for his flag-rank; but even so, he obtained it while still in the very
prime of his energies, before he was thirty-nine,--a good fortune
equalled by none of his most distinguished contemporaries.[3]

A somewhat singular feature of this early promotion of Nelson is that
it was accorded without the claim of service in actual battle,--a
circumstance that seems yet more remarkable when contrasted with the
stormy and incessant warfare of his later career. While he was thus
striding ahead, his equals in years, Saumarez and Pellew, were
fighting their way up step by step, gaining each as the reward of a
distinct meritorious action, only to find themselves outstripped by
one who had scarcely seen a gun fired in anger. The result was mainly
due to the nature of the station, where sickness made vacancies more
rapidly than the deadliest engagement. But while this is true, and
must be taken into the account, it was characteristic of Nelson that
his value transpired through the simplest intercourse, and amid the
commonplace incidents of service. Locker and Parker each in turn felt
this. A little later, while he and Collingwood were still unknown
captains, the latter, usually measured and formal in his language,
wrote to him in these singularly strong words: "My regard for you, my
dear Nelson, my respect and veneration for your character, I hope and
believe, will never lessen." So, some years afterwards, but before he
became renowned or had wrought his more brilliant achievements, an
envious brother captain said to him, "You did just as you pleased in
Lord Hood's time, the same in Admiral Hotham's, and now again with Sir
John Jervis; it makes no difference to you who is Commander-in-chief."
This power of winning confidence and inspiring attachment was one of
the strongest elements in Nelson's success, alike as a subordinate and
when himself in chief command.