A GREAT SAILOR.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10019, 15 April 1910, Page 7

A GREAT SAILOR.

"Admiral wisher," said Mr W. T. Stead on one occasion, when (Uscussing a certain naval -controversy, "is one of the lew geniusis wa lrwe got in this . country to the proaen; day." In the current number of "Ihe Review ot Reviews," Mr Sleari contributes notable eulogy of the famous sea Jord who tins just retire;! from the chief control, at the Admiralty. He spaces with a person;;] knowledge of Admiral Fisher extending over thirty years. "Fisher," says Ivlr Stead, "was a great man—one of our greatest m?n. His greatness was attested alike by the devotion which he commanded from all the greatest, and the fierce rancour of animosity which he roused in the worst of his contemporaries. Long years hereafter, when ail the controversies which fyave rsged round his name have gunk into oblivion,the name and the fame and the high renown of Admiral Fisher- will Le things to conjura with in the Service which he loved so well and served su long. "It was never his destiny to -lead England's battle fleet into action, but it was his extraordinary good fortune to impress all who came wthin the magic circle of his influence so that they regarded him with as much admiration and devotion as if he had been actually victor of a battle of the Nile or had returned triumphant from another Trafalgar. We all felt that in him there was the potentiality of a Nelson.'' Fisher was at the Hague Conference of 1899. where, while he was personally most popular, some of his talk created consternation:— "Fisher's ideas as to war, and especially as to naval war, were all based,upon thosa current in Nelson's time. He was a bit of a barbarian who tackled like a savage at times, to the no small scandal of his, coil ;agues at The Hague. 'The humanising of war!' he declared. 'You might as well talk of humanising hell!' When a silly ass at The Hague got up and talked about the amenities of civilised warfare, and putting your prisoners' feet in hot water and giving them gruel, his reply, A regret to say, was considered totally unfit for publication. As if war could be civilised! If lam in command when war breaks out I shall issue as my orders: "The essence of war is violence. "Moderation in war is imbecility. "Hit first, hit hard, and hit anywhere." Mr Stead concluded with some personal notes and impressions:—"There is such |veh6mence, such directness, such vividness of imagination, such forceful phrase in his conversation that I can recall no peer. I did not know Carlyle until the fires of that volcano were cooled by the snows of eighty years; but Fisher's conversations daring, dazzling, coruscating—reminds me somewhat of what Carlyle must have been in his prime.