The fundamental ideas of concentration and containing by independent squadrons are wholly missed; and not only this.

It distorts Nelson's lee attack into a weather attack, and holds up for imitation every vice of the reckless movement in spite of which Nelson had triumphed.

Not a word is said of its dangers, not a word of the exceptional circumstances that alone could justify it, not a word of how easily the tables could be turned upon a man who a second time dared to fling to the winds every principle of his art.

It is the last word of British sailing tactics, and surely nothing in their whole history, not even in the worst days of the old Fighting Instructions, so staggers us with its lack of tactical sense.[8] FOOTNOTES: [1] _I.e._ the Instructions of 1799, _supra_, p.278.For Signal 27 see p.

255.
[2] 'To attack on bearing indicated.' [3] In Ekin's text the punctuation of this sentence is obviously wrong and destroys the sense.