e course which Nelson by anticipation had said
he would adopt. He expressed himself in words of generous sympathy. "I
was bewildered by the account of Sir Robert Calder's victory, and the
joy of the event; together with the hearing that _John Bull_ was not
content, which I am sorry for. Who can, my dear Freemantle, command
all the success which our Country may wish? We have fought together,
and therefore well know what it is. I have had the best disposed fleet
of friends, but who can say what will be the event of a battle? and it
most sincerely grieves me, that in any of the papers it should be
insinuated, that Lord Nelson could have done better. I should have
fought the enemy, so did my friend Calder; but who can say that he
will be more successful than another? I only wish to stand upon my own
merits, and not by comparison, one way or the other, upon the conduct
of a brother officer. You will forgive this dissertation, but I feel
upon the occasion." These words, which spoke the whole of his honest
heart, were the more generous, because he believed Calder to be one of
the few professional enemies that he had.

From the place where Villeneuve was met, Nelson reasoned, again, that
the primary intention of the allies, returning from the West Indies,
had been to enter the Straits. "By all accounts I am satisfied their
original destination was the Mediterranean, but they heard frequently
of our track." This persistence in his first view was partly due to
the confidence with which he held to his own convictions,--the defect
of a strong quality,--partly, doubtless, to the fact that Villeneuve
had blundered in his homeward course, and fetched unnecessarily to
leeward of his port, with reference to winds perfectly understood by
seamen of that day. In fact he had no business to be where he brought
up, except on the supposition that he was making for the Straits.

FOOTNOTES:

[83] At noon, January 20, "Mount Santo bore N.W., distant six
leagues."--"_Victory's" Log_. Cape Monte Santo is sixty miles north of the
southern extremity of Sardinia.

[84] On the east coast of Sicily.

[85] Bulkheads are the light partitions which divide cabins, offices, etc.
from the rest of the decks. For battle they are removed to allow freer
communication, and to lessen the risk of fire and splinters.

[86] An island twenty miles west of Sicily.

[87] Author's italics.

[88] March 9th.

[89] Author's italics.

[90] Apparently Gulf of Palm