LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 463 



an (with the request that it should remain on file in the depart- 

 ment), against the injustice of being superseded, it seems to me 

 that there was one portion which must have been withering in its 

 effect, where he told you that he was of the same date as Lieu- 

 tenant Wilkes ; that he had been examined by the same board ; 

 and that he had not only passed higher than Lieutenant Wilkes, 

 by whom he was now supplanted, in mathematics and in seaman- 

 ship, and, of course, ranked above him, but that he had seen much 

 more sea-service since they had been commissioned as lieuten- 

 ants! 



Sir, I have no wish to lessen the public confidence in your lieu- 

 tenant commodore, by instituting comparisons between him and 

 other officers by name. If I could bring you to a fair accounta- 

 bility without the slightest allusion to him, I should be glad to do 

 so. He was but your agent, and I mean to hold the principal, and 

 not the instrument, responsible. The outrage committed upon 

 the naval service by his appointment was keenly felt and wholly in- 

 defensible. All that in justice can be said in extenuation is, that 

 you had the power and disposition to do wrong, and did it. Gov- 

 ernor Dickerson, however much delighted with what was done be- 

 fore, now began to show some symptoms of alarm. The deep-toned, 

 indignant feelings which were known to exist in the service, dis- 

 mayed " the good, honest old man" about his retiring popularity ; 

 and he soon busied himself in saying that he did not do it " thou 

 canst not say I did it ;" while, at the same time, he knew that he 

 had signed his name to the order by which it was done ! The 

 degradation of holding office on such humiliating conditions ought 

 to have excited your sympathy for him, and made you ashamed to 

 throw responsibilities upon him which properly belonged to your- 

 self; however, I care not how it may be adjusted in the running 

 account between you. Thus much, however, I may say: that 

 should you and the governor have any difficulty in deciding upon 

 the respective parts you have borne in degrading the service and 

 marring a noble enterprise, you may lay this flattering unction to 

 your hearts, that between you lies all the glory ; that no man of 

 honour will ever wish to share in the monopoly ; and that no fu- 

 ture secretaries, who may not be bent on embalming their memo- 

 ries in the converse of glory, will follow in your footsteps or imi- 

 tate your example. 



