New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-28
1,1s yOI-TH AND TRAINING.

u1s YOUTH AND TRAINING.
There has been need Of book like this. From
Sir Harris Nicolas and Southey TO W. clark NUS
sell the literature of Nelson has been at i's oes'
Incomplete or in other ways inadequate Cap'
tain Mahan will not deprive Southey OF reaoers
for the latters Life of Nelson Is one or the pest
and most charming little biographies IN Enghsh
But the American author has studied MS SUBJECT
M once with more detachment and more speciai
knowledge than any OF his predecessors and on
the whole II would seem vastly improbable that
the biography Of Nelson should ever be written
again. 1t Is written here in manner which Is
The more admirable inasmnch as Captain Mahan
might easily have been expected to thro" 'he
reieht of his enthusiasm on the side OF tactlcal
Questions on the purely naval side of Nelson
life For such matters his previous works nave
shown him to possess an inimitable predilecton'
But as has been indicated above, our author mas
avoided too close a preoccupatlon Win proies
sional themes. and has grasped hrmy tle ioo'
of the matter in his hero's innermost nature mat
nature would seem to have promised much even
In the earliest years of It's expansion. Nelson
was a motherless lad and his father was In
modest circumstances. His uncle. Captain Maui
rice Sucking, carried him on the books OF his
shin. the sixty-four gun Reasonable. as early
as 1870 when Nelson was but Twelve years oiu'
At that immature age he was. Of course even
more fragile In health than later-and he was al
WAYS OF a delicate constitution-yet he had al
ready developed qualities which presaged sue
cess. What has poor little Horato DONE" cried
Captain Sucking. that he. being so weak. should
be sent to rough It at sea? But let him come and
ia cannon ball takes off his head he Will at least
In proyided for" Nelson himself would appear
10 have had no apprehensions OF such rate.
Years after, as Captain Mahan reminds U.S. ne
said to Hardy: 81 ever saw RADIANT ORD sus-
pended which beckoned me onward to renown
The fame Of an heroic ambition burned in him
at the start manifesting itself in just the ways
that would be expected in the childhood OF
conqueror. Captain Mahan wisely does not
scorn to repeat one or two anecdotes OF that I'M
eventfui time The master OF his school had
very fine pear tree. whose fruit the boys coveted.
but upon which none dared hazard an attempt.
At last Nelson. who did not share their desires.
undertook the risk. climbed the tree by night,
and carried off the pears. but refused to eat any
of them saying that he had taken them only be-
cause the others were afraid" II was in this
spirit that Nelson lived from the day he en-
barked upon his unce's ship to the hour on the
Victory in which he surrendered his last breath.
To remember that is TO understand more quickly
the many battling actions in his career. his fire.
quent disobedence. his more frequent audacity.
A fearless sense of honor seems to have domi-
mated his character and to have kept him chival-
rous In practically everything save the assOcia
ton with Lady Hamilton, which left so dis6gur-
ing mark upon his career. He could show vani-
IT, temper unreasonableness and other unov-
able idosyncrases but he remained an essen
TALLY heroic man, playing the same disinterested
and courageous part at Cape St Vincent. IN the
hopk OF CadiZ
he played among his childhood's companions.
1t is worth pointing out, however. that when
Nelson was launched in life. saying farewell for
ever to those Of placid development in
which his bographer finds him SO seldom as
10 regard him almost exclusively in the light of
81 yeritable son and traveller OF the sea, he was
rot for time introduced to the noble ca
reer upon which his soul was set. Captain
Sucking looked after him and was useful In
furthering his interests. taking him with him
when he was transferred TO the seventy-four-gun
ship Triumph. But at this juncture Captain
Mahan alludes to the hard work Of prosaio
enough nature to which Nelson was set by his
uncle. who finally put him on merchant YES
sci trading to the West Indies a foremost
hand. THE distinction between the merchant
seaman" he says. and the man-ofwars man,
or even the naval officer in those days OF sail
ing ships and simple weapons. was much less
sharply marked than 1t has since become. Skill
in seamanship. from the use Of the marlinespike
and the ai-needle UP to the full equipping OF a
ship and the handling Of her under canvas. was
IN either service the prime essential" 1t is
somewhat surprising, in view Of Captain Suck
ling's discreet induction OF his young protege
into the experience supplied by merchant ves-
sci. that this voyage should have had slight re-
suits. for the future Admiral was man OF sngu-
lar earnestness and application. Captain Mahan
says that 1T is doubtful. indeed. whether Nell
son ever possessed in a high degree the delicate
knack Of handling ship with the utmost dex-
terity and precision" and he quotes Codrington
as saying that Lord Nelson seaman"
Yet II he was deficient in the mint and cummin
Of nautical technique. he was broadly speak
ing a man Of sufficient genius for seamanship to
fight his battles with all necessary allowances
for technical conditions. Thus the experience on
the West Indian trader seems not unlikely to
have had come serious influence upon his later
career. fertilzing in the lessons Of ship manage
mtnt which 1t gave him that wonderful mental
fly which was ultimately 70 make him master
Of sea tactics. The reader who will follow Cap
tain Mahan's text with his eye on the excellent
battle-chsrts included In the book will surmise
that the admirable positions Of the British ships
at the Nile and at Trafalgar had seamanship
as well az military prescience at the bottom Of
them. How he felt about the matter himself
u shown in his letter to the Lords Of the Ad-
miralty In 1905. when Captain Layman had
been oensured by q court-martial for the wreck
Of his brig the Raven. of the Spanish coast.
Nelson warmly attached to Layman. and
AA not "resrst - aaas Of the Raven compared