dashing,
flawless courage, and a mind that quickly grasped the weak points of
the enemy's position or formation. He fought the old form of sea
warfare by methods that were exclusively his, and sent his opponents
staggering into confusion. Once a plan of battle had been arranged, he
never faltered in his judgment, and only manoeuvred as circumstances
arose, but always with that unexpected rush and resource which carried
with it certain victory.

Nelson's great talents and his victories caused society outwardly to
overlook his connection with the notorious Lady Hamilton. But the
gossips were always at work. On this point he does not seem to have
realized that he was playing pranks with society, though there were
abundant evidences of it. He was offended because at Dresden, on their
way to England, the Electress refused to receive his mistress on
account of her antecedents, and no Court was held during their stay.
Of course Emma was given the cold shoulder in England by the Court and
by society. Nelson told his friend Collingwood of his own treatment,
and added that, either as a public or private man, he wished nothing
undone which he had done. He told Collingwood of his cold reception by
the King, but it seems quite obvious that he maintained his belief
that his connection with Emma had no right to be questioned by His
Majesty or any of his subjects, and he held this view to the last. He
would have none of the moralists' cant lavished on him, and by his
consistent attitude seemed to say, "Hands off my private life! If I
_did_ introduce Lady Hamilton to my wife at her apartments on my
arrival in England after two and a half years' absence, when she was
on the point of becoming the mother of Horatia, what business is that
of yours? I will have none of your abstract morality. Get away, and
clean up your own morals before you talk to me of mine." The above is
what I think a man of Nelson's temperament might say to the people who
wished to warn him against the dangerous course he was pursuing. Lady
Nelson does not seem to have been a woman who could appeal to a man
like Nelson. The fact is she may have been one of those unamiable,
sexless females who was either coldly ignoring her husband or storing
up in her heart any excuse for hurling at him the most bitter
invective with which she might humiliate him. She does not appear to
have been a vulgar shrieker, but she may have been a silent stabber,
which is worse. In any case,