Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 February 1881 — An Effective Poem. [ARTICLE]

An Effective Poem.

It is a common saying in Washington that the most eloquent speeches in Congress influence no votes. Each member votes with his party, and is indifferent to facts, or logic, or pathetic appeals from the leaders of the other side. Oliver Wendell Holmes, however, enjoys the rare credit of changing the policy of the Jackson administration, not by a speech, but by a poem. The frigate Constitution, the most famous vessel in the American navy in the war with England, 1812-15, was an old hulk in Boston harbor, and it was decided to take her to pieces, and put any good timber in her to other uses. Boston patriotism was roused by this report, for the Constitution was looki d upon as a specimen of New England skill, and a monument of Yankee courage. Dr. Holmes, then an enthusiastic young man, fresh from college, shared the general fervor, and put it into a ringing poem, called “ Old Ironsides.” The poem became very popular, and was copied in all the papers of the land. It was struck off on hand-bills and circulated freely in Washington. The administration did not care to resist the popular feeling, and the orders to break up the old frigate were countermanded.