With rapturous hail, her youthful hero greet;
Meek in his triumph, as in danger calm.
With reverent hands he takes the victor’s palm;
His wreath of conquest on Faith’s altar lays,
To his brave comrades yields the meed of praise.
“We have met the Enemy and they are Ours.”
From the “Naval Monument.”
And when they had sung their songs, one who could talk stood up to tell anew the story of this, the first battle in which the Americans had fought with a squadron, and the first battle in the history of the world when the commander of a British squadron had been compelled to haul down his flag. It was a story that young and old heard with rapt and silent interest, until at its close they rose and with the thrill of triumph in their veins, shouted to the immortal words in which Perry announced his victory:
“We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop.”