Drake, Nelson and Napoleon | Page 2

of him.
It would be futile to attempt to draw a comparison between the two
men. The one was a colossal human genius, and the other,
extraordinary in the art of his profession, was entirely without the
faculty of understanding or appreciating the distinguished man he
flippantly raged at from his quarterdeck.
But be that as it may, Nelson's terrific aversion to and explosions
against the French and Napoleon, in whose history I had been absorbed
for many years, seem to me to be the deliberate outpouring of a mind
governed by feeling rather than by knowledge as to the real cause of the
wars and of how we came to be involved and continue in them. Nor
does he ever show that he had any clear conception of the history of
Napoleon's advent as the Ruler of the People with whom we were at
war.

I have given this book the title of "Drake, Nelson and Napoleon"
because it seemed to me necessary to bring in Drake, the prototype, and
Napoleon, the antagonist of Nelson.
Drake's influence bore fruit in what is known as the Fleet Tradition,
which culminated in the "Nelson touch." No excuse is needed,
therefore, for writing a chapter which shows how little the seaman's
character has changed in essentials since that time. To-day, our sailors
have the same simple direct force which characterized the Elizabethan
seamen and those of Nelsonian times.
Of Napoleon I have written fully in my book "The Tragedy of St.
Helena," and have contented myself here with pointing out how the
crass stupidity and blind prejudice of his opponents have helped largely
to bring about the world-war of our own times. I have also endeavoured
to contrast the statesmanlike attitude of Napoleon with the
short-sighted policy of England's politicians and their allies at that time.
Having planned the book on such lines, it inevitably follows that
Nelson must occupy a larger space in it than either Drake or Napoleon,
but for that I offer no apology.
WALTER RUNCIMAN.
March 1919.

CONTENTS
DEDICATORY LETTER
PREFACE
1. DRAKE AND THE FLEET TRADITION
2. NELSON AND HIS CIRCLE TRAFALGAR, OCT. 21st, 1805 (_a_)
BRITISH ORDER OF BATTLE (_b_) A LIST OF THE COMBINED
FLEET OF FRANCE AND SPAIN
3. NAPOLEON AND HIS CONNECTION WITH THE
WORLD-WAR
4. SEA SONGS
APPENDIX: SOME INCIDENTS OF NELSON'S LIFE
(CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED)
INDEX

ILLUSTRATIONS

LINE OF BATTLE SHIP (EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY)
DRAKE NELSON LADY HAMILTON AS "A SIBYL" CAPTAIN
HARDY (OF THE "VICTORY") "PRINCESS
CHARLOTTE."--FRIGATE (EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY)
H.M.S. "VICTORY" GOING INTO BATTLE AT TRAFALGAR
ADMIRAL COLLINGWOOD THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON AFTER
HIS ACCESSION

DRAKE AND THE FLEET TRADITION
I
The great sailors of the Elizabethan era--Hawkins, Drake, Frobisher,
Howard, Davis, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert--were the prototypes of the
sailors of the nineteenth century. They discovered new lands, opened
up new avenues of commerce, and combined these legitimate forms of
enterprise with others which at this date would be regarded as rank
piracy. Since, however, they believed themselves to be the ambassadors
of God, they did everything in His name, whether it were the seizing of
Spanish treasure or the annexing of new worlds by fair means or foul,
believing quite sincerely in the sanctity of what they did with a
seriousness and faith which now appear almost comic.
For many years the authorities of the Inquisition had plundered goods
and put to death English seamen and merchants, and Spanish Philip,
when remonstrated with, shrugged his shoulders and repudiated the
responsibility by saying that he had no power over the "Holy House."
Drake retaliated by taking possession of and bringing to England a
million and a half of Spanish treasure while the two countries were not
at war. It is said that when Drake laid hands on the bullion at Panama
he sent a message to the Viceroy that he must now learn not to interfere
with the properties of English subjects, and that if four English sailors
who were prisoners in Mexico were ill-treated he would execute two
thousand Spaniards and send him their heads. Drake never wasted
thought about reprisals or made frothy apologetic speeches as to what
would happen to those with whom he was at religious war if they
molested his fellow-countrymen. He met atrocity with atrocity. He
believed it to be his mission to avenge the burning of British seamen
and the Spanish and Popish attempts on the life of his virgin sovereign.
That he knew her to be an audacious flirt, an insufferable miser, and an

incurable political intriguer whose tortuous moves had to be watched as
vigilantly as Philip's assassins and English traitors, is apparent from
reliable records. His mind was saturated with the belief in his own high
destiny, as the chosen instrument to break the Spanish power in Europe.
He was