The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-11-30
n~..,. s.sera aesrRarN.

Isf4 ~ - 60 = - -
. y1snsv MORNING =. ~. NOVEMBER -, iSs
s1-~~....~..-
Oommeaers Stewart.
- vesssrday suueasced The yAct that the No
., pspsrtnens has received communiea'ion
fren this veteran ofaesr, stating bis in'ss.
s,ca Of rsssgatsg, uaiess he 10 restored ire"
pcsitca 10 the retired lst where be vas p'aseu :,
me Naval Eesirisg Board; but u sa'a va =.
he VIII probably ~ dominated to inc ssn.'' -
soaApists restoratio to bis fefmer rann'
We hope 70. The restoration o. os 1890.
Stewart should BE- the FIRST act o. t"e .ss
and Senate. That net Of common lu. s....,aa
gratitude. that oct, necessary 70 the vindfca'oo
- 800, e.. n,onor, cad to save the nation rem
,.Irv shoun not BE- oue moment delayed. Lex
49, ss.ten b, do It before the resiguation Of Toe
49, A. The Navy 10 received aud, above all, pc
-. the brave cid Commodore strikes his broad
,A..sut 70 Death, ths'ouly enemy TO whom nc
cen ever surrender.
rhs achievements Of the Naval Retiring Board,
Which, at one fell brosdsde, swept IRON tne seeks
Of ear national vessels such men ~ Stewart and
Msury. have ensured the Board. and the author OF
che lsw nader which they acted, lasting place in
the memories Of the American people. They VIII
net be forsotfen 70. some centuries. No doubt
tie Navy required pnrgings no doubt 1t was us
erseed by men of bad habits and low sssociA'iohs'
that 70 had psnsioued upon It . corps OF ioAIers
and nobodiss, Who scarcely ever went to sea, bat
held on, like grim death, to the tarred ropes
which kent them from the wares OF sfaryasion,
and gave them . social position to WHOM tnsy
could never have otherwise attaiued. ith new
mode Of practice, however, 70 restore health 20 a
system which 10 cursed with deceased limbs, ey
aapatstipg she sound aud healthy ones; rare
exhibition OF justice aud wisdom, to pull mp the
wheat - veil - the tares. What would have been
thought Of saeh an act ~ the removal of Winfield
scsss, BY IN Army Retiring Bosrds What Scott
has been In the Army, Stewart has been In thu
Navy. The annals Of the late war literally blaze
With his splendid naval achievements. No man
ever did more to develope the naval qualities and
proves Of his countrymen, and to beat down that
naughty and pouerful British nsg, which had never
before met Its peer upon the Deep In one OF bis en-
gseements, Commodore Stewart conquered two
British ships, With single American vessel-a feat,
which We venture TO say, vas never performed
before upon two British vessels, by a single ship
Of any nation, siuce the name of Epgland was
knowp In history. But to characterize him A.
moro lighting captain, would be to degrade him to
level far below the towering height Of his great
and varied abilistes He 10 not only one of the
CVVfeDk oou SoO8t 0O&to6oVos oSnabcu tuut CsSt
carried aship into action, and with cannon touch
ing the mouth Of cannon, and hand TO hard
light Of Gu tlasses and boarding pixies, demonstra
ted the indomitsble pluck and stamina Of the
American sailor; not only the very best command
er Of Asets now alive in the American Navy, but
he Is statesman and aschoar, better read at this
moment in the lag of nations, and an ADLER pub,
licist, than half the members Of Congress, by
whose establishment Of the Navy Board he has
been excluded from active service.
IL II such man as this, the very head, heart
and soul Of the Navy; man to whom the service
and the country owe more than to any other man
now living il 10 such q man who has been de-
graded Ia bis old age; who has been told by strip
lings who were pulling In their nurses arms when
he Was making the waves of the ocean start back
In alright before the victorious thunders Of
American cannon, that be Ia no longer fl to unfur
the nag which derives Its brightest ustrs from his
achievement; that he can no longer walk the
bristling decks which American sailors walk with
pride aud enthusiasm because Stewart made them
glorious; that he shall more feel beneath hi,
feet the floating empire Of gallant ship and gaze
with manly and honest joy, upon his broad flag
unfnrled BY the winds which have waited his fame
over the world and futteriDg over the wave.
which have long known him as their master. He i.
condemned to pine away the remaining years o
his noble life, like the "captivs knight" in The
tower, listening to the onward tramp and trumpet
notes Of his countrys advancing columns, but for
hidden TO share in the perils dear to Warrior
soul, and to earn the glory which is the bright
guerdon Of an aspiring spirit. He must be inn
prisoned in naval port, and tantaiized with sights
and sounds that remind him of his renown and
his degradation; of the services he has rendered
his country and the punishment he has received
He must send gallant ships to sea, which other
men must command; be must gaze With longing
eyes upon their swelling sails and frowning bat,
tories. they disappear in the distant horizon
whilst he himself is treated in all respects like
Of those decayed hulks Of cid line of battle ships
which may be seen at every naval station, once the
bulwark Of the country and the pride of the ocean,
but now rotting at their anchorage, with "none SC
poor rs do them reverence"
Let Congress redress this great wrong before
Commodore Stewart passes forever from the stage Of
setiou. In sheer justice to the countrys benefac.
tor; in justice to the country itself, which need
expect faithful servants If their wages t.
DO old age of neglect and ipgratitude in jusic'
to the SERVICE of which Stewart is the brightes
light and ornament, let Congress restore the ole
Commodore to his former position, and the full ex
ercise of its duties. Let them remove from BIZ
dying pillow recollections which will convert hi
crown Of laurels into crown of thorus. Let then
NO longer permit that small and Opaque body, thu
Naval Retiring Board, to interpose its dark shadow
between Commodore Stewart aud the popular ant
enthusiastic appreciation of his character, which
a. wide as the limits of the Republic, and viii
last - long the stars and stripes he has illus
tiated shall wave over land and sea.
Rev. David Caldwell.
81 10 riaf oLi4