evening prey."

The struggle was short and decisive--finished, it is said, in less
than one hour. While Togo's battleships, fresh and in good condition,
poured shot and shell into the wayworn strangers, his torpedo-boats,
greatly increased in number, glided almost unobservedly among the
enemy and launched their thunderbolts with fatal effect. Battleships
and cruisers went down with all on board. The Russian flagship was
disabled, and the admiral, severely wounded, was transferred
[Page 192]
to the hold of a destroyer. Without signals from their commander
the vessels of the whole fleet fought or fled or perished separately;
of 18,000 men, 1,000 escaped and 3,000 were made prisoners. What
of the other 14,000?

"Ask of the winds that far around
With fragments strewed the sea."

The much vaunted armada was a thing of the past; and Tsushima or,
as Togo officially named it, the Battle of the Sea of Japan, has
taken its place along with Trafalgar and Salamis.

Tired of a spectacle that had grown somewhat monotonous, the world
was clamorous for peace. The belligerents, hitherto deaf to every
suggestion of the kind, now accepted an invitation from President
Roosevelt and appointed commissioners to arrange the terms of a
treaty. They met in August, 1905, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and
after a good deal of diplomatic fencing the sword was sheathed. In
the treaty, since ratified, Russia acknowledges Japan's exceptional
position in Korea, transfers to Japan her rights in Port Arthur
and Liao-tung, and hands over to Japan her railways in Manchuria.
Both parties agree to evacuate Manchuria within eighteen months.

Japan was obliged to waive her claim to a war indemnity and to
allow Russia to retain half the island of Saghalien. Neither nation
was satisfied with the terms, but both perceived that peace was
preferable to the renewal of the struggle with all its horrors
and uncertainties. For tendering the olive branch
[Page 193]
and smoothing the way for its acceptance, President Roosevelt merits
the thanks of mankind.[*] Besides other advantages Japan has assured
her position as the leading power of the Orient; but the greatest
gainer will be Russia, if her defeat in the field should lead her
to the adoption of a liberal government at home.

[Footnote *: Since this was written a Nobel Peace Prize has justly
been awarded to the President.]

"Peace hath her victories,
No less renowned than war."

The Czar signified