New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-03

know the lines by heart, and the sentiment
witch inspired them and which they in turn in
cn,ras should SIN prevail ~ every American
,1ind and soul. To-day it seems necessary 10
make another appeal in behalf of the same
famous ship The appeal, which we take pleas
-rs IA printing in fun herewith. takes q diff
<erent form from that earlier one. and meets
diaerez. occasion. But the need is scarcely less
urgent than before and It is sincerely to be
boped that = no Jess degree OF success may be
attEined:
MEMORIAL.
To the Senate and House OF Representatives of
vo~r -7,or.,orialists the Council of the Massa-
chusetts Historical Society. acting under its in
st-uctioLs, would respectfully call the attention
OF your honorable bodies to certain facts con-
nected ~1th the United States frigate Constitu-
ton:
That vessel is now lying at Charlestown. Mass
IN a dock also used by the steamships OF the
called White Star Line; she is dismantled, out
of repair ara liable at any time to injury from
carelessness accident, if not 70 destruction.
Your memorialists further represent that in the
American mind an historical interest attaches
10 the Constitution such as attaches TO no other
ship IN maritime annals, except possibly the
santa Maria. the flagship Of Columbus, and the
Mayf.ower both OF which disappeared centuries
ago. The Constitution still remains ana II was
tae Constitution which, in the Gloomiest hour
OF the War of 1sl2-14 appeared like bright
CLEAN in the darkness" On the 10th Of August
OF that year, Detroit, with all its garrisons,
munitions and defences, was surrendered TO the
British forces; the same day Fort Dearborn,
at what is now Chicago, was in flames, and with
8: 1.-The last vestige OF American authority on
the Western lakes disappeared" The disceur-
agement was universal and the sense OF national
humiliation extreme; for il seemed doubtful II
even the interior line Of the Wabash could be
successfully held against an enemy flushed with
success. The prophet Of yet other disasters I'M
mediately impending was abroad. and, according
TO his wont, further depressed the alrea9y dis.
heartened land. IL in this hour or deepest
gloom, that the morning Of Sunday, August
30, the Sabbath silence Of Boston was broken
and the town stirred TO unwonted excitement
las the news passed through the quiet streets
that the Constitution was below, in the outer
hsrbor with Dacres" of the Guerrero. and
his crew prisoners On board" Thus II so
CHANGED that the journal which, the next morn
ing, informed Bostonians OF the Detroit humllia-
ton in another column of the same issue an
nounced that naval action which however
small the affair might appear on the general
scale Of the worlds battles. raised the United
States in one half hour TO the rank OF nrst
class power IN the world" The jealousy OF the
navy which had until then characterized the
more recent rational policy vanlshed forever
sin the flash Of Hubs first broadside The
v!ctery moreover. was most dramatic-a raVal
duel. The adversaries-not only commanders
but ships companies TO a man-had sought each
other out for test OF seamanshlp, discipline
and gunnery-aTrogance and the confidence OF
prestige the one side. a passionate sense OF
wrong on the other they met IN rnld-AlIaltlc
frigate to frigate. 1t was on the afternoon OF
August 10, the wind blowing fresh, the sea
running high. For about an hour the two shlps
manoouvred for position, but at last. lew MIN
Utes before O'Clock they came together slde
by side, within pistol shot, the vino almost
astern, and running before il they pounded each
other with all their strength. AS rapidly as
the guns could be worked. the Constitution
poured in broadside after broadside double
shotted with round and grape-and, without ex-
aggeration, the echo OF those guns startled the
world" OF her first broadside in that action
the master of American brig, then a captive
board the British ship. afterward wrote:
About 6 O'clock heard a tremendous explosion
from the opposing frigate. The effect Of her
shot seemed TO make the Guerrero reel and
tremble as though she had received the sfock OF
an earthpuak e." In less than thirty minutes
from the time got alongside Of he enemy"
reported Captain Hull to the Secretary Of the
Navy. she WAS left without a spar standing
and the hull cut 10 pieces in such a manner
TO make IL difficult to keep her above water"
The historian. has truly said of that conflict:
Isaac Hull nephew TO the unhappy general
[who, three days before the Constitution over
came the Guerrero, had capitulated at petroitl
which the nephew left at The bottom Of the
Atlantic Ocean, eight hundred miles east OF
Boston, was worth fer the moment the whole
province which the uncle had lost eight hundred
miles the westward. No experience
of history ever went to the heart Of New-Eng-
land more directly than this victory, so pecul-
.arly its own: but the delight was not confined
70 New-E England. and extreme though 1t seemed
IL still not extravagant-
Therefore II is that the Massachusetts His
iorical Society," already, in 1872, an organization
more than twenty years IN existence. di-
reefs this memorial 10 be subInitted-she the
Oldest among them, speaking through her coun-
Gil for all other similar societies throughout
v-England. In so doing II is needless to
enter into the earlier and later history of what
was essentially the Fighting Frigate" Of the
first American navy; for. IN the memory Of the
people of the United States, the Constitution is
throughout her long record. inseparably asso-
ciated with feats Of daring and seananship-
devotion and dash-than which none In all naval
history are skilful. more stirring or more
deserving Of commenoration. How can they be
so effectively commenorated as by the ptous
and lasting preservation Of the ancient ship
slowly rotting at the wharf opposite to
which she was launched six years more than a
century ago2
thus not only synonymous with courage. sea-
n1anship. patriotism and unbroken triumph, the
chip herself is typical of a maritime architec-
ture as extinct the galley or the trirerne. She
slid from the ways at what is still known in her
honor Constitution wharf in Boston Harbor
ten months before Nelson won the battle of the
Nile. and eight years TO a day before his famous
flagship. the Victory, bore his broad pennant In
triumph through the Franco-Spanish line off
Trafalgar; and your memorialists hold that, in
the eyes ana minds OF the people Of the United
States, less interest and sentiment attach
TO the Constitution than in Great Britain attach
20 the Victory. The Constitution in the days Of
our deep tribulation did more for US than ever
the flagship of Nelson did for England:
q sentient being. to whom gratitude is due.
Yet by Great Britain the Victory ever has
been and now is tenderly cared for and jealousy
preserved among the most precious Of national
memorials. AS such. ft is yearly visited by
thousands among whom Americans not
least In number The same care has not been
extended the Constitution; and yet your
nemorialists would not for a moment suggest,
do they believe. that the people the Parlia-
meEt or the government OF Great Britain are
more grateful, more patriotic or endowed with
keener sense of pride than the people, the Con-
sress the administration Of the United States
As for the people. the contrary is. In OF the
Constitution, tncontrovertibly proven by the
names OF the thousands OF pilgrims from all sec
lions or the country annually inscribed on her