the story of Nelson 18

the story of Nelson 18

“Lady Hamilton, from this time to the 21st, every night received the

jewels of the Royal Family, &c., &c., and such clothes as might be

necessary for the very large party to embark, to the amount, I am

confident, of full two millions five hundred thousand pounds sterling.

On the 18th, General Mack wrote that he had no prospect of stopping

the progress of the French, and entreated their Majesties to think

of retiring from Naples with their august Family as expeditiously as

possible. All the Neapolitan Navy were now taken out of the Mole,

consisting of three Sail of the Line and three Frigates: the seamen

from the two Sail of the Line in the Bay left their Ships and went

on shore: a party of English seamen with Officers were sent from the

_Vanguard_ to assist in navigating them to a place of safety. From the

18th, various plans were formed for the removal of the Royal Family

from the palace to the water-side; on the 19th, I received a note

from General Acton,[38] saying, that the King approved of my plan for

their embarkation; this day, the 20th and 21st, very large assemblies

of people were in commotion, and several people were killed, and one

dragged by the legs to the palace. The mob by the 20th were very

unruly, and insisted the Royal Family should not leave Naples; however,

they were pacified by the King and Queen speaking to them.

 

“On the 21st, at half-past 8 P.M., three Barges with myself and Captain

Hope, landed at a corner of the Arsenal. I went into the palace and

brought out the whole Royal Family, put them into the Boats, and at

half-past nine they were all safely on board the _Vanguard_, when I

gave immediate notice to all British Merchants that their persons would

be received on board every and any Ship in the Squadron, their effects

of value being before embarked in the three English transports who were

partly unloaded, and I had directed that all the condemned provisions

should be thrown overboard, in order to make room for their effects.

Sir William Hamilton had also directed two Vessels to be hired for

the accommodation of the French emigrants,[39] and provisions were

supplied from our Victuallers; in short, everything had been done for

the comfort of all persons embarked.

 

“I did not forget in these important moments that it was my duty not

to leave the chance of any Ships of War falling into the hands of the

French, therefore, every preparation was made for burning them before I

sailed; but the reasons given me by their Sicilian Majesties, induced

me not to burn them till the last moment. I, therefore, directed

the Marquis de Niza to remove all the Neapolitan Ships outside the

Squadron under his command, and if it was possible, to equip some of

them with jury masts and send them to Messina; and whenever the French

advanced near Naples, or the people revolted against their legitimate

Government, immediately to destroy the Ships of War, and to join me

at Palermo, leaving one or two Ships to cruize between Capri and

Ischia in order to prevent the entrance of any English Ship into the

Bay of Naples. On the 23rd, at 7 P.M., the _Vanguard_, _Sannite_, and

_Archimedes_, with about twenty sail of Vessels left the Bay of Naples;

the next day it blew harder than I ever experienced since I have been

at sea. Your Lordship will believe that my anxiety was not lessened by

the great charge that was with me, but not a word of uneasiness escaped

the lips of any of the Royal Family. On the 25th, at 9 A.M., Prince

Albert, their Majesties’ youngest child, having eat a hearty breakfast,

was taken ill, and at 7 P.M. died in the arms of Lady Hamilton; and

here it is my duty to tell your Lordship the obligations which the

whole Royal Family as well as myself are under on this trying occasion

to her Ladyship.... Lady Hamilton provided her own beds, linen, &c.,

and became _their slave_, for except one man, no person belonging

to Royalty assisted the Royal Family, nor did her Ladyship enter a

bed the whole time they were on board. Good Sir William also made

every sacrifice for the comfort of the august Family embarked with

him. I must not omit to state the kindness of Captain Hardy and every

Officer in the _Vanguard_, all of whom readily gave their beds for the

convenience of the numerous persons attending the Royal Family.

 

“At 3 P.M., being in sight of Palermo, his Sicilian Majesty’s Royal

Standard was hoisted at the main-top gallant-mast head of the

_Vanguard_, which was kept flying there till his Majesty got into the

_Vanguard’s_ barge, when it was struck in the Ship and hoisted in the

Barge, and every proper honour paid to it from the Ship. As soon as

his Majesty set his foot on shore, it was struck from the Barge. The

_Vanguard_ anchored at 2 A.M. of the 26th; at 5, I attended her Majesty

and all the Princesses on shore; her Majesty being so much affected by

the death of Prince Albert that she could not bear to go on shore in a

public manner. At 9 A.M., his Majesty went on shore, and was received

with the loudest acclamations and apparent joy.”

 

Alas, that one has to admit that while Lady Hamilton was the “slave” of

the Sicilian Royal Family, Nelson was rapidly becoming so infatuated

that the same word might be used to describe his relationship with

“our dear invaluable Lady Hamilton”! He also seems to have had an

exaggerated sense of the importance of the princely personages who

had placed themselves under his protection. In his letters he speaks

of “The good and amiable Queen,” “the great Queen,” and so on. “I am

here,” he writes to Captain Ball, of the _Alexander_, dated Palermo,

January 21st, 1799, “nor will the King or Queen allow me to move. I

have offered to go to Naples, and have wished to go off Malta in case

the Squadron from Brest should get near you, but neither one or the

other can weigh with them.” To Earl Spencer he confides on the 6th

March, “In Calabria the people have cut down the Tree of Liberty; but I

shall never consider any part of the Kingdom of Naples safe, or even

Sicily, until I hear of the Emperor’s entering Italy, when all my Ships

shall go into the Bay of Naples, and I think we can make a Revolution

against the French--at least, my endeavours shall not be wanting. I

hope to go on the service myself, but I have my doubts if the King and

Queen will consent to my leaving them for a moment.” On the 20th of

the same month he tells St Vincent very much the same thing. “If the

Emperor moves, I hope yet to return the Royal Family to Naples. At

present, I cannot move. Would the Court but let me, I should be better,

I believe; for here I am writing from morn to eve: therefore you must

excuse this jumble of a letter.”

 

And after evening what? Rumour, not altogether devoid of fact, told

strange tales of gambling continued far into the night, of money

made and money lost, of an insidious enchantment which was beginning

to sully the fair soul of Britain’s greatest Admiral. How far the

influence of Lady Hamilton led Nelson to neglect his duty is a

debatable point. Admiral Mahan points out that on the 22nd October

1798, Nelson wrote to Lord St Vincent to the effect that he had given

up his original plan, “which was to have gone to Egypt and attend to

the destruction of the French shipping in that quarter,” owing to the

King’s desire that he should return to Naples, after having arranged

the blockade of Malta. This and similar __EXPRESSION__s, says Mahan, “show

the anxiety of his mind acting against his judgment.” The late Judge

O’Connor Morris, commenting on this phase of the Hero’s career, is

most emphatic in his condemnation. His connection with Emma Hamilton

“kept him at Naples when he ought to have been elsewhere; it led him

to disobey a superior’s orders, on one occasion when there was no

excuse; it perhaps prevented him from being present at the siege of

Malta. It exposed him, too, to just censure at home, and gave pain

and offence to his best friends; and the consciousness that he was

acting wrongly soured, in some degree, his nature, and made him morose

and at odds with faithful companions in arms.” For the defence there

are no more able advocates than Professor Sir J. Knox Laughton and Mr

James R. Thursfield, M.A. Nelson, the former asserts, “in becoming

the slave of a beautiful and voluptuous woman, did not cease to be a

great commander. There is a common idea that his passions detained

him at Naples to the neglect of his duty. This is erroneous. He made

Naples his headquarters because he was ordered to do so, to provide

for the safety of the kingdom and to take measures for the reduction

of Malta.” “The point to be observed and insisted on,” Mr Thursfield

says, “is that the whole of this pitiful tragedy belongs only to the

last seven years of Nelson’s life.” He asks, “Why should the seven

years of private lapse be allowed to overshadow the splendid devotion

of a lifetime to public duty?” This authority does not deny that

during the two years following the victory of the Nile Nelson’s genius

“suffered some eclipse,” that his passion for Lady Hamilton was then

“in its first transports, when he seemed tied to the Court of the

Two Sicilies by other bonds than those of duty, when he annulled the

capitulation at Naples and insisted on the trial and execution of

Caracciolo,[40] and when he repeatedly disobeyed the orders of Lord

Keith.” He further points out that the period is the same “during

which his mental balance was more or less disturbed by the wound he

had received at the Nile, and his _amour-propre_ was deeply and justly

mortified by the deplorable blunder of the Admiralty in appointing Lord

Keith to the chief command in succession to Lord St Vincent.” At the

time with which we are now dealing the latter disturbing element was

not present, although he was considerably worried by the appointment

of Captain Sir Sidney Smith as commander of a squadron in the Levant,

“within the district which I had thought under my command.” “The Knight

forgets the respect due to his superior Officer”: Nelson tells Lord

St Vincent, “he has no orders from you to take my Ships away from my

command; but it is all of a piece. Is it to be borne? Pray grant me

your permission to retire, and I hope the _Vanguard_ will be allowed to

convey me and my friends, Sir William and Lady Hamilton, to England.”

Mr Thursfield makes no mention of t

the story of Nelson 18

“Lady Hamilton, from this time to the 21st, every night received the

jewels of the Royal Family, &c., &c., and such clothes as might be

necessary for the very large party to embark, to the amount, I am

confident, of full two millions five hundred thousand pounds sterling.

On the 18th, General Mack wrote that he had no prospect of stopping

the progress of the French, and entreated their Majesties to think

of retiring from Naples with their august Family as expeditiously as

possible. All the Neapolitan Navy were now taken out of the Mole,

consisting of three Sail of the Line and three Frigates: the seamen

from the two Sail of the Line in the Bay left their Ships and went

on shore: a party of English seamen with Officers were sent from the

_Vanguard_ to assist in navigating them to a place of safety. From the

18th, various plans were formed for the removal of the Royal Family

from the palace to the water-side; on the 19th, I received a note

from General Acton,[38] saying, that the King approved of my plan for

their embarkation; this day, the 20th and 21st, very large assemblies

of people were in commotion, and several people were killed, and one

dragged by the legs to the palace. The mob by the 20th were very

unruly, and insisted the Royal Family should not leave Naples; however,

they were pacified by the King and Queen speaking to them.

 

“On the 21st, at half-past 8 P.M., three Barges with myself and Captain

Hope, landed at a corner of the Arsenal. I went into the palace and

brought out the whole Royal Family, put them into the Boats, and at

half-past nine they were all safely on board the _Vanguard_, when I

gave immediate notice to all British Merchants that their persons would

be received on board every and any Ship in the Squadron, their effects

of value being before embarked in the three English transports who were

partly unloaded, and I had directed that all the condemned provisions

should be thrown overboard, in order to make room for their effects.

Sir William Hamilton had also directed two Vessels to be hired for

the accommodation of the French emigrants,[39] and provisions were

supplied from our Victuallers; in short, everything had been done for

the comfort of all persons embarked.

 

“I did not forget in these important moments that it was my duty not

to leave the chance of any Ships of War falling into the hands of the

French, therefore, every preparation was made for burning them before I

sailed; but the reasons given me by their Sicilian Majesties, induced

me not to burn them till the last moment. I, therefore, directed

the Marquis de Niza to remove all the Neapolitan Ships outside the

Squadron under his command, and if it was possible, to equip some of

them with jury masts and send them to Messina; and whenever the French

advanced near Naples, or the people revolted against their legitimate

Government, immediately to destroy the Ships of War, and to join me

at Palermo, leaving one or two Ships to cruize between Capri and

Ischia in order to prevent the entrance of any English Ship into the

Bay of Naples. On the 23rd, at 7 P.M., the _Vanguard_, _Sannite_, and

_Archimedes_, with about twenty sail of Vessels left the Bay of Naples;

the next day it blew harder than I ever experienced since I have been

at sea. Your Lordship will believe that my anxiety was not lessened by

the great charge that was with me, but not a word of uneasiness escaped

the lips of any of the Royal Family. On the 25th, at 9 A.M., Prince

Albert, their Majesties’ youngest child, having eat a hearty breakfast,

was taken ill, and at 7 P.M. died in the arms of Lady Hamilton; and

here it is my duty to tell your Lordship the obligations which the

whole Royal Family as well as myself are under on this trying occasion

to her Ladyship.... Lady Hamilton provided her own beds, linen, &c.,

and became _their slave_, for except one man, no person belonging

to Royalty assisted the Royal Family, nor did her Ladyship enter a

bed the whole time they were on board. Good Sir William also made

every sacrifice for the comfort of the august Family embarked with

him. I must not omit to state the kindness of Captain Hardy and every

Officer in the _Vanguard_, all of whom readily gave their beds for the

convenience of the numerous persons attending the Royal Family.

 

“At 3 P.M., being in sight of Palermo, his Sicilian Majesty’s Royal

Standard was hoisted at the main-top gallant-mast head of the

_Vanguard_, which was kept flying there till his Majesty got into the

_Vanguard’s_ barge, when it was struck in the Ship and hoisted in the

Barge, and every proper honour paid to it from the Ship. As soon as

his Majesty set his foot on shore, it was struck from the Barge. The

_Vanguard_ anchored at 2 A.M. of the 26th; at 5, I attended her Majesty

and all the Princesses on shore; her Majesty being so much affected by

the death of Prince Albert that she could not bear to go on shore in a

public manner. At 9 A.M., his Majesty went on shore, and was received

with the loudest acclamations and apparent joy.”

 

Alas, that one has to admit that while Lady Hamilton was the “slave” of

the Sicilian Royal Family, Nelson was rapidly becoming so infatuated

that the same word might be used to describe his relationship with

“our dear invaluable Lady Hamilton”! He also seems to have had an

exaggerated sense of the importance of the princely personages who

had placed themselves under his protection. In his letters he speaks

of “The good and amiable Queen,” “the great Queen,” and so on. “I am

here,” he writes to Captain Ball, of the _Alexander_, dated Palermo,

January 21st, 1799, “nor will the King or Queen allow me to move. I

have offered to go to Naples, and have wished to go off Malta in case

the Squadron from Brest should get near you, but neither one or the

other can weigh with them.” To Earl Spencer he confides on the 6th

March, “In Calabria the people have cut down the Tree of Liberty; but I

shall never consider any part of the Kingdom of Naples safe, or even

Sicily, until I hear of the Emperor’s entering Italy, when all my Ships

shall go into the Bay of Naples, and I think we can make a Revolution

against the French--at least, my endeavours shall not be wanting. I

hope to go on the service myself, but I have my doubts if the King and

Queen will consent to my leaving them for a moment.” On the 20th of

the same month he tells St Vincent very much the same thing. “If the

Emperor moves, I hope yet to return the Royal Family to Naples. At

present, I cannot move. Would the Court but let me, I should be better,

I believe; for here I am writing from morn to eve: therefore you must

excuse this jumble of a letter.”

 

And after evening what? Rumour, not altogether devoid of fact, told

strange tales of gambling continued far into the night, of money

made and money lost, of an insidious enchantment which was beginning

to sully the fair soul of Britain’s greatest Admiral. How far the

influence of Lady Hamilton led Nelson to neglect his duty is a

debatable point. Admiral Mahan points out that on the 22nd October

1798, Nelson wrote to Lord St Vincent to the effect that he had given

up his original plan, “which was to have gone to Egypt and attend to

the destruction of the French shipping in that quarter,” owing to the

King’s desire that he should return to Naples, after having arranged

the blockade of Malta. This and similar __EXPRESSION__s, says Mahan, “show

the anxiety of his mind acting against his judgment.” The late Judge

O’Connor Morris, commenting on this phase of the Hero’s career, is

most emphatic in his condemnation. His connection with Emma Hamilton

“kept him at Naples when he ought to have been elsewhere; it led him

to disobey a superior’s orders, on one occasion when there was no

excuse; it perhaps prevented him from being present at the siege of

Malta. It exposed him, too, to just censure at home, and gave pain

and offence to his best friends; and the consciousness that he was

acting wrongly soured, in some degree, his nature, and made him morose

and at odds with faithful companions in arms.” For the defence there

are no more able advocates than Professor Sir J. Knox Laughton and Mr

James R. Thursfield, M.A. Nelson, the former asserts, “in becoming

the slave of a beautiful and voluptuous woman, did not cease to be a

great commander. There is a common idea that his passions detained

him at Naples to the neglect of his duty. This is erroneous. He made

Naples his headquarters because he was ordered to do so, to provide

for the safety of the kingdom and to take measures for the reduction

of Malta.” “The point to be observed and insisted on,” Mr Thursfield

says, “is that the whole of this pitiful tragedy belongs only to the

last seven years of Nelson’s life.” He asks, “Why should the seven

years of private lapse be allowed to overshadow the splendid devotion

of a lifetime to public duty?” This authority does not deny that

during the two years following the victory of the Nile Nelson’s genius

“suffered some eclipse,” that his passion for Lady Hamilton was then

“in its first transports, when he seemed tied to the Court of the

Two Sicilies by other bonds than those of duty, when he annulled the

capitulation at Naples and insisted on the trial and execution of

Caracciolo,[40] and when he repeatedly disobeyed the orders of Lord

Keith.” He further points out that the period is the same “during

which his mental balance was more or less disturbed by the wound he

had received at the Nile, and his _amour-propre_ was deeply and justly

mortified by the deplorable blunder of the Admiralty in appointing Lord

Keith to the chief command in succession to Lord St Vincent.” At the

time with which we are now dealing the latter disturbing element was

not present, although he was considerably worried by the appointment

of Captain Sir Sidney Smith as commander of a squadron in the Levant,

“within the district which I had thought under my command.” “The Knight

forgets the respect due to his superior Officer”: Nelson tells Lord

St Vincent, “he has no orders from you to take my Ships away from my

command; but it is all of a piece. Is it to be borne? Pray grant me

your permission to retire, and I hope the _Vanguard_ will be allowed to

convey me and my friends, Sir William and Lady Hamilton, to England.”

Mr Thursfield makes no mention of this vexation, perhaps because the

matter distressed the Admiral less than Lord Keith’s appointment. On

the other hand, Nelson’s correspondence contains frequent reference to

the gratuitous snub, which shows how deeply the iron had entered into

his soul. “_I do feel, for I am a man_, that it is impossible for me to

serve in these seas, with the Squadron under a junior Officer:--could

I have thought it!--and from Earl Spencer!” is a typical instance. In

the opinion of the same biographer, “the influence of Lady Hamilton,

which ceased only with Nelson’s life, cannot have been the sole cause,

even if it was a contributory cause, of an attitude and temper of mind

which lasted only while other causes were in operation and disappeared

with their cessation. The evil spirit which beset him, whatever it may

have been, had been exorcised for ever by the time that he entered the

Sound.[41]... Yet the influence of Lady Hamilton was not less potent

then and afterward than it was during the period of eclipse. There

are no letters in the Morrison Collection more passionate than those

which Nelson wrote to Lady Hamilton at this time, none which show more

clearly that, as regards Lady Hamilton, and yet only in that relation,

his mental balance was still more than infirm, his moral fibre utterly

disorganized.”

 

With this verdict the present writer is in complete accord. Nelson

is to be censured for his moral breach and any neglect of duty which

may be traceable to it, but to condemn him to infamy is to forget his

subsequent career and to consign to the flames many other great figureshis vexation, perhaps because the

matter distressed the Admiral less than Lord Keith’s appointment. On

the other hand, Nelson’s correspondence contains frequent reference to

the gratuitous snub, which shows how deeply the iron had entered into

his soul. “_I do feel, for I am a man_, that it is impossible for me to

serve in these seas, with the Squadron under a junior Officer:--could

I have thought it!--and from Earl Spencer!” is a typical instance. In

the opinion of the same biographer, “the influence of Lady Hamilton,

which ceased only with Nelson’s life, cannot have been the sole cause,

even if it was a contributory cause, of an attitude and temper of mind

which lasted only while other causes were in operation and disappeared

with their cessation. The evil spirit which beset him, whatever it may

have been, had been exorcised for ever by the time that he entered the

Sound.[41]... Yet the influence of Lady Hamilton was not less potent

then and afterward than it was during the period of eclipse. There

are no letters in the Morrison Collection more passionate than those

which Nelson wrote to Lady Hamilton at this time, none which show more

clearly that, as regards Lady Hamilton, and yet only in that relation,

his mental balance was still more than infirm, his moral fibre utterly

disorganized.”

 

With this verdict the present writer is in complete accord. Nelson

is to be censured for his moral breach and any neglect of duty which

may be traceable to it, but to condemn him to infamy is to forget his

subsequent career and to consign to the flames many other great figures