pation," this writer goes on to say, "will be to unite these two factors, and thus achieve harmony by the highest possible development of personality."

Mme. Marholm would, perhaps, allow these objections. Nobody in this fallen world is so entirely right that his adversaries are of necessity altogether wrong. Even she, as we have seen, contradicts herself now and then, and seems sometimes to be of Renan's opinion that it is impossible to tell the whole truth without talking more or less upon both sides.

If she would but make this trifling concession to her opponents she might Revue des Deux Mondes.

achieve, or at least deserve, a most enviable renown: that of having effected that synthesis which we believe to be indispensable - a happy combination namely, of the intellectual development of the highly-trained modern woman with the simplicity of our serene grandmothers. She would thus, while allowing their due place and play both to the instinct of choice and the maternal instinct, be preparing the way for the woman after her own heart; the woman who is first and foremost a mother, but a mother enlightened and fully equipped for her great task, which is nothing more nor less than the "building" of the generations to be.

Ernest Saillière.

I followed my hospitable host through a hole not quite two feet wide in the scanty deck and, descending a ladder, found myself in the tiny cabin.

"There is your bed," he said, pointing to a narrow bunk, "and I will sleep on this locker. When you wish to wash, you will pull this handle and a basin will fall out of the side, and if you want anything you must shout for my servant."

I was being received as a guest by the commander of H. M. S. a gallant craft which ranks as a torpedoboat destroyer, shortly and officially known as a t. b. d. It is wonderful what an air of comfort a naval officer can give to the most exiguous accommodation, and the two or three pictures, the array of family photographs, the few books and the little nicknacks on the desk showed that even this place, which a country squire would consider indifferent lodgings for a retriever, was the home of an English officer and gentleman. And, small as

it is, he cannot claim the whole of it for himself and his traps. The rifles of his ship's company are stowed in racks against the sides, and a trap door in the floor is labelled "Stores." However, after all, it is, perhaps, more roomy than were the cabins in the old gunboats of the Crimean War time, where a man of reasonable inches could only stand upright by putting his head through the scuttle in the deck above.

"Now I will show you the wardroom, and then it will be nearly time to get under way."

Up to the deck, and then down another ladder into a very slightly bigger apartment, where there is a table at which all the officers take their meals.

There are bunks round the sides where sleep the three subordinates-the sub-lieutenant, the engineer and the gunner. Every inch of space is utilized, and here, at least, the old problem of putting a quart into a pint pot seems to have been practically solved.

Having been made free of the offi

cers' quarters, I am led to the bridge, where the twelve-pounder quick-firing gun is mounted, and the officer of the watch has his station. There is not much room for walking, and there are many pitfalls for an unwary stranger. Even when the ship is at rest it is a matter of no little difficulty to avoid tumbling down a scuttle, rapping one's shins against some article of equipment, or coming to grief over a coil of rope. How any one can pick his steps from one end of the deck to another when the ship is knocking about in a sea-way must to me ever remain a marvel.

"You see we have four funnels, and we call them Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I must give them a lick of paint when we next have some time to spare in harbor."

Mark, indeed, evidently blisters more than the others, and will be none the worse for a little freshening up.

Our torpedo-boat destroyer belongs to the Mediterranean squadron, which, in a Sardinian bay, weighed early this morning, and she has been left behind to bring on the mails. It is half-past eight A. M. (I ought to say one bell has just struck); we get up our anchor and plunge forward at sixteen knots. How the whole framework throbs and quivers with the waking up of the engines, and what a white wave is churned as we thrust our bows into the sea! Nobody who has not been on a torpedoboat destroyer knows what the liveliness of a ship may be. Even in a flat calm the kick of the propellers, the vibration of the machinery are quite enough to make one feel that there is no stability left in the world, but when there is anything of what sailors call a "lop," the added motion is only to be borne by the most case-hardened mariner, and very few men escape from much inward unhappiness, at any rate in the beginning of every cruise. I was most profoundly thankful that my

cruising in a torpedo-boat destroyer was done in the flattest of flat calms. It is a very curious thing, however, that the vibration of any ship is much greater at certain speeds than at others. For instance, when the was moving at anything under ten knots the vibration was comparatively little; at eleven knots it became so great that one felt as if the whole framework must shake to pieces; at twelve knots and over it was again reduced until nineteen knots was reached, when it once more became excessive. Then, at twenty knots and over, there was little more motion than at the slowest speed. I need hardly say that, unless it was imperatively necessary, the upon to steam at eleven or nineteen knots.

was never called

By half-past ten we had overtaken the fleet, moving leisurely along at-nine knots, and the took her place at the head of the column of torpedo-boat destroyers which hovered on the flank of the stately battleships and cruisers. Then, for two hours, the Admiral played with the entire fleet. He formed the ships into one line, into two lines, into columns, into half columns. He collected them, he dispersed them, he made them take up every possible tactical formation, and the marvel was how simply and easily it all appeared to be done. A few flags fluttered out on the flagship, and immediately the leviathans responded to the order without the smallest fuss or hesitation. No other ships in the world increase and diminish their speed so often as do those of the British Navy. What nerve and judgment their commanders must have, what must be the rigid discipline and thorough efficiency among their engineers, when they so minutely preserve their stations under every varying requirement, never treading upon the heels of the next ahead or getting in the way of the next astern! When

I said "no other ships in the world," I did not except those belonging to the navies of other Powers, for it is a matter of common knowledge that our fleet constantly performs tactical manoeuvres which are never attempted by any other fleets that sail the seas.

The full power and the possible weaknesses of torpedo craft in battle are still matters of uncertainty, and tactical experiments are constantly being made, on the result of which some definite ideas may be founded as to the best means of attack on their part, and defence against that attack by battleships and cruisers. Orders had been given for one of these experiments by the Admiral, and it was to be carried out during the night. The flotilla of four torpedo-boat destroyers was to part company about six in the evening, and steam about forty miles. They were told that at ten P. M. the squadron, steering a course between E. N. E. and S. S. E., would be within twenty miles of a certain latitude and longitude. Between 11 P. M. and 2 A. M. on the following day the torpedoboat destroyers were to endeavor to find the squadron, and their commanders were to arrange among themselves a plan of action for attaining this object. Now these orders presented a sufficiently difficult problem to the officers commanding the torpedo-boat destroyers; they represented in their details the probable task that would fall to torpedo craft stealing out from a blockaded port, and trying, with a view to subsequent aetion, to get into touch with the main fleet of the blockaders, of whose whereabouts only a very vague indication was available. The application of such a problem to our Mediterranean fleet is very evident. I was fortunate in being present when a serious attempt was made to find a solution for it on paper, and in seeing the paper solution put into practical form. I shall not weary any one who

may read this by going over the influence of each point that had to be considered, the rates of speed, the calculation of distances, the radius within which the possible starting-point of the squadron was to be found, etc., etc., nor shall I enlarge upon the close study of these points which occupied the senior officer, armed with charts, compasses, parallel rulers, and other weapons, for three long hours in our little wardroom. Let me tell of the actual conditions of the night's work. All lights were to be extinguished in the squadron; even navigating lights were not to be used. On each ship only one shielded lantern was permitted, showing right astern, so that all might keep their stations in column. The squadron would then be a collection of shadowy objects moving over the sea, on which nothing could attract the eye except the occasional reflection thrown by the engine-room furnaces on mast or funnel through the hatchways. On the torpedo-boat destroyers, also, no lights were to be visible. Clear as the weather was there was no moon, and lying low in the water it was doubtful whether the sharpest look-out could have detected one of the little craft at half a mile distance. To a landsman it seemed almost equally impossible that the torpedo-boat destroyers could find the position of the battleships, or that the battleships could detect the stealthy approach of the torpedo-boat destroyers. But by constant training the eyes of sailors have become like those of cats. They have acquired a marvellous faculty for seeing in the dark, and on H. M. S. at any rate, there was no hesitation in plunging forward at tremendous speed, trusting only to nerve and vigilance for carrying out its duties and avoiding the common dangers of the sea.

The plan of action adopted by the torpedo-boat destroyers was to divide the great forty-mile half-circle, within

which calculation had shown that the fleet would be found, into several sectors, each of which was taken for examination by one torpedo-boat destroyer, and there was perfect confidence that one or other of the flotilla would be sucessful in its search.

I daresay very few people, indeed, who are not sailors, have stood at night on the bridge of a vessel while it is rushing through the water at twentyfour or twenty-five knots; when there is no spark of light anywhere to be seen except the dim and shaded lantern in the little recess that shelters the chart and signal-book; when looking aft, there is the long, black deck, with its funnels spouting the trail of smoke that marks how all the engines are working at highest pressure, and, looking ahead, there seems nothing but impenetrable darkness. I can only say that such a situation is not without excitement, and that a man may go far before he finds himself thrilled by such novel and acute sensations. Our search has begun at last, and we are speeding to the distant portion of the sea which we are to patrol. Still, even now we may fall in with the squadron, and eager eyes are peering into the surrounding gloom. The sky is clear and starlit. But there is a haze on the surface of the sea that irksomely limits our horizon. There is little hope that we could distinguish anything more than half a mile from us, and, indeed, even that would be doubtful. Our greatest danger is that of flame and sparks rising from the funnels. Such a glow would be visible for a very long distance, and would effectually betray us, but this danger is minimized by very careful stoking and the watchful control of our engineer. Of our four funnels Matthew was the only one that misconducted itself once or twice, and lighted up the night with a burst of lurid flame, but the misconduct was LIVING AGE. VOL. VII. 368

only momentary and was quickly corrected.

Of course we did not persevere long in our lightning rush through the water. The Mediterranean itself would have been all too small for our course, and a very high rate of speed means such a depletion of the bunkers, that we should have had to fill up with indifferent coal at some Italian port before we could return to the stores of best Welsh at Malta. As soon as we arrived at our special cruising-ground speed was reduced to twelve knots, and the little ship began to quarter her allotted space of sea as a welltrained pointer quarters a field of turnips. Once we had a moment of excitement. A light was seen dimly through the haze, and our course was altered so as to observe it closer. But, from the direction in which it was moving and the speed that it maintained, it was soon evident that it was only the navigating light of some peaceful ship; and we resumed our fruitless quest.

Our quest was fruitless. As far as we were concerned, the fleet was not found at 2 A. M., and, if we had been engaged in the "real thing," we should now at once have fallen back to a prearranged rendezvous. . As it was, we turned our course towards the next port at which the fleet was to touch. If we were unlucky, however, the scheme of search as a whole had been perfectly successful. Two of the other torpedoboat destroyers sighted the fleet and the required object was gained.

Service in torpedo-boat destroyers is life, indeed. I have hinted that there is not much luxury on board, but officers and crew let that pass with a shrug. The lieutenants in command are men who still preserve the sublime audacity of youth, though it is tempered by the cool judgment and mature reflection that come from a sense of authority and responsibility. They are the salt

of our young naval officers. Hardy, untiring, masters of all the minutiæ of their profession, they are ready to undertake any enterprise, however daring, and to extricate themselves from any difficulties, however apparently overwhelming. As one of them said to me:

"The command is just the position for a young man who has not yet forgotten his schoolboy tricks or lost his schoolboy spirit."

They are Captain Marryat's heroes in the flesh-no longer the fools of their families, but highly educated, scientific gentlemen, who have still the lightest of hearts for any emergency and are hungry for honor at any hazard.

The ship's companies are all picked men; that is to say, they are picked for their special position. Each torpedoboat destroyer is affiliated to a battleship, and all officers and men are borne on the books of that parent. Every man who does not suit the torpedo-boat destroyer, or who misconducts himself seriously, is returned to the larger world of the battleship, where there is every facility for keeping him in order. A torpedo-boat destroyer's discipline must be self-maintaining. has no room for defaulters, and has, therefore, no room for offences. It is impossible in a torpedo-boat destroyer that, at sea at any rate, everything shall be as spick and span as in a big

Good Words.

It

ship. How could such be the case when four squat funnels are pouring a continuous shower of soot and cinders upon the deck, when every space is s confined that dress and person must inevitably be smeared with oil and dust at every turn, and shaving and washing are only to be accomplished at distant intervals with the greatest difficulty? Of course, in harbor the trimness and propriety of her Majesty's ships of war are carefully preserved, and nobody, who then visits the smart and decorous little vessel, and sees the dapper officers and clean, spruce seamen, would ever imagine that smartness and decorum must sometimes inevitably go into the background. As with personal appearance, so with the strict observances of naval etiquette. The realities of discipline are cherished most assiduously and observed most strictly, but, by force of circumstances, there is a laxity in some details of conduct which would never pass in a battleship or cruiser. The very polished people whose lot is cast in the big ships may look upon the personnel of torpedo craft as rough, uncouth dogs, who lead an uncouth life, but torpedoboat destroyers have their own esprit de corps. Their men know their own value. They pride themselves on their rough work, and they make it a point of honor to maintain the character of British bluejackets afloat and ashore. C. Stein.

H. G. Keene.