A very few years more and the hazardous difficulties of handling a fleet under canvas shall have passed beyond the conception of seamen who hold in trust for their country Lord Nelson's legacy of heroic spirit.The change in the character of the ships is too great and too radical.It is good and proper to study the acts of great men with thoughtful reverence, but already the precise intention of Lord Nelson's famous memorandum seems to lie under that veil which Time throws over the clearest conceptions of every great art.It must not be forgotten that this was the first time when Nelson, commanding in chief, had his opponents under way - the first time and the last.Had he lived, had there been other fleets left to oppose him, we would, perhaps, have learned something more of his greatness as a sea officer.Nothing could have been added to his greatness as a leader.All that can be affirmed is, that on no other day of his short and glorious career was Lord Nelson more splendidly true to his genius and to his country's fortune.
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