had all the cleanliness of an Englishman, though his manner of wearing
it gave him an air of negligence; and yet his general address and
conversation, when he wished to please, possessed a charm that was
irresistible."[2]

In June, 1779, when posted into the "Hinchinbrook," Nelson wanted
still three months of being twenty-one. By the custom of the British
Navy, then and now, promotions from the grade of Captain to that of
Admiral are made by seniority only. Once a captain, therefore, a man's
future was assured, so far as concerned the possibility of juniors
passing over his head,--neither favor nor merit could procure that;
his rank relatively to others was finally fixed. The practical
difficulty of getting at a captain of conspicuous ability, to make of
him a flag-officer, was met by one of those clumsy yet adequate
expedients by which the practical English mind contrives to reconcile
respect for precedent with the demands of emergency. There being then
no legal limit to the number of admirals, a promotion was in such case
made of all captains down to and including the one wanted; and Lord
St. Vincent, one of the most thorough-going of naval statesmen, is
credited with the declaration that he would promote a hundred down the
list of captains, if necessary, to reach the one demanded by the needs
of the country. Even with this rough-riding over obstacles,--for the
other officers promoted, however useful in their former grade, not
being wanted as admirals, remained perforce unemployed,--the advantage
of reaching post-rank betimes is evident enough; and to this chiefly
Nelson referred in acknowledging his permanent indebtedness to Sir
Peter Parker. With this early start, every artificial impediment was
cleared from his path; his extraordinary ability was able to assert
itself, and could be given due opportunity, without a too violent
straining of service methods. He had, indeed, to wait eighteen years