well advised; though probably the great blunderers were the Admiralty, in sending as second a man who had shown himself so exceptionally and uniquely capable of supreme command, and so apt to make trouble for mediocre superiors.  If Lord St. Vincent’s surmise was correct, Parker, who was a very respectable officer, had been chosen for his present place because in possession of all the information acquired during the last preparation for a Russian war; while Nelson fancied that St. Vincent himself, as commander of the Channel fleet, had recommended him, in order to get rid of a second in command who did not carry out satisfactorily the methods of his superior.  If that were so, the mistake recoiled upon his own head; for, while the appointment was made by Earl Spencer, St. Vincent succeeded him as First Lord before the expedition sailed, and the old seaman would much have preferred to see Nelson at the helm.  He was quite sure of the latter, he said, and should have been in no apprehension if he had been of rank to take the chief command; but he could not feel so sure about Sir Hyde, as he had never been tried.  Whatever the truth, Lady Malmesbury’s comment after the event was indisputable:  “I feel very sorry for Sir Hyde; but no wise man would ever have gone with Nelson, or over him, as he was sure to be in the background in every case.”

“I declare solemnly,” wrote Nelson to Davison four days after reporting, “that I do not know”—­officially, of course—­“that I am going to the Baltic, and much worse than that I could tell you.  Sir Hyde is on board sulky.  Stewart tells me, his treatment of me is now noticed.  Dickson came on board to-day to say all were scandalized at his gross neglect.  Burn this letter:  then it can never appear, and you can speak as if your knowledge came from another quarter.”  That day the orders came from the Admiralty to go to sea; and the next, March 12, the ships then present sailed,—­fifteen ships-of-the-line and two fifties, besides frigates, sloops of war, brigs, cutters, fireships, and seven bomb-vessels,—­for, if the Danes were obstinate, Copenhagen was to be bombarded.  On the 16th of March Nelson wrote both to Davison and Lady Hamilton that he as yet knew nothing, except by common report.  “Sir Hyde has not told me officially a thing.  I am sorry enough to be sent on such an expedition, but nothing can, I trust, degrade, do what they will.”  His mind was in a condition to see the worst motives in what befell him.  “I know, I see, that I am not to be supported in the way I ought, but the St. George is beginning to prepare this day for battle, and she shall be true to herself....  Captain Murray sees, as do every one, what is meant to disgrace me, but that is impossible.  Even the Captain of the Fleet [Parker’s Chief of Staff] sent me word that it was not his doing, for that Sir Hyde Parker had run his pen through all that could do me credit, or give me support; but never mind, Nelson will be first if he lives, and you shall partake of all his glory.  So it shall be my study to distinguish myself, that your heart shall leap for joy when my name is mentioned."[24]