in killed,
twenty-four, was double that of any other ship, and in killed and
wounded nearly one-third that of the whole fleet.

An interesting anecdote of Jervis shows the importance conceded by him
to Nelson's action. It rests on good authority, and is eminently
characteristic of one who valued beyond most traits in an officer the
power to assume responsibility. "The test of a man's courage," he used
to say, "is responsibility." In the evening, while talking over the
events of the day, Calder spoke of Nelson's wearing out of the line as
an unauthorized departure from the method of attack prescribed by the
admiral. "It certainly was so," replied Jervis, "and if ever you
commit such a breach of your orders, I will forgive you also."
Success covers many faults, yet it is difficult to believe that had
Nelson been overwhelmed, the soundness of his judgment and his
resolution would not equally have had the applause of a man, who had
just fought twenty-seven ships with fifteen, because "a victory was
essential to England at that moment." The justification of departure
from orders lies not in success, but in the conditions of the case;
and Jervis was not one to overlook these, nor hereafter to forget that
only one man in his fleet had both seen the thing to do and dared the
responsibility of doing it.

A victory so signal entailed, as a matter of course, a number of those
rewards and titles with which Great Britain judiciously fostered the
spirit of emulation in her Navy. These were to a considerable extent
affairs of routine and precedent, and Nelson, knowing that junior
flag-officers had on several previous occasions been made baronets,
wished to avoid this hereditary dignity because inconsistent with his
means. His love of distinction also prompted him to desire one of
those Orders which carry with them the outward token of merit. Meeting
Drinkwater the day after the battle, he expressed his reluctance to
the baronetage, and upon the other's asking him whether he would
prefer to be a Knight of the Bath, he replied, "Yes; if my services
have been of any value, let them be noticed in a way that the public
may know them." To Elliot, who was about to return at once to England,
he wrote, asking him to make known his wishes to the Admiralty. "If
you can be instrumental in keeping back what I expect will happen, it
will be an additional obligation. I conceive to take hereditary
honours without a fortune to support the dignity, i