nveighed bitterly when himself one of St.
Vincent's captains. Nelson, on the contrary, at once invited cordial
social relations with the commanding officers. Half of the thirty-odd
were summoned to dine on board the flagship the first day, and half
the second. Not till the third did he permit himself the luxury of a
quiet dinner chat with his old chum, the second in command, whose
sterling merits, under a crusty exterior, he knew and appreciated.
Codrington mentions also an incident, trivial in itself, but
illustrative of that outward graciousness of manner, which, in a man
of Nelson's temperament and position, is rarely the result of careful
cultivation, but bespeaks rather the inner graciousness of the heart
that he abundantly possessed. They had never met before, and the
admiral, greeting him with his usual easy courtesy, handed him a
letter from his wife, saying that being intrusted with it by a lady,
he made a point of delivering it himself, instead of sending it by
another.

The "Nelson touch," or Plan of Attack, expounded to his captains at
the first meeting, was afterwards formulated in an Order, copies of
which were issued to the fleet on the 9th of October. In this
"Memorandum," which was doubtless sufficient for those who had
listened to the vivid oral explanation of its framer, the writer finds
the simplicity, but not the absolute clearness, that they recognized.
It embodies, however, the essential ideas, though not the precise
method of execution, actually followed at Trafalgar, under conditions
considerably different from those which Nelson probably anticipated;
and it is not the least of its merits as a military conception that it
could thus, with few signals and without confusion, adapt itself at a
moment's notice to diverse circumstances. This great order not only
reflects the ripened experience of its author, but contains also the
proof of constant mental activity and development in his thought; for
it differs materially in detail from the one issued a few months
before to the fleet, when in pursuit of Villeneuve to the West Indies.
As the final, and in the main consecutive, illustrations of his
military views, the two are presented here together.

PLAN OF ATTACK.[121]

The business of an English Commander-in-Chief being first to
bring an Enemy's Fleet to Battle, on the most advantageous terms
to himself, (I mean that of laying his Ships close on board the
Enemy, as expeditiousl