resolution to the task before him. In words of admirable
force and clearness, he manifests that exclusiveness of purpose, which
Napoleon justly characterized as the secret of great operations and of
great successes. "I have not a thought," he writes to the minister at
Genoa, "on any subject separated from the immediate object of my
command, nor a wish to be employed on any other service. So far the
allies," he continues, with no unbecoming self-assertion, "are
fortunate, if I may be allowed the expression, in having an officer of
this character." He felt this singleness of mind, which is so rare a
gift, to be the more important, from his very consciousness that the
difficulty of his task approached the border of impossibility. "I
cannot command winds and weather. A sea-officer cannot, like a
land-officer, form plans; his object is to embrace the happy moment
which now and then offers,--it may be this day, not for a month, and
perhaps never." Nothing can be more suggestive of his greatest
characteristics than this remark, which is perhaps less applicable to
naval officers to-day than it was then. In it we may fairly see one of
those clearly held principles which serve a man so well in moments of
doubt and perplexity. At the Nile and at Trafalgar, and scarcely less
at St. Vincent and Copenhagen, the seizure of opportunity, the
unfaltering resolve "to embrace the happy moment," is perhaps even
more notable and decisive than the sagacity which so accurately chose
the proper method of action.

Nelson's deeds did not belie his words. Immediately after definite
news of Beaulieu's retreat to the Po was received, Sir John Jervis
appeared off Genoa with the fleet. The "Agamemnon" joined him, and
remained in company until the 23d of April, when by Nelson's request
she sailed on a cruise to the westward. From that time until the 4th
of June she was actively employed between Nice and Genoa, engaging the
batteries, and from time to time cutting out vessels from the
anchorages. His attempts were more or less successful; on one occasion
he captured a considerable portion of the French siege-train going
forward for the siege of Mantua; but upon the whole, the futility of
the attempt became apparent. "Although I will do my utmost, I do not
believe it is in my power to prevent troops or stores from passing
along shore. Heavy swells, light breezes, and the near approach to the
shore which these vessels go are our obstacles.... You may per