The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Admirals, by J. Fenimore Cooper

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Title: The Two Admirals

Author: J. Fenimore Cooper

Release Date: January 29, 2007 [EBook #20475]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE TWO ADMIRALS.

A Tale BY James Fenimore Cooper

THE AUTHOR OF

"THE PILOT," "RED ROVER," "WATER-WITCH," "HOMEWARD BOUND," ETC.

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
REVISED AND CORRECTED
WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION, NOTES, &c,
By the Author.

NEW YORK:
GEORGE P. PUTNAM & Co., 10 PARK PLACE.
1852.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by
STRINGER & TOWNSEND,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for
the Southern District of New York.

STEREOTYPED BY
BILLIN & BROTHERS,
10 NORTH WILLIAM STREET, N.Y.
R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER

Come, all ye kindred chieftains of the deep,
In mighty phalanx round your brother bend;
Hush every murmur that invades his sleep,
And guard the laurel that o'ershades your friend.

_Lines on Trippe._

PREFACE.

It is a strong proof of the diffusive tendency of every thing in this
country, that America never yet collected a fleet. Nothing is wanting to
this display of power but the will. But a fleet requires only one
commander, and a feeling is fast spreading in the country that we ought
to be all commanders; unless the spirit of unconstitutional innovation,
and usurpation, that is now so prevalent, at Washington, be controlled,
we may expect to hear of proposals to send a committee of Congress to
sea, in command of a squadron. We sincerely hope that their first
experiment may be made on the coast of Africa.

It has been said of Napoleon that he never could be made to understand
why his fleets did not obey his orders with the same accuracy, as to
time and place, as