But here is the matchless sailor’s opinion of the situation in this respect in his day:  “The Secretary of State (Lord Castlereagh), which is a man who has only sat one day in his office, and, of course, knows but little of what is passed, and indeed the Prime Minister, Pitt, were all full of the enemy’s fleet, and as I am now set up for a conjurer, and God knows they will very soon find out I am far from being one, I was asked my opinion, against my inclination, for if I make one wrong guess the charm will be broken; but this I ventured without any fear, that if Calder got close alongside their twenty-seven or twenty-eight sail, that by the time the enemy had beaten our fleet soundly, they would do us no harm this year.”

Though Nelson did not and could not say all that was in his mind, we can read between the lines that he had no use for the theories of ministers, and would obviously have liked to have said in brutal English, “Here I am, gentlemen, do not encumber me with your departmental jargon of palpable nothings.  You continue to trust in Providence; give me your untrammelled instructions as to what you wish me to do, and leave the rest to me.”  Here is another letter from Lord Radstock:  “No official news have been received from Lord Nelson since July 27th.  He then hinted that he might go to Ireland; nevertheless, we have no tidings of him on that coast.  I confess I begin to be fearful that he has worried his mind up to that pitch, that he cannot bear the idea of showing himself again to the world until he shall have struck some blow, and that it is this hope that is now making him run about, half frantic, in quest of adventure.  That such unparalleled perseverance and true valour should thus evaporate in air is truly melancholy.”

What balderdash to write about a man ablaze with reasoning energy and genius of the highest order!  The noble Lord is disillusioned on his arrival in Portsmouth, and writes again in another a strain:  “He (Nelson) was received in town almost as a conqueror, and was followed round by the people with huzzas.  So much for a great and good name most nobly and deservedly acquired”!  The previous letter indicates the mind of a fireside colossus, and shows how dangerously a big man’s reputation may be at the mercy of a little one or a coterie of them.  One can only describe them as portentous human snipes, whose aggressive mediocrity spreads like an attack of infectious fever, until the awful will of Heaven, for the safety of humanity, lays hands on their power for mischief.  The popularity of a public servant is always in danger of a tragical end if he lives long enough.  One slip of inevitable misfortune seals his doom when the pendulum swings against him.  And it is generally brought by a rhetorical smiling Judas who can sway a capricious public.  The more distinguished a popular man may be, the greater is the danger that the fame and reputation for which he strove may be swiftly laid low.