The Story of Nelson 23

The Story of Nelson 23

Having completely

obeyed my orders, with great injury to my health, I am going to England

for the benefit of it.” He adds that he will not fail his ally, should

another French fleet menace the Turkish dominions. “I shall hold

myself ready, if I am thought fit for such a service, to come forth,

and be the instrument of God’s vengeance on such miscreant infernal

scoundrels.” He writes to Earl Spencer, enclosing Berry’s account

of the capture of the French battleship, and assures himself that

his Lordship “will not be sparing of promotion to the deserving. My

friends wished me to be present. I have no such wish; for a something

might have been given me, which now cannot. Not for all the world

would I rob any man of a sprig of laurel--much less my children of the

_Foudroyant_! I love her as a fond father, a darling child, and glory

in her deeds. I am vain enough to feel the effects of my school. Lord

Keith sending me nothing, I have not, of course, a free communication.

I have wrote to him for permission to return to England, when you

will see a broken-hearted man.... My complaint, which is principally

a swelling of the heart, is at times alarming to my friends....”

“My mind is fixed for retreat at this moment,” he informs “fighting

Berry.” “Assure all the Foudroyants of my sincere regard and affection

for them. _They may depend upon me._” “I glory in them, my darling

children, served in my school, and all of us caught our professional

zeal and fire from the great and good Earl of St Vincent”--thus he

writes to Keith. None of his hundreds of letters more fully reveals the

charming nature of the man, than those quoted above. While Nelson was

fond enough of glory for himself, he was too large-hearted to deprive

others of it.

 

We have now to return to his unhappy and miscalculated transactions

with the people whom he served not wisely but too well, to show him

again “a vehement partisan of the Court of Naples,” as Judge O’Connor

Morris expresses it. “I purpose going in the _Foudroyant_,” he tells

Keith, on the 12th May, “in a few days, to Palermo, as I am under

an old promise to her Sicilian Majesty, that whenever she returned

to the Continent, I would escort her over. Her Majesty has now made

application to me for that purpose; and, as it may be necessary to

take another Ship for the escort, I purpose taking the _Alexander_

with me.” It is clear that Nelson had no right to enter into any such

arrangement, especially as there were too few rather than too many

ships for the blockade of Malta. Before Keith’s despatch was received

forbidding Nelson to use the vessels, the Admiral had left Malta for

Palermo, which he reached on the 31st May. But he _did_ get a despatch

ordering him to take the ships then at Leghorn to Spezia, which Nelson

only partly obeyed, and stationed himself at the former port to await

the convenience of the Queen and family. There he was met on the 24th

June by his Commander-in-chief, whose feelings may be gauged by his

letter to the Hon. A. Paget, Sir William Hamilton’s successor as Envoy

Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of the Two

Sicilies. It was written at Leghorn on the 16th July, two days after

the disastrous defeat of the Austrians by Napoleon at Marengo.

 

He says: “I was so displeased by the withdrawing of the Ships from

before Malta, and with other proceedings that Her Majesty did not

take any notice of me latterally which had no effect on my attention

to Her Rank, what a Clamour to letting in the Ships to Malta will

occasion I assure you nothing has given me more real concern it was

so near exhausted.”[46] “The Paget Papers” make it quite clear that

Queen Caroline did not go out of her way to impress Keith, but rather

exhibited a fondness for snubbing him. He writes to Paget on another

occasion to the effect that “the Queen expected the Whole Squadron to

attend on Her Court which was impossible a Riot happened in the Square

the Queen desired I would go to the people, I declined having no

Authority to do so and disapproving of all tumults on every pretence

in short Her Majesty took leave of Every one in Public but me....”

An extremely important letter[47] will also be found in the same

collection of documents which sheds much light on the personalities

of the Royal folk with whom Nelson had so much to do in this phase of

his career. Paget is writing to Lord Grenville, Secretary of State for

Foreign Affairs:

 

“The King, whose real character has from circumstances shown itself

during and since the revolution more than at any former period, is

timid and bigoted and, as is often the case in the same disposition,

cruel and revengeful. He has no natural turn for, nor do his habits

allow him to attend to business. He has no guide for his Conduct but

that of private consideration, and to take the present Instance,

whatever plea he may set forth for delaying his return to Naples, I am

in my own mind convinced, and I should not utter these opinions but

upon the surest grounds, that His Sicilian Majesty labours under the

strongest apprehensions for his own personal safety.

 

“The Queen’s character generally is too well known to Your Lordship to

require any comment upon it from me. I have every reason to suppose

that not from principles but from pique, Her Sicilian Majesty has

been very violent in opposing the King’s return since my arrival. She

had been taught to believe that I was sent here to Dictate and to use

haughty language upon the Subject, at which idea I know from _undoubted

authority_ she was most violently irritated.... But I have reason to

think that She has entirely lost her Influence, though she meddles as

much as ever in business. She assists at every Council that is held....

 

“The King and Queen of Naples are, as I have already mentioned,

upon the worst terms.... His Sicilian Majesty considers the former

intrigues of the Queen as the principal cause of the misfortunes that

have befallen Him. He has made a solemn vow not to return with Her

to Naples, on which account he is anxious that she should take this

Journey to Vienna.” He adds that he has been led to suppose that Queen

Caroline’s visit to Vienna “is to endeavour to produce a change in the

disposition of that Court which is thought to be extremely unfriendly,”

and that her Majesty’s uneasiness was due to a suspicion that the

Emperor might be led to take advantage of the defenceless state of the

Sicilian dominions. In a “Private and Confidential” note to Grenville

of the same date dealing with the intrigues of Lady Hamilton who,

according to Paget, had represented him as a Jacobin and coxcomb, he

mentions Nelson’s health as “I fear sadly impaired, & I am assured

that his fortune is fallen into the same state in consequence of great

losses which both His Lordship & Lady Hamilton have sustained at Faro &

other Games of Hazard. They are expected back from Malta every day, &

are then I understand to proceed by Sea to England.”

 

The Earl of Dundonald affords us an intimate glimpse of Nelson at this

time in his “Autobiography.” He was then serving under Keith, and had

several conversations with the great sailor during the visit of the

Commander-in-chief to Palermo. “From one of his frequent injunctions,

‘Never mind manœuvres, always go at them,’ I subsequently had reason,”

he says, “to consider myself indebted for successful attacks under

apparently difficult circumstances.

 

“The impression left on my mind during these opportunities 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.”

 

Permission for Nelson’s return home, either by land or sea, was

duly granted by the Admiralty. Earl Spencer took occasion to mildly

rebuke the Admiral in a private letter, stating that in his opinion

it appears “more advisable for you to come home at once, than to be

obliged to remain inactive at Palermo, while active service was going

on in other parts of the station. I should still much prefer your

remaining to complete the reduction of Malta, which I flatter myself

cannot be very far distant.” At the time of writing, news of the

capture of the _Guillaume Tell_ had not been received. After hoping

that she might strike to Nelson’s flag, Spencer adds: “I am quite

clear, and I believe I am joined in opinion by all our friends here,

that you will be more likely to recover your health and strength in

England than in an inactive situation at a Foreign Court, however

pleasing the respect and gratitude shown to you for your services may

be, and no testimonies of respect and gratitude from that Court to you

can be, I am convinced, too great for the very essential services you

have rendered it.”

 

[Illustration: Lady Hamilton

 

Romney

 

=Photo W. A. Mansell & Co.=]

 

Nelson struck his flag on the 11th July, and proceeded to England by

way of Florence, Ancona, Trieste, and Vienna. The journey was made by

land so far as Ancona, where the Queen, Nelson, Lord and Lady Hamilton,

and Miss Knight were taken on board a Russian vessel and landed at

Trieste on the 2nd August. The last-mentioned lady, to whom we have

been introduced on a previous page, was intimately acquainted with her

more eminent companions. The journey was of a very adventurous nature,

as the following extracts from her letters to “fighting Berry,” printed

by Nicolas, will prove:--

 

“July 16th.-- ... Lord Nelson is going on an expedition he disapproves,

and against his own convictions, because he has promised the Queen, and

that others advise her. I pity the Queen. Prince Belmonte directs the

march; and Lady Hamilton, though she does not like him, seconds his

proposals, because she hates the sea, and wishes to visit the different

Courts of Germany. Sir William says _he_ shall die by the way, and he

looks so ill, that I should not be surprised if he did. I am astonished

that the Queen, who is a sensible woman,[48] should consent to

run so great a risk; but I can assure you, that neither she nor the

Princesses forget their great obligations to you....

 

“ANCONA, _24th July_, 1800.--As I find delays succeed each other, and

England still recedes from us, I will not omit, at least, informing you

of our adventures. We left Leghorn the day after I wrote to you, ...

and owing more to good fortune than to prudence, arrived in twenty-six

hours at Florence, after passing within _two miles_ of the French

advanced posts. After a short stay, we proceeded on our way to this

place. At Castel San Giovanni, the coach, in which were Lord Nelson,

and Sir William and Lady Hamilton, was overturned; Sir William and Lady

Hamilton were hurt, but not dangerously. The wheel was repaired, but

broke again at Arezzo--the Queen two days’ journey before them, and

news of the French Army advancing rapidly, it was therefore decided

that they should proceed, and Mrs Cadogan[49] and I remain with the

broken carriage, as it was of less consequence we should be left

behind, or taken, than they.... Just as we were going to set off, we

received accounts of the French being very near the road where we had

to pass, and of its being also infested with Neapolitan deserters;

but at the same moment arrived a party of Austrians, and the Officers

gave us two soldiers as a guard. We travelled night and day; the roads

are almost destroyed, and the misery of the inhabitants is beyond

description. At length, however, we arrived at Ancona, and found that

the Queen had given up the idea of going in the _Bellona_, an Austrian

Frigate, fitted up with silk hangings, carpets, and eighty beds for

her reception, and now meant to go with a Russian Squadron of three

Frigates and a Brig. I believe she judged rightly; for there had been a

mutiny on board the _Bellona_, and, for the sake of accommodation, she

had reduced her guns to twenty-four, while the French, in possession

of the Coast, arm Trabaccoli, and other light Vessels, that could

easily surround and take her. This Russian Squadron is commanded by

Count Voinovitsch, a Dalmatian, who having seen his people ill-treated,

and their colours destroyed by the Germans last year at the Siege of

Ancona, made a vow never to come ashore, and keeps it religiously,

for he has not returned the Queen’s visit.... Lord Nelson talks often

of the _Foudroyant_, whatever is done to turn off the conversation;

and last night he was talking with Captain Messer of the manœuvres he

intended to make in case he accepted of another command. In short, I perceive that his thoughts turn towards England, and I hope, and believe he will be happy there.... Lord Nelson has been received with acclamations in all the towns of the Pope’s States.