Southey's Life of Nelson

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SOUTHEY

OF

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Biographical Note ........ 23

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Chapter I

Nelson 's Birth and Boyhood — He is entered on board the Eaisonnable — Goes to the West Indies in a Merchant-ship; then serves in the Triumph — He sails in Captain Phipp's Voyage of Discovery — Goes to the East Indies in the Seahorse, and returns in ill health — Serves as acting Lieutenant in the Worcester, and is made Lieutenant into the Lowestoffe, Commander into the Badger Brig, and Post into the HinchinbrooJc — Expedition against the Spanish Main — Sent to the North Seas in the Albemarle — Services during the American War.

Horatio, son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, was born September 29, 1758, in the parsonage-bouse of Burnham-Thorpe, a village in the county of Norfolk, of wbicb bis father was rector. The maiden name of his mother was Suckling:^ her grandmother was an elder sister of Sir Eobert Walpole,^ and this child was named after his god-father, the first Lord Walpole.^ Mrs. Nel-

1. Suckling. Her father was a grandnephew of Sir John Suckling, poet, courtier, and soldier in the reign of Cliarles I.

2. Sir Rodert Walpole (1676-1745). Leader of the Whig party and foremost figure in English politics during the reigns of George I and George II. He is regarded as having been the first to exercise the powers of a modern prime minister.

3. First Lord Walpole. Horatio, first Lord Walpole of Wolterton, was an elder brother of Sir Robert Walpole and a patron of Nelson's father. Since the first lord died in 1756, Nelson's godfather was presumably the second Lord Walpole, of the same name, who was about thirty-five years of age at the time of Nelson's birth. Neither the first nor the second Lord Walpole is to be confused with Sir Horace (or Horatio) Walpole of Strawberry Hill, the famous writer and antiquarian, who was a son of Sir Robert.

Bon 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 country newspaper that his uncle was appointed to the Raisonnahle, of sixty- four 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

1. Sixty-four guns. In the eighteenth century the ships of the British Navy were divided Into "rates," or classes, according to the number of guns they carried, as follows : first-rates carried from 100 to 120 guns mounted on three decks ; second-rates were ships of 98 or 90 guns ; third-rates were 80's, 74's, or 64's. Vessels of 64 guns or more were called "ships-of-the-line," i. e., strong enough to be put in the first line of a battle formatior ; smaller vessels were classified as frigates, sloops-of-war, brigs, etc., according to their rig and arrangement of guns. A frigate of Nelson's time was usually ship-rigged and carried about 24 guns mounted on the main deck and on raised decks fore and aft : she was used chiefly for scouting, carrying despatches, and. transmitting signals in battle. A sloop-of-war (the French corvette) carried all her guns on the main deck.

2. Bath. A city near Bristol in southwestern England, celebrated for Its mineral springs. In the eighteenth century it reached the height of its popularity as a center of fashion and health resort.

i come, and the first time we go into action a cannonball may knock off his head, and provide for him at once." 1

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 labor and of glory, so eminently distinguished him. "When a mere child, he strayed a bird'snesting from his grandmother's house in company with a cowboy : 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 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! grand-mamma,'* 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 honor. If the road is dangerous, you may return : but remember, boys, I leave it to your honor. ' ' 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 honor!" — There were some fine pears growing in the schoolmaster's garden, which the boys regarded as lawful booty ; 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 bed-fellow, 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 Raisonnahle 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

1. Because every other toy was afraid. Anecdotes such as the foregoing are characterized by Professor J. K. Laughton (Life of Nelson, p. 7) as "made to order, or exaggerations of old family Jokes." Southey was no doubt attracted by their narrative Interest, and felt less keenly than modern biographers the need of searching into their validity. They have a value also as illustrating the contemporary feeling for Nelson.

2. Chatham. A port on the Medway River, which forms below Chatham a wide estuary often employed by the British fleet as a base and winter-quarters. The Dutch in 1667 raided the port and destroyed most of the British Navy.

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 any one ; 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 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. ,

The Baisonnable having been commissioned on account of the dispute respecting the Falkland Islands,^ was paid off as soon as that difference with the court of Spain was accommodated, and Captain Suckling was removed to the Triumph, seventy-four, then stationed as a guardship^ in the Thames. This was considered as too inactive a station for a boy, and Nelson was therefore sent a voyage to the West Indies in a merchant-ship, commanded by Mr. John Rathbone, an excellent

1. Dispute respecting the Falkland Islands. Spain had received the Islands from France, and In 1770 drove out a small English settlement made there five years before. English naval preparations led Spain to give over her claims in 1771.

2. OuardsMp. A war-vessel appointed to protect and control the shipping of a port, and to receive naval recruits.

seaman, who had served as Master's mate^ under Captain Suckling in the DreadnoiigJit. He returned a prac-. tical seaman, hut with a hatred of the king's service, and a saying then common among the sailors — -'^Aft the most honor, forward the better man." Eathbone had probably been disappointed and disgusted in the Navy ; and, with no unfriendly intentions, warned Nelson against a profession which he himself had found hopeless. His uncle received him on board the Triumplbif on his return; and discovering his dislike to the Navy, took the best means of reconciling him to it. He held it out as a reward, that if he attended well to his navigation he should go in the cutter and decked long-boat^ which was attached to the commanding officer's ship at Chatham. Thus he became a good pilot for vessels of that description, from Chatham to the Tower, and down the Swin Channel to . the North Foreland,^ and acquired a confidence among rocks and sands, of which he often felt the value.

Nelson had not been many months on board the Triumph when his love of enterprise was excited by hearing that two ships were fitting out for a voyage of discovery toward the North Pole. In consequence of the difficulties which were expected on such a service, these vessels were to take out effective men instead of the usual number of boys. This, however, did not deter him from soliciting to be received, and by his

1. Master's mate. A petty officer (not eligible for promotion to commissioned rank) whose duty it was to assist the old-time sailing-master in navigating the ship, lading stores, and maintaining order on Bhip-board.

2. Cutter and decked long-loat. The largest of the ship's boats, provided with oars, mast, and sails, and with a crew usually of from twelve to fifteen men.

3. Totver . . . North Foreland. That is, he learned the channels of the Thames estuary from the Tower of London to the North Foreland at its outer eonthern extremity.

■ancle's interest^ lie Y\'as cdmitted as coxswain under Captain Lutwidge, second in command. The voyage was undertaken in compliance with an application from the Eoyal Society.^ Captain the Hon. Constantine John Phipps, eldest son of Lord Mulgrave, volunteered his services. The Racehorse and Carcass bombs^ were selected, as the strongest ships, and therefore best adapted for such a voyage ; and they were taken into dock and strengthened to render them as secure as possible against the ice. Two masters of Greenlandmen* were employed as pilots for each ship. No expedition was ever more carefully fitted out, and the First Lord of the Admiralty,^ Lord Sandwich, with a laudable solicitude, went on board himself before their departure, to see that everything had been completed to the wish of the officers. The ships were provided with a simple and excellent apparatus for distilling fresh from salt water, the invention of Dr. Irving, who accompanied the

.. 1. Interest. Influence.

' 2. Royal Society. "The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge." From its foundation 'In 1660 to the present time, the society has been the foremost organization of its type in England, including among its members the leaders of English scientific achievement. During the voj^age, which was undertaken in the interest of various branches of science, the vessels explored and mapped the northwest coast and Islands of Spitzbergen, reaching a point 80° 48' N.

I 3. Bombs. Bombs, or bomb-vessels, were staunch, broad-beamed crafts, built to carry mortar guns for throwing bombs at high angles,

4. Masters of Oreenlandmen. Captains of Greenland whaling vessels.

5. Admiralty. The Board of Admiralty, in which is vested the administration of the British Navy, consists of six members : the first lord, usually a civilian, who is head of the board and a cabinet minister ; four naval oflacers, called sea lords ; and one additional civilian lord. The first lord is in supreme authority, and it is held that his

■ constitutional powers permit him to issue orders on his own responsibility. Ordinarily, however, he does not act without the l^nowledge and concurrence of a majority of the board. In Nelson's time the powers of the Admiralty were more strictly confined to the control of the fleet, while financial and shore administration was in the hands of the Comptroller and the Navy Board. See p. 40, note 3.

expedition. It consisted merely of fitting a tnbe to the ship's kettle, and applying a wet mop to the surface, as the vapor was passing.^ By these means, from thirtyfour to forty gallons were produced every day.

They sailed from the Nore^ on the 4th of June :^ on the 6th of the following month they were in latitude 79° 56' 39"; longitude 9° 43' 30" E. The next day, about the place where most of the old discoverers had been stopped, the RaceJiorse was beset with ice ; but they hove her through with ice-anchors.^ Captain Phipps continued ranging along the ice northward and westward till the 24th; he then tried to the eastward. On the 30th he ,was in latitude 80° 13', longitude 18° 48' E., among the islands and in the ice, with no appearance of an opening for the ships. The weather was fine, mild, and unusually clear. Here they were becalmed in a large bay, with three apparent openings between the islands which formed it; but everywhere, as far as they could see, surrounded with ice. There was not a breath of air, the water was perfectly smooth, the ice covered with snow, low and even, except a few broken pieces near the edge ; and the pools of water in the middle of the ice-fields just crusted over with young ice. On the next day the ice closed upon them, and no opening was to be seen anywhere, except a hole, or lake, as it might be called, of about a mile and a half in circumference, where the ships lay fast to the ice with their ice-anchors. They filled their casks with water from these ice-fields, which was very pure and soft. The men were playing

1. Vapor Vjas passing. The steam carried by the tube from the top of the kettle was turned to water by wrapping the tube with a wet, cold mop.

2. The Nore. A sand-bar and lighthouse midway in the mouth of the Thames, forty-eight miles below London.

3. Jfth of June. In the year 1773.

4. Ice-anchors. Tiarge iron hooks, bent nearly at right angles, with sharp points to catch In the Ice.

on the ice all day; but the Greenland pilots, who were further than they had ever been before, and considered that the season was far advancing, were alarmed at being- thus beset.

The next day there was not the smallest opening, the ships were within less than two lengths of each other, separated by ice, and neither having room to turn. The ice, which the day before had been flat, and almost level with the water's edge, was now in many places forced higher than the mainyard,^ by the pieces squeezing together. A day of thick fog followed : it was succeeded by clear weather, but the passage by which the ships had entered from the westward was closed, and no open water was in sight, either in that or any other quarter. By the pilots' advice the men were set to cut a passage, and warp through the small openings to the westward. They sawed through pieces of ice twelve feet thick, and this labor continued the whole day, during which their utmost efforts did not move the ships above three hundred yards; while they were driven, together with the ice, far to the N. E. and E. by the current. Sometimes a field of several acres square would be lifted up between two larger islands, and incorporated with them ; and thus these larger pieces continued to grow by aggregation. Another day passed, and there seemed no probability of getting the ships out, without a strong E. or N. E. wind. The season was far advanced, and every hour lessened the chance of extricating themselves. Young as he was, Nelson was appointed to command one of the boats which were sent out to explore a passage into the open water. It was the means of saving a boat belonging to the Racehorse from a singular but imminent danger. Some of the officers had fired at and

1. Mainyard. The lowermost yard of the mainmast, twenty-five or thirty feet from the water.

wounded a walrus. As no other animal has so humanlike an expression in its countenance, so also is there none that seems to possess more of the passions of humanity. The wounded animal dived immediately, and brought up a number of its companions; and they all joined in an attack upon the boat. They wrested an oar from one of the men ; and it was with the utmost difficulty that the crew could prevent them from staving or upsetting her, till the Carcass's boat came up: and the walruses, finding their enemies thus reinforced, dispersed. Young Nelson exposed himself in a more daring manner. One night, during the mid-watch,^ he stole from the ship with one of his comrades, taking advantage of a rising fog, and set out over the ice in pursuit of a bear. It was not long before they were missed. The fog thickened, and Captain Lutwidge and his officers became exceedingly alarmed for their safety. Between three and four in the morning the weather cleared, and the two adventurers were seen, at a considerable distance from the ship, attacking a huge bear. The signal for them to return was immediately made : Nelson 's comrade called upon him to obey it, but in vain; his musket had flashed in the pan;^ their ammunition was expended; and a chasm in the ice, which divided him from the bear, probably preserved his life. *' Never mind," he cried ; ''do but let me get a blow at this devil with the butt-end of my musket, and we shall have him. ' ' Captain Lutwidge, however, seeing his danger, fired a gun, which had the desired effect of frightening the

1. Mid-icatc7i. From midnight to 4 A. M. On ship-board, the day beginning at midnight is divided Into fonr-hour "watches," except that the period from 4 to 8 P. M. is divided into "dog watches" of two hours each,

2. Flashed in the pan. Failed to discharge. The old flint-loclc musket was fired hy priming powder placed in a small pan at the base of the barrel and ignited by a spark: struclt with flint.

beast; and the boy then returned, somewhat afraid of the consequences of his trespass. The captain reprimanded him sternly for conduct so unworthy of the office which he filled, and desired to know what motive he could have for hunting a bear. ''Sir," said he, pouting his lip, as he was wont to do when agitated, *'I wished to kill the bear, that I might carry the skin to my father."

A party were now sent to an island, about twelve miles off (named Walden's Island in the chart, from the midshipman who was intrusted with this service), to see where the open water lay. They came back with information that the ice, though close all about them, was open to the westward, round the point by which they came in. They said also, that upon the island they had had a fresh east wind. This intelligence considerably abated the hopes of the crew, for where they lay it had been almost calm, and their main dependence had been upon the effect of an easterly wind in clearing the bay. There was but one alternative, either to wait the event of the weather upon the ships, or to betake themselves to the boats. The likelihood that it might be necessary to sacrifice the ships had been foreseen ; the boats, accordingly, were adapted, both in number and size, to transport, in case of emergency, the whole crew; and there were Dutch whalers upon the coast, in which they could all be conveyed to Europe. As for wintering where they were, that dreadful experiment had been already tried too often. No time was to be lost; the ships had driven into shoal water, having but fourteen fathoms. Should they, or the ice to which they were fast, take the ground, they must inevitably be lost: and at this time they were driving fast towards some rocks on the N. E. Captain Phipps had sent for the officers of both ships, and told them his intention of preparing the boats for going away. They were immediately hoisted out, and the fitting begun. Canvas bread-bags were made, in case it should be necessary suddenly to desert the vessels ; and men were sent with the lead and line to the northward and eastward, to sound wherever they found cracks in the ice, that they might have notice before the ice took the ground; for, in that case, the ships must have instantly been crushed or overset.

On the 7th of August they began to haul the boats over the ice. Nelson having command of the four-oared cutter. The men behaved excellently well, like true British seamen: they seemed reconciled to the thought of leaving the ships, and had full confidence in their officers. About noon, the ice appeared rather more open near the vessels ; and as the wind was easterly, though there was but little of it, the sails were set, and they got about a mile to the westward. They moved very slowly, and were not now nearly so far to the westward as when they were firs+ beset. However, all sail was kept upon them, to force them through whenever the ice slacked the least. "Whatever exertions were made, it could not be possible to get the boats to the water's edge before the 14th; and if the situation of the ships should not alter by that time, it would not be justifiable to stay longer by them. The Commander therefore resolved to carry on both attempts together, moving the boats constantly, and taking every opportunity of getting the ships through. A party was sent out next day to the westward, to examine the state of the ice: they returned with tidings that it was very heavy and close, consisting chiefly of large fields. The 'ships, however, moved something, and the ice itself was drifting westward. There was a thick fog, so that it was impossible to ascertain what advantage had been gained. It continued on the 9th ; but the ships were moved a little through some very small openings: the mist cleared off in the afternoon; and it was then perceived that they had driven much more than could have been expected to the westward, and that the ice itself had driven still farther. In the course of the day they got past the boats, and took them on board again. On the morrow the wind sprang up to the N. N. E. All sail was set, and the ships forced their way through a great deal of very heavy ice. They frequently struck, and with such force, that one stroke broke the shank of the Racehorse's best bower anchor:^ but the vessels made way; and by noon they had cleared the ice, and were out at sea. The next day they anchored in Smeerenberg Harbor, close to that island of which the westernmost point is called Hakluyt's^ Headland, in honor of the great promoter and compiler of our English voyages of discovery.

Here they remained for a few days, that the men might rest after their fatigue. No insect was to be seen in this dreary country, nor any species of reptile, not even the common earthworm. Large bodies of ice, called icebergs, filled up the valleys between high mountains, so dark, as, when contrasted with the snow, to appear black. The color of the ice was a lively light green. Opposite to the place where they had fixed their observatory was one of these icebergs, above three hundred feet high; its side towards the sea was nearly perpendicular, and a stream of water issued from it. Large pieces frequently broke off, and rolled down into the sea. There was no thunder nor lightning during

1. Shank of the test "bower anchor. The "best bower is the larger of the two anchors usually carried at a vessel's bow. The shank is the main shaft of the anchor, between the stock and the flukes.

2. Hakluyt's. Richard Hakluyt (c. 1553-1616). The final edition of his chief work, "The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation," appeared in 1600.

the whole time they were in these latitudes. The sky was generally loaded with hard white clouds, from which it was never entirely free, even in the clearest weather. They always knew when they were approaching the ice, long before they saw it, by a bright appearance near the horizon, which the Greenlandmen called the blink of the ice. The season was now so far advanced that nothing more could have been attempted, if, indeed, anything had been left untried: but the summer had been, unusually favorable, and they had carefully surveyed the wall of ice extending for more than twenty degrees between the latitudes of 80° and 81°, without the smallest appearance of any opening.

The ships were paid off shortly after their return to England ; and Nelson was then placed by his uncle with Captain Farmer, in the Seahorse, of twenty guns, then ^oing out to the East Indies in the squadron under Sir Edward Hughes. He was stationed in the foretop^ at watch and watch.^ His good conduct attracted the attention of the Master (afterwards Captain Surridge), in whose watch he was ; and, upon his recommendation, the Captain rated him as Midshipman.^ At this time his countenance was florid, and his appearance rather stout and athletic: but when he had been about eighteen

1. Foretop. A platform supported by the crosstrees at the foremast head. Nelson was here doing the work of an "able seaman," presumably in command of men stationed in the foretop to work sails.

2. Watch and watch. Serving one watch on and one off throughout the twenty-four hours.

3. Rated Mm as midshipman. In the eighteenth century there was a naval academy at Portsmouth accommodating about seventy "naval cadets." Most officers, however, began their training on ship-board as "captain's servants." At fifteen, which was Nelson's age at this time, they were rated as midshipmen. They were instructed in navigation by the sailing-master, and were expected to qualify in three or four years for the grade of lieutenant.

months in India^ he felt the effects of that climate, so perilous to European constitutions. The disease baffled all power of medicine; he was reduced almost to a skeleton ; the use of his limbs was for some time entirely lost; and the only hope that remained was from a voyage home. Accordingly he was brought home by Captain Pigot, in the Dolphin; and had it not been for the attentive and careful kindness of that officer on the way, Nelson would never have lived to reach his native shores. He had formed an acquaintance with Sir Charles Pole, Sir Thomas Troubridge, and other distinguished officers, then, like himself, beginning their career: he had left them pursuing that career in full enjoyment of health and hope, and was returning from a country in which all things were to him iaew and Interesting, with a body broken down by sickness, and spirits which had sunk with his strength. Long afterwards, when the name of Nelson was known as widely as that of England itself, he spoke of the feelings which he at this time endured. *'I felt impressed," said he, '^with a feeling that I should never rise in my profession. My mind was staggered with a view of the difficulties I had to surmount, and the little interest I possessed. I could discover no means of reaching the object of my ambition. After a long and gloomy reverie, in which I almost wished myself overboard, a sudden glow of patriotism was kindled within me, and presented my King and- country as my patron, 'Well then,' I exclaimed, 'I will be a hero! and, confiding in Providence, brave every danger!' "