At that time the ablest shipbuilder in the United States was Joshua Humphreys, a Quaker, who for thirty years had been laying down keels at Philadelphia. Going to General Knox, the Secretary of War, he made a notable statement. The number of ships which the United States could support, he said, would always be less than the number in any of the large European navies. It was therefore necessary that such ships as we did have should be fast-sailing enough to either fight or run at will, and when they chose to fight they must be equal, ship for ship, to anything afloat. To accomplish this they must be longer and broader than the existing type and yet not so high out of water. On this model they would carry, he said, as many guns on one deck as the others carried on two; could fight them there to better advantage; and, what was more, the improved model would give much more stability--would allow so much more canvas to be spread aloft that, blow high or blow low, the Yankee could show her teeth or her heels, as occasion demanded. Not only were Humphreys’ theories accepted then; they have prevailed in the American navy to this day. However, this is not to say that the theories of Mr. Humphreys have always been realized in practice. Six frigates were ordered laid down on this model: the _Constitution_, of forty-four guns; the _President_, of forty-four; the _United States_, of forty-four--all sister ships--and the _Chesapeake_, the _Congress_, and the _Constellation_, all of thirty-six guns each. The _United States_ was built by Humphreys, at Philadelphia, and he sent her afloat on July 10, 1797. The _Constitution_, the famous “Old Ironsides,” was built by Cloghorne & Hartly, of Boston, and she floated on October 21, 1797--just 100 years ago. And she is still afloat to bear the flag. Capt. Samuel Nicholson had charge of her (Congress had provided for officers and men), and on the day she was to be launched he proposed to hoist the flag with his own hands. But instead of doing so at once on reaching the yard that morning, he gave orders that no one else should do it, and then went away to breakfast. That was an error fatal to his ambition. When he was out of sight one Samuel Bentley, a shipwright, bent the flag to the halliards, and, with the help of another man, hoisted her to the mizzen-truck. Captain Nicholson swore like a pirate, it is said, but the flag was up and he would not haul it down again. [Illustration: John Barry’s Commission as Commander of the _United States_. _From the original at the Naval Academy, Annapolis._]