the nerve with which the attack was made and the completeness of
the surprise. Nothing miscarried, and no success could have been
more complete. Nelson, at that time in the Mediterranean, and the
best judge of a naval exploit as well as the greatest naval
commander who has ever lived, pronounced it "the most bold and
daring act of the age." We meet no single feat exactly like it in
our own naval history, brilliant as that has been, until we come
to Cushing's destruction of the A1bemarle in the war of the
rebellion. In the years that have elapsed, and among the great
events that have occurred since that time, Decatur's burning of
the Philadephia has been well-nigh forgotten; but it is one of
those feats of arms which illustrate the high courage of American
seamen, and which ought always to be remembered.



THE CRUISE OF THE "WASP"

A crash as when some swollen cloud
Cracks o'er the tangled trees!
With side to side, and spar to spar,
Whose smoking decks are these?
I know St. George's blood-red cross,
Thou mistress of the seas,
But what is she whose streaming bars
Roll out before the breeze?

Ah, well her iron ribs are knit,
Whose thunders strive to quell
The bellowing throats, the blazing lips,