oment."

Blackwood found him in good but very calm spirits, preoccupied with
the movements of the allies, and the probable results of his own plan
of attack. He frequently asked, "What would you consider a victory?"
Blackwood answered: "Considering the handsome way in which the battle
is offered by the enemy, their apparent determination for a fair trial
of strength, and the proximity of the land, I think if fourteen ships
are captured, it will be a glorious result." Nelson's constant reply
was that he would not be satisfied with anything short of twenty. He
admitted, however, that the nearness of the land might make it
difficult to preserve the prizes, and he was emphatic in directing
that, if the shattered enemies had any chance of returning to Cadiz,
the frigates were to be actively employed in destroying them, and were
not to be diverted from that single aim in order to save either ships
or men. Annihilation, he repeated, was his aim, and nothing short of
it; and he must have regretted the absence of the six of the line in
the Mediterranean, imperative as that had been. Word had been sent for
them to Gibraltar by Blackwood the moment the enemy moved, but they
were still away with the convoy.

Blackwood, being a great personal friend of the admiral, took the
liberty, after exchanging greetings, of submitting to him the
expediency of shifting his flag to the "Euryalus," and conducting the
battle from her. Nelson made no reply, but immediately ordered more
sail to be made upon the "Victory." Finding himself foiled in this,
Blackwood then made a direct request for the command of one of the
two vacant seventy-fours. This would give him a chance to share in
the fight, which in a frigate he probably would not have, but it would
also displace the first lieutenant of the ship from the position to
which he had succeeded temporarily. Nelson replied instantly, "No,
Blackwood, it is those men's birthright, and they shall have it."[136]
The incident shows vividly the lively sympathy and sense of justice
which ever distinguished Nelson; for it must have pained him to deny a
request so consonant to his own temper, coming from one whom he had
long known and valued, both as a friend and as an officer, and of
whose recent service such orders would have been a graceful and
appropriate acknowledgment. It may be desirable to explain to
unprofessional readers what was the claim of the lieutenants which
Nelson refused to ignore. The effi