The magazine died, but the Lyceum lived on to do a good work for many years, notably during our great civil war. It is still flourishing and is visited by tens of thousands of persons from all parts of our country.
Perry had already made his reputation as a scientific student. His motto was “semper paratus.” He was ever in readiness for work. The British Admiralty and the United States government were desirous of fuller information about the tides and currents of the Atlantic ocean, especially those off Rhode Island and in the Sound. Chosen for the work, Perry received orders, June 1st, to spend a lunar month on Gardiner’s Island. The congenial task afforded a pleasant break in the monotony of life in the navy yard, and revived memories of the war of 1812. The careful observations which he made during the month of June, embodied in a report, were adopted into the United States and British Admiralty charts. He returned home June 29.
Though Commodore Ridgley was officer-in-chief in the yard, upon Perry fell most of the active clerical and superintending work. The frigate, United States, was fitting out for service in the Mediterranean, and one of the young midshipmen ordered to report to her was the gentleman who afterwards became Rear-Admiral George H. Preble, a gallant soldier, fighter of Chinese pirates, and author of the History of the American Flag and of Steam Navigation.
He reported to the Navy Yard, May 1, 1836, in trembling anxiety as to his reception by his superiors. The commandant was absent at the horse-races on the Long Island course, so young Preble returned to New York, to his hotel, and again reported May 3.
His first impressions of Master Commandant Perry are shown in the following doggerel, written in a letter to his sister:
“Charley again was at the race,
But I was minded that the place
Should own me as a Mid.
And since the Com. was making merry,
Reported to big-whiskered Perry