country better by keeping this
unfortunate officer in active service when its fleet was on the verge
of a life-or-death struggle for naval supremacy than by dispensing
with his services, which they had thought fit to retain from July to
October. Nelson's attitude was the more patriotic and noble, and under
such circumstances the verdict, however mild, was bound to be given
against the man whose heart they had broken because they were afraid
of public opinion. Nelson was a better judge than they. Discreet
reprimand, combined with a few kindly words of encouragement, was the
proper course at such a time, when every man and ship was so
essential.

On a previous occasion, when a "seventy-four" had stranded, the
officer whose skill and efforts had refloated her was told by Nelson
that he had spoken favourably of him to the Admiralty. The officer
showed in suitable terms his gratitude, but added that he did not
regard what he had done as meriting any notice or praise. The Admiral
pointed out that a battle might easily be lost by the absence of a
line-of-battle ship. When Nelson conveyed the ill-considered and
stupid instructions of the Government to Sir Robert Calder to return
home to be court-martialled, and the latter replied that his letter
"to do so cut him to the soul and that his heart was broken," Nelson
was so overcome with sympathy for Calder that he sacrificed his own
opinions already expressed, and also took the risk of bringing upon
himself the displeasure of the Comptroller of the Navy by giving the
unfortunate man permission to proceed home in a vessel that would have
been so valuable an asset to his fleet. This worthy act, had he lived
and the battle of Trafalgar been drawn or lost, might have laid him
open to impeachment. Nelson's fine courage and sense of proportion
when he thought an injustice or undue severity was being imposed was
never allowed to be trifled with by any official, no matter how high
or subordinate his position might be, and his contempt for men whom he
knew were miserable cocksparrow amateurs was openly avowed.

Whatever the consequences, he would have sooner lost a victory than
have gained one by lending himself to an act that was to injure or
break his brother in arms. Calder left the fleet a few days before the
action, and when it began Nelson remarked to Hardy, "What would poor
Sir Robert Calder give to be with us now!" Even on the eve of a great
encounter the stress of preparation di