National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-04-26
AN ORATORS TRIBUTE
TO THE GREAT MONARCH OF THE SEA.
Hon. Horace Maynard's Grafton at the dwelling
Farragut's Services to the Nation The
Brilliant Past and Promising
Future of Our Navy.

The text of the grafton delivered at tn,
unwilling of the Farragut statue yesterday, b.
Hon. Horace Maynard, of Tennessee, is as follows
They who visit the wondrous pile of st. Sophi
taken to remote corner of one of the galleries
where, inserted in the pavement, is a small table
inscribed with the name only Henricus Dapdolo
Here, the tradition is, and the general belief wa
buried the blind old warrior Doge Of Venice, ant
hither, from year to year, come thousands. Chris
tians and Moslems, to gaze upon the honoreC
name and TO do reverence to the memory of the re
nowned commander. Venice is diScrowned; tn
bride ofthe Adriatic no longer celebrates her an
nual espousals; upon her towers and palaces Time
has stamped the jnefaceable mark of decay; but
after nearly seven centuries, the fame of Henri
Dandolo is undiminished as a conspic uous actor il
THE WORLDS AFFAIRS
Great men-the great in thought, and, still more
the great in acton-are the greatest of God
earthly things. They are the peculiar riches frs
of their own land; then of the age in which this.
live lastly of the race 1t is WELL then, that their
lives be cherished and their noble deed reported
in the alcoves of the library by inscriptions fo
the public eye, in monumental bronze and endur-
ing granite. So thought the American people
when, full ten years ago. they followed to the
grave the remains of their great Admiral. By
their chosen representatives in Congress they in
| yoked the assistance of art to embody and pre-
serve his priceless memory. Models of designs
were submitted by many of the most gifted and
successful masters, each emulous to connect his
name indissOlubly with the undying name of the
naval chieftain. After much discussion and long
elaboration a full-length portrait figure was
adopted in preference to more compex-some Of
them highly Observation-Disclosures; and
| A MAIDEN ARTIST
was selected at the instance of widowed affection
! which detected in her handiwork the most exact
reproduction of the loved and idolized original
The result is the aSsemblage here to-day. 1t would
be vain, perhaps indelicate to enter the domain OF
art criticism and attempt to decide beforehand
what must be determined by the agreeing judg-
ment of men. We here and now dedicate our
work to posterity. We leave pOserity to pass upon
| its merits. Not the SYMBOL not the sign, but the
! thing signifed, absOrbs present attentiOn-the
great character which, in the fllneSs of its repu-
tation, has passed into history. The professional
life of the naval officer is by its very conditions
withdrawn from the public eye. At home only on
the wave, he passes among his countrymen almost
a stranger and unobserved- In this regard he is
like his own great ships, which show their master
full powers, not at anchor and in port but on the
wide sea, in the agony of the storm, or amid the
pealing thunderOfwar Itisnot strange, then, that,
when in our recent civil struggle the early naval
successes electrified the Nation the name even OF
! the great captain-for at that time he was but a
| captain-Was unfamiliar to the eye as well as to
the ear of his countrymen. This is my apology for
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
David Glasgow Farragut was born July s. 1881,
in the State of Tennessee, at a point in Knox
County, on the Tennessee River, opposite an early
| frontier post, still known as Campbelrs Station.
His interest in the State of which he was native
and citizen continued through life, although
after entering the naval service he never made it
his residence. His name is that of early settler
no doubt friend Of his father, possibly kinsman
OF his mother. His father, George Farragut, was a
native of the Island of Minorca of an ancient and
still subsisting family, who in early youth. at
tracted by the contest for American Independence
abandoned his island home arrived on this CONT
nent in 1776, promptly took sides with the col
onists, serving until the close of the war; and again
in the war of1Sl2 After the Revolution he settled
in Tennessee a farmer, and the reaI-estate rec
ords show him to have been a considerable pro-
prietor. The mother of the Admiral was a native
of North Carolina. According to the usage of that
period, he entered the navy before he was ten
years of age, his appointment bearing date Decem-
Der II, 1910. 1t would carry me beyond the limits
this occasion prescribes to recount how at a still
earlier age, he attracted the notice of the late
COMMODORE PORTER,
to whom, as his "kind friend and guardian" he
through life his great obligations and with whom
to the last, he maintained the closest relations of
friendship. His introduction to the service was
in the Essex, under the eye of his distinguished
patron, on the cruise which ended in her capture
by the combined attack of the British frigate
Phoebe and slOop- of-war Cherub, after one of the
most sanguinary and calamity contested battles
in maritime warfare. The action was fought
March 2S 1914, in the harbOr of Valparaiso, with
little regard to the neutral rights of that port as
to be precedent dangerous to feeble communi-
ties, when powerful bellgerent is intent on driv-
ing troublesome enemy from the deep A shot
carried away portion of the young midshipman's
clothing, and he received his baptism of ire and
blood at an age when most lads are busy with
kites and games. Young as he was, he seems to
have been strongly impressed with the details of
this famous battle, and to have studied them with
a critical eye. 1t
HIS FIRST LESSON
in naval tactics. His schooling, to use an apt
though homely word, was limited and desultory;
first at Chester, Pa, under Swiss schoolmaster
queer old individual" he calls him. who had
been one of Napoleon's celebrated guards; then
aboard ship under the instruction of the chaplain
and finally in the American consulate at Tunfs
Those who knew him at that period speak of" the
talent with which he was so beautifully en-
riched." Herein, and not in the character of the
Summaries is 70 be found the reason why, in ad-
dition to professional attainments he acquired a
wide general information, and knowledge of sew
eral languages not familiar even to educated men
In the training ofyouth, more by far depends upon
the scholar than upon the school. Diligence super
added to natural ability, never fails of success
They who breathe the calmer atmosphere of BIZ
Ography will retrace the successive steps by which
this rare and choice spirit attained q loftiness
adequate to the achievements which have given
occasion for this days observance-the promotion
from grade to grade till he reached the rank of
captain, then the
HIGHEST IN THE SERVICE;
upon what ships he sailed and what seas were
plowed by their keels; his marriage at twenty
two; the death of his wife seventeen years after
ward, followed in three years by second mar
rage to her who survives him, and who was
thought worthy by Congress to have potential
voice in this monument of the Nations honor |
We note his presence in Norfolk at the time of the
Nat Turner instruction" in 1881, at Charleston
in the days of Notification" in 1888, and at
Mare Island in 1886, during the ascendancy of the
vigilance committee, where he displayed great !
judgment combined with efficient administrative |
abilities. He was present in November, 1888, at |
the capture by the French fleet ofthe great castle
Of Vera Cruz, and deduced from it the obligation |
on his profession to 81 keep those at home in |
formed of the daily Improvements in other |
nayies." On the breaking out of the Mexican war |
eight years later he was anxious to lead a naval /
attack on the same fortress. His views were not |
deemed practicable by the Naval Department, and |
the castle surrendered to tie army under General
Scott. He thought it an opportunity lost to the
navy, and especially to the older officers not one
Of whom, he said, regretfully, twill ever wear an
ldmirals flag, which they might have done ifthat
castle had been taken by the navy, which must
IA 10 of
THE CRINEAN WAR,
in 1854 attacted the attention of all military
students. Farragut applied focorders to go thither