r ships], but, in my
present mind, I shall take neither. My wish is to see England once
more, and I want a few weeks' rest." But here again, having regard to
that fame which was to him most dear, he was mistaken, as he now owned
he had been in the wish, a year before, to accompany Lord Hood on his
return. In Sir John Jervis he was to meet, not only one of the most
accomplished and resolute officers of the British Navy, closely akin
to himself in enterprise and fearlessness, though without his
exceptional genius, but also a man capable of appreciating perfectly
the extraordinary powers of his subordinate, and of disregarding every
obstacle and all clamor, in the determination to utilize his qualities
to the full, for the good of the nation.

FOOTNOTES:

[32] Correspondance de Napoleon, August 30, 1795. The letter was from
Bonaparte's hand, though signed by the Committee of Public Safety.

[33] The fleet passed once, August 14, in sight of Vado Bay. Nelson went on
board, and tried to induce Hotham to go in and meet De Vins. He refused,
saying he must go to Leghorn, but would return, and water the fleet in
Vado; but he never came.

[34] A year later, when all his transactions with Genoa as an independent
republic were concluded, Nelson received from the British Minister of
Foreign Affairs, through the Admiralty, the following strong and
comprehensive endorsement of his political conduct:--

"I esteem it an act of justice due to that officer, to inform your
lordships that His Majesty has been graciously pleased entirely to approve
of the conduct of Commodore Nelson in all his transactions with the
Republic of Genoa. I have the honour to be, &c, &c. GRENVILLE."

The First Lord of the Admiralty about the same time expressed "the great
satisfaction derived here from the very spirited, and at the same time
dignified and temperate manner, in which your conduct has been marked both
at Leghorn and Genoa."

CHAPTER VII.

NELSON'S SERVICES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN DURING THE YEAR
1796.--BONAPARTE'S ITALIAN CAMPAIGN.--THE BRITISH ABANDON CORSICA, AND
THE FLEET LEAVES THE MEDITERRANEAN.

JANUARY-DECEMBER, 1796. AGE, 38.

While the "Agamemnon" was refitting in Leghorn, the sensitive mind of
her captain, no longer preoccupied with the cares of campaigning and
negotiations, dwelt with restless anxiety upon the reflections to
which the British Navy was liable, for its alleged failure to support
the Austrians throughout th