0

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PER VOLUME, CLOTH, $1.50. HALF MOROCCO, $1.75-

I.— Nelson, and the Naval Supremacy of England.
By W. Clark Russell, author of " The Wreck of
the Grosvenor," etc.
II.— Gustavus Adolphus, and the Struggle of Protest
antism for Existence. By C. R. L. Fletcher,
M.A., late Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.
III.— Pericles, and the Golden Age of Athens. By
Evelyn Abbott, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College,
Oxford.
IV.— Theodoric the Goth, the Barbarian Champion of
Civilization. By Thomas Hodgkin, author of
"Italy and Her Invaders," etc.
V.— Sir Philip Sidney : Type of English Chivalry.
By H. R. Fox Bourne.
VI. — Julius Caesar, and the Organization of the Roman
Empire. By Warde Fowler, M.A., Fellow of
Lincoln College, Oxford.
VII. — Wyclif, Last of the Schoolmen and First of the
English Reformers. By Lewis Sergeant.
VIII. — Napoleon, Warrior and Ruler ; and the Mili
tary Supremacy of Revolutionary France. By
William O'Connor Morris.
(For titles of volumes next to appear and for further details
of this Series see prospectus at end of volume.)

P. PUTNAM'S SONS, Publishers,
NEW YORK AND LONDON.

Iberoes of tbe Iftatfons
EDITED BY
Evelyn Bfebotr, flb.B.
FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD

FACTA DUCIS VIVENT, OPEROBAQUE
GLORIA RFHUM. — OVID, IN LIVIAM, 285.
THE HERO'S DEEDS AND HARD-WON
FAME SHALL LIVE.

NELSON

NELSON'S SIGNAL AT TRAFALGAR.

HORATIO NELSON

AND

THE NAVAL SUPREMACY OF ENGLAND

W. CLARK RUSSELL

AUTHOR OF "THE WRECK OF THE GROSVENOR," "" THE LIFE OF WILLIAM
DAMPIER," ETC.

With the Collaboration of William H. Jaques
LATE UNITED STATES NAVY, M. I. AND S. INST. M.E., ASSOC. INST. i_, a.
ASSOC. I. N. A.

FOURTH EDITION

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK LONDON
B7 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND
%\i futuhubothcr Qieai
1893

YAt-E

COPYRIGHT, 1890, BY
G. P. PUTNAM'S EON ,
Entered at Stationers* Hall, London
by G. P. Putnam's Sons
bftSM MH R% l«13

Tfie ftnfcliertocliet press, Wew fflotli
Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by
G. P. Putnam's Sons

PREFACE

is hard to tell what has or has not
been issued in the shape of liter
ature during the past forty of
fifty years, and therefore one may
not say positively that there has
been no life of Nelson produced
since the publication of the first vol
ume of " Nelson's Dispatches and Let
ters " by Sir N. Harris Nicolas in 1845.
If a strong, well-written book on Nelson's
career, embodying all distinctive and important
points in Nicolas and Pettigrew, is in existence
in the English tongue, it is unknown to me. In
my hunt after materials for this volume I have
met with the following : the rude and primitive
biographies of White, Charnock, and Churchill, writ
ten very shortly after Nelson's death, crowded with
inaccuracies conveyed in the diction of Grub Street,
and plainly designed at the time to serve as catch
pennies ; the volumes of Clarke and M'Arthur, which,
though it be necessary to refer to them in writing
about Nelson, have long since ceased to be valued as
authoritative; the " Life " by Harrison, that is no bet
ter than a romantic view of the Hero from a Deila-
Cruscan or Rosa-Matilda standpoint, a book inspired

vi Preface.
by the bad taste and flighty imagination of Lady
Hamilton ; Southey's little work ; Pettigrew, who
chiefly concerns himself with Lady Hamilton ; and
the voluminous collection edited by Nicolas.
Of these works, Southey's alone remains popular.
This is owing to the charm of its style, where the
author writes out of himself, rather than to the in
formation it communicates. Southey went to Clarke
and M'Arthur's work for almost all he had to tell,
and one meets with passage after passage, incor
porated by him out of the older biography, with
hardly a change of word.
Since Southey wrote, much that was vague and
unsettled about Nelson has been determined. Many
wild, unjust, or unfair statements, such as may be
met with in Brenton and in others, have been dis
proved. What may be called the inner life of Nelson
has been freely and clearly submitted — -more particu
larly by Pettigrew, whose work is usefully supple
mented by the researches and labour of that accurate
and engaging writer, Mr. J. C. Jeaffreson. There
seemed room, then, for a new popular " Life " ;
indeed, it is a want. Far abler hands than mine
might readily have been found ; but I was asked to
undertake the work. I thereupon collected all that
I regarded as essential to a clear and correct portrait
of England's greatest admiral, and I have done my
best with the materials I met with.
W. Clark Russell.
FEBRUABY, i8go.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Birth — Rev. Edmund Nelson — Education — First going to sea —
The sailor of the last century — Jervis and Collingwood —
Dislike of the navy — West India voyage — Polar experiences
— East India voyage — Impulse of patriotism ... I
CHAPTER II.
Confidence in young Nelson — Examination for lieutenant —
Captain William Locker — Sickly constitution — Capture of
an American letter-of-marque — Career in the West Indies —
Prince William — Nicaragua expedition — Residence at Bath
— A Baltic cruise — Anecdote of the Harmony — Lord Hood, 13
CHAPTER III.
Journey to France — Miss Andrews — Captain Alexander Ball —
Treatment of midshipmen — Seizures under the Navigation
Act — Mrs. Moutray — Fanny Nisbet — Anecdotes of Nelson
— His marriage — Disgusted by neglect and ill-treatment . 27
CHAPTER IV.
Long period of inactivity — Vain application for employment —
Life in the country — Asks for command of a cockle-boat —
Commissioned to the Agamemnon — Sails with Lord Hood's
fleet — Sir William and Lady Hamilton — Anecdotes — Action
off Sardinia1 — Services on the coast of Corsica — Confidence
reposed in Nelson — Cession of Corsica to Great Britain — ¦
Bastia  39

Contents.

CHAPTER V. PAGE
Attack on Calvi — Nelson's eye hurt — Genoa — Newspaper lies —
A cottage ashore — Money-loss through services — Action with
French fleet — The Agamemnon and the Qa Ira — Nelson
made Colonel of Marines — Action with the French fleet —
General de Vins — A scandalous accusation — A seat in Parlia
ment offered — Evacuation of Corsica — Action with the
Santa Sabina .... . . • ¦ 53
CHAPTER VI.
Arrival at Gibraltar — Chased by two Spanish liners — Narrow
escape — In the thick of the Spanish fleet — Anecdote of
Jervis — Battle of St. Vincent — The San yosef and the San
Nicolas — Their capture by Nelson — Nelson's explanation of
his proceeding — The action considered . . . .66
CHAPTER VII.
Rewards — Nelson's Popularity amongst sailors — Cause of it —
Hand-to-hand fight off Cadiz — Project against Teneriffe —
A disastrous blunder — Loss of his arm — Courage under suf
fering — Anecdotes of the surgical operation — Troubridge at
Santa Cruz — Nelson sails for England — Lady Nelson — An
ecdotes belonging to this time — Character of his wife —
Memorializes the King — St. Vincent's letter to Lady Ham
ilton — Nelson proceeds to the Mediterranean — A heavy gale
of wind — Public opinion on St. Vincent's choice . . .76
CHAPTER VIII.
Pursuit of the French fleet — Anecdote of Lady Hamilton — The
fleet weighs from Syracuse — Discovery of French fleet —
Plans of attack — Nelson's policy of instant fighting — Battle
of the Nile — Death of Admiral Brueys — Explosion of L' Ori
ent — Anecdotes of rescued Frenchmen — The Culloden ashore
— Nelson wounded — Louis of the Minotaur . . .93
CHAPTER IX.
Comparative force of the two fleets — Signal but extraordinary
triumph — French Remarks on the battle — Captain Hallo-

Contents.

well's gift — Consequences of the battle of the Nile — Hon
ours and gifts — Reception of the news at Naples — Nelson's
dislike of Naples — His arrival and reception by the King
of the Two Sicilies — -Anecdote of the Vanguard — The Ham-
iltons' House — Festivities at Naples— Lady Nelson's un
easiness .  108
CHAPTER X.
State of the Kingdom of Naples — Precious time wasted — Malta
taken by the French — Saumarez at "\4aletta — General Mack —
Treachery of Neapolitan officers — Flight of the King and
Queen from Naples — The voyage to Palermo — Influence of
Lady Hamilton over Nelson — The Vesuvian Republic —
Captain Foote and the rebel capitulation — Cardinal Ruffo . 122
CHAPTER XL
Caracciolo — His trial and execution — Reappearance of the body —
Nelson's gifts to his family — Festivities — Nelson's adhesion
to the Sicilian Court — Sir Sidney Smith — Captain Ball at
Malta — Troubridge's hatred of the Court of Naples . . 137
CHAPTER XII.
Action with Le Ge"ndreux — Lieutenant Parsons's description of the
fight — Lord Cochrane on Nelson — Capture of Le Guillaume
Tell — Life on board the Foudroyanl — Insurrection at Leg
horn — Incidents of Nelson's journey home — Arrival in Lon
don — Quarrel with Lady Nelson — His separation from her . 150
CHAPTER XIII.
Honours — St. Vincent's Concern — Surrender of Malta — Case of
the Freya — Attitude of Northern powers — British fleets sent
to Copenhagen — The Danish defences — Anecdote of the
Prince of Denmark's aide-de-camp — Nelson at Admiral
Parker's council — Eve of the action .... 166
CHAPTER XIV.
The night before the battle — Order of sailing — Stations of the
British ships — Remarkable instance of heroism — Parker's
signal and its reception by Nelson — The battle described — A

Contents.

PAGE
flag of truce — The Elephant ashore — Nelson's poetry — Story
of the Zealand — Visit to the Danish prince — Danish losses —
Young Welmoes — Departure of the fleet . . . .178
CHAPTER XV.
Pursuit of the fleet in a boat — Blind Mrs. Nelson — Nelson at
Revel — Personal habits — Investiture of Rear-Admiral Graves
— Rev. W. Nelson — No medals for Copenhagen — Return to
England — Fears of invasion — In the Downs — Purchase of
Merton Place — Death of Captain Parker — Nelson's irri
tability .  199
CHAPTER XVI.
Political speeches — St. Vincent on Canada — Death of Rev. E.
Nelson — Nelson and the Hamiltons — Visit to Wales — War
with France — Buonaparte and Lord Whitworth — Nelson's
income — Death of Sir Wm. Hamilton — Appointed Com
mander-in-chief on the Mediterranean station — Letter from
the King of Naples — Blockading — A revolution in sea-affairs
— Crazy ships — Fears for his eyesight — Bay of Palmas . 217
CHAPTER XVII.
Recollections of Rev. A. J. Scott — The leathern arm-chairs — ¦
Anecdote of a midshipman — La Touche-Treville — Continued
illness — Ambition to be Lord High Admiral — Anecdote —
Tedious blockading — Spanish menace — Rich capture — Sir
John Orde — Injurious treatment of Nelson — French fleet —
Daring navigation — Pursuit of the French across the Atlantic
¦ — Misled by Brereton — The American schooner — Two years
all but ten days of shipboard — Romantic incident . . 231
CHAPTER XVIII.
Arrival in England — Sir Arthur Wellesley — George III. — Lord
Sidmouth's story — Keats's anecdote of Nelson — Interview
with Blackwood — Lady Hamilton's fanciful story — At Ports
mouth — Junction at Cadiz — Strength of British fleet — The
combined fleets — Beatty's account of Nelson — Blackwood
to his wife — Nelson to his child — Weighing of the enemy . 257

Contents.

CHAPTER XIX. PAGE
A grand picture — Nelson's men — His dress before the battle —
His prayer — Blackwood's suggestion — The famous signal —
Collingwood — The Royal Sovereign — Anecdote of Rotheram
— The Victory in action — Overwhelming fire — Nelson
wounded — Scene of the cockpit — Nature of the wound —
Hardy — Tenderness of nature in last moments — "Anchor,
Hardy, Anchor ! " — Nelson's death ..... 276
CHAPTER XX.
After the battle — Cape Trafalgar — Anecdote of the A chille — Fate
of the Santissima Trinidad — Fate of the Redoutable —
Effects of the battle — Ney on the invasion of England —
Nelson's remains — Arrival at Spithead — Appearance of the
body — -National mourning — St. Vincent's grief — Honours
to Nelson's family — Lady Hamilton's claims — Her death —
Nelson's funeral — Conclusion  300
Appendix  ... 317
Index ...... ... 337

ILLUSTRATIONS.

NELSON'S SIGNAL AT TRAFALGAR (AFTER THE
ORIGINALS IN THE UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTE,
Whitehall, London ) . . . Frontispiece
death of nelson, 1805 (from the painting by
ernest slingeneyer)  i
burnham thorpe, nelson's birthplace . . 2
captain maurice suckling, r. n. (from an old
steel engraving by ridley) . 12
sir william hamilton  42
emma, lady hamilton (after a painting by
romney) ........ 44
view of bastia, island of corsica 50
lord hotham's action, march, 1 795. . . 60
the "victory" and the " salvador del mun-
do." action off cape st. vincent, 1797 . 70
nelson's encounter with a spanish launch . 78
view of santa cruz, island of teneriffe . 80
the battle of the nile, 1 798 .... ioo
nelson's monument, st. paul's, london . . i 24
capture of " le guillaume tell,'' 1800 . . 154
nelson's column, trafalgar square, london . 160
THE BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN, l8oi . . . 180
LORD NELSON, K.B. (AFTER A PAINTING BY A. W.
DEVIS)  202
xiii

xiv illustrations.

*t" j

:o4

FAC-SIMILE OF LORD NELSON S FIRST LETTER AS
A PEER . ....
FAC-SIMILE OF LADY HAMILTON'S ATTESTATION
OF IT 
SNUFF-BOX MADE FROM THE WOOD OF "l'oRL I
MEDAL FOR THE BATTLE OF THE NILE
FAC-SIMILE OF LORD NELSON'S AUTOGRAPH AT
VARIOUS PERIODS OF HIS LIFE . . . 234
NELSON'S MONUMENT AT LIVERPOOL (FROM AN
OLD engraving)  254
THE " VICTORY " BREAKING THROUGH THE ENEMY'S
LINE AT THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, 1805 . 288
THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, 1805. (FROM THE
PAINTING BY C. STANFIELD) .... 29O
SIR THOMAS MASTERMAN HARDY, BART., G.C.B. . 298
NELSON'S WATCH AND SEAL WORN AT TRAFALGAR . 299
FAC-SIMILE OF LORD NELSON'S STATEMENT OF HIS
WOUNDS  302
NELSON'S PILLAR, SACKVILLE STREET, DUBLIN . 310
H. M. S. "TRAFALGAR"  318
SECTION OF FRIGATE  319
SECTION OF A FLUSH-DECK CORVETTE . . .322
COEHORN HOWITZER, 1805  WEIGHT, 2.\ CWT. . 323
CARRONADE, THIRTY-TWO POUND, 1779  WEIGHT,
J7CWT  325
H. M. S. "VICTORY'' ...

33*

¦L

THE DEATH OF NELSON.
ENGRAVED FROM RUSSELL'S "NELSON" FROM THE PAINTING BY ERNEST SLINGENEYER.

HORATIO NELSON.

CHAPTER I.
Birth — Rev. Edmund Nelson — Education — First go
ing to sea — The sailor of the last century — Jervis
and Collingwood — Dislike of the navy — West In
dian voyage — Polar experiences — East India voyage
— Impulse of patriotism.
ORATIO NELSON was born on the
29th of September, 1758, at Burnham
Thorpe, Norfolk, of which place his
father, the Reverend Edmund Nelson, was rector.
A singular interest inevitably attaches to the parents
of great men. What was their character ? what their
talents, disposition, tastes? to what degree are their
illustrious children indebted to them for the qualities
which rendered them great ? There is nothing in
Nelson's genius and spirit that can be traced to his
father. The Reverend Edmund appears to have beer.
a plain country parson, overwhelmed with children,

2 The Life of Horatio Nelson. \Kx. £
and poor. He was a man of a heavy cast of piety,
ponderous in opinion and sentiment, constantly pursu
ing his son with unnecessary admonitions, and taxing
the gravity of posterity by a style of correspondence
curiously in keeping with the well-like pews, the
Georgian wigs, and the drowsy, insipid, hour-and-a-
half s sermons of the days of Porteus and Hurd.
He was of a weak and sickly constitution, and this he
seems to have bequeathed to Horatio. But the influ
ence of the parson's cottage-home was always strong
upon Nelson. " He was a thorough clergyman's son,"
his chaplain, Dr. Scott, would in after years say of
him a little ambiguously. " I should think he never
went to bed or got up without kneeling down and
saying his prayers." * His mother was a daughter
of Maurice Suckling, a Prebendary of Westminster,
whose grandmother, as Nelson tells us himself in his
" Memoir of his Services," was sister to Sir Robert
Walpole, Earl of Orford. There was some fighting
spirit on his mother's side. Galfridus Walpole
commanded the Lion, of sixty guns, in a gallant
action in the Mediterranean in 171 1, and his sword
came to Horatio Nelson from his uncle, Captain
Suckling. Mrs. Nelson died when her son was nine.
It is scarcely to be supposed that the memory of
such influence as she might have exerted was of
much account in the formation of his character.
The Nelson Correspondence is very voluminous, as
all know who have had occasion to refer to the
Nicolas Collection ; but nowhere that I can remem-
ber does he speak of his mother, save in that brief
*." Recollections of the Life of the Rp.v. A. J. Scott, D.D.," p. rgI.

BURNHAM THORPE, NELSON'S BIRTHPLACE.

1758-76] Education.

mention of her name in- the sketch of his life which
he sent in 1799 to John M'Arthur.*
Nelson's biographers have collected little as to
his early education. He was at the High School
at Norwich, and afterwards went to a school at
North Walsham; but what he knew he seems to
have himself wholly acquired, as may be gathered
from a statement made by the Duke of Clarence
long years afterwards, when in comparing Nelson
with Collingwood, he spoke of the former as being
entirely self-taught, whereas Collingwood, the Prince
said, entered the Service well equipped by the school
master. The few anecdotes of the lad belonging to
this period were years ago worn threadbare. Who
has not heard how he told his grandmother, when
she expressed wonder that fear did not drive him
home, that " Fear never came near him " ? how he
plundered a pear-tree without partaking of the
booty, entering upon the adventure only because
every other boy was afraid ? These and one or two
other like stories are recorded by all Nelson's bi
ographers with a striking unanimity of complacent
approval. One wishes them true if merely as curiosi
ties of biographic literature ; but unhappily they are
so varied in the telling that it is difficult not to sus
pect their authenticity. Much has been put into
* And (though it is not to the point) in a letter to Dr. Allott,
Dean of Raphoe, 14th May, 1804 : " Most probably I shall never see
dear, dear Burnham again ; but I have a satisfaction in thinking that
my bones will probably be laid with my father's in the village that
gave me birth. Pardon this digression ; but the thought of former
days brings all my mother into my heart, which shows itself in my
eyes." — " Dispatches and Letters," vol. vi., p. 18.

The Life of Horatio Nelson. [>Ct. 11

Nelson's mouth which no man who has any acquaint
ance with the nautical character, but must feel con
vinced this Hero, who was a Sailor before all things,
never could have uttered* From the period of
his school-days down to Trafalgar and the cockpit
of the Victory he has been melodramatised, from
White to Pettigrew, and from Charnock to Lieuten
ant Parsons.
Captain Manby, well known in his time for
various nautical inventions, was at school with
Nelson at Downham Market, and he would speak
of him as a lad who wore a green coat and who
set the market pump going that he might launch
paper boats in the gutter. An instance of his
extreme sensibility as a child is given. One day
on entering a shoemaker's shop he accidentally
jammed a pet lamb in thrusting open the door and
cried bitterly at the pain he had caused the little
animal. A Mr. Levett Hanson, writing to Nelson
from Hamburg in 1802, embodies in an odd, flippant
letter some recollections of Horatio as a schoolboy.
" I well remember," he says, " where you sat in the
school-room. Your station was against the wall
between the parlour door and the chimney : the
latter to your right. From 1769 to 1771 we were
opposites. Nor do I forget that we were under the
lash of Classic Jones, as arrant a Welshman as
Rees-ap-Griffith, and as keen a flogger as Merciless
Busby of birch-loving memory ! " f This school thus
referred to was at North Walsham, where Nelson

* See in particular Harrison's " Life of Nelson."
f Pettigrew. Vol. ii., p. 263.

1758-76] Permission to go to Sea. 5
remained until the Spring of 1 77 1 . Towards the close
of the previous year he had read in a county paper
that his mother's brother, Captain Maurice Suck
ling, was appointed to the Raisonnable of sixty-four
guns. The lad had asked his brother William to
write to his father at Bath and obtain his permission
to go to sea with Uncle Maurice. Gruff Captain
Suckling, on receiving the Reverend Edmund
Nelson's letter, answered thus : " What has poor
Horace done, who is so weak, that he above all the
rest should be sent to rough it out at sea ? 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."
The Raisonnable was not ready for sea until the
Spring of 1771. Young Nelson had returned to
school with his brother William, and there he
stayed ; until one cold, dark morning there arrived
a servant from the Reverend Mr. Nelson to bring
him home that he might be got ready to start as a
sailor. He was provided with a slender outfit, and
was then accompanied by his father to London,
where he was left to make the best of his way to the
sixty-four-gun ship lying off Chatham. Nelson in
after times would often recall the wretchedness of
his childish heart as he wandered about in search
of the ship. It was a grey, melancholy day, sharp
with the frost of an expiring Winter. As the little
fellow roamed here and there, shivering in his jacket
and bewildered by the novelty of the scene of ship
ping, and darkling river, and noisy, bawling Jacks,
and the many delectable sights and smells of the

6 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [ytt. 13
dockyard, he was observed by a naval officer, who,
happening to know Captain Suckling, took him
home and gave the hungry little fellow some dinner.
The captain did not arrive until several days after his
nephew had joined the ship, and the lad found him
self in his floating home without a soul who knew
him to offer him a word of sympathy or to do him a
single kindness.
Shipboard life in the days of the beginning of
Nelson's career was very much as it was when
Roderick Random was being poisoned by the
fumes of the sick quarters of his man-of-war, and
when his associate was being driven by famine to
rob his Welsh colleague of his onions and bread.
Little Nelson, fresh from school or the pastoral
simplicity of his father's rectorial cottage, might
well gaze with amazement round upon the scene
into which Captain Suckling had been solicited to
introduce him. There would be all the smartness
of almond-white decks, the imposing grimness of
lines of black and grinning ordnance, the beauty of
airy heights of an exquisitely symmetrical fabric of
spars and sails and rigging ; there would also be no
lack of delight to the boy's eyes in the spectacle of
the red muzzles of the guns, in the white tompions,
in the petticoat trousers of the sailors, in the long
tails tied down their backs ; but below — at least in
that part of the ship which was the destined habi
tation of the boy — everything was dirt and gloom,
smell and misery. The English sailor was in those
days at the very height of, his roughness and bru
tality. His back was scored with the lash ; his skull

1758-76] fervisand Collingwood. 7
was in holes from the bludgeons of the pressgang ;
the salt beef of the service had penetrated his soul,
and his sensibilities were as hard as the most
fossilised of the contents of the harness-cask. No
fancy could be more impressive to the imagination
than the picture of the little lonely child Nelson,
emaciated by repeated attacks of ague, his heart
yearning towards his far-off inland home, friendlessly
pacing the broad quarter-deck of the lumbering
sixty-four-gun ship, directing his eyes brilliant
with intellect and astonishment at the novel sights
which lay about him. " The filial tenderness of his
heart," one of his biographers says, " at first required
a solace which it did not find." *
It is noteworthy that the introduction to the sea-
life of two other boys who subsequently rose to very
nearly the level of Nelson as great sea-captains, was
as damping and killing to the spirits as that of
Horatio. John Jervis, the famous Earl of St. Vin
cent, gave such an account to Captain Brenton of
his first reception on board ship that his biographer
owns himself incapable of repeating it. " I have too
much respect," he says, " for my readers, to describe
the scene which his Lordship presented to me, in a
very few words, but in his clear and emphatic manner.
Suffice it to say, that in point of gross immorality
and vice, it equalled or outdid anything described
by Smollett in his 'Roderick Random.' "f It is
told of Lord Collingwood that when he first went to
sea he sat down crying bitterly over his separation
* Clarke and M'Arthur. Vol. i., p. 16.
f Brenton's " Life of St. Vincent," vol. i., p. 19.

8 The Life of Horatio Nelson. r>Et. 13
from home, and such was his childish misery and his
desire for compassion and sympathy that, on the first
lieutenant accosting him with some little show of
kindness, he was so affected that in his gratitude he
invited the officer to accompany him to his sea-
chest, out of which he took a large piece of plum-
cake which he presented to the lieutenant.*
Nelson saw very little of sea-life aboard the Raison
nable. She remained but a short time in commission,
and Suckling was then appointed to the Triumph,
of seventy-four guns, stationed as a guard-ship in the
Medway. Here was a condition of inactivity that was
little likely to suit the restless spirit of young Nel
son ; and whether through his own importunity or
through the judgment of his father or of Captain
Suckling, he went on a West Indian voyage in a
small ship in command of Mr. John Rathbone, who
had served as master's mate under Captain Suckling.
Referring to this voyage, Nelson himself says : " If
I did not improve in my education, I came back a
practical seaman, with a horror of the Royal Navy
and with a saying then constant with a seaman,
'Aft the most honour, forward the better man!'
It was many weeks before I got in the least recon
ciled to a man-of-war, so deep was the prejudice
rooted ; and what pains were taken to instil this
erroneous principle in a young mind ! " In truth the
Navy was never a popular service with sailors. In
Nelson's time particularly, the discipline was atro
ciously taut, the punishments cruel above expression,
the food infamously bad ; and there was no better
* " Collingwood's Correspondence," p. 6.

1758-76] West Indian Voyage. 9
temptation to enter than prize-money, of which
the seamen were remorselessly plundered by the
agents. In the Merchant Service there was freedom.
A man signed for a voyage and then he was his own
master again. Those amongst Nelson's biographers
who were not sailors are astonished that he should
for one instant have formed a higher opinion of the
Merchant Service than the Royal Navy. The real
wonder would have been had his taste inclined the
other way, seeing that everything agreeable to the
sailor was on the side of the Red Flag, difference of
wages being foremost.
Although it is certain that Nelson knew how to
miss stays in putting a ship about,* there can be no
question that this West Indian voyage made a
thorough sailor of him. A little West Indiaman
of those days provided such an ocean-school as even
the forecastle of a North Country collier could not
supply. He arrived home a brown and tarry lad,
" every hair a rope-yarn, every finger a fish-hook," and
repaired on board his uncle's ship, the Triumph
(July, 1772). Suckling finding him full of prejudices
against the Navy, sought to coax him into a regard
for it by giving him plenty of small but interesting
work to do, with promise of a sort of promotion,
such as making one of the crew of the cutter and
decked long-boat, provided, as Nelson himself says,
" he attended well to his navigation." Thus he
spent the time in learning the trick of piloting from

* " Dispatches and Letters," vol. iv., p. 299. By " missing stays " is
signified a posture of a ship in the act of tacking : instead of coming
round into the wind, she halts, or falls off,

10 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [>Et. 15
Chatham to the North Foreland till the year 1773,
when there was set on foot a scheme, due to an
application from the Royal Society, to equip and
despatch a couple of vessels on a Polar voyage.
The two craft were the Racehorse, Captain Constan-
tine John Phipps, and the Carcass, Skeffington Lud-
widge. Nelson went as coxswain to Ludwidge. He
could obtain a footing in no other station, boys
being prohibited by the Admiralty from serving in
the voyage to the North Pole. He would hardly be
sensible of any degradation in this, however, aftef
having been rated as "Captain's servant" for above
a year aboard the Triumph; though to be sure in
the same ship he was raised to midshipman, which
position Pettigrew is careful to tell us he filled for
ten months, one week, and five days.
Nelson's Polar experiences are of little interest ;
they contributed, however, to the formation of his
unparalleled sea character. It was a wide range in
those ambling limited days from the fiery suns of the
Antilles to the frozen silence of the Northern lights.
Here occurred the well-known incident of his wan
dering from the ship in pursuit of a bear, that he
might obtain the skin of the animal for his father.
But it needed Aboukir and Copenhagen and Trafal
gar to render this illustration of the character of a
sailor lad in the least degree significant.
The Racehorse and Carcass returned to England
and were paid off in October, 1773. Horatio was
now fifteen years old, but he was already possessed
of the complete knowledge of an able seaman, and
needed nothing but a course of active service to

1758-76] Promoted to Midshipman. 1 1
qualify him in almost every experience that was in
those days to be got out of the ocean. Suckling, al
ways his warm well-wisher and friend, recommended
him to Captain Farmer, of the Seahorse, twenty
guns, belonging to the squadron about to sail for the
East Indies under Admiral Hughes. Naval ratings
in those days were a little perplexing. Clarke and
M'Arthur inform us that Nelson was stationed in
the foretop of the Seahorse at watch and watch, as
it is termed, by which we are to take it that he
embarked as a foremast hand. It was not long
before Farmer noticed the lad's smartness and at
tention to his duties, and during the voyage out he
called him on to the quarter-deck and rated him as
midshipman. He was now a naval officer, and was
frequently suffered by the lieutenant of the watch
to manoeuvre the ship even to the extent of putting
her about, and in other ways he was allowed to give
orders as though indeed he were himself a lieuten
ant.* By this time all the effects of his frequent
attacks of ague had disappeared ; he was no longer
the meagre, sickly lad that had wandered about in
search of his ship at Chatham, but a boy of a florid
countenance, stout and athletic, with a deep sea i oil
in his gait and the liveliest of hearties aloft.
His East India experiences were wide ; they
ranged from Bengal to Bassorah ; but eighteen months
of that climate proved too much for him. He was
seized with a malignant disorder which reduced him
to a mere skeleton and brought him very near to
his grave. Admiral Hughes, the Commander-in-
* Clarke and M'Arthur. Vol. i., p. 23.

1 2 The Life of Horatio Nelson. C^t. 18
chief, believing the lad to be dying, sent him home
in the Dolphin, which sailed from India in 1776.
By Hughes the life of Nelson was undoubtedly
saved. The ship-doctors could do nothing for him,
and England in the hour of her need must have been
without the greatest of her sea-captains but for this
timely, compassionate act of Sir Richard Hughes.
The passage home was long and tedious. Sickness,
the uncertainty of his future, the sense of his friend-
lessness, in a professional sense, weighed heavily upon
young Nelson's mind, and for days at a time he was
bowed down by fits of crushing despondency. " I
felt impressed," he says, " with an idea that I should
never rise in my profession. My mind was stag
gered with a view of the difficulties I had to sur
mount and the little interest I possessed. I could
discover no means of reaching the object of my
ambition. After a long and gloomy reverie, in
which I almost wished myself overboard, a sudden
flow of patriotism was kindled within me and pre
sented my king and country as my patrons. My mind
exulted in the idea. ' Well then,' I exclaimed, ' I
will be a hero, and, confiding in Providence, I will
brave every danger.' " This resolution to do, begot
ten in a moment of wretchedness, became the noble,
animating, enduring impulse of his glorious mind.
It never failed him. It was an ever-growing passion.
Nay, to his fervid imagination it seemed a thing
embodied, indeed ; for he would often declare to
his friend Hardy, that from that hour there was
suspended before his mind's eye a radiant orb that
courted him onward to renown.

CAPTAIN MAURICE SUCKLING, R.N.
FROM AN OLD 6TEEL ENGRAVING BY RIDLEY.

CHAPTER II.
Confidence in young Nelson^Examination for lieutenant — Cap
tain William Locker — Sickly constitution — Capture of an Ameri
can letter-of-marque — Career in the West Indies — Prince
William — Nic
aragua expe
dition — Resi
dence at Bath
—A Baltic
cruise — Anec
dote of the
Ha r m o ny —
Lord Hood.

APTAIN SUCKLING, who had
always been Nelson's friend, was
now an influence, for in 1775, dur
ing his nephew's absence, he had
succeeded Sir Hugh Palisser as
Comptroller of the Navy, and thanks to his uncle's
generous offices, young Nelson, after the Dolphin
had been paid off, found immediate employment
as Fourth Lieutenant of the Worcester, a ship of
sixty-four guns, commanded by Mark Robinson.*
* The fact indicated in the following anecdote belongs to this
period, though I am unable to fit it : " Lord Nelson says that when
he was seventeen years of age, he won ^300 at a gaming-table ; but
he was so shocked on reflecting that, had he lost them, he should not
have known how to pay them, that from that time to this (1799) he
has never played again." — " Autobiography of Miss Cornelia Knight, "
vol. ii., p. 286.

1 4 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t£t. IS
In this vessel he went to Gibraltar, and there was
none of his early voyages which he recalled with more
pleasure. Mark Robinson was a kind and a wise
captain ; he saw much in young Nelson that pleased
and impressed him ; he gave all possible encourage
ment to his youthful abilities, and Nelson afterwards
proudly recorded the confidence that the commander
reposed in him. " Although my age might have
been a sufficient cause for not entrusting me with
the charge of a watch, yet Captain Robinson used to
say he felt as easy when I was up on deck as any
Officer in the ship."
He passed his examination for lieutenant on the
9th of April, 1777, being then nineteen years of age.
Captain Suckling was at the head of the Board be
fore which the young man appeared. Nelson entered
the room nervously, but answered the questions put
to him rapidly and with great intelligence. When
the examination was ended, Captain Suckling rose
and introduced the youth to his brother examiners
as his nephew. " Why did not you tell us this be
fore ? " was asked. " Because," answered the honest
old sailor, " I did not wish the younker to be
favoured ; I felt convinced that he would pass a
good examination and, gentlemen, you see I have
not been disappointed." The result of this examina
tion was his prompt appointment next day as Second
Lieutenant to the Lowestoffe frigate, thirty-two guns,
of which William Locker was the captain.
Of all Nelson's professional friends, Locker was
the most valued. The hearty qualities, the fine,
genial, manly character of this seaman are visible in

1776-82] First Lieutenant of the "Lowestoffe." 15
the round, large-eyed face that looks out from his
well known printed likeness. Nelson was never
weary of declaring that he owed his advancement,
his glorious successes, indeed, to the training he
received from William Locker, to his association
with him, to his repeated advice, admonitions, in
struction in all that his large experience qualified
him to communicate.
The ill-health that harassed without ever hinder
ing him throughout his life pressed at this time
heavily on Nelson. Having joined the Lowestoffe,
he was ordered to take the place of the first lieu
tenant (who was absent) at the rendezvous for
pressed men, that was at that time near the Tower.
His friend Lieutenant Bromwich, then a midshipman,
would afterwards tell that Nelson was so extremely
ill, that one cold night whilst they were on duty to
gether at the Tower, he had to take him on his back
and carry him to the rendezvous, and it was sometime
doubtful whether he would recover from the swoon
into which he had fallen* His West Indian career
begins with his arrival in the Lowestoffe, on the 4th
of July, 1777, at Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes. He is
said to have first won Locker's heart by an instance
of intrepid resolution which is thus related. The
Lowestoffe fell in with an American letter-of-marque.
The first lieutenant was ordered aboard her, " but
the sea ran so high," says Pettigrew, " that he was
unable to reach her, and he returned to the frigate."
Locker warmly inquired whether there was not an
officer on board his ship capable of taking possession
* Clarke and M'Arthur. Vol. i., p. 25.

1 6 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [/Et. 19
of the prize. The Master offered, but Nelson, push
ing forward, exclaimed : " No, it is my turn now. If
I come back it will be yours." He jumped into the
boat, and after a hard tussle got aboard, but the sea
was so heavy and the prize lay so deep that his boat
was washed right over the Yanked, and it was
some time before he could make good his entrance.
Bromwich, however, who told the story, declared
that the first lieutenant never left the frigate. He
had gone below for his hanger, which he could not
immediately find, and Locker, losing patience, cried
out as we have read. Be this as it may, the achieve
ment was Nelson's ; but it is scarcely reasonable to
suppose that long prior to this Captain Locker had
not witnessed enough in the bearing, the conversa
tion, the professional alertness and enthusiasm of
his second lieutenant to endear the young man to
him as a naval officer whose future was charged with
brilliant possibilities.*
It would be impossible in a brief survey of such a
life as Nelson's to find space for the recital of all
that he did in the West Indies at this time. Locker
appointed him to the command of one of the
Lowestoffe' s tenders, a little schooner in which, as
he himself tells us, " he made himself a complete
pilot of all the passages through the (Keys) Islands
situated on the north side Hispaniola." Through
the influence of Locker he was appointed by Ad-
* It is worth noting, however, that Sir James Mackintosh (see his
Life, vol. ii., p. 135) says : "Windham, certainly, and perhaps Fox,
met Captain Nelson at Holkham without suspecting that he was more
than a lively and gallant officer."

1776-82] Career in the West Indies. 1 7
miral Sir Peter Parker third of the flag-ship Bristol
and his place in the Lowestoffe was taken by Cuth-
bert Collingwood, who, in a brief account of his own
life which he communicated to the Naval Chronicle*
wrote : " Whenever Lord Nelson got a step in rank
I succeeded him, first in the Lowestoffe, then in the
Badger, into which ship I was made a Commander in
1779, and afterwards the Hinchinbrook, a twenty-
eight-gun frigate, which made us both Post-Cap
tains." The Bristol cruised in company with other
ships until the 17th of October. In this time sev
enteen sail of French merchantmen were captured.
Two months later Nelson was promoted to the rank
of Commander, and in the Badger brig was sent to
protect the Mosquito coast and the Bay of Hon
duras from the American privateersmen who
swarmed in those waters. He is described at this
period as of a figure that might readily have passed
for what it is customary to call " a common sailor."
He was careless in his dress, blunt in speech, frank
and off-hand in manner. There is little to surprise
one in this. So far as he had now used the sea, he
had endured the hardest part of its life in a voca
tional sense. He was a thorough-bred seaman at
this period, but it needed the keen and affectionate
penetration of a William Locker to perceive more in
him than forecastle and quarter-deck capacities some
what above the average.
In 1779 England was at war with France and
Spain. There was much anxiety felt in Great
Britain ; for our naval force had been represented
* Vol. xxiii., p. 330.

1 8 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [*t. 21
by Lord Chatham as unequal to the needs of the
nation. Further, ships were short-handed in conse
quence of the supplies of American seamen being
stopped. King George, with the design of popular
ising the Service, entered his third son, Prince
William Henry, as midshipman. So far as the
quarter-deck was concerned the result was success
ful. The ships of war were promptly filled with
sprigs of the nobility.* It was long a popular story
in the Navy that soon after Prince William had be
come a midshipman a lieutenant of a man-of-war
hailing the mizzen-topsail yard, shouted out : " My
lords and gentlemen, and all you right honourable
lubbers, bear a hand and roll up that sail and lay
down ! " Three days earlier than the entering of
the future King of England as a midshipman on
board the Prince George, Nelson had been made Post
into the Hinchinbrook. He was at sea when news
of the arrival of Count D'Estaing at Hispaniola
reached him. The enemy's powerful fleet and army
threatened the safety of Jamaica. Nelson imme
diately offered his services to the Admiralty and to
the Governor, General Dalling, and was appointed
to command the batteries at Port Royal. This was
the most important post in the whole island.
Nothing, however, was done by D'Estaing, and Gen
eral Dalling thereupon went to work to execute a
plan originated by himself — i. e., to take the fort of
San Juan on the river that runs from Nicaragua into
the Atlantic, and so capture Granada and Leon, that
communication might be effectually cut off between
* Naval Chronicle, vol. xii., p. 335.

1776-82] Nicaragua Expedition. 19
the northern and southern dominions of the Span
iards in America.
In this service Nelson was foremost. He con
voyed the handful of troops which were sent, headed
them in their landings, and may be said really to
have shown them how to fight. The expedition
was distressing and disgusting ; the climate an in
tolerable one ; the prospects poor, and even if achiev
able, of little worth ; the seat of war a bed of mud ;
the river to be navigated rapid and difficult, soil and
air swarming with venomous things and poisonous
with the pestiferous exhalations of centuries of
tropical rot. Nelson might easily have backed
out of this cheap, mean, and idle contest, since his
instructions from Sir Peter Parker were that the
services of the Hinchinbrook should terminate with
the landing of her soldiers. But he found that
there was not a man of the whole company who
had ever been up the river, or who had an idea of
the distance of any fortification from its mouth.*
He thereupon manned the Mosquito shore-craft with
his own sailors, and carried the soldiers up to the
castle of San Juan. His extraordinary energy is con
spicuously manifested in this passage of his career.
There was scarcely a gun fired which was not pointed
by him. He himself, at the head of a few seamen,
" boarded," as he called it, the St. Bartholomew bat
tery, and the Spaniards fled in terror before the hurri
cane rush of the Jacks. That a single man of the expe
dition should have survived General Dalling's scheme
is perhaps the most extraordinary part of this busi-
* Lord Nelson's " Memoir of his Services,"part 2.

20 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^Et. 21
ness. Nelson was barely saved from being stung to
death by a serpent. He narrowly escaped being
poisoned through drinking at a spring in which some
branches of the manchineel apple had been thrown.
Men dropped dead during the march, and their
bodies became putrid corpses within half an hour.
They were without provisions, and were forced to
subsist on a broth formed by boiling monkeys, a
sort of food which Nelson often declared nothing
could induce him to touch after a glance at the
brutes simmering in the copper.*
His life was saved by Sir Peter Parker's appoint
ment of him to the command of the Janus of forty-
four guns. He returned to Jamaica to take posses
sion of her, but was nearly dead of dysentery and
fatigue. On his arrival he was conveyed on shore
in his cot and attended by a black nurse named
Cuba Cornwallis, from whose lodging-house he was
removed to the residence of the Admiral, and ten
derly nursed by Lady Parker and her housekeeper,
Sir Peter himself often keeping watch by the young
captain's bedside. It is told that such was his aver
sion from taking medicine that the only method which
could be devised to induce him to swallow it was to
send it to him by the Admiral's little girl, whom
Nelson afterwards always spoke of as his nurse.f
* Yet Sir Sidney Smith ate rats with avidity ! He " asserted
that rats fed cleaner, and were better eating than pigs or ducks, and
agreeably to his wish, a dish of these beautiful vermin were caught
daily with fish-hooks, well baited, in the provision hold, for the ship
was infested with them, and served up at the captain's table. The
sight of them alone took off the keen edge of my appetite." — " Nel-
sonian Reminiscences," by G. S. Parsons, R. N., p. 275.
f Clarke and M'Arthur. Vol. i., p. 61.

1776-82] A Baltic Cruise. 2 1

His illness increased upon him. The West Indian
climate was killing him ; there was no remedy but
an immediate return to Europe, and on the first of
September, 1780, he sailed for England in the Lion,
commanded by Captain William Cornwallis, " whose
care and attention," he says, "again saved my life."
For nearly a year he resided at Bath under the
advice of Dr. Woodward, a celebrated physician, of
whom Lady Nelson afterwards would tell this story :
that when Nelson expressed surprise at the smallness
of the fees charged and desired to increase them, Dr.
Woodward answered : " Pray, Captain Nelson, allow
me to follow what I consider to be my professional
duty. Your illness, sir, has been brought on by serving
your king and country, and believe me, I love both
too well to be able to receive any more." His health
improved, and he made earnest application for em
ployment, but for a long time without result. On
the 16th of August, 1781, he was appointed to com
mission the Albemarle frigate, twenty-eight guns,
and was despatched in October, along with two
other vessels, to Elsineur to protect the homeward
trade. This commission greatly irritated Nelson.
He felt that his gallant services deserved a more
generous recognition than his dispatch on a win
ter's cruise into the bleak North Sea, enfeebled as
he was after a long course of the fever-breeding
parallels of the West Indies. On his arrival at
Elsineur the Danish admiral sent a midshipman
to the Albemarle that he might be informed of the
names and force of the ships. The visit of the little
creature was felt as an indignity by Nelson. " The

22 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l^Et. 24
Albemarle" said he to the midshipman, " is one of
his Britannic Majesty's ships ; you are at liberty to
count her guns as you go down the side ; and you
may assure the Danish admiral that, if necessary,
they shall all be well served." The midshipman
carried this message ashore, and later on Nelson
sent to say that the English squadron would salute
the castle of Kronenburg with nineteen guns pro
vided an equal number were returned. This was
done, a few civilities were exchanged, and the Dane's
discourtesy pardoned.
The cruise was uneventful, but it stored the
mind of Nelson with memories which subsequently
proved of inestimable value to his country. In
April, 1782, his ship still being the Albemarle, he
sailed in company with Captain Thomas Pringle
with a convoy for Newfoundland and Quebec. Two
months later, whilst cruising off Boston, he was
chased by three French ships of the line and a
frigate. The four ships outsailed him, and to save
himself from being taken he ran amongst the
numerous and dangerous shoals of St. George's
Bank. The coolness which at such a moment as
this springs from a long experience in the business of
pilotage, where every instinct must be on the alert,
and where a man needs as man}' eyes in his head as
a peacock has in its tail, was Nelson's now ; and he
saved his ship by it. The liners shifted their helm ;
but the frigate continued to warily follow with a
leadsman on either side of her; whereupon the
Albemarle shortened sail meaning to fight her; but
Monsieur happened to be without appetite just then

1776-82] Anecdote of the "Harmony? 23
for the encounter, and taking advantage of the
evening that had drawn down, he braced his yards
up and staggered off in search of his consorts.
During this cruise Nelson captured a small Cape
Cod-man called the Harmony. All that her owner, a
poor fisherman, had in the world was aboard of his
little craft. Nelson employed him for a while as a
pilot. The poor fellow served him very faithfully ;
on which, first taking the judgment of his officers
and ship's company, Nelson called to the man, whose
name was Carver, to approach him and said : " You
have rendered me a very essential service and it is
not the custom of English seamen to be ungrateful.
In the name therefore, and with the approbation of
the officers of this ship, I return your schooner and
with it this certificate of your good conduct. Fare
well, and may God bless you." There can be no
question that Nelson acted as is here recorded ;
proof of it may yet be extant in the original manu
script of the certificate that was framed and hung
up in the house of Isaac Davis of Boston ; but it is
difficult to believe that he made the above speech to
Carver. It is not the language of a bluff sailor ; it
is too melodramatic ; it sounds, in short, as though
written for a stage Nelson. Anyway, Carver was so
grateful for the act, that he came off to the ship
at the hazard of his life with a most useful and
timely gift of sheep, poultry, and provisions, which
Nelson insisted upon paying for.
Whilst at Quebec Nelson fell in love with an Ameri
can lady. The Albermarle was ready for sea when
Alexander Davison, whose name is intimately asso-

24 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t. 24
ciated with that of Nelson in his life and corre
spondence, met the frigate's captain as he sprang
from a boat on to the beach. Davison eagerly
asked him the occasion of his return. " Walk up to
your house," replied Nelson, " and you shall be ac
quainted with the cause. I find it utterly impos
sible to leave this place without again waiting on
her whose society has so much added to its charms
and laying myself and my fortunes at her feet."
" Your utter ruin," cried Davison, " situated as you
are at present, must inevitably follow." " Then
let it follow ! " exclaimed Nelson, " for I am re
solved to do it." Davison, however, managed to
blandly but firmly convey Nelson back into his
boat and saw him safely off, perhaps watching
from the beach until the Albemarle had got her
anchor and was blowing out to sea.*
In October he sailed with a convoy to New York,
where he found the fleet under the command of
Lord Hood, namely the Barfleur with twelve sail-of-
the-line, part of Lord Rodney's victorious ships of
the 1 2th of April. Nelson waited on Admiral
Digby on his arrival and Lord Hood was present.
" You are come," said Digby, " on a fine station for
making prize-money." "Yes, sir," replied Nelson,
"but the West Indies is the station for honour."
Lord Hood seems to have noted this speech. " He
has honoured me highly by a letter," Nelson writes
to Captain Locker, November 17, 1782, " for wishing
to go off this station to a station of service, and
has promised me his friendship."
* Clarke and M'Arthur. Vol i., p. 77.

1776-82] Lord Hood. 25
Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence, after
wards William IV., had quitted Admiral Digby,
under whom he had been serving as midshipman,
for the Barfleur, on Lord Hood's arrival. He was
on board that vessel when Nelson came off in his
barge, and he afterwards described him as the
merest boy of a captain he had ever beheld. His
dress, he said, was worthy of attention. He had
on a full-laced uniform ; his lank, unpowdered hair
was tied in a stiff Hessian tail of an extraordinary
length ; the old-fashioned flaps of his waistcoat
added to the general quaintness of his figure. The
Prince could not keep his eyes off him. He had
never before viewed so singular a sailor. He could
not imagine who he was nor what he came about,
but on Lord Hood introducing him, the Prince
found something irresistibly pleasing in his address
and conversation, and an enthusiasm when speak
ing on professional subjects that showed he was no
common being. There was something certainly
very grotesque in the old naval costumes. Many of
the noblest of the old sea-captains must have shown
wonderfully like scarecrows in their day. When
St. Vincent first went to sea his dress was formed of
a coat that had been made for him to grow up to.
It reached down to his heels and was " full large " in .
the sleeves. The dirk and gold-laced hat could but
heighten the absurdity of such a figure. * Jervis,
however, learnt to respect dress and to insist upon it.
A story is told of Commodore Thompson, who, being
one day clad in a purser's duck frock and a common
?Brenton's " Life of St. Vincent," vol. i., p. 17.

26

The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[/Ct. 24

straw hat, passed in his boat under the stern of the
flag-ship. Jervis, viewing the Commodore with
astonishment, hailed the boat. " In the barge there !
Go and assist in towing that transport." The Com
modore, fully appreciating the significance of this
rebuke, stood up, and taking off his hat, answered
with Jack's customary cry of " Aye, aye, sir," and
proceeded to execute the order.*

' Quarterly Review, 1844, P- 422-

Journey to France — Miss Andrews — Captain Alex
ander Ball — Treatment of midshipmen — Seizures
under the Navigation Act — Mrs. Moutray —
Fanny Nisbet — Anecdotes of Nelson — His mar
riage — Disgusted by neglect and ill-treatment.
NDER Lord Hood's command Nelson
sailed to the West Indies in Novem
ber and remained there until Janu
ary, 1783, when peace with France
was concluded. Little that is worth noting occurred
whilst he was on this station. He took a French
brig, and made captive an illustrious foreigner and
several French scientific gentlemen, whom he quickly,
however, set at liberty. The Albemarle was paid off
at Portsmouth July 3, 1783, and Nelson was placed
on half-pay. On the nth of the month Lord
Hood carried him to St. James's Palace, and Petti
grew tells us that the King was very attentive to
Nelson, perhaps on the recommendation of his son,
Prince William, who was now able to state from per
sonal experience that there was no man at that time
afloat in the King's navy better able to give most

28 The Life of Horatio Nelson. r/Et. 25
valuable information on naval tactics. It is said
that when he left St. James's he dined with his
Quebec friend Davison at Lincoln's Inn. " On his
arrival he immediately threw off what he called
his ' iron-bound coat,' and having procured a dress-
ing-gown spent the evening in talking over the
various occurrences of the interval that had
elapsed since they last parted on the beach of the
River St. Lawrence." * His talk would naturally
concern his passion for the beautiful American
lady whom Davison had obliged him to turn his
back upon. Nelson's devotion to the ladies, how
ever, like his ambition, was not to be restricted.
In the Autumn of 1783, he went to France with
Captain Macnamara, mainly with the intention of
learning French, and at St. Omer met and fell in
love with Miss Andrews, one of the three daughters
of an English clergyman. How much in earnest he
was may be gathered from his letter to his uncle,
William Suckling, in which he tells him that the
critical moment of his life is now arrived, that it
depends entirely upon him, namely, his uncle,
whether he is to be miserable or happy : in other
words, as his income does not exceed £130
a year, will his uncle allow him £100 a year
to enable him to get married ? Suckling very
handsomely complied ; Nelson, however, did not
marry Miss Andrews. Pettigrew believes he was
rejected by her. What Nelson thought of her may
be gathered from a letter which he wrote to his
brother William. " She has such accomplishments
?Clarke and M'Arthur. Vol. i., p. 84.

1/32-87] Captain Alexander Ball. 29
that had I a million of money I am sure I should at
this moment make her an offer of them." * Prob
ably £230 a year did not suggest an alliance suffi
ciently alluring to Miss Andrews, who had but a
thousand pounds for her fortune. There could have
been no ill feeling, however, for the girl had a
brother in the Navy who subsequently became the
friend and follower of Nelson.
Two naval officers were at St. Omer when Nelson
was there. He thought them great coxcombs,
chiefly because they wore epaulets, which was a
French fashion that Nelson detested, though eleven
years later the epaulet was ordered to be worn as
part of the British naval uniform. One of these
"coxcombs" was Captain, afterwards Sir, Alexander
Ball, who had gone to sea in 1768 through reading
" Robinson Crusoe." That Nelson's instant dislike of
Ball was reciprocated does not appear, but it is re
markable that fourteen years later they came together
at sea in a violent storm, when Ball rendered Nelson
such services as caused the Hero to embrace him
as his deliverer, and for the remainder of their lives
they were intimate and even affectionate friends.
¦In March he was appointed to the Boreas, of
twenty-eight guns, and sailed for the Leeward
Islands, having with him Lady Hughes, the wife of
Sir Richard, Commander-in-chief on that station.
With him, as chaplain, went his brother, the Rev.
William, afterwards the first Earl Nelson, a mar-
* " Dispatches and Letters," vol. i., p. gr. Miss Andrews married
first a clergyman of the name of Farrer and second Col.Warne of 'he
E. I. C. S.

30 The Life cf Horatio Nelson. t^t. 25
whose character is warmly attacked by Pettigrew
and pleasantly defended in our day by Mr. J. C.
Jeaffreson.* There were thirty midshipmen in the
Boreas, and Nelson's treatment of them was ob
served and recorded by Lady Hughes. The tender
ness of his noble nature is finely illustrated by the
lady's description. There were timid spirits amongst
the lads, little creatures who gazed with affright at
the towering masts it was their duty to climb. Nel
son, to encourage them, would say, " I am going a
race to the masthead, and beg I may meet you
there," then would spring into the lee shrouds whilst
the nervous little middy crawled up to windward ;
and Lady Hughes tells us that when they met in
the top he would speak in the most cheerful way to
the boy, and observe: " How much any person was
to be pitied who could fancy there was any danger,
or even anything disagreeable in the attempt." It
was such traits as these that made Nelson loved as
never was naval hero loved by sailors. His example,
too, was of incomparable service, a life-long influence
to the youths of his quarter-deck. He was always
the first to arrive with his quadrant to take sights at
noon. Regularly every day he would enter the
school-room and stand listening and looking on
whilst the boys buzzed through their nautical studies.
" I make it a rule," he said, speaking of his midship
men, " to introduce them to all the good company I
can, as they have few to look up to, besides myself,
during the time they are at sea."
See "Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson," by J. C. Jeaffreson,
Passim.

1782-87] Seizures under Navigation Act. 3 1
The Boreas reached Barbadoes on the 26th of
June, and for nine months Nelson was occupied in
suppressing the illegal traffic that was carried on in
those islands. The trade with the West Indies had
been almost entirely in the hands of the Americans,
but they had ceased to be colonists and were now
foreigners, and under our Navigation Laws had no
right to trade in British colonies. Nelson found
Sir Richard Hughes indifferent to British interests,
perhaps secretly conniving at what was going for
ward. He seized many vessels which he knew were
not privileged to trade, and for simply doing his
duty was, as he himself says, "persecuted from one
island to another." His zeal was very little relished.
It was his opinion that men-of-war were sent abroad
for other purposes than to be made a show of;
he recommended Sir Richard Hughes to study the
Navigation Act ; and he hauled down a broad pen
nant that had been hoisted on board the Latona by
order of the Resident Commissioner Moutray, on
the ground that he, Nelson, knew of no superior
officers besides the Lord Commissioners of the Ad
miralty and his seniors in active service on the post.
The splenetic governor of the Leeward Islands, Sir
Thomas Shirley, fell into a passion on finding his
opinions firmly objected to by Nelson, and told him
hotly that old generals were not in the habit of tak
ing advice from young gentlemen. " Sir," answered
Nelson, contemptuously, " I am as old as the Prime-
Minister of England, and think myself as capable of
commanding one of his Majesty's ships as that min
ister is of governing the State."

32 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [/Et. 25
In a letter to Captain Locker Nelson briefly ex
plained this difficulty of illicit traffic thus : " An
American arrives ; he has sprung a leak, or a mast ;
he makes a protest, he gets admittance, sells the
cargo for any money, goes to Martinico, buys molas
ses, and so round and round ; but I hate them all."
On his arrival at Nevis he found four American ves
sels lying there deeply laden and flying the island
colours, white with the red cross. They were re
quired to hoist the American flag and leave in forty-
eight hours. The masters denied that they were
Americans, and refused to obey Nelson's orders.
The crews were thereupon summoned to the cabin
of the Boreas and examined by the Judge of the Ad
miralty, who happened to be on board, and after a
little coaxing they all confessed they were Americans,
and that their vessels and cargoes were wholly
American property. On being proceeded against
the four vessels with their cargoes were condemned
as legal prizes to the Boreas. A rascally attorney
got hold of the American masters and induced them
to swear that their own and the depositions of their
crews had been extorted from them by bodily fear.
An action for damages— Pettigrew says £4,000, but
Clarke and M'Arthur call it £40,000, Nelson him
self talking of it as " the enormous sum of forty
thousand pounds sterling "—was immediately com
menced against Nelson, and for many weeks he had
to keep in hiding in his cabin, the ingenuity of his
first lieutenant, Wallis, alone preserving him from
arrest. One of his officers referring to this restraint
used the word pity. Nelson was on fire in an in
stant. " Pity, did you say ? " he cried : " I shall live,

1782-87] Arrested at Nevis. 33
sir, to be envied ! And to that point I shall always
direct my course." At the expiration of eight weeks
the trial came on ; he pleaded his own cause, and
his statements were so perfectly clear that the
four American vessels were condemned. He mem
orialised the Government, and was ordered to be
defended at the expense of the Crown. But the
Commander-in-chief alone received thanks from the
Treasury for the work that Nelson had done. " I
feel much hurt," wrote Nelson to his friend Locker,
" that after the loss of health and risk of fortune
another should be thanked for what I did and
against his orders." That Sir Richard should have
coolly accepted those thanks, must justify to every
reader of the life of Nelson the contempt with which
our Hero regarded the Commander-in-chief, whom
he would scornfully speak of as " that fiddler."
Amidst all his many varieties of occupations, how
ever, and in defiance of the menaces of attorneys,
and the abuse and hatred of Yankees and West In
dian settlers, Nelson could find leisure to fall in love
and marry. Possibly he would have laid his heart
and fortune at the feet of Mrs. Moutray, the wife of
the Commissioner of Antigua, had she been a widow.
He writes of her as having been " very, very good "
to him ; declares that but for her he must almost
have hanged himself " at this infernal hole." She
appears to have been a very charming woman. Col
lingwood loved her and wrote thus of her :
"To you belongs the wondrous art,
To shed around you pleasure ;
New worth to best of things impart,
And make of trifles — treasure."

34 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[/Et. 25

It was at the Island of Nevis, however, that Nelson
" met his fate," as the novelists of his age would have
said. Mrs. Fanny Nisbet, whose husband, Josiah Nis
bet, a medical man, had died insane eighteen months
after his marriage, was at St. Kitt's when Nelson
paid his first visit to her uncle, Mr. Herbert, then
President of Nevis* A lady who was at the house
when Nelson arrived, thought to amuse Mrs. Nisbet
by describing to her in a letter " the little captain
of the Boreas," as she called him. She told Fanny
how he came up just before dinner, much heated,
and that he was very silent, though he seemed to
think the more. He drank no wine till the toasts
of the King, the Queen, the Royal Family, and Lord
Hood were given, and then " this strange man,"
wrote the lady, " regularly filled his glass and ob
served that those were always bumper toasts with
him." But when he had passed the bottle he was
silent again. The lady was much puzzled ; she
could not make out the little man's real character.
His behaviour was one of sternness and reserve, but
when he at long intervals uttered himself there was
the hint of a very superior mind in what he said.
" If you, Fanny, had been there you would have
made something of him ; for you have been in the
habit of attending to these odd sort of people."
Six months after this Nelson was again at Nevis.
Mr. Herbert on hearing of his arrival hastened
* This gentleman offered to become bail for Nelson, if he chose to
suffer an arrest, to the amount of ,£ 10,000, observing that " the cap
tain had done no more than his duty, though he was one of the great
est sufferers by it." — Churchill's " Life of Nelson,'- p. 22.

1782-87] Marries Mrs. Nisbet. 35
to receive him and found him playing at hide-and-
seek under the dining-room table with Mrs. Nisbet's
child, Josiah, then three years old. A few days
after, Mrs. Nisbet met Nelson and thanked him for
his kindness to her little boy. He fell in love with
her, found her indeed even more attractive than
Miss Andrews had proved, spoke of her in a letter
to William Suckling as twenty-two years old, " and
her personal accomplishments, you will suppose, /
think equal to any person's I ever saw." There can
be no question as to the ardency of his love and of
the sincerity of his devotion as a husband down to
the time when Lady Hamilton was nursing him at
Naples into a passion for her own beautiful and fas
cinating self. His union was delayed by his profes
sional duties. Prince William warmly encouraged
the match, promised to be present at the wedding
and give away the bride. Nelson's letters to Fanny
Nisbet at this time are full of delightful gossip about
himself, and her, and his hopes and prospects ; and
nowhere else in his correspondence is the tenderness
of his heart, the manliness of his beautiful, touching,
sailorly character more visible. They were married
on the 1 2th of March, 1787. Prince William kept
his promise, but the marriage appears to have been
quite private. Many of his professional friends con
sidered he had made a sad blunder in burthening
himself with a wife. "The Navy, sir," exclaimed
Captain Pringle to a brother officer on the day after
the wedding, " yesterday lost one of its greatest
ornaments by Nelson's marriage. It is a national
loss, that such an officer should marry; had it not

36 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L/Et. 29
been for that circumstance I foresaw that Nelson
would become the greatest man in the service."
Such foresight is not a little diverting in retro
spect. Assuredly his marriage did not hinder him
in his prosecution of services which rendered him in
the highest degree obnoxious to the numberless
rogues of the West Indies of those days. He de
tected and exposed the nefarious proceedings of
contractors and prize-agents ; he supplied the Admi
ralty with statements of fraud upon the Government
amounting to a million sterling. It was all thankless
work to him. " My activity of mind is too much for
my puny constitution," he wrote to his uncle ; " I
am worn to a skeleton." Nevertheless his efforts in
the public interest were unremitting down to the
hour of his weighing anchor for home, his maxim
being that it was better for a man to serve an un
grateful country than to give up his fame.
The Boreas sailed for England in June, 1787, and
arrived at Spithead on the 4th of July. She was
not paid off until the end of November. In the pre
vious October he applied to Lord Howe for a ship of
the line but was told that as the Boreas was victualled
for three months and ready for sea he must hold
himself prepared to sail at a moment's notice. No
orders were received, however, and the disheartening
condition of uncertainty induced emotions of disgust
and irritation. The Boreas was kept at the Nore
until the 30th of November as a slop and receiving
ship ! The claims which Nelson had upon the at
tention of the Admiralty deeply underscored, to his
sensitive mind, this stroke of insulting neglect. It is

1782-87] Reception at Court. 37
said that had he possessed the means of living inde
pendently on shore he would never have gone to sea
again. When his ship was at last paid off he de
clared to the senior officer in command in the Med-
way, " That it was his firm and unalterable determi
nation never again to set foot on board a King's
ship." The senior officer was patriotic enough to
understand that such a man as Nelson must on no
account be lost to the country. He swiftly and
secretly communicated with the Admiralty, with the
result that before Nelson went ashore with the inten
tion of resigning his commission he received a kind
letter from Lord Howe, who expressed a wish to see
him on his arrival in town. Nelson called upon
Howe, talked to him about the West Indies and
what he had done there, and so pleased him that he
offered to present him to the King on the first levee
day. Nelson's disgust was appeased by his reception
at Court. The monarch's graciousness reanimated
the sailor's loyalty, which it is very certain the con
temptuous coldness of the Admiralty had gone very
near to extinguish.
Meanwhile his health was extremely bad, and,
to mitigate the consequences of an English winter
upon a constitution that was now in some degree
acclimatised to the high temperatures of the West
Indies, he resolved to visit Bath. He afterwards
retired with his wife to Burnham Thorpe. His in
tention had been to go to France, to acquire the lan
guage with the help of his wife who spoke it fluently,
but his father begged him to remain at the parson
age. " Horace," the old Rector is made to exclaim

38 The Life of Horatio Nelson. MEt. 29
by Clarke and M'Arthur, " it would have been better
that I had not been thus cheered if I am so soon to
be bereaved of you again. Let me, my good son,
see you whilst I can ; my age and infirmities increase
and I shall not last long."

CHAPTER IV.
Long period of inactivity — Vain application for employment — Life in
the country — Asks for command of a cockle-boat — Commissioned to
the Agamemnon — Sails with Lord Hood's fleet — Sir William and
Lady Hamilton — Anecdotes — Action off Sardinia —
Services on the coast of Corsica — Con
fidence reposed in
Nelson — Cession
of Corsica to
Great Britain —
•fc'f ~ Bastia.

ROM this year, 1788, or rather
from the 30th of November,
1787, to the 30th of January,
1793, Nelson, whose delicate
form enclosed the genius of the
greatest sea-captain the world
has ever produced, was com
pelled by Departmental neglect
to lie by in an almost poverty-
stricken retirement. John Jervis
had been even worse used. The gallant associate of
Wolfe was neglected and unemployed for nearly
twenty years.* Honourables and Right Honourables,
Lordlings, Lords' toadies, led Captains' favourites,
— these and the like of these obtained recognition,
encouragement, employment ; but the son of an
* Edinburgh Review, 1839, p. 40.

40 The Life of Horatio Nelson. iTEt. 30
humble country parson must be without influence ;
his valuable West Indian services spoke for him, but
unfortunately to ears which were unwilling to listen.
That he could have gone fresh to the command of
a ship of war, equal to every requirement of sea
manoeuvre and of naval and military tactic, after his
five years of bucolic rust, shows how thoroughly the
ocean had done its work with him, how every fibre
in him had been laid up into the true marine strands
of the British nautical character.
Those five years of inactivity must have been a
terrible penance to his eager spirit. He sought to
kill the time by digging in his father's garden. He
and his wife would go birds'-nesting. He studied
charts, read the periodical works of the day, wrote,
and drew plans. His favourite amusement was cours
ing. One of his biographers tells us he once shot a
partridge, but his manner of holding a gun was so
awkward — keeping the piece always cocked as
though he were about to board an enemy, and let
ting fly when a bird appeared without taking aim or
putting the fowling-piece to his shoulder — that any
one who attended him went in fear of his life. He
was sensible, however, of his imperfection as a
sportsman : " Shoot I cannot, and therefore I have
not taken out a licence." * One day he went to the
fair to buy a pony. Whilst he was gone two rough
fellows arrived at the parsonage and asked for
Captain Nelson. Mrs. Nelson was at home. They
carefully ascertained that she was veritably Nelson's
wife, and then presented her with a writ on the part
* " Dispatches and Correspondence," vol. i., p. 282.

1787-94] Vain Application for Command. 41
of the American captains who had laid their
damages at £20,000. Nelson's rage on his return
may be imagined. His was the constitutional
irritability of genius at all times, and we may sup
pose that his temper had not been sweetened by his
long spell of half-pay obscurity, which yet promised
no end, and by the cold-blooded replies he had
received from the Admiralty in response to his
entreaties for a ship. " If the Government will not
support me," he exclaimed, " I will leave the
country ! " He wrote to the Treasury and promised
that if a satisfactory answer were not sent him by
return of post he would take refuge in France. In
fact he made every arrangement for executing his
threat even whilst he was despatching it. He was
to go first, and ten days later Mrs. Nelson was to
follow him under the care of his elder brother,
Maurice. Happily his friend Captain Pringle came to the
rescue. He was to be supported by the Treasury.
" Captain Nelson is a very good officer and need
be under no apprehension." All this while he
was corresponding with Prince William Henry,
who was now commander of the Andromeda frigate,
whilst the Admiralty would not give the future
victor of Trafalgar the command of a cock-boat.
The Prince did his best, spoke of him everywhere in
warm terms of admiration, recommended him to
Lord Chatham, who was first Lord of the Admiralty
in July, 1788; but to no purpose. On the 5th of
December, 1792, Nelson wrote: " If your Lordships
should be pleased to appoint me to a cockle-boat I

42 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt. 35
should feel grateful." This letter, Sir Harris Nicolas
says, is not to be found ; but that it was written,
that at all events an application by Nelson was
made, may be gathered from the subjoined response,
couched in the traditional British Departmental
tongue, originally designed, no doubt, for the pro
duction and encouragement of a race of great naval
officers for the defence of the country. " Admiralty
Office, 12 December, 1792. Sir: I have received
your letter of the 5th instant expressing your readi
ness to serve, and I have read the same to my Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty." *
After five years of unendurable inactivity, when
hope was almost dead in him, he was commissioned
to the Agamemnon, a very fine ship of sixty-four
guns. "Post nubila Phoebus ! " he joyfully wrote to
his wife ; " after clouds come sunshine. The
Admiralty so smile upon me that really I am as
much surprised as when they frowned." But then
everything now was indicating war. An English
ship looking into Brest had been fired at. The
pacific intentions of the British Government had
proved of no avail, and there was nothing for it but
to fight. Lord Hood was well acquainted with
Nelson's character ; so too was Prince William ; the
services of such a man at such a moment must be
had ; and so on the 27th of June, we find the
Agamemnon sailing for Gibraltar with Lord Hood's
fleet, nineteen sail-of-the-line, and a convoy of mer
chant-ships. Nelson is now in high spirits. " We are all well,"
* "Dispatches and Letters," vol. i., p. 291.

SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON.

1787-94 Surrender of Toulon to Lord Hood. 43
he wrote to his wife in the previous month ; " indeed,
nobody could be ill with my ship's company, they
are so fine a set. Don't mind what newspapers say
about us." " I not only like the ship," he tells his
brother, " but think I am well appointed in officers,
and we are manned exceedingly well ; therefore have
no doubt that we shall acquit ourselves well, should
the French give us a meeting." On Lord Hood's
arrival in the Mediterranean, he stationed his ships
off Toulon, and after some negotiations it was agreed
by some of the members of the Provisional Govern
ment to deliver up the town, arsenal, ships, forts, etc.,
to the British forces in the name of Louis XVII.
After this surrender, Nelson was ordered to Naples
with dispatches for Sir William Hamilton, the British
Minister. On the 31st of August the Agamemnon
fell in with the Tartar with Lord Hugh Seymour
Conway on board, who sent a note by boat to him
in which he gave him news of what had happened
at Toulon subsequent to his sailing. " Our fleet and
that of Spain are now anchored," wrote his Lordship ;
" our squadron landed fifteen hundred men on the
28th, and the day following we anchored in the outer
road." Nelson's astonishment is expressed in a letter
to his wife, which he began on the 7th and closed
on the nth of September. "What an event," he
exclaimed, " this has been for Lord Hood ! Such an
one as history cannot produce its equal ; that the
strongest place in Europe and twenty-two sail-of-the-
line, etc., should be given up without firing a shot !
It is not to be credited."
On his arrival at Naples he called on Sir William

44 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et. 35
Hamilton, and Sir John Francis Acton, the Prime-
Minister, a man of English origin, born in 1736 in
France, whose spelling in his English letters is
only a little less illiterate than Lady Hamilton's.*
He was introduced to the King and the Court, and
overwhelmingly welcomed with every effusion of
Italian emotion as the representative of " the sav
iours of Italy," as the English were called. The
plain sailor was much affected by the King's marked
attention and condescension, and received from him,
written by his Majesty's own hand, " the handsomest
letter that can be penned " to Lord Hood, offering
six thousand troops to assist in the preservation
of Toulon, though Hood's demand was for ten
thousand. Now it was that he was first introduced to Lady
Hamilton, " the bewitching siren," as she is again
and again called by Nelson's earlier biographers, — a
woman whose influence over the Hero in the years
of his greatness and his glory imparts such an ele
ment of romance to his story that the like of it
must be sought for in vain in the annals of the great
men of the world. It is unnecessary to trace her
career in these pages. Enough if it be said that she
was born in 1763 ; that she served in the capacity of
nursemaid to Mr. Thomas, of Hawarden, and to Dr.
Budd, physician ; that she worked for a time as serv
ant in the family of a tradesman in St. James's Mar-
* March II, 1800, Nelson wrote to Admiral Goodhall: "Acton is
married to his niece, not fourteen years of age : so you hear it is
never too late to do well. He is only sixty-seven." There were three
children by this marriage.

EMMA, LADY HAMILTON.
AFTER A PAINTING BY ROMNEY-

1787-94] Lady Hamilton. 45
ket ; that she had as friends several men of fashion
and disrepute ; that she was the " goddess of
Health " of the notorious Graham's Temple ; that
Romney, the painter, thought her the most adorably
beautiful woman he had ever beheld ; that in 1786
she became intimate with Sir William Hamilton,
whom she married in London on the 6th of Sep
tember, 1791. Mr. Jeaffreson thus describes her
{circa 1786): "She was still a lithe, lissom, agile,
slim girl, with a waist none too small for health and
classic grace, but looking somewhat less than its
actual girth by reason of the boldness of her figure's
upper and lower contours, which, even in the season
of her bodily slightness, betokened that in middle age
her figure would be less remarkable for elegance than
for stately dignity. . . . Some biographers have
preferred to speak of her chestnut hair, but in doing
so they were thinking of the deepest colour of the
chestnut's rind^-of a deep brown, toned with scarcely
perceptible redness. Though they lacked the feath
ery softness of the Byronic curls, Emma's tresses in
their colour resembled Byron's hair so closely that
three inches snipped from the end of one of her
ringlets might be used to give greater volume to a
relic taken from the poet's head." * To beauties of
face and form she united talents of an alluring sort.
She was a sweet singer ; she played the harp agreea
bly, and Lieutenant Parsons is never more effusive
than when he describes her bending her lovely figure
over that instrument ; she was an excellent actress,
* " Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson," vol. i., p. 145.

46 The Life of Horatio Nelson. f^t- 35
with great command over her face, and she was a
mistress of postures. *
The manner and circumstance of her meeting with
Nelson were, it may be supposed, related by herself
to Harrison, whose life of the Hero was written
under her eye. Nearly everything she delivers is
highly coloured, but there is probably truth in her
account of Nelson's introduction to her. Sir Wil
liam, after a short conversation with the Captain of
the Agamemnon, told Lady Hamilton that he would
introduce her to a little man who was not indeed
handsome, but who would become the greatest man
that England ever produced. " I know it," he ex
claimed, " from the very few words of conversation
I have already had with him. I pronounce that he
will one day astonish the world. I have never enter
tained any officer at my house, but I am determined
to bring him here ; let him be put in the room pre
pared for Prince Augustus." Nelson is reported to
have said to Sir William, towards the close of their
first conference : " You are a man after my own
heart ; you do business in my own way ; I am now
only captain, but if I live I will be at the top of the
tree." All through his life Nelson is made, by his
biographers, to boast and brag of what he has done
and will do. Yet conspicuous amongst his finest
qualities was his modesty. We may be quite sure
that he said but very little of what has been put into
his mouth.
Of Lady Hamilton he wrote thus briefly and drily
to his wife : " She is a young woman of amiable
* Pettigrew. Vol. i., p. 407 ; ii., p. 599.

1787-94] Action off Sardinia. 47
manners and who does honour to the station in
which she is raised." He is content to claim his
wife's regard for her by saying that " Lady Hamil
ton has been wonderfully good and kind to Josiah,"
— that is to say, to Mrs. Nelson's son by her first
husband, now in his step-father's ship.
He returned to the fleet, and on the 9th of Oc
tober received from Lord Hood sealed orders,
which subsequently despatched him to Cagliari,
where he placed himself under the direction of Com
modore Linzee. On the 22d, when off the Island
of Sardinia, having only three hundred and forty-
five men at quarters, he fell in with and chased four
French frigates and a brig. One of them, the Mel
pomene, he disabled ; the other ships declined to bring
the Agamemnon again to action, and hauled from
her to look to their sinking consort. Nelson's ship
was so cut to pieces aloft that she was unable to
brace up to pursue. " Captain Nelson," wrote young
William Hoste, then a midshipman on board the
Agamemnon, in an account of this conflict sent to
his father, " is acknowledged to be one of the. first
characters in the Service, and is universally beloved
by his men and officers." There could have been
nothing as yet, however, but a personal superiority
in conversation, in theories of discipline, and in profes
sional opinions to compel such a judgment as this.
He had spent five years in obscurity. His West
Indian services were hardly of a sort to be highly
valued by his sea-brethren as illustrations of a
heroic character. Little had come to his hand to do
since he had taken command of the Agamemnon ;

48 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

r/Et. 3a

yet already everybody was talking of him as one of
the first characters in the Service. The compelling
strength of the individualism this indicates is extra
ordinary, particularly if we consider how bitter were
the vocational jealousies of those times, " when," as
the old saying used to go, " if there was ever a naval
officer to be roasted there was always a naval officer
close by ready to turn the spit."
It would need a stout volume to contain the services
of Nelson whilst on the coast of Corsica. Lord Hood
gave him the command of a squadron of frigates to
protect British trade, and to preserve that of the
Grand Duke of Tuscany. Nelson always regarded
Lord Hood as the greatest sea-officer he had ever
met. Yet of this fine old Admiral's conduct at
Toulon, Sheridan, in 1804, m tne debate on the
prizes taken at Toulon, could say, " he was entitled
to the strongest reprobation " ! * His discernment
of Nelson's genius was prompt and decisive. Wher1
the Hero received his appointment to the command
of a squadron, there were five captains his seniors in
the fleet. But the Commanders-in-chief under which
he served seemed always to know their man. In
1796 he wrote to his wife: " One captain told me:
' You did just as you pleased in Lord Hood's time,
the same in Admiral Hotham's, and now again with
Sir John Jervis ; it makes no difference to you who
is Commander-in-chief.' I returned," he adds, " a
pretty strong answer to this speech." It was true
* Naval Chronicle, vol. ii., p. 485. The virulence of party feeling
that the whole debate exhibits seems incredible even in this age of
abusive ranting "politicians."

1787-941 Services on Coast of Corsica. 49
nevertheless, and the truth of it was the secret of
St. Vincent and Copenhagen, if not of Aboukir and
Trafalgar. It was held as a matter of the first consequence
after the evacuation of Toulon, that Corsica should
be in the hands of the British. Paoli, a name
familiar to all readers of Boswell's " Life of John
son," was the leader of the insurgents. He desired
the assistance of the English, and the island was
ceded to Great Britain. Sir Gilbert Elliot was
appointed Viceroy. Nelson meanwhile was cruising
off the island, actively engaged in annoying the
French and in preventing any supplies from reach
ing them. In the " Dispatches and Letters "is an
abstract of his services,* in which we find him land
ing four miles from St. Fiorenzo, and burning the
only water-mill in that part of the country; then
burning four polacres loaded with wine for the
French ; then burning eight sail of vessels and de
stroying a thousand tons of wine ; then attacking a
French courier boat ; cannonading Bastia and so on :
all the dates very rapid, — February 6th, 8th, 12th,
19th, 24th, 26th. He furnished Lord Hood with an
intelligent and valuable report on Bastia and its
defences. " It is a beautiful place," he writes to his
wife under date of May 4th, " and the environs de
lightful, with the most romantic views I ever beheld.
This island is to belong to England, to be governed
by its own laws as Ireland, and a Viceroy placed
here, with free ports. Italy and Spain are jealous
of our obtaining possession ; it will command the
* Vol. i., p. 349.

50 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

\JE\. 36

Mediterranean." He was certain that if Bastia were
attacked it would fall. Sir David Dundas, the com
mander of the forces thought otherwise, though
Lord Hood agreed with the little Captain of the
Agamemnon. Nelson had a poor opinion of soldiers.
They were too slow for his headlong mind. His
prejudices dated from 1780, the year of the expedi
tion against San Juan, when he had himself to lead
the troops and show them what to do. And now
off Corsica he writes to his wife : " If I had carried
with me five hundred troops, to a certainty I should
have stormed the town and I believe it might have
been carried. Armies go so slow that seamen think
they never mean to get forward, but I dare say they
act on a surer principle, although we seldom fail."
In his own sailors he had the most unbounded confi
dence. He considered them invincible, and under
him assuredly they proved so. " They really mind
shot no more than peas," he proudly tells Mrs.
Nelson Troops, marines, and seamen were disembarked
for the siege on the 3d of April. The English bat
teries did not open until the 1 ith, on which day
Lord Hood had sent a flag of truce and a summons
to surrender. " I have hot shot," was the answer,
" for your ships, and bayonets for your troops.
When two thirds of our men are killed I will then
trust to the generosity of the English." On which
the batteries let fly. Bastia was taken possession of
on the 22d. At six in the morning the troops
marched from their posts, the band playing " God
save the King." At seven the tri-colour to right and

DASTIA, ISLAND OF CORSICA-1799. " VICTORY " AND FLEET AT ANCHOR.
FROM A DRAWING BY N. POOOCK.

1787-941 Capture of Bastia. 51
left was hauled down and the British colours hoisted
amid the cheers of the soldiers and sailors. Nelson
called it " the most glorious sight that an English
man could experience and which I believe none but
an Englishman could bring about," and adds, "four
thousand five hundred men laying down their arms
to less than one thousand British soldiers who were
serving as marines ! "
During this siege he was hurt in the back : he
speaks of it as a cut. The capture of Bastia was
largely — indeed if we look closely into the narrative
of it we might think almost wholly — owing to Nel
son. He rightly conceived that his services were not
fairly represented, nor justly emphasised in Hood's
dispatch. The old Admiral might have written
hurriedly, yet he could find leisure to heap praise
upon a Royal Artillery officer. " When I reflect,"
Nelson wrote to William Suckling, February 7,
1795, "that I was the cause of re-attacking Bastia,
after our wise generals gave it over from not know
ing the force, fancying it two thousand men ; that it
was I who landed, joined the Corsicans, and with
only my ship's party of marines, drove the French
under the walls of Bastia ; that it was I who know
ing the force in Bastia to be upwards of four
thousand men, as I have now only ventured to tell
Lord Hood, landed with only twelve hundred men,
and kept the secret to within this week past ; — what
I must have felt during the whole siege may be
easily conceived. Yet I am scarcely mentioned. I
freely forgive, but cannot forget." * However, in
* Quoted by Pettigrew from the Athenceum for 1834.

52

The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[/Et. 36

the previous July he had written to the same corre
spondent that Lord Hood and himself were never
better friends, and adds : " Nor, although his letter
does, did he wish to put me where I never was — in
the rear."

CHAPTER V.

Attack on Calvi — Nelson's eye hurt — Genoa
— Newspaper lies — A cottage ashore —
Money-loss through services — Action with
French fleet — The Agamemnon and the
Ca Ira — Nelson made Colonel of Marines
— Action with the French fleet — General
de Vins — A scandalous accusation — A seat
in Parliament offered — Evacuation of
Corsica — Action with the Santa Sabina.
ALVI was the next object of attack.
Nelson's colleague was this time
General Sir Charles Stuart. On
the 19th of June, 1794, the troops, consisting of
1,450 men, were disembarked at Port Agro. The
service was extraordinarily laborious. The guns
had to be dragged up acclivities, often steep, and to
a distance of not less than a mile and a half. It
was on the 12th of July that the enemy suddenly
opened a heavy fire from San Francesco. A mili
tary officer named Anderson, with two others of the
51st Regiment, were standing with Nelson in his
battery when a shell fell upon the ramparts, from
which they were taking a view of the structure the
enemy had erected opposite. They instantly flung
themselves down on their faces, and the shell burst
in the sand-bags of which the battery was composed.
53

54 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et. 36
Nelson, on rising, exclaimed that there was some
thing in his eye. The officers examined it, said they
could see nothing but a little sand, and advised him
to wash it. The sight of the eye did not immediately
fail him, but he ultimately lost it. He described
the disaster to his wife thus, in a letter dated Au
gust 1 8th: "As it is all past I may now tell you
that on the ioth of July [so in Clarke and M'Ar
thur, but the date is the I2th],* a shot having hit
our battery, the splinters and stones from it struck
me with great violence in the face and breast.
Although the blow was so severe as to occasion a
great flow of blood from my head, yet I most for
tunately escaped, having only my right eye nearly
deprived of its sight."
After the capture of Calvi, Nelson was sent to the
Mole of Genoa with dispatches to Mr. Drake, the
Minister there. He found Genoa a magnificent city
of palaces, and wrote of it with such enthusiasm of
poetic delight as is very rarely indeed to be found
in his plain, straightforward, sailorly correspondence.
The Doge received him with some sort of state, was
full of civilities and courtesies, and was satisfied by
Nelson's assurance that the strictest attention should
be paid to the neutrality of Genoa. In November
he was sent to look after the French fleet, and found
sixteen sail-of-the-line, and several frigates at Toulon.
A report which he calls " diabolical " was at this
time current that the Agamemnon had been captured
by the French. Nelson wrote indignantly to his
wife : " Never believe any thing you may see in the
* See " Dispatches and Letters," vol i., p. 435.

1794-96] Thoughts of a Cottage Home. 55
papers about us, and rest assured that Agamemnon
is not to be taken easily \ no two-deck ship in the
world, we flatter ourselves, is able to do it." He
loved his ship as if she were his wife : she grew in
his affection in proportion as she was cut up and
maimed by the balls of the enemy. He declared
that she was the finest ship he had ever sailed in,
and protested that were she a seventy-four nothing
could induce him to leave her whilst the war lasted.
About this time his mind was much fixed on the
fancy of a cottage ashore. One thinks of it as a
sailor's dream and idealism, the growth out of many
a lonely quarter-deck reverie in distant seas of the
picture of a little roof nestling red amid the branches
of trees, with the scent of the honeysuckle sweet upon
the air, and all about a pleasant summer noise of
bees and the songs of birds, and the lowing of cat
tle knee-deep amidst the buttercups. His hope
is to live with his wife for many happy years in this
cottage, which he is determined to purchase " if we
can bring .£2,000 round." So far the war had done
considerably less than nothing for him. The taking
of Corsica, he tells Suckling, like the taking of San
Juan, cost him money: San Juan some £500;
Corsica, £300, together with an eye and a cut across
his back. Nothing but his determined resolution
to serve his country enabled him to support the
neglect he was at this time experiencing.
March 10, 1795, brought intelligence to Admiral
Hotham that the French fleet had been seen off the
Isle of Marguerite. Nelson, in full expectation of a
general action, writes thus to his wife whilst the

56 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[>ct. 36

signal is flying for a general chase : " My character and
good name are in my own keeping. Life with dis
grace is dreadful. A glorious death is to be envied ;
and if anything happens to me, recollect that death
is a debt we must all pay, and whether now or a few
years hence can be but of little consequence." But
spite of this philosophical view a few years proved
of great consequence to him, and of greater conse
quence yet to the nation he served as never before
was nation served by a sea-captain of her breeding.
Hotham was a respectable sailor, representing a
school of which Gambier was another example. A
very little in the shape of victory went a long way
with him. Sir William Hamilton, sitting snug amidst
his collection of art curiosities in his pleasant home
overlooking the beautiful Bay of Naples, could
write to Nelson that, " entre nous," his "old friend
Hotham is not quite awake enough for such a
command as that of the British fleet in the Mediter
ranean, although he is the best creature imaginable." *
Had Nelson been in Hotham's place, the naval his
torian would have had to tell of this conflict with
the French fleet a story very different indeed from
what Hotham obliges him to recite. First the sig
nal was made for eighteen sail of Frenchmen, then
for twenty-five sail. March the nth the British
were in order of battle with light draughts of variable
wind brushing the heavy swell running from the
south-west. Next day the two fleets were close, the
wind still all round the compass, and the English
almost becalmed. So it goes on till the 13th, when
* Southey.

1794-961 Action with French Fleet. 57
a fresh breeze comes on to blow, and the English
pursue the French, who are some three or four
leagues distant. A French liner carries away her
fore- and main-topmasts ; the frigate Inconstant
plumps a broadside into her, but the big French
man's shot obliges her to stagger away.* The dis
abled vessel proves to be the Ca Ira, of 84 guns ;
there are two others hard by, the Sans Culotte, 120
guns, and the Jean Barras, 74 guns. Nelson heads
for the Ca Ira, whose hawser is now aboard a frigate.
The Ca Ira lets fly her stern-chasers, and so well
directed are the guns that not a shot misses. On
this the Agamemnon starboards her helm, and as she
falls off, gives the Ca Ira her whole broadside, each
gun double-shotted. This manoeuvre is practised
until one o'clock, the Frenchman meanwhile never
being able to bring a broadside gun to bear upon
his opponent. At dark, the Agamemnon takes her
station, and the combat is over till daylight. The
Agamemnon is then at the Ca Ira again, now in tow
of Le Censeur, and at five minutes past ten she and
Le Censeur strike to Nelson.f His manoeuvring in
this affair is extraordinarily masterful. The cap
tured vessels fought more gallantly than all the
others of the French, owing, it is said, to a belief
amongst the crews that no quarter would be given
if they were taken. They discharged red-hot shot and
used a sort of Greek fire. When these vessels had

* James says the frigate " gave her (Ca Ira) a broadside and stood
on." f From Nelson's own account. James's slightly differs. "Nav.
His.," vol. i., pp. 286, 287.

58 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L4Et. 36
struck, Nelson went on board Admiral Hotham
and proposed that the two crippled British ships,*
the two prizes, and four frigates should be left
to themselves, that the enemy, who were heading
under a press for the Isles of Hieres, might be pur
sued ; but the Admiral answered : " No, we must be
contented, we have done very well." " Now," says
Nelson in a letter to his wife [April 1st], "had we
taken ten sail and had allowed the eleventh to
escape when it had been possible to have got at
her, I could never have called it well done." He
is of opinion that it was in the Admiral's power
to have had such a day as was not to be met with
in the annals of England. His theory, the deter
mining impulse of his whole career in his relation
with the French as foes, is strong here : " I verily
think, if the Admiral can get hold of them once
more, and he does but get us close enough, that we shall
have the whole fleet. Nothing can stop the courage
of English seamen."
He returned to St. Fiorenzo, and there remained
until the 16th of April, on which day he wrote to Sir
Gilbert Elliot, the Viceroy of Corsica, offering his
own services and the command besides of such
seamen as might be landed should the island be
attacked. Then for ten days we hear of him
beating to the westward, with the idea of joining
expected reinforcements from England. He con
sidered that the fleet had been forgotten by the
people at home. More ships and men were badly
needed ; the French were in great force ; and he
* Illustrious and Courageux.

1794-96] Made Colonel of Marines. 59
wrote to Captain Locker that, had the British ves
sels " not, fortunately, so much crippled the masts
of the enemy in the action, we should have been left
here in a very inferior state." He was astonished
to learn that the store-ships and victuallers from
Gibraltar had arrived in the fleet ; their escape from
the enemy he considered wonderful, and significantly
adds : " Had we lost them our game was up here." *
Lord Hood had himself remonstrated with the Ad
miralty on the smallness of the reinforcement which
he was ordered to take out to the Mediterranean.
The resignation of his command excited great re
gret. Nelson in particular held that had Hood
remained in the Mediterranean the British might
have regained Toulon, the Royalists then (August)
being much more numerous at that place than they
were when possession was first taken of it.
There was a promotion of flag-officers on the 1st
of June, designed by the King to increase the signifi
cance of the commemoration of Howe's victory over
the French in the preceding year. The epaulet was
on this occasion for the first time introduced into the
British Navy. Nelson was made a Colonel of Marines.
The appointment was valuable to him as an honour,
and it added to his pay. The Colonelcy was that
of the Chatham Division. On the 4th of July Nelson,
still in command of the Agamemnon, accompanied
by a small squadron of frigates, was despatched to
co-operate with the Austrian General de Vins in
driving the French out of the Riviera of Genoa.
He was chased for twenty-four hours by the French
* Clarke and M'Arthur. Vol. I., p. 308.

60 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et. 36
fleet of seventeen liners and six frigates, and ran
close to St. Fiorenzo, the enemy in hot pursuit ; but
though the breeze was variable, it was an inshore
wind for the most part, and the English fleet could
not get out to his assistance. He ascribed his salva
tion to the enemy being neither seamen nor officers.
On the 13th Admiral Hotham weighed with
twenty-three sail-of-the-line, and on the 14th, ac
cording to Nelson, got sight of the French fleet.
The weak west wind died away, a light easterly ail
followed, and the French reached their own coast.
This is Nelson's account, communicated in a letter
to Captain Locker. James's version, however, rep
resents that during the night of the 12th there was
a heavy gale from the west-north-west, which split
the main top-sails of six of the British ships ; and
that next day at daybreak it was still blowing strong,
with a high swell. The enemy was then in sight.
At half-past noon the wind suddenly shifted into
the north, which enabled the rearmost of the French
ships to bring their guns to bear upon the British van.
UAlcide, seventy-four, after some brisk cannonading,
struck to the Cumberland ; but about a quarter of an
hour after her surrender she caught fire in the fore-
top, and was speedily in a blaze fore and aft. There
were six hundred and fifteen souls aboard, of whom
three hundred only were saved by the boats of the
nearest British ships.* Nelson wrote contemptuously
of the behaviour of the French, and spoke of the
conflict as " a miserable action."
His co-operation with General de Vins must be
* James. Vol. i., p. 296.

1794-96] Co-operation with de Vins. 61
briefly dealt with. Austria had engaged in May,
I79S> to provide two hundred thousand effective men
in the different armies in the campaign of the year,
on condition that England supplied ,£4,600,000.
De Vins appears to have been another Mack.
" Everything done," Nelson wrote to his wife, " v/as
slow beyond description." He sought to hasten the
Austrian general into measures which should have
some correspondence with his own eager desires,
but De Vins was not apparently very grateful for
his proposals. Nelson's services and experiences in
connection with the Austrian chief excited in him
an immovable disgust to all Continental alliances.
The behaviour of De Vins forced the conclusion
upon him that the whole policy of the Emperor of
Austria was simply directed to obtain another four
millions of English money.
A scandalous accusation about this time filled
Nelson with resentment, and confirmed his dislike
and distrust of England's Austrian allies. He and
other naval officers were charged with secretly
permitting the enemy to land thek cargoes for
the supply of the French army on the Riviera of
Genoa. The King of Sardinia credited the report
Nelson, burning with indignation, addressed a letter
to Lord Grenville, demanding a rigorous inquiry on
behalf of himself and his brother officers. " For
myself," he exclaimed, " from my earliest youth I
have been in the naval service ; and (in two wars)
have been in more than one hundred and forty
skirmishes at sea and on shore ; have lost an eye
and otherwise blood in fighting the enemies of

62 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [/Et. 3;
my king and country ; and God knows, instead of
riches, my little fortune has been diminished in
the service." His noble, dignified, affecting protest
concluded with a pathetic lament that one who
deserved of his country as he did should be libelled
by an accusation " of a most traitorous nature." The
outrageous charge originated with Austrian officers,
and is ascribed less to malice than to their ignorance
of naval affairs.
In this year he was offered a seat in Parliament.
He declined to enter the House save in the Whig
interest, and proposed that the Duke of Portland
should be applied to through Lord and Lady Wal
pole, " for," he adds, " although I have so often
seen the French shot, yet truly I have seen little of
their money." Towards the close of 1795, Sir John
Jervis, afterwards Earl of St. Vincent, arrived at
St. Fiorenzo (November 29th) and took command
of the fleet. The Agamemnon went to Leghorn to
refit. Her condition curiously illustrated the ser
vices of her commander in her. Charnock tells us *
that there was not a yard, mast, or sail, nor any
part of her rigging, but needed repair, owing to the
shot she received ; and her hull was kept together
by cables, which frapped or woolded the fabric from
stem to stern. His duties and performances down
to the day of the battle of St. Vincent were minute,
laborious, of inestimable value to his country and
to the security of those whom it was the business
of our fleet to protect, but of little interest as a
narrative. He boarded vessels, captured transports,
* Charnock 's "Life of Nelson," p. 31.

1794-96] Evacuation of Corsica. 63
made fiery proposals in respect to Vado Bay and
the pursuit of enemy's ships-of-war and convoys.
" Had all my actions," he wrote to his wife, August
2, 1796, "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."
On the 1 ith of June * he hoisted his commodore's
pennant on board the Captain, of seventy-four guns.
The Agamemnon, a ship he had rendered the most
famous of all then in the Royal Navy, was sent
home with a convoy. A defensive alliance with
Spain, entered into by the French Directory, ren
dered expedient the evacuation of Corsica. The
Corsicans had from the beginning looked coldly upon
the English ; the instant the enemy landed in force
it was felt that every man in the interior would take
part with him, and Sir John Jervis blessed himself
that the evacuation had taken place before he re
ceived orders to maintain the Viceroy in the sover
eignty of the island. Nelson superintended the
evacuation. The partisans of France rendered this
service a difficult one. British property was seques
tered, and a plan was laid for seizing the Viceroy.
Conspiracies of this sort Nelson terminated by threat
ening to batter down the town of Bastia. The guns
of a privateer moored across the Mole head were
levelled at Captain Sutton, who had been despatched
with Nelson's message ; whereupon Sutton, pulling

* Pettigrew ; Clarke and M'Arthur say : " On the 15th of August
Nelson received an order which established him commodore," vol. i.,
p. 45°-

64 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t. 38
out his watch, said he would give the committee a
quarter of an hour to arrive at a decision, at the ex
piration of which time the ships would open fire. It
is said that the very sentinels, on hearing this, rushed
away, and every vessel came out of the Mole. The
embarkation occupied five days, and the value of
the public stores saved amounted to £"200,000, irre
spective of private property.
Hoisting his broad pennant on board the frigate
Minerve, Nelson proceeded with the Blanche to Porto
Ferrajo to take command of the naval force there.
Off Carthagena he fell in with a Spanish frigate, the
Santa Sabina. This was on the 19th of December, at
which time there was in force a treaty between the
Court of Madrid and the French Directory, stipu
lating that either power requiring the help of the
other should be assisted to the extent of thirteen
sail-of-the-line and ten large frigates or corvettes.
The treaty had been ratified at Paris on the 12th
of September, and on receiving news of it the Brit
ish Government had seized every Spanish ship then
in an English port. This embargo had been re
sponded to by a declaration of war by Spain, and
such was the posture of affairs when Nelson fell in
with the Santa Sabina. He hailed the Don, as he
himself wrote in his private journal, told him his was
an English frigate, and demanded his surrender, or
he would fire into him. The Spanish captain, Don
Jacobo Stuart, answered : " This is a Spanish frigate,
and you may begin as soon as you please ! " He
proved a tough morsel even for Nelson. The ships
were of the same force to a gun, and the number of

1794-96] Fight with the " Santa Sabina? 65
the crews nearly alike. Again and again Nelson hailed
Don Jacobo to haul down his colours, but the val
iant Spaniard's answer was : " No, sir, not whilst I
have the means of fighting left." He surrendered
only when all his officers were killed. The Santa
Sabina was retaken, and Nelson narrowly escaped
capture through pursuit of two Spanish ship of the
line and two frigates. His admiration of the heroic
conduct of Don Jacobo borrowed something of its
animation from the discovery that his prisoner was
descended from the Duke of Berwick, son of James
II. " I have returned him his sword," he wrote to
his father, " and sent him in a flag of truce to Spain.
I felt it consonant to the dignity of my country,
and I always act as I feel right, without regard to
custom." *

* " Dispatches and Letters," vol. ii., p. 325.
6

CHAPTER VI.

Arrival at Gibraltar — Chased by two Spanish
liners — Narrow escape — In the thick of the
Spanish fleet — Anecdote of Jervis — Battle of
St. Vincent — The San Josef and the San
Nicolas — Their capture by Nelson — Nel
son's explanation of his proceeding — The
action considered.
HE Viceroy, Sir Gilbert Elliot, oc
cupied Porto Ferrajo in Elba
after the evacuation of Corsica. To this fortress
Nelson escorted Sir Gilbert and troops from Bastia.
On the 27th of December he was again at Porto
Ferrajo. Sir Gilbert Elliot was in Italy, but
returned to Elba on hearing of Nelson's arrival
at the island. There was a conference, and it was
decided that the British troops should remain at
Elba, and, shortly after, Sir Gilbert Elliot embarked
with Nelson in the Minerve to consult with the
British Admiral, Sir John Jervis, then cruising with
the fleet off St. Vincent.
After much reconnoitring and many peeps at a
number of the enemy's harbours, Nelson headed for
Gibraltar, at which place he arrived on the 9th of
February in company with the Romulus. Lieuten
ants Culverhouse and Hardy, who had been on
board the Santa Sabina when she was recaptured,
66

1797] Escape from Two Spanish Liners. 67
were exchanged and received by Nelson, who on the
1 ith weighed. Scarcely were the frigate's top-sails
sheeted home when two Spanish line-of-battle ships,
which had been watching Nelson's movements, were
seen to be getting their anchors and making sail.
The Minerve entered the Strait, the Dons in hot pur
suit. The headmost ship of the chase gained on the
British frigate, which cleared for action, and Sir
Gilbert Elliot saw all ready for heaving his public
papers overboard. Nelson, who was walking the
deck with Colonel Bethune (or Drinkwater as he
was then called), owned that he thought an
engagement possible, " but," he exclaimed, look
ing up at his broad pennant, " before the Dons get
hold of that bit of bunting I will have a struggle
with them, and sooner than give up the frigate I '11
run her ashore." * They went below to dinner ; on a
sudden a cry of " Man overboard ! " was heard, and
there was .instantly a rush on deck. Lieutenant
Hardy and a body of sailors sprang into the jolly-
boat. The strong current of the Strait in a few
minutes carried the little fabric far astern of the
Minerve, in the direction of the chasing Spaniard.
Meanwhile the man that was to be rescued had sunk
and Hardy endeavoured to regain the frigate. The
boat's crew, however, were unable to make headway.
Suddenly Nelson exclaimed : " By G— I '11 not lose
Hardy ! Back the mizzen top-sail." It now seemed
certain that an action must take place ; but to the
astonishment of all hands aboard the British frigate,
* " Narrative of the Battle of St. Vincent," by Col. Drinkwater
Bethune, 1840, p. 13.

68 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L4Et- 38
the pursuing Don suddenly shortened sail with
every manifestation of alarm in his eager manner of
clewing up and letting go. It was plain that the
commander did not consider a Spanish ship of the
line an equal match for an English frigate with
Nelson on board her. The Minerve picked up her
jolly-boat and stood on. Studding-sails were piled
upon her ; the helm was shifted so as to quarter the
wind, her best point of sailing, and at sunset the two
huge Spaniards were out of sight astern.
The night following that day was thick. Colonel
Bethune, who shared a cabin with Sir Gilbert, was
lying awake in his cot when by the light burning in
the fore cabin he observed a figure standing in the
doorway. It was Nelson. On learning that Sir
Gilbert was asleep he softly stole to the Colonel's
side and whispered that he believed the Minerve was
at that very moment in the midst of the Spanish
fleet. He was sure, by the signals of the phantom
craft looming large in the thickness, that they were
not Jervis's ships. All next day a bright look-out
was kept, but no more ships hove into view, and
Nelson, firmly persuaded that he had sailed in those
hours of darkness through the Spaniards' grand fleet,
grew exceedingly anxious to join Jervis, whose
cruising rendezvous was now close at hand. Early
next day the British frigate Lively was spoken, and a
little later on the Minerve joined the Admiral's fleet.
Nelson then quitted the Minerve and resumed the
command of the Captain.
At daybreak on the 14th of February the British
fleet, formed in two divisions, were standing on a

1797] The Spanish Fleet. 69
wind heading to the southward and westward. The
dawn broke thick and the sea lay shrouded to a
near horizon, but at about a quarter past eight
o'clock the fog lifted and disclosed the Spanish fleet
on the weather-bow, a noble spectacle of huge ships,
one of them a four-decker, the largest vessel then
afloat ; their milk-white canvas towering in spires,
their sides grinning with battery upon battery, and
the light of the misty sun coming off in wet sparkles
from their leviathan sides as they rolled. An eye
witness says: "They made the most awkward at
tempt to form their line-of-battle, and they looked a
complete forest huddled together." * The British
Admiral Jervis made the signal to prepare for battle.
As he walked the quarter-deck the hostile numbers
were reported to him as they appeared by signal.
" There are eight sail-of-the-line, Sir John." — " Very
well, sir." — "There are twenty sail-of-the-line, Sir
John." — "Very well, sir." — "There are twenty-five
sail-of-the-line." — " Very well, sir." — " There are
twenty-seven sail, Sir John," and this was accom
panied by some remark on the great disparity of the
forces. " Enough, sir, no more of that ; the die is
cast ; and if there were fifty sail I would go through
them." Captain Hallowell, who was at Jervis's side
when he thus spoke, was so delighted by this de
termined answer that, gently clapping the old
Admiral on his back, he cried out: "That 's right,
Sir John, that 's right ; by G — we shall give them
a d — d good licking." \ At close upon half-past
?Parsons. P. 323.
^Edinburgh Review, 1844, p. 424.

yo The Life of Horatio Nelson. u<Et. 38
eleven o'clock Jervis hoisted his large flag and en
sign, and, announcing his intention to pass through
the enemy's line, ran aloft the signal to engage. The
action was soon general. The Spaniards were unable
to unite their divided ships, and those to leeward
presently put about and went stretching away in
search of safety. Jervis, having effected his first
purpose, signalled for the British fleet to tack in
succession. It was then seen that the Spanish Ad
miral's plan was to join his leeward ships by wearing
round under the sterns of the rearward of the British
line. Nelson's genius penetrated the Don's inten
tion, and, putting the Captains helm hard-a-weather,
he steered a course for the enemy. The sixth ship from
the Spaniard's rear was that towering four-decker, the
Santissima Trinidad, of one hundred and thirty-six
guns. Nelson got alongside of her, but ahead and
astern of him were the Don's seconds of three decks
each. Troubridge, in the Culloden, headed with all
possible speed to his assistance, and was presently
followed by Frederick in the Blenheim. Nelson's
instant, intrepid resolution staggered the Spanish
Admiral. The fire of the British was overwhelming-,
and such was its effect on the enemy's ships that the
little crowd of onlookers on board the Lively, even
in an early moment of the conflict, foresaw a glorious
termination to the battle.
Nelson is the one conspicuous figure in that scene
of roaring ordnance, of banks of powder smoke smit
ten by the red flashes of murderously plied batteries,
of falling spars, of the shrieks of the dying and the
wounded, and the stormy huzzas of the English

1797] Capture of the " San fosef." Ji
sailors wrestling half-naked at their guns. At one
moment the Captain was engaged with no less
than nine line-of-battle ships. A little later on,
she was hammering at the San Josef and the San
Nicolas. The latter luffed, the San Josef fell
aboard her, the Captain being abreast of them and
close alongside. Her foretopmast was gone, her
wheel was shot away, her running-rigging was in
pieces, and Nelson, perceiving that she was no longer
manageable, manoeuvred so as to foul the San Nico
las. This he contrived. His sprit-sail yard hooked
the San Nicolas 's rigging. There were a number of
the 69th regiment on board, and they were amongst
the first who sprang into the Don — no easy task to
landsmen encumbered with weapons, with the long
Atlantic swell besides to create swift abysms be
tween the roaring and flaming fabrics as they rolled.
A soldier broke a window in the Spaniard's upper
quarter-gallery, jumped in, and Nelson and others
followed. The cabin doors were secured ; the Span
ish officers on the quarter-deck snapped pistols at
their boarders through the windows ; but in a breath
the doors were burst open, the soldiers fired, the
Spanish brigadier (a commodore) fell, and Nelson,
rushing out, found Berry, his first lieutenant, in pos
session of the poop and the Spanish ensign hauling
down. Followed by his men, Nelson ran to the
forecastle and received the swords of two or three
Spanish officers; but a moment later a smart fire of
pistols or muskets was opened from the San Josefs
stern-gallery that towered within a jump of the San
Nicolas. Instantly seeing what must be done, the

72 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [^Et. 36
English seamen being now in full possession of every
part of the San Nicolas, Nelson ordered sentinels to
be placed at different ladders to guard the prisoners,
and calling to Captain Miller on board the Captain
to send more men into the San Nicolas, he sprang
into the main-chains of the San Josef, followed by his
brave fellows. As he did so, a Spanish officer looked
over the quarter-deck rail and called out that the ship
had surrendered. The Captain of the vessel, drop
ping on his knee, presented his sword, and said that
the Admiral was dying of his wounds below. Nelson
asked him on his honour if the ship had surrendered.
He declared she had. " On which," says Nelson in
the account of the action he sent to the Duke of
Clarence, " I gave him my hand, and desired him to
call to his officers and ship's company and tell them
of it — which he did ; and on the quarter-deck of a
Spanish first-rate, extravagant as the story may
seem, did I receive the swords of vanquished Span
iards; which, as I received, I gave to William Fear-
ney, one of my bargemen, who put them with the
greatest sang-froid under his arm." "The Victory
and every Ship of the Fleet, passing the glorious
group, gave me three cheers," he wrote to William
Suckling. He received a blow in the side or stomach,
but spoke of the hurt at the moment as nothing.*
Collingwood in the Excellent fought magnificently,
* When news of this victory came to Mrs. Nelson she wrote with
wifely anxiety : " What can I attempt to say to you about Boarding?
You have been most wonderfully protected : you have done desperate
actions enough. Now may I — indeed I do — beg that you will never
Board again. Leave it for Captains."— "Dispatches and Letters,"
vol. ii., p. 359.

1797] Explanation of his Proceedings. 73
and provided Nelson with the chance which his
genius and courage rendered glorious. " My good
friend the Commodore," Collingwood wrote to his
wife, " had been long engaged with those ships,
and I came happily to his relief before he was dread
fully mauled." * Colonel Bethune, after the action,
had a chat with Nelson, and asked : " How came
you to get into that singular and perilous situation ? "
" I '11 tell you how it happened," he answered. " The
Admiral's intention I saw was to cut off the de
tached squadron of light sail, and afterwards attack
the main body, weakened by the separation. Ob
serving, however, as our squadron advanced and
became engaged with the enemy's ships, that the
main body of the enemy were pushing to join their
friends to leeward, by passing in the rear of our
squadron, I thought, unless by some prompt and
extraordinary measure, the main body could be di
verted from this course until Sir John (at that time
in action in the Victory) could see their plan,, his
well-arranged designs on the enemy would be frus
trated." His resolution was immediately formed,
with what success we have seen.
He was not, however, even named by Jervis in his
dispatch. Sir John Barrow declares that the Ad
miral was prevailed on by Sir Robert Calder, the
Captain of the Fleet, to omit Nelson's name, on the
ground that he had disobeyed the signal of recall.
" The surprise is," says Barrow, " that a mar. of
Lord St. Vincent's sagacity should not have de
tected the lurking jealousy that gave rise to such
* " Collingwood's Correspondence," p. 36.

74 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l/Et.38
a recommendation." * Nelson, however, does not
appear to have heard of this signal of recall. Writ
ing to his father, April 6, 1797, he says: " Ar?
anecdote in the action is honorable to the Admiral
and to Troubridge and myself. Calder said : ' Sir,
the Captain and Culloden are separated from the
Fleet, and unsupported ; shall we recall them ? ' 'I
will not have them recalled. I put my faith in those
ships ; it is a disgrace that they are separated and
unsupported.' "
The figure that Nelson made in this conflict was
extraordinarily great ; but it is impossible not to
agree with the exact, acid, and grudging James, who
affirms that a deal more was made of the battle of
St. Vincent than the victory merited. The Span
ish crews and officers were, beyond expression, con
temptible. There was no organization amongst
them, no perception of the significance of signals,
and there was scarcely a ship that would not have run
if she could. When the San Josef was captured sev
eral tompions were found still fixed in the guns on
the side that had been engaged ! It is believed that
the pieces were never loaded. It is quite certain, at
all events, that the officers could not get their men
to fire them. The panic-stricken wretches who
manned the Spanish fleet refused to go aloft to
repair the rigging. The officers shot some of them
as an example, but to no purpose ; the sailors, cross
ing themselves and falling upon their knees, piteously
entreated, with tears in their eyes, not to be forced up
the rigging. Over such opponents it would be ab-
* " Life of Howe," p. 249.

1797]

The Action Considered at Home.

75

surd to call the most decisive victory " glorious."
The relief of men's minds at home made the
battle greatly talked of, and furnished it with a
splendour it certainly did not possess. The union
of the French and Spanish fleets had been despair
ingly regarded as an accomplished fact, and before
news of the victory reached London, in the begin
ning of March, it had been decided at a Privy
Council meeting that the Bank of England should
suspend cash payment until the sense of Parliament
had been taken as to the " public and commercial
credit of the kingdom at this important conjuncture."*

r, 1797.

CHAPTER VII.
Rewards — Nelson's popularity
amongst sailors — Cause of it
— Hand-to-hand fight off Ca
diz — Project against Tene-
riffe — A disastrous blunder
— Loss of his arm — Courage
under suffering — Anecdotes
of the surgical operation —
Troubridge at Santa Cruz — Nelson sails
for England — Lady Nelson — Anecdotes
belonging to this time — Character of his wife
— Memorializes the King — St. Vincent's
letter to Lady Hamilton — Nelson proceeds tp
the Mediterranean — A heavy gale of wind —
Public opinion on St. Vincent's choice.
OR his services, on what he himself
calls " the most glorious Valen
tine's day," Nelson received the
Knighthood and Order of the
Bath, and was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral
of the Blue. Bethune says : " The King would have
created the hero a baronet, but when it was suggested
to Nelson that this honour would in all probability be
conferred, he exclaimed, earnestly: ' No, no, if they
want to mark my services, it must not be in that
manner' " ; whence Bethune inferred that he desired
to bear about his person some honorary distinction to
attract the public eye. * The sword of the Spanish
* Bethune. P. 88.

1797-98] Popularity amongst Sailors. 77
Admiral, received by him on board the San Josef,
Jervis, after taking him in his arms and thanking him
for what he had done, insisted on his keeping. This
sword Nelson presented to the city of Norwich.
Before he was acquainted with his promotion, he
hoisted his pennant on board the Irresistible, the
Captain having been rendered almost useless during
the conflict. In this ship he went with the squadron
to cruise off Cadiz, to keep an eye upon the Spanish
fleet, and intercept the Viceroy of Mexico, one of
whose vessels was a galleon full of dollars. He
afterwards went aboard the Theseus, and in that ship
watched every movement of the enemy ; for, if the
fleets combined, it was believed they would amount
to forty sail-of-the-line.
The affection of his people for him was about this
time illustrated by a paper, dropped on the quarter
deck, on which was written : " Success attend Ad
miral Nelson ! God bless Captain 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 the Captains. — Ship's COMPANY." The
main significance of this testimony must be sought
in the mutinous spirit that was then active in the
British Navy. Never was there a commander who
exhibited a tenderer and wiser interest in the seamen
under him than Nelson. He knew what the fore
castle life was, recalled his own experiences, and
was influenced by them. He abhorred punishment.
He had always a kindly word for his Jacks. He

78 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et.38
licensed handsomely when no point of discipline
was involved. Some of his crew had become Metho
dists, and, offended with the oaths and conversation
of their shipmates, desired a separate mess. Nelson
instantly consented.* When he quitted the Fou-
droyant (June, 1800), the crew of his barge sent him
a touching letter, expressing their deep grief at his
leaving them. They entreated permission to accom
pany him, go where he might, and be his ship what
she would. " Pardon the rude style of seamen," the
poor fellows wrote. f He was entirely with the mu
tineers of the Fleet in their first complaint. " We
are a neglected set," he wrote, " and when peace
comes are shamefully treated." The health of his
seamen was always the first essential consideration
with him. In 1803 he was writing that the squadron
had been " within ten days of five months at sea, and
we have not a man confined to his bed." He was
the nation's pride indeed, but pre-eminently was he
the sailors' darling.
The night of the 3d of July, 1797, witnessed the
bombardment of Cadiz. Nelson was in his barge
with, what he terms, " a common crew of ten men,"
besides the coxswain, Captain Fremantle, and him
self, when he was boarded by the commander of the
Spanish gunboats in a barge that rowed twenty-six
oars, and numbered in all thirty of a crew. The
hand-to-hand fight that followed is assuredly the
most memorable of the thrilling incidents of Nelson's
career. The Spanish commander was taken, eighteen
* Blackwood's Magazine, 1848, p. 598.
f " Dispatches and Letters," vol. iv., p. 262.

NELSON'S ENCOUNTER WITH A SPANISH LAUNCH, JULY, 1797.
AFTER A DRAWING BY R. HIND.

\

1797-98] The Bombardment of Cadiz. jg
of his men killed, and a number wounded. Nelson's
coxswain, John Sykes, twice saved the Hero's life.
Already Nelson had exhausted in his friend
John Jervis the language of eulogy. All that St.
Vincent could say of him in reference to this hand-
to-hand fight was " that his actions speak for them
selves ; any praise of mine would fall very short of
his merit." One follows with pain the narrative
of this bombardment. The Spaniards, yielding to
French influence, were nevertheless our friends at
heart. There might have been fear, but there was
certainly friendship in the reluctance with which
they fought us. The bombardment barbarously in
jured the beautiful town ; it was on fire in three
places, and the houses of the inhabitants were plun
dered by the villains among them — " a glorious scene
of confusion," Nelson calls it. A shell struck a con
vent and killed several priests — " that 's no harm,"
he says drily, " they will never be missed."
The next step was a disastrous blunder. There
was scarcely ever executed a more ill-advised adven
ture than the Teneriffe expedition. News had come
that the rich Manila ship, which Nelson was on the
look-out for, had arrived at Santa Cruz. His head
was full of a plan that could not fail of success, that
was to immortalise the undertakers, that was to ruin
Spain, and raise Great Britain to a higher pitch of
wealth than she had ever yet attained. In a word,
Santa Cruz was to be captured, good terms with
the town made, and nothing but the delivery of
public stores and foreign merchandise demanded.
The value of the galleon is not stated ; Nelson talked

80 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^Et. 38
of six or seven millions sterling. " If this sum were
thrown into circulation in England, what might not
be done ? " he says in his letter to Lord St. Vincent.
On July 15th he sailed for Teneriffe. The squad
ron appointed consisted of the Theseus, Culloden,
and Zealous, each of seventy-four guns ; the Leander,
Seahorse, Emerald, and Terpsichore, from fifty to
thirty-two guns ; and the little Fox cutter of twelve
guns. The ships were discovered before the men
could be landed. Even the daring genius of a Nel
son might have been mockingly set at defiance by
the inaccessible heights and the numerous and
powerful fortifications of the place. But the Span
iards must be made to understand that when the Bri
ton strikes, he commonly strikes home ; and Nelson,
with but little hope in the issue, determined upon a
night attack on the garrison of Santa Cruz itself. At
8 P. M., July 24th, he wrote to St. Vincent— the last
letter he ever penned with his right hand. He tells
him that by to-morrow his head will be crowned
with either laurel or cypress, and commends his
step-son, Josiah Nisbet, to him and to his country.
Before starting to row ashore, he entered his cabin
and called to Nisbet, then a lieutenant in the Theseus,
to help him to arrange and burn Mrs. Nelson's letters.
He observed that the young man was armed and
begged him to remain in the ship, saying: "Should
we both fall, Josiah, what would become of your
poor mother ? The care of the Theseus falls to you ;
stay, therefore, and take charge of her." " The ship
must take care of herself," answered young Nisbet ;
" I will go with you to-night, if I never go again."

-irt— i— — u»^  ,. „;  :  '  ~-~^T^is^5ssi»w>*ifB»waBsea«e»,

VIEW OF SANTA CRUZ, ISLAND OF TENERIFFE.

1797-98] Shot through the Arm. 81
A thousand seamen and marines were to be thrown
ashore under cover of the darkness. All the boats
of the squadron were lowered, and filled with men
and artillery. The Fox cutter, in command of the
gallant Lieutenant Gibson, was crowded with about
a hundred men. The force was formed into six
divisions, having the Fox cutter in tow, the whole
preceded by Nelson in his gig accompanied by three
or four other boats. It was a very dark night ; the
wind too, much about this hour, breezed up into a
fresh gale, and the high Atlantic sea washed in
thunder to the base of the iron-bound rock of
Teneriffe. Warily as the expedition advanced, the
headmost boats were discovered by the sentinels.
In an instant the strong wind was clamorous with
the ringing of bells ; the dark scene of shore flashed
out into lights ; the confused shouts of men could be
heard with the rattling of carriages followed by the
blaze and roar of upwards of thirty pieces of can
non.* The Fox cutter was struck by a shot and
foundered out of hand, drowning many of her
people. Most of the boats missed the pier. As
Nelson stepped ashore, his boat being one of the
very few which had struck the surfless side of the
Mole, he was in the act of drawing his sword when
his right elbow was hit by a grape-shot. " I am
shot through the arm, I am a dead man ! " he ex
claimed. Young Nisbet was by his side ; he caught
him as he was falling, and laying him in the
bottom of the boat, took a silk handkerchief from
his neck and bound it tightly above the lacerated
* Blackwood' s Magazine, 1852, p. 508.

82 The Life of Horatio Nelson. I/Et.38
vessels, whilst one of Nelson's bargemen, a man
named Lovel, tore his own shirt into shreds to form
a sling for the wounded arm. Nisbet would have
rowed him aboard the Seahorse, but Nelson insisted
upon being carried to his own ship, lest Mrs. Fre-
mantle, whose husband was Captain of the Seahorse
should be terrified by the sight of his wound and his
inability to give her any tidings of Captain Freman-
tle. On the boat getting alongside the Theseus he
peremptorily declined to be helped on board. " Let
me alone," he cried, " 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 's off the better." Young
Hoste, who was at the gangway of the Theseus, in de
scribing the attack on Santa Cruz in a letter to his
father, speaks of Nelson with his right arm dangling
by his side, astonishing everyone with the spirit with
which he helped himself to scale the labouring
vessel. It is indeed an instance of human endurance
and resolution scarcely credible. One stands amazed
at that picture of a sickly and delicate human form
filled with the anguish of a dreadful wound, with the
deep mental distress moreover begotten of the con
viction that his right arm was gone from him for
ever, spiritedly swinging by his remaining limb
against the heeling side of the tall fabric, and
clearing the bulwark only to demand the instant
services of the surgeon with such coolness as his
noble and beautiful nature would have been incapa
ble of in asking a like operation for the very hum
blest boy of his squadron.

1797-98] Loses his Arm. 83
When his arm was cut off the surgeon asked if he
wished it embalmed that he might send it to England
to be buried ; he answered : " Throw it into the
hammock with the brave fellow that was killed
beside me," referring to the body of a seaman that
was about to be dropped overboard. * The operation
was clumsily performed. Magrath who was Nelson's
surgeon in the Victory (1 803-4) attributed much of
his irritability and derangement in other ways to this
clumsy amputation. " Of all the sufferings of the
operation," he told Sir N. Harris Nicolas, " and
its subsequent facts so strongly pressed upon his
(Nelson's) mind, he complained most of ' the cold
ness of the knife ' in making the first circular cut
through the integuments and muscles. So painfully
and deeply was the recollection ingrafted upon
his feelings that I had general instructions in conse
quence, whenever there was a prospect of coming to
action, to have a hanging-stove kept in the galley for
the purpose of heating water in which to immerse the
knife in the event of his being the subject of opera
tion, and on which he always calculated." f
The Santa Cruz attack was a complete failure.

* " Autobiography of Miss Cornelia Knight," vol. ii., p. 286.
f "Dispatches and Letters,'- vol. ii., p. 444. Colonel Bethune
relates the following anecdote referring to the loss of Nelson's arm.
Just before the victory of Camperdown, Bethune called upon Nelson,
who asked him if there was news of Duncan's fleet. Then starting up
in his peculiar energetic manner, notwithstanding Lady Nelson's
attempts to quiet him, and stretching out his unwounded arm he ex
claimed : "I would give this other arm to be with Duncan at this
moment." Bethune. P. 97. This gentleman afterwards took the
name of Bethune : by all Nelson's biographers he is called Drink
water.

84 The Life of Horatio Nelson. tot. 39
Troubridge, who commanded the Culloden, on land,
ing, collected his forces in a convent, and though
without ammunition, demanded the surrender of the
citadel. In the presence of a number of priests he
set his people to make torches, fire-balls, and the like,
to burn down the town with. The priests rushed to
the Governor and begged him to offer terms to the
" mad Englishman." The Governor was a person of
good sense and kindness of heart, and his proposals
ended in the British party marching with colours
flying to the Mole, where they embarked in boats for
the ships, every man receiving from the Spaniards a
loaf and a pint of wine before starting.
Nelson in a fit of depression wrote on the 27th to
Sir John Jervis that he was become a burthen to his
friends and useless to his country, and that his one
anxiety now was to see his step-son promoted.
" When I leave your command," he wrote, " I be
come dead to the world ; I go hence and am no more
seen." He asked the Admiral for a frigate to convey
" the remains of my carcass to England," and on the
20th of August, 1797, hoisted his flag aboard the
Seahorse, and proceeded home. On arriving at
Spithead (September 1st) he struck his flag and
journeyed to Bath where Lady Nelson and his
father were. His arm had dreadfully tormented him
during the passage. He had written to his wife
with his left hand to announce his intention to
return home, and his letter had not long preceded his
landing. Lady Nelson had not heard of his desper
ate wound ; rumours only of the Teneriffe affair had
reached her; she was puzzled by the handwriting in

1797-98] Nursed by Lady Nelson. 85
which her husband had addressed her, and it was
some time before she would allow herself to be per
suaded that the letter was written by him. There is
pathos and pain in the narrative of this lady's
devotion to her husband at this and at other times,
read by the light of what happened a few years later
on. Lady Nelson at her husband's own earnest
request attended to the dressing of his arm until
she had acquired skill and resolution to deal with it
herself, after which she continually nursed him. His
anguish was unintermittently keen, owing to the
ligature which had been affixed to the humeral
artery involving a branch of nerve. It was in con
templation to cut down upon this ligature, but on a
sudden it separated of itself and he was instantly
relieved. His pious gratitude took the form of a
thanksgiving, recited, as delivered by himself, by the
clergyman officiating at St. George's, Hanover
Square: "An officer desires to return thanks to
Almighty God for his perfect recovery from a severe
wound, and also for the many mercies bestowed on
him." This was dated December 8, 1797, " for next
Sunday." It is told that during the previous October, whilst
he lay in suffering at his lodgings in Bond Street, he
took some laudanum in the hope of obtaining rest.
The news of Admiral Duncan's victory at that time
reached London, and the streets were crowded with
huzzaing mobs. The house in which Nelson lodged
had not been illuminated. A crowd assembled to
inquire the cause of the darkness and silence at such
a time of rejoicing, and every window would have

86 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [TEt. 39
been promptly smashed ; but on the servant of the
lodgings informing them that Sir Horatio Nelson
lay within badly wounded and endeavouring to
sleep, a leader of the mob cried out : " You will
hear no more from us to-night," and the whole
rabble moved off.
Southey preserves an anecdote of Nelson that
belongs to this period. Considering he was entitled
to smart money for the loss of his eye, he went
to receive a year's pay, but could not obtain the
money because he had neglected to procure a cer
tificate from a surgeon that the sight was actually
destroyed. Though the loss of vision might not be
apparent, it was at all events as a fact notorious
enough, and Nelson was not a little irritated that
this form should be insisted upon. However, he got
his certificate for his eye, and took care that the loss
of his arm should be mentioned, since the one
injury was as likely to be doubted as the other!
The idea put him in a good temper with himself
and with the offending clerk. On his return to the
office the clerk, finding it was only the annual pay of
a captain, said that he thought it had been more.
" Oh," exclaimed 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."
Soon afterward he applied on account of the arm,
and, says Southey, with perfect good-humour exhib
ited his certificate of the loss of it.
Whilst Nelson was at this time in England he
realised his quarter-deck dream by purchasing a
cottage and a few acres of ground called Round-

1797-98] Lady Nelsons Life. 87
Wood, near' Ipswich. It does not appear, how
ever, that he ever himself occupied it. When he
was in search of the French fleet, Lady Nelson
wrote to him : " On Sunday, the 20th of May,
we arrived at Round-Wood. The satisfaction I
felt was very great on being under your own
roof. No thanks to any earthly being." * The
" love-in-a-cottage " fancy was to prove but the
idlest of dreams after all. It has been represented
that Lady Nelson was inattentive to his personal
comforts, that she alienated him by lack of that sort
of homely sympathy which makes good husbands of
men of even lukewarm natures. It is true that we
read of Nelson complaining in his letters to his dear
Fanny, that he finds but one pair of raw-silk stock
ings in his trunk ; that " I have not got, I assure you,"
(this to Lady Hamilton) " scarcely a comfort about
me except the two chairs which you ordered of Mr.
Foxhall ; I have wrote her (Lady N.) a letter of
truths about my outfit " : and so on, and so on. But
to this inattention there was surely the noble set
off of a most devoted and single-hearted spell of
nursing, during the long days of torment he endured
from the stump of his arm, and through tedious
hours rendered wretched to her by his irritability and
the constant spectacle of his anguish.
Her life was one almost of widowhood after he had
sailed in the Agamemnon; yet her pure heart was
always with him, loving, passionately solicitous, pro
foundly admiring. His father was " our father" to
her ; she lived with the old man, she cherished him,
* "Dispatches and Letters,'' vol. iii., p. 12.

88 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt-39
and he loved her. The marriage had been one of
affection, and their loyalty to each other, their faith,
their high belief in each other, is unquestionable
down to the year of the battle of the Nile. But
how effectually Nelson's love was afterwards sun
dered, we may gather by these sentences from
a letter to Lady Hamilton, dated September 17,
1805 — words which one transcribes with a grief, and
with a sense of shame, which must be proportioned
to one's love for, and pride in, the character and the
greatness of the immortal Hero : " I entreat, my
dear Emma, that you will cheer up ; and we will
look forward to many, many happy years, and be sur
rounded by our children's children. God Almighty
can, when he pleases, remove the impediment." *
But to return. In October, 1797, it was proposed
to settle a pension of a thousand a year upon Nelson
for his services. The demon of red tape demanded
the usual Memorial, in which Nelson stated that
during the war he had fought in four actions with
the enemy's fleets, in three actions with frigates, in
six engagements against batteries, in ten actions in
boats. He enumerated his services at Bastia and
Calvi, the number of the captures he had assisted in,
and how he had lost his right eye and his right arm,
not to mention minor injuries during the one hundred
and twenty times he had fought against the enemy.
In September he attended at St. James's Palace,
and was invested with the insignia of Knight Com
panion of the Bath. The freedom of the City of
London was conferred upon him in December, and
* Lady Nelson died, aged sixty-eight, on the 4th of May, 1831.

1797-981 Despatched to the Mediterranean. 89
with it a gold box worth one hundred guineas. By
this time his health was sufficiently good to enable
him to go to sea again, and on the 19th of Decem
ber he was appointed to the Vanguard, of seventy-
four guns, in which ship he sailed on the 1st of
April, 1798, from Portsmouth, arriving on the 23d
with a convoy at Lisbon, whence a week later he
weighed to join Lord St. Vincent and the fleet off
Cadiz. Nothing of special moment happened till near the
close of the following month, when, on the 22d,
Lord St. Vincent wrote a letter to Lady Hamilton,
couched in terms which suggest but little of the salt
beef and nor'-westers of the Service. " I am bound,"
says he, " by my oath of chivalry to protect all who
are persecuted and distressed, and I would fly to the
succour of their Sicilian Majesties was I not posi
tively forbid to quit my post before Cadiz. I am
happy, however, to have a knight of superior prow
ess in my train, who is charged with this enterprise
at the head of as gallant a band as ever drew sword
or trailed pike." This knight was Nelson. The day
prior to the date of St. Vincent's letter to Lady
.Hamilton, Nelson had received his instructions from
the Commander-in-chief. An armament had been
preparing by the enemy at Toulon and Genoa, the
object of which, it was assumed, was either an attack
upon Naples or Sicily, the conveyance of an army to
some part of the coast of Spain or Portugal, or the
invasion of Ireland. Nelson was to seek this arma
ment, and on falling in with it to use his utmost
endeavours to take, sink, burn, and destroy it. With

90 The Life of Horatio Nelson. c^t. 39
respect to supplies, he was to extract whatever he
required from the territories of the Grand Duke of
Tuscany, the King of the Two Sicilies, the Ottoman
territory, Malta, and the ci-devant Venetian do
minions. All this is explicit enough, and effectually
disposes of Lady Hamilton's claim to having helped
Nelson to win the battle of the Nile, by enabling
him, by a strategy of her own, to obtain supplies at
Syracuse in defiance of the obligation of neutrality.
For it is specially to be noticed that Nelson's in
structions were to treat as hostile any ports within
the Mediterranean, those of Sardinia excepted, when
provisions, or other articles he might be in need of,
should be refused.
He arrived at Gibraltar on the 4th of May. In
the Gulf of Lyons he encountered a gale of wind
that very nearly foundered his ship out of hand.
" Figure to yourself," he wrote to his wife, " a vain
man on Sunday evening at sunset walking in his
cabin with his squadron about him, who looked up
to their chief to lead them to glory, and in whom
this chief placed the firmest reliance, that the proud
est ships, in equal numbers, belonging to France,
would have bowed their flags, and with a very rich
prize lying by him. Figure to yourself this proud,
conceited man when the sun rose on Monday morn
ing, his ship dismasted, his fleet dispersed, and him
self in such distress that the meanest frigate out of
France would have been a very unwelcome guest.'
The preservation of the Vanguard was owing mainlj
to Captain Ball, of the Alexander. We have seen
that Nelson in 1783 had met Ball at St. Omer, and

1797-98] In a Heavy Gale of Wind. 91
taken a strong dislike to him, possibly because of
his epaulets. When Ball went on board the Van
guard, to pay his respects to the Rear-Admiral, Nel
son said to him, with an off-hand, contemptuous air:
" What ! Are you come to have your bones broken ? "
Ball responded, with much moderation of temper,
that he did not intend to spare his bones in the per
formance of his duty. In the gale of the 20th, the
Vanguard was almost completely wrecked. Ball, in
the Alexander, took her in tow, but Nelson, fearing
that both ships would founder if thus linked, hailed
Ball to let go the hawser, and to leave the Vanguard
to her fate. Ball, however, resolved to persevere,
and successfully conveyed the Vanguard to St.
Pierre. Nelson went on board him, and, straining
the gallant commander to his breast with his one
arm, exclaimed : " A friend in need is a friend
indeed." * From that moment they were warm
friends. In four days' time the Vanguard was equipped
and at sea again, thanks to the extraordinary efforts
of her carpenter, Morrison. On the 7th of June
Nelson was joinedby a squadron of ten sail-of-the-line,
and the Leander, of fifty guns, and started in force
in search of the French fleet. There was earnest
remonstrance from Sir William Parker and Sir John
Orde, who were both of them Nelson's seniors in the
Service, on this command of a detachment being
given to him. The ill-blood excited resulted in
Orde sending Lord St. Vincent a challenge, but
there was no duel. Orde gave much trouble, hard-
* Communicated by Ball himself, and quoted by Sir H. Nicolas.

92 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^Et.39
ened into the condition of a man with a griev
ance, and printed a long letter addressed to Nelson.
Brenton, who gives full particulars of this affair in
his life of St. Vincent, says that the Earl, when
Nelson was objected to as a junior officer to take
the command, replied : " That those who were
responsible for measures had a right to choose their
men." How very wise the veteran was in this case
the battle of the Nile abundantly proved. The
opposition to Nelson's appointment, even in the
higher departments of government, was scanda
lously bitter. It will scarcely be credited that a
letter from one of the puisne Lords of the Ad
miralty, in which Lord St. Vincent was insolently
denounced for having sent so young a flag-officer as
Nelson to seek the French fleet, was read publicly on
board Sir William Parker's ship, the Prince George.
Had the Hero failed, his impeachment would have
been demanded, and perhaps obtained, in spite of
the battle of St. Vincent, and all that he had done
before and after it.

Pursuit of the French fleet — Anecdote of Lady Hamil
ton — The fleet weighs from Syracuse — Discovery of
French fleet — Plans of attack— Nelson's policy of
instant fighting — Battle of the Nile — Death of Ad
miral Brueys — Explosion of L' Orient — Anecdotes of
rescued Frenchmen — The Culloden ashore — Nelson
wounded — Louis of the Minotaur,
HE Mediterranean was now to be hunted
for the French fleet. The enemy
had had a long start, and all that
Nelson could at this period promise was that he
would fight him the moment he could reach him,
be he at anchor or be he under sail. The French
had been sighted, on the 4th of June, off Trapani
in Sicily, steering to the eastward ; then Trou-
bridge heard that they had gone towards Malta.
Nelson sailed for that place, and on the 18th went
away for Alexandria, where Captain Hardy reported
he could obtain no intelligence. The British Admiral
then skirted the coast of Asia, arriving on the 20th of
July at Syracuse, to obtain a supply of fresh pro
visions. There was in force a treaty between Naples
and France, a clause of which provided that no more
than two English ships of war should enter into any
of the Neapolitan or Sicilian ports. Nelson de-

94 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t£t. 3?
spatched Captain Troubridge to Naples to obtain
permission for his ships to water at Syracuse and
take in other supplies. The romantic story goes
that Troubridge arrived at the British Embassy at
about six o'clock in the morning. Sir William
Hamilton came hurriedly from his bed to receive
him, and on hearing what he had to say, communi
cated with Sir John Acton, who at once convened
a Council at which the King was present. Nelson's
application was refused by the alarmed King, where
upon Lady Hamilton, rushing to the Queen's cham
ber where her Majesty lay in bed, went down upon
her knees to implore her to authorise the required
assistance or the Sicilies must be lost. The Queen
consented; Lady Hamilton dictated; and Nelson
obtained what he required. All this is most pleas
antly but convincingly disposed of by Mr. J. C.
Jeaffreson, who shows that Maria Caroline was a
member of the Council, and possessed of the rights
and powers that position conferred ; that she was
infinitely more sensible than her husband of the
menaces of France to the country over which she,
and perhaps she alone, virtually ruled ; that she
needed no Lady Hamilton with long hair to go
down upon her knees to her, but as an intrepid, self-
dependent, resolute woman, was perfectly happy to
render quietly all needful assistance to that British
Admiral in whom only she could find hope in this
time of enormous difficulty and insecurity.* In
deed, all the Queen's affectionate attentions to Lady
Hamilton were paid with a strict eye to business
* " Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson," vol. i.

1798] In Search of the French Fleet. 95
and to Sir William as the British Minister. Lady
Hamilton wrote in Nelson's Letter-Book : " The
Queen's letter, privately got by me, got him his fleet
victualled and watered in a few days. — Emma Hamil
ton." She doubtless believed this, though not perhaps
until after years of telling it. Nelson never doubted
it from the beginning, as we may gather from the last
solemn desire he wrote down on the eve of Trafalgar.
Having laid in a stock of water, wine, lemons,
and bullocks at Syracuse, the squadron under Nel
son weighed. He wrote to Lady Nelson : " I have
not been able to find the French fleet. ... I
yet live in hopes of meeting these fellows ; but it
would have been my delight to have tried Buona
parte on a bowline, for he commands the fleet as well
as the army. Glory is my object and that alone."
He was sadly delayed by want of frigates, " the eyes
of a fleet," as he called them. The French were
insolently exultant. " I arrived," wrote Admiral
Brueys at Aboukir Bay, " in the afternoon (July
7th) and formed a line of battle at two thirds of a
cable's length. ... I have heard nothing fur
ther of the English. They are gone perhaps to look
for us in the west of Syria ; or rather, and this is
my private opinion, they have not so many as four
teen sail-of-the-line, and not finding themselves suf-
ciently numerous, do not judge it apropos to measure
themselves with us." " We are now moored in such
a manner," wrote Jaubert, Commissary of the Fleet
(8th July) " as to bid defiance to a force more than
double our own." *

* Clarke and M'Arthur. II., pp. 106, 107.

96 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l&t- 39
On the morning of the 1st of August Nelson's
squadron was off the city of Alexandria. The har
bour was full of transports, and from many flag-posts
the French tri-colour was floating. At four o'clock
the Zealous, Captain Samuel Hood, made the signal of
the French fleet. The force under Nelson amounted
to thirteen 74-gun ships, and one 50, with one brig
sloop only. The French fleet consisted of one 120-
gun ship, three 8o's, nine 74's, two 40's, two 36's,
two brigs, and several bomb vessels and gunboats.*
Before taking up his anchorage in Aboukir Bay,
Vice-Admiral Brueys had called a council of his flag-
officers and captains to determine whether the ships
should engage at anchor or under canvas. Blanquet,
rear-Admiral, alone of them all, disapproved of the
fleet remaining at anchor. The ships were thereupon
formed in line ahead, occupying a curve a mile and
five eighths in extent.
The keenest delight was felt throughout the
British ships at sight of the enemy. The sailors'
appetites had been extraordinarily whetted by their
long, tedious scouring of the Mediterranean. Nel
son himself for days had hardly eaten or slept ; but
now that the Frenchmen he had been so long in
search of were to be seen, he ordered his dinner
to be served whilst the Vanguard was filled with the
hurry and bustle of the preparation for battle, and
on rising from table he is said to have exclaimed
to his officers : " Before this time to-morrow I
shall have gained a Peerage or Westminster
Abbey." f The French account represents the
* See Appendix..
\ These gasconades, as Sir H. Nicolas calls them, about West-

1798] Plan of Attack. gj
wind as light, but in the offing at all events it was
blowing what seamen call a topgallant breeze, so
that when Nelson hauled upon a wind most of
the ships had to take in their royals. It had been
the Hero's practice, so Sir Edward Berry tells us, *
during the whole of the cruise, to take every oppor
tunity of weather to bring together the captains of
his ships aboard the Vanguard, when he would fully
explain to them his own ideas of the different and
best modes of attack. He assumed every imagina
ble situation for the enemy's fleet, and provided
for dealing with it in that situation. The com
manders, therefore, on beholding the French fleet
at anchor in Aboukir Bay, knew exactly what
Nelson intended ; very few signals were needed,
and thus was saved all the delay consequent upon
the obligation of communicating strategic measures
by message and by flags. It has been denied that
Nelson's plans were preconcerted ; but what is not
denied ? General Sir Charles Napier \ preposter
ously claims for Captain Foley the merit of this
great victory ! " Lord Nelson was not the man who
proved the adventure," he says. And why ? Because
Foley's ship, as Captain S. Hood attested, not hav
ing her ground tackle ready, brought up abreast of
the second ship of the enemy inside of her. Bren-
ton also states on the authority of Saumarez, who
was second in command, that the plan of placing
minster Abbey and Glorious Victory and Peerages and the like which
Be'hune, Clarke and M'Arthur, and others put into Nelson's mouth,
are to be received with distrust.
* "An Authentic Narrative," etc., 1798.
\ United Service Journal, 1837.
7

98 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et. 39
the enemy between two fires was not preconcerted.
Nelson's genius was instant in its perception and
resolution. He could not indeed have prophetically
provided for the exact conditions under which he
now found the French fleet ; but it is ridiculous to
suppose that amidst his numberless anticipations
he had not foreseen some such a disposition of the
enemy's forces as was now discovered, and pre
arranged with his captains for it. One difficulty his
lightning-like mind witnessed and extinguished. He
perceived that where there was room for an enemy's
ship to swing there was room for one of his own
squadron to anchor. The rest merely signified the
use of the lead-line and all possible precaution in
entering the shoaling water and taking up the
retired positions.
Most sailors will probably consider this battle of
the Nile the most triumphant in skill and daring of
Nelson's achievements. As sea-manceuvrers the
French were but poor hands at the best ; but now
they were in a situation that made no demands upon
them as sailors. There were no braces to handle,
no wheels to turn ; their ships lay motionless upon
the smooth waters of Aboukir Bay, and were as
fortresses for their people to let fly their ordnance
from. In gunnery they were superb as precisionists,
and now in this science of taking aim and firing they
were to have it all their own way. We must
realise every condition of this wonderful fight to
appreciate its performance and its issue : the superior
force of the enemy, — the darkness of the night draw
ing round, — the penetration of a space of water of

17981 Battle of the Nile. 99
which there was not a man aboard the English squad
ron who knew anything. What, may be asked, would
have been the decision of any other mind than that
of Nelson ? The French were trapped ; they would
probably remain where they were till daybreak ; the
safety of the British squadron would be imperilled
by entering that uncertain, that unknown bay in the
gloom of the evening. Therefore the one practicable
expedient must be to heave to and wait for the sun
to rise and attack the enemy as he lay at anchor or
receive him as he got underway and came out. The
seminal principle of all Nelson's tactics was to have
at the foe at once. Wait for nothing ! shift your
helm, and go for him ! get alongside as nimbly as your
keel will carry you, and then fight ! He was Com
mander-in-chief now ; now had come his first mag
nificent opportunity. Heretofore he had been acting
under the eye of others, a Hero to be controlled in a
degree by the irresolution or the easily appeased ambi
tion of a senior. But this was to be a Nelson fight,
all his own ! and with six ensigns, and flags red, white,
and blue flying in his rigging, he hauled upon a bow
line for Aboukir Bay, his squadron of ships swelling
like white clouds upon the afternoon waters of the
Mediterranean as they floated in their majesty of
chequered sides and heights of gleaming rounded
canvas down upon the enemy.
The Goliath and Zealous led the way. They were
followed by the Orion, Audacious, and Theseus. The
.vessels entered the bay in grim silence — hands in the
channels heaving the lead, hands aloft furling the
canvas as sail was shortened from the deck, hands

ioo The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et. 39
ranged alongside overhauling lengths of cable ready
to anchor by the stern. The signal was for " the
headmost ship to bear down and engage as she
reached the van of the enemy ; the next ship to pass
by and engage the second ship of the line ; and so
on." One after another the British battle-ships took
up their positions, receiving broadsides plump into
their bows from the enemy, with a simultaneous fly
ing of colours on both sides streaming like flames of
fire amid the satin-white bodies of powder-smoke
floating up from the tall and bristling sides of the
Frenchmen. At thirty-one minutes past six the sun
was setting and the action had begun. At seven it
was as black as midnight, without any gleam of moon
as yet. But the incessant flashings of the guns made
crimson the heavens, and amid the blood-red dimness
of the smoke of the conflict the towering fabrics of
the contending vessels loomed in giant proportions.
When the sun sank every British ship had hoisted
at her mizzen peak four horizontal lights. In less
than twelve minutes the van ship of the enemy —
Le Guerrier — was dismasted ; ten minutes later Le
Conquerant, and almost at the same instant Le Spar-
iate, were almost wholly wrecked aloft. At half-
past eight L'Aquilon and Le Souverain Peuple, the
fourth and fifth ships of the enemy's line surrendered.
Even at this early hour it seemed that the victory
was with the British, for although the huge L 'Orient,
U Heureux, and Tonnant were not taken possession
of, they were regarded as good as captured.
It was about ten minutes after nine, that L' Orient
was observed to be on fire. She was the flag-ship of

1798] Burning of "L' Orient." i o i
the Admiral de Brueys. This gallant sailor had pre
viously been wounded in the head and arm, but
shortly after eight o'clock, according to the French
account, two British ships* having anchored, one
on L' Orient's starboard bow, and the other on
her larboard or port quarter, the French Admiral was
almost cut in two by a shot. He requested to be
left to lie upon the deck and expired a quarter of an
hour afterwards. Rear-Admiral Blanquet, in the
Franklin, was soon afterwards wounded in the face
and carried away senseless.
The burning of L'Orient forms the most terrific
incident of that savage and tremendous scene of
battle. The explosion of the huge fabric was inevi
table, and the crews of the warships in the immediate
neighbourhood of her went to work in red-hot haste
to clear their decks of all combustibles, and to wet
their sails, whilst men were stationed in all direc
tions with buckets of water in their hands. Such
was the temper, however, of the crew of L'Orient,
that even when her lower deck was in flames, her
men continued to fire the guns on the upper decks.
An officer who was on board the Leander frigate
describes the scene as it showed at ten o'clock : fore
and aft the flames were waving in forks and living
sheets and leaping on high, as though from the heart
of some mighty volcano. She had ceased to fire ;
her sprit-sail yard and bowsprit were crowded with
men who continued to crawl out, blackening those
spars like flies, as the raging fire grew. By the wild,
mast-high flames the whole scene of battle was as visi-
* The Swiftsure and the Alexander are probably referred to.

102 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt. 39
ble as by the light of the noontide sun. The colours
of the flags of the ships could be easily distinguished-
Every rope, every spar, the forms of the half-naked
crews, smoke-blackened and in active motion, the
land beyond with all details of the island fortress
and of the distant rearmost ships, were startlingly
visible by the glow of the burning ship, the brilliance
of which was that of the conflagration of a city. At
Rosetta, many miles distant from Aboukir, the roar
of the battle was audible, and the scarlet of the at
mosphere about the flaming Orient clearly witnessed.
The dark figures of bodies of Arabs were to be seen
upon the shore gazing in motionless postures at the
awful sight.* Shortly after ten the great ship blew
up. The explosion was that of an earthquake. The
concussion swept through every seam, timber, and
joint of the nearest ships, with the sensation as
though the solid fabrics were crumbling into staves
under the feet of the seamen. The air was filled
with blazing masses of rigging and timber, shot to
an immense height, descending in gigantic javelins
of flame and piercing the water with the hissing as
of an electric storm of hail followed by blinding
clouds of steam. The sight was blackened as by a
lightning stroke, and the instant the prodigious
glare of the explosion had passed, the darkness of the
night seemed to roll down in folds of ink upon the
vision of the seamen. All was hushed ; every man
in both fleets appeared paralysed ; and for nearly a
quarter of an hour it is said no gun was fired, no
movement was perceptible.
* Charnock's "Life of Nelson," p. 108.

1798] Anecdotes of Rescued Frenchmen. 1 03
From the deck of the Leander a number of the sur
vivors of the miserable crowds which had filled the
decks and 'tween decks of L'Orient were observed to
be swimming towards the frigate. " The piercing
cries of these unfortunate men," wrote one who was
present, " seem still to vibrate on my ear, as some of
them approaching near the Leander, cried out : ' Bon
John, give rop-e ! — Oh, bon John, give rop-e, give
rop-e ! ' As many of them as possible, we res
cued from a watery grave, though some of them,
after all our endeavours, sunk to rise no more.
It was wonderful to observe, notwithstanding the
deplorable circumstances in which these poor fellows
were placed, what strength the amor patrice, or reluc
tance to acknowledge defeat, exerted in them. To
one of these forlorn creatures drenched with water
and exhausted with fatigue, I said : ' Well, Monsieur,
what think you now of your Buonaparte ? ' To which,
the hapless man summoning the little energy which
remained in him, replied : ' Oh, Monsieur John Bull,
dis nothing, dis nothing; vive Napoleon!' "*
The French account fixes the blowing up of
L'Orient at a quarter to eleven. The great mass of
her people who were swimming about in the water near
her at the time were instantly destroyed ; amongst
those who perished were Commodore Casabianca, and
his son, a little fellow ten years old, who during the
action had behaved with astonishing bravery and in
telligence, and the memory of whose sad death must
long be perpetuated by Mrs. Hemans's moving verses.
Nelson's force was weakened, and his victory conse-

* Blackwood's Magazine, 1832, p. 574.

104 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[>Et. 39

quently heightened by the Culloden going ashore at
a distance from the combatants, which rendered
her useless. Captain Troubridge had been detained
by the towing of a prize; he cast her off and
advanced cautiously, sounding as he did so. The
afternoon was darkening into night, when on a
sudden the Culloden grounded on the tail of a shoal
that ran from the Island of Bequieres. Every thing
was done to warp her off, but she remained immov
ably fixed. Troubridge's anguish of mind was acute.
Miss Knight says that after the battle he wrote
to condole with Captain Darby of the Bellerophon,
who was badly wounded, and had also lost a number
of his people ; " but added that, had his sufferings
been fifty times as much, he had rather been in his
place, than have borne the anguish he felt from run
ning aground and being kept out of the Action —
that he had found great difficulty in keeping from
shooting himself, and that he even then frequently
shed tears. Captain Darby and Captain Gould, who
was present when he received the letter, both wept."*
After the blowing up of L'Orient the firing was
recommenced by a French ship, the Franklin, and
the action raged afresh for twenty minutes, when
there came a dead pause that lasted nearly a
quarter of an hour. The battle was then renewed
and continued until three in the morning, when it
again ceased. The van of the enemy having been
conquered, such British ships as were in a condition
to move dropped down upon the fresh, untouched
French vessels in the rear, and again the bay was
* "Autobiography of Miss Cornelia Knight." vol. ii., p. 287.

1798] Wounded in the Head. 105
full of thunder and conflict. A few minutes past
five in the morning the only two rear ships of the
line of the enemy which had their colours flying
were Le Guillaume Tell and Le GeWreux. Both these
vessels at eleven o'clock, with two frigates, cut their
cables and stood out to sea pursued by the Zealous,
Captain Hood, who, as it was impossible to support
him, was recalled after a short chase.
Nelson had been wounded some time before
L'Orient blew up. The hour is believed to have
been about half-past eight. It is said that he was
looking over a rough sketch of the Bay of Aboukir,
which had been taken out of a French ship by Cap
tain Hallowell a few days before the action, when
he was struck in the forehead by a langridge shot or
some such missile ; the skin was cut at right angles,
and hanging over his eye utterly blinded him. Cap
tain Berry caught him as he reeled. He cried out : " I
am killed ; remember me to my wife." He was
carried below into the cockpit, and Jefferson, the
Vanguard's surgeon, went immediately to attend him,
but he exclaimed : " No, I will take my turn with
my brave followers." So intense was the pain that
he had no doubt whatever his end was at hand.
The surgeon having probed the wound assured him
there was no danger; but this he refused to believe,
and calling Mr. Comyn, the chaplain, to his side, he
asked him to convey his dying remembrance to Lady
Nelson, and then ordered the Minotaur to be hailed
that he might thank Captain Louis, her commander,
for his noble support of the Vanguard. The story
of this interview has been related by an officer who

106 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l^t. 39
was in the action. * It seems that when the Van
guard anchored alongside Le Spartiate she was
exposed to the raking fire of L'Aquilon, the next
ship in the enemy's line. In a few minutes fifty
or sixty men of the Vanguard were killed or dis
abled. Louis in the Minotaur stationed himself
ahead of Nelson and effectually relieved the Ad
miral's ship by overpowering the Frenchman.
" While yet the combat was raging with the utmost
fury, and he himself was suffering severely in the
cockpit from the dreadful wound in his head, he
sent for his first lieutenant, Mr. Capel, and ordered
him to go on board the Minotaur in the jolly-boat
to desire Captain Louis to come to him, for that he
could not have a moment's peace until he had
thanked him for his conduct; adding: ' This is the
hundreth and twenty-fourth time that I have been
engaged, but I believe it is now nearly over with me.'
The subsequent meeting which took place between
the Admiral and Captain Louis was affecting in the
extreme. The latter hung over his bleeding friend
in silent sorrow. ' Farewell, dear Louis,' said the
Admiral, ' I shall never forget the obligation I am
under to you for your brave and generous conduct ;
and now whatever may become of me my mind is
at peace.' "f
* Naval Chronicle, vol. i., p. 287.
f Sir Harris Nicolas seems to doubt this story because he finds no
mention in the Vanguard' s log of any communication having taken
place, during the battle, with the Minotaur. But what is to become
of history if the assertions of contemporaries and of eye-witnesses are
to be rejected ? It is not because a comparatively trifling detail of a
vast scene of battle is omitted in a log-book amid the hurry and

1798] Excitement after Victory. 107
When the wound had been dressed, Nelson was
requested to remain quiet in the bread-room ; but
he was too eager to write a dispatch to the Admi
ralty to obey the surgeon's orders. He sent for his
secretary, Mr. Campbell, who himself was wounded,
and who, on beholding the suffering of the blinded
Admiral was so much affected that he could not
write. The chaplain was then summoned, but such
was Nelson's impatience that groping himself for the
pen he proceeded to trace some words expressive of
the emotions inspired in him by the course of the
conflict. Presently Captain Berry came below to
tell him that L' Orient was on fire. It is said that he
was led on deck to witness the conflagration, which
is indeed irreconcilable with the statement that he
lay blind in the bread-room — so blind and suffering,
as we have seen, that his secretary was too overcome
to do his business. After the Frenchman had blown
up, Nelson was persuaded to go to bed, but he was
so restless that he insisted upon again getting up
that he might sign Mr. Capel's commission to the
Mutine and Captain Hardy's commission to the
Vanguard in the room of Captain Berry, who was
to go home with the dispatches.

uproar of the strife that it must necessarily be false. Nelson was a.
regular reader of the Naval Chronicle ; he must have seen this anec
dote which Nicolas doubts ; and had he contradicted it we may
depend that somebody would have overheard and repeated the con
tradiction. In the Naval Chronicle, vol. iii., p. 183, it is stated in
reference to this story of Captain Louis : " The anecdote inserted at
this page is perfectly correct except in what relates to a boat being
hoisted out from the Vanguard. Captain Berry hailed the Minotaur
as she passed."

CHAPTER IX.

Comparative force of the two fleets — Signal but
extraordinary triumph — French remarks on the
battle — Captain Hallowell's gift — Consequence ;
of the battle of the Nile — Honours and gifts —
Reception of the news at Naples — Nelson's dislike
of Naples — His arrival and reception by the King
of the Two Sicilies — Anecdote of the Vanguard
— The Hamiltons' House — Festivities at Naples
— Lady Nelson's uneasiness.
HE whole of the 2d of August was
employed in securing the French
ships that had struck. Early that day Nelson
issued the following memorandum : " Almighty
God having blessed His Majesty's Arms with
Victory, the Admiral intends returning Public
Thanksgiving for the same at two o'clock this day ;
and he recommends every Ship doing the same as
soon as convenient." On this morning the Culloden
was floated off with the loss of her rudder, and such
damage besides that her crew could scarcely keep her
from foundering with all the pumps going ; but within
four days Troubridge contrived and shipped a new
rudder, and the line-of-battle ship, though very leaky,
was again fit for service. The Arabs and Mamelukes
who had witnessed the battle from the shore illumi-
108

1798]

Force of the Two Fleets.

109

nated the coast and country for several nights in cele
bration of the British victory. There had never to
that hour been a more decisive battle at sea. The
comparative force of the two fleets is thus stated :

English.

French.

Ships.

Guns.

Men.

Ships.

Guns.

Men.

14*

1,012

8,068

19

1,196

11 230

The number of the enemy taken, drowned, burnt,
and missing, was 5,225. On the English side 218
men were killed and 677 wounded.
This overwhelming defeat of the French must
always rank amongst the most astonishing achieve
ments in the catalogue of the battles of the world,
by reason of the situation and disposition of the
opposing forces. It was simply a conflict of bom
bardment ; the issue was wholly an affair of the
cannon's mouth. There was no boarding ; that all-
conquering weapon in the British sailor's hands, the
pike, was not employed ; there was no manoeuvring ;
no demand upon the skilful seamanship of the Brit
ish commanders, outside the judgment exhibited in
taking up a position. The ships lay at anchor and
fired into one another, and it never yet has been
explained how it was that the French should have
suffered so incredibly more than the English. Was

* Of these the Culloden was never in the action, and another, the
Leander, was a small frigate, though she did some noble work.

1 10 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [£t.39
it that the firing of Nelson's squadron was fiercer,
swifter, more furious than that of the French?
When he captured the Santa Sabina the Spaniards
declared that, such was the ferociousness of the
Minerve' s fire, it was like being in Hell aboard their
own ship. One witnesses this same almost preter
natural capacity of rapid and overwhelming firing
amongst the English seamen at Copenhagen and at
Trafalgar. The French at the Nile attributed their defeat to
two causes : first, a deficiency in the number of
good seamen ; and second, a neglect on the part of
many of the ships to obey the Admiral's signal
to send a stream cable to the vessel astern for a
hawser to be made fast to, that a spring might be
obtained. The vessels in the rear could only look
idly on whilst their van was being battered to pieces.
The destruction of L'Orient was a tremendous loss,
and the death of Brueys an overwhelming dis
couragement. The fabric of L' Orient is still, it is said, to be seen
peacefully resting in green and sandy repose under
the glass-clear surface of the water of Aboukir Bay,
whilst the Conqueror reposes in a relic of the great
ship under the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. When
she blew up, a portion of her mainmast was taken on
board the Swiftsure. The praise lavished on Nel
son determined Captain Hallowell in May, 1799, to
blandly remind the Hero that he was mortal. Noth
ing he thought could be fitter to produce the impres
sion he desired to make than the gift of a coffin ! He
ordered one to be fashioned out of a part of L' Orient's

1798] Captain Haltowell's Singular Gift. Ill
mast, and took particular care that everything used in
its construction should be manufactured out of that
spar. The very staples were formed of the spikes
drawn from the cheeks of the mast, and when the
coffin lid was closed toggles were employed to keep
it down, to render nails or screws unnecessary. A
paper was pasted on the bottom of the coffin on
which was written : " I do hereby certify that every
part of this Coffin is made of the wood and iron of
L'Orient, most of which was picked up by His Ma
jesty's Ship, under my command, in the Bay of
Aboukir. Swiftsure, May 23, 1799. Ben. Hallo-
well." When this singular gift was despatched to
Nelson the following letter accompanied it : " My
Lord, Herewith I send you a Coffin made of part
of L' Orient's mainmast, that when you are tired of
this life you may be buried in one of your own Tro
phies — but may that period be far distant, is the sin
cere wish of your obedient and much obliged servant,
Ben. Hallowell." Nicolas says that when this coffin
was received aboard Nelson's ship the sailors talked
about it with amazement and even alarm. " We
shall have hot work of it indeed ! " cried one of
them ; " you see the Admiral intends to fight till
he 's killed, and there he 's to be buried." One
would give much to know in what terms Nelson
answered Hallowell's letter. His reply — if indeed he
ever replied by pen — has never been found. That
he highly appreciated the gift is certain. He ordered
it to be placed upright with the lid on, against the
cabin bulkhead in the wake of his chair on which he
sat at dinner, until Tom Allen, his servant, probably

1 1 2 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [^Et. 39
compassionating the emotions of visitors, induced
him to allow this very unpleasant piece of furniture
to be carried below. One day observing the eyes of
his officers to be directed at it whilst it was in his
cabin, he exclaimed : " You may look at it, gentle
men, as long as you please ; but depend upon it none
of you shall have it." Needless perhaps to state that
Nelson was actually buried in this coffin.
The effects of the battle of the Nile are felicitously
exhibited in the following sentences by la Graviere :
" It was this battle which for two years delivered up
the Mediterranean to the power of England ; sum
moned thither the Russian squadrons ; left the
French army isolated amidst a hostile population ;
decided the Porte in declaring against it ; saved
India from French enterprise ; and brought France
within a hair's breadth of her ruin by reviving the
smouldering flames of war with Austria and bringing
Suwarrow and the Austro-Russians to the French
frontiers."* On the 6th of October the London Gazette an
nounced Nelson's elevation to the dignity of a
Baron. A nation that would have been clamorous
for the Hero's impeachment had he missed the
French or been beaten by them, now considered a
barony as a very mean recognition of the claims of
the Victor of the Nile. Jervis had been made an
Earl, and Duncan a Viscount for successes incom
parably smaller, or at least of less significance, than
that achieved in Aboukir Bay. It was said, in
response to the wide-spread dissatisfaction, that
* Quoted by Pettigrew from Plunkett's " Last Naval War."

1798] Honours and Presents. 1 1 3
Nelson had acted as subordinate to Earl St. Vin
cent, — who, to be sure, had no more to do with
the battle of the Nile than with the battle of Cam-
perdown, — and that his claims, therefore, were not
those of Jervis or of Duncan. It is much too old a
matter to debate at this time of day, but there can
be no question that Nelson was shabbily treated.
Parliament voted him and his next two heirs male a
pension of two thousand pounds a year, and he and
his captains received a gold medal. The presents
were rich and numerous. By the Emperor Paul of
Russia he was presented with a gold box set with
diamonds ; from the Grand Signior came a magnifi
cent diamond aigrette and a pelisse of sable fur;
from the Grand Signior's mother, a box set with
diamonds, valued at a thousand pounds ; from the
King of the two Sicilies, a sword of great historic
interest, which had been given to the King of
Naples by Charles III. ; from other sources, a gold-
headed cane, another diamond-mounted box, a gold
box and chain, a piece of plate, five hundred pounds
to purchase a piece of plate, and a gift of ten
thousand pounds from the East India Company.
His old friend, Alexander Davison, struck a medal
in gold, silver, and copper for the Admiral, officers,
and men of the squadron, at a cost to himself of two
thousand pounds ; but it is hard to see what partic
ular honour was to be associated with a medal pre
sented by a private individual.
When the news reached Naples the Queen fainted
away. Lady Hamilton likewise conceived it her
duty to swoon. Her Majesty cried, laughed, danced,

1 1 4 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt. 39
and kissed everybody within reach of her. " Hip !
Hip ! " she writes to Lady Hamilton, September 3d,
" I am wild with joy." Her children were mad with
joy. She asks Heaven to prosper a nation so great,
so magnanimous, so courageous. Meanwhile, the
ships at anchor in Aboukir Bay had been repairing
their damages with all possible expedition. The
little island fortress was dismantled and the spot
christened Nelson's Island. It was not until the
morning of the 14th that the injured English vessels
with their prizes were in a condition to start. They
got under weigh in command of Sir James Saumarez,
but the prizes being rigged with jury-masts, were
worked with incredible difficulty out of the bay.
After a very struggling passage, which lasted to the
middle of September, they and their escort arrived at
Gibraltar. On the road they fell in with the Portu
guese squadron, — four ships of seventy-four guns, and
one of sixty-four (British), with an English fire-ship,
and a Portuguese brig, — under the command of the
Marquis de Niza — that had been detached by Earl St.
Vincent, off Cadiz, to reinforce Nelson, but that, hap
pily for his glory, had been unable to join in time to
participate in the battle. Read by this light, there
is something of irony surely in Nelson's letter to De
Niza, dated the 8th of September, in which he said :
" It is a matter of regret to me, and I am sure it
must be to your Excellency, that your squadron did
not join me before the 1st of August, when not a
single French ship would have escaped us."
It was not until the 19th that Nelson, in the Van
guard, accompanied by the Culloden and Alexander,

1798] Reluctance to Return to Naples. 1 1 5
sailed for Naples. It has been thought remarkable
that he should have abhorred this obligation of refit
ting his ships at Naples, as though he were being
advised by some secret warning to guard himself
against what was to follow this new visit to the
Hamiltons. But the truth was that Nelson, in
common with most sailors who had served in the
Mediterranean, disliked the Italians, though they
fought for them. Nelson, in an especial degree,
hated all foreigners. Collingwood in a letter to his
wife, in speaking of the Queen of Naples, says :
" Her lot also has been cast awry, or in the distri
bution of stations for this world so loose a morality
and such depravity of manners would never have
been found perched upon the throne, from whence
should issue the bright example of all that is good
and great."* The gallant, honest Troubridge ab
horred the Court of Naples. "You must ex
cuse me," he writes to Lady Hamilton ; " I trust
nothing there, nor do I, or ever shall I, ask from
the Court of Naples anything but for their ser
vice, and the just demands I have on them. I
feel their ill-treatment and deep intrigues too much
ever to forget or forgive them." f Nelson wrote to
Lord St. Vincent that he detested the prospect of
the voyage to Naples, and that nothing but absolute
necessity could force him to the measure. He had

* " Collingwood's Public and Private Correspondence," p. 499.
July I, 1804, Nelson wrote to Lady Hamilton of the Queen of
Naples : "I doubt much, my dear Emma, even her constancy of real
friendship to you." — " Dispatches and Letters," vol, vi., p. 95.
\ Pettigrew. Vol. i., p. 339.

1 1 6 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et. 39
been and still was seriously ill, spoke of his head as
ready to split, complained of incessant sickness, also
of a fever which he said had very nearly done his
business. " For eighteen hours my life was thought
to be past hope," he wrote.
At Naples all was expectation and excitement.
On two ships of the line heaving into view, a great
number of boats went out to meet them. The King
himself was in his barge followed by a boat full of
fiddlers. There also went Sir William and Lady
Hamilton in a barge of their own, likewise followed
by a band of musicians. It is pitiful to contrast these
cheap buffoon effusions of gingerbread Neapolitan
sentiment with the two line-of-battle ships grim with
their realities of recent magnificent conflict. They
were the Culloden (Troubridge), and the Alexander
(Ball). On board the Alexander were several French
personages, amongst them Admiral Blanquet.* The
King of Naples declined to enter the ships, but from
his barge saluted the officers. A number of British
seamen were staring out of the portholes at his
Sicilian Majesty, and at the boats with their cargoes
of fiddlers, and at Lady Hamilton. Sir William ex
claimed to them : " My lads, that is the King whom
you have saved, with his family and kingdom."
The Jacks, caring little about the matter, turned

* It is recorded of Blanquet that on leaving the Alexander at
Naples he called on the French Consul, who exclaimed : " Oh, how
delighted I am, my dear Admiral, to see you out of the hands of those
abominable Englishmen." Blanquet answered : " Say nothing against
the English, Consul. They fight like lions, and they have treated
me and my officers and men most kindly." — Miss Knight. I., 122.

1798] Reception at Naples. 1 1 7
their quids, and rumbled out awkwardly : " Very-
glad of it, sir — very glad of it."
The Vanguard did not arrive until the 22d. This
was to be a gala day, and the beautiful Bay of
Naples was radiant and flashful with innumerable
barges and boats, with gaudy uniforms, with flags
and banners, whilst numberless bands of music played
" God save the King! " and "Rule Britannia ! " and
" See the Conquering Hero Comes ! " Nelson him
self has told the story, and his own language in a
life of him must always be chosen in preference to
the descriptions of others. " I must endeavour,"
he wrote to Lady Nelson, " to convey to you some
thing of what passed ; but if it were so affecting to
those who were only united to me by bonds of friend
ship, what must it be to my dearest wife, my friend,
my everything which is most dear to me in this
world? Sir William and Lady Hamilton came out
to sea, attended by numerous boats with emblems,
etc. They, my most respectable friends, had nearly
been laid up and seriously ill ; first from anxiety and
ihen from joy. It was imprudently told Lady
Hamilton, in a moment, and the effect was like a
shot ; she fell apparently dead, and is not yet per
fectly recovered from severe bruises. Alongside
came my honoured friends : the scene in the boat
was terribly affecting ; up flew her Ladyship, and
exclaiming ' O God ! is it possible ? ' she fell into
my arm more dead than alive. Tears, however,
soon set matters to rights ; when alongside came the
King. The scene was in its way as interesting ; he
took me by the hand, calling me his ' Deliverer and

1 1 8 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

\.KX. 39

Preserver,' with every other expression of kindness.
In short, all Naples calls me ' Nostro Liberatore ' ;
my greeting from the lower classes was truly affect
ing. I hope some day to have the pleasure of in
troducing you to Lady Hamilton ; she is one of the
very best women in this world ; she is an honour to
her sex."
Mistress as she was of attitudes, it is here mani
fest that Emma Hamilton did not possess the art
of falling down in a faint without hurting herself.
When Nelson writes of her " as an honour to
her sex," are we to conceive that he had any
knowledge of her past years, unless possibly her re
lations, before marriage, with old Sir William ?
It was at least certain that, down to the hour
of his death, he believed that Horatia was her
only child.*
Miss Knight, who went on board the Vanguard
on her arrival, relates the following interesting anec
dote. Nelson, having conducted the King over every
part of the ship, led the way to the cabin, where a
handsome breakfast was prepared. " I remarked,"
says she, " a little bird hopping about on the table.
This bird had come on board the Vanguard the
evening before the action, and had remained in her
ever since. The Admiral's cabin was its chief resi
dence, but it was fed and petted by all who came
near it, for sailors regard the arrival of a bird as a
promise of victory, or at least as an excellent omen.

* See Nelson's letter to Lady Hamilton, March 1, 1801. Pettigrew.
II., 652.

1798] At the Hamiltons House. 119
It flew away, I believe, soon after the ship reached
Naples." *
Nelson went to the Hamiltons' house, and was
nursed by Lady Hamilton. Her tender solicitude,
sweetened yet by her admiration, was doubtless ex
ceedingly grateful to Nelson after a spell of rough
doctoring aboard a man-of-war. Before the windows
of Sir William's house stretched the magnificent
scene of the Bay. At night the full moon seemed
to rise from the crater of Mount Vesuvius. Amid
the soft haze of moonshine, filling the atmosphere
over the tranquil waters, the lights of the boats
employed in the tunny fishery sparkled like con
stellations of fireflies, and the ships of war hung in
shadowy groups on the calm surface. There was
much also to delight in Sir William's house in collec
tions of pictures and of objects of beauty and rarity
and value. One room was filled with mirrors so dis
posed as to reflect the Bay in a broad expanse upon
the walls. " I am in their house," Nelson wrote to
his wife, " and I may now tell you it required all the
kindness of my friends to set me up."
The flattery and honours heaped upon him at
Naples were not wanting in a quality of buffoonery,
due not a little perhaps to the animating influence
of Lady Hamilton, whose taste carried her to the
length of parading the streets with a bandeau on her
forehead, on which were the words " Nelson and
- *" Autobiography," i., 116. "Admiral Nelson is little,1' Miss
Knight writes, September 22, 1798, "and not remarkable in his
person either way ; but he has great animation of countenance and
activity in his appearance ; his manners are unaffectedly simple and
modest." — "Autobiography," ii., 259.

120 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L^t. 40
Victory." Bonfires and illuminations blazed in every
part of the town. Lady Hamilton undertook the
celebration of Nelson's birthday on the 29th of Sep
tember. Eighteen hundred people were entertained.
There was a rostral column erected under a mag
nificent canopy, and on it were inscribed the words :
" Veni ; Vidi ; Vici." The cost of this enter
tainment was two thousand ducats. Nelson wrote
to his wife about Lady Hamilton's preparations with
almost childish glee. " The preparations of Lady
Hamilton," he says, " for celebrating my birthday
to-morrow are enough to fill me with vanity ; every
ribband, every button has ' Nelson,' etc. The whole
service is marked ' H. N. Glorious 1st of August ! '
Songs and sonnetti are numerous beyond what I ever
could have deserved." The Court of Naples was in
mourning at this time, but the crape was laid aside in
honour of Nelson. The fete, however, was slightly
marred by the behaviour of Josiah Nisbet. It is said
that he was intoxicated ; his behaviour, at all events,
to Nelson was so very offensive that Troubridge and
another officer put him out of the room. Pettigrew
says that Nelson was afterwards reconciled to his
step-son by the intervention of Sir William and Lady
Hamilton. The occasion of his insolence, perhaps,
was rather Lady Hamilton than wine. Viewing
her ladyship with his mother's eyes, he might have
resented the amiable, admiring glances old Sir
William's wife bestowed upon the Hero of the Nile,
and the ill-dissembled delight the Hero felt in receiv
ing or returning them. Nelson had already made too
much of these " respectable " friends, and more par-

1798] Lady Nelsons Uneasiness. 1 2 1
ticularly of the woman who " is an honour to her sex,"
to please either Josiah or Josiah's mother. In the
beginning of October he tells his wife : " The Grand
Signior has ordered me a valuable diamond ; if it
were worth a million, my pleasure would be to see it
in your possession. My pride is being your hus
band, the son of my dear father, and in having Sir
William and Lady Hamilton for my friends." Lady
Nelson, to whom Lady Hamilton's antecedents were
doubtless known, might reasonably wonder at the
bracketing of Sir William and his wife with herself
and the Reverend Edmund. There was also Josiah
at Naples to give her the news ; yet it is not until
the 7th of December this year, that we hear of Lady
Nelson's uneasiness. It is conveyed in a letter from
Alexander Davison to Nelson : " Your valuable
better-half writes to you. She is in good health,
but very uneasy and anxious, which is not to be
wondered at. She sets off with the good old man
to-morrow for Bath. . . . Lady Nelson this
moment calls and is with my wife. She bids me say
that unless you return home in a few months she
will join the Standard at Naples. Excuse a woman's
tender feelings — they are too acute to be expressed." *
Yet, in spite of fetes and bandeaux and buttons and
rostral columns, Nelson, on the day following his
birthday, could write thus to Lord St. Vincent : " I
am very unwell, and the miserable conduct of the
Court is not likely to cool my irritable temper.
It is a country of fiddlers and poets,  and
scoundrels." f
* " Dispatches and Letters," iii., 138.
f Clarke and M'Arthur. II., 151.

>")

CHAPTER X.
State of the Kingdom of Naples —
Precious time wasted ¦ — Malta
taken by the French — Saumarez
at Valetta — ¦ General Mack —
Treachery of Neapolitan officers
— Flight of the King and Queen
from Naples — The voyage to Palermo — In
fluence of Lady Hamilton over Nelson — The
" Vesuvian " Republic — Captain Foote and
the rebel capitulation — Cardinal Ruffo.
HE state of the Kingdom of Naples
at this time has been happily des
cribed by Southey. He shows us
a King with an Irish squireen's love of field-sports,
and without taste for or interest in. anything else ;
a Queen possessed of all the vices of the House
of Austria, concerned alone in her pleasures, which
must be supported, no matter how the revenue was
raised or administered ; and a Court filled with
knaves and intriguers. The mass of the people be
lieved that outside of France there was no hope for
their country. No government they thought, could
be worse than their own, and any sort of change, no
matter how contrived, must prove beneficial. A revo
lution was desired by many even of the nobles, who
wished for the power to which they thought them
selves entitled ; but there were others who joined in
the cause of liberty from the purest and noblest mo-

1798

99] State of the Kingdom of Naples. 123

fives. It was England's misfortune that it should fall
to her lot to bolster up one of the most abominable of
European governments. But hatred is a stronger emo
tion than contempt. The French were first of all to
be abhorred, and their project for revolutionising
Naples must be thwarted if there was any virtue left
in the language of British cannon. All, however,
that had to be done was to be the work of the
British only. The King of Naples was scarcely to
be insulted into defiance or resentment. Nelson told
him to draw his sword and lead the way, or remain
quiet and be kicked out of his kingdom. " The
King," says Southey, " made answer he would go on
and trust in God and Nelson ; and Nelson, who would
have else returned to Egypt for the purpose of de
stroying 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 the movements of the army." *
It was the intolerable procrastination of the Court
of Naples that enraged Nelson. He believed that
amongst the Sicilians there were a very great num
ber loyal to their sovereign, animated besides by
a passionate eagerness for war against the French ;
and understanding that the King had an army
of soldiers ready to march into a country anxious
to receive them, he was astonished and indignant
that week after week should be suffered to roll by
without anything being done. " What precious
moments," he writes, in a letter to Lord St. Vincent,
" the two Courts are losing ! Three months would
* Southey's " Life of Nelson."

124 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t. 40
liberate Italy ; this Court is so enervated that the
happy moment will be lost." Malta, by deputation,
was offered to the King, but, as Nelson complains,
the Government would not stir. It was expected
that the English would take the island for the King
of Naples, and the Neapolitans, in that sure convic
tion, were quite satisfied to go on dancing and fid
dling and sunning themselves. The instructions at
this time coming to Nelson through Lord St. Vin
cent from the Admiralty were : that the objects to be
held in view by the squadron comprise, inter alia,
the protection of the coasts of Sicily, Naples, and the
Adriatic ; an active co-operation with the Austrian
and Neapolitan armies should war be renewed in
Italy ; and the blockading of Malta to prevent pro
visions from being sent into it. It was to Malta
that Nelson now addressed himself. In 1792 the
French Government had decreed that the Order of
St. John at Malta should be annulled, and its prop
erty annexed. The estates were immediately seized,
many of the Knights imprisoned, and those who
escaped were proscribed. On the 6th of June,
1798, a division of the French fleet, consisting of a
few frigates and a number of transports, arrived off
Malta, and the commodore in command, professing
neutrality, asked and obtained such assistance as he
required. But three days later the rest of the Tou
lon fleet approached. Buonaparte, who was in com
mand, demanded that the whole fleet and convoy
should have free entry to all the ports. This was
refused by the Grand Master, whereupon the French
landed 15,000 troops at St. George's Bay, to the

NELSON'S MONUMENT, ST. PAUL'S, LONDON.

1798-99] The French in Possession of Malta. 125
northwest of Valetta, and took possession of the
place after a single shot had been fired. Before
Buonaparte sailed on the 19th Malta was in posses
sion of the French.
In September came news to the island of Nelson's
victory at Aboukir. The Maltese rose against their
despoilers, but the insurrection was suppressed. They
then appealed to the King of the Two Sicilies as their
sovereign for protection. On the 18th of Septem
ber Valetta was blockaded by four Portuguese men-
of-war and two frigates under the command of the
Marquis de Niza, the Sicilian Admiral, with whom
was Captain Ball in the Alexander. It was not,
however, until the middle of the following month
that Nelson sailed for Malta from Naples. On the
25th he addressed a letter to the French general
commanding in the town of Valetta, in which he put
the situation and his own demands thus : " That the
inhabitants are in possession of all the Island except
the town of Valetta, which is in your possession ;
that the islanders are in arms against you ; and that
the Port is blockaded by a Squadron belonging to
His Britannic Majesty. My objects are to assist the
good People of Malta in forcing you to abandon the
Island, that it may be delivered into the hands of its
Sovereign, and to get possession of Le Guillaume
Tell, Diane, and Justice." He added that, on the
delivery of the ships to him, the troops and seamen
would be landed in France without being regarded
as prisoners of war. On the 30th the little island of
Gozo capitulated to Captain Ball. Meanwhile the
French under General Vaubois held the town of

126 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L4it. 40
Valetta and port of Malta. But for Saumarez the
Maltese would have been without arms and ammu
nition. On the passage to Gibraltar with the prizes
captured at the battle of the Nile, Saumarez, whilst
becalmed off Malta, supplied the islanders with
twelve hundred stands of arms, ball-cartridges, and
cartouche boxes. He had also summoned the French
garrison in Valetta to surrender, but after three hours'
consideration the General had sent word that." they
are Frenchmen who are at Malta," adding " Quant a
votre sommation, les Francois I' entendent pas ce style''
Nelson was filled with indignation on finding that
the Sicilian Government had failed to keep a prom
ise emphatically made to him, that supplies of arms,
etc., should be sent to the Maltese, and wrote warmly
to Sir William Hamilton : " The total neglect and in
difference with which they (the islanders) have been
treated appear to me cruel in the extreme." He had,
however, promised the King of Naples to return in
the first week in November. The Court trembled
during his absence. At any moment might come
the obligation of precipitate flight, and the King,
Queen, and the others of the Royal Family could not
enjoy an easy moment unless Nelson's colours were
flying at his mast-head within reach of a few strokes
of the oar from Naples.
But now the King was to draw his sword ! When
Ferdinand went on board the Vanguard, on her re
turn from the Nile, he told Nelson that he heartily
wished he had been at the battle of Aboukir that
he might have fought under him. An opportunity
had come to enable him to justify his pretensions
as a man of courage. Thirty-five thousand brill-

1798-99] Treachery of Neapolitan Officers. 1 2 7
iantly accoutred men of the Sicilies had been
raised, and the King was himself to lead the glit
tering army against the French. It had been as
well had he stopped at home. He entered Rome
in triumph — a cheap triumph! — but very swiftly
news arrived of the foe's return — and his Majesty
fled ! Mack, the Austrian general, was in com
mand. Of this man Southey says that " all that is
now doubtful concerning him is whether he was a
coward or a traitor." Nelson thoroughly distrusted
him. "General Mack," he says, "cannot move with
out five carriages. I have formed my opinion. I
heartily pray I may be mistaken." Mack was prob
ably more fool than either coward or traitor. Hoste
declares that most of his officers had been bribed by
the French, and that the Neapolitan soldiers, finding
themselves betrayed on all sides, disgusted and dis
heartened, threw down their arms to a man.* He
tells us that General St. Philip, commanding a divi
sion of nineteen thousand men, fell in with three
thousand of the enemy and deserted to them. As
the villain galloped off a Neapolitan soldier shot at
and wounded him in the arm ; but the injury was
not severe enough to prevent him from joining with
the French in pursuit of his own countrymen !
The King returned to Naples, and the story that
follows is one of riot and assassination. Captain
Ball had been left to blockade Malta by Nelson,
who, on the 28th of November, arrived off Leghorn
with a small squadron, accompanied by some Por
tuguese ships. On his summoning the town it
* Sir William Hoste's " Memoirs and Letters," vol. i., p. 113.

1 28 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l^t. 40
yielded, but the Neapolitan fiasco rendered this
naval expedition entirely fruitless. He returned to
Naples on the 5th of December, and a few days later
the King arrived. On the 20th certain " most secret "
orders were issued by Nelson respecting the evacua
tion of Naples. Three barges and a small cutter,
armed with cutlasses only, were to be at " The Vic
toria" at half-past seven precisely. One barge was to
be at the wharf, the rest to lie on their oars hard by.
Other boats of the Vanguard and Alcmena, under
the direction of Captain Hardy, armed with cutlasses
and carronades, were to put off from the flagship at
half-past eight, each boat having four or six soldiers
in her. This flight of their Sicilian Majesties is one
of the most romantic passages in the Nelson annals.
Southey claims for Lady Hamilton that she had the
chief hand in the business, and worked like a heroine
in a novel. She assisted, indeed, but she contrived
or dictated nothing. The neatest stroke of her share
in the escape, she herself communicated: "I had,
on the night of our embarkation, to attend the party
given by Kelim Effendi, who was sent by the Grand
Signior to Naples to present Nelson with a chelongh
or Plume of Triumph ! I had to steal from the
party, leaving our carriages and equipage waiting
at his house, and in about fifteen minutes to be
at my post, where it was my task to conduct the
Royal Family through the subterraneous passage to
Nelson's boats, by that moment waiting for us on the
shore."* Precipitate as was the Royal flight, the
fugitives managed to heap his Britannic Majesty's
?Pettigrew. II., 619.

1798-991 Flight of the Royal Family. 129
ship Vanguard with bullion, antiquities, works of
art and the like, to the value of twenty million
ducats. King Ferdinand and his Queen and family
arrived on board Nelson's ship at nine P.M. on the
21st of December. With them were Sir William
and Lady Hamilton, a number of the Neapolitan
nobility and their servants, and several English gen
tlemen. When all were safe on board, Nelson gave
notice that British residents would be protected on
English vessels, and that French emigrants would
find an asylum in two ships hired by Sir William
Hamilton. All the Neapolitan vessels were ordered
out of the Mole, and instructions given for certain
ships of war to be burned, that they might not fall
into the hands of the enemy.
The story of the voyage to Palermo was long
afterwards related by Captain, subsequently Admiral,
W. H. Smyth, known as the author of a voluminous
dictionary of the marine. " The Vanguard" he
says " weighed on the evening of Monday the 24th
[23d?] and was followed by the Archimedes, a Nea
politan 74, a corvette, and about twenty sail of
merchantmen." On board all was confusion and
wretchedness. The wind at the start was easterly,
but hardly had the island of Capri been cleared
when it came on to blow heavily from the westwards.
A high sea was set running, and the Vanguard
labored as a ship of her beam and length and
general craziness would know how. The Italians and
foreigners exhausted their throats in lamentations
and in appeals to the Virgin and saints. At half-
past one in the morning a blast of wind blew the
9

1 30 The Life of Horatio Nelson. MEt. 40
liner's close-reefed topsails out of the bolt-ropes.
The consternation was universal. The Royal
Party now persuaded themselves that they had only
escaped butchery on shore to perish miserably of
drowning at sea. Etiquette decreased as fear rose,
and in the Admiral's crowded cabin all distinction
was at an end. Nelson, who constantly suffered
from nausea in heavy weather, was exceedingly per
plexed to know what to do. Lady Hamilton, who
was apparently a good sailor, was of much use in
soothing and waiting. Her old instincts as a nurse
maid were no doubt lively in her, when, later on,
she hung over the little Prince Albert, who, having
been taken ill in the morning, died in her arms on
the evening of the 25th. " During the height of the
gale," says Smyth, " when Lady Hamilton could
think of nothing more wherewith to console the
desponding Queen, she looked around for Sir Will
iam, who was not to be found. At length it was
discovered that he had withdrawn to his sleeping
cabin and was sitting there with a loaded pistol in
each hand. In answer to her ladyship's exclamation
of surprise, he calmly told her that he was resolved
not to die with a ' guggle — guggle — guggle ' of the
salt water in his throat ; and therefore he was pre
pared as soon as he felt the ship sinking to shoot
himself." It scarcely needed the affliction of the death of a
child to heighten the misery of the King and Queen.
Palermo was reached on the 26th, and at five A.M.
Nelson attended the Queen and Princesses on shore.
The Queen's grief would not suffer her to leave the

1798-99] Lady Hamiltons Influence. 1 3 1
ship publicly, but Ferdinand's sensibility was less
keen ; and after a substantial breakfast, he landed at
nine o'clock amid the cheers of an apparently well-
meaning crowd.
The biographer of Nelson must needs dwell upon
these Mediterranean experiences of the Hero at this
time ; but the task is not an agreeable one. To Eng
lish sympathies nothing in history can be much more
distressing than the spectacle of Britain's noble,
generous, simple, and single-hearted Sailor associated
with the Court of Naples, living in an atmosphere of
lies and deceit, hating and yet enduring his obligation
of protection largely for the sake, it must inevitably
be admitted, of Lady Hamilton. Nelson's Sicilian
zeal was her anxiety, and her anxiety was the cheap
ambition of a vain, low-born, unprincipled woman,
to maintain her connection with the " adorable "
Queen, who perfectly understood her, who merely
employed her as a tool, and who, as her subse
quent treatment of her proved, despised her all the
while she was writing to her as " my dear friend,"
pledging herself to love her forever, and so on. St.
Vincent wrote of this Queen in the language of an
old man who labours hard in the direction of admira
tion and who says too much to render his sincerity
convincing ; but Lord Keith, when he took St.
Vincent's place, sent a shrewd Scotch glance at
their Sicilian Majesties, and formed the conclusion
which assuredly had been come to by others in the
Service, by Troubridge certainly, and by the gentle
manly Ball also: namely, that Nelson was much
too enthusiastic in the interpretation of his instruc-

132 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et. 40
tions with regard to the Court of Naples, and that
he was disposed to employ his Majesty's ships much
more than the occasions might demand in the serv
ice of the Queen.
Whilst Nelson was at Palermo he urged the
Sicilian Government to place the island in as com
plete a state of defence as was practicable. Troops
were assembled, and Nelson himself superintended
the fitting out of some gunboats and the mounting
of batteries with guns which had been brought from
Naples. In March he detached Troubridge with a
squadron of four 74's, a frigate, and some bomb-
vessels, together with a Portuguese 74 to blockade
the port of Naples. Troubridge took possession of
Procida and the Sicilian King's colours were hoisted
by the inhabitants. Next day the same colours
were hoisted at Ischia and Capri ; and the rest
of the Ponza Islands followed the example of Pro
cida.* Meanwhile at Naples there had been a des
perate slaughter of the loyal, or at least French-
hating, lazzaroni, who in the conflicts of January
had been butchered in thousands by those French
who approached them only to furnish them with
liberty and to establish their happiness! By the
23d of that month Naples was held by Cham-
pionet's troops. A provisional government was
established to administer the affairs of what was
to be named the Parthenopeian Republic. Nelson
happily termed it the " Vesuvian Republic." But
discontents swiftly followed ; the rapacity of the
French grew hourly more and more unendurable.
* James. II., 306.

1798-99] Anxiety to Meet the French Fleet. 133
There were at first a few fruitless risings ; but the
revolts in Calabria and Apulia brought prominently
on the stage Cardinal Ruffo, who, in command of
15,000 men, dealt some desperate blows to the dis
ciplined troops of the Parthenopeian Republic.
Meanwhile the French were suffering reverses in the
north of Italy, and orders were received by Mac-
donald, who had succeeded Championet, to with
draw from Naples into Lombardy.
It was on the 12th of May, whilst Nelson was
lying at Palermo, that news reached him of thirty-
five sail of French men-of-war having passed the
Straits. He immediately sent for Troubridge, who
was in Naples Bay, to come to Palermo with the
whole of his line-of-battle ships. He also communi
cated with Captain Ball, who was at Malta with the
Alexander and Goliath. " Should you come upwards
without a battle," he wrote to Lord St. Vincent,
" I hope in that case you will afford me an opportu
nity of joining you; for my heart would break to be
near my commander-in-chief and not assisting him
at such a time." With such force as he could
assemble, he got under way and cruised for several
days. He then returned to Palermo, and having
mustered a fleet of sixteen sail-of-the-line, he sailed
for a cruise on and off the coast of Sicily ; but
neither the French nor the Spanish fleets were to
be met with.
When Troubridge had been withdrawn, the block
ade of the port of Naples devolved upon Captain
Foote of the Seahorse, a thirty-eight gun frigate.
The defeat of the French by Cardinal Ruffo, on the

1 34 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t. 40
5th of June, led to the capitulation to the Seahorse
and squadron of the fortified rock of Rivigliano and
of Castel-a-Mare. On the 17th, Foote proceeded to
attack Castel-del'Uovo, which, with Castel Nuovo,
formed the principal sea defence of the capital. St.
Elmo and these two forts were now the only strong
holds possessed by the French in that neighbourhood.
On the 1 8th, Captain Foote offered to the comman
dant and garrison of the Castel-del'Uovo an asylum
under the British flag. An insolent reply was re
turned — insolent in terms at least : " We desire the
Republic one and indivisible : we will die for it.
There is your answer. Away with you, citizen ; quick,
quick ! " On this, Foote communicated to Cardinal
Ruffo his intention of immediately attacking the
fort. The Cardinal acquiesced, but on the 19th,
when the naval attack had begun, he sent a letter to
Foote asking him to cease hostilities. Next day a
plan of capitulation, signed by the Cardinal and the
chief of the Russians, then serving with the Neapoli
tan Royalists, was sent to Foote with the request
that he would affix his signature to it. Two days
later the capitulation for the forts of Nuovo and del'
Uovo was formally signed by Ruffo, by the Russian
as well as Turkish commanders, and by Foote as
representing the British. The terms were, that the
two garrisons, formed mainly of Neapolitan Revo
lutionists, should march out with the honours of
war, and that private property should be respected.
There were also minor conditions.*
On the morning of the 24th, Nelson sailed into
* James. II., 309,

1798-99] Annulling the Capitulation. 1 3 5
the bay in the Foudroyant, in which vessel were the
Hereditary Prince, and Sir William and Lady Ham
ilton. With him were sixteen sail-of-the-line and a
reduced sixty-four-gun ship. He had heard of the
capitulation of the two castles whilst off Ischia, and
now entered the bay flying signals intimating the
annulment of the truce. The flag was at once
hauled down aboard the Seahorse. On the following
day the rebel garrisons were informed by Nelson
that he would not permit them to quit the castles:
" They must surrender themselves to his Majesty's
Royal mercy." On the 26th, he took possession of
the forts, and the soldiers were detained as prisoners
until the arrival of King Ferdinand on the 9th of
July, when they were given up to the Neapolitan
Government. Whether Nelson was justified in annulling the
capitulation entered into by Ruffo, who commanded
the Royalist forces, and by Foote, who acted as the
representative of the British, is much too stale and
worn-out a topic to be here considered. There must
always be many who will hold with the lawyers that
a man is bound by the acts of his own agent. Nor
should it be forgotten that Nelson held the word of
a British captain an inviolable thing. " I can assure
you, Sir," he wrote to a Spanish nobleman, " that
the word of honour of every Captain of a British
man-of-war is equal, not only to mine, but to that of
any person in Europe, however elevated his rank."*
Cardinal Ruffo went on board the Foudroyant to a
salute of thirteen guns to reason and remonstrate,
* " Dispatches and Letters," vol. vi., p. 46.

136 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [^t. 40
Nelson could not communicate his mind in Italian,
and the Cardinal had no English. Sir William
Hamilton interpreted till he nearly fainted with
fatigue, but the voluble Cardinal was not to be con
vinced, and Sir William, worn out, flung himself into
a chair, filled with disgust and distress. Lady Ham
ilton then undertook the laborious work of trans
lating, but to no purpose. Like Johnson's " female
atheist," Ruffo was the man to " talk you dead."
At last Nelson gave up, and seizing a pen wrote the
following : " Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson, who arrived
in the Bay of Naples on the 24th of June with the
British fleet, found a treaty entered into with the
rebels, which he is of opinion ought not to be carried
into execution without the approbation of his Sicil
ian Majesty— the Earl of St. Vincent— Lord Keith."
This decisive scrawl terminated the interview with
the Cardinal, whom Nelson used to call " the Great
Devil who commanded the Christian army."

CHAPTER XI.
Caracciolo — His trial
and execution — Re
appearance of the
body — Nelson's gifts
to his family — Fes
tivities — Nelson's devotion to the Sicilian
Court — Sir Sidney Smith — Captain Ball at
Malta — Troubridge's hatred of the Court of
Naples.

EANWHILE there had been a
price set on the head of Fran
cesco Caracciolo. This man
belonged to one of the most
noble families in Naples. He
had been a Commodore in the
Neapolitan navy, and had honourably served against
the French. On the establishment of the short-lived
Parthenopeian Republic an edict was published that
the estates of all persons who did not return to
Naples would be forfeited. Caracciolo was then at
Palermo ; he obtained the King's permission to re
turn, and shortly afterwards joined the Republican
naval forces acting against the King and his allies.
On the recovery of Naples he applied to Cardinal
Ruffo for protection, claiming it on the ground of
137

138 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et.40
forty years of faithful services. This being refused
him, he fled to the mountains, but was captured dis
guised as a peasant, and on the 29th of June, early in
the morning, was brought alongside the Foudroyant.
Parsons has described the scene.* He was signal
mate to Nelson, and Caracciolo was placed under
his charge. " He was a short, thick-set man of
apparent strength, but haggard with misery and
want; his clothing in wretched condition, but his
countenance denoting stern resolution to endure
that misery like a man. He spoke a short sentence
to me in pure English as if perfectly master of the
language." Clarke and M'Arthur represent the unfor
tunate man as arriving on deck with his hands bound
behind him, and Captain Hardy had "the utmost
difficulty in restraining the insults and violence of the
Neapolitan Royalists towards him." Hardy ordered
him to be unbound and treated with the attention his
rank entitled him to. Caracciolo arrived alongside
the Foudroyant at nine A.M. By ten o'clock there had
assembled in the British flagship a court-martial com
posed of Neapolitan naval officers with Commodore
Count Thurn at their head, and Caracciolo was at
once put upon his trial. Within two hours sentence
of death was passed upon him, and Nelson issued an
order for him to be executed by hanging at the
yard-arm that day on board the Neapolitan frigate
Minerva, Count Thurn's ship. Death the unhappy
man did not fear, but the disgrace of being hanged
was dreadful to him. He implored Lieutenant Park
inson of the Foudroyant to entreat Nelson to grant
* " Nelsoni&n Reminiscences."

1799] Execution of Caracciolo. 139
him a second trial, or, failing this, that he might be
shot. Nelson replied that Caracciolo had been fairly
tried by the officers of his own country and that
he could not therefore interfere. He was approached
a second time by Parkinson, whose humane heart
was moved by the misery of the poor man, but
Nelson's rejoinder, delivered with agitation, was
simply : " Go, sir, and attend to your duty." " At
two o'clock in the afternoon," says Parsons, " the
veteran,* with a firm step, walked into Lord Nelson's
barge, and with a party of thirty of our seamen
under one of our lieutenants was taken to his flag
ship, the gun fired, and the brave old man launched
into eternity at the expiration of the two hours from
the time the sentence had passed. f The seamen of
our fleet, who clustered on the rigging like bees, con
soled themselves that it was only an Italian Prince
and the Admiral of Naples that was hanging — a
person of very light estimation compared to the
lowest man in a British ship."
The story of the rising of Caracciolo's body has
been variously told. Parsons fixes the time at
" some days " after the execution. The King was
then living on board the Foudroyant. Parsons went

* " To provoke pity for Caracciolo, it was the practice of the false
scribes to represent that he was an old man — seventy or over seventy
years old. His age at the time of his death was forty-seven." — "Lady
Hamilton and Lord Nelson," vol. ii., p. 82. Miss H. M. Williams,
in her "Sketches," says "he appeared to be about seventy, of a
commanding figure, and with a dark, expressive countenance." —
Vol. i., pp. 210, 2H.
f Clarke and M'Arthur give the hour of his removal from the
Foudroyant as, 5 P.M,

140 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[>Et. 40

on deck and observed his Majesty gazing intently
through his spy-glass at some object out upon the
water. Suddenly the King turned pale, and with
an exclamation of horror, let fall the glass. On
Parsons directing his eyes over the " larboard "
quarter, he perceived the body of Caracciolo. The
face was " much swollen and discolored by the
water, and the orbs of sight started from their
sockets by strangulation." There were a number
of priests on board, one of whom told the King
that the spirit of his unfortunate admiral could
not rest without his forgiveness. Nelson ordered a
boat to get hold of the corpse, and tow it ashore.*
Variously as this anecdote has been related, there
seems no good reason why it should not be received.
Southey found the story in Clarke and M'Arthur,
whose version is different indeed from Parsons'. The
body is said to have been sunk by three double-
headed Neapolitan shot, weighing in all two hundred
and fifty pounds ; yet it rose with the shot still
attached ! Nicolas, in a note, says that Dr. Clarke
in a letter to Captain Foote, dated January, 1809,
wrote : " Hardy told me that Caraccioli \ floated,
notwithstanding that three double-headed shot had
been tied to his legs, and that these shot, on being
weighed, were two hundred and fifty pounds ! How
can three double shot weigh so much ? I have made
it one hundred and fifty. I will write to Hardy, and,
if wrong, mark it in the Appendix." Foote's reply
was that the weight of a double-headed shot depended
* " Nelsonian Reminiscences," 6.
f Thus spelt ; but Caracciolo wrote his name with an " o."

1799] Generosity of Character. 141
on the bore of the gun, and he supposed that three
such shot belonging to a thirty-two pounder would
weigh two hundred and fifty pounds. * But this
does not answer the question, how a human body
is to rise to the surface of the sea with two hundred
and fifty pounds of iron attached to it.
The generosity of Nelson's character is at no time
more conspicuous than during this period of Palermo
and Naples experiences. On learning that the East
India Company had voted him a gift of ten thousand
pounds, he wrote to his wife that five hundred
pounds should be given to his father ; five hundred
to his brother-in-law, Mr. Bolton, " and let it be a
God-send without any restriction " ; and five hundred
each to his brothers Maurice and William. A like
sum was to be given to his sister, Mrs. Matcham.
" If I were rich I would do more," he says. " To
my father say every thing which is kind. I love,
honour, and respect him as a father and as a man,
and as the very best man I ever saw. May God
Almighty bless you, my dear father, and all my
brothers and sisters, is the fervent prayer of your
affectionate  Nelson." When the King of the
Two Sicilies granted him the Dukedom and feud of
Bronte, he wrote to tell his father that the value of
it was about three thousand a year, which, " for your
natural life, shall be taxed with five hundred a year."
It must be admitted that the King liberally rewarded
the services done him. A thousand ounces of silver
were divided amongst the officers, seamen, and
marines of the Vanguard. Troubridge received the
* " Dispatches and Letters," vol. iii., p. 506.

142 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L£t.40
King's miniature set in diamonds, and a valuable
ring*; Hardy and Hood somewhat similar gifts.
The presents were numerous ; they were most of
them costly, and many of them princely.
Nelson was much feted at this time ; there was a
great deal of celebration and merry-making. On the
ist of August, the anniversary of the battle of the
Nile, the King dined on board the Foudroyant, then in
the Bay of Naples. When he drank Nelson's health a
royal salute of twenty-one guns was fired from his
Majesty's ships of war and from all the castles. At
night there was a general illumination. Amongst
other representations was a large vessel equipped like
a Roman galley, with lamps fixed to her oars, amid
ships a rostral column inscribed with Nelson's name,
at the stern two angels supporting his picture. Nelson
writes enthusiastically to his wife of two thousand
variegated lamps; and of music and singers in galore.
A little more than a month later we find him mag
nificently entertained in the Royal gardens at Palermo
by Prince Leopold in commemoration of the day on
which the news from Aboukir had reached Naples.
The fireworks were very grand ; there was a repre
sentation of the blowing up of L'Orient ; the Queen
of Naples conducted the company into the richly
illuminated gardens, where there were separate pa
vilions for the use of the English, Portuguese, Turk
ish, and Russian guests. As the company entered a
band of musicians from the opera sang " God Save
the King." In the vestibule of a Grecian temple
* In 1800 he was created Commander of the Order of St. Ferdinand,
and a pension of ,£500 a year was set tied on him.

17991 Festive Celebrations. 1 43
superbly illuminated was a statue of Lord Nelson as
large as life. The four Princesses having arranged
themselves at the foot of the throne, Prince Leopold
placed a crown of laurel on the statue, whilst the
band played " Rule Britannia." Nelson, with tears
in his eyes, saluted the Prince, who immediately
embraced him. There is too much simplicity in all
this for cynicism. To Nelson it was enjoyment at
least, and it made the powder-blackened, hearts-of-
oak who were associated with him happy. The soul
of the sailor is that of the child. The student may
smile at the character of these plaister-of-Paris cele
brations ; but to the mariner the fireworks, the
variegated lamps, the Grecian temples, the devices,
and the compliments were very fine things. As
much as possible was to be made of them after the
junk and rum of shipboard ; they were professional
garnishings, to be tasted once perhaps in a lifetime
ere a round shot did for the seaman, or Peace drove
him into some obscure cottage in England to nurse
his wounds in poverty and live forgotten.
On the 9th of July a powerful Spanish fleet,
followed, at an interval of a few hours, only, by the
French fleet — in all sixty-five sail — passed through
the Strait. Lord Keith, at this time second in
command under Earl St. Vincent, whose health was
very bad, immediately requested the presence of
Nelson and his ships for the protection of Minorca.
Nelson, however, could think of nothing but the
re-establishment of the Royal Authority at Naples.
Troubridge was ashore attacking Capua with a large
number of sailors and marines. Nelson, under the

144 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [VEt.40
circumstances, refused to budge. His acceptance of
Lord Keith's orders went no further than his send
ing Admiral Duckworth with some ships to Minorca.
" I am fully aware of the act I have committed," he
wrote to Earl Spencer July 13th, "but, sensible of
my loyal intentions, I am prepared for any fate
which may await my disobedience." Capua and
Gaeta he believed must speedily fall, and when the
"scoundrels of French" had been thrashed out of
the country he would send eight or nine ships of the
line to Minorca. The Admiralty disapproved of his
conduct in not obeying the Commander-in-chief's in
structions. It was particularly objected that upwards
of one thousand of the best men of Nelson's squad
ron should have been sent on shore at a time when
the enemy's fleet were abroad and might at any
moment heave in sight. And here " my lords " for
once in a while appeared to form a correct opinion,
for certainly the employment ashore at a distance of
a large force of the crews of a squadron must neces
sarily leave the ships defective and even defenceless.
The appointment of Sir Sidney Smith in October,
1798, to act as Plenipotentiary to the Ottoman Court
at Constantinople greatly irritated Nelson, and was
regarded as an affront by Lord St. Vincent. They
both held that it was a direct neglect of the claims
of the lion-hearted captains who had fought at the
battle of the Nile to place a portion of the command
in other and junior hands. Nelson's indignation
went to the length of asking St. Vincent's leave to
withdraw from the command, which he begged should
be given to Captain Troubridge, or, as he signifi-

1799] Sir Sidney Smith. 145
cantly adds, " to some other of my brave friends
who so gloriously fought at the battle of the Nile."
All was astonishment and resentment with Nelson
and indeed with St. Vincent too. There never was
a more gallant officer than Sir Sidney Smith, but to
his professional virtues he united several disagree
able qualities, of a very teasing and irritating sort,
such as pertness, cocksureness, and self-complacency
often accentuated into positive absurdity. At the
very onset he contrived to outrage British sensibility
in the Mediterranean by deliberately stating that, as
he presumed all the ships in the Levant were junior
to him, he had a right to take them under his com
mand. St. Vincent ended this by requiring Sir Sid
ney to put himself under Nelson. He proved,
however, a refractory junior, persisted in acting inde
pendently of Nelson, and provoked the Hero into
writing, some strong letters to him. Especially was
Nelson annoyed by learning that Sir Sidney, in
direct opposition to his commander's opinion, was
drawing up a form of passport with the avowed in
tention of enabling all French ships in Alexandria
to pass to France. " I . . . strictly charge and com
mand you," writes Nelson, angrily underscoring his
words, " never to give any French ship or man leave
to quit' Egypt." Sir Sidney's policy was entirely
•opposed to keeping the enemy " dammed up in
Egypt," as he called it ; his desire was that they
should be allowed to evacuate the territory by all
means, except that of permission to retire with arms
in their hands. " Talents," wrote St. Vincent jocu-
iariv of him to Lady Hamilton, " he certainly pos-

146 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et.40
sesses, with a sufficient degree of enterprise ; but
his military merits appear to me rather problemati
cal, and I must resort to a French phrase, soi-disant,
to designate his character." *
Acre however considerably altered Lord Nelson's
opinion. On the 25th of July he wrote to Sir Sid
ney's brother, Spencer Smith, that no one could
admire his (Sir Sidney's) gallantry and judgment
more than himself. The siege of Acre was raised
on the 2 1 st of May. It had lasted sixty days. The
enemy's flotilla was destroyed, and extraordinary
skill and bravery were exhibited by Sir Sidney Smith,
who had little more than a body of undisciplined
troops to oppose to the trained and desperate regu
lars of Buonaparte. "As an individual," wrote Nel
son to him August 20th, " and as an Admiral, will
you accept my feeble tribute of praise and admira
tion, and make them acceptable to all under your
command." Meanwhile to Captain Ball had been entrusted by
Nelson the taking of Malta from the French. It
was proposed that when the island surrendered,
Ball should be governor as representing the King
of Naples and the King of England. Nelson's
concern in the feelings and the sensibilities of
the Court of Naples is illustrated by his recom
mendation to Ball : " In case of the surrender of'
Malta I beg you will not do anything which can
hurt the feelings of their Majesties. Unite their flag
with England's if it cannot, from the disposition
of the islanders, fly alone." All this to us at a dis-
* Pettigrew. I., 197.

1799] Captain Ball's Distress at Malta. 1 47
tance surely seems a little de trop. Here was this
country expending blood and treasure in the
protection of a Court rotten to the heart, and
doing work which those who desired to benefit
by it were too cowardly or too lazy to perform for
themselves. Lady Hamilton and the Queen of
Naples between them were fast impairing in Nelson
the most sailorly of his characteristics : his swift
capacity of penetrating to all that might be behind
the foreigner's grimacings and posturings and pol-
itesse, and his quarter-deck trick of bluntly delivering
what was in his heart.
Ball's duty was distracting and arduous. The
blockade of Valetta had been conducted at a cost of
£15,000 a month; the garrison was mutinous; the
scurvy was raging ; the Maltese were starving, and
Ball was in despair how to obtain supplies for them.
Even if money were to be raised, provisions were
not to be had. What was the behaviour of that
Naples Court whose sensibilities Nelson was so
anxious not to vex? Coleridge, in his oft-quoted
notice of his friend Sir Alexander Ball, answers the
question : " Though the very existence of Naples
and Sicily, as a nation, depended wholly and ex
clusively on British support ; though the Royal
Family owed their safety to the British fleet, though
not only their dominions and their rank, but the
liberty and even lives of Ferdinand and his family
were interwoven with our success ; yet, with an in
fatuation scarcely credible, the most affecting repre
sentations of the distress of the besiegers and of the
utter insecurity of Sicily, if the French remained

148 The Life of Horatio Nelson. \Ka.4\
possessors of Malta, were treated with neglect ; and
the urgent remonstrances, for the permission of im
porting corn from Messina were answered only by
sanguinary edicts precluding all supply." * There
was but one course for Ball to adopt : food must be
obtained or the Maltese must starve ; and the British
captain ordered his lieutenant to proceed to Messina
and seize the ships laden with corn there. This was
done ; it removed the necessity of raising the siege,
but in consequence of this act, as Coleridge tells us,
Ball became an especial object of the hatred and
fear, and perhaps the respect, of the Court of Naples.
Troubridge arrived off Malta on the 9th of De
cember, Nelson's hope being to bring the long
blockade to a close. The devotion of this officer
(who, in September, had been made a baronet by
the King of Great Britain) to the service of his
country, finds remarkable expression in his offer
to assist the intended reinforcement, whose opera
tions were delayed by want of money, with a con
siderable sum out of his own pocket. His love for
Nelson is also strongly illustrated by his letters
dated during the month of December from Malta.
The Hero's health was bad ; he undoubtedly required
rest, but such rest as he could not obtain at Palermo.
James cynically says : " Lord Nelson being indis
posed (mentally if not corporeally)," etc.f But his
illness was something more than mental. His tem
per had been affected by the wound he had received
in the head at the battle of the Nile ; his having to
* " The Friend," by S. T. Coleridge. Bohn's ed.
\ James. II., 440.

1799] Troubridge 's Haired of Neapolitans. 149
return to Syracuse after the fruitless search for the
French fleet, had then and there, he was wont to
say, broken his heart ; and he was now suffering
from violent pains in his chest, which he would
speak of as though a ligature tightly and torment-
ingly girdled him. Troubridge, gravely concerned
for the health of his glorious chief, entreated him to
act with prudence. "I know," he says, "you can
have no pleasure sitting up all night at cards ; why
then sacrifice your health, comfort, purse, ease,
everything to the customs of a -country where your
stay cannot be long ? I would not, my Lord, reside
in this country for all Sicily. ... If you knew
what your friends feel for you, I am sure you would
cut all the nocturnal parties." Troubridge's detes
tation of the Kingdom of Naples and everybody in
it and belonging to it again and again breaks forth
amid the conjurations he addresses to his beloved
chief. " I curse the day I ever served the Neapolitan
Government." " For my own part, I look on the
Neapolitans as the worst of intriguing enemies.
Every hour shows me their infamy and duplicity."*
There is a significant stroke in a letter that Nelson
received towards the close of 1799 from his friend
Admiral Goodall, then in England : " They say here,
my good Lord, that you are Rinaldo in the arms
of Armida, and that it requires the firmness of a
Ubaldo and his brother knight to draw you from
the enchantress."

?Clarke and M'Arthur. II., 355.

CHAPTER XII.
Action with Le Ge'ne'reux — Lieutenant Parsons's
description of the fight — Lord Cochrane on
Nelson — Capture of Le Guillaume. Tell — Life
on board the Foudroyant — Insurrection at
Leghorn — Incidents of Nelson's journey home
— Arrival in London — Quarrel with Lady
Nelson — His separation from her.
ARLY in January, 1800, Nelson
sent Troubridge word that he
would shortly join him at Malta. His position as
Acting Commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean
terminated on the 6th of January, when he learnt
that Lord Keith had received orders to resume
the command in that sea. Hoisting his flag on
board the Foudroyant, he joined Lord Keith in the
Leghorn Roads, and on the 3d of February sailed
for Malta. Whilst off Cape Passaro, in Sicily,
he fell in with a French squadron under Rear-
Admiral Perree in Le Ge'ne'reux, 74, one of the vessels
that had escaped at the battle of the Nile. This
squadron had some 3,000 troops on board, to inter
cept the disembarkation of which Lord Keith, who
had sailed with Nelson, kept as close to the entrance
of Valetta in his 100-gun ship, the Queen Charlotte,
150

1800] Action with Le Genereux. 1 5 1
as the batteries would allow him. With Nelson's
ship were the Audacious and the Northumberland ;
a fourth ship, the Alexander, was down on the south
east side of the island. This vessel on the 18th at
daylight sighted Perree's squadron, and a little later
on fired at and brought to an armed storeship. The
smaller of the Frenchmen tacked ; the Ge'ne'reux,
that could not have done so without coming to an
action with the Alexander, bore up. The little Suc
cess frigate, that was to leeward, placed herself
athwart the hawse of the French seventy-four, and
raked her with several broadsides. At half-past four
the Foudroyant, followed by the Northumberland,
got near enough to plump two shots into the French
man, and the Ge'ne'reux, after firing the usual cere
monious broadside, struck her colours.
Parsons, who was on board the Foudroyant, gives
a lively account of the chase of the Frenchman. We
see Nelson himself in this picture, hear him speak,
and watch his motions. The deck is hailed from
aloft and a man-of-war reported — a line-of-battle
ship, apparently, going large on the starboard tack.
" Ah, an enemy, Mr. Staines ! " exclaimed Nelson.
" I pray God it may be Le Ge'ne'reux. The signal
for a general chase, Sir Ed'ard [the Nelsonian pro
nunciation for Sir Edward, addressed to Sir Edward
Berry]. Make the Foudroyant fly ! " The North
umberland was now taking the lead, with the flag
ship close on her quarter. " This will not do, Sir
Ed'ard ! " cried Nelson ; " it is certainly Le Ge'ne'reux,
and to my flag-ship she can alone surrender. Sir
Ed'ard, we must and shall beat the Northumber-

1 5 2 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t. 41
land!" Every effort was made, Parsons tells us.
" I will do the utmost, my Lord," answered Sir
Edward Berry, and gives the following orders : " Get
the engine to work on the sails — hang butts of water
to the stays — pipe the hammocks down and each
man place shot in them — slack the stays, knock up
the wedges, and give the masts play — start off the
water, Mr. James, and pump the ship! " Then ad
dressing whom it may concern, Sir Edward exclaims :
" The Admiral is working his fin [the stump of his
right arm] ; do not cross his hawse, I advise you ! "
The advice was good, for at that moment Nelson
opened furiously on the quartermaster at the wheel :
" I '11 knock you off your perch, you rascal, if you
are so inattentive ! Sir Ed'ard, send your best
quartermaster to the weather-wheel ! " — "A strange
sail ahead of the chase ! " called the lookout-man. —
" Youngster, to the masthead ! — What ! going with
out your glass, and be d  d to you ! Let me
know what she is immediately!" — " A sloop-of-war
or frigate, my Lord ! " shouted the young signal
midshipman. — " Demand her number ? " — " The Suc
cess, my Lord, Captain Peard." — " Signal to cut off
the flying enemy! Great odds, though — thirty-two
small guns to eighty large ones." — " The Success has
hove-to athwart hawse with the Ge'ne'reux, and is
firing her larboard broadside ! The Frenchman has
hoisted his tri-colour with the RearrAdmiral's flag! "
— " Bravo ! Success, at her again ! " — " She has wore
round, my Lord, and firing her starboard broadside.
It has winged her, my Lord, her flying-kites are fly
ing away altogether. The enemy is close on the

1800] Parsons' Account of the Fight. 153
Success, who must receive her tremendous broad
side ! " The Ge'ne'reux opens her fire on her little
enemy, and every person stands aghast, afraid of
the consequences. The smoke clears away, and
there is the Success, crippled, it is true, but, bull-dog
like, bearing up after the enemy. " Signal for the
Success to discontinue the action and come under
my stern," said Lord Nelson. " She has done well
for her size. Try a shot from the lower deck at her,
Sir Ed'ard." — " It goes over her." — " Beat to quarters
and fire coolly and deliberately at her masts and
yards." At this moment, Parsons goes on to tell us
in this lively sketch, which may be accepted as a very
real and correct portrait, a shot from the Ge'ne'reux
passed through the mizzen staysail. Nelson, patting
one of the little midshipmen on the head, asked him
jocularly how he relished the music. The lad was
pale and alarmed, and, observing this, Nelson told
him that Charles XII. ran away from the first shot
he heard, though he was afterwards called " The
Great " because of his bravery. " I therefore," said
Nelson, " hope much from you in future." Shortly
after this the enemy hauled down his colours, and
Sir Edward Berry was sent on board the prize, where
he found Rear-Admiral Perree dying on his quarter
deck, having had both his legs shot off by the raking
broadsides of the little Success. Nelson, who appears
to have been incessantly in spirit with the Court of
Naples, sent the French Admiral's flag as a gift to
young Prince Leopold.
Lord Keith entrusted the command of the squad
ron that was blockading Valetta to Nelson ; but the

1 54 The Life of Horatio Nelson. r/Et. 41
Hero's health, if not his energies, were exhausted.
Nearly three months earlier he had written patheti
cally to Commissioner Inglefield : " You must make
allowances for a worn-out, blind, left-handed man."
Yet he was then but forty-one years of age ! He
entreated Lord Keith to give the command of the
squadron off Malta to Troubridge, and on the 16th
of March he returned to Palermo. It was at Palermo
that Lord Cochrane, afterwards Earl of Dundonald,
met Nelson. There never was a finer sea-officer than
Cochrane, despite his eccentricities as a man, and
the opinion he formed by personal knowledge of the
Hero of the Nile cannot but prove interesting. " It
was never," he says, " my good fortune to serve
under his Lordship either at that or any subsequent
period. During our stay at Palermo I had, however,
opportunities of personal conversation with him, and
from one of his frequent injunctions, ' Never mind
manoeuvres ; always go at them,' I had subsequently
reason to consider myself indebted for successful
attacks under apparently difficult circumstances.
The impression left on my mind during these oppor
tunities of association with Nelson was that of his
being an embodiment of dashing courage, which
would not take much trouble to circumvent an
enemy, but being confronted with one would regard
victory so much a matter of course as hardly to deem
the chance of defeat worth consideration. This was
in fact the case ; for though the enemy's ships were
for the most part superior to ours in build, the
discipline and seamanship of their crews were in that

1800] Capture of "Le Guillaume Tell." 155
day so inferior as to leave little room for doubt of
victory on our part." *
Another distinguished naval officer, Sir Jahleel
Brenton, preserves a characteristic story of Nel
son, which also belongs to this period. Brenton had
command of a sloop-of-war, and was ordered with
a convoy of Neapolitan vessels to Cagliari, where
they were to load with corn and return to the
ports of Italy. Brenton, then a very young man,
sensible of the importance of his trust, and aware
that the policy of the British Government towards
the States of Barbary was one of extreme caution,
asked Nelson what he should do in the event of the
Algerines attacking his convoy. " Let them sink you"
answered the Hero ; " but do not let them touch the
hair of the head of one of your convoy. ALWAYS
FIGHT AND YOU ARE SURE TO BE RIGHT."
Nelson was cheered on the 30th by the capture of
Le Guillaume Tell, eighty-four guns, the remaining
ship that had escaped at the battle of the Nile. She
surrendered to Sir Edward Berry in the Foudroyant.
Captain Manley Dixon of the Lion sent Sir Thomas
Troubridge a graphic, detailed account of the action.
The Guillaume Tell had a thousand men on board,
and mounted eighty-six guns, according to Dixon's
statement, and bore the flag of Contre-Amiral
Decres. The English ships engaged were the Fou
droyant, Lion, and Penelope. Signal rockets and the
discharge of guns from the English batteries at
Malta, on the midnight of the 30th of March, had
* " Autobiography of a Seaman," p. 55.

156 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [/Et.41
announced her escape. Captain Blackwood, in the
Penelope, descried her in the dark, with other escaped
ships in company. Instantly Captain Dixon made
the signal for the squadron to cut or slip, and gave
chase under a press of canvas, steering his course by
help of the flashes of the Penelope's guns, whilst he
himself signalled the direction to be taken by rockets
and blue-lights to the squadron in his wake. At
daybreak the Lion was within gunshot of the chase,
and the Penelope within musket-shot. It was a yard-
arm to yard-arm action, with great confusion aboard
the Frenchman owing to her wreckage aloft. " I
was not in the least solicitous," writes Captain Man-
ley Dixon, " either to board or to be boarded, as the
enemy appeared of immense bulk and full of men,
keeping up a prodigious fire of musketry." Seem
ingly the " Nelson touch " is wanting in this admis
sion. The Foudroyant drove alongside under a press,
hailing the enemy to strike as she passed, which she
eventually did after the hottest action, so Captain
Dixon terms it, that was ever maintained by an
enemy's ship opposed to British vessels. The
Guillaume Tell was a giantess of those days. It is
said that the Foudroyant alone in this engagement
expended 162 barrels of powder, 1,200 thirty-two-
pound shot, 1,240 twenty-pound ditto, 100 eighteen-
pound ditto, and 200 twelve-pound ditto* Add to
this the fire of the Penelope and the Lion, and we may
realise the character of the ploughing suffered by
the gallant Frenchmen in this desperate conflict.
Nelson's satisfaction was scarcely to be expressed.
* Naval Chronicle, vol. iii., p. 508.

18001 Leaves for England. 157
" My task is done," he wrote to Sir Edward Berry,
" my health is lost, and the orders of the great Earl
St. Vincent are completely fulfilled — thanks, ten
thousand thanks to my brave friends." He refers to
the then Commander-in-chief's instructions to him to
take, sink, burn, and destroy the French armament, a
command which this capture of the last of the enemy's
liners that had fought at the Nile completely fulfilled.
The Foudroyant returned to Palermo, and on the
24th of April Nelson sailed in her for Syracuse.
Little of interest attends his movements until the
18th of June, on which date he received a communi
cation from Lord Keith, acquainting him with the
capitulation between the Imperial and French armies,
and of the proposed evacuation of the Genoese
territories, and he was ordered to proceed with all
the ships at Leghorn to the Gulf of St. Especia to
obtain possession of certain garrisons there. It is
noticeable that Lord Keith, in these directions,
seems to anticipate an objection by speaking of the
order given as " not a matter of caprice, but of
actual duty and necessity," and adds : " I must
desire to be final." Next day he directed that no
line-of-battle ships should be employed to convey
the Queen of Naples to Palermo, should she decide
upon not going to Vienna, and Nelson was author
ised to strike his flag and proceed to England either
by land, or in the Princess Charlotte, or in the troop
ship at Mahon, or in the Seahorse. He struck his
flag on the 1 ith of July.
Miss Knight, in her " Autobiography," * admits us
* Vol. i., p. E46.

158 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et. 41
to a close view of what may be termed Nelson's
inner and private life at this period. It is by such
glimpses as these that we are enabled to figure the
Hero as he showed to those who lived in intimate
association with him. Sir William Hamilton had
been succeeded in his post as Minister at Naples by
the Hon. Arthur Paget. The party that sailed in
the Foudroyant from Palermo in April,* 1800, con
sisted of Sir William and Lady Hamilton, an Eng
lish lady and gentleman, an old Maltese nobleman,
and Miss Knight. Nelson's cabin, or his living-room
as it may be called, is represented as being decorated
with a carving in wood of an immense three-coloured
plume of feathers, which had been a portion of the
figure-head of the Guillaume Tell ; four muskets that
had been taken from the San Josef in the battle off
Cape St. Vincent ; and the flag-staff of L'Orient,
saved from the flames when that ship was blown up.
The famous coffin, as we may suppose, had some
time before this been removed. The table was
good ; there was plenty, without ostentation ; Nel
son, however, ate little — the wing of a fowl and a
glass or two of champagne often served him for a
dinner. Lady Hamilton was exceedingly miserable
through leaving Sicily and her " adorable " Queen,
and by way of consoling her, Miss Knight com
posed some verses to the tune of " Hearts of Oak,"
in the chorus of which Nelson would join with
heartiness. After visiting Syracuse and Malta, the
Foudroyant returned to Palermo, whence she sailed
for Leghorn, with the Queen of Naples, her three
* Miss Knight gives the date as the 23d.

1800] Insurrection at Leghorn. 1 59
unmarried daughters, and Prince Leopold on board.
The Queen was now on her way to Vienna, and
Nelson, by accompanying her, was keeping a promise
he had long before made. On the arrival of the
ship at Leghorn, June 16th, the Queen presented to
Nelson a rich picture of the King; to Sir William
Hamilton she gave a gold snuff-box, with a picture
of the King and herself in diamonds ; and to Lady
Hamilton a diamond necklace, with ciphers of all
the children's names, ornamented by locks of their
hair.* Whilst the Royal Party were at Leghorn there was
an insurrection of the people. The French army
was about twenty-four miles distant, and the popu
lace sought to secure the persons of the Queen and
Royal Family and to detain Nelson that he might
lead them against the abhorred foe. The Queen
and her family escaped from the palace in which
they were residing, and got on board the Alexander,
in which ship Nelson had hoisted his flag after the
departure of the Foudroyant to Minorca for repairs.
It was Nelson's intention to convey the Queen
to Trieste ; instead of which she started for Flor
ence and Ancona, and on the following day Nelson,
Sir William and Lady Hamilton, and Miss Knight
followed her. Florence was reached on the 1 2th of
July, despite desperate risks ; for the route of the
Nelson party had obliged them to pass within a mile
of the advance posts of the French, and Miss Knight
assures us that even the officers and crew of the
Alexander were shocked at the idea of the danger to
?Pettigrew. I., 384.

1 60 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^Et. 42
which their Admiral was exposing himself. When
they reached Ancona they found a Russian squad
ron about to sail to Corfu. The commanding officer,
however, consented to take the Queen and all her
party to Trieste, at which port Nelson landed with
the others on the 2d of August. He had met with
several unpleasant adventures : for instance, at
Castel San Giovanni the coach in which he, Sir
William and Lady Hamilton were travelling was
overturned. The wheel was repaired, but farther
on the crazy vehicle broke down again at a moment
when news had reached them that the French army
was rapidly advancing. On board the Russian
Commodore's ship Nelson is said to have suffered
miserably. The Commodore himself was sick in his
cot ; and the vessel was in charge of the first lieu
tenant, a Neapolitan, who is described as the most
insolent and ignorant of beings. Nelson declared
that had the ship encountered a gale of wind
she must have sunk.* At every place at which
they arrived crowds assembled to behold the Hero
of the Nile. At Vienna, his name figured on hun
dreds of signboards, and the very modistes went
to work to celebrate him in costumes and dresses
called after him. Amongst those whom Nelson met
whilst on his travels home was Haydn. Prince and
Princess Esterhazy feasted him at a table where the
waiters were a hundred grenadiers, most of whom
were above six feet tall. " Count Batthyany's con
tribution to the series of Nelson celebrations was
the aquatic fete on the Danube, with his experiments
* "Dispatches and Letters," vol. iv., p. 264.

NELSON'S COLUMN, TRAFALGAR SQUARE, LONDON.

1800] Arrival at Yarmouth. 161
of vessels especially constructed to resist the torrents
of the mighty river." *
At Prague occurred an incident characteristic of
Continental travel : The hotel at which Nelson
stopped was splendidly illuminated in honour of
him ; and when mine host sent in his bill it was
observed that he had charged for every candle ! At
Hamburg Nelson called upon the poet Klopstock.
During the visit the door was opened and an
old man in canonicals, holding a Bible in his hand,
was ushered in. He walked up to Nelson, and,
bowing low, stated that he was between seventy
and eighty years of age, and had travelled forty
miles with the Bible of his parish church to obtain
Nelson's signature on the first leaf of it. Nelson
willingly complied, and the clergyman, giving him
his blessing, withdrew. Another anecdote belong
ing to this journey is told. The English merchants
at Hamburg invited Nelson and his friends to a
grand fete. He wore the magnificent sword that
had been given to him by the King of Naples, and
on examining it afterwards, found that one of the
large diamonds which encrusted the hilt was missing.
Search was made, but the diamond was irrecoverably
lost. The merchants were desirous of replacing it,
at a cost of £800, but the gift was declined.
On the 31st of October he and his companions
went on board the King George mail packet, and
arrived at Yarmouth on the 6th of November, after
a stormy passage. The weather was so bad, indeed,
that nothing but the determined spirit of Nelson,
* " Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson," vol. ii., p. 172^
II

1 62 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L£t. 42
supplemented by a strong glass of grog, could have
induced the pilot to make the attempt to land.
When the party entered the carriage that waited on
the beach, the horses were taken from it, and it was
dragged by the huzzaing crowd to the Wrestlers'
Inn. The harbour was radiant with bunting ; the
freedom of the town was presented to him ; the
troops paraded before the inn, and their bands
saluted the conquering Hero. Accompanied by the
Corporation he went in solemn procession to church
to offer up thanks on his safe return to his country,
Illuminations and bonfires completed the day's re
joicings. The party arrived in London on the 7th of No
vember, 1800. Sir William and his wife accompanied
Nelson to dine with his father and Lady Nelson.
The Hero had been absent two years and seven
months, and that his wife, after this long lapse of
time, during which he had rendered his name im
mortal, should not have met him at Yarmouth,
instead of coldly awaiting his arrival in London,
is apparently to be explained only by her jealousy
and dislike of Lady Hamilton, and by the stories
which had reached her of her husband's relations
with that woman. This connection indeed appears
to have been the cause of the coolness of his recep
tion at Court. Collingwood, writing under date of
January 25, 1801, says: "Lord Nelson is here.
. . . He gave me an account of his reception
at Court, which was not very flattering after having
been the adoration of that of Naples. His Majesty
merely asked him if he had recovered his health, and

1800] Quarrel with Lady Nelson. 163
then, without waiting for an answer, turned to Gen
eral  , and talked to him near half an hour in
great good-humour. It could not be about his
successes." This, after the battle of the Nile ! It
should have gone far to correct in Nelson his idola
trous theories of princes and potentates.
He and Lady Nelson lived together very unhap
pily for about two months after his return. The
story of their separation has been related by an eye
witness.* Lord and Lady Nelson were at breakfast
at their lodgings in Arlington Street in the winter
of 1 801 ; there was some cheerful conversation,
when incidentally Nelson referred to something
which had been said or done by " dear Lady
Hamilton." Lady Nelson at once rose and ex
claimed with some heat : " I am sick of hearing of
dear Lady Hamilton, and am resolved that you
shall give up either her or me." Nelson calmly
answered : " Take care, Fanny, what you say. I
love you sincerely, but I cannot forget my obliga
tions to Lady Hamilton or speak of her otherwise
than with affection and admiration." Muttering
something about her " mind being made up," Lady
Nelson left the room and shortly after drove from
the house. This was followed by a separation, and
they never afterwards lived together. Miss Knight,
referring to this period, says : " I dined one day with
Sir William and Lady Hamilton in Grosvenor
Square. Lord and Lady Nelson were of the party,
and the Duke of Sussex and Lady Augusta Murray
* W. Haslewood to Nicolas. " Dispatches and Letters," vol. vii.,
p. 392-

164 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt.42
came in the evening. Lord Nelson was to make
his appearance at the theatre next day, but I de
clined to go with the party. I afterwards heard that
Lady Nelson fainted in the box. Most of my
friends were very urgent with me to drop the
acquaintance, but circumstanced as I had been, I
feared the charge of ingratitude, though greatly
embarrassed as to what to do, for things became
very unpleasant. So much was said about the at
tachment of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton that it
made the matter still worse. He felt irritated, and
took it up in an unfortunate manner by devoting
himself more and more to her for the purpose of
what he called supporting her." She adds that he
was at Deal when he wrote to his wife giving her
credit for perfectly moral conduct, but announcing
his intention of not living with her any more. She
is certain, however, that he did not contemplate a
separation before he returned to England. At
Hamburg, just before he sailed fo.r Yarmouth, he
purchased a magnificent lace trimming for a court
dress for his wife, and Miss Knight remembered
him saying, whilst they were at Leghorn, " that he
hoped Lady Nelson and himself would be much
with Sir William and Lady Hamilton, and that
they would all very often dine together, and that
when the latter couple went to their musical parties
he and Lady Nelson would go to bed." *
The last Nelson saw of his wife was on the 13th
of January, i8or, the day he left London to join the
Channel fleet. On parting from her, he said : " I
* " Autobiography," vol. i., p. 162.

1800]

Final Separation.

165

call God to witness there is nothing in you or your
conduct I wish otherwise." His decision was thus
communicated to his friend, Alexander Davison,
April 23, 1801 : " You will, at a proper time, and
before my arrival in England, signify to Lady N.
that I expect, and for which I have made such a
very liberal allowance to her, to be left to myself,
and without any inquiries from her ; for sooner than
live the unhappy life I did when last I came to
England I would stay abroad for ever. My mind
is fixed as fate." *

* " Dispatches and Letters," vol. vii., Addenda, p. 209.

CHAPTER XIII.
Honours — St. Vincent's Concern — Surrender of
Malta — Case of the Freya — Attitude of North
ern powers — British fleets sent to Copenha
gen — The Danish defences — Anecdote of the
Prince of Denmark's aide-de-camp — Nelson at
Admiral Parker's council — Eve of the action.
'URING his stay in England there were
manifestations to his honour in every
direction where he showed himself.
On driving to the Installation Din
ner of the Lord Mayor of London in the Guildhall,
he was recognised in Ludgate Hill, the horses were
taken from his carriage, and he was triumphantly
drawn to the banquet, where a magnificent sword
voted by the City was presented to him. He re
ceived it standing under a triumphal arch. He
accepted an invitation from Beckford, the well-
known author of " Vathek," to visit him at Fonthill,
and at Salisbury the Yeomanry Cavalry turned out to
meet and escort him for a distance of twelve miles ;
he was then conducted in state to the Council House
and presented with the freedom of the City. In the
crowd stood a sailor whom Nelson immediately rec-
166

1800-1] Fited and Feasted. 167
ognised as one who had fought with him at the
battle of the Nile. He called him forward, greeted,
and dismissed him with a handsome gift. He also
observed another man who had been at his side
when his arm was amputated. The honest Tar was
loudly huzzaing. Nelson beckoned to him and
made him a present, and the poor fellow on with
drawing took from his breast a piece of lace which
he had torn from the shirt sleeve of Nelson's excised
limb, and declared he should preserve it till the
latest period of his life as a memorial of the beloved
Hero. At Fonthill Nelson was received by the
Volunteers, headed by a band of music. The
splendour of the hospitality was honourable to the
imagination of the inventor of the " Hall of Eblis."
Lady Hamilton with her husband was of the party,
and she is said to have enchanted the company with
one of her remarkable personations. In one scene
her dumb show was so moving that a number of
the spectators wept.
All this feting and feeding and movement
caused St. Vincent to fear for his friend. " My
dear Lord," he wrote, " I wish you had done with
this City feasting, for there is much risk of illness in
going out of smoking hot rooms into the damp air
of putrid London streets." Yet his health had been
undoubtedly benefited by his overland trip and
return to England. Even on the day of his landing
at Yarmouth he conveyed to the Admiralty his wish
to serve immediately, and on the 21st of November,
1800, we find him writing to a friend that the San
Josef 'is to be his flag-ship.

1 68 The Life of Horatio Nelson. C/Et. 42
The fortress of Valetta and the island of Malta
had surrendered on the 5th of September to the
troops under General Pigott (an officer of whose
behaviour Ball bitterly complained to Nelson) and
to the blockading squadron under the command of
Captain Martin in the Northumberland. The terms
of capitulation were that the troops should march
out with the honours of war and lay down their
arms ; the officers and non-commissioned officers to
retain their swords ; and the garrison to be sent to
France at the expense of the British Government,
and not to serve against Great Britain until regularly
exchanged. Eight hundred pieces of ordnance were
found mounted on the fortifications. In the har
bour was a Maltese sixty-four-gun ship of a very
beautiful model. It is believed that not less than
twenty thousand persons perished from famine,
disease, and hardships during the blockade.
On the previous 25th of July, a British squadron
had fallen in with a Danish forty-gun frigate convoy
ing two ships. The senior British officer hailed the
Dane to say he should send his boat on board the
convoy, designing to exercise the unquestioned right
of searching the ships of neutrals for contraband of
war. The Dane threatened to fire into the boat;
an action followed, and the Freya, the name of the
Danish ship, was brought with her convoy to the
Downs. The British Government hastily despatched
Lord Whitworth to the Court of Denmark to adjust
as best he could the very grave difficulty that had
arisen. Conferences resulted in the agreement that
the Freya and convoy should be repaired at the cost

1800-1] Attitude of Northern Powers. 1 69
of the English, and released ; and the right of the
British to search was to be discussed at a future
day. Russia, deemed to be an ally of England at
that time, resented the attack upon the Freya, and
particularly took offence at the passage through the
Sound of the squadron that had accompanied Lord
Whitworth. The first act of the Emperor Paul,
a brutal madman, was to sequester all British prop
erty in his dominions ; the next to place his army
and navy upon a war establishment. After three
weeks the sequestration was removed, but news of
the capture of Malta was now to hand, and the
Emperor Paul, in his anger that the English flag
alone should have been hoisted on the island contrary
to treaties concluded in 1798, laid (5th November) an
embargo on all the British shipping in his ports,
numbering two hundred sail. The men belonging to
the vessels, amounting nearly to two thousand, were
marched away in the dead of winter to different
villages and towns in the interior, as far as the
confines of Siberia. This was followed (in Decem
ber) by the re-establishment of an armed neutrality
between Russia and Sweden ; a confederacy that was
presently rendered more menacing by the junction
of Denmark at the instigation of Russia and of
Prussia. Thus briefly may be summarised the motif
of that great Baltic drama, whose central brilliant
feature was the battle of Copenhagen.
There was nothing for Great Britain to do but
to assume the menacing posture adopted by the
Northern nations, and on the 12th of March, 1801,
there was despatched from Yarmouth Roads, under

I 70 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^Et. 42
the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker in the
London, 98, with Nelson in the St. George, 98, as
his second, a fleet of fifteen, afterwards increased
to eighteen sail-of-the-line, with a large number
of frigates, bombs, and other craft. In this fleet
there had been embarked the 49th Regiment under
Colonel Isaac Brock, two companies of the Rifle
Corps, and a detachment of Artillery under the
command of Colonel Stewart. The British force,
however, was weakened on the 16th by the loss of
the Invincible, of seventy-four guns, bearing the flag
of Rear-Admiral Thomas Totty. She struck on a
sandbank called Hammond's Knowl, where she lay
for three hours, then afterwards floated into deep
water and went down, taking with her four hundred
people. Of her commander, Captain Rennie, Schom-
berg says that " after severe exertion, he had swum
close to the launch, when, exhausted with fatigue,
he resigned himself to his fate, lifting up his hands
as if to implore the blessing of Heaven, and imme
diately placing them upon his face, he went directly
down without a struggle." Admiral Totty and one
hundred and ninety-six persons were saved.*
The ship which Nelson had exchanged for the
San Josef seemed, at the outset of this expedition,
about as fit for service as the Agamemnon was after
his long employment of her. " You cannot think,"
he writes, February 9th, " how dirty the St. George
is . . . the ship is not fitted for a flag, — her decks
leaky, and is truly uncomfortable, but," he sugges
tively adds — he is writing to Lady Hamilton,— "it
*Schomberg's "Naval Chronology," vol. iii., p. 496,

1800-n Departure for Copenhagen. 171
suits exactly my present feelings." He had hoisted
his flag on the 12th of February, but until the 19th
had been unable to get aboard, owing to the violence
of the weather. When he sailed from Portsmouth
she was filled with caulkers and painters preparing
her for sea ! The achievements of British ships and
British commanders would be found a very great
deal more brilliant and astonishing than the annals
express them, if the supineness, the gross indifference
and neglect of the Admiralty officials were to be
exhibited and illustrated side by side with the per
formances which have made Great Britain the coun
try she is.
It is related that Nelson, prior to his departure
for Copenhagen, whilst at the house of his friend
Davison, spoke of what he would do had the com
mand of this Baltic expedition been given to him
instead of to Sir Hyde Parker, and during the course
of his conversation he desired that a chart of the
Cattegat should be purchased that he might have a
look at it, as his memory or knowledge of those
waters was imperfect. He hung over the chart for
a little while in a posture of considering, then saying
that he believed the Government could spare only
twelve ships, he marked their situation upon the
chart — a prophetic indication that was afterwards
exactly fulfilled. There is, perhaps, a no more extra
ordinary instance of his surprising swiftness of per
ception, his instant power of coming to a conclusion
and forming his plans.
His eager spirit was greatly fretted on understand
ing that the fleet was to anchor outside of Kronen-

172 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [^t. 42
burg Castle to enable the British Minister at Copen
hagen to negotiate. " To keep us out of sight," he
wrote, " is to seduce Denmark into a war." " I hate
your pen-and-ink men ; a fleet of British ships-of-war
are the best negotiators in Europe ; they always
speak to be understood, and generally gain their
point ; their arguments carry conviction to the
hearts of our enemies." The Dane, he tells Davison,
should see the British flag waving every moment he
lifted up his head. Already he considered there had
been too much delay. Colonel Stewart, who printed
a lively account of the battle, says that Nelson's
plan on his arrival at Yarmouth would have been to
start at once for the mouth of Copenhagen Harbour
with such ships as were in readiness, leaving the rest to
follow as rapidly as could be contrived. Such celerity
would have rendered :t impossible on the part of the
Danes to have provided against the attack by prepa
rations which British procrastination was now suffer
ing them to render formidable. On the 29th of March,
he changed his flag from the St. George to the Ele
phant, a lighter and handier ship* Much loss of
* Colonel Stewart relates the following: Nelson, he says, "was
rather too apt to interfere in the working of the ship (the St. George),
and not always with the best success or judgment. The wind, when
off Dungeness, was scanty, and the ship must be put about ; Lord
Nelson would give the orders, and caused her to miss stays. Upon
this he said, rather peevishly, to the Master or Officer of the Watch (I
forget which) : ' Well, now see what we have done. Well, sir, what
mean you to do now?' The officer saying, with hesitation : ' I don't
exactly know, my Lord, I fear she won't do,' Lord Nelson turned
sharply towards the cabin, and replied : ' Well, I am sure if you do
not know what to do with her, no more do I either.' He went in,
leaving the officer to work the ship as he liked," — Stewart's "Nar
rative."

1800-1] The Danish Defences. 1 73
valuable time was caused by the pilots, who made
all they possibly could of the dangers of the expedi
tion. When off Elsineur Admiral Parker sent a flag
of truce to inquire of the Governor if he meant to
oppose the passage of the fleet through the Sound.
The Governor answered that he would fire at the
ships if they approached. Despite this threat, the
British fleet, on the 30th, early in the morning,
weighed, and, with a fine sailing breeze, swept
through the Sound in line ahead, with Nelson com
manding the van division, Parker the centre, and
Rear-Admiral Graves the rear. The Elsineur bat
teries opened, but not a shot hit the ships.
It was somewhere about noon that the fleet
anchored a little way above the Island of Huen,
fifteen miles distant from Copenhagen, and Nelson,
accompanied by Admiral Graves, Colonel Stewart,
and others, entered a lugger called the Lark to
reconnoitre the enemy's defences. Nothing could
well look more formidable, as armaments went in
those times. Eighteen vessels, comprising hulks and
full-rigged ships, were moored in a line occupying
hard upon a mile and a half, flanked on the north
by two artificial islands called the Trekroner bat
teries, mounting between them sixty-eight guns,
24- and 36-pounders, with furnaces for heating shot,
and close beside them were two large two-deck
block-ships. The entrance to the harbour and
docks was protected by a chain ; there were also
batteries on the northern shore which commanded
that channel. In excellent positions off the har
bour's mouth were two 74-gun ships, a 40-gun

1 74 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l^t. 42
frigate, two brigs, and some xebecs. Upon Amag
Island, to the south of the floating line of hulks and
ships, were several gun and mortar batteries, so that
seawards the city of Copenhagen was protected by
defences which from end to end stretched a distance
of nearly four miles. But additional security of infi
nite significance was furnished to the Danes by the
dangers of the navigation. All the buoys had been
removed or misplaced. Even Nelson was astonished
by the commanding and threatening appearance of
the enemy's preparations. His own sketch of the
Danish hulks and battle-ships exhibits a very extra
ordinary armament : lumps of two-deck hulks, each
with a pole-mast amidships, their sides bristling with
the mouths of cannon ; tall full-rigged ships, little
gun-brigs, and in the distance the Crown battery,
looking, with the vessels moored within it, like a
small dock above which soar the three towering
masts of a large ship-of-war, whose hull is hidden
behind the embankment.
An aide-de-camp of the Prince of Denmark had
come aboard Sir Hyde Parker's ship when the fleet
was at anchor off Kronenburg. Nelson describes
him as a young coxcomb about twenty-three. In
writing a note in the Admiral's cabin the pen sput
tered, and the little creature called out: "Admiral,
if your guns are no better than your pens you may
as well return to England." He asked who com
manded the different ships, and on Nelson's name
being pronounced he exclaimed: "What, is he
here? I would give a hundred guineas to see him,
Then I suppose it is no joke if he has come! You

1800-11 At Admiral Parker s Council. 175
will pass Kronenburg," he continued ; " that we ex
pect. But we are well prepared at Copenhagen.
There you will find a hard nut to crack." This
anecdote Nelson relates to Lady Hamilton, laughing
over it as he sits in his cabin in the Elephant writing.
On the 31st Admiral Parker called a council of
war, mainly to consider the best mode of attack.
Nelson offered his services, asking for ten line-of-
battle ships and the whole of the smaller craft.
Very wisely the Commander-in-chief accepted, and
not only left every thing to Nelson, so far, at least,
as this detached service was concerned, but gave him
two more line-of-battle ships than he had demanded.
All the while the council was being held Nelson was
pacing the cabin, working the stump of his arm, as
was his habit when excited or irritated, and turning
a countenance dark with mortification upon any
man who ventured an observation that savoured in
the least degree of alarm or doubt. It was suggested
that the three powers which had combined might
prove too many for the British. " So much the
better ! " was Nelson's impatient remark ; " I wish
there were twice as many. The easier the victory,
depend on 't." He had long before prepared his
plans, basing them on keen appreciation of the want
of tactique amongst the northern fleets ; and now,
whilst on the eve of a desperate and bloody conflict
with the Danes, he carried in his mind a perfect
scheme for the defeat or annihilation of the Swedes
or Russians later on.
It was he who, on the night of the day on which
the council had been held, readjusted the buoyage

1 76 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

YKX. 42

of the outer channel. He went in his boat, accom
panied by Captain Brisbane of the Cruiser, and foot
by foot groped his way over the dark waters through
the biting March air and ice of that northern clime.
How many admirals then afloat would have under
taken this duty for themselves? Most of them,
possibly, would have applied to such a task Lady
Nelson's theory of boarding, and " left it to the
captains." On the morning of the 1st of April the whole
fleet sailed to within two leagues of the town of
Copenhagen. Nelson had gone aboard the Amazon,
in order to take a final view of the surroundings, and
returning to the Elephant at one o'clock, ordered the
signal to be made to weigh. At sight of the colours,
there arose from the ships of the division he com
manded a hurricane shout that was heard at a long
distance. The channel was narrow ; the wind a
small air, though happily favourable ; but the buoys
had been laid down with such accuracy that the
congregation of ships went smoothly and steadily
on, led by the " gallant good " Riou in the Amazon, a
thirty-eight-gun frigate. The detachment under Nel
son consisted of seven 74's, three 64' s, a 54 and a 50;
five frigates, from 38 to 24 ; two ship-sloops and two
brig sloops, together with seven bomb-vessels, two
fire-ships, and a few small craft ; thirty-six sail in
all. Admiral Parker remained at anchor with two
ships of 98 guns, three of 74, and two of 64. When
Nelson's detachment weighed, the Commander-in-
chief's eight ships also lifted their anchors and floated
a little closer towards the mouth of the harbour, but

1800-1] Eve of the Battle of Copenhagen. 177
wind and current were against them, and throughout
the action they continued at too great a distance to
render any service. At dusk Nelson's division an
chored off Draco Point. The headmost of the
enemy's line was then two miles off. The narrowness
of the waters as an anchoring ground brought the
ships into a huddle, and infinite mischief might have
been done the British had the Danes thought proper
to shell the crowded vessels. Down to a late hour
English guard-boats were out stealthily sounding;
and Captain Hardy rowed to within the very shadow
of the Danes' leading ship, round which he felt for
the bottom of the water with a pole, that he might
not be heard.

The night before the battle — Order of sailing —
Stations of the British ships — Remarkable in
stance of heroism — Parker's signal and its re
ception by Nelson — The battle described — A
flag of truce — The Elephant ashore — Nelson's
poetry — Story of the Zealand — Visit to the
Danish prince — Danish losses — Young Wel-
moes — Departure of the fleet.
N the night before the battle
Foley, Hardy, Fremantle, Riou,
Admiral Graves, and a few others
dined with Nelson on board the Elephant. The
Hero was in high spirits, and drank to a leading
wind and to the success of the ensuing day ; and
the captains retired to their respective ships full
of profound admiration for their great leader, and
eagerly impatient to follow him to the approaching
battle. Riou and Foley remained in the Elephant
to arrange the order of the conflict, and prepare
instructions to be issued next day. Nelson, who
was greatly fatigued by his incessant labours, was
so much exhausted while dictating his instructions
that, yielding to the entreaties of his companions,
or perhaps to the determined request of Allen,
178

1800-1] Disposition of the British Ships. 179
his servant, who had the reputation of exactly
knowing how to manage his master, consented to
lie in his cot that was placed upon the deck; but
he persisted, nevertheless, in dictating his orders.
By one o'clock the necessary instructions were
completed, and half a dozen clerks went to work
to transcribe them. Nelson could not sleep ; every
half-hour he called from his cot to the clerks to
bid them make haste, and throughout the night
he was constantly receiving reports of the direc
tion of the wind. By six he was up, dressed, and
had breakfasted ; and at seven made the signal for
" All Captains."
Riou, a name that no Englishman can pronounce
without emotions of reverence and affection as one
of the most gallant and noble of the many gallant
and noble men of that day of marine giants, was
specially commanded to act as circumstances might
require. The land forces and five hundred seamen
under Fremantle and Colonel Stewart were to storm
the Crown battery when its fire had been silenced ;
whilst the division under Admiral Parker was to
menace the ships at the entrance of the harbour.
The pilots then assembled on board the Elephant.
They were chiefly mates of English and Scottish
trading vessels, and when the question as to the
bearing of the east end of the Middle Ground arose
there was a very uncomfortable hesitation amongst
them. Nelson, who was on fire with impatience,
demanded that they should be resolute, steady, and
decide at once. Still they paused, until Briarly, the
mate of the Bellona, exclaimed that he was pre-

180 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t.42
pared to lead the fleet. On this the pilots returned
to their ships, and at half-past nine the signal was
given to weigh in succession.
The Edgar led, but was for some time unsupported.
The block-ship Provesteen, of 56 guns and 515 men,
let fly at her when she was within range ; but she
" kept all fast " until nearly opposite the craft that
was destined for her by the instructions, and then
poured in a tremendous broadside. The Polyphemus
was followed by the Isis, Bellona, and Russell, but
the two latter ships in going down the channel ran
aground. It was now the Elephant's turn ; and
Nelson, ignorant that the Bellona and Russell were
ashore, signalled to them to close with the enemy.
As this was not done he guessed the reason, and
instantly quitted the intended order of sailing by
starboarding his helm. The succeeding ships imi
tated the manoeuvre, which in all probability saved
all or the majority of them from stranding. One by
one the ships took up their positions, each anchoring
by the stern abreast of her indicated opponent, with
her broadside to the enemy. The action began at
five minutes past ten, and in half an hour the battle
was general.
Nelson's station was in the centre abreast of the
Dannebrog, of 62 guns and 336 men, with Commodore
Fischer in command on board. The distance
between the Elephant and the Dannebrog was about
a cable's length, 720 feet,* and this Stewart says was
the average distance at which the action was fought.
Nelson wished to get nearer; but the master and
* The hemp cable was 120 fathoms.

THE BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN, 1801.

1800-n The Herds Position. 181
pilots were afraid of shoaling their water, and when
the lead was a quarter less five insisted on the
anchor being let go. Yet it was afterwards found
that the water from the point where the Elephant
lay deepened from four fathoms to the enemy's very
line. " I hope," Nelson had written to Sir Edward
Berry from Yarmouth on March the 9th, " we shall
be able as usual to get so close to our Enemies that
our shot cannot miss their object, and that we shall
again give our Northern Enemies that hailstorm of
bullets which is so emphatically described in the
Naval Chronicle, and which gives our dear Country
the Dominion of the Seas. We have it, and all the
Devils in Hell cannot take it from us, if our wooden
walls have fair play."* A cable's length was too
far for him, and Colonel Stewart was himself of
opinion that the distance between the contending
vessels was the cause of the long duration of the
battle. Immediately astern of Nelson was the Glatton ;
ahead of her the Ganges, Monarch, and Defia?ice ;
and betwixt these ships the distance did not exceed
350 feet. Never had British seamanship found finer
illustration of its capacity of daring and skill than
in the manner in which the vessels of the Division
calculated their stations in a channel bewildering
with its complicated and perilous navigation. Yet
there were three, of the ships aground, representing
the force that was to have been opposed to the
Crown or Trekroner battery; but the glory of the
issue gains by a disaster that gravely weakened the
* " Dispatches and Letters," vol. iv., p. 292.

1 82 The Life of Horatio Nelson. i^t.42
original plan of attack, leaving the conquest to be
achieved practically by fewer ships than even Nel
son, with the utmost spirit of his sublime daring,
had thought fit to demand.
Amongst the noblest instances of courage, on a
day that was charged with heroisms on both sides,
was one that occurred on the deck of the Elephant.
The use of the lead and line for sounding the depth
of water over the ship's side was confided to the
Master; but two officers had to take their stations,
one in each channel or chains,* to watch the heaving
of the lead ; and it is recorded that the competition
between these men for the larboard side of the
ship, where all the danger was, delighted Nelson
as he paced the quarter-deck. Riou in the Amazon
endeavoured to supply the blank in the plan of
attack on the Crown battery, and proceeded down
the line with his little squadron of frigates ; but
sting as these vessels might, they wanted the crush
ing weight of the liner's broadside, and their heroic
efforts were of little or no use. At one o'clock no
apparent impression had been produced upon the
enemy, whose hulks and batteries and towering
block-ships continued to blaze and roar with swiftly-
fired artillery. The Isis was barely saved from de
struction by the Provesteen s fire by the Polyphemus
and Desire"e. The combined fire of the Holstein
and Zealand was imperilling the Monarch, and only
two of the British bomb-vessels had managed to
get to their station, where they were throwing their
shells at the Arsenal over both fleets. Of the gun
* Platforms affixed to the ship's side for spreading the lower rigging.

1800-1] Admiral Parker's Signal. 183
brigs one alone could manage to come into action.
Parker's Division lay idle and helpless in the distance.
The Elephant had not only the guns of the Danne
brog to contend with; two heavy praams were ham
mering at her, one on the bow and one on the
quarter. Signals of distress were flying aboard the
Bellona and Russell, and the Agamemnon, with simi
lar tokens, was indicating her inability to render the
service expected of her.
Admiral Parker, aboard the London, viewing the
scene from a distance, was alarmed for the result.
The Danes' broadsides were incessant and furious;
nothing seemed to have been silenced ; from every
point of the ponderous, looming line of defence
flames were spitting, and the smoke of the cannon
rising. Parker considered the fire too hot for Nelson
to oppose. A retreat must be made, cruelly mortify
ing and disappointing as was such an alternative to
the British Commander-in-chief. But there was the
honour of the high-spirited gentleman in his motive :
" He was. aware of the consequences," he said, " to
his own personal reputation ; but it would be cow
ardly in him to leave Nelson to bear the whole
shame of the failure, if shame it should be deemed." *
Accordingly, at about one o'clock, the signal was
thrown out on board the London for the action to
cease. Throughout the battle down to this time Nelson
had been pacing the starboard side of the quarter
deck. He was dressed in a sort of blue greatcoat,
* Southey gives this " upon the highest and most unquestionable
authority."

1 84 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt.42
epaulets of gold lace, and a plain cocked-hat, and
there were several Orders on his breast. He was
full of animation, " and," Colonel Stewart says, " he
roically fine in his observations." A shot struck the
mainmast and scattered a few splinters, on which,
looking at Colonel Stewart with a smile, he ex
claimed : " It is warm work, and this day may be
the last to any of us at a moment. But," added he,
stopping short at the gangway, and speaking with
emotion, " mark you, I would not be elsewhere for
thousands!" Just then the signal aboard the Lon
don was observed. It was reported to Nelson, who,
feigning not to hear or perhaps not hearing, as might
well be the case amid such a cannonading as was
then thundering, continued to stump the deck with
out speaking. The Signal Lieutenant, waiting till
the turn of the deck brought Nelson back, asked if
he should repeat the signal. " No ; acknowledge
it," said Nelson. As the officer was returning to
the poop, Nelson called to him : " Is No. 16 still
hoisted ? " — this being the signal for " Close Action "
that was flying aboard the Elephant. The Lieuten
ant replied that it was. " Mind you keep it so,"
said Nelson. His irritation was now great ; he
walked the deck with agitation, working the stump
of his arm. Suddenly, addressing Colonel Stewart,
he exclaimed : " Do you know what 's shown on
board the Commander-in-chief, No. 39?" "What
does 39 mean ? " inquired the Colonel. " Why, to
leave off action," answered Nelson ; " Leave off
action ! " he repeated, " now, damn me if I do ! " Cap
tain Foley stood near. " You know, Foley," he went

1800-1] Death of Captain Riou. 185
on, " I have only one eye — I have a right to be blind
sometimes," and lifting the glass to the eye whose
sight was gone, and levelling it at the London, he
exclaimed, with an archness that certainly was not
wanting in scorn : " I really do not see the signal."
It was therefore merely acknowledged on board the
Elephant, not repeated. The gallant Rear-Admiral
Graves, aboard the Defiance, repeated it, but took
care to send it no higher than the lee main-topsail
yard-arm, where it would scarcely be visible amidst
the smoke ; whilst streaming high aloft at the main-
royalmast-head was the signal for " Close Action,"
clear to every man's sight as a star in the sky.*
The squadron of frigates, however, obeyed and
hauled off. They were being hammered to pieces ;
their services were profitless, and they were wise to
retreat. Captain Riou (in the Amazon} who had
been wounded in the head by a splinter, sat on a
gun encouraging his men. " What will Nelson think
of us?" he exclaimed, with bitter grief at having to
withdraw. A raking shot from the Trekroner battery
killed his clerk who stood by his side, and a second
shot laid low a number of marines who were rounding
in on the main-brace. The frigate's stern was upon the
fort when Riou was heard to exclaim : " Come then,
my boys, let us die all together ! " As he pronounced
these words a shot cut him in halves, and " thus in
* The Rev. Dr. Scott was Sir Hyde Parker's chaplain in the
London, and he distinctly affirms that " It had been arranged between
the Admirals (Parker and Nelson) that, should it appear that the ships
which were engaged were suffering too severely, the signal for retreat
should be made, to give Lord Nelson the option of retiring if he
thought fit. " — ' ' Recollections, "p. 70.

1 86 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt. 42
an instant," says Colonel Stewart " was the British
service deprived of one of its greatest honours, and
society of a character of singular worth, resembling
the heroes of romance."
For another long half-hour the contest continued
to rage, but somewhere before 2 P.M. the Danish fire
slackened, and a little later on ceased altogether
along the greater part of the line. Some of the
lighter vessels were adrift through their cables
having been parted by the cannon-shot. The car
nage on board the enemy is described as terrible,
owing to fresh crews coming off from the shore to
fight knee-deep amongst the dead upon decks which
the British guns had transformed into shambles.
There was much difficulty in taking possession of
the ships which had struck, partly because of the
fire of the Amag batteries, and partly because of
the shot discharged at the boats of the captors
by the fresh drafts, who seemed not to know that
the ships which they reinforced had hauled down
their colours. This was particularly the case with
the Dannebrog. She was on fire and had hauled
down her flag; the Commodore had removed his
pennant and deserted her; yet new hands clambered
over her side and, in ignorance of every right and
law and custom of war, fired at the boats which
approached to take possession. It needed a renewed
attack by the Elephant and Glatton to silence her.
As the smoke of these ships' guns cleared away the
Dannebrog was seen to be drifting in flames before
the wind, with her miserable crew throwing them
selves overboard from every port-hole.

1801] FCag of Truce. 187
It was at about half-past two that Nelson sent a
flag of truce ashore. He was determined to this
step by the behaviour of the enemy's reinforcements.
Walking right aft to the casing of the rudder-head,
he wrote the celebrated note addressed " To the
brothers of Englishmen, the Danes." In this com
munication he threatened to set fire to all the float
ing batteries he had taken unless the enemy discon
tinued hostilities. The letter was written and
carefully folded. Mr. Wallis, the Elephant's purser,
was for securing it with a wafer ; but Nelson would
not allow this to be done, and sent for a stick of
sealing-wax. The man who went on this errand
had his head taken off by a cannon-ball ; this was
reported to Nelson, who simply said : " Send an
other messenger for the wax." It was respectfully
submitted that there were wafers at hand. " Send
for the sealing-wax ! " he roared. The letter was
thereupon sealed with a great quantity of wax,
which was very carefully impressed with the Nelson
arms. He was asked why, at such a time, he at
tached so much importance to a circumstance ap
parently trifling. His answer was : " Had I made
use of a wafer it would have been still wet when the
letter was presented to the Crown Prince ; he would
have inferred that the letter was sent off in a hurry,
and that we had some very pressing reasons for
being in a hurry. The wax told no tales." * The

* Sir N. H. Nicolas finds this anecdote (given in Clarke and
M'Arthur) corroborated by a letter from Wallis, the then purser of
the Elephant, addressed to Haydon the painter, October ii, 1843. —
"Dispatches and Letters," vol. iv., p. 310.

1 88 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et.42
letter was taken ashore by Captain Thesiger, who
spoke fluently the Danish language.
Whilst the boat was absent the remainder of the
enemy's line to the eastward of the Trekroner
struck to the furious broadsides of the ships ahead
of the Elephant; their surrender was, however,
probably hastened by the approach of the Ramilies
and Defence, belonging to Admiral .Parker's Divi
sion. Meanwhile the firing from the Crown battery
continued, but this was silenced by direction of the
Danish Adjutant-General Lindholm, who arrived
with a flag of truce. " The action," Colonel Stewart
says, " lasted five hours," four of which were fiercely
contested. The Crown Prince's message was to
inquire the purport of Nelson's, whose reply ran
thus ; " Lord Nelson's object in sending on shore a
Flag of Truce is humanity ; he therefore consents
that hostilities shall cease till Lord Nelson can take
his prisoners out of the prizes, and he consents
to land all the wounded Danes and to burn or
remove his prizes." The letter concluded with some
sentences of empty civility. To provide against a
refusal of his offer, he had decided, after consulting
Foley and Fremantle, to remove the fleet from the
intricate channel whilst the wind held fair, that the
ships might be ready to act afresh. Lindholm on
his arrival was referred to Admiral Parker in the
London, and whilst he was gone a signal was made
for the Glatton, Elephant, Ganges, Defiance, and
Monarch to weigh in succession. The Monarch
grounded, but the Ganges fouled her amidships and
floated her off. The Glatton went clear; but the

1801] Suspension of Hostilities. 189
Defiance and Elephant ran aground at a distance of a
mile from the Crown battery and there they stuck.
Hostilities had ceased, otherwise these vessels must
have been in extreme danger from the adjacency of
the Crown battery, though it is confidently stated
that had the battle begun anew, measures easily
within the power of the British would have been
adopted for destroying the formidable battery.
These measures, according to Mr. Ferguson, the
surgeon of the Elephant were : as the flag of truce
left Nelson's ship, 1,500 of the choicest boarders of
the fleet entered fifty boats under the command of
Stewart and Fremantle. " The moment it could be
known that the flag of truce had been refused,
the boats were to have pushed for the batteries, and
the fire of every gun in the fleet would have covered
their approach." *
Nelson, leaving his stranded liner at four o'clock,
followed Lindholm to the London. His spirits were
depressed ; he appears to have been shocked by the
explosion of the Dannebrog and the dreadful slaugh
ter of the four or five hours of conflict. " Well," he
exclaimed, " I have fought contrary to orders and I
shall perhaps be hanged ; never mind, let them." It
was agreed that there should be a suspension of
hostilities for twenty-four hours, that all the prizes
should be surrendered, and the whole of the Danish
wounded sent on shore.
The Elephant went afloat at eight that night.
Nelson, in ignorance of this, remained on board the
St. George. At the very time when the crew of the
* Clarke and M'Arthur. II., 420.

1 90 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t£t. 42
ship in which he had commanded at the battle were
pumping, warping, straining every nerve to scrape
clear of the sand, Nelson in the cabin of the St. George
was writing a letter to Lady Hamilton and composing
verses to her. " My dearest friend," he says, " that
same Deity who has on many occasions protected
Nelson, has once more crowned his endeavours with
complete success. The difficulty of getting at the
Danes from sandbanks was our greatest enemy, for,
from that event it took us between four and five
hours to take all their floating batteries — this made
the battle severe. The Prince Royal of Denmark
was a spectator and nearly killed." This letter
ended, he went to work to produce some verses.
There has yet to be painted a picture of this
glorious Sailor of imperishable renown, seated in the
cabin of the St. George on the night of the day of the
fierce and bloody battle of the Baltic, biting the
feather of his pen whilst he labours in search of
rhymes. The night is still ; the dark, ice-cold waters
ripple stealthily along the bends ; the loud thunders
of the cannon, which sent a note of storm for miles
around, are now but a memory that yet makes
deeper the hush of night. What are the verses
which he produces ? They are thus headed :
"LORD NELSON TO HIS GUARDIAN ANGEL.

From my best cable tho' I 'm forced to part,
I leave my Anchor in my Angel's heart :
Love, like a pilot, shall the pledge defend,
And for a prong his happiest quiver lend.

18011 Guardian Angels. Ig I
ANSWER OF LORD NELSON'S GUARDIAN ANGEL.
Go where you list, each thought of Angel's (Emma's) soul
Shall follow you from Indus to the Pole :
East, west, north, south, our minds shall never part,
Your Angel's loadstone shall be Nelson's heart.
Farewell, and o'er the wide, wide sea,
Bright glory's course pursue,
And adverse winds to love and me
Prove fair to fame and you ;
And when the dreaded hour of battle 's nigh,
Your Angel's heart, which trembles at a sigh,
By your superior danger, bolder grown,
Shall dauntless place itself before your own,
Happy, thrice happy, should her fond heart prove
A shield to Valour, Constancy, and Love.
" St. George, April 2nd, 1801, 9 o'clock at night : very
tired after a hard-fought battle"
He writes to her and of her as his Guardian Angel.
He had two pictures of her with him ; they were in
the St. George, but when he shifted his flag to the
Elephant they were placed in his cabin on board that
ship ; and so he says to her on April the 5th : "You
must know you have been in the battle, for your
two pictures, one done by Miss Knight crowning the
Rostral Column, the other done at Dresden (I call
them my Guardian Angels ; and I believe there
would be more virtue in the prayers of Santa Emma
than of any saint in the whole calendar of Rome), I
carried on board the Elephant with me, and they are
safe, and so am I, not a scratch." His adoration even
begets emotions of superstition, for some time later
on we find him writing:"" I have, my dear Friend,
taken it into my head that within these few days

192 The Life of Horatio Nelson. \X\. 42
your picture has turned much paler than it used to
be ; it has made me quite uneasy. I hope to God
you have not been unwell, or any thing happened
which could make you look differently on me." *
Early next day (April 3d) as dawn was break
ing, he went in his gig to the Elephant, imagining
the ship to be still aground. Finding her water-
borne, he hastily breakfasted, and then made a tour
of the prizes. It was reported to him that the
Zealand, a Danish line-of-battle ship that had been
the last to strike and that still lay under the guns of
the Trekroner, had refused to acknowledge herself
captured, quibbling about the colours and the pen
nant not having been hauled down. Nelson went on
board the Elephanten, whose commander proved an
old acquaintance whom he had known in the West
Indies. His courtesy, the fascination which his
magnificent records communicated to his least ges
ture, look, or word, his bland but convincing argu
ments, were such that he not only gained the point
in dispute about the Zealand, but left the ship " as
much admired by his enemies as he had long been
by those who were his intimate friends." f
Brenton, in his account of the battle of Copen
hagen, has a curious story which must not be
omitted, though one could wish it based on a higher
authority. Apparently it was of the Zealand he
was thinking when he wrote, though he calls her
the Holstein. Be this as it may, he says : " She had
ceased firing long before the action was discon-
* Pettigrew. II., 60.
f Colonel Stewart.

1801] Story of the "Zealand!* 1 93
tinued in other parts of the line — her colours were
down, — and she was, at the conclusion of the day,
claimed as prize, and refused by the Danish officers
to be given up to us, her pennant being still at the
mast-head. Two British captains had been sent to
demand her, but both returned without effecting
their purpose. Nelson requested Sir Hyde Parker
would send Captain R. W. Otway on this service,
and he was despatched accordingly. As he went
alongside the ship he ordered the coxswain of his
boat, a bold, brazen-faced, impudent fellow, to go up
into the maintop of the Holstein and bring away the
pennant with him while Captain Otway was talking
with the commanding officer. The man punctually
executed his order, coming down from the mast
head with the pennant in his bosom, and placing
himself in his boat with the most perfect composure.
The mission having again failed, Captain Otway
repeated that the ship had struck her colours, and
was a prize ; it was at length agreed to refer the
question to the Danish Commodore, then in the
Arsenal and close to the Holstein. The Commodore,
in reply to Captain Otway 's demand, said that the
ship had not struck her colours, that her ensign had
been shot away, but that her pennant was still flying,
and begged Captain Otway to look at it. Captain
Otway soon convinced the mortified and astonished
Commodore that the pennant was not flying, and he
was compelled to own that the ship was British
property. Otway lost not a moment, but with the
assistance of the Ealing schooner cut the cables,
and towed her out from under the Crown batteries
13

194 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et.42
where she lay. The Danes found out the trick of
the pennant, and were very indignant ; but the ship
having struck in the action, the conduct of Captain
Otway and his coxswain was highly applauded." *
On the 4th of April, Nelson, accompanied by
Captains Hardy and Fremantle, visited the Prince
of Denmark ashore. It is said by some that he was
received by the populace with demonstrations of
respect and admiration, but Colonel Stewart, whose
accuracy in all other details of this passage of his
tory is unimpeachable, affirms that it needed a strong
guard to secure Nelson's safety. Negotiations lasted
from the 4th till the 9th, during which the fleet were
actively occupied in refitting and making ready to
bombard Copenhagen should hostilities be renewed.
On the 9th, Nelson again landed, and the crowd this
time was much more orderly. There was still a
difficulty ; the Danish commissioners honestly avowed
their apprehension of the Court of Russia. Nelson
bluntly informed them that his reason for demanding
a sixteen weeks' armistice was that he might have
time to deal with the Russian fleet and then return
to them, the Danes! There was much argument
and hesitation, and one of the commissioners, speak
ing in French, hinted at a renewal of hostilities.
Nelson, catching at the words, turned to a friend and
exclaimed, with heat : " Renew hostilities ! Tell
him that we are ready in a moment ; ready to bom
bard this very night ! " The commissioner apologised.
Nevertheless, the duration of the armistice could
not be settled, and the conference broke up that the
* Brenton's " Naval History," vol. i., p. 533.

1801] Danish Losses. 195
Crown Prince might be consulted. A grand dinner
had been prepared, and the Prince led the way to
the apartment in which the banquet was to be
held. All the state-rooms had been denuded of
their furniture in anticipation of the bombardment ;
Nelson, leaning on the arm of a friend as he went
upstairs, and glancing round him, dryly whispered :
" Though I 've only one eye I see all this will burn
very well." He sat on the right of the Prince, and
there was much apparent cordiality. They were
afterwards closeted, and eventually the Prince agreed
to an armistice of fourteen weeks' duration.
The damage done the enemy's defences amounted
very nearly to annihilation. Most of the floating
hulks were literally cannonaded into staves. James
is of Colonel Stewart's opinion, that the ships would
have been knocked to pieces in much less time than
four hours had Nelson been suffered by his hesitat
ing and misgiving North Country pilots to occupy a
closer position. Commodore Fischer reckoned the
loss on his, the Danish, side at about 1,800 men. In
the British fleet the killed numbered 253 and the
wounded 688. The Danish hulks and block-ships
were thus disposed of : the Provesteen, Wagner, Jut
land, Suersishen, Cronburg, and Hajen were taken
and burnt ; the Rensburg drove on the shoals and
was burnt; the Nyburg and the Aggerstans sank;
the Zealand was burnt ; the Charlotte-Amelia was
burnt along with the Sohesten ; the Indosforethen was
also burnt, but the Holstein was re-equipped and
carried away.
The Danes fought nobly, but it is idle to attempt

1 96 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L£t. 42
any comparison between their courage and the in
trepidity of the British. Their line of defence might
have been deemed impregnable of itself, seeing that
the bulk of their vessels were mere floating batteries,
bristling with ordnance, and filled with men ; with
out spars to fall, or manoeuvres to execute. To
this must be added the navigation of waters un
known to the British, and rendered inexpressibly
complicated and perilous by shoals. But there was
no sea difficulty that the genius of Nelson was
unable to surmount. By the help of the lead he
felt his way to the enemy's side, with just such
patience as a Channel pilot would exhibit off the
Goodwin Sands in thick weather. His war pro
gramme was perfect ; he knew his captains and his
men ; he had confidence in them, and their faith in
him was a magnificent enthusiasm. The glory of
the issue is the more remarkable because of the sort
of half-heartedness with which the conflict was en
tered into. The Danes were in truth the brothers
of the English, as they still are ; it was the wish of
the British Court, and the Admiralty instructions
accentuated it, that Sir Hyde Parker's posture
should be one of conciliation, down to the moment
when the Danes should render a friendly attitude
no longer possible. Yet there was nothing in the
peaceful disposition of the British to weaken or
in any way impair their extraordinary prowess the
instant hostilities began. It cannot be said that
they fought the Danes as they fought the French.
There was no burning hate, no consuming desire
to extinguish. But whatever the sentiment of the

1801] Heroism of Young Welmoes. 197
occasion might be, before all things Victory must
be with the British flag ! and Nelson and his men
contrived that it should be so.
Yet, as has been said, the Danes proved foes
worthy of the conquering nation which they opposed.
An instance of individual courage and devotion must
find a place here. A mere lad named Welmoes, not
yet seventeen, had the command of a praam, a kind
of raft, armed with six small cannon, with a crew of
twenty-four men. He pushed or " poled " off from
the shore to under the stern of the Elephant, Nelson's
ship, and attacked her. The marines aboard the
flag-vessel let fly amongst the gallant little band, and
the slaughter was terrible. Twenty of the twenty-
four courageous fellows fell, killed or wounded by
the leaden storm, but their boy-commander, standing
up to his waist amongst the dead, remained at his
post until the truce was proclaimed. Nelson could
not view such heroism in one so young without
admiration. At the banquet at the palace, he is
recorded to have spoken in raptures of the bravery
of the Danes, and particularly requested the Prince
to introduce him to young Welmoes. This was
done ; he embraced the lad, and turning to the
Prince said that the young fellow deserved to be
made an admiral of. " If, my Lord," was the
answer, " I were to make all my brave officers
admirals, I should have no captains or lieutenants in
my service."
On the 1 2th of April, Admiral Parker sailed from
Copenhagen road, leaving behind him the St. George
and one or two frigates. The difficult channel

198

The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[/Et. 42

of the Grounds had to be passed through, and to
manage this most of the men-of-war transshipped
their guns into merchant vessels. Many of them
went ashore, but all eventually contrived to go clear,
and to the amazement of Danes, Swedes, Russians,
and Prussians, the fleet entered the Baltic by a
channel that had been thought impracticable.

V^Q>£JW1 — .-

CHAPTER XV.

Pursuit of the fleet in a boat — Blind
Mrs. Nelson — Nelson at Revel — Personal
habits — Investiture of Rear-Admiral Graves
— Rev. W. Nelson — No medals for Copen
hagen — Return to England — Fears of inva
sion — In the Downs — Purchase of Merton
Place — Death of Capt. Parker — Nelson's
irritability.
N the 18th of April the St. George
discharged her guns into a Yankee
vessel and was ready to follow Sir Hyde; but
on a sudden the wind came ahead. Nelson, who
was on board the St. George, received notice next
day that the Swedish fleet had been sighted by
a look-out frigate. His plans were not to be
dominated by the winds. He ordered a cutter to
be lowered, and with Briarly, the mate of the
Bellona, started with six oars to join the Commander-
in-chief, in defiance of an adverse breeze and strong
current, and of a distance of twenty-four miles
to be measured. The air was " nipping and eager,"
but Nelson refused to wait even for a boat-cloak.
He jumped into the cutter, calling for Briarly to
accompany him. " All I had ever seen or heard cf
him could not," says Briarly who relates the storyl
199

200 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t. 42
"half so clearly prove to me the singular and un
bounded zeal of this truly great man. His anxiety
in the boat for nearly six hours lest the fleet should
have sailed before he got on board one of them, and
lest we should not catch the Swedish squadron, is
beyond all conception. I will quote some expres
sions in his own words. It was extremely cold and
I wished him to put on a great-coat of mine which
was in the boat : ' No, I am not cold. My anxiety
for my country will keep me warm. Do you think
the fleet has sailed ? ' — ' I should suppose not, my
Lord.' — ' If they have we will follow them to
Carlscrona in the boat, by God ! ' " This place
was fifty leagues distant ! He reached the Elephant
at midnight and Briarly returned to the St. George.
He could not, however, with impunity thus risk his
health. This five hours' row in a bitter cold night
in an open boat nearly drove him into a decline.
A week later he was seized with a terrible spasm of
the heart that almost killed him. " From that time,"
he writes to Lady Hamilton under date of June, " to
the end of May I brought up what everyone thought
was my lungs, and I was emaciated more than you
can conceive." To this period belongs an illustration
of his fine nature. His brother Maurice died on the
24th of April. Nelson had been in ignorance of his
home life ; in other words he did not know that the
woman who passed as Mrs. Maurice Nelson was not
his brother's wife. Her name was Ford ; she had lived
with Maurice many years, lost her sight and become
a cripple. On hearing of his brother's death, he at
once wrote to Davison to do " every thing which is

18011 Commander-in-chief in the Baltic. 201
right for his (brother's) poor blind wife." And thus
he addresses the afflicted lady himself : " My dear
Mrs. Nelson, you are and ever shall be considered by
me as the honoured widow of my dear brother ; and
before I knew in what circumstances he had left you I
had desired our good friend, Mr. Davison, to take care
of you in every manner which could make you com
fortable ; and I can assure you that I consider myself
as only a faithful steward, and that if any more
income is wanted than the interest of my brother's
little fortune, that I shall have great pleasure in
supplying it, for he was too generous to be rich." *
On the 23d of April Sir Hyde Parker received
dispatches from the Russian Ambassador at Copen
hagen, containing proposals of a pacific character
from Alexander I., who had succeeded the Czar
Paul. The fleet, on this, returned to Kioge Bay,
and shortly afterwards Sir Hyde sailed for England,
leaving the command in the Baltic to Nelson. His
first act was to make the signal to hoist in all
launches and prepare to weigh. This was on the
7th of May. The ships now numbered seventeen
sail-of-the-line, a 54- and a 50-gun ship, with a few
frigates and smaller vessels. Of these, eight were
left to cruise off Carlscrona under Captain Murray,
and Nelson, with the remainder, headed with all
dispatch for the Gulf of Finland. Revel Roads was
reached on the 12th, but there was no Russian fleet
to be seen ; it had, indeed, been liberated by the
* The poor blind lady received an annuity of one hundred pounds
a year from Nelson until his death. She was afterwards assisted by
Lady Hamilton, and died about 1811,

202 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[>ct. 42

breaking up of the ice three days before, and sailed
for Cronstadt. Nelson's intentions were pacific, but
he was by no means convinced of the friendly dis
position of the Russians. On anchoring at Revel
a message touching a question of salutes to be fired,
was sent to the Governor. A salute from the shore
was promised, but the complimentary thunder of
the British was unacknowledged. Nelson again sent
to demand the reason of this neglect, and learned
that it was owing to the misconduct of the officer
commanding the artillery, who was now under arrest.
Nevertheless, the Russians did not return the salute
till next day.
On the 16th of May a communication was received
from St. Petersburg, expressing surprise at the arrival
of a British fleet in a Russian port, and declining
Nelson's proposed visit to the capital if he brought
with him more than a single ship. There came with
this letter another from the Governor, desiring that
the fleet should retire from the anchorage of Revel.
Nelson was much agitated. He took his place at
the dinner table but said little, and in the course of
the meal quitted his seat and sent for his secretary
to read the answer he had been meditating, and had
withdrawn to write. His answer being despatched,
the signal to weigh was made, and before dark the
ships were standing as far to sea as was considered
safe. Colonel Stewart * gives some interesting particulars

* This gallant officer's excellent account of the battle of Copenhagen
will be found in Clarke and M'Arthur. Nelson was fortunate in his
"special correspondents." Nothing could be better than Drink-

'it*illlllil||

¦/if

(rO

LORD NELSON, K. B.
AFTER A PAINTING BY A. W. DEVIS.

1801] Personal Habits. 203
of Nelson's personal habits at this time. He rose
every morning between four and five o'clock, break
fasted at six, sometimes much earlier, and was in
bed by ten. The breakfast-party always included
one or two midshipmen, and he would often, during
the middle-watch — that is, between twelve and four
o'clock, — send the little fellows an invitation to break
fast after they should come off duty at four o'clock.
A treat indeed for the lads to look forward to ! At
table he would joke with the merriest of them and
be the most youthful of the party. At dinner every
officer of the ship was his guest in turn, and Colonel
Stewart describes him as a host in an eminent degree
polished and hospitable. The whole business of the
fleet was invariably despatched before eight o'clock.
No man ever more keenly appreciated the value of
time. In conversing once with General Twiss, Nel
son exclaimed : " Time, Twiss — time is everything.
Five minutes make the difference between a victory
and a defeat." His example in this respect com
municated such a spirit of alertness throughout his
ships as could only be thoroughly understood by
those who bore a part in the discipline and routine
of the fleet.
At Rostock he was received with the utmost ven
eration. Deputations from distant inland towns
came aboard the St. George to request that he would
write his name in the public books of record they

water's "St. Vincent," than Cooper Wyllyam's "Nile," or than
Stewart's "Copenhagen." Dr. Scott, the chaplain of Nelson, missed
a magnificent opportunity at Trafalgar. Probably because through-
out the battle he was, for the most part, in the cockpit.

204 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[>£t. 42

brought with them. Boats hung about the flag
ship filled with people eager to catch a glimpse
of him. But he did not again land ; his mind was
ill at ease, and when there was anxiety with him his
health invariably suffered.
The St. George made her last cruise with Nelson's
flag flying off Bornholm between the 9th and 13th
of June, on which day he received the official
sanction to return to England, together with in
structions from the King to invest Rear-Admiral
Graves with the Order of the Bath. There is a de
scription of this investiture in the Naval Chronicle.*
A chair was placed on the grating of the skylight on
the quarter-deck, with the Royal Standard suspended
over it ; a guard was ranged on each side. Nelson
came up the ladder first, and made three reverences
to the chair, which represented the Throne. Cap
tain Parker bore the sword of state — the sword that
had been presented to Nelson by the captains who
had fought under him at the Nile ; all the captains
of the fleet in full-dress uniforms attended. On
Rear-Admiral Graves being introduced, he bowed
thrice to the Throne and once to Nelson, then knelt,
and Nelson laid the sword upon him, afterwards
placing the Riband on the new knight's shoulder, and
the Star on his left breast. After a short speech
from Nelson the whole fleet fired a salute of twenty-
one guns, and the Standard was hauled down.
Nelson was made a Viscount for the battle of
Copenhagen. The patent of entail of his rank was
announced in August, 1801, though the creation,
* Vol. v., 532.

JfvJr^ odMt-n^

^ -fr &? /"*^*y<

From Pettigrew' s " Life of Nelson?

1801] Created a Viscount. 205
according to Nicolas, dated from May 22d. The
preface to the patent ran thus : " His Majesty is
graciously pleased, in consideration of the great and
important services that Renowned Man, Horatio
Viscount Nelson, hath rendered to his King and
Country ; and in order to perpetuate to the latest
posterity the remembrance of his Glorious Actions,
and to incite others to imitate his Example, to grant
the dignity of a Baron of his United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland to the said Horatio Vis
count Nelson, K.B., and Vice-Admiral of the Blue
Squadron of His Majesty's Fleet, &c, &c., &c, by
the name, style, and title of Baron Nelson of the
Nile and of Hilborough, in his County of Norfolk."
By this patent of entail the extinction of the
Barony from failure of heirs male was provided
against. It was to go to his father; failing him or
male issue of his body, it was to extend to the heirs
male of Nelson's sisters, Mrs. Bolton, and next Mrs.
Matcham. The Rev. William Nelson, of whom the Hero
would sometimes write to Lady Hamilton in some
what contemptuous terms,* — this gentleman who had
a deal of the prig in him, who sat at Lady Hamil
ton's feet when he believed she had influence
enough to obtain preferment for him, and who
neglected and wronged her after Nelson's death —
* " My brother has a bluntness, and a want of fine feelings, which
we are not used to ; but he means nothing." (Feb. 16, 1801.) —
" Reverend Sir you will find a great bore at times, therefore he ought
to amuse himself all the mornings, and not always to dine with you,
as Sir William may not like it." (March 1, 1801.) — Pettigrew. I.,
126-434.

206 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t. 42
this Rev. William Nelson, who makes the very
shabbiest of figures in the books which have been
written about his brother, and who, after Trafalgar,
became the first Earl Nelson, was not a little aston
ished by the family behaviour when news came
of the honours to be conferred on Horatio. " My
dear I ady Hamilton," he writes on August 6, 1801,
dating his letter at Hilborough, " you can easily
conceive what joy your letter gave me this morn
ing ; thank God our great, glorious, and invincible
friend is safe. I was at Swaffham when I received
it, and read the Gazette honours to my father. He
made but little observation upon it, only said he
liked him as well plain Horace as with all these high-
sounding titles ; that may be true, but still I could
have wished him to have appeared pleased with the
prospect of his family honours descending to his
posterity, and I could not help remarking to him,
that we ought not to be like the selfish man, who is
reported to have said : ' Why should I care for
posterity, for posterity never cared for me ? ' Mrs.
Bolton made no remarks, nor seemed in the least
elated or pleased ; indeed, to say the truth, there
appears a gloom about them all, for what reason
I cannot devise, unless they are uneasy." They
were probably uneasy at the prospect of the Rev.
William one day inheriting honours which he could
not but deform. Yet the title came ultimately,
in the shape of an Earldom, to the posterity of that
same Mrs. Bolton, who was one of the uneasy ones.
There were no medals given for Copenhagen.
Nelson felt this bitterly down to the latest hour
of his life. For himself he was sensible with most

1801] No Medals for Copenhagen. 207
men that the title of Viscount was an inadequate
recognition of the magnificent services he had done
his country. But he felt also yet more bitterly that
his own honours were attended with but the scanti
est inclusion of the claims of those who had enabled
him to achieve a glorious and all-important victory.
So late as June, 1804, the King's neglect of the offi
cers and men of the fleet who had won the battle of
Copenhagen was pressing with heavy vexation upon
his loyal, generous heart. " I am aware," he wrote
to Lord Melville, at this date, " that his Majesty
has the most undisputed right to bestow Medals, or
to with-hold them as he pleases. No man admits it
more fully than, myself ; but, my Lord, I turn back
to the 1st of June, 1794 ; from that moment I have
ever considered that his Majesty, by implication,
pronounced these words to his fleet, holding forth
the Medal : ' This, my Fleet, is the great reward
which I will bestow for great and important victories
like the present ! ' Considering this as a solemn
pledge, his Majesty gave it as a reward for the
Battles of St. Vincent, of Camperdown, and the
Nile : then comes the most difficult achievement,
the hardest fought battle, the most glorious result
that ever graced the Naval Annals of our Country :
the Medal is withheld, for what reason Lord St.
Vincent best knows." The reason probably was, the
King was opposed to the memorialisation of a pas
sage in his reign which he desired to see buried in
oblivion. Yet this battle, for which no medals were
given, broke up the menacing Northern Confedera
tion, defeated the subtle policy of France, caused
the Russians and the Swedes to take off the embargo

208 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l^Et. 42
that had been laid on British vessels in their ports,
and re-established amicable relations between Great
Britain and the three Northern Powers.
Nelson left the Baltic in a small brig, the Kite, on
the 19th of June, and arrived at Yarmouth on the
1st of July. A paragraph in the Naval Chronicle
of 1801, announcing his return to England, states
that immediately on landing he went to the hos
pital to visit the sick and wounded men who had
been brought there after the battle of Copenhagen.
The Wrestlers' Inn, made famous by his visits to it,
was now called Nelson's Hotel ; having taken some
refreshment at that house he left Yarmouth at five
o'clock in the afternoon, and was accompanied as far
as Lowestoft by a troop of cavalry. On his arrival
in London he took up his residence at Sir William
Hamilton's, in Piccadilly. A party consisting of the
Rev. William and Mrs. Nelson, their son and daugh
ter, and Nelson's favourite, Captain E. T. Parker,
had assembled to meet him. London was hot and
deserted ; Sir William Hamilton was. fond of fishing;
Lady Hamilton considered a frequent change of air
necessary to Nelson's health ; so the whole party
went to Box Hill, and afterwards to the Bush Inn, at
Staines. The members of the party were described
with some humour by Lord WiHiam Gordon in a
copy of verses addressed to Lady Hamilton. He
laments his inability to join them at the Bush Inn :
" There to have witnessed Father Thames's pride
While Anthony by Cleopatra's side —
While you, I mean, and Henry, — in a wherry,
Are cheek by jole afloat there, making merry."

1801] Fears of an Invasion. 209
" Henry " was, of course, Nelson. The holiday was
of short duration. Alarming rumours of the in
tended invasion of England by France had been for
some time current. There was great activity along
the Dutch, French, and Flemish shores. Camps had
been formed at Ostend, at Boulogne, and between
Gravelines and Dunkirk ; and more significant yet
was the assurance that the naval force of France
combined with that of Spain represented a fleet of
fifty-two ships of the line lying in the harbour of
Brest. It is pretended that the alarm in this country
was not very great, but it is certain that ministers
considered it sufficiently lively to be worth allaying.
There was but one remedy, and that must be Nelson.
Yet the command that was now given to him was
unworthy of his genius and fame — far fitter, indeed,
for an Orde, a Calder, or a Ludwidge than for the
Hero of the Nile and of Copenhagen. He was ap
pointed by a Commission, bearing date the 24th
of July, Commander-in-chief of a squadron of the
king's ships to be employed in the defence of the
mouths of the Thames and Medway, and of the
coasts of Sussex, Kent, and Essex. The Amazon
was to be prepared for his reception ; but meanwhile
he was to hoist his flag aboard any ship he might
choose of his squadron, and to cruise off the districts
named and watch the coast.
On the 27th of July his flag was flying on board
the Unite" frigate at Sheerness. He wrote, under
this date, humorously to his dearest Emma : " To
day I dined with Admiral Graeme, who has also lost
his right arm, and as the Commander of the Troops
14

2 1 0 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t£t. 42
has lost his leg, I expect we shall be caricatured as
the lame defenders of England." Captain Parker,
who was with him, describes Nelson's health as at
this time extremely good. He was received at
Sheerness " by the acclamations of the people, who
looked with wild and most affectionate amazement
at him, who was once more going to step forward in
defence of his country." * With wonderful rapidity
he gave orders, dealing with thirty of the ships
under his command. The moment he appeared,
everything was in motion. His movements may be
followed, to an extent, in his correspondence with
Lady Hamilton. On July 29th he left Sheerness
for Deal, halting on his way at Faversham to ex
amine into the state of a 'longshore force, called the
Sea Fencibles, which had been raised by Captain,
afterwards Sir, Home Popham in 1799 for the de
fence of the coast. He arrived at Deal at nine
o'clock, and went to 'the house of his old friend,
Admiral Ludwidge, where he supped, not having
tasted a morsel since seven in the morning. Next
morning he hoisted his flag aboard the Leyden, 64 ;
but, meanwhile, he had sent for the Medusa frigate,
in which ship, he tells Lady Hamilton, he means to
go over to the coast of France.
On the 3d of August his flag was flying aboard the
Medusa. There were about thirty vessels, great and
small, under his charge, and with this force he
weighed for Boulogne — the central rendezvous of
the grand flotilla, — where was to be assembled, ac-
* E. T. Parker to Lady Hamilton. " Parker," writes Nelson, " sits
next me to cut my meat when I want it done.'' — Pettigrew, II., 135.

1801] In the Downs. 2 1 1
cording to Buonaparte's order, dated 12th of July,
nine divisions of gun-vessels, nine battalions of
troops, with several detachments of artillery, under
the command of Rear-Admiral La Touche-Treville.
This flotilla was bombarded by Nelson on the 4th
of August. The craft consisted of twenty-four brigs,
lugger-rigged flats, and a schooner ; of which three
flats and a brig were sunk, and others driven on
shore. The French represent the damage as much
smaller than this. It was, in any case, inconsider
able. On the 15th there was another attempt.
The armed boats of Nelson's squadron were formed
into four divisions, and at half-past eleven o'clock at
night put off from the Medusa in excellent order ;
but the tide completed the work of the obscurity of
the hour, and the boats separated. The first divi
sion, under Captain Somerville, was swept to the
eastward of Boulogne. A brig was attacked and
carried, but she was secured by a chain, and nothing
could be done with her. In this affair, eighteen
of the English were killed and fifty-five wounded.
The second division, under Captain Parker, impetu
ously boarded an enemy's brig, but were repulsed,
with the loss of twenty-one killed and forty-two
wounded, amongst the latter being Parker, whose
wound proved fatal. The attempts of the third
division, under Captain Cotgrave, were equally fruit
less, and the loss amongst them was five killed and
twenty-nine wounded. The fourth division, under
Captain Jones, was carried so far to the eastward
by the tide that it was unable to co-operate, and
returned profitlessly to the Squadron.

212 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [>Et. 43
Amidst all the anxieties, however, of his Downs'
command, Nelson could find leisure to give expres
sion to a wish that had been uppermost for some
time ; namely, that Lady Hamilton should purchase
for him a good, comfortable house. Upon this sub
ject he writes to her on August the 15th, heading his
letter " Medusa, off Boulogne." The commission
was accepted by his " Guardian Angel," and it re
sulted in her choosing for him what Mr. J. C. Jeaf
freson calls " a cheery, well-built, homely villa, skirted
with shrubberies, nestled in finely timbered paddocks,
and within an easy drive from Hyde Park Corner."*
The property was called Merton Place. Sir William
Hamilton, on the 16th of October, wrote thus of
his wife's investment of Nelson's money : " I have
lived with our dear Emma several years. I know
her merit, have a great opinion of the head and
heart that God Almighty has been pleased to give
her, but a seaman alone could have given a fine
woman full power to choose and fit up a residence
for him without seeing it himself." But Merton
Place was merely another form of Nelson's old quarter
deck dream of a cottage ; only instead of Fanny it
was to be Emma. " It would make you laugh," Sir
William goes on in this same letter, " to see Emma
and her mother f fitting up pig-stys and hen-coops,
and already the canal is enlivened with ducks, and
the cock is strutting with his hens about the walks." %
Meanwhile he had been grieved to the heart by
* " Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson," vol. ii., p. 237.
f She was called " Mrs. Cadogan."
\ Pettigrew. II., 224.

1801] Death of Captain Parker. 2 1 3
the death of his favourite little Parker, his " gallant
good friend and able assistant," as he called him.
He had been shot in the thigh, and the bone was
broken in three places. He died on the 27th of
September, after languishing in great suffering, some
times inspiring hope, but most often despaired of.
" Dear Parker," writes Nelson to Lady Hamilton,
" left this world for a better at nine o'clock; I be
lieve we ought to thank God. He suffered much,
and can suffer no more. I have no one to comfort
me." And in a postscript to the letter he exclaims :
"My heart is almost broke, and I see I have wrote
nonsense ; I know not what I am doing." The re
mains of the gallant fellow — and gallant and good
we may be sure he was, to have won the love of
Nelson — were interred at Deal in the burial-ground
of St. George's Church. Nelson took care that the
funeral should be conducted with all the honours
which were due to his deceased friend's rank and
admirable character. He attended as chief mourner.
The ships in the Downs flew their pennants at half-
mast high ; their yards were cock-billed as an ex
pression of mourning, and until the hour of noon
minute guns were fired from the Amazon and the
shore alternately. The cost of the burial Nelson
himself defrayed. " The Admiralty," he tells Lady
Hamilton (September 20th), " have refused to bury
Captain Parker. He might have stunk above ground,
or been thrown in a ditch ; the expense of that and
lodging, etc., has cost me near £200, and I have taken,
poor fellow, all his debts on myself, if the creditors
will give me a little time to find the money."

214 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l/Et. 43
In September, whilst still wearily holding his com
mand in the Downs, in bad health and suffering
much from mental depression, he was attacked by a
rogue named Hill in a pamphlet or paper which pro
fessed to consist of remarks on the Boulogne affair.
The fellow, who called himself " a seaman," impu
dently forwarded his little bundle of trash to Nelson
with a note in which he said that if the Admiral
desired the " enclosed not to be inserted in the
newspapers, he will please to inclose by return of post
a banknote of ^uo to Mr. Hill, to be left at the
Post Office till called for, London." Nelson wrote to
the Secretary of the Admiralty to request their
Lordships to send proper people " to take up
whoever comes for Mr. Hill's letter." A porter
applied and was seized, but the fellow either did not
or would not know his employer. In spite of the
Admiralty's action, however, Nelson thought proper
to write to the villain as follows : " Mr. Hill, — Very
likely I am unfit for my present command, and
whenever Government change me, I hope they will
find no difficulty in selecting an officer of greater
abilities ; but you will, I trust, be punished for
threatening my character. But I have not been
brought up in the school of fear, and therefore care
not what you do. I defy you and your malice. —
Nelson and Bronte."
His command in the Downs was of a kind to fill
him with disgust. " I own, my dear Lord," he writes
to St. Vincent (August 13th), " that this Boat-warfare
is not exactly congenial to my feelings, and I find I
get laughed at for my puny mode of attack." Day

1801] Sickness and Irritability. 215
after day he lay rolling in that famous roadstead, as
seasick as a young lady, divorced from his friends,
ill of a bowel complaint, and without an oppor
tunity of further distinction. Little wonder that he
felt sore and wrote sorely, with the memories of St.
Vincent, and the Nile, and Copenhagen fresh in
him. The contrast established by this bleak, bare,
uncomfortable duty of sentinelling could not but
prove fruitful of mortification and angry reflection.
He found Deal the coldest place in the world. Of
Troubridge, who was now one of " My Lords," he can
not speak with too much anger. " Troubridge writes
me," he exclaims, " that as the weather is set in fine
again he hopes I shall get walks on shore ! He is, I
suppose, laughing at me." " I believe the fault is
all his," he writes again (October 14th) of his old
friend, " and he ought to have recollected that I got
him the medal of the Nile. Who upheld him when
he would have sunk under grief and mortification?
Who placed him in such a situation in the Kingdom
of Naples that he got, by my public letter, titles, the
Colonelcy of Marines, diamond-boxes, from the King
of Naples, 1,000 ounces in money, for no expenses
that I know of? Who got him .£500 a year from
the King of Naples? And however much he may
abuse him, his pension will be regularly paid. Who
brought his character into notice? Look at my
public letters. Nelson, that Nelson that he now
Lords it over. So much for gratitude. I forgive
him, but, by God, I shall not forget it ! He enjoys
showing his power over me. Nevermind; altogether
it will shorten my days. The day is very bad —

2 1 6 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t. 43
blows, rains, and a great sea ; my complaint is re
turned from absolutely fretting; and was it not for
the kindness of all about me, they, damn them,
would have done me up long ago."
Sir Harris Nicolas suggests, and probably with
justice, that much of this irritability in Nelson was
owing to the wound that he had received in the head
at the Nile. Certainly he had no rational reason to
doubt Troubridge's love for and loyalty to him.
But, as has been said, his melancholy situation in
the Downs would also account for many effusions
of temper. To be lying at anchor for days at a
time, restlessly tossed by the short staggering run of
the Foreland seas; to be nipped by the advanced
autumn winds of an exposed roadstead ; to hold
within view for weeks nothing gayer than the flat
foreshore of the Sandwich district and the small sea-
fronting structures of the town of Deal, with its
stretch of shingle and depressing play of surf ; to be
so much the sport of the capricious weather of that
part of the British coast as often to be unable to
send a letter ashore, and when on shore to be hin
dered by the breakers foaming upon the beach from
regaining the ship : this was Nelson's life at this
time, and it needs but a very small appreciation of
the character of these tedious, uneventful experi
ences of his to sympathise with the irritability that
possessed him when he directed his thoughts to
"My Lords."

CHAPTER XVI.

Political speeches — St. Vincent on
Canada — Death of Rev. E. Nelson
— Nelson and the Hamiltons — Visit
to Wales — War with France — Buona
parte and Lord Whitworth — Nelson's income —
Death of Sir Wm. Hamilton — Appointed Com
mander-in-chief on the Mediterranean station —
Letter from the King of Naples — Blockading —
A revolution in sea-affairs — Crazy ships — Fears
for his eyesight — Bay of Palmas.
E was released on leave, and on the
22d of October went to Merton, his
own property, which he had not before visited. On
the 29th he took his seat in the House of Lords, his
introducers being Viscounts Sydney and Hood. Of
the few speeches he delivered there is not much to be
said beyond that they have every characteristic of a
plain, honest, sagacious, sailorly mind. In that of the
3d of November, however, it is remarkable to find
Nelson, who was eminent before all things for fore
sight, ridiculing the possession of the Cape of Good
Hope by the British. He contemptuously described
Table Bay as a tavern, useful merely for ships to
look into during the voyage to India. When the

2 1 8 The Life of Horatio 'Nelson. t/Et. 43
Dutch, he said, had it, a cabbage was to be bought
for twopence, but since the settlement had come
into English hands the price of a cabbage was a shil
ling. It was only to be held at an enormous expense,
and it was without usefulness to justify the cost it
put the country to. This may be paralleled by Lord
St. Vincent's prophecy respecting Canada. When,
in 1783, Lord Shelburne's peace was signed, Jervis
was sent for, that his opinion might be taken.
" There is a great omission ! " he exclaimed. — " In
what? " — " In leaving Canada as a British province."
— " How could we possibly give it up ? " asked Lord
Shelburne. — " How can you hope to keep it ? " re
joined the Admiral. " With an English Republic
just established on the side of Canada, and with a
handful of English settled among a body of heredi
tary Frenchmen — it is impossible : and rely on it,
you only retain a running sore, the source of endless
disquiet and expense." — " Would the country bear
it ? Have you forgotten Wolfe and Quebec ? " asked
Lord Shelburne. — " Forgotten Wolfe and Quebec ? "
cried the Admiral, " No ! it is because I remember
both ! I served with Wolfe at Quebec ; having
lived so long I have had full time for reflection on
this matter, and my clear opinion is that if this fair
occasion for giving up Canada is neglected nothing
but difficulty in either keeping or resigning it will ever
after be known." * It is well for Britons that their his
tory is something more than the outcome of prophecy.
The character of Nelson's relations with Lady
Hamilton was seemingly unsuspected even by those
* Edinburgh Review, vol. lxix., 41.

1801-3] Death of his Father. 219
who lived in intimate association with them. Sir
William certainly saw nothing. The Rev. William
thought her ladyship very good company for his
wife. The Rev. Edmund, Nelson's father, was will
ing, and indeed auxious, to live with his son and the
Hamiltons at Merton Place. It was intended that
he should take up his abode there in May of 1802,
after wintering at Bath, but his death ended the
project. He died at Bath on the 26th of April,
aged seventy-nine, and was buried at Burnham
Thorpe. Nelson was ill at the time, and deeply
felt the loss of a parent whom, spite of a quality of
cold, formal, and insipid piety of a sort to excite the
disgust of those who follow its expressions in books
or in letters, he loved, honoured, and dutifully cher
ished to the end.
Though we find Nelson in 1802 living at Merton
with Sir William and Lady Hamilton, he was still
in command between Orfordness and Beachy Head,
and therefore on leave only ; nor did he strike his
flag until the 10th of April. His resentment of the
neglect of the claims of those who had fought with
him at Copenhagen was vehement at this time. He
declined to receive a vote of thanks from the Lon
don Court of Common Council for his conduct in
the Downs and off Boulogne, because the City had
not approvingly and formally recognised the battle
of Copenhagen. He refused for this reason to pub
licly dine with the Lord Mayor. His loyalty to his
comrades, no matter where they had fought to
gether, was constant, and in its efforts on their be
half unwearying. Never was chief more beloved by

220 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt.43
those who served with and under him, nor did the
veneration and awe his extraordinary character ex
cited impair the simplicity of the whole-hearted
sailorly affection with which he was followed by
shipmate and by messmate.
In July he proceeded to Wales in company with
the Hamiltons and the Rev. William Nelson, Mrs.
Nelson, and son. The object of this excursion was
to view Milford Haven and observe the improve
ments made by Mr. C. F. Greville upon the estate
of his uncle Sir William Hamilton. At Oxford
Nelson was presented with the Freedom of the City
in a gold box. Blenheim was visited, but the Duke
of Marlborough declined to receive the party. Re
freshments were sent to them as they might be sent
to a set of Cockney excursionists on a holiday jaunt
by a considerate but exclusive proprietor of a spot
ranking among the local sights ; but the Nelson party
refused to partake of his Grace's hospitality thus
proffered. Pettigrew endeavours to account for this
act of singular incivility to the renowned naval war
rior by speaking of the Duke's shy and retiring hab
its and of the absence of the usual ceremonials of
introductory etiquette ; but Mr. J. C. Jeaffreson more
correctly surmises that the ladies of the Marlborough
family did not desire the honour of Lady Hamil
ton's acquaintance. Wherever they went bells were
rung, the streets were filled with huzzaing crowds,
guns were fired, militiamen turned out, and bands
of music played martial strains. At Breckon and
at Milford his reception was especially enthusiastic.
At this last-named place Mr. Greville (choosing the

SNUFF-BOX MADE FROM THE WOOD OF ' L'ORIENT."

MEDAL FOR THE BATTLE OF THE NILE.

1801-3] War with France. 221
1st of August) invited all the nobility and gentry
of the district to a fete in commemoration of Nel
son's visit and the victory of the Nile. At Haver-
ford West the crowd drew his carriage through the
streets, and at Swansea he was dragged in triumph
by a body of sailors. The tour was rather a royal
progress than an excursion. He passed under tri
umphal arches ; bishops carried him to view the
cathedrals ; freedoms were showered upon him ;
medals were struck to commemorate his visits, and
dense throngs carrying hundreds of lighted torches
escorted him from the theatre to his hotel. The
journey greatly improved his health, and on the 5th
of September be returned to Merton in the highest
degree delighted by the often magnificent and
always affectionate reception he had met with.
Preliminaries of peace were agreed upon, October
the 1st, 1 801 ; but the Treaty was not signed till seven
months later, namely, March the 27th, 1802. The em
bers of the bonfires kindled in celebration of the peace
of Amiens were still hot, when war with France was
again imminent. It would unnecessarily crowd a limi
ted space to enter into an account of the causes of the
war that was declared by England against France on
the 16th of May, 1803 ; that being the date on which
letters-of-marque were issued and general reprisals
ordered. It was at least very clear to all thinking
Englishmen that Buonaparte — even when the pre
liminaries of peace were being signed by Lord
Hawkesbury and Citizen Otto — was contemplating
an early renewal of hostilities against England. He
did not, indeed, anticipate a rupture before the

222 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t&t- 44
month of September; but the policy of Great Brit
ain, in those times at all events, was not to await
the attack, but to deliver the blow.
The decision and promptitude of the British as
tonished Buonaparte. A conversation between him
and the English Ambassador, Lord Whitworth, at
the Tuilleries, on the 13th of March, 1803, is printed
by Clarke and McArthur.* " We have already had
war," said Buonaparte, " for fifteen years." He
seemed to pause for a reply, and Lord Whitworth
exclaimed: "That is already too much." Buona
parte said : " But you would make another fifteen
years of war, and are forcing me to it." He added :
" You may be able perhaps to kill France, but you
can never intimidate her." — " Neither one nor the
other is wanted," responded Lord Whitworth, speak
ing assuredly not out of his conscience so far as
Buonaparte and his government were concerned.
" We simply desire to live on good terms with her,"
meaning France.
The speech from the throne, delivered November
the 16th, 1802, was significant of war. " It is never
theless impossible for me," King George was made
to say, " to lose sight of that established and wise
system of policy by which the interests of other
States are connected with our own." The Address
was seconded by Nelson, November the 23d, in the
best, perhaps, of the few speeches he made : " I,
my Lords, have in different countries seen much of
the miseries of war. I am therefore in my inmost
soul a man of peace. Yet I would not, for the sake
* Vol. ii., p. 464.

1801-31 Pecuniary Affairs. 11%
of any peace, however fortunate, consent to sacrifice
one jot of England's honour. Our honour is in
separably combined with our genuine interest.
Hitherto there has been nothing greater known on
the Continent than the fame, the untainted honour,
the generous public sympathies, the high diplomatic
influence, the commerce, the grandeur, the resistless
power, the unconquerable valour of the British
nation." He added, that he rejoiced that the King
intended to have due regard to the preservation of
the liberties of Europe, and that preparations to
maintain the dignity of Great Britain were not to be
neglected. Meanwhile he continued to reside at Merton.
In March he devoted some time to looking into his
pecuniary affairs, and forwarded to the Right Hon
ourable Henry Addington a statement that cannot
be perused without interest and surprise. It repre
sented that his whole real property was under
;£io,000, and that when all the charitable and other
charges he had voluntarily and nobly imposed upon
it were deducted he had only £768 a year left to
answer all demands made upon him. He was fond
of quoting the old sailor's saying, that his money never
cost the widow a tear nor the nation a farthing. " I
got what I have with my pure blood from the
Enemies of my Country."
On the 9th of March he attended a debate in the
House of Lords, on the King's message, that dealt
with the armaments preparing at the French ports,
but did not speak. Before leaving he wrote as fol
lows to the Premier, Addington :

224 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et.44
" House of Lords, 4 o'clock, March gth, 1803.
" Whenever it is necessary I am your Admiral.
" Nelson and Bronte."
Early in April he was distressed by the death
of Sir William Hamilton. He and Lady Ham
ilton had sat up together for six nights running by
the bedside of the sick man, who expired holding
his wife's and Nelson's hands. Sir William's remark
able letter to his wife, concluding with " For God's
sake," must convincingly assure the reader of it that,
however well informed he was of her past, his
confidence in her fidelity since she had been wed
ded to him was entirely unshaken. His belief in
Nelson's purity and disinterestedness as a friend was
equal to his admiration of him as a hero and a leader
of men. The grief felt by Nelson on the death of
his old, genial, trusting, and profoundly admiring
companion and friend must, if the great Admiral's
nature be visible to us at all on the surface of
that literature in which posterity has to seek it,
have been sorely increased by the voice of his con
science. " The world," he wrote of Sir William to
the Duke of Clarence, " never lost a more upright
and accomplished gentleman." Lady Hamilton, on
the other hand, a mistress of postures, must needs pose
upon her husband's remains. She writes : "April
6th. Unhappy day for the forlorn Emma. Ten

* " I have no complaint to make, but I feel that the whole attention
of my wife is given to Lord Nelson and his interest at Merton. I
well know the purity of Lord Nelson's friendship for Emma and me.
And I know how very uncomfortable it wou'd make his Lordship, our
best Friend, if a separation shou'd take place," etc.

1801-3] Sails for the Mediterranean. 225
minutes past ten, dear, blessed Sir William left me."
That her grief went no deeper than this expression
of it we have every right to believe. Puritanical as
may seem the twang of Robert Southey's lament
over this blot upon Nelson's otherwise spotless
character as a gentleman, as an officer, and as a
man, the world will go on agreeing in the spirit
of the poet's words, despite the eloquence of
Lady Hamilton's apologists, and of writers whose
merit, higher than eloquence, is the effort to lighten
in the portrait of Britain's Darling the shadow or the
stain of a Wrong.
He was appointed Commander-in-chief on the
Mediterranean station on the 16th of May, 1803,
though his orders for departure came to him on the
6th. He went to Merton to settle his affairs, and
on the 1 8th proceeded to Portsmouth, where he
hoisted his flag on board the Victory. He sailed
from Spithead on the 20th, at five o'clock in the
afternoon, accompanied by the Amphion, a 32-gun
frigate, commanded by Captain Thomas Masterman
Hardy. His intention was to speak the fleet under
Admiral Cornwallis, but the British ships had been
blown from their station by a severe gale of wind,
and, after a brief hunt for them, Nelson shifted his
flag to the Amphion and made sail, leaving the
Victory to follow him should Cornwallis not desire
her as an addition to the Channel fleet. Nelson
had no particular appetite for the sweets of a small
frigate. When in sight of Ushant, he was writing
to Lady Hamilton at eight o'clock in the morning
to tell her that he is fretting under the idea that
15

226 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t.44
Cornwallis may keep the Victory, and turn hirn bag
and baggage into the Amphion.
On May the 25th he begins a sort of journal-
letter, addressed to Emma, that contains in brief the
story of his passage to Gibraltar in the Amphion,
which vessel did not prove so uncomfortable as he
had feared. " Here we are," he says, " in the mid
dle of the Bay of Biscay — nothing to be seen but the
sky and water. I left the Victory at eight o'clock
last night. . . . Hardy takes good care of us,
and the Amphion is very comfortable." His im-
patienceialmost rages at times. A foul wind and
head sea\cept the Amphion labouring off Finisterre,
and Nelson could think of nothing but the time
that was being lost, and of the likelihood of Sicily —
the Neapolitan Court is still first with him, at all
events, in his communications with Emma — being
overrun by the French before he could get to work.
" But," says he, " we are carrying sail, doing our
utmost. Patience is a virtue at sea. Your dear
picture and Horatia's are hung up ; it revives me
even to look upon them."
On the 2d of June he was passing the rock at
Lisbon, with a gentle fair wind, and on the 3d
arrived at Gibraltar, having made a run of one
hundred leagues in eighteen hours, — that is to say,
from eight o'clock on the previous morning down to
two o'clock of the 3d, at which hour he wrote this
entry. If there be no inaccuracy here, the time
shows an average speed of a full ten knots an hour,
which proves the old Amphion to have been pos
sessed of a very nimble keel, as clippers then went.

1801-3] Anxiety for the House of Bourbon. 227
Malta was reached on the 15th and Naples on the
25th, where Nelson expected to find the squadron
under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Richard
Bickerton in the Kent, 74. But the ships had gone
to Toulon. His anxiety for the preservation of the
Two Sicilies was as enthusiastic as ever it had been
in the days of the Agamemnon and the Foudroyant.
" If I know myself," he wrote to SJr John Acton,
" it is to know that the more my friends are in dis
tress the more I am anxious to save them. A mouse
assisted a lion, which is the only comparison I can
make in arrogating to myself the power off assisting
a King of the house of Bourbon." This King of
the House of Bourbon seemed quite sensible of what
was being done for him. " The hand of Providence
again weighs on me and on my people," he wrote
to Nelson, probably confounding the hand of Provi
dence with his own or his wife's. " I see no hope
or consolation but in the friendship of your august
Sovereign, who was always my faithful and sincere
ally. His support is certain since he has appointed
you to the command in these seas. ... I must so
licit your immediate consideration of my position." *
Again we find Nelson anxious to provide for the
personal safety of the Neapolitan Royal Family by
proposing to Sir John Acton to keep either a ship
of the line or a frigate constantly at Naples, and
before quitting Capri he directed the senior captain
of the British ships in Naples Bay to receive, on
his signed order being presented by the British

* Pettigrew. II., 315.

228 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[>Ct. 44

Minister, the King, Queen, and Royal Family, and
convey them wherever they wished to go.
It was not until the 8th of July that he succeeded
in joining Sir Richard Bickerton, who was cruising
off Toulon with the following ships : Gibraltar, 8o ;
Kent, Donegal, Superb, Belleisle, and Renown, all 74's ;
Monmouth and Agincourt, 64's ; and two frigates, the
Amphion making a third. The French force prepar
ing for sea in Toulon under Vice-Admiral La Touche-
Treville, consisted of seven line-of-battle ships almost
in readiness to go afloat, two repairing at the Arsenal,
and five on the stocks. All these vessels were craft
of great weight of broadsides, 8o's and 74's.
Forty-eight hours after Nelson had left the Victory,
she fell in with the Channel fleet, and two hours
later was suffered to proceed to the Mediterranean.
She joined the squadron on the 30th of July, and
Nelson at once shifted his flag to her, taking with
him Captain George Murray as his first, and Captain
Hardy as his second, captain.
In these days of steam much that went to render
the business of blockading in olden times in the
highest degree wretched and even unendurable, must
be softened or extinguished. The propeller enables
a ship to keep her station. She roams at will ; for
her the wind is without caprice, and it needs little
short of a hurricane to divert her resolutions. All
this was very different in the times of tacks and
sheets. A long, strong squall would blow a blockad
ing squadron out of sight, and hours and days might
be expended in the task of "reaching" up against
a strong off-shore wind to the old cruising station.

1801-3] Blockade of Toulon. 229
Expectation, long-strained and ever on the alert,
became a sickness of heart; the enemy continued
motionless ; nothing was to be done but to continue
sailing up and down, first on one tack then on the
other, staring at the foe, whose masthead with heavy
yards across towered above- the line of docks and
fortresses and pier heads. " The happiness," writes
Nelson, " of keeping a station is always to have a foul
wind, and never to hear the delightful sound, steady."
In such work he would humorously say there was
little more to be earned than salt-beef and honour ;
but unhappily the honour counted for nothing, whilst
the salt-beef ate steadily into the constitution.
Early in August the French force at Toulon had
risen by the launch of the Neptune to eight sail-of-
the-line, as against Nelson's six ; namely, the Victory,
Belleisle, Kent, Renown, Superb, and Triumph — the
Canopus and Monmouth having been detached.
The movements of Nelson whilst blockading Tou
lon must be followed, though they are without in
terest. Minute details of operations lose their power
of detaining the attention in proportion as they
are removed by time. This is specially true of the
sea, and the truer still in these days because of the
radical change, continuously active, that has been
brought about by steam and the use of metal.
Fifty years ago a naval officer would probably watch
with profound interest Nelson's manceuvrings off
Toulon as they are described by his biographers and
in his own dispatches and letters. But the seaman
ship of those days, the strategies, the devices, the
expedients, are no longer of the least value voca-

230 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[/Et. 45

tionally. A pity indeed that this should be so !
The breed of men whom Nelson headed is by no
means as yet extinct ; but science has placed the
Jacks of all the nations upon a level platform ; one
set of sailors must needs be as good as another set
if naval warfare is to consist of firing at league-long
distances and if the ships employed are to be merely
floating batteries, more or less submerged, propelled
by steam, armed with leviathan ordnance, and filled
with men who, as no calls upon their qualities as
mariners can possibly be made owing to the charac
ter of the structures they float in and to the nature
of the services required, must hardly, in spite of
their dress, be regarded as much more than sea-going
soldiers. The pike has been removed from the
hands of the seamen ; the cutlass can be little better
than a tradition ; there can be no more yard-arm to
yard-arm engagements ; we may take it that the
boarding-party is quite among the marine details of
the dead past. Yet it was by the thrust of the pike,
the deadly swing of the tomahawk or the cutlass,
the daring hurricane-leap from bulwark to bulwark,
the impetuous and irresistible rush along the enemy's
deck, the red-hot hand-to-hand conflict swiftly termi
nated, — by these means it was, the British sailor
achieved those issues which the true-born English
man has a right to boast of and to proudly recall.
In this century, however, has happened a very revo
lution in sea affairs ; the manceuvres of Nelson are to
be followed as historic studies ; but professionally
they are of no worth.
On the 24th of October, the squadron under Nel-

1801-3] Crazy Ships. 231
son being short of water made for a newly discov
ered anchorage among the Magdalena Islands,
leaving two frigates to watch the French force.
For a whole week the ships were fighting with
heavy gales, through nights of blackness made
horribly perilous by a navigation of rocks and shoals
in those days uncharted. The anchorage, however,
was safely reached, and, having obtained the refresh
ments he required for his ships, Nelson sailed again
on the 9th of November, and was off Toulon by the
23d. He was thoroughly satisfied with his crews.
"We are healthy beyond example," he wrote to his
friend Davison on October 4th, " and in great good
humour with ourselves, and so sharp-set that I would
not be a French Admiral in the way of any of our
ships for something. I believe we are in the right
fighting trim, let them come as soon as they please.
I never saw a Fleet altogether so well officered and
manned." But the ships he declared crazy. To the Duke of
Clarence he could write in language that was not to
be interpreted into the faintest echo of the sailor's
proverbial " growl " : "I have the happiness," he
says, " of commanding the finest squadron in the
world — Victory, Kent, Superb, Triumph, Belleisle, and
Renown." But to his friend Davison he can find it
in his heart to be candid : " If I am to watch the
French I must be at sea, and if at sea must have bad
weather ; and if the ships are not fit to stand bad
weather they are useless. I do not say much, but I
do not believe that Lord St. Vincent would have
kept the sea with such ships." The anxiety the

232 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[/Et. 45

condition of the squadron gave him may be judged
from this and other like passages in his correspond
ence. The Mediterranean weather, too, appeared to
have changed its character, as though to complicate
his worries. It was incessantly blowing hard Le
vanters, and nothing but his extraordinary foresight
enabled him to hold his own in those waters. The
Admiralty then, as always, needed warm and fre
quent promptings to keep alive in them a recogni
tion of the needs of distant fleets. It seemed
scarcely credible that Nelson should have found it
necessary to point out to a body of officials who
numbered old and seasoned sea-officers amongst
them, that the Gulf of Lyons was notorious, where-
ever the mariner floated, for the number and sever
ity and suddenness of its gales, and that as the fleet
would be at sea, in all probability, during the whole
of the winter, it was necessary to supply the ship
with plenty of spare top-masts, top-sail yards, and
extra suits of canvas.
But there was a deeper and a darker anxiety on
his mind at this time than any trouble it was in the
power of the French or of the weather or of the Brit
ish Admiralty to create for him. " My dear friend,"
he wrote to Davison, " my eyesight fails me most
dreadfully. I firmly believe that in a very few years
I shall be stone blind. It is this only of all my mala
dies that makes me unhappy ; but God's will be
done." And to his brother, Edmund, he also writes:
" The mind and body both wear out, and my eye is
every month visibly getting worse, and I much fear
it will end in total blindness. The moment the

1801-3] In the Bay of Palmas. 233
battle is over, if I am victorious, I shall ask for my
retreat — if, unfortunately, the contrary, I hope never
to live to see it."
Incessant gales of wind, combined with the defec
tive state of his ships, all whose running rigging,
with the exception of the Victory's, was condemned,
whilst some of them, such as the Excellent and Kent,
had to be refitted with new main and mizzen shrouds,
to the disgrace of the Portsmouth Dockyard people
who had thus sent the ships to sea, compelled Nel
son to withdraw to the shelter of the Bay of Palmas,
where he lingered until the want of fresh water
drove him once more to the anchorage amongst the
Magdalena Islands.

Frmn/ Oath/ of Alkgumce'
in/the Admiralty Hecords.

Admiralty Jtecords.

W^bCfoU ^V^A/^otv

Zetter w the Author's j/ossessww.

vN/TA^^p

letter in/ the Authors possession/.

OVrav^JUw^W

M^

JdmzraZfy Records.
le^ in/ ihe- Authors possession.
From Pettigrew 's "Life of Nelson."

Recollections of Rev. A. J. Scott — The leathern
arm-chairs — Anecdote of a midshipman: — La
Touche-Treville — Continued illness — Ambition
to be Lord High Admiral — Anecdote — Tedious
blockading — Spanish menace — Rich capture — Sir
John Orde — Injurious treatment of Nelson —
French fleet — Daring navigation — Pursuit of the
French across the Atlantic — Misled by Brereton
— The American schooner — Two years all but ten
days of shipboard — Romantic incident.
OME interesting recollections of Nel
son by his chaplain in the Victory,
the Rev. A. J. Scott, belong to this period. It was
a point of etiquette with him to transmit letters
addressed to foreign Courts in his own tongue, with
duplicates in the respective languages of those
Courts ; and this labour of translation was his chap
lain's, who also read aloud to him all the French,
Italian, Spanish, and other foreign newspapers which
were sent to the ship. Nelson likewise obliged Scott
to read through every twopenny-halfpenny pamphlet
that came to hand, his notion being that no man
ever put his hand to paper who had not something
to tell worth knowing. The great Admiral appears
to have possessed Dr. Samuel Johnson's capacity of
235

236 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^Et. 45
tearing the heart out of a book. A swift glance at a
page or two enabled him to gather the writer's ob
ject. Day after day he and his chaplain and a secre
tary sat poring upon the papers which loaded the
table. The cabin was furnished with two black
leather arm-chairs, each with capacious pockets, and
Scott, exhausted by the labour of translating, would
sometimes sneak into one of these pockets some
score or so of unopened private letters found in
captured ships ; but such was Nelson's restless so
licitude that he was uneasy if even a single docu
ment was unexamined. These leathern chairs, with
the help of an ottoman, when lashed together, formed
a couch on which he would often snatch a few winks
of sleep, which supplied him with as much refresh
ment as an ordinary mortal might obtain from a
long night's rest.
No human being, according to Scott, ever possessed
so remarkably as Lord Nelson the power of exciting
affection for his nature and admiration for his genius.
Sir Pultney Malcolm, who was intimately acquainted
with Buonaparte, the Duke of Wellington, and our
Hero, used to say that " Nelson was the man to
love." He found a very great delight in studying
the characters of those who were about him ; and at
table would provoke arguments that he might draw
out the thoughts and opinions of his companions.
He abhorred all stiffness and formality, and when
an hour arrived for debating the most important
naval business he chose a turn on the quarter-deck
with his captains, whom he would coax by his own
frankness into free confessions of opinion, in prefer-

1803-5] Anecdote of a Midshipman. 237
ence to the ceremonious solemnities of the council
of war.
Scott was a man of talent and a scholar, and Nel
son would often slyly amuse himself by provoking
the chaplain into arguments on literature, politics,
and even naval affairs. On one occasion he teased
him into delivering a lecture on navigation to the no
small diversion of Admiral Murray, Captain Hardy,
and other officers who were present. The following
story is related by the writer of Scott's life : One
fine morning when the Victory was floating quietly
along at some four knots" in the hour there was a
sudden cry of " Man overboard ! " A midshipman
named Flinn, who was sketching on deck, sprang to
his feet, and looking over the quarter saw his own
servant, who could not swim, drowning in the ship's
wake. The lad whipped off his jacket at the instant
that the Captain of Marines had thrown the sinking
fellow a chair ; but this did not hinder Flinn from
leaping overboard. The lad, the man, and the chair
were recovered and hauled on deck. Nelson, who
stood looking on, was so pleased with Flinn's be
haviour that he called the lad up to him and made
him a lieutenant on the spot. A crowd of young
sters sent up a loud cheer whilst they tossed their
hats in honour of their messmate Flinn's good-for
tune. Nelson seemed to find something significant
in the tone of their hurrahs, and putting up his hand
for silence, whilst he inclined his body over the rail
towards the lads, he said with a smile : " Stop, young
gentlemen ! Mr. Flinn has done a gallant thing to
day — and he has done many gallant things before —

238 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

t/Et. 45

for which he has got his reward; but mind! /'//
have no more making lieutenants for servants falling
over-board ! " *
Nothing very material happened until the 13th of
June, on which date Nelson was off Hyeres in the
Victory, along with the Canopus, Belleisle, Donegal,
and Excellent. Sir Richard Bickerton, with a divi
sion of five sail, was cruising at a distance of some
sixty miles from the land. Two strange ships had
been signalled off the east end of the island of
Porquerolles, and the frigates Amazon and Phoebe
were sent in chase. The light airs made the manoeu
vring very slow ; and it was not until next day that
Nelson gathered that the strangers were two French
frigates. The Amazon and Phosbe cleared for action ;
but they had scarcely done so when the whole of the
French fleet in Toulon Road got under-way and stood
in pursuit. There were fourteen sail of ships, but
this powerful force seemed to have no other object
in quitting what Nelson called their "nest " than to
put the English frigates to flight, for when this had
been done they returned to their quarters, out of
which Nelson, by every species of strategy and defi
ance, had in vain for weeks and weeks been attempt
ing to lure them. La Touche-Treville, the French
Admiral, in an official communication to his govern
ment, reported of this profoundly insignificant busi
ness that Nelson ran away.
* " Scott's Recollections," p. 127. Mr. Flin (with one n) died a
Post Captain and Companion of the Bath in 1819. Nelson's marginal
note to his official letter on this subject tells the story very differ
ently : " Appointed in consequence of his having jumped overboard
on the night *>{ nth inst, then very dark," etc.

1803-5] Contradicts La Touche-Treville. 239
There was never an insult and never a lie levelled
at Nelson in all his career that he resented more
bitterly than this. It is impossible not to agree
with James, the historian, that he made a very great
deal too much of the hectoring French coxcomb's
gasconade. He even condescended to communicate
on the subject with the Secretary of the Admiralty.
" Although I most certainly never thought of writ
ing a line of Mons. Touche's having cut a caper a
few miles outside of Toulon, on the 14th of June,
when he well knew I could not get at him without
placing the ships under the batteries which sur
rounded that port ; and that, had I attacked him in
that position, he could retire into his secure nest
whenever he pleased ; yet, as the gentleman has
thought proper to write a letter, stating that the
fleet under my command ran away and that he pur
sued it, perhaps it may be thought necessary for me
to say something. But I do assure you, sir, that I
know not what to say except by a flat contradiction,
for if my character is not established by this time
for not being apt to run away, 't is not worth my
time to attempt to put the world right." * He was
less reserved in the expression of his indignation to
friends. " I have kept M. La Touche's letter," he
writes to Mr. Davison, " and if I take him I shall
never see him ; or, if I do, make him eat his letter —
perhaps sovereign contempt is the best." So also
to Sir Alexander Ball : " Such a liar is below my
notice, except to thrash him."
La Touche, however, died before Nelson could
* " Dispatches and Letters," vi., 150.

240 The Life of Horatio Nelson. u£t. 45
get at him. He expired aboard the Bucentaure on
the 1 8th of August, 1804. " He is gone," wrote
Nelson, " and all his lies with him. The French
papers say he died in consequence of walking so
often up to the signal-post, upon Sepet, to watch us ;
I always pronounced that that would be his death."
The French papers, however, could lie about this
man as freely and coolly as he cpuld lie about
Nelson. A sketch of his life appeared in the Moni-
teur, of the 1st of September, 1804, in which his
behaviour at Boulogne is thus recounted : " He
was soon sent to Boulogne, where he prepared the
first elements of that Flotilla which has now grown
to such a size ; and every one remembers the glori
ous contests which he sustained on the 17th and
27th Thermidor in the year 9 against Admiral Nel
son." Again, speaking of this man's command in
the Mediterranean, the Moniteur says : " Since that
epoch he has not ceased to be in sight of a superior
force, which has in vain endeavoured to block up the
port of Toulon. The activity which he had given to
the ships of his squadron, and the strict discipline
which he had established, did not permit an enemy's
vessel to appear before the Road without being in
stantly pursued, harassed, and forced to quit the
coast." * It is in this fashion that French naval
history is written. Yet, a little before the period of
the death of this same La Touche, who was " af
frighting the English " away from the French coast,
Nelson was acknowledging to the Lord Mayor of
London a vote of thanks, passed by the Corporation
* Naval Chronicle, xii., 301.

1803-5] Continued Illness. 241
for his services off Toulon : " I beg to inform your
Lordship that the port of Toulon has never been
blockaded by me ; quite the reverse ; every oppor
tunity has been offered the enemy to put to sea, for
it is there that we hope to realise the hopes and ex
pectations of our country, and I trust that they will
not be disappointed."
He was now suffering again in health, and particu
larly dreaded the gales and frosts of such another
winter as he had passed. He communicated with
the Admiralty to request leave to return to Eng
land, and asked that their consent might reach him
soon, as his application had already been deferred
too long. This permission he was anticipating
eagerly in September, when writing to Lady Hamil
ton : " I shall not stay three minutes at Ports
mouth, but fly to dear Merton, where all in this
world that is dearest to me resides ; and, therefore,
I would have you remain at Merton, being assured
I shall lose no time in coming to you." But both
his health and patience were to be heavily taxed
before Merton could be visited. His sufferings
took the form of great pains in his right side ; the
sight of his remaining eye was also fast failing him.
His burning ambition was to meet the French and
defeat them, after which he seemed to count upon
being made Lord High Admiral, with the whole
management of the Naval Service of Great Britain
in his hands. His dreams ran all that way, and
in conversing with his intimate friends he would
repeatedly tell them what he would do if he were
in power. lb

242 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^Et.45
By November in this year, however, he had aban
doned his intention of going to England. " I shall
not go yet," he told Mr. Lambton Este, in conversa
tion ; " and when I may go is quite uncertain — must
depend upon events and upon my own precarious
health." Mr. Este tells a story belonging to this period,
and Sir H. Nicolas cites it as an illustration of the
character of Nelson. The fleet had been many
months afloat, and Mr. Este judged that Nelson and
his associates must be in want of naval stores. It
was in his power to supply certain articles which he
knew would be acceptable as delicacies, and he ac
cordingly sent by the Phcebe frigate, as presents for
the Victory, two large tierces of the finest English
porter, together with a quantity of hams, tongues,
pickles, and so on. When Nelson saw the baggage
he exclaimed: "What 's all this lumber? What
the devil have you got here ? " He seemed hurt at
Mr. Este's explanation that it was " only a little
ammunition for the fleet, my Lord." But neverthe
less he directed that the goods should be carefully
stored away. Days and weeks passed, but none of
Mr. Este's delicacies were served, either at the Ad
miral's table or in the wardroom of the Victory. Mr.
Este thought this very odd, but nothing was said.
When he left the ship a letter from Nelson was put
into his hand : " I have tasted and reserved some
of your princely and delicious presents. Had we
returned together in the Superb, these should have
afforded consolation to all on board that ship on
our homeward voyage. As our destinies are altered

1803-5] Tedious Blockading. 243
I have taken the liberty of sending them to Captain
Pettet, to whom they will prove highly acceptable ;
and before you have been long on board I trust you
will think with me, that they could not have been
more worthily bestowed. I have added a few bottles
of fine Marsala, lately sent me by Woodhouse from
Sicily, that you may have the pleasure of drinking
my health in my absence."* All well-authenticated
anecdotes of Nelson abound in interest : the more
so as they are few. Yet it is not very easy to find in
Mr. Este's story that illustration of Nelson's charac
ter which we are invited to observe. Better surely
that the delicacies should have been eaten by the
officers of the Victory — who had passed and were
yet to pass a long and dreary spell of cruising, — than
given to those who were sailing direct for England.
During the greater part of the month of July gales
of wind were incessant, and Nelson had the utmost
difficulty in keeping his station in the almost unsea-
worthy ships under his command. Towards the
close of the month he sheltered his fleet in the Gulf
of Palmas, where were eight transports with cargoes
to be discharged. The Belleisle, the Fisgard, and
the Niger were left off Toulon to cruise and watch
the enemy. On the 2d of August, these vessels
having been blown away out of sight of the shore,
five French sail of the line and six frigates came out
of Toulon, but on sighting the Belleisle and her con
sorts they instantly shifted their helm and returned
to Toulon. This sort of thing had been now going
on for months with exasperating regularity. The
?"Dispatches and Letters," vi., 258.

244 The Life of Horatio Nelson. 1/Et. 46
French Commander-in-chief seemed to desire noth
ing better than a chance to sneak out when no
Englishman was in view, and then hurry in again
like a hare with a hound after it, that he might com
municate official lies to Napoleon. Yet he was in
strong force, for when Nelson again reconnoitred
Toulon on the 26th he counted twenty ship-rigged
vessels, of which ten were sail-of-the-line, in the outer
harbour ; and in the inner harbour, a formidable
line-of-battle ship and a frigate.
On the death of La Touche-Treville, Admiral
Dumanoir-le-Pelley was appointed to the command of
the French fleet, but on the 6th of November the gal
lant and unfortunate Villeneuve succeeded him, and
hoisted his flag aboard the Bucentaure. Yet was
nothing done. The business of waiting on one hand
and of watching on the other went on. By the first
day of the year 1805 the French fleet had risen to
eleven sail-of-the-line, and eight frigates, on board
of which a large number of troops had embarked,
and nothing hindered Villeneuve from sailing but
the presence of the British.
Meanwhile — that is to say, on the preceding 5th
of October, 1804 — there had occurred an incident
that proved of extraordinary significance. In the
declaration of war against France by the British
Government, Holland was included, but not Spain.
News, however, later on came to hand that a large
Spanish force was collected in the port of Ferrol,
and that a junction with the French was to be
expected. Nelson received a secret Admiralty let
ter, in which were enclosed instructions to Admiral

1803-5] Spanish Losses. 245
Cornwallis to continue the blockade of Ferrol and
to resist or deal with any hostile attempts on the
part of Spain against the King of Great Britain's
dominions. On this Captain Sir Richard Strachan,
of the Donegal, was instructed to proceed imme
diately outside the Strait of Gibraltar, with the
Medusa, Amphion, Sophia, and Halcyon, to intercept
four Spanish frigates laden with specie and bound
to Ferrol from Monte Video. They were fallen in
with and hailed, and as the answers returned were
not satisfactory, they were fired into. One of them
blew up, the other three surrendered. Their value
amounted to about a million of money. " The
frigate," wrote Captain Sutton, of the Amphion, to
Lady Hamilton on his arrival at Plymouth, " I was
opposed to, took fire and blew up in action. I could
only save one officer and forty-four men. Thirteen
ladies, passengers from South America, were lost in
the ship." The Spanish Government at once gave
orders to make reprisals on English property, but it
was not until the 12th of December that the King
of Spain formally declared war against Great Britain.
Some time before this formal declaration of war,
Vice-Admiral Sir John Orde was sent out as Com
mander-in-chief of a squadron off Cadiz. Nelson at
this time had received no intelligence of the British
Government's resolution to commence hostilities
against Spain, and it was five weeks after Sir John
Orde had been stationed before Cadiz that Nelson
heard of his being in those seas. The prizes taken
by Orde and his ships were rich and numerous. In
a month the money thus earned enriched the Ad-

246 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [^Et. 46
miral and his officers for life. Never could a greater
wrong have been done to any man in Nelson's posi
tion. It is indeed one of the few insufferable pas
sages of British maritime annals. If anything could
have crushed the spirit of this great man, im
paired his magnificent patriotism, weakened his
superb quality of dutifulness to his King and
to his Country, it was this. " Surely," he exclaims
to Lady Hamilton, writing under the belief that
Orde (a person he strongly disliked, and with good
reason) had been sent out to take the command
from him, " I never served faithfully, I have only
dreamt I have done my duty to the advantage of
my country." But his noble heart rises above all
considerations of self. " The world," he says, in
the same letter, " will see what a sacrifice I am
ready to make for the service of my King and
Country, for what greater sacrifice could I make
than serving for a moment under Sir John Orde?"
Coleridge has eloquently commented on this wretch
ed business. " It was indeed an unexampled cir
cumstance that a small squadron should be sent
to the station which had been long occupied by
a large fleet, commanded by the Darling of the
Navy and the glory of the British Empire ; to the
station where this fleet had for years been wearing
away in the most barren, repulsive, and spirit-trying
service in which the Navy can be employed ! And
that this minor squadron should be sent independent
of, and without any communication with, the com
mander of the former fleet, for the express and
solitary purpose of stepping between it and the

1803-5] The French Fleet. 247
Spanish prizes, and, as soon as this short and pleas
ant service was performed, of bringing home the
unshared booty with all possible caution and dis
patch." And he quotes Nelson's affecting sen
tences : " It was not enough to have robbed me
once before of my West-India harvest — now they
have taken away the Spanish, — and under what cir
cumstances, 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
officers ; for my noble-minded friends and command
ers — such a gallant set of fellows ! Such a band
of brothers ! My heart swells at the thought of
them." *
He was again off Toulon, in the early part of Janu
ary, 1805. On the nth the fleet anchored in Agin-
court Sound, Nelson's baiting-haunt in the Magdal-
ena Islands, leaving the frigates Active and Seahorse
to watch the enemy's port. His force at this time
consisted of eleven sail-of-the-line. On the 17th
the French fleet put to sea from Toulon. It con
sisted of four 8o's and seven 74's, together with
seven frigates and two brigs ; the whole under the
command of Vice-Admiral Villeneuve, amongst
whose ships there was also distributed a body of
3,500 troops, under General Lauriston. The enemy
was descried by the Active and the Seahorse, and
these frigates by carrying a press of sail were by
about two o'clock on the 19th able by a distant
signal to notify to Nelson that the French were
*" The Friend," Bohn's edition.

248 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L^t. 46
at sea. At half-past four the English fleet were
under sail. It was almost dark, and a strong breeze
of wind was blowing from the westward, against
which the ships could not work. The alternative
then must be a choice of the complex eastern
passages, which open into the Tuscan Sea. The
night had settled down black, but Nelson did not
hesitate. The Victory took the lead with a light on
her stern, and led the way in safety through a chan
nel, whose breadth was less than a quarter of a mile.
This is a picture to remember : the sullen loom of
the Biocian and Sardinian rocks, on either hand ; the
narrow space of dark waters, flashful with leaps of
pallid froth to the whipping of the strong wind howl
ing through the channel ; the towering forms of the
British ships in line ahead, sweeping in a phantom
like procession after that heap of windy faintness of
lofty canvas denoting the Victory, upon whose quar
ter-deck paces the restless figure of Nelson !
His progress was arrested by a heavy gale on the
20th. He despatched frigates, but could obtain no
information. " What would I give to know where
they are bound to, or to see them ! " he says, in a
letter to Sir Alexander Ball. " The result of meet
ing I should be a wretch to doubt." His conviction
was, that the enemy's destination was Egypt. He
was now renewing an old and bitter experience
of anxiety ; once again scouring the Mediterranean
for the French, as he had before swept those blue
waters ere lighting on the foe in Aboukir Bay. On
February the 18th he tells Lady Hamilton that he
has already traversed one thousand leagues of sea

1803-5] Driven Back to Port. 249
after the French. Then for three weeks came a
succession of gales, the worst weather, he declared,
he had ever seen, and on the 8th of March he was
at anchor again in the Gulf of Palmas.
In the meantime the French, after quitting Tou
lon, encountered much the same sort of weather
that had distracted Nelson, and most of them had
been driven, on or about the 20th of February, back
to their port with much damage to their masts and
rigging. Villeneuve lost no time in refitting. By
the time he was ready to sail, his force consisted
of eleven line-of-battle ships, six frigates, and two
brigs. On the 15th Nelson was again in his old
winter station to the eastward of Cape San Sebas
tian, and on the 27th returned to the Gulf of Pal
mas, where the victuallers and store-ships were
lying. Two days later Villeneuve once more set
sail from Toulon Road with the whole of his fleet.
The Rev. Dr. Scott's diary briefly hints at Nel
son's movements during this harassing period. On
April the 27th he writes that he has just come on
board his sea-house, the Victory (he is speaking of
himself), and that the latest news is that the French
have sailed from Toulon. On April the 28th the
British are off Alicante ; on May the 4th they are in
Tetuan Bay, and on the 6th in the harbor of Gib
raltar. An instance of Nelson's sagacity and alert
ness is given when the ships were still refitting in
Mazari Bay.* The officers and men had gone
ashore, and the linen was landed to be washed.
Nelson, ever on the look-out for a fair wind, per-
* According to James, though Scott says Gibraltar.

250 The Life of Horatio Nelson. UEt. 46
ceived indications of a change. A gun was fired
from the Victory, and Blue Peter sent aloft, whilst
Nelson hurriedly paced the deck, full of temper and
impatient of a moment's delay. The officers who
were ashore exclaimed, " Here is one of Nelson's
mad pranks," but he proved right nevertheless ; a
fair wind blew, the linen was left on shore, and the
ships sailed away.*
By this time Nelson was persuaded that the
French had sailed to the West Indies, and he re
solved at all risks to follow them. His chaplain
tells us that there was a variety of opinion as to the
route the enemy had taken, many believing that he
had gone to Ireland. " If I fail," said Nelson to Dr.
Scott, — "if they are not gone to the West Indies, I
shall be blamed ; to be burnt in effigy or West
minster Abbey is my alternative ! " At six o'clock
on the evening of the 7th of May he weighed from
Rozia Bay, Gibraltar, and went away through the
Gut with a fine easterly wind. On the 10th he
anchored in Lagos Bay, where he took in five
months' provisions, and sailed again on the nth
with ten ships of the line and three frigates in chase
of the enemy's fleet, which he knew consisted of
eighteen ships of the line and at least three times
his number of frigates.
Nothing of moment happened during the run
across the Atlantic. It is characteristic of Nelson
that having to take a large land-force afloat he would
not suffer any distinction in the allowance between
soldiers and sailors. The custom was to serve out
* " Recollections," 171.

1803-5] Hunting the French. 251
one pound of meat a day to the seamen and three
quarters of a pound only to the soldiers, but Nel
son's orders were that so long as the troops were
under his command the rations to the two services
should be equal. The fleet anchored in Carlisle
Bay, Barbadoes, on the 4th of June. His pursuit of
the enemy was a succession of disappointments.
He heard of the French as bound to Tobago and
Trinidad, took on board two thousand troops, and
weighed, only to learn that he had been misled.
For this disappointment he had to thank General
Brereton, who had communicated to him the emphatic
assurance "that twenty-eight sail of the enemy's fleet
had passed to windward of Gros Islet."
On the 6th of June the English fleet arrived off
Great Courland Bay, Tobago, where all was bustle
and distress. One of the merchants, desperately
anxious to ascertain whether the congregation of
ships which had hove in sight were a friend or
enemy, despatched his clerk in a small schooner with
instructions to reconnoitre the men-of-war. As ex
traordinary a coincidence as ever happened at sea
followed ; the signal made by the clerk exactly
corresponded with the affirmative signal which had
been agreed on to inform the British of the enemy
being at Trinidad. The evening was closing round,
and the mistake was not discovered. The news flew
throughout the British ships, every vessel was ready
for action by daybreak, and Nelson confidently an
ticipated a second Aboukir in the Bay of Paria.
Clarke and M'Arthur, who tell this story, add that
Nelson and his officers were almost persuaded to

252 The Life of Horatio Nelson. r/Et.46
doubt the evidence of their senses when on entering
the Gulf of Paria they not only saw there was no
enemy, but learned that the French fleet had never
been there.* Nelson's irritation was extreme, and
the name of Brereton haunted his mind like a male
diction. " If either General Brereton," he tells Lord
Robert Fitzgerald, " could not have wrote or his
look-out man had been blind nothing could have
prevented my fighting them on June the 6th ; but
such information and from such a quarter close to
the enemy could not be doubted."
In the first week of June Villeneuve had learnt
that Nelson had arrived in the West Indies in
search of him. The force under the British Admiral
was greatly exaggerated, and Villeneuve, much
alarmed, on the 9th or 10th of the month, hastily
embarked all the troops which had been withdrawn
from Martinique and Guadaloupe, and shortly after
wards, with the combined squadrons, set sail for
Europe. Nelson pursued him. A fragmentary
narrative of the chase may be obtained from his
correspondence and dispatches. It was on June the
13th that he came to the conclusion the enemy was
on his way home. He followed, but never came
within sight of the foe. Indeed the information he
obtained was of the scantiest. He flattered himself
that he was within eighty leagues of the two squad
rons and kept thrashing his ships through it, whilst
the wind continued to blow, under every stitch that
could be stretched upon their yards. On the 18th a
little American schooner called the Sally was spoken
*Vol. ii., p. 409.

1803-5] Miserable Progress. 253
and afterwards boarded. She had apparently news of
importance to communicate ; an entry in her log
book, dated two days previously, stated that twenty-
two sail of large ships had been sighted to the
eastward standing on a northerly course, and the
Yankee skipper wrote down that he supposed them
to be the French fleet from Martinique going home.
Both he and his mate went to the mast-head of the
schooner to take a view of the distant clouds of can
vas, and were positive that they were men-of-war
having royals, stay-sails, and all sails set, showing as
low as the heads of the courses. But the wind slack
ened ; Nelson's squadron was bothered with light
and variable airs. On the 21st he wrote in his private
diary: "Midnight, nearly calm, saw three planks,
which I think come from the French Fleet. Very
miserable, which is very foolish." So for days:
nothing but light breezes. He writes to the captains
of his ships to come and dine with him, " For I 've
too much fear that we shall not have a wind to
move us faster than Boats can pass." We can figure
the mortification and bitterness with which he writes
down in his private diary on the 8th of July : " We
crawled 35 miles the last 24 hours; my only hope is
that the Enemy's Fleet are near us and in the same
situation." The day before Cape Spartel hove in
sight he notes that the whole run " from Barbuda
day by day was 3459 miles," and that the average
per day was thirty-four leagues, wanting nine miles.
On the day following the date of this entry the
combined squadrons arrived off Cape Finisterre, and
on the 19th the British fleet arrived in Gibraltar

254 The Life of Horatio Nelson. \Mx. 46
Bay. " I went on shore," writes Nelson in his private
diary on the 20th, " for the first time since the 16th
of June, 1803 ; and from having my foot out of the
Victory two years wanting ten days." One cannot
but muse a moment on such a statement as this.
Two years all but ten days of shipboard, and of such
shipboard as was then afloat ! Except the instance of
Collingwood, and what is there in the annals that can
be found in any degree to correspond with the mar
vellous spirit of devotion exhibited in this long term
of voluntary imprisonment ? To appreciate the mag
nanimous patriotism which inspired and governed
him, we should read his correspondence with Lady
Hamilton during those two years ; remember the
fascination the beautiful woman had for him, how
his heart yearned to return to her, with what pas
sionate eagerness he desired a sight of his beloved
little Horatia ; and we must contrast what he knew
awaited him at Merton with the dull and grinding
routine of the blockading life. His bad health, too,
is to be remembered ; and the wound that had been
dealt his pride and his affection for his shipmates
and companions, through Sir John Orde, was a con
stant pain. Add the bitter anxieties of the period
of the Toulon blockade to the yet bitterer anxieties
which followed upon the escape of the French fleet,
and the prodigious weight of responsibility which
must attend his determination to measure the
breadth of the Atlantic in pursuit of the recreant
foe. Noble as Nelson always was, never in the
glorious hour of decisive victory does he show more
nobly than during those two years of hard servi-

NELSON'S MONUMENT AT LIVERPOOL.
(from an oud engraving.)

1803-5] A Correct Explanation. 255
tude, of trials, disappointments, worries, injurious
usage, and of absention from all the comforts, re
finements, and elegancies of the life he might have
led ashore.
An incident that has the character of a passage in
a marine romance occurred during this great ocean
chase. Much about the 3d of August, after having
passed the Straits for Cape St. Vincent, the fleet
fell in with an American merchant ship, the captain
of which possessed a log-book that he had removed
from an abandoned and fire-blackened hulk. There
were also found a few seamen's jackets in the cabin.
Nelson inspected the things, and observed that the
last entry of the log-book contained these words :
" Two large vessels in the W. N. W.," from which
he inferred that the derelict had been a Liverpool
privateer, cruising off the Western Islands. Whilst
the log-book was being handled, a scrap of dirty
paper covered with figures fell out of it. " These
are French figures," exclaimed Nelson, and presently
added : " I can explain the whole ! The jackets are
of French manufacture, and prove that the priva
teer was in possession of the enemy. She had been
chased and taken by the two ships that were seen in
the W. N. W. The prizemaster, going on board in a
hurry, forgot to take with him his reckoning ; there
is none in the log-book, and the dirty paper contains
his work for the number of days since the privateer
left Corvo, with an unaccounted-for run, which I take
to have been the chase, in his endeavour to find out
his situation by back-reckoning. By some misman
agement, I conclude she was run on board by one of

256 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t>Et.46
the enemy's ships and dismasted. Not liking delay
— for I am satisfied that those two ships were the
advanced ones of the French squadron — and fancy
ing we were close at their heels, they set fire to the
vessel, and abandoned her in a hurry." The sagacity
of this speculation finds confirmation in the conjec
ture of the historian : that the log-book was that of
the Liverpool privateer Mars, which had been cap
tured, and that the scrap of paper was in the hand
writing of a Spaniard. " Whichever way it was, the
inference remained just as the Vice-Admiral had
drawn it, that the capturing fleet had steered to
the northward.*
* James. III., 355.

Arrival in England — Sir Arthur Wellesley —
George III. — Lord Sidmouth's story — Keats's
anecdote of Nelson — Interview with Black
wood — Lady Hamilton's fanciful story — At
Portsmouth — Junction at Cadiz — Strength of
British fleet — The combined fleets — Beatty's
account of Nelson — Blackwood to his wife —
Nelson to his child — The enemy sails.
N the 15th of August, Nelson joined
Admiral Cornwallis off Ushant, and
on the same evening resumed his
passage to Portsmouth in the Victory, accompanied
by the Superb. On the 18th he anchored at Spit-
head and after a brief term of quarantine struck
his flag. He arrived at Merton on the morning
of the 20th, and remained there till the 13th of
the following month. There are but few memorials
of this brief holiday. It is stated that before he
quitted London to rejoin the fleet he called at
Mr. Peddieson's, an upholsterer, in Brewer Street,
who had charge of the coffin formed out of the
wood of L'Orient, and with an air of gaiety and
good temper requested that an attestation of its
identity should be engraved on the lid, adding, " I
17 257

258 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^Et. 4-6
think it highly probable that I may want it on my
return." Three days after his arrival at Merton, a
meeting of West India merchants was convened,
and it was agreed that a deputation should wait
upon the Admiral to express the grateful acknowl
edgments of every individual connected with the
West Indian colonies for his prompt determination
to quit the Mediterranean in search of the French
fleet, for his sagacity in ascertaining their course,
and for his bold and unwearied pursuit of the
enemy, by which the safety of the West India
Islands in general was secured.
It was during this period that Nelson is said to
have met the Duke of Wellington, then Sir Arthur
Wellesley. Sir Arthur had recently returned from
his campaign in India. Nelson was in the waiting-
room of the Secretary of State when Wellesley
entered. The Admiral did not know him, but the
numerous portraits of Nelson would have long
before rendered his features familiar to the future
great Field-Marshal. They had some time to wait,
and were soon engaged in conversation. The news
of Sir Robert Calder's action had just been received
— an action disastrous to the career, though not to
the reputation, of Sir Robert, but of immeasurable
importance to the security of our coasts * — and Sir
Arthur Wellesley said to Nelson : " This measure of
success won't do nowadays — for your Lordship has
taught the public to expect something more brill-
* It diverted the enemy from the Channel to Cadiz, out of which
they were starved into hostilities. But for Calder, Trafalgar never
would have been fought — whatever else might have happened.

1805] An Unsatisfactory Interview. 259
iant." Shortly after this Nelson left the room, pre
sumably to ascertain who his new friend was ; but
quickly returned and started the conversation on a
fresh footing. He had some project in his mind for
occupying Sardinia, and he wanted Sir Arthur to
take charge of the troops on that occasion, but
Wellesley replied that he would rather not — that he
had just returned from India, — in short he did not
enter into Nelson's view. Soon after this the Hero
sailed, and needless to say these two great men — the
one Buonaparte's destroyer by sea, the other his ex
tinguisher by land — -never met again.*
We have it, on the authority of Brenton, that the
last interview between George III. and Nelson " was
anything but satisfactory to the latter." He asserts
that the King never exchanged a word with Nelson
at the levee at Buckingham House after the affair at
Boulogne. Whether it was the death of Caracciolo
or Nelson's relations with Lady Hamilton which
displeased his Majesty, Brenton is unable to decide,
but the fact is certain. " The King wished to have
seen him, and sent a message to him to that effect

* Edinburgh Review, 1838, 331, 332. The passage occurs in a
review of Barrow's "Life of Earl Howe," and the writer adds:
" How gratifying and instructive would it not be if we could obtain
an account of the whole of the conversation, of which we have
gathered merely the above small but authentic particulars ! " Wel
lington, in referring to this meeting (at Walmer, in October, 1834),
spoke of Nelson's conversation as all about himself, " and in really
a style so vain and so silly as to surprise me. I suppose something
that I happened to say made him guess that I was somebody, and he
went out of the room for a moment, I have no doubt to ask the office-
keeper who I was, for when he came back he was altogether a differ
ent man, both in manner and matter."

260 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t^t.46
just before Nelson sailed from England to take the
command of the fleet off Cadiz ; but the letter never
reached him till he arrived on the last scene of his
earthly glory." *
It is remarkable that long before Nelson sailed
he should have thoroughly digested those very ma
nceuvres which subsequently resulted in the over
whelming defeat of the combined fleets of France and
Spain. He had, no doubt — true to his old custom,
— reviewed in his mind, during the many lonely
hours he had spent in blockading and in chasing,
every imaginable posture in which the enemy could
offer himself ; but it is astonishing to find human
sagacity rising into absolute prophecy, as assuredly
happened in the case of Nelson, who appears to have
anticipated the exact order in which the confederated
foe would appear. It is told in Dean Pellew's " Life
of Lord Sidmouth " that, shortly before Nelson's de
parture, Lord Sidmouth wrote to ask him to take
Richmond Park, on his way from Merton to London.
Nelson sent this answer: "On Tuesday forenoon,
if Superior Powers do not prevent me, I will be
in Richmond Park, and shall be happy in taking
you by the hand and to wish you a most perfect
restoration to health." This was the last letter
Lord Sidmouth ever received from his illustrious
friend ; he cherished it greatly, and wrote thus at
* ' ' Life of St. Vincent," vol. ii. , p. 48. Much that Brenton tellshe
collects from loose naval talk. Yet there is a foundation for most of
his statements, and he is worth attention for that reason. It is doubt
ful whether he is not confusing the King with the Prince of Wales.
The latter certainly invited Nelson to Carlton House, before he sailed,
to bid him farewell.

1805] An Historical Table. 261
the foot of it : " Lord Nelson came on that day,
and passed some hours at Richmond Park. This
was our last meeting." In after years he used to
relate to his friends the particulars of this interview.
There was a little study-table in the room ; Nelson
went to it and scored diagrams upon it with his
finger, to explain the manner in which, if the com
bined fleets offered to fight him, he proposed to
attack them. " Rodney," he said, " broke the line
in one point ; I will break it in two." — " There,"
Lord Sidmouth said, — " There is the table on which
he drew the plan of the battle of Trafalgar, but five
weeks before his death. It is strange that I should
have used this valued relic for above thirty years
without having once thought of recording upon it a
fact so interesting. Now I have perpetuated it by
this brief record: —
"'On the loth day of September, 1805, Vice-Admiral
Lord Viscount Nelson described to Lord Sidmouth, upon this
table, the manner in which he intended to engage the com
bined Fleets of France and Spain, which he expected shortly
to meet. He stated that he should attack them in two lines,
led by himself and Admiral Collingwood, and felt confident
that he should capture either their van and centre, or their
centre and rear. This he successfully effected, on the 21st
of October, following, in the glorious Battle of Trafalgar.' "
There is another anecdote which illustrates his
far-sightedness. In the few brief days he spent at
Merton he was visited by his friend Keats (after
wards Admiral Sir Richard Keats) and whilst they
were walking in the grounds talking on naval mat-

262 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

l/Et. 46

ters he exclaimed : " No day can be long enough
to arrange a couple of Fleets and fight a decisive
Battle according to the old system. When we
meet them (Keats was to have been with him),
for meet them we shall, I '11 tell you how I shall
fight. I shall form the Fleet into three Divisions
in three Lines. One Division shall be composed
of twelve or fourteen of the fastest two-decked
ships, which I shall keep always to windward, or in
a situation of advantage ; and I shall put them
under an Officer who I am sure would employ
them in the manner I wish, if possible. I con
sider it will always be in my power to throw them
into Battle in any part I may choose ; but if cir
cumstances prevent their being carried against the
Enemy where I desire, I shall feel certain he will
employ them effectually, and perhaps in a more
advantageous manner than if he could have followed
my orders. With the remaining part of the fleet
formed in two lines, I shall go at them at once if I
can, about one third of their line from their leading
ship. What do you think of it ? " His companion
paused. " But I '11 tell you what I think of it,"
broke in Nelson, " I think it will surprise and con
found the enemy. They won't know what I am
about. It will bring forward a pell-mell Battle, and
that is what I want." *
On the 2d of September, Captain Henry Black
wood arrived in London with important news for
the Admiralty. He had been despatched from the
Irish station by Admiral Drury, with instructions to

* Quoted by Nicolas. Vol. vii., p. 241,

1805] Interview with Blackwood. 263
trace the movements of the combined fleets under
Villeneuve and Gravina, who had put to sea from
Ferrol after the action with Sir Robert Calder off
Finisterre. Blackwood watched them into Cadiz,
then after a passage of five days arrived in England
to report the fact. On his way to London he called
at Merton. The hour was about five in the morn
ing, but Nelson was already up. He instantly
exclaimed to Blackwood : " I am sure you bring me
news of the French and Spanish fleets and I think I
shall yet have to meet them." He followed Black
wood to London and several times said to him when
they again met, on speaking of the operations he
contemplated on returning to the Mediterranean :
" Depend on it, Blackwood, I shall yet give Mr.
Villeneuve a drubbing."*
In Harrison's " Life of Lord Nelson " this anec
dote, which is unquestionably authentic, is very
dramatically amplified. It is there related that Cap
tain Blackwood's account of the enemy's fleet " was
nothing to " Nelson, who exclaimed : " Let the man
trudge it, who has lost his budget ! " But though he
said this gaily, Lady Hamilton observed that his
countenance fell and wore an air of gloom. He went
for a walk with her in one of the paths of Merton
Garden, which he always called the Quarter-deck,
and she told him that she perceived he was low and
uneasy. " No," he answered with a smile, " I am as
happy as possible," adding " that he saw himself
* Blackwood's Magazine, 1833. All that relates to Blackwood in
these pages is quoted from the memoir of him and his letters in that
journal, with Nicojas's corrections of the correspondence.

264 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[>Et. 46

surrounded by his family ; that he found his health
better since he had been at Merton ; and that he
would not give a sixpence to call the King his uncle."
To this Lady Hamilton replied : " That she did not
believe what he said, and that she would tell him
what was the matter with him ; that he was longing
to get at these French and Spanish fleets ; that he
considered them as his own property, and would be
miserable if any other man than himself did the
business ; that he must have them, as the price and
reward of his long watching, and two years' uncom
fortable situation in the Mediterranean." And she
finished by saying : " Nelson,, however we may
lament your absence, and your so speedily leaving
us, offer your services, immediately, to go off Cadiz ;
they will be accepted, and you will gain a quiet heart
by it. You will have a glorious victory ; and then
you may come here, have your otium cum dignitate,
and be happy." He looked at her for some moments
in silence, and then, with tears in his eyes, exclaimed :
" Brave Emma ! Good Emma ! If there were more
Emmas there would be more Nelsons ; you have
penetrated my thoughts. I wish all you say, but
was afraid to trust even myself with reflecting on the
subject. However, I will go to town."
The reader must exert his own judgment in ac
cepting this. It was dictated to Harrison by Lady
Hamilton some time after Lord Nelson's death,
when she was sparing no effort to obtain from an
ungrateful country those rewards which she professed
to consider she had as fully earned as Nelson himself.
Whether because of, or in spite of, his " Guardian

1805] Leaves Merton. 265
Angel," Nelson was now all eagerness to get at the
combined fleets. He was apprehensive of nothing
but an insufficiency of ships ; concerned lest the
Admiralty should supply him with a force within at
least fifteen or sixteen sail-of-the-line of the enemy ;
so that if every British ship took her opponent there
would be still a fleet of fifteen or sixteen sail-of-the-
line fresh and untouched to fight. " But I will do
my best," he wrote to Mr. Davison, " and I hope
God Almighty will go with me. I have much to
lose, but little to gain ; and I go because it is right,
and I will serve the country faithfully." He left
Merton on the night of Friday, September the 13th,
at half-past ten ; but before quitting the house he
went to the bedroom in which his child Horatia lay
sleeping, and kneeling down by the little girl's bed
side, earnestly prayed that God would bless and pro
tect her. He then bade Lady Hamilton farewell,
entered the post-chaise, and started for Portsmouth.
His private diary contained this entry : " Friday,
Sept. 13th, 1805. Friday night, at half-past ten
drove from dear dear Merton, where I left all which
I hold dear in this world, to go to serve my King
and Country. May the great God whom I adore,
enable me to fulfil the expectations of my country,
and if it is His good Pleasure that I should return,
my thanks will never cease being offered up to the
throne of His Mercy. If it is His good providence
to cut short my days upon earth, I bow with the
greatest submission, relying that He will protect
those so dear to me that I may leave behind. His
will be done. Amen, Amen, Amen,"

266 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L/Et. 47
He arrived at the George Inn, Portsmouth — the
room may be seen where he breakfasted before
going on board the Victory— at six o'clock on the
morning of September the 14th. There is a tradition
that, to escape the crowd which filled the street in
front of the inn, he made his way out through aback
door. It is certain, at all events, if Southey is to be
credited, that crowds were waiting on the beach to
witness his embarkation. They followed him to the
very wash of the water, " pressing forward to obtain
sight of his face : many were in tears, and many
knelt down before him, and blessed him as he passed.
England," continues Southey, " has had many
heroes, but never one who so entirely possessed the
love of his fellow-countrymen as Nelson. All men
knew that his heart was as humane as it was fearless ;
that there was not in his nature the slightest alloy of
selfishness or cupidity; but that with perfect and
entire devotion he served his country with all his
heart and with all his soul, and with all his strength :
and therefore they loved him as truly and as fervidly
as he loved England." The behaviour of the crowd
caused him to say to Captain Hardy : " I had
their huzzas before — I have their hearts now."
On the 1 8th, the Victory was joined by the Afax
and the Thunderer, and on the 26th, Nelson de
spatched Blackwood in the Euryalus to inform Lord
Collingwood of his approach, and to direct that when
he joined the fleet and assumed command there
should be no demonstration of salutes or of flags,
that the enemy might be kept in ignorance of the
arrival of a reinforcement. According to the log of

1805] The "Nelson Touch." 267
the Victory, she joined the fleet off Cadiz on the
evening of the 28th of September. Though there
were no salutes and no rejoicing colours flown, Nel
son's reception by the people under him was one of
such demonstrative enthusiasm as keenly delighted
him. It caused him, to use his own words, " the
sweetest sensation of my life. The officers who
came on board to welcome my return forgot my
rank as Commander-in-chief in the enthusiasm with
which they greeted me. As soon as these emotions
were passed, I laid before them the plan I had
previously arranged for attacking the enemy ; and
it was not only my pleasure to find it generally
approved, but clearly perceived and understood."
He also wrote to Lady Hamilton about the welcome
he received from Collingwood — his old friend Coll
— down to the humblest individual in the ships.
" When," he says, " I came to explain to them the
'Nelson Touch,' it was like an electric shock. Some
shed tears, all approved - — ' It was new — it was
singular— it was simple ! ' and, from Admirals down
wards it was repeated — ' It must succeed, if ever
they will allow us to get at them ! You are, my
Lord, surrounded by friends whom you inspire with
confidence.' " *
The force under him consisted of twenty-seven sail-
of-the-line, twenty-two of which were cruising about
fifteen miles off Cadiz ; the remaining five, under
Rear-Admiral Louis in the Canopus, were stationed
close off the harbour, where they watched the
motions of the combined forces. Such was the

* " Dispatches and Letters," vol. vii., p. 60.

268 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [/Et. 47
disposition of the fleet at this time. But Nelson's
object was to court Villeneuve and Gravina out of
their nest by leading them to suppose his force much
weaker than theirs. He therefore withdrew to a
distance of about eighteen leagues west of Cadiz,
leaving the task of watching the enemy to the two
frigates Euryalus and Hydra, between which and
the main body of the fleet, out of sight below the
horizon, were stationed three or four sail-of-the-line
at distances which enabled them to transmit the
signals made by the inshore frigates.
On the 1st of October it was communicated to
Nelson that there were thirty-four ships of the line
(eighteen French and sixteen Spanish), with four
frigates and two brigs, lying ready for sea in the
outer harbour of Cadiz. Next day Blackwood was
able to send word that there had been a great deal
of bustle and movement among the enemy ; that all
capable of serving had been sent on board the ships,
and that the French troops which had landed were
re-embarked. On the 4th, the two British frigates
were attacked by some Spanish gun-boats which
came sweeping out over the almost breathless water,
but they made haste to retire after a few useless
shots had been exchanged. Blackwood's duties
were extraordinarily tedious, exacting, and anxious,
but he discharged them magnificently. His gaze at
the enemy was of a lynx-eyed steadfastness. Every
motion was perceived and reported. " I rely on
you," wrote Nelson to him on the 10th, " that we
Can't miss getting hold of them, and I will give
them such a shaking as they never yet experienced ;

1805] Dr. Beattys Account. 269
at least, I will lay down my life in the attempt."
It was felt, however, that the combined fleets could
not much longer remain in port. The crews of so
many ships made a huge crowd to feed, and the
stock of provisions at Cadiz was rapidly failing.
Buonaparte, in anticipation of some such a heavy
demand as this upon the stores of the place, had
ordered shipments to be made at Nantes, Bordeaux,
and several Biscayan ports. The carriers sailed un
der Danish colours, and landed their cargoes at little
places betwixt Algeciras and Santa-Maria, whence
they were uninterruptedly conveyed to Cadiz. This
was a traffic to be checked, that hunger might pro
vide the French and Spanish with stomach enough
for a fight. A reinforcement of five British frigates
rendered blockading easy and incessant, and the con
veyance of stores to Cadiz, if not entirely stopped,
was so far interrupted as to yield good assurance to
Nelson that the enemy must soon show himself.*
Dr., afterwards Sir William, Beatty, who was sur
geon in the Victory, has a good deal to tell about
Nelson's personal habits and characteristics, referable,
in the main, to this time when he was cruising off
Cape Trafalgar. He seems to have been very strong
ly persuaded that he would be killed if there was a
battle, and on several occasions told Captain Hardy
that he wished, if his body were conveyed to Eng
land to be buried at the public expense, to lie in
St. Paul's Cathedral rather than in Westminster

* " The stoppage of these supplies by the extension of the blockade
left the combined fleets in a state of privation, which at last compelled
them to put to sea." — " Memoir of Collingwood," p. in.

270 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et.47
Abbey. He had a somewhat odd reason to give for
this choice : namely, that when he was a boy he
used to hear it talked of as an old tradition that
Westminster Abbey was built on land which was
once a deep morass, and he considered it very likely
that the soil, in the course of ages, would again
become a swamp, into which the Abbey would sink
without leaving a trace behind it. Failing a public
funeral, it was his wish to be buried by the side of
his father at Burnham Thorpe. Beatty tells us that
Nelson took much exercise, generally walking the
deck for six or seven hours in the day. He rose
and breakfasted very early, and when on deck, if a
thought suddenly occurred to him, he would at once
go to his cabin to commit it to paper lest his mem
ory should lose it. Dinner on board the Victory was
served at half-past two, and the company consisted
of seldom less than eight or nine persons, — officers
of the ship ; but when the weather permitted, the
admirals and captains of the fleet were invited by
signal to join the party, the invitations being gov
erned by rotation of seniority. Beatty found Nelson
as a host as affable, courteous, and laughter-loving
as Colonel Stewart had ; attentive to every one, but
a sparing eater himself, often dining off a fragment
of fowl and a plate of macaroni. His drink appears
to have been champagne, but he never exceeded
four glasses, which he would sometimes dilute with
mineral or common water. Such was the wonderful
activity of his mind that he rarely slept uninter
ruptedly for more than two hours at a time.
Again and again he would spring from his cot to

1805] Blackwood 's Enthusiasm. 27 'I
make inquiries and learn what was going on above
him and around in the fleet, and on several occa
sions he would mount on deck and remain there,
pacing it the whole night through. Yet, sufferer as
he was in health, he was at no pains whatever to
cherish himself; he would quit his cabin on a wet
night with only a thin coat on, and when soaked
through and through he would refuse to allow his
clothes to be changed, asserting that the leather
waistcoat which he wore over his flannel one would
protect him from all effects of damp. He objected
to boots, and was repeatedly getting his feet wet.
At such times he would enter his cabin, kick his
shoes off, and walk on the carpet in his stockings to
dry them. This he did rather than give his servants
the trouble of drawing on clean stockings ; for it
must be remembered that Nelson had but one hand
and could but assist himself in part only.
It is by personal descriptions of this kind that one
gets to see and know the man as he showed and was
known to those who beheld him in the flesh.
The combined fleet started to unmoor at seven
o'clock in the morning, on Saturday, the 19th of
October, but the wind was weak and twelve ships
only succeeded in floating out of the harbour on
that day. Blackwood, watching them from the deck
of the Euryalus, can yet find a spare five minutes to
write a letter to his wife. "What think you, my
own dearest love?" he exclaims with a sort of joy
ous enthusiasm in the ring of the sentences he scores
down. "At this moment the enemy are coming
out, and as if determined to have a fair fight ; all

272 The Life of Horatio Nelson. u£t. 47
night they have been making signals, and the morn
ing showed them to us getting under way. . . . You
see also, my Harriett, I have time to write to you.
... It is very odd how I have been dreaming all
night of my carrying home dispatches. God send so
much good luck!"* It was signalled that the
enemy were coming out of port. The 'Victory was at
that time with the main body of the fleet some fifty
miles W.S.W. of Cadiz ; the wind a light air, and
southerly. Instantly flew a signal for a " General
Chase S.E." — that is, towards the Strait of Gibral
tar, for at all costs the enemy must be hindered from
entering the Mediterranean.
The universal impression was that there would be
a battle that day, and Nelson, entering his cabin,
wrote two letters; one to Lady Hamilton, and the
other to his child Horatia. He addresses the little girl
as " my dearest angel," tells her that the combined
fleets of the enemy are coming out of Cadiz, says he
is sure of her prayers for his safety, conquest, and
speedy return, and bids her be a good girl. To Lady
Hamilton he writes : " My dearest beloved Emma,
the dear friend of my bosom. The signal has been
made that the enemy's Combined Fleet are coming
out of Port. We have very little wind, so that I
have no hopes of seeing them before to-morrow.
?Blackwood was not the only dreamer in that fleet. " There is a
thing," wrote Lord Collingwood to his wife, December the 6th,
1805, "which has made a considerable impression upon me. A
week before the war, at Morpeth, I dreamt distinctly many of the
circumstances of our late battle off the enemy's port, and I believe I
told you of it at the time : but I never dreamt that I was to be a Peer
of the Realm." — " Collingwood's Correspondence," p. 161.

1805] Nelson in Chase. 273

May the God of Battles crown my endeavours with
success ; at all events, I will take care that my name
shall ever be most dear to you and Horatia, both of
whom I love as much as my own life. And as my
last writing before the battle will be to you, so I
hope in God that I shall live to finish my letter after
the Battle. May Heaven bless you, prays your
Nelson and Bronte."
It is not in human nature to repress an emotion
of bitterness on thinking of the unworthiness of the
recipient of these noble, touching, beautiful words.
Deeply could one have wished for the survival into
this hour of the eve of conflict and victory, of the
affection that had been his before the battle of the
Nile, that the final utterances of the great heart
which was soon to cease to beat should have been
for the wife of his choice, for his early love, for her
and her only !
After writing these letters Nelson went on deck,
and at three o'clock the Colossus signalled that the
enemy's fleet was at sea. An instance of the Hero's
prevision here occurs. He knew that the hoops
round the masts of the enemy's ships were painted
black, whereas the lower masts of his own vessels
were painted yellow, excepting only those of the
Belleisle and Polyphemus, which had recently joined.
There could be no better distinguishing mark amid
the smoke and confusion of battle than black circles
on masts, and the Belleisle and Polyphemus were at
once instructed by telegraph to paint over the hoops,
that their masts might be of a uniform colour and in
correspondence with those of the rest of the British
18

274 The Life of Horatio Nelson. VKx.4t
ships.* A light breeze sprang up in the evening,
and the twelve sail of the enemy bracing up stood
away to the northward, with the two British frigates
Euryalus and Sirius to windward of them following
and watching.
The 20th of October was a Sunday, and at break
of day that morning all the others of the combined
fleet then in Cadiz weighed and put to sea with a
light breeze from the south-east, and by three P.M.
the whole mass of shipping had united and formed
in five columns. Twenty-seven sail-of-the-line, dis
tinctively termed the Line of Battle, were sub
divided into three squadrons of seven ships each,
the centre commanded by Villeneuve, the rear by
Dumanoir, and the van by the Spanish Vice-Admiral
Alava. The second or reserve body were divided
into two squadrons of six ships each, the first under
Gravina and the second under Magon. The British
were out of sight, having approached close to the
mouth of the Strait of Gibraltar ; but at seven in
the morning the Phoebe signalled the enemy as bear
ing north, and by noon the fleet were to the south
west of Cadiz, about twenty-five miles distant from it.
Shortly afterwards the wind headed the ships, which
at four o'clock put their helms up and came round
on the port or larboard tack with their heads at
about north. It seemed very evident that the
enemy's emergence was a half-hearted affair, and

* " Painting ship a la Nelson " was a saying among the officers of
the fleet. It was Nelson, I believe, who first introduced the black
ports to break what were then the yellow bands along the ship's sides.
At what period white took the place of yellow I do not know.

1805] Excellent Arrangements. 275
that the French and Spaniards were immovably
fixed in their resolution to keep the port of Cadiz
close aboard ; and Nelson, feverishly anxious to get
at them and to intercept all possibility of a recoil
on their part from his "Touch," telegraphed to the
Euryalus that he relied upon Blackwood keeping
sight of the enemy all night. So excellent was his
arrangement of night signals, and so thoroughly
were they understood by his captains, that through
out the long hours of darkness the movements of
the combined fleet were as clearly followed on board
the British ships as though they had been inter
preted by telescopes in the daylight. Twice they
wore as though in doubt, and Nelson's apprehension,
lest they should effect a retreat before he could
bring them to a general engagement, caused him to
hold his ships well aloof, that the foe should not
perceive them before daybreak, when escape might
be difficult, if not impossible.

CHAPTER XIX.
A grand picture — Nelson's men — His
dress before the battle — His prayer —
Blackwood's suggestion — The famous
signal -r- Collingwood — The Royal
Sovereign — Anecdote of Rotheram —
The Victory in action — Overwhelming
fire — Nelson wounded — ¦ Scene of the
cockpit — Nature of the wound — Hardy —
Tenderness of nature in last moments —
"Anchor, Hardy, Anchor !" — Nelson's death.
'HEN the dawn of Monday, the 2ist
of October, threw out the dark line
of sea in the eastward, the Franco-Spanish fleet were
to be seen in a close line of battle on the starboard
tack, standing to the southward. The sun never rose
upon a grander and more impressive ocean-picture.
As the courses and hulls of the hindmost of the
British vessels floated up the sea-line the blue girdle
of the deep became a field of ships : giant structures
bristling with guns, canvas swelling in clouds to the
heavens from their tall black sides crowned with grim
and formidable defences, crowds of sailors motionless
in expectation, quarter-decks glittering with uniforms,
sterns sparkling with gilt and the flash of great cabin
windows, and a deep stillness everywhere, broken to
the ears aboard the British only by the creaming
wash of the bow-surge, shouldered off into yeast by
276

1805] A Grand Picture. 277
the thrust of the cut-water, as the towering liners,
brave- with bunting, rolled majestically onwards
towards the concourse of giantesses awaiting them
in the east. The horizon there seemed filled with
the white spires of men-of-war. Towering amidst
them was the huge fabric of the Santissima Trinidad
of a hundred and thirty guns. She had escaped the
British grasp at St. Vincent, and there she loomed
again, but now with the very blackest of fates
awaiting her. There, too, were the Principe de As-
turias and the Santa Ana, vast structures, grinning
with the teeth of a hundred and twelve guns each,
with crosses ready to dangle at their spanker-boom
ends, and priests in plenty to exhort, to confess, and
to offer the saints every encouragement of candle,
and perhaps of dollars, to assist in the fight with
those Heretics in the west, whose manner of ap
proach was even now weakening the pulse of the
gallant, honourable Villeneuve.
Little need to hold an Englishman vain-glorious,
for supposing that there could have been no lack
of misgiving and of apprehension amongst those
Frenchmen and Spaniards as Nelson's fleet came
lifting from royals to courses, and from courses to
the water-line into the open morning of that famous
October day. The approaching Admiral was one
whose name had long become a terror to the ene
mies of his country. His captains were men of
splendid record, of admirable seamanship, of un
paralleled daring. His seamen were the children of
a nation whose offspring were the finest breed of
sailors the world had ever produced. There were

278 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l^Et. 47
twenty-seven liners, three of one hundred guns,
most of the rest of them of seventy-four ; they were
united by one common spirit ; they were combined
under one flag; they were about to fight for one
cause — a great and a good cause — for their country
and against tyranny, oppression, and wrong ! They
were as one ship and as one crew in sympathy, faith,
enthusiasm, and resolution. But amongst the Dons,
as their behaviour after defeat proved, there was no
love for the French ; and amongst the French there
was but very little confidence in the Dons. No
further spirit of unanimity was to be found amongst
them than such as the law of self-defence and the
desire to come off at all events with their lives
would provide. Who can wonder that Villeneuve's
heart sickened in him when he sent his glance from
the British ships to the hulking craft on either hand,
rolling under the ensigns of two nationalities, his own
vessels filled with crews whose impiety and infidelity
had extinguished in the devout and superstitious
Spaniards even such poor sympathy for purposes of
battle as might be found in a common faith?
Shortly after daybreak on the morning of the
21st, Nelson came on deck dressed in his Admiral's
frock-coat, on the left breast of which were embroid
ered the orders he was privileged to wear. He
was in excellent spirits, had been so indeed through
out the previous day, when, so it is recorded of
him, being on the poop of the Victory, where
a group of midshipmen were assembled, he ad
dressed them with a smile : " This day or to-morrow
will be a fortunate one for you, young men," refer-

1805] The Twenty-First of October. 279
ring to their promotion. Beatty says he did not
wear his sword, and that Trafalgar was the only
action in which he ever appeared without one. " I
will not be contented with capturing less than
twenty sail-of-the-line," he told Hardy, and added,
addressing others, that "the 21st of October was
the happiest day in the year amongst his family,"
meaning by this that on that day of the month, in
1757, his uncle, Captain Suckling, was attacked by an
overwhelming French force, and gallantly beat it off.
Several times he had said to Hardy and his chaplain,
Scott, that "the 21st of October will be our day."
Almost as soon as he had left his cabin a signal was
made on board the Victory for the captains of the
frigates to come on board, and when Blackwood
arrived Nelson's remark to him was, " I mean to
bleed the captains of the frigates, so I shall keep
you on board until the very last minute." After
the signal had been made for bearing down upon
the enemy in two lines, Nelson mounted the poop,
where he could obtain a clear view of his fleet, and
while there gave particular directions for the re
moval of his cabin fixtures. Amongst the furniture
was a portrait of Lady Hamilton. " Take care of
my guardian angel," he said to the persons em
ployed in this work.
Shortly after this — -at about eleven o'clock in the
morning — he quitted the poop to withdraw to his
cabin for a few minutes. Whilst he was below,
Lieutenant Pasco, who, though senior lieutenant,
acted as signal-lieutenant on board the Victory,
went to Nelson's cabin to make a report, and also

280 The Life of Horatio Nelson. f^Et.47
to prefer a complaint, namely, that at the moment
of so glorious an opportunity, he, despite his senior
ity, should be doing duty in an inferior station. On
entering the cabin the Lieutenant found Nelson on
his knees writing. This is what he was composing
at that moment: "At daylight saw the Enemy's
Combined Fleet from East to E. S. E.; bore away ;
made the signal for Order of Sailing, and to Prepare
for Battle, the Enemy with their heads to the South
ward, at Seven the Enemy wearing in succession.
May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my
country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a
great and glorious Victory ; and may no miscon
duct in any one tarnish it ; and humanity after Vic
tory be the predominant feature in the British fleet.
For myself, individually, I commit my life to him
who made me, and may His blessing light upon my
endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To
Him I resign myself, and the just cause which is
entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen."
" He was then penning that beautiful prayer," said
Lieutenant, afterwards Captain, Pasco. " I waited
until he rose and communicated what I had to re
port, but could not at such moment disturb his
mind with any grievances of mine."* Either before
or immediately after Pasco's visit Nelson added that
•famous Codicil to his will, in which, after stating the
services he truly believed that Lady Hamilton had
rendered to Great Britain, he bequeathed her and
Horatia as a legacy to his King and Country.
His anxiety to close with the enemy was consum-
* Communicated by Captain Pasco to Sir W. H. Nicolas.

1805] Blackwood's Suggestion. 281
ing. He admired in the combined fleet what he
termed " the good face '' they put upon it, but sev
eral times exclaimed : " I '11 give them such a dress
ing as they never had before." The British fleet
were now heading direct for the foe. The breeze
was light, a long Atlantic swell was rolling in, and
the enemy's line was somewhat disordered by it,
insomuch that instead of being straight, it formed a
curve or crescent. Their ships were under top-sails and
top-gallant-sails, and lay with the weather leeches
" lifting." The weak wind made the interval between
the moment of sighting and the moment of conflict
long, for the British vessels, even with studding-sails
set, were scarcely moving at three knots in the hour.
As the two forces slowly closed, Captain Blackwood,
appreciating the value of such a life as Nelson's, sug
gested that he should go aboard the Euryalus, where
he would be better able to see what was going
forward. Nelson would not hear of it. Blackwood
then suggested that one or two ships of the line
should go ahead of the Victory, and lead her into
action, that the enemy's attention might in some
measure be withdrawn from the flag-ship. Nelson,
smiling significantly as he looked at Hardy, ex
claimed (referring to the Teme"raire that was then
close to the Victory), " Oh, yes, let her go ahead."
The Temeraire was thereupon hailed to take her
station in advance of the flag-ship. At that moment
the lieutenant who commanded upon the Victory's
forecastle observed something wrong in the hoist or
set of the lee-lower studding-sail, and ordered it
to be hauled in that it might be 'hoisted afresh.

282 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [/Et. 47
Nelson, perceiving this, imagined that the lieuten
ant's intention was to shorten sail, and running for
ward rated him severely for acting without orders.
The studding-sail was immediately run up afresh,
and the Victory, as Nelson had all along intended,
continued to lead the column.*
It was some little time after Nelson had come up
from his cabin, where he had been writing his Prayer
and the Codicil to his Will which Blackwood and
Hardy witnessed, that he ordered the famous Signal
to the fleet to be made.f The hour by the Naiad's
log is given as thirty-five minutes past eleven. The
story has been variously told, but Pasco's may be
accepted as the truest. He was on the poop when
Nelson approached him, and after ordering certain
signals to be flown, the Admiral exclaimed: "Mr.
Pasco, I wish to say to the Fleet, ENGLAND CON
FIDES THAT EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY." And
he added : " You must be quick, for I have one more
to make, which is for close action." Lieutenant
Pasco replied : " If your Lordship will permit me to
substitute the expects for confides the signal will
soon be completed, because the word expects is in
the vocabulary, and confides must be spelt." Nelson
hastily, but with an air of satisfaction, said : " That

*This is given on the authority of James, who differs, but not
very materially, from Beatty's and Blackwood's version of the
incident. f The Signal was by Sir Home Popham's Telegraphic Code, and
ran thus :
Nos. 253 269 863 261 471 958 220 374 4 21 19 24.
England Expects That Every Man Will Do His D U T Y.

1805] Position of the Two Fleets. 283
will do, Pasco, make it directly." * The colours
conveying this sentiment were hoisted, and Captain
Blackwood relates that the shout with which the
memorable, noble signal was received throughout the
fleet when its signification became fully known, was
truly sublime. " Now," exclaimed Nelson, turning
to Blackwood," " I can do no more. We must trust
to the great Disposer of all events, and the justice
of our cause. I thank God for this great opportunity
of doing my duty."
The position of the two fleets about this time may
be thus stated : the enemy's ships were lying-to with
their heads to the north in two irregular lines, the ves
sels being mingled without regard to the nationalities.
The British ships were sailing into the combined fleet
in two columns, the one to windward led by Nelson
in the Victory, the one to leeward by Collingwood
in the Royal Sovereign. Next to the great Admiral
at this moment Collingwood must needs be the most
interesting figure in the fleet. His servant, a man
named Smith, stated that he entered the Admiral's
cabin at about daylight, and found him already up
and dressing. " He asked if I had seen the French
fleet ; and on my replying that I had not, he told
me to look out at them, adding that in a very short
time we should see a very great deal more of them.
I then observed a crowd of ships to leeward ; but
I could not help looking with still greater interest at
the Admiral, who during all this time was shaving

* " Letters and Dispatches," vol. vii., p. 150. James says that the
signal first ordered by Nelson, was " Nelson expects every man to do
his duty." — " Naval History," vol. iii., p. 392.

284 The Life of Horatio Nelson. l/Et. 47
himself with a composure that quite astonished me."
Collingwood is said to have dressed himself that
morning with peculiar care. On meeting Lieuten
ant Clavell he advised him to pull off his boots.
"You had better," he said, "put on silk stockings as
I have done ; for if one should get a shot in the leg
they would be so much more manageable for the sur
geon." He then made the rounds of the decks to
encourage the men to the discharge of their duty,
and addressing his officers, said to them : " Now, gen
tlemen, let us do something to-day which the world
may talk of hereafter." Shortly after this the grand
telegraphic signal to the fleet was flown aboard the
Victory. Collingwood, not knowing at first what it
meant, said, after glancing at it, that he wished
Nelson would make no more signals, for they all un
derstood what they were to do. But on the signal
being interpreted to him, he expressed the highest
delight and admiration of it, and desired that it
should instantly be made known to the officers and
ship's company.*
The Royal Sovereign led a mile in advance of the
rest of the fleet, owing to the superior nimbleness of
her heels, due probably to her copper being clean, as
she had but lately returned from England. She was
in consequence the first to get into action. All the
men were ordered to lie down upon the decks as she
swept under studding-sails into the foe. The signal
for her was to pass through the enemy's line at the
twelfth ship from the rear ; but this vessel happened
to be a two-deck ship, whilst the one ahead was a
* " Collingwood's Correspondence," 124.

1805] The " Royal Sovereign" First in Action. 285
first-rate with Admiral Alava's flag flying on board,
and Collingwood went for her. The Fougueux, that
was astern of the great Spanish Santa Ana, closed
up to prevent the Royal Sovereign from going through
the line ; on which Collingwood told his captain
(Rotheram*) to steer for the Frenchman and carry
away his bowsprit. To escape such a disaster the
Fougueux backed her maintop-sail, but let fly some
cannons as the Royal Sovereign swept past — the first
thunder of the action ! but with the exception of a
gun or two to conceal his ship with smoke, Colling
wood held the batteries of the Royal Sovereign silent
until she had ranged abreast of the stern of the
Santa Ana, when she discharged her whole broad
side of double-shotted guns with such terrific effect
that the Don's stern was beaten in and four hun
dred of her men killed and wounded ! At the same
moment she sent her starboard broadside, similarly
double-shotted, into the Fougueux, receiving as she
did so the whole weight of the Santa Ana's metal,
the furious storm of which caused the English battle
ship to heel two streaks out of the water.
Collingwood was at least twenty minutes in action
alone before another English ship could support him.
When Nelson saw the first of the battle-smoke rising
from the contending craft he is said to have struck
his hand on his thigh whilst he exclaimed : " Bravo ! "
*The following story of Rotheram is told : A heavy shower of mus
ketry nearly swept the deck of the Royal Sovereign. Some of the offi
cers begged Rotheram not to expose himself so recklessly to the enemy's
sharpshooters by weari-ng a gold-laced hat and his epaulets. ' ' Let me
alone," answered Rotheram, " I have always fought in a cocked hat
and always will ! "

286 The Life of Horatio Nelson. t/Et.47
three times, adding, " What a glorious salute the Royal
Sovereign is in ! " It was at this time that Colling
wood said to his captain : " Rotheram, what would
Nelson give to be here ? " whilst Nelson, on board
the Victory, almost, as it is stated, at the moment of
Collingwood's utterance, cried : " See how that noble
fellow, Collingwood, carries his ship into action ! "
Captain Blackwood remained on board the Victory
till a shot from the enemy flew over her. He was
then, with Captain Prowse of the Sirius, requested
to leave, and on his way to his frigate to tell all the
captains of line-of-battle ships that Nelson depended
on their exertions. " He then again desired me to go
away," says Blackwood ; " and as we were standing
on the front of the poop I took his hand and said :
'I trust, my Lord, that on my return to the Victory,
which will be as soon as possible, I shall find your
Lordship well and in possession of twenty prizes ' ;
on which he made this reply : ' God bless you,
Blackwood, I shall never speak to you again.' "
With ensigns and jacks distributed about her
rigging, and with the signal " Engage the enemy more
closely," flying at her fore-royalmast-head, — two flags
quarter red and white over white with the blue
cross, signifying number 16, — the Victory, with stud
ding-sails out on either side at the fore, slowly
floated down upon the enemy, whose ensigns were
now hoisted, whilst by this time at the spanker
boom end of every Spanish ship there was dangling
a great wooden cross. Nelson seemed to be heading
direct for that huge four-decker, the Santissima Trini
dad, but not with the intention of attacking her. A

1805] The " Victory " under Heavy Fire. 287
Spanish Rear-Admiral was a comparatively insignifi
cant object, to be dealt with leisurely and by-and-bye,
whilst there was a French Vice-Admiral in command
to be got at. Yet where Villeneuve was could not be
ascertained ; the four-decker's flag at the mizzen was
visible enough, but there was no French flag at the
fore ; nevertheless Nelson was persuaded that the
French Admiral was in one of two or three ships
which lay astern of the Santissima Trinidad, and for
this reason he steered straight for that immense
bristling castle.
The first shot that was aimed at the Victory came
from the Bucentaure ; the ball fell short. There was a
pause ; then followed a second shot, and the leap of
the white water as the cannon-ball struck the sea
was this time close alongside the British flag-ship.
The range was again tried by a third shot, which
flew over the ship, and then it was that Blackwood
and Prowse bade Nelson farewell. There was a
fourth and then a fifth shot, and a rent in the Vic
tory's main-topgallant-sail was perceptible. The
enemy now knew that the British ship was within
reach of his guns. Yet another minute or two of
silence, breathless and terrible ! then to a signal
from the French Admiral the whole artillery of the
enemy's van, formed at least of seven or eight of the
weathermost ships, opened upon the Victory. Never
perhaps before in all maritime warfare had so tre
mendous a fire been directed at a single ship. John
Scott, Nelson's public secretary, fell dead, killed by
a round shot whilst he was conversing with Captain
Hardy. The furious cannonading utterly stagnated

288 The Life of Horatio Nelson. f^t. 47
what little air remained ; there seemed not a breath
to cool the moistened finger; but the Victory, having
yet some way upon her and floated forward also by
the swell, drove toward the space of open water
betwixt the Santissima Trinidad and the Bucentaure,
whose colossal sides continued to leap in sheets of
flame at her as she approached ; whilst a little astern
of the Bucentaure lay the Redoutable, incessantly
pouring a heavy and destructive fire into Nelson's
ship. For some minutes the Victory was unable to make
any reply. She was within five hundred yards of
the port or larboard beam of the Bucentaure when
her mizzen-topmast went over the side, shot away
about a third of its length from under the cross-
trees. In another minute the wheel was knocked to
pieces. The ship was then steered in the gun-room.
A few seconds later a double-headed shot killed
eight marines on the poop, and the captain of ma
rines was requested by Nelson to distribute his men
about the ship that they might not suffer by being
closely grouped. The Hero's own indifference to
personal risk was illustrated much about this time
by his refusal to suffer the hammocks, which served
as barriers against the enemy's grape and musketry,
to be raised an inch higher than it was customary to
stow them, that they might not hinder him from
having a clear view of the scene of battle. As he and
Hardy paced the deck together a splinter struck the
Captain's foot and tore the buckle from his shoe.
They both halted and anxiously ran their eyes over
each other, one supposing the other to be hurt.

1805] On Board the " Victory!' 289
" This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long," said
Nelson with a smile, adding that, often as he had
been engaged in conflict, he never remembered the
like of the coolness and courage which the men of
the Victory were showing. The Bucentaure slowly
forged ahead, disclosing a large French ship on her
lee-quarter, with another ship yet, looming amid the
fog of white powder-smoke, reaching in with the
intention of closing the space over the Victory's bow.
Hardy represented that it was impossible to pass
through the enemy's line without running aboard
one of those ships which were coming together
ahead of her in a huddle. " I cannot help it," ex
claimed Nelson ; " it does not signify which we run
on board of. Go on board which you please ; take
your choice."
At this time the loss in the Victory amounted to
twenty killed, and there were thirty wounded be
sides ; her studding-sail booms had been shot off at
the yard-arms ; every sail was like a grating, and her
brand new fore-course gaped in an enormous rent.*
But it was now the grand old ship's turn. All had
been quiet on board of her saving the accidental
explosion of a forward gun. But at this hour —
about half-past twelve, though the exact time is of
course disputed, — she discharged at the Bucentaure
a sixty-eight-pounder carronade, loaded with a round
shot and a keg filled with five hundred musket-balls.
The dose was slapped right into the Frenchman's
* James calls it from eighty to a hundred yards, but a length of
three hundred feet, either athwartships or up and down, is impossi
ble, and the statement must therefore be a misprint.
19

2 90 The Life of Horatio Nelson. L4t. 47
cabin windows; and then, as the Victory slowly
forged ahead, the remaining guns of the broadside,
all of them double- and some of them treble-
shotted, were deliberately fired, one after another.
The men serving the guns in the Victory were
nearly suffocated by the black clouds of smoke
which entered tbe port-holes, and Nelson and all
others then on the quarter-deck were begrimed by
the dust of the crumbled woodwork of the Bucen
taure' s stern. This furious raking of the Frenchman
was only a little less destructive to him than had
been the Royal Sovereign s broadside to the Santa
Ana. Twenty of the Bucentaure' s guns were dis
mounted by it, and her officers afterward said that
the loss in killed and wounded reached nearly to
four hundred men.
The French ship Neptune, that had been valiantly
supporting the Bucentaure, fearing to be run aboard
of by the Victory, hoisted her jib and shifted her
helm to forge ahead. Captain Hardy, who had de
cided to run aboard the ship that was to starboard,
ported his helm and drove towards the Redoutable,
whose men, having discharged a broadside, promptly
closed their lower-deck ports and fired from them no
more. Beatty and, after him, Southey say that, be
cause there was danger that the Redoutable might
take fire from the Victory's guns, whose muzzles,
when the pieces were run out, touched her sides, the
fireman of each gun stood ready with a bucket of
water to slap into the hole after the shot had been
fired. James, however, convincingly disproves this

THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, 1805.
FROM THE PAINTING BY 0. STANFIELD, IN THE VERNON GALLERY.

1805] Receives his Death- Wound. 291
by exhibiting the situation of the combatants ; nor,
indeed, even if it were a practicable, is it at all a very
credible, manoeuvre.
When the Victory had been fitted to receive Nel
son's flag, a large skylight over the Admiral's cabin
was removed, and planks let into the space so as
to enable him to walk amidships clear of the guns
and gear. The length of this walk was about twenty-
one feet, the stanchion of the wheel ending it aft,
and the coverings of the hatch which led to the
cabin bounding it forward.
Nelson was pacing this promenade with Captain
Hardy somewhere about half-past one o'clock, and
having arrived at the cabin hatch, suddenly faced
left about. Hardy, who had taken the further and
final step, rounded to re-measure this pendulum
walk. As he did so he observed Nelson in the act
of falling. Before he could spring forward, the
Hero had dropped with his face on the deck. The
spot was exactly where his secretary Scott had been
killed, and the blood of the poor fellow, yet fresh,
stained Nelson's clothes. " They have done for me
at last, Hardy," Nelson exclaimed. " I hope not,"
answered the Captain. " Yes," said Nelson, " my
backbone is shot through." He was lifted and
carried below to the cockpit. On the way, with his
one hand he drew his handkerchief over his face,
that his sailors might not know who it was that was
being conveyed below. Already the scene of the
cockpit was that of a shambles. The gloomy depths
were dimly illuminated by the feeble light of smok
ing oil flames, and all about lay the dead and the

292 The Life of Horatio Nelson. tdEt. 47
dying, forms motionless or writhing in anguish. The
atmosphere was insufferable with nauseating smells ;
and the dusky cavern resounded with the groans
of suffering and with the volcanic-like notes of the
artillery thundering above. The surgeon, Dr. Beat
ty, was bending over the forms of two officers —
already corpses — when he heard several of the
wounded calling to him : " Mr. Beatty, Lord Nel
son is here. Mr. Beatty, the Admiral is wounded."
He instantly looked in the direction indicated, and
as he did so the handkerchief fell from Nelson's face
and the decorations on his coat appeared. Beatty
and the purser, Mr. Burke, ran hastily to assist, and
received the dying Hero from the arms of the men
who had brought him below. Nelson feebly asked
whose were the arms which supported him, and, on
being answered, he exclaimed : " Ah, Mr. Beatty,
you can do nothing for me ; I have but a short time
to live ; my back is shot through."
The Reverend Dr. Scott, the chaplain, had been
some little while earlier ministering to the wounded
in various parts of the cockpit. Moment after mo
ment men horribly mutilated, screaming in their
anguish, or expiring with a groan even as they were
handed down the hatch, were arriving, and Scott
was half maddened by the horrible scene. He
persevered, however, until a fine young fellow, a
lieutenant, was brought down desperately wounded.
How bad his hurt was, the poor young officer did
not apparently know until the surgeon had ex
amined it ; when, waiting until Beatty's back was
turned, he tore off with his own hand the liga-

1805] Surgeon Beatty's Fears Realized. 293
tures which had been applied, and bled to death !
Scott, almost frenzied by the sight, fled to the deck
for relief. He rushed to the companion-ladder, —
the steps were slippery with blood, — all was con
fusion, cries, the roar of ordnance, an endless
storming noise of crashing timber and of splitting
spar. Then it was that he heard Nelson had fallen,
and instantly hastened to his side, wringing his
hands with grief as he turned to the surgeon to say :
" Alas, Beatty, how prophetic you were ! " referring
to the fear that had been expressed lest Nelson's
decorations should unnecessarily expose him on deck
to the French sharpshooters. That same coat, which
was claimed as the cause of the Hero's death, when
removed from him, was hastily rolled up to serve as
a pillow for Lieutenant Westphal, whose wound was
bleeding freely ; and when the battle was over, and
an attempt was made to remove the coat, several of
the bullions of the epaulets were found to be so
firmly glued into the Lieutenant's hair by the coagu
lated blood from his wound, that four or five of
them were cut off and left in his hair, one of which
he afterwards told Sir Harry Nicolas — in 1844* —
he still possessed.
Nelson was laid upon a bed, and, his clothes
being removed, he was covered with a sheet. Whilst
this was being done he said to Scott in a hurried,
agitated manner : " Doctor, I told you so. Doctor, I
am gone." Adding a little later in a subdued voice :
" Remember me to Lady Hamilton ! Remember
me to Horatia ! Remember me to all my friends '

* He was then Captain Sir George Westphal.

294 The Life of Horatio Nelson. C/Et.47
Doctor, remember me to Mr. Rose ; tell him I have
made a will, and left Lady Hamilton and Horatia to
my country."* The wound was probed, and the
surgeon was of opinion that the ball had lodged in
the spine. " Yes," exclaimed Nelson, " I am confi
dent that my back is shot through " ; and on being
asked to express his sensations, he said that he felt a
rush of blood every minute within his breast ; that
he had no feeling in the lower part of his body, and
that his breathing was difficult, with keen pain
about that part of the spine where he had been hit.
These were symptoms which persuaded Beatty that
the case was hopeless, but the deadly character of
the wound was kept secret from all, with the excep
tion of Hardy, Scott, and one or two others, until
the victory over the combined fleet was assured and
declared. Meanwhile, without, the battle was furiously raging.
Such was the destructive effect of the Redoutable' s
fire that most of the effective men left upon the
Victory's upper deck were employed in carrying
their wounded shipmates to the cockpit. Indeed the
only occupants of the flagship's quarter-deck at that
time were Captain Hardy, Captain Adair, of the
marines, and one or two other officers. The sharp
shooters in the Redoutable' s mizzen-top — whence
had come the shot that had struck Nelson — hailed
their officers below and communicated the seemingly
deserted condition of the Victory, upon which an at
tempt was made to board ; but whilst the Frenchmen
were scrambling into the chains and along the gang-
* From Dr. Scott's own account,

1805] Anxiety for Hardy. 295
way of their ship there was a rush of men from the
Victory's lower decks, and the assault was magnifi
cently repulsed — but at a desperate cost to the
English ; for in this affair alone Captain Adair and
eighteen men were killed, Lieutenant Ram and one
midshipman mortally wounded, and twenty men
seriously hurt. Soon afterwards hostilities aboard
the Redoutable ceased ; but it does not appear that
she was immediately taken possession of.
Down in the cockpit could be clearly heard the
cheers given by the Victory's crew whenever they
saw that their own shot told heavily, or whenever
they observed an enemy's ship surrender. Once
Nelson asked the meaning of the huzzas, and Lieu
tenant Pasco, who lay wounded near him, answered
that another ship had struck. Nelson smiled ; but
he was now suffering from thirst, and repeatedly
called for drink and to be fanned with paper, crying
" Fan, fan ; drink, drink ! " They gave him lemon
ade and wine and water. His utterances proved that
he could think of little more that the event of the
battle, and the safety of his friend, Captain Hardy,
whom he loved, and for whose life he was fearing.
He was told that the enemy were decisively defeated,
and hope was expressed that he would live to be
himself the bearer of the grand tidings to his country.
" It is all over; it is all over! " was his reply. His
anxiety to see Hardy was very great. " Will no one
bring Hardy to me?" he continued to exclaim ; "he
must be killed ; he is surely destroyed ! " After a
little the aide-de-camp came below to report that the
situation of the fleet rendered it impossible for Cap-

296 The Life of Horatio Nelson.

[/Et. 47

tain Hardy to leave the deck ; but that he would
descend the instant a chance offered. " Who is
that ? " asked Nelson. The purser answered : " It is
Mr. Bulkeley, my Lord." " It is his voice," ex
claimed Nelson, and then, without turning his head,
he said to Bulkeley : " Remember me to your
father." All that was beautiful in him of goodness, of gen
tleness, of thoughtfulness, of tenderness ; all that
was noble in him of greatness of soul, of magnanim
ity of mind, of devotion to the country that he had
been stricken to death in serving, showed with an
incomparable sweetness and shone with a particular
splendour in these, his last hours. A wounded sea
man lay near waiting for the surgeon to amputate a
limb ; he was struck, perhaps hurt, by some one
passing ; weak as he was, scarcely able to articulate,
indeed, yet Nelson indignantly turned his head and
reprimanded the man for his carelessness or his in
humanity. Still was the great battle without being
furiously fought. The Victory was almost wrecked
aloft; her rigging was cut to pieces; a score of
details of the grand old fabric were shot away ; her
decks were running with blood ; but she still main
tained her terrible play of artillery. When she
opened her larboard guns on Dumanoir's squadron,
the concussion of the firing so affected Nelson that,
apostrophising his ship, he called out : " Oh, Victory,
Victory, how you distract my poor brain ! " then
added, after a pause : " How dear is life to all men ! "
He had been lying in the cockpit an hour and ten
minutes before Hardy came to him. They shook

1805] Last Moments. 297
hands affectionately, and Nelson said : " Well, Hardy,
how goes the battle? — how goes the day with us? "
" Very well, my Lord. We have got twelve or
fourteen of the enemy's ships in our possession."
" I hope," said Nelson, "that none of our ships have
struck, Hardy ? " " No, my Lord," replied Hardy,
" there is no fear of that." Nelson then said : " I
am a dead man, Hardy. I am going fast ; it will
be all over with me soon. Come nearer to me. Pray
let my dear Lady Hamilton have my hair, and all
other things belonging to me."
Hardy soon after this returned on deck. Beatty
anxiously hung about the dying Hero, who begged
him to attend to the wounded, " for," said he,
" you can do nothing for me." The surgeon as
sured him that his assistants were doing all that
was possible, but Nelson insisted, and Beatty with
drew. Shortly afterwards, however, he was summoned
afresh, and after learning the symptoms that Nelson
himself described, and being urged to speak the
truth, he exclaimed : " My Lord, unhappily for our
country, nothing can be done for you," and, having
said this, as he himself tells us, he turned round and
walked a few paces away to conceal his grief. From
time to time Nelson would exclaim : " God be
praised, I have done my duty ! " Once so exquisite
was his pain, he said he wished he was dead, " yet,"
he added, in a voice a little above a whisper, " one
would like to live a little longer too."
Captain Hardy came again after an interval of
about fifty minutes. A second time they pressed
each other's hand. The Captain was unable to report

298 The Life of Horatio Nelson. LdEt. 47
how many ships were captured, but he had no doubt
they amounted to fourteen or fifteen sail. Nelson ex
claimed : " That is well, but I bargained for twenty " ;
and with emphasis said : " Anchor, Hardy, anchor ! "
The Captain replied : " I suppose, my Lord, Admiral
Collingwood will now take upon himself the direc
tion of affairs? " — " Not while I live, I hope, Hardy,"
cried Nelson, struggling, but ineffectually, to raise
himself ; " No ! Do you anchor, Hardy."—" Shall
we make the signal, sir? "asked Hardy. "Yes,"
answered Nelson, " for if I live I '11 anchor." A
little later on he said he felt that in a few minutes
he should be no more, and in a low voice exclaimed,
"Don't throw me overboard, Hardy." — "Oh, no,
certainly not," the Captain answered. " Then,"
said Nelson, " you know what to do. Take care of
my dear Lady Hamilton, Hardy : take care of poor
Lady Hamilton. Kiss me, Hardy." The Captain
knelt and pressed his lips to his cheek. " Now I am
satisfied," said Nelson, " thank God, I have done my
duty." Hardy stood with his eyes fixed upon him,
silent in contemplation ; then, kneeling, again kissed
his beloved chief's forehead. Nelson said, " Who is
that?" The Captain answered, "It is Hardy," —
" God bless you, Hardy," said Nelson. The Captain
then went on deck. Nelson became speechless a
little before four o'clock in the afternoon. Almost
the last words he said to his chaplain, Scott, were,
" Doctor, I have not been a great sinner," and
his latest utterance was, "Thank God, I have
done my duty." For a long while Dr. Scott and
Mr, Burke had been supporting the bed under

SIR THOMAS MASTERMAN HARDY, Bart., G.C.B.
FROM THE PAINTING BY R. EVAN6.

1805]

Death.

299

his shoulders that he might obtain some little ease
from a semi-recumbent posture. It is recorded in the
memoirs of Dr. Scott that Nelson, " passed so
quietly out of life that Scott, who had been oc
cupied ever since he was brought below in all the
offices of the most tender nurse, was still rubbing
his stomach when the surgeon perceived that
all was over." Beatty knelt by the Hero's side
and took his hand ; it was ice-cold, and the wrist
pulseless. He felt his forehead, and Nelson opened
his eyes but closed them instantly. Beatty with
drew to attend to the wounded, but had not been
absent five minutes when he was told that Nelson
was dead. He returned and found that it was so.

NELSON'S WATCH AND SEAL WORN AT TRAFALGAR,

After the battle — Cape Trafalgar — Anecdote of the
Achille — Fate of the Santissima Trinidad — Fate
of the Redoutable — Effects of the battle — Ney on
the invasion of England — Nelson's remains —
Arrival at Spithead — Appearance of the body —
National mourning — St. Vincent's grief — Hon
ours to Nelson's family — Lady Hamilton's claims
— Her death — Nelson's funeral — Conclusion.
LMOST at the time when Nelson died
the last of the guns had been fired
and the silence of the cock-pit was disturbed only
by the moans of the wounded. The cannonading
had ceased ; a hush had fallen upon the floating
armaments. The greatest sea victory that the
world had ever known was won ; but at such a
cost that there was no man throughout the British
fleet — there was no man, indeed, in all England —
but would have welcomed defeat sooner than have
paid the price of this wonderful conquest. The
scene of havoc was one of terrible sublimity on
that October afternoon whilst the Victor lay below,
motionless in death. In all directions mutilated
ships lifted their sides, like castles upon the water — ¦
many of them with their masts gone, their bulwarks
300

1606-6] After the Battle. 30 1
trailing long serpentine lengths of severed rigging,
the British colours flying upon stumps and staffs,
scupper-holes gushing water tinged with red, masses
of wreckage, seared, withered, blackened as by the
electric bolt, lifting and falling upon the Atlantic
swell. Eastwards a long, fog-coloured body of pow
der smoke was settling slowly towards the land,
and in the dimness of the vaporous wing in the
south there were faintly visible the hulls and white
canvas of Dumanoir's squadron flying for safety,
whilst in the north-east, with the wind fresh off their
beam, were to be seen eleven French and Spanish
ships of the line, and other smaller vessels, Gravina's
flag blowing out amongst them, thrashing through
it as fast as a press of canvas could carry them for
the security of Cadiz or Rota. Almost in the heart
of the huddle of ships and prizes, some of which yet
lifted their royals to the sky, though many of them
were sheer hulks rolling like drowning structures upon
the run of the sea, was the French Achille 74, on fire,
with the tri-colour upon her ensign staff fluttering,
in a very mockery of triumph, against the dense
black clouds of smoke rising from the hull. The
action had begun at noon ; it was at its height at
about half-past one ; at three o'clock in the afternoon
the firing began to slacken, and at five o'clock it had
wholly ceased. Almost as the last of the guns
were thundering, the headland of Cape Trafalgar
was seen from the Royal Sovereign bearing south
east by east, distant eight miles, and thus it was
that the famous fight came to be called the Battle
of Trafalgar.

302 The Life of Horatio Nelson. 11805-6
The immediate result of the action was the cap
ture of seventeen French and Spanish ships and one
ship (Achille) burnt. This was Nelson's victory. It
was made very much completer afterwards ; but
this was the conquest upon which it may be said
that Nelson had closed his eyes, — which was verita
bly his — achieved before his heart had ceased to
beat — whilst his flag was still flying at the mast-head,
and whilst he was yet the Commander-in-chief of the
grim and intrepid armament which had helped him
to this crowning, this most glorious triumph !
Joshua White, in an account of the battle in his
" Life of Nelson," prints a romantic detail on the
authority of one of the officers of the Revenge. The
story relates to the burning of the Achille. On
board of that vessel there was a young woman, who,
during the action, had been stationed below to assist
in handing up powder. When the ship took fire,
such of the people as could swim sprang overboard.
The woman descended to the lower deck and re
mained there till the guns began to fall through the
charred planks above. She then got out of the gun
room port on to the back of the rudder, where she
undressed ; but she would not trust herself to the
water till the melted lead from the taffrail obliged
her to jump. She got hold of a piece of plank, and
after being an hour and a half in the water she was
picked up by one of the Belleisle 's boats and subse
quently put on board the Pickle schooner, where she
found her husband, who had likewise escaped. They
were afterwards landed at Algeciras, after she had
been fitted out by the British officers as suitably as

LORD NELSON'S STATEMENT OF HIS WOUNDS.

from Pettigrew's ''Life of Nelson"

1805-6] Last of the "Santissima Trinidad." 303
their wardrobes would admit. She was described as
young, handsome, and very intelligent, a native of
French Flanders, and her name Jeannette.
The fate of two of the enemy's ships may be given,
both of them being intimately associated with Nelson ;
the one as playing a part in the first of the most brill
iant achievements of his career, the other as causing
his death. The Santissima Trinidad had escaped
him and Jervis at St. Vincent only to be hammered
into a sheer hulk at Trafalgar. A gale of wind
arose after the battle ; a heavy sea was running ;
even the least injured of the British line-of-battle
ships were in no condition to tow their monster
prizes in the face of such weather as had now set in ;
and Collingwood gave orders that the leewardmost
of the captured ships should be destroyed. One of
these was Nelson's " old friend," the Santissima
Trinidad. James says that she was cleared, scuttled,
and sunk by the Neptune and Prince, but that in
spite of every care being taken to remove the
wounded, twenty-eight persons perished. Brenton
tells the story differently. " The officers of the
Prince and Neptune" he says, " by the most perse
vering efforts, had nearly got all the wounded men
out of her by lowering them down in cots from the
stern and quarter-gallery windows. We trust and
hope that none of these unfortunate people were
left behind, but a doubt seems to exist. Night came
on ; the swell ran high ; three lower-deck ports on
each side were open, and in a few minutes the tre
mendous ruins of the largest ship in the world were
buried in the deep." * He adds, however, on the
* " Naval History,'' vol. ii., p. 89.

304 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [1805-6
information of a friend, who was first lieutenant and
acting captain of the Ajax in the battle, that no one
was suffered to perish in the Santissima Trinidad.
The lieutenant (Pilfold) was in the last boat which
left the huge ship. As the crew shoved off from the
starboard quarter, a cat ran out on to the muzzle of
one of the lower-deck guns, and by a plaintive mew
seemed to beg for assistance. The boat returned
and took her in, which proves that there was no
hurry. The Redoutable, a less romantic ship, met a
very miserable end. She was amongst the most
furiously mauled of the Franco-Spanish craft ; her
main- and mizzen-masts, fore-topmast, and bowsprit
were gone, her rudder destroyed, her stern swept in
by the storms of cannon-balls, her hull pierced in all
directions, and every timber in her veritably armour-
clad with the studding of shot. Twenty of her guns
on the side on which Nelson had engaged her lay
dismounted ; of her crew of six hundred and forty-
three, three hundred were killed and two hundred
and twenty-two wounded. Vengefully indeed had
the Victory dealt with her ! Taken in tow by the
Swiftsure at five o'clock, she was actually sinking at
that hour, with the signal of distress flying at the
stump of her foremast. The Swiftsure sent boats
and brought off part of the prize-crew and about a
hundred and twenty Frenchmen, as heavy a freight
as the boats could receive. Before eleven o'clock
that night the Redoutable' s stern was under water,
and the Swiftsure cut herself clear. At half-past
three in the morning, in the height of a heavy gale
of wind, with lightning and sheets of rain, cries were

1805-6] Important Result of Trafalgar. 305
heard, and the Swiftsure was just in- time to rescue
fifty more of the Redoutable' s people, who had con
trived to construct a raft from the spars of their
sunken ship. Such was the end of the Redoutable.
The battle of Trafalgar fixed the destinies of
Britain ; but to appreciate all its significance it is
necessary to turn to French history. There can be
little question that Napoleon's intention to invade
England was a very passionately earnest one. Bour-
rienne affirmed that he really never meditated the
descent, and it was thought by many that his prepa
rations in the Channel were designed merely to
furnish occupation to his troops and to cover other
designs. But then Napoleon himself insisted upon
his having been in earnest, and claimed that the best
combined plan he had ever laid during his whole
career was defeated by Sir Robert Calder's action
with the combined fleet. This plan is detailed in
most of the naval histories. His instructions to
Villeneuve were to have proceeded with the Franco-
Spanish fleet to the West Indies to draw Nelson
after him ; then to immediately return, and after
raising the blockade of Ferrol and Corunna, to join
the forces at Rochelle and Brest and bring the whole
of the ships into the Channel to cover the embarka
tion of the army. He thus calculated upon a naval
force of seventy sail-of-the-line, an armament which,
in the absence of Nelson's fleet, the British could
have but ill opposed. Marshal Ney is express on
this point. Speaking of Villeneuve, he says : " He
left Toulon on the 30th March, and on the 23d June
he was at the Azores on his return to Europe, leav-

306 The Life of Horatio Nelson. U805-6
ing Nelson still in the West Indies, but at the very
moment when every one flattered himself that our
vessels would speedily arrive to protect the embarka
tion of the army, we learnt that, deterred by a can
nonade of a few hours and the loss of two ships [the
battle with Calder is here referred to], he had taken
refuge in Ferrol. A mournful feeling took posses
sion of our minds ; everyone complained that a man
should be so immeasurably beneath his destiny. All
hope, however, was not lost. The Emperor still
retained it. He continued his dispositions, and in
cessantly urged the advance of the marine. Every
one flattered himself that Villeneuve, penetrated
with the greatness of his mission, would at length
put to sea, join Gantheaume, disperse the fleet of
Cornwallis, and at length make his appearance in
the Channel . . . Nothing could succeed for want
of the covering squadron ; and soon the battle of
Trafalgar and the Austrian war postponed the con
quest of England to another age." *
It was not until the day after the battle that
the surgeon of the Victory could find leisure to
give his attention to the remains of the Hero.
There was no lead on board to make a coffin of;
a large cask called a leaguer had to serve as a
shell ; the hair was cut off the head of the body,
which was stripped of all clothes except the shirt ;
the corpse was then put into the cask, which was
filled with brandy and closed. During the heavy
weather that followed, Nelson's remains were placed
under the charge of a sentinel on the middle deck.
* " Memoirs of Marshal Ney," vol. ii., p. 262.

1806-6] The " Victory " Reaches England. 307
The cask stood on end having a closed aperture at
its top and another below that the spirit might be
withdrawn and renewed without disturbing the body.
On the 24th there was such a disengagement of air
that the head of the cask was lifted, and the sentinel
much alarmed instantly reported the circumstance
to the officers. The cask was thereupon spiled and
the air freed.
On the 28th the Victory, in tow of the Neptune,
arrived at Gibraltar, and next day all the dangerously
wounded of the seamen and marines were sent ashore
to the hospital. By the 2d of November, the grand
old ship, refitted with jury-masts, was ready to sail
to England. She was five weeks "in making the pas
sage to Spithead, and on the 12th of December she
anchored in Dover Roads, whence she made several
attempts to proceed, but was forced to bring up
again ; and even when she had managed to get her
anchor on the 17th she had shortly afterwards to
come to a stand in the Downs.
On the day on which she had left Spithead Nel
son's body was taken from the cask in which it had
been kept since the 22d of October. It was now that
the ball was discovered ; it had passed through the
spine — verifying Nelson's repeated assurance that his
back was broken — and was lodged in the muscles of
the back. It had embedded with itself a considera
ble portion of the gold lace, pad, and lining of the
epaulet, and the lace adhered to the lead as firmly
as if it had been fused with the metal in a molten
state. The body was wrapped in cotten vestments
and placed in a leaden coffin, filled with brandy con-

308 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [1805-6
taining camphor and myrrh. This coffin was then
enclosed in one of wood, and deposited in the cabin
that Nelson had occupied. There it remained till
the 22d of December, when an order was received
from the Admiralty for the removal of the body.
The Victory was then anchored in the Swin with
Commissioner Grey's yacht from Sheerness along
side of her. Apparently this yacht had brought with
her the coffin that Captain Hallowell had presented
to Nelson, for Beatty speaks of it as " being then
received on board," though Pettigrew says that
L'Orient memorial was shipped in the Victory when
Nelson sailed for the last time. Be this as it may,
on the arrival of the ghastly Nile relic the leaden
coffin was opened and the body taken out. All the
officers of the ship, and many of Nelson's and some
of Captain Hardy's friends were present and viewed
the corpse. All were astonished by the little evidence
of decay it exhibited after the many weeks that had
passed since death. The features were somewhat
tumid but on being gently rubbed resumed in a
great degree their natural character. For the last
time the remains of the great Sailor were viewed by
mortal eyes. Then completely apparelled, the body
was placed in the shell made from L' Orient's mast,
which in its turn was enclosed in the leaden coffin.
This on being soldered was put into another wooden
shell, and in this form the remains were conveyed
into the Commissioner's yacht. As the coffin was
lowered the Victory struck Lord Nelson's flag at the
fore, and the same was hoisted half-mast high on board
the yacht.

1805-6] England Honours her Dead Hero. 309
The yacht, having reached Gravesend, anchored,
but on the 23d weighed, and then began those mili
tary honours which were paid to the dead Hero
throughout the remainder of the passage. The
shore was lined with Volunteers under arms ; minute-
guns were fired ; every ship dipped her flag in a
funereal salute as the yacht went by. For a mile
below the Arsenal at Woolwich troops were
drawn up in a line with arms reversed ; so in the
Arsenal and Dockyard, the soldiers stood in ranks,
expressing the universal grief by their postures
and manner of holding their weapons ; every flag
flew half-mast high, and the solemn sound of toll
ing bells was accentuated by dirges played by the
bands, intermingled with the rolling note of the
minute-guns. At seven o'clock the body was landed
at Greenwich and carried to the Record Room,
where it was to remain until the Painted Hall could
be prepared for its reception. On Sunday, the 5th
of January, it lay in public state.
Even at a distance of eighty-four years it is not
difficult to realise the emotions which filled the
country when the news came of the battle of Trafal
gar and of the death of Nelson. That news had
been received at the Admiralty at one o'clock on
the morning of the 6th of November, having been
brought by the Pickle schooner ; and Collingwood's
dispatch was at once printed in a London Gazette
Extraordinary. The Park and Tower guns thun
dered the announcement of the glorious conquest ;
but every sensation of triumph and rejoicing which
they inspired was tempered, subdued, almost extin-

310 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [1805-6
guished indeed by thoughts of the loss which the
nation had sustained. When the announcement was
made to the King he was so deeply affected that for
some minutes he was unable to speak. The Queen
called her daughters to her and wept with them as
Collingwood's noble dispatch was read aloud. Pitt
was aroused in the night to hear the news, and he
told Lord Malmesbury that though he had been
awakened at various hours by the arrival of all sorts
of intelligence, he had always been able to lay his
head on his pillow and fall asleep again ; but on this
occasion, the great event announced brought with it
so much to weep over as well as to rejoice at, that
he could not calm his thoughts, but at length got
up, though it was three in the morning. Coleridge
declared that when Nelson died it seemed as if
no man was a stranger to another ; all were made
acquaintances by the rights of a common anguish.
He was at Naples, he says, when the tidings came,
and he adds : " Never can I forget the sorrow and
consternation that lay on every countenance. Even
to this day there are times when I seem to see, as in
a vision, separate groups and individual faces of the'
picture. Numbers stopped and shook hands with me
because they had seen the tears on my cheek and
conjectured that I was an Englishman ; and several
as they held my hand burst themselves into tears." *
The whole Navy wept their loss ; but the affliction
of few equalled that of the lion-hearted sea-chieftain,
St. Vincent. It was Nelson who had added the
brightest of the rays to the glory of old John Jervis's
* " The Friend,"

NELSON'S PILLAR, SACKVILLE STREET, DUBLIN.

1805-61 Honours to Nelson's Family. 311
memorable St. Valentine's Day. Their love was
as that of brothers. To St. Vincent Nelson owed
the opportunity he had found or made in Aboukir
Bay, and there was profound gratitude as well as
veneration in him, whilst in the other were deep
delight in, and purest admiration of, the transcendent
qualities of the victor of Copenhagen and Trafalgar.
" On board his flag-ship," says a writer, speaking of
St. Vincent, " on all those great occasions when he
entertained his numerous followers, Nelson's dirge
was solemnly performed while they yet surrounded
the table ; and it was not difficult to perceive that
the great warrior's usual contempt for displays of
feeling here forsook him, and yielded to the impulse
of nature and of friendship." *
The honours and emoluments to the Nelson family
following upon Trafalgar were these : An Earldom
was conferred upon the Rev. William Nelson, to
which was attached a pension of £5,000 a year ; a
sum of .£120,000 was voted to enable him to purchase
an estate to be named after the famous victory ;
£20,000, however, of this money was to be divided
between Nelson's sisters, Mrs. Bolton and Mrs.
Matcham ; and £320,000 were voted to the victors
of Trafalgar as compensation for the prizes which
* Edinburgh Review, 1839, 45. It ought not to be forgotten of
Lord St. Vincent that hearing by chance that Dibdin, the composer
of " Tom Bowling," was in distress, he at once sent him one hundred
pounds and requested his secretary, Mr. Tucker, to inquire into the
real state of the case ; "for," said he, " it would indeed be a shame
that the man who has whiled away the mid-watch and softened the
hardships of war should be in need while a seaman enjoys an abun
dance." — Tucker's " Life of Earl of St. Vincent."

3 1 2 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [1805-6
had been lost in the hard weather that followed the
action. Collingwood was made a peer ; he was
without sons, and sought to get the title rendered
hereditary in the female succession, but the favour
was denied him, despite his services ranking next
to those of Nelson himself at Trafalgar, and despite
his magnificent spirit of dutifulness that held him
for years absent from his fondly loved wife and
daughters, and that finally killed him whilst still
afloat.* Lady Hamilton's " claims," emphasised as they
had been by Nelson's last solemn appeal to his King
and Country, remained without recognition. The
Prince of Wales was amongst her few well-wishers ;
but nothing was done. Perhaps it was considered
that she was left very much better off than she
deserved. Her income, drawn mainly from money
left by Nelson and Sir William Hamilton, amounted
to about £1,500 a year, and the estate at Merton
was her own property besides. Her extravagance
plunged her into difficulties, and her vanity and
shiftlessness disgusted those who had been willing
to assist her. Mr. J. C. Jeaffreson satisfactorily dis
poses of the extraordinary stories told of this beauti
ful woman's closing days, such as Brenton's tale of

* " The length and hardship of Lord Collingwood's service are
without any parallel. Of fifty years during which he continued in
the Navy, about forty-four were passed in active employment abroad ;
and in the eventful times from 1793 till his death in 1810 he was only
for one year in England, and for the remainder was principally en
gaged in tedious blockades, rarely visiting a port ; and on one occasion
actually kept the sea for the almost incredible space of twenty-two
months, without once dropping his anchor." — " Memoirs." II.

1805-6] The Funeral Procession. 313
her constantly being haunted by the shade of Carac
ciolo, and shrieking aloud in her agonies of terror,
and such as that still more startling statement of her
body after death being popped into a bag and buried
like a dog. She died in January, 18 15, aged fifty-
one, at Calais. She had found a friend in a Mrs.
Hunter, who, when the unfortunate Emma had
breathed her last, placed the dead woman in a cheap
deal coffin covered by a pall formed of a white cur
tain and a black silk petticoat. A piece of ground
just outside Calais had been consecrated, but there
was no English Protestant clergyman to be found,
and the funeral service was read, at Mrs. Hunter's
request, by an Irish half-pay officer ! Not a vestige
of the grave existed in 1833. The late Dr. Doran in
that year sought for it, and found its locality entirely
traditionary. Nelson's funeral was one of great magnificence.
The Scots Greys led the procession; other regiments
followed, their bands playing solemn music, and the
military array was closed by eleven pieces of cannon
and some companies of Grenadiers. Then came
lines of carriages of commoners and of peers, pen
sioners of Greenwich Hospital, seamen and marines
of the Victory bearing the Admiral's flag, whose
folds were sieve-like with the balls which had passed
through it ; heralds in gauntlet and spur, in helm
and crest, and target and sword ; naval lieutenants
and admirals bearing the canopy and supporting the
pall, with the coffin, on a car formed of four columns
resembling palm-trees, and having on its front and
back a carved representation of the head and stern

314 The Life of Horatio Nelson. [1805-6
of the Victory. The expense of this public funeral
amounted to £14,000. The Duke of Clarence shed
tears, and we may well suppose them to be genuine
in the eyes of one who not only remembered the
dead as an old shipmate and an affectionate friend,
but who would also think of him as the Admiral to
whom the very throne owed its preservation.
There is nothing in words to deal with such a
character as this of Nelson. The enumeration of his
qualities is the best eloquence that can express them.
And yet to say that he was the greatest sea-officer
Britain had ever produced ; to repeat, in the language
of his own sailors, that he had the heart of the lion
and the gentleness of the lamb ; to declare that he
was as good as a man as he was great as an ocean-
warrior, affectionate, bountiful, without further weak
ness than is to be witnessed in a thirst for earthly
distinction, always a sailor first of all, yet of a saga
city that was not to be paralleled by the intelligence
of the ablest politician of his times ; clear and in
stant in his perceptions, daring and dominating in his
actions, unerring and triumphant beyond anything
that history can tell of other men in his achieve
ments ; to say this is to say what ? Yet the heart
must speak the rest. " I have him now before me,"
wrote Scott to Lady Hamilton, referring to Nelson,
whose body the Chaplain was then watching ; " here
lies Bayard — but Bayard victorious — sans peur et sans
reproche. ... So help me God, as I think he was a
true knight and worthy the age of chivalry — one may
say — lui mhne fait le siecle — for where shall we see
another? When I think, setting aside his heroism,

1805-6] Nelsons Greatness. 315
what an affectionate, fascinating little fellow he was,
how dignified and pure his mind, how kind and con
descending his manners, I become stupid with grief
fot what I have lost." Thus were all men thinking
and saying. It is eighty-five years since he died ;
yet still is his name the one of all earthly names to
work most magically in the thoughts of Englishmen.
His example as a strategist is of no use now ; it
would be the idlest waste of time to enter, in this
iron-armoured age, into a discourse upon his pro
ceedings : how superior he was as an ocean-leader of
men to Jervis, as Jervis was to Howe, as Howe was
to that earlier race of admirals who may be traced
back through the dim pages of Campbell and Bur-
chett, fighting most valiantly yet with circumspec
tion off the coast of the English Channel and down
amongst the shoaling waters of the Dutch shore.
It can profit us nothing, in a material sense, to know
that his great theory of warfare consisted in swift
ness of resolution, in dashing at the enemy, in
getting alongside of him, as close as channels or
yard-arms would permit and in firing until he struck
or was annihilated. There are no longer channels ;
there are no longer yard-arms ; lines ahead may be
formed, but if they are to be broken no hints of the
manoeuvres- to be employed are likely to be found
in the most voluminous and minute accounts of the
Nelsonian victories. But if his genius as an Admiral
of the days of tacks and sheets can no longer be
serviceable in suggestion to a posterity whose hopes
are lodged in steel plates of twenty inches in thick
ness, in engines of ten thousand-horse power, in

3 1 6 The Life of Horatio Nelson.
ordnance big enough to berth the crew of a brig of
Nelson's day, his example as an English sailor must,
whilst there remains a British keel afloat, be as
potent in all seafaring aspirations and resolutions
as ever it was at any moment in his devoted and
glorious life.

APPENDIX.
T N these days of struggle for the mastery between guns
* and armor and the most efficient methods of applying
and using them, when 2,000 yards constitutes a fighting
range in place of the hand-to-hand conflicts that charac
terized the encounters of our Hero's period, when ranges
of fourteen miles are attained, when tons, of shot and
hundreds of pounds of powder are expended in a single
discharge from a single gun, in what manner can we
best make a comparison that will enable us to estimate
the comparative strength of the ships and batteries en
gaged in the naval wars of a century ago, and at the same
time contrast them with the ships and cannon of to-day ?
Where, then, individual prowess and endurance and
heroism backed bold and daring tactics ; where the object
to be secured was to board the enemy's ship for a hand-
to-hand contest ; where, as Nelson himself expressed it,
" I hope we shall as usual be able to get so close to our
enemies that our shot cannot miss their object " ; now,
scientific inventions and intricate mechanical instruments
call for as much coolness and vigilance and nerve, if our
commanders are ever to approach the records of the mas-
tersailor whose history we have striven to narrate.
But, even with his desire for the means of wider action,
and his ability to adequately estimate the value of the
advantages of the great battle-ships Nile and Trafalgar,
named after his memorable victories, his spirit tells us
that he would have given them all for one action aboard
his Victory, one chance to scale the side of his enemy, or
one word from his beloved Hardy.
317

3i%

Appendix.

The various descriptions of ships and batteries engaged
in the battles of the last of the eighteenth century and
beginning of the nineteenth differ so widely from each
other that it will often be interesting to compare with the
individual authorities the batteries or armaments of the
various classes of ships, as built or designed, v/ith their
actual fighting strength as engaged in the several actions.
The following arrangement, based upon data obtained
from James's " Naval History," will facilitate such com
parison. Very little change was made from 1798 to 1805,
or the period between Nelson's two greatest victories.

J3 uV

Class.
Q 00
z
Rate.
6
Sfaa0
H
Armament.
Remarks.
120-Gun ship
3
First
2508
18 pdrs. to long
32's
112 " "
3
"
2351
18 pdrs.
112 " "
3
' '
2457
12 '
100 " "
3
' '
2286
18 '
100 " "
3
"
2175
12 '
98 " "
3
"
2121
18 '
Small
98 " "
3
"
1869
12 '
90 " "
3
"
1814
12 '
80 " "
2
Third
2143
18 '
74 " "
2
*'
1889
24 '
74 " "
2
"
1887
18 '
Large
74 " "
2
"
1778
18 '
Middling
74 " "
2
"
I614
18 '
Small
64 " "
2
"
1342
18 and 24 pdrs.
60 " "
2
Fourth
1226
18 " 24 "
56 " "
2
1 341
Long g-pdrs. and
carronades.
Flush
54 " "
2
Il82
Long g-pdrs. and
carronades.
"
50 " "
2
<(
I060
18 and 24 pdrs.
Common, or
quarter-decked
50 " "
2
"
911
24 pounders
Flush
44 " "
2
Fifth
882
"
44-Gun frigate
1
**
1376
18 and 24 pdrs.
40 "
1
1 '
I258
24 pounders
40 " "
1
"
1172
18 "
38 " "
1
I064
Large
H. M. S. " TRAFALGAR."
FROM BRASSEY'S " NAVAL ANNUAL."

Appendix.

3*9

Section of frigate, with long gun on main-deck and carronade on
spar-deck. Taken from ' ' The American Artillerist's Companion, ''
by Louis de Toussard (Philadelphia, 1811).

32°

Appendix.

Class.

uiO
0 0d

Rate.

beasc
0
H

Armament.

Remarks.

38-Gun frigate

1

Fifth

941

Small

36 " "

1

*'

1030

18 pounders

Large

36 " "

1

"

890

18 "

Small

36 " "

1

"

939

12

32 " • "
1
' '
914
18 "
Large
32 " "
1
*'
801
18 "
Small
32 " "
1
"
777
12 "
Large
32 " "
1
"
704
12 "
Small
28 "
1
Sixth
610
24-Gun post ship
1
"
524
Quarter-decked
24 "
1
11
528
22 "
1
"
532
Flush
20 " "
1
"
432
Quarter-decked
20 " "
1
"
530
Flush
28 Carronade
1
Sloops
386
Carronades
18-Gun ship sloop
1
"
465
Quarter-decked
18 "
1
"
312
Flush
16 "
1
345
Quarter-decked, large
16 "
1
"•
319
Quarter-decked, small
16 "
1
"
327
Flush
14 "
1
' '
3°4
Quarter-decked,
14 " _ "
1
"
230
Flush
1 8-Gun brig sloop
1
"
384
Large
18 
1
"
325
Small
16 "
1
"
310
14 "
1
"
202
Bombs
1
320
8 guns, 2 mortars
Fire-ships
1
423
14 guns
Gun-brig
1
11
202147170
H '
12 '
10 '
Cutters
111111
137"7no 90 88
14 '
12 '
10 '
8 '
6 '
4 '
1
Fourth
1249
26 '
1
Fifth
899
24 '
1
"
697
18 '
Floating battery
1
1373
46 and 48 guns
"
1
372
20 guns and under
Gun-vessels
1
75
1 to 4 guns
Appendix.

321

Authorities generally agree that the French and Span
ish ships of similar classes carried heavier batteries than
the British. James, in comparing a British three-decker
of the 98-gun class with a French 80-7-the Franklin, —
gives :

Weight of

Decks.

British 98.

French 80.

Each of the
Franklin's Guns.

No. Pdrs.
No. Pdrs.
cwt. qrs. lbs.
First or lower
28 long 32
30 long 36 iron
2 "36 brass
73 2 18
Second.
30 " 18
32 " 24 iron
2 " 24 brass
51 0 14
Third.
30 " 12
Quarter-deck
8 " 12
12 " 12 iron
2 " I2brass
33 1 16
Forecastle.
2 " 12
6 " 12 iron
Poop.
6 carrs. 1 8
6carrs.36 brass
104
92
Broadside
( No. 52
( lbs. 1,012
j 46
\ 1.287
guns.
The Santissima Trinidad and her class of gun-ships were
built to mount 126 guns, distributed as follows : On the
lower gun-deck, 30 long 36-pounders ; on the second
deck, 32 long 18's ; on the third deck, 32 long 12's ; and
on the spar-deck, 32 8-pounders.* James; in his " Naval
History," describes them as 130-gun ships, and some
British authorities place the Santissima Trinidad's strength
in the battle of Trafalgar at 140 ; and, although the Span
ish gun-ships generally mounted a greater number of
guns than the British, the weight of metal thrown at a
* Simpson, 1859.
21
322

Appendix.

single broadside was about the same : as, for example,
that of the Santissima Trinidad was 1,190 pounds to
1,180 pounds from the Victory, the former with a battery
of 130 guns, the latter 100.

Section of a flush-deck corvette or sloop, carrying long guns.
Graviere gives the Spaniards a larger complement of
guns than any other authority :

Name of Ship.

Number of Guns.

Graviere.

Principe de Asturias .
Santa Ana .
Santissima Trinidad .
Argonauta .
San Augustine .
San Justo .
San Leandro .

Appendix.

323

The guns of the 74's were distributed as follows :
Gun-deck, 58 long 24's.
Spar-deck, \ ™ carronades 36-pounders.
1 (4 l°ng 8-pounders.
Poop-deck, 6 carronades 24-pounders.
These were probably supplemented by coehorns
mounted in the tops, and a few smaller pieces movable
about the decks. The coehorn was a very light mortar,
discharging a large projectile with a small charge of
powder ; it is probable that its projectile was intended
to operate by means of the force of gravity when the
ships would be within its short range. A heavy pro
jectile falling from a great height and landing on a
ship's deck might do much damage.*

Jus 
> v.

MJ^-

^8^— EO^S  -).

Coehorn Howitzer, 1805. — Weight, 2)4 cwt.
French shot was heavier than the nominal weight of
corresponding English shot, viz. : f

Nominal Weight of French Shot
in English Pounds.

Actual Weight of Same Shot in
English Pounds.

36-pounders.
24 "
18
12

43 lbs. 4 oz.
28 " sx "
21 " 4j| "
14 •• 7 "

There was very little al
ships for a long period prev

teration in the batteries of
ious to the year 1806. Car-

* Simpson, 1859.

f Simmons, 1837.

324 Appendix.

ronades of small weight and large calibre took the place
in many cases of the 9- and i2-pounder long guns.
Carronades were short, without trunnions, having a loop
on the outside which set between lugs on the bed, a bolt
passing through the lugs and the loop ; the bed was
mounted on a slide. The name was derived from the
Carron factory in Scotland, the first pieces of the kind
having been made there in 1779 ; they were of large cali
bre and of light proportional weight. The powder charge
was small, but at close quarters they were very effective.
One great objection to the batteries of the age was the
variety of calibres crowded together in the same ship
and sometimes on the same deck. Each calibre had to
have its own ammunition which greatly multiplied difficul
ties of storage and complication of distribution. The
introduction of carronades assisted very much in meet
ing some of these difficulties. In order to combine a
gun which was too light for effect with one that was too
heavy for convenient manoeuvring and rapid manipula
tion, the 18-pounder came into use as a favored battering-
piece. The next higher calibre was used occasionally on
the lower decks against antagonists having sides which
required shot of greater penetration than the 18-
pounder. For the upper decks of ships, however, this
gun was found too heavy and occupied too much
room ; 9-pounders therefore were substituted on these
decks ; that calibre, however, not giving enough weight
of blow, the carronade was introduced. The 32-pound
carronade and carriage weighed about the same as that
of the long 9. By this substitution, therefore, no weight
was added, but much was gained in effect, especially at
short range, the 32-pound shot having almost double the
percussive force. The carronades had from sixty to
eighty pounds of metal for every pound of shot. Few

Appendix.

325

guns now are made with less than one hundred pounds
of metal to one of shot, and the heaviest average about
one hundred and twenty-three pounds of metal to one of
shot If the superiority of the longer guns were taken
into consideration the comparative force would differ
somewhat from the universally accepted comparisons.*

-jt»

16" -

.4  vfilX 
32-Pound Carronade, 1779. — Weight, 17 cwt

 n

The following tables give the officially authorized
armaments of the periods indicated in each table :
SCALE FOR ARMING THE DIFFERENT RATES IN THE BRITISH NAVY WITH
CARRONADES, ... AS DRAWN UP BY ORDER OF THE
BOARD OF ADMIRALTY, JULY 13, I77g.f

Total number
Rate.
Class.
Quarter-deck.
Forecastle.
Poop.
of
carriage guns.
No.
Pdrs.
No.
Pdrs.
No. Pdrs.
First.
100-gun ship.
2
12
8 12
no
Second.
90 or 98 "
4
12
6 12
100 or 108
Third.
j 74
(64
22
1212
6 12
6 12
82 72
Fourth.
50
2
24
2
24
6 12
60
f44
8
18
2
18
54
Fifth.
, 38
]36
6
4
18 18
44
1818
4844
.32
6
18
2
18
40
128
4
18
2
18
34
Sixth.
] 24
6
12
4
12
34
20
6
12
2
12
28
Sloops.
18, 16, and 14
', ship-rigged.
6
12
2
12
( 26, 24,
j and 22
* Simpson, 1859.
f James.
TABLE OF

THE ESTABLISHED ARMAMENTS OF FRENCH SHIPS AT

THE

END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.*

c

¦c .

•H.*

Quarter-deck

Forecastle. Poop.

0

1
4) .
8s

Class.

0

si

IS 8

Brass
carrs.

Brass carrs.

O

Z ft

0 -a
Z Ph

i 1'

¦ IS ¦ i,
£ -o £ -o
Z CM Z pi,

6 *2 0" i: d i5
z2 k2 ss 2

E20-gun ship.

32 36

34 24

34 12

14 8

6 8 436

124

1098

no "

30 36

32 24

32 12

12 8

48 436

114

1037

80 "

3036

32 24

12 12
6 12 6 36
86
840
74 "
28 36
3024
12 8
48 436
7«
690
40-gun frig.
28 18
10 8 2 36
2 8 2 36
44
330
38
26 18
10 8 2 36
2 8 2 36
42
320
36
26 12
8 6 2 36
2 6 2 36
40
300
32
26 12
4 6 2 36
2 6 2 36
36
275
28
24 8
6 36
2 6
32
200
In the battle of the Nile, it is probable that the actual
number of guns approximated closely to the nominal,
and that the following tables, taken principally from
James's " Naval History," are correct :
LIST OF SHIPS ENGAGED IN THE BATTLE OE THE NILE (ABOUKIR),
AUGUST I AND 2, 1 798. ENGLISH FLEET.
Number of Guns.
Command.
Nominal. Actual.
Gun
( Rear-Adm. (b.) Sir Ho-
ship
Vanguard
74
¦j ratio Nelson, K.B.
( Captain Edward Berry
Orion
74
Captain Sir James Saumarez
Culloden
74
' ' Thomas Troubridge
Bellerophon
74
" Henry D'Esterre
Darby
Minotaur
74
" Thomas Louis
Defence
74
" John Peyton
Alexander
74
" Alexander John
Ball
Zealous
74
" Samuel Hood
Audacious
74
" Davidge Gould
Goliath
74
Thomas Foley
Majestic
74
George Blagden
Westcott
Swiftsure
74
" Benjamin Hal-
lowell
Theseus
74
" Ralph Willett Mil
ler
Leander
5o
Thomas Boulden
Thompson
1,012
' James,
Appendix.

327

LIST OF SHIPS ENGAGED IN THE BATTLE OF THE NILE (ABOUKIR),
AUGUST I AND 2, 1798. FRENCH FLEET.

Class.

Gun- ship

Name.

Frigate

Brig
Bomb

Orient

Franklin

Guillaume Tell
Tonnant
Aquilon GenereuxConquerant HeureuxGuerrier MercureSouverain Peuple
Spartiate Timoleon

Diane
Justice ArtemiseSerieuseAlerte RailleurHerculeSalamine

Number of Guns.

Nominal. Actual.

80 808074 7474 74
74 7474 7474
40 40 36 3618 14 88
1,226

Command.

Vice-Adm.  Brueys
Rear- Adm. Honore Gau-
teaume
Commodore  Casa-
Bianca
R e a r-Adm. A r m a n d-
Sim.-Mar Blanquet
Captain Maurice Gillet
R'ear-Adm. P.-C.-J.-Bap.
Silv. Villeneuve
Captain  Saulnier
Commodore Arist.-Aub. du
Petit-Thouars
Commodore Henri-Alexan
dre Thevenard
Captain  Le Joille
" Etienne Dalbarade
" Jean-Pierre Etienne
" J e a 11-F. -Timothee
Trullet, sen.
"  Cambon.
" Pierre -Paul R ac
cord
" Maurice- Julien
Emeriau
" Jean- Fr. -Timothe'e
Trullet, jun.
Rear-Adm. Denis Decres
Captain Eleonore-J e a n -
Nic. Soleil
Captain  Villeneuve
' Pierre- Jean-Stande-
let
' Claude Jean Martin

328

Appendix.

comparative force and loss at the battle of the nile
(aboukir).*

Fleet.

Number of guns.

Loss.

Killed. Wounded.

English.French.

1,012.1,226.

218. 678.
2,000.

In the battle of Trafalgar James considers twenty-
seven and thirty-three a fair criterion of the relative
forces, and that 2,148 and 2,626 represent the aggre
gate number of rated guns on each side. The following
tables are based upon James, but certain modifications
have been made to conform to some of the figures
found in his text.

list of ships engaged in the battle of trafalgar, october
21, 1805. English Fleet.

Number

of Guns.

Class.
Name.
Command.
Nominal
Actual.
C Vice-Adm. (w.) Lord Nel-
Gun- ship.
Victory
100
102
J son, K.B.
| Captain Thomas Master
ly man Hardy
[Vice-Adm. (b.) Cuthbert
Royal Sov
J Collingwood
ereign
1 Captain Edward Roth-
[ eram
( Rear-Adm. (w.) the Earl
Britannia
100
108
\ of Northesk
( Captain Charles Bullen
Teme'raire
98
102
Captain Eliab Harvey
Prince
98
104
Richard Grindall
Neptune
98
104
Thomas Francis
Fremantle
* James,
Appendix. 329

Number of Guns.
("Mocc
IN 'Hilt?
Command.
Nominal.
Actual.
Gun-
Dread
98
104
Captain John Conn
ship
nought
Tonnant
80
90
Charles Tyler
Belleisle
74
90
" William Hargood
Revenge
74
82
" Robert Moorsom
Mars
74
82
" George Duff
Spartiate
74
82
' ' Sir Francis Laf orey ,
Bart.
Defiance
74
82
' ' Philip Charles Dur
ham
Conqueror
74
82
" Israel Pellew
Defence
74
82
" George Hope
Colossus
74
82
" James Nicoll Mor
Leviathan
74
82
ris
' ' Henry William
Bayntun
Achille
74
82
" Richard King
Bellerophon
74
82
" John Cooke
Minotaur
74
82
Charles John Moore
Mansfield
Orion
74
82
' ' Edward Codrington
Swiftsure
74
82
' ' William George
Rutherford
Ajax
74
82
Lieut. John Pilfold
Thunderer
74
82
' ' John Stockham
Polyphemus
64
68
Captain Robert Redmill
Africa
64
68
' ' Henry Digby
Agamem
64
68
" Sir Edward Berry
non
Frigate
Euryalus
40
40
" Hon. Henry Black-
Naiad
40
40
" Thomas Dundas
Phoebe
40
40
" Hon. Thomas Bla
den Capel
Sirius
40
40
" William Prowse
Schooner
Pickle
16
18
Lieut. John Richards La-
penotiere
Cutter
Entrepre- nante
12
14
" John Puver
2,336
2,542
33°

Appendix.

LIST OF SHIPS ENGAGED IN THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, OCTOBER
21, 1805. FRENCH FLEET.

Name.

No. Guns.

Command.

Class.

Nom.

Act.

( Vice-Ad. P.-Ch.-J.-B.-S. Ville-
Gunship
Bucentaure
80
86
¦j neuve
( Capt. Jean-Jacques Magendie
( Rear-Ad. P.-R.-M.-E. Duma-
Formidable
80
86
< noir-le-Pelley
( Capt. Jean-Marie Letellier
Neptune
80
84
Comm. Esprit-Tranquille Maistral
Indompta-
80
80
Comm. Jean-Joseph Hubert
ble
78*
j Rear-Ad. Charles Magon
( Capt. Gabriel-Auguste Brouard
Algeciras
74
Pluton
74
78
Comm. Julien-MarieCosmao-Ker-
julien
Mount
74
78
Comm. Guill.-Jean-Noel La Ville-
Blanc
gris
Intrepide
74
78
Comm. Louis-Antoine-Cypnen
Infernet
Swiftsure
74
78
Capt. C.-E.-L'Hospitalier-Ville-
madrin
Aigle
74
78
" Pierre-Paul Gourrege
Scipion
74
78
" Charles Berenger f
Duguay-
74
78
" Claude Touffet
Trouin
Berwick
74
78
" Jean-Gilles Filhol-Camas
Argonaute
74
78
" Jacques Epron
Achille
74
78
" Gabriel Denieport
Redoutable
74
78
" Jean-Jacques-Etien-ne Lucas
Fougueux
74
78
' ' Louis Alexis Beaudouin f
Heros
74
78
" Jean-Bap. -Jos.-Remi Poulain
Frigate
Cornelie
40
44
" Martinea
Hermione
40
44
" Mahe
Hortense
40
44
" Lameillerie
Rhin
40
44
" Chesneau
Themis
40
44
" Jugan
Brig
Argus
40
44
" Taillard
Furet
40
44
" Demay
1,636
1,736
* James in his text estimates the armaments of the 74's in this action
to have been from 82 to 84 guns.
f Graviere states that the Scipion was commanded by Captain Bel-
langer and the Fougueux by Louis Alexis Baudouin.
Appendix.

33i

LIST OF SHIPS ENGAGED IN THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, OCTOBER

21,

1805.

SPANISH

s-LEET.

Number of Guns.

Class.
Name.
Command.
Nominal
Actual.
fRear-Adm. Don B. Hi-
Gun- ship
Santissima Trinidad
130
126
J dalgo Cisneros
| Commod. Don Francisco
1 de Uriarte
f Admiral Don Frederico
Principe de-
Asturias
112
112
I Gravina
"j Rear.Adm. Don Antonio
1 Escano
[Vice-Adm. Don Ign. Ma-
Santa Ana
112
112 >
! ria de Alava
1 Captain Don Josef Gar-
^ doqui
Rayo
100
100
Commod. Don Enrique
Macdonel
Neptuno
80
82
" Don Cayetano
Valdes
Argonauta
80
82
' ' Don Antonio
Parejas
Bahama
74
78
Captain Don Dionisio Ga-
liano
Montanez
74
78
" Don Josef Salzedo
San Augus-
74
78
" Don Felipe Xado
tin
Cagigal
San Ilde-
74
78
' ' Don Josef Bargas
fonso
S. Juan Ne-
74
78
" Don Cosme Chur-
pomuceno
ruca
Monaica
74
78
" Don Teodoro Ar-
gumosa
S. Francis
74
78
" Don Luis de Flores
co de Asis
San Justo
74
78
" Miguel Gaston
San Lean-
64
68
" Josef Quevedo
dro
1,270
1,306
Napoleon's estimate of the value of the Spanish fleet is
best described in his letter to Admiral Decres, August
13, 1805, viz. ; "Villeneuve will notice in my calcula-
332 Appendix.

tions that I wish him to attack every time that he is
superior in number, counting two Spanish ships only
as one." *
Of the thirty-three ships that composed the combined
fleets of France and Spain in the action of the 21st of
October, 1805, off Cape Trafalgar (exclusive of the French
frigates and brigs), four were sent to Gibraltar, sixteen
were destroyed, nine returned to Cadiz (but four of these
were serviceable), and four escaped to the southward.
Captain the Hon. Henry Blackwood, commanding the
English frigate Euryalus, stated that the actual number
of ships taken and destroyed was nineteen sail-of-the-
line. f
Graviere gives the following figures relating to the
battle of Trafalgar :

Fleet.

Number of Guns.

Killed. Wounded.

EnglishFrenchSpanish

2,1481,3561,270

449} l,24i§
2,3i3f
1,000 1,383

The man who shot Nelson has been discovered,
through his own memoirs, to have been Sergeant Robert
Guillemard. He was stationed in the rigging of the
Redoutable, and busied himself in picking off men on the
Victory. He writes : " In the stern of the Victory stood
an officer covered with decorations, who had only one
arm. From what I had heard of Nelson, I had no doubt
that it was he. As I had received no command to come
down out of the rigging, and found myself forgotten in
the top, I deemed it my duty to fire into the stern of the
English ship, which I saw unprotected and quite near.
I might have aimed at particular individuals, but I pre-
* Graviere. + ' ' Nelson's Dispatches. "
% James. § Accounted for, but loss much greater.

H. M. S. "VICTORY," FIRST RATE, 104 GUNS, LYING IN PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR.
THE FLAG SHIP OF LORD NELSON ON BOARD OF WHICH HE WAS KILLED OFF TRAFALGAR, OCTODER 21, 1805,

Appendix. 333

ferred to fire into the separate groups which surrounded
the different officers. All at once I perceived a great
commotion on board the Victory. The people crowded
around the officer in whom I believed I had recognized
Lord Nelson. He had fallen to the deck, and they car
ried him away at once, covered with a mantle. The ex
citement among the Victory's crew confirmed me in the
belief that I had not been deceived, and that it was in
deed the English Admiral. A moment later the Victory
ceased firing."
To contrast the Navy of to-day with that of the time
of Nelson, look at the Victory as she lies at her moor
ings in Portsmouth Dock- Yard, combined with her
surroundings of scientific accessories of modern naval
warfare. If her dimensions alone and those of the magnificent
battle-ships named in commemoration of the Hero's great
victories at Aboukir and Trafalgar are compared, no
startling difference will appear. The Victory has an
extreme length of 226^ feet ; three gun-decks of 186
feet, mounting 30 guns each ; a beam of 52 feet, and 2\\
feet depth of hold. But, being built of wood, her dis
placement, when fully equipped and manned, was only
2,200 tons. The Nile and Trafalgar have a length of
345 feet ; a beam of 73 feet, with a draught of 27 J- feet.
Fully equipped and manned, each will displace 12,500
tons. But while the battle-ship carries but four (4) guns
in her main battery and but 26 more in the auxiliary, the
Victory carried 102 guns into action at Trafalgar. The
weight of metal in her entire broadside, however,
amounted to but 1,180 pounds, while one alone of the
heaviest guns of the Nile and Trafalgar will throw
a shell of 1,250 pounds' weight, which will penetrate
2o£ inches of iron, and their individual broadsides

334 Appendix.
will aggregate more than 5,000 pounds. Built of steel,
these battle-ships are without masts (except a military
one), and are driven by high-pressure steam at a speed
of i6£ knots, while the Victory was of wood and driven
by sails.

Nelson's Visit to Portsmouth, 1798.
Sir : — I have just read your interesting " Life of
Nelson " in the " Heroes Series," and think you may feel
interested in what I have to tell you, in reference to a
possible second edition.
You quote Southey, in a rather doubtful way, in refer
ence to Nelson's embarkation for his last voyage. I
think I can give you positive information and somewhat
interesting details even at this distant point of time.
An uncle of my own died here December 9, 1878, aged
81. He used to relate what was probably more a family
tradition, or rather what he had heard from his father,
than a matter of certain memory of his own, in all its
details, the following :
On the day to which you refer, Mr. Samuel Price, of
Warblington Street, Portsmouth, a pawnbroker there,
took his young son, Matthew Porter Price, to join the
crowds of people who went to get a sight of Nelson, but
finding the street in the neighbourhood of the George
Hotel so full of people that there was small chance of
seeing anything, and having regard to the safety of his
son, he made his way to Southsea Beach, whence he
might get a distant view of the exciting event and see
the boat as it passed through Spithead. While on the
beach Mr. Price was much surprised to see Nelson ap
proach from the town with one or two companions, and
told his lad to take off his cap when the gentleman

Appendix. 335

who was approaching came near, and have him take
notice of him, for he was the great Lord Nelson. The
Admiral's barge or boat was on the beach at the spot
where afterwards Hollingsworth's Assembly Rooms were
built. As Nelson was about to embark, he beckoned to
Mr. Price, requesting him to return to the town and
make known to the waiting crowd at the George Hotel
that he was already embarked and on his way to his
ship. Mr. Price spoke to him a little, and in the con
versation asked to be excused for the liberty, but, as a
humble but Christian man he ventured to remind his
Lordship that he was going on a dangerous expedition,
from which he might never return, and that he ought to
think of the concerns of his soul. Nelson thanked him
for his freedom in speaking on the subject, and said that
life on board ship was not favourable to piety, but he
added " I think more of those things than people will
give me credit for."
My uncle was standing, in the meantime, cap in hand,
looking up, at the great man, who then patted his head,
and said to his father that, if he ever thought of sending
his little fellow to sea, he would be glad to be of service
to him, if Mr. Price applied to him.
As described in Southey, Nelson, with one or two
attendants, he desiring to shun .the deep excitement of
the crowded street, and possibly under great tension of
feeling from having so recently parted from Lady Ham
ilton and his daughter, passed by the back of the inn
into Penny Street, and so by Green Row and the gate
leading to Southsea reached Southsea Beach, where his
barge was in waiting.
Portsmouth people of the present day would possibly
fail to comprehend how Nelson would be likely to be at
the George, as all great people embark from the Dock-

336 Appendix.
yard now. But in my young days the place of embar
kation and landing for the Royal Navy was at some stairs
close to the High Street semaphore, on the harbour side.
The Port-Admiral's headquarters or offices being in an
old house opposite the George Hotel, this hotel was fre
quented by the superior officers, the Fountain Hotel by
lieutenants and midshipmen.
My uncle's credibility was of a high order, his mind
being remarkable for clearness up to the time of his
death. He was brought up as a printer, and afterwards
became " reader," and was employed by Charles Knight,
then in Ludgate Hill, and for him "read" the Penny
Cyclopedia and many other noted publications of the
time ; finally, on Knight's failure, passing to Clowes's
Sons, with whom he remained until his inability to pass
a first-class proof to press with one reading, as younger
men then undertook to do, gave him his signal to retire
upon his savings and a small patrimony which had come
to him while at Clowes's. I have heard him relate that
he had " read " the Nautical Almanack on one occasion
when, from some unusual circumstances, it had to be
reprinted in a week. He was often upon the Quarterly
Review, and told of his detecting Wilson Croker, the
editor, in blunders from time to time. Though my uncle
was remarkably free from conceit, he referred to this
fact with some enjoyment. I am, Sir, Yours truly, S. Price.
Portsmouth, Feby. 22, 1891.

INDEX,

Aboukir Bay, the French fleet in,
95 ; Nelson enters, 99 ; battle
of, see battle of the Nile.
Achille, the, on fire at Trafalgar,
301 ; romantic story, 302
Acre, siege of, raised, 146
Active, the, watches Toulon, 247 ;
notifies Nelson of the sailing of
the French fleet, 247
Acton, Sir John Francis, Prime-
Minister of Naples, 44 ; con
venes a council, 94 ; letter from
Nelson, 227
Adair, Captain, marine officer on
the Victory, 294 ; killed at
Trafalgar, 295
Addington, Right Honourable
Henry, Nelson forwards him
a statement of accounts, 223 ;
letter from Nelson, 224
Againemnon, the Nelson in com
mand of , 42 ; sails from Gibral
tar, 42 ; meets the Tartar, 43 ; in
action off Sardinia, 47; reported
capture of, 54 ; captures the
Ca Ira and Le Censeur, 57 ;
goes to Leghorn to refit, 62 ;
her battered condition, 62 ;
rendered famous by Nelson, is
sent home, 63 ; flies signal of
distress at Copenhagen, 183
Aggerstans, the, sunk at Copen
hagen, 195
Agincourt, the, cruises off Tou
lon, 228

Agincourt Sound, in the Magda-
lena Islands, 247
Ajax, the, at the battle of Tra
falgar, 304
Alava, Vice-Admiral, commands
the van of the combined fleet,
274 ; Collingwood goes for him,
285
Albemarle, the Nelson commands,
21 ; arrival of, at Elsineur, 21 ;
paid off, 27
Albert, Prince, dies at sea, 130
VAlcide, surrendered and de
stroyed by fire, 60
Alcmena, the, her boats at the
evacuation of Naples, 128
Alexander, the, in the Gulf of
Lyons, 90 ; sails for Naples,
114 ; reception at Naples, 116 ;
at the blockade of Valetta, 125 ;
at Malta, 133 ; in the action
off Valetta, 151; Nelson's flag
ship, 159
Alexander I. sends pacific pro
posals, 201
Alexandria, Nelson seeks the
French fleet at, 93 ; arrives
off, 96
Alicante, British fleet off, 249
Allen, Nelson's servant, insists
on his taking rest, 178
Alliance, a defensive, between
Spain and the French Direc
tory, 63
Allott, Dr., Dean of Raphoe,
letter from Nelson to, 3 (note)

337

33*

Indt

ex.

Amag Island, one of the defences
of Copenhagen, 177
Amazon, the, Nelson on board
of, 176 ; leads the fleet at
Copenhagen, 176; prepares to
receive Nelson, 209 ; chases
French frigates, 238
Amiens, peace of, 221
Amphion, the, Nelson shifts his
flag to, 225 ; a fast ship, 226 ;
cruises off Toulon, 228 ; inter
cepts the Spanish frigates, 245
Ancona, Russian squadron at, 160
Andrews, Miss, Nelson in love
with, 28
Andromeda, the, Prince William
Henry in command of, 41
L'Aquilon surrenders at battle
of the Nile, 100
Apulia in revolt, 133
Archimedes, the, a Neapolitan
corvette, 129
Armaments, comparison of (Ap
pendix), 318 ; table of (Apperi-
dix), 325
Audacious, the, in the advance
at Aboukir, 99 ; off Valetta, 151

Badger, Nelson commands the, 17
Ball, Captain Sir Alexander, with
Nelson at St. Omer, 29 ; assists
Nelson in the Gulf of Lyons,
90 ; on board the Vanguard,
91 ; at the blockade of Valetta,
125 ; forces Gozo to capitulate,
125 ; at Malta, 133 ; instruc
tions from Nelson, 146 ; ardu
ous duty, 147 ; seizes corn at
Messina, 148 ; complains of
General Pigott, 168 ; Nelson's
letter to, 239
Barbadoes, Nelson at, 31
Barfteur, the, at New York, 24
Barrow, Sir John, surprised at
Lord St. Vincent, 73
Bastia, Nelson's report on, 49 ;
Lord Hood demands the sur
render of, 50 ; capture of, 51

Bath, Nelson resides at, 21 ; Nel
son again at, 37
Batteries, French and Spanish
heavierthan the British(Appen-
dix), 321 ; comparison between
the Santissima Trinidad and
Victory (Appendix), 322
Batthyany, Count, aquatic fete, 160
Beatty, Dr., surgeon in the Vic
tory, 269 ; on the personal hab
its of Nelson, 270 ; assists Nel
son when wounded, 292
Beckford entertains Nelson, 166
Belleisle, the, cruises off Toulon,
228 ; opposed to the Toulon
fleet, 229 ; off Hyeres, 238 ;
left off Toulon, 243 ; Nelson
orders her masts painted, 273
Bellerophon, the, at the battle of
the Nile, 104
Bellona, the, with Nelson at Co
penhagen, 179 ; runs aground,
180 ; flies signal of distress, 183
Bequieres, island of, in Aboukir
Bay, 104
Berry, Lieutenant, in possession
of the San Nicolas, 71
Berry, Sir Edward, Nelson's prac
tice during the cruise, 97 ;
catches Nelson when wounded,
105 ; tells Nelson L 'Orient is
on fire, 107 ; boards Le Ge'ne'
reux, 153 ; captures Le Guil
laume Tell, 155
Bethune, Colonel, on board the
Minerve, 6y
Bickerton, Rear-Admiral Sir
Richard, Nelson in search of,
227 ; Nelson joins, 228 ; cruis
ing off Toulon, 228
Blackwood, Captain, commands
the Penelope, 156 ; arrives in
London, 262 ; calls on Nelson,
263 ; despatched to Colling
wood, 266 ; sends word to Nel
son, 268 ; exacting duties, 268 ;
letter to his wife, 271 ; Nel
son's remark to, 279 ; sugges
tions to Nelson, 281 ; witnesses

Index.

339

Nelson's will, 282 ; leaves the
Victory, 286
Blanche, the, accompanies the
Minerve to Porto Ferrajo, 64
Blanquet, Rear-Admiral, disap
proves of Bruey's plans, 96 ;
wounded, 101 ; arrives at
Naples, 116
Blenheim, Nelson visits, 220
Blenheim, the, at the battle of St.
Vincent, 70
Bolton, Mrs., presented by Nel
son with a gift of money, 141 ;
money voted her in honor of
Trafalgar, 311
Boreas, the Nelson in command
of, 29 ; midshipmen on board
of, 30 ; reaches Barbadoes,
31 ; examination in the cabin
of, 32 ; sails for England, 36 ;
receiving ship at the Nore,
36
Bornholm, Nelson makes his last
cruise in the St. George off, 204
Boulogne, the central rendezvous
of the French flotilla, 210 ;
Nelson repulsed off, 211
Box Hill, Nelson and party at,
208
Breckon, Nelson's reception at,
220
Brenton, Captain, 7 ; story of
Nelson, 155 ; story of the flag,
192
Brereton, General, false informa
tion to Nelson, 251 ; Nelson's
irritation at, 252
Brest, English ship fired at from,
42
Briarly, master of the Bellona,
offers to pilot Nelson, 179 ;
accompanies Nelson, 199
Brisbane, Captain, accompanies
Nelson, 176
Bristol, the, Nelson appointed to,
17
British, the, their intrepidity, 196
British Navy, mutinous spirit in,
77 22

Brock, Colonel Isaac, commands
the 49th Regiment, 170
Bromwich, Lieutenant, with Nel
son at the Tower, 15
Brueys, Admiral, insolently ex
ultant, 95 ; calls a council of
officers, 96 ; killed, 101
Bucentaure, the, La Touche-
Treville dies on board of, 240 ;
flag-ship of Villeneuve, 244 ;
fires the first shot at the Victory,
287 ; raked by the Victory, 289 ;
effect of the Victory's guns, 290
Budd, Dr., 44
Bulkeley, aide-de-camp on the
Victory, 296
Buonaparte, arrives off Malta,
124 ; orders flotilla to assemble
at Boulogne, 211 ; contemplates
war while negotiating the treaty
of Amiens, 221 ; astonished at
the promptitude of the British,
222 ; intended to invade Eng
land, 305
Burke, purser of the Victory, as
sists Nelson wounded, 292
Burnham Thorpe, birthplace of
Nelson, 1 ; Nelson retires to,
37

Cadiz, bombardment of, 78
British fleet off, 245 ; strength
of the combined fleet at, 268
provisions growing scarce at
269 ; blockaded, 269 ; the com.
bined fleet put to sea from, 274
Cagliari, Nelson at, 47
Ca Ira, the, attacked by the In
constant, 57 ; captured by Nel
son in the Agamemnon, 57
Calabria in revolt, 133
Calais, Lady Hamilton dies at,
3J3
Calder, Sir Robert, prevails with
Sir John Jervis to omit Nelson's
name from the dispatch, 73 ;
news of his action, 258 ; de
feats Napoleon's plan, 305

34°

Index.

Calvi, attack on, 53 ; capture of,
54
Campbell, Nelson's secretary on
the Vanguard, 107
Canada, Lord St. Vincent's
prophecy respecting, 218
Canopus, the, detached from Nel
son's fleet, 229 ; with Nelson
off Hyeres, 238
Capel, Lieutenant, goes on board
the Minotaur, 106 ; Nelson
signs his commission to the
Mutine, 107
Cape of Good Hope, the posses
sion of, ridiculed by Nelson,
217
Capri hoists Sicilian colors, 132
Capua attacked by Troubridge,
143
Captain, the, Nelson in command
of, 63 ; in the battle of Cape
St. Vincent, 70 ; engaged with
nine line-of-battle ships, 71 ;
captures the San Nicolas, 71 ;
captures the San Josef, 72
Caracciolo, Francesco, history of,
137 ; trial of, 138 ; execution,
139; therisingof his body, 140
Carcass, the Arctic voyage of, 10 ;
Nelson as coxswain of, 10 ;'
returns to England, 10
Carlisle Bay (Barbadoes), Nelson
arrives at, 15 ; Nelson again
at, 251
Carlscrona, British fleet cruises
off, 201
Carronades (Appendix), 324
Carthagena, action off, 64
Castel-a-Mare capitulates, 134
Castel-del'Uovo capitulates, 134
Castel Nuovo capitulates, 134
Castel San Giovanni, mishap at,
160
Championet holds Naples, 132 ;
succeeded by Macdonald, 133
Charlotte-Amelia, the, burnt at
Copenhagen, 195
Chatham, Nelson at, 5
Chatham, Lord, on the British

Navy, 18 ; neglects Nelson, 41 ;
receives news of Trafalgar and
of Nelson's death, 310
Clarence, Duke of, see Prince
William Henry
Clavell, Lieutenant, advised by
Collingwood, 284
Cochrane, Lord, impression of
Nelson, 154
Coehorn (Appendix), 323
Coleridge, in defence of Captain
Ball, 148 ; affected by news of
Nelson's death, 310
Collingwood, Lord Cuthbert,
compared with Nelson, 3 ; first
sea experience, 7 ; succeeds
Nelson in the Lowestoffe, 17 ;
averse to Mrs. Moutray, 33 ;
at the battle of St. Vincent,
73 ; account of the Queen of
Naples, 115 ; on Nelson's re
ception at Court, 162 ; leads
the leeward column at Trafal
gar, 283 ; Smith's account of,
283 ; orders part of the prizes
to be destroyed, 303 ; his Tra
falgar dispatch published, 309 ;
made a peer, 312 ; his services
(note), 312
Colossus, the, signals that the
enemy's fleet is at sea, 273
Comyn, chaplain on the Van
guard, 105
Conque"rant, Le, cut up at battle
of the Nile, 100
Conway, Lord Hugh Seymour,
on board the Tartar, 43
Copenhagen, fortifications of,
173 ; the British fleet off, 176 ;
battle of, 180 ; damage to, 195 ;
results of the battle of, 207
Cornwallis, Cuba, nurses Nelson,
20
Cornwallis, Admiral Sir William,
saves Nelson's life, 21 ; instruc
tions from the Admiralty, 245 ;
Nelson joins, 257
Corsica, island of, necessary to
the British, 49 ; coast ravaged

Index.

34'

by Nelson, 49 ; evacuation of,
63
Cotgrave, Captain, fails in the
attack off Boulogne, 211
Cronburg, the, taken and burnt,
195
Crown battery, the, see Tre-
kroner
Cruiser, the, with Nelson at
Copenhagen, 176
Culloden, the, hastens to Nelson's
assistance, 70 ; sails for Tene
riffe, 80 ; goes ashore in Abou
kir Bay, 104 ; floated off, 108 ;
sails for Naples, 114 ; reception
at Naples, 116
Culverhouse, Lieutenant, ex
changed, 66
Cumberland, the, captures L'Al-
cide, 60 D
Dalling, General, Governor of
Jamaica, appoints Nelson to
command batteries at Port
Royal, 18
Danes, the, courage of, 196 ;
brothers of the English, 196 ;
worthy foes, 197
Danish fleet, destruction of, at
Copenhagen, 195
Dannebrog, the, opposed to Nel
son at Copenhagen, 180 ; sur
rendered and in flames, 186 ;
destruction of, 189
Darby, Captain, wounded at
battle of the Nile, 104
Davis, Isaac, possessed Nelson's
certificate to Carver, 23
Davison, Alexander, intimate
association with Nelson, 24 ;
dines with Nelson, 28 ; strikes
a medal in honor of battle of
the Nile, 113 ; writes to Nel
son, 121; instructed by Nelson
regarding Lady Nelson, 165 ;
instructions to, regarding Mrs.
Maurice Nelson, 200 ; Nel

son's letter to, threatening
La Touche-Treville, 239
Deal, Nelson arrives at, 210 ;
Parker buried at, 213
Decres, Contre-Admiral, surren
ders Le Guillaume Tell, 155
Defence, the, hastens the sur
render of the Danish ships, 188
Defiance, the, at the battle of Co
penhagen, 185 ; aground, 189
Denmark, Lord Whitworth de
spatched to the Court of, 168 ;
menacing attitude of, 169 ;
agrees to an armistice, 195
Desire'e, the, assists to save the
Isis, 182
D'Estaing, Count, arrives at His-
paniola, 18
De Vins, General, 59 ; his tardi
ness, 61
Digby, .Admiral, Nelson waits
on, 24
Dixon, Captain Manley, account
of capture of Le Guillaume
Tell, 155
Dolphin, Nelson leaves the East
Indies in the, 12
Donegal, the, cruises off Toulon,
228 ; with Nelson off Hyeres,
238 ; intercepts the Spanish
frigates, 245
Draco Point, Nelson anchors off,
177
Drake, Mr., British Minister at
Genoa, 54
Drury, Admiral, despatches Cap
tain Blackwood from the Irish
station, 262
Duckworth, Admiral, sent to
Minorca, 144
Dumanoir-le-Pelley, Admiral,
succeeds La Touche-Treville,
and is succeeded by Villeneuve,
244 ; commands the rear of
the combined fleet, 274 ; flies
from Trafalgar, 301
Dundas, Sir David, doubts the
probability of the fall of Bas
tia, 50

342

Index.

Ealing, the, assists in towing the
Zealand, 193
East India Company presents
Nelson with ten thousand
pounds, 113
Edgar, the, first in action at
Copenhagen, 180
Elephant, the, the signal to weigh
from, 1 76 ; Nelson dines the
captains on board, 178 ; Nelson
assembles the pilots on board,
179 ; in the battle of Co
penhagen, 180 ; attacks the
Dannebrog, 180 ; instance of
courage on board, 182 ; sur
rounded by the enemy,
183 ; renews the attack on
the Dannebrog, 186 ; aground
and floated off, 189 ; Lady
Hamilton's pictures on board,
191
Elephanten, the, Nelson on
board, 192
Elliot, Sir Gilbert, appointed
Viceroy of Corsica, 49 ; occu
pies Porto Ferrajo, in Elba,
66 ; embarks with Nelson, 66 ;
arrives at Gibraltar, 66 ; chased
in the Minerve, 67
Elsineur, Nelson arrives at, 21 ;
Admiral Parker off, 173
Emerald, the, sails for Teneriffe,
80
England, at war with France and
Spain, 17 ; declares war with
France, 221
Epaulet, the, introduction of, in
the British Navy, 59
Este Lambton, story of Nelson,
242
Esterhazy, Prince and Princess,
feast Nelson, 160
Euryalus, the, sent to Colling
wood, 266 ; watches the enemy,
268
Excellent, the, with Nelson off
Hyeres, 238

Farmer, Captain, commands the
Sea Horse, II
Faversham, Nelson halts at, 210
Fearney, William, on board the
San Josef, 72
Featherstonehaugh, Sir Harry,
45
Ferguson, surgeon of the Ele
phant, 189
Ferrol, Spanish force collected
at, 245 ; blockaded by Admiral
Cornwallis, 245
Finisterre, Cape, the combined
squadron reaches, 253
Fischer, Commodore, commands
the Dannebrog, 180 ; sums up
the loss of the Danes, 195
Fisgard, the, left off Toulon, 243
Florence, the Royal party at, 159
Foley, Captain, Napier's claim
for, 97 ; dines on board the
Elephant, 178 ; consulted by
Nelson, 188
Fonthill, residence of Beckford,
166 ; reception of Nelson at,
167
Foote, Captain, commands the
Sea Horse, 133 ; attacks the
sea defences of Naples, 134 ;
signs terms of capitulation, 134
Foreigners, hated by Nelson, 115
Foudroyant, the, arrives at
Naples, 135 ; Cardinal Ruffo
on board, 135 ; trial of Carac
ciolo on board, 138 ; the King
of Naples dines on board,
142 ; Nelson hoists his flag on
board, 150; captures Le Guil
laume Tell, 155 ; returns to
Palermo, 157; Nelson's quar
ters onboard, 158 ; carries the
Royal family to Leghorn, 158 ;
sails for Minorca, 159
Fougueux, the, attempts to pre
vent the Royal Sovereign from
breaking the line, 285 ; fires
the first guns at Trafalgar,

Index.

343

285 ; receives the broadside of
the Royal Sovereign, 285
Fox, the, on the Teneriffe ex
pedition, 80 ; founders at Santa
Cruz, 81
France, at war with England, 17 ;
peace concluded with, 27 ;
sense of treaty with Naples, 93 ;
war with, imminent, 221
Franklin, the, at the battle of
the Nile, 101 ; recommences
the action, 104
Frederick, Captain, hastens in the
Blenheim to Nelson's assist
ance, 70
Fremantle, Captain, in a des
perate fight, 78 ; dines on
board the Elephant, 178 ; his
orders at Copenhagen, 179 ;
consulted by Nelson, 188 ; ac
companies Nelson to visit the
Crown Prince of Denmark, 194
French, the, poor sailors, but
fine gunners, 98 ; trapped in
Aboukir Bay, 99 ; overwhelm
ingly defeated at battle of the
Nile, 109 ; defeated in Italy,
133
Freya, the, captured by a British
squadron, 168 ; restored to
Denmark, 168

Ganges, the, at the battle of
Copenhagen, 181 ; fouls the
Monarch, 188
Ge'ne'reux, Le, escapes from
Aboukir Bay, 105 ; flag-ship
of Rear-Admiral Perree, 150 ;
surrenders to Nelson, 151
Genoa, Nelson at, 54
George III., King of England,
popularizes the navy, 18
Gibraltar, Nelson at, 14 ; Nel
son sails from, 42 ; the Minerve
arrives at, 66 ; Nelson arrives
at, 90 ; Saumarez, with prizes
from Aboukir Bay, arrives at,

1 14 ; the Victory, with Lord
Nelson's body, arrives at, 307
Gibraltar, the, cruises of Toulon,
228
Gibson, Lieutenant, commands
the Fox at Santa Cruz, 81
Glatton, the, at the battle of
Copenhagen, 181 ; renews the
attack on the Dannebrog, 186
Goliath, the,' leads the way at
Aboukir, 99 ; at Malta, 133
Goodall, Admiral, letter to Nel
son, 149
Gordon, Lord William, verses to
Lady Hamilton, 208
Gould, Captain, with Captain
Darby on the Bellerophon, 104
Gozo, capitulates to Captain
Ball, 125
Graeme, Admiral, Nelson dines
with, 209
Grand Signior, presents from the,
and from his mother, to Nel
son, 113
Graves, Rear-Admiral, passes the
Elsineur batteries, 173 ; recon
noitres the enemy, 173 ; on
board the Defiance at Copen
hagen, 185 ; invested by Nel
son with the Order of the Bath,
204
Gravina, Admiral, arrives at
Cadiz, 263 ; commands the
first reserve squadron of the
combined fleet, 274 ; flies from
Trafalgar, 301
Great *Britain, policy of, 222
Great Courland Bay, Tobago,
Nelson arrives at, 251
Greenwich, Nelson's body in
public state at, 309
Grenville, Lord, Nelson demands
an inquiry of, 61
Greville, Mr. C. F., gives a fete in
honour of Nelson, 221
Greville, Honourable Charles, 45
Grey, Commissioner, Nelson's
body received on board his
yacht, 308

344

Index.

Guerrier, Le, dismasted at battle
of the Nile, 100
Guillaume Tell, Le, escapes from
Aboukir Bay, 105 ; captured
by Sir Edward Berry, 155
Guillemard, Sergeant Robert,
claims to have shot Nelson,
(Appendix) 332
Guns varieties of, (Appendix)
324 H
Hajen, the, taken and burnt, 195
Halcyon, the, intercepts the Span
ish frigates, 245
Hallowell, Captain, delighted
with Jervis, 69 ; singular gift
to Nelson, no
Hamburg, Nelson at, 161
Hamilton, Lady, her career, 44 ;
her appearance, 45 ; her meeting
with Nelson, 46 ; intercession
with the Court of Naples, 94 ;
swoons on hearing of the battle
of the Nile, 113; reception of
Nelson, 117 ; celebrates Nel
son's birthday, 120 ; share in
the evacuation of Naples, 128 ;
in the voyage to Palermo, 130 ;
interprets for Cardinal Ruffo,
136 ; evil influence on Nelson,
147 ; cause of the separation of
Lord and Lady Nelson, 163 ;
Nelson's letter to, igo ; buys
Merton Place for Nelson, 212 ;
at the bedside of her dying
husband, 224 ; letter from Nel
son, 226 ; advises Nelson, 264 ;
bids Nelson farewell, 265 ; her
claims not recognized, 312 ;
death of, 313
Hamilton, Sir William, British
Minister at Naples, 43 ; re
ceives Nelson, 44 ; marries his
nephew's mistress, 45 ; opinion
of Admiral Hotham, 56 ; re
ceives Captain Troubridge,
94 ; goes to meet Nelson, 117 ;
receives Nelson as a guest,

119 ; on the voyage to Pal
ermo, 130 ; interprets for Car
dinal Ruffo, 136 ; succeeded
by Hon. Arthur Paget, 158 ;
Nelson resides with, 208 ; fond
of fishing, 208 ; death of, 224 ;
character, of 224
Hammond's Knowl, the Invinci
ble lost on, 170
Hanson, Levett, letter to Nel
son, 4
Hardy, Captain, reports on the
French fleet, 93 ; commissioned
to the Vanguard, 107 ; com
mands boats at the evacuation
of Naples, 128 ; preserves Car
acciolo from insult, 138 ; re
ceives present from the King
of Naples, 142 ; his daring,
177 ; dines with Nelson, 178 ;
accompanies Nelson to visit
the Prince of Denmark, 194 ;
Nelson's second captain, 228 ;
witnesses Nelson's will, 282 ;
drives the Victory into the
Redoutable, 290 ; at Nelson's
side when he was wounded,
291 ; on the deck of the Vic
tory, 294 ; Nelson's anxiety for,
295 ; visits Nelson in the
cockpit of the Victory, 296 ;
again reports to Nelson, 297 ;
at Nelson's side, 298
Hardy, Lieutenant, exchanged,
66 ; rescued by the Minerve,
68
Harmony, the, anecdote of, 23
Haverford, West, Nelson at, 221
Hawkesbury, Lord, signs the
preliminaries of peace, 221
Haydn, meets Nelson, 160
Herbert, Mr., President of Nevis,
34
L' Heureux at the battle of the
Nile, 100
Hill attempts to blackmail Nel
son, 214
Hinchinbrook, Nelson commands
the, 18

Index.

345

Holland, Great Britain declares
war against, 244
Holstein, the, a Danish ship, at
the battle of Copenhagen, 182 ;
story of, by Brenton, 192
Hood, Captain Samuel, signals
the French fleet, 96 ; quoted
by Napier, 97 ; pursues the
French, 105
Hood, Lord, at New York, 24 ;
at interview between Digby
and Nelson, 24 ; presents Nel
son to the King, 27 ; sails from
Gibraltar, 42 ; receives the
surrender of Toulon, 43 ; de
spatches Nelson under sealed
orders, 47 ; Nelson's opinion
of, 48 ; summons Bastia to sur
render, 50 ; neglects Nelson in
his dispatches, 51 ; remon
strates with the Admiralty,
59 ; resigns his command, 59 ;
introduces Nelson to House of
Lords, 217
Hoste, William, opinion of Nel
son, 47 ; on the Neapolitan
army, 127
Hotham, Admiral, 48 ; receives
news of the Freneh fleet, 55 ;
prepares for action, 55 ; Sir
William Hamilton's opinion
of, 55 ; chases the French, 5 7 ;
action with the French, 60
Howe, Lord, applied to by Nel
son for a ship, 36 ; encourages
Nelson, 37
Huen, island of, the British fleet
anchor near the, 173
Hughes, Admiral Sir Richard,
sends Nelson home, 12 ; indif
ference to Navigation Act, 31 ;
accepts thanks due Nelson, 33
Hughes, Lady, sails with Nelson
on the Boreas, 29
Hunter, Mrs., buries Lady Ham
ilton, 313
Hydra, the, watches the enemy,
268
Hyeres, Nelson off, 238

Inconstant, the, fires into the Ca-
Ira, 57
Indosforethen, the, burnt at Co
penhagen, 195
Inglefield, Commissioner, letter
from Nelson to, 154
Invincible, the, loss of, 170
Irresistible, Nelson on board of
the, 77
Ischia, Troubridge hoists the
Sicilian colors on, 132
Isis, the, in the battle of Copen
hagen, 180 ; saved by the
Polyphemus, 182
Italians, dislike of, 115

Jaubert, Commissary, defies the
British, 95
Jeaffreson, J. C, opinion of Mer
ton Place, 212
Jean Barras, the, pursued by
Admiral Hotham's fleet, 57
Jefferson, surgeon on the Van
guard, attends Nelson, 105
Jervis, John, Earl of St. Vincent,
reception on shipboard, 7 ; his
sea dress, 25 ; anecdote of, 25 ;
neglected by the Admiralty,
39 ; arrives at St. Fiorenzo, 62 ;
meets the Spanish fleet, 69 ;
prepares for action, 69 ; battle
of St. Vincent, 70 ; anecdote
of, 74 ; gives Nelson the Span
ish admiral's sword, 77 ; joined
by Nelson off Cadiz, 89 ; chal
lenged by Sir John Orde, 91 ;
detaches Portuguese squadron
to Nelson's assistance, 1 14 ; in
ill-health, 143 ; affronted, 144 ;
opinion of Sir Sidney Smith,
146 ; fears for Nelson, 167 ;
prophecy respecting Canada,
218 ; grief at Nelson's death,
310

346

Index.

Jones, Captain, fails in the attack
off Boulogne, 211
Jutland, the, taken and burnt,
195 K
Keats, Admiral Sir Richard,
visits Nelson, 261
Keith, Lord, opinion of Nelson's
zeal, 131 ; sends for Nelson,
143 ; Commander-in-chief in
the Mediterranean, 150; orders
to Nelson, 157
Kelim Effendi sent with present
to Nelson, 128
Kent, the, Bickerton's flag-ship,
227 ; cruises off Toulon, 228 ;
opposed to the Toulon fleet,
229
King George, speech of, Novem
ber 16, 1802, 222
King George, the, carries Nelson
to Yarmouth, 161
Kioge Bay, the British fleet at,
201
Kite, the, carries Nelson to Yar
mouth, 208
Klopstock visited by Nelson, 161
Knight, Miss, Nelson's inner life,
158 ; follows the Queen of
Naples, 159; account of the
trouble between Lord and Lady
Nelson, 164
Kronenburg, castle of, saluted,
22 ; incident off, 174

Lagos Bay, Nelson provisions his
fleet at, 250
Lark, the, used by Nelson at
Copenhagen, 173
Latona, the, Nelson hauls down
her broad pennant, 31
Lauriston, General, commands
the troops in Villeneuve's
squadron, 247
Leander, the, sails for Teneriffe,

80 ; joins Nelson, 91 ; at the
battle of the Nile, 101 ; re
ceives the survivors of L' Orient,
102
Leeward Islands, Sir Thomas
Shirley governor of the, 31
Leghorn Roads, Nelson joins
Lord Keith in the, 150
Leghorn, the Agamemnon goes
to, to refit, 62 ; insurrection of
the people at, 159
Leopold, Prince, entertains Nel
son, 142
Leyden, the, Nelson hoists his
flag on board, 210
Lindholm, Adjutant-General, ar
rives with flag of truce, 188 ;
referred to Admiral Parker, 188
Linzee, Commodore, Nelson
serves under, 47
Lion, Nelson sails for England in
the, 21 ; chases Le Guillaume
Tell, 156
Lively, the, spoken, 68 ; at the
battle of St. Vincent, 70
Locker, William, commands the
Lowestoffe, 14 ; kindness to
Nelson, 14 ; letter from Nel
son, 32
London, City of, confers freedom
on Nelson, 88 ; Nelson arrives
at, 162 ; Nelson met by a party
of relatives and friends at, 208
London, the, Sir Hyde Parker's
flag-ship, 170 ; flies signal to
cease action at Copenhagen,
183 ; Nelson follows Lindholm
on board, 189
Louis, Captain, assists Nelson at
battle of the Nile, 106; thanked
by Nelson, 106 ; commands the
Canopus, 267
Lowestoffe, Nelson appointed
Second Lieutenant of the, 14 ;
Collingwood succeeds Nelson
in the, 17
Ludwidge, SkefEngton, com
mands the Carcass, 10 ; enter
tains Nelson, 210

Index.

347

Lyons, Gulf of, Nelson nearly
founders in the, go ; notorious
for its gales, 232 M
Macdonald succeeds Championet,
133
Mack, General, commands the
Sicilian army, 127
Macnamara, Captain, accompa
nies Nelson to France, 28
Magdalena Islands, Nelson waters
his fleet at, 231
Magon, Rear-Admiral, commands
the second reserve squadron of
the combined fleet, 274
Malta, Nelson sails for, 92 ; Or
der of St. John at, annulled
by French Government, 124 ;
French fleet arrives off, 124 ;
in possession of the French,
125 ; insurrection at, sup
pressed, 125 ; Nelson at, 227
Manby, Captain, anecdote of
Nelson, 4
Marguerite, isle of, French fleet
seen off, 55
Marlborough, Duke of, declines
to receive Nelson and party,
220
Mars, the, a Liverpool privateer,
256
Martin, Captain, receives sur
render of Malta, 168
Matcham, Mrs., presented with
money, 141 ; money voted her
in honour of Trafalgar, 311
Mazari Bay, Nelson refi':s at, 249
Mediterranean, the, huuted for
the French fleet, 93
Medusa, the, Nelson hoists his
flag on board, 210 ; intercepts
the Spanish frigates, 245
Melpomene, the, disabled by the
Agamemnon, 47
Melville, Lord, Nelson's letter
to, 207
Merton Place, bought by Lady

Hamilton for Nelson, 212 ;
first visited by Nelson, 217;
his brief holiday at, 257
Messina, Captain Ball seizes corn
at, 148
Middle Ground, the, in Copen
hagen Harbour, 179
Milford, Nelson's reception at,
220
Miller, Captain, reinforces Nel
son at the battle of St. Vincent,
72 ; affection of the crew for, 77
Minerva, the, a Neapolitan frig
ate, 138
Minerve, the, Nelson proceeds in,
to Porto Ferrajo, 64 ; arrives
at Gibraltar, 66 ; chased by the
Spanish, 67 ; in the midst of
the Spanish fleet, 68
Minotaur, the, hailed from the
Vanguard, 105 ; assists Nelson
at the battle of the Nile, 106
Monarch, the, at the battle of
Copenhagen, 181 ; in peril,
182 ; grounds and is floated
off, 188
Monmouth, the, cruises off Tou
lon, 228 ; detached from Nel
son's fleet, 229
Morrison, extraordinary efforts
to equip the Vanguard, gi
Moutray, Mrs. , admired by Nel
son, 33
Moutray, Resident Commis
sioner, 31
Murray, Captain George, com
mands British fleet off Carls-
crona, 201 ; Nelson's first
captain, 228
Muline, the, Nelson signs Capel's
commission to, 107
N
Naiad, the, the hour of Nelson's
famous signal by her log, 282
Napier, General Sir Charles, his
preposterous claim for Captain
Foley, g7

348

Index.

Naples, Nelson at, 43 ; sense of
treaty with France, g3 ; the
Court of, abhorred by Trou
bridge, 115 ; the Queen of, de
nounced by Collingwood, 115 ;
excitement at, 116 ; Nelson's
reception at, 117 ; Kingdom
of, described by Southey, 122 ;
the King of, on board the Van
guard, 126 ; the King of, enters
Rome and returns to Naples,
127 ; flight of the Royal Family
of, 128 ; voyage of the Royal
Family to Palermo, 129 ; des
perate slaughter at, 132 ; held
by Championet's troops, 132 ;
a provisional government es
tablished at, 132 ; blockaded
by Captain Foote, 133
Naval warfare, changes in,
(Appendix) 317
Navigation laws neglected by
Sir Richard Hughes and en
forced by Nelson, 31
Navy, contrast between that of
the time of Nelson and that of
to-day, (Appendix) 333
Nelson, Earl, see Reverend
William Nelson
Nelson, Horatio, birth, 1 ; pa
rents, 2 ; education 3 ; goes to
sea, 5 ; voyage to West Indies,
8 ; returns a sailor, 9 ; a Polar
voyage, 10 ; promoted to mid
shipman, n ; East Indian voy
age 11 : severe illness, 10 ;
despondency, 12 ; appointed
lieutenant, 14 ; ill-health, 15 ;
boards a prize, 16 ; West In
dian experiences, 16 ; pro
moted to Commander, 17 ;
made Post-Captain, 18 ; on the
Mosquito Coast, 19 ; com
mands the Janus, 20 ; at
Bath, 21 ; a Baltic cruise, 21 ;
sails for North America, 22 ;
behaviour to Carver, 23 ; meets
the Duke of Clarence, 25 ; on
half-pay, 27 ; presented at St.

James's, 27; journey to France,
28 ; appointed to the Boreas,
29 ; treatment of midshipmen,
30 ; arrives at Barbadoes, 31 ;
enforces the Navigation Act,
31 ; quarrel with Sir Thomas
Shirley, 31 ; affair at Nevis,
32; "meets his fate," 34;
marries Mrs. Nisbet, 35 ; ar
rives in England, 36 ; neglected
by the Admiralty, 36 ; resolu
tion to resign, 37 ; his loyalty
reanimated, 37 ; continued ill-
health, 37 ; long period of
neglect, 39 ; country pursuits,
40 ; resolves to leave the
country, 41 ; applies for a
cockle-boat, 41 ; appointed to
the Agamemnon, 42 ; sails from
Gibraltar, 42 ; at the surrender
of Toulon, 43 ; sent to Naples
with dispatches, 43 ; intro
duced at the Court of Naples,
44 ; meets Lady Hamilton, 44 ;
rejoins the fleet, 47 ; action off
Sardinia, 47 ; in command of
a squadron, 48 ; on the coast
of Corsica, 4g ; urges an attack
on Bastia, 50 ; captures Bastia,
51 ; attacks Calvi, 53 ; wounded
in the eye, 54 ; captures Calvi,
54 ; reception at Genoa, 54 ;
love for the Agamemnon, 55 ;
longings for a country home,
55 ; money losses, 55 ; action
with the French fleet, 57 ; cap
tures the Ca Ira and Le
Censeur, 57 ; advises Admiral
Hotham, 58 ; returns to St.
Fiorenzo, 58 ; made Colonel of
Marines, 5g ; ordered to co
operate with General de Vins,
5g ; chased by the French fleet,
60 ; disgust at the Austrians,
61 ; an indignant demand, 61 ;
offered a seat in Parliament,
62 ; his numerous perform
ances, 62 ; hoists his Commo
dore's pennant on the Captain,

Index.

349

Nelson (continued).
63 ; superintends the evacua
tion of Corsica, 63 ; proceeds
to Porto Ferrajo in the
Minerve, 64 ; captures the
Santa Sabina, 65 ; arrives at
Gibraltar, 66 ; sails to join
Jervis, 67 ; chased by the
Spanish, 67 ; will not lose
Hardy, 67 ; sails through the
Spanish fleet, 68 ; resumes
command of the Captain, 68 ;
at the battle of St. Vincent,
70 ; frustrates the Spaniards'
plan, 70 ; attacks the four-
decker, 70 ; the conspicuous
figure in the battle, 70 ; en
gages nine line-of-battle ships
at once, 71 ; captures the San
Nicolas, 71 ; captures the San
Josef, 72 ; cheered by the
fleet, 72 ; not named in
the Admiral's dispatch, 73 ;
knighted, and promoted to Ad
miral, 76 ; affection of his
crew, 77 ; at the bombardment
of Cadiz, 78 ; sails for Ten
eriffe, 80 ; attacks Santa Cruz,
81 ; wounded, 81 ; his great
endurance, 82 ; loses his arm,
83 ; failure of the expedition,
83 ; return home, 84 ; nursed
by Lady Nelson, 85 ; anecdote
of, 86 ; complains of his wife,
87 ; his memorial, 88 ; ap
pointed to the Vanguard, 89 ;
arrives at Gibraltar, 90 ; in
great peril, 91 ; remonstrances
against his command, 92 ; at
Syracuse, 95 ; finds the French
fleet, 96 ; instructions to his
commanders, g7 ; his tactics,
gg ; battle of the Nile, 100 ;
burning of L'Orient, 101 ;
Z'CVz>»^blowsup,io2 ; victory
of the English, 105 ; Nel
son wounded, 106 ; his rest
lessness, 107 ; his thanksgiving
for victory, 108 ; receives a sin

gular gift, in ; made a Baron,
112 ; honours and presents,
113 ; arrives at Gibraltar with
his prizes, 114; dislike of the
Italians, 115 ; reception at
Naples, 117 ; at the Hamiltons'
home, 119 ; celebration of his
birthday, 120 ; and the King
of Naples, 123 ; instructions
from the Admiralty, 124 ; let
ter to the commander of Va
letta, 125 ; indignant at the
Sicilian Government, 126 ; dis
trust of General Mack, 127 ;
directs the evacuation of
Naples, 128 ; sails for Palermo,
129 ; attends the Royal Family
on shore, 130 ; Mediterranean
experiences, 131 ; assists in the
defences of Palermo, 132 ;
sails for a cruise, 133 ; sails
into Naples, 133 ; annuls the
truce, 134 ; interview with
Cardinal Ruffo, 135 ; orders
the execution of Caracciolo,
138 ; refuses to interfere in
Caracciolo's behalf , 139; orders
the body of Caracciolo towed
ashore, 140 ; generosity to his
family, 141 ; feted, 142 ; re
fuses to obey Lord Keith's
orders, 143 ; sends ships to
Minorca, 144 ; his conduct dis
approved by the Admiralty,
144 ; irritated and indignant,
144 ; provoked by Sir Sidney
Smith, 145 ; alters opinion of
Sir Sidney Smith, 146 ; con
cern for the feelings of the
Court of Naples, 146 ; bad in
fluence of Lady Hamilton and
the Queen of Naples, 147 ; his
bad health, 148 ; joins Lord
Keith, 150 ; falls in with
a French squadron, 150 ; at
the captu reoiLe Ge'ne'reux, 151;
sends a flag to Leopold, 153 ;
in command of squadron off
Valetta, 153; health exhausted,

35°

Index.

Nelson {continued').
154 ; meets Lord Cochrane,
154; anecdote of, 155; satis
faction at capture of Le Guil
laume Tell, 156 ; sails for
Syracuse, 157 ; strikes his flag,
157; his quarters on the Fou
droyant, 158 ; accompanies the
Royal Family to Vienna,
159 ; unpleasant adventures,
160 ; incident at Prague, 161 ;
arrives at Yarmouth, 161 ; at
London, 162 ; cool reception at
Court, 162 ; unhappy married
life, 163 ; separates from Lady
Nelson, 163 ; final interview
with his wife, 164 ; honours in
England, 166 ; health bene
fited, 167 ; commands the St.
George, 170 ; poor condition of
the St. George, 170 ; conversa
tion with Davison, 171 ; hoists
his flag on the Elephant, 1 72 ;
passes through the Sound, 173 ;
reconnoitres the enemy, 173 ;
astonished at their prepara
tions, 174 ; offers his services,
and is accepted, 175 ; his ex
citement, 175 ; marks out the
channel, 176 ; the force under
his command, 176 ; anchors off
Draco Point, 177 ; his incessant
labors, 178 ; his sleeplessness
and impatience, I7g ; signals
for close action, 180 ; opposed
to the Dannebrog, 1 So; in the
battle of Copenhagen, 183 ;
anecdote of, 184 ; does not
see the signal to cease fighting,
185 ; sends <t flag of truce
ashore, 187 ; anecdote of the
sealing-wax, 187; follows Lind
holm to the London, i8g ; de
pression of spirits, i8g ; letter
to Lady Hamilton, 190 ; verses
to his guardian angel, 190 ; re
turns to the Elephant, 192 ;
visits the prize, 192 ; visits the
Prince of Denmark, 194 ;

dines with Crown Prince, 195 ;
his genius at Copenhagen, 196 ;
in pursuit of Parker, 199 ;
sickness brought on by ex
posure, 200 ; instructs Davison
to assist Mrs. Maurice Nelson,
201 ; in command in the Baltic,
201 ; at Revel Roads, 201 ;
correspondence with St. Peters
burg, 202 ; personal habits,
203 ; reception at Rostock,
203 ; invests Graves with the
Order of the Bath, 204 ; cre
ated a Viscount, 204 ; disap
pointed at his reward, 207 ;
bitter vexation that no medals
were given for battle of Copen
hagen, 207 ; arrives at Yar
mouth, 208 ; at London 208 ;
his holiday, 208 ; appointed
Commander-in-chief, 209 ; re-
ceptionat Sheerness, 210; hoists
his flag on the Medusa, 210 ;
bombards the French flotilla,
211 ; failure of attempt to
destroy French flotilla, 211 ;
buys Merton Place, 212 ; grief
at the death of Parker, 213 ;
buries Parker at his own ex
pense, 213 ; attempt to black
mail, 214 ; angry at Trou
bridge, 215 ; cause of his
irritability, 216 ; visits Merton,
217 ; takes his seat in the
House of Lords, 217 ; relations
with Lady Hamilton, 218 ;
loyalty to his comrades, 2ig ;
journey to Wales, 220 ; a royal
progress, 221 ; seconds the ad
dress, 222 ; his pecuniary af
fairs, 223 ; attends a debate
in the House of Lords, 223 ;
grief at the death of Sir Will
iam Hamilton, 224; appointed
Commander-in-chief on the
Mediterranean station, 225 ;
hoists his flag on board the
Victory, 225 ; sails from Spit
head, 225 ; shifts his flag to

Index.

351

Nelson (continued).
the Amphion, 225 ; quick run
from off Lisbon to Gibraltar,
226 ; at Naples, 227 ; anxious
to preserve the two Sicilies and
the Royal Family, 227 ; joins
Sir Richard Bickerton, 228 ;
movements while blockading
Toulon, 22g ; off for the Mag-
dalena Islands, 231; opinion of
his fleet ; 231 ; failing eyesight,
232 ; Scott's recollections of,
235 ; the French fleet make a
demonstration, 238 ; resent
ment against La Touche-Tre
ville, 239 ; denies the blockade
of Toulon, 241; desire to return
to England, 241; story illustrat
ing the character of, 242 ; dif
ficulty in holding his station,
243 ; in the Gulf of Palmas,
243 ; again off Toulon, 244 ;
receives a secret Admiralty
letter, 244 ; ignorant of war
with Spain, 245 ; a great wrong
to, 246 ; in Agincourt Sound,
247 ; his force, 247 ; notified
of the sailing of the French
fleet, 247 ; a striking picture,
248 ; scours the Mediterranean
for the French fleet, 248 ; sails
for the West Indies, 250 ;
orders regarding rations, 251 ;
arrives at Barbadoes, 251 ; irri
tation at Brereton's false infor
mation, 251 ; pursues the
French fleet back to Europe,
252 ; slow progress, 253 ; ar
rives at Gibraltar, 253 ; two
years on board the Victory,
254 ; an explanation, 255 ;
arrives in England, 257 ; meets
the Duke of Wellington, 258 ;
last interview with George III.,
259 ; resolves on his manceu
vres, 260 ; Lord Sidmouth 's
table, 261 ; explains his plans
to Keats, 262 ; receives news
of the French fleet, 263 ; re

solves to offer his services, 264 ;
farewell to Merton, 265 ; ar
rival at Portsmouth, 266 ; an
affecting scene, 266; despatches
Blackwood to Lord Colling
wood, 266 ; reception by the
fleet, 267 ; the " Nelson
touch," 267 ; force under his
command, 267 ; plan to draw
out the enemy, 268 ; presenti
ment of death, 269 ; chooses a
burial-place, 270 ; an affable
host, 270 ; letter-writing, 272 ;
instance of his prevision, 273 ;
excellent arrangements, 275 ;
approach of his fleet, 277 ; on
deck, 278 ; signals for the cap
tains to come on board, 279 ;
his prayer, 280 ; declines
Blackwood's suggestions, 281 ;
leads the column, 2S2 ; famous
signal, 282 ; farewell to Black
wood, 286 ; seeks the French
admiral, 287 ; indifference to
personal risk, 288 ; " Warm
work, Hardy ! " 289 ; in the
thick of the fight, 290 ;
wounded, 2gi ; carried below,
291 ; suffering, 295 ; " Kiss
me, Hardy," 298 ; dead, 299 ;
his body placed in a cask of
brandy, 307 ; coffined and taken
from the Victory, 308 ; honours
paid to Nelson's body, 309 ;
how England received the news
of Trafalgar and of Nelson's
death, 30g ; grief of the Earl
of St. Vincent, 310 ; honours
and emoluments to his family,
311 ; his funeral, 313 ; his
character, 314
Nelson's Island, in Aboukir Bay,
114
Nelson, Maurice, death of, 200
Nelson, Mrs. , on boarding (note),
72 ; nurses her husband, 85 ;
uneasiness regarding her hus
band, 121 ; dislike of Lady
Hamilton, 162 ; unhappy life,

352

Indi

ex.

163 ; quarrel with Nelson, 163 ;
separation, 164
Nelson, Mrs. Maurice, blind and
cripple, 200 ; Nelson's letter
to, 201
Nelson, Rev. Edmund, rector of
Burnham Thorpe, 1 ; Captain
Suckling's reply to, 5 ; death
of, 219
Nelson, Rev. William, intercedes
for Horatio, 5 ; returns to
school with his brother, 5 ;
letter from Horatio, 29 ; sails
with Horatio on the Boreas,
29 ; Nelson's opinion of, 205 ;
letter to Lady Hamilton, 206 ;
meets Nelson in London, 208 ;
created an Earl and granted a
pension, 311
"Nelson touch," the, 267
Neptune, the, a French liner,
229 ; supports the Bucentaure,
290
Neptune, the, with Nelson at
Trafalgar, 303 ; tows the Vic
tory to Gibraltar, 307
Nevis, difficulty at, 32 ; Nelson
married at, 35
New York, Nelson at, 24
Nicholas, Sir Harris, on Nelson's
letter, 42 ; on Nelson's irrita
bility, 216
Niger, the, off Toulon, 243
Nile, battle of the, 100 ; a deci
sive British victory, 109 ; com
parative strength of British and
French at, 109 ; effects of the,
112 ; list of ships engaged in
(Appendix), 326, 327 ; com
parative force of the two squad
rons (Appendix), 328
Nile, the, a battle-ship of to-day
(Appendix), 317 ; compared
with the Victory (Appendix),
333
Nisbet, Josiah, a lieutenant on
the Theseus, 80 ; with Nelson
at Santa Cruz, 81 ; creates a
disturbance, 120

Nisbet, Mrs. Fanny, married to
Nelson, 35
Niza, Marquis de, commands
Portuguese squadron, 114 ;
letter from Nelson to, 114 ;
blockades Valetta, 125
Northumberland, the, off Valetta,
151 ; attacks the Ge'ne'reux,
151 ; under command of Cap
tain Martin, 168
North Walsham, Nelson at school
at, 3
Norwich, Nelson at high-school
at, 3 ; presented with a sword
by Nelson, 77
Nyburg, the, sunk at Copen
hagen, 195 O
Orde, Sir John, remonstrates
against Nelson's appointment,
91 ; challenges Lord St. Vin
cent, 91 ; commands a squad
ron off Cadiz, 245 ; takes
numerous prizes, 245
Order of St. John at Malta, an
nulled by French Government,
124 ; Grand Master of, refuses
French demands, 124
Order of the Bath, Nelson invests
Rear-Admiral Graves with, 204
L'Orient, at battle of the Nile,
100 ; between two fires, 101 ;
in flames, 101 ; blows up, 102
Orion, the, in the advance at
Aboukir, gg
Otto, Citizen, signs the prelimi
naries of peace, 221
Otway, Captain R. W., demands
the surrender of the Zealand,
193
Oxford, Nelson presented with
the freedom of the city of, 220

Paget, Hon. Arthur, succeeds
Sir William Hamilton, 158

Index.

353

Palermo, flight of the Royal Fam
ily to, 129 ; receives the King
of Naples, 131 ; Nelson enter
tained at, 142
Palisser, Sir Hugh, succeeded by
Captain Suckling, 13
Palmas, Gulf of, Nelson shelters
his fleet in 243 ; returns to,
249
Paoli, a Corsican leader, 49
Paria, Gulf of, Nelson at, 252
Parker, Captain E. T., assists at
the investment of Graves, 204 ;
meets Nelson in London, 208 ;
account of Nelson's health,
210 ; repulsed at Boulogne,
211 ; fatally wounded, 211 ;
Nelson's grief at the death of,
213 ; buried at Nelson's cost,
213
Parker, Lady, nurses Nelson, 20
Parker, Sir Hyde, commands
British fleet, 1 70 ; communi
cates with Elsineur, 173 ; passes
the Sound, 173 ; calls a council
of war, 175 ; remains at anchor,
176 ; his part at the battle of
Copenhagen, 179 ; unable to
help Nelson, 183 ; signals to
cease action, 183; sails for the
Baltic, 197 ; receives pacific
proposals, 201 ; returns to
England, 201
Parker, Sir Peter, appoints Nel
son to the Bristol, 17 ; appoints
Nelson to the Janus, 20
Parker, Sir William, remonstrates
against Nelson's appointment,
91 ; commands the Prince
George, 92
Parkinson, Lieutenant, intercedes
with Nelson, 139
Parsons, describes Caracciolo,
138 ; story of the rising of
Caracciolo's body, 140 ; ac
count of the action off Valetta,
151
Parthenopeian Republic, 132 ;
defeat of the troops of the, 133

Pasco, Lieutenant, Signal Lieu
tenant on the Victory, 279 ;
story of the famous signal, 282 ;
wounded at Trafalgar, 295
Passaro, Cape (Sicily), Nelson
falls in with French squadron
off, 150
Paul, Emperor of Russia, present
to Nelson, 113 ; sequesters
British property, 169
Peddieson has charge of Nelson's
coffin, 257
Penelope, the, chases Le Guillaume
Tell, 156
Perree, Rear-Admiral, commands
a French squadron, 150
• Phipps, Captain Constantine
John, commands the Race
horse, 10
Phaibe, the, chases French frig
ates, 238 ; signals the enemy's
course, 274
Pickle, the, brings the news of
Trafalgar and of the death of
Nelson, 309
Pigott, General, captures island
of Malta, 168
Pilfold, Lieutenant, in the last
boat leaving the Santissima
Trinidad, 304
Polyphemus, tne, in the battle of
Copenhagen, 180 ; saves the
Isis from the Provesteen's fire,
182 ; Nelson orders her masts
painted, 273
Ponza Islands hoist Sicilian
colors, 132
Popham, Sir Home, raises the
Sea Fencibles, 210
Porquerolles, island of, French
ships signalled off, 238
Port Agro, troops disembarked
at, 53
Portland, Duke of, 62
Porto Ferrajo, Nelson proceeds
to, 64 ; occupied by Sir Gil
bert Elliot, 66
Port Royal (Jamaica), Nelson
commands batteries at, 18

S54

Index.

Portsmouth, Nelson sails from,
in the Vanguard, 8g ; Nelson
at, 225
Portuguese squadron, the, too
late to join Nelson at battle of
Nile, 1 14 ; blockades Valetta,
125
Prague, incident at, 161
Prince, the, assists in destroying
the Santissima Trinidad, 303
Prince George, Prince William
Henry a midshipman on board
the, 18 ; Nelson denounced on
board of the, g2
Principe de Asturias, the, at
Trafalgar, 277
Pringle, Captain Thomas, sails
in company with Nelson, 22 ;
his prediction on Nelson's mar
riage, 35 ; aids Nelson, 41
Procida taken possession of, 132
Provesleen, the, opens the battle
of Copenhagen, 180 ; nearly
destroys the Isis, 182 ; taken
and burnt, ig5
Prowse, Captain, leaves the Vic
tory, 287
Prussia instigates Denmark, i6g

Queen Charlotte, Lord Keith's
flag-ship, 150 R
Racehorse, the Arctic voyage of,
10 ; returns to England, 10
Raisonnable, the, Captain Suck
ling appointed to, 5 ; Nelson
joins, 6 ; out of commission, 8
Ram, Lieutenant, desperately
wounded at Trafalgar, 292 ;
bleeds to death, 293
Ramilies, the, hastens the sur
render of the Danish ships, 188
Rathbone, John, 8
Redoutable, the, at Trafalgar,
288 ; destructive fire of, 294. ;

attempts to board the Victory,
294 ; knocked to pieces and
sunk, 304
Rennie, Captain, goes down in
the Invi?icible, 170
Renown, the, cruises off Toulon,
228 ; opposed to the Toulon
fleet, 229
Rensburg, the, aground and burnt,
195
Revel Roads, Nelson at, 201 ;
ordered to leave, 202 ; sails
from, 202
Richmond Park, Nelson visits
Lord Sidmouth at, 261
Riou, Captain, dines with Nel
son, 178 ; character of, 179 ;
attacks the Trekroner battery,
182; wounded, 185; dies, 185
Riviera, the, of Genoa, Nelson
despatched to, 59
Rivigliano capitulates, 134
Robinson, Mark, commands the
Worcester, 13
Rodney, Lord, part of his fleet
at New York, 24
Romulus, the, arrives at Gibraltar,
66
Rosetta, roar of battle of the Nile
heard at, 102
Rostock, Nelson's reception at,
203
Rotherham, Captain, ordered to
carry away the bowsprit of the
Fougueux, 285
Round- Wood purchased by Nel
son, 87
Royal Sovereign, the, under
Collingwood's command, 283 ;
leads the fleet at Trafalgar,
284 ; attacks the Santa Ana,
285 ; unsupported, 285 ; Cape
Trafalgar seen from, 301
Ruffo, Cardinal, becomes prom
inent, 133; defeats the French,
134; signs the capitulation of
t Castel Nuovo, 135 ; interview
with Nelson, 1 36
Russell, the, aground at Copen-

Index,

355

hagen, 180 ; flies signal of dis
tress, 183
Russian fleet, sought for by Nel
son, 201 ; sailed for Cronstadt,
202
Russia resents British proceed
ings, 169 S
Salisbury, reception of Nelson at,
166
Sally, the, gives Nelson news of
the French fleet, 253
San Josef, the, attacked by the
. Captain, 71 ; surrenders, 72
San Nicolas, the, attacked and
captured by the Captain, 71
Sans Culotte pursued by Admiral
Hotham's fleet, 57
Santa Ana, the, at Trafalgar,
277 ; receives the broadside of
the Royal Sovereign and returns
her fire, 285
Santa Cruz, attacked by Nelson,
81 ; failure of the attack on, 83
Santa Sabina, the, Nelson's ac
tion with, 64 ; capture of,
65 ; retaken, 65
Santissima Trinidad, the largest
vessel afloat, 69 ; attacked by
Nelson in the Captain, 70 ; at
Trafalgar, 277 ; captured, scut
tled, andsunk, 303; her strength
at Trafalgar (Appendix), 321 ;
compared with the Victory
(Appendix), 322
Sardinia, island of, action off the,
47
Sardinia, King of, credits a scan
dalous report, 61
Saumarez, Sir James, second in
command at battle of the Nile,
g7 ; leaves Aboukir Bay in
command, 114.; supplies the
Maltese with arms, 126 ; sum
mons the French to surrender,
126
Scott, John, Nelson's official sec
retary, killed at Trafalgar, 287

Scott, Rev. A. J., D.D., 2;
recollections of Nelson, 235 ;
extracts from diary of, 249 ;
chaplain on the Victory, 292 ;
distress during the battle of
Trafalgar, 293 ; account of
Nelson's death, 299
Seahorse, the, Nelson joins, n ;
forms one of the Teneriffe ex
pedition, 80 ; carries Nelson
home, 84 ; under command of
Captain Foote, 133 ; hauls
down her flag of truce, 135 ;
watches off Toulon, 247 ; noti
fies Nelson of the sailing of the
Freneh fleet, -247
Sheerness, the Unite1 at, 20g ;
Nelson's reception at, 210 ;
Nelson leaves, for Deal, 210
Sheridan reprobates Lord Hood's
conduct, 48
Shirley, Sir Thomas, his anger at
Nelson, 31
Shot, French heavier than nom
inal weight of corresponding
English (Appendix), 323
Siberia, British merchant seamen
transported to confines of, i6g
Sicilies, King of the two, pre
sents a sword to Nelson, 113
Sidmouth, Lord, asks Nelson to
visit him, 260
Sirius, the, at Trafalgar, 286
Smith, Collingwood's servant,
283; account of his master, 284
Smith, Sir Sidney, his opinion of
rats (note), 20 ; appointed to
the Ottoman Court, 144 ; dif
fers from Nelson , 145 ; bravery
at Acre, 146
Smith, Spencer, letter from Nel
son, 146
Smyth, Admiral W. H., story of
the voyage to Palermo, I2g
Soheslen, the, burnt at Copen
hagen, ig5
Somerviile, Captain, fails in the
attack on the French flotilla,
211

356

Index.

Sophia, the, intercepts the Span
ish frigates, 245
Southey, Robert, opinion of Gen
eral Mack, 127 ; on the flight
of their Sicilian Majesties, 128
Souverain Peuple, Le, surrenders
at battle of the Nile, 100
Spain, at war with England, 17 ;
enters into an alliance with the
French Directory, 63 ; as
sembles a large force at Ferrol,
244 ; declares war against
Great Britain, 245
Spartiate, Le, cut up at battle of
the Nile, 100 ; attacked by the
Vanguard, 106
Spencer, Earl, Nelson's letter to,
144
Spithead, Nelson sails from, 225 ;
Nelson returns to, 257 ; the
Victory with Lord Nelson's
body arrives at, 307
Staines, Nelson and party at, 208
St. Elmo, held by the French,
134
Stewart, Colonel, commands the
artillery and rifles at Copen
hagen, 170; reconnoitres the
enemy, 173; commands the
land forces at Copenhagen,
179 ; account of Nelson's per
sonal habits, 203
St. Fiorenzo, Nelson returns to,
58 ; arrival of Sir John Jervis
at, 62
St. George, the. Nelson's flag-ship,
170 ; her poor condition, 170 ;
Nelson on board of, igo ; left
at Copenhagen, ig7 ; dis
charges her guns, Igg ; at
Rostock, 203 ; last cruise
under Nelson's flag, 204
St. George's Bay, French troops
landed at, 124
St. Omer (France), Nelson at, 28
St. Philip, General, deserts to
the French, 127
St. Pierre, the Vanguard with
Nelson safe at, 91

Strachan, Captain Sir Richard,
ordered to intercept Spanish
frigates, 245
Stuart, Don Jacobo, commands
the Santa Sabina, 64 ; his gal
lant fight, 65
Stuart, Sir Charles, with Nelson
at Calvi, 53
St. Vincent, battle of, 70 ; effect
of, in England, 75
St. Vincent, Earl of, see John
Jervis
Success, the, attacks the Gdnfreux,
151
Suckling, Captain Maurice, 2.;
appointed to the Raisonnable,
3 ; permits Nelson to sail with
him, 3 ; appointed to the Tri
umph, 8 ; Comptroller of the
Navy, 13 ; at Nelson's exam
ination, 14
Suckling, William, grants Nel
son's request, 28 ; Nelson
praises Mrs. Nisbet to, 34 ;
Nelson's letter to, regarding
Bastia, 51
Suersishen, the, taken and burnt,
195
Superb, the, cruises off Toulon,
228 ; opposed to the Toulon
fleet, 229 ; accompanies the
Victory to Portsmouth, 257
Sutton, Captain, his coolness, 63 ;
letter to Lady Hamilton, 245
Swansea, Nelson dragged in tri
umph at, 221
Swiftsure, the, at battle of the
Nile, no; tows the Redoutable
after Trafalgar, 304
Sydney, Viscount, introduces
Nelson to House of Lords, 217
Sykes, John, saves Nelson's life,
79
Syracuse, the British fleet at, 93 ;
Nelson visits, 158

Table Bay, Nelson's description
of, 217

Index.

357

Tables, 318, 320-23, 325-33
Tartar, the, falls in with the
Agamemnon, 43
Temiraire, the, ordered to take
station in advance of the Vic
tory, 281
Teneriffe, expedition to, 79
Terpsichore, the, sails for Tene
riffe, 80
Tetuan Bay, Nelson at, 249
Theseus, the, Nelson aboard of
77 ; sails for Teneriffe, 80 ; in
the van at Aboukir, 99
Thesiger, Captain, goes ashore
with Nelson's letter, 188
Thomas, Mr. (of Hawarden), 44
Thompson, Commodore, rebuked
by Jervis, 26
Thurn, Count, a Neapolitan com
modore, 138
Tonnanl, at battle of the Nile,
100
Totty, Rear-Admiral Thomas,
saved at loss of the Invincible,
170
La Touche-Treville, Rear-Admi
ral, commands French flotilla,
211 ; commands French fleet
at Toulon, 228 ; reports Nel
son's flight, 238 ; death of,
240 ; French eulogy of, 240
Toulon, surrender of, 43 ; British
fleet off, 228 ; French fleet at,
reinforced, 229 ; French fleet
sails from, 247
Trafalgar, battle of, 285 ; the
greatest and most costly sea
victory, 300 ; origin of the
name of the battle, 301 ; the
immediate result of, 302 ; im
portance of the victory, 305 ;
how England received the news
of, 309 ; the victors at, voted a
money compensation for prizes
destroyed, 311 ; list of ships
engaged (Appendix), 328-331
Trafalgar Cape, gives the name
to Nelson's victory, 301
Trafalgar, the, a modern battle

ship (Appendix), 317 ; com
pared with the Victory (Appen
dix), 333
Trapani, the French fleet sighted
off, 93
Treaty, between Court of Madrid
and French Directory, 64 ;
between Naples and France,
93 ; of Amiens, 221
Trekroner battery, the, attacked
by the British, 181 ; its guns
rake the Amazon, 185 ; its fire
silenced, 188
Triumph, the, Captain Suckling
appointed to, 8 ; Nelson joins
the, 9 ; opposed to the Toulon
fleet, 229
Troubridge, hastens in the Cul
loden to Nelson's assistance,
79 ; at the attack on Santa
Cruz, 84 ; reports the where
abouts of the French fleet, 93 ;
despatched to Naples, 94 ;
distress at grounding of the
Culloden, 104 ; fits his ship for
service, 108 ; sent to blockade
Naples, 132 ; takes possession
of the Ponza Islands, 132 ;
ordered to Palermo, 133 ; pre
sented with a miniature, 142 ;
attacks Capua, 143 ; arrives off
Malta, 148 ; concern for Nel
son's health, I4g ; hatred of
Neapolitans, 149 ; ordered to
join Nelson, 150 ; commands
squadron off Malta, 154; Nel
son angry with, 215
Twiss, General, Nelson's conver
sation with, 203 U
Unite", the, Nelson's flag-ship,
209 V
Vado Bay, Nelson's fiery propos
als respecting, 63
Valetta, action off, 151 ; block-

358

Index.

aded by Nelson, 153 ; surren
ders to the British, 168
Vanguard, the Nelson appointed
to command of, 89 ; in distress,
90 ; Captain Ball on board of,
gi ; ready for sea, gi ; prepa
ration on board, 96 ; meeting
of captains on board, 97 ; Nel
son wounded on board 105 ;
in the battle of the Nile,
106 ; sails for Naples, 114 ;
reception at, 117 ; her boats at
the evacuation of Naples, 128 ;
carries the royal treasure, 129 ;
sails for Palermo, 129 ; her
crew receive a present from
the King of Naples, 141
Vaubois, General, commands the
French at Valetta, 125
" Vesuvian Republic," 132
Victory, the, cheers Nelson at
the battle of St. Vincent, 72 ;
Nelson hoists his flag on board
of, 225 ; shifts his flag from,
225 ; falls in with Channel
fleet, 228 ; Nelson shifts his
flag to, 228 ; opposed to the
Toulon fleet, 229 ; off Hyeres,
238 ; proceeds to Portsmouth,
257 ; Nelson goes aboard, 266 ;
joined by the Ajax and Thun
derer, 266 ; joins the fleet off
Cadiz, 267 ; Nelson addresses
the midshipmen on board,
278 ; the captains signalled to
come on hoard, 279 ; leads the
column, 282 ; flies the famous
signal, 282 ; floats down upon
the enemy, 286 ; the Bucen
taure fires the first shot at,
287 ; under a tremendous fire,
287 ; unable to return the fire,
288 ; coolness and courage of
her crew, 289 ; rakes the Bu
centaure, 289 ; effect of her
guns, 290 ; attacks the Redou
table, 290 ; attempt to board,
294 ; repulses the French, 295 ;
her condition, 296 ; arrives at

Gibraltar, 307 ; arrives at Spit
head, 307 ; Lord Nelson's flag
struck on board, 308 ; com
parison of her armament with
that of the Santissima Trini-
' dad (Appendix), 322; compared
with the armored ships of to
day (Appendix), 333
Vienna, Nelson at, 160
Villeneuve, Vice-Admiral, com
mands the French fleet, 244 ;
puts to sea from Toulon, 247 ;
driven back to Toulon, 249 ;
again sets sail from Toulon,
24g ; learns of Nelson's arrival
in the West Indies, 252 ; sets
sail for Europe, 252 ; reaches
Cape Finisterre, 253 ; his move
ments followed, 263 ; com
mands the centre of the com
bined fleets, 274; immeasurably
beneath his destiny, 306
W
Wagner, the, taken and burnt,
195
Wallis, purser of the Elephant,
187
Walpole, Lady, 62
Walpole, Lord, 62
Walpole, Sir Robert, 2
Walpole, Galfridus, 2
Wellesley, Sir Arthur, see Duke
of Wellington
Wellington, Duke of, meets
Nelson, 258
Welmoes, his bravery at Copen
hagen, ig7
Westphal, Lieutenant, wounded
at Trafalgar, 2g3
Whitworth, Lord, despatched to
Court of Denmark, 168 ; con
versation with Buonaparte, 222
William Henry, Prince, Duke of
Clarence, comparison of Nel
son with Collingwood, 3 ; en
ters the navy, 18 ; meets with
and describes Nelson; 25 ;

Index.

359

encourages Nelson's marriage,
35 ; commands the Andromeda,
41 ; sheds tears at Nelson's
funeral, 314
Woodward, Dr., anecdote of, 21
Worcester, the, Nelson as Fourth
Lieutenant of, 13
Y
Yarmouth, Nelson arrives at, 161
Yarmouth Roads, British fleet
sail from, 169

Zealand, the, a Danish ship, at
the battle of Copenhagen, 182 ;
story of the flag of, 193 ; burnt,
195
Zealous, the, forms one of the
Teneriffe expedition, 80 ; Cap
tain Hood, of the, signals the
French fleet, g6 ; in the van at
Aboukir, g9 ; pursues the flying
French, 105

Iberoes of tbe IRations.
EDITED BY
EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., Fellow ok Balliol College, Oxford.

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Gustavus Adolphus, and the- Struggle of Protestantism for Exist
ence. By C. R. L. Fletcher, M. A., late Fellow of All Souls College,
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Sir Philip Sidney, and the Chivalry of England. By H. R. Fox-
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Julius Caesar, and the Organization of the Roman Empire. By
W. Warde Fowler, M.A., Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.
John Wyclif, Last of the Schoolmen and First of the English Re
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Napoleon, Warrior and Ruler, and the Military Supremacy of
Revolutionary France. By W. O'Connor Morris, sometime
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Henry of Navarre, and the Huguenots in France. By P. F.Willert,
M.A., Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.
Alexander the Great, and the Extension of Greek Rule and of
Greek Ideas. By Prof. Benjamin I. Wheeler, Cornell University.
Charlemagne, the Reorganizer of Europe. By Prof. George L. Burr,
Cornell University.
Louis XIV., and the Zenith of the French Monarchy. By Arthur
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Cicero, and the Fall of the Roman Republic. By J. L. Strachan
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Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Adventurers of England. By A. L.
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Bismarck. The New German Empire : How It Arose ; What It
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Putnam.
^Hannibal, and the Struggle between Carthage and Rome. By
E. A. Freeman, D.C.L., LL.D., Regius Prof, of History in the
University of Oxford.
Alfred the Great, and the First Kingdom in England. By F. York
Powell, M.A., Senior Student of Christ Church College, Oxford.
Charles the Bold, and the Attempt to Found a Middle Kingdom.
By R. Lodge, M.A., Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford.
John Calvin, the Hero of the French Protestants. By Owen M.
Edwards, Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.
Oliver Cromwell, and the Rule of the Puritans in England. By
Charles Firth, Balliol College, Oxford.
Marlborough, and England as a Military Power. By C. W. C.
Oman, A.M., Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK LONDON
27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD ST. ,4 BEDFORD ST., STRAND

Xlbe Stor? of tbe Bations.

MESSRS. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS take pleasure in
announcing that they have in course of publication, in
co-operation with Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, of London, a
series of historical studies, intended to present in a
graphic manner the stories of the different nations that
have attained prominence in history.
In the story form the current of each national life is
distinctly indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy
periods and episodes are presented for the reader in their
philosophical relation to each other as well as to universal
history. It is the plan of the writers of the different volumes to
enter into the real life of the peoples, and to bring them
before the reader as they actually lived, labored, and
struggled — as they studied and wrote, and as they amused
themselves. In carrying out this plan, the myths, with
which the history of all lands begins, will not be over
looked, though these will be carefully distinguished from
the actual history, so far as the labors of the accepted
historical authorities have resulted in definite conclusions.
The subjects of the different volumes have been planned
to cover connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive
epochs or periods, so that the set when completed will
present in a comprehensive narrative the chief events in

the great Story of the Nations ; but it is, of course
aot always practicable to issue the several volumes in
their chronological order.
The " Stories " are printed in good readable type, and
in handsome i2mo form. They are adequately illustrated
and furnished with maps and indexes. Price, per vol.,
cloth, $1.50. Half morocco, gilt top, $1.75.
The following volumes are now ready (May, 1893):
THE STORY OF GREECE. Prof. Jas. A. Harrison.
--•" " " ROME. Arthur Gilman.
-" " " THE JEWS. Prof. James K. Hosmer.
" CHALDEA. Z. A. Ragozin.
 GERMANY. S. Baring-Gould.
— " " " NORWAY. Hjalmar H. Boyesen.
" SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and Susan Hale.
" HUNGARY. Prof A. Vambery.
'  CARTHAGE. Prof. Alfred J. Church.
" THE SARACENS. Arthur Gilman.
 THE MOORS IN SPAIN. Stanley Lane-Poole.
" THE NORMANS. Sarah Orne Jewett.
" PERSIA. S. G. W. Benjamin.
 ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. Geo. Rawlinson.
" ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof. J. P. Mahaffy.
" ASSYRIA. Z. A. Ragozin.
" THE GOTHS. Henry Bradley.
'  IRELAND. Hon. Emily Lawless.
 TURKEY. Stanley Lane-Poole.
'  MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. Z. A. Ragozin.
" MEDLEVAL FRANCE. Prof. Gustave Masson.
" " HOLLAND. Prof. J. Thorold Rogers.
" MEXICO. Susan Hale.
" PHOENICIA. Prof. Gf.o. Rawlinson.
" THE HANSA TOWNS. Helen Zimmern.
— " " " EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. Alfred J. Church.
" THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. Stanley Lane-Poole
" RUSSIA. W. R. Morfill.
-'-' " " THE JEWS UNDER ROME. W. D. Morrison.
'-' " " SCOTLAND. John Mackintosh.
J  SWITZERLAND. R. Stead and Mrs. A. Hug.
" PORTUGAL. H. Morse Stephens.
" THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. C. W. C. Oman.
" SICILY. E. A. Freeman.
" THE TUSCAN REPUBLICS. Bella Duffy.
" " " POLAND. W. R. Morfill.

Date Due

All books are subject to recall after two weeks.

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