ustration. You will see the
result of adequate means in the case of the battle of Waterloo, for
instance. When we remember that Wellington fought that battle with
130,000 men opposed to Napoleon's 80,000, we are not surprised that it
was Wellington's battle. Take another decisive battle--Sedan. When the
Germans had 125,000 men opposed to 84,000, it does not seem possible
that the result could have been anything else.

So we might go over a long list. The sea fights furnish many instances
where it was found that the most powerful fleet was the one that was
successful. Nelson was always in favor of overwhelming fleets, though he
did not have them always at his command. Our own war of 1812 furnishes
numerous instances where our victories depended upon the superior force.
It seems unnecessary that such self-evident truths should be stated
before this assemblage of intelligent gentlemen, but we are apt to
forget that a superior force is necessary to win a victory. As I said
before, victory is not due to chance. Had superior force not been our
own case at the battle of Santiago, had it been the reverse, or had it
been materially modified, what turned out to be a victory might have
been a disaster; and that we must not forget.

The second lesson, if we may call it so, is closely allied, perhaps, to
the first. Shall we learn the lesson which is taught us in this recent
war? Shall we rest on the laurels which we may have won, or shall we
prepare for the future? Shall we not imagine our foe in the future, as
might well be the case, to be superior to the one over which we have
been victorious? It is a question that comes home to us directly. On
July 3d, when Cervera was returned, on board the "Iowa," to the mouth of
the harbor at Santiago, he requested permission to send a telegram
reporting the state of the case to Captain-General Blanco. Of course, no
objection was raised to this, and Cervera wrote out a telegram and sent
it on board the flagship to be scrutinized and forwarded to Blanco. He
stated in this telegram that he obeyed his (General Blanco's) orders and
left the harbor of Santiago at 9.30 Sunday morning, and "now," he said,
"it is with the most profound regret that I have to report that my fleet
has been completely destroyed. We went out to meet the forces of the
enemy, which outnumbered us three to one."

I had so much sympathy with old Admiral Cervera that I did not have it
in my heart to modify or change in any re