no news whatever. A thousand compliments to the Chevalier. Keep yourself well, and believe me always your grateful friend, "CHARLOTTE." In November Nelson received from the Grand Signior the Order of the Crescent, the star of which was of diamonds, in acknowledgment of his zeal for the prosperity of the Sublime Porte. The respect paid to Nelson and the power exercised by him was very great. He wrote to Evan Nepean, Esq. on the 9th, and alluded to his extraordinary situation in this country. He says, "If I move, they think the country in danger, and that they are abandoned. If my flag is in a transport, they seem contented." On the 17th he rehoisted his flag on board the Foudroyant, but that ship being required for Messina to take troops, &c. for Malta, she sailed with the Culloden on the 25th, and Nelson shifted his flag to the Amy transport. Actively engaged as he was in the performance of his varied duties, and corresponding with an unparalleled constancy, it is surprising that a complaint to him should have emanated from the Admiralty of his allowing a convoy to depart without dispatches. He replies to the Secretary of the Admiralty, Nov. 26, 1799: "As a junior Flag Officer, of course, without those about me, as secretaries, interpreters, &c. I have been thrown into a more extensive correspondence than ever, perhaps, fell to the lot of any Admiral, and into a political situation, I own, out of my sphere. It is a fact, which it would not become me to boast of, but on the present occasion, that I have never but three times put my feet on the ground since December 1798, and except to the Court, that till after 8 o'clock at night, I never relax from business." 991 His sensitive nature breaks out in a letter to Earl Spencer, on the 28th November: "Do not, my dear Lord (he says), let the Admiralty write harshly to me,—my generous soul cannot bear it, being conscious it is entirely unmerited." How pathetic too in his letter to Commissioner Inglefield: "You must make allowances for a worn-out, 1 Admiralty Papers. blind, left-handed man." And this too from one only fortyone years of age, and all incurred by his great services rendered to his country. Towards the end of December Nelson received the present of a gold-hilted sword and cane from the Presidents of Zante for his liberation of that part of Greece, effected by the Battle of the Nile, an offering which he most highly prized. About the same time he also received another present from the Grand Signior, of a drawing of the Battle of the Nile and a portrait of himself. He was much gratified by this attention, and writes, "The present is certainly curious, and particularly in this point, that it assures me of the goodness of his heart; and a rare qualification for monarchs, that he does not forget services rendered to him. A handful of diamonds comes naturally from the hand of a great monarch, but this drawing, made probably for the occasion, could only come from an affectionate, amiable disposition." The Lords of the Admiralty commanded Lord Keith on the 30th of November to resume the command in the Mediterranean. Nelson's position, therefore, as acting Commander-inchief terminated on the 6th of January, 1800, on which day he received the intelligence, and again placed himself under the orders of Lord Keith. He hoisted his flag on board the Foudroyant on the 14th and on the 16th sailed for Palermo. On the 20th he joined Lord Keith in the Leghorn Roads, and sailed with him on the 25th. He again arrived at Palermo with Lord Keith on the 3rd of February, after which they separated for Malta. At Messina, on the 13th, he wrote the following to Lady Hamilton, and sent it through Mr. Roche, who at the same time solicited Lady Hamilton's good offices to obtain a passport for his housekeeper from the Giunto of Naples. "My dear Lady Hamilton, "Feb. 13, 1800. "I do not send you any news or opinions as this letter goes by post and may be opened, and as I wrote to you and Sir William yesterday, nothing particular has occurred. We are now off Messina with a fresh breeze and fair. Mr. 1 Letter to J. S. Smith, Esq. Letter Book. Roche has had the goodness to come on board. To say how I miss your house and company would be saying little; but in truth you and Sir William have so spoiled me that I am not happy anywhere else but with you, nor have I an idea that I ever can be. All my newspapers are purloined at Gibraltar, and I suspect a gentleman there has sent them to Lord Keith, for they are all stars. I see in Lord Grenville's note to Paris he concludes with saying, that the best mode he can recommend for France to have a solid peace is to replace its ancient princes on the throne. "I am your truly faithful and affectionate, "You will make my kindest regards to Sir William and to all the house, also duty to the Queen." Lady Hamilton's influence with the Queen brought upon her applications of all kinds from all classes of society. The Duchess of Sorrentino mentioned in the following letter from Lord Minto, was recommended by Captain Blackwood in the previous year. "My dear Lady Hamilton, "Vienna, January 25th, 1800. "I must first beg your good offices to deliver the inclosed to the Queen. The generous pardon she has sent me, and the gracious manner in which she conveyed it, with her own hand, make my past offences appear more extraordinary, and future ones of the same sort impossible. My sincere and unfeigned attachment for so gracious a mistress can never cease; and there is nothing in the world that appears so desirable to me as an opportunity of serving her. How happy must the consciousness which you enjoy of having rendered her essential services make you? May I beg you to tell me whether I may, in general, write confidentially, and with 1 There are not many of Nelson's letters thus signed. I believe that objections were made in England to the precedence given to the Ducal Sicilian title over that of the English Barony. Nelson's letter of introduction for Captain Hood to his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, Nov. 9, 1799, was signed Bronté Nelson, and other letters about the same time to Sir John Acton, Mr. Fagan, the Grand Vizir, and Lord Keith. entire freedom, either to you or her Majesty, by Neapolitan messengers. I am not sure whether I told you that I have found here the most perfect and the most charming picture of the Queen it is possible to imagine. She sat for it to Föyer, an excellent painter, in the year 1790, at Vienna. It is a charming thing merely as a work of art, but as a portrait, is quite invaluable, at least to me. I never saw so perfect and so fine a likeness. He has caught that moment of intelligent smile, of which I have seen you receive one, now and then, that made me envy you. It is a miniature of a large size. I found it in an unfinished state, and prevailed on him, although he had long left off miniature on account of his eyes, to finish it. I have not the least doubt that it is the best picture ever done for her. I certainly never saw any so good. It is nearly half-length, and has both hands in sight. I am afraid to ask you about Lord Nelson, fearing that this letter may find you in great affliction. If I understood Lord Nelson right, he seemed determined not to serve under any other than Lord St. Vincent. If he returns to England now, I take it for granted that Sir William will not accompany him, and that you will not leave the King and Queen until you have seen them restored to Naples and Caserta. I do not despair of partaking one day in that joyful sight; for I trust that before our return to England he may find leisure for another visit to Italy. I am sorry to say I am still a bachelor. I have been counting Lady Minto's steps almost every hour since the beginning of October. She was actually at Yarmouth the 1st of December, and was still there on the 17th; but I now hear by a messenger, come by the way of the Mediterranean, that she was about to return to London in despair, so that I must wait for spring. I hope you will have received my letter by the Duchess of Sorrentino; and I know you and our Queen sufficiently, to be sure that she and her infant will receive justice if it is due, and consolation if her claims should be invalid. I must once more recommend this pretty widow, and her orphan, to you most warmly. God bless you, my dear Lady Hamilton, and believe me ever most sincerely and truly, your affectionate and faithful, "MINTO." "My public letter, I trust, will sufficiently explain my taking upon me to deviate so materially from my orders, a step I was alone induced to take, from the idea that I should be the first to communicate intelligence, which I believed must be of consequence; add to which, as the wind was strong at N.E. when I sailed, I did not think that taking Palermo in my way, would make much difference as to the time of my arrival on my station. I must also confess to your Lordship, that I did not wish to fall in with Lord Keith, who would most probably have changed the good orders your Lordship gave me. Under these circumstances I hope to appear justified. "The very kind attentions I received from your Lordship, as well as from Sir William and Lady Hamilton (an event the more flattering from the little knowledge you had of me), induces me to say, that if any arrangement should render your Lordship's return to England necessary, nothing could make me more happy than your Lordship's making use of the Penelope. "On the day of my departure from hence, I was applied to, through the Consul, by Mr. Wyndham, to give a passage to the Duchess of Sorrentino, who was thus far on her way to Palermo, a request I was the more ready to comply with, from her having letters to Sir William and Lady Hamilton, as also from my knowledge of that lady in England. Fearing, however, to trespass too much on your Lordship's indulgence, by delaying to get on my station, I am obliged to put her on shore at this place, which I regret much, as her arriving soon at Palermo is of much consequence to her affairs. "I shall not trouble your Lordship with any detail respecting the Duchess of Sorrentino's views in Sicily, all of which are sufficiently explained in her letters to Sir William and Lady Hamilton. I have, therefore, only to request my best compliments may be made to Sir William and Lady Hamilton; and with much respect and esteem, I have |