The Letters of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton Volume I Part 22

V.

Here is my cousin's answer, Dearest Emma--"_Io lo capisco_." Her brother a.s.sured me, there is not the semblance of an insurrection; and, that our dear, dear Queen, is misled by a set of scoundrels.

Send me word where you will be. Adieu!

VI.

Yesterday, we dined on Mount Vesuvius; to-day, we were to have dined on its victim, Pompeii: but, "by the grace of G.o.d, which pa.s.seth all understanding," since Bartolomeo himself, that weather-soothsayer, did not foresee this British weather, we are prevented.

In the mean time, all this week and the next, is replete with projects to Ischia, Procita, &c. &c. so G.o.d only knows when I can wors.h.i.+p, again, my Diana of Ephesus.

Write me word, explicitly, how you are, _what_ you are, and where you are; and be sure that, wheresoever I am, still I am your's, my dearest Emma.

VII.

Wednesday.

MY DEAREST EMMA,

The very unexpected intelligence, which Prince Augustus has most delicately communicated to me, of poor Lord Hervey's _decease_, has quite _bouleversee_ my already shattered frame.

I would not allow your friendly mind to learn an event so interesting to me from any other hand than that of your affectionate and devoted friend,

BRISTOL.

VIII.

MY EVER DEAREST LADY HAMILTON,

I should certainly have made this Sunday an holy day to me, and have taken a Sabbath day's journey to Caserta, had not poor Mr. Lovel been confined to his bed above three days with a fever.

To-day, it is departed; to-morrow, Dr. Nudi has secured us from its resurrection; and, after to-morrow, I hope, virtue will be its own reward, and that my friends.h.i.+p for Lovel will be recompensed with the enjoyment.

This moment I receive your _billet-doux_, and very dulcet it is!

All public and private accounts agree, in the immediate prospect of a general peace. It will make a delicious foreground in the picture of the new year; many of which, I wish, from the top, bottom, and centre of my heart, to the incomparable Emma--_quella senza paragona_!

_Dans ce moment, on m'a.s.sure que Mayence est prise. Je ne vous garantis pas cette maudite nouvelle--mais je me flatte que la paix se fait_.

IX.

EVER DEAREST EMMA,

I went down to your Opera box two minutes after you left it; and should have seen you on the morning of your departure--but was detained in the _arms_ of _Murphy_, as Lady Eden expressed it, and was too late.

You say nothing of the adorable Queen; I hope, she has not forgot me: but, as Shakespeare says, "Who doats, must doubt;" and I verily deem her the very best edition of a woman I ever saw--I mean; of such as are not in _folio_, and are to be _had_ in _sheets_.

I will come on Friday or Sat.u.r.day; but our British colony are so numerous, that my duties obstruct my pleasures.

Ever, and invariably, dearest, dear Emma, most affectionately, your

B.

You see, I am but the second letter of your alphabet, though you are the first of _mine_.

X.

Milan, 24th November 1798.

I know not, Dearest Emma, whether friend Sir William has been able to obtain my pa.s.sport, or not; but this I know--that, if they have refused it, they are d.a.m.ned fools for their pains: for, never was a _Malta orange_ better worth squeezing or sucking; and if they leave me to die, without a tombstone over me, to tell the contents--"_tant pis pour eux_!"

In the mean time, I will frankly confess to you, that my health most seriously and urgently requires the balmy air of dear Naples, and the more balmy atmosphere of those I love, and who love me; and that I shall forego my garret with more regret than most people of my silly rank in society forego a palace or a drawing-room.

But I will augur better things from the justice of my neighbour; and that they will not condemn, against all rules of probability, one of their best friends, unheard: especially, one who, if he be heard, can say so much.

My project, then, in case I receive the pa.s.sport, is to travel on horseback as far as _Spalato_ in Dalmatia; and, from thence, cross over to Manfredonia--a pa.s.sage of a few hours--and which, in the year 1772, I performed with my horses on board; and, afterwards, had a most delightful jaunt through that unexplored region, Dalmatia; where the very first object that strikes both the eye and the imagination, is a modern city built within the precincts of an ancient palace--for Spalato stands within the innermost walls of Diocletian's palace.

For that wise Sovereign quitted the sceptre for the pleasures of an architect's rule; and, when he had completed his mansion in that delightful climate, enjoyed that, and life, to a most advanced old age--

"The world forgetting, by the world forgot."

_A-propos_ to _Spalato_! Do not fail hinting to Sir William, that a most safe, convenient, and expeditious packet-boat, might be established, in these perilous times, between that and Manfredonia: by which all dispatches, and all travellers, either for business or pleasure, might make a very short and safe cut between Naples and Vienna, and Naples and the rest of Europe, without touching one palm of any ground but Austrian and Neapolitan; and, of course, without the risk of being ever stopped.

The small towns, too, are in quick succession; and, the whole country being a limestone rock, the roads will make themselves, and afterwards pay themselves, by means of good turnpikes.

Nothing can exceed the dreariness, gloominess, and humidity, of a Milanese sky in winter; which, I conclude, under the _old regime_, led to all the hospitality, and conviviality, practised here, by their voluptuous but social n.o.bility.

Now, we have nothing left to _comfort_, but another _Nudi_--a son of Esculapius, born in Italy; but an enthusiast for England, and all that is English--an excellent physician, but a still better friend; and, like Nudi, when he has a pint of Madeira in his belly, and the fumes of it in his brain, a most cheerful and improving companion: for, I protest to you that, during my convalescence, I made greater strides to recovery by his Attic evenings, than by his morning potions, or even his beef broth.