the Polish language, as the official language of the administration, of justice, and of education; 6. A regular and legal system of recruiting. This intervention of the Western Powers, which was supported by no military demonstration, was rejected by the famous note of Prince Gortchakof, Chancellor of the Empire, and the idea of a European conference was likewise rejected. Europe found herself powerless, and Napoleon III. had to content himself in his speech from the throne with the declaration that the treaties of 1815 were "trampled under foot at Warsaw." The conduct of Prussia had been quite different; she had concluded with Russia the convention of the 8th of February, 1863, for the suppression of the Polish manifestations, and thus laid the foundation of that Prusso-Russian alliance which was to prove so useful to her. Extinction This insurrection was to cost Poland dear. The last remains of her autonomy were extin- of Poland. guished. To-day, the "kingdom" is nothing but a name, and the country has been divided into ten provinces (1866). The Russian language has replaced the Polish in all public acts; the University of Warsaw is a Russian university; the primary, secondary, and superior education all lend their aid to the work of denationalization. Poland lost her institutions without obtaining the benefit of those of Russia-the zemstva, the jury, and the new tribunals. As the government held the nobles privileges. responsible for the insurrection, it therefore markedly favored the peasants, authorizing them to "enter into full and entire possession of the lands which they held." An oukaze of the 10th of December, 1865, rendered the sale of confiscated and sequestrated property imperative, and Russians alone might be purchasers. Finland, on the contrary, had all her priviFinland's leges confirmed. In 1863, Alexander convoked the diet of the grand duchy, the second that had been held since the annexation to the Empire. The German nobility of the Baltic provinces, more docile and more politic than that of Poland, were not disturbed. The University of Dorpat remained a German university; the government only took measures to protect the language and religion of the Empire against the propagation of the German tongue and of the Protestant religion. The bold demands of the Slavophil Iouri Samarine, in his Russian Frontiers, and the lively polemic sustained against him by the Baltic writers-Schirren, Wilhelm von Bock, Julius Eckart, and Sternberg-did not lead to any important changes in the three governments of Livonia, Courland, and Esthonia. THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE "MONITOR" AND THE "MERRIMAC” (A.D. 1862) JAMES SCHOULER N the same day that Johnston's retreat ON Appropria tions for ments. the White House, a sea encounter occurred at Hampton Roads, off Fortress Monroe, which revolutionized in effect the naval warfare of the civilized world. This was the ironclad combat of the Monitor and Merrimac. On both sides American inventive genius had been at work over armor-plated vessels and the use of the ram, public appro- experipriation having been made for experiments. At the Tredegar works in Richmond, the Merrimac, rescued by its captors when Gosport navy yard burned, was converted into an ironclad. A wedge-shaped prow of castiron projected about two feet in front of this vessel; while a wooden roof, sloping to the water's edge, was covered with two iron plates of armor, inside of which was placed a battery of ten guns. On the Union side, the Navy Department, from the plans submitted, chose Ericsson Blonitor. moment. that of John Ericsson, of New York, a man of plans the scientific acquirements, Swedish by birth, but an American by adoption. His Monitor, a craft of careful model and superior workmanship, seemed almost providentially constructed to engage the clumsier Merrimac at the right For sea service it was defective; but in light draught and nimbleness of motion it was well suited for shoal harbors and rivers. Like a "cheese-box on a raft," as well described by the Union press, this ironclad presented only a thin edge of surface above and below the water line, while an iron turret revolved in sight from which two large guns might be rapidly trained and fired. Three wooden Union frigates of the older pattern lay at anchor under the guns of Fortress Monroe, and two others near Newport News, further within the bay, when about noon on Saturday, March 8th, this reconstructed Merrimac plowed suddenly toward them from the mouth of the James River near Norfolk, under an armed convoy. The three nearest frigates slipped their cables at once, expecting an easy encounter; but, being all of deep draught, they soon ran aground in low water. From Newport News the two other frigates, with shore batteries besides, opened fire upon this strange craft, which looked like some huge, half-submerged crocodile; but, to their amazement, the iron hail bounded from the sloping back of the dark leviathan like The Mer victory, 1862. rubber balls. On came the monster, and crashed her iron prow into the Cumberland, which sank in forty-five minutes, carrying March 8, down officers and crew; and the colors still floated at her masthead as the Merrimac, hovering about her, sent shot into the defenceless hull. Next, turning upon the Congress, which had made for shore, the Merrimac took up a raking position and riddled her with hot shot and shells, until after fearful carnage that vessel burned until midnight, when explosion of the magazine made an end of her. Drawing off at dusk, the iron champion returned with its convoy to the Norfolk side and anchored under the guns of Confederate batteries until morning. nation ington. The day's news carried consternation to Washington. This strange and terrible engine of war, impervious to our heaviest shot, what irreparable damage might it not inflict? Two of the three frigates that had run aground were with difficulty drawn off; but the Min- Consternesota* stuck fast, the first probable victim of in Washthe next daylight. Deliverance was providentially at hand, neither summoned nor sent for. By the light of the burning Congress the puny Monitor from New York was towed into Hampton Roads late that very evening, and, under the brave Lieutenant John L. Worden, took station near the stranded frig ate. On Sunday morning the Merrimac ap- |