Page 127 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

NELSON IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 113

fleets. Nelson and Collingwood in the .. Victory" and uRoyal Sovereign" under fire
from five ships each for half an hour before being able to bring their guns to bear.
The courageous resistance but ultimate destruction of the combined fleets and
the death of the Nelson portrayed a hundred times and his famous last words, espe-
cially "I have not been a great sinner" and "thank God l have done my duty".
One of his loyal captains, hall, summed up his qualities of leadership: "Never
was a commander so enthusiastically loved by men of a/l ranks from the captain of the fleet
to the youngest ships boy''.
He was the embodiment of english naval power, inspiring loyalty and love,
demanding the whole people' s patriotism as well as inspiring their ho p es for social
change.
He was the one man able to halt the once invincible Napoleon. His fina! great
victory ensured British domination of the seas in generai and the Mediterranean
sea in particular for the next l 00 years. His great adventure, which started as a
desperate defence, heralded the founding of the world's greatest empire.
Robert Browning was inspired by Nelson's life and his example to write in
''Home thoughts from the sea' ':

.. Nobly, nobly Cape St. Vincent to the norfh west died away sunset ran one glorious
blood-red reeking into Cadiz bay bluish mid the burning water full in face Trafal-
gar lay in the dimmest north east distance dawned Gibraltar Grand and Gre)' here
and here did England help me. How can l help England?". Say.
Thus encapsulating che significance of Nelson and che Mediterranean in the
. development of British power in the last century.