“Unmindful of the whirlwind’s sway
  That hushed in grim repose
  Expects his 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 his satisfaction by making Witte the head of a reconstruction ministry and by conferring upon him the title of Count; and the Mikado showed his entire confidence in Baron Komura, notwithstanding some expressions of disappointment among the people, by assigning him the delicate task of negotiating a treaty with China.