Chapter 3

"I have only this day received the honour of your letter (when Lord Mayor) of the 16th October; and I beg that you will convey to the Court of Common Council my sincere gratitude for all their goodness to me; and assure them, it shall be the business of my life, to act in the manner most conducive to the prosperity of the city of London, on which depends that of our country.

"I am truly sensible of your politeness, in desiring me to say what particular devices I should wish on the sword which is to be presented to me by the city of London; but, I beg to leave that to the better judgment of my fellow-citizens. Believe me, when I assure you, that I feel myself your most faithful and obliged servant,"

Nelson.

"Sir William Anderson, Bart late Lord-Mayor of London.

"Vanguard, Palermo, 31st Jan. 1799.

"SIR,

"I have this day received your letter, conveying to me the great honour conferred upon me by the worshipful Company of Drapers of London, by presenting me with the freedom of their company. I beg you will, Sir, have the goodness to convey to the worshipful Company, how much I feel honoured by their kind notice of my services; and assure them, that it shall be the study of my life, to preserve their good opinion. Allow me, also, to thank you, for the very flattering manner in which you have executed the orders of the company. Believe me, Sir, with great respect, your much obliged and most obedient servant,"

"Nelson."

Henry Smith, Esq. Clerk of the Drapers Company.

"Vanguard, Palermo, 31st Jan. 1799.

"SIR,

"I am this day favoured with your letter, conveying to me the unanimous resolution of the Common Council of Liverpool, to honour me with their thanks, and also the freedom of their town. I beg you will assure those whom, from this moment, I am to call my brother freemen, that my future exertions shall never be wanting, to approve myself worthy of the high honour conferred upon me by the representative body of the second sea-port in the kingdom; and believe me, with the highest respect, your much obliged and obedient servant,

"Nelson."

"Thomas Leyland, Esq. Mayor of Liverpool."

The transactions of this busy day were of a nature which could not fail highly to gratify the feelings of our hero. He also received, either on this day or the following, a most kind, friendly, and highly satisfactory epistle, from the Earl of St. Vincent; the purport of which is sufficiently obvious from this answer, dated on board the Bellerophon, to which he had now shifted his flag.

"Bellerophon, Palermo, 1st Feb. 1799.

"MY LORD,

"I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th of January, inclosing a copy of one from Sir Sidney Smith, off Malta, with your answer; as, also, your lordship's order to take him under my command. I consider myself highly honoured by your lordship's letter, and flattered by your attention; and will order Sir Sidney Smith to put himself under my command the very first opportunity. I am, with the highest respect, my lord, your most obedient and faithful servant,

"Nelson."

The Vanguard, and La Minerve, had just been sent to Malta; and the Bellerophon wanting a little repair, his lordship had now shifted his flag on board that ship till the Vanguard's return. He was not without hope, that Malta would soon fall; and chose rather to let Captain Ball have the credit of driving the French out, after having, as he observed, gone through "all the hard fag," than permit the Portuguese squadron, now at Messina, to participate the glory, who had been unwilling to encounter the fatigue, which his lordship had originally wished them to partake. In mentioning the Portuguese officers to the Earl of St. Vincent, he says--"As for the great commodores, their rank is as much a plague to them as it is to me. Niza is a good-tempered man. We are, apparently, the very best friends; nor have I, nor will I do an unkind thing by him." But, he had torn himself away from Malta, at the commencement, and his lordship was determined not to send him at the close.

Three letters were this day written by Lord Nelson to the Earl of St. Vincent; one of them has a conclusion so forcibly interesting, on several accounts, that it must on no account be omitted. What a picture it affords, of a contrariety of contending passions, struggling, at the same moment, in the bosom of this wonderful man; ever, as it should seem, feeling with too much energy, for the stability of it's own prolonged peace!

"All in this house have been ill, and are still. Our great queen, who truly admires you; our dear, invaluable Lady Hamilton; our good Sir William; and give me leave to add myself, to this excellent groupe; have but one opinion about you: viz. that you are every thing which is great and good. Let me say so, about Sir Sidney Smith! I thank you, most truly. My health is indeed, very indifferent; but, whilst I live, if the queen desire it, I remain for her security. No consideration of my own health shall make me abandon my honourable post, in which you have placed me. A parliament is called here: the queen has her doubts about their temper; and I have promised, under my hand, not to leave her; unless by her desire. Let me thank you, for your goodness to Captain Nisbet. I _wish_ he may deserve it; the thought half kills me! My dear lord, there is no true happiness in this life; and, in my present state, I could quit it with a smile. May God Almighty bless you with health, happiness, and long life! is the fervent prayer of your affectionate friend,

"Nelson."

To the intelligent reader, here is ample scope for reflection, in a very short compass. Felt gratitude, warmly expressed, to the Earl of St. Vincent, for his kind and generous attentions; lofty eulogiums of his lordship's royal and illustrious friends on the conduct of the noble earl; severe mention of his friend Sir Sidney; complaint of ill health; firm attachment to the royal family at Palermo; fearful apprehensions for a beloved son-in-law, whom he had brought tenderly up with all the anticipatory hopes of the fondest paternal affection, and for whose future conduct he seems, by some untoward circumstances, to have been now filled with all a feeling father's anxieties and alarms; and, lastly, as the consequence of defeated expectations, a desponding willingness to relinquish even life, from an experienced conviction that it affords no permanent or perfect felicity.

On the 3d, his lordship received, through the Earl of St Vincent, the thanks of the House of Peers of Ireland, to himself, and the captains, officers, seamen, and marines, of the detached squadron under his command at the battle off the Nile, and immediately returned a respectful answer by the same channel. He also wrote the following true sailor's letter to the earl, respecting Malta.

"Palermo, Feb. 3, 1799.

"MY DEAR LORD,

"The Incendiary is just come from Ball, off Malta; and has brought me information, that the attempt to storm the city of Valette had failed, from--(I am afraid, I must call it)--cowardice. They were over the first ditch, and retired, _damn them_! But, I trust, the zeal, judgment, and bravery, of my friend Ball, and his gallant party, will overcome all difficulty. The cutter just going off prevents my being more particular. Ever your most faithful,

"Nelson."

"Naples is declared a republic, and the French flag flying. We are low in spirits, but all in this house love you."

His lordship should have considered, before he pronounced the above naval anathema against the Maltese, for pusillanimity, the wretched starving state of the poor fellows carcases; of this he could not be ignorant, since he had, this very day, written to Sir John Acton in their behalf. "If," says he, "six thousand salms of corn are not sent directly to Malta, the inhabitants are in that state of want, that the worst consequences for the interest of his Sicilian Majesty may be apprehended. All these poor people want is, that the king should give them six months credit; when they could make their payments, in money or cotton. The case is important, and demands instant compliance.

"The inhabitants have not seven days bread." He wrote, the day following, to his friend Captain Ball, and inclosed him a satisfactory answer just received from General Acton on the subject: adding--"This evening I saw the king; and he is exceedingly angry, to think that his faithful Maltese subjects should want for any comforts or necessaries which it is in his power to bestow." He addressed, at the same time, a seasonable letter to the deputies of the Maltese people; containing, also, a copy of General Acton's letter, with assurances of Captain Ball's protection, and his own determination to afford them every assistance in his power. In short, though his lordship execrated all appearances of cowardice, he compassionated every species of distress.

Lord Nelson, in a letter, dated the beginning of this month, addressed to Admiral then Commodore Duckworth, thus regrets the difficulty which he experiences, in consequence of having lost his right arm, with regard to writing--"I thank you, most truly, for your several very interesting letters, and beg that I may be favoured with your correspondence whenever opportunity offers. You will, I am sure, make allowance for a left-handed man; but, my inclination to write longer letters is great. I can get but slowly over the paper." This, added to the numerous avocations necessarily arising from so widely extended a command as that in which he was now engaged, will sufficiently account for any seeming neglect of continued correspondence with old friends; whom, however, he was not the man ever to forget. The truth of this observation more particularly manifests itself in the following letter written to that esteemed veteran, Captain Locker; who had sensibly felt the effect of this difficulty, though not the last to congratulate his honoured pupil on the success of his most splendid victory. This excellent letter has been repeatedly published, but it well merits to be again printed.

"Palermo, 9th Feb. 1799.

"MY DEAR FRIEND,

"I well know, your own goodness of heart will make all due allowances for my present situation; in which, truly, I have not the time, or power, to answer all the letters I receive, at the moment. But you, my old friend, after twenty-seven years acquaintance, know that nothing can alter my attachment and gratitude to you. I have been your scholar. It was you who taught me to board a Frenchman, by your conduct when in the Experiment. It is you who always hold--"Lay a Frenchman close, and you will beat him!" And my only merit in my profession is, being a good scholar. Our friendship will never end, but with my life: but, you have always been too partial to me.

"Pray tell Kingsmill, that it was impossible I could attend to his recommendation. Indeed, I had, not being a commander in chief, no power to name an agent. Remember me kindly to him.

"The Vesuvian republic being fixed, I have now to look out for Sicily: but revolutionary principles are so prevalent in the world, that no monarchical government is safe, or sure of lasting ten years.

"I beg you will make my kindest remembrances to Miss Locker, and all your good sons; and believe me, ever, your faithful and affectionate friend,

"Nelson."

"Lieutenant-Governor Locker, Royal Hospital, Greenwich."

As the Vesuvian republic had been now formed on the ruins of the Neapolitan monarchy, under the protection of the French, and was consequently at war with Great Britain, Lord Nelson gave directions for the property of all persons who had not left this new state to be seized as lawful prize. Application was again made to the emperor; a survey taken of the island, for the purpose of ascertaining it's strength and security; and every endeavour used to obtain, during the war, a truce with Tunis and Tripoli. The opinion of Lord Nelson, with regard to the safety of Sicily, is conveyed in the following letter to Sir John Acton, Bart, expressly on that subject.

"Palermo, Feb. 11, 1799.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"I have to thank your excellency for the honour of your letter; and for sending, for my perusal, the report of various officers on the situation of this island, and of it's means of defence. Respecting an invasion of the French, _in propriâ personâ_, I own, I have no alarms; for, if this island is true to itself, no harm can happen: but, I own my fears, that revolutionary principles may be sown here; and, the seasons being propitious to the growth, will produce fruit. If the emperor will not move, and save--(himself, for his throne must fall if the late measures of his councils are persisted in)--the good King, Queen, and Family of Naples, in the possession of their kingdoms; we may lament, but what must follow is certain. Having thus openly declared my general opinion, it is perfectly proper, no doubt, to be prepared for defence; and, if Calabria is occupied by the French, the first object is the preservation of Messina and the Torre del Faro. As to the other ports of the island, if the inhabitants are loyal, the French may be defied; they will not venture their carcases. But, indeed, my dear Sir, it is on the fidelity of the islanders we must depend for it's defence. When Captain Troubridge returns from Egypt, I shall have the power of having more ships on the east coast: as to Palermo, it shall never be without a proper defence in shipping from all attacks by sea; that is, from what the French have at present in the Mediterranean. In all other things, I beg that your excellency will have the goodness to assure his Sicilian Majesty, that nothing shall be wanting, on my part, for the defence of his kingdoms, and whatever can administer to his comforts; and I beg your excellency will believe with what great respect I am your most faithful and obedient servant,

"Nelson."

The safety of Messina appearing to be the first object for the preservation of Sicily from the French, five hundred troops were immediately ordered thither by the Portuguese ships; and his lordship also urged his Excellency, the Vice-Admiral Theodore Uschakoff, who commanded the Russian fleet then before Corfu, to send as many ships and troops as possible to Messina, for the promotion of the common cause, and the good of his Sicilian Majesty in particular.

On the same day, February 15, his lordship wrote also to his Excellency Abdul Cadir Bek, Vice-Admiral of the Turkish fleet, likewise at Corfu, with a similar request for ships and troops. "Your excellency, without doubt," writes his lordship, "has heard of the melancholy news from Naples. The French, not content with having, by perfidy, declared Naples a republic, have forced a great part of Calabria to erect a Tree of _Terror_, which these unbelievers call of _Liberty_; and their emissaries are sowing the seeds of anarchy into this island, particularly at Messina." His lordship adds, that as he has several ships in Egypt, for the Grand Signior, he earnestly requests such Turkish ships and troops as can be spared, to prevent Messina's falling into the hands of the French.

On the 24th of February, Lord Nelson had the satisfaction to distribute the following sums of money, given by his Sicilian Majesty, among the several persons who assisted in conveying the Royal Family from Naples: one thousand ounces of silver to the officers, seamen, and marines, of his Britannic Majesty's ship the Vanguard, as a mark of the king's approbation of their conduct during the time he was on board; one hundred ounces to each of the two barges crews who brought off the royal family from the palace; one hundred ounces to the admiral's servants; and one hundred ounces to the barge's crew of the Alcmene. The thousand ounces for the several persons on board the Vanguard were thus apportioned, by his lordship's directions--The wardroom, one hundred ounces; twenty-seven gentlemen of the quarter-deck, and warrant-officers, four ounces each; five hundred and seventy-nine seamen and marines, one and one-third of an ounce each; twenty-six boys, half an ounce each; and a surplus of seven ounces, to be expended for general use.

While Lord Nelson was busily exerting himself for the security of Messina, as the key to the island of Sicily, the masters of English merchant vessels at Palermo were impatient for convoy, that they might convey their cargoes to Leghorn. On the hazard of visiting a place so critically situated, he felt it his duty strongly to remonstrate; and, aware how often danger is disregarded, where the loss is to fall on underwriters, he even suggested the impropriety of thus incurring risks which could not possibly be in the contemplation of the parties at the time of effecting the insurances, before he gave his reluctant consent for their departure.

This great man was indifferent to nothing by which either national or individual honour might be affected. A just sense of Lord Nelson's services, in this respect, has probably contributed, in no slight degree, to the extreme popularity of that most laudable institution for the relief of suffering seamen and marines, and their distressed families, so happily commenced and continued by the Committee at Lloyd's. Nor is, perhaps, the idea very chimerical, when we reflect on the magnitude of the contributions, which looks forward to a possible permanent establishment, at no distant day, on this very basis; in which the voluntary subscriptions of benevolent and opulent individuals shall almost vie, in the extent of it's charity to this meritorious class of society, whose services can alone preserve the united kingdom and it's extended commerce in full security, with the grand and munificent public endowment which so nobly adorns our country at Greenwich: to which, also, some national augmentation might, with much propriety, be at the same time made; not only to keep pace with the increase of our navy, but to afford an equally needful asylum for those deserving and greatly exposed auxiliaries, the unfortunate and superannuated Royal Marines. A sight of such noble institutions, with suitable pictures and statues of naval heroes and their glorious atchievements, in which Lord Nelson and his transcendent actions must for ever stand pre-eminently conspicuous, would far surpass, in genuine grandeur, perhaps, and certainly in rational and philosophical contemplation, the loftiest and most stupendous pillar or pyramid ever raised by human art and industry, for little other purpose than to attract the gaze of profitless admiration, with the vain attempt of mocking the powers of tempests and of time, by which the proudest of these trophied monuments must necessarily be bowed to subjection, and finally crumbled into dust. The solitary hermitage, which shelters a single hoary head, is more interesting to the feeling heart than the proudest display of barren pomp that neither rises over the tomb of departed worth nor affords any living mortal a comfortable habitation. The grand naval pillar, to commemorate the battle off the Nile, for which a large sum was some years since subscribed, without any previously decided plan, and which is said to be still undisposed of, if employed in erecting a respectable edifice for the residence of those brave veterans by whom that battle was fought, and such of their successors, for ever, as should live to find such a residence desirable, might be so constructed and endowed, with the money contributed, as to afford a higher satisfaction to the subscribers; a superior, and perpetually renewable, memorial of the event; and a far more gratifying object of contemplation, even for such of the brave heroes who may never need such a sanctuary; than the loftiest and most embellished obelisk that human ingenuity can ever devise, or human industry execute. This is a subject on which the author could with pleasure dilate; and the promotion of which he would gladly assist, in every way, with all his slender abilities: but, at present, it is an agreeable reverie, in which he feels that he must no longer indulge.

He will, however, transcribe one of Lord Nelson's letters written on the subject which led to this digression, as a satisfactory proof of his lordship's attention to the mercantile interests of his country in that respect, and at this particular period.

"Palermo, 25th Feb. 1799.

"GENTLEMEN,

"I have received your letter of the 23d. I can assure you, I have always the greatest pleasure in paying attention to the representations of the masters of merchant ships; who, at this distance, act for their owners in Great Britain. I can have no difficulty in granting you a convoy to Leghorn; but it is my duty to again point out to you the expressions of Mr. Windham's several letters, and the request of the English factory at Leghorn to Captain Louis: and, at the same time, you must be sensible that an English man of war cannot always lay in the neutral port; and I expect, that the Minotaur is now on her passage to join me. If, under all these circumstances, you still persist in going to Leghorn, I will grant a convoy to that port as soon as possible. You cannot, of course, expect that, when all the knowledge you have, here, of the situation of Tuscany, is known in London, that the underwriters, or myself, can in the smallest degree be answerable for what may happen to your ships or cargoes. I can only again assure you of my readiness to afford you all the protection possible, compatible with the other important duties entrusted to me; and that I am, with great respect, your most obedient servant,

"Nelson."

"To the Masters of the English Ships in the Port of Palermo."

To this it may be sufficient to add that, on their persisting in a desire to sail, he granted them the convoy; repeating, in another letter, "but still with the reservation for the underwriters and myself, as I think the case requires." He also wrote to Mr. Windham, informing that gentleman of the necessity which he had felt himself under to comply with their desire; and requesting him to acquaint Captain Derby, whom he sent on that service, in the Bellerophon, whether he might with safety leave them at Leghorn. If not, his lordship observed, the signal should be made for convoy; and those who chose to quit a place of danger might be brought back, with the comfort of having lost the present convoy for England. However, he adds, it is his duty, and it is his inclination too, to do every thing for the protection of our commerce consistently with the other important duties required of him. Captain Derby was directed, should circumstances require, to wait a reasonable time for such of the merchant ships as might have perishable cargoes on board, to enable them to dispose of them.

In the letter to Mr. Windham above quoted, his lordship says, alluding to the cruelties of the French, who were then over-running Italy--"Your excellency's account of the treatment of his Royal Highness the Grand Duke, of the King of Sardinia, and of the poor old Pope, makes my heart bleed; and I curse, in the bitterness of my grief, all those who might have prevented such cruelties!"