In 1830 brave Old Ironsides was condemned as worn out, and ordered to be sold. But, as a similar sad fate overtaking the “Fighting _Temeraire_” had been made the occasion of an immortal painting by Turner, and so, perhaps, had caused Nelson’s still more famous battle-ship _Victory_ to be preserved in the harbor of Portsmouth as a shrine of naval inspiration, so the obloquy that menaced the _Constitution_ now fired the heart of a young poet to write a passionate appeal to patriotism. Who does not know Dr. Holmes’s ringing stanzas?— Oh, better that her shattered hulk Should sink beneath the wave; Her thunders shook the mighty deep, And there should be her grave. Nail to the mast her holy flag, Set every threadbare sail, And give her to the God of Storms, The lightning and the gale! [Illustration: HOMEWARD BOUND.] The country caught the spirit, and such a cry of protest went up that the vandalism was stayed, and Old Ironsides was again repaired—hardly anything but her ornaments was now left of the original structure—and took several cruises, one of which was in carrying wheat to famine-stricken Ireland. Later she was used as a school-ship, but finally became worthless even for that, and in 1895 the question arose whether she should be broken up at the Brooklyn navy-yard or towed around to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and there laid up in a line with the _Macedonian_ and a few other ancient hulks that were rotting quietly away in honorable age, and have now wholly disappeared. Sentiment dictated the latter course, and, with a crew aboard, prepared to take to their boats at a moment’s notice, the leaking and crazy old warrior, stately even yet, and sadly saluted by every fort and vessel she passed, crept around to her last berth at Kittery Point. She is the last and the most glorious representative of the “old navy.” [Illustration: TYPES OF BATTLE-SHIPS—1890 AND 1800.] FOOTNOTES: [4] An example of the so-called forty-bank galley is illustrated, so far as its forward end will show it, in the picture of the ship of Ptolemy Philopator, on page 43. The forty “banks” appear to be groups of oars in a few tiers. [5] Three other terms of similar sound need explanation. The _galiot_ was a small, fast galley of the Levant. The _gallivat_ was a large, swift, two-masted, armed sail-boat used by Malay pirates. The _galleon_ was any Spanish ship sailing to and from the Spanish main; hence, especially a treasure-ship. [6] It was known later as the Invincible Armada. CHAPTER VI (_Continued_) WAR-SHIPS AND NAVAL BATTLES PART II—THE PRESENT ERA OF STEAM AND STEEL