LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 329 



that such has been the ruinous tendency of your clogging tardi- 

 ness of action, that the squadron, even at that late date, will be 

 compelled to proceed to sea incomplete in some of its depart- 

 ments, but, it is hoped, " without serious injury to other branches 

 of the naval service /" Perchance still further delay, however, 

 may, in your opinion, be necessary for the purpose of preventing 

 this collision of interests ! 



Evidently feeling the deep necessity of strengthening your po- 

 sition and justifying your intended procrastination, you further 

 state, that " the only insurmountable difficulty" in your mind was 

 the shipment of the requisite number of men " in three or four 

 months without interfering with arrangements already made" 

 for sending ships to other stations. How humiliating to the pride 

 of our country is the acknowledgment made by you, its secretary 

 of the navy, before the commercial and naval powers of the Old 

 World, that a small squadron, requiring but a few hundred seamen, 

 could not be manned and sent out without deranging the great 

 naval operations of the nation ! This country, whose private armed 

 ships during the revolution captured fifteen hundred sail from the 

 enemy, which humbled the fierce corsairs of the Mediterranean, 

 and broke the charm of British invincibility by sea ; this country, 

 which but yesterday was bristling up to fight one of the first naval 

 powers of the earth, ay, would have done it, and, if need be, will 

 do it, is told by you that a sufficient number of sailors for an ex- 

 ploring expedition cannot be obtained without deranging your 

 plans and weakening the efficiency of your measures for the pro- 

 tection of our interests in the Pacific, West Indian, and Brazilian 

 stations ! Surely no nation, however mighty, will hazard a war 

 with the United States while you have the direction of her naval 

 resources ! It may be that the King of the French had his eye 

 upon you when he concluded to pay the long-withheld indemnity 

 to our citizens, and that, owing to the ingratitude so frequently as- 

 cribed to republics, you have not, as yet, received your full share 

 of credit for the part you had in that transaction. Be assured, 

 however, posterity will do you justice, if, indeed, you do not LEARN, 

 while yet you may FEEL, the value set upon your official actions. 



Not only does it appear from your official report that you were 

 anxious to prepare the public mind for the delays which were to 

 ensue, but you laboured also to convince the president that no 



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