line-of-battle ship," wrote Nelson to Locker; "he has honoured me
highly, by a letter, for wishing to go off this station to a station
of service, and has promised me his friendship." A few months later he
wrote again: "My situation in Lord Hood's fleet must be in the highest
degree flattering to any young man. He treats me as if I were his son,
and will, I am convinced, give me anything I can ask of him." This was
really the beginning, the outstart, of Nelson's great career; for
Hood's interest in him, then aroused, and deepened by experience to
the utmost confidence and appreciation, made itself felt the instant
the French Revolutionary War began. Nelson then came at once under his
orders, went with him to the Mediterranean, and there speedily made
his mark, being transferred from admiral to admiral with ever-growing
tokens of reliance. Despite the lapse of time, and the long interval
of peace, it is no exaggeration to say that there is a direct
connection of cause and effect between his transfer to Hood's fleet,
in the harbor of New York, and the battle of Cape St. Vincent, in
1797, when he emerged from merely professional distinction to national
renown, standing head and shoulders above all competitors. In the four
days that followed his arrival in New York, Nelson took the tide at
the flood, and was borne on to fortune. Yet in this, as in many other
instant and happy decisions, we may not see the mere casting of a die,
the chance result of an irreflective impulse. The determination to
change into Hood's squadron, with its powerful, far-reaching effect
upon his future, was in necessary logical sequence to Nelson's whole
habit of thought, and wish, and previous preparation. He was swept
into the current that carried him on to fame by the irresistible
tendency of his own conscious will and cherished purpose. Opportunity
flitted by; he was ready, and grasped it.

At this turning-point the commendable diligence of his principal