Nelson flashed like a meteor across the ken of his generation to vanish
in a haze of glory. He died at the psychological moment--his life,
according to this account, the sacrifice to a dazzling folly. And the
man whom he loved--the man whose sterling worth is swamped by Nelson's
more vivid personality, was left to battle on alone through the weary
years. The intoxication of victory did not blind Collingwood to the
colossal task which yet lay before him. To Stanhope he wrote with
undiminished anxiety:--


The idea that the Victory we gained has so entirely reduced the
enemy's fleet that no danger is now to be apprehended from them, ought
not to be encouraged. On the contrary, I believe they will make up for
their loss by extraordinary exertion. You see they have immediately
sent all their fleet to sea, and clean as they are from Port, they can
avoid an encounter when they are not very superior. The ships that I
have here are many of them the dullest in the British fleet, so that I
have little chance of getting near them until they come with double
our number, and when they do, I shall do the best with them I can.
Whatever their project is, it must be interrupted--defeated if
possible. Bonaparte seems determined to have the whole of the
Mediterranean, islands and all. Whenever he is prepared to take
possession he knows how to make a quarrel with the Court of Madrid.


A few months later he wrote:--


I have a laborious and anxious life and little time to write even to
my wife. The only comfort I have here is good health and the