Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1852-01-22
The American Sailor.

| --SAASe
Commodore Stockton, in a late speech in the
Senate, upon the subject of fogging in the ma
Wy. speaks in the following eloquent and glow
ing terms of the American sailor:- A
Mr.. President, to whom, in time of peace,
are intrus.ed the lives of the thousands who
traverse the ocean! Whose energy and skill,
and hardy self-denying toll, carry the products
OF yonr soil through the world, and bring back
the rich return? 1t is the American sailor
by his superior qualities as man he has ena-
bied you TO rival in commerce the boosted mis-
tress of the ocean Where is the coast or har-
Dor in the wide world, accessible to human en-
terprise, TO which he has not carried your flag I!
His berth is no sinecure. His service is no
easy service. He is necessarily an isolated
being he knows no comforts of home, and
wife, and children. He, reaps no golden re-
wards for the increase of treasure which he
brings 10 you. When on shore he is among
strangers and friendless. When worn out he
is scarcely provided for. Making many rich,
he lives and dies poor; carrying the arts of
civilization and the blessings of the gospel
through the world, he is treated as an outcast
from the merces of both. But look to your
history-thaf part of it which the world knows
by heart-and you will find on its brightest
page the glorious achievements of the Ameri-
can sailor. Whatever his country has done to
disgrace him and break his spirit, he has never
| dlsgraced her; he has always been ready to
serve her; he always has served her faithfully
and effeclually. He has often been weighed in
| the balance, and never found wanting. The
only fault ever found with him is, that he some
times 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 canse of humanity or the glory of his coun-
try calls him to fight. Vino, 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 thunder of his cannon
and the shouts of Triumph 1t was the Ameri-
can sailor. And the names of John Paul
Jones and the Bon Honme Richard will 90
down the annals of time forever. Who struck
the first blow that BUNDLED the Barbary flag,
which for hundred years had been the terror
of Chrstendom, drove it from the Medterrane-
an, and put an end TO the infamous tribute it had
been accustomed to extort! 1t was the Amer
lean sailor. And the name of Decatur and his
gallant companions will be as lasting as monu-
mental brass.
I'm the war of 1912, when your arms on
shore were covered by disaster-when Win
chester had been defeated-when the army of
| the Northwest had surrendered, and when the
gloom of dependency hung like cloud over
the land, who first relit the fires of national
glory and made the welkin ring with the shouts
of vcto.y1 1t was the American sailor. And
the names of Hull and the Constitution will be
remembered as long we have left anything
worth remembering That was no small event.
The wand of Mexican prowess was broken on
the Rio G,dnde. The wand of British irwin
cibility was broken when the flag of the Guer-
riere came down. That one event was worth
more to the republic than all the money which
has ever been expended for the navy. Since
that day the navy has had no stain upon its es-
cutcheon, but has been cherished as your pride
and glory. And the American sailor has es-
tablished reputation throughout the world
in peace and in war, in storm and in baitle-for
unsurpassed heroism and prowess.
Mr.. President, | am no painter; l cannot
draw with artistical skill the scene | would
have you look upon. But it requires no artist
Picture it TO yourself, sir. See the gallant,
bold sailor, who has served his apprenticeship
with Hull in the Constitution. or one who helped
to drag the gun across the San Gabriel, strip
ped and dashed worse than dog Can you
stand it, sir. Yet your laws have authorized
it to be done-it probably has been done. And
now it is proposed to give authority to do it
again. Will the American people stand it =
Will this more than Roman Senate long debate
whether all American citizen, as he is--the
saior-shall be entitled to all his rights as an
American citizen or not-whether, freeman, as
he is, he shall be scourged like 4 slave1 Cce-
ros climacteric, In his speech against Verres,
10 hot nuh Ill L,I
been scuurged. And shall an American citizen
be scourged! Forbid it-God of humanity,
forbid it. For my own part, | would rather
see the navy abolished, and the stars and stripes
buried in their glory in the depths of the ocean,
than that those who won its glories should be
subjected to punishment SO ignominions and
bruaizng. Sir, if had the power vouch-
safed to others 10 impress my own feelings up
on the hearts of those who hear me, would
rouse IN the minds of Senators such sense of
national pride and human sympathy, that they
would, with one voice, demand that memorial
which seeks 10 rob the American sailor of his
rights as an American freeman should be thrown
under the table and tramped beneath your
feet.
Notwithstanding the efforts of some of the
more arbitrary officers in the navy, to re-astab-
lish this barbarious custom, we are glad to be-
lieve that the good sense of the people, through
their representatives in congress will never suf-
lit, now that the subject is beginning to be I'M
derstood in its true light. 1t is said that there
are great number of worthless men in our ma
Wy, who cannot be kept in subsection without
the use of the cat. But by raising the stand
ard of the sailor-character, shall we not get
better crews for the navy, and drive out, in
great measure, the worthless material. If the
discipline of the navy can be maintained with
ont fogging, it surely ought to be; and we
hope the question now will have fair trial
Tn En,noar.n Cn>rr,.u.>. T.. I IL