s, crushed coalitions, and overturned thrones; but,
like the fabled giant, he was unconquerable only while he touched the
land. On the ocean he was powerless. That field of fame was his
adversary's, and her meteor flag was streaming in triumph over its whole
extent.

To her maritime ascendency England owed every thing, and we were now at
war with her. One of the most charming of her poets had said of her,--

"Her march is o'er the mountain waves,
Her home is on the deep."

Now, Sir, since we were at war with her, I was for intercepting this
march; I was for calling upon her, and paying our respects to her, at
home; I was for giving her to know that we, too, had a right of way over
the seas, and that our marine officers and our sailors were not entire
strangers on the bosom of the deep. I was for doing something more with
our navy than keeping it on our own shores, for the protection of our
coasts and harbors; I was for giving play to its gallant and burning
spirit; for allowing it to go forth upon the seas, and to encounter, on
an open and an equal field, whatever the proudest or the bravest of the
enemy could bring against it. I knew the character of its officers and
the spirit of its seamen; and I knew that, in their hands, though the
flag of the country might go down to the bottom, yet, while defended by
them, that it could never be dishonored or disgraced.

Since she was our enemy, and a most powerful enemy, I was for touching
her, if we could, in the very apple of her eye; for reaching the highest
feather in her cap; for clutching at the very brightest jewel in her
crown. There seemed to me to be a peculiar propriety in all this, as the
war was undertaken for the redress of maritime injuries alone. It was a
war declared for free trade and sailors' rights. The ocean, therefore,
was the proper theatre for deciding this controversy with our enemy, and
on that theatre it was my ardent wish that our own power should be
concentrated to the utmost.

So much, Sir, for the war, and for my conduct and opinions as connected
with it. And, as I do not mean to recur to this subject often, nor ever,
unless indispensably necessary, I repeat the demand for any charge, any
accusation, any allegation whatever, that throws me behind the honorable
gentleman, or behind any other man, in honor, in fidelity, in devoted
love to that country in which I was born, which has honored me, and
which I serve. I, who seldom deal in def