be met. The enemy was still so far distant that he could not be
reached till near nightfall, and it was possible that not only would
the battle be fought in the dark, but that some at least of the ships
would not have daylight to take their positions. The consequent
difficulty and risk was in any event great; but in this case the more
so, because the ground was unknown to every officer in the fleet. The
only chart of it in possession of the British was a rude sketch lately
taken out of a prize. There was no time now for calling captains
together, nor for forming plans of action. Then appeared conspicuously
the value of that preparedness of mind, as well as of purpose, which
at bottom was the greatest of Nelson's claims to credit. Much had been
received by him from Nature,--gifts which, if she bestows them not,
man struggles in vain to acquire by his own efforts; but the care
which he took in fitting himself to use those gifts to their utmost
capacity is his own glory. The author of the first full narrative of
these eventful weeks, Captain Berry, than whom no man had larger
occasion to observe Nelson's moods, used his capitals well when he
wrote, "The admiral viewed the obstacles with the eye of a seaman
DETERMINED ON ATTACK." It was not for him, face to face with
opportunity, to hesitate and debate whether he would be justified in
using it at once. But this preparation of purpose might have led only
to a great disaster, had it not received guidance from a richly stored
intellect, which had pondered probable conditions so exhaustively that
proper direction could be at once imparted and at once understood. The
French admiral, indeed, by his mistaken dispositions had delivered
himself into the hands of his enemy; but that might not have availed
had that enemy hesitated and given time, or had he not instantly
comprehended the possibilities of the situation with a trained glance
which had contemplated them long before. "By attacking the enemy's van
and centre, the wind blowing directly along their line, I was enabled
to throw what force I pleased on a few ships. This plan my friends
readily conceived by the signals."[63]

It was, therefore, no fortuitous coincidence that the battle was
fought on a plan preconcerted in general outline, though necessarily
subject to particular variations in detail. Not only had many
situations been discussed, as Berry tells us, but new signals had been
inserted in the signal-book to enable the