Arizona republican., 1911-10-30
4 GREAT ADMIRAL
 HORAT|O NELSON

! If ever there was man who had
 just title to the denomination, the
 greatest of English admirals," it was Horatio Nelson. It was in the sea
 service of his country that he may be i said to have put on immortality" | Most truly was it once said, in apology
 for directing letter simply to Horatio Nelson, Genoe-"Sir. there is but one Horatio Nelson in the world
 The whole life of this extraordinary man was one continued blaze of heroic enterprise. He was ever panting after
 deeds of surpassing daring. He was never at ease but in the midst of the battle and the tempest. He seemed ' to have no joy but in the mightiest of dangers. and with a giant strength wrestled with impossibility itself
 From the dispatches and letters of Nelson, which are extant. a perfect text work of the philosophy of enter prise might be formed. The many noble impulses, many aspiring resolves, | in which they abound,-all so pure, so
 patriotic. so worthy of the dignity of
 our nature-present lessons which no commentary could exhaust, nor lapse
 of time appreciate.
 "Oh, how I long," said he. in a let
 ter to his wife, while yet only a cap
 tain in that navy which he was des- | tined to lead to so many unrivaled triumphs. to be an admiral, and in
 the command of an English fleet l
 should soon either do much or be
 ruined. Mine is not a disposition for
 tame measures
 In the partial engagement to which
 Admiral Hotham brought the French
 fleet in April. 1795. Nelson went on
 board the admirars ship as soon as the firing grew slack in the van, and
 the Ca Ira" and "Censeur' had struck, when he proposed to the ad
 miral to leave his two crippled ships,
 the two prizes. and four frigates. to themselves. and to pursue the enemy,
 The admiral, however. much cooler
 than his captain, observed. We must | be content; We have done very we'll" Now" says Nelson in a letter in which this interview is related. had we taken ten sail and allowed the eleventh to escape when it had been possible to have got at her, I could
 have never called it well done |" The broad principle on which Nel-
 son acted through the whole course
 of his professional career, and which all naval men ought to keep ever pres ent in their memories, is thus emphat- ically laid down in another letter
 which he wrote to Count Mocenigo at Corfu. Tn sea affairs nothing is inn possible. and nothing improbable A presentiment of his future renown
 was always the predominant passion of
 his soul "One day or other said he. when writing to his wife. August ?, 1796. 'I will have gazette for myself.
 I feel that such an opportunity win be
 given me. I cannot. if I am in the | field of glory. be kept out of sight" When it was resolved to withdraw ] the English fleet from the Mediterran- | can, in consequence of the expected
 junction of the French and Spanish | squadrons, the feelings of Nelson were much irritated at the idea of such retreat: and in another letter to his wife he thus poured them forth. We
 are all preparing to leave the Mediter- 1 ranean. They at home do not know what this fleet is capable of perform ing-anything and everything. Much as I shall rejoice to see England I
 lament our present order in sackcloth and ashes, so dishonorable is it to the dignity of England. whose fleets are equal to meet the world in arms" A genius of the towering order of Nelson's was fitted to prosper only when left to itself. As his actions were beyond those of ordinary men, so were his notions of what could and ought
 to be acted His mind created for it. self opportunities of distinction, in what to others were situations for for Iornness and despair We find. accord ingly. that on the first occasion in which he signaliZed himself on a