Yours ever,
(Signed) J. Moresby.
POSTSCRIPT
Last night, in finishing off the examination of several boxes of old papers, I came across a forgotten letter written a fortnight after the Battle of Trafalgar from the “Dreadnought” (which ship participated in the Battle). On mentioning it I was told there was a “Dreadnought” in the Navy at the time of Henry VIII. I think one of the Docks at Portsmouth dates from that time, and the “Dreadnought” may have been docked in it. I love the delicious little touch at the end of this letter where everyone seals their letters with black wax in memory of Nelson, and the prayer and poetry are lovely. And where his acquaintance in Collingwood’s Ship “had been shortened by the Hand of Death,” and
“Roll softly ye Waves,
Blow gently ye Winds
O’er the bosom of the deep where the bodies of the Heroes rest, until the Great Day, when all that are in their grave shall hear the Voice of the Son of God, when thou O Sea! shall give up thy dead to Life Immortal, and thou O Britain be grateful to thy defenders! that the Widows and Orphans of thy deceased Warriors be precious in thy sight—Soothe their sorrows, alleviate their distresses and provide for their wants by anticipating their wishes.”
(The Straits of Gibraltar the writer spells “Streights.”) He adds “Our splendid Success has been dearly bought. Our gallant Chief is dead. In the arms of Victory fell the greatest Hero that ever any age or Nation ever produced.”
APPENDIX I
LORD FISHER’S GREAT NAVAL REFORMS
By W. T. Stead
“He being dead yet speaketh.”—Hebrews xi. 4.