exertions, and who were anxiously awaiting his return; but he nevertheless cheerfully complied with the British captain's wishes. His zeal and good conduct met its reward. "You have rendered me," said Nelson, " a very essential service, and it is not the custom of English seamen to be ungrateful. In the name of the officers and crew of this ship, I return you your schooner, and give you a certificate of your good conduct." The poor fellow returned joyously to his little craft, and on opening the letter found the following certificate. "These are to certify, that I took the schooner Harmony, Nathaniel Carver master, belonging to Plymouth; but on account of his good services, have given him up his vessel again. Dated, on board His Majesty's ship Albemarle, 17th Aug. 1782."*

Dependent upon this trivial incident (for although great stress has been laid upon it by Nelson's biographers, it was really a common-place occurrence) is an interesting trait of gratitude on one part, and of generosity and kindness on the other. While the Albemarle was cruising off Boston -the crew being severe sufferers from scurvy-the grateful Carver, at considerable personal risk, got alongside the frigate with a supply of four sheep and a quantity of vegetables, as a present to Captain Nelson. It was not without great difficulty that the man could be induced to accept payment for his seasonable and, indeed, invaluable supply; but finding that they could not be received on any other terms, he reluctantly consented to be paid a small sum of money. The whole supply, although intended for Nelson's private use, was, however, immediately handed over for the use of the sick.

On the 14th of August the Albemarle was chased for ten hours by a French squadron of four sail of the line and a frigate. The latter having outsailed the large ships, Nelson hove to for her; but she declined the combat. In order to evade his powerful adversaries, by whom he was surrounded, Nelson ran his ship among the shoals of St. George's Bank, where they were afraid to follow. The crew of the Albemarle being now very sickly, Nelson proceeded to Quebec; and after entering the St. Lawrence the pilot objected to take the ship on to Quebec, for want of

* The original certificate was afterwards framed and hung up in the house of Isaac Davis, Esq., of Boston.-Clarke and M'Arthur, vol. i. p. 49.

wind. Mindful only of the sufferings of his crew from that horrible disease scurvy, the energetic captain insisted on proceeding, and warped the ship through the north traverse. On the 17th of September the Albemarle reached Quebec, where the sick were sent to the hospital. At this place Nelson was prevented, through the firmness of his friend Mr. Alexander Davison, from entering into a very imprudent marriage.

On the 20th of October, the Albemarle sailed with a convoy for New York. Admiral Digby, the commanderin-chief on the station, a friend of Nelson's late uncle, Captain Suckling, congratulated our hero on coming upon a station where prize-money was to be made. "Yes, sir,' replied Nelson; "but the West Indies is the station for honour." And at the instigation of Lord Hood, who was then at Sandy Hook, the Albemarle was ordered to accompany his division of the fleet to the West Indies. Nelson was not long before he obtained the entire confidence of Lord Hood, who was, perhaps, the first officer of his rank in the service. It was on this station that Nelson first became acquainted with Prince William Henry-our late sailor king, William IV. In a letter to Captain Locker he thus mentions his position, and gives an opinion respecting the young prince:

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My situation in Lord Hood's fleet must be in the highest degree flattering to a young man. He [Lord Hood] treats me as if I was his son, and will, I am convinced, give me anything I can ask of him; nor is my situation with Prince William less flattering. Lord Hood was so kind as to tell him (indeed, I cannot make use of expressions strong enough to describe what I felt) that if he wished to ask questions relative to Naval Tactics,' I could give him as much information as any officer in the fleet. He will be, I am certain, an ornament to our service. He is a seaman which you could hardly suppose; every other qualification you may expect of him. But he will be a disciplinarian, and a strong one: he says he is determined every person shall serve his time before they shall be provided for, as he is obliged to serve his. A vast deal of notice has been taken of him at Jamaica; with the best temper and great good sense, he cannot fail of being pleasing to every one."

Nelson's personal appearance at this time is described

as very singular. The duke of Clarence, subsequently speaking of him, said, "I was then a midshipman on board the Barfleur, when Captain Nelson came alongside in his barge, who appeared the merest boy of a captain I ever beheld. He had on a full-laced uniform, his lank unpowdered hair was tied in a stiff Hessian tail of an extraordinary length, and the old-fashioned flaps of his waistcoat, added to the general quaintness of his figure, particularly attracted my notice. There was something irresistibly pleasing in his address and conversation; and an enthusiasm when speaking on professional subjects that showed he was no common being.'

The Albemarle was ordered to cruise off La Guayra, but beyond the fact of Nelson's detaining a Spanish launch, and hospitably entertaining the officers and crew (including a German prince), who had been engaged in botanical pursuits, no incident is recorded worthy of notice. News of peace having arrived, the Albemarle was ordered home. The ship arrived at Spithead 25th June, 1783, and was paid off at Portsmouth on the 3rd July. So popular was Nelson, that, although at the time seamen were very much disgusted at their treatment in the service, the whole ship's company volunteered to go with him if he could obtain command of another ship. On reaching London, Lord Hood presented Captain Nelson at court, where he was very graciously received by the king. Writing to his friend Mr. Hercules Ross, he makes use of the following magnanimous remarks:-"True honour, I hope, predominates in my mind far above riches. I have closed the war without a fortune; but I trust and, from the attention that has been paid to me, believe, that there is not a speck on my character."

* Clarke and M'Arthur, vol. i. p. 53.

CHAPTER II.

1783-1793.

THE letters as well as the recorded acts of Nelson up to this period show him as an anxious, highly honourable, and most zealous officer. An enthusiasm there was about him, doubtless, which does not ordinarily belong to men, and more particularly to sailors. Their life is one in which poetry and romantic flights of imagination are quickly dissipated by stern realities. Upon a review of Nelson's career up to this time, there had been little to give encouragement or ground for the glowing hope which apparently animated him. The shivering boy on the deserted deck of the Raisonable, the common drudge on board a West Indiaman, the Arctic failure, the debilitation of his Indian voyage, his service as a lieutenant, as a commander, and as a captain, had consisted in downright hard work, unenlightened by one ray of what may be termed glory. The misery and suffering he experienced in the Nicaraguan expedition was enough to have damped the ardour of most; but he rose superior to every trial, and still the vision before him was bright and cheering.

Peace came, and with it a probable season of inaction; but Nelson was not born for inactivity, and he had scarcely arranged his affairs after paying off the Albemarle, when he set out for France. His graphic description of his brief tour through the country, the object of whose darling ambition he was ordained afterwards to crush, is too interesting to be omitted:

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"On Tuesday morning, the 21st ult. [October, 1783], I set off from Salisbury-street, in company with Captain Macnamara of the navy, an old messmate of mine. I dined with Captain Locker, my old captain, at Malling, in Kent, and spent the night at his house. The next day we slept at Dover, and on Thursday morning we left England with a fine wind. In three hours and twenty minutes we were at breakfast in Monsieur Grandsire's at Calais. The quick transition struck me much. The manners, houses,

and eating, so very different to what we have in England. I had thoughts of fixing at Montreuil, about sixty miles from Calais, on the road to Paris. We set off en poste they called it, but we did not get on more than four miles an hour. Such carriages, such horses, such drivers, and such boots, you would have been ready to burst with laughing at the ridiculous figure they made together. The roads were paved with stones; therefore by the time we had travelled fifteen miles, we were pretty well shook up and heartily tired. We stopped at an inn, as they called it,- -a clean pigsty is far preferable. They showed us into a dirty room with two straw beds; they were clean, but that was all they could brag of. However, after a good laugh we went to bed and slept soundly until morning. How different to what we had found the day before at Dover! At daylight we set off, breakfasted at Boulogne, and got to Montreuil in the evening. This day we passed through the finest country my eyes ever beheld; not a spot (as big as my hand) but was in the highest cultivation, finely diversified with stately woods. Sometimes, for two miles together, you would suppose you were in a gentleman's park. The roads are mostly planted each side with trees, so that you drive in almost a continued avenue; but amidst such plenty they are poor indeed. Montreuil is situated upon a small hill, in the middle of a large plain, which extends as far as the eye can reach, except towards the sea, which is about twelve miles from it. Game here was in the greatest abundance; partridges, pheasants, woodcocks, snipes, hares, &c. &c. as cheap as you can possibly imagine, partridges twopencehalfpenny a brace, a noble turkey fifteen pence, and everything else in proportion. You will suppose that it was with great regret we turned our backs upon such an agree able place; but not a man that understood English, which was necessary to learn me French, could be found in the place. Our landlord at the inn is the same man that recommended Le Fleur to Sterne. From this place we proceeded on to Abbeville, ninety miles from Calais. This was a large town, well fortified; but even there I could not be accommodated to my wish, nor indeed good masters, that is, that understand grammatically. At last I determined to come here [St. Omer], which, indeed, is what we ought to have done at first; therefore, by the

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