It was the beginning of the career of the _Constitution_, whose name is still the most illustrious on the American naval list and whose commanders, Hull and Bainbridge, are numbered among the great captains.

It is a privilege to behold today, in the Boston Navy Yard, this gallant frigate preserved as a heritage, her tall masts and graceful yards soaring above the grim, gray citadels that we call battleships.

True it is that a single modern shell would destroy this obsolete, archaic frigate which once swept the seas like a meteor, but the very image of her is still potent to thrill the hearts and animate the courage of an American seaman.
On that luckless July morning, at break of day, off the New Jersey coast, it seemed as though the _Constitution_ would be flying British colors ere she had a chance to fight.

On her leeward side stood two English frigates, the _Guerriere_ and the _Belvidera_, with the _Shannon_ only five miles astern, and the rest of the hostile fleet lifting topsails above the southern horizon.
Not a breath of wind stirred.

Captain Hull called away his boats, and the sailors tugged at the oars, towing the _Constitution_ very slowly ahead.