, could not be told by
mouth till after arrival.

It will be remembered that Sir Hyde Parker had succeeded Hotham in the
chief command of the Mediterranean, for a brief but critical month in
1795,[23] and that Nelson had then complained of his action as regards
the general conduct of the campaign, and specifically for having
reduced to the point of inefficiency the small squadron under Nelson's
own direction, upon which the most important issues hinged. Possibly
Parker had heard this, possibly the notorious disregard of Keith's
orders a few months before influenced him to keep his renowned, but
independent, subordinate at a distance in official matters. It was not
well advised; though probably the great blunderers were the Admiralty,
in sending as second a man who had shown himself so exceptionally and
uniquely capable of supreme command, and so apt to make trouble for
mediocre superiors. If Lord St. Vincent's surmise was correct, Parker,
who was a very respectable officer, had been chosen for his present
place because in possession of all the information acquired during the
last preparation for a Russian war; while Nelson fancied that St.
Vincent himself, as commander of the Channel fleet, had recommended
him, in order to get rid of a second in command who did not carry out
satisfactorily the methods of his superior. If that were so, the
mistake recoiled upon his own head; for, while the appointment was
made by Earl Spencer, St. Vincent succeeded him as First Lord before
the expedition sailed, and the old seaman would much have preferred to
see Nelson at the helm. He was quite sure of the latter, he said, and
should have been in no apprehension if he had been of rank to take the
chief command; but he could not feel so sure about Sir Hyde, as he had
never been tried. Whatever the truth, Lady Malmesbury's comment after
the event was indisputable: "I feel very sorry for Sir Hyde; but no
wise man would ever have gone with Nelson, or over him, as he was sure
to be in the background in every case."

"I declare solemnly," wrote Nelson to Davison four days after
reporting, "that I do not know"--officially, of course--"that I am
going to the Baltic, and much worse than that I could tell you. Sir
Hyde is on board sulky. Stewart tells me, his treatment of me is now
noticed. Dickson came on board to-day to say all were scandalized at
his gross neglect. Burn this letter: then it can never appear, and you
can speak as if your know