large to afford adequate shelter for vessels putting in there. It was protected by forts at the entrance, the most important being upon Corregidor Island, where the squadron arrived about eight o'clock on Saturday evening, April 30. The moon was up, but no lights showed from the ships until a spark from the dispatch boat McCulloch drew the fire of the forts. It was returned, and the fleet passed on. Steaming at slow speed all night, with the men at full length beside their guns, gray dawn disclosed the sleeping city of Manila, and Cavité, with its white houses and battlements, and its great arsenal close at hand. And there, best news of all after the perilous darkness through which few men slept, lay the Spanish fleet, afloat on the dead water of daybreak. A great shout, as of one accord and from one throat, went up from the American ships :

"Remember the Maine!"

It is not clear from the reports in what shape the Spaniards were discovered or how they maneuvered afterward. Probably the Reina Cristina and some of the larger vessels got up anchor and formed a line of battle. But that does not matter. Suffice it to say that Commodore Dewey, heading his own line in the Olympia, steamed past them five times with a gradually decreasing range, and practically annihilated the enemy's fleet, forts and all, in two hours. Then he drew off, as the morning was very hot and the men had had only a cup of coffee, and ate breakfast. After a little rest he returned and finished his work.

He did not lose a ship nor one of his brave men. The matter was as simply and effectively carried out as a bit of squadron evolution off the Chesapeake capes. Our officers navigated among strange shoals with a sure hand, and the superb gunnery that has been our pride since the days of John Paul Jones did the rest. The Spanish loss was fearful.

Neither squadron contained an armored ship. The American vessels had their vitals covered by what are known as protective decks, while but two of the Spanish ships were so built. But for all that they might have riddled and sunk some of our squadron had they been able to shoot. The little Petrel, secure in their wild inaccuracy, danced up to within a thousand yards of their forts.

The results are best told by Admiral Dewey himself. His

terse cablegrams have become history. At Manila Bay he showed the effects of his schooling under Farragut. One of Farragut's strongest points was his ability to choose the most advantageous distance, even when it brought him within a biscuit's throw of the batteries, as at Fort St. Philip. And the same fearlessness and cocksureness which led Farragut into Mobile Bay and up the Mississippi, sent Dewey straight to Manila.

The service knows Dewey as an ideal head of a fleet. Perfectly courageous, of thoroughly balanced judgment, and quick of decision, he has the qualities which carry one to fame if opportunity be given. The man and the hour fortunately came together, and the country is the richer in another brilliant page of history and another heroic figure.

Whatever this war has cost or may cost, it will be repaid to the country in the very wonderful influence upon the young people of our land, who will surely grow to manhood and womanhood with exalted views of patriotism and duty, which it is worth almost any sacrifice to have instilled.

Dewey in this light stands for far more than the brilliant victor in a famous fight, or as the author of a proud page of history. His career has given a lofty impetus to the young, which will bear noble fruit in nobler aspiration. He has become one of the most valued possessions which a nation can have a national hero. After all, the Romans read more deeply into the human heart, and into the impalpable causes which sway humanity, when they apotheosized their great men, than we are apt to grant. Washington, Nelson, Farragut, and the others on the long list of men of heroic deeds stand for aspiration and noble planes of life and thought. Every man added is the world's gain, and to such a list must be added the name of Dewey.

In a summary of the characteristics of Admiral Dewey must not be omitted his never-failing consideration of others; his avoidance of act or word that suggests the importance of his own unique position; his finesse of manner and speech, and man-of-the-world nature mingled with a directness and force of speech and rugged sailor spirit which show themselves as conditions demand; and, finally, his everyday, matter-of-fact method of living, acting, and talking

There is no better term than "horse-sense," though it be

homely, to express the strongest quality in the make-up of the Admiral. He knows that the use of common sense in all acts is the greatest influence for success, and he never fails to employ the good stock of it he possesses. After all, in life, that is what a man needs more to meet every emergency than anything else.

66

COMMON SENSE.

OMMON sense is the most uncommon kind of sense," said Dr. Emmons; and a truer remark was never made. It is the kind of sense for which we have the most use; and, therefore, it ought to be more common than it is. But the schools cannot furnish it. Teachers cannot teach it. Pupils must possess it in the natural way, by birthright, or cultivate it by sharp observation. It is what some writers call" tact," or is closely related to it.

It is told of four men who met in Australia, that three of them were college graduates who worked on a sheep farm for the fourth, who was too ignorant to read and write, or to keep accounts. One of the three employees had taken a degree at Oxford, another at Cambridge, and the third at a German university; and here they were, at last, on a sheep farm! College educated to take care of brutes! Evidently they had missed the mark. Educated to be leaders of thought, they became drivers of sheep. They had failed in every undertaking for want of common sense, and finally became the servants of a man who knew as little about school as they did about the common affairs of life. But the ranchman had a practical turn of mind, and had become wealthy by his business. Without an education, he had accomplished more by his common sense than his employees had, though drilled in the curriculum of famous universities. The fact shows that education does not create common sense. It was a born quality in the ranchman, but left out of the students' make-up, and the best university could not supply the deficiency. Culture against ignorance, the college against the ranch; and the ranch beat every time; not because the ranchman knew more, nor because he knew less, but because of the practical use he made of what he did know. It is no argument against the highest education, but it is an argument for the culti