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U.S.4924.15.2

1850 Scht 5

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STATE OF CONNECTICUT: $5.

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L. S. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the eighth day of January, in the forty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, S. Putnam Waldo, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit:- "The Life and Character of Stephen Decatur; late Commodore and Post-Captain in the Navy of the United States, and Navy-Commissioner interspersed with brief notices of the origin, progress and achievements of the American Navy. Our Children, they are the Property of our Country.'-Toast of Com. Decatur's Father, 1804. By S. Putnam Waldo, Esq. Compiler of" Robbins' Journal," author of the "President's Tour," ""Memoirs of Jackson," &c. &c. In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."

CHAS. A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me,

CHAS. A. INGERSOLL,

Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

25-18

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ACCOMPLISHED AND GALLANT MEN,

PERMIT an American Citizen, as a small tribute of admiration for your naval science, nautical skill, and gallant achievements, to offer this volume to you. He hopes to find a shield for its imperfections, in the frankness and candour of your characters. It would be the consummation of vanity to suppose that any efforts of his, could elevate the character of STEPHEN DECATUR in your estimation; and it is a real consolation to reflect that it cannot be depressed by the manner in which it is pourtrayed. The very brief and imperfect notices of the achievements of the American Navy, as connected with the Life and Character of Commodore Decatur, will be excused from the extreme brevity with which they are alluded to. The splendour of your achievements has given to the American Republic, an exalted rank through the Eastern World-the hopes of the Western Hemisphere are fixed upon the American Navy.

With undissembled respect,

I am your admiring fellow-citizen,

S. PUTNAM WALDO,

7

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION,

THE rapid sale of the first Edition of this Volume, was the ixducement for publishing the present very large Edition.

The wri

ter is, of course, precluded from saying any thing of the merits of the work, in regard to the manner in which it is executed : but he will certainly escape the imputation of vanity, when he assures the candid reader, that, in “point of fact" it has been pronounced accurate by those who were best calculated to judge of its accuracy.

The Volume contains the first minute biography of any of the distinguished heroes, who commenced their naval profession in the American School in the Mediterranean Sea. The writer began, prosecuted, and ended the memoir with a solicitude which was sensibly felt by himself, but which he could not possibly impart to the readers of this rapidly written volume.

The author, since the publication of the first Edition, has enjoyed the pleasure of interviews with distinguished officers of the navy, who have condescended to peruse it; and whose gentlemanlike civility has pronounced it correct. Their opinion gives a value to the Volume, which the writer certainly did not attach to it himself.

The Publisher of the present Edition has spared no pains or expense to add to the little value the work originally possessed. The "Miniature Memoirs" of BAINBRIDGE, PORTER, LAWRENCE,

and MACDONOUGH, were furnished by another hand; and whatever merits or defects they contain, cannot be attached to the writer of the volume. The succinct sketch cf the American Navy was also from another hand, and will be judged of, upon the same principle.

The list of the Post-Captains, Masters-Commandant, and Lieutenants, with their places of birth, date of Commissions, and Stations, must be interesting to every reader-more especially to their immediate friends. The list of Midshipmen will excite interest also. Although these accomplished young gentlemen are in a minor grade, and have a long list of seniors above them, they may reflect, with proud satisfaction, that they are in the station, in which STEPHEN DECATUR commenced his career, and from which he ascended to the acme of human glory.

The liberality and the taste of the Publisher has ornamented the volume with four elegant copperplate engravings, executed rapidly by a young artist, who is already a promising candidate for fame, in the admirable "GRAPHIC ART." These will certainly impart a value to the volume, and compensate for the want of interest in its composition.

Should the same indulgence be extended to this, as has been shewn to the other productions of the writer, it will add to the zeal which he feels in a work, which now engrosses his attention"Sketches of American Naval Heroes in the War of the Revolution.* THE AUTHOR.

Middletown, August 1821.

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