more come of it, my humble services will be accepted. I have invariably laid down, and followed close, a plan of what ought to be uppermost in the breast of an Officer: that it is much better to serve an ungrateful Country, than to give up his own fame. Posterity will do him justice: a uniform conduct of honour and integrity seldom fails of bringing a man to the goal of Fame at last.-But to what am I getting? Into a Sermon. Mrs. N. joins in best compliments to Mrs. Ross; and believe me ever, my dear friend, Your affectionate, HORATIO NELSON. TO VISCOUNT HOWE, FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY. [Original draught, in the Nelson Papers. No date, but probably written in May 1788.] My Lord, [May 1788.] I have twice, since my arrival in Town, done myself the honour of calling at your Lordship's, in order to pay my personal respects; and to assure you, that as I have always been, so I continue, ever in readiness to undertake any service to which the Admiralty may think it proper to appoint me. My zeal for his Majesty's Service is as great as I once flattered myself your Lordship thought it. I have had hopes that the Admiralty would have ordered me the same allowance at least, as was given to a junior Officer left in the command at Jamaica; and I hope your Lordship will give me countenance in an application for it. I trust it is incontrovertible, that I did my duty with the most rigid attention; and, that the business of the Naval Yard was never paid more attention to, than by myself. The Navy-Board, I am sure, at this moment, are inclined to believe, that the difficulties said by their Officers to be thrown in the way of their duty by me, arose only from my close investigation of their conduct; which prevented their impositions from taking effect. Every artificer and seaman employed in the Naval Yard receives additional pay; and shall the Officer who has the conducting of the whole business be the only one (in this instance) who is neglected? I trust, by your Lordship's answer, it will not be so. The trouble 1 was at in investigating these frauds, it is most true, was no more than my duty; but indeed, the expenses attending my going so often to St. John's, a distance of twelve miles, I little thought would have fallen upon me out of my pay as Captain of the Boreas. I am, &c. HORATIO NELSON. TO H. R. H. PRINCE WILLIAM HENRY. [Original, in the possession of William Henry Whitehead, Esq.] My Prince, It was not until a very few days ago, that I heard your Royal Highness was going the cruise with the Squadron now at Spithead. I am most sincerely glad to hear it, and am assured it is quite the thing you wish. Your Royal Highness knows every thing relative to a single Ship; and it can only be by commanding a Fleet which will establish your fame, make you the darling of the Nation, and hand down your Name with honour and glory to posterity. Indeed I have another very strong reason for being pleased at your serving near Home, which is, that the actions of all Officers, however brilliant, are wonderfully obscured by serving at a distance, for the capture of a Privateer makes more noise, taken in the Channel, than a Frigate, or even a Ship of the Line, afar off. Therefore, although the discipline and high order of your Ship is known to many others as well as myself, yet it will now be much more talked of; and the King will be more acquainted with the exact state of the Andromeda than [by] any representations made from abroad. I am most totally ignorant whether to expect you back with the Fleet, or if you proceed abroad; should the former be the case, if your Royal Highness comes within the reach of my purse, I shall most certainly pay my humble duty. Should the latter take place, I shall, as soon as I know to what part of the World you are destined, trouble your Royal Highness with letters, an honour which you have most condescendingly permitted me. I am most truly sensible of your kindness to me on all occa sions, and although Mr. Herbert was hard enough to withstand your solicitations, yet my obligation is the same: there may be a thing, perhaps, within reach of your Royal Highness; therefore, trusting to your goodness, I shall mention it. The Princess Royal must very soon have a Household appointed her. I believe a word from your Royal Highness would obtain a promise of a situation in her Royal Highness's Establishment not unbecoming the wife of a Captain in the Navy; but I have only ventured to say thus much, and leave the issue to your better judgment; being, with the highest regard and attachment, Your Royal Highness's most faithful HORATIO NELSON. Sir. TO PHILIP STEPHENS, ESQ., ADMIRALTY. [Autograph, in the Nelson Papers.] Barton, near Norwich, Norfolk, August 8th, 1788. Having seen by the Gazette a new Board of Admiralty9 is appointed, I feel it my duty to request you will be pleased to assure their Lordships of my readiness to serve whenever they may think proper to call for my services. I am, Sir, &c. HORATIO NELSON. TO MRS. NELSON. [From Clarke and M'Arthur, vol. i. p. 109.] London, 26th August 1788. I saw Lord Hood this morning; he made many inquiries after you, and was very civil. He assured me, that a Ship in The New Board was appointed on the 6th July 1788. The Earl of Chatham became First Lord; and the Naval Lords were Vice-Admiral Lord Hood and Rear-Admiral the Honourable John Leveson Gower. peaceable times was not desirable: but that should any Hostilities take place, I need not fear having a good Ship.1 I am, &c. HORATIO NELSON. Sir, TO PHILIP STEPHENS, ESQ., ADMIRALTY, [Autograph draught, in the Nelson Papers.] Burnham, December 26th, 1788. Having received a letter from Mr. Charles Lock,2 late a Midshipman on board the Boreas, under my command, stating that on his going to be Examined touching his qualification as Lieutenant, the Comptroller of the Navy and the Passing Captains had refused to examine him, as he had been rated for a longer time Captain's Servant on board the Boreas, than they thought it proper, and requesting that I would state his situation to the Lords of the Admiralty, that they might be induced to give an Order to the Passing Board, that Mr. Lock might be examined. 3 I had occasion to write to the Board relative to Mr. John Talbot, in a similar situation, and to that Letter I must beg leave to refer you; and have only to observe that I have always supposed that Servants were allowed for bringing up so many Seamen for the Navy, and that I thought I was performing a meritorious service, in taking for my Servants a set of young men to make Officers of, without a nursery for whom, I am well assured our Service must suffer. The want of good Petty Officers, and consequently good Lieutenants, is well known to have been most severely felt 1 In October 1788, Nelson wrote to his friend Commodore Cornwallis, who was then going to the East Indies, expressing his desire to serve under him. In reply, dated on the 10th of that month, Commodore Cornwallis assured him that it would have given him the greatest pleasure to have him in one of the Ships, and though he remembered that Nelson was once partial to the part of the world to which he was going, yet his fireside was so changed since that time, that he durst not venture to name him; but that if more Ships were sent out, nothing could give him greater pleasure than to have the happiness of seeing him in one of them."-Original, in the Nelson Papers. 2 Vide p. 108, ante. 3 The present Admiral the Honourable Sir John Talbot, G.C.B. during the late War, and if this young man is qualified, I humbly apprehend it can make no difference to the Service what pay he received. I have certified to the Passing Captains, and do now assure their Lordships that Mr. C. Lock was on board the Boreas during my whole command, three years and nine months, and did learn and perform the duties of Mate and Midshipman; and indeed, I cannot but help thinking that the Service would have suffered had I either rated these young men, or not taken more on board than the complement, viz. two Mates and four Midshipmen. Your letter of October, I received last night, and have sent the enclosed to Sir Charles Middleton this morning. I am most sincerely sorry for your situation,5 and hope that 4 On being placed on Half-pay, Captain Nelson intended to go to France with his wife, to acquire the French language; but they were persuaded by his father to reside with him at his Parsonage of Burnham Thorpe, where they remained until he was appointed to the Agamemnon, in January 1793. His Biographers say, "He employed himself with considerable zeal while at Burnham, in culti vating his father's garden, and in learning to farm the adjacent glebe; but the former was his principal station: he would there often spend the greater part of the day, and dig, as it were, for the purpose of being wearied. At others, he would renew the early pastime of their childhood, and with a simplicity that was peculiar to him, when his mind was not employed on the great objects of professional duty, would spend some part of the day amidst the woods, in taking the eggs of different birds, which, as he obtained, he gave to Mrs. Nelson, who always accompanied him. He sometimes also employed his time, when his eyes would admit of it, in reading the periodical works of the day, but oftener in studying charts, and in writing, or drawing plans. But the uniformity of a village life was occasionally diversified by professional calls to the Metropolis; by an annual visit, with Mrs. Nelson, to Lord Walpole, at Waterton; and by occasional visits to Mr. Coke, at Holkbam."-Clarke and M'Arthur, vol. i. pp. 109, 110. 5 Mr. Wilkinson stated to Captain Nelson that he "wrote that letter from the gaol of the Island of Antigua, into which he had been placed by a quirk of the Solicitor General's," and he complained bitterly of the manner in which that Officer had treated him, which he attributed to his discovery of Mr. Whitehead's |