is revision, there would have
been more modification; but Nelson did not realize where he was
hurting them, any more than he did in Miller's case.

The love of glory, the ardent desire for honorable distinction by
honorable deeds, is among the most potent and elevating of military
motives, which in no breast has burned with a purer flame than in that
of Nelson; but it is better that officers leave the public telling of
their own exploits to others, and it is evident that Nelson, when
taken to task, realized uncomfortably that he had not exercised due
thoughtfulness. Parker refrained from addressing him till he had
received the printed account. This was not till July, and his
remonstrance reached Nelson shortly after the loss of his arm at
Teneriffe, when on his way home for what proved to be a tedious and
painful recovery. He was then suffering, not only from pain and
weakness, but also from discouragement about his professional future,
which he thought threatened by disability, and for these conditions
allowance must be made; but for all this his reply did not compare
favorably with Parker's letter, which had been explicit in its
complaint as well as moderate in expression. He wrote curtly: "I must
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th of July; and, after
declaring that I know nothing of the Prince George till she was hailed
from the forecastle of the San Nicolas,[53] it is impossible I can
enter into the subject of your letter."

This course was the more ungenerous, because no explanation, or even
admission of involuntary wrong done, could have detracted in the
least from the abounding credit due and accorded to Nelson for his
conduct at St. Vincent, which indeed did not depend upon the length of
time he remained unsupported, but upon the rapidity and fearlessness
with which he had acted aright at a very critical juncture. This had
been done so openly, under the eyes of all men, that it could by no
means be hid. Collingwood had borne witness to it, in words which have
been quoted. Drinkwater and Elliot had watched the whole from the deck
of their frigate. The latter had written to him: "To have had any
share in yesterday's glory is honour enough for one man's life, but to
have been foremost on such a day could fall to your share alone." The
commander-in-chief had come out to greet him upon the quarter-deck of
the flagship,--a compliment naval officers can appreciate,--had there
embraced him, saying he c