The youth, after being properly equipped for this situation, was sent to join the ship, then at Sheerness.  It should seem, however, that his uncle could not at that time be on board, or any person whatever who knew of his coming:  for he has been repeatedly heard to say, by one of his oldest and most esteemed friends, that he paced the deck, after his arrival from Greenwich, the whole remainder of the day, without being in the smallest degree noticed by any one; till, at length, the second day of his being on board, some person, as he expressed it, “kindly took compassion on him.”  It was then discovered, for the first time, that he was the captain’s nephew, and appointed to serve on board as a midshipman.  What a primary reception was this, for such a youth to experience!  It did not, however, dispirit him; and he was, no doubt, now heartily greeted and encouraged, with the golden hopes always inspired, among young seamen, by the prospect of a Spanish war.

Whatever might be the extent of these hopes, they were destined to be speedily dissipated.  The Spaniards very readily made such concessions as administration thought it expedient, at that juncture, to accept, respecting this business; Mr. Harris, his majesty’s minister at Madrid, who had been recalled on the 21st of December 1770, was ordered to return thither on the 18th of January 1771; and, of course, all the ships which had been just commissioned for that service, were directed to be immediately laid up in ordinary, and paid off.

This, on the whole, seemed no very auspicious commencement for the young hero.  His father was in the condition of the country; he had incurred the expences of fitting out, for services which this compromise rendered unnecessary.  Peace, however, while it can be preserved with safety and honour, is always preferable to war; and initiation in an honourable profession, where so much depends on seniority, though it may not be immediately productive, is undoubtedly better than nothing.

Horatio, though discouraged, was not disgusted:  on the contrary, he felt delighted with the profession of a sailor.  Under the eye of his respectable uncle, during the short time he had been on board, he became fully satisfied that, to form an accomplished seaman, would require no small degree of application, and no few years of experience.  It was ever the opinion of the Reverend Mr. Nelson, founded on an early and acute observation of his son’s character, that Horatio, in whatever station placed, would climb, if possible, to the very top of the tree:  this sentiment seems to have swelled the bosom of the youth, at an age when few boys indulge any serious anticipatory reflection.  With all that regarded nautical knowledge, he was studious to become thoroughly acquainted; and, being ardently desirous of making his first voyage, which was now impracticable in the navy, his uncle placed him under the care of Mr. John Rathbone, an excellent seaman, who then had the command of a West-Indiaman belonging to the respectable house of Hibbert, Purrier, and Horton.  With this skilful and brave commander, who had formerly served under Captain Suckling, in the Dreadnought, he now joyfully proceeded on his first expedition, by sailing to the West Indies.