Inauguration of the Perry Statute
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 COMMODORE BYRON MCCANDLESS
 
 INAUGURATION 
 
 SEPTEMBER 1O, A. D..1835 
 
 \VITH Till: ADDRESSES OF 
 
 WILLIAM P. SHEFFIELD, 
 
 .VXD THE REMARKS IN RECEIVING 
 
 GOVERNOR WETMORE 
 
 MAYOR FRANKLIN, 
 
 THK SPEECHES AT THiO DINNER, 
 
 GOVERNOR, MAYOR, HON. GEORGE BANCROFT, JUSTICES 
 BLATCIIFORD AND DITRFEE, ADMIRALS RODGERS, 
 ALMY AND LUCE, THE LETTER OF 
 COL. WILLIAM IT. POTTED 
 
 WITH AN* APPENDIX. 
 
 NEWPORT, R.I.: 
 
 JOHN P. SANBORN. PUBLISHER, 
 
 1885 .
 
 INAUGURATION 
 
 SEPTEMBER 1O, A. D. 1 8 85, 
 
 WITH THE ADDRESSES OF 
 
 WILLIAM P. SHEFFIELD, 
 
 AND THE REMARKS IN RECEIVING THE STATUE BY 
 
 GOVERNOR WETMORE 
 
 MAYOR FRANKLIN, 
 
 THE SPEECHES AT THE DINNER, 
 
 GOVERNOR, MAYOR, HON. GEORGE BANCROFT, JUSTICES 
 
 BLATCHFORD AND DURFEE, ADMIRALS RODGERS, 
 
 ALMY AND LUCE, THE LETTER OF 
 
 COL. WILLIAM H. POTTER, &c. 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX. 
 
 NEWPORT, R.I.: 
 
 JOHN P. SANBORN, PUBLISHER, 
 
 1885.
 
 E 
 3* 
 
 PMXS5* 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 The people of Newport had long thought that it was due 
 the memory of Oliver Hazard Perry, that a statue of him 
 should be erected in some conspicuous place within their cor- 
 porate limits, to commemorate his name and his achieve- 
 ment on Lake Erie. This subject was occasionally brought 
 to the public attention, sometimes by allusion in public dis- 
 cussion, and sometimes through the medium of the press, 
 from the time of his death up to 1882, and some fifteen or 
 more years since a petition numerously signed by the people 
 of Newport was presented to the General Assembly for an 
 appropriation for a statue ; the subject of the prayer of 
 the petition was commended to the favorable consideration 
 of the Assembly, but the time of this presentation was inop- 
 portune, for the people were then severely burthened by the 
 war-taxes, both National and State, and the Assembly was 
 disinclined to impose upon the people of the State additional 
 burdens even to promote so meritorious an object as the 
 erection of a statue to the memory of Commodore Perry. 
 The subject of the prayer of these petitioners was repeated- 
 ly afterwards urged upon the attention of the Assembly, 
 but the matter rested in the files of the House, until the 
 House, tired of its presence, struck it from its docket. 
 
 In May, 1882, a resolution was offered to make an appro- 
 priation for an equestrian statue of the late lamented Gen-
 
 4 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 era! Burnside in Providence ; to this resolution an additional 
 resolution was offered to make an appropriation for the erec- 
 tion of a statue of Commodore Perry in Newport ; the com- 
 mittee of the House in which the latter resolution was of- 
 fered, reduced the proposed appropriation for the statue of 
 Perry to $7,500, and coupled with it an amendment that an 
 equal sum should be raised from other sources to complete 
 the statue. This was a hard condition, but it was accepted 
 by the movers of the resolution, and the additional $7,500 to 
 make the State appropriation available, was obtained $5,000 
 of it from the city of Newport and $2,500 by voluntary sub- 
 scriptions from individuals. [See Appendix A.] 
 
 In the meantime a public meeting was called at the State 
 House in Newport, and a voluntary association was formed, 
 of which the Hon. George H. Calvert was made president, 
 John Gilpin, secreta^, and Charles T. Hopkins, treasurer. 
 This association appointed an executive committee consist- 
 ing of William P. Sheffield, T. Mumford Seabury. David 
 King, John G. Weaver and Lewis Brown, with authority to 
 do all that was necessary or expedient to procure the forma- 
 tion and erection of the statue. 
 
 The General Assembly and the City Council each author- 
 ized the payment of their appropriations to this executive 
 committee. The committee advertised in the Art Journal 
 and elsewhere for proposals and models for the statue and 
 pedestal the foundation, pedestal and statue to cost 
 615,000. Several proposals with models or drawings were 
 tendered to the committee. The committee was unanimous 
 in its conclusions to accept the model tendered by William 
 G. Turner, not because he was a native of Newport, but be- 
 cause his model appeared to the committee to be preferable 
 to any other presented.
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERKY STATUE. 5 
 
 The committee entered into a contract with Captain 
 Turner for the execution of the work, including the statue, 
 pedestal and foundation, which has been completely execu- 
 ted to the mutual satisfaction of the parties. 
 
 The City Council of Newport, who have acted in harmony 
 with the executive committee in this work, appointed Alder- 
 man Job T. Langley and Councilman Wm. O. Greene and 
 Thomas P. Peckham to confer with the committee of the asso- 
 ciation to designate a site for the location of the statue, and 
 this committee, acting with Messrs. King and Brown of the 
 executive committee, fixed upon the location, after which, the 
 City Council were asked to appoint a committee to assist 
 and act with the executive committee of the association in 
 making preparation for, and at, the inauguration of the 
 statue on the 10th of September, 1885. The City Council 
 appointed upon this committee, Aldermen Crandall and 
 Hopkins, with Councilmen Barker, Hamilton and Lawton, 
 to whose untiring and efficient aid the executive committee 
 are greatly indebted for the success incident to the inaugu- 
 ration ceremony. 
 
 The no\v combined committee tendered to the Ancient 
 Order of Free and Accepted Masons in Rhode Island, of which 
 Commodore Perry while in life was a member, an invitation 
 to lay the corner-stone of the pedestal, upon which the statue 
 was to be erected, and that order accepted the invitation and 
 performed the work committed to them with the very inter - 
 esting rites and ceremonies of its order, on the first day of 
 September, 1885. 
 
 In their preparations for the inauguration of the statue, 
 the committee invited the Rt. Rev. Bishop T. M. Clark to 
 act as chaplain of the day, which invitation was accepted, 
 and the office was performed to the very great satisfaction of 
 the committee.
 
 6 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 The committee invited Col. John Hare Powel to act as 
 Chief Marshal of the day, who kindly accepted the office 
 and appointed Major H. T. Easton, Col. VV. J. Cozzens, Col. 
 John C. Seabury, Col. Andrew K. McMahon, W. W. Marvel, 
 and Frank L. Powell as his aids, who all discharged their 
 duties with great fidelity and ability. 
 
 The committee also appointed the following ushers, to 
 wit : Col. A. C. Landers, Edward^.Newton, A. B. Corbin, 
 Arthur B. Brightman and George L. Swan, for whose efficient 
 aid in seating the guests on the platform and in the dining- 
 hall the committee acknowledged themselves to be greatly 
 indebted. 
 
 In dismissing this part of their introduction the committee 
 acknowledge their great obligation to Mayor Franklin and 
 the police force of the city of Newport for the maintainance 
 of perfect order while the ceremonies of the inauguration 
 of the statue were carried on, and for the peace and good 
 conduct which pervaded the entire city during that day. 
 
 The committee deemed it proper at the inauguration, 
 while they invited the public at large to participate in the 
 ceremonies, to invite to special seats upon the stand, mem- 
 bers of "the Perry family," including all the descendants of 
 Commodore Perry and his nephews and nieces, the general offi- 
 cers of the State and members of the Legislature, members of 
 the City Council, with the subscribers to the fund, placed at 
 the disposal of the committee, all persons who had a right 
 to know how the fund provided had been expended, officers 
 of the army and navy in Newport, ex-Governors of the State, 
 members of the press and others who had rendered services 
 to the committee, with a'few aged men in Newport who had 
 personally known Commodore Perry. 
 
 The exercises at the stand consisted of a voluntary 4 by the
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 7 
 
 band, prayer by the Rt. Rev. Chaplain of the day, an ad- 
 dress by the chairman of the committee, which included the 
 presentation of the statue in behalf of the committee to the 
 Governor representing the people at large, and to the 
 Mayor representing the people of the city, the reply of 
 His Excellency the Governor and by His Honor the Mayor, 
 and the benediction by the chaplain. 
 
 The committee, with their invited guests, then repaired to 
 the Ocean House, where an excellent collation was served 
 by the proprietors. The chairman of the committee presided 
 at the collation and at the subsequent part of the entertain- 
 ment. The addresses at the stand and at the dinner are re- 
 ported in the subsequent pages. 
 
 The committee are under great obligations to the officers 
 of the army and navy, to the Newport Artillery, and to the 
 Grand Army of the Republic in Newport for the fine dis- 
 play made in the procession, which added greatly to the in- 
 terest of the occasion. 
 
 A detailed account of the Inauguration addresses, with an 
 Appendix, is herewith published. 
 
 The committee regret their inability to publish so few of 
 the name^ of the men who left Newport and were with 
 Perry in the battle. 
 
 W. P. SHEFFIELD,^ 
 T. M. SEABURY, 
 
 DAVID KING, )> Committee. 
 
 JOHN G. WEAVER, | 
 LEWIS BEOWN, ) 
 NEWPORT, Sept. 1885.
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM P. SHEFFIELD, 
 
 AHE RESPONSES BY 
 
 GOVERNOR WETMORE AND MAYOR FRANKLIN.
 
 Address of Hon. William P. Sheffield. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : 
 
 The battle of Lake Erie was fought seventy- two years 
 ago to-day ; and we have convened to dedicate to the public 
 and to posterity a statue in memory of the Commander of 
 the American fleet in that action. 
 
 Oliver Hazard Perry needs no monument of bronze or 
 marble to commemorate his name, or to illustrate his glory. 
 History has taken these into its keeping and will preserve 
 them for posterity, while genius in battle, heroic valor 
 and unfaltering energy in the performance of high duty, re- 
 ceives the homage of the American people. 
 
 Wherever the patriotism of the citizen is the only reliance 
 for the defence of the nation, the people owe it to them- 
 selves to show their appreciation of the conduct of those 
 persons who have arisen amongst them that have been pub- 
 lic benefactors, and have conferred distinction upon their lo- 
 calities. They owe it to those who may come after them, 
 that they so manifest their gratitude that it will inspire suc- 
 ceeding generations with a due sense of patriotism, and be 
 an incentive to them to arise above narrow and sinister pur- 
 poses to the plane of exalted virtues, and be stimulated to 
 the performance of great actions.
 
 12 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 Citizens of South Kingstown, the town in which he was 
 born, of Newport, where he was reared, had his home in 
 mature life, and is buried ; together with the State and 
 people at large, who have participated in his glory, have been 
 impelled by this common sense of obligation to undertake 
 the erection of a memorial statue of Commodore Perry, a 
 task, the execution of which was committed to a native ar- 
 tist, and here is the artist's finished work. 
 
 The statue is designed to represent Perry, not as he was 
 superintending the cutting down of the forest for the con- 
 struction of his ships ; not as he was meditating the plan of 
 the battle of Lake Erie or the order of its execution ; not 
 as he appeared the evening previous to the action advising 
 his subordinate commanders in the words of Nelson, "No 
 captain can do wrong if he places his ship alongside of 
 that of an enemy ;" nor as he was opening the battle flag 
 which bore upon its folds the dying words of a gallant cap- 
 tain; not as he was leaving his wrecked ship with her deck 
 strewed with his dead and dying comrades, when by the re- 
 ceived canons of naval warfare the Lawrence and the battle 
 were lost ; but as he appeared in that supreme moment of 
 his life, when he had just gained the deck of the Niagara, 
 before he had recovered his knocked-off cap, and while in 
 distinct succession he was giving orders to "Back the main- 
 top sail," "Brail up the main-try-sail," "Helm up." "Square 
 the yards," "Bear down on the enemy's line." "Set the 
 top-gallant-sail,'' "Hoist the signal for close action," orders 
 which infused new enthusiasm into all the American crews; 
 and as pendant answered pendant, from mast-head to mast- 
 head, indicating the reception of the order to break the 
 enemy s lines, hearty cheers went up from the entire Ameri- 
 can force with a fervor that presaged the result of the im- 
 pending death struggle.
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 13 
 
 In contemplating this statue, we should consider the cir- 
 cumstances in which Perry was placed, and the events im- 
 pending, when the artist has undertaken to represent him, 
 as well as in the light of Peny's conduct thereafter, and the 
 results therefrom, reflected back upon this critical juncture 
 in his career. For the battle of Lake Erie did not create, 
 but illustrated and brought out in bold outline, the real 
 character of the man. 
 
 The crews of the American fleet were of a mixed charac- 
 ter. Perry sent from Newport one hundred and forty-nine 
 men and three boys in three detachments. [See Appendix 
 B.] Half of one of these detachments was detained by 
 Commodore Chauncey on Lake Ontario ; but, shortly be- 
 fore the battle, Perry received from that officer a considera- 
 ble accession to his force. Upon his arrival at Lake Erie, 
 Periy found a few men in the service of the Government 
 on the Lake, and the remainder of his men were made up 
 of new recruits, with a contingent taken from the North 
 Western army of men, naturally brave, but without expe- 
 rience on shipboard. Perry had arrayed against him skill- 
 ful officers who had been taught the art of war, and the 
 methods of victory under Nelson. Brave and highly disci- 
 plined seamen in whose vocabulary defeat had had no place, 
 with recruits like Perry's taken from the army, and an aux- 
 iliary force of Indian sharp-shooters. 
 
 The character of a naval engagement is not to be deter- 
 mined alone by the number of men, the tonnage of the 
 ships, or the weight of rnetal involved in the conflict. These 
 are elements to be considered, and in the battle of Lake Erie 
 all of these elements were against the American' fleet, but 
 the surrounding and attending circumstances, the conduct 
 of the battle, and the results depending upon its issue are
 
 14 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 the considerations which go to make the place in the minds 
 of succeeding generations which the event is to occupy. 
 History has not had committed to it for preservation, the 
 story of the ^organization of a fleet, and the conduct of a 
 battle the result of which was more dependent upon the 
 genius, knowledge, energy, and courage of a single individ- 
 ual, than was the battle of Lake Erie. 
 
 Other commanders have fought in ships completely 
 equipped for service by other hands, but Periy had to con- 
 struct, equip, arm and man his ships, and in person to take 
 two of them in succession into action; and it may be well 
 questioned whether he is not entitled to as much credit for 
 his intelligent comprehension of the wants of the occasion, 
 his energy, and perseverance in collecting the materials to 
 supply those wants, and in making up his fleet, as for his 
 genius and courage in action. 
 
 Perry, in the beginning, was unfortunate in having suc- 
 ceeded an officer who, in the engagement, was his subordi- 
 nate in command, and in anticipating a ranking officer in 
 bringing on the conflict; but the surrounding circumstances 
 and the positive orders of the Secretary of the Navy made 
 his meeting the enemy a necessity. 
 
 The outcome of the attempts which had been made by the 
 Government for the defence of this section of the country, 
 had not been such as to inspire sanguine hopes of the result 
 of this action. 
 
 The Adams, the only vessel the United States had upon 
 the Lake before the construction of Perry's ships had been 
 captured. General Hull had ignobly surrendered his force 
 to the enemy at the head of the Lake, General Winchester's 
 army had been lost to the Government, and General Van 
 Rensselaer had been defeated at Niagara.
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 15 
 
 Perry was to act in conjunction with the north-western 
 army under General Harrison, then awaiting the result of 
 the battle to be transported across the Lake, in the event 
 of a victory, to operate against the enemy in his own territo- 
 ry- 
 Perry's earnest appeal to Chauncey for men, backed by 
 the promise that if he got them he would acquire honor 
 and glory both for Chauncey and himself, or he would per- 
 ish in the attempt, should be considered in connection with 
 his appeal to the same officer to bring the men, and take 
 command of the fleet. Together they show that the first 
 appeal was not the result of an ambitious desire for vain 
 glory; no mere impulse of emotion or passion, but the out- 
 come of a high resolve wrought in the labratory of a noble 
 soul, born of that deliberate purpose which permeated his 
 subsequent conduct in the action and which is recorded in 
 the bronze before us. 
 
 The men from the army were animated for a desperate 
 exertion ; with them, the slaughter at the river Rasin was to 
 be redressed and its repetition in the northwest was to be 
 made impossible. In this disposition for redress the seamen 
 heartily sympathized, for the war was a contest for Sailors' 
 Rights. The American flag then trailed in the dust, but it 
 was to be restored to its appropriate place in the esteem of 
 the men in that section of the country. With a crew ani- 
 mated by these motives, Perry went into action with the 
 Lawrence and fought the enemy almost single handed until 
 all the guns of his ship were dismounted, and all but eight 
 of her gallant crew that he left on board were either killed 
 or wounded, when with a boat's crew he left the Lawrence, 
 boarded and took command of the Niagara, and it is at this 
 moment in the conflict the artist has undertaken to represent 
 him.
 
 16 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 Barclay said in his report to the British Admiralty, that 
 when Perry boarded the Niagara, that vessel was fresh in 
 action. Up to that time she had been beyond the effective 
 reach of the enemy's guns, but under her new commander 
 there was no halting in her course as she bore down to break 
 and pass through the enemy's ranks. Every brace and 
 bowline were taut, and every man on board apprised of 
 what was expected of him, was soon at his post of duty ; 
 each, as he took his position, cast a hasty glance at Perry's 
 battle flag then flying from the masthead of the Niagara, 
 and as he took in the dying words of the noble Lawrence, 
 formed a solemn resolve to obey their mandate and made 
 that resolve a sacrament. 
 
 As she went into action, the Niagara belched forth a 
 broadside at the Detroit, and the Queen Charlotte, then a 
 broadside at the Chippawa, the Lady Provost and the Hun- 
 ter. These broadsides were repeated in rapid succession 
 with terrific effect. The other American vessels, now in 
 action, whose crews were inspired by the daring of their 
 fleet commander, imitated his example and closely followed 
 him into the fight, and the combined result even Brit- 
 ons could not endure. The eagles of victory soon perched 
 in triumph on the mast-heads of the American fleet, and 
 Perry had won the battle which James Madison, then Pres- 
 dent, said had "never been surpassed in lustre, however 
 much it may have been surpassed in magnitude." 
 
 After the action Perry returned to the Lawrence, changed 
 the dress of a common sailor for an undress uniform, that he 
 might appropriately receive the surrender of the enemy on 
 board the vessel that had been in the hardest of the fight 
 and had suffered most from it ; and that the remnant of her 
 gallant crew might have the satisfaction of witnessing the 
 submission of the foe which had caused their sufferings.
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 17 
 
 That relief from apprehension for the safety of the fleet 
 might be given to General Harrison and the settlers on the 
 widely extended domain about the Lake, Perry penned and 
 dispatched to that general a hasty note, in words familiar, 
 and destined to be immortal, telling him "We have met the 
 enemy and they are ours," and another like hasty note to 
 the Secretary of the Navy, informing that officer that "It 
 has pleased the Almighty to give to the arms of the United 
 States a signal victory over their enemies on this lake. The 
 British squadron, consisting of two ships, two brigs, one 
 schooner and one sloop, have this moment surrendered to the 
 force under my command after a sharp conflict." There is 
 nothing of the valor of the pen or of the exaggeration of self 
 from the ink horn in these concise and expressive notes. 
 
 The enemy's surrender was gracefully received. Perry 
 soon visited the wounded Barclay, and tendered him every 
 service that it was in his power to render, and every 
 possible attention was given to the wounded of both fleets. 
 Then came the roll-call to- see who had answered the final 
 summons to duty on the field of honor, who had received 
 marks of courage in the fight, and who had gone through 
 the dreadful ordeal of battle unscathed. It was then 
 that the tears of sorrow mingled with the exultations of 
 victory which soon were to be shouted along the line of 
 every highway and by-way, from hamlet to village, from vil- 
 lage to town, arid from town to city throughout the land. 
 
 Perry wrote to Governor Brook, of Massachusetts, a let- 
 ter condoling with him on the fall of his gallant son in ac- 
 tion ; for while Perry's brow was laurelled with the wreath 
 of victory, he did not forget that there were mourners weep- 
 ing for brave hearts which in the fight had been forever put 
 to rest.
 
 18 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 The name of Perry was now made a household word from 
 the great Northern Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, from the 
 Atlantic Coast to the impenetrated wilderness of the West, 
 often repeated at the baptismal font ; and a nation's grati- 
 tude was soon laid at his feet. His praise was chanted in 
 poetry and song while he lived, and in sadder strains was 
 sung his mourning requiem over his grave when he was bur- 
 ied. [See Appendix C .] As humane in victory as he had 
 been brave in action, his generous kindness won the admi- 
 ration of Barcley, and his dying comrades showered upon 
 him their blessings and remembered him in their final 
 prayers. 
 
 Prayers of gratitude to that Almighty power which had 
 given victory to the American arms went up from every 
 fireside throughout the Northwest ; and mothers pressed 
 their children more closely to their breasts as they thought 
 themselves to be henceforth secure from the scalping knife 
 of Indian barbarity, and that the savage war-whoop would 
 no more break the sleep of the cradle. 
 
 At night-fall many of the dead, with all due solemnity, 
 were tenderly committed to the deep. The wounded had 
 all been visited and their wants attended to ; the worn and 
 weary now sought repose, and a solemn oppressive silence 
 soon pervaded the fleets, save here and there a sound of dis- 
 tress from the wounded. The Captain now retired for re- 
 flection, for his mind and heart were too full for rest. He 
 then thought of his young, devoted wife, whose prayers he 
 believed had been his shield in battle ; that his work was 
 yet incomplete while the British had an army on the bor- 
 ders of the Lake, or in upper Canada, how he could best 
 aid General Harrison's army ; and then resolved on the 
 work of the morrow, when, soothed by reflection, his tired 
 nature gave out and he, too, sank into a fitful slumber.
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PEREY STATUE. 19 
 
 The mind of Barclay relieved of present responsibility, 
 evolved other less pressing but more pensive thoughts. He 
 thought not of himself, or his bleeding wound, for he had 
 bled before for his country, when he earned his stars and 
 made his fame secure at Trafalgar ; but as the sun went 
 down that night he thought that no more in the evening twi- 
 light would the mariners of England, standing under the 
 cross of St. George, on that great inland water, sing their 
 national song, "Brittania rules the waves." No more the 
 echoes of that stirring air rolling over the silver surface of 
 the Lake to its islands and shores, would arouse the sturdy 
 dwellers there to join in glad unison in those lofty strains 
 which everywhere, the world over, melts into one every 
 true and loyal British heart. He then was moved by the 
 sadder thought, that on that night the sun of British power 
 which had hitherto dominated the great Northern Lakes of 
 America had gone down forever. 
 
 Perry's available vessels were now taken to transport 
 General Harrison's army across the Lake, and up the De- 
 troit river. The Lawrence, as soon as she was put in con- 
 dition, took on board the wounded of both fleets, and under 
 the command of the gallant, but wounded Yarnell, carried 
 them to Erie. The other vessels were repaired and fitted for 
 other duties, or were to return to Erie. 
 
 Perry accompanied General Harrison as a volunteer aid, 
 and participated and bore an honorable part in the battle of 
 the Thames, as he had done in the battle of Fort George, 
 under Chauncy, before the engagement on the Lake. 
 
 Upon his return to Detroit he found a letter from the Sec- 
 retary of Navy, thanking and congratulating him for the 
 eminent services he had rendered his country ; and, as he 
 had performed the duty committed to him, granting him 
 leave to visit his family at Newport.
 
 20 INAUGURATION OF THE PERKY STATUE. 
 
 But Perry was first to return to Erie, which he had left 
 the 12th of August. The news of the result of the battle 
 had long preceded his arrival there, and the people had been 
 watching and waiting his coming. On the 23d of October 
 the Aerial, the last vessel of the fleet to leave the head of 
 the lake came within sight of Erie. She had on board Gen- 
 eral Harrison, who had then lately defeated General Pro'c- 
 tor at the Thames, the 'wounded Barclay and Commodore 
 Perry. The people from the surrounding country crowded 
 into Erie to welcome the arrival of the victors. Barclay 
 was taken to Perry's quarters and there properly cared for 
 by Harrison and Perry. 
 
 The Lawrence was anchored in Misery Bay, in the har- 
 bor of Erie, maimed and battered, and scarcely able to float, 
 yet having on board her precious freight brought across the 
 lake ; Perry now visited this ship, and as he reached her 
 blood-stained deck and beheld his surviving comrades, and 
 thought of those who had been in the fight who were not 
 then on 'board, he reverently raised his hands in fervent sup- 
 plication to Him who giveth the victory not always to the 
 strong, to heal the wounds, and bless, and raise up the suf- 
 ferers around him ; and to sustain and help the widows and 
 orphans the battle had made ; and in ike thanksgiving for 
 the preservation of those who had survived the conflict un- 
 hurt. He then returned to the shore to meet the vast con- 
 course of people awaiting his arrival. The dead and the 
 disabled men, the dismounted guns and the broken and 
 tattered ships told the story of the battle and the price of 
 the victory with more eloquence than the most brilliant im- 
 agination could compass. These visible evidences of the strife 
 for the mastery indicated the valor, and the woe, incident to 
 the-ordeal which had been passed, with an energy and pathos
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 21 
 
 which overpowered the most obdurate will ; and the multi- 
 tude greeted Harrison and Perry with tears and smiles rain 
 in sunshine with a heartiness that language is too poor and 
 barren to describe. The living had earned their title to 
 everlasting gratitude, and the dead had fallen as the brave 
 desire to fall, at the post of duty, and on the field of vic- 
 tory. 
 
 Perry now procured the parole and release of Barclay, 
 and after arranging for his absence, started eastward on his 
 journey home, but his progress was everywhere obstructed 
 by evidences of* the gratitude of his countrymen for his 
 great action. On Monday, the 15th of November, attended 
 by the faithful crew that rowed him to the Niagara, he ar- 
 rived in Newport by the way of the south-ferry. Here he 
 was received upon his arrival in a manner alike worthy of 
 his neighbors and friends, and of himself. 
 
 August 23d, 1819, at the age of thirty-four, he died of 
 yellow fever at Port Spain in the island of Trinid id. His 
 remains were brought to Newport in a government ship, and 
 were here interred December 4th, 1826. They were con- 
 ducted to their final resting place by a funeral cortege such 
 as up to that time had never been equalled or approximated 
 in this state, and up^ to the present time has never been 
 surpassed. 
 
 This is but a glance at the man, and the event to which 
 we are here to-day to rear this tribute of our gratitude. 
 There are other names and other figures that come up to 
 view in the memory and gather around the name of Perry, 
 of men who were efficient auxiliaries in the conflict, shared 
 the dangers and participated in the glory of the battle of 
 Lake Erie, and who are inseperably connected with that 
 event.
 
 22 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 Turner, Taylor, Champlin, Almy, Breese, Brownell, and 
 the acting fleet surgeon Parsons were from Rhode Island ; 
 Forest, Brook, Stevens, Hambleton, Yarnell, and others not 
 less distinguished were from other states ; and the gallant 
 commander of the northwest army, and his comrades in 
 arms, whom Perry accompanied to the field on the 5th of 
 October, in the battle of the Thames, where Perry's victory 
 was made complete, and its results secured by driving the 
 organized forces of the enemy from upper Canada are de- 
 serving of our remembrance to-day. 
 
 To Your Excellency the Governor, representing the people of 
 Rhode Island ; To Your Honor the Mayor, representing 
 the people of Newport : 
 
 The Committee charged with the duty of providing and 
 erecting this statue of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, has 
 performed the work committed to it, and through you dedi- 
 cate it to the people of the state, and of the city, you rep- 
 resent as the result of its labors. It is not for the commit- 
 tee to comment upon the statue which has been formed and 
 erected under its direction, but with great satisfaction the 
 artist's finished work is submitted to the candid criticism of 
 all who are capable of forming an intelligent judgment upon 
 its merits. Take the statue for those whom you represent, 
 let it be kept as a cherished treasure by the people of the 
 state at large, and especially by the people of the city of 
 Newport. Let no vandal hand deface the monumental 
 bronze. Let it stand defying the wastes of time and the 
 power of the elements, keeping pace with history in its 
 march through coming ages in recalling to each succeeding 
 generation the man and the event which this statue is de- 
 signed to commemorate, ever inspiring the young to 
 patriotism, and solacing the aged with the reflection that a
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 23 
 
 grateful people properly appreciate and appropriately reward 
 'their benefactors. Let the ideal Perry shadow the passer 
 by, and from its high pedestal apparently cast a glance at 
 each beholder, which shall penetrate and permeate his mind 
 and heart, and possess him completely with the noble and 
 generous purpose and lofty soul which animated Perry on 
 the occasion which the artist has undertaken to represent 
 him. 
 
 This statue will tend not only to remind those who look 
 upon it of Perry and Lake Erie, but it will suggest to them 
 other names associated with this locality, and other events 
 connected with those who have gone out from this place, 
 such as Sir Charles Wager, first Lord of the British Ad- 
 miralty in the cabinet of Sir Robert Walpole ; Arthur 
 Brown, distinguished abroad and at home alike in literature 
 and in law ; the two admirals Brenton, who adorned the 
 British navy ; Edward Pelham Brenton, the philanthropist, 
 a post captain and the historian of that navy ; Berkeley and 
 Channing, within whom reigned the soul of philosophy ; 
 Stuart and Malbone, unrivalled in their departments of art, 
 and other names scarcely less conspicuous in other vocations 
 of useful life. 
 
 The men from the central and northwestern States who 
 come here, will look upon this memorial creation to behold 
 the image of the youthful hero who so gallantly defended 
 their sections of the country. The men that come here 
 from the South and see this statue, will ask fora memorial 
 to be erected to the memory of Greene, whose unknown 
 grave is in far off Georgia, who in the revolution with mar- 
 velous wisdom, energy and courage, defended the people of 
 their section from the attacks of a ruthless foe. The New 
 Yorkers that come here will look for some reminder of the
 
 24 INAUGURATION OP THE PEERY STATUE. 
 
 gallant men from Rhode Island, who, in early times, stood be- 
 tween the pioneers of New York and their French and Indian 
 enemies and perished in that service, in snows and frosts on 
 the Canada frontier. The men who come here from north- 
 ern New England, as their eyes rest on this bronze will re- 
 call the stories of the campaigns in which Rhode Island men 
 bore a part in the capture of Port Royal in 1710, and 
 shared the perils of the disastrous campaign in the St. Law- 
 rence in 1711, the hardships of the expeditions of 1721 and 
 1745 against their enemies, in what is now Nova Scotia, 
 Cape Breton and New Brunswick, and the only vestige of all 
 of these campaigns which will be here to gladden their sight 
 is the two old cannon there beside the fountain, which, from 
 on board the Tartar, did excellent service in the fight, and 
 at the fall of Louisburg. 
 
 Thus it is that this statue will not only awaken an inter- 
 est in Perry and Lake Erie, but it will tend to remind the 
 observer of other men and other events, which have earned 
 for Rhode Island its great stake in the American union and 
 in our American social system, and to impress upon the peo- 
 ple of the State the importance of preserving unimpaired 
 these great behests bought with many sacrifices, and around 
 which cluster many glorious memories, and will enspirit 
 them to rival in arts and arms the deeds of their ancestors. 
 
 His Excellency Governor George Peabody Wetmore re- 
 plied in behalf of the State in the following pleasing re- 
 marks : 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Fellow Citizens : 
 
 A little more than one hundred years ago was born, and 
 on his birthday died, in 1819, at the early age of thirty-four, 
 the man, who on the 10th of September, 1813, took for his
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PEBRY STATUE. 25 
 
 battle-cry a flag, on which were inscribed the dying words 
 of the gallant Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship;" achieved 
 the battle of Lake Erie, and announced it in the memorable 
 words "We have met the enemy and they are ours." He 
 there commanded "the first American fleet that ever in line 
 of battle encountered an enemy'' and had the proud distinc- 
 tion of capturing the first British fleet that had ever been 
 captured "since England had a navy." 
 . What manner of man he was and how he lived his life, 
 you have learned from the eloquent and instructive address 
 which we have just listened to. 
 
 To-day, on the seventy-second anniversary of the battle 
 and sixty-six years after the death of Perry, opposite his 
 last residence, surrounded by representatives of his family, 
 of the National, State and Foreign governments, of the 
 Army and of the Navy of the United States and of our 
 Municipal authorities, we have unveiled this statue. 
 
 In thus performing an act of tardy justice may we not help 
 prove that after all Republics are not altogether ungrateful 
 or forgetful of their heroes and that we in the very tardi- 
 ness of our action pay a greater tribute to approved merit. 
 
 The State, this City, and our People have erected this statue 
 a monument to the worth and valiant -deeds of other 
 times and we commit it to the future to be reverently cared 
 for, as long as courage, energy, resource, generosity and hu- 
 manity are held in honor. 
 
 His Honor Mayor Robert S. Franklin then accepted the 
 trust in behalf of the city with the following well-chosen 
 words: 
 
 In receiving this statue, I congratulate you, Mr. Chair- 
 man, upon the successful completion of the labor of your 
 committee. As citizens of Newport we may well feel
 
 26 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 proud of the skill of our townsman, Mr. William G. Turner, 
 the designer of this beautiful work of art. I shall not 
 speak of the life or character of him whom it is intended 
 to commemorate, neither shall I refer to the particular event 
 that rendered his name illustrious, and placed it among the 
 naval heroes of the country. This you have done in elo- 
 quent and appropriate language. The place of location is 
 an eminently proper one : in this city, the home of his adop- 
 tion, and on this park, within sight of the house he once oc- 
 cupied. In behalf of the city I accept the trust you have 
 now given me, assuring you that it shall be carefully guard- 
 ed, hoping that all who look upon this statue may ever re- 
 member and emulate the courage and patriotism of Oliver 
 Hazard Perry.
 
 POST-PRANDIAL EXERCISES.
 
 Post-Prandial Exercises, 
 
 After the removal of the cloth the chairman called the 
 guests to order and announced the first regular toast.: 
 Rhode Island, the birthplace of the American navy. 
 
 To this Governor Wetmore was called out and responded 
 as follows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Perry Statue Committee: 
 
 I take this opportunity to congratulate you upon the successful con- 
 clusion of your labors and our State and City in being possessed of 
 sjuch an admirable and spirited work of art, dedicated to the memory 
 of Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of Lake Ei'ie, in honoring whom we 
 have honored ourselves. It is an additional gratification that a fellow- 
 townsman should have been selected for the work and that he has proved 
 himself so eminently qualified for the trust committed to his skill. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, you have just suggested that Rhode Island is the birth- 
 place of the American Navy and it would appear that not only is this so, 
 but that she has been occupied for a period of almost two centuries and 
 a half in warlike naval matters. To show this, it is only necessary to 
 take a few from the many instances that might be mentioned. 
 
 As far back as in 1641 an armed boat was fitted to cruise around this 
 Island to prevent the Indians from landing. 
 
 In April 1676, at an adjourned meeting of the Assembly, a flotilla 
 of gunboats was ordered for the defence of the Island. It was to con- 
 sist of four boats, each manned by five or six men, the force to be added 
 to should occasion require. Arnold in his history of Rhode Island, says : 
 "This is the first instance in the history of the Colonies, where a naval 
 armament was relied upon for defence. It was the germ of a future 
 Rhode Island Squadron, one century later, and of an ultimate American 
 Navy."
 
 30 INAUGURATION OF THE PERKY STATUE. 
 
 In 1702, during the war against France and Spain, the Brigantine Grey- 
 hound, Captain William Wanton, of one hundred tons, mounting twelve 
 guns, with a crew of one hundred men and boys was commissioned as a 
 privateer. 
 
 The Colony ordered the sloop Tartar of one hundred and fifteen tons 
 to be built in 1740 for the war against Spain and in the follow- 
 ing year five privateers with four hundred men were fitted out by New- 
 port merchants. The Tartar had a most useful career of eight years un- 
 der different commanders and at last was ordered to be sold at public 
 auction. The two guns just mentioned by Mr. Sheffield as standing by 
 the fountain in Washington Square belonged to her. 
 
 In 1772, Whipple and others captured and then destroyed the Gaspee. 
 
 In 1775 Captain Abraham Whipple chased the [tender of the Rose 
 frigate on to Conanicut Island and captured her after a sharp fight. 
 For this exploit, Arnold says, "To Captain Whipple is due the honor 
 of discharging the first gun upon the ocean, at any part of His Majesty's 
 Navy in the American Revolution." 
 
 During the session of the Assembly held in August, 1775, at East Green- 
 wich, it was voted that the Rhode Island delegates ,-in Congress be in- 
 structed "to use their whole influence for building, at the Continental 
 expense, a fleet of sufficient force for the protection of the Colonies." 
 On the third of October, these instructions were laid before Congress, as- 
 sembled in Philadelphia, and on the twenty-second of December, Congress 
 passed resolutions for the organization and equipment of a fleet, and ap- 
 pointed a Commander-in-Chief, four captains, five first-lieutenants and 
 five second-lieutenants. Esek Hopkins, the Commander-in-Chief, two 
 of the four Captains, three of the five first-lieutenants, and four of the five 
 second-lieutenants were Rhode Islanders. The rank of Commander-in- 
 Chief was intended to be the equivalent in the Navy, of that held by 
 Washington in the Army, and Hopkins was the only man in the United 
 States who ever bore the title of Admiral until our late Civil War. 
 
 No wonder then, that Rhode Island puts in a full claim for the Navy of 
 our country and like the hen, has gathered under her wings the Torpedo 
 School, the Training School for naval apprentices and the Naval War 
 College, and stands ready in the future, should more of the same sort 
 come along, to extend her wings again, and gather them in. 
 
 At the conclusion of the Governor's remarks, the second 
 regular toast was announced : 
 
 The navy, a bulwark of our national honor, the defence of our sea- 
 coast at home and of our commerce abroad.
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 31 
 
 The chairman stated that it was expected that Secretary 
 . Whitney would have been present to respond to this toast, 
 but as they were honored by the presence of an ex-Secretary 
 of the Navy who had many titles to the gratitude of the 
 American people, in the absence of the present Secretary of 
 the Navy he called upon the Honorable George Bancroft, 
 who responded : 
 
 The city of Newport has received me as one of its inhabitants, and in 
 consequence I am a citizen of Rhode Island. As such I join with you in 
 the acts of to-day; and I ask the question whether we raise a statue to 
 Oliver Hazard Perry because he was born on the soil of Rhode Island, 
 chose Newport for his home, and so is identified with this city, and this 
 State, or whether his deeds had a memorable influence on the history of 
 his country and of the world ? 
 
 Perry was full of the qualities that win affection. He was open-heart- 
 ed and generous, ever finding happiness in doing good to others, and 
 ready to give up his life in the public service. His memory is therefore 
 specially dear to his fellow-townsmen and to his State. But it is not 
 their partiality that devotes this day to. the culture of his memory. 
 
 When the great statesmen of America framed our constitution and the 
 citizens of the States one after another had accepted it, the new people, 
 child as it were of a day, organized itself and took its place by the side 
 of empires and kingdoms and States that had existed for a thousand 
 years. The old world laughed in scorn at the thought that a Republic, 
 continental in its extent, could endure. The constitution was a wonder- 
 ful result of concentrated wisdom ; yet even those who made it hardly 
 dared believe that it would be equal to the public demands. The con- 
 dition of every seed as it first germinates is feeble, and it is long ex- 
 posed to ruin from every side. How could the territory from the Mis- 
 sissippi to the Ocean, strike its first root in safety ? How could it grow 
 except through long years of effort and struggle ? Must it not be like 
 the forest trees which requires centuries to spread widely its roots and 
 its branches ? 
 
 But Washington was there, and the country called the wisest men of 
 the land to the two branches of the Legislature, and he made himself 
 strong in the great ability of his advisors. The country was bankrupt. 
 Hamilton, as ha,s well been said, like Moses in the wilderness, struck 
 the rock and the waters gushed forth in such abundance that the credit
 
 32 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 of the United States was soon superior to that of any government in the 
 civilized world, not excepting that of Great Britain. 
 
 The confederation knew nothing of a Supreme Court. A law framed 
 by Oliver Ellsworth called it into being and prescribed its orbit; Wash- 
 ington promptly selected its members, and forthwith justice was admin- 
 istered from end to end of the boundless Eepublic. An army was called 
 into existence ; so, too, a navy, with officers selected from men whom 
 our commerce had trained for the sea. As to the foreign relations of 
 the country, one government after another did indeed accept our friend- 
 ship and seek a share in our commerce; but it was not easy to reconcile 
 the new commonwealth with the Bourbons nor with the Republic of 
 France, and England was ruled by statesmen who had no prophetic eye 
 and who rated the wealth, the glory, and the power of their country as 
 of more worth than justice and the law of nations. 
 
 It is to the honor of John Adams, that, in his administration, strife 
 with France was quieted by his own wise forbearance and personal reso- 
 lution. But England was more stubbornly unreasonable and not only 
 searched our vessels on the high seas for the property of those with 
 whom she did not choose to be at peace, but any British-man-of-war, 
 wherever she encountered at sea one of our beautiful ships, manned in a 
 great part by the sons of New England Freeholders, would send a young 
 lieutenant or midshipman to climb its deck, and press into the British 
 service such Americans as he should see fit to call British citizens. Eng- 
 land wronged us in our ships on which our flag gave no protection 
 against violence. It was right that England should be met alike on the 
 ocean and on our own Mediterranean seas. To do this great work the 
 youthful Perry, in the winter of 1813, repaired to the shores of Lake 
 Erie, from the trees of the forest built a squadron, lifted his fleet over 
 the bar of the harbor, hunted on the Lake for his adversary, brought the 
 British squadron to battle, and after a series of incidents, that fixed on 
 him the eyes of the two fleets, on the tenth of September he made the 
 masterly movement which enabled him before the sun could go down to 
 write, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." Perry's victory 
 had its share in turning a scornful enemy into a thoughtful lover of 
 peace with the United States. It was one of the noblest acts of that 
 war which Edward Everett used to call our second war of indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 This is the reason why the victory of Perry claims to be remembered in 
 the annals of mankind. We shall repeat the story to our children, and a
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 33 
 
 thousand years hence those who come after us will recall the event 
 which we this day commemorate. 
 
 But let us not close without expressing joy that to-day the two great 
 nations whose mother-tongue is the English, are happily bound together 
 in amity as well as by language, and they show to the world the marvel- 
 ous spectacle of an open line of boundary between the possessions of the 
 old monarchy and the new Republic longer than from the waters of the 
 harbor of New York to those of Liverpool, yet safe under the guardian- 
 ship of reason and peace. Such is for our time the fruit of the memo- 
 rable deeds of our patriot heroes. In their foremost rank a place be- 
 longs to the name of Oliver Hazard Perry. 
 
 The presence and the remarks of Mr. Bancroft were re- 
 ceived by the audience in a manner which could not be oth- 
 erwise than gratifying to him. The third regular toast was 
 announced at the conclusion of Mr. Bancroft's speech to be : 
 
 The City of Newport A gem set in a silver sea. It has always 
 taken pride in its surrounding element. 
 
 Responded to by the Hon. Robert S. Franklin, Mayor: 
 
 Mr. President In responding to this toast I could use no more fitting 
 words than those embodied in it. True, we have more than ordinary 
 attractions, and we take a just pride in them. Not alone do we appre- 
 ciate them, but the constantly increasing body of summer residents and 
 the presence of such gentlemen as the last speaker, also attests its pop- 
 ularity as a summer resort. For the features that make it so popu- 
 lar we are proud, but to no such degree as we are with the deeds of her 
 sons, with the accounts of which history is replete. To-day we have 
 met to honor her sons. May the future be far distant when Newport 
 forgets her duty in this respect. 
 
 The fourth toast was introduced with a preamble : 
 
 The Admiralty now takes jurisdiction of the inland waters. Its jus- 
 tice is an inspiration to Jack Tar since Wager first decreed the common 
 sailor should share in prize money. It is also an inspiration to the sailor 
 that this court is his guardian and will see that he has his rights : 
 
 This was replied to by Mr. Justice Blatchford of the Uni- 
 ted States Supreme Court, who said : 
 The sentiment to which I have been invited to respond is, the in-
 
 34 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 spiration -which the sailor receives from the assurance that the 
 Admiralty will protect him in his rights. We are assembled to 
 celebrate the victories in war of the hero son of Rhode Island. 
 But peace hath its victories no less renowned than war. The juris- 
 diction of the Admiralty is deeply imbedded in the Constitution of the 
 United States that wonderful instrument, the product of the prescient 
 wisdom of the great men of their time, in this as in many other respects. 
 They had seen the unhappy contest in England between the Court of Ad- 
 miralty and other jurisdictions, and, recognizing the great usefulness of 
 the Admiralty jurisdiction, as exercised by the Courts of the Continent of 
 Europe, they gave to the Federal Courts the broadest admiralty and 
 maritime jurisdiction, as administered by the Continental Courts. Such 
 is the interpretation put on the Constitutional provision by the Supreme 
 Court of the United States. That jurisdiction is beneficent exercised 
 for good ends and by convenient and prompt methods. As was well said 
 by that distinguished lawyer and judge, Chief Justice Taney, in a judi- 
 cial opinion : "I can see no ground for jealousy or enmity to the Admi- 
 ralty jurisdiction. It has in it no one quality inconsistent with or unfa- 
 vorable to free institutions. The simplicity and celerity of its proceed- 
 ings make a jurisdiction of that kind a necessity in every just and en- 
 lightened commercial nation. The delays unavoidably incident to a 
 court of common law, from its rules and modes of proceeding, are equiv- 
 alent to a denial of justice where the rights of seamen, or maritime con- 
 tracts or torts, are concerned, and seafaring men the witnesses to prove 
 them; and the public confidence is conclusively proved by the well- 
 known fact, that in the great majority of cases where there is a choice of 
 jurisdictions, the party seeks his remedy in the Court of Admiralty in 
 preference to a court of common law of the State, however eminent and 
 distinguished the State tribunals may be." 
 
 The spirit of these words of Chief Justice Taney is that embodied in 
 the sentiment to which I am responding. The Courts of Admiralty are 
 especially careful of the rights of seamen, and, by the exercise of their 
 power of siezing his vessel and holding it to respond to him, they are 
 able effectually to secure to him his right to his earnings. In the sen- 
 tentious language of the Admiralty, the seaman's right to his wages ad- 
 heres to the last plank of his vessel. Thus it is that while the seaman is 
 necessarily subjected to strict and, in a sense, absolute and autocratic 
 rule, he feels the ever-present assurance, that the Admiralty, by prompt 
 and efficient methods, will secure to him his wages and his right to re- 
 dress for unwarranted wrongs suffered at the hands of his superior offi-
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 35 
 
 cers. So \ve have built up a body of seameu, on public and private ves- 
 sels, hardy, energetic, fearless, devoted to duty, such as those who 
 under Oliver Hazard Perry fought the fight with success, and those 
 who under Schley rescued Greeley and his companions in the Arctic 
 seas. In all dangers and trials, whether in war or in peace, the Ameri- 
 can seaman proves himself a worthy representative of the American 
 character, and a faithful supporter of the flag of his country. 
 
 The fifth regular toast was announced as follows by the 
 chairman : 
 
 Amidst the contentions of individuals and nations there is a power 
 which ever seeks to avert force. Idealized inmarble that it cannot feel; 
 blindfolded that it cannot see ; holding equally-balanced scales that it 
 may weigh equal justice to all. The most beneficent of all the powers of 
 government, without which viccories would be vain. The judiciary, it 
 moves with a firm hand because the bayonet is behind it. May it never 
 have an occasion to call the bayonet to its aid. 
 
 Chief Justice Durfee was called upon to respond to this 
 toast, and said : 
 
 Mr. President The judiciary is rather a large subject, fitter for a vol- 
 ume than for an after-dinner speech. It does not suggest to me a great 
 deal which is particularly appropriate to the occasion. Nevertheless, as 
 a member of the Rhode Island judiciary, I am glad to participate in this 
 commemoration of a Rhode Island hero. The toast reminds me that the 
 judiciary is without physical power, dependent in the last resort on the 
 m ilitary for maintenance of its authority. We judges, therefore, even 
 as judges, have good reason for testifying our admiration of the loyal 
 and intrepid soldier and sailor. In this view, moreover, the toast points 
 to a truth which is too often forgotten, namely, that we who serve the 
 people are all of us helpers one of another fellow-servants working to- 
 gether to one end, the general welfare, and that we are therefore all in 
 turn, the humblest as the highest, each in his degree, if we but well per- 
 form our parts, entitled to mutual honor and consideration. There is 
 an important truth here, which fully appreciated would invigorate all 
 the civic virtues. Occasions like this are admirably calculated to incul- 
 cate it. The States or the nation could well afford to multiply such oc- 
 casions, for as such they are exposed to assaults from without, and to 
 corruptions and dissentions from within, and it is mainly to the virtues 
 of their virtuous citizens that they must look for preservation and pros- 
 perity. For generations now we have had no experience of foreign war;
 
 36 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 but history often repeats itself after long intervals. When sucli a war 
 comes, if it comes, we shall again need the gallant sailor and the re- 
 sourceful commander, the dauntless naval hero who, in the imminent 
 crisis of battle sees with lightning-like clairvoyance of genius the one 
 right thing to do, and utterly oblivious of self, speeds like a thunderbolt 
 to its accomplishment. Such a naval hero was Perry, and the monu- 
 ment which we dedicate to him to-day may help to form some youthful 
 mind to like heroism for the exigencies of the future. It will do more. 
 The inmost soul of Perry's glorious deed was a loyal sense of duty, the 
 sentiment of patriotic service, and when we erect a monument to him we 
 honor all such service, whenever and however performed. We inspire 
 and cultivate true ideas of public duty. I have said that for genera- 
 tions we have had no experience of foreign wars; we are the living wit- 
 nesses of a tremendous civil conflict. God forbid that it should ever re- 
 cur; but to guard against its recurrence, what better can we do than 
 honor its loyal heroes with monuments and statues and memorial tab- 
 lets which, speaking continually to the plastic mind and heart of the 
 people, shall imbue them with a generous enthusiasm for their country? 
 What better can we do especially than commemorate the matchless for- 
 titude and magnanimity of the great general, recently dead amid uni- 
 versal lamentations, who led the Union armies to final triumph, by a 
 monument which, sublimely towering, shall tell to all coming genera- 
 tions the story of his magnificent services? It was a favorite idea with 
 my father, if I may be pardoned the reference, that it was the duty of 
 the State to erect monuments, enduring but not necessarily costly, to 
 every sort of exemplary civic worth as a part of popular education. 
 He thought the State would thus cultivate a love of whatever is best in 
 its history, and to most effectually insure its own perpetuity. The les- 
 son thus to be taught is the grand old Sparton lesson of self-devotion to 
 the public weal. In the monument to Roger Williams, in the soldiers' 
 monument, in the statue to-day unveiled, and in the contemplated 
 equestrian statue to Burnside, the State has made a good beginning. 
 Let her go on until our public squares are peopled with noble figures, so 
 that her citizens passing among them shall feel their every worthy pur- 
 pose strengthened as they pass, and their every ignoble impulse shamed 
 and subdued. 
 
 The sixth toast was : 
 
 The Old and the New Navy wooden ships under canvas, with 
 smooth-bore cannon, against steel armor, rifle cannon, torpedoes, rams
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PEKRY STATUE. 87 
 
 and steam power. Human strength against machinery, constructed and 
 directed by the most deadly science. 
 
 Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers, a nephew of Commodore Perry, 
 was introduced to respond, and said : 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen: 
 
 Until I came to this house a few moments ago, I did not know that 
 I was to reply to this toast, and while I thank you for the honor you 
 confer upon me, I fear that I may not do justice to a sentiment so wide 
 in its scope and so worthy of careful consideration. 
 
 Having served the country as a sea-officer for more than half a century, 
 I may claim an intimate connection with the old and the new navy; with 
 the ships of oak and the ships of iron; with the era of smooth-bore 
 cannon and that of rifled guns ; with the period when ships were moved 
 by canvass only, and with the day when they must go into battle, pro- 
 pelled by steam alone. 
 
 When I came into the navy in 1833, we possessed ships than which 
 there were none better in the world. That great constructor, Mr. Hum- 
 phreys, long before had recognized the fact that if we were to meet the 
 ships of Great Britain in battle, we must be ready with better ships than ' 
 theirs, and to his genius we owe those great frigates that won for this 
 country so much renown, and proved to the world that England was no 
 longer the unchallenged mistress of the sea. These ships, manned 
 chiefly by the hardy sons of New England, with officers representing 
 every portion of our union, did noble service, and brought light to the 
 hearts of our people when the days were very dark. "There were giants 
 in those days" upon the ocean, and they deserved well of the Republic 
 Hull, Decatur, McDonough, Jones, Lawrence, Biddle, Bainbridge, and a 
 host of other paladins of the sea, worthy of all honor; great examples 
 to us who came after them. I may not dwell upon the gallant officer to 
 whom we do homage to-day, for he was my near kinsman; Newport and 
 Rhode Island have shown how they appreciate his merit by the statue 
 you have just placed opposite his home, in evidence of the love for his 
 memory, still strong in the State and city from which he went forth to 
 do battle for his country. 
 
 The lesson of our war of 1812 was not lost upon the countries 
 of Europe, and they have gone forward in the development of their 
 navies, until, to-day, we find ourselves lamentably their inferiors, 
 not only in the number of our ships, but in their quality. They 
 have recognized that every nation must' be ready to protect its
 
 38 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 maritime interests, and to strike stalwart blows upon the sea. To-day 
 the navy of England is grand beyond compare, wonderfully developed 
 in all that science and mechanical art, and the lavish use of money can 
 do to make it irresistible. There is nothing to us seamen so grand 
 as its iron-clad fleet. Think of its "Inflexible," with twenty-four inches 
 of armour on its sides ; its ships that carry guns each weighing a hun- 
 dred tons ; its armoured ships to have a speed from sixteen to eighteen 
 knots ; its swarm of torpedo boats ; its swift corsairs, ready to destroy 
 an enemy's commerce. Its iron-clad fleet is always to a great extent 
 ready for service. When you think upon what short notice this fleet can 
 come to New York and lay its banks under contribution, tell me, gentle- 
 men, are we not living in a fool's paradise ? We are now without one 
 modern cannon upon our coast that is worthy of the name, and al- 
 though we are beginning to build a few small guns, we have not the 
 skilled labor nor the plant to forge a heavy gun in our rich country. 
 We have not fostered this industry, and whatever may be thought of pro- 
 tection in general, no one can doubt we should give such encouragement 
 to our workers in steel as will enable us to forge our own weapons of de- 
 fence. Those that we have to-day are almost as obsolete as those used 
 by the Indians against your forefathers and mine in Rhode Island, in the 
 early days of this good commonwealth. In England a gun is to be built 
 sixty-one feet long, to weigh one hundred and fifty-six tons, to throw a 
 projectile of two thousand pounds, with a charge of seventeen hundred 
 pounds of powder. 
 
 In 1845 our navy had at its head a statesman and an educator, very 
 wise in his generation, who founded the Naval Academy. From that 
 date, slowly but steadily, the new problems of naval education have been 
 solved, and the new navy developed by scientific officers. I have seen 
 much of other navies [while serving as naval attach^ in Europe, and 
 while in command afloat, and it is my conviction that no country has 
 such good junior naval officers as our own. The great danger is that 
 they may grow old in subordinate positions, and not attain command 
 until their energies and faculties shall have been chilled and cramped by 
 hope long deferred. It is essential that men who are to command well, 
 shall begin to command early, like him who won the battle of Lake Erie 
 when younger than many of our ensigns of to-day. 
 
 The seventh regular toast was : 
 
 The naval commanders in the war of 1812. Hearts of oak in ships 
 of wood, with an energy of courage limited by the impossible. They 
 fought hard battles won great distinction for themselves and country.
 
 INAUGURATION OP THE PERRY STATUE. 39 
 
 Replied to by AdmiralJolm J. Almy, U. S. Navy. 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen: 
 
 It gives me a feeling of much pride and pleasure to be here to-day, 
 I truly assure you. As an officer of the navy and a son of Khode Island, 
 to be present at this distinguished gathering, is something that will not 
 soon be forgotten. 
 
 I consider it my bounden duty to make a pilgrimage to my native 
 State once in every few years, to visit the graves of my father and 
 my mother who lie buried in Middletown near by to see that they are 
 kept in proper order. I come also to visit a few worthy relatives who 
 have their homes here. It is now seven years since I have been in 
 Rhode Island, and certainly there could be no more fitting occasion than 
 this to visit my native State. 
 
 To-day we have met to do honor to the name and the achievements of 
 a great naval hero Oliver Hazard Perry. I feel that on this day every 
 son of Rhode Island should assist in this celebration. In honoring the 
 name of the gallant hero of Lake Erie and the splendid victory which 
 he gained, Rhode Island does honor to herself. In the language of 
 Scripture, I will say: "It is good for us to be here." 
 
 Some writer has said: "Say what you will, the world has made up its 
 mind to venerate a hero. It stops for him to take rank of all other 
 great men. The honor of our legal sages, the fame of the founders of 
 our constitution, all faded away before the military glory of the hero of 
 New Orleans." 
 
 "The world cares comparatively little about science. Even the labors 
 of Archimedes in his solitary cell are remembered only by the mathema- 
 tician and the scholar. But all remember him as directing on the walls 
 of Syracuse the resources of science against the enemies of his coun- 
 try." And thus we meet to day to express our veneration for a hero. 
 
 Rhode Island has always been a naval State from the days of the Revo- 
 lution to the present time. In all the wars, for a small State she has done 
 more than her share in creating and maintaining a navy. 
 
 But I am called ut>on to speak "to the Naval Commanders of the War 
 of 1812." After the elegant and eloquent address which we have just 
 heard from the orator of the day upon the character of the hero of Lake 
 Erie, it would be superfluous in^me to speak of that great commander, 
 but I will mention other names and their brilliant exploits. 
 
 On the llth of September, 1814, one year and a day after the battle of 
 Lake Erie, Commodore McDonough, with his fleet, fought and con-
 
 40 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 quered the British fleet on Lake Cham plain; and while this was going 
 on, General Macomb with his army was fighting and conquering the 
 British army under Sir George Prevost. Hearty and efficient co-opera- 
 tion of the army and the navy against the enemies of the country was 
 this all in sight of each other. 
 
 Early in the war we see the brilliant action between the Constitution 
 and the Guerriere, with Commodore Isaac Hull the successful hero and 
 victor. Very great importance was attached to this victory, as it broke 
 .the charm of British invincibility upon the ocean. It set the whole 
 country ablaze, Britain was no longer Mistress of the Seas. 
 
 Two months after this came another glorious fight and victory be- 
 tween the frigate United States and the English frigate Macedonian, 
 where the gallant Decatur, in command of the former ship, was the 
 conqueror, bringing his prize safely into port amid the huzzas of the ex- 
 cited populace of New York. The accounts as published in the papers 
 of that day are very thrilling. 
 
 I will not detain the company by going into detail of the several naval 
 actions and all the accompaniments, as it would take up too much time. 
 They are all related in "Song and Story," which have no doubt been pe- 
 rused, and are familiar to all within the sound of my voice. 
 
 The next successful naval action was the United States ship Wasp, 
 under Captain Jacob Jones, who, after a spirited fight, captured the 
 British ship-of-war Frolic. 
 
 Then comes upon the scene once more the good old ship Constitution, 
 now under the command of Commodore Bainbridge, who meets with the 
 English frigate Java on the coast of Brazil, and after a fight of two 
 hours, Bainbridge is victorious, compelling the English frigate to sur- 
 render. 
 
 About this time, and in the same parts of the ocean, the United 
 States ship Hornet, under Captain Lawrence, engaged the British man- 
 of-war Peacock, and after a spirited action of fifteen minutes sunk the 
 Peacock. 
 
 Then the stingi ng little Hornet soon makes her appearance again un- 
 der Captain James Biddle; she falls in with and engages in sharp action 
 the English man-of-war Penguin, which she compels to surrender. 
 
 The historian informs us that the success of the Constitution and 
 the Hornet two of the vessels of Commodore Bainbridge' s squadron, 
 served greatly to increase the popularity of the navy. 
 
 Then comes another stinging Bee to annoy, harass and destroy the 
 enemy. The United States ship Wasp, Captain Johnston Blakely,
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 41 
 
 fought and captured two Engish ships of war tne Reindeer and the 
 Avon within a couple of months of each other; vessels of about the 
 same size as the Wasp. 
 
 Now for the third time during this war of two years and nine months 
 that grand and glorious old ship, the Constitution, again makes her ap- 
 pearance, now under the command of Commodore Stewart. One beautiful 
 moonlight night off the Cape de Verde Islands he falls in with the Eng- 
 lish ships of war Cyane and Levant, has a little successful manoevring 
 with the Constitution, in which he gets the advantage, engages them in 
 action, and after four hours fight and manoevring, captures both of 
 them. Commodore Stewart and the Constitution ever after this re- 
 ceived the soubriquet of "Old Ironsides." 
 
 The United States ship Peacock, Captain Warrington, on her way to 
 the East Indies to destroy English Commerce, falls in with, and has a 
 sharp conflict with the English brig-of-war Epervier, in which the 
 Peacock is victorious. The Epervier is captured and taken into Savan- 
 nah as a prize. 
 
 The last of these attractive and successful naval actions in jthis war 
 ended with the United States brig Enterprise, Captain Burrows, and the 
 English brig-of-war Boxer, in which the Enterprise was the successful 
 vessel. The Commanders of both vessels were killed in the fight. 
 
 The ships were not only fought with courage and spirit, but the most 
 consummate skill in seamanship was dsiplayed upon every occasion. 
 
 The Hornet sunk the Peacock in fifteen minutes. The fight between 
 the Constitution and the Java commenced at 2 P. M., and ended at 4 
 P. M., and Commodore Bainbridge in his official report states that the 
 Constitution by sunset was all ready to engage another frigate. Cred- 
 itable comments could be made of other ships and their Commanders 
 throughout the war of 1812. 
 
 We have all read of the indomitable perseverance, and the dangerous 
 encounter Of the gallant Captain David Porter, of the navy, and the 
 dash which he made into the Pacific Ocean, carrying consternation and 
 destruction into the British Whaling fleet, so that there was not a ves- 
 tige of them that remained. 
 
 Captain Daniel T. Patterson commanded the Naval forces which co-ope- 
 rated with General Jackson at New Orleans, and the gallant old hero 
 always acknowledged and appreciated the great services which Captain 
 Patterson rendered upon that occasion. 
 
 An important name connected with the navy in the war of 1812, is 
 that of Commodore John Kodgers, who was senior officer to all of those
 
 42 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 whom I have mentioned, though not conspicuous as a commander in any 
 great naval action, he did much for the organization of the navy. He 
 trained and schooled many of those officers of whom I have spoken. 
 He has often been called the father of the American navy of 1812. 
 
 Here then is a galaxy of naval heroes of whom the country indeed 
 any nation may well feel proud, and I take great pleasure in naming 
 them. 
 
 Rodgers, Hull, Perry, Decatur, Bainbridge, McDonough, Stewart, 
 Jones, Porter, Lawrence, Blakely, Bicldle, Warrington, Patterson, Bur- 
 rows. Precious names these, which we should never forget. They 
 should be treasured in our hearts, and we should impress upon our sons 
 to remember them, and when they are called forth to fight and to con- 
 quer, to associate these names with "Sailor's Eights", "Our Country", 
 "The Union" and the "Constitution." 
 
 They are the "Hearts of Oak in ships of wood, with an energy of 
 courage, limited only by the impossible. They fought hard battles 
 won great distinction for themselves, and for their country." 
 
 The eighth regular toast was : 
 
 The originator of the Naval Academy and the originator of the Na- 
 val War College each a benefactor of the navy and entitled to the grati- 
 tude of his country. 
 
 In reply to this the chairman introduced Commodore Luce, 
 President of the Naval War College, who spoke as follows : 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen: 
 
 As the distinguished statesman and historian, the Hon. George Ban- 
 croft now present, is the originator of the Naval Academy, I will not 
 presume to touch upon the subject of that institution. 
 
 In regard to the Naval College I may say that it is only the natural 
 outgrowth of the Naval Academy. 
 
 It is the province of the College to take the graduate of the academy 
 and carry him, after an interval of sea service, to a higher course of 
 study; to the highest, in fact, of his profession War. That particular 
 name has been given to the college in order that its special mission may 
 be kept steadily in view that it may never be lost sight of. War and its 
 cognate branches constitute the college curriculum. It is only by a 
 close study of the science and art of war that we can be prepared for 
 war, and thus go very far towards securing peace. 
 
 There are two distinct methods of learning war. First, by means
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PER11Y STATUE. 43 
 
 of that school of application commonly known as the Field of Battle, 
 and, secondly, by a close study of the operations of war as taught by 
 the Great Masters of the Art. Many of the great Captains of history 
 were graduates of the former school. But of more modern times the 
 most distinguished seamen and soldiers have passed through both 
 schools. They have had their early training at the naval or military 
 schools where their minds have acquired a bent, or it may be said a 
 taste for war, or, better still, where they have obtained a glimpse of the 
 principles of the science, and their education has been completed in the 
 stern school of war itself. 
 
 I would not be understood as saying that a naval or military school 
 must necessarily possess all the attributes of a seat of learning, with 
 its extended buildings, rich libraries, a numerous corps of professors and 
 carefully arranged curriculum far from it. In the days of Lawrence 
 and Perry the quarter-deck was the true naval school. The quarter- 
 deck was the school that produced those heroes, who so firmly estab- 
 lished our naval reputation. It was the quarter-deck that produced 
 Farragut and the long list of gallant seamen who are yet too near to us 
 to admit of a proper appreciation of their virtues and their deeds. 
 Let us never forget that school ! However much we may owe to the 
 Naval Academy and we do owe it much let us never forget that earlier 
 school ! 
 
 But the War College which the government has recently established 
 here has been called into existence 4>y the generally recognized necessi- 
 ty of keeping up with the advance of knowledge; and preserving or 
 keeping fresh, the lessons of history. The college takes up the graduate 
 of the academy after an interval, during which he has been engaged in 
 the practical duties of sea service, and carries him along in the highest 
 branches of his profession not teaching war so much as allowing him, 
 or more properly of giving him the opportunity, of teaching himself, 
 war, by the lessons given us by the first masters of the art. 
 
 It is freely admitted that war cannot be taught by books alone, but 
 to say that we may not profit by a close study of the glorious examples 
 set us by the distinguished officers whose services adorn the pages of 
 our history, is to discredit education itself, and dim the lustre of the 
 name of him whose deeds we commemorate this day. 
 
 Perry was indeed one of those great captains who has given us les- 
 sons which we are to study at the War College to-day.- 
 
 The tactics to which he owed his victory were identical with those 
 practiced by the great French Admiral, De Suff ren, in the East Indies in
 
 44 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 
 
 1782, when opposed by the English naval forces under Sir Edward 
 Hughes; by Lord Rodney in the "West Indies, in his victory over Count 
 de Grasse in the same year; and by Lord Nelson at the Nile and at Tra- 
 falgar. Stated in its simplest terms, those tactics consist in leading 
 down a column of ships upon the enemy's line, cutting through, and 
 doubling upon a portion of that line, so as to place it between two 
 forces. This manoeuvre has been so fully and so clearly set forth al- 
 ready as to need no further explanation. I allude to it simply for the 
 illustration it affords of one of the many lessons of war we are now en- 
 gaged in studying at the college, and to point out more emphatically how 
 the name of Perry and the memory of his deeds must live even when 
 the "storied urn and monumental bust" shall have crumbled with decay. 
 Those who love to seek parallels in history may find one here. The 
 people of Rhode Island have raised a memorial to their favorite hero by 
 the shores of the sounding sea; so, centuries ago, did the wise Athe- 
 nians. And thus spake the "voiceful stone": 
 
 By the sea's margin, near the wat'ry strand, 
 Thy tomb, Themistocles, shall ever stand ; 
 By this direction, to his native shore, 
 The merchant shall convey his freighted store, 
 And when our fleets are summoned to the fight, 
 Athens shall conquer with thy tomb in sight." 
 
 And even so shall it be here. As the Athenian navy was the "Child 
 and champion of Athenian Democracy," so shall our modern navy be 
 the child and champion of American Democracy, using that term as de- 
 scriptive of the genius of a great people, rather than restricting it to 
 its narrower sense as applied to a political party. And when our fleets 
 are summoned to the fight, Columbia shall conquer by the spirit that has 
 descended to us from our Lawrences and our Perrys. 
 
 But who are those noble fellows, who, in all the pictures of the battle 
 of Lake Erie are represented as pulling the boat which conveyed Perry 
 from the ill-fated "Lawrence" to the "Niagara?" Let us not, in our 
 hour of gladness, forget them. An English poet sounding the praises 
 of those who survived a great naval conflict, soaring higher and higher 
 with his theme till he reaches the very climax of his song, suddenly 
 pauses, and, in a minor key, pays a tribute to the memory of the dead : 
 "Let us think of those who sleep, 
 "Full many a fathom deep, 
 "By thy wild and stormy steep, Elsinor." 
 
 Let us not forget the sailors to whom Perry owed his victory. Many 
 of them sleep beneath the waters of the lake. They made history, and
 
 INAUGURATION OP THE PERRY STATUE. 45 
 
 their comrades wrote it down for succeeding generations. With the 
 most profound respect for the distinguished historian now present, I 
 maintain that some ef our best history some of our best naval history, 
 at least, has been written by just such men as rowed Perry when he 
 shifted his flag to the "Niagara." 
 It was^a sailor who wrote that: 
 
 "We sail'd to and fro on Erie's broad lake, 
 "To find British bullies, or get in their wake; 
 "When we hoisted our canvas with true yankee speed, 
 "And the brave Captain Perry our squadron did lead. 
 The deepest and most lasting impressions received in my early days 
 were made by the historical songs our sailors were wont to sing. It 
 was from their lips I first learned how: 
 
 "Dacres came on board 
 To deliver up his sword", 
 and of the magnanimity of Hull in refusing to receive it. 
 
 They sang of the "Constellation", who had a "bold Commander, and 
 Truxton was his name", and how: 
 
 "The Constellation shone so bright, 
 
 The Frenchmen could not bear the sight 
 
 ******* 
 
 As the blood did from their scuppers run, 
 The Captain cried, 'We are undone' 
 Their flag was struck, the battle won, 
 By brave Yankee boys. 
 
 Every naval victory is honored by one or more songs. One of the best, 
 and certainly for this occasion, one of the most appropriate, records 
 that: 
 
 "With half the western world at stake, 
 See Perry on the mid-land lake, 
 
 The unequal combat dare; 
 Unawed by vastly stronger powers, 
 He met the foe and made him ours, 
 And closed the savage war." 
 
 It was the unlettered sailor who wrote these stirring ballads which 
 commemorate our early victories at sea, and which keep alive in those 
 sturdy young seamen* we have seen in the parade to-day, the spirit of 
 their fathers. Their deeds will not be forgotten; they have their memo- 
 ries preserved by a monument not reared by hands. 
 
 "Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight, 
 
 Nor Time's remorseless doom, 
 Shall dim one ray of holy light 
 That gilds their glorious tomb." 
 
 *In allusion to the naval battalion formed by the Apprentice boys 
 from the U. S. Training Squadron.
 
 46 INAUGURATION OF THE PERKY STATUE. 
 
 The ninth regular toast was: 
 
 The town of South Kingstown in which Perry was born the mother 
 of a restless progeny of good men. It has scattered its jewels over the 
 land, and yet it keeps its own casket full. 
 
 The chairman said that Coi. William H. Potter, oi Kings- 
 ton, who had taken a great practical interest in the erection 
 of the statue of Perry, had been invited to respond to this 
 sentiment, and his absence would be regretted by all present 
 who knew him, and by none more than himself, and all 
 would join him in regretting the occasion of his absence, 
 but that he had the satisfaction of presenting to the company 
 an exceedingly interesting and instructive letter which he 
 would read, and read the following : 
 
 KINGSTON, R. L, September 1st, 1885. 
 Hon. William P. Sheffield, Committee in charge of the Inauguration <^f the 
 
 Statue of CommoGtote Oliver H. Perry. 
 DEAB SIK: 
 
 Your letter of August 17, inviting me to be present at the 
 inauguration of the Statue of Commodore Oliver H. Perry on the 10th 
 of September next, and to respond "To the Birthplace of Perry" is re- 
 ceived. 
 
 My admiration for the qualities displayed by that gallant officer, the 
 long intimate and valued friendship between his son Christopher Grant 
 Perry (a type of true manhood), and myself, and also my sense of ob- 
 ligation as a citizen, would all impel me to undertake so grateful a duty. 
 But the state of my health compels me to forego it. 
 
 The victory of Lake Erie won by Commodore Perry was a most im- 
 portant one. Taking into consideration the time and circumstances, 
 the internal condition of the country, and its relations to foreign na- 
 tions, its importance can scarcely be over estimated. 
 
 The battle was hot and decisive, and at one time it was seemingly lost. 
 The occurrence tested the man. He was equal to the emergency and 
 by his personal prowess, quickly turned defeat into a brilliant victory, 
 and the result was modestly, yet most tersely stated in those memora- 
 ble; words of Perry, "We have met the enemy and they are ours two 
 ships, , two brigs, one sloop and one schooner." 
 
 The history of this battle is preserved in an address delivered before
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE PERRY STATUE. 47 
 
 the E. I. Historical society by Dr. Usher Parsons in February, 1852. Dr. 
 Parsons was surgeon on board the Lawrence. 
 
 Though late, it is fit, wise and right that this statue should be erect- 
 ed not however so much to extend or perpetuate the fame of him in 
 whose honor it is erected, as to evince that we are neither unmindful of, 
 nor ungrateful for the great services he rendered to his country. 
 
 As to him, his virtues and his valor, his name and fame are already 
 enshrined and embalmed in the hearts of his countrymen. 
 
 The statue and the occasion would fail of their highest and grandest 
 purpose, if confined to personal laudation of its object and none I 
 think would deprecate this more than he whom it emblems. 
 
 To suppose that mere personal ambition, the love of fame, were the 
 motives which actuated him, it is to degrade the man, and to belittle all 
 his achievements. It would do him great injustice. 
 
 ills patriotism was of the old-fashioned kind that which consisted 
 in confering a benefit on his country without pecuniary reward, not in 
 filching money or profit from it. 
 
 Patriotism of recent times begins and ends in the jiatrJot's pocket. As 
 Holmes says: "And freeborn statesmen legislate fltri steal" and have 
 their (Honorable?) constituents for accomplices, and with them they 
 divide the spoils. 
 
 "The birthplace of Perry", his native state and country need patriot- 
 ism of the stamp of '76, and of the tenth of September, 1813, and we 
 need it in peace as well as in war. It is said, peace hath its victories as 
 well as war, and let me add it has its duties too. Honest and brave pa- 
 triotism are as essential to the preservation of our liberties in peace, as 
 are courage and valor to achieve or defend them in war. 
 
 Khode Island has a rich and precious heritage in her traditions and 
 history, and in the principles of civil and religious liberty upon which 
 her government was founded. Let not this heritage be lost, either from 
 love of lucre, or by corruption and degeneracy. 
 
 Let this statue inspire all, especially the sons of Rhode Island now and 
 hereafter to emulate and practice that genuine and unselfish patriotism of 
 which he, whom it symbolizes, was so illustrious an example. 
 
 Yours Truly, 
 
 WILLIAM H. POTTEK. 
 
 The chairman then stated that the Honorable Matthew 
 C. Butler, a senator in Congress from South Carolina, and a
 
 48 INAUGURATION OF THE PEREY STATUE. 
 
 nephew of Commodore Perry, had been expected to be 
 present and to answer to the toast : 
 
 The Congress of the United States, it holds the purse of the na- 
 tion and controls the life-blood of the navy. May it ever remember that 
 a thorough preparation for war is the greatest security for peace. 
 
 The chairman stated that he had received a telegram in 
 the morning from Senator Butler, informing him that an un- 
 favorable turn in the sickness of his daughter, who had been 
 for some time ill, to his very great regret prevented him from 
 being present. 
 
 The chairman then introduced the artist, Captain William 
 G. Turner, to the audience, and said that Captain Turner 
 was too modest to address them, but was willing to have 
 his work speak for him. 
 
 Captain Turner was greeted with great heartiness and en- 
 thusiasm by the audience .
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 [APPENDIX A.] 
 
 Memorandum of Subscribers to the Perry Monument Fund, 
 
 David King, Jr $100 00 
 
 George W. Gibbs. 100 00 
 
 Theodore K. Gibbs, 100 00 
 
 George Peabody Wetmore 250 00 
 
 William P. Sheffield 200 00 
 
 E. J. Anderson, 100 00 
 
 John N. A. Griswold 100 00 
 
 Edmund Tweedy 50 00 
 
 William H. Sherman 50 00 
 
 Alfred Smith 200 00 
 
 J. P. Hazard 25 00 
 
 William Dehon King 25 00 
 
 George H. Norman 100 00 
 
 Lewis Brown 15 00 
 
 William B. Weeden 25 00 
 
 Augustus P. Sherman 5 00 
 
 Benjamin Bateman : 10 00 
 
 James C. Swan 10 00 
 
 Mrs. Anna Pell 50 00 
 
 George H. Calvert 100 00 
 
 Benjamin F. Downing, Jr 1 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 George W. Flagg 1 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 Albert Sherman 5 00 
 
 Cash.. 3 00 
 
 Thomas Dunn 10 00 
 
 Thomas Galvin 5 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 Cash 2 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 A. C. Titus 25 00 
 
 Mary H. Bailey 50 00 
 
 Eugene Hartman 10 00 
 
 Seth W. Macy 10 00 
 
 Col. John Hare Powel 50 00 
 
 Newport Artillery Company 50 00 
 
 John G. Weaver & Son 75 00 
 
 William A. Clarke. . 100 00
 
 52 APPENDIX. 
 
 Joseph W. Hammett 10 00 
 
 William Gilpin and wife 10 00 
 
 Richard Cornell * 50 00 
 
 John A. C. Stacy 25 00 
 
 T. Mumford Seabury 25 00 
 
 Charles E. Hammett, Jr 10 00 
 
 William H. Potter 150 00 
 
 John E. Seabury 2 00 
 
 William A. Stedman ; 2 00 
 
 William E. Dennis 500 
 
 Capt. John Waters 500 
 
 Philip Rider 5 00 
 
 Samuel Smith 5 00 
 
 John Connelly 1 00 
 
 A. C. Landers 5 00 
 
 William C. Congdon 5 00 
 
 John H. Cozzens & Son 5 00 
 
 William P. Sheffield, Jr 10 00 
 
 Henry Bull, Jr 5 00 
 
 John H. Crosby, Jr 5 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 Rodman Cornell 2 00 
 
 H. B. Wood 1 00 
 
 Melville Bull 5 00 
 
 William J. Swinburne 5 00 
 
 John C. Stoddard 2 00 
 
 Thomas W. Wood 2 00 
 
 Charles S. Murray 1 00 
 
 Cash 5 00 
 
 James H. Hammett 5 00 
 
 George M. Dockray 2 00 
 
 B. B. H. Sherman 2 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 George Denniston 10 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 Albert K. Sherman 5 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 J. M. K. Southwick 2 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 Cash 200 
 
 Cash 200 
 
 Henry W. Cozzens 5 00 
 
 Edward W. Lawton 5 00 
 
 Cash 1 00 
 
 William P. Clarke 2 00 
 
 John Rogers 2 00 
 
 Cash.. 1 00
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 53 
 
 Cash 400 
 
 P. H. Horgan 1 00 
 
 Cash 5 00 
 
 L. L. Simmons 5 00 
 
 McAdam & Openshaw 5 00 
 
 Henry H. Young 5 00 
 
 Oliver Head 2000 
 
 Henry E. Turner 20 00 
 
 J. G. Spingler 1 00 
 
 Thomas Coggeshall 10 00 
 
 J. P. Cotton 500 
 
 Arnold L. Burdick 5 00 
 
 Robert S. Franklin 10 00 
 
 William O. Greene 10 00 
 
 Cash L. B 1000 
 
 Cash L. B.. 10 00 
 
 $2,557.00 
 
 [APPENDIX B.] 
 
 The committee have been enabled from assistance received from Geo. 
 C. Mason, Esq. , and others, to ascertain the names of the following men 
 who left Newport for Lake Erie, but they fear that the names of the res- 
 idue are lost beyond recovery. The names of those who have been 
 brought to their notice are: 
 
 George Cornell, 
 Stephen Fairfielcl, 
 Silas Tiffany, 
 Charles Pohig, 
 James Bird, 
 Benjamin Easton, 
 Newport Hazard, 
 John Fox, 
 James A. Perry, 
 William M. Dyne, 
 William Stevens, 
 Joseph Austin, 
 William Cozzens, 
 Jeremiah Harry, 
 Benjamin Reynolds, 
 Nicholas Narbourn, 
 William Gardner, 
 Joseph Simpson, 
 George Dunwell, 
 Joshua Hiscox, 
 William James, 
 
 Henlick Huddy, 
 William Weeden, 
 Jonathan Tallman, 
 George Southwick, 
 Robert Tyler, 
 Daniel Albert, 
 Elisha Smith, 
 JohnR. Sheffield, 
 Joseph Southwick, 
 John Sterne, 
 Benjamin Marble, 
 Isaac Peckham, 
 John Gurney, 
 Wilson Mays 
 Francis Fowler, 
 William Cranston, 
 Hannibal Collins, 
 Westerly Johnston, 
 Peleg Denham, 
 William Read, 
 Caleb Fish, 
 
 Daniel Albro. 
 
 Thomas Sweet, 
 George Williams, 
 John Welch, 
 Andrew Griffin, 
 Peter Kinley, 
 John McDonald, 
 James Phillips, 
 Parker H. Lawton, 
 Charles Smith, 
 John Norton, 
 Elias Spear, 
 John Coddington, 
 James Hadwin, 
 Nathan Chapman, 
 Robert Graham, 
 Caleb Butts, 
 Simeon Doty, 
 John Brownell, 
 Robert Fergurson, 
 John P. Hammond, 
 Caleb Mumford.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [APPENDIX C.] 
 PERRY'S VICTORY- 
 
 Ye tars of Columbia, give ear to my story, 
 
 Who fought with brave Perry, where cannon's did roar, 
 Your valor has gained you an immortal glory, 
 
 A fame that shall last till time is no more. 
 Columbian tars are the true sons of Mars, 
 
 They rake fore and aft when they fight on the deep ; 
 On the bed of Lake Erie, commanded by Perry, 
 
 They caused many Britons to take their last sleep. 
 
 The tenth of September let us all remember, 
 
 So long as the globe on her axis rolls round; 
 Our tars and marines on Lake Erie were seen 
 
 To make the proud flag of Great Britain come down. 
 The van of our fleet, the British to meet, 
 
 Commanded by Perry, the Lawrence bore down; 
 Her guns they did roar with such terrific power 
 
 That savages trembled at the dreadful sound. 
 
 The Lawrence sustained a most dreadful fire; 
 
 She fought three to one for two glasses or more; 
 While Perry undaunted, did firmly stand by her, 
 
 The proud foe on her heavy broadsides did pour. 
 Her masts being shattered, her rigging all tattered, 
 
 Her booms and her yards being all shot away, 
 And few left on deck to manage the wreck, 
 
 Our hero on board her no longer could stay. 
 
 In this situation, the pride of our nation, 
 
 Sure heaven had guarded unhurt all the while, 
 While many a hero, maintaining his station, 
 
 Fell close by his side and was thrown on the pile. 
 But mark you, and wonder, when elements thunder, 
 
 When death and destruction are stalking all round, 
 His flag he did carry on board the Niagara; 
 
 Such valor on record was never yet found. 
 
 There is one gallant act of our noble commander, 
 
 While writing my song, I must notice with pride; 
 While launched in the boat that carried the standard, 
 
 A ball whistled through her just close by his side. 
 Says Perry, "The rascals intend for to drown us, 
 
 But push on, my brave boys, you never need fear!" 
 And with his own coat he plugg'd up the boat, 
 
 And through fire and sulphur away did he steer.
 
 APPENDIX. 55 
 
 The famed Niagara, now proud of her Perry, 
 
 Display' d all her banners in gallant array; 
 And twenty-five guns on her deck she did carry, 
 
 Which soon put an end to this bloody affray. 
 The rear of our fleet was brought up complete, 
 
 The signal was given to break through the line ; 
 While starboard and larboard, and from every quarter, 
 
 The lamps of Columbia did gloriously shine. 
 
 The bold British lion roar'd out his last thunder, 
 
 When Perry attacked him close in the rear ; 
 Columbia's eagle soon made him crouch under, 
 
 And roar out for quarter, as soon you shall hear. 
 O, had you been there, I now do declare, 
 
 Such a sight as you never had seen before 
 Six red bloody flags, that no longer could wag, 
 
 All lay at the feet of our brave commodore. 
 
 Brave Elliot, whose valor must now be recorded, 
 
 On board the Niagara so well play'd his part, 
 His gallant assistance to Perry afforded, 
 
 We'll place him the second on Lake Erie's chart. 
 In the midst of the battle, when guns they did rattle, 
 
 The Lawrence a wreck and the men most all slain, 
 Away he did steer, and brought up the rear, 
 
 And by this manoeuvre the victory was gained. 
 
 O, had you but seen those noble commanders 
 
 Embracing each other when the conflict was o'er, 
 And viewing all those invincible standards 
 
 That never had yielded to any before ! 
 Says Perry, "Brave Elliot, give me your hand, sir; 
 
 This day we have gained an immortal renown ; 
 So long as Columbia Lake Erie commands, sir, 
 
 Let brave Captain Elliot with laurels be crowned.' ' 
 
 Great Britain may boast of her conquering heroes, 
 Her Rodneys, her Nelsons and all the whole crew; 
 
 But none in their glory have told such a story, 
 Nor boasted such feats as Columbians do. 
 
 The whole British fleet was captured complete, 
 Not one single vessel from us got away ; 
 
 And prisoners some hundreds, Columbians wondere d 
 To see them all anchored and moored in our bay. 
 
 May heaven still smile on the shades of our heroes, 
 Who fought in that conflict their country to save, 
 
 And check the proud spirit of those murdering bravoes 
 That wish to divide us and make us all slaves.
 
 56 APPENDIX. 
 
 Columbians sing and make the woods ring, 
 We'll toast those brave heroes by sea and by land ; 
 
 While Britains drink Cherry, Columbians, Perry, 
 We'll toast him about with full glass in hand. 
 
 AMERICAN PERRY- 
 
 Tune "Abraham Newland." 
 
 Bold Barclay one day, 
 
 To Proctor did say, 
 "I'm tired of Jamaica and sherry; 
 
 So let us go down, 
 
 To that new floating town, 
 And get some American Perry ! 
 Oh, cheap American Perry! 
 Most pleasant American Perry ! 
 
 We need only all 
 
 Bear down, knock and call 
 And we'll have this American Perry. 
 
 "The landlady's kind, 
 Weak, simple and blind 
 
 We'll soon be triumphantly merry; 
 We've cash in the locker, 
 Our custom shall shock her, 
 
 And we'll soon get a taste of her Perry. 
 Oh, American Perry! 
 The sparkling American Perry ! 
 No trouble we'll find 
 Your orders to mind, 
 
 So away for American Perry. 
 
 All ready for play 
 They've got under way, 
 
 With hearts light and right voluntary ; 
 But when they came there 
 They quickly did stare, 
 
 At the taste of American Perry. 
 Oh, the American Perry ! 
 Sparkling American Perry ! 
 How great the deception, 
 When such a reception 
 
 They met from American Perry! 
 
 They thought such a change 
 Was undoubtedly strange, 
 
 And rued their unlucky vagary;
 
 APPENDIX. 57 
 
 "Your liquor's too hot, 
 
 Keep it still in the pot, 
 
 Oh, cork your American Perry ! 
 
 Oh, this American Perry ! . 
 
 Fiery American Perry ! 
 By all that is evil, 
 It's a dose for the devil, 
 Oh, curse your American Perry!" 
 
 Full sorely they knew 
 
 The scrape would not do, 
 'Twould ruin his Majesty's ferry, 
 
 So they tried to turn tail, 
 
 With a rag of a sail, 
 And quit this American Perry. 
 Oh, this American Perry ! 
 Flashing American Perry ! 
 
 But crossing the lake 
 
 Was all a mistake, 
 They had swallowed so much of the Perry. 
 
 Then Barclay exclaimed : 
 
 "I cannot be blamed. 
 For well I've defended each wherry; 
 
 My men are so drunk 
 
 And some so defunct, 
 If I strike to American Perry. 
 Oh, this American Perry! 
 Thundering American Perry ! 
 
 Such hot distillation, 
 
 Would fuddle our nation, 
 Should it taste this American Perry." 
 
 The stuff did so bruise 
 
 His staggering crews, 
 That some with their feet were unwary. 
 
 While some had their brains 
 
 Knocked out for their pains, 
 By this shocking American Perry. 
 Oh, American Perry! 
 Outrageous American Perry ! 
 
 Old tough British tars, 
 
 All covered with scars, 
 Capsized by American Perry. 
 
 The Indians on shore 
 Made a horrible roar, 
 And left every ground nut and berry : 
 Then scampered away, 
 For no relish had they
 
 58 APPENDIX* 
 
 For a close of American Perry. 
 Oh, American Perry! 
 Confounding American Perry ! 
 While General Proctor 
 Looked on like a doctor, 
 At the deadly American Perry. 
 
 The Briton was sick, 
 Being Pear-ed to the quick, 
 
 And his vessels were quite fragmentary; 
 So scolding his luck, 
 He prudently struck 
 
 To a stream of American Perry. 
 Oh, American Perry! 
 Persevering American Perry ! 
 A whole British fleet, 
 Ship to ship has been beat 
 
 By an American Commodore Perry. 
 
 On American ground, 
 Where such spirit is found, 
 
 Let us toast deep the Heroes of Erie, 
 And never forget 
 Those whose life's sun did set, 
 
 By the side of their Commodore Perry. 
 Oh, brave American Perry ! 
 Triumphant American Perry ! 
 Let us ever remember 
 The Tenth of September, 
 
 When a Fleet struck to Commodore Perry. 
 
 ELEGY 
 
 On the disinterment of the remains of Commodore O. H. Perry by an 
 officer of the Lexington. 
 
 From his lonely grave by the sea-washed sand 
 
 To the clime of his fame we bore him, 
 For he could not rest in a foreign land 
 
 With the red cross waving o'er him: 
 So we covered his breast with the stars of light, 
 
 In the flag that he loved so dearly, 
 When he met the proud foe in his might, 
 
 And the battle followed cheerly. 
 
 With mourning flag half-mast displayed, 
 We roused our drums to meet him,
 
 APPENDIX. 59 
 
 And fore and aft we stood arrayed 
 
 With minute guns to greet him ; 
 While memory showed him ever nigh, 
 
 As, he looked when fame had crowned him, 
 With victory beaming from his eye, 
 
 And freedom cheering round him. 
 
 Like some bright flower that meets its doom 
 
 Where the scorching winds have hasted, 
 Like some young pine, whose mountain bloom 
 
 The bolts of heaven have wasted; 
 So fell the beautiful and brave, 
 
 In the Zenith of his glory, 
 With a nation's tears to wet his grave, 
 
 And embalm his name in story. 
 
 Then strew his bier with early flowers, 
 
 And wave the laurel o'er him 
 Who made the sea's proud mistress "ours," 
 
 That none had done before him. 
 Let ocean hear and roll along, 
 
 Till winds and floods are weary, 
 
 While music wakes the chords of song 
 
 For the Hero of Lake Erie. 
 
 LINES 
 On the removal of the remains of Commodore O. H. Perry. 
 
 [From the Norfolk Herald, December, 1826.] 
 
 'Tis well 'tis right! he should not sleep 
 
 Upon a foreign strand, 
 Beyond the wild and mournful deep, 
 
 But in his native land. 
 
 His native land, that boasts his birth, 
 
 And cherishes the fame 
 Of one whose high heroic worth 
 
 Does honor to her name. 
 
 Nor should that city, fond as fair, 
 
 Embrace him all alone, 
 But it should be Columbia's care 
 
 To claim him for her own.
 
 60 APPENDIX, 
 
 And she should lay her warrior down 
 
 By Erie's conscious wave; 
 The shore that witness'd his renown 
 
 Would yield him fittest grave. 
 
 There set the stone let laurels grow 
 
 Around it fairest flowers, 
 And grave these words "We've met the foe,' 
 
 What else? "and they are ours."
 
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