The wonderful inventive genius and energetic action of the Confederate officers, and engineers astounded the world by their achievements in the unknown and untried science in naval warfare. They not only made it most effective for sea coast and harbour defence, but terrible as an agency of attack on hostile ships of war. Not only that, but they brought the system to such a high state of perfection that little or no advance or improvement has since been made in it, and within a short period of the inception of the design a system was formed so perfect and complete as that the advance upon the water by the enemy was materially checked. They startled naval constructors and officers in the civilized world by the rapidity, audacity and novelty of their original methods, and will be known through all ages for their wonderful achievements. Maury, Buchanan, Brook, Jones and their assistants are the central figures around which revolve to the present day the changes from the old to the new in naval warfare. Meantime Captain Maury was most diligently employed in London, under the order of the Navy Department in developing and improving his system, afforded by the workshops and laboratories there for experiment and construction. Here he continued during 1863 and 1864, pursuing these researches, perfecting many valuable inventions, and instruments with signal success. He reported to the Secretary of the Navy at home, so far as it was safe to do so, by whom results were passed on to officers in charge for their instruction and guidance and shipping continuously to the department supplies of insulated wire, exploders, and other inventions and devices whose object was to increase the destructiveness of the torpedo and to test it continually without removing it. In the spring of 1865, he sailed for Galveston with the most powerful and perfect equipment of electric torpedo material ever assembled. Great results were confidently expected from this armament, but before he reached Havana news arrived of General Lee's surrender. But his experience and study and his scientific renown had now made him the leading authority in this new weapon of war mainly perfected by him. He was also now relieved from the seal of secrecy hitherto imposed upon him, so that when a year afterwards he returned to Europe he felt himself at liberty to impart to the sovereign there the secret of his discoveries concerning his new made science. Most of the European powers sent representatives to his school of instruction--and all of them have built upon his beginnings, the most powerful branch of their naval armaments. To France he first imparted his secret and the Emperor witnessed the experiment and himself closed the circuit and exploded a torpedo placed in the Seine, near St. Cloud, to the perfect satisfaction of all. Russia, Sweden, Holland, England and others soon also received his instructions and they, too, have since built up a new method of defence second to none.