iS 
LAND & WATER 
June 7, 1 917 
Nobody ever weigliod with more painstaking exactness all 
the factors in an important problem, or gauged more carefully 
their relation to each other. It is impossible for ordinary 
minds to comprehend, even dimly, activities like theirs, 
unless we can find analogies in the commonplace acts of life, 
which, by bringing the pictures into a compass small enougli 
to let \is see them wholly, enables us to form mental conceptions 
which are reasonably dear, and which in the main are true. 
Such an analogy we see suggested in the performance of 
ihf trained shar])-shooter, who instantly makes u,» his mind 
when to ])ress the trigger as his sights come into line agi'inst 
the background of a target, but who cannot be induced to 
l)ress his trigger, until those sights do come exactly into line. 
And just as much moral courage was required in Nelson not to 
do things when he was not ready, as to do things instantly 
when he was ready. In fact, in his special case, even more 
moral courage was required ; because it had to overcome the 
influence of his kindly nature which besought him continually 
to do as others wished, and because it had to combat the 
natural impatience of his temperament, aggravated by pain 
and weakness, which constantly tempted him to do anytliing 
whatever, so as to relic v.' the nervous tension brought <)n ^^\■ 
Continually waiting in circumstances of excitement. 
Next to Nelson's courage, both ))hysical and moral, the 
thing that strikes a man who thinks of Nelson is his line 
mcntalil\'. The ])roof of its existence is shown not so nnicli 
in his corresijondence, or in his written orders, as in the fact 
that in professional mattirs, he nearly always " gue^d right." 
Nelsons e<lucation had not grounded him in the jirinciples 
of any art, except the seaman's art ; so that the grasp he 
ultimately attained of strategy and policy was self -acquired, 
tind gotten not so much by study, or even by observation, as 
by incessantly thinking about them and talking about them 
with his friends. Now, it was this continual and almost 
continous thinking about matters of naval tactics and naval 
strategy- that gave Nelscm a skill in his art- comparable to that 
of Faderewski in his art. or of Hyron in his art, or of Napoleon 
in his art. To say that these men are, or were, " genmses," 
is simply to evade the (juestion ; but to say that these men, 
and eviry oth«r man who has ever attained great .skill in any art, 
were perpetually working at it in their minds, is to state the 
simple truth, an<l to bring us nearer to an understanding of 
how they gained their skill 
A great deal that is written about the "intuition" of 
Nelson. Napoleon and others is, to the mind of the writer, 
merely a series of illustrations of how mental processes, with 
accompanying decisions, can be exercised so frequently as to 
become almost automatic. In the life of every person, such 
automatic actions are of continual occurrence, especially to 
every person who exercises any art whatever. V\'e cannot 
even think of a person exercising an art except as exercising 
it somewhat automatically. Can anyone imagine a singer on 
the stage, or artist at his easel, or a typist at a writing machine, 
who has to go through a laborious mental process preliminary 
to each act ? In the ordinary affairs of life, we, become so 
accustomed to these manifestations of automatism, that we 
seldom even remark them ; but occasionally some event, 
beyond the limit of the ordinary, leads us to say that a certain 
person showed great " presence of mind," great " intuition," 
etc. If we examine any case, however, we are fairly sure to 
fmd that the person snowing the presence of mind, or the 
intuition, had so often been confronted with situations like 
the one so skilfully met. that he was mentally prepared. The 
fact that the observer noted it with surprise was because the 
observer was not mentally prepared. At the battle of 
Trafalgar, Nelson's actual advance to the attack was not 
exactly according to the lines he had originally laid down, but 
Ins mind was so thoroughly trained by continuous thinking 
about tactical situations, that he was no more unprepared to 
act when a slightly novel situation presented itself, than a 
trained political speaker is when suddenly interrupted with a 
question. In Nelson's case, as in the case of all great artists, 
a simple explanation of his skill, as shown in great emergencies, 
is sitnply the possession of a mind naturally acute, which he 
had continuously exercised upon a given kind of problem. An 
explanation like this, seemingly so commonplace, surely does 
not detract in the least from the glory of the success attained ; 
and it encourages us all, by showing a little beam of light that 
may guide us towards achieving a little moderate success 
ourselves. 
The next salient characteristic of Nelson .seems to be his 
sense of duty. Perhaps this was really his most salient 
characteristic ; but if it were, it is not the one that impresses 
the ordinary mind most clearly. The sen.se of duty in Nelson 
was the guiding influence of his life. It directed all the 
energies of his being ; and to it his physical and mental 
powers were merely accessory and subservient. The fact that 
Nelson was a son of a clergyman, and therefore brought up 
in childhood under the influences of religi«)n, was undoubtedly 
one reason for the strong sense of tlut\' which he held ; and the 
fact that he entered so early into the naval service is another 
factor. But these two factors were only minor factors: 
the main factor was the heart of Nelson. A keen sense of 
duty was naturally leagued in Nelson with a keen sense of 
justice ; and the two together combined to lead him along 
an official path of extraordinary rectitude, though they were 
not sufficient in his personal life to overcome the onslaught of 
a mastering i)assion. That Nelson should have been so moral 
])i<)fessionally, and so immoral personally, struck some ])et)])le 
with sui])rise, and yet the ex])lanation seems not diliicult. 
During all his early life, and until he met I.ady Hamilton, 
.Nelson's personal lifi-had received only a small share of Nelson's 
personal care. Nelson was an officer first, and an individual 
afterwards. For all the emergencies of liis professional and 
official life, he was prepared to a degree not surpassed by 
man in history ; but under the assault of a beautiful and 
unscrupulous woman, he went down at the first salvo. After 
that, the very ardour of his temperament, the very generosity 
of his nature, and the very forcefulness of his character, 
combined to continue him under the influence of a passion 
which, it seems, he never attempted to nsist. 
Insistence upon Rights 
The record of Nelson, especially during his latter years, 
shows an insistence that personal honors should be accorded 
him which is sometimes almost offensive. That Nelson was 
insistent upon his rights cannot be denied ; but neither can 
it be denied that he was insistent upon the rights of others. 
The very justice of his nature, the very strictness with which 
he followed the path of duty, made him insistent that others 
should follow it as well ; while the moral courage of which 
we fiave just spoken, led him to disregard criticism which 
might come from his insistence. That he should exaggerate 
unduly his own deserts and the deserts of those associated 
with him was to be expected, and is certainly to be pardoned, 
because his complaints were always frank, because he never 
made attempts to use improper influences, because he never 
tried to distort facts, and because he hijnself was not only 
ju.st to others, but even lavish of praise, and rarely otherwise 
than magnanimous. His generous treatment of Admiral 
Sir John Calder, whom certainly he hail no rea.son to like, 
went far beyond the bounds of magnanimity, to a limit that 
Nelson himself knew to be militarily unwise. 
The characteristic of Nelson which the world at large seems 
to appreciate the least, but without which Nelson would not 
hii\-€ been Nelson, and Nelson's successes would not have 
been attained, was Nelson's personal unselfishness. Insis- 
tent as he was that all honours and rewards should be accorded 
which he thought to be his due, that insistence was not for 
the benefit of Nelson the man, but for the proper recognition 
of Nelson the admiral. No man ever risked human lives more 
daringly than Admiral Nelson ; no man was ever kinder or 
gentler in daily life than Horatio Nelson. He risked others' 
lives as he risked his own ; and he credited every man under 
his command with the same willingness tcr sacrifice his life, if 
need be, as he. Nelson, felt willing to sacrifice his life. Per- 
sonally unselfish to an extreme extent ; loyal to the flag he 
fought for ; eager with all the passion of his soul, not for 
wealth, not for material possessions of any kind, but for 
glory and even more, for honour ; possessing the facultj' for 
friendship in a rare degree ; affectionately devoted to the 
officers and men with whom he served ; morally and physically 
brave ; apprehending with trained skill all tactical and strat- 
egical situations as they arose ; physically weak at all periods 
of his life, and during the latter years hampered with a blind 
eye and a painful amputated arm, he so idealized the people 
about him, and so invested them in his imagination with his 
own rare and beautiful traits, that they seemed to him almost 
a part of himself, in such a kindly way did he regard them, 
and so wholly did he trust them. " The effect of this spirit in 
him was to impart in a measure the same spirit to gU ; so that 
e\ery man, from the highest to the lowest, had but one 
enemy, and that was the enemy of his country. Every man 
knew that so long as he did his duty as well as he knew how, 
no matter what mistakes he might make, or how weak he 
might be. Nelson would be his friend. 
Thus it happened tli.it the officers ;ind men of Nelson's fleet 
Were, as he saiil. a band of brothers ; that all were mu'led in 
the common cause, with a conmion will ;ind a common spirit. 
Thus it happened that their leader was to them an inspira- 
tion actually sublime ; that Nelson's devotion and Nelson's 
unselfishness and Nelson's heroism entered into every man. 
Thus it happened that these qualities seemed to enter into even 
Nelson's ships, and that they advanced with conscious valour 
against the foe. and received with conscious fortitude the 
wounds their shot inflicted. Thus it happened that officers 
and men and ships were vivified with the spirit of all that is 
fine in war, and that naught was needed on Trafalgar Day, 
but the final Nelson Touch. 
