miral," which was supposed to have some insidious connection with
monarchical institutions. Even so sensible and thoughtful a man as our
sailmaker, who was a devout disciple and constant reader of Horace
Greeley, with the advanced political tendencies of the _Tribune_, said
to me: "Call them admirals! Never! They will be wanting to be dukes
next." We had hit, therefore, on a compromise, quite accordant with
the transition decade 1850-1860, and styled them flag-officers;
concerning which it might be said that all admirals are
flag-officers, but all flag-officers were not admirals--not American
flag-officers, at all events. As a further element in the compromise,
instead of the broad swallow-tailed pendant of a commodore, our
previous flag-rank, we carried the square flag at the mizzen
indicative in all navies of a rear-admiral, to which we gave a
rear-admiral's salute of thirteen guns, and expected the same from
foreigners; while all the time the recipient stood on our _Navy
Register_ as a captain, only temporarily brevetted Flag-officer. Well
do I remember the dismay of our flag-officer when, quitting a British
ship of war, she fired the customary salute, and stopped at eleven--a
commodore's perquisite. The hit was harder, because the old gentleman
was particularly fond of the English, having received from them great
hospitality incidental to his commanding the ship of war which carried
part of the American exhibition to the World's Fair of 1851. An "_Et
tu, Brute_" expression came over his face, as he sank back with a
sorrowful exclamation in the stern-sheets of the barge, which, as
nautical convention requires, was lying motionless, oars horizontal, a
ship's-length away; when, lo and behold, as a kind of appendix to the
previous proceedings, bang! bang! went two more guns, filling the
baker's dozen. It was, of course, somewhat limping, but the apology
was sufficient.

Salutes are as liable to accidents as are other affairs of
well-regulated households, and a little more so; a gun misses fire, or
somebody counts wrong, or what not. On the _Congress_ we rarely had
trouble, for the greatest number of guns is twenty-one--a national
salute--and on our main deck we had thirty, any part of which could be
ready. If one missed fire, the gun next abaft stepped in. If near
enough, you might hear the primer snap, but the error of interval was
barely appreciable--the effect stood. Laymen may not know that the
manner of the salute