The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson Volume II Part 24

writes the hero, "that the enemy's fleet are near us, and in the same situation." By a Spanish log and chart, taken out of a small bark from La Guira to Cadiz, his lords.h.i.+p found that the combined fleets went in sight of Cape Blanco, and pa.s.sed over to the Salvages.

On the 9th, light breezes springing up, the fleet run eighty-eight miles; in the succeeding twenty-four hours, a hundred; and, the day after, a hundred and nineteen. The wind, however, now coming foul, his lords.h.i.+p expressed himself dreadfully apprehensive that the enemy would have too greatly the start of him. The Amazon, on the 13th, was detached to Gibraltar; and, the fleet having got into the Portuguese trade-winds, they run, next day, a hundred and forty-six miles.

On Wednesday, the 17th of July, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, they saw Cape St. Vincent, distant about nine leagues. By a friendly vessel from Rochfort, his lords.h.i.+p learned that the French squadron, of five sail of the line and four frigates, which had sailed from thence the 18th of January, returned from the West Indies on the 21st of May: having left Martinico about the middle of April; after taking several s.h.i.+ps, and levying contributions at Dominica, St. Kitt's, Nevis, and Montserrat. The last twenty-four hours, the fleet went a hundred and twenty miles; making the whole run, from Barbuda, three thousand four hundred and fifty-nine miles. The run from Cape St. Vincent to Barbadoes, was three thousand two hundred and twenty-seven; making the run back only two hundred and thirty-two miles more than the run out: allowance to be made, however, for the difference of lat.i.tude and longitude between Barbadoes and Bermuda. The average of way daily made, on this almost unparalleled pursuit, was thirty-four leagues; wanting nine miles, only, in the whole.

At noon, the 18th, steering for the Straits Mouth, Admiral Collingwood pa.s.sed to the northward, with three sail of the line and two or three frigates. Cape Spartel was then in sight; but no French fleet, or any information about them. "How sorrowful this makes me!" writes his lords.h.i.+p; "but, I cannot help myself." Next morning, at day-light, the fleet bore up for Gibraltar Bay; where, at eight o'clock, they securely anch.o.r.ed, but could gain no information of the enemy.

On Sat.u.r.day, July the 20th, 1805, while the fleet were employed in compleating provisions and stores--"I went on sh.o.r.e," writes his lords.h.i.+p, "for the first time, since June 16, 1803; and, from having my foot out of the Victory, two years wanting ten days."

Having sent dispatches to England, and finished getting ready for sea, next day, Lord Nelson, on the following morning, ordered the Amphion to Sir Richard Bickerton, off Carthagena, and proceeded with the fleet to Tetuan; or, rather, to Mazin Bay, about eight miles to the south-east of Tetuan customhouse, where the river is very fine, and the situation peculiarly convenient for watering. Many of the s.h.i.+ps got two hundred tons on board in a single day. Several bullocks were here purchased, and a considerable quant.i.ty of onions. At noon, on the 24th, having gained no intelligence, the fleet again weighed, and stood for Ceuta; but variable winds, and a thick fog, kept them all night in Gibraltar Gut.

About four o'clock, next morning, the Termagant joined, with an account of the combined fleet's having been seen, the 19th of June, by the Curieux brig, standing to the northward. At eight, the Spaniards fired a few shot, from Tariffa, at the Victory; which, however, took no effect.

At noon, they saw Admiral Collingwood's squadron; and Lord Nelson sent letters to the admiral, with arrangements for preventing the combined fleet from entering Cadiz, while his lords.h.i.+p proceeded to seek them nearer home. On the 26th, the Spartiate got on board the Victory; but, fortunately, neither s.h.i.+p suffered any material damage. Having traversed the Bay of Biscay, without discovering any thing of the enemy, his lords.h.i.+p, on the 28th, at day-light, came abreast of Cape St. Vincent; from whence, with faint hopes of finding them, he pursued his northerly course toward the north-west of Ireland, By foul winds, and very unfavourable weather, this proved a most tediously vexatious voyage.

Unable, after all, to fetch Ireland, on account of the northerly winds, his lords.h.i.+p, in the afternoon of August 12, was informed by the Niobe, Captain Scott, three weeks from the channel fleet, that there had not, at that time, been the smallest intelligence of the enemy's arrival in any of the ports. He also learned, that they had not been heard of on the Irish coast. Having exhausted every rational conjecture with regard to their situation, he resolved on reinforcing Admiral Cornwallis with his squadron; lest the combined fleet of France and Spain should, by approaching Brest, either facilitate the escape of the squadron so long confined by this commander's blockade of that port, or place him aukwardly between two fires.

Accordingly, on the 15th, at six in the morning, Lord Nelson got within eighteen leagues of Ushant; and, at half past eleven, saw a fleet. At two in the afternoon, they exchanged private signals with the channel fleet; and, in the evening, his lords.h.i.+p, having detached the rest of his fleet, received orders from Admiral Cornwallis, as commander in chief, to proceed with the Victory and Superb to Portsmouth. His lords.h.i.+p now first gained information of Sir Robert Calder's having defeated the combined fleet from the West Indies, on the 22d of July, sixty leagues west of Cape Finisterre; which, at length, relieved him from the anxiety of suspence, though the action had been too indecisive compleatly to satisfy his lords.h.i.+p's mind. He regretted, exceedingly, that it had not been his own good fortune to encounter them; and felt less comforted, than he ought to have done, by the consideration, that this squadron, under Sir Robert Calder, had been sent out to intercept their return, in consequence of his, lords.h.i.+p's suggestions, judiciously transmitted to the Admiralty for that purpose, the moment he was satisfied that the combined French and Spanish fleet were on their return from the West Indies.

On the 17th, at day-light, his lords.h.i.+p was abreast of Portland; at noon, saw the Isle of Wight; and, at eleven at night, anch.o.r.ed off the Princesses Shoal. Having weighed next morning at day-light, they worked up to Spithead; and, at nine o'clock, anch.o.r.ed: just two years and three months from his lords.h.i.+p's arrival at Portsmouth. A contagious fever having recently made dreadful havoc at Gibraltar, where the s.h.i.+ps touched, his lords.h.i.+p became subject to the quarantine regulations.

However, after communicating, by signal, with the port-admiral, he addressed the following satisfactory declaration to the collector of the customs--

"Victory, Spithead, August 18, 1805.

"The Victory, with the fleet under my command, left Gibraltar twenty-seven days ago: at which time, there was not a fever in the garrison; nor, as Dr. Fellows told me, any apprehension of one. The fleet lately under my command, I left with Admiral Cornwallis on the 15th of August; at which time, they were in the most perfect health. Neither the Victory, nor the Superb, have on board even an object for the hospital; to the truth of which, I pledge my word of honour.

"Nelson and Bronte."

"To the Collector of the Customs, or those whom it may concern."

In consequence of these positive a.s.surances, Lord Nelson was, at length, permitted to land; and, during the approach of his barge, a vast concourse of people, who had been a.s.sembling on the rampart from the moment his flag was first discovered, hailed the hero's approach with their loudest acclamations.

Intelligence of Lord Nelson's arrival in England had no sooner been received by Lady Hamilton and his nearest relatives, who were then pa.s.sing a few weeks together at South End, than they hastened to Merton Place, where his lords.h.i.+p appointed to meet them. The delay in landing, made it late that afternoon before he could proceed thither: but, by travelling all night, he got to Merton at six o'clock in the morning of the 19th; where his friends had already a.s.sembled, in anxious expectation of beholding the beloved hero whose presence gladdened every virtuous heart.

His lords.h.i.+p, on undertaking this command, had quitted England so very expeditiously, that he could not be present at the Grand Installation of the Knights of the Bath, which took place in Westminster Abbey, on the 19th of May 1803, the day after his arrival at Portsmouth; and, consequently, was obliged to be installed by proxy. On this occasion, Lord Nelson had been represented by Captain Sir William Bolton, son of the Reverend William Bolton, brother of Thomas Bolton, Esq. the husband of his lords.h.i.+p's eldest sister; to whose amiable daughter, now Lady Bolton, Sir William had the preceding evening been married, by special licence, at Lady Hamilton's house in Piccadilly.

The happy party now a.s.sembled at Merton Place, where the hero ever delighted to see his family around him, consisted of the present Earl and Countess Nelson, with Lord Merton and Lady Charlotte Nelson, their son and daughter; Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, with Thomas Bolton, Junior, Esq.

and Miss Ann and Miss Eliza Bolton, their son and daughters; and Mr. and Mrs. Matcham, with their son George Matcham, Junior, Esq.

On the 20th, in the morning, Lord Nelson came to London; where he had the happiness to obtain that general approbation of his conduct, from persons of all ranks, which those who have not been eminently successful can rarely hope to experience. Indeed, the country seemed generally to partic.i.p.ate in his lords.h.i.+p's disappointments, with a sympathy as honourable to the national character as to the hero so worthily applauded. It was felt, that he had exerted himself to the utmost; and that, notwithstanding he had been unable to meet with the enemy, his pursuit had relieved every anxiety from the consequences of their depredations, by forcing to fly before him a combined fleet of force nearly doubling his own. All apprehensions for our colonial settlements were quieted; and, though the small advantage gained by Sir Robert Calder had not much diminished their naval strength, or greatly augmented our own, this was no fault of his lords.h.i.+p, whose superior worth ever became more abundantly manifest on the intrusion of such comparisons. What his lords.h.i.+p would have done, with the same force, similarly situated, according to the general opinion, every where freely expresed, made the nation at large, as well as our hero himself, sincerely regret that he had not been fortunate enough to encounter them. In justice to Sir Robert Calder, however, it must be admitted, there are few naval actions so brilliant, that they might not have been rendered still more so by the presence of such a commander as Lord Nelson.

Immediately after his lords.h.i.+p's arrival in town, a meeting of the West India merchants was convened at the London Tavern; who, having met on the 23d, Sir Richard Neave, Bart, in the chair, unanimously and expressly agreed--"That the prompt determination of Lord Nelson to quit the Mediterranean, in search of the French fleet; his sagacity in judging of, and ascertaining, their course; and his bold and unwearied pursuit of the combined French and Spanish squadrons to the West Indies, and back again to Europe; have been very instrumental to the safety of the West India islands in general, and well deserve the grateful acknowledgments of every individual connected with those colonies: and, that a deputation from the Committee of Merchants of London trading to the West Indies, be appointed to wait upon Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, to express these their sentiments, and to offer him their unfeigned thanks."

The deputation, accordingly, having waited on Lord Nelson, at Gordon's Hotel, Albemarle Street, where his lords.h.i.+p had taken up his temporary town-residence, with a copy of the above resolutions, he immediately returned the following answer.

"London, August 28, 1805.

"SIR

"I beg leave to express, to you and the Committee of West India Merchants, the great satisfaction which I feel in their approbation of my conduct. It was, I conceived, perfectly clear, that the combined squadrons were gone to the West Indies, and therefore it became my duty to follow them. But, I a.s.sure you, from the state of defence in which our large islands are placed, with the number of regular troops, and numerous well-disciplined and zealous militia, I was confident, not any troops which their combined squadron could carry, would make an impression upon any of our large islands, before a very superior force would arrive, for their relief.

"I have the honour to remain, Sir, and Gentlemen, your most obliged and obedient servant,

"Nelson and Bronte.

"Sir Richard Neave, Bart. and the Committee of West India Merchants."

Lord Nelson had, at this period, no intention of again going speedily to sea. All his stores had been brought up from the Victory; and he was, he said, resolved to enjoy a little leisure, with his family and friends, in the delightful shades of Merton. The Honourable Captain Blackwood, a few days afterward, brought intelligence that the combined fleets, reinforced by two more Spanish squadrons, and now amounting to thirty-four sail of the line, had left Ferrol, and got safely into Cadiz. All this, however, was nothing to him; "Let the man trudge it, who has lost his budget!" gaily repeated his lords.h.i.+p. But, amid all this _allegro_ of the tongue, to his friends at Merton Place, Lady Hamilton observed that his countenance, from that moment, wore occasional marks of the _penseroso_ in his bosom. In this state of mind, he was pacing one of the walks of Merton garden, which he always called the quarter-deck, when Lady Hamilton told him, that she perceived he was low and uneasy. He smiled, and said--"No! I am as happy as possible."

Adding, that he saw himself 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. Her ladys.h.i.+p 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 but himself did the business; that he must have them, as the price and reward of his long watching, and two years uncomfortable situation in the Mediterranean: and 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 c.u.m dignitate_, and be happy." He looked at her ladys.h.i.+p for some moments; and, 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." He went, accordingly, next morning, accompanied by her ladys.h.i.+p and his sisters. They left him at the Admiralty, on the way to Lady Hamilton's house in Clarges Street; and, soon after, received a note, informing them that the Victory was telegraphed not to go into port, and begging they would prepare every thing for his departure. This is the true history of that affecting affair. Her ladys.h.i.+p feels, most severely, that she was the cause of his going; but, as she loved his glory, she could not resist giving him such advice. It is, however, the general opinion of those who best knew his lords.h.i.+p, that he would, in all probability, have fretted himself to death had he not undertaken this expedition. His lords.h.i.+p's services were "not only accepted at the Admiralty, but he was vested with powers less limited than had, perhaps, ever before been confided to any naval commander. He was to send home Sir Robert Calder, who had joined Admiral Collingwood in blocking up the enemy off Cadiz harbour with twenty-six sail of the line, and to take on himself the chief command of all his majesty's s.h.i.+ps and vessels throughout the whole extent of the Mediterranean Sea; having full liberty to use his own discretion in following the enemy wherever he should think proper, without the slightest degree of censure or controul.

During the few days which he continued in England after being appointed to this important command, he so devoted the little leisure which his professional preparations allowed, to his beloved family and friends, that he refused all public visits, and dined only twice from Merton Place: once, with his Grace the Duke of Queensberry, who is a near relation of the late Sir William Hamilton; and once with his esteemed friend Abraham Goldsmid, Esq. and family, at Morden. On both these occasions, too, he was accompanied by Lady Hamilton and some of his own relations. The Duke of Clarence, previously to Lord Nelson's departure, took a dinner with him at Merton; when his lords.h.i.+p, pointing to his nephews, nieces, &c. who were seated at a separate table, observed: to his royal highness, that the sight of these young persons a.s.sociated under his roof const.i.tuted the chief bliss of his life.

Among this amiable and interesting group, was Miss Horatia Nelson Thompson, Lord Nelson's adopted daughter, then an infant about five years of age. What real affinity, if any, that charming child may bear to his lords.h.i.+p, is a secret at present known by few; and, as it should seem, by none who feel at liberty to divulge it. She was, certainly, an object of his constant and most tender regard; and, though the family in general appear disinclined to believe her his daughter, it seems highly probable that she is so. Should this prove to be the fact, it cannot greatly affect his lords.h.i.+p's reputation; who, it is not to be dissembled, though by no means ever an unprincipled seducer of the wives and daughters of his friends, was always well known to entertain rather more partiality for the fair-s.e.x than is quite consistent with the highest degree of Christian purity. Such improper indulgences, with some slight addiction to that other vicious habit of British seamen, the occasional use of a few thoughtlessly profane expletives in speech, form the only dark specks ever yet discovered in the bright blaze of his moral character. Truth must not be denied, nor vice advocated; but, surely, the candid admission of these disagreeable verities, can never induce a single virtuous mind unjustly to criminate the hero in any higher degree. Could the biographer believe, that Lord Nelson had ever indulged even an idea of dishonouring the wife of his bosom friend, which no one worthy and intelligent person intimately acquainted with all the parties ever yet did believe, he would that moment indignantly throw up his brief. With respect to the mysterious child, whose unfortunate mother may, most probably, now be no more, it is only certain that Lady Hamilton was induced to receive her, at a very tender age, as his lords.h.i.+p's adopted daughter. They had been G.o.dfather, and G.o.dmother, in the baptismal ceremony; and her ladys.h.i.+p, at Lord Nelsons request, kindly undertook the care of Miss Horatia's education: as she had already done, for some years, that of the present highly accomplished Lady Charlotte Nelson; and, since, of the amiable Miss Ann Bolton. Those who have had the pleasure of beholding with what incomparable skill, indefatigable zeal, and ardent affection, Lady Hamilton discharges the difficult and important duty of cultivating such comprehensive minds to the full extent of their faculties, will agree that Lord Nelson could not possibly have confided the guardians.h.i.+p of his adopted daughter to any person so well qualified, in all respects, for the due performance of such a task. When his lords.h.i.+p, on the 10th of May 1803, immediately after compleating his purchase of Mr. Axe's estate at Merton, executed his last will and testament, it does not appear that he made any sort of provision for this infant; nor is she mentioned in the first codicil thereto annexed, the 13th of the same month: yet, on this last day, it seems somewhat remarkable, the child was baptized in the parish of St. Marylebone, though then more than two years of age; and, a very few days after, his lords.h.i.+p first sailed to take the Mediterranean command. On the 6th day of the September following, however, Lord Nelson added a second and secret codicil to his will, in which he gives and bequeaths to his adopted daughter, Miss Horatia, the sum of four thousand pounds; appointing Lady Hamilton her sole guardian, until she shall have arrived at the age of eighteen years: the interest of the said four thousand pounds to be paid to Lady Hamilton for her education and maintenance. "This request of guardians.h.i.+p," his lords.h.i.+p expressly says, "I earnestly make of Lady Hamilton; knowing that she will educate my adopted child in the paths of religion and virtue, and give her those accomplishments which so touch adorn herself: and, I hope, make her a fit wife for my dear nephew, Horatio Nelson; who I wish to marry her, if he proves worthy, in Lady Hamilton's estimation, of such a treasure as I am sure she will be."

In another codicil, dated on board the Victory, at sea, the 19th of February 1804, his lords.h.i.+p gives and bequeaths to Lady Hamilton five hundred pounds a year, charged on the Bronte estate; and, the 7th of April following, leaves an annuity of one hundred pounds, payable quarterly, to poor blind Mrs. Nelson, the relict of his late brother Maurice: without noticing, in either of these codicils, his adopted daughter, Miss Horatia. On the 19th of December, however, in the same year, by a fifth codicil, executed on board the Victory, in the Gulph of Palma, Sardinia, his lords.h.i.+p confirms anew his legacy to Lady Hamilton, and to his adopted daughter: and farther gives to her ladys.h.i.+p two thousand pounds; to his secretary, John Scott, Esq. one hundred pounds, to buy a ring, or some token of his remembrance; and two hundred pounds to his friend, the Reverend Alexander Scott, then commonly called Dr.

Scott, by way of distinction from John Scott, Esq. his lords.h.i.+p's secretary, and who has since taken his doctor's degree in the university of Cambridge. This distinguished legacy, and the still more distinguished words in which it is bequeathed--not my foreign secretary, chaplain, &c. but "my friend, the Reverend Alexander Scott,"--must ever bear ample testimony of a regard, even at that period, which does Dr.

Scott so much substantial honour. The foundation of this amity, like all Lord Nelson's strongest attachments, was not merely private friends.h.i.+p, and personal regard, but esteem and affection arising from the ability and zeal of the party to a.s.sist the grand object ever uppermost in his mind, that of accomplis.h.i.+ng, in every possible way, by artifice opposed to artifice, as well as arms to arms, the happiness and glory of his king and country. Dr. Scott's secret services, though very properly concealed from the public, are well known to, and liberally acknowledged by, several of the ablest and bravest commanders in the navy; and it was thus, still more than by his unaffected and agreeable manners in private life, that he endeared himself to our incomparable hero, who constantly possessed the most exalted degree of genuine patriotism combined with the truest and most unbounded loyalty. This sentiment must not be overlooked in the contemplation of Lord Nelson's character. There cannot, perhaps, be a single proof adduced of the hero's violently strong attachment to any individual whatever, though he was a friend to the whole human race, and to every description of worth, if he did not, at the period of expressing his admiration and esteem, sincerely believe the person a valuable coadjutor in some way a.s.sisting the prosperity of his king and country. To this n.o.ble and virtuous source may be traced the origin of all the friends.h.i.+ps which he greatly cherished out of his family; and even his family would have possessed less of his love, had any of them ever been found deficient in loyalty. This was the great bond of affectionate union which bound together so many brave hearts, and rendered the whole fleet one uniformly compact and invincible body.

There was scarcely, perhaps, any single individual, among either officers or men, of a truly valorous and loyal spirit, who would not freely have yielded his own life, if necessary, to save that of the adored commander.

Few were the hours which this exalted man was permitted to enjoy the society of his beloved family and friends in his retreat at Merton. The improvement of his house and grounds, though the latter had been rendered delightful since the enlargement, were by no means even yet compleated; and his lords.h.i.+p, who was ever generous to the full extent of his ability, found it necessary, before he quitted England, to dispose of many jewels, and other valuable presents, which were purchased by Messrs. Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell, on Ludgate Hill, for the purpose of paying debts, and providing the various requisites of his present equipment. Even this was a state to which such a man should not have been subjected. His income had been rendered considerable, it is true: but the grandeur of his character had rendered him too great for his income; it ought, therefore, to have been sufficiently enlarged. The nation will never be ruined by rewarding such men! Numerous public services, it is well known, were in a great degree a.s.sisted by the influence of his own private purse; which was never closed against any claims of conceived duty, either professional or moral. Ever bountiful to indigent merit, his private benevolences were by no means small; and he was liberal and hospitable, both at sea and on sh.o.r.e, to a very unusual excess. After all, he had not been able conveniently to repay Mr. Matcham, his worthy and esteemed brother-in-law, four thousand pounds borrowed towards the purchase of Merton Place. Who, then, shall say, on a just consideration of these indisputable facts, that this great man was amply rewarded by his country? The truth is, that he could scarcely effect any thing which he wished, for the due support of that dignity and rank which he had himself acquired; or obtain, for his meritorious family and friends, the proportionate advancements which he was solicitous to see them possess. Mr. Matcham, it is true, was a man of fortune; but he had a very large family, with abilities which would not have discredited rank. Mr. Bolton, his other sister's husband, though a gentleman of great abilities also, and with a considerable family, had a very inadequate fortune; and his lords.h.i.+p was particularly desirous to have beheld him, at least, a Commissioner of the Excise or Customs. This, in fact, was what had been repeatedly promised; but his lords.h.i.+p experienced not the happiness of seeing it performed. The present Earl Nelson, indeed, his lords.h.i.+p's only surviving brother, had been presented to a prebendal stall at Canterbury; but, with this not over splendid exception, nothing had been given by government to his lords.h.i.+p's relatives, and very little to any of his chief friends. The claim of Lady Hamilton's pension, too, which he had so earnestly solicited, though it had been candidly acknowledged, remained still unnoticed: and, during the few days he continued in England, it does not appear to have been revived; probably, on account of the changes in administration which had taken place while his lords.h.i.+p was abroad, as well as the necessity of now confining himself to the requisite arrangements for undertaking his newly extended command.

As the day approached when Lord Nelson must take his departure from Merton Place, Lady Hamilton began severely to suffer for having advised the tender of his services. Her mind, no doubt, antic.i.p.ated all the terrible consequences to be dreaded from his excess of valour, and his heroic disdain of death; nor is it at all improbable, that she now most sincerely regretted her enthusiastic zeal for the hero's glory. The consideration of that other impelling principle, the fearful apprehension of seeing him fall a prey to disappointment, should the desired victory be atchieved by any other hand, brought no solace to her bosom, for it scarcely entered her mind. Even the spirit and magnanimity of his lords.h.i.+p, were unable entirely to preserve his feeling breast from painful intrusions. Though commonly gay, he was sometimes thoughtful. He could not be insensible, that his post was that of danger; and, though he scorned all personal apprehension, he well knew what must ever be expected by a commander resolved never to yield.

Before Lord Nelson quitted London, he called at Mr. Peddieson's, his upholsterer, in Brewer Street, where the coffin presented him by Captain Hallowell had been sent; and, with his usual gaiety and good-humour, desired him to get the attestation of it's ident.i.ty engraved on the lid--"For," added his lords.h.i.+p, "I think it highly probable, that I may want it on my return."

That he wished to live, however, is as certain, as that he feared not to die. Of a social, tender, and affectionate heart, amid all the corporeal agonies he had suffered, and was doomed during life to suffer, in consequence of his various wounds, added to the still severer and more numerous inflictions on his mental tranquillity, he preserved a chearfulness of disposition which commonly diffused joy and gladness to all around him. If he saw, or suspected, any difficulty or distress, his mind was that moment occupied in endeavouring to afford some adequate remedy. "What will be of service! How shall I obtain it!" he would frequently exclaim to his friends, when he beheld any one unprovided for, of whom he had a good opinion, however slight the acquaintance: and these exclamations were generally followed up by naming some situation suitable for the party, and immediately using all his interest to obtain it. Innumerable are the persons whom he thus comfortably fixed, with their families, for life. Where he could not succeed, he felt more than the party disappointed; and, on such occasions only, lamented his limited powers. Never did man live less for himself. To his king and his country, his family and his friends, his life was entirely devoted; the promotion of their felicity and glory, was the chief source of his own.

For himself, he had wealth more than sufficient; but he was too poor, satisfactorily to a.s.sist those who were most dear to him. Had his remunerations, and his honours, been as largely proportioned to those of the Great Duke of Marlborough, as his merits, and his services, he would not only have aggrandized his own family and friends, but proved a most munificent patron of genius, and a bountiful dispenser of relief to every species of human misery. Posterity will say, and it cannot be denied, that our first naval hero was rewarded with too parsimonious a hand. Should we ever see his equal, in all respects--which seems no more likely than that we shall behold another Shakspeare--it will probably be thought, that he is not unworthy of a dukedom. The King of Naples, as the ally of his British majesty, restored to his throne by Lord Nelson, deemed our hero ent.i.tled to the honour of a ducal coronet, with the princely revenue of a dutchy; and it can never be enough lamented, that any official etiquette, in his own country, should have prevented the gracious sovereign who so sincerely loved him, and who was so sincerely beloved by the hero, from bestowing on him, at least, an equal degree of dignity, with the correspondent domains and emoluments for it's due support. How many naval commanders have enriched themselves, by fortunate captures of unopposing treasure-s.h.i.+ps, or on long preserved snug stations, without the smallest personal hazard, to a degree far beyond what his lords.h.i.+p ever acquired, who was continually engaged in scenes of the utmost fatigue and peril! All the prize-money he got, was by hard fighting; and it was, in general, only derived from the capture of those s.h.i.+ps which his tremendous valour had frequently rendered wrecks of little value. Even then, but a small portion fell to his share; as he had, both at the Nile and Copenhagen, two of the greatest victories ever gained, a commander in chief who was regularly ent.i.tled to prodigiously more than himself. It is by no means pretended, that the captors of rich prizes, the possessors of advantageous stations, and commanders in chief, are not all of them justly and most honourably ent.i.tled to the vast wealth they have often the good fortune to acquire; it is only lamented, that our hero was, in these respects, constantly so peculiarly unfortunate. After the Earl of St. Vincent left the Mediterranean command, Lord Nelson was soon superceded by the arrival of Lord Keith; and, when Sir Hyde Parker returned home, after the battle of Copenhagen, his lords.h.i.+p almost immediately followed. On neither of these occasions, nor in the subsequent affair of Boulogne, so soon succeeded by peace, could he derive much advantage as a commander in chief: and, though he had now held the Mediterranean command more than two years, the terror of his name, by confining the enemy to their ports, prevented it's being very profitable; while the peculiar nature of his situation, with regard to the difficulties of obtaining intelligence, as well as requisite supplies and refreshments, occasioned private expences which considerably abridged his emoluments. It is true that, as far as related to himself, he might have contrived to live in retirement on his pension and half-pay; but he could by no means make any suitable provision for those whom he conceived to have claims on his protection. This expedition, he trusted, would enable him, at length, to accomplish the wish of his heart, by placing all who were most dear to him in situations of easy independence. If he should survive, the brilliance of the glorious victory which he antic.i.p.ated, might probably qualify himself sufficiently to exalt them; if he should fall, he would not permit himself to doubt, that the generous nation which he loved, and in whose just cause his last blood would be so freely shed, could ever hesitate a moment amply to provide for every beloved object of his anxious regard, with this confident hope bequeathed to the benign protection of his king and country.

On Friday, the 13th of September, the Victory having been compleatly prepared, dropped down to St. Helen's, ready for the hero's reception.

To his lords.h.i.+p and friends, this was a terrible day. Some of his relatives had previously left Merton, that they might escape the dreaded agonies of so painful a separation. Mr. and Mrs. Matcham continued to the last; and sustained, with their best fort.i.tude, the severe shock of such a parting. His lords.h.i.+p, kindly affectionate to all, had repeatedly declared that, from the first prize-money which he should be fortunate enough to obtain, amounting to thirty thousand pounds, he would make a present of five thousand to his brother, and the same sum to each of his two sisters: and, on Mr. Matcham's expressing a wish that his lords.h.i.+p might retain Mrs. Matcham's share, he replied--"No; she has an equal claim with her other sister and my brother." So equally did they all partic.i.p.ate in his fraternal regards.

Lord Nelson had not, yet, been quite a month in England, and much of even that short period was occupied in preparations for his departure; yet he had, now, lived longer in the society of Lady Hamilton and his friends, than at any time since the death of Sir William. The affection Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton entertained for each other, is not to be doubted; but it was a pure and virtuous attachment, founded entirely on mental esteem. Their loves were mutually the result of a most enthusiastic admiration of each other's heroic and magnanimous qualities. Those know little of the human heart, who require to be told what this sentiment is capable of effecting; and how little it has to do with the more gross and less durable tie of mere s.e.xual or personal regard. That they would have been united, if his lords.h.i.+p had survived Lady Nelson, is a fact sufficiently known. In the mean time, never did the most chivalrous knight of antiquity cherish in his heart a more extravagant degree of adoration for the peerless princess of his affections, than that which our hero manifested for this accomplished lady. It was with her image continually before him, that he combated the enemies of his country. Her portrait was always placed in his cabin, which he familiarly denominated his guardian genius; and he constantly wore a fine miniature representation of her ladys.h.i.+p's charming features, suspended in his bosom. In short, he always thought, and freely said, that there was not her equal in the universe. The agonies of this parting are not to be described. His lords.h.i.+p, about ten at night, after visiting the chamber of his adopted daughter, and praying over the sleeping innocent, tore himself from her agonized ladys.h.i.+p, surrounded by his remaining relatives, and entered the chaise which conveyed him, by six o'clock next morning, to Portsmouth.

As a proof of Lord Nelson's ceaselessly ardent desire for the advancement of his beloved relatives, when his esteemed brother-in-law, George Matcham, Esq. attended him to the chaise door, his lords.h.i.+p feelingly lamented that it was not yet in his power substantially to serve Mr. Matcham; who immediately said--"My dear lord, I have no other wish than to see you return home in safety; as for myself, I am not in want of any thing."--"With your large family, my dear Mr. Matcham,"

affectionately replied his lords.h.i.+p, "you certainly require a very considerable addition to your fortune!" Can any thing compensate, to his family, the loss of such a brother?

"Friday night," writes his lords.h.i.+p, "at half past ten, I 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 G.o.d 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!"

In this, which is extracted from his lords.h.i.+p's own private journal, written at the moment, warm from the heart, as well as in almost every other action of his life, is manifested that exalted desire to promote the glory of his king and country, and that earnest wish to secure every comfort for his family and friends, which animated his heroic soul to perform any exploit, where there was a possibility of attaining either of those desirable objects.

Lord Nelson, on arriving at Portsmouth, immediately arranged all his business: and, having embarked at the bathing-machines, got on board the Victory, about two o'clock; accompanied by his esteemed friends, the Right Honourable, George Rose, and the Right Honourable George Canning, who dined with the hero while he was preparing for sea.

The next morning, Sunday, September 15, at daylight, the Victory weighed, with light airs, and immediately sailed. Though five s.h.i.+ps of the line, and a frigate, were then at Portsmouth, almost ready for sea, and under orders to join his lords.h.i.+p, he was resolved not to lose a moment in waiting for them. He had sailed, therefore, from St. Helen's, accompanied only by the Honourable Captain Blackwood in the Euryalus frigate: but, on the 17th, being off Plymouth, they were joined by the Ajax of seventy-four guns, Captain Brown; and the Thunderer of the same force, Captain Lechmere.

Lord Nelson, on the 26th of September, got round Cape St. Vincent; but it was late in the evening of the 28th, before he arrived off Cadiz, and joined Admiral Collingwood. His lords.h.i.+p was received, by the whole fleet, with every demonstration of the most enthusiastic joy. Being fully prepared to impart the particulars of the incomparable mode of attack which he had projected for the occasion, in all that force and vigour of genius which flashes irresistible conviction on the heart, and fills it, at once, with admiration, esteem, and astonishment, his lords.h.i.+p communicated, next morning, with the different commanders; whom he ordered on board the Victory, to be made acquainted with the particulars of his intended plan. "I believe," writes his lords.h.i.+p, "my arrival was most welcome; not only to the commanders of the fleet, but also to every individual in it; and, when 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 downwards, 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."--"Some," adds his lords.h.i.+p, "may be Judas's, but the majority are certainly much pleased with my commanding them." The letter from which this is extracted, was dated the 1st of October; on which morning, about four o'clock, our hero had been suddenly seized with a violent fit of those dreadful spasms which often so alarmingly afflicted him, "It is," says his lords.h.i.+p, "very odd! I was hardly ever better, than yesterday. Freemantle staid with me till eight o'clock; and I slept uncommonly well, but was awoke by this disorder. My opinion of it's effect, some one day, has never altered! However, it is entirely gone off, and I am only quite weak. The good people of England will not believe, that rest of body and mind is necessary for me! But, perhaps, this spasm may not come again these six months. I had been writing seven hours yesterday; perhaps, that had some hand in bringing it upon me."

Thus lightly does he speak of his own sufferings, thus good-humouredly notice the little consideration of the country for his individual ease.