Three years before his death, in the midst of the stress and labour which
was undermining his bodily strength, Collingwood had written with regard
to this same wearing anxiety--"My astonishment is to find that in England
this does not seem to enter into the minds of the people, or at least not
to interrupt their gaieties. England on the verge of ruin requires the
care of all; but when that _all_ is divided and contending for power, then
it is that the foundation shakes."

To the lonely Admiral tossing on the ocean of his exile, absorbed in that
mighty problem of England's defence, the attitude of his countrymen at
home--their callousness and absorption in trivialities--had seemed well-
nigh incredible. But propinquity affects proportion, and as a small object
close at hand looms larger to the eye than a vast object upon a distant
horizon, so the anomaly continued to be witnessed in England which has
often formed part of the history of nations. Possibly one of the strangest
phases of the French Revolution was that in which--while heads fell daily
and the land ran blood--the round of theatres continued without
interruption and the existence of a certain section of the public remained
undisturbed. Thus it is not surprising to find, after the storm of feeling
which was roused by the Battle of Trafalgar, how quickly personal
interests superseded national, and the social life of the country reverted
placidly to its normal groove.

True that Nelson's great victory, even while it had dealt a final and
shattering blow to Napoleon's maritime power, had not been fraught with
the vast consequences which in the moment of exultation it was fondly
believed had been achieved. Bonaparte's supremacy in Europe remained
unshaken, and his victory of Austerlitz, following hard upon Trafalgar,