The King’s treatment of Nelson was worse than tactless; it was an impertinence.  King Edward VII, whose wisdom and tact could always be trusted, might have disapproved, as strongly as did George III, Nelson’s disregard of social conventions, but he would have received him on grounds of high public service, and have let his private faults, if he knew of them, pass unnoticed, instead of giving him an inarticulate snub.  Still, a genius of naval distinction, or any other, has no right to claim exemption from a law that governs a large section of society, or to suppose that he may not be criticized or even ostracized if he defiantly offends the susceptibilities of our moral national life.  And it is rather a big tax on one’s patience for a man, because of his exalted position and distinguished deeds of valour and high services rendered to the State, to expect that he may be granted licence to parade his gallantries with women in boastful indifference to the moral law that governs the lives of a large section of the community.  There are undoubtedly cases of ill-assorted unions, but it does not lie within our province to judge such cases.  They may be victims of a hard fate far beyond the knowledge of the serene critics, whose habit of life is to sneak into the sacred affairs of others, while their own may be in need of vigilant enquiry and adjustment.

It would hardly be possible, with the facts before us, to say a word in mitigation of Nelson’s ostentatious infatuation for Lady Hamilton, were it not that he can never be judged from the same standpoint as ordinary mortals.  That is not to say that a man, mentally constituted as he was, should not be amenable to established social laws.

Nelson was a compound of peculiarities, like most men who are put into the world to do something great.  He was amusingly vain, while his dainty vanity so obscured his judgment that he could not see through the most fulsome flattery, especially that of women.  At the same time he was professionally keen, with a clear-seeing intellect, dashing, flawless courage, and a mind that quickly grasped the weak points of the enemy’s position or formation.  He fought the old form of sea warfare by methods that were exclusively his, and sent his opponents staggering into confusion.  Once a plan of battle had been arranged, he never faltered in his judgment, and only manoeuvred as circumstances arose, but always with that unexpected rush and resource which carried with it certain victory.

Nelson’s great talents and his victories caused society outwardly to overlook his connection with the notorious Lady Hamilton.  But the gossips were always at work.  On this point he does not seem to have realized that he was playing pranks with society, though there were abundant evidences of it.  He was offended because at Dresden, on their way to England, the Electress refused to receive his mistress on account of her antecedents, and no Court was held during their stay.  Of course Emma was given the