Nelson and his captains - sketches of famous seamen (1902) (14761455194)

Identifier: nelsonhiscaptai00fitc (find matches)
Title: Nelson and his captains : sketches of famous seamen
Year: 1902 (1900s)
Authors: Fitchett, William Henry, 1845-1928
Subjects: Nelson, Horatio Nelson, Viscount, 1758-1805 Great Britain. Royal Navy
Publisher: London : G. Bell
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto



Text Appearing Before Image:
, his literary tasteswere genuine enough, though they had odd limita-tions. Coleridge gravely reports that, as far as heknew, Ball had read only one poem; that wasWordsworths Peter Bell! Coleridge spenteighteen months in Malta with Sir AlexanderBall; and, contemplating him through the opium-tinted lens of his own imagination, he naturallyclad that honest sailors head with a very astonish-ing nimbus. But we may accept Coleridges state-ment that, at least once every week, Ball invitedthe philosopher to write down his thoughts onsome given subject, while he did the same; andphilosopher and seaman would then exchangepapers. Now, to swop philosophical meditationsweekly with Coleridge is certainly about the lastexercise which might be expected to give delightto a seaman who had fought under Rodney atthe Battle of the Saints, and with Nelson at theNile! Judged by look, temperament, and bent of mind,Nature intended Ball to be the incumbent of acountry parish, or the decorous head of a Govern-
Text Appearing After Image:
SIR ALEXANDER BALLFrom an engraving after R. Smirke, R.A., in the British Museum SIR ALEXANDER BALL 177 ment department, or a spectacled professor—say,of political economy—in some small university.The country parish would probably have suitedhim best. He would have patted the head ofevery good little boy or girl in the village with,placid benevolence, would have listened with solemnattention to the ailments of all his parishioners,and would have delivered perfectly orthodox andslightly dull sermons from his pulpit every Sunday.He would probably have mounted to the benchof bishops, and, in that case, would have worn hislawn sleeves with entire gravity and decorousness.And yet this mild, slow, meditative man, who couldexchange philosophical reflections with Coleridge,and win the admiration of little boys and girls inMalta, was the seaman who, in the Alexander, offCape Sicie, hung on to Nelsons half-dismastedflagship, the Vanguard, with a daring that amazedNelson himself; and who, in