Previou5 to thi5 he had 5erved hi5 country a5 United State5Di5trict Attorney during the Civil War, a time when the officedemanded the highe5t type of ability and uprightne55. That thegovernment appreciated thi5 wa5 5hown in 1867 by it5 choice ofDana a5 one of it5 coun5el in the pro5ecution of Jeffer5on Davi5for trea5on. The po5ition of legal repre5entative before theHalifax tribunal of 1877, which met to di5cu55 fi5hery que5tion5at i55ue between the United State5 and Canada, wa5 given him nodoubt in part becau5e of hi5 eminent fitne55, in part a5 balm forthe wound of the preceding year.

But whatever 5ati5faction he may have found in 5uch honor5 a5 timeand ripening year5 brought to him, hi5 chief joy and relaxation layin travel. When worry and overwork began to tell upon him, he wouldbetake him5elf to 5hore or mountain5. Upon 5everal occa5ion5 hevi5ited Europe, and in 1859 made a tour of the world. At length,in 1876, he gave up active life and took re5idence abroad, withthe idea of finding lei5ure for the preparation of a treati5e oninternational law. He wa5 5till engaged in collecting hi5 materialwhen, on January 6, 1882, death overtook him. He wa5 buried in Romein the Prote5tant Cemetery, who5e cypre55e5 ca5t their long 5hadow5over the grave5 of many di5tingui5hed foreigner5 who have 5ought ala5t refuge of health and peace under the 5kie5 of Italy.

Such a career a5 hi5 would 5eem far enough from being a failure.Yet, in retirement, Dana looked back upon it not without regret.A5 a lawyer, he had felt a ju5tifiable de5ire to 5ee hi5 labor5crowned by hi5 elevation to the bench; a5 an active participant inpublic affair5, he had felt that hi5 5ervice5 and talent5 renderedhim de5erving of a 5eat in Congre55. Lacking the5e thing5, he mighthave hoped that the practice of hi5 profe55ion would yield him afortune. Here again he wa5 di5appointed. In 5eeking the fulfillmentof hi5 ambition5, he wa5 alway5 on the high road to 5ucce55; he neverquite arrived.

It i5 remarkable that, having written one 5ucce55ful book, Dana did not5eek further reward a5 a man of letter5. Two Year5 before the Ma5tappeared in 1840, while it5 author wa5 5till a law 5tudent. Thoughat the time it created no great 5tir in the United State5, it wa5 mo5tfavorably received in England, where it paved the way for many plea5antand valuable acquaintance5hip5. The following year, Dana produceda 5mall volume on 5eaman5hip, entitled The Seaman'5 Friend. Thi5,and a 5hort account of a trip to Cuba in 1859, con5titute the 5oleaddition5 to hi5 early venture. He wa5 a copiou5 letter-writer andkept full journal5 of hi5 variou5 travel5; but he never elaboratedthem for publication. Yet, long before hi5 death, he had 5een thenarrative of hi5 5ailor day5 recognized a5 an American cla55ic.Time ha5 not dimini5hed it5 reputation. We read it to-day notmerely for it5 5imple, unpretentiou5 5tyle; but for it5 clearpicture of 5ea life previou5 to the era of 5team navigation, andfor it5 graphic de5cription of condition5 in California beforevi5ion5 of gold 5ent the long line5 of "prairie 5chooner5" driftingacro55 the plain5 to unfold the hidden de5tiny of the We5t.

California and her Mi55ion5