ing on his way home, before
the latter reached his station. Had things fallen out so, it would not
have been Nelson, the exceptional hero of exceptional services, but
Bickerton, a man with no peculiar claims as yet, who would have lost
the prize-money; for Nelson himself had just won a suit against St.
Vincent, which established that the moment a commander-in-chief left
his station, his right lapsed, and that of the next flag-officer
commenced. Nor was the division of the station an unprecedented
measure. It had been extended from the Straits to Cape Finisterre at
the time St. Vincent withdrew from the Mediterranean, in 1796; and in
1802, when Lord Keith asked for additional aids, on account of the
enormous administrative work, the Admiralty made of the request a
pretext for restricting his field to the Mediterranean, a step which
Keith successfully resisted.

Before Nelson received his leave he had begun to change his mind about
going home. This was due, partly, to a slight betterment in his
health, which he at this time mentions; chiefly, it would seem, to the
prospects of a Spanish war. This, by doubling the number of his
enemies and the quarters whence they might come, contributed to the
pleasurable excitement that was always a tonic to his physical frame,
and roused the eager desire for conspicuous action, which was his most
prominent passion. Indications also assured him that the expectation
of the French coming out, in which appearances had so often deceived
him, was now on the point of being realized; that Bonaparte's
projects, whatever they were, were approaching maturity. His "guess,"
founded on the reports before him, was wonderfully penetrative. He did
not see all the way through the French mill-stone, but he saw very
deep into it; his inference, indeed, was one in which intuition and
sagacity bore equal shares. "If the Russians continue increasing their
naval force in this country [that is, in the eastern Mediterranean], I
do not think the French will venture to the eastward; therefore, I
rather expect they will, as the year advances, try to get out of the
straits; and should they accomplish it with 7,000 troops on board, I
am sure we should lose half our West India Islands, for I think they
would go there, and not to Ireland. Whatever may be their destination,
I shall certainly follow, be it even to the East Indies." The last
allusion is interesting, for it shows the wide flight of his
speculations, which