acted like a jealous maiden, his intention being to freeze and humiliate the man who was destined to win the victory and save the British fleet from entire destruction.  There always has been tremendous jealousy in the Navy.  But Sir Hyde Parker should have known that he was dealing with an officer (who was the genius of the Navy) who would stand no nonsense from any Lord High Admiral or other fussy dignitary whom he could put in his pocket whenever he liked to exercise his personality.  Nelson never shirked responsibility when his country’s interests were being endangered by a dignified snob.  Discipline, so far as he was concerned until his object was gained, was pushed aside, and the great spirit swept into the vortex of the danger and extinguished all opposition.  He said on one occasion, “I hate your pen-and-ink men.  A fleet of British warships are the best negotiators in Europe.”

I have said that Parker was in the “sulks,” so Nelson adopted a humorous plan of thawing the ice by catching a turbot on the Dogger Bank on the passage out to the Baltic.  A sly seaman had told him that this kind of fish was easily caught, so when they arrived on the Bank the fishing commenced, and the turbot was caught.  Nelson knew his commander-in-chief was never averse to eating, so he gave orders to have it sent to Sir Hyde, and although the sea was dangerous for a small boat, the fish was in due course presented to Parker, who sent back a cordial note of thanks.  This ingenious stratagem eased the strained relations between the two men, but there still remained a feeling on the part of the commander-in-chief that the electric and resourceful spirit of Nelson would, in any engagement, be the dominating factor, with or without official sanction.  He knew how irresistibly Nelson’s influence permeated the fleet, for no man knew better than this much-envied Vice-Admiral how to enthuse his comrades (high and low) in battle, and also what confidence the nation as a whole had in what he called the “Nelson touch.”  Sir Hyde Parker, knowing Nelson’s superb qualities, should have paused and considered the consequences before he slyly sought to put such a man in the shade.  There was not a man in the whole squadron who would not have gone to his doom under Nelson’s lead rather than live under any other’s.  Nelson inspired men with the same love of glory which he craved for himself.  No real sailor ever did like to sail under a hesitating, nervous commander.  Parker, at the battle of Copenhagen, gives one (from all accounts) the impression of unsureness, afraid to take any risk lest it be the wrong one.  Nelson was always sure, and never hesitated to put into practice his considered views.