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 NAVAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 
 
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^. /^ /?A^ 
 
 ^^b^i ]K)3iifqfIo)|3 of \ 1{e[)q5iic. 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 wnriTKN FOR 
 
 THE IE7ING LITERARY INSTITUTE, OP THE CITY OF EHIK, PA. 
 
 BY WM. MAXWELL WOOD, M. D. 
 
 SURGEON J. o. NAVY. 
 
 AntlioK of " Tbs True Sources of Subordination ;" " Wandering Sketciifls in Sontli AnMrica, 
 TolyncBia, Ac." " Hints to tlie People on the Profession of J^dicine." 
 
 PUBLISHKD BY REQUEST. 
 
 BUFFALO: 
 
 GEORGE H. DEK3Y AND CO. 
 
 UM- M/l, V 
 
A4S(»133 
 
 Entered according lo Act of Congress, in the year 1852, 
 
 By GEO. H. DERBY AND CO., 
 
 ID the Clerk's Office of the Districi Court of the United Si-aies for the 
 
 Northern District of New York. 
 
 JF.WK1T, THOMAS AND CO 
 
 Sterei'tvpei-rt nnrt Printer 3, 
 
 BUFFALO, S. y. 
 
Cornell University Library 
 VA55 .W88 
 
 The naval institutions of a republic 
 
 3 1924 030 755 395 
 
 olin 
 
 Erie, Pa., Feb. 11, 1852. 
 Da. Wm. M. Wood, U. S. Navy, 
 
 Dear Sir: — The undersigned, citizens of Erie, believing 
 that your .^ddress, delivered before the Irving Literary Insti- 
 tute, both from its character and sentiments, is eminently 
 calculated to promote the public good, would most respectfully 
 request of you a copy for pu^ication. 
 
 W itli sentiments of high regard we remain 
 Yours, (fee 
 Signed GEO. A, ELLIOTT, 
 
 E. BABBITT, 
 B. B. VINCENT. 
 W. POYNTEL JOHNSTON, 
 I. B. GARA, 
 B. F. SLOAN. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Reform; naval reform is the general cry. Every 
 rank and grade of the navy calls for it. 
 
 Those who hold the position of command, say ; there 
 is no efficient discipline, and we have more trouble with 
 officers than with men. Put two gentlemen of the 
 highest grade in the navy on board ship — one to com- 
 mand the ship, and the other to command the squad- 
 ron to which she belongs — and even though they both 
 be men of good sense, and good feeling, the ill-defined 
 po-sition of each soon leads to discord and dissension ; 
 and, if the government is not burdened, and the ser- 
 vice disgraced by a court martial, one is compelled to 
 abandon the duty which has been assigned him, and 
 to returr> to his home. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 " I have the command of the ship," says one cap- 
 tain, " assigned me by government, and your interf jr- 
 ence is an infringment of my rights.*" 
 
 " If that is your view," says the commodore, " 1 am 
 but a passenger here, and one of us had better go 
 home." 
 
 " Reform ! " cry the subordinate grades of the line : 
 " Tve have no defined rights or duties, and are old men 
 in junior grades, some of us, even, in that of our ap- 
 prenticeship." " Reform ! " cry the staff corps, " we 
 grow old in the service, not only without any progres- 
 sive rank to mark our length of service, but without 
 any defined rank, to protect us against the assumptions 
 and arrogance natural to military power. 
 
 Each grade has the remedy for the single defect 
 apparent to itself, whilst almost the whole country cries 
 out, in conjunction with part of the navy, " Throw the 
 grog-tub and the cats overboard, and all is right." This 
 is sheer quackery ; it is treating the single symptoms, 
 by a pretended panacea, whilst the diseased constitu- 
 tion is untouched. 
 
 There is an entire want of conformity between fie 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 organization of the navy, and the character of the peo- 
 ple and country to which it belongs ; and sooner or 
 later, one must be brought into harmony Tvjth the 
 other ; the sooner the better, for all concerned. 
 '' We have inconsiderately " put new wine into old 
 bottles ; " and patched an old and rotten garment with 
 new cloth. We have put the new and elevated ener- 
 gies of our people into the old forms and institutions 
 of past ages. 
 
 The remarks of this lecture, upon the evil influence 
 of our naval institutions must not be construed into a 
 sweeping declaration, that every individual is corrupt- 
 ed by them. Forms of government, forms of religion, 
 despotism, monarch}-, aristocracy, Mahometanism, may 
 all be attacked, as not the best institutions, without 
 any imputation upon those who live under, advocate, 
 and adhere to them. Whilst there are honorable, up- 
 right, and intelligent men in every grade of the service, 
 its organization is not such as to give to these qusJities • 
 their proper influence — the same as they would have 
 "/ \ in civil life — or to prevent the undue ascendency of 
 
 those of imperfect character. * , 
 
 ^ /llA^^d Ce^f^^ ir^L.J^4- A^^- /^ 
 
 ^&.«<04Ut«t^ -> 
 
PBcr Ar£. 
 
 'l'> fcfect ,- -: /rr;i in the njiry, the Ktbjuet nsttit b* 
 
 lik^.'i ur' by Ui*; ^z^t-pUr, if Wt V/ riavy '-.y/ht ,-.. h i- tto 
 apt to be lost in ih": iri:iii<;r.c'; cf \,:'-/-j >':':'ii',''-A <,-pi;.ic<rt. 
 TTir 2';r.';ri. prl.-4.cipj,->, of naral gc»«'en!ine«t, i.oLki-; Kjo 
 low aa cdtiioate erf the u^kjjinA it ci-.-ii--. w.r.!;; there 
 are not app-ra..--. «3mm^ t» man's hiyfi^r itMure. >=;- 
 p.l-j.'i is an ambtmtr, - .r... Uiv^r^i;.,.' to, njwn tin* 
 sdbjeet, be ■i:'.''.>r-:j//i tite rr.^.-.v r »h',n h^ «aid, 
 
 " iLif.i;:.'.d ire, in t?.-; end, h.-w;* gf/feraed Iff ta- 
 \r,ciCjr. ,r erf L'.t'';;>^;tiiil qiiaEtiie% ar,d r^ri* are r.-.c.-^- 
 •eiuibk of tkk than lij-. liiliiair,- r/r^i-ifev-^r;. When, 
 Ml ff.y rfciura fr ^.a Itah-, I asKaiaed the *!.'«!* (»f th^ 
 iimii t ne , >., i as=-,'>-;i >->;••] with ineii of scjencfe, I kc^rw 
 what I was ',.-a.^2: I was ^o* of c- Wr../ r.-.Lvuri-ckr- 
 stcrod hy the lowest dnminier in the iirr.- " 
 
 TrJft b-L.i- fhfe p.-i.'.cip!e, it Li war da-.y to ^■-•. ibe 
 best atility in the r.Lr.-r-,: plaee^ 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Irving Literary Institute. 
 
 In reply to the invitation, extended to me by your 
 Society upon a former occasion, I had the honor to 
 write you a lecture upon subjects, in my opinion, ap- 
 propriate to the purposes of your organization, and 
 being willing, so far as lies in my power, to contribute 
 to your efforts for the public good, I again submit to 
 you an essay, which, in default of other and more 
 competent respondents to your call, may aid in the 
 accomplishment of your views. 
 
 I have chosen as the subject of my remarks, " The 
 
 Naval Institdtions of a Republio " 
 1* 
 
10 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 A service of nearly a quarter of a century in our 
 own navy has afforded me the opportunities for observ- 
 ing to some extent, and reflecting upon, the nature, 
 peculiaiities and wants of naval institutions. The cor- 
 rectness of my judgment, and the feasibility of my 
 views, it is for time and others to determine. 
 
 Feeling it to be my duty, as an honest citizen, to 
 communicate to the people — the real owners of the 
 navy — facts which my oflBcial position has enabled me 
 to learn, and which the interests of both navy and 
 people demand should be generally known, I have 
 done that duty and leave the matter with you. 
 
 The subject is one of great and varied interest to 
 this nation — of interest in a political and pecuniary 
 point of view. All that concerns the condition and con- 
 stitutional organization of the individual states of this 
 confederacy is considered of general interest ; and par- 
 ticularly would it be so, if there were any features of an 
 individual state, inconsistent with, .or adverse to our 
 principles of republican government 
 
OP A REPUBLIC. 11 
 
 Your navy is a most important state ; it belongs to 
 you all ; it is limited by no boundaries short of the en- 
 tire world ; it represents you amid the gilded thrones 
 of Europe — in the distant isles of the ocean — amid 
 Arctic savages and snows — and to all nations and peo- 
 ples on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of this vast con- 
 tinent. In a pecuniary point of view, the navy claims 
 the attention of prudent and practical men. The 
 annual expenditure of this nation for military pur- 
 poses, is more than half the entire expenditure of the 
 government. The annual expenditure for the navy 
 alone, is more than one-fourth of the whole national 
 cost — including that of Congress, the Executive, the 
 Judiciary, Foreign Ministers, and miscellaneous. 
 
 The annual expense of your navy is more than the 
 annual cost of the six New England states, the great 
 state of New York, and New Jersey together. Then, 
 surely, such an institution is worth your attention ; and 
 it is the duty of the people to see that so important an 
 organization is not one which defies the principles of 
 our government, and gives the lie to all the political 
 theories of our constitution. 
 
12 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 The history of the navj', or of any similar institution, 
 is not alone the record of its deeds, be they glorious' 
 or io-noble. Its deeper and more significant history is 
 U) be found by an inquiry into the influence it has had 
 upon principles ; in destroying or modifying those in 
 existence, or, in creating new ones ; its influence upon 
 human rights, political institutions, and the relations 
 of men to each other. 
 
 The capture of an enemy's ship or squadron is 
 justly a subject of national and patriotic pride ; it is 
 enthusiastically hailed by loud huzzas, from one end 
 of the Union to the other. Let us beware, ie:-t, amid 
 the rejoicing, we lose sight of some false principle, 
 stealing upon us in the noise, the fire, and the smoke, 
 marring the beauty of republicanism, and corrupting 
 the purity of. our institutions; let us beware, lest the 
 victory has a dearer purchase than blood and treasure, 
 and be careful that the flashing glory do not sink into 
 a darkened shame. 
 
 When history was written for tlie gi-atification of 
 great personages, it charged upon republics ingrati- 
 tude for public services. Now, that history is beinw 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. iS 
 
 written for the people, it discovers that individuals may 
 value their services too highly, and cry out ingratitude, 
 unless, in addition to the just award of glory, their 
 country places itself, its institutions, and its fortunes at 
 their feet. When people have permitted their grati- 
 tude to go thus far, we have Csesars, Cromwells, and 
 Napoleons. In like manner, a grateful nation may, 
 in the glory of an institution, lose sight of the increas- 
 ing despotism of its principles, which, worse than per- 
 sonal tyranny, live and gTow from age to age;- die not 
 with the life of any individual, but require either a 
 violent convulsion, or years of labor and patient per- 
 severance to loosen their hold. 
 
 Under a monarchical and aristocratic form of gov- 
 ernment, a navy, like an array, or the church, may be 
 organized, to meet two purposes; one, the service of 
 the state, or the propagation of the gospel ; the other, 
 that of making places and provision for the members of 
 aristocratic and exclusive classes ; and in such an arrange- 
 ment, the rules and regulations of government and dis- 
 cipline will be as much to keep up the prestige of aristo- 
 cracy, as to affect a healthful and efficient organization. 
 
14 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 Very different should be the state of affah-s, under 
 a republic. In it, there should be no exclusive classes 
 to provide for, and all its rules and discipline might be 
 concentrated in effecting the most efiScient service for 
 the state. 
 
 In this singleness of object, a republic, if it remained 
 true to its character, would have great advantages over 
 an aristocracy, in the creation of a powerful navy ; and 
 just so far as it condescends to imitate the organiza- 
 tion of a monarchical institution, does it yield its high 
 position, fetter its own power, and dwarf its greatness ; 
 it sacrifices the nation, and national interests, to indi- 
 viduals and exclusive classes. 
 
 The population_ of a republican navy consists of the 
 efficient power of the crews, or men, and ofiBcers to 
 direct and control it; both, equally citizens of the 
 commonwealth which they serve, in diflferent, but as- 
 sociated capacities. The arrangements should be such, 
 as would secure in all grades, the best talent, and 
 mental, and physical energies which the country can 
 produce. The relations between these grades, their 
 dependence, one upon the other, should be just that 
 
OF A BEPtTBLIO. r^ 15 
 
 which would best accomplish the national purpose, for 
 which the navy is organized and paid, and in notlnng 
 should the one be made tributary to the personal pride 
 and arrogance of the other. Definite laws should pro- 
 tect the rights of the inferior, or commanded class, and 
 restrict the exercise of the controlling power to its 
 legitimate use. 
 
 So long as a naval establishment observes these le- 
 gitimate relations, and is in harmony with, and sub- 
 ordmate to, the political institutions of the countr]^ its 
 character will be both republican and efficient. But 
 mark how stealthily, gradually, and insidiously change 
 may come over such a body, even if originally organ- 
 ized upon proper principles. The class exercising 
 military authority, is too apt to lose sight of its true 
 official character, representing the laws of the land — 
 an honorable and dignified station — it learns to feel 
 that all the pomp and parade of high station is a ar- 
 senal tribute to those who receive it, and a distinction 
 to them, as of superior blood to other men, with an 
 intrinsic claim to higher privileges. From this error, 
 it is an easy transition, to exact a blind submission 
 
16 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 to every -whim and caprice, as a necessary part oi mili- 
 tary subordination and discipline ; to believe that they 
 have no responsibilities, and their subordinates no 
 rights; until, finally, it becomes more than a vague 
 idea, that ships are built, men paid, and the navy l^fpt 
 Tip, chiefly for the benefit of the influential classes in 
 the navy. Questions are considered, not so much in 
 reference to the interests of the country, as in refer- 
 ence to the institution. Innovation is dreaded, and 
 opposed, lest it should shake exclusive privileges. The 
 broad principle of patriotism is narrowed to that of 
 class interest; and any one who, faithful to the navy, 
 would throw the protections of reform around its hon- 
 orable members, and make the whole an honest, and 
 working institution ; any one who, with honest motives 
 undertakes to point out existing evils and their mode 
 of correction, does it at the risk of being stigma- 
 tized as a traitor to. the service, and must be content 
 to be hooted at by those, who, like foul bii-ds, do not 
 see the corruptions of the nest to which they cling. 
 
 Such are the gradual changes, which, without the 
 constant vigilance of the people, may influence a 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 17 
 
 naval establishment, even if it had a lair beginning, 
 which ours never had; and when this change has 
 been effected, new principles have been introduced, 
 entirely at war with republicanism. A privileged 
 class has been instituted, to whom a large share of 
 the wealth and honors of the country belong-, irre- 
 spective of any claim of merit or service. The gen- 
 eral character of our institutions has been departed 
 from, and as positive a nobility created, as though its 
 members received the titles of Lord, Earl, Marquis, or 
 Duke — a more obnoxious nobility than belonged to 
 kingly France, when her titles, instead of being the 
 inheritance of families, were the meed of distinguished 
 service. A subordinate instrument of the government 
 has thus become an independent institution, and, with- 
 out altering one word of the constitution of our couu- 
 tr}', principles ha^e grown up contrary to its whole 
 spirit and purpose. 
 
 Such evil influences are more operative during the 
 quiescence of peace, than during the activities of war. 
 In war, the value of every grade, and of each man in 
 every grade, is felt ;' the work and the purpose for 
 
18 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 which they are put there, are more plainly before 
 them all ; their responsibility to their country is more 
 apparent, and commanding officers feel that their ovrn 
 position, honor and glory are dependent upon the 
 hearty co-operation of all departments of the ships 
 or squadrons placed in their charge : the instruments 
 of success have then theu' proper weight in the 
 work. 
 
 In peace, on the contrary, there is no such conserv- 
 ative dependence ; there is no definite and great ob- 
 ject before the eyes of all, to which their energies, in 
 proper relation and subordination, are to be directed, 
 and for which those relations have been established. 
 It is merely seen that one set of men has great 
 privileges and power ; and that another set is sub- 
 jected to the former; relations which, as we have 
 seen, are apt to grow into false views of the position 
 of each. 
 
or A REPUBLIC. 19 
 
 In the year 1800, at the very commencement of 
 this century, an act was passed by Congress, for the . 
 " better government of the Navy of the United 
 States," and, incredible as it may appear, character- 
 istic of stagnation in the midst of progress, this law 
 of more than half a century's duration is that which 
 governs the navy now, without a Une or word of 
 alteration, excepting the repeal, by the last Congress, 
 of those portions which authorized the punishment of 
 flogging, and the continuance of this improvement is 
 now strenuously resisted. If this law had no greater 
 age than that of its enactment by our Congress, it 
 would still leave the navy far behind the progress of 
 a progressive age, and in this respect there would be 
 a want of harmony between the navy and the coun- 
 try; but when we come to examine this law, we find 
 that it wears but the mask of the republic, and be- 
 hind this will be seen the wrinkled features of a 
 barbarian antiquity. 
 
 The two first articles open the law with injunctions 
 
20 N'AVAL INSTITITIOX S 
 
 to lommanding otticoi> to obsorvo \\w dulit's of hmior, 
 moraliiy ami iiligiou. but no ponaltv for it disrt'giwd 
 of tlio injwnction is luontiouod — i.if lomso !in\ attontiou 
 to them is optional. The tliird aniilf nliUcs to of- 
 foiU'os iu which suboiiliiiato olfii>ti-s and privaios may 
 be implicati'd, and booomi's a little moro \iiiwxnis. It 
 roads jws follows: 
 
 "Any othcor, or other person in the na\Y. who 
 sliull be guilty of opprcss-ioii, oruelty, fnrad. profane 
 swearing, drunkenness, or ;u\y other scandalous lou- 
 duot tending to tho destruction of giH>d morals, sliall, 
 if an otlicei-, be cishiereil, or suffer such other punish- 
 ment as a court martial shall adjudge: if a private, 
 shall be put ia irons, or flogged, at tlie iliscretion of 
 tlie captain, not exceeding tWi'lve hishes," 
 
 A\ hen we come to examine the nature of courts 
 martial, it will be e\iden( that this pompous and cum- 
 brous machinery is little likely to be brought to bear 
 against '• pn>fane swt'aring, conilnct tending to the 
 destruction of good morals," or even drnukenness; 
 and public observation teaches that much of this 
 I'aitof ilie law is a dead leiier. Not so that which 
 
OVABBPUDI. !0, 21 
 
 prcscribi'il tliii liwli. 'I'ho rrpi)r(H made to tho navy 
 depiirtiiii III,, and railed for by Oommti'ss, sliow that, 
 whilst tlir hiu |icn)iiu,c(l tliis punishmoiit, it was dealt 
 out willi ail iiKiiscriminating severity, littles if any, 
 modified liy th(^ ehiinieter of the oll'ence, and vpith a 
 i-ec.ldessiiesH wliii'li sliould forever jirohiliit its reslora- 
 iioii, 'I'lie ciitN and the edit went relieviiie' .substitutes 
 for oni'i'iiv, tlioiif^ht, mid judgment in the ecirrection of 
 vice. It waK niiieli more oasy to say " |j,ive liim a doz- 
 en with the cats," than to exercise an iiitellin'c^it and 
 judiciouH ]inuleiiei^ in snlei'tint,' tho remedy for ci'ime. 
 
 Tho reiiiniiiiii;^' articles, relatiiit;- to sueh varied of- 
 feiiei'S as "lireaeh of iluty, disobedienee of orders, 
 cowardice, nee-licence, disaU'ectioii, treachery, spies, 
 murder, mutiny, sedition, deseidon," have one uni- 
 form termination — " death !! or such oilier punish- 
 ment as a court martial shall adjudm'.'' 
 
 1 would parlicularly call attention to the Slst and 
 M',!d arlii'les, as characteristic of the enlighleiimeiit 
 and spirit 'jf the whole code. 
 
 'riie thirty-lirst says: "Any master-at-arms, or oth- 
 er person of whom the duty of master-at-arms is 
 
22 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 required, who shall refuse to receive such prisoners as 
 shall be committed to his charge, or having received 
 them, shall suffer them to espape, or dismiss them 
 without proper authority, shall suffer in such prison- 
 er's st«ad, or be punished at the discretion of a court 
 martial." 
 
 The idea of hanging a jailer because his prisoners 
 escape, is nautically summary. ' ' ' 
 
 The whole of this .truly wonderful code for the 
 government of the navy is comprised within five oc- 
 tavo pages. The minute and specific law under which 
 our army is governed, composes a volume of over 
 thi-ee hundred pages, and on the front of this book it 
 is written : — " Every ofiicer of the army will be fur- 
 nished with a copy; and it is enjoined upon them 
 strictly to observe the rules therein set forth; and 
 every change, alteration, or departure therefrom, un- 
 less sanctioned by the War Department, is positively 
 forbidden." Such a code leaves but little room for 
 the tyranny, the caprice, and the dissension of indi- 
 vidual opinioh. But on the meager pages of naval 
 law, at the 3 2d article, it is written: 
 
OF A KE PUBLIC. 23 
 
 "All crimes committed by persons belonging to the 
 navy, which are hot specified in the foregoing articles, 
 shall be punished according to the laws and oustomii 
 in such cases at sea." 
 
 Here is a broiid latitude for the exercise of a capri- 
 cious tyranny. Who is to be the judge of the laws 
 and customs, when every commanding officer makes, 
 to some extent, his own laws and customs, and the 
 internal regulations of each ship may differ as widely 
 as though they belonged to different services ? If 
 crimes were of sufficient frequency to have established 
 usages, they admitted of definition and specification. 
 This regulation unbinds the hand of power, and leaves 
 the service open to capricious opinion. Under so loose 
 and undefined a system, every vaiiety of view and 
 character impresses itself upon your national ships. 
 One officer may encourage sobriety, morality, and 
 religion ; another pronounce these humbugs, but wil- 
 lingly give his men liberty to visit the shore for a 
 drunken frolic, and then flog them for the language 
 and conduct of intoxication. 
 
 A specimen chosen from the reports of punishment 
 
24 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 from different ships, shows how absurd and unequal is 
 the punishment of naval crime. 
 
 From one vessel we have a report of seventy-three 
 cases of punishment in two months, for varied offences, 
 and the record shows a uniform allowance of twelve 
 lashes, the limit of the law, to every offence, with the 
 exception of two, and in one of these the crime is 
 "suspicion of theft," and for this the unfortunate 
 suspected received six lashes with the cats on his bare 
 back. From another ship we hava the same offences 
 punished with only six la.shes on the bare back ; and 
 in a thu-d the flogging is given over the shirt Such 
 are the different degrees of criminality as- measured 
 by punishment, attached to the same offences in ships 
 of the same service. Such is the character of the 
 code of law, which, without revision, amendment, or 
 alteration, has governed the navy for more than half 
 a century, and which, with the exception of the aboli- 
 tion of flogging, still governs it. Destitute of rewards 
 and encouragements, destitute of securities for the 
 natural rights of men, it offers no inducements for 
 the respectable American seaman to enter the navy. 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 25 
 
 Although he may not be flogged now, he has nothing 
 to look to beyond his subordinate station ; and may, 
 though characterized by every good quality, be con- 
 fined, for months, within a few yards of the shore, to 
 the narrow limits of a man-of-war, and tantalized by 
 seeing officers and officers' servants hourly passing in 
 and out of the ship, enjoying a freedom denied to 
 him, who finds the floating castles of your country but 
 prisons for their defenders. 
 
 The history of mutinies, from those of the Nore and 
 Spithead, down to those in our own service, shows that 
 one of their most eflfective causes has been the confine- 
 ment of men on board ship ; one of the first demands is 
 for liberty to visit the shore ; and the fact that all au- 
 thorities, from officers of ships up to ministers and kings, 
 have been compelled to yield to those mutinies, is proof 
 that discipline cannot be eflfected by severity ; and also 
 that law should secure to ship's companies the privi- 
 lege, when duty would permit, of freely visiting the 
 shore. The opportunity of getting out of a ship under 
 such circumstances becomes an intoxicating excitement, 
 
 and leads to excess ; whereas, if the privilege of liberty, 
 2. 
 
26 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 like that of food, was guarantied by law to the deserv- 
 ing, it would become a natural enjoyment, instead of 
 a morbid excitement i.7^tt. t - 
 
 I have seen the strongest men tremble with a^ta- 
 tion, at the privilege of visiting the shore for a few 
 hours, after long confinement on board ship. 
 
 Can desertion, under such circumstances, be a mat- 
 ter of surprise ? The very human nature of men is 
 driven to crime by the imperfection of the law, which 
 then comes down with its bloody penalties. 
 
 With such an organization can you expect to create 
 an American Navy, from such stuff as American citi- 
 zens are made of ? Would it not be a disparagement 
 of our boasted American character if you could ? The 
 best tribute to our country, and severest commentary 
 upon our navy, is found in the fact that so many for- 
 eigners enter our naval service. , ' c- -' >' 'i ■ ■' ' ' 
 
 If it were possible that such a code as governs our 
 navy had been devised by wise heads, after careful 
 deliberation and with an intelligent adaptation to the 
 institutions of our country, and the character of our 
 people, it would still be likely to require alteration and 
 
OP A REPUBLIC. 27 
 
 improvement; but, I may ask, does this lawjsear one 
 single feature of our country in all its changes from 
 the stern landing, upon a wintry rock, of the freedom- 
 seeking Pilgrims, to the waving of our national banner 
 over the golden hills and pearl-gemmed waters of our 
 new Pacific ocean state ? 
 
 Jt§ 013 age, 
 
 It does not. This code of law is older than our gov- 
 ernment, older than our people, older than modem 
 civilization ! As a pretended American law, it is an 
 imposture, disgracing our statute books. It is a blind 
 copy, almost word for word, of the British articles of 
 war, framed under George 2d, in 1749, one hundred 
 and three years ago, but actually based upon, and em- 
 bodying the ideas, condition of things, and spirit exist- 
 ing at the remote origin of the Royal Navy. This is 
 your American, republican code of naval law. But 
 were it a code proposed or de^^sed at the present day 
 for the British Navy, it would still have no applica- 
 bility to a single feature of our country. 
 
 One nation has its people, artificially separated into 
 
28 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 ranks and classes. Those who serve, are regarded as 
 of another blood from those who command. 
 
 The other nation acknowledges no difference be- 
 tween men, but that which shall be made by the in- 
 equality of talents and virtue. It takes its highest 
 fimctionaries from the most humble occupation; and 
 might find its chief magistrate in one who had been 
 a common sailor, as it has in one who had been a com- 
 mon soldier, provided he had the vigor of intellect for 
 the duties of the station ; it acknowledges no govern- 
 ment of hereditary succession, or divine right, which 
 may make a chief ruler of a feeble infant, or a weak 
 woman. 
 
 The seamen of one nation belong to a fixed rank, 
 or class, so low in the socisil scale as to be below 
 the sense of degradation, the stimulus of ambition, 
 or the protections of pride. The seamen of our coun- 
 try may represent a respectability equal to that of their 
 commanders, or civil rulers. Such broad distinctions 
 would alone be suflScient to prevent the adaptation of a 
 British aristocratic, monarchal code to our republican 
 navy. 
 
or A REPUBLIC. 29 
 
 Here is a picture of the royal navy which furnishes 
 the code ; not drawn by foreign prejudice, but given 
 by a Briton himself: 
 
 " Founded at a period when slavery was universally 
 tolerated, from liberty being comparatively speaking, 
 unknown, the first record we possess of what may fairly 
 be termed a royal navy, goes back to the reign of the 
 7th Henry, who, in 1488, caused the Great Harry to 
 be built and launched. 
 
 " The arbitrary measures which, at that remote pe- 
 riod, directed every department of the state, naturally 
 extended to the maritime service, and while the brutal 
 and irrational system of impressment formed the means 
 of manning the navy, the allowance of pay and provi- 
 sion were worthy the system which provided the sea- 
 men to consume them. 
 
 " Of all the anomalies which have proved a reproach 
 to the British constitution, and an inherent cause of 
 gangrene and disorder, the press-gang has been the 
 most odious in its origin, and the least excusable from 
 its results. Under this remnant of feudal villahage, the 
 arm of undiscriminating violence was made to sweep 
 
30 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 up for the noblest uses of the country, all who were 
 so poor, so ignorant, so unfriended, or so vicious as to 
 be thrown at large upon the highways of the empire, 
 without the protection of those inconsistent immunities 
 which arbitrarily acquit the wealthy from protecting 
 their own possessions, to force this onerous task upon 
 those who have nothing to protect. In a community 
 where reason had the slightest voice, or justice the 
 least authority, it would naturally be imagined that 
 those possessing nothing to make life cheerful, should, 
 at any rate, be spared the cares which Providence has 
 fixed ais the alloy of prosperity. 
 
 " In contradiction of every axiom of this equitable 
 nature, the aliject and friendless were seized for no 
 crime, but their poverty and insignificance, and im- 
 prisoned in our men-of-war, after no trial, save the 
 capricious will of our inebriated master of the press- 
 gang. Thus a number of outraged individuals were 
 collected in our fleets. If they behaved well, fought 
 the battles of their country, and drudged unrepiningly 
 through the severe life of privations, which alone the 
 navy has to olfer, they become valuable to their 
 
OP A REPUBLIC. 31 
 
 tyrants, and thus unwittingly riveted around their own 
 necks, the chain of that servitude which has to gall 
 them through life. 
 
 " When the pen of truth records the atrocities of 
 such a system in the nineteenth century, which still 
 witnesses its inactive existence, the mind, unaccustom- 
 ed to dwell upon such a complicated detail of villany, 
 can, at first, scarcely credit the demonstration of such 
 facts. But the press-gaug was merely the first step to 
 the barbarities which, in the Royal Navy of Great Brit- 
 ain, ignorance and helplessness have suffered on the one 
 side, and cruelty and power have inflicted on the other. 
 
 " Our fleets having been manned by a force so resist- 
 less and relentless, the unhappy wretches imprisoned 
 on board, were treated in every manner befitting felons 
 condemned to so awful a punishment. 
 
 " The unofiiending being captui-ed by armed violence, 
 for the naval service of the state, was only allowed, 
 but at rare intervals, and in many cases, never again 
 to land upon that shore with which every thing worth 
 estimating in life, was connected. From the hour he 
 became an involuntary seaman, he was too often cut 
 
32 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 oflf from all communication with friend or relative, and 
 generally sent to an unhealthy climate. 
 
 "There, predisposed to disease from the sudden trans- 
 ition, life wEis either lost, or rendered merely a bur- 
 den for the future ; exposed to a duty harrassing in 
 the extreme, he was placed under the absolute dispo- 
 sal of a p'etty monarch, whose slightest caprice, was 
 indisputable law; yet, under all these oppressive afflic- 
 tions he possessed no appeal from any wrong, save to 
 a code of jurisprudence, so severe, that every line ap- 
 pears to have been traced in blood, and every other 
 penalty is a shameful death, ! " 
 
 In addition to these press-gang victims, the jails 
 were emptied to man the fleets ; and' the code of laws 
 devised for these captured slaves and jail felons of a 
 despotic government, is that which we have conde- 
 scended to adopt for the government of a navy of 
 voluntarily enlisted citizens. 
 
 But the picture is not yet complete ; the poor wretch 
 felled beneath the club of the press-gang, and torn 
 perhaps forever, from his family and home, with the 
 fiendish humanity worthy of such a pandemonium. 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 33 
 
 has the intoxicating draft presented as the balm for his 
 sorrows, that his whirling brain may lose, in this new 
 frenzy, the madness of his wrongs, and all the respect 
 of the man be sunk to the level of his associate felons, 
 to whom the same cup comes as the familiar solace of 
 vice. All this you have borrowed, too ; the spirit-room 
 and the rum cask, still disgrace your national vessels, 
 and the roll of the martial drum is daily heard, calling 
 your crews around the "grog-tub,'' to receive the 
 potion which shall send them away with inflamed 
 bodies and fired minds, ready for the quarrels, the in- 
 solence and insubordination to their oflScers, which, 
 heretofore has consigned their backs to the " cats," and 
 still turns the sailor over to handcuffs, imprisonment, 
 and the sentry's charge. 
 
 The whole system' is, clearly, one calculated to 
 manufacture crime, to degrade man, to nurture the 
 spirit of cruelty, and to supply the food for its exer- 
 cise. The degradation is not confined to the masses ; 
 the contact of officers with such men, the disgusting 
 criminal police duties, growing out of the those rela- 
 tions, have a deteriorating influence upon all. How long 
 
Si NAVAL INSTITUTIOKS 
 
 shall this system be permitted to continue ? The peo- 
 ple of this nation are responable for its existence, and 
 every citizen who does not do his utmost for a reforma- 
 tion, is responsible for the evils he may deplore and 
 condenm. 
 
 I know that our naval triumphs are pointed to as a 
 reason for a continuance of the system imder which 
 they have been won. They only prove the difficulty 
 of eradicating all that is noble in man ; under the worst 
 influences, and after the loss of every other virtue, he 
 still has left that animal com-age, which leads him to 
 desire and strike for victory. The navies of Europe, 
 under the worst possible institutions, have won glorious 
 victories. The debased machine soldiery of Europe has 
 won splendid triumphs, but they were as nothing, com- 
 pared to the magic glories of Napoleon, who peopled 
 his army with citizens, and opened the way from the 
 ranks to the marshal's baton. The history of our glory 
 does not prove that crime, intoxication, and degrada- 
 tion are essential to glory, whilst, upon the contrary, all 
 history does prove, that the more elevated in tone and 
 character a military body, the greater are its incentives 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 35 
 
 to action, the less the trouble of its government, and 
 the more sure the probabilities of success. 
 
 The routinists of Europe were frequent in their pre- 
 dictions that our militia would always be easily scat- 
 tered by defeat. The events of the late Mexican war, 
 dissipated their theories in astonishment, and then the 
 press of England proclaimed that the American array, 
 was an army of Knights. Why, from the same ma- 
 terials, cannot we have a navy of respectable Ameri- 
 can citizens ? We can, and we wilL 
 
 $i}lp§ (uitijoiit "Ggfs." 
 
 But where will the reforming influence come from ? 
 Whose business is it ? It is the business of none so 
 much as the people, and they must impress their 
 wishes upon their representatives in the national le- 
 gislature ; otherwise, what is the course the matter 
 takes ? Persons interested in a particular measure of 
 reform bring it singly and alone to the notice of some 
 member of Congress; he is pressed with what he re- 
 gards as more important business, and which may, in 
 reality, be more important than the single measure to 
 
36 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 which his attention is asked, but can scarcely be more 
 so than the general defects from which the single evil 
 springs. He is referred to some other gentleman, 
 ■who is more prominent in naval matters, and this lat- 
 ter, perhaps, owes his prominency to special views, 
 derived from some relative, or intimate friend, in the 
 service, and is already prepossessed against the inno- 
 vation. The proposition can scarcely get a hearing. 
 Suppose, however, it advances a step farther, and at- 
 tracts general attention; 'it may then, with the best 
 intentions, be referred to the executive, and by tliis to 
 a navy board, with all its prejudices arrayed against 
 change and improvement " Boards are screens," 
 says Jeremy Bentham. Thus reform revolves in a 
 maelstrom which finally swallows it up. 
 
 That gentlemen who, from childhood, have grown 
 up under the present system strongly advocate its 
 continuance, should not cast any imputation, either 
 upon their intelligence, or the honesty of their opinions. 
 There is nothing wliich so controls the judgment and 
 the opinions of the most powerful minds as the sys- 
 tems and institutions under which men have had their 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 37 
 
 minds formed. It is almost an impossibility to shake 
 off this influence. Even the restoration of the lash 
 is strongly advocated by gentlemen in the service, of 
 honorable and upright purposes and intelligent minds. 
 At the first view, this seems like the irresistible testi- 
 mony of practical experience. But, is it such ? In 
 all inquiries after truth, it is a principle to measure 
 the value of testimony by the bias and influence under 
 which it is ^ven. These gentlemen were honestly 
 opposed to the abolition of the lash, and, consequent- 
 ly, were not in that unprejudiced condition to. give the 
 reform a fair trial. Would any administration commit 
 its peculiar principles to its opponents, however honest 
 and intelligent, and expect them to be reported upon 
 successfully? The enemies of a measure like this 
 cannot give it a fair trial ; and, conceding to most, hon- 
 est efforts to do so, there may be some who would 
 wiUingly throw odium upon the measvire by creating 
 obstacles to its success. Until the attempt to com- 
 mand national ships without the lash shall have been 
 committed to those in favor of its abolition — those 
 not bound to the notions of a lifetime — there is no 
 
38 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 testimony upon the subject which meets the character 
 of available evidence ; it is all mere one-sided opinion. 
 By this same kind of testimony, given by the most pow- 
 erful minds and honorable men who have ever lived, 
 it can be shown that human happiness and prosperity 
 are dependent upon " sovereignty by divine right," he- 
 reditary aristocracy, church establishments, entailed 
 estates, and primogeniture, all of which we deem fal- 
 lacious impositions upon men ; and there is no institu- 
 tion so glaring in its wrong but it will find advocates 
 in those brought up under, even though oppressed 
 by it. 
 
 One of the most distinguished and deep thinking 
 philosophers of England has illustrated this tendeuc}' 
 by the assertion, that if it was proposed to introduce a 
 law authorizing the king, at pleasure, to murder any 
 number of his subjects, there would be none to second 
 it ; but if, such a law being in existence, it was pro- 
 posed to repeal it, if it passed at all, it would only be 
 at the end of a considerable number of years ; during 
 which, every session, would have been emptied upon 
 it the whole quiverfull of those fallacies irrelevant to 
 
OP A REP0BL1C. 39 
 
 the proposition they are employed to combat, and 
 having an equal force in their application to others. 
 
 To get at the- truth of tliis matter, say to those 
 officers who are not committed against reform, who 
 are not the fossilized conservators of usages a thous- 
 and years old, "Those of you who can successfully 
 command ships without the lash shall be promoted to 
 the rank of command ; " then permit them to recruit 
 their own men, shut up the grog-tub, give them a 
 system of rewards as well as punishments, suited to 
 the character of our times and people, and then, if 
 you take the testimony of all, you will reach the truth ; 
 its golden sands, instead of being swept on by the 
 rushing stream of prejudice, will be deposited in the 
 eddy of conflicting opinion and experience. Do this, 
 and you will hear no more of the necessity for the 
 lash for the government of American seamen. 
 
 Having thus indicated the defects of naval govern- 
 ment, I vfill now direct your attention to the fact, that the 
 plan upon which the navy is officered is anti-republican; 
 
40 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 does not present the opportunity of getting into the 
 public employ the best abilities, and may exclude those 
 •who have the best claims and the most fitness. 
 
 When appointments are to be made to the lowest 
 grade of oflScers in the line of promotion — midship- 
 men — instead of being thrown open to general compe- 
 tition, and given to those who, after a proper examina- 
 tion, give evidence of having the highest mental, moral, 
 and physical qualities for the station, they fall only to 
 those youth who have the aid of family or political in- 
 fluence ; and thus your officers are made by accident, 
 and not by the claim of capability. Fortunately, the 
 general character of the youth of our country is such 
 that a majority prove worthy of their selection, and un- 
 der congenial circumstances would develop high charac- 
 ter. But the questions are : Is the plan republican ? Is 
 it the most expedient ? Is it honest, either to the coun- 
 try, or to the youth of the country ? It is neither. 
 That plan is not republican which does not offer an 
 equal chance of elevation to the deserving, be he the 
 child of the chief magistrate, or of the most humble 
 citizen. It is neither expedient, nor honest, for either 
 
or A BBPUBtlO. 41 
 
 party, if it ditninishes the chances of seeming the best 
 services for the use of the country, or excludes those 
 capable of rendering them from a trial of their merits. 
 Whilst the accident of influential friends may pension 
 upon the country an unworthy incumbent, the friend- 
 less youth who, gifted with the qualities to honor his 
 country, desires an opportunity of serving it, must seek 
 it, as an enlisted hand, at the rendezvous ; and once 
 there, the stigma of caste is upon him ; he is in a class 
 from which officers are not made ; encircled by a rigid 
 barrier of inferiority, and cut off from the hope of 
 elevation, he soon ceases to deserve it 
 
 "Excelsior" is an impulse of the American heart, 
 and whilst this impulse beats, our youth will not enter 
 an employ which binds them to inferiority ; conse- 
 quently, by this plan, we inflict a double injury upon 
 the country. We exclude respectable young men 
 from the ranks of the navy, and, as above stated, we 
 limit the chances for the best selection of oflScers. Sup- 
 pose that when vacancies occur in the junior grade 
 of ofiicers, they were, in the true spirit of republican- 
 ism, thrown open to general competition, and given to 
 
42 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 the most competent; the probabilities are that those 
 who had the advantage of some nautical education, 
 ■with other proper acquirements, would have the best 
 chance of success; and thus would be established a 
 principle elevating your whole naval service ; instead 
 of being the hiding place of the reprobate and criminal, 
 those who need 
 
 " The hangman's irhip 
 
 To baud the wretch in order," 
 
 would find no home in your ships. They would be 
 peopled by the energetic, the enterprising and respect- 
 able youths of the country ; and with such crews and 
 such officers, defeat in war, where victory was within 
 the scope of human effort, would be impossible. 
 
 But what is better, your ships, instead of bearing 
 to other nations the wretched and servile imitations 
 of their own deformities, would carry your country 
 abroad in all the features of its noble, beneficent, and 
 original institutions. Navy and country would be in 
 harmony, and your squadrons abroad evidencing more 
 than the physical power of the nation, would throw 
 
OP A REPUBLIC. 43 
 
 light into darkness, would be eloquent teachers to des- 
 pots and their victims, of the humanizing influence of 
 all institutions organized upon an acknowledgement 
 of the rights of man ; and their presence in peace 
 would do more than theii- armaments in war to shake 
 down old traditions, and to disenthrall our fellow men. 
 Sucli are some of the principles for the organiza- 
 tion of a republican navy, but we have not yet com- 
 pleted the work 
 
 0er|iolrifij. 
 
 Defective and unjust as is the mode of appointment 
 to the navy, the principle which decides .promotion to 
 the higher grades is still more defective, and is calcu- 
 lated to impair the good qualities which may, acci- 
 dentally have been brought into the service by the 
 young officer. 
 
 It would be thought very senseless, ridiculous and 
 absurd, if it was proposed that those of your borough 
 and county magistrates who lived the longest, should 
 be the judges of the Supreme Courts of the states, and 
 
44 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 those of the statfe judges who lived to the greatest age 
 should form the Supreme Court of the United States, 
 or that the longest-lived members of the Legislature, 
 should be your representatives and senators in Con- 
 gress. Absurd as such a scheme appears, it is pre- 
 jcisely that upon which naval promotion is regulated. 
 
 The youth who has gained admission upon partial 
 selection, when he arrives at twenty-one years of age, 
 is examined as to his character and acquirements. If 
 successful iu this examination, his destiny for life is 
 fixed. This test in his early youth determines the du- 
 ties, honors and station he shall fill at thirty, forty, fifty, 
 sixty, or more years of age, no matter how much his 
 character may change in the mean time, or whether, 
 being fit for one class of duties he is entirely unfit for 
 others. The simple rule is, that the longest fiver 
 shall have the highest rank, and the most pay. Such 
 is the seniority rule of naval promotion. The unre- 
 publican character of this rule is manifest Honor and 
 station being the consequence of the accident of long 
 life, constitute a nobility as much as if they were the 
 accidents of birth ; a nobility existing independently 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. ' 45 
 
 Df the ordinary responsibilities of men. A mechanic, 
 business, or professional man is dependent for suc- 
 cess upon the abilities he shall establish in the com- 
 munity to ■vrhich he belongs ; so is it with your public 
 men ; and if these shall, in the progress of their lives, 
 forfeit the confidence they had once merited, they lose 
 the public support Not so with the naval officer; 
 his promotion is independent of the community to 
 which he belongs. The officer of the liighest talents 
 and most efficiency may grow old in an inferior station, 
 whilst the most inefficient may occupy the highest 
 The disastrous effects of such a system are painfully 
 evident in our naval service, and common sense ought 
 to have anticipated them. In the first place the ordi- 
 nary incentives to continued labor and improvement 
 are removed. What good can it do the individual ? 
 None, officially. In truth the rewards of such a sys- 
 tem are for worthlessness and incompetency; because, 
 if an officer becomes known to the service, and to the 
 department, for objectionable, or incompetent qualifi- 
 cations, he is not put on duty, but permitted to remain 
 at home, on good pay, whilst those of better, reputation 
 
46 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 do his duties, and yet if he lives up to a vacancy in 
 a higher grade, unless he is eminently notorious, he 
 steps into it with its rewards and honors. The conse- 
 quence of all tills is, that those officers who represent 
 the greatest vigor of age, and of mental and physical 
 power, are growing old in subordinate grades ; some 
 of them in that of apprenticeship. There are now 
 many passed midshipmen, older than were Perry, 
 McDonough, and Decatur, when thpy achieved the 
 victories which have given their names to histor}'. 
 
 But, it will be said to me, you have your judicial 
 tribunals ; your courts martial ; true, we have ; and fit- 
 courts for such a state, keystones of the whole arch of 
 wrong. 
 
 In civU life, just and wise laws provide that every 
 bias of interest shall be removed from the judicial 
 bench, and particularly, that every influence hostile to 
 the prisoner, shall be provided against In courts 
 martial just the reverse is the state of things; every 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 47 
 
 .interest and prejudice of power; every influence of 
 grade against grade, of station against station, is in 
 operation, to say nothing of the bias of personal par- 
 tialities, and enmities growing out of the relations of 
 service. 
 
 An assemblage of men in solemn state around a 
 table, each one glittering in gold, embroidery, and 
 epaulets, has an imposing effect to the eye ; but it is 
 our business to look behind this covering, at the 
 h\iman beings and human hearts it disguises, and we 
 shall find them with, at least, all the ordinary defects 
 and weaknesses of our imperfect nature. 
 
 Even if there were no truth-distorting influences to 
 act upon these defects, the habits of thought, the ac- 
 quirements and the occupations of those who constitute 
 courts martial, are not those which best qualify men 
 for judging evidence, and sifting hidden truth from 
 contradictory, artful, and interested testimony. Some 
 conscientious and intelligent officers admit this them- 
 selves. The members of courts martial being always 
 commanding officers, or those exercising military au- 
 thority, if a subordinate is brought before them for 
 
48 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 trial, or one of their own number is arraigned for acts 
 of oppression, the question is not between two equal 
 individuals, before a disinterested tribunal, but be- 
 tween two hostile principles ; between that of power, 
 seeking increase and irresponsibility, as power natural- 
 ly will, and that of men, defending at least, supposed 
 rights — and it is left to power, and the sympathies of 
 power to decide it. It is unnecessary to say what that 
 decision g-enerally would be, 
 
 Fm'ther, there are grades in the service, represent- 
 ing your most important interests, and a conscientious 
 performance of the duties of these grades, may bring 
 the officei-s of them into conflict with those who will 
 bear no questioning of their authority. The questions 
 may concern matters of which the ofiScers to whom 
 they are entrusted, can alone judge, or, at least, can best 
 judge, and yet these officers are never permitted to sit 
 in courts martial, even when one of their own number 
 may be tried for a conscientious discharge of his duty. 
 The interests confided to these officers, require as great 
 an amount of intelligence and acquirement, and as hon- 
 orable a character, as possibly can be demanded by any 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 49 
 
 nava,! duty. For instance ; there is a grade of officers 
 to whom is confided the responsibility of administering 
 the finances of your ships; each of these officers give 
 heavy bonds for the faithful and honest performance of 
 his duties. There is another grade to which is entrust- 
 ed a responsibility, for the health and lives of ships and 
 squadrons. 
 
 A commanding officer may do that which would en- 
 danger the public funds, and involve the disbursing 
 officer and his bondsmen; or, he may, without cause, 
 neglect the precautions, for the preservation of ships 
 and their crews, from disease and death. In either 
 case, the disbursing, or medical officer, for doing his 
 duty, may be arraigned before a tribunal of the sym- 
 pathizing associates of his prosecutor, without the pres- 
 ence of a single officer of his own grade, to aid in the 
 investigation of truth, and to diminish the chances of 
 an erroneous and unjust judgment 
 
 The decision, a few years ago, of one of these courts 
 was such a violation of evidence, truth, and justice — 
 the question being between a medical and command- 
 ing officer, just such a question as we have stated— rrtl^at 
 3 
 
so NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 an indignant, and independent secretary of the navy 
 annulled the proceedings; in a letter of caustic severi- 
 ty, severely censured the court, and yet, the members 
 of that court are in high and honorable station, and eli- 
 gible to other courts martial, and most probably have 
 sat in them. 
 
 An essay published by myself ten years ago, con- 
 t^ned the following words. 
 
 " In the national legislature, constantly varying with 
 the varying politics of the nation, the navy has no 
 permanent and practically informed representation. 
 The presiding officer of the navy department deriv- 
 ing his official existence from the same unstable con- 
 tingencies, that existence is but temporaiy wjth the 
 individual ; consequently, each new Congress, and each 
 new secretary derive their information from, and haye 
 their actions controlled by those engaged in service, 
 and naturally seek their advice and directions from the 
 highest grade in it ; a grade which has the advantage 
 too, of holding with them intimate social relations. 
 
 " Commanders necessarily become, from these cir- 
 cumstances, the creators of the powers under which they 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 51 
 
 act ; and the court of appeal from their own injustice ; 
 powers, which would tempt angels from their purity, 
 and which tend to launch humanity upon an unbound- 
 ed sea of corruption." Soon after the publication of 
 this essay, I received from London, a volume by an 
 English writer, upon this subject, from which I make 
 the following quotations, and I do it, to show that if 
 two persons, divided by the Atlantic, without com- 
 munication, come to the same conclusions, the one 
 respecting the iniquity of the original system, and the 
 other respecting that of its deformed progeny, it offers 
 some evidence that their conclusions are correct. Un- 
 less the innovating hand of reform strikes down the evil 
 planted upon our soil, and originates improvement, 
 there can be but little hope of our borrowing it from 
 sources which have sent us the evil. From the writer 
 alluded to, I quote the following reriiarks upon courts 
 martial. "The only court known to naval law, by 
 which wrongs could be redressed, and mjuries punish- 
 ed, was a court martial. Under the blood-thirsty 
 enactments to which we have alluded, these courts 
 martial were composed exclusively of admirals and 
 
52 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 captains, and if the party tried was of this rank, there 
 naturally arose a prejudice of the court in his favor. 
 On the contrary, if the party complaining, were be- 
 neath this rank, there naturally arose a prejudice of 
 the court against him. All the oaths that were ever 
 taken by mankind, are insufficient to turn back the 
 current of the human heart; this bias might have 
 been most abundantly made evident in numberless 
 instances, that have since occuiTed. So perfectly well 
 known has this feeling ever been, and so prevalent 
 does it still continue to be in the British Navy, that 
 an ajdom has been generated from long experience of 
 its truth — that no man, however completely in the 
 right, can safely venture to bring a charge against a 
 superior officer, without being irretrievably ruined in 
 the service. 
 
 " That the barest semblance of justice can be re- 
 tained, under such an iniquitous system is impossible ; 
 and that it is to be borne without murmuring, by any 
 but a set of helots, is equally unnatural. 
 I " The climax of this thrice revolting mode of gov- 
 ernment, has yet to be told. Whenever, by any 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 53 
 
 interposition of Providence, some unblushing tyrant, af- 
 ter an uninterrupted career of cruelty and power, com- 
 mitted some crime so flagrant, that not even the abet- 
 tors of this system could pass it over — whenever the 
 long reluctant hand of authority was obliged to order 
 the criminal to his trial, and even his prejudiced com- 
 peers were unable to acqxut him — when all these too 
 rarely occurring events of Providence brought about 
 that extraordinary efibrt of justice, the cashiering a 
 culprit from his rank, the convict retired awhile, it is 
 true, from the command which he had disgraced ; but 
 some parliamentary, or other influence, was always 
 ready to be made with a corrupt minister: and after 
 a temporary, secession, and most inadequate punish- 
 ment, he was restored to that rank, which he had so 
 infamously abused, and in which he was again placed 
 to enjoy the opportunities of torturing one of the most 
 valuable, best-disposed, and ill-requited classes, in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 " By the laws of England, the felon who commits 
 the most brutal of all crimes, the most savage of mur- 
 ders, can only be tried by twelve of his equals. Of 
 
54 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 these, lie lias not only the unlimited right of rejecting 
 as many as ar^ open to any legal cause of objection, 
 but a fui-ther privilege of dismissing from the jury-box, 
 twenty more, without assignment of reason or cause." 
 Tigainst this humble wretch, the merciful majesty of 
 English justice, allows not one word to be urged in 
 prosecution, that can possibly prejudice the prisoner's 
 case ; not one particle of evidence to be received, that 
 is not in strict accordance with those laws and prece- 
 dents which the experience of ages, and the most 
 refined wisdom of English judges have laid down 
 through the long practice of centuries. I^ot one wit- 
 ness is permitted to open his lips against the prisoner, 
 without being subjected to the severest scrutiny as 
 to his means of knowledge, his motives, his own pre- 
 vious good, or bad character, and the degree of credit 
 which may be attached to what he swears. The whole 
 proofs against the criminal are then sifted by a judge, 
 whose entire Ufe has been devoted to the law, and the 
 investigation of truth, 
 
 " Every possible care seems exercised, not only that 
 the seaman shall not be tried by any one, who can be 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 55 
 
 imagined his peer; but, that a set of jurors or judges, 
 call them which you will, shall be got fogether with 
 every possible prejudice of rank, station, habit, and 
 command, militating against the lowly and unfortunate 
 prisoner. 
 
 " As this mockery proceeds, the worst evidence is 
 as often admitted as the best, and hearsay finds quite 
 as much admission from the skillful tribunal, as direct 
 testimony. But for this glaring absurdity, and rank 
 injustice, there is a weighty reason; scarcely one, if 
 any, of the judges could command the knowledge. 
 necessary to distinguish the one from the other. If 
 the most perjured and forsworn of witnesses present- 
 ed himself against the prisoner ; the only attempt that 
 can be made to supply the want of that safeguard of 
 our personal liberties and happiness, cross-examination, 
 is the slow administration by the prisoner of such ques- 
 tions as the court chooses to allow, and which must 
 generally, if not always, be written down before the 
 witness can be compelled to answer them. By this 
 almost inconceivable folly, the sole hope of examina- 
 tion, rapid question and answer is swept away, and 
 
56 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 the corrupt perjurer, the malicious fors wearer, gains 
 the most ample time to fabricate any untruth that may 
 most conduce to his ends. 
 
 " The prisoner having made his defence, the court 
 is cleared; those who have dovetailed the widely and 
 properly-revered ofEcere of judge and jury, hold a se- 
 cret conclave with closed doors. No impartial head, 
 clear from the agitating and often distracting respon- 
 sibility of pronouncing on life or death, reads over to 
 them the evidence, or lends the light of past ages and 
 experience to elucidate what is dark and doubtful. Be 
 the prejudices and liabilities of those men what they 
 may, they are left to expound the statute by which 
 alone, their authority is supported, to decide how far 
 the facts come under the exposition of the statute, and 
 to apportion the degree of punishment to the facts ; an 
 extent of powers, which, on shore, it often requires 
 jury, judge, and crown to compass. 
 
 " If those only, are free whose liberties are un- 
 shackeled ; if those are slaves from whom such liber- 
 ties are withheld; if the first right of liberty be as 
 Britons boast, a fair unbiassed trial, and English courts 
 
OF A REPUBLIC. 57 
 
 of justice foi-m, as mankind generally admit, the most 
 perfect specimens of even-handed justice, what then, 
 let it be demanded, is the position of the officers and 
 seamen of the British Navy, at this hour ? Are they 
 freemen, or they are slaves ? This is clear, under the 
 present system of naval courts martial ; justice as it is 
 known and worshiped on the shores of Great Britain, 
 is a thing as little to be expected on those high seas 
 from whence the greatnes's rose, as that the sun reflect- 
 ed on their eternal mirror, shall renounce his light" 
 
 Thus does the honest subject of an aristocratic, 
 monarchical government, stigmatize the enormities of 
 that court martial system, which we, of republican 
 America have condescended to adopt 
 
 Do any of you think it consistent with the character 
 and institutions of your country ? Is it a judicial sys- 
 tem, calculated to winnow the navy of that defective 
 material, which your partial system of appointment 
 may have introduced, or which the deteriorating in- 
 fluences we have examined, may have created. 
 
 Some other plan then is necessary, to remedy de- 
 fects which have now become so apparent, that the 
 
58 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 navy itself, congressional committees, and the execu- 
 tive have all proclaimed the necessity for reform, and 
 ask for its institution. 
 
 One plan proposed is, to annul the blind seniority 
 rule, and leave with the executive the discretionary 
 power of promoting by merit. As nothing could be 
 worse than our present system, so any change would 
 be an improvement, and, therefore, even this might be 
 acceptable. The objections to it are, that the execu- 
 tive would be ignorant of the characters of officers 
 generally, and would be influenced necessarily, by in- 
 formation derived from others ; and these would be the 
 few officers of high rank, in immediate contact with the 
 government, and thus the real power of selection, would 
 be with unknown and irresponsible persons ; a kind of 
 secret tribunal, which could thus gratify the personal 
 partialities or prejudices of its members. This method 
 of selection would likewise be open to family or politi- 
 cal influence. 
 
 Another suggestion is, to commit the selection to a 
 regularly constituted board of officers. Similar objec- 
 tions lie against this ; it would make all subordinates 
 
OP A KEPUBLIO. 59 
 
 dependent upon the good feeling of the few officers 
 likely to constitute the board, and the personal predi- 
 lections of these would have too much weight It is 
 suggested as the best plan> and that most conformable 
 to republican institutions, to make each entire grade a 
 board, to say which of their number have the highest 
 claims for promotion ; every officer being' required to 
 give his opinion, and prohibited from voting for him- 
 self. The president still having the nominating power, 
 his judgment would be aided by the most instructed 
 information, derived from the verdict of the entire com- 
 munity to which each officer belongs. 
 
 The advantages of this plan are numerous ; the most 
 prominent, only, can be alluded to. The character 
 and peculiar abilities of every officer are known to the 
 grade to which he belongs, and, therefore, its opinion 
 rests upon certain knowledge ; as none could advance 
 himself, there could be no inducement to withhold a 
 correct verdict ; pei-sonal prejudices, enmities, and par- 
 tialities would be neutralized in the decision of the 
 entire grade — there would be no undue dependence 
 of officer upon officer, and none of commanding upon 
 
CO NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 subordinate grades, as each ofiBcer would owe liis pro- 
 motion to his equal, and not to those below or above 
 him ; there would bo a beneficial influence upon char- 
 acter and constant stimulus to improvement, because 
 one promotion w^ould not determine others, but every 
 step must, as in ciril life, be won from the good opinion 
 of the community to which the uidividual belongs; 
 and this is an influence from wliich no man should be 
 released. 
 
 To create a republican navy, therefore, it is necessary 
 to remodel our whole establishment. 
 
 To throw its commissions open to the whole com- 
 munity, selecting for the public service, only those who 
 upon proper investigation, are found to have most 
 fitness. 
 
 This is no great innovation, as necessity has com- 
 pelled its adoption in relation to two corps of the navy, 
 as the only plan to fill them with competent officers. 
 I allude to the medical and engineer corps ; as familv 
 
OF A EBPUBLIC. 61 
 
 or political influence cannot give capacity for the du- 
 ties of these corps, so these influences can gain no one 
 admission to them. All have the right of competing, 
 and frequently, those of wealth and station, are exclu- 
 ded by the superior claims of those who have raised 
 their fortunes from the friendless gloom of obscurity. 
 
 Next, we want a plan of elevation to the higher 
 grades which shall be independent of seniority, or any 
 other mere accident, and the mode of selection com- 
 mitted to a body at once informed upon the subject, 
 and free from the bias of partiality and prejudice. 
 
 Then we want a code of laws framed upon the char- 
 acter of the age, the people, the country, and its in- 
 stitutions, and finally, 
 
 A judicial J^ribunal, which shall be instructed in the 
 nature of law and evidence — the best mode of inter- 
 preting the one, and investigating the other; which 
 shall form its judgment free from the bias of caste, sta- 
 tion, rank, grade, with all their conflicting sympathies, 
 prejudices and interests. 
 
 Glorious sea-fights have given victory to all forms 
 of governments and institutions, from the time of that 
 
62 NAVAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 of pagan Athenians and pagan Persians, at Salamis, 
 down to the present hour. Two hiindred years ago, 
 the Dutchman, Von Tromp, with a broom at his mast- 
 head, insolently swept the British Channel Much 
 less than that, English and Dutch fleets succumbed to 
 the naval power of a despotic Bourbon. 
 
 And then we have the whole pile of British glory, 
 St Vincent and Camperdown, the Nile and Trafalgar, 
 with our own seventeen naval victories, one of which* 
 with its booming cannon shook the air of this spot, all 
 gained under an organization embodying, not only the 
 spirit of monarchy and aristocracy, but that of feudal 
 barbarism. 
 
 Are these victories a reason for returning to pagan- 
 ism, to political and civil institutions of the days of the 
 Armada? Do they present a Sufficient reason for 
 keeping our navy under the principles which we cast 
 off and far away in 1776? 
 
 Shall it not rather be brought up to a level with 
 the country to which it belongs, as that country now 
 
 * Lake Erie. 
 
OF A KEPUBLIO. 63 
 
 is, and be to other navies, as this republic is to other 
 nations, a star in the west for their light and guidance ? 
 Manned by those who, humble in position and duties, 
 were yet animated by the consciousness of an enno- 
 bling republican citizenship, with its rights and its pro- 
 tections, the navy would be a fitting instrument in the 
 sublime contest in which is yet to be won its highest 
 renown — that coming struggle' between despotism 
 and constitutional government — and no stain of de- 
 gradation will then accompany the glories of our flag. 
 The loud and million-mouthed shout which wel- 
 comes the tidings of each ocean triumph, will not be 
 the outburst of that animal exultation which equally 
 greets the victor mastiflf at the buU-fight, or bear-bait; 
 nor will it be swelled alone by the glory of national 
 power — the pride of conquest adding other stars to 
 our constellation. It will burst from our shores over 
 their boundary oceans, and be echoed from the hearts 
 of hoping men of all nations, who will hear the roar of 
 your victorious cannon, proclaiming the spread of our 
 political light over the darkness of despotism and illu- 
 mining all institutions of government, on sea or shore. 
 
AN EXTRAORDINARY SALE. 
 
 lOOO Copies in Ten Days. 
 
 The most Interesting Book of the Season. 
 
 SIR JOHN FEANKLIN AND THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 
 
 Beautifully Illustrated. Price $1 25. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS- 
 
 This book is one of the most interesting publications of the season. The general 
 anxiety now prevailing respecting tlie fate of Sir John Franklin and his gallant com- 
 panions makes it especially opportune. The work gives a full account of all the 
 Arctic expeditions which have taken place within the last generation, and paiticu 
 i. rlyof those who have been sent out in search oi' Franklin. The history of the 
 Grinnell exi edition is particularly full and satisfactory. This is one of those books 
 that are certain to have thousands of readci-s. — N. Y. Courier 4" Enquirer. 
 
 An edition of this interesting narrative of Arctic discovery is issued by Derby, Buf- 
 falo. \\>i\\ the present excitement of the public mind on this subject, the wofk can- 
 not fail of a warm welcome. — N. Y . Tribune. 
 
 It now constitutes a complete narrative of the progress of Arctic discoveries, and 
 especially of the many unavailing efforts that have been made for the rescue of an 
 expedition that has awakened sucH deep interest both here and a-hsodA.— Albany 
 Journal, 
 
 It purports to give detailed notices of all the expeditions in search of Sir John 
 Franklin, including the American one of Mr. Grinnell. It also gives a histoiy of 
 previous discoveries in the Arctic regions, and an accountof the last expedition ol^the 
 gallant baronet, whose long absence, and probable loss has been so deeply deplored. 
 The work is dedicated to Mr. Ilfsnry Grinnell, and should, for its interesting details 
 concerning the Arctic regions, find a place in every library and-family. — Boston Atlas. 
 
 The book before us appears to have been collated with care, and to embrace much 
 that is of exciting interest. All feel some degree of interest in the fate of Sir John 
 Franklin, of whose salety hopes more or less sanguine are still entertained, and for 
 whose recovery no cflurts will be spared while his devoted wife lives uncertain of the 
 fact, and there are those who have hearts to dare the perils of the search. — Roches- 
 ter American. 
 
 Throughout the civilized world the too probable fate of Sir John Franklin and his 
 hardy crew has created a sympathy humane as it is profound. The work before us, 
 issued with that promptness for which its publishers are distinguished, is especially 
 adapted for general circulation, and will no doubt meet with an extensive sale. — 
 Geneva Courier. 
 
 Since the time when his return to England began to be looked for, the public mind 
 has been considerably engrossed wilh accounts of expeditions fitted out for the pur- 
 pose of ondeavoring to obtain intelligence of him and his brave companions, honora- 
 bly conspicuous among which is the American expediiion, sent out by the philan- 
 thropic munificence of Mr. Henry Grinnell. Tlie incidents, the sufferings, the trials, 
 and the piivaiions endured by each of the expeditions, are narrated in this volume, 
 handsomely got up by Messrs. Derby & Co. — Buffalo Courier, 
 
 The Arctic navigators have usually been men of extreme daring^ wonderful perse- 
 verance, and sublime fortitude; and a digest of their heroic toils in the path of geo"- 
 graphical discovery, abounds with scientific facts, and examples of manly courage 
 and exalted virtues, potential in their nature, and highly salutary in their tendencies. 
 —Elmira Republic. 
 
 A more instructive or more entertaining book has rarely fallen in our way. The 
 introduction is written in Dr. Lord's most vigorous and racy style, and al! the accounts 
 of the voyagep in the frozen seas of the north are perspicuously and compactly pre- 
 pared. — Buffalo Commercial, 
 
 For Sale by GEO. H. DERBY & Oo. 
 
 BUFFALO.' 
 
NOBLE DEEDS OF AMERICAN WOMEN. 
 
 With Biographical Sketches of some of the more Prominknt, 
 Edited by J. Clement, with an introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sioournet. 
 
 NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 
 
 T'.ie work is characterized by gond tasie and judgment. Though a portion of tbfl 
 cnmenis have elsewhere appeared, more than two hundred of the pages are entitled 
 1(1 be considered as original. These are well worthy of the subject and the author's 
 repuiuiion as a writer, both in prose and poetry. — New York Recorder. 
 
 The work now before ua is edited by a liuffalonian, Mr. Clement, who ia well 
 tnown as the popular editor of the Wesieni Liierary Messenger. — Buffalo Courier. 
 
 li is one of those books that you can open at almost any place and be sure of find- 
 ing snnieihiiig both interesting and instructive. It should be read by all who want to 
 know who of their country women are entitled to a high place in the pages that com- 
 memorate the lives of tlie great and good. — Lockport Democrat. 
 
 The volume ia ornamented with an engraving of Mrs. Washington, from Stuart'a 
 picture, and is in every respect an honor to the Duflalo press.— Syracuse Star. 
 
 Such deeds deserve to be recorded, as well in honor of the illustrious actor^, ar for 
 the instruction of those who have succeeded. This is an excellent collection, and 
 well got up, and we commend the volume as one containing instruction with enter- 
 tainmetit, and well worthy of a place in every family library. — Cincinnati Times 
 
 Tlie Introduction by Mrs. Sigourney, contains more common sense views of 
 woman's ejthere, duties, and pleasures, than ever emanated from a score of Woman's 
 Righ[« Cotiveniions. — Cleveland Herald. 
 
 li embraces anecdotes of an exceedingly interesting character, prepared with much 
 lasie and judgment. The literary reputation of the editor is a guarantee for the faith- 
 tiil performance of his part of the work. — Utica Register. 
 
 A book wiih such pasturage as this for the patriotic spirit needs no commendation. 
 Tvery Anieriran will eagerly possess himself of a copy and make it a chosen com- 
 piiriinn in the field and at the fireside. — Literary World. 
 
 This IS a work of 480 pages, of excellent letter press, in Derby's best stvlo. — 
 Coluvibtis (_0.) Statesman. 
 
 We hope the volume may be largely circulated. It is enriched with a gracefu 
 Iniroduciion from Mrs. Si^nurney, and the letter press rp.flecis the highest credit 
 on the enterprizing publishers of the metropolis of the lakes. — Philadelphia 
 Chronicle. 
 
 ^^" Agents wanted to sell the above, with other valuable Books, » 
 list of which, with the wholesale and retail prices, will be forwarded oa 
 afJ|)Ucatiou, post paid, to 
 
 a£0. H. DSRBY &. CO. 
 
 BUFFALO 
 
BuFKALo, Jan. 1, 1852. 
 We cheerfully recommend (to the careful perusal of the Profes- 
 sion, as well as the Public generally,) a work just jrablished by Gbo. 
 H. Derby & Co., Buffalo, JT. Y. entitled "Hints on the Profession 
 of medicine, by Wm. Maxwell Wood, M. D., U. S. N." It is a 
 sound, weU written essay, setting forth the truth clearly and plain- 
 ly .addre^ng itself to reason and common sense. More particu- 
 larly do we recommend, that members of the Profession purch:ise 
 the same in quantities for distribution iu the communities when 
 they severally reside, as in our opinion, the cogent arguments there 
 in advanced will go far towards counteracting the influence and 
 staying the progress of Quackery in all its forms. The price is 
 extremly low and orders addressed to the Publishers will meet 
 with piompt attention. 
 
 AUSLIN FLINT, I ,,<• „ -r , 
 
 FRANK H. HAMILTON. 1 '^ j"-"f " 
 CHARLES A. LEE, ( faical 
 
 GEORGE HADLEY, J Umzersiln). 
 
 The above book is now ready. It contains 72 pages, printed on 
 neat white paper, in open type, from stereotype plates. Anticipa- 
 ting an extensive demand for the work, and at the request of the 
 aullior, the publishers have determined to put the price far below 
 tlie usual price of such publications, viz: 
 For ona copy wrapped for mailing and postage prepaid, $0 25 
 " six copies, " " " " 1 00 
 
 ([^"All books sent by mail nrnst be pre-paid. 
 Or we wiU deliver them at our store at the following prices ; 
 
 Per Dozen Copies $ 1 50 
 
 "100 " 10 00 
 
 "1000 " 80 00 
 
 These could be sent by Express to every village and city in the 
 tTnitcd States and Canadas, at trifling expense. Funds can be for- 
 warded at our risk, if mailed in presence of the post master and 
 aumbci's and dates of the same retaiuei 
 
 N. B- -Agents wanted to sell 100 Popular Books, to whom Labgs 
 Discounts will be given. 
 All orders should be addressed, post paid, to 
 
 GEO. H. DERBY & CO. 
 
 Book Publishers, Btiffalo, N. Y. 
 
^0 tl)c Qlmcriean people, 
 
 AND TO THE FRIENDS OF OUR FREE INSTITU- 
 TIONS GENERALLY. 
 
 m TT -p 
 
 SCIENCE OE GOYERNMENT 
 
 AND COMPEND OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND CIVIL 
 
 JURISPRUDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 WITH A BRIEF 
 
 TREATISE ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
 
 BY ANDREW W. YOUNG. 
 
 TWENTIETH EDITION. 
 
 The subjects embraced in the above entitled work, are — 
 
 I. The Principles of Government, m which are illustrated the nature, objects, and 
 fundamental principles of Civil Government and Laws. 
 
 II. The Government of the United Stales, comprising the Constitution, with a brief 
 commentary, showing the nature and design of iis several provisions, as expressed by 
 the fvainers ; and an abstract of the laws for carrying into effect the powers of the gen- 
 eral Government, and organizing its several departments. 
 
 IJI. The Civil Jurisprudence of the United States, being an epitome of the common 
 law ol ilie country, prescribing the rights, duties and responsibilities of citizens in the 
 domosiic and social relations. 
 
 IV. Political or Public Economy, in which the elementary principles of this science 
 are familiarly explained. 
 
 V. The Consiituiion of the State of New York, adopted November 3d, 1846. 
 
 While the interests of Education are deservedly receiving much attention, it is not a 
 little remarkable that the Scie?ice of Government has hitherto been so generally neg- 
 lecLcil. 
 
 A knowlcilge of our Constitittional and Civil Jurisprudence can scarcely be too high- 
 ly estimated. The very idea of free government, pre-supposes the knowledge, without 
 It people cannot know how to govern. The elective franchise is valuable only as it is 
 exercised intelligently. 
 
 Questions of public policy, not merely affecting the common interests of our country, 
 but involving constitutional principles and even liberty itself, are not unfrequently de 
 cided at the ballot box. Yet multitudes of our citizens presume to exercise the pre- 
 rogative of freemen without knowing what the duties and responsibilities of freemen 
 are. The poll lists of our State are annually swelled by thousands of new votersj who 
 have never given the Constitution so much as a single reading 1 Can our liberties be 
 safe in such hands'] Can parents reconcile it with a sense of duty to turn their sous 
 upon a community thus unprepared for the great business of self-government 7 
 
 UNIFOKM PRICE— S 1,25 in Im. Morocco Binding. Orders should be addressed, 
 post paid, to 
 
 GEO. H. DBRBY & CO., 
 
 Publishers, Buffalo, N. Y 
 
FEESH LEAVES from WESTERN WOODS, 
 
 BEING THE PROSE WORJvS OF 
 
 MISS METTA VICTORIA FULLER, the GIFTED WESTERN POETESS : 
 
 Containing over 300 I2mo. pages. lUnscrated. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM. REVIEWS- 
 
 tf HER WRiTiwos, WO dlscem more unquestionable macks of true genius, and a 
 areacer portion of the unmistakable inspiration of true poetic art than in any of the 
 lady writers that we have heretofore ushered to the applause of the public. In spirit 
 and in genius, a most interesting and brilliant Jady— still in the earUest youth— un- 
 doubtedly destined to occupy a very distinguished and permanent .place among the 
 native authors of this land. — Home Journal. 
 
 Gkacem'dl, "spirited, and brilliant poetess. — N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 She evidently writes with great fecility, with a fine command of poetical language, 
 and a fancy singularly rich in apt and various illustration. — R. W. Griswold. 
 
 Her contributions to the "Home Journal," prove her to be a real poet — born poet 
 — of the unmistalaible stamp. — New Orleans Delia. 
 
 Miss Fuller, who has written much for the " Home Journal," under the signature 
 of "Singing Sybil," has an unusual degree of grace and imagination. — Washington 
 Union. 
 
 Ohio is furnisliing the Union with its best poetry. We are proud of her genius 
 and confident of her triumph.— OAio State Journal. 
 
 The qualities of her personal and social character are as attractive as her mental 
 gifts are extraordinary. She will be foimd to deserve as warm a sympathy irom the 
 hearts of the virtuous as the admiration which she will receive from the judgments 
 of the discerning. — Detroit Tribune. 
 
 She is already enviabfy known to the great literary world, although young and just 
 balancing upon the threshold of womanhood. Some of her productions have been 
 wideir republished, and have found a place in the English press. — Southern Christian 
 Advocate. 
 
 Notable instance of what a gifted mind can accomplish in winning distinction* 
 without the advantages of wealth, literary fi-iends, or patrons, to give her a fiivorable^ 
 introduction to the reading world. — Cleveland Herald. 
 
 ^^Thc above work will be published by the 1st of March, 1859. 
 
 GEO. H. DERBY & CO., Publisheks, 
 
 Buffalo, W. \ 
 
THE ABOEIGINAL MONUMENTS OF THE STATE OF 
 NEW YORK, AND OF THE WEST. 
 
 Illustrated -with 14 Lithographic Plates, and 80 wood Engravings — 
 400 pages Svo ; price, $2. 
 
 ■ On receipt of $2, free of postage, we will forward a copy of ihr 
 above work by mail or express, free of expense. 
 
 This volume contains, among other valuable and interesting matter, 
 fuU Descriptions of tlie Antiquities fonnd in the Counties of St. Law- 
 rence, Oswego, Jefterson, Onondaga, Madison, Otsego, Chenango, Cay- 
 uga, Chemung, Ontario, Monroe, Livingston, Genesee, Orleans, Erie, 
 Ohautauque, and Montgomery, &c., &c. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. ^ 
 
 The Indian tribes found in possession of the country now embraced 
 within the limits of New England and the Middle States, liave left few 
 monuments to attest their former presence. 
 
 The fragile structures which they erected for protection and defence, 
 have long ago crumbled to the earth; and the sites of their ancient 
 towns and villag'es are indicated only by the a-shes of their long-extin- 
 guished fires, and by the few rude relics which tlie plough of the in- 
 vader exposes to his cuiious gaze. Their cemeteries, marked in very 
 rare instances by enduring monuments, are now undistinguishable, ex- 
 cept where the hand of modern improvement encroaches upon the 
 sanctity of the grave. The forest-trees, upon the smootli bark-of which 
 the Indian hunter commemorated his exploits in wai-, or success in the 
 chase — the first rude effoi-ts toward a written language — have withered 
 In the lapse of time, or fallen beneath the inexorable axe. The rock 
 upon which the same primitive historian laboriously wrought out his 
 rude, but to him significant picture, alone resists tlie corrosion of years. 
 Perhaps no people, equally numerous, have passed away without leav.! 
 ing more decided memorials of their former existence. Excepting the 
 significant names of their sonorous language, which still attach to oui 
 mountains, lakes, and streams, little remains to recall the memory o. 
 the departed race. 
 
 Published and for sale by 
 
 GEO. H. DERBY & OO. 
 Kl'FFALO 
 

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