iant achievement for so young a
captain, less than a twelvemonth having elapsed since he was but a
lieutenant. Rodney, who had meanwhile signalled his van to go about, was
somewhat perplexed at finding a single ship thus opportunely in the
direction whence the _Russell_ appeared; and, upon being informed that
she belonged to the van squadron, declared that her commander had
distinguished himself above all others in the fleet. It proved, in fact,
the keen military sense of the demands of an occasion which constitutes
the born corps or division commander. This was Saumarez's third general
action, at a time when Nelson, although three years a post-captain, had
commanded only frigates, and had never seen a battle between fleets.
But, if Saumarez used well the singular opportunities with which fortune
favored him, it was characteristic of Nelson that his value transpired
through the simplest intercourse and amid the most commonplace incidents
of service. Men felt, rather than realized, that under the slight,
quaint, boyish exterior there lay the elements of a great man, who would
one day fulfil his own boast of climbing to the top of the tree; and he
had been made a full captain in 1779, when not quite twenty-one.
According to the rule of the British service, already mentioned, this
assured for life his precedence over Saumarez, promoted in 1782.

The latter, however, if outstripped by a younger competitor, who was to
become the greatest of British admirals, had secured a position of
vantage for that great war which then lay in the womb of the future.
Returning to England in 1782, he passed in retirement the ten years that
preceded the outbreak of hostilities with the French republic. During
this period he was twice called out for service upon occasions of war
threatening,--in 1787 with France, and in 1790 with Spain; but though in
each case appointed to a ship, the employment went no farther, as
hostilities were timely averted. This protracted withdrawal from active
pursuit of his profession, viewed in connection with his prolonged and
efficient service of the twenty following years, may be taken as
indicating two things: first, that to professional excellence once
attained such a break is not as fatal as is commonly argued; and second,
considered with his favorable entertainment of Cornwallis's proposal to
exchange into the army, this contentment with shore life during the
peace confirms the remark already made, that, altho