power. American Churches are run on business lines and the greatest of them, the Catholic Church, has taken the dimension and autocracy of a Trust. The Philippines were organized as a Trust. When he thinks on a large scale, the American thinks in terms of Trust. He sees the British Empire working as a beneficial Trust, to which he has no wish to belong, but which he is prepared to back against the predatory Prussian Trust. He is deprecatory of Irish Government, but Mr. Lippmann takes the trouble to praise English rule in Nigeria, which acts "without thwarting its native growth or destroying its local integrity." Americans have learned to distinguish between Empires as well as between Trusts. Responsibility came to attach itself to big business in a way that never troubled the earlier trader, and in time responsibility entered into international affairs. The American conscience took to itself first Pan-Americanism and then undertook Interhemispheral relations, first with notes and secondly with bayonets.

Mr. Lippmann was one of those who noticed that Mr. Wilson was moving toward the higher trend, toward the big business of the world. Mr. Bryan,

The Dublin Review.

he wrote, was defending, pathetically enough, "the old and simple life of America, a life that was doomed by the great organization that had come into the world"; but "Woodrow Wilson at least knows that there is a new world." In Mr. Wilson's own History are to be found the germs of events and policies forever to be associated with his name. Of the Steel Trust he had written: "Steel had become the structural stuff of the modern world. Commanding its manufacture, America might command the economic fortunes of the world." And its martial fortunes as well! It was this facility in steel that was to connect America with the world war. After dispensing for two years the stuff of Death, it became her manifest destiny to keep the soul of Europe alive by her own intervention.

Mr. Wilson closed his last and fifth volume by hoping for a new era when it would be possible to "make law the instrument, not of justice merely, but also of social progress." He was doubtless thinking of the Trusts in theory, but in practice he was to apply it to the Central Powers in the day when the historian was to be called from his desk to climb on to the knees of the gods.

Shane Leslie.

In latter days two or three men, particularly noticed, have been seen striding along the streets in different parts of the middle of London. We have just noticed them in the Haymarket. Even in the strange London of today, where are collected all the types and transformations of war, and where few things cause wonder now, the passers-by turn their heads and look with a touch of admiration and even affection upon the square, flat backs of these retreating figures.

These men stand out distinctly—and with a significance that strikes the senses of the beholder without а moment's explanation-from all the other forms of busy humanity that are about. We know at a glance who and what they are, and not merely by their uniforms, though these give an indication. They are black naval uniforms, and on fine days these smart officers have been wearing the usual white caps. Certain stars may be observed on the uniforms, and the

jackets are cut rather shorter and are tighter to the figure than those of our own naval officers. A peculiar thing about these men, as we have seen them in Whitehall, the Strand, and Pall Mall, is that on most days their hands have been covered with dark gloves, and even when the sun has been shining they have carried umbrellas, which, at a hasty glance, have not seemed conspicuous for any close and neat folding. The carrying of umbrellas is doubtless a wise and commendable precaution; but in the circumstances there appears for the moment to be a touch of incongruity in it. We have seen numbers of gentlemen in this uniform about the town since July, but these three in particular -sometimes reduced to a pair-cross one's track from time to time, conveying an impression of being "hard among it," so to say, and one remembers them. They have a stern set of countenance upon-in the case of two of them-round, clean-shaven faces, and they look neither to right nor to left. It is that peculiar, confident, and daring expression often found upon the faces of Americans, which can best be described as a "sittingtight" expression. This is the stolidity of the sphinx, with a small suspicion of a twinkle in the eye. Again, two of the trio are rounder and thicker of body than our young naval officers, and their tight-fitting uniforms accentuate the fact. They walk along the streets with a long, solemn, and somewhat heavy tread, keeping themselves carefully in step. You see a difference when there flashes by one of our own young captains or lieutenants, lithe and tripping on his toes, for of all the men who skip about in town in these times none is nearly so conspicuous for agility as the naval officer. One but points out differences of nationality and service, making no comparisons for classes of merit, for

SO

ways.

it is hardly to be indicated in these And even if such indiscretion seized a man, he would find more and more to admire and be thankful for in that staid and solemn gait, that solid and dignified tread, of these officers, our good and real American friends; for you will have guessed that these three officers-and we have liked it when there have been three of them, for they have helped romantic fancies and the imagination, bringing to mind old sets of triple heroes from the naval romance of Marryat, the Three Musketeers, and other gallants of world fame-are officers of the United States Navy, here in British and French waters with their ships, doing their country's business and that of the world's best peoples. Of course, there have been comparatively few of them about the town; the many are otherwise and very considerably engaged elsewhere, a circumstance which has assisted us to make special note of this small group. In particular we have remarked that while there was a cleanshaven man on the side, and another bare-faced officer on the other, the middle man wore a beard, which is very unusual in an American naval officer. But his features were none the less keen, and his eyes gleamed. At a glance you knew him for a man of deep purpose and stern resolve. He seemed to be not of the type of our Jellicoe or Beatty, but yet he had sharp, angular features, like the former. This bearded officer is a very important man, for he is Admiral Sims, on whom the British Admiralty conferred a unique and indeed almost incredible distinction by placing him in the command of our own naval forces in an emergency in the Irish Sea soon after his coming over.

This Admiral Sims, in command of the naval forces of the United States in European waters, is a remarkably interesting man. All the great char

acters of the war, fate fastening so much upon them, are necessarily figures for curiosity and consideration; but some of these Americans, having our own blood and ideals in them, and yet having made of themselves a new race with special characteristics, are fascinating subjects now, and one can scarcely tell why so little has been told in our country about such stimulating men. These personalities, indeed, are not good material for our almost universal secrecies. One cannot know too much of such men; there is nothing about them that does not hearten. The British Government, at the same time that it imposed new restrictions and turned the screw one twist further upon the people, should have told us the human tales of Sims and Pershing, who then were coming along to help us, to show us what manner of men were glad to be of us, for then the people could bear many more twists of those departmental screws. What I know and have heard of Admiral Sims has come from abroad, and one of the things told me, in the way of characteristics, is that this stern man, cold to the look, of steely inflexibility of purpose, a man who, as we shall see, has in a special way improved the art of necessary killing to a high point of perfection, is incapable himself of shooting game or angling for fish, and so, if you wish to phrase it that way, he cannot be an active sportsman. The idea of inflicting death upon any beast or bird or other living thing-not considering human enemies in battle-is deeply repugnant to him; and more than that, he recoils from it. That is interesting, but perhaps it is not wholly unique; and it is reasonable, after all, as some will feel after a little reflection. Some of the greatest soldiers have been the gentlest men; they see such sincerity and innocence in the other creatures of God as, alas! are not often to be

found in the human kind. The recreations, then, of Admiral Sims are of the simpler sort. If there is one of them that, for his devotion to it, is much more conspicuous than all the rest, it is you could not guess it in a thousand times!-the composition of that peculiar form of verse embracing surprise, discovery, and usually some quaint satire, which we call limericks. This leader of the United States Navy, having a considerable load laid upon him now for civilization's sake, is also the laureate of the limerick. He dabbles in humorous verse of other kinds, but the limerick he likes most, and it is said that he has composed hundreds and more hundreds of them. One would experience no surprise on being informed in a whisper that such material substances for satire as Wilhelm, Tirpitz, and others of the German crew have already served their purpose with him. I am told that one night, while the American fleet was lying at anchor in the bay of Guacanayabo, the officers assembled and were discoursing eagerly upon all manner of naval and other subjects, when it was noticed that Sims was leaning close down upon a table and applying himself most earnestly with pen and ink to the paper before him. They did not disturb him; they thought the Admiral was occupied with an important order or dispatch. But at the end of an hour he handed to each officer a slip of paper with a limerick written upon it bearing on a subject that he had just been discussing.

One is accustomed to the curious, the irregular, and the unconventional in great and successful careers. Genius is ill harnessed to convention; it meets with rebuffs and difficulties, and keeps its own way of salvation and victory upon an independent course. The career of Admiral Sims, forced by an iron will and enormous energy, is still

conspicuous in the group of the great personalities of the war. Some of the best American qualities seem to be intensified in him in a remarkable way; the main facts of his story are delightful. He is a farmer's son, and he rose originally in Canada-that is to say, at Fort Hope in Ontario. He was not brilliant as a boy; much the opposite. He had the reputation of being slow and careless as a pupil; it was his greater pleasure not to learn. Those were days in Pennsylvania, and he was sent along in due course to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Here there was a strange and sudden awakening of moral force. Young Sims failed piteously at his examination; it seemed that he was doomed; his neglect had found him out; he had not noticed that the hour of responsibility had struck; but now he knew it. He begged of the examiners that a second chance might be given to him, and they agreed. They gave him a month, and at the end of that time he was examined again, and this time with success; but not, as it is averred, without much pain. Thus he came to graduate in 1880. There were two forms of study for which he had a most special aversion, but they were two which it was highly desirable he should like and be assiduous upon. His dislike of them was curious, and weighed heavily against him. He hated mathematics, and yet one needs mathematics as one needs the alphabet for calculations of the most essential kind at sea. It is by mathematics that we apprehend unmeasured distances, by the angles and sines of mathematics that ships set courses and reckon times and places of their meeting. Admiral Sims had some difficulty in curing himself of his repugnance for mathematics; but it was done. The other aversion was the French language, which is very desirable if the young officer has ideas of treading upon the higher paths where

a little official diplomacy walks in arm with simple ship command. Realizing the necessity, he adopted the most drastic measures. He went to Paris for a year solely to learn the language thoroughly, and at the end of the term he could speak it as well as his own. It has been said of him that he was to the American Navy what Sir Percy Scott was to ours, the organizer of naval artillery. There is something peculiarly interesting in this matter. Sims had met Scott in Asiatic seas, and at once experienced a great admiration and friendship for him. At that time the ideas entertained by Sir Percy were regarded as revolutionary, but Admiral Sims adopted them. They both maintained that superiority of shooting was the secret of success on the sea. Admiral Sims at once began to let Washington know of his newly rooted and vigorous views, and Washington was not at all impressed. Having prepared a scheme of his own, he sent a statement of it to headquarters, and pleaded for its adoption. There was no answer. He begged, he supplicated, that his system of instruction in target practice should be put to the test; but it seemed that the high authorities would not listen to him. At length he determined to go to the Navy Department and press the matter in person. When he arrived he found that his letters and statement had been placed in a packet without having been opened. Thereupon he began a vigorous campaign in favor of his system, but the chief result for long was that he set all the leaders of the old school against him, and they were men of influence and power. He suffered for it; but at length his insistent criticism exasperated the Navy Department, which determined to make a shocking example of him and to discredit him utterly by carrying out a practical demonstration of the fact that the American

Navy knew how to use its guns. An old lightship, long since out of service, was fixed up as a target in the offing at Newport, and a portion of the navy was brought along to fire at it. They did so merrily for long and long. It was good business. At the setting of the sun they brought the old lightship in again to have a look at it, and, lo! it bore the mark of but a single hit, the result of a projectile fired from short range. There was nothing to say. Sims was justified. Some of the old gang looked for a place of seclusion where they might rest their weary heads, while others made confession and adopted the creed of Sims. Everywhere there was a violent movement of opinion in his favor. He was appointed inspector of target practice, and was set to institute his own system. This was based on constant practice and incessant firing at long range, on the principle that the number of shots fired a minute is an essential factor in the efficacy of the fire.

Clearly this is a man of imagination and resource; he is a fine man for war, for his method is to do that which is necessary, and consider some of the niceties of expediency afterwardswithout, of course, meaning that he is for any unmoral system of "necessity knowing no law," as favored by the people of central Europe. What is meant is best indicated by the anecdotal method. When war broke out between the United States and Spain upon the Cuban question our friend was naval attaché to the American embassy at Paris. The United States Government in this crisis was badly short of munitions-as is a common thing with nations when they go to war and it placed an order for a million dollars' worth with a Liverpool firm, at the same time moving Sims on from Paris to Liverpool in order to hurry on this affair and superintend the shipment. When the order was

completed, there came the news that the Spanish fleet, under Admiral Cervera, had set sail for America. All at once a serious risk arose, and the Liverpool firm which had supplied the munitions, and the owner of the ship which was to transport them, refused to let ship and goods take the water until the total value of both had been guaranteed to them. Time just then was one of the most valuable things in the world, and Sims would stop at nothing in gaining it. In a tranquil manner he declared that he would be personally responsible on condition that the ship was on her voyage before sunset. Since those memorable days Admiral Sims has frequently asked himself how long it would have taken him to pay off the million dollars, and the value of the ship, if the vessel had been sunk.

He was inspector of target practice of the navy with the Bureau of Navigation for his department for seven years. His intense specialization on ordnance, gunnery practice, and the mechanism of watching, recording, and shaping the shooting skill of a fleet or a navy's marksmen has been of immense value to the United States Navy, and incidentally of service to himself. His ideas, his convictions, his knowledge, and his experience are good factors for the Allies at present. In 1913, when the Atlantic fleet torpedo flotilla was formed, he was put in charge. He has had more experience of craft built to combat the submarine than any other American, and he has shown a remarkable inventive skill in devising methods for accomplishing special and unexpected objects. He looks a stern man, one who attends to his business and thinks everything of it; and that is what he is. But, as we have seen, there is a light and happy side to the character and disposition of Admiral Sims, and let it be added that he has the finer social