Pres. Quincy.


X.

THE AMERICAN SAILOR.

Look to your history--that part of it which the world knows by heart,--and
you will find on its brightest page the glorious achievements of the
American sailor. Whatever his country has done to disgrace him, and break
his spirit, he has never disgraced her;--he has always been ready to serve
her; he always has served her faithfully and effectually. He has often
been weighed in the balance, and never found wanting. The only fault ever
found with him is, that he sometimes fights ahead of his orders. The world
has no match for him, man for man; and he asks no odds, and he cares for no
odds, when the cause of humanity or the glory of his country calls him to
fight.

Who, in the darkest days of our Revolution, carried your flag into the very
chops of the British Channel, bearded the lion in his den, and woke the
echoes of old Albion's hills by the thunders of his cannon, and the shouts
of his triumph? It was the American sailor. And the names of John Paul
Jones, and the Bon Homme Richard, will go down the annals of time forever.
Who struck the first blow that humbled the Barbary flag--which, for a
hundred years, had been the terror of Christendom,--drove it from the
Mediterranean, and put an end to the infamous tribute it had been
accustomed to extort? It was the American sailor, and the name of Decatur
and his gallant companions will be as lasting as monumental brass.

In the year 1812, when your arms on shore were covered by disaster,--when