National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-04-26

| ofthe deadly strife. Hitherto very many in the
| country looked upon the war for the Union as a
! predestined failure. Political parties were ready
to go to the people upon this dishearening pOstu-
] late. But from this time forth all doubt gone
/ the end visible and not far off The re-elec-
| ton of Mr.. Lincoln in November, the battle Of
Nashville in December the march to the sea. Fort
! Fisher, and the surrender at Appomattox Court
House were as the closing scenes in the grand
last act of the national tragedy Great as was the
effect upon opinion at home, it was even greater
| upon opinion abroad. They who had beiittied
our successes and maghified our defeats. who had
derided our commanders and extoIIed theirantag-
onists; they who had given every moral support
! to the cause of our undoing, and had furnished
such material aid TO be adudged guilty Of tort
by an international tribunal and mulcted in dam
ages-they saw the tide had turned. and thence
forward took sides, like the gods with the vctori
Gus cause. OfFarragut himself they spoke in Ian
guage of admiration and eulogy.
"COLUNBIA's NELSON
said one who wrote in sight of Trafalgar square
and who adds: The 9Th of August 1851 was
brilliant day for the United States navy" An
other speaks of him as one whose feats of arms
place him at the head of his profession and Ger
tainly constitute him the first naval officer Of the
day" The Prince de Joinvflle no mean author
ity declared that the qualities shown on this occa
placed him "incontrovertibly in the first rank
among the naval officers of all nations It has
been said that the voice from the distance usually
corresponds with the verdict of history This was
the last service of the veteran Sea King during the
war. Long exposure in the gulf the responsibility
of large command. and the intense and unreTniJ-
ting energy required were strain upon his health
too severe to be endured. For this reason the
command ofan important expedition to which he
had hoo, H.
who regarded him rs a. the great and successful
hero of the war" and spoke of him as the Great
Admiral was, on his own representation of his
physical sufeIings. revoked and another subSti-
tuted. Neither the Government nor the people
had been indifferent to his achievements The
expressions Of popular enthusiasm had reached
THE CAPITAL OF DIXIE,
and, if we may credit of their historians were
exceedingly distasteful. In July, 1862 he received
aplace in the newly created rank of Rear-Admiral
In December, 1864. Congress passed law creating
the grade of Vice Admiral, and in July 1906, an
other creating the grade of Admiral, the first time
either grade had been known in our service. II
was understood that an honor to Farragut had
been intended, and he was promptly advanced. His
few and brief remaining years were full Of h0nOrs
Soon after the close of the he invited with
four other gentlemen of prominence, 10 accom-
pany the President of the United States on a tour
OF
Two years later command was given him of the
European squadron, and the franklin was as
signed as his flagship This cruise. which con-
tinued late into the second year was in some Pitts
aspects the most remarkable ever made by an
American vessel 1t extended quite around Europe,
from the Neva 20 the BoSphorus The Admiral
visited in person every considerable city from
Moscow to Stamboul. Forty years had passed
since as midshiPmsn, he had been in European
waters-forty years of telling progress. At every
point ne found subjects for study and food for
thought. Everywhere public hOnors awaited him.
and private hospitality-repeated ten years later,
when another citizen of the Republic, without
trappings or retinue, and sustaining no official
rank, made tour around the earth. 1 shall not
contend with them who claim these testimonials
as national rather than personal-as hOnors TO the
country through the citzen-albeit in no other of
her citizens was our country ever so hOnOred. We
are forbidden to discover in these manifestations
a desire to make good any want Of comfy during
the uncertain years Of the war; since the govern
ment which had been our steadfast friend was
even more profuse OF. courJesies than some others
with which our relations had been strained. With
the return of the Admiral to America, near the
close of 1858,
HIS SEA LIFE ENDED.
The next summer he revisited the Pacific coast
and was greeted with the same welcome that met
fore the had gained for him a host of friends,
who gathered lovingly around him. When he re-
turned to the East his health gave way and was
never re-established The following season 4 :
steamer was placed at his service by the Navy De-
partment, and conveyed him, with his family, to
New Hampshire. But the breath Of
the sea and the inyigorating atmosphere of New
England had for him e-sustaining power.
The hand of Death was upon him, and he breathed
-.
of three score years and ten, and after almost
sixty years in the public service, three fOurths of
which had been given to active duty, either
at sea or on shore. His COuntrymen with Obse-
quieS suitable to his rank and high renOwn,
buried him near the commercial metropolis in
which, at the close of the war, he had made his
residence. So passed away, in the fUllness of
years and of fame, the great Admiral
a gorgeous sunset after a Respondent day.
The incidents of his life aptly illustrate the
Union, for the preservation of which he devoted
his ripest powers. The consultations of the South
shed their influences around his cradle, and after
ifesfitful feverhesleePs well under Northern sky
The North and the South the East and the boundless
West are the common country to which-and not
70 part-he consecrated his manly gifts and il
S solecism 70 assert that in this case the whole
S greater than all its parts. And when the time
,Omes-aS come it will-that the
CHILDREN OF THE SOUTH,
seeing the glory and the surprising prosperity of
he Nation, shall rejoice that they too retain their
birth right in this matchless inheritance, they
will have nothing but blessings and benedictions
or the brave, true-heaEted man of the sea, who
abOred wisely and unselfshly 10 prevent its being
nadly thrown away. The character of Admiral
7arragut would be left incomplete were no men
ion made of the deep religious sentiment which
'ervaded it. No Puritan of CromwelIs army
rusted more implicitly in an everything Provi-
lence, or looked upon himself more humbly as an
Instrument in the Divine hand for the accom-
Dlishment Of the eternal purposes. God was in all
lis thoughts. The temper of his religion was
heerful end genfal-gentle in spirit almost to
Toman's tenderness. While he was masnani-
nous, sagaciOus, and bold he was also faithful,
,andid, and just. For his personal qualities, no
ess than for his warike deeds the old hero is con-
piCuOus ON the roll which his countrymen will
zeep in lasting remembrance. The voice of an
EQUITY redOubles itself to-day. Pllcrlns est bsls-
aeere reipuJiics-blessed, thrice blessed, are the
,enefact0rs of the republic. 1t is related that Mr.
when in Congress from South Carolina,
in his place one morning, with his
Isual tone and manner, that he had for presenta-
ion petition for the relief of the widow and heirs
f one Decatur; then, as if recollecting himself
lie added, with peculiar emphasis, Il say of one
Decatur; for there was but one In the same lofty
train, and for like reason, may they who shall
peak ofFar7agut declare, There was but one" [
annot bring these remarks to period without a
lore specific reference to the service of which
.dmiral Farragut was at once the outgrowth and
he ornament
THE NAVY
as always been a subject of just pride to the
merican people. They have watched its eondi-
on with jealous care, and if sometimes our law
ivers have not adequately provided for its well
Ire, they have failed in that regard to represent
heir constituencies. know not how widely the
piniOn prevails that the condition of our navy
,aves much 70 be desired, especially when COM