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diff --git a/old/52026-0.txt b/old/52026-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ca39ab4..0000000 --- a/old/52026-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12638 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Matthew Calbraith Perry, by William Elliot -Griffis - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Matthew Calbraith Perry - A Typical American Naval Officer - - -Author: William Elliot Griffis - - - -Release Date: May 9, 2016 [eBook #52026] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY*** - - -E-text prepared by Larry Harrison, Cindy Beyer, and the online Distributed -Proofreaders Canada team (http://www.pgdpcanada.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 52026-h.htm or 52026-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52026/52026-h/52026-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52026/52026-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/matthewcalbraith00grifrich - - - - - -[Illustration: COMMODORE MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY.] - - -MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY - -A Typical American Naval Officer - -by - -WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS - -Author of “The Mikado’s Empire”, “Corea the Hermit Nation” -and “Japanese Fairy World” - - - - - - - -Boston -Cupples and Hurd -94 Boylston Street -1887 - -Copyright, 1887, -By Cupples and Hurd. -All Rights Reserved - -The Hyde Park Press. - - - - - IN REVERENT MEMORY - - OF MY FATHER - - JOHN L. GRIFFIS - - AND OF MY GRANDFATHER - - JOHN GRIFFIS - - WHO AS - - MERCHANT NAVIGATORS AND COMMANDERS OF SHIPS AND MEN - - at the ends of the earth - - CARRIED THE FLAG AND EXTENDED THE TRADE - - OF THE YOUNG REPUBLIC - - THIS BIOGRAPHY OF HER GREATEST SAILOR-DIPLOMATIST - - IS INSCRIBED - - BY THE AUTHOR - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - OUR EARLY NAVY. - - Chapter Page - I. THE CHILD CALBRAITH.—A REAL BOY 1 - II. BOYHOOD’S ENVIRONMENT.—UNDER THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN - STARS 10 - III. A MIDSHIPMAN’S TRAINING UNDER COMMODORE RODGERS 19 - IV. MEN, SHIPS, AND GUNS IN 1812 28 - V. SERVICE IN THE WAR OF 1812.—THE FLAG KEPT FLYING - ON ALL SEAS 38 - - - AFRICA. SLAVERS AND PIRATES. - - VI. FIRST VOYAGE TO THE DARK CONTINENT.—LIEUTENANT - PERRY GOES TO GUINEA 50 - VII. PERRY LOCATES THE SITE OF MONROVIA.—THE AFRICAN - SLAVE TRADE 58 - VIII. FIGHTING PIRATES IN THE SPANISH MAIN 65 - - - EUROPE AND DIPLOMACY. - OUR FLAG IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. - - IX. THE AMERICAN LINE-OF-BATTLE SHIP.—AMONG TURKS AND - GREEKS 72 - X. THE CONCORD IN THE SEAS OF RUSSIA AND EGYPT.—CZAR - AND KHEDIVE 81 - XI. A DIPLOMATIC VOYAGE IN THE FRIGATE - BRANDYWINE.—ANDREW JACKSON’S STALWART - POLICY.—PERRY REHEARSES FOR JAPAN.—NAPLES PAYS - UP 91 - - - SHORE DUTY. TEN YEARS OF SCIENCE AND PROGRESS. - - XII. THE FOUNDER OF THE BROOKLYN NAVAL - LYCEUM.—MASTER-COMMANDANT PERRY 99 - XIII. THE FATHER OF THE AMERICAN STEAM NAVY.—THE - ENGINEER’S STATUS FIXED.—THE LINE AND THE STAFF 110 - XIV. PERRY DISCOVERS THE RAM.—THE TRIREME’S PROW - RESTORED.—THE “LINE-OF-BATTLE” CHANGED TO “BOWS - ON” 120 - XV. LIGHTHOUSE ILLUMINATION.—LENSES OR REFLECTORS? 129 - XVI. REVOLUTIONS IN NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.—THE NEW MIDDLE - TERM BETWEEN COURAGE AND CANNON.—CALORIC 138 - XVII. THE SCHOOL OF GUN PRACTICE AT SANDY - HOOK.—BOMB-GUNS AND THE COMING SHELLS 146 - XVIII. THE TWIN STEAMERS MISSOURI AND - MISSISSIPPI.—IRON-CLADS AND ARMOR 156 - - - COMMODORE OF A SQUADRON. AFRICAN WATERS. - EXTIRPATING “THE SUM OF ALL VILLIANIES.” - - XIX. THE BROAD PENNANT.—OUR ONLY FOREIGN COLONY.—POWDER - AND BALL AT BERRIBEE 167 - XX. SCIENCE AND RELIGION.—A WAR OF INK BOTTLES.—PERRY - AS A MISSIONARY AND CIVILIZER 183 - - - THE MEXICAN WAR. - - XXI. THE MEXICAN WAR 197 - XXII. COMMODORE PERRY COMMANDS THE SQUADRON 216 - XXIII. THE NAVAL BATTERY BREACHES THE WALLS OF VERA CRUZ 226 - XXIV. THE NAVAL BRIGADE.—CAPTURE OF TABASCO 241 - XXV. FIGHTING THE YELLOW FEVER.—PEACE 251 - XXVI. RESULTS OF THE WAR.—GOLD AND THE PACIFIC COAST 261 - - - JAPAN. - - XXVII. AMERICAN ATTEMPTS TO OPEN TRADE 270 - XXVIII. ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITION TO JAPAN 281 - XXIX. PREPARATIONS FOR JAPAN.—AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE 294 - XXX. THE FIRE-VESSELS OF THE WESTERN BARBARIANS 314 - XXXI. PANIC IN YEDO.—RECEPTION OF THE PRESIDENT’S LETTER 329 - XXXII. JAPANESE PREPARATIONS FOR TREATY-MAKING 343 - XXXIII. THE PROFESSOR AND THE SAILOR MAKE A TREATY 359 - XXXIV. LAST LABORS 375 - - - THE MAN AND HIS WORK. - - XXXV. MATTHEW PERRY AS A MAN 395 - XXXVI. WORKS THAT FOLLOW 409 - - ======== - - APPENDICES. - Chapter Page - I. AUTHORITIES 427 - II. ORIGIN OF THE PERRY NAME AND FAMILY 429 - III. THE NAME CALBRAITH 430 - IV. THE FAMILY OF M. C. PERRY 431 - V. OFFICIAL DETAIL OF M. C. PERRY 433 - VI. THE NAVAL APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 435 - VII. DUELLING 440 - VIII. MEMORIALS IN ART OF M. C. PERRY 443 - - ======== - - INDEX 447 - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - COMMODORE MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY - THE UNITED STATES STEAM FRIGATE “MISSISSIPPI” - PERRY AT THE AGE OF FIFTY-FOUR - CONVEYANCE AT FUNCHAL - COMMODORE PERRY ENTERING THE TREATY-HOUSE - SIGNATURES AND PEN-SEALS OF THE JAPANESE TREATY - COMMISSIONERS - SILVER SALVER IN POSSESSION OF COMMODORE PERRY’S - DAUGHTER, MRS. AUGUST BELMONT - MEDAL PRESENTED BY THE MERCHANTS OF BOSTON - COMMODORE PERRY’S AUTOGRAPH - - - - - P R E F A C E. - -AMONG the earliest memories of a childhood spent near the now vanished -Philadelphia Navy Yard, are the return home of the marines and sailors -from the Mexican war, the launch of the noble steam frigate -_Susquehanna_, the salutes from the storeship _Princeton_, and the -exhibit of the art treasures brought home by the United States -Expedition to Japan—all associated with the life of Commodore M. C. -Perry. Years afterwards, on the shores of that bay made historic by his -diplomacy, I heard the name of Perry spoken with reverence and -enthusiasm. The younger men of Japan, with faces flushed with new ideas -of the Meiji era, called him the moral liberator of their nation. Many -and eager were the questions asked concerning his career, and especially -his personal history. - -Yet little could be told, for in American literature and popular -imagination, the name of the hero of Lake Erie seemed to overshadow the -fame of the younger, and, as I think, greater brother. The dramatic -incidents of war impress the popular mind far more profoundly than do -the victories of peace. Even American writers confound the two brothers, -treating them as the same person, making one the son of the other, or -otherwise doing fantastic violence to history. Numerous biographies have -been written, and memorials in art, of marble, bronze and canvas, on -coin and currency, of Oliver Hazard Perry, have been multiplied. No -biography of Matthew Calbraith Perry has, until this writing, appeared. -In Japan, popular curiosity fed itself on flamboyant broadside -chromo-pictures, “blood-pit” novels, and travesties of history, in which -Perry was represented either as a murderous swash-buckler or a -consumptive-looking and over-decorated European general. It was to -satisfy an earnest desire of the Japanese to know more of the man, who -so profoundly influenced their national history, that this biography was -at first undertaken. - -I began the work by a study of the scenes of Perry’s triumphs in Japan, -and of his early life in Rhode Island; by interviews in navy yard, -hospital and receiving-ship, with the old sailors who had served under -him in various crusades; by correspondence and conversation with his -children, personal friends, fellow-officers, critics, enemies, and -eye-witnesses of his labors and works. I followed up this out-door -peripatetic study by long and patient research in the archives of the -United States Navy Department in Washington, with collateral reading of -American, European, Mexican and Japanese books, manuscripts and -translations bearing on the subject; and, most valued of all, documents -from the Mikado’s Department of State in Tōkiō. - -As the career and character of my subject unfolded, I discovered that -Matthew Perry was no creature of routine, but a typical American naval -officer whose final triumph crowned a long and brilliant career. He had -won success in Japanese waters not by a series of happy accidents, but -because all his previous life had been a preparation to win it. - -In this narrative, much condensed from the original draft, no attempt -has been made to do either justice or injustice to Perry’s -fellow-officers, or to write a history of his times, or of the United -States Navy. Many worthy names have been necessarily omitted. For the -important facts recorded, reliance has been placed on the written word -of documentary evidence. Fortunately, Perry was a master of the pen and -of his native language. As he wrote almost all of his own letters and -official reports, his papers, both public and private, are not only -voluminous and valuable but bear witness to his scrupulous regard for -personal mastery of details, as well as for style and grammar, fact and -truth. - -Unable to thank all who have so kindly aided me, I must especially -mention with gratitude the Hon. Wm. E. Chandler and W. C. Whitney, -Secretaries of the United States Navy Department, Prof. J. R. Soley, -chief clerk T. W. Hogg and clerk J. Cassin, for facilities in consulting -the rich archives of the United States Navy; Admiral D. D. Porter and -Rear-Admirals John Almy, D. Ammen, C. R. P. Rodgers, T. A. Jenkins, J. -H. Upshur, and Captain Arthur Yates; the retired officers, pay director -J. G. Harris, Lieut. T. S. Bassett and Lieut. Silas Bent formerly of the -United States Navy, for light on many points and for reminiscences; -Messrs. P. S. P. Conner, John H. Redfield, Joseph Jenks, R. B. Forbes, -Chas. H. Haswell, Joshua Follansbee, and the Hon. John A. Bingham, for -special information; the daughters of Captains H. C. Adams, and Franklin -Buchanan, for the use of letters and for personalia; Rev. E. Warren -Clark, Miss Orpah Rose, Miss E. B. Carpenter and others in Rhode Island, -for anecdotes of Perry’s early life; the Hon. Gideon Nye of Canton; the -Rev G. F. Verbeck of Tōkiō; many Japanese friends, especially Mr. Inazo -Ota, for documents and notes; and last, but not least, the daughters of -Commodore M. C. Perry, Mrs. August Belmont, Mrs. R. S. Rodgers, and -especially Mrs. George Tiffany, who loaned letters and scrap-books, and, -with Mrs. Elizabeth R. Smith of Hartford, furnished much important -personal information. Among the vanished hands and the voices that are -now still, that have aided me, are those of Rear-Admirals Joshua R. -Sands, George H. Preble, and J. B. F. Sands, Dr. S. Wells Williams, Gen. -Horace Capron, and others. A list of Japanese books consulted, and of -Perry’s autograph writings and publications, will be found in the -Appendix; references are in footnotes. - -The work now committed to type was written at Schenectady, N. Y., in the -interstices of duties imperative to a laborious profession; and with it -are linked many pleasant memories of the kindly neighbors and fellow -Christians there; as well as of hospitality in Washington. In its -completion and publication in Boston, new friends have taken a -gratifying interest, among whom I gratefully name Mr. S. T. Snow, and M. -F. Dickinson, Esq. - -In setting in the framework of true history this figure of a -fellow-American great in war and in peace, the intention has been not to -glorify the profession of arms, to commend war, to show any lack of -respect to my English ancestors or their descendants, to criticise any -sect or nation, to ventilate any private theories; but, to tell a true -story that deserves the telling, to show the attractiveness of manly -worth and noble traits wherever found, and to cement the ties of -friendship between Japan and the United States. One may help to build up -character by pointing to a good model. To the lads of my own country, -but especially to Japanese young men, I commend the study of Matthew -Perry’s career. The principles, in which he was trained at home by his -mother and father, of the religion which anchored him by faith in the -eternal realties, and of the Book which he believed and read constantly, -lie at the root of what is best in the progress of a nation. No Japanese -will make a mistake who follows Perry as he followed the guidance of -these principles; while the United States will be Japan’s best exemplar -and faithful friend only so far as she illustrates them in her national -policy. - - W. E. G. -SHAWMUT CHURCH PARSONAGE, - _Boston, July 1st, 1887_. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - THE CHILD CALBRAITH. - - -WHEN in the year 1854, all Christendom was thrilled by the news of the -opening of Japan to intercourse with the world, the name of Commodore -Matthew Perry was on the lips of nations. In Europe it was acknowledged -that the triumph had been achieved by no ordinary naval officer. -Consummate mastery of details combined with marked diplomatic talents -stamped Matthew Calbraith Perry as a man whose previous history was -worth knowing. That history we propose to outline. - -The life of our subject is interesting for the following among many -excellent reasons:— - -1. While yet a lad, he was active as a naval officer in the war of 1812. - -2. He chose the location of the first free black settlement in Liberia. - -3. He was, to the end of his life, one of the leading educators of the -United States Navy. - -4. He was the father of our steam navy. - -5. He first demonstrated the efficiency of the ram as a weapon of -offense in naval warfare. - -6. He founded the naval-apprenticeship system. - -7. He was an active instrument in assisting to extirpate the foreign -slave-trade on the west coast of Africa. - -8. His methods helped to remove duelling, the grog ration and flogging -out of the American navy. - -9. He commanded, in 1847, the largest squadron which, up to that date, -had ever assembled under the American flag, in the Gulf of Mexico. The -naval battery manned by his pupils in gunnery decided the fate of Vera -Cruz, and his fleet’s presence enabled Scott’s army to reach the -Capital. - -10. His final triumph was the opening of Japan to the world,—one of the -three single events in American History,—the Declaration of -Independence, and the Arbitration of the Alabama claims being the other -two,—which have had the greatest influence upon the world at large. - -Sturdy ancestry, parental and especially a mother’s training, good -education, long experience, and persistent self-culture enabled Matthew -Perry to earn that “brain-victory” over the Japanese of which none are -more proud than themselves. - -Let us look at his antecedents.[1] Three at least among the early -immigrants to Massachusetts bore the name of Perry. Englishmen of -England’s heroic age, they were of Puritan and Quaker stock. Their -descendants have spread over various parts of the United States. - -He, with whom our narrative concerns itself, Edmund or Edward Perry, the -ancestor, in the sixth degree both of the “Japan,” and the “Lake Erie” -Perry, was born in Devonshire in 1630. He was a Friend of decidedly -militant turn of mind. He preached the doctrines of peace, with the -spirit of war, to the Protector’s troops. Oliver, not wishing this, made -it convenient to Edmund Perry to leave England. - -By settling at Sandwich in 1653, then the headquarters of the Friends in -America, he took early and vigorous part in “the Quaker invasion of -Massachusetts.” On first day of first month, 1676, he wrote a Railing -against the Court of Plymouth, for which he was heavily fined. He -married Mary the daughter of Edmund Freeman, the vice-governor of the -colony. His son Samuel, born in 1654, emigrated to Rhode Island, and -bought the Perry farm, near South Kingston, which still remains in -possession of the family. The later Perrys married in the Raymond and -Hazard families. - -Christopher Raymond Perry, the fifth descendant in the male line of -Edward Perry, and the son of Freeman Perry, was born December 4th, 1761. -His mother was Mercy Hazard, the daughter of Oliver Hazard and Elizabeth -Raymond. He became the father of five American naval officers, of whom -Oliver Hazard and Matthew Calbraith are best known. The war of the -Revolution broke out when he was but in his 15th year. The militant -traits of his ancestor were stronger in him than the pacific tenets of -his sect. He enlisted in the Kingston Reds. The service not being -exciting, he volunteered in Captain Reed’s Yankee privateer. His second -cruise was made in the _Mifflin_, Captain G. W. Babcock. - -Like the other ships of the colonies in the Revolution, the _Mifflin_ -was a one-decked, uncoppered “bunch of pine boards,” in which patriotism -and valor could ill compete with British frigates of seasoned oak. -Captured by the cruisers of King George, the crew was sent to the prison -ship _Jersey_. This hulk lay moored where the afternoon shadows of the -great bridge-cables are now cast upon the East River. For three months, -the boy endured the horrors of imprisonment in this floating coffin. It -was with not much besides bones, however, that he escaped. - -As soon as health permitted, he enlisted on board the U. S. man-of-war -_Trumbull_, commanded by Captain James Nicholson, armed with thirty guns -and manned by two-hundred men. On the 2d of June 1780, she fell in with -the British letter-of-marque _Watt_, a ship heavier and larger and with -more men and guns than the _Trumbull_. The conflict was the severest -naval duel of the war. It was in the old days of unscientific -cannonading; before carronades had revealed their power to smash at -short range, or shell-guns to tear ships to pieces, or rifles to -penetrate armor. With smooth-bores of twelve and six pound calibre, a -battle might last hours or even days, before either ship was sunk, fired -or surrendered. The prolonged mutilation of human flesh had little to do -with the settlement of the question. The _Trumbull_ and the _Watt_ lay -broadside with each other and but one hundred yards apart, exchanging -continual volleys. The _Trumbull_ was crippled, but her antagonist -withdrew, not attempting capture. - -By the accidents of war and the overwhelming force of the enemy, our -little navy was nearly annihilated by the year 1780. Slight as may seem -the value of its services, its presence on the seas helped mightily to -finally secure victory. The regular cruisers and the privateers captured -British vessels laden with supplies and ammunition of war. Washington’s -army owed much of its efficiency to this source, for no fewer than -eight-hundred British prizes were brought to port. So keenly did Great -Britain feel the privateers’ sting that about the year 1780, she struck -a blow designed to annihilate them. Her agents were instructed not to -exchange prisoners taken on privateers. This order influenced C. R. -Perry’s career. He had enlisted for the third time, daring now to beard -the lion in his den. Cruising in the Irish sea, he was captured and -carried as a prisoner to Newry, County Down, Ireland. - -Here, though there was no prospect of release till the war was over, he -received very different treatment from that on the _Jersey_. Allowed to -go out on parole, he met a lad named Baillie Wallace, and his cousin, -Sarah Alexander. Of her we shall hear later. - -After eighteen months imprisonment, Perry made his escape. As seaman on -a British vessel, he reached St. Thomas in the West Indies. Thence -sailing to Charleston, he found the war over and peace declared. - -Remembering the pretty face which had lighted up his captivity, Perry, -the next year, made a voyage as mate of a merchant vessel to Ireland. -Providence favored his wishes, for on the return voyage Mr. Calbraith, -an old friend of the Alexanders and Wallaces, embarked as a passenger to -Philadelphia. With him, to Perry’s delight, went Miss Sarah Alexander on -a visit to her uncle, a friend of Dr. Benjamin Rush. Matthew Calbraith, -a little boy and the especial pet of Miss Alexander, came also. - -An ocean voyage a century ago was not measured by days—a sail in a -hotel between morning worship at Queenstown and a sermon in New York on -the following Sunday night—but consumed weeks. The lovers had ample -time. Perry had the suitor’s three elements of success,—propinquity, -opportunity and importunity. Before they arrived in this country, they -were betrothed. - -On landing in Philadelphia, the first news received by Miss Alexander at -the mouth of Dr. Benjamin Rush was of the death of both uncle and aunt. -Her relatives had committed her to the care of Dr. Rush and at his house -the young couple were married in October 1784. - -The bride, though but sixteen years, was rich in beauty, character and -spirit. The groom was twenty-three, “A warm-hearted high-spirited man, -very handsome, with dashing manners, and very polite. He treated people -with distinction but would be quick to resent an insult.” The young -couple for their wedding journey traveled to South Kingston, R. I. There -they enjoyed an enthusiastic reception. - -The race-traits of the sturdy British yeomanry and of the Scotch-Irish -people were now to blend in forming the parentage of Oliver and Matthew -Perry, names known to all Americans. - -Away from her childhood’s home in a strange land, the message from the -45th Psalm—the Song of Loves—now came home to the young wife with a -force that soon conquered homesickness, and with a meaning that deepened -with passing years. - -“Hearken, O daughter, and consider and incline thine ear, forget also -thine own people and thy father’s house.” - -“Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children whom thou mayest make -princes in all the earth.” - -Captain C. R. Perry entered the commercial marine and for thirteen years -made voyages as mate, master or supercargo to Europe, South America and -the East Indies. Even then, our flag floated in all seas. It had been -raised in China, and seen at Nagasaki in Japan. In 1789 and ’90, the U. -S. S. _Columbus_ and _Washington_ circumnavigated the globe, the first -American war vessels to do so. The cities of Providence and Newport -secured a large portion of the trade with Cathay. - -The future hero of Lake Erie was ten years old, and two other children, -a son and a daughter, played in the sea-captain’s home at Newport, when -America’s greatest sailor-diplomat was born on the 10th day of April -1794. After her former young friend, at this time a promising young -merchant in Philadelphia, the mother named her third son Matthew -Calbraith Perry. The boy was destined to outlive his parents and all his -brothers. - -Matthew Perry was an eager, active, and robust child full of life and -energy. His early youth was spent in Newport, at courtly Tower Hill, and -on the farm at South Kingston. From the first, his mother and his kin -called him “Calbraith.” This was his name in the family even to adult -life. Few anecdotes of his boyhood are remembered, but one is -characteristic. - -When only three years old, the ruddy-faced child was in Kingston. Like a -Japanese, he could not say _l_, as in “lash.” He walked about with a -whip in his hand which he called his “rass.” There was a tan yard near -by and the bark was ground by a superannuated horse. One of his older -brothers called him an “old bark horse.” This displeased the child. He -reddened with anger, and his temper exploded in one of those naughty -words, which in a baby’s mouth often surprise parents. They wonder where -the uncanny things have been picked up; but our baby-boy added, “If I -knew more, I would say it.” For this outburst of energy, he suffered -maternal arrest. Placed in irons, or apron strings, he was tied up until -repentant. - -That was Matthew Perry—never doing less than his best. Action was -limited only by ability—“If I knew more, I would say it.” The Japanese -proverb says “The heart of a child of three years remains until he is -sixty.” The western poet writes it, “The child is father of the man.” If -he had known more, even in Yedo bay in 1854, he would have done even -better than his own best; which, like the boast of the Arctic hero, was -that he “beat the record.” - ------ - -[1] See Appendix.—Origin of the Perry Name and Family. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - BOYHOOD’S ENVIRONMENT. - - -IN the year 1797, war between France and the United States seemed -inevitable, and “Hail Columbia” was sung all over the land. The Navy -Department of the United States was created May 21, 1798. Captain Perry, -having offered his services to the government, was appointed by -President Adams, a post-captain in the navy June 9, 1798, and ordered to -build and command the frigate _General Greene_ at Warren, R. I. The -keels of six sloops and six seventy-four gun ships were also laid. In -May, 1799, the _General Greene_ was ready for sea. - -With his son Oliver as midshipman, Captain Perry sailed for the West -Indies to convoy American merchantmen. He left his wife and family at -Tower Hill, a courtly village with a history and fine society. Matthew -was five years old. He had been taught to read by his mother, and now -attended the school-house, an edifice, which, now a century old, has -degenerated to a corn-crib. - -Mrs. Perry lived in “the court end” of the town, and, after school, -would tell her little sons of their father and brothers at sea. This -element was ever in sight with its ships, its mystery, and its beckoning -distances. From Tower Hill may be seen Newport, Conanticut Island, Block -Island, Point Judith, and a stretch of inland country diversified by -lakes, and what the Coreans call “Ten thousand flashings of blue waves.” - -After two brilliant cruises in the Spanish Main, and a visit to -Louisiana, where the American flag was first displayed by a national -ship, Captain Perry returned to Newport in May, 1800. Negotiations with -France terminated peacefully, and the first act of President Jefferson -was to cut down the navy to a merely nominal existence. Out of forty-two -captains only nine were retained in service, and Captain Perry again -found himself in private life. - -The first and logical result of reducing the nation’s police force on -the seas, was the outbreak of piracy. Our expanding commerce found -itself unprotected, and the Algerian corsairs captured our vessels and -threw their crews into slavery. In the war with the Barbary powers, our -navy gained its first reputation abroad in the classic waters of the -Mediterranean. - -Meanwhile at Newport the boy, Matthew Calbraith, continued his education -under school-teachers, and his still more valuable training in character -under his mother. The family lived near “the Point,” and during the long -voyages of the father, the training of the sons and daughters fell -almost wholly on the mother. - -It was a good gift of Providence to our nation, this orphan Irish bride -so amply fitted to be the mother of heroes. Of a long line of officers -in the navy of the United States, most of those bearing the name of -Perry, and several of the name of Rodgers, call Sarah Alexander their -ancestress. One of the forefathers of the bride, who was of the -Craigie-Wallace family, was Sir Richard Wallace of Riccarton, Scotland. -He was the elder brother of Malcom Wallace of Ellerslie, the father of -Sir William Wallace. Her grandfather was James Wallace, an officer in -the Scottish army, who signed the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643, -but resigned his commission some years later. With other gentlemen from -Ayrshire, he took refuge from religious persecution in North Ireland. -Though earnest Protestants, they became involved in the Irish rebellion -in Cromwell’s time and were driven to resistance of the English -invaders. - -As a young girl Sarah Alexander had not only listened to oft-repeated -accounts of the battles and valor of her ancestors but was familiar with -the historic sites in the neighborhood of her childhood’s home. She -believed her own people the bravest in the world. Well educated, and -surrounded with the atmosphere of liberal culture, of high ideas, of the -sacredness of duty and the beauty of religion, she had been morally well -equipped for the responsibilities of motherhood and mature life. Add to -this, the self-reliance naturally inbred by dwelling as an orphan girl -among five young men, her cousins; and last and most important, the -priceless advantage of a superb physique, and one sees beforehand to -what inheritance her sons were to come. One old lady, who remembers her -well, enthusiastically declared that “she was wonderfully calculated to -form the manners of children.” Another who knew her in later life writes -of her as “a Spartan mother,” “a grand old lady.” Another says -“Intelligent, lady-like, well educated;” another that “she was all that -is said of her in Mackenzie’s Life of O. H. Perry.” Those nearest to her -remember her handsome brown eyes, dark hair, rich complexion, fine white -teeth, and stately figure. - -The deeds of the Perry men are matters of history. The province of the -women was at home, but it was the mothers, of the Hazard and the -Alexander blood who prepared the men for their careers by moulding in -them the principles from which noble actions spring. - -Discipline, sweetened with love, was the system of the mother of the -Perry boys, and the foundation of their education. First of all, they -must obey. The principles of Christianity, of honor, and of chivalry -were instilled in their minds from birth. _Noblesse oblige_ was their -motto. It was at home, under their mother’s eye that Oliver learned how -to win victory at Lake Erie, and Matthew a treaty with Japan. She fired -the minds of her boys with the ineradicable passion of patriotism, the -love of duty, and the conquest of self. At the same time, she trained -them to the severest virtue, purest motives, faithfulness in details, a -love for literature, and a reverence for sacred things. The habit which -Matthew C. Perry had of reading his Bible through once during every -cruise, his scrupulous regard for the Lord’s day, the American Sunday, -his taste for literature, and his love for the English classics were -formed at his mother’s knee. - -The vigor of her mind and force of her character were illustrated in -other ways. While personally attractive with womanly graces, gentle and -persuasive in her manners, she believed that self-preservation is the -first law of nature. Training her sons to kindness and consideration of -others, and warning them to avoid quarrels, she yet demanded of them -that they should neither provoke nor receive an insult, nor ever act the -coward. How well her methods were understood by her neighbors, is shown -by an incident which occurred shortly after news of the victory at Lake -Erie reached Rhode Island. An old farmer stoutly insisted that it was -Mrs. Perry who had “licked the British.” - -There was much in the social atmosphere and historical associations of -Newport at the opening of this century to nourish the ambition and fire -the imagination of impressible lads like the Perry boys. Here still -lived the French veteran, Count Rochambeau of revolutionary fame. Out in -the bay, fringed with fortifications of Indian, Dutch, Colonial and -British origin and replete with memories of stirring deeds, lay the hulk -of the famous ship in which Captain Cook had observed the transit of -Venus and circumnavigated the globe. Here, possibly, the Norsemen had -come to dwell centuries before, and fascinating though uncertain -tradition pointed to the then naked masonry of the round tower as -evidence of it. The African slave-trade was very active at this time, -and brought much wealth to Newport and the old manors served by black -slaves fresh from heathenism. Among other noted negroes was Phillis -Wheatly the famous poetess, then in her renown, who had been brought to -Boston in 1781 in a slave-ship. What was afterwards left to Portuguese -cut-throats and Soudan Arabs was, until within the memory of old men now -living, prosecuted by Yankee merchants and New England deacons whose -ship’s cargoes consisted chiefly of rum and manacles. At this iniquity, -Matthew Perry was one day to deal a stunning blow. - -Here, too, had tarried Berkeley, not then a bishop, however, whose -prophecy, “Westward the star of empire takes its way” was to be -fulfilled by Matthew Perry across new oceans, even to Japan. Once a year -the gaily decked packet-boat set out from Newport to Providence to carry -the governor from one capital to the other. This was a red-letter day to -little Calbraith, in whose memory it remained bright and clear to the -day of his death. When he was about ten years old, Mr. Matthew Calbraith -now thirty years old and a successful merchant, came from Philadelphia -to visit the Perrys. He was delighted with his little namesake, and -prophesied that he would make the name of Perry more honorable yet. - -The affair of the _Leopard_ and _Chesapeake_ in June 1807 thrilled every -member of the family. Matthew begged that he might, at once, enter the -navy. This, however, was not yet possible to the boy of twelve years, so -he remained at school. - -What Providence meant to teach, when an American man-of-war with her -decks littered up and otherwise unfit for action was surprised by a -hostile ship, was not lost upon our navy. The humiliating but salutary -lesson was learned for all time. Neatness, vigilance and constant -preparation for the possibilities of action are now the characteristics -of our naval households. So far as we know, no other ship of our country -has since been “leopardized.” - -Even out of their bitter experience, the American sailors took -encouragement. The heavy broadsides of a fifty-gun frigate against a -silent ship had done surprisingly little damage. British traditions -suffered worse than the timbers of the _Chesapeake_, or the hearts of -her sailors. The moral effect was against the offenders, and in favor of -the Americans. The mists of rumor and exaggeration were blown away, and -henceforth our captains and crews awaited with stern joy their first -onset with insolent oppressors. If ever the species bully had developed -an abominable variety, it was the average British navy captain of the -first decade of this century. - -Providence was severing the strings which bound the infant nation to her -European nurse. If the mere crossing of the Atlantic by the Anglo Saxon -or Germanic race has been equivalent to five hundred years of progress, -we may, at this day, be thankful for the treacherous broadsides of the -_Leopard_. - -Having a well-grounded faith in the future of his country, and in the -speedy renown of her navy, Captain Perry wished all his sons to be naval -officers. He had confidence in American ships and cannon, and believed -that, handled by native Americans, they were a match for any in the -world. His sons Oliver and Raymond already wore the uniform. Early in -1808, he wrote to the Department concerning an appointment for Matthew. -His patience was not long tried. Under date of April 23, 1808, he -received word from the secretary, Paul Smith, that nothing stood in the -way. The receipt of the warrant as midshipman was eagerly awaited by the -lad. On the 18th of January 1809, the paper arrived. He was ordered -March 16th to the naval station at New York, where he performed for -several weeks such routine duty as a lad of his age could do. He then -went aboard the schooner _Revenge_, his first home afloat. - -In those days, there being no naval academy, the young midshipmen -entered as mere boys, learning the rudiments of seamanship by actual -practice on ships at sea. Thus began our typical American naval -officer’s long and brilliant career of nearly half a century. - -Matthew Perry was born when our flag bearing the stars and stripes was -so new on the seas as to be regarded with curiosity. It had then but -fifteen stars in its cluster. Civilized states disregarded its -neutrality, and uncivilized people insulted it with impunity. The -Tripolitan war first compelled barbarians to respect the emblem. France, -one of the most powerful and unscrupulous of belligerents, had not yet -learned to honor its right of neutrality. Great Britain, to the insults -of spoliation, added the robbery of impressment. Matthew Perry entered -the United States navy with a burning desire to make this flag respected -in every sea. He lived to command the largest fleet which, in his -lifetime ever gathered under its folds, and to bear it to the uttermost -parts of the earth in the first steam frigate of the United States which -ever circumnavigated the globe. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - A MIDSHIPMAN’S TRAINING UNDER COMMODORE RODGERS. - - -THE schooner _Revenge_, commanded by his brother Oliver, to which -Matthew Perry was ordered for his first cruise, had been purchased in -1807. She mounted twelve guns, had a crew of ninety men, and was -attached to the squadron under Commodore John Rodgers, which numbered -four frigates, five sloops, and some smaller vessels. His duty was to -guard our coasts from the Chesapeake to Passamaquoddy Bay, to prevent -impressment of American sailors by British cruisers. The _Revenge_ was -to cruise between Montauk Point and Nantucket Shoals. - -Boy as he was, Matthew Perry seems not to have relished the idea of -serving in a coasting schooner. Having an opportunity to make a voyage -to the East Indies, the idea of visiting Asia fascinated his -imagination. It seemed to offer a fine field for obtaining nautical -knowledge. Bombay was at this time the seat of British naval excellence -in ship building, and an eighty-gun vessel, built of teak or India oak, -was launched every three years. A petition for furlough was not, -however, granted and the voyage to Asia was postponed nearly half a -century. - -Under such a commander, and with his brother Oliver, the boy Matthew was -initiated into active service. The _Revenge_ kept look-out during summer -and winter, and in April went southward to Washington and the Carolinas. - -As there was as yet nothing to do but to be vigilant and to prepare for -the war which was—unless Great Britain changed her impressment -policy—sure to come, daily attention was given to drill. The sailors -were especially taught to keep cool and bide their time to fire. All the -Perrys, father and sons, were diligent students of ordnance and gunnery. -They were masters of both theory and practice. Among the list of -subscribers to Toussard’s Artillerist, written at the request of -Washington, and published in 1809, is the name of Oliver H. Perry. - -On the 12th of October, 1810, Midshipman M. C. Perry was ordered from -the _Revenge_ (which was wrecked off Watch Hill, R. I., January 8, 1811) -to the frigate _President_. This brought him on the flag-ship, the -finest of the heavy frigates of 1797, and directly under the eye of -Commodore Rodgers. On the 16th of October she went on a short cruise of -ten days and returned to her port for the winter, where Raymond Perry -joined him. News of the whereabouts of the British ships _Shannon_ and -_Guerriere_ was regularly received, and the crew kept alert and ready -for work with the press-gang. This was the beginning of three years -service by the two Perry brothers on this famous ship. - -From March 19, 1811, until July 25, 1813, Matthew kept a diary in which -he made observations relating chiefly to the weather and matters of -technical interest, with occasional items of historical value. The -boyish ambition for ample proportions in the book is offset by the -accuracy studied in the entries, and the excessive modesty of all -statements relating to himself, even to his wound received by the -bursting of a gun. It contains frequent reference to personages whose -congenial home was the quarter-deck, the lustre of whose names still -glitters in history like the fresh sand which they sprinkled on their -letters—now entombed in the naval archives at Washington. - -From the first, the bluff disciplinarian, Commodore Rodgers, took a -kindly interest in his midshipman. He was especially exacting of his -juniors whom he liked, or in whom he saw promise. His dignity, -discipline and spirit, were models constantly imitated by his pupils. - -One day, while on duty on that part of the deck which roofed the -commodore’s cabin, Matthew Perry paced up and down his beat with, what -seemed to the occupant below, an unnecessarily noisy stride. Irate at -being disturbed while writing, the commodore rushed out on deck, -demanded the spy glass and bade Perry to put himself in his superior’s -place in the cabin, and sit there to learn how the iniquity of his heels -sounded. Then with ponderous tread, exaggerated stride, and mock -dignity, the commodore of the whole fleet gave a dramatic object-lesson. -It profited the lad no less than it amused the spectators. - -Soon after this, Perry was made commodore’s aide. - -The diary shows that constant exercise at the “great guns and small -arms” was practiced. Rodgers knew that his men were to meet the heroes -of Trafalgar, and he believed that American gunnery would quickly settle -questions over which diplomacy had become impotent. - -The _President_, leaving New London for New York, set sail April 22 for -Annapolis, casting anchor opposite Fort Severn, May 2. Here the vessel -lay for ten days. As everything was quiet along the coast, Commodore -Rodgers went to his home at Havre de Grace, seventy miles distant, to -visit his family. The purser and chaplain took a trip to Washington, and -on board all was as quiet as a city church aisle in summer. - -Late at night, May 6, there came dispatches from the Navy Department. -Two men had been taken from the merchant brig, _Spitfire_, within -eighteen miles of New York. One of the young men impressed, John Deguys, -was known to the captain to be a native of Maine. The _Guerriere_, -Captain Dacres, was, as usual, suspected. - -The news created great excitement, for the constant search of American -ships and the impressment of such men, as the arrogant English captains -chose to call British “subjects,” had roused our sailors’ ire. They -burned to change this disgraceful state of things and to avenge the -_Chesapeake_ affair. The officers of the _Guerriere_, painting the name -of their frigate on her topsails, in large white letters, had been -conspicuous for their bravado in insulting American merchant captains. - -This was the age of British boasting on the sea, of huge canvas and -enormous flags. For during nigh two score years, the British sailors, -“lords of the main,” had ruled the waves, rarely losing a ship, and -never a squadron, in their numerous battles. Uninterrupted success had -bred many bullies. The trade of New York had been injured by these -annoying searches and delays. The orders to Commodore Rodgers were to -proceed at once to stop the outrageous proceedings. The vexed question -of impressment had, since 1790, caused an incredible amount of -negotiation. It was now to pass out of the hands of secretaries into the -control of our naval captains, with power to solve the problem. - -To get the dispatches to the commodore was the duty in hand. Neither -steamer nor telegraph could then help to perform it; but hearts and -hands were true, and Matthew Perry was ready to show the stuff of which -he was made. Captain Ludlow at once entrusted the delicate matter to the -commodore’s aide. - -Matthew Perry set out before daylight in the commodore’s gig. The pull -of seventy miles was made against a head wind. Taking his seat at the -helm, he cheered on his men, but it was a long and hard day’s work. It -was nearly dark when the lights of the village danced in the distance. -At this moment one of the men dropped his oar, and sank back with the -blood gushing from his mouth and nostrils. In his over-strain he had -burst a blood vessel. - -Rodgers at once took the boat, and with the wind in his favor hoisted -sail. At 3 P. M., May 7, as Captain Ludlow was dining on the sloop -_Argus_, near the _President_, the gig was descried five miles distant -bearing the broad pennant. Perry, in his journal, modestly omits, as is -customary with him, all reference to this exploit of bringing back the -commodore. But under the entry of May 10, he writes: “At 10 hoisted out -the launch, carried out a kedge and warped the ship out of the roads.” - -The _President_ put to sea with her name boldly blazoned on her three -topsails like the _Guerriere’s_. All on board were ready and eager for -an opportunity to wipe out this last disgrace. Perry writes, on the -13th: “At 3 spoke the brig . . . . from Trinidad—informed us that the -day before she was boarded by an English sloop-of-war.” “At 7 the -_Argus_ hove to alongside of us. Captain Lawrence came on board—at 8 -Captain L. left the ship.” Next day “at 3 exercised great guns”; “at -half-past 8 passed New Point Comfort. At 10 opened the magazine and took -out thirty-two twenty-four pound and twenty-four forty-two pound -cartridges.” - -At 1 o’clock in the afternoon of the 17th, a strange sail was -noticed—the ensign and pennant were raised, the ship was cleared for -action and the crew beat to quarters. The signals of the strange ship -were not answered. The two ships were at this time but a few leagues -south of Sandy Hook. - -The stranger ship was none other than the British sloop-of-war _Little -Belt_, carrying twenty-two guns. As what took place really precipitated -the war of 1812, we give the record from Perry’s diary without -alteration. - -“At 7 P. M. the chase took in her studding-sails, distant about eight -miles. At ten or twelve minutes past 7 she rounded to on the -starboard-tack. At half-past 7 shortened sail. At half-past 8 rounded to -on her weather beam, within half a cable’s length of her; hailed and -asked ‘what ship is that’? to which she replied, ‘what ship is that’? -and on the commodore’s asking the second time ‘what ship is that’? -received a shot from her which was immediately returned from our -gun-deck, but was scarcely fired before she fired three other guns -accompanied with musquetry. We then commenced a general fire which -lasted about fifteen minutes, when the order was given to cease firing, -our adversary being silent and apparently in much distress. At 9 hauled -on a wind on the starboard-tack, the strange ship having dropped astern -so far that the commodore did not choose to follow, supposing that he -had sufficiently chastised her for her insolence in firing into an -American frigate. Kept our battle-lanthorns burning. After having -examined the damage, found that the ship had her foremast and mainmast -wounded and some rigging shot away—one boy only wounded—before -daylight the masts were fished, moulded and painted, and everything -taut. - -“At 5 A. M. discovered the strange sail and bore down for her. At 8 came -alongside and sent a boat aboard her. She was lying in a very shattered -situation; no sail bent except her maintopsail; her rigging all shot -away; three or four shots through her masts; several between wind and -water; her gaft shot away, etc. At 9 the boat returned; she proved to be -the British ship-of-war _Little Belt_, Captain Bingham; permitted her to -proceed on her course, hoisted the boat up and hauled by the wind on the -larboard tack; ends clear and pleasant.” - -In this battle the young midshipman first heard a hostile shot and -received his initial “baptism of fire.” The accounts of this affair -given by the two commanders, Rodgers and Bingham, cannot be reconciled. -Captain Bingham, acquitted of blame, was promoted February 7, 1812, to -post-rank in the British navy. The event widened the breach between the -two nations, and was the foreshadowing of coming events not long to be -postponed. Probably Rodgers’ chief regret was that the punished vessel -had not been the _Guerriere_. - -The rest of the year, 1811, was spent by our sailors in constant -readiness and unremitting discipline in order to secure the highest -state of naval efficiency. Exercise at the carronades and long guns was -a daily task. The coming war on the ocean was to be a contest in -gunnery, and to be won by tactical skill, long guns, and superiority in -artillery practice. Nothing was left to chance on the American ships. -Congress had neglected the navy since the Tripolitan war, and with -embargoes, non-intercourse acts, and a puerile gun-boat system, -practically attempted to paralyze this arm of defence. Commodore -Rodgers’ squadron was an exception to the general system, and his was -the sole squadron serviceable when the declaration of hostilities came. - -Rodgers hoped by speedy victories to demonstrate the power of the -American heavy frigate to blow to atoms “the gun-boat system,” and -change British insolence into respect. Lack of opportunity caused him -personal disappointment; but his faith and creed were fully justified by -the naval campaign of 1812. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - MEN, SHIPS AND GUNS IN 1812. - - -COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS was a man of the time, a typical naval officer of -the period. He was minutely careful about the food and habits of his -men, and made the _President_ as homelike as a ship could be. He was not -precisely a man of science, as was the case with his son in the monitor -_Weehawken_, for this was the pre-scientific age of naval warfare. -Indeed, it can scarcely be said with truth that he had either patience -with or appreciation of Robert Fulton, the Pennsylvanian whose -inventions were destined to revolutionize the methods of naval warfare. -This mechanical genius who anticipated steam frigates, iron armor, -torpedoes and rams, rather amused than interested Rodgers. To the -commodore, who expected no miracles, he seemed to possess “Continuity -but not ingenuity.” Fulton had not yet perfected his apparatus, though -he had in 1804 blown up a Danish frigate off Copenhagen, and in 1810 had -published in New York his “Torpedo War and Submarine Explosion.” This -book is full of illustrations so clear, that to look at them now -provokes the wonder that his schemes found so little encouragement. Five -thousand dollars were appropriated by Congress March 30, 1810, for -submarine torpedo experiments. Discouragement evidently followed: for -our government in 1811, following the example of France and England -rejected his plans for a submarine torpedo boat. - -“The Battle of the Kegs” was too often referred to in connection with -Fulton’s projects. This threw a humorous but not luminous glow over the -whole matter. It gave to a serious scientific subject very much the same -air as that which Irving has succeeded in casting over the early history -of New York. - -Having glanced at the typical American commander, let us now see what -kind of sailors handled the ships and guns of 1812. In an old order book -of Commodore Rodgers’, we find one to midshipman M. C. Perry, dated -“President off Sandy Hook 26th May 1813,” directing him to proceed to -New York and enter for the ship six petty officers and fifty seamen and -boys. From this we may guess the quality of the crews of American -men-of-war. - -“You are desired to be particular in entering none but American -citizens, and indeed, native-born citizens in preference.” He is -especially directed to ship good healthy men able to perform duty, -active and robust, while only those of good character and appearance are -to be accepted for the warrant and petty officers. As Matthew Perry was -but seventeen years of age, the order shows the confidence his commander -placed in his judgement. In Perry’s diary the simple entry under May 28 -is “At 12 P. M. the pilot boat left the ship with Mr. Hunt and Midp. M. -C. Perry as a recruiting officer for the ship.” - -It is the favorite idea of Englishmen who have formed their opinions -from James the popular historian of the British navy, that the victories -of American ships over their own in 1812 were owing to the British -deserters among the Yankees. James, with amazing credulity, believes -that there were two hundred Englishmen on the _Constitution_, that -two-thirds of the sailors in the navy of the United States were bred on -the soil and educated in the ships of Great Britain, and to these our -navy owed at least one half of its effectiveness. - -It is much nearer the truth to state that nine-tenths of the American -crews were native-born, and but about one-twentieth of British -nationality, the rest being a mixture. Three-fourths of the natives were -from the northern states; half of the remaining quarter from Virginia, -and nearly all of respectable parentage. - -Of the officers, the midshipmen were lads of from eleven to fifteen -years of age. There were in commission during the war about 500 naval -officers, 34,960 sailors and petty officers, and 2,725 marines. The -government possessed six navy yards. - -In addition to the officer’s knowledge of the scientific principle of -gunnery, and the thorough familiarity of the gun-crews with their -duties, each ship’s company when away from its cannon was a disciplined -battalion. The manual of small arms comprehended every possible stroke -of offence and defence. Pikes, cutlasses and axes were the weapons -relied on, though a few rifles, in the hands of sharp shooters perched -in the crows-nests and in the tops, and a brace of pistols at each man’s -belt had their places. The Yankee cutlass had already crossed with the -Moorish scimiter at Tripoli, in more than one victory, and “our sailors -felt a just confidence in its merits.”[2] The pike was the boarding -weapon, the sailor’s bayonet, with which he charged the enemy on his own -decks, or repelled his attacks, and was not the least of small arms. The -war of 1812, with men speaking the same language, was practically a -civil war in which the sword was again to be taken up against equals in -every respect. Hence the need of constant practice in handling tools. -The uninterrupted drill bore its fruit in due season. - -One potent secret of American excellence of naval service, which raised -our standard of war ships and guns even higher than the highest in -Europe, was the rule of promotion for merit. This nerved every sailor -and petty officer to do nothing less than his best at all times. In this -respect, the navy of the western world contrasted effectively with that -of Great Britain, where commissions were bought and sold in open market. - -The Yankee captain taught his men to take pride in their guns as if they -were human. Of many an American sailor in 1812 it could be said: - - “His conscience and his gun, he thought - His duty lay between.” - -The American men-of-war went to sea with sights on their guns that -enabled a cannonneer to fire with nearly the accuracy of a rifle. In -their occasional use of sheet-lead cartridges, which required less -sponging and worming after firing than those of flannel and of paper, -they anticipated the copper shells of recent American invention. - -The broadsides of that day may seem to us ridiculous in weight, as -compared to those of our time. A projectile from an iron-clad now -exceeds the entire mass of metal thrown by the largest of the old -line-of-battle ships. The heaviest broadside in the United States in -1812—that thrown by the _United States_ carrying fifty-four guns—was -but 846 pounds. Nevertheless the American ships had usually heavier and -better guns and of longer range than the British. The power of a -line-of-battle ship had been condensed into the space of a frigate. This -was the American idea, to increase the weight of metal thrown in -broadside without altering the ship’s rating. - -With their guns every man and boy on board was constantly familiar by -daily practice, and the name and purpose of each rope, crook, pulley, -and cleet on the carriages were fully known to all. It must be -remembered that horizontal shell-firing was unknown sixty years ago. -Bombs could be thrown only from mortars as in a land siege, but never -from cannon in naval duels, though short howitzers were occasionally -employed in Europe to fire bombs. “Bomb-guns, firing hollow shot,” on -ships, were not invented until 1824. The seeming advantage to the old -time sailor, in his exemption from exploding shells, was in reality and -from a humane point of view, a disadvantage; since in navals annals -short sharp engagements were less common. A vast waste of ammunition -causing “prolonged mutilation and slaughter” was rather the rule. It was -the coolness of the American cannonneer, his economy in firing his gun -only when he was reasonably sure of hitting, his ability to hold the -linstock from the touch-hole till the word was given to fire, that made -the duels of 1812 short and decisive. - -As a feeble substitute for bomb-shells, the Americans were driven to the -use of all sorts of hardware and blacksmith’s scraps as projectiles. -This kind of shot was called “langrel” or “langrage,” and the metal -magazine of a cruiser in 1812 would be sure to cause merriment if looked -into in our decade. In old and in recent times, each combatant aimed to -destroy the propelling power of the other. As the main design now is to -strike the boiler and disable the machinery, so then the first object -was to cut up the sails and rigging, so as to reduce the ship to a hulk. -For the purpose, our blacksmiths and inventors were called on to furnish -all sorts of ripping and tearing missiles and every species of -dismantling shot. Their anvils turned off “star shot,” “chain shot,” -“sausages,” “double headers,” “porcupines” and “hedge-hogs.” The “star -shot” made of four wrought iron bolts hammered to a ring folded like a -frame of umbrella rods. On firing, this camp stool arrangement expanded -its rays to the detriment of the enemy’s cordage and canvas. The -“sausage” consisted of four or six links, each twelve inches long and -when rammed home resemble a disjointed fishing pole or artist’s -sketching chair packed up. When belched forth it was converted into a -swinging line of iron six feet long which made havoc among the ropes. -The “double header” resemble a dumb bell. The “chain shot,” “porcupine” -and “hedge-hog” explain themselves by their names. Such projectiles, -with a small blacksmith’s shop of bolts and spikes, were to the weight -of half a ton, taken out of the side of the _Shannon_ after her fight -with the _Chesapeake_ and sold at auction in Halifax where most of them -were converted into horse-shoes and other innocent articles. In -preparing for the battle of Lake Erie, all the scraps of iron saved at -the forges were sewn in leather bags. This flying cutlery helped largely -to disable the enemy and bring about the victory. In battle, the -carronades charged with this “langrage” were tilted high and pointed at -the rigging, while the solid shot of the regular broadsides hulled the -enemy with decisive effect. This kind of projectile, though it had been -in use in Europe since 1720, was denounced by the British as inhuman and -uncivilized. As the history of war again and again proves, what is first -denounced as barbarous is finally adopted as fair against an enemy. - -The British neglected artillery practice and knew little of nice -gunnery. Their carronades and long deck guns were less securely -fastened, and were often over charged. By their recoil they were often -kicked over and rendered useless during a fight. A terrible picture in -words is given by Victor Hugo in his “93” of a carronade let loose in a -storm on the deck of a French ship. British discipline too, had fallen -behind the standard of Nelson’s day. A nearly uninterrupted series of -victories had so spoiled with conceit the average English naval man that -he felt it unnecessary if not impossible to learn from an enemy. In the -autobiography of Henry Taylor, the author of “Philip Van Artevelde,” who -in his youth was midshipman on a British frigate in 1812, he tells us -that during a whole year he was not once in the rigging. Very little -attention was paid to scientific gunnery, and target practice was rare. -In some ships, not a ball was shot from a gun in three years. Dependence -was placed on the number of cannon rather than on their quality, -equipment or service. They counted rather than weighed their shot. Most -of the British frigates were over-gunned. - -The carronade, invented in 1779, had become immediately popular, and by -1781 four hundred and twenty-nine British war vessels were equipped with -from six to ten carronades. These were above their regular complement -and not included in the rate or enumeration. Hence a “thirty-eight,” a -“forty-two,” or a “seventy-four” gun-ship might have many more muzzles -than her professed complement. The fearful effect of short range upon -the timber of ships enabled the British to convert their enemy’s walls -into missiles, and make splinters their ally in the work of death and -mutilation. Farragut’s “splinter nettings” were then unknown nor dreamed -of. Hence the terrific proverbial force of the British broadsides in the -Nile and at Trafalgar. After such demonstration of power, such manifest -superiority over foemen worthy of their steel, it seemed absurd in -British eyes to make special preparation, or abandon old routine in -order to meet the Yankees in their “pine board” and “fir built” -frigates. What they had done with the French they expected to with the -Americans, and more easily. They did not know the virtues of the -American long guns nor the rapidity, coolness, and unerring accuracy of -the American artillerists. They were now to learn new lessons in the art -of war. They were to fight with sailors who took aim. - -At the outbreak of hostilities our naval force in ships consisted of one -hundred and seventy gun-boats afloat, three second class frigates under -repair, three old brigs rotten and worthless, with five brigs and -sloops, three first-class and two second-class frigates which were -seaworthy. After the embargo of April 14th most of the fast sailers in -the American merchant service were converted into privateers. - -The British naval force all told consisted of over a thousand sail and -her sailors were flushed with the remembrances of Aboukir and Trafalgar. -Before hostilities and at the date of the declaration of war, there were -off our coast the _Africa_, one sixty-four gun-ship; the _Shannon_, -_Guerriere_, _Belvidera_, and _Eolus_, second class frigates; besides -several smaller vessels. - -The war with Great Britain, our “second war for independence” was -declared when the treasury was empty and the cabinet divided. Some -pamphleteers stigmatized it as “Mr. Madison’s war.” So great was the -cowardly fear of British invincibility on the seas, and so shameful and -unjust were the suspicions against our navy that many counsellors at -Washington urged that the national vessels should keep within tide-water -and act only as harbor batteries. To the earnest personal remonstrance -of Captains Bainbridge and Stewart we owe it that our vessels got to sea -to win a glory imperishable. - -Borrowing a point from the English who, in older days, usually chose -their time to declare war when the richly-laden Dutch galleons were on -their homeward voyage from the Indies, President Madison and Congress, -hoping to fill the depleted treasury, passed the act declarative of war -about the time the Jamaica plate fleet of eighty-five vessels was to -arrive off our coast. This sailed from Negril Bay on the 20th of May and -war against Great Britain was declared on the 12th of June, at least one -week too late. - ------ - -[2] Roosevelt’s “Naval History of the War of 1812.” - - - - - CHAPTER V. - SERVICE IN THE WAR OF 1812. - - -IN these days of submarine cables, the European armies in South Africa -or Cochin China receive orders from London or Paris on the day of their -issue. To us, the tardiness of transmission in Perry’s youth, seems -incredible. Although war was declared on the 12th of June, official -information did not reach the army officers until June 20th, and the -naval commanders until the 21st. In Perry’s diary of June 20th 1812, -this entry is made: “At 10 A. M. news arrived that war would be declared -the following day against G. B. Made the signal for all officers and -boats. Unmoored ship and fired a salute.” - -At 3.30 P. M. next day, within sixty minutes of the arrival of the news, -the squadron, consisting of the _President_, _United States_, -_Congress_, _Argus_, and _Hornet_, about one-third of the whole -sea-worthy naval force of the nation, moved out into the ocean. - -The British man-of-war, _Belvidera_, was cruising off Nantucket shore -awaiting the French privateer, _Marengo_, hourly expected from New -London. Captain Byron had heard of the likelihood of war from a New York -pilot, and his crew was ready for emergencies. At eight o’clock next -morning, the look-out on the _President_ when off Nantucket Shoal, -caught sight of a strange frigate. Every stitch of canvas was put on the -masts and stays, and a race, which was kept up all day, was begun. The -_President_, being just out, was heavily loaded, and, until afternoon, -the _Belvidera_ by lightening ship kept well ahead. When it became -evident to Captain Byron, the British commander, that he must fight, he -ordered the deck cleared, ran out four stern guns, two of which were -eighteen pounders and on the main deck. He hoisted his colors at half -past twelve. His cartridges were picked, but his fusing was not laid on. -This was to avoid a _President_ and _Little Belt_ experience. By half -past four, the _President’s_ bow-chaser, or “Long Tom,” was within six -hundred yards distance, and the time for firing the first gun of the war -had come. The long years of patient waiting and self-control, under -insults, were over. The question of the freedom of the seas was to be -settled by artillery. - -Commodore Rodgers desiring the personal honor of firing the first -hostile shot afloat, took his station at the starboard forecastle gun. -Perry, a boy of seventeen, stood beside ready, eager, and cool. Waiting -till the right moment, the commodore applied the match. The ball struck -the _Belvidera_ in the stern coat and passed through, lodging in the -ward-room. The corresponding gun on the main deck was then discharged, -and the ball was seen to strike the muzzle of one of the enemy’s -stern-chasers. The third shot killed two men and wounded five on the -_Belvidera_. With such superb gunnery, the war of 1812 opened. A few -more such shots, and the prize would have been in hand. - -It was not so to be. Nothing is more certain than the unexpected. A slip -came between sight and taste, changing the whole situation. - -Commodore Rodgers with his younger officers stood on the forecastle deck -with glasses leveled to see the effect of the shot from the next gun on -the deck beneath them. It was in charge of Lieutenant Gamble. On the -match being applied, it burst. The Commodore was thrown into the air and -his leg broken by the fall. Matthew Perry was wounded, several of the -sailors were killed, and the forecastle deck was damaged badly. Sixteen -men were injured by this accident. The firing on the American ship -ceased for some minutes, until the ruins were cleared away, and the dead -and wounded were removed. Meanwhile the stern guns of the _Belvidera_ -were playing vigorously, and, during the whole action, this busy end of -the British vessel was alive with smoke and flame. No fewer than three -hundred shot were fired, killing or wounding six of the _President’s_ -crew though hurting the ship but slightly, notwithstanding that, for two -and a half hours, she lay in a position favorable for raking. Having no -pivot guns, but hoping to cripple his enemy by a full broadside, -Commodore Rodgers, when the _President_ had forged ahead, veered ship -and gave the enemy his full starboard fire. Failing of this purpose, he -delivered another broadside at five o’clock, which was as useless as the -other. He then ordered the sails set and continued the chase. To offset -this advantage in his enemy, the British captain, equal to the -situation, ordered the pumps to be manned, stores, anchors and boats to -be heaved overboard to rid the ship of every superfluous pound of -matter. Fourteen tons of water were started and, lightened of much metal -and wood, the British ship gained visibly on her opponent. This -continued until six, when the wind, being very light, Rodgers, in the -hope of disabling his antagonist, “yawed” again and fired two -broadsides. These, to the chagrin of the gallant commodore, fell short -or took slight effect. At seven o’clock, the _Belvidera_ was beyond -range and, near midnight, the chase was given up. - -The escaping vessel got safely to Halifax carrying thither the news that -war had been declared and the Yankee cruisers were loose on the main. -Instead of the electric cable which flashes the news in seconds, the -schooner _Mackerel_ took dispatches, arriving at Portsmouth July 25th. - -Following the trail left in the “pathless ocean” by the crumbs that fell -from the British table,—fruit rinds, orange skins and cocoa-nut shells, -the American frigate followed the game until within twenty-four hours of -the British channel. It was now time to be off. The West India prize was -lost. - -Turning prow to Maderia, Funchal was passed July 27th. Sail was then -made for the Azores. Few ships were seen, but fogs were frequent. -Baffled in his desire to meet an enemy having teeth to bite, Rodgers -would have still kept his course, but for a fire in the rear. An enemy, -feared more than British guns, had captured the ship. - -It was the scurvy. It broke out so alarmingly that he was obliged to -hurry home at full speed. Passing Nantasket roads August 31st decks were -cleared for action. A strange ship was in sight. It was the -_Constitution_ which a few days before had met and sunk their old enemy -the _Guerriere_, two of whose prizes the _President_ had recaptured. - -In this, his first foreign cruise in a man-of-war, full as it was of -exciting incidents, Perry had taken part in one battle, and the capture -of seven British Merchant vessels. Driven home ingloriously by the -chronic enemy of the naval household, he learned well a new lesson. He -gained an experience, by which not only himself but all his crew down to -the humblest sailor under his command, profited during the half century -of his service. In those ante-canning days, more lives were lost in the -navy by this one disease than by all other causes, sickness, battle, -tempest or shipwreck. “From scurvy” might well have been a prayer of -deliverance in the nautical litany. - -Perry was one of the first among American officers to search into the -underlying causes of the malady. He was ever a rigid disciplinarian in -diet, albeit a generous provider. To the ignorant he seemed almost -fanatical in his “anti-scorbutic” notions, though he was rather pleased -than otherwise at the nick-name savoring of the green-grocer’s stall -which Jack Tar with grateful facetiousness lavished on him. - -Across sea, the American frigates were described by the English -newspapers as “disguised seventy-fours;” and, forthwith, English writers -on naval warfare began explaining how the incredible thing happened that -British frigates had lowered their flag to apparent equals. These -explanations have been diligently kept up and copied for the past -seventy-five years. As late as the international rifle match of 1877 the -words of the naval writer, James, learned by heart by Britons in their -youth, came to the front in the staple of English editorials written to -clear up the mystery of American excellence with the rifle,—“The young -peasant or back-woodsman carries a rifle barrel from the moment he can -lift one to his shoulder.” - -On the eighteenth of October, Rodgers left Boston with the _President_, -_Constitution_, _United States_ and _Argus_. Perry, unable to be idle, -while the ships lay in Boston harbor, had opened a recruiting office in -the city enlisting sailors for the _President_. Each vessel of the -squadron was in perfect order. On the 10th, without knowing it, they -passed near five British men-of-war. They chased a thirty-eight gun ship -but lost her, but, on the 18th off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland -captured the British packet _Swallow_, having on board eighty-one boxes -of gold and silver to the value of $200,000. On the 30th they chased the -_Galatea_ and lost her. During the whole of November, they met with few -vessels. - -Nine prizes of little value were taken. They cruised eastward to -Longitude 22 degrees west and southward to 17 degrees north latitude. -They re-entered Boston on the last month of the year, 1812. It is no -fault of Rodgers that he did not meet an armed ship at sea, and win -glory like that gained by Hull, Bainbridge and Decatur. For Perry, -fortune was yet reserving her favor and Providence a noble work. - -Leaving Boston, April 30, the _President_ crossed the Atlantic to the -Azores, and thence moved up toward North Cape. In these icy seas, -Rodgers hoped to intercept a fleet of thirty merchant vessels sailing -from Archangel, July 15. Escaping after being chased eighty-four hours -by a British frigate and a seventy-four, Rodgers returned from his -Arctic adventures, and after a five months’ cruise cast anchor at -Newport, September 27. Twelve vessels, with two hundred and seventy-one -prisoners, had been taken; and the ships he disposed of by cartel, -ransom, sinking, or despatch to France or the United States as prizes. -No less than twenty British men-of-war, sailing in couples for safety, -scoured the seas for half a year, searching in vain for the saucy -Yankee. - -Three years of service, under his own eye, had so impressed Commodore -Rodgers with his midshipman, that, on the 3d of February, 1813, he wrote -to the Department asking that Perry be promoted. This was granted -February 27, and, at eighteen, Matthew Perry became an acting -lieutenant. “Heroes are made early.” - -Four of the Perry brothers served their country in the navy in 1813; two -in the _Lawrence_ on Lake Erie, and two on the _President_ at sea. An -item of news that concerned them all, and brought them to her bedside, -was their mother’s illness. This, fortunately, was not of long duration. -At home, Matthew Perry found his commission as lieutenant, dated July -24. Of the forty-four promotions, made on that date, he ranked number -fourteen. Requesting a change to another ship, he was ordered to the -_United States_, under Commodore Decatur. Chased into the harbor of New -London, by a British squadron, this frigate, with the _Wasp_ and -_Macedonian_, was kept in the Thames until the end of the war. Perry’s -five months’ service on board of her was one of galling inaction. Left -inactive in the affairs of war, the young lieutenant improved his time -in affairs of the heart; and on Christmas eve, 1814, was married to Miss -Jane Slidell, then but seventeen years of age. The Reverend, afterwards -Bishop, Nathaniel Bowen, united the pair according to the ritual of the -Episcopal church, at the house of the bride’s father, a wealthy New York -merchant. Perry’s brothers-in-law, John Slidell, Alexander Slidell -(MacKenzie), and their neighbor and playmate, Charles Wilkes, as well as -himself, were afterwards heard from. - -Soon after his marriage, Lieutenant Perry was invited by Commodore -Decatur to join him on the _President_. In this ship, nearly rebuilt, -with a crew of over four hundred picked sailors, most of them tall and -robust native Americans, the “Bayard of the seas” expected to make a -voyage to the East Indies. Unfortunately, seized with a severe fit of -sickness, Perry was obliged to leave the ship, and in eager anticipation -of speedy departure, Decatur appointed another lieutenant in his place. -The bitter pill of disappointment proved, for Perry, good medicine. -Owing to the vigor of the blockade, the _President_ did not get away -until January 15, 1815, and then only to be captured by superior force. -In answer to an application for service, Matthew Perry was ordered to -Warren, R. I., to recruit for the brig _Chippewa_. - -Meanwhile, negotiations for ending the war had begun, starting from -offers of mediation by Russia. With the allies occupying Paris, and -Napoleon exiled to Elba, there was little chance of “peace with honor” -for the United States. The war party in England were even inquiring for -some Elba in which to banish Madison. “The British government was free -to settle accounts with the upstart people whose ships had won more -flags from her navy, in two years, than all her European rivals had done -in a century.” One of the first moves was to dispatch Packenham, with -Wellington’s veterans, to lay siege to New Orleans, with the idea of -gaining nine points of the law. From Patterson and Jackson, they -received what they least expected. - -Before Perry’s work at Warren fairly began, the British ship _Favorite_, -bearing the olive branch, arrived at New York, February 11, 1815. It was -too late to save the bloody battle of New Orleans, or the capture of the -_Cyane_ and _Levant_. The treaty of Ghent had been signed December 3, -1813; but neither steam nor electricity were then at hand to forefend -ninety days of war. - -The navy, from the year 1815, was kept up on a war footing; and, for -three years, the sum of two millions of dollars was appropriated to this -arm of the service. Commodore Porter, eager to improve and expand our -commerce, conceived the project of a voyage of exploration around the -world. The plan embraced an extended visit to the islands of the -Pacific, the north-west coast of America, Japan and China. The -expedition was to consist of several vessels of war. The project of this -first American expeditionary voyage fell stillborn, and was left to -slumber until Matthew Perry and John Rodgers accomplished more than its -purpose. - -The seas now being safe to American commerce, our merchants at once took -advantage of their opportunity. Mr. Slidell offered his son-in-law, then -but twenty years of age, the command of a merchant vessel loaded for -Holland. He applied for furlough. As war with Algiers threatened, -permission was not granted, and Matthew and James Alexander Perry began -service on board the _Chippewa_. This was the finest of three brigs in -the flying squadron, which had been built to ravage British commerce in -the Mediterranean. Serving, inactively, on the brig _Chippewa_, until -December 20, 1815, Perry procured furlough, and in command of a merchant -vessel, owned by his father, made a voyage to Holland. He was engaged in -the commercial marine until 1817, when he re-entered the navy. - -The Virginian Horatio, son of the freed slave, who to-day ploughs up the -skull of some Yorick, Confederate or Federal, turns to his paternal -Hamlet, of frosty pow, to ask: “What was dey fightin’ about?” A similar -question asks the British Peterkin and the American lad, of this -generation, concerning a phase of our history early in this century. - -Besides being “our second war for national independence,” the struggle -of 1812 was emphatically for “sailors’ rights.” At the beginning of -hostilities there were on record in the State Department, at Washington, -6,527 cases of impressed American seamen. This was, doubtless, but a -small part of the whole number, which probably reached 20,000; or enough -to man our navy five times over. In 1811, 2,548 impressed American -seamen were in British prisons, refusing to serve against their country, -as the British Admirality reported to the House of Commons, February 1, -1815. In January, 1811, according to Lord Castlereagh’s speech of -February 8, 1813, 3,300 men, claiming to be Americans, were serving in -the British navy.[3] The war settled some questions, but left the main -one of the right of search, claimed by Great Britain, still open, and -not to be removed from the field of dispute, until Mr. Seward’s -diplomacy in the _Trent_ affair compelled its relinquishment forever. -Three years struggle with a powerful enemy, had done wonders in -developing the resources of the United States and in consolidating the -Federal union. The American nation, by this war, wholly severed the -leading strings which bound her to the “mother country” and to Europe, -and shook off the colonial spirit for all time. - -Among the significant appropriations made by Congress during the war, -was one for $500 to be spent in collecting, transmitting, preserving, -and displaying the flags and standards captured from the enemy. - -On the 4th of July, 1818, the flag of the United States of America, -which, during the war of 1812, bore fifteen stripes and fifteen stars in -its cluster, returned to its old form. The number of stripes, -representing the original thirteen states, remained as the standard, not -to be added to or subtracted from. In the blue field the stars could -increase with the growth of the nation. In the American flag are happily -blended the symbols of the old and the new, of history and prophecy, of -conservatism and progress, of the stability of the unchanging past with -the promise and potency of the future. - ------ - -[3] Roosevelt’s “Naval History of the War of 1812.” - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - FIRST VOYAGE TO THE DARK CONTINENT. - - -AN act of Congress passed March 3, 1819, favored the schemes of the -American Colonization Society. A man-of-war was ordered to convoy the -first company of black colonists to Africa, in the ship _Elizabeth_, to -display the American flag on the African coast, and to assist in -sweeping the seas of slavers. The vessel chosen was the _Cyane_, an -English-built vessel, named after the nymph who amused Proserpine when -carried off by Pluto. One of the pair captured by Captain Stewart of the -U. S. S. _Constitution_, in his memorable moonlight battle of February -20, 1815, the _Cyane_ mounted thirty-four guns, and carried one hundred -and eighty-five men. Rebuilt for the American navy, her complement was -two hundred sailors and twenty-five marines. Captain Edward Trenchard, -who commanded her, was a veteran of the Tripolitan and second British -war. From the Mahometan pirates, when a mere lad, he had assisted to -capture the great bronze gun that now adorns the interior gateway of the -Washington Navy Yard. - -Athirst for enterprise and adventure, Perry applied for sea service and -appointment on the _Cyane_. It was not so much the idea of seeing the -“Dark Continent,” as of seeing “Guinea” which charmed him. “Africa” then -was a less definite conception than to us of this age of Livingstone, -Stanley, and the free Congo State. “Guinea” was more local, while yet -fascinating. From it had come, and after it was named, England’s largest -gold coin, which had given way but a year or two before to the legal -“sovereign,” though sentimentally remaining in use. British ships were -once very active in the Guinea traffic in human flesh, some of them -having been transferred to the German slave-trade to carry the Hessian -mercenaries to America. Curiosities from the land of the speckled -champions of our poultry yards, were in Perry’s youth as popular as are -those from Japan in our day. On the other hand, the dreaded “Guinea -worm,” or miniature fiery serpent, and the deadly miasma, made the coast -so feared, that the phrase “Go to Guinea,” became a popular malediction. -All these lent their fascination to a young officer who loved to -overcome difficulties, and “the danger’s self, to lure alone.” He was -assigned to the _Cyane_ as first lieutenant. As executive officer he was -busy during the whole autumn in getting her ready, and most of the -letters from aboard the _Cyane_, to the Department, are in his -handwriting, though signed by the commanding officer. - -For the initial experiment in colonization, the ship _Elizabeth_, of -three hundred tons, was selected. Thirty families, numbering eighty-nine -persons, were to go as passengers and colonists. A farewell meeting, -with religious exercises, was held in New York, and the party was -secretly taken on board January 3. This was done to avoid the tremendous -crowd that would have gathered to see people willing to “go to Guinea.” - -The time of year was not favorable for an auspicious start, for no -sooner were the colored people aboard, than the river froze and the -vessel was ice-bound. As fast locked as if in Polar seas, the -_Elizabeth_ remained till February 6, when she was cut out by contract -and floated off. In the heavy weather, convoy and consort lost sight of -each other. Cased in ice, the _Cyane_ pulled her anchor-chains three -days, then spent from the 10th to the 15th in searching for the -_Elizabeth_, which meanwhile had spread sail and was well on toward the -promised land. All this was greatly to the wrath of Captain Trenchard. - -The Cape de Verdes came into view March 9, after a squally passage, and -on the 27th, anchor was cast in Sierra Leone roads. The _Elizabeth_ -having arrived two days before had gone on to Sherbro. - -A cordial reception was given the American war vessel by the British -naval officers and the governor. Memories of the Revolution were -recalled by the Americans. It may be suspected that they cheerfully hung -their colors at half-mast on account of the death of George III. His -reign of sixty years was over. - -To assist the colony, a part of the crew of the _Cyane_, most of them -practical mechanics, with tools and four months provisions, under -Lieutenant John S. Townsend, was despatched to Sherbro. Immediate work -was found for the _Cyane_ in helping to repress a mutiny on an American -merchant vessel. This done, a coasting cruise for slavers followed in -which four prizes were made. The floating slave-pens were sent home, and -their officers held for trial. Other sails were seen and chased, and -life on the new station promised to be tolerable. Except when getting -fresh water the ship was almost constantly at sea, and all were well and -in good spirits. - -Perry enjoyed richly the wonders both of the sea and the land flowing -with milk of the cocoa-nut. Branches of coffee-berries were brought on -ship, the forerunner of that great crop of Liberian coffee which has -since won world-wide fame. The delicious flavor of the camwood blossoms -permeated the cabin. - -Among the natives on shore each tribe seemed to have a designating mark -on the face or breast—cut, burned or dyed—by which the lineage of -individuals was easily recognized. The visits of the kings, or chiefs, -to the ships, were either for trade or beggary. In the former case, the -dusky trader was usually accompanied by the scroff or “gold-taker,” who -carefully counted and appraised the “cut-money” or coins. When cautioned -to tell the truth, or confirm a covenant, their oath was made with the -“salt-fingers” raised to heaven, some of this table mineral being at the -same time mixed with earth and eaten, salt being considered sacred. - -The dark and mysterious history of Africa, for centuries, has been that -of blood and war. The battle-field was the “bed of honor,” and -frequently the cannibals went forth to conflict with their kettles in -hand ready to cook their enemies at once when slain. Women at the tribal -assemblies counselled war or peace, and were heard with respect by the -warriors. Almost all laws were enforced by the power of opinion, this -taking the place of statutes. - -The climate and the unscientific methods of hygiene, in the crowded -ship, soon began to tell upon the constitutions of the men on the -_Cyane_. Tornados, heavy rain, with intense heat, par-boiled the -unacclimated white seamen, and many fell ill. The amphibious Kroomen -relieved the sailors of much exposure; but the alternations of chill and -heat, with constant moisture, and foul air under the battened hatches, -kept the sick bay full. Worst of all, the dreaded scurvy broke out. They -were then obliged to go north for fresh meat and vegetables. A pleasant -incident on the way was their meeting with the U. S. S. _Hornet_, -twenty-seven days from New York. At Teneriffe, in the Canary Islands, -during July, the _Cyane_, though in quarantine, received many enjoyable -courtesies from the officers of a French seventy-four-gun-ship in the -harbor. - -When quarantine was over, and the _Cyane_ admitted to Pratique, -Lieutenant Perry went gratefully ashore to tender a salute to the -Portuguese governor. In an interview, Perry informed his worship of the -object of the American ship’s visit, and stated that the _Cyane_ would -be happy to tender the customary salute if returned gun for gun. The -governor replied that it would give him great pleasure to return the -salute—but with one gun less; as it was not customary for Portugal to -return an equal number of guns to republican governments, but only to -those of acknowledged sovereigns. This from Portuguese! - -Perry replied, in very plain terms, that no salute would be given, as -the government of the United States acknowledged no nation as entitled -to greater respect than itself. - -The only greeting of the _Cyane_ as she showed her stern to the governor -and the port, was that of contemptuous silence. By September 20, the -_John Adams_ was off the coast, the three vessels making up the American -squadron. - -The first news received from the colonists was of disaster. On their -arrival at Sherbro they landed with religious exercises, and met some of -Paul Cuffee’s settlers sent out some years before. The civilized negroes -from the _Elizabeth_ were shocked beyond measure at the heathenish -display of cuticle around them. They had hardly expected to find their -aboriginal brethren in so low an estate. They could not for a moment -think of fraternizing with them. Owing to the lateness of the season, -they were unable to build houses to shelter themselves from the rains. -All had taken the African fever, and among the first victims was their -leader, the Rev. Mr. Bacon. From the Rev. Daniel Cokes, the acting agent -of the colonization society, the whole miserable story was learned. The -freed slaves who, even while well fed and housed on ship, had shown -occasional symptoms of disobedience, broke out into utter -insubordination when “the sweets of freedom in Africa” were translated -into prosy work. After Bacon’s death there was total disorder; no -authority was acknowledged, theft became alarmingly common, and the -agent’s life was threatened. - -The native blacks, noticing the state of things, took advantage of the -feuds and ignorance of the settlers and refused to help them. Sickness -carried off the doctor and all of the _Cyane’s_ boat crew. Yet the -fever, while fatal to whites, was only dangerous to the negro colonists. -Twenty-three out of the eighty-nine had died, and of these but nineteen -by fever. The rest, demoralized and discouraged, gave way to their worst -natures. - -The colony which had been partly projected to receive slaves captured by -United States vessels, for the present, at least, proving a failure, -Captain Trenchard requested the governor of Sierra Leone to receive such -slaves as should hereafter be liberated by Americans. The governor -acceded, and the _Cyane_ turned her prow homeward October 4, and after a -fifty-seven days’ experience of constant squalls and calms, until -December 1, arrived at New York on Christmas day. Emerging from tropical -Africa, even the intermediate ocean voyage did not prepare the men for -the severe weather of our latitude, and catarrhs and fevers broke out. -The ship, too, was full of cases of chronic sickness. Between disease -and the elements, the condition of the crew was deplorable. - -In this, his first African cruise, Perry, as usual, profited richly by -experience. He had made a systematic study of the climate, coast, and -ship-hygiene. He believed, and expressed his conviction, that for much -of the preventible sickness some one was responsible. Though, thereby, -he lost the good will of certain persons, Lieutenant Perry rendered -unquestionable benefits to later ships on the African station. During -the next year, the U. S. S. _Nautilus_, with two agents of the -government, and two of the colonization societies, sailed with a fresh -lot of colonists for Africa. Thus the slow work of building up the first -and only American colony recognized by the United States went on. - -There were some far-seeing spirits on both sides of Mason and Dixon’s -line, who had begun to see that the only real cure for the African -slave-trade, on the west coast of Africa, was its abolition in America. -The right way for the present, however, was to carry the war into Africa -by planting free colonies. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - PERRY LOCATES THE SITE OF MONROVIA. - - -ON the 5th of July 1821, Perry was doubly happy, in his first sole -command of a man-of-war, and in her being bound upon a worthy mission. -The _Shark_ was to convey Dr. Eli Ayres to Africa as agent of the United -States in Liberia. He was especially glad that he could now enforce his -ideas of ship hygiene. His ambition was to make the cruise without one -case of fever or scurvy. - -The _Shark_ sped directly through the Canaries. Here, the human falcons -resorted before swooping on their human prey. At Cape de Verde, he found -the villianous slave-trade carried on under the mask of religion. -Thousands of negroes decoyed or kidnapped from Africa, were lodged at -the trading station for one year, and then baptized by the wholesale in -the established Roman faith. They were then shipped to Brazil as -Portuguese “subjects.” It was first aspersion, and then dispersion. - -At Sierra Leone, Dr. Ayers was landed. Three out of every four whites in -the colony died with promptness and regularity. The British cruisers -suffered frightfully in the loss of officers, and the _Thistle_, spoken -October 21st, had only the commander and surgeon left of her staff. - -Perry performed one act during this cruise which powerfully effected for -good the future of the American negro in Africa, and the destiny of the -future republic of Liberia. The first site chosen for the settlement of -the blacks sent out by the American Colonization Society was Sherbro -Island situated in the wide estuary of the Sherbro river which now -divides Sierra Leone from Liberia. In this low lying malarious district, -white men were sure to die speedily, and the blacks must go through the -fever in order to live. On Perry’s arrival, he found that the missionary -teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Winn, and the Reverend Mr. Andrews were already -in the cemetery from fever. Some of the new colonists were sick and six -of them had died. - -Perry saw at once that the foundations of the settlement must be made on -higher ground. He selected, therefore, the promontory of Mont Serrado, -called Cape Mesurado. This place, easily accessible, had no superior on -the coast. It lay at the mouth of the Mesurado river which flowed from a -source three hundred miles in the interior.[4] - -Having no authority to make any changes, the matter rested until -December 12, 1832 when Captain Stockton, Doctor Ayres, and seven -immigrants visited the location chosen by Matthew Perry. “That is the -spot that we ought to have,” said Captain Stockton, “that should be the -site of our colony. No finer spot on the coast.” Three days later a -contract to cede the desired land to the United States was signed by six -native “Kings.” Seventeen of the dusky sovereigns and thirty-four -dignitaries enjoying semi-royal honors, had assented, and on the -twenty-fifth of April 1832 the American flag was hoisted over Cape -Mesurado. Shortly afterwards, Monrovia, the future capital, named after -President Monroe, began its existence. To this form of the Monroe -doctrine, European nations have fully acceded. Liberia is the only -colony founded by the United States. - -The _Shark_ ran, like a ferret in rat-holes, into all the rivers, nooks -and harbors, but though French, Dutch and Spanish vessels were chased -and overhauled, no American ships were caught. Perry wrote “The severe -laws of Congress had the desired effect of preventing American citizens -from employing their time and capital in this iniquitous traffic.” Yet -this species of commerce was very actively pursued by vessels wearing -the French, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch flags. The French and -Portuguese were the most persistent man-stealers. So great was the -demand for slaves, that villages only a few miles apart were in constant -war so as to get prisoners to be disposed of to the captains of -slave-vessels. Perry wrote: - -“In this predatory warfare the most flagitious acts of cruelty are -committed. The ties of nature are entirely cut asunder for it is not -infrequent that parents dispose of their own children.” - -The cargoes which the slavers carried to use in barter for human flesh -consisted of New England rum, Virginia tobacco, with European gunpowder, -paint, muskets, caps, hats, umbrellas and hardware. Most of the wearing -apparel was the unsalable or damaged stock of European shops. The Guinea -coast was the Elysium of old clothes men and makers of slop work. Long -out of fashion at home, these garments sufficed to deck gorgeously the -naked body of a black slave-peddler, while the rum corroded his interior -organs. The _Caroline_, a French ship overhauled by Perry, had made ten -voyages to Africa. The vessel, cargo and outfit cost $8,000, the value -of the cargo of one hundred and fifty-three slaves at $250 each, was -$38,250, a profit of nearly $30,000 for a single voyage. The sixty men, -ten women, and sixty-three children stowed in the hold were each fed -daily with one bottle of water and one pound of rice. The ships found -off Old Calabar and Cape Mount—now seats of active Christian and -civilizing labors—having no one on board who could speak English, were -completely fitted for carrying slaves. Those sailing below the equator, -and under their national flags, could not be molested. No Congress of -nations had yet outlawed slave-trading on all the seas as piracy. The -commander of the British squadron reported: “No Americans are engaged in -the [slave] trade. They would have no inducement to conceal their real -character from the officers of a British cruiser, for these have no -authority to molest them. All slaves are now under foreign flags.” - -In this villainous work, the Portuguese from first to last have held -undisputed pre-eminence. Perry, after his three African cruises, was -confirmed in his opinion formed at first, and which all students of -Africa so unanimously hold. Mr. Robert Grant Watson, who has minutely -studied the national disgrace in many parts of the world thus formulates -this judgment. - -“There seems indeed something peculiarly ingrained in the Portuguese -race, which makes them take to slave-dealing and slave-hunting, as -naturally as greyhounds take to chasing hares; and this observation -applies not to one section of the race alone, but to Portuguese wherever -they are to be found beyond the reach of European law. No modern race -can be as slave-hunters within measurable distance of the Portuguese. -Their exploits in this respect are written in the annals not only of the -whole coast of Brazil, from Para, Uruguay, and along the Missiones of -Paraguay, not only on the coast of Angola but throughout the interior of -Africa. You may take up the journals of one traveller after another, of -Burton, Livingstone, of Stanley, or of Cameron, and in what ever -respects their accounts and opinions may differ, one point they are one -and all entirely agreed on, namely, as to the pestilent and remorseless -activity of the ubiquitous Portuguese slave-catcher.” - -“Having examined the northern part of the coast from the Bessagoes -shoals to Cape Mount,” writes Perry. “I took my departure for West -Indies following the track of Homeward Bound Guinea-men.” - -A run across the Atlantic brought the _Shark_ to the West Indies. There -diligent search was begun for Picaroons or pirates. American merchant -vessels were convoyed beyond the coast of Cuba. The run northward -brought the _Shark_ to New York, January 17, 1822. In the violent change -from the equator to our rugged climate, many of the _Shark’s_ crew -suffered from frost-bites. - -A short but very active cruise in African waters had been finished. -Despite the long calms, occasional tempests and the deadly land miasma, -not a single man had died on the _Shark_. This unusual exemption from -the disease was imputed by Perry under Providence, to the many -precautions observed by him and to the skilful attentions of Dr. Wiley. - -Matthew Perry was among the first to discover the underlying cause of -the sailor’s malady—sea-scurvy. He believed it to be primarily due to -mal-nutrition. He found the soil in which the disease grew was a compost -of bad water, alcoholism, exposure, too exclusively salt diet, lack of -vegetables, of ventilation, and of cleanliness on ship. The canning -epoch inaugurated later by Americans, who, it is said, got their notions -from air-tight fruit jars dug up from Pompeii, had not yet dawned, but -Perry already put faith in succulents and the entire class of -crucifiers, seeing in them the cross of health in his crusade against -the scorbutic taint. Though not yet familiar with the marvelous power of -the onion, and the juice of limes, he endeavored at all times to secure -supplies of sauer-kraut, cabbages, radishes, and fruits rich in acids -and sub-acids. He was emulous of the success of captains Cook and Parry -who had succeeded so well in their voyages. He knew that in war, more -men perished by disease than in battle. He lived to see the day when a -ship was made a more healthy dwelling place than the average house, and -when, through perfected dietic knowledge, and the skill of the preserver -and hermetic sealer, sea-scurvy became so rare that a naval surgeon -might pass a lifetime without meeting a case save in a hospital. - ------ - -[4] See the Maryland Colonization Journal, vol. 2, p. 328 and the -December number of the Liberia _Herald_ 1845, for Perry’s Journal when -Lieutenant of the _Cyane_. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - FIGHTING PIRATES IN THE SPANISH MAIN. - - -JAMES, the Spaniard’s patron saint, has been compelled to lend his name -as “Iago” to innumerable towns, cities and villages. From Mexico to -Patagonia in Spanish America, “Santiago,” “San Diego,” “Iago” and -“Diego” are such frequently recurring vocables that the Yankee sailor -calls natives of these countries “Dago men,” or “Diegos.” It is his -slang name for foreigners of the Latin race. It is a relic of the old -days when he knew them chiefly as pirates. - -Perry’s next duty was to lend a hand against the “Diego” ship robbers of -the Gulf, who had become an intolerable nuisance. The unsettled -condition of the Central and South American colonies had set afloat -thousands of starving and ragged patriots. Their prime object was the -destruction of Spanish commerce, but tempted by the rich prizes of other -nations, and speedily developing communistic ideas, they became truly -catholic in their treatment of other peoples’ property, while the names -which these cut-throats gave their craft were borrowed from holy writ -and the calendar of the saints. Under the black flag, they degenerated -into murderous pirates. Their own name was “Brethren of the coast.” - -Emboldened by success, they formed organized companies of buccaneers and -extended their depredations over the whole north Atlantic. Our southern -commerce was particularly exposed. The accounts of piracy continually -reaching our cities on the Atlantic coast, were accompanied with details -of wanton cruelties inflicted on American seamen. The pirate craft were -swift sailing schooners of from fifty to ninety tons burthen manned by -crews of from twenty-five to one hundred men who knew every cove, -crevice, nook and sinuous passage in the West India Archipelago. -Watching like hawks for their prey, they would swoop down on the -helpless quarry—British and American merchantmen—and rob, beat, burn -and kill. - -The squadron fitted out to exterminate these heroes of our -yellow-covered novels consisted of the frigates, _Macedonian_ and -_Congress_, the sloops _Adams_ and _Peacock_, with five brigs, the steam -galliot _Sea-gull_, and several schooners; among which was Lieutenant -Perry’s twelve-gun vessel the _Shark_. The whole was under the command -of Commodore David Porter, the father of the present illustrious Admiral -of the American navy. - -The duty of ferreting out these pests was a laborious one in a trying -climate. The commodore divided the whole West Indian coast into -sections, each of which was thoroughly scoured by the cruisers and -barges. The boat service was continuous, relieved by occasional -hand-to-hand fights. Often the tasks were perplexing. Though belted and -decorated with the universal knife, the quiet farmers in the fields, or -salt makers on the coast, seemed innocent enough. As soon as inquiries -were answered, and the visiting boat’s crew out of sight, they hied to a -secluded cove. On the deck of a swift sailing light-draft barque or even -open boat, these same men would stand transformed into blood-thirsty -pirates, under black flags inscribed with the symbols of skull and -bones, axe and hour glass. - -To the dangers of intricate navigation in unsurveyed and rarely visited -channels, for even the Florida Keys were then unknown land, and their -water ways unexplored labyrinths, and the fatigue of constant service at -the oars, was added keen jealousy of the United States, felt by the -Cubans, and shown by the Spanish authorities in many annoying ways. - -The acquisition of Cuba had even then been hinted at by Southern -fire-eaters bent on keeping the area of African slavery intact, and even -of extending it in order to balance the increasing area of freedom. This -feeling, then confined to a section of a sectional party, and not yet -shaped, as it afterwards was, into a settled policy and determination, -roused the defiant jealousy of the Spaniards in authority, even though -they might be personally anxious to see piracy exterminated. The Mexican -war, waged in slavery’s behalf in the next generation, showed how -well-grounded this jealousy was. - -The smaller craft sent to cope with the pirates of the Spanish Main were -so different in bulk and appearance from the heavy frigates and ships of -the line that they were dubbed, “The Mosquito Fleet.” The swift barges -were named in accordance with this idea, after such tropical vermin as -_Mosquito_, _Midge_, _Sand-fly_, _Gnat_ and _Gallinipper_. The -_Sea-gull_, an altered Brooklyn ferry-boat from the East river, and but -half the size of those now in use, was equipped with masts. Under steam -and sail she did good service. - -The _Shark_ got off in the spring, and by May 4, 1822, she was at Vera -Cruz. Perry had an opportunity to see the castle of Juan d’Ulloa and the -Rich City of the Real Cross, which were afterwards to become so familiar -to him. - -The pirates were soon in the clutch of men resolutely bent on their -destruction. When, in June, Commodore Biddle obtained permission of the -Captain General of Cuba to land boat’s crews on Spanish soil to pursue -the pirates to the death, the end of the system was not far off. Still -the ports of the Spanish Main were crowded with American ships waiting -for convoy by our men-of-war, their crews fearing the cut-throats as -they would Pawnees. - -In June, Perry with the _Shark_, in company with the _Grampus_, captured -a notorious ship sailing under the black flag—the _Bandara D’Sangare_, -and another of lesser fame. Meeting Commodore Biddle in the flag-ship, -at sea, July 24, he put his prisoners, all of whom had Spanish names, on -board the _Congress_. They were sent to Norfolk for trial. The sad news -of the death of Lieutenant William Howard Allen of the _Alligator_, who -had been killed by pirates, was also learned. The friend of Fitz-Greene -Halleck, his memory has been embalmed in verse. - -By order of the commodore, Perry turned his prow again toward Africa. -His visit, however, was of short duration, for on the 12th of December -1822, we find him in Norfolk, Virginia, finishing a cruise in which he -had been two hundred and thirty-six days under sail, during which time -he had boarded one hundred and sixty-six vessels, convoyed thirty, given -relief to five in actual distress, and captured five pirates. - -Although the pirates no longer called for a whole squadron to police the -Spanish Main, yet our commerce in the Gulf was now in danger from a new -source. In 1822, Mexico entered upon another of her long series of -revolutions. The native Mexican, Iturbide, abandoning the _rôle_ of -pliant military captain of the Spanish despot, assumed that of an -American usurper. - -Suddenly exalted, May 18, 1822, from the barrack-room to the throne, he -set the native battalions in motion against the Spanish garrisons then -holding only the castle of San Juan d’Ulloa and a few minor fortresses. -Santa Anna was then governor of Vera Cruz. Hostilities between the -royalists and the citizens having already begun, our commerce was in -danger of embarrassment. - -Perry with his old ship and crew left New York for Mexico. Before he -arrived, the Spanish yoke had been totally overthrown and the National -Representative Assembly proclaimed. Iturbide abdicated in March, 1823, -and danger to our commerce was removed. Perry, relieved of further duty -returned to New York, July 9, 1823, and enjoyed a whole summer quietly -with his family. - -Perceiving the advantage of a knowledge of Spanish, Perry began to study -the tongue of Cervantes. Though not a born linguist, he mastered the -language so as to be during all his later life conversant with the -standard literature, and fluent in the reading of its modern forms in -speech, script and print. This knowledge was afterward, in the -Mediterranean, in Africa, and in Mexico, of great value to him. - -Commodore Porter’s work in suppressing the West Indian free-booters was -so well done, that piracy, on the Atlantic coast, has ever since been -but a memory. Unknown to current history, it has become the theme only -of the cheap novelist and now has, even in fiction, the flavor of -antiquity. - -The _Shark_, the first war-ship under Perry’s sole command, mounted -twelve guns, measured one hundred and seventy-seven tons, cost $23,267, -and had a complement of one hundred men. Her term of life was -twenty-five years. She began her honorable record under Lieutenant -Perry, was the first United States vessel of war to pass through the -Straits of Magellan, from east to west, and was lost in the Columbia -river in 1846. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - THE AMERICAN LINE-OF-BATTLE SHIP. - - -THE line-of-battle ship, which figured so largely in the navies of a -half century or more ago, was a man-of-war carrying seventy-four or more -guns. It was the class of ships in which the British took especial -pride, and the American colonists, imitating the mother country, began -the construction of one, as early as the Revolution. Built at -Portsmouth, this first American “ship-of-the-line” was, when finished, -presented to France. Humpreys, our great naval contractor in 1797 -carried out the true national idea, by condensing the line-of-battle -ship into a frigate, and “line ships” proper were not built until after -1820. One of the first of these was the _North Carolina_, commanded by -the veteran John Rodgers. - -The first visit of an American line-of-battle ship to Europe, in 1825, -under Commodore Rodgers, was, in its effect, like that of the iron-clad -Monitor _Miantonomah_ under Farragut in 1865. It showed that the United -States led the world in ships and guns. The _North Carolina_ was then -the largest, the most efficient and most formidable vessel that ever -crossed the Atlantic. - -Rodgers was justly proud of his flag-ship and fleet, for this was the -golden era of American ship-building, and no finer craft ever floated -than those launched from our shipyards. - -The old hulk of the _North Carolina_ now laid up at the Brooklyn Navy -Yard and used as a magazine, receiving-ship, barracks, prison, and -guard-house, gives little idea of the vision of life and beauty which -the “seventy-four” of our fathers was. - -The great ship, which then stirred the hearts of the nation moved under -a mighty cloud of canvas, and mounted in three tiers one-hundred and two -guns, which threw a mass of iron outweighing that fired by any vessel -then afloat. Her battery exceeded by three hundred and four pounds that -of the _Lord Nelson_—the heaviest British ship afloat and in -commission. The weight of broadside shot thrown by the one larger craft -before her—that of the Spanish Admiral St. Astraella Trinidad,[5] which -Nelson sunk at Trafalgar,—fell short of that of the _North Carolina_. -Our “wooden walls” were then high, and the stately vessel under her mass -of snowy canvas was a sight that filled a true sailor with profound -emotion. Mackenzie in his “Year in Spain” has fitly described his -feelings as that sight burst upon him. - -So perfect were the proportions, that her size was under-valued until -men noticed carefully the great mass moving with the facility of a -schooner. At the magic of the boatswain’s whistle, the anchor was cast -and the great sails were folded up and hidden from view as a bird -folding her wings. - -It was highly beneficial to our commerce and American reputation abroad -to send so magnificent a fleet into European waters as that commanded by -Rodgers. In many ports of the Mediterranean Sea, the American flag, then -bearing twenty-four stars, had never been seen. The right man and the -right ships were now to represent us. - -Perry joined the _North Carolina_ July 26, 1824. She sailed in April, -and arrived at Malaga, May 19, 1825. During three days she was inspected -by the authorities and crowds of people, who were deeply impressed by -the perfect discipline observed on the finest ship ever seen in those -waters. - -Gibraltar on June 7th, and Tangier, June 14th, were then visited, and by -the 17th, the whole squadron, among which was the _Cyane_, assembled in -the offing before the historic fortress near the pillars of Hercules, -prior to a visit to the Greek Archipelago. - -This too, was an epoch of vast ceremony and display on board ship. War -and discipline of to-day, if less romantic and chivalrous are more -business-like, more effective, but less spectacular. Mackenzie with a -pen equal to that of his friend, N. P. Willis, has left us a graphic -sketch of the receptions and departures of the Commodore. As we read his -fascinating pages: - -“The herculean form and martial figure of the veteran,” who as monarch -reigned over “the hallowed region of the quarterdeck,” the “band of -music in Moorish garb,” the “groups of noble looking young officers,” -come again before us. - -A “thousand eyes are fixed” on “the master spirit,” hats are raised, -soldiers present arms, the “side boys” detailed at gangways to attend -dignitaries,—eight to an admiral, four to a captain,—are in their -places, and the blare of brazen tubes is heard as the commodore -disembarks. - -Perry, as executive officer, held the position which a writer with -experience has declared to be the most onerous, difficult, and thankless -of all. His duties comprised pretty much everything that needed to be -done on deck. Whether in gold lace or epaulettes by day, or in oil-skin -jacket with trumpet at night or in storm, Perry was regent of the ship -and crew. Charles W. Morgan, afterwards commodore, was captain. - -The business of the squadron, consisting of the _North Carolina_, -_Constitution_, _Erie_, _Ontario_, and _Cyane_ was to protect American -commerce. The ships were to sail from end to end of the Mediterranean, -touching at Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, which “Barbary” powers were now -very friendly to Americans. Other classic sites were to be visited, and -although the young officers anticipated the voyage with delight, yet the -cruise was not to be a mere summer picnic. American commerce was in -danger at the Moslem end of the Mediterranean, for much the same -political causes previously operating in the West Indies. The cause lay -in the revolt of a tribute nation against its suzerain, or rather in the -assertion of her liberty against despotism. That struggle for Hellenic -Independence, which becomes to us far-away Americans more of an entity, -through the poetry of Byron and Fitz-Greene Halleck, than through -history, had begun. It seems, in history, a dream; in poetry, a fact. -While the Greek patriots won a measure of success, they kept their hands -off from other people’s property and regarded the relation of _mine_ and -_thine_; but when hard pressed by the Turks, patriotism degenerated into -communism. They were apt to forage among our richly-laden vessels. Greek -defeat meant piracy, and at this time the cause of the patriots, though -a noble one, was desperate indeed. Five years of fighting had passed, -yet recognition by European nations was withheld. The first fruits of -the necessity, which knows no law, was plunder. - -On the 29th of May, an American merchantman from Boston was robbed by a -Greek privateer, and this act became a precedent for similar outrages. - -While at Patras, the chief commercial town of Greece, Perry had the -scripture prophecy of “seven women taking hold of one man” fulfilled -before his eyes. The Biblical number of Turkish widows, whose husbands -had been killed at Corinth, were brought on board the _North Carolina_ -and exposed for sale by Greeks, who were anxious to make a bargain. The -officers paid their ransom, and giving them liberty sent them to Smyrna -under charge of Perry. - -While there, an event occurred which had a disastrous physical influence -upon Matthew Perry all his life, and which remotely caused his death. A -great fire broke out on shore which threatened to wrap the whole city in -conflagration. The efficient executive of the flag-ship, ordered a large -detail to land in the boats and act as firemen. The men, eager for -excitement on land, worked with alacrity; but among the most zealous and -hard working of all was their lieutenant. In danger and exposure, -alternately heated and drenched, Perry was almost exhausted when he -regained the ship. The result was an attack of rheumatism, from the -recurring assaults of which he was never afterwards entirely free. -Hitherto this species of internal torture had been to him an -abstraction; henceforth, it was personal and concrete. Shut up like a -fire in his bones, its occasional eruptions were the cause of that -seeming irritableness which was foreign to his nature. - -Among other visitors at Smyrna, were some Turkish ladies, who, veiled -and guarded by eunuchs, came on board “ships of the new world.” No such -privilege had ever been accorded them before, and these exiles of the -harem, looked with eager curiosity at every-thing and everybody on the -ship, though they spoke not a word. Nothing of themselves was visible -except their eyes, and these—to the old commodore—“not very -distinctly,” though possibly to the young officers they shone as -brightly as meteors. This visit of our squadron had a stimulating effect -on American commerce, though our men-of-war convoyed vessels of various -Christian nations. - -The Greek pirates extending the field of their operations, had now begun -their depredations in open boats. Dissensions among the patriots were -already doing as much harm to the sinking cause as Turkish arms. - -Captain Nicholson of our navy, visiting Athens and Corinth, found the -Acropolis in the hands of a faction, and the country poor and -uncultivated. Corinth was but a mere name. Its streets were overgrown, -its houses were roofless and empty, and the skeletons of its brave -defenders lay white and unburied. The Greek fleet of one-hundred sail -was unable to do much against the Turkish vessels, numbering fifteen -more and usually heavier. The best successes of the patriots were by the -use of fire-ships. - -In spite of the low state of the Hellenic cause, Americans manifested -strict neutrality, and the Greek authorities in the ports entered were -duly saluted, an example which the French admiral and Austrian commodore -followed. - -The fleet cruised westwardly, arriving at Gibraltar, October 12, where -Perry found awaiting him his appointment to the grade of acting Master -Commandant. - -The opening of the year 1827, found the cause of the Greeks sunk to the -lowest ebb of hopelessness. Even the crews of the men-of-war, unable to -get wage or food, put to sea for plunder. Friend and foe, American, as -well as Turk, suffered alike. - -While war and misery reigned in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, -commerce with the north African nations was rapidly obliterating the -memories of piracy and reprisal, which had once made Berber scimeter and -Yankee cutlass cross. Peace and friendship were assiduously cultivated, -and our officers were received with marked kindness and attention. - -Our three little wars with the Moslems of the Mediterranean, from 1794 -to 1797, from 1801 to 1804, and in 1815, seem at this day incredible and -dream-like. In view of the Bey of Tunis, on the assassination of Abraham -Lincoln sending a special envoy to express sympathy, and presenting his -portrait to the State Department, and at the Centennial Exposition -joining with us; and of Algeria being now the play ground of travelers, -one must acknowledge that a mighty change has passed over the spirit of -the Berbers since this century opened. - -Sickness broke out on the big ship _North Carolina_, and at one time -four lieutenants and one-hundred and twenty-five men were down with -small-pox and catarrh. The wretchedness of the weather at first allowed -little abatement of the trouble, but under acting Master Commandant -Perry’s vigorous and persistent hygienic measures, including abundant -fumigation, the scourge was checked. His methods were very obnoxious to -some of the officers and crew, but were indispensable to secure a clean -bill of health. The commodore wrote from Malta, February 14th, 1827, -that the condition of the ship’s people had greatly improved. - -The balmy spring breezes brought recuperation. The ship, clean and in -splendid condition, was ready to sail homewards. The boatswain’s call, -so welcome and always heard with a thrill of delight—“All hands up -anchor for home,”—was sounded on the 31st of May. The _North Carolina_, -leaving behind her classic waters, moved towards “the free hearts’ hope -and home.” - -The old weather-beaten hulk that now lies in the Wallabout is the same -old _North Carolina_. What a change from glory to dry rot! It came to -pass that the American line-of-battle ships, while the most showy, were -also the most unsatisfactory class of ships in our navy. They all ended -their days as store ships or as firewood. “The naval mind of the United -States could not work well in old world harness.” - ------ - -[5] See description in the novel _Trafalgar_, New York, 1885. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - THE CONCORD IN THE SEAS OF RUSSIA AND EGYPT. - - -THE stormy administration of Andrew Jackson, which began in 1829, and -the vigorous foreign policy which he inaugurated, or which devolved upon -him to follow up, promised activity if not glory for the navy. The -boundary question with England, and the long-standing claims for French -spoliations prior to 1801, also pressed for solution. - -The pacific name of at least one of the vessels selected to bear our -flag, and our envoy, John Randolph of Roanoke, into Russian waters, -suggested the olive branch, rather than the arrows, held in the talons -of the American eagle. The _Concord_, which was to be put under Perry’s -command, was named after the capital of the state in which she was -built. She was of seven hundred tons burthen and carried eighteen guns. -She was splendidly equipped, costing $115,325; and was destined, before -shipwreck on the east coast of Africa in 1843, to the average life of -fifteen years, and thirteen of active service. - -Perry was offered sea-duty April 1. Accepting at once, he received -orders, April 21, to command the _Concord_. By May 15, he had settled -his accounts at the recruiting station, and was on the _Concord’s_ deck. -He wrote asking the Department for officers. He was especially anxious -to secure a good school-master and chaplain. In those days, before naval -academies on land existed, the school was afloat in the ship itself, and -daily study was the rule on board. Mathematics, French and Spanish were -taught, and Perry took a personal interest in the pupils. In this -respect he was the superior even of his brother Oliver, whose honorable -fame as a naval educator equals that as a victor. - -Leaving Norfolk, late in June, a run of forty-three days, including -stops for visits to London and Elsineur, brought the _Concord_ under the -guns of Cronstadt, August 9. Mr. Randolph spent ten days in Russia, and -then made his quarters in London. - -The honors of this first visit on an American ship-of-war, in Russian -waters, were not monopolized by the minister. While at Cronstadt, the -Czar Nicholas came on board and inspected the _Concord_, with -unconcealed pleasure. In return, Perry and a few of his officers -received imperial audience at the palace in St. Petersburg, and were -shown the sights of the city—the “window looking out into -Europe”—which Peter the Great built. Being invited to come again, with -only his interpreter and private secretary, Chaplain Jenks, Perry -acceded, and this time the interview was prolonged and informal. The -Autocrat of all the Russias, and this representative officer of the -young republic, talked as friend to friend. At this time, Alexander, who -in 1880 was blown to pieces by the glass dynamite bombs of the -Nihilists, was a boy twelve years old. Nicholas complimented Perry very -highly on his naval knowledge; remarked that the United States was -highly favored in having such an officer, and definitely intimated that -he would like to have Perry in the Russian service. The -chaplain-interpreter gives a pen sketch of the scene. Both Captain Perry -and the Czar were tall and large; both were stern; Captain Perry was -abrupt, so was the Czar. They all stood in the great hall of the palace -(the same which was afterwards dynamited by the Nihilists). The Czar -asked a great many questions about the American navy, and Captain Perry -answered them. Professor Jenks translated for both, using his own -phrases; and, to quote his own description, “sweetening up the -conversation greatly.” - -These interviews made a deep impression upon the young chaplain. As he -said: “The Czar had very remarkable eyes, and he had such a very -covetous look when he fixed them on Captain Perry and myself, that I was -very anxious to get out of his kingdom.” The young linguist felt in the -presence of the destroyer of Poland, very much as the “tender-foot” -traveller feels when invited to dine with the border gentleman who has -“killed his man.” The professor politely declined the Czar’s invitation -to become his superintendent of education, as did Perry the proposition -to enter the Russian naval service. - -Nicholas I., one of the best of despots, was the grandson of Catharine -II. By this famous Russian queen, had been laid the foundation of that -abiding friendship between Russia and the United States. To this -foundation, Nicholas added a new tier of the superstructure. King George -III. of Great Britain had, in 1775, attempted to hire mercenaries in -Russia to fight against his American subjects. Queen Catharine refused -the proposition with scorn, replying that she had no soldiers to sell. -While this act compelled the gratitude of Americans to Russia, it forced -King George to seek among the shambles of petty princes in Germany. -Another friendly act which touched the heart of our young republic was -the liberal treaty of 1824, the first made with the United States. This -instrument declared the navigation and fisheries of the Pacific free to -the people of both nations. Indirectly, this was the cause of so many -American sailors being wrecked in Japan, and of our national interest in -the empire which Perry opened to the world. - -The warm sympathy existing between Europe’s first despotism and the -democratic republic in America, is a subject profoundly mysterious to -the average Englishman. He wonders where Americans, who are antipodal to -Russians in political thought, find points of agreement. In Catharine’s -refusal to help Great Britain in oppressing her colonies, in liberal -diplomacy, in the emancipation of her bondmen, and the abolition of -slavery and serfdom, in the sympathy which covered national wounds, and -in mutual sorrow from assassination and condolence in grief, the -relation is clearly discerned. The cord of friendship has many strands. - -These interviews, and the honors shown the captain of the _Concord_, by -the personal presence of the Czar on his ship, did not serve in allaying -the invalid envoy’s jealous temper. The mainmast of the vessel needed -repairs, and she lay at anchor six days—long enough for Randolph to -indite despatches homeward, one of which was a spiteful letter to the -President, blaming Captain Perry. These were brought by Lieutenant -Williamson on Sunday night, and at 4 A. M. sail was made for Copenhagen. -After much heavy weather, and a boisterous passage, Copenhagen was -reached September 6. - -We may dismiss in a paragraph this whole matter of Randolph’s connection -with the _Concord_. After his return home he lapsed into his -speech-making habits. He indulged in slanders and falsehoods, asserting -that the condition of the sailors was worse than that of his own slaves, -and the discipline, especially flogging, severer than on the plantation. -Perry and his officers heard of this, and on February 16, 1832, sent an -exact report of the correction administered, proving that Randolph’s -assertions were unfounded. Supported by his own officers, who -voluntarily made flat contradiction of Mr. Randolph’s assertions, Perry -convicted the erring Virginian of downright falsehood. Perry was careful -to set this matter in its proper light, and two sets of his papers are -now in the naval archives. No censure was passed upon him. His conduct -was approved, for Randolph in addition to his disagreeable behavior, had -exceeded his authority. It would be idle to deny, what it is an honor to -Perry to declare, that the discipline on the _Concord_ was very strict. - -Flogging for certain offences was the rule of the service, not made by -Perry but a custom fixed long before he was born. As a loyal officer, -Captain Perry had no choice in the matter. Whenever possible, by -persuasion, by the substitution of a reprimand for the cat, he avoided -the, then, universal method of correction. At all the floggings, every -one who could be spared from duty was obliged to be present. The logs of -the _Concord_ and of all the vessels commanded by Perry show that under -his discipline less, and not more, than the average of stripes were -administered. Perry went to the roots of the matter and was more anxious -to apply ounces of prevention than pounds of cure. The cause of the -offences which brought the cat to the sailors’ back was ardent spirits. -He, therefore, used his professional influence to have this ration -abolished to minors, and by his persistence finally succeeded. By the -law of August 29, 1842, the spirit ration was forbidden to all under -twenty-one years old—money being paid instead of grog. As a man, he -personally persuaded the sailors to give up liquor and live by -temperance principles. In this noble work he was remarkably successful, -and the _Concord_ led the squadron in the number of her crew who -voluntarily abandoned the use of grog. Hence, fewer floggings and better -discipline. - -From Copenhagen the run was made to Cowes, Isle of Wight, September 22, -and thence to the Mediterranean. At Port Mahon the _Concord_ joined the -squadron. The autumn and early winter were spent in active cruising, and -in February we find Perry at Syracuse. Ever mindful of an opportunity to -add stores of science, he made a collection of the plants of Sicily and -forwarded it to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. A box of other -specimens was sent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. - -Leaving Syracuse, February 27, for Malta, and touching at this island, -Captain Perry sailed, March 13, for Alexandria, having on board the -Reverend and Mrs. Kirkland and Lady Franklin and her servants. Her -husband, Sir John Franklin, afterwards world-renowned as an Arctic -explorer, was at this time taking an active part in the Greek war of -liberation. Perry’s acquaintance with the noble lady deepened into a -friendship that lasted throughout his life. It was, most probably, -through her admiration of the discipline and ability of the American -officers and crews, that she, in after years, appealed to them as well -as to Englishmen to rescue her husband. Nevertheless, as Chaplain Jenks -noticed, the rose had its thorn. “Captain Perry had a trial of his -patience with Lady Franklin, whom he took on board when he went to the -Mediterranean. Lady Franklin was full of her husband; and, of course, at -each meal the whole company had to hear theories and successes and -memories repeated on the one theme. Captain Perry bore it all with great -gentleness.” - -Arriving at Alexandria, March 26, the _Concord_ remained until April 23. -The officers of the ship were invited to dine with Mehemet, the Viceroy -of Egypt, afterwards the famous exterminator of the Mamelukes and of the -feudal system which they represented and upheld. He had conquered -Soudan, built Khartoum, and founded the Khedival dynasty. The officers -were splendidly entertained by this latest master of the “Old House of -Bondage.” The thirteen swords, presented to the party, were afterwards -sent to Washington and placed in the Department of State. These weapons, -still to be seen in the section devoted to curiosities, are of exquisite -workmanship. The “Mameluke grip” was afterwards adopted on the -regulation navy swords. - -The _Concord_, raising anchor, April 3, sailed for Milo, where the -famous statue of Venus had been found a few weeks before, and passed -Candia, going thence to Napoli, the capital of Greece, saluting the -British, French and Russian fleets, and the Greek forts. On his way to -Smyrna, a rich American vessel received convoy. Another was met which -had been robbed the night before by a party of fifty pirates in a boat. - -In hopes of catching the thieves, and naturally enjoying a grim joke, -Perry put a number of sailors and marines in hiding on the richly-laden -merchantman, hoping to lure the pirates to another attack. The vessel, -however, got safely to Paros without special incident of any kind. He -then visited a number of the robbers’ haunts and scoured the coasts with -boat parties, but without securing any prizes. The _Concord_ then went -to Athens to bring away the Rev. Mr. Robertson, an American missionary -there, together with the property of the American Episcopal Mission, -which had been broken up by the war. - -In accordance with the excellent naval policy of President Jackson, our -flag was shown in every Greek and Turkish port. Wool, opium and drugs -were the staples of export carried in American vessels, and most of -those met with were armed with small cannon and muskets. Arriving at -Port Mahon, the home of our military marine, June 25, 1832, Perry -reported a list of the vessels convoyed. It was found that in the -eighty-two days from Alexandria, the _Concord_ had visited twelve -islands, anchored in ten ports, and that the ship had lain in port only -sixteen days, being at sea sixty-four days. As strict sanitary -regulations had been enforced, the health of the crew was unusually -good. - -At the transfer of the few invalids and of those whose terms of service -had expired, the bugler struck up the then new, but now old, strain of -“Home, Sweet Home,” which brought tears to many of the sailors’ eyes. -The sight, so unusual, of a crying sailor, suggested to a visitor on -board that these tears were of sorrow for leaving the _Concord_, than of -joy for returning home. The surrounding cliffs sent back the notes in -prolonged and saddened echoes. The heart-melting Sicilian air, without -whose consecrating melody, the stanzas of John Howard Payne might long -since have sunk into the ooze of oblivion, seemed then, as now, the -immortal soul of a perishable body. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - A DIPLOMATIC VOYAGE IN THE FRIGATE BRANDYWINE. - - -IN his next cruise which we are now to describe, Perry was to take a -hand directly in diplomacy, and rehearse for the more brilliant drama of -Japan twenty years later. - -It was part of the foreign policy of Jackson’s administration to compel -the payment of the long standing claims for spoliations on American -commerce by the great European belligerents. During the years from 1809 -to 1812, the Neapolitan government under Joseph Bonaparte and Murat, -kings of Naples, had confiscated numerous American ships and cargoes. -The claims filed in the State Department at Washington amounted to -$1,734,993.88. They were held by various Boston and Philadelphia -insurance companies and by citizens of Baltimore. The Hon. John Nelson -of Frederic, Md. was appointed Minister to Naples, and ordered to -collect these claims. Even before the outbreak of the war in 1812, -contrary to the general opinion, the amount of direct spoliations upon -American commerce inflicted by France and the nations then under her -influence exceeded that experienced from Great Britain. The demands from -our government, upon France, Naples, Spain and Portugal had been again -and again refused. Jackson, in giving the debtors of the United States -an invitation to pay, backed it by visible arguments of persuasion. He -selected to co-operate with Mr. Nelson and to command the Mediterranean -squadron, Commodore Daniel Patterson who had aided him in the defense of -New Orleans in 1815. This veteran of the Tripolitan campaigns, who in -the second war with Great Britain had defended New Orleans, and aided -Jackson in driving back Packenham, was now 61 years old. He was familiar -with the western Mediterranean from his service as a Midshipman of over -a quarter of a century before. At Port Mahon, August 25th, 1832, he -received the command from Commodore Biddle. The squadron there consisted -of the _Brandywine_, _Concord_ and _Boston_. - -This was “the Cholera year” in New York, and _pratique_, or permission -to enter, was refused to the American ships at some of the ports. For -this reason, an early demonstration at Naples was decided upon. -Patterson’s plan was that one American ship should appear at first in -the harbour of Naples, and then another and another in succession, until -the whole squadron of floating fortresses should be present to second -Mr. Nelson’s demands. The entire force at his command was three -fifty-gun frigates and three twenty-gun corvettes. This sufficed, -according to the programme, for a naval drama in six acts. Commodore -Biddle was to proceed first with the _United States_, then the _Boston_ -and _John Adams_ with Commodore Patterson were to follow. - -This plan for effective negotiation succeeded admirably, though great -energy was needed to carry it out. To take part in it, Perry was obliged -to sacrifice not only personal convenience, but also to make drafts upon -his purse for which his salary of $1200 per annum poorly prepared him. -Returning from convoying our merchant vessels and chasing pirates in the -Levant, he had to endure the annoyance of a quarantine at Port Mahon -during thirty days; and this, notwithstanding all on board the _Concord_ -were in good health. Such was the effect of the fear of cholera from New -York. Despite the urgency of the business, and the preciousness of time, -the _Concord_, was moored fast for a month of galling idleness by -Portuguese red tape. - -Even upon quarantine—one of the growths and fruits of science—fasten -the parasites of superstition. Besides the annoyance and loss of moral -stamina, which such unusual confinement produces, it may be fairly -questioned whether quarantine as usually enforced does not do, if not as -much as harm as good, a vast amount of injury. Cut off from regular -habits, and immured in unhygienic surroundings, the seeds of disease are -often sown in hardy constitutions. - -After thirty days of imprisonment on board, the officers of the -_Concord_ were ready to hail a washerwoman as an angel of light. They -were all looking forward to such an interview with lively expectation, -but such a privilege was to be enjoyed by all but the Captain. - -At the last hour, Commodore Biddle fell ill. Unable to proceed, as -ordered by the Department, to Naples, Perry was directed by order of -Commodore Patterson to assume command of the flag-ship _Brandywine_, a -frigate of forty-four guns. This ship, which recalls the name of a -revolutionary battle-field, was named in honor of Lafayette, even as the -_Alliance_ had long before signalized, by her name, the aid and -friendship of France in revolutionary days. She had been launched at -Washington during his late visit to America, after the Marquis had -visited the scenes of the battle in which he had acted as Washington’s -aid. - -To the trying duty of taking a new ship and forcing her with all speed -night and day to the place needed, Perry was called before he could even -get his clothes washed. Yet within an hour after his release, on a new -quarterdeck, he ordered all sails set for Naples. For several days, -until the goal was in sight, with characteristic vigor and determination -to succeed, he was on deck night and day enduring the fatigue and -anxiety with invincible resolution. - -Mr. Nelson’s demands were at first refused by Count Cassaro, the -Secretary of State. Why should the insolent petty government of the -Bourbon prince Ferdinand II. notorious for its infamous misgovernment at -home, pay any attention to an almost unknown republic across the ocean? -No! The Yankee envoy, coming in one ship, was refused. King Bomba -laughed. - -The _Brandywine_ cast anchor, and the baffled envoy waited patiently for -a few days, when another American flag and floating fortress sailed into -the harbor. It was the frigate _United States_. The demands were -reiterated, and again refused. - -Four days slipped away, and another stately vessel floating the stars -and stripes appeared in the bay. It was the _Concord_. The Bourbon -government, now thoroughly alarmed, repaired forts, drilled troops and -mounted more cannon on the castle. Still withholding payment, the -Neapolitans began to collect the cash and think of yielding. - -Two days later still another war-ship came in. It was the _John Adams_. - -When the fifth ship sailed gallantly in, the Neapolitans were almost at -the point of honesty, but three days later Mr. Nelson wrote home his -inability to collect the bill. - -Just as the blue waters of the bay mirrored the image of the sixth sail, -king and government yielded.[6] - -The demands were fully acceded to, and interest was guaranteed on -instalments. Mr. Nelson frankly acknowledged that the success of his -mission was due to the naval demonstration. Admiral Patterson wrote, “I -have remained here with the squadron as its presence gave weight to the -pending negotiations.” The line of six frigates and corvettes, manned by -resolute men under perfect discipline, and under a veteran’s command, -carried the best artillery in the world. Ranged opposite the lava-paved -streets of the most densely peopled city of Europe, and in front of the -royal castle, they formed an irresistible tableau. Neither the castle -d’Oro, nor the castle St. Elmo, nor the forts could have availed against -the guns of the Yankee fleet. - -The entire squadron remained in the Bay of Naples from August 28, to -September 15. As the ships separated, the _Brandywine_ went to -Marseilles, and the _John Adams_ to Havre. The _Concord_ was left behind -to take home the successful envoy. This compelled Perry’s residence in -Naples, at considerable personal expense. The welcome piping of the -boatswain’s orders to lift anchor for the home run was heard October 15. -The ocean crossed, Cape Cod was sighted December 3, and anchor cast at -Portsmouth December 5. Mr. Nelson departed in haste to Washington to -deck the re-elected President’s cap with a new diplomatic feather, which -greatly consoled him amid his nullification annoyances. - -Writing on the twenty-first of December, Perry stated that the _Concord_ -was dismantled. On the next day he applied for the command of the -recruiting station at New York, as his family now made its home in that -city. - -This cruise of thirty months was fruitful of experience of nature, man, -war, diplomacy, and travel. He had visited the dominions of nine -European monarchs besides Greece, had anchored in and communicated with -forty different ports, had been three hundred and forty-five days at -sea, and had sailed twenty-eight thousand miles. No officer had appeared -as prisoner or witness at a court-martial, and on no other vessel had a -larger proportion of men given up liquor. Ship and crew had been worthy -of the name. - -During all the cruise, Perry showed himself to be what rear-admiral -Ammen fitly styled him, “one of the principal educators of our navy.” He -directed the studies of the young midshipmen, advised them what books to -read, what historical sites to visit, and what was most worth seeing in -the famous cities. He gave them sound hints on how to live as gentlemen -on small salaries. He infused into many of them his own peculiar horror -of debt. He sought constantly to elevate the ideal of navy men. The -dogma that he insisted upon was: that an officer in the American Navy -should be a man of high culture, abreast of the ideas of the age, and -not a creature of professional routine. He heartily seconded the zeal of -his scholarly chaplain, Professor Jenks, who was the confidential -secretary of Commodore Perry, and so became very intimate with him -during the cruise of several years. He was the interpreter to Captain -Perry, and conducted the interviews with the various crowned heads. - -Rear-Admiral Almy says of his commander Matthew Perry at this time that: -“He was a fine looking officer in uniform, somewhat resembling the -portraits of his brother the hero of Lake Erie, but not so handsome, and -had a sterner expression and was generally stern in his manner.” - -For the expenses incurred during this cruise in entertaining the Khedive -Mehemet Ali, in performing duties far above his grade, his extra -services on the _Brandywine_, and shore residence in Naples, Perry was -reimbursed to the amount of $1,500, by a special Act of Congress passed -March 3, 1835. - ------ - -[6] The Navy in Time of Peace, by Rear-Admiral John Almy.—_Washington -Republican_ March 13, 1884. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - THE FOUNDER OF THE BROOKLYN NAVAL LYCEUM. - - -AN English writer[7] in the Naval College at Greenwich thus compares the -life on shore of British and American officers. - -“The officers of the United States navy have one great advantage which -is wanting to our own; when on shore they are not necessarily parted -from the service, but are employed in their several ranks, in the -different dockyards, thus escaping not only the private grievance and -pecuniary difficulties of a very narrow half-pay, but also, what from a -public point of view is much more important, the loss of professional -aptitude, and that skill which comes from increasing practice.” - -When on the 7th of January 1833, Captain Perry received orders to report -to Commodore Charles Ridgley at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, his longest -term, ten years, of shore duty began. Being now settled down with his -family, and expecting henceforth to rear his children in New York, he -gave notice April 24, to the Navy Department that his name should go on -record as a citizen of the Empire State. He at once began the study and -mastery of the steam engine, with a view of solving the problem of the -use of steam as a motor for war vessels. - -That Perry was “an educator of the Navy,” and that he left his mark in -whatever field of work he occupied was again signally shown. He -organized the Brooklyn Naval Lyceum. This institution which still lives -in honorable usefulness is a monument of his enterprise. - -The New York Naval Station in the Wallabout, or Boght of the Walloons, -which to-day lies under the shadow of the great Suspension Bridge, is -easily accessible by horse-cars, elevated railways, and various steam -vehicles on land and water. In those days, it was isolated, and -ferry-boats were inferior and infrequent. Hence officers were compelled -to be longer at the Yard, and had much leisure on their hands. Desirous -of professional improvement for himself and his fellow-officers, Perry -was alert when the golden opportunity arrived. Finding this at hand, he -first took immediate steps to form a library at the Yard. He then set -about the organization of the Lyceum, whose beginnings were humble -enough. About this time, money had been appropriated to construct a new -building for the officers of the commandant and his assistants. It was -originally intended to be only two stories in height. Perry suggested -that the walls be run up another story for extra rooms. He wrote to the -Department. He personally pressed the matter. Permission was granted. A -third floor was added. It was to be used for Naval courts-martial, Naval -Boards, and the Museum, Library, and Reading Room. - -The Lyceum organized in 1833, had now a home. It was incorporated in -1835, and allowed to hold $25,000 worth of property. The articles of -union declared the Lyceum formed “In order to promote the diffusion of -useful knowledge, to foster a spirit of harmony and a community of -interests in the service, and to cement the links which unite us as -professional brethren.” - -The blazon selected was a naval trophy decorated with dolphins, Neptune, -marine and war emblems, eagle and flag, with the motto, “_Tam Minerva -quam Marte_,” (as well for Minerva, as for Mars.) A free translation of -this would be, “For culture as well as for war.” - -Commodore C. G. Ridgley was chosen President, as was befitting his rank. -Perry assumed an humbler office, though he was the moving spirit of -this, the first permanent American naval literary institution. He -presided at its initial meeting. He was made the first curator of the -museum, in 1836 its Vice President; and later, its President. Officers -and citizens employed by, or connected with the navy came forward in -goodly numbers as members. Soon a snug little revenue enabled the Lyceum -to purchase the proper furniture and cases for the specimens which began -to accumulate, as the new enterprise and its needs began to be known. -Publishers and merchants made grants of books, pictures and engravings. -Other accessions to the library were secured by purchase. From the -beginning, and for years afterwards, the Lyceum grew and prospered. -“Although other officers rendered valuable service in the organization, -yet the master spirit was Captain Matthew C. Perry, United States Navy. -From that day to this, the Naval Lyceum has been a fertile source of -professional instruction and improvement.” Among the honorary members -were four captains in the British navy, three of whose names, Parry, -Ross and Franklin, are imperishably associated with the annals of Arctic -discoveries. - -Out of the Lyceum grew the Naval Magazine, an excellent bi-monthly, full -of interest to officers. Of this Perry was an active promoter, and to it -he contributed abundantly, though few or none of the articles bear his -signature. Always full of ideas, and able to express them tersely, the -editor could depend on him for copy, and he did. The Naval Magazine was -edited by the Rev. Charles Stewart. The Advisory Committee consisted of -Commodore C. G. Ridgley, Master Commandant M. C. Perry, C. O. Handy, -Esq., Purser W. Swift, Esq., Lieutenant Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, -Professor E. C. Ward, and passed Midshipman B. I. Moller. Its -subscription price was three dollars per annum. Among the contributors -were J. Fenimore Cooper, William C. Redfield, Esq., Chaplain Walter C. -Colton and Dr. Usher Parsons. In looking over the bound volumes of this -magazine—one of the mighty number of the dead in the catacombs of -American periodical literature—we find some articles of sterling value -and perennial interest. It was fully abreast of the science of the age, -and urged persistently the creation of a Naval Academy. - -The magazine died, but the Lyceum lived on to do a good work for many -years, notably during our great civil war. It is still flourishing and -is visited by tens of thousands of persons from all parts of our -country. - -Perry had already made his reputation as a scientific student. His motto -was “_semper paratus_.” He was ever in readiness for work. The British -Admiralty and the United States government were desirous of fuller -information about the tides and currents of the Atlantic ocean, -especially those off Rhode Island and in the Sound. Chosen for the work, -Perry received orders, June 1st, to spend a lunar month on Gardiner’s -Island. The congenial task afforded a pleasant break in the monotony of -life in the navy yard, and revived memories of the war of 1812. The -careful observations which he made during the month of June, embodied in -a report, were adopted into the United States and British Admiralty -charts. He returned home June 29. - -Though Commodore Ridgley was officer-in-chief in the yard, upon Perry -fell most of the active clerical and superintending work. The frigate, -_United States_, was fitting out for service in the Mediterranean, and -one of the young midshipmen ordered to report to her was the gentleman -who afterwards became Rear-Admiral George H. Preble, a gallant soldier, -fighter of Chinese pirates, and author of the _History of the American -Flag_ and of _Steam Navigation_. - -He reported to the Navy Yard, May 1, 1836, in trembling anxiety as to -his reception by his superiors. The commandant was absent at the -horse-races on the Long Island course, so young Preble returned to New -York, to his hotel, and again reported May 3. - -His first impressions of Master Commandant Perry are shown in the -following doggerel, written in a letter to his sister: - - “Charley again was at the race, - But I was minded that the place - Should own me as a Mid. - And since the Com. was making merry, - Reported to big-whiskered Perry - The Captain of the Yard. - - “‘Mat’ looked at me from stem to stern, - His gaze I thought he ne’er would turn, - No doubt he thought me green. - For I had on a citizen’s coat - Instead of a uniform as I ought, - When going to report. - - “At last he said that I could go, - There was no duty I could do, - Until the next day morning. - So I whisked o’er and moved my traps, - And made acquaintance with the chaps - Who were to live with me.” - -Perry at this time wore whiskers, and for some years afterwards -cultivated sides in front of the ear. In later life he shaved his face -clean. The fashion in the navy was to wear only sides, as portraits of -all the heroes of 1812 show. The younger officers were just beginning to -sport moustaches. These modern fashions and “such fripperies” were -denounced by the older men, who clung to their antique prejudices. -Hawthorne, in his American Note Book, August 27, 1837, gives an amusing -instance of this, couched in the language with which he was able to make -the commonest subject fascinating. - -That the regulations should prescribe the exact amount of hair to be -worn on the face of both officers and men seems strange, but it is true, -and illustrates the rigidity of naval discipline. Evidently inheriting -the modern British (not the ancient Brittanic) hatred of French and -continental customs, the Americans, in high office, forbade moustaches -as savoring of disloyalty. Wellington had issued an order forbidding -moustaches, except for cavalry. It was not until the year of grace, -1853, that the American naval visage was emancipated from slavery to the -razor. Secretary Dobbin then approved of the cautious regulation: “The -beard to be worn at the pleasure of the individual, but when worn to be -kept short and neatly trimmed.” What a shame it must have seemed to -feminine admirers, and to the possessors of luxuriant beards of -attractive color! Both the hairy and hairless were, perforce, placed in -the same democracy of homeliness. The ancient orders, in the interest of -ships’ barbers, and once made to compensate for the wearing of perukes, -were crowned by the famous proclamation of Secretary Graham, dated May -8, 1852, which at this date furnishes, amusing reading: - - “The hair of all persons belonging to the Navy, when in actual - service, is to be kept short. No part of the beard is to be worn - long, and the whiskers shall not descend more than two inches - below the ear, except at sea, in high latitudes, when this - regulation may, for the time, be dispensed with by order of the - commander of a squadron, or of a vessel acting under separate - orders. _Neither moustaches nor imperials are to be worn by - officers or men on any pretence whatever._” - -Our illustrious Admiral Porter shaved only once or twice in his life. -During the Mexican War he found it difficult to get Commodore Conner to -give him service on account of his full whiskers. The British army wore -their beards and now fashionable moustaches in the trenches of -Sebastopol, when it was difficult, if not impossible to get shaved, and -thus won a hairy victory, the results of which were felt even across the -Atlantic. - -Another high honor offered to Perry, was the command of the famous U. S. -Exploring Expedition to Antarctic lands and seas. This enterprise was -the evolution of an attempt to obtain from Congress an appropriation to -find “Symmes Hole.” The originator of the “_Theory of Concentric -Spheres_” was John Cleves Symmes, born in 1780, and an officer in the -United States army during the war of 1812, who died in 1829. In lectures -at Union College, Schenectady, and in other places, he expounded his -belief that the earth is hollow and capable of habitation, and that -there is an opening at each of the poles, leading to the various spheres -inside of the greater hollow sphere, the earth itself. He petitioned -Congress to fit out an expedition to test this theory, which had been -set forth in his lectures and in a book published at Cincinnati in 1826. - -Despite the ridicule heaped upon Symmes and his theories, scientific men -believed that the Antarctic region should be explored. Congress voted -that a corps of scientific men, in six vessels, should be sent out for -four years in the interests of observation and research. This was one of -the first of those “peace expeditions,” no less renowned than those in -war, of which the American nation and navy may well be proud. - -By this time, however, Perry had become interested in the idea of -creating a steam navy. He declined the honor, but took a keen interest -in the expedition. An ardent believer in Polar research, he was heartily -glad to see the boundaries of knowledge extended. He had read carefully -the record of the five years’ voyage of the British sloop-of-war -_Beagle_. In this vessel, Mr. Darwin began those profound speculations -on the origin and maintenance of animal life, which have opened a new -outlook upon the universe and created a fertile era of thought. - -The Secretary of the Navy applied to the Naval Lyceum for advice as to -the formation of a scientific corps, for recommendation of names of -members of said corps, for a series of inquiries for research, and -details of the correct equipment of such an expedition. To thus -recognise the dignity and status of the Lyceum was highly gratifying to -its founder and appreciated by the society. A committee consisting of -three officers, C. G. Ridgley, M. C. Perry and C. O. Handy, was -appointed to make the report. This, when printed, filled eleven pages of -the magazine. It was mainly the work of M. C. Perry. The practical -nature of the programme was recognized at once. It was incorporated into -the official instructions for the conduct of the expedition. The command -was most worthily bestowed on Lieutenant Charles Wilkes. - -The success of this, the first American exploring expedition of -magnitude is known to all, through the publication entitled _The Wilkes -Exploring Expedition_, as well as by the additions to our herbariums and -gardens of strange plants, and the goodly spoils of science now in the -Smithsonian Institute. - ------ - -[7] J. K. Laughton, _Encyclopædia Brittanica_, vol. ix., article -“Farragut.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - THE FATHER OF THE AMERICAN STEAM NAVY. - - -MATTHEW PERRY was now to be called to a new and untried duty. This was -no less than to be pioneer of the steam navy of the United States. When -a boy under Commodore Rodgers, he had often seen the inventor, Fulton, -busy with his schemes. He had heard the badinage of good-natured -doubters and the jeers of the unbelieving, but he had also seen the -_Demologos_, or _Fulton 1st_, moving under steam. This formidable vessel -was to have been armed, in addition to her deck batteries, with -submarine cannon. She was thus the prototype of Ericsson’s _Destroyer_. -Fulton died February 24th, 1815, but the trial trip was made June 1st, -1815, and was successful. - -Congress on the 30th of June, 1834, had appropriated five thousand -dollars to test the question of the safety of boilers in vessels. The -next step was to order the building of a “steam battery” at the Brooklyn -Navy Yard in 1836. Perry applied for command of this vessel July 28th. -His orders arrived August 31st, 1837. - -The second _Fulton_, the pioneer of our American steam navy, was -designed as a floating battery for the defense of New York harbor. Her -hull was of the best live oak, with heavy bulwarks five feet thick, -beveled on the outside so as to cause an enemy’s shot to glance off. She -had three masts and was 180 feet long. She had four immense chimneys, -which greatly impeded her progress in a head wind. Her boilers were of -copper. Like most of those then in use, these, where they connected with -iron pipes were apt to create a galvanic action which caused leaks. -Thrice was the vessel disabled on this account. The paddle-wheels, with -enormous buckets were 22 feet 10 inches in diameter. Her armament -consisted of eight forty-two pounders, and one twenty-four pounder. Her -total cost was $299,650. She carried in her lockers, coal for two days, -and drew 10 feet 6 inches of water. - -Perry took command of the _Fulton_ October 4th, 1837, when the -smoke-pipes were up, and the engines ready for an early trial. His work -was more than to hasten forward the completion of the new steam battery. -He was practically to organize an entirely new branch of naval economy. -There were in the marine war service of the United States absolutely no -precedents to guide him. - -Again he had to be “an educator of the navy.” To show how far the work -was left to him, and was his own creation, we may state that no -authority had been given and no steps taken to secure firemen, -assistant-engineers, or coal heavers. The details, duties, -qualifications, wages, and status in the navy of the whole engineer -corps fell upon Perry to settle. He wrote for authority to appoint first -and second class engineers. He proposed that $25 to $30 a month, and one -ration, should be given as pay to firemen, and that they should be good -mechanics familiar with machinery, the use of stops, cocks, gauges, and -the paraphernalia of iron and brass so novel on a man-of-war. - -Knowing that failure in the initiative of the experimental steam service -might prejudice the public, and especially the incredulous and sneering -old salts who had no faith in the new fangled ideas, he requested that -midshipmen for the _Fulton_ should be first trained in seamanship prior -to their steamer life. He was also especially particular about the moral -and personal character of the “line” officers who were first to live in -contact with a new and strange kind of “staff.” It is difficult in this -age of war steamers, when a sailing man-of-war or even a paddle-wheel -steamer is a curiosity, to realize the jealousy felt by sailors of the -old school towards the un-naval men of gauges and stop-cocks. They -foresaw only too clearly that steam was to steal away the poetry of the -sea, turn the sailor into a coal-heaver, and the ship into a machine. - -Perry demanded in his line officers breadth of view sufficient to grasp -the new order of things. They must see in the men of screws and levers -equality of courage as well as of utility. They must be of the -co-operative cast of mind and disposition. From the very first, he -foresaw that jealousy amounting almost to animosity would spring up -between the line and staff officers, between the deck and the hold, and -he determined to reduce it to a minimum. The new middle term between -courage and cannon was caloric. He would provide precedents to act as -anti-friction buffers so as to secure a maximum of harmony. - -“The officers of a steamer should be those of established discretion, -not only that great vigilance will be required of them, but because much -tact and forbearance must necessarily be exercised in their intercourse -with the engineers and firemen who, coming from a class of respectable -mechanics and unused to the restraints and discipline of a vessel of -war, may be made discontented and unhappy by injudicious treatment; and, -as passed midshipmen are supposed to be more staid and discreet I should -prefer most of that class.” - -“In this organization of the officers of this first American steamer of -war, I am solicitous of establishing the service on a footing so popular -and respectable, as to be desired by those of the navy who may be -emulous of acquiring information in a new and interesting field of -professional employment, and I am sure that the Department will -co-operate so far as it may be proper in the attainment of the object.” - -That was Matthew Perry—ever magnifying his office and profession. He -believed that responsibility helped vastly to make the man. He suggested -that engineers take the oath, and from first to last be held to those -sanctions and to that discipline, which would create among them the -_esprit_ so excellent in the line officers. - -Out of many applicants for engineer’s posts on the _Fulton_, Perry, to -November 16th, had selected only one, as he was determined to get the -best. He believed in the outward symbols of honor and authority. “In -order to give them a respectable position, and to encourage pride of -character in their intercourse with citizens, and to make them emulous -to conduct themselves with propriety, I would respectfully suggest that -a uniform be assigned to them.” He proposed the usual suit of plain blue -coat with rolling collar, blue trousers, and plain blue cap. The -distinction between first and second engineers should be visible, only -in the number and arrangement of the buttons; the first assistant to -wear seven, and the second assistant six in front, both having one on -each collar, and slight variation on the skirts. Later on, the -paddle-wheel wrought in gold bullion was added as part of the uniform. -“The olive branch and paddle-wheel on the collars of the engineers -designated their special vocation, and spoke of the peaceful progress of -art and science.” - -The sailors, who as a class are too apt to be children of superstition, -were somewhat backward about enlisting on a war-ship with a boiler -inside ready to turn into an enemy if struck by a shot; but at last -after many and unforeseen delays, the _Fulton_ got out into the harbor -early in December. Steam was raised in thirty minutes from cold water. -Many of the leading engineers and practical mechanics were on board. -With ten inches of steam marked on the gauge, and twenty revolutions a -minute, she made ten knots an hour, justifying the hope that she would -increase her speed to twelve or even thirteen knots. The first -assistant-engineers of this pioneer war steamer were Messrs. John -Farron, Nelson Burt, and Hiram Sanford. - -The Chief Engineer was Mr. Charles H. Haswell, now the veteran city -surveyor of New York. - -Perry wrote December 17, 1837, “I have established neat and economical -uniforms for the different grades.” He also arranged their -accommodations on the vessel, and their routine of life was soon -established. A trial trip to go outside the bay and in the ocean was -arranged for December 28, but the old-fashioned condensing apparatus -worked badly. The machinery of the _Fulton_, though perhaps the best for -the time, was of rude pattern as compared with the superb work turned -out to-day in American foundries. Even this clumsy mechanical equipment -had not been obtained without great anxiety, patience, and delay, and by -taxing all the resources of the New York machine shops. - -Of her value as a moving fortress, Perry wrote: “The _Fulton_ will never -answer as a sea-vessel, but the facility of moving from port to port, -places at the service of the Department, a force particularly available -for the immediate action at any point.” With the lively remembrance of -the efficiency of the British blockade of New York and New London in the -war of 1812, he adds, “In less than an hour, after orders are received, -the _Fulton_ can be moving in any direction at the rate of ten miles an -hour, with power of enforcing the instructions of the government.” - -On the 15th of January 1838, Captain Perry received orders to carry out -the Act of Congress, and cruise along the coast. Perry wrote pointing -out, (1) that the heavy and clumsy _Fulton_, a veritable floating -fortress being unlike ocean steamers, was not likely to prove seaworthy, -(2) she was adapted only to bays and harbors, (3) she could carry fuel -only for seventy hours consumption; (4), that no deposits of coal were -yet made along the coast; (5), that her wheel guards being only twenty -inches clear, the boat would be extremely wet and dangerous at sea. -Nevertheless he promised to take this floating battery out into the -ocean back to the coaling depot, and thence through the Long Island -Sound. - -Accordingly January 18, the _Fulton_ steamed down to Sandy Hook and -anchoring at night, ran out as the wintry weather permitted during the -day. In a wind the vessel labored hard. She lay so low in the water, -that several of her wheel buckets were lost or injured, and the previous -opinion of naval men was confirmed. Nevertheless, Perry was astonished -at her power, and her facility of management demonstrated a new thing on -board a vessel of war. Having asked for the written opinion of his -officers, several interesting replies were elicited. The Acting Master -C. W. Pickering noted that the _Fulton_ carried six forty-four pounders, -and being a steamer could have choice of position and distance. Two or -three of such vessels could cripple a whole enemy’s squadron or destroy -it. In case of a calm, she could fight a squadron all day, and not -receive a shot. In case of chase, or light winds, she could destroy a -squadron one by one, or tow them separately out of sight as was desired. -The trial in the Sound proved her one of the fastest boats known. From -New London with 9½ inches steam she made twenty-eight miles in one hour -and fifty-seven minutes, or one hundred and eighteen miles in little -less than nine hours. - -Her utility on a blockade was manifest, and her advantage in every point -over sailing vessels demonstrated. She would in a fight be equal to any -“seventy-four” and in fact to any number of vessels not propelled by -steam. Her strength and power were unrivalled in the world. - -Lieut. Wm. F. Lynch, afterwards the Dead Sea explorer and later the -Confederate Commodore, suggested a better arrangement of her battery. -Taking a hint from Jackson’s cotton-bale breastworks of 1815, he pointed -out how the _Fulton_ might be made cotton-clad and shot-proof. He -carried out his idea in later years, and some of the confederate -steamers in the civil war were so armed and made formidable. It is -interesting to read now what he wrote in 1838. “The machinery can easily -be protected by cotton bales, or other light elastic material between it -and the ship’s side.” The idea of protecting armor to war ships was -first conceived by Americans. - -In fact, all the opinions as to the _Fulton’s_ capacity for the offense -or defense were favorable. A glow of enthusiasm pervades the reports of -those on board the maiden trip of this the first American war steamer. -Perry himself saw her defects, and how they could be remedied. Her -machinery and horizontal engines took up too much room. Yet even as she -was, her annual expenses would be less than a first-class vessel of war -under sail with proportionate crew, provisions, and canvass. - -By prophetic insight, Perry saw that the revolution in naval education, -tactics and warfare had already dawned. Writing from Montauk Point, -February 6, 1838, he suggested that a training school for naval -engineers should be established by the government, that firemen -apprentices should be enlisted and trained, stating that these had -better be sons of engineers and firemen. The Secretary immediately -approved of his suggestion in a letter dated February 13, 1838. He -directed Commodore Ridgely to place on the _Fulton_ five apprentices to -be exclusively attached to the engineer’s department.[8] What was first -suggested by Perry, is now magnificently realized in the Annapolis Naval -Academy, with its six years course in engineering, graduating yearly a -corps of cadet engineers among the best in the world. - -In a further report, written from Gardiner’s Island February 17, 1838, -Perry uttered his faith that sea-going war steamers of 1400 or 1500 tons -could be built to cruise at sea even for twenty days, and yet be -efficient and as safe from disaster as the finest frigates afloat, while -the expense would be considerably less. This was a brave utterance at a -time when the number of believers in the possibility of the financial -success of ocean steam-navigation, or of the practicability of large war -vessels propelled by steam, was very few indeed. Perry’s letter was read -and re-read by the Naval Commissioners. - -In May, he took the _Fulton_ to Washington, where President Jackson and -his cabinet enjoyed the sight of a war-ship independent of wind and -tide. It was intimated to Perry that he should be sent to Europe to -study the latest results in steam, ordnance, and lighthouse -illumination. - -The year 1837 was a memorable one for Matthew Perry, marking his -promotion to a Captaincy in the United States Navy. The emblazoned -parchment bearing President Andrew Jackson’s signature is dated February -9, 1837. He ranked number forty-four in the list of the fifty naval -captains allowed by law. By the Act of Congress of March 8, 1835, the -pay of a captain off duty was $2,500, on duty, $3,500, and in command of -a foreign squadron, $4,000. - ------ - -[8] See Appendix.—The Naval Apprenticeship System. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - PERRY DISCOVERS THE RAM. - - -AN accident which happened to the _Fulton_ belongs to the history of -modern warfare. It revealed to Perry’s alert mind a valuable principle -destined to work a revolution in the tactics of naval battles. Like the -mountaineer of Potosi who when his bush failed as a support, found -something better in the silver beneath, so Perry discovered at the roots -of a chance accident a new element of power in war. - -The _Fulton_ was rather a massive floating battery than a sea-steamer. -Once started, her speed for those days was respectable, but to turn her -was no easy matter. To stop her quickly was an impossibility. - -On the 28th of August, the _Fulton_, while making her way to Sandy Hook -amid the dense crowd of sloops, schooners, ships and ferry-boats of the -East river, came into partial collision with the _Montevideo_. The brig -lay at anchor, and Lieutenant Lynch in charge of the _Fulton_, wished to -pass her stern, and ahead of her starboard quarter. When nearly up with -the brig, the flood tide running strongly caused her to sheer suddenly -to the full length of her cable and thus brought her directly in line of -the contemplated route. Lynch, to save life, was obliged to destroy -property and strike the brig. - -The steamer’s cutter and gig were stove in and her bulwarks, in paint -and nails, somewhat injured. With the brig the case was different. -Though only a glancing stroke, the smitten vessel was all but sunk. - -Captain Perry was not on board the _Fulton_, having remained on shore -owing to indisposition. On hearing the story of Lieutenant Lynch, there -was at once revealed to him the addition that steam had made to the -number and variety of implements of destruction. The old trireme’s beak -was to reappear on the modern steam war vessel and create a double -revolution in naval warfare. The boiler, paddle and screw had more than -replaced the war galley’s banks of oars, by furnishing a motive power -that hereafter should not only sink the enemy by ramming, but should -change the naval order of battle. The broadside to broadside lines of -evolution must give way to fighting “prow on.” In a word, he saw the -ram. - -Perry required written reports of the affair from his lieutenants, and -wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Navy suggesting the possibilities -of the rostral prow. - -To think of the new weapon was to wish to demonstrate its power. He -proposed to try the _Fulton_ again, purposely, upon a hulk, to satisfy -himself as to the sinking power of the steamer. He arranged to do this -by special staying of the boiler pipes and chimneys, so that no damage -from the shock would result. He was also prepared, by exact mathematical -computation of mass, velocity and friction, with careful observations of -wind and tide, to express the results with scientific accuracy. - -The report duly was received at Washington and, instead of being acted -upon, was pigeon-holed. Perry was unable, at private expense, to follow -up the idea, but thought much of it at the time, and the subject, though -not officially noticed, remained in his mind. - -After the Mexican War, having leisure, he wrote the following letter:— - - WASHINGTON, D. C., Nov. 11, 1850. - - _Sir_,—Since the introduction of steamers of war into the - navies of the world, I have frequently thought that a most - effectual mode of attack might be brought into operation by - using a steamer as a striking body, and precipitating her with - all her power of motion and weight upon some weak point of a - vessel of the enemy moved only by sails, and, seizing upon a - moment of calm, or when the sail vessel is motionless or moving - slowly through the water. - - I had always determined to try this experiment, should - opportunity afford, and actually made preparations for securing - the boilers and steam pipes of the _Fulton_ at New York, when I - thought it probable I might be sent in her to our eastern border - ports at the time of the expected rupture with Great Britain - upon the North Eastern Boundary question. - - Experience has shown that a vessel moving rapidly through the - water, and striking with her stem another motionless, or passing - in a transverse direction, invariably destroys or seriously - injures the vessel stricken without material damage to the - assailant. Imagine for example the steamer _Mississippi_ under - full steam and moving at the moderate rate of 12 statute miles - per hour, her weight considered as a projectile being estimated - as 2,500 tons, the minimum calculation, and multiplying this - weight by her velocity, say 17½ feet per second, the power and - weight of momentum would be a little short of 44,000 tons, and - the effect of collision upon the vessel attacked, whatever may - be her size, inevitably overwhelming. - - It may be urged that the momentum estimated by the above figures - may not be as effective as the rule indicates, yet it cannot be - maintained that there would not be sufficient force for all the - purposes desired. - - I have looked well into the practicability of this mode of - attack, and am fully satisfied that if managed with decision and - coolness, it will unquestionably succeed and without immediate - injury to the attacking vessel. Much would of course depend on - the determination and skill of the commander, and the - self-possession of the engineers at the starting bars, in - reversing the motion of the engines at the moment of collision; - but coolness under dangers of accident from the engines or - boilers, is considered, by well trained engineers, a point of - honor, and I feel well assured there would be no want of conduct - or bearing in either those or the other officers of the ship. - - The preparations for guarding the attacking steamer against - material damage would be to secure the boilers more firmly in - their beds, to prepare the steam pipes and connections so as to - prevent the separation of their joints, to render firm the - smoke-stack by additional guys and braces, to strip off the - lower masts and to remove the bowsprit. All these arrangements - could be made in little time and without much inconvenience. - - It would be desirable that the bowsprit should be so fitted as - to be easily reefed or removed, but in times of emergency, this - spar should not for a moment be considered as interposing an - obstacle to the contemplated collision. - - It will be said, and I am free to admit, that much risk would be - encountered by the steamer from the guns of the vessel assailed, - say of a line-of-battle ship or frigate, but considering the - short time she would be under fire, her facilities for advance - and retreat, of choice of position and of the effect of her own - heavy guns upon the least defensible point of the enemy’s ship - on which she would of course advance, the disparity of armaments - should not be taken into view. - - I claim no credit for the originality of this suggestion, well - knowing that the ancients in their sea fights dashed their - sea-galleys with great force one upon the other, nor am I - ignorant of the plan of a steam prow suggested some years ago by - Commodore Barron.[9] My proposition is simply the renewal of an - ancient practice by the application of the power unknown in - early times, and, as many believe, in the beginning of its - usefulness. - - With great respect, I have the honor to be, - Your most obedient servant, - M. C. PERRY. - - THE HON. WM. A. GRAHAM, - - Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C. - -Twenty years later in the river of her own name, the war steamer -_Mississippi_ became a formidable ram, though before this time in 1859, -the French iron-clad, _La Gloire_ had been launched. It had been said of -the British Admiral, Sir George Sartorius, that “He was one of the first -to form, in 1855, the revolution in naval warfare, by the renewal of the -ancient mode of striking an adversary with the prow.” It will be seen -that Perry anticipated the Europeans and taught the Americans. - -Other points in this letter of Perry’s are of interest at this time. -First, last, and always, Perry honored the engineer and believed in his -equal possession, with the line officers, of all the soldierly virtues, -notwithstanding that the man at the lever, out of sight of the enemy, -must needs lack the thrilling excitement of the officers on deck. He -felt that courage in the engine-room had even a finer moral strain than -the more physically exciting passions of the deck. - -We may here note that Perry really had part in the naval victories of -our civil war. The method of ramming action, as used by Farragut in his -brilliant victories of wooden steamers over Confederate iron-clads, was -that out-lined by Perry years before. - -Perry also made a thorough study, so far as it was then possible, of the -problems of resistance and penetration, of rifled cannon and of -iron-clad armor. - -He was for years on the board of officers appointed to report upon the -Stevens floating battery at Hoboken. Until his death, he was familiar -with the whole question, and believed in the early adoption of both -rifles and armor on ships. Prior to the Mexican War he thought the right -course was to develop to the highest stage of efficiency the ram and the -smooth-bore shell-gun. It turned out that in the war for the Union in -1861, most of the naval officers associated with him and who shared his -ideas were on the Confederate side. Hence the Southerners were in a much -better state of advanced naval science than the Northerners. Even the -_Monitor_ was the fruit of a private inventor, and not of a naval -officer. The first appearance of an iron coat on an American war vessel, -and the first ram effectively used in war were upon the Confederate -steamer _Virginia_ (the old _Merrimac_) which was the idea and -application of T. ap. Catesby Jones; while the _Tennessee_ in Mobile Bay -was wholly the creation of Franklin Buchanan. Both of these gentlemen -were life-long friends, and subordinate officers, who were also familiar -with the problem of ramming, and enjoyed Perry’s confidence and ideas. -For the methods of the _Merrimac_ in her devastation of the Federal -fleet at Hampton Roads, the epistle of Perry might seem almost a letter -of instruction. - -Had good machinists and founderies existed in the South, in number -proportionate to that of Confederate naval officers, the story of Mobile -Bay and the Mississippi river might have been different. With no lack of -courage or skill in the northern sailors and their leaders, their -greatest ally lay in the poor machinery of the Confederate iron-clads. -These were true testudos in armor, but fortunately for the Union cause -they were tortoises in speed also. Or, to change the metaphor, though -meant to act as swordfish, they behaved as sluggishly as whales. They -fell a prey even to wooden vessels able to obey their helms but moving -rapidly with sinking force. - -With the old system of tactics under sail, no ramming was possible, as -the vessel under propulsion would expose herself to a raking fire while -slowly working up to position. Gunpowder rendered obsolete the trireme -ram. Steam, by its gigantic propelling force, had now in turn overcome -gunpowder. - -The model of the machine-ram, made by Captain Samuel Barron in 1827, and -referred to by Captain Perry is now at Annapolis Naval Academy. So far -as we can gather, Perry had not seen this at the time of his first -writing of the ram in 1839. His valuable paper was duly read, laid aside -and bound up with other “Captain’s Letters” in 1839 and forgotten. When -in 1861, the _Merrimac_, steaming out from Norfolk, by one thrust of her -iron snout turned the grand old wooden frigate, _Cumberland_, into a -sunken hulk, she revealed the powers of the ram to the whole world. The -curtain then fell on the age of wood and ushered in the age of iron. - ------ - -[9] Commodore James Barron’s model of his “prow-ship” was exhibited in -the rotunda of the capitol in Washington in 1836. As described by him in -the Patent Office reports, it was a mere mass of logs, white pine, -poplar, or gum-tree wood. Perry meant to use a real ship always -available for ramming. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - LIGHTHOUSE ILLUMINATION, LENSES OR REFLECTORS? - - -THE water-ways leading to New York are such as to make Manhattan Island -unique in its advantages for commerce. Already the metropolis of the -continent, it is yet to be the commercial centre of the world. Until -1837 these highways of sea, river, and bay were greatly neglected, and -on all except moonlight nights, vessels had great difficulty in -approaching the city. Raritan and Newark bays were so destitute of buoys -and beacons, that pilots charged double rates for navigating ships in -them, rocks littered their channels, and the benighted New Jersey coast -was jeeringly said to be “outside of the United States.” During the -summer of 1837, Captains Kearney, Sloat, and Perry made a study of the -water approaches to New York, the latter concerning himself with the -Jersey side. His report, written at Perth Amboy, December 9, 1837, was -made such good use of in Congress by Senator G. D. Wall, that a bill for -the creation of lighthouses was passed, and Captain Perry was ordered to -Europe for further study. - -Embarking on the steamer _Great Western_ on her second round trip, June -27, 1838, Perry crossed the ocean when such a voyage was a novelty. The -passage occupied twelve and a half days, during which a constant study -of the engines and their behavior, and of wages and fuel satisfied him -that steam could be applied to war vessels with safety and economy. This -was in 1838, yet even as late as 1861, there were American naval -officers more afraid of the boilers under their feet, than of the -enemy’s guns; and many old sea-dogs still believed in the general -efficiency of sailing frigates over steamers. - -Arriving at Bristol his first business was to visit the lighthouses of -the United Kingdom, after which he returned to London. In the foundries -and shipyards he acquainted himself with engineers and manufacturers. He -found a ferment of ideas. A real revolution in naval science was in -progress. The British government was ambitious to have the largest -steamer force in the world ready for sudden hostilities so as to possess -an over-whelming advantage. So much encouragement was given by the -admiralty, that nearly every mechanic in the kingdom, as it seemed, was -eager to invent, improve or discover new steps to perfection. Especial -attention was given to the problem of the economy of fuel. Vessels -wholly built of iron were beginning to be common. These, as Perry -predicted, were ultimately to have the preference for peaceful purposes, -but their fitness as war vessels was still uncertain. Two were then -building for the Emperor of Russia. The first paddle-wheel steamers, -_Penelope_, _Terrible_, and _Valorous_, were afloat or building. The era -of steam appliances as a substitute for manual labor aboard ships was -being ushered in. - -It is now seen that the immediate fruit of this possession, by the -British government, of steam both as a motor and a substitute for manual -labor on shipboard, was the growth of an imperial policy of extensive -colonial dependencies and possessions for which the Victorian era will -ever be conspicuous in history. The British Empire could never have -become the mighty agglomeration which it now is, except through the -agency of steam. The new force was not an olive branch, nor calculated -to keep the battle flags furled; for already, the first of the -twenty-five wars which the Victorian era has thus far seen had begun. - -At the time of Perry’s visit, however, Britain’s exclusive domain seemed -threatened by France. The spirit of invention and improvement, -encouraged by Louis Philippe, was abroad in “la belle France.” Already -nine war steamers afloat, with more planned on paper, the beginning of a -respectable sea-force, were within two hours of England. A vigorous -naval policy was in popular favor and the Prince de Joinville, in -command of a corvette, the _Creole_, was beginning to express views -which alarmed the Admiralty. The brilliant successes of the French in -Mexican waters, the capture of the castle of St. Juan d’Ulloa after six -hours bombardment, in which the terrific power of shells had been -demonstrated, encouraged them to believe that their rivalry with England -on the ocean was again possible. The undisputed supremacy of the British -on the seas since Trafalgar, had, except from 1812 to 1815, remained -unbroken because the only large navy left in Europe was British. France, -now recovering from the long impoverishment inflicted upon her by the -wars of Napoleon, was investing her money largely in steam war vessels -of the finest type. Fortunately for her, the revival of her financial -fortunes co-incided with the era of steam, and every franc applied to -naval uses was expended on first-class vessels equal to any on the seas. -On the contrary, many of the British fleet were sailing vessels. -Furthermore, the science of artillery was undergoing a revolution, and -France led the way in ordnance as well as in ships. Such an unexpected -development of energy and wisdom in her rival startled the English naval -mind as it afterward aroused the British public. - -The carronades or “smashers” of the sailors, had had their day and their -glory was already passing away. The Paixhans gun, or chambered ordnance -capable of horizontal shell-firing, was now to supersede them. Fully -alive to the needs of the times, the British government had three war -steamers equipped, five were in course of construction, and the keels of -six others were soon to be laid. These were to be of from eight hundred -to twelve hundred tons and to mount heavy shell-guns at each end and in -broadside. Even then, they had but fourteen against the nineteen -steamers of France and hence the feverish desire for more. - -Perry’s visit to Europe was exceedingly well-timed to secure the largest -results, for a revolution in optical science and applied methods of -illumination, as well as in ships and guns, was at hand. Science and -invention were to do much for the saving of human life as well as for -its destruction. The balances of Providence were to settle to a new -equilibrium. - -Crossing the channel, he visited Cherbourg and Brest, there finding the -same courtesy and cordial reply to his questions. In Paris he came in -contact with a number of distinguished scientific men. He was especially -well assisted by the United States Agent, Mr. Eugene A. Vail. The -illustrious Augustin Fresnel who had said in a letter to a friend, -December 14, 1814, that he did not know what the phrase “the -polarization of light meant,” was in 1819 crowned by the French Academy -of Science as the first authority in optics. He had demonstrated to his -countrymen the error of the old theory of the transmission of light by -the emission of material particles. This he had achieved by the study of -polarization. The practical application of his researches to the -apparatus of lighthouses struck a death-blow to the old system of coast -illumination. - -Among other pleasant experiences in the French capital, was a second -visit to King Louis Philippe. Invited by His Majesty to an informal -supper, at which the royal family were present, Captain Perry took his -seat at their table as a guest feeling more honored by this private -confidence than if at a state dinner. At the table sat the King’s wife -and children, tea being poured by the Queen herself. At this time, the -Duc d’Orleans, son of the King, was rejoicing over the recent birth of a -son. His name was Louis Albert Philippe d’Orleans, Comte de Paris. He -afterwards served in the Union armies during our civil war of 1861–65, -and is the accomplished author of the best general history of that -series of events yet published, _Historie de la Guerre Civile en -Amérique_. At this time, November 1838, the infant boy was not quite -three months old, and the talk and thoughts of the royal family were -centered on him. - -Leaving Portsmouth December 10, by sailing packet, Perry arrived in New -York, January 14, 1839. After a few days spent at home he went to -Washington to deliver up his rich spoil of contemporaneous science, and -his own elaborate reports, criticisms, and suggestions. His face was -flushed with the irresistible enthusiasm of new ideas. And his thought -was in the direction of the future. The wires of a magnetic telegraph -had been strung across the campus of Princeton college, four years -before this, by Professor Joseph Henry. Out of the discoveries of -Faraday and Henry, brilliant results had sprung, of which application to -the arts of war and peace was already being made. Both as a naval -officer and as a lover of science, Perry rejoiced to see - - “Undreamed-of sciences from year to year - Upon dim shores of unexplored Night - Their steady beacons kindle.” - -He now bent his energies to bring before Congress the condition and -needs of our lighthouse system. He wrote a vigorous and detailed letter -exposing the abuses and the schemes of the ignorant set of plunderers -who were opposing improvement. He proved that often important -lighthouses were left for days in charge of wholly incompetent persons. -Hence there was waste, robbery, and inefficiency, while a powerful -combination held the system in its coils. “The Lighthouse Ring” was then -as strong as that of “The Indian Ring” of later years. Further, the -battle was one of science and new ideas against ignorance and -ultra-conservative old fogyism. The lenses were struggling against the -reflectors. The latter were the outcome of the emission theory of the -propagation of light. The Lenticular method was based on the undulatory -theory. Ignorance and avarice long held the field, but under the -hammer-like facts and arguments of Perry, and those who thought with -him, both were routed, and the present grand system is the final result. -Our lighthouse establishment is not a creation, it is a growth. - -At the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, the exhibit made -by the government of the United States was under the charge of -Rear-Admiral Thornton A. Jenkins, one of Perry’s pupils and friends. The -triumphs of a half century in the illuminating art were manifest. -Progress had at first crept by slow steps, from rude beacons of wood or -coal fires on headlands, to oil lamps with flat wicks and spherical -reflectors, to paraboloid mirrors and argand burners, to eclipse -revolving or flashing lights. The katoptric system of Teulère, based on -the reflection of light by metallic surfaces was introduced about 1790, -and soon came in vogue among most civilized nations. It was costly and -expensive, since half the rays of light were lost by absorption in the -mirror even when new and perfectly polished; while the loss was far more -when the mirror was old, unclean, or in constant use. Yet despite its -many defects, it was the best of its kind known until Fresnel’s -brilliant discoveries based on the principle of a burning-glass or -convex lens refraction. After a struggle, the dioptric conquered the -katoptric, and lenses rule the coast. - -It was to introduce the dioptric system that Perry now earnestly -labored. The influence of his arguments in Congress was powerful, and -from this time the lenticular method prevailed, and the system of -lighthouses on all our coasts was extended. From the first lighthouse -built by the general government in 1791 at Cape Henry, the number had -increased to seven in 1800. In 1838 there were but sixteen. The number -now is not far from 250. - -No less an authority than Rear-Admiral Thornton A. Jenkins, who, besides -being the Naval Secretary of the Light-House Board from 1869 to 1871, -framed the organic law under which the present efficient Light-House -Board was established in 1852, says that “Through Perry’s influence the -first real step was taken towards the present good system.” The light on -the Neversink Highlands which the voyager to Europe sees, as the last -sign of native land as it sinks below the horizon is one of the first, -as it was the direct, fruits of Perry’s mission. - -In an excellent article on this subject in the American Whig Review, -March 1845, the same which contained Poe’s “Raven,” the writer, after -commending Perry’s work and expatiating on the excellence of the Fresnel -light, pleads for the union of science and experience, and more -administrative method for this branch on the efficacy and perfection of -which depend, not only the wealth with which our ships are freighted, -but the lives of thousands who follow the sea. - -When, in 1852, Perry lived to see his efforts crowned with success, and -Congress finally organized the Light-House Board, Jenkins wished Perry -to take the presidency of the Board; but other matters were pressing, -Japan was looming up, and he declined. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - REVOLUTIONS IN NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. - - -ON his return from Europe, in 1839, Captain Perry purchased a plot of -land near Tarrytown, New York. He built a stone cottage, to which he -gave the appropriate name of “The Moorings.” The farm comprised about -120 acres; and, needing much improvement, he set about utilizing his few -leisure hours with a view to its transformation. Revelling in the -exercise of tireless energy, he set out trees and planted a garden. - -To get time for his beloved tasks he rose early in the morning, and long -before breakfast had accomplished yeoman’s toil. If no nobler work -presented itself, this man of steam and ordnance weeded strawberry beds. -In due time this Jason sowing his pecks, not of dragon’s teeth, but of -approved peas and beans, rejoiced in a golden fleece and real horn of -plenty in the darling garden which produced twelve manner of vegetables. - -At “Moorings” Perry was surrounded by most pleasant neighbors and a -literary atmosphere which stimulated his own pen to activity during the -winter, when long evenings allured to fireside enjoyments or studious -labor. - -About this time, Lieutenant Alexander Slidell MacKenzie, impelled by a -request of the dead hero’s son, and irritated at the criticisms of J. -Fenimore Cooper, began his life of Oliver Hazard Perry. In this he was -assisted somewhat by Captain Perry, who corresponded with General -Harrison and other eye-witnesses of the Lake Erie campaign of 1814. -Among Perry’s papers, are several autograph letters in the cramped -handwriting of the hero of Tippecanoe. Although admiring Harrison as a -military man, and highly amused at the popularity and oddities of his -hard cider and log cabin campaign, Perry voted, as was his wont, the -Democratic ticket. - -Another neighbor was Washington Irving, the great caricaturist of the -Hollanders in America, who dwelt in the many gabled and weather-vaned -Woolfert’s Roost. This quaint old domicile which Woolfert the Dutchman -built to find _lust in rust_ (pleasure in rest), crowned a hill -over-looking the Tappan Zee, in the south of Tarrytown, while the -“Moorings” was in the northern part towards Sing Sing. Perry maintained -with Irving a warm friendship to the last. He was an ardent admirer of -the genial bachelor author of Sunnyside, and like him was a devoted -reader of Addison. A humbler but highly appreciated neighbor was Captain -Jacob Storm, who owned the sloop _William A. Hart_, on which both Irving -and Perry often sailed up from New York. Storm was a genial and unique -character, famous until his death in 1883, alike for his mother-wit and -devotional spirit. - -James Watson Webb, then the Hotspur, and afterwards the Nestor, of the -press was a genial neighbor and life-long friend. - -The changes in naval construction required by the necessities of war, -have been many. The history of ship building is literally one of ups and -downs. Three great revolutions, of the oar, the sail, and the boiler, -have compelled the changes. The ancient sea-boats grew into high decked -triremes with many banks of oars, and these again to the low galleys of -the Vikings and Berbers. The sides of these, in turn, were elevated -until cumbersome vessels with lofty prow, many-storied and tower-like -stern, and enormous top-hamper sailed the seas. Again, the ship of the -Tudor era was only, by slow processes, cut down to the trim hulls of -Nelson’s line-of-battle ships. - -In the clean lines of the American frigate, the naval men of our century -saw, as they believed, the acme of perfection. They considered that no -revolution in the science of war could seriously affect their shape. -Down to 1862, this was the unshakable creed of the average sailor. Naval -orthodoxy is as tough in its conservatism, as is that of ecclesiastical -or legal strain. - -Yet both Redfield and Perry as early as 1835, clearly foresaw that the -old models were doomed; the many-banked ships must be razed, and the -target surface be reduced. Steam and shells had wrought a revolution -that was to bring the upper deck not far from the water, and ultimately -rob the war-ship of sails and prow. The next problem, between resistance -and penetration, was to make the top and bottom of ships much alike, and -to put the greater portion of a war vessel under water. It is scarcely -probable, however, that either of them believed that the reduction of -steam battery should proceed so near the vanishing point, as in the -Monitor, to be described as “a cheese-box on a raft” or “a tomato-can on -a shingle.” - -The first idea concerning “steam batteries” as they were called, was -that they were not to have an individuality of their own as battle -ships, but were to be subordinate to the stately old sailing frigates. -They were expected to be tenders to tow the heavy battering ships into -action, or to act as despatch boats and light cruisers. They were -conceived to be the cavalry of the navy; ships mounted, as it were. -Redfield and Perry, on the other hand, laid claim for them to the higher -characteristics of cavalry and artillery united in a single arm of the -service. - -The first English steamers were exceedingly cumbrous and unnecessarily -heavy. It was, with their ships, as with their wagons, or axe-handles. -The British, ignorant of the virtues of American hickory, knew not how -to combine lightness with strength. Redfield proposed to apply the -Yankee jack-knife and whittle away all superfluous timber. Denying that -the British type was the fastest or the best, he pled earnestly that our -naval men should discard transatlantic models, and create an American -type. Regretting that our government and naval men held aloof from the -use of steam as a motor in war, he yet demonstrated that even a clumsy -steamer, like the _Nemesis_, had proved herself equal to two -line-of-battle ships. He prophesied the speedy disappearance from the -seas of the old double and trebled-banked vessels then so proudly -floating their pennants. Redfield writing to Perry as a man of liberal -ideas, said “Opinions will be received with that spirit of candor and -kindness which has so uniformly been manifested in your personal -intercourse with your fellow-citizens.” The confidence of this eminent -man of science and practical skill in the naval officer was fully -justified. - -One thing which occupied Perry’s thoughts for a number of years was the -question of defending our Atlantic harbors from sudden attacks of a -foreign enemy. Steam had altered the old time relations of belligerents. -He saw the modern system of carrying on war was to make it sudden, sharp -and decisive, and then compel the beaten party to pay the expenses. A -few hostile steamers from England could devastate our ports almost -before we knew of a declaration of war. While England was always in -readiness to do this, there was not one American sea-going war steamer -with heavy ordnance ready to meet her swift and heavily armed cruisers, -while river boats would be useless before the heavy shell of the enemy. -He did not share the ideas of security possessed by the average -fresh-water congressman. The spirit of 1812 was not dead, in him, but he -knew that the brilliant naval duels of Hull and Decatur’s time decided -rather the spirit of our sailors than the naval ability of the United -States. - -He proposed a method for extemporizing steam batteries by mounting heavy -guns on hulks of dismantled merchant vessels. These were to be moved by -a steamer in the center of the gang, holding by chains, and able to make -ten knots an hour. If one hulk were disabled, it could be easily -separated from the others. Such a battery could be made ready in ten -days and fought without sailors. The engines could be covered with bales -of cotton or hay made fire-proof with soap-stone paint. - -With the aid of his friend W. C. Redfield, he collected statistics of -all the privately-owned steamers in the United States with their cost, -dimensions and consumption of fuel, showing their possible power of -conversion for war purposes. Encouraged by Perry, Mr. Redfield treated -the whole question of naval offence and defence in a series of letters -on “_The Means of National Defence._” These were printed in the New York -_Journal of Commerce_ during the summer of 1841, and afterwards -reprinted in the _Journal of the Franklin Institute_ in Philadelphia. -His note-books with illustrations, diagrams and pen-sketches show that -his coming ideal war-ship was like the _Lackawanna_ of our civil war -days which, while but five feet narrower, is sixty-two feet longer than -“Old Ironsides,” the _Constitution_ of 1812. His favorite type was a -long narrow and comparatively low vessel like the _Kearsarge_ which is -twenty-two feet less in breadth than an old “seventy-four.” Like Perry, -he looked forward to the day when one eleven-inch shell gun would be -able to discharge the metal once hurled by a twenty-gun broadside of the -old _President_. - -During July 1840, Perry conducted a series of experiments on the -_Fulton_, to determine the effect on the ship’s timbers of the firing of -heavy ordnance across the deck of a vessel. The introduction of pivot -guns on board men-of-war, rendered these experiments of great value. The -bowsprit and bulwarks removed, and the eight-inch Paixhans placed in the -middle part of the forward cross bulwarks, thirty feet of the _Fulton’s_ -deck was exposed to concussion. Thirty-four rounds fired at a target on -shore, showed that every discharge produced an upheaval of the deck. -Empty buckets reversed and placed at various distance and positions on -the deck approaching the gun, were upset, kicked into the air, -destroyed, or shaken overboard. The ease with which men could be killed -by the windage of the balls, was demonstrated. A stout cask twelve feet -forward of the gun but out of line of fire was knocked overboard. A -glass phial which was hung three feet above the cannon’s muzzle -withstood the shock, but three feet forward at the same elevation was -shattered. Tarpaulin of two thicknesses fastened over a scuttle was -rent, and pine boards securely nailed withstood only two or three -firings. - -Perry at once gave the natural explanation that the expansion, pressure, -and sudden contraction of the gases generated by the gunpowder, caused -the air of the hold to rush up to fill the vacuum, and thus pressed upon -the planking of the deck. The heavily built _Fulton_ could resist, where -a weaker vessel would start her planks, just as a fish brought up in a -trawl from deep-sea beds, bursts when coming to the air. He suggested -that any slightly built vessel could be rendered safe, simply by -flooding the decks with three inches of water. This he demonstrated -after many curious and interesting experiments, thus adding to the sum -of knowledge which every naval officer, in the changed conditions of -warfare, ought to obtain. - -Perhaps no finer illustration of the value and power of pivot guns was -ever given than upon the _Kearsarge_ when sinking the _Alabama_. Yet of -that very ship, the British newspapers had said, “Her decks cannot -withstand the concussion and recoil of her heavy guns.” They were -evidently unaware of the knowledge obtained by Perry on the _Fulton_, -and applied by American builders of our men-of-war. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - THE SCHOOL OF GUN PRACTICE AT SANDY HOOK. - - -THE French Navy was at this time leading the British in improved -ordnance. A French man-of-war of twenty-six guns was armed entirely with -cannon able to fire “detonating shot.” She was reckoned equal to two old -line-of-battle ships. Her visit to American ports created great interest -among our naval officers, and the Navy Department awoke to the necessity -of improving our ordnance. - -On the 4th of May, 1839, Perry received orders which he was glad to -carry out. He was directed to give his attention to experiments with -hollow shot. These were round projectiles, non-explosive, but in that -line of the American idea of low velocity, with smashing power. With -less weight, they were of greater calibre, and required less powder in -firing. They were invented by W. Cochrane, known as the father of -heating by steam, and other useful appliances. - -Perry selected a site near Sandy Hook and erected platforms, targets, -sheds, and offices for ammunition and fuses. From this first trial and -scientific study in the United States, of bombs and bomb-guns, down to -the last experiments with dynamite shells, the waste space at Sandy -Hook—the American Sheerness—has been utilized in the interest of -progress in artillery. Perry set up butts at 800, 880, 1,000 and 1,200 -yards distance from the guns, and erected one target for firing at from -the ship. He devoted himself to the experiments with the best methods -and instruments of precision, then at command, during the months of June -and July, returning to the navy yard once or twice a week for letters, -provisions and fuses. The experiments in shell practice were -interesting, instructive and sufficiently conclusive. Those with hollow -shot were not so satisfactory. - -The faith of Perry in the shell-gun was fixed. Thenceforth he believed -that bombs could be fired with very nearly as much precision and safety -from accident as solid shot. He saw, however, that much practice, even -to the point of familiarity, was needed. His report, at the end of the -season, in which he recommended a continuance of the experiments, gives -us a picture of the state of knowledge in our navy at that time, -concerning shell-shot. Not one of those under his direction had ever -seen a bomb-gun discharged; nor had had his attention specially called -to a shell-gun when in the navy, which had so long suffered from the dry -rot of unmeaning routine. He complains of the lamentable want of -knowledge in this important branch of the naval profession, when already -so many of the French and British ships were armed with shell-guns. -However, the officers trained at Sandy Hook, were now capable of -teaching others in the use of explosive projectiles aboard the ship. Men -and boys had all made progress in expertness. He suggested that the -winter months be employed in teaching boys on the _Fulton_ a knowledge -of pyrotechny, and that fifteen or twenty boys from the _North Carolina_ -should be associated with them, and a class of gunners be thus trained. - -His plan was approved by the Department. A course of study and drill in -gunnery, pyrotechny and the knowledge of the steam engine, was organized -and carried out during the winter. The graduates of this school -afterwards gave good account of themselves in the Mexican and our Civil -War. We see in this school, the beginning of the present admirable -training of our sailors in the science of explosives. - -Perry, meanwhile, kept himself abreast of the latest developments and -discoveries in every branch of the naval art. We find him forwarding to -the War and Navy Departments the most recent European publications on -these subjects. He made himself familiar with the applications of -electricity to daily use. Neither the science nor the art of ordnance -had made great progress in America, since Mr. Samuel Wheeler cast, in -1776, what was probably the first iron three-pounder gun made in the -United States, and which the British captured at Brandywine and took to -the Tower of London. The war of 1812 showed, however, that in handling -their guns, the Yankees were superior in theory and practice to their -British foes. - -In 1812, Colonel Bomford, of the United States Ordnance Department, -invented the sea-coast howitzer, or cannon for firing shells at long -range, by direct fire, which he improved in 1814 and called a -“Columbiad.” By this gun a shell was fired at an English vessel, near -New York, in 1815, which exploded with effect. It was this invention -which the French General Paixhans, introduced into Europe in 1824.[10] -The Frenchman was another Amerigo, and Bomford, being another Columbus, -was forgotten, for the name “Paixhans” clung to the _canons obusiers_ or -improved columbiad. The making or the use of bomb-cannons, in America, -was not continued after the war of 1812, and when first employed by -Perry, at Sandy Hook, were novelties to both the lay and professional -men of the navy on this side of the Atlantic. When four shell-guns were, -in 1842, put upon the ship-of-the-line, _Columbus_, according to Captain -Parker, shells were still unfamiliar curiosities. He writes in his -_Recollections_, p. 21:— - -“The shells were a great bother to us, as they were kept in the shell -room and no one was allowed even to look at them. It seemed to be a -question with the division officers whether the fuse went in first, or -the sabot, or whether the fuse should be ignited before putting the -shell in the gun or not. However, we used to fire them off, though I -cannot say I ever saw them hit anything.” As the jolly captain elsewhere -says: “It took so long to get ready for the great event (of target -practice) that we seemed to require a resting spell of six months before -we tried it again.” About this time also pivot guns came into general -use on our national vessels, all cannon having previously been so -mounted that they could only fire straight ahead. - -The Mexican War was a school of artillery practice and marked a distinct -era of progress. The flying artillery of Ringgold, in the field, and -Perry’s siege guns, in the naval battery at Vera Cruz, were revelations -to Europe of the great advance made by Americans in this branch of the -science of destruction. In the Civil War, on land and water, the stride -of centuries was taken in four years, when Dahlgren introduced that “new -era of gun manufacture which now interests all martial nations.” Since -then, the enormous guns of Woolwich and Krupp have come into existence, -but perfection in heavy ordnance is yet far from attainment. Much has -been done in improving details, but the original principle of gun -architecture is still in vogue. The loss of pressure between breach and -muzzle is not yet remedied. To build a gun in which velocity and -pressure will be even “at the cannon’s mouth” is the problem of our age. -When a ball can leave the muzzle with all the initial pressure behind it -we may look for the golden age of peace: such a piece of ordnance may -well be named “Peace-maker.” This problem in dynamics greatly interested -Perry; but foiled him, as it has thus far foiled many others. - -The School of Gun Practice was opened again in the spring of 1840. He -was now experimenting with an eight-inch Paixhans gun, and comparing -with it a forty-two pounder, which had a bore reamed up to an eight-inch -calibre. Not possessing the present delicate methods of measuring the -velocity of shot, such as the Boulanger chronograph, invented in 1875, -and now in use at the United States ordnance grounds at Sandy Hook, he -obtained his measurements by means of hurdles or buoys. After their -positions had been verified by triangulation, these were ranged at -intervals of 440 yards apart along a distance of 3¼ miles. Observers -placed at four intermediate points noted time, wind, barometer, etc. The -extreme range of a Paixhans shot was found to be 4067 yards, or about -2-1/3 miles. In transmitting eight tables, with his report he stated -that “These experiments have furnished singular and important -information.” After a summary of unusual, interesting and valuable work, -the school was closed November 23, 1840, the weather being too severe -for out-door work. - -It may be surmised that all articles of the new naval creed in which -Perry so promptly uttered his faith, were very disagreeable to many of -the old school. The belief in the three-decker line-of-battle ship and -sailing wooden frigate approached, in many minds, the sacredness of an -article of religion. The new appliances and discoveries which upset the -old traditions savoured of rank heresy. Those who held to the old -articles, and to wooden walls were perforce obliged, as ecclesiastics -are, when driven to the wall, to strengthen their position by damnatory -clauses. Anathemas, as numerous as those of the Council of Trent, were -hurled at the new reformation from the side which considered that there -was no need for reform. It was in vain that the employment of explosive -shells was denounced as inhuman. History follows logic. If “all is fair -in war,” then inventions first branded as too horrible for use by human -beings, will be finally adopted. The law of military history moves -toward perfection in the killing machine. - -Laymen and landsmen, outside the navy, who look upon naval improvement -and innovation as necessities, in order that our soldiers of the sea may -be abreast of other nations in the art of war, consider radical changes -a matter of course: not so the old salts who have hardened into a half -century of routine, until their manner of professional thinking is -simple Chinese. They saw that horizontal shell firing was likely to turn -floating castles into fire-wood. In the good old days ships were rarely -sunk in battle, whether in squadron line or in naval duels. Though -hammered at for hours, and reduced to hulks and charnel houses, they -still floated; but with the new weapon, sinking an enemy was -comparatively easy work. British oak or Indian teak was nothing against -bombs that would tear out the sides. The vastness of the target surface, -on frigate or liner, was now a source of weakness, for shells produced -splinters of a size unknown before. A little ship could condense a -volcano, and carry a sapping and mining train in a bucket. The old -three-deckers must go, and the frigates become lower and narrower with -fewer and heavier guns. - -A brave British officer is said to have cried out, “For God’s sake, keep -out the shells.” New means of defence must be provided. The mollusk-like -wooden ships must become crustacean in iron coats. The demonstrated -efficiency of shells and shell-guns, and the increased accuracy of fire -of the Paixhan smooth-bore cannon—cultivated to high pitch even before -the introduction of rifles—had made impossible the old naval duel and -line-of-battle. - -During the whole of this extended series of experiments on the _Fulton_, -and at Sandy Hook, with new apparatus and projectiles, with assistants -often ignorant and unfamiliar with the new engines of war, until -trained, no lives were lost, nor was a man injured by anything that -could be foreseen. The bursting of a gun cannot always be guarded -against, and what befell Perry, in his boyhood, happened again in 1841, -though this time without injury to himself. The forty-four pounder on -the _Fulton_ burst, killing two men. Their funeral October 8, 1841, was, -by the Commodore’s orders, made very impressive. The flags of all ships -on the station were flown at half-mast. All the officers who could be -spared, and two hundred seamen and marines, formed the cortege in ten -boats, the rowers pulling minute strokes. The flotilla moved in solemn -procession round the _Fulton_, the band playing a dirge. Perry, himself, -brought up the rear—a sincere mourner. At the grave, Chaplain Harris -made remarks befitting the sad occasion. - -Jackson’s administration being over, and with it much of the corruption -which the spoils system introduced into the government service, it was -now possible to reform even the navy yards. An honor all the more -welcome and enjoyable, because a complete surprise, was Perry’s -appointment to the command of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and New York Naval -Station. On the 24th of June, 1840, the Secretary of the Navy wrote to -Perry, stating his dislike of the bad business conduct of the yard, and -the undue use of political influence. With full confidence in Captain -Perry’s character and abilities—stating, also, that Perry had never -sought the office either directly or indirectly—he tendered him the -appointment. The Secretary desired that “no person in the yard be the -better or the worse off on account of his political opinions, and that -no agent of the government should be allowed to electioneer.” The letter -was an earnest plea for civil service reform. - -Henceforth, Matthew Perry’s symbol of office was “the broad pennant,” -and his rank that of “commodore.” Yet despite added responsibilities and -honors, he was but a captain in the navy. Until the year 1862, there was -no higher office in the United States Navy than that of captain, and all -of Perry’s later illustrious services under the red, the white, or the -blue broad pennant, in Africa, Mexico and Japan, added nothing to his -pay, permanent rank, or government reward. Not until four years after -his death was the title of commodore significant of grade, or salary, -higher than that of captain. - ------ - -[10] See P. V. Hagner, U. S. A., _Johnson’s Encyclopædia_, article -_Columbiad_. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - THE TWIN STEAMERS MISSOURI AND MISSISSIPPI. - - -THE activity of American inventors kept equal pace at this period in the -two directions of artillery and steam appliances. In 1841 the sum of -fifty thousand dollars was appropriated by Congress for experiments in -ordnance, and a possible one million dollars for the “shot-and-shell -proof” iron-clad “Stevens Battery” then building at Hoboken, N. Y. - -Perry was frequently called upon to pronounce upon the various methods -of harnessing, improving, and economizing the new motor. We find him in -April, 1842, testing three new appliances for cutting off steam, and, on -May 17, 1842, praying that the _Fulton_ may be kept in commission for -the numerous experiments which he was ordered to make. The Secretary of -the Navy gladly referred the numerous petitioners for governmental -approval to Captain Perry. In November the question is upon a -ventilator; again, it is on the comparative merits of Liverpool, -Pennsylvania, or Cumberland coal; anon, a score or so of minor -inventions claimed to be improvements. Perry sometimes tried the temper -of inventors who lived in the clouds and fed on azure, yet he strove to -give to all, however visionary, a fair chance, for he believed in -progress. He foresaw the necessity of rifled ordnance and armor, and of -steamers of the maximum power for swiftness and battery: perfection in -these, he knew could be obtained only by prolonged study and slow steps -of attainment. - -The collaborator of Washington Irving in _Salmagundi_, James K. -Paulding, was at this time Secretary of the Navy. The position offered -to Irving and declined, was given, at Irving’s suggestion to his -partner. He was known more as a literary expert than as a statesman or -man for the naval portfolio, although as far back as 1814, he had been -appointed by President Madison one of a Board of Naval Commissioners. He -was not a warm friend to the new fashions which threatened to overthrow -naval traditions, denude the sea of its romance, and the sailing ships -of their glory. The ferment of ideas and the explosion of innovations -around him were little to his taste. To his mind, the engineers who were -beginning to invade the sacred precincts of the Department seemed little -better than iconoclasts. In the _Literary Life of J. K. Paulding_ are -some amusing references to his horror of the new fire-breathing -monsters; and the entries in his journal show how intensely bored he was -by the new ideas, and the persistency with which the advanced naval -officers held them. He wrote that he “never would consent to see our -grand old ships supplanted by these new and ugly sea-monsters.” He cries -out in his diary, “I am _steamed_ to death.” - -For this metaphorical parboiling of “the literary Dutchman in Van -Buren’s cabinet,” Perry was largely responsible. Steam had come to stay, -and with it the engineer, despite the Rip Van Winkles in and out of the -service. Officers call Perry “the father of the steam navy.” An old -engineer says, “He certainly was, if any man may be entitled to be so -called.” Another writes “It was largely through his influence and -representations, that the _Mississippi_ and _Missouri_, then the most -splendid vessels of their class, were built.” - -A beginning of two steam war vessels had been practically determined on, -soon after Perry’s return from Europe. He was summoned to Washington in -May 1839 to preside at the Board of Navy Commissioners to consult -concerning machinery for them. The sessions from 9 A. M. to 3.30 P. M. -were held from May 23d to 28th. - -The practical wisdom of Captain Perry’s decision in regard to the -engines most suitable for our first steamers—the superb _Missouri_ and -the grand old _Mississippi_—is seen in the fact that when ready for -service, the _Mississippi_ had no superior on the sea for beauty, speed -and durability. Probably out of no vessel in the navy of the United -States, was so much genuinely good work obtained as out of the -_Mississippi_, during her twenty years of constant service in all the -waters. Had she not been burned off Port Hudson in the river whose name -she bore, in 1862, she might have lived a ship’s generation longer. Her -praises are generously sung in the writings of all who lived on board -her. Captain Parker speaks of “The good old steamship _Mississippi_, a -ship that did more hard work in her time than any steamer in the navy -has done since and she was built as far back as 1841.” What the -_Constitution_ was among the old heavy sailing frigates, the -_Mississippi_ was to our steam Navy. On the outside of Commodore Foxhall -Parker’s book on _Naval Tactics Under Steam_ is fitly stamped in gold a -representation of the _Mississippi_.[11] - -To speak precisely, she was begun in 1839, and launched in 1841, at -Philadelphia. She was of 1692 tons burthen, and 225 feet long. She -carried two ten-inch, and eight eight-inch guns, and a crew of 525 men. -Her cost was $567,408. The cost of the iron-clad “Steven’s Battery,” as -limited by Congress, was not to exceed that of the twin wooden steamers. -Hence, its construction languished, while the _Mississippi_ and -_Missouri_ were soon built. Perry, from the first, strenuously urged -that the greatest care should be used, the best materials selected, and -the most trustworthy contractors be chosen. “In the first ocean steamers -to be put forth by the government, no cost should be spared to make them -perfect in all respects.” As there was then no lack of harmony and union -among the bureaus, there was no danger of constructing different parts -of the ship on incompatible plans, with the consequent peril of failure -of the whole. The various constructive departments wrought in unison. -These two steam war vessels were built before naval architecture and the -sea alike were robbed of their poetry. The _Missouri_ beside her -machinery, carried 19,000 square feet of canvass, and the _Mississippi_ -about as much, so that they looked beautiful to the eye as well as -excelled in power. - -On her trip of March 5, starting at eight pounds pressure and rising to -sixteen, the _Missouri_ made twelve and a half statute miles per hour. -Her motion was quiet and graceful, the tremor slight, while at her bow, -above the cutwater, rose a _boa_ of water five feet high. A trial at sea -with her heavy spars was made on the 24th of March. In pointing out her -merits and the defects, Perry emphasized the necessity of having in the -persons, in charge of the equipment of war steamers, a combined -knowledge of engineering and seamanship. In the men who presided over -the machinery, this was noticeably lacking. Most engine-builders and -engineers in 1841 had never been at sea; hence a knowledge of all the -details necessary for safety and efficiency was not common. - -[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES STEAM FRIGATE MISSISSIPPI.] - -During the month of October, the twin vessels were made ready, and on -the 9th of November, proceeded to Washington. On her return, the -_Mississippi_ made the time from the Potomac Navy Yard to the Wallabout -in fifty-one hours. - -Commander A. S. Mackenzie having applied December 16th for the second in -command, the Naval Commissioners asked Perry in regard to the number and -arrangements of the crew of the _Missouri_. He recommended that there -should be on each of the large steamers a captain, and a commander; so -that, after some experience, the latter could take command of the medium -or smaller steamers to be hereafter built. From the first Perry urged -that all our naval officers should learn engineering as well as -seamanship, so as not to be at the mercy of their engineers. In the -beginning, from the habits, education, and manners of engineers taken -from land or the merchant service, one must not look for those official -proprieties derivable only from a long course of education and -discipline in the navy. Hence there would be a natural disposition to -exercise more authority than belonged to them, and to be chary of -communicating the little knowledge they possessed. A purely naval -officer in such condition would be like a lieutenant at the mercy of the -boatswain. The captain must not carry sail without reference to the -engines, and so the steam power must not be exerted when mast, spars or -sails would be strained. Harmony between quarter-deck and engine-room -was absolutely necessary. - -The British Government encouraged officers to take charge of private -steamers so as to acquire experience, and no man unused to the nature of -machinery could command a British war steamer. In our navy no one should -be appointed to command in sea steamers unless he had a decided -inclination to acquire the experience. - -Even while the _Missouri_ was building, Perry wrote a letter concerning -her complement, and after speaking a good word for the coal heavers and -firemen, and praying that their number might be increased, he again -proposed a scheme for the supply of naval apprentices for steamers. He -suggested also that a class of Third Assistant Engineer should be -formed. This would create emulation and an _esprit du corps_ highly -favorable for high professional character and abilities among the -engineers. The grade would be good as a probationary position, besides -reducing to a minimum, jeopardy to the ship and crew. - -In a word, Perry foresaw that, if the splendid new steam frigate -_Missouri_ were left to incompetent hands, she would fall a prey by fire -or wreck, to carelessness and ignorance. - -“He was proud of these two vessels, and no one had a better right to be -proud of them than he. He imagined them and created them, while others -did the details and claimed most of the credit of their superiority over -men-of-war of that day of other nations;” for down to 1850, our policy -was to build better vessels than were built in any part of the world. -Thus our navy was small but very effective. - -“Perry’s two vessels were without question not only successes, but far -beyond the most sanguine hopes and expectations of friendly critics of -the time. It is a remarkable fact that the _Susquehanna_ (and some -others of smaller size) built after the _Mississippi_ and the _Missouri_ -had proved themselves successes, were not successes. With these latter, -Commodore Perry had nothing to do, as to plans, designs or -construction.” - -No sketch of the early history of the steam navy of the United States -could be justly made without honorable mention of Captain Robert F. -Stockton. Nor was the paddle-wheel of the _Mississippi_ to remain the -emblem upon the engineer’s shoulder-strap. The propeller screw was soon -to supersede the paddle-wheel as motor of the ship and emblem of the -engineer’s profession. The screw is one of the many discoveries located, -by uncritical readers, in China. The French claim its invention, and -have erected at Boulogne a monument to Frederick Sauvage its reputed -inventor. Ericsson demonstrated its value in 1836, by towing the -_Admiralty_ up the Thames at the rate of ten miles an hour; yet the -British naval officers reported against its possibility of use on ships -of war. Eight years afterward, the man-of-war, _Rattler_, was built as a -propeller, and a successful one it was. Ericsson, after constructing the -engines of the propeller steamer, _Robert F. Stockton_, was invited to -Philadelphia, where he built the first screw steamer of the United -States Navy, and of the world, planned as such. After the name of his -native town, it was called by the Commodore, the _Princeton_. - -At the end of ten years of shore service, devoted to the mastery of the -science and art of war as illustrated in the applications of steam, -chambered and rifled ordnance, hollow shot and explosive shells, iron -armor and rams, the building and handling of new types of ships, Perry -was beginning to see clearly, in outline at least, the typical American -wooden man-of-war of the future. Such a ship, we may perhaps declare the -_Kearsarge_ to have been. In her build, motor and battery, she -epitomized all the points of American naval architecture and ordnance, -to which Perry’s faith and works led. Yet these very features were -severely criticized by the English press, in the days before the -British-built _Alabama_ was sunk. These were, in construction, stoutness -of frame, narrowness of beam, heaviness of scantling, all possible -protection of machinery, lightness of draught, and a model calculated -for a maximum of speed; in battery, the heaviest shell-guns mounted as -pivots and firing the largest shells, accuracy of aim combined with -rapidity of fire; in movement, the utmost skill with sail, steam and -rudder, and celerity in obtaining the raking position. In such a ship -and with such guns, were the right executive officer, and commander, -when the first great naval duel fought with steam and shells took place -on Sunday June 19, 1864, at sea, outside of Cherbourg. Historic and -poetic justice to the memory of Matthew Perry was then done with -glorious results, that will ever live in history. When the _Alabama_ -sank from the sight of the sun with her wandering stars and the bars of -slavery after her into the ocean’s grave, the guns that sent her down -were directed by James S. Thornton,[12] the efficient executive officer -of the _Kearsarge_, and by his own boast and testimony, the favorite -pupil of Commodore Matthew C. Perry. - ------ - -[11] The _Mississippi_ made six long cruises, two in the Gulf of Mexico, -one in the Mediterranean, two to Japan, and one in the Gulf and -Mississippi under Farragut. She twice circumnavigated the globe. -Thoroughly repaired, she left Boston, May 23, 1861, for service in the -Civil War. In passing Forts Jackson and Philip, April 24, 1862, and in -the capture of New Orleans which gave the Confederacy its first blow in -the vitals, the _Mississippi_ took foremost part under command of -Captain Melancthon Smith. Her guns sunk two steamers, and her prow sunk -the ram _Manassas_. Passing safely the fire rafts, and the Challmette -batteries, she was the first vessel to display the stars and stripes -before the city. In the attack on Port Hudson, March 14, 1863, this old -side-wheeler formed the rear guard of Farragut’s line. In the dark night -and dense smoke, the pilot lost his way. The _Mississippi_ grounded, and -was for forty minutes under steady fire of the rifled cannon of the -batteries, and was burned to prevent her use by the Confederates. - -[12] See his portrait, p. 926, _Century Magazine_, 1885. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - THE BROAD PENNANT IN AFRICA. - - -THE work to which Matthew Perry was assigned during the next three years -grew out of the famous treaty made by Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton. -Of this treaty we, in 1883 and 1884, on account of the transfer of so -much of our financial talent across the Canadian border, heard nearly as -much as our fathers before us in 1842. In addition to the rectification -of the long-disputed boundary question, the eighth and ninth articles -contained provisions for extirpating the African slave-trade. By the -tenth article, the two governments agreed to the mutual extradition of -suspected criminals. Out of the interpretation of this last, grew the -famous “Underground Railway” of slavery days, besides the residence in -Canada of men fleeing from conscription during the civil war, and of -defaulting bank officers in later years. To the crimes making offenders -liable to extradition, in the supplementary treaty made under President -Cleveland’s administration, four others are added, including larceny to -the amount of fifty dollars, and malicious destruction of property -endangering life. - -It is very probable that war was averted by the sound diplomacy of the -Webster-Ashburton treaty. The two nations instead of crossing swords -were enabled through creative statesmanship, to join hands for wholesome -moral work, and especially to improve off the face of the ocean, “the -sum of all villainies.” The discovery of America had given a vast -impulse to this ancient and horrible traffic, and about forty millions -of negroes had been seized for the markets of the western continent. -About seventy thousand of these victims were brought to our country -prior to the year 1808, and many thousands have been surreptitiously -introduced since that epoch. - -The United States was to send an eighty-gun squadron to Africa to -suppress piracy and the slave-trade. The preparation for this real -service to humanity and the world’s commerce was curiously interpreted -in South America, as a menace to the states of that continent. In their -first thrills of independence, these republics were naturally suspicious -of their nearest strong neighbor. - -The work of the American men-of-war in overhauling slavers, involved the -question of the right of search. Notwithstanding that the war of 1812 -had been fought to settle the question, it was not yet decided. It -required secession and the so-called Southern Confederacy to arise, with -the aid of Captain Wilkes and Mr. Seward, to force the British -government to disown her ancient claim. - -Orders to command the African squadron, and to protect the settlements -of the blacks established by the American Colonization Society, were -received February 20, 1843. The spring was consumed in preparations, and -on the 5th of June, the Commodore hoisted his broad pennant on the -_Saratoga_.[13] In the flag-ship of a squadron, Matthew Perry sped to -southern oceans, a helper in the progress of Africa. Arriving at -Monrovia, in due time, his first duty was to mete out justice to the -natives of Sinoe and Berribee for the murders of American seamen. He -found awaiting him one of the head men of Berribee with authority to -arrange a palaver of all the chiefs with the American commander. To -understand the problem before the Commodore, let us glance at the -situation. - -The question of war or peace among the natives on or near the coast is a -financial one of monopoly and privilege. The tribes occupying the coast -or sea “beach” have the advantage of all the tribes behind them in the -interior, inasmuch as they hold the monopoly of foreign trade and barter -with passing ships. The coast men sell the coveted foreign goods, rum, -tobacco, powder and notions to the next tribe inland at a handsome -profit. These, in turn, sell to the next tribe within, and these to the -next, and so the filtering process goes on. The prices, to the last -purchaser and consumer, one or two hundred miles from the sea, after -passing through all these middle-men, are enormous. The position then -next the ships was a coveted one, and those in sight of blue water had -to keep it by arms as champions. Only the most warlike tribes get and -hold this place. - -To gain this supreme advantage of trade at first hand, the Crack-Os, a -tribe two days distant inland, had fought their way seaward and captured -from the Bassa Cove and Berribee people, about ten miles of coast on -which they had built five towns. Giving free rein to their predatory -propensities, they seized all canoes passing their front, and plundered -or murdered their crews. Growing bolder, they overwhelmed by their -numbers even foreign vessels after enticing these to visit them, and -their crews to land. The captain and crew of the American schooner, -_Mary Carver_, were first tortured and then murdered. For three hours, -Captain Carver suffered unspeakable horrors. He was bound and delivered -to the tender mercies of the savage women and children who amused -themselves by sticking thorns in his flesh. In another instance, Captain -Burke, mate and cook, of the _Edward Barley_, were cruelly murdered. In -consequence of these atrocities, traders avoided this villainous coast, -and commerce came to a stand-still. - -The mere destruction of any of the beach towns would be of no avail, if -the black rascals were allowed to rebuild. With their rice and cassava -or yam plantations a few miles back, to which they removed the women, -children, and other valuables, they would laugh at the white man’s -pains. The only lasting check on their villainy would be permanent -exclusion from the beach. - -There was enough of another side to the story to remove indiscriminate -vengeance far from the Commodore’s purposes. Our government heard many -complaints against the blacks, while their voice was unheard. The native -towns and fishing boats were frequently fired into, their towns -cannonaded and burnt, and the blacks cruelly maltreated, or sold to -warlike tribes, in pure wantonness by white foreigners. As all white men -were the same to the negroes, they were apt to take the first -opportunity for vengeance that offered itself. In this way, innocent men -suffered. - -An imposing force, more than sufficient for mere punishment, was -determined upon. The Commodore had to move with caution, and both -justice and victory must be sure, as a failure to awe would make matters -worse. His first care was to obtain hostages from the Berribees. In -doing this he was able to prove their guilt. He sent Lieutenant -Stellwagen in the brig _Porpoise_, disguised as a merchantman, to their -coast. Only five or six men, and these in red shirts, showed themselves -on deck. The Berribee boats at once rushed out in a shoal to capture the -harmless looking vessel. As only a sample of the thieving humanity was -needed, the Lieutenant, satisfied with a good joke, refrained from -opening his guns on the canoes. After witnessing the seizure of those -first climbing over the ship’s sides, and the sudden resurrection from -the hatches of his armed crew, the other blacks scattered for the shore. - -The squadron, consisting of the _Saratoga_, _Macedonian_, _Decatur_ and -_Porpoise_ sailing from Mesurado on the 22d of November, cast anchor on -the 29th at Sinoe. This settlement, nominally under the care of the -Mississippi Colonization Society had been greatly neglected. The negroes -from the United States were there, but were little looked after. -“Colonization,” in their case meant simply good riddance. - -Landing with seventy-five sailors and marines, the procession moved to -the Methodist Church edifice in which the palaver was to be held. Before -the President of Liberia, Mr. Roberts, and the Commodore, with their -respective staffs on the one side, and twenty “kings” or head men on the -other, the murder of Captain Burke’s mate and cook was discussed. It -appeared that the white man was the first aggressor, and the Fishmen and -not the Sinoe people were the culprits. After listening patiently to the -black orators, the Commodore ordered the Fishmen’s town to be burned, -keeping three of them as hostages to be sent to Monrovia. He advised the -settlers to build a stockade and block-house, assess the expense in town -meeting, and endeavor to enforce the methods of self-government and -protection so well established in the United States. Only in this way -could civilization hold its own against the savages of the bush. - -The next point of landing was Settra Kroo, in King Freeman’s dominions. -At this place, the force from the boats stepped on shore at 9 A. M. -Before the palaver began, the Commodore heard a piece of news that -caused him to hasten in person to the scene of the incident. Humanity -was the first duty. The pace of the burly Commodore was quickened to a -run as he heard of the imminent danger of an innocent victim. A wealthy -man of one of the Settra villages had been accused of having caused the -death of a neighbor by foul arts of necromancy. To prove innocence in -such a case, the accused was compelled to drink largely of sassy-wood -which made a red liquid. In this case the elect victim was a -hard-featured fellow of about fifty years of age. His wealth had excited -envy, and avarice was doubtless his only crime. His two wives with their -satin-skinned babies, were in agony and tears for the fate of the -husband and father. - -The natives, seeing the Americans approach, and suspecting their design -of rescue, seized their victim and paddled him in a canoe across the -lake. Perry, being told of this circumstance, on coming to a group of -men grasped the chief, ordering the officers to seize others and hold -them as hostages for the ordeal man. The territory belonged to the -Maryland Colonization Society, and the rites of savagery were not to be -done in view of an American squadron. This novel order of _habeas -corpus_ was obeyed. After some delay and palaver, the negroes restored -the victim, and, under the emetics and remedies of Dr. McGill, the man -was delivered from the power of sassy and of believers in its virtue. -The squadron had arrived just in time. - -Returning from this lively episode with sharp appetites, the Commodore -and party of officers were just about to sit down to dinner, when an -alarm gun, fired from Mount Tulman, startled them. Almost immediately -afterwards a messenger, running in hot haste, announced that the wild -natives from the bush beyond were about to force their way to the -settlement and attack the colonists. They had mistaken the salute to the -Commodore, and thought that hostilities had already begun with King -Freeman. They had come to support the native party and be in at the -division of the spoils. - -At once the Commodore accompanied by the Governor and his force marched -through the blazing sun four miles to the scene of hostilities. On the -Mount Tulman, named after a philanthropic Baltimorean, they found a -picketed level space to which the civilized colonists, men, women and -children, had fled for refuge. They were defended by fifteen or sixteen -men then on the watch. The savage natives had been repulsed and some of -them killed. - -As there was nothing to do, the party enjoyed, for a few minutes, the -superb scenery. The village beneath, and the white buildings of the -Mount Vaughan Episcopal mission glittered in the sun, and the beach and -ocean view was grand. The descent of the hill with their belated dinner -in view, was an easy and grateful task. - -At Cape Palmas, or “Maryland in Africa,” the naval force landed Dec. -9th, for a palaver with twenty-three “kings” and head men. The Commodore -and Governor, at the usual table, were face to face with the sable -orators, whose talking powers were prodigious. His Majesty, King -Freeman, was a prepossessing negro, who, in features, recalled to the -narrator Horatio Bridge,[14] Henry Clay. The interpreter was Yellow -Will, a voluble and amazing creature in scarlet and Mazarin-yellow lace. - -The substance of the palaver was the request that King Freeman should, -for the good of the American colonists, remove his capital. The meeting -was adjourned to re-assemble in the royal kraal or city two days later. -On December 11, twelve armed boats were sent ashore from three ships. -The feat of landing in the surf was accomplished after several -ridiculous tumbles and considerable wetting from the spray. - -On shore there were about fifty natives in waiting, as an escort to the -palaver house. These braves were armed with various weapons, muskets -guiltless of polish, iron war spears, huge wooden fish-harpoons, and -broad knives. - -The royal capital was a palisaded village in the centre of which was the -palaver house. Most of the male warriors were out of sight, evidently in -ambush while the women and piccaninnies were in “the bush.” Some delay -occurred in the silent town, while arrangements were perfected by his -Majesty. By orders of the wary Commodore, marines were posted at the -gates as sentinels, while the military forces of either side were -marched to opposite ends of the town. The parties to the controversy -being seated, Governor Roberts spoke concerning the murder of Captain -Carver. The towns along the beach governed by King Crack-O were -implicated. They shared in the plunder, the cargo of the ship being -worth twelve thousand dollars. The evil results were great, inasmuch as -all tribes on the coast wanted to “catch” foreign vessels. - -His Majesty, King Crack-O, was a monstrous fellow of sinister -expression. He wore a gorgeous robe and a short curved sword resembling -the cleaver used by Chicago pork-packers. The blade of this weapon was -six inches wide. He made a rather defiant reply to President Robert’s -charges, denying all participation in the matter. Touching his ears and -tongue symbolically to his sword, he signified his willingness to attend -the great Palaver at Berribee. - -At the Commodore’s suggestion, he was invited on board the flag-ship -with the object of impressing him with the force at command of the -whites. - -During the embarkation, several funny scenes occurred. All the -villagers, men, women and children, came to see the canoes set off, many -of which were repeatedly upset, and the passengers tossed into the water -and soused. There was little dignity, but no end of fun, in getting from -shore to ship. - -The next meeting was appointed at Little Berribee, because the great -palaver for the division of the spoil of the _Mary Carver_, had been -held at this place. It was hoped some exact information would be gained. -The line of boats leaving the flag-ship December 13, moved to the shore, -and the march was begun to the village. The palaver house was about -fifty yards from the town gate inside the palisades, and King Ben -Crack-O’s long iron spear, with a blade like a trowel, was, with other -weapons, laid aside before the palaver began; but arrayed in his -gorgeous robes, the strapping warrior, evidently spoiling for a fight, -took his seat, having well “coached” his interpreter. - -After the Governor spoke, the native interpreter began. He quickly -impressed the American officers and the Liberian Governor as a -voluminous but unskillful liar, and himself as one of the most guilty of -the thieves. His tergiversations soon became impudent and manifest, and -his lies seemed to fall with a thump. The Governor, had repeatedly -warned him in vain. At last, the Commodore, losing patience, rose up and -hastily stepping toward the villain sternly warned him to lie no more. - -Instantly the interpreter, losing courage, bolted out of the house and -started on a run for the woods. Perry quickly noticing that King Crack-O -was meditating treachery, moved towards him. The black king’s courage -was equal to his power of lying and treachery. He seized the burly form -of the Commodore, and attempted to drag him off where stood, on its -butt, his iron spear. It was already notched with twelve -indentations—in token of the number of men killed with it. - -His black majesty had caught a Tartar! The burly Commodore was not easy -to handle. Perry hurled him away from the direction of the stacked arms, -and before he had more than got out of the house, a sergeant of the -marines shot the king, while the sergeant’s comrades bayonetted him. - -In the struggle, the king had caught his foot in the skirts of his own -robe and he was speedily left naked. Spite of the ball and two bayonet -wounds he fought like a tiger, and the two or three men who attempted to -hold his writhing form needed all their strength to make him a prisoner. -His muscular power was prodigious, but their gigantic prize was finally -secured, bound, and carried to the beach. The interpreter was shot dead -while running, the ball entering his neck. - -The palaver, thus broken up, suddenly changed into a melee in which the -marines and blue-jackets began irregular firing on the natives, in spite -of the Commodore’s orders to refrain. The two-hundred or more blacks -scattered to the woods, along the beach and even into the sea, some -escaping by canoes. - -As the real culprits had mostly escaped, the Commodore ordered the town -to be fired. Our sailors forced the palisades or crept between the -gates. Meeting in the centre of the town, they gave three cheers and -then applied the torch. In fifteen minutes the whole capital, built of -wattles and mud was on fire, and in little over a half hour a level -waste. - -The blacks, from the edge of the woods, opened fire on the Americans. -With incredibly bad aim, they shot at the blue-jackets with rusty -muskets loaded with copper slugs made out of the bolts of the _Mary -Carver_. From one pile of camwood, the fire of the rascals was so near, -that Captain Mayo’s face was burned with their powder, so that he -carried the marks to his grave. Little harm was done by the copper -shower. Our men charged into the bush, and presently the ships opened -fire on the woods, and the little war with the heathen ended for the -day. - -Among the trophies recovered in the town, was a United States flag, -articles from the _Mary Carver_, and several war canoes. The king’s -spear, made of a central shaft of wood with iron butt and top and the -blade heart-shaped, was kept by the Commodore, and now adorns the -collection of his son-in-law. - -Embarkation was then made to the ships, where King Crack-O died next -morning at eight o’clock. - -On the 15th, as the boats moved off at 7 P. M., to a point twelve or -fifteen miles below Berribee, they were fired on by the natives when -near the shore. The boat’s crew and three marines dashed ashore, and -charged the enemy. The landing was then made in good order, the line -formed and the march begun to the town. The palisades were at once cut -through, and the houses set on fire. While this was being done, the -blacks in the woods were sounding war-horns, bells and gongs, which the -buzzards, at least, understood, for they soon appeared flying in -expectation of a feast. - -A further march up the beach of a mile and a half brought the force to a -line of palisades behind which were thirty or forty natives. The -boat-keepers rowing along the line of march, were enabled to see that -these were armed and ready to fire. Halting at forty yards distance, the -marines and blue-jackets charged on a run, giving the blacks only time -to fire a few shots and then break for cover. This they could easily do, -as the woods reached nearly to the water’s edge. After searching for -articles from the _Mary Carver_, this third town was burned, and then -the men sat down to dinner. Another town three miles further up the -beach was likewise visited and left in ashes. All day long the men were -hard at work and in constant danger from the whistling copper, but the -only bodily members in danger seemed to be their ears, for the blacks -were utterly unable either to aim straight or to fire low. The men -enjoyed the excitement hugely, and only two of them were wounded. The -eight or ten cattle captured and the relics of the _Mary Carver_, were -taken on board. - -On the 16th at daylight, the ships raised anchor and proceeded to Great -Berribee. White flags were hoisted in token of amity. The king came on -board the flag-ship, and a “treaty” in which protection to American -seamen was guaranteed was made. Gifts were exchanged, and the five -Berribee prisoners released. - -The effect of this powder and ball policy so necessary, and so -judiciously administered, was soon apparent along a thousand miles of -coast. By fleet runners carrying the news, it was known at Cape Palmas -when the squadron arrived there on the 20th. The degree of retribution -inflicted by no means exceeded what the original outrage demanded. -According to the well-understood African law, the whole of the guilty -tribe must suffer when the murderers have not been delivered up. The -example, a peremptory necessity at the moment, was, for a long time, -salutary; the American vessels not only experienced the good effect, but -the event had a powerful influence in the native palavers. - -A year or so later, the king and headmen of Berribee, visited Lieutenant -Craven in the _Porpoise_. The people had begun to make farms, and -cultivate the soil. They were very anxious to see Commodore Perry, “to -talk one big palaver, pay plenty bullock, no more fight white man, and -to get permission to build their town again on the beach.” The -Lieutenant reported the effect on all tribes as highly salutary, even as -far as fifteen or twenty miles in the interior. The Missionaries, the -Reverend and Mrs. Payne whose lives had been threatened, and their -schools broken up by the wild blacks, were now enjoying friendly -intercourse with the natives and suffered no more annoyance. He also -received the warm approval of the other missionaries on the coast, both -Roman Catholic as well as Protestant, as well as of Governor Russworm, -of the Maryland Colony. The Reverend James Kelly, of the Catholic -Mission, in a letter, said of Perry, “His services were tendered in a -way decidedly American—without ostentation—yet carrying effect in -every quarter.” - -This systematic punishment, after examination, and the certainty that -the stripes were laid on the right back was a new thing to the blacks. -The Berribee affair is remembered to this day. During the forty years -now gone, anything like the _Mary Carver_ affair has never been -repeated. The coast was made safe, and commerce increased. - -On the 25th, the Commodore arrived at Monrovia, and on the 28th, sailed -for Porto Praya, and later for Funchal, where he found the inhabitants -bitterly complaining that the American taste for other wines had greatly -injured the trade in Madeira. - ------ - -[13] Used as a training-ship now, May, 1887. - -[14] Journal of an African Cruiser, edited by Nathaniel Hawthorne. - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - PERRY AS A MISSIONARY AND CIVILIZER. - - -PERRY, in his report written Jan. 21, 1844, on the settlements -established by the Colonization Society expresses the feelings that came -over him as he gazed on Cape Mesurado (Montserrado) after a lapse of -nearly a quarter of a century. When, as first Lieutenant on the _Cyane_, -he first looked upon the site of Monrovia, the beautiful promontory was -covered with dense forests, of which the wild beasts were the only -occupants. On this, his third visit, he found a thriving town full of -happy people. Churches, school-houses, missionary establishments, a -court-house, printing-presses and ware-houses, vessels at anchor in the -harbor, made a scene to delight the eyes. Though there were farms and -clearings, the people, he noticed, preferred trade to agriculture. While -many were poor, many also were rich, and all were comfortable. He -considered that upon the whole the experiment of colonization of the -free blacks of the United States was a success. More settlements, a line -of them on the coast, were however needed to enable the colonist to -assist in suppressing the slave-trade, to encourage the civilized -natives, and to increase commerce. - -Monrovia, so named in honor of President James Monroe, at this time -contained five hundred houses with five churches and several schools. -The Sunday-schools were conducted like those in New England. - -The flag of Liberia contained stripes and a cross, emblems of the United -States and Christian philanthropy. The flag of the Liberian -Confederation is now a single white star on a square blue field with -stripes. Its twelve thousand square miles of territory contain twenty -thousand colored people from the United States, five thousand “Congos” -or recaptured slaves, and eight hundred thousand aborigines. - -At that time, the various settlements under the care of the American -Colonization Society were separate petty colonies or governments and -not, as now, united into one republic of Liberia. Perry was, at first, -puzzled to know his exact relations to the governors of Monrovia and -Cape Palmas, who styled themselves “Agents of the United States.” While -eager to assist them in every way, he yet knew it his duty to refrain -from anything calculated to give them a wrong impression. - -There was to be no deviation from the settled policy of the United -States not to hold colonies abroad. The political connection between the -United States and Liberia, the only colonial enterprise ever undertaken -by our country, was but a silken thread. The aim of our government -seemed to be to honor the rising negro republic, to protect American -trade and missionaries, and to overawe the elements of violence among -the savages, so as to give the nascent civilization on the coast a fair -chance of life. In this spirit, Perry performed faithfully his delicate -duties. - -It was noted by the naval officers that the freedmen from America looked -down upon the natives as savages, and were horrified at their heathenism -and nudity. The unblushing display of epidermis all around them shocked -their feelings. Each African lady was a literal Flora McFlimsey “with -nothing to wear.” In building their houses, the settlers followed rather -the model of domestic architecture below Mason and Dixon’s line than -that above it. The excellent feature of having the kitchen separate from -the dwelling was transported to “Maryland in Africa,” as in “the old -Kentucky home.” - -The colored missionaries were having encouraging success. The pastor at -Millsburg, a town named after the Rev. Mr. Mills, one of the first -missionaries from the United States, was a fine, manly looking person. -One of the settlers was an Indian negro, formerly a steward on Commodore -McDonough’s ship and present at the battle of Lake Champlain. He -afterwards removed to Sierra Leone to afford his daughters, who were -dressmakers, better opportunities. - -Edina and Bassa Cove were settlements under the patronage of the -Colonization Societies of New York and Pennsylvania. The Maryland colony -was at Cape Palmas, that of Mississippi at Sinoe, while another -settlement was named New Georgia. The freed slaves, remembering the -labors in the cotton fields under the American overseer, could not -easily rid themselves of their old associations with mother earth. Labor -spent in tilling the soil seemed to be personal degradation. To earn -their bread by the sweat of their brow and the toil of their back in the -new land of freedom was, to them, so nearly the same as slavery that -they utterly forsook it, and resorted to small trade with the men of the -beach or deck. In the bush, imitating the Yankees, whom they had been -taught to abhor, they peddled English slave-goods manufactured at -Birmingham for ivory and oil. In dress they followed out the customs of -their masters at home, copying or parodying the latest fashion plates -from New York, Philadelphia or London. In church, many silk dresses -would be both seen and heard among the women. - -Serious drawbacks to successful colonization existed. Among the freed -slaves the women were in the proportion to men three and a half to one. -Even the adult males were like children, having been just released from -slavery, with little power of foresight or self reliance. The jealousy -felt by the black rulers toward the white missionaries was great, while -heathenism was bold, defiant and, aggressive. - -American black men could be easily acclimated, while the whites were -sure to die if they persisted in a residence. The strain on the -constitution of a white man during one year on the African station -equalled that of five or six years on any other. Most of the British -officers made it a rule of “kill or cure,” and, on first coming out on -the station, slept on shore to decide quickly the question. It was -almost certain death for a white person unacclimated to sleep a night -exposed to the baleful influence of the land miasma. Perry as a -lieutenant, when without instruction, did the best he could to save the -men from exposure. He avoided the sickly localities and took great -precautions. Hence there was no death on the _Shark_ in two years, -though, besides visiting Africa, all the sickly ports in the West -Indies, the Spanish Main and Mexico were entered. Now a Commodore, while -cruising off “the white man’s grave,” Perry made the health of his men -his first consideration. When on the _Fulton_ in New York, he had been -called upon by the Department to express his views at length upon the -best methods of preserving life and health on the Africa station. -Possessing the pen of a ready writer, amid the press of his other -duties, he wrote out an exhaustive and readable report of twelve pages -in clear English and in his best style. - -This epitome of naval life is full and minute in directions. The methods -followed in the _Shark_, with improvements suggested by experience, were -now vigorously enforced on all the ships of the squadron. The men were -brought up on deck and well soused, carefully wiped, dried, warmed and, -willy-nilly, swathed in woolens. Stoves were lighted amidships, and the -anthracite glowed in the hold, throwing a dry, anti-mouldy heat which -was most grateful amid the torrid rains and tropical steam baths. Fans, -pumps, and bellows, plied in every corner, drove out the foul air that -lurked like demons in dark places. All infection was quickly banished by -the smudges, villainous in smell but wholesome in effect, that smoked -out all vermin and miasma. - -The sailors at first growled fiercely, though some from the outset -laughed at what seemed to them blank and blanked nonsense, but their -maledictions availed with the Commodore no more than a tinker’s. -Gradually they began to like scrub and broom drill, and finally they -enjoyed the game, becoming as hilarious as Dutch housemaids on cleaning -day. Spite of the nightly rains, the ships in their interiors were never -mouldy, but ever fresh, dry, and clean. Health on board was nearly -perfect. - -In his own way, the vigilant Commodore fought and drove off the -scorbutic wolf with broadsides of onions and potatoes, and kept his men -in superb physical condition and his staff unbroken, while British -officers died by the score, and left their bones in the white man’s -grave. After the dinner parties and entertainments on shore, the -American officers left promptly at eight o’clock so as to avoid night -exposure. - -Long immunity from sickness at length began to breed carelessness in -some of the ships, when away from the eye of the Commodore. In one -instance the results were heart-rending. The wild blacks in 1843 made an -attack upon Bissas, a Portuguese settlement on the coast south of the -Gambia river, incurring the loss of much American property. The -Commodore dispatched Lieutenant Freelon in the _Preble_ to help the -garrison and prevent a further attack from the hostile natives. - -The _Preble_ went up the river on which the settlement was situated, and -anchored there for thirteen days. Out of her crew of one hundred and -forty-four men, ninety were attacked by fever. The ship, from being -first a floating hospital, became a coffin, from which nineteen bodies -were consigned to the deep. The plague-stricken vessel with her depleted -crew arrived at Porto Praya, and, to the grief of the Commodore, there -was an added cause of regret. - -The ship’s commander and the surgeon had quarreled as to the causes of -the outbreak of the pestilence. The lieutenant stoutly maintained that -the outbreak was owing to “the pestilential character of the African -coast, and the Providence of God.” The surgeon, taking a less -pseudo-pious, more prosaic but truer view, laid it to nearer and easily -visible causes. The acrid correspondence between cabin and sick bay was -laid before Perry. He read, with much pain, of the “insults,” “lies,” -and other crimes of tongue or pen mutually shed out of the ink bottles -of the respective literary belligerents. Kellogg, the surgeon, asked the -Commodore for an investigation. As Perry did not think it wise at that -time either to withdraw the officers from survey duty, or to endanger -the convalescents by keeping the _Preble_ near shore, he ordered the -infected vessel out to sea. - -One can easily imagine with whose opinions Perry sympathized, as he read -the documents in the case. Perry never even suspected that religion and -science needed any reconciliation, both being to him forms of the same -duty of man. In narrating the actual occurrences at Bissas, the surgeon -showed that most of Perry’s hygienic rules had been systematically -broken. The _Preble_, for thirteen days, was anchored within a quarter -of a mile of the shore, exposed to the exhalations of a bank of mud left -bare by the ebb-tide and exposed to the rays of a vertical sun. At -night, the men were allowed to sleep out on deck with the miasma-laden -breezes from the swamps blowing over them. While painting the ship, the -crew were exposed to the sun’s glare. They were sent day and night to -assist the garrison of Bissas, and, in two cases, returned from sporting -excursions fatigued and wet. The first case of fever began on the 5th, -and the disease was fully developed in fourteen days. The sad results of -the visit of the _Preble_ up the miasmatic river were soon manifest in -scores of dead. Perry’s grief at the loss of so many valuable lives was -as keen as his vexation was great, because it was unnecessary and -inexcusable. - -In two other instances also the energy and promptness of the Commodore -proved the saving of many lives. One of our ships put into Porto Praya, -with African fever on board and short of water. The water of Porto -Praya, being unfit for sick persons, Perry at once supplied her tanks -from the flag-ship. Then quickly sailing to Porto Grande, he returned -promptly with fresh relief for the stricken men. Another vessel being -short of medicines, the Commodore proceeded with the flag-ship to the -French settlement of Goree, immediately returning with quinine. His -celerity at once checked the death list and multiplied convalescents. - -Within the cruising ground prescribed for the African squadron, it was -found that there was not a suitably enclosed burial place for the -officers and sailors who might die. Men-of-war and merchant sailors had -been thrown overboard or buried in different spots here, there, and -everywhere, on beaches just above high water mark, on arid plains and on -barren bluffs. So prevalent was the refusal, by Portuguese, of the rites -of burial to Protestant sailors, that it was their custom to have a -cross tattooed on their arms so that when dead they might get sepulture. - -The reason for this sporadic burial of our men must be laid at the doors -of bigotry. In some parts of Christendom, even among enlightened -nations, where political churches are established, there lingers a -heathenish relic of superstitious sectarianism under the garb of the -Christian religion, in what is called “consecrated ground.” By this -pretext of holiness, the sectaries logically carry into the grave the -feuds and hatreds born of the very wickedness from which by their creeds -and ritual they expect to be saved. This feeling is in southern Europe -and the papal colonies, so intensified that it is next to impossible for -a man denying the Roman faith to obtain burial in a cemetery governed by -adherents of the Pope. Even the semi-civilized Portuguese refused to -give interment to American officers in what they denominate “consecrated -ground.” - -This gave Perry an opportunity to establish a burial place for the -American dead of every creed. In the words of the bluff sailor, after -referring to the fact that “Catholics” do not like “Protestants” in -their grounds, he says, “With us the same spirit of intolerance shall -not prevail, and in our United States Cemetery the remains of Jew and -Gentile, Catholic and Protestant will be laid in peace together.” - -Accordingly, the cemetery for the dead of the _Preble_ was prepared at -Porto Grande. A plot of land having been purchased, was given in fee by -the authorities. It was duly graded, and a stone wall seven feet high -erected to enclose it, and thus protect it from the wash of rains and -the trespasses of vagrant animals. Timber for headboards was furnished -from the ship, and the amount of two hundred dollars for expenses -incurred was subscribed by the officers and men. - -The governor of the island of Santa Iago was ordered by the general -government to give a legal title to a cemetery for “persons not -Catholics.” The burial ground plotted out by the Commodore adjoined the -other village cemetery at the same place called “The Cocoanuts.” The -three new walls enclosing it were respectively one hundred by one -hundred by ninety-four feet. The width of the wall masonry was three -“palms” or twenty-seven inches, and the foundation was to be -three-fourths of a yard deep. In this true God’s acre, more truly -consecrated by the christening of Christian charity than the bigot’s -benison, Perry was glad to permit also the burial of some British -sailors. In a letter of thanks from Commodore W. Jones, of her Britannic -Majesty’s squadron, the latter writes of the cemetery at Porto Grande, -“In which you kindly permitted the interment of such British seamen as -would have had their remains excluded from the (Roman) Catholic -cemeteries at those places.” - -“It seems hard that Englishmen should thus be indebted to the charity of -strangers for a little Portuguese earth to cover them. It is a -consolation that, in countries where superstition so far cancels -gratitude and Christian feeling, that the noblest grave of a seaman, and -in my opinion far the most preferable, is always at hand.” - -Relieved by Commodore Skinner, Perry arrived in the _Macedonian_, off -Sandy Hook, April 28, 1845. - -During his service on this station, Perry exhibited his usual energy and -patriotism in being ever sensitive to the honor of the flag, the navy -and his country. In the exercise of his duty, he was frequently drawn -into situations which evoked sharp controversies with the magistrates -and officials of different nationalities in regard to restrictions in -their ports, certain ceremonies, salutes, and minutiæ of etiquette. With -practiced pen, this American sailor, a loving reader of Addison, showed -himself a master in diplomacy and the art of expression. Uniting to the -bluff ingenuousness of a sailor, something of the polish of a courtier, -he almost invariably gained the advantage, and came off the best man. -His conduct in delicate matters evoked the praise of both the American -and English governments. - -The American commanders on the African coast were too much handicapped -by their instructions to be equally successful with the British cruisers -against the slavers. Claiming the right of visitation and search, the -Englishmen boarded all suspicious vessels except the American, and broke -up the slave depots. The American men-of-war, in the actual work of -destroying the slave traffic, formed rather a sentimental squadron, -“chasing shadows in a deadly climate.” - -The insatiable demand of Cuba for slaves made man-stealing and selling -profitable, even if the speculators in human flesh lost four cargoes out -of every five. Most of the masters of barracoons were Spaniards, and -some were college-bred men, with harems and splendid mansions. The price -of a slave on the coast was $30, while in Cuba it was $300. Blanco -White, who had a fleet of one hundred vessels, barracoons as large as -Chicago stock-yards, and a trade of eight thousand human carcasses a -year, lost in one year by capture, eight vessels. As he recovered -insurance on all of them, his loss was slight. The business of slave -export, like that of the Nassau blockade-runners during our civil war, -had in it plenty of gain, some lively excitement, but little or no -danger. Decoys were commonly used. While a gun-boat was giving chase to -some old tub of a vessel, with fifty diseased or worn-out slaves on -board, a clipper-ship with several hundred in her hold, with loaded -cannon to sweep the decks in case of mutiny, and with manacles for the -refractory, would dash out of her hiding-place among the mangroves and -scud across the open sea to Cuba or Brazil. - -During Perry’s stay on the African coast, the French had a squadron of -eleven vessels, and the British a fleet of thirty, eleven of which were -steamers. The other Powers were willing to save their cash, and allowed -the British to spend their money and do the work. The French capturing -not one prize, turned their attention to seizing territory. Their policy -in Africa, as in Asia, was an attempt to make new nations by means of -priests and soldiers. It began with brandy, progressed with bombardment, -and wound up with military occupation. The beginning of their African -possessions was the seizure of Gaboon, where in 1842, five American -missionaries had begun labor. By limitation of his orders, Perry was -unable to do anything in the case, though notifying the Department of -the facts and the danger. - -A French critic writing in 1884, of French “expansion,” “prestige,” and -“civilization,” in their so-called possessions, mostly in the torrid -zone, speaks of this system of “artificial hatching, which was to -produce a swarming brood of little Frenchmen.” “We see,” says he, “the -broken eggs, but find neither omelette nor chicks.” - -At present, in 1887, the west coast of Africa, valuable as affording -gateways into the interior, is owned as follows: by England, 1300 miles; -by Portugal, 800 miles; by Liberia, 350 miles; by Germany, 750 miles; by -natives, 900 miles. Missionary stations now occupy many of the old -slave-marts. By faith and knowledge, prayer and quinine, the white man -is making the dark continent light. Ethiopia is lifting up her -gift-laden hands to God. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - THE MEXICAN WAR. - - -THE long agitation, in behalf of the establishment of a Naval Academy, -by leading American naval officers, prominent among whom was Captain -Perry, bore fruit in the year 1845. Mr. George Bancroft, another of the -eminent literary men who have acted as Secretaries of the Navy, convened -a board of officers at Philadelphia, June 24, and directed them to make -suggestions in regard to a naval school. In this board were Commodores -George C. Read, T. ap. Catesby Jones, M. C. Perry, Captains E. A. F. -Lavallette and Isaac Mayo. Full of enthusiasm for the proposed -enterprise, they wrote a report outlining its leading features. -Secretary Bancroft’s energy secured the execution of the plan, and the -United States Naval Academy was begun on the grounds of Fort Severn, -near Annapolis. Many friends warmly urged Perry’s name as principal, but -he was not an applicant for the post. Captain Franklin Buchanan was most -worthily chosen, and the sessions began October 10, 1845. Under -successive superintendents, the Naval Academy has become one of the -first professional schools in the world, having thus far graduated over -twelve hundred naval officers, equipped either for seamanship or -engineering. - -Service afloat, in the Gulf of Mexico, was preparing. His first -application for service, in case of war, was made on the 16th of August. -Meanwhile, he called the attention of Secretary Bancroft to the -defective state of our signals, and forwarded the code of Admiral Rohde, -of the Danish navy, as the basis of a new compilation; and, according to -orders, engaged in the examination of merchant steamers, with a view to -harbor and coast defence, and for use in war. On the 4th of February, -1846, he received information from Mexico which satisfied him that war -was inevitable, and that he would soon be in the land of the cactus, the -eagle, and the serpent. Further, the frigate _Cumberland_, when in the -act of starting for the Mediterranean, was ordered to Vera Cruz. - -In answer to repeated offers of service, Perry received orders dated -August 20, 1846, to command the two new steamers, _Vixen_ and -_Spitfire_, which were fitting out at New York. When these were ready, -he was to go out to relieve Captain Fitzhugh of the _Mississippi_. The -younger officers, graduates of the Sandy Hook School of Gunnery, were -eager to serve under their former instructor, especially when they saw -that he, himself, gladly accepted an inferior command in order to serve -his country well. He arrived at Vera Cruz on the 24th of September. He -was subordinate to Commodore Conner, whose date of commission preceded -his own; but practically, though not officially, the Gulf or Home -squadron was divided. Conner had charge of the sail, and Perry of the -steam vessels. Owing to lack of ships of light draught, Conner had been -able to accomplish little. The splendid opportunities of the first year -were lost, and naval expeditions, even when attempted, proved failures. -The most notorious of these was the second unsuccessful demonstration at -Alvarado, October 16, which shook the faith of the strongest believers -in the abilities and resolution of Commodore Conner.[15] Because of the -grounding of the schooner _McLane_, on the bar, the enterprise was given -up for the day. On the morrow, when all was ready for a second attempt, -and the men eager for the fray—their last will and testament having -been left numerously with the chaplain—the flag-ship’s signals were -read with amazement and wrath: “Return to the anchorage off Vera Cruz.” -Whether the pilots feared a “norther,” or Conner doubted the military -qualities of his seamen on land, or believed his craft unsuited to the -task, is not certainly known. - -The main squadron lay off Sacrificios Island, safely out of range of the -forts. Many glasses were pointed anxiously night and day toward the -flag-ship for signals, which were not made. There were some French -vessels in the harbor. With characteristic diligence, the officers, -impatient to see hostilities begin, yet athirst for archæological -honors, began excavations for Aztec ruins, and found a number of relics. -The Americans chafed. Even the sight of the snow-capped mountains in the -distance, once burning and still beautiful, and the Southern Cross at -night, palled on the eye. The sailors wearied of polishing their small -arms and furbishing their weapons, and longed to use them. The big guns -were made lustrous with the fragrant sea-pitch, or “black amber,” from -off the sea-bottom, until their coats shone like Japanese lacquer. This -substance had a perfume like guava jelly, but the sailors longed rather -to sniff the air of battle. Like Job’s war-horse, they had thus far been -able to do so only from afar. Out of the north came news of successes -continually, while the sailors still scraped and scrubbed.[16] - -The senior commodore acted generously to Perry, who, being allowed to do -something on his own account, and happy enough to do it, planned the -capture of Tabasco. It was in Tabasco that Cortez fought his first -battle on Mexican soil. This town, on the river of the same name, had -about five hundred inhabitants garrisoned by state troops. These were -commanded by General Bravo, who had sent several challenges inviting -attack. The Mexicans reckoned that the natural sandbar at the river’s -mouth was a better defence than guns or forts, and the grounding of the -_McLane_ at Alvarado, doubtless lulled them into this delusion. The -object of the expedition was to capture the fleet of small craft moored -in fancied security in the river. This consisted of two steamers, a -brig, a sloop, five schooners and numerous boats and lighters—just what -was needed for the uses of our squadron, then so deficient in light -draft vessels. - -The attacking force consisted of the _Mississippi_, the _Vixen_, -_Bonita_, _Reefer_, _Nonita_, _McLane_ and _Forward_, with an extra -force of two hundred marines from the _Raritan_ and _Cumberland_. -Leaving Anton Lizardo, October 16, they arrived at Frontera on the 23d. -Without losing a moment of time, Perry made a dash across the bar almost -before the Mexicans knew of his arrival, and captured the town. Two -river steamers, which plied between the city and port, Tabasco and -Frontera, were lying at the wharf under the guns of the battery. One had -steam up and the supper-table spread. After these had been captured by -cutting out parties, the captors enjoyed the hot supper. - -The next two days, the 24th and 25th, were consumed in accomplishing the -seventy-two miles of river navigation, in the face of a heavy, strong -current. The _Petrita_ and _Vixen_ did most of the towing. Reaching the -famous “Devil’s Turn,” at 2 P. M., and finding a battery in view, Perry -ordered a landing party ashore, which speedily entered the deserted fort -and spiked the four twenty-four pound cannon found there. The city was -reached at 3 P. M. Anchoring the vessels in line ahead, at a distance of -one hundred and fifty yards, so as to command the principal streets, -Perry summoned the city to surrender, threatening to open fire in case -of refusal. The governor declining with defiance, returned answer, “Fire -as soon as you please.” - -To give a mild taste of what bombardment might mean, Perry ordered -Commander Sands to let the _Vixen’s_ guns be trained on the flag-staff -of the fort. So accurate was the fire, that, of the three shots, one cut -the pole and the flag fell. This was taken by the fleet as the sign of -surrender. A Mexican officer soon after came off, begging that the -hospitals might be spared. Perry at once granted the prayer. By this -time, it was nearly five o’clock and possibly time to take the fort. As -Perry believed in using the men while their war-blood was hot, he -ordered Captain Forrest, a brave but deliberate man, to land his two -hundred marines and take the fort, the main body of the military having -left the town. While the men were forming, impatiently awaiting the -order to advance, they had to stand under an irregular fire of musketry -from the chapparal. Seeing that it was late, and the risk too great for -the prize, Perry, ordering the men on board again, saved his marines for -the morrow. - -At daylight of the 26th, some Mexicans, who had sneaked as near the -flotilla as possible, opened a sharp fire on our men. The cannon were at -once trained and kept busy in brushing away these “ground-spiders,” as -the Japanese would call such ambuscaders. “Pomegranate shot,” to use a -term from the same language, for shrapnel, were freely used. - -The display of a white flag from the city shore stopped the firing, and -the Commodore received a petition from the foreign consuls and -inhabitants that the town should be spared. He granted the petition, -adding that his only desire was to fight soldiers and not -non-combatants. - -Out of pure feelings of humanity, Perry spared the city though there was -much to irritate him. The Mexican regulars and armed peasants were still -in or near the city, posted in military works or strong buildings of -brick or stone, and reached only by the artillery of the flotilla. Yet -the governor, while allowing war on our vessels, would not permit the -people to leave the municipal limits; and so the women and children, -crouched in the cellars, while the sneaking soldiers kept up their -fusillade. Probably most of those who had been killed or wounded were -peaceable inhabitants. - -The Commodore now made preparations to return, and ordered the prizes to -be got together. While this was going on, even though the white flag was -conspicuously waving above the town, a party of eighty Mexicans attacked -Lieutenant W. A. Parker and his party of eighteen men. Seeing this, -Perry sent forward Lieutenant C. W. Morris, son of Commodore C. G. -Morris, with orders and re-inforcement. - -The young officer passed the gauntlet of the heavy fire which now opened -along the banks. A musket ball struck him in the neck inflicting a -mortal wound, but he stood up in the boat and cheered his men most -gallantly as they bent to their oars, until he fell back in the arms of -midshipman Cheever who was with him. The loss of this accomplished young -officer and the treachery of the Mexicans made forbearance no longer a -virtue. Perry at once ordered the guns of the fleet to open on the city -and sweep the streets as a punishment to treachery. He spared as far as -possible the houses of the consuls and those of peaceful citizens. - -The _Vixen_, _Bonita_, _Nonita_ and _Forward_ kept up the cannonade for -half an hour, by which some of the houses were demolished. - -Having no force to hold the place, no field artillery, and a limited -supply of muskets and equipments, Perry, after reducing the town, and -neighborhood to silence, ordered the flotilla and prizes to move down -the river. Having the current with them, they reached Frontera at -midnight. One of the prizes, the _Alvarado_, having grounded on a shoal -at the Devil’s Turn, was blown up and left. Lieutenant Walsh and his -command had kept all quiet at Frontera. The _McLane_, with her usual -luck, having struck on the bar, could not get up to take part in front -of the city. - -The Tabasco affair, notwithstanding that the city was not occupied, -infused new spirit into the navy and was the stimulus to fresh exploits. -The name of Perry again became the rallying cry. The moral influence on -the whole squadron of the capture of Tabasco was good, and all were -inspirited for fresh enterprises. Even if no other effect had been -produced, the expedition broke the monotony of blockade duty and made -life more endurable. Still the men thirsted for more glory, and yearned -to satisfy the home press and people who were so eager for a “big -butcher’s bill.” - -The squadron returned to Anton Lizardo, where, on the 1st, Lieutenant -Morris died on board the _Cumberland_. With the honors of war he was -buried on Salmadina Island, where already a cemetery had begun. The -prize _Petrita_ distinguished herself by capturing an American vessel -violating the blockade at Alvarado. - -One of the steamers captured at Tabasco was formerly a fast river boat -plying between Richmond and Norfolk, well named the _Champion_. Under -Lieutenant Lockwood, she became a most valuable dispatch boat and of -great use to the squadron. - -The town of Tampico, 210 miles north of Vera Cruz, offered so tempting -an opportunity of easy capture that Commodore Conner resolved to make -the attempt. - -The city was five miles from the mouth of the river Panuco, and had -already sent a crack battalion to Santa Anna’s army. This perfidious -leader was using all his craft to raise an army, hoping to recruit -largely from American deserters. He supposed that all of General -Taylor’s Irish Roman Catholic soldiers would desert, because seventy or -eighty of them had done so. A battalion had been formed, and named Santa -Patricio. - -In this, the Mexican was keenly mistaken, the Irishmen holding loyally -to their colors, and giving not the first, nor the last, illustration of -their valor under the American flag. They here foreshadowed their later -career during the civil war which produced a new character—the -Irish-American soldier. - -As Conner had been formally and repeatedly urged by General Bravo to -visit and attack Tabasco, so also was he invited to come to Tampico. -This time, however, it was by a lady, the wife of the American consul. -She sent him the invitation stating that the city would yield without -resistance. This proved to be true, as Santa Anna’s policy was to weaken -the American forces by their necessity of a garrison to hold the place -if taken, while the Tampico troops could be employed against General -Taylor. In accordance with his orders, the place was evacuated by the -military, who took along with them their stores and artillery. Prudence -prevailing over valor, the Mexicans fell back to San Luis Potosi. - -The squadron with the two Commodores, Conner and Perry arrived on -Saturday, the 14th of November off the dangerous bar, the play-ground of -numerous sharks. The eight vessels were easily got into the river -Panuco. While this was going on, and the forward vessels were ascending -the river, the stars and stripes were seen to rise over the city. This -pretty act was that of the wife of the American consul who bravely -remained after her husband had been banished. - -A force of one-hundred and fifty marines and sailors was landed to -occupy the town. This was done silently, and not a hostile shot was -fired. Thus the second really successful operation of our navy in the -Gulf was achieved by a woman’s help. Captain Tatnall was sent up the -river eight miles, and captured the town of Panuco. - -Tampico was seen to be a place of military importance, and troops were -necessary to hold it, yet there was not then, an American soldier in -this part of Mexico. All were in the north with General Taylor. So -important did Conner feel this to be that, within a half hour after -entering the town, he dispatched Perry to Matamoros for troops. The ever -ready Commodore in his ever ready steamer, _Mississippi_, left at once -for the north. At the mouth of the Brazos on the Texan coast, Perry -informed General Patterson of the fall of Tampico, and notified him that -a re-inforcement would be needed from the troops at Point Isabel. He -then proceeded, of his own accord and most judiciously, as Conner wrote, -to New Orleans, anchoring the _Mississippi_ off the southwest pass of -the river from which the steamer took her name, and in which, sixteen -years later, she was to end her life. - -Perry resolved to go up to New Orleans to stir up the authorities to -greater energy and dispatch. He succeeded in obtaining fifty soldiers, -some provisions, and from the governor of Louisiana, a fully equipped -field train of six six-pounders and two howitzers, with two hundred -rounds of shot and shell to each gun. This battery belonged to the -State. He also received a large supply of entrenching tools and -wheel-barrows. - -All these were secured in one day, and, arriving back at Tampico after a -week’s absence, November 21, he delighted and surprised the naval -officers by what was considered, for the times, a great feat of -transportation. Other steamers and military, arrived November 30, so -that Tampico soon had a garrison of eight hundred men. Conner remained -until December 13, organizing a government for the city, while Perry -returned at once to Anton Lizardo. - -Though life on shipboard was made more tolerable by these little -excitements, it was dull enough. Fresh food supplies were low. The -coming event of scurvy was beginning to cast shadows before in symptoms -that betokened a near visitation. Perry, with his rooted anti-scorbutic -principles, selected as the next point of attack a place that could -supply the necessary luxuries of fresh beef and vegetables. Such a place -was Laguna del Carmen, near Yucatan, at the extreme southeast of Mexico. -It was in a healthy and well watered country rich in forests of logwood. -Receiving permission of Commodore Conner, he made his preparations. - -The ever trusty _Mississippi_, towing the _Vixen_ and two schooners the -_Bonita_ and _Petrel_, moved out from the anchorage, like a hen with a -brood of chickens, December 17, arriving off the bar on the 20th. Perry -dashed in at once, and the place was easily taken. - -Under a liberal policy, Laguna flourished and commerce increased. The -American officers, worthy representatives of our institutions, were very -popular not only with the dark-eyed senoritas, but also with the solid -male citizens and men of business. Social life throve, and balls were -frequent. The fleet was well and cheaply supplied with wholesome food. -The Lagunas were delighted with an object lesson in American -civilization, and during eighteen months so prosperous was their city, -that, even after the treaty of peace, the people petitioned Commodore -Perry not to withdraw his forces until Mexico was fully able to protect -them. - -General Taylor’s battles were bloody, but not decisive. His campaigns -had little or no influence upon Paredes, and the government at the -capital, because fought in the sparsely populated northern provinces. -The war thus far had been magnificent, but not scientific. The country -at large, scarcely knew of the existence of a victorious enemy on the -soil. At the distance of five hundred miles from the capital, there was -no pressure upon the leaders or people. The political nerves of Mexico, -like China, were not as sensitive then, as in our days, when wires and -batteries give the dullest nation a new nervous system. - -Perry made a study of the whole field of war. He saw that the vitals of -the country were vulnerable at Vera Cruz, that the city and castle once -occupied, the navy, by sealing the ports, could enable the army to reach -the capital where alone peace could be dictated. - -The administration at last understood the situation and ordered a change -of base. Recalling General Scott, who had been set aside on account of a -difference of opinion with the War Department, and the ultra-economical -administration, preparations were made for the advance, by sea and land, -to the city of Mexico, where peace was to be dictated. The full and -minute data which had been forwarded by Commodore Conner enabled the -general to map out fully his brilliant campaign. - -While Scott was perfecting details in the United States, the early -winter in the Gulf passed away in steady blockade duty. The -_Mississippi_ which was the constant admiration of the squadron for her -size, power, sea-worthiness, and incessant activity, now needing serious -repairs and overhauling, was ordered back to the United States. Perry, -in command of her, leaving Vera Cruz early in January, made the run -safely to Norfolk, Va., and went up to Washington to hasten operations. - -An examination was duly made by the board of survey. Their report -declared that it would require six weeks to get the _Mississippi_ ready -for service. - -This, to Perry, was disheartening news. It cast a fearful damper upon -his spirits, but, as usual, he never knew when he was beaten. To remain -away from the seat of war when affairs were ready to culminate at Vera -Cruz, by the army and navy acting in generous rivalry, was not to be -thought of. In this strait, he turned to his old and tried friend, -Charles Haswell, his first engineer, and had him sent for and brought to -Norfolk. - -His confidence was well founded. Haswell declared that, by working night -and day, the ship could be made ready in two weeks. So thorough was his -knowledge and ability, and so akin to Perry’s was his energy, that in a -fortnight the Commodore’s broad pennant was apeak, and the cornet, the -American equivalent for “Blue Peter,” was flying on the mizzen truck. It -was the signal for all officers to be aboard and admitted of no delay. - -Mr. Haswell adds, in a note to the writer, “When I took leave of the -Commodore on the morning of sailing, he thanked me in a manner -indicative of a generous heart.” - -We may safely add that, by his energies, and abilities in getting the -_Mississippi_ ready at this time, Mr. Haswell saved the government many -thousands of dollars and contributed largely to the triumphs of a quick -war which brought early peace. - -While in Washington, Perry was in frequent consultation with the -authorities, furnishing valuable information and suggestions. While the -_Mississippi_ was refitting, Perry was ordered to take the general -oversight of the light draft vessels fitting out at New York and Boston -for service in the gulf. This order read,—“You can communicate to heads -of Bureaux, to hasten them and give to their commanders any necessary -order.” The squadron in preparation consisted of the _Scourge_, -Lieutenant C. G. Hunter; _Scorpion_, Commander, A. Bigelow; _Vesuvius_, -Commander G. A. Magruder; _Hecla_, Lieutenant A. B. Fairfax; _Electra_, -Lieutenant T. A. Hunt; _Aetna_, Commander W. S. Walker; _Stromboli_, -Commander J. G. Van Brunt; _Decatur_, Commander R. S. Pinckney. - -On the 25th of February, 1847, Perry received the following order, “You -will proceed to the United States Steam Ship _Mississippi_, to the Gulf -of Mexico, and, on your arrival, you will report to Commodore Conner, -who will be instructed to transfer to you the command of the United -States naval forces upon that station.” - -In a letter dated March the 27th, 1847, the Secretary wrote, “The naval -forces under your command . . . form the largest squadron it is -believed, which has ever been assembled under the American flag . . . -steamers, bomb ketches and sailing vessels of different classes.” Much -was expected of this fleet, and much was to be accomplished. - -Yet despite Perry’s command and mighty responsibilities—equal to those -of an admiral—he was but a captain with a pennant. So economical was -our mighty government. - -In the matter of the war with Mexico—the war of a slave-holding against -a free republic—Matthew Perry acted as a servant of the government. He -was a naval officer whose business it was to carry out the orders of his -superiors. With the moral question of invading Mexico, he had nothing to -do. The responsibility lay upon the government of the United States, and -especially upon the President, his cabinet and supporters.[17] Perry did -not like the idea of invasion, and believed that redress could be -obtained with little bloodshed, and hostilities be made the means of -education to a sister republic. He therefore submitted to the -government, a detailed plan for prosecuting the war: - -1st. To occupy and colonize California, and annex it to the territory of -the United States. - -2nd. To withdraw all United States troops from the interior of Mexico -proper. - -3rd. To establish a military cordon along its northern frontiers. - -4th. To occupy by naval detachments and military garrisons, all its -principal ports in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. - -5th. To establish these ports temporarily, and during the continuance of -the war, as American ports of entry with a tariff of specific duties. - -6th. To throw these ports open for the admission under any friendly flag -of all articles, foreign or domestic not contraband of war. - -7th. To encourage the admission and sale of American manufactured goods -and the staples of the country, “particularly that of tobacco, which is -a present monopoly of Mexico, and yields to the government a large -revenue.” - -We should thus get a revenue to pay for the expenses of the war. - -The advantages of Perry’s plan, stated in his own words, were that, -“Instead of our waging a war of invasion, it would become one of -occupation and necessary expediency, and consequently a contest more -congenial to the institutions and professions of the American people.” - -“The cost of the war would be reduced three-fourths, the results would -be positive, and there would be an immense saving of human life. -Commerce and kindness would remove false ideas of Mexicans concerning -North American people, ideas so actively fomented by the Mexican clergy. -As an argument in favor of humanity, the Mexican people would be led to -pursue agriculture and mining, so that it would be hard to rouse -sufficient military spirit in them to dislodge forces holding their -ports.” The “baleful influence of the clergy would be lessened,” and the -despotic power of the military be almost annihilated, so that the people -would sue for peace. In short, this plan, if carried out, would be a -great educational measure. - -The _Mississippi_ in those days was among ordinary war vessels, what the -racers of the Atlantic to-day are among common steamers,—“an ocean -greyhound.” Fleetly the gallant vessel moved south, passing exultingly -the Bahamas, where many of our transports were waiting for a change of -wind. Many of these were “ocean tramps”—hulks of such age and -rottenness, that a norther would surely strand them. The _Mississippi_ -stopping at Havana, March 15, 1847, was after two days then pointed for -Vera Cruz, arriving on the evening of the 20th. - ------ - -[15] See Parker’s Recollections of a Naval Officer, with reply of P. S. -P. Conner, _Army and Navy Journal_, February 2, and April 19, 1884, and -_Magazine of American History_, July, 1885. - -[16] Chaplain Fitch W. Taylor, _The Broad Pennant_. - -[17] See, for perhaps the best brief statement of the causes leading to -the Mexican war and the part played by Polk, the article “Wars;” by -Prof. Alexander Johnston, Lalor’s _Encyclopaedia_. Vol. III, p. 1091. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - “COMMODORE PERRY COMMANDS THE SQUADRON.” - - -THE precise methods and almost immutable laws of military science -required that the American invasion of Mexico in 1847 should be at the -exact spot on which Cortez landed two centuries before, and where the -French disembarked in 1830, and in 1865. This was at the only port on -the Gulf coast of Mexico, in which large vessels could anchor. Ships -entered by the North channel or fastened to rings in the castle walls. -Our war vessels lay a little south of the Vera Cruz founded by the -Spanish buccaneer. - -With but a few skirmishes and little loss, the line of circumvallation -was completed by the 18th, and named Camp Washington. Ground was broken -for intrenchments, and platforms were built for the mortars which were -placed in sunken trenches out of sight from the city. Waiting for a -pause in the raving norther, and then seizing opportunity by the -foremost hair of the forelock, the sailors landed ten mortars and four -twenty-four pounder guns. By the 22d, seven of the mortars were in -position on their platforms. Most of these latter were of the small -bronze pattern called coehorns, after their inventor the Dutch engineer, -Baron Mennon de Coehorn. These pieces could be handled by two men. A few -mortars were of the ten-inch pattern. - -This was a pitiful array of ordnance to batter down a walled city, and a -nearly impregnable castle. With these in activity, both city and castle, -if well provisioned, could hold out for months. Shells falling -perpendicularly would destroy women and children, but do little harm to -soldiers. The forty other mortars and the heavy guns were somewhere at -sea on the transports and as yet unheard of, while every day the shadow -of the dreaded _vomito_ stalked nearer. Vera Cruz must be taken before -“King Death in his Yellow Robe” arrived. The Mexicans for the nonce, -prayed for his coming. - -The _vomito_, or yellow fever, is a gastro-nervous disorder which -prostrates the nervous system, often killing its victims in five or six -hours, though its usual course is from two to six days. Men are more -susceptible to it than women. It was the Mexican’s hope, for Vera Cruz -was its nursery, and the month of March its time of beginning. -Northerners taken in the hot season might recover. In the cold season, -an attack meant sure death. The disease is carried and propagated by -mosquitoes and flies, and no system of inoculation was then known. An -outbreak among our unacclimated men would mean an epidemic. - -Scott, despite his well known excessive vanity, was a humane man and a -scientific soldier. His ambition was to win success and glory at a -minimum of loss of life, not only in his own army but among the enemy. -His aim was to make a sensation by methods the reverse of Gen. Taylor’s, -whose popularity had won him the soldier’s title of “Rough and Ready,” -while Buena Vista had built the political platform on which he was to -mount to the presidency. “Taylor the Louisianian’s” battles were -sanguinary, but indecisive. He had driven in the Mexican left wing. -Scott hoped to pierce the centre, to shed little blood and to make every -shot tell. The people at home knew nothing of war as a science. They -expected blood and “a big butcher’s bill,” and the newspapers at least -would be disappointed unless gore was abundant. His soldiers and -especially those who had been under Taylor and whose chief idea of -fighting was a rush and a scuffle, failed at first to appreciate him, -and dubbed this splendid soldier “Fuss and Feathers.” - -Scott determined at once to show, as the key to his campaign, a city -captured with trivial loss. Yet all his plans seemed about to be dashed, -because his siege train had failed to come. The pitiful array of -coehorns and ten-inch mortars, with four light twenty-four pounder guns -and two Columbiads, would but splash Vera Cruz with the gore of -non-combatants, while still the enemy’s flag was flaunted in defiance, -and precious time was being lost. The general’s vanity—an immense part -of him—was sorely wounded. “The accumulated science of the ages applied -to the military art,” which he hoped to illustrate “on the plains of -Vera Cruz,” was as yet of no avail. Further, as a military man, he was -unwilling to open his batteries with a feeble fire which might even -encourage the enemy to a prolonged resistance. Conner is said to have -offered to lend him navy guns, but he declined. - -Perry arrived at Vera Cruz in the _Mississippi_, March 20, 1847, after a -passage of thirteen days from Norfolk. He was back just in time. Steam -had enabled him to be on hand to accomplish one of the greatest triumphs -of his life. His orders required him to attack the sea fort fronting -Vera Cruz, “if the army had gone into the interior.” The United States -fleet had lain before it for a whole year without aggression. He found -our army landed and Vera Cruz invested on every side. The Mexicans were -actively firing, but as yet there was no response from our side. That -night it blew a gale from the North. The vessels hidden in spray, and -the camps in sand, waited till daylight. - -Early next morning, March 21, Perry was informed that the steamer -_Hunter_ together with her prize a French barque, the _Jeune Nelly_, -which had been caught March 20th running the blockade out of Vera Cruz, -and an American schooner, were all ashore on the northeast breakers of -Green Island. Their crews, to the number of sixty souls, were in -imminent danger of perishing. Among them was a mother and her infant -child. Perry was quick to respond to the promptings of humanity. In such -a gale, not a sailing vessel dared leave her moorings. The _Mississippi_ -had parted her cables, owing to the violence of the wind. A British war -steamer lay much nearer the scene of disaster, without apparently -thinking of the possibility of moving in such a gale; but Perry knew his -noble ship and what to do with her. He dashed out in the teeth of the -tempest and forced her through the terrific waves. In admiration of the -act, Lieutenant Walke made a graphic picture of the rolling -_Mississippi_, which now hangs in the hall of the Brooklyn Lyceum. -Reaching Green Island, Perry cast anchor. Captain Mayo and four officers -volunteered to go to the rescue of the wrecked people. In spite of the -great peril, they saved the entire party. The scene was one of thrilling -interest when the young mother embraced husband and child in safety on -the deck of the noble steamer. Had not the _Mississippi_ and Perry been -at hand, the whole party must have perished. - -It was on his return from this errand of humanity that Commodore Matthew -Perry was given and assumed the command of the American fleet—the first -of such magnitude, and the greatest yet assembled under the American -flag. The time was 8 A. M. March 21st. As Captain Parker recollects: “On -the twenty-first of March shortly after the hoisting of the colors, we -were electrified by the signal from the flag-ship ‘Commodore Perry -commands the squadron.’” At once, Perry called with Conner upon General -Scott concerning the navy’s part in the siege. - -The order of relief to Commodore Conner dated Washington March 3, 1847, -was worded: “The uncertain duration of the war with Mexico has induced -the President to direct me no longer to suspend the rule which limits -the term of command in our squadrons in its application to your command -of the Home Squadron.” - -[Illustration: PERRY AT THE AGE OF FIFTY-FOUR.] - -Scott had opened fire March 18th, but seeing his inability to breach the -walls, he was obliged to apply for help from the navy. When the new and -the old naval commanders visited him in his tent on the morning of the -21st, the General requested of Perry the loan of six of the heavy -shell-guns of the navy for use by the army in battery. Perry’s reply was -instant, hearty, characteristic, naval: “Certainly, General, but I must -fight them.” - -Scott said his soldiers would take charge of the guns, if the Commodore -would land them on the beach. To this Perry said “no!” That “wherever -the guns went, their officers and men must go with them.” Scott -objected, declined the conditions, and renewed the bombardment with his -small guns and mortars; but finding that he was only wasting time, he -finally consented and asked Perry to send the guns with their naval -crews. The marines were already in the trenches doing duty as part of -the 3d U. S. artillery. Hitherto the sailors had acted as the laborers -for the army, now they were to take part in the honors of the siege. -This was on account of Perry’s demand. - -How the successor of Conner announced to his sailors the glory awaiting -them is told in the words of Rear-Admiral John H. Upshur. “I shall never -forget the thrill which pervaded the squadron, when, on the day, within -the very hour of his succeeding to the command, he announced from his -barge, as he pulled under the sterns of all the vessels of the fleet, in -succession, that we were to land guns and crews to participate in the -investment of the city of Vera Cruz. Cheer after cheer was sent up in -evidence of the enthusiasm this promise of a release from a life of -inaction we had been leading under Perry’s predecessor inspired in every -breast. In a moment everything was stir and bustle, and in an incredibly -short space of time, each vessel had landed her big gun, with double -crews of officers and men. . . Perry announced that those who did not -behave themselves should not be allowed another chance to fight the -enemy—which proved a guarantee of good conduct in all. . . . Under the -energetic chief who succeeded to the command of a squadron dying of -supineness, until his magic word revived it, the navy of the United -States sustained its old prestige.” - -Not only were men and officers on the ships thrilled at the sight of -Perry’s pennant, but joy was carried to many hearts on shore. A writer -in the _New York Star_, of August 7th, 1852, who was on board the -flag-ship during two days of the siege details the incidents here -narrated. - -At the investment of the city there were still left in it a few American -women with their children mostly of the working class, their husbands -having been driven from the city by the authorities. Governor Landero -was not the man to make war on women and children, and they remained in -peace until the bombardment commenced. Then they thronged to the house -of Mr. Gifford the British consul for protection, and he transferred -them to the sloop-of-war _Daring_, Captain George Marsden, who found -them what place he could on his decks, already crowded with British -subjects flying from the doomed city. - -We had then seventy vessels, chartered transports and vessels of war in -front of the city, but from negligence on the part of General Scott and -Commodore Conner no provision was made to succor and relieve our -homeless citizens, though “I,” says the correspondent, “who write this -from what I saw, caused application to be made to both to have them -taken from the deck of the _Daring_ (where they were in the way and only -kept for charity) to some of our unoccupied transport cabins. Commodore -Conner flatly refused, as Captain Forrest of the navy knows, for he -heard it, to have anything to do with them, and General Scott had no -time. Just about then, Commodore Perry came down, to the Gulf. At noon -his pennon of command floated from the _Mississippi_, and before the sun -went down, he had gathered into a place of safety every person, whether -common working people or not, who had the right to claim the protection -of the American flag.” - -The same writer adds: “The other time I saw him, he had just been told -that Mr. Beach of the _New York Sun_ and his daughter were in great -danger in the city of Mexico, as Mr. Beach was accused of being a secret -agent of the United States. The informant at the same time volunteered -the information that the _Sun_ ‘went against the Navy and Commodore -Perry.’ ‘The Navy must show him that he is mistaken in his bad opinion -of it,’ said the bluff Commodore, ‘and the question is not who likes me -but how to get an American citizen, and above all an unprotected female -out of the hands of the Mexicans.’ The son of Gomez Farias, the then -President of Mexico, and one or two other Mexican gentlemen had come on -board the _Mississippi_ from the British steamer, to solicit the kind -offices of Commodore Perry for permits to pass the American lines. The -Commodore seized the occasion to make exchange of honor, and courtesy -with young Farias. He stated the case of a father and daughter being -detained in dangerous uncertainty in the city of Mexico, and obtained -the pledges of the Mexicans to promote their safe deliverance. It was -effected before they arrived in Mexico, but the quick and generous -action of Perry was none the less to be esteemed.” - -We may thus summarize the events of a day ever memorable to Matthew -Perry. - -March 20th. Arrival from the United States in the _Mississippi_. -Norther. - -March 21. (_a_) Daylight—Rescue of the _Hunter_. (_b_) 8 A. M. Receives -command of squadron. (_c_) Call with Conner on Gen. Scott. (_d_) -Proposal for naval battery. (_e_) Perry returns to the fleet and assumes -command. (_f_) Under stern of each vessel, announces naval battery. -(_g_) Arranges for American women and children from Vera Cruz. (_h_) -Preparations for landing the heavy navy guns. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - THE NAVAL BATTERY BREACHES THE WALLS OF VERA CRUZ. - - -PERRY’S first order being that the navy should give the army the most -efficient coöperation, by transferring part of its heavy battery from -deck to land, the six guns of the size and pattern most desired by Scott -were selected. With a view to distribute honors impartially among the -ships, and to cheer the men, a double crew of sailors and officers was -assigned to each gun; one of the crews being the regular complement for -the gun. As everyone wanted to accompany the guns, lots were drawn among -the junior officers for the honor. The crews having been picked, the -landing of the ordnance began on the 22d. The pieces chosen were two -thirty-twos from the _Potomac_, one of the same calibre from the -_Raritan_, and one sixty-eight chambered Paixhans or Columbiad from the -_Mississippi_, the _Albany_, and the _St. Mary’s_. The three thirty-twos -weighed sixty-one, and the three sixty-eights, sixty-eight -hundred-weight each. - -These were landed in the surf-boats, and by hundreds of sailors and -soldiers were hauled up on the beach. The transportation on heavy trucks -was done by night, as it was necessary to conceal from the Mexicans the -existence of such a formidable battery until it was ready to open. The -site chosen was three miles off. The road, as invisible for the most -part as an underground railway, was of sand, in which the two -trucks—all that were available—sunk sometimes to the axles, and the -men to the knees, so that the toilsome work resembled plowing. - -The naval battery, which, in the circumvallation was “Number Four,” was -constructed entirely of the material at hand, very plentiful and sewn up -in bags. It had two traverses six or more feet thick, the purpose of -which was to resist a flanking, or in naval parlance a “raking” fire, -which might have swept the inner space clean. The guns were mounted in -their own ship’s carriages on platforms, being run out with side tackle -and hand-spikes, and their recoil checked with sandbags. The ridge on -which the battery was planted was opposite the fort of Santa Barbara, -parallel with the city walls and fifteen feet above their level. It was -directly in front of General Patterson’s command. In the trenches -beyond, lay his brigade of volunteers ready to support the work in case -of a sortie and storming by the Mexicans. The balls were stacked within -the sandy walls, but the magazine was stationed some distance behind. -The cartridges were served by the powder boys as on shipboard, a small -trench being dug for their protection while not in transit. - -Here then was “the accumulated science of ages” on the plains of Vera -Cruz applied to the naval art, and directed against the doomed city, -erected by one of the greatest engineers of the age, Robert E. Lee, with -ordnance served by the ablest naval artillerists of the world, the -pupils of the leading officer of the American navy, Matthew C. Perry. -Most of them had been trained under his eye at the Sandy Hook School of -Gun Practice. They were now to turn their knowledge into account. Not a -single random shot was fired. - -The exact range of each of the familiar guns was known, and the precise -distance to the nearest and more distant forts. The points to be aimed -at had been mathematically determined by triangulation before a piece -was fired. Shortly before 10 A. M. on the 24th of March, while the last -gun mounted was being sponged and cleared of sand, the cannon of Santa -Barbara opened with a fire so well aimed that it was clear that the -battery was discovered. A few daring volunteers sprang out of the -embrasures to clear away the brush and unmask the work. The chapparal -was well chopped away to give free range to the officers who sighted the -pieces, the aim being for the walls below the flag-pole. The direct and -cross fire of seven forts soon converged on the sandbags, and the castle -sent ten- and thirteen-inch shells flying over and around. When one of -these fell inside, all dropped down to the ground. For the first five -minutes the air seemed to be full of missiles, but our men after a -little practice at houses and flag-staffs soon settled down to their -work to do their best with navy guns. One lucky shot by Lieutenant -Baldwin severed the flag-staff of Santa Barbara; at which, all hands -mounted the parapet and gave three cheers. In order to allow free sweep -to the big guns, the embrasures had been made large, thus offering a -tempting target to the enemy. - -The Mexicans were good heavy artillerists, but their shot was lighter -than ours. Some of them were killed by their own balls which had been -picked out of the sandbags by the Americans and fired back. Their -strongest and best served battery was that fronting on the one worked by -our sailors. The navy was here pitted against the navy, for the -commander on the city side was Lieutenant of Marines D. Sebastian -Holzinger, a German and an officer of several year’s service in the -Mexican navy. He was as brave as he was capable; and when his flag-staff -had been cut away, he and a young assistant leaped into the space -outside, seized the flag and in sight of the Americans, nailed it to the -staff again. A ball from the naval battery at the same moment striking -the parapet, Holzinger and his companion were nearly buried in rubbish. - -Within the city the Mexican soldiers, who had before found shelter in -their bomb-proof places of retreat from the mortar bombs falling -vertically into the streets, did not relish and could not hold out -against missiles sent directly through the walls into their barracks and -places of refuge. The Paixhans shells hit exactly among soldiers, and -not into churches among women. It is said that when the Mexican -engineers in the city picked up the solid thirty-two pounder shot and -one of the unexploded eight-inch shells, they decided at once that the -city must fall. - -In spite of the hammering which the sand battery received, no material -injury to its walls was done, and what there was was easily repaired at -night. Captains Lee and Williams were willing to show faith in their own -work, and remained in the redoubt during the fire. At 2.30 P. M. the -ammunition was exhausted, and the heated ordnance was allowed to cool. -The last gun fired was a double-shotted one of the _Potomac_. Captain -Aulick wishing to send a despatch to Commodore Perry, Midshipman -Fauntleroy volunteered to take it, and though the Mexicans were playing -with all their artillery, he arrived safely on the beach and Perry -received tidings of progress. - -The embrasures were filled up with sandbags, and the garrison sat under -the parapet, awaiting the relief party which approached about 4 o’clock. -The Mexicans, who had been driven away from their guns, now finding the -Americans silent, opened with redoubled vigor which made the approaching -reinforcements watch the air keenly for the black spots which were round -shots. - -The result of the first day’s use of the navy guns was, that fifty feet -of the city walls built of coquina or shell-rock, the curtains of the -redoubt to right and left, were cut away. A great breach was made, about -thirty-six feet wide, sufficient for a storming party to enter; while -the thicker masonry of the forts was drilled like a colander. These -breaches were partly filled at night by sandbags. - -The relief party led by Captain Mayo reached the battery at sunset, and -after a good supper, fell to sound sleep, during which time, the -engineers repaired the parapet. It was a beautiful starlight night. The -time for the chirping of the tropical insects had come, and they were -awakening vigorously to their summer concerts. All night long the -mortars, like geyser springs of fire, kept up their rhythmic flow of -iron and flame. The great star-map of the heavens seemed scratched over -with parabolas of red fire, the streaks of which were watched with -delight by the soldiers, and with tremor by the beleagured people in the -city. - -At daylight the boatswain’s silver whistle called the men to rise, and -the day’s work soon after breakfast began in earnest. The sailors manned -their guns, firing so steadily that between seven and eight o’clock it -was necessary to let the iron tubes cool. At 7 A. M. another army -battery, of four twenty-fours and two eight-inch Paixhans being -finished, joined in the roar. Their fire was rapid, but the dense growth -of chapparal hid their objective points from view making good aim -impossible, so that the damage done was not strikingly evident. - -The castle garrison had now gained the exact range of the naval battery, -and thirteen-inch shell from the castle began to fall all around and -close to the sandbags throwing up loose showers of soil. One dropped -within the battery but upon exploding, hurt no one. The round shot from -the city forts were continually grazing the parapets, and it was while -Midshipman T. D. Shubrick was levelling his gun and pointing it at a -tower in one of the forts, that a round shot entered the embrasure -instantly killing him. During the two days, four sailors were killed, -mostly by solid shot in the head or chest; while five officers and five -men were wounded, mostly by chapparal splinters of yucca, or cactus -thorns and spurs, and fragments of sandbags. - -Meanwhile, on deck, the Commodore co-operated in the “awful activity” of -the American batteries. At daylight, Perry, seeing that the castle was -paying particular attention to the naval battery, ordered Tatnall in the -_Spitfire_ to approach and open upon it, in order to divert the fire -from the land forces. Tatnall asked the Commodore at what point he -should engage. Perry replied, “Where you can do the most execution, -sir.” The brave Tatnall took Perry at his word. With the _Spitfire_ and -the _Vixen_, commanded by Joshua R. Sands, each having two gun-boats in -tow, he steamed up to within eighty yards distance, and began a furious -cannonade upon the fortress holding his position for a half hour. The -fight resembled a certain one, pictured on a Netherlands historical -medal, of a swarm of bees trying to sting a tortoise to death despite -his armor. Here was a division of “mosquito boats” blazing away at the -stone castle within a distance which had enabled the Mexicans to blow -them out of the water had they handled their guns aright. The affair -became not only exciting but ludicrous, when Tatnall and Sands took -still closer quarters within the Punto de Hornos, where the little -vessels were at first almost hidden from view in the clouds of spray -raised by the rain of balls that vexed only the water. Tatnall’s idea -seemed to be to give the surgeons plenty to do. Perry, however, did not -believe in that sort of warfare. When he saw that the castle guns which -had been trained away from the land to the ships were rapidly improving -their range, he recalled the audacious fighters. - -Tatnall at first was not inclined to see the signals. The Commodore then -sent a boat’s crew with preemptory orders to return. Amid the cheers of -the men who brought them, Tatnall obeyed, though raging and storming -with chagrin. Most of the men on board his ships were wet, but none had -been hurt. To retreat without bloody decks was not to his taste. - -General Scott, a thorough American, had long rid himself of the old -British tradition, that in all wars there must be “a big butcher’s -bill.” This idea was not much modified until after the Crimean war, -which was mostly butchery, and little science,—magnificent, but not -war. The Soudan campaign of 1884 threatened a revival of it. We have -seen how this idea dominated on the British side, in the wished-for -“yard arm engagements” of the navy in 1812, and how, in place of it, the -Americans bent their energies to skill in seamanship and gunnery; or, in -other words, to victory by science and skill. - -Perry and Scott were alike in their ideas and tastes, they regarded war -more as the application of military science to secure national ends with -rapidity and economy, than as a scrimmage in which results were measured -by the length of the lists of killed and wounded. Tatnall, a veteran of -the old school, however, seemed still to adhere to the old British -ideal, and was keenly disappointed to find so few hurt on the American -side. - -From daybreak to one P. M., over six hundred Paixhans shells and solid -shot were fired into the city by the naval battery. Fort St. Iago, which -had concentrated its fire on the army batteries, now opened on the naval -redoubt, the guns of which were at once trained in the direction of the -new foe. A few applications of the science of artillery proved the -unerring accuracy of Perry’s pupils, and St. Iago was silenced. - -Captain Mayo and his officers through their glasses saw the Mexicans -evacuate the fort. Chagrined at having no foemen worthy of their fire, -he ordered both officers and sailors to mount the parapet and give three -cheers. “If the enemy intends to fire another shot, our cheers will draw -it,” said the gallant little Captain; but echo and then silence were the -only answers. The naval guns having opened the breach so desired by -General Scott and silenced all opposition, had now nothing further to -do, were again left to cool. The naval battery had fired in all thirteen -hundred rounds. - -At 2 P. M., Captain Mayo turned over the command to Lieutenant Bissell -and mounted his horse, the only one on the ground, to give Commodore -Perry the earliest information of the enemy’s being silenced. As he rode -through the camp, General Scott was walking in front of his tent. -Captain Mayo rode up to him and said “General, they are done, they will -never fire another shot.” - -The General, in great agitation, asked “Who? Your battery, the naval -battery?” - -Mayo answered, “No, General, the enemy is silenced. They will not fire -another shot.” He then related what had occurred. - -General Scott in his joy almost pulled Captain Mayo off his horse, -saying (to use his own expression) “Commodore, I thank you and our -brothers of the navy in the name of the army for this day’s work.”[18] - -The General then went on and complimented in most extravagant terms the -rapid and heavy fire of the naval battery upon the enemy; saying, when -he was informed that Captain Mayo had sent to Perry for an additional -supply of ammunition, that the post of honor and of danger had been -assigned by him to the navy. The General’s remarks then became more -personal. He said “I had my eye upon you, Captain Mayo, as -Midshipman,[19] as a Lieutenant, as a Captain, now let me thank you -personally as _Commodore_ Mayo for this day’s work.” - -The loss of the second day in the navy was one officer, Shubrick, and -one sailor killed and three wounded. Lieutenant Shubrick’s monument -stands in the Annapolis Naval Academy’s grounds. - -On Captain Mayo’s notification to Perry of the results of the cannonade -by navy guns, preparations for assault were continued. It had been -agreed by General Scott and Commodore Perry that the storming party -should consist of three columns, one of sailors and marines, one of the -regulars, and one of volunteers. Perry had resolved to head his column -in person, and had already ordered ladders made. The part assigned to -the navy was to carry the sea front. Perry had also planned the -storming, by boat parties, of the water battery of the castle so that -its guns might be spiked. For this a dark night was necessary, and the -waning of the moon had to be awaited. Perry was unable to get into the -position which the French had occupied in 1839, because they had -treacherously moved there in time of peace; as Courbet, in 1882, got -into the Min river at Foo Chow, China. For the attack on the city, -ladders were already finished. Having no other material at hand, the -studding-sail booms of the _Mississippi_ had been sawed up, and the navy -was ready. The volunteers were to enter through the breach made by the -navy guns. - -The relief party from the ships under Captain, now Rear-Admiral Breese, -took their places in the naval battery on the afternoon of the 25th, -ready for another day’s work if necessary. But this was not to be. The -Mexican governor ordered a parley to be sounded from the city walls at -evening. The signal was not understood by our forces, and the mortars -kept belching their fire all night long. The next morning, the 26th, a -white flag was displayed; and at 8 A. M., all the batteries ceased their -fire, and quietness reigned along our lines. - -A conference for capitulation was held at the lime kilns at Point -Hornos. The commissioners from the army were General W. T. Worth, and -Colonel Totten of the engineers,—Scott’s comrades-in-arms at Fort -George in 1813—and General Pillow, who commanded a brigade of -volunteers, from Tennessee. By this time, another frightful norther had -burst upon land and sea. Communication with the ships could not be held, -and so Perry could not be invited to sit with the commissioners, for -which General Scott handsomely apologized. The navy, however, was -represented by the senior captain, J. H. Aulick; while Commander -Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, a fluent scholar in Spanish, officiated as -interpreter. These officers acted in the convention entirely independent -of the authority of the General, as naval officers. The Mexican -commandant’s propositions were rejected, and unconditional surrender was -dictated and accepted. - -In the great norther of the 26th of March, twenty-six transports went -ashore, and cargoes to the amount of half a million of dollars were -lost. On the night of the frightful storm there was bright moonlight, -and the vessels driving shoreward to their doom or dashing on the rocks -were seen from the city. - -Unexpectedly to General Scott, Landero, the successor of Morales who was -commandant both of the city and castle, made unconditional surrender -both at once. Scott had expected to take the city first, and then with -the navy to reduce the castle, it being unknown to him that Morales held -command at both places. It may safely be affirmed that the moral effect -caused by the tremendous execution of the naval battery caused this -unexpected surrender of the castle. Nevertheless the credit of the fall -of Vera Cruz belongs equally to three men, Conner, Scott and Perry. - -For his advance into the interior, General Scott needed animals for -transportation, and with Perry the capture of Alvarado was planned. -Horses were abundant at this place, and good water was plentiful. On two -previous occasions, under Conner, attempts to capture this town had -proved miserable failures, so that Perry and his men were exceedingly -anxious to succeed in securing it themselves. It was hoped too, that an -imposing demonstration by sea and land would, since Vera Cruz had -fallen, intimidate and conciliate the people and prevent them joining -Santa Anna. As usual, Perry distributed the honors impartially among the -crews of many vessels. Quitman’s cavalry and infantry and a section of -Steptoe’s artillery went by land. A party of the sailors bridged the -rivers for the soldiers. - -On the day of the fall of Vera Cruz, Lieutenant Charles G. Hunter of the -_Scourge_ had arrived. He was ordered to blockade Alvarado, and report -to Captain Breese of the _Albany_. Hunter seeing signs of retreat, -without waiting for orders moved his vessel in. He found the guns -dismounted, and leaving two or three men in the deserted place, went up -the river to Tlacahalpa, firing right and left at whatever seemed an -enemy. As not an ounce of Mexican powder was burned in opposition the -whole act seemed one of theatrical bravado. He left no word to his -superior officers, only directing a midshipman to write to General -Quitman. The cavalry on arriving found the town had surrendered. - -Perry ordered the arrest of Hunter, preferred charges against him, and -after court martial he was dismissed from the squadron. The people at -home feasted and toasted him, and “Alvarado Hunter” was the hero of the -hour, while Perry was made the target of the newspapers. Hunter’s -subsequent career is the best commentary upon the act of Commodore -Perry, and a full justification of it.[20] Between gallantry, and -bravado coupled with a selfish breach of discipline, Perry made a clear -distinction and acted upon his convictions. - -Of the sixty guns found at Alvarado thirty-five were shipped as trophies -and twenty-five were destroyed. - -Midshipman Robert C. Rodgers had been captured by the Mexicans near the -wall of Vera Cruz and was imprisoned in the castle of Perote as a spy. -Though Scott wanted to be the sole channel of communication with the -Mexican government, Perry claimed equal power in all that relates to the -navy. He sent Lieutenant Raphael Semmes (afterwards of Confederate and -_Alabama_ fame) with the army for the purpose. Scott refused to allow -him to communicate, but permitted him to remain one of the general’s -aids. Semmes was thus enabled to see the battles of the campaign, the -story of which he has told in his interesting book. - -One of Perry’s favorite young officers at this time was Lieutenant James -S. Thornton afterwards the efficient executive officer on the -_Kearsarge_ in her conflict with the _Alabama_. - ------ - -[18] Letter of Captain Mayo to Commodore M. C. Perry, November 4th, -1848. - -[19] Isaac Mayo was on the _Hornet_, in her capture of the _Penguin_ in -the war of 1812. - -[20] Captain W. H. Parker’s “Recollections of a Naval Officer,” p. 105. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - THE NAVAL BRIGADE. CAPTURE OF TABASCO. - - -COMMODORE MATTHEW C. PERRY was one of the first American naval officers -to overcome the prejudice of seamen against infantry drill, and to form -a corps of sailor-soldiers. Under his predecessor, the navy had lost -more than one opportunity of gaining distinction because [they were] -unable to compete with infantry, or to face cavalry in the open field. -Perry formed the first United States naval brigade, though Stockton in -California employed a few of his sailors as marines in garrison. The men -of Perry’s brigade numbering twenty-five hundred, with ten pieces of -artillery, were thoroughly drilled first in the manual of arms and then -in company and battalion formations under his own eye. His first -employment of part of this body was at Tuspan. Twenty-two days after the -fall of Vera Cruz, and on the day of the battle of Cerro Gordo, the bar -at the river’s mouth was crossed by the light ships, the fort stormed, -and Tuspan “taken at a gallop!” Obliged to give up his marines to -General Franklin Pierce, Perry drilled his sailors all the more, so that -little leisure was allowed them. - -The capture of Tabasco involved the problem of fighting against -infantry, posted behind breastworks, with sailors. This was somewhat -novel work for our navy. Hitherto all our naval traditions were of -squadron fights in line, ship-to-ship duels, or boat expeditions. In the -present case the flotilla was to ascend a narrow and torturous river to -the distance of nearly seventy miles through an enemy’s country densely -covered with vegetation that afforded a continuous cover for riflemen, -and then to attack heavy shore batteries. - -From various points on the coast, the ships and steamers assembled like -magic, and on Monday morning, June 14, 1847, the squadron came to anchor -off the mouth of the Tabasco river. The detachments from eleven vessels, -numbering 1084 seamen and marines in forty boats, were under the -Commodore’s immediate direction and command. He had prepared the plan of -attack with great care. Every contingency was foreseen and provided -against, and the minutest details were subject to his thoughtful -elaboration. - -At that point of the river called the Devil’s Bend, danger was -apprehended. Here the dense chapparal feathered down to the river’s edge -affording a splendid opportunity for ambush. The alert Commodore was -standing on the upper waist deck of the _Scorpion_ under the awnings -entirely exposed, on the look-out for the enemy. Suddenly, as the -flag-ship reached the elbow, from the left side of the river the guns of -at least a hundred men blazed forth in a volley, followed by a dropping -fire. In an instant the awnings were riddled and all the upper works of -wood and iron scratched, dented, and splintered, by the spatter of lead -and copper. Strange to say, not a single man on the _Scorpion_ was -touched by the volley though a sailor on the _Vesuvius_ was hit later. - -As the smoke curled up from the chapparal, Perry pointed with his glass -to the guns still flashing, and gave, or rather roared out, the order -“Fire.” The guns of the _Scorpion_, _Washington_ and the surf-boats, -with a rattling fusillade of small arms, soon mowed great swaths in the -jungle. From the masthead of the _Stromboli_, a number of cavalry were -seen beyond the jungle. A ten-inch shell, from the eight-ton gun of the -_Vesuvius_, exploding among them, seemed to the enemy to be an attack in -the rear, cutting off their retreat, and they scattered wildly. Very few -of the Mexicans took time to reload or fire a second shot. - -It was now past six o’clock and it was determined to anchor for the -night. The whole squadron assembled in the Devil’s Turn, and anchored in -sight of the Seven Palm Trees below which the obstructions had been -sunk. Due precautions were taken against a night attack, as the dense -chapparal was only twenty yards distant. A barricade of hammocks was -therefore thrown up on the bulwarks for protection, and the sailors, as -soldiers are, in rhetoric, said to do, “slept on their arms.” But one -volley was received from the shore during the night, the air only -receiving injury. - -The enemy had placed obstructions at the bar to prevent the further -ascent of our forces. The Commodore, early in the morning, dispatched -two boats with survey officers to reconnoitre and sound a channel. These -drew the fire of a breastwork, La Comena, on the shore, which severely -wounded Lieutenant William May. - -The boats having been unable to find a channel, Perry gave orders to -land. With grape, bombs, and musketry, the fleet cleared the ground, and -then Perry gave the order, “Prepare to land,” and led the way in his -barge with his broad pennant flying. All eyes watched his movements as -he pulled up the river. When opposite the Palms, he steered for the -shore, and with his loud, clear voice heard fore and aft, called out, -“Three cheers, and land!” The cheers were given with enthusiasm, and -then every oar bent. His boat was the first to strike the beach, and the -Commodore was the first man to land. With Captain Mayo and his aids, he -dashed up the nearly perpendicular bank, and unfurled his broad pennant -in the sight of the whole line of boats. Instantly three deafening -cheers again rang out from the throats of a thousand men who panted to -be near it and share its fortunes. It was a sight so unusual, for a -naval Commander-in-chief, to take the field under such circumstances at -the head of his command, that the enthusiasm of our tars was unbounded -and irrepressible. They bent to their oars with a will and pulled for -the shore. - -The artillery and infantry were quickly landed on the narrow flats at -the base of the high banks. Reaching these, the infantry were formed in -line within ten minutes. Then came the tug-work of drawing seven field -pieces up a bank four rods high, and slanting only twenty-five feet from -a perpendicular. With plenty of rope and muscle the work was -accomplished. Three more pieces were landed later from the bomb ketches -and added as a reserve. Most of the landing was done in five, and all -within ten minutes. In half an hour after the Commodore first set foot -on land, the column was in motion as follows:— - -The pioneers far in advance under Lieutenant Maynard, the marines under -Captain Edson, the artillery under Captain Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, -and the detachments of seamen under the various captains to whose ships -they severally belonged. Captain Mayo acted as adjutant general, the -Commodore giving his personal attention to every movement of the whole. -In this, as in all things, Perry was a master of details. - -The march upon Tabasco now began, the burly Commodore being at the -front. Through a skirt of jungle, then for a mile through a clear plain, -and again in the woods, they soon came in sight of Acachapan where an -advancing company of a hundred musket-men opened fire on our column. At -this chosen place, the Mexican general had intended to give battle, -having here the main body of his army with two field pieces and a body -of cavalry. At the first fire of the Mexican musketry, our field pieces -were got into position, and a few round shots, well served, put the -lessening numbers of the enemy to flight. The terrible execution so -quickly done showed the Mexicans that the Americans had landed not as a -mob of sailors but a body of drilled infantry with artillery. A change -came over the spirit of the orator, Bruno, and he fell back in his -intrenchments. The road wound near the water and the march was -re-commenced. - -Meanwhile the ships left in the river were not idle. The flotilla, led -by the _Spitfire_ under Lieutenant, now Admiral Porter, had passed the -obstructions, and according to Perry’s orders, were gallantly ascending -near the fort and town. The three hearty cheers which were exchanged -between ships and shore when the two parties caught sight of each other, -greatly intimidated the _veteranos_ in the fort. Behind the deserted -breastworks of Acachapan, our men found the usual signs of sudden and -speedy exit. Clothes, bedding and cooking utensils were visible. The -bill of fare for the breakfast all ready, but untasted, consisted of -boiled beef, tortillas, squash and corn in several styles. - -Without delaying here, the advance column passed on and rested under -several enormous scyba trees near a lagoon of water. Officers and men -had earned rest, for the work of hauling field pieces in tropical -weather along narrow, swampy and tortuous roads, and over rude corduroy -bridges hastily constructed by the pioneers, was toilsome in the -extreme. In some cases the wheels of a gun carriage would sink to their -hubs requiring a whole company to drag them out. Some of the best -officers and most athletic seamen fainted from heat and excessive -fatigue, but reviving with rest and refreshment, resumed their labors -with zeal that inspired the whole line. This march overland of a naval -force with artillery along an almost roadless country seemed to -demoralize both the veterans and militia in fort and trenches. - -The _Spitfire_ and _Scorpion_ passed up the river unmolested until -within range of Fort Iturbide, a shot from which cut the paddle-wheel of -the _Spitfire_. Without being disabled, the steamer moved on and got in -the rear of the fortification, pouring in so rapid and accurate a fire, -that the garrison soon lost all spirit and showed signs of flinching. -Seeing this, Lieutenant, now Admiral, Porter landed with sixty-eight men -and under an irregular fire charged and captured it, the Mexicans flying -in all directions. The town was then taken possession of by a force -detailed from the two steamers, under Captain S. S. Lee, Lieutenant -Porter remaining in command of the _Spitfire_. - -When the Commodore at 2 o’clock P. M. arrived at the ditch and -breastworks, a quarter of a mile from the fort, and in sight of the -town, he found the deserted place well furnished with cooked dinners and -cast off but good clothing. The advance now waited until the straggling -line closed up, so that the whole force might enter the city in company. -Soon after reaching the fort which mounted two six, three twenty-eight, -and one twenty-four pounder guns with numerous pyramids of shot and -stands of grape, they found the men from the ships in possession, and -the stars and stripes floated above, and each detachment of the column, -as it entered, cheered with enthusiasm. - -The Commodore and his aids were escorted by the marines and the force -marched, company front, to the plaza. They moved almost at a run up the -steep street, the band playing Yankee Doodle. Bruno’s prophecy was -fulfilled, but without Bruno. A few of the citizens and foreign -merchants and consuls whose flags were flying welcomed the Commodore. -The rain was now falling heavily and, as the public buildings were -closed, and no one seemed to have the keys, the doors were forced. -Quarters were duly assigned to the Commodore, staff and marines. The -artillery was parked in the arcades of the plaza, so as to command all -the approaches to the city, and the men rested. Even the Commodore had -walked the entire distance, only one animal, an old mule, having been -captured on the way and reserved for the hospital party. - -Six days were spent at Tabasco. From the first hour of arriving, the -Commodore made ample provision for good order, health, economy, revenue, -and the honor of the American name. The scenes on the open square during -the American occupation, the tattoo, reveille, evening and morning gun, -the hourly cry of “all’s well,” the shrill whistle of the boatswain, and -the occasional summons of all hands to quarters, showed that, with -perfect discipline, the naval batallion of the Home Squadron was -perfectly at home in Tabasco, and that the sailors could act like good -soldiers on land as well as keep discipline aboard ship. - -The large guns and war relics were put on board the flotilla, but the -other military stores were destroyed. Captain A. Bigelow was left in -command of the city with four hundred and twenty men. Perry’s orders -against pillage were very stringent. He meant to show that the war was -not against peaceful non-belligerents, but against the Mexican official -class. Perry highly commended Captain Edson and his body of marines for -their share of the work at Tabasco. His approbation of these men, who -for nine months had served under his immediate eye, was warm and -sincere. They afterwards did good service before the gates and in the -city of Mexico. Perry wrote of the marines, “I repeat what I have often -said, that this distinguished and veteran corps is one of the most -effective and valuable arms of the service.” - -The capture of Tabasco, whose commercial importance was second to that -of Vera Cruz, was the last of the notable naval operations of the war. -So far as the navy was concerned, the campaign was over, unless the -sailors should turn soldiers altogether, for every one of the Gulf ports -was in American hands. Since the fall of Vera Cruz, the navy had -captured six cities with their fortresses and ninety-three cannon. This -work was all done on shore, off the proper element of a naval force. In -addition to these operations, the Commodore demanded and received from -Yucatan her neutrality, carried into effect at the ports the regulation -of the United States Treasury Department for raising revenue from the -Mexicans, and found leisure to erect a spacious and comfortable hospital -on the island of Salmadina equipped with all the comforts obtainable. -This preparation for the disease certain to come among unacclimated men -was most opportune. - -About this time Perry sent home to the United States in the _Raritan_, -in care of Captain Forest, the guns captured at various places. Three of -the six at Tabasco were assigned to the Annapolis Naval Academy to be -used for drill purposes. This was also in compliment to the first -graduates of the institution, several of whom were serving in the -Mexican campaign, as well as its first principal Captain Franklin -Buchanan. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV. - FIGHTING THE YELLOW FEVER. PEACE. - - -AFTER his exploits at Tuspan, Tabasco and Yucatan, Perry, having -captured every port and landing place along the whole eastern coast of -Mexico, and established a strict blockade, thereby maintaining intact -the base of supplies for the army in the interior, turned his attention -to new foes. Bands of guerrillas, the fragments of the armies which -Scott had destroyed, were not the only things to be feared. Mosquitoes -and winged vermin of many species, malarial, yellow and other -fevers—two great hosts—were to be fought night and day without -cessation. - -It is said that in northern Corea, “the men hunt the tigers during six -months in the year, and the tigers hunt the men during the other six -months.” In Mexico, along the coast, the northers rage during one half -of the year, while the yellow fever reigns through the other half, -maintaining the balance of power and an equilibrium of misery. - -Fire broke out on the _Mississippi_, owing to spontaneous combustion of -impure coal put on board at Norfolk, in a wet condition. It was -extinguished only by pumping water into the coal-bunkers. Through this -necessity, the flag-ship, which had thus far defied the powers of air, -sun and moisture, became a foothold of pestilence. Yellow fever broke -out, and, towards the end of July, the _Mississippi_ had to be sent to -Pensacola. - -Perry shifted his flag to the _Germantown_, (a fine old frigate fated to -be burned at Norfolk in 1861), Capt. Buchanan, and sailed July 16, to -inquire after the health of the men on blockade and garrison duty in the -ports, while the two hundred or more patients of the _Mississippi_ -quickly convalesced in Florida. - -Northers and vomito, though depended on by the Mexicans to fight in -their courses against the Yankees, did not work together in the same -time. The northers thus far had kept back the yellow fever, but now -while Scott’s army moved in the salubrious highlands of the interior, -the unacclimated sailors remaining on the pestilential coast were called -to fight disease, insects, and banditti, at once. They must hold ports -with pitifully small garrisons, enforcing financial regulations, and -grappling with villainous consuls who desecrated their national flags by -smuggling from Havana, and by harboring the goods of the enemy. Many -so-called “consuls” in Mexican ports were never so accredited, and could -not appreciate the liberal policy of the United States towards neutrals. - -While the plague was impending, there was a woeful lack of medical -officers; one surgeon on seven ships at anchor, and two assistant -surgeons in the hospital, composing the medical staff. The patients at -Salmadina did well, but the fever broke out among the merchant vessels -at Vera Cruz and the foreign men-of-war at Sacrificios. - -By the middle of August, the sickly season was well advanced, and with -so many of the large ships sent home for the health of the men, Perry’s -force was small enough, while yet the guerrillas were as lively and -seemingly as numerous and ubiquitous as mosquitoes. Fortunately for the -American cause, some of the most noted of the guerrilla chiefs fell out -among themselves and came to blows. - -Perry wrote to Washington earnestly requesting that marines be sent out -to act as flankers to parties of seamen landed to cut off guerrilla -parties. In the night attacks which were frequent, the men and officers -had to stand to their guns for long hours in drenching dews and heavy -miasma. - -The conditions of life on the low malarious Mexican coast are at any -time trying to the thick-skinned whites, and unacclimated men from the -north; but, in war time, the dangers were vastly increased. The marines -left at the ports when on duty had to endure the piercing rays of the -sun at mid-day and the heavy dews at midnight, and to beat off the -guerrillas who skirmished in darkness. Added to this, were the -investigations or excavations which mosquitoes, sandflies, centipedes, -scorpions and tarantulas, were continually making into the human flesh -with every sort of digging, fighting, chewing, sucking, and stinging -instruments with which the inscrutable wisdom of the Almighty has -endowed them. Added to these foes without, was that peculiar form of -_delirium tremens_ prevailing along the rivers and brought on by -tropical heat with which some of the Americans were afflicted. The -victims, prompted by an irresistible desire to throw themselves into the -water, were often drowned. Hitherto only known in Dryden’s poetry -American officers now bore witness to its violence. - -On the ships, the miasma arising from decaying kelp washed upon the -barren reefs and decomposed by the sun’s rays created the atmospheric -conditions well suited for the spread of vomito. A sour nauseating -effluvia blew over the ships all night, and easily operated upon the -spleen or liver of those who, from exposure, fatigue or intemperate -habits, were most predisposed. - -The Commodore convened a board of medical officers on board the -_Mississippi_ prior to her departure to inquire into the causes of the -disorder. In their opinion, it was atmospheric,—a theory justified by -the fact that patients convalesced as soon as the ships moved out to -sea. The theory of inoculation by flies, mosquitoes and other insects -was not then demonstrated as now, though for other reasons netting was a -boon and protection to the hospital patients. - -One of the first cases, if not the very first case, of yellow fever -attacking a ship’s crew in the American navy was that on board the -_General Greene_, commanded by M. C. Perry’s father in 1799. Coming -north from the West Indies to get rid of the disease, it broke out again -at Newport. So virulent was the contagion, that even bathers in the -water near the ship, were attacked by it. The memories of his childhood, -which had long lain in his memory as a dream, became painfully vivid to -the Commodore as he visited the yellow fever hospital, and saw so many -gallant officers and brave men succumb to the scourge. “King Death sat -in his yellow robe.” Soon even the robust form of the Commodore -succumbed to the severe labors exposure and responsibilities laid upon -him, though fortunately he escaped the yellow fever. Four officers died -in one week; but Perry, after a season of sickness, recovered, and, on -the approach of autumn was up again and active. - -The expression of thanks to the navy for its services was only to an -extent that may be called niggardly. Perry had sometimes to apply the -art of exegesis to find the desired passage containing praise. After the -brilliant Tuspan affair, he discovered a fragment of a paragraph, in a -dispatch alluding to other matters, which was evidently intended to mean -thanks. Instead of reading it on the quarter-deck, he mentioned it -informally to his officers, lest the men should be discouraged by such -faint praise. In response to the compliments of the city authorities of -New York and Washington, Perry made due acknowledgment. - -The truth seems to be that Matthew Perry was not personally in favor -with the authorities at Washington. He had won his position and honors -by sheer merit, and had compelled praise which else had been withheld. -In this matter, he was not alone, for even Scott gained his brilliant -victories without the personal sympathies or good wishes of the -Administration. - -It was as much as the Commodore of the great fleet could do to get -sufficient clerical aid to assist him in his vast correspondence and -other pen-work, so great was the fear at Washington, that the public -funds would be squandered. - -Perry persistently demanded more light draft steamers drawing not over -seven and a half feet and armed with but one heavy gun, for river work. -Mexico is a country without one navigable river, and only the most -buoyant vessels could cross the bars. He pled his needs so earnestly -that the Secretary of the Navy, John T. Mason, took him to task. It is -probable that the very brilliancy of the victories of both our army and -navy in Mexico, blinded, not only the general public, but the -administration to the arduous nature of the service, and to the -greatness of the difficulties overcome. The campaign of the army was -spoken of as a “picnic,” and that of the navy as a “yachting excursion.” -Certain it is that the administration seemed more anxious to make -political capital out of the war, than either to appreciate the labors -of its servants or the injustice done to the Mexicans. - -In all his dispatches, Perry was unstinting in his praise of the army, -to whose success he so greatly contributed. From intercepted letters, he -learned that the presence of his active naval force had kept large -numbers of the Mexican regulars near the coast, and away from the path -of Scott’s army. He had seriously felt the loss of his marines, a whole -regiment of whom, under Colonel Watson, had been taken away from him to -go into the interior. Nevertheless, he remitted no activity, but, by -constantly threatening various points, the coast was kept in alarm so -that Mexican garrisons had to remain at every landing place along the -water line. He thus contributed powerfully to the final triumph of our -arms. On the 30th of September, he heard with gratification of the -entry, thirteen days before, of Scott’s army into the city of Mexico. -During November and December, the Commodore made several cruises up and -down the coast, firmly maintaining the blockade, until the treaty of -peace was signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. In Yucatan, -Perry did much to hasten the end of the war of race and caste, which was -then raging between the whites and the Indian _peones_ and rancheros. - -Santa Anna who had concealed himself in Pueblo, hoping to escape by way -of Vera Cruz, opened negotiations with Perry, who replied, that he would -receive him with the courtesy due to his rank, provided he would -surrender himself unconditionally as a prisoner of war. It turned out in -the end, that, without let or hindrance by either Mexicans or Americans, -Santa Anna the unscrupulous and avaricious, left his native land, April -5, 1848, on a Spanish brig bound to Jamaica. Gallantly but vainly he had -tried to resist “the North American invasion.” After seventy-eight years -of amazing vicissitudes, the last years of his life being spent on -Staten Island, N. Y., chiefly in cock-fighting and card-playing, he died -June 20, 1876, at Vera Cruz. He was the incarnation of fickle and -ignorant Mexico. - -The re-embarkation of the troops homeward began in May. The city, the -fortress, and the custom-house of Vera Cruz, were restored to the -Mexican government, June 11, 1848. Four days later, the Commodore -leaving the _Germantown_, _Saratoga_ and a few smaller vessels in the -gulf, sent the other men-of-war northward to be repaired or sold. The -frigate _Cumberland_, bearing the broad pennant, entered New York bay -July 23, 1848. - -In the war between two republics, the American soldier was an educated -freeman, far superior in physique and mental power to his foeman. The -Mexicans were docile and brave, easily taking death while in the ranks, -but unable to stand against the rush and sustained valor of the American -troops; while their leaders were out-generaled by the superior science -of officers who had been graduated from West Point. In the civil war, -thirteen years later, nearly all the leaders, and all the great soldiers -on both sides, whose reputations withstood the strain of four years’ -campaigning, were regularly educated army officers who had graduated -from the school of service in Mexico. It was the preliminary training in -this foreign war, that made our armies of ’61, more than mobs, and gave -to so many of the campaigns the order of science. The Mexican war was -probably the first in which the newspapers made and unmade the -reputation of commanders, and the war correspondent first emerged as a -distinct figure in modern history. Some of the famous sayings, the -texture of which may be either historically plain, or rhetorically -embroidered, are still current in American speech. Nor will such -phrases, as “Rough and Ready,” “Fuss and Feathers,” “A little more -grape, Captain Bragg,” “Wait, Charlie, till I draw their fire,” -“Certainly General, but I must fight them,” “Where the guns go, the men -go with them,” soon be forgotten. - -As to the rights of the quarrel with Mexico, most of the officers of the -army and navy were indifferent; as perhaps soldiers have a right to be, -seeing the responsibility rests with their superiors, the civil rulers. -Matthew Perry, as a soldier, felt that the war was waged unjustly by a -stronger upon a weaker nation, and endeavored, while doing his duty in -obedience to orders, to curtail the horrors of invasion. He was ever -vigilant to suppress robbery, rapine, cold-blooded cruelty, and all that -lay outside of honorable war. In the letters written to his biographer, -by fellow-officers, are many instances of “Old Matt’s” shrewdness in -preventing and severity in punishing wanton pillage, and the infliction -of needless pain on man or beast. - -Whatever may have been the sentiments of the past, despite also the -provocation of the Mexico of Santa Anna’s time, the verdict of history -as given by Herbert Bancroft, will now find echo all over our common -country. “The United States was in the wrong, all the world knows it; -all honest American citizens acknowledge it.” - -President Polk and his party, in compelling the war with Mexico, meant -one thing. The Almighty intended something different. Politicians and -slave-holders brought on a war to extend the area of human servitude. -Providence meant it to be a war for freedom, and the expansion of a -people best fitted to replenish and subdue the new land. At the right -moment, the time-locks on the hidden treasuries of gold drew back their -bolts, and a free people entered to change a wilderness to empire. There -is now no slavery in either the new or the old parts of the United -States. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI. - RESULTS OF THE WAR. GOLD AND THE PACIFIC COAST. - - -FROM his home at the “Moorings” by the Hudson, Perry gave his attention -to the curiosities and trophies brought home from Mexico. Ever jealous -for the honor of the navy, he noted with pain a letter written by -General Scott to Captain H. Brewerton, superintendent of the Military -Academy at West Point, which was published in the newspapers October -16th, 1848. General Scott had presented sections of several Mexican -flag-staffs captured in the campaign that commenced at Vera Cruz and -terminated in the capital of Mexico. Three of them were thus -inscribed:— - -1. “Part of the flag-staff of the castle of San Juan d’Ulloa taken by -the American army March 29th, 1847.” - -2. “Part of the flag-staff of Fort San Iago, Vera Cruz, taken by the -American army March 29th, 1847.” - -3. “Part of the flag-staff of Fort Conception, Vera Cruz, taken by the -American army March 29th, 1847.” - -The four other staves from Cerro Gordo, Perote, Chapultepec, and the -National Palace of Mexico, were in truth “taken by the American army” -without the aid of the navy. - -Perry believing that the statements in the paragraphs numbered 1, 2, and -3, were not strictly true, protested in a letter dated Oct. 19th, 1848, -to the editors of the _Courier and Inquirer_. He maintained that the -city and castle of Vera Cruz “surrendered not to the army alone, but to -the combined land and naval forces of the United States.” Appealing to -the facts of history concerning the bombardment of the city by the -squadron, the service of the marines in the trenches, and of the ship’s -guns and men in the naval battery, he continued:— - -“Negotiations for the capitulation of the city and castle were conducted -on the part of the squadron by Captain John H. Aulick, assisted by the -late Commander Mackenzie as interpreter, both delegated by me, and as -commander-in-chief at the time, of the United States naval forces -serving in the Gulf of Mexico acting in co-operation with, but entirely -independent of the authority of General Scott, I approved of and signed -jointly with him the treaty of capitulation.” - -“It seems to be a paramount duty on my part to correct an error which, -if left unnoticed, would be the source of great and lasting injury to -the navy; and it may reasonably be expected that General Scott will -cause the inscriptions referred to to be so altered as to make them -correspond more closely with history.” In proof of his assertions, Perry -quoted an extract from General Scott’s Orders referring to the services -of the navy in blockade, in disembarkation, in the attack on the city, -and in the battery No. 5. - -Like a true soldier, Scott made speedy correction on the brasses, and on -the 24th of October wrote to Captain Brewerton, “Please cause the plates -of those three objects to be unscrewed, efface the inscriptions and -renew the same with the words _and Navy_ inserted immediately after the -word ‘Army.’” He added, “No part of the army is inclined to do the -sister branch of our public defence the slightest injustice, and that I -ought to be free from the imputation, my despatches written at Vera Cruz -abundantly show.” - -As commentary on the last line above, it may be stated that in his -autobiography, in writing of Vera Cruz, Scott never mentions Commodore -Perry, the navy, or the naval battery. Biographies of Scott, and makers -of popular histories, basing their paragraphs on “Campaign Lives” of the -presidential candidates, give fulsome praise to Scott, and due credit to -the army; none, or next to none, to Perry and the navy. - -The enlarged experience gained by our naval men during the war was now -put to good use, and two great reforms, the abolition of flogging and -the grog ration, were earnestly discussed. The captains were called upon -for their written opinions. These, bound up in a volume now in the navy -archives at Washington, furnish most interesting reading. They are part -of the history of the progress of opinion as well as of morals in the -United States. The proposition to do away with the “cat” and the “tot” -found earnest and uncompromising opponents in officers of the old -school; while, on the other hand, the credit of reforms now well -established has been claimed by the friends of more than one eminent -officer. Let us look at Matthew Perry’s record. - -As early as 1824, Perry had studied the temperance question from a naval -point of view. He was, it is believed, the first officer in our navy to -propose the partial abolition of liquor, which was at that time served -to boys as well as to men. This reform, he suggested in a letter to the -Department, dated January 25th, 1824. His endeavor to stop the grog -ration from minors was a stroke in behalf of sound moral principles and -a plea for order. With a high opinion of the marines, and their -well-handled bayonets—before which, the most stubborn sailor’s mutiny -breaks,—Perry yet wished to take away one of the fomenting causes of -evil on shipboard. When a midshipman, Perry was heartily opposed to -strong drink for boys, and especially to the indiscriminate grog system -licensed by government on ships of war. In his diary kept on board the -_President_, the lad notes, with sarcastic comment, the frequent calls -for whiskey from certain vessels of the squadron, especially the -_Argus_, the crew of which had a reputation for a thirst of a kind not -satisfied with water. - -Perry’s letter dated New York, February 4th, 1850, fills eleven pages, -and shows his usual habit of looking at a subject on all sides. To have -answered the question as to grog, without consulting the sailors -themselves, would have smacked too much of the doctrinaire for him. He -was personally heartily in favor of abolishing grog, but with that love -for the comfort of his men which so endeared “Old Matt” to the common -sailor, he proposed for the first-rate seamen, the optional use of light -wines. His attitude was that of temperance, rather than prohibition. - -Flogging had been introduced into the American navy in 1799, when “the -cat-of-nine tails” was made the legal instrument of punishment, “no -other cat being allowed.” Not more than twelve lashes were allowed on -the bare back. Even a court martial could not order over a hundred -lashes. As to its total abolition, Perry felt that his own opinion -should be formed by a consensus of the most respectable sailors. -Personally he was in favor of immediately modifying, but not at once -abolishing the penalty. This was to him “the most painful of all the -duties of an officer.” He would rather make it more formal, leaving the -question of its administration not in the hands of the captain, but of -an inferior court on ship of three officers, the finding of the court to -be subject to the captain’s revision. Perry believed, as the result of -long experience, that the old sailors and the good ones were opposed to -total abolition of flogging, since the punishment operated as a -protection to them against desperate characters. To satisfy himself of -public opinion, he went on board the _North Carolina_ and asked Captain -J. R. Sands to call to him eight of the oldest active sailors. The men -came in promptly to the cabin, not knowing who called them or why. All -were native Americans, and all were opposed to the abolition of -flogging. Nevertheless, Perry was glad when this relic of barbarism was -abolished from the decks of the American ships of war. On him fell the -brunt of the decision. He first enforced discipline, chiefly by moral -suasion, on a fleet in which was no flogging. The grog ration was not -abolished until 1862. - -Until the great civil war, only two fleets—that is, collections of war -vessels numbering at least twelve—had assembled under the American -flag. These were in the waters of Mexico and Japan. Both were commanded -by Matthew C. Perry. - -Nearly forty years have now passed since the Mexican war, and a survey -of the facts and subsequent history is of genuine interest. The United -States employed, in the invasion of a sister republic, about one hundred -thousand armed men. Of these, 26,690 were regular troops, 56,926 -volunteers, while over 15,000 were in the navy, or in the department of -commissariat and transportation. Probably as many as eighty thousand -soldiers were actually in Mexico. Of this host, 120 officers and 1,400 -men fell in battle or died of wounds, and 100 officers and 10,800 men -perished by disease. These figures by General Viele are from the army -rolls. Another writer gives the total, in round numbers, of American -war-employées lost in battle at 5,000, and by sickness 15,000. About -1,000 men of the army of occupation died each month of garrison-fever in -the city of Mexico, and many more were ruined in health and character. -In all, the loss of manhood by glory and malaria was fully 25,000 men. -The war cost the United States, directly, a sum estimated between -$130,000,000 and $166,500,000. Including the pensions, recently voted, -this amount will be greatly increased. - -Turning from the debit to the credit account, the United States gained -in Texas, and the ceded territory, nearly one million square miles of -land, increasing her area one-third, and adding five thousand miles of -sea-coast, with three great harbors. Except for one of those -world-influencing episodes, which are usually called “accidents,” but -which make epochs and history, this large territory would long have -waited for inhabitants. The vast desert was made to bud with promise, -and blossom as the rose, by the discovery of some shining grains of -metal, yellow and heavy, in a mill race. California with her golden -hands rose up, a new figure in history, to beckon westward the returned -veteran, the youth of the overcrowded East, the young blood and sinew of -Europe. The era of the “prairie schooner” to traverse the plains, the -steamer to ply to the Isthmus, the fast-sailing American clipper ships -to double the Cape, was ushered in. Zadoc Pratt’s dream of a -trans-continental railway, laid on the Indian trails, soon found a solid -basis in easy possibility. In the eight months ending March 1850, nine -millions of gold from California entered the United States. The volume -of wealth from California and Texas in thirty-two years, has equalled -the debt incurred during the great civil war to preserve the American -union; enabling the government to say to Louis Napoleon, “Get out of -Mexico, and take imperialism from the American continent.” - -Yet even California, and the boundless possibilities of the Pacific -slope could not suffice for the restless energy of the American. The -merchant seeking new outlets of trade, the whaler careering in all seas -for spoil, the missionary moved with desire to enter new fields of -humanity, the explorer burning to unlock hidden treasures of mystery, -looked westward over earth’s broadest ocean. China had opened a few -wicket gates. Two hermit kingdoms still kept their doors barred. Corea -was no lure. It had no place in literature, no fame to the traveller, no -repute of wealth to incite. Its name suggested no more than a sea-shell. -There was another nation. Of her, travellers, merchants, and martyrs had -told; about her, libraries had been written; religion, learning, wealth, -curious and mighty institutions, a literature and a civilization, gold -and coal and trade were there. Kingly suitors and the men of many -nations had pleaded for entrance and waited vainly at her jealously -barred and guarded doors. The only answer during monotonous centuries -had been haughty denial or contemptuous silence. Japan was the sleeping -princess in the eastern seas. Thornrose castle still tempted all daring -spirits. Who should be the one to sail westward, with valor and with -force, held but unused, wake with peaceful kiss the maiden to life and a -beauty to be admired of all the world? - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII. - AMERICAN ATTEMPTS TO OPEN TRADE WITH JAPAN. - - -WE propose here to summarize the various attempts by Americans to -re-open Japan to intercourse with other nations. For two centuries, -after Iyéyasŭ and his successors passed their decree of seclusion, Japan -remained the new Paradise Lost to Europeans. Perry made it Paradise -Regained. - -In _The Japan Expedition_, the editor of Perry’s work has given, on page -62, in a tabulated list, the various attempts made by civilized nations -to open commerce with Japan from 1543 down to 1852. In this, the -Portuguese, Dutch, English, Russians, American, and French have taken -part. This table, however, is incomplete, as we shall show. - -The American flag was probably first carried around the world in 1784, -by Major Robert Shaw, formerly an officer in the revolutionary army of -the United States First Artillery. It was, therefore, seen in the -eastern seas as early as 1784, and at Nagasaki as early as 1797. In -1803, Mr. Waardenaar, the Dutch superintendent at Déshima, not having -heard that the peace of the Amiens, negotiated by Lord Cornwallis and -signed March 27, 1802, had been broken, boarded a European vessel coming -into port, and recognized an American, Captain Stewart, who during the -war had made voyages for the Dutch East India Company. Captain Stewart -explained that he had come with a cargo of wholly American goods, of -which he was proprietor. The following dialogue ensued:— - -_Q._ “Who is the King of America.” - -_A._ “President Jefferson.” - -_Q._ “Why do you come to Japan?” - -_A._ “To demand liberty of commerce for me and my people.” - -Waardenaar suspected that the real chief of the expedition was not -Stewart, but “the doctor” on board, and that it was a British ship. -Hence, on Waardenaar’s report to the governor of Nagasaki, the latter -forbade Stewart the coasts of Japan, allowing, him, however, water and -provisions. - -The facts underlying this apparent attempt of the enterprising Yankee to -open trade with the United States so early in the history of the country -seemed to be these. Captain Stewart, an American in the service of the -Dutch East India Company, having made his first voyage from Batavia to -Nagasaki in 1797, was sent again the following year, 1798. An earthquake -and tidal wave coming on, his ship dragged her anchors and the cargo, -consisting chiefly of camphor, was thrown overboard. The vessel would -have become a total wreck but for the ingenuity of a native. He “used -helps undergirding the ship,” floating her. Then taking her in tow of a -big junk, he drew her into a safe quarter. For this, the Japanese was -made a two-sworded samurai. Stewart was sent back to Batavia. Thence he -fled to Bengal, where he most probably persuaded the English merchants -to send him in a ship to Japan with a cargo, to open trade for them -under the name of Americans. - -A few days after Stewart had left, Captain Torry, the accredited agent -of the Calcutta Company, came to Nagasaki, to open trade if possible. -Torry had sent Stewart before him, the Japanese not daring, he thought, -to refuse Englishmen after allowing Americans to trade. Torry was, -however, sent away as being in league with Stewart, and left after -obtaining a supply of water. - -In 1807, as Hildreth in his _Japan_, states, the American ship, -_Eclipse_, of Boston, chartered at Canton, by the Russian American -Company for Kamschatka and the north-west coast of America, entered the -harbor of Nagasaki under Russian colors, but could obtain no trade and -only provisions and water. The Dutch flag being driven from the ocean, -the annual ships from Batavia to Nagasaki in 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, -1803, and at least one of the pair in 1806, 1807 and 1809, were American -bottoms and under the American flag, so that the Japanese became -familiar with the _seventeen_-starred flag of the United States of -America. - -The brilliant and successful foreign policy of President Andrew Jackson -in Europe, has been already noted. Even Asia felt his influence. Mr. -Edmund Roberts[21], a sea captain of Portsmouth, N. H., was named by -President Jackson, his “agent” for the purpose of “examining in the -Indian ocean the means of extending the commerce of the United States by -commercial arrangements with the Powers whose dominions border on those -seas.” He was ordered, January 27, 1832, to embark on the United States -Sloop-of-war, _Peacock_, in which he was rated as captain’s clerk. On -the 23rd of July, he was ordered “to be very careful in obtaining -information respecting Japan, the means of opening a communication with -it, and the value of its trade with the Dutch and Chinese.” Arriving at -Canton, he might receive further instructions. He had with him blanks. -On the 28th of October, 1832, Edward Livingstone, the United States -Secretary of State, instructed him that the United States had it in -contemplation to institute a separate mission to Japan. If, however, a -favorable opportunity presented, he might fill up a letter and present -it to the “Emperor” for the purpose of opening trade. Roberts was -successful in inaugurating diplomatic and commercial relations with -Muscat and Siam, but, on account of his premature death, nothing came of -his mission to Japan. He died June 12, 1836, at Macao, where his tomb -duly inscribed, is in the Protestant cemetery. - -Commodore Kennedy in the _Peacock_, with the schooner _Enterprise_, -visited the Bonin Islands in August 1837, an account of which was -written by Doctor Ruschenberger,[22] the fleet surgeon. - -The sight of the flowery flag of “Bé-koku” or the United States, became -more and more familiar to the Japanese coasting and ship population, as -the riches of the whaling waters became better known in America. The -American whalers were so numerous in the Japan seas by the year 1850, -that eighty-six of the “black ships” were counted as passing Matsumaé in -twelve months. Perry found that no fewer than ten thousand of our people -were engaged in this business. Furthermore, the Japanese waifs blown out -to sea were drifted into the Black Current and to the Kurile and -Aleutian islands, to Russian and British America, to Oregon and -California, and even to Hawaii. - -The necessity of visiting Japan on errands of mercy to return these -waifs became a frequent one. Reciprocally, the Japanese sent the -shipwrecked Americans by the Dutch vessels to Batavia whence they -reached the United States. This was the cause of the “_Morrison’s_” -visit to the bay of Yedo and to Kagoshima in 1837. This ship, fitly -named after the first Protestant English missionary to China, whose -grave lies near Roberts in the terraced cemetery at Macao, was -despatched by an American mercantile firm. Included among the -thirty-eight persons on board were seven Japanese waifs, Rev. Charles -Gutzlaff, Dr. S. Wells Williams, Peter Parker, Mr. King, the owner, and -Mrs. King. They sailed July 3d. The vessel reached Uraga, bay of Yedo, -July 22d, and Kagoshima in Satsuma August 20, but was fired on and -driven away. The name of “Morrison Bluff” on the map of Japan is an -honor to American Christianity, as it is a shame to Old Japan. - -The proposition to open commercial relations with the two secluded -nations now came definitely before Congress. On February 15th 1845, -General Zadoc Pratt, chairman of the select committee on statistics -introduced the following resolution in Congress to treat for the opening -of Japan and Corea. “Whereas it is important to the general interests of -the United States that steady and persevering efforts should be made for -the extension of American commerce, connected as that commerce is with -the agriculture and manufactures of our country; be it therefore -_resolved_, that in furtherance of this object, it is hereby recommended -that immediate measures be taken for effecting commercial arrangements -with the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Corea,[23] for the following -among other reasons.” Then follows a memorandum concerning the proposed -mission. - -Captain Mercator Cooper, in the whale ship _Manhattan_, of Sag Harbor, -returned twenty-two shipwrecked Japanese early in April 1845, from the -island of St. Peters to Uraga in the bay of Yedo, where he lay at anchor -four days obtaining books and charts. When the Japanese embassy of 1861 -reached New York, one of the first questions asked by them was, “Where -is Captain Cooper?” - -Our government authorized Commodore Biddle, then in command of the East -Indian squadron, to visit Japan in the hope of securing a convention. He -left Chusan July 7th, and, on the 20th of July 1846, with the ship of -the line, _Columbus_, 90 guns, and the sloop of war, _Vincennes_, he -anchored off Uraga. Application for trade was made in due form, but the -answer given July 28th by the Shō-gun’s deputy who came on board with a -suite of eight persons, was a positive refusal. Commodore Biddle being -instructed “not to do anything to excite a hostile feeling or distrust -of the United States,” sailed away July 29, in obedience to orders. - -At this very time, eight American sailors, or seven, as the Japanese -account states, wrecked on the whale ship, _Lawrence_, June 6th, were -imprisoned in Yezo; but the fact was not then known in Yedo. After -seventeen months confinement, they were sent to Nagasaki and thence in -October 1847, to Batavia. From one of these sailors, a Japanese samurai, -or two-sworded retainer of a damiō, named Moriyama Yénosŭké, (Mr. -Grove-mountain) learned to speak and read English with tolerable -fluency. He acted as chief medium of communication between the Japanese -and their next American visitor, Glynn; and afterwards served as -interpreter in the treaty negotiations at Yokohama in 1854. At this time -the Dutch trade with Japan barely paid the expenses of the factory at -Déshima. The Dutch East India Company some years before had voluntarily -turned over the monopoly to the Dutch government. Trade was now upon a -purely sentimental basis, being kept up solely for the honor of the -Dutch flag. The next step, which logically followed, was a letter from -the King of Holland to the Shō-gun recommending that Japan open her -ports to the trade of the world. Meanwhile, the Mikado commanded that -the coasts should be strictly guarded “so as to prevent dishonor to the -Divine Country.” - -In September, 1848, fifteen foreign seamen, eight of them Americans, -wrecked from the _Ladoga_, were sent in a junk from Matsumaé to -Nagasaki. The Netherlands consul at Canton made notification January 27, -1849, to Captain Geisinger, a gallant officer on the _Wasp_ in 1814, in -command of the _Peacock_ during Mr. Roberts’s first embassy, and now in -command of the East India squadron, who sent Commander Glynn in the -_Preble_, the brig once in Perry’s African squadron, and carrying -fourteen guns, to their rescue. Stopping at Napa, Riu Kiu, on his way to -Nagasaki, he learned from the Rev. Dr. J. Bettelheim the missionary -there, of the rumors concerning “the Japanese victory over the American -big ships.” The snowball of rumor in rolling to the provinces had become -an avalanche of exaggeration, and Glynn at once determined to pursue “a -stalwart policy.” On reaching Nagasaki, he dashed through the cordon of -boats, and anchored within cannon shot of the city. He submitted to the -usual red tape proceedings and evasive diplomacy for two days, and then -threatened to open fire on the city unless the sailors were forthcoming. -That the Japanese had already learned to respect American naval gunnery, -having heard of it at Vera Cruz, the following conversation will show. -The Japanese, through the Dutch, had been kept minutely informed as to -the Mexican war and, in their first interview with Commander Glynn, -remarked:— - -“You have had a war with Mexico?” - -“Yes.” - -“You whipped her?” - -“Yes.” - -“You have taken a part of her territory?” - -“Yes.” - -“And you have discovered large quantities of gold in it?” - -The imprisoned seamen were promptly delivered on the deck of the -_Preble_. They stated that, when in Matsumaé, they had learned from the -guards of their prison of every battle we had with the Mexicans and of -every victory we had gained. The prestige of the American navy won at -Vera Cruz and on the two coasts had doubtless a good influence upon the -Japanese, making Glynn’s mission easier than it otherwise might have -been. In his report, Commander Glynn suggested that the time for opening -Japan was favorable and recommended the sending of a force to do it. - -Commerce with China, the settlement of California, the growth of the -American whale-fishery in the eastern seas, the expansion of steam -traffic, with the corollary necessities of coal and ports for shelter, -and the frequency of shipwrecks, were all compelling factors in the -opening of Japan—which event could not long be delayed. - -The shadows of the coming event were already descried in Japan. Numerous -records of the landing or shipwreck of American and other seamen are -found in the native chronicles of this period. The Dutch dropped broad -hints of embassies or expeditions soon to come. In September, 1847, the -rank of the governor of Uraga, the entrance-port to the Bay of Yedo, was -raised. In October, the daimiōs or barons were ordered to maintain the -coast defences, and encourage warlike studies and exercises. In -November, the boy named Shichiro Marō, destined to be the last Tai-kun -(“Tycoon”) and head of Japanese feudalism, came into public notice as -heir of one of the princely families of the Succession. In December, a -census of the number of newly cast cannon able to throw balls of one -pound weight and over was ordered to be taken. The chronicler of the -year 1848 notes that nineteen foreign vessels passed through the straits -of Tsushima in April, and closes his notice of remarkable events by -saying: “During this year, foreign ships visited our northern seas in -such numbers as had not been seen in recent times!” - ------ - -[21] Embassy to the Eastern Courts, New York, 1837. - -[22] A Voyage Round the World, Philadelphia, 1838. - -[23] Corea, the Hermit Nation, p. 390. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII. - ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. - - -THOUGH as a student and a man of culture, Perry was familiar with the -drift of events in China, and was interested in Japan, yet it was not -until the year 1850, that his thoughts were turned seriously to the -unopened country in the eastern seas. The receipt of news about the -_Preble_ affair crystallized his thoughts into a definitely formed -purpose. He began to look at the problem, of winning Japan into the -comity of nations, with a practical eye, from a naval and personal -view-point. - -Highly approving of Commander Glynn’s course, he believed that kindness -and firmness, backed by a force in the Bay of Yedo sufficient to impress -the authorities would, by tact, patience and care, result in a bloodless -victory. He now gathered together literary material bearing on the -subject and pondered upon the question how to translate Ali Baba’s -watch-word into Japanese. There seemed, however, little likelihood that -the government would be willing to send thither an imposing squadron. He -did not therefore seek the command of the East India squadron, and the -initial proposition to do the work with which his name is connected, -came to him and not from him. - -Commander James Glynn, on his return, early in 1851, went to Washington -earnestly wishing to be sent on a diplomatic mission to Japan with a -fresh naval force. To this gallant and able young officer, belongs a -considerable share of the credit of working the President and Secretary -of State up to the point of action. The expedition, as it came to be -organized, however, grew to the proportions of a fleet, and Glynn found -himself excluded by his rank, the command of the expedition being very -properly claimed by an officer of higher rank in the army. The applicant -for the honor of commander of the Japan expedition, then in embryo, was -Commodore J. H. Aulick, who had been in the navy since 1809, and was -master’s mate of the _Enterprise_ in her combat with the _Boxer_, in the -war of 1812. - -Dismissing from his mind, or at least postponing until a more propitious -time his eastward possibilities, Perry, March 21, 1851, applied for the -command of the Mediterranean squadron to succeed Commodore Morgan if the -way was clear. During the summer and autumn, he was several times in -Washington, and frequently in consultation with the Naval Committee. He -was led to believe his desire would be granted and made personal and -domestic arrangements accordingly. Yet the appointment hung fire for -reasons that Perry did not then understand. - -General Taylor, having been hustled into the Presidency, promptly -succumbed to the unaccustomed turmoil of politics. He yielded to an -enemy more dire and persistent than Santa Anna,—the office seeker, and -found his grave. The urbane Millard Fillmore took his place, with Daniel -Webster as Secretary of State. The suggestions of Commander Glynn for -the opening of Japan had pleased both the President and Secretary, and -pretty soon, one of those multiplying pretexts and opportunities for -going near the “Capital of the Tycoon” occurred. It was the picking up -at sea of another lot of waifs by Captain Jennings, of the barque -_Auckland_ who took them to San Francisco. On the 9th of May, 1857, -Commodore Aulick proposed to the Secretary of State a plan for the -opening of Japan, and on the same day, Mr. Webster addressed an official -note to Hon. William Graham, Secretary of the Navy, in which these words -occur: - -“Commodore Aulick has suggested to me, and I cheerfully concur in the -opinion, that this incident may afford a favorable opportunity for -opening commercial relations with the empire of Japan; or, at least, of -placing our intercourse with that Island upon a more easy footing.” - -The nail already inserted in the wood by Glynn was thus driven further -in by Aulick’s proposition and Mr. Webster’s hearty indorsement. The -next day a letter to the “Emperor” was prepared and, on the 30th of May, -Commodore Aulick received his commission to negotiate and sign a treaty -with Japan. He was to be accompanied by “an imposing naval force.” At -least, so Mr. Webster’s letter suggested. Unfortunately, for Commodore -Aulick, he left before the nail was driven in a sure place. He departed -for the East with slight preparation, foresight, or mastery of details, -and long before the “imposing” naval force was gathered, or even begun. -Even had Aulick remained in command, he would probably never have -received any large accession to his force. Had he attempted the work of -negotiation with but two or three vessels, he would most probably have -failed. The preparation and sailing of the fleet to follow him was -delayed. Promises were never kept, and he was recalled. Why was this? -Commodore Aulick, on his return, demanded a court martial in order that -he himself might know the reasons, but his wishes were not heeded. -History has heretofore been silent on the point. - -There are some who think that Perry is at fault here; that he grasped at -honors prepared for others, reaping where he had not sowed. - -The reason for the recall of Commodore Aulick and the appointment of -Perry in his place were neither made public at the time, nor have they -thus far been understood by the public, or even by acquaintances of -Perry who ignorantly misjudge him. A number of persons, some of them -naval officers, have even supposed that Perry was responsible for the -bad treatment of Commodore Aulick, and that he sacrificed a -fellow-officer to gratify his own ambition. The writer was long under -the impression that Perry’s own urgency in seeking the position secured -for himself the appointment, and that the government favored Perry at -the expense of his comrade. With the view of sounding the truth at the -bottom of the well, the writer made search in both Aulick’s and -Secretary Graham’s official and confidential letters. - -The unexpected result was the thorough vindication of Perry from the -shadow of suspicion. The facts reveal that harsh treatment may sometimes -hastily and needlessly be accorded to a gallant officer, and illustrate -the dangers besetting our commanders, when non-naval people with a -weakness for tittle-tattle live on board a man-of-war. The arrows of -gossip and slander, whether on sea or land, are sufficiently poisonous. -They nearly took the life, and ruined the reputation of Commodore -Aulick; but of their shooting, Perry was as innocent as an unborn child. -The simple facts in the case are that Commodore Aulick was recalled from -China long before Perry had any idea of assuming the Japan mission, and -that his relations with his old comrade in Mexico were always of the -pleasantest nature. We must look from the captains to their superior. - -On the 1st of May 1851, Commodore Aulick received orders to proceed in -the new steamer frigate _Susquehanna_ to Rio [de] Janeiro, taking out -the Brazilian minister Macedo as the guest of the United States. He -sailed from Norfolk June 8th, and by way of Madeira, arrived at his -destination July 22. The _Susquehanna_ was a steam frigate of noble -spaciousness built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1847. Her launch -amid a glory of sunshine, bunting, happy faces, and the symbolic -breaking of a bottle of water from the river of her own name, the writer -remembers as one of the bright events of his childhood. She carried -sixteen guns, and was of two thousand four hundred and fifty tons -burthen, but though of excellent model her machinery was constantly -getting out of order. From Rio [de] Janeiro Aulick proceeded around the -Cape of Good Hope on diplomatic business with the Sultan of Zanzibar. -This having been finished, Aulick sailed to China and on arriving at -Hong Kong, began to organize a squadron and make his personal -preparations for a visit to Japan. He secured as his interpreter, D. -Bethune McCartee, Esq., M. D. an accomplished American missionary at -Ningpo. He also investigated, as per orders, with the aid of the -missionaries of the Reformed [Dutch] Church in America at Amoy, Rev. -Messrs. Doty and Talmage, (brother of T. De Witt Talmage of Brooklyn) -the coolie traffic. The _Saratoga_ was sent after the mutineers of the -_Robert Bowne_, and visited the Riu Kiu islands. While engaged in -cruising between Macao and Manilla, though smitten down with disease, -the old hero was astounded at receiving a curt order from the Secretary -of the Navy dated November 18th, 1851. It directed him to hand over his -command to Captain Franklin Buchanan, but not to leave the China seas -until his successor should arrive. At the same time, he was informed -that grave imputations had been cast upon his conduct. Prompt and full -explanation of these was called for. The charges were, that he had -violated express orders in taking a person (his son) on board a national -vessel as passenger without authority, and that he had given out at Rio -[de] Janeiro that the Chevalier de Macedo was being carried at his -(Aulick’s) private expense. - -Meanwhile, the Anglo-Chinese newspapers got hold of the patent fact, and -the ready inference was drawn that Commodore Aulick had been recalled -for mis-conduct. This annoyed the old veteran to exasperation. Worn out -by forty-four years in his country’s service, with both disgrace and an -early but lingering death staring him in the face, with the prospect of -being obliged to go home in a merchant vessel and without medical -attendance, he dictated (being unable to hold a pen) a letter dated -February 7, 1853 protesting against this harsh treatment caused by -“ex-parte statements of certain diplomats in Rio [de] Janeiro, whose -names, up to this time, have never been officially made known to me.” -For months in precarious health, Aulick waited for his unnamed relief, -and at last, heard that it was his as yet old friend Perry. By the -advice of his physician, Dr. Peter Parker and surgeon S. S. Du Barry, he -started homeward at the first favorable opportunity, by the English mail -steamer, passing the _Mississippi_ on her way out. - -In London, Commodore Aulick called upon and was the guest of Chevalier -de Macedo, who learned with surprise of the trouble into which he had -fallen with his government. A long letter now in the navy archives, from -the Brazilian, thoroughly exonerated Aulick. Arriving in New York June -1st, 1863, and reporting to Secretary Dobbin, Commodore Aulick requested -that, if his letter of explanation of February 17, 1853, were not deemed -satisfactory, a court of inquiry, or court martial, be ordered for his -trial. After careful examination, the secretary wrote, August 2, 1853, -clearing Aulick of all blame, accompanying his letter with waiting -orders. In the letter of the gratified officer in response dated August -4, 1853, we have the last word in this painful episode in naval history, -in which the brave veteran was nearly sacrificed by the stray gossip of -a civilian apparently more eager to curry Brazilian favor than to do -eternal or even American justice. - -One can easily see why, in addition to the rooted instinct of a -lifetime, Perry, in the light of Aulick’s misfortune, declined to allow -miscellaneous correspondence with the newspapers, and sternly refused to -admit on the Japan expedition a single person not under naval -discipline. - -The chronological order of facts as revealed by the study of the -documents is this: On the 17th of November 1851, Secretary Graham -dictated the order of recall to Commodore Aulick. On the next day, he -wrote the following:— - - NAVY DEPARTMENT, November 18, 1851. - - COMMODORE M. C. PERRY, U. S. NAVY, NEW YORK. - - Sir,—Proceed to Washington immediately, for the purpose of - conferring with the Secretary of the Navy. - - Respectfully - WILL. A. GRAHAM. - -Unusual press of business and the writing of his report for the -impending session of Congress caused the receipt by Perry on his arrival -in Washington, of a note, dated November 26, the substance of which was -that the Secretary was so busy that he could not consider the business -for which Perry was called from home, until after Congress had met. He -need not, therefore, wait in Washington but was at liberty to go home -and wait instructions. This was the first thorn of the rose on the way -to the Thornrose castle, in the Pacific. - -Somewhat vexed, as Perry must have been, at being forced on a seeming -fool’s errand, he possessed his soul in patience, and, at home expressed -his mind on paper as follows:— - - NORTH TARRYTOWN, N. Y., December 3, 1851. - - Sir,—Seeing that you were so much occupied during my stay at - Washington, I was careful not to intrude upon your time and - consequently had little opportunity of conversing with you upon - the business which caused me to be ordered to that city—it has, - therefore, occurred to me, whether it would not be desirable - that I should write down the accompanying notes, in further - explanation of the views entertained by me, with reference to - the subject under consideration. - - So far as respects my own wishes, I confess that it will, to me, - be a serious disappointment, and cause of personal inconvenience - not to go to the Mediterranean, as I was led to believe from - various reliable sources that it had been the intention of the - Department to assign me to the command, and had made - arrangements accordingly; but I hold that an officer is bound to - go where his services are most required, yet I trust I may be - pardoned for expressing a strong disinclination to go out as the - mere relief or successor to Commodore Aulick without being - charged with some more important service, and with a force - competent to _a possible_ successful issue the expectations of - the government. - - Advance in rank and command is the greatest incentive to a - officer, and, having already been intrusted with two squadrons, - one of them the largest one put afloat since the creation of the - navy, I could only look to the Mediterranean for advance in that - respect, as that station, in time of peace, has always been - looked upon as the most desirable. Hence it may not be - surprising that I consider the relief of Commodore Aulick who is - much my junior and served under me in my second squadron, a - retrograde movement in that great and deeply fostered aim of an - officer of proper ambition, to push forward; unless indeed, as I - have before remarked, the sphere of action of the East India - squadron and its force be so much enlarged as to hold out a - well-grounded hope of its conferring distinction upon its - commander. - - Doubtless there are others my juniors as competent, if not more - so, who would gladly accept the command as it now is and, if it - is not intended to augment it in view of carrying out the - important object with respect to Japan, I may confidently hope - that in accordance with your kind promise on the occasion of my - interview with you at your house, on the evening of the day of - my arrival in Washington, I shall still be assigned to the - command of the Mediterranean squadron. - - In thus expressing myself freely to you I feel assured from a - knowledge of your high tone of character, that you will fully - appreciate the motives which have influenced me in desiring to - embark only in that service in the prosecution of which I could - anticipate a chance of success, or even escape from - mortification, disappointment, and failure. - - With great respect I have the honor to be, - Your most obedient servant, - M. C. PERRY. - - THE HON. WM. GRAHAM, - - Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C. - -The secretary’s clerk wrote January 14, 1852, “Commodore Perry will -proceed to Washington and report to the Secretary of the Navy without -delay.” The head of the Department added in autograph, “Report in person -at the Department.” This time the trip to the Capital was made with -something definite in view. - -On the 6th of March, he received orders from the Department detaching -him from the superintendence of United States Mail Steamers and -transferring the command to Commodore Reany. He had, since January 9, -1849, been in active connection with steamship owners, manufacturers and -inventors, and been engaged in testing the newest inventions and -improvements in steam navigation. The transfer was duly made on the 8th, -and on the 23d, we find Perry again in Washington holding long -conversation with the Secretary of the Navy, Hon. W. A. Graham, on the -outfit and personnel of the proposed Japan expedition. On the 24th, he -received formal orders to command the East India squadron. - -One of the first officers detailed to assist the Commodore was Lieut. -Silas Bent who had been with Glynn on the _Preble_ at Nagasaki. He was -ordered to report on board the _Mississippi_. Perry’s “Fidus Achates,” -Captain Henry A. Adams, and his special friends, Captains Franklin -Buchanan, Sidney Smith Lee, were invited and gladly accepted. His -exceeding care in the selection of the personnel[24] of the expedition -is shown in a letter from the “Moorings” dated February 2, 1852, to -Captain Franklin Buchanan. He expected them to embark by the first of -April, and sent his ships ahead laden with coal for the war steamers to -the Cape of Good Hope, and Mauritius. He congratulates his old friend on -a new arrival in his household, “You certainly bid fair to have a great -many grandchildren in the course of time. I already have eight.” - -“In selecting your officers, pray be careful in choosing them of a -subordinate and gentlemanlike character. We shall be obliged to govern -in some measure, as McKeever says, by _moral_ suasion. McIntosh, I see -by the papers, has changed with Commander Pearson and leaves the -_Congress_, and is now on his way home in the _Falmouth_. We shall now -learn how the philanthropic principle of moral suasion answers.” - -The reference is to the state of things consequent upon the abolition of -flogging. Perry was to gather and lead to peaceful victory, the first -American fleet governed without the lash. - ------ - -[24] See complete list, vol. II. of his official Report. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX. - PREPARATIONS FOR JAPAN. AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE. - - -THE charts used in the Japan expedition came mostly from Holland, and -cost our government thirty thousand dollars. Perry does not seem to have -been aware that Captain Mercator Cooper of Sag Harbor, Long Island, had -brought home fairly good Japanese charts of the Bay of Yedo, more -accurate probably than any which he was able to purchase. Captain -Beechey of the B. M. S. _Blossom_, had surveyed carefully the seas -around Riu Kiu. The large coast-line map of Japan, in four sheets, made -on modern scientific principles by a wealthy Japanese who had expended -his fortune and suffered imprisonment for his work, which was published -posthumously, was not then accessible. - -Intelligent Japanese have been eager to know, and more than one has -asked the writer: “How did Perry get his knowledge of our country and -people?” We answer that he made diligent study of books and men. He had -asked for permission to purchase all necessary books at a reasonable -price. Von Siebold’s colossal work was a mine of information from which -European book-makers were beginning to quarry, as they had long done -from Engelbert Kaempfer, but the importer’s price of Von Siebold’s -_Archiv_ was $503. The interest excited in England by the expedition -caused the publication in London of a cheap reprint of Kaempfer. - -By setting in motion the machinery of the librarians and book-collectors -in New York and London, Perry was able to secure a library on the -subject. He speedily and thoroughly mastered their contents. - -So far from Japan being a _terra incognita_ in literature, it had been -even then more written about than Turkey. Few far Eastern Asiatic -nations have reason to be proud of so voluminous and polyglot a European -library concerning themselves as the Japanese. On the subject about -which information was as defective as it was most needed, was the -political situation of modern Japan and the true relation of the -“Tycoon” to the Mikado. - -Earnestly desirous of impressing the Japanese with American resources -and inventions, the Commodore on March 27th, 1851, had notified the -Department of his intention to obtain specimens of every sort of -mechanical products, arms and machinery, with statistical and other -volumes illustrating the advance of the useful arts. In addition to -this, he notified manufacturers of his wish to obtain samples of every -description. Armed with letters from his friends, the Appletons of New -York, he visited Albany, Boston, New Bedford and Providence to obtain -what he desired, and to inquire into personal details and statistics of -the American whalers engaged in Japanese and Chinese waters. An -unexpectedly great interest was arising from all quarters concerning -Japan and the expedition thither. All with whom he had interviews were -enthusiastic and liberal in aiding him. At New Bedford he learned that -American capital to the amount of seventeen millions was invested in the -whaling industry in the seas of Japan and China. Thousands of our -sailors manned the ships thus employed. - -This was before the days of petroleum and the electric light. It -explained also why American shipwrecked sailors were so often found in -Japan. There were reciprocal additions to the populations on both sides -of the Pacific. While the Kuro Shiwo, or Black Current, was sweeping -Japanese junks out to sea and lining the west coast of North America -with wrecks and waifs, the rocky shores of the Sunrise Kingdom were -liberally strewn with castaways, to whom the American flag was the sign -of home. - -The cause of this remarkable development of American enterprise in -distant seas lay in the liberal policy of Russia toward our people. Our -first treaty of 1824 declared the navigation and fisheries of the -Pacific free to both nations. The second convention of 1838, signed by -James Buchanan and Count Nesselrode, guaranteed to citizens of the -United States freedom to enter all ports, places and rivers on the -Alaskan coast under Russian protection. Already the northern Pacific was -virtually an American possession. - -There was great eagerness on the part of scientific men and learned -societies to be represented in the proposed expedition. Much pressure -was brought to bear upon the Commodore to organize a corps of experts in -the sciences, or to allow favored individual civilians to enter the -fleet. Perry firmly declined all such offers. - -He proposed to duplicate none of his predecessor’s blunders, nor to -imperil his personal reputation or the success of a costly expedition by -the presence of landsmen of any sort on board. He sent his son to China -at his own private expense. The expedition was saved the previous -tribulations of Aulick, or the later afflictions of De Long in the -_Jeannette_. - -As illustrating the variety of subordinate matters to be looked into, he -was instructed to inquire concerning the product of sulphur, and about -weights and measures. The Norris Brothers of Philadelphia furnished the -little locomotive and rails to be laid down in Japan. These, with a -thousand other details were carefully studied by the Commodore. - -Indeed it may be truly said that Perry’s thorough grasp of details -before he left the United States made him already master of the -situation. He knew just what to do, and how to do it. The Japanese did -not. He appreciated the advantage of having sailor, engineer, -diplomatist and captain in one man, and that man himself. Not so with -Rodgers in Corea, in 1871. - -If Perry, after his appointment as special envoy of the United States to -Japan, had trusted entirely to his official superiors, he would probably -never have obtained his fleet or won a treaty. Four months after -receiving his appointment, the Whig convention met in Baltimore, June -the 16th. When it adjourned, on June 22nd, the ticket nominated was -“Scott and Graham.” Thenceforth, Secretary Graham took little or no -practical interest in Japan or Perry. The Commodore’s first and hardest -task was to conquer lethargy at home. One instance of his foresight is -seen in his care for a sure supply of coal, without which side-wheel -steamers, almost the only ones then in the navy, were worse than -useless. He directed Messrs. Howland and Aspinwall to send out two coal -ships, one to the Cape of Good Hope and the other to Mauritius. These -floating depots were afterwards of the greatest service to the advance -and following steamers, _Mississippi_, _Powhatan_ and _Alleghany_. - -A lively episode in international politics occurred in July, 1852, which -Perry was called upon to settle. New England was convulsed over the -seizure of American fishing vessels by British cruisers. Congress being -still in session, the opposition were not slow to denounce the -Administration. - -Mr. Fillmore invited Mr. John P. Kennedy of “Swallow Barn” literary fame -to succeed Mr. Graham as Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Kennedy took his -seat in the cabinet July 24th. The excitement over the fishery question -was then at fever heat. Mutterings of war were already heard in the -newspapers. Employment for the Mexican veterans seemed promising. - -The cabinet decided that the new secretary should give the law, and that -Perry should execute it. Mr. Kennedy, who wisely saw Perry first, -proceeded to draft the letter. On the night of July 28th his studies -resulted in a brilliant state paper, which occupies seven folio pages in -the Book of Confidential Letters, and he then retired to rest. Naturally -his maiden effort in diplomacy tried his nerves. His broken sleep was -disturbed with dreams of codfish and the shades of Lord Aberdeen till -morning. - -Once more summoning to his aid his old sea-racer the _Mississippi_, -Captain McCluney, Perry left New York July 31st, 1852, stopping at -Eastport, Maine, to get fresh information. There was much irritation -felt by British residents at the alleged depredations of American -fishermen, who, instead of buying their ice, bait, fuel and other -supplies, were sometimes tempted to make raids on the shores of the -islands. One excited person wrote to the admiral of the fleet: - -“For God’s sake send a man-of-war here, for the Americans are masters of -the place—one hundred sail are now lying in the harbor. They have -stolen my fire-wood and burnt it on the beach.” They had also set fire -to the woods and committed other spoliations. Collisions with the -British cruisers were imminent, and acts easily leading to war were -feared by the cabinet. - -Perry proceeded to Halifax. He traversed the coast of Cape Breton -Island, around Magdalen, and along the north shore of Prince Edward’s -Island, visiting the resorts of the Yankee fishermen, and passing large -fleets of our vessels. He found by experience, and was satisfied, that -there had been repeated infractions of treaty, for which seven seizures -had been made by British cruisers then in command of Admiral Seymour. -The question, at this issue, concerning the rights of Americans fishing -in Canadian waters, was one of geographical science rather than of -diplomacy. It rested upon the answer given to this, “What are bays?” The -last convention between the two countries had been made in 1818, when -the United States renounced her right to fish within three miles of any -of the coasts, bays and harbors of Canada. Only after a number of -American vessels had been seized and prosecuted in the court at Halifax, -was this treaty made. Including those captured for violating the -convention of 1818, the number was sixty in all. The British said to -Perry that the Americans had no right to take fish within three marine -miles of the shore of a British province, or within three miles of a -line drawn from headland to headland across bays. Canadians in American -bottoms were especially expert in evading this law. - -Perry found the American fishermen were intelligent and understood the -treaty, but he thought that the Canadian government was too severe upon -them. About 2500 vessels and 27,500 men from our ports took part in the -hazardous occupation, “thus furnishing,” said the Commodore, “a nursery -for seamen, of inestimable advantage to the maritime interests of the -nation.” Added to the force employed in whaling in the North Atlantic, -there were thirty thousand men, mostly native Americans, whose business -was with salt-water fish and mammals. At one point he saw a fleet of -five hundred sail of mackerel fishers. - -This diplomatic voyage revealed both the dangers and pathos of the -sailor-fisherman’s life. No class of men engaged in any industry are -subjected to such sufferings, privations and perils. Their own name for -the fishing grounds is “The Graveyard.” - -The commercial and naval success of this country is largely the result -of the enterprise and seamanship shown in the whaling fisheries. These -nurseries of the American navy had enabled the United States in two wars -to achieve on the seas so many triumphs over Great Britain. By the same -agencies, Perry hoped to see his country become the greatest commercial -rival of Great Britain. This could be done by looking to the quality of -the common sailor, and maintaining the standard of 1812. For such -reasons, if for no others, the fisheries should be encouraged. - -Perry came to adjust amicably the respective rights of both British and -American seamen. He warned his countrymen against encroaching upon the -limits prescribed by the convention of 1818, but at the same time he -would protect American vessels from visitation or interference at points -left in doubt. His mission had a happy consummation. The wholesome -effect of the _Mississippi’s_ visit paved the way for the reciprocity -treaty between Canada and the United States, negotiated at Washington -soon after by Sir Ambrose Shea, and signed June 5th, 1854. The entrance -of Mr. Kennedy in the cabinet was thus made both successful and -brilliant by Commodore Perry. The “hiatus secretary” bridged the gulf of -war with the firm arch of peace. The reciprocity treaty lasted twelve -years, when the irrepressible root of bitterness again sprouted. Despite -diplomacy, correspondence, treaties, and Joint High Commissions, still, -at this writing, in 1887, it vexes the peace of two nations. The axe is -not yet laid at the root of the trouble. - -John P. Kennedy, another of the able literary men who have filled the -chair of secretary of the navy, was an ardent advocate of exploration -and peaceful diplomacy. He was heartily in favor of the Japan -expedition. Perry trusted in him so fully that, at last, tired of -innumerable delays, having made profound study of the problem and -elaborated details of preparation, he determined on his return from -Newfoundland, September 15th, to sail in a few weeks in the -_Mississippi_, relying upon the Secretary’s word that other vessels -would be hurried forward with despatch. - -Repairing to Washington, the Commodore had long and earnest interviews -with the Secretaries of the State and Navy. Things were now beginning to -assume an air of readiness, yet his instructions, from the State -department, had not yet been prepared. Mr. Webster at this time was only -nominally holding office in the vain hope of recovery to health after a -fall from his horse. Perry, seeing his condition, and fearing further -delays, asked of Mr. Webster, through General James Watson Webb, -permission to write his own instructions. - -We must tell the story in General Webb’s own words as found in _The New -York Courier and Inquirer_, and as we heard them reiterated by him in a -personal interview shortly before his death:— - -“In the last of those interviews when we were desired by Perry to urge -certain matters which he thought should be embraced in his instructions, -Mr. Webster, with that wisdom and foresight and knowledge, for which he -was so eminently the superior of ordinary men, remarked as follows: - -‘The success of this expedition depends solely upon whether it is in the -hands of the right man. It originated with him, and he of all others -knows best how it is to be successfully carried into effect. And if this -be so, he is the proper person to draft his instructions. Let him go to -work, therefore, and prepare instructions for himself, let them be very -brief, and if they do not contain some very exceptionable matter, he may -rest assured they will not be changed. It is so important that if the -expedition sail it should be successful, and to ensure success its -commander should not be trammeled with superfluous or minute -instructions.’ We reported accordingly, and thereupon Commodore Perry, -as we can vouch, for we were present, prepared the original draft of his -instructions under which he sailed for Japan.” - -Mr. Webster’s successor and intimate personal friend, Edward Everett, -simply carried out the wishes of his predecessor and made no alteration -in the instructions to Perry. He, however, indited a new letter to the -“Emperor,” which is only an expansion of the Websterian original. -Everett’s “effort” differed from Daniel Webster’s letter, very much as -the orator’s elaboration on a certain battle-field differed from -Lincoln’s simple speech. At Gettysburg the one had the lamp, the other -had immortality in it. - -The Japan document was superbly engrossed and enclosed in a gold box -which cost one thousand dollars. - -The _Princeton_, a new screw sloop-of-war had been promised to him many -months before, but the autumn was well advanced before her hull, empty -of machinery and towed to New York, was visible. Captain Sydney Smith -Lee was to command her. In the _Mississippi_, Perry towed her to -Baltimore. Then began another of those exasperating stages of suspense -and delay to which naval men are called, and to endure which seems to be -the special cross of the profession. Waiting until November, as eagerly -as a blockader waits for an expected prize from port, he wrote to his -old comrade, Joshua R. Sands:— - - “I am desirous of having you again under my command, and always - have been, but until now no good opportunity has occurred - consistently with promises I had made to Buchanan, Lee, and - Adams. - - “The _Macedonian_ and _Alleghany_ will soon have commanders - appointed to them. For myself I would prefer the _Alleghany_, as - from her being a steamer she will have a better chance for - distinction, and I want a dasher like yourself in her. - - “Rather than have inconvenient delay on account of men, I would - prefer that you take an over-proportion of young American - landsmen who would in a very short time become more effective - men in a steamer than middle-aged seamen of questionable - constitutions.” - -Commander Sands was eventually unable to go with Perry to Japan; but -afterwards, in his eighty-ninth year the Rear-Admiral, then the oldest -living officer of the navy, in a long letter to the writer gleefully -calls attention to Perry’s trust in young American landsmen. The -_Princeton_ was finally extricated, and with the _Mississippi_ moved -down the Chesapeake. Before leaving Annapolis, a grand farewell -reception was held on the flag-ship’s spacious deck. The President, Mr. -Fillmore, Secretary Kennedy, and a brilliant throng of people bade the -Commodore and officers farewell. - -The _Mississippi_ and the _Princeton_ then steamed down the bay -together, when the discovery was made of the entire unfitness of the -screw steamer to make the voyage. Her machinery failed utterly, and at -Norfolk, the _Powhatan_, which had just arrived from the West Indies, -was substituted in her place. The precedent of building only the best -steamers, on the best models, and of the best materials, set by Perry in -the _Mississippi_ and _Missouri_, had not been followed, and -disappointment was the result. The _Princeton_ never did get to sea. She -was a miserable failure in every respect, and was finally sent to -Philadelphia to end her days as a receiving-ship. - -On the evening before the day the Commodore left to go on board his ship -then lying at Hampton Roads, a banquet was tendered him by a club of -gentlemen who then occupied a house on G street, west of the War -Department, now much modernized and used as the office of the Signal -corps. - -There were present at this banquet, as invited guests, Commodore M. C. -Perry, Lieutenant John Contee, and a few other officers of the -Commodore’s staff, Edward Everett, Hon. John P. Kennedy—“Horseshoe -Robinson,” the “hiatus Secretary” of the navy—Col. W. W. Seaton, the -Hon. Alexander H. H. Stuart, Mr. Badger, senator from North Carolina, -John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, Jefferson Davis, the Honorables Beverly -Tucker, Phillip T. Ellicot, Theodore Kane, Johnson, Addison, and Horace -Capron afterwards general of cavalry, and Commissioner of Agriculture at -Washington, and in the service of the Mikado’s government from 1871 to -1874, making in all a party of about twenty-four. The dinner was served -by Wormley, the famous colored caterer. - -General Capron says in a letter dated September 13th, 1883: - - “I can only state the impressions made upon my mind by that - gathering, and the clear and well-defined plans of the - Commodore’s proposed operations which were brought out in - response to the various queries. It was apparent that all - present were well convinced that the Commodore fully - comprehended the difficulties and the delicate character of the - work before him. . . . I am bound to say that to my mind it is - clear that no power but that of the Almighty Disposer of all - things could have guided our rulers in the selection of a man - for this most important work.” - -Perry’s written instructions were to fulfil the unexecuted orders given -to Commodore Aulick, to assist as far as possible the American minister -in China in prosecuting the claims of Americans upon the government of -Pekin, to explore the coasts, make pictures and obtain all possible -hydrographic and other information concerning the countries to be -visited. No letters were to be written from the ships of the squadron to -the newspapers, and all journals kept by officers or men were to be the -property of the navy Department. The Secretary, in his final letter, -said:— - - “In prosecuting the objects of your mission to Japan you are - invested with large discretionary powers, and you are authorized - to employ dispatch vessels, interpreters, Kroomen, or natives, - and all other means which you may deem necessary to enable you - to bring about the desired results. - - “Tendering you my best wishes for a successful cruise, and a - safe return to your country and friends for yourself, officers - and companies of your ships, - - “I am, etc., - “JOHN P. KENNEDY.” - -From its origin, the nature of the mission was “essentially executive,” -and therefore pacific, as the President had no power to declare war. Yet -the show of force was relied on as more likely, than anything else, to -weigh with the Japanese. Perry believed in the policy of Commodore -Patterson at Naples in 1832, where the pockets of recalcitrant debtors -were influenced through sight and the imagination. - -The British felt a keen and jealous interest in the expedition. _The -Times_, which usually reflects the average Briton’s opinion as -faithfully as a burnished mirror the charms of a Japanese damsel, -said:—“It was to be doubted whether the Emperor of Japan would receive -Commodore Perry with most indignation or most contempt.” Japanese -treachery was feared, and while one editorial oracle most seriously -declared that “the Americans must not leave their wooden walls,” Punch -insisted that “Perry must open the Japanese ports, even if he has to -open his own.” Sydney Smith had said, “I am for bombarding all the -exclusive Asiatics, who shut up the earth and will not let me walk -civilly through it, doing no harm and paying for all I want.” The ideal -of a wooer of the Japanese Thornrose, according to another, was that no -blustering bully or roaring Commodore would succeed. “Our embassador -should be one who, with the winning manner of a Jesuit, unites the -simplicity of soul and straightforwardness of a Stoic.” - -Providence timed the sailing of the American Expedition and the advent -of the ruler of New Japan so that they should occur well nigh -simultaneously. The first circumnavigation of the globe by a steam war -vessel of the United States began when Matthew Perry left Norfolk, -November 24th, 1852 three weeks after the birth in Kiōto of Mutsŭhito, -the 123d, and now reigning Mikado of “Everlasting Great Japan.” - -Perry had remained long enough to learn the result of the national -election, and the choice of his old friend Franklin Pierce to the -Presidency. Tired of delay, he sailed with the _Mississippi_ alone. At -Funchal the Commodore made official calls in the fashionable conveyance -of the place, a sled drawn by oxen, and laid in supplies of beef and -coal. The incidents on the way out, and of the stops made at Madeira, -St. Helena, Cape Town, Mauritius, Ceylon and Singapore, have been -described by himself, in his official narrative, and by his critic J. W. -Spalding,[25] a clerk on the flag-ship. Anchor was cast off Hong Kong on -the 6th of April, where the _Plymouth_, _Saratoga_, and _Supply_, were -met. The next day was devoted to the burning of powder in salutes, and -to the exchange of courtesies. Shanghai was reached May 4th. Here, -Bayard Taylor, the “landscape painter in words,” joined the expedition -as master’s mate. The Commodore’s flag was transferred to the -_Susquehanna_ on the 17th. - -[Illustration: PERRY MAKING OFFICIAL CALLS IN FUNCHAL.] - -The low, level and monotonous and uninteresting shores of China were -left behind on the 23d, and on the 26th, the bold, variegated and rocky -outlines of Riu Kiu rose into view. An impressive reception, with full -military and musical honors, was given on the third, to the regent and -his staff on the _Susquehanna_. The climax of all was the interview in -the cabin. In lone dignity, the Commodore gave the Japanese the first -taste of the mystery-play in which they had thus far so excelled, and in -which they were now to be outdone. Perry could equal in pomp and dignity -either Mikado or Shō-gun when he chose. He notified the grand old -gentleman that, during the following week, he would pay a visit to the -palace at Shuri. Despite all objections and excuses, the Commodore -persisted, as his whole diplomatic policy was to be firm, take no steps -backward, and stick to the truth in everything. His open frankness -helped by its first blows to shatter down that system of lying, -deception, and espionage, under which the national character had decayed -during the rule of the Tokugawas. - -On the 9th of June, with the _Susquehanna_ having the _Saratoga_ in tow, -the Commodore set out northwards for a visit to the Ogasawara or Bonin -islands, first explored by the Japanese in 1675, and variously visited -and named by European navigators. Captain Reuben Coffin of Nantucket, in -the ship _Transit_, from Bristol, owned by Fisher, Kidd and Fisher, -landed on the southern or “mother” island September 12th, in 1824, -fixing also its position and giving it his name. British and Russian -captains followed his example, and also nailed inscribed sheets of -copper sheathing to trees in token of claims made. “Under the auspices -of the Union Jack” a motley colony of twenty persons of five -nationalities settled Peel island, one of the group, in 1830. Perry -found eight whites, cultivating nearly one hundred acres of land, who -sold fresh supplies to whalers. The head of the community was Nathanael -Savory of Massachusetts. Perry left cattle, sheep, and goods, seeds and -supplies and an American flag. He arrived at Napa again June 23d, and -the 2d of July, 1853, the expedition left for the Bay of Yedo. Many and -unforeseen delays had hindered the Commodore, and now that he was at the -doors of the empire, how different was fulfilment from promise! Over and -over again “an imposing squadron” of twelve vessels had been promised -him, and now he had but two steamers and two sloops. Uncertain when the -other vessels might appear, he determined to begin with the force in -hand. The _Supply_ left behind, and the _Caprice_ sent back to Shanghai, -he had but the _Mississippi_, _Susquehanna_, _Plymouth_ and _Saratoga_. - -The promontory of Idzu loomed into view on the hazy morning of the 7th, -and Rock island—now crowned by a lighthouse, and connected by telephone -with the shore and with Yokohama, but then bare—was passed. Cape Sagami -was reached at noon, and at 3 o’clock the ships had begun to get within -range of the forts that crowned or ridged the headlands of the -promontory. The weather cleared and the cone of Fuji, in a blaze of -glory, rose peerless to the skies. - -Cautiously the ships rounded the cape, when from one of the forts there -rose in the air a rocket-signal. “Japanese day fire-works” are now -common enough at Coney Island. Made of gunpowder and wolf dung, they are -fired out of upright bamboo-bound howitzers made of stout tree trunks. -The “shell” exploded high in air forming a cloud of floating dust. The -black picture stained the sky for several minutes. It was a signal to -the army lying in the ravines, and a notice, repeated at intervals, to -the court at Yedo. The expected Perry had “sailed into the Sea of Sagami -and into Japanese history.” - -In the afternoon, the first steamers ever seen in Japanese waters, -dropped anchor off Uraga. As previously ordered, by diagram of the -Commodore, the ships formed a line broadside to the shore. The ports -were opened, and the loaded guns run out. Every precaution was taken to -guard against surprise from boats, by fire-junks, or whatever native -ingenuity should devise against the big “black ships.” - -The first signal made from the flag-ship was this, “Have no -communication with the shore, have none from the shore.” The night -passed quietly and without alarms. Only the boom of the temple bells, -the glare of the camp-fires, and the dancing of lantern lights told of -life on the near land. This is the view from the American decks. Let us -now picture the scene from the shore, as native eyes saw it. - ------ - -[25] The Japan Expedition, New York, 1855 - - - - - CHAPTER XXX. - THE FIRE-VESSELS OF THE WESTERN BARBARIANS. - - -AMONG the many names of their beautiful country, the Japanese loved none -more than that of “Land of Great Peace,”—a breath of grateful repose -after centuries of war. The genius of Iyéyasŭ had, in the seventeenth -century, won rest, and nearly a quarter of a millennium of quiet -followed. The fields trampled down by the hoof of the war-horse and the -sandal of the warrior had been re-planted, the sluices and terraces -repaired, and seed time and harvest passed in unintermitting succession. -The merchant bought and sold, laid up tall piles of gold kobans, and -thanked Daikokŭ and Amida for the blessings of wealth and peace. The -shop keeper held a balance of two hundred _rios_ against the day of -devouring fire or wasting sickness, or as a remainder for his children -after the expenses of his funeral. The artisan toiled in sunny content, -and at daily prayer, thanked the gods that he was able to rear his -family in peace. Art and literature flourished. The samurai, having no -more use for his sword, yet ever believing it to be “his soul,” wore it -as a memento of the past and guard for the future. He lounged in the -tea-houses disporting with the pretty girls; or if of studious tastes, -he fed his mind, and fired his heart with the glories of Old Japan. As -for the daimiōs, they filled up the measure of their existence, -alternately at Yedo, and in their own dominions, with sensual luxury, -idle amusement, or empty pomp. All, all was profound peace. The arrows -rusted in the arsenals, or hung glittering in vain display, made into -screens or designs on the walls. The spears stood useless on their butts -in the vestibules, or hung in racks over the doors hooded in black -cloth. The match-locks were bundled away as curious relics of war long -distant, and for ever passed away. The rusty cannon lay unmounted in the -castle yards, where the snakes and the rats made nests and led forth -their troops of young for generations. - -Upon this scene of calm—the calm of despotism—broke the vision of “the -black ships at Uraga.” At this village, long noted for its _Midzu-amé_ -or rice-honey, the Japanese were to have their first taste of modern -civilization. Its name, given nine, perhaps eleven centuries before, was -auspicious, though they knew it not. The Chinese characters, sounded -Ura-ga, mean “Coast Congratulation.” At first a name of foreboding, it -was to become a word of good cheer! - -“The fire-vessels of the western barbarians are coming to defile the -Holy Country,” said priest and soldier to each other on the afternoon of -the third day of the sixth month of Kayéi, in the reign of the Emperor -Koméi. The boatman at his sculls and the junk sailor at the tiller gazed -in wonder at the painted ships of the western world. The farmer, -standing knee deep in the ooze of the rice fields, paused to gaze, -wondering whether the barbarians had harnessed volcanoes. With wind -blowing in their teeth and sails furled, the monsters curled the white -foam at their front, while their black throats vomited sparks and smoke. -To the gazers at a distance, as they looked from their village on the -hill tops, the whole scene seemed a mirage created, according to their -childhood’s belief, by the breath of clams. The Land of Great Peace lay -in sunny splendor. The glorious cone of Fuji capped with fleecy clouds -of white, never looked more lovely. Even the great American admiral must -surely admire the peerless mountain.[26] The soldiers in the fort on the -headlands, obeying orders, would forbear to fire lest the fierce -barbarians should begin war at once. The rocket signal would alarm great -Yedo. The governor at Uraga would order the foreigners to Nagasaki. -Would they obey? The bluff whence the _Morrison_ had been fired upon -years before, once rounded, would the barbarians proceed further up the -bay? Suspense was short. The great splashing of the wheels ceased. As -the imposing line lay within an arrow’s range, off the shore, the -rattling of the anchor-chains was heard even on land. The flukes gripped -bottom at the hour of the cock (5 P. M.) - -The yakunin or public business men of Uraga had other work to do that -day than to smoke, drink tea, lounge on their mats, or to collect the -customs from junks bound to Yedo. As soon as the ships were sighted, the -buniō, his interpreter, and satellites, donned their ceremonial dress of -hempen cloth and their lacquered hats emblazoned with the Tokugawa -trefoil, thrust their two swords in their belts, their feet in their -sandals, and hied to the water’s edge. Their official barge propelled by -twelve scullsmen shot out to the nearest vessel. By their orders a -cordon of boats provisioned for a stay on the water was drawn around the -fleet; but the crews, to their surprise could not fasten their lines to -the ships nor climb up on board. The “hairy barbarians,” as was not the -case with previous visitors, impolitely pitched off their ropes, and -with cocked muskets and fixed bayonets really threatened to use the ugly -tools if intruders mounted by the chains. A great many _naru hodo_ (the -equivalent of “Well I never!” “Is it possible?” “Indeed!”) were -ejaculated in consequence. - -Mr. Nakashima Saburosŭké (or, in English, Mr. Middle Island, Darling No. -3) vice-governor, and an officer of the seventh or eighth rank, was -amazed to find that even he, a yakunin and dressed in _kami-shimo_ -uniform, his boat flying the governor’s pennant, and his bearers holding -spears and the Tokugawa trefoil flag, could not get on board. The -_i-jin_ (outlanders) did not even let down their gangway ladder, when -motioned to do so. This was cause for another official _naru hodo_. The -barbarians wished to confer with the governor himself. Only when told -that the law forbade that functionary from boarding foreign ships, did -they allow Mr. Nakashima and his interpreter Hori Tatsunosūké (Mr. Conch -Dragon-darling,) to board. Even then, he was not allowed to see the -grand high yakunin of the fleet, the Commodore, who was showing himself -master of Japanese tactics. - -Perry was playing Mikado. The cabin was the abode of His High Mighty -Mysteriousness. He was for the time being Kin-réi, Lord of the Forbidden -Interior. He was Tennō, (son of the skies) and Tycoon (generalissimo) -rolled into one. His Lieutenant Contee acted as Nai-Dai-Jin, or Great -Man of the Inner Palace. A tensō, or middle man, secretary or clerk, -carried messages to and fro from the cabin, but the child of the gods -with the topknot and two swords knew it not. Since the hermits of Japan -were not familiar [with] the rank of Commodore, but only of Admiral, -this title came at once and henceforth into use. The old proverb -concerning the prophet and his honors abroad found new illustration in -all the negotiations, and Perry enjoyed more fame at the ends of the -earth than at home. - -Mr. Nakashima Saburosŭké was told the objects for which the invisible -Admiral came. He had been sent by the President of the United States on -a friendly mission. He had a letter addressed to “the emperor.” He -wished an officer of proper rank to be chosen to receive a copy, and -appoint a day for the momentous act of accepting with all the pomp and -ceremony and circumstance, so august a document from so mighty a ruler, -of so great a power. The Admiral would _not_ go to Nagasaki. With -imperturbable gravity of countenance, but with many mental _naru hodo_, -the dazed native listened. The letter must be received where he then -was. - -Further, while the intentions of the admiral were perfectly friendly, he -would allow of no indignity. If the guard-boats were not _immediately_ -removed, they would be dispersed by force. Anxious above all things to -preserve peace with the _i-jin_ or barbarians, the functionary of Uraga -rose immediately, and ordered the punts, sampans and guard-boats away. - -This, the first and master move of the mysterious and inaccessible -Commodore in the game of diplomacy, practiced with the Riu Kiu regent -was repeated in Yedo Bay. The foiled yakunin, clothed with only a shred -of authority, could promise nothing, and went ashore. There is scarcely -a doubt that he ate less rice and fish that evening. Perhaps he left his -bowl of _miso_ (bean-sauce) untasted, his _shiru_ (fish soup) unsipped. -The probabilities approach certainty that he smoked a double quota of -pipes of tobacco. A “hairy” barbarian had snubbed a yakunin. Naruhodo! - -Darkness fell upon the rice fields and thatched dwellings. The blue -waters were spotted with millions of white jelly-fishes looking as -though as many plates of white porcelain were floating submerged in a -medium of their own density. Within the temples on shore, anxious -congregations gathered to supplicate the gods to raise tempests of wind -such as centuries ago swept away the Mongol armada and invaders. The -“divine breath” had wrought wonders before, why not now also? - -Indoors, dusty images and holy pictures were cleansed, the household -shrines renovated, fresh oil supplied to the lamps, numerous candles -provided, and prayers uttered such as father and mother had long since -ceased to offer. The gods were punishing the people for neglect of their -altars and for their wickedness, by sending the “ugly barbarians” to -destroy their “holy country.” Rockets were shot up from the forts, and -alarm fires blazed on the headlands. These were repeated on the hills, -and told with almost telegraphic rapidity the story of danger far -inland. The boom of the temple bells, and the sharp strokes on those of -the fire-lookouts, kept up the ominous sounds and spread the news. - -For several years past unusual portents had been seen in the heavens, -but that night a spectacle of singular majesty and awful interest -appeared. At midnight the whole sky was overspread with a luminous blue -and reddish tint, as though a flaming white dragon were shedding floods -of violet sulphurous light on land and sea. Lasting nearly four hours, -it suffused the whole atmosphere, and cast its spectral glare upon the -foreign ships, making hull, rigging and masts as frightfully bright as -the Taira ghosts on the sea of Nagatō. Men now living remember that -awful night with awe, and not a few in their anxiety sat watching -through the hours of darkness until, though the day was breaking, the -landscape faded from view in the gathering mist. - -The morning dawned. The barbarians had remained tranquil during the -night. The unhappy yakunin probably forgot the lie[27] he had told the -day before, for at 7 o’clock by the foreigners’ time, the governor -himself, Kayama Yézayémon, with his satellites arrived off the -flag-ship. Its name, the _Susquehanna_, struck their fancy pleasantly, -because the sound resembled those of “bamboo” (suzuki) and “flower” -(hana). The grand dignitary of Uraga in all the glory of embroidery, -gilt brocade, swords, and lacquered helmet with padded chin straps, -ascended the gangway as if climbing to the galleries of a wrestling -show. Alas, that the barbarians, who did not even hold their breath, -should be so little impressed by this living museum of decorative art. -There was not one of them that fell upon his hands and knees. Not one -Jack Tar swabbed the deck with his forehead. Some secretly snickered at -the bare brown legs partly exposed between the petticoat and the blue -socks. This buniō in whose very name are reflected the faded glories of -the old imperial palace guard in medieval Kiōto, was accustomed to ride -in splendid apparel on a steed emblazoned with crests, trappings and -tassels, its mane in pompons, and its tail encased, like an umbrella, in -a silk bag. His attendant outwalkers moved between rows of prone palms -and faces, and of upturned top-knots and shining pates. Now, he felt ill -at ease in simple sandals on the deck of a mighty ship. The “hairy -foreigners” were taller than he, notwithstanding his lacquered helmet. -In spite of silk trousers, and rank one notch higher than the official -of yesterday, he was unable to hold personal intercourse with the Lord -of the Forbidden Interior. The American Tycoon could not be seen. The -buniō met only the San Dai Jin, Captains Buchanan and Adams, and -Lieutenant Contee. A long discussion resulted in the unalterable -declaration that the Admiral would NOT _go to Nagasaki_. He would _not_ -wait _four_ days for an answer from Yedo, but only _three_. The survey -boats _would_ survey the waters of the bay. - -“His Excellency” (!) the buniō was shown the varnish and key hole of the -magnificent caskets containing the letters from the great ruler of the -United States. Eve did not eye the forbidden fruit of the tree of -knowledge of good and evil with more consuming curiosity, than did that -son of an inquisitive race ogle the glittering mysterious box. It was -not for him to know the contents. He was moved to offer food and water. -With torturing politeness, the “hairy faces” declined. They had enough -of everything. The ugly barbarians even demanded that the same term of -respect should be applied to their President as that given to the great -and mighty figure-head at Yedo. This came near being a genuine comedy of -Much Ado about Nothing, since one of the Tycoon’s titles expressed, in -English print was “O.” - -In spite of the rising gorge and other choking sensations, the -republican president was dubbed Dairi. The buniō of Uraga was told that -further discussion was unnecessary, until an answer was received. No -number of silent volleys of “_naru hodo_” (indeed) “_tai-hen_” (hey yo) -or “_dekinai_” (cannot) could possibly soothe the internal storm in the -breast of the snubbed buniō. He gathered himself up, and with bows -profound enough to make a right angle of legs and body, and much sucking -in of the breath _ad profundis_, said his “_sayonara_” (farewell) and -went ashore. - -The third day dawned, again to usher in fresh anomaly. The Americans -would transact no business on this day! Why? It was the Sabbath, for -rest and worship, honored by the “Admiral” from childhood in public as -well as private life. “Dōntaku” (Sunday,) the interpreter told the -buniō. With the aid of glasses from the bluffs on shore, they saw the -_Mississippi’s_ capstan wreathed with a flag, a big book laid thereon, -and smaller books handed round. One, in a gown, lowered his head; all -listening did likewise. Then all sang, the band lending its instrumental -aid to swell the volume of sound. The strains floated shoreward and were -heard. The music was “Old Hundred.” The hymn was “Before Jehovah’s awful -throne, Ye nations bow with sacred joy.” The open book on the capstan -was the Bible. In the afternoon, a visiting party of minor dignitaries -was denied admittance to the decks of the vessels; nor was this a mere -freak of Perry’s, but according to a habit and principle. - -This was the American rest-day, and Almighty God was here worshiped in -sight of His most glorious works. The Commodore was but carrying out a -habit formed at his mother’s knee, and never slighted at home or abroad. -To read daily the Bible, receiving it as the word of God, and to honor -Him by prayer and praise was the chief part of the “provision sufficient -to sustain the mind” so often recommended by him to officers and men. -“This was the only notable demonstration which he made before landing.” - -“Remarkable was this Sabbath morning salutation, in which an American -fleet, with such music as those hillsides never re-echoed before, -chanted the glories of Jehovah before the gates of a heathen nation. It -was a strange summons to the Japanese.” Its echoes are now heard in a -thousand glens and in the cities of the Mikado’s empire. The waters of -Yedo Bay have since become a baptismal flood. Where cannon was cast to -resist Perry now stands the Imperial Female Normal College. On the -treaty grounds rises the spire of a Christian church. - -Meanwhile, the erection of earth-works along the strand and on the -bluffs progressed. The farm laborers, the fishermen, palanquin-bearers, -pack-horse leaders, women and children were impressed into the work. -With hoe and spade, and baskets of rope matting slung from a pole borne -on the shoulders of two men, or each with divided load depending -scale-wise from one shoulder, receiving an iron cash at each passing of -the paymaster, they toiled day and night. Rude parapets of earth knit -together with grass were made and pierced with embrasures. These were -twice too wide for unwieldly, long, and ponderously heavy brass cannon -able to throw a three or six pound ball. The troops were clad in mail of -silk, iron and paper, a kind of war corset, for which rifle balls have -little respect. Their weapons were match-locks and spears. Their -evolutions were those of Taikō’s time, both on drill and parade. -Curtained camps sprung up, around which stretched impressive walls of -cotton cloth etched by the dyer’s mordant with colossal crests. These -were not to represent “sham forts, of striped canvas,” and thus to -frighten the invaders, as the latter supposed; but, according to -immemorial custom, to denote military business, and to display either -the insignia of the great Shō-gun or the particular clan to which a -certain garrison or detachment belonged. The political system headed by -the Tycoon, had to the Japanese mind nothing amusing in its name of -Bakafu or Curtain Government, though to the foreigner, suggestive of -Mrs. Caudle. It had, however, a certain hostile savor. It was a mild -protest against the camp over-awing the throne. It implied criticism of -the Shō-gun, and reverence to the Mikado. - -The names and titles which now desolated the air and suffered phonetic -wreck in collision with the vocal organs to which they were so strange, -furnish not only an interesting linguistic study, but were a mirror of -native history. The uncouth forms which they took upon the lips of the -latest visiting foreigners are hardly worse in the scholar’s eyes, than -the deviations which the Japanese themselves made from the Aino -aboriginal or imported Chinese forms. In its vocabulary the Japanese is -a very mixed language, and the majority of its so called elegant terms -of speech is but mispronounced Chinese. To the Americans, the name of -one of the interpreters seemed “compounded of two sneezes and a cough,” -though when analyzed into its component elements, it reflects the -changes in Japanese history as surely as fossils in the rocks reveal the -characteristics of bygone geological ages. In the old days of the -Mikado’s supremacy, in fact as well as in law, when he led his troops in -war, instead of being exiled in a palace; that is, before the thirteenth -century, both military and civil titles had a meaning. Names had a -reality behind them, and were symbols of a fact. A man with _kami_ -(lord) after his name was an actual governor of a province; one with -_mon_ terminating his patronymic was a member of the imperial guard, a -soldier or sentinel at the _Sayé mon_ (left gate) or _Uyé mon_ (right -gate) of the palace; a _Hei_ was a real soldier with a sword or arrow, -spear or armor. A _suké_ or a _jō a marō_ or a _himé_, a _kamon_ or a -_tono_ was a real deputy or superior, a prince or princess, a palace -functionary or a palace occupant of imperial blood. All this was changed -when, in the twelfth century, the authority was divided into civil and -military, and two capitals and centers of government, typified by the -Throne and the Camp, sprang up. The Mikado kept his seat, the prestige -of antiquity and divinity, and the fountain of authority at Kiōto, while -the Shō-gun or usurping general held the purse and the sword at -Kamakura. Gradually the Shō-gun (army-commander, general) usurped more -and more power, claiming it as necessary, and invariably obtaining new -leases of power until little was left to the Mikado but the shadow of -authority. The title of Tai-kun (“Tycoon”) meaning Great Prince, and the -equivalent of a former title of the Mikado was assumed. Next the -military rulers at Kamakura, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century -and in Yedo from the seventeenth century, controlled the appointments of -their nominees to office, and even compelled the Emperor to make certain -of them hereditary in elect families. The multitude of imperial titles, -once carrying with their conferment actual duties and incomes, and -theoretically functional in Kiōto became, as reality decayed, in the -higher grades empty honorifics of the Tycoon’s minions, and in the lower -were degraded to ordinary personal names of the agricultural gentry or -even common people. What was once an actual official title sunk to be a -mere final syllable in a name. - -The writer, when a resident in the Mikado’s empire, was accustomed to -address persons with most lofty, grandiloquent, and high flown names, -titles and decorative patronymics, in which the glories of decayed -imperialism and medieval history were reflected. His cook was an -Imperial Guardsman of the Left, his stable boy was a Regent of the -University, while not a few servants, mechanics, field hands and manure -carriers, were Lords of the Chamber, Promoters of Learning, -Superintendents of the Palace Gardens, or various high functionaries -with salary and office. Just as the decayed mythology and far off -history of the classic nations furnished names for the slaves in -Carolina cotton fields, in the days when Lempriêre was consulted for the -christening of newly born negro babies, so, the names borne by thousands -of Japanese to-day afford to the foreign analyst of words and to the -native scholar both amusement and reflection. To the Americans on -Perry’s fleet they furnished endless jest as phonetic and linguistic -curiosities. - ------ - -[26] A Japanese poet puts this stanza in the mouth of Perry; “Little did -I dream that I should here, after crossing the salty path, gaze upon the -snow-capped Fuji of this land.” - -[27] “M—— Y—— is at Shimoda, and has not forgotten the art of -lying.” Townsend Harris to Perry, October 27, 1857. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI. - PANIC IN YEDO. RECEPTION OF THE PRESIDENT’S LETTER. - - -OPENING upon the beautiful bay (_yé_), like a door (_do_), the great -city in the Kuantō, or Broad East of Japan, was well-named Bay-door, or -Yedo. Founded as a military stronghold tributary to the Shō-gun at -Kamakura in the fourteenth century, by Ota Dō Kuan, it was made in 1603 -the seat of the government by Iyéyasŭ. This man, mighty both in war and -in peace, and probably Japan’s greatest statesman, made the little -village a mighty city, and founded the line of Shō-guns of the Tokugawa -family, which ruled in the person of fifteen Tycoons until 1868. To the -twelfth of the line Iyéyoshi, President Fillmore’s letter was to be -delivered, and with the thirteenth, Iyésada, the American treaty made. -The Americans dubbed each “Emperor”! - -Yedo’s chief history and glory are associated with the fortunes of the -Tokugawas. It had reached the zenith of its greatness when Perry’s ships -entered the bay. Its palaces, castles, temples, and towers were then in -splendor never attained before or beheld in Japan since. It was the -centre of wealth, learning, art and gay life. Its population numbered -one million two hundred thousand souls, of whom were five hundred -thousand of the military class. - -Upon this mass of humanity the effect of the news of “black ships” at -their very doors was startling. All Yedo was soon in a frightful state -of commotion. With alarmed faces the people thronged to the shrines to -pray, or hastily packed their valuables, to bury or send off to the -houses of distant friends. In the southern suburbs thousands of houses -were emptied of their contents and of the sick and aged. Many who could, -left their homes to go and dwell with relatives in the country. Couriers -on horseback had first brought details of the news by land. Junks and -scull-boats from Uraga arrived hourly at Shinagawa, and foot-runners -bearing dispatches panted in the government offices. They gave full -descriptions of what had been said and done, the number, shape and size -of the vessels, and in addition to verbal and written statements, showed -drawings of the black ships and of the small boats manned by the -sailors. It was no clam’s-breath mirage this time. The rumor so often -pooh-poohed had turned to reality.[28] - -The samurai went to their _kura_ (fire proof storehouses) and unpacked -their armor to repair and furbish, and to see if they could breathe, as -they certainly could perspire in it, and brandish a sword with both -hands, when fully laced up. They scoured the rust off their spears, -whetted and feathered their arrows, and restrapped their quivers upon -which the moths had long feasted. The women rehemmed or ironed out flags -and pennants. Intense activity prevailed on the drill grounds and -matchlock ranges. New earth-banks for targets were erected. Vast -quantities of powder were burned in practice. It was the harvest time of -the priests, the armorers, the sword-makers, and the manufacturers of -oiled paper coats, leggings, hats and sandals, so much needed in that -rainy climate during camp-life. The drug business boomed with activity, -for the hastily gathered and unseasoned soldiers lying under arms in -camp suffered from all sorts of maladies arising from exposure. - -Hokŭsai, whose merciless caricatures of carpet soldiers once made all -Japan laugh, and who had died four years before with the snows of nearly -ninety years upon his head, was not there to see the fun. His pupils, -however, put the humor of the situation on paper; and caricatures, -lampoons and jokes directed against these sons of luxury in camp were -numerous, and after the departure of the ships they found ready sale. - -One enterprising merchant and ship owner in Yedo had, months before -Perry arrived, made a fortune by speculating in oiled paper, buying up -all he could lay his hands upon, making water-proof garments and selling -at high prices. Indiscreetly exulting over his doings, he gave a feast -to his many friends whom his sudden wealth had made. The two proverbs -“_In vino veritas_,” and “Wine in, wit out,” kissed each other. Over his -merry cups he declared that “the vessels of the barbarians” had been -“the treasure-ships of the seven gods of happiness” to him. The -authorities got wind of the boast, and clapped the unlucky wight in -prison. He was charged with secretly trading with foreign countries. His -riches took wings and flew into the pockets of the yakunin and the -informer. While the American ships were at Napa he was beheaded. His -fate sobered other adventurous spirits, but did not injure business. - -The book-sellers and picture-shop keepers, who had sent artists down to -Uraga, also coined _kobans_ by selling “brocade pictures” or broadsides -bedizened with illustrations in color, of the floating monsters and the -tall man of strange garb, speech, tonsure, hirsute fashion, and shape of -eyes. Fans, gaily colored and depicting by text and drawing the wonders -that now thrilled the nation, were sent into the interior and sold by -thousands. The governor was compelled to issue proclamations to calm the -public alarm. - -Meanwhile, in the castle, the daimiōs were acquainted with the nature of -the despatches and the object of the American envoy. Discussion was -invited, but there was nothing to be said. Innumerable pipes were -smoked. Long hours were spent on the mats in sedentary recumbence on -knees and heels. Uncounted cups of tea were swilled. Incredible -indignation, impotent wrath and contempt were poured upon the ugly -barbarians, but still an answer to the unanswered question, “what was to -be done?” could not be deferred. This was the problem. - -They must first lie to the foreigners and make them believe that the -Shō-gun was a Tai-kun and had imperial power. This done, they would then -have the chronic task of articulating lie after lie to conceal from -prying eyes the truth that the Yedo government was a counterfeit and -subordinate. The Shō-gun was no emperor at all, and what would they do -if the hairy devils should take a notion to go to Kiōto? They could not -resist the big ships and men, and yet they knew not what demands the -greedy aliens would make. They had no splendid war vessels as in Taikō’s -time, when the keels of Japan ploughed every sea in Asia and carried -visitors to Mexico, to India, to the Phillipines. No more, as in -centuries ago, were their sailors the Northmen of the sea, able to make -even the coasts of China and Corea desolate, and able to hurl back the -Mongol armada of Kubhlai Khan. Then should the Americans land, and, by -dwelling in it, defile the Holy Country, the strain upon the government -to keep the foreigners within bounds and to hold in the Yedo cage the -turbulent daimiōs would be too great. Already many of the vassals of -Tokugawa were in incipient rebellion. If Japan were opened, they would -have a pretext for revolt, and would obey only the imperial court in -Kiōto. The very existence of the Tokugawa family would then be -jeoparded. If they made a treaty, the “mikado-reverencers” would defy -the compact, since they knew that the Tycoon was only a daimiō of low -rank with no right to sign. In vain had the official censors purged the -writings of historical scholars. Political truth was leaking out fast, -and men’s eyes were being opened. In vain were the prisons taxed to hold -in the whisperers, the thinkers, the map-makers, the men who believed -the country had fallen behind, and that only the Mikado restored to -ancient authority could effect improvement. - -Finally, two daimiōs were appointed to receive the letter. Orders were -given to the clans and coast daimiōs to guard the most important -strategic positions fronting the bay of Yedo, lest the foreigners should -proceed to acts of violence. Several thousands of troops were despatched -in junks to the earth forts along the bay of Yedo. - -Meanwhile Perry, the Lord of the Forbidden Interior, had allowed no -Japanese to gaze upon his face. The buniō had held several consultations -with the Admiral’s subordinates, had been shown the ship and -appointments, and had tasted the strangers’ diet. The barbarian pudding -was delicious. The liquors were superb. One glass of sugared brandy made -the whole western world kin. The icy armor of reserve was shuffled off. -The august functionary became jolly. “Naruhodo” and “tai-hen” dropped -from his lips like minted coins from a die. So happy and joyful was he, -that he forgot, while his veins were warm, that he had not gained a -single point, while the invisible Admiral had won all. - -A conference was arranged to be held at Kurihama (long-league strand), a -hamlet between Morrison Bluff and Uraga for July 13th. The minutest -details of etiquette were settled. The knowing subordinates, inspired by -His Inaccessibility in the cabin, solemnly weighed every feather-shred -of punctilio as in the balances of the universe. In humiliation and -abasement, Mr. Yézayémon regretted that upholstered arm-chairs and wines -and brandies could not be furnished their guests on the morrow. It was -no matter. The “Admiral” would sit like the dignitaries from Yedo; but, -as it ill befitted his Mysterious Augustness to be pulled very far in a -small boat, he would proceed in the steamers to a point opposite the -house of deliberation within range of his Paixhans. He would land with a -proper retinue of officers and soldiers. Possibly a Golownin mishap -might occur, and the Admiral wished to do nothing disagreeable. Even if -the government was perfectly sincere in intentions, the swiftness of -Japanese assassins was proverbial, and the _rō-nin_ (wave-man) was -ubiquitous. - -The day before, sawyers had been busy, boards and posts hauled, and all -night long the carpenters sent down from Yedo plied chisel and mallet, -hooked adze and saw. Mat sewers and binders, satin curtain hangers, and -official canvas-spreaders were busy as bees. Finally the last -parallelogram of straw was laid, the last screen arranged, the last silk -curtain hung. The retainers of Toda, Idzu no kami, the hatamoto, with -all his ancestral insignia of crests, scarlet pennants, spears, banners, -lanterns, umbrellas, and feudalistic trumpery were present. The -followers of Ito were there too, in lesser numbers. For hundreds of -yards stretched canvas imprinted with the Tokugawa blazon, a trefoil of -Asarum leaves. On the beach stood the armed soldiers of several clans, -while the still waters glittering in the beams of the unclouded sun were -gay with boats and fluttering pennants. - -In the matter of shine and dazzle the Japanese were actually outdone by -the Americans. - -The barbarian officers had curious looking golden adornments on their -shoulders, and pieces of metal called “buttons” on the front of their -coats. What passed the comprehension of the spectators, was that the -same curious ornaments were found at the back of their coats below the -hips. Why did they wear buttons behind? Instead of grand and imposing -_hakama_ (petticoat trousers) and flowing sleeves, they had on tight -blue garments. As the sailors rowed in utterly different style from the -natives, sitting back to the shore as they pulled, they presented a -strange spectacle. They made almost deafening and hideous noises with -brass tubes and drums, with which they seemed pleased. The native -scullers could have beaten the foreign rowers had the trial been one of -skill. The Uraga yakunin and Captain Buchanan led the van of boats. When -half way to the shore, thirteen red tongues flamed out like dragons, and -thirteen clouds of smoke like the breath of the mountain gods, leaped -out of the throats of the barbarian guns. - -Then, and then only, the High, Grand, and Mighty, Invisible and -Mysterious, Chief Barbarian, representative of the august potentate in -America, who had thus far augustly kept himself behind the curtain in -secrecy, revealed himself and stepped into his barge. The whole line -then moved to the beach. A few minutes later there were a thousand -scowls and curses, and clinching of fingers on sword-hilts, and vows of -revenge, as the soil of the holy country was defiled by the first -barbarian, Buchanan, who sprang ashore on the jetty hastily made of -straw rice bags filled with sand. - -Many a countryman in the crowds of spectators on the hills around, as he -saw the three hundred sailors, mariners, bandsmen and officers, went -home to tell his fellow-villagers of foreigners ten feet in stature, as -hairy in face as dogs, with polls on their crown as red as the shōjo (or -scarlet-headed demons), and of ships as big as mountains, having guns -that made heaven and earth crash together when they were fired. The -numbers as reported in the distant provinces ran into myriads. - -There was no one that gazed more upon Commodore Perry than Kazama -Yézayémon. He, the snubbed buniō, had waited through the minutes of the -hours of five days to see the mighty personage. With vast officiousness -he now led the way to the pavilion. Two gigantic tars carried the -American flag, and two boys the mysterious red box whose outside Kazama -had seen. Of majestic mien and portly form, tall, proud and stately, but -not hairy faced, “big as a wrestler, dignified as a kugé,” (court noble) -the august Commodore, already victor, advanced forward. On either side -as his guard, stalked a colossal _kurumbō_ (black man) armed to the -teeth. This sable pair, guarding the burly Commodore, like the Ni O (two -kings) of a temple portal, constituted one of the greatest curiosities -of the pageant. Many in the gazing crowds had never seen a white man; -but probably not one had ever looked upon a human being whose whole skin -was as black as the eyes of Fudō. Only in the theatre, when they had -seen the candle-holders with faces smeared with lamp black, had they -ever beheld aught like what now smote their eyes. - -The procession entered the pavilion with due pomp. The Japanese -officials were all dressed in kami-shimo (high and low) or ceremonial -winged dress of gold brocade. Toda, Idzu no kami, and Ito, Iwami no -kami, the two commissioners, sat on camp-stools. When all was ready, the -two boys advanced and delivered their charge to the blacks. These, -opening in succession the scarlet cloth envelope and the gold-hinged -rosewood boxes, with true African grace, displayed the letter written on -vellum bound in blue velvet, and the gold tasseled seals suspended with -silk thread. In perfect silence, they laid the documents on the -lacquered box brought from Yedo. It was like Guanzan handling the sacred -books. - -“The First Counsellor of the Empire,” as the Americans called Toda, -acknowledged in perfect silence receipt of the documents. The -interpreter who had been authorized by the “Emperor”—according to the -foreigners’ ideas—handed the receipt to the Commodore, who sat during -the ceremony. What little was spoken was in Dutch, chiefly between Perry -and the interpreters. The whole affair was like a “Quaker” meeting of -the traditional sort. The official reply read:— - -“The letter of the President of the United States of North America and -copy are hereby received and delivered to the Emperor. Many times it has -been communicated that business relating to foreign countries cannot be -transacted here in Uraga, but in Nagasaki. Now it has been observed that -the Admiral in his quality of embassador of the President would be -insulted by it; the justice of this has been acknowledged, consequently -the above mentioned letter is hereby received in opposition to the -Japanese law. Because this place is not designed to treat of anything -from foreigners, so neither can conference nor entertainment take place. -The letter being received, you will leave here.” - -The Commodore then gave notice that he would return “in the approaching -spring, probably in April or May.” This concluded the ceremonies of -reception, which lasted half an hour. With all due care and pomp the -Americans returned to their decks. That part of the Bay of Yedo fronting -Kurihama was named “Reception Bay,” as a certain headland was dubbed by -Perry himself Rubicon Point. - -The “black ships” remained in the bay eight days. Their boats were -busily employed in surveying the waters. Perry kept his men on ship’s -food, holding them all in leash, allowing no insults to the people, -receiving no gifts. In no instance was any Japanese molested or injured. -The Americans burned no houses, stole no valuables, outraged no women. -None was drunk. Not a single native was kicked, beaten, insulted or -robbed. One party landed, and actually showed a politeness that impelled -the people to set out refreshments of water, tea and peaches. These -“hairy” Americans were so kind and polite that they smoked friendly -pipes, showed the people their trinkets and watches, and even patiently -explained, in strange and unintelligible language, but with pantomimic -gesture, the uses of many things which drew forth volleys of _naru hodo! -kiréi! rippani! médzurashi! so désŭ, né!_ and many a characteristic -grimace, shrug and mutual nod from the light-hearted and impressible -people. - -All this was strange and unlooked-for. This was not the way the Russians -in Saghalin, nor the British sailors at Nagasaki, had acted. The people -began to think that probably the foreigners were not devils, but men -after all. Eyes were opened on both sides. - -More than one American made up his mind that the Japanese were not so -treacherous, murderous, or inhospitable as they had heard. The natives -began to believe that if the “hairy faces” were devils, they were of an -uncommonly fine species, in short as jolly as _tengus_ or spirits of the -sky. Strangely enough, the “hairy” foreigners were clean shaven. - -One authentic anecdote related by the Japanese is worth mentioning. At -the banquet given by the governor of Uraga, Perry tasted the _saké_ -served so plentifully at all entertainments, and asked what the cost or -price of the beverage might be. On being told, finding it exceedingly -cheap, the Commodore with a very serious face remarked to his host that -he feared it was highly injurious to the people to have so ridiculously -cheap an intoxicant produced in the country. All present were deeply -impressed with the Commodore’s remark. - -Despite the fact that the decoction of fermented rice, called _saké_, -which contains alcohol enough to easily intoxicate, and fusel oil -sufficient to quickly madden, was not _relatively_ as cheap as Perry -supposed, yet Japan’s curse for centuries has been cheap liquor. - -Another anecdote, less trustworthy, is preserved in a native book. The -time suits Shimoda, but other considerations point to Uraga or Yokohama. -The subjective element, probably predominates over historical fact. Some -enemy of Buddhism or its priests, some wit fond of sharp barbs, from a -Shintō quiver, probably, manufactured the story, which runs as -follows:— - -“When Perry came to Shimoda, he took a ramble through the town, and -happened to enter a monastery yard. It was in summer, and two bonzes -were taking a nap. Of course they were shaved as to their heads, and -their bodies were more than half uncovered. At first glance, Perry -thought that these shaven-pated and nude _savages_ were in an unseemly -act. ‘This is a savage land’, he said; and until he saw and talked with -the better representatives of Japan, he was of a mind to treat the -Japanese as he would the lowest African tribes.” - -Without a yard of canvas spread, the four ships moved rapidly out of the -Bay on the morning of March 17th. The promontory of Uraga was black with -spectators who watched that stately procession whose motor was the child -born of wedded fire and water. - -Japan now gave herself up to reflection. - ------ - -[28] Ota Dō Kuan the founder of Yedo (Gate of the Bay) in the fifteenth -century, wrote in the summer-house of his castle a poem, said to have -been extant in 1854, and to have been pointed out as fulfilled by Perry: - - “To my gate ships will come from the far East, - Ten thousand miles.” - —Dixon’s _Japan_, p. 218. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXII. - JAPANESE PREPARATIONS FOR TREATY-MAKING. - - -THE _Mississippi_ touching at Napa, found there the _Supply_, and met -the _Vandalia_ on the way to Hong Kong, where the Commodore arrived on -the 7th of August. The _Powhatan_ returned from a futile visit to Riu -Kiu on the 25th. To protect American lives and property against the -imminent dangers of the Tai-ping rebellion, the _Supply_ was sent to -Canton and the _Mississippi_ anchored off Whampoa. The remainder of the -squadron was ordered to Cum-sing-moon, between Macao and Hong Kong, -where the machinery which sadly needed repair was refitted. - -Having thus disposed of his force, the Commodore, in order to arrange -the accumulated results of his voyage to Japan, took a house at Macao -for his own accommodation and that of the artists and surveying party. A -hospital, which was also established in the town, under the care of the -fleet surgeon, was soon full of fever patients; and an annex, in the -form of a cemetery, was found necessary. The Japan expedition left -American graves at Macao, Napa, Uraga, Yokohama, Shimoda, and Hakodaté. -Among the officers lost, was Lieutenant John Matthews drowned at the -Bonin islands. His name was given by Perry to a bay near Napa, which he -surveyed. His monument in Vale Cemetery at Schenectady, N. Y. was -erected by his fellow-officers of the Asiatic Squadron. - -The Commodore himself, worn-out by heavy and multifarious duties, was -finally prostrated by an attack of illness. Nevertheless the work of the -expedition suffered no remission. The making of charts, and the -completion of nearly two-hundred sketches and drawings, and the -arrangement and testing of the scientific apparatus which was to be -proved before the Japanese, were perfected. The daguerreotype, -talbotype, and magnetic telegraphic apparatus were especially kept in -working order. The Japanese from the first, as it proved, were mightily -impressed by these “spirit pictures,” into which as they believed, went -emitted particles of their actual souls. - -The lengthened stay of the Commodore at Macao enabled him to see the -places of interest and to study life in this old city, once so -prosperous; whence had sailed, three centuries before, in the Portuguese -galleons explorers, traffickers and missionaries to Japan. The opulent -American merchants of Canton made Macao their place of summer sojourn, -so that elegant society was not lacking. With the French commodore, -Montravel, whose fleet lay at anchor in the roadstead, and with -Portuguese whom he had met in Africa, his intercourse was especially -pleasant. It had been the intention of the Commodore to wait until -spring before sailing north, but the suspicious movements of the French -and Russians, spoken of below, induced him to alter his plans. - -Towards the end of November, the French naval commander suddenly left -port under sealed orders. About the same time the Russian Admiral -Pontiatine in the _Pallas_ and with three other vessels lay at Shanghai, -having returned from Nagasaki. Suspecting that either or both the -Russians and French contemplated a visit to Yedo Bay, Perry became very -anxious for the arrival of the _Lexington_, which had more presents for -the Japanese on board. Rather than allow others to get advantage and -reap where he had sown, before he himself had thrust in the sickle, -Perry resolved to risk the exposure and inconvenience of a mid-winter -cruise to Japan, despite the stories told of fogs and storms on the -Japanese coast. The dangers of a winter sea-journey between the two -countries are portrayed, even in very ancient Chinese poetry. - -The object of the American mission had been reported at Kiōto, where it -created a profound impression and intense excitement. The first thing -done, and that within four days after Perry left, was to despatch a -messenger to the Shintō priests at the shrines of Isé to offer up -prayers for the peace of the Empire, and for the divine breath to sweep -away “the barbarians.” One week later, the Shō-gun Iyéyoshi died. He was -buried in Shiba in Yedo in a superb mausoleum among his ancestors, but -not until the 7th of September. - -At Yedo, the question of acceeding to the demand of the barbarians was -hotly debated. The daimiōs “nearly lost their hearts in consultation -that lasted day and night.” The Prince of Mito wanted to fight them. -“The officials knew it would be madness to resist an enemy with myriads -of men-of-war who could capture all their junks and blockade their -coasts.” The Shō-gun’s minister was Abé, Isé no Kami, the daimiō of -Bizen, who had married the adopted daughter of Echizen. He it was who -inspired the arguments of the government. He believed that as Japan was -behind the world in mechanical arts, it would be better to have -intercourse with foreigners, learn their drill and tactics, and thus -fight them with their own weapons. If the Japanese pleased, they might -then shut up their country or even go abroad to conquer other nations. -Others doubted the ability or willingness of many of the disaffected -class to fight for Tokugawa. - -The native historians tell us that “the Shō-gun Iyéyoshi, who had been -ill since the beginning of the summer, was rendered very anxious about -this sudden and pressing affair of the outer barbarians;” and, soon -after sickened and died. He was the father of twenty-five children, all -but four of whom had died in infancy. One of his daughters had married. -His death at this alarming crisis plunged his retainers in the deepest -grief. Iyésada, his seventh child, succeeded him as the thirteenth -Shō-gun of the Tokugawa line. - -Of this fact, Perry had received official notice from the Japanese -through the Dutch authorities. As the communication hinted that delay -was necessary on account of official mourning, Perry, instead of -cock-billing his yards, thought it a ruse, and delayed not a moment. - -Accordingly, on the 14th of January 1854, in the _Susquehanna_, with the -_Powhatan_ and _Mississippi_ towing the stores ships _Lexington_ and -_Southampton_, the Commodore left for Riu Kiu; the _Macedonian_ and -_Supply_ having gone on a few days before to join the _Vandalia_. The -_Plymouth_ and _Saratoga_ were to come later. The steamers arrived at -Napa, January 20th, and the Commodore thus paid his fourth visit to Riu -Kiu. - -The slow sailers were to be sent ahead to Yedo Bay, with one week’s -start. Captain Abbot in the _Macedonian_, in company with the -_Vandalia_, _Lexington_, and _Southampton_ set out northward on the 1st -of February. The Commodore followed on the 7th with the three steamers, -meeting the _Saratoga_ just outside. The _Supply_ with coal and live -stock from Shanghai, was to join the squadron in Yedo Bay. The promise -of an “imposing squadron of twelve vessels,” seemed about to be -fulfilled. - -In Yedo, the new Shō-gun Iyésada and his advisers had felt that -something must be done both in peaceful and warlike preparations. The -ex-daimiō of Mito, released from confinement, was appointed commissioner -of maritime defences. A series of forts was built on the shallow part of -the bay in front of Yedo, off Shinagawa its southern suburb. Thousands -of laborers were paid _isshiu_ (6¼ cts.) per day, and the coins minted -for that purpose are still called _dai-ba_ (fort, or fort money) by the -people around Shinagawa. They were creditably built of earth, and faced -with stone; but having no casements, would have illy defended the wooden -city from bombardment by Perry’s columbiads. A great number of cannon -were cast, and military preparations continued unceasingly. The expenses -were met by a levy on the people of Yedo and vicinity, and on the rich -merchants of Ozaka. - -The old edict of Iyéyasŭ concerning naval architecture was rescinded, -and permission was given to the daimiōs, to build large ships of war. -Their distinguishing flag was a red ball representing the sun on a white -ground. This was the origin of the present flag of Japan. The law of -1609 had commanded vessels of over five hundred koku (2,500 bushels, or -30,000 cubic feet capacity) to be burned, and none but small coasting -junks built. Orders were given to the Dutch to build a man-of-war, and -to import books on modern military science. A native who had learned -artillery from the Dutchmen at Nagasaki, was now released from the -prison, and was made musketry instructor. His method soon became -fashionable and he thus became the introducer of the European system of -warfare into Japan. Drilling, cannon-casting and fort-building were now -the rage. - -Yet in all this fuss and preparation, wise men saw only the fulfilment -on a national scale of their own old proverb. “On seeing the enemy, to -begin to whet arrows.” Belated war-preparations, when the enemy was at -their gates, seemed futile. On the 1st day of the 11th month (December -2d) a notification was issued, that “owing to want of military -efficiency, the Americans would, on their return, be dealt with -peaceably.” The salary of the governor of Uraga was raised. Very -significantly, at the end of the year, the old practice of Fumi-yé, or -trampling on the cross and Christian emblems, so long practiced at -Nagasaki, was abolished. Perry’s way was now clear, though he knew it -not. - -There was a native scholar in Yedo, a typical progressive Japanese of -this period, a student, through the medium of the Dutch language, of -European literature. Hearing of the order for a man-of-war and books -from Holland, he petitioned the government rather to send Japanese to -Europe to study the most important arts, and to assist in building and -working the ship. They would thus learn the art of navigation on the -voyage, and see the foreign countries. The authorities did not favor his -proposition. Yoshida Shoin, one of his former pupils, heard of his old -master’s plan, and resolved himself to make a sea-voyage. - -When Admiral Pontiatine with the Russian ships put in at Nagasaki in -September “to discuss the question of the northern boundary of the two -nations in Saghalin,” Yoshida bade his master good-bye, merely saying -that he was going on a visit to Nagasaki, but secretly intending to go -abroad. - -Sakuma, who divined his plan, gave him money for his expenses; and, -according to the custom of polite farewells, composed a stanza of -Chinese poetry in which he wished him a safe and pleasant journey. On -his arrival at Nagasaki, the ship had gone. He then returned to Yedo, -and Sakuma secretly told him how to set about getting passage on the -American vessels. We shall hear of Yoshida again. He and Sakuma were -typical men in a small, but soon to be triumphant, majority. - -As the time for Perry’s return was near at hand, the Bakafu chose -Hayashi, the chief Professor of the Chinese language and literature in -the Dai Gakkō (Great School, or University) to treat with Perry. As the -American interpreters were Chinese scholars, the documents, besides -those in the Dutch and English language for the benefit of Americans, -would be in the Chinese character for the benefit of the Japanese. -Hayashi was a man profoundly versed in Chinese learning, a pedant, and a -stickler for exact terms. He was also a most devotedly loyal retainer of -the house of Tokugawa. His rank was that of a Hatamoto (flag-bearer), -and his title Dai Gaku no Kami, or Regent of the University, (not -“Prince” of Dai Gaku.) He was of benevolent countenance, and courtly -manners, dignified presence. He had lived the life of a scholar, -expounding the classics of Confucius and Mencius, and was highly -respected at court for his vast learning. In brief, he was a typical -product, and one of the best specimens of Yedo culture in the later days -of the Tokugawas. The Hayashi family was noted for the many scholars in -Chinese literature that adorned the country and the name. He was -carefully instructed by his superior officers as how he should deal with -Perry. He made his preparations so as to leave the academic groves of -Séido for the treaty-house at Uraga; for there, it was decreed in Yedo -that the treaty was to be made. - -Fortunately for the Japanese, they had a first-rate interpreter of -English, though Perry knew it not. His name was Nakahama Manjiro. With -his two companions, he had been picked up at sea in 1841, by an American -captain, J. H. Whitfield, and brought by way of Honolulu to the United -States, where he obtained a good school education. Returning to Hawaii -in 1850, he resolved with his two companions to return to Japan. -Furnished with a duly attested certificate of his American citizenship -by the United States consul, Elisha Allen, afterwards minister to -Washington, he built a whale-boat named _The Adventurer_, sailed to Riu -Kiu in the _Sarah Boyd_, Captain Whitmore, and in January, 1851, landed. -The three men proved their nationality to the natives of Riu Kiu not by -their language, which they had forgotten, but by their deft manipulation -of chopsticks, the use of which a Japanese baby learns before he can -talk. - -After six months in Riu Kiu and thirty months in Nagasaki, the waifs -reached their homes. On being brought to Yedo with his boat, Manjiro was -made a samurai or wearer of two swords. As an official translator, he -wrestled with Bowditch and logarithms, even to the partial bleaching of -his hair. After several years of severe work, twenty manuscript copies -of his book were made. His boat, now come to honor, was used as a model -for others. The original was placed in a fire-proof storehouse as an -honorable relic. - -On Saturday, the 11th of February, 1854 three days after the Russians -had left Nagasaki, and on the ninth day of the Japanese New Year, the -watchers on the hills of Idzu descried the American squadron -approaching. The _Macedonian_ had grounded on the rocks a few miles from -Kamakura, the medieval capital of the Minamoto Shō-guns, and near the -spot over which Nitta Yoshisada, three hundred and twenty years before, -had led his victorious hosts to overthrow the Hōjō usurpers. The -powerful _Mississippi_, which had extricated and saved from utter loss -during the Mexican war, the fine old frigate _Germantown_ from a similar -peril, easily drew off the _Macedonian_ on Sunday, the 12th. On Monday, -the 13th, amid all the lavish splendors of nature, for which the scenery -of Adzuma, as poets call eastern Japan, is noted, the stately line of -ships, the sailers towed by the steamers, moved up the bay, - - “With all their spars uplifted, - Like crosses of some peaceful crusade.” - -The superb panorama that unfolded before the eyes from the decks charmed -all eyes. Significant and portentous seemed the position of the lights -of heaven on that eventful day. To the west of the peerless mountain -Fuji, “the moon was setting sharply defining one side with its chill -cold rays.”[29] In the orient, the sun arising in cloudless radiance -burnished with brilliant glory the lordly cone as it swelled to the sky. -Did the natives recall their poet’s comparison and contrast of “the old -sage, grown sad and slow,” and “the youth” who “new systems, laws and -fashions frames?” The moon typified Old Japan ready to pass away, the -the sun heralded the New Japan that was to be. Matthew Perry was set for -the rising and fall of many in the then hermit land. - -Passing Uraga and Perry Island, the seven vessels dropped anchor at the -“American anchorage,” not far from Yokosŭka, and off the place, called -in Japanese, Koshiba-ōki, (the little grass-plot looking out on the -far-off sea). Unconsciously, the officers paced their decks beneath the -shadows of the twin tombs of Will Adams[30] and his Japanese wife. From -these very headlands, over which the English exile, who may have seen -Shakespeare, took his evening walks two centuries before, he had perhaps -seen in prophetic vision a sight like that below. Happy coincidence, -that Perry’s right-hand man, bore the same name, Adams! - -The Commodore, still mysterious, invisible and inapproachable, had again -out-flanked the wily orientals with their own weapons and turned their -heavy guns against themselves. The mystery-play was kept up in a style -that exceeded that of either Kiōto or Yedo. The naval generalissimo -remained in the Forbidden Interior of his cabin as if behind bamboo -curtains. - -Kurokawa Kahéi and his two interpreters were received with excruciating -politeness by Captain Adams, assisted by Messrs. Portman, Williams and -the Commodore’s son. In the delegation of official men were _ométsŭkes_ -(censors, spies, or checks). They were well named “eye-appliers” (to -holes usually made noiselessly, with moistened finger-tips, in the paper -screens of the houses). These suggested that the negotiations should be -carried on at Kamakura or Uraga. The programme, foreshadowed by answers -to their questions, was an American advance on that of the previous -year. The “Admiral” would do no such thing. It must be near the present -safe anchorage. All the visits, conferences, discussions, presents, -bonbons, oranges and confectionery, offers of eggs, fish and vegetables -were impotent to alter the fiat of the Invisible Power in the cabin. - -For the benefit of the United States and the civilized world, the survey -boats were out daily making a map of the bottom of the bay. No boats’ -crews were allowed to land. No native was in any way injured in person -or property. The visitors received on deck refreshments, champagne, -sugared brandy, port, and politeness in profusion. Of information -concerning the invisible “Admiral’s” policy, save as His Invisibility -allowed it, they received not a word. - -Several days passed, the broad pennant was transferred to the -_Powhatan_, and the Japanese were given till the 21st to make up their -mind. Captain Adams was sent to Uraga to inspect the proposed place of -anchorage and the new building specially erected for treaty making. -There an incident occurred which afforded more fun to the Japanese than -to the Americans. On the 22nd of February, while the guns of the -_Vandalia_ were thundering a salute in honor of Washington, Captain -Adams with fourteen officers and attendants entered the hall of -reception. Here were gathered a formidable array of dignitaries, -retainers and no less than fifty soldiers. A suspicion of treachery -dawned on the Americans. Was this to be a Golownin affair? - -Perhaps Izawa, the daimiō in charge, was fond of a joke. He was, in -fact, in favor of foreign intercourse, but more noted for high living -and gay sport than for dignity of word and mien, withal a lively and -popular fellow. After preliminaries, Captain Adams handed him the -Commodore’s note. Preparatory to getting out his goggle-spectacles, he -folded his fan with a tremendous snap. Instantly the American officers, -alarmed and exchanging glances of concern, clapped hands to their -revolvers.[31] All the more amused, Izawa most deliberately and with -scarcely repressed inward merriment, adjusted his goggles, and read the -document, finding it in good form. After decoctions of rice and tea, -with sponge-cake and oranges (_saké_, _cha_, _Castile_, _mikan_) had -been served, the officers returned to their ships at the 8th hour, -Japanese time, the Hour of the Ape, or about 3 P. M. Captain Adams -decided that the building proposed for treaty negotiations was “for -simple talk large enough, but not for the display of presents.” Kurihama -was then suggested. “No, the Admiral would rather go to Yedo,” “No, no! -better go to Kanagawa, but do please, _please_ go back to Uraga.” This -was the simple substance of much conversation carried on in Japanese, -Dutch and English, with not a little consumption of paper, India ink and -Chinese characters. The one word of Perry and Adams was “Yedo.” The -tongues of the interpreters, or in Japanese “word-passers,” grew weary, -yet no backward step was taken. - -Meanwhile on the 24th, Perry moved his six ships forward up the bay ten -miles, anchoring beyond Kanagawa. From the masthead the huge -temple-gables, castle-towers, fire-lookouts and pagodas of Yedo could be -easily seen, and the bells of Shiba and Asakŭsa heard. More exactly, the -anchorage was off Dai-shi-ga-wara, a lovely meadow (_wara_) named in -honor of Japan’s greatest medieval scholar, His Most Exalted Reverence, -Kōbō, the inventor of the Japanese alphabets, learned in Chinese and -Sanskrit, and the Philo of the Land of the Gods. He it was who absorbed -Shintō, the primitive religion, into the gorgeous cult of India, and -made Buddhism triumphant in all Japan. Another happy omen for Perry! - -The _Vandalia’s_ boats now brought Hayashi’s letter to Perry, and -Yezaémon the interpreter came nominally to plead again for Uraga, but in -reality to accede to the American’s decision. A fleet messenger, riding -hard on relays of horses, had brought the word to Hayashi—“If the -American ships come to Yedo, it will be a national disgrace. Stop them, -and make the treaty at Kanagawa.”[32] As Perry writes, “Finding the -Commodore immovable in his purpose, the pretended ultimatum of the -Japanese commissioners was suddenly abandoned, and a place directly -opposite, at Yokohama, was suggested as the place of treaty.” - -The official buildings and enclosure finished March 9th, were erected on -the ground now covered by the British consulate, the Custom House, the -American Union Church and two streets of the modern city. They were -guarded on the left, right and rear by the retainers of Ogasawara, a -high officer in the Tycoon’s palace, and Sanada, lord of Shinano; and on -the water side by Matsudaira, lord of Sagami, who had hundreds of boats -and their crews under his command. Against possible fanatics and -assassins who might attack, or the too progressive spirits who would -communicate with the Americans, the precautions were not wholly in vain. -The writer has heard Japanese officers, now in high rank but -enlightened, declare that they had devoted themselves by vows to the -gods to kill Perry, the arch-defiler of the Holy Country. Only the -strong hand of government held them back. - -Further than this, the Japanese did not know how the Americans would -act. Either from malice intent or provoked by unruly natives, they might -begin war. Every one of Sanada’s and Ogasawara’s retainers were -sworn[33] to ask no quarter, but fight till the last man was slain. - ------ - -[29] Spalding’s “The Japan Expedition,” p. 213. - -[30] The Mikado’s Empire, p. 262. - -[31] Record of Conference with the American Barbarians. Japanese -Official Manuscript. - -[32] Record of Conference. Jap. MS. - -[33] Japanese Record. - -[Illustration: COMMODORE PERRY ENTERING THE TREATY-HOUSE.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIII. - THE PROFESSOR AND THE SAILOR MAKE A TREATY. - - -THE morning of March 8th, 1854, dawned clear and beautiful. The bay was -alive with gorgeous state barges, swift punts, and junks with tasseled -prows. On land, in the foreground were a few hundred feudal retainers in -gay costumes, while on the bluffs beyond stood dense masses of -spectators. These were kept back with rope-barriers, and by petty -officials of prodigious self-importance. The sunbeams glittered on the -bare heads and freshly-pomatumed top-knots of country folk, and was -reflected dazzlingly from lacquered hats and burnished weapons. In the -variegated paraphernalia of feudalism,—then of such vast importance, -but now as cast off trumpery transmigrating through the parlors and -museums to dusty nirvana in the garrets of christendom,—could be -distinguished the insignia of the commissioners and feudal lords, whose -troops darkened the hill tops as spectators. The striped oval figure of -Hayashi; the five disks surrounding a smaller central dot like -satellites about Jupiter, belonging to Ito; the feminine millinery, -three curved women’s hats, of Isawa; the revolving disks suggesting a -wind-mill, of Tsudzuki; the three Euclid-recalling cubes of Udono; the -ring-enclosed goggle-spectacles of Takénouchi; appeared and reappeared -on banner, umbrella, hat, coat, and cover of dignitaries and retainers. -Many and various were the explanations offered by the Americans as to -the cabalistic meaning of these crests of Japanese heraldry. One in -particular, which looked like three commas in perpetual revolution, but -prevented from flying off into a nebular hypothesis by a tire, attracted -special attention. - -Only the stern discipline to which they were accustomed, and the -suspicion of possible need for powder and ball, in case of treachery, -kept grim the faces of marines and sailors. The whole tableau seemed to -the officers a well-sustained joke from the pages of Gulliver’s Travels. -To Jack Tar, it looked as if a pack of euchre-cards had come to enlarged -life. The gay-costumed figures and bronze visages moved before him like -the flesh-and-blood originals of the kings, jacks, and knaves on his -favorite pasteboards. Can we doubt but that more than one Japanese now -saw himself in a new light? - -With five hundred men landed in twenty-seven boats, each one, including -musicians, thoroughly well-armed, the marines forming a hollow square, -the three bands discoursing music, the Paixhans on the _Macedonian_, -and the howitzers in the boats, making fire, flame, thunder, and -echoes; with all possible fuss, parade, shine and glitter, the -sailor-diplomatist made disembarkation at noon, in his white gig from -the _Powhatan_. With due deliberation and stately march, he entered the -treaty-house, where negotiations began. The Commodore knew as he -confesses, “the importance and moral influence of such show upon so -ceremonious and artificial a people as the Japanese.” Without being at -all anxious to imitate or copy them, he yet impressed them amazingly. -How he came to know so much about etiquette and propriety, without -having lived in Kiōto, or studied Confucius or Ogasawara (the -Chesterfield of Japan) strained their wits to discover. Perhaps they -noticed that while “the emperor,” that is the chief daimiō of Yedo, and -the Mikado’s lieutenant styled “Tycoon,” (as _Koku-O_, king of a -country) received a salute of twenty-one guns, and his hatamoto Hayashi, -officer of the sixth rank seventeen guns, the first salute was from the -heavy ordnance on the _Macedonian_, while the others were from -boat-howitzers. The _Powhatan_ hoisted at the masthead the striped -pennant, which the Americans innocently supposed was the national -emblem. - -The tedious business of diplomacy began by interchange of notes and -answers. Then Hayashi remarked that attention would be given to the -supply of wood, coal, and water for needy ships, and to the care of -shipwrecked sailors, but that no proposition for trade could be allowed. -To this Perry made no reply, but spoke up suddenly upon the question of -burial. A marine on the _Mississippi_ named Williams, had died two days -previously, and it was proposed to bury him on Matsu-shima (Pine Isle) -or Webster’s Island. After private conferences by the Japanese in -another room, exchange of much sentiment on both sides, and an -exposition of Japanese law and custom by Hayashi—during which Perry -intimated his readiness to stay in the bay a year or two if -necessary—permission was granted to bury in one of the temple-grounds -at Yokohama. Thus began with Christian ceremonies, under the very shadow -of the edicts promulgated centuries before, denouncing “the Christian -criminal God,” with offer of gold to informers against the “outlawed -sect,” that God’s acre now so beautiful. Its slope was to fatten with -many a victim by the assassin’s sword before Japan should become a Land -of Great Peace either to the alien or the Christian. - -The native scribe adds in a note to his _Record_, “This subject was -brought up suddenly, as if the American wished to find out how quickly -we were in the habit of deciding questions. Hence the commissioners made -their decision promptly. Thereupon Perry seemed to be very glad and -almost to shed tears.” In response to the Commodore’s assertion that to -esteem human life as very precious was the first principle of the United -States government, while the contrary was the case with that of Japan, -Hayashi answered, warmly defending his countrymen and superiors against -intentional cruelty, but denouncing the lawless character of many of the -foreign sailors. Like all Japanese of his school and age, he wound up -with a panegyric of the pre-eminence of Japan above all nations in -virtue and humanity, and the glory and goodness of the great Tokugawa -family which had given peace to the land during two centuries or more. - -“The frog in the well knows not the great ocean,” say his countrymen of -to-day. - -In the further negotiations, the Japanese official account of which -agrees with the details given in Perry’s own narrative, the Commodore -made wholesome use of the fears of the islanders. The reputation of -American ships, ordnance, and armies had preceded him. The invaders of -Mexico were believed fully when the wealth, power, and rapidity of -movement possessed by the United States were dilated upon. Perry -threatened to make use of “the resources of civilization,” if the plain -demands of humanity were ignored. It is more than probable that cold -statistics would not have justified his glowing vision of fifty or a -hundred war steamers, full of soldiers, coming from California to make -war on Japan, in case her government refused to help shipwrecked -Americans. Yet, of his patience, persistency, and resolve neither to -provoke nor to take an insult, there can be no question. Perry, in -person, impressed the Japanese commissioners as much as by the fleet -itself. They noted, as the _Record_ declares, that Captains Adams, -Abbot, and Buchanan, as shown by their uniform and epaulettes, were of -the same rank, “so that if Perry were killed, either of the others could -command,” and continue the matter in hand. - -The _Record_ also reflects the character of Perry as a man of kindly -consideration. His friendly regard for and sympathy with a people of -high and sensitive spirit, which had been weakened by centuries of -enforced isolation, is also witnessed to. In one sense the Japanese -feel, to this day, proud to have been put under pressure by so true a -soldier, and so genuine a friend. - -Between ship and shore, during the blustery March weather, the Commodore -made many trips in his barge, accompanied by chosen officers. One day, -with Pay-director J. G. Harris, who relates the incident, Perry and his -companions entered the treaty-house. Their boat-cloaks, which they had -worn to protect the “bright-work” of epaulettes, buttons and belts from -the salt spray, were still over their shoulders. One of the first -questions asked the Japanese commissioners was, whether they had -favorably considered the proposition of the day before, that certain -ports should be opened. - -Hayashi replied that they had pondered the matter, and had concluded -that Shimoda and Hakodaté should be opened; provided that Americans -would not travel into the interior further than they could go and return -the same day; and provided, further, _that no American women should be -brought to Japan_. - -When the translation of Hayashi’s reply was announced, the Commodore -straightened up, threw back his boat-cloak, and excitedly exclaimed: -“Great Heavens, if I were to permit any such stipulation as that in the -treaty, when I got home _the women would pull out all the hair out of my -head_.” - -The Japanese fairly trembled at the Commodore’s apparent excitement, -supposing they had grossly offended him. When, however, explanation was -made by the interpreters, they all laughed right heartily, and the -business continued. - -The Ninth Article, or the “favored nation” clause was introduced at the -suggestion of Dr. S. Wells Williams.[34] - -Unknown to any of the Americans, Nakahama Manjiro, who had received a -good common school education in the United States, sat in an adjoining -room, unseen but active, as the American interpreter for the Japanese. -All the documents in English and Chinese were submitted to him for -correction and approval.[35] He was afterwards made curator of the -scientific and mechanical apparatus brought by Perry and presented by -the United States government, and in 1860, he navigated the first -Japanese steamer, commanded by Katsŭ Awa, to Hawaii and California. -Katsŭ Awa was one of the captains commanding the troops detailed to -watch carefully “the American barbarians, lest they should proceed to -acts of violence.” - -While the negotiations were progressing, the other ships arrived, making -ten in all. Presents and bouquets were exchanged, and guests and hosts -amused each other. American palates were tickled with _castira_ -(Castile) or sponge-cake, rice beer, candied walnuts, Suruga tea, -pickled plums, sugared fruits, sea-weed jelly, luscious crabs and -prawns, dried persimmons, boiled eggs, fish soups, broiled _tai_, _koi_ -and _karei_ fresh from the nets of the Yokohama fisherman. They essayed -or avoided the impossible dishes of cuttle and sliced raw fish. All was -served in the baby-house china and lacquered ware of the country. Some -of the officers were vividly reminded of their infantile days. - -The Japanese were regaled with viands that were master-pieces of -American cookery. To the intense amusement of the “children of the -gods,” the lords of the kitchen were kurumbō (blacks), a color and a -creature such they had seen only in their own theatres when -candle-holders with lamp-blacked faces illuminated the facial -performances of actors. Save the dignified professor, Hayashi, they -became over-flowingly merry over champagne and the national mixed drinks -of the Great Republic. They learned the mysteries of mint-juleps and -brandy-smashes. They lost their center of gravity over puddings and -potations, and then laughed themselves sober at the sailors’ exhibition -of negro minstrelsy. They were shown the discipline and drill of the -ships, and the evolution of the marines. They were delighted with -presents which revealed the secrets of the foreigners’ power. Rifles and -gunpowder, the electric telegraph, the steam locomotive and train, -life-boats, stoves, clocks, sewing-machines, agricultural implements and -machinery, standard scales, weights, measures, maps and charts, the -works of Audubon and other American authors were presented, most -improperly labeled or engraved “To the Emperor of Japan.” The Mikado, -Japan’s only emperor, never saw them, though the writer did in the -storerooms of the exiled Tycoon at Shidzŭoka in 1872. The American may -proudly note how very large a share his countrymen have had in -inventions and in applications of the great natural forces that have -revolutionized modern society. That one mile of telegraph wire has now -become thousands; and that tiny railway, with toy locomotive and one car -able to hold only a child, was the germ of the railway system in the -Mikado’s empire. Historic truth compels us to add that among the -presents there were one hundred barrels of whiskey, a good supply of -cherry cordial, and champagne. Thus did the new civilization with its -good and evil confront the old. New Japan was to be born in the age of -steam, electricity, the photograph, the newspaper and the -printing-press; yet in the train of the culture of the West was to -follow its curses and enemies. With the sons of God came Satan also. - -In return, the Japanese presented the delicate specialties of the -artisans of their country, in bronze, lacquer, porcelain, bamboo, ivory, -silk and paper; with coins, match-locks and swords, which now rest in -the Smithsonian Institute. For the squadron, one hundred kokŭ (five -hundred bushels) of rice and three hundred chickens were provided. They -entertained their guests with wrestling matches between the prize bipeds -whose diet includes the entire fauna of Japan. Strangely enough, they -did not play _dakiu_ or polo, their national game on horseback, in which -so many of their riders excel. All the presents were duly wrapped in -paper, with a symbolic folded paper and dried fish skin. - -During the two months and more of the presence of the ships in the bay, -the Japanese cruisers and spy-boats kept watch and ward in cordon, -though at a distance from the Americans. This was to prevent political -enemies and too eager students from getting aboard in order to leave -Japan. Again and again did Yoshida Shoin and his companion attempt to -break the blockade, but in vain. The pair then set off overland to -Shimoda. - -When the telegraph poles and rails for the locomotive had been made -ready, the news of the exhibition about to be given fired the _samurai_ -of Yedo with consuming curiosity to see. All sorts of pretexts were made -to obtain permission to be on the spot. Egawa, a noted flag-supporter -whose _yashiki_ or feudal palace lay near Shiba in Yedo, insisted on -coming to Yokohama on the pretext of guarding the treaty building. He -was ordered back, and it was hinted that Sanada’s men at arms could -perform worthily the coveted duty. If the Americans made war and -proceeded to Yedo, Egawa’s picked men could die more nobly “under the -Shō-gun’s knee.” As the Japanese narrator learned afterwards, Egawa’s -real purpose was to learn telegraphy and the secrets of steam -engineering. It is not at all improbable that among his band of -well-dressed gentlemen were expert mechanics as well as students who had -from the Dutch at Nagasaki obtained their first knowledge of western -inventions. - -The treaty was signed March 31st, 1854. Its provisions are thus given by -a Japanese author[36]:— - -[Illustration: SIGNATURES AND PEN-SEALS OF THE JAPANESE TREATY -COMMISSIONERS.] - -“The Bakafu promised to accord kind treatment to shipwrecked sailors, -permission to obtain wood, water, coal, provisions and other stores -needed by ships at sea, with leave also to anchor in the ports of -Shimoda in Idzu and Hakodaté in Matsumaé.” Trade or residence was not -yet secured. “The hermit” was as yet unwilling to enter “the -market-place.” The gains by treaty did not seem great, but Perry knew -then, as we know more fully now, that the thin end of a great wedge had -been inserted in the right place. He had made a beginning which was half -the end, as we shall see farther on. - -The sleeping princess had received her first kiss, and the gates of -Thornrose castle would soon fly open. They were now ajar. More than one -native of this “Princess Country” recalled the hiding of the Sun-goddess -in the cave, and how with music and dance, feast and frolic, and show of -cunning inventions exciting her curiosity, she was lured to peep out, so -that the strong-handed god could open the door fully and all faces -become light with joy.[37] - -Moving his steamers up the bay to within sight of Yedo, the Commodore -left on the 18th of April for Shimoda, having sent the sailing ships -ahead for survey. For nine weeks he had held in leash his two thousand -or more ship’s people, and had impressed the Japanese with the decency -and dignity of the American sailor’s behavior. Grand as was the triumph -he accomplished in diplomacy, his victory in discipline seems equally -praiseworthy and remarkable. - -At Shimoda (now noted chiefly for the quarries which furnish stone for -the modern government buildings in Tōkiō) the squadron remained until -the end of the first week in May. One day late in April as Dr. S. Wells -Williams and clerk J. W. Spalding were botanizing on land, Yoshida Shoin -and his devoted companion, Ichiji Koda met them, and pressed into the -clerk’s bosom a letter.[38] On the appearance of Japanese officers, they -disappeared. Somewhat after midnight of the 25th the watch-officer on -the _Mississippi_ heard the cry of “American, American!” With their -delicate and blistered hands they implored in the language of gesture to -be taken on board, that their boats be cast adrift, and they be secreted -aboard. Their clothing was stuffed full of writing-paper and materials, -on which they expected to note down what they saw in foreign countries. -They were sent to the flag ship, and Perry, as he felt in honor and in -conscience bound, despite his own sympathies and desires and their -piteous appeals, sent them ashore. Further than this, he was unable to -get at the real motive of the suppliants. “It might have been a -stratagem to test American honor, and some believed it so to be,” yet -Perry wrote in addition, with the prophecy of hope, “In this disposition -of the people in Japan, what a field of speculation, and it may be -added, what a prospect full of hope opens for the future of that -interesting country.” - -The prisoners sent to Chôshiu, were kept incarcerated within the limits -of their own clan for five years. Sakuma was punished as an accomplice, -because his stanza of poetry was discovered in Yoshida’s baggage. Active -in those events leading to the revolution of 1868, Yoshida (who altered -the name to Toraijiro) suffered decapitation and political martyrdom in -Yedo January 31st, 1859. He died thinking it - - “Better to be a crystal, though shattered, - Than lie as a tile unbroken on the housetop.” - -His indomitable spirit possessed others, and his pupils rose to high -office and power in the wave of revolution that floated the boy-mikado -to supreme power and placed the national capitol in Yedo in 1868. - -The Commodore arrived at Hakodaté May 17 and remained in the waters of -Yezo until June 28th, 1854. He little knew then that the beautiful -harbor would fourteen years later be made famous by a naval battle -between the Shō-gun’s force of Dutch and American-built wooden war -steamers, and the Mikado’s iron-clad ram Adzuma Kan (Stonewall). - -Sailing for Riu Kiu, he entered Napa harbor, July 1st. On the 12th, the -regent presented him with a large bronze bell of fine workmanship, cast -in 1168 A. D., by two Japanese artizans, and inscribed with flowery -sentences. One, which declared that “the barbarians would never invade -the land,” had a striking significance, though its composer had proved a -false prophet. It now hangs, tongueless but useful, in the grounds of -the Annapolis Naval Academy. As from China and Formosa, so from Japan at -Shimoda and in Riu Kiu, blocks of native stone duly engraved were -accepted as contributions to the obelisk on the banks of the Potomac, in -perpetuation of the memory of Washington. On the 17th, the other vessels -of the squadron having been despatched on various missions, the -Commodore in the _Mississippi_ left Napa for Hong Kong. - -The glory of Commodore Perry’s success is not that he “invented,” or -“first thought of” or was the “sole author, originator, and father of -the Japan expedition.” Such language is nonsense, for the thought was in -many minds, both of naval men and civilians, from Roberts to Glynn and -Aulick; but it was Perry’s persistency that first conquered for himself -a fleet, his thorough-going method of procedure in every detail, and his -powerful personality and invincible tenacity in dealing with the -Japanese, that won a quick and permanent success without a drop of -blood. A thorough man of war he was from his youth up; yet he proved -himself a nobler hero, in that he restrained himself and his lieutenants -from the use of force, while yet not giving place for a moment to the -frivolities of Japanese yakunin of the Tokugawa period. - ------ - -[34] Autograph letter to the writer. February 8th, 1883. - -[35] _The Friend_, Honolulu. October, 1884—“An unpublished chapter in -the History of Japan.” Rev. S. C. Damon’s interview with Manjiro in -Tokio, summer of 1884. - -[36] Kinsé Shiriaku, p. 3. - -[37] Japanese Fairy World, p. 300. - -[38] Perry’s Narrative, pp. 484-489. Spalding’s Japan Expedition, pp. -276-286. R. L. Stevenson’s Familiar Studies of Men and Books. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIV. - LAST LABORS. - - -FOR over two years, since leaving his native country, Perry had been -under a constant burden of responsibility incurred in anxiety to achieve -the grand object of his mission. His close attention to details, the -unexpected annoyances in a sub-tropical climate, and the long strain -upon his nerves had begun to wear upon a robust frame. He now looked -eagerly for his successor, and to the rest of home. To his joy he found -at Hong Kong orders permitting him to return either in the -_Mississippi_, or in the British mail steamer by way of India. He chose -the latter. - -The store-ships, _Supply_ and _Lexington_, were ordered homeward by way -of the Cape of Good Hope and the _Susquehanna_ and _Mississippi_ for New -York by way of Shimoda, Honolulu and Rio [de] Janeiro. The _Mississippi_ -was to tow the _Southampton_, which contained coal for the two steamers. -The Commodore awaited only the arrival of the _Macedonian_ from Manilla, -whither she had gone to return the waifs picked up at sea, to turn over -his command to Captain Abbot. - -Before permitting Perry to leave for home, the American commercial -residents in China gave the Commodore an expression of their estimate of -his character as a man, and their appreciation of his services as a -diplomatist to their country. This took the form of a banquet, with an -address of unusual merit by Gideon Nye, and the presentation of an -elaborate candelabrum made by Chinese jewelers in crystal and sycee -silver. In return, Perry presented to Mr. Nye a cane made of gun -carriages from San Juan d’Ulloa. Owing to war and the local troubles, -the work of art did not reach New York until December 1858.[39] - -On the morning of September 11th, at Hong Kong, the _Mississippi_ and -_Macedonian_ fired parting salutes. The yards and rigging were manned by -the sailors who gave three hearty cheers, and the British mail steamer, -_Hindostan_, moved off bearing the diplomatist and his flag-lieutenant -homeward. - -From England Perry crossed to the continent, and at Hague, spent several -delightful days at the house of his son-in-law, the American Minister, -the Hon. August Belmont. With Mrs. Belmont, the Commodore’s daughter -Caroline, were then visiting Mrs. Perry and Miss Perry, the Commodore’s -wife and youngest daughter. Thence returning to Liverpool on Christmas -day, he paid a visit to the American consul at Liverpool, one Nathaniel -Hawthorne, who has thus recorded his impression of his visitor:—[40] - - “Commodore P—— called to see me this morning—a brisk, - gentlemanly, off-hand, but not rough, unaffected and sensible - man, looking not so elderly as he might, on account of a very - well made wig. - - “He is now on a return from a cruise to the East Indian seas and - goes home by the _Baltic_ with a prospect of being very well - received on account of his treaty with Japan. I seldom meet with - a man who puts himself more immediately on conversable terms - than the Commodore. He soon introduced his particular business - with me,—it being to inquire whether I could recommend some - suitable person to prepare his notes and materials for the - publication of an account of his voyage. He was good enough to - say that he had fixed upon me, in his own mind, for this office; - but that my public duties would, of course, prevent me from - engaging in it. I spoke of —— ——, and one or two others but - he seemed to have some acquaintance with the literature of the - day, and did not grasp very cordially at any name that I could - think of; nor indeed could I recommend any one with full - confidence. It would be a very desirable task for a young - literary man, or for that matter for an old one; for the world - can scarcely have in reserve a less hackneyed theme than Japan.” - -The master of English style, the literary American Puritan, so -thoroughly at home in spirit-land and in analysis of conscience, was not -expert in judging visible things. His mistake in describing the material -on Perry’s scalp was amusing though natural. Not a few persons supposed -that the Commodore wore a wig, yet the only head-ornament made use of by -him was that given him by the Almighty, and still duplicated in his -children. His handsome and luxuriant hair grew well forward on his -forehead. - -Perry, though exultant of his success, was uncertain of his political -reception. There were dangers in a change of administration. The Japan -expedition was a Whig measure, while the party now in power was -Democratic. The English newspapers seemed to entertain a high opinion of -the Commodore’s ability, and very flattering were some of their accounts -of the expedition and the editorials concerning its leader. Not able to -understand our Republican institutions, one of them wondered, with a -“blush of shame,” “Why the government does nothing for Perry or Scott.” -Others may wonder too. - -Had a Whig administration been in power, it is doubtful whether Perry -would have received any reward further than the thanks of the Navy -Department, the honor of the publication of his journal, and a few -copies of his own book. Looking back now at Pierce’s barren -administration, the one bright spot in it seems to be the opening of -Japan to diplomatic intercourse. It was a time of intense political -excitement. The Kansas troubles, the World’s Fair in New York, and the -beginning of surveys for the Union Pacific Railroad helped to turn -attention from foreign matters. Nevertheless, the Senate at the opening -of its session December 6th, called for the correspondence relating to -the Japan Expedition. President Pierce delayed action until after an -interview with Perry, and on January 30th, 1855, transmitted the report. -The Commodore had arrived home on the 12th, eighteen days before, after -an absence of two years and two months. The official documents were -published in an octavo volume of 195 pages. - -The _Mississippi_ left Hong Kong the next morning after the Commodore’s -departure, a few hours after that of the United States brig, _Porpoise_ -(which was never heard of again), on the 21st of September, entered -Shimoda harbor finding there the _Susquehanna_ and _Southampton_. The -_Susquehanna_ left on the 24th, and the _Mississippi_ on the 1st of -October, the latter completing her journey around the globe on the 23d -of April, 1855. On the next day, the Commodore repairing to the Brooklyn -Navy Yard, formally hauled down his flag, and thus consummated the final -act in the story of the United States Expedition to Japan. He now set -himself to work in a hired room in Washington to tell that story in -manuscript. Aided by Lieutenants Maury and Bent, secretaries, artists, -printers, and a Japanese lad as attendant, it took shape in the -sumptuous publication of three richly illustrated folio volumes. - -Though receiving no marked token of respect from the government, yet -other honors social and substantial, were not wanting. By the city of -New York he was presented with a set of silver plate. The merchants of -Boston had a medal struck in his honor. The original was presented to -him in gold[41] the subscribers receiving copies in silver and bronze. -From the city of Newport, his native place, he was tendered a reception -by the municipal authorities. - -Little Rhode Island, so justly proud of her many eminent sons, was not -unmindful that the Perrys were of her own soil. She accordingly summoned -Matthew Calbraith Perry to receive at the hands of her chief magistrate, -and in presence of her legislature, a token of her regard in the form of -a solid silver salver weighing three hundred and nineteen ounces, -suitably chased and inscribed. The resolutions of the legislature -ordering the token were passed February 25th 1855. - -An open air ceremony or presentation was decided upon and took place at -5 o’clock in the afternoon of June 15th upon the balcony in front of the -old State House, the legislators occupying the room within. In response -to the governor’s address Perry, deeply moved, spoke as follows:— - - “It was in my earliest boyhood, before the introduction of - steamboats or railroads, that I often watched upon the shore for - the first glimpse of the gaily decorated packet-sloop, that in - those days usually brought the governor from Providence to this - town, and witnessed with childlike delight, in sight of this - very edifice, the pomp, parade and festivities of ‘Election - Day.’ Since then I have traversed almost every part of the globe - in the prosecution of the duties of a profession of which I am - justly proud, and now, after a lapse of nearly half a century, - when declining in life, to be called by the representatives of - my native state back to these hallowed precincts, here to - receive from the lips of its Chief Magistrate the commendation - of my fellow-citizens, is an honor I little expected when as a - boy midshipman, forty-six years ago, I first embarked upon an - element, then and always the most congenial to my aspirations - for honorable emprise.” - -[Illustration: SILVER SALVER IN POSSESSION OF COMMODORE PERRY’S DAUGHTER, - MRS. AUGUST BELMONT.] - -Cherishing a keen remembrance and love of his boyhood’s home, he -resolved to visit it, and also the ancestral farm and cemetery at South -Kingston. In a call made upon one of his earliest friends he stated that -his object was to purchase the Perry homestead, which he said would -never have gone out of the family if he had not been at sea. He wished -to erect a monument to his grandfather, Freeman Perry. - -While thus on his native heather, the burly Commodore would visit also -Tower Hill where his father once lived, and his youngest sister, Mrs. -Jane Butler of South Carolina, was born. When offered a guide he said he -thought he knew the way better than his guide. Every foot, indeed, was -familiar ground. Miss Oprah Rose, in writing, March 15th 1883, of this -visit, says further: “I had never seen the Commodore before, but had -seen his younger brother and sister. His hair, I noticed, was handsome -and grew well on his forehead. His eyes indicated thought, and, as he -turned them rather slowly, seemed to take in or comprehend what he saw; -in manner he was easy and natural. As he walked away, I saw that he -expressed character in the manner he carried his shoulders. It was a -military air. He looked as if he expected to do his duty even if he made -sacrifices.” - -Resuming his literary tasks during the months of June and July, between -artists and engravers, he collected the illustrative matter for the text -of his first volume. This, with the first part of the manuscript -amounting to one hundred and fifty-nine pages, he sent to the printer on -the 7th of August. He then hied away to Saratoga to forget the novel -cares of authorship in drinking at the famed health-fountains and -inhaling the air of the Kayaderosseras hills. He found much change and -some improvement. The hostelry of the old Revolutionary soldier, Jacobus -Barhyte, where all the famous people gathered to enjoy the host’s famous -fish dinners, and in whose groves Poe elaborated his poem of _The -Raven_, was gone, along with the well stocked preserves; but in grander -hotels and on ampler porches, the gay throng chatted and enjoyed life. -The Commodore after a ten day’s stay returned to New York, April 27. - -When his first volume was out, Perry enjoyed the author’s genuine -delight of sending autograph presentation copies of his book to personal -friends and those most interested in the Japan enterprise. Among several -autographs letters of acknowledgement, is one from Irving in which he -says:— - - “You have gained for yourself a lasting name and have won it - without shedding a drop of blood, or inflicting misery on a - human being. What naval commander ever won laurels at such a - rate?” - -This first volume was afterward republished for popular use by D. -Appleton & Co., and a smaller book based upon it was compiled by Dr. -Robert S. Tomes under the title of “The Americans in Japan.” - -The preparation of the second volume required great care. Here the -delicate work of specialists was called in. Fortunately Perry was -sufficiently familiar, by personal acquaintance with scientific experts, -to easily find the right men for the right work. On September 9th 1856, -Perry sent to the printers a goodly portion of the manuscript of the -second volume, and was pleased to find volume third—the work of -Chaplain Jones—also in press. It now looked as if the whole work would -be ready for delivery at the next session of Congress. Ever -conscientious in the expenditure of government money, Perry relieved his -aids of further service and continued the work alone. He read every line -of script before going to the printer, and corrected all the proof -sheets. We find him writing December 28th 1856, to Townsend Harris, our -consul-general to Japan then living at Shimoda, who was slowly but -surely driving in the wedge inserted by the sailor-diplomatist. - -When in sight of the consummation of his literary enterprise, February -2d 1857, Perry wrote, “I have been drawn into much expense not to be put -into a public bill,” . . . “The greater portion of the labor has been -performed by myself and those employed under my direction.” He sought -help outside of the navy only when it was impossible to do otherwise. -The completed work was therefore a true product of the navy. Dr. Francis -L. Hawkes wrote the preface, added a few footnotes and here and there a -sentence, and Dr. Robert Tomes prepared the introduction, but the -narrative was of Perry’s own writing. Nathaniel Hawthorne or some other -master of letters might have made a better product as literature, but -for history it is well that Perry told his own story. - -A set of six superbly drawn and colored pictures of the most striking -scenes of the Japan Expedition was prepared for the government archives -and for sending abroad for foreign rulers and cabinets. They were drawn -by the eye-witnesses Brown and Heine,[42] and were executed in -lithograph by Brown and Lewis of Albany. Three hundred copies of the set -were printed, and the plates then destroyed. Each set was in a -portfolio. - -Eighteen thousand copies of the Japan Expedition were published, at a -total cost of $360,000. Fifteen thousand copies were given to members of -Congress, two thousand to the Navy Department chiefly for distribution -among the officers, and one thousand to the Commodore of the Expedition. -Of this thousand, Perry gave five hundred copies to Dr. Hawkes. - -This was the reward of a grateful republic! - -During the Commodore’s absence in Japan, his family had lived at No. 260 -Fourth avenue, New York City. He now took steps to secure a permanent -home and so purchased the house at No. 38 West 32d street. The forty -years growth of the metropolis was vividly brought before his mind when -on first looking out of the window of his new home, the old in -Bloomingdale, from which he took his bride, was in sight. His new home -stood on what was part of the lawn of the old Slidell homestead. - -He became interested in the work of the American Geographical Society, -and attended its meetings. He prepared two papers, “Future Commercial -relations with Japan and Lew Chew,” (Riu Kiu), and “The Expediency of -Extending Further Encouragement to American Commerce in the East,” which -were printed in the society’s journal, and excited much interest. On the -6th of March 1856, at a crowded meeting in the chapel of the New York -University, at which Perry was present, Rev. Francis L. Hawkes read his -paper, afterwards published in pamphlet form, on “The Enlargement of -Geographical Science, a consequence to the opening of new avenues to -commercial enterprise.” The president of Columbia college, Charles King, -in moving a vote of thanks, spoke in high praise of the merits and -polished literary style of the essay. The prospects of trade, of coal, -of mail-steamers to China, the new avenues open to American commercial -enterprise, and the work of Christian missions heartily believed in by -Perry, were discussed by him with clearness, strength and beauty. - -[Illustration: MEDAL PRESENTED BY THE MERCHANTS OF BOSTON.] - -James Buchanan was inaugurated President, and Lewis Cass became -Secretary of State, March 4th 1857. General James Watson Webb was eager -to have the mission to China filled by his friend Commodore Perry. He -was long held back by Perry’s modesty and refusal to give assent to his -friend’s warm importunity. After permission had been given, General Webb -hastened to Washington, but was one day too late. Less than twenty-four -hours before, the Hon. Wm. B. Reed had received the appointment as envoy -to Peking. Perry’s fame as a diplomatist was to be inseparably linked to -Japan only. - -General Webb, in speaking to the writer in 1878 in New York, said that -the regret of General Cass in not having known of Perry’s willingness to -go, and that it was too late, seemed very sincere. Perry had allowed his -friends to make the proposition, inasmuch as great events were about to -take place in China and he was eager to advance American interests in -the East. Further, he expected if he were appointed, to have the -personal services of Dr. S. Wells Williams his old interpreter and -friend whose character, knowledge and abilities, we know, constituted -the real power behind the American Legation in China from 1858 to 1876. - -On the 28th of December 1857, Perry reported that his work on the book -would end with the year, and his office in Washington be closed. On the -30th, he was detached from special duty to await orders. It was -intimated to him at the Department that he was to have command of the -squadron in the Mediterranean—the American naval officers’ paradise, -when away from home. To this duty Perry looked forward with delight. -Thornton A. Jenkins was to be his chief of staff. He spent the pleasant -winter in New York enjoying social life.[43] Early in January, 1858, he -made a report on the cause of the loss of the _Central America_, with -suggestions for changes in the laws which should secure greater safety -of life and property on the ocean. These studies, which have since borne -good fruit, were with other matter published in a pamphlet of seven -pages, January 15th, 1858. His last official services were performed as -a member of the Naval Retiring Board. - -The time was now drawing near when this man of tireless activity, who -was ever solicitous about the life and safety of others, was to part -with his own life. The inroads upon a superb constitution, made by -constant work on arduous and trying service, at many stations, in two -wars, in three or four diplomatic missions, and in protracted study so -soon after return from Japan, were becoming more and more manifest. In -the raw weather of February 1858, the Commodore caught a severe cold -which from the first gave indications of being serious. The old torment -of rheumatism developed itself, and yet not until the hour of his death -was he believed to be in mortal danger. It became manifest, however, -that the disease, contracted thirty-five years before, in his energy and -anxiety to save life and property, had undermined his constitution. -Symptoms of rheumatic gout appeared. One token of organic change was a -strong indisposition to ascend elevations of any sort. For four weeks he -felt more or less out of health. A change of physicians did not better -his case. On the 4th of March at midnight, the disease, leaving the -region of the stomach, began to assault the citadel, and at 2 A. M. at -his home in Thirty-second street, New York City, he died of rheumatism -of the heart. - -His nephew, by marriage to the daughter of Commodore Oliver H. Perry, -the Rev. Dr. Francis Vinton, who was with him in his sickness says, “His -last wish expressed to me was to be buried by his father and mother and -brother in the old burial ground, to mingle his dust with his native -soil. He even choose his grave there.” - -At his death, Matthew Calbraith Perry was third on the list of captains, -having served at sea twenty-five years and three months, and on other -duties nineteen years. Since entering the navy in 1808, he had been -unemployed less than five years, and had completed a term of service -within one year of a half century. - -As a member of numerous civic and scientific associations, as well as -President of the Montezuma Society, the loss of Matthew Perry was that -of a citizen of broad tastes, sympathies, labors and influences. The -great city offered profuse tokens of regard and manifestations of -sorrow. The flags of the shipping in the harbor, and on the public -buildings and hotels, were flying at half-mast during three days. It was -arranged that on Saturday, in the grave-yard of St. Mark’s church at -Second avenue and Tenth street, the hero should be buried with -appropriate honors. - -The military pageant which preceded the hearse consisted of five hundred -men of the Seventh Regiment, two hundred officers of the First Division -of the New York State Militia, followed by a body of United States -Marines. The pall-bearers included the Governor of the State, General -Winfield Scott, Commodores Sloat, Breese, McCluney and Bigelow, and -seven others, eminent and honored in the various fields of achievement; -but the most touching sight was the simplest. The sailors who had served -under Commodore Perry in the Japan Expedition and the Mexican war, had -volunteered on this occasion to do honor to their old commander. They -were the most interesting among the mourners. Although engaged in -various pursuits, in different places, they all managed to appear in the -regular working uniform of the United States Navy. This they had -procured at their own expense. They paraded under the command of Alonzo -Guturoz and Philip Downey. All bore evidence of having seen hard -service. They attracted much attention as they paraded through the -streets, and the simple music of their fifes and drums seemed more -appropriate and more impressive, than even that of the regimental band. - -The route lay through Fifth Avenue, Fourteenth street, and Second Avenue -to Saint Mark’s Church. - -The sensation produced throughout the community by the loss of so -illustrious a naval commander was shown in the faces of the crowd. -Despite the cold weather, the people lined the streets to see and listen -and feel. The tolling of the church bells, and the boom of the minute -guns rolling up from the ships and yard of the naval station, added -solemnity to the scene. - -Within the church, the burial service was conducted by the Rev. Drs. -Hawks, Vinton, Higbee, and Montgomery. The anthem “Lord let me know my -end,” the hymn “I would not live alway,” and the interlude “I heard a -voice from Heaven,” were sung, moving all hearts by their sweetness and -solemnity. - -The service over, the coffin was carried out and deposited in the grave -in the church-yard adjoining, and lowered into its last resting place. -The committal service and prayer over, the marines fired the three -volleys of musketry. The weather-beaten tars of the Japan Expedition -took a last look at the wooden enclosure which contained all that was -mortal of their beloved Commander, and all turned to depart. “The sight -of those honest hardy marines, who had collected from all quarters, and -at great personal inconvenience, to pay this last tribute of respect and -affection to one whom they had once loved to obey, was interesting and -suggestive. One almost expected to witness a repetition of the scene -that occurred at the funeral of Lord Nelson, and to see the stars and -stripes that floated above the grave torn into shreds and kept as -momentoes of the man and the occasion; but their affection though deep -and strong did not run into the poetical, and the flag remained whole -and untouched.” - -In the church of St. Nazaro in Florence, may be read upon the tomb of a -soldier the words: - - “Johannes Divultius, who never rested, rests—Hush!” - -That is Perry’s real epitaph. - -The unresting one now rests in the Isle of Peace. The two brothers, -Perry of the Lakes, and Perry of Japan, sleep in God, near the beloved -mother on whose bosom they first learned the worth of life, whose memory -they worshipped throughout their careers, and beside whose relics they -wished to lie. - -On a hill in the beautiful Island cemetery at Newport, which overlooks -aboriginal Aquidneck, the City and Isle of Peace, the writer found on a -visit, October 30th, the family burying-ground. In the soft October -sunlight, the sight compelled contrast to the ancestral God’s acre in -South Kingston, among whose lichened stones of unwrought granite the -Commodore proposed erecting a fitting monument to his fathers. Within -the evergreen hedge, in the grassy circle ringed with granite and iron -lay, on the north side, the tomb of the Commodore’s grand-daughter, a -lovely maiden upon whose grave fresh flowers are laid yearly by the -loving parent’s hands. - -The tomb of M. C. Perry is of marble, on a granite base, with six -garlands of oak leaves chiselled on it and bearing the modest -inscription: - - “Erected by his widow to the memory of Matthew Calbraith Perry, - Commodore in the United States Navy, Born April 19th, 1794. Died - March the 4th, 1858.” - -On the south side beneath and across, lies the son of the Commodore who -bore his father’s name: - - “In memory of Matthew Calbraith Perry, Captain in the U. S. - Navy. Died November 10th, 1848.” - -Another stone commemorates his son Oliver, who was with his father in -China and Japan, and for some time, United States consul at Hong Kong: - - “In memory of Oliver Hazard Perry, son of Matthew C. and Jane - Perry. Died May 17th, 1870, aged 45.” - -The Commodore’s widow, Jane Slidell Perry survived her husband -twenty-one years; and died in Newport, R. I., at the home of her -youngest daughter, Mrs. Tiffany, on Saturday, June 14, 1879, at the age -of 82. - ------ - -[39] See letter of James Purdon Esq., _New York Times_, January 6th, -1859. - -[40] English Note Books, Vol. I., Dec. 25, 1854. - -[41] See page 221. - -[42] Putnam’s Magazine, August 1856, pp. 217, 218. - -[43] See “A Dinner at the Mayor’s,” Harper’s Magazine, October 1860. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXV. - MATTHEW PERRY AS A MAN. - - -THE active life of Matthew Perry spanned the greater part of our -national history “before the war.” He lived to see the United States -grow from four to thirty-two millions of people, and the stars in her -flag from fifteen to thirty-one. He sailed in many seas, visited all the -nations of Christendom, saw most of the races of the earth, and all -flags except that of the stars and bars. He saw the rise and fall of -many types of naval architecture. He was familiar with the problems of -armor and ordnance, resistance and penetration, and had studied those -questions in the science of war, which are not yet settled. He had made -himself conversant with the arts auxiliary to his profession, and was -one of the foremost naval men of his generation. His personal importance -was far beyond his rank. He died fully abreast of his age, and looked -far beyond it. Had he lived until the opening of “the war,” he would -have been fully prepared, by alertness of mind, for the needs of the -hour, and would doubtless have held high rank. He was called to rest -from his labors before feeling the benumbing effects of old age. As it -was, his influence was clearly traceable in the navy, and younger -officers carried out his ideas into practice, when opportunity came. Had -the United States, at the opening of the rebellion possessed a -respectable modern navy, such as Perry labored for, the great southern -ports could have been at once sealed; and that foreign aid, without -which the Confederacy could not have lived six months, would have been -made null. Indeed, with a first-class navy, the slave-holder’s -conspiracy could never have been hatched. As it was, the navy kept off -foreign intervention. - -Despite the long and brilliant succession of services rendered his -country, Matthew Perry never received either rank or reward beyond those -of an ordinary captain. - -The rank of admiral was provided for in the Act of Congress of November -15th, 1776, and the title of admiral was conceded to Paul Jones in the -correspondence of the State Department. Yet although the original law, -creating the American navy, allowed the rank of captains in three grades -of commodore, vice-admiral and admiral, there was no legal title higher -than captain in the United States navy until 1862; until Farragut -hoisted his flag at the main peak of the _Hartford_ August 13th, 1862, -as senior rear-admiral; becoming, July 25th, 1866, admiral. In -compliment to his services Charles Stewart was commissioned senior -flag-officer, and at the time of Perry’s death, Stewart was senior to -himself. Yet if the title of admiral, prior to Farragut, belongs to any -American officer by virtue of largeness of fleets commanded, by -responsibility of position, or by results achieved, surely we may speak -as the Japanese did of “Admiral Perry.” - -With most of his subordinate officers, Perry’s relations were of the -pleasantest nature compatible with his own high sense of duty and -discipline. If he erred, it was usually in the right direction. -Professor Henry Coppée, who was a young officer in the Mexican war, -writes, from memory, in 1882:— - - “He (Perry) was a blunt, yet dignified man, heavy and not - graceful, something of a martinet; a duty man all over, held - somewhat in awe by the junior officers, and having little to do - with them; seriously courteous to others. The ship seemed to - have a sense of importance because he was on board.” - -The same gentleman relates that once, upon going on board the flag-ship, -the midshipmen, with the intent of playing a practical joke, told him to -go to Commodore Perry and talk with him. They expected to see the -landsman gruffly repelled. The tables were turned, when the would-be -jokers saw “the old man” kindly welcome the young officer and engage in -genial conversation with him. “I remember,” adds Dr. Coppée, “years -afterwards when I heard of what he accomplished in Japan, saying to -myself, ‘Well, he is just the man of whom I should have expected it -all.’” - -He had both the qualities necessary for war and for peaceful victory. -Though his conquests in war and in peace, in science and in diplomacy, -were great, the victory over himself was first, greatest and most -lasting. He always kept his word and spoke the truth. - -“The Commodore was not a genial man socially. His strong characteristics -were self-reliance, earnestness of purpose and untiring industry, which -gave such impetus to his schemes as to attract and carry with them the -support of others long after they had passed out of his own hands. It -was the magnetic power of these qualities in the character of the man -that enlisted the services of others in behalf of his purposes, and not -any special amenities of manner or sympathies of temperament, that drew -them lovingly toward him. And yet, under this austere exterior, which -seemed intent only upon the performance of cold duty, as duty, he had a -kind and gentle nature that in domestic life was an ornament to him. -Never afraid of responsibility in matters of official duty, he was ever -on the alert to seek employment when others hesitated. He was bluff, -positive and stern on duty, and a terror to the ignorant and lazy, but -the faithful ones who performed their duties with intelligence and zeal -held him in the highest estimation, for they knew his kindness and -consideration of them.”[44] - -He was not inclined to allow nonsense and cruel practical jokes among -the midshipmen, and could easily see when a verdant newcomer was being -imposed upon, or an old officer’s personal feelings hurt by thoughtless -youth. The father of a certain captain in the Mexican war, whose record -was highly honorable, was reputed to have handled the razor for a -livelihood. The young officers knowing or hearing of this, delighted -occasionally to slip fragments of combs, old razors, etc., under his -cabin door. Perry, angry at this, treated him with marked consideration. - -He was far from being entirely deficient in humor, and often enjoyed fun -at the right time. At home, amid his children and friends, he enjoyed -making his children laugh. Being a fair player on the flute, he was an -adept in those lively tunes which kept the children in gleeful mood. -Even on the quarter-deck and in the cabin, he was merry enough _after_ -his object had been attained. The usual tenor of his life was that of -expectancy and alertness to attain a purpose. Hence, the tense set of -his mind only occasionally relaxed to allow mirth. Captain Odell says, -“He was not a very jolly or joking man, but pleasant and agreeable in -his manners, and respected by all who had intercourse with him.” The -moral element of character, which is usually associated with habitual -seriousness in men who aspire to be founders, educators or leaders, was -very marked in Matthew Perry. - -The impressions of a young person or subordinate officer, will, of -course, differ from those formed in later life, and from other points of -view. We give a few of both kinds:— - - “His many excellent qualities of heart and head were encased in - a rough exterior. ‘I remember,’ says a daughter of Captain - Adams, ‘when I was a little girl at Sharon Springs, being - impressed by a singular directness of purpose in the man. I used - to like to watch him go into the crowded drawing-room. He would - stand at the door, survey the tangled scene, find his objective - point, and march straight to it over and through the confusion - of ladies, children and furniture, never stopping till he - reached there. He was a man of great personal bravery, as were - all the Perrys, of undoubted courage and gallantry, bluff in his - manners, but most hearty and warm in feelings, and with that - genuine kindness which impresses at the moment and leaves its - mark on the memory. Children instinctively liked the big and - bluff hero. As a friend he was most true and constant, and his - friendship was always to be relied on.’” - - “Such was the vein and character of the man, that the impression - he made on my mind and affections was such as to make me - desirous of following him to the cannon’s mouth, or wherever the - fortunes of peace or war should appoint our steps.”[45] - - “He was an intense navy man, always had the honor of the navy at - heart, and lost no opportunity to impress this feeling upon the - officers of his command.”[46] - - “I have no unfavorable recollections of Commodore Perry. On the - contrary, I think he was one of the greatest of our naval - commanders. He had brains, courage, industry and rare powers of - judging character, and I believe he would not have spared his - own son had he been a delinquent. He seemed to have no favorites - but those who did their duty.”[47] - - “I consider that Commodore Matthew C. Perry was one of the - finest officers we ever had in our navy—far superior to his - brother Oliver. He had not much ideality about him, but he had a - solid matter-of-fact way of doing things which pleased me - mightily. He was one of the last links connecting the old navy - with the new.”[48] - -He seemed never idle for one moment of his life. When abroad, off duty -he was remembering those at home. He brought back birds, monkeys, pets -and curiosities for the children. He collected shells in great -quantities, and was especially careful to get rare and characteristic -specimens. With these, on his return home, he would enrich the museums -at Newport, Brooklyn, New York and other places. - -As he never knew when to stop work, there were, of course, some under -his command who did not like him or his ways. - -In the matter of _pecuniary responsibility_, Perry was excessively -sensitive, with a hatred of debt bordering on the morbid. This feeling -was partly because of his high ideal of what a naval officer ought to -be, and partly because he feared to do injustice to the humblest -creditor. He believed a naval officer, as a servant of the United States -Government, ought to be as chivalrous, as honest, as just and lovely in -character to a bootblack or a washerwoman as to a jewelled lady or a -titled nobleman. His manly independence began when a boy, and never -degenerated as he approached old age, despite the annoyances from the -law-suits brought upon him by his devotion to duty regardless of -personal consequences. He refused to accept the suggestion of assistance -from any individual, believing it was the Government’s business to -shield him. - -In reply to an allusion, by a friend, when harassed by the lawsuit, to -the pecuniary assistance he might expect from a relative by marriage, he -replied, “I would dig a hole in the earth and bury myself in it, before -I would seek such assistance.” - -He had a great horror of debt, of officers contracting debts without -considering their inability to pay them. He often lectured and warned -young officers about this important matter. - -Under date of Nov. 16th, 1841, we find a long letter from him to Captain -Gregory of the _North Carolina_ concerning midshipmen’s debts. He blames -not so much “the boys” as Mr. D. (the purser), who indulged them, for “a -practice utterly at variance with official rectitude and propriety, and -alike ruinous to the prospects of the young officer.” He insists that -the middies must be kept to their duties and studies, and their -propensity to visit shore and engage in unsuitable expenses be -restrained. - -In ordinary social life, and in council, Perry appeared at some -disadvantage. He often hesitated for the proper word, and could not -express himself with more than the average readiness of men who are not -trained conversers or public speakers. With the pen, however, he wrought -his purpose with ease and power. His voluminous correspondence in the -navy archives and in the cabinets of friends, show Matthew Perry a -master of English style. A faulty sentence, a slip in grammar, a -misspelling, is exceedingly rare in his manuscript. From boyhood he -studied Addison and other masters of English prose. In his younger days -especially, he exercised himself in reproducing with the pen what he had -read in print. He thus early gained a perspicuous, flowing style, to -which every page of his book on the Japan Expedition bears witness. Like -Cæsar, he wrote his commentaries in the third person. Perry himself is -the author of that classic in American exploration and diplomacy. Others -furnished preface, introduction, index, and notes, but Matthew Perry -wrote the narrative.[49] - -He rarely wrote his name in full, his autograph in early life being -Matthew C. Perry; and later, almost invariably, M. C. Perry. In this he -affected the style neither of the fathers of the navy nor of the -republic, who abbreviated the first name and added a colon. - -It was the belief of Matthew Perry that the Bible contained the will of -God to man, and furnished a manual of human duty. It was his fixed habit -to peruse this word of God daily. On every long cruise he began the -reading of the whole Bible in course. - -Rear-Admiral Almy says: One pleasant Sunday afternoon in the month of -April, 1845, and on the way home by way of the West Indies, I was -officer of the deck of the frigate _Macedonian_, sailing along quietly -in a smooth sea in the tropics, nearing the land and a port. The -Commodore came upon deck, and towards me where I was standing, and -remarked: “I have just finished the Bible. I have read it through from -Genesis to Revelation. I make it a point to read it through every -cruise. It is certainly a remarkable book, a most wonderful book.” As he -uttered these words, the look-out aloft cried “Land O!” which diverted -his attention, perhaps, or he would have continued with further remarks. - -“Perry,” writes another rear-admiral, “was a man of most exemplary -habits, though not perhaps a communicant of any church, and upright, and -full of pride of country and profession, with no patience or -consideration for officers who felt otherwise.” - -Keenly enjoying the elements of worship in divine service, he was also a -student of the Book of Common Prayer. His own private copy of this -manual of devotion was well marked, showing his personal appreciation of -its literary and spiritual merits. Often, in the absence of a chaplain, -he read service himself. Of the burial service, he says it is “the -English language in its noblest form.” - -He enjoyed good preaching, but never liked the sermon to be too long. -“The unskilled speaker,” says the Japanese proverb, “is long-winded.” -The parson was encouraged not to tire his hearers, or to cultivate the -gift of continuance to the wearing of the auditor’s flesh. In flagrant -cases, the Commodore usually made it a point to clear his usually -healthy throat so audibly that the hint was taken by the chaplain. In -his endeavor to be fair to both speaker and hearers, Perry had little -patience with either Jack Tar or Shoulder Straps who shirked the duty of -punctuality, or shocked propriety by making exit precede benediction. -When leave was taken, during sermon, with noise or confusion, the -unlucky wight usually heard of it afterwards. While at the Brooklyn Navy -Yard, Perry had the old chapel refurnished, secured a volunteer choir, -and a piano, and so gave his personal encouragement, that the room was -on most occasions taxed beyond its capacity with willing worshippers. -When in 1842, the ships fitted out at the yard were supplied with bibles -at the cost of the government, Perry wrote of his gratification: “The -mere cost of these books, fifty cents each, is nothing to the moral -effect which such an order will have in advancing the character of the -service.” - -Perry manifested a reverence for the Lord’s Day which was sincere and -profound. He habitually kept Sunday as a day of rest and worship, for -himself and his men. Only under the dire pressure of necessity, would he -allow labor or battle to take place on that day. In the presence of -Africans, Mexicans and Japanese, of equals, or of races reckoned -inferior to our own, Perry was never ashamed or afraid to exemplify his -creed in this matter, or to deviate from the settled customs of his New -England ancestry. Japan to-day now owns and honors the day kept sacred -by the American commodore and squadron on their entrance in Yedo Bay. - -With chaplains, the clerical members of the naval households, Perry’s -relations were those of sympathy, cordiality and appreciation. About the -opening of the century, chaplains were ranked as officers, and divine -service was made part of the routine of ship life on Sundays. The -average moral and intellectual grade of the men who drew pay, and were -rated as “chaplains” in the United States Navy, was not very high until -1825, when a new epoch began under the Honorable Samuel L. Southard. -This worthy Secretary of the Navy established the rule that none but -accredited ministers of the gospel, in cordial relations with some -ecclesiastical body, should be appointed naval chaplains. From this time -onward, with rare exceptions, those holding sacred office on board -American men-of-war have adorned and dignified their calling. Until the -time of Perry’s death, there had been about eighty chaplains -commissioned. With such men as Charles E. Stewart, Walter Colton, George -Jones, Edmund C. Bittenger, Fitch W. Taylor, Orville Dewey, and Mason -Noble,—whose literary fruits and fragrant memories still remain—Perry -always entertained the highest respect, and often manifested personal -regard. For those, however, in whom the clerical predominated over the -human, and mercenary greed over unselfish love of duty, or who made -pretensions to sacerdotal authority over intellectual freedom, or whose -characters fell below their professions, the feelings of the bluff -sailor were those of undisguised contempt. - -We note the attitude of Perry toward the great enterprise founded on the -commission given by Jesus Christ to His apostles to make disciples of -all nations. Naval men, as a rule, do not heartily sympathize with -Christian missionaries. The causes of this alienation or indifference -are not far to seek, nor do they reflect much credit upon the naval -profession. Apart from moral considerations, the man of the deck, bred -in routine and precedent is not apt to take a wide view on any subject -that lies beyond his moral horizon. Nor does his association with the -men of his own race at the ports, in club or hong, tend to enlarge his -view. Nor, on the other hand, does the naval man always meet the shining -types of missionary character. Despite these facts, there are in the -navy of the United States many noble spirits, gentlemen of culture and -private morals, who are hearty friends of the American missionary. -Helpful and sympathetic with all who adorn a noble and unselfish -calling, they judge with charity those less brilliant in record or -winsome in person. Perry’s attitude was ever that of kindly sympathy -with the true missionary. With the very few who degraded their calling, -or to those who expected any honor beyond that which their private -character commanded, he was cool or even contemptuous. He had met and -personally honored many men and women who, in Africa, Greece, the -Turkish Empire, and China, make the American name so fragrant abroad. In -the ripeness of his experience, he took genuine pleasure in penning -these words: “Though a sailor from boyhood, yet I may be permitted to -feel some interest in the work of enlightening heathenism, and imparting -a knowledge of that revealed truth of God, which I fully believe -advances man’s progress here, and gives him his only safe ground of hope -for hereafter.[50] To Christianize a strange people, the first important -step should be to gain their confidence and respect by means practically -honest, and in every way consistent with the precepts of our holy -religion.” Of the Japanese people, he wrote: “Despite prejudice, their -past history and wrongs, they will in time listen with patience and -respectful attention to the teachings of our missionaries,” for they -are, as he considered, “in most respects, a refined and rational -people.” - -How grandly Perry’s prophecy has been fulfilled, all may see in -Christian Japan of the year 1887. - ------ - -[44] Silas Bent, U. S. N. - -[45] Rear-Admiral Joshua R. Sands, U. S. N. - -[46] Rear-Admiral John Almy, U. S. N. - -[47] Engineer John Follansbee. - -[48] D. D. Porter, Admiral U. S. Navy. - -[49] Rev. Dr. Vinton’s Oration at Perry Statue, Newport, Oct. 2nd, 1868. -Letters of Dr. Robert Tomes and John Hone, New York Times, October 1868. - -[50] Paper read before the American Geographical Society, March 6th, -1856. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVI. - WORKS THAT FOLLOW. - - -THE momentum of Perry’s long and active life left a force which, a -generation after his death, is yet unspent. He rests from his labors, -but his works do follow him. His thoughts have been wrought towards -completion by others. - -The opening of Japan to foreign commerce and residence, and ultimately -to full international intercourse, occupied his brain until the day of -his death. His interest did not flag for a moment. What we see in New -Japan to-day is more the result of the influence of Matthew Perry and -the presence of Townsend Harris, than of the fear of British armaments -in China. English writers have copied, even as late as 1883,[51] the -statement of Captain Sherard Osborn[52] and the _London Times_,[53] that -“as soon as the Tientsin Treaty was arranged, the American commodore -[Tatnall] rushed off to Japan to take advantage of the consternation -certain to be created by the first news of recent events in the Peiho. -It was smartly imagined.” We propose to give a plain story of the facts. - -Townsend Harris the United States Consul at Ningpo, China, was appointed -July 31st, 1855, by President Pierce, Consul-General to Japan. No more -fortunate selection could have been made. By experience and travel, -thoroughly acquainted with human nature and especially the oriental and -semi-civilized phases of it, Mr. Harris possessed the “dauntless -courage, patience, courtesy, gentleness, firmness and incorruptible -honesty” needed to deal with just such _yakunin_ or men of political -business, as the corrupt and decaying dynasty of Yedo usurpers naturally -produced. Further, he had a kindly feeling towards the Japanese people. -Best of all, he was armed with the warnings, advice and suggestions of -Perry, whom he had earnestly consulted. - -Ordered, September 8th, 1855, by President Pierce to follow up Captain -Edmund Robert’s work and make a treaty with Siam, Mr. Harris after -concluding his business, boarded the _San Jacinto_ at Pulo Pinang, and -arrived in Shimoda harbor, August 22d, 1856. The propeller steamer was -brought to safe anchorage by a native pilot who bore a commission -printed on “The Japan Expedition Press,” and signed by Commodore Perry. -The stars and stripes were hoisted to the peak of the flag-staff raised -by the _San Jacinto’s_ carpenters on the afternoon of September 3d. Then -in his quiet quarters at Kakisaki, or Oyster Point, Mr. Harris, -following out Perry’s plan of diplomatic campaign, won alone and -unaided, after fourteen months of perseverance, a magnificent victory. -Lest these statements seem inaccurate we reprint Mr. Harris’ letter in -full. - - U. S. CONSULATE GENERAL, SIMODA, - _October 27, 1857_. - - MY DEAR COMMODORE PERRY,—Your kind favor of December 28th 1856, - did not come to hand until the 20th inst., as I was fourteen - months at this place without receiving any letters or - information from the United States. The U. S. sloop of war - _Portsmouth_ touched here on the 8th of last month, but she did - not bring me any letters; her stay here was very short, just - enough to enable me to finish my official letter; had time - permitted I would have written to you by her. - - I am much obliged to you for your good advice; it was both sound - and well-timed advice, and I have found every one of your - opinions, as to the course the Japanese would pursue with me, - prove true to the letter. - - Early last March I made a convention with the Japanese which, - among other provisions, secured the right of permanent residence - to Americans at Simoda and Hakodadi, admits a Consul at - Hakodadi, opens Nagasaki, settled the currency question, and the - dollar now passes for 4670 cash instead of 1600, and lastly - admits the enterritoriality of all Americans in Japan. It was a - subject of deep regret to me that I was not able to send this - convention to the State Department until quite six months after - it had been agreed on. - - In October 1856, I wrote to the Council of State at Yedo that I - was the bearer of a friendly letter from the President of the - United States addressed to the Emperor of Japan, and that I had - some important matter to communicate which greatly concerned the - honor and welfare of Japan. I desire the Council to give orders - for my proper reception on the road from this to Yedo, and to - inform me when those arrangements were completed. For full ten - months the Japanese used every possible expedient to get me to - deliver the letter at Simoda, and to make my communications to - the Governors of this place. I steadily refused to do either, - and at last they have yielded and I shall start for Yedo some - time next month. I am to have an audience of the Emperor, and at - that time I am to deliver the letter. - - I am satisfied that no commercial treaty can be made by - negotiations carried on any where but at Yedo, unless the - negotiator is backed up by a powerful fleet. - - I hope when at Yedo to convince the government that it is - impossible for them to continue their present system of - non-intercourse, and that it will be for their honor and - interest to yield to argument rather than force. - - I do not expect to accomplish all that I desire on this - occasion, but it will be a great step in the way of direct - negotiations with the Council of the State, and the beginning of - a train of enlightenment of the Japanese that will sooner or - later lead them to desire to open the country freely to - intercourse with foreign nations. - - I have just obtained a copy of your “Expedition to Japan and the - China Seas,” and have read it with intense interest. I hope it - is no vanity in me to say that no one _at present_ can so well - appreciate and do justice to your work as I can. - - You seem at once and almost intuitively to have adopted the best - of all courses with the Japanese. I am sure no other course - would have resulted so well. I have seen quite a number of - Japanese who saw you when you were at Simoda and they all made - eager inquiries after you. M—— Y—— is at Simoda, and has not - forgotten the art of lying. - - Please present my respectful compliments to Mrs. Perry and to - the other members of your family, and believe - - Yours most sincerely, - TOWNSEND HARRIS. - -As Perry predicted, the Japanese yielded to Mr. Harris who, a few days -after he had sent the letter given above, went to Yedo, and had audience -of the Shō-gun Iyésada. He afterwards saw the ministers of state, and -presented his demands. These were: Unrestricted trade between Japanese -and American merchants in all things except bullion and grain, the -closing of Shimoda and the opening of Kanagawa and Ozaka, the residence -in Yedo of an American minister, the sending of an embassy to America, -and a treaty to be ratified in detail by the government of Japan. - -Professor Hayashi was first sent to Kiōto, to obtain the Mikado’s -consent. As he had negotiated the first treaty it was thought that with -his experience, scholarly ability and eminent character, he would be -certain to win success, if anyone could. Despite his presence and -entreaties, the imperial signature and pen-seal were not given; and -Hotta, a daimiō, was then despatched on the same mission. The delay -caused by the opposition of the conservative element at the imperial -capital was so prolonged, that Mr. Harris threatened if an answer was -not soon forthcoming, to go to Kiōto himself and arrange matters. - -The American envoy was getting his eyes opened. He began to see that the -throne and emperor were in Kiōto, the camp and lieutenant at Yedo. The -“Tycoon”—despite all the pomp and fuss and circumlocution and lying -sham—was an underling. Only the Mikado was supreme. Quietly living in -Yedo, Mr. Harris bided his time. Hotta returned from his fruitless -mission to Kiōto late in April 1858; but meanwhile Ii, a man of vigor -and courage, though perhaps somewhat unscrupulous, was made Tairō or -regent, and virtual ruler in Yedo. With him Mr. Harris renewed his -advances, and before leaving Yedo, in April 1858, secured a treaty -granting in substance all the American’s demands. This instrument was to -be signed and executed September 1st, 1858. Ii hoped by that time to -obtain the imperial consent. A sub-treaty, secret, but signed by the -premier Ii and Mr. Harris, binding them to the execution of the main -treaty on the day of its date, was also made, and copies were held by -both parties.[54] This diplomacy was accomplished by Mr. Harris, when he -had been for many months without news from the outside world, and knew -nothing of the British campaign in China. - -Meanwhile Flag-Officer Josiah Tatnall, under order of the United States -Navy Department, was on his way to Japan, to bring letters and -dispatches to the American Consul-general, was ignorant of Mr. Harris’ -visit to Yedo, or his new projects for treaty-making. On the _Powhatan_ -he left Shanghai July 5th, joining the _Mississippi_ at Nagasaki five -days later. Here the death of Commodore Perry was announced, the -Japanese receiving the news with expressions of sincere regret. The -Treaty at Tientsin had been signed June 26, but Tatnall, innocent of the -notions of later manufacture, so diligently ascribed to him of rushing -“off to Japan to take advantage of the consternation certain to be -created by the first news of recent events in the Peiho,” . . . was so -far oblivious of any further intentions on the part of Mr. Harris of -making another treaty with Japan, that he lingered in the lovely harbor -until the 21st of July. In the _Powhatan_ he cast anchor in Shimoda -harbor, on the 25th, the _Mississippi_ having arrived two days before. -On the 27th, taking Mr. Harris on board the _Powhatan_, Tatnall steamed -up to Kanagawa, visiting also Yokohama, where Perry’s old treaty-house -was still standing. Meeting Ii on the 29th, negotiations were re-opened. -In Commodore Tatnall’s presence, the main treaty was dated July 29th -(instead of September 1st) and to this the premier Ii affixed his -signature, and pen-seal. By this treaty Yokohama was to be opened to -foreign trade and residence July 1st of the following year, 1859, and an -embassy was to be sent to visit the United States. The Commodore and -Consul-general returned to Shimoda August 1st. Mr. Harris then took a -voyage of recreation to China. - -On the 30th of June 1859, the consulate of the United States was removed -from Shimoda to Kanagawa, where the American flag was raised at the -consulate July 1st. The Legation of the United States was established in -Yedo July 7, 1859. Amid dense crowds of people, and a party of -twenty-three[55] Americans, Mr. Harris was escorted to his quarters in a -temple. - -The regent Ii carried on affairs in Yedo with a high hand, not only -signing treaties without the Mikado’s assent, but by imprisoning, -exiling, and ordering to decapitation at the blood-pit, his political -opposers. Among those who committed _hara-kiri_ or suffered death, were -Yoshida Shoin, and Hashimoto Sanai. The daimiōs of Mito, Owari, and -Echizen,[56] were ordered to resign in favor of their sons and go into -private life. “All classes now held their breath and looked on in silent -affright.” On the 13th of February 1860, the embassy, consisting of -seventy-one persons left Yokohama in the _Powhatan_ to the United -States, arriving in Washington May 14, 1860. The English copy of the -Perry treaty had been burned in Yedo in 1858, and one of their objects -was to obtain a fresh transcript. The writer’s first sight and -impression of the Japanese was obtained, when these cultivated and -dignified strangers visited Philadelphia, where they received the -startling news of the assassination in Yedo, March 23d, of their chief -Ii, by Mito _rō-nins_. - -The signing of treaties without the Mikado’s consent was an act of -political suicide on the part of the Yedo government. Not only did “the -swaggering prime minister” Ii, become at once the victim of assassin’s -swords, but all over the country fanatical patriots, cutting the cord of -loyalty to feudal lords, became “wave-men” or _rō-nin_. They raised the -cry, “Honor the Mikado, and expel the barbarian.” Then began that series -of acts of violence—the murder of foreigners and the burning of -legations, which foreigners then found so hard to understand, but which -is now seen to be a logical sequence of preceding events. These amateur -assassins and incendiaries were but zealous patriots who hoped to deal a -death-blow at the Yedo usurpation by embroiling it in war with -foreigners. More than one officer prominent in the Meiji era has -boasted[57] of his part in the plots and alarms which preceded the fall -of the dual system and the reinstatement of the Mikado’s supremacy. To -this the writer can bear witness. - -Meanwhile the ministers of the Bakafu were “like men who have lost their -lanterns on a dark night.” Their lives were worth less than a brass -_tem-pō_. Amid the tottering framework of government, they yet strove -manfully to keep their treaty engagements. “No men on earth could have -acted more honorably.”[58] All the foreign ministers struck their flags, -and retired to Yokohama, except Mr. Harris. He, despite the -assassination, January 14, 1861, of Mr. Heusken his interpreter, -maintained his ground in solitude. English and French battalions were -landed at Yokohama, and kept camp there for over twelve years. On the -21st of January, 1862, another embassy was despatched to Europe and the -United States. Their purpose was to obtain postponement of treaty -provisions in regard to the opening of more ports. In New York, they -paid their respects to the widow of Commodore Perry, meeting also his -children and grandchildren. - -Plots and counterplots in Kiōto and Yedo, action and reaction in and -between the camp and the throne went on, until, on the 3rd of January, -1868, two days after the opening of Hiogo and Ozaka to trade, the -coalition of daimiōs hostile to the Bakafu or Tycoon’s, government, -obtained possession of the Mikado’s palace and person. The imperial -brocade banner of chastisement was then unfurled, and the “Tycoon” and -all who followed him stamped as _chō-téki_ traitors—the most awful name -in Japanese history. One of the first acts of the new government, -signalizing the new era of Meiji, was to affix the imperial seal to the -treaties, and grant audience to the foreign envoys. In the civil war, -lasting nearly two years, the skill of the southern clansmen, backed by -American rifles and the iron-clad ram, _Stonewall_, secured victory. -Yedo was made the _Kiō_ or national capital, with the prefix of Tō -(east), and thenceforward, the camp and the throne were united in Tōkiō, -the Mikado’s dwelling place. - -All power in the empire having been consolidated in the Mikado’s person -in Tōkiō, one of the first results was the assertion of his rule over -its outlying portions, especially Yezo, Ogasawara and Riu Kiu islands, -the resources of Yezo and the Kuriles included in the term Hokkaido or -Northern sea-circuit were developed by colonists, and by a commission -aided by Americans eminent in science and skill. Sappōro is the capital -city, and Hakodaté the chief port. The thirty-seven islands of Riu Kiu, -with their one hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants are organized as -the Okinawa Ken, one of the prefects of the empire. The deserted -palace-enclosure of Shuri, to which in 1853, Perry marched, with his -brass bands marines and field-pieces, to return the visit of the regent, -is now occupied by battalion of the Mikado’s infantry. The dwellings of -the king and his little court now lie in mildew and ruin,[59] while the -former ruler is a smartly decorated marquis of the empire. Despite -China’s claim[60] to Riu Kiu, Japan has never relaxed her grasp on this -her ancient domain.[61] Variously styled “the Southern Islands,” “Long -Rope” (Okinawa), “Sleeping Dragon,” “Pendant Tassels,” the “Country -which observes Propriety,” or the “Eternal Land” of Japanese mythology, -and probably some day to be a renowned winter health-resort, Riu Kiu, -whether destined to be the bone of contention and cause of war between -the rival great nations claiming it, or to sleep in perpetual afternoon, -has ceased to be a political entity. No one will probably ever follow -Perry in making a treaty with the once tiny “Kingdom.” - -The Ogasawara (Bonin) islands were formally occupied by the civil and -military officers of the Mikado in 1875, and the people of various -nationalities dwell peaceably under the sun-flag. An American -lady-missionary and a passenger in the steamer _San Pablo_, Mrs. Anna -Viele of Albany, spent from January 14th to 31st, 1855, at the Bonin -Islands. She found of Savory’s large family three sons and three -daughters living. The old flag of stars and stripes given to Savory by -Commodore Perry is still in possession of his widow, and is held in -great reverence by his children and grandchildren, all of whom profess -allegiance to the United States. The boys, as soon as of age, go to -Yokohama and are registered in the American consulate. One of the sons -bears the name of Matthew Savory, so named by the Commodore himself when -there. A grandson having been born a few days before the arrival of the -_San Pablo_, Mrs. Viele was invited to name him. She did so, and Grover -Cleveland Savory received as a gift a photograph of the President of the -United States. Trees planted by the hand of the Commodore still bear -luscious fruit. Though the cattle were long ago “lifted” by passing -whalers, the goats are amazingly abundant.[62] The island of Hachijō -(Fatsizio,) to which, between the years 1597 and 1886, sixteen hundred -and six persons, many of them court ladies, nobles, and gentlemen from -Kiōto and Yedo, were banished, is also under beneficent rule. The new -penal code of Japan, based on the ideas of christendom, has substituted -correctional labor,[63]—even with the effect of flooding America and -Europe with cheap and gaudy trumpery made by convicts under prison -contracts,—and Hachijō ceases to stand, in revised maps and charts, as -the “place of exile for the grandees of Japan.” - -Ancient traditions, vigorously revived in 1874 claimed that Corea was in -the same relation to Japan as Yedo or Riu Kiu; or, if not an integral -portion of Dai Nihon, Corea was a tributary vassal. A party claiming to -represent the “unconquerable spirit of Old Japan,” (Yamatō damashii,) to -reverence the Mikado, and to cherish the sword as the living soul of the -samurai, demanded in 1875, the invasion of Corea. The question divided -the cabinet after the return of the chief members of it from their tour -around the world in 1875, and resulted in a rebellion crushed only after -the expenditure of much blood and treasure. It was finally determined -not to invade but to “open” Corea, even as Japan had been opened to -diplomacy and commerce by the United States. Only twelve years after -Perry’s second visit to the bay of Yedo, and in the same month, a -Japanese squadron of five vessels and eight hundred men under General -Kuroda appeared in the Han river, about as far below the Corean capital -as Uraga is from Tōkiō. In the details of procedure, and movement of -ships, boats and men, the imitation of Perry’s policy was close and -transparent.[64] Patience, skill and tact, won a “brain-victory,” and a -treaty of friendship, trade, and commerce, was signed February 27th, -1876. The penultimate hermit nation had led the last member of the -family into the world’s market-place. In this also, Perry’s work -followed him. - -Two years after this event, a company of Japanese merchants in Yokohama, -assembled together of their own accord; and, in their own way celebrated -with speech, song and toast, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the arrival -of Commodore Perry and the apparation of the “Black ships” at Uraga. The -general tenor of the thought of the evening was that the American -squadron had proved to Japan, despite occasional and temporary reverses, -an argosy of treasures for the perpetual benefit of the nation. - -The object-lesson in modern civilization, given by Perry on the sward at -Yokohama, is now illustrated on a national scale. Under divine -Providence, with unique opportunity, Japan began renascence at a time of -the highest development of forces, spiritual mental, material. With -Christianity, modern thought, electricity, steam, and the -printing-press, the Mikado comes to his empire “at such a time as this.” -Since the era of Meiji, or Enlightened Peace, was ushered in, January -26, 1858, the Mikado Mutsŭhito, the 123d sovereign of the imperial line, -born twenty-one days before Perry sailed in the _Mississippi_ for Japan, -has abolished the feudal system, emancipated four-fifths of his subjects -from feudal vassalage and made them possessors of the soil, disarmed a -feudal soldiery numbering probably six hundred thousand men trained to -arms, reorganized the order of society, established and equipped an army -forty thousand strong, and a navy superior in ships and equipments to -that of the United States, assured the freedom of conscience, introduced -the telegraph, railway, steam-navigation, general postal and saving, and -free compulsory public educational systems;[65] declared the equality of -all men before the law, promised limitation of the imperial prerogative, -and the establishment of a national parliament in A. D. 1890. - -All this looks like a miracle. “Can a nation be born at once,” a land in -one day? - -The story of the inward preparation of Nippon for its wondrous flowering -in our day, of the development of national force, begun a century before -Perry was born, which, with outward impact made not collision, but the -unexpected resultant,—New Japan, deserves a volume from the historian, -and an epic from the poet. We have touched upon the subject -elsewhere.[66] Suffice it to say that the Dutch, so long maligned by -writers of hostile faith and jealous nationality, to whom Perry in his -book fails to do justice, bore an honorable and intelligent part in -it.[67] Even Perry, Harris and the Americans constitute but one of many -trains of influences contributing to the grand result. Perry himself -died before that confluence of the streams of tendency, now so clearly -visible, had been fully revealed to view. The prayers of Christians, the -yearning of humanity, the pressure of commerce, the ambition of -diplomacy, from the outside; the longing of patriots, the researches of -scholars, the popularization of knowledge, the revival of the indigenous -Shintō religion, the awakening of reverence for the Mikado’s person, the -heated hatred almost to flame of the Yedo usurpation, the eagerness of -students for western science, the fertilizing results of Dutch culture, -from the inside; were all tributaries, which Providence made to rise, -kept in check, and let loose to meet in flood at the elect moment. - -Meanwhile, Japan groans under the yoke imposed upon her by the Treaty -Powers in the days of her ignorance. “Extra-territorialty” is her curse. -The selfishness and greed of strong nations infringe her just and -sovereign rights as an independent nation. In the light of twenty-eight -years of experience, treaty-revision is a necessity of righteousness and -should be initiated by the United States.[68] This was the verdict of -Townsend Harris, as declared to the writer, in 1874. This is the written -record of the English and American missionaries in their manifesto of -April 28th, 1884 at the Ozaka Conference.[69] Were Matthew Perry to -speak from his grave, his voice would protest against oppression by -treaty, and in favor of righteous treatment of Japan, in the spirit of -the treaty made and signed by him; to wit: - -“There shall be a perfect, permanent, and universal peace, and a sincere -and cordial amity, between the United States of America on the one part, -and the Empire of Japan on the other, and between their people, -respectively, without exception of persons or places.” - ------ - -[51] Young Japan, J. R. Black. - -[52] A Cruise in Japan waters, and Japan fragments. - -[53] November 1st, 1859. - -[54] Commodore Tatnall told this to Gideon Nye. See Mr. Nye’s letter, -January 31st, 1859, to the Hong Kong _Times_; reprinted in pamphlet form -Macao, March 22, 1864. - -[55] See their names, and dates of the _Mississippi’s_ movements, in “A -Cruise in the U. S. S. Frigate Mississippi,” July 1857 to February 1860, -by W. F. Gragg, Boston, 1860. - -[56] It was in the educational service of this baron and his son, that -the writer went to Japan and lived in Echizen. The Mikado’s Empire, pp. -308, 426-434, 532-536. - -[57] Episodes in a Life of Adventure, p. 163, by Laurence Oliphant, -1887. - -[58] Townsend Harris’s words to the writer, October 9th, 1874. - -[59] Cruise of the Marquesas, London, 1886. - -[60] The story of the Riu Kiu (Loo Choo) complication by F. Brinkley, in -_The Chrysanthemum_, Yokohama, 1883. Audi Alteram Partem, by D. B. -McCartee Esq. M. D. - -[61] Asiatic Soc. of Japan. Transactions Vol. I, p. 1; Vol. IV. p. 66. - -[62] Asiatic Society of Japan, Transactions Vol. IV, p. 3. - -[63] Asiatic Society and Japan Transactions, Vol. VI, part III, pp. -435-478. - -[64] Corea, the Hermit Nation, p. 423. - -[65] Hon. John A. Bingham to Mr. Evarts, U. S. Foreign Relations, 1880. - -[66] The Recent Revolutions in Japan, chapter XXVIII in The Mikado’s -Empire, and pamphlet The Rutgers Graduates in Japan, New Brunswick N. J. -1886. - -[67] Transactions, Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. V. p. 207. - -[68] Japanese Treaty Revision by Prof. J. K. Newton, _Bibliotheca -Sacra_, January 1887. - -[69] Published in _The Independent_, N. Y. - -[Illustration: COMMODORE PERRY’S AUTOGRAPH.] - - - - - A P P E N D I C E S - - - I. - AUTHORITIES. - - WRITINGS OF M. C. PERRY. - - _Autograph._ - - DIARY, REMARKS, ETC. (on board the United States frigate - _President_, Commodore Rodgers), made by M. C. Perry. [From - March 19, 1811, to July 25, 1813]. - - LETTERS of M. C. Perry to his superior officers, and to the - United States Navy Department, in the United States Navy - Archives, Washington D. C.; in all, about two thousand. These - are bound up with others, in volumes lettered on the back - =Officers' Letters=, MASTER COMMANDANTS’ LETTERS, - =Captains' Letters=. As commodore of a squadron, M. - C. Perry’s autograph letters and papers relating to his cruises - are bound in separate volumes and lettered: =Squadron, - Coast of Africa, under Commodore M. C. Perry, April 10 1843, to - April 29 1845=, [1 volume, folio]; =Home Squadron, - Commodore M. C. Perry’s Cruise= [2 volumes, folio, on THE - MEXICAN WAR]; =East India, China and Japan Squadron, - Commodore M. C. Perry=, Volume I, December 1852 to - December 31 1853; Volume II, January 1854 to May 1855 [2 - volumes, folio]. - - LETTERS to naval officers, scientific men, and personal friends. - - _Printed._ - - Unsigned articles in _The Naval Magazine_, Brooklyn, N. Y. - - =Future Commercial Relations with Japan and Lew - Chew.= - - =The Expediency of Extending Further Encouragement to - American Commerce in the East.= - - ENLARGEMENT OF GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCE, Pamphlet, New York, 1856. - - =Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the - China Seas and Japan.= 3 volumes, folio. Washington, 1856. - 1 volume, folio. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1857. - - The Perry family Bible, dates of births, marriages and deaths. - - Scrap books, kept at various periods of M. C. Perry’s life by - the children and relatives of M. C. Perry. - - JAPANESE AUTHORITIES. - - _Kinsé Shiriaku_ (Short History of Recent Times, 1853–1869, by - Yamaguchi Uji, Tokio, 1871 translated by Ernest Satow, Yokohama, - 1873). - - _Genji Yumé Monogatari_ (Dream Story of Genji, inside history of - Japan from 1850 to 1864), translated by Ernest Satow in _Japan - Mail_, 1874. - - _Kinsé Kibun_ (Youth’s History of Japan, from Perry’s arrival, 3 - volumes, illustrated, Tokio, 1874). - - _Hoku-é O Setsu Roku_, Official Record of Intercourse with the - American Barbarians (made by the “Tycoon’s” officers, during - negotiations with Perry in 1854; manuscript copied from the - Department of State, Tokio, 1884). - - _A Chronicle_ of the Chief Events in Japanese history from 1844 - to 1863, translated by Ernest Satow; in _Japan Mail_, 1873. - - Japanese poems, street songs, legends, notes taken by the writer - during conversations with people, officers, and students, - chiefly eyewitnesses to events referred to. - - - - The other authorities quoted, are referred to in the text and - footnotes, or mentioned in the preface. - - II. - ORIGIN OF THE PERRY NAME AND FAMILY. - - IN answer to an inquiry, Hext M. Perry, Esq., M.D., of - Philadelphia, Pa., who is preparing a genealogy of the Perry - family, has kindly furnished the following epitome:— - - DEAR SIR,—I have no doubt of our name being of - Scandinavian origin. The Perrys were from Normandy, the - original name being Perier which has in course been - reduced to its present—and for many hundred years past - in England and America—Perry. A market town in - Normandy, France, is our old Perry name—Periers. The - name doubtlessly originated from the fruit, Pear, French - _Poire_; or, the fruit took its name from the family - which is perhaps more likely. At any rate _Poire_ is - easily modulated into Perer, Perier, Periere, etc., and - so across the Channel to England, with William the - Conqueror, in 1086, it soon ripens into our name Perry. - Perry is a delightful fermented beverage in England made - from pears—a sort of pear cider. - - “Perry” identifies by its arms with “Perers.” The family - of Perry was seated in Devon County, England, in 1370. - - That of “Perier” was of Perieres in Bretagne (Brittany, - France), and descended from Budic, Count of Cornuailles, - A. D. 900, whose younger son Perion gave name to - Perieres, Bretagne. A branch came to England, 1066, and - Matilda de Perer was mother to Hugo Parcarius who lived - in time of Henry I. The name continually recurs in all - parts of England, and thence the _Perrys_, Earls of - Limerick. There was also a Norman family of Pears - intermarried with Shakespere which bore different arms - “Perrie” for Perry—“Pirrie,” for Perry. - - “PERRIER.” - - Odo, Robert, Ralph, Hugh, &c., de Periers, Normandy - 1180-95. Robert de _Pereres_, England, 1198. - - It appears that the family Saxby, Shakkesby, Saxesby, - Sakespee, Sakespage or Shakespeare was a branch of that - of De Perers, and this appears to be confirmed by the - armorial. The arms of one branch of Perire or Perers - were: Argent, a bend sable (charged with three pears for - difference). Those of Shakespeare were:—Argent, a bend - sable (charged with a spear for difference). As before - stated, the family of Perere came from Periers near - Evreux, Normandy, where it remained in the 15th century. - Hugo de Periers possessed estate in Warwick 1156; - Geoffrey de Periers held fief in Stafford, 1165, and - Adam de Periers in Cambridge. Sir Richard de Perers was - M. P. for Leicester 1311, Herts 1316-24, and Viscount of - Essex and Herts in 1325. - - Courteously Yours, - HEXT M. PERRY. - - - III. - THE NAME CALBRAITH. - - IT is interesting to inquire whether the family of Calbraith is - still in existence. An examination of the directory of the city - of Philadelphia during the years 1882, 1883, 1884 recalls no - name of Calbraith, and but one of Calbreath, though fifty-two of - Galbraith are down in the lists. The spelling of the name with a - C is exceedingly rare, the name Galbraith, however, is common in - North Ireland and in Scotland. Arthur, the father of our late - president of the same name, in his “Derivation of Family Names,” - says it is composed of two Gaelic words _Gall_ and _Bhreatan_; - that is “strange Breton,” or “Low Country Breton.” The - Galbraiths in the Gaelic are called Breatannich, or Clanna - Breatannich, that is “the Britons,” or “the children of - Britons,” and were once reckoned a great clan in Scotland, - according to the following lines:— - - “Galbraiths from the Red Tower, - Noblest of Scottish surnames.” - - The Falla dhearg, or Red Tower was probably Dumbarton, that is - the Dun Bhreatan, or stronghold of the Britons, whence it is - said the Galbraiths came. - - Of one of the unlucky bearers of the name Galbraith, a private - of our army in Mexico, Longfellow has written in his poem of - “Dennis Galbraith.” In his “History of Japan,” Mr. Francis - Ottiwell Adams, an English author, naturally falls into the - habit of writing Matthew G. Perry. The Rev. Calbraith B. Perry - of Baltimore, nephew of Matthew C. Perry, suggests that the - initial letter of the name is merely the softening of the Scotch - G. - - - - IV. - THE FAMILY OF M. C. PERRY. - - OF MATTHEW C. PERRY, born in Newport, April 10, 1794, and JANE - SLIDELL born in New York, February 29, 1797, who were married in - New York, October 24, 1814, there were born four sons and six - daughters:— - - JOHN SLIDELL PERRY, died March 24, 1817. - SARAH PERRY (Mrs. Robert S. Rodgers.) - JANE HAZARD PERRY (Mrs. John Hone) died December 24, 1882. - MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY, Jr., died November 16, 1873. - SUSAN MURGATROYDE PERRY, died August 15, 1825. - OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, died November 17, 1870. - WILLIAM FREDERICK PERRY, died March 18, 1884. - CAROLINE SLIDELL PERRY, (Mrs. August Belmont.) - ISABELLA BOLTON PERRY, (Mrs. George Tiffany.) - ANNA RODGERS PERRY, died March 9, 1838. - - MATTHEW C. PERRY died in New York, March 4, 1858; his wife, who - was his devoted companion and helper, =Jane Slidell - Perry=, survived him twenty years, and died in Newport, R. - I., June 14, 1879, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. George - Tiffany. A pension of fifty dollars per month was granted to - her, by Act of Congress, from the date of her husband’s death. - - Of the Commodore’s children, who grew to adult life, Sarah was - married to Col. Robert S. Rodgers (brother of the late - Rear-Admiral John Rodgers, U. S. N.), at the Commandant’s house, - Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N. Y., December 15, 1841, and now lives - near Havre de Grace, Maryland. - - Jane Hazard was married to John Hone, Esq., of New York, at the - Commandant’s house, Brooklyn Navy Yard, October 20, 1841. - - Matthew Calbraith married Miss Harriet Taylor of Brooklyn, April - 26, 1853. He entered the United States Navy as Midshipman, June - 1, 1835, was appointed Lieutenant April 3, 1848, and later - Captain. He was placed on the retired list April 4, 1867. - - Oliver Hazard Perry, an officer in the United States Marine - Corps, was appointed Lieutenant February 25, 1841; was in the - Mexican war, and resigned July 23, 1849; was appointed United - States Consul at Hong Kong. He died in London May 17, 1870. He - was unmarried. - - William Frederick Perry, died unmarried. - - Caroline Slidell Perry was married, in New York, to the Hon. - August Belmont, late Minister of the United States to the - Netherlands, November 7, 1849. - - Isabella Bolton Perry married Mr. George Tiffany in New York, - August 17, 1864. - - - - V. - OFFICIAL DETAIL OF M. C. PERRY, UNITED STATES NAVY. - - (Furnished by the Chief Clerk United States Navy Department, 1883.) - - MATTHEW C. PERRY was appointed a Midshipman in the United States - Navy, January 16th, 1809; March 16th, 1809, ordered to the naval - station, New York; May 11th, 1809, furloughed for the merchant - service; October 12th, 1810, ordered to the _President_; - February 22d, 1813, appointed Acting Lieutenant; July 24th, - 1813, appointed Lieutenant; November 16th, 1813, ordered to New - London; December 20th, 1815, granted six month’s furlough; - September 22d, 1817, ordered to the navy yard, New York; June - 8th, 1821, ordered to command the _Shark_; July 29th, 1823, - ordered to the receiving ship at New York; July 26th, 1824, - ordered to the _North Carolina_; March 21st, 1826, promoted to - Master Commandant; August 17th, 1827, ordered to the naval - rendezvous at Boston; September 2d, 1828, granted leave of - absence; April 22d, 1830, ordered to command the _Concord_; - December 10th, 1832, detached and granted three months’ leave; - January 7th, 1833, ordered to the navy yard, New York; February - 9th, 1837, promoted to Captain; March 15th, 1837, detached from - the navy yard, New York; August 29th, 1837, ordered to command - the _Fulton_; March the 2d, 1840, ordered to the steamer - building at New York to give general superintendence over the - gun-practice; June 12th, 1841, ordered to command the navy yard, - New York; February 20th, 1843, ordered to hold himself in - readiness for command of the African squadron; May 1st, 1845, - detached and granted leave; December 27th, 1845, ordered to - examine merchant steamers at New York; January 6th, 1846, - ordered to examine docks at New York—examination finished - February 4th, 1846; May 18th, 1846, ordered to examine steamers - at New York; 21st July, 1846, ordered to report at Department; - August 20th, 1846, ordered to command the _Mississippi_; March - 4th, 1847, ordered to command the Home Squadron; November 20th, - 1848, detached from command of Home Squadron, and ordered as - General Superintendent of ocean mail-steamers; November 3d, - 1849, ordered to report at the Department; January 22d, 1852, - given preparatory orders to command the East India Squadron; 3d - March, 1852, detached as Superintendent of ocean mail-steamers; - March 24th, 1852, ordered to command the East India Squadron; - January 12th, 1855, reported his arrival at New York; June 20th, - 1855, ordered to Washington as a Member of Efficiency Board - under Act of Congress, February 28th, 1855; September 13th, - 1855, Board dissolved; December 30th, 1857, detached from - special duty and wait orders. - - He died at New York City, N. Y., on the 4th of March, 1858. - - - - VI. - THE NAVAL APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM. - - MATTHEW C. PERRY may be called the founder of the apprenticeship - system in the United States Navy, however much the present - improved methods may differ from his own. He was the first - officer to attempt a systematic improvement on the hap-hazard - and costly method of recruiting formerly in vogue. Under the old - plan, one-fourth the men and boys picked up at random became - invalided or were discharged as unfit. It took four month’s work - at five recruiting stations to get a crew for the “_North - Carolina_.” The daily average of recruits at five stations, New - York, Philadelphia, Boston, Norfolk and Baltimore, was but - seven, at the utmost, and could not be increased without - bounties. Perry’s experience at recruiting stations prompted him - to a thorough study of the subject, and attempt at reform. He - addressed the Department on this theme as early as 1823. In a - letter of eleven pages, dated January 25, 1824, a model of - clearness and strength, he elaborated his idea of providing - crews for men-of-war by naval apprentices properly educated. He - proposed that a thousand apprentices be engaged yearly, saving - in expense of pay (from $792,000 to $462,000) the sum of - $330,000. He suggested withholding the ration of spirits for the - first two years of indenture, so that a further saving of - $43,800, and total saving $373,800, would be secured. - - In this paper he treats the problem of the great difficulty, - delay and expense of obtaining men for our naval service, which - becomes greater in time of hostilities. This was shown in the - war of 1812 when large bounties were offered. The sea-faring - population of the United States had not increased since 1810. - Whereas there had been in 1810, 71,238 seamen, there were in - 1821 only 64,948. In case of another war, the merchant ships - should not be suffered to rot in port as in 1812, but ought to - pursue their usual voyages. Hence merchant ships would want - sailors, and when there was considered the number wanted for - that popular branch of speculation—privateering, he feared that - few would be left for the public service, unless exorbitant pay - and bounties were given as inducements for enlisting. Owing to - the decay of the New England carrying trade, and the fisheries, - the sources for sea-faring men had dried up; and it was easier - to get ships than men. Even in New York a sloop’s crew was - unobtainable in less than twenty days. If this were so, how hard - would it be to equip a fleet! - - The remedy proposed was to receive boys as apprentices to serve - until of age and to be educated and clothed by the government. - Such a system would be a blessing to society. It would reform - bad and idle boys, and create in a numerous class of men - attachment to the naval service, besides raising up warrant and - petty officers of native birth. These at present were mostly - foreigners. Boys shipped only for two years; they then got - discharged and perhaps went roaming on distant voyages all over - the earth, losing the _discipline_ they had acquired. There was - no difficulty to get boys in New York. The city alone could - supply five hundred annually, and the city corporations would - assist the plan. “Experience proves that these lads do well. The - very spirit which prompts them to youthful indiscretion gives - them a zest for the daring and adventurous life to which they - are called in our ships of war.” - - With characteristic tenacity, he returned to the subject in a - letter to the Department, January 10 1835, giving the results of - further studies. One half of all the men enlisted for the navy - came from the New York rendezvous. From April 2d, 1828 to - October 14, 1834, there were enlisted 17 petty officers, 2,335 - seamen, 1,174 ordinary seamen, 842 landsmen and 414 boys, a - total of 4,782, or 19 a week. Nearly ten months were necessary - to get 750 men, the crew of a line-of-battle ship, twenty weeks - to furnish a frigate with 380 men, and eight weeks to enlist 150 - men for a sloop of war. - - Perry noticed another glaring defect in the system, and wrote - September 25, 1841, concerning frauds on the government, by men - enlisting in the navy getting advance pay and then deserting. - Parents connived at enlistment, and often got off “minors” by - habeas corpus writs, and the government thus lost both the - recruit and the advance money. The same trouble had been found - in the British navy. Native-born men enlisted, got advance pay, - and then claimed alien birth. Perry consulted with the district - attorney as to how to stop this practice. - - While on the _Fulton_, Perry returned to his idea of perfecting - the apprenticeship system first suggested by him. He asked - permission to have his letters of 1823 and 1824 copied for him - by Dr. Du Barry, that he have authority to increase the - complement of the _Fulton_ as vacancies should occur, and to - employ as many as the vessel would accommodate. His requests - were finally granted. The law of Congress passed in March or - April 1847, authorizing the apprenticeship system, was the - result of his persistent presentation of his own plan elaborated - in 1824. - - Seventeen indentured apprentices were received, and a daily - school on board the _Fulton_ was instituted, in which the lads - who proved apt to learn were taught the English branches, - seamanship, war exercises, and partially the operations of the - steam engine. After one year’s experience, Perry wrote July 8th, - 1839, reporting that the boys already performed all the duties - of many men. They gave less trouble and were more to be depended - upon. While the utmost vigilance of officers was required to - prevent desertions of sailors on account of the near allurements - of the great city, the boys with a greater attachment were more - to be trusted. - - As only one-fifth of the sailors in the navy were native - Americans, Perry took intense pride in the enterprise of rearing - up men for the national service, in whom patriotism would be - natural, inherited and heartfelt. He cheerfully met all the - difficulties in the way—such as parents claiming their boys on - various pretexts, and the law-suits which followed. To the boys - themselves, Perry was as kind as he was exacting. He believed in - tempting boys in the sense of proving them with responsibility - enough to make men of them. Sufficient shore liberty was given, - and once in a while, even the joys of the circus were allowed - them. - - He proposed to man one of the new national vessels with a crew - of his trained apprentices, and under picked officers to send - them on a long cruise to demonstrate the success of his system. - When the brig _Somers_ was launched April 16, 1842, the time - seemed ripe, and he obtained permission of the Department to - carry out his plan. The vessel had been built, and the boys had - been trained under his own eye. After a conference with - Secretary Upshur in September, it was arranged she should make a - trip to Sierra Leone and back, occupying ninety days, traversing - seven thousand miles, and visiting the ports or colonies of four - great nations. A few days afterwards the _Somers_ sailed away, - full of happy hearts beating with joyful anticipations, yet - destined to make the most painful record of any vessel in the - American navy. - - On this sad subject, either to state facts or give an opinion, - we have nothing to say. The real or imaginary mutiny and its - consequences did much to injure and finally destroy the - apprenticeship system as founded by Perry. Other reasons for - failure lay in the fact that boys of good family expected by - enlistment to become line and staff officers. Disappointed in - their groundless hopes, they deserted or wanted to be - discharged. Failing in this, they sought release by civil - process. - - By the system of 1863, the same failure resulted. In 1872 - “training ships,” as we now understand the term, were put in - use. On June 20, 1874, the Marine School Bill was passed which - created the present admirable system, which has little or no - organic connection with any other system previously in vogue. It - is now possible, with the Annapolis Naval Academy and the - School-ship system, to provide abundantly both officers and - sailors for the military marine of the United States. In any - history of the naval-apprenticeship system of the United States - navy, despite the claims made by others, or the many names - associated with its origin or development, the name of Matthew - Perry must not be lost sight of as prime mover. - - - - VII. - DUELLING. - - MATTHEW PERRY never fought a duel, or acted as a second, though - duelling was part of the established code of honor among naval - men of his school and age, and provocation was not lacking. On - his return from the cruise in the _North Carolina_, an - unpleasant episode occurred, growing out of idle gossip and the - malignant jealousy felt towards an officer of superior parts by - inferiors unable to understand one so intensely earnest as - Matthew Perry. The manner in which Perry dealt with the man and - the matter strengthens the claim we have made for him as an - educator of the United States Navy. The conversation at a dinner - party in Philadelphia filtered into the ear of a certain - lieutenant in Washington, who reported that Captain M—— had - spoken of Matthew Perry as “a d——d rascal.” Perry at once took - measures to ferret out the anonymous slanderer. He first learned - from Captain M—— the total falsity of the report, and then - demanded from the disseminator of the scandal the name of his - informant, which was refused. Thereupon Perry wrote to the - Secretary of the Navy, pleading the general injury to the - service from calumnies and unfounded reports. The Secretary - wrote to the offending lieutenant to tell the truth. The latter - pleaded the “privacy of his room,” “sacred confidence among - gentlemen,” and declined to give the name of the person - “understood” to have made the offensive remark to him. The - Secretary, Hon. Samuel L. Southard, in a letter which is a model - of terse English, read the offender a lecture on the unmanly - folly of dabbling in idle gossip, and laid down the principle of - holding the disseminator of reports responsible for the truth of - statements made on the authority of another. The triangular and - voluminous correspondence from Boston, Washington and Norfolk, - from November 15th 1827, to April 1828, may be read in the - United States Navy Archives. Perry demanded a court-martial, if - necessary, to clear himself from unjust suspicion. It was not - needful. His tenacity and perseverance conquered. The gossipper - begged permission to withdraw his remark, and then crawled into - oblivion. - - In this paper war, extending over several months, the officer - whose victories both in peace and war were many, scored points - in behalf of truth and good morals, of the discipline and order - of the Navy, and of the advance of civilization. Heretofore, the - custom of duelling had largely prevailed in the corps, and to - this savage tribunal of arbitration a thousand petty questions - of personal honor had been brought. Yet despite all arguments in - favor of the bloody code, which believers in or admirers of its - supposed benefits may fabricate in its favor, the fact remains - that it served but an insignificant purpose. Its direct - influence was slight in repressing those petty personal - differences which, belonging to human nature, have such - congenial soil in a crowded ship. Duelling was a cure but no - preventative, the killing being as frequent as the curing. - - Matthew Perry might have challenged the lieutenant, and, like - scores of his brother officers, appealed to the savage code; but - having long pondered upon and frequently witnessed the slight - benefit accruing from the costly sacrifice of life and limb from - duelling, he aimed to cut out from the life of the service the - whole system, root and branch, and to substitute the more rigid - test of personal responsibility. In choosing the slower and, in - old naval eyes, more inglorious method of correspondence, and - appeal to considerate judgment of his peers in court, he - exhibited more moral courage, showed his true character and - motive, and lifted higher the splendid standard of the American - Navy. To the formation of that _esprit_ of discipline which all - now concede to be “the life of the service,” Perry, in this - episode nobly contributed. He made the pen mightier than the - sword. - - Despite his clear record on this subject, made thus early, he - came very near being made the victim of a political quarrel, and - a reformer’s zeal. Readers of the works of John Quincy Adams may - get an impression unjust to Captain Matthew Perry, because of - the Resolution of Inquiry, December 3d, 1838, “into the conduct - of Andrew Stevenson (United States Minister to Great Britain, - and J. Q. Adams’s political enemy) in his controversy with - Daniel O. Connell, as well as the participation of Captain Perry - in that affair.”[70] To make a long story short, Mr. Adams, in - his political zeal to injure an enemy and moral purpose to - abolish “the detestable custom of private war,” struck the wrong - man. All the information on which Mr. Adams based his inquiry - was contained, as he confessed, in “those published letters of - James Hamilton of South Carolina;” whereas, Mr. Hamilton - regretted and publicly apologized for writing the principal - letter which gave rise to the other two.[71] The whole - controversy is not without interest, and humor of both the Irish - and American sort. It is possible that Perry never knew till he - found his name dragged into Congress, what use of his name had - been made by Hamilton. So far as manifested in his official - record,[72] Matthew Perry’s example, influence and energetic - action were totally opposed to duelling. In his African cruises, - and at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, we find him earnestly laboring to - root out of existence a practice at war with Christian - civilization. - - How well he and like-minded men succeeded, is now known to - all—except an occasional hot head in which passion outruns - information. It is perfectly safe for a person seeking either - notoriety or satisfaction to challenge a naval officer of the - United States to fight a duel. One familiar with the “Laws for - the better government of the Navy” need have no fears of the - result. Neither government nor individuals now consider “a - single person entitled to a whole war.” - ------ - - [70] J. Q. Adams’ _Works_, Vol. X, p. 48; and _Journal_ of same - year. - - [71] _Niles Register_, Vol. LV, (from September, 1838 to March, - 1839, pp. 61, 62, 104, 105, 132, 133, 258.) - - [72] Letters. U. S. Navy Archives, August, 10th, 1841; February, - 1845. - - - - VIII. - MEMORIALS IN ART OF M. C. PERRY. - - Portraits. - - By William Sidney Mount in 1835, when M. C. Perry was forty - years old, now in possession of one of the Commodore’s children. - - One at the time of his marriage. - - One painted from a photograph by Brady, about 1864. - - One at the Brooklyn Naval Lyceum. - - One at the Annapolis Naval Academy, by J. R. Irving. - - A painting from a daguerreotype was made in Japan by a Japanese - artist. - - Photographs. - - Of these, there are several taken from life, from one of which - the frontispiece of this volume has been made. - - Engravings. - - In _Harper’s Magazine_ for March, 1856, from a photograph by - Brady of New York, in an illustrated article on “Commodore - Perry’s Expedition to Japan,” by Robert Tomes, Esq., M.D. - - In a London illustrated paper, about 1853. - - In Gleason’s Pictorial, Boston, of August 5th, 1854. - - In Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper of Saturday March 13, - 1858. - - Other prints in newspapers and lithographs of the face or bust - of M. C. Perry were made during his lifetime. - - Bust and Statue. - - A bust in marble of M. C. Perry, in sailor garb by E. D. Palmer, - of Albany N. Y., was made in 1859, and is now in possession of - the Commodore’s daughter, Mrs. August Belmont of New York. - - In Touro Park, Newport, R. I., the city of his birth, about - fifty yards east of the “old round tower” is a bronze statue of - M. C. Perry, on a pedestal of Quincy granite. The extreme height - is sixteen feet, the statue being eight, and the pedestal eight - feet in height. The face, modelled partly from photographs and - partly from Palmer’s bust, is considered a good likeness. The - effect of the figure is grand, and the position easy and - natural. The model was designed by John Quincy Adams Ward of New - York, and the pedestal by Richard M. Hunt. On the latter are - four excellent bas-reliefs in bronze, representing prominent - events in M. C. Perry’s life. - - These are, “Africa, 1843,” Perry’s rescue of the man condemned - to undergo the sassy ordeal, (p. 173); “Mexico, 1846,” - transportation of the heavy ship’s guns through the sand and - chapparal to the Naval Battery; “Treaty with Japan, 1854,” two - scenes, representing the reception of the President’s letter at - Kurihama (p. 359), and the negotiation of the treaty at Yokohama - (p. 366). On the front of the plinth of the pedestal is cut an - American ensign; on the north and south sides an anchor, and in - the rear, “Erected in 1868, by August and Caroline S. Belmont.” - The bronzes were cast at the Wood Brothers’ foundry in - Philadelphia. Pa. The statue was unveiled October 2d, 1868, when - the city of Newport was given up to public holiday in honor of - the event. The military display consisted of marines, sailors, - and apprentices from the U. S. S. _Saratoga_ and cutter - _Crawford_, under command of Captain, now Rear-Admiral, J. H. - Upshur; and four militia companies. One thousand children from - the public schools were ranged within the hollow square formed - by the military, and sang chorals. Besides seven or eight - thousand spectators, there were officers of the army and navy, - clergy and the children and grand-children of Commodore M. C. - Perry. After prayer by Rev. J. P. White, unveiling of the statue - by Mrs. Belmont, salutes from guns in the park and on shipboard, - music, a speech of presentation by Mr. Belmont, and responses by - Mayor Atkinson, the orator of the day, the Rev. Francis Hamilton - Vinton, D. D. delivered the oration and eulogy. The exercises - were closed by a speech from Captain J. H. Upshur, U. S. N., who - drew a glowing picture of M. C. Perry’s action at Vera Cruz, and - of his success in Japan. See the _Newport Mercury_ of October - 3d, 1868, and the published oration of Dr. Vinton “The statue” - says Pay Director J. Geo. Harris, U. S. N., in a letter to the - writer May 19, 1887, “is in all respects a likeness.” “I was - impressed with its remarkable fidelity in stature, pose and - bearing, as in full dress he met the Japanese commissioners on - the shore at Yokohama.” - - Medals. - - The gold medal struck in Boston had on its face the head of - “Commodore M. C. Perry,” and on the reverse the following legend - with a circle of laurel and oak leaves: “Presented to Com. M. C. - Perry, Special Minister from the United States of America, By - Merchants of Boston, In token of their appreciation of his - services in negotiating the treaty with Japan signed at - Yoku-hama, March 31, and with Lew Chew at Napa, July 11, 1854.” - On the band at the base of the wreath is the word _Mississippi_, - and over it the figures of two Japanese junks, between the - sterns of American ships. Copies of this medal in silver and - bronze were received by subscribers to the gold original. The - die was cut by F. N. Mitchell. - - - - - INDEX. - - -A. - -Adams, Will, 353. -Admiral, 212, 396, 397. -Admiralty, British, 48, 103, 130. -Alabama Claims, 2. -Albany, 365. -Alexander, Sarah, 5, 6. -American Geographical Society, 386, 408. -Anecdotes, see under Perry. -Annapolis, 22-24, 197, 250, 305, 439, 443. -Antarctic Exploration, 107-109. -Arctic Exploration, 9, 87, 102. -Army and Marine Officers: - Capron, Horace, 306, 307. - Coppée, Henry, 397. - Edson, 249. - Forrest, 202, 250. - Holzinger, D. S., 229. - Lee, R. E., 228, 130. - Patterson, R., 227, 277. - Pillow, 237. - Perry, O. H., 297, 354, 394, 432. - Quitman, 238, 239. - Ringgold, 150. - Scott, Winfield, 210, 218, 221, 222, 233-237, 252, 257. - Shaw, R., 270, 261-263, 298, 378, 391. - Steptoe, 239. - Taylor, Zachary, 209, 218, 282. - Totten, 337. - Viele, 267. - Watson, 257. - Worth, W. T., 237. -Asiatic Society of Japan, 420, 421, 424. -Artillery, see Ordnance. -Ashburton Treaty, 167. -Authors quoted or referred to: - Adams, F. O. 431. - Addison, 139, 194, 403. - Audubon, 368. - Arthur, Rev. Wm., 431. - Bancroft, Herbert, 260. - Berkely, 13. - Black, J. R., 409. - Bowditch, 352. - Brinckley, F., 420. - Comte de Paris, 134. - Confucius, 357. - Cooper, J. F., 139. - Darwin, 108. - Dimon, S. C., 366. - Halleck, Fitz Greene, 69, 75. - Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 376, 377, 385. - Hildreth, 272. - Hugo, Victor, 35. - Irving, W., 29, 130, 383. - James, 30, 43. - Japanese, 316, 330, 341, 342, 346, 362, 363, 370. - Johnston, Alex., 213. - Kaempfer, 295. - Longfellow, 431. - Mackenzie, A. S., 73, 74. - Mencius, 351. - Oliphant L., 417. - Osborne, Sherard, 409. - Parker, W. H., 149, 199. - Perry, Hext M., 429. - Poe, Edgar A., 137, 383. - Roosevelt, 7, 31, 49. - Satow, Ernest, 428. - Semmes, Raphael, 240. - Shakespeare, 430. - Smith, Sydney, 308. - Spalding, J. W., 310, 353, 372. - Taylor, Bayard, 310. - Taylor, F. W., 200, 246. - Taylor, Henry, 35. - Tomes, R., 384, 385, 403, 444. - Von Siebold, 294. - Watson, R. G., 62. - Webb, J. W., 140, 303, 387, 388. - Wordsworth, 9. - -B. - -Barhyte, J. 383. -Bells, 313, 357, 373, 374, 392. -Berribee affair, 169, 171, 175-182. -Bible, 13, 404, 405. -Blue Peter, 211. -Boilers and protection, 33, 110, 111, 114, 123, 143. -Bombs, see Shells. -Boston, 42, 43, 44, 214, 379, 387, 445, 446. -Blockade, 45, 46, 116, 117, 369. -Bloomingdale, 45, 386. -Boulanger, 151. -British empire, 131. -British Naval Officers: - Beechey, 294. - Bingham, 26. - Byron, 39. - Cook, 14. - Dacres, 22. - Franklin, J., 87, 102. - Jones, W., 193. - Marsden, G., 223. - Nelson, 35, 140, 392. - Osborn, S., 409. - Sartorius, G., 125. - Seymour, 300. -British Navy, 45, 35-37, 131, 132, 164, 193-195, 409. -British Ships of War: - _Admiralty_, 164. - _Beagle_, 108. - _Belvidera_, 37, 38-41. - _Blossom_, 294. - _Daring_, 223. - _Galatea_, 44. - _Guerriere_, 20, 22, 23, 26, 37, 42. - _Jersey_, 3, 5. - _Leopard_, 15, 16. - _Little Belt_, 25, 26, 39. - _Mackerel_, 41. - _Nemesis_, 142. - _Penelope_, 130. - _Penguin_, 236. - _Rattler_, 164. - _Reindeer_, 277. - _Shannon_, 20, 24, 34, 37. - _Terrible_, 130. - _Valorous_, 131. - _Watt_, 4. -Broad pennant, 24, 154, 155, 169, 223, 244, 252, 310, 355. - -C. - -Calbraith family, 6, 8, 15, 430, 431. -Calabar, 61. -California, 47, 267, 268. -Cannon, see Ordnance. -Cape Palmas, 174, 181. -Cape Mount, 61. -Carronade, 4, 35, 36, 132. -Cemeteries, 192, 343. -Chaplains, 406, see Clergymen. -Circumnavigation of the globe, 7, 18, 47, 159, 379. -Clay, Henry, 175. -Columbiads, 149, 218, 226. -Confederates, 48, 117, 126-128, 159, 240, 396. -Congo, 51, 184. -Cortez, 216. -Cotton-clad vessels, 117. -Clergymen, chaplains and missionaries: - Andrews, 59. - Bacon, 56. - Bettelheim, J., 277. - Bowen, N., 45. - Bittenger, E. C., 406. - Coke, D., 56. - Colton, Walter, 406. - Cuffee, Paul, 55. - Dewey, Orville, 407. - Harris, 154. - Hawkes, F., 270, 385, 386, 392. - Jenks, J. W., 82, 84, 97. - Jones, 384, 406. - Kelly, J. 182. - Mills, 185. - Noble, M., 407. - Payne, 181. - Perry, Calbraith, 431. - Robertson, 89. - Stewart, C. E., 406. - Talmage, John, 286. - Taylor, F. W., 200, 406. - Vinton, F., 390, 392, 403, 445. - White, J. P., 445. - Williams, S. Wells, 275, 366, 388. - Winn, 59. -Countries: - Canada, 167, 298-302. - China, 7, 237, 307, 310, 333, 374, 376, 386, 387, 388, 394, 408, 409, - 415. - Corea, 11, 251, 268, 275, 422. - Egypt, 88-90. - France, 10, 11, 92, 94, 131-134, 196. - Great Britain, 2, 3, 19, 23, 35, 37, 43, 46, 130-132, 193, 196, 298-302, - 308, 409. - Greece, 73-75, 88, 89, 408. - Hawaii, 351, 366. - Holland, 47, 48, 277, 294. - Ireland, 5, 6, 12. - India, 7, 19, 351, 375. - Japan, 7, 47, 91, 268, 269, 270-386, 409-425. - Liberia, 50-62, 69, 167-196. - Mexico, 68-70, 198-260, 266-268, 278, 333, 364, 376. - Naples, 91-96, 308. - Norway, 44. - Russia, 81-85, 296. - Siam, 273, 410. - Sierra Leone, 52, 56, 59, 60, 65, 67, 69, 70. - Spain, 72, 73, 92. - Turkey, 70, 88-90, 408. - Yucatan, 250, 257. -Cross-trampling, 349. -Courbet, Admiral, 236. -Cutlass, 31. - -D. - -Diplomatists and Statesmen: - Aberdeen, 299. - Allen, Elisha, 351. - Ashburton, 167, 168. - Belmont, August, 376, 432, 445. - Bingham, J. A., 424. - Cass, Lewis, 387, 388. - Cassaro, 94. - Davis, Jefferson, 306. - Everett, Edward, 304. - Harris, Townsend, 384, 409-418, 425. - Lafayette, 94. - Macedo, 285, 287, 288. - Nelson, John, 91-96. - Nesselrode, 296. - Nye, Gideon, 376, 414. - Pratt, Zodoc, 268. - Randolph, John, 81, 82, 85. - Reed, Wm. B., 387. - Roberts, President, 172-176. - Roberts, Edmund, 273, 274, 410. - Rochambeau, 14. - Russwarm, 182. - Seward Wm. H., 49, 168. - Shea, Ambrose, 302. - Slidell, John, 45. - Stevenson, A., 442. - Vail, E. A., 133. - Wall, G. D., 129. - Webster, Daniel, 167, 283, 284, 303, 304, 306. - Williams, S. Wells, 275, 354, 366. -Duelling, 440-443. -Dutch, 14, 37, 270-274, 277, 278, 339, 347, 348, 349, 370, 424, 425. - -E. - -Engineers, 111-115, 123, 125, 161-163. - -F. - -Feudalism, 88, 322, 326-329, 334, 336, 358, 359, 361, 417. -Fever: African 59, 189-191. - Yellow, 254, 255. -Fire, 158, 163, 313. -Fireworks, 312. -Fisheries, 296, 298-302, 436. -Flags: British, 23, 46. - Japan, 348, 420. - Liberia, 184. - Pirate, 67, 68. - United States, 17, 18, 19, 41, 73, 395, 410, 416. -Flogging, 85, 86, 263-266. -French, 10, 14, 18, 38, 91, 92, 131-134; - in Africa, 195, 196; - in China, 236, 345; - in Mexico, 199, 236. -Frigate, 10, 20, 27, 36, 43, 140, 159, 161. -Funchal, 41, 310. - -G. - -Gaboon, 195. -Galbraith, 6, 8, 15, 430, 431. -Gardiner’s Island, 103. -Germans, 16, 51, 229. -Gettysburg, 304. -Golownin, 335, 355, 356. -Greeks, 73-75, 87-89. -Grog ration, 86, 263-264, 435. -Guinea, 51, 61. -Gunnery, see Ordnance. - -H. - -Halifax, 34, 41, 300. -Hazard family, 3, 13. -Hessians, 57. -Heusken, Mr., 417. -Hong Kong, 310, 343, 374, 375, 376, 394, 432. - -I. - -Impressment, 20-23, 48, 49. -International rifle match, 43. -Inventors, artists, men of science: 107, 134, 165, 297, 370. - Bomford, 149. - Bowditch, 352. - Cochrane, W., 146. - Coehorn, 216. - Ericsson, 110, 126, 164. - Faraday, 134. - Fresnel, A., 133. - Fulton, R., 28, 29, 110. - Henry, J., 134. - Humphries, 71. - Irving, J. R., 443. - Krupp, 150. - Mount, W. S., 443. - Paixhans, 149. - Palmer, E. D., 444. - Redfield, W. C., 140-143. - Symmes, J. C., 107. - Teulère, 136. - Toussard, 20. - Ward, E. C., 103. - Ward, J. Q. A., 444. - Wheeler, S., 148. -Irish soldiers, 206. -Iron-clads, 32, 118, 126-128, 157, 373, 419. -Iron ships, 130. - -J. - -Japan: - Adzuma, 352, 373, 419. - Art of, 314, 332, 336, 359-361. - Bonin islands, 274, 311, 419-421. - Buddhism, 320, 342, 357. - Christianity in, 324, 325, 349, 363, 423. - Fatsisio, (Hachijo), 421. - Fuji yama, 312, 316, 353. - Gorihama, 335-342. - Hachijo, 421. - Hakodaté, 343, 365, 371, 373, 419. - Hiogo, 418. - Idzu, 312, 371. - Kamakura, 327, 352, 354. - Kanagawa, 356, 413, 415. - Kiōto, 413, 414, 418, 419. - Kurihama, 335-342. - Kuro Shiwo, 296. - Loo Choo, see Riu Kiu. - Matsumaé, 274, 277, 278, 371. - Meiji era, 419, 423. - Midzu-amé, 315. - Nagasaki, 7, 270-272, 278, 316, 319, 411. - Nagato, 321, 371. - Names and titles, 318, 322, 326, 328, 333, 334. - Napa, see Riu Kiu. - Nitta, 352. - Ogasawara islands, 311, 419, 420, 421. - Okinawa, see Riu Kiu. - Ozaka, 413, 418. - Riu Kiu, 294, 310, 312, 343, 347, 351, 419, 420, 446. - Ronin, 335, 417. - Sapporo, 419. - Shidzuoka, 368. - Shimoda, 342, 371, 410, 411, 412, 415, 416. - Shuri, 314, 419. - Tokio, 419, 422. - Uraga, 276, 279, 313, 356, 423. - Yamato damashii, 338, 422. - Yedo, 315, 326-328, 329-334, 412, 416, 419. - Yokohama, 312, 357, 363, 415, 421, 423. - Yokosŭka, 353. -Japanese: - Bonzes, 315, 342. - Buniō, see Kayama Yézayémon. - Cho-teki, 419. - Embassies, 417, 418. - Echizen, 346, 416. - Fudo, 338. - Guanzan, 339. - Hayashi, 350, 351, 357, 359, 362, 365, 413. - Hokusai, 331. - Hori Tatsunoske, 318. - Hotta, 413. - Ii, 413-417. - Ito, 336, 338. - Izawa, 355, 356. - Iyésada, 329, 346, 347, 413. - Iyeyasu, 270, 314, 329, 348. - Iyéyoshi, 329, 345, 346. - Katsu Awa, 366. - Kayama Yézayémon, 321, 335, 338. - Kobo, 357. - Kuroda, 422. - Kurokawa Kahéi, 354. - Manjiro, 351, 352, 366. - Mikado, 295, 309, 311, 318, 326-328, 333, 417, 410, 423. - Mito, 346, 416, 417. - Moriyama, Yenosuke, 276. - Nagashima Saburosuke, 317, 318. - Nitta, 352. - Nio, 338. - Ota Do Kuan, 329, 330. - Sakuma, 349, 350. - Taiko, 325, 333. - Taira ghosts, 321. - Toda, 336, 338. - Tokugawa, 317, 329, 334, 336, 346, 351. - Tycoon, 326, 327, 329, 333, 414, 417. - Yoshida Shoin (Toraijiro), 349, 350, 369, 416. - -K. - -Khartoum, 88. -Kings and rulers. - Bomba, 95. - Bonaparte, J., 91. - Catharine, 84. - Crack-O, 176-178. - Cromwell, 3. - Freeman, 72. - George III., 52, 84. - Gomez Farias, 225. - Iturbide, 69, 70. - Koméi, 315. - Louis Phillipe, 131, 133, 134. - Mehemet Ali, 88, 98. - Murat, 91. - Mutsuhito, 309, 423. - Napoleon, 132. - Nicholas, 82-84. - Santa Anna, 205, 257, 258. - Victoria, 131. - -L. - -Lake Erie, 8, 14, 34, 45. -Langrage shot, 33, 34 -Lighthouses, 133-137, 312. -Line-of-battle ships, 32, 71-75, 140. -Liquor, 86, 263, 265, 335, 341, 367, 368. -Loo choo, see Riu Kiu. -Louisiana, 11, 207, 208, 218. -Lyceum, 99-103, 443. - -M. - -Macao 273, 274, 343. -Maryland in Africa, 173, 174, 185. -Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 87. -Mesurado, 59, 61, 172, 183. -Mexican war, 67, 197-269, 278, 364, 444. -Mexico, 69, 70, 198, 216, 250, 253, 260. - Alvarado, 199, 239, 240. - Cerro Gordo, 241. - Green Island, 219, 220. - Laguna, 208, 209. - Mexico City, 210, 257, 333. - Sacrificios island, 199, 253. - Salmadina island, 250. - St. Juan d'Ulloa, 69, 131, 219, 232, 233, 238, 258, 375. - Tabasco, 200, 202-205, 242-249. - Tampico, 205, 206-208. - Tuspan, 241, 255. - Vera Cruz, 68, 70, 216-240, 249, 258. -Missionaries, 52-56, 89, 407, 425. -Missions, Christian, 407. -Mongols, 320, 333. -Monitor, 72, 141. -Monrovia, 59, 60, 169, 183, 184. -Montravel Com., 344. -Mosquito fleet, 68, 233. -Mother of M. C. Perry, 6, 7, 12-14, 393. -Moustaches, 104-107. - -N. - -Naval Academy, 17, 193, 197, 250, 374, 443. -Navy of the United States. - admiral, 212, 396, 397. - archives, 21, 264, 285, 441. - beards and mustaches, 105, 107. - benefit of, 4, 5, 11, 27, 47-49, 57, 65, 66, 73, 74, 95, 108, 396. - broad pennant, 154, 244. - bureaus, 160, 212. - cemeteries, 191-193, 205, 343, 344. - commodore, 154, 155. - comet, 2-11. - discipline, 16, 42, 86, 187, 188, 240, 249, 297, 344, 361, 371, 436, - 440. - duelling, 440-443. - flogging, 264-266. - grog ration, 264-266. - honor of, 193, 261-263, 400. - hospitals, 64, 250, 343. - hygiene, 187-191, 250. - marine corps, 202, 222, 241, 249, 257, 264, 361. - mutiny, 53, 264, 439. - nursery, 301, 435-439. - recruiting service, 29, 30, 46, 114, 435-439. - reforms, 154, 263, 266, 435-439, 440-443. - sailors, 20, 29-32, 48, 65, 85-87, 89, 90, 114, 200, 226-237, 239, - 241-249, 263-266, 301, 367, 371, 391, 440, 443. - ships, types and varieties of, 4, 19, 71, 72, 110, 111, 115, 117, - 140-145, 156-166, 212. - signals, 25, 38, 198, 211, 220, 313. - staff and line, 112-114. - steam, 110-119, 121, 130, 156-166, 298. - tactics, 33, 117, 118, 121, 125, 159. - torpedoes, 28, 29. - trophies, 5, 46, 49, 179, 240, 248, 250, 261, 262. -New Orleans, 46, 92, 207. -Newport, 8, 11, 14, 15, 44, 255, 380, 393, 444, 445. -Newspapers, 218, 223, 224, 259, 262, 308, 378, 405, 442, 445. -New York, 17, 23, 100, 99-166, 379, 383, 386, 391. -Norfolk, 69, 82, 210, 252, 306. - -O. - -O'Connell, Daniel, 442. -Officers, Merchant marine: - Burke, 170, 172. - Carver, 170. - Cooper, Mr., 275, 276, 294. - Coffin, R., 311. - Jennings, 283. - Odell, 399. - Stewart, 271. - Storm, J., 139. - Whitfield, J. H., 351. - Whitmore, 351. -Officers, U. S. Navy: - Abbot, 347, 364, 375. - Adams, H., 292, 305, 322, 354, 355, 356, 400. - Almy, J., 95, 98, 400, 404. - Aulick, J., 230, 237, 262, 283-288, 290, 297, 307. - Babcock, G. W., 4. - Bainbridge, 37. - Barron J., 123, 127. - Bent, Silas, 292, 379, 398. - Biddle, 68, 276. - Bigelow, A., 212, 249, 391. - Breese, 237, 391. - Bridge, H., 175. - Buchanan, F., 126, 197, 252, 286, 292, 305, 322, 337. - Burt, N., 115. - Cheever, 204. - Conner, D., 107, 198, 199, 205, 206, 219-221, 238. - Contee, J., 306, 318, 322. - Craven, 181. - Dahlgren, 150. - Decatur, 45, 46. - De Long, 297. - Fairfax, A. B., 212. - Farragut, D. G., 36, 72, 126, 396. - Farron, J., 115. - Follansbee, J., 40. - Freelon, 188-190. - Geisinger, D., 277. - Glynn, J., 277-279, 281, 282. - Gregory, 402. - Harris, J. G., 365, 445. - Haswell, C. H., 115, 211. - Hunt, T. A., 212. - Hunter, C. G., 212, 239, 240, 258. - Hull, 143. - Jenkins, T. A., 35, 137, 388. - Jones, Paul, 396. - Jones, T. ap C., 126, 197. - Kennedy, 274. - Kearney, 130. - Lawrence, 24. - Lee, S. S., 247, 292, 304, 305. - Lockwood, 205. - Lynch, Wm. F., 117. - Mackenzie, A. S., 45, 73, 139, 237, 245. - Magruder, G. A., 212. - May, Wm., 244. - Matthews, J., 343, 344. - Maury, 379. - Mayo, J., 179, 197, 220, 231, 234, 235, 236. - McIntosh, 293. - McCluney, 299, 391. - McKeever, 293. - Moller, B. C., 103. - Morgan, C. W., 74, 440. - Morris, 203, 205. - Nicholson, J., 4. - Parker, F. A., 159. - Parker, W. A., 203. - Parker, W. H., 149, 199, 220. - Patterson, D., 47, 92, 97, 308. - Pearson, 293. - Perry, C. R., 3-8, 10, 11, 17, 254. - Perry, J. A., 47, 48. - Perry, O. H., 8, 13, 17, 20, 39, 98, 390, 393. - Perry, R., 17, 20, 45. - Pinckney, R. S., 212. - Pickering, C. W., 117. - Porter, D. D., 47, 66. - Porter, D. D., 107, 246, 247, 401. - Preble, Geo. H., 104, 105. - Reany, 291. - Ridgely, C. G., 99, 101, 102, 104, 108, 118. - Rodgers, John, 28, 30, 38, 44, 72. - Rodgers, John, 28, 47, 432. - Rodgers, R. C., 240. - Sands, J. R., 202, 232, 304, 305, 400. - Sanford, H., 115. - Semmes, R., 240. - Shubrick, 232. - Skinner, 193. - Sloat, 129, 391. - Stellwagen, 171. - Stewart, 37, 396. - Stockton, F., 164, 241. - Swift, W., 103. - Tatnall, J., 232, 233, 409, 414, 415. - Thornton, J. S., 166, 240. - Townsend, J. S., 153. - Trenchard, E., 50, 52, 56. - Upshur, J., 222, 445. - Van Brunt, J. G., 212. - Walke, 220. - Walker, W. S., 212. - Wilkes, C., 45, 49. - Williamson, 85. -Ordnance, 17, 27, 32-36, 72, 131-133, 144, 146-155, 226-237, 241, 243, - 266, 361. -Ordeal, 172-174. - -P. - -Pacific Ocean, 47, 84, 268, 294, 296. -Packenham, Gen., 46, 92. -Paddle-Wheels, 111, 114, 130, 164, 298. -Paixhans Cannon, 149, 151, 226-230, 335-361. -Palaver, 162-169, 175, 177. -Perry, C. R., 3-7, 10, 11, 17. -Perry, Edmund, 3-8, 10-12. -Perry, Freeman, 3, 382. -Pension, 432. -Port Hudson, 158, 159. -Perry, Matthew Calbraith: - ancestry, 1-7. - anecdotes of, 8, 21, 24, 219, 222, 224, 341, 342, 366, 397, 399, 400, - 404, 405, 440-443. - birth, 8. - childhood, 8-15, 380. - children, 431-433, 445. - citizen of New York, 100. - commodore, 154, 155. - commodore’s aid, 22. - Europe, 41-44, 48, 71-98, 440, 442. - Japan, 310-379, 427. - Mediterranean, 71-98. - Mexico, 68, 70, 197-260, 427, 444, 445. - West Indies, 65-71. - cruise in Africa, 50-63, 69, 167-195, 427, 444; - —— —— Europe, 41-44, 48, 71-98, 440, 442; - —— —— Japan, 310-379, 427; - —— —— Mexico, 68, 70, 197-260, 427, 444, 445; - —— —— West Indies, 65-71. - death, 390, 415. - detail, 431, 434. - diary, 21, 307, 403. - duelling, 440-443. - executive officer, 71-75. - family, 2, 3, 292, 429-433. - fights pirates, 65-71. - first battles, 25, 26, 30-41. - founds U. S. Naval Lyceum, 101, 103. - funeral, 390-393. - habits, 395-408. - hair, 105, 375. - Japanese regard for, 364, 365, 415, 418, 423. - knowledge of Japan, 294, 295. - letters, 193, 403, 427. - marriage, 45, 431-433. - mother, 6-8, 11-14, 393. - name, 8, 429-431. - nick-name, 43, 259, 265. - _Revenge_, 20-27, _President_, 38-45. - _United States_, 45, _Chippewa_, 46, 48. - _Cyane_, 50-57, _Shark_, 58-70. - _North Carolina_, 71-76. - _Concord_, 81-90, _Brandywine_, 94-96. - _Fulton_, 110-111, _Saratoga_, 169, _Mississippi_, 198-229, 310, 374. - _Germantown_, 252, _Cumberland_, 258. - _Susquchanna_, 310-355. - _Powhatan_, 355-372. - organizes engineer corps, 112, 115. - organizes Japan expedition, 295, 297, 305. - organizes naval brigade, 241-246. - organizes school of apprentices, 118, 435-439. - organizes school of gun-practice, 146-148. - personal traits, 83, 97, 98, 104-106, 397-408. - politics, 139, 310. - portraits, 443-446. - refuses salute, 55. - reimbursed by Congress, 93, 98. - religion, 14, 324, 404-406. - residence in Macao, 343, 344; - Naples, 96-98; - New London, 80; - New York, 386, 388; - Tarrytown, 138-140, 261, 289; - Washington, 379, 388. - rheumatism, 76-80, 389, 390. - selects site of Monrovia, 59, 183. - shore duty, 99, 100-166, 379-390. - statue, 444, 445. - takes orders to Rodgers, 23, 24. - training at home, 13-15. - training on ship, 19-27. - visits, the Czar, 82-85; - England, 129-131; - Egypt, 88, 89; - France, 131-134; - Funchal, 309-310; - Greece, 75, 88; - Holland, 48; - Khedive, 88; - Louis Philippe, 133, 134; - Shuri, 311, 419. - wounded, 40. - writings, 427, 428. -Perry, Oliver Hazard, 8, 10, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 34, 45, 98, 139, 390, - 393. -Perry, Sarah Alexander, 6-8, 11-14, 45, 324. -Physicians and surgeons: - Ayres, Eli, 58, 59. - Du Barry, S.S., 287, 437. - Kellogg, 189. - McCartee, D. B., 245, 286, 420. - McGill, 173. - Parker, P., 275, 287. - Rush, Benjamin, 6. - Wiley, 63. -Pirates, 11, 63, 65-71, 75, 104. -Pivot-guns, 40, 144, 145, 150. -Pontiatine, Ad., 345. -Portsmouth, N. H., 81, 273. -Portuguese, 15, 55, 60, 62, 196, 344. -Presidents of the United States: - Washington, 5, 216, 374. - Jefferson, 11, 271. - Adams, J., 10. - Madison, 37. - Monroe, 60. - Adams, J. Q., 442. - Jackson, 81, 91, 96, 119, 273. - Van Buren, 158. - Harrison, 139. - Polk, 210, 255, 256, 260. - Taylor, 209, 218, 282, 283. - Fillmore, 298, 305, 323, 329. - Pierce, 241, 310, 387, 410. - Buchanan, 296, 387. - Arthur, 431. - Cleveland, 167, 421. -Press-gang, 20, 22, 23, 48, 49. -Prince de Joinville, 131. -Privateers, 4, 5, 36, 65, 75, 436. -Propellers, 164, 304. - -Q. - -Quakers, 2, 3. -Quarantine, 54, 93. -Quarrels on ship, 441, 442. - -R. - -Ram, 28, 120-128. -Rhode Island, 7, 14, 15, 380-383, 393, 444. -Right of search, see Impressment. -Rohde, Ad., 198. -Russians, 82-85, 131, 296, 311, 349, 352. - -S. - -Saké, 341, 356. -Saratoga, 383. -Savory, N., 311. -Schenectady, 197, 344. -Scurvy, 42, 54, 63, 64, 188, 208. -Sebastopol, 107. -Secretaries U. S. Navy, 20, 154. - Smith, 17. - Southard, 406, 440. - Paulding, 157. - Mason, 256. - Bancroft, 197. - Graham, 106, 283, 288, 289, 298. - Kennedy, 298, 299, 302, 305, 306, 307. - Dobbin, 106, 288. - Settra Kroo, 172, 173. - Shells, 4, 33, 146-155, 217, 228-230, 312. - Sherbro, 52, 53, 55, 56. - Shinto, 342. -Ships, merchant: - _Adventurer_, 311. - _Auckland_, 283. - _Caroline_, 61. - _Central America_, 389. - _Edward Barley_, 170. - _Elizabeth_, 51, 52, 55. - _Great Western_, 129, 130. - _Jeune Nelly_, 219. - _Ladoga_, 277. - _Lawrence_, 276. - _Manhattan_, 275. - _Mary Carver_, 170, 177, 179, 180. - _Morrison_, 274, 275, 316. - _San Pablo_, 420. - _Sara Boyd_, 351. - _Transit_, 311. -Ships of War: - _John Adams_, 55, 66, 93, 95, 96. - _Aetna_, 212. - _Alabama_, 2, 145, 165, 240. - _Albany_, 226, 239. - _Alleghany_, 298. - _Alliance_, 94. - _Argus_, 24, 38, 43, 264. - _Bonita_, 201, 204. - _Boston_, 92, 93. - _Boxer_, 282. - _Brandywine_, 91, 94-96. - _Chesapeake_, 34. - _Chippewa_, 46, 48. - _Columbus_, 7, 149, 276. - _Concord_, 81-90, 92, 93, 95, 96. - _Congress_, 38, 66, 293. - _Constitution_, 42, 43, 50, 74, 159. - _Creole_, 131. - _Cumberland_, 198, 201, 258. - _Cyane_, 47, 50-64, 74. - _Decatur_, 212. - _Demologos_, 110. - _Destroyer_, 110. - _Electra_, 212. - _Enterprise_, 274, 282. - _Erie_, 74. - _Falmouth_, 293. - _Forward_, 201, 204. - _Fulton, 1st_, 110. - _Fulton, 2nd_, 110-119, 120, 121, 141, 153, 187, 437. - _Gallinipper_, 68. - _General Greene_, 10, 254. - _Germantown_, 252, 258, 354. - _Gnat_, 68. - _Grampus_, 68. - _Hartford_, 396. - _Hecla_, 212. - _Hornet_, 54, 236. - _Hunter_, 219, 225. - _Jeannette_, 297. - _Kearsarge_, 144, 145, 165, 166. - _La Gloire_, 125. - _Lackawanna_, 143. - _Lawrence_, 45. - _Lexington_, 345, 347, 375. - _Macedonian_, 45, 46, 171, 347, 352, 361, 375, 404. - _Merrimac_, 126, 127. - _McLane_, 199, 201, 204. - _Miantonomah_, 71. - _Midge_, 68. - _Mifflin_, 4. - _Mississippi_, 123, 158-162, 198, 201, 207, 209, 210-212, 215, 219-221, - 252, 298, 299, 352, 379, 415, 423. - _Missouri_, 156-166, 306. - _Mosquito_, 68. - _Nautilus_, 57. - _Nonita_, 201, 204. - _North Carolina_, 72-76, 266, 402, 435. - _Ontario_, 74. - _Pallas_, 345. - _Peacock_, 273, 274. - _Petrel_, 209. - _Petrita_, 201, 205. - _Porpoise_, 171, 172, 181, 379. - _Portsmouth_, 411. - _Powhatan_, 298, 306, 353, 362, 415, 417. - _President_, 20-28, 38-44, 144. - _Princeton_, 164, 304-306. - _Plymouth_, 310, 312, 347. - _Raritan_, 250. - _Reefer_, 201. - _Revenge_, 17-20. - _Sand-fly_, 68. - _San Jacinto_, 410. - _Saratoga_, 171, 258, 310, 312, 347, 445. - _Sea-gull_, 66. - _Scorpion_, 212, 242, 243, 247. - _Shark_, 58-64, 65-71. - _Somers_, 438. - _Southampton_, 347. - _Spitfire_, 22, 198, 232, 246, 247. - _St. Mary’s_, 226. - _Stockton_, 164. - _Stonewall_, 373, 419. - _Stromboli_, 212, 243. - _Susquehanna_, 285, 286, 310, 312, 321, 379. - _Supply_, 310, 312, 343, 347, 375. - _Tennessee_, 126. - _Thistle_, 50. - _Trumbull_, 4, 5. - _United States_, 43, 45, 95, 104. - _Vandalia_, 343, 347, 355, 357. - _Vesuvius_, 212, 243. - _Vincennes_, 276. - _Virginia_, 126. - _Vixen_, 198-202, 209, 232. - _Washington_, 7, 243. - _Wasp_, 45. - _Weehawken_, 28. -Sinoe, 169, 172. -Shō-gun, 279, 326-328, 329, 333, 352, 362, 368. -Slave-trade, 15, 53, 58, 60-62, 167, 168, 194-196. -Slavery in America, 15, 57, 67, 184-186, 260. -Slidell, Jane, 43, 376, 431, 432. -Slidell, John, Mr., 45, 47, 48. -Smithsonian Institute, 369. -Soudan, 15, 88, 234. -South Carolina, 20, 382, 442. -Statistics, 266, 267: - U. S. Navy, Revolution, 5. - —— ——, War of 1812, 30, 32, 36, 37, 48, 49. - —— ——, Mexican war, 266-268. - —— ——, Civil war, 143, 144, 396. - —— ——, in Japan, 343, 364, 371, 375, 379. - Africa, 184, 186, 194, 196. - broadsides, 32, 72, 144. - Japan, 419-424. - lighthouses, 136. - merchant marine, 296, 300, 301. - ordnance, 151, 226, 230, 235. - Perry’s work, 69, 97, 123, 225, 385, 389, 390, 395. - recruits, 435-439. - slave-ships, 61, 194. - steamships, 132, 212. -Steam, 110-119, 121, 198, 199, 368, 423, 424. -Steven’s battery, 126, 155, 156, 159. -Submarine cannon, 110. -Sunday, 14, 324, 405, 406. - -T. - -Tarrytown, 138-140, 261, 289. -Telegraphs, 38, 47, 134, 368, 424. -Telephones, 312. -Temperance, 86, 263-265, 435. -Torpedoes, 28, 29. -Tower Hill, 8, 10, 11, 382. -Trafalgar, 36, 37, 132. -Treaty-house, 357, 415. -Treaty, Canadian of 1818, 300; - reciprocity, 302; - of Ghent, 47; - Naples, 96, 308; - Hidalgo Guadalupe, 257; - with Japan, 370, 371, 412-416; - of Tientsin, 415. -Triremes, 121, 124, 140. -Tycoon, see Shō-gun. - -U. - -Union College, 107. -United States, 49, 216, 395, 396. -—— ——, colonial policy, 57, 184. -—— ——, policy in war, 209, 213, 214, 250, 308. - -V. - -Victorian era, 131. -Viele, Mrs. A., 420. - -W. - -Wallace, Sir William, 12. -Wars: - Revolutionary, 4-6, 51, 52, 383. - Tripolitan, 11, 18, 50. - 1812, 28-49, 103, 143, 149, 301, 435. - Mexican, 67, 150, 198-267, 278. - Civil, 31, 126-128, 134, 150, 165, 166, 258, 268, 396. - Victorian era, 131. -Washington obelisk, 374. -West Point, 258. -Whalers, 274, 276, 295, 296, 421. -Wheatley, Phillis, 15. - -Y. - -Yamato, damashii, 338, 422. -Yellow fever, 217, 252, 254, 255. - - - - - * * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. 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