Partly through the natural unthinking enthusiasm of the people in times of great excitement and partly through a carefully planned campaign of sentiment adroitly managed by the ring, the monitor became almost the symbol of patriotism. After the repulse of the “Merrimac” in Hampton Roads, Ericsson was almost deified, particularly by that class of people who consider rant synonymous with eloquence. Yet such sentiments were actually cherished at the time by a great many people who knew nothing whatever about the actual merits of different types of vessels. But their fanaticism made the operations of the monitor ring easy, and at the same time made it impossible to introduce or carry forward any other type of armored vessel during the whole Civil War, no matter how efficient or how desirable it might be. Captain Ericsson is popularly credited, and doubtless will be in history, with the complete invention of the monitor. So far as the form and structure of the hull, which was simply “scow bottom,” and the fantastic type of its propelling engine and the Ericsson screw were concerned, this is probably true, at least so far as known; but the main distinguishing feature of the monitor was not its model of hull nor its propelling engine, but its revolving turret; and this device had been invented and patented by Mr. John R. R. Timby several years before the outbreak of the Civil War. Timby had proposed to use the revolving turret system for sea-coast defence, as a primary proposition. However, in his description, upon which his letters-patent were issued, he suggested that it might also be applied to floating structures or batteries. All that Ericsson did in the application of the turret system to his monitor was to appropriate Timby’s invention and act upon his suggestion; a fact which was abundantly demonstrated afterward when Mr. Timby received compensation for the infringement. But all these facts probably went for little or nothing. It seemed that the people had determined to make a demigod of Ericsson, and there was no gainsaying them. They would have it so, and so it is. Mr. Cramp, in a hitherto unpublished paper, deals with the history and operations of the monitor ring with regard to its _personnel_ and the details of its origin and methods, the origin of the “fast cruisers of the navy,” and the “state of marine engineering of this country as it existed at that time.” In this paper, as will be seen, he hews to the line. THE “MONITOR.” “The coming out of the ‘Merrimac’ for the last time, and her successful repulse by the ‘Monitor’ having driven her back into Norfolk, gave a boom to the monitor system, the extent of which had never been witnessed in this country before. “The enthusiasm that always greets successful combats in war-time was on this occasion of an extraordinary character, and the whole country was aroused to the highest pitch of excitement.