and whatever he could do to ensure its prosperous termi- 
nation would be cheerfully performed." 

Public opinion, the great moral element of 
triumph, was now strongly on the side of this 
national enterprise. Members of eight different 
State Legislatures, viz. : New York, New Jersey, 
Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina and Ohio, had recommended it 
to Congress. 

The Bast India Marine Society of Massachu- 
setts, whose members had doubled either Cape 
Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, pressed it with 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. f»l 

zeal and fervor. Two distinguished commanders 
in the American Navy, Commodore Downs and 
Captain Jones, defined its utility, and urged it as 
a practical business affair, and adopted every 
view expressed by Mr. Reynolds, in his able 
address before the Committee of Naval Affairs. 

The subject of the expedition, be it remem- 
bered, had been for eight years before Congress, 
when it was finally authorized. It had been 
twice adopted- by the House, and once by the 
Senate of the United States. The first of these 
resolutions passed in 1827, *2 8, the bill in 1828, 
'29, which was not acted upon by the Senate for 
want of time. The want of funds prevented the 
first action of Congress being made effective. 
No thoughts of disunion then entered into their 
calculations of this expedition. On the contrary, 
nothing seemed so well designed to render a 
people, one and indivisible. 

It was in all respects such a one as Thomas 
Jefferson endorsed, when he sent Lewis and Clark 
to the Rocky Mountains, to open the resources 
of the country, commune with the nations, and 
add to the treasures of science and general 
national intelligence. It was but a counterpart 
of those instructions, given by Mr. Monroe in 



62 FIRST AMERICAN 

1822, to Major Long, and those afterwards sub- 
mitted to Mr. Featherstonhaugh, the geologist, 
when the government sent him to Arkansas. 

Mr. Hassler made charts of materials he got 
within the very sight of our coast. Gedney had 
discovered a channel at the City of New York, 
two feet deeper than any known to the oldest 
inhabitant, or the most sagacious pilot. If such 
exhibitions of nautical science were to be made 
upon our constantly travelled, waters, how much 
more did the people of the United States engaged 
in the commercial marine, need this survey in the 
South Seas ? For as far North or South as our 
naval fleet had penetrated, it never lost view of 
our commercial marine. Commerce is to our 
country the very pulsation of life ! Its myste- 
rious channels make the revenues, and supply 
the means by which we exist as a nation ! It is 
the duty of the supreme legislature, and the 
interest of the sovereign people, therefore, to 
give every facility to its advancement ! 

SECTION III. 

Hon. Michael Hoffman, Chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Naval Affairs in 1828, requested Mr. 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 63 

Reynolds to furnish in writing, or otherwise, the 
advantages to commerce, by the exploring expe- 
dition to the South. So entirely satisfactory was 
Mr. Reynolds' response, so full of interesting 
detail, so familiar with the rank of every article 
of commercial benefit, that on the 14th of March, 
Mr. Ripley reported, that the information the 
committee had thus derived, was so entirely cor- 
roborated by that furnished through experienced 
naval officers, who had made reports by order of 
the Secretary of the Navy, on the subject, that 
they recommended the appropriation asked by 
Mr. Re}molds, and reported a bill for that pur- 
pose. Hon. Samuel L. Southard, then Secretary 
of the Nav}% gave briefly, but cogently, his rea- 
sons for favoring the expedition Mr. Reynolds 
had projected. 

In 1835, Mr. Reynolds' report of September 
21th, 1828, was ordered by the House, and it 
was requested by Mr. Dickinson, then Secretary 
of the Navy, that it should be returned to the 
naval archives. This report was addressed to 
Hon. Samuel L. Southard, and furnishes a well 
digested mass of facts, in regard to the islands, 
reefs, commerce and hydrography of the Pacific 
and Indian Oceans ; and which it is incredible 



64 FIRST AMERICAN 

almost to believe, could have been acquired by 
the researches of a single man, in the longest 
lifetime ! 

Mr. Reynolds in this document declared, 
"Power, judiciously exhibited, to be the great 
peace-maker of the world 1" He maintained that 
it was for our interest and honor, to be acquainted 
with the capacities of the globe, and to know 
what resources can be drawn from the great com- 
mon of nations, the ocean. That in South 
America, where new states and empires had 
arisen, our navy had enforced our greatness and 
our prosperity upon them. That we owed it to 
the merchant, who had put millions into the chan- 
nel of trade, before one cent was ever given by 
the government for his protection, to send out 
this United States naval expedition, on his ac- 
count. That whale ships could not become dis- 
coverers without detriment to their especial 
interest and business ; that the Northwest coast 
trader had a more definite object and -direct path 
than the whaler. That we could no more support 
our national importance without a navy, than 
our navy could be supported without commerce ! 
That we had not sent forth a particle of our 
strength, or expended a dollar of our money, to 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 65 

add to the commercial and geographical informa- 
tion, except in partially exploring our own ter- 
ritory ! That we actually conducted our prizes 
into port, by the maps and charts of the people 
we had vanquished ! He appealed to the people 
of the United States, if it was honorable to 
repose on the knowledge furnished by other 
nations, and remain all the time idle ? 

Tyre, Greece, Carthage, Venice, and Florence, 
even after their opulence was gone, left the means 
of acquiring wealth and honor to succeeding ages. 
Their commercial and naval monuments were 
left standing ! As the Argonautic expedition 
opened a new path to commerce, and aggrandized 
its own country, so have the adventures of every 
people on the face of the globe gratified the 
avarice or pride of their country, and been the 
theme of commemoration for future ages ! Our 
commerce has been extending everywhere since 
we became a nation, and yet it had been protected 
nowhere ! 

The English, French, Spanish, Danish, Nea- 
politan, Norwegian, and Barbary powers, had 
cheated and insulted us. They laid out their 
milestones and guide-boards, and kept us in lead- 
ing strings ! 



66 FIRST AMERICAN 

" The spirit ot the nation," said Mr. Keynolds, " is aroused, and 
will never sleep again; honor, justice, feeling, conscious physical 
strength, all forbid it. We fear no storms, no icebergs, no monsters 
of the deep in any sea. We will conduct ourselves with prudence, 
discretion and judgment; and if we succeed, the glory and profit 
will be yours, citizens of the United States. If we perish in our 
attempts, we alone shall suffer, for the very inquiry after us will 
redound to your honor !" 



SECTION IV. 

The memorial of the people of Nantucket, 
stated that there were more than one hundred 
and fifty islands, reefs and shoals, known to our 
whalemen, not laid down on any chart ; and 
around these, floated nearly forty thousand tons 
of our shipping ! Think, oh think, of the 
amount of life and property of this nation, then 
at the mercy of concealed dangers ! 

Had not our country once been agitated from 
centre to extreme by the capture of a few Ameri- 
can citizens by the powers of Barbary ? Did not 
the people then spontaneously proffer to bear the 
expense of their liberation ? And when the fate 
of enterprising navigators depended, probably, 
on some hidden reef or island, was it less a 
duty to respond to the wants of our suffering 
countrymen ? The touching solicitude Mr. Rey- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 67 

nolds felt on this point, is best expressed in his 
own terse and beautiful language : 

"Everything conspires to urge us forward at this time. The 
advantage of commerce to science and national glory, seems now 
to be sealed and sanctified by the calls of humanity and an impe- 
rious duty. I wish not to be importunate, nor do I fear that I am, 
for the accumulated weight of circumstances is above all argu- 
ment and entreaty, as it strikes the heart and the understanding 
at the same time. 

" The future safety of our mariners demands this expedition ; tho 
advancement of commerce, and our navigating interests demand it ; 
the people demand it; and our national honor cannot Buffer this 
fact to go abroad, and not carry with it the probability of some effort 
for future information and security." 

This appeal, so characteristic of the intellect 
and energy of the author, recalls the remarks of 
the gifted Irish orator, Burke, in his celebrated 
speech in the English Parliament, on American 
conciliation : 

" As to the wealth which the Colonies have drawn from the sea 
by their fisheries, you had all that matter fully opened at your bar. 
You surely thought those acquisitions of value, for they seemed 
even to excite your envy; and yet the spirit by which that enter- 
prising employment has been exercised, ought rather, in my opin- 
ion, to have raised your esteem and admiration. And pray, sir, 
what in the world is equal to it? Pass by the other parts, and 
look at the manner in which the people of New England have of 
late carried on the whale fisheries, whilst we follow them among 
the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into 
the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay, and Davis's Straits ; 
whilst we are looking for them beneath the Arctic circle, we hear 
that they have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold ; that 
they are at tho antipodes, and engaged under the frozen Serpent of 



68 FIRST AMERICAN 

the South. Falkland Island, which seemed too remote and roman- 
tic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and 
resting-place in the progress of their victorious industry. 

" Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them than the 
accumulated winter of both the Poles. "We know that whilst some 
of them draw the line, and strike the harpoon, on. the coast of 
Africa, others run the longitude, and pursue their gigantic game 
along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed by their fish- 
eries. No climate that is not witness to their toils. Neither the 
perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the dexter- 
ous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever carried this most 
perilous mode of hard industry to the extent to which it has been 
pushed by this recent people ; a people who are still, as it were, but 
in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood." 

Mr. Reynolds presented to Congress a list 
of four hundred newly discovered islands, run- 
ning through a series of consecutive years, and 
showed, thereby, that a thorough examination 
of these seas was needed, to encourage that class 
of our citizens who were absolutely engaged in 
the most dangerous service known to the coun- 
try, as well as for the preservation of our com- 
merce. The coast of California had been only 
imperfectly surveyed, Mr. Reynolds stated, at 
that period ; Vancouver had only partially ex- 
amined it, from Ceros Island, north ; and many 
islands, bays, harbors, and reefs, on that portion 
of the Pacific coast, had not been mapped. That 
our cruisers had extended from the coasts of 
Peru and Chili to the northwest coast of New 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. P»9 

Zealand, and the Isles of Japan ; and several 
vessels had been wrecked on islands, and reefs, 
not laid down ! He sustained himself by records 
which proved that there were, then, at least, one 
hundred and seventy thousand tons of shipping, 
twelve thousand men, and twelve millions of 
capital invested in the whaling and fur business, 
on our coasts, which derived from the govern- 
ment no more aid, as American interests, than 
those of Patagonia or New Zealand would have 
received ! 

This immense fleet of four hundred and sixty 
sail, from forty distinct ports, scattered along the 
seaboard of seven different States, made one 
tenth of all the tonnage of the United States ! 
And the fisheries, alone, even at that time, con- 
tributed over six millions, annually, to the wealth 
of the country. 

SECTION V. 

And now, having given the origin of the First 
American Exploring Expedition, we shall pro- 
ceed to show how far that expedition executed 
the intention of Congress, and the design of its 
distinguished projector, Hon. J. N. Reynolds. 



70 FIRST AMERICAN 

In examining into the detail of the present ex- 
ecutive action, and of the cabal who have sought 
to shear from the navy of our country so much 
of its glory, the author found, in the public ar- 
chives, a case so remarkably illustrative of the 
same mysterious influence, so eminent for deep 
and base envy, and malignity towards elevated 
merit, which characterized this present action, 
that she at once seized upon the facts, in con- 
nection with the origin and history of the First 
American Exploring Expedition ; and will show 
that, as incompetent officials who occupied, but 
did not Jill, positions of authority, under the 
government, defeated the magnitude of the en- 
terprise, as designed by its author, so has justice 
to the wronged covered with denunciation the 
men, upon whom rests the responsibility of hav- 
ing defeated the spirit and intent, nay, the very 
letter of the law, which authorized the late 
" Navy Retiring Board !" 

A year after the law of Congress ordering the 
expedition, its departure seemed more and more 
doubtful in the public view. The people could 
not account for the delay, as the commissioners 
had reported to the President, in January, 1836, 
that the Macedonia could be ready for sea in 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 71 

ninety days. It was now 1837! Hon. Mahlon 
Dickerson was known to have opposed the en- 
terprise in the preceding Congress, and urged 
members "to strike it out." But, as Secretary 
of the Navy, his obligations ought to have im- 
posed obedience to the law's behests. While this 
delay continued, the French government, seeing 
the future glories arising from this expedition to 
our young nation, aroused her maritime powers, 
and actually sent, well-equipped, three expedi- 
tions to the South Seas, each with a frigate, and 
was preparing a fourth expedition, before the 
Secretary of the Navy had done any thing that 
looked like sincerity in the matter ! 

No one would have believed that we were the 
descendants of that energetic people who, in 
1797, when the French Directory insulted them, 
felled the oak from the forest, and built and 
manned their sloops of war, and were pouring 
their hot shot into the French cruisers in the 
West India Islands, within one hundred days 
from the time the order was given to build the 
vessels ! President Jackson, it was well-known, 
was fully resolved that the expedition should go 
out, wanting in nothing that could tend to pro- 
mote its ultimate object, or complete its triumph. 



72 FIRST AMERICAN 

He was of too lofty a spirit to comprehend the 
design of the petty action of this contemptible 
cabal, ancf, even in sickness, his heart was full 
of the greatness of the enterprise ! In the mean- 
while, there was a secret action designed, at last, 
to strangle it, of which the General's philosophy 
had not dreamed. In order to derange the whole 
plan, and render it inadequate to meet the ex- 
pectations of the country, of the President, and 
of Congress, Mr. Dickerson, after devising other 
means for delay, called a committee, some thir- 
teen months after the law passed, to assist him 
in adopting means requisite for the exploration. 

Commodores Chauncey, Morris, Warrington, 
Patterson and Wadsworth, tried and trusty men, 
were assigned that unpleasant duty. For what 
could have been more so, than to be summoned 
to sit in judgment, upon the deliberate opinions 
of the people of the United States, in Congress 
assembled ? What more so, than to review the 
action of the President of the country, who had 
most thoroughly examined, not after President 
Pierce's fashion, but in sincerity and honesty, the 
character, scope and design of the expedition. 
But President Jackson had now been succeeded 
by Martin Yan Buren, or this board would never 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 7 6 

have been instituted. The high hopes and expec- 
tations of the nation, would not have been so 
slighted, and its aspirations for an enviable fame, 
as well as for permanent benefit and distinction, 
spurned ! 

The instructions given to this body, were, so 
far as a perversion of the law was concerned, sim- 
ilar to those given by Mr. Dobbin to his Council 
of " Fifteen!" The major object of the expedi- 
tion was singularly omitted ! The great commer- 
cial interests among the islands of the Pacific, and 
the many ways by which science might be ele- 
vated, and the interest of the country extended, 
were all passed over, without scarcely an allu- 
sion. The whole purpose and plan was misrepre- 
sented, when this board were told that "The 
expedition was to explore the Seas of the 
Northern Hemisphere, more particularly in high 
latitudes, and in regions near the South Pole as 
could be approached without danger." etc. 

SECTION VI. 

Mr. Dickerson, then Secretary of the Navy, is 
now no more. And we shall therefore forbear to 
make any other comment on his action than 



74 FIRST AMERICAN 

the truth of history imperiously demands, when 
justice is vindicated. In all the private relations 
of life, that gentleman was amiable and courteous, 
and he lived and died above reproach. But he, 
most unfortunately, was surrounded by a clique 
of small officers and vicious men, who possessed 
neither heads nor hearts of sufficient capacity to 
grasp the objects contemplated by this expedition. 
Men, who could no more comprehend the value 
of national renown, than they could build a world ! 
Men, who had no higher ideas of the navy, than 
to subserve their own interests, and overlooked 
the fact that it was made to give glory to the 
republic, and not to aggrandize themselves ! 

In a word, Mr. Dickerson was very much in 
the same category after the law of 183G, that 
Mr. Dobbin was after that of 1855 ! Both sur- 
rendered to weak and bad influences, and both 
proved, that any other place, than that of Secre- 
tary of the Navy, would have been better for 
themselves, better for their country ! When men 
commit felony on their own reputations, public 
opinion rises abovcparty, and fixes its imperisha- 
ble seal of condemnation where it belongs ! 
Witlithis remark, we proceed to treat the con- 
spirators to destroy the enterprise as the real 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 75 

perpetrators of the act designed to throw back, 
with contempt, a solemn law of Congress upon 
its members, and upon the country ! 

We say the instructions given the board, were 
a willful perversion of the object of the expedi- 
tion. They knew very well that the memorials 
which came to Congress from that portion of our 
fellow citizens who had most interest in our com- 
merce, elicited from the members the greatest 
consideration. 

General Ripley's report in 1828, and Hon. 
Dutee J. Pearce's in 1835, were luminous and 
unanswerable arguments, in favor of protection 
to our fisheries in the North and South Pacific 
and Indian Oceans. These men had seen Com- 
modore Downs' letter, too, after he had circumna- 
vigated the globe in the Potomac, as well as the 
original report of Hon. J. N. Reynolds on "the 
islands, reefs, and shoals of the Pacific," in which 
there was irresistible evidence of the labor to be 
performed by the expedition, among the thousand 
islands laid down, through error, on the charts, as 
well as among those that had no place assigned 
them on these maps. In the very face of this 
knowledge, upon which such earnest comment had 
been made on the floor of Congress, this board 



76 FIRST AMERICAN 

were directed to look mainly to the means of 
getting to the South Pole, or near it, and to see 
if the present force be not too large, for that sin- 
gle object! We, see then, the mournful spectacle 
before us, of a high, but weak official, attempt- 
ing to cut down the first national expedition 
undertaken by this great republic, and that, too, 
in the very face of a solemn law of the land ! If 
this cabal had taken the trouble to have searched 
among the archives of the Navy Department, they 
would have seen enough to convince them of the 
effect of a large force, in accomplishing the pur- 
poses of the expedition as designed. In 1824, 
the British Government sent Lord Byron in the 
Frigate Blonde, to the Sandwich, and other 
islands. What was the effect ? Why, these sav- 
ages at once were impressed with the belief that 
no nation on earth could equal the greatness of 
the English ! And the result upon the American 
residents and traders in that quarter was so un- 
fortunate, in consequence, that they wrote to 
Commodore Hull, then in command of the Pacific 
Squadron, to send a frigate immediately to 
remove or modify the effect the Blonde had pro- 
duced. Mr. Southard, then Secretary, sent the 
Frigate Potomac to Quallah-Battoo, to chastise 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 77 

the Malays, whose hands had been stained with 
the blood of our countrymen. And more real 
and lasting benefit ensued, than a dozen sloops of 
war could have accomplished. 



78 FIRST AMERICAN 



CHAPTER IV. 

When the French had not one-tenth of our 
interest afloat in the North and South Pacific 
oceans, they sent three frigates to these seas, to 
extend and protect their trade, and subserve the 
cause of science. Mr. Reynolds had taught the 
tricksters, but they forgot the lesson, that where 
our commerce was, there must be our navy to 
guard its interests ! And every speech made up- 
on the subject of the enterprise, which had been 
scattered over the nation, was a withering rebuke 
to the maladministration of the Navy Depart- 
ment, in convoking a naval board, to draw from 
it a report, to justify the reduction of the force 
the law authorized for the expedition. To show 
the miserable subterfuges of this cabal, it is only 
necessary to state, that, at one time they declared 
the idea of going to regions near the South Pole, 
was sheer nonsense ! While at another, they 
made it the primary object of the enterprise, in 
their instructions to the board ! 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 79 

The truth about the matter was, that Mr. 
Dickerson was opposed so thoroughly to the ex- 
pedition, that although Congress had passed a law 
authorizing, and made ample provision to carry 
it into effect, he could not, as the servant of the 
government, so far sink his own individual en- 
mity, as to implicitly execute the act, as he was 
bound to have clone, and therefore allowed 
these men to rule. President Jackson overruled 
them, as soon as he saw the delay, and the Globe, 
on the 13th July, 1836, announced his order to 
have the Macedonia, two brigs of two hundred 
tons each, one or more tenders, and a storeship, 
immediately fitted out ; and, that Captain Thomas 
Ap C. Jones, had been appointed to the com- 
mand, and officers for the ofher vessels were about 
being selected. As soon as this official notice 
appeared, the clique sent Mr. Dickerson to the 
President, to correct a misunderstanding in his 
mind, by arguing, that ' ' protection of our com- 
merce," " the impression of our force," " our 
character, policy, and power," could not belong 
to an expedition intended only for high latitudes ! 
The next excuse made for the delay, was the im- 
possibility of procuring men. 

No conspirators ever labored so zealously to 



80 FIRST AMERICAN 

defeat an enterprise as they did the First Ameri- 
can Exploring Expedition ! They held up the 
scientific corps as an encroachment on the rights 
of naval officers, and went so far as to say, that 
these officers should fix their salaries, or, at least, 
protest against this compensation exceeding a cer- 
tain annual sum ! Thus was jealousy fomented 
between officer and citizen ! There is no title of 
which a son of our soil may feel more proud than 
that of citizen. And who but they make our 
navy, and support and judge its officers ? 

It was no reproach to the navy that the varied 
scientific knowledge a national expedition re- 
quired, called for men in an entirely different line 
of action from that for which their duties unquali- 
fied them. It was a world wide fact that, while 
our national vessels had sailed round the globe, 
no record of a laborious scientific research existed ! 
Instead of checking a disorganizing spirit, then, 
at its first inception, the Secretary actually en- 
couraged it, as a means most fatal to the enter- 
prise ! He designated the scientific corps as mere 
oyster or clam catchers ! And so determined was 
he to dispirit and annoy these men, that, although 
Congress made a specific appropriation for their 
compensation, from the 1st of January, 1837, 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 81 

their pay was withheld, and they were kept from 
active duty, until the 4th of July, of that year ! 

It was, really, a most humiliating position, un- 
der which we were thus placed before the en- 
lightened nations of the world. That our coun- 
try which, in the American Revolution, captured 
by her private armed ships, fifteen hundred sail 
from the enemy, broke the charm of British in- 
vincibility by sea, and humbled the spirited cor- 
sairs of the Mediterranean, should now, after 
marching into the front rank of nations, be 
thrown into derangement and excitement about 
manning a small squadron with a few hundred 
seamen ! But such was actually the case ! And, 
although the memorialists, committees, members 
of Congress, and the press, urged that a frigate 
and other vessels be at once fitted out for the 
expedition, it was, positively, fourteen months 
after the passage of the law, when the public 
were informed that "the only insurmountable 
difficult])" was finding the requisite men, "in 
three or four months, without interfering with 
arrangements already made!" Thus, did the 
cabal expedite that voyage of discovery ! Con- 
gress went so far as to make a special grant for 
the increase of the seamen's wages, at the pre- 

4* 



82 FIRST AMERICAN 

vious session, but every dollar of it was withheld 
from the poor sailors who were shipped for the 
expedition. 

SECTION I. 

Commodore Jones, too, was offered the "ex- 
traordinary facility" of detailing officers to visit 
New Bedford, New London, etc., for the purpose 
of procuring crews, but that inducement which is 
well known to be essential to cause men to ship, 
either in the merchant or naval service, was 
withheld, as no money for advances was allowed 
to these officers ! And it was an undeniable fact 
that, after prime haifds had consented, in New 
Bedford and other districts, and the commander 
of the squadron approved the requisition of an 
officer for one thousand dollars to pay the passage 
of these men to the naval rendezvous, the Secre- 
tary refused to cash the draft ! On another occa- 
sion, fourteen sailors reported themselves ready 
for enlistment, at the office of an agent, in Alex- 
andria, D. C. The agreement was about being 
consummated, when the officer repaired to Wash- 
ington, to ascertain whether the thirty dollars, 
the usual advance, should be charged to the men, 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. So 

or whether, in compliance with the special provi- 
sion of Congress, that sum should be allowed as 
bounty. Before he had time even to make the 
inquiry, he was ordered to return the money 
placed in his hands forthwith to the treasury, and 
tell the seamen to "go to Norfolk upon their 
own hook ! and ship there." Of course, not one 
was so insane as to obey ! 

Such were the "extraordinary efforts," and 
such the "extraordinary success," in procuring 
men for the First Exploring Expedition of our 
country ! The belief that the feeling of the De- 
partment was enlisted against the measure, now 
became general throughout the nation. The fact 
that the uncertainty about the sailing of the ex- 
pedition had so long prevailed, and the non-al- 
lowance of the extra pay Congress had provided 
for the crew, soon had a chilling effect upon its 
ardent advocates. It was, evidently, the design 
of the Department to create the idea that great 
privation would follow this service, and all the 
wages of the crew would be expended in provi- 
ding clothing for the icy latitudes near the South 
Pole ! And the public mind was not long in 
comprehending the " facilities " which this great 
national enterprise received from the Navy De- 



84 FIRST AMERICAN 

partment. With ordinary effort, the whole com- 
plement of every vessel might have been shipped 
in sixty or ninety days after the passage of the 
law, and that, too, without interfering with the 
protection of our commerce, or with the regular 
action of the naval service. The men, as we 
have shown, stood ready to enlist for the cruise ; 
men, who would have honored the expedition ! 
The public records, also, show that when the 
Department reported to the President, and, 
through him, to Congress, that " the frigate and 
storeship, which were on the stocks when this meas- 
ure was authorized, have been finished and equipped, 
and are now receiving their crews ;" that the ships 
were not finished, were not equipped, were not re- 
ceiving their crews! So far from it, it was not 
until the next June, six months after this official 
statement, that the frigate was completed, and in a 
condition to receive her complement of men ! When 
that report was made of the frigate's readiness 
for the expedition, she had not a single bulkhead 
up, or a yarn over the masthead ! 

We find, in this most incongruous report, that, 
after the foregoing statement, the President was 
informed that the Department had not "yet at- 
tempted to organize the scientific corps," but 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 85 

would as soon as " the accommodations were ready 
for them in the vessels." The reader can make 
his own comments upon this singular consistency ! 
Now, every man and woman of common sense 
would know that the organization of a corps of 
men for scientific purposes had nothing to do with 
their apartments on shipboard ! No, no ; that was 
all the merest skulking of the cabal. But, one 
day, in December, a distinguished member of 
Congress remarked to the President, that ' ' no 
appointments for the expedition had been yet 
made for the civil department." General Jack- 
son, surprised, rang his bell, and summoned the 
Secretary to attend at 12 o'clock! In three days 
from that time, the scientific corps were commis- 
sioned ! And, to him, the sole credit is due for 
the able, efficient, and scientific board, which 
were attached to that exploration. 

SECTION II. 

Some may inquire, what reason was assigned 
to the President for not having made these ap- 
pointments before ? Why, that Mr. Secretary 
was waiting for a new appropriation by Congress ! 
But the General very soon dismissed that excuse, 



86 FIRST AMERICAN 

by showing, from incontestable documentary evi- 
dence, that more than one hundred thousand dollar?, 
of the last year's appropriation, were at that very 
time unexpended. 

When the bill was pending before Congress for 
this national expedition, these mutineers sought 
constantly to create opposition, by representing 
the immense draw it would make on the treasury. 
Mr. Dickerson then declared to members, that it 
was an extravagant enterprise, which had noth- 
ing to do with the protection of our commerce, and 
was only to explore high latitudes South ! ! ! The 
object of this was apparent ! It is known, that a 
portion of our public men entertain the opinion 
that the government of the United States has no 
authority under the constitution, to send out an 
expedition solely to promote science. Therefore, 
to have divested it of its relations to commercial 
protection and general utility to the country, 
would have been to destroy it ! But, the clear- 
sighted Reynolds had made the measure impreg- 
nable, by the very defenses from which its enemies 
would gladly have separated it. Science was not 
the primary object of the expedition ! 

It was the cherished idea of Mr. Reynolds, in 
maturing this great American expedition, to have 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 87 

it, in all respects, a national, American matter. N 
It was due to the country, and the just pride of her 
free-born sons ! And American artists deserved 
to have their skill at least fairly tried, before any 
step was taken to provide the instruments abroad. 
But the conspirators did not think so. And in- 
stead of first appointing the corps for whose use 
they were intended, and obtaining the views of 
these scientific men as to the instruments needed, 
as well as the mode of providing them, he sends 
an agent, Lieutenant Wilkes, off to Europe, to 
procure books and instruments for many branches 
of science, of which he knew no more than the 
Secretary himself! And reader, what instru- 
ments do you suppose were thus obtained, that 
could not be had in these United States ? The 
records tell us they consisted of two astronomical 
clocks, one journeyman's clock, two astronomical 
telescopes, and forty-one chronometers ! Now, 
we find upon examination, that for several years 
previous to that period, astronomical clocks had 
been made by American workmen, not surpassed 
in accuracy and finish by those of any foreign 
workshop in the world! And Halcomb, the 
American constructor of telescopes, had won 
pseans of praise for the accuracy and portability 



88 FIRST AMERICAN 

of his instruments ; while our American box- 
chronometers had received premium after pre- 
mium from men who kept up with the time of day! 
Thus, among the heterogeneous melange of scien- 
tific works provided by this agent of the Secre- 
tary, not over ten, with the exception of the 
voyages, were worth any more to the object than 
the Arabian Nights ! There had evidently been 
no naturalist consulted ; for not a manual, model, 
or workbook was in the lot ! And such instru- 
ments as were really necessary to have been pro- 
cured in Europe, were never mentioned ! So it 
was, that after fifteen months had passed away, 
proper books were to be provided, and instruments 
were still to be constructed. All for the good faith 
of the government's official ! 

One thing ought not to be forgotten, that, after 
the studied attempt to excite enmity between the 
civilians and naval officers of the expedition, the 
Secretary was for taking the hydrographical 
and astronomical labors from them, to whose pro- 
fession they belonged, and making these improper 
assignments to unprofessional men. But as yet, 
the integuments of these men's consciences had 
not been penetrated ! The voice of public cen- 
sure had reached them in vain ! 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 89 

The object of appointing the naval board, at 
this crisis, was clearly to defeat the law of Con- 
gress, by reducing the force of the expedition. 
For this reason, Commodore Jones had no place 
in it ! He was known to have been too fully 
committed to its interests to see the nation sent 
back fifty years in intelligence by any act on his 
part ! But, fortunately, the board bore no sem- 
blance to that subsequently selected by Mr. Dob- 
bin ! They were men who would not so far 
compromise themselves as to overlook the claims 
of patriotism and duty ! And, looking to the law 
of Congress and the memorialists, they decided 
to advise no other course than that pointed out 
by the proper authority ! 

SECTION III. 

In the meanwhile, the Department, expecting 
to be sustained by the board it created for the 
purpose, allowed Wilkes to take the instruments 
intended for the expedition, on board the Por- 
poise, in order to cause a new difficulty to its 
sailing! No men ever labored more zealously 
to defeat an object, than did that clique to de- 
stroy the expedition ! They represented the 



90 FIRST AMERICAN 

duties of the civil corps as being degrading and 
irksome ! although, at the same period, the 
French expeditions, incited by our own, had 
volunteers from the best citizens of the country, 
even to stand before the masts ! 

In the expeditions of Napoleon into Egypt, he 
wisely foresaw the advantage of a corps of sa- 
vans, to the ising greatness of his country ; and 
he knows little of history who has not seen that, 
while they took nothing from the glory of the 
military commanders, they made imperishable 
the benefits of their own scientific discoveries. 
This was the enterprise in which we were to 
make our debut in the field of maritime enter- 
prise and discovery, and the projector had labored 
long and earnestly to make it national in all re- 
spects. By it, the commercial interests of our 
country were to be protected — new regions ex- 
plored — unfortunate seamen succored — charts of 
harbors made — dangerous passages surveyed — 
important islands penetrated — their population 
to be sought for conference — the lives of our 
mariners made more secure, and our trade in- 
creased ! 

More than one hundred mariners, American 
seamen, had been shipwrecked at the Feejee Is- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 91 

lands, alone, and most of them cruelly murdered 
by the natives, while not a single effort had beer 
made to awe those savages by our power, or 
conciliate them by our kindness. The effect of a 
national frigate at such a spot was apparent to 
the common sense of all. The mere exhibition of 
such a force as Congress designed, and Commo- 
dore Jones recommended, might have tended to 
the immediate rescue of our captive mariners. 

Often a dozen vessels, from a single port in the 
United States, were engaged in traffic with these 
Feejee Islanders for the Chinese market. What 
was the result? These vessels returned to the 
United States, freighted with the rich goods of 
that country, the duties upon which had yearly 
added largely to the national treasure. It was a 
matter of ridicule to all geographers, when they 
found the instructions for the guidance of the 
expedition from the Navy Department named 
but three places on the whole globe, and they as 
well-known as the ports of New York or Ports- 
mouth ! The points for general rendezvous were 
luminously pointed out by the only individual 
competent to the undertaking, Mr. Reynolds, the 
originator and founder of the enterprise. 

This energetic American showed that one of 



92 FIRST AMERICAN 

the most populous group of islands in the Pacific, 
in the neighborhood of the Feejee and Society Is- 
lands, rich in all the productions of the tropics, 
and lying in the very track of our great whaling 
operations, was, at that time, for all minute and 
practical knowledge, an unknown land ! When the 
intelligence of the country was awakened to the 
extent and variety of trade, and the consequent 
amount of revenue collected from these regions, 
it soon saw that it owed fifty times the amount 
that the expedition would cost, for the revenue 
that had already accrued, without any expense 
for protection. And, even if that had not been 
so, it was due to the unaided enterprise of her 
citizens, and the future interests which it would 
so well subserve. 

SECTION IV. 

The condition of the finances of our country in 
1837, encouraged this cabal in the hope that it 
might now break up the entire expedition ; and 
a new commission was instituted, to renew the 
effort to cut down its force. 

Commodores Hull, Biddle, and Aulick com- 
posed its members, and without visiting the 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 93 

squadron, or informing themselves of the real 
objects of the enterprise, they reported favorably 
for the conspirators, and recommended the sloop- 
of-war Peacock, instead of the Macedonia, and a 
reduction of the minor vessels. The purpose to 
reduce the naval force of the expedition, soon 
excited the surprise of scientific observers in 
Europe, as well as this country. For even when 
France and England were taxed to their utmost 
capacity, by a long and expensive war, they both 
sent out splendid expeditions of discovery. But, 
we Americans were not born to be servile imita- 
tors of foreign powers ! We, as a people, were 
the last to enter the Pacific Ocean, but we had 
moved with matchless celerity, and pushed ahead 
of every other nation in maritime and commer- 
cial enterprise on the globe ! At home, we had 
turned the forest into the abode of civilization, 
and framed our institutions to meet the wants of 
our own people. And in steam navigation, ship 
building, and the use of mechanical agents, we 
then challenged the whole world to equal us ! 

By the most irrefragable arguments, Mr. Rey- 
nolds showed that there was no expedition of a 
like character ever sent from Europe, whose ex- 
ample should warrant the reduction of the Ameri- 



94 FIRST AMERICAN 

can flotilla. Commodore Joues, enfeebled in 
health, and discouraged by the endless impedi- 
ments and malignant action which thwarted his 
noble exertions, resigned his command on No- 
vember 30th, 1838. It was then tendered to 
Shubrick, President of the late Council of " Fif- 
teen." The vessels did not please him, and he 
declined. It was next offered to Captain Kear- 
ney. 

In the meanwhile, the misapplication of the 
funds, the changing of vessels, the effort to create 
discord, the delay of the reports, the withholding the 
specific information which was ashed by Congress, 
the indecision and inconsistency, avoiding the friends, 
especially, the projector of the expedition, and 
rewarding those who created difficulties in the 
way of its progress, compelled the Executive to 
interfere, and take its final arrangement from the 
hands of the Secretary of the Navy ! It was 
then transferred to Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, Secre- 
tary of War. The friends of the measure were 
now jubilant with joy, as the era of a new policy 
in the matter was believed to have been thus inau- 
gurated ! But alas, what a fatal mistake ! 

For soon it appeared that Poinsett had all along 
been the secret coadjutor of the Navy Junta, and 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 95 

whatever had been done by them, was with the 
full approval of that wonderful man, Poinsett ! 
It then appeared, that he devised or abetted the 
scheme of appointing captains, all known enemies 
to the expedition, to withdraw the Macedonia 
from the squadron, that she might be sent imme- 
diately as the flag-ship to the West Indies, under 
command of his particular friend ! We have said 
that Captain Kearney was invited to the com- 
mand, but Poinsett interposed, and had that 
order withdrawn. Not only so, but similar con- 
duct towards that officer in regard to other ves- 
sels, both by Poinsett and Dickerson, obliged 
Kearney reluctantly to retire from the expedition, 
in which he entered with so much zeal and pro- 
fessional ability. 

Captain Gregory was then tendered the com- 
mand : he stood at the head of master-command- 
ers and, independent of the expedition, was enti- 
tled to the promotion to a post-captaincy. Now, 
instead of extending to this officer the deference 
due to his position, they refused to send his name 
to the Senate for his just promotion until after 
he should accept the command of the expedition. 
This the Captain refused, very properly, to do, 
although he was both promoted, and appointed 



96 FIRST AMERICAN 

to the command ! But this manoeuvre was for 
the settled purpose of defeating him, and so it 
proved. Poinsett and his coadjutors had, long 
before, made him a marked man ! Why ? be- 
cause Gregory had not consented to take the 
responsibility of objecting to Mr. J. N. Reynolds 
and others, whom this lilliputian coterie, Poin- 
sett & Co., had determined to sever from the 
expedition, but lacked the courage to avow theii 
base design! Hence it was, that the rules of 
the service, and the rights of high-toned officers, 
were trampled down. 

section v. 

Captain Kearney had agreed to take the squad- 
ron substantially as Commodore Jones left it. 
He refused to object to the scientific corps, and 
asked no change but the appointment of Lieuten- 
ant Gedney, as second in command ; and, to it, 
Mr. Dickerson had consented, and ratified it. 
While Kearney, with his known promptness, had 
directed Lieutenant Gedney to prepare letters for 
Lieutenants Dorwin and Glynn, requesting them, 
in five days after their receipt, to proceed to Rio, 
and wait the arrival of Captain Kearney himself. 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 97 

in the flag-ship ! Next morning, Captain Kear- 
ney and Lieut Gedney called at the Navy Depart- 
ment, to dispatch orders, and put the squadron 
in motion. When lo ! the Macedonia was with- 
drawn, and the whole arrangement made by the 
Department the previous day, declared a nullity ! 
They, then, proposed to substitute a large 
merchant vessel for the scientific corps, as the 
flag ship, and offered that command to the Cap- 
tain, who, being determined not to be driven 
from the expedition, accepted ; but, finally, dis- 
gusted and disheartened, as we have stated, he 
withdrew. It was ascertained, beyond all ques- 
tion, that Joel R. Poinsett perpetrated all that 
mischief in twenty-four hours ! After Gregory, 
Captain Joseph Smith, a gallant and distinguished 
officer, received as insincere a proffer of the com- 
mand as that made to his brother officers, by 
whom he had been preceded in that honor ! 
Captain Smith asked for Lieutenant Wilkes 
among the junior officers, to command one of 
the small vessels ! a station, altogether, as high 
as his rank, standing, and qualifications, fitted 
him. And, for this situation (the command of a 
small vessel in the squadron), he had been named 
by the Secretary of the Navy to Commodore 

5 



98 FIRST AMERICAN 

Jones. So, to reconcile matters, Captain Smith 
thought fit to name Wilkes, once more, for as 
high a position as his ardent admirers had then 
presumed to claim for him! Imagine, there- 
fore, with what startling effect came the abso- 
lute refusal of Wilkes to take a subordinate 
position in that expedition! He declared he 
would resign his commission in the navy sooner 
than do so ; and that he would take nothing short 
of the entire command I 

And, would you believe it, Americans, that 
but two days elapsed after this most insubordi- 
nate and disobedient action, on the part of 
Wilkes, before he was appointed to the entire 
command ! 

Nobody expects one of that cabal to turn 
state's evidence, and convict the culprits ; but 
no one doubts the less, that Lieutenant Wilkes 
declined the station offered him by Captain 
Smith under the express authority of Joel R. 
Poinsett ! Who believes, in or out of the ser- 
vice, that Wilkes would have dared to have com- 
mitted an act that would have jeopardized his 
commission under different circumstances. Not 
one! not one! Hear these men! They told 
the public that Captain Smith would not go with- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 99 

out Wilkes ! and that Commodore Jones would 
not go with him ? There stood Captains Kear- 
ney, Smith, Gregory, Kennon, Aulick, and Arm- 
strong, with a Lieutenant Commodore made 
over their heads ! A Lieutenant, whom Gedney 
had taught the first rudiments of hydrography ! 
Lieutenant Magruder had, also, been attached 
as first lieutenant of the Macedonia ; and he, 
very properly, sent a remonstrance to the De- 
partment, against the injustice of superseding 
him ; and it lies there yet among its archives. 
What did he say? Why, that he was of the 
same date as Wilkes, was examined by the same 
board, that he passed higher than Wilkes in 
mathematics and seamanship, ranked, conse- 
quently, above him, and had seen much more 
sea service since they had been commissioned 
lieutenants ! Yet, there he was, supplanted by 
his inferior ! 

Reader, mark the parallel between the action 
of that cabal to break down the Navy in 1838, 
and that in 1855. In many cases, they, the par- 
ties, are identical, and in all cases, influenced by 
the same animus furandi ! Look at Shubrick's 
action at that day, the same spirit of insubordi- 
nation, which since has distinguished him. Yet 



100 FIRST AMERICAN 

he found favor with that same cabal, and recently 
sat in judgment upon his brothers in the service ! 
Look at Wilkes, elevated there by the same influ- 
ence that retains him now, while Lieutenant, 
now Captain Gedney, the accomplished hydro- 
grapher, is laid on the shelf. But as though it 
was not enough to elevate Wilkes over his supe- 
riors, it was alleged that none of them had the re- 
quisite talents! What rendered this the more 
insulting, was the fact, that Lieutenant Wilkes 
had never been recognized by the corps of scien- 
tific officers, as even being one of their number ! 
He had aided Gedney and Blake in a survey of 
Narragansett Bay, some years before, and we 
believe had surveyed, subsequently, George's 
Bank ! But he never had been ranked as a hy- 
drographer with Lieutenants Gedney and Blake. 

SECTION VI. 

Captain James Armstrong, whose services were 
passed over, to give the command to a junior 
lieutenant, was another case, which called for pub- 
lic reprehension, similar to the instances in which 
distinguished seniors were set aside by the late 
Navy Retiring Board, to make places for aspiring 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 101 

juniors. Captain Armstrong was ordered to the 
command of the Macedonia in 1836 ; from then 
to 1839, he had been constantly with his vessel, 
amid delays and discouragements no language 
can describe. The records of the Department 
showed, that for thirty years he had borne him- 
self with honor in the service. He was at New 
Orleans, on board the bomb-ketch Etna, and 
afterwards commanded a gun-boat, though a 
young midshipman ; and engaged in the fight 
which subdued the Barrataria pirates. He was 
in the brig Siren, in the sloop-of-war Fralies, in 
the frigate Congress, in the Washington, the In- 
dependence, the Columbus, the United States, 
commanded the Porpoise, and then was appointed 
to the command of the Macedonia, when she was 
designated for the expedition. 

This captain, who had served his country with 
so much honor under Commodores Chauncey, 
Bainbridge, and Hull, and who had been for two 
years attached to the expedition, was, without even 
the courtesy of explanation, ruthlessly thrust 
aside by these naval bandits, to make room for 
an instrument who would enact their behests ! 

An officer like Captain Armstrong would have 
given prestige to the enterprise at home and 



102 FIRST AMERICAN 

abroad. He was able, skillful, prudent, with the 
capacity to manage the fleet, and take care of the 
crew committed to his charge, and was, in all 
respects, fitted to conduct the South Sea explora- 
tion. He was without the weakness or folly of 
Wilkes, and sought no acknowledgment for sci- 
entific attainments which he did not possess. 
But, like Commodores Jones, Kearney, Smith, 
and Gregory, he scorned the servility essential to 
propitiate the favor of these designing men ! 

It now became necessary to put forth some 
plea of justification for the outrage upon the usage 
of the service, and the injustice perpetrated on 
the public good, in the appointment of Lieuten- 
ant Wilkes to the command of the expedition ! 

"How can it be done?" became then a para- 
mount question with the cabal ! But, having 
accomplished their ends so far as to secure their 
instrument, there was not much apprehension but 
that, amidst so much versatility of talent and in- 
ventive genius, some plea might be made, which 
would justify the outrage ! So the " Naval Gen- 
eral Orders," of the 22d of June, 1838, ap- 
peared in the form of a proclamation, declaring 
the expedition purely scientific, thereby leaving 
the President power to depart from the usual cus- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 103 

torn of appointing from the senior ranks of the 
navy, and according to their respective grades ! 

Lieutenant Charles Wilkes was then annoum-ed 
as having received the appointment as first officer 
of the expedition, and Lieutenant William L. 
Hudson, as second officer, to command the sloop- 
of-war Peacock ! Hudson, at that moment, stood 
above Wilkes on the Navy Register, yet the 
junior was put in the whole command ! Now, be 
it remembered, that Mr. Poinsett had, just before, 
deemed it essential to have Captain Gregory pro- 
moted to the rank of post-captain, before he con- 
sidered him elegible to the command ! And yet, 
Gregory was at that time at the very head of the 
list of master-commanders in the service ! It 
was also equally well known, that Captain Au- 
lick had been invited to take the second position 
in the squadron ; and that Lieutenant Tatnall had 
been offered, unofficially, the grade of comman- 
der, which he had in the same way accepted, only 
a few days before Wilkes' appointment ; and 
when, as we have reason to believe, they were 
actually in treaty with Wilkes, as the only proper 
man for their purposes ! We leave to some 
future Plutarch, the task of unveiling all the in- 
consistency the case could unfold ! But the for- 



104 FIRST AMERICAN 

bearance of Congress and the people seemed 
the more surprising, since this clique dared to 
assume, that in appointing a lieutenant to com- 
mand the expedition, they had actually changed 
the character of the enterprise ! 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 105 



CHAPTER Y. 

In the celebrated report, in answer to a call 
of Congress, of March 19th, 1837, in reference 
to the two sloops of war, Pioneer and Consort, 
intended for the exploration, the same disregard 
to that supreme legislature was manifested ; when 
the important official documents were withheld 
from Congress, and trivial unimportant papers 
were sent in their places. Why ? Because the 
documents proved the fitness of the vessels for 
the service which Poinsett & Co. had concealed. 
The Macedonian had been withdrawn, covertly, 
under the pretence that she was needed to pro- 
tect our commerce in the Gulf of Mexico, while 
the Mexican ports were blocked by a French fleet, 
and the Macedonian left at her dock at Norfolk ! 
Thus they delayed the enterprise ordered by Con- 
gress for more than three years ! They abstracted 
two sloops of war, and a gun brig from the pro- 
tection of commerce, in order to send them on the 

5* 



106 FIRST AMERICAN 

expedition, which they pretended was not naval ! 
And when, for less than half the money it cost 
to fit these vessels for the survey, others, already, 
and far more appropriate for the service, were at 
hand ! 

In making the naval appropriation for the ser- 
vice, a discussion arose in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, the 11th of April, 1838, when the 
outrage committed upon professional feeling and 
pride, in the appointment of Wilkes, received its 
just comment. Hon. Mr. Wise, of the naval 
committee, now Governor of Virginia, expressed 
himself in his usual independent and significant 
manner. He said : 

"That he had not accused Lieutenant Wilkes of purchasing his 
command at all ; hut he had been informed that intimations had 
been given to the officers of a higher grade, that it was expected, 
if appointed to the command, they would discharge certain indi- 
viduals ; and one of these men, like a true officer, had replied that 
if such dismissals were to be made, the Department must take the 
responsibility of making them. Mr. W. did not believe that it was 
the painter that was to be discharged, but there was an individual 
who had done more, in the first instance, to get up the expedition 
than any other man in the country, and who had expressed himself 
very freely in the public journals in regard to the Secretary, and 
xnhom it was the object of the Department to get clear of'* Mr. 
Wise said, farther, " that, if his information was correct, Lieutenant 
Wilkes had been selected, not on the ground of his peculiar scien- 

* Governor Wise had reference, as the reader must know, to the Hon. 
J. N. Reynolds, of New York. 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 107 

tific attainments, nor on that of the special character of the service, 
but for a reason entirely different." Mr. Wise said "he had his 
information from a lvspectahle source, and such was the belief of 
some gentlemen in the navy." 



Mr. Ingham, chairman of the naval committee, 
attempted the defense of the government officials, 
and contended under a misrepresentation made 
to him, and for which he was not responsible, 
that the force having been curtailed nearly 
one half, it was necessary that Wilkes should 
reduce the scientific corps in a corresponding 
proportion ! Mr. Ingham, therefore, said, it was 
very singular, indeed, that when the expedition 
was to contain but one half the vessels, and the 
whole outfit cut down in the same proportion, 
that there should be no reduction of expense ! 
Mr. Wise said that Commodore Jones had told 
him, only the previous day, that there would 
not be a dollar's reduction by the present plan ! 
Here, we discover that, the public as well as 
members of Congress, were deceived, cheated, 
by the representations made from the Depart- 
ment, that the squadron prepared under the 
guidance of the Lieutenant Commodore, consisted 
of but half the force organized under Commodore 
Jones, and, under this deception, these official 



108 FIRST AMERICAN 

managers had, in a great degree, defended and 
justified their procedure before Congress and the 
country ! So far did this clique go to fix this 
impression upon the public sentiment, that Gover- 
nor Dickerson embraced an opportunity, after he 
closed his four years 1 service in the Navy Depart- 
ment, to congratulate the country that the expe~ 
dition had been reduced one half! 

Now, Americans, the truth about the matter 
was, that the naval force, then under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant Wilkes, was larger than the 
squadron which lay in the port of New York under 
Commodore Jones ! 

Mark it, reader, that, after a three years' war 
against the magnitude of the expedition, by Joel 
R. Poinsett & Co., and a long and intensely ac- 
tive effort to strangle the enterprise, on that very 
account, they actually gave to their Lieutenant 
Commodore a larger naval force than that com- 
manded by Commodore Jones ! Will any dare 
to deny this? We invite them to the proof! 
The squadron under Lieutenant Wilkes consisted 
of— 

1. The sloop-of-war, Vincennes, Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, Esq., 
Commander-in-chief, with twenty-two subordinate officers. This 
is a twenty gun ship ; which cannot, according to law, he com- 
manded hy an officer under the grade of master-commander. 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 109 

2. Sloop-of-war, Peacock, Lieutenant William L. Iludson, com- 
mander, with nineteen subordinate officers. This vessel, now 
second in the squadron, had recently been the flag-ship of a com- 
modore in the East Indies. 

3. Ship Relief, Lieutenant A. K. Long, commander, with nine 
subordinate officers. 

4. Brig-of-war Porpoise, Lieutenant Cadwallader Ringgold, com- 
mander, with twelve subordinate officers. 

5. Schooner Flying Fish, Passed Midshipman Samuel R. Knox, 
commander. 

6. Schooner Sea Gull, Passed Midshipman James W. Reid, com- 
mander. 



SECTION I. 

"We perceive, here, that the Macedonian, of 
thirty -six guns, and three hundred men, was 
withdrawn, and the Vincennes, Peacock, and 
Porpoise substituted therefor, consisting of fifty- 
six guns, and four hundred and sixty men / And 
we further discover not only that the aggregate 
tonnage and number of vessels in "Wilkes' squad- 
ron were greater than that under Commodore 
Jones, but that the aggregate draught of water 
was greater ; and that an addition of one schooner 
was made to the flotilla, which addition had been 
most pertinaciously refused to Commodore Jones ! 
This is the manner the first American enterprise 
of discovery was made "altogether scientific," 
and its force reduced to "one half" of its origi- 



110 FIRST AMERICAN 

nal proportions ! Another attempt of their mis- 
erable trickery was, the final sailing of the squad- 
ron without the full complement of men ! mere 
illusion to deceive the people ; because, as they 
knew, their number could be increased in a for- 
eign port, as they pleased ! 

Having disposed of the silly plea, that the force 
of the squadron was reduced under Wilkes' com- 
mand, and its naval character taken away, we will 
next see how they entrenched themselves behind 
reduced expenses. 

Under Commodore Jones, the squadron con- 
sisted of the Macedonian, Pioneer, Consort, Relief, 
and Active, and the expenses did not exceed 
one farthing that of the new organization under 
Lieutenant Wilkes ! While, for efficiency in 
navigating high latitudes, protecting commerce, 
surveying or scientific research among the islands 
of the Pacific, the comparison between the good 
and had plan disgusted and disheartened every 
practical seaman in the nation ! Was there ever 
a more flagrant violation of law, a more flagrant 
violation of the published regulations of the Navy 
Department, a more flagrant outrage upon the 
professional service, than was committed by men 
then invested with temporary authority? But 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. Ill 

the science and intelligence of the country had 
now passed judgment on them ! and the secret 
springs of the contemptible action of Poinsett & 
Co. were manifested by the public records before 
the country, with which only we have now to do. 

It was remarkable foreknowledge on the part 
of a low lieutenant that he should have six months 
before predicted the possibility of being called to 
command the expedition ! But such was the fact, 
that he did. Congress was then in session, and 
every effort was made to hide their plans and 
intentions. The friends of the expedition were 
feared in and out of that body ! Officers of the 
navy were now obliged to cease their complaining 
of the wrong done them, for the paramount rights 
of the commander were then settled, although the 
details of the arrangement were not to be fixed 
until after the Senate adjourned ! Thus it was that 
these heads of Department dared to do what 
they could not find Congress so corrupt as to 
sanction. 

Then it was that the new commander spoke 
freely of his plans as being endorsed by President 
Van Buren and Mr. Joel R. Poinsett ! He de- 
clared his intention " to make the expedition naval 
in point of fact, but as he could not draught a 



112 FIRST AMERICAN 

scientific corps from the navy, a portion of the 
present members would be retained, the rest dis- 
missed." Why? Because the squadron was 
reduced ! Look at this inconsistency, reader, and 
repress your deepest indignation, if you can ! 
That, while in the face of the truth, as furnished 
from prepared documents, these men had added 
to the naval force under Wilkes, he had the impu- 
dence to assert before the country that a reduction 
of one half had taken place ! And this was all 
done to make it scientific, says Poinsett & Co. ; 
but their protege blundered so badly as to make 
discrepancy in their respective tales, for Wilkes 
said he meant to make it entirely naval ! What 
a remarkable instance this of high moral and offi- 
cial integrity ! And it did not await its reward 
for post mortem honors ! 

SECTION II. 

The ground upon which the learned Mr. Wilkes 
was thrust into command, was that the enterprise 
was not to be naval but scientific ! What did the 
commander then do for science ? He summarily 
erased from the fist the departments of anatomy 
and comparative philology ; while entomology and 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. H3 

crustaceology were pronounced useless, or only 
deserving the attention they might receive from 
the zoologists, who already had more than their 
proper duties assigned them ! Well might it cause 
grief to every friend of science, to every one 
interested in the true glory of his country, when 
an incompetent lieutenant was allowed to lop off 
from the expedition these members, after they had 
made every preparation to join the expedition, 
and under the plighted faith oftlie government, by 
whom they were commissioned, and were ready 
to sail with it I Nor was this all ; for the de- 
partments of natural philosophy and physical 
science, which a Humboldt or an Arago would 
have assumed with modest distrust, this little 
lieutenant-commodore took into his own keeping, 
in addition to all the other duties which devolved 
on him ! ! The assistant zoological draughtsmen 
and landscape and portrait painters, trifles in 
Wilkes' estimation and those who governed his 
acts, were also set aside ! As to Palaeontology, 
which educated people know to be a science that 
treats of fossil organic remains, vegetable and 
animal, and that it has done more to unfold and 
analyze the globe we inhabit than any other 
science, these men spurned with contempt ! They 



114 FIRST AMERICAN 

declared it all "humbug," and the department as 
worthless, in connection with the expedition ! 
How mortifying! how humiliating to national 
pride ! 

" The secrets of Nature," says the learned Bucklaml, "that are 
revealed to us from the history of fosBJl organic remains, form per- 
haps the most striking results at which we arrive from the study 
of geology. It must appear almost incredible to those who have 
not attended to natural phenomena, that the microscopic examina- 
tion of a mass of rude and lifeless lime-tone should often disclose 
the curious fact that large portions of its Bubstance have on« 
formed parts of living bodies. It is surprising to consider that th* 
walls of our houso are sometimes composed of little else than com- 
minuted shells, that were once the domieils of other animals at the 
bottom of anoienl Beas and lakes. 

"It is marvellous that mankind Bhonld have gone on for so many 
centuries in ignorance of the fact which is now so fully demonstra- 
ted, that no small part of the presenj surface pf the earth is derived 
from the remains of animals that constituted the population of 
ancient seas. Many extensive plains and massive mountains form, 
as it were, the great charnel-house of preceding generations, in 
which the petrified exuviae of extinct races of animals and vegeta- 
bles are piled into stupendous monuments of the operations of life 
and death, during almost immeasurable periods of past time." 

Cuvier said "that the wreck of animal life 
formed almost the entire soil o?i which we tread" 
And from a sight so imposing, and so terrible, 
was our young and intelligent nation to be kept, 
because a naval cabal did not understand its 
meaning or its benefit ? Order's great works as 
a naturalist, arose from his examination of the 
fossil bones of the environs of Earis. Deshaye's 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 115 

fame, came from studying the fossil shells of the 
same region. Brogniart's celebrity rests on the 
same science. Desmarest got his honors in the 
same way. And Agassiz, in whom Americans 
have pride, owes his reputation for science, to his 
work on fossil fishes. Buckland wrote a work 
on the fossil bones in the caves of England and 
Wales. But, the Bridgewater Treatise, Lyell's, 
and other like works, were as impenetrable to 
the intellects of these managers of the expedition, 
as the component parts of an Egyptian mummy ! 

Before the vandal act of excluding palaeonto- 
logy had been committed, it would have been well 
to have consulted the archives of several of the 
states where, in connection with geological sur- 
veys, that department of science had been then 
created ! 

It is well to remember, that Wilkes only enact- 
ed the will of Poinsett & Co. They delayed the 
expedition, sowed discord among the officers, 
made jealousy between them and the scientific 
corps, by throwing out the idea that the latter 
would cheat them of their glory ; refused to order 
any one to join the expedition ; released those 
who did not wish to go ; rewarded those who 
abused Commodore Jones, and J. N. Reynolds, 



116 FIRST AMERICAN 

its author ; allowed Wilkes to keep the instru- 
ments in his possession, which he brought from 
Europe, when it was his duty to have handed 
them to Johnson, for whose department they were 
provided ; corresponded secretly with officers 
under Commodore Jones, and ordered Jones to 
sail, while they kept out of his power the instru- 
ments he needed to do so ; refused to allow the 
scientific corps to draw their pay, after President 
Jackson forced their appointment ; and finally, 
did all they possibly could to disgust these gen- 
tlemen, and drive them to the necessity of resign- 
ing their commissions in the expedition. 

SECTION III. 

All this while, these men made General Jack- 
son believe they favored the measure, because 
they were afraid of their places. But after 
getting their favorite in the command, these men 
saw they had done all necessary to monopolize 
the glory, and having raised the cry of economy, 
they pretended to reduce the naval force, and cut 
down the scientific to correspond ! Was ever a 
greater amount of villainy practised than that in 
connection with this first American enterprise of 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 117 

exploration? We believe no records on earth, 
could show a more diabolical conspiracy ! 

In retrenching the scientific part of the expe- 
dition, the deepest malignancy and envy pre- 
vailed. Hale was retained from sheer timidity : — 
they feared the savans who pressed his claims. 
Dr. Reynell Coates was dismissed, because Wilkes 
thought the purser's steward could answer for the 
anatomist ! Professor W. R. Johnson was also 
stricken from the list, because Wilkes professed to 
understand " Natural Philosophy," as well as he 
did, and there was no necessity for his services ! 
It seemed that once this Mr. Johnson served on 
a committee with Professors Bache and Henry, 
to test some magnetical experiment of Wilkes, 
on "Smith's Compass Needle." These gentle- 
men pronounced Wilkes' deductions utterly ab- 
surd, and the very reverse of his demonstration ! 
This was enough to settle the question with John- 
son, although he had been endorsed for scientific 
capacity, by such eminent savans of the coun- 
try, as Professors Farrar, Silliman, Henry, and 
Mitchell. It was absolutely necessary that the 
man who obtained the bona fide command of this 
national enterprise, should bind himself, soul and 
body, to do anything and everything the conspi- 



118 FIRST AMERICAN 

rators required should be done. They therefore 
gave to Wilkes more enlarged powers than were 
ever conceded to Commodore Jones ! For Wilkes 
had the privilege of choosing his own officers, which 
was refused Jones. He had increased pay allowed 
both himself and officers ; this also was refused 
Jones ! Wilkes was given an additional schooner, 
which they had denied, likewise, to his superior. 
In short, these officials, whose whole influence 
rested upon the appendage of office, made their 
dictum overrule the authority of Congress, and 
the will of the American people ! They reduced 
the scientific corps, and made it more military and 
naval ; while throwing all possible mystery around 
their doings, they attempted to cheat the people, 
with the facts before their eyes ! 

Honorable Joel R. Poinsett, was the man who 
laid the last hostile hand upon the enterprise, 
which was designed to enrich and enlarge the 
boundaries of human knowledge, and bring upon 
the country high national renown ! It was Poin- 
sett, we remember, who took the squadron from 
the command of Captain Kearney, which would 
have placed it above the reach of the enemies of 
the enterprise, as he foresaw, and therefore pre- 
vented it in a night ! Through him and his con- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 119 

federates, Smith, Gregory, Kennon, Aulick, and 
Tatnall, were all badly treated ! 

These conspirators degraded American genius 
by their stupidity, and caused the blush of shame 
to our learned societies, by. their course towards 
the various departments of science. Entomology, 
for example, they utterly rejected, although it 
equals in extent, all the other sciences of the ani- 
mal kingdom put together ! The societies of 
London and Paris devoted to this subject, com- 
prised hundreds of members, and their transac- 
tions at that day, were published throughout the 
civilized world ! Moreover, they had agents and 
correspondents in our own country, as everywhere 
else. How must we have appeared to them, 
when, in the first great scientific voyage of dis- 
covery, a department of natural history, so essen- 
tial to the study of geology, was declared nuga- 
tory ! 

The French government, at the same time, had 
engaged twenty naturalists to complete a work of 
sixty volumes, on that single subject ! Cuvier's 
work, so classical and philosophical, as to rank 
him ever as the prince among naturalists, was on 
the shelves of every well selected library of our 
country, and had better have been examined by 



120 FIRST AMERICAN 

these wiseacres before they pronounced the sci- 
ence of entomology useless, and dismissed Mr. 
Randall thereby, with so much good will ! Just 
as they did Dr. Reynell Coates, from the depart- 
ment of comparative anatomy, and Professor 
Johnson, from that of natural philosophy ! 

section v. 

But there was one other gentleman, against 
whom a greater degree of malevolence was con- 
centrated, than was exhibited towards all besides. 
This was Hon. J. N. Reynolds, originator of the 
expedition ! The fiat had long gone forth, that 
he must not accompany the enterprise, to share 
in its future glory. How to get rid of him was 
the trouble, but it had to be done, at any cost. 
The distinguished officers appointed to the com- 
mand, would not, therefore, do ! They knew 
and acknowledged the services of Mr. Reynolds, 
and all desired he should accompany the expedi- 
tion. 

But Wilkes said he would absolutely refuse to 
take him, and pretend that he did so for the sake 
of harmony ; and that he would say further that 
he knew nothing of the powerful recomnienda- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 121 

tions of all the West to the President for Mr. 
Reynolds' appointment to a position in the expe- 
dition. That moment the bargain was struck. 
He sold himself to his confederates, and he fully 
answered their purpose ! 

On the 30th of July, 1838, Mr. Reynolds, now 
a citizen of New York, addressed a letter to 
PoiDsett, demanding to know why neither he nor 
his friends had received a reply to the communi- 
cation of the Western delegation in Congress, 
addressed to the President two months previous, 
in reference to his appointment in the South Sea 
Expedition. He then stated that, 

"If it was determined he should hold no station, with or without 
defined duties and a salary attached, he wished to know if he could, 
as a volunteer, without compensation and without duties defined., 
accompany said expedition, asking no other protection from the 
Department or commander than was guaranteed by the rules of the 
service to a sailor before the mast." 

The immediate reply of Mr. Poinsett, on the 
1st of August, 1838, shows the evident collusion 
between himself and President Yan Buren and 
Commander Wilkes. He affirms that he never 
knew that such a letter existed ! that he had a 
private one from a gentleman in Ohio, asking 
that Mr. Reynolds should go out as a commercial 

agent, and added, 

6 



122 FIRST AMERICAN 

"But I knew the President had decided that no snch officer 
should be appointed, nor could I, with my views of the subject, 
recommend such a measure to his favorable consideration. 

"Being about to take my departure from Washington, and expect- 
ing to be absent some weeks, I addressed a letter to the Secretary 
of the Navy, in which I expressed my opinion of the composition of 
the scientific corps, their number and description, but without 
designating the persons. I think he ought, and presume he will, 
be governed in his choice by the wishes of the commander of the 
squadron, for it is essential to the success of the expedition that 
the utmost harmony should exist between the naval officers and the 
members of that corps. 

"Your desire to accompany the expedition is natural, ami. under 
ordinary circumstances, your having, in some measure, originated the 
design, would give you a strong claim to he indulged in your wished ; 
but all subordinate considerations must yield to the paramount one 
of conducting the expedition to a successful issue. 

"Your letter has been sent to the Navy Department." 

Attend particularly to this letter, reader ! He 
admits ignorance of what lie ought to have known, 
and then confesses he had conferred with the 
President on the subject ! Who can explain 
away the belief, that with a knowledge of Mr. 
Reynolds' efforts to procure the law authorizing 
the expedition, and the independent manner in 
which he had dmounced the official action of the 
government, that Poinsett and Van Buren had 
not. when on the subject, made allusion to such 
a letter from a delegation in Congress? Who 
believes it? Who? With another remark on this 
singular Jesuitical letter, we leave you, reader, to 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 123 

approve it, if you can ! This innocent secretary 
thought the wishes of the commander should govern 
in the selection of individuals for the sake of har- 
mony, &c. This exactly corresponds with what 
Wilkes had already agreed to say of Mr. Reynolds, 
viz., that harmony required he should not be in 
the expedition ! What martyrs to truth, ye mag- 
nanimous men! The pretended reference, too, 
to the Navy Department was to implicate Hon. 
J. K. Paulding, then Secretary of that Depart- 
ment. But it was notorious that the whole 
matter was hurried through ; proclamation of 
change in the organization made ; Wilkes ap- 
pointed, and all regulations perfected to prevent 
Mr. Paulding from having the power to interfere 
in their action ! They knew he would not stoop 
to such a course, but would arrest it, and that he 
had already, in his letter to Mr. Reynolds, shown 
his views of what was proper to be done for 
advancing the expedition as originally designed. 



124 FIRST AMERICAN 



SECTION V. 

We cannot forbear now from giving the official 
confirmation of our own premises, which so com- 
pletely identifies Mr. Reynolds with the first work 
of American exploration. 

To his Excellency the President of the United States. 

The undersigned, members of Congress from the State of Ohio, 
avail themselves of this occasion to express their gratification upon 
learning that the Exploring Expedition, authorized by a recent act 
of Congress, is about to be fitted out in a manner worthy of our 
great republic. 

They feel it to be a duty which they owe, as well to their con- 
stituents the people of Ohio as to their common country, to re- 
mind the administration of the claims of J. N. Reynolds, Esq., to 
a prominent place in the proposed expedition. His long and ar- 
dent services in calling public attention to this question, and urging 
its adoption by Congress; his zeal and untiring industry in collect- 
ing information in reference to it; his intimate acquaintance with 
all the interests of the commercial community (between whom and 
himself there exists a long and intimate intercourse), whose inter- 
ests are afloat in those seas ; the kind relations subsisting between 
him and most of the scientific men and societies of our large cities, 
as well as his personal acquaintance with the South Seas, and his 
unusual mass of information in regard to their localities, eminently 
qualify him to be placed at the head of the civil corps which is to 
accompany the squadron. 

The services and qualifications of Mr. Reynolds have been ac- 
knowledged by every committee who have reported upon the sub- 
ject, and are appreciated by Congress and the whole country. 

The undersigned believe that they express as well their own 
sentiments and those of their constituents, as of the friends of the 
expedition generally, in asking that Mr. Reynolds be placed at the 
head of the civil and scientific corps, having a general superin- 
tendence over, and that he be authorized to write the history of 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



125 



the expedition, having such rank, powers, and compensation, as the 

administration may think proper to bestow. 

Respectfully, your obedient servants, 

Benjamin Jones, William Patterson, 

William K. Bond, David Spangler, 

Thomas Corwin, Elisha Whittlesey, 

R. Storer, I. Sloane, 

Josh. II. Crane, William Hermon, 

Samuel F. Vinton, J. M'Lene, 

S. Mason, John Thomson, 

T. L. Hamer, Taylor Webster, 

Elias Howell, Daniel Kilgore. 
John Chaney, 
July Id, 1836. 



To his Excellency Andreio Jackson. 

Sir : — In the Exploring Expedition which has been ordered out 
under the direction of the general government, we would respect- 
fully recommend J. N. Reynolds, Esq., as the chief of the civil ap- 
pointments. 

The unremitting zeal of this gentleman in the cause of his coun- 
try and of science, his former experience as a navigator, his scien- 
tific acquirements and capacity, would seem to us to point him out 
as the person most deserving the appointment. 



J. Fry, Jun., 
J. B. Anthony, 
Edward B. Hull, 
J. R. Ingersoll, 
A. Beaumont, 
George Chambers, 
E. Darlington, 
David Potts, Jun., 
J. B. Sutherland, 
Isaac M'Kim, 
John M'Keon, 
G. W. Owens, 
Ely Moore, 
Samuel Barton, 
R. II. Gillet, 
J. Y. Mason, 
James Harper, 
John Reed, 
Benjamim C. Howard, 
A. Ward, 



Jos. Henderson, 

J. Miller, 

Henry A. Muhlenburg, 

H. L. PlNCKNEY, 

John Reynolds, 

R. Johnson, 

A. Huntsman, 

Francis Thomas, 

Dutee J. Pearce, 

William Sprague, 

A. Vanderpool, 

William L. May, 

Z. Carey, 

George L. Kinnard, 

A. Lane, 

John Cramer, 

C. C. Cambreleng, 

J. Toucey, 

R. Boon. 



126 FIRST AMERICAN 



To the President of the United States. 

House of Representatives, Id July, 1886. 

Sir : — I have learned with pleasure that the Expedition to the 
South Seas will be dispatched in due time, and that you have 
directed it to be fitted out as becomes the interest and character of 
the country over which you preside. Yes, I rejoice that you have 
done so, for I sincerely believe that no act of Congress for years has 
been so honorable to our national character, none that will reflect 
more credit on your administration ; as the undertaking will attract 
the eyes of the whole civilized world, and its results become matters 
of interest and of record in eveiy part of Christendom. 

To be appointed at once, with a liberal allowance, to the first place 
in the civil department of this expedition, I beg leave strongly to 
recommend my friend J. N. Eeynolds, Esq. 

In reference to this gentleman I must be permitted to speak with 
freedom, for I have known him long and intimately. Ilis labors in 
this cause, so perseveringly continued, are well known to the whole 
country; in an especial manner are they known and appreciated 
by the whole of that portion of our fellow-citizens interested in the 
commerce of the Pacific, and who have expressed so much interest 
in having this expedition fitted out. 

I was in Providence in October, 1834, when Mr. Reynolds made 
an address before that body, for the purpose of getting an expression 
of the Legislature of my State in its favor; which was readily 
given, as the people of Rhode Island take a lively interest in the 
undertaking. 

From that period to the present session and final action of Con- 
gress on this subject, I have held with Mr. Reynolds a constant 
correspondence, and Mr. R. has at all times consulted with me as 
to the steps necessary to be taken to effect the object for which he 
has labored so long. 

At the last session I made a report in favor of the expedition 
from the committee on commerce, which was not acted on by tho 
House for want of time. 

At the present session Mr. Reynolds again conferred with me, 
procured a recommendation from the Legislature of New Jersey, 
and, when he arrived in this city, I agreed with him that it was the 
best plan to commence in the Senate, which was accordingly done. 
The result, since that time, is known to you. The measure passed 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 127 

by an overwhelming vote of both houses, and has heeix much approved 
in, all sections of the country. These are some of the circumstances 
which enable me to speak so strongly in favor of Mr. Reynolds,whose 
labors and sacrifices in this cause have made him tcell known to the 
members of this House. I do not hesitate to say that to his efforts, 
more than any man living, is the country indebted for the successful 
prosecution of the measure before Congress. 

These facts made known to you, it will, I am sure, no longer be 
a question as to the part which shall be assigned to him. The organ- 
ization of the scientific corps could not be committed to better 
hands ; and especially do I wish that to him may be assigned the 
duty of writing the official account of the cruise. 

With great consideration and respect, 
I am your friend, 

Dutee J. Peaeoe. 



To the President of the United States. 

House of Representatives, Id July, 1S36. 
g IR; — I beg leave respectfully to recommend J. N. Reynolds, 
Esq., for the chief of the civil appointments connected with the Ex- 
ploring Expedition to be sent out to the South Seas. In this I am 
governed by a desire to see merit adequately rewarded in the 
appointment of a gentleman whose past services and scientific nauti- 
cal researches appear to point Mm out as one who has earned the 
place and is eminently qualified to fill it. 

The friends of Mr. Reynolds, particularly in the western country 
where he was raised, have long admired the ability and utility which 
have attended his devotion ; and, I may add, they would be much 
gratified if this meritorious son of the West could be placed in a 
situation where he might earn still higher distinction for himself, 
and, at the same time, confer greater advantages upon his country. 
With sentiments of the highest esteem, 

Your friend and most obedient servant, 

George L. Kinetard. 



128 FIRST AMERICAN 



To the President. 

Senate Chamber, Washington, 2d July, 1836. 

Snt : — I would inform the President that many of my constitu- 
ents feel a deep interest in the Exploring Expedition authorized 
during the present session, and which I understood the executive 
has decided to fit out the present season; and that, having a high 
opinion of the character and qualifications of J. N. Reynolds, Esq., 
and of his capabilities to be useful in said expedition, I respectfully 
recommend him to the President for the highest civil appointment 
connected with the expedition; and will add, that his appoint- 
ment will afford me personally much gratification. 
I have the honor to be, 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

John M. Niles. 



Washington, 5lh July, 1836. 

Deae Sie : — I enclose you several papers in relation to the ap- 
pointment of J. N. Reynolds, Esq., as chief of the civil and scientific 
corps which goes out with the exploring squadron to the South 
Seas. 

No. 1 is the -unanimous recommendation of the representatives 
from Ohio (without distinction of party) that he be thus appointed. 

No. 2 is the recommendation of some forty or fifty Members of 
Congress from other States, asking for him the same station. This 
paper was got up without the knowledge of Mr. Reynolds or any 
of the Ohio delegation, and / have no doubt a hundred additional 
names could have been obtained, if any one had taken the trouble to 
circulate it through the House. It was not deemed necessary, and 
was not therefore done. 

It contains the names of a majority of representatives from In- 
diana, of Illinois, and Rhode Island; of a great portion of Pennsyl- 
vania ; and of gentlemen of distinction from a majority of the other 
States of the Union. 

No. 3 consists of letters from gentlemen of respectability and 
science, from various quarters of the country, to the same effect. 
They all speak the same language and breathe the same spirit. 

These documents, taken together, leave no doubt of the state of 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 129 

public opinion upon this question. All who have reflected much 
upon the subject feel the necessity of an efficient organization, with 
a responsible chief, to produce unity and harmony of action. All 
who are aware of the large space which Mr. Reynolds fills in the 
public eye, in connection with the great enterprise, at once point to 
him as the most suitable person to Jill this station ; that he ought to 
obtain it (in the character of commercial agent, or such other as 
may be thought advisable), and be allowed to write the history of 
the expediton, I have never doubted for a moment. 

Few persons seem to be aware of the immense importance of 
this expedition to our national character. It will rivet the attention 
of every intelligent man in Christendom for years to come, and it 
will be looked upon hereafter as an epoch in our history. It will 
surprise the elder nations of Europe to see that a new people like 
us have undertaken this voyage. But how much will their wonder 
be increased to perceive that we have organized it upon a plan 
which, for enlargement of conception, liberality of sentiment, and 
efficiency of action, renders it decidedly superior to anything of the 
kind which they have attempted. 

That this great undertaking may redound to the honor of your 
administration, and to the glory, happiness, and prosperity of our 
beloved country, is the ardent prayer of 

Your excellency's obliged friend 

And obedient servant, 

T. L. Hameb. 
To his Excellency Andrew Jackson. 



To his Excellency, Martin Van Buren, President of the United 

States. 

The undersigned, members of Congress from the West, beg leave, 
once more, very respectfully, though earnestly, to call the attention 
of the administration to the claims of J. N. Reynolds, Esq., to a 
prominent place in the Exploring Expedition. This measure was 
early and warmly supported by the West. It was originated and 

a* 



130 FIRST AMERICAN 

first called to the attention of Congress by one of her sons. She 
btill continues to feel an interest, and still indulges the hope that it 
may be so equipped as not to disappoint the just expectations of 
the country ; she still hopes to see it depart in skillful and experi- 
enced hands, unshorn of its naval or scientific strength. Congress 
has made repeated appropriations, which leave no doubt of the hold 
of the expedition upon science, the intelligence, and pride of the 
nation. 

The whole Ohio delegation, as well as many other members of 
the House, immediately after the passage of the law authorizing the 
measure, addressed communications to the late executive. After 
congratulating hiin on account of the interest lie took in directing 
the expedition to be fitted out in a manner worthy "our great 
republic," they proceeded to call his attention to the claims of one 
who had done so much in calling public attention to the importance 
of the enterprise, and in urging its adoption by Congress. The 
friends of the measure knew the important part Mr. Reynolds had 
acted, and they were intluenced not more by a sense of justice than 
a desire for the success of the enterprise, in asking for Mr. Reynolds 
a prominent portion in it. The commercial interests of the United 
States in the seas to be visited are well-known to the executive; 
they are immense, and still susceptible of great extension. In ask- 
ing that Mr. Reynolds be placed at the head of the civil department 
attached to the expedition, was only asking, in other words, that 
he should receive the appointment of commercial agent. Until 
recently, many of us supposed that station had been assigned to 
him ; that he ought to have it, and be authorized to write the offi- 
cial account of the expedition, we have never doubted. That he is 
eminently qualified to perform these duties, under the sanction and 
regulations of the department, cannot be doubted; that he has 
abundantly earned the distinction which they would confer upon 
him will admit of as little question. 

Mr. Reynolds has uttered no complaints to his friends, and it has not 
been until since the passage of the last bill of appropriation that they 
became aware of the actual position the Secretary of the Navy had 
assigned him ; and not even then, till the discussions in the House 
seemed to leave some doubt whether he was to accompany the ex- 
pedition, in any capacity, had led to direct inquiries upon the sub- 
ject. Any officer, conversant with the history of this expedition, 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION 131 

and knowing the relation Mr. Reynolds has maintained to it, hoth 
in and out of Congress, and should object to his participating largely 
in its labors, -would, from that fact, in the opinion of the under- 
signed, be him self unfit to command; and the interests of the expe- 
dition, and the honor of the country would, in all probability, be 
best consulted by his dismissal, and the supplying of his place by 
one of more just, liberal, and enlarged views. 

The undersigned have learned, with deep regret, that to Mr. Rey- 
nolds, the originator, the indomitable advocate, who has, for so long 
a time, persevered against every discouragement, whose knowledge 
upon the subject has been so fully appreciated by committees and 
members of Congress, and has enlisted so large a share of public 
feeling throughout the country, has received from the Department 
the meagre, unmeaning appointment of '"'■corresponding secretary to 
the commander,''' 1 to perform such duty on the expedition as the jus- 
tice or caprice of a commander might direct; while the names and 
duties of all others composing the scientific corps, as well as juniors 
in command, were conspicuously named in the general instructions 
for the guidance of the expedition, were thus recognized by tho 
Department in a document to be preserved in all coming time; but 
in that list, and in that document, the name of J. N. Reynolds, we 
learn, is nowhere to be found; that no duties were assigned him by 
the Secretary; in a word, that the action of the Department, 
whether intended or not, would go to show that Mr. Reynolds was 
not recognized by government, or known in the enterprise, except 
only so far as he had an order in the form of an appointment from 
the Secretary, directing him to report to the commander for 
duty. 

The undersigned forbear further comment on this subject, and 
content themselves with protesting, in the name of their constitu- 
ents, the people of the West, as well as in their own names, against the 
continuance of such obvious injustice to their fellow-citizen, who has, 
in their opinion, earned far different treatment at the hands of gov- 
ernment. TJiey are aware that many difficulties have thus far at- 
tended the fitting out of the expedition: upon these difficulties they 
feel no disposition to dicell. It is enough for them to call the 
attention of the President to the subject, in a spirit of frank- 
ness and kindness, feeling assured that their communication will 
be received in the same spirit, and that the President will, at 



132 FIRST AMERICAN 

once, give such directions as will be satisfactory to all the parties 
concerned. Very respectfully, &c, 

Thomas Corwin, Ohio. Thomas L. Hamee, Ohio. 

James Alexaner, Jr., Ohio. J. Ridgeway, Ohio. 

Alexander IIarper, Ohio. Wm. Key Bond, Ohio. 

Daniel Kilgore, Ohio. Calvary Morris, Ohio. 

J. W. Allen, Ohio. D. P. Leadbetter, Ohio. 

Wm. H. Hotter, Ohio. P. G. Goode, Ohio. 

Chs. D. CoiFix, Ohio. S. Mason, Ohio. 

A. W. Snyder, Illinois. Thomas Morris, Ohio. 

William Allen, Ohio. O. H. Smith, Indiana. 

John Tipton, Indiana. Lucius Lyon, Michigan. 

James Rariden, Indiana. William Herod, Indiana. 

William Graham, Indiana. R. Boon, Indiana. 

George II. Dunn, Indiana. Albert S. White, Indiana. 

William L. May, Illinois. Zadok Casey, Illinois. 

John Chaney, Ohio. J. Webster, Ohio. 

E. Whittlesey, Ohio. 
Wa3hinotok, May 1st, 1838. 



To J. If. Reynolds, Esq. 

New York, Nov. \Uh, 183T. 

Dear Sir: — The members of the scientific corps, attached to the 
Southern Exploring Expedition, have, with deep regret, understood 
that you entertain some idea of resigning the commission by which 
you are, at present, associated with us. 

Without pausing to inquire whether the position in which you 
are placed by that document, is such a one as, in justice to your 
unwearied exertions for the success of this great national enterprise, 
should have been assigned to you, we would earnestly request you 
to reflect farther upon the subject before making a final decision. 

That you would, of necessity, occupy a prominent station in the 
expedition, has so long been considered by us, in common with the 
whole country, as a point beyond all question, the present contin- 
gency takes us wholly by surprise ; and we have heard, with not 
less astonishment than grief, that, in the official list of the civilians 
connected with this undertaking, the name of J. If. Reynolds is no- 
where to he found. Upon the manifest injustice of this omission no 
comments are requisite. We believe that, through the length and 
breadth of our land, wherever the name of the Exploring Expedition 
has been mentioned, every voice will be lifted up against it. Neither 
is it required that we should enter into a detail of the many reasons 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 133 

for which we consider your accompanying it to be of the utmost 
importance to the harmony and eventual success of the expedition. 
Permit us, however, to assure you that such is our conviction, and 
to express our sincere hope that the knowledge of this fact may 
induce you to sacrifice your present views and feelings in this mat- 
ter to the wishes of the corps, and to consent to retain a position 
which, however it may fall short of what in justice should be yours, 
will secure to us your co-operation in carrying out, successfully, the 
great objects of the voyage. Our country, never forgetful of the 
claims of her children, will, we cannot doubt, in the end, award you 
all that is so justly your due, however it may he attempted to deprive 
you of it at present. Trusting that our appeal, therefore, may pro- 
duce the desired effect, we remain, dear sir, with the highest respect 
and esteem, Tour sincere friends, 

Alfred T. Agate, James Eights, 

Joseph P. Couthouy, Horatio Hale, 

Ketnell Coates, Eaphael Hotle, 

James D. Dana, W. R. Johnson, 

Asa Gray, Charles Pickering, 

J. W. Randall, J. Drayton. 



The Cincinnati Republican at that day, made 
these just re6ections on the outrage : 

This appeal or remonstrance, for it is a little of both, was sent 
to the President early in May last ; but its publication has been 
withheld until the present moment, in the hope that justice would 
have been done Mr. Reynolds. But we learn that it is determined 
that Mr. Reynolds shall not accompany the expedition, and the 
communication, though signed by a majority of the delegates in 
Congress from the West, who are friendly to the administration, 
has not received the courtesy of a notice from the President. 

When we take into consideration the uniform support the expe- 
dition has always received from the West, and especially from the 
Ohio delegation, who took an interest in the enterprise from the 
fact that it had been originated and successfully prosecuted by a 
native of Ohio, the conduct of the executive seems almost unac- 
countable. Here are the wishes of the almost entire delegation of 
the northwestern states strongly and manfully expressed. On what 
ground of petty jealousy are the demands of this letter denied ? 



134 FIRST AMERICAN 

Was it to gratify a secretary notoriously opposed to the expedition 
from the moment it was projected, and whose ground of hostility to 
Mr. Reynolds was mainly owing to the fact that he had again and 
again defeated him before Congress? We assign no other reason 
tor the conduct of the President in this case. 

Of the arrangements which have given dissatisfaction, the ap- 
pointment of Lieutenant Wilkes to the command, over the heads of 
his seniors and superiors in every respect, is not the least reprehen- 
sible. Why was he selected? Was it because he was ready to do 
the bidding of an incompetent secretary ? This is no party meas- 
ure. Strong men on both sides hate been and are its supporters. 
The country at large bears the expense, and has a right to ask why 
matters have been thus managed. The people of Ohio have a 
voice in the matter, and a right to inquire if injustice has been 
done to one of her citizens — the author of the measure — who has, 
by his researches and publications, fixed milestones and guide- 
boards for those to carry on the expedition icho have now got pos- 
session of it, without the magnanimity to do justice to its projector. 
The conduct of the managers of this affair towards Mr. Reynolds 
will find no response from honorable men. They may do him 
wrong, but cannot put him down; for^ going or staying, ins triumph 
has been complete. The spirit which his labors has awakened will 
not sleep ; for, whatever is done in this expedition, or by others which 
may and no doubt will folloio, for the extension and security of 
commerce and the acquisition of scientific knowledge, the country 
will not forget to whom it has been mainly owing. 

Was it wonderful that this bigoted ignorance 
should manifest its persecuting spirit towards the 
individual whom it could not equal in intellect, 
in philanthropy, or moral courage ? Was it 
singular that the true significance of liberty was 
unknown to them ? Was it strange, that an in- 
telligence so far in advance of them should have 
been misunderstood, and misrepresented ? He 
who is the mouthpiece of the time, generally ob- 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 135 

tains greater concessions from the obtuse and 
narrow-minded ; because they honor that heroism 
which compliments themselves ! 

Mr. Reynolds was the great oracle of the 
future ! And it needed moral heroism to place 
himself in the advance guard of a great national 
enterprise, in accordance with his convictions of 
patriotism and duty ! Every great event is the 
beginning of a new epoch in the history of hu- 
manity, and he, who by his devotion to justice 
and truth, makes his country wiser, happier, or 
better, places that country under a debt of grati- 
tude to him ! We say, therefore, that were the 
magnitude of that effort on the part of this 
American, fully weighed in all its intellectual, 
moral, social, and political bearings, on the future 
of this nation, the name and praise of its author 
would echo not only from every city, but from 
every hill and through every plain in our coun- 
try ! For what but this feeling warms our hearts 
towards the heroes of our liberties, who sacrificed 
their reputations, their treasure, and their blood, 
to serve the cause which so preeminently blesses 
us ? And what nobler deed can man perform for 
his country and his race, than to inspire a more 
exalted intelligence, and develop a nobler pro- 
gressive thought? 



136 FIRST AMERICAN 

The author, as we have seen, was not permitted 
to accompany his own expedition, but his triumph 
was not the less complete ! Because he shed an 
unfailing lustre on his country, and became 
thereby, the beacon light which has illumined the 
dark and intricate pathways of science ever since, 
and elevated our state of national progress and 
intelligence ! 

All subsequent expeditions and voyages of dis- 
covery in this country owe their origin to him 
who made their "milestones and guide-boards!" 
To the men of science who accompanied that 
great enterprise, honor and praise are both due ; 
and despite the difficulties and embarrassing sur- 
roundings, they made an imperishable record of 
their fidelity to their high trusts ! 

Lynch's exploration of the Dead Sea, testifies 
the value of the First American Exploring Ex- 
pedition ! Fremont's courage and noble daring 
in California, testify it ; the Arctic Expedition 
of Doctor Kane, testifies it ; and the American 
people, by one consent, ratify and endorse its 
utility and greatness to our common country ; 
while the limit of its results no human wisdom 
or foresight can compute ! 











c^£^. Qt&^Tz^ 



THE PACIFIC KAILKOAD. 



CHAPTER I. 

The invention of printing, in 1436, prepared the 
way for the discovery of America in the same age, 
and made it a necessity. Why ? Because it civ- 
ilized and enlightened men ; and when this was 
done they wanted more room ; their commerce 
wanted more field ; their kingdoms wanted more 
latitude ; their navigation more scope ; in fine, 
every faculty of man expanded, and with a double 
energy the great work of revolution had begun. 

To obtain control over the commerce of the East 
has been the prize for which the ambition of na- 
tions had contended for ages ; and to find an easier 
and more direct route to India was the cause which 
moved Columbus to set out on the discovery of a 
western continent. The commerce of the East 



138 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

controlled the world. Its riches, transported o/er 
deserts by the Arab, furnished London, Lisbon, 
Amsterdam, &c, with their opulence and grandeur. 
When the Turks held power on the Bosphorus, this 
wealth went to Europe and Asia through the Black 
Sea. When the Venetians wrested that power 
from the Turks, the Mediterranean became the 
channel of this Eastern commerce. The attractions 
of the gold mines of Peru and Mexico, the wars of 
the Dutch, French, and Danes, did not divert 
public desire for a direct route from Europe to 
Asia, until England conquered and established her 
empire in India over one hundred and fifty millions 
of people. The French explorers sought this line 
in vain ; and Lewis and Clark, under President 
Jefferson, of our own country, met with no better 
success. At last, however, the difficulty is solved ! 
A railroad through this continent is the power 
which is to control the commerce of the world ; 
and the United States alone affords such a route. 
The Pacific Ocean is then to be the centre of com- 
merce for the world, and our country thus becomes 
the centre of civilization. 

The moment this road is built, Asia, with its 
five hundred millions; Europe, with its two hun- 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 139 

dred and fifty millions ; Africa, and all the islands 
of the ocean on either side, will seek this transit 
for their commerce. To go to India now, from the 
United States, is an undertaking which involves 
the risk of health and life, a voyage of five 
months, and of twice crossing the equator. With 
the railroad, twenty days would be the maximum 
time for penetrating the heart of India from the 
city of New York. There, we then shall ex- 
change our products and spend our surplus in the 
riches of the East. 

The trade of the East with Europe now is an- 
nually near four hundred millions, requiring three 
thousand vessels. With oar railroad, the cost and 
time would be so reduced that it is fair to believe 
this commerce would be increased to seven or 
eight hundred millions. American vessels and 
American seamen will then go into the ports of 
Japan, now opened to us, and return freighted with 
the products of China and India. 

With Asia on one side and Europe on the othe 
and our steam and sailing vessels at command, 
there can never be any competition while the na- 
tion endures. 

The energy of the Anglo-Saxon has already 



140 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

demonstrated a power which challenges the admi- 
ration of mankind. It has been by the Anglo- 
American that the oceanic currents have been 
defined, and the Gulf-Stream pointed out to navi- 
gators all over the world. It was by the Anglo- 
American that the Dead Sea was explored. The 
Anglo-American opened by treaty the ports of 
Japan, after being so long closed to all but the 
Dutch and Chinese. Americans have proved the 
existence of an open Polar Sea, and braved the 
perils of the Arctic Ocean for Sir John Franklin. 
What have they done within their own borders? 
They have taken the Mississippi valley, a wilder- 
ness thirty-five years ago, and settled it with up- 
wards of twelve millions of souls. Twenty years 
ago, where not seven thousand people dwelt, north 
and north-west of Chicago, they have put upwards 
of a million The queen city of the West, Cin- 
cinnati, which contains one hundred and sixty thou- 
sand people, only dug its cellars a few years ago. 
In 1820, the first line of packet-ships sailed 
from the United States to Liverpool, and prudent 
men predicted them a failure. In 1835, the 
learned Dr. Lardner declared the navigation of the 
ocean by steam to to be impracticable. Three 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 141 

years after which, the Great Western and Sirius 
steamers came into the port of New York. 

The first proposal for a railroad from Boston to 
Hudson was made thirty years ago, and pronounced 
an absurdity. Now we have, at least, twenty thou- 
sand miles of railway constructed in the United 
States, involving a capital of more than five hun- 
dred millions of dollars. In 1808, the general 
government refused assistance to the Hudson and 
Erie Canal, after New York had appropriated six 
hundred dollars for a survey. Mr. Jefferson, then 
president, said, it " might be feasible one hundred 
years to come ' ' ! 

The first American who is known to have con- 
ceived the idea of railroads by steam was Oliver 
Evans, of Pennsylvania, who made known his plan 
in 1781 and 1789, after the adoption of the con- 
stitution. 

Joel Barlow, in his "Visions of Columbus," in 
1787, predicted the Erie Canal in New York, 
thirty years before it was begun, under De Witt 
Clinton, in 1817. At that time, political parties 
took ground against it ; but the energies of Gov. 
Clinton prosecuted it to success. In ten years it 
had paid the cost of completion, while its present 



142 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

annual receipts are half its original cost. Towns 
and villages immediately rose up by the Wabash 
and Erie Canal in like manner, and as railroads got 
on the line the banks of every navigable stream 
were covered by a population devoted to commer- 
cial enterprise. 

The inhabitants of Portland, Maine, have em- 
barked in the enterprise of building a railroad from 
there to Nova Scotia, which is now completed, and 
reduces the voyage of Europe to America two 
thousand miles. It is three thousand from New 
York to Liverpool. This effort found favor with 
European as well as American capitalists, and will 
tend rapidly to commercial prosperity 

When we consider that England, to save a dis- 
tance of only twelve miles between London and 
Dublin, built a bridge across the Straits of Menai 
at a cost of twelve millions of money, we can 
better understand the economy of expending money 
to shorten our route eleven thousand miles to 
Europe. 

Everything, therefore, demands, on the same 
principle, that the Pacific Railroad should be made 
to shorten and cheapen the transit route for the 
commerce of Europe and Asia, which we shall 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 



143 



certainly command. Consider, Americans, how in 
a few years we have spread from a fragment to a 
continent ! We have only one sixth less of terri- 
tory than the fifty-nine states of Europe put 
together. We are ten times larger than Great 
Britain and France. We are one and a half times 
larger than Russia in Europe. And, when the 
Atlantic and Pacific states shall be united by the 
railroad, it is impossible to realize how vast and 
how grand the results will be to us. 

In a philanthropic view, it is incomparable with 
any war, or revolution, or discovery, save that of 
our beloved country, and the national freedom se- 
cured by our Republican institutions. The railroad 
will at once become the strongest fortification for 
the country, and moving batteries of men would be 
its defence in time of war. The passive intellects 
of the East will soon feel the attrition of Ameri- 
can energy and enterprise ; the population that 
flows in from the Old World will thus be Ameri- 
canized ; and Protestant education, which is as the 
brain to the body of our institutions, will build up 
the American systems of free schools, which are the 
essential element of our liberties. 

Liberty has expanded our resources on the 



144 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

Atlantic, and will, in the same way, advance them 
on the Pacific, until the islands of the ocean, and 
the shores of Asia, shall feel the benign influence 
of American commerce and American laws. The 
West, then, demands the Pacific Railroad, to add to 
the prosperity of the country, to open new outlets 
for the distribution of commerce, and new sources 
for our national wealth and enterprise. Americans, 
it is the navigable rivers on the Atlantic which 
have populated your states. This made it easy to 
receive and send off the products of the land, and 
sent settlers first upon the water- courses. As these 
became populous, the settlers on them drove back 
into the interior the succeeding emigrants. The 
valley of the Mississippi was thus peopled. So the 
borders of the Hudson, Connecticut, and Penobscot 
Rivers, and Narragansett Bay. At the beginning 
there were no interior communications to protect 
the settlements on the rivers, and hence they were 
not populated so rapidly as the Mississippi valley. 
Steamers were coeval with that settlement, and this 
has caused its rapid increase of population. 

During the early peopling of the country, and 
before the introduction of steam navigation, pack- 
horses were used to carry goods ; but the danger and 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 14") 

expense rendered this mode of trade exceedingly 
limited. The usual time, then, was six months to 
make a journey from New Orleans to St. Louis by 
water, which is now performed in eight or twelve 
days. It was the steamboat, and that alone, which 
opened the commerce of the Mississippi valley. 
Corn, wheat, iron, hemp, coal, would all have been 
comparatively useless without this mode of trans- 
portation. 

You see now, Americans, how and why the 
valleys and rivers of the Mississippi were penetrated. 
On the coast of the Pacific the case is altogether 
different. The states and territories we own there 
never can be settled as the Atlantic states have been. 
Why? Because neither steamers nor sail-boats 
can penetrate them. A land route is the only way 
this ever can be accomplished. But will an ordi- 
nary road do it? No, it could never be made to 
pay expenses of transportation. People would 
therefore refuse to dwell there, while they could 
seek the water-courses of the Atlantic and Pacific 
for settlement. The cause why individual enter- 
prise entered into our favorite valleys, and occupied 
them, and grew wealthy,was owing to their access to 
7 



146 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

the sea, and other navigable waters, which pene- 
trated the interior country. 

Now, what has been done for the Atlantic states 
by steamboats must be done for the Pacific states by 
railroad. And let us be assured of one thing, that, 
with a railroad across the continent, the value of 
the whole country would be increased incalculably 
beyond what all our rivers have done, or possibly 
can do. No other inducement ever will carry set- 
tlers to the interior countries of the Pacific states. 
But, with a railroad, they would soon convert that 
whole country to a flower-garden. The entire year, 
at all seasons, would be open to the markets. The 
energy and enterprise of the settlers would increase 
with the means of transit at hand. The ice in the 
Atlantic states, in the cold season, has always been 
a bar to industry ; but this would no longer inter- 
fere with progress. 

The Pacific Railroad will, of necessity, do all the 
business of the waters in those territories ; the 
Hudson, the Ohio, and Mississippi, would pour their 
commerce into that railroad passage. Thus this 
thoroughfare will extend our commerce and spread 
our popiilation on the Pacific, as the steamboat 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 11 7 

navigation has spread the plains of the Mississippi 
and Missouri Rivers. 

Look at California and Oregon, how within three 
years and a half they have gathered a population 
of at least a half a million ! What has done this ? 
The gold mines alone. If, then, with a land journey 
of three or four months, and a costly sea voyage of 
thirty or forty days, population has thus accumu- 
lated, what may be expected when the railroad shall 
have reduced the distance from San Francisco to 
Washington city to seven clays, and the telegraph 
has brought us into communication in one single 
day ? For such will actually be the case. 






CHAPTER II. 

Americans, what has been the consequence of 
legislating for the states of the Pacific already, 
which cannot be reached under a six weeks' travel ? 
Let the Indian massacres, and those of Panama, 
the dangers and sufferings of immigrants, the black 
catalogue of crime which has made almost a Sodom 
of California, the utter perversion of the rights of 
suffrage by the ballot-box, answer. The disorders 
which have been created there, the villanous prac- 
tices of stuffing the ballot-box, the elevation of the 
scum of society and traitors to office, — all these, 
and other shocking spectacles, which, as a necessity, 
caused the Vigilance Committee to be appointed by 
the people for their own protection and safety 
against these ruffians and murderers, are greatly 
owing to their isolated condition. 

For these causes, a separate republic on the 
Pacific must ever suffer the most serious dangers, 
and especially if there should be cause for for- 
eign invasion. Nothing will remedy these evils in 



THE PACIFIC ItAttROAD. \ [[) 

due season but the establishment of a railroad to 
the Pacific. This would at once rectify all the 
present difficulties, and regenerate the condition of 
the people. 

The idea of a Southern republic may at first 
seem absurd. But would the united interest of 
Lower California, the western coast of Mexico, a 
part of the British possessions opposite Vancouver's 
and Charlotte's Island, and removed from the evils 
of a French population, be of no account, joined 
to California ? Would not the commerce and the 
gold, and its free soil, interfere with the harmony 
of the Southern States of this Union ? Most un- 
doubtedly. Why not, then, settle the question, not 
for a time, but forever, by putting a railway, that 
shall bind with a cord of iron the states of the 
Pacific and Atlantic ? 

Independent of the trade of the United States 
and Canada, this road would be the great forwarder 
of the staples of China and the East Indies. The 
reason is, that it would be the shortest, quickest, 
and least expensive route. The passage by this 
land route can be effected from three to five miles 
per hour quicker than by any sea or water route 
that could possibly be devised. 



150 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

No one can compute the extent of trade from a 
railroad across the continent, connecting the Colum- 
bia and San Francisco Rivers with New York, 
China, Japan, Oregon, Australia, the Sandwich 
Islands, California, the seaports of Europe, United 
States, and Canada. Americans, these would all 
commercially centre on this road. The distance 
from New York to California is thirty-two hundred 
miles. Allowing the usual rates of railroad travel, 
with time to eat and to rest on the journey, it will 
require seven days. If in an emergency, and the 
usual delays were abandoned, the travel could be 
made with ease in four and a half days, at thirty 
miles an hour ! 

Until gold settled California, the merchants of 
our country had but a limited knowledge of the 
trade on the western coast of the Pacific, to China, 
Japan, and India. Consequently, it was the local 
traffic of California, Oregon, and Australia, that 
opened to view the fact that the commercial capa- 
bilities of the Pacific are really greater than the 
Atlantic. The tea trade and sperm whale are 
confined to the Pacific ; while the great staples, 
sugar, tobacco, wheat, and corn, grow as well on 
the Pacific as on the Atlantic. 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 151 

The Sandwich, Society, New Hebrides, Friendly, 
New Britain, Philippine, and Ladrone Islands, are 
all accessible, by steamboats, from California ; and 
all their products, therefore, would be turned to 
use, if the railroad were there. China will unlock 
her doors as never before when this temptation to 
extend her commerce is presented. Australia will 
reap the benefit ; while California, the great out- 
post of the Pacific, will not pause in the opportu- 
nity to show the world, and especially this beloved 
people, what industry will accomplish, in connection 
with gold, in which resource she is now only second 
to Great Britain. 

How has England obtained ascendency over the 
commerce of the world ? By making it free. 
England, Holland, and the United States, which 
compose three fourths of the foreign commerce, 
acknowledge entire freedom in every commercial 
pursuit ; and, now that we have entered the Pacific 
by right and title, with our steamships and our 
experience, what shall prevent us from acquiring a 
commercial ascendency over England, Holland, and 
the world / We ask you, Americans, if anything 
shall do it ? You say, No. Then get about your 
railroad, and you may say this in earnest. 



152 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

By the improvement in steam and ship-building, 
our mariners perform the same voyage to-day in 
half the time they did fifty years ago. We have 
already made railroads on the two continents, and 
we are altogether a changed people since 1800. 
For twenty-five years after that, our commerce had 
no facility from steamboats or railways ; and it has 
been but twenty years since we began to realize 
their full value. All the sources of commerce then 
were those tributary to the seaboard, while the 
wealth of the country was kept, from want of com- 
munication, beyond their reach. We had not then, 
either, the men of method and mind equal to the 
emergencies of trade, as we have now. We had 
not a monied capital then, as now, opened to all. 
When we compare ourselves with the past, and see 
what new facilities of greatness the nation has 
found out, we should be grateful, elated with our 
destiny, and ready for action. 

And if, with our small means, we have attained 
such development on our Atlantic borders, what, 
with our ships, our steamboats, our capital, our 
experience, and our railroad, are we not destined 
to accomplish on the Pacific shores ? The railroad 
will open new strength, and new channels of 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 153 

thought, as well as action. It will make our coun- 
try the agent and carrier of the commerce of the 
world ; and it becomes all classes of our country 
— all who regard its prosperity, all who regard the 
benefit to their children and their children's chil- 
dren — to rally to the railroad as the great highway 
of our national prosperity and greatness. 

While men are quibbling and blundering about 
the best route, Nicaragua might make a canal or 
railroad, and establish trading settlements, which 
would materially interfere with our prospects. 
Every day gives greater importance to the political, 
commercial, geographical, moral, and social reasons 
which show that we are risking much, losing much, 
by the delay. 

The Atlantic was always more formidable to ex- 
plorers than the Pacific ; consequently the East, in 
the early ages, was more rapidly populated than the 
West. The oceans, we must remember, were as 
much ours by right, before we had a sail or harbor 
on our coast, as now. The Pacific territory was 
acquired by us through the Mexican war. It was 
purchased then by the sweat and blood of American 
men. It has been the means of increasing our com- 
mercial wealth and greatness. To occupy and enjoy 

7* 



154 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

this, the railroad has been projected by the wisdom 
of men who, from the beginning, have seen that 
this territory, obtained at so dear a cost to the 
United States, must either be made subservient to 
the interests of the whole country, or be wrested 
from us for a new republic. 

It cost just twenty thousand dollars to discover 
America ; and for this small sum the Queen of Spain 
had to pledge her jewels, so great were the financial 
embarrassments of the government from the Moorish 
wars. It is true, Columbus never saw the United 
States in its present limits ; but he was at Cuba, 
five degrees from Florida. Henry of England took 
six years to determine the proposal which Columbus 
made him for aid in this same discovery. 

How incapable was the human mind at that period 
to comprehend the advantage of spending twenty 
thousand dollars, to see if there was any such place 
at all as this New World of ours ! Just as incredu- 
lous are many to the prospective results of the 
Pacific Railroad. Yes, with all the light and knowl- 
edge, and the mathematical demonstrations of its 
effects upon our national destiny, the timid and 
circumscribed intellect is as hard to convince as the 
child is that there is not a man in the moon. 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 



1 .V, 



When America was discovered, England had not 
a greater population than we had when we declined 
independence. Printing had been but twenty-one 
years in use ; the English language had not been 
spoken a century ; there were but four merchant 
ships belonging to London, and the people were op- 
posed to trade. Two centuries elapsed, after that, 
before England had dug a canal. Manufactures 
were almost unknown ; and it was upwards of a 
century after the discovery of America before Eng- 
land built her first stage-coach. 

And now, with a railroad access to the entire con- 
tinent, the blessing of our unequalled government 
and wise and wholesome laws will make us felt and 
propitiated by the entire world. What makes Eng- 
land the first commercial power in the world, but the 
control she has over the markets of Asia and the 
continent of Europe ? The possession of California 
has now added to the national wealth of America, 
by opening to us the same commerce of Asia. 

Central as the United States are between the two 
continents of Europe and Asia, and producing the 
two great staples of tobacco and cotton, we need but 
a highway of steam from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
and mail steamers from California to China, to over- 






156 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

step England, and claim supremacy in commerce to 
her. Why has England, thus far, made us depend- 
ent upon her for commercial news ? Because she 
has an overland route, which secures her mail facili- 
ties. The mails are taken from London to Canton, 
and vice versa, in sixty-five days ; to us, in seventy- 
seven days. If we construct a railroad, now, to 
the Pacific, and connect California with China by 
mail steamers, the whole distance from New York 
to China will be accomplished in the incredibly short 
time of twenty-four days. England then would be- 
come dependent upon the United States, not only 
for mail facilities, but for the products of Asia, 
which would be made available through us. 

England, by her Cape of Good Hope and overland 
routes, has obtained a monopoly over the East India 
trade and that of China. The government of the 
East Indies forces opium to be introduced, which is 
the important drug for the Chinese markets. The 
sale of opium amounts to thirty millions annually. 
Besides, the cotton and other fabrics which England 
sends to China bring back to Great Britain annu- 
ally twenty millions of dollars. Nothing but the 
American trade has saved China from being ex- 
hausted in money. We deal with China to about 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 157 

half the amount of England ; for which we send 
specie, or bills drawn to our account, payable in 
London. Now, it needs but for us to establish more 
rapid communications, to enjoy all the advantages 
England now possesses. Our central position gives 
this natural facility. We have but to use the appli- 
ances of science and art which God has given us the 
intelligence to appreciate, to take the commercial 
balance into our own hands. 

It is now reduced to a moral certainty that cotton 
cannot be grown to any extent in any soil yet found 
out but that of the United States. It is, therefore, 
the first staple of our trade. Tobacco is next in im- 
portance, as such. Its use is now becoming general 
throughout Europe and in some parts of Asia. It 
is only kept from China by England, who forces 
opium upon her people, and makes the difficulty of 
obtaining tobacco from us. We alone might substi- 
tute tobacco for opium, and thus rescue a people 
perishing so rapidly from the use of that poisonous 
drug ; the Chinese greatly preferring tobacco, but 
the English, jealous of our staple, take care to 
throw every obstacle in the way of its introduction, 
well knowing that it would entirely supersede the 
use of the deadly narcotic in which they are so 



158 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

deeply interested. We might receive, in return for 
our tobacco and cotton, the amount in tea and silk, 
for which we now pay twenty-five millions annually. 

Look at the true state of the case. England has 
to buy of us the raw material, out of which she 
fabricates the basis of her foreign trade. She gets 
our wool and cotton, and makes muslins, cottons, 
calicoes, handkerchiefs, and cotton yarn, of our cot- 
ton, and broadcloth, cassimeres, blankets, camlets, 
of our wool. We also make the same articles. 
Both export to China ; yet we find, by a compari- 
son of one year, that ours reach scarcely one twen- 
tieth part of England's, for the reason given, — that 
she commands the market by her mail facilities of 
communication. 

Take the trade in tea, and compare our commerce 
and England's with China, in the sixty years from 
the time we began to trade with China in that arti- 
cle, and look at it. The first voyage of commerce 
from the United States to China was in 1785 ; but 
the trade was not really opened until 1792. It has 
so increased that now our importation of tea amounts 
to sixteen millions of dollars annually. From the 
beginning of our trade with China, we have im- 
ported from that country to the value of upwards 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. L59 

of two hundred and fifty-eight millions of dollars, 
while our exports have amounted to only a little over 
eighty-six millions. Thus we have paid China in 
precious metals upwards of one hundred and 
seventy-two millions of dollars ! 

From 1792, when our trade began with China, 
to 1827, silver to the amount of eighty-eight mil- 
lions and upwards had been shipped direct from 
the United States to China. In 1827, China, 
owing to the opium trade, had become indebted to 
England very largely, and American bills, payable 
in England, began to be used in lieu of coin ; and 
from 1834, these American bills on Chinese accounts 
amounted to about sixteen and a half millions, 
while the specie in that time sent from England 
was only between seven and eight millions ! 

So, since 1834, England has been steadily drain- 
ing our coin to the amount of seventy-five millions 
seven hundred and fifty-seven thousand seven hun- 
dred and ninety-seven dollars, and settling with 
China by bills of credit, for which we have to pay 
specie to her. 



CHAPTER III. 

Now > this drain of England upon us is prepos- 
terous. Our own products are sufficient to pay for 
all we get from China ; and it is our products 
which pay a premium to the labor of England, and 
cause a loss to our manufacturers and mechanics. 
It is the increase of our products by the art and value 
of British labor which actually pays for nearly the 
whole of the teas and raw silk England imports 
from China. 

There are other advantages connected with the 
steamers to transpose the mart from China to the 
Pacific, meeting the railroad at that terminus. 
These steamers can be so constructed as to supersede 
the govermnent force needed there, and save the 
treasury annually one million and a quarter of 
dollars. The extensive and unprotected coasts of 
California and Oregon render them liable to foreign 
aggression, and demand, in this point of view, the 
serious consideration of the people. Before the 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 161 

acquisition of California we had two hundred ves- 
sels employed in trade in the Pacific. Since then, 
there are, at least, six hundred and fifty American 
trading vessels. The amount of our property ex- 
posed there on the coast is nearly seventy millions. 
The whaling business alone is valued at thirty 
millions, with an employed force of eighteen thou- 
sand men in the North Pacific ; and our annual 
revenue is estimated at ten millions. 

Our acquisition on the Pacific at once inaugu- 
rated a new era in the industry, energy, and enter- 
prise, of the American people. It was their volun- 
tary labor which levelled mountains, felled forests, 
and swept the plains with a torrent of emigration, 
in the valley of the St. Lawrence, and the basin of 
our lakes. And when the facilities of moving 
whole bodies of men are given to the people by 
the railroad, and time and space at once annihilated, 
the pulpit, the press, and institutions for education, 
will multiply, and thus expand and strengthen the 
bonds of our liberties. 

The geographical, physical, and moral power of 
the United States constitute the basis of their 
greatness. Great Britain has thirty-four thousand 
square miles ; Austria, Hungary, and Italy, three 



162 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

hundred thousand ; France, less than two hundred 
thousand ; we, Americans, over three and a half 
millions ! Geographically, Russia compares as 
one to one hundred and twenty ; Austria, as one to 
nine ; France, as one to five and a half ; United 
States, as one to ninety-six ! While we have there- 
fore a field to display our enterprise, all we want 
is avenues to exert it in its full vigor. 

This railway will save ten or twelve days over 
the Panama route. It will transfer the capital of 
Europe to us, which is now used in monopolizing 
the trade of Asia. It will give to Americans the 
key of the West, and fix forever the channel of 
Asiatic commerce (which for centuries has been 
oscillating) upon the best, safest, and quickest 
route of transit through the heart of this nation. 
Safety, security, protection, advancement, all require 
the construction of this Pacific Railroad. The gold 
of California has now become the essential stimu- 
lant to all the industrial pursuits of the country. 
The destruction of the monthly shipment to New 
York would send a shiver through all the commerce, 
finance, and industry, of this country, that would 
be incredibly severe, in a single week. 

Now, consider how easy foreign cruisers and 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 1G3 

privateers could cut us off from this receipt of the 
essential element of our national vitality ! The 
gold now comes to us over foreign seas, through 
foreign territory, and over a circuit of six thousand 
miles. In the event of war, whole fleets would 
interpose to take from us this arm of our strength. 
Ships, and troops, and missions, are now necessary 
to protect our national interest, and protect our 
commerce on the Pacific ; the railway would then 
protect us, and save all our commerce and territory 
from foreign aggression. 

Throughout the world's history, nations have 
been elevated or depressed as they advanced or 
lost commerce ; and the changes for three thou- 
sand years in Asiatic commerce have settled the 
question, that the ocean is the obstacle to foreign 
trade. Land now has been found the facility, and 
the steam-car the only sure means to keep up dis- 
tant communications. The United States have 
consequently the advantage over Europe. We 
have half the road to India on our own land, the 
rest on a peaceable sea which washes our shores, 
and with an impenetrable bar to Europe of the 
whole diameter of the earth. 

This railroad, then, will exalt us to be mistress 



164 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

of the commerce of the wide world. It will be at 
the same time the impregnable fortification to save 
us from the assault of vast armies, or from fierce 
and bloody battles within our own borders. Who 
would stop to count the cost of the mere construc- 
tion, when every interest dear to the hope of citizen 
and Christian is staked upon the result? 

Aside from the commercial and political necessity, 
the economy and convenience of the nation, the 
interests of all the people, demand this road now. 
Americans, take the whole history of the roads in 
this country in the past twenty-five years, and you 
will find every dollar invested in them has been 
worth ten to you. 

The vast increase of the West in population and 
lands is only to be ascribed to its roads. In five 
years Illinois has doubled her population, and in- 
creased her lands five-fold. In these five years 
ten or twelve hundred miles of railway have been 
built. 

In a moral and educational view, this road must 
have an immense value. The tendency of popula- 
tion is all west ; the field for the growth and 
prosperity of the people is there. In a few years 
it will decide all our national measures in Congress; 



TIIE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 1G5 

it will control our national revenues ; and, as the 
agent for transportation of newspapers, cheap books, 
and all those methods which tend to enlighten and 
strengthen the Protestant power of our country, 
the value of the road cannot be computed. The 
loss to the country by omitting to build this road 
has been more already than would have supported 
the entire annual expenses of the government. 

The American people now almost unanimously 
demand this railroad as the great necessity of our 
times, and they require it to be built in whatever 
latitude the great mass of the population mostly 
move ; — on whatever line is shortest, most expedi- 
tious in travel, and most convenient to the thirty 
millions of people who inhabit our thirty-one states 
and territories. 

Three routes out of the eight surveyed at gov- 
ernment expense have been pronounced feasible by 
the Secretary of War in his report to Congress. 
These are the northern, the central, and the south- 
ern lines. By all of them the harbor of San Fran- 
cisco is acknowledged to be the essential tenninus 
of the road on the west, as it is now the centre of 
all our commerce on the Pacific coast. The ques- 
tion, then, is, what point on the east as a terminus 



166 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

will correspond with San Francisco, as the centre 
of the greatest amount of population and commer- 
cial enterprise on the west? 

The distance on the southern line from San Fran- 
cisco to New York is three thousand six hundred 
and forty-seven miles ; on the northern line, includ- 
ing distance yet unsurveyed, three thousand six 
hundred and thirty-four ; on the central line, three 
thousand two hundred and forty miles. This would 
give a distance of four hundred miles shorter to the 
central route. Texas has granted to any company 
that constructs the railroad on the southern route 
ten thousand two hundred and forty acres of land 
for every mile of road built. Now, these lands 
of Texas are the only unimproved lands on this 
continent where cotton can be cultivated. Cotton 
is the staple of our commerce ; the rest of the 
world is depending on us for its growth, and we do 
not own now a single acre of government land 
favorable to its production. In this point of view, 
the grants of land Texas offers become incalculably 
valuable to our whole country. 

The charge for transporting goods across the 
Panama Railroad is a tenth less than before its con- 
struction. Four or five hours now serve to carry 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 1 (j < 

passengers and freight across the isthmus, which 
formerly occupied three days of dangerous travel. 
Freight is now reduced to one hundred and twenty- 
five dollars the ton. But a railroad from the coast 
of Texas would not only save time, but reduce the 
tonnage to one half the amount it now costs from 
New York to California. The saving of freight, 
the saving of time, would at once induce every pru- 
dent and sagacious merchant to adopt the railroad 
across the continent, and thus gain thirty or forty 
days. 

The central route starts from New York to the 
Pacific, and has already been completed to Iowa 
City. From New York city it followes the Hudson 
River, the Erie Canal, the great lakes, from Buffalo 
to Chicago, to Rock Island. The easy passage for 
a bridge which is placed across the Mississippi at 
Rock Island seems to have been marked out by 
Providence as the means to facilitate commerce across 
the river, and renders the route to San Francisco 
the most direct and advantageous in the judgment 
of many eminent men. Next year the route will 
have reached Council Bluff. All this by individual 
enterprise, without government aid ; and which 



1GS THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

will make the next census count in Iowa over a 
million of inhabitants. 

All that this route needs from the government to 
complete the road to San Francisco from Iowa City 
or Council Bluff is a grant of land, taking nothing 
from the treasury, but augmenting its revenues by 
bringing the lands into the market. This route is 
in the centre of about one half of the population 
of the whole country ; and it is fair to presume, from 
what has been achieved by the industry and enter- 
prise of the West, that the road will be built on 
this route, whether favored by the general govern- 
ment or not. 

It was the Erie Canal of New York that made 
the first great revolution in the trade of the coun- 
try, and exalted that state in wealth and grandeur. 
Ohio succeeded with her canals between the lakes 
and the valley, and western trade at once went into 
New York. 

The canals of Maryland and Pennsylvania had 
no water communications from the Atlantic to the 
Ohio, and failed for that reason ; while New York 
had a monopoly for thirty years, or until the rail- 
road penetrated the entire West to the banks of the 
Mississippi. Steam conquers all other motors. The 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. Kl'J 

incredible revenues from the central road of Pennsyl- 
vania, and the Baltimore and Ohio road, for the 
present year, show this result. 

It is steam which has given England her power 
over the continent, by facilitating the transportation 
of her coal, iron, salt, and other bulky articles. 
Why do the inhabitants of cities and towns enjoy 
greater advantages than those who are settled over a 
sparse country ? Because there is an ampler field 
for purchase, a greater variety of employments 
for industry to suit the ability and capacity of the 
laborer, and greater quickness in finishing work. 
Where population is collected the competition is 
greater. 

Now, the Pacific Railroad will do for the people 
of our vast country just what the city or town now 
does. It will concentrate numbers from small and 
distant places in an incredibly short time. This 
will at once lead to prosperity. Greece arose to 
commercial greatness in this way. Towns in Hol- 
land, Zealand, and Flanders, for centuries prospered 
by these means. Switzerland thus holds intercourse 
by the Rhine with Holland. While those countries 
without roads, or canals, or other water facilities, 

have never risen intellectually or commercially. 

8 









170 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

We have already witnessed the effect of the rail- 
road upon our vast West, which has conduced to 
individual comfort and prosperity wherever it has 
penetrated. There is yet another advantage to be 
attained by the road across the continent, not to be 
overlooked by Americans, and that is, its effect upon 
the diffusion of Protestant principles over our land. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The endless holidays of the Catholic church have 
always checked industry ; and it is a fact to be 
remembered, that, although the nominal Roman 
Catholics (but greater proportion infidels) are more 
numerous than Protestants in Europe, a much 
larger share of Europe's exports comes from the 
skill and ingenuity of Protestants than Catholics. 
In Ireland, linen- weaving, the only great branch 
of manufacture, is almost wholly in the hands of 
Protestants. In the vast margin of the West yet 
to be filled, it becomes a question of the first 
moment to the nation that it be occupied by Prot- 
estants, whose education tends to strengthen our 
liberties, while that of Romanism is designed to 
subvert them. The West will soon hold the bal- 
ance in our national exchequer, and elect our chief 
ruler ; and it is impossible to be too vigilant in 
promoting and spreading Protestant education over 
all that portion of our people. The railroad, more 



172 THE PACIFIC RAILROAI 

than soil, more than mines, will tend to this result, 
by bringing all sections of the Union together, and 
advancing knowledge to the remotest limits. 

The revenue of our country arises chiefly by 
consumption ; and the wealth and power of our 
whole country would be increased and secured by 
the increase of a Protestant American population. 
The individual income of such a people would 
also be increased. Why ? Because the reward of 
labor in all the manufacturing and mechanic arts 
would induce the individual to adopt a uniform 
pursuit ; while the father of a family would not be 
compelled, as now, often to sacrifice education and 
personal comfort for the mere sake of living. 

Thus, Americans, as the commerce of the country 
expanded, so would all the arts and pursuits of 
industry expand, as it grew great and powerful. 
The Pacific Railroad must increase the medium 
which circulates and regulates commerce ; it must 
enlighten and expand the energies of men ; it 
must spread the influence of American institu- 
tions over mankind, and dissipate that very dark- 
ness, under which men have been deluded, and 
their means squandered, to grow rich without labor, 
or wise without learning. Foreign force and do 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 17.) 

mestio treachery have struck at the foundation of 
our political edifice. We need at once to balance 
the public mind by free Protestant culture, so that 
our people shall reason before they act. 

Before the discovery of the mines of California 
and Australia, the coin came from Mexico and 
South America. Since the discovery of these, a 
new era has been inaugurated in our commerce 
with the world. In 1849 and '50, the first flood 
of gold came into the country ; and in the three 
following years, '51, '52, and '53, the enormous 
sum of one hundred and sixty-six millions had been 
added to the circulation, including about thirty 
millions in the hands of individuals. This caused 
a change in the condition of the people, who, see- 
ing the steady increase in three years, predicted a 
rise which would, at last, amount to one hundred 
millions annually. Then everything in specula- 
tion, expense, and importation, increased. Banks 
sprang up, and paper was used as gold ; wages 
and work increased ; railroad bonds were issued 
by the million ; life and fire insurance companies 
multiplied. But on what was all this based ? 
Was it upon the gold and silver in the bank vaults 
of the country? Not at all ; but upon the fiction 



174 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

which men without reasoning adopted, and the 
delusion under which they acted. 

By the returns of the first six years subsequent 
to the discovery of gold in California, two hundred 
millions of that metal had been added to the cir- 
culation of the world. Australia, though not so 
long known, brought fifty millions more ; making 
two hundred and fifty millions more money in use 
than before the discovery of these mines. 

By the official banking returns of the United 
States and Europe for that period, we find that 
there was no more money on hand then than before 
the discovery. Where, then, did this metallic cur- 
rency go ? Why, it went directly into the hand3 
of the people. It, therefore, was not the instru- 
ment of the credit structure, which is the proper 
and only means for making paper the representa- 
tive of gold and silver ; so that, while this in- 
crease of gold gave fancied security to the credit 
it induced, it had not really anything to do with it. 

The mining districts, including all the valuable 
metals found on the Pacific, will, in themselves, 
make the railroad eminently desirable for the trans- 
portation of these metals. Consider, Americans, 
that, after eiglit years of constant mining, and four 



TriE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 175 

hundred millions of dollars obtained, they arc still 
as luxurious as ever. Gold is seen embedded in 
every stream, mountain, and vale. The copper 
mines of Lake Superior and Eastern Tennessee 
have not made even the demand for this metal less 
profitable. Now, that obtained from the new 
copper mines of Ajo is wagoned all the way to 
San Diego, and thence to San Francisco ; and 
still, with all that cost, a large profit is left to the 
transporter. The richest silver mines ever dis- 
covered are in Sonora, in Mexico, which now 
belong to us. Silver, perfectly pure, has been 
clipped by the sword of an officer, as a specimen. 
The Indians have deterred explorers, hitherto, from 
penetrating these mines ; but, now that they have 
become American property, we shall find American 
enterprise entering them. 

Americans, you perceive these rich mines of 
gold, iron, silver, and copper, will at once be 
made accessible by the railroad. Thus it will add 
to the capital of our country vastly more than it 
can possibly cost. This Pacific railway will be 
the harbinger of the future glory and aggrandize- 
ment of American institutions. In twenty days 
we shall be in the most populous cities of Europe 



i 



17 G THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

and Asia We have already consummated treaties 
which secure commerce and trade to Americans, 
and protect their lives, property, and religious 
liberty, in Siam and Japan, so long closed against 
the trade of the world ; and then we will com- 
mand the accumulated wealth of seven hundred 
millions of people, and which has enriched every 
nation that has had any kind of control over it. 

England, to maintain her ascendency over this 
trade, has already three over-land mail routes, and 
is now engaged in devising three more, to carry 
this Eastern commerce to the British empire. But 
a railroad, to do this for England, would have to 
extend six thousand five hundred miles, and would 
take fourteen years to build it. Now, by the com- 
promise of 1850, which Millard Fillmore signed, 
as President of the United States, we secured the 
ten leagues of country on the Pacific coast, which 
included California, and planted our flag there. 
And, by this means, — made our blessing, under 
God, — we can make our national road, which will 
convey us across the continent to the Bay of San 
Francisco in seven days ; and ten or twelve clays 
from there, by steam, will land Americans in the 
populous countries of Eastern and Western Asia 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 177 

and Western Europe. It will give them a hold on 
the wealth of China, which has been increasing 
for six thousand years, and bring them in contact 
with her seven hundred millions of inhabitants in 
twenty days from the day they leave New York. 

This railroad, then, will put sectional agitation 
among our people at rest, and set them about these 
new channels of trade and commerce. We have 
now control of the cotton market of the world, and 
the certain prospect of having the same power over 
wool. Iron, also, in every state but one, is abun- 
dant enough to supply the whole American conti- 
nent ; and, in a few years, we shall likewise con- 
trol the market of this great item in trade. Gold, 
too, will then be more rapidly diffused over the 
civilized world, and this will facilitate the activity 
of our commerce. A greater amount of labor will 
then be made available, to work the mines of Cali- 
fornia and Australia, than ever before. 

The effect of the discovery of the precious 
metals in California has been to stimulate the 
latent energies of men to an extent never wit- 
nessed before, and has been the means of forcing 
the necessity of a railway upon the common sense 
of the American people. The poor man will be 
8* 



178 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

more benefited than the rich by this road ; and the 
labor employed in the development of our new 
territory, and the exploration of its mines, will 
prevent any superabundance of laborers in the 
most thickly-settled parts of the country, and stop 
the poor man from working for the pittance he now 
does. 

The manufacturer, also, by the increased free- 
dom to commerce which the constant and rapid 
transportation of gold from California and Austra- 
lia will then command, will find himself better able 
to cope with the manufacturers of Europe. 

According to Professor Blake, the great gold 
field in California, notwithstanding the large in- 
crease to the circulation of the precious metals, has 
not yet been fully explored. There is a field seven 
hundred miles in length, and about fifty in breadth, 
containing thirty-five thousand square miles, eleven 
thousand of which are rich in gold, sometimes 
extending to the depth of six feet in the sands of 
the coast. This is repeatedly washed out of the 
black sand by the tides. The number of square 
miles worked, but imperfectly, we are assured by 
Dr. Trask, in his work on geology, never exceeds 
four hundred at a time ; and fewer persons were 



TEE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 17'.) 

engaged in mining in 1854 than in 1852, although 
the product of gold was in '52 forty-five millions 
of dollars, and in '54 sixty-one millions. This 
was owing to the increased advantages of working 
the mines by proper machinery. 

Now, by the highest authorities we find that the 
amount of gold in the whole world, in 1848, was 
two billions nine hundred millions of dollars, or six 
hundred millions of pounds ; while, by the increase 
from the mines of California and Australia since 
that time, at least four billions of dollars have been 
added to that amount, which would make now, in 
the whole world, six billions nine hundred millions 
of dollars of gold, beside what is worked into jewelry 
and plate. And, Americans, does it not cause a 
thrill of triumph in your hearts to know that, of 
this increase to the precious metals, your own State 
of California has contributed three hundred and 
thirteen millions two hundred and eighty-five thou- 
sand five hundred and two dollars and seventy- 
seven cents ; and other parts of America, seventeen 
million seven hundred and sixty-six thousand seven 
hundred and sixty-eight dollars and fifty-seven 
cents ? 






CHAPTER V. 

M. Tegoborski, Counsel of the Empire of Russia, 
in writing of the influence of the gold fields of 
California and Australia, estimates that by them 
the amount of gold and silver in use in Europe will 
be doubled in thirteen years, and throughout the 
whole world in twenty-four years. 

Beside, what is the effect of the discovery of the 
mines of California in Europe ? Why, it has 
raised real estate four per cent, per annum, and 
advanced all kinds of produce in like manner. It 
has also advanced the wages of labor in like ratio. 
How ? Because the poor working-man, before 
dependent on the employer for the mere sustenance 
of life, is now driven to another field of operation, 
and incited by the desire to accumulate, and thus 
changing often the state of things by making the 
rich man dependent on the laborer. 

So those who remained as well as those who 
went to California were benefited. If that was so 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. lb L 

in Europe, let us turn to our own country, — we, 
the possessors of California. We see how our 
commerce is extended ; we see, day by day, how 
eagerly the accumulations of gold and silver in our 
bank-vaults are taken and transported into other 
countries, to bring back their merchandise to us. 
Why ? Because its shipment to England, France, 
and Germany, equalizes the value of gold, and 
prevents the dangers to trade which result from 
keeping it under bars and bolts. The railroad to 
the Pacific has now become a necessity to the 
American people, that they may enjoy the free 
heritage God has given them, opening all the ave- 
nues to wealth and industry, and making their 
voice heard on the hills, in the valleys, the cities, 
and the plains, of the whole earth. This, Ameri- 
cans, will be the great triumph of the American 
States over commerce, mechanics, and manufac- 
tures, which nothing can impede beneath the stars. 
The railway and the canal will be the true con- 
querors of the world. Around them will centre 
the industry and energy of the Anglo-Saxon race 
There the Protestant emigrant will seek his new 
home. They will become the majority of the 



182 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

population, and the consequent possessors of most 
of the property of the country. 

The telegraph will then become the electric 
medium of exchange, which, without a visible 
chain, will link the American Union to the world. 
" Lo, what hath God wrought ! " were the memo- 
rable words which passed over the wires of the 
first telegraph ever made in the United States, 
a few years since, between Baltimore and Washing- 
ton, a distance of but forty miles. Now, Ameri- 
cans, we not only find it in the full exercise of its 
magic power in all the states of this mighty Union, 
but actually preparing to bring us in speaking dis- 
tance of the other continent. 

You all know that the Island of St. John's, 
Newfoundland, is the most eastern point of North 
America, and Valencia is the most western harbor 
of the British Isles. The waters of the St. Law- 
rence have long since cut Newfoundland from the 
continent. Now a submarine telegraph has been 
laid, which brings Newfoundland and the main land 
again in contact ; and the distance from St. John's 
to New York, of one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty miles, can be reached by direct communi- 
cation. But still the ocean was to be crossed to 



THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 183 

reach Europe, and the question arose how this could 
best be done. Some proposed extending the line 

to Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe 
Islands ; but to this there were insurmountable 
objections, and, after the investigation of scien- 
tific men, it was decided that the line must also 
start from Newfoundland to Europe, a distance of 
nineteen hundred miles, on account of the depth of 
the water, essential to the success of the enterprise. 

The plan devised, and about to be executed, is 
this : A line of wire three thousand miles long will 
be placed on two war-ships in mid-ocean, one 
belonging to the United States, the other to Eng- 
land. These will each take half the wire. The 
wire will be covered with gotta percha coatings, 
and will be made of the best conducting material, 
accompanied by a machine, invented for the express 
purpose, by Dr. Whitehouse, of England, in order 
to ascertain when the wire is broken or damaged, 
and the exact point of interruption. 

Thus, Americans, by your inventive genius, you 
are with one grapple about to join Europe to tin-; 
country by a telegraph, which will start at New- 
foundland, ami end at Valencia, in Ireland, with 
one thousand nine hundred miles of cable resting 



184 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

in the Atlantic Ocean ! This is not an ideal 
sketch, but a living reality, that in 1857, next 
year, the British Isles and the United States, 
though divided by a stormy ocean of three thousand 
miles, will by science and machinery hold conversa- 
tional intercourse with each other ; and, at the 
same time, the distance by railway between Nova 
Scotia and Portland, Maine, will have diminished 
our travelling distance from Europe eleven hundred 
miles! 

These mighty works show the mutual benefit 
England and the United States are each to the 
other, while they continue as they are. While the 
energy of this great American people, too rapid for 
carrier pigeons, and even steam, and eager to extend 
and profit by every advantage in commerce, inven- 
tion, finance, science, and arts, and to move in the 
rapid march of civilization over the whole globe, 
has already forged the chain which is to bind us 
to the three ancient continents of the Eastern 
world. 

Well might Mr. Dallas, the American minister, 
declare that the great telegraph, now making, 
would afford Americans the opportunity soon to 
respond to the toast given to Americans in London 



THIS PACIFIC RAILROAD. 185 

bufuro the dinner ended. " When famine distressed 
Other hinds, in the land of Egypt there was bread." 
So with our beloved country : from the diversity <>f 
its soil and climate, its power in raising subsidence 
will so increase as the humbler condition of society 
advances by intelligence, that it would be physi- 
cally impossible to arrest the march of the American 
people in commerce, wealth, or mental activity. 

Now we come to the great question, who is to 
make the road to the Pacific, — Congress, that is, 
the general government, or the people ? 

We say it cannot be built without* the coopera- 
tion of the government, because there are fifteen 
hundred miles between Missouri and California, 
over which Congress alone has power to legislate. 
The constitution, which gives Congress the right to 
regulate commerce, allows the genera] government 
to build the road to California from New York, for 
a mail route, if it so decided. Congress can give 
or sell the public lands, as it pleases. Congress can 
appropriate money, if it pleases, to build a road or 
roads through the landed estate of the government 
for mail transportation, or military purpose 3. We 
do not advocate the especial claims of either of the 
three routes surveyed. Each has its advantages; 



1SG THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

and all may be laterally connected, or ultimately 
and separately constructed. But, we say, had the 
present administration done its duty, and favored 
the building of the road to the Pacific three years 
ago, — instead of burning Greytown, making Ostend 
conferences to seize Cuba by " divine " right, and 
repealing the Missouri Compromise, which has 
brought upon us intestine war, — our country, 
instead of being divided, distracted, and agitated, 
would have been running a new race in dignity, 
and political and commercial greatness. 

The administration, on the contrary, early 
receded from this national measure. The leading 
presses, which sustained it, followed in elaborate 
articles against the road. Senators of the same 
political school declared the measure would be 
worse than the alien and sedition laws of John 
Adams. They saw no power in the constitution, 
while grant after grant, in the last seven years, has 
been made by Congress to the Southern and Western 
States. The people saw nothing to prevent it, and 
with more energy than ever before renewed that 
demand. 

















- / 1 — 



6* 



THE LOSS OF TIIE 



SLOOP -OF -WAR "ALBANY," 



COMMANDER GERRY, OFFICERS, AND CREW. 



CHAPTER I. 



The Author in a previous work, "The Ameri- 
can Battle," was induced, by the misrepresentations 
of officers, to make some statements which she 
afterwards learned, from an examination of the 
documents, to have been untrue, and which she 
therefore corrected in the previous editions of 
the present volume. The statements were then 
made, as she was assured, upon the most reliable 
authority, the verity of which she believed there- 
fore rested upon the most credible testimony, 
rather than upon the zealous enthusiasm of the 
informers. As she cannot, and will not, to support 
any cause, or subserve any party or creed, allow 
a statement to bear the sanction of her name that 



13T 



188 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

is not supported by evidence of its authenticity, 
she has requested her publishers to withdraw that 
chapter from the future editions of " The Ameri- 
can Battle" solely because it contains certain 
errors, caused by misrepresentations made to her. 
It was from a knowledge of this fact, brought to 
her notice by the examination of the official docu- 
ments, and the pain she experienced in having 
innocently, but most unjustly, committed, through 
others, a wrong upon the gallant dead, and by 
her own high sense of right, that she was at 
once prompted to make a public exposition of the 
character and services of Commander Gerry, who 
must be regarded, by all who are correctly in- 
formed of his private and public history, as one 
of the brightest ornaments of the Navy, and 
possessed of every virtue that gives claim to 
the confidence and respect of his country and of 
humanity 

The misrepresentation in the case of the late 
distinguished Commander Gerry, of the United 
States Navy, is first in importance, as it reflected 
upon one who is not here to vindicate his own 
claim to justice. But data, which none can deny, 
are at hand, as effectually to refute the charge 
as though lie were personally present, The offi- 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 189 

cial documents, which the author has read, make 
no mention of auy application from a subordinate 
to place a Bible and religious library in the cabin 
of the Albany, under command of Captain Gerry. 
There is not one word to be read in connection 
with this mutter, from beginning to end, in these 
documents. 

The history of no misfortune that nas ever 
befallen the Navy caused deeper affliction or 
more lasting sorrow than that of the loss of the 
sloop-of-war Albany. 

Captain Gerry was her noble commander, 
ai<led by many of the most gallant and valuable 
officers in the naval service, when she met that 
mysterious fate which none survived to reveal. 
The last official intelligence of this ship was dated 
on the 28th of September, 1854, announcing that 
she would sail next day from Aspinwall for New 
York, and subsequent information leads us to 
believe Captain Gerry intended to return by way 
of the Mona passage. A terrific hurricane oc- 
curred in that latitude on the 21st of October, 
which it is supposed the Albany must have en- 
countered, and there met her lamentable fate. 
After waiting long in expectation of her arrival, 
the most painful anxiety was awakened on ac- 



190 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALRANT. 

count of these brave men, and the Princeton, 
under the command of Captain Eagle, an accom- 
plished and skillful officer in the service, was sent 
to discover some tidings of their fate ; which, 
after a thorough search, he was unable to do. 

The United States steamer Fulton, Lieutenant 
John K. Mitchell commanding, which sailed from 
Aspinwall, New Granada, March 2, also made a 
thorough search among the Bahama and Wind- 
ward Islands and the Spanish Main ; but without 
any more successful result. 

On the 18th of April, 1855, within seven 
months from the sailing of the Albany from As- 
pinwall, the department announced the names of 
the promoted officers by this melancholy event, 
and thus settled the conviction upon the public 
mind, that all hopes of the survival of Captain 
Gerry and his associates had vanished forever ! 

The department, in making this annunciation, 
made honorable mention of the distinguished ser- 
vices of Captain Gerry, " who, in pursuance of 
the orders of the commodore, had been actively 
cruising during the entire year, as commander of 
the Albany, and had visited, among other ports, 
those of Samana, Sisal, St. Thomas, Port Royal, 
and St. Jago de Cuba." And the Secretary of the 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 191 

Navy further remarked, that " this ship had done 
good service, and Commander Gerry and his offi- 
cers merit the approbation of the department, as 
I have reason to know that the appearance of 
our flag at these ports, and the bearing of the offi- 
cers, contributed much to the encouragement and 
protection of our citizens engaged in commercial 
transactions in these regions." 

Commander Gerry, was the youngest son of the 
late Elbridge Gerry, who died in the discharge of 
his duties, as Vice-President of the United States, 
to which office he was elected by the unanimous 
vote of the " Republican" party, in 1812. 

In separating the British Government from the 
Colony of Massachusetts, and forming one to suit 
the people's choice ; in the foreign and domestic 
concerns of the country, while the war of the 
revolution was in progress ; in arranging for the 
cessation of hostilities, and the treaty of peace, 
Mr. Gerry bore a prominent and distinguished 
part. 

He was in the front ranks of the Convention 
which formed the Constitution. He was a mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives in Congress, 
at the organization of the Federal Government. 
He was an ambassador to France, to negotiate 



192 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

our difficulties, and terminate our treaties with 
that power. 

He was Governor of Massachusetts at the be- 
ginning of our second war with England, which 
he fearlessly advocated, and afterwards presided 
over the councils of the nation, during the con- 
tinuance of that war, as Vice-President of the 
United States. 

There is too, one remarkable fact to be remem- 
bered, that but seven of those who signed the 
Declaration of Independence, participated in the 
formation of the Constitution. Of these, Mr. 
Gerry was one. 

And in the first and second Congress after the 
organization of the government, while many were 
found who had been distinguished, either in the 
military or civil service of the country, during the 
Revolutionary War, it was rare then, to find one 
who had taken an active part, both in the Revo- 
lution and the adoption of the Constitution, as 
Mr. Gerry had done. And when presiding over 
the Senate of the United States, in 1813, he was 
believed to be the only individual in either branch 
of Congress, who had served in the " immortal 
Congress" of 1776 ! 

It may not be improper here to remind the 



LOSS OF THE SLOOl'-OF- WAR ALBANY. 193 

reader, that of those who signed the greal char- 
ter of our independence, all wore never presenl 

at any one time. Many who had no voice in 
making or originating it, who neither voted for 
the resolutions, nor for their publication, after- 
wards became members of Congress, and signed 
the Declaration of Independence. 

This, they were instructed by their respective 
State Legislatures to do, and which was done 
from time to time, throughout the year 1776! 
Mr. Gerry was not one of the latter class. 
Though all who signed that sacred instrument, 
deserve the imperishable glory which will ever 
belong to their venerated names ! But two of 
his colleagues of the Revolution ever attained an 
elevation beyond that of Elbridge Gerry. These 
were Adams and Jefferson, who, after assisting 
in inaugurating the independence of the nation, 
and sacrificing for its perpetuity, were summoned 
on its fiftieth anniversary to the judgment of im- 
mortality on the same day. And in consideration 
of the fact, that Mr. Gerry entered the service 
of his country when subject to England ; that he 
signed the Declaration, and aided in making the 
Constitution ; thai he was a party to the first or- 
ganization of the government, and presided over 

9 



194 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

the destinies of his native State, when measures 
were being taken for a second war with England, 
which really gave us nationality, and when we 
remember that he afterwards was transferred 
as presiding officer over the councils of the na- 
tion, and with such entire acceptance to all sec- 
tions, when the War of 1812 was raging with 
England, and the permanence and fidelity of our 
people to free institutions was being tested, we 
cannot but regard this series of patriotic services 
furnished by Elbridge Gerry, as connecting them- 
selves with the history of no other man in the 
nation, of whom we have knowledge. 

We may add that, as an appreciation of all this, 
Congress in 1823, passed a law, and made an ap- 
propriation to erect a monument over the tomb 
of Elbridge Gerry, in the Congressional Cemetery, 
at Washington City. 

This is the first, and only instance, in which the 
nation has ever erected a monument to a native 
citizen at its own cost ! 

Capt. James Thompson Gerry, in consequence 
of his father's decease in 1814, withdrew from 
Harvard College, which he entered the previous 
year, and received a warrant as cadet at West 
Point, and after remaining there one year, he 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAIt ALBANY. 195 

entered the Navy, December 20, 1815. lie was 
made a Lieutenant, April 28th, 182G, and pro- 
moted to the rank of Commander, April 17th, 

1842. He passed much of his naval life at sea, and 
with such scrupulous iidelity to duty as to have 
merited the highest encomiums in every grade of 
the service, and from all with whom he was offici- 

, ally associated. His mental strength, decision and 
energy of purpose, bore a striking resemblance to 
those traits in his father's character, whose vir- 
tues he emulated, and whom personally he 
strongly resembled. Like his father, too, he met 
death when in the actual service of his country. 

Capt. Gerry, in early life, had performed much 
creditable service in the squadron of the Mediter- 
ranean and China Seas, and elsewhere. And had 
served also in the Home Squadron, with credit to 
himself, in the years from 1839 to the summer of 

1843, in the sloop-of-war "Warren, as lieutenant ; 
and when promoted in 1842, he had command of 
the brig-of-war Somers, which vessel was upset 
and lost in a squall off Vera Cruz, after he had 
been relieved from the command. The squadron 
was ordered north in the summer months, and 
remained off the Navy Yard, Charlestown. 

The Somers, in the subsequent summer, when 



196 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

under Capt. Gerry's command, was ordered to 
the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and sailed again in 
November for St. Domingo, the Secretary of 
the Navy, then not deeming it advisable to detain 
United States vessels of war in the Caribbean 
Sea during the hurricane and sickly season. 
Capt. Gerry was an experienced officer in navi- 
gating these waters, and was on much important 
duty in the Somers, which was a dispatch vessel. 
He knew the necessity of our squadron on the 
Home Station being ordered North at the season 
of the year, in southern latitudes, so dangerous to 
life and property, by yellow fever, in the one case, 
and hurricanes, in the other. Capt. Gerry con- 
centrated in his character those rare and promi- 
nent elements which at once inspired confidence 
in the stranger, and won for him the universal 
esteem and respect of every community with 
which he was associated. 

The Albany sailed from Charlestown Navy Yard, 
Massachusetts, Nov. 29th, 1852, under his com- 
mand, and with as efficient, gallant, and respect- 
able an association of officers and crew as ever 
sailed in the service of the United States. We 
place on honorable record their distinguished 
names, while their memories are embalmed in the 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 197 

hearts of their many thousand friends and fellow- 
countrymen : 

Commander James T. Gerky. 

Nicholas Fieri Morris, Private Secretary to Commander. 

William W. Bleecker, First Lieutenant. 

Montgomery Hunt, Second Lieutenant. 

John Qiincy Adams, Third Lieutenant. 

Henry Rogers, Fourth Lieutenant. 

Robert Makr, Acting Master. 

Stephen M'Creary, Surgeon. 

RicnARD D. Conman, Assistant Surgeon. 

Nixon WniTE, Purser. 

Bkxxet J. Riley, Midshipman. 

William Jones, Boatswain. 

William Craig, Gunner. 

James Frazer, Sail-Maker. 

Rowland Leach, Carpenter. 

Belliger Scott, Master's Mate. 

William J. Bond, do. do. 

Dexter Brigham, do. do. 

Being — 18 Officers, 

23 Marines, 

156 Seamen. 



Total ... 197 as by the return to the Navy Department. 

The officers were connected with the most 
respectable and distinguished families in our coun- 
try. Bleecker, the first-lieutenant, was from the old 
Bleecker family after whom a well known street in 
New York is called. Adams was the nephew of 
the last President of the United States of that 
name. Rodgers, son of Commodore John Rod- 
gers, of the War of 1812. Hunt, a highly respect- 



; LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAE A1BA9Y. 

able family in the State :: New York. Man-was 
a son-in-law of Commodore Lava" Riley. 

son of General Riley, also of the State of N 
York. The other three wardroom officers w 
equall" respectable, and we believe from the 
E th. The rest of the officers above named 
were considered equal to any of their grade in 
the - rvioe. 

Lieut. Reed Werden. n:~ .-.-.- ;hed to the 
National Observatory at Washington. D. C, alf 
belonged to the AH any on her cruise to the 
Fishing Banks and back to Xew York : and in 
the subsequent cruise, until about the 6th of 
April. 1854, when, on account of ill health, he 
was detached from the ship at Hava: 7 ';_-:- 

elevated character he - -.ins. as an efficient 
officer, in connection with his great moral worth, 
is weD blown to the service and the country. 



CIIAPTER II. 

Whem last soon at A spin wall, September 28th, 
1854. the Albany was bound for New York, after 
being on active duty for twenty-two months, and 
having sailed, during this period, nearly forty 
thousand miles, believed to be the greatest amount 
of Bervice ever performed, in so short a time, by 
any United States vessel, on record. The crew 
were in fine health, the discipline of the ship was 
perfect, and the yellow fever, then an epidemic 
abroad, had not, because of this. ' invaded the 
vessel in its whole term of service. Commodore 
Gregory supervised the fitting of the Albany in 
185:2 in a proper and satisfactory manner, and 
she needed but Blight repairs until her return 
from the Fishing Banks on November 7th, 1853, 
where, in a cruise of thirty-four days from the 
time of leaving New York, the Albany had 
experienced a continued Beries of gales and hurri- 
canes, to which she proved equal. She had then 
been at sea six months and a half of the eleven 

199 



200 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

and a half months since leaving Charlestown. 
She next left New York, December 12th, 1853, 
for the Island of St. Thomas and the Caribbean 
Sea, and sailed last from Pensacola June 29th, 
1854, having gone there for repairs. When the 
Albany left Pensacola, she had sailed thirty-four 
thousand miles. Her officers were considered, in 
all respects, among the highest in the service, and 
her crew equally so, in their vocation, being 
mostly young Americans. Such was the received 
opinion, to the last tidings of that ill-fated vessel. 
At Carthagena, this admiration of officers and 
crew was reported by distinguished persons, who 
saw them there in 1854. At Pensacola, on the 
arrival of the Albany, seventy-five men were sent 
on shore, at liberty, by Commander Gerry, for 
forty-eight hours. The Mayor and President of 
Board of Aldermen returned a complimentary 
notice of their conduct to the captain, when the 
other half were permitted, in like manner, to go 
ashore, thus manifesting the admirable discipline 
of the ship. 

' ' The New York Herald " published notices from 
the merchants of San Juan and Greytown, com- 
mending the conduct of Captain Gerry, in busi- 
ness negotiations between them and our govern- 



LOSS OF TIIE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 201 

ment. Similar ones were published at Ajspin- 

wall, and expressed at Turk's Island. And, at 
Laguria, not only did the merchants signify their 
approval of Captain Gerry's business arrange- 
ments, but the Secretary of the Navy addressed 
him a letter, February 2d, 1854, especially ap- 
proving his action on that island. 

At Havana, St. Thomas, and, indeed, all the 
ports entered by the Albany, marked attention 
was shown to Captain Gerry. The fact that he 
was a son of the illustrious Elbridge Gerry, with 
whose history the civilized world are familiar, at 
once gave prestige to his position, added to his 
own personal merit as an officer and a gentleman. 

The following anecdote is related by an officer 
who was present at an interview which occurred 
between Sir Charles Edward Grey, late Gover- 
nor-General of Jamaica, and Commander Gerry, 
on board the steamer Isabel, destined for Charles- 
ton. Having been informed, when on board the 
vessel, that Captain Gerry was a son of the im- 
mortal Elbridge Gerry, he immediately apolo- 
gized for having, in a letter to him. written his 
name ''Geary." "It was the fault," said the 
Governor-General, "of the English consul; for 
the character and services of your father to the 

9* 



202 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

whole human family are as well-known and ap- 
preciated in England as in the United States ; 
and I am proud to find you, sir, his son, a credit 
to his great name I" 

The Albany was the dispatch-ship of the Home 
Squadron, and was sent by Commander Newton 
to perform nearly all the business between our 
government and the ports she was ordered to 
visit. This was creditable to Gerry as an officer 
and negotiator. 

The official documents at the Navy Depart- 
ment show an extraordinary amount of important 
duty performed by Captain Gerry, as commander 
of the Albany. And, in July, 1853, in a con- 
tinuous cruise of seventy-four days, exposed to 
every peril, but seven had been spent in port ! 
When in a sickly port, Captain Gerry usually 
went ashore alone, sending the boats back to the 
ship ; and, by this prudence, prevented disease 
among officers and crew. During the whole 
term that the Albany was under command of 
Captain Gerry, there was no case of epidemic or 
yellow fever on board, while abroad, though 
much exposed to the latter disease in warm lati- 
tudes. Many of the officers and crew were often 
much worn down from too constant sea service. 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-ol -WAU A I .MANY. 203 

The utmost deference wag paid to religious duties 
on board, and, in the absence of a chaplain, Capr 
tain Gerry had service performed on t In* Sabbath, 
in the usual form of the Protestant Episcopal 

Church, in which lie was a consistent and most 
exemplary communicant, when called to sunder 
the ties of earth to join the upper service of his 
Heavenly Master. It would he impracticable, in 
a work like this, to give that elaborate history of 
Captain James Thompson Gerry, that his charac- 
ter and services eminently deserve. But we are 
free to say, in brief, that no officer in the service 
ever bore a more irreproachable reputation for 
efficiency and devotion to duty, and for that high 
mental and moral culture which gives value to 
the officer, and dignity and worth to the man. 

But one son of Elbridge Gerry now survives, 
and he his eldest, who bears his father's name. 

Mr. (Jerry is now a resident of Xew York city. 
His numerous friends bear testimony to his in- 
tegrity and elevated moral worth, and to his hon- 
orable bearing as a gentleman ; and that he has, 
also, emulated the virtues of his father through 
life. And, if these give a claim to respect, he is 
not less entitled to it than the distinguished rela- 
tives who have preceded him. 



204 LOSS OF THE SL00P-0F-WAR ALBANY. 

The first-lieutenant of the Albany, William N. 
Bleecker, son of the late Alexander Bleecker, of 
New York city, was an officer eminently deserv- 
ing of praise. His life had been one of danger 
and vicissitude. From his first cruise, in the 
"Delaware," under Commodore Downs, in 1828, 
to his last service in the Albany, under Com- 
mander Gerry, in 1854, he visited every part of 
the known world. He was active on Mediterra- 
nean, Pacific, Brazilian, African, and East India 
stations. He visited China, in the Brandywine, 
and, during the Mexican war, he participated in 
the capture of Alvarado, Tuspan, Tobasco, and 
other Mexican ports, in the flotilla commanded 
by Commodore Perry. He had been, also, the 
first officer of the United States steamer " Michi- 
gan," under command of Captain Oscar Bnllus, 
whose daughter he left a widow in charge of his 
orphan child. 

It is a singular fact that this prompt and effi- 
cient officer, who had spent the greater part of 
his naval service of twenty-seven years, upon 
arduous duty afloat, had made two previous cruises 
to the West Indies in the same ship in which he 
met his untimely end. 



\ 



LOSS OF TIIE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 205 

The last letters of Lieutenant Bleecker clearly 
forebode his fears, that the Albany could never 
survive the terrific gales, so frequent at that 
season, in the Caribbean Sea. 

The letter of Lieutenant Adams, published in 
the newspapers, at the time her loss was sur- 
mised, expressed similar apprehensions, should 
they encounter a hurricane. 

The faithful duties of Bleecker, in his country's 
service, will ever be cherished in the memory of 
those who survive him. 

In that priceless cargo consigned to the ill- 
fated Albany, there was another brave though 
youthful spirit, who deserves more than an ordi- 
nary tribute from the author. 

It was Nicholas Pish Morris, son of Richard 
Lewis Morris. M.D., of Xew York. His mother, 
a daughter of Colonel Nicholas Pish, an officer of 
the Revolution and aid-de-camp to Washington. 
Young Morris (whose portrait appears in this 
volume) was also a grandson of James Morris, of 
Morrisania. and great grandson of General Lewis 
Morris, of Morrisania, likewise of revolutionary 
celebrity, and one of the immortal signers of the 
Declaration of Independence ; while, on his mo- 



206 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAE, ALBANY. 

ther's side, he was a lineal descendant of Governor 
Petrens Stuyvesant, last of the illustrious line of 
Dutch Governors of New York. 

With an ancestry so intimately interwoven 
with the history of their country, and bearing the 
name of a grandfather so distinguished in the 
American Revolution, it was not at all surprising 
that young Morris should evince an early aspira- 
tion for a military life. As his education pro- 
gressed, a preference, however, was given for the 
Navy over the Army, and an application for ad- 
mission into the Naval School at Annapolis was 
made in the summer of 1853. It resulted in 
success, and the papers were being executed when 
it was found he exceeded by a few months the 
requisite age, and this ardent and impulsive 
youth was obliged to relinquish the cherished 
idea of his mind. 

Just about this ' period, the Albany returned 
from a cruise, under the command of Capt. 
Gerry, who tendered to young Morris the posi- 
tion of "Private Secretary to the Commander," 
which, in view of his recent disappointment as 
well as the prospective advantages it presented, 
was at once accepted. 

In October 1853, the Albany sailed for the 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 207 

Fishing Banks, and returned in five weeks, by 
which time the character and bearing of B&orrie 

had won lor linn the conlidenec and admiration, 

not only of ('apt. Gerry, to whom he was a com- 
panion and friend, but of all the gallant officeri 

of the ship and t lie entire crew. 

r I here was a candor and frankness, a freedom 
from all compromise of principle, united with a 
manliness of deportment and a noble daring in 
action, which gave singular worth to this remark- 
able \oiith. Nicholas Fish Morris was indeed a 
model, which may with great propriety be pre- 
sented, not only to the youth of America, but to 
the fathers and mothers of the nation ! Does the 
reader ask why? We answer, because it was to 
the united action of his parents, their precepts 
and their example, that made deep, unchanging, 
and imperishable, the love of right, which his 
life ^o beautifully illustrated. How often does it 
occur, and how sincerely is it to be deplored, that 
the mother's influence is counteracted, negatived. 
by the example of the father! TIow many of 
the most promising geniuses of the land have 
thus dated their fatal mistakes! It was other- 
wise with Morris. And thus was he early led to 
bow before the altar of his God, and trust to 



208 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

the all -sufficiency of that Saviour his parents 
loved. 

His correspondence bears testimony to his 
faithful and uninterrupted continuance in the 
discharge of his private as well as official duties 
abroad. And friends yet survive who saw him 
in strange lands, engaged in that greatest and 
most honorable of all services, doing reverence 
to his Heavenly Master, upon his bended knees. 

An inherited love of country made this gene- 
rous, disinterested, and ingenuous young Ameri- 
can anxious to defend and vindicate our nation- 
ality abroad ; and, in 1854, when the invasion 
of Cuba upon the rights of American citizens, 
imminently threatened war, as the only means 
of redress, this true and youthful patriot thus 
gave expression to his natural and national fer- 
vor : "I most heartily wish there may be war, 
that I may have a chance of dying with honor, 
perhaps, great honor, in my young days, for the 
glory of my country and the rights of her citi- 
zens !" 

In making these few remarks of young Morris, 
we could wish that every youth in our country, 
who aspires to an honorable and virtuous fame, 
was familiar with his brief but beautiful career. 








ikMdJ&b 



\WikU) 



THE CULPABILITY INVOLVED 



IN THE 



LOSS OF THE ALBANY. 



CHAPTER I . 

The next question which presents itself, is, by 
whom or under what circumstances, did it become 
necessary to expose the Albany, with her pre- 
cious cargo of upwards of two hundred souls, to 
those perilous seas, in which she was engulfed ? 
In this question, not only are the relatives and 
friends of the worthy deceased interested, but the 
whole country, nay, humanity itself! The author 
feels, therefore, called in this connection, to en- 
lighten the country upon the subject, and to 
expose the shameful, reckless manner in which 
these matters are managed by the department, 
placing the lives of the best citizens at the mercy 
and caprice of ignorant chief clerks, and weak 
officials. 

209 



210 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

And after a thorough and careful examination 
of all the documents and evidence the case fur- 
nishes, the author unhesitatingly declares it to be 
her conviction, that the blood of these unfortu- 
nate victims, the odium of their cruel fate, rests 
upon the heads of John C. Dobbin, Secretary of 
the Navy, and John Thomas Newton, who com- 
manded the Home Squadron, as she will show. 

In the fall of 1853, while the Albany was in 
the port of New York, public notice was given to 
officers and crew, by the Secretary of the Navy, 
through Commodore Newton, that the ship would 
return to New York early in the summer of the 
ensuing year. And it was under the supposed 
good faith of this official assurance, that no fur- 
ther duty would be imposed, to exceed the time 
specified by the Secretary of the Navy, through 
Newton, that these gallant and true men bade 
adieu to their cherished homes, their sorrowing 
families and friends, to engage in the honorable 
service to which they were called by their coun- 
try. 

In May, 1854, the main-mast of the Albany 
was condemned at the navy yard, Warrington, 
Florida, and the Secretary of the Navy was im- 
mediately apprised of the fact, by Commander 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 211 

(Jerry, pending a critical illness of Commodore 
Tatnall of that station. The Becretary ordered 
the repair to bo made. But. after finding the 
lower masts of a iirst-class sloop, as ordered, 
altogether too small, it was done by taking the 
l'oivniast of a secoml-ehiss frigate! And hence, 
a tier mending and patching, one was found to 
answer the Albany's purpose, " at small expense I" 
After this patch on the Albany had caused about 
seven official letters, it was formally approved at 
the Department ! 

It is perfectly well known, that there were not 
mechanics enough in the navy yard at Warring* 
ton, to put extensive repairs on any ship, during 
the time the "Albany " was there. 

On June 10th, 1854, the Secretary addressed 
Commodore Newton, and required him "to (//red 
the movements of the Albany and Columbia" And 
on the 17th of June, 1854, Mr. Dobbin tells Xew- 
ton. by official letter, that one of the vessels of 
the Home Squadron, meaning his vessel, or that 
in command of Captain Gerry, must go to Turk's 

Island on public business, Then Newton, Instead 
of going himself, exercised the very* discretionary 

power vested in him by Secretary Dobbin, and 



212 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

immediately issued orders to Captain Gerry, to 
proceed there with the Albany ! 

Capt. Gerry then left Pensacola, fulfilled to the 
letter the instructions of Newton, and after dis- 
patching the business for which he went to 
Turk's Island, joined Newton, as directed, at St. 
Domingo, under the confident expectation of pro- 
ceeding at once to New York ! But Newton had 
other service than that for these gallant officers 
and men, and to their great surprise, and in vio- 
lation of all faith between the government and 
these two hundred American citizens, and in the 
very teeth of the department's assurance to these 
officers and crew before they sailed out of the 
port of New York, that they should return early 
in the summer of 1855, we find near its close, an 
official letter from Newton to Captain Gerry, 
dated at the Gulf of Samana, the 11th of August, 
1855, ordering the Albany " to proceed direct to 
Laguira, thence to the Island of Curacoa, to Car- 
thagena, and to Aspinwall." And "to take care 
of our flag upon the whole coast of Central 
America!" In this letter to Commander Gerry, 
Newton adds, and mark it, Americans, that " as 
you have represented to me that the ' Albany ' is 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 213 

/ 

DEFECTIVE IN MANY'PARTS, CUld that EXTENSIVE RE- 
PAIRS un% be required upon her befort she can with 
safety take another cruise, you will return, after 
having performed the duty assigned you in this com- 
munication^ to the harbor of New York, .and on 
your arrival there, report to the Department." 

It was, at the time this order was given, 
too late for the Albany to have been in those 
seas. To this letter, we find a supplementary 
one from Newton to Capt Gerry, bearing same 
date (fearing he had not, we suppose, sufficiently 
endangered this rotten, unseaworthy vessel), in 
which the Albany is directed to touch at the 
island of St. Thomas, and hunt up some sus- 
picious vessel, seen to be hovering near the 
island of Porto Rico, merely on the supposition 
that it was a piratical craft. 

To these instructions of Newton to Captain 
Gerry, Secretary Dobbin responds, and declares 
to Newton, they "are approved!" 

Yes, Americans, without the slightest regard 
to the integrity of their minds, these two men 
trilled with the lives of upwards of two hundred 
human souls, embracing much of the high-toned 
chivalry of the country, and by the most arbitrary 
and despotic action on their part, forced a vessel, 



214 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

they knew to be defective, in many parts, into tem- 
pestuous seas and hurricanes, by which she was 
destroyed, or perchance to engage in battle with 
a powerful adversary ! 

The order from the Navy Department for that 
cruise which has called the nation to mourn the 
loss of the Albany, was a perfect outrage, a scan- 
dalous duty to have imposed upon the Home 
Squadron, under any circumstances, at a season 
of the year when sickness prevailed in those ports, 
and where the gales and hurricanes endangered 
the most substantial frigate, much more a rotten, 
patched-up sloop-of-war, with twenty-two heavy 
guns on her decks ! 

So thought Newton, and therefore chose to sac- 
rifice the "Albany," all crippled, as he acknow- 
ledged her to be, rather than take the risk in the 
Frigate Columbia, which was in fine order (need- 
ing no repairs), as it was his duty to have done, 
and as the orders from the Department required 
him to do. By the showing of the documents, 
Newton was ordered on this cruise, but he did 
not choose so to expose himself to danger ! And, 
with the fact of the "Albany's" sad condition, 
he sent her whence she could never return ! 

What excuse does Newton offer, for his viola- 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAK ALBANY. 215 

tion of duty? We answer, one as specioUfl as it 

is most untrue! li I had intended," says this 
Commodore, " to go myself, but could not on 
account of shortness of provisions." 

Header, note this, that Newton had in his ship, 
the same relative quantity of provisions as was 
at thai time in the Albany ! And he ordered the 
Albany to proceed to St. Thomas for bread and 
provisions, which were obtained there without 
diiliculty. Now, why did Newton take advantage 
of this miserable subterfuge in order to shirk 
danger and return home ? Why not have gone 
himself for this bread and provision, and thus 
have removed the only excuse he pretended to 
oiler ? 

One of the very first duties of a commodore is 
to know where provisions and supplies can be had, 
at every point of his station, and their cost. And 
M the town of Aspinwall was one to which a 
mail was sent twice a month, he could not have 
been ignorant of the fact, which Commander 
Gerry reported when he reached there, that pro- 
visions of all kinds were in abundance, at ordi- 
nary prices. 

No provisions! mark this! every pound of 
food in the whole squadron was Newton's. And 



216 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

by sending his boats to the "Albany," he could 
have taken all her provisions had he chosen, and 
sent her to St. Thomas to be replenished, which 
was within three day's sail, and then sent her 
home to New York in good season. This it was 
Newton's duty to have done, as the crippled con- 
dition of the Albany rendered every precaution 
essential to save her from the hurricane season. 

But some may ask, " Had not Dobbin and 
Newton the right to exercise this imperious au- 
thority over the Albany?" They would have 
had, under a different state of facts, if they had 
not both known of the Albany's unfitness for sea 
in hurricane season, as there is the most unques- 
tioned proof that they did ! Captain Gerry thought 
the ship safe for the summer weather, and expect- 
ing to return to New York from Turk's Island, he 
informed Newton, before sailing from Pensacola, 
that the ship was ready for sea, in all respects. 
But, when he got the order of August 11th, to 
extend his cruise from two and a half months to 
three months longer, thus carrying him into the 
hurricane season, and the tempestuous weather 
on the Atlantic coast, he deemed it his duty to 
represent to Newton that the ship was, in many 
parts, defective, and not safe, therefore, to be sent 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAU ALU ANY. 217 

on such a cruise as Newton communicates in his 
dispatches. This warning Newton entirely disre~ 
garded, and sent the ship, notwithstanding this 
representation from Captain Gerry ! 

Like a gallant and disciplined officer, Gerry 
obeyed that fatal order ! At this time, the ship 
had sailed about thirty-seven thousand miles, 
without going into dry dock for repairs ! But, as 
though the above order might not, even then, 
detain the All 'any long enough, we find another 
and a subsequent one, dated September 2d, 1854, 
from the Department to Newton, directing him, 
if practicable, to instruct Commander Gerry, 
after he completed the cruise along the coast of 
Central America, as just indicated, to enter the 
port of Portsmouth, N. H., unless the cruise was 
protracted beyond the last of October ! All this, 
bear in memory, was with Dobbin's full know- 
ledge, that the ship was not safe, on account of 
being li defective in many parts." This order, 
had it been carried into effect, might have sub- 
jected the ship to the boisterous weather of No- 
vember, that any well-informed landsman would 
know, must endanger a vessel, however staunch, 
to severe trial on our coast. All this should teach 
the American people how important it is to se- 

10 



218 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAB ALBANY. 

lect men of fitness for the high and responsible 
duties of administering our national government ; 
not men devoid of all qualifications, save that of 
being party politicians ; while the nation mourns 
for the want of practical, efficient men ; men, 
who are capable of investigating for themselves 
the business of their respective departments, in- 
stead of confiding it to the chief clerks who are, 
de facto, the administrators of our national affairs. 



CHAPTER II. 

When the Albany left Pensacola, Commodore 
Tatnall, at that station, placed a valuable service 
of silver on board of her, from the generally re- 
ceived understanding that the ship was bound to 
New York, after having dispatched official busi- 
ness at Turk's Island ; and to arrive in the fol- 
lowing July or August, which he believed would 
be earlier than he could carry it himself. 
During the whole period the Albany was at- 
tached to the Home Squadron, she must have 
sailed about forty thousand miles, while the 
Columbia could not have exceeded ten or twelve 
thousand miles ! The rest of the time Newton 
was in port ! 

When it is remembered that Elbridge Gerry 
was the first American who suggested a navy for 
this country, and. in the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts, proposed that letters of marque should 
be issued by our government to the merchant 

2t9 



220 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

vessels for their protection, it does seem deplor- 
able that his own son should have lost his life 
while in the active discharge of his duties to that 
service, by the mal-administration of an incom- 
petent Secretary and Commodore ! A Secretary 
who left the valuable lives of officers and crew, 
who looked to him for protection in the discretion 
of his orders, to the dictation of an irresponsible 
chief clerk in the department. This clerk calls 
on the Secretary to sign his orders ! 

While Mr. Jefferson was most zealously oppos- 
ing the institution of our navy, it is well known 
that Mr. Gerry was strenuously engaged in ad- 
vocating its formation. 

In 1854, Newton, when at Pensacola, was or- 
dered to sail to San Juan in the Columbia, when 
he wrote to the Department that it was as much 
as the lives of officers and crew were worth to 
go there, as it was so sickly. He was, for this 
evidence of timidity in the performance of the 
duty assigned him, about to be detached from 
command of the squadron, when he was, most 
fortunately for himself, taken ill with some dan- 
gerous disease, at Pensacola, a casualty he so 
much feared might befall him if he proceeded 
to San Juan. Thus sick, he was brought home 



LOSS OF TIIE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 221 

to New York, in the Albany, under command of 
Captain (jerry, and, thereby, his life was saved ! 

Was it for this act of kindness towards Xewton 
that Gerry afterwards was made a victim to 
his unscrupulous selfishness? "Was the obliga- 
tion, imposed by kindness, of such a nature as to 
become an offense which Xewton could not for- 
give ? 

In 1854, Newton had over seventy cases of 
yellow fever aboard the Columbia, and in the 
succeeding year '55, when he returned from an- 
other visit to Saint Thomas, which port he was 
obliged to leave in consequence of the yellow 
fever being on board again, he had sixty cases of 
this malignant disease on arriving at Norfolk, 
where he was relieved from his command. And 
in this the whole country may rejoice that the 
further loss of human life under his instrumen- 
tality has, for a time, been arrested. 

The antecedents of Newton may now. with 
much propriety, be investigated, inasmuch as, 
with all his long and black catalogue of misde- 
meanors, he has been one of the favored of the 
Secretary of the Navy and that official's "navy 
retiring board." About the year 1820, Newton 
was sent to Norfolk in a chartered vessel, with a 



222 LOSS OF THE SL00P-0F-WAR ALBANY. 

draft of men under his charge. The vessel got 
aground at the mouth of the Potomac, in the 
Chesapeake Bay, and a gale coming on, he or- 
dered a boat, under the plea of obtaining assist- 
ance, to set him on shore. He proceeded to New 
York directly, and the vessel and all on board 
were left to their fate and perished ! 

Between the years 1825 and 1830 Newton 
was in command of a small brig, and while cruis- 
ing off the Havana, with an open barge in 
company, commanded by a son of the present 
venerable Consul of the United States at Ja- 
maica, West Indies, a sudden norther arose about 
nightfall. Instead of taking the officers and men 
on board his own vessel, and abandoning this 
miserable craft, he cut the ropes by which she 
was in tow, and all hands in her that fearful 
night went to the bottom ! Thus, either from 
entire nautical ignorance, or from a reckless dis- 
regard for the fate of others, fifteen or twenty 
lives were destroyed at a blow ! 

We are not informed that any investigation of 
the circumstances of this case ever took place. 

Subsequently, about 1830, John Thomas New- 
ton became a commander or master commandant. 
He was put in command of the United States 



LOSS OP THE SLOOP-OP-WAR ALBANY. 223 

steamer Fulton, being the first United States 
steamer built by that name. 

She was employed as a receiving vessel at the 
United States Navy Yard, New York. Either by 
accident, caused by drunkenness of the gunner, 
or by some negligence, her magazine was fired, 
and the ship blown up. Many officers and men 
perished by the explosion ; at least seventy lives 
were reported to have been lost ! 

Among these there was a promising officer by 
the name of Breckenridge. Lieut. Piatt nearly 
lost his Bight. And a number of the survivors 
were maimed for life. 

But amidst this frightful havoc Newton sur- 
vived, and we next find him in command of 
a sloop-of-war! And in 1840 he was put upon 
duty in the steamer Fulton, the second of that 
name ! And soon she became notorious by the 
bursting of a gun on board, which killed and 
maimed several men 1 He next commanded the 
steam frigate Missouri, the finest ship, at that time, 
in the Navy, being entirely new and well fitted 
for sea. Before leaving the waters of the East 
River, a man was lost from her deck by allowing 
the cable to slip through the stoppers, as he was 
in the act of hooking the "cat-block." The an- 



224 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

chor went down, of course, and carried this victim 
with it ! A few days after this the Missouri, in 
ascending the Potomac, was run ashore ; and in 
taking out her anchor, for the purpose of hauling 
her off, by some mismanagement, it slipped, and 
carried both boats in which the anchor was 
placed, with their crews, to the bottom. In 
this disaster a lieutenant and seventeen men 
perished ! 

Following the brief career of this ill-fated 
vessel, under Newton's command, we find her 
again ashore on the south Nantucket shoal ! 
Shortly after these three serious and fatal trou- 
bles of the Missouri, Newton left the United 
States with her for Alexandria, in Egypt, for the 
purpose of landing Mr. Cushing, who was on his 
way, as commissioner, to China. And, to close 
Newton's brilliant command in this ship, she took 
fire while at Gibraltar, and so rapid was her 
destruction, that she soon disappeared in a blaze ! 

For this act of carelessness Newton was con- 
victed, and a nominal punishment passed upon 
him ; but even a portion of that was said after- 
wards to have been remitted. 

From the data we have given, it is not an 
over-estimate to say that Newton, by his reck- 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 225 

lessness, has caused the loss of about three hun- 
dred and twenty lives in the navy — equal to all 
the "killed" in action on the American side, in 
the naval war with Great Britain ! — while, in a 
pecuniary view, he has occasioned destruction of 
property to the government of the United States 
of between one and two millions of dollars ! 

We wish particularly now to direct the read- 
er's attention to the conduct of Mr. Dobbin, the 
present Secretary of the Navy, in connection 
with Newton's conduct subsequent to the loss of 
the Albany. 

It did not seem to have occurred to the sym- 
pathising Secretary to institute a public scrutiny 
into Newton's action in directing the fatal cruise 
of that ship ; nor even a private one, that we 
have heard, until, for some reason that does not 
manifest itself, the Department drew forth the 
following letter from Newton, dated June 20th, 
1855, long after the publication of the docu- 
ments which were elicited by a call from the 
U. S. Senate. 

The Secretary, on the 4th of June, 1855, 
made inquiry of Newton for "a copy of the 
communication written to him, Newton, by Com- 
mander Gerry." That was eight months after 

9* 



226 LOSS OP THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

the ship was missing. Mr. Dobbin, it appears, 
was under the impression that no written " com- 
munication w was made ; but it really had not 
been of sufficient consequence in his mind to 
make this investigation before. 

To this letter Newton said in reply : "I have 
to state, the communication referred to was made 
to me during a conversation with that officer, on 
board the Columbia, while at Samana Bay, in 
August last. He observed to me that he thought 
the " Albany " would require extensive repairs 
before she returned from the North again to re- 
join her station in the West Indies for another 
cruise." 

Americans, which statement will you take from 
Newton as correct — that written at Samana, the 
11th of August, the day he gave the order, or 
that written from Staten Island, New York, ten 
months later, giving an entirely different version 
of the matter ? At Samana he stated to the de- 
partment that the ' ' ' Albany ' was defective in 
many parts, and required extensive repairs, and 
was not safe to take another cruise." In the 
face of this report he orders her on a voyage- that 
might detain her from three to four months. 
But when she was lost, that statement did not 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 227 

answer the desperate state of the Commodore's 
position. Hence we see the Staten Island letter 
to be a flat denial of the Samana letter. 

We know that Captain Gerry did remonstrate 
against taking that extended cruise around Cen- 
tral America. It was then that he urged the 
necessity of proceeding direct to New York ; and 
the very remark Newton ascribes to Gerry, in 
his Staten Island letter, proves that he did. 

The attempt to circulate the idea which is be- 
lieved to have been started from the Department, 
that Gerry could wish under any such circum- 
stances to have extended his cruise, is now re- 
futed by Newton's own language. 

But suppose, for the sake of argument, that 
Captain Gerry did request the Secretary of the 
Navy to keep the ship out through the whole 
year, had the Secretary and Newton the right to 
risk the lives of those on board, and jeopardize 
the public property, merely to oblige Captain 
Gerry ? It is too absurd a proposition to be en- 
tertained for a moment. 

In concluding this very remarkable Staten 
Island letter, Newton says : " I enclose herewith 
a copy of a letter from Commander Gerry, dated 
Pensacola, June 15th, 1854, which the Depart- 



228 LOSS OF THE SL00P-0F-WAR. ALBANY. 

ment may wish to have. It will be recollected 
that the Albany underwent repairs at that sta- 
tion, and Commander Gerry reports her being in 
all respects ready for sea, and provisioned for 
three months and a half." 

This was stated by Newton on this occasion, to 
leave the impression upon the public mind that 
she was safe for any voyage, however long. Now 
it is well known that in the usual manner of issu- 
ing an order to proceed on any cruise, these words 
are usually employed : " When you are in all re- 
spects ready for sea, etc., you will proceed to 
execute, etc." It matters not what may be the 
condition of the ship, the response is given as 
we quote above, in all cases, and did not apply 
to the condition of the Albany, as ready for a 
cruise of any indefinite length. Beside, this was 
written two months before the order was given 
at Samana, and the Albany could not then have 
had but six weeks' provisions — the same relative 
quantity Newton had, by his own showing ! 



CHAPTER III. 

Newton wrote to the department, that "the 
Albany was, in many respects, defective," on the 
same day and in the same letter that informed 
the Department he had ordered her on this un- 
justifiable cruise ! 

The letter of Gerry, in the official documents 
from Pensacola, to which we have alluded, does 
not express what Newton attempts to convey by 
it ; for these same documents report that both 
masts were then defective, but only one was 
taken out and the other left in. Why ? Because 
it was supposed that she would return in smooth 
summer weather to New York, as formal notice 
to that effect had been given by the department. 
It was Newton's duty at Samana to have had the 
ship at once surveyed after the information com- 
municated by Gerry, before sending her on a 
dangerous survey. 

This is a significant fact, which shows again that 
the nation needs men who practically do their 

229 



230 LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 

duty in office. Mr. Dobbin, on being shown the 
official document which stated the Albany was 
defective, and not fit for the cruise, acknowledged 
to a Senator* that he had not noticed it before, 
although, be it remembered, he had already officially 
approved the very order ! When the senator 
apprised him, he expressed great astonishment, 
and declared he never knew the fact before, 
alleging in extenuation that the papers were 
rarely seen, as they were, when received, filed 
away in the office. And the subsequent order, 
dated in September, was given to keep the ship 
out still longer, by ordering her to Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire. The truth is, Mr. Dobbin had 
his line of action in this matter overruled by the 
same influence that selected and controlled the 
" Navy Retiring Board." To these conspirators 
Newton seemed in all respects a marvellously 
proper man ; so the Secretary must, of course, 
favor him in his unofficerlike and inhuman con- 
duct towards the Albany, and not only accepted 
his flimsy and self-contradictory letter of expla- 
nation, but allowed his retention on the active 
list of the Navy by that Board, who disrated or 

* Hon. Hamilton Fish, of New York, is the senator to whom we 
refer. 



LOSS OF THE SLOOP-OF-WAR ALBANY. 231 

dropped from it men of the highest efficiency to 
duty, and against whom no charges are to be 
found in the Department. The conduct of Mr. 
Dobbin is even more reprehensible in the case of 
Newton than in that of Stribling, whose total 
neglect of his duties on board the San Jacinto 
was not only overlooked, but actually rewarded 
by a seat in the "Navy Retiring Board." And 
Newton was appointed to the command of a 
naval station soon after he was relieved from the 
Columbia — thus rewarding him in a similar man- 
ner to Stribling. 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 



CHAPTER I. 

The honor of the country is borne by its good 
men ; — they who dishonor these dishonor their 
country. 

The Navy of the United States, as a question 
of international policy, was never so important to 
the American people as now ; and it is lamenta- 
ble to have seen the President of the United States 
strike a blow at this great arm of the public ser- 
vice, and, so far as he could, destroy the interest, 
the glory, and the moral strength, of the United 
States, in every ocean and clime. 

For years, foreign governments have been stead- 
ily increasing their navies, and menacing Ameri- 
cans who have sought to maintain the dignity of 
their nation abroad. Nothing but this superior 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 233 

naval strength induced England to defy the 
proclamation of the Monroe doctrine by this gov- 
ernment, and establish the colony of the Bay Islands, 
which has since involved the United States in 
troublesome negotiations. But for this, Spain 
would never have attempted her outrages upon 
American steamers, nor France have treated our 
protest against her occupancy of Sonora with 
contempt. 

Our territory on the Pacific has since made the 
navy still more important to our commerce, in order 
to protect the shipping of our enterprising men, and 
give a new impulse to trade upon that coast. In 
the event of war, it is upon the navy alone we 
could rely to scour our seas, and prevent a foreign 
fleet from penetrating the rivers and harbors on 
our coast. 

The law which passed at the end of the session 
of Congress in 1855, in reference to the navy, was 
not only ex post facto, but a fraud upon legislation 
and the American policy. Senators have admitted 
that they knew nothing about it. If a few days 
had been given to its proper consideration, the 
navy would not now be bereft of its chivalry and 
honor, the families of gallant men would not 



234 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

now be reduced to penury, while the government 
would have been saved the thousands of dollars 
expended in the discussion of the outrage, and 
devising methods of reparation. More money will 
be thus expended, before this evil is rectified, than 
would have paid the pitiful stipend of these two 
hundred and one officers the next twenty years. 

The law which passed Congress, Americans, to 
reorganize the navy, on the 28th of February, 1855, 
had no more to do with our constitution than it 
had with the articles of our old Confederation. 
Does the sacred bond and covenant of our freedom 
allow a man to be punished prospectively for his 
inefficiency in times past ? Can it prevent a man 
from pursuing any honest calling, by cutting down 
his present means of support, and yet holding on 
to the right of his personal services ? It cannot. 
But, in the very face of this, this act, which the 
imbecility of the President and Secretary of the 
Navy has executed, does render an officer fur- 
loughed liable, at any moment, to be summoned 
on government duty, and oblige him to forfeit any 
other interest or engagement, by which he may be 
maintaining a helpless family. 

The law is also unjust in not extending to the 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 235 

board of fifteen, the surgeons, pursers, and chaplains, 
the same provisions it applies to other officers. 
Why were these classes privileged, and exempted 
from the same rigor as others ? — these men, who 
even at sea lead a life of ease and idleness, while 
those who are subjected to all the peril of active 
sea service are made to forfeit their places ? 

Americans, if you wish to know the iniquity of 
this law, turn to the Navy Eegister ! You will 
there find pursers credited with but seven years 
and nine months' sea service, who have been forty- 
one years and nine months in the navy, and re- 
ceiving all the time their eighteen hundred dollars 
from the government. Is this right, is it honest, 
Americans ? 

There are surgeons, too, who have been but 
three years and six months in the service, out of a 
period of forty-six years and eight months, re- 
ceiving their eighteen hundred dollars ! Chap- 
lains, waiting orders, who have performed religious 
services at sea but two years and four months, and 
been receiving from the government a thousand 
dollars, annually, for twenty-six years and three 
months ! 

The law, too, set out to reform the navy ; — now 



236 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

look at its execution in that view ! It has made 
ninety-nine captains, one hundred and thirty com- 
manders, and three hundred and ninety lieuten- 
ants ! And, out of this number, the government 
had sent to sea on the first of the present year 
but fourteen captains (including commanders), 
nineteen commanders, and one hundred and fifteen 
lieutenants ! All this is the result of having an 
incompetent Secretary of the Navy, who allowed 
the board of " fifteen " all the latitude they 
wanted. They dictated to him, and he, Mr. Dob- 
bin, dictated to the President, who issued his 
rescript confirming their corrupt action towards 
American men. Our foreign stations are now 
all disgraced by the want of an efficient navy to 
represent our nationality abroad, while the ex- 
penses of the nation are increased to support a 
pack of idlers. 

There was no need of any more legislation what- 
ever, for what this law of February 28th, 1855, 
meant ostensibly to do. The Secretary of the Navy 
had the power before to furlough; and there are, at 
least, three instances on the register, to show that 
right had been exercised, and these men thus put 
out of the pale of promotion. The President, too, 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 237 

if he chose, could then have renominated those 
officers for promotion, or continued to discredit 
them, as he pleased. And the whole proceeding 
in reference to the late Navy Retiring Board has 
been a sham affair, from beginning to end ; the 
product of base personal malignity, on the part of 
certain officers of the navy, aided by the efforts of 
weak but high government officials. The facts, in 
this connection, have the authenticity of the rec- 
ords from the navy department of the government, 
and are submitted to the consideration of the 
American people, who are eminently able to make 
their own comments. 

In the first place, the Secretary of the Navy knew 
that the names of the victims were marked upon 
the register, in his office, before those who con- 
stituted that board were known to the people ; 
and he informed Capt. Smith, one of the "re- 
tired," that he knew the reason why every man 
was dishonored. Weeks before the board assem- 
bled, Commodore Skinner found a register with 
similar marks in his office ; they were seen in other 
places where these clubs to dishonor American 
officers congregated. 

Dupont, Shubrick, Magruder, Pendergrast, 



238 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

Jenkins, and others, were the leading actors in this 
business. Mr. Mallory, the bill-framer, in consult- 
ation with Dupont, had designated one hundred 
officers on the register for this fate, before the pas- 
sage of the laiv, ninety-nine of whom are now vic- 
tims. Fifty-seven of the officers thus dismissed 
from the service of their country were afloat upon 
duty at the time, by order of the Secretary of the 
Navy ; some of whom were, at the very moment, 
in the performance of deeds of bravery under the 
American flag, which have added new lustre to our 
national glory. Lieut Rolando here furnishes a 
distinguished illustration. He volunteered to res- 
cue the perishing crew of a Chinese junk, when all 
others feared to offer assistance ; and not only saved 
five hundred and thirty out of six hundred from 
instant death, but, in the two successive piratical 
fights, won, for his courage and noble daring, such 
admiration from European governments as should 
send a thrill of pleasure through the heart of every 
true American. 

The prohibition of the increase in the navy, by 
this law, shows clearly that neither the author 
nor the executioners knew what they were about. 
Congress never intended to interfere with the rights 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 230 

nor to injure the reputations of upwards of two 
hundred American citizens, no more than it meant 
to make three hundred promotions in tie service, 
which has actually been done. Of the thirty-five 
new captains made by this board, three only are at 
sea, and but six on shore duty ; leaving the bal- 
ance to enjoy their new dignity in idleness. There 
is, then, but one more captain at sea to-day than 
there was a year ago ; while there are three com- 
manders less than there were at that time ; so that 
thirty- six of this grade are also idle. 

In the selection made by the Secretary of the 
Navy, of captains for important posts, he has, in 
every instance of which we have heard, passed over 
the absolute claims of the efficient captains, and 
named, for important sea and shore duties, the new 
captains or commanders made by the board, whose 
commissions as such were not then even confirmed. 

The withdrawal of so many gallant officers from 
the active service, to promote young and inexperi- 
enced men, has left the navy, at this moment, with 
but sixteen midshipmen in all parts of the world. 
There are, therefore, twenty-six American ships 
now commissioned in the service, without a single 
officer of this rank upon their decks ; and, while 



240 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

the law authorizes shdy masters in the navy, there 
are but eighteen of these, because none can be 
made so until after they have become passed mid- 
shipmen. 

President Pierce and Mr. Secretary Dobbin 
thought the appointment of upwards of two hun- 
dred new midshipmen was at stake when the inqui- 
sition was engaged in the decapitation of officers ; 
but a clause, in defiance of the common treachery, 
was discovered in the bill, which, to the eternal 
honor and wise forethought of the author, pre- 
vented the fruit, which they all thought so ripe, 
from being plucked, even to save the nomination, 
or preserve the succession. 

We see now that by the act of the administration 
they have absolutely left the navy without a cap- 
tain whom they deem qualified for the head of a 
bureau. In this dilemma, Ingraham, of Koszta 
memory, was brought on to the seat of government 
for that purpose, when the Senate refused to appoint 
a man to a captain's place who had never been 
commissioned. But, in spite of the Senate 
" tabling" him, he was kept there by the Secretary, 
while Capt. Smith, a "retired" officer, was of 
necessity at the head of two bureaus at the time. 



TIIE AMERICAN NAVY. 241 

Thus we discover that the l^.ivy has hccn so bereft 
of its original strength as to be without a qualified 
captain to fill the post, not excepting the notable 
Shubrick, respecting whom, as president of the 
immortal " Council of Fifteen," it is proper, 
Americans, you should know more. 

He, with McCauley, also a member of the board, 
was declared guilty of insubordination by the offi- 
cers of the Mediterranean squadron, in 1817, who 
memorialized Commodore Chauncey to cause their 
removal from the service. Commanders Crane, 
Creighton, Rogers, Gamble, and Nicholson, signed 
this memorial ; and it stands without mutilation still 
upon the records of the department. They state 
that Shubrick and McCauley had incited contempt 
for the service and discipline of the navy, its repu- 
tation, order, and good government ; that they held 
secret meetings to create disaffection, and went so 
far as to threaten Congress that if their imaginary 
grievances were not redressed by that tribunal, they 
would resort to arms for their own protection ! — 
that no reliance, for these reasons, could be placed 
upon the fidelity of Shubrick and McCauley, in the 
service of their country, while they had forfeited 

all claim to their confidence, and endangered, by 
11 



242 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

their example, the vessels intrusted to their 
charge. 

After the war closed with England, in 1814, it 
was decided to place an American squadron in the 
sight of Europe. This squadron was sent, properly 
equipped, to the Mediterranean, under the command 
of Commodore Chauncey, eminent as a disciplin- 
arian. Shubrick and McCauley were then attached 
to the ship of Capt. Oliver Perry, of that squad- 
ron ; who, ambitious of having it perfect in all its 
appointments, exercised also increased discipline 
among the lieutenants and other subordinates. 
Heath, a man belonging to the marine corps, was 
among these ; and, in a braggadocio spirit, showed 
resentment for himself and associates, by disrespect- 
ful and insubordinate language to Capt. Perry, 
in his cabin, who, high-toned and high-spirited, 
knocked the marine officer down, and afterwards 
confined him. He soon saw, however, that he had 
committed a military offence, and magnanimously 
offered, through a friend, to make reparation by an 
apology to Heath. 

The terms proposed in this apology by Heath and 
his comrades were not honorable ; and Capt. Perry, 
waiving his rank, consented to receive his propo- 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 243 

sition to fight him. Heath backed out. Shubrick 
and MeCauley were the instigators of Heath. 

When the squadron returned to the United States, 
Capt. Perry stated all the circumstances to the Presi- 
dent, Secretary of the Navy, and Commodores Rog- 
ers, Decatur, and Porter, and offered to submit to 
trial, or any other punishment they might see fit to 
inflict. The President and Secretary submitted the 
matter to Commodore Porter, who, in view of Capt. 
Perry's honorable action in the premises, decided it 
settled, and advised that Shubrick, MeCauley, and 
other officers of the squadron, who were guilty of 
this insubordination, be reprimanded ; which was 
done, by Commodore Chauncey. 

Hence we see the provocation for the insubordi- 
nate conduct of Shubrick and MeCauley, and which 
was so outrageous as to oblige the distinguished 
officers of the squadron to ask for their dismissal 
from the service. This board have dropped from 
the navy Capt. John Chauncey, the son of the 
commodore, and laid aside the sons of Commodores 
Perry and Porter, — a singular coincidence, and 
worthy of comment. 

But this is not the only instance in which Shu- 
brick has shown that no cheerful submission engaged 



244 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

his affections to the government. In 1847, he be- 
trayed the same spirit at the expense of his patriot- 
ism. He was ordered to the Pacific squadron by 
the Secretary of the Navy, to be under the com- 
mand of Biddle, on joining him at that station. 
Two months after reaching Mexico, he asked leave 
to return to the United States, before Biddle had 
even received the information from the department. 
This was at an important crisis in the war, and we 
needed more material and power to meet the enemy 
than could then be concentrated ; yet he not only 
insisted that the Columbus was not needed, but actu- 
ally directed all his influence to prevent the Sara- 
toga from uniting with the squadron ; and in sight 
of the enemy, in time of war, commanding a gal- 
lant and well-manned squadron, was anxious to 
desert the national flag and return home, at a mo- 
ment of doubt and peril in his country's history. 
This was not enough. He demanded that a frigate 
of the squadron should have the distinguished honor 
of shipping him back to the United States. The 
reason was, as he confessed, that the Secretary of 
the Navy had damped his ardor by disappointment, 
and had acted in an uncandid manner. Hence, to 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 245 

gratify his personal revenge, he was ready to sacri- 
fice his country's glory. 

Was this the conduct for a military man ? Was 
tliis the conduct of a servant of that government 
which had constituted the Secretary his superior in 
authority? In the Brazilian squadron, 28th Oct., 
1846, Shubrick also acted in violation of the 
Secretary's orders, by writing a Jesuitical letter to 
the commander of that station, which induced him 
to send the Saratoga, bound to the Pacific under 
government orders, back to Norfolk for repairs, 
although officers stood ready to take her to that 
destination. 

He is afterwards found claiming fresh laurels on 
the Pacific, in the taking of Mazatlan and Guaymas. 
The latter was taken by Capt. Lavalette, and not 
even by orders of Shubrick ; while he represented 
Mazatlan as taken by superior force. Now, it is 
well known, that Lieut. Halleck and two American 
men took it without resistance, and raised our 
stars and stripes ; and when ninety men did 
attempt, under Lieut. Selden, to march into the 
interior, the most of Shubrick's men ran at the 
first fire of the enemy, except one who was shot. 
Selden was wounded, and seventeen men killed, 



246 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

before the forces from Shubrick's ship, the Inde- 
pendence, were rallied by their officers, and came 
back. Selden is now a victim of the board. 
Heywood distinguished himself, with his gallant 
band of modern Sandusky s, at San Jose, and 
won a niche in the temple of fame equal to 
Croghan and Stevens, who, when all others had 
fallen by his side, stood firm to the guns. He is 
broken by this hero of peace, Shubrick, and his 
brothers, Stanley, Lewis, &c. &c, share no better 
fate. Why ? Because they fought the enemy, in 
spite of Shubrick's non-resistance ! 



CHAPTER II. 

Now, remembering that Shubrick is the man who 
has spent thirty-two years of his life in land activ- 
ity, we proceed to his confederate in the board, 
Stribling. He has written a letter recently in 
laudation of himself, in which he has committed 
robbery upon the dead. He stated that he com- 
manded the barges "Mosquito" and " Gallinipper," 
in the West Indies, in 1823 ; that he attacked and 
captured the " Catalina," under command of the 
famous Diaboleto, whom he killed with his own 
hand, thereby ending the piratical war. 

Now, Stribling had no more to do with that 
engagement than he had with the discovery of 
America. It was the brave achievement of Lieut. 
Wm. II. Watson, who, with but twenty-six men, 
effected almost the total destruction of a crew of 
seventy or eighty, without the loss of a single 
American. This gallant act is modestly set forth 
in his despatches to Commodore Porter, who com- 



248 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

mends them to the department, and asks for Wat- 
son's promotion in the service. 

Stribling, in the previous April, did take a small 
schooner Pilot, in which his official report stated 
that one man was found dead, and that several were 
supposed to be wounded ; but he did not think it 
prudent to pursue them. He had, too, double their 
number of men ; but he spoke with some horror 
of their amount of deadly weapons, especially of a 
" double fortified six-pounder," — quite an anomaly 
in modern warfare. 

And now, when Watson's nephew writes to Capt. 
Stribling, in defence of his uncle's reputation, 
Stribling replies that he only wrote from memory. 
A remarkably defective organ, surely, and should 
not, therefore, have been relied upon for data ; 
particularly when it could have been so easily re- 
freshed by the records at hand. It will take more 
credulity than Americans possess to convince them 
that memory had anything to do with the matter. 

This is the same gentleman who, instead of hav- 
ing the San Jacinto in readiness to repel the enemy 
in the West India seas, in 1855, when she was sent 
to Cuba to protect the American flag, brought her 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 249 

back to New York in a worse condition than any 
ship ever before in the service of the government. 

Dupont, like Stribling and Shubrick, has also 
elaborated his glory on paper. He states that he 
killed many hardy Mexicans in California, in the 
battle of San Jose, the only warlike engagement 
in which he ever participated in his life ! But 
Lieut. Hey wood, who came to his assistance and 
rescued him, says not one was killed. Lieut. 
Heywood was left in Southern California by Shu- 
brick, with but eighteen or twenty men, without 
the means of subsistence, and surrounded by the 
enemy, without the possibility of succor within a 
hundred miles. But for a whaling-ship, he and 
his brave comrade Stevens would have perished 
from famine. Stevens, whose gallant conduct has 
had so much eulogy, has been dropped from the 
service. 

Dupont, Godon, Pendegrast and Missroon, 
were the four of the board who had been long 
styled " mutineers " in the navy. When the Sec- 
retary of the Navy sent them back to the Mediter- 
ranean squadron, and Commodore Hull had, by 
his orders, reprimanded them for their bad conduct, 

he was afterwards obliged to write to Dupont and 
11* 



250 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

his confederates, Godon, Pendegrast, and Miss- 
roon, that one of three things he should do : either 
to dismantle the ship and shut her up in a Spanish 
port until lieutenants could be procured from the 
United States fit to restore her to her position ; to 
take them to sea, with all their disrespect, discon- 
tent, and disaffection, and trust to better things ; 
or, to make then such changes as his means would 
allow. " Who can go into battle," said he, " with 
confidence, surrounded by disaffected officers ? 
Who, of those ordered to the ship as her sea-lieu- 
tenants, can I confide in ? " 

On the 21st of March, 1841, Commodore Hu 
wrote to the Secretary of the Navy that " Dupont 
was the leader of the difficulty on the Ohio ; and 
that the pernicious influence he exercised had 
effected more serious injury to the service than 
he could ever repair." Commodore Hull specified 
acts, made definite charges of the official miscon- 
duct of these four men ; and, to the close of his 
life, he expressed regret that they were ever re- 
turned to the Mediterranean, when they merited 
the severest punishment known to the service. 

Dupont was the author of that remarkable arti- 
cle which appeared in the National Intelligencer 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 2-"j 1 

■ 

on the 21st of May, 1855, and foreshadowed the 
action of himself and comrades, in the following 
June. Mr. Seaton, the respected editor, is suffi- 
cient authority for this fact. Commodore Skinner, 
on ascertaining from him that Dupont had asked its 
publication, carried it to the office, and was respon- 
sible for its sentiments, informed the Secretary of 
the Navy, without delay ; and told him that in 
that article Dupont had insulted every captain in 
the navy. The Secretary, instead of doing his 
duty, as an upright officer would have done, and 
keeping Dupont out of the board, to which place 
he had already assigned him, kept him in it, with 
this evidence, in all its baseness, right before him. 
There is every reason to believe, as we do, that 
the Secretary had seen the article before it was 
printed. 

Dupont acted, in defiance of authority, under 
Captain, now Commodore Smith, of the navy ; and, 
according to the Secretary, was one of the " cabal" 
in this ship, to create disaffection and dissatisfac- 
tion at the accommodations assigned him by orders 
of the department. And he indignantly rejected 
other apartments when tendered to him through 
Capt. Smith, who says, in his official letter to 



252 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

* 

Hull, " the true military course for me would 
have been to have compelled him," &c. 

From the time of the difficulty, in the Mediterra- 
nean squadron, under Hull, Dupont and his asso- 
ciates have zealously labored for the passage of 
just such a law by Congress as was obtained at 
the last session. 

No one of the four mutineers, Godon, Dupont, 
Missroon, or Pendegrast, of Hull's ship, could 
have been induced to have entered that board 
alone ; they had not the individual courage to 
carry out the plan they had devised. It required 
the collective courage of all four to support each 
other in their dark actings. As Dupont said in 
his article on the 21st of May, " the sharper appe- 
tites of juniors whose interest would coincide with 
their duti/." 

Not long since, a board composed of Commo- 
dores Morris, Shubrick, Skinner, and Dupont, 
were constituted to prepare a code for the better 
government of the navy. Dupont seems to have 
appropriated the whole of that duty pretty much 
to himself, according to the confessions of his asso- 
ciates. The work was referred to the Attorney 
General, by the Secretary of the Navy, for his 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 253 

legal opinion ; and he decided it "null and void," 
having transcended its rightful jurisdiction. This, 
too, after a cost of many thousand dollars to the 
government. 

The thirty-fifth regulation of this code deserves 
comment, from the fact that it had singular signifi- 
cance upon the council of "fifteen." It forbade 
the court to receive evidence of the previous good 
character and former services of the accused in 
mitigation of the punishment to be awarded, while 
it allowed evidence of previous bad character to be 
adduced. The board acted on this principle : it 
received and entertained every accusation, and ad- 
mitted no evidence, however abundant, in defence 
of the accused. It ransacked the shelves of the 
department for musty old documents, from which 
they hoped to find charges against those they had 
already condemned ; and, according to Shubrick's 
statement, they made free use of these. They used 
its archives to abuse the government. When the 
country loses its true men, what else is there to 
save? 

Hence, Dupont's system, after being pronounced 
in derogation of the powers of Congress, still made 
shining marks for its full efficacy in the operations 



254 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

of the council of fifteen. During the cruise of the 
Delaware, commanded by Commodore Hull, Lieut. 
Boyle was attached, with Dupont, Barron, and 
Godon. At midnight, when Boyle retired from 
the watch, Dupont took her deck. The foreyard 
and all her sails were soon carried away. Boyle 
was called, and found Dupont agitated and con- 
fused. He put the ship in trim, and she went on 
her cruising-ground. Here were three members 
of the board present ; but Boyle alone proved him- 
self an officer. This efficient man is now laid aside, 
a victim of the very men who had proved them- 
selves incompetent in the service. 

Some time after, Dupont was placed in command 
of the " Perry," for the East India squadron. He 
reported himself sick, on reaching Rio de Janeiro, 
of a chronic disease, and came home. Lieut. 
Ringold, also, once suffered from disease ; and, 
although he had recovered, in the opinion of medi- 
cal men, it was, in Dupont's judgment, a valid 
reason for putting him upon the shelf. 

The gravest charges are on file in the depart- 
ment against Pendegrast, preferred by Lieut. May, 
February 13th, 1854. He complains of the in- 
efficiency of Pendegrast in every particular. That 



TIIE AMERICAN NAVY. 255 

at the very moment when the difficulties growing 
out of our affairs with Cuba rendered the Saranac 
liable to a naval engagement, she was wholly un- 
fitted for fighting. Her guns even had not been 
exercised but once in six months ; and they never 
mustered at fire stations, one single time, until the 
officers of the ship had been alarmed by fire, seven 
months after sailing. And, with this unprecedented 
and culpable neglect, being indifferent to the con- 
dition and efficiency of the ship, he sailed from 
Pensacola to San Juan de Nicaragua, to investigate 
the difficulty with the Prometheus, which was for- 
tunately settled without an exposure of the ship's 
inefficiency. 

Pendegrast has never been tried upon the charges, 
and they stand on the record disproved. Lieut. 
May is an officer of character and reputation, and 
is retained on the active list. 

With these facts before him, the Secretary of the 
Navy, instead of acting under a high sense of official 
responsibility, and bringing Pendegrast to trial, 
and punishing him, if the facts were sustained, saw 
fit, with all the guilt upon him, to give him a seat 
in the " Navy Retiring Board," while officers have 
been dismissed or disrated in the navy, who have 



256 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

received swords and medals as the grateful appre- 
ciation of Congress for their fidelity and zeal in the 
service of the country. 

Misroon, also a member of the inquisitorial 
council, has made misstatements under oath, before 
the naval committee, in reference to Lieut. Bartlett; 
and, with the complicity of Dupont, this valuable 
officer has been degraded in the service. Lieut. 
Bartlett, who had been detailed for active duty at 
the time of this infliction, was the first to introduce 
the great temperance reform in the navy, and was 
covered with eulogium for efficiency in duty by 
every distinguished official of the government with 
whom he has been connected. 



CHAPTER III. 

And now with what different emotions can we, 
Americans, recur to the name of Commodore Perry, 
though he is found among the list of that board of 
"fifteen''! There is a moral sublimity in the 
defiant and manly manner with which he has, in the 
frankness and candor becoming a gallant officer of 
the navy, disclaimed to other officers, both in and 
out of the navy, all participation or sympathy with 
the proceedings. " I wash my hands forever of 
the conduct, proceedings, and action, of the Navy 
Retiring Board," was the language of Commodore 
Perry to a prominent officer of the navy. Perry's 
achievements in the Mexican war, which rivalled 
those of his distinguished brother on Lake Erie, 
command our praise ; his Japan Expedition, in 
which he effected a treaty with that nation, whose 
ports, for more than a century, had been sealed to 
all but the Chinese and Dutch, commands our 
praise ; but the moral and physical bravery which 



258 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

he has displayed on this occasion challenges the 
gratitude, as well as admiration, of all honorable 
men and women ; and the press everywhere com- 
mends the magnanimity, while the people, appre- 
ciating his merit, gladly take him out of this inqui- 
sitorial council, to reserve him for higher honors at 
their own hands. 

Commodore Perry's own son was put out of the 
navy by that board. Since its action became his- 
tory, it is astonishing to learn how its members 
threaten and defy officers to breathe suspicion 
against its exactions, lest they who are laid aside 
be dropped altogether. And Shubrick, we learn 
from reliable authority, wrote to Commodore Perry 
to know whether he had not severely censured the 
board. Perry replied very briefly as to his ques- 
tion, but denied the right of the hero of Mazatlan, 
Guaymas, and Craney Island, to inquire into his 
private conversation with gentlemen. Biddle, too, 
Perry's junior, the hater of science- and learning, 
as his letter to Lieut. Maury shows, writes to the 
same import as Shubrick, when Commodore Perry 
despatches that gentleman by saying he wished no 
further correspondence with him. And the subse- 
quent silence of Mr. Slidell, the relative of Com- 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 259 

modore Perry, after he came to New York and 
conversed with Perry, furnishes the true version of 
the case in the United States Senate. 

We are told that dismissed and disrated officers 
are not suitable to represent their own cases. That 
men, whose reputation and honor have been deeply 
wounded, deprived of their living, and prevented at 
the same time from embarking in any other pur- 
suit, are not to be believed. Americans, we all 
know very well that such doctrine as this is polit- 
ical heresy of the vilest character. It is anti- 
American, anti-republican, and only fit to emanate 
from an emperor or autocrat. 

These men, free from the obligations of oaths or 
conscience, have, under the direction and conniv- 
ance of the Secretary of the Navy, tried their supe- 
riors, and exercised upon them their hate or their 
love, irresponsible to law, and in violation of the 
constitution. The President acted as they willed 
and directed. He endorsed the action of that 
board with as much zest as he did the contemptible 
action of Hollins upon the people of Greytown. 
And the redress that can be had from him you can 
very well decide. Never before have the rights of 



260 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

our citizens been so hazarded by public men, who 
indubitably proved that they were not to be trusted. 

The family relation that board sustained was 
another odious influence in its clumsy manoeuvring. 
The prominent actors were either connected by 
blood or marriage, and took excellent care to dis- 
tribute the spoils through their own social circle. 

Formerly three years were regarded as the 
shortest cruise for an efficient officer in command. 
Recently three officers have been appointed in six 
months to a single ship — a beautiful comment 
upon the efficiency of the service. Capt. Latimer, 
confessedly one of the most accomplished officers in 
the service, has had applications for sea duty con- 
stantly before the department. The highest among 
his peers declare him unrivalled in all the duties of 
the profession to which he has been devoted from 
early life, and say that his ship was ever equal to 
any emergency that could arise. He has been 
neglected and disrated, to give place to incompe- 
tent men, and the blow was struck by Stribling and 
Pendegrast, who are eminently notorious for want 
of discipline and efficiency. Capt. Latimer was 
never known to ask to be relieved from duty, but 
always for it ; and upwards of twenty-eight years of 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 261 

active employment are replete with the richest 
memorials of his distinguished ability. 

Capt. John H. Graham, now " furloughed," 
served in the memorable battle of Black Rock, 
opposite the enemy's frontier, in 1812. He was 
wounded in the leg while entering the burning 
barracks, and was saved by a sailor, who threw 
young Graham upon his shoulder, and carried him 
across the river, while his clothes actually froze to 
the boat. Nine of the twelve naval officers were 
killed and wounded. Gen.. Porter, in his report 
of that battle, says : "If bravery be a virtue, — 
if the gratitude of the country be due to those 
who gallantly and desperately asserted its rights, 
— the government will make ample and honorable 
provision for the heirs of those brave tars who fell 
on this occasion, as well as for those who survived." 
Graham afterwards fought gloriously, upon his cork 
leg, at the battle of Lake Champlain. 

Capt. Win. Inman, retired, is also eminent for 
efficiency in the navy, and rigid in his exactions 
of duty. 

Lieut. Gibson, the executive officer of the St. 
Louis, was nearly paralyzed by this unexpected 
blow of the board. He had seen about as much 



262 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

sea service as Shubrick, the president of the 
board, though born after he entered the service ; 
and more than twenty-six post-captains, and 
seventy-nine of the commanders, had seen, who 
are retained on the active list. 

Lieut. Brownell, who fought through the war of 
1812, and was seven times victorious in engage- 
ments with the enemy, has had a like fate. 

There is one other case — that of Capt. Uriah 
P. Levy — to which we must advert, as it is one 
of the most scandalous outrages in connection with 
the action of the Navy Retiring Board, and de- 
serves the severest reprehension from every Ameri- 
can citizen. As a reformer in the service, Capt. 
Levy deserves the gratitude of his country, and of 
humanity. He is the father of the system abolish- 
ing flogging in the navy ; and through him that 
inhuman barbarity, which so long disgraced its 
annals, has been made to yield to reason and moral 
suasion. 

This act was in consonance with American lib- 
erty, and with the progress and intelligence which 
belong to a free people. Without resort to that 
antediluvian means of enforcing discipline, Levy's 
ship was eminent for its order, neatness, and em- 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 263 

ciency to duty ; and when the Vandalia returned 
to the United States, after a long and perilous 
cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, in 1840, it was the 
boast of its crew that there had been less personal 
chastisement in the whole cruise than the records 
of any other ship of war ever had in a single 
month ; and, while seamen were deserting Shu- 
brick's and other ships, Commander Levy found 
no difficulty in retaining those under his control, 
simply because he respected character, and did not 
lose sight of the fact that he was dealing with 
American men. The Secretary of the Navy, then, 
was so gratified by this first essay of Commander 
Levy towards reform, that he ordered quarterly 
returns to be made to the department by all the 
navy, upon the principle adopted by Levy for the 
abolition of the "cat" and " colt." 

Capt. Levy — whose biography is given else- 
where in this volume — is also distinguished as 
being the first to enforce upon his ship religious 
duty, without the aid of a chaplain, by instituting 
the custom of reading the Old and New Testament 
of our blessed Lord. Time would fail, to refer to 
all the patriotic and gallant men who have thus 
been outraged. 



264 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

What relief can be procured for the suffering 
families of those officers who have been reduced to 
want by the action of the President of the United 
States, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Navy 
Board ? 

Another serious question is presented in relation 
to this matter : What is to be done for the inno- 
cent wives and children of some forty- eight dis- 
missed officers, who are reduced to penury ? What 
for those fifty lieutenants and masters, who, with 
six hundred dollars, and three hundred and seventy- 
five dollars, per annum, are left with large and 
helpless households depending on their mainte 
nance, and without means of other employment? 
What for those brave men who have served their 
country thirty, forty, and fifty long years ? Is 
there no arm of mercy to reach their impoverished 
and stricken homes ? Will not the people hear 
their cry for justice ? Will they not flee to their 
succor? Will the American nation suffer such 
injustice ? Can Americans hear, without lively 
indignation, that such oppression has been inflicted 
upon the naval chivalry of the country ? 

Will Americans believe that two hundred and 
one " skulks " have been dropped or disrated from 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 2G5 

the navy, as the "wise reformer," Mr. Secretary 
Dobbin, has been pleased to call these officers ? 

The law was really a government bill, and the 
board was designed by Congress to protect their 
brother officers, — to act as a conservative body 
between them and the President, who was to inflict 
the degradation. The board, therefore, instead of 
performing the trust assigned by Congress, and 
shielding their brothers from unmerited disgrace, 
became the subservient tools of the Secretary of 
the Navy, who, like themselves, was a relentless 
persecutor, and who, to carry out his own caprice, 
adopted their views, and ordered the sittings to be 
secret, in defiance of every principle of justice and 
law. 

Without complaint, it had long been known that 
the "board" had, by intrigue, sought and ob- 
tained more favors, more full pay, more pay for 
extra service, than all the victims they have made 
ever did together. But they still wanted * ' more ; ' ' 
and, to obtain their end, they took the places of 
their modest, meritorious seniors. Intoxicated 
with this power, they forgot their country, to make 
a navy to suit themselves. 

The authority to remove military men, even by 
12 



266 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

the President, is a very delicate and dangerous 
exercise. It is rarely necessary to do so, particu- 
larly in the navy, without impartial trial, and a 
formal finding of a court-martial. Unlike the civil 
service, there are always others ready to discharge 
the duty temporarily. But, more than this, the pro- 
fession of a naval officer is the business of his entire 
life, considered and adopted as an honorable tenure 
in the service of his country, and secured by law. 

Dismission always implies disgrace, which is, in 
the judgment of all sensible men, greater by arbi- 
trary decision than when flagrant wrong, by a fair 
trial, has proved the necessity for such sentence ; 
and in this act not only have officers been subjected 
to an arbitrary and tyrannical action, but have also 
had it inflicted, in many instances, by juniors and 
inferiors in the service. 

The precipitate and feeble conduct of President 
Pierce, devoid of dignity, discretion, or justice, in 
confirming the sentence of unmerited disgrace upon 
American officers, of whom he knew nothing, and 
was without the means of being correctly informed, 
ought to serve as a solemn warning to this people. 
Neither Congress, who passed the law, nor the 
President, nor the Secretary of the Navy, were 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 267 

imbued with that military and national pride which 
belong to those educated in the navy of their coun- 
try, whom they have ingloriously set aside. And 
thus have consequences arisen, from the conduct 
of civilians, which must fire the spirit of every 
patriot in the land, especially when the nation 
takes into consideration the further proof of the 
efficiency and worthiness of these officers, which 
time will soon develop, and whom justice shall 
have vindicated and restored to their rights, when 
the people shall have made an American President. 
A chief magistrate is needed who can comprehend 
the wrong in a national as well as individual char- 
acter, and will consider it an imperious duty to afford 
these two hundred and one officers all the protection 
and redress which lie within the compass of the 
constitution and laws. 

It may be well to remark that all these officers, 
endorsed and approved by Commodore Perry, be- 
came victims of the board. 

Suppose, Americans, you should go to the 
department at Washington, and look into the records 
for charges against those officers now promoted in 
the service, we tell you that you could find them. 



268 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

And, while we cast no reflections upon any of these 
government officials, and wish to see them all ele- 
vated to distinction in the service of their country, 
we say, fearlessly, that there are many officers re- 
tained and promoted, who, if the records be true, 
are much more entitled, by every consideration of 
justice, to the same sentence which has been passed 
upon their more unfortunate brothers in the service. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The question also arises, why it was that such 
officers as Capt. Wilkes, who had seen no duty 
afloat for twenty-eight years, and had already had 
fifty or sixty thousand dollars from the government 
for his contributions to science, should be re- 
tained on the active list by the board, when Lieut. 
Maury was retired because he had seen so little sea 
service. It was possibly allowed by Biddle as a 
monument of mercy to learning ; but more proba- 
bly for some personal predilection, which did not 
operate in the cases of other scientific officers. 

When it is remembered with how much difficulty, 
and at what dear pecuniary cost, many of these offi- 
cers procured their original commissions in the navy 
of their country, the present case will seem pecu- 
liarly appalling. The hard earnings of their parents, 
the cost of years of sacrifice, deprivation, and toil, 
have been given, and given freely, to members of 
Congress, as a bonus for the midshipman's warrant. 



270 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

The pride of country, the desire of name in its 
service, for that son on whom they had fixed their 
hopes for distinction and exaltation, has, in many 
instances, induced parents in our land, in humble 
circumstances, to forego comfort, and, oftentimes, 
the education of the other children, to minister to the 
grasping desire and corrupt exactions of members of 
Congress, in order to obtain this boon for a meritori- 
ous son ; and which would readily have been ten- 
dered, without solicitation, to the wealthy and influ- 
ential of their districts, whose favor their selfish thirst 
for power and place would lead them to propitiate. 

How much benefit, how much relief, would this 
money now be to the suffering families of the coun- 
try reduced by the " Navy Retiring Board " ! Will 
not members of Congress, who voted blindly for the 
bill, feel it a moral duty, at least, to redress the 
rights of these officers now, if they will not restore 
to them this unlawful pecuniary gain ? Let such 
remember that the condition upon which the pur- 
chase-money was paid has been abrogated. The 
contract was for life, unless proved, by a fair trial, 
unworthy to serve under the national flag. 

A member of Congress from New York State 
was asked for his influence in behalf of a promising 



TIIE AMERICAN NAVY. 271 

young man in adverse circumstances. He said that 
he would interpose if he were paid five hundred 
dollars. The case thus looked hopeless ; for the ap- 
plicant was poor, and such a demand was too much 
to exact of his father. The matter was laid before 
the family circle for discussion, and decided favor- 
ably for the son. The only five hundred dollars the 
father had in the world was paid this member, who, 
pulling out the blank warrant from his pocket, 
where it was at the first interview, filled it with 
the young man's name, and took his money. He 
is now a victim of the executive vengeance. 

Has the remedy been provided by Congress to 
restore to health this paralyzed arm of the public 
service ? It has not. The Senate passed a bill 
which gives these injured officers the benefit of a 
court of inquiry, which shall decide upon the action 
of the Navy Retiring Board ; and this court is to 
submit to the President of the United States its 
findings for his approval. If the sentence of the 
Navy Board is decided to be unjust, the President 
can renominate those dropped officers to the Senate 
for restoration, and place on the active list officers 
retired by the unjust proceeding of the board. If 
a dropped officer shall not be restored within one 



272 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

year from the passage of the law, he shall be 
entitled to one year's pay of the grade to which he 
belonged. The President, also, is empowered by 
this act to transfer any furloughed officer to the re- 
served pay-list, and make him, as before, eligible 
to promotion. To the President, therefore, the 
power will be given, by and with the consent of the 
Senate, to restore, within one year after the act 
shall have become law, any dropped, retired, or fur- 
loughed officer to the same grade he would have 
occupied had the Navy Board never had an exist- 
ence. 

The objection to this Senate act is, that it calls 
an officer to trial for mental, moral, or physical 
incompetency, upon unconstitutional grounds, after 
he has been convicted and punished. It allows 
officers to submit to an investigation into their past 
lives, simply because a cabal of designing men saw 
fit, without the authority of law, and for private 
reasons, to destroy them, and then fill their places. 
But it has other advantages, which no high-toned 
officer should overlook. It will, if made a law of 
Congress, oblige that Navy Board to appear before 
the court of inquiry, and compel them to expose 
the reasons which influenced their individual action. 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 273 

In this point of view, we say, honorable men, who 
have nothing to fear from public scrutiny, would 
rejoice at the prospect of bringing their defamers 
to trial. And, with an American President, of 
any party, who will not dodge responsibility, the 
navy of the country would be reinstated, the honor 
of brave men vindicated, and some redress afforded 
for their past suffering. 

But, Americans, that Senate bill we believe to 
be a mere pretence, which never will be passed if the 
same influence continues to prevail in the House 
which did in the Senate. Why? Because its 
ostensible friends know it to be such. The Presi- 
dent has the same power now to nominate that he 
would have after the passage of the act, — so said 
Mr. Mallory to Mr. Bell ; and who believes Mr. 
Pierce would stultify himself any more than he has 
done by nominating the very men he has con- 
demned ? Mr. Bocock, of the naval committee of 
the House of Representatives, is the pliant friend 
of Mr. Mallory and the board, and introduced the 
amendment to the Senate bill, to destroy the court 
of inquiry, by giving the President the power to 
nominate (which he already possessed), purposely 

to defeat its passage. He did it to protect the 
12* 



274 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

board from public exposure before the court of 
inquiry, and had already distinguished himself as 
the author of the clause in the law to drop officers. 

Mr. Mallory, the person who devised the deep 
and villanous scheme to destroy our American men, 
is a foreigner, a West Indian, and his wife is a 
Spanish woman. What a commentary upon our 
nationality, to have a foreigner come and exercise 
the privilege of tearing our navy to pieces, and 
adding to the weeping and wailing of this people, 
who, four years ago, were laughing with national 
heartiness at the sure prospect of peace and prog- 
ress ! 

A navy that has had a Stewart, — the Nelson of 
the service, — a Decatur, a McDonough, a Law- 
rence, and a Perry, of Lake Erie memory ; a navy 
that for seventy years has braved the breeze in 
distant seas and in foreign climes, to be now over- 
slaughed under our own flag, and by a foreigner, 
is enough to make the nation ring. Are all our 
heroes dead? 

Another of the follies of the late Senate bill is 
the introduction of flag-captains, by Messrs. Mal- 
lory, Shubrick, & Co. Capt. Shubrick, the insti- 
gator, it is said, craves the admiralty, for which 



THE AMERICAN NAVY. 275 

he is as unfit as he is unscrupulous in his efforts 
to obtain it. 

Shubrick, then, by his own act, put himself in 
the safe line of promotion ; and Commodore Morris' 
death has made him, with all his unfitness, heir 
apparent. Hence the ridiculous idea of the flag 
captaincy in the American navy. The material 
of our navy bears no comparison with that of other 
nations ; and this is the reform we need to exalt the 
nation, instead of ruining its personelle. We want a 
navy to progress with our country's growth, in the 
quality of our ships and efficiency of our men. 
For a whole year there was but one single ship 
bearing our national flag in the Baltic Sea, while 
so much of our commerce needed to be protected. 
And, while our resources, properly managed, could 
make a navy to meet the world, we have but 
little improvement in naval construction in the last 
forty years. Why? Because the navy commis- 
sioners and navy bureaus have ruined the navy. 
These men, put in places which properly belong to 
civilians, have squandered millions of the nation's 
money, without benefiting the country or service 
in any sense whatever. Where is there any evi- 
dence of originality, any evidence of benefit, by 



276 THE AMERICAN NAVY. 

the enormous outlays of these bureaus ? We chal- 
lenge these men to point to any improvement in 
naval architecture originating with them. All the 
improvements of any importance have been ob- 
tained from other nations ; and were the United 
States to go to war to-morrow, we should find our 
men-of-war thirty years behind the advancement 
of all other maritime nations. 

Thus, my countrymen, you have before you the 
history of the transactions of the Retiring Navy 
Board, which, like a dark cloud, hang over the 
proud and gallant navy of your country, which has 
reaped so many triumphant laurels, enkindled the 
fire of patriotism in the breasts of so many noble 
officers and aspiring youth, and spread the glory of 
her achievements and emulous prowess over the 
whole globe. The injustice, the stigma, of these 
transactions, will forever blot the annals of Presi- 
dent Pierce's administration ; because they are not 
for a day , # but will go down, on the stream of time, 
to posterity, to tell the ignominious story of the late 
Navy Board, and to raise a blush on the cheek of 

* 

our patriotic countrymen, who scorn such inglorious 
deeds, while, at the same time, they honor with 
increased estimation, and renewed plaudits of ap- 



TIIE AMERICAN NAVY. 277 

probation, the suffering but noble-hearted and high- 
minded victims of a false policy and a cruel oppres- 
sion. 



AN AMERICAN HERO 

THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 
CAPTAIN BARTLETT'S VINDICATION. 



CHAPTER I. 



Now, after the exposition given in the preced- 
ing chapter, can the public wonder at the atro- 
cious outrage perpetrated upon so many distin- 
guished Americans, under the administration of 
J. C. Dobbin, of the Navy Department ? Can it 
wonder that a set of conspirators to rob and 
plunder the name and fame of good men, did 
walk into the department, and signifying to Mr. 
Dobbin that they were the proper parties to reform 
the service, set about the work, institute an Inqui- 
sition, create a clerkship to their board, and give 
Dobbin the appointment ? 

This is precisely what they did actually do! 
Chief Justice Gilchrist, in his unanswered argument 
in the case of the " Brig Armstrong," says, " If the 



2T8 











%^# 





S?/f 



THE YICT1M OF A CONSPIRACY. 279 

United States, in the plenitude of their power, see 
fit to submit the claims of a citizen to arbitration 
without his assent, ought tliey not to make the most 
full and ample provision, that he shall be fully arid 
fairly heard, and that he shall have all reasonable 
opportunity to lay before the abitrator the evidence 
on which he relies ? An award made, without the 
party having had an opportunity to be heard, rests 
neither upon law nor justice." " The position," he 
adds, " that every party should have an opportunity 
to be heard before the tribunal that is to pass judg- 
ment on his rights, needs no labored argument to 
support it. It has been repeatedly asserted by the 
most eminent jurists." In Regden vs. Martin, 6 
H. & Johns., 403, the court said : " That the par- 
ties ought to have notice of the time of meeting, is 
a position so strongly supported by common justice 
that it would seem not to require the aid of authori- 
ties. Every man ought to have an opportunity 
afforded him to be heard in defence of his rights." 
In Falconer vs. Montgomery, 4 Dallas, 232, it is 
said : " The plainest dictates of 7iatural justice must 
prescribe to every tribunal the law that ' no man 
shall be condemned unheard. 1 It is not merely an 
abstract rule, or positive right, but it is the result of 
long experieme and a wise attention to the feelings 



280 AN AMERICAN HERO 

and dispositions of human nature. * * * * 
Besides, there is scarcely a piece of written evi- 
dence, or a sentence of oral testimony, that is not 
susceptible of some explanation, or exposed to 
some contradiction ; there is scarcely an argument 
that may not be elucidated so as to insure suc- 
cess, or be controverted so as to prevent it. To 
exclude the party, therefore, from the opportunity 
of interposing in any of these modes (which the 
most candid and intelligent, but a disinterested 
person, may easily overlook) is not only a priva- 
tion of his right, but an act of injustice to the 
umpire, whose mind might be materially influ- 
enced by such an interposition." In the case of 
Lutz vs. Linthicum, 8 Peters, 178, Mr. Justice 
Story said : " Without question, due notice should 
be given to the parties of the time and place of 
hearing the case ; and if the award was made 
without such notice, it ought, upon the plainest 
principles of justice, to beset aside." In Elmen- 
dorf vs. Harris, 23 Wend., 628, it was laid down 
as a fundamental rule of construction in reference 
to every transaction in the nature of a judicial 
proceeding, that the contract of submission ne- 
cessarily implies that the arbitrator is not author- 
ized or empowered to decide the question in con- 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 281 

troversy, without giving the parties an opportu- 
nity to be heard in relation thereto. 

We now proceed to the case of Lieutenant 
Washington Allen Bartlett, who, by the deepest 
malignity, jealousy, and injustice, has been 
dropped from the naval service of his country, 
by the late "Naval Retiring Board." And we 
shall cite this most remarkable one in its interest- 
ing detail, because it has alone been the subject 
of examination before the Naval Committee of 
the United States Senate, and will alone break 
and wither the whole action of that stupendous 
and most unparalleled iniquity. 

Indeed, we have no choice but to use his case, 
for it is only through it, and Biddle's disgraceful 
letter to the distinguished Maury, that we are 
able to see behind the curtain of the Inquisition. 

Lieutenant Bartlett was on duty upon the coast 
of Africa, as first lieutenant of the flag-ship, when 
the Council of Fifteen struck his name from the 
rolls of the navy ! Not a single allegation of 
any kind, verbally or in writing, had ever ap- 
peared against him in the Navy Department, in 
any form. And we here insert the letter of the 
Secretary to Mrs. Bartlett, who, stricken down 
by the sudden and unexpected attempt to put 



282 AN AMERICAN HERO 

disgrace upon the good name of her husband, 
writes, in the anguish of her soul, like a true 
woman, to know, why his fair fame as an officer 
has been outraged ? 

Navy Department, Sept. 30th, 1855. 
Madam: — Your letter of the 18th instant has been received. 
The board of naval officers, recently convened in Washington, in 
accordance with the law, merely reported the names and ranks of 
officers who, in their judgment, came within the provisions of the 
recent act of Congress, but not the facts or the grounds upon which 
their action is based. No charges were preferred against any 
officer. You will perceive, therefore, that I am unable to comply 
with your request to know what the charges were against Lieuten- 
ant Bartlett. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

J. 0. Dobbin. 

Mrs. Washington Bartlett, New York. 

This, the only official notice to this hour re- 
ceived, accompanied by the endearing solace of 
her who best knew his worth, met him on active 
duty abroad, and instantly created the deepest 
and most unfeigned sorrow among all with whom 
he was associated. And so highly was Lieuten- 
ant Bartlett esteemed by officers and crew, as an 
officer, a gentleman, and a friend, that the sepa- 
ration, by those who witnessed it, is said to have 
been one of the most painfully affecting ever seen 
upon a frigate's deck, and resembled, from its 
inexplicable character, and the emotions thereby 
'Tcited, a funeral at sea ! 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 283 



SECTION I. 

We here insert, as corroboratory, the distin- 
guished testimonials of his commodore, com- 
manders, associates, and subalterns : 

Testimonial of Commodore Crabbe, TJ. 8. Navy. 

U. S. Ship Jamestown, 
Porto Grande, Oct. 23(7, 1855. 

Sir: — I have received yonr letter of this day's date, containing 
a copy of a letter from the honorable Secretary of the Navy to Mrs. 
Bartlett, [the same published in the body of the memorial,] in rela- 
tion to your retirement from the navy of the United States. 

Although I have not received anything official from the Depart- 
ment upon the subject, yet the lion. Secretary's letter to Mrs. Bart- 
lett, and the reasons set forth by yourself, will, no doubt, justify mo 
in relieving you from further duty on board this ship. In doing so, 
however, I cannot avoid saying that I deeply regret the loss of your 
services. Your gentlemanly and officer-like bearing, whilst under 
my command, has uniformly met my warmest approbation. 

I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

Thomas Crabbe, 
Commander-in-chief of U. 8. 

Naval Forces, Coast of Africa. 

To Lieut. W. A. Bartlett, 

U. S. Skip Jamestown. 



Letter from Commander F. B. Ellison, XI. 8. Nary. 

Hempstead, Long Island, January Ylth, 1856. 
Dear Sir : — In reply to your request that I would state my opin- 
ion of your efficiency as an officer, and your deportment as a gen- 
tleman, during our recent association on board the "Jamestown," 
where you served under my command, I with great pleasure say, 
that in every particular, as a zealous and capable officer, and a well- 
informed, intelligent gentleman, I regarded you as most exemplary. 
Commodore Crabbe frequently expressed himself to me in very 



284 AN AMERICAN HERO' 

warm terms of you, as a highly accomplished officer, and like ex- 
pressions were made from all your messmates in the ward-room, 
showing a uniformity of opinion throughout the ship. 

Sincerely trusting that the error which seems to have been made 
in your case may speedily be rectified, and that you may be honor- 
ably restored to your former position in the navy, 
I am, very truly, 

Your obedient servant and friend, 
Francis B. Ellison, 

Commander U. S. Navy. 

W. A. Bartlett, Esq., 

Washington, D. C. 



Testimonial of Lieut. Commanding, James F. Armstrong. 

D. S. Flag-ship Jamestown, 
Porto Grande, St. Vincent, Oct. 23d, 1855. 

Dear Sir : — In forwarding you the enclosed letter from Commo- 
dore Crabbe, relieving you from further duty in this ship, I beg 
leave to assure you of my deepest regret for the cause that has pro- 
duced it, and for the interruption of an intercourse and association 
always confidential, harmonious, and friendly. 

I shall ever esteem you, in your character, as an officer and gen- 
tleman, and, in parting from you, tender you my sincere wishes for 
your restoration to the service, and for your future welfare. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Jas. Francis Armstrong, 

Lieut. Commanding. 

Lieut. Washington A. Bartlett, 

U. S. Ship Jameitown. 



Testimonial of all the Commissioned Officers of the TJ. S. Flag-ship 

Jamestown. 

Porto Grande, St. Vincent, Oct. 24th, 1855. 
Dear Sir: — "We entertain too high an appreciation of your char- 
acter as a gentleman and an officer, and too warm a regard for you 
as a messmate and friend, to allow you to leave us without saying 
to you, in the sincerity of our hearts, that we deeply regret that you 
are about to part from us, and, above all, the cause that takes you 
away. 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 285 

In the difficult and responsible relation that you have sustained 
to us, as executive officer of the ship, you have ever, whilst dis- 
charging your duties with fidelity, borne yourself toward us with 
the utmost frankness, conciliation, and courtesy. And, in the more 
intimate and kindly relation, as a member of the little society that 
we form amongst ourselves, and which can subsist in harmony only 
by mutual cultivation of friendly feelings and the practice of friendly 
offices, you have endeared yourself to us by your uniform amiability 
of disposition, and by the desire that you have ever evinced to 
cherish the most cordial intercourse with us all. 

"We, therefore, beg to assure you that, in parting from us, you are 
taking leave of those who will ever remember you with pleasure, 
and who, whatever fortunes may betide you, will always continue 
your well-wishers and friends. 

Ever, very truly, yours, 

Geo. Cltmee, 

Fleet Surgeon, ranking with Commander. 

T. H. Patterson, Lieutenant. 

Edward Barnett, Lieutenant. 

T. M. Taylor, Purser (rank of Commander.) 

Julian Myers, Lieutenant. 

Samuel Richard Swann, AssH Surgeon. 

John L. Heylen, Commodore's Secretary. 

Jno. E. Hart, Acting Master and Lieut. 

Jas. M. Bradford, Acting Lieut. 

Chas. W. Thomas, Chaplain 
Lt. Washington A. Bartlett. 



Letter from the Junior Officers of the Jamestown. 

TJ. S. Ship Jamestown, 
Porto Grande, St. Vincbnt, Oct. 24W, 1856. 

Sir: — You are about to return to your home; in so doing, the 
members of the steerage feel it their duty to express to you their 
deep regret, and their sincere gratitude for the extreme kindness 
with which you have universally treated them, during the time 
they have had the pleasure of being uuder your command. You 
may be assured that, after your leaving us, you will ever be cher- 
ished in our memory with feelings of the highest regard and esteem, 
in your character as an officer and gentleman. 



286 AN AMERICAN HERO 

Sir, we bid you, with sorrow, a hearty farewell; with many 
wishes for your future welfare and happiness, 

Believe us, very respectfully, your obedient servants, 

N. B. Concklin, M. Mate. 
0. W. Laweenoe, M. Mate. 
Val. Hall Voorhees, M. Mate. 
O. N. Henkel, M. Mate. 
H. B. Johnson, C. Cleric. 

Lieut. W. A. Bartlett, U. S. ftwcy. 

Now we challenge for these papers a comparison 
with any testimonials ever bestowed upon the 
most distinguished of our officers by his brothers 
in arms. They testify to his competency and 
efficiency in every relation in which he was called 
to act as an officer. And will it not be perceived 
from these testimonials that, considering the deli- 
cate and responsible position which the executive 
officer bears towards all above and below him, that 
they exhibit the clearest evidence that the frigate 
" Jamestown" was, under Lieut. Bartlett's admi- 
nistration, in the highest state of efficiency ? Every 
officer and man would cheerfully follow the lead 
of one whom they held in such confidence and 
admiration ; and to whom they could look in 
whatever emergency might arise on their cruise. 

And this being the moment when Lieut. Bart- 
lett ceased his naval services, it is proper here to 
review in part his naval career. 

His immediate commanders during the Mexican 



TIIE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 287 

War were Commodore Lavallette and Capt. J. B. 
Montgomery. Their testimonials are sufficient 
without a single comment. 

Testimonial of Commodore E. A. F. Lavallette on the services of 
Lieut. Bartlett in the Pacific Squadron. 

Philadelphia, January 28rf, 1856. 

Dear Sir: — I received your letter of the 22<1 instant, in which 
you state, that "while absent from the country, serving as first- 
lieutenant of the flag-ship of the African squadron, it has pleased 
the late 'Navy Board' to present my name to the President to be 
stricken from the rolls as lieutenant in the Navy. 

u I had the honor to serve under your command as a midshipman, 
and again as a lieutenant, commanding the armed prize brig Argo 
in the Gulf of California, and in the attack on Guaymas, and its 
occupation. On that occasion you did me the honor to assign me 
the most advanced post, on the night previous to the attack, out of 
supporting distance of the guns of the squadron, and out of sight, 
being covered by the island which separated me from the squadron. 

" How did I bear myself on that occasion ? Did I meet your 
expectations or not? 

11 From your knowledge of me, my abilities and acquirements, was 
or was I not an efficient officer of the Pacific squadron during the 
Mexican War?" 

In answer, I have to state, that your foregoing statements of our 
operations in the Gulf of California are correct in every particular. 
Your conduct on that occasion not only met my approbation, by 
the activity, energy and skill which you displayed in getting your 
gun landed, merited — and the effect which it produced by your 
management, upon the works of the enemy entitled you to — the 
highest praise. 

Your abilities and acquirements I consider quite equal to any of 
your grade, and very superior to very many of them. I certainly 
viewed you as an efficient officer of the Pacific squadron. 

I am respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

E. A. F. Lavallette. 

Wash'n A. Bartlett, Esq., 

Late Lieut. U. S. A'avy, Washington City, D. C. 



ii 



288 AN AMERICAN HERO 

Washington, D. C, February 13, 1856. 

My dear Sir: — Your letter of the 6th instant was handed me, 
and should have been sooner answered, but for pressing engage- 
ments, which have occupied my time since its receipt. You state: 
"It has become necessary that I should exhibit to the Government, 
to Congress, and to the people, such concise testimony as I can 
obtain as to my efficiency and qualifications as an officer of the 
2STavy — from which I have been most unjustly dismissed — and, there- 
fore, I appeal to you to state in whatever manner and form you may 
please, whether I was or was not an efficient and capable officer in 
all particulars and at all times, as an upright, capable, and zealous 
officer of your ship and of the Navy ; and whether, by act or deed, 
which may have come to your knowledge, I ever attempted, in any 
manner, to avoid responsibility, or aught which friend or foe could 
allege against me ; or whether any circumstances of duty, or other- 
wise, ever impaired my usefulness or your confidence in my integrity 
and ability," etc. 

I have quoted largely from your letter, in order to a more succinct 
and direct reply to the several inquiries contained in it. 

In reply, therefore, I take pleasure in stating that during your 
long service — from November 1844 to May 1848 — in the United 
States ship Portsmouth, under my command, with the usual oppor- 
tunities enjoyed by naval commanders of forming a just estimate of 
the merits and qualifications of those serving under them, I have no 
hesitation whatever in bearing my testimony to your high mental 
and physical qualifications and efficiency as an officer of the Navy, 
and an accomplished sea-officer. 

At all times, and in all circumstances, I found you ready and 
willing for the various duties assigned you, on shore and on ship- 
board, and ever prompt, zealous, and capable in the performance 
of them. I always regarded you, sir, as a most useful officer, not 
only in the proper line of professional employment, but as interpreter 
and translator of important official correspondence during the revo- 
lutionary movements in California and the war with Mexico which 
followed ; your services were of signal importance to your com- 
mander, and (as regarded by him) to the public interests at the 
time. 

When, in the course of events, after the occupancy of San Fran- 
cisco, it became necessary to establish the magistracy of that place, 
the duties of alcalde were assigned to you, and discharged with a 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 289 

faithfulness and ability which claimed for you the- c-« •lnrnci nlai ion of 
your immediate commander, as well as that of the coinmander-in 
chief; aud the people of the district, when required to elect their 
civil qfficera, manifested their high appreciation of your character 
and services in the magistracy, in according to you an overwhelming 
vote (over .several candidates) for your continuance in office. 

During your service under my command you certainly did possess 
my confidence as an upright, intelligent, and most capable officer of 
the ship and of the Navy. 

Allegations were brought to my notice by officers of the Ports- 
mouth, at San Francisco, in 18-iG, which you promptly met, by a 
demand for immediate investigation by court-martial or court of 
inquiry, which the exigency of the public service precluded at the 
time. I should have deemed it exceedingly unjust to you, sir, as 
well as to my own feelings, to have suffered any permanent impres- 
sion to your prejudice, on my mind, until sufficient evidence had 
been adduced before a competent tribunal — until shown to be true. 

I know of nothing that occurred during the cruise of the Ports- 
mouth, or since, to the present time, that ought in anywise to 
diminish my friendly regard, or impair my confidence in your 
integrity, high capabilities, and usefulness, as a naval officer. 

I trust, my dear sir, that you may speedily satisfy the Govern- 
ment, Congress, and the people, of your innocence of any and all 
allegations of a prejudicial character, which may have operated in 
any degree in procuring your recent dismissal from the Navy, and, 
by a speedy restoration, have it again in your power to render 
valuable service to your country, for which I regard you eminently 
qualified. 

Very truly, I am your friend and obedient servant, 

J. B. Montgomery, 

Captain U. S. Navy. 

W. A. Babtlett, Esq. 

SECTION II. 

The war having ended, and no farther field for 
active naval service being presented, Lieut. Bart- 
lett accepts I die i ruder of the command of the 

13 



290 AN AMERICAN HERO 

Ewing, in the service of the coast survey, to 
return to the Pacific Ocean, where he already 
had had eight years of active duty. How 
faithfully he performed these services is best 
exhibited by the appreciation of the distin- 
guished superintendent of the survey, A. D. 
Bache, LL.D. 

The late Lieutenant, Commanding, Wm. P. 
McArthur, being the hydrographical chief of the 
western coast, having deceased, in an eulogy 
delivered by Professor Bache to his memory at 
Washington, we find this reference to the emi- 
nent services of Lieutenants McArthur and 
Bartlett : 

The work which he accomplished will live for ever! Surrounded 
by circumstances the most difficult perhaps which ever tried the 
constancy, the judgment, the resources of any hydrographer, he van- 
quished circumstances. His reconnoissance of the western coast, 
from Monterey to Columbia river, and his preliminary surveys 
there, were made in spite of desertion and even mutiny — in despite 
of the inadequacy of means to meet the truly extraordinary cir- 
cumstances of the country. Happy that in his officers he had friends 
devoted to him and to their duties — especially happy in the officer 
next to him in the responsibilities of the work. 

And before the Naval Committee Professor 
Bache said : 

In justice to Mr. Bartlett, I should state briefly what those ser- 
vices were. He took the schooner Ewing, a small vessel, which 
had been used in the revenue service as a cutter, from New York 



TIIE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 291 

to San Francisco. "Was active in pursuing the mutineers who 
attempted to drown Passed Midshipman Gihson, of the schooner 
Ewing. Went to Columbia river with Lieutenant Commanding 
McArthur, though it was understood that unless a second vessel 
were attached to the coast survey he was to return home. Was 
active in the survey of Columbia river and the reconnoissance of 
the western coast. The letters from Lieutenant Commanding 
McArthur express his sense of Lieutenant Bartlett's services, and 
refer to him for important information in regard to the coast, show- 
ing his confidence in him. lie assisted assiduously in preparing the 
coast survey charts of the western coast at the office. 

We will now advert for a moment to the ser- 
vices of Lieut. Bartlett at the mouth of the 
Columbia river, and his successful labors in open- 
ing to the commerce of the world that magnifi- 
cent water-course, an original American discovery 
of the last century ; where Vancouver re- 
corded his extraordinary want of judgment, by 
placing the name of "Disappointment" upon 
that majestic headland which stands sentinel at 
its mouth, and upon which an American sailor 
had already placed the venerated name of " Han- 
cock." That gigantic river, whose beauties are 
so vividly and truthfully daguerreotyped by 
Washington Irving, in his "Astoria," but whose 
importance to the commerce of the world, and 
facilities for use, were left to be exhibited by the 
united efforts of those energetic and skillful offi- 
cers, McArthur and Bartlett. 



292 AN AMERICAN HERO 

This will be the more apparent when we state 
the well-established facts, that although the en- 
trance to this mighty river had been in the hands 
of the English Hudson Bay Company forty 
years, and the South Sea Exploring Expedition, 
under its Lieutenant-Commodore Wilkes, had 
spent months in its waters, yet it remained 
for all practical uses as a great outlet of com- 
merce, as hermetically sealed, through the 
imaginartj dangers which were thrown around 
its entrance, as if its mighty waters had never 
found their natural course to the sea. 

It will be remembered that Wilkes said it was 
necessary to take the channel of the Columbia 
with wind and tide both adverse (a physical im^ 
possibility) in a five knot current ! After the 
loss of the Shark, whose commander, we suppose, 
attempted the nautical manoeuvre described by 
Wilkes, and the report and chart of that remark- 
able commander was given to the public, the 
time for going in and out the channel actually 
doubled! The loss of the Peacock and Shark, 
of the American Navy, and the known fact that 
the Hon. Hudson Bay Company's commanders 
took forty or fifty days to find their way into the 
channel, and the same number to find their way 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 293 

out of it, had long elicited the interest of the 
commercial and scientific world. So far from gain- 
ing any advantage through Wilkes, the smallest 
vessel of the company actually lay eighty-four 
days near the mouth of the river (Baker's Bay), 
with the Shark's crew on board, before this 
" ancient mariner" dared to proceed to sea. And 
four years later, when the Ewing, with McAr- 
thur and Bartlett on board, appeared off the mouth 
of the river, in a snow-storm, on the 18th of 
April, 1850, the same little vessel of the Hon. 
Company's service, with the same commander, 
was met there, having been cruising off and on 
for weeks, though anxious to enter, through fears 
of the imaginary terrors of the entrance ! The 
Ewing boldly took the channel, and the Cadboro' 
bravely followed suit. This was the last real de- 
tention that has ever occurred at the mouth of 
the Columbia. The advent of the Ewing proved 
the truth of Mr. Benton's prophecy, five years 
previously, when he said, in substance, that not- 
withstanding this extraordinary report of Wilkes, 
the time would come, within five years, when the 
entrance of the Columbia would be as practicable 
as a commercial channel, as the bay of New York ! 
In order to show the true force of these 



294 AN AMERICAN HERO 

marks, we place, side by side, the reports of 
Lieutenants McArthur and Bartlett : 

September 25th, 1850, McArthur wrote Pro- 
fessor Bache : 

Within the last eighteen months, more vessels have crossed tho 
Columbia river bar, than had crossed it, perhaps, in all time past ; 
and, during that time, no vessel has received the slightest injury, 
and but few have met with much delay. 

I have examined all the charts that have been made of the Co- 
lumbia river from the time of its discovery to the present, and find 
that there has been continued changes going on, but at all times 
has there been a good deep channel at the mouth of this river. 

Report of Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett, U. S. N., Assistant 
in the Coast Survey, in relation to the draught of vessels which 
can enter the south channel, Columbia rider entrance, Oregon. 

Washington, Novomber 30<A, 1850. 

Sir: — In answer to your inquiries as to the draught of vessels 
which may, at any time, be carried into the Columbia river by the 
new south channel, I have to state that our late survey of that 
channel, and my personal experience in passing over the south bar, 
in vessels of deep draught, show conclusively, that vessels drawing 
seventeen feet can be taken over the south bar at quarter flood, or 
three-quarter ebb, without the least risk of touching, and twenty 
feet can pass at high water. 

In making the preceding statement, it is proper to state that I 
have fully considered the " drop " which a vessel makes when in 
the swell of the bar, which is, however, much less in the south than 
in the old north channel, when the wind is in the usual northwest- 
ern quarter. 

In the winter, or spring season, when the wind is in the south, 
or southwest quarter, there is a lively breaker on the south bar, at 
which time it will be smoothest on the north bar, and this south- 
erly wind being fair for the north channel, there is no occasion to 
take the south bar in southerly winds going in; yet, with a mode- 
rate draught in a sailing vessel, the south channel is ever safest in 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 295 

coming out, although tho wind may he "dead in" to the bar; the 
bar being so short and quickly passed, that it is not necessary to 
tack in shoal water. 

The U. S. steamer, Massachusetts, and U. S. sloop-of-war, Fal- 
mouth, each drawing seventeen feet water, have passed the bar of 
the south channel into the Columbia river since our survey was 
made. 

In addition, I would state that my experience at the mouth of the 
Columbia, has convinced me that the south channel is the practica- 
ble commercial channel of that river for certainty and safety, with 
tho additional advantage of accomplishing the passage, to or from 
tlie river, without waiting for a particular wind. Ships frequently 
pass tin" bar inward, in fifteen minutes after receiving their pilot, 
and outward, in thirty minutes after getting their anchors. 

A disabled ship, that can be sailed so as to have good steerage 
way, can pass over the south bar in safety, when it would be im- 
poasible to get her in by the north channel. 

From the 18th of April to the 5th of August, 1850, there was no 
day that the south channel was not practicable for vessels, and was 
in daily use. 

I crossed the bar (south channel), in the pilot-boat "Mary Tay- 
lor," during the "heaviest bar" that occurred within the above 
named period, beating out with the wind ahead. 



SECTION III. 

Commander Wilkes, whose total sea service 
in the navy, was but seven years and nine 
months ! (which will account for his want of 
practical ability to obtain proper deductions 
from his own work), was made a post-captain 
by the Naval Board, though he has not seen 
salt water for the last fourteen years ! while 
Lieutenant Bartlett's sea service was thirteen 



296 AN AMERICAN HERO 

years and nine months, quite double that of the 
present Captain Wilkes ! Such is " efficiency," in 
the acceptation of the Board ! Had McArthur 
lived to this day, and remained on that service, 
he would most assuredly have been " dropped," 
or " furloughed ;"' for Lieutenant Maffit, of the 
same date, who had performed eleven years of 
like continuous sea service on the Atlantic coast, 
and admitted by all to be, like McArthur, with- 
out a superior in the service, has been ' ' fur- 
loughed !" TTe confidently expect, however, 
that Maffit will be restored (and we know he 
should be on his own merits), because Mr. Dob- 
bin, having known him from boyhood, takes a 
personal interest in him, and, in defiance of the 
Board's judgment, who had pronounced him 
"inefficient," immediately augmented his com- 
mand from one to three vessels, an honor which 
has not yet been conferred upon any one of that 
inquisition, since it closed its sittings. The mo- 
ment the Secretary gave three vessels to Maffit, 
he made him Naval Commodore! practically, 
ranking with the oldest officers in the navy. 

The publications emanating from the coast sur- 
vey office, relating to the hydrography of the 
western coast, the discoveries and minute exam- 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 297 

inations on the whole line of coast from Monterey 
to the Columbia, carefully compiled sailing di- 
rections, plans for lights, and other improve- 
ments for navigation, which have been put in 
operation by the government, and lauded by the 
people, the confidence with which Congress in- 
creased the appropriations to extend this merit- 
orious work, will ever remain inscribed upon the 
public records an enduring monument to the 
energy and skill of McArthur and Bartlett. 

In April, 1846, Commodore Sloat sent the 
" Portsmouth" from Mazatlan to California ; on 
arriving there, Captain Montgomery supplied the 
wants of Captain Fremont, who had been hostil- 
ized by Castor, the Commandant-General of the 
Province of California. We quote from the let- 
ter of Captain Montgomery, to show how valua- 
ble, at that juncture, were the military and civil 
services of Lieutenant Bartlett : 

Montgomery says : 

"I have nn hesitation whatever in hearing ray testimony to yonr 
high mental and physical ipialitications and efficiency as an officer 
<<t' the Navy, and an aflOOmpiiahed sca-nllicT. 

At all times and in all cirenmstahoes I found yon ready and wil- 
ling tor the vitri'ins duties a--L'nt'd you, on shore and on ship-board 
and ever prompt, zealous, and capable in the performance of them. 
I always regarded yon, sir, as a most useful officer, not only in the 
proper line of professional employment, but aa interpreter and 

13* 



298 AN AMERICAN HERO 

translator of important official correspondence during the revolu- 
tionary movements in California and the war with Mexico which 
followed ; your services were of signal importance to your com- 
mander, and (as regarded by him) to the public interests at the 
time. 

When, in the course of events, after the occupancy of San Fran- 
cisco, it became necessary to establish the magistracy of that place, 
the duties of alcalde were assigned to you, and discharged with a 
faithfulness and ability which claimed for you the commendation 
of your immediate commander, as well as that of the commander- 
in-chief; and the people of the district, when required to elect their 
civil officers, manifested their high appreciation of your character 
and services in the magistracy, in according to you an overwhelm- 
ing vote (over several candidates) for your continuance in office." 

From the moment of Montgomery's arrival at 
Monterey, on the 2 2d of the month of April, 
1846, to the commencement of the war in that 
quarter, he was in active preparation to take 
instant possession of San Francisco, and the ver- 
satile talents of Bartlett were employed by his 
commodore to their fullest extent. 

As Military Secretary and Translator, Civil 
Magistrate, and Judge of First Instance, with Ad- 
miralty Jurisdiction for the waters of San Fran- 
cisco, "Collector and Superintendent of the 
Port," etc., Lieutenant Bartlett was found not 
only fully qualified by his previous business 
knowledge, but manifested great administrative 
ability, by the obedience of all classes shown to 
his government. 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 299 

As Chief Magistrate of the Town and District 
of San Francisco, he exercised all the powers of 
a local " Cabildo," or " Mexican Ayuntamiento ;" 
he caused the re-survey of the town, regulated 
and named the streets and squares ; located mar- 
kets ; sites for public edifices ; and granted lots 
to actual settlers, under the forms of the Spanish 
laws of the Indies and colonies, which have ever 
continued to rule over Mexican Territory. 

Bartlett soon saw that the people were willing 
to obey their new rulers, if they could but be 
protected by them. And being well read in Kent 
and AVheaton, he knew where to ascertain the 
rights of the conquerors, and by reading such 
Spanish authorities, and consulting such tradi- 
tional lore as the country afforded, he was able to 
protect the rights of the conquered. 

The original appointment of Bartlett, was con- 
lirmed by the people at their first election of civil 
officers, on the 13th of September following. 
And when Commodore Stockton saw the harbor 
tilling with ships, the town of San Francisco 
building up, he appreciated the talent and tact of 
J iartlett so highly, that he confirmed him in all 
his functions, as Chief Magistrate, Judge, and 
United States Collector ; even though he then 



300 AN AMERICAN HERO 

needed officers to conduct his military move- 
ments. 

In February 2 2d, 1847, General Kearney ar- 
rived in San Francisco, and saw with gratification 
a well ordered community under perfect control, 
a civil court of " Common Pleas," and admiralty, 
proceeding with all the formality of an old New 
England county, a Court of Records, and Probate, 
a custom-house, and safe for the public funds, 
and a well-guarded prison for culprits. He could 
not but commend such order in the public ser- 
vice, especially since no complaint was laid before 
him, asking for reversal of a single decision or 
decree of the Hon. Judge and Collector, and 
which under the circumstances of the government 
and Mexican customs and laws, General Kearney 
must have entertained, had they been presented. 
And it is a singular fact, that at no period subse- 
quent to this time, has there ever been any 
reversal of a verdict, judgment or' decree, made 
by Bartlett. 

After his election by the people, Judge Bart- 
lett laid aside his naval uniform for the time, 
wearing only the staff and insignia of the magis- 
tracy. And it was under his authority as judge, 
that the first regular jury was empanelled, for 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 301 

the trial of any cause in California. Amongst 
other criminal cases tried, there were two sea- 
men for piracy, or robbery on the high seas, who 
preferring the judge to a jury, plead guilty, and 
laid themselves at the mercy of the court. There 
was, too, an interesting civil suit, which had for 
years hung upon the Mexican docket, viz. : " Reed- 
ley, vs. the Hon. Hudson's Bay Co.," and no Mexi- 
can Judge had dared, because of the power of 
the British Government, to decide it against the 
Company. 

The Plaintiff appeared in court, a jury was 
summoned, the case fully heard, and a verdict 
given against that Company, and the money was 
paid before an execution could issue against 
them. The applause was great in finding that 
an American had manifested proper appreciation 
for their just rights, and without regard for the 
animosity of any power, had accorded in the 
spirit of our free institutions, the fullest justice to 
whom it was due. 



302 AN AMERICAN HERO 



SECTION IV. 



We can now discover why this young officer 
was acknowledged by all his superiors and peers 
to possess " high mental and physical qualifica- 
tions and efficiency as an accomplished officer of 
the navy, at all times and in all circumstances 
ready and willing, on shore and afloat, and ever 
prompt, zealous and capable in the performance 
of the various duties assigned him. Whose ser- 
vices were of singular importance to his com- 
mander, and to the public interest." 

In this connection, we shall continue to exhibit 
the civil service of Lieutenant Bartlett, and for 
the reason that it not only shows eminent ability 
as an officer of the government, but because it 
enabled him to execute the plans for improve- 
ments, which his service on the western coast had 
shown him to be necessary, and which the gov- 
ment adopted at his suggestion. 

In the publication of the coast survey, we find 
that Lieutenant Bartlett was the first officer who 
called the attention of the government to the ab- 
solute and immediate necessity for lighting the 
approaches to San Francisco, and a general plan 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 303 

for the western coast. The subsequent examina- 
tions for exact sites for these works, exhibit the 
closeness of his observations, as they were ulti- 
mately placed on the points designated by him in 
his original communication. It was natural, 
therefore, that the commercial interests of the 
western coast should look to him, to aid their 
delegations in Congress in procuring for that 
coast, such illuminations for the pathways of 
commerce, as science and high mechanical skill 
could produce. And to prevent being supplied 
to that important region of our coast, any system 
which scientific investigation had condemned, 
but which had been so universally and pertina- 
ciously adopted on the Atlantic coast, by the late 
general superintendent (who, for forty years or 
more, controlled that department), and who, no 
doubt, conscientiously believed that no improve- 
ment could be made on the then existing system ! 
And yet such were his fears that it might be over- 
turned, that he reported officially to Congress, that 
light-houses, so far from being useful, had become 
public ftuisances ! Hence it was, that Lieutenant 
Bartlett determined to enlighten the lion, gentle- 
man who then presided over the Treasury, on the 
vast importance of the subject to our commercial 



304 AN AMERICAN HERO 

interest on that coast. The Secretary could not 
resist their adoption ; he recalled the contracts 
already made on the old system, and reluctantly 
embraced the new. 

Herein we discover the reasons why the Hon. 
Mr. Corwin should have selected Lieutenant 
Bartlett to proceed to Paris for further informa- 
tion, and to superintend the execution for the 
general introduction of the Fresnel system 
throughout the United States. 

What was the result ? Why plainly this, that 
Bartlett's reports from Paris — the only position 
where the examination could be made in detail — 
caused the Department to adopt the system gene- 
rally on the Atlantic as well as Pacific coast. Con- 
gress having already passed a lawgivingthe depart- 
ment the power to change or improve the lights, 
as the public interests should require, the advo- 
cates of the old torchlight system were zealous 
in their opposition to the improvements in France, 
and the Secretary of the Treasury, doubting the 
extent to which the Fresnel system could be car- 
ried, and being responsible for what he should 
adopt, sent Lieutenant Bartlett as an enlightened 
confidential agent, to Paris, in his behalf, and in- 
structed him, in part, as follows : 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 305 

Tbkabcrt Dkpartment, Jane 16, 1853. 

Sir: Congress having authorized the construction of light-houses 
at dilfereut points on the Pacific, the department contemplates fur- 
BUbiag them with the improved French lens, provided the needful 
appropriation can he ohtained to cover the increased expense; hut 
previous to giving any positive orders for the purchase of them, it 
wishes to obtain particular and detailed information upon all points 
connected with the subject, and for that purpose has appointed you 
to proceed to Paris. 

You will, on your arrival, make yourself acquainted with the 
different manufacturers of these lens, and ascertain whether there is 
any choice between them as to the quality and excellence of their 
Avork and their respective prices. The department wishes you to 
procure the latter in detail. 

With this you will receive a copy of a communication from the 
Light-house Board on the subject of the French lens. The depart- 
ment has not yet approved of this report; and it is not, therefore, 
furnished to you as a guide, but merely in case it may contain some 
details or information which might be useful to you. The department 
will make no determination as to the kinds or orders of the lighting 
apparatus and fixtures as recommended in this report, until after it 
lnars from you. 

It has been suggested that the sixth order lens could be advan- 
tageously employed in various small lights on the coasts and harbors 
of the United States, without making any other change except sub- 
stituting them for the present reflectors. You will please ascertain 
on what terms this order of lens can be procured with a suitable 
mechanical, or other lamp, and without other fixtures or accessories 
of any kind; or if you find, on inquiry, any of the latter would be 
absolutely necessary, in order to make the suggested change, then 
to include the cost of them also ; but to have nothing of the kind 
that is not absolutely necessary. 

The department, after hearing from you as regards these — the 
smaller si/.ed lens — and obtaining further information in connection 
with the subject of this size, may probably try the experiment with 
six or eight of the .-mailer light-houses, and if it succeeds, extend 
to a much larger number. 

The department would also wish to have the statement of cost 
for any different kinds of materials which are, or can be used in the 
construction of these apparatus, such as bronze, copper, iron, etc., 



306 AN AMERICAN HERO 

which might be indiscriminately used, with your views as to which 
would be most advisable under all the circumstances. 

Your report will also include the kind and cost of all the need- 
ful items necessary for the use of the light keeper, as connected with 
the due care and operation of the light after it has been completed 
and put into use, including not only such items as will be perma- 
nently required for the above purpose, but likewise, those which 
are in regular consumption, estimating the supply of the latter for 
a period of one year. 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 307 



CHAPTER II. 

"While the Light-house Board, by action of 
its Chairman and Secretary, Shubrick and Jen- 
kins, have studiously kept Lieutenant Bartlett's 
name out of view in all their reports, they have 
made free use of his labors in those same docu- 
ments, and his important services for the safety 
of our Navy and commerce are appropriated by 
them as the result of their own investigation. 
But when to induce the Secretary to give his con- 
fidence to the newly elected Board it suited their 
purpose to refer to the action of Bartlett in Paris. 
They write thus : 

Treasury Dfpartment, Light-hocse Board, I 

Nwemler 17, 1852. f 

Sip. : Your communication of Saturday last, with the accompany- 
ing report, papers, and drawings, from Lieutenant Bartlett, U. S. N\, 
special agent of the Treasury Department in Paris, to procure illu- 
minating apparatus for the light-houses on the western coast, have 
been received, and in reply I am directed by the Board to say — 

Let. That the manner in which the duty of Lieutenant Bartlett 
has thus far been discharged, merits their fullest approbation, and 
thai bis report is full of information, and very explicit. 

2d. That they recommend the Treasury Department to send 



308 AN AMERICAN HERO 

to Lieutenant Bartlett the sum of 48,500 francs, to meet the con- 
tracts made by him, as requested in his report to the Department. 
These contracts are, in the opinion of the Board, made on very 
favorable terms. 

3d. That they recommend to the Treasury Department to autho- 
rize Lieutenant Bartlett to make contracts for the illuminating ap- 
paratus for the remaining lights recommended by the Board. 

The Board has already taken steps preliminary to ordering the 
illuminating apparatus for Sand Key, and now being informed by 
Lieutenant Bartlett's report that the apparatus is finished, -will com- 
plete the action contemplated. 

I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully. 

Your ob't servant. 
(Signed,) Wm. Braxtoed Shtbbice:. 

Chairman Light- House Board. 
The Hon. Secretary of the Treasury. 

Again, the Secretary, in his second letter, ad- 
dressed to Lieutenant Bartlett. writes : 

Referring to the letter of instructions from the department, under 
date of 16th inst., I have now to state that the amounts which 
will be deducted from the contracts for building eight of the light- 
houses on the coast of the Pacific, in consequence of dispensing 
with the lanterns and reflectors, specified in said contracts, will 
enable the department to give a positive order for a portion of the 
contemplated supply of French lens; you are, therefore, authorized, 
after your arrival in Paris, and having made yourself acquainted on 
all the points alluded to in the above letter of instructions, to con- 
tract for a Fresnel lens, of a size not exceeding the third order, for 
the light-house on Fort Point, and, also, for the one on Alcatross 
Island, San Francisco Bay, and have them completed and shipped 
as promptly as possible. 

And then, referring to the economy which 
should govern his operations, adds : 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 309 

But the department, in this, as well as on all other points connected 
with your mission, depends upon your best judgment anil dixrretton 
being excirUcd, in purchasing everything on the most favorable 
Utius, consistent with a duo regard to having proper workman- 
ship and materials. 

Iii the very teeth of this plenary power con- 
ferred on Bartlett by the Treasury Department, 
Lieutenant Misroon, when speaking for the Navy 
Board, before the Naval Committee of the Sen- 
ate, affirmed "that Bartlett was ordered to no 
other duty than to enter into contracts for eight 
illuminating apparatus !" And Jenkins, secretary 
of the Light-house Board, who acted as the 
jackal, or lackey to the Navy Board, supports 
Misroon, in the face of his own instructions to 
Bartlett, of various dates, in 1852-3-4: 

Offics Liuht-hocsk Board, 
Wasuisuton City, October 15tA, 1S52. 

Dear Sir: — I have written to-day to M. Lepaute, in relation to 
the apparatus for Band Key, to which you called my attention in 
your private note to me some weeks since. 

It' the apparatus can be had, 1 am authorized to say that the 
Board will give the necessary orders to have it forwarded without 
delay, and prompt payment provided. 

I wish you would see M. Lepaute, and explain to him fully the 
difference between the light-house, as at present organized, and the 
previous mode of managing the lights of this country. We may 
want some third, fourth, fifth, and sixth orders of lenses, and I wish 
you would ascertain, from both Lepaute's and Letourneau's estab- 
lishments, what are the prospects of our getting these tlifferent 
orders, and in what number-, within the next year, and if there is 
of prices. 

Messrs Siutter A: Oo. have been informed, as well as M. Lepaute, 



310 AN AMERICAN HERO 

that you will have the direction, examination, and test of all these 
articles so long as you remain in Paris, after which steps will be 
taken to obtain a proper person to attend to setting up and examin- 
ing such as may be ordered. If these orders can be filled at an 
early day, another will follow immediately. 

The implements, tools, etc., and a year's supply of the articles 
enumerated in the list No. 1, are desired to accompany the Sand 
Key apparatus when it is shipped. 

The articles enumerated in lists No. 1 and 2, as well as the ap- 
paratus ordered, must be of the quality, quantities, and prices of the 
French administration, without they can be had for less. 

If the little lighting lamps, called "Lucernes," do not cost more 
than a trifle each, you may order a number of them. 

I wish you would forward us something of a practicable kind, 
relating to Colza oil. Any printed or manuscript notes on the sub- 
ject, will be most thankfully received, and the expense of purchase 
refunded. 

Your letter of the 12th, 13th, and 14th ultimo., to this Board, 
with inclosures, have been received, and your letter of the 14th ult., 
to the Secretary of the Treasury, has been referred to this office. 

The Sand Key apparatus will, probably, be applied to the Cape 
Hatteras tower, to save time ; but the order for the duplicate, with 
a lantern, can be changed, as you suggest, to a duplicate of the one 
for the Farrallones and Cordouan. The lantern should accompany 
it ; but it is desired that no unnecessary expense should be incurred 
in constructing the lanterns, particularly now, that iron and copper 
are both so high. The desire of the Board is utility, with as little 
ornament, not necessary to the efficiency of the objects, as possible. 
The best lights, at the smallest expense, consistent with utility and 
economy. 

And, if these are not sufficient, we are pro- 
vided with the testimony of Professor Bache, to- 
gether with Professor Henry, the distinguished 
scientific members of the Board, who have given 
prestige, in the public judgment, to that institu- 
tion, and whom we know unite in their appre- 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 311 

ciation of the services of Lieutenant Bartlett, as 
conveyed in the following note : 

Washington, December 5th, 1853. 

My Dear Sir : — 

*********** 

I have not seen Lieutenant Jenkins, or the Light-house Board, 
since my return to Washington, but expect to do so soon. When 
last here, your doings had given great satisfaction. For myself, I 
do not believe we coidd have succeeded, in any other way, so well, 
in setting our machine in motion, as in the way we took by sug- 
gesting to the Secretary of the Treasury to send you abroad. 

Yours, truly, 
Signed, A. D. Bache. 

Lieut. W. A. Bartlbtt, U. S. iV., Paris. 



SECTION I. 

Americans, note the fact that, when Bart- 
lett was sent to Paris, this Light-house Board 
had not even been created by law ; and, when 
it was, the Secretary of the Treasury, under 
whose instructions Bartlett was then acting, 
became, ex officio, the President of that Board ! 
What, then, do we see ? That, every subsequent 
act of the especial agency at Paris is commu- 
nicated to that Board, for its approval, by the 
Secretary of the Treasury ; and through which 
Board the Secretary only communicated with tho 
agent ever afterwards. 

Can any intelligent reader fail thus to see 



312 AN AMERICAN HERO 

that Bartlett was held responsible for the faithful 
execution of every suggestion of that Board, and 
the same discretionary power that was given 
when he derived the appointment was maintained 
to the last ? His suggestions were adopted, his 
plans and contracts were approved ; and the 
work, when finished, from time to time, was 
pronounced by the French engineers as of the 
finest possible execution. The expenditures for 
this delicate, yet substantial illuminating power, 
amounting to nearly three hundred thousand 
dollars, were paid only on his certificates of the 
exactness of the work, and in precise accordance 
with the wishes of the government. These bills 
being, in every instance, less than the originally 
approved estimate. 

The importance of all this will be best shown 
by the Board's own reports to Congress, January 
15th, 1853. The Senate session of XXXIId Con- 
gress, Vol. Y. The Board having convened at the 
Treasury Department, on the 9th of October last, 
were duly organized by their President, the Hon. 
Secretary of the Treasury. 

Since that date the Board has executed, under the direction of 
the Treasury Department, all the administrative duties relating to 
the management of the light-house establishment. 

It relies upon the officers to direct their first attention to the 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 313 

fulfillment of the wante of tin 1 navigator, for whose benefit the 
establishment exists. 

In ;m economical point of view, it is of equally great importance. 
This snbjeol baa occupied the attention of those charged with the 
management "t' European lights for many years.* 



* Three years previous to Lieutenant Bartlctt's mission to Europe, 
a conditional or indirect order had been given to Mr. Henry Lepaute 
of Paris to construct a proper lens light for Sand Key, Florida, and 
another for Carysfort Reef, on that coils t, by the late J. "W. P. 
Lewis, Marine and Light-house Engineer, who had obtained the 
passage of a special act of Congress for those lights. The opposi- 
tion of the then existing Light-house Department to this great 
improvement was so intense, thai it succeeded in causing the Carys- 
fort Reef lens to be sold at auction, at the New York Custom 
Bouse, for $000, although the Government had indirectly con- 
tracted to pay $9,000 for it; and as by this act Mr. Lepaute had 
lost all hope of being repaid for that beautiful work (and did finally, 
when in 1853 the Government received possession of it, actually 
lose oyer $3,000 dollars in expenses), he of course suspended work 
on the order of Sand Key. But Lieut. Bartlett, on reaching Paris, 
having toted the work as it stood in the atelier, and pledged him- 
self personally to Mr. Lepaute to procure its sale to the Government 
if he would but finish it, Mr. Lepaute did so on Lieut. Bartlett's 
individual credit. 

As the new Light-house Board had got to work in November, 
Mr. Bartlett's report upon it to the Secretary of the Treasury, and 
asking its purchase, was sent to them, and enabled them to put it 
up at once in Sand Key, the work of the Chairman and Secretary of 
the Light-house Board. 

There is one other circumstance in connection with this light 
which must be told, as it shows that from the very beginning Mr. 
Thornton A. Jenkins, who, although a Lieutenant in the Navy and 
6 icretary of the old and new Light-house Board, was not only 
determined that Lieut. Bartlett should not have any public credit 
for his work, but was also determined to cheat him by a trick out 
of bis rights to be paid his v " reasonable" expenses while serving in 
Europe. 

Lieut Bartlett had Bled a bond in the Treasury for $15,000, 

14 



314 AN AMERICAN HERO 

Estimates to be of any value should be based upon a faithful 
examination of the different works by competent and disinterested 
persons. 

The lights authorized to be built on the Pacific coast were trans- 
ferred to the management of the Board on the 22d December, 1852. 

The officer charged with the purchase of the remainder of the 
lights contracted for on the western coast, having received his 
instructions from the Secretary of the Treasury direct, it remains 
for the Board to see that they are faithfully carried out, and that 
the lights be supplied with them without unnecessary delay. 

signed by Win. H. Aspinwall and Henry Grinnell, and Drake Mills, 
as security for his faithful disbursement of the public money. Jen- 
kins has Bartlett's approval of Mr. Lepaute's prices for the Sand 
Key apparatus, approved by the Board ; then obtains from the 
Treasury the exact sum of money requisite to pay it, having it 
charged to Lieutenant Bartlett's account, as a disbursing officer of 
the Government, and remits it to him, made payable to Mr. Le- 
paute's order, and asks Bartlett to send back the vouchers to the 
Department ; Bartlett, never dreaming, from the tenor of the letter, 
that he was charged with the money, sent back the vouchers, leav- 
ing the name of the paying officer in blank ; this voucher is now in 
the Treasury Department, with the blank tilled up in Jenkins' hand- 
writing, as if paid by the " Secretary of the Treasury." "Why, but 
to prepare himself to contest Bartlett's right to have his expenses 
refunded, to an amount equal to three per cent, on the expenditures, 
provided his expenses should amount to that sum ? 

That Lieutenant Bartlett was the agent, responsible to the Treas- 
ury Department for the money expended for refitting Ilatteras 
light with its new illuminator, is incontrovertible, vide the follow- 
ing official letter : 

Treasury Department, 

Office of Commissioner of Customs, January lWi, 1S54. 

Sir: — Your account for fitting Cape Ilatteras light with first 

order of illuminating apparatus, has been adjusted and closed on 

the books of the Treasury. 

Respectfully yours, 

Signed, II. J. Anderson, 

Commissioner of Customs. 

Lieut. W. A. Bartlett, 

Agent for fitting Cape Hatteras light, etc. 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 315 

The Board, having the benefit of Bartlett's 
reports on his investigations abroad, showing the 
high point of efficiency and economy to which 
the system had arrived, stated to Congress, " that 
they would proceed with the gradual introduction 
of a better description of illuminating apparatus, 
the superiority of which is no longer to be ques- 
tioned, by adopting a system of instruction 
founded upon scientific attainments and practical 
knowledge." 

When Lieut. Bartlett left Paris, he had super- 
intended, inspected, approved, and shipped to the 
United States, to the order of the Light-house 
Board, sixty-three Fresnel luminators, several of 
which, especially of the great light off San Fran- 
cisco, exceeded in power any light ever previously 
constructed in any part of the world, having the 
power of six thousand six hundred Argand 
burners concentrated in a single beam ! It now 
flashes upon the mariner every consecutive mi- 
nute from sunset to sunrise ! 

A duplicate of the same power he also con- 
structed for the Atlantic coast. Hon. John Y. 
Mason, Ex-Secretary of the Navy, and Minister 
to France, who, in company with other mem- 
bers of the diplomatic corps, and distinguished 



316 AN AMERICAN HERO 

savans of Europe, including Fresnel, surviving 
brother of the inventor, Messrs. Reynaud and 
Degrand, engineers of the French Light-house 
Department, often attended the exhibitions of 
Lieutenant Bartlett, attesting the power of these 
lights : and the Hon. Mr. Mason thus addressed 
the Secretary of the Treasury : 

United States Legation, 

Paris, September 2d, 1864. 

Dear Sir: — Lieutenant Bartlett, of the United States Navy, is 
about leaving Paris, on his return to the United States. It gives 
me great pleasure to bear my testimony to the care and vigilance 
with which this gentleman has performed his responsible duties, 
since, I have been here, and to express my admiration of the splen- 
did lights which have been manufactured under his supervision for 
the coasts of the United States. 

I do not believe that there are, in the world, superior mechanical 
structures for the safety of commerce than those which have been 
prepared here, under the superintendence of Mr. Bartlett. The 
chief credit is, unquestionably, due to the faithful and skillful man- 
ufacturers, but no small share is, in my judgment, due to Mr. Bart- 
lett, who has displayed zeal, industry, and intelligence, in the per- 
formance of his duties. I hope that you will not consider me obtru- 
sive in thus expressing my admiration of the lens lights, prepared 
here for the exposed and dangerous coasts of my country. 
I have the honor to be, most respectfully, 

J. Y. Mason. 

Hon. James Guthrie, 

Secretary of the Treasury, Washington. 

Having disposed of this assertion, that the 
duties of Lieut. Bartlett were limited, we now 
advert to another statement of Misroon, speaking 
for the Naval Board, that he (Bartlett) claimed 



TIIE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 317 

expenses for constructing sixty-three light-house 
illuminators ; but lie was ordered to attend to no 
other duty than to enter into contracts for eight 
illuminating apparatus. This is absolutely and. 
most unqualifiedly untrue. 

And this is met by the official letter of the Au- 
ditor of the Treasury, to which we call the atten- 
tion of the reader. 



Washington, April 2lst, 1856. 

Sir :— I am in possession of your letter of the 18th inst.. request- 
ing ine to furnish you copies of all the reports made hy me in the 
settlement of your accounts as the special agent of the Treasury 
Department, for the purchase of light-house apparatus, etc., during 
the years 1852, '53, 54, and '55. 

The reports made by me in the settlement of your accounts, are 
on tile in the office of the Register of the Treasury, which is the 
appropriate office to obtain copies. 

Yon also ask, if I will state whether there is anything in the ac- 
count- pondered by you, or in the correspondence relating thereto, 
calculated to impugn your personal or official honor; and whether 
your accounts were not rendered in a full and business-like man- 
ner. 

In tlic settlement of your accounts, there was not anything that, 
in the slightest degree, tended to impugn your personal or official 
honor. 

Tour accounts were rendered in a full and business-like maimer. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

T. L. Smitu 

Washington A. Bartlett, Esq. 



318 AN AMERICAN HERO 



SECTION II. 

And we ask now, who are the public bound to 
trust, the sworn auditor of the government, 
whose business it is to investigate and pass upon 
the accounts of all its officers, and which in this, 
as in all other cases, were again inspected by the 
Comptroller of the Treasury, or that Jacobin 
slander of a secret Inquisition, whose purpose 
it was to create a spot to blast the victim they had 
marked out for their destruction. 

Remember, Americans, that this same cabal did 
ten years ago signally fail in a similar attempt 
to injure the fair fame of the same gallant officer. 
Why was he the subject then, of their low, petty, 
ill-natured, unmerited slander, but because of the 
rising character of the man, his genius, his enter- 
prise and promise, which at that day on the 
" Portsmouth," excited the envy common to vul- 
gar minds. 

It is sufficient for us to say, that after the indis- 
putable testimony of the sworn Auditor of the 
Treasury, whose language we repeat, " that in the 
settlement of your (Bartletfs) accounts, there was 
not anything that, in the slightest degree, tended to 





s/ / 




THE VICTIM OP A CONSPIRACY. 819 

impugn your (his) personal or official honor,'' 1 that 
we shall not enlarge upon this subject, except to 
say, that Lieutenant Bartlett was sent abroad by 
his government, with powers and duties for his 
emplo} r meut, and a discretion in their exercise, 
with which it would have honored the oldest in 
the public service of the country to have been 
charged. That he performed them with signal 
ability, to the entiic satisfaction of two adminis- 
trations of different political sentiments, we know. 
That he was sent upon a mission which was to 
enlarge by his capacity and industry ; that he 
was found equal to the task. Upon his labor 
and researches great public improvement, which 
gives protection to the navy and to commerce 
along the vast coast of the United States, has 
resulted. Two little lights in the Bay of San 
Francisco had not long shown this improved 
illuminating power, before Lieutenant Bartlett 
had caused sixty-three to be constructed, and 
shipped to the United States. These have now 
expanded until upwards of three hundred illu- 
mine and bless the pathway of the mariner ! 

It was not supposed that the original orders 
would have extended to such a vast work, and 
over so long a period of time. Nor could it have 



320 AN AMERICAN HERO 

been supposed then, how much expenditure it 
would involve. He was to be paid his " reason- 
able personal expenses," provided those expenses 
should not exceed three per cent, upon the 
amounts expended on that business. This would 
have admitted for personal expenses, a sum of 
nearly four thousand dollars. He faithfully exe- 
cuted his work, and is commended throughout for 
all his proceedings. And presents an account for 
his expenses, in accordance with his instructions. 
These expenses covering nearly twenty-seven 
months. The travel from Washington to Paris, 
via England, and general expenses abroad, 
amounted in the aggregate, to the sum of four 
thousand and eleven dollars. Of this amount, 
the auditor passed to his credit, the sum of three 
thousand seven hundred and fifty two dollars, and 
eighteen cents. And here we remark, that every 
public minister, indeed, almost every agent of the 
government, who ever presented an account, has 
had some items suspended or rejected. But, who 
but a "Council of Ten," or an "Inquisition of 
Fifteen," would dare, for this reason, to call their 
high integrity in question ? 

Lieutenant Bartlett's account was settled at the 
treasury, with a balance in his favor ; although 



TIIE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. "321 

the Eton. Secretary of the Treasury exercised tha 
power of construing his predecessors' instructions, 
with a narrowness of view illy according with 
the magnitude of the powers conferred by them. 
And while he limited Lieutenant Bartlett's ex- 
penses to an amount not exceeding three per 
cent, on the amount which that officer had him- 
self disbursed abroad, instead of allowing his 
reasonable personal expenses not to exceed three 
per cent, on the amount expended in the busi- 
ness ! and which the department knew, by its 
own records, to be near three hundred thousand 
dollars. 

Bartlett made no claim as of right ; he rested 
upon a liberal interpretation of his instructions. 
He knew that he had faithfully performed his 
duty ; he knew that a sum larger than three per 
cent, had been saved the government on every cem- 
tract ; he knew that a less sum of money than 
the contract called for had paid it; for, with 
these savings, he had defrayed these very per- 
sonal expenses, without calling on the Depart- 
ment to do so. 

One hundred and ten dollars and sixty-two 
cuts was the full amount of money required to 
be taken from the treasury, to pay Lieutenant 

U* 



322 AN AMERICAN HERO 

Bartlett's personal expenses ! The balance had 
been paid, by his savings on the amounts placed 
in his hands, to cancel contracts. And, had no 
part of the whole amount, which was placed to 
his credit by the auditor, been arbitrarily with- 
held by the Secretary of the Treasury, there 
would still have been but one thousand and thir- 
ty-nine dollars drawn from the treasury, on ac- 
count of his expenses ! 

The Secretary allowed but three per cent, on 
ninety thousand four hundred and thirteen dollars, 
and ninety cents, while the books of the Register 
of the Treasury show that Lieutenant Bartlett 
actually disbursed and accounted for one hundred 
and two thousand three hundred and ninety-four 
dollars, and eight cents ; and while he claimed 
no commissions, he had a right, in the common 
sense view of the matter, as well as in the opinion 
of eminent jurists, to claim his "reasonable ex- 
penses." He did this and nothing more. It was 
the Board, and not Bartlett, who suggested, in 
their report to the Secretary, the propriety of 
paying commissions, on the amounts disbursed 
by Bartlett, as " a partial reimbursement," and 
which drew forth from the Secretary the follow- 
ing letter : 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 323 

Treasury Department, January 3d, 1855. 

Sir : — I have read the inclosed communication from Mr. Bartlett, 
upon the Bubjeot of his claim for expenses, to aud from Paris, and 

whilst tin!-.'. 

Mr. Bartlett, being an officer of the government, and appointed 
to go to Paris, was promised, as his letter of appointment shows, his 
expenses in going and returning, and whilst there, not to exceed the 
stun of three per cent, on the amount disbursed, as expressed in the 
letter of appointment. The account, being stated on the principle 
of allowing three per cent, on the amount disbursed, is not properly 
stated. It should be stated by allowing the expense, in strict com- 
pliance with the letter of appointment, not to exceed three percent. 
This will require a re-statement of the account, and, when his 
vouchers are not sufficient, yon will apprise him, and allow him 
time to make them right. 

I am, very respectfully, 

James Guthrie, 

Secretary of the Treasury. 

H. J. Anderson, Esq., Commissioner of Customs. 

Here, we find that astute and mighty official 
expresses his opinion that Bartlett really did 
have a letter of appointment ! 



section m. 

But the Secretary was not ignorant of what 
duties Bartlett had performed, as we find this 
letter had previously enlightened him. 

I (Mr. Bartlett) requested the Secretary "to have in view the 

fact that I superintended, inspected, and shipped, to the United 

e, for the Light-house Board (which is not less apart of the 

Treasury Department), fifty-five illuminators for the Atlantic coast 

(including Ilatteras, etc.), and costing over eight hundred thousand 



324 AN AMERICAN HERO 

francs, for which no expenses of agency or superintendency have been 
incurred, in any quarter, and certainly not claimed by me." * 

He understood, perfectly well, that sixty-three 
of these Fresnel lenses had, under the supervision 
of Bartlett, been constructed from 1st September, 
1852, to 1st September, 1854 ; a greater num- 
ber than any other country has ever constructed 
in ten years ! 

* At the time Lieutenant Bartlett was serving abroad, the State 
Department had occasion to send a sealed dispatch to Madrid, via 
Paris. Ex-Governor Winslow, of North Carolina, now a member 
of Congress, was selected for this special mission ; he was absent 
from the United States just sixty-nine days! and his expense ac- 
count was audited, after the regulation of some items, and paid by 
the Department, as follows : 

For expenses, $617 00 

For pay, sixty-nine days, at $6 00 $414 00 

Total $1031 00 

Or, fourteen dollars ninety-four and one-fifth cents per day. 

Lieutenant Bartlett was on foreign service of real responsibility, 
from June 16th, 1852, to September 18th, 1854, a period of eight 
hundred and twenty-one days, at the following cost to the govern- 
ment : 

For his pay, as a Lieutenant in the Navy, being set down in the 
Navy Register, on " special service in Europe," 

For two years and three months 3875 00 

For "partial reimbursement of his expenses," . . . 2712 42 

Total 6087 42 

$6087 42 -^ 821 days = $7 41 per day, or, less than one half 
the daily expenses of the Hon. Ex- Governor for carrying a dis- 
patch ! ! ! 

Had the whole amount of Lieutenant Bartlett's expenses been paid, 
it would have amounted to nine dollars and ten cents per day, for 
pay and expenses I 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 325 

Having shown something of the military and 
civil character of Lieutenant Bartlett in the ser- 
vice of the country, we find peculiar pleasure in 
directing Americans to his claims as a philanthro- 
pist. Here, as in other relations, he furnishes the 
most undissembled evidences of a genuine feeling 
for his fellow man. 

In the Winter of 1846 and ? 47, it is known 
Lieutenant B. was chief magistrate of San Fran- 
cisco, where, in aiding and assisting the settler, 
and frequently in protecting the houseless, he was 
not less eminently useful to that young commu- 
nity, than in the preservation of law and order. 
During his magistracy, breadstuffs became so en- 
hanced in price, by the action of speculators, as to 
threaten immediate famine among the suffering 
poor. Bartlett, foreseeing the result upon that 
class, became himself immediately responsible to a 
large amount for flour, binding the importer to 



At this very time, the Secretary of the Treasury was allowing to 
officers of the army, who were superintending puhlic works, such 
as the extension of the Treasury Building, and the Custom House, 
and Ligbt-booae Inspector, at Portland, or auy other superinten- 
dency in the civil service of the Treasury, a sum equal (including 
his army pay), to eight dollars per day. Would an addition of one 
dollar and ten cents per day, for such foreign service as Lieutenant 
Bartlett rendered, with the remarkable economy and saving he pro- 
duced, have been an extravagant sum ? 



326 AN AMERICAN HERO 

deliver it in single barrels only, to all comers at a 
fixed low price, until all families should be sup- 
plied. And thus brought upon him the grateful 
appreciation of that large and helpless class of 
emigrants. 

On another occasion, Bartlett, while chief mag- 
istrate, received a letter from the venerable Judge 
of Sacramento, giving intelligence that some 
eighty-five men and women were then perishing 
in the snows of the Sierra Nevada, sixteen having 
escaped after many weeks' detention. Bartlett 
called the people together, and in the most affect- 
ing address to their humanity, besought their aid 
for these sufferers, largely leading the subscrip- 
tion. The appeal was successful, and with pro- 
visions, blankets, and clothing, chief magistrate 
Bartlett selected and dispatched this relief through 
Midshipman Woodworth, son of the poet, late a 
Senator of California ; and by this timely inter- 
position of Bartlett, these people were saved. 

When commander of the "Ewing," in the Pacific, 
Bartlett encountered a British ship from Panama, 
bound to California. As its commander responded 
"all well," Bartlett ordered his vessel "filled 
away," when a shout went up from two hundred 
suffering: souls on board, " water, water, water!" 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 327 

These people were on short allowances of half 
pint per man, and the barbarous commander did 
not wish it known to a United States vessel which 
had outsailed and passed him at sea. 

Bartlett instantly ordered the unfeeling com- 
mander to " back his top-sails," and wait until he 
placed provisions and water on board, sufficient 
to supply the pressing wants of these people, 
which was speedily done. The whole country 
will remember the appeals of Lieutenant Bartlett 
through the Washington and New York papers, 
in behalf of the sufferers of the Cape de Verde 
Islands ; as well as his address before the Corn 
Exchange in that city, in which, in addition to his 
own large contribution to this charity, Bartlett 
tendered his own personal services to take the pro- 
visions himself to that unfortunate people free of 
all charge. And he did not go simply because 
passing vessels were found through which this as- 
sistance was forwarded, thus saving the necessity 
of fitting out a ship for the especial purpose. 
Thus did Bartlett perform his promise to the 
people when he left the " Jamestown !" And 
although called suddenly home, broken in the 
Bervice by conspirators against his fame, and de- 
prived of his pay, he stopped at the Canaries, sent 



328 AN AMERICAN HERO 

money on shore, and by his indefatigable exertions 
with friends and acquaintances, caused a supply 
of the necessaries of life to be at once dispatched 
to the starving Islanders, from the nearest points. 
At Madeira and at Lisbon he made similar appeals, 
and such was the estimate in which he was held 
as a distinguished naval officer of the United 
States, that food in immense quantities at once 
went to that land of starvation and woe. The 
American Consulate at each of these ports, and 
the American Minister at Lisbon, long after Bart- 
lett's return to the United States, tendered him 
the thanks of the people and the Government for 
the successful efforts of a wise philanthropy in 
saving from death so many of the human family. 
The archives of the Portuguese Legation in New 
York city furnish these facts. It was by Lieu- 
tenant Bartlett's interposition, aided by Dr. Cly- 
mer, fleet-surgeon of the African Squadron, that 
famine was stayed, and the pestilence removed 
from them. 

Americans, if Rome decreed a civic crown to 
him who had saved the life of but one citizen, 
what should have been the reward to one like 
Bartlett, whose record proves him a rare bene- 
factor of his race ? 



TUE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 329 

And yet, while in the performance of acts like 
these, which elevated his national, as well as per- 
sonal character, we find a small lieutenant, devoid 
of any consequence through his services, and 
without a solitary claim upon the respect or gra- 
titude of a single junior, exercising his unmiti- 
gated selfishness and envy, by daring to assail, in 
the secret councils of an inquisition, a man like 
Bartlett, whom the God of nature has made his 
superior. 

And this same Misroon, the implacable enemy 
of Lieutenant Bartlett, has maligned the char- 
acter of that officer, by assailing his personal and 
official reputation, and in the face of the most 
irrefragable proof, asserted that Bartlett was with- 
out friends in the Pacific Squadron, or the asso- 
ciation which belonged to officers of his rank. 

No friends ! No social intercourse ! Let us 
see ! Bartlett commanded the " Argo," an armed 
prize in the Gulf of California, and subsequently, 
another brig, also a prize to the " Portsmouth," 
and as such, was continually consulted by Shu- 
brick, for the local information of the coast which 
he possessed, and was a constant guest at his 
table, as he was at every table in the squadron. 
Lieutenants Chatard, Heywood, Selden, Wise, 



330 AN AMERICAN HERO 

Montgomery and Henry Lewis, M'Cree, Stanley, 
Maddox, Tansil, M'Lanahan (killed at San Jose), 
Duncan, Carter, Stephen H. Rowan, Bullock, the 
gallant and deservedly popular commander of the 
" Cahawba ' : steam packet-ship; Fleet-Surgeon 
Dr. Charles Chase, Captain Watson, M. C, Lieu- 
tenant Revere, Pursers Rodman M. Price (the 
present Governor of New Jersey), Spieden, the 
late Dr. Powell, etc., etc., etc. ; Mr. John Par- 
rott, and Mr. Bolton at Mazatlan ; Mr. Larkin at 
Monterey, and Lienenduff, Howard, Melius, etc., 
etc., at San Francisco, American consuls and 
merchants, at whose houses and tables Lieutenant 
Bartlett was ever a welcome guest. These, with 
scores too numerous to mention here, were then 
his friends, and remain so to this day.* 

* Young Midshipman Downs, the brother-in-law of Misroon, who 
joined the Portsmouth at Misroon's solicitation, has become ever 
since the warm and intimate friend of Bartlett, and subsequently 
visited him at Key West, to renew the association, and recur to 
their travels in the Pacific and Mexican services. 

There are other ways besides, which society recognizes as the 
true test of friendly consideration ! We have seen the notes and. 
obligations for money, which Bartlett holds over the sign manual 
of his brother officers. And Lieutenant William Gibson, Captain 
J. C. Rich, marine corps, Lieutenant Hart, Dr. Hill, Lieutenants 
Hanell, Harrison, Perry, and others, will attest that no officer ever 
called on Lieutenant Bartlett for pecuniary aid, who did not 
receive it. 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 331 



SECTION IV. 

In this connection we will for a moment ask 
the reader's attention to the proof. 

An American consul died suddenly at his post. 
His nephew was the companion of Bartlett on 
the ship. No money could be found belonging to 
the deceased to reimburse the funeral expenses. 
In a foreign land, where all parties are strangers, 
these expenses have to be provided, even before 
the interment of the body. 

With no visible means, the small pay of the 
nephew did not justify his assumption of the debt, 
and no one appeared who was willing to take the 
responsibility. 

Bartlett alone stood forth, the firm friend of the 
sufferer. "Draw your bill," said he, " on any 
party whom you regard as your uncle's friend in 
the United States. I will endorse it, Baring's 
agent in this Island will so negotiate it, and you 
can have all the money you require for this pur- 
pose. Should your friend be unable to meet the 
bill in New York, I will instruct my agent to do 
so, the moment it arrives !" 

By this disinterested act of Bartlett's, the name 



332 AN AMERICAN HERO 

of a man honored by his country with a commis- 
sion in a foreign land ; a name appreciated in the 
literature of his own country ; a name dear to 
American citizens, and hosts of friends, was pre- 
served from desecration and slander, and the 
honor of our flag was preserved, in the estimation 
of all who have an American " heart !" 

And the strongest evidences of this -regard, has 
since been manifested to Bartlett, by the friends 
of the distinguished dead. At another period of 
this same cruise, the one in which he served 
abroad, when broken at home, an officer lay ill, 
and the surgeon declared the necessity of his im- 
mediate return home. He was wi'hout money, 
and under the circumstances, a doubt arose, as to 
drawing it from the public chest. To relieve the 
depressing influence this was making on the 
invalid, Bartlett came to his side, and begged him 
to banish all anxiety on that account, promising all 
the money needed to restore him to his friends. It 
was, however, decided that the sum was due from 
the government. But, the generous tender, and 
its effect upon the officer, is, to this hour, a 
subject of his grateful eulogy upon Bartlett.* 

* In the winter of 1851 and '2, Bartlett was one day at the navy 
agent's, in New York, when two interesting youths called, and 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 333 

Lieut. Washington A. Bartlett belongs to the 
family of Josiah Bartlett, who first appended his 
name to the Charter of our Independence. He 
was appointed Midshipman in the Navy by- 
General Jackson, January 1833, while the De- 
partment was under the administration of Hon. 
Levi Woodbury. Well instructed in mathe- 
matics, nautical astronomy, and navigation, he 
was immediately selected by Commodore Wads- 
worth as his " aid," and sailed in the Vincennes 
to the Pacific. There he joined Capt. Lavallette, 
and after active service for two years, rejoined 
Commodore Wadsworth, who had shifted his flag 
to the Brandywine. 



exhibited orders to proceed " without delay " to Norfolk, to rejoin the 
"San Jacinto," being midshipmen. They stated they were sud- 
denly detached (from cause unknown to them), at New York, and 
having exhausted their pay in fitting out a new mess, were in arrears 
for board, and without means to reach Norfolk. The ca*e was 
modestly and feelingly presented, but without eliciting aid from the 
agent of the government, who informed them that he had no 
authority to advance for such expenses, and they must telegraph to 
the department. But how could they, without a dollar! Bartlett 
followed them out, having heard with emotion their pathetic, but 
simple story. He knew the necessity of prompt obedience to 
orders, and sympathizing with their condition, he at once tendered 
the money, and urged their quick departure. These young officers 
gave their note for immediate payment from Norfolk, which was 
done, and it was not until the business transaction Avas being con- 
summated, that they knew their benefactor as Washington A. Bart- 
lett, a brother officer ! 



■■ 



334 AN AMERICAN HERO 

During this period, Midshipman Bartlett at- 
tained proficiency in the Spanish language, assid- 
uously devoting those hours to study which his 
comrades were wont to give to recreation. An 
incident occurred shortly after Bartlett entered 
the Fairfield, under Captain, now Commodore 
Lavallette, which furnishes the strongest evidence 
of confidence reposed in that young officer by 
his superiors, as well as the necessity, of under- 
standing the native tongue of a people with whom 
we are daily associated. 

Commodore Wadsworth, of the Vincennes, 
and Captain Lavallette, of the Fairfield, each 
twenty-four guns, had forced General Mina, who 
carried an admiral's flag on board the Columbian 
frigate Columbia, of sixty-four 42-pounders, and 
GOO men, into a treaty, which guaranteed to our 
flag the possession of the ship until the meeting 
of the Columbian Congress in 1834. General Mina, 
with his staff, and 500 artillerists, was also to leave 
the ship, which had long closed the Guayaquil 
river against American commerce, and made 
almost piratical exactions upon our citizens. The 
American ships, fearing treachery, or an attempt 
to escape, had been prepared for action since 
entering the river ; but after the treaty was 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 335 

signed, the Vincennes proceeded to visit the city 
of Guayaquil, and announce the favorable result 
to American commerce. No sooner had she got 
out of sight (being night) than a revolt took place 
on the Columbia, and the time was occupied in 
silently placing her in a perfect state of defense. 
These proceedings were watched by the Ameri- 
cans on board the Fairfield, but the hour of sur- 
render by the treaty was not to be until nine 
o'clock next morning. 

At 8*40 a boat was sent by Captain Lavallette 
to the frigate, to inform her that at nine o'clock 
a prize officer would be sent to receive her, and 
watch the landing of the crew. The answer 
returned was, that Mina no longer commanded, 
that a colonel and naval commodore now held 
control, that no treaty would be recognized, and 
that they were prepared to stand to their guns. 

Captain Lavallette now called to Midshipman 
Bartlett, and in the firmest, clearest tone of voice, 
said to him, in presence of all on board, " Proceed 
to the Columbia, and say to whoever may be in 
command, that unless when the bell strikes two 
(or nine o'clock) I see her boats manned, and her 
crew leaving the ship, and you inform me that 
you are in command, as her prize officer by five 



336 AN AMERICAN HERO 



minutes past nine, I will open my fire on her, 
' and sink her, boys, we must ; or she will sink 
us.' Stay on board, when you get there," con- 
tinued he, " and let me see you on her rail as 
quickly as possible, saying yes or no." 

Bartlett landed on the deck of the frigate with- 
out resistance, in the presence of the old veteran 
follower of Bolivar, and his scores of officers, and 
immediately, like a high spirited American youth, 
delivered his message and defiance. Its boldness 
astonished commander and officers, and after a 
short consultation, before the " bell struck two, 
or nine o'clock," the commander said to Bartlett, 
" The artillery will land as you direct, and the 
sea officers and men, with the ship, are yours, to 
save the effusion of blood" 

After a prompt execution of this order, Bart- 
lett inspected the ship, and found the most ample 
resources, and preparation for battle had been 
made. The magazine passage was strewed with 
loose powder, which was immediately flooded, 
and all fires forbidden. 

The wonder was, that they had not instantly 
blown up the ship, with Bartlett on board. It is 
very rare that a young midshipman has an opportu- 
nity to deliver such a message from a twenty-four 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 337 

gun ship, of 200 men, to a frigate of sixty-four 
guns and GOO men ! Its success, too, was still 
more remarkable, which nothing but the indomi- 
table energy and American heroism of Captain 
Lavallette and his officers could have accom- 
plished. 

section v. 

The late Lieutenant, Commanding, W. P. 
Mc Arthur (who distinguished himself, and re- 
ceived three wounds in Florida), and Colonel 
Morrison, who so gallantly led the Illinois regi- 
ment in their desperate fighting at Buena Yista, 
under General Taylor, were Bartlett's messmates 
at that time, in the Fairfield. The gallant com- 
mander, H. W. Morris, of New York, then a 
lieutenant, commanded the second division of the 
Fairfield's guns, and this surprising victory over a 
superior force was obtained by the surpassing 
firmness and efficiency of American men. 

Suppose, now, Bartlett had not spoken the 
language of the people, no matter how great his 
other qualities, he could not have been sent on 
this fearful mission. Instead of returning to the 
United States in the "Fairfield," Midshipman 
Bartlett lengthened his cruise to four years and 



338 AN AMERICAN HERO 

over, and on rejoining the " Brandy wine" again, 
became aid to the commodore, with whom he 
determined to continue, until he should haul down 
his flag. 

In that period of revolution and counter-revo- 
lution in Lima and Peru, generally, the com- 
modore was detained there. And while his ship 
lay at Callao, his " aid" was constantly exposed 
on that celebrated robber and assassin's course, 
the "road to Lima," while bearing the commo- 
dore's dispatches to and from the ship ; which 
duty, like all others, he fulfilled to the letter and 
spirit. 

There are eminent merchants now in New 
York, who can bear testimony to the valuable 
services of Commodore Wadsworth and his offi- 
cers, during the Gramorra, Santa Cruz, Salavery, 
and Arbegosa wars in Peru. At one period for 
weeks, the "Brandy wine" had about two hundred 
ladies, gentlemen, and children guests of her offi- 
cers. 

In August, 1837, Lieutenant Bartlett was or- 
dered to the receiving ship of Capt. Montgomery, 
when an intimacy and friendship between this 
admirable Commander and the youthful subaltern 
was formed, which has never faltered in the sue- 



TIIE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 339 

ceeding series of years. We remember the name 
of Montgomery embellishing the naval history of 
the country in the successful part he bore in 
Perry's victory on Lake Erie.* The service of a 
receiving ship was not, however, suited to one of 
the professional ambition of Bartlett, and we soon 
find him transferred to the frigate "Fulton," the 
second, under Captain, now Commodore Perry, 
and the letter given by this distinguished officer 
to Midshipman Bartlett, to present to the Board 
of Examiners, indicated the warm personal regard 
which it is well known that gentleman now bears 
towards Lieutenant Bartlett. Having been de- 
tained by illness in New York, when the Fulton 
sailed to Washington, he next reported himself, 
as ordered, to Commodore Ridgely, for duty at 
the navy yard, and to attend the lectures of Pro- 
fessor Word, preparatory to examination. This 

* Such was Captain Montgomery's confidence in the judgment 
and skill of Bartlett, that when one night in the Pacific, into which 
he had not been himself, a night of the deepest darkness, with baf- 
fling winds and hidden dangers on all sides, he communicated his 
anxiety to Lieutenant Bartlett to be in port before morning. "If I 
command the ship," said Bartlett, " I will certainly go in ; though 
I have not seen it for ten years." "That is sufficient," said Capt. 
M., "take the ship, sir." And at daylight, next morning, great 
was the astonishment of the people to find a large American ship in 
port, and being just before the Mexican war, caused much surprise 
among the Mexican officers of the place. 



340 AN AMERICAN HERO 

ordeal he passed at Philadelphia, in 1839; and 
without the aid of any connection with Commo- 
dores or Washington officials, Bartlett took No. 7 
in a class of 32 ! He was immediately selected 
by Lieutenant Commanding Glenn with a party 
of young officers, to survey "southern harbors," 
and when finished, we find him the succeeding 
year prosecuting that service under Commander 
Powell. While on this expedition, Bartlett was 
promoted to an acting lieutenancy, and made the 
executive officer of the steamer "Poinsett," while 
under Powell's command. It was then that the su- 
perb survey of Tampa Bay, Florida, was made by 
the officers of the "Poinsett; the most magnificent 
sheet of water which had then been surveyed by 
American officers south of the Chesapeake. Cap- 
tains Glenn and Powell have ever borne testimo- 
ny to the skill, ability, and zeal which Bartlett 
rendered to the service in these surveys of the 
southern waters of the United States. 



SECTION VI. 

In 1842, Bartlett was ordered to the coast 
survey, under that most distinguished hydrogra- 
pher, Commander Gedney, and was, for two 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 341 

years, actively engaged with him in the prosecu- 
tion of this great work, between New York and 
Delaware Bay. The exposure of life to imminent 
peril, in these coast works, is best known to those 
who are familiar with the subject. And any 
well-informed naval officer knows that it requires 
more than the usual science of seamanship to be- 
come an accomplished surveyor, or hydrographer. 
There is a quick perception and ready judgment 
called constantly into exercise, in the physical 
difficulties which occur at every step, and which 
must be overcome by the strongest resolution to 
submit to whatever risk the occasion might pre- 
sent. For such duty, Bartlett has ever been seen 
to be highly efficient, and when he left that service, 
in 1844, he bore the highest evidences of the 
confidence and esteem of his superiors. He was 
next attached to the naval rendezvous, at New 
York, for some months, when he was ordered to 
the " Portsmouth," as sailing-master, but he soon 
became the junior lieutenant, and made the 
cruise of three years and ten months in the 
Pacific ocean, and, during the entire Mexican 
war, was on the West coast of Mexico, or some 
part of California. 

It was on this cruise of the "Portsmouth," 



342 AN AMERICAN HERO 

that Misroon, one of the Inquisition, acted as the 
executive officer of the ship. Lieucenant Mis- 
roon there showed so total and selfish a disregard 
for the comfort of others, that every watch officer 
sought the earliest opportunity to escape his con- 
tact. Lieutenants Shenck, Forrest, and Carter, 
left the ship the very first opportunity. And it 
is a singular fact that, among all the active offi- 
cers of the ship, that joined her at Portsmouth, 
Lieutenant Bartlett was the only one who ad- 
hered to his post, and, although he did not like 
the personal bearing of Misroon, his habits of 
subordination (the surest test of the future influ- 
ence of an officer) were such, that he never, for a 
moment, forgot his own dignity, or the respect 
duty required him to render to the executive of 
the ship, without regard to the personnel of the 
man who filled that position. 

In making this exposition of the character and 
services of Lieutenant Bartlett, the author has 
had not only the data, but the vouchers before 
her for every item that has been stated.. And 
she asserts, without the fear of refutation, that so 
overwhelming is the proof of the scrupulous 
integrity and honor of Lieutenant Bartlett, that 
no unprejudiced mind can resist the conclusion, 



THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 343 

after investigating this evidence, that he has been 
basely wronged by the unscrupulous action of a 
cabal, instigated by unprincipled and envious 
revilers ! 

We do not believe that a higher integrity 
ever characterized the settlement of any official 
accounts under this government than has been 
displayed by Lieutenant Bartlett. And if, 
after an entire knowledge of all the facts in 
this connection, it could have been pronounced 
otherwise, then those of General Washington, 
during the American Revolution, would not 
have passed unscathed ! 

It is a crying shame, a burning shame, that 
this American citizen has been so outrageously 
maligned and persecuted in the service of his 
country ! And as the honor of that country is 
identified with the character of its true men, so 
has the nation been dishonored by those who 
have trampled down its naval heroes, and in a 
spirit of merciless recklessness, without contri- 
tion or remorse, consummated an act which 
would not have been tolerated under any despot- 
ism of Europe ! 

Our fathers saw the triumph of right, and left 
to their sons their speaking actions. Shall that 



344 THE VICTIM OF A CONSPIRACY. 

heroic generation be slighted now? To give 
peace and liberty, American men struck tyrants 
and hurled back their thrones ! They founded 
liberty on the enfranchisement of the mind. 
They counted not parties, but principles, and 
rejected restrictions, distinctions, and exclusions ! 
We have the witnesses of that great age when 
we started as a nation into life, and he that halts 
now in condemning that action which has wan- 
tonly outraged the personal and political rights of 
Lieutenant Bartlett and his associates in the naval 
service, condemns and rejects the very men who 
gave to the whole world America ! 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 



CHAPTER I. 

It was our fathers' wish to keep the administra- 
tion of this government in an American sphere. 
They wanted no colonial or territorial dependence. 
They wanted to maintain the Union, and therefore 
asserted the right of the American people to the 
exclusive control of their own matters. They said, 
in the constitution they left us, that Congress could 
sell the public lands, that it could admit new 
states, but not a word was mentioned about organiz- 
ing any government without the rights of a state. 

Under this constitution we Americans have sig- 
nally prospered, while our influence has exerted a 
mighty power over all the civilized states of the 
world. There is not a nation with which we have 
not a commercial and political relation. There is 
not a country in which our enterprise has not 

15* 



346 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

entered, nor an ocean on which our ships do not 
float. American genius is more or less impressed 
upon every people and clime, and mutual interest 
and sympathy bind us to mankind. We have no 
need now, Americans, to fear to assume the prin- 
ciples which have guided us thus triumphantly ; 
nor can we limit those principles within our own 
borders. Our example, our ideas, our discoveries, 
our inventions, our habits of life, our social, politi- 
cal, and religious institutions, must ultimately ex- 
tend our form of government. And to see our 
maxims securely applied to other people ; to see 
our laws, the settled principles of equality and 
justice, administered throughout Christendom ; to 
see our industry and enterprise exacting equality 
everywhere, could not but create an honest exulta- 
tion within the breast of every true American. 

We, then, my countrymen, have a mission to 
perform, out of our country ; we have to throw 
our weight, in behalf of equality and justice, over 
the countries of the world, and to guard with a 
vigilant eye the principles of Protestantism and 
Americanism, that our own strength shall increase, 
our own resources expand, and an additional im- 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 317 

pctus be given to our moral, commercial, and polit- 
ical greatness. 

On the 1st of July, 1823, Central America 
formed a federal republic, called the " United 
Provinces of Central America," doubtless designed 
to accord with our system of government, and 
adopting our constitution as its guide. The suc- 
ceeding year, they emancipated all the slaves in 
the republic, amounting to about one thousand, 
and indemnified the owners for the pecuniary loss. 
The constitution of this republic was ratified in 
November of that year, and the first federal con- 
gress was convened the 1st of September, 1825. 
But this union did not bind the states together 
like those of the United States of North America. 
It did not prevent the effusion of blood. And their 
constitution was but ' ' a passive instrument, power- 
less for good, and only active for unimportant or 
pernicious purposes. ' ' The unchecked force of num- 
bers, influenced by bad, designing men, soon anni- 
hilated the union, by making the small states 
tributary to the larger ; a fate, Americans, we shall 
surely feel, if ever our own beloved Union shall be 
cursed by separation. 

On the 20th of July, 1838, in the thirteenth 



348 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

year of the Central American republic, Congress 
met for the last time under the constitution, and 
the states returned to their former political system. 
In 1840, General Francisco Morazan, "the Wash- 
ington" of Central America," made an effort to 
restore the union of these states ; but the Jesuit 
priesthood united with the Indians, under Carrera, 
in opposing the liberties of the people, and expelled 
the ' ' father of his country ' ' from his native soil. 
Morazan subsequently returned, in 1842, to Costa 
Rica, where he was murdered ; and this consum- 
mated the destruction of that unfortunate republic 
in Central America. And, Americans, mark the 
fate of that country, and you will see, in its feeble- 
ness, suffering, and horror, but a faint picture of 
what these United States will encounter, if ever 
the traitors within our borders shall sever the bonds 
which now hold us as one people. 

A light from heaven has now guided a son of our 
American republic, to open the way for the beauti- 
ful flag of the free, to deliver that misguided people, 
and bring them out of the humiliating condition to 
which tyranny and priestcraft have subjected them. 
Gen. William Walker, now President of Nicaragua, 
a citizen of the United States, has commenced, and 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 349 

we trust will not fail, to renovate that land. He 
was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and his age 
does not exceed thirty-three years. His personal 
appearance is not commanding, by any means ; 
being of small stature, without the prepossession of 
address or manner. But there is an expression of 
meekness, accompanied by a nasal tone and slug- 
gish utterance, which would arrest attention in 
any assembly ; and these peculiarities made young 
Walker a subject of interest at a very early age. 

He was remarkable, as a boy, for the ardor of 
his friendships, the amiability of his disposition, 
and his obliging character towards his companions. 
If a " hard sum," or an " awful lesson," was ex- 
citing his young friends, Walker was eagerly 
sought to remove the difficulty. He was never 
known to be at recitation unprepared, and was so 
sensitive of his reputation at school, that the 
slightest mistake or blunder he might make would 
affect him to tears. He rarely then was known to 
laugh, although he often participated in the amuse- 
ments of his companions. 

But, to give the secret of Walker's rise from the 
modest school-boy of Nashville to the presidency 
of Nicaragua, we must tell you he had a good 



350 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

mother, an American woman, who loved God ana 
her country, and by gentleness, affection, and 
purity, exemplified and inculcated into the mind of 
her son the faith and doctrine of our Protestani 
Bible. He thus, as the eldest of four children, be- 
came the reliance of his widowed mother, and by 
the amiability of his disposition, and the sweetness 
of his temper, supplied the place of a daughter to 
her as a companion. 

Walker was educated a Christian youth, and 
made a proficient in Christian law. This stimu- 
lated him to spread American principles, and en- 
listed the sympathy of his fellow-men in his new 
and important mission of introducing a new admin- 
istration and laws, exciting enterprise, and pro- 
claiming human rights and freedom in that darkened 
land. He was originally intended for the ministry, 
but a visit to Europe interposed, and he remained 
in Paris two years to prosecute the studies of law 
and physics. He returned home, and connected 
himself with the editorial corps of his country, first 
at New Orleans, where he was connected with the 
Crescent, and then with the Herald, at San Fran- 
cisco, California. 

His independence, as well as ability, soon made 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 351 

him a terror to evil doers ; and an article reflecting 
upon the judiciary in California caused him to be 
arraigned for contempt of court. He was con- 
demned, and made to pay a fine of five hundred 
dollars, and suffer incarceration. 

This tyranny excited the just indignation of even 
that community, and every public demonstration 
was made to encourage Walker in his advocacy of 
the liberties of the people. When he afterwards 
appeared before the legislature to demand the 
removal of this unjust judge, he awakened the con- 
fidence and respect of the assembly, although he 
failed to secure the expulsion of his enemy. 

Gen. Walker's first military effort was directed 
to conquer Sonora, in northern Mexico. But the 
brig was seized in which his party were to embark, 
by the interference of the government. This mo- 
mentary detention was followed by greater suc- 
cess on the part of Walker ; and, landing in Lowei 
California, in October, 1853, he was soon declared 
president of that country. 

The motive which influenced Walker was frankly 
exposed, namely, to take possession of Mexico, by 
first securing the provinces of the north. The 
v -vasion of Sonora was then made. His numbers 



352 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

became reduced by desertion and starvation, and he 
and his surviving men, clothed in tattered garments, 
were compelled to retreat. This expedition occu- 
pied seven months, when Walker returned to Cali- 
fornia, and resumed his occupation of editor. 

In August, 1854, a company, formed for commer- 
cial purposes, organized in California, and set sail 
for the gold regions of Central America. After an 
absence of some months, it was proposed to aug- 
ment their forces, and send for Walker, to 
enlist in negotiations with the Spanish American 
republics. A grant of twenty-one thousand acres 
of land was offered this party to enlist in the 
democratic cause, and the siege of Granada. 
Walker demanded fifty-two thousand acres, and 
would consent to nothing less. This proposition 
was accepted, and after five months of preparation, 
attended by formidable opposition on the part of 
capitalists, he embarked early in May, 1855, upon 
the enterprise of colonizing these states by Ameri- 
can means, and on American principles. Sixty- 
two persons composed this entire expedition, armed 
each with a rifle, revolvers, and knives. 

The scenes of massacre and carnage which fol- 
lowed the dissolution of the union in Central 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 353 

America, demonstrated that these people were unfit 
for self-government. In Nicaragua and Guatemala, 
particularly, the strife had become most fearful 
with the Indian and negro, in opposition to the old 
Spanish races. 

Two years ago, Castellan, a republican democrat, 
without the support of wealth or power, attempted 
to redeem his oppressed countrymen, by intro- 
ducing the principles of freedom. He was opposed 
by Chamorro, a haughty aristocrat, who, by intrigue 
and wealth, secured his reelection, against the will 
of the people. Castellan and other political oppo- 
nents were then thrown into prison. The Supreme 
Court was abolished, and these men finally banished 
from the country. 

Castellan fled to Honduras, where, under the 
protection of President Cabanos, the friend and 
patron of human rights, they conceived the idea of 
revolutionizing Nicaragua for the sake of liberty. 
Castellan and his associates returned and triumphed. 
He became Provisional Director, which office he 
held until his death, September, 1855. 

The priesthood, the most powerful enemy to the 
rights of the people in Central America, as every- 
where else where they prevail, now united with the 



344 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

autocrat Chamorra, to defeat the liberals ; and this 
proud demagogue obtained almost the entire state 
of Nicaragua. At this crisis Chamorra died, and, 
amidst the savage ferocity which followed among 
his chiefs, who assumed the quarrel, General Walker 
entered, and arrested the career of bloodshed by 
the immediate restoration of peace and order. 

Gen. Walker repaired to Leon, the capital of 
the state, exhibited his contract, and reported him- 
self ready for action. 

The ministry had steadily opposed the coming of 
the Americans ; and Walker, disgusted by their 
delay to give him a formal recognition, was about 
embarking for Honduras to aid the patriot Cabanos 
against Guatemala, when a courier was despatched 
entreating him to stop, and the next day the 
Americans enlisted in the cause of Nicaragua. 



CHAPTER II. 

The battle of Rivas was the first to engage the 
fifty-eight Americans who were then under Walker. 
He added to that number one hundred natives, who 
fled at the first fire, leaving the Americans to 
encounter five hundred of the enemy alone. The 
fight continued several hours, and while the Ameri- 
cans left double their own number of the enemy 
dead on the field, they remained without the loss 
of a hair of their heads. Walker, seeing the odds 
of eight to one was too great an exposure, made for 
a house where the enemy was sheltered, and drove 
them out and occupied it. These Chamorrins 
then held a council, and decided to dislodge them ; 
but every attempt was made futile by American 
shot, which was poured into each as he attempted 
to approach. At night, however, the Americans 
fought their way out, and retreated to Virgin Bay. 

This Rivas battle inspired the Nicaraguans 
with such awe of American arms, that they 



350 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

regarded it certain death to go within three hundred 
yards of their rifles. Gen. Bocha owned one hun- 
dred and eighty killed in that fight, and the 
conduct which the Americans displayed under such 
fearful odds soon encouraged the democratic party 
to hope for success under the intrepid Walker. 

The battle of Virgin Bay followed next. Here, 
again, the fifty-eight Americans, with one hundred 
and twenty natives, were all Walker's force, while 
the servile party had five hundred and forty. 
Beside, they had cannon, and were protected by 
timber, while the Walker party were exposed in the 
streets. But these enemies to freedom were again 
routed. Gen. Walker was struck by a spent ball 
in this battle, and other Americans escaped in a no 
less remarkable manner. 

The Americans, after making a good impression 
at Virgin Bay, proceeded to San Juan, where, with 
death meeting them at every turn by cholera, this 
little American band remained, encouraged by the 
example of their brave commander. From San 
Juan del Sur, Walker, with his troops, proceeded 
in October to Granada, where some fighting was 
done, fifteen of the enemy being killed, and seven 
taken prisoners. The Americans were fired upon 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 357 

from the Romish church ; and, on approaching it, 
found men, women, and children, to the number of 
eighty souls, chained, in abject misery, whom the 
Americans instantly released. 

Lieut. Col. Gilman, and twenty-five Americans, 
were now detailed to obtain the fort, a mile east 
of the city, which was armed by forty men ; and 
on the morning of the loth October, 1855, the 
battle of Granada was fought. Gen. Walker, dis- 
carding the natives, had but one hundred and ten 
men, with whom he took the Grand Plaza, captured 
all their artillery, and, after killing but ten men, 
from three hundred to four hundred surrendered as 
prisoners. In this engagement, but one American 
was slightly wounded. 

Walker's power was now felt, and he was then 
military commander in the vanquished Sebastopol 
of Nicaragua. On the day succeeding the battle 
of Granada, the native citizens met, and adopted 
resolutions offering Walker the Presidency of Ni- 
caragua. This he declined in favor of Gen. Corral. 

Col. Wheeler, the American Minister, was then 
consulted, and requested to take to Gen. Corral, at 
Leon, a proposition of peace. Wheeler at first 
declined, under the fear that it might compromise 



358 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

his government ; but, becoming satisfied that it did 
not, he proceeded at once to Rivas. Corral was 
absent ; and, after a few hours, Wheeler ordered 
his horses, to return, when he was told he could 
not leave, and armed soldiers were placed at his 
door. Thus detained for two days, his friends 
became alarmed at his absence, and sent a special 
messenger to Rivas, who, unable to enter, was 
informed by a native woman, true to the instincts 
of humanity, that the American Minister was a 
prisoner. 

The steamer Virgin immediately proceeded to 
Rivas by the quickest water course, and fired four 
heavily-loaded cannon on Saint George, the nearest 
point to the town. Col. Wheeler then informed 
the governor, through the Minister of War, that, 
if he was detained another day, his friends would 
attack Rivas, and exterminate its population. This 
produced the desired effect, and Wheeler obtained 
his passports, and an escort of one hundred men to 
the ship. 

Reinforcements now began to pour into Nicaragua 
from California. Col. Fry and Mr. Parker H. 
French arrived in October, accompanied by brave 
and spirited men. They were too late to partici- 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 359 

pate in the conquest of Granada, but there were 
still enough to engage them in Nicaragua. Col. 
Fry and Mr. French took passage in the Virgin, at 
Virgin Bay ; and, determined to take San Carlos 
by surprise, sent the captain and two men ashore, 
requesting the immediate surrender of the fort. 

They were seized and made prisoners, and the 
steamer was fired into by twelve-pound shot five 
times. The American riflemen, detached from 
Walker, under Capt. Turnbull, were then sent 
ashore, to take the fort ; but their ammunition got 
wet by the rain, and they were obliged to retreat 
to Virgin Bay. About an hour after these men 
left, the New York steamer San Carlos arrived, 
and was hailed from the fort before reaching it ; 
and an eighteen-pounder was fired into her, in- 
stantly killing a mother and child, residents of 
California, and otherwise committing serious out- 
rages upon the ship. 

A few days later, while these passengers were 
waiting for transit at Virgin Bay, a troop of horse- 
men surprised them, and fired seventy shots over 
their heads. The excitement now was appalling, 
and passengers fled in all directions, while many 
were subsequently caught, and deprived of their 



^""" 



360 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

revolvers. These two steamers, Virgin and San 
Carlos, then made for Granada, and placed their 
passengers under the protection of Col. Wheeler, 
the American Minister. 

While this outrage was being perpetrated on 
passengers at Virgin Bay, Gen. Walker was in 
Granada, organizing the army, of which he was 
made general ; and in sixteen days from his en- 
trance into that city, peace had been made, and a 
new government organized. 

Why did Walker thus become the liberator of 
Nicaragua ? We answer, because his integrity 
inspired confidence with friends and enemies ; and 
when he refused the Presidency, it carried convic- 
tion to the minds of the people that he would not 
deceive them to glorify himself. 

On the 19th of October, Gen. Corral was inau- 
gurated President of the country. A public 
thanksgiving was made for peace, and oaths taken 
to perpetuate it. " Look at that man Walker, 
sent by Providence to bring peace, prosperity, and 
happiness, to this blood-stained, unhappy country," 
was the language of Padre Vijil, who subsequently 
was sent on a mission to the United States, for the 
recognition of Nicaragua's independence. Walker 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 361 

and Corral reviewed the army on that day ; and it 
certainly must have gratified any American to 
behold the promising prospect of that country, in 
an American citizen claiming to teach the people 
the rights and the benefits of democratic freedom. 

By every monthly steamer from California, ad- 
venturers flocked to Central America ; and from 
both sides of the continent Walker's forces were 
steadily augmented, until they had grown from fifty- 
eight to upwards of one thousand men. Nor were 
these emigrants confined to mere adventurers, with- 
out education or fortune. On the contrary, men 
imbued with the true spirit of American progress, 
who could look to the future, and see America's 
magnificent destiny, were found identified with the 
" Nicaragua Expedition." 

The devastation of war was sadly visible over all 

Central America. Granada, upon whom a new era 

had then dawned, was reduced from thirty thousand 

to about eight thousand. Walker was soon placed 

in emergencies which prove the real character of 

men, and settle the question of fitness for mental 

and moral responsibility. A man named Jordan 

had fired at a native when intoxicated ; and, under 

the belief that the man would recover, Jordan was 
16 



362 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

sentenced by court martial to leave the country. 
Subsequently, the man, however, died, and Walker 
ordered Jordan to be shot, next morning, by a file 
of twelve rifles. The mother of the boy went 
down upon her knees, and implored Walker's clem- 
ency. Padre Vijil and others also begged the 
same, on their knees. But Walker was inexorable. 
He had made this stern decree to satisfy justice, 
and no power could dissuade him from its execu- 
tion. 

Treason was now discovered in the President of 
the country, and he too was made to pay the pen- 
alty of the traitor. Gen. Corral, to whom Walker 
yielded the chief magistracy, and who, with the 
Bible in one hand and the treaty in the other, had 
promised to sustain and respect the government, 
was proved to have been plotting its entire destruc- 
tion. Treasonable design on the part of Corral was 
proved by a fair trial, and he was sentenced to be 
shot. Walker approved the finding of the court 
and sentence ; and, on November the 8th, at two 
o'clock, he ordered Corral to be led to the great 
square, in the presence of the garrison, and die the 
death all traitors should die. Rivas then was made 
President of the country. 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 363 

At this time, new reinforcements came to AValk- 
er's aid ; and a letter to him from Col. Kinney, 
proposing to recognize Gen. Walker as commander- 
in-chief of the army of Nicaragua, provided 
Walker would recognize him as Governor of Mos- 
quito Territory. Walker thus characteristically 
replied: "Tell Mr. Kinney, or Col. Kinney, or 
Gov. Kinney, or by whatever name he styles him- 
self, that, if he interferes with the territory of 
Nicaragua, and I can lay my hands on him, I will 
most assuredly hang him." 

The American minister, Mr. J. H. Wheeler, 
officially recognized the new government of Nica- 
ragua, and he was officially received by President 
Rivas on the 10th of October. On the 17th of No- 
vember, the Nicaragueuse newspaper was started; 
and, with an independent press, and a free consti- 
tutional government, it became at once an important 
object to have it recognized by all the states of the 
world, but, above all others, by that of these United 
States. Col. Parker H. French was consequently 
sent as minister plenipotentiary to this government. 
This placed the administration in its usual attitude 
of weakness before the world ; and, the authorities 
at Washington becoming alarmed about Central 



364 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 



American matters, the District Attorney of New 
York, Mr. McKeon, was directed to guard us 
against fillibusteros with a vigilant eye. Here, 
Americans, with the Cuban affairs and the burn- 
ing of Greytown staring us in the face, the ad- 
ministration suddenly becomes frightened at a very 
harmless fact ! 

In the mean while the government of Nicaragua, 
learning the treatment awarded to its accredited 
minister, immediately dismissed or suspended all 
official communication with Mr. Wheeler, the 
American minister, and revoked the appointment 
of Mr. French, that he might return to Nicaragua. 
The refusal of Mr. Pierce's administration to recog- 
nize this ambassador was based upon the unwar- 
ranted conclusion, in view of the facts, that Walker's 
government had not been acknowledged by the 
people of that republic. Col. French, instead of a 
reception befitting his mission, was arrested on the 
charge of enlisting soldiers, and the steamer North- 
ern Light detained from her regular trip, and pas- 
sengers taken from her. But American acumen 
was quick to discern the utility of Walker's govern- 
ment, and the people, undaunted by the petty 
refusal of Mr. Pierce to sanction American rule, — 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 3 Go 

which promised reform in a foreign land, — pressed 
on with alacrity to Nicaragua, under those inalien- 
able rights which are the heritage of American men. 

The early explorations in the gold regions of 
Nicaragua were made under the temporary estab- 
lishment of peace, and satisfactorily demonstrated 
that, with the advantage of such machinery as is 
used in California, the product from them would be 
infinitely greater. With the common rocker, from 
five to ten dollars a day were at once realized. The 
climate of Nicaragua, too, is inviting to settlers ; 
the fevers do not prevail there, as in California ; 
the air is cool and salubrious,, and labor is rarely 
impeded at any season of the year. 

Nothing can surpass the beauty of the natural 
scenery of Nicaragua. Its plains, valleys, and vol- 
canoes, the plumage of its birds, its beautiful verd- 
ure, and the ever- varying hues of its mountain 
ranges, present attractions for habitation rarely 
pointed out to man. Then the richness and variety 
of the products of its soil are not less noted ; and, 
with the exception of cotton, there is not a vegeta- 
ble growth in the United States of America that 
does not flourish in Nicaragua. 

What is there, then, Americans, to arrest or check 



366 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

the advancement of this new republic under Ameri 
can men ? Nothing but interior impediments, arising 
from the want of education among the people. La- 
bor is cheap. It is on the very road of commercial 
travel, and between our Pacific and Atlantic states. 
In point of geographical locality, with an ocean each 
side, in the great centre of trade, Nicaragua must 
become a great "highway" of commerce through- 
out the world. Now, what she needs is the right 
kind of population. To obtain this, Americans must 
have the bona fide evidences of interest. With its 
auspicious position, its gold, and its American pro- 
tection, we shall see American settlers increasing 
from year to year. 

The government of Honduras has made grants 
already to the Honduras mining and trading com- 
pany, of New York. The daily discoveries prove 
the universal presence of this metal. 

After California was discovered, England became 
alarmed at the travel across the Central American 
isthmus, and thought there would be another effort 
to get a ship canal between the oceans ; and, to 
arrest Americans in taking exclusive advantage of 
this central route, England brought about the 
unique treaty of 1850, made by Mr. Bulwer on 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 367 

the part of Great Britain, and Mr. Clayton in be- 
half of the government at Washington. This 
" Clayton-Bulwer Treaty" ostensibly settled this 
disputed region ; and, under this idea, it was con- 
firmed and ratified. The states of Central Amer- 
ica supposed it was a full redress for their past 
grievances ; but too soon they discovered the 
whole affair was a failure, England asserting her 
claim to the " Ruatan Islands " and the " Mosquito 
coast." It is useless here to inquire into the fal- 
lacy of this claim. It is clearly proven she never 
did of right possess it ; and recent negotiations at 
London have resulted in the entire withdrawal from 
this pretension. 

The effect of our government's refusal to recog- 
nize the independence of Nicaragua through Mr. 
French was very disastrous. Guatemala, Hondu- 
ras, and Costa Rica, immediately followed the 
example, and refused all correspondence with Walk- 
er's government. Col. Schlessenger was sent as 
commissioner to Costa Rica, to inquire into the 
reasons of its refusal to recognize, stating that 
Nicaragua desired peace with all the neighboring 
states. He was treated with scorn, and driven from 
the country. Gen. Walker instantly declared war 



368 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

against Costa Rica, and the most energetic meas- 
ures were taken to avenge the insult. The Costa 
Rican government then authorized its president 
alone, or in union with other states, to take up arms 
against Nicaragua, and "drive the foreign invaders 
from the soil." The militia of Costa Rica, amount- 
ing to nine thousand, were called into action, and 
one hundred thousand dollars were immediately 
raised for their support. The army commenced its 
march to Nicaragua before the design was known 
to Gen. Walker. A printing press was taken along, 
and daily bulletins issued of their progress. 

Schlessenger, an unprincipled German, was se- 
lected by Walker, more from the spirit of retaliation 
than personal regard, to head the forces sent against 
Costa Rica. This force amounted to two hundred 
and seven in number, commanded by Schlessenger, 
when he left Virgin Bay for Costa Rica. These 
were composed of two American companies from 
New York and New Orleans, and two other compa- 
nies of Germans and Frenchmen. 

The guides left this little band on reaching Costa 
Rica ; and the brutal conduct of Schlessenger to the 
troops, requiring them to march under a torrid sun 
and lie by under a cool moonlight, and innumerable 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 3(39 

acts of cruelty and cowardice, soon disgusted the 
Americans, and inspired their deepest resentment, 
lie showed, besides, marked difference in his treat- 
ment towards Americans and the other troops. A 
German, for example, who had committed an act 
which in military law merited death, was scarcely 
reprimanded ; while a New Yorker came near being 
shot for picking up a piece of bread as he was walk- 
ing. The fear of American fire only prevented that 
act of the ignominious coward. 

16* 



CHAPTER III. 

The battle of Santa Rosa is in all respects the 
most disreputable engagement which ever occurred 
upon this continent, or was associated with the 
American name. Santa Rosa was the hacienda 
occupied by Schlessenger and his forces when they 
fired upon the enemy. The Americans took their 
position in the front ranks, and while the battle 
was raging, Schlessenger appeared at the corner 
of the house behind the New York troops, and, 
in utter consternation, cried out, " There they are, 
boys! there they are!" Then, retreating, ex- 
claimed, " Campaigne, Francaise ! " and ran with 
his best speed, followed by the Frenchmen. The 
Germans caught the influence, and, dashing their 
weapons on the ground, fled likewise. The Amer- 
ican party remained unmoved and undaunted, and 
as soon as the real intentions of the enemy were 
discovered, Lieut. Higgins gave the order to fire, 




'T-*'. 




<^_ 







CENTRAL AMERICA. 371 

and never did an angry volley of shot go ont with 
a greater will, or do more effective execution. 

The enemy fell back, but, on reloading, pressed 
nearer to the gates of the hacienda, when the brave 
Parker, engaged in checking them, was shot to the 
heart. Cahart, another brave American, now took 
his position on the plaza, and shot the enemies' 
leader as he rode up and down their lines, and who 
three times before had fired his rifle into the 
American ranks. By this time, Major O'Neill, 
who had gone after Schlessenger, returned, saying 
"he wanted to be with the company who would 
fight ;" and the New York company then, seeing 
the enemy approaching with such fearful odds, 
withdrew, under O'Neill's sanction. 

Here note the fact that this New York company 
was the only one which fired a volley in that 
action! These forty-four men were reduced to 
twenty- two by the action, and were the last to 
leave the spot. The enemy, too, on this occasion, 
beside being double Schlessenger' s force, were 
picked and tried soldiers, who had before fought the 
Americans at the bloody battle of Rivas. The 
troops in the American camp were entirely un- 
prepared for this engagement. And it was not 



372 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

remarkable that rowdies and raw recruits should 
run, when their leader took them by surprise and 
set the example. 

The whole management of this expedition to 
invade Costa Rica was defective, and served to 
warn Americans from taking arms again under an 
incompetent leader, like Schlessenger, or relying for 
cooperation upon men without principle, experience, 
or patriotism. Schlessenger was caught, and tried 
by court-martial on two indictments, One was, 
that he had acted the traitor when Walker sent him 
as minister to Costa Rica, and that he betrayed his 
country to that government. The other was, cow- 
ardice in deserting the American army in that 
country. Before the court, however, had consum- 
mated the trial, Schlessenger suddenly disappeared, 
and joined the ranks of the enemy. 

After Schlessenger' s defeat by the Costa Ricans, 
no effort was made to impede their invasion of 
Nicaragua, and about three thousand concen- 
trated at Granada. The havoc of property, and the 
murder of wounded American citizens residing at 
Virgin Bay and San Juan del Sur, are among the 
acts of the most atrocious barbarity on record. The 
Americans, however, found some little redress for 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 373 

these outrages, a, few days later, when Col. Green, 
with but fifteen men, met two hundred Costa Ri- 
cans, killed twenty-seven and dispersed the remain- 
der, only losing one man and wounding two 
others of that little party of Americans. 

We next find the Costa Ricans entering the city 
of Rivas, on the 7th of April, to take possession. 
Gen. Walker, on hearing this at Granada, deter- 
mined to expel the enemy from Rivas ; and, with 
only five hundred men, including one hundred 
natives, he made preparations, in a single day, to 
attack the enemy in their stronghold, with a prac- 
tised force of two thousand seven hundred men. 
With this democratic party, Walker surprised the 
enemy by coming in by a route which they had never 
suspected. But when the troops were seen, as they 
ascended the eminence to approach the city, the 
enemy poured down their batteries with tremen- 
dous violence, which the American forces returned 
with such fierce energy and rapidity, that in five 
minutes they had the entire possession of the 
plaza. The Costa Ricans fled to their barricades, 
and, concealing themselves for protection, continued 
to fire. Then, too, they had the advantage of a 
cannon, which made them more formidable. The 



374 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

Americans, having none, determined to seize it. 
The design was no sooner formed than Lieut. Col. 
Sanders gave the order to fire on the Costa Ricans, 
and, regardless of danger, he and his brave fol- 
lowers rushed in and captured this fatal weapon of 
war. They took it to the corner of the plaza, and 
placed it under the management of Capt. McArdle, 
a ready and accomplished artillerist ; and in a few 
minutes that engine, which was destined to destroy 
Walker's forces, was playing fatally over the enemy. 
Infuriated to madness, the Costa Ricans tried to 
recover their gun, but the Mississippi rifles drove 
them back to concealment. A body of these rifle- 
men now stationed themselves on a house-top, and 
during the engagement killed, at least, one hun- 
dred of the enemy. Seeing the American party 
invincible, the Costa Ricans, with three hundred 
remaining, retreated towards San Juan del Sur, 
where they were met with a reinforcement of two 
hundred and fifty from Virgin Bay. As soon as 
Gen. Walker was notified of their approach to San 
Juan del Sur, he sent a body of men to protect that 
part of the town in which the American rangers 
were stationed ; and after signal execution on their 
part, the Costa Ricans again were repulsed, with 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 3<0 

slaughter. More than one hundred dead bodies of 
the enemy were left to tell the story, while two of 
the noblest of the democratic party became victims 
in this action, — Lieut. Morgan, of Gen. Walker's 
staff, and Lieut. Doyle, of the army. 

This fighting was excessive, and showed the de- 
termined spirit by which the Americans were actu- 
ated. They fought from morning to night, and 
when the enemy ceased hostilities it was soon dis- 
covered to be a ruse to reinforce themselves. Lieut. 
Gay, who subsequently died from excessive exer- 
tion and useless exposure to danger, was the man 
to detect the trick ; and it was decided to rout 
the Costa Ricans from the place they so much 
coveted. 

Ten officers, beside three privates, armed with 
rifles and Colt's revolvers, equipped themselves for 
the expedition, and entered the building of the foe 
to determine on a plan of operation. As soon as 
they did, they gave the signal and fired, and drove 
the enemy to the fence without any loss, except a 
single wound upon one gallant officer, Capt. Breck- 
enridge. The opposition was at least one hundred, 
but these thirteen Americans, with bullets flying 
all over them, persisted, and accomplished their 



376 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

purpose of dislodging the enemy, without the loss 
of a single man, killed or wounded. 

The enemy still obstinately attempted to main- 
tain their ground, and in the continued action 
Capt. Hueston was killed. Thirty of the enemy 
now paid the atoning penalty for this brave Ameri- 
can spirit who had fallen, and the remaining twelve 
carried such havoc into the Costa Rican ranks that 
they once more desisted, and sought safer quarters. 

Retreating and assailing continued, until, after a 
loss of ten more of their number, the Costa Ricans 
again reached the old cathedral, from behind where 
they renewed the assault on the Americans. Lieut. 
Gay, who was in the first battle of Rivas, and in 
all the future engagements of Nicaragua, was now 
compelled to lay down his life. He who projected 
the engagement died in its triumph. 

The English and Germans held Minie rifles, 
which they used dexterously ; and it was by those 
foreign jacobins, who had joined the despot's party 
in Central America to put down liberty and tram- 
ple upon human rights, that most of our American 
citizens were killed. 

The Walker party, in this second Rivas engage- 
ment, was not one fourth as great in number as the 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 377 

Costa Ricans. Beside, all the barricades and fort- 
resses were with the enemy. Gen. Walker, for 
hours, in this battle, moved about on horseback, un- 
moved and undismayed, reposing confidently upon 
the justice of his cause, and sustained continually 
by the sublimity of his victories. The staff of Gen. 
Walker demonstrated extraordinary courage and 
daring, and, with the exception of the brave Capt. 
Sutter, they all died gallantly and desperately as- 
serting the rights of human freedom. Col. Kenew, 
also the volunteer aid of Gen. Walker, was not 
less noted for his prowess in arms ; while the 
native force in this battle, under their distinguished 
leader, Col. Machado, who fell in the engagement, 
certainly deserved the highest commendation for 
their eminent courage. 

This engagement of the 11th of April, 1856, is 
one of the most remarkable in the history of Central 
America. The Costa Ricans had actually killed 
at least six hundred of their number ; how many 
wounded and deserted was never ascertained. Their 
quick retreat and abandonment of Rivas tell the 
unfortunate result to them. And now look at the 
disparity again. The Americans came off with 



378 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

fresh laurels, having had but thirty killed, and the 
same number wounded. 

By this time recruits came in numbers from New 
Orleans, New York, and California, to reinforce 
the Americans by joining the Nicaraguan army, 
while public meetings in the United States, and 
the voice of the press, united in paeans of praise 
for the brave deeds of Americans on foreign soil. 
Hostilities now seemed to cease towards Gen. 
Walker by the northern states of Central America, 
and the proclamation of President Rivas was ac- 
cepted by San Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, in 
the most amicable spirit. The enlistment of soldiers 
was therefore stopped in these states, and the new 
levy ceased ; and, the Rivas government of Nicaragua 
being acknowledged, the surrender of that country 
to Anglo-Saxon liberty seemed to have been made. 

There are those, unquestionably, among us, who 
censure the idea of American expansion, and would 
squeeze the very thought from the minds of the 
people. But, Americans, you may search the 
records of history, in vain, to find that any people 
were ever condemned or defamed for their con- 
quests. Why have Caesar, Alexander, Charles the 
Fifth, Charlemagne, and Napoleon, been held in 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 3 7!) 

admiration by the human race ? Simply because 
they extended their conquests into foreign territo- 
ries. And while American youth will study the 
histories of those heroes with interest and pleasure, 
they will never be inspired with enthusiasm for the 
opposite class of men. And this sympathy, in- 
stinctive with Americans, for any people struggling 
to be free, carried brave men to the Mexican army, 
to the Russian army in the Crimea, as well as to 
Nicaragua, when they beheld their own countrymen, 
imbued with the true spirit of liberty, and nerved 
with Anglo-American energy, unsheathing the sword 
upon that soil to accomplish what years of blood- 
shed might not otherwise have done for that people. 
Walker has done for Nicaraguan liberty what La- 
fayette, De Kalb, Pulaski, Kosciusko, had done 
for American liberty, and for such considerations. 
Who, then, can repress patriotic emotion, or deep 
sympathy for his triumph ? 

When the people of Nashville, Tennessee, the 
place of Walker's birth, heard of his brave deeds, 
they met to testify their joy, and bore witness to 
the singular purity of his character, and his high 
mental and moral endowments. They had watched 
his movements with filial solicitude, from the Che- 



380 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

mora and Castellon revolutions to the battle of 
Bivas, which secured to Nicaragua independence ; 
and when it was demonstrated that Walker had 
covered himself with glory, there was no measure 
to their generous admiration. 

After the battle of Costa Rica, on the 11th of 
April, to which the friends of liberty in the United 
States looked with so much apprehension, Gen. 
Walker, without ammunition, remained on the spot 
until next day, and then marched with music to 
Granada unmolested, leaving the Costa Ricans to 
evacuate the town. 

And now, my countrymen, you may inquire 
whence the determined hostility of the Costa Ricans 
to the government of Nicaragua. It was the re- 
sult of British instigation to drive out the Ameri- 
cans, which English and French agents encouraged, 
after the government at Washington refused to 
accept Mr. French. When, then, the fortunes of 
Gen. Walker seemed about to end, England made 
offers of thousands of her arms to prejudice the 
natives against Americans, and, if possible, to get 
the control of Central America. The conduct of 
the President of Costa Rica was unparalleled, in 
denying Americans the right to engage in foreign 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 381 

service, and ordering them when taken prisoners 
in all cases to be shot. The attempt, then, of Costa 
Rica to control and prescribe the action of Ameri- 
cans, was enough to call upon every citizen of the 
land to bid our people " God speed " in Nicaragua 



CHAPTER IV. 

Is it nothing, Americans, to see a son of this 
soil opening two hundred and fifty thousand acres 
of land to the agricultural pursuits and industry of 
freemen who may choose to go there and occupy it ? 
Is it nothing to see two millions of people being 
regenerated from papal ignorance and degradation ? 
Is it nothing to see this portion of the Western 
world affording its facilities for commerce, by bring- 
ing together the extremes of trade, which will 
benefit mankind ? 

When we consider that British power nerved the 
Costa Ricans with twenty-five hundred fighting 
men, to punish Americans for bringing Nicaragua 
to the desire for independence, and that France and 
Spain aided the effort, what American would hesi- 
tate to give every proper encouragement to Walker? 
From the m anient we acquired California, too, the 
isthmuses of Nicaragua and Panama have been 
important to us. 



CENTRAL AMERICA. ■ 383 

In 1811, Congress declared the Territory of 
Florida to be necessary to the United States, and 
passed a resolution to keep it out of the hands of 
foreign powers. On the 15th of January, the same 
day the President approved the act, Congress 
authorized Mr. Madison to take possession of that 
territory, and, if required, to use the army and navy 
of the country to defend it ; and such civil and judi- 
cial power was given as would protect Americans 
in all their rights of person, property, and religion. 

My countrymen, no effort was withheld by Eng- 
land to deprive this Union of Texas ; and, to pre- 
vent the acquisition of California, which she wanted 
to colonize, her squadron followed ours with a vigi- 
lant eye. When, then, she saw Nicaragua almost 
in American arms, she set about aiding the Costa 
Ricans to put Americans down. Can we ever 
forget how England treated our fathers in their 
colonial independence ? And yet, what has added 
so much to her greatness as our nationality ? Had 
we never possessed California, England could never 
have penetrated the gold mines of Australia. 
What right, then, had she to interfere, because an 
American hero appeared by invitation in Nicaragua, 
t ) fix a higher glory upon his own glorious institu- 



384 CENTRAL AMERICA.* 

tions, which open the main chance alike to all the 
sons of the soil ? 

It was England's interference that dissolved the 
union of the Central American states in 1838, just 
as she is now attempting to separate these United 
States to-day by intrigue and treachery on the 
question of slavery, about which she cares nothing, 
but to. use as an instrument of discord to destroy 
our beautiful system of government. England 
bound herself by treaty to abandon Central America ; 
and yet, in the face of her solemn engagement, 
she has maintained ascendency over the Mosquito 
territory, held on to the Bay Islands, and en- 
croached on Honduras ; and, two years after the 
Clayton and Bulwer treaty was ratified, we find 
the queen issuing a warrant to erect these islands 
into a British colony ! 

Now, Americans, do you not consider it right to 
extend the protection of your laws to a people who 
invite you to take up their cause ? Do you not, in 
the self-relying, self-denying spirit of your ances- 
tors, wish to see the principles of self-government, 
upon which they planted this confederacy, made 
impregnable to tyrants in other lands ? In this 
sense, e r ery American is a pillar to support the 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 385 

edifice of freedom, and to prepare this people for 
the perpetuity of Protestant liberty. Look at the 
length and breadth of our country, beginning with 
a slip upon the Atlantic, and moving on until it 
has met the roar of the Pacific. We have Mexico, 
nearly equal to our original dimensions. We have 
secured the territory of the West. And when we 
see what American energy and American princi- 
ples have already done in Central America, and 
consider how our own territory is to be defended, 
we have no reason to doubt that our stars and 
stripes will yet float over the Pacific gate of the 
Nicaragua transit ; because we cannot believe 
that Americans, now, will ever allow the key of 
the Gulf of Mexico to fall into the hands of 
savages. They will not consent that the Central 
American states, essential to the commerce of the 
United States, shall ever be owned by their enemies. 
They will not allow any foreign power to arm 
Spanish colonists to murder their kinsmen ; which 
has been the work of European despotisms, who 
hate our interests, and tremble at the consequences 
of seeing Central America yield to Anglo-American 
intelligence, liberty, and laws. And, sooner than 
witness the unprovoked assault our people have 

17 



386 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

sustained at Nicaragua and Panama, it would be 
better far to repeal the neutrality laws, and let 
Americans defend their own personal rights. 

Gen. Walker intercepted the letters intended 
for the Consul General of Costa Rica in London, 
proving that England furnished arms to the ene- 
mies of Americans. Beside, the whole British 
West India squadron went to the San Juan del 
Norte to testify that government's sympathy, and 
is there still, because Americans struck down the 
foe in Nicaragua, and defended the people who 
were panting for freedom. The route to California 
was also endangered by the English squadron at 
the mouth of the river. 

Now, my countrymen, mark the Jesuit trick I 
These bloody Costa Ricans never declared war at 
all against Nicaragua, but against the Americans 
in that state, thereby denying them the power to 
defend the rights of human freedom. Ameri- 
cans, then, were shot when taken, their houses 
burned, their bodies consumed to ashes ; and still, 
as citizens of the United States, claiming protection 
from no other government. Think \ou that our 
Washington, could he rise from the deep slumber 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 387 

of the grave, would refuse his sympathy to the 
heroic Walker and his adherents ? Read his words ! 

On the 1st day of January, 1796, in reply to the 
minister of the French Republic, on the latter 
presenting the colors of France to the United 
States, George Washington pronounced these noble 
words: "Born, sir, in a land of liberty; having 
early learned its value ; having engaged in a 
perilous conflict to defend it ; having, in a word, 
devoted the best years of my life to secure its 
permanent establishment in my own country, — my 
anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, and 
my best wishes, are irresistibly excited, when- 
soever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation 
unfurl the banners of freedom." 

Had Gen. Walker taken possession of Nicaragua 
merely to keep the peace, he would have been 
justified by the precedent and practice of other 
nations. At least three countries in Europe are 
now occupied by the foreign troops of England, 
France, and Austria. Nothing could exceed the 
enthusiasm of the people, as the stars and stripes 
were raised at the American legation ; and all the 
subsequent acts of Gen. Walker, after the estab- 
lishment of the Rivas government, and the acknowl- 



388 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

edgment by the natives that he was their deliv- 
erer, confirms the prophecy of Padre Vijil, a few 
days before Walker entered Granada, when he 
said, " Our only hope now is in Heaven and Gen. 
Walker." 

Walker has been censured for the execution of 
Corral, most unjustly. Did not Corral himself 
select the Americans to try him, having no faith iii 
his own countrymen ? And the two most intimate 
associates of Corral, who attended him to execu- 
tion, are now the warmest friends of Walker. 

When the presidential election again came 
around, the candidates all sympathized with demo- 
cratic freedom ; but Walker was called, in prefer- 
ence to all others, to the presidency ; and, from the 
day of his inauguration, Nicaragua acquired a 
position, from which, we believe, she will never 
willingly recede. After the defection of Rivas, 
who, it is remembered, absconded with his cabinet 
on the 21st of June, Gen. Walker, in virtue of the 
authority placed in him by the treaty, appointed 
Fermin Ferrer president pro tempore ; and he, 
Rivas, and Salizar, all were candidates for the suf- 
frages of the people, as well as Walker. But, while 
Walker was elected by nearly sixteen thousand 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 389 

votes, the aggregate vote of the other three did 
not much exceed seven thousand. 

This election occurred the 10th of last July ; 
and, on the 12th, Walker took the oath of office. 
The ceremonies were very imposing. The Ameri- 
can flag and those of Nicaragua and France were 
in front of the stage, an open Bible and crucifix 
placed on it, and a cushion laid upon the floor, on 
which President Walker knelt reverently, and took 
the oath of office. On the platform sat the pro- 
visional President, Ferrer, the bishop, Col. Wheeler, 
and some of the field officers and their staffs. An 
appropriate valedictory was delivered to the people 
by President Ferrer, and an inaugural by President 
Walker which would have honored any President 
of our own country, divested, as it was, of all use- 
less verbiage, all specious professions, but carrying 
an intuitive conviction into the minds of the people 
that they had at last found a man in whose integ- 
rity and honor they could confide. 

The assembly then proceeded to the church, 
according to their old custom, where the Te Deum 
was performed, with the usual ceremony of blessing 
the President, to which Walker submitted. Some 
may say, "Why did he do this, being a genuine 



390 CENTRAL AMERICA. 

m 

Protestant?" We answer, because reason and the 
Word of God justified the necessity of temporarily 
tolerating useless rites, which ignorance and papal 
prejudice had fastened upon the people. In this 
way he might hope to enlist their good-will, and 
gradually develop the benign influences of light 
and liberty, and prepare that down-trodden race to 
discard the infatuation of Jesuit priests, and the 
consequent degradation to which they are subjected. 
And until the population of Central America, or 
anywhere else, shall have become Americanized by 
Protestant faith, they are unfitted to tread the 
American soil as citizens ; and we earnestly dep- 
recate the idea of the annexation to our own terri- 
tory of a race of savage idolaters, as the greatest 
national calamity that could befall us. 

In all subsequent difficulties by which the safety 
of the government of Nicaragua and President 
Walker has been perilled, the same determined 
courage has signalized the man. He executed 
Salizar when he was proved a traitor, and issued 
an exequator to the British consul when he detect- 
ed his complicity. The want of resources, and the 
consequent desertion of American troops, have at 
times since looked fatal to republican hopes ; but, 
whatever may be the result, it is glorious to recount 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 391 

the brave deeds of Americans upon that foreign soil ; 
and it will ever invest it with interest, to know that 
it is enriched by the blood of American martyrs, 
which, ultimately, must germinate the eternal prin- 
ciples of truth and freedom. 

And, while we are astonished at the unequalled 
valor of our brave men in a foreign land, we find 
in their gallant and patriotic doings fresh evidences 
of the spirit with which they would meet the enemy 
on their own soil, if called to defend the national 
honor of their country, her rights, her altars, her 
homes, and her liberties. 

We deprecate war, and believe it is opposed to 
the benevolent principles of Christianity, and we 
trust no occasion shall ever arise to plunge us into 
its cruelties ; but, if this inevitable necessity should 
come, it is a blessing to feel that we are armed with 
brave defenders, millions of freemen, ready to repel 
the invader, and triumph mightily over the foe. Cen- 
tral America is yet in the mists of papal ignorance 
and delusion, through the influence and tyranny of 
a heartless, domineering priesthood, which must 
first be put down, and their power annihilated, 
before any free government can hope for permanent 
endurance, and the true sun of liberty iise to bless 
and gild the horizon of her hopes. 



THE ROMISH SYSTEM A POLITICAL 
CORPORATION, 



CHAPTER I. 

By the Declaration of our Independence there are 
certain imprescriptible rights, derived from God, 
and of which man cannot be deprived by a ma- 
jority, or have weakened by any conditions imposed 
by society. These are rights everywhere. They 
are necessary elements of free agency, and without 
them God is not worshipped at all. God has given 
to man the Bible, and the possession and use of 
this are man's inalienable privileges. The Romish 
church has, in its general councils, restrained the 
printing, translation, and circulation, of the Bible ; 
and, by this restriction, has invaded the natural 
and indefeasible rights of man. 

The American constitution, which guarantees 
these religious principles, and the state constitu- 



ROMANISM A POLITICAL CORPORATION. 393 

tions formed since its adoption, have reaffirmed this 
safeguard in these words : "All men have a natu- 
ral and indefeasible right to worship God according 
to the dictates of their own consciences." "No 
man can, of right, be compelled to attend, erect, 
or support, any place of worship, or to maintain any 
ministry, against his consent ; no human authority 
can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with 
the rights of conscience ; and no preference shall be 
given by law to any religious establishment or mode 
of worship." This is the constitutional definition 
of religious liberty. 

The constitution, then, is republican, and, by 
these prescriptions, Protestant ; and hence the lib- 
erty, the intelligence, and the unequalled blessings, 
of the people of the United States, over the down- 
trodden, priest-ridden populations of the Konian 
Catholic countries of Europe, and of South America 
and Mexico. Romanism is an arbitrary and irre- 
sistible power over its subjects ; and the man or 
woman who becomes its voluntary devotee renounces 
the most precious rights of freedom, and cannot be 
otherwise than mentally debased. So, whoever thus 
surrenders these constitutional rights into the hands 
of the priest cannot be a good American citizen, 
17* 



394 ROMANISM A POLITICAL CORPORATION. 

nor free in any true sense. The "indelible brand 
of slavery ' ' is put upon every child who is born 
under the dominion of the Romish church, by its 
sacrament of baptism. And the fourteenth canon 
on baptism is thus: "Whoever shall affirm that, 
when these baptized children grow up, they are to 
be asked whether they will confirm the promises 
made by their god-fathers in their name, at their 
baptism ; and that if they say they will not, they 
are to be left to their own choice, and not to be 
compelled in the mean time to lead a Christian life 
by any other punishment than exclusion from the 
eucharist and other sacraments, until they repent, 
— let him be accursed." 

It is by force, then, not by moral means, that 
this obedience is enjoined ; and the promises made 
by the godfathers are to be obeyed, or the subject 
is to be forever " excluded from the eucharist and 
other sacraments." It is made not only the seal 
of bondage, but also the seal of salvation. And 
nurses and physicians, and the laity at large, are 
authorized to administer baptism to the dying infant, 
while the priest, in order to enforce these shocking 
popish rites, often leaves the mother suspended be- 
tween life and death, to save her babe from the fate 



ROMANISM A POLITICAL CORPORATION. 395 

of a heretic ! This is the first delusion practised 
upon an individual, as it is also the death-blow to 
the first principles of liberty. 

The next device to destroy the liberty of the 
individual and of nations is auricular confession. 
This papal injunction is so called because the priest 
alone, without any authority from heaven or natu- 
ral right, puts forth a claim to know all the secrets 
of all the people. This is the most dangerous feat- 
ure of the Romish church to the liberties of our 
country, and plainly proves it to be a mere political 
corporation to advance its power. This invasion of 
the primordial rights of man, and his responsibility 
to God only, is an alarming violation of human 
agency, as a free citizen,and the safety of the states. 
It is putting the people and their rulers under the 
priesthood. This confers an omnipresent espionage, 
by which the Pope of Rome can gain the secrets 
and control the votes of every Papist elector, and 
becomes a priestly political power over the millions 
of his subjects in all parts of the United States. 
This secret power of the confessional has enabled 
the priesthood, wherever it has prevailed, to extort 
legacies from wealthy individuals, to dictate wills, 
to subsidize the wealth of provinces, as well as to 



396 ROMANISM A POLITICAL CORPORATION. 

govern magistrates and monarchs ; and is the means 
by which that ambitious hierarchy has always ruled 
the countries and states in which it got a foothold. 
The dogmas for self-examination in the Book of 
Devotion, by the authority of the Roman Catholic 
priesthood in the United States, and in use all over 
our land, are enough to destroy all kinds of liberty 
Grod ever gave to the mind of man. 

The power of the confessional, too, over morals, 
is incredible and astounding. The " Christian's 
Guide to Heaven," issued under the sanction of 
Archbishop Kendrick, of Baltimore, is so vile, so 
shocking an outrage upon decency and morals, that 
none other than a Romish Jesuit could conceive it ; 
and even the men who print and circulate it have 
desired its suppression. This book says : "If you 
have anything upon your conscience which you have 
a particular difficulty in confessing, cease not, with 
prayers and tears, to importune your heavenly Father