Whatever the cause, it is quite certain that the Crown Prince and some of the Danish statesmen treated him with studied cordiality.  Sir Hyde Parker was a drag, and indeed, an intolerable nuisance to him.  When the armistice was sealed and settled for fourteen weeks, he wished to get of to Reval and hammer the Russian squadron there, but the commander-in-chief shirked all responsibility, and his victim was made to say in a letter to Lord St. Vincent “that he would have been in Reval fourteen days before, and that no one could tell what he had suffered,” and asks my dear Lord “if he has deserved well, to let him retire, and if ill, for heaven’s sake to supersede him, for he cannot exist in this state.”  Lord Nelson conducted the British case with the Danes with consummate statesmanship, but notwithstanding this, the fine sensitive nature of the noble fellow could not fail to be hurt when His Majesty (the same who lost us America) stated that, “under all the circumstances, he had thought well to approve.”  Nelson replied that he was sorry the armistice was only approved under all the circumstances, and then gives His Majesty a slap in the eye by informing him that every part of the all was to the advantage of the King and Country.  St. Vincent, the First Lord of the Admiralty, subsequently made amends for His Majesty’s error by writing to say that his “whole conduct was approved and admired, and that he does not care to draw comparisons, but that everybody agrees there is only one Nelson.”  This strong and valiant sailor was never at any time unconscious of his power.  What troubled him was other people’s lack of appreciation of it, though he accepted with a whimsical humour the grudging spirit in which credit was given to his unerring judgment and unequalled bravery.  Nor can we examine the great deeds of his career without feeling a thrill of pride in the knowledge that he belonged to us.

The spirit which animated Nelson was the same as that which lived in those heroes of old who were used by Providence as instruments in their country’s destiny, and we may believe that this same spirit will live in those God-sent men of the future who will be necessary for the carrying out of some special task or for the destruction of evil.  Apparently, long intervals elapse between the appearance of men such as Napoleon or Nelson.  Napoleon’s name still stirs the blood, and now, more than a century after his death, any one of the Powers who had a share in his tragic end would give worlds to get back some of his force and genius.  Nelson in a much less degree and in a different way was another of those sent by Providence to take part in his country’s struggles and, like many another great man, was subjected to cruel indignities at the hands of his inferiors.  He often complained about his treatment, but this never prevented him from doing his work.  But as his instructions were not always in accordance with his view of success, he occasionally disobeyed them