To confess the truth we have done nothing adequate to the situation since the Civil War, nor has anything adequate been attempted; but the people who have promoted the work of our nautical schools have seen dimly what the whole story of the American merchant marine proclaims. The pretty pinnace Virginia thirty feet long, as she crossed and recrossed the Atlantic; the Trial in the Azores and the West Indies; the Mount Vernon as she dodged pirates, privateers, and war fleets in her seventeen-day passage from Salem to Gibraltar; the Empress of China in her venture to the Far East; the sealers among the icy rocks of the Antarctic; the whalers beyond Bering's Straits; the packets of the sail as they crossed from New York to Liverpool; and the clippers that flaunted the Stars and Stripes off the weather beam of every ship they met on the Seven Seas,—in short, the whole story of the American merchant marine has been worth consideration here because it sets forth unmistakably that the superior intrinsic efficiency of the American sailor of the sail, during the contest that culminated with the perfection of the ship of the sail, gave supremacy to the American flag. We can buy ships—whole fleets of them—if we are willing to pay the price, and we can maintain them upon the high seas in like manner; but we shall never again see the Stars and Stripes triumphant upon the high seas until the American environment evolves, once more, by natural process, the nautical unit as efficient for the modern day as was our ship of the sail in the days long past.
Footnotes
[1] This board was created by an Order in Council dated July 4 (nowhere mentioned as "a beautiful coincidence"), 1660, "to receive, hear, examine and deliberate" upon all matters concerning the colonies, and report the facts and their conclusions to the king.
[2] The Story of New England Whalers gives a satisfactory history of the American whale fishery.
[3] Many vessels went out without cannon, expecting to capture guns from the enemy.
[4] The following is the inventory of the cargo of the sloop Charming Sally, which "cleared out from Dominica to Newfoundland," and was eventually considered as a prize by the Continental Congress: "1300 bushels of salt; 14 hogsheads of molasses; 120 gallons of rum; 65 reams of writing paper; 1 hogshead and 27 demijohns of claret wine; 27 bottles of French cordials; 5 cases of oil of olives and anchovies; 4 ankers of brandy; 150,000 pins; 24 pairs of wool cards; 10 pieces of linen and checks; 500 pounds of shot; 1 cask of powder; 150 pounds of coffee; 4 umbrellas; 100 yards of osnaburghs; 4 beaver hats; 1 Negro man; 1 suit of velvet; 1 suit of black cloth; 1 suit of light-colored cloth; 1 suit of purple cloth; 2½ dozen of shirts; 2 dozen of neck cloths; 3 dozen of handkerchiefs; 4 dozen of silk and thread stockings; 3 dozen of linen waistcoats and breeches; 2 chintz nightgowns; several short coats; great coat and cloak; ½ piece of cambrick; 8 yards of crimson silk; 1 dozen pair of French laced ruffles; bedding; table linen; musket sword; pistols; 2 blunderbusses; quadrant and other instruments; small library of books."
[5] The sea letter given to Captain Green read as follows: "Most serene, most puissant, puissant, high illustrious, noble, honorable, venerable, wise and prudent emperors, kings, republics, princes, dukes, earls, barons, lords, burgomasters, councellors, as also judges, officers, justiciaries, and regents of all the good cities and places, whether ecclesiastical or secular, who shall see these patents or hear them read:
"We the United States in Congress assembled, make known, that John Green, captain of the ship called the Empress of China, is a citizen of the United States of America, and that the ship which he commands belongs to citizens of the said United States, and as we wish to see the said John Green prosper in his lawful affairs, our prayer to all the before mentioned and to each of them separately, where the said John Green shall arrive with his vessel and cargo, that they may please to receive him with goodness, and treat him in a becoming manner, permitting him upon the usual tolls and expenses in passing and repassing, to pass, navigate and frequent the ports, passes and territories, to the end, to transact his business where and in what manner he shall judge proper, whereof we shall be willingly indebted."
This letter was signed by the president and the secretary of Congress.
[6] See James Rogers and His Descendants, by James Swift Rogers, Boston, 1902. There is also other evidence that it was Captain Moses Rogers, but the New York papers of the period do not give the first name of the captain in what they say about this first passage. Captain Rogers left the Clermont on reaching Albany.