had a pleasant word for each of them, and for a few moments we looked
upon an exhibition of a species of affection that could only have been
the product of a common danger.

When order was restored, the President gave a brief sketch of Captain
Worden's career. Commodore Paulding had been the first, Captain Worden
the second officer, of the navy, he said, to give an unqualified opinion
in favor of armored vessels. Their opinions had been influential with
him and with the Board of Construction. Captain Worden had volunteered
to take command of the _Monitor_, at the risk of his life and
reputation, before the keel was laid. He had watched her construction,
and his energy had made it possible to send her to sea in time to arrest
the destructive operations of the _Merrimac_. What he had done with a
new crew, and a vessel of novel construction, we all knew. He, the
President, cordially acknowledged his indebtedness to Captain Worden,
and he hoped the whole country would unite in the feeling of obligation.
The debt was a heavy one, and would not be repudiated when its nature
was understood. The details of the first battle between ironclads would
interest every one. At the request of Captain Fox, Captain Worden had
consented to give an account of his voyage from New York to Hampton
Roads, and of what had afterward happened there on board the _Monitor_.

In an easy conversational manner, without any effort at display, Captain
Worden told the story, of which the following is the substance:

"I suppose," he began, "that every one knows that we left New York
Harbor in some haste. We had information that the _Merrimac_ was nearly
completed, and if we were to fight her on her first appearance, we must
be on the ground. The _Monitor_ had been hurried from the laying of her
keel. Her engines were new, and her machinery did not move smoothly.
Never was a vessel launched that so much needed trial-trips to test her
machinery and get her crew accustomed to their novel duties. We went to
sea practically without them. No part of the vessel was finished; there
was one omission that was serious, and came very near causing her
failure and the loss of many lives. In heavy weather it was intended
that her hatches and all her openings should be closed and battened
down. In that case all the men would be below, and would have to depend
upon artificial ventilation. Our machinery for that purpose proved
wholly inadequate.

"We were in a heavy gal