The life of Nelson

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Chapter I

Nelson's birth and boyhood — He sails in Captain Phipps's voyage of discovery — Goes to the East Indies in the " Sea-horse," and returns in ill-health — Expedition against the Spanish main — Sent to the North Seas in the " Albemarle " — Services during the American war I

Chapter II

Nelson goes to France during the peace — Re-appointed to the " Boreas," and stationed at the Leeward Islands — His firm conduct concerning the American interlopers, and the contractors — Marries and returns to England — Is on the point of quitting the service in disgust — Manner of life while unemployed — Appointed to the "Agamemnon " on the breaking out of the war of the French Revolution 32

Chapter III

The "Agamemnon" sent to the Mediterranean — Commencement of Nelson's acquaintance with Sir W. Hamilton — He is sent to Corsica to co-operate with Paoli — State of affairs in that island viii CONTENTS.

— Nelson undertakes the siege of Bastia, and reduces it — Takes a distinguished part in the siege ofCalvi, where he loses an eye — Admiral Hotham's action — The "Agamemnon" ordered to Genoa to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian forces — Gross misconduct of the Austrian General 56

Chapter IV

Sir J. Jervis takes the Command — Genoa joins the French — Buonaparte begins his career — Evacuation of Corsica — Nelson hoists his broad Pendant in the " Minerve " — Action with the " Sabina "

— Battle of Cape St. Vincent — Nelson commands the inner Squadron at the Blockade of Cadiz — Boat action in the Bay of Cadiz — Expedition against Teneriffe — Nelson loses an arm — His sufferings in England, and Recovery ... 99

Chapter V

Nelson rejoins Earl St. Vincent in the " Vanguard; " sails in Pursuit of the French to Egypt; returns to Sicily, and sails again to Egypt — Battle of the Nile 132

Chapter VI

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

CONTENTS. ix

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from the Neapolitan and Roman States — Nelson is made Duke of Bronte — He leaves the Mediterranean and returns to England . . .166

Chapter VII

Nelson separates himself from his wife — Northern Confederacy — He goes to the Baltic, under Sir Hyde Parker — Battle of Copenhagen, and subsequent Negotiation — Nelson is made a Viscount 224

Chapter VIII

Sir Hyde Parker is recalled, and Nelson appointed Commander — He goes to Revel — Settlement of Affairs in the Baltic — Unsuccessful attempt upon the Flotilla at Boulogne — Peace of Amiens — Nelson takes the Command in the Mediterranean on the Renewal of the War — Escape of the Toulon Fleet — Nelson chases them to the West Indies and back; delivers up his Squadron to Admiral Cornwallis, and lands in England . . . 267

Chapter IX

Sir Robert Calder falls in with the combined Fleets — They form a junction with the Ferrol Squadron and get into Cadiz — Nelson is re-appointed to the Command — Battle of Trafalgar, Victory, and Death of Nelson 312

Introduction

Milton's saying that a good book is " the precious life-blood of a master spirit embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life," applies with especial force to a biography.

Many biographies are like jointed skeletons ; their subjects to us are as spectral shadows.

A biography is a life book written to make a man live again in the minds and hearts of succeeding generations, both author and subject living together in fraternal honor.

A true biography is a reincarnation. The conspicuous excellence of biographies fulfilling this ideal, such as Bos well's Johnson, Lockhart's Scott, and Stanley's Arnold, is evident.

The most famous biographer, Boswell, succeeded, as he caught the speech, the sayings, the living breath of his redoubtable hero. The ponderous Doctor lives by what he said more than by what he wrote ; what he said, what he wrote, and what he did make the threefold portrait of the man ; but what he said gives the lasting vitality to the features of the biography, -— the flesh and blood, color, and movement. A biography is made vital by an autobiographic quality.

xii INTRODUCTION.

Southey's "Life of Nelson 11 has been called "the peerless model of short biographies. 11 It has been said of him that "within his own limitations, he is a model of lucid masculine English, 11 that his style is "sinewy and flexible, easy and melodious. 11

Macaulay affirmed that " i The Life of Nelson ' is beyond all doubt the most perfect and the most delightful of Southey's works. 11 " It would not be easy to find in all literary history an instance of a more exact hit between wind and water. 11 Coleridge said Southey's style was next door to faultless, and Sir Humphrey Davy described the Life as "an immortal monument raised by genius to valor. 11

These are words of high praise. Of their truth every reader will judge for himself.

The one word transparent, does it not set forth the chief characteristic of Southey's style?

There is no doubt of the value of this story of a life to the naval world. No seaman of whatever nationality can read it without catching the professional spirit from its pages. But of what avail is it to the civilian whose eyes may never have looked upon " ships and the shining sea 11 ? This question can only be answered by saying that every well told chronicle of a life is of value to the majority of men, who always need mental and moral stimulus to arouse from depressing routine or idleness to high endeavor.

The atmosphere of the sea is here, the tonic of the sea breeze, the smell of tar, and the sight of backstays and shrouds, the cabin and the quarter-deck, gold lace and swords, cue and knee-breeches; the fore-

INTRODUCTION. xiii

castle, wide trousers, flying knot, cutlasses, pikes and pistols, the pride of topsails and royals, clouds of smoke ascending like battle incense, the thunders of great guns, and, far on high, the banner of England from the masthead, floating to the breeze.

When Southey wrote, he labored under a disadvantage in that he had not access to the volumes of Nicolas' dispatches of Nelson, which were published later, but his material was sufficient for his aim, — that of a brief biography.

The book is a marvel of condensation. Concise summaries of contemporaneous history enlighten the reader. He sees the setting of the stage on which the great play was performed. Southey achieved his main purpose, which was to interest his countrymen in their greatest naval hero. The volume was published in 1813, eight years after Nelson's death. The curtain had not yet been rung up on the last act of the drama at Waterloo, — a drama in which Nelson played such a conspicuous part.

Southey was outspoken in his detestation of Napoleon. He simply expressed, however, the general opinion of his countrymen in vigorous language. He spoke of "the bloody Corsican," "this adventurer," " the perfidious Corsican now sole tyrant of France," of " crimes which incarnadined his soul, 1 ' of his name being "consigned to universal execration now and forever."

His dislike of the French was no less strong than that of Nelson himself. The latter wrote, " ' Down, down with the French!' ought to be written in the xiv INTRODUCTION.

council room of every country in the world.' 1 One sentence of Southey's has become famous. Writing of the Nile battle, he said : " The French are upon that element on which, when the hour of trial comes, a Frenchman has no hope. 11

It was not a time for an Englishman to weigh the enigmatic Napoleon in delicate scales of expression.

But Southey does not mince words in his condemnation of his hero. He affirms that Nelson's conduct in the Caraccioli incident "deserves severe and .unqualified condemnation. 11 He characterizes the Lady Hamilton episode as a "baneful passion 11 which " stained ineffaceably his public character. 11

It is a strange story this of Emma Hart, Lady Hamilton. Born in an obscure village of England, of humblest origin, betrayed in girlhood, she gradually drifted to London, where she lived quietly and contentedly with a nephew of Sir William Hamilton, Greville by name, who educated her in the rudiments, and then, after a few years, coolly packed her off to his uncle at Naples. There she became a great favorite with the royal family. The alliance with England gave her especial prominence, as Sir William Hamilton was the British ambassador.

Nelson's captains spoke of the gross licentiousness of the Neapolitan court in unmeasured terms and regretted to see the infatuation which Lady Hamilton exerted over their admiral.

It does not seem strange, however, when, on the one hand, the extraordinary beauty of the woman is considered together with the crisis in the Kingdom of

INTRODUCTION. xv

Naples, and, on the other hand, the environment and lack of social experience of Nelson. Yet, while the situation can never be condoned, it may be accounted for.

It was no small temptation which befell the hero of the Nile. It was a very dangerous reef on which he ran, which wrecked him at the last. Skillful moral navigation depends upon a strong will helm, but when one finds himself amid the breakers, to clear them is sometimes a well-nigh impossible task.

This obscure woman, rising from the hedge-rows of England, lifted her head audaciously among the aristocratic nobility and fashion of a foreign court. Her wondrous beauty excited the admiration of her contemporaries. She had many attractions. She spoke Italian and "sang divinely." Musicians raved over her. Poets sang her praises. Artists strove to paint her. The Englishman Romney made twenty-three portraits of her. The great Reynolds immortalized her. Her form and features were thought worthy of the brushes of Hoppner and Lawrence and Madame Le Brun.

It happened that Goethe, in those Italian journeyings which made anew the world for him, was at Naples in March, 1787. He wrote : —

" Sir William Hamilton, who is still the British ambassador here, after having studied the works of nature for so long a time, has found a beautiful young woman the most delightful thing in art or nature. She is an Englishwoman, very beautiful in face and figure. She gives an entertainment dressed in a xvi INTRODUCTION.

Greek costume. Her hair hangs loose. She takes two shawls in her hands, and she so varies her attitudes, gestures, and play of features that it is like a dream. Kneeling, standing, sitting, she assumes by turns an expression of exaltation, repentance, anxiety, remorse, affection.' 11

Rehberg's drawings give some idea of her grace and beauty in these delineations, confirming Greville's remark, who is reported to have said : " She is better than anything in nature. In her particular way she is finer than anything in antique art. 1 '

The battle of the Nile had taken place. The annihilation of the French, which saved the Neapolitan Kingdom, caused the royal family, the Hamiltons, the nobility, the whole people, to be beside themselves with joy. The Queen exclaimed, on hearing the news : " 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 ! "

" Come here, 1 ' 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."

He went to Naples a hero, a deliverer of Italy from the French aggression ; the light of success and unexampled achievement lifted him up above the ordinary mortal in the eyes of the Neapolitan court ; but he was also a disabled seaman, worn out by fever and anxiety, thinking only of rest after the discomforts of

INTRODUCTION. xvii

the sea and the multitudinous anxieties of a long and trying campaign.

To a man in such condition, released for a time from the severe exactions of life aboard a man-of-war, with its routine of rigid discipline and its masculine monotony, the ordinary charms of domesticity would have appealed with unusual force ; but here were extraordinary allurements, — friends, devotion, worship almost, and a woman of unparalleled fascinations at his side.

Moreover, as Nelson believed, by Lady Hamilton's influence supplies had been obtained at Syracuse without which, he said, he could not have fought the battle of the Nile.

On Nelson's arrival at Naples, when the barge came alongside the Vanguard, at the sight of the admiral 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.' " He had written humorously in one of his letters to Lady Nelson that " salt water and absence wash away love," but there were stronger influences than these to make him unfaithful.

The attachment was outwardly that of pure Platonic affection ; not only Sir William Hamilton, but Nelson's family, seemed blind to the situation. Years after, as a climax of confidence, Sir William in a final codicil to his will presented a copy of Madame Le Brim's picture of enamel " to his dearest friend Lord Nelson, . . . the most virtuous, loyal, and truly xviii INTRODUCTION:

brave character I ever met with.

shame fall on those who do not say Amen."

But how can one account for the continuance of the relation, the undisguised disregard of public opinion? What opiate served to dull the sense of shame and quiet the conscience of a man, possessing great strength of character, upright in every other relation of life? It is a difficult question to answer.

He seems to have refused to consider the subject from the moral point of view, to have deliberately shut his eyes to consequences, and then to have lost what might have been the coronation of a fame most unique in the annals of English history.

It is a sad chapter.

The talents and capabilities of a naval officer are best shown in the ordinary pursuits of his calling in his official relations, though the public too often judge by the success which a happy coincidence may bring to him in the great naval engagement, where it may be abilities of a not very high order joined with great opportunities produce results incommensurate with the personal factor.

In the willingness to bear responsibility, that great test of professional eminence, Nelson was conspicuous.

This kind of courage cannot be appreciated unless military service is understood in its effect upon the individual. The duty of subordination is so driven in upon the brain of a naval officer, the acquiescence in the decisions of his seniors is so habitual, that to question these acts and to take responsibility at variance with superior authority is to reverse the whole introduction: xix

trend of his being, and it may be when justifiable to encounter the displeasure of the authorities who have power to make his life miserable for years in ways which are covered by official routine.

The same strength of character is required in circumstances which are political rather than naval. Nelson believed, to quote his own words, that "political courage in an officer abroad is as highly necessary as military courage."

The Antigua incident and his resistance to the violation of the Navigation Act in the West Indies show that his opinions found expression in his acts.

Throughout his career a willingness to take responsibility at the risk of losing all characterized this extraordinary man. He would abide by the consequences of his actions were he to be deprived of his commission, to lose his livelihood, to be flung upon the beach, or, if need be, to give up his life. But in no one particular does his claim to eminence as a naval officer shine forth more than in that perplexed position where duty comes in conflict with orders or regulations. " To obey orders, 11 he sarcastically wrote at one time, "is all perfection. 1 '

When emergencies arise, the true officer is governed by principles of patriotism in accordance with his judgment. If he suffer through a decision that he has infringed upon or violated his orders, and requires punishment, then it is that his suffering, while encountering injustice, it may be, has yet demonstrated his manhood. He has taken the chances of ingratitude and official displeasure and fallen ; but xx INTRODUCTION.

he has taken them as he would the privations of the service, wounds, and death.

The English people after a time began to recognize his worth, but his honors came slowly. He was actively engaged in the service of his countrymen thirty out of thirty-five years, and the years that he was overslaughed were to the credit of his integrity as an officer suffering under official displeasure.

Early in his career, after the engagement at Santa Cruz, he could say that he had actually been engaged against the enemy more than one hundred and ten days, and he had lost a right eye and a right arm, and was severely bruised in body beside. After the battles of St. Vincent and Teneriffe he received the Order of the Bath. In addition he had given him a pension of ^iooo, but the reward* was less than his due.

Late in his life he was created baron and then a viscount, and the year before his death, vice-admiral of the White.

After the battle of the Nile the admiration of the man grew fast and firm in the hearts of his countrymen. His shipmates and comrades honored him. To few men have been given more sincere tributes of praise and popular worship.

His fellow-countrymen will always remember the great battles associated with his name. This reward he would have esteemed above all other.

They remember him, as with a sudden stroke of genius, a master of the situation, when off St. Vincent, he wore his ship, the Captain, to bring her into close

INTRODUCTION. xxi

action with the enemy. They see him on the deck of the San Josef receive the captured swords ; and they remember how the great sailor handed these trophies one by one to a blue-jacket, one William Fearney by name, one of his bargemen, who placed them coolly under his arm as though they were ordinary things, his own ship in the meantime, in the great inequality of the contest done nearly to the death, a helpless wreck.

They behold him the conspicuous figure in that Egyptian night battle, as he with his " band of brothers" rounded the shoal into Aboukir Bay with his tall ships, and annihilated the enemy by his fast and furious fighting.

They treasure in their minds the picture of the Copenhagen fight. They see their maimed seaman, now famous, — the little man with the lion heart, their " heaven-born Admiral,'" — standing on the deck of the Elephant. They see him when, in the crisis of the fight, the signal was made to leave off action, pacing the deck, nervously moving the stump of his arm as was his wont, and, while he holds the glass in one hand to his sightless eye, lost in his country's service, saying: "I really do not see the signal. Keep mine for closer battle flying. That's the way I answer such signals. Nail mine to the mast ! "

But for all time they will remember this crippled veteran of the seas winning the tremendous fight off Trafalgar.

They read over again the immortal signal, " England expects every man to do his duty." They see xxii INTRODUCTION.

the anxious countenances in the dark cock-pit of the Victory and the suffering hero's face light up as he learns that he has won the battle. Again they look upon the big-hearted, big-bodied Captain Hardy as he stooped to kiss his cheek, wet with the death damp, ere the light of his life went out, expressing in this way the reverential tenderness, exceeding admiration, and deep sorrow of the land which he had loved and fought for.

Nelson was a man of medium height, spare but vigorous, with large eyes, and a " shock head " of hair, firm mouth, quick in his movements, of engaging personality.

There was nothing stolid about him. He was " a fascinating little fellow, 1 ' his Chaplain Scott said, affectionate and generous, a being of intuitions, of quick sympathies ; but, while he had persistence, infinite patience and perseverance, his nervous temperament, exhausted by protracted labor, left him a prey to anxiety. His chase after Buonaparte before the Nile battle wore him to the bone. He was sensitive to official censure. Reproved for sending a letter through a wrong official channel, he wrote to Lord Spencer, " Do not, my dear Lord, let the Admiralty write harshly to me."

Great ambition and much humility characterized him. Such a contrary union of qualities in the same individual served but to accentuate his personality to those with whom he came in contact. Like all strong characters, he cannot be surveyed and delimited on a chart, nor held to the conventionalities, social or professional.

INTRODUCTION. xxm

He had great tenderness toward and interest in his men, winning their admiration, — an attribute of the best commanders. " His whole ship's company offered, if he could get a ship, to enter for her immediately."

Thoroughness characterized him. After an engagement with the French, he desired to pursue the defeated enemy. To his request Admiral Hotham replied, " We must be contented ; we have done very well." " Now," said Nelson, " had we taken ten sail, and allowed the eleventh to escape, when it had been possible to have got at her, I never could have called it well done."

A religious man, he accepted the truth of Christianity and endeavored to conform to its principles and its faith. The night before Trafalgar he wrote, " For myself individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavors for serving my country faithfully."

He was not so in love with the push and peril of hard downright fighting as to neglect the subtler strategy. He would cripple the enemy and escape, permitting the larger force to crush it. To St. Vincent he wrote, " Your lordship may depend that the squadron under my command shall never fall into the hands of the enemy ; and before we are destroyed, I have little doubt but the enemy will have their wings so completely clipped that they may be easily overtaken."

Exceptional opportunities came to him in the long wars which Napoleon's ambition created. There was in him an exclusive purpose, which is the economy xxiv INTRODUCTION.

of success, and constancy, which is as necessary to achievement as the keel to a ship.

He had courage, presence of mind, and a restless ambition which ever impelled him. But his ardor most of all characterizes him, which found result in achievement over and over again, — a sacred flame in the light of which he did his country valiant service. He has become the embodiment of the professional ideal of the naval officer, and that has been his greatest achievement, the assurance of his fame.

Within him was that demonic energy which is as vital to great endeavors as the heart-beat to the body. "I know it is my disposition that difficulties and dangers do but increase my desire of attempting them," he said.

No mists of antiquity make enormous spectre shadows to disproportion his greatness. His career is read, not in the emblazoned pages of romantic chroniclers of old legends, but in the clear cold light of official dispatches and records made prosaic by the printingpress. Who shall gainsay the declaration of those who call him "the most brilliant sea warrior in all history " ?

Edward Kirk Rawson.

Chapter I

Horatio, son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, was born September 29, 1758, in the parsonage house of Burnham Thorpe, a village in the county of Norfolk of which his father was rector. The maiden name of his mother was Suckling : her grandmother was an elder sister of Sir Robert Walpole, and this child was named after his godfather, the first Lord Walpole. Mrs. Nelson died in 1767, leaving eight, out of eleven, children. Her brother, Captain Maurice Suckling, of the navy, visited the widower upon this event, and promised to take care of one of the boys. Three years afterwards, when Horatio was only twelve years of age, being at home during the Christmas holidays, he read in the county newspaper that his uncle was appointed to the " Raisonnable," of 64 guns. « Do, William," said he to a brother who was a year and a half older than himself, "write to my father, and tell him that I should like to go to sea with Uncle Maurice " Mr. Nelson was then at Bath, whither he had gone for the recovery of his health : his circumstances were straitened, and he had no prospect of ever seeing them bettered : he knew that it was the wish of providing for himself by which Horatio was chiefly actuated, and did not oppose his resolution*; he understood also the boy's character, and had always said that, in whatever station he might be placed, he would climb, if possible, to the very top of the tree. Accordingly Captain Suckling was written to. "What," said he in his answer, "has poor Horatio done, who is so weak, that he, above all the rest, should be sent to rough it out at sea ? But let him come, and the first time we go into action a cannon-ball may knock off his head, and provide for him at once."

It is manifest, from these words, that Horatio was not the boy whom his uncle would have chosen to bring up in his own profession. He was never of a strong body ; and the ague, which at that time was one of the most common diseases in England, had greatly reduced his strength ; yet he had already given proofs of that resolute heart and nobleness of mind, which, during his whole career of labour and of glory, so eminently distinguished him. When a mere child, he strayed birds-nesting from his mother's house in company with a cow-boy : the dinner-hour elapsed ; he was absent, and could not be found ; and the alarm of the family became very great, for they apprehended that he might have been carried off by the gipsies. At length, after search had been made for him in various directions, he was discovered alone, sitting composedly by the side of a brook, which he could not get over. " I wonder, child," said the old lady when she saw him, " that hunger and fear did not drive you home." "Fear! grandmamma," replied the future hero, " I never saw fear : what is it ? " Once, after the winter holidays, when he and his brother William had set off on horseback to return to school, they came back, because there had been a fall of snow ; and William, who did not much like the journey, said it was too deep for them to venture on. " If that be the case," said the father, " you certainly shall not go ; but make another attempt, and I will leave it to your honour. If the road is dangerous, you may return : but remember, boys, I leave it to your honour." The snow was deep enough to have afforded them a reasonable excuse ; but Horatio was not to be prevailed upon to turn back. " We must go on," said he : " remember, brother, it was left to our honour ! " There were some fine pears growing in the schoolmaster's garden, which the boys regarded as lawful booty, and in the highest degree tempting ; but the boldest among them were afraid to venture for the prize. Horatio volunteered upon this service : he was lowered down at night from the bedroom window by some sheets, plundered the tree, was drawn up with the pears, and then distributed them among his schoolfellows, without reserving any for himself. " He only took them," he said, "because every other boy was afraid."

Early on a cold and dark spring morning Mr. Nelson's servant arrived at this school at North Walsham with the expected summons for Horatio to join his ship. The parting from his brother William, who had been for so many years his playmate and bedfellow, was a painful effort, and was the beginning of those privations which are the sailor's lot through life. He accompanied his father to London. The " Raisonnable " was lying in the Medway. He was put into the Chatham stage, and on its arrival was set down with the rest of the passengers, and left to find his way on board as he could. After wandering about in the cold, without being able to reach the ship, an officer observed the forlorn appearance of the boy, questioned him, and happening to be acquainted with his uncle, took him home, and gave him some refreshments. When he got on board, Captain Suckling was not in the ship, nor had any person been apprised of the boy's coming. He paced the deck the whole remainder of the day, without being noticed by anyone ; and it was not till the second day that somebody, as he expressed it, " took compassion on him." The pain which is felt when we are first transplanted from our native soil — when the living branch is cut from the parent tree — is one of the most poignant which we have to endure through life. There are after-griefs which wound more deeply, which leave behind them scars never to be effaced, which bruise the spirit, and sometimes break the heart : but never, never do we feel so keenly the want of love, the necessity of being loved, and the sense of utter desertion, as when we first leave the haven of home, and are, as it were, pushed off upon the stream of life. Added to these feelings, the sea-boy has to endure physical hardships, and the privation of every comfort, even of sleep. Nelson had a feeble body and an affectionate heart, and he remembered through life his first days of wretchedness in the service.