818 CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. 



charpje of delay arose from his declining to consider his squadron as under 

 the orders of tiie diplomatic authorities : he acted with as much prompt- 

 itude as lie conceived to be consistent with his duty of making sure of 

 his ground in a much-debated case ; and the men were given up on a 

 peremptory summons, accompanied by a proper display of force, and 

 under no conditions. His line of conduct was thus completely success- 

 ful ; and it was fully sustained by the State and Navy Departments. 

 But a vote of censure was passed by the House of Representatives, 

 under the influence of the hostility which had been excited in certain 

 quarters by his independent course. The moral weight to be attached to 

 this vote may be estimated from the circumstance, that it joined in the 

 same condemnation Admiral Godon. whose action had been dictated 

 by the explicit orders of tlie Secretary of the Navy. His reputation 

 suffered nothing among those who fully understood the merits of the 

 case. The affair was, in truth, a conspicuous instance of the decision 

 of character, the soundness and reasonableness of judgment, the con- 

 scientious and noble-minded patriotism, and the high sense of professional 

 res|)onsiliility, which always distinguished him. 



Admii'al Uavis returned from his South American cruise in 1809, 

 and was for several years in command of the Navy Yard at Norfolk. 

 In the winter of 187o-74, he was again appointed to the superintend- 

 ency of the Naval Observatory, in time to take an active part in com- 

 pleting the preparations for the expedition to observe the transit of 

 Venus. Tn the session of 1874-75, Congress made an a|)pro|)riation 

 for printing illustrations of the results of the Polaris Expedition to 

 the Arctic regions, commanded by the late Captain C, F. Hall. The 

 Secretary of the Navy requested Admiral Davis to prepare the work 

 and take charge of its publication ; and this labor formed the principal 

 occupation of the last two years of his life. He threw into it an 

 interest which seemed to deepen at last witii every chapter; giving 

 assiduous attention to the least details of the narrative, and l)ringing to 

 bear on it all the additional illustrations he could anywliere gather of 

 the character and purposes of the conmiander and other officers of the 

 expedition. The work, which was nearly completed under his hand, is 

 early expected ; and it is believed that it will be found fully worthy of 

 its connection with his name. 



For several years his health has somewhat declined. But he 

 worked re<.'ula'-ly on the proofs of the Polaris narrative till the fourth 

 day before his death, when he had to abandon the effort and go to bed. 

 From that time he tailed very rapidly, but without sulfering, and died 

 early in the morning of Sunday, 18th February, lb77. 



