Part 35

Lord Nelson's love of humanity led him, in February 1805, on the trial of Colonel Marcus Despard, for high-treason, to bear the most honourable testimony to that officer's character: they had, his lordship said, formerly served together on the Spanish main; together been in the enemy's trenches, and slept in the same tent; and he had every reason to believe him a loyal man, and a brave officer. His lordship, however, was fully satisfied, in the end, that Colonel Despard had been guilty of the crime for which he was executed in Horsemonger Lane, Southwark, on the 21st of the same month. Lord Ellenborough, the learned judge before whom Colonel Despard was tried and convicted, on noticing, in his address to the jury, the circumstances of Lord Nelson's testimony, from the seat of justice which he so worthily fills, delivered this fine panegyric on our illustrious hero--"You have heard," said that manly, wise, and virtuous judge, "the high character given of the prisoner, by a man on whom to pronounce an eulogy were to waste words! But, you are to consider whether a change has not taken place, since the period of which he speaks. Happy, indeed, would it have been for him, if he had preserved that character down to this moment of peril!" Had there been a gleam of doubt, as to the guilt of the culprit, the jury would certainly have acquitted him in consequence of our hero's testimony as to his character; and such was, after all, it's influence on their minds, that when, in the usual form, they were asked whether he was "Guilty, or not guilty?" the foreman, though he replied--"Guilty;" immediately added--"but we earnestly recommend him to mercy, on account of his former good character, and the services he has rendered his country." No recommendation, however, the crime being so atrocious, and the guilt so manifest, could reasonably be expected to avail. It is said, though such disabolism can scarcely be credited, that attempts were made, on this occasion, by secret enemies of his lordship in very high rank, to prejudice characters still more elevated against him; and thus, as in some other respects, vilely insinuating that his most honourable and virtuous heart was tainted with the very vice which he ever held in the greatest abhorrence. Among the various gross imputations against his lordship, which the future historian may find registered in some of the preserved licentious public journals of blended facts and falshoods, and inconsiderately adopt, is that of the Hero of the Nile's having been so addicted to gaming, that he lost, at a single sitting, the whole he had gained, both pay and prize-money, during the year of that memorable victory: whereas, in truth, his lordship was so extremely adverse to this vice, that he had scarcely ever, in his life, entered any one of the fashionable gaming-houses; nor ever, as he repeatedly assured his friends, whom these base reports induced particularly to ask the question, won or lost even the trifling sum of twenty guineas! Notwithstanding this undoubted verity; there will, probably, always be found weak heads firmly believing, and vicious hearts basely pretending to believe, that this exalted man was actually of a gambling spirit. So difficult is it entirely to eradicate the rank but fertile growth of once disseminated calumny; which, sown in darkness, by the arch-enemy of mankind, springs up, and spreads it's pernicious influence, to check the fairer growth, and defeat the just hopes of the meritorious husbandman.

It has been already observed that, owing to the unaccommodating disposition of a neighbouring farmer, Lord Nelson had been unable to enlarge the grounds of his retirement at Merton, till he agreed to purchase the whole of Mr. Axe's estate. This, however, had been so far effected, at the latter end of the year 1802, that there wanted nothing, but certain legal formalities, for the conclusion of that business. His lordship and friends had already rendered Merton Place a little paradise, by their tasteful arrangements. They jointly directed the disposition of the most beautiful shrubs; and not unfrequently placed them in the earth, Sir William or Lady Hamilton assisting his lordship to plant them with his single hand. A small mulberry-tree, now only a few feet high, and standing in front of the house, not far distant from the canal, where it was fixed by Lord Nelson's own hand, may hereafter rival the celebrated mulberry-tree at Stratford upon Avon, planted by the immortal Shakspeare; the first dramatic bard, and naval hero, "take them for all in all," the world is ever likely to know. The prospect of immediately executing the desirable additional improvements in his lordship's estate, the plan of which had already been long contrived, was a source of considerable satisfaction to their anticipatory minds, as the spring season advanced. The purchase, indeed, was compleated the beginning of May 1803; but, events were now destined to occur, in the few intervening days, which rendered the possession of what had been so eagerly sought, of little value to either of the persons by whom it had been regarded as so sure a source of increased enjoyments.

Towards the latter end of March, Sir William Hamilton, then in his seventy-fourth year, suddenly felt himself more than usually indisposed. He was a gentleman of the most exalted understanding; and knew, perfectly well, from the nature of his sensations, that the period had arrived, when his corporeal dissolution must hourly be expected. This circumstance conveyed, to his excellent heart, no uncommon alarm: the serious contemplation of death, had not been deferred to the last moment of his existence; and he therefore beheld, without dismay, every step of it's awful approach. With a calmness which he was unable to communicate to his lady, he announced the solemn certainty; and declared his resolution immediately to leave Merton Place, lest he should, by dying there, render it an insupportable future abode to the feelings of his tender and illustrious friend. Sir William, on arriving at his house in Piccadilly, the 29th of March, instantly annexed the following remarkable codicil to his will--

"March 29,1803.

"The copy of Madame Le Brun's picture of Emma, in enamel, by Bone, I give to my dearest friend, Lord Nelson, Duke of Bronte: a small token of the great regard I have for his lordship; the most virtuous, loyal, and truly brave character, I have ever met with. God bless him! and shame fall on those who do not say--Amen."

The moment his lordship learned that Sir William Hamilton's physicians declared him to be in danger, he never once quitted him: but, during six nights, constantly sat up with his friend; who died, in the arms of Lady Hamilton, and with Lord Nelson's hand in his, on the 6th of April 1803. A few moments before Sir William's decease, he said to his lordship--"Brave and great Nelson, our friendship has been long, and I glory in my friend. I hope you will see justice done to Emma, by ministers; for you know how great her services have been, and what she has done for her country. Protect my dear wife; and may God bless you, and give you victory, and protect you in battle!" Then, turning to his lady--"My incomparable Emma," said he, "you have never, in thought, word, or deed, offended me; and let me thank you, again and again, for your affectionate kindness to me, all the time of our ten years happy union." Lord Nelson could scarcely be torn from the body of his friend. He requested Mrs. Nelson, now the Countess Nelson, immediately to take apartments for him: and begged her to tell Lady Hamilton, that it would not be right, now his friend was dead, to be an inmate of her ladyship's house; for it was a bad world, and her grief for the loss of her husband might not let her think of the impropriety of his continuing there. His lordship, accordingly, removed that evening to lodgings in Piccadilly.

It is remarkable that, the very day of Sir William's death, Captain Macnamara, Lord Nelson's old fellow-traveller when he visited France the latter end of the year 1783, killed Colonel Montgomery, and was himself shot through the left side by his antagonist, in a duel near Primrose Hill, Hampstead. They had been riding in Hyde Park, that morning, with each a Newfoundland dog; in whose first quarrelling and fighting, originated the dispute which so fatally terminated in the evening. Captain Macnamara was tried at the Old Bailey, on the 22d of the same month; but Lord Nelson, as well as his friends Lord Minto, Lord Hood, and Lord Hotham, giving him a most excellent character, though Judge Heath directed the jury to find a verdict of manslaughter, both from the evidence and the captain's own admission, they resolutely pronounced him--"Not guilty!"

Lord Nelson had not, now, been quite eighteen months at home; and, within less than the twelve last, his ardent hopes of a tranquil retirement with the friends he loved, had been twice cruelly chilled by the hand of death. Having lost the best of fathers, and the best of friends, with whom he was solicitous to have enjoyed his enlarged domains at Merton, before the incivility of a rude rustic, and the procrastinating formalities of legal conveyance, would permit him to possess the requisite additions for it's improvement. Indeed, without the aid of Sir William's income, the establishment at Merton Place, was already too great for Lord Nelson's slender fortune. It suited well enough their joint means, but was not adapted, individually, for either. However, even the possession of the whole had scarcely been obtained, and not at all occupied, when it was rendered useless to the hero; for, a renewal of the war being now inevitable, his transcendent abilities were instantly called for by the united voice of the nation.

On the 16th of May, little more than five weeks after the decease of his revered and regretted friend Sir William Hamilton, a message from his majesty announced to both houses of parliament the necessity for immediate war with France: and, the very next day, Lord Nelson, who had accepted the command of the Mediterranean fleet, departed for Portsmouth; from whence he sailed for Gibraltar, the day following, in the Amphion frigate, accompanied by the Victory of a hundred and ten guns, his lordship's flag-ship.

Previous to his departure, however, Lord Nelson, not unmindful of his dying friend's last request, had both written to, and waited on, Mr. Addington, respecting Lady Hamilton's pension; and this most honourable minister, as he has ever been generally esteemed, frankly told his lordship, that it certainly ought to be granted. Indeed, when it is duly considered, that Sir William Hamilton was the foster-brother of his present majesty, who always entertained for him the most affectionate regard; that he had, for thirty-six years, filled the character of British minister at the court of Naples, with a zeal and ability not to be surpassed, and with a munificent and splendid hospitality very rarely exercised; that his surviving lady, who constituted the chief felicity of his latter years, so contributed to promote all the best interests of her country, and all the dignity of a beloved husband who there held the honour of representing his sovereign, that the Queen of Naples, in a letter to his British majesty, dictated by the grateful feelings of her heart, expressly stated Lady Hamilton to have been--"her best friend and preserver! to whom she was indebted, certainly, for her life; and, probably, for the crown!" and that the pension of twelve hundred pounds a year, conferred on Sir William for his long diplomatic services, ceased at his death; added to the solicitations of such a man as Lord Nelson, and the avowal of so upright a minister as Mr. Addington: it must, certainly, appear evident that, if there had not been some very unaccountable neglect, or some most scandalous impediment, the just expectations of so many great and estimable characters, would long since have been satisfied by the grant of a liberal pension to Lady Hamilton; not only as the relict of such an honourable envoy, but for her ladyship's own individual public services to the country. What Lord Nelson thought on this subject, to the last hour of his most invaluable life, will necessarily be hereafter more particularly noticed.

Soon after his lordship's arrival at Gibraltar, while he was going up to Malta, in the month of June, for the purpose of collecting his ships, he wrote to Lady Hamilton that, when he was in sight of Vesuvius, his thoughts of his dear friend, Sir William, were so severe, that he had nearly fainted. Thus delicately tender were all the virtuous affections, in the bosom of this truly heroic man.

Though Lord Nelson was, now, established commander in chief, in some sense for the first time, the dread with which his name inspired the enemy rendered the service far too inactive for his lordship's taste. To watch the motions of a timid enemy, and wait the tedious periods of their venturing out, was to him a most irksome task. He disdained, however, any strict blockade of Toulon: but encouraged the boastful fleet, ignominiously skulking there, to come fairly forward; by always leaving them sufficient sea room; though he endeavoured to preserve over all their motions a constantly watchful eye. Month, after month, seemed sluggishly to pass away, in wearisome succession; though his lordship, whose mind was ever too alert for a state of actual supineness, kept continually cruizing about. He hoped that, at least, they might thus be encouraged secretly to detach a small squadron, which he had little doubt some of his brave fellows would soon contrive to pick up. In these cruizes, too, his lordship, at least, was certain of securing one object, ever the first regard of his heart, that of preserving the health of the men, without which no victory could be expected. His care, in this respect, was most unremittingly employed; and the following letter, written by Lord Nelson, at that period, to his friend and physician, the celebrated Dr. Moseley, of Chelsea Hospital, who has purposely favoured the biographer with a correct copy, will not only evince his lordship's indefatigable attention, and his very great skill and success, but prove otherwise considerably interesting.

"Victory, 11th of March 1804.

"MY DEAR DR. MOSELEY,

Yesterday, I received the favour of the 4th edition of your invaluable work on Tropical Diseases, &c. and, with it, your most kind letter: and, though I know myself not equal to your praises, yet I feel that my honest intentions for the good of the service have ever been the same; and, as I rise in rank, so do my exertions. The great thing, in all military service, is health; and you will agree with me, that it is easier for an officer to keep men healthy, than for a physician to cure them. Situated as this fleet has been, without a friendly port, where we could get all the things so necessary for us; yet I have, by changing the cruizing ground, not allowed the sameness of prospect to satiate the mind. Sometimes, by looking at Toulon, Ville Tranche, Barcelona, and Roses; then running round Minorca, Majorca, Sardinia, and Corsica; and, two or three times, anchoring for a few days, and sending a ship to the last place for onions--which I find the best thing that can be given to seamen: having, always, good mutton for the sick; cattle, when we can get them; and plenty of fresh water. In the winter, it is the best plan to give half the allowance of grog instead of all wine.

"These things are for the commander in chief to look to; but, shut very nearly out from Spain, and only getting refreshments by stealth from other places, my command has been an arduous one.

"Cornwallis has great merit for his persevering cruize; but he has every thing sent him, we have nothing. We seem forgotten, by the great folks at home. Our men's minds, however, are always kept up, with the daily hopes of meeting the enemy. I send you, as a curiosity, an account of our deaths, and sent to the hospital, out of 6000 men. The fleet put to sea on the 18th of May 1803, and is still at sea; not a ship has been refitted, or recruited, excepting what has been done at sea, You will readily believe, that all this must have shaken me. My sight is getting very bad; but I must not be sick, until after the French fleet is taken, Then, I shall soon hope to take you by the hand, and have farther recourse to your skill for my eye.

"I am always glad to hear good accounts of our dear Lady Hamilton. That she is beloved, wherever she is known, does not surprise me; the contrary would, very much. I am sure, she feels most sincerely all your kindness.

"Believe me, for ever, my dear doctor, your much obliged friend,

Nelson and Bronte

Dr. Moseley, Chelsea Hospital."

The account of the very few persons who had died, or been on the sick list, transmitted as a curiosity in the above letter, having been unfortunately lost by Dr. Moseley, their exact number cannot be ascertained.

Notwithstanding the opportunities given by Lord Nelson for the French fleet to depart from Toulon, either in the aggregate, by detached squadrons, or even single ships, more than a year elapsed without any of them daring to quit the port. A solitary frigate, indeed, had occasionally appeared, but was soon chased back, and no stratagem seemed capable of inducing them to move. Among other contrivances to put them in motion, was that of sending two or three ships of the line, with a single frigate, off the harbour, while the main body of the fleet remained at a considerable distance out of sight.

On the 23d of May 1804, Admiral Campbell in the Canopus, accompanied by Sir Richard Strachan in the Donegal, and the Amazon frigate, were detached by Lord Nelson thus to reconnoitre the enemy; and, after being some hours as near the mouth of the harbour as their batteries would allow, had the pleasure to behold three line of battle ships, and three frigates, come out. Our ships immediately tacked, in order to draw them from the land; but only went under an easy sail, so that they soon came within random-shot. When the enemy began to fire, the people of the Canopus were just sat down to dinner; which they quietly took, and then returned their fire: meaning, now, to bring them to close action, though so far superior. At this moment, however, two more ships of the line, with another frigate, were perceived coming up fast to their assistance. This was too great odds, so near their own batteries, and our small squadron were obliged to sheer off, under a press of sail. The French pursued them, for some time, still keeping the advantage of sailing; but, fearful of following too far, by the time they were five leagues from Toulon, they were recalled, about three quarters of an hour past three, by their signal-post from the hill, and all stood in again. At six, the rear-admiral saw our fleet to leeward, and joined them at half-past nine. They had heard, indistinctly, the firing: and the Leviathan was, in consequence, detached toward Toulon; but had not proceeded far, before our ships were perceived on their return. This trivial affair was magnified, by the French admiral, Latouche Treville, who had so manfully ventured to pursue, a little way, with two eighty-fours, three seventy-fours, three forty-four frigates, and a corvette, our two eighty-fours and a single frigate, into a compleat discomfiture of the whole British fleet!

In the mean time, though Lord Nelson could in no way contrive effectually to decoy out the wary Gallic boasters, their commerce was not only distressed, but nearly annihilated; their privateers were taken; and the British flag waved, with proud defiance, throughout the Mediterranean, and was unopposed even on the coast of France. The city of London, sensible of what the experienced security of the British commerce owed to his lordship's services, though uninformed as to the precise mode in which the hero's operations were conducted, now transmitted to him, through the lord-mayor, their public thanks, voted on the 9th of April 1804, for his skill and perseverance in blockading the port of Toulon, so as to prevent the enemy's fleet in that quarter from putting to sea. This panegyric, however intended, was not at all relished by his lordship, who had never approved of the blockading system. "Praise undeserved," the hero probably thought, as well as the poet, "is censure most severe." Under some such impression, therefore, instantly on receiving the lord-mayor's letter, which unfortunately arrived the famous 1st of August, he wrote the following animated answer; spiritedly declining any acceptance of thanks from his fellow-citizens, in which his own services seemed so imperfectly recognized, and from which his brave coadjutors were unjustly excluded.

"Victory, August 1, 1804.

"MY LORD,

"This day, I am honoured with your lordship's letter of April 9th; transmitting me the resolutions of the corporation of London, thanking me as commanding the fleet blockading Toulon. I do assure your lordship, that there is not that man breathing, who sets a higher value upon the thanks of his fellow-citizens of London than myself; but I should feel as much ashamed to receive them, for a particular service marked in the resolution, if I felt that I did not come within that line of service, as I should feel hurt at having a great victory passed over without notice.