exert all the powers with which nature had gifted
him. The conditions of 1861 were very different from those of 1838; but
the officer who was found awake to the first in their day would not be
behind the others in theirs. The letter concluded with a pregnant
observation, which deserves to be quoted as thoroughly characteristic of
the writer: "I have already said too much for a letter to any other
person of your rank; but I flatter myself that I know your love of
improvement, and that my intentions will be duly appreciated. If we who
wander about the world do not keep those at home informed of the daily
improvements in other navies, how can we hope to improve, particularly
when we see men impressed with the idea that because they once gained a
victory, they can do it again? So they may, but I can tell them it must
be with the means of 1838, and not those of 1812." This transmission of
information concerning the progress of other navies, upon which
Farragut laid such just stress, is now systematized and perfected under
a particular branch of the Navy Department, known as the Office of Naval
Intelligence. Upon every ship afloat there is an officer whose duty is
to observe and report to that office upon such matters, and upon all the
experiences of foreign navies which are open to the examination of
outsiders.

After the French affair at Vera Cruz the Erie returned to Pensacola, and
there on the 12th of January, 1839, Farragut gave up the command to an
officer of senior rank and went home. Upon his arrival in Norfolk,
finding his wife's health to be very precarious, he remained unemployed
until her death, which occurred on the 27th of December, 1840. "No more
striking illustration of his gentleness of character," says his
biography by his son, "is shown than in Farragut's attention to his
invalid wife. His tenderness in contributing to her every comfort, and
catering to every whim, through sixteen years of suffering, forms one of
the brightest spots in the history of his domestic life. When not at
sea, he was constantly by her side, and proved himself a faithful and
skillful nurse. It was the subject of remark by all who were thrown with
him; and a lady of Norfolk said, 'When Captain Farragut dies, he should
have a monument reaching to the skies, made by every wife in the city
contributing a stone.'"

CHAPTER V.

COMMANDER AND CAPTAIN.

1841-1860.

Immediately after the death of his wife Farragut applied for s