464: LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 



Sir, that I may not be charged with misrepresenting the feelings 

 of the service, allow me here to bring under your notice an extract 

 from one of a number of articles which appeared in a Southern 

 paper under the signature of " Harry Bluff, of the U. S. Navy :" 



" Misrule, confusion, and mismanagement stalked forth with 

 giant strides. The once popular South Sea Surveying and Explo- 

 ring Expedition was now rendered odious to the officers. Through 

 the bad management of the Navy Department, it became a by-word 

 and a reproach upon the navy ; and when the country, impatient 

 of its protracted delays, was informed that the expedition was on 

 the eve of sailing, it was suddenly left without a commander, and 

 the secretary, with one hundred captains and commanders subject 

 to his orders, reported that he could not get one to go. 



" Respect for his office was now completely smothered with pity, 

 mingled with a feeling less strong than contempt for the man. 

 Even the young midshipmen held him in derision, and played off 

 their wit upon him in official letters ; and the officers talked open- 

 ly of sending a roundrobin to ask for his removal. The navy 

 was in an uproar, and even his darling Wilkes threatened to re- 

 sign rather than obey his orders. 



" But it remained for the navy to receive one more stab. It 

 came from the hand that was least suspected, and went to its very 

 vitals. Stand forth, Joel R. Poinsett, for thou art the man ! In 

 your youthful days you had associated much with the navy. You 

 had seen the brave Porter and his gallant comrades nobly defend- 

 ing their little Essex against triple his force. You had the whole 

 list of officers before you ; and, with the least tact, you might have 

 restored the expedition to order, and made it, even at that late hour, 

 acceptable to the navy and worthy of the country. Many old and 

 gallant officers were anxious to command it. Conscious of the 

 claims to which their long and faithful services entitled them, with 

 a modesty and a sense of decorum which even the president could 

 not appreciate, they waited in anxious suspense, hoping the com- 

 mand would be tendered to them. 



" But there was a cunning little Jacob, who had campaigned at 

 Washington a full term of seven years. More prodigal than La- 

 ban, you gave him, for a single term, both the Rachael and the 

 Leah of his heart. A junior lieutenant, with scarcely enough ser- 



