“Having previously obtained my passports, and being advised that the editor of the _Royal Gazette_ was taking measures to employ the civil authority against me, I left the island the next day for the United States. “I am, Gentlemen, etc., etc.,” “R. B. RANDOLPH, Midshipman, “Late of the U. S. frigate _President_” Upon Decatur’s return to the United States he was treated as a hero, and received the usual ovation given to victors when they return to their native land. The _President_ was spoken of by her captors as a model of naval architecture, and her method of construction recommended to British ship-builders. XVII THE “CONSTITUTION,” THE “CYANE,” AND THE “LEVANT” [February 20th, 1815] [Illustration: MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN CHARLES STEWART] Charles Stewart was a Philadelphian. He was born on the 28th day of July, 1778, shortly after the evacuation of the city by the British. His mother was left a widow when he was but two years old. Overcoming many hardships, Mrs. Stewart managed to support herself and her large family of eight children during the troublous times of the Revolution. At the age of thirteen Charles entered the merchant service as a cabin-boy, and speedily began to show that he had in him the material for making an officer. At the age of twenty he was in command of a vessel in the Indian trade, but shortly after he attained this rank he accepted a commission as lieutenant in the navy of the United States. Stewart’s able handling of the little schooner _Experiment_, of 12 guns, on several occasions brought him to the attention of the country, and his conduct in the Mediterranean won for him the praise of his superiors and the admiration of the service. He was a fine-looking, energetic man, who possessed a manner that is said to have been most fascinating; but, like all of his school, he was above everything else a fighting man. In the fall of the year 1814, after the repulse of the British at Norfolk, Captain Stewart, who at the beginning of the war had been in command of the 36-gun frigate _Constellation_, was given the post then most desired above all others in our navy--that of commander of “Old Ironsides.” After undergoing some repairs in the navy-yard, the _Constitution_, with a veteran crew, sailed from the port of Boston and proceeded southward. For some time she hung about the Bermudas, waiting in vain for an encounter; thence she sailed away for the coasts of Surinam, Berbice, and Demerara; cruised to windward of the island of Barbadoes, St. Vincent, Martinique, off St. Kitt’s, St. Eustatius, Porto Rico, and Santa Cruz, and succeeded in capturing and destroying the _Picton_, of 16 guns; a merchant ship of 10 guns; the brig _Catherine_, 10 guns; and an armed schooner, the _Phoenix_. But no foe was seen that was worthy of her mettle, and it appeared that bad luck was in the breezes.