CHAPTER VI

1798 - 1800

Nelson returns to Naples--State of that Court and Kingdom--General

Mack--The French approach Naples--Flight of the Royal Family--Successes

of the Allies in Italy--Transactions in the Bay of Naples--Expulsion of

the French from the Neapolitan and Roman States--Nelson is made Duke of

Bronte--He leaves the Mediterranean and returns to England.

NELSON's health had suffered greatly while he was in the AGAMEMNON. "My

complaint," he said, "is as if a girth were buckled taut over my breast,

and my endeavour in the night is to get it loose." After the battle

of Cape St. Vincent he felt a little rest to be so essential to his

recovery, that he declared he would not continue to serve longer than

the ensuing summer, unless it should be absolutely necessary; for in his

own strong language, he had then been four years and nine months without

one moment's repose for body or mind. A few months' intermission of

labour he had obtained--not of rest, for it was purchased with the

loss of a limb; and the greater part of the time had been a season of

constant pain. As soon as his shattered frame had sufficiently recovered

for him to resume his duties, he was called to services of greater

importance than any on which he had hitherto been employed, which

brought with them commensurate fatigue and care.

The anxiety which he endured during his long pursuit of the enemy, was

rather changed in its direction than abated by their defeat; and this

constant wakefulness of thought, added to the effect of his wound, and

the exertions from which it was not possible for one of so ardent and

wide-reaching a mind to spare himself, nearly proved fatal. On his way

back to Italy he was seized with fever. For eighteen hours his life was

despaired of; and even when the disorder took a favourable turn, and he

was so far recovered as again to appear on deck, he himself thought that

his end was approaching--such was the weakness to which the fever and

cough had reduced him. Writing to Earl St. Vincent on the passage, he

said to him, "I never expect, my dear lord, to see your face again. It

may please God that this will be the finish to that fever of anxiety

which I have endured from the middle of June; but be that as it pleases

his goodness. I am resigned to his will."

The kindest attentions of the warmest friendship were awaiting him at

Naples. "Come here," said Sir William Hamilton, "for God's sake, my dear

friend, as soon as the service will permit you. A pleasant apartment

is ready for you in my house, and Emma is looking out for the softest

pillows to repose the few wearied limbs you have left." Happy would it

have been for Nelson if warm and careful friendship had been all that

waited him there. He himself saw at that time the character of the

Neapolitan court, as it first struck an Englishman, in its true light;

and when he was on the way, he declared that he detested the voyage to

Naples, and that nothing but necessity could have forced him to it.

But never was any hero, on his return from victory, welcomed with more

heartfelt joy. Before the battle of Aboukir the Court at Naples had

been trembling for its existence. The language which the Directory held

towards it was well described by Sir William Hamilton as being exactly

the language of a highwayman. The Neapolitans were told that Benevento

might be added to their dominions, provided they would pay a large sum,

sufficient to satisfy the Directory; and they were warned, that if the

proposal were refused, or even if there were any delay in accepting it,

the French would revolutionise all Italy. The joy, therefore, of the

Court at Nelson's success was in proportion to the dismay from which

that success relieved them. The queen was a daughter of Maria Theresa,

and sister of Maria Antoinette. Had she been the wisest and gentlest of

her sex, it would not have been possible for her to have regarded the

French without hatred and horror; and the progress of revolutionary

opinions, while it perpetually reminded her of her sister's fate,

excited no unreasonable apprehensions for her own. Her feelings,

naturally ardent, and little accustomed to restraint, were excited to

the highest pitch when the news of the victory arrived. Lady Hamilton,

her constant friend and favourite, who was present, says, "It is not

possible to describe her transports; she wept, she kissed her husband,

her children, walked frantically about the room, burst into tears again,

and again kissed and embraced every person near her; exclaiming, 'O brave

Nelson! O God! bless and protect our brave deliverer! O Nelson! Nelson!

what do we not owe you! O conqueror--saviour of Italy! O that my swollen

heart could now tell him personally what we owe to him!'" She herself

wrote to the Neapolitan ambassador at London upon the occasion, in terms

which show the fulness of her joy, and the height of the hopes which it

had excited. "I wish I could give wings," said she, "to the bearer of

the news, and at the same time to our most sincere gratitude. The whole

of the sea-coast of Italy saved; and this is owing alone to the generous

English. This battle, or, to speak more correctly, this total defeat of

the regicide squadron, was obtained by the valour of this brave admiral,

seconded by a navy which is the terror of its enemies. The victory is

so complete that I can still scarcely believe it; and if it were not the

brave English nation, which is accustomed to perform prodigies by sea, I

could not persuade myself that it had happened. It would have moved you

to have seen all my children, boys and girls, hanging on my neck, and

crying for joy at the happy news. Recommend the hero to his master:

he has filled the whole of Italy with admiration of the English. Great

hopes were entertained of some advantages being gained by his bravery,

but no one could look for so total a destruction. All here are drunk

with joy."

Such being the feelings of the royal family, it may well be supposed

with what delight, and with what honours Nelson would be welcomed. Early

on the 22nd of September the poor wretched VANGUARD, as he called

his shattered vessel, appeared in sight of Naples. The CULLODEN and

ALEXANDER had preceded her by some days, and given notice of her

approach. Many hundred boats and barges were ready to go forth and

meet him, with music and streamers and every demonstration of joy and

triumph. Sir William and Lady Hamilton led the way in their state barge.

They had seen Nelson only for a few days, four years ago, but they

then perceived in him that heroic spirit which was now so fully and

gloriously manifested to the world. Emma Lady Hamilton, who from this

time so greatly influenced his future life, was a woman whose personal

accomplishments have seldom been equalled, and whose powers of mind were

not less fascinating than her person. She was passionately attached to

the queen; and by her influence the British fleet had obtained those

supplies at Syracuse, without which, Nelson always asserted, the battle

of Aboukir could not have been fought. During the long interval which

passed before any tidings were received, her anxiety had been hardly

less than that of Nelson himself, while pursuing an enemy of whom he

could obtain no information; and when the tidings were brought her by a

joyful bearer, open-mouthed, its effect was such that she fell like one

who had been shot. She and Sir William had literally been made ill by

their hopes and fears, and joy at a catastrophe so far exceeding

all that they had dared to hope for. Their admiration for the hero

necessarily produced a degree of proportionate gratitude and affection;

and when their barge came alongside the VANGUARD, at the sight of

Nelson, Lady Hamilton sprang up the ship's side, and exclaiming, "O God!

is it possible!" fell into his arms more, he says, like one dead than

alive. He described the meeting as "terribly affecting." These friends

had scarcely recovered from their tears, when the king, who went out to

meet him three leagues in the royal barge, came on board and took him

by the hand, calling him his deliverer and preserver. From all the boats

around he was saluted with the same appellations: the multitude who

surrounded him when he landed repeated the same enthusiastic cries;

and the lazzaroni displayed their joy by holding up birds in cages, and

giving them their liberty as he passed.

His birth-day, which occurred a week after his arrival, was celebrated

with one of the most splendid fetes ever beheld at Naples. But,

notwithstanding the splendour with which he was encircled, and the

flattering honours with which all ranks welcomed him, Nelson was fully

sensible of the depravity, as well as weakness, of those by whom he was

surrounded. "What precious moments," said he, "the courts of Naples and

Vienna are losing! Three months would liberate Italy! but this court is

so enervated that the happy moment will be lost. I am very unwell; and

their miserable conduct is not likely to cool my irritable temper. It is

a country of fiddlers and poets, whores and scoundrels." This sense of

their ruinous weakness he always retained; nor was he ever blind to

the mingled folly and treachery of the Neapolitan ministers, and the

complication in iniquities under which the country groaned; but he

insensibly, under the influence of Lady Hamilton, formed an affection

for the court, to whose misgovernment the miserable condition of the

country was so greatly to be imputed. By the kindness of her nature,

as well as by her attractions, she had won his heart. Earl St. Vincent,

writing to her at this time, says, "Pray do not let your fascinating

Neapolitan dames approach too near our invaluable friend Nelson, for he

is made of flesh and blood, and cannot resist their temptations." But

this was addressed to the very person from whom he was in danger.

The state of Naples may be described in few words. The king was one of

the Spanish Bourbons. As the Caesars have shown us to what wickedness

the moral nature of princes may be perverted, so in this family, the

degradation to which their intellectual nature can be reduced has been

not less conspicuously evinced. Ferdinand, like the rest of his race,

was passionately fond of field sports, and cared for nothing else.

His queen had all the vices of the house of Austria, with little to

mitigate, and nothing to ennoble them--provided she could have her

pleasures, and the king his sports, they cared not in what manner the

revenue was raised or administered. Of course a system of favouritism

existed at court, and the vilest and most impudent corruption prevailed

in every department of state, and in every branch of administration,

from the highest to the lowest. It is only the institutions of

Christianity, and the vicinity of better-regulated states, which prevent

kingdoms, under such circumstances of misrule, from sinking into a

barbarism like that of Turkey. A sense of better things was kept alive

in some of the Neapolitans by literature, and by their intercourse with

happier countries. These persons naturally looked to France, at the

commencement of the Revolution, and during all the horrors of that

Revolution still cherished a hope that, by the aid of France, they

might be enabled to establish a new order of things in Naples. They were

grievously mistaken in supposing that the principles of liberty would

ever be supported by France, but they were not mistaken in believing

that no government could be worse than their own; and therefore they

considered any change as desirable. In this opinion men of the most

different characters agreed. Many of the nobles, who were not in favour,

wished for a revolution, that they might obtain the ascendancy to which

they thought themselves entitled; men of desperate fortunes desired

it, in the hope of enriching themselves; knaves and intriguers sold

themselves to the French to promote it; and a few enlightened men, and

true lovers of their country, joined in the same cause, from the purest

and noblest motives. All these were confounded under the common name of

Jacobins; and the Jacobins of the continental kingdoms were regarded by

the English with more hatred than they deserved. They were classed with

Phillippe Egalite, Marat, and Hebert; whereas they deserved rather to be

ranked, if not with Locke, and Sydney, and Russell, at least with Argyle

and Monmouth, and those who, having the same object as the prime movers

of our own Revolution, failed in their premature but not unworthy

attempt.

No circumstances could be more unfavourable to the best interests of

Europe, than those which placed England in strict alliance with the

superannuated and abominable governments of the continent. The subjects

of those governments who wished for freedom thus became enemies to

England, and dupes and agents of France. They looked to their own

grinding grievances, and did not see the danger with which the liberties

of the world were threatened. England, on the other hand, saw the danger

in its true magnitude, but was blind to these grievances, and found

herself compelled to support systems which had formerly been equally

the object of her abhorrence and her contempt. This was the state of

Nelson's mind; he knew that there could be no peace for Europe till the

pride of France was humbled, and her strength broken; and he regarded

all those who were the friends of France as traitors to the common

cause, as well as to their own individual sovereigns. There are

situations in which the most opposite and hostile parties may

mean equally well, and yet act equally wrong. The court of Naples,

unconscious of committing any crime by continuing the system of misrule

to which they had succeeded, conceived that, in maintaining things as

they were, they were maintaining their own rights, and preserving

the people from such horrors as had been perpetrated in France. The

Neapolitan revolutionists thought that without a total change of system,

any relief from the present evils was impossible, and they believed

themselves justified in bringing about that change by any means.

Both parties knew that it was the fixed intention of the French to

revolutionise Naples. The revolutionists supposed that it was for

the purpose of establishing a free government; the court, and all

disinterested persons, were perfectly aware that the enemy had no other

object than conquest and plunder.

The battle of the Nile shook the power of France. Her most successful

general, and her finest army, were blocked up in Egypt--hopeless, as it

appeared, of return; and the government was in the hands of men without

talents, without character, and divided among themselves. Austria, whom

Buonaparte had terrified into a peace, at a time when constancy on her

part would probably have led to his destruction, took advantage of the

crisis to renew the war. Russia also was preparing to enter the field

with unbroken forces, led by a general, whose extraordinary military

genius would have entitled him to a high and honourable rank in history,

if it had not been sullied by all the ferocity of a barbarian. Naples,

seeing its destruction at hand, and thinking that the only means of

averting it was by meeting the danger, after long vacillations, which

were produced by the fears and treachery of its council, agreed at last

to join this new coalition with a numerical force of 80,000 men.

Nelson told the king, in plain terms, that he had his choice, either to

advance, trusting to God for his blessing on a just cause, and prepared

to die sword in hand, or to remain quiet, and be kicked out of his

kingdom; one of these things must happen. The king made answer he would

go on, and trust in God and Nelson; and Nelson, who would else have

returned to Egypt, for the purpose of destroying the French shipping in

Alexandria, gave up his intention at the desire of the Neapolitan court,

and resolved to remain on that station, in the hope that he might be

useful to the movements of the army. He suspected also, with reason,

that the continuance of his fleet was so earnestly requested, because

the royal family thought their persons would be safer, in case of any

mishap, under the British flag, than under their own.

His first object was the recovery of Malta--an island which the King of

Naples pretended to claim. The Maltese, whom the villanous knights of

their order had betrayed to France, had taken up arms against their

rapacious invaders, with a spirit and unanimity worthy of the highest

praise. They blockaded the French garrison by land, and a small

squadron, under Captain Ball, began to blockade them by sea, on the

12th of October. Twelve days afterwards Nelson arrived. "It is as

I suspected," he says: "the ministers at Naples know nothing of the

situation of the island. Not a house or bastion of the town is in

possession of the islanders: and the Marquis de Niza tells us they

want arms, victuals, and support. He does not know that any Neapolitan

officers are on the island; perhaps, although I have their names, none

are arrived; and it is very certain, by the marquis's account, that no

supplies have been sent by the governors of Syracuse and Messina." The

little island of Gozo, dependent upon Malta, which had also been seized

and garrisoned by the French, capitulated soon after his arrival, and

was taken possession of by the British, in the name of his Sicilian

Majesty--a power who had no better claim to it than France. Having seen

this effected, and reinforced Captain Ball, he left that able officer

to perform a most arduous and important part, and returned himself to

cooperate with the intended movements of the Neapolitans.

General Mack was at the head of the Neapolitan troops. All that is now

doubtful concerning this man is, whether he was a coward or a traitor.

At that time he was assiduously extolled as a most consummate commander,

to whom Europe might look for deliverance. And when he was introduced by

the king and queen to the British admiral, the queen said to him, "Be to

us by land, general, what my hero Nelson has been by sea." Mack, on

his part, did not fail to praise the force which he was appointed to

command. "It was," he said, "the finest army in Europe." Nelson agreed

with him that there could not be finer men; but when the general, at a

review, so directed the operations of a mock fight, that by an unhappy

blunder his own troops were surrounded, instead of those of the enemy,

he turned to his friends and exclaimed with bitterness, that the

fellow did not understand his business. Another circumstance, not less

characteristic, confirmed Nelson in his judgment. "General Mack:" said

he, in one of his letters, "cannot move without five carriages! I have

formed my opinion. I heartily pray I may be mistaken."

While Mack, at the head of 32,000 men, marched into the Roman state,

5000 Neapolitans were embarked on board the British and Portuguese

squadron, to take possession of Leghorn. This was effected without

opposition; and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, whose neutrality had been

so outrageously violated by the French, was better satisfied with the

measure than some of the Neapolitans themselves. Nasseli, their general,

refused to seize the French vessels at Leghorn, because he and the Duke

di Sangro, who was ambassador at the Tuscan court, maintained that the

king of Naples was not at war with France. "What!" said Nelson, "has not

the king received, as a conquest made by him, the republican flag taken

at Gozo? Is not his own flag flying there, and at Malta, not only by his

permission, but by his order? Is not his flag shot at every day by the

French, and their shot returned from batteries which bear that flag? Are

not two frigates and a corvette placed under my orders ready to fight

the French, meet them where they may? Has not the king sent publicly

from Naples guns, mortars, &c., with officers and artillery, against the

French in Malta? If these acts are not tantamount to any written paper,

I give up all knowledge of what is war." This reasoning was of less

avail than argument addressed to the general's fears. Nelson told him

that, if he permitted the many hundred French who were then in the mole

to remain neutral, till they had a fair opportunity of being active,

they had one sure resource, if all other schemes failed, which was to

set one vessel on fire; the mole would be destroyed, probably the town

also, and the port ruined for twenty years. This representation made

Naselli agree to the half measure of laying an embargo on the vessels;

among them were a great number of French privateers, some of which were

of such force as to threaten the greatest mischief to our commerce, and

about seventy sail of vessels belonging to the Ligurian republic, as

Genoa was now called, laden with corn, and ready to sail for Genoa and

France; where their arrival would have expedited the entrance of more

French troops into Italy. "The general," said Nelson, "saw, I believe,

the consequence of permitting these vessels to depart, in the same light

as myself; but there is this difference between us: he prudently,

and certainly safely, waits the orders of his court, taking no

responsibility upon himself; I act from the circumstances of the moment,

as I feel may be most advantageous for the cause which I serve, taking

all responsibility on myself." It was in vain to hope for anything

vigorous or manly from such men as Nelson was compelled to act with. The

crews of the French ships and their allies were ordered to depart in two

days. Four days elapsed and nobody obeyed the order; nor, in spite of

the representations of the British minister, Mr. Wyndham, were any means

taken to enforce it: the true Neapolitan shuffle, as Nelson called it,

took place on all occasions. After an absence of ten days he returned

to Naples; and receiving intelligence there from Mr. Wyndham that the

privateers were at last to be disarmed, the corn landed, and the crews

sent away, he expressed his satisfaction at the news in characteristic

language, saying, "So far I am content. The enemy will be distressed;

and, thank God, I shall get no money. The world, I know, think that

money is our god; and now they will be undeceived as far as relates to

us. Down, down with the French! is my constant prayer."

Odes, sonnets, and congratulatory poems of every description were poured

in upon Nelson on his arrival at Naples. An Irish Franciscan, who was

one of the poets, not being content with panegyric upon this occasion,

ventured on a flight of prophecy, and predicted that Lord Nelson would

take Rome with his ships. His lordship reminded Father M'Cormick that

ships could not ascend the Tiber; but the father, who had probably

forgotten this circumstance, met the objection with a bold front, and

declared he saw that it would come to pass notwithstanding. Rejoicings

of this kind were of short duration. The King of Naples was with the

army which had entered Rome; but the castle of St. Angelo was held by

the French, and 13,000 French were strongly posted in the Roman states

at Castallana. Mack had marched against them with 20,000 men. Nelson saw

that the event was doubtful, or rather that there could be very little

hope of the result. But the immediate fate of Naples, as he well knew,

hung upon the issue. "If Mack is defeated," said he, "in fourteen days

this country is lost; for the emperor has not yet moved his army, and

Naples has not the power of resisting the enemy. It was not a case for

choice, but of necessity, which induced the king to march out of his

kingdom, and not wait till the French had collected a force sufficient

to drive him out of it in a week." He had no reliance upon the

Neapolitan officers, who, as he described them, seemed frightened at

a drawn sword or a loaded gun; and he was perfectly aware of the

consequences which the sluggish movements and deceitful policy of

the Austrians were likely to bring down upon themselves and all their

continental allies. "A delayed war on the part of the emperor," said he,

writing to the British minister at Vienna, "will be destructive to this

monarchy of Naples; and, of course, to the newly-acquired dominions of

the Emperor in Italy. Had the war commenced in September or October, all

Italy would, at this moment, have been liberated. This month is worse

than the last; the next will render the contest doubtful; and, in six

months, when the Neapolitan republic will be organised, armed, and

with its numerous resources called forth, the emperor will not only be

defeated in Italy, but will totter on his throne at Vienna. DOWN,

DOWN WITH THE FRENCH! ought to be written in the council-room of every

country in the world; and may Almighty God give right thoughts to

every sovereign, is my constant prayer!" His perfect foresight of the

immediate event was clearly shown in this letter, when he desired the

ambassador to assure the empress (who was a daughter of the house of

Naples) that, notwithstanding the councils which had shaken the throne

of her father and mother, he would remain there, ready to save their

persons, and her brothers and sisters; and that he had also left ships

at Leghorn to save the lives of the grand duke and her sister: "For

all," said he, "must be a republic, if the emperor does not act with

expedition and vigour."

His fears were soon verified. "The Neapolitan officers," said Nelson,

"did not lose much honour, for, God knows, they had not much to lose;

but they lost all they had." General St. Philip commanded the right

wing, of 19,000 men. He fell in with 3000 of the enemy; and, as soon as

he came near enough, deserted to them. One of his men had virtue enough

to level a musket at him, and shot him through the arm; but the wound

was not sufficient to prevent him from joining with the French in

pursuit of his own countrymen. Cannon, tents, baggage, and military

chest, were all forsaken by the runaways, though they lost only forty

men; for the French having put them to flight and got possession of

everything, did not pursue an army of more than three times their own

number. The main body of the Neapolitans, under Mack, did not behave

better. The king returned to Naples, where every day brought with it

tidings of some new disgrace from the army and the discovery of some new

treachery at home; till, four days after his return, the general sent

him advice that there was no prospect of stopping the progress of the

enemy, and that the royal family must look to their own personal safety.

The state of the public mind at Naples was such, at this time, that

neither the British minister nor the British Admiral thought it prudent

to appear at court. Their motions were watched; and the revolutionists

had even formed a plan for seizing and detaining them as hostages,

to prevent an attack on the city after the French should have taken

possession of it. A letter which Nelson addressed at this time to the

First Lord of the Admiralty, shows in what manner he contemplated the

possible issue of the storm, it was in these words:--"My dear lord,

there is an old saying, that when things are at the worst they must

mend: now the mind of man cannot fancy things worse than they are here.

But, thank God! my health is better, my mind never firmer, and my heart

in the right trim to comfort, relieve, and protect those whom it is

my duty to afford assistance to. Pray, my lord, assure our gracious

sovereign that while I live, I will support his glory; and that if I

fall, it shall be in a manner worthy of your lordship's faithful and

obliged Nelson. I must not write more. Every word may be a text for a

long letter."

Meantime Lady Hamilton arranged every thing for the removal of the royal

family. This was conducted on her part with the greatest address,

and without suspicion, because she had been in habits of constant

correspondence with the queen. It was known that the removal could not

be effected without danger; for the mob, and especially the lazzaroni,

were attached to the king; and as at this time they felt a natural

presumption in their own numbers and strength, they insisted that he

should not leave Naples. Several persons fell victims to their fury;

among others was a messenger from Vienna, whose body was dragged under

the windows of the palace in the king's sight. The king and queen spoke

to the mob, and pacified them; but it would not have been safe, while

they were in this agitated state, to have embarked the effects of the

royal family openly. Lady Hamilton, like a heroine of modern romance,

explored with no little danger a subterraneous passage leading from the

palace to the sea-side: through this passage the royal treasures, the

choicest pieces of painting and sculpture, and other property to the

amount of two millions and a half, were conveyed to the shore, and

stowed safely on board the English ships. On the night of the 21st,

at half-past eight, Nelson landed, brought out the whole royal family,

embarked them in three barges, and carried them safely, through a

tremendous sea, to the VANGUARD. Notice was then immediately given to

the British merchants, that they would be received on board any ships in

the squadron. Their property had previously been embarked in transports.

Two days were passed in the bay, for the purpose of taking such persons

on board as required an asylum; and, on the night of the 23rd, the fleet

sailed. The next day a more violent storm arose than Nelson had ever

before encountered. On the 25th, the youngest of the princes was taken

ill, and died in Lady Hamilton's arms. During this whole trying season,

Lady Hamilton waited upon the royal family with the zeal of the most

devoted servant, at a time when, except one man, no person belonging to

the court assisted them.

On the morning of the 26th the royal family were landed at Palermo.

It was soon seen that their flight had not been premature. Prince

Pignatelli, who had been left as vicar-general and viceroy, with

orders to defend the kingdom to the last rock in Calabria, sent

plenipotentiaries to the French camp before Capua; and they, for the

sake of saving the capital, signed an armistice, by which the

greater part of the kingdom was given up to the enemy: a cession that

necessarily led to the loss of the whole. This was on the 10th of

January. The French advanced towards Naples. Mack, under pretext of

taking shelter from the fury of the lazzaroni, fled to the French

General Championet, who sent him under an escort to Milan; but as France

hoped for further services from this wretched traitor, it was thought

prudent to treat him apparently as a prisoner of war. The Neapolitan

army disappeared in a few days: of the men, some, following their

officers, deserted to the enemy; the greater part took the opportunity

of disbanding themselves. The lazzaroni proved true to their country;

they attacked the enemy's advanced posts, drove them in, and were not

dispirited by the murderous defeat which they suffered from the main

body. Flying into the city, they continued to defend it, even after the

French had planted their artillery in the principal streets. Had there

been a man of genius to have directed their enthusiasm, or had there

been any correspondent feelings in the higher ranks, Naples might have

set a glorious example to Europe, and have proved the grave of

every Frenchman who entered it. But the vices of the government had

extinguished all other patriotism than that of the rabble, who had no

other than that sort of loyalty which was like the fidelity of a dog to

its master. This fidelity the French and their adherents counteracted

by another kind of devotion: the priests affirmed that St. Januarius

had declared in favour of the revolution. The miracle of his blood was

performed with the usual success, and more than usual effect, on the

very evening when, after two days of desperate fighting, the French

obtained possession of Naples. A French guard of honour was stationed

at his church. Championet gave, "Respect for St. Januarius!" as the word

for the army; and the next day TE DEUM was sung by the archbishop in the

cathedral; and the inhabitants were invited to attend the ceremony, and

join in thanksgiving for the glorious entry of the French; who, it was

said, being under the peculiar protection of Providence, had regenerated

the Neapolitans, and were come to establish and consolidate their

happiness.

It seems to have been Nelson's opinion that the Austrian cabinet

regarded the conquest of Naples with complacency, and that its

measures were directed so as designedly not to prevent the French from

overrunning it. That cabinet was assuredly capable of any folly, and of

any baseness; and it is not improbable that at this time, calculating

upon the success of the new coalition, it indulged a dream of adding

extensively to its former Italian possessions; and, therefore, left the

few remaining powers of Italy to be overthrown, as a means which would

facilitate its own ambitious views. The King of Sardinia, finding it

impossible longer to endure the exactions of France and the insults

of the French commissary, went to Leghorn, embarked on board a Danish

frigate, and sailed, under British protection, to Sardinia--that part of

his dominions which the maritime supremacy of England rendered a secure

asylum. On his arrival he published a protest against the conduct of

France, declaring, upon the faith and word of a king, that he had never

infringed, even in the slightest degree, the treaties which he had made

with the French republic. Tuscany was soon occupied by French troops--a

fate which bolder policy might, perhaps, have failed to avert, but which

its weak and timid neutrality rendered inevitable. Nelson began to

fear even for Sicily. "Oh, my dear sir," said he, writing to Commodore

Duckworth, "one thousand English troops would save Messina; and I fear

General Stuart cannot give me men to save this most important island!"

But his representations were not lost upon Sir Charles Stuart. This

officer hastened immediately from Minorca with 1000 men, assisted in the

measures of defence which were taken, and did not return before he

had satisfied himself that, if the Neapolitans were excluded from

the management of affairs, and the spirit of the peasantry properly

directed, Sicily was safe. Before his coming, Nelson had offered the

king, if no resources should arrive, to defend Messina with the ship's

company of an English man-of-war.

Russia had now entered into the war. Corfu, surrendered to a Russian and

Turkish fleet, acting now, for the first time, in strange confederacy

yet against a power which was certainly the common and worst enemy

of both. Troubridge having given up the blockade of Alexandria to Sir

Sidney Smith, joined Nelson, bringing with him a considerable addition

of strength; and in himself what Nelson valued more, a man, upon whose

sagacity, indefatigable zeal, and inexhaustible resources, he could

place full reliance. Troubridge was intrusted to commence the operations

against the French in the bay of Naples. Meantime Cardinal Ruffo, a man

of questionable character, but of a temper fitted for such times, having

landed in Calabria, raised what he called a Christian army, composed of

the best and the vilest materials--loyal peasants, enthusiastic priests

and friars, galley slaves, the emptying of the jails, and banditti.

The islands in the bay of Naples were joyfully delivered up by the

inhabitants, who were in a state of famine already, from the effect

of this baleful revolution. Troubridge distributed among them all his

flour, and Nelson pressed the Sicilian court incessantly for supplies;

telling them that L10,000 given away in provisions would, at this time,

purchase a kingdom. Money, he was told, they had not to give; and the

wisdom and integrity which might have supplied its wants were not to be

found. "There is nothing," said he, "which I propose, that is not,

so far as orders go, implicitly complied with; but the execution is

dreadful, and almost makes me mad. My desire to serve their majesties

faithfully, as is my duty, has been such that I am almost blind and worn

out; and cannot in my present state hold out much longer."

Before any government can be overthrown by the consent of the people,

the government must be intolerably oppressive, or the people thoroughly

corrupted. Bad as the misrule at Naples had been, its consequences had

been felt far less there than in Sicily; and the peasantry had that

attachment to the soil which gives birth to so many of the noblest as

well as of the happiest feelings. In all the islands the people were

perfectly frantic with joy when they saw the Neapolitan colours hoisted.

At Procida, Troubridge could not procure even a rag of the tri-coloured

flag to lay at the king's feet: it was rent into ten thousand pieces by

the inhabitants, and entirely destroyed. "The horrid treatment of the

French," he said, "had made them mad." It exasperated the ferocity of a

character which neither the laws nor the religion under which they lived

tended to mitigate. Their hatred was especially directed against

the Neapolitan revolutionists; and the fishermen, in concert among

themselves, chose each his own victim, whom he would stiletto when the

day of vengeance should arrive. The head of one was sent off one morning

to Troubridge, with his basket of grapes for breakfast; and a note from

the Italian who had, what he called, the glory of presenting it, saying,

he had killed the man as he was running away, and begging his excellency

to accept the head, and consider it as a proof of the writer's

attachment to the crown. With the first successes of the court the work

of punishment began. The judge at Ischia said it was necessary to have

a bishop to degrade the traitorous priests before he could execute them;

upon which Troubridge advised him to hang them first, and send them to

him afterwards, if he did not think that degradation sufficient. This

was said with the straightforward feeling of a sailor, who cared as

little for canon-law as he knew about it; but when he discovered that

the judge's orders were to go through the business in a summary manner,

under his sanction, he told him at once that could not be, for the

prisoners were not British subjects; and he declined having anything to

do with it. There were manifestly persons about the court, who, while

they thirsted for the pleasure of vengeance, were devising how to throw

the odium of it upon the English. They wanted to employ an English

man-of-war to carry the priests to Palermo for degradation, and then

bring them back for execution; and they applied to Troubridge for

a hangman, which he indignantly refused. He, meantime, was almost

heartbroken by the situation in which he found himself. He had promised

relief to the islanders, relying upon the queen's promise to him. He had

distributed the whole of his private stock,--there was plenty of grain

at Palermo, and in its neighbourhood, and yet none was sent him: the

enemy, he complained, had more interest there than the king; and the

distress for bread which he witnessed was such, he said, that it would

move even a Frenchman to pity.

Nelson's heart, too, was at this time a-shore. "To tell you," he says,

writing to Lady Hamilton, "how dreary and uncomfortable the VANGUARD

appears, is only telling you what it is to go from the pleasantest

society to a solitary cell, or from the dearest friends to no friends. I

am now perfectly the GREAT MAN--not a creature near me. From my heart I

wish myself the little man again. You and good Sir William have spoiled

me for any place but with you."

His mind was not in a happier state respecting public affairs. "As to

politics," said he, "at this time they are my abomination: the ministers

of kings and princes are as great scoundrels as ever lived. The brother

of the emperor is just going to marry the great Something of Russia, and

it is more than expected that a kingdom is to be found for him in Italy,

and that the king of Naples will be sacrificed." Had there been a wise

and manly spirit in the Italian states, or had the conduct of Austria

been directed by anything like a principle of honour, a more favourable

opportunity could not have been desired for restoring order and

prosperity in Europe, than the misconduct of the French Directory

at this time afforded. But Nelson perceived selfishness and knavery

wherever he looked; and even the pleasure of seeing a cause prosper,

in which he was so zealously engaged, was poisoned by his sense of the

rascality of those with whom he was compelled to act. At this juncture

intelligence arrived that the French fleet had escaped from Brest, under

cover of a fog, passed Cadiz unseen by Lord Keith's squadron, in hazy

weather, and entered the Mediterranean. It was said to consist of

twenty-four sail of the line, six frigates, and three sloops. The object

of the French was to liberate the Spanish fleet, form a junction with

them, act against Minorca and Sicily, and overpower our naval force

in the Mediterranean, by falling in with detached squadrons, and

thus destroying it in detail. When they arrived off Carthagena, they

requested the Spanish ships to make sail and join; but the Spaniards

replied they had not men to man them. To this it was answered that the

French had men enough on board for that purpose. But the Spaniards seem

to have been apprehensive of delivering up their ships thus entirely

into the power of such allies, and refused to come out. The fleet from

Cadiz, however, consisting of from seventeen to twenty sail of the line,

got out, under Masaredo, a man who then bore an honourable name, which

he has since rendered infamous by betraying his country. They met with

a violent storm off the coast of Oran, which dismasted many of their

ships, and so effectually disabled them as to prevent the junction, and

frustrate a well-planned expedition.

Before this occurred, and while the junction was as probable as it would

have been formidable, Nelson was in a state of the greatest anxiety.

"What a state am I in!" said he to Earl St. Vincent. "If I go, I risk,

and more than risk, Sicily; for we know, from experience, that more

depends upon opinion than upon acts themselves; and, as I stay, my heart

is breaking." His first business was to summon Troubridge to join him,

with all the ships of the line under his command, and a frigate, if

possible. Then hearing that the French had entered the Mediterranean,

and expecting them at Palermo, where he had only his own ship--with that

single ship he prepared to make all the resistance possible. Troubridge

having joined him, he left Captain E. J. Foote, of the SEAHORSE, to

command the smaller vessels in the bay of Naples, and sailed with six

ships--one a Portuguese, and a Portuguese corvette--telling Earl St.

Vincent that the squadron should never fall into the hands of the enemy.

"And before we are destroyed," said he, "I have little doubt but they

will have their wings so completely clipped that they may be easily

overtaken." It was just at this time that he received from Captain

Hallowell the present of the coffin. Such a present was regarded by the

men with natural astonishment. One of his old shipmates in the AGAMEMNON

said, "We shall have hot work of it indeed! You see the admiral intends

to fight till he is killed; and there he is to be buried." Nelson placed

it upright against the bulkhead of his cabin, behind his chair, where he

sat at dinner. The gift suited him at this time. It is said that he

was disappointed in the step-son whom he had loved so dearly from his

childhood, and who had saved his life at Teneriffe; and it is certain

that he had now formed an infatuated attachment for Lady Hamilton, which

totally weaned his affections from his wife. Farther than this, there is

no reason to believe that this most unfortunate attachment was criminal;

but this was criminality enough, and it brought with it its punishment.

Nelson was dissatisfied with himself, and therefore weary of the world.

This feeling he now frequently expressed. "There is no true happiness

in this life," said he, "and in my present state I could quit it with a

smile." And in a letter to his old friend Davison he said, "Believe me,

my only wish is to sink with honour into the grave; and when that shall

please God, I shall meet death with a smile. Not that I am insensible to

the honours and riches my king and country have heaped upon me--so much

more than any officer could deserve; yet am I ready to quit this world

of trouble, and envy none but those of the estate six feet by two."

Well had it been for Nelson if he had made no other sacrifices to this

unhappy attachment than his peace of mind; but it led to the only

blot upon his public character. While he sailed from Palermo, with

the intention of collecting his whole force, and keeping off Maretimo,

either to receive reinforcements there if the French were bound upwards,

or to hasten to Minorca if that should be their destination, Captain

Foote, in the Sea-horse, with the Neapolitan frigates, and some small

vessels, under his command, was left to act with a land force consisting

of a few regular troops, of four different nations, and with the armed

rabble which Cardinal Ruffo called the Christian army. His directions

were to co-operate to the utmost of his power with the royalists, at

whose head Ruffo had been placed, and he had no other instructions

whatever. Ruffo advancing without any plan, but relying upon the enemy's

want of numbers, which prevented them from attempting to act upon the

offensive, and ready to take advantage of any accident which might

occur, approached Naples. Fort St. Elmo, which commands the town, was

wholly garrisoned by the French troops; the castles of Uovo and Nuovo,

which commanded the anchorage, were chiefly defended by Neapolitan

revolutionists, the powerful men among them having taken shelter there.

If these castles were taken, the reduction of Fort St. Elmo would be

greatly expedited. They were strong places, and there was reason to

apprehend that the French fleet might arrive to relieve them. Ruffo

proposed to the garrison to capitulate, on condition that their persons

and property should be guaranteed, and that they should, at their own

option, either be sent to Toulon or remain at Naples, without being

molested either in their persons or families. This capitulation was

accepted: it was signed by the cardinal, and the Russian and Turkish

commanders; and lastly, by Captain Foote, as commander of the British

force. About six-and-thirty hours afterwards Nelson arrived in the

bay with a force which had joined him during his cruise, consisting of

seventeen sail of the line, with 1700 troops on board, and the Prince

Royal of Naples in the admiral's ship. A flag of truce was flying on the

castles, and on board the SEAHORSE. Nelson made a signal to annul the

treaty; declaring that he would grant rebels no other terms than those

of unconditional submission. The cardinal objected to this: nor could

all the arguments of Nelson, Sir W. Hamilton, and Lady Hamilton, who

took an active part in the conference, convince him that a treaty of

such a nature, solemnly concluded, could honourably be set aside. He

retired at last, silenced by Nelson's authority, but not convinced.

Captain Foote was sent out of the bay; and the garrisons, taken out

of the castles under pretence of carrying the treaty into effect, were

delivered over as rebels to the vengeance of the Sicilian court. A

deplorable transaction! a stain upon the memory of Nelson and the honour

of England! To palliate it would be in vain; to justify it would be

wicked: there is no alternative, for one who will not make himself a

participator in guilt, but to record the disgraceful story with sorrow

and with shame.

Prince Francesco Caraccioli, a younger branch of one of the noblest

Neapolitan families, escaped from one of these castles before it

capitulated. He was at the head of the marine, and was nearly seventy

years of age, bearing a high character, both for professional and

personal merit. He had accompanied the court to Sicily; but when the

revolutionary government, or Parthenopean Republic, as it was called,

issued an edict, ordering all absent Neapolitans to return on pain of

confiscation of their property, he solicited and obtained permission of

the king to return, his estates being very great. It is said that the

king, when he granted him this permission, warned him not to take any

part in politics; expressing at the same time his own persuasion that he

should recover his kingdom. But neither the king, nor he himself, ought

to have imagined that, in such times, a man of such reputation would be

permitted to remain inactive; and it soon appeared that Caraccioli was

again in command of the navy, and serving under the republic against his

late sovereign. The sailors reported that he was forced to act thus; and

this was believed, till it was seen that he directed ably the offensive

operations of the revolutionists, and did not avail himself of

opportunities for escaping when they offered. When the recovery of

Naples was evidently near, he applied to Cardinal Ruffo, and to the Duke

of Calvirrano, for protection; expressing his hope that the few days

during which he had been forced to obey the French would not outweigh

forty years of faithful services; but perhaps not receiving such

assurances as he wished, and knowing too well the temper of the Sicilian

court, he endeavoured to secrete himself, and a price was set upon his

head. More unfortunately for others than for himself, he was brought in

alive, having been discovered in the disguise of a peasant, and carried

one morning on board Lord Nelson's ship, with his hands tied behind him.

Caraccioli was well known to the British officers, and had been

ever highly esteemed by all who knew him. Captain Hardy ordered him

immediately to be unbound, and to be treated with all those attentions

which he felt due to a man who, when last on board the FOUDROYANT, had

been received as an admiral and a prince. Sir William and Lady Hamilton

were in the ship; but Nelson, it is affirmed, saw no one except his

own officers during the tragedy which ensued. His own determination was

made; and he issued an order to the Neapolitan commodore, Count Thurn,

to assemble a court-martial of Neapolitan officers, on board the British

flag-ship, proceed immediately to try the prisoner, and report to him,

if the charges were proved, what punishment he ought to suffer. These

proceedings were as rapid as possible; Caraccioli was brought on board

at nine in the forenoon, and the trial began at ten. It lasted two

hours: he averred in his defence that he had acted under compulsion,

having been compelled to serve as a common soldier, till he consented to

take command of the fleet. This, the apologists of Lord Nelson say, he

failed in proving. They forget that the possibility of proving it was

not allowed him, for he was brought to trial within an hour after he

was legally in arrest; and how, in that time, was he to collect his

witnesses? He was found guilty, and sentenced to death; and Nelson gave

orders that the sentence should be carried into effect that evening, at

five o'clock, on board the Sicilian frigate, LA MINERVA, by hanging him

at the fore-yard-arm till sunset; when the body was to be cut down and

thrown into the sea. Caraccioli requested Lieut. Parkinson, under

whose custody he was placed, to intercede with Lord Nelson for a second

trial--for this, among other reasons, that Count Thurn, who presided

at the court-martial, was notoriously his personal enemy. Nelson made

answer, that the prisoner had been fairly tried by the officers of his

own country, and he could not interfere; forgetting that, if he felt

himself justified in ordering the trial and the execution, no human

being could ever have questioned the propriety of his interfering on the

side of mercy. Caraccioli then entreated that he might be shot. "I am an

old man, sir," said he: "I leave no family to lament me, and therefore

cannot be supposed to be very anxious about prolonging my life; but the

disgrace of being hanged is dreadful to me." When this was repeated

to Nelson, he only told the lieutenant, with much agitation, to go and

attend his duty. As a last hope, Caraccioli asked the lieutenant if he

thought an application to Lady Hamilton would be beneficial? Parkinson

went to seek her; she was not to be seen on this occasion; but she was

present at the execution. She had the most devoted attachment to the

Neapolitan court; and the hatred which she felt against those whom she

regarded as its enemies, made her at this time forget what was due

to the character of her sex as well as of her country. Here, also, a

faithful historian is called upon to pronounce a severe and unqualified

condemnation of Nelson's conduct. Had he the authority of his Sicilian

majesty for proceeding as he did? If so, why was not that authority

produced? If not, why were the proceedings hurried on without it? Why

was the trial precipitated, so that it was impossible for the prisoner,

if he had been innocent, to provide the witnesses, who might have proved

him so? Why was a second trial refused, when the known animosity of the

president of the court against the prisoner was considered? Why was the

execution hastened, so as to preclude any appeal for mercy, and render

the prerogative of mercy useless? Doubtless, the British Admiral seemed

to himself to be acting under a rigid sense of justice; but to all

other persons it was obvious that he was influenced by an infatuated

attachment--a baneful passion, which destroyed his domestic happiness,

and now, in a second instance, stained ineffaceably his public

character.

The body was carried out to a considerable distance, and sunk in the

bay, with three double-headed shot, weighing 250 lbs., tied to its legs.

Between two or three weeks afterward, when the king was on board the

FOUDROYANT, a Neapolitan fisherman came to the ship, and solemnly

declared that Caraccioli had risen from the bottom of the sea, and was

coming as fast as he could to Naples, swimming half out of the water.

Such an account was listened to like a tale of idle credulity. The day

being fair, Nelson, to please the king, stood out to sea; but the ship

had not proceeded far before a body was distinctly seen, upright in the

water, and approaching them. It was soon recognised to be indeed the

corpse of Caraccioli, which had risen and floated, while the great

weights attached to the legs kept the body in a position like that of

a living man. A fact so extraordinary astonished the king, and perhaps

excited some feeling of superstitious fear, akin to regret. He gave

permission for the body to be taken on shore and receive Christian

burial. It produced no better effect. Naples exhibited more dreadful

scenes than it had witnessed in the days of Massaniello. After the

mob had had their fill of blood and plunder, the reins were given

to justice--if that can be called justice which annuls its own

stipulations, looks to the naked facts alone, disregarding all motives

and all circumstances; and without considering character, or science, or

sex, or youth, sacrifices its victims, not for the public weal, but for

the gratification of greedy vengeance.

The castles of St. Elmo, Gaieta, and Capua remained to be subdued. On

the land side there was no danger that the French in these garrisons

should be relieved, for Suvarof was now beginning to drive the enemy

before him; but Nelson thought his presence necessary in the bay of

Naples: and when Lord Keith, having received intelligence that the

French and Spanish fleets had formed a junction, and sailed for

Carthagena, ordered him to repair to Minorca with the whole or the

greater part of his force, he sent Admiral Duckworth with a small part

only. This was a dilemma which he had foreseen. "Should such an order

come at this moment," he said, in a letter previously written to the

Admiralty, "it would be a case for some consideration, whether Minorca

is to be risked, or the two kingdoms of Naples and Sicily; I rather

think my decision would be to risk the former." And after he had acted

upon this opinion, he wrote in these terms to the Duke of Clarence, with

whose high notions of obedience he was well acquainted: "I am well aware

of the consequences of disobeying my orders; but as I have often

before risked my life for the good cause, so I with cheerfulness did my

commission; for although a military tribunal may think me criminal, the

world will approve of my conduct; and I regard not my own safety when

the honour of my king is at stake."

Nelson was right in his judgment: no attempt was made on Minorca: and

the expulsion of the French from Naples may rather be said to have been

effected than accelerated by the English and Portuguese of the allied

fleet, acting upon shore, under Troubridge. The French commandant at

St. Elmo, relying upon the strength of the place, and the nature of

the force which attacked it, had insulted Captain Foote in the

grossest terms; but CITOYEN Mejan was soon taught better manners, when

Troubridge, in spite of every obstacle, opened five batteries upon

the fort. He was informed that none of his letters, with the insolent

printed words at the top, LIBERTE EQALITE, GUERRE AUX TYRANS, &c. would

be received; but that if he wrote like a soldier and a gentleman he

would be answered in the same style. The Frenchman then began to flatter

his antagonist upon the BIENFAISANCE and HUMANITE which, he said, were

the least of the many virtues which distinguished Monsieur Troubridge.

Monsieur Troubridge's BIENFAISANCE was at this time thinking of mining

the fort. "If we can accomplish that," said he, "I am a strong advocate

to send them, hostages and all, to Old Nick, and surprise him with a

group of nobility and republicans. Meantime," he added, "it was some

satisfaction to perceive that the shells fell well, and broke some

of their shins." Finally, to complete his character, Mejan offered to

surrender for 150,000 ducats. Great Britain, perhaps, has made but

too little use of this kind of artillery, which France has found so

effectual towards subjugating the continent: but Troubridge had the prey

within his reach; and in the course of a few days, his last battery,

"after much trouble and palaver," as he said, "brought the vagabonds to

their senses."

Troubridge had more difficulties to overcome this siege, from the

character of the Neapolitans who pretended to assist him, and whom he

made useful, than even from the strength of the place and the skill of

the French. "Such damned cowards and villains," he declared, "he had

never seen before." The men at the advanced posts carried on, what

he called, "a diabolical good understanding" with the enemy, and the

workmen would sometimes take fright and run away. "I make the best I

can," said he, "of the degenerate race I have to deal with; the whole

means of guns, ammunition, pioneers, &c., with all materials, rest with

them. With fair promises to the men, and threats of instant death if I

find any one erring, a little spur has been given." Nelson said of him

with truth, upon this occasion, that he was a first-rate general. "I

find, sir," said he afterwards in a letter to the Duke of Clarence,

"that General Koehler does not approve of such irregular proceedings as

naval officers attacking and defending fortifications. We have but one

idea--to get close alongside. None but a sailor would have placed a

battery only 180 yards from the Castle of St. Elmo; a soldier must have

gone according to art, and the /\/\/\/\ way. My brave Troubridge went

straight on, for we had no time to spare."

Troubridge then proceeded to Capua, and took the command of the motley

besieging force. One thousand of the best men in the fleet were sent

to assist in the siege. Just at this time Nelson received a peremptory

order from Lord Keith to sail with the whole of his force for the

protection of Minorca; or, at least, to retain no more than was

absolutely necessary at Sicily. "You will easily conceive my feelings,"

said he in communicating this to Earl St. Vincent; "but my mind, as your

lordship knows, was perfectly prepared for this order; and it is now,

more than ever, made up. At this moment I will not part with a single

ship; as I cannot do that without drawing a hundred and twenty men from

each ship, now at the siege of Capua. I am fully aware of the act I

have committed; but I am prepared for any fate which may await my

disobedience. Capua and Gaieta will soon fall; and the moment the

scoundrels of French are out of this kingdom I shall send eight or nine

ships of the line to Minorca. I have done what I thought right--others

may think differently; but it will be my consolation that I have gained

a kingdom, seated a faithful ally of his Majesty firmly on his throne,

and restored happiness to millions."

At Capua, Troubridge had the same difficulties as at St. Elmo; and being

farther from Naples, and from the fleet, was less able to overcome them.

The powder was so bad that he suspected treachery; and when he asked

Nelson to spare him forty casks from the ships, he told him it would be

necessary that some Englishmen should accompany it, or they would steal

one-half, and change the other. "All the men you see," said he, "gentle

and simple, are such notorious villains, that it is misery to be

with them." Capua, however, soon fell; Gaieta immediately afterwards

surrendered to Captain Louis of the MINOTAUR. Here the commanding

officer acted more unlike a Frenchman, Captain Louis said, than any

one he had ever met; meaning that he acted like a man of honour. He

required, however, that the garrison should carry away their horses,

and other pillaged property: to which Nelson replied, "That no property

which they did not bring with them into the country could be theirs: and

that the greatest care should be taken to prevent them from carrying it

away." "I am sorry," said he to Captain Louis, "that you have entered

into any altercation. There is no way of dealing with a Frenchman but to

knock him down; to be civil to them is only to be laughed at, when they

are enemies."

The whole kingdom of Naples was thus delivered by Nelson from the

French. The Admiralty, however, thought it expedient to censure him for

disobeying Lord Keith's orders, and thus hazarding Minorca, without, as

it appeared to them, any sufficient reason; and also for having landed

seamen for the siege of Capua, to form part of an army employed in

operations at a distance from the coast; where, in case of defeat,

they might have been prevented from returning to their ships; and they

enjoined him, "not to employ the seamen in like manner in future." This

reprimand was issued before the event was known; though, indeed, the

event would not affect the principle upon which it proceeded. When

Nelson communicated the tidings of his complete success, he said, in his

public letter, "that it would not be the less acceptable for having

been principally brought about by British sailors." His judgment in

thus employing them had been justified by the result; and his joy was

evidently heightened by the gratification of a professional and becoming

pride. To the first lord he said, at the same time, "I certainly, from

having only a left hand, cannot enter into details which may explain the

motives that actuated my conduct. My principle is, to assist in driving

the French to the devil, and in restoring peace and happiness to

mankind. I feel that I am fitter to do the action than to describe it."

He then added that he would take care of Minorca.

In expelling the French from Naples, Nelson had, with characteristic

zeal and ability, discharged his duty; but he deceived himself when he

imagined that he had seated Ferdinand firmly on his throne, and that

he had restored happiness to millions. These objects might have been

accomplished if it had been possible to inspire virtue and wisdom into

a vicious and infatuated court; and if Nelson's eyes had not been, as it

were, spell-bound by that unhappy attachment, which had now completely

mastered him, he would have seen things as they were; and might,

perhaps, have awakened the Sicilian court to a sense of their interest,

if not of their duty. That court employed itself in a miserable round

of folly and festivity, while the prisons of Naples were filled with

groans, and the scaffolds streamed with blood. St. Januarius was

solemnly removed from his rank as patron saint of the kingdom, having

been convicted of Jacobinism; and St. Antonio as solemnly installed in

his place. The king, instead of re-establishing order at Naples by his

presence, speedily returned to Palermo, to indulge in his favourite

amusements. Nelson, and the ambassador's family, accompanied the court;

and Troubridge remained, groaning over the villany and frivolity of

those with whom he was compelled to deal. A party of officers applied to

him for a passage to Palermo, to see the procession of St. Rosalia: he

recommended them to exercise their troops, and not behave like children.

It was grief enough for him that the court should be busied in these

follies, and Nelson involved in them. "I dread, my lord," said he, "all

the feasting, &c. at Palermo. I am sure your health will be hurt. If so,

all their saints will be damned by the navy. The king would be better

employed digesting a good government; everything gives way to their

pleasures. The money spent at Palermo gives discontent here; fifty

thousand people are unemployed, trade discouraged, manufactures at a

stand. It is the interest of many here to keep the king away: they all

dread reform. Their villanies are so deeply rooted, that if some method

is not taken to dig them out, this government cannot hold together. Out

of twenty millions of ducats, collected as the revenue, only thirteen

millions reach the treasury; and the king pays four ducats where he

should pay one. He is surrounded by thieves; and none of them have

honour or honesty enough to tell him the real and true state of things."

In another letter he expressed his sense of the miserable state of

Naples. "There are upwards of forty thousand families," said he, "who

have relations confined. If some act of oblivion is not passed, there

will be no end of persecution; for the people of this country have

no idea of anything but revenge, and to gain a point would swear ten

thousand false oaths. Constant efforts are made to get a man taken up,

in order to rob him. The confiscated property does not reach the king's

treasury. All thieves! It is selling for nothing. His own people, whom

he employs, are buying it up, and the vagabonds pocket the whole. I

should not be surprised to hear that they brought a bill of expenses

against him for the sale."

The Sicilian court, however, were at this time duly sensible of the

services which had been rendered them by the British fleet, and their

gratitude to Nelson was shown with proper and princely munificence. They

gave him the dukedom and domain of Bronte, worth about L3000 a year. It

was some days before he could be persuaded to accept it; the argument

which finally prevailed is said to have been suggested by the queen, and

urged, at her request, by Lady Hamilton upon her knees. "He considered

his own honour too much," she said, "if he persisted in refusing what

the king and queen felt to be absolutely necessary for the preservation

of theirs." The king himself, also, is said to have addressed him in

words, which show that the sense of rank will sometimes confer a virtue

upon those who seem to be most unworthy of the lot to which they have

been born: "Lord Nelson, do you wish that your name alone should pass

with honour to posterity; and that I, Ferdinand Bourbon, should

appear ungrateful?" He gave him also, when the dukedom was accepted, a

diamond-hilted sword, which his father, Char. III. of Spain, had given

him on his accession to the throne of the two Sicilies. Nelson said,

"the reward was magnificent, and worthy of a king, and he was determined

that the inhabitants on the domain should be the happiest in all his

Sicilian majesty's dominions. Yet," said he, speaking of these and

the other remunerations which were made him for his services, "these

presents, rich as they are, do not elevate me. My pride is, that at

Constantinople, from the grand seignior to the lowest Turk, the name of

Nelson is familiar in their mouths; and in this country I am everything

which a grateful monarch and people can call me." Nelson, however, had a

pardonable pride in the outward and visible signs of honour which he

had so fairly won. He was fond of his Sicilian title; the signification,

perhaps, pleased him; Duke of Thunder was what in Dahomy would be called

a STRONG NAME; it was to a sailor's taste; and certainly, to no man

could it ever be more applicable. But a simple offering, which he

received not long afterwards, from the island of Zante, affected him

with a deeper and finer feeling. The Greeks of that little community

sent him a golden-headed sword and a truncheon, set round with all the

diamonds that the island could furnish, in a single row. They thanked

him "for having, by his victory, preserved that part of Greece from the

horrors of anarchy; and prayed that his exploits might accelerate the

day, in which, amidst the glory and peace of thrones, the miseries of

the human race would cease." This unexpected tribute touched Nelson to

the heart. "No officer," he said, "had ever received from any country a

higher acknowledgment of his services."

The French still occupied the Roman states; from which, according to

their own admission, they had extorted in jewels, plate, specie, and

requisitions of every kind, to the enormous amount of eight millions

sterling; yet they affected to appear as deliverers among the people

whom they were thus cruelly plundering; and they distributed portraits

of Buonaparte, with the blasphemous inscription, "This is the true

likeness of the holy saviour of the world!" The people, detesting the

impiety, and groaning beneath the exactions of these perfidious

robbers, were ready to join any regular force that should come to their

assistance; but they dreaded Cardinal Ruffo's rabble, and declared

they would resist him as a banditti, who came only for the purpose of

pillage. Nelson perceived that no object was now so essential for the

tranquillity of Naples as the recovery of Rome; which in the present

state of things, when Suvarof was driving the French before him, would

complete the deliverance of Italy. He applied, therefore, to Sir James

St. Clair Erskine, who in the absence of General Fox commanded at

Minorca, to assist in this great object with 1200 men. "The field of

glory," said he, "is a large one, and was never more open to any one

than at this moment to you. Rome would throw open her gates and receive

you as her deliverer; and the pope would owe his restoration to a

heretic." But Sir James Erskine looked only at the difficulties of the

undertaking. "Twelve hundred men, he thought, would be too small a force

to be committed in such an enterprise; for Civita Vecchia was a regular

fortress; the local situation and climate also were such, that even if

this force were adequate, it would be proper to delay the expedition

till October. General Fox, too, was soon expected; and during his

absence, and under existing circumstances, he did not feel justified in

sending away such a detachment."

What this general thought it imprudent to attempt, Nelson and Troubridge

effected without his assistance, by a small detachment from the fleet.

Troubridge first sent Captain Hallowell to Civita Vecchia to offer the

garrison there and at Castle St. Angelo the same terms which had been

granted to Gaieta. Hallowell perceived, by the overstrained civility of

the officers who came off to him, and the compliments which they paid

to the English nation, that they were sensible of their own weakness and

their inability to offer any effectual resistance; but the French know,

that while they are in a condition to serve their government, they can

rely upon it for every possible exertion in their support; and this

reliance gives them hope and confidence to the last. Upon Hallowell's

report, Troubridge, who had now been made Sir Thomas for his services,

sent Captain Louis with a squadron to enforce the terms which he had

offered; and, as soon as he could leave Naples, he himself followed. The

French, who had no longer any hope from the fate of arms, relied upon

their skill in negotiation, and proposed terms to Troubridge with that

effrontery which characterises their public proceedings; but which is as

often successful as it is impudent. They had a man of the right stamp

to deal with. Their ambassador at Rome began by saying, that the Roman

territory was the property of the French by right of conquest. The

British commodore settled that point, by replying, "It is mine by

reconquest." A capitulation was soon concluded for all the Roman states,

and Captain Louis rowed up the Tiber in his barge, hoisted English

colours on the capitol, and acted for the time as governor of Rome. The

prophecy of the Irish poet was thus accomplished, and the friar

reaped the fruits; for Nelson, who was struck with the oddity of the

circumstance, and not a little pleased with it, obtained preferment for

him from the King of Sicily, and recommended him to the Pope.

Having thus completed his work upon the continent of Italy, Nelson's

whole attention was directed towards Malta; where Captain Ball, with

most inadequate means, was besieging the French garrison. Never was

any officer engaged in more anxious and painful service: the smallest

reinforcement from France would, at any moment, have turned the scale

against him; and had it not been for his consummate ability, and the

love and veneration with which the Maltese regarded him, Malta must have

remained in the hands of the enemy. Men, money, food--all things were

wanting. The garrison consisted of 5000 troops; the besieging force of

500 English and Portuguese marines, and about 1500 armed peasants. Long

and repeatedly did Nelson solicit troops to effect the reduction of

this important place. "It has been no fault of the navy," said he,

"that Malta has not been attacked by land; but we have neither the

means ourselves nor influence with those who have." The same causes of

demurral existed which prevented British troops from assisting in the

expulsion of the French from Rome. Sir James Erskine was expecting

General Fox; he could not act without orders; and not having, like

Nelson, that lively spring of hope within him, which partakes enough of

the nature of faith to work miracles in war, he thought it "evident that

unless a respectable land force, in numbers sufficient to undertake the

siege of such a garrison, in one of the strongest places of Europe, and

supplied with proportionate artillery and stores, were sent against

it, no reasonable hope could be entertained of its surrender." Nelson

groaned over the spirit of over-reasoning caution and unreasoning

obedience. "My heart," said he, "is almost broken. If the enemy gets

supplies in, we may bid adieu to Malta; all the force we can collect

would then be of little use against the strongest place in Europe. To

say that an officer is never, for any object, to alter his orders, is

what I cannot comprehend. The circumstances of this war so often vary,

that an officer has almost every moment to consider, what would my

superiors direct, did they know what was passing under my nose?" "But,

sir," said he writing to the Duke of Clarence, "I find few think as I

do. To obey orders is all perfection. To serve my king, and to destroy

the French, I consider as the great order of all, from which little

ones spring; and if one of these militate against it (for who can tell

exactly at a distance?) I go back and obey the great order and object,

to down--down with the damned French villains!--my blood boils at the

name of Frenchmen!"

At length, General Fox arrived at Minorca--and at length permitted Col.

Graham to go to Malta, but with means miserably limited. In fact, the

expedition was at a stand for want of money; when Troubridge arriving at

Messina to co-operate in it, and finding this fresh delay, immediately

offered all that he could command of his own. "I procured him, my lord,"

said he to Nelson,"1500 of my cobs--every farthing and every atom of me

shall be devoted to the cause." "What can this mean?" said Nelson, when

he learned that Col. Graham was ordered not to incur any expenses for

stores, or any articles except provisions!--"the cause cannot stand

still for want of a little money. If nobody will pay it, I will sell

Bronte and the Emperor of Russia's box." And he actually pledged Bronte

for L6600 if there should be any difficulty about paying the bills. The

long-delayed expedition was thus, at last, sent forth; but Troubridge

little imagined in what scenes of misery he was to bear his part. He

looked to Sicily for supplies: it was the interest, as well as the duty

of the Sicilian government to use every exertion for furnishing them;

and Nelson and the British ambassador were on the spot to press upon

them the necessity of exertion. But, though Nelson saw with what a

knavish crew the Sicilian court was surrounded, he was blind to

the vices of the court itself; and resigning himself wholly to Lady

Hamilton's influence, never even suspected the crooked policy which

it was remorselessly pursuing. The Maltese and the British in Malta

severely felt it. Troubridge, who had the truest affection for Nelson,

knew his infatuation, and feared that it might prove injurious to his

character, as well as fatal to an enterprise which had begun so well,

and been carried on so patiently.

"My lord," said he, writing to him from the siege, "we are dying off

fast for want. I learn that Sir William Hamilton says Prince Luzzi

refused corn some time ago, and Sir William does not think it worth

while making another application. If that be the case, I wish he

commanded this distressing scene instead of me. Puglia had an immense

harvest; near thirty sail left Messina before I did, to load corn. Will

they let us have any? If not, a short time will decide the business. The

German interest prevails. I wish I was at your Lordship's elbow for an

hour. ALL, ALL, will be thrown on you!--I will parry the blow as much as

in my power: I foresee much mischief brewing. God bless your Lordship; I

am miserable I cannot assist your operations more. Many happy returns

of the day to you--(it was the first of the new year)--I never spent so

miserable a one. I am not very tender-hearted; but really the distress

here would even move a Neapolitan." Soon afterwards he wrote, "I have

this day saved thirty thousand people from starving; but with this day

my ability ceases. As the government are bent on starving us, I see no

alternative but to leave these poor unhappy people to perish, without

our being witnesses of their distress. I curse the day I ever served

the Neapolitan government. We have characters, my lord, to lose; these

people have none. Do not suffer their infamous conduct to fall on us.

Our country is just, but severe. Such is the fever of my brain this

minute, that I assure you, on my honour, if the Palermo traitors were

here, I would shoot them first, and then myself. Girgenti is full of

corn; the money is ready to pay for it; we do not ask it as a gift. Oh!

could you see the horrid distress I daily experience, something would be

done. Some engine is at work against us at Naples; and I believe I hit

on the proper person. If you complain he will be immediately promoted,

agreeably to the Neapolitan custom. All I write to you is known at the

queen's. For my own part, I look upon the Neapolitans as the worst of

intriguing enemies: every hour shows me their infamy and duplicity. I

pray your lordship be cautious: your honest, open manner of acting will

be made a handle of. When I see you, and tell of their infamous tricks,

you will be as much surprised as I am. The whole will fall on you."

Nelson was not, and could not be, insensible to the distress which his

friend so earnestly represented. He begged, almost on his knees,

he said, small supplies of money and corn, to keep the Maltese from

starving. And when the court granted a small supply, protesting their

poverty, he believed their protestations, and was satisfied with

their professions, instead of insisting that the restrictions upon the

exportation of corn should be withdrawn. The anxiety, however, which he

endured, affected him so deeply that he said it had broken his spirit

for ever. Happily, all that Troubridge with so much reason foreboded,

did not come to pass. For Captain Ball, with more decision than Nelson

himself would have shown at that time and upon that occasion, ventured

upon a resolute measure, for which his name would deserve always to be

held in veneration by the Maltese, even if it had no other claims to the

love and reverence of a grateful people. Finding it hopeless longer to

look for succour or common humanity from the deceitful and infatuated

court of Sicily, which persisted in prohibiting by sanguinary edicts the

exportation of supplies, at his own risk, he sent his first lieutenant

to the port of Girgenti, with orders to seize and bring with him to

Malta the ships which were there lying laden with corn; of the numbers

of which he had received accurate information. These orders were

executed to the great delight and advantage of the shipowners and

proprietors: the necessity of raising the siege was removed, and Captain

Ball waited in calmness for the consequences to himself. The Neapolitan

government complained to the English ambassador, and the complaint was

communicated to Nelson, who, in return, requested Sir William Hamilton

would fully and plainly state, that the act ought not to be considered

as any intended disrespect to his Sicilian Majesty, but as of the

most absolute and imperious necessity; the alternative being either of

abandoning Malta to the French, or of anticipating the king's orders for

carrying the corn in those vessels to Malta. "I trust," he added, "that

the government of the country will never again force any of our royal

master's servants to so unpleasant an alternative." Thus ended the

complaint of the Neapolitan court. "The sole result was," says Mr.

Coleridge, "that the governor of Malta became an especial object of its

hatred, its fears, and its respect."

Nelson himself, at the beginning of February, sailed for that island.

On the way he fell in with a French squadron bound for its relief, and

consisting of the GENEREUX seventy-four, three frigates, and a corvette.

One of these frigates and the line-of-battle ship were taken; the

others escaped, but failed in their purpose of reaching La Valette. This

success was peculiarly gratifying to Nelson, for many reasons. During

some months he had acted as commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean,

while Lord Keith was in England. Lord Keith was now returned; and Nelson

had, upon his own plan, and at his own risk, left him to sail for Malta,

"for which," said he, "if I had not succeeded, I might have been broke:

and if I had not acted thus, the GENEREUX never would have been taken."

This ship was one of those which had escaped from Aboukir. Two frigates,

and the GUILLAUME TELL, eighty-six were all that now remained of the

fleet which Buonaparte had conducted to Egypt. The GUILLAUME TELL was

at this time closely watched in the harbour of La Valette; and shortly

afterwards, attempting to make her escape from thence, was taken after

an action, in which greater skill was never displayed by British ships,

nor greater gallantry by an enemy. She was taken by the FOUDROYANT,

LION, and PENELOPE frigate. Nelson, rejoicing at what he called this

glorious finish to the whole French Mediterranean fleet, rejoiced also

that he was not present to have taken a sprig of these brave men's

laurels. "They are," said he, "and I glory in them, my children; they

served in my school; and all of us caught our professional zeal and

fire from the great and good Earl St. Vincent. What a pleasure, what

happiness, to have the Nile fleet all taken, under my orders and

regulations!" The two frigates still remained in La Valette; before its

surrender they stole out; one was taken in the attempt; the other was

the only ship of the whole fleet which escaped capture or destruction.

Letters were found on board the GUILLAUME TELL showing that the French

were now become hopeless of preserving the conquest which they had so

foully acquired. Troubridge and his brother officers were anxious that

Nelson should have the honour of signing the capitulation. They told,

him that they absolutely, as far as they dared, insisted on his staying

to do this; but their earnest and affectionate entreaties were vain.

Sir William Hamilton had just been superseded: Nelson had no feeling of

cordiality towards Lord Keith; and thinking that after Earl St. Vincent

no man had so good a claim to the command in the Mediterranean as

himself, he applied for permission to return to England; telling the

First Lord of the Admiralty that his spirit could not submit patiently,

and that he was a broken-hearted man. From the time of his return

from Egypt, amid all the honours which were showered upon him, he had

suffered many mortifications. Sir Sidney Smith had been sent to Egypt

with orders to take under his command the squadron which Nelson had left

there. Sir Sidney appears to have thought that this command was to be

independent of Nelson; and Nelson himself thinking so, determined to

return, saying to Earl St. Vincent, "I do feel, for I am a man, that

it is impossible for me to serve in these seas with a squadron under a

junior officer." Earl St. Vincent seems to have dissuaded him from

this resolution: some heart-burnings, however, still remained, and some

incautious expressions of Sir Sidney's were noticed by him in terms of

evident displeasure. But this did not continue long, as no man bore more

willing testimony than Nelson to the admirable defence of Acre.

He differed from Sir Sidney as to the policy which ought to be pursued

toward the French in Egypt; and strictly commanded him, in the strongest

language, not, on any pretence, to permit a single Frenchman to leave

the country, saying that he considered it nothing short of madness to

permit that band of thieves to return to Europe. "No," said he, "to

Egypt they went with their own consent, and there they shall remain

while Nelson commands this squadron; for never, never, will he consent

to the return of one ship or Frenchman. I wish them to perish in Egypt,

and give an awful lesson to the world of the justice of the Almighty."

If Nelson had not thoroughly understood the character of the enemy

against whom he was engaged, their conduct in Egypt would have disclosed

it. After the battle of the Nile he had landed all his prisoners, upon a

solemn engagement made between Troubridge on one side and Captain Barre

on the other, that none of them should serve until regularly exchanged.

They were no sooner on shore than part of them were drafted into the

different regiments, and the remainder formed into a corps, called the

Nautic Legion. This occasioned Captain Hallowell to say that the French

had forfeited all claim to respect from us. "The army of Buonaparte,"

said he, "are entirely destitute of every principle of honour: they have

always acted like licentious thieves." Buonaparte's escape was the more

regretted by Nelson, because, if he had had sufficient force, he thought

it would certainly have been prevented. He wished to keep ships upon

the watch to intercept anything coming from Egypt; but the Admiralty

calculated upon the assistance of the Russian fleet, which failed when

it was most wanted. The ships which should have been thus employed were

then required for more pressing services; and the bloody Corsican was

thus enabled to reach Europe in safety; there to become the guilty

instrument of a wider-spreading destruction than any with which the

world had ever before been visited.

Nelson had other causes of chagrin. Earl St. Vincent, for whom he felt

such high respect, and whom Sir John Orde had challenged for having

nominated Nelson instead of himself to the command of the Nile squadron,

laid claim to prize money, as commander-in-chief, after he had quitted

the station. The point was contested, and decided against him. Nelson,

perhaps, felt this the more, because his own feelings, with regard to

money, were so different. An opinion had been given by Dr. Lawrence,

which would have excluded the junior flag-officers from prize-money.

When this was made known to him, his reply was in these words:

"Notwithstanding Dr. Lawrence's opinion, I do not believe I have any

right to exclude the junior flag-officers; and if I have, I desire that

no such claim may be made: no, not if it were sixty times the sum--and,

poor as I am, I were never to see prize-money."

A ship could not be spared to convey him to England; he therefore

travelled through Germany to Hamburgh, in company with his inseparable

friends, Sir William and Lady Hamilton. The Queen of Naples went with

them to Vienna. While they were at Leghorn, upon a report that the

French were approaching (for, through the folly of weak courts and the

treachery of venal cabinets, they had now recovered their ascendancy

in Italy), the people rose tumultuously, and would fain have persuaded

Nelson to lead them against the enemy. Public honours, and yet more

gratifying testimonials of public admiration, awaited Nelson wherever

he went. The Prince of Esterhazy entertained him in a style of Hungarian

magnificence--a hundred grenadiers, each six feet in height, constantly

waiting at table. At Madgeburgh, the master of the hotel where he was

entertained contrived to show him for money--admitting the curious to

mount a ladder, and peep at him through a small window. A wine merchant

at Hamburgh, who was above seventy years of age, requested to speak with

Lady Hamilton; and told her he had some Rhenish wine, of the vintage of

1625, which had been in his own possession more than half-a-century: he

had preserved it for some extraordinary occasion; and that which had now

arrived was far beyond any that he could ever have expected. His request

was, that her ladyship would prevail upon Lord Nelson to accept six

dozen of this incomparable wine: part of it would then have the honour

to flow into the heart's blood of that immortal hero; and this thought

would make him happy during the remainder of his life. Nelson, when this

singular request was reported to him, went into the room, and taking

the worthy old gentleman kindly by the hand, consented to receive six

bottles, provided the donor would dine with him next day. Twelve were

sent; and Nelson, saying that he hoped yet to win half-a-dozen more

great victories, promised to lay by six bottles of his Hamburgh friend's

wine, for the purpose of drinking one after each. A German pastor,

between seventy and eighty years of age, travelled forty miles, with the

Bible of his parish church, to request that Nelson would write his name

on the first leaf of it. He called him the Saviour of the Christian

world. The old man's hope deceived him. There was no Nelson upon shore,

or Europe would have been saved; but in his foresight of the horrors

with which all Germany and all Christendom were threatened by France,

the pastor could not possibly have apprehended more than has actually

taken place.