cluded, Agamemnon, a fast sailer, was sent off with letters to the Courts of Turin and Naples, for ten thousand troops, to secure our possession. I should have liked to have stayed one day longer with the Fleet, when they entered the harbour; but service could not be neglected for any private gratification. I have only to hope I shall succeed with the King of Naples. The last visit he had was from a French grenadier belonging to Monsieur Truguet's Fleet: how differently he must feel at present! What an event this has been for Lord Hood:1 such an one as History cannot produce its equal; that the strongest place in Europe, and twenty-two Sail of the Line, &c. should be given up without firing a shot. It is not to be credited. On Sunday, August 25th, a party deposed Admiral Trogoff, and placed St. Julien at the head of the Fleet, manned sixteen Sail of the Line, and were determined to come out and fight us, who were only twelve Sail, Lord Hood having sent away the other part of his Fleet, to give them the option: the Fleet regret they did not: the issue we should doubtless have liked better than laying them up dismantled. The perseverance of our Fleet has been great, and to that only can be attributed our unexampled success. Not even a boat could get into Marseilles or Toulon, or on the Coast, with provisions; and the old saying, 'That hunger will tame a Lion,' was never more strongly exemplified. The Spanish Fleet arrived as ours was sailing into the harbour, and joined in the general joy which this event must give to all Europe. St. Julien, with about four thousand men, left the Fleet as ours entered, and joined General Carteaux, who, I think it probable, by this time, has attacked Toulon with the Parisian Army. They with which we were in treaty. Pray press Sir W. Hamilton to basten the Neapolitans, as I know it is Lord Hood's most anxious wish to receive them. I am on my way to England with his dispatches, and will take your commands, if you have any; but, in God's name, keep the boat as short a time as possible." - Original, in the Nelson Papers. It appears from the "London Gazette" of the 13th September 1793, that on the 31st of August, Captain Nelson had sent an account of the surrender of Toulon to Mr. Trevor, from Oneglia. Threatening him with War if he did not, within an hour, disavow his remonstrances against the reception of Monsieur Sémonville, at Constantinople. The surrender of Toulon. have made sad work with the Marseillois in treaty with us: hope to God our success may be so used, as to give peace to that unhappy, distracted Country. Nice, Villafranca, Monaco, &c. which were taken from the King of Sardinia, must revert again to him, whenever our Fleet can be liberated from Toulon. I believe the world is convinced that no conquests of importance can be made without us; and yet, as soon as we have accomplished the service we are ordered on, we are neglected. If Parliament does not grant something to this Fleet, our Jacks will grumble; for here there is no prizemoney to soften their hardships: all we get is honour and salt beef. My poor fellows have not had a morsel of fresh meat or vegetables for near nineteen weeks; and in that time I have only had my foot twice on shore at Cadiz. We are absolutely getting sick from fatigue. No Fleet, I am certain, ever served their Country with greater zeal than this has done, from the Admiral to the lowest sailor. Admiral Goodall is Governor of Toulon: Elphinstone,3 Commander of the grand battery,* at the harbour's mouth. I may have lost an appointment by being sent off; not that I wish to be employed out of my Ship. I have sent in a vessel from Smyrna bound to Marseilles, and I think it probable she will be condemned, worth about 10,000. I hope she may, it will add something to our comforts. We are now in sight of Mount Vesuvius, which shows a fine light to us in Naples Bay, where we are lying-to for the night, and hope to anchor early to-morrow. I am, &c, HORATIO NELSON. P. S.-We are in the Bay all night, becalmed, and nothing could be finer than the view of Mount Vesuvius. 2 Samuel Cranstoun Goodall, whose Flag, as Rear-Admiral of the Red, was flying in the Princess Royal. He died a Full Admiral; and some Letters to him from Nelson will be inserted in their proper place. 3 The Honourable George Keith Elphinstone, Captain of the Robust 74, afterwards Admiral Viscount Keith, K.B. Fort la Malgue. TO MRS. NELSON. [From Clarke and M' Arthur, vol. i. p. 133.] Naples, September 14th, 1793. My other letter will arrive with this. Our news was received here with the greatest satisfaction. The King has twice sent for me, and I dine with him to-morrow, after he has made me a visit, which he is to do on board Agamemnon. We are called by him the Saviours of Italy, and of his Dominions in particular. I have acted for Lord Hood with a zeal which no one could exceed, and am to carry from the King the handsomest letter, in his own hand-writing, which could possibly be. This I got through Sir William Hamilton, and the Prime Minister, who is an Englishman. Lady Hamilton has been wonderfully kind and good to Josiah. She is a young woman of amiable manners, and who does honour to the station to which she is raised. I am to carry Lord Hood six thousand troops from hence. Remember me to my dear Father, also to Lord and Lady Walpole. Believe me, your most affectionate Husband, HORATIO NELSON. his 5 Sir John Acton, Bart. 6 It was on this occasion that Nelson first became known to Sir William and Lady Hamilton. Of this memorable circumstance, Mr. Harrison, who wrote Life of Nelson," under the immediate dictation of Lady Hamilton, bas given the following account, which bears evident marks of that fascinating woman's usual exaggeration :- "Sir William, on returning home, after his first interview with Nelson, told Lady Hamilton that he was about to introduce to her a little man who could not boast of being very handsome, but who would become the greatest man that ever England produced. I know it from the very few words of conversation I have already had with him. I pronounce that he will one day astonish the world. I have never entertained any Officer at my house, but I am determined to bring him here; let him be put in the room prepared for Prince Augustus." Nelson is stated to have been equally impressed with Sir William Hamilton's merits; "You are," he said, "a man after my own heart; you do business in my own way; I am now only a Captain, but if I live, I will be at the top of the tree." Harrison's Life of Nelson, vol. i. p. 108. TO WILLIAM SUCKLING, ESQ. My dear Sir, [From "The Athenæum."] Naples, September 14th, 1793. I am here with news of our most glorious and great success, but, alas! the fatigue of getting it has been so great that the Fleet generally, and I am sorry to say, my Ship most so, are knocked up. Day after day, week after week, month after month, we have not been two gun shots from Toulon. Famine has accomplished what force could not have done; not a boat has got into Toulon since our arrival, and we literally starved them into a surrender. The news here was received with the greatest satisfaction. The King was so anxious to hear of our success that he came afloat, and sent to me. He is to make me a visit on board to-morrow, and then I dine with him. I have already been to Portici with him. The Prime Minister, (who is an Englishman,) Sir John Acton, Bart., makes much of us. We are called the Preservers of Italy. I am to carry the handsomest letter that can be penned in the King's own hand to Lord Hood, and six thousand Neapolitan troops to assist in preserving our possession. Please to send the enclosed to Mrs. Nelson. Remember me kindly to Mrs. Suckling, Miss Suckling, and the Gentlemen ; and believe me, My dear Sir, your most affectionate, TO THE REVEREND MR. NELSON, HILBOROUGH. [Autograph, in the Nelson Papers.] My dear Brother, Agamemnon, September 24th, 1793. I have really been so actively employed, that I have not had time to think of writing letters except to my wife. At Naples, I hoped to have had a little time to rest my Ship's company, who are worn out with fatigue. Since the 23rd of April to this day, we have only been twenty days at anchor, and then, as may be supposed, fully employed. In the midst of our employment an express came that a French Man-ofwar and three Sail under her Convoy, had anchored under Sardinia. The Neapolitans have seven Sail ready for Sea, the Spaniards a Frigate of 40 guns, but none of them were sent. As the Prime Minister sent me the information, unfit as my Ship was, I had nothing left for the honour of our Country but to sail, which I did in two hours afterwards. It was necessary to show them what an English Man-of-war would do. Fortune has not crowned my endeavours with success. The French have either got into Leghorn, or are housed in some port of Corsica. I am going into Leghorn, absolutely to save my poor fellows. Amongst those who have fallen a sacrifice to our hard service, is poor Mr. Emerson. He died yesterday morning, and was buried off the North end of Corsica. You will readily believe my reception at Naples was very different to the French Admiral's. The King received me in the handsomest manner: I was three times with him out of the four days, and once to dinner, when I was placed at his right hand before our Ambassador and all the Nobles present. He was to have visited my Ship the day we sailed, when she was full of ladies and gentlemen.— Sir William and Lady Hamilton, the Bishop of Winchester,7 Mrs. North and family, Lord and Lady Plymouth, Earl Grandison and daughter, besides other Baronets, &c. I gave them breakfast, manned Ship, &c., and was to have sent them off at one o'clock, when the King was to come on board. I had everything ready to have entertained him with a cannonading, and the Royal Standard of Naples ready to hoist, but this information sent me off in a very great hurry. It is 8 7 The Honourable Brownlow North, second son of Francis, 1st Earl of Guilford: his wife was Henrietta Maria, daughter and co-heir of John Bannister, Esq., by whom he had Francis, present Earl of Guilford. * Other, 5th Earl of Plymouth, who married Mary, eldest daughter and coheir of Andrew, 2nd Lord Archer: he died in June 1799. 9 George Mason Villiers, 2nd Earl Grandison in Ireland: he died in July 1800, leaving by Gertrude, 4th daughter of Francis Earl of Hertford, an only child, Gertrude Amelia, who married Lord Henry Stuart, and was mother of the present Lord Stuart de Decies. |