8l3sc

YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

THE

UFE OF

LORD MELLOW.

BY
ROBERT SOUTHEY, ESQ* LTitt.
POET LAUREATE, ETC. ETC.

-J—  — \_

FIRST CANADA EDITION;

NIAGARA!
HENRY CHAPMAN, Publisher— SAMUEL HERON, Printer.
1831.

THE
IilFE OF r¥EIiSOr¥.

CHAPTER I.
Nelson's Birth and Boyhood — He is entered on beard the Raisonna-
ble — Goes to the West Indies in a Merchant-ship; then serves in
the Triumph — He sails in Capt. Phipp*s Voyage of Discovery —
Goes to the East Indies in the Seahorse, ani returns in ill Health-
Serves as acting Lieutenant in the Worcester, and is made Lieu-
, tenant into the hoteestoffe, Commander in the Badger Brig, and
Post into the HinchinbrooJc — Esepediti»n against the Spanish
Main — Sent to the South Seas in the Albermarle — Services du
ring the American War.
Horatio, son of Edmund and Catharine Nelson, was born Sept. 26,
1758, in the parsonage house of Burnham Thorpe, a village in the
county of Norfolk, of which his father was rector. The maiden name
of his mother was Suckling; her grandmother was an elder sister of Sir
Robert Walpole, and this child was named after his grandfather, the
first Lord Walpole. Mrs. Nelson died in 1767,leaving eight,out of ele-
en, children. Her brother, Capt. Maurice Suckling, of the navy,
visited the widower upon this event, and promised to take care of one
of the boys. Three years afterward, when Horatio was only twelve
years of age, being at home during the Christmas holydays, he read in
the county newspaper that his uncle was appointed to the Raisonnable,
of 64 guns. "Do William," said he to a brother who was two years
older, than himself, " write to ray father, and tell him I should like to
go to sea with uncle Maurice." Mr. Nelson was then at Bath, whither
he had gone for the recovery of his health ; his circumstances were
straitened, and he had no prospect of ever seeing them bettered : he
knew -that it was the wish of providing for himself by which Horatio
was chiefly actuated ; and did not oppose his resolution : he understood
also the boy's character, and always said, that in whatever station fie
might be placed, he would climb, if possible, to the very top of the
tree. Accordingly, Capt. Suckling was written to. r " What," said he
in his answer, " has poor Horatio done, who is so weak, that he, above
all the rest, should be sent to rough it out at sea4 But let him come,
and the first time we go into action, a cannon ball may knock off his
head, and provide for him at once."
It is manifest from these words, that Horatio was not the boy w hom
his uncle would have chosen to bring up in his own profession. He was.

4 LIFE OF JfELSOST.
never of a strong body ; and the ague, which at that time was one ofthe
most common diseases in England, had greatly reduced his strength ;
yet he had already given proofs of that resolute heart and nobleness of
mind, which, during his whole career of labour and of glory, so eminent
ly distinguished him. When a mere child, he strayed a birdVnesting
from his grandmother's house in company with a cow-boy : the dinner
hour elapsed ; he was absent, and could not be found ; and the alarm
of the family became very great, for they apprehended that he might
have been carried oft" by gipsies. At length,after search had been made
for him in various directions,he was discovered alone, sitting composed
ly by the side of a brook in which he could not get over. " I wonder,
child," said th© old lady, when she saw him, "that hunger and fear did
not drive you home." — " Fear! grandmamma," replied the future hero,
"I never saw fear: — What is it?" Once, after the winter holydays,
when ho and his brother William had set off on horseback to return to
school, they came kaek, because there had been a fall of snow ; and
William, who did noi; rauch like the journey, said it was too deep for
thera to venture on. "If that be the case," said the father, "you cer
tainly ahall nst^o; but make another attempt, and I uill leave it tu
your honour. If tha road is dangerous, you may return : but remember,
boys, I leave it to your honour." The snow was deep enough to have
afforded them a reasonable excuse : but Horatio was not to be prevail
ed upon to turn back. «We must go on," said he : " remember, broth-
er, it was left to our honour !" — There were some fine pears growing in
the schoolmaster's garden, which the boys regarded as lawful booty,
and in the highest degree tempting; but the boldest among them were
afraid to venturo for the prize. Horatio volunteered upon this service :
he was lowered down at night from the bed-room window by some
sheets, plundered the tree, was drawn up with the pears, and then dis
tributed them among his schoolfellows witliout reserving any for him
self. — "He only took them," he said, "because every other bov was
afraid." Early on a cold aad dark spring morning Mr. Nelson's servant arriv
ed at this school, at North Walsham, with the expected summons fo*
Horatio tojoin his ship. The parting from his brother William, who
had been for so many years his playmate and bedfellow, was a painful
effort, and was the beginning of those privations which are the sailor's
lot through life. He accompanied his father to London. The Raison-
nabiewas lying in tha Medway. He was put into the Chatham sta<re?
and on its arrival was set down with the rest ofthe passengers, and left
to find his way on board as he could. After wanderino- about in the cold
without being able te reach the ship, en officer observing the forlorn ap
pearance ofthe boy, questioned him ; and happening to be acquainted
with his uncle, took him home, and gave him some refreshments.. 
When he got onboard, Capt. Suckling was not in the ship, nor had
any person been apprised ofthe boy's coming. He paced the deck the
whole remainder ofthe day, without being noticed by any one • and it
was not till the second day that somebody, as he expressed it, ' " took

UFE. OF NELSOX. a
compassion on him." The pain which is felt when first transplanted
from our native soil, — when the living branch is cut from the parent tree,
— is one of the most poignant which we have to endure through life.
There are after griefs which wound more deeply, which leave behind
them scars never to be effaced, which bruise the spirit, and sometimes
break the heart : but never do we feel so keenly the want of love, the
necessity of being loved, and the sense of utter desertion, as when
we first leave the haven of home, and are, as it were, pushed off upon
the stream of life. Added to these feelings, the seaboy has to endure
physical hardships, and the privation of every comfort, even of sleep.
Nelson had a feeble body and an affectionate heart, and he remembored
through life his first days of wretchedness in the service.
The Kaisonnable, having been commissioned on account ofthe dis
putes respecting the Falkland Island, was paid off as soon as the differ
ence with the court of Spain was accommodated, and Capt. Suckling
was removed to the Triumph, seventy-four, then stationed as a guard-
ship in the Thames. This was considered as too inactive a life for a
boy, and Nelson was therefore sent a voyage to the West Indies in a
merchant-ship, commanded by Mr. John Rathbone, an excellent seaman,
who had served as master's mate under Capt. Suckling, in the Dread
nought. He returned a practical seaman, but with a hatred of the
king's sevice, and a saying then common among the sailors — " aft the
most honour : forward the better man." Rathbone had probably been
disappointed and disgusted in the navy ; and, with no unfriendly inten
tions, warned Nelson against a profession which he himself had found
hopeless. His uncle received him on board the Triumph on his return,
and discovering his dislike to the navy, took the best means of recon
ciling him to it. He held it out as a reward, that if he attended well to
his navigation, he should go in the cutter and decked long-boat, which
was attatched to tho commanding officer's ship at Chatham. Thus he
became a good pilot for vessels of that description, from Chatham to the
Tower, and down the Swin Channel to the North Foreland, and ac
quired a confidence among rocks and sands, of which he often felt tho
value. Nelson had not been many months on board the Triumph, when his
love of enterprise was excited bv hearing that two ships were fitting out
for a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole. In conseqence of
the difficulties which were expected on such a service, these vessels
were to take out effective men instead ofthe usual number of boys. This,
howevor, did not deter him from soliciting to be received, and, by his
uncle's interest, he whs admitted as coxswain under Capt. Lutwidge,
second in command. The voyage was undertaken in compliance with
an application from the Royal Society. The Hon. Capt. Constantine
John Phipps, eldest son of Lord Mulgrave, volunteered his services.
The Racehorse and Carcass bombs were selected, as the strongest
ships, and, therefore, best adapted for such a voyage; and they were
taken into dock and strengthened, to render them as secure as possible
against ths ice. Two masters of Greenlandmen were employed as

6 IJEfi OF .JJEI^SOA'.
pilots for each ship. No expedition was ever more carefiiJly fitted out :
and the first Lord ofthe Admiralty, Lord Sandwich, with a laudable so
licitude, went on board himself, before their departure, to see that every
thing had been completed to the wish of the officers. The ships were
provided with a simple and excellent apparatus for distilling fresh from
salt water, the invention of Dr. Irving, who accompained the expedi
tion. It consisted merely in fitting a tube to the ship's kettle, and ap
plying a wet mob to the surface as the vapour Was passing. By these
means from thirty-four to forty gallons were produced every day.
They sailed from the Nore on the 4th of .Tune : on the 6th ofthe fol
lowing month they were in lat. 79 deg. 58 min. 39 sec. E. The next
day, about the place where most ofthe old discoverers had been stopped,
the Racehorse was beset with ice : but they hove her through with ice
anchors. Capt. Phipps continued ranging along the ice, northward
and westward, till the 24th ; he then tried to the eastward. On the
30th he was in lat. 80deg. 13min., Ion. 18deg. 48min. E., among the is
lands and in the ice, with no appearance of an opening for the ships.
The weather was exceedingly fine, mild, and unusually clear. Here
they were becalmed in a large bay, wilh three apparent openings be
tween the islands which formed it ; but every where, as far as they
could see, surrounded with ice. There was not a breath of air, the wa
ter was perfectly smooth*, the iee covered with snow, low and even, ex
cept a few broken piece3, near the edge ; and the pools of water in the
middle ofthe ice-fields just crusted over with young ice. Onthe next
day the ice closed upon them, and no opening was to be seen any where,
except a hole or lake, as it might be called, about a mile and a half in
circumference, where the ships lay fast to the ice with their ice anchors.
They filled their casks with water from these ice-fields, which was ve
ry pure and soft. The men were playing on the ice all day ; but the
Greenland pilots, who were farther than they had ever been before, and
considered that the seasons was fur advancing, were alarmed at being
thus beset.
The next day there was not the smallest opening; the ships were
within less than two lengths of each other, separated by ice, and nei
ther having room to turn. The iee, which the day before had been
flat, and almost level with the water's edge, was now, in many places,
forced higher than the main, by the pieces squeezing together. A day
of thick fog followed : it was succeeded by clear weather ; but the pas
sage by which the ships had entered from the westward was closed,
and no open water was in sight, either in that or any other quarter. By
(the pilot's advice, the men were set to cut a passage and warp through
the small openings to the westward. They sawed through pieces of ice
twelve feet thick ; and this labour continued the whole day, during
which their utmost efforts did not move the ship above three hundred
yards; while they were driven, together with the ice, far to the N. E.
and E. by the current. Sometimes a field of several acres square
would be lifted up between two larger islands, and incorporated with
them; and thus these larger pieces continued to grow by aggregation-

L1EE OF NELSON. 7
Another day passed, and there seemed no probability of getting the
ships out, without a strong E. or N. E. wind. The season was far ad
vanced, and every hour lessened the chance of extricating themselves.
Young as he was, Nelson was appointed to command one of the boats
ivhich were sent out to explore a passage into the open water. It was
the means of saving a boat belonging to the Racehorse from a singular
but imminent danger. Seme of the oflicers fired at and wounded a
walrus. As no other animal has so human-like an expression in its
countenance, so also is there none that seems to possess more ofthe
passions of humanity. The wounded animal dived immediately, and
brought up a number of its companions; and they all joined in an at
tack upon the boat. They wrssted an oar from one of the men ; and it
was with the utmost difficulty that the crew could prevent them from
staving or upsetting her, till the Carcass's boat came up; and the wal
ruses, finding their enemies thus reinforced, dispersed. Young Nelson
exposed himself in a more daring manner. One night, during the mid-
watch, he stole from the ship with one of his comrades, taking advan*
tage of a rising fog, and set off' over the ice in pursuit ef a bear. It
was not long before they were missed. The fog thickened, and Capt.
Lutwidge and his officers became exceedingly alarmed for their safety.
Eetween three and four in the morning the weather cleared, and tho
two adventurers were seen at a considerable distance from the ship, at
tacking a huge bear. The signal for them to return was immediate
ly made; Nelson's comrade called upon him to obey, but in vain ; his
musket had flashed in the pan ; their ammunition was expended ; aad
a chasm in the ice, which divided him from the bear, probably saved his
life. " Never mind," he eried ; " do but let me get a blow at the devil
with tbe but-end of my musket, and we shall have him." Capt. Lut
widge, however, seeing his danger, fired a gun, which had the desired
effeet of frightening the beast ; and the boy then returned, somewhat
afraid of the consequences of his trespass. The captain reprimanded
him sternly for conduct so unworthy of the office which he filled, and
¦desired to know what motive he could have for hunting a bear. " Sir,"
said he, pouting his lips, as he was wont to do when agitated, " 1 wish
ed to kill the bear, that I might carry the skin to my father."
A party were now sent to an island, about twelve miles off (named
Walden's Island in the charts, from the midshipman who was intrusted
with this service,) to see where the open water lay. They came back
with information, that the ice, though closed all about them, was open
to the westward, round the point by which they came in. They said
also, that upon the island they had had a fresh east wind. This intelli-
gence considerably abated the hopes of the crew ; for were they lay it
had been almost calm, and their main dependance had been upon the
effect of an easterly wind in clearing the bay. There was but one alter
native ; either to wait the event ofthe weather upon the ships, or to be
take themselves to the boats. The likelihood that it might be neces
sary to sacrifice the ships had been foreseen ; the boats, accordingly,
were adapted, hoth in number and size, to transport, in case of emer*

O LIFE OF NELSON.
gency, the whole crew; and there were Dutch whalers upon the coast,
in which they could all be conveyed to Europe. As for wintering where
they were, that dreadful experiment had been already tried too often*
No time was to be lost; the ships had driven into shoal water, having
but fourteen fathoms. Should they, or the ice to which they were fast,
take the ground, they must inevitably be lost: and at this time they were
driving fast towards some rocks on the N. E. Captain Phipps sent for
the officers of both ships, and told them his intention of preparing the
boats fbr going away. They were immediately hoisted out, and thefit-
ting begun. Canvass bread-bags were made, in case it should be ne
cessary suddenly to desert the vessels ; and men were sent with the
lead-and-Iine to the northward and eastward, to sound wherever they
Ibund cracks in the ice, that they might have notice before the ice took
the ground ; for, in that case, the ships must instantly have been crush
ed or overset.
On the 7th of August they "began to haul the boats over the ice, Nel
son having command of the four-oared eutter. The men behaved ex
cellently well, like true British seamen : they seemed reconciled to the
thought of leaving the ships, and had full confidence in their officers.
About noon, the ice appeared rather more open near the vessels ; anil
as the wind was easterly, though there was but little of it, the sails
were set, and they got about a mile to the westward. They moved
very slowly, and were not now nearly so far to tbe westward as
when they were first beset. However, all sail was kept upon them,
to force thera through whenever the ice slacked the least. Whatever
exertions were made, it could not be possible to get the boats to the
water edge before the JLdth ; and if the situation of the ships should
not alter by that time, ft would not be justifiable to stay longer by
them. The commander therefore resolved to carry on both attempts
together, moving the boats constantly, and taking every opportunity
of getting the ships through. A party was sent out next day to the
westward, to examine the state ofthe ice ; they returned with tidings
that it was very heavy and close, consisting chiefly of large fields. —
The ships, however, moved something and tbe ice itself was drifting
westward. There was a thick fog, so that it was impossible to ascer
tain what advantage had been gained. It continued on the 9th ; but
the ships were moved a little through some very small openings : the
mist cleared off in the afternoon ; and it was then perceived that they
had driven much more than could have been expected to the west
ward, and that the ice itself had driven still farther. In the course of
the day they got past the boats, and took them on board again. On
the morrow the wind sprang up to the N. N. E. All sail was set, and
the ships forced their way through a great deal of very heavy ice. —
They frequently struck, and with such force, that one stroke broke the
shank of the Racehorse's best bower anchor : but the vessels made
way ; and by noon they had cleared the ice, and were out at sea.—
The next day they anchored in Smeerenberg harbour, close to that
island of which the westermost point is called Hadluyt's Headland, in
honour of the great promoter and compiler of our English voyages of
discovery.

LIFE OK NELSON. y
Here they remained a few days, that the men might rest after their
fatigue. No insect was to be seen in this dreary country, nor any spe
cies of reptile — not even the common earth-worm. Large bodies of ice
called icebergs, filled up the valleys between mountains, so dark as
when contrasted with the snow, to appear black. The colour of the
ice was of a lively light green. Opposite to the place where they fixed
their observatory was one of these icebergs, above three hundred
feet high. Its sides towards the sea was nearly perpendicular, and a
stream of water issued from it Large pieces frequently broke off, and
rolled down into the sea. There was no thunder and lightning during
the whole time they were in these latitudes. The sky was generally
loaded with hard white clouds, from which it was never entirely free
even in the clearest weather. They always knew when they were ap
proaching the iee, long before they saw it, by a bright appearance near
the horizon, which the Greenlandmen called the blink of the ice. The
season was now so far advanced, that nothing more could have been
attempted; if indeed any thing had been left untried : but the summer
had heen unusually favourable, and they had carefully surveyed the
wall of ice extending for more than twenty degrees between the latitudes
of 80deg. and 81deg. without the smallest appearance of any opening.
The ships were paid off shortly after their return to England ; and
Nelson was then placed by his uncle with Capt. Framer, in the Sea
horse, of twenty guns, then going out to the East Indies, in the squad
ron under Sir Edward Hughes. He was stationed in the foretop at
watch and watch. His good conduct attracted the attention of the
master ^afterwards Captain Surridge) in whose watch he was ; and,
upon his recommendation, the captain rated him as midshipman. At
this time his countenance was florid, and his appearance rather stout
and athletic; but when he had been about eighteen months in India, he
felt the effects of that climate, so perilous to European constitutions.
TJie disease baffled all power of medicine; he was reduced almost to a
skeleton; the use of his limbs was for some time entirely lost; and the
only hope that remained was from a voyage home. Accordingly, he
was brought home by Capt. Pigot, in the Dolphin : and had it not been
for the attentive and careful kindness of that officer on the way, Nelson
would never have lived to reach his native shores. He had formed an
acquaintance with Sir Charles Pole, Sir Thomas Troubridge, and oth
er distinguished officers, then, like himself, beginning their c^erthe
had left them pursuing that,career in full enjoyment of health '&k&%$ag,
and was returning from a country, in which all things were t6^Mne#
and interesting, with a body broken down by sickness, and's^rMMib&
had sunk with his strength. Long afterward, when the name 'of^el-
son was known as widely as that of England itself, he spoke' 'cT^fiil
feelings which he had at this time endured. "I felt impressed," said
he, " with a feeling that I should never rise in my profession; My mini
was staggered with a view ofthe difficulties I had to surmount, and {&£
little interest I possessed. I could discover no means of reaching 'th '
object of my ambition. After a long and gloomy reverie, in which*
2

J.Q HKE ©F WLSON.
almost wished myself overboard, a sudden glow of patriotism was kin
dled within me, and presented my king and country as my patron.
' Well, then," I exclaimed, ' I will be a hero ! and, confiding in Provi
dence, I will brave every danger!' "
Long afterward, Nelson loved to speak ofthe feelings of that moment:
and from that time, he often said, a radiant orb was suspended in his
mind's eye, which urged him onward to renown. The state of mind in
which these feelings begun, is what the mystics mean by their seasons
of darkness and desertion. If the animal spirits fail, they represent it
as an actual temptation. The enthusiasm of Nelson's nature had taken
a different direction, but its essence was the same. He knew to what
the previous state of dejection was to be attributed ; that an enfeebled
body, and a mind depressed, had cast this shade over his soul : but he
always seemed willing to believe, that the sunshine which succeeded,
bore with it a prophetic glory, and that the light which led him on, was
"light from heaven."
His interest, however, was far better than he imagined. During his
absence, Capt. Suckling had been made comptroller of the navy ; his
health had materially improved upon the voyage ; and, as soon as the
Dolphin was paid off, he was appointed acting-lieutenant in the Wor
cester, sixty-four, Capt. Mark Robinson, then going out with convoy
to Gibralter. Soon after his return, on the 8th of April) 1777, he pass
ed bis examination for a lieutenancy. Captain Suckling sat at the head
of the board; and when the examination was ended, in a manner high
ly honourable to Nelson, rose from his seat, and introduced him to the
examining captain as his nephew. They expressed their wonder that
he had not informed them of this relationship before ; he replied, that
he did not wish the younker to be favoured: he knew his nephew would
pass a good examination, and he had not been deceived. The next day
Nelson received his commission as second lieutenant ofthe Lowestoffe
frigate, Capt. William Locker, then fitting out for Jamaica.
American and French privateers under American colours were at
that time harassing our trade in the West Indies : even a frigate was
not sufficiently . active for Nelson, and he frequently got appointed to
one of the Lowstoffe's tenders. During one of their cruises, the Low
estoffe captured an American letter-of-marque : it was blowing a gale,
and a heavy sea running. The first Lieutenant being ordered to board
the prjze, went' below to put on his hanger. It happened to be mislaid.;
a,fiA.^'0hB was seeking it, Capt. Locker came on deck. Perceiving
£ha JjjatjSjjjtljalongside, and in danger every moment of being swamp
ed rpn^jwng extremely anxious that the privateer should be instantly

. tsifcen-jUji fl^rge, because he feared that it would otherwise founder, he
-exfl^med, " Have I no officer in the ship who can board the prize?"
jjNWon did not offer himself immediately, waiting, with his usual sense
©^propriety, for the first lieutenant's return ; but hearing the master
Volunteer, he jumped into the boat, saying, "It is my turn now; and
ffjl come back it is yours." The American, who had carried a heavy
fr^i&f sail, in hope of escaping, was so completely water-logged, that

UFE OF NELSON. J 1
the Lowestoffe's boat went in on deck, and out again with the sea.
About this time he lost his uncle. Captain Locker, however, whp
had perceived the excellent qualities of Nelson, and formed a friend
ship for him, which continued during his life, recommended him warm
ly to Sir Peter Parker, then commander-in-chief upon that' station. In.
consequence of this recommendation he was removed into the Bristol
flag-ship, and Lieutenant Cuthbert Collingwood, who had long been in
habits of great friendship with him, succeeded him in the Lowstoffe.
Sir Peter Parker was the friend of both ; and thus it happened, that
whenever Nelson got a step in rank, Collingwood succeeded him. The
former soon became first lieutenant ; and, on the 8th of Dec, 1788,
was appointed commander of the Badger brig; Collingweod taking
his place in the Bristol.. While the Badger was lying in Montego Bay,
Jamaica, the Glasgow of twenty guns came in and anchored there, and
in two hours was in flames, the steward having set fire to her While
stealing rum out of the after-hold. Her crew were leaping into the
water, when Nelson came up in his boats, made them throw their pew-
der overboard, and point their guns upward : and, by his presenee of
mind and personal exertions, prevented the loss of life which would
otherwise have ensued. On the 11th of June, 1779, he Was made post
into the Hinchinbrook, of twenty-eight guns, an enemy's merchantman,
sheathed with wood, which had been taken into the service. Colling
wood was then made commander into the Badger. A short time after he
left the Lowstoffe, that ship, with a fmall squadron, stormed the fert of
St. Fernando de Omoa, on the south side of the Bay of Honduras,
and captured some register ships which were lying under its guns. Two
hundred and fifty quintals of quicksilver and three millions of piasters
were the rewards of the enterprize : and it is characteristic of Nelson,
that the chance by which he missed a share of such a prize is never
mentioned in any of his letters ; nor is it likely that it ever excited even
a momentary feeling of vexation.
Nelson was fortunate in possessing good interest at the time when it
could be most serviceable to him : his promotion had been almost as
rapid as it eould be ; and before he had attained the age of twenty-ene
he had gained that rank which brought all the honours of the service
within his reach. No opportunity, indeed, had yet been given him p(
distinguishing himself; but he was thoroughly master of his profession,
and his zeal and ability were acknowledged wherever he was known.
Count d'Estaing, with a fleet of one hundred and twenty-five sail, men
of war and transports, and a reputed force of five-and-twenty thousand
men, threatened Jamaica from St Domingo. Nelson offered his servi
ces to the admiral and to Governor-general Dalling, and was appointed
to command the batteries of Fort Charles, at Port Royal. Net mora
than seven thousand men could be mustered for the defence of the island,
—a number wholly inadequate to resist the force which threatened
them. Of this Nelson was so well aware, that when he wrote to his
friends iri England, he told them they must not be surprised to hear of
his learning to speak French. D'Estaing, however, was either not a-

]•» LIEJi OF NELSON.
ware of his own superiority, or not equal to the command with winch
ho was intrusted ; he attempted nothing with this formidable armament 5
and General Dalling was thus left to execute a project which he had
formed against the Spanish Colonies.
This .project was, to take Fort San Juan, on the river of that name,
which flows from Lake Nicaragua into the Atlantic; make himself
master of the lake itself, and of the cities of Granada and Leon; and
thus cut off the communication of the Spaniards between their northern
and Southern possessions in America. Here it is that a catial between
the two seas may most easily be formed ; — a work more important in
its consequences than any which has ever yet been effected by human
power. Lord George Germaine, at that time Secretary of state for the
American department approved the plan : and as discontentments were
known at that time to prevail in the Nuevo Reyno, in Pompayan, and
in Peru, the more sanguine part ofthe English began to dream of ac
quiring ah empire in one part of America more extensive than that which
they were on the point of losing in another. General Dalling's plans
were wsll formed ; but the history and the nature of the country had
not heen studied as accurately as its geography : the difficulties which
occurred in fitting out the expedition delayed it till the season was too-
far advanced ; and the men were thus sent to adventure themselves,
not so much against an enemy, whom they would have beaten, as a-
gainst a climate, which would do the enemy's work.
Early in the year 1 780, five hundred men designed for this service,
were conveyed by Nelson from Port Royal to Cape Gracias a Dios, in
Honduras. Not a native was to be seen when they landed : they had
been taught that the English came with no other intent than that of en
slaving them, and sending them to Jamaica. After a while, however,
one of thsm ventured down, confiding in his knowledge of one of the
party ; *nd by his means the neighboring tribes were conciliated with
presents, and brought in. The troops were encamped in a swampy and
unwholesome plain, where they were joined by a party of the seventy
ninth regiment, from Black River, who were already in a deplorable
state of sickness. Having remained here a month, they proceeded, an
choring frequently along the Mosquito shore, to collect their Indian
allies, who were to furnish proper boats for the river, and to accompa
ny them. They reached the river San Juan, March 24th : and here,
according to his orders, Nelson's services were to terminate ; but not
a man in the expedition had ever been up the river, or knew the dis
tance of any fortification from its mouth : and he, not being one to turn
hack when so much was to be done, resolved to carry the soldiers up.
About two hundred, therefore, were embarked in the Mosquito shore
craft, and in two of the Hinchinbrook's boats, and they began their
voyage. It was the latter end of the dry season, the worst time for
such an expedition ; the river was consequently low : Indians were
^ent forward through narrow channels between shoals and sand banks,
apd the rnen were frequently obliged to quit the boats, and exert their
utmost strength to drag or thrust them along. This labour continued

Lli-E OF NELSON.

i'J

for several days when they came into deeper water, they had then cur
rents and rapids to contend with, which would have been insurmounta
ble, but for the skill ofthe Indians in such difficulties. The brunt of
the labour was borne by them and by the sailors — men never accus
tomed to stand aloof when any exertion of strength or hardihood is re
quired. The soldiers less accustomed to rely upon themselves, were
of little use. But all equally endured the heat of the sun, rendered more
intense by being reflected from the white shoals, while the high woods,
on both sides of the river, were frequently so close, as to prevent any
refreshing circulation of air ; and during the night all were equally ex
posed to the heavy and unwholesome dews.
On the 9th of April they reached an island in the river, called St.
Bartholomeo, which the Spaniards had fortified, as an outpost, with a
small semicircular battery, mounting nine or ten swivels, and manned
with sixteen or eighteen men. It commanded the river in a rapid and
difficult part ot the navigation. Nelson, at the head of a few of his
seamen leaped upon the beach. The ground upon which he sprung
was so muddy, that he had some difficulty in extricating himself, and
lost his shoes : barefooted, however, he advannced, and, in his own
phruse, boarded the battery. In this resolute attempt he was bravely
supported by Despard, at that time a captain in the army, afterward un
happily known for his sehemes of revolutionary treason. The castle of
St. Juan is situated about sixteen siiles higher up : the stores and am
munition, however, were landed a few miles below the castle, and the
men had to march through woods almost impassable. One ofthe men
was bitten under the eye by a snake, which darted upon him from the
bough of a tree . He was unable to proceed from the violence of the
pain : and when, after a short while some of his comrades were sent
back to assist him, he was dead, and the body already putrid. Nelson
himself narrowly escaped a similar fate. He had ordered his hammock
to be slung under some trees, being excessively fatigued, and wag
sleeping, when a monitory lizard passed across his face. The Indiana
happily observing the reptile, and, knowing what it indicated, awoke
him. He started up, and found one of the deadliest serpents of the
country coiled up at his feet. 1 le suffered from poison of another kind ;
for, drinking at a spring in which some boughs- of the manchineel had
been thrown, the effects were so severe, as, in the opinion of some of
his friends, to inflict a lasting injury upon his constitution.
The castle of St. Juan is thirty-two miles below the Lake of Nicara
gua, from which it issues, and sixty-nine from the mouth of the river.
Boats reach the sea from thence in a day and a half; but their naviga
tion back, even when unladen, is the labour of nine days. The Eng
lish appeared before'it on the 11th, two days after they had taken St,
Bortolomeo. Nelson's advice was, that it should instantly be carried
hy assault: but Nelson was not the commander; and it was thought
proper to observe all the formalities of a siege Ten days were was
ted before this could be commenced : it was a work more of fatigue
than of danger ; but fatigue was more to be dreaded than the enemy;
the rains set in ; and, could not the garrison have held out a little Ion-

J4 LtFfi Ol^NEL&QN.
ger, disease would have rid them of their invaders. Even the Indians"
sunk under it, the victims of unnsual exertion, and of tlieir own exces
ses. The place surrendered on tbe 24th. But victory procured to the
conquerors none of that relief which had been expected ; the castle was
worse than a prison ; aad it contained nothing which could contribute
to the recovery of the sick, or the preservation of those who were yet
unaffected. The huts, which served for hospitals, were surrounded
with filth, and with the putrefying hides of slaughtered cattle — almost
sufficient of themselves to have engendered pestilence; and when, at
last, orders were given to erect a convenient hospital, the contagion
had become so general, that there were none who could work at it;
for, besides the few who were able to perform garrison duty, there
were not orderly men enough to assist the sick. Added to these evils,
there was the want of all needful remedies; for, though the expedition
had been amply provided with hospital stores, river craft enough had,
not been procured for transporting the requisite baggage ; and when
much was to be left behind, provision for sickness was that which of
all things men in health would be most ready to leave. Now, when
these medicines were required, the river was swollen, and so turbu
lent, that its upward navigation was almost impracticable. At length,
even the task of burying the dead was more than the living could per
form, and the bodies were tossed into the stream, or left for beasts of
prey, and for the gallinazos — those dreadful carrion birds, which do
»ot always wait for death before they begin their work. Five months
tbe English persisted in what may be called this war against nature;
they then left a few men, who seemed proof against the climate, to re
tain the castle till the Spaniards should choose to retake it, and make
them prisoners. The vest abandoned thpir baleful conquest. Eighteen
hundred men were sent to different pos'ts upon this wretched expedi
tion : not more than three hundred and eighty ever returned. The Hin-
ohinbrook's complement consisted of two hundred men ; eighty-seven
took to their beds in one night; and ofthe whole crew not more than
ten survived.
The transport's men all died, and some of the ships, having none
left to take care of them, sunk in the hnrbour: but transport ships were
not wanted, for the troops which they had brought were no more ;
they had fallen, not by the hand of au enemy, but by the deadly influ
ence ofthe climate.
Nelson himself was saved by a timely removal. In a few days after
the commencement ofthe siege he was seized with the prevailing dy
sentery ; meantime, Capt Clover (son ofthe author of Leonidas ^ died,
and Nelson was appointed to succeed him in the Janus, of forty-four
guns; Collingwood being then made post into the Hinchinbrook. He
returned to the harbour the day before St. Juan surrendered, and im
mediately sailed for Jamaica in the sloop which brought the news of
his appointment. He was, however, so greatly reduced by the disor
der, that when they reached Port Royal he was carried ashore in his
cot ; and finding himself, after a partial amendment, unable to retain
the command of his new ship, he was compelled to ask leave to return
to England, as the only means of recovery. Capt. (afterward Admir
al) Cornwallis took him home in the Lion ; and to his care and kind
ness Nelson believed himself indebted for his life. He went immediate
ly to Bath, in a miserable state ; so helpless, that he was carried to and

LI'BE OF NELSON. J 5
from his bed; and the actof moving him produced the most violent pain.
In three months he recovered, and immediately hastened to London,
and applied for employment. After an interval of about four months
he was appointed to the Albemarle,, of twenty -eight guns, a French
merchant- man, which had been purchased from the captors for the
king's service.
Jlis health was not yet thoroughly re-established ; and while he was
employed in getting his ship ready, he again beeame so ill as hardly to
be able to keep out of bed, Yet in this state, still suffering from the
fatal effect of a West Indian climate, as if, it might almost be suppos
ed, he said, to try his constitution, he was sent to the North Seas, and
kept there the whole winter. The asperity with which he mentioned
this so many years afterward, evinces how deeply he resented a mode
of conduct equally cruel to the individnal and detrimental to the ser
vice. It was during the armed neutrality ; and when they anchored
off Elsinore, the Danish Admiral sent on board, desiring to be informed
what ships had arrived, and to have their force written down. " The
Albemarle," said Nelson to tbe messenger, " is one of his Britannic
Majesty's ship : you are at libeity, sir, to count the guns as you go
down the side; and you may assure the Danish Admiral, that, if ne
cessary, they shall all be well served." During this voyage he gained
a considerable knowledge of the Danish coast, and its soundings :
greatly to the advantage of his country in after-times. The Albemarle
was not a good ship, and was several times nearly overset, in conse
quence ofthe masts having been made much too long for hep. On her
return to England they were shortened, and some other improvements
made at Nelson's suggestion. Still he always insisted that her first
owners, the French, had taught her to run away, as she wasnever a
good sailer, except when going directly before the wind.
On their return to the Downs, while he was ashore visiting the senior
•officer, there came on so heavy a gale, that almost all the vessels
drove, and a store-ship came athwart-hawse of the Albemarle. Nel
son feared she would drive on the Goodwin Sands : he ran to the beach;
but even the Deal boatmen thought it impossible to get on board, such
was the violence of the storm. At length, some of the most intrepid
offered to make the attempt for fifteen guineas ; and to the astonishish-
ment and fear of all the beholders, he embarked during the height of
the tempest. With great difficulty and imminent danger he succeeded
in reaching her. She lost her bowsprit and foremast, but escaped far
ther injury, He was now ordered to Quebec ; where, his surgeon told
him, he would certainly be laid up by the climate. Many of his friends
urged him to represent this to Admiral Keppel: but, having received
his orders from Lord Sandwich, there appeared to him an indelicacy.
in applying to his successor to have them altered.
Accordingly, he sailed for Canada. During her first cruise on that
station, the Albemarle captured a fishing schooner which contained,
in her cargo, nearly all the property that her master possessed, and
the poor fellow had a large family at home, anxiously expecting' 'him.—
Nelson employed him as a pilot in Boston Bay, then restored him the
sehooner and cargo, and gave him a certificate to securje him against
being captured by any other vessel. The man came qff afterward to
the Albemarle, at the hazard of his life, wjth a ptesprit of sheep, pbul-
try, and fresh provisions. A most valuable supply-it proved ; fojP the

IQ LIL'E OF NELSON.
sourvy was raging on board : this was in the middle of August, and
the ship's company had not had a fre«h meal since the beginning of
April. The certificate was preserved at Boston in memory of an act
of unusual generosity; and now that the fame of Nelson has given in
terest to every thing connected with his name, it is regarded as a relic.
The Albemarle bad a narrow escape upon this cruise. Four French
sail ofthe line and a frigate, which had come out of Boston harbour,
gave chase to her ; and Nelson, perceiving that they beat him in sail
ing, boldly ran among the numerous shoals of St. George's Bank, con
fiding in his own skill in pilotage. Capt. Salter, in the St. Margaretta,
had escaped the French fleet, by a similar manoeuvre, not long before.
The frigate alone continued warily to pursue him ; but as soon as he
perceived that his enemy was unsupported, he shortened sail, and
hove to : upon which the Frenchman thought it advisable to give over
the pursuit, and sail in quest of his consorts.
At Quebec Nelson became acquainted wilh Alexander Davison ;
by whose interference he was prevented from making what would
have been called an imprudent marriage. The Albemarle was about
to leave the station, her captain had taken leave of his friends, and was
gone down the river to the place of anchorage ; when, the next morn
ing, as Davison was walking on the beach, to his surprise he saw
Nelson coming back in his boat. Upon inquiring the cause of his re
appearance, Nelson took his arm, to walk towards the town, and told
aim he found it utterly impossible to leave Quebec without again
seeing the woman whose society had contributed so much to this hap
piness there, and offering her his hand. — '• If you do," said his friend,
"your utter ruin must inevitably follow."— "Then let it follow," cried
Nelson, "for I am resolved to do it." — " And I," replied Davison, " am
resolved you shall not." Nelson, however, upon this occasion was
less resolute than his friends, and suffered himself to be led back to
She boat.
The Albemarle was under orders to convey a fleet of transports to
New York. — "A pretty job," said her captain, "at this last season of
the year" (October was far advanced), " for our sails are at this mo
ment frozen to the yards." On his arrival at Sandy Hook, he waited
onthe commander-in-chief, Admiral Digby, who told him he was come
on a fine station for making prize-money. " Yes, sir," Nelson made
answer ; " but the West Indies is the station for honor." Lord Hood,
with a detachment of Rodney's victorious fleet, was at that time at San
dy Hook : he had been intimate with Capt. Suckling ; and Nelson,
who was desirous of nothing but honour, requested him to ask for the
Albemarle, that he might go to that station where it was most likely
lobe obtained. Admiral Digby reluctantly parted With him. His
professional merit was already well known I and Lord Hood, on intro
ducing him to Prince William Henry, as the Duke of Clarence was
then called, told the prince, if he wished to ask any questions respect
ing naval tactics, Captain Nelson could give him as much information
as any officer ri) the fleet. The Duke, who, to his own honour, became
the firm friend of Nelson, describes him as appearingthe merest boy of
a captain he had ever seen, dressed in a full laced uniform, an old-
fashioned waistcoat.with long flaps, and his lank unpowdered hair tied

LIFE OF NELSON. ', j
in asttff Hessian fail of extraordinary length; making altogether so
remarkable a figure, " that," says the Duke, " I had never seen any
thing like it before, nor could I imagine who he was, nor what he came
about. But his address and coversation were irresistibly pleasing • and
when he spoke on professional subjects, it was with an enthusiasm that
showed he was no common being."
It was expected that the French would attempt some ofthe passages
between the Bahamas ; and Lord Hood, thinking of this, said to Nel
son, "I suppose, sir, from the length of time you was cruising among
the Bahama Keys, you must be a good pilot there." He replied, with
that constant readiness to render justice to every man which was so
conspicuous in all his conduct through life, that he was well acquainted
with them himself, but that in that respect his second lieutenant was far
his superior. The French got into Puerto Cabello on the coast of Ve
nezuela. Nelson was cruising between that port and Laguary, under
French colours, for the purpose of obtaining information ; when a king's
launch, belonging to the Spaniards, passed near, and being hailed in
French, came alongside without suspicion-, and answered all questions
that were asked concerning the number and force ofthe enemy's ships.
The crew, however, were not a little surprised when they were taken
on board, and found themselves prisoners. One of the party went by
the name of Count de Deux Ponts. * He was, however, a prince of
the German empire, and brother to the heir of the Electorate of Bava
ria: his companions weie French officers of distvn.cfion, and men of
science, who had been collecting specimens in the various branches of
natural history. Nelson, having entertained them with the best his ta
ble could afford, told them they were at liberty to depart with their boat
and all tbat it contained : he only required them to promise that they
would consider themselves prisoners, if the commander-in-chief refused
to acquiesce in their being thus liberated — a circumstance which was
not likely by any means to happen. Tidings soon arrived that the pre
liminaries of peace had been signed; and the Albermarle returned to
England, and was paid off. Nelson's first business, after he got to
London, even before he went to see his relations, was to attempt to get
the wages due to his men, for the various ships in which they had
served during the war. "The disgust of seamen to the navy," he'
said, " was all owing to the infernal plea of turning them over from'
ship to ship ; so tbat men could not be attached to the officers, nor the
officers care the least about the men." Yet he himself was so much
beloved by the men, that his whole ship's company offered, if he could
get a ship," to enter for her immediately. He was now, for the first
time, presented at court. After going through this ceremony, he
dined with his friend Davison, at Lincoln's Inn. As soon as he enter
ed the chamber, be threw off what he called his iron-bound coat ; and
putting himself at ease m a dressing-gown, passed the remainder of
te.day in talking over all that had befallen them since they parted or*
e'shore of the River St. Lawrence.

t

jg LIFE OF NELSON.

CHAPTER II.
JYelson goes to France during the Peace — Reappointed to the Boreas, and
stationed at the Leeward Islands— His firm Conduct concerning the Ame
rican Interlopers und the Contractors — Marries, andrelnrns to England —
. Is on the Point of quitting the Service in Disgust— Manner of Life
when unemployed — Appointed to the Agamemnon on the breaking out of
¦ , the War of the French Revolution.
" 1 have closed the war," said Nelson, in one of his letters, " without
a fortune; but there is not a speck in my character. True honour, I
hope, predominates in my mind far above riches." He did not apply
fbr a ship, because he was not wealthy enough to live on board in the
manner which was then become customary. Finding it, therefore,
prudent to economize on his half-pay during the peace, he went to
France, in company with Capt. Macnamara, of the navy, and took
lodgings at St. Omer's. The death of his favourite sister Anne, who
died in consequence of going out ofthe ball-room, at Bath, when heat
ed with dancing, affected his father so much, that it had nearly occa
sioned him to return in a few weeks. Time, however, and reason,
and religion, overcame this grief in the old man ; and Nelson re
mained at St. Omer's long enough to fall in love with the daughter of
an English clergyman. This second attachment appears to have been
less ardent than the first; for, upon weighing the evils of a straitened
income to a married man, he thought it better to leave France, assign
ing to his friends something in his accounts as the cause. This prevented
him from accepting an invitation from the Count of Deux -Ponts to
visit him at Paris, couched in the handsomest terms of acknowledg
ment for the treatment which he had received on board the Albemarle.
The self-constraint which Nelson exerted in subduing this attachment
made him naturally desire to be at sea: and. when, upon visiting Lord
Howe at the Admiralty, he was asked if he wished to be employed, he
made answer that he did. Accordingly, in March, he was appointed to
the Boreas, twenty-eight guns, going to the Leeward Islands, as cruiser
-on the peace establishment. Lady Hughes and her family went out
with -them to Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, who commanded on that
-station. His ship was full of young midshipmen, of whom there were
not leas than thirty on board : and happy were they whose lot it was to
be placed with such a captain. If he perceived that a boy was afraid
at first going aloft, he would say to him in a friendly manner : "Well,
sir, I am going a race to mast-head, and beg that I may meet you there. ^
The poor little fellow instantly began to climb, and got up how he
could — Nelson never noticed in what manner; but when thoy met in
the top, spoke cheerfully to him ; and would say how much any person
was to be pitied who fancied that getting up was either dangerous or
difficult. Every day he went into the school room, to see that they
were pursuing their nautical studies ; End at noon he was always the
first on deck with his quadrant. Whenever he paid a visit of ceremony,
some of these youths accompanied him : and when he went to dine
with the governor at Barbadoes, he took one of them in his hand, and

LIFE OF NELSON. 1&
presented him, saying, " Your Excellency must excuse me for bringing
one of my midshipmen: I make it a rule to introduce them to all the
good company I can, as they have few to look up to, beside myself, du
ring the time they are at sea."
When Nelson arrived in the West Indies he found himself senior
captain, and consequently second in command on that station. Satis
factory as this was, it soon involved him in a dispute with the Admiral,
which a man less zealous for the service might have avoided. He found
the Latona in English Harbour, Antigua, with a broad penant hoisted ;
and, upon inquiring the reason, was presented with an order frora Sir
Richard Hughes, requiring and directing him to obey the orders ef
resident commissioner Moutray, during the time he might have occasion
to stay there; the said resident commissioner being, inconsequence,
authorized to hoist a broad penant on board any of, his Majesty's ships
in that port that he might think -proper. Nelson was never at a loss
how to act in any emergency. " I know of no. superior officers," said
he, "besides the lords commissioners of Admiralty, and ray seniors on
the post list." Concluding, therefore, that it was not consistent with
the service for a resident commissioner, who held only a civil situation,
to hoist a broad penant, the moment that he had anchored, he seat an
order to the captain of the Latona to strike it, ahd return it to the dock
yard. He went.on shore the same day, dined with the commissioner,
to1 show him that he was actuated by no other motives than a senss of
duty, and gave him the first intelligence that his penant had been struek.
Sir Richard sent an account of this to the Admiralty ; but the case
could admit of no doubt, and Captain Nelson's conduct was entirely
approved. He displayed the same promptitude on another occasion. • While in
the Boreas, after the hurricane months were over, was riding at aneher
in Nevis Rhodes, a French frigate passed to leeward, elose along"
shore. Nelson had obtained information that this ship was sent from.
Martinico, with two general officers and some engineers on board, to1
take a survey of our sugar islands. This purpose he was determined to •
prevent them from executing, and therefore he gave orders to follow
them. The next day he came up with them at anchor in the roads of.
St Eustatia, and anchored about two cable's length on the frigate's
quarter. Being afterward invited by the Dutch governor to meet the
French Officers at dinner, he seized that occasion of assuring the
French captain, that understanding it was his intention to honour the
British possessions with a visit, he had taken the earliest opportunity
in his power to accompany him,' In his Majesty's ship.the Boreas, in
order that such attention might be paid to the officers of his most Chris
tian Majesty, as every Englishman in, the islands would be proud t»
show. The French, with equal courtesy, protested against giving
him this trouble ; especially, they said, as they intended merely to
cruise round the islands, without landing on any. But Nelson, with the
utmost politeness, insisted upon paying them this compliment, followed
them close, in spite of all their attempts to elude his vigilance, and ne-

¦JO LIFE OF NF.LSUX,
ver lost sight of them; till, finding it imposssble either to deceive or
escape him, they gave up their treacherous purpose in despair, and
beat up for Martinico. . „
A business of more serious imoort soon engaged his attention. Ihe
Americans were at this time trading with our islands, taking advantage
of the register of their ships, whicli had been issued while they were
British subjects. Nelson knew, that by the navigation-act, no foreign
ers, directly or indirectly, are permitted to carry on any trade with these
possessions : he knew, also, that the Americans had made themselves
foreigners with regard to England ; they had disregarded the ties of
blood ahd language when they acquired the independence which they
had been led on to claim, unhappily for themselves, before they were fit
for it ; and he was resolved that tliey should derive no profit from those
ties now. Foreigners they had made themselves, and as foreigners
they were to be treated. "If once," said he, "they are admitted to
any kind of Intercourse with our islands, the views of the loyalists, in
settling at Nova Scotia, aro entirely done away ; and when we are
again embroiled in a French war, the Americans will 'irst become the
carriers of these, colonies, and then have possession of them. Here
they comr, sell their cargoes for ready money, go to Martinico, buy
molasses, and so round and round. The loyalist, •¦annul do this, and
consequently must sell a little dearer. The residents here are Ameri
cans by connexion and by interest, and are inimical to Great Britain.
They areas great rebels as ever were in America, had they the pow
er to 6how it." In November, when the squadron, having arrived at
Barbadoes, was to separate, with no other orders lhan thosb for ex
amining anchorages, and the usual inquiries concerning wood and
water, Nelson asked his friend Collingwood, then captain of the Me
diator, whose opinions he knew upon the subject, lo accompany him
to the Commander-in-Chief: whom he then respectfully asked, whether
they were not to attend to the commerce ofthe countiy, and see that
the navigation-act was respected — that appearing to him to be the in-
lent of keeping men-of-war upon this station in time ol' peace? Sir
Richard Hughes replied, he had no particular orders, neither had the
Admiralty sent him any acts of parliament. But Nelscn made answer,
that the navigation-act was included in the statutes ofthe Admiralty,
with which every captain was furnished, and that act was directed
to admirals, captains, &c, to see it carried into execution. Sir Kit-h
ard said he had never seen the book. Upon this Nelson produced the
statutes, read the words ofthe act, and apparently convinced tho com
mander-in-chief, thai men-of-war, as he said, •• were sent abroad for
some other purpose than to be made a show of." Accordingly, orders
^vere given to enforce the navigation-act.
Major-general Sir Thomas Shirley was at this time governor of the
Leeward Islands ; and when Nelson waited on him to inform him hov/
he intended to act, and upon what grounds, he replied, that " old gen
erals were not in the habit of taking advice from young gentlemen." —
" Sir," said the young officer, with that confidence in himself which
never carried him too far, and always was equal to the occaeioi , " I
am as old as the prime minister of England, and think myself as capa
ble of commanding one ofhis Majesty's ships as that Mini&ter is of go-

LIFL Oi'-'NELwu-V. 'j L
verning the state." He was resolved to do his duly, whatever might
be the opinion or conduct of others : and when he arrived upon his
station at St. Kitt's, he sent away all the Americans, not choosing to
seize fbem before they had been well apprized that the act would be
carried into effect, lest it might seeia as if a trap had been laid for them.
The Americans, though they prudently decamped from St. Kitt's, were
emboldened by the support Uiey met with, and resolved to resist his
orders, alleging that king's ships had no legal power to seize them
without having deputations from the customs. The plan ters were to
a man against him: the governors and the presidents ofthe different
islands, with only a single exception, gave him no support : and the
admiral, afraid to act on either side, yet wishing to oblige the planters,
sent him a note, advising Urn to be guided by the wishes ofthe presi
dent of the council. There was no danger in disregarding this, asit
came unofficially, and in the form of advice. But scarcely a month
after he had shown Sir Richard Hughes the law, and, as he supposed,
satisfied hiin concerning it, he received nn order from him,stuting that he
had now obtained good advice upon the point, and the Americans
were not to be hindered from coming,and having free egress and regress
if the governor chose to permit them An order to the same purport
had been sent round to the different governors and presidents ; and
General Shirley and others informed him, in an authoritative manner,
that they chose to admit American ships, as the com nander-iu-chief
had left the decision to them. These persons, in his own words, he
soon "trimmed up, and silenced ;" but it was a more delicate business
to deal with the admiral. " I must either," said he, " disobey my or
ders, or disobey acts of Parliament. I determined upon the former,
trusting to the. uprightness of my intentions, and believing that my
country would not let me be ruined for protecting her commerce."
With this determination be wrote to Sir Richard, appealed again to
the plain, literal, unequivocal sense of the naviagation-act; and in res
pectful language told him, he felt it his duty to decline obeying these
orders till he had an opportunity of seeing and conversing ,with him.
Sir Richard's first feeling was that of anger, and he was about to su
persede Nelson ; but having mentioned the affair to his captain, that
officer tofd him, he believed a'l the squadron thought the orders illegal,
and therefore did not know how far they were bound to obey them.—
It was impossible, therefore, to bring Nelson, to a court-martial, com
posed of men who agreed wilh him in opinion upon the point in dispute ;
and luckily, though the admiral wanted vigour of mind to decide upon
what was right, he was not obstinate in wrong, and had even generos
ity enough in his nature to thank Nelson afterward for having shown
him his error.
Collingwood, in the Mediator, and his brother, Wilfred Collingwood,
in the Rattler, actively co-operated wilh Nelson. The custom-houses
were informed, that after a certain day all foreign vessels found in the
ports would be seized ; and many were, in consequence seized, and con
demned in the Admiralty court. When the Boreas arrived at Nevis, she
found 4 American vessels deeply laden, and what are called the island-
colours flying— white, with a red cross. They were ordered lo hoist
their proper flag, and depart' within eight-and-forty hours, but they re
fused to obey, denying that they were Americans. Some of their crews
were then examined in Nelson's cabin, where the judge of Admiralty

.(%> LIFE QF WtSQ&t
happened to be present. The case was plain ; they confessed thai
they were Americans, and that the ships, hull and cargo, were
wholly American property ; upon which he seized them. This raised
a storm : the planters, the custom-house, and the governor were all
against him. Subscriptions were opened, and presently filled, for the
purpose of carrying on the cause in behalf of the American captains :
and the admiral, whose flag was at that time in tht roads, stood neutral.
But the Americans and their abettors were not content with defensive
law. The marines, whom he had sent to secure the ships, had pre
vented some of the masters from going ashore ; and those persons* by
whose depositions it appeared that the vessels and cargoes were
American property, declared, that they had given their testimony un
der bodily fear, for that a man with a drawn sword in his hand had
stood over them the whole time. A rascally lawyer, whom the party
employed, suggested this story : and as the sentry at the cabin- door
¦was a man with a drawn sword, the Americans made no. scruple of
swearing to this ridiculous falsehood, and commencing prosecutions
against him accordingly. They laid their damages at the enormous
amount of £40.000 ; and Nelson was obliged to keep close on board'
his own ship, lest he should be arrested for a sum fbr which it would
have been impossible to find bail. The marshal frequently came on
board tO arrest him, but was always prevented by the address ofthe
first lieutenant, Mr. Wallis. Had he been taken, such was the temper
ofthe people, that he would have been cast for the whole sum. One
of bis officers, oue day, in speaking ofthe restraint which he was thus
compelled to sufier, happened to use tbe word pity! "Pitty !." exclaim
ed Nelson ; " Pity ! did you say ? I live, sir, to be envied ! and to that
point I shall always direct my course."" Eight weeks he remained
under this state of duresse. During that time the trial respecting these
detained ships came on in the court of Admiralty. He went on shore
under a protection for the day from the judge : but, notwithstanding
this, the marshal was called upon to take that opportunity of arresting
him, and the merchants promised to indemnify him for so doing. The
judge, however, did his duty, and threatened to send the marshal to
prison, if he attempted to violate the protection ofthe court- Mr. Her
bert, the president of Nevis, behaved with singular generosity upon
this occasion. Though no man was a greater sufferer by the measures
which Nelson had pursued, he offered in court to become his bail for
£10,000, if he chose to suffer the arrest. The lawyer whom ho had cho
sen proved to be an able as well as an honest man ; and, notwithstand
ing the opinions and pleadings of most ofthe counsel of different islands,.
who maintained that ships of war were not justified in seizing American
vessels without a deputation from the customs.the law was so explicit,the
case so clear, and Nelson pleaded his own cause so well, that the four
ships were condemned. During the progress of this business he sent
a memorial home to the king : in corisequence of which, orders were
issued that he should be defended at the expense of the crown. And
upon the representations which he made at the same time to the secre
tary of state, and the suggestions with which he accompanied it, the
register-act was framed. The sanction of government, and the appro
bation of his conduct which it implied, were highly gratifying to him :

LIFE OF NELSON.

23

but he was offended,and not without just cause, that the treasury should
have transmitted thanks to the commander-in-chief, for his activity and
zeal in protecting the commerce of Great Britain. "Had they known
all," said he, " I do not think they would have bestowed thanks in
that quarter, and neglected me. I feel much hurt, that, after the loss of
health and risk of fortune, another should be thanked for what I did
against his orders. I either deserved to be sent out of the service, or
at least to have some little notice taken of what I had done. They
have thought it worthy of notice, and yet have neglected me. * If this is
the reward of a faithful discharge of my duty, I shall be careful, and
never stand forward again. But I have done my duty and have nothing
to accuse myself of."
The anxiety which he had suffered from the harrassing uncertainties
of law is apparent from these expressions. He bad, however, some
thing to console him, for he was at this time wooing the niece of his
friend the president, then in her eighteenth year, the widow of Dr.
Nisbet, a physician. She bad one child, a son, by name Josiah, who
was three years old. One day, Mr. Herbert, who had hastened, half-
dressed, to receive Nelson, exclaimed, on returning to his dressing-
room, "Good God J if 1 did not find that great little man, of whom
every body is so afraid, playing in the next room, under the diniog-
lable, with Mrs. Nisbet's child!" A few days after ward Mrs. Nisbet
herself was first introduced to him, and thanked him for the partiality
which he had shown to her little boy. Her manners were mild and
winning : and the captain, whose heart was easily susceptible of at
tachment, found no such imperious necessity for subduing his inclina
tions as had twice before with-held him from marrying. They were
married on March Hth, 1787: Prince William Henry, who had come
put to the West Indies the preceding winter, being present, by his own
desire, to give away the bride. Mr. Herbert, her uncle, was at this
time so much displeased with bis only daughter, that he had resolved
to disinherit her, and leave his whole fortune, which was very great,
to his niece. But Nelson, whose nature was too noble to let him pro
fit by an act of injustice, interfered, and succeeded in reconciling the
president to his child.
*' yesterday," said one of his naval friends tbe day after the wed
ding, " the navy lost one of its greatest ornaments, by Nelson's mar
riage. It is a national loss that such an officer should marry ; had it
not been for this, Nelson would have become the greatest man in the
service." The man was rightly estimated : bat he who delivered this
opinion did not understand the effect of domestic love and duty upon a
mind of the true heroic stamp.
" We are often separate," said Nelson, in a letter to Mrs. Nisbet a
few months before their marriage ; " but our affections are not by any
means on that account diminished. Our country has the first demand
for our services; and private conveneince our happiness must ever give
way to the public good. Duty is the great business of a sea officer :
all private considerations must give way to it, however painful."—
" Have you not often heard," says he, in another letter, " that salt
water and absence always will wash away love? Now I am such a
heretic as not to believe that article : for behold, every morning I have
had six pails of salt water poured upon my head, and instead of find-

24 LUTE OF NELSON.
ing what seamen sny to be true, it goes soon contrary to the prescrip
tion, that you must, perhaps, see me before the fixed time." More fre
quently his correspondence hreotlied a deeper strain. " To write let
ters to you," says he. " is the next greatest pleasure I feel to receiving
them from you. What I experience when I read such as I am sure
are the pure sentiments of your heart, my poor pen eannot express :
— nor, indeed, would I give much for any pen or head which could
express feelings of that kind. Absent from you, I feel no pleasure : it
is you who are every thing to me. Without you, I care not for this
world ; for I have found, lately, nothing in it but vexation and trouble.
These are my present sentiments. God Almighty grant they may ne-
verchange! Nor do I think they will. Indeed there is, as far as hu
man knowledge can judge, a moral certainty that they cannot : for it
must be real affection that brings us together ; not interest or compul
sion. Such were the feelings, and such the sense of duty, with which
Nelson became a husband.
During his stay upon this station he had ample opportunity of obser
ving tbe scandalous practices of the contractors, prize-agents, and o-
ther persons in the West Indies connected with tbe naval service. —
When he was first left with the command, and bills were brought him
to sign for money which was owing for goods purchased for the navy,
he required the original voucher, that he might examine whether those
goods bad been really purchased at the market price : but to produce
vouchers would not have been convenient, and therefore was net the
custom. Upon this, Nelson wrote to Sir Charles Middleton, then
comptroller ofthe navy, representing the abuses which were likely to
be practised in this manner. The answer which he received seemed
to imply that the old forms were thought sufficient : and thus having no
alternative, he was compelled, with his eyes open, to submit to a
practice originating in fraudulent intentions. Soon afterward two
Antigua merchants informed him, that they were privy to great frauds,
which had been committed upon government in various departments;
at Antigua, to tbe amount of nearly £500,000; at Lucie, £300,000; at
Barbadoes, £250,000 ; at Jamaica, upwards of a million. The inform
ers were both shrewd, sensible men of business ; they did not affect to
be actuated by a sense of justice, but required a per centage upon so
much as government should actually recover through their means.—
Nelson examined the books and papers which they produced, and was
convinced that government had been most infamously plundered. —
Vouchers, he found, in that country, were no check whatever : the
principle was, that "a thing was always worth what it would bring;"
and the merchants were in the habit of signing vouchers for each other,
without even the appearance of looking at the articles. These ac
counts he sent home to the different departments which had been de
frauded : but the peculators were too powerful ; and they succeeded
not merely in Impeding inquiry, but even in raising prejudices against
Nelson at the board of Admiralty, which it was many years before he
could subdue.
Owing, probably, to these prejudices, and the influence ofthe pecula
tors, he was treated, on his return to England, in a manner which had
nearly driven him from the service. During the three years that the
Boreas had remained upon a station which is usually so fatal, not a
single officer or man of her whole complement had died. This almost

LIF.E OF NELSON. 25
unexampled instance of good health, though mostly, no doubt, imputa
ble to a healthy season, must, in some measure, also, be ascribed to
the wise conduct of the captain. He never suffered any of the ships
to remain more than three or four weeks at a time at any of the islands •
and when the hurricane months confined him to English Harbour, he
encouraged all kinds of useful amusements : music, dancjng, and cud
gelling among the men ; theatricals among the officers : any thing which
could employ their attention, and keep their spirits cheerful. The Bo
reas arrived in England in June. Nelson, who had been many times
supposed to be consumptive when in the West Indies, and perhaps was
saved from consumption by that climate, was still in a precarious state
of health; and the raw wet weather of one of our ungenial summers
brought on cold, and sore throat, and fever : yet his vessel was kept at
the Wore from the end of June till the end of November, serving as a
slop and receiving ship. This unworthy treatment, which more proba
bly proceeded from intention than from neglect, excited in Nelson the
strongest indignation. During the whole five months he seldom or ne
ver quitted the ship, but carried on the duty with- strict and sullen at
tention. On the morning when orders were received to prepare the
Boreas for being paid off, he expressed his joy to the senior officer ia
the Medway, saying, "It will release mo for ever fr«m an ungrateful
service* for it is my firm and unalterable determination never again to
set my foot upon a king's ship. Immediately after my arrival in townjl
shall wait on the first lord of the Admiralty, and resign my commission."
The ofiicer ito whom he thus communicated his intentions, behaved in
the wisest and most friendly manner; for finding it in vain to dissuade
him in his present state of feeling, he secretly interfered with the first
lord to save him from a step so injurious to himself, little foreseeing
how deeply the welfare of England was that moment at stake. This
interference produced a letter from Lord Howe, the day before the ship
was paid off, intimatklg a wish to see Capt. Nelson as sooa as he arrived
in town: when, being pleased with his conversation, and perfectly con
vinced, by what was then explained to him, of the propriety of his con
duct, he desired that he might present him to the king onthe first levee
day : and the gracious manner in which he was then received effectually
removed his resentment.
Prejudices have been, in like manner excited against his friend, Prince
William Henry. " Nothing is wanting, sir," said Nelson in one of his
letters, " to make you the darling ofthe English nation, bat truth. Sor
ry I am toj say, much to the contrary, has been dispersed." This was
not flattery. ; for Nelson was no flatterer. The letter in which this pas
sage occurs shows in how wise and noble a manner he dealt with the
prince. Ono of his royal highness's officers had applied for a court-
martial upon a. point in which he was unquestionably wrong. His roy
al highness, however, while he supported his own character and author
ity prevented the trial, which must have been injurious to a brave arid
deserving man. "Now that you are parted," said Nelson, " pardon,
me, my nrince, when I presume to recommend that he may stand ia
4

26

LIEE OF NELSON.

your royal favor as if he had never sailed with you, and that at some fu
ture day you will serve him. There only wants this to place your con
duct in the highest point of view. None of us are without failings ;
his was rather being too hasty : but that put in competition with his be
ing a good officer, will not, I am bold to say, be taken in the scale a-
gainst him. More able friends than myself your royal highness may
easily find, and of more consequence in the state ; but one more at
tached and affectionate is not so easily met with. Princes seldom,
very seldom, find a disinterested person to communicate their thoughts
to: I do not pretend to be that person : but of this be assured, by a
man who, I trust, never did a dishonourable act, that I am interested
only that your royal highness should be the greatest and best man thts
country ever produced."
Encouraged by the conduct of Lord Howe, and by his reception at
court, Nelson renewed his attack upon the peculators with fresh spir
it. He had interviews with Mr. Rose, Mr. Pitt, and Sir Charles Mid-
dleton ; to all of whom he satisfactorily proved his charges. In con
sequence it is said, 'these very extensive public frauds were at length
put in a proper train to be provided against in future : his representa
tions were attended to ; and every step which he recommended was a-
dopted : the investigation was put in a proper course, which ended in
the detection and punishment of some of the culprits ; an immense sa
ving was made to government, and thus its attention was directed to
similar peculation in other parts of the colonies. But it is said also,
that no mark of commendation seems to have been bestowed upon Nel
son for his exertions. And it is justly remarked,* that the spirit of the
navy cannot be preserved so effectually by the honour bestowed on of
ficers, when they are worn out in the service, as by an attention to those
Who, like Nelson, in this partof his life, have only their integrity and
.zeal to bring them into notice. A junior officer, who had been left with
the Command at Jamaica, received an additional allowance, for which
Nelson had applied in vain. Double pay was allowed to every srtificer
and seaman employed in the naval yard : Nelson had superintended
the whole business of that yard with the most rigid exactness, and he
complained that he vs as neglected. " It was most true," he said, " that
the trouble which he took to detect the fraudulent practices then car
ried on was no more than his duty ; but he little thought that the expen
ses attending his frequent journeys to St. John's upon that duty (a di»»
tance of twelve miles), would have fallen upon his pay as Captain of
the Boreas." Nevertheless a sense of what he thought unworthy usage.
did not diminish his zeal. " I," said he, " must still buffe.t the waves in'
search of — what ? Alas ! that they call honour, is now thought of no
more. My fortune, God knows, has grown worse for the sei vice : so
much for serving my country. But the Devil, ever willing to tempt the
virtuous, has made me an offer, if any ships should be sent to destroy
bis majesty of Morocco's ports, to be there ; and I have some reason to
-» Clark and M' Arthur, vol i. p. 107.

LIFE OF NELSON. #>7
think, that should any more come of it, my humble services will be ac
cepted. I have invariably laid down, and followed close, a plan of
what ought to be uppermost in the breast of an officer, that it is much
better to serve an ungrateful country, than to give up his own fame.
Posterity will do him justice. A uniform course of honour and integri
ty seldomfails of bringing a man to the goal of fame at last."
The design against the barbary pirates, like all other designs against
them; was laid aside ; and Nelson took his wife to his father's parson
age, meaning only to pay him a visit before they went to
France; a project which he had for the sake of acquiring a competent,
knowledge of the French language. But his- father could not bear to
lose him thus unnecessarily. Mr, Nelson had long been an invalid,
suffering under paralytic and asthmatic affections, which, for several
hours after he rose in the morning scarcely permitted him to speak.
He had been given over by his physicians, for thia complaint, nearly
forty years before his death ; and was, for many of his last years, obli
ged to spend all his winters at Bath. The sight of his son, he declared?
had given him new life. " But, Horatio," said he, " it would have
been better, that I had not been thus cheered, if I am so soon to \e
bereaved of you again. Let me my good son, see yon while I ein.
My age and infirmities increase, and I shall not last long." To
such an appeal there could be no reply. Nelson took up his abode at
the parsonage, and amused himself with the sports and occupations ofthe
country. Sometimes he busied himself with farming the glebe; some
times spent the greater part of the day in the garden, where he would
dig as if for the mere pleasure of wearying himself. Sometimes he
went a bird's-nesting, like a boy : arid in these expeditions Mrs. Nelson
always, by his express desire, accompanied him. Coursing was his
favourite amusement Shooting, as he practised it, was far too danger
ous for bis companions : for he carried his gun upon the full cock, as if
he were going to board an enemy ; and the moment a bird rose, he let
fly, without ever putting the fowling-piece to his shoulder. It is not,
therefore, extraordinary, that his having once shot a partridge should
be remembered by his family among the remarkable events of his life.
But his time did not pass away thus without some vexatious cares to
ruffle it. The affair ofthe American ships was not yet over, and he
was again pestered with threats of prosecution. " I have written them
word," said he, " that I will have nothing to do with them, and they
must act as they think proper. Government, I suppose, will do what is
right, and not leave mein the lurch. We have heard enough, lately of
the consequences of the navigation-act to this country. They may
take my person ; but if sixpence would save me from a prosecution, I
would not give it ." It was his great ambition at this time to possess a
pony ; and having resolved to purchase ono, he went to a fair for that
purpose. During his absence two men abruptly entered the parson
age, and inquired for him : they then asked for Mrs. Nelson ; and af
ter they had made her repeatedly declare that she was really and truly
the captain's wife, presented her with a writ or notification, on the part

^g JJfljlJ Of NEX.SOK.
ofthe American captains, who now laid their damages at £20,000,
and they charged her to give it to her husband on his return. Nelson,
having bought his pony came home with it in high spirits. He called
out his wife to admire the purchase, and listen to all its excellencies :
nor was it till his glee had in some measure subsided that the paper
could be presented to him. His indignation was excessive ; and, in the
apprehensions that he should be exposed to the anxieties ofthe suit, and
the ruinous consequenees which might ensue, he exclaimed, " This
affront I do not deserve ! But I'll be trifled with no longer. I will
write immediately to the treasury; and, if government will not support
me, I am resolved to leave the country." Accordingly he informed
the treasury, that if a satisfactory answer were not sent him by return of
post, he should take refuge in France. To this he expected he should
be driven, and for this he arranged every thing with his characteristic ra
pidity of decision. It was settled that he should depart immediately,
and Mrs. Nelson follow under the care of his elder brother, Maurice,
ten days after him. But the answer which he received from Govern
ment quieted his fears ; it stated, that Captain Nelson was a very good
officer, and needed to be under no apprehension, far he would assuredly
be supported.
Here his disquietudes upon this subject seems to have ended. Still
he was not at ease ; he wanted employment, and was mortified that his
applications for it produced no effect. " Not being a man of fortune,"
he said, " was a crime which he was unable to get over, and therefore
none of the great cared about him." Repeatediy he requested the
Admiralty that they would not leave him to rust in indolence. During
the armament which was made upon occasion of the dispute concerning
Nootka Sound, be renewed his application : and his steady friend,
Prince William, who had then been created Duke of Clarence, recom
mended him to Lord Chatham. The failure of this recommendation
wounded him so keenly, that he again thought of retiring from the ser
vice in disgust : a resolution from which nothing but the urgent remon
strances of Lord Hood induced him to desist. Hearing that the Rai-
sonnable, in which he had commenced his career, was about to be com
missioned, ha asked for her. This also was in vain : and a coolness
ensued, on his part, towards Lord Hood, because that excellent officer
did not use bis influence with Lord Chatham upon this occasion. Lord
Hood, however, had certainly sufficient reasons for not interfering ; for
he ever continued his steady friend. In the winter of 17D2, when we
were on the eve ofthe revolution war, Nelson once more offered his
services, earnestly requesting a ship, and added, that if their lordships
should be pleased to appoint him to a cockle-boat, he should feel satis
fied. He was answered in the usual official form : " Sir, I have recei
ved your letter of the 5th instant, expressing your readiness to serve,
and have expressed the same to my Lords commissioners of the admi
ralty." On the 22d of December, he received this dry acknowledg
ment: Thefresh mortification, did not, however, aff«ct him long; for,

LIDE OF NELSON.

20

hy the joint interest ofthe Duke and Lord Hood, he was appointed on
the 30th of January following, to the Agamemnon, of sixty-four guns.

DMJSMBIUlUU

CHAPTER III.

The Agamemnon sent to the Mediterranean — Commencement of Nelson's Ac
quaintance with Sir ff. Hamilton — He is sent to Corsica, to co-operate with
JPaoli — State of affairs in that Island— JYelson undertakes ihe siege of
Bastia, and reduces il— Takes a distinguished Part in the Siege of Cahi,
where he loses an Eye-- Admiral Hotham' s Action — The Agamemnon or
dered to Genoa, to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian. Forces —
Cross Misconduct of the Austrian General,
k " There are three things, young gentleman," said Nelson to one of
his midshipmen, " which you are constantly to bear in mind. 1st.
you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form
any opinion of your own respecting their propriety. 2dly. you must
consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king: and,
tiirdly, you must hate a Frenchman as you do the Devil." Josiah,
his son-in-law, went with him as a midshipman.
The Agamemnon was ordered to the Mediterranean, under Lord
Hood. The fleet arrived in those seas at a time when the south of
France would willingly have formed itself into a separute republic, un
der the protection of England. But good principles had been at that
time perilously abused by ignorant and profligate men ; and, in its fear
and hatred of democracy, the English government abhorred whatever
was republican. Lord Hood could not take advantage ofthe fair oc
casion which presented itself ; and which, if it had been seized with
vigour, might have ended in dividing France: — but he negotiated with
the people of Toulon, to take possession, provisionally, of their port
and city ; which, fatally for themselves, was done. Before the British
fleet entered, Nelson was sent with despatches to Sir William Hamil
ton, our envoy at the court of Naples. Sir William, after his first, in
terview with him, told Lady Hamilton he was about to introduce a
little man to her, who could not boast of being very handsome; but
such a man, ns he believed, would one day astonish the world. " I
have never before," he continued, " entertained an officer at my house;
buti am determined to bring him here. Let him be put in the room
prepared for Prince Augustus." Thus that acquaintance began which
ended in the destruction of Nelson's domestic happiness. It seemed to
threaten no such consequences at its commencement. He spoke of
Lady Hamilton, ina letter to his wife, as a young woman of amiable
manners, who did honour to the station to which she had been raised:
and he remarked, that she had been exceedingly kind to Josiah. The
activity with which the envoy exerted himself in procuring troops from
Naples, to assit in garrisoning Toulon, so delighted him, that he is
said to have exclaimed : " Sir William, you are a man after my own
heart ! — you do business in my own way ;" and then to have addei^,

^ LfftL OF NgL&UN.
<< I am now only a captain ; but I will, if I live, be at the top of the
tree." Here,- also, that acquaintance with the Neapolitan court com
menced, which led to the only blot upon Nelson's public character.— --
The king, who was sincere at that time in his enmity to the French,
called the English the Saviours of Italy, and of his dominions in par
ticular. He paid the most flattering attentions to Nelson, made him
dine with him, and seated him at his right hand.
Having accomplished this mission, Nelson received orders to join
Commodore Linzee, at Tunis. On the way, five sail ofthe enemy were
discovered off the coast of Sardinia, and he chased them. They pro
ved to be three 44 gun frigates, with a corvette of 24 and a brig of 12.
The Agamemnon had only 345 men at quarters, having landed purt of
her crew at Toulon, and others being absent in prizes. He came near
enough to one ofthe frigates to engage her, but at great disadvantage,
the Frenchman manoeuvring well, and sailing greatly better. A run
ning fight of three hours ensued ; during which the other ships, which
were at some distance, made ali speed to come up. By this time the
enemy was almost silenced, when a favourable change of wind ena
bled her to get out of reach ofthe Agamemnon's guns ; and that ship
had received so much damage in the rigging, that she could not follow
her. Nelson conceiving that this was but the forerunner of a far more
serious engagement, called his officers together, and asked them if the"
ship was fit to go into action against such a superior force, without
some small refit and refreshment for the men ? Their answer was,
that she certainly was not. He then gave these orders : " Veer the
ship, and lay her head to the westward : let some ofthe best men be
employed in refitting tbe rigging, and the carpenter getting crows and
capstan-bars to prevent our wounded spars from coming down : and
get the wine up for the people, with some bread, for it may be half an
hour good before we are again in action." But when the French came
up, their comrade made signals of distress, and they all hoisted out
their boats to go to ber assistance, leaving the Agamemnon unmolested.
Nelson found Commodore Linzee at Tunis, where he had been sent
lo expostulate with the dey upon the impolicy of his supporting the
revolution of France. Nelson represented to bim the atrocity of that
government. Such arguments were of littiie avail in Barbary : and
when the dey was told that the French had put their sovereign to
death, he dryly replied, that ,; Nothing could ba more heinous; and
yet, if historians told the truth, the English had once done the same."
This answer had doubtless been suggested by the French about him :
they had completely gained the ascendancy, and all negotiation on
our part proved fruitless. Shortly afterward Nelson was detached
with a small squadron, to co-operate with General Paoli and Anti-
Galiican pavty in Corsica.
Some thirty years before this time, the heroic patriotism of the Cor-
sicans, and of their leader, Paoli, had been the admiration of England.
The history of these brave people is but a melancholy tale. The island
which they inhabit has been abundantly blessed by nature : it has
many excellent harbours ; and though the malaria, or pestilential at
mosphere, which is so deadly in many parts of Italy, and of the Italian
islands, prevails on the eastern coast, the greater part ofthe country is
mountainous and healthy. It is about one hundred and fifty miles
long, and from forty to fifty broad ; in circumference, some three hun-

7U£E OF B5J5LSON. 'y i
weired and twenty:— a country large enough, and sufficiently distant
from the nearest shores, tohave subsisted as an independent state, if
the welfare and happiness of the human race had ever been consider
ed as the end and aim of policy. The IVJoors, the Pisans, the kings of
Arragon, and the Genoese, successively attempted, and each for a
time effected, its conquest. The yoke of the Genoese continued
longest, and was the heaviest, These petty tyrants ruled with an iron
rod : and when at any time a patriot rose to resist their oppressions
if they failed to subdue him by force, they resorted to assassination. 
At the commencement of the last eentury they quelled one revolt by
the aid of German auxiliaries, whom the Emperor Charles VI. sent
against a people who had never offended him, and who were fighting
for whatever is most dear to man. In 1734 the war was renewed ; and
Theodore, a Whestphalian baron, then appeared upon the stage. In
that age men were not accustomed to see adventurers play for king
doms, and Theodore became the common talk of Europe. He had
served in the French armies ; and having afterward been noticed both
by Ripperda and Alberom, their example, perhaps, inflamed a spirit
as ambitious and as unprincipled as their own. He employed the
whole of his means in raising money and procuring arms : then wrote
to the leaders ofthe Corsican patriots, to offer them considerable as
sistance, if they would erect Corsica into an independent kingdom, and
elect him king. When he landed among them, they were struck with
his stately person, his dignified manners, and impossing talents : they
believed the magnificent promises of foreign assistance which he held
out, and elected him accordingly. Had his means been as he repre
sented them, they could not have acted more wisely, than in thus at
once fixing the government of their country, and putting an end to those
rivalries among the leading families, which had so often proved perni
cious -to the public weal, fie struck money, conferred titles, blocked
up the fortified towns which were held by the Genoese, and amused the
people with promises of assistance for about eight months: then, per
ceiving that they cooled in their affections towards him, in proportion
as their expectations, he left tho island under the plea of expediting
himself the succours which he had so long awaited. Such was his ad
dress, that he prevailed upon several rich merchants in Holland, par
ticularly the Jews, to trust him with cannon and warlike stores to a great
amount. They shipped these under the charge of a surpercargo.
Theodore returned with this supercargo to Corsica, and put him to
death on his arrival, as the shortest way of settling the account. The
remainder of his life was a series of deserved afflictions. He threw in
the stores which he had thus fraudulently obtained : but he did not dare
to land ; for Genoa had called in the, French to their assistance, and a
price had been set upon his head. His dreams of royalty were now at
an end : he took refuge in London, contracted fldebts, anft was thrown
into the King's Bench. After lingering there many years, he was re
leased under an act of insolvency : in consequence ol which,he made o-
ver the kingdom of Corsica for the use of his creditors, and died short
ly after his deliyerance.

32 LIFE QF NELSOX.
The French who have never acted a generous part in the history of
tne world, readily entered into the views ofthe Genoese, which accord
ed with their own policy : for such was their ascendancy at Genoa, that
in subduing Corsica for these allies, they were in fact subduing it for
themselves. They entered into the contest, therefore, with their usual
vigour, and their usual cruelty. It was in vain that the Corsicans ad
dressed a most affecting memorial to the court of Versailles ; that re
morseless government persisted in its flagitious project. They poured
in troops ;• dressed a part of them like the people ofthe country, by
which means they deceived and destroyed many cf the patriots ; cut
down the standing corn, the vines and the olives ; set fire to the villages,
and hung all the most able and aetive men who fell into their hands.
A war of this kind may be carried on with success against a country
so small and so thinly peopled as Corsica. Having reduced the island
to perfect servitude, which 'they called peace, the French withderw
their forces. As soon as they were gone, men, women, and hoys rose
at once against their oppressors. The circumstances of the times
were now favourable to them ; and some Brttish ships, acting as allies
of Sardinia, bombarded Bastia and San Fiorenzo, and delivered them
into the hands of the patriots. This service was long remembered
with gratitude: the impression made upon our countrymen was less
favourable. They had witnessed the heart-burning of rival chiefs, and
the dissensions among the patriots; and perceiving the state of barba
rism to which continual oppression, and habits of lawless turbulence,
had reduced the nation, did not recollect that the vices of the people
were owing to their unhappy circumstances; but that the virtues which
they displayed arose from their own natures. This feeling, perhaps,
influenced the British court, when, in 1746, Corsiea offered to put her
self under the protection of Great Britain : an answer was returned,
expressing satisfaction at such a communication, hoping that the Cor
sicans would preserve the same sentiments, but signifying also that the
present was not the time for such a measure.
.^These brave islanders then formed a government for themselves,
under two leaders, Gaffori and Matra, who had the title of protectors.
The latter is represented as a partisan of Genoa, favouring the views
of the oppressors of his country by the most treasonable means. Gaf
fori was a hero worthy of old times. His eloquence was long remem
bered with admiration. A band of assassins was once advancing
against him ; he heard of their approach, went out to meet them ; and,
with a serene dignity, which overawed them, requested them to hear him;
he then spoke to them so forcibly of the distresses of their country, her
intolerable wrongs, and the herpes and views of their brethren in arms,
that the very men who had been hired to murder him, fell at his feet,
implored his forgiveness, and joined his banner. While he was besieging
the Genoese at Corte, a part of the garrison perceiving the nurse with
his eldest son, then an infant in arms, straying at a little distance from
the camp, suddenly sallied out and seized them. The use they made
of their persons was according to their usual execrable conduct. Whe^

LIFE OF NELSON.

33

Gafibri advanced to batter the walls, they held up the child directly
over the part of the wall at which the guns were pointed. The Corsi-
-cans stopped : but Gaffori stood at their head, and ordered them to
continue the fire. Providentially the child escaped, and livedto relate ¦
witb-becoming feeling, a fact so honourable to his father. That father
conducted the affairs of the island till 1753, when he was assassinated
by some wretches, set on, it is believed, by Genoa ; but certainly pen
sioned by that abominable government after the deed. He left the
country in such a state, that it was enabled to continue the war two
j'ears after his death without a leader: then they found one worthy of
their cause in Pasquale de Paoli.
Paoli's father was one of the patriots who effected their escape from.
Corsica when the French reduced it to obedience. He retired to Na
ples, and brought up his } oungest son in the Neapolitan service. The
Corsicans heard of young Paoli's abilities, and solicited him to come
over to his native country, and take the command. He did not hesitate
long: his father, who was too far advanced in years to take an active
part himself, encouraged him to go; and when they separated, the old
man fell on his neck, and kissed him, and gave him his blessing, "My
son," said he, "perhaps I may never see you more ; but in my mind I
shall ever be present with you. Your design is great aad noble ; and
I doubt not but God will bless you in it Ishall devote to your cause
the little remainder of my life to offering up my prayers for your suc
cess." When Paoli asumed the command, he found all things in con
fusion : he formed a democratic government, of which he was chosen
chief; restored the authority of the laws ; established a university ; and
took such measures, both for redressing abuses and moulding the rising
generation, that, if France had not interfered, upon its wicked and de
testable principle of usurpation, Corsica might, at this day, have been
as free and flourishing, and happy a commonwealth as any of the
Grecian states in the days of tlieir prosperity. The Genoese were at
this time driven out of their fortified towns, and must in a short time
have been expelled. France was indebted some millions of livres to
Genoa: it was not convenient to pay this money ; so the French min
ister proposed to the Genoese, that she should discharge the debt by
sending six battalions to serve in Corsica four years. The indignation
which this conduct excited in all generous hearts was forcibly express
ed by Rosseau, who, with all his errors, was seldom deficient in feel
ing for the wrongs of humanity. "You Frenchmen," said he, writing
to one ef that people, " are a thoroughly servile nation, thoroughly
sold to tyranny, thoroughly cruel and relentless in persecuting the un
happy. If they knew of a freeman at the other end of th§;world, I be
lieve they would go there for the mere pleasure of exterpating him."
The immediate object ofthe French happened to be purely mercena
ry : they wanted to clear off their debt to Genoa ; and as the presence
of their troops in the islands affected this, they aimed at doing the peo
ple no farther mischief. Would that the conduct of England had been
at this time free from reproach ! but a proclamation was issued by the

34 LIFE OF NELSON.
English government, after the peace of Paris,prohibiting any intercourse
with the rebels of Corsica. Paoli said, he did not expect this from
Gfeat Britain. This great man was deservedly proud of his country :
"I defy Rome, Sparta, or Thebes," he would say, " to show me thirty
years of such patriotism as Corsica can boast!" Availing himself of
the respite whicli the inactivity of the French, and the weakness ofthe
Genoese, allowed, he prosecuted his plans of civilizing the people. He
use'd to say, that though he had an unspeakable pride in the prospectof
the fame to which he aspired; yet, if he could but render his country
men happy, he coilld be content to be forgotten. His own importance
he never affected to undervalue. " We are now to our country," said
he, "like the prophet Elisha, stretched over the dead child of the Shu-
Bamita- — eye to eye, nose to nose, mouth to mouth : it begins to recover
warmth, and to revive ; I hope it will yet regain full health and
vigour." But when the four years were expired, France purchased the sove
reignty of Corsica from the Genoese for forty millions of livres ; as if
the Genoese had been entitled to sell it; as if any bargain and sale
could justify one country in taking possession of another against the
will of the inhabitants, and butchering all who oppose the usurpation !
Among the enormities which France has committed, this action seems
but a speek ; yet the foulest murderer that ever suffered by the hand of
the executioner, has infinitely less guilt upon his soul than the statesman
who concluded this treaty, and the monarch who sanctioned and con
firmed it. A desperate and glorious resistance was made ; but it was
in vain ; no power interfered in behalf of these injured islanders, and
the French poured in as many troops as were required. They offered
to eonfirm Paoli in the supreme authority, only on condition that he
would hold it under their government. His answer was, that " the rocks
Which surrounded him should melt away before he would betray a cause
which he held in common with the poorest Corsican." This people
then set a price upon his head. During two campaigns he kept them
at bay: they overpowered him at length : he was driven to the shore,
and, having escaped on ship-board, took refuge in England. It is said
that Lord Shelburne resigned his seat in the cabinet, because the minis
try looked on, without attempting to prevent France from succeeding
in this abominable and important act of aggrandizement. In one respect,
however, our Gountry acted as became her. Paoli was welcomed with
the honours which he deserved, a pension of 1200Z. was immediately
granted him ; and provision was liberally made for his elder brother and
his nephew.
Above twenty years Paoli remained in England, enjoying the friend
ship ofthe wise, and ths admiration ofthe good. But when the French
revolution began, it seemed as if the restoration of Corsica was at hand.
The whole country, as if animated by one spirit, rose and demanded
liberty; and the national assembly passed a decree, recognizing the
island as a department of France, and therefore entitled to all the privi
leges of the new French constitution. This satisfied the Corsicans,

LIFE ©F NELSON. 35
which it ought not to have done; and Paoli, in whom the ardour of
youth was passed, seeing that his countrymen were contented, and be
lieving that they were about to enjoy a state of freedom, naturally wish'd
to return to his native country. He re'signed his pension in the year
1790, and appeared at the bar of the assembly with the Corsioan depu
ties, when they took the oath of fidelity to France. But the course of
events in France soon dispelled those hopes of a new and better order
of things, which Paoli, in common with so many ofthe friends of human
und, had indulged; and perceiving, after the execution of the king,
that a civil war was about to ensue, of which no man could foresee the
issue, he prepared to break the connexion hetween Corsica and tbe
French republic. The convention, suspecting such a design, arid per
haps occasioning it by their suspicions, ordered him to thsir bar. That
way, he well knew, led to the guillotine ; and returning a respectful
answer, he declared that he would never be wanting in his duty, hot
pleaded age and infirmity as a reason for disobeying the summons,
Their second order was more summary : and the French troops, who
were in Corsiea, aided by those of the natives, who were either influ
enced by hereditary party feelings, or who were sincere in jacobinism,
took the field against him. But the people were with him. He repaired
to Corte, the capital of the island, and was again invested with the
authority which he had held in the noonday of his fame. The conven
tion upon this denounced him as a rebel, and set a price upon his head,
It was not the first time that France had disgracefully proscribed
fhe patriotic Paoli.
Paoli now opened a correspondence with Lord Hood, promising,
if the English would make an attack upon St. Fiorenzo from the sea,
he would, at the same time, attack it by land. This promise he was
unable to perform: and Commodore Linzee, who, in reliance upon ft,
was sent upon this service, was repulsed wilh some loss. Lord Hood,
who had now been compelled to evacuate Toulon, suspected Paoli
of intentionally deceiving him. This was an injurious suspicion.—
Shortly afterward he despatched Lieut. Col. (afterward Sir John)
Moore and Major KoehSer to confer with him upon a plan of opera
tions. It was agreed, that in consideration of the succours, which
his Britannic majesty should afford for the expulsion ofthe French,
the island of Corsica should be delivered into the possession of his
majesty and bind itself to acquiesce in any settlement he might ap
prove of concerning its government in its future relation with Great
Britain. While this negotiation was going on, Nelson cruised offtho
island with a small squadron, to prevent the enemy from throwing in
supplies. Close to St. Fiorenzo the French had a storehouse of flour,
near their only mill : he watched an opportunity, and landed 120 men,
who threw the flour into the sea, burnt the mill, and re-embarked, be
fore 1000 men, who were sent against him, could occasion them the
loss of a single man. While he exerted himself thus, keeping ont all
supplies, intercepting despatches, attacking their outposts and forts,
and cutting out vessels from the bay, a species of warfare which de
presses the spirit of an enemy even more than it injures them, because
of the sense of individual superiority which it iudicates in the assailants

&»

LfJTE QF KELSOA.

—troops were landed, and St. Fiorenzo was beseiged. The French,
finding themselves unable to maintain that post, sunk oneof their fri
gates, burnt another, and retreated to Ba^tia. Lord Hood submitted
to Gen. Dundas, who commanded the land-forces, a plan for the re
duction of this place : the general declined co-operating, thinking the
attempt impracticable, without a reinforcement of 2000 men, which
he expected from Gibraltar. Upon this Lord Hood determined to re
duce it with the naval force under his command ; and leaving part of
his fleet offTmilon, he came with the rest to Bastia.
He showed a proper respect for Nelson's services, and of confidence
in his talents, by taking care not to bring with him any older captain.
A few days before their arrival, Nelson had had what he called a
brush with the enemy. During this partial action our army appeared
upon the heights ; and having ieconnoitred the place, returned to St.
Fiorenzo. " What the general could have seen to make a retreat ne
cessary," said Nelson, " I eannot'comprehend. A thousand men would
take Bastia; with S00 and Agamemnon I would undertake it." Gen.
Dundas bad not the same confidence. "After many considerations,"!^
said to Lord Hood, " and a personal inspection for several weeks of
all circumstances, 1 consider the siege of Bastia to be a most visiona
ry and r»sh attempt: and such as no officer would be justified in un
dertaking." Lord Hood replied,that nothing would be more gratifying
than to assume all the responsibility himself; and that he was ready to
undertake the reduction ofthe place at his own risk, with the means
at present there. Gen. d'Aubant, who succeeded to the command of
the army, coincided in opinion with his predecessor, and did not think
it right to furnish his Lordship with a single soldier, or cannon. Lord
Hood ceuld only obtain a few artillery -men ; and ordering ort boaid
that part ofthe troops who, having been embarked as marines, were
borne en the ships' books as part of their respective complements, he
began the siege with 1183 soIdiers,artillery-men,marines,and 250 sailors.
These men were landed on the 4th of April, under Lieutenant-Col
onel Villettes and Nelson, who had now acquired from the army the
title of brigadier. Guns were dragged by the sailors up heights where
it appeared almost impossible to convey them ; — a work ofthe great
est difficulty ; and which, Nelson said, could never, in his opinion,
have been accomplished by any but British seamen. The siddiers,
though less dexterous in such service, because not accustomed, like
sailors, to habitual dexterity, behaved wilh equal spirit. 'Their zeal,"
said the brigadier, "is almost unexampled. There is not a man but
considers himself as personally interested in the event, and deserted
hy the general. It has, I am persuaded, made them equal to double
their numbers." This is one proof, of many, that for oui- soldiers to
equal our seamen, it is only necessary for them to be equally well com
manded. They have the same heart and soul, as well as the same
flesh and blood. Too much may, indeed, be exacted from them in a
retreat ; but set their face towards a foe, and there is nothing within
the reach of human achievement which they cannot perform. The
French had improved the leisure which our military commander had
allowed them ; and before Lord Hood commenced his operations, he
had the mortification of seeing that the enemy were ever erecting
new works, strengthening old ones, and rendering the , attempt more
difficult. La Gombe St. Michel, the commissioner from the national

LIFE OF NELSON. 37
convention, who was in the city, replied in these terms to the summons
ofthe British admiral : "I have hotshot for your ships, and bayonets
for your troops. When two-thirds of our men are killed, I will then
trust to the generosity ofthe English." The seige, however, was not
sustained with the firmness which such a reply seemed to augur. On
the 19th of May, a treaty of capitulation was begun : that same even
ing the troops from St. Fiorenzo made their appearance on the hills ;
and, on the following morning, General D'Aubant arrived with the
whole army to take possession of Bastia.
The event of the siege had justified the confidence of the sailors;
but they themselves excused the opinion of the generals, when they
saw what they had done. " I am all astonishment," said Nelson,
" when I reflect on what we have achieved ; one thousand regulars,
fifteen hundred national guards, and a large party of Corsican troops,
four thousand in all, laying down their arms to twelve hundred sol
diers, marines and seamen ! I always was of opinion, have ever ac
ted up to it, and never had any reason to repent it, that one English
man was equal to three Frenchmen. Had this been an English town,
I am sure it would not have been taken by them. When it had been
resolved to attack the place, the enemy were supposed to be far in
ferior in number; and it was not till the whole had been arranged,
and the siege publicly undertaken, tbat Nelson received certain infor
mation ofthe great superiority of tbe garrison. This intelligence ho
kept secret, fearing lest, if so fair a pretext were afforded, the attempt
would be abandoned. "My own honour," said he to his wife, "Lord
Hood's honour, and the honour of our country, must have been sacri-
ficad, had 1 mentioned what I knew : therefore, you will believe what
must have been my feelings during the whole" siege, when I had often
proposals made to me to write to Lord Hood to raise it." Those very
persons who thus advised him were rewarded for the conduct at the
siege of Bastia : Nelson, by whom it may truly be affirmed that Bastia
was taken, received no reword. Lord Hood's thanks to him, both
public and private, were, as he himself said, the handsomest which
man could give ; but his signal merits were not so mentioned in the
despatches as to make them sufficiently known to the nation, nor to
obtain for him from government those honours to which they so amply
entitled him. This could only have arisen from the haste in which
the despatches were written ; certainly not from any deliberate pur
pose, for Lord Hood was uniformly his steady and sincere friend.
The Agamemnon was now despatched to co-operate at the siege of
Calvivvith General Sir Charles Stuart ; an officer, who, unfortunately
for his country, never had an adequate field allotted him for the display
of thoseeminent talents, which were, to all who knew him so conspicuous.*
Ne'.son had less responsibility here tlian at Bastia ; and was acting with a
man after hisown heart, who was never sparing of himself, and sleptevery
night in the advanced battery. But the service was not less hard than
that ofthe former siege. " We will fag ourselves to death," said he
to Lord Hood, " before any blame shall lie at our doors. I trust it
will not be forgotten, that twenty-five pieces of heavy ordnance have
* Lord Melville was fully sensible of these talents, and bore testimony to them io
fhe handsomest manner after Sir Charle's death.

3S

LIEF QF N^LgON.

heen dragged to the different batteries, mounted, and, all but^ three,
fought by seamen, except one artillery-man td point the guns." Ihe
climate pruved more destructive than the service'; for this was during
the lion sun, as they there call our season of the dog-days. Of two
thousand men, above half were sick, and the rest likeso many phantoms.
Nelson described himself as the reed among the oaks, bowing before
the storm when they were laid low by it. " All the prevailing disor
ders have attacked me," said he, " but I have not strength enough for
them to fasten on." The loss from the enemy was not great : but Nel
son received a serious injury ; a shot struck the ground near him, and
drove the sand and small gravel into one of his eyes. He spoke of it
slightly at the time : writing the same day to Lord Hood, he only said,
that he got a little hurt that morning, not much ; and the next day, he
said, he should be able to attend his duty in the evening. In fact, he
suffered it to confine him only one day ; but the sight was lost.
Aiter the fali of Calvi, his services were, by a strange omission, al
together overlooked ; and his name was not even mentioned in the list
of wounded. This was no ways imputed to the Admiral, for he sent
home to government Nelson's journal ofthe siege, that they might fully
understand the nature of his indefatigable and unequalled exertions.^ If
those exertions were not rewarded in the conspicuous manner which
they deserved, the fault, was in the administration ofthe day, not in Lord
Hood. Nelson felt himself neglected. " One hundred and ten days,"
said he, " I have been actually eng. ged, at sea, and on shore against
the enemy ; three actions against ships, two against Bastia in my ship,
four boat actions, and two villages taken, and. twelve sail of vessels
burned. I do not know that any one has done more. I have had the
comfort to be ahvays applauded by my commander-in-chief, but never
to be rewarded : and, what is mortifying, for services in which I have
been wounded, others have been praised, who, at the same time, were
in bed, far from the scene of action. They have not done me justice.
But, never mind, I'll have a Gazette of my own." How amply was
this second sight of glory realized !
The health of his ship's company had now, in his own words, been
miserably torn to pieces by as hard service, as a ship's crew ever per
formed : onehundied and fifty were in their beds, when he left Calvi ;
of them he lost fifty; and believed that the constitutions ofthe rest
were entirely destroyed. He was now sent with despatches to Mr.
Drake, at Gtnoa, tied had his first interview with the doge. The
French had, at this time, taken possession of Vado Bay, in the Genoese
territory ; and Nelson foresaw, ttiat if their thoughts were bent on the
invasion of Italy, they would accomplish it the ensuing spring. " The
powers," he said, were jealous of each other ; and none but England
was hearty in the cause." His wish was for peace, on fair terms, be
cause England, he thought, was draining herself to maintain allies who
would not fight for themselves. Lard Hood had now returned to Eng
land, and the command devolved on Admiral Hotham. The affairs of
the Mediterranean wore at this time a gloomy aspect. The arts as

LB5E OF NELSON. on
well as the arms of the enemy were gaining the ascendaney there.
Tuscany concluded peace, relying upon the faith of France, which wa.c
in fact, placing itself at her mercy. Corsica was in danger. We had
taken that island for ourselves, annexed it formally to the crown of
Great Britain, and given it a constitution as free as our own. This
was done with the consent of the majority of the inhabitants : and no
transaction between two countries was ever more fairly or legitimately
conducted : yet our conduct was unwise ;— tha island is large enough
to form an independaut state, and such we' should have made it, under
our protection, as long as protection might be needed ; the Corsicans
Wvould then have felt as a nation; but, when one party had given, up the
country to England, the natural consequence was, that the other looked
to France. The question proposed to the people was, to which would
they belong ? Our language and otir religion were against us ; our un
accommodating manners, itis to be feared, still more si-. The French
were better politicians. In intrigue they have ever been unrivalled:
and it now became apparent, tha! in spite of old wrongs, which ought
never to havebeen forgit.-n or forgiven, their partizans were daily
acquiring strength. It is part ofthe policy of France, and a wise poli
cy it is to impress upon other powers the opinion of its strength, bv lofty
language, and by threatening before it strikes ; a system which," while
it keeps up the spirit of its allies, and perpetually stimulates their hope?,
tends also to dismay its enemies. Corsica was now loudly threatened.
The French, who had not yet been taught to feel their own inferiority
upon the seas, braved us, in contempt, upon that element. They had a
superior fleet in the Meditteranean, and they sent it out with express
orders, to seek the English and engage them. Accordingly, the Tou^
Ion fleet, consisting oT seventeen ships of the line, and five smaller ves
sels, put to sea. Admiral Hotham received this information at Leghorn,
and sailed immediately in search of them. He had with him fourteen
sail ofthe line, and one Neapolitan seventy-four ; but his ships were
only half-manned, containing but seven thousand six hundred and fifty
men, whereas the enemy had sixteen thousand nine hundred. He soon
came in sight of .them : a general action was expected ; and Nelson, as
was his custom on such occasions,' wrote a hasty leiter to his wife, as
that which possibly might contain his last farewell. "The lives of all,"
said he, "are in the hand of Him who knows best, whether to preserve
mine or not ; my character and good name are in my own keeping."
But however confident the French government might be of their
naval superiority, the officers had no such feeling; and after maiKBuvr-
ing for a day, in sight of the English fleet, they suffered themselves to
be chased. One of their ships, the Ca Ira, of eighty-four guns, carried
away her main and firetopmasts. The Inconstant frigate fired at the
disabled ship, but received so many shot, that she was obliged lo
leave her. Soon afterward a French frigate took the Ca Ira in tow ;
and the Sans-Culottes, one hundred and twenty, and the Jean Barras,
seventy-four, kept a gun-shot distance on her weather bow. The
Agamemnon stood towards her, having no ship of the line to support
her vvhhin several miles. As she drew near the Ca Ira fired Iter

•40 LIFE OF KJ&LSOJf.
stern guns so truly, that not a shot missed some part of the ship, and,
latterly, the masts were struck by every shot. It had been Nelson's
intention not to fire before he touched her stern ; but seeing how im
possible it was that he should be supported and how certainly the
Agamemnon must be severely cut up, if her masts were disabled, he
altered his plan according to the occasion. As soon, therefore, as he
was within a hundred yards of her stern, he ordered the helm to be
put a-starboard, and the driver and after-sails to be brailed up and
shivered ; and, as the ship fell off, gave the enemy her whole broad
side. They instantly braced up the after-yards, put the helm a-port,
nnd stood after hep again. This manoeuvre he practised for two hours
and a quarter, never allowing the Ca Ira to get a single gun from
either side to bear on him ; and when the French fired their after-guns
now, it was no longer with coolness and precision, for every shot
went far ahead. By this time her sails were hanging in tatters, her
mizen-topmast, mizen-topsail, and cross-jack-yards, shot away. But
the frigate which had her in tow hove in stays, and got her round.—
Both these French ships now brought their guns to bear, and opened
their fire. The Agamemnon passed them within half pistol-shot; almost
every shot passed over her, for tho French had elevated their guns for
the rigging, and for distant firing, and did not think of altering the ele
vation. As soon as the Agememaon's after guns ceased to bear, she
hove in stays, keeping a constant fire as she came round ; and being
worked, said Nelson, with as much exactness as if she had been turning
into Spithead. On getting round, he saw that the Sans-Culottes, which
had wore, with many of the enemy's ships, was under his lee-bow, and
standing to leeward. The admiral, at the same time, made the signal
forithe van-ships to join him. isUpon this Nelson bore'away, and pre
pared to set all sail; and the enemy, having saved their ship, hauled
close to the wind, and opened upon him a distant and ineffectual fire.
Only seven of the Agamemnon's men were hurt — a thing which Nel
son himself remarked as wonderful: her sails "and rigging were very
much cut, and she had many shots in her hull, and some between wind
and water. The Ca Ira lost one hundred and ten men that day, and
was so cut up, that she could not get a topmast aloft during the night.
At daylight, on the following morning, the English ships were taketo
aback with a fine breeze at N. W. while the enemy's fleet kept the
southerly wind. The body of their fleet was about five miles distant ;
theCa Ira, and the Censeur, seventy-four, which had her in tow, about
three and a half. All sail was made to cut these ships off; and, as the
French attempted to save them, a partial action was brought on. The
Agamemnon was again engaged with her yesterday's antagonist; but
she had to fight on both sides the ship at the same time. Tho Ca Ira
and the Censeur fought most gallantly ; the first lost nearly three hun
dred men in addition to her former loss; the last, three hnndred-*ind
fifty. Both at last struck : and Lieutenant Andrews, of the Agamemnon,
brother to the lady to whom Nelson had been attached in France, and,
in Nelson's own words, " as gallant an officer as ever stepped a quarter
deck," hoisted English colours on board them both. The rest of the

LIFE O.F NELS&.X. 4i
eaerny's ships behaved very ill. As soon as these vessels had struck,
Nelson went to Admiral Hotham, and proposed that the two prizes
should bo left with the Illustrious and Courageux, which had been
crippled in the action, and with four frigates, and that the rest of the
fleet should pursue the enemy, and follow up the advantage to the ut
most. But his reply was — "We must be contented: we have done
very well." — " Now," said Nelson, " had we taken ten sail, and allowed
the eleventh to escape, when it had been possible to have got at her, I
could never have called it well done. Goodall backed me : I got him
to write to the admiral ; but it would not do. We should have had
such a day as, I believe the annals of England never produced." In
this letter the character of Nelson fully manifests itself. " I wish,"
said he, to be an admiral, and in the command of the English fleet; 1
should very soon either do much, or be ruined : my disposition can
not bear tame and slow measures. Sure I am, had I commanded on
the 14th, that either the whole French fleet would have graced my
triumph, or I should have been in a confounded scrape." What the
event would have been, he knew from his prophetic feelings and his
own consciousness of power: and we also know it now, forAhoakirJ
and Trafalgar have told it us.
The Ca Ira and Censeur probably defended themselves with more
obstinacy in this action, from a persuasion, that, if they struck, no
quarter would be given ; because they had fired red-hot shot, and had
also a preparation sent, as they said, by the convention from Paris, •
which seems to have been ofthe nature ofthe Greek fire; for it be-,
came liquid when it was discharged, and water would not extinguish
itsflames. This combustible was concealed with great care in the
captured ships ; like the red-hot shot, it had been found useless in bat
tle. Admiral Hotham's action saved Corsica for the time ; but the
victory had been incomplete, and the arrival at Toulou of six sail of
the line, two frigates, and two cutters from Brest, gave the French a
superiority, which, bad they known bow to use it, would materially
have endangered tbe British Mediterranean fleet. That fleet had been
greatly neglected during Lord Chatham's administration at the Admi
ralty ; and it did not, for some time, feel the beneficial effect of his
removal. Lord Hood had gone home to represent the real state of
affairs, and solicit reinforcements adequate to the exigencies of the
times, and the importance ofthe scene of action. But that fatal error
of under-proportioning the force to the service ; that ruinous economy'
which, by sparing a little, renders all tbat is spent useless, infected
the British councils ; and Lord Hood, not being able to obtain such
reinforcements as he knew were necessary, resigned the command.
"Surely," said Nelson, the people at home have forgotten us. Another-
Neapolitan 74 joined Admiral Hotham, and Nelson observed with sor
row, that this was matter of exultation to an English fleet. When the
storeships and victuallers arrived, their escape from the enemy was
thought wonderful ; and yet, bad they not escaped, " the game," said
Nelson, " was up here ! Our operations are at a stand for want of
ships." It was reported that the French were again out with 18 or 20
sail. The eombined British and Neapolitan were but 16 ; should the

4"2 LIFE OF A'ELSOJf.
enemy be only 18, Nelson made no doubt of victory ; but if they were
20, he said, it was not to be expefted ; and a battle, without complete
victory, would have been destruction, because another mast was not
to be got on that side Gibrultar. At length, Admiral Man arrived with
a squadron from England.
About this time Nelson was made colonel of rrarines :— a mark of
approbation which he had long wished for rather than expected. It
came in good season, for his spirits were oppressed by the thought
that his services had not been acknowledged as they deserved ; and it
abated the resentful feeling which would else have been excited by
tho answer to an application to the war-office. During his four
months' land service in Corsica, he had lost all his ship furniture, owing
to the movements of a camp. Upon this he wrote to the secretary at
war, briefly stating what his services on shore had been, and saying,
he trusted it was not asking an improper thing to request that the
same allowance might be made to him which would be made to a land
officer of his rank, which, situated as he was, would be that of a
brigadier-general : if this could not be accorded, he hoped that his
additional expenses would be paid him. The answer which he re
ceived was, that "no pay had ever been issued under the direction of
the war^office to officers ofthe navy, serving with the army on shore."
He now entered upon a new line of service. The Austrian and Sar
dinian armies, under General de Vins, required a British squadron to
co-operate with them in driving the French from the Riviera di Genoa,
and as Nelson had been so much in the habit of soldiering, it was im
mediately fixed that the brigadier should go. He sailed from St. Fio
renzo on this destination ; but fell in, off Cape del Melo, with the ene
my's fleet, who immediately gave his squadron chase. The chase lasted
four-and-'twenty hours ; and owing to the fickleness of the windy the
British ships were sometimes hard pressed ; but the want of skill on the
part of the French, gavo them many advantages. Nelson bent his way
back to St. Fiorenzo, where the fleet, which was in tho midst of water
ing and 'refitting, had, for seven hour's, the mortification of seeing him
almost in possession of the enemy, before the wind would allow them to
put out to his assistance. The French, however, at evening went off,.'
not choosing to approach nearer the shore. During the night, Admiual
Hotham, by great exertions, got under way ; and having sought the
enemy four days, came in sight of them on the fifth. Bafflng winds,
and vexatious calms, so common in the Mediterranean, rendered it im
possible to close with them ; only a partial action could be brought on f
and then the firing made a perfect calm. The French being to wind
ward, drew in shore .; and the English fleet was becalmed six or seven
miles to the westward. L'Alcide, of seventy-four guns, struck ; but
before she could be taken possession of, a box of combustibles in hef;
foretop took fire, and the unhappy crew. experienced how far more peri
lous their inventions were to themselves than to their enemies. So
rapid was the conflagration, that the French, in their official account
say, the hull, the masts and sails, all seemed to take fire at the same
moment ; and thongh the English boats were put out to the assistance

LIFE QF NELSON. 43
ofthe poor wretches on board, not more than two hundred could be sa
ved. The Agamemnon, and Captain Rowley, in the Cumberland';
werejus> getting into close action, a second time, when the admiral
called them off, the wind now being directly into the gulf of Frejus,
where the enemy anchored after the evening closed.
Nelsoijnow proceeded to his station, with eight sail of frigates under
his command. Arriving at Genoa, he had a conference with, Mr. Drake,
the British envoy to that state ; the result of which was, that the ob
ject of the British must be, to put an entire stop to all trade-between
Genoa, France, and the places occupied by the French troops : for,
unless this trade were stopped, it would be scarcely possible for the al
lied armies to hold their situation, and impossible for them to make any
progress in driving the enemy out, ofthe Riviera di Genoa. Mr. Drake
was of opinion, that even Nice might fall for want of supplies, if the
trade with Genoa were cutoff This sort of blockade Nelson could
not carry on without great risk to himself. A captain in the navy, as
he represented to the envoy is liable to prosecution for detention and
damages. This danger was increased by an order which had then
lately been issued ; by which, when a neutral ship was detained, a com
plete specification of her cargo was directed to be sent to the secretary
ofthe Admiralty, and no legal process instituted against Ijer till the
pleasure of that board should be communicated. This was requiring
an impossibility. The cargoes of ships detained upon this station, con
sisting chiofly of corn, would be spoiled long before the orders of the
Admiralty could be known ; and then, if they should happen to release
the vessel, the owners would look to the Captain for damages. E-
ven the only precaution which could be taken against this danger, in*
volved another danger not less to be apprehended : for, if the cSp'tajn
should direct the cargo to be taken out, the freight paid for, and the.
vessel released, the agent employed might prove fraudulent,:, and be
come a bankrupt ; and in that caie the captain became responsible.
Such things had happened : Nelson therefore required, as the only
means for carrying on that service, which was judged essential to the*
common cause, without exposing the oflicers to ruin, that the British
envoy should appoint agents to pay the freight, release the vessels, sell
the cargo, and hold the amount till process was had upon it : govern
ment thus securing its officers. "I am acting," said Nelson, "not
only without the orders of my commander-in-chief, but in some mea
sure contrary to him. However, I have not only the support of his ma
jesty's ministers, both at Turin and Genoa, but a conscientiousness that
J am doing what is right and iproper for the service of our king and
country. Political courage, in anlefficer abroad, is as highly necessary
as military courage."
"This quality, as much rarer tharf military, courage, as itis more valua
ble, without which the soldier's bravery is very often of little avail,
Nelson possessed in an eminent degree. His representations were
attended to as they deserved. Admiral Hotham commended him for
what he had done ; and the attention of government was awakened to

4A LIEE OF KELSON.
the injury whicli the cause of the allies continually suffered from the
frauds of neutral vessels. " What changes in my life of activity !" said
this indefatigable man. " Here I am ; having commenced a co-opera-*
tion with an old Austrian general, almost fancying myself charging at
the head of a troop of horse! I do not write less than from ten to
twenty letters everyday; which, with the Austrian general and aids-
de-carnp, and my own little squadron, fully employ my time. This I
like ; — active service, or none." It was Nelson's mind which support
ed his feeble body through these exertions. He was at this time almost
blind, and wrote with very great pain. " Poor Agamemnon," he some
times said, "was as nearly worn out as her captain: and both must
soon be laid up to repair."
When Nelson first saw General de Vins, he thought him an able man,
who was willing to act with vigour. The general charged his inacti
vity upon the Piedmontese and Neapolitans, whom, ho said, nothing
could induce to act; and he concerted a plan with Nelson, for embark
ing a part of the Austrian army, and landing it in the rear of the
French. But the English commodore soon began to suspect that the
Austrian general was little disposed to any active operations. In the
hope of spurring him on, he wrote to him, felling him that he had sur
veyed the coast to the westward as far as Nice, and would undertake
to embark four or five thousand men, with their arms and a few days'
provisions, on board the squadron, and land them within two miles of
St. Remo, with their field-pieces. Respecting farther provisions for
the Austrian army, he would provide convoys, that they should arrive
•in safety; and, if a re-embarkation should bo found necessary, he would
cover it with the squadron. The possession of St. Remo, as head-
quartets far magazines of every kind, would enable the Austrian gene
ral te turn his array to the eastward or westward. The enemy at OnegIia|
would be cut off from provisions, and n?en could be landed to attack'
the place whenever it v/as judged- necessary. St. Remo was the only
place between Vade and Ville Franche, where the squadron could lie in,
safety; and anchor in almost ail winds. The bay vas not as good as
Vado for large ships; but it had a mole, which Vado had not, where all
small vessels could lie, and load and uolond their cargoes. This bav
being La possession of tho allies, Nice coul J be completely blockaded
by sea. General de Vins, affec'ing, ia his reply, to consider that Nel
son's proposal had no other end than that of obtaining the bay of St.
Remo as a station for the ships, told him, what he well knew, and had
expressed before, that Vado bay was a better anchorage ; nevertheles.%,
if Monsieur le Commandant Nelson was well assured that part of the
fleet eould winter there, there was no*isk to which he would not expos'o
himself with pleasure, for the sake of obtaining a safe station for the
vessels of bis Britannic majesty. Nelson soon assured the Austrian
commander, that this was not the object of his memorial. He now
began to suspect that both the Austrian court and their general had
Other ends in view than the cause of the allies. " This army," said he,
"is slow beyond all description; and I begin to think that the emperor

LIFE OF NELSON. ^
is anxious to touch another four millions of English money. As for the
German generals, war is their trade, and peace is ruin to them ; there
fore, we cannot expect that they should have any wish to finish the war.
The politics of courts are so mean, that private people would be ashamed
to act in the same way ; all is trick and finesse, to which the common
cause is sacrificed. The general wants a loophole ; it has for some
time appeared to me, that he means to go no farther than his present
position, and to lay the miscarriage of the enterprise against Nice,
which has always been held out as the great object of his army, to the
non-co-operation of the British fleet, and of the Sardinians."
To prevent this plea, Nelson again addressed de Vins, requesting
only to know the time, and the number of troops ready to embark ;
then he would, he said, despatch a ship to Admiral Hotham, requesting
transports, having no doubt of obtaining them, and trusting that the
plan would be successful to its full extent. Nelson thought at the time,
that if the whole fleet were oft'erod him for transports, he would find
some other excuse; and Mr.Drake, who was now appointed to reside at
the Austrian head-quarters, entertained the same idea ot the general's
sincerity. It was not, however, put so clearly to the proof as it ought
to have been. He replied, that as soon as Nelson could declare him
self ready with the vessels necessary for conveying ten thousand men,
with their artillery and baggage, he would put the army in motion. But
Nelson was not enabled to do this; Admiral Hotham, who was highly
meritorious in leaving such a man so much at his own disposal, pursued .
a cautious system, ill according with the bold and comprehensive views
of Nelson, who continually regretted Lord Hood, saying, that the na
tion had suffered much by his resignation of the Mediterranean com
mand. The plan which had been concerted, he said, would astonish
the French, and perhaps the English.
There was no unity in the views ofthe allied powers, no cordiality in
their co-operation, no energy in their councils. The neutral powers
assisted France more effectually than the allies assisted each other.
The Genoese ports were at this time filled with French privateers,
which swarmed out every night, and covered the gulf ; and French
vessels were allowed to tow out of the port of Genoa itself, board
vessels which were coining in, and then return into the mole. This
was allowed without a remonstance ; while though Nelson abstained
most carefully from offering any offence to the Genoese territory or
flag, complaints were so repeatedly made against his scpiadrofe, that,
lie soys, it seemed a trial who should be tired first ; they of complain
ing, or he of answering their complaints. But the question ofneuira-
iity was soon at an end. An Austrian commissary was travelling
from Genoa towards Vado ; it was known tbat he was to sleep at
Voltri, and tbat he had £10,000 with him ; a booty which the French
minister in that eity, and the captain of a French frigate in that port
considered as far more important than the word of honour of the one,
the duties of the other, and the laws of neutrality. The boats ofthe
frigate went out with some privateers, landed, robbed the cominissa-
ry, and brought back the monny to Genoa. The next day men were
publicly enlisted in that city for the French army; seven hundred men

4£j LIFE OF NElvSON.
were embarked, with seven thousand stand of arms, on board the
frigates, and other were to land between Voltri and Savona :— there a
detachment from the French army was to join them, and the Genoese
peasantry weie to be invited to insurrection, — a measure for which
everything bad been prepared. The night of the 13th was fixed for
the sailing of this expedition : the Austrians called loudly for Nelson
to prevent it; and he, on the evening ofthe 13th, arrived at Genoa.
Hii presence checked the plan : the frigate, knowing her deserts, got
within tbe merchant ships, ia the inner mode; and the Genoese go
vernment did not now even demand of Nelson respect to tbe neutral
port, knowing that they had allowed, if not connived at, a flagrant
breach of neutrality, and expecting the answer which he was prepared
to return, that it was useless and impossible for him to respect it longer.
But though this movement produced immediate "effect which was de
signed, it led to ill consequences, which Nelson foresaw, but, for vvant
of sufficient force, was unable to prevent. His squadron was too^f
small for the service which it had to perform. He required two seven
ty-fours, and eight or ten frigates and sloops ; but when he demanded
this reinforcement, Aumiral Hotham had left the command ; Sir
Hyde Parker succeeded till the new commander should arrive ; and
he immediately reduced it almost to nothing, leaving him only one
frigate and a brig. This was a fatal error. While the Austrian and
Sardinan troops whether from the imbecility or the treachery of their
leaders, remained inactive, the French were preparing for the inva
sion of Italy. Not many days before Nelson was thus summoned to
Genoa, he chased a large convoy into Alassio. Twelve vessels he
had formerly destroyed in that port, though two thousand French
troops occupied the town : the former attack had made them take
new measures of defence ; and there were now above one hundred
sail of victuallers, gunboats, and ships of war. Nelson represented
to the admiral how important it was to destroy these vessels ; and
offered, with his squadron of frigates, and the Culloden and Coura-
geaux, to lead himself in the Agtmemuon, and take or destroy the
whole. The attempt was not permitted : but it was Nelson's belief,
that, if it had been made, it would have prevented the attack upon the
Austrian army which took place almost immediately afterward.
Gen. de Vins demanded satisfaction of the Genoese government for
the seizure of his commissary ; and without waiting for their reply,
took possession of some empty magazines of the French, and pushed
his sentinels to the very gates of Genoa. Had he done so at first, he
would have found the magazines full ; but useless as it was to the cause
ofthe allies, it was in character with the Austrian general's conduct :
and it is no small proof of the dexterity with which he served the ene
my, that in such circumstances he could so act with Genoa, as to con
trive to put himself in the wrong. Nelson was at this time, in his
own words, placed ina cleft stick. The Austrian minister and the
Austrian general joined in requiring him not to leave Genoa : if he leif
that port unguarded, the French plan for taking post between Voltri
and Savona would certainly succeed. On the other hand, if he were
not at Pietra, the enemy's gunboats would harass the left flank ofthe
Austrians, who, if they were defeated, would lay their defeat to the
want of assistance from the Agamemnon. He had foreseen the dan
ger, and pointed out how it might be prevented; but tlie means of

L^E OF liELSQ.V. 47
preventing it were withheld. The attark Was made, as he foresaw ;
and gunboats broughtto bear upon the Austrians. It so happened that
the left flank was the only part which behaved well; this division stood
its ground till the, centre and right wing fled. Gen. deVins gave up
the command in the middle of tbe battle, pleading ill health. " From
that moment," says Nelson, " hot a soldier staid at his post: — it was
the devil take the hindmost. Many thousands ran away who had ne-
Verseen the enemy ; some of them 30 miles from the advanced posts.
Thus has ended my campaign — We have established the French re
public; which would never have been settled by such a volatile,change-
able people. I hate a Frenchman : Ihey are equally objects of my de
testation, whether royalists or republicans; in some points, I believe,
the latter are the best."
The defeat of Gene.ealS'de Vine gave the enemy possession ofthe
Genoese coast from Savona to Voltri; and it deprived the Austrians
pf their direct communication v.iih the English fleet. The Asamem-
non, therefore could no longer be useful on this station, and Nelson
sailed for Leghorn to, refit. Whe.T his ship went intn dock, there wa9
not a mast, yard, sail, or any part ofthe rigging, but what Stood in
need of repair, having been cut-to pieces with shot. Tbe hull was so
damaged, that it had for sometime been secured by cabl»s, which were
serVed or thrapped round it.

CHAPTER IV.

Sir J. Jervis takes the Commtind — Genoa joins the French — Buonaparte be
gins his Career — Evacuation of Corsica — Nelson hoists his broad Pennant
in the Minerve — Action with the Sabina, — Battle off Cape St. Vincent — JYel-
son commands the inner Squadron at the Blockade of Cadiz — Boat Action
in the Bay of Cadiz — Expedition against Teneriffe — Nelson loses an Arm —
His Sufferings in England, and Recovery.
Sib John Jervis had now arrived to take command of the Mediter
ranean fleet. Agamemnon havit g, as her captain said, been made as
fit fbr sea as a rotten ship could he, Nelscn sailed from Leghorn, and
joined the admiral in Fios'enzo Bay. " I found him," said he. " anxious
to know many things, which I was a good deal surprised to find had
not been communicated to him by others in the fleet ; and it would ap
pear that he was so well satisfied with my opinion of what is likely to
happen, and the means of prevention to be taken, that he had no re
serve with me respecting his infornriu'im and ideas of what is likely
to be done." The manner in which N*--l:-"n was received is said to
have excited some envy. One captain observed to him : " You did
just as you pleased in Lord Hood's time, the same in Admiral Hotbam's,
and now again with Sir John Jervis : it makes n<> difference to you
who is commander-in-chief." A higher compliment could not have
been paid to any commander-in-chief, than to say of him. that he un
derstood the merits of Nelson, and left him, as far as possible, to act
upon his own judgment.

4S UfE °F ^ELgojj.
Sir John Jervis offered him the St. George, ninety, or the zealous,
seventy-four, and asked if he should have any objection to serve under
hira with his flag. He replied, that if the Agamemnon were ordered
home, and his flag were not arrived, he should, on many accounts.
wish to return to England: still, he should be very proud of hoisting
his flag under Sir John's command. " We cannot spare you," said
Sir John. Accordingly, he resumed his station. TheFreneh had not
followed up their successes there. Scherer, ihe commander, owed
his advancement to any other cause than his merit ; but he was remo
ved from the command, and Buonaparte appointed to succeed him. —
Buonaparte had given indications of his military talents at Toulon, and
of his remorseless nature at Paris: but the extent of his ability or his
wickedness was at this time known to ncne, not even to himself, perhaps.
Nelson supposed, from information, that one column of the French
army would take possession of Port Especia ; either penetrating thro'
the Genoese territory, or proceeding coastwise in light vessels; out
strips of war not being able to approach the coast, because of the shal
lowness ofthe water. The possession of Vado Bay, and the taking
of Port Especia, were necessary to prevent this ; then Italy would be
safe from any attack of the French by sea. Gen. Beaulieu, who had
superseded Vins,sent his aid-de-oamp to communicate with Nelson, to
see if he could anchor in any other place than Vado Bay. Nelson said
that Vado was the only place where the British fleet could lie in safety:
but all places would suit his squadron. The Austrian asked, if there
was not a risk of losing the squadron ? and was answered, if lost, the
admiral would find others. But the battle of Montenotte, frustrated
all co-operation with the Austrians. Beaulieu ordered an attack to be
made upon Voltri ; — it was made 12 hours before the time fixed. Ia
consequence, the French were enabled to effect their retreat upon Mon
tenotte ; thus giving the troops there a decisive superiority over the
division which attacked them. This drew on the defeat of the Austri-
aas. Bonaparte pursued his advantages; and, in the course of a fort
night, dictated to the court of Turin terms of peace ; by which allthe
strongest places of Piedmont were put into his hands.
Only on one occasion, Nelson was able to impede tbe progress of
this new conqueror. Six vessels, laden with cannon, &c. sailed from
Toulon for St. Pier d' Arena. Assisted by the Meleager, he drove them '
under a battery, and captured the whole. Military books, &c. maps
of Italy, with the different points marked upon them where former bat
tles had been fought, for Buonaparte's use, were found in the convoy.
This compelled the French to raise the siege of Mantua : but there
was too much imbecility in the councils of the allied powers, for Aus
tria to improve this success. Bonaparte conceived that all Italy was
within his reach: treaties of neutral powprs were as little regarded by
him as by the government for which he acted ; in open contempt of
both he entered Tuscany, and took possession of Leghorn. In conse
quence, Nelson blockaded that port, and landed a British force in the
Isle of Elba, to secure Porto Ferrajo. Soon afterward he took the
island of Capraja, which had formerly belonged to Corsica, being less
than forty miles distantfrom it; which enabled the Genoese to retain
it, after their infamous sale of Corsica to France. Genoa had now ta
ken part with France : its government willingly wished to exclude the
English from their ports. Copraja was seized, in consequence : but

LIFE Oi' NJiLSOar. 49
this act of vigour w;ss not followed up. England depended too much
upon itse feeble governments ofthe continent, und too little upon itself.
Et was determined by the British cabinet to evacuate Corsica, as soon
as Spain should form an offensive alliance w>th France. This event
had now taken place ; end orders for the evsetiation were imme^iuieiy.
sent out. It was impoliticto annex this island to the British ddrc^ijioas*
but having done so, it was disgraceful thus to abandon it. The dis-
gvy.ee would havebeen spared, if the people ofthe island had at first
been left to for.-n a government fbr themselves, and protected by us.
The viceroy, Sir Gilbert Elliot, deeply folt the impolicy and ignomiDy
of this evacuation. The fleet also was ordered to leave the Mediterra
nean. This resolution was so contrary to the last instructions which
had been received, that Nelson exclaimed, "do his Majesty's ministers
know their own minds?? They at home," said he, "do not know what
this fleet is. capable of performing — any thing and every thing. Much
as I shaU rejoice to see England, I lament our present orders in sack
cloth and ashes, so dishonourable to the dignity of Eagland whoso fleets
iire equal to meet the world in arms : and of all the fleets I ever saw, I
never beheld one, in point of ofhaers and men, equal to Sir John Jer-
vis's, who is a commander-in-chief able to lead them to glory." Sir
Gilbert Elliot believed that the Corsicans were perfectly satisfiod, as
they had good reason lo be, with, tho British government, sensible of its
advantages, and attached to it. However this may have been, when
tliey found that the English intended to evaluate. the island, they natu
rally and necessarily sent to make their peace with the French. The
partisans of France found aone to oppose them. A committee of thirty
took npon them the government of Bastia, and sequestered all the
British property: armed Corsieans mounted guard at every place, and
a plan was laid' for seizing the viceroy. Nelson, wk» was appointed to
superintend fhe eyacuation, frustrated these projects. At a time when
every one else despaired of saving stores, .cannon, provisions, or prop
erty of any kind, and a privateer was moored across the mole-head to
prevent all boats from passing, he sent word to the comoaittee, that if
the slightest opposition were made to the embarkation and removal of
British property, he would batter the town down. The privateer point
ed her guns at the officer who carried this message, and muskets vwerc
levelled against his boats from the melc-bead. Upon this, Captain
Sutton, of the Egmont, pulling out bis watch, gave thera a quarter of
an hour to deliberate upon their answer. In five minutes after the ex
piration of that time, the ships, he said, would open their fire. Upon
this the very sentinels scampered off, and every vessel cawie out of the
mole. A ship owner complained to the commodore, that the municipa
lity refused to let him take his goods out of the custom-house. Nelson
directed him to say, that unless they were instantly delivered he would
open his fire. The comoaittee turned pale ; and, without answering a
word, gave him the keys. Their last attempt was to levy a duty upon
the things that were re-embarked. He sent them word, that he would
pay them a disagreeable visit, if there were any more complaints. The
committee then finding that they had a man to deal with who knew
7

56

L1BE OF iNELSON.

his own power, and was determined to make the British name respect
ed, desisted from the insolent cenduet which they had assumed : and it
was acknowledged that Bastia, never had been so quiet and orderly
since the English had possessed it. This was October 14th : during
the five following days the embarkation went on, the private property
was saved, and public stores to the amount of £200,000. The French,
favoured by the Spanish fleet, whieh was at that time within 12 leagues
-Of Bastia, pushed over troops from Leghorn, who landed near Cape
Corse on the 18th ; and, on the 20th, at one in the morning, entered
the citadel, an hour only after the British had spiked the guns and evacu
ated it. NelsOn embarked at daybreak, being the last person who
left the sh*re. Provoked at the conduct ofthe municipality, he stepped
mto his boat and exclaimed: "Nov, John Corse, follow the natural
bent ef your detestable character — plunder and revenge." This,though,
was not Nelson's deliberate opinion of the people of Corsica; he knew
that their vices wefce the natural consequences of internal anarchy and
foreign oppression : and when he saw that of all those who took leave
of the viceroy, none parted from him without tears, he acknowledged,
that they acted not from dislike of the English, but from fear ofthe
French. Having thus ably effected this humiliating service, Nelson was or
dered fo hoist his bioad penant on board the Minerve frigate, Capt. Geo.
CockbUrn, and, with the Blanche under his eommand, proceed to Porto
Ferrajo, and Superintend the evacuation of that place also. On his
way, he fell in with two Spanish frigates, the Sabina and the Ceres.
The Minerve engaged the former, which was commanded by D. Jacobo
Stuart, a descendant of the Duke cf Berwick. After an action of
three hours, during which the Spaniards lost 164 men, the Sabina struck.
The Spanish captain, the only surviving officer, had hardly been con
veyed en board the'Minerve, when' another enemy's frigate came up,
compelled her to east of , the prize, and brought her a second time to
action. After half an hour's trial of strength, this new antagonist wore
and hauled off: but a Spanish squadron of two ships of ths line and
two frigates carile in sight. The Blanche, from which the Ceres had
got o"ff, was far to windward, and the Minerve escaped only by the anxi
ety ofthe enemy to recover (heir own ship. As soon as Nelson reached
Porto Ferrajo, he sent his prisoner in a flag of truce to Carthagena,
having returned him his sword ; this he did in honour of the gallantry
whieh D. Jacobo had displayed, and from respect t© his ancesjry " I
feel it,u said he, " consonant to tlie dignity of my country, and I always
act as I feel right, without regard to custom : he was reputed the best
officer in Spain, and his men were worthy of such aeorarnander." By
the same flag of truce he sent back all the Spanish prisoners to Porto
Eerrajo; and received in exchange his own men taken in the prize.
General de Burgh, who commanded at ihe Isle of Elba, did not think
himself authorized to abandon the place, till he had received specific
instructions from England to that effect; professing that he was unable
io decide between fhe contradictory orders of government, or to guess

•LIFE ©F XEL.SOH. 5-3.
at what their present intentions might be: but he said, his ©July moiive
for urging delay in the measure arose from a desire that his own con
duct might be properly sanctioned, not from any opinion that Porto-
Ferrajo ought to be retained. But Naples having made peace, Sir J.
Jervis considered his business with Italy as concluded ; and the protec
tion of Portugal was the point to which he was now instructed to at
tend. Nelson, therefore, whose orders were perfectly dear, withdrew
the whole naval establishment from the station, leaving the transports
victualled, and so arranged, that all the troops and stares could be em
barked in three days: He was new about to leave the Mediterranean.
Mr. Drake, who had been our minister at Genoa, expressed to himtho
high opinion the allies eatertained of his merit: adding, that it was im
possible for any one, who had the hoaour of co-operating with him,
not to admire the activity, talents, and zeal which he had displayed. In
fact, tbe whole of his conduct had exhibited the same zeal and energy,
the same intuitive judgment and unerring decision, vyhich charaetorized
his after-career of glory. His name was as yet hardly known to the
English public ; but it was feared and respected throughout Italy. A
letter came to bioa, directed "Horatio Nelson, Genoa :" and the writer,
when asked how" he ctuld direct it so vaguely, replied, " Sir, there is
but one Horatio Nelson in the world." At Genoa, in particular, where
he had so long been stationed, he was equally respected by the dogg
and the people: for while he maintained tho rights «f Britain with be
coming firmness, he tempered the exercise of power with courtesy and
humanity. "Had all my actions," said he, writing at this time to his
wife, "been gazetted, not one fortnight would have passed, during the
whole war, without a letter from me. One day or other I will have a
long gazette to myself. I feel that such an opportunity will ha given to
me. I cannot, if I am in the field of glory, be kept out of sight: where-
ever there is any thing to be done, there Providence is sare to direct
my steps."
These anticipations were soon to be fulfilled. Nelsen's raind hatt
long been irritated by the fear that a general action would take place
before he Could join the fleet. At length he sailed with a convoy for
Gibraltar ; and having reached that place, proceeded ia search ofthe
admiral. He fell in with the Spanish fleet ; and reaching the station
off Cape St. Vincent's, communicated this intelligence to Sir John Jer
vis. lie was directed to shift his pennant on board the Captain, 74,
Capt- Miller ; and, before sunset, the signal was made to prepare fer
action. At daybreak the enemy were in sight. The British force eon-
stsledof two ships of 100 guns, two of 98, two of 90, eightof74, and
one 64 ; fifteen ofthe line in all ; with four frigs tee, a sloop, and a
cutter. The Spaniards bad one four-decker, of 136 guns ; six three-
deckers, of 112 : two 84 ; eighteen 74 ; in all, 27 ships ofthe line, with
ten frigates and a brig. Their admiral, de Cordova, had learned from
an American that tbe English had only nine ships, which indeed was
the case when his informer had seen them ; for a reinforcement had
not then joined. Upon this information, the Spanish commander de
termined to seek an enemy so inferior in force : and relying open tha
American account, he suffered his ships to remain too for di^etsed

».-i LJliii OF JSELSsON.
nnd in disorder. When the morning brrake, and discovered the Eng
lish fleet, a fog for some time concealed their number. The fleet had
heard their signal guns during the night. ; soon after daylight they were
seen much scattered, while tbe British ships wero in a compact body.
The look-oat ship of the Spaniards fancying her signal disregarded,
because so little notice seemed to be taken of it, made another signal,
that the English consisted of 40 sail. The captain did this to rouse the
admiral: it had the effect of perplexing him. The absurdity of such
an net shows what was tho state ofthe Spanish navy under that" mis
erable government. When it was contemplated that Spain would take
part in the war, as nn ally of France, Nelson said that their fleet, if it
were no better than with us, would " soon be done for."
Before the enemy could form batt!e,Sir J. Jervis came up with them,
passed thro' their fieet, tacked, and cut off 9 ships from the main body.
These ships attempted to form on the larboard tack, with, a design to
pass through the British line, or to leeward of if. and thus rejoin theh-
f'riends. , Only one succeeded ; and that because she w-as so covered
with smoke that her intention was not discovered : the others were so
warmly received, that they took to flight, and did not appear again till
its close. The admiral was row able to direct hi* attention fo the e-
nemy's main body, which was superior in every respect to i'i i whole
fieet. lie made signal to tack in succession. Nelson perceived that
the Spaniards were bearing up before tha wind, with an intention of
forming their line, arid joining their separated ships ; or 'else, of get
ting off without nn engagement. To prevent either of these schemes,
the disobeyed the signal without p. moment's hesitation, and ordered his
ship to be wore. This et once brought him into action with the San-
issima Trinidad, 100 and 33, the Sah Joseph, one 100 o.ntl 12, the
Salvador del Mundo, 100 and 12, tho St. Nicolas, 80. the San Isidor,
74, another 74. nnd another first-rate. Trowbridge, in the Cullod?n,
immediately joined, and most nobly supported him;_ai?d for nearly an
hour did the Culloden and Captain muiniain what Nelson called " this
apparently, but hotreally, unequal contest;'' — suco uas the advantage
of skill and discipline, and the confidence which brave man derive from
them. — The Blenheim then passing between them and the enemy, gave
them a respite, and poured in ber fire upon the Spaniards. Tlie Sal
vador del Muudo and S. Iflidro dro[>pcd"»stern, und were fired into,
in a masterly style, by the Excellent, Capi. Collingwood. The S. Is
idor struck; and Nelson thought that the Salvador struck also; '-but
Collingwood," eays he, "disdaining the parade of taking possession of
beaten enemies, most gallantly pushed up, with every sail set, to save
his old friend and messmates, who via?, to appearance, in a critical
situation;" for the Captain whs at this time actually fired upon by 3
fiogt-rates, by the S. Nicolas, and by a 74 within about pistol-shot of
that vessel. The Blenheim was ahead, the Culloden crippled and as
tern. Collingwood runged up, and hauling up hismainsai! just astern,
passed withi* t»n feet ofthe SS. Nicolas, giving hern most tremendous
fire, then passed on for the Santissima Trinidad. — The 8. Nicolas luf
fing oip.'the S.Joseph foil on board her, aad Nelson resumed his sta-
itinn. abreast of them, and close along-side. The Captain was now in
capable of farther service, either in the line or- in chass-: she had lost
herfofB'topmast; not a sail, shroud, or rope was left, and her wheel
was shot away. Nelson, therefore, directed Capt. Miller to put the
helm a-starboard, and, calling for the boarders, ordered-them to board.

LJE13 Ob' ££LS.ON. 53
Capt. Berry, who had lately been Nelson's first lieutenant, was the
first man who leaped into the enemy's mizen-ehains. Miller, when in
the very act of going, was ordered by Nelson to remain. Berrv was
supported from the spritsail-yard, which looked in the S. PVcholas's
main rigging. A soldier of the sixty-ninth broke the upper quarter-
gallery window, and jumped in, followed by the commodore himself,
and by others as fast as possible. The cabin doors were fastened, and
the Spanish officers fired their pistols at them through the window : the
doors were soon forced, and the Spanislrbrigadier fell while retreating
to the quarter-deck. Nelsen pushed on, ahd found Berry in possession
ofthe poop, and the Spanish ensign hauling down. Hepassed on to
the forecastle, where he met two or three Spanish officers, and received
their swords. The English were now in full possession of every part
of the ship; and a fire of pistols and musketry opened upon them from
the admiral's stern gallery of the San Joseph. Nelson, having placed
sentinels at the different ladders, and ordered Capt. Miller to send more
men into the prize, gave orders for boarding that ship from the San
Nicholas. It was done in a» instant, he himself leading the way, and
exclaiming, "Westminster Abbey or victory !" Berry assisted him
into the main-chains; a«d that moment a Spanish officer looked over
the quarterdeck-rail, and said tkey surrendered. It was not long before
he was on the quarter-deck, wkere the Spanish captain presented to
him his sword, and told him th« admiral was below, dying of his wounds.
There, on the quarter-deek of as enemy's first-rate, he received the
swords of the officers; giving them, as they wore delivered, one by
one, to William Fearney, one of his old Agamemnon's, who, with the
Utmost coolness, put them under his arm; "bundling them up," in the
lively expression of Collingwoed, "with as much composure as he
would have made a faggot, though twenty-two sail of thoir line were
still within gun-shot." One of his sailors came up, and, with an En
glishman's feeling, took him by the hand, saying, he might not soon
have such another place to do it in, and ho was heartily glad to sec him
there. Twenty-four ef the Captain's men were killed, and fifty-six
wounded; a fourth part ef the loss sustained by the whole squadron.
falling upon this ship. Nelson reeeived only a few bruises.
The Spaniards had still eighteen or nineteen ships, which had suffered
little or no injury : that part of the fleet separated from the main body
in tho morning was now coming up, and Sir John Jervis made signal to
bring to. His ships could not have formed without abandoning those
they had captured, and running to leeward : the Captain was lying a
perfect wreck ©n board her two prizes ; and many of the other vessels
were so shattered in their masts and rigging, as to be wholly unmanage
able. The Spanish admiral, meantime, according to his official account,
being altogether undecided in his own opinion respecting the state of
the fleet.inquired of his captains whether it was not proper to renew the
action : nine of them answered explicitly, that it, was not; others replied
that it was expedient to delay the business. The Pelayo and the Prin
cipe Conquistador were the only ships that were for fighting.

54 M^' e,4NELS.@N.
As soon as the action was discontinued, Nelsoa went on board the
admiral's ship. Sir John Jervis received him on the quarter-deck,
took him in his arms, and said he could not sufficiently thank him. For
this victory the commander-in-chief was rewarded with the title of Earl
St. Vincent. Nelson had the order of Bath given him. The Spanish
rear-admiral's sword he presented to the miiyor and corporation of
Norwich, saying, that he knew of no place where it could give him or
his family more pleasure to have it kept, than in the capital city of the
county where he was born. The freedom of that city was voted him.
But none of the congratulations which he received affected him with
deeper delight than that which came from his father. "I thank my God,''
said this excellent man, " with all the power of a grateful soul, for the
mercies he has most graciously bestowed o:» me in preserving you.
Not only my few acquaintances here, but tho people in general, met me
at every corner with such handsome words, that I was obliged to retire
from the public eye. The height of glory to which your professional
judgment, united with a proper degree of bravery, guarded by Provi
dence, has raised you, few son?, my dear child, attain to, and few fath
ers live to see. Tears of joy have involutarily trickled down my furrowed
cheeks. Who could stand the force of such general congratulation?
The name and services of Nelson have sounded through this city to
Bath — from the common ballad-singer to the public theatre." The
good old man concluded by telling him, that the field of glory, in which
he had so long been conspicuous, was still open, and by giving him his
blessing. Sir Horatio, who had now hoisted his flag as rear-admiral of the
blue, was sent to bring away the troops from Porto Ferrajo : havinw
performed this, he shifted his flag to the Theseus. That ship had taken
part in the mutiny in England, and being just arrived from home, some
danger was apprehended from the temper of the men. This was one
reason why Nelson was removed to her. He had not been on board
many weeks before a paper, signed in the name of the whole ship's
company, was dropped on the quarter-deck, containing these words :
" Success attend Admiral Nelson ! God bless Capt. Miller ! We thank
them for the officers they have placed over us. We are happy and
comfortable ; and will shed every drop of blood in our veins to support
them ; and the name of the Theseus shall be immortalized as high as
her captain's." Wherever Nelson commanded, the men soon became
attached to him : in ten days' time he would have restored tlie most
mutinous ship in the navy to order.
While Sir Horatio was in the Theseus, he was employed in the com
mand of the inner squadron at the blockade of Cadiz. During this
service, the most perilous action occurred in which he was ever enga
ged. Making a night attack upon the Spanish gunboats, his barge was
attacked by an armed launch, under the command of D. Miguel Trego-
yen, carrying twenty-six men. Nelson had with him only his ten barge
men, Capt. Freemantle; and his coxswain, John Sykes, an old and faith
ful follower, who twice saved the life of his admiral, by parrying the

LlIj'B 0B.SELS6N. £g
'blows that were aimed at him, and, at last, actually interposed his own
head to receive the blow of a Spanish sabre, which he could not hy
any other means avert. This was a desperate service ; and Nebron
always considered^that his personal ceurage was mere conspicuous on
this occasion than on any other. Eighteen of the enemy were killed.
and the rest wounded* and their launch taken. Nelson would have asked
for a lieutenancy for Sykes, if had Served Jong enough : his manner
and conduct, he observed, weie so entirely abeve his situation, that
Nature certainly intended him for a gentleman : but though he recovered
from the dangerous wound which he had received in this heroic act of
attachment, he did net live to profit by the gratitude aad friendship of
his commander.
Twelve days after this rencontre, Nelson sailed at the head of an ex
pedition against Teneriffe. A report had prevailed a few months before,
that the viceroy of Mexico, with the treasure-ships had put into that
island. This had led Nelson to meditate an attack upon it, which he
communicated to Earl St. Vincent. He was perfectly aware of the dif
ficulties of the attempt. "I do not," said he, "reckon myself equal to
Elake : but if I recellect right, he was more obliged to the wind coming
off the land than te any exertions of hi* own. The approach by sea
to the anchoring-place is under very high land, passing three valleys ;
therefore the wind is either in from the sea, or squally with calms from
the mountains :" and he perceived, that if the Spanish ships were won,
the object:would still ke frustrated, if. the wind did net eome offshore.
The land force, he thought, would render success certain; and there
were the troops from Elba, with all necessary stores and artillery, al
ready embarked. " But here," Said he, " soldiers must be consulted ;
and I know from experience, they have net the same boldness in under
taking a political measure that we have : we look to the benefit of our
country, and risk our own fame, to serve her; — a soldier obeys his or
ders, and no more." Nelson's experience nt Corsica justified this harsh
opinion. The army from Elba, consisting of 3700 men, would do the
business, he said, in three days, probably in much less time; and he
would unertake, with a very small squadron, to perform the naval pari;
for, though the shore was not easy of access, the transports might run
in and land the troops in one day.
The report concerning the viceroy was unfounded : but a homeward
bound Manilla ship pOt into Santa Cruz at this time, and the expedi
tion was determined upon. It was not fitted out upon the scale whieh
Nelson had proposed. Four ships of the line, three frigates, and the
Fox cutter formed the squadron ; and he was allowed to choose such
ships and officers as he thought proper. No troops were embarked ;
the seamen and mariners of the squadron being thought sufficient.
His orders were, to make a vigorous attack; but on no account to
land in person, unless his presence should be absolutely necessary.
Tbe plan was<ihat the boats should land in the night, between the fort
on the northeast side of Santa Ciroz bay and the town, sinke tliemselves
masters of that fort, and send a summons to the governor. By mid
night, the three frigates approached within three miles of the place ;
but, owing to a gale in the offing, and a strong current against them in

56 iis& @f A'tiLSi/N.
shore, they were not able to get within a mile of their landing place be
fore daybreak; and then they were seen, and their intention discover
ed. Trowbridge and Bowen, with Capt Oldfield, ofthe marine, want
upon this to consult with the admiral what was to be done; and it was
resolved that they should attempt to get possession of the heights above
the fort. The frigates accordinlgy landed their man; and Nelson stood
in with the line-of-battle ships, meaning to batter the fort, for the pur
pose of distracting the garrison. A calm and contrary current hindered
him from geiiing within a league of tlie shore; and the heights were
by this time secured, and manned with such a force as to be judged
impracticable. Thus foiled in his plans by circumstances of wind and
tide, he still considered it a point of honour that some attempt should
be made. This was the 22nd of July: ha re-embarked his men that
night, got the ships, on the 24th, to anchor about two miles north of
the town, and made show as if he intended to attack the heights. At
six in the evening, sigaal was made for the boats to prepare to proceed
on the service as previously ordered.
When this was done, Nelson addrossed a letter to the commander-
in-chiefs— the last which was ever written with his right hand. "I shall
not," said he, "enter ea the subject, why we are not in possession of
Santa Cruz. Your partiality will give credit that all has hitherta
been done which was possible ; but without effect. This night I, hum
ble as I am, command the whole, destined to laad under the batteries
of the town; and to-morrow, ray head will prebably be crowned either
with laurel or cypress. I have only to recommend Josiah Nisbet to
yon and my country. The Duke of Clareace, should I fall, will. I am
confident, take a lively interest for my son-in-law, should his name be
mentioned." Perfectly aware how desperate a service this was likely
to prove, before he left the Theseus, he sailed lieutenant Nisbet into
the cabin, that he might assist in arranging and burning his mother's
letters. Perceiving that the young mam Was armed, he earnestly beg
ged him ta remain behind.
He met his captaias at supper, on board, the Seahorse, Capt.Freeman-
tie ; whose wife presided at table. At 11 o'clock, the boats, containing
between 600 and 700 men, with 181 on board the Fox cutter, and from
70 to 80 in a boat which had been taken the day before, proceeded in
six divisions towards the town, condueted by all the captains of the
squadron, except Freemantle tad Bowen, who attended with Nelson to
regulate the attack. They were to land en the mole, and thence has
ten, as fast as possible, into tke (treat square ; then form and proceed,
as should be found expedient. They wore not discovered till about half
past one o'clock, when, being within half gun-shot of the laadisg place,
Nelson directed the boats to cast off from each ether, give a huzza,
and push for the shore. But the Spaniards were excellently well pre
pared : the alarm-bells answered the huzza, and a fire of 30 or 40 pie
ces ef cannon, with musketry from one end of the town to the others
opened upon the invaders. Nothing, however, could check the intre
pidity with which they advanced. The night was exceedingly dark :

LIFE OF NELSON. 57
most of the boats missed the mole, and went on shore through a racing
surf, which stove all to the left of it. The admiral, Freemantle, Thomp
son, Bowen, and four or five other boats, found the mole : they stormed
it instantly, and carried it, though defended, they imagined, by 400 or
590 men. ifs guns, 26 pounders, were spiked ; but such a heavy fire of
musketry and grape was kept up from the citadel and the houses at the
head of the mole, that the assailants could not advance, and nearly all
of them were killed or wounded.
In the act of stepping out of the boat, Nelson received a shot through
the right elbow, and fell ; but as he fell, he caught the sword, which he
had just drawn, in his loft hand, and determined never to part with it
while he lived, for it belonged to his uncle, Capt. Suckling, and he
valued it like a relic. Nesbit, who was close to him, placed him at the
bottom of the boat, and laid his hat over the shattered arm, lest the
sight of the blood, which gushed out in great abundance, should in
crease his faintness. He then examined the wound, and taking some
silk handkerchiefs from his neck, bound them round tight above the la
cerated vessels. Had it not been for this presence of mind in his son-in-
law, Nelson must have perished. One of his bargemen, by name LOvel,
tore his shirt into shreds, and made a sling with ihem for the broken
limb. They then collected, five other seamen, by whose assistance
they succeeded in getting the boat afloat; for it had grounded with the
falling tide. Nisbet got close under the guns of the battery, that they
might be safe from its tremendous fire. Hearing his voice, Nelson roused
himself, and desired to be lifted up in the boat. Nisbet raised him up,
but nothing could be seen, except the firing of the guns on shore, and
what could be seen by the flashes on the stormy sea. In a few minutes,
a general shriek was heard from the crew of the Fox, which had re
ceived a shot under water, and went down. Ninety-seven men were
lost in her; 83 were saved, many by Nelson himself, whose exertion*
greatly increased the danger of his wound. The first ship which the
boat could reach happened to be the Seahorse: but nothing could in
duce him to go on board, though assured that if they attempted to row
to another ship, it might be at the risk of his life. "I had rather suf
fer death," he replied, " than alarm Mrs. Freemantle, by letting her sea
me in this state, when I can give her no tidings whatever of her hus
band." They pushed on for the Theseus. When they came along
side, he peremptorily refused all assistance in getting on board, so im
patient was he that the boat should return, in hopes that it might save
a few more from the Fox. He desired to have only a single rope thrown
over the side, which he twisted round 'his left hand, saying, "Let me
alone: I have yet my legs left and one arm. Tell the surgeon to make
haste and get his instruments. I know I must lose my right arm; so
the sooner it is off the better."
Freemantle had been severely wounded in the right arm, soon after
the admiral. He was fortunaie enough to find a boat at the beach, and
got instantly to the ship. Thompson was wounded : Bowen killed, to
the great regret of Nelson ; as was also one of his own officers, Lieujk
8

58

LIKE OF NELSON.

Weathefhead. Trowbridge missed the mole in the darkness, but push
ed on shore under the batteries, close to the south end of the citadel
Capt. Waller, of the Emerald, and two or three other boats lauded at
the same time. The surf was so high that many others put back. The
boats were instantly filled with water, and stove against the rocks; and
most of the ammunition in the mens' pouches was wetted. Having
collected a few men, they pushed on to the great square, hoping there
to find the admiral and the rest of the force. The ladders were all lost,
so that they could make no immediate attempt on the citadel; but they
sent a sergeant with two of the town's people to summon it : this mes
senger never returned; and Trowbridge, having waited about an hour,
marched to join captains Hood and Miller, who had landed to the south
west. They then endeavoured to procure some intelligence of the ad
miral and the rest of the officers, but without success. By daybreak
they had gathered about 80 marines, 80 pikemen, and 180 small-arm < ;
seamen; all the survivors of those who had made good their landing.
They obtained some ammunition from the prisoners whom they had
taken, and marched on, to try what could be done at the citadel without
ladders. They found all the streets commanded by field-pieces, and
several thousand Spaniards, with about a hundred French, under arms,
approaching by every avenue. Finding himself without provisions, the
powder wet, and no possibility of obtaining either stores or reinforce- ]' j
ments from the ships, Trowbridge sent Capt. Samuel Hood with a flag '
of truce to the governour, to say he was prepared to burn the town, and '
would instantly set fire to it if the Spaniards approached one inch near
er: this, however, if he were compelled to do it, he should do with re
gret, for he had no wish to injure the inhabitants ; and he was ready
to treat upon these terms : — that the British troops should re-embark,
with all their arms, of every kind, and take their own boats, if they
were saved, or be provided with such others as might be wanting : they
engaging that the squadron should not molest the town, nor any of the ., .,
Canary Islands: all prisoners on both sides to be given up. When
these terms were proposed, the governor replied, that the English ought'?' f
to surrender as prisoners of War ; but Capt. Hood returned, he was in
structed to say, that if the terms were not accepted in five minutes,
Capt. Trowbridge would set the town on fire and attack the Spaniards
at the point of the bayonet. Satisfied with his success, and respecting
the gallantry of his enemy, the Spaniard acceded to the proposal, fouud
boats to re-embark them, and before they parted gave every man a loaf
and a pint of wine.
The total loss of the English amounted to 250. Nelson made no men
tion of his own wound in his official despatches: but in a private letter
to Lord St. Vincent — the first which he wrote with his left hand — he
shows himself taliave been deeply affected by the failure of this enter
prise. " I am become," he said, " a burden to my friends, and useless
to my'country: but by my last letter you will perceive my anxiety for
the promotion of my son-in-law, Josiah Nisbet. When 1 leave your
command, I become dead to the world— 'I go hence, aud am no mora

LIFE OF NELSON* §g
seen.' If from poor Bowen'slOss you think proper to oblige me, I rest
confident you will do it. The boy is under obligations to me ; but he
repaid me, by bringing me from the mole of Santa Cruz. I hope you
".•ill be able to give me a frigate, to convey the remains of my carcass
to England." "A left-handed admiral," he said, in a subsequent letter,
"will never again be considered as useful; therefore, the, sooner 1 get
to a very humble cottage the better ; and make room for a sounder man
to serve the state." His first letter to Lady Nelson was written under
the same opinion, but in a more cheerful strain. "It was the chance of
war," said he, " and I have great reason to be thankful : and I know it
will add much to your pleasure to find that Josiah, under God's provi
dence, was chiefly instrumental in saving my life. I should not be sur
prised if I am neglected and forgotten : probably I shall no longer bo
considered useful; however, I shall feel rich if I continue to enjoy your
affection. I beg neither you nor my father will thinjc much of this mis
hap : my mind has long been made up to such an event."
His son-in-law was immediately promoted ; and honours enough to
heal his wonnded spirit awaited him in England. Letters were addressed
to him by the first lord of the Admiralty, and by his steady friend, the
Duke of Clarence, to congratulate him on his return, covered with glo
ry. He assured the duke, in his reply, that no scrap of that ardor, with
which he had hitherto served his king, had been shot away. The free
dom of the cities of Bristol and London were transmitted to him : he
was invested with the order of the Bath ; and received a pension of
£1000 a year, The memorial which, as a matter of form, he was called
upon to present on this occasion, exhibited an extraordinary catalogue
of services rendered during the war. It stated that he had been in four
actions with the fleets of the enemy, and in three actions with boats
employed in cutting out of harbor, in destroying vessels, and in taking
three towns : he had served on shore with the army four months, and
commanded the batteries during the close sieges of Bastia and Calvi:
he had assisted at the capture of seven sail of the line, six frigates,
four corvettes, and eleven privateers : taken and destroyed near fifty
sail of merchant vessels; and actually been engaged against the enemy
upwards of a hundred and twenty times; in which service he had lost his
right eye and right arm, and been severely wounded in his body.
His sufferings from the lost limb were long and painful; a nerve had
been taken up in one of the ligatures at the time of the operation ; and
the ligature, according to the practice of the French surgeons, was of
silk, instead of waxed thread: this produced a constant irritation and
discharge ; and the ends of the ligature being pulled every day, in hopes
of bringing it away, occasioned a fresh agony. He had scarcely any
intermission of pain, day or night, for three months after his return to
England. Lady Nelson, at his earnest request, attended the dressing
his arm, till she had acquired sufficient resolution and skill to dress it
herself. One night, during this state of suffering, Nelson retired early
to bed, in hope ot enjoy some respite by means of laudanum. He was
at that time lodging in Bond-street ; and the family were soon disturbed

@0 LIFE OF NELSON.
by a mob knocking loudly and violently at the door. The news of Dun
can's victory had been made public, and the houae was not illuminated.
But when the the mob were told th; t Admiral Nelson lay there in bed,
badly wounded, the foremost of them answered, " You shall hear no
more from us to-night:'' and, in fact, the feeling of sympathy and re
spect was communicated from one to another with such effect, that,
uifder the confusion of such a night, the house was not molested again.
About the end of November, after a night of sound sleep, he found
the arm nearly free from pain : the surgeon was immediately sent for to
examine it; and the ligature came away with the slightest touch. From
that time it began to heal. As soon as he thought his health established,
he sent the following form of thanksgiving to the minister of St.George's
— Hanover-square: "An officer desiies to return thanks to Almighty
God for his perfect recovery from a severe wound, and also for the ma
ny mercies bestowed on him."
Not having been in England till now, ^ince he lost his eye, he went
to receive a year's pay, as smart money ; but could not obtain payment,
because he had neglected to bring a certificate from a surgeon, that
the sight was destroyed. A little irritated that this form should be in
sisted upon, because, though the fact was not apparent, he thought it
was sufficiently notorious, he procured a certificate, at the same time,
for the loss of his arm; saying, they might just as well doubt one as
the other. This put him in good humour with himself, and with the
clerk who had offended him. On his return to the office, the clerk find
ing it was only the annual pay of a captain, observed, he thought it had
been more. " Oh !" replied'Nelson, " this is only for an eye. In a few
days I shall come for an arm; and in a little time longer, God knows,
most probably for a leg." Accordingly, he soon afterward went ; and
with perfect good humour exhibited the certificate of the loss of his
arm.

CHAPTER V.

Nelson rejoins Earl St. Vincent in the Vanguard — Sails in Pursuit of
th* French to Egypt — Returns to Sicily, and sails again to Egypt
— Battle of the Nile. • *
Early in the year 1798, Sir Horatio Nelson hoisted his flag in the
Vanguard, and was ordered to rejoin Earl St. Vincent. Upon his de
parture, his father addressed him with that affectionate solemeity by
which all his letters were distinguished. " I trust in tlie Lord," said be,
" that he will prosper your going out and your coming in. I earnestly
desired once more to see you, and that wish has been heard. If I
should presume to say, I hope to see you again, the question will readi
ly be asked, How old art thou?" It is said that a gloomy foreboding:
¦ung on the spirits of Lady Nelson at their parting. This could have
arisen only from the dread of losing him by the chance of war. Any

LIFE OF NELSON. jJJ^
apprehension of losing his affections could hardly have existed ; for
all his correspondence to this time shows that he thought himself hap
py in his marriage; and his private character had hitherto been as
spotless as his public conduct. One of the last things he said to hep
was, that his own ambition was satisfied, but that he went to raise hei
to that rank in which he had long wished to see her.
Immediately on rejoining tbe fleet, he was despatched to the Medit
erranean, with a small squadron, in order to ascertain the object of tbe
great expedition which at that time was fitting out, under Buonaparte,
at Toulon. The defeat of this armament was deemed by the British
government a paramount object; and Earl St. Vincent was directed,
if he thought it necessary, to take his whole force into the Mediterra
nean ; to relinquish, for that purpose, the blockade ofthe Spanish fleet:
but if he should deem a detachment sufficient, " I think it almost unne
cessary," said theflrst lord of tli2 Admiralty, "the propriety of putting
it under Sir Horatio Nelson." It is to the honour of Earl St. Vincent,
that he had already made the same choice. This appointment to a
service in which so much honour might beaquired, gave great offence
to the senior admirals of the fleet, isir William Parker and Sir John
Orde each wrote to Lord Spencer, complaining that so marked a pre
ference should have been given to a junior of the same fieet.
The armament at Toulon consisted of 13 ships of the line, 7 forty-
gun frigates, with 24 smaller vessels of war, and nearly 200 transports.
Mr. Udney, our consul at Leghorn, was the first person who procured
certain intelligence of the enemy's design against Malta ; and from
his own sagacity foresaw that Egypt must be their after-object.
Nelson sailed fiom Gibralter on tbe 9th of May, with the Vanguard,
Orion, and Alexander, seventy-fours ; the Caroline, Flora, Emerald,
frigates ; and the Bonne Citoyenne sloop of war; to watch this formi
dable armament. On the 19lh, when they were in the Gulf of Lyons,
a gale came on from the N.W. It moderated so much on the 20th, as
to enable them to get their top-galfant-masts and yards aloft. After
dark it again began to blow strong : but tbe ships h»d been prepared
for a gale, and therefore Nelson's mind was easy. Shortly after mid
night, however, his main-top-mast went over the side, and the mizen-
top-mastsoon afterward. The night was so tempestuous, that it was
impossible for any signal either to be seen or heard ; and Nelson de
termined, as soon as it should be daybreak, to wear, and scud before
the wind : but at half past three the fore-mast went in three pieces,
and the bowsprit was found to be sprung in three places. When day
broke, they succeeded in wearing the ship with a remnant of her sprit-
sail : the Vanguard was at that time 25 leagues south of the islands
of Hieres, with her head lying to the N. E. — and if she had not wore,
the ship must have drifted to Corsica. Capt. Ball, fo the Alexander,
took ber in tow to carry her into the Sardinian harbor of St. Pietro.
Nelson, apprehensive that this attempt might endanger both vessels,
ordered him to cast off: but that excellent officer replied, he was con
fident he could save the Vanguard, and by God's help he would do it.
There had been a previous coolness between these great men ; but
from this time Nelson was fully sensible ofthe extraordinary talents of
Captain Ball, and a sincere friendship subsisted between them during
the remainder of their lives. " I ought not," said the admiral, writing
ta his wife-—" I ought not to call what has happened te the Yafljprarri

02 WFE OF NELSON.
by the cold name of accident; I believe firmly it was the Almighty's?
goodness to check my consummate vanity. I hope it has made me a
better officer, as I feel confident it has made me a better man. Figure
to yourself, on Sunday evening, at sunset, a vain man walkingin his
cabin, with a squadron around him, who looked up to their chief to
lead them to glory, and in whom their chief placed the firmest reliance
that the proudest ships of equal numbers belonging to France would
have lowered their flags; — figure to yourself on Monday morning,
when the sun rose, this proud man, his ship dismasted, his fleet disper
sed, anil himself in such distress, that the meanest frigate out of France
would have been an unwelcome guest." Nelson had, indeed, more
reason to refuse the cold name of accident to this tempest, than he was
then aware of; for on that very day, the French fleet sailed from Tou
lon, and must have passed within a few leagues of his little squadron,
which was tl, us preserved by the thick weather that came on.
The British government, at this time, with a becoming spiri', gave
orders, that any port in the Mediterranean should be considered as hos
tile, where the governor, or chief magistrate, should refuee to let our
ships of war procure supplies of provisions, or of any article which
they might require.
In these orders the ports of Sardinia were excepted. Tbe continental
possessions ofthe king of Sardinia were at this time completely at the
mercy of the French, and that prince was now discovering, that the
terms to which he had consented, necessarily involved tbe 'oss ofthe
dominions which they were intended lo preserve. The citadel of Tu
rin was occupied by French troops; and his wretched court feared to
afford the common rights of humanity to British ships, lest it should
give the French occasion to seize on ihe remainder of his dominions :
a measure for which, it was certain they would soon make a pretext,
if they did not find one. Nelson was informed that he could not enter
the port of St. Pietro. Regardless of this interdict, which would have
been an act of suicidal folly to have regarded, he anchored in the har
bour ; and by the exertions of Sir J. Sumarez, Capts. Ball and Berry,
the Vanguard was refitted in four days ; months would have been em
ployed in refitting her in England. Nelson especially recommended to
Earl St. Vincent the carpenter ofthe Alexander, under whose direc
tions the ship had been repaired ; and begging most earnestly that the
commander-in-chief would recommend him to the notice ofthe board
of admiralty. He did not leave the harbour without expressing his
sense ofthe treatment he had received, in a letter to the Viceroy : —
"Sir, having sutained some damages, I anchored a small part of his
majesty's fleet off this island, and was surprised to hear that admit
tance was to be refused to the flag of his Britannic majesty into thi*
port. When I reflect tbat my most gracious sovereign is the oldest,
and certainly the most faithful ally which the king of Sardinia ever had,
I could feel the sorrow which it must have been to his majesty to have
given such an order. I cannot but look at the African shore, where
the followers of Wuhomet are performing the part ofthe good' Samar
itan, which I look in vain at St/ Peter's, where itis said the Christian
religion is | -rofessed." The delay, thus occasioned was useful to him
in many respects : it enabled him to complete his supply of water, and
to receive a reinforcement, which Earl St. Vincent was enabled to
sendhim. It consisted of the best ships of his fleet ; the Culloden, 74,.

LlffE OF NELSON. , U3
Capt. Trowbridge; Goliath. 74, Capt. T. Foley ; Minotaur, 74, Capt.
Louis ; Defence, 74, Capt. Peyton ; Bellorophon, 74, Capt. Darby ;
Majestic, 74, Capt. Westcott; Zealous, 74, Capt. Hond ; Swiftsure,
74, Capt. Hallowell; Theseus, 74, Capt. Miller; Audacious, 74, Capt.
Gould. The Leander, 50, Thompson, was afterward added. These
ships were made ready for the service as soon as Earl St. Vincent re
ceived advice from England tbat he was to be reinforced. As soon ns
the reinforcement was 6een, off Cadiz Bay, signal was immediately
made to Capt. Trowbridge to put to sea. He took no instructions to
Nelson as to the course he was to steer, nor any certain account of
the enemy's destination: every thing was left to his own judgment. —
The frigates had been separated from him in the tempest, and had not
been able to rejoin: they sought him unsuccessfully in the Bay of Na
ples, where they obtained no tidings of his course ; and he sailed with
out them. The first news of the enemy's armament was, that it had
surprised Malta. Nelson formed a plan for attacking it while at anchor
at Gozo ; but on the 22d June, intelligence reached him that the French
had left that island on the 16th. It was clear that their destination was
-eastward — he thought for Egypt — and for Egypt, he made sail. Had
the frigates been with him he could scarcely have failed to gain infor
mation ofthe enemy: for want of them he only spoke three vessels on
the way ; and neither of them had seen any thing ofthe French. He
arrived off Alexandria on the 28th, and the enemy were not there,
jieither was there any account of ihem; but the governor was endea
vouring to put the city in a state of defence, having received advice
from Leghorn, that tbe French expedition was intended against E-
gypt, after it had taken Malta. Nelson then shaped his course to the
northward, for Caramania, and steered from thence along the southern
side of Candia, carrying a press of sail. It would have been his de
light, he said, to have tried Buonaparte on a wind. It would have
been the delight of Europe, too, if that fleet had been overtaken with
its general on board. It would have spared him his defeat at Acre —
his only disgrace; for to have been defeated by Nelson upon the seas
would not have been disgraceful : it would have spared him al. his af
ter-enormities. Hitherto his career has been glorious; the baneful
principles of his heart had never yet passed his lips: history would
have represented him as a soldier of fortune. Conceiving that when
an officer is not successful in his plans it is absolutely necessary that
he should explain the motives upon which they were founded, Nelson
wrote at this lime an account and vindication of his conduct for having
carried the fleet to Egypt. The objection which he anticipated was,
that be ought not to have made so long a voyage without more certain
information. " My answer," said he, " is ready — Who was I to get
it from ? The governments of Naples and Sicily either knew not, or
chose to keep me in ignorance. Was I to wait patiently until I heard
certain accounts'? If Egypt were their object, before I could hear of
them ttjey would have been in India. To do nothing was disgraceful;
therefore I made use of my understanding. I am before your lordships'
judgment." Capt. Ball, to whom he showed this paper, told him, be
should recommend a friend never to begjn a defence of his conduct be
fore he was accused of error : he might give the fullest reasons for
what he had done, expressed in such terms as would evince that ho
had acted from the strongest conviction of being right ; and of course

(54 LIFE OF SELaaS:
he mu*t expect that the public would view it in the samelight. Capt.
Bali judged rightly ofthe public, whose first impulses are generally
founded upon just feelings. But the public are easily misled, and there
are always persons ready to mislead thein. Nelson had not yet attain
ed that fame which compels envy to be silent; and wh*»n it was known
in England that he had returned after an unsuccessful pursuit, it was
said that he deserved impeachment; and fiarl St. Vincent was se
verely censured for having sent so young an officer upon 60 important
a service. Baffled in his pursuit, he returned to Sicily. The Neapolitan minis
try had determined to give his squadron no assistance, being resolved
to do nothing which could endanger their peace with the French direc
tory : by means, however, of Lady Hamilton's influence at court, he
procured secret orders to the Sicilian governors; and under -those or
ders, obtained every thing which he wanted at Syracuse : a timely sup*
ply; without which, he always said, he could not have recommenced
his pursuit with any hope of success. "Itis an old saying," said he,
" that the Devil's children have the Devil's luck. I cannot to this mo
ment learn, beyond vague conjecture, where the French fleet are gone
to: and having gone a round of 600 leagues, at this season ofthe year,
with an expedition incredible, here I am, as ignorant ofthe situation of
the enemy as I was 27 days ago. Every moment I have to regret the fri
gate's having left me ; had one,half of them been with me, I could not
have wanted information. Should the French be so strongly secured
in port that I cannot get at them, I shall immediately shift my flag into
some other ship, and send the Vanguard to Naples to be refitted ; for
hardly any person but myself would have continued on service so long
in such a wretched state." Vexed, however, and disappointed as he
was, Nelson was still full of hope. "Thanks to your exertions," wri
ting to Sir W. and Lady Hamilton, "we have victualled and watered J
and surely watering at the fount of Arethusa, we must have victory.
We shall sail with the first breeze; and be assured I will return either
crowned with laurel, or covered with cypress." Earl St. Vincent he
assured, that if the French were above water, he would find them out :
he still held his opinion that they were bound for Egypt : "but," said
he, to the first lord of the Admiralty, "be they bound to the antipodes,
your lordship may rely that I will not lose a moment in bringing them
to action."
On the 25th of July, he sailed from Syracuse for the Morea. Anxious
beyond measure, and irritated that the enemy should so long have elu
ded him, the tediousness of the night made him impatient; and the offi
cer of the watch was repeatedly called on to let him know the hour, and
eonvince him, who measured time by his own eagerness, that it was
not yet daybreak. The squadron left the Gulf of Corun on the 28th.
Trowbridge entered the port, and returned with intelligence that the
French had been seen about four weeks before, steering to the S. E.
from Candia. Nelson then determined immediately to return to Alex
andria: and the British fleet accordingly, with every sail set, stood
opwe more for the coast of Egypt. On the 1st of August, about ten in

LIFE OF NELSON. 65
Hhe morning, they came in sight of Alexandria: the port had been va
cant and solitary when they saw it last ; it was now crowded with ships,
and they perceived, with exultation, that the tricolour flag was flying
upon the walls. At four in the afternoon, Capt, Hood, in the Zealous,
made the signal for the enemy's fleet. For many preceding days Nelson
had hardly taken either sleep or food : he now ordered his dinner to he
served, while preparations were making for battle.; and when his offi
cers rose from table, and went to their separate stations, he said to
them, " Before this time to-morrow, I shall have gained a peerage, or
Westminster Abbey."
The French, steering direct for Candia, had made an angular passage
for Alexandria ; whereas Nelson, in pursuit of them, made straight for
that place, and thus materially shortened the distance. The compara
tive smallness of his force made it necessary to sail in close order, and
it covered a less space than it would have done if the frigates had
been with him : the weather also was constantly hazy. These circum
stances prevented the English from discovering the enemy on the way
to Egypt, though it appeared upon examining the journals of the French
officers taken in the action, that 'the two fleets must actually have cross
ed on the night of the 22nd-of June. During the return to Syracuse,
the chances of falling in with them were fewer.
Why Buonaparte, having effected his landing, should not have suf
fered the fleet to return, has never yet been explained. Thus much
ie certain, that it was detained by his command ; though he accused
Admiral Brueys, of having lingered on the coast, contrary to orders.
The French fieet arrived at Alaxandria on the 1st of July ; and Brueya,
not being able to enter the port, which time and neglect had ruined,
moored his ships in Aboukir Bay, in a strong and compact line of bat
tle; the headmost vessel being as close as possible to a shoal on the
N. W. and the rest of the fleet forming a kind of curve along the line
-of deep water, so as not to be turned by any means in the S. W. By
Buonaparte's desire, he had offered a reward of 10,000 livres to any
pilot ofthe country who would carry the squadron in ; but none could
be found who would venture to take charge of a single vessel drawing
more than 20 feet. He had therefore made the best of his situation.—
The commissary of the fleet said, they were moored in such a man
ner as to bid defiance to a force more than double their own. Ad
miral Barrington, when moored in a simlar manner off St. Lucia, in
^the year 1778, beat off the Compte d'Estaign in three several attacks,
though his force was inferior by one-third. Here, the advantage every
way, was in favour of the French. Tbey had 13 ships of the line and
4 frigates, carrying 1196 guns, and 11,230 men. The English had the
same number of ships of the line, and one SO gun ship, carrying 1012
guns, and 8,68 men. The English ships were all 74 : the French had
three 80 gun ships, and one three-decker of 120. During the whole
pursuit, it had been Nelson's practice, whenever circumstances would
permit, to have his captains on board tbe Vanguard, and explain to
them his own ideas ofthe different and best modes of attack, and such
plans as he proposed to execute, on falling in with the enemy, what
ever their situation might be. His officers were thus fully acquainted
with bis principles of tactics : and such was his confidence in their a~
9

qq LIFE OF NELSON.
bilities, that the only thing determined upon, in case they should find
the French at inchor, was for the ships to form as most convenient
for their mutual support, and to anchor by the stern. " First gain the
victory," he said, " and then make the best use of it you can." The
moment he perceived the position of tbe French, that intuitive genius,
with which Nelson was endowed, displayed itself. The plan which
he intended to pursue, was to keep entirely on the outer side of the
French line, and station his ships, as far as he was able, one onthe
outer bow, and another on the outer quarter, of each ofthe enemy s.
As the squadron advanced, they were assailed by a shower of shot
and shells from the batteries on the island, nnd the enemy opened a
steady fire from the starboard side of their whole line, within half gun
shot distance, full into the bows of our van-ships. It was received in
silence: the men on board every ship were employed aloft in furling
sails, and below in tendinirthe braces, and making ready for anchor
ing, A miserable sight for tbe French ; who, with all their skill, and
all their courage, and all their advantages of numbers and situation,
were upon that element, on which, when the hour of trial comes, a
Frenchman has no hope. Admiral Brueys was a brave and able man;
yet the indelible character of his country broke out in one of his letters,
wherein he delivered it as his opinion that the English had missed him,
because, not being superior in force, they did not think it prudent to
try their strength with him. — The moment was now come in which he
was to be undeceived. A French brig was instructed to decoy the
English, by manoeuvring so as to tempt them towards a shoal lying off
the island of Bekier ; but Nelson either knew the danger, or suspected
some deceit; and the luro was unsuccessful. Capt. Foley led the way
in the Goliath, out-sailing' the Zealous, which for some minutes dis
puted this post of honour with him. He had long conceived that if the
enemy were moored in line of battle in with the land, the best plan of
attack would be, to lead between them and the shore, because the
French guns on that side wore not likely to be manned, nor even ready
"for action. Intending, therefore, to fix himself onthe inner bow ofthe
Guerrier, he kept as near the edge of the bank as the depth of water
would admit ; but his anchor hung, and having opened his fire, he
drifted to the second ship, the Conquerant, before it was clear ; then
anchored by the stern, inside of her, and in ten minutes shot away her
mast. Hood, in the Zealous, perceiving this, took the station which
the tioliath intended to have occupied, and totally disabled the Guer
rier in twelve minutes. The third ship which doubled the enemy's
van was the Orion ; she passed to windward ofthe Zealous, and opened
her larboard guns as. long as they bore on the Guerrier; then passing
inside Ihe Goliath, sunk a frigate which annoyed her, hauled round to
wards the French line, and anchoring inside.between the fifth and sixth
ships from the Guerrier, took her station on the larboard bow ofthe
Franklin, and tbe quarter of the Peuple Souverain, receiving and re
turning the fire of both. The sun was now nearly down. The Auda-
«ious, Capt. Gould, pouring a heavy fire inio the Guerrier and the
Conquerant, fixed herself on the larboard bow of the latter; and when
that ship struck, passed on to the People Souverain. The Theseus
followed, brought down the Guerrier's remaining main and mizen-
masts, then anchored inside of the Spartiate, the third in the French
line- While these advanced ships doubled the French line, the Van-

LIFE OF NELSON. 67
guard was the first that anchored on the outer side ofthe enemy, wifb>
in half-pistol-shot of their third ship, the Spartiate. Nelson had six,
colours flying in different parts of his rigging, lest they should be shot
away; — that they should be struck, no British admiral considers as a
possibility. He veered half a cable, and opened a tremendous fire ; un
der cover of which the other four ships of his division, the Minotaur,
Bellerophon, Defence, and Majestic, sailed on ahead of the admiral.
In a few minutes, every man stationed at the first six guns in the fore
part ofthe Vanguard's deck was killed or wounded : these guns were
three times cleared. The action commenced at half after six ; about
7, night closed, and there was no other light than that from the fire of
the contending fleets. Trowbridge, in the Culloden, then foremost of
the remaining ships, was two leagues astern. He came on sounding,
as the others bad done; as he advanced, the increasing darkness in
creased the difficulty of the navigation ; and suddenly, after having*
found 11 fathoms of water, before the lead could be hove again, he
was fast aground ; nor could all his own exertions, joined to those of
the Leander and the Mutine brig, which came to his assistance, get
him off in time to bear a part in the action. His ship, however, served
as a beacon to the Alexander and Swiftsure, whicli would else, from
the course which they were holding, have gone considerably farther
on the reef, and must inevitably have been lost. These ships entered
the bay, and took their stations, in the darkness, in a manner still spo
ken of with admiration by all who remembered it. Capt. Hallowell,
in the Swiftsure, as he was bearing down, fell in with what seemed to
be a strange sail : Nelson had directed his ships to hoist four lights
horizontally at the mizen-peak, as soon as it became dark; and this
vessel had no such distinction. Hallowel, with great judgment, or
dered his men not to fire : if she was an enemy, he said, she was in
too disabled a state to escape. It was the Beliorophon, overpowered
by the huge Orient: her lights had gone overboard, nearly 200 of her
erew were killed or wounded, all her masts and cables had been shot-
away ; and she was drifting cut ofthe line, towards the lee side ofthe
bay. Her station was occupied by the Swiftsure, which opened a stea
dy fire on the quarter ofthe Fri/inkliti and the bows ofthe French ad
miral. At the same instant, the Alexander passed under his stern, and
anchored within-side on his Ia/'board quarter, raking him, and keep
ing up asevere fire of musketry upon his decks. Thelast ship which
arrived to complete the destruction of tbe enemy was the Leander—
Capt. Thompson, finding Jbat nothing could be done that night to get
off the Culloden, advanced with the intention of anchoring athwart-
hawse ofthe Orient. The first two ships ofthe French line had been
dismasted within a qjiarter of an hour after the commencement ofthe
action ; and the others had at that time suffered so severely, that vic
tory was already certain. The third, fourth, and fifth were taken pos
session of at half past eight. Meantime.Nelson received a severe wound
on the head from a piece of langridge shot. Capt. Barry caught him
in his arms as he was falling. The great effusion of blood occasioned
an apprehension that the wound was mortal : Nelson himself thought
so : a large flap of the skin ofthe forehead, cut from the bone, had fal
len over one eye : and the other being blind, he was in total darkness'.
When he was carried down, the surgeon, with a natural and pardon-"
able eagerness, quitted the poor fellow then under his hands, that he

gg LfFE OF NELSON,
might instantly attend the admiral. " No !" said Nelson, " I willtaka-
my turn with my brave fellows." Nor would he suffer his own wound
to be examined till every man who had been previously wounded was
properly attended to. Fully believing that the wound was mortal, and
that he was about to die, as he had ever desired, in battle and in vic
tory, he called the chaplain, aud desired him to deliver what he sup
posed to be his dying remembrance to Lady Nelson ; he then sent for
Capt. Louis, tbat he might thank him personally for the great assist
ance which he had rendered to the Vanguard ; anti appointed Capt.
Hardy from the brig to the command of his own ship, Capt. Berry-
having to go home with the news ofthe victory. Wben the surgeon
came in due time to examine bis wound, the most anxious silence pre
vailed ; and the joy ofthe whole crew, when they heard that tbe hurt
was merely superficial, gave Nelson deeper pleasure, than the unex
pected assurance that his life wos in no danger. The surgeon request
ed him to remain quiet : but Nelson could not rest. He called for his
secretary,. Campbell, to write the despatches. Campbell had himself
been wounded; and was so affected at the blind and suffering state of
the admiral, that he was unable to write. The chaplain was then sent
for;, but, before he came, Nelson«took the pen, and contrived to trace
a few woi'ds,marking his devout sense of the success which had already
been obtained. He was now left alone ; wben suddenly a cry was heard
that the Orient was on fire. In the confusion, he found his way up,
unassisted and unnoticed ; and, to the astonishment of every one, ap
peared on the quarter-deck, where he immediately gave order that
boats should be sent to the relief of the enemy. It was soon after nine
that the fire on board Ihe Orient broke out. Brueys was dead : he had
received three wounds, yet would not leave his post : a fourth cut him
utmost in two. He desired not to be carried, but to be left to die upon
deck. Tbe flames soon mastered his ship. By the prodigious light
of this conflagration, the situation ofthe two fleets could now be per
ceived, the colours of both being clearly distinguishable. The. ship blew
up with a shock Which was felt to the very bottom of every vessel. —
Many of her officers and men jumped overhead, some clinging to the
spars and pieces of wreck with which the sea wa.s strewn, others swim
ming to escape from the destruction which they momently dreaded. 
Some were picked up by our boats. The greater part of her crew,
however, stood the danger till the last, and continued to fire from the
lower deck. This tremendous explosion was followed by a silence
not less awful : the firing immediately ceased on both sides : and the
first sound whicli broke tbe silence, was the dash of her shattered
masts and yards, falling into the water from the vast height to which
they had been expended. It is upon record, that a battle between two
armies was once broken off by nn earthquake : — such an event would
be felt like a miracle; but no incident in war, produced by human
means, has ever equalled the sublimity ofthis co-instantaneous pause,
and all its circumstances. About 70 af the Orient's crew were saved
by the English boats. Among the many hundreds who perished, were
the commodore, Casu-Bianca, and his son, a brave boy, only ten years
old. They were seen floating on a shattered mast when the ship blew
up. She had money on board (the plunder of Malta) to tbe amountof
£500,000 sterling. Two large pieces of burning wreck fell into the
main and foro-tops ofthe Swiftsure without injuring any person.  A

LIFE OF NELSON. (J3
port fire also foil into the Alexander. Capt. Ball had provided against
any such danger. All the shrouds and sails of his ship, not absolutely
necessary for its immediate management, were thoroughly wetted,
and so rolled up, that they were as hard and as little inflammable as-
so manysolid cylinders. The firing recommenced with the ships- to*
leeward of the centre, and continued till about 3. It was generally
believed by the officers, that if Nelson had not been wounded, not on©'
of these ships could have escaped : the four certainly could not, if the
Culloden had got into action : and if the frigates belonging to thesquad'-
ron had been present, not one ofthe enemy's fleet would have left
Aboukir Bay. Four vessels were all that escaped ; and the victory
was the most complete and glorious in tbe annals of naval history.—
" Victory," said Nelson, " is not a name strong enough for such a
scene;" he called it a conquest. Of 13 sail of the line 9 were taken
and 2 burned: of the 4 frigates, one was sunk, another, the Artemise,
was burned in a villainous manner by her captain, who, having fired
a broadside at the Theseus, struck his colours, then set fire to the ship,
and escaped with most of his crew to shore. The British loss, ill kil
led and wounded, amounted to 895. Westcott was the only captain
who fell; 3,105 of the French, including the wounded, were sent oa
shore by cartel, and 5,225 perished.
As soon as the conquest was completed, Nelson sent orders through
the fleet, to return thanksgiving in every ship for the victory. Th»
French at Rosetta, who with miserable fear beheld the engagement,
were at a loss to understand the stillness ofthe fleet during the perform
ance of this solemn duty; but it seemed to affect many of the prisoners,
officers as well as men : and graceless and godless as the officers were,
some of them remarked, 'that it was no Wonder such order was preserved
in tbe British navy, when the minds of our men could be impressed
with such sentiments after such a great victory. The French at Roset
ta, seeing their ships saii out of the bay unmolested, endeavoured t»
persuade themselves that they were in possession ofthe place of battle.
But it was in vain thus to attempt to deceive themselves : and could
they have succeeded, the bonfires which the Arabs kindled along the
whole coast, and over the country, for three following nights, would
have undeceived them. Long after the battle, innumerable dead bodies
were seen floating about the bay. .. Great numbers were cast upon the
Isle of Bekier, (since called Nelson's .Island,) and our sailors raised
mounds of sand over them. Even after three years, Dr. Clarke saw
them, and assisted in interring, heaps of human bodies, which, where
there were no jackals to devour them, presented a sight loathsome to
humanity. The shore, for an extent of four leagues, was covered with
wreck ; and the Arabs found employment for many days in burning on
the beach the fragments for the sake of the iron. Part of the Orient's
mainmast was picked up by the Swiftsure. Capt. Hallowel ordered
his carpenter to make a coffin of it ; it was finished as well as the work
man's skill and materials would permit; and Hallowell then sent it to
the admiral with the following letter: — " Sir, I have taken the liberty
ef presenting you a coffin, made from the mainmast of I'Orient, that
when you have finished your military career in this world, yon may be

70 EIFE OF NELSON.

buried m one of your trophies. But that that period may be far distant;.
is the earnest wish of your sincere friend, Benjamin Hallowell." — An
offering so strange, and yet so suited to the occasion, was received by
Nelson in the spirit in which it was sent. As he felt it good for him to
have death beore his eyes, he ordered the coffin to be placed upright'
in his cabin. An old favorite servant entreated him so earnestly to let
it be removed, that at length he consented to have the coffin carried be
low; but he gave strict orders thatit should be safely stowed, and re
served for the purpose for which its donor had designed it.
The victory was complete; but Nelson could not pursue it as he-
would have done, for want of means. Had he been provided with small
craft, nothing could have prevented the destruction of the store-ship*
and transports in the port of Alexandria : four bomb-vessels would have
destroyed the whole in a few hours. "Were I to die this moment,"
said he, " want of frigates would be found stamped on my heart! N»
words of mine can express what I suffered, and am suffering, for want
of them." He had also to bear up against great bodily suffering : the
blow had so shaken his head, that from its constant und violent aching,
and tlie perpetual sickness which accompanid the pain, he could scarce
ly persuade himself that the skull was not fractured. Had it not beeji
for Trowbridge, Ball, Hood, he declared he should have sunk un
der the fatigue of refitting the squadron. "All," he said, "had done
well; but these officers were his supporters." But, amid his suffer
ings and exertions, Nelson could yet think of all the consequences of
his victory ; and l hat no advantage from it might be lost, he despatched
an officer over land to India, with letters to the governor of Bombay,
informing him of the irrrival of the French in Egypt, the total cestrue-
tion of their fleet, and the consequent preservation of India from any
attempt against it. This despatch he sent upon his own responsibility,
with loiters of credit upon the East India Company, addressed to the
British consuls, vice-consuls, and merchants on his route ; Nelson say
ing, "that if he had done wrong, he hoped the bills would be paid, and.
he would repay the corr.-^any : for, as an Englishman, he should be
proud that it had been in his power to put our settlements on their
guard" This information was of great importance. Orders had just.
been received for defensive prepartions; and the extraordinary expen
ses which would otherwise have been incurred, were thus prevented.
Nelson was now at the summit of glory : congratulations, rewards^
aqd honours, were showered upon him by all the states, and princes, and-
powers to whom his victory gave a respite. The first communication
of this nature was from the Turkish sultan; who had called upon all
true believers to take arms against those swinish infidels the French,
that they might deliver these blessed habitations from their accursed
hands ; and who had ordered his pachas to turn night into day in their
efforts to take vengeance. The present was a pelisse of sables, with
broad sleeves, valued at $5000; and a diamond aigrette, valued at
18090 : the most honorable badge among the Turks ; and in this instance
more especially honorable, because it was taken from one of the royal

LIFE OF NELSON. 7}
turbans. "If it were worth a miilion," said Nelson to his wife, " my
pleasure would be to see it in your possession." The sultan also sent,
in a spirit worthy of imitation, a purse of 2000 sequins, to be distribu
ted amorg the wounded. The mother of the sultan S3nt him a box, set
with diamonds, valued at £1000. The czar Paul, in whom the better
part of his strangely compounded nature at this time predominated,
presented him with his portrait, set in diamonds, in a gold box, accom
panied by a letter of congratulation, written with his own hand. The
king of Sardinia also wrote to him, and sent a gold box set with dia
monds. Honours in profusion were awaiting him at Naples. In hia
own country the king granted these honorable augmentations to his ar
morial ensign : a chief undulated, argent; thereon waves of the sea:
from which a palm tree issuant, between a disabled ship on the dexter,
and a ruined battery on the sinister, all proper : and for his crest, on a
naval crown, or, the chelengk, or plume, presented to him by the Turk,
with the motto, Palmam qui meruit ferat. And to his supporters, being
a sailor on the dexter, and a lion on tlie sinister, were given these hon
ourable augmentations : a palm branch in the sailor's hand, and anoth
er in the paw of the lion, both proper ; with a tricoloured flag and staff
in the lion's mouth. He was created Baron Nelson of the Nile, and
and of Burnham Thorpe, with a pension of £2000 for his own life, and
those of two immediate successors. When the grant was moved in tho
house of commons, General Walpole expressed an opinion, that a high
er degree of rank ought to be conferred. Mr. Pitt made answer that
he thought it needless to enter into that question. "Admiral Nelson's
fame," he said, "would be co-equal with the British name; and it
would be remembered that he had obtained the greatest naval victory
on record, when no man wcpld think of asking whether he had been
created a baron, a viscount, i}r an earl." It depended upon the" decree
ef rank what should be the fashion of his coronet, in what page of the
red book his name should be inserted, and what precedency should bu
allowed his lady in the drawing-room and the ball. That Nelson's
honours were affected thus far, and no farther, might be conceded ta
Mr. Pitt and his colleagues in administration: but the degree of rank
which they thought proper to allot, was the measure of their gratitude,
tbough not of his services. This Nelson felt; and this he expressed,
with indignation, among his friends.
Whatever might have been the motives of the ministry, the impor
tance and magnitude of the victory were universally acknowledged.
A grant of £10,000 was voted to Nelson by the East India Company ;
the Turkish company presented him with a piece of plate; the city of
London presented a sword to him and to each of his captains; gold me
dals were presented to the captains, and the first lieutenants were pro
moted, as had been done after Lord Howe's victory. Nelson was ex-
eeedingly anxious that the captain and first lieutenant of the Culloden
should not be passed over because of their misfortune. The private
letter from the Admiralty to Nelson informed him, that the first lieuten
ants of all the ships engaged were to be promoted. Nelson instantly

72 LIFE OF NELSON.
wrote to the commander-in-chief. , "I sincerely hope," said he, " this
is not intended to exclude the first lieut. of the Culloden. For heaven's
for my sake, if it be so, gel it filtered. Our dear friend Trowbridge
has endured enough. His sufferings were, in every respect, more than
any of us." Te the Admiralty he Wrote in terms equally warm. "I
hope, and believe, the word, engaged, is not intended to exclude the
Culloden. The merit of that ship, and her gallant captain, are too
well known to profit by any thing I could say. Her misfortune was
great in getting aground, while her more fortunate companions were in
the full tide of happiness. No; 1 am confident that my good Lord
Spencer will never add misery to misfortune. Capt. Trowbridge on
shore is superior to captains afloat : in the midst of his great misfortunes
he made those signals which prevented certainly the Alexander and
Swiftsure from running on the shoals. I beg your pardon for writing
on a subject which, I verily believe, has never entered his lordship's
bead ; but my heart, asit ought to be, is warm to my galh-nt friends."
Thus feelingly alive was Nelson to the claims, andinterests, and feel
ings of others. Ihe Admiralty replied that the exception was necessary
as the ship had not been in action: but they desired the commander- in -
chief to promote the lieutenant upon the first vacancy that should
'occur. Nelson, in remembrance of an old and uninterrupted friendship, ap
pointed Alexander Davison sole prize agent for the cuptured ships:
Upon which Davison ordered medals to be struck in gold, for the
¦captain*; in silver for the lieutenants and warrant officers, in gilt metal
for the petty officers; and in copper, for the seamen and marines. The
¦cost of this act of liberality amounted nearly to £2000. It is worthy
of record on anotheraccount; for some of the gallant men, who recei
ved no other honorary badge of their conduct than this copper medal,
when they died upon a foreign station, made it their last request, that
the medals might carefully be sent home to their respective friends.
Three of the frigates, whose presence would have been so essential
a few weeks sooner, joined the squadron o-n the 12th day after action.
The fourth joined a few days after them. Nelson thus received de
spatches which rendered it necessary for him to return to Naples.
Before he left Egypt, he burned three of the prizes : the\y could not
have been fitted for a passage to Gibraltar in less than a month, and
that at a great expense, and with the loss to the service of at least two
sail of the line. "I rest assured," he said to the Admiralty, "\tnatthey
will be paid for, and have held out that assurance to the squadron,
For if an admiral, after a victory, is to look after the "captured ships,
and not to the distressing of the enemy, very dearly, indeed, must the
nation pay for the prizes. I trust that ^60,000 will be deemed a very
moderate sura for them : and when the services, time, and men, with
the expense of fitting three ships for a voyage to England, are consi
dered, government will save nearly as much as they are valued at." *
To Earl St. Vincent he said, "If he could have been sure that govern
ment would have paid a reasonable value for them, he would have
ordered two of the other prizes to be burned: for they would cost
more in refitting, and by the loss of ships attending them, than they
•were worth." Having sent the six prizes forward, under Sir James
Saumarez, Nelson left Capt. Hood in the Zealous, off Alexandria, and
•tood eut to sea himself on the 17th da v after the battle.

LIFE OF KELSON. 7J

CHAPTER VI,

lifelson returns id Naples — Slate of the Court and Kingdom  General
Mack — The French approach. Naples — Flight of the Royal Fa
mily — Successes of the Allies in Italy— Transactions in the Bay
of Naples— Expulsion of the Freileh from the Neapolitan and
Ronum States — Nelson is m,ade Duke of Bronte — He leaves the
Mediterranean and returns to Europe.
Nelson's health had suffered greally while he was in the Agamem
non. "My complaint," he said, "is as if a girth were buckled taut
over my breast; and my endeavour in the night is to get it loose." Af
ter the battle of Cape St. Vincent, he felt a little rest to be so essential
to his recovery, that be declared he would not continue to serve longer
than the ensuing summer, unless it should be absolutely necessary : for,
in his own strong language, he had then been four years and nine
months without one moment's repose for body or mind. A few months'
intermission of labor he had obtained — not of rest, for it was purchased
with the loss of a limb; and the greater part of the time had been a
season of constant pain. Assoonashis shattered frame had sufficient
ly recovered to lesumehis duties, he was called to services of greater
importance than any on which he had hitherto been employed. The
anxiety which tie endured during his long pursuit of the enemy was
rather chanced in its directioa, than abated by their defeat: and this
constant wakefulness of thought, added to the effects of his wound,
nnd his ai'deut exertions, nearly proved fatal. On his way back to
Italy he was seised with fever. For eighteen hours his life was des
paired of; and even when Ihe disorder took a favorable turn, and he
was so far recovered as to again appear on deck, he himself thought
that bis end was approaching. Writing to Earl £t. Vincent, he said,
"I never expect, my dear lord, to see your face again. It may please
God that this will be the finish of that fever of anxiety which I have
endured from the middle of June: but be that asit pleases his goodness.
I arn resigned to his will."
The kindest attentions of the warmest friendship were awaiting him
at Naples. " Come here," said Sir William Hamilton, " for God's sake,
my dear friend, as soon as the service will permit you. A pleasant
apartment is ready for you in my house, and Emma is looking out for
the softest pillows to repose the few wearied limbs you have left."
Happy- would it have beeri for Nelson if warm and careful friendship
had been allthat awaited him there ! He himself saw at that time the
character of the Neapolitan court, as it first struck an Englishman :
and when on the way. he declared that he detested the voyage to Na
ples and that nothing but necessity could have forced him to it. Before
the battle of Ahoukir, the court of Naples had been trembling for it»
existence. The language which the directory held towards it was
well described by Sir William Hamilton, as being exactly the language
of a highwayman. The joy, therefore, ofthe court at Nelson's success,
was in proportion to the dismay from which that success relieved
them. The queen was a.daugbter of Maria Theresa, and sister oi
Marie Antoinette. Her feelings, naturally ardent, and little accustom
ed tp restraint, were excited to the highest pitch when the newi o* *«»
10

74 L1FB OF NELSON.
victory arrived. Lady Hamilton, her constant friend and favourite,
who was present, says, "Itis not possible to describe her transports:
•he wept, she kissed her husband, her children— walked franticiy about
the room, burst into tears again, and again kissed and embraced every
person near her; exclaiming, " O brave Nelson ! OGod! bless and
protect our brave deliverer! O Nelson ! Nelson! what do we not owe
you! O conqueror— saviour of Italy ! O that my swollen heart could
now tell him personally what we owe to him." She herself wrote to
the Neapolitan ambassador at London upon the occasion, in terms
which show the fullness of her joy, and the height of the hopes which
it had excited. " I wish I could give him wings," said she, "to the
bearer ofthe news, and, at the same time.to our most sincere gratitude.
The whole of the seacoast of Italy is saved ; and this is owing alone
to the generous English. This total defeat of the regicide squadron,
was obtained by the valour of this brave admiral, seconded by a navy
which is the terror of his enemies. The victory is so complete, that I
can still scarcely believe it u and if it, were not the brave English na
tion, which is accustomed to perform prodigies at sea, I could not per
suade myself that it had happened. It would have moved you to have
seen all my children, boys and girls, hanging on my neck, and crying
forjoyatthe happy news. Recommend the hero to his master : he
has filled the whole of Italy with admiration of the English. Great
hopes were entertained of some advantages being gained by his brave
ry, but no one could look for so total a destruction. All here are drunk
with joy."
Such being the feelings ofthe royal family, it may well be supposed
with what delight, and what honours Nelson would be welcomed.
Early on the 22nd of September, the poor wretched Vanguard, as he
called his shattered vessel, appeared in sight of Naples. The Cullo
den and Alexander had preceded her some days, and given notice of
her approach. Many hundred boats and barges were ready to go
forth and meet him with music and streamers, and every demonstra
tion of joy and triumph. Sir William and Lady Hamilton led the
way in their state-barge. Emma Lady Hamilton was a woman whose
personal accomplishments have seldom been equalled, and whose
powers of mind were not less fascinating than her person. She was
passionately attached to the queen : and by her influence the British
fleet had obtained those supplies at Syracuse, without which, Nelson
always asserted, the battle of Aboukir could not have been fought.
During the long interval which passed before any tidings were recei
ved, her anxiety had been hardly less than that of Nelson himself,
.while pursuing an enemy of whom he could obtain no information :
and when the tidings were brought her by a joyful bearer, open-mouth
ed, its effect was such, that she fell like one who had been shot. She
and Sir William had literally been made ill by their hopes and fears, and
joy at a catastrophe so far exceeding all that they had dared to hope
for. Their admiration for the hero necessarily produced a proportionate
degree of gratitude and affection ; and when their barge came along
side the Vanguard, at the sight of Nelson, Lady Hamilton sprang up
the ship's side, and exclaiming, " O God ! is it possible !" fell into his
arms, more, he says, like one dead than alive. He described the meet
ing at " terribly affecting." These friends had scarcely recovered

LIFE OF NELSON. 75
from their tears, when the king, who went out to meet him three leagues
in the royal barge, came on board and took him by the hand, calling
him his deliverer and preserver; from all the boats around he' was sa
luted with the same appellations ; the multitude who surrounded him
when landed, repeated the same enthusiastic cries; and the lazzaroni
displayed their joy by holding up birds in cages, and giving them their
liberty as he passed.
His birth-day, which occurred a week after his arrival, was celebra
ted with one of the most splendid fetes ever beheld at Naples. But,
notwithstanding the splendour with which he was encircled, and the
flattering honours with which all ranks welcomed him, Nelson was ful
ly sensible of the depravity, as well as weakness, of those by whom he
was surrounded. "What precious moments," said he, "the cgurts of
Naples and Vienna are losing! Three months would liberate Italy !
but this court is so enervated, that the happy moment will be lost. I am
very unwell; and their miserable conduct is not likely to cool my irri
table temper. It is a country of fiddlers and poets, whores and scoun
drels." This sen&e of their ruinous weakness he always retained;
nor was he ever blind to the mingled folly and treachery of the Neapo
litan ministers, and the complicated iniquities under which the country
groaned: but he insensibly, underthe influence of Lady Hamilton,
formed an affection for the court, to whose misgovernment the misera
ble condition of the country was so greatly to be imputed. By the
kindness of her nature, as well as by her attractions, she had won his
heart. Earl St. Vincent, writing to her at the time, says, "Ten thou
sand most grateful thanks are due to your ladyship for restoring the
health of our invaluable friend Nelson, on whose life the fate of the re
maining governments in Europe, whose system has not been deranged
by these devils, depends. Pray do not let your fascinating Neapolitan
dames approach too near him, for he is made of flesh and blood, and
cannot resist their temptations." But this was addressed to the very
person from whom he was in danger.
No circumstances could be more unfavourable to the best interests
of Europe, than those which placed Edgland in strict alliance with
the superannuated and abominable governments of the continent. The
subjects of those governments who wished for freedom thus became ene
mies to England, and dupes and agents to France. They looked to
their own grinding grievances, and did not see the danger with which
the liberties of the world were threatened : England, on the other hand,
saw the danger in it§ true magnitude, but was blind to these grievances,
and found herselfcompelled to support systems which had formerly
been equally the objects of her abhorrence and,^er contempt. This
was the state, of Nelson's mind : he knew that there could be no peace
for Europe till the pride of France was humbled, and her strength bro
ken ; and he regarded all those who were the friends of France, as
traitors to the common cause, as well as to their own individual sove
reigns. The court of Napbw, uooonscious of committing any crime
by continuing the system o^fesrule to which he had succeeded, co»-

76 ufe er nelson.
.eived that, in maintaining things as they were, they were maintaining'
their own rights, and preserving the people from such horrors as had
been perpetrated in France. The Neapolitan revolutionists thought,
that without a total change of system, any relief from the present evils
was impossible, and they believed themselves justified in bringing about
that change by any means. Both parties knew that it was the fixed
intention of the French to revolutionize Naples. The revolutionists
supposed that it was for the purpose of establishing a free government:
the court, and all disinterested persons, were perfectly aware that the
enemy had no other object than conquest and plunder.
The battle of the Nile shook the power of France. Her most suc
cessful general and her finest army were blocked up in Egypt, hopeless,
as it appeared, of return ; and the government was in the hands of men
without talents, without character, and divided among themselves.
Austria, "whom Buonaparte had terrified into a peace, at a time when
constancy on her part would probably have led to his destruction, took
advantage of the crisis to renew the war. Russia, also, was preparing
to enter the field with unbroken forces; led by a general, whose extra
ordinary military genius would have entitled him to a high and honora
ble rank in. history, if it had not been sullied by all the ferocity of a
barbarian. Naples, seeing its destruction at hand, and thinking that
the only means of averting it was by meeting the danger, after long
vacillations, which were produced by the fears and weakness and trea
chery of its council, agreed at last to join this new coalition with a
numerical force of eighty thousand men. Nelson told the king, in
plain terms, that he had his choice, either to advance, trusting to God
for his blessing on a just canse, and prepared to die, sword in hand, —
or to remain quiet and be kicked out of his kingdom : — one of these
things must happen. The king made answer, hewouid goon, and
trust in God and Nelson; and Nelson, who would else have returned to
Egypt, for the purpose of destroying the French shipping in Alexandria,
gave up his intention at the desire of the Neapolitan court, and resolved
to remain on that station, in the hope that he might be useful to tho
movements of the army. He suspected also, with reason, that the con
tinuance of the fleet was so earnestly requested, because the royal family
thought their persons would be safer in case of any mishap, under tho
British flag, than under their own.
His first object was the recovery nf Malta, an island which the king
of Naples pretended to claim. The Maltese, whom the villainous
knights of their order had betrayed to France, had taken up arms against
their rapacious invaders, with a spirit and unanimity worthy the highest
praise. They blockaded the French Garrison by land, and a small
squadron under Capt. Ball, began to blockade them by sea, on the 12th
of October. Twelve days afterward. Nelson arrived ; " It is as I sus
pected," he says: "the ministers at Naples know nothing of the situa
tion of the island. Not a house or bastiorV'of the town is in possession
of the islanders: and the Marquis de v'S|i||i.Yells us, they want arms,
ristaals, and support. He does not know^a^^i-.y Neapolitan officer*

LIFE OF NELSON.

77

are in the island; perhaps, although I have their names, none are ar
rived ; and it is very certain, by the marquis's account, that no supplies
have been sent by the governors' of Syracuseand Messina." The lit
tle island of Gozo, dependent upon Malta, whjch # had also been seized
and garrisoned by the French, capitulated sdon 'after his arrival, and
was taken possession of by 'he British, in the'narne of his Sicilian ma
jesty, — a power who had no bet'er claim to it than France. Having
seen this effected, and reinforced Capt. Ball.,' he left that able officer to
perforin a most arduous and important part, and returned himself toco-
operate with the intended movements of the Neapolitans.
General Mack was at the head of the Neapolitan troops: — all that is
now doubtful concerning this man is, whether he was a coward or a
traitor : — at that time he was assidiously extolled as a most consummate
commander, to whomJSurops'might looK for deliverance : and when ho
was introduced by thSgjng and queen to tlie British admiral, the queen
said to him, " Be to^pTby land,'- general, what my hero Nelson has
been by sea." Mack, ;»n his part, did not fail lo praise the force which
he was appointed to eammand : "It was," he said, '> the fluent army in
Europe." Nelson agre<yLwij|jt, him, that there could be no finer men :
but when the general jarf a review, so directed tho operations of a mock-
fight, that, hy an uulffravytd0rk!er, his own troops were surrounded by
those of the enemy, li^ttPfed to his friends, and exclaimed, with bit
terness, that the followed not understand his business. Another cir
cumstance, not less characteristic, confirmed Nelson in his judgment.
" General .Mack," said he, in one of his letters, "cannot move without
five carriages ! I have formed my opinion. I heartily pray I may bo
mistaken." While Mack, at the head of 32,000 men, marched into the Roman
state, 5000 Neapolitans were embarked on board the British and Por
tuguese squadron, to take possession of Leghorn. This was effected
without opposition; and the grand duke of Tuscany, whose neutrality
had been so outrageously violated by the French, was better satisfied
with the measure than some of the Neapolitans themselves. Naselli,
their general, refused to seize the French vessels at Leghorn, because
he, and the Duke di Sangro, who was ambassador at the Tuscan court,
maintained, that the king of Naples was not at war with France,
"What!" said Nelson, "has not the king received, as a conquest
made by him, the republican flag taken at Gozo ? Is not his own flag
flying there, and at Malta, not only by his permission, but by his order ?
Is not his flag shot at every day by the French, and their shot returned
from batteries which bear that flag? Are not two frigutes and a cor
vette placed under my orders ready to fight the French, meet them
where they may? Has not the king sent publicly, from Naples, guns,
mortars, &c. with officers and artillery against the French in Malta?
If these acts are not tantamount to any written paper, I give up all
knowledge of what is war." This reasoning was of less avail than ar
gument addressed to the general's fears. Nelson told him, that if he
permitted the.many hundred French, who were then in tho mole, to re-

-a LIFE OF NELSON.
main neutral, till they had a fair opportunity of being active, they had
one sure resource, if all other schemes failed, which was to set one ves
sel on fire; the mole would be destroyed, probably the town also; and
the port ruined for twenty years. This representation made Naselli
airree to the half measure of laying an embargo onthe vessels: among
them were a great number of French privateers, some of which were
of such force as to threaten the greatest mischief to our commerce;
and about 70 sail of vessels belonging to the Laguirian republic, as
Genoa was now called, laden with corn, and ready to sail for Genoa
and France; where their arrival would have expedited the entrance of
more French troops into Italy. " The general," said Nelson, " saw, I
believe, the consequence of letting the vessels depart, in the same
lio-ht as myself; but there is this difference between us — he prudently,
and certainly safely, waits the orders of his court, taking no responsi
bility upon himself; I act from the circumstanc^pof the moment, as I
I'eel may be most advantageous for the cause mfth I serve, taking all
responsibility on myself." It was in vain to hofe for any thing vigor
ous or manly from such men as Nelson was compelled to act with. The
crews ofthe French ships and their allies were ordered to depart in two
days. Four elapsed, and nobody obeyed the order; nor, in spite of the
representations ofthe British minister, Mn»jWynflharn. were any means
taken to enforce it: — the true Neapolitan srte^^ as Nelson called it,
took place on all occasions. After an absence of ten days, he returned
to Naples: and receiving intelligence there, 'from Mr. Windham, that
that the privateers were at last to be disarmed, the corn landed, and the
crews sent away, he expressed his satisfaction at the news in charac
teristic language, saying, " So far I am content. The enemy wiH-be
distressed ; and, thank God, I shall get no money. The world, I know,
think that money is our god ; and now they will be undeceived as far
as relates to us. Down, down with the French ! is my constant prayer."
Odes, sonnets, and congratulatory poems of every description were
poured in upon Nelson, on his arrival at Naples. An Irish Francis
can, who was one of the poets, not being content with panegyric up
on this occasion, ventured upon a flight of prophecy, and predicted
that Lord Nelson would take Rome with his ships. His Lordship
remined Father M'Connick, that ships could not ascend the Tiber ;
but the father, who had probably forgotten this circumstance, met tbe
objection wilh a bold front, and he declared he saw it would come to
pass notwithstanding. Rejoicings of this kind were of short duration.
The king of Naples was with the army which had entered Rome ; but
theeastle of St. AUgelo was held by the French, and thirteen thousand
French were strongly posted in the Roman States at Castellana.
Mack had marched against them with twenty thousand men. Nel
son saw that the event was doubtful ; or rather that there could be
very little hope ofthe result. But the immediate fate of Naples as he
knew, hung upon the issue. " If Mack is defeated," said he, in four
teen days this country is lost ; for the Emperor has not yet moved his
army, and Naples has not the power of resisting the enemy. It was
not a ease for choice, but of necessity, which induced the king to march
•ut of his kingdom, and not to wait till the French haiLeollected a

LIFE -OF NELSON. 79
force sufficient to drive him out in a week." He had no reliance upon
the Neapolitan officers ; who, as he described them, seemed frightened
at a drawn sword or a loaded gun; and he was perfectly aware of the
consequences which the sluggish movements and deceitful policy ofthe
Austrians we»e likely to bring down upon themselves and all their con
tinental allies. " A delayed war on the part ofthe Emperor," said he,
writing to the British minister at Vienna, " will be destructive to this
monarchy of Naples; and, of course, to the newly-acquired domin
ions ofthe emperor of Italy. Had the war commenced io September
or October, all Italy would, at this moment have been liberated. This
month is worse than the last: the next Will render the contest doubt
ful; and, in six months, when the Neapolitan republick will be organ
ized, armed, and with its numerous resources called forth, the empEror
will not only be defeated in Italy, but will totter on his throne at Vien
na. Down, down wilh the French ! oucht to be written in the council
room of every country in the world : and may Almighty God give
right thoughts to every Sovereign, is my constant prayer !" His per
fect foresight ofthe immediate event was clearly shown in his fetter,
when he desired the Ambassador to assure the empress (who was a
daughter ofthe house of Naples/ that notwithstanding the councils
which had shaken the throne of ber father and mother, he would re
main there, ready to save their persons, and her brothers and sisters ;
and that he had also left ships at Leghorn, to save the lives of tha
grand duke and ber sister : " For all," said he, " must be a republie,
if the emperor does not act with expedition and vigour."
His fears were soon verified. " The Neapolitan officers," said Nel
son, " did not loose much honour, for, God knows, they had not much
to loose : but they lost all they had." General St. Philip commanded
the right wing, of nineteen thousand men. He fell in wilh three thou
sand ofthe enemy ; and, as soon as he came near enough,, deserted to
them. One of his men had virtue enough to level a musket at him, and
shot him through the arm ; but the wound was not sufficient to pre-
f vent him from joining with the French in pursuit of hi3 own country
men. Cannon, tents,and baggage, and military chest were all forsaken
by the runaways, though they lost only 40 men : for the French, hav
ing put them to flight, and got possession of every thing.did not pursue
an army of more than three times their own number. The main body
of the Neapolitans, under Mack, did not behave better. The king re
turned to Naples, where every day brought with it the tidings of rome
new disgrace from the army, and the discovery of some new treachery
at home ; till, four days after his return, the general sent him advice,
that there was no prospect of stopping the progress ofthe enemy, and
that the royal family must look to their own personal safety. The
state of the public mind at Naples was such that neither the British
minister nor the British admiral thought it prudent to appear at court.
Their motions were watched ; and the revolutionists had even formed
a plan for seizing and detaining them as hostages to prevent any attack;
on the city after the Freneh should have taken possession of it. A let
ter, which Nelson addressed at this time to the first lord of the Admi
ralty, shows in what manner he contemplated the possible issue ofthe
storm. It was in these words : — !' My dear lord, there is an old saying,
that when things are at the worst they must mend :— now, the mind of
man cannot fancy things worse than they are here. But, thank God !

80

LIKE OF NELSON.

my health is better, my mind never firmer, and my heart in the right
trim to comfort, relieve and protect those whom it is my duty to afford
assistance. Pray, my Lord, assure our gracious sovereign, that while
I live, I will support his glory ; and thatif I fall, it shall in a manner be
worthy of your Lordship's faithful and obliged Nelson. I must not
write more. Every word maybe a text for a long letter."
Meantime, Lady Hamilton arra.iged every thing for the removal of
the royal family. This was conducted, on her part, with the greatest
address, and without suspicion, because she hau been in habits of con
stant correspondence wilh the queen. It was known that the removal
could not be effected without danger; for the mob, and especially the
lazaroni, were attached to the king, and as, at this time, they felt a na
tural presumption on their number- and strength, they insisted that he
•should not leave Naples. Several persons fell victims to their fury:
among others was a messenger from Vienna, whose body was drawn
under the windows of the palace in the king's sight. The king and
queen spoke to the mob, and pacified them; but it would not have been
Safe, while they were in this agitated state, to embark the effects of
the royal family openly. Lndy Hamilton, like a heroine of modern ro
mance, explored, with no little danger, a subterraneous passage, lead
ing from the palace to the seaside : through this passage, the royal trea
sures, the choicest pieces of painting and sculpture, and other property
to the amount of two millions and a half, were conveyed to the shorei
and stowed safely on board the English ships. Onthe night of the,
21st, at half past eight, Nelson landed, brought out the whole, royal
family, embarked them in three barges, and carried them safely, through
a tremendous sea, to the Vanguard. Notice was then immediately gi
ven to the British merchants, that they would be received on board any
ehip in the squadron. Their property had been previously embarked
in transports. Two days were passed in the bay, for the purpose of
taking such persons on board as required an asylum ; and, on the night'
of the 23 I, the fleet sailed. The next day a more violent storm arose
than Nelson had ever before encountered. On the 25th, the youngest
of the princes was taken ill, and died in Lady Hamilton's arms. Du
ring this whole trying season, Lady Hamilton waited upon the royal
family with the zeal ofthe most devoted servant, at a time when, except
one man, no person belonging to the court assisted them.
On the moi ning of the 26th, the royal family were landed at Paler
mo. It was soon seen that their flight had not been premature. Prince
Pignatelli, who had been left as vice-general and viceroy, with orders
to defend the kingdom to the last rock in Calabria, sent plenipotentiaries
to the French camp before Capua; and they, for the sake of saving the
eapital, signed an armistice, by which the greater part of the kingdojft
was given up to the enemy : a cession that necessarily led to the loss
of the whole. This was the 10th of January. The Fren"h advanced
towards Naples. Mack, under pretence of taking shelter from the fih
ryof the lazzaioni, fled to the French general Championet, who sent
him Under an escort to Milan : but, as France hoped for further service*
from this wretched traitor, it was thought prudent to treat him appa-i

LIFE OF NELSON. g£
rently as a prisoner of war. The Neapolitan army disappeared ina
few days: of the men, some following their officers, deserted to fhe
enemy : the greater part took the opportunity of disbanding themselves.
The lazzroni proved true to their country: they attacked the enemy's
advanced posts, drove them in, and were not dispirited by the murder
ous defeat which they suffered from the main body. Flying into the
city, they continued to defend it, even after the French had planted their
artillery in the principal streets. The priests affirmed, that St. Janua
rius had declared in favour of the revolution. The miracle of his blood
was performed with the usual success, and more than usual effect, on
the very evening when, after two days of desperate fighting, the French
obtained possession of Naples. A French guard of honour was sta
tioned at his church. Championet gave " Respect for St. Januarius !"
as the word for the army ; and the next day Te Deum was sung by the
archbishop in the cathedral ; and the inhabitants were invited to attend
the ceremony, and join in thanksgiving for the glorious entry of the
French ; who, it was said, being under the peculiar protection of Pro
vidence, had regenerated the Neapolitans, and were come to establish
*and,,consolidate their happiness.
'It seems to have been Nelson's opinion, that the Austrian cabinet
regarded the conquest of Naples with complacency, and that its mea
sures were directed so as designedly not to prevent the French from
overrunning it. That cabinet was assuredly capable of any folly and of
any baseness : and it is not improbable that, at this time, calculating
upon the success of the new coalition, it indulged a dream of adding
extensively to its former Italian possessions; and, therefore:, it
left the few remainingjpowers of Italy to be overthrown*, as a means
which would facilftaieits own ambitious views. The king of Sar
dinia finding it imj^ssible longer to endure the exactions of France,
and the friSuhsOTtfie French commissary, went to Leghorn, embarked
on board JMDamsh frigate, and sailed under British protection to Sar-^
dinia — thaQpcyfeof his dominions, which the maritime supremacy oj?
England rendefed a safe asylum. On his arrival, he published a pro
test against the conduct of France; declaring, upon the faith and word
of a king, jfoat he had never infringed the treaties which he had made
with the French republic. Tuscany was soon occupied by Faench
troops. Nelson began to fear even for Sicily. " Oh, my dear sir, said
he, writing to Commodore Duckworth, " one thousand English troops
would save Messina,— and I tear General Stuart cannot give me men
to save this most important island !" But his representations were not
lost upon Sir Charles Stuart : this officer hastened immediately from
Minorca, with 1000 men, assisted in the measures of defence which
were taken, and did not return before he hadsatisfied himself, that if the
f Neapolitans were excluded from fhe management of affairs, and the
spirit of the peasantry properly directed, Sicily was safe. Before his
coming. Nelson had offered the king, if no resources should arrive, to
defend Messina with the ship's company of an English man-of-war.

g2 LIFE OF NELSON.
Russia-had now entered the war. Corfu surrendered to a Russian
and Turkish fleet, acting now, for the first time, in st. ange confederacy ;
yet against a power which was certainly the common and greatest ene
my of both. Trowbridge, having given up the blockade of Alexandria
to Sir Sidney Smith, joined Nelson, bringing with him a considerable
addition of strength; and in himself, what Nelson valued more, a man
upon whose sagacity, indefatigable zeal, and inexhaustible resources,
he could place full reliance. Trowbridge was intrusted to commence
operations against the French in the bay of Naples:— meantime, Car
dinal Ruffo, a mas of questionable character, but of a temper fitted tor
such times, had landed at Calabria, raised what was called a Christian
army, composed of the best and the vilest materials ; loyal peasants,
enthusiastic priests and friars, galley slaves, the emptying ot the jails,
and banditti. The islands in the bay of Naples were joyfully delivered
by the inhabitants, who were in a state of famine already, from the ef
fect of this baleful revolution. Trowbridge distributed among them
all his flour; and Nelson pressed the Sicilian court incessantly for sup
plies; telling them that £10,000 given away in provisions, would, at
this time purchase a kingdom. Money, he was told, theyhadnotto
give ; and the wisdom and integrity which might have supplied its want,
were not to be found. "There is nothing," said he, " which I propose,
that is not, as far as orders go, implicitly complied with : but the execu
tion is dreadful, and almost makes me mad. My desire to serve their
mijesties faithfully, as is my duty, has been such, that I am almost
blind and worn out; and cannot, in my present state, hold much
longer." Nelson's hVart too was at this time ashore. "ITo tell you," he says,
writing to Lady Hamilton, "how dreary and uncomfortable the Van
guard appears, is only telling you what it is to go from the nleasantesj
society to a solitary cell,; or from the dearest friends to no friends. I
am now perfectly the great man, — not a creature near me. From my
heart I wish myself the little man again. You and g<i§|d Sir William
have spoiled me for any place, but with you."
His mind was not in a happier state respecting public affairs. " As
to politics," said he, " at this time they are my abomination: the min
isters of kings and princes are as great scoundrels as ever lived. The
brother ofthe emperor is just going to marry the great Something of
Russia, and it is to be more than expected that a kingdom is to be found
for him in Italy, and that the kingdom of Naples will be sacrificed."
Had, there been a wise and manly spirit in the Italian States, or had
the conduct of Austria been directed by any thing like a principle of
honour, a more favourable opportunity could not have been desired for
restoring order and prosperity in Europe than the misconduct of the
French directory at this time afforded. But Nelson saw selfishness and
knavery wherever he looked ; and even the pleasure of seeing a cause
prosper, in which he was so zealously engaged, was poisoned by his
sense of the rascality of those with whom he was compelled to act'
At thisjuncture intelligence arrived thatth^Trench fleet had escaped'

LIFE OP NELSON. gg
from Brest, under cover of a fog, passed Cadiz unseen by Lord Keith's
squadron, in hazy weather, and entered the Mediterranean It was
said to consist of twenty-four sail of the line, six frigates 'and three
sloops. The object of the French was to liberate the Spanish fleet-
form ajunction with them against Minorca and Scicily, and overpower
our naval force in the Meditterranean, by falling in with detached squad
rons, and thus destroying it in detail. When they arrived off Carthage-
na, they requested the Spanish to make sail and join ; but the Span
iards replied, they had not men to man them. To this it was answered,
that the French had men enough on board for that purpose. But the
Spaniards seems to have been apprehensive of delivering up their ships
thus entirely into the power of such allies, and refused to come out.
The fleet from Cadiz, however, consisting of from seventeen to twenty
sail of the line, got out, under Masaredo, a man who then bore an hon
ourable namo, which he has since rendered infamous by betraying his
co.intry. They met with a violent storm off the coast of Oran, which
dismasted many of their ships, and so effectually disabled them as to
prevent the junction, and frustrate a well-planned expedition.
Before this occurred, and while the junction was as probable as it
would have been formidabJle^Nelson was in a state ofthe greatest anxie
ty. " What a state am I in IP said he to Earl St. Vincent. " If I go, I
risk, and more than risk Sicily i for we know, from experience, that
more depends upon opinion than upon acts themselves: and as I stay,
my heart is breaking." His first business was to summon Trowbridge
to join him, with all the ships ofthe line under his command, and a
frigate, if possible. Then hearing that the French had entered the
Mediterranean, and expecting them at Palmero, where he had only his
own ship ; — with that single ship he prepared to make all the resistance
possible.. Trowbridge having joined him, he left Captain E. J. Foote,,
of the Seahorse, to command the smaller vessels in the Bay of Naples,
and sailed with six ships ; one a Portuguese, and a Portuguese cor
vette ; telling Earl St. Vincent that the squadron should never fall into
the hands ofthe enemy : " And before we are destroyed,'' said he, " I
have little doubt but they will have their wings so completely clipped,
that they may be easily overtaken." It was just at this time tbat he
received from Capt. Hallowell the present ofthe coffin. Such a present
was regarded by the men with natural astonishmeat : one of his old
shipmates in the Agamemnon said — " We shall have hot work of it in
deed ! You see the admiral intends to fight until he is killed ; and
there he is to be buried." Nelson placed it upright against the bulk
head of his cabin, behind his chair, where he sat at dinner. The gift
suited him at this time. It is said he was disappointed in the aen-in-law,
whom he had loved, so dearly from his childhood, and who had saved
his life atTeneriffe : and it is certain that he had formed an infatuated
attachment for Lady Hamilton, which totally weaned his affections
from his wife. Farther than this, there is no reason to believe that this
unfortunate attachment was criminal : but this was criminality enough,
and it brought with it its punishment. Nelson wbs dissatisfied with

a^ LIFE OF NELSOS.
himself ; and, therefore, weary of the world. This feeling he frequent
ly expressed. " There is no true happiness in this life," said he, " and
in my present state, I could quit it with a smile." And in a letter to his
old friend Davison, he said : " Believe me, my only wish is to sink
with honor into the grave ; and when that shall please God, I shall
meet death with a smile. Not that I am insensible to the honours and
riches my king and country have heaped upon me, — so mnch more than
any officer could deserve : yet I am ready to quit this world of trouble,
and envy none but those of the estate six feet by two."
Well had it been for Nelson if he had made no other sacrifices to this
unhappy attachment than his peace of mind ; but it led to the only blot
in his public character. While he sailed from Palermo, with the inten
tion of collecting his whole force, and keeping off Maretimo, cither t >
receive reinforcements there, if the French were bound upwards, or to
hasten to Minorca, if that should be their destination ; Capt. Foote; in
the Seahorse, with the Neapolitan frigates, and some small vessels un
der his command, was left to act with a land force of a few regular troops,
offour different nations, and with the armed rabble which Cardinal
Ruffo called tbe Christian arm}7. His directions were to co-operate to
the utmost of his power with tbe royalists, at whose head Ruffo had
been placed, and he had no instructions whatever. Ruffo advancing,
without any plan, but relying upon the enemy's want of numbers, which
prevented them to act upon the offensive, and ready t'i take advantage of
any accident which might occur, approached Naples. Fort St. Elmo,
which commands the town, was wholly garrisoned by the French troops ;
the castles of Uovo and Nuovo, which commanded the anchorage,
were chiefly defended by Neapolitan revolutionists, the powerful rsen
among them having taken shelter there. If these castles were taken,
the reduction of Fort St. Elmo would be greatly expedited. They
were strong places, and there was reason to apprehend that the French
fleet might arrive to relieve them. Ruffo proposed lo the garrison to
capitulate, on condition that their persons and property should be guar
anteed, and that they should, at their own option, either be, sent to
Toulon, or remain at Naples, without either being molested either in
their persons or families. This capitulation was accepted: it was
signed by the Cardinal, and the Russian and .Turkish Commanders ;
and, lastly, by Capt. Foote, as commander ofthe British force. About
six-and-fhirty hours afterward, Nelson arrived in the ba}', with a force .
which had joined him during his cruise, consisting of seventeen sail of
the h;n\ with seventeen hundred troops on bourd. and the Prince Royal
of Naples in the admiral's ship. A flag of truce was flying on the casi,
tics, and on board the Seahorse. Nelson made a signal to annul the
treaty ; declaring that he would grant rebels no other "terms than those
of unconditional submisssion. The Cardinal objected to this : nor
could all the arguments ofNelson, Sir W. Hamilton, and Lady Hamil
ton who look an active part in the conference, convince him that a trea^
ty of such a nature, solemnly concluded, could honourably be set aside.
He retired at last, silenced by .Nelson's authority, but not convinced.

LIFE OF NELSON.

85

Capt. Foote was sent out of the bay ; and the garrisons, taken out of
the castles, under pretence of carrying the treaty into effect, were deli
vered over as rebels to the vengeance ofthe Sicilian court. A deplo-
rabletransaction! a stain upon the memory of Nelson, and th:: honour
of England ! To palliate it would be in vain; to justify it would be
wicked: there is no alternative, for one who will not make himself a
principal in the guilt, but to record the disgraceful story with sorrow
and with shame.
Prince Francesco Caraccioli, a younger branch of one of the no
blest Neapolitan families, escaped from one of these castles before it
capitulated. He was at the head ofthe marine, and was 70 years of
nge,bearing a high character. He had accompanied the court to Sicily;
but when the revolutionary government issued an edict, ordering all
Neapolitans to return on pain of confiscation of their property, he so
licited and obtained permission ofthe king to return. The king, when
he granted hiin this permission, warned him not to take any part in
politics- But the king ought not to have imagined that a man of such
reputation would be permitted to remain inactive ; and Caraccioli was
soon again in command of the navy, and serving under the republic.
VVhen the recovery of Naples was evidently near, he applied lo Car
dinal Ruffo for protections expressing his hope, that the few days tin-
ring which he had been forced to obey the French, would not out w-eigh
40 years of faithful service; but knowing too well Ihe temper of the
Sicilian court, he endeavoured to secrete himself, and a price was set
upon his head. Moie unfortunate for others than for himself, he was
brought in alive, having been discovered in the disguise of a peasant,
and carried one mornir.g on board Lord Nelson's sbi|j. Caraccio.i
was well known to the British oflicers. and bad been ever highly es
teemed. Capt. Hardy ordered him to be unbound, and to be treated
with all those attentions which he felt due to a man who, when last
on board the Foudroyant, bad br-en received as an admiral and a
prince. Sir William and Lady Hamilton weie in the ship : but Nel
son saw no one exoept h> officers during the tragedy th-it ensued. —
He issued an order to the Neapolitan commodore to assemble a court-
martial of Neapolitan officers, on board the British fla^-ship, proceed
immediately to try tbe prisoner, and report to him, if the charges
were proved, what punishment be ought to suffer. These proceed
ings were as rapid as possible ; Caraccioli was brought on board, ami
the trial began. It lasted 2 hours: he averred in his defence, that he
had acted under compulsion, having been compelled to serve as a com
mon soldier till be consented to take command of the fleet. This he
failed in proving. He was found guiltv, and sentenced to death ; nnd
Nelson gave orders (hat the sentence should be carried into effect that
^VeningT by hanging him at the lore yard-arm ; when the body was
4o be cut down, and thrown into the sea. Caraccioli requested Lieut.
Parkinson, under whose ' custody he was placed, to intercede with
Lord Nelson for a second trial,— for this, among other reasons, that
Count Thurn, who presided at the court-martial, was notoriously his
personal enemy. N°lson made answer, that the prisoner had been.
fairly tried by the officers of his own country, and he could not inter
fere : forgetting that, if he felt himself justified in M-dering the trial and
the execution, no human being could ever have questioned the prop*

gg LIFE OF NELSON.
ety of his interfering on the side of mercy. Caraccioli then entreated
<hat he might be shot.—" I am an old man, sir," said he: " I leave no
family to lament me, and therefore cannot be supposed to be very anx
ious about prolonging my life; but the disgrace of being hanged is
dreadful to me." When this was repeated to Nelson, he only told the
Lieut, with much agitation, to go and attend his duty. As a last hope,
Caraccioli asked the Lieut, if he thought an application to Lady Ham
ilton would be beneficial? Parkinson went to seek her : she was not
to be seen on this occasion — but she was present at the execution. —
.She had a most devoted attachment to the Neapolitan court ; and the
hatred whicli she felt against those whom she regarded as its enemies
made her, at this time, forget what was due to the character of her
sex, as well as of her country. Doubtless, the British admiral seemed
to himself to be acting under a rigid sense of justice; but, to others,
it was obvious, that he was influenced by an infatuated attachment*
The body was carried to a considerable distance, and sunk in tlie'
bay, with three double-headed sho*, weighing 250 lbs. tied to its legs.
Between two and three weeks afterward, when the king was on board
the Foudroyant, a Neapolitan fisherman came to the ship, and solemn
ly declared, that Caraccioli had risen from the bottom of the sea, and
was coming to Naples, swimming half out of the water. Such an ac
count was listened to like a tale of idle credulity. Nelson, to please
the king, stood out to sea ; but the ship had not proceeded far before
a body was distinctly seen, upright in the Hater, and approaching them;
It was soon recognised to be the corpse of Caraccioli, which had risen, ¦
and floated, while the great weights attached to the legs kept the body
in a position like that of a living man. A fact so extraordinary aston
ished the king, and perhaps excited some feelings ofsuperstitious fear,
akin to. regret. He gave permission for the body to be taken on shore,
und receive Christian burial. It produced no better effect.
The castles of CSt. Elmo, Gaieta. and Capua, remained to be sutj-
dued. On the land side, there was no danger that the French in these
garrisons should be relieved, for Suverof was now beginning to drive
the enemy before him ; but Nelson thought his presence necessary in
Ihe bay of Naples : and when Lord Keith having received intelligence
that the French and Spanish fleets had formed a junction, and sailed
for Catbagena, ordered him to repair to Minorca, with the whole or
the greater part of his force, he sent Admiral Duckworth with a small
part only. This was a dilemma which he had foreseen. ''Should
such au order come at this moment," he said, in a letter previously
written to the Admiralty, " it would be a case for some consideration,
whether Minorca is to be risked, or the two kingdoms of Naples and
Sicily ; I rather think my decision would be to risk the former." And,
nfter he had acted upon his opinion, he wrote in these terms to the
Duke of Clarence, with whose high notions of obedience he was well
acquainted : "I am well aware ofthe consequences of disobeying my
orders: but as I have often before risked my life for the good cause,
so I with cheerfulness did my commission ; fbr, although a military
tribunal may think me criminal, the world will approve of my con
duct : and I regard not my own safety, when the honour of my king
ts at stake."
Nelson was right in his judgment : no attempt was made upon
'Minorca: and the expulsion ofthe French from Naples may rather

LIFE OF NELSON. g7
be said to have been effected, than accelerated, by the English and
Portuguese ofthe allied fleet, acting upon shore, under Trowbridge. 
The French commandant at St. Elmo, relying upon the streno-th of
the place, and the nature ofthe force which attacked it, had insulted
Capt. Foote, in the grossest terms; but citoyen M"jan uas soon taught
better manners, when Trowbridge, in spite pfc every obstacle, openetf
five batteries upon the tort. He was informed, that none of his let
ters with the insolent printed words at the top, Liberie, Egalite, Guerre
aux Tyrans, Sec. would be received ; but that, if be wrote like a soldier
and a gentleman, he should be answered in the same style. The
Frenchman then began to flatter his anlagoi. ist upon the bienfaisance
and kumanixe, which, he said, were the least ofthe many virtues which
distinguished Monsieur Trowbridge.} Monsieur Trowbridge's bienfais
ance was, at this time, thinking of mining the fort. — "If we can ac
complish that," said he, " I am a strong advocate to send them, hos
tages and nil, to Old Nick, and surprise him with a group of nobility
and republicans. Meantime," he added, "it was some satisfaction to
perceive that the shells fell well, and broke some of their shin«." —
Finally, to complete his character, Mejau offered to surrender for 150,-
000 ducats. Great Britain, perhaps, has made but too little use of
this kind of aitiHeisy, which France has found so effectual towards
subjugating the continent : but Trowbridge had the prey wiihin his
reach ; and in the course of a few days, his last battery, " after much
trouble and palaver," as he said, " brought the vagabonds to their
senses." Trowbridge had more difficulties to overcome in this siegr, from the
character ofthe Neapolitans who pretended to assist him, and whom
he made useful, than even from the strength ofthe place and the skill
of the French. '¦ Such damned cowards and villians," he declared,
" he had never seen before." The men at the advanced posts carried
on, what he called, "a diabolical good understanding" with the ene
my, and the workmen would sometimes take fright and run away. —
"I make the best I can," said he,, "ofthe degenerate race I have to
deal with; the whole means of guns, ammunition, pioneers, &c. with
all materials, rest with them. With fair promises to the men, and
threats of instant death if I find any one erring, a little spur has been
given." Nelson said of him, with truth, upon this occasion, that he
was a first-rate general. "I find, sir," said he afterward, in a letter to
the Duke of Clarence, "that General Koehler does not approve of
such irregular proceedings'as naval officers attacking and defending
fortifications. We have but one idea,— to get close alongside. None
but a sailor would have placed a battery only one hundred and eighty
yards from the castle of St. Elmo: a soldier must have gone according
to art, and the—  -way. My brave Trowbridge went straight on,
for we had no time to spared."
Trowbridge then proceeded to Capua, and took command of the
motley besieging force. One thonsand of the best men in the fleet
were sent to assist in the siege. Just at this time Nelson received a
peremptory order from Lord Keith, to sail with the whole ofthe force
for the protection of Minorca ; or, at least, to retain no more than was
absolutely necessary for the protection of Sicily. " You will easily
conceive my feelings," said he, in communicating this to Earl St. Vin
cent : " but my mind, as your lordship knows, was perfectly prepared

00

LU'E OF NELSON.

for this order; andis now, more than ever, made up. Atthis moment
I will not part with a single ship ; a* I cannot do that without drawing
120 men from each ship, now at tbe siege of Capna. I am fully aware
of the act I have committed; but I am prepared for any fate which
may await my disobedience. Capua and Gaieta will soon fall ; and
Ihe moment the scoundrels of French are. out of this kingdom, I fhall
send eight or nine ships of tbe line to Minorca. 1 have done what I
thought right : others may think differently ; but it will be my conso
lation that 1 have gained a kingdom, seated a faithful ally of his ma
jesty firmly on his throne, and restored happiness to millions."
At Capua, Trowbridge had the same difficulties as at St. Elmo; and
being farther from Naples, and from the fleet, was less able to over
come them. The powder was so bad that he suspected treachery ;
and when he asked Nelson to spare him forty casks from the ships,
he told him it would be necessary that some Englishmen should ac
company it, or they would steal one half, and change the other. Ca
pua, however, soon fell ; Gaieta immediately afterward surrendered to
Capt. Louis of the Minotaur. Here the commanding officer acted
more unlike a Frenchman, Capt. Louis said, than any one he had ever
met; meaning that he had acted like a man of honour. He required,
however, that the garrison should carry away theirhorses, and other
pillaged property : to which Nelson replied, "That no property which
they did not bring with them into the country could be theirs ; and
tbt't the greatest care should be taken to prevent them from carrying it
awwy." The whole kingdom of Naples was thus delivered by Nelson from
the French. The Admiralty, however, thought it expedient to censure
him for disobeying Lord Keith's orders, and thus hazarding Minorca,
without, as it appeared lo them, any sufficient reason ; and also from
having landed seamen for the siege of Capua, to form pari of an army
employed in operations at a distance from the coast; where, in case
of defeat, they might have been prevented from returning to their
ships ; and they enjoined him not to employ the seamen in like manner
in future." When Nelson communicated the tidings of his complete
success, he said, in his public letter, '• that it would not be the less ac
ceptable for having been principally brought about by British sailors."
To the first lord, he said, at the same time, "I certainly, from having
only a left hand, cannot enter into details which may explain tbe mo
tives that actuated my conduct. My principle is, to assist in driving
the French to the devil, and in restoring peace and happiness to man
kind. I feel that I am ritter to dothe work than to describe it."
He ihen added, that he would take care of Minorca.
In expelling the French from Naples, Nelson had, with characteris
tic zeal and ability, dicharged his duty ; but he deceived himself when
ha imagined that he had seated Ferdinand firmly on his trone, and that
he had restored happiness to millions. These objects might have beea
accomplished if it had been possible to inspire virtue and wisdom into
a vicious and infatuated court ; and if Nelson's eyes had not been, as it
were, spell-bound, by that unhappy attachment which had now com
pletely mastered him, he would have seen things as Ihey were ; and
might, perhaps, have awakened the Sicilian court to a sense of their
Interest, if not of their duty. That court employed itself in a miserable

LIFE OF NELSON.. gn
round of folly and festivity, while the prison of Naples were filled with
groans, and the scaffolds streamed with blood. St. Januaris was sol
emnly removed from his rank as patron safnt of the kingdom, having
been convicted of Jacobinism ; and St. Antonio as solemnly installed
in his place. The king, instead of re-establishing order at Naples by
his presence, speedily returned to Palermo, to indulge in his favourite
amusements. Nelson, and the ambassador's family accompanied the
court ; and Trowbridge remained, groaning over the villainy and fri
volity of those with whom he was compelled to deal. A party of offi
cers applied to him for a passage to Palermo, to see the procession of
St. Rosalia : — he recommended them to exercise their troops, and not
behave like children. It was grief enough for him that the court should
be busied in these follies, and Nelson involved in them. "I dread, my
lord," said he, " all the feasting, &c. at Palermo. I am sure your
health will be hurt. If so, all their saints will be damned by the navy.
The king would be better employed digesting a good government; ev
ery thing gives way to their pleasures. The money spent at Palermo
gives discontent here : fifty thousand people are unemployed, trade dis
couraged, manufactures at a stand. It is the interest of many here to
keep the king away ; — they all dread reform : — their villainies are so
deeply rooted, that, if some method is not taken to dig them out, this
government cannot hold together. Out of twenty millions of ducats,
collected as the revenue, only thirteen millions reach the treasury: and
the king pays four ducats where he should pay one. He is surrounded
by thieves ; and none of them have honour or honesty enough to tell
him the real and true state of things." In another letter he expressed
his sense of the miserable state of Naples. "There are upwards of
forty thousand families," said he, '* who have relations confined. If
some act of oblivion is not passed, there will be no end in persecution ;
for the people of this country have no idea of any thing but revenge ;
and, to gain a point, would swear ten thousand false oaths. Constant
efforts are made to get a man taken up in order to rob him. The con
fiscated property does not reach the king's treasury. — All thieves! It
is selling- for nothing. His own people whom he employs, are buying
it up, and the vagabonds pocket the whole. I should not be surprised
to hear that they brought a bill of expenses against him for the sale."
The Sicilian "court, however, were at this time duly sensible of the
services which had been rendered them by the British fleet, and their
gratitude to Nelson was shown with proper and princely munificence.
They gave him the dukedom and domain of Bronte, worth about £3000
a year. It was some days before he could be persuaded to accept it:
the argument which finally prevailed, is said to have been suggested,
by the queen, and urged, at her request, by Lady Hamilton upon her
knees. " He considered his own honour too much," she said, " if he
persisted in refusing what the king and queen felt to be absolutely ne
cessary for theirs." The king himself, also, is said to have addressed
him in words which show that the sense of rank will sometimes confer
a. virtue upon those who seem to be most unworthy ofthe lot tQ which
12

90 LIFE OF NELSON.

they have been born : " Lord Nelson, do you wish that your na
lone should pass with honour to posterity, and that I, Ferdinand

name a-
1 pass with honour to posterity, "and that I, Ferdinand Bour
bon, should appear ungrateful V He gave him also, when the duke
dom was accepted, a diamond-hilted sword, which his father, Charles
III. of Spain, had given him, on his accession to the throne of the two
Sicilies. Nelson said, " The reward was magnificent, and worthy of
a king, and he was determined that the inhabitants on the domain should
be the happiest in all his Sicilian majesty's dominions. Yet," said he,
speaking of these and the other remunerations which were made him
for his services, ".these presents, rich, as they are, do not elevate me.
My pride is, that, at Constantinople, from the grand seignor to the low
est Turk, the name of Nelson is familiar in their mouths; and in this
country I am every thing which a grateful monarch and people can call
me" Nelson, however, had a pardonable pride in the outward and
visible signs of honour, which he had so fairly won. He was fond of
his Sicilian title ; the signification, perhaps pleased him ; — Dake of
Thunder was what in Dahamony would be called a strong name ; it
was to a sailor's taste ; and, certainly, to no man could it ever be more
applicable. But a simple offering which he received not long afterward,
from the island of Zante, affected him with a deeper and finer feeling.
The Greeks of that little community sent him a golden-headed sword
and a truncheon, set round with all the diamonds that the island could
furnish, in a single row. They thanked him " for having, by his victory,
preserved that part of Greece from horrors of anarchy ; and prayed that
his exploits might accellerate the day, in which, amid the glory and
peace of thrones, the miseries of the human race would cease." The
unexpected tribute touched Nelson to the heart. " No officer," he
said, "had ever received from any country a higher acknowledgment of
his services."
The French still occupied the Roman states ; from which, accor
ding to their own admission, they had extorted in jewels, plate, specie
and requisitions of every kind, to the enormous amount of eight mil
lions sterling: yet they affected to appear as deliverers among the
people whom they were thus cruelly plundering; and they distributed
portraits of Buonaparte, with the blasphemous inscription — "This is
the true likeness of the holy saviour of the world !" The people, de
testing the impiety, and groaning beneath the exactions, of these per
fidious robbers, were ready to join any regular force that should come
to their assistance ; but they dreaded Crdinal Ruffo' s rabble, and de
clared they would resist him as a banditti, who came only for pillage.
Nelson perceived that no object was now so essential for the tranquility
of Naples as the recovery of Rome. He applied, therefore, to Sir James
St. Clair Erskine, who, in the absence of Gen. Fox, commanded at
Minorca, to assist in this great object with 1200 men. " The field of
glory," said he, is a large one, and was never more open to any one,
than at this moment to you. Rome would throw open her gates and
receive you as her deliverer ; and the pope would owe his restoration
to<a heretic." But Sir James Erskine looked only at the difficulties
of the undertaking. "Twelve hundred men, he thought, would be too
small a force to be committed in such an enterprize; for CivitaVec-

LIFE OF NELSON. §1
chia was a regular fortress : the local situation and climate also were
such, that, even if this force were adequate, it would be proper to de
lay the expedition till October. Gen. Fox, too, was soon expected ;
and during his absence, and under existing circumstances, he did not
feel justified in sending away such a detachment."
What thi? general thought it imprudent to attempt, Nelson and
Trowbridge effected without his assistance, by a small detachment
from the fieet. Trowbridge first sent Capt. Hallowel to Civita Vecchio,
to offer the garrison there, and at Castle St, Angelo, the same terms
which had been granted at Gaieta. Hallowell perceived, by the over
strained civility of the officers who came off to him, that they were
sensible of their own weakness; but the French know, that while
they are in a condition to serve their government, they can rely upon
it for every possible exertion in their support. Upon Hallowell's re
port, Trowbridge, who had now been made Sir Thomas for his ser
vices, sent Capt. Louis with a squadron, to enforce the terms which
he had offered ; and as soon as he could leave Naples, he himself lol-
fowed. The French, who had no longer any hope from the fate of
arms, relied upon their skill in negotiation, and proposed terms to
Trowbridge with that effrontory which characterizes their public pro
ceedings; but which is as often successful as it is impudent. Their
ambassador at Rome began by saying, that the Roman territory was
the property of the French by right of conquest. The British commo
dore settled that point, by replying, " It is mine by re-conquest." A
capitulation was soon concluded for all the Roman states, and Capt.
Louis rowed up the Tiber in his barge, hoisted English colours on the
capitol, and acted, for the time, as governor of Rome. The prophecy
of the Irish p*oet was thus accomplished, and the friar reaped the
fruits ; for Nelson, who was struck with the oddity ofthe circumstance,
and not a little pleased with it, obtained preferment for him from the
king of Sicily, and recommended him to the pope.
Having thus completed his work upon the continent of Italy, Nel
son's wholeattention was directed towards Malta ; where Capt. Ball,
with most inadequate means was beseiging the French garrison. Ne-
ver was any officer engaged in a more anxious or painful service.
men, money, food ; all things were wanting. The garrison consisted
of 5,000 troops ; the besieging force of 500 English and Portuguese
marines, and about 1,500 armed peasants. Long and repeatedly did
Nelson solicit troops to effect the reduction of this important place;
"It has been no fault of the navy," said he, "that Malta has not been
attacked by land : but ws have neither the means ourselves, nor influ
ence with those who have." The same causes of demurer existed
which prevented the British troops from assisting in the expulsion of
the British troops from Rome. Sir James Erskine was expecting
Gen. Fox ; he could not act witheut orders ; and not having, like Nel
son, that lively spring of hope within him, which partakes enough of
the nature of faith to work miracles in war, he thought it " evident,
that unless a respectable land force, in numbers sufficient to undertake
the siege of s ach a garrison, in one of the strongest places in Europe,
and supplied with proportionable artillery and stores, were sent against
it, no reasonable hope could be entertained of its surrender." Nehson
groaned over the spirit of over-reasoning caution and unreasoning
obedience. " My heBrt," said ho. * almost broken. If the enemy geja

92 LIFE OF NELSON.
supplies in, we may bid adieu to Malta: all the force we can collecS
would then be of little avail against the strongest place in Europe.—
To say that an officer is never for any object, to alter his orders, is
what I cannot comprehend. The circumstances of this wai- so often
vary, that an officer has almost every moment to consider, what would
my superiors direct, did they know what is passing under my nose.
But, sir," said he, writing to the Duke of Clarence, "I find few think
as I do. To obey orders is all perfection. To serve my king, and to
destroy the French, I consider as the great order of all, from which
little ones spring: and if one of these militate against it (for who can
tell exactly at a distance,) I go back, and obey the great order and ob
ject, to down, down with the damned French villains? — My blood
boils at the name of Frenchmen?"
At length, Gen. Fox arrived at Minorca,— ard, at length, permitted
Col. Graham to go to Malta, but with means miserably limited. In
fact, the expedition was at a stand for want of money ; when Trow
bridge, arriving at Messina, to co-operate in it, and finding this fresh
delay, immediately offered all that he could comn'and of his own. ' I
procured him, my lord," said he to Nelson, 15,000 of my cobs:— every
farthing and every atom of me shall be devoted to the cause." — 'What
can this mean," said Nelson, when he learned that Col. Graham was
ordered not to incur any expense for stores, or any articles except
previsions! — "the cause cannot stand elill for w+Dtof a Uttle meney.
If nobody will pay it, I will sell Bronte, and the Emperor of Russia's
box." And he actually pledged Bronte for £66!;0, if there should be
any difficulty about paying the bills. The long-delayed expedition was
thus, at last, sent forth : bul Trowbridge little imagined in what scenes
of misery he was to bear his part. He looked to Sicily for supplies :
it was the interest, as well as tbe duly, of the Sicilian government to
use every exertion for furnishing them : and Nelson and the British
ambassador were on the spot to press upon them the necessity of ex
ertion. But though Nelson saw with what a knavish crew the Sicilian
court was surrounded, he was blind to the vices of the court itself;
and resigning himself wholly to Lady Hamilton's influence, never even
suspected the crooked policy which it was remorselessly pursuing.
The Maltese and the British in Malta severely felt il. Trowbridge,
who had the truest affection for Nelson, knew his infatuation, and
feared that it might prove injurious to his character, as well as fatal to
an enterprise which had begun so well, and been carried on so pa
tiently. " My lord," said he, writing to him from the siege, "we are dying
off fast for want. I learn that Sir William Hamilton says Prince Luz-
zi refused corn sometime ago, and Sir William does not think it worth
while making another application. If that be the case, I wish he com
manded this distressing scene instead of me. Pugalia had an im
mense harvest ; near thirty sail left Messina, before I did, to load corn.
Will they let us have any ? if not, a short time will decide the business.
The German interest prevails. I wish 1 was at your Lodship's elbow
for an hour. All.all will be thrown on you ! I will parry the blow as much
as in my power: I foresee much mischief brewing. — God bless your lord
ship; lam miserable, I cannot assist your operations more. Many
happy returns ofthe day to you — (it was the first of the new year)—!

LIFE OF NELSON, 93
never spent so miserable a one. I am not very tender hearted ; but re
ally the distress here would even move a Neapolitan." Soon afterward
he wrote, ^ I have this day saved thirty thousand people from starving j
but with this day my ability ceases. As the Government are bent on
starving us, I see no alternative, but to leave these poor unhappy peo
ple to perish.'wiftiout our. being witnesses of their distress. I curse the
day I ever served the Neapolitan government. We have characters,
my lord, to lose ; these people have none. Do not suffer their infamous
conduct to fall on us. Our country is just, but severe. Such is the
fever of my brain this minute, that 1 assure you, on my honour, if the
Palermo traitors were here, I would shoot them first, and then myself.
(Urgent j is full of corn ; the money is ready to pay for it ; wejdo not
ask it as a gift. Oh ! could you see the horrid distress I daily expe
rience,, something would be done. — Some engine is at work against us
at Naples ; and I believe I hit on the proper person. If you complain,
he will be immediately promoted, agreeably to the Neapolitan custom.
All I write to you is known at the queen's. For my own part, I look
upon the Neapolitans as the worst of intriguing enemies : every hour
shows me their infamy and duplicity. I pray your lordship be cau
tious : your honest, open manner of acting will be made a handle of.
When I see you, and tell of their infamous tricks, you will be as much
surprised as I am. The whole will fall on you."
Nelson was not insensible to the distress which his friend so earnestly
represented. He begged small supplies of money and corn, to keep the
Maltese from starving. And when the court granted a small supply,
protesting their poveity, he believed Ihem. The anxiety which he en
dured, affected him so deeply, that he said it had broken his spirit
foreyer. Happily, all that Trowbridge had foreboded, did not come
to pass. For Capt. Ball ventured upon a resolute measure, for which
his name would deserve always to be held in veneration by the Mal
tese, even if it had no other claims to the love and reverence of :i
grateful people. Finding it hopeless longer to look for succour from
the infatuated court of Sicily, which persisted in prohibiting the ex
portation of supplies, at his own risk he sent his first Lieut, to the port
ofGirgenti, with orders to seize and bring with him to Malta, the
ships which were there lying laden with corn. These orders were
executed; the necessity of raising the siege was removed, and Capt.
Hall waited for the consequences to himself. The Neapolitan govern
ment complained to the English ambassador, and the complaint was
communicated to Nelson, who requested Sir W. Hamilton would fully
and plainly state that the act ought not to be considered as any intend
ed disrespect to his Sioilian majesty, but as of the most absolute and
imperious necessity ; the alternation being eitherofabandoning Malta
to the French, or of anticipating the king's orders for carrying the corn
in those vessels to Malta. " I trust," he added, " lhat the government
of the country will never again force any of our royal master's ser
vants to so unpleasant an alternative." Nelson himself sailed for Mal
ta. He fell in with a French squadron, bound for its relief, consisting
dfa 74, 3 frigates, and a corvette. One frigate and the line-of-battle
ship were taken; and the others failed in their purpose of reaching
La Vajette. This success was peculiarly gratifying to Nelson for ma-

94

LIEE OF NEEBUw:

ny reports. Two frigates, and the Guillaume Tefi, 86, were all that
nowremained of the fleet which Buonaparte had conductedfo Egypt.
The Guillaume Tell was at this time closely watched in the harbour
of La Valette: and shortly afterward was taken, after an action in
which greater skill was never displayed by British ships, nor greater
gallantry by an enemy. Nelson rejoiced at what he called this glori
ous finish to the whole French Mediterranean fleet. " What a plea
sure," said he " to have the Nile fleet all taken, under my orders and
regulations !" The two frigates still remained in La Valette : before
its surrender they stole out; one was taken in the attempt; the other
was the only ship ofthe whole fleet which escaped capt u re or dest rnction
Letters were found on board the Tell, showing that the French were
become hopeless of preserving the conquest which they had so foully
acquired. The officers were anxious that Nelson should have the ho
nour of signing the capitulation. Sir W. Hamilton had just been su
perseded : Nelson had no feeling or cordiality towards Lord Keith ;
and thinking that, after Earl St. Vincent, no man had so good a claim
to the command in the Mediterranean as himself, he applied for per
mission to return to England, telling the first lord of the Admiralty,
that his spirit could not submit patiently, and that he was a broken
hearted man. From the time of his return from Egypt, amid alt the
honours which were showered upon him, he had suffered many morti
fications. Sir Sidney Smith had been sent to Egypt, with orders to
take under his command the squadron which Nelson had left there.—
Sir Sidney appears to have thought that this command was to be in
dependent of Nelson : and Nelson himself thinking so, determined fo
return, saying to Earl St. Vincent, " I do feel, for I am a man, that
it is impossible for me to serve in these seas wfth a squadron under a
junior officer.'' \ He differed from Sir Sidney as to the policy which
ought to be pursued towards the French in Egypt; and strictly com
manded him not to permit a Frenchman to leave the country ; that he
considered it madness to permit that band of thieves to return to Eu
rope. If Nelson had not thoroughly understood the character of the
enemy, their conduct in Egypt would have disclosed it. After the bat
tle ofthe Nile he had landed all his prisoners, upon a solemn engage
ment that none of them should serve till regularly exchanged. They
were-no sooner on shore than part of them were drafted into different
regiments, and the remainder formed into a corps. This occasioned
Capt. Hallowell to say, that the French had forfeited all claim to res
pect from us. " The army of Buonaparte are entirely destitute of every
principle of honour." Buonaparte's escape was the more resrretted by
Nelson, because, if he had had sufficient force, he thought it would
certainly have been prevented. He wished to keep ships upon the
watch, to intercept any thing coming from Egypt : but the Admiralty
calculated upon the assistance of the Russian fleet, which failed when
it was most wanted. The bloody Corsican was thus enabled to reach
Europe in safety ; there to become the guilty instrument of a wider-
spreading destruction than any with which the world had ever before
been visited.
A ship ©ould not be spared to convey Nelson to England ; he there
fore travelled through Germany to Hamburgh, in company with his
inseparable friends, Sir W. and Lady Hamilton. The queen of Na
ples went with them to Venna. When they were at Leghorn, upon

LIFE OF NELSON. 95
» report that the French were approaching, the people rose tumult
ously, and would fain have persuaded Nelson to lead them against the
enemy. The prince of Esterhazy entertained him in a style of Hun
garian magnificence. A wine merchant, above 70 years of age, re
quested to speak with Lady Hamilton, and told her he had some Rhe
nish whine, ofthe vintage of'1625, which had been in his possession
more than half a century: he had preserved it for some extraordinary
occasion ; and that which had now arrived was far beyond any that
he fcould ever have expected. His request was, that her ladyship
would prevail upon Lord Nelson to accept 6 doz. of this incomparable
wine ; part of it would then have the honour to flow into the heart's
Mood of that immortal hero ; and this thought would make him happy
during the remainder of his life. Nelson, when this singufor request
was reported to him, went into the room, and taking the worthy old
gentleman kindly by the hand, eonsented to receive 6 bottles, provided
fhe donor would dine with him next day.

CHAPTER VI.

Nelson separates himself from his Wife — Northern Confederacy — He
goes to the Baltic, under Sir Hyde Parker — Battle of Copenhagen,
and subsequent Negotiation — Nelson is made a Viscount.
Nelson was welcomed in England with every mark of popular ho
nour. At Yarmouth, where he landed, every ship in the harbor hoist
ed her colours. The mayor and corporation waited upon him with
the freedom of the town. In London, he was feasted by the city, and
received the thanks ofthe common council for his great victory, and
a golden-hilted sword, studded with diamonds. Nelson had every
earthly blessing, except domestic happiness : he had forfeited that for
ever. Before he had been three months in England he separated from
Lady Nelson. Some of his last words to her were : " 1 call God to
witness, there is nothing in you or your conduct that I wish otherwise."
This was the consequence of his infatuated attachment to Lady Ham
ilton. It had before caused a quarrel with his son-in-law.
The Addington administration was just at this time formed ; and
Nelson, who had been made vice-admiral ofthe blue, was sent to the
Baltic, as second in command, under Sir Hyde Parker, by Earl St.
Vincent, the new first ford ofthe Admiralty. The three northern
courts had formed a confederacy for making England resign her naval
rights. Of these courts, Russia was guided hy the passions of its em
peror, Paul. Denmark was French at heart : ready to co-operate in
all the views of France, to recognise all her usurpations. Sweden,
under a king whose principles were right, and whose feelings were
generous, acted in acquiescence with the dictates of two powers whom
it feared to offend. The Danish navy consisted of 23 ships of the line
with about 31 frigates and smaller vessels, exclusive of guard-ships.
Sweden had 18 ships ofthe line, 14 frigates and sloops, 74 galleys and.
smaller vessels, besides gun-boats ; and this force was in a farbettei'

90

L1F£ OF NELSON.

state of equipment than the Danish. The Russians had 82 sail ofthe
line and 40 frigates. But the Russian fleet was ill-manned, ill-officered,
and ill-equipped. Such a combination under the influence of France
would soon have become formidable : and never did»the Britis-h cabi
net display more decision than in instantly preparing to crush it. They
erred in permitting any petty consideration to prevent them from ap
pointing Nelson to the command. The public properly murmured at
seeing it intrusted to another. When Nelson joined the fleet at Yar
mouth, he found the admiral " a little nervous about dark nights and
fields of ice." — "But we must brace up," said he ; "these are not times
for nervous systems. I hope we shall give our northern enemies that
hailstorm of bullets, which gives our dear country the dominion of the
sea. We have it, and all the devils in the north cannot take it from
us. if our wooden walls have fair play.
The fleet sailed on the 12th of March. Mr. Vansittart sailed in it;
the British cabinet still hoping to obtain its end by nogotiation. It was
well for England that Sir Hyde Parker placed a fuller confidence in
Nelson than the government seenis to have done atthismost important
erisis. Mr. Vansittarl left the fleet at the Sea w, and preceded it in a
frigate with a flag of truce. Precious time was lost by this delay, which
was to be purchased by the dearest blood of Britain and Denmark':
according to the Danes themselves, the intelligence that a British fleet
was seen off the Sound produced a much more general alarm in Co
penhagen than its arrival in the Roads. Nelson had a long conference
with Sir Hyde ; and the next day addressed a letter to him, worthy of
himself and of the occasion. Mr. Vansittart's report had then been
received. It represented the Danish government as in the highest de
gree hostile ; and their state of preparation as exceeding what our
cabinet had supposed possible: fbr Denmark had profited ofthe leis
ure which had so impoliticly been given her. " The more I have re
flected," said Nelson to his commander, " the more I am confirmed in
opinion, that not a moment should he lost in attacking the enemy."
Supposing him to force the passage ofthe Sound, Nelson tho't some
damage might be done among the masts and yards ; though perhaps
not one of them but would be serviceable again. "If tbe wind be
fair," said he, " and you determine to attack the ships and Crown I-
slands, you must expect the natural issue of such a battle — ships crip*-
pled, and perhaps one or two lost; for the wind which carries you in,
will most, probably not bring out a crippled ship. It will not prevent
the Revel ships or the Swedes from joining the Danes : and to prevent
this is, a measure absolutely necessary : and still to attack Copenha
gen." For this he proposed two modes. One was, to pass Cronenburg.
taking the risk of danger; taking the deepest andstraightest channel.
This would prevent a junction, and might give an opportunity of bom
barding Copenhagen. Or to take the passage ofthe Belt, which might
be accomplished in four or five days ; and then the attack by Draco
might be made, and the junction of the Russians prevented. Suppo
sing them thro' the Belt, lie proposed that a detachment of the fleet
should be sent to destroy the Russian squadron at Revel ; and that the
business at Copenhagen should be attempted with the remainder.
The pilots, as men who had nothing but safety to think of. were ter
rified by tho formidable report ofthe batteries of Elsinore. and the tre
mendous preparations which our negotiators, who were now returned

LIFE OF NELSON. ©7
from, their fruitless mission, had witnessed. They therefore persuaded
Sir Hyde to prefer the passage ofthe Belt. " Let it be by the Sound
by ihe Belt, or any how," cried Nelson, " only lose not an hour !" On
the 27th they sailed for the Belt: such was the habitual reserve of Sir
Hyde, that his own captain, the captain of the fieet, did not know
which course he had resolved to take till the fieet were getting under
way. When Capt. Domett was thus apprised of it, he felt it his duty
to represent to the admiral his belief that if that course were persevered
in, th" ultimate object would be totally defeated : it was liable to long
delays, and to accidents of ships' grounding; in the whole fleet there
were only one captain and one pilot who knew any thing of this for
midable passage, and their knowledge was very slight : their instruc
tions did not authorize them to attempt it ;— supposing them safe thro'
the Belts, the heavy ships could not come overthe Grounds to attack
Copenhagen; and light vessels would have no effect on such a line of
defence as had been prepared against them. Domett urged these rea
sons so forcibly that Sir Hyde was shaken in his opinion, and he con
sented to bring the fleet to, and send for Nelson on board. There can
be little doubt but that the expedition would have failed, if Captain
Domett had not thus timely and early given his advice. Nelson en
tirely agreed with him ; and it was finally determined to take the pas- '
sage of the Sound ; and the fleet returned to its former anchorage.
The next day was more idly expended in despatching a flag of
truce to the Governor of Cronenburg Castle, to ask whether he had
received orders to fire at the British fleet; as the admiral must consi
der the first gun to be a declaration of war on the part of Denmark.
A solder-like and becoming answer was returned to this formality.
The governor said, that the British minister had not been sent away
from Copenhagen, but had obtained a passport at his own demand.
He himself, as a soldier, could not med lie ivith politics; but he was
not at liberty to suffer a fleet, of which the intention was not yet known,
to approach the guns of the castle which he had the honour to com
mand: and he requested, if the British admiral should think proper to
make any proposals to the king of Denmark, that he might be appri
zed of it before the fleet approached nearer. During this intercourse,
a Dane, who came on board the commander's ship, having occasion
to express his business in writing, found the pen blunt ; and, holding
it up, sarcastically said, " If your guns are not better pointed than
your pens, you will make little impression on Copenhagen f"
On that day, intelligence reached the admiral of the loss of one of
his fleet, the Invincible, seventy-four, wrecked on a sandbank, as she
was coming out of Yarmouth ; 400 of her men perished in her. Nel
son, who was now appointed to lead the van, shifted his flag to the
Elephant, Capt. Foley — a lighter ship than the St. Georse, nnd there
fore fitter for the expected operatiosis. The two following days were
calm. Orders had been given to pass the Sound as soon as the wind
would permit ; and on the afternoon of the 29th, tbe ships were clear
ed for action, with an alacrity characteristic of British seamen. At
daybreak on the 30th, it blew a topsail breeze from the north-west.
The signal was made, and the fleet moved on in order of battle; Nel
son's division in the van, Sir Hyde's in the centre, and Admiral Gh-ave>
*n the rear, %

98

LIFE OF NELSON.

The Sound being the only frequented entrance to the Baltic, the
great Mediterranean of the North, few parts of the sea display so
frequent a navigation. In the height ofthe season not fewer than 100
vessels pass every 24 hours, for many weeks in succession : but never
had so busy or so splendid a scene been exhibited there as on this
day, when the British fleet prepared to force that passage, where,
till now, all ships had veiled their topsails to the flag of Denmark.
The whole force consisted of 51 sail of various descriptions ; of which
16 were of the line. The greater part of the bomb and gun vessels
took their stations off Cronenburg Castle, to cover the fleet; while,
others on tbe larboard were ready to engage the Swedish shore. The
Danes, having improved every moment which ill-t.med negotiation and
baffling weather gave them, had lined their shore with batteries ; and
as soon as the Monarch, which was the leading ship, came abreast of
them, a fire was opened from about 100 pieces of cannon and mortars:
our light vessels immediately, in return, opened their fire upon the cas
tle. Here was all the pompous circumstance, and exciting reality of
war, without its effects; for this ostentatious display was but a blood
less prelude of the wide and sweeping destruction which was soon to
follow. The enemies' shot fell near enough to splash the water on
-board our ships : not relying upon any forbearance of the Swedes,
they meant to have kept the raid channel ; but, when they perceived,
that not a shot was fired from Helsinburg, and that no batteries were
to be seen on the Swedish shore, they inclined to that side, so as com
pletely to get out of reach of the Danish guns. The uninterrupted
blaze which was kept up from them till the fleet had passed, served
only to exhilerate our sailors, and afforded them matter of jest, as the
shot fell in showers a full cable's length from its destined aim. A few
rounds were returned from some of our leading ships till they percei
ved the inutility of if'; — this, however, occasioned the only bloodshed
of the day, some of our men being killed and wounded by the bursting
ot a gun. As soon as the main body had passed, the gun vessels fol
lowed, desisting from their bombardment, which had been as innocent
as tbat of the enemy, and about midday, the whole fleet aachored be
tween the island of Huen and Copenhagen. Sir Hyde, with Nelson,
Admiral Graves, some of the senior captains, and the commanding
officers of the artillery and troops, then proceeded in a lugger, lo rec»
connoitre the enemy's means of defence: a formidable line of ships,
redeaus, pontoons, galleys, fire-ships, and gun-boats, flanked and sup
ported by extensive batteries, and occupying, from one extreme point
to the other, an extent ol nearly four miles.
A council of war was held in the afternoon. It was apparent that the
Danes could not be attacked without great difficulty and risk ; and
some ofthe members ofthe council spoke of the number ofthe Swedes
and the Russians whom they should afterward have to engage, as a
consideration which ought to be borne in mind. Nelson, who kept pa
cing the cabin, impatient as he ever was of any thing which savoured
of irresolution, repeatedly said, "The more numerous the better; I
wish they were twice as many, — the easier the victory, depend on it."
The plan upon which he had determined, if ever it should be his for
tune to bring a Baltic fleet^b action, was, to attack the head of their
line, and confuse their movements. — " Close with a Frenchman," he

LIFE OF NELSON.

99

used to say, " but out-manceuvres a Russian." He offered his services
for the attack, requiring ten sail of the line, and the whole ofthe smaller
craft. Sir Hyde gave him two moreline-of-batfle ships than he asked.
and left every thing to his judgement.
The enemy's force was not the only, nor the greatest obstacle with
which the British fleet had to contend ; there was another to be over
come before they could come in contact with it. The channel was
little known, and extremely intricate ; all the buoys had been removed,
and the Danes considered this difficulty as almost insurmountable thinking
the channel impracticable for so large a fleet. Nelson himself saw the
soundings made, and, the buoys laid down, boating it upon this exhaust
ing service, day and night, until it was effected. When this was done,
he thanked God for having enabled him to get through this difficult
part of his duty. " It had worn him down," he said, " and was infinite
ly more grievous to him than any resistance which he could experience
from the enemy."
At the first council of war opinions inclined to an attack from the
eastward : but the next day, the wind being southerly, after a second
examination ofthe Danish position, it was determined to attack from
the south, approaching in the manner which NelsOn had suggested in
his first thoughts. On the morning ofthe 1st of April, the whole fleet
removed to an anchorage within two leagues of the town, and off the
N. W. end of the Middle Ground : a shoal lying exactly before the
town, about three quarters of a mile distant, and extending along its
whole sea front. The King's channel, where there is deep water, is
between this shoal and the town ; and here the Danes had arranged
their line of Defence, as near the shores as possible ; nineteen ships and
floating batteries, fianked at the end nearest the town by the Crown
Batteries, which were two artificial islands, at the mouth of the har
bour—most formidable works ; the larger one having, by the Danish
account, sixty-six guns ; but as Nelson believed, eighty-eight. The
fleet having anchored, Nelson, with Rion, in the Amazon, made his
lafst examination on the ground ; and about one o'clock, retuining to
his own ship, threw out the signal to weigh. It was received with a
shout throughout the whole division ; they weighed with a light and fa
vourable wind: the narrow channel between the island of Saltholm and
the Middle Ground had been actually bouyed ; the small craft pointed
out the course distinctly ; Riou led the way ; the whole division coast
ed along the outer edge ofthe shoal, doubled its farther extremity, and
anchored there off Draco Point, just as the darkness closed — the head
most ofthe enemy's line not being more than two miles distant. The
signal to prepare for action had been made early in the evening ; and,
as his own anchor dropped, Nelson called out, " I will fight them the
moment I have a fair wind." It had been agreed that Sir Hyde, with
the remaining ships, should weigh on the following morning, at the
same time as Nelson, to menace the Crown Ateries on his side, and
the four ships ofthe line which lay at the entrance ofthe arsenal ; and
to cover our own disabled ships as they came out of action.

IQQ -Life OF NELSON.
The Danes, meantime, had not been idle : no sooner did the guns of
Cronenburg make it known to the whole city that all negotiation was at
an end, that the British fleet was passing the Sound, and that the dis
pute between the two crowns must now be decided by arms, than a
spirit displayed itself most honourable to the Danish character. All
ranks offered themselves to the service of their c untry ; the univer
sity furnished a corps of twelve hundred youths, the flower of Den
mark: it was one of those emergencies in which little drilling or dis
cipline is necessary to render courage available ; they had nothing to
learn but how to manage the guns, and day and night were employed
in practising them. When the movements of Nelson's squadron were
perceived, it was known when and where the attack was to be expected,
and the line of defence was manned indiscrimnately by soldiers, sailors,
and citizens. Had not the whole attention of the Danes been directed
to strengthen their own means of defence, they might most materially
have annoyed the invading squadron, and, perhaps, frustrated the im
pending attack ; for the British ships were crowded in an anchoring
ground of little extent : — it was calm, so that mortar-boats might have
acted against them to the utmost advantage; and they were within
range of shells from Amak island. A few fell among them bat the en
emy soon ceased to fire. It was learned afterward, that, fortunately
for the fleet, the bed of the mortar had given way ; and the Danes ei
ther could not get it replaced, or, in the darkness, lost their direction.
This was an awful night for Copenhagen, — far more so than for the
British fleet, where the men were accustomed to battle and victory, and
had none of thos6 objects before their eyes which rendered death terri
ble. Nelson sat down to table with a large party of his officers : he
was, as he was ever wont to be when on the eve of action, in high spir
it, and drank to a leading wind, ?nd to the success ofthe morrow.
After supper they returned to their respective ships, except Riou, who
remained to arrange the order of battle with Nelson and Foley, and to
draw up instruction ; Hardy, mean time, went in a small boat to exam
ine the channel between them and the enemy ; approaching so nea^
that he sounded round their leading ship with a pole, lest the noise of
throwing the lead should discover him. The incessant fatigue of body
as well as mind, which Nelson had undergone during the last three
days, had so exhausted him, that he was earnestly urged to his cot;
and his old servant Allen, using that k;nd of authority, which long and
affectionate services entitled and enabled him to assume on such occa
sions, insisted upon his complying. The cot was placed on the floor,
and he continued to dictate from it. About eleven, Hardy returned,
and reported the practicability of the channel, and the depth of water up
to the enemy's line. About one, the orders were completed ; and half a
dozen clerks, in the foremost cabin proceeded to transcribe them : Nel
son frequently calling out to hasten their work, for the wind was be
coming fair. Instead of ^tempting to get a few hours' sleep, he was
constantly receiving reports on this important point. At daybreak, it
was announced as becoming perfectly fair. The clerks finished theie.

LIFE OF NELSON, iqi
work about six. Nelson, who was already up, breakfasted, and made
signals for all captains. The land forces, and five hundred seamen,
under Captain Freemantle and the Hon. Col. Stewart, were to storm
the Crown Battery as soon as its fire should be silenced : and Riou 
whom Nelson had never seen till this expedition, but whose worth he
had instantly perceived, and appreciated as it deserved — had the Blanche
and Alcmene frigates, the Dart and Arrow sloops, and the Zephyr and
Otter fireshipp, given him, with a special command to act as circum-
cumstances might require : — every other ship had its station appointed.
Between eight and nine, the pilots and masters were ordered on board
the Admiral's ships. The pilots were mostly men "ho had been mates
in Baltic traders ; and their hesitation about their bearing off the east
end ofthe shoal, and the exact line of deep water, gave omnious warn-
icg of how little their knowledge was to be trusted. The signal for ac
tion had been made, the wind was fair — not a moment to be lost. Nel
son urged them to be steady, — to be resolute, and to decide : but they
wanted the only ground for steadiness and decision in such cases ; and
Nelson had reason to regret that he had not trusted to Hardy's single
report- This was one ofthe most painful moments of his life ; and he
also spoke of it with bitterness. " I experienced in the Sound," said
he, " the misery of having the honour of our country intrusted to a set
of pilots, who have no other thought than to keep the ships clear of dan
ger, and their own silly heads clear of shot. Every body knows what I
must have suffered : and if any merit attaches itself to me, it was for
combating the dangers of the shallows in defiance of them. At length,
Mr. Bryerly, the master of the Bellona, declared that he was*" prepared
to lead the fleet : his judgement was acceded to by the rest : they re
turned to their ships; and, at half-past nine, Ihe signal was made fo
weigh in succession.
Captain Murray, in the Edgar, led the way ; the Agamemnon was
next in order; but on the first atfempt to leave her anchorage, she
could not weather the edge ofthe shoal ; and Nelson nad the grief to
3ece his old ship, ih which he had performed so many years' gallant ser
vices, immoveably aground, at a moment when her help was so greatly
required. Signal was then made for the Polyphemus : and this change
in the order of sailing was executed with the utmost promptitude : yet
so much delay had been thus unavoidably occasioned, that the Edgar
was for some time unsuported : and the Polyphemus, whose place should
have been at the head ofthe enemy's line where their strength was the
greatest, could get no farther than the beginning, owing to the difficul
ty of the channel : there she occupied, indeed an efficient station, but
one where his prcsen.ee was less required. The Isis followed, with bet
ter fortune, and took her own birth. The Bellona, Sir Thomas
Boulde Thompson, kept too close on the Starboard Shoal, and ground
ed abreast ofthe outer ship ofthe enemy : this was the more vexatious,
inasmuch as the wind was fair, the room ample, and three ships had
led the way. The Russell, following the Bellona, grounded in like
manner: both were within reach of shot : but their absence from their

102

LIFE OF NELSON.

intended stations was severely felt. Each ship had been ordered to
pass her leader on the starboard side, because the water was supposed
too shallow on the larboard shore. Nelson, who came next after
these two sIiids, thought they had kept too for on the starboard direc
tion, and made signal for them to close with the enemy, not knowing
that they were aground : but when he perceived that they did not obey
the signal, he ordered the Elephant's helm, to starboard, aud went
within these ships : thus quitting the appointed order of sailing, and
guiding those which were to follow. The greater part of the fleet were
probably by this act of promptitude on his part, saved from going on
shore. Each ship as she arrived neaily opposite her appointed station,
let her anchor go by the stern, and presented her broadside to the
Danes. The distance between each was about half a cable. The ac
tion was fought nearly at the distance of a cable's length from the ene
my. This, which rendered its continuance so long, was owing to the
ignorance and consequent decision of the pilots. In pursuance ofthe
same error which had led the Bellona and the Russel aground; they, when
the lead was at a quarter less five, refused to approach nearer, in dread
of shoaling their water onthe larboard shore: a fear altogether erroneous,
for the water deepened up to the very side ofthe enemy's line.
At 5 minutes after ten the action began ; end by half-past 11 the bat
tle became general. Tht plan of the attack had been complete. Of 12
ships ofthe line, one was entirely useless, and two others in a situa
tion where they could not render half the service which was required
of them. Ofthe squadron of gun-brigs, only one could get into action;
ihe rest were prevented by baffling currents from weathering the east
ern end of the shoal ; only two bomb-vessels could reach their station
and open their mortars on the arsenal. Nelson's agitation had been
extreme when he saw himself deprived ofthe fourth partcf his ships of
the line; but no sooner was he in battle, where his squadron was re
ceived with the fire of 1,000 guns, than his countenance brightened ;
and, as a bystander describes him, his conversation became joyous and
animated. The commander-in-chief suffered the most dreadful anxiety.
To get to the assistance of Nelson was impossible ; both wind and cur--,
rent were against him. Fear ofthe event, in such circumstances,"
would naturally preponderate in the bravest mind ; and perceiving
"hat, after three hours, the enemy's fire was unslacked, he began to
despair. " I will make the signal of recall," said he to his captain, "for
Nelson's sake. If he is in a condition to continue the action suc
cessfully, he will disregard it; if he is not, it will be an excuse for his
retreat, and no blame can be imputed to him." Captain Domett urged
him at least to delay the signal, till he could commur-icate with Nel
son ; but, in Sir. Hyde's opinion, the danger was too pressing for delay :
— " The fire," he said, " was too hot for Nelson to oppose ; a retreat
he thought must be made, — he was aware ofthe consequsnees to his
own personal reputation, but it would be cowardly in him to leave
Nelson to bear the whole shame of the failure, if shame it should be
deemed." Under a mistaken judgment, therefore, but with this disin
terested and generous feeling, he made the signal for retreat.
Nelson was at this time, in all the excitement of action, pacing the
quarter-deck. A shot through the mainmast knocked ths splinters a-.

LIFE OF NELSON. J(j3
bout; and he observed to one of his oflicers with a smile-, ¦• It is warm
work ; and this day may be the last to any of us ut a moment :"~aad
then, stopping short at tbe gangway, added, with emotion — " But mark
you ! I would not be elsewhere for thousands." About this liir.e the
signal lieutenant called out, that number thirty-nine (the signal for dis
continuing the action,), was thrown out by the commander-in-chief. 
He continued to walk ihe deck, and appeared to take no notice of it.
The signal officer met him at the next turn, and asked if he should re
peatit. "No," he replied; "-acknowledge it." Presently he called
after him to know if the signal for close action was still hoisted ; and
being answered in the affirmative, said, " Mind you keep it so." He
now paced the deck, moving the stump of his lost arm in a manner
which always indicated great emotion. "Do you know," said he to
Mr. Ferguson, " what is shown on board the commander-in-chief?
Numbr thirty-nine '" Mr. Ferguson asked what that meant. "Why,
to, leave off action !" Then, shrugging up his shoulders, he repeated
the words — "Leave off action? Now, damn me if I do! You knew,
Foley," turning to the captain, " I have only one eye, — I have a right
to be blind sometimes:'' — and then, putting the glass to his blind eye,
in that mood of mind which sports with bitterness, he exclaimed, -' I
really do not see the signal!" Presently he .exclaimed, "Damn the
signal. Keep mine for closer battle flying ! That's the way 1 answer
such signals ! Nail mine to to the mast!"
Admiral Graves, who was so situated that he could not discern what
was done on board the Elephant, disobeyed Sir Hyde's signal in like
manner. The other ships of the line, looking only to Nelson, continu
ed the action. The signal, however, saved Riou's little squadron, but
did not save its heroic leader. This squadron, which was nearer the
commander-in-chief, obeyed, and hauled off. For a long time the Ama
zon had been firing, enveloped in smoke, when Riou desired his men
to stand fast, and let the smoke clear off, that they might see what they
were about. A fatal order; for the Danes then got clear <ight of her
from the batteries, and pointed their guns with such tremendous effect,
that nothing but the signal for retreat saved this frigate from desrtuc-
tion. " What will Nelson think of us !" was Riou's mournful exclama
tion, when he unwillingly drew off. He had been wounded in the head
by a splinter, and was sitting on a gun, encouraging his men, when, just
as the Amazon showed her stern to the Trekoner battery, his clerk
was killed by his side; and another shot swept away several marines,
who were hauling in the main brace. " Come, then, my boys !" cried
Riou ; " let us die all together !" The words had scarcely been utter
ed, before a raking shot cut him in two. Except it had been Nelson
himself, the British navy could not have suffered a severer loss.
The action continued along the line with unabated vigour on our
side, and with the most determined resolution on the part of the Danes,
They fought to great advantage, because most of ths vessels in their
line of defence were without masts : the few wbich had any standing
had their topmasts struck, and the hulls could not be seen at intervals.
The Isis must have been destroyed by tho superior weight of her ene
my's fire, if Capt. In man, in the Desiree frigate, had not judiciously
taken a situation which had enabled him to rake the Dane, and if the

|()4 LIFE OF NfcLSON.
Polyphemus had not also relieved her. Both in the Bellona and Isi's
many were lost by the bursting of their guns. The former ship was
about forty years old, and these guns were believed to be the same
which she had taken to sea: they were, probably, originally faulty;
for the fragments were full of little air-holes. The Bellona lost 75
men ; the Isis, 110; the Monarch, 210. She was, more than any other
line-of- battle ship, exposed to the great battery ; and, supporting at
the same time the united fire of the Holstein and the Zealand, her loss
this day exceeded that of any single ship during the whols war.
Amid the tremendous carnage in this vessel, some ofthe men display
ed a singular instance of coolness ; the pork and pease happened to
be in the kettle ; a shot knocked its contents about; they picked up the
pieces, and ate and fought at the same time.
The prince royal had taken his station upon one of the batteries,
from whence he beheld the action, and issued his orders. Denmark
had never been engaged in so arduous a contest, and never did the
Danes more nobly display their national courage ; a courage not more
unhappily, than impolitic.ally exerted in subserviency to the interest of
France. Capt, Thura, of the Indfoedsretten. fell early in the action ;
and all his officers, except one lieutenant and one marine officer, were
either killed or badly wounded. In the ccnfusion, the colors were ei
ther struck, or shot away; but she was moored athwart one of the
batteries, in such e situation that the British made no attempt to
board her; and a boat was despatched to the prince, to inform him of
her situation. He turned to those about him, and said, " Gentlemen,
Thura is killed ; which of you will take the command ?" Schroeder-
see, a captain who had lately resigned, on account of extiemely ill
health, answered in a feeble voice, "I will!" and hastened on board.
The crew, perceiving a new commander coming alongside, hoisted
their colours again, and fired another broadside. Schroedersee, when
he came on deck, found himself surrounded by the dead and wounded,
and called to those in the boat to get quickly on board : a ball str.ick
him at that moment. A lieutenant, who had accompanied him, then
took the command, and continued to fight the shii.
Between one and two, the fire of the enemy slackened ; about two,
it ceased from the greatei part of their line, and some of their lighter
ships were adrift. It was, however, difficult to take possession of those
who struck, because the batteries on Amak Island protected them;
and because an irregular fire was kept up from the ships themselves as
the boats approached. This arose from the nature of the action ; the
crews were continually reinforced from the shore; and fresh men co
ming on board, and not inquire whether the flag had been struck, or,
perhaps, did not heed it ; many, or most of them, not having been en
gaged in war before, — knowing, therefore, of its laws, and thinking
only of defending their country to the last extremity. TheDanbrog,
fired upon the Elephant's boats in this manner, though the commodore
had removed her penant and deserted her, though she was in flames.
After she had abandoned the commodore, Braum fought her until he
lost his right hand, and then Capt. Lemming took the command. This
unexpected renewal of her fire, made the Elephant and Glatfon renew

LIFE OF NELSON.

105

theirs, till she was not only silenced, but nearly every man in the
prames, ahead and astern of her, were killed. When the smoke'of her
guns died away, she was seen drifting in flames before the wind : those
of her crew who remained alive, and able to exert themselves, throwing
themselves out at-our port-holes. Capt. Bertie , of the Ardent, sent
his launch to their assistance, and saved three-and-twenty of them.
By half-past two the action had ceased along that part of the line
which was astern ofthe Elephant, but not with the ships ahead and the
Crown batteries. Nelson, seeing the manner in which his boats were
fired upon, when they went to take possession of the prizes, became
angry, *iid*eaid, he must either send on shore to have this irregular
proceeding stopped, or send a fireship and burn them. Half the. shot
from the Trekroner, and from the batteries at Amak, at- this time struck
the surrendered ships, four of which had got close together : and the fire
ofthe English, in return, was equally, or even more, destructive to
these poor devoted Danes. Nelson, who was as humane as he was
brave, was shocked at this massacre, — for such he called it ; and with
a presence of mind peculiar to himself, and never more signally dis
played than now, he retired into the stern-gallery, and wrote thus to the
Crown Prince : " Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson has been commanded
to spare Denmark, when she no longer resists. The line of defence
which covered her shores has struck to tbe British flag; but if the
firing is continued on tbe part of Denmark, he must set on fire all the
prizes that he has taken, without having the power of saving the men
who have so nobly defended them. The brave Danes are the brothers,
and should never be the enemies, ofthe English." A wafer was given
him ; but he ordered a candle to be brought from the cockpit, and
sealed the letter with wax, affixing a larger seal than he ordinarily
u^ed. " This," said he, is no time to appear hurried and informal."
Capt. Sir Frederic Thesiger, who acted as his aid-de-camp, carried
this letter with a flag of truce. IVleantime, the fire ofthe ships ahead,
und the approach of the Ramillics and Defence, from Sir Hyde's divi
sion, which had now worked near enough to alarm the enemy, though
not to injure them, silenced the remainder of the Danish line to the
eastward of the Trekoner. That battery, however, continued its fire.
This formidable work, owing to tbe want of the ships tbat had been
destined to attack it, arid the inadequate force of Riou's little squadron,
was comparatively uninjured : towards tbe close of the action, it had
been manned with nearly 15,000 men ; and the intention of storming
it, for which every preparation had been made, was abandoned as
impracticable. Daring Thesiger's absence, Nelson sent for Freemantle, from the
Ganges, and consulted with him and Foley, whether it was advisable
to advance, with those ships which had sustained least damage, against
Ihe yet uninjured pait of the Danish line. They were decidedly of
opinion, that tbe best thing which could be done was, while the wind
Continued fair to remove the fleet out of the intricate channel, from
which it had to retreat. In somewhat more than half an hour after
Thesiger had been despatched, the Danish adjutant general Lindhplm
came, bearing a flag of truce; upon which the Trekoner ceased to
fire and the action ceased, after four hour's continuance. Ne brought
14

k

106 LffiE OF NELSON.
an inquiry from the prince, What was the object of Nelson's note ?
The British admiral wrote in reply : " Lord Nelson's object in sending
the flag of truce was humanity : he therefore consents that hostilities
shall cease, and that the wounded Danes may be taken on shore. And
Lord Nelson will take his prisoners out of the vessels, and burn or
carry off his prizes as he shall think fit. Lord Nelson, with humble
duty to his royal highness the prince, will consider this the greatest
victory he has ever gained, if it may be the cause of a happy reconci
liation between his owinnost gracious sovereign and his majesty the
king of Denmark." Sir Frederic Thesiger was despatched a second
time with the reply ; and the Danish adjutant-general was referred to
the commander-in-chief for a conference upon this overture. Lind
holm assenting to this, proceeded to the London, which was riding at
anchor full four miles off; and Nelson, losing not one of the precious,,
moments which he had thus gained, made signal for his leading ships
to weigh in succession ; they had the shoal to clear, they were much
crippled, and their eourse was immediately under the guns of the
Trekroner. The Monarch led the way. This ship had received 26 shot between
wind and water. She had not a shroud standing ; there was a double-
headed shot in the heart of her foremast, and the slightest wind would
have sent every mast over her side. The imminent danger from which
Nelson had extricated himself soon became apparent: the Monarch
touched immediately upon a shoal, over which it was pushed by the
Ganges taking her amid ships; the Glatton went clear; but the other
two, the Defiance and the Elephant, grounded about a mile from the
Trekoner, and there remained fixed for many hours. The Desiree fri
gate also became fast on the same shoal. Nelson left the Elephant,
soon after she took the ground, to follow Lindholm. The heat of action
was over; the sky had suddenly becom overcast; white flags were
waving from the mastheads of so many shattered ships ; and though
the work of mutual destruction was at an end, the Danborg was drift
ing in flames: presently she blow up; while our boats were endeavor
ing to pick up her devoted crew, few of whom could be saved. The
fate of these men, after the gallantry which they had displayed, parti
cularly affected Nelson : for there was nothing in this action of that
indignation against the enemy, and that impression of retributive jus
tice, which at the Nile had given a sterner temper to his mind. Nelson
was not here master of his own movements, as in Egypt ; he had won
the day by disobeying his orders; and in so far as he had been success
ful, had convicted the commander-in-chief of an error in judgment.
" Well," said he, as he left the Elephant, " I have fought contrary to
orders, and I shall perhaps be hanged. Never mind : let them !" '
This was the lahg«age of a man who, while he is giving utterance
to an uneasy thought, clothes it half in jest, because he half repents
that it has been disclosed. His services had been too eminent on that
day— his judgment too conspicuous : which Sir Hyde heartiiy felt —
It was agreed that there should be a suspension of hostilities for 24
hours ; that all the prizes should be surrendered, and the wounded
Danes carried on shore The boats of Sir Hyde's division were ac
tively employed all night in bringing out the prizes, and in getting a-'
float the ships which were on shore.

LIFE OP NELSON. 107
This was, indeed, a mournful day for Copenhagen ! It was Good
Friday ; but the general agitation made all distinction of days be for-
gotton. There were, perhaps, thousands, and more, in that city, who
felt the consolations bf Christianity ; but few or none who could be
calm enough to think of its observances. Our loss, in killed and
wounded, was 953 Part of this slaughter might have been spared.—
The commanding officer ofthe troops on board one of our ships asked
where his men should be stationed ? He was told that they could be
of no use; that they were not near enough for musketry ; and had
better go below. This, he said, was impossible — it would be a dis
grace that could never be wiped away. They were, therefore, drawn
up upon the gangway, to satisfy this cruel point of honour: and there
they were mowed down ! The lows ofthe Danes, including prisoners,
amounted to about 6,000. The negotiations, meantime, went on ; and
it was agreed that Nelson should have an interview with the prince
the following day. Hardy and Freemantle landed With him. This was
a thing as unexampled as the other circumstances of the battle. A
strong guard was appointed to escort him to the palace, as much for
the purpose of security as of honour. The populace, according to the
British account, showed a mixture of admiration, curiosity, and dis
pleasure, at beholding .that man in the midst of them who had inflicted
such wounds upon Denmark. But there were neither acclamations nor
murmurs. " The people," says a Dane, " did not degrade themselves
with the former, nor disgrace themselves with the latter : the admiral
was received as one brave enemy ever ought to receive another. The
preliminaries of the negotiation were adjusted at this interview. Du
ring the repast which followed, Nelson bore willing testimony to the
valour of his foes. He told the prince that he had been in a hundred
and five engagements, but that this was the most tremendous of all."
The negotiation was continued during the five following days ; and
the prizes were disposed of in a manner Which was little approved by
Nelson. Six line-of-battle ships and eight prames had been taken. Of
these the Holstein, sixty-four, was the only one Which was sent home.
The Zealand was a finer ship: but the Zealand, and allthe others
were burned, and their brass battering cannon sunk with tbe hulls in
such shoal water, that, when the fleet returned from Revel, they fonnd
the Danes, with craft over the wrecks, employed in getting the guns.
Nelson, though he forbore from any public expression of displeasure
at seeing the proofs and trophies of his victory destroyed, did not for
get to represent to the admiralty tbe case of those who were thus de
prived of their prize money. "Whether,"said he to Earl St. Vincent,"Sir
Hyde Parker may mention the subject to you, I know not ; for he is
rich and does not want it : nor is it, you will not believe me, any desire
to get a few hundred pounds that actuates me to address this letter to
you but justice to tbe brave officers and men who fought on that day. It
it is true, our opponents were in hulks and floats, only adapted for the
position they were in ; but that made our battle so much the harder,
and victory so much the more difficult to obtain. Believe me, I have
weighed all circumstances ; and, in my conscience, I think that the
king should send a gracious message to the house of commons for a
gift to this fleet : for what must be the natural feelings ofthe officers and
men belonging to it, to see their rich commander-in-chief burn all the
fruits of their victory,— which, if fitted up and sent to England fas ma-

108 LIFE OF NELSON.
ny of Ihem might have been by dismantling part of our fleet), would
have sold for a good round «um."
On Ihe 9th Nelson landed again, to conclude the terms of Ihe armis
tice. During its continuance the armed ships and vessels of Denmark
were to remain in their then actual situation, as to armament, equip
ment, and hostile position ; and the treaty of armed neutrality, as far
as related to the co-operation of'Denmark, was suspended. The pris
oners were to be sent on shore: an acknowledgment being given for
them, and for the wounded also, that tbey might be carried to Great
Britain's credit in the account of war in case hostilities should be re
newed. The British fleet Was allowed to providje itself with all things
requisite for the health and comfort of its men. A difficulty arose res
pecting the duration of the armistice. The Danish commissioners fair
ly stated their fears of Russia ; and Nelson, with that frankness whirh
sound policy and the sense of power seem often to require as well as
justify in diplomacy, told them, his reason for demanding a long term
was, that he might have time to act against the Russian fleet, and then
return to Copenhagen. Neither party would yield upon this point :
and one of the Danes hinted at the renewal of hostilities. " Renew
hostilities!" cried Nelson to one of his friends,-- -for he understood
French well enough to comprehend what was said, though not to an
swer it in the same language : — "tell him we are ready at a moment!
— ready to bombard this very night !" — The conference, however, pro
ceeded amicably on both sides ; and as the commissioners could not
agree upon this head, they broke up, leaving Nelson to settle it with
the prince. A levee wai held forthwith in one ofthe state roopis ; a
scene well suited for such a consultation : for all these rooms had been
stripped ot their furniture, in fear of a bombardment. To a bombard
ment also Nelson was looking at this time : fatigue and anxiety, and
vexation at the dilatory measures of the commander-in-chief, combined
to make him irritable : and as he was on the way to the prince's dining
room, he whispered to tbe officer on whose arm he was leaning. —
" Though I have only one eye, I can see that all this will burn well."
After dinner he was closeted with the prince ; and they agreed that
the armistice should continue 14 weeks ; and that, at its termination,
14 days' notice should be given before the recommencement of host i liles.
For the battle of Copenhagen, Nelson was raised to Ihe rank of Vis
count : — an inadequate mark of reward for services so splendid .and of
such paramount importance to the dearest interests of England. There
was, however, some prudence in dealing out hoimurs to him step by
sk-p : had he lived long enough, he would have fought his way up to
a dukedom.

LIFE OF NELSON. 109

CHAPTER VIII.
Sir Hyde Parker is recalled, and Nelson appointed Commander  He goes to
Revel — Settlement ef Affairs in ihe Baltic — Unsuccessful Attempt upon the
Ftotilla at Bologne — Peace of Amiens — Nelson takes the Command in the
Mediterranean on the Renewal of the War — Escape of the Toulon Fleet —
Nelson chases them to the (Vest Indies, and back — Delivers vp his Squadron
to Admiral Cornwallis, and lands in England.
When Nelson informed Earl St. Vincent that the armistice had been
concluded, he told him also, without reserve, his discontent at the dila-
toriness and indecision which he witnessed, and could npt remedy. "No
man," said he, " but those who are on the spot, can tell what I have
gone through, and do suffer. I make no scruple in saying, that I would
have been at Revel fourteen days ago ! that, without, this armistice, the
fleet would never have gone, but by order of the Admiralty ; and with
it, I dare say, we shall not go this week. I wanted Sir Hyde to let me,
at least, go and cruise off Carlscrona, to prevent the Revel ships from
getting in. I said I would not go to Revel to take any of those laurels,
which 1 was sure he would reap there. Think for me, my dear lord ;— -
and if I have deserved well, let me return : If ill, for heaven's sake su
persede me, — for I cannot exist in this state."
Fatigue, incessant anxiety, and a climate little suited to one of a ten
der constitution, which had now for many years been accustomed to
genial latitudes, made him at this time seriously determine upon return
ing home. " If the northern business were not settled," he said, "they
must send more admirals, for the keen air of the north had cut him to
the heart." He felt the want of activity and decision in the command
er-in-chief more keenly ; and this affected his spirits, and, consequently
his health, more than the inclemency ofthe Baltic. Soon after the ar
mistice was signed, Sir Hyde proceded to the eastward, with such ships
as were fit for service, leaving Nehon to follow with the rest, as soon
as those which had received slight damages should be repaired, and the
rest sent to England. In passing between the isles of Amark and Sal-
tholm, most of the ships touched the ground, and somo of them stuck
fast for a while : no serious injury, however, was sustained. It was sus
tained. It was intended to act against the Russians first, before the
breaking up ofthe frost should enable them to leave Revel ; but learn
ing on the way, that the Swedes had put to sea to effect a junction with
them, Sir Hyde altered his course, in hopes of intercepting this part of
-foe enemy'n force. Nelson had, at this time, provided for the more
pressing emergencies of the service, and prepared, on the ISth, to fol
low the fleet. The St. George drew too much water to pass (he chan
nel between the isles without being lightened: the guns were therefore
taken out, and put on board an American vessel : a contrary wind, how
ever, prevented Nelson from moving ; and on that same evening, while
he was thus delayed, information reached him ofthe Swedish and Brit
ish fleets, and the probability of an action. The fleet was newly ten

110 LIFE OF NELSON.
leagues distant ; and both wind and current contrary; but it was not
possible that Nelson could wait for a favourable season under such an
expectation. He ordered his boat immediately, and stepped into it.
Night was setting in, — one bf the cold spring nights of the north, and
it was discovered soon after they had left the ship, that in their haste,
they had forgotton to provide him with a boat cloak. He, however, for
bade them to return for one : and when one of his companions offered
his own great coat, and urged him to make use of it, he replied, "I
thank you very much, — but, to tell you the truth, my anxiety keeps me
sufficiently warm at present."
"Do you think," said he, presently, " that our fleet has quitted Born-
holm? If it has, we must follow it to Carlscrona." About midnight he
reached it, and once more got on board the Elephant. On the follow
ing morning the Swedes were discovered ; as soon, however, as they
perceived the English approached, they retired, and took shelter in
Carlscrona, behind the batteries on the island, at the entrance of that
port. Sir Hyde sent in a flag of truce, stating, that Denmark had con
cluded an armistice, and requiring an explicit declaration from the court
of Sweden, whether it would adhere to or abandon the hostile measures
which it had taken against the rights and interests of Great Britain ?
The commander, Vice-Admiral Cronstradt, replied, " That he could
not answer a question which did not come within the particular circle of
his duty; but that the King was then- at Maloe, and would soon be at
Carlscrona." Gustavus shortly afterward arrived, and an answer was
then returned to this effect: "That his Swedish majesty would not, for
a moment, fail to fulfil, with fidelity and sincerity, the engagements he
had entered into with his allies ; but he would not refuse to listen to
equitable proposals made by deputies furnished with proper authority
by the king of Great Britain to the united northern powers." Satisfied
with this answer, and with the known disposition ofthe Swedish court,
Sir Hyde sailed for the Gulf of Finland ; but he had not proceeded far,
before a despstch boat, from the Russain ambassador at Copenhagen,
arrived, bringing intelligence of the death of the emperor Paul : and
that his successor, Alexander, had accepted the offer made by England
to his father, of terminating the dispute by a convention ; the British
admiral was therefore required to desist from all farther hostilities.
It was Nelson's maxim, that, to negotiate with effect, force should be
at hand, and in a situation to act. The fleet, having been reinforced
from England, amounted to eighteen sail of the line ; and the wind was
fair for Revel. There he would have sailed immediately to place him
self between that division of the Russian fleet and the squadron at Cron-
stadt, in case this offer should prove insincere. Sir Hyde, on the other
hand, believed that the death of Paul had effected all which was neces
sary. The manner of that death, indeed, rendered it apparent, that a
change of policy would take place in the cabinet of Petersburg : — but
Nelson never trusted any thing to the uncertain events of time, which
could possibly be secured by promptitude or resolution. It was not,
therefore, without severe mortification, that he saw the commander-in.-

LIFE OF NELSON. > Y J j'j
chief return to the coast of Zealand, and anchor in Kioge Bay ; there
to wait patiently for what might happen.
There the fleet remained, till despatches arrived from home on
the 5th of May, recalling Sir Hyde, and appointed Nelson commander-
in-chief. Nelson wrote to Earl St. Vincent that he was unable to hold this ho
nourable station. Admiral Graves also was so ill, as to be confined to
his bed ; and he entreated that some person might come out and take
the command. "I will endeavour," said he, "to do my best while I
remain : but, my dear lord, I shall either soon go to heaven I hope, or
must rest quiet for a time. If Sir Hyde were gone, I would now be un
der sail." On the day when this was written he received news of his
appointment. Not a moment was now lost. His first signal, as com-
m?nder-in-chief, was to hoist in all launches, and prepare to weigh :
and on the 7th he sailed from Kioge. Part ofhis fleet was left at Born-
holm, to watch the Swedes : from whom he required and obtained an
assurance, that the British trade in the Cattegat, and in the Baltic,
should not be molested ; and saying how unpleasant it would be to him
if any thing should happen which might, for a moment, disturb the re
turning harmony between Sweden and Great Britain, he apprized them
that he was not directed to abstain from hostilities should he meet with
the Swtbish fleet at sea. — Meantime, he himself, with ten sail ofthe line,
two frigates, a brig, and a schooner, made for the Gulf of Finland.
Paul, in one ofthe freaks of his tyranny, had seized upon all the British
effects in Russia, and even considered British subjects as his prisoners.
"I will have all the English shipping and property restored," said Nel
son, "buti will do nothing violently, — neither commit the affairs of my
country, nor suffer Russia to mix the affairs of Denmark or Sweden
with the detention of our ships." The wind was fair, and carried him
in four days to Revel Roads. But the bay had been clear of firm ice
on the 29th of April, while the English were lying idle at Kioge. The
Russians had cut through the ice in the mole six feet thick, aind their
whole squadron had sailed for Cronstadt on the third. Before that it had
been at the mercy of the English. "Nothing," Nelson said, "if it had
been right to make the attack, could have saved one ship of them in two
hoursafter our entering the bay."
It so happened that there was no cause to regret the opportunity which
had been lost, and Nelson immediately put the intentions of Russia lo
the proof. He sent on shore, to say, that he came with friendly views,
and was ready to return a salute. — On their part the salute was delayed,
till a message was sent to them, to inquire for what reason ; and the
officer, whose neglect had occasioned the delay, was put under arrest.
Nelson wrote to the emperor, proposing to wait on him personally, and
congratulate him on his accession, urged the immediate release of Brit
ish subjects, and restoration of British property.
The answer arrived on the 16th : Nelson, meantime, had exchanged
visits with the governor, and the most friendly intercourse had subsist
ed between the ships and the shore. Alexander's ministers, in their re-

118

LIFE OF NELSON.

ply, expressed their surprise at the arrival of a British fleet in a
Russian port, and their wish that it should return : they professed, on
the part of Russia, the most friendly disposition towards Great Bri
tain ; but declined the personal visit of Lord Nelson, unless he came
in a single ship. There was a suspicion implied in this, which stung
Nelson : and he said, the Russian ministers would never have written
thus if their fleet had been at Revel. — He wrote an immediate reply,
expressing what he felt: he told the court of Petersburg, "that the
word of a British admiral, was as sacred as that as any sovereign's in
Europe." Having despatched this, he stood out to sea immediately,
leaving a brig to bring off the provisions which had been contracted
for, and to settle the accounts. On his way down the Baltic, however, "
he met the Russian admiral Tchitchagof, whom the Emperor, in reply
to Sir Hyde's overtures, had sent to communicate personally with the
British commander-in-chief. The reply was such as had been wished
and expected : and these negotiators going, seamen-like, straight to
their object, satisfied each other of the friendly intentions of their res
pective governments. Nelson then anohored off Rostock : and there
he received an answer to his last despatch from Revel, in which the
Russian court expressed their regret that there should have been any
misconception between them ; informed him, that the British vessels
which Paul had detained were ordered to be liberated, and invited
him to Petersburg in whatever mode might be most agreeable to
himself. Other honours awaited him : — the Duke of Mecklenburgh
Strelitz, the queen's brother, came to visit him on board his ship; and
towns ofthe inland parts of Mecklenburgh sent deputations, with their
public books of record, that they might have the name of Nelson in
them written by his own hand.
From Rostock the fleet returned to Kioge Bay. Nelson saw that
the temper ofthe Danes towards England was such as naturally arose
from the chastisement which they had so recently received. " In this
nation," said he, " we shall not be forgiven for having the upper hand
of them : — I only thank God we have, or they would try to humble
us to the dust." He saw also that the Danish cabinet was complete
ly subservient to France: a French officer was at this lime the com
panion and counsellor of the crown prince; and things were done in
such open violation ofthe armistice, that Nelson thought a second in
fliction of vengeance would soon be necessary. He wrote to the Ad
miralty, requesting a clear and explicit reply to his inquiry, whether the
commander-in-chief was at liberty to hold the language becoming a
British Admiral? — " Which, very probably," said he, "if I am here,
will break the armistice, and set Copenhagen in a blaze. I see every
thing which is dirty and mean going on, and the prince royal at the
head of it. Ships have been masted, guns taken on board, floating
batteries prepared, and, except hauling out and completing their rig-
ging, every thing is done in defiance of the treaty. My heart burns at
seeing the word of a prince, nearly allied to our good king, go falsified :
but his conduct is such, that he will lose his kingdom if be goes on;
forjacobins rule in Denmark. I have made no representations yet, as
it would be useless to do so until I have the power of correction. 
All I beg, in the name of the future commander-in-chief, is, that the
orders may be clear; for enough is done to break twenty treat ks, ifit
should he wished, or to make the prince royal humble himself before
British generosity."

LIFE OF NELSON. 113
Nelson was not deceived in his judgment of the Danish cabinet,
but the battle oT Copenhagen had crippled its power. The death of
the czar Paul had broken tbe confederacy : and that cabinet, therefore
was compelled to defer, till a more convenient season, the indulgence
of its enmity towards Great Britain. Soon afterward, Admiral Sir
Charles Maurice Pole arrived to take the command. The business
military and political, had by that time been so far completed, that the
presence of the British fleet soon became no longer necessary. Sir
Charles, however, made the short time of his command memorable, by
passing the fireat Belt, for the first time, With line-of-battle ships;
working through the channel against adverse winds. When Nelson
left the fleet, this speedy termination of the expedition, though confi
dently expected, was not certain ; and he, in his unwillingness to wea
ken the British force, thought at one time of traversing Jutland in his
boat, by the canal, to Tonningen on the Eyder, and finding his way
home from thence. This intention was not executed; but he return
ed in a brig, declining to accept a frigate ; which few admirals would
have done ; especially if, like him, they suffered from sea-sickness in a
small vessel. On his arrival at Yarmouth, tho first thing he did was
to visit the hospital; and see the men who had been' wounded in the
late battle ; — that victory, which had added new glory to the name of
Nelson, and which was of more importance even than the battle ofthe
Nile, to the honour, the strength, and security of England.
Tbe feelings of Nelson's friends, upon the news of his great victory
at Copenhagen, were highly described by Sir William Hamilton, in a
letter to him. '• We can only expect," he says, •' what we know well
and often said, that Nelson was, is, and to the last will ever be the first. —
Emma did not know whether she was on her head or heels, — in such
a hurry to tell your great news, that she could utter nothing but tears
of joy and tenderness. I went to Davison, and found him still in bed,
having had a severe fit of the gout, and your letter, which he had just re
ceived; and he cried like a child : but what was very extraordinary,
assured me that, from the instant he had read your letter, all pain had
left him, and that he felt himself able to get up and walk about. Your
brother, Mrs. Nelson* and Horace dined with us. Your brother was
more extraordinary than ever. He would get up suddenly and cut a
caper ; rubbing his hands every time that the thought of your fresh
laurels came into his head. In short, except myself (and your lordships
knows that I have some phlegm,) all the company, which was cons'id»
erable after dinner, were mad with joy. But I am sure that no one
really rejoiced more at heart than I did. I have lived too long. to have
ecstacies ! But with calm reflection I felt for my friend having got to
the very summit of glory ! The ne plus ultra ! That he has had anoth
er opportunity of rendering his country the most important service ;
and manifesting again his judgment, hia intrepidity, and humanity."
He had not been many weeks on shore before he was called upon to
undertake a service, for which no Nelson was required. Buonaparte,
who was now first consul, and in reality sole ruler of France, was ma
king preparations, upon a great scale, for invading England ; but his
schemes in the Baltic had been baffled ; fleets could not be created as
they were wanted ;^nd his armies, therefore, were to come over in guu-
15

114

LIFE OF NELSON.

boats, and such small craft, as could be rapidly built or collected for
the occasion. From the former governments of France such treats
have only been matter of insult and policy : in Buonaparte they were
sincere : for this adventurer, intoxicated with succes, already began
to imagine that all things were to be submitted to his fortune. We had
not at that time proved the superiority of our soldiers over the French ;
and the unreflecting multitude were not to be persuaded that an inva
sion could only be effected by numerous and powerful fleets. A gen
eral alarm was excited ; and, condescension to this unworthy feeling,
Nelson was appointed to command, extending from Orfordness to Bea*
chy Head, on both shores : — a sort of service, he said, for which he felt
no other ability than what might be found in his zeal.
To this service, however, such as it was, he applied with his wonted
alacrity : though in no cheerful frame of mind. To Lady Hamilton, his
only female correspondent, he says, at this time,— j" I am not in very
good spirits ; and except that our country demands all our services and
abilities to bring about an honourable peace, nothing should prevent
nay being the bearer of my own letter. But, my dear friend, I know
you are so true and loyal an Englishwoman, that you would hate those
who would not stand forth in defence of our king, laws, religion, and all
that is dear to us. — It is your sex that make us go forth, and seem to tell
us, "None hut the brave deserve the fair;" — and if we fall, we still live
in the hearts of those females. It is your sex who cherish our memor
ies ; and you, my*dear honoured friend, are, believe me, the first, the ,
best of your sex. I have been the world around, and in every corner of
it, and never yet saw your equal, or even one who could be put in com
parison with you. You know how to reward virtue, honour, and courage,
and never to ask if it is placed in a prince, duke, lord, or peasant."
Having hoisted his flag in the Medusa friguate, he went to reconnoitre.
Boulogne ; the point from which it was supposed the great attempt
would be made, and which the French, in fear of an attack themselves,
were fortifying with all care. He approached near enough to sink two
of their floating batteries, and destroy a few gun-boats, which were
without the pier : what damage was done within could not be assertain-
ed. "Boulogne," he said, "was certainly not a very pleasant place
that morning : — but," he added, " it is not my wish to injure the poor
inhabitants ; and the town is spared as much as the nature of the ser
vice will admit." Enough was done to show the enemy that they could
not, with impunity, come outside their own ports. Nelson was satisfied,
by what he saw, that they meant to make an attempt from this place, but
that it was impracticable ; for the least wind at W. N. W., and they
were lost. The ports of Flushing and Flanders were better points; N
there we could not tell by our eyes what means of transport were pro
vided. From thence therefore, if it came forth at all, the expedition
would come : " And what a forlorn undertaking !" said he : "consider
cross tides, &c. As for rowing, that is impossible. It is perfectly right
to be prepared for a mad government ; but with the active force which
has been given me, I may pronounce it almost impracticable."

LIFE OF NELSON. jjg,
That force had been got together with an alacrity which has seldom
been equalled. On the twenty-eight of July, we were, in Nelson's own
words, literally at the foundation of our fabric of defence : and twelve
days afterward we were so prepared on the enemy's coast, that he did
not believe they could get three miles from their ports. The Medusa,
returning to our own shores, anchored in the rolling ground off Har
wich ; and when Nelson wished to get to the Nore in her, the wind
rendered it impossible to proceed there by the usual channel. In haste
to be at the Nore, remembering that he had been a tolerable pilot for the
mouth of the Thames in his younger days, and thinking it necessary
that he should know all that should be known of the navigation, he re
quested the maritime surveyor of the coast, Mr. Spencer, to get him in
to the Swin, by any channel; for neither the pilots which he had on
board, nor the Harwich ones, would take charge of the ship. No ves
sel drawing more than fourteen feet had ever before ventured over tha
¦Naze. Mr. Spence, however, who had surveyed the channel, carried
her safely through. The channel has since been called Nelson's,
though he himself wished it to be named after the Medusa: his name
needed no new memorial.
Nelson's eye was upon Flushing. — ' To take possession of that place,'
he said, 'would be a week's expedition for four or five thousand troops'
This however, required a consultation with the Admiralty ; and that
something might be done, meantime, he resolved upon attacking the
flotilla in the mouth of Boulogne harbour. This resolution was made in
deference to the opinion of others, and to the public feeling, which was
so preposterously excited. He himself scrupled not to assert, that the
French army would never embark at Boulogne for the invasion ot'En-
gland ; and he owned, that this boat-warfare was notexactly conge
nial to his feelings. Into Helvoet or Flushing, he should be happy to
lead, if government turned their thoughts that way. "While I serve,"
said he, "I will do it actively, and to the very best of my abilities. — I
require nursing like a child," he added ; "my mind carri»s me beyond
my strength, and will do me up:— but such is my nature."
Tbe attack was made by the boats ofthe squadron in five divisions,
under Captains Somerville, Parker, Cotgrave, Jones, and Conn. The
previous essay had taught the French the weak parts of their position;
and they omitted no meuns of strengthening it, and of guarding against
the expected attempt. The boats put offabout half an hour before mid
night; but, owing to the darkness, and tide and half tide, which must
always make night attacks so uncertain on the coasts ofthe channel,
the divisions separated. One could not arrive at all : another not till
near daybreak. The others made their attack gallantly; but the enemy
were folly prepared : every vessel was defended by long poles, headed
with iron spikes, projecting from their sides; strong nettings were brac
ed up to their yards; they were moored by the bottom to the shore: they
were strongly manned with soldiers,and protectd by land batteries.and
the shore was lined with troops. Many were taken possession of; and,
though they could not have been brought out, would have been burned,
had not the French resorted to a mode of offence, which they have of
ten used, but which no other people have ever been wicked enough to
employ. The moment the firing ceased on board one of their ownres>

HQ LIfE OF NELSON.
sels they fired upon it from th" shore, perfectly regardless of their own
men. The commander of one ofthe frrnch divisions acted like a generous
eroy. He hailpd tbe boats as they approached, and cried out in English:
Letineadvse yov, my brave Englishmen, to| keep your distance:
you can do nothing .icre; and it is only uselessly sbeddiag the blood of
brave men to make the ayxmpt." The French offical account boasted
ofthe victory. "The combat," it said, "took place in sight of both conn-
tries; it was first ofthe kind, and the historian would have cause to make
this remark." They guessed our loss at foui or five hundred : — it am
ounted to one hundred and seventy- two. In his private letters to the ad
miralty Nelson affirmed, that had ourforce arrived as heintended,it was
not allthe chains in France which could have prevented our men from
bringing off the whole ofthe vsesels. There had been no error com
mitted, and never did Englishmen display more courage. Upon this
point Nelson was fully satisfied ; but he said he should never bring him
self again to allow any attack, wherein he was not personally concern
ed ; and that his mirrd suffered more than if he had had a leg shot off
in the affair. He grieved particularly for Captain Parker. — an excellent
officer, to whom he was greatly attached, and who had an aged fiber
looking to bim for assistance. His thigh was shattered in the action ;
and the wound proved mortal, after some weeks of suffering and man
ly resignation. Durin<r this interval, Nelson's anxiety was very great.
"Dear Parker is my ohild," said he ; "for I found him in disiress." And
when he received the tidings ofhis death, he replied : — "You wi" judge
of my feelings : God's will be done. I beg that his hair be cut off mid
given me ; — it shall be buired in my grave. Poor Mr. Parker ! What
a son has he lost ! If I were to say I was content, I should lie ; but I
shall submit with nil the fortitude in my | over. — His loss has made a
wound in my heart, which time will hardly heal."
He had purchased a house and estate at Mcrton, in Surry ; meanirg
to pass his days there in the society ofSir Williamand Lady Hamilton.
He had indulged in pleasent dreams when looking on to Ibis as a place
of residence and rest. -To be sure,'he says.'we shall employ the trades
people of our village in preference to any others, in what we want for
common use; and give them every encouragemeut to be kind and at
tentive to us." — "Have we a nice church at Merlon 1 We will set an
example ofgoodness to the under parishioners. I admire the pigs and
poultry. Sheep are certainly most beneficial to eat off the grass. Do
you get paid for them, and take care that they are kept on the premi
ses all night, for that is the time they do most good to the land. They
should be folded. Is your head man a good person, and true to our in
terest } I intend to have a forming-book. I expect that all animals will
suffer any to be killed. — No person can take amiss our not visiting. —
The answer from me will always be very civil thanks, hut that I wish
to live retired. We shall have our sea-fr e ,ds ; and I know Sir William
thinks they are the beet." This place lu' had never seen, till he was
now welcomed there by the fi-einds to whom he had so passionately
devoted himself.and who were not less sincerely attached to him. The
plage, and every thing which Lady Hamilton had done to it, delighted
nim ; and he declared that the longest liver should possess it all. Here
he amused himself with angling in the Wandle.having been a good flv-
nsher in former days, and learning now to practise with his left hand,

LIFE OF NELSON. 117
what he could no longer pursue as a solitary diversion. His pensions
for his victories, and for the loss of his eye nnd arm. amounted with his
half-pay to about L3,400 a year. From this he gave L1.8'<J to Lady
Nelson, L200 to a brother's widow, and L150 for the education of his
childxen ; and he paid L500 interest for borrowed money ; so that Nel
son was comparatively a poor man ; and though much ofthe pecuniary
embarrassment which he endured was occasioned by the separation
from his wife — even if that cause had not existed, his income would not
have been sufficient for the rank which he held, and the claiins~wliich,
would necessarily be made npon his bounty. The depression of spirits
under which he had long laboured, arose partly from this state of his
circumstances, ami partly from the other disquietudes in which his con
nection with Lady Hamilton had involved him : a connection which it
was not possible his father could behold without sorrow and displea
sure. Mr. Nelson, however, wassoon persuaded that the attachment,
which Lady Nelson regarded with natural jealousy and resentment, did
not, in reality, pass the bounds off ardent and romantic admiration : a
passion which the manners and accomplishments of Lady Hamilton,
fascinating as they were, would not have been able to excite, if they
had not been accompanied by more uncommon intellectual endow
ments, and by a character which, both in its strength and in its weak
ness, resembled his own. It did not, therefore, require much explana
tion to reconcile him to his. son; — an event the more essential to Nel
son's happiness, because, a few months afterward, the good old man
died, at the age of seventy-nine.
Soon after the conclusion of peace, tidings arrived of our final and de
cisive successes in Egypt: in consequence of which the common coun
cil voted their thanks to the army and navy for bringing the campaign
to so glories a conclusion. When Nelson, after the action off Cape St.
Vincent, had been entertained at a city continued its generosity, the
navy would ruin them in gifts." To which the lord-mayor replied, put
ting his hand upon the admiral's shoulder, " Do you find victories, and
we will find, rewards." Nelson, as he said, had kept his word, — had
doubly fulfilled his part of the contract, — but no thanks had been voted
for the battle of Copenhagen ; and, feelingthat he and his companions
in that day's glory had a fair and honourable claim to this reward, he
took the present opportunity of addressing a letter to the lord-mayor,
complaining ofthe Omission and the injustice. " The smallest services,"
said he, "rendered by the army or navy to the country, have always
been noticed by the great city of London, with one exception — the glo
rious 2d of April : — a day. when the greatest dangers of navigation were
overcome ; and the Danish force, which they thought impregnable, to
tally taken or distroyed, by the consummate skill of our commanders,
and by the undaunted bravery of as gallant a band as ever defended
the rights of this country. For myself, if I were only personally con
cerned, I should bear the stigma, attempted to be now first placed upon
my brow, with humility. But, my lord, I am the natural guardian ofthe
fame of all the officers ofthe navy, army, and marines, who fought, and
so profusely bled, under my command on that day. Again, I disclaim
for myself more merit than naturally falls to a successful commander;
but when 1 am called upon to speak of the merits of tho captains of his

] j§ LIFE OF NELSON.
majesty's ships, and ofthe officers and men, whether seamen, marines,
or soldiers, whom I that day had the happiness to command, I then say,
that never was the glory of this country upheld with more determined
bravery than on that occasion : and, if I may be allowed to give an
opinion as a Briton, then I say, that more important service was never
rendered to our king and country. It is my duty, my, lord, to prove to
the brave fellows, my companions in Hanger, that I have not failed, at
every proper place, to represent, as well as I am able, their bravery and
meritorious conduct."
Another honour, of greater import, was withheld from the conquer
ors. The king had given medals to those captains who were engaged
in the battles of tho 1st of June, of Cape St. Vincent, of Camperdown,
and of the Nile. Then came the victory at Copenhagen: which Nel
son truly called the most difficultachievement, the hardest fought battle
the most glorious result, that ever graced the annals of our country.
He, of course, expected the medal : and, in writing to Earl St. Vincent,
said, "He longed to have it, and would not give it up to be made an
English duke." The medal, however, was not given : — "For what
reason," said Nelson, " Lord St. Vincent best knows." — Words plain
ly implying a suspicion, that it was withheld by some feeling of jealous-
y: and that suspicion estranged him, during the remaining part of his
life, from one who had at one time been essentially, as well as sincere
ly, his friend ; and of whose professional adilities he ever entertained the
highest opinion.
The happiness which Nelson enjoyed in the society of his chosen
frieds, was of no long continuance. Sir William Hamilton, who was
far advanced in years, died early in 1803; a mild, amiable, accom
plished man, who has thus, in a letter, described his own philoso
phy : — "My study of antiquities," he says, "has kept mein constant
thought of the perpetual fluctuation of every thing. The whole art is
really to live all the days of our life ; and not with anxious care disturb
the sweetest hour that life affords, — which is the present. Admire the
Creator, and all his works, to us incomprehensible ; and do all the
good you can upon earth : and take the chance of eternity." He ex
pired in his wife's arms, holding Nelson by the hand ; and almost in his
last words left her to his protection ; requesting him that he would see
justice done her by the government, as he knew what she had done for
hei country. Ho left him her portrait in enamel, calling him his dear
est friend ; the most virtuous, loyal, and truly brave character he had
ever hnown. The codicil, containing this request, concluded with these
words : "God bless him, and shame fall on those who do not say amen."
Sir William's pension, of £1200 a year, ceased with his death. Nelson
applied to Mr. Addington in Lady Hamilton's behalf, stating the im
portant service which she had rendered to the fleet at Syracuse : and
Mr. Addington, it is said, acknowledged that she had a just claim upon
the gratitude ofthe country. This barren acknowledgment was all that
was obtained : but a sum, equal to the pension which her husband had
enjoyed, was settled on her by Nelson, and paid in monthly payments

LIFE OF NELSON. HQ
during his life. A few weeks after this event, the war was renewed ;
and, the day after his majesty's message to parliament, Nelson departed
to take the command of the Mediterranean fleet. The war, he thought,
could not be long ; jusf enough to make him independent in pecunia
ry matters.
He took his station immediately off Toulon ; and there, with incessant
vigilance, waited for the coming out ofthe enemy. The expectation of
acquiring a competent fortune did not last long. "Somehow," ho says,
" my mind is not sharp enough for prize-money. Lord Keith would
have made £20,000, and I have not made £600." More than onoe ho
says that the prizes taken in the Mediterranean had not paid his expen
ses :" and once he expresses himself as if it were a consolation to think
that some ball might soon close all his accounts with this world of care
and vexation. At this time the widow of his brother, being then blind
and advanced in years, was distressed for money, and about to sell the
plate ; he wrote to Lady Hamilton, requesting of her to find out what
her debts were, and saying, that if the amount was within his power he
would certainly pay it, and rather pinch himself than that she should
want. Before he had finished the letter, an account arrived that a sum
was payable to him for some neutral taken four years before, which en
abled him to do this without being the poorer: and he seems to have felt
at the moment that what is thus disposed of by a cheerful giver, shall
be paid to him again. — One from whom he had looked for a very differ
ent conduct, had compared his own wealth in no becoming manner with
Nelson's limited means. " I know," said he to Lady Hamilton, "the
full extent ofthe obligation I owe him, and he may be useful to me a-
gain ; but I can never forget his unkindness to you. But I guess
many reasons influenced his conduct in bragging of his riches and my
honourable poverty , but as I have often said, and with honest pride,
what I have is my own ; it never cost the widow a tear, or the nation a
farthing. I got what I have with my pure blood, from the enemies of
my country. Our house, my own Emma, is built upon a solid founda
tion; and will last tous, when his house and lands may belong to others
than his children."
His hope was that peace might soon be made, or that he should be
relieved from his command, and retire to Merton, where at that distance
he was planning and directing improvements. On his birth-day he
writes, " This day, my dearest Emma, I considder as more fortunate
than common days, as by my coming .into this world it has brought me
so intimately acquanted with yon. I will know that you will keep it,
and have my dear Horatio to drink my health. Forty-six years of toil
and trouble ! How few more the common lot of mankind leads us to
expect ! and therefore it is almost time to think of spending the last few
yeare in peace and quietness." Itis painful to think that this language
was not addressed to his wife, buffo one with whom he promised him
self "many hapoy years, when that impediment," as he calls her, "shall
be removed, if God pleased ;" and they might be surrounded by their
ehildren's children.

120

LIFE OF NELSON.

When he had been fourteen months off Toulon, he received a vote of
thanks from the city of London, for his skill and perseverance in block
ading that port, so as to prevent the French from putting to sea. Nel-
sol had not forgotten the wrong which the city had done to the Baltic
.fleet by their omission, and did not lose the opportunity which this vote
afforded of recurring to that point. "I do assure your lord-ship," said
he, in his answer to the lord-mayor, "that there is not that man breath-
> ing who sets a higher value upon .the thanks of his fellow-citizens of
London than myself; but I should feel as much ashamed to deceive
them for a particular service, marked in the resolution, if I felt that I
did not come within that line of survice, as I should feel her at having
a great victory passed over without notice. I beg to inform your lord
ship, that the port of Toulon has never been blockaded by me : quite the
reverse. Every opportunity has been offered the enemy to put to sea :
for it is there that we hope to realize the hopes and expectations of our
country." Nelson then remarked, that the junior flag officers of his
fleet had been omitted in this vote of thanks ; and his suprise at the o-
mission was expressed with more asperity, perhaps, that an offence, so
entirely and manifestly unintentional, deserved: but it arose from that
generous regard for the feeling as well as interests of all who were un
der his command, which made him as much beloved in the fleets of
Britain as he was dreaded in those ofthe enemy.
Never was any commander more beloved. He governed men by
their affections : they knew that he was incapable of caprice or tyran
ny ; and they obeyed him with alacrity and joy, because ho possessed
their confidence as well as their love. "Our Nel," they used to say, "is
as brave as a lion, and as gentle as a lamb." Severe discipline he de
tested, though he had been bred in a severe school : he never inflicted
corporeal punishment,if it were possible to avoid it, and when compelled
to enforce it, he, who was familiar with wounds and death, suffered like
a woman. In his whole life Nelson was never known to act unkindly
towards an officer. If he was asked to prosecute one for ill-behaviour,
he used to answer, "That there was no occasion for him to ruin a poor
devil, who is sufficiently his-own enemy to ruin himself. "But in Nelson
there was more than the easiness and humanity of a happy nature : he
did not merely abstain from injury; 'his was an active and watchful be
nevolence, ever desirous not only to render justice, but to do good.
During the peace, he had spoken in parliament upon the abuses respect
ing prize-money ; and had submitted plans to government for more easi
ly manning the navy, and preventing desertion from it, by bettering the
condition of the seamen. He proposed that their certificates should be
registered, and that every man who had served, with a good character,
five years in war, should receive a bounty of two guineas annually af
ter that time, and of four guineas after eight years. "This," he said,
" might, at first sight, appear an enormous sum for the state to pay ; but
the average life of seamen is, from hard service, finished at forty-five :
he cannot, therefore, enjoy the annuity many years; and the interest of
the money saved by their not deserting, would go far to pay the whole
expense."

LIFE Of NELSON.

121

To his midshipmen he -erer showed the most winning kindness en*
couraging the diffident, tempering the hasty, counselling and befriend
ing both. " Recollect," he used to say, " that you must be a seaman to
be an officer ; and also, that you cannot be a good officer without be
ing a gentleman." — A lieutenant wrote to him to say, that he was dis
satisfied with his captain. Nelson's answer was in that spirit of per
fect wisdom and perfect goodness, which regulated his whole conduct
towards those who were under his command. "I have just received
your letter; and am truly sorry that any difference should arise between
your captain, |who has the reputation of being one ofthe brightest officers
of the service, and yourself, a very young man, and a very young offi
cer, who must naturally have much to learn : therefore, the chance is,
that you are perfectly wrong in the disagreement. However, as your
present situation must be very rlisagreeable, I will certainly take an
early opportunity of removing you, provided your conduct to the pre
sent captain be such, that another may not refuse to receive you."
The gentleness and benignity of his disposition never made him forget
what was due to discipline. Being on one occasion applied to, to save
a young officer from court-martial, which he had provoked by his mis
conduct, his reply was, " That he would do every thing in his power
to oblige so gallant and good an officer as Sir John Warren," in whose
name the intercession had been made : — " But what," he added, "would
he do if he were here ? — Exactly what I have done, and am still willing
to do. The young man must write such a letter of contrition as would
be an acknowledgment of his great fault ; and with a sincere promise,
if his captain will intercede to prevent the impending court-martial, ne
ver so to misbehave again. . On his captain's enclosing me such a let
ter, with a request to cancel the order for the trial, I might be induced
to do it : but the letters and reprimand will be given in the public or
der-book of the fleet, and read to all the officers. The young' man has
pushed himself forward to notice, and he must take the con
sequence; — It was upon the quarter-deck, in the face ofthe ship's com
pany, that he treated his captain with contempt ; and I ana in duty bound
to support the authority and consequence of every officer under my
command. A poor ignorant seaman is for ever punished for contempt
to his superiors."
A dispute occurred in the fleet, while it'was offToulon, which called
forth Nelson's zeal for the rights and interests of the navy. Some
young artillery officers, serving ofl board the bomb vessels, refused to
let their men perform any other duty but what related to their mortars.
They wished to have it established, that their corps was not subject to
the captain's authority. The same pretensions were made in the chan
nel fleet about the same time ; and the artillery rested their claims to
separate and Independent authority on board, upon a clause in the act,
which they interpreted in their favour. Nelson took up the subject
with all the earnestness its importance deserved. — " There is no real
happiness in" this world," said he, writing to Earl St. Vincent as first
Lord. " With all content, and smiles around me, up start these artil-
16

12Q LIFE OF NELSON.
lery boys, (I understand they are not beyond that age), and set us at de
fiance ; speaking in the most disrespectful manner ofthe navy, and its
commanders. I know you, my dear lord, so well, that, with your
quickness, the matter would have been settled, and perhaps some of
them been broke. I am, perhaps more patient : but I do assure you,
not less resolved, if my plan of conciliation is not attended to. You
and I are on the eve of quitting the theatre of our exploits ; but we hold
it due to our successors, never, while we have a tongue to speak, or a
hand to write, to allow the navy to be in the smallest degree, injured in
its discipline by our conduct." To Trowbridge he wrote in the same
spirit. " It is the o>d history, trying to do away .the act of parliament ;
but I trust they will never succeed ; for, when they do, farewell to our
naval superiority. We should be prettily commanded ! Let them once
gain the step of being independent ofthe navy on board a ship, and they
will soon have the other and command us. — But, thank God ! my dear
Trowbridge, the king himself cannot do away the act of parliament.
Although my career is nearly run, yet it would embitter my future days
and expiring moments, to hear of our navy being sacrificed to the ar
my." As the surest way of preventing such disputes, he suggested that
the navy should have its own corps of artillery ; and a corps of marine
artillery was accordingly established.
Instead of lessening the power ofthe commander, Nelson would have
wished to see it increased ; it was absolutely necessary, he thought,that
merit should be rewarded at the moment, and that the oflicers ofthe
fleet should look up to the commander-in-chief for their reward. He
himself was never more happy than when he could promote those who
¦were deserving of promotion. Many were the services which he thus
rendered unsolicited : and frequently the officer,in whose behalf he had
interested himself with the Admiralty, did not know to whose friendly
-interference he was indebted for his good fortune — He used to say, " I
wish it to appear as a God-send." The love which he bore the navy
¦made him promote the interests, and honour the memory, of all who had
added to its glories. "The near relations of brother-officers," he said,,
"he considered as legacies to the service," Upon mention being made
to him ol a son of Rodney, by the Duke of Clarence, his reply was ; I
agree with your royal highness most entirely, thatthe son of a Rodney
ought to be fhe protege of every person in the kingdom, and particular
ly ofthe sea-officers. Had I hnown that there had been this claimant,
some of my own lieutenants must have given way to such a name, and
he should have been placed in the Victory : she is fall, and I havetwen-
ty on my list ; but, whatever numbers I have, the name of Rodney must
cut many of them out." Such was the proper sense which Nelson felt
of what was due to splendid services and illustrious names. His feel
ings towards the men who had served with him, are shown by a note in
his diary, which was probably not intended for any other eye than his
own. "Nov. 7. 1 had the comfort of making an old Agamemnon, Geo.
Jones, a gunner into the Chameleon brig."
When Nelson took the command, it was expected that the Mediter
ranean would be an active scene. Nelson well understood the charac
ter ofthe perfidious Corsican,who was now sole tyrant of France ; and
knowing that he was as ready to attack his friends as his enemies, knew.
therefore, that nothing could be more uncertain' than the direction of

LIFE OF NELSON. J2£
the fleet from Toulon, whenever it should pot to sea :  "It had as ma
ny. destinations." The momentous revolutions ofthe last ten years had
given him ample matter for reflection, as well as opportunities for ob
servation : the film was cleared from his eyes ; and now when the
French no longer went abroad with the cry of liberty and equality, he
saw that the oppression and misrule of the powers which had been op
posed to them had been the main causes of their success, and that those
causes would still prepare the way before them. Even in Sicily, where,
if it had been possible longer to blind himself, Nelson, would willingly
have seen no evil, he perceived that the people wished for a change,
and acknowledge'd that they had reason to wish for it. In Sardinia the
same bnrden of misgovernment was felt; and the people, like the Si
cilians, were impoverished by a goverment so utterly incompetent to
perform its first and most essential duties, that it did not protect its own
coasts from the Barbary pirates. He would fain have had ua purchase
this Island (the finest in the Mediterraneiijjrom its sovereign, who did
not receive £600 a year from it, after its wretched establishment was
paid. There was reason to think that France was preparing to possess
herself of this important point, which afforded our fleets facilities for
watching Toulon, not to be obtained elsewhere. An expedition was pre
paring at Corsica tor the purpose; and all the Sardinians who bad taken
part with revolutionary France were ordered to assemble tber.e It was
certain tbat, if the attack were made, it would succeed. Nelson tho't
that the only means to prevent Sardinia from becoming French, was
to make it English, and that half a million would give the King, a rich
price, and England a cheap purchase. Abetter, and therefore a wiser,
policy would have been to exert our influence in removing the abuses
ofthe government : for foreign dominion is always, in some degree,an
evil ; and allegiance neither can nor ought to be made a thing of bar
gain and sale. Sardinia, like Sicily and Corsica, is large enough to
form a separate state. Let us hope that these Islands may one day be
made free and independent. Freedom and independance will bring;
with them industry and prosperity ; and wherever these are found, arts
and letters will flourish, and the improvement pf the human race pro
ceed. The proposed, attack was postponed. Views of wider opening upon
Buonaparte, who now almost undisguisedly. aspired to make himself
master ofthe continent of Europe ; and Austria was preparing for one
struggle, to be conducted as weakly and terminated as miserably as the
former. Spain, too, was once more to be involved in war, by the policy
of France : that perfidious government having in view the double ob
ject of employing the Spanish resources against England,and exhaust
ing them, in order to render Spain herself finally its prey. Nelson.who
knew that England and the Peninsula ought to be in alliance, for the
common interest of both, frequently expressed his hopes that Spain
might resume her natural rank among the nations. "We ought," he
said, "by mutual consent, to be the very best friends, and both to be
ever hostile to France." But be saw that Buonaparte was meditating
the destruction of Spain ; and that, while the wretched court ol Ma
drid professed to remain neutral, the appearances of neutrality were
scarcely preserved. An order of the year 1771, excluding British ships
of war from the Spanish ports, was revived, and put in force ; while
Erench privateers, from these very ports, annoyed the British trade,

124 LIFE OF NELSON.
carried their prizes in, and sold them even at Barcelona. Nelson com
plained of this to the captain general of Catalonia, informing him, that
he claimed, for every British ship or squadron the right of lying, as
long as it pleased, in the ports of Spain, while that right was ail, wed
to other powers. To the British ambassador he said, "I am ready to
make large allowances for the miserable situation Spain has placed her
self in ; but there is a certain line beyond which I cannot submit to be
treated with disrespect. We have given up French vessels taken within
gunshot of tbe Spanish shore, and yet French vessels are permitted to
attack our ships from the Spanish shore.
During this state of things, to which the weakness of Spain, and not
her will, consented, tbe enemy's fleet did not venture to put to sea.
Nelson watched it with unremitting and almost unexampled perseve-
rence. The station off Toulon he called his home. ¦' We are in the
right fighting trim," said he : " let them come as soon as they please. I
nover saw a fleet, altogether, so well officered and manned : would to
God the ships were half as good! — The finest ones in the service
would soon be'destroyed by such terrible weather. I know well en
ough, that if I were to go into Malta I should save the ships during
this bad season : but if I am to watch the French, I must be at sea;
and, if at sea, must have bad weather: and if the ships pre not fit to
stand bad weather, they are useless." Then only he was satisfied, -and
at ease, when he had the enemy in view. Mr. Elliot, our minister, at
Naples, seems, at this time, to have proposed to send a confidential
Frenchman to him with information. •" I should be very happy." he
replied, "to receive authentic intelligence ofthe destination of the
French squadron, their route, and time of sailing. Any thing short of
this is useless ; and I assure your Excellency, that Lwould not, upon
any occasion, have a Frenchman in the fleet, except as a prisoner. I
put no confidence in them. You think yours good, the queen thinks
the same : I believe they are all alike. Whatever information you
can get me I shall be very thankful for ; but not a Frenchman comes
here. Forgive me, but my mother hated the French. '
M. Latouche Treville, who had commanded at Boulonge, command
ed now at Toulon. "He was sent for on purpose," said Nelson, "as
he beat me at Boulonge, to beat me again : but he seems very loth to
try." One day, while the main body of our fleet was out of si^ht of
land, Rear- Admiral Campbell, reconnoitering with the Canopus, Donne-
gal, and Amazon, stood in close to the port; and M. Latouche, taking
advantage of a breeze which sprung up, pushed out, wilh four ships of
the line, and three heavy frigates, and chased him about four leagues.
The Frenchman delighted in having found himself in so novel a situa
tion, published a boastful account ; affirming tbat he had given chase
to the wholeBritish fleet, and that Nelson had fled before him ! Nel
son thought it due to the Admiralty to send home a copy of the Vic
tory's log upon this occasion. " As for himself," he said, " if his char
acter was not established by that time for not being apt to run away,
it was not worth his while to put the world right."—" If this fleet gets
fairly up with M. Latouche," said he to one of his correspondents, " his
letter, with all his ingenuity, must be different from his last. We had
fancied that we chased him into Toulon ; for, blind as I am, I could
see his water line, when he clewed his topsails up, shutting in Sepet.
But, from the time of his meeting Capt. Hawker, in the Isk\ I never

LIFE OF NELSON. 125
heard of his acting otherwise than a poltroon and a liar. Contempt is
the best mode of treating such a miscivant." In spite, however, of
contempt, the impudence of this Frenchman half angered him. He
said to his brother : " You will have seen Latouche's letter; how he
chased me, end how I ran. I keep it: and if I take him, by God he
shall eat it."
Nelson, who used to say, that in sea-affairs, nothing is impossible,
and nothing is improbable, feared the more that this Frenchman might
get out and elude his vigilance ; because he was so especially desi
rous of catching him, of administering to him his own lying letter in a
sandwich. M. Latouche, however, escaped him in another way. He
died, according to the French papers, in consequence of walking so
often up to the signal post upon Sepet, to watch tie British fleet. " I
always pronounced that would be his death," said INelso*. '¦ If he had
come out and fought me, it would, at least, have added ten years to
my life." The patience with which he had watched Toulon, he spoke
of, truly, as a perseverance at sea, which had never been surpassed.
From May, 1803, to August, 1804, he himself went' out of his ship but
three times ; each of these times was upon the King's service, and
neither time of absence exceeded an hour. In 1804, the Swift cut
ter going eut wilh despatches was taken, and all the despatches and
letters, fell into the hands ofthe enemy. " A pretty piece of work!"
says Nelson, " I am not surprised at the capture, but am very Much
so that any despatches should be sent in a vessel with twenty-three
men, not aqual to cope with any row-boat pri»ateer The loss of the
Hindostan was great enough ; but for importance, it is lost, in compari
son to the probable knowledge the enemy will obtain of our connex-
" ions with foreign countries. Foreigners for ever say, and it is true, we
dare not trust England : one way or oiher we are sure to be commit
ted." In a subseqent letter, he says, speaking ofthe same capture: "I
find, my dearest Emma, that yeu- picture is much admired by the
French Consul al Barcelona ; and that he has not sent it to be admi
red, which I am sure it would be, by Buonaparte. They pretend that
there were three pictures taken. I wish I bad them : but they are all
gone as irretrievably as the despatches ; unless we may read them in
a book, as we printed their correspondence from Egypt. But from us
what can they find out ? That I love you most dearly, and hate the
French most damnably. Dr. Scott went to Barcelona to try to get the
private letters ; but I fancy they are all gone to Paris. The Swedish
and American Consuls told him, that the French Consul had your pic
tures and read your letters ; and the Doctor thinks one of them, prob
ably, read the letters. By the master'-s account of the cutter, I would
not trust an old pair of shoes in her. He tells me she did not sail,
but was a good sea-boat. I hope Mr. Marsden will not trust any
more of my private lettprs in such a conveyance : if they choose to
trust the affairs of the public in such a thing, I cannot help it."
While he was on this station, the weather had been ususually severe,
that he said the Mediterranean seemed altered. It was bis rule never
to contend with the gales ; but either ran to the southward to escape
their violence, or to furl all the sails, to make the ships as easy as pos
sible. The men, though he said flesh and blood could hardly stand it,
continued in excellent health, which he ascribed, in great measure, to
a plentiful supply of lemons and onions. For himself, he thought he

126 LIFE OF NELSON.
could only last till the battle was over. One battle more it was his
hope that he might fight.—" However," said he, "whatever happens,
I have run a glorious race." " A few months' rest," he says. " I must
have very soon. If I am in my grave, what ore the mines of Peru to
me ? But to say the truth, I have no idea of killing myself. I may,
with care, live to do good service to the state. My cough is very bad,
and my side, where I was struck on the 14th of February, is very much
swelled ; at times, a lump, as large as my fist, brought on occasionally
by violent coughing. But I hope and believe my lungs are yet safe."
He was afraid of blindness ; and this was the only evil which he could
not contemplate without unhappiness. More alarming symptoms he
regarded with le3s apprehension ; describing his own " shattered
carcass," as in the worst plight of any in the fleet : and he says, " I
have felt the blood gushing up the left side of my head; and, the mo
ment, it covers the brain, I am fast asleep." The fleet was in worse
trim than the men : but when he compared it with the enemy's, it was
with a right English feeling. " The French fleet yesterday," said he,
in one of his letters, " was to appearance in high feather, and as fine as
paint could make them :^but when they may sail, or where they may
go, I am very sorry to say is a secret I am not acquainted with. Our
weather beaten ships, I have no fear, will make their sides like a plumb
pudding." "Yesterday," he says, on another occasion, " a rear-admiral
and seven sail of ships put their nose outside the harbour. If they go
on playing this game, some day we shall lay salt upon their tails."
Hostilities at length commenced between Great Britain and Spain.
That country whose miserable government made her subservient to-
France, was once more destined to lavish her resources and her blood
in furtherance of the designs of a perfidious ally. The immediate oc
casion ofthe war was the seizure of four treasure-ships by the English.
The act was perfectly justifiable ; for those treasures were intended
means for France ; but the circumstances which attended it were as
unhappy as they were unforeseen. Four frigates had been despatched
to intercept them. They met with an equal force. Resistance, there
fore, became a point of honour on the part»of the Spaniards, and one
of their ships soon blew up wilh all on board, Had a stronger squad
ron been sent this deplorable catastrophe might haye been spared : a
catastrophe whjch excited not more indignation in Spain, than it did
grief in those who were unwilling instruments, in the English govern
ment, and in the English people. On the 5th of October this unhappy
affair occurred, and Nelson was not apprised of it till the 12th ofthe
ensuing month. He had sufficient mortification at the breaking out of
this Spanish war ; an event which, it might reasonably have been sup
posed, would amply enrich the officers ofthe Mediterranean fleet, and
repay them for the severe and unremitting duty on whieh they had
been so long employed. But of this harvest they were deprived ; for
Sir John Orde was sent with a small squadron, and a separate com
mand, to Cadiz. . Nelson's feelings were never wounded so deeply as
now. " I had thought," said he, writing in the first flow and freshness
of indignation ; " I fancied, — but. nay ; it must have been a dream, an
idle dream ; — yet, I confess it, I did fancy that I had done my country
service ; and thus they use me ! — And under what circumstances, and
with what pointed aggravation ! — Yet, if I know my own thoughts, it
is not for myself, or on my own account chiefly, that I feel the sting
and the disappointment. No! it is for my brave oflicers ; for my no-
' '- ~;.vrW) f-iwixts ajid comrades.

LIFE OF NELSON. J271
War between Spain and England was now declared ; and on the eigh
teenth of January, the Toulon fleet, having the Spaniards to co-operate
with thera, put to sea. Nelson was at anchor ofFthe coast of Sardinia,
where the Madalena islands form one of the finest harbours in the
world, when, at three in the afternoon on the nineteenth, the Active and
Seahorse frigates brought this long-hoped-for intelligence. They had
beea close to the enemy at ten on the preceding night, but lost sight of
them in about four hours. The fleet immdiately unmoored and weigh
ed, and at six in the evening ran through the strait between Biche and
Sardinia: a passage so narrow, that the ships could only pass one at a
time, each following the sterjp lights of its leader. From the position
ofthe enemy, when they were last seen, it was inferred that they must
be bound round the southern end of Sardinia. Signal was made the
next morning to prepare for battle. Bad weather came on, baffling the
one fleet in its object, and the other in its pursuit. Nelson beat obout
the Sicillian eeas for ten days, without obtaining any other information
ofthe enemy, than that of their ships had put into Ajaccio, dismasted ;
and having seen that Sardinia, Naples, and Sicily were safe, believ
ing Egypt to be their destination, for Egypt he ran. The disappoint
ment and distress which he had experienced in his former pursuits of
the French through the same seas were now renewed : but Nelson, while
he endured these anxious and unhappy feelings, was still consoled by
the same confidence as on the former occasion — that, though his judg
ment might be erroneous, under all circumstances he was right in hav
ing formed it. "I have consulted no man," said he, to the Admiralty ;
"therefore, the whole blame of ignorance in forming my judgment must
rest with me. 1 would allow no man to take from me an atom of my
glory had I fallen in with the French fleet ; nor do I desire any man to ,
partake any ofthe responsibility. Al) is mine, rigtht or wrong." Thon
stating the grounds upon which he had proceeded, he added, "At this
moment of sorrow, I still feel that I have acted right." In the same
spirit he said to Sir Alexander Ball, "When I call to remembrance all
the circumstances, I approve, if nobody else does, of my own conduct."
Baffled thus, he bore up for Malta, and met inteligence from Naples
that the French having been dispersed in a gale, had put back to Toul
on. From the same quarter he learned, that a great number of saddles
and muskets had been embarked ; and this confirmed him in his opinion
that Egypt was thier destination. That they should have put back in
consequence of-storms, which he had weathered, gave him a Consoling
sense of British superiority. — "These gentlemen," said he, "are not
accustomed to a Gulf of Lyons gale : we have buffeted them for one-
and-twenty months, and not carried away a spar." He, however, who
had so often braved these gales, was now, though not mastered by them
vexatiously thwarted and impeded ; and, on Febaury 27th, he was com
pelled to anchor in PullaBay, in the Gulf of Cagliari. From the 21st
of January the fleet had remained ready for battle, without a bulk-head
up, night or day. He anchored here, that he might not be driven to
leeward. As soon as the weather moderated he put to sea again ; and

T2'8

LIKE OF NELSON.

after againbeating'about against contrary winds, another gale drove hira
to anchor in the Gulfof Palma. on the 8th of March. This he made his
rendezvous; he knew that the French troops still remained embarked,
and, wishing to lead them into a belief that he was stationed upon the
Spanish coast, he made his appearance off Barcelona with that intent.
About the end ofthe month, he began to fear that the plan ofthe expe
dition was abandoned ; and, sailing once more towards his old station
off Toulon, on the 5th of April, he met the Phebe, with news that Vil-
leneuve had put to sea on the last of March with eleven ships of the
. line, seven frigates, and two brigs. When last seen, they were steer
ing towards the coast of Africa. Nelson first covered the channel between
Sardinia and Barbary, so as to satisfy himself that ViUeneuve was not
taking the same route for Egypt which Gantheaume had taken before
him, when he attempted to carry reinforcements there. Certain of this
he bore up on the 7th for Palermo, lest the French should pass to the
north of Corsica, and he despatched cruisers in all directions. On the
11th, he felt assured that they were not gone down the Mediterranean;
and sending off frigates to Gibraltar, to Lisbon, and to Admiral Corn
wallis, who commanded the squadron off Brest, he endeavoured to "get
to the westward, beating aginst westerly winds. After five days, a
neutral gave intelligence that the French had been seen off Cape de
Gatte on the 7th. It was soon after ascertained, that they had passed
the Straits of Gibraltar on the day following; and Nelson, knowing that
they might already be half way to Ireland, or to Jamaica, exclaimed,
that he was miserable. One gleam of comfort only came across him in
the reflection, that this vigilance had rendered it impossible for them to
undertake any expedition in the Mediterranean.
Eight days after this certain intelligence had been obtained, he de
scribed his state of mind thus forcible; in writing to the governor of
Malta : "My good fortune, my dear Ball, seems flown away I can
not get a fair wind, or even a side wind. Dead-foul ! — dead foul !—
But my mind is fully made up what to do when I leave the Straits, sup
posing there is no certain account ofthe enemy's destination. — 1 believe
this ill luck will go near to kill me : but, as these are times for exertion,
I must not be cast down, whatever I may feel." In spite of every ex
ertion which could be made, all the zeal and all the skill of British sea
men, he did not get in sight of Gibraltar till the 30th of April ; and the
wind was then so adverse, that it was impossible to pass the Gut. He
anchored in Muzari Bay, on the Barbary shore ; obtained
supplies from Tetuan , and when, on the 5th, a breeze from the east
ward sprang up at last, sailed once more, hoping to hear of the enemy
from Sir John Orde, who commanded off Cadiz, or from Lisbon. "If
nothing is heard of thom," said he, to the admirality, " I shall proba-
blythinkthe rumours which had been spread are true, that their object is
the West Indies : and, in that case, I think it my duty to follow them,
—or to the antipodes, should I believe that to be their destination." At
the time when this resolution was taken, the physician ofthe fleet had
ordered him to return to England before the hot months.

LIFE OF NELSON. 129
Frustrated in all his liopos, after a pursuit, to whicli, for its extent, rapidity, and
perseverance, no parallel can be produced, he judged it prudent to reinforce' the
channel fleet with his squadron. On the 15th he joined Admiral Cornwallis off U-
shant. No news had yet been obtained ofthe enemy ; a "d on the same evening he^
received onlers to proceed to Portsmouth. At Portsmouth Nels-n found news ofthe
combined fleet. Sir R. Calder, who had been sent out to intercept their return had
fallen in with them on the 22d July, 60 leagues west ofi ape Finisterre. Their force
consisted of 20 sal ofthe line, three 50 gun ships, 5 frigates, and 2 brigs : his ofl5
line-of-battle ships, 2 frigates, a cutter, arid a lugger. After an action of 4 hours he
had captured a 84 and a 74, and then thought it necessary to bring to the squadron
for the purpose nf securing their prizes. The hostile fleets remained in sight of each
other till the 26th, when the enemy bore away. ''l»e capture of 2 ships from so su
perior a force would have been considered as no i c nsiderable victory a few yea g
earlier ; but Nelson had introduced a new era in our naval history ; and the nation
felt, respectin : this action, as he had felt on a som<> what similar occasion. They re
gretted that Nelson, with his eleven ships, had not been in Sir Robert Calder's
place ; and thoir disappointment was enera'ly and 'oudlv expressed.
Frustrated as his own hopes had been, Nelson had yet the high satisfaction of know-
ing that his judgment had never been more conspicuously proved, and that he had
rendered essential service to his country, by driving the enemy from those islands,
where they expected there could be no force capable of opposing them. It was now
his intention to rest awhile from his labours. All his stores were brought up from
the Victory ; and he found in his House at Merton the enjoyment which he had antici
pated. As he was pacing one pi the walks in the garden, Lady Hamilton came up
to him, and told him she saw he was uneasy. He smiled, and said : ". No " She said
she did not believe him — that she knew he was longing to get at he combined fleets
— that he considered them as his own property, — that he would be miserable if any
man but himself did the business. " Nelson," said she, "however we may lament
your absence, offer your services ; — they will be accepted." His services were as
willingly accepted as they were offered ; and lord Burham, giving him the list of the
navy, desired him to choose his own officers. Unremitting exertions were made to
•quip the ships which he had chosen. Before he left London he called at his upholst
erer^, where the coffin, which Capt. Hallowell had given him, was deposited ; and
desired that its history might be engraven upon the lid, saying, that it was highly
probable he might want it on his return. Early on the following morning he reached
Portsmouth ; and having despatched his business on shore, endeavoured to elude the
populace by taking a by-way to the beach ; but a crowd collected in his train, press
ing forward to obtain sight of his lace : many were in tears, and many knelt down
before him and blessed him as he passed.
i\elson arrived off « a iiz on the 29th of Sep. bis birthday. Fearing
that, if the enemy knew his force, they might be deterred from ventur
ing to sea, he kept out ofsighl of land, desired Collingwood to fire no
salute, and hoist no colours ; and wrote 'o Gibraltar, to request that the
force ofthe fleet might not be inserted there in the Gazette.
On the day of his arrival, Villeneuve received orders to put to sea
the first opportunity. Villeneuve, however, hesitated, when he heard
that JVelson had resum»d the command. H? ca'led a council of war;
and their determinntion was that it would not be expedient to leave Ca
diz. unless they had reason to believe themselves stronger by one-third
than the British force. In the public mensures of this country secrecy is
seldom practicable, and seldomer attempted : here, however, hy the
precautions of Nelson, and the wise mea-ures ofthe Admiralty.the , ne-
my were for once kept in ignorance ; for, as the ships appointed to re
inforce the Mediterranean fleet were despatched singly. each as soon as
it was ready, their collected number was not staK-H in the new -p -.p rs
and their arrival was not known to the enemy. The station woicb JVel-
*on had chosen was some 50 or 60 miles to the west of Cadiz, near Cape
17

130

LIFE OF NELSON.

St. Mary's. At this distance he hoped to decoy the enemy out, while he
guarded against the danger of being caught with a westerly wind near
Cadiz, and driven within the Straits, The blockade of the port was ngj
orously enforced.in hopes that the combined fleet might be forced to sea
by want. The Danish vessels, therefore, which were carrying provisi
ons from the Freneh ports in the Bay, under the name of Danish pro
perty, to all the little ports from Ayamonte to Algeziras, from whence
they were conveyed in coasting boats to Cadiz, were seized. Without
this proper exertion of power,the blockade would have rendered nuga-
tory.by the advantage thus taken ofthe neutral flag. The supplies from
France were thus effectually cut off. Thare was now every indication
: hat the enemy would speedily venture out ; the officers and men were
in the highest sjpirits at the prospect of giving them a decisive blow :
such, indeed, as would put an end to all farther contest upon the seas.
Theatrical amusements were performed every evening in most ofthe
ships : and God save the King was the hymn with which the sports con
cluded. At this time he was not without some cause of anxiety; he was
in want of frigates,the eyes of the fleet as he always called them : to the
want of which, the enemy before were indebted for their escape, and
Buonaparte for his arrival in Egypt. He had only 23 ships, others were
on the way, but they might come too late : and, though Nelson never
doubted of victory, mere victory was not what he looked to, it was to
annihilate the enemy's fleet.
On the 9th, Nelson sent Collingwood what he called, in his diary,
the Nelson-touch. "I send you," said he, "my plan of attack, as far as
a man dire venture to guess at the vecy uncertain position the enemy
may be found in : but it is to place you perfectly at ease respecting my
intentions, and to give full scope to your judgment for carrying them
into effect. We can my dear Coll, have no little jealousies. We have
only one great object in view, that of annihilating our enemies, and
getting a glorious peace for our country. No man has more confi
dence in another than I have in you; and no man will render your ser
vices mOre justice than your very old friend Nelson and Bronte." The
order of sailing was to be the order of battle : the fleet in two lines,
with an advanced squadron of 8 of the fastest sailing two deckers. The
second in command, having the entire direction of his line, was to
break through the enemy, about the twelfth ship from their rear : he
would lead through the centre, and the advanced squadron was to cut
offthreeor four ahead ofthe centre. This plan was to be adapted to
the strength ofthe enemy, so that they should always be one-fourth
superior to those whom they cutoff. Nelson said, "That his admirals
and captains, knowing his precise object to be that of a close and de
cisive action, would supply any deficiency of signals, and act accord
ingly. Io case signals cannot be seen or clearly understood, no cap
tain can do wrong if be places his ship alongside that of an enemy."
One of the last orders of this admirable man was, that the name and
family of every officer, seaman, and marine,, -wfao might be killed or
wounded in action, should be as soon as possible returned to him, in
order to be transmitted to the chairman ofthe patriotic fund, that the
cose might be taken into consideration, for the benefit ofthe sufferer or
his family.
About half past nine in the morning ofthe 19th, the Mars, being tbe
nearest to the fleet of the ships which formed the line of communica-

LIFE OF NELSON. J3J
tion with the frigates in shore, repeated the signal, that the enemy were
coming out of port. The wind was at this time very light, with partial
breezes, mostly from the S. S. W. Nelson ordered the signal to be
made for a chase in the south-east quarter. About two, the repeating
ships announced, that the enemy were at sea. All night the British
fleet continued under all sail, steering to the south-east. At daybreak
they were in the entrance of the Straits, but the enemy were not in
sight. About seven, one of the frigates made signal that the enemy
were bearing north. Upon this the Victory hove to ; and shortly af
terward Nelson made sail to the northward. In the afternoon the
wind blew fresh from the south-west, and the English began to fear that
the foe might be forced to return to port. A little before sunset, Black
wood, in the Euryalus, telegraphed, that they appeared determined to
go to the westward, — " And that," said the admiral, in his diary,
" they shall not do. if it is in the power of Nelson and Bronte to prevent
them." Nelson had signified to Blackwood, that he depended upon
him to keep sight ofthe enemy.
Soon after daylight Nelson came upon deck. The 21st of October
was a festival in his family, because on that day his uncle, Capt. Suck
ling, in the Dreadnought, with two other line-of-battle ships, had beat
en off a squadron of four sail of the line, and three frigates. Nelson,
with that sort of superstition from which few persons are entirely ex
empt, had more than once expressed his persuasion that this was to be
the day of his battle also ; and he was well pleased at seeing his pre
diction about to be verified. The wind was now from the west, light
breezes, with a long heavy swell. Signal was made to bear down
upon the enemy in two lines ; and the fleet set all sail. Collingwood,
in the Royal Sovereign, led the Iee line of thirteen ships; the Victory led
the weather line of fourteen. Having seen tbat all was as it should be,
Nelson retired to his cabin and wrote the following prayer:
"May the great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for tbe benefit of
Europe in general, a great and glorious victory, and may no misconduct in any one
tarnish it ; and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British
fleet ! For' myself, individually. I commit my life no Him that made me; and may
His blessings alight on my endeavours for serving my country faithfully I To Him
1 resign myself, and the just cause which is intrusted to me to defend. Amen, Amen,
Amen. "
Having thus discharged his devotional duties, he annexed, in the same diary, tho
following remarkable writing :
" Oct. 21, 1805. — Then in sight of the combined fleets of France and
and Spain."
"Whereas the eminent services of Emma Hamilton, widow ofthe Right Honour
able Sir William Hamilton, have been ofthe very greatest service to my king and
country, to my knowledge, without ever receiving any reward from either our king
or country ; — "First, that she obtained the King of Spain's letter, in 1796, to. his
brother the king of Naples, acquainting him of bis intention to declare war against
England ; from which letter the ministry sent oat orders to the then Sir John Jervis,
to strike a stroke if opportunity offered, against either the arsenals of Spain or her
fleets. That neither of these was done is not the fault of Lady Hamilton ; the oppor
tunity might have been offered.
"Secondly, the British fleet under my command could never have returned tha
second time to Egypt, had not Lady Hamilton's influence with the Queen of Naples
caused letters to be written to the governor of Syracuse,, that he was to encourage
the fleets being supplied with every thing, should they put into any port in Sicily.,
We put into Syracuse, and received every supply ; went to Egypt, and destroyed tne
French fleet.

182

LIFE OF NELSON.

"Could I have rewarded these services, Iwould not now call upon my country ; but
as that has not been in my power,! leave Emma Lady Hamilton, therefore, a legacy
toiny king and country, that they will give her an ample provision to maintain her
rank in !ife.
" 1 ris-' leave to the beneficence of my country my adopted daughter, Horatia Nel
son Thomson ; and I desire she will use in fu ure the na ue of Nelson only.
" These are the only favours I ask of my king and country, at this moment when
I am goiisg to fight their battle. May God bless my king and country, and all those
I hold dear 1 My relations it is needless to mention; they will, of course, be amply
provided for. "NELSON and BRONTE.
" Witness $ HrnRY B^ckwood-
YYitness, ^T ]>| H,rdy
The child of whom the writing speaks, was believed to to be his daughter, and so
indeed, he called her the last time that he pronounced her name.— --She was then
about five years old, living at Merton.under Lady Hamilton's care. The last minutes
with Nelson passed at Merton were employed in praying over his child, as she lay
sleeping. A portrait of Lady Hamilton hung in his cabin ; and no Catholic ever
beheld the picture of his patron saint with devouter reverence. The undisguised
and romantic passion with which he regarded it aaiounted almost to superstition;
when the portrait was now taking down, in clearing for action, he. desi ed the men
who remover) it, to "take care of his guardian angel .'¦ In this manner he frequently
spoke of il, as if he believed there were a virtue in ihe image. He wore a miniature
of her, also, next his heart.
Blackwood went on board the Victory about six. He found him in good spirits,
but very calm ; not in that exhileralion which he had felt upon entering into battle'Sat
Aboukir and Copenhagen : he knew that his oevn life would be particularly aimed
at, and seems to have looked for death with almost as sure an expectation as for vic
tory. Hi3 whole attention was fixed upon the enemy. They tacked to thenorth-
ward.and formed their line on the larboard tack ; thus bringing the shoals of Trafalgar
and St. Pedro under the lee of the British, and keeping the port of Cadiz open for
themselves. his was judiciously none : and Nelson, aware of all the advantages
which it gave them, made signal to prepare to anchor.
Villeneuve was a skilful seaman ; worthy of serving abetter master. His plan of
defence^was as well conceived, and as original, as the plan of attack. He formed the
fleet in a double line ; every alternate ship being about a cable's length to windward of
her second ahead and astern. Nelson, certain of a triumphant issue to the day, asked
Blackwood what he should consider as a victory. That officer answered, that, con
sidering the handsome way in which battle -vas offered by the enemy, and the situa
tion ofthe land, he thought it would be a glorious result if 14 were captured. He replied,
" I shall not be satisfied with less than 20." Soon afterward he asked him, if he did
not think there was a signal wanting. Capt. Blackwood made answer, that he thought
the whole fleet seemed very clearly to understand what they were about. These words
werescareely spoken before that signal was made, which will be remembered as long
as the language, or even the memory of England shall endure : — Nelson's last signal :
England expects p-verv man to no his doty !" It was received throughout the fleet
with a shout of answering acclamalion, made sublime by the spirit which it breathed,
and the feeling which it expressed. 'Now,' said Nelson. 'I can do no more " We must
trust to the great Disposer of all events, ahd the justice of our cause. I thank God for
this great opportunity of doing my duty.'
He wore tnat> av\, as ,i an , h i admiral's frock coat, bearing on the
left breast four stars, of the different orders with wh ch he was invested.
Ornaments which rendered him so conspicious a mark for the enemy,
were beheld with ominous appreher sions by his-offii er». It was known
there were riflemen on board the French ships ; and it could not be
doubted but that his lite would be particularly aimed at. They commu
nicated their fears fo fach other ; , nd the surgeon, Mr. Beatty.* spoke
" In this part of the work I have been chiefly indebted to this gentleman's Narrative
of Lord Byron's Death — a Document as interesting as itis authentic.

LIFE OF NELSON. 133
to the chaplain, Dr. Scott, and Mr. Scott, the public secretary, desiring
tbatsome person would entreat him to change his dress, or rover the
stars : but they knew that such a request would highly displease him.
" In honour 1 gained them," he had said, when such a thing had been
hinted to him formerly, "and in honour I will die with ihem." Mr. Beat-
ty, however, would not have been deterred by any fear of exciting his
displeasure, from speaking to himself upon a subject, in which the weal
of England, as well as the life ot Nelson, was concerned, — hu* he wns
ordered from the deck before he could find an opportunity. This was
a point upon which Nelson's officers knew that it was hop ies.-. 1.1 ,•• a-
son with him ; but both Blackwood, and his own captain. Hardy, repre
sented to him how advantageous to the fleet it would be for him to keep
Out of action as long as possible ; and he consented at last to let the
Leviathan and the Temerairb, which were sailing abreast the Victory be
ordered to pass ahead. Yet even here the last infirmity of ill's noi/le
mind was indulged, for these ships could not pass ahead if the Victory
continued to carry all her sail ; and so far was Nelson from shortening
sail, that it was evident he took pleasure in pressing on. and rendering
it impossible for them to obey his own orders. A long swell was setting
into the bay of Cadiz: our ships, crowding all sail, moved majestically
before it, with light winds from the south-west. The sun shone on the
sails ofthe enemy; and their well-formed line, with their numerous
three-deckers, made an appearance which any other assailants would
have thought formidable ; — but the British sailors only admiral the
beauty and the splendour of the spectacle ; and, in foil confidence of
winning what they saw, remarked to each other, what a fine sight yon
der ships would make at Spithead !
The French admiral, from the Bucentaur, beheld the newmanner in
which his enemy was advancing — Nelson and Collingwood each lead
ing his line; and, pointing them out to his officers, he is said to <; ve
exclaimed, that such conduct could not fail to be successful. Yet
Villeneuve had made his own dispositions with the utmost skill, and the
fleets under his command waited for the attack with perfect coolness. —
Ten minutes before twelve they opened their fire. Eight or nine of
the ships immediately ahead ofthe Victory, and across her bows, fired
single gnns at her, to ascertain whether she was vet within their range.
As soon as Nelson perceived that their shot passed over him, he desired
Blackwood, and Capt. Prowse, ofthe Sinus, to repair to their respec
tive frigates; and, on their way, to tell all the captains ofthe line-of-bat
tle. ships that he depended on their exertions ; and that, if by the pres
cribed mode of attack they found it impracticable to get into a< tioji
immediately, they might adopt whatever they thought best, provided it
led them quickly and closely alongside ah enemy. "As they were stand
ing on the front ofthe poop, Blackwood took him by hand, saying, lie
hoped soon to return and find him in possession of twenty prizes. He
replied, "God bless you, Blackwooil ; I shall never see you again.
Nelson's column was steered by two p- ints more to the north than
Collingwood's in order to cut off the enemy's escape into Cadiz : the lee

j 34 LIFE OF NELSON.
line, therefore, was first engaged. "See," cried Nelson, pointing to the
Royal Sovereign, as she steered right for the centre ofthe enemy's line,
cut through it astern ofthe Santa Anna, three-decker, and engaged her
at the muzzle of her guns on the starboard side : "see how that noble fel
low, Collingwood carries his ship into action!" Collingwood, delight
ed at being firs_t in the heat ofthe fire, and knowing the feeling* of his
commander and old friend, turned _to his captain, and exclaimed : Ro
therham, what would Nelson give to be here !" Both these brave officers
perhaps, at this moment thought of Nelson with gratitude, for a circum
stance which had occured on the preceding day. Admiral Collingwood,
with some ofthe captains, having gone on board the Victory, to receive
instructions, Nelson inquired of him where his captain was? and was
told, in reply, that they were not upon good terms with each other.
" Terms !" said Nelson; — "good terms with each other!" Imme
diately he sent a boat for Captain Rotherham ; led him, as soon as he
arrived, to Collingwood, and saying, — " Look ; yonder are the enemy !"•
bade them shake hands like Englishmen.
The enemy continued to fire a gun at a time at the victory, till they
saw that a shot had passed through her main-top-gallant-sail; then they
opened their broadsides, aiming chiefly at her rigging, in the hope of dis
abling her before she could close with them. Nelson, as usual, had hoist
ed several flags, lest one should be shot away. The enemy showed no
colours till late in the action, when they began to feel the necessity of
having them to strike. For this reason, the Santissima Trinidad, Nel
son's old acquantance, as he used to call her, was distinguishable only by
her four decks ; and to the bow of this opponent he ordered the Victory
to be steered. Meantime an incessant fire was kept up upon the Victory.
The admial's secretary was one of the first who fell ; he was killed by
a cannon-shot while conversing with Hardy. Capt. Adair of the ma
rines, with the help of a sailor, endeavoured to remove the body from
Nelson's sight, who had a great regard for Mr. Scott : but he anxious
ly asked: "Is that poor Scott that's gone ? and being informed that it
was indeed so, exclaimed, "Poor follow!" Presently a double-headed
shot struck a party of marines, who were drawn upon the poop, and
killed eight of them : upon which, Nelson immediately desired Capt.
Adair to disperse his men round the ship, that they might not suffer so
much from being together. A few minutes afterward a shot struck the
fore brace bits on the quarter deck, and passed between Nelson and
Hardy, a splinter from the bit tearing off Hardy's buckle and bruising
his foot. Both stooped, snd looked anxiously at each other, each sup
posed the other to be wounded. Nelson then smiled, and said, "This is
too warm work, Hardy, to last long."
The Victory had not yet returned a single gun ; 50 of her mon had
been by this time killed or wounded, and her main-topmast, with all her
studding sails and her booms, shot away. Nelson declared, that in all
his battles, he had seen nothing which surpassed the cool courage of
his crew on this occasion. At four minutes after twelve.she opened her
fire from both sides of her deck. It was not possible to break the ene
my's line without running on board one of tbeir ships : Hardy informed
him of this, and asked him which he would prefer. Nelson replied,
"Take your choice. Hardy, it does not signify much."

LIFE OF NELSON. J 35
Capt. Harvey.in IheTemeraire.fell on board the Redoubtable on tn%
other side. Another enemy was in like manner on board the Temera-
ire : so that these 4 ships formed as compact a tier as if they had been
moored together, their heads lying all the same way. The lieutenants
ofthe Victory, seeing this, depressed their guns of the middle and low
er decks, and fired with a diminished charge, lest the shot should pass
through, and injure the Temeraire. And because there was danger
that the Redoubtable might take fire from the lower-deck guns, the
muzzles of which touched her side when they were run out, the fireman
of each gun stood ready with a bucket of water ; which as soon as the
gun was discharged, he dashed into the hole made by the shot. An
incessant fire was kept up 0 om the Victory from both sides; her lar
board guns playing upon the Buceutaure and the huge Santissima
Trinidad. It had been part of Nelson's prayer, that the British fleet might be
distinguished by humanity in the victory which he expected. Setting
an example himself, he twice gave orders to cease firing upon the Re
doubtable, supposing she had struck, because her great guns were si
lent; for, as she carried no flag, there was no means of instantly ascer
taining the fact. From this ship, which he bad thus twice spared, he
received his death. A ball fired from her mizen-top, which, in the then
¦ituation ofthe two vessels, was not more than fifteen yards from that part
of the deck where he was standing, struck the epaulette on his left
shoulder, about a quarter after one, just in the heat of action. He fell
upon his face, on the spot which was coyered with his poor Secretary's
blood. Hardy, who was a few steps from, turning round, saw three men
raising him up. — "They have done for me at last, Hardy," said he. —
"I hope not," cried Hardy. — "Yes!" he replied ; " my back-bone is
shot through." Yet even now, not for a moment losing his presence
of mind, he observed, as they were carrying him down the ladder, that
the tiller ropes, which had been shot away, were not yet replaced, and
ordered that new ones should be rove immediately : — then, that he might
not be seen by the crew, he took out his handkerchief, and covered
his face and his stars. Had he but concealed these badges of honour
from the enemy, England,, perhaps, would not have had cause to receive
with sorrow the news of the battle of Trafalgar. The cockpit was
crowded with wounded and dying men ; over whose bodies he was with
some difficulty conveyed, and laid upon a pallet in the midshipmen's
birth. It was soon perceived, upon examination, that the wound was
mortal. This, however, was concealed from all, except Capt. Hardy,
the chaplain, and the medical attendants. He himself being certain,
from the sensation in his back, and the gush of blood he felt mo
mently within his breast, that no human care could avail him, insis
ted that the surgeon should leave him, and attend to those to whom he
might be useful ; "for," said he, "you can do nothing for me." — All
that could be done was to fan him with paper, and frequently to give
him lemonade to alleviate his intense thirst. He was in great pain,
and expressed much anxiety for the event of the action, which now be
gan to declare itself. As often as a ship struck, the crew of the Vic
tory huzzaed ; and at every huzza, a visible expression of joy gleamed

J3(J Lirt, ur iMr-Lsun.
ie. ihe eyes, and marked the countenance, ofthe dying hero. But he
became impatient to see Capt. Hardy ; and as that officer, though often
sent for, could not leave the deck, Nelson feared that some fatal cause
prevented him, and repeatedly cried, " Will no one bring Hardy to me ?
He must be killed ! He is surely dead !" — An hour and ten minutes
elapsed from the time when Nelson received his wound, before Hardy
could come to him. They shook hands in silence ; Hardy in vain
struggling to suppress fhe feelings of that most- painful and yet sublimest
moment. " Well, Hardy," said NeUon, " how goes the day with us?"
— " Very well," replied Hardy ; " ten ships have struck, but five ofthe
van have tacked, and show an intention to bear down upon the Victory.
I have called two orthreeofour fresh shi ps round, and have no doubt
of giving them a drubbing." — "I hope," said Nelson, "none of our
ships have struck ?" Hardy answered, "There was no fear of that."
Then, and not till then, Nelson spoke of himself. "lam a dead man,
Hardy," said he : "I am going>fast: — it wiil be all over with me soon.
Come nearer to me. Let my dear Lady Hamilton have my hair, and
al' other things "belonging to me." Hardy observed, that he hoped
Mr. Beatty could yet hold out some prospect of life. "Oh, not !" he
replied : " it is impossible. My back is shot through. Beatty will
tell you so." Capt. Hardy then, once more, shook hands with him ; and
with a heart almost bursting, hastened upon deck.
By this time all feeling below the breast was gone; and Nelson, hav
ing made the surgeon ascertain this, said to him, "You know lam
gone; I know it. I feel something rising in my breast," putting his
hand on his left side, — "which tells me so." And upon Beatty's in
quiring whether his pain was very great? he replied, " So great, that
ht- wislied he was dead. Yet," said he, in a lower voice, "one would
like to live a little longer, too !" And after a few minutes, in the same
under tone, he added, "What would become of poor Lady Hamilton, if
she knew my situation!" Next to his country,she occupied his thoughts.
Capt. Hardy, some 50 minutes after he had left the cockpit, returned ;
and, again taking the hand of his dying friend and commander, congra
tulated him on having gained a complete victory. How many of the ene
my were taken he did not know, as it was impossible to perceive them
distinctly : but 14 or 15 at least. "That's well," cried Nelson, "but I bar
gained for 20." And then, in a stronger voice, he said, "A -ichor. Hardy ;
anchor." Hardy, upon this, hinted that Admiral Collingwood would take
upon himself the direction of affairs. "Not while I live, Hardy," said
the dying Nelson, ineffectually endeavouring to raise himself from the
bed: "do you anchor." His previous order forsaw the necessity of.
this. Presently, calling Hardy back, he said to him, in a low voice,
" Don't throw me overboard :" and he desired that he might be buried
by his parents, unless it should please the king to order otherwise. Then
reverting to private feelings. "Take care ot my dear Lady iiarailton.
—Kiss me, Hardy," said he. Hardy knelt down and kissed his cheek :
and Nelson said, " Now I am satisfied. Thank Gad, I have done my
duty." Hardy stood over him in silence for a moment or two, then

LIFE OF NELSON. joy
kneit again, and kissed his forehead. " Who is that V said Nelson •
and being informed, he replied, " God bless you Hardy." And Har
dy thentleft him — for ever.
Nelson now desired to be turned upon his right sidj, and said " I
wish I had not left the deck ; for I shall soon be gone." Death Yas
indeed, rapidly approaching. He said to the chaplain, "Doctor I have
not been a great sinner :" and after a short pause, ''Remember that I
leave Lady Hamilton and my daughter H iralia as a legacy to my
country." His articulation now bee; me difficult; but he was dis
tinctly heare" to say, '• Thank God, I Have done my duty." These
words he repeatedly pronounced : and they were tbe last words which
he uttered. He expired at thirty minutes after four, — three hours and
a quarter after he had received his wound.
Within a quarter ofan hour after Nelson was wounded, above fifty
of the Victory's men fell by the enemy s musketry. They, however,
on their part were not idle ; and it was not long before there were
only two Frenchmen left alive in the mizen top of the Redoubtable.
One of them was the man who had given the fatal wound: he did
not live to boast of what he had done. An old quartermaster had
seen him fire ; and easily recognized him, 'because he wore a glazed
cocked hat and a white frock. This quarter-master and two midship
men, Mr. Collingwood and Mr. Pollard, were the only persons left in
the Victory's poop ; — the two midshipmen kept firing at the top, and
he supplied them with cartridges. One of the Frenchmen, attempting
to make his escape down the rigging, was shot by Mr. Ppllard, and
fell onthe poop. But the old quarter-master; as he cried out, " That's
he — that's he," and pointed at the other, who was coming forward to
fire again, received a shot in his mouth and fell dead, When they
took possession ofthe prize, they went into tb^e , mizen-top, and found
him dead ; with one ball through his head, aikl another through his
breast. ^ ,i ,.,-,
The Redoubtable struck within 20 minutes after the fatal shot had
been fired from her. During that time she Sad been twice on fire,  in
her forechains and in her forecastle. Thi1 French, as they had done
in other battles, made use, in this of fire- bo lis, and other combustibles -
implements of destruction, which other nations, from a sense of honour
and humanity, have laid aside; which add to the sufferings ofthe woun
ded, without determining the issue ofthe comr>at : which none but the
cruet would employ, and which never caxi, be successful against the
brave. Once they succeeded in setting fire, from the Redoubtable, to
some ropes and canvass on the Victory's booms. The cry ran through
the ship and reached the cockpit : but nven this dreadful cry produced
no confusion : the men displayed that self-possession in danger by
which English seamen are characterized ; they extinguished the flames
on board their own ship, and then extinguished them in the enemy, by'
throwing buckets of water from the gangway. When the Redoubtable
had struck, it was not practicable to board her from the Victory ; lor,
though the two ships touched, the upper works of both fell n so much,
that there was a great space between their gangways : and she could
not be boarded from tbe lower or middle decks, because her' ports were
down. Some of our men went to Lieutenant Quilliam, and offered to
swim under her bows, and get up there ; but it was thought unfit to ha
zard brave lives in this manner. 18

188 LIFE OF NELSON.
What our men would have done from gallantry, some of the crew of
the Santissima Trinidad did to save themselves. Unable to stand the
tremendous fire of the Victory, whose larboard guns played against
this great four-decker, and not knowing how else to escape them, nor
where else to betake themselves for protection, many of them leaped
overboard, and swam to the Victory ; ahd were actually helped up her
sides by the English during the action. The Spaniards began the bat
tle with less vivacity than their unworthy allies, but they continued it
with greater firmness. The Argonauta and Bahama were defended till
they had each lost about 400 men : tbe St. JuanNepomuceno lost 350.
Often as the superiority of British courage has been proved against
France upon theseas, il was never more conspicuous than in this deci
sive conflict. Five of our ships were engaged muzzle to muzzle with
five ofthe French. In all five,the Frenchmen lowered their lower-deck
ports, and deserted their guns ; while our men continued deliberately
to load and fire, till they had made the victory secure.
Once, amid his sufferings, Nelson had expressed a wish that he were
dead; But immediately the spirit subdued the pains of death, and he
wished to live a little longer ; — doubtless that he mighthear the comple
tion of the victory which he had seen so gloriously begun. That con
solation — that joy— that triumph was afforded him. He lived to know
that victory was decisive ; and the last guns which were fired at the fly
ing enemy were heard a minute or two before he expired. The ships
which were thus flying were four of the enemy's van, all French, un
der Rear-Admiral Dumanoir. They had borne no part in the action;
and now, when they were seeking safety in flight, they fired not only in
to the Victory and Royal Sovereign as they passed, but poured their
broadsides into the Spanish captured ships ; and they were seen to back
their topsails, for the purpose of firing with more precision. The indig
nation of the Spaniards atj^iis detestable cruelty from their allies, for
whom they had fought so %,avely, and so profusely bled, may well be
conceived. It was such, that when, two days after the action, seven of
the ships which had escaped into Cadiz came out, in hopes of retaking
some ofthe disabled prizes,- the prisoners, in the Argonauta, in a body,
offered their services to the British prizemaster, to man the guns against
any ofthe French ships : saying, that if a Spanish ship came alongside,
they would quietly go below ; but they requested that they might be
allowed to fight the French, in resentment for the murderous usage
which they had suffered at their hands. Such was the implicit confidence
which could be placed in Spanish honor, that the offer was accepted,
and they were actually stationed at the lower-deck guns, Dumanoir
and his squadron were not more fortunate than the fleet from whose de
struction they fled ; they fell in with Sir Richard Strachan, who was
cruising* for the Rochefort squadron, and were all taken. In the better
days of France^ if such a crime could then have been committed, it
wn!d have received an exemplary punishment from the French govern
ment under Buonaparte, it was sure of impunity, and, perhaps, might
be .icught deserving of reward. But, if the Spanish court h;«d been
fo-epcnt'ciit, it would have become us to have delivered Dumanoir and
Jj's captains up to Spain, that they might have been brought to trial, and
"anged in sight of the remains of the Spanish fleet.

LIFE OF NELSON. -. og
The total British loss in the battle of Trafalgar amounted to one thou
sand five hundred and eighty-seven. Twenty ofthe enemy strurk; but
it was not possible to anchor the fleet, as Nelson had enjoined •  a gale
came on from the south-west ; some of the prizes went down, some went
on shore ; one effected its escape into Cadiz ; others were destroyed;
four only were saved and those by the greatest exertions The wound
ed Spaniards were sent ashore, an assurance being given that they should
not serve tillregularly exchanged ; and the Spaniards, with a generous
feeling, which would not, perhaps, have been found in any other people
offered the use of their hospitals for our wounded, pledging the honor
of Spain that they should be carefully attended there. When the storm,
after the action, drove some of the prizes upon the Coast, they declared
that the English, who were thus thrown into their hands, should not be
considered as prisoners of war ; and the Spanish soldiers gave up their
own beds to their shipwrecked enemies. The Spanish vice-admiral
Alava, died of his wounds. Villeneuve was sent to England, and per
mitted to return to France. The French government say that he destroy
ed himself on the way to Paris, dreading the consequences of a couri-
martial : but there is every reason to believe that the tyrant, who nevej
acknowledged the loss ofthe battle of Trafalgar, added Villeneuve to
the numerous victims of his murderous policy.
It is almost superfluous to add, that all the honors which a greateful
country could bestow, were heaped upon the memory of Nelson. His
brother was made an earl, with a grant of £6,000 a year ; £10,(,00
were voted to each of his sisters : and £100,000 for the purchase ol an
estate. A public funeral was decreed, and a public monument. Sta
tues and monuments also were voted by most of our principal cities. The
leaden coffin, in which he was brought home, was cut in pieces, which
were distributed as relics of Saint Nelson, — so the gunner ofthe Vic
tory called them ; — and when, at his interment, his flag was about ti> bo
lowered into the grave, the sailors, who assisted at the ceremony, with
one accord rent it in pieces, that each might preserve a fragment while
he lived.
fhe death of Nelson was felt in England as something more than
a public calamity: men started at the intelligence, and turned pale;
as if they had heard ofthe loss of a dear friend. An object of our ad
miration and affection, of our pride and of our hopes, was suddenly
taken from us ; and it seemed as if we had never, till then, known
how deeply we loved and reverenced him. What the country had
lost in its great naval hero — the greatest of our own. and of all for
mer times, was scarcely taken into the account of grief. So perfectly,
indeed, had had he performed his part, that the maritime war after the
battle of Trafalgar, wns considered at an end : the fleets of the enemy
were not merely defeated, but destroyed : new navies must be built and
a new set of seamen reared for them, before the possibility of their in
vading our shores could again be contemplated. It was not therefore,
from any selfish reflection upon the magnitude of our loss that we
mourned for him: the general sorrow was of a higher character.
The people of England grieved that funeral ceremonies, and public
monuments, and posthsmous rewards were all which they now eonld

|40 Lim 0T NELSON.
besto v upon binv whom the king, the. legislature, and the n.U.osi
would have alike delighted to honour; whoin'every tongue would
have blessed ; whose pr-sence in every village through which be
might have passed, would have wakened the church bells, have given
schoolljoys a holyday, have drawn children from their sports to gaze
upon him, und" old men from the chimney corner," to look upon Nel
son ere they died. The victory of Trafalgar was celebrated, indeed,
with^tlie usual forms of rejoicing, but they were without joy ; for such
already vas the glory of the British navy, through Nelson's surpas
sing iftisiiis, that it scarcely seemed lo receive any addition from the
most signal victory that ever was achieved upon the seas: and the
destruction of this mighty fleet, by which allthe maritime schemes of
Fr,i;iee were totally fi-istrated, hardly appeared to add to our security
or siren^tn ; for '.voile Neisun was living, to watch the combined
squadrons of the enemy, we felt ourselves as secure as now, wiiCi
they were no longer in existence.
There was reason, to suppose, from the appearances upon opening
the body, that, in the course of nature, he might have attained, like his
fataer. io a good old age. Yet he cannot be said tohave fallen pre
maturely whose work was done ; nor ought he to be lamented, who
died so full of honours, and atthe height of human fame. The most
triumphant death is that of the martyr ; the most awful is that of the
marty ..ed patriot; the most splendid is that of the hero in the hour of vic
tory : and if the cliariotand the horses of firt had been vouchsafed for
NeUun's translation, he could scarcely have departed ina brighter
blaze of glory. Hi" has left us, not indeed 'his mantle of inspiration,
but a n-i " and an example, which are al this time inspiring thousands
ofthe youth of England: a name which is our pride, and an exam
ple waich will continue to be our snield and strength,
THE END.

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