Chapter IV (7)

"Well," said I, "John, I think you do right; but I can tell you this, that the same sort of _tableau_ is very often before my eyes; and the horror that I feel is what I did then--seeing Chesterton's brains knocked out, as I thought, and struggling in vain to get near him; sooner than feel that again in reality--the thought of it is bad enough--I'd shoot that villain ten times running, if I only had the chance."

"You never _had_ the chance, Hawthorne; pray God you never _may_."

Such was nearly my last interview, for some years, with my friend John Brown; for I had taken my degree and left college before he came up again to pass his examination. He was subpoenaed, with myself, as a witness on the trial of the man whom we had secured, which took place at the next assizes; but I was informed by the prisoner's attorney of his intention to plead guilty, the case against him being such a strong one; Brown was thus enabled without much risk to remain in the country with Chesterton, and we were both spared being placed in the painful position of important witnesses in a trial of life and death.

The man's confession was full, and apparently honest; and it was a satisfaction to find that the wretch who had fallen was a man of well-known desperate character, and probably, as the prisoner asserted, the concocter of the whole business: while all were murderers in intention. Had they succeeded in effecting their object by plundering the house, Farmer Nutt, whose habits of staying somewhat late from home on fair nights were well known to all the neighbourhood, was to have been waylaid on the towing-path which led to his house, and as, although a quiet man, there was a good deal of resolute spirit about him, and he would have had a heavy purse with him, the proceeds of stock sold at the fair, with which he would not easily have parted, there was no question but that he would have found a grave in the canal. Of Brown's lodging in the house the party were well aware; but they had laid their plans so warily for effecting an entrance without noise, and easily overpowering the women, that they hoped either altogether to avoid disturbing his quarter of the house, or making it evident to him that resistance was useless. Of course, our appearance was wholly unexpected; they had watched for some time, but we had been so quiet for the last hour (being in truth more than half asleep) that they had no suspicion of there being any one stirring in Brown's rooms.

I saw the unfortunate prisoner several times, and found him open and communicative on every subject but one. Any information with regard to his accomplice who had escaped, he always steadily refused; nor did a single unguarded word ever drop from him in conversation with any one by which the slightest clue could be obtained as to his identity. Even the police inspector, the most plausible and unscrupulous of his class, a perfect Machiavel among the Peelers, who could make a prisoner believe he was his only friend while he was doing his best to put the halter round his neck, even his practised policy was unsuccessful here. There was little doubt, however, that it was some person familiar with the premises, from the circumstance that poor Boxer, whose silence on the night of the attack we had all been surprised at, and who was not of a mood to be easily inveigled by strangers, even with the usual attractions of poisoned meat, &c., had disappeared, and was never heard of from that time forth. Suspicion of course fell upon several; but the matter remains to this day, I believe, a mystery. The prisoner, as I have said, pleaded guilty, and received sentence of death; under the circumstances of the crime, and its nearly fatal result, no other could be expected; nor did the judge who tried him hold out the slightest hope of mercy. But his full confession, with regard to himself and the man who had fallen, with honourable silence as to their more fortunate companion, his youth, (he was but a year older than myself,) and his whole bearing since his imprisonment, had impressed myself and others deeply in his favour; a memorial of the case was drawn up representing that justice might well be satisfied with the violent death of one criminal already, and after being signed by all parties of any influence in the neighbourhood, was forwarded for presentation to the crown. But the judge declared that he could not, consistently with his duty, back our application, and, to our extreme disappointment, an answer was returned that the law in this case must take its course. A private and personal interest was at work, however, which for once proved more powerful than judges or home secretaries. Brown had signed our memorial of course; but, dreading an unfavourable reply, had forwarded through other channels a short but strong remonstrance directly to the Queen. He spoke touchingly of his own distressed state of mind at having so young in life been compelled in defence of his friend to take the life of a fellow-creature, and prayed her Majesty "to restore, as she only could, his peace of mind, by giving him a life in exchange for that which he had taken away." A letter accompanied a reprieve by return of post, addressed to John Brown, which he preserves with a care almost superstitious; it contains a few short lines, dictated by a royal spirit and a woman's heart, and signed "VICTORIA." Victoria! mercy and humanity, the victory was indeed yours!

Of John Brown I have little to add. Like others with whom I was at one time so long and intimately allied, I have seen nothing of him now for years. The Dean was relieved as if from an incubus when he left college, though I believe there was a cessation of all open hostility after his return from Chesterton's. At least the only authenticated mention of any allusion to old grievances on my friend's part is, that when he paid Mr Hodgett the usual fees which fall to the Dean's share, upon taking his B.A., he asked him "whether he allowed discount for ready money?"

HAWTHORNE.

NELSON'S DESPATCHES AND LETTERS.[15]

The common idea of a sailor--whether with a commodore's broad pendant, a lieutenant's wooden leg, or a foremast-man's pigtail--was, at one time, a wild, thoughtless, rollicking man, with very broad shoulders and a very red face, who talked incessantly about shivering his timbers, and thought no more of eating a score or two of Frenchmen than if they had been sprats. Such was the effect of the veracious chronicles of our countryman Tobias, and the lifelike descriptions of old Trunnion, and Tom Bowling, and the rest. The jack-tar, as represented by him--with the addition, perhaps, of a few softening features, but still the man of blood and 'ounds, breathing fire and smoke, and with a constant inclination to luff helms and steer a point or two to windward--has retained possession of the stage to the present time; and Mr T. P. Cooke still shuffles, and rolls, and dances, and fights--the beau-ideal and impersonation of the instrument with which Britannia rules the waves. And that the canvass waves of the Surrey are admirably ruled by such instruments, we have no intention of disputing; nor would it be possible to place visibly before the public the peculiar qualifications that constitute a first-rate sailor, any more than those which form a first-rate lawyer. The freaks of a young templar have as much to do with the triumphs of Lord Eldon, as the dash and vivacity of any fictitious middy have to do with the First of June. Sailors are made of sterner stuff; and of all classes of men, have their highest faculties called earliest into use, and kept most constantly in exercise. Let no man, therefore, think of the navy as a last resource for the stupidest of his sons. He will chew salt-junk, and walk with an easy negligence acquired from a course of practice in the Bay of Biscay; and in due time arrive at his double epaulettes, and be a blockhead to the end of the chapter. But all this stupidity, we humbly conceive, might have found as fitting an arena in Westminster Hall, or even in Westminster Abbey--with reverence be it spoken--as on the quarter-deck of a man-of-war; for we maintain it is of less consequence for a man to be a great pleader or an eloquent divine, (where the utmost extent of evil resulting from the absence of eloquence and acuteness is a law-suit lost or a congregation lulled to sleep,) than that he should be active, energetic, skilful, in one of the "leviathans afloat on the brine." Science, zeal, courage, and self-reliance, are very pretty qualities to find in the fool of the family--and without these, no man can ever be a sailor. But what opportunity is there in the navy for the display of the wonderful abilities of the fool of the family's antipode, the genius? Nothing will do for the surpassing brightness of some Highland star but law or politics; so Donald has Latin and Greek shovelled into him out of the dignified hat of some prebendary or bishop, goes to Oxford, talks on all manner of subjects as if his tongue had discovered the perpetual motion, goes to the bar, where the said motion is the only one he is called upon to make, forces himself into high society, wriggles his way into Parliament--the true Trophonius's cave of aspiring orators--and becomes a silent Demosthenes, as he has long been a lawless Coke; an ends at last in a paroxysm of wonder that his creditors are hard-hearted and his country ungrateful, so that, instead of being promoted to a seat at the Admiralty, he is removed to one in the Fleet--which brings him very nearly to the same position he would have been placed in, if a true estimate had been formed of his powers at first. Oh fathers! if Tom is a donkey, keep him at home or make him an attorney--it is amazing how a few years in "the office" will brighten him--but don't trust the lives of men, and the honour of the flag, to any but the best and wisest of your sons. Such a school for moral training has never been devised as one of the floating colleges that carry guns. The youngest midshipman acquires habits of command, the oldest captain practises the ennobling virtue of obedience; and these, we take it, form the alpha and omega of man's useful existence. Power gives self-respect, responsibility gives caution, and subjection gives humility. With all these united, as they are in every rank in the service, the character has little room left for improvement; tenderness and generosity, in addition, make a man a Collingwood or Pellew--genius and heroism make him a Nelson.

But not through flowery paths do genius and heroism tread on their path to fame. What a length of weary way, with what antres vast and deserts idle, and pathless wildernesses bestrown, lay between the Raisonable of 1770 and the Victory of 1805! and yet through them all, the traveller's eye was unalterably fixed on the great light that his soul saw filling the whole sky with its radiance, and which he knew the whole time was reflected from the Baltic, and the Nile, and Trafalgar. The letters of Nelson just given to the public by the industry of Sir Harris Nicolas, will hereafter be the manual of the sailor, as the sister service has found a guide in the _Despatches of the Duke of Wellington_. All that was to be expected from the well-known talent of the editor, united to an enthusiasm for his hero, which has carried him triumphantly through the extraordinary labour of investigating and ascertaining every fact in the slightest degree bearing upon his subject, is to be found in this volume, in which, from the beginning to the end, by a continued series of letters, Nelson is made his own historian; and we sincerely believe, divesting ourselves as far as possible of all prejudice and partiality, that no character ever came purer from the ordeal of unreserved communication--where not a thought is concealed or an expression studied--than the true friend, the good son, the affectionate brother, Horatio Nelson. The correspondence in this volume only extends from 1777 to 1794, and no blot has yet occurred to mar the brightness of a character where there is so much to like, that the reader finds it difficult to dwell on the heroic parts of it which he is only called upon to admire. When the volume ends, he is only thirty-six years old, and is captain of the Agamemnon; but his path is clearly traced out--his name is in men's mouths and his character established. And, looking over the whole correspondence, nothing, perhaps, is so striking as the early development of his peculiar qualities, and the firm unswerving line he struck into from the beginning and continued in to the last. A self-reliance, amounting in weaker and less equally-balanced natures to doggedness and conceit--a clear perception of the circumstances of a case almost resembling intuition--a patriotism verging on the romantic, and a sense of duty never for a moment yielding to the "whips and scorns that patient merit of the unworthy takes," are displayed in every incident of his life, from the time that he left the quiet parsonage-house at Burnham Thorpe, till he finished his glorious career.

At twelve years of age, he joined his uncle in the Raisonable sixty-four, and served in her as midshipman for five months; and few people would have been able to discover the future hero in the feeble boy he must have been at that time. Still less, perhaps, would they have expected the future Bronte, a few months later, in the person of a little fellow, no longer a midshipman in the Royal Navy, but a working "youngster" on board a West India ship, as he informs us in his "Sketch of my Life," belonging to the house of Hibbert, Purrier, and Horton, from which he returned to the Triumph at Chatham, a good practical seaman, but with a horror of the Royal Navy, and a firm belief in a saying then constant with the seamen, "Aft the most honour, forward the better man." The next situation we find him in, will probably shock the delicate feelings of tender mammas, who expect their sons to be admirals without any apprenticeship; for he is rated on the books of the Triumph as "_captain's servant_" for one year, two months, and two days. We may in some measure relieve their minds, by assuring them, that he did not wear livery, and was never called upon to brush the captain's coat. But the horrid man submitted even to lower degradation, in order to get experience in his profession, which our Reginald Augustus could never have thought of; for he tells us, that "when the expedition towards the North Pole was fitted out, although no boys were allowed to go in the ships--as of no use--yet nothing could prevent my using every interest to go with Captain Lutwidge in the Carcass, and as I fancied I was to fill a man's place. I begged I might be his cockswain; which, finding my ardent desire for going with him, Captain Lutwidge complied with."

And Cockswain Nelson "exerted himself, (when the boats were fitted out to quit the two ships blocked up in the ice,) to have the command of a four-oared cutter raised upon, which was given him, with twelve men; and he prided himself in fancying he could navigate her better than any other boat in the ship."

And we will back the cockswain to any amount, though he was then only fifteen, and probably did not weigh more than five stone.

But the vulgarity of the fellow will be the death of us, and our Laura Matilda will never listen without disgust to the "Death of Nelson" again; for he tells us, that on the return of the Polar expedition, he was placed in the Racehorse of twenty guns, with Captain Farmer, and watched in the foretop!!! And it is probable, during all these mutations, that he very seldom tasted venison, and drank very little champagne. But even in the absence of those usual luxuries of the cockpit, he made himself a thorough seaman; and when serving in the Worcester sixty-four, with Captain Mark Robinson, he says, with characteristic, because fully justified pride, "although my age might have been a sufficient cause for not entrusting me with the charge of a watch, yet Captain Robinson used to says, he felt as easy when I was upon deck as any officer in the ship."

And this brings us to 1777, the date of his commission, and the commencement of his correspondence. After the simple statement of his course of life, we shall hardly be called upon to observe, that Nelson was no great scholar, as we perceive that his school education was finished when he was twelve years old. And we owe hearty thanks to Sir Harris Nicolas for having restored the letters to their original language, uncicerorian as it may be; for he informs us, that some of those which had been formerly published in the different biographies of the hero, were so improved and beautified that it was difficult to recognise them. By proper clipping and pruning, altering some sentences and exchanging others, an ingenious editor might transmogriphy these simple epistles into the philippics of Junius; and therefore we derive complete satisfaction from the conviction, that, in this compilation, every sentence is exactly as it was written. With one other observation, (which we make for the sake of the Laura Matildas who are horrified at the "cockswain,") we shall proceed to give such extracts from the letters as we consider the most characteristic; and "that 'ere observation," as was said by Mr Liston, "is this here," that Nelson was of what is usually called a very good family--being nearly connected with the Walpoles, Earls of Orford, and the Turners of Warham, in Norfolk. But for further information on this point, we refer them to an abstract of the pedigree prefixed to the letters. In the year 1777, and several following years, Nelson's principal correspondents were his brother, the Rev. William Nelson, who succeeded as second Baron Nelson of the Nile and of Hilborough, and was created Earl Nelson--Captain William Locker, then in command of the Lowestoffe, of whom very interesting memoirs have been published by his son Edward Hawke Locker, Esq., late a commissioner of Greenwich Hospital--the Rev. Edmund Nelson (his father)--besides the secretary to the Admiralty, and the official personages to whom his despatches were addressed.

To show the affectionate nature of the man, we shall quote his first letter to Captain Locker, who was one of his dearest friends. The address of the letter is wanting, but it would appear to have been written during Captain Locker's temporary absence from his ship, in consequence of ill health:--

"Lowestoffe, at Sea,
_August 12, 1777_.

"My most worthy Friend--I am exceedingly obliged to you for the
good opinion you entertain of me, and will do my utmost that you
may have no occasion to change it. I hope God Almighty will be
pleased to spare your life for your own sake and that of your
family; but should any thing happen to you (which I sincerely
pray God may not) you may be assured that nothing shall be
wanting on my part for the taking care of your effects, and
delivering safe to Mrs Locker such of them as may be thought
proper not to be disposed of. You mentioned the word consolation
in your letter--I shall have a very great one, when I think I
have served faithfully the best of friends, and the most amiable
of women. All the services I can render to your family, you may
be assured shall be done; and shall never end but with my life;
and may God Almighty, of his great goodness, keep, bless, and
preserve you and your family, is the most fervent prayer of your
faithful servant,

"Horatio Nelson."

In 1781 he was appointed commander of the Albemarle, of twenty-eight guns, and in the following year had a narrow escape from a strong French force in Boston Bay. The sailing qualities of the Albemarle beat the line-of-battle ships, and he immediately brought to for a frigate that formed part of the chasing squadron, but his courtesy was declined, and the frigate bore away. He dwells, in several of his letters, on his good fortune in getting off; but, in the following one to his father, he omits all mention of his challenge to the pursuer:--

"Albemarle, Isle of Bic,
River St Lawrence
_October 19, 1782_.

"My dear Father--I wrote to Mr Suckling when I was at
Newfoundland, but I have not had an opportunity of writing to you
till this time. I expected to have sailed for England on the
first of November, but our destination is now altered, for we
sail with a fleet for New York to-morrow; and from there I think
it very likely we shall go to the _grand theatre_ of actions--the
West Indies; but, in our line of life, we are sure of no one
thing. When I reach New York you shall hear what becomes of me;
but, while I have health, it is indifferent to me (were it not
for the pleasure of seeing you and my brothers and sisters) where
I go. Health, that greatest of blessings, is what I never truly
enjoyed till I saw _fair_ Canada. The change it has wrought I am
convinced is truly wonderful. I most sincerely wish, my dear
father, I could compliment you the same way; but I hope Bath has
done you a great deal of good this summer. I have not had much
success in the prize way, but it is all in good time, and I do
not know I ought to complain; for, though I took several, but had
not the good fortune to get one safe into port, yet, on the other
side, I escaped from five French men-of-war in a wonderful
manner.... Farewell, my dearest father, and assure yourself I
always am, and ever shall be, your dutiful son,

"Horatio Nelson."

In the following month he writes to his friend Locker--"I am a candidate with Lord Hood for a line-of-battle ship; he has honoured me highly by a letter, for wishing to go off this station to a station of service, and has promised me his friendship. Prince William is with him." And Sir Harris Nicolas adds in a note--"H. R. H. Prince William Henry, third son of King George III, afterwards Duke of Clarence, Admiral of the Fleet, (Lord High Admiral?) and King William IV." The Prince honoured Nelson with his warmest friendship, and many letters in this collection were addressed to his Royal Highness.

The following description of Nelson by the prince is extremely interesting:--

"I was then a midshipman on board the Barfleur, lying in the
Narrows off Staten Island, and had the watch on deck, when
Captain Nelson of the Albemarle came in his barge alongside, who
appeared to be the merest boy of a captain I ever beheld; and his
dress was worthy of attention. He had on a full laced uniform;
his lank unpowdered hair was tied in a stiff Hessian tail of an
extraordinary length, the old-fashioned flaps of his waistcoat
added to the general quaintness of his figure, and produced an
appearance which particularly attracted my notice, for I had
never seen any thing like it before, nor could I imagine who he
was or what he came about. My doubts were, however, removed when
Lord Hood introduced me to him. There was something irresistibly
pleasing in his address and conversation, and an enthusiasm, when
speaking on professional subjects, that showed he was no common
being. Nelson, after this, went with us to the West Indies, and
served under Lord Hood's flag during his indefatigable cruize off
Cape François. Throughout the whole of the American war the
height of Nelson's ambition was to command a line-of-battle ship;
as for prize-money, it never entered his thoughts; he had always
in view the character of his maternal uncle. I found him warmly
attached to my father, and singularly humane; he had the honour
of the king's service and the independence of the British navy
particularly at heart; and his mind glowed with this idea as much
when he was simply captain of the Albemarle, and had obtained
none of the honours of his country, as when he was afterwards
decorated with so much well-earned distinction."

Nelson's opinion of the prince, as a seaman, was scarcely less high; and it says not a little, in favour of both parties, that their friendship appears to have been founded on mutual respect. In July, 1783, the Albemarle was paid off; and Nelson having finished the war, as he expresses it in a letter to his friend Mr Ross, without a fortune, but without a speck on his character, remained nine months on half-pay. But as he determined to make use of his spare time in mastering the French--a feat which he afterwards accomplished without a grammar--he resolved to go to France with his friend Captain James Macnamara for that purpose. There are some very Nelsonian sentences in his correspondence while in the land of the Mounseers. His contempt for epaulettes--which were not introduced into the English navy till 1795--is very amusing; and he little thought, that in one of the dandified officers he despised so much, he should find one of his most distinguished comrades, the gallant Sir Alexander Ball:--

To William Locker, Esq.
"St Omer, _Nov. 2, 1783_.

"My dear sir--Our travels, since we left you, have been extended
to a much greater length then I apprehended; but I must do
Captain Mac the justice to say it was all my doings, and in a
great measure against his advice; but experience bought is the
best; and all mine I have paid pretty dearly for. We dined at
Canterbury the day we parted from you, and called at Captain
Sandys' house, but he was just gone out to dinner in the country,
therefore we did not see him. We slept at Dover, and next morning
at seven o'clock put to sea with a fine north-west wind, and at
half-past ten we were safe at breakfast in Monsieur Grandsire's
house at Calais. His mother kept it when Hogarth wrote his _Gate
of Calais_. Sterne's _Sentimental Journey_ is the best
description I can give of our tour. Mac advised me to go first to
St Omer, as he had experienced the difficulty of attempting to
fix in any place where there are no English; after dinner we set
off, intended for Montreuil, sixty miles from Calais; they told
us we travelled _en poste_, but I am sure we did not get on more
than four miles an hour. I was highly diverted with looking what
a curious figure the postilions in their jack-boots, and their
rats of horses, made together. Their chaises have no springs, and
the roads generally paved like London streets; therefore you will
naturally suppose we were pretty well shook together by the time
we had travelled two posts and a half, which is fifteen miles, to
Marquise. Here we were shown into an inn--they called it, I
should have called it a pig-stye: we were shown into a room with
two straw beds, and with great difficulty they mustered up clean
sheets, and gave us two pigeons for supper, upon a dirty cloth,
and wooden-handled knives. _Oh, what a transition from happy
England!_

"But we laughed at the repast, and went to bed with the
determination that nothing should ruffle our tempers. Having
slept very well, we set off at daylight for Boulogne, where we
breakfasted. This place was full of English; I suppose because
wine is so very cheap. We went on after breakfast for Montreuil,
and passed through the finest corn country that my eyes ever
beheld, diversified with fine woods, sometimes for miles
together, through noble forests. The roads mostly were planted
with trees, which made as fine an avenue as to any gentleman's
country-seat. Montreuil is thirty miles from Boulogne, situated
upon a small hill, in the middle of a fine plain, which reached
as far as the eye could carry you, except towards the sea, which
is about twelve miles from it. We put up at the same house, and
with the same jolly landlord that recommended Le Fleur to Sterne.
Here we wished much to be fixed; but neither good lodgings or
masters could be had here--for there are no middling class of
people. Sixty noblemen's families lived in the town, who owned
the vast plain round it, and the rest very poor indeed. This is
the finest country for game that ever was; partridges
twopence-halfpenny a couple, pheasants and woodcocks in
proportion; and, in short, every species of poultry. We dined,
supped, lay, and breakfasted next day, Saturday; then we
proceeded on our tour, leaving Montreuil, you will suppose, with
great regret.

"We reached Abbeville at eight o'clock; but, unluckily for us,
two Englishmen, one of whom called himself Lord Kingsland--I can
hardly suppose it to be him--and a Mr Bullock, decamped at three
o'clock that afternoon in debt to every shopkeeper in the place.
These gentlemen kept elegant houses, horses, &c. We found the
town in an uproar; and as no masters could be had at this place
that could speak a word of English, and that all masters that
could speak English grammatically attend at the places that are
frequented by the English, which is, St Omer, Lisle, Dunkirk, and
Boulogne, to the northward of Paris, and as I had no intention of
travelling to the south of France till the spring, at any rate, I
determined, with Mac's advice, to steer for St Omer, where we
arrived last Tuesday; and I own I was surprised to find, that
instead of a dirty, nasty town, which I had always heard it
represented, to find a large city, well paved, good streets, and
well lighted.

"We lodge in a pleasant French family, and have our dinners sent
from a _traiteur's_. There are two very agreeable young ladies,
daughters, who _honour_ us with their company pretty often. One
always makes our breakfast, and the other our tea, and play a
game at cards in the evening. Therefore I must learn French, if
'tis only for the pleasure of talking to them; for they do not
speak a word of English. Here are a great number of English in
this place; but we visit only two families; for, if I did, I
should never speak French. Two noble captains are here--Ball and
Shepard. You do not know, I believe, either of them. They wear
fine epaulettes, for which I think them great coxcombs. They have
not visited me; and I shall not, be assured, court their
acquaintance. You must be heartily tired of this long epistle, if
you can read it; but I have the worst pen in the world, and I
can't mend it. God bless you; and, be assured, I am your sincere
friend, and affectionate humble servant,

"Horatio Nelson."

In another letter from St Omer, he returns to the charge against Dandy Ball and Shepard:--

"Here are two navy captains, Ball and Shepard, at this place; but
we do not visit. They are very fine gentlemen, with epaulettes.
You may suppose, I hold them a little _cheap_ for putting on any
part of a Frenchman's uniform."

And in a short time after, he seems to have made up his mind on two very important points--politics and the French people.

To his brother William.

"... As to your having enlisted under the banners of the
Walpoles, [Whigs,] you might as well have enlisted under those of
my grandmother. They are altogether the merest set of cyphers
that ever existed--in public affairs, I mean. Mr Pitt, depend
upon it, will stand against all opposition. An honest man must
always, in the end, get the better of a _villain_. But I have
done with politics. Let who will get in, I shall be left out."

"In about a week or fortnight, I think of returning to the
Continent till autumn, when I shall bring a horse, and stay the
winter at Burnham. I return to many charming women; but _no
charming woman_ will return with me. I want to be a proficient in
the language, which is my only reason for returning. I hate their
country and their manners."

In March of this year, (1784,) he was appointed to the Boreas frigate of twenty-eight guns; and had the honour (not very highly valued) of carrying out Lady Hughes, the wife of the admiral on the Leeward Island station, and a number of other people, who did not add much to the efficiency of a man-of-war. It was on this station that he had first an opportunity of showing the determination and fearlessness of his character in maintaining what he thought the right--though ill supported, as was to be expected, by the authorities at home--against local interests, which any other man would not have ventured to oppose. We are not about to enter into the history of Nelson's conduct in defence of the Navigation Act, further than as the correspondence on the subject brings out some of his peculiarities; and the result shows, as usual, the policy of firmness, and the certainty of success to those who are determined to obtain it.

The Americans, after the recognition of their independence, were by no means willing to surrender some of the advantages they had enjoyed when colonists of Great Britain. Among these was an unrestricted trade with the West Indies. In order to retain this advantage, they stuck at nothing in the way of oaths and declarations; and, as the American trade was of great consequence to the islanders, their false pretences were in all cases supported by the merchants, and even the custom-house authorities were persuaded to encourage the frauds. A captain of the navy, twenty-six years of age, undertook to put an end to these operations; and, in the course of a very short time, he found himself in as hot water as any gentleman can require.

To William Locker, Esq.
"Boreas, Baseterre Road,
_January 15, 1785_.

"The longer I am upon this station the worse I like it. Our
commander has not that opinion of his own sense that he ought to
have. He is led by the advice of the islanders to admit the
Yankees to a trade--at least, to wink at it. He does not give
himself that weight that I think an English admiral ought to do.
I, for one, am determined not to suffer the Yankees to come where
my ship is; for I am sure, if once the Americans are admitted to
any kind of intercourse with these islands, the views of the
Loyalists in settling in Nova Scotia are entirely done away. They
will first become the carriers, and next have possession of our
islands, are we ever again embroiled in a French war. The
residents of these islands are Americans by connexion and by
interest, and are inimical to Great Britain. They are as great
rebels as ever were in America, had they the power to show it.
After what I have said, you will believe I am not very popular
with the people. They have never visited me, and I have not had a
foot in any house since I have been on the station, and all for
doing my duty by being _true to the interests of Great Britain_.
A petition from the President and Council has gone to the
Governor-general and admiral, to request the admission of
Americans. I have given my answer to the admiral upon the
subject--how he will like it I know not; but I am determined to
suppress the admission of foreigners all in my power. I have told
the Customs that I will complain if they admit any foreigner to
an entry. An American arrives--sprung a leak, a mast, and what
not--makes a protest--gets admittance--sells his cargo for ready
money--goes to Martinico--buys molasses--and so round and round.
But I hate them all. The Loyalist cannot do it, consequently must
sell a little dearer."

His narrative to the admiral on the same subject is as follows:--

"_January 11 or 12, 1785_.

"Sir--I yesterday received your order of the 29th of December,
wherein you direct me, in execution of your first order, dated
the 12th of November, (which is, in fact, strictly requiring us
to put the Act of Navigation, upon which the wealth and safety of
Great Britain so much depends, in force,) to observe the
following directions, viz, to cause foreigners to anchor by his
Majesty's ship under my command, except in cases of immediate and
urgent distress, until her arrival and situation, in all
respects, shall be reported to his Majesty's governor, or his
representative, at any of the islands where I may fall in with
such foreign ships or vessels; and that if the governor, or his
representative, should give leave for admitting such vessels,
strictly charging me not to hinder them or interfere in their
subsequent proceedings.

"I ever have been, as in duty bound, always ready to co-operate
with his Majesty's governors, or their representatives, in doing
whatever has been for the benefit of Great Britain. No governor
will, I am sure, do such an illegal act as to countenance the
admission of foreigners into the ports of their islands, nor
_dare_ any officer of his Majesty's Customs enter such
foreigners, without they are in such distress that necessity
obliges them to unlade their cargoes; and then only to sell such
a part of it as will pay the costs. In distress, no individual
shall exceed me in acts of generosity; and, in judging of their
distress, no person can know better than sea officers, of which I
shall inform the governors, &c., when they acquaint me for what
reason they have countenanced the admission of foreigners.

"I beg leave to hope, that I may be properly understood, when I
venture to say, that, at a time when Great Britain is using every
endeavour to suppress illicit trade at home, it is not wished
that the ships on this station should be singular, by being the
only spectators of the illegal trade, which I know is carried on
at these islands. The governors may be imposed on by false
declarations; we, who are on the spot, cannot. General Shirley
told me and Captain Collingwood how much he approved of the
methods that were carrying on for suppressing the illegal trade
with America; that it had ever been his wish, and that he had
used every means in his power, by proclamation and otherwise, to
hinder it; but they came to him with protests, and swore through
every thing, (even, as the sea-phrase is, through a nine-inch
plank;) therefore got admittance, as he could not examine the
vessels himself; and, further, by the Thynne packet, he had
received a letter from Lord Sydney, one of his Majesty's
principal secretaries of state, saying that Administration were
determined that American ships and vessels should not have any
intercourse with our West India islands; and that he had, upon an
address from the Assembly, petitioning that he would relax the
king's proclamation for the exclusion of Americans, transmitted
it to Lord Sydney to be laid before the king. The answer to
General Shirley was, that his Majesty firmly believed and hoped
that all his orders which were received by his governors would be
strictly obeyed.

"Whilst I have the honour to command an English man-of-war, I
never shall allow myself to be subservient to the will of any
governor, nor co-operate with him in doing _illegal acts_.
Presidents of council I feel myself superior to. They shall make
proper application to me for whatever they may want to come by
water.

"If I rightly understand your order of the 29th of December, it
is founded upon an opinion of the king's attorney-general, viz.
'That it is legal for governors or their representatives to admit
foreigners into the ports of their governments, if they think
fit.' How the king's attorney-general conceives he has a right to
give an illegal opinion, which I assert the above is, he must
answer for. I know the navigation laws. I am, Sir, &c.

"Horatio Nelson."

But the troubles of the unfortunate Horatio were not over; for just at this time arose another vexed and vexatious question, as to whether a senior officer on half-pay--though holding a commissionership of the navy--could be empowered by the admiral on the station to hoist a broad pendant; and after a spirited correspondence, the point was decided, though apparently in a very shilly-shally shabby way, in Nelson's favour--for it is accompanied with a reprimand--the Admiralty informing him, that he ought to have submitted his doubts to the commander-in-chief on the station, instead of having taken on himself "to control the exercise of the functions of his appointment"--whatever that may mean.

Too much activity, even in a good cause, is apt to excite the enmity of the idle drones who have got on without any activity at all, and for some years the zeal of Nelson got him into disfavour with his superiors in the service. And yet his whole conduct was regulated by the strictest sense of duty, and his letters--even those in which he shows most independence--never give the slightest occasion to suspect that his actions arose from self-will and disobedience. On this point he is very explicit.

He writes to the admiral--"This, sir, I hope you will transmit to my lords commissioners, that they nor any other of my superior officers may have the smallest idea that I shall ever dispute the orders of my superiors."

And to the Admiralty, on the same occasion--"I must beg their lordships' indulgence to hear reasons for my conduct, that it may never go abroad into the world I ever had an idea to dispute the orders of my superior officer, neither admiral, commodore, or captain."

The plot in the mean time thickens, and his anger increases against the audacious swindling of the Yankees, aided by the islanders; and in his own defence he goes, according to his custom, to the fountain-head, and lays his complaint before the secretary of state. "My name," he says, "most probably is unknown to your lordship," (Lord Sydney,) "but my character as a man, I trust, will bear the strictest investigation; therefore I take the liberty of sending enclosed a letter, though written some few years ago, which I hope will impress your lordship with a favourable opinion of me. I stand for myself, no great connexion to support me if inclined to fall; therefore my good name, as a man, an officer, and an Englishman, I must be very careful of. My greatest pride is to discharge my duty faithfully; my greatest ambition to receive approbation for my conduct."

The chicaneries of the law were brought to bear on the captain of the Boreas, and by means of a writ for his arrest, (on the trumped-up plea of detention and imprisonment of some fraudulent Americans--true ancestors of the repudiators of the present day,) he was forced to remain on board ship for several months, but was at last released from durance by the tardy undertaking given by government to be answerable for his defence.

The lukewarmness of his superiors, and the villanies of law, were not enough to fill up his time, and, in the very midst of these agitating matters, he adds a third: he met Mrs Nisbet, and fell in love. His letters, however, are not entirely composed of sighs and lightning; and it gives a high idea of the lady's sense to perceive the calm, yet real, affection she inspired. We shall only quote one of his letters to his lady-love, to show the style of them all, and also to show his feelings towards Prince William Henry, (King William IV.,) who was at this time under his command as captain of the Pegasus.

"Off Antigua, _December 12, 1786_.

"Our young prince is a gallant man; he is indeed volatile, but
always with great good-nature. There were two balls during his
stay, and some of the old ladies were mortified that H. R. H.
would not dance with them; but he says he is determined to enjoy
the privilege of all other men, that of asking any lady he
pleases.

"_Wednesday._--We arrived here this morning at daylight. His
Royal Highness dined with me, and, of course, the governor. I can
tell you a piece of news, which is, that the prince is fully
determined, and has made me promise him, that he shall be at our
wedding; and he says he will give you to me. His Royal Highness
has not yet been in a private house to visit, and is determined
never to do it except in this instance. You know I will ever
strive to bear such a character as may render it no discredit to
any man to take notice of me. There is no action in my whole life
but what is honourable; and I am the more happy at this time on
that account; for I would, if possible, or in my power, have no
man near the prince who can have the smallest impeachment as to
character; for as an individual, I love him, as a prince, I
honour and revere him. My telling you this history is as to
myself; my thoughts on all subjects are open to you. We shall
certainly go to Barbadoes from this island, and when I shall see
you is not possible for me to guess, so much for marrying a
sailor. We are often separated, but I trust our affections are
not by any means on that account diminished. Our country has the
first demand for our services; and private convenience or
happiness must ever give way to the public good. Give my love to
Josiah. Heaven bless and return you safe to your most
affectionate

"Horatio Nelson."

The attachment here professed for the prince seems to have been caused not less by the loyalty of Nelson's nature than by the real good qualities of the sailor king. It is probable he tried to form himself (professionally) on the model of his young commodore, and a better original it was impossible for him to study. A certain young lieutenant, of the name of Schomberg, conceiving that he was injuriously treated in an order of the day, issued by his Royal Highness on board the Pegasus, applied to Nelson for a court-martial to enquire into the charge alleged against him. Nelson granted the court-martial, and placed the complainant in arrest till a sufficient number could be collected for his trial, and expressed his opinion of such frivolous applications in the following general order:--

"By Horatio Nelson, Esquire, Captain of his Majesty's ship Boreas.

"For the better maintaining discipline and good government in the
king's squadron under my command.

"I think it necessary to inform the officers, that if any one of
them shall presume to write to the commander of the squadron
(unless there shall be ships enough present to bring them to
immediate trial) for a court-martial to investigate their
conduct, on a frivolous pretence, thereby depriving his majesty
of their services by obliging the commander of the squadron to
confine them, that I shall and do consider such conduct as a
direct breach of the 14th and part of the 19th articles of war,
and shall order them to be tried for the same.

"Given under my hand, &c.
"Horatio Nelson."

This probably had the desired effect, and the business was afterwards adjusted without having recourse to a court-martial, though not without bringing upon Nelson a rap over the knuckles on his return to England. In order to obtain the proper court, he had directed the prince to take his ship to the Jamaica station on his way to Halifax in Nova Scotia, and the following paragraph contains their lordships' decision:--

"My lords are not satisfied with the reasons you have given for
altering the destination of the Pegasus, and for sending the
Rattler sloop to Jamaica; and that, for having taken upon you to
send the latter away from the station to which their lordships
had appointed her, you will be answerable for the consequence, if
the crown should be put to any needless expense upon that
account."

We must close this account of the frivolous court-martial with an admirable letter from Nelson to the prince.

"Portsmouth _27th July, 1787_.

"If to be truly great is to be truly good, (as we are taught to
believe,) it never was stronger verified than in your Royal
Highness in the instance of Mr Schomberg. You have supported your
character, yet, at the same time, by an amiable condescension,
have saved an officer from appearing before a court-martial,
which ever must hurt him. Resentment, I know, your Royal highness
never had, or, I am sure, ever will bear any one. It is a passion
incompatible with the character of a man of honour. Schomberg was
too hasty, certainly, in writing his letter, but now you are
parted, pardon me, my prince, when I presume to recommend that
Schomberg may stand in your royal favour as if he had never
sailed with you; and that, at some future day, you will serve
him. There only wants this to place your character in the highest
point of view. None of us are without failings. Schomberg's was
being rather too hasty; but that, put in competition with his
being a good officer, will not, I am bold to say, be taken in the
scale against him."

There is one characteristic circumstance in this collection, namely, the number of letters written by Nelson in recommendation of all who have behaved well under his command. He was desirous of acting to others as, he boasts in one of his letters with pride and exultation, he had been treated by Lord Howe. "You ask, by what interest did I get a ship? I answer, having served with credit, was my recommendation to Lord Howe, first lord of the admiralty."

The following is an application on behalf of a certain boatswain called Joseph King, which we quote on account of the extraordinary politeness,--owing, perhaps, to his study at St Omer--with which Nelson designates his _protégé_.

To Philip Stephens, Esq., Admiralty.

"Boreas, _21st Sept. 1787_.

"On the 20th, Charles Green, late acting boatswain, was entered
as boatswain of his majesty's ship under my command, agreeable to
a warrant dated at the Navy Pay-office, the 13th instant. I am,
therefore, requested by Joseph King, to write to their lordships,
to request they will be pleased to appoint him to some other
ship, as he hopes he has done nothing deserving of being
superseded; and I beg leave to recommend him as a most excellent
_gentleman_.--I am, &c.

"Horatio Nelson."

Whether this application was successful or not, even the industry of the editor has not discovered, but we fear that, at this point of his history, Nelson's recommendation was of no great weight with the Admiralty. His biographers, indeed, Clarke and M'Arthur, say, that at this time the treatment he received disgusted him with his profession, and that he had even determined never to set his foot again on board a king's ship, but resign his commission at once. But Sir Harris Nicolas very justly is sceptical as to the truth of this anecdote, from the fact, that there is no allusion to any intention of the kind in his correspondence. And from what we see of his disposition in all his letters, we feel assured that a thought of leaving the navy never entered his mind, and that he would have considered the withdrawal of his services as little short of treason. But there occurred now a long interval of idleness, or at least of life ashore. The Boreas was paid off in December 1787, and he was only appointed to the Agamemnon in January 1793.

The four years of peace passed happily away, principally at Burnham with his father; and there is little to quote till we find him on his own element again. He writes to Hercules Ross, a West India merchant, with whom he had formed a steady friendship while on that station; and we adduce the passage as a further corroboration of Sir Harris Nicolas's doubts about the authenticity of Clarke and M'Arthur's anecdote.