Full text of Memoirs of Emma, lady Hamilton, the friend of Lord Nelson and the court of Naples;

by Yelena Kopylova

  tween Nelson and the Hamiltons. This is clear from

  a letter (soon to be quoted) of July 22 from Nelson to

  Lady Hamilton in the Morrison Collection, where he

  inquires after her plans for " coming down the Mediterranean " with her husband, presumably to help him.

  Thirdly, so late as the first week in August, after Nel-

  son's battle had been won, Acton was still ignorant that his ships had been adequately provisioned, and was arranging further measures for the purpose; aware on

  August 15 of the Sicilian provisions, he planned

  more.

  Let us glance at a little farce enacted with exquisite

  gravity by the Governor of Syracuse.

  It emerges from a document addressed by him to

  General Sir John Acton. A key to this is supplied

  by the fact that General Acton, days after handing the

  informal " order," had expressly cautioned Hamilton that, pending the as yet unsigned articles with Austria, 206 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  all the governors of all Sicilian ports had been specially directed to make an " ostensible opposition," lest the French might be incensed into attack by any open

  breach of the stipulated Neapolitan neutrality. Above

  all, it should be noted that this Governor's letter at

  Naples seems to distinguish between a royal despatch

  signed by Acton, and a royal letter in Nelson's pos-

  session. On the other hand, the other construction is

  open. When the " Vice-Admiral " declared that the letter entitled the whole fleet to be watered, he may

  only have been making the best of the despatch.

  The whole scene rises vividly before us. On the

  morning of Thursday the igth " several ships " were seen sailing in slow procession from the east. Gradually fourteen emerged from " the distance." As they became more distinct in the freshening east wind, the

  Governor ordered the castle flag to be hoisted, and the

  British flag was instantly flown in reply.

  The Governor next sent out his boat with the

  "Captain of the Port" and the "Adjutant of the Town," civilians charged with compliments and offers.

  Nelson, however, regardless of these ceremonies,

  profited by the wind to steer " straight into the harbour." The pompous Governor, shocked at such haste, forwarded a second boat with two military functionaries to repeat his compliments, and to acquaint the

  Admiral with what he had known and resented for

  weeks the impediment of " not more than four ships

  of war at a time." But Nelson had anticipated these formal courtesies. A shore-boat promptly met the

  Governor's with " a royal letter " purporting to contain royal instructions for the admission of the whole

  squadron. This I take to have been the Queen's pri-

  vate letter, forwarded in pursuance of her promise to

  Emma, and holding the Governor harmless in disobey-

  ing the strict letter of the law. While, therefore, in

  EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 207

  pursuance of certainty, the entire squadron advanced

  to cross the bar, the British " Vice- Admiral " proceeded with the officers, and was received by the Governor

  at his house. There he delivered a further (and sep-

  arate?) missive, "a royal despatch" written in the King's name, and signed by Acton in fact, the irregular " order " obtained on that memorable morning of June 17, and by no means expressly empowering the

  reception of the whole fleet. The Governor, conform-

  ing to the prescribed comedy, feigned hesitation ; thereupon a letter from Nelson himself was shown " dif-

  ficult to read," and justifying the entire squadron's entrance. Hereupon the Governor, " struck " by what he must have known, and also by other rejections [The

  Queen's private order?], reminds one of Byron's " and whispering I will ne'er consent, consented." He affected to raise " friendly protests," while he enforced the King's directions to save appearances by spreading

  the ships over different regions and at various distances.

  He even hinted in confidence the " propriety " of quitting the port as soon as possible, and of landing none

  but unarmed sailors, and even these under a promise to

  return so soon as the city gates were closed at sunset.

  On the following afternoon Nelson and his " staff "

  paid their respects. The Governor grasped him

  warmly by the hand, but still maintained his outward

  show of resistance. There were, he said, royal orders,

  under present circumstances, forbidding him to return

  the call on shipboard. And the last sentence of his

  record perhaps best illustrates the whole comedy by

  solemnly informing Sir John that the recital was only

  addressed to him for the official purpose of being

  shown to his Sicilian Majesty. Ferdinand was to be

  kept in the dark. He was ignorant of anything that

  the Queen might have dared through Emma's request.

  He was to believe that the stretch of international ci-

  208 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  vility had been empowered by Acton's document alone,

  the document signed in his name.

  So much for outward semblance. Nelson's inner

  feelings at this most critical juncture supplement the

  story.

  We have reached July the 2ist. The fleet was not

  completely stocked and watered till the 23rd. Before

  that date the whole town rejoiced and fraternised with

  the British sailors: of sympathy at least there was no

  concealment, and a real Sicilian trait all the country-

  folk immediately raised the price of their provisions.

  On July 22nd Nelson forwarded two private let-

  ters, one to Sir William, the other to Lady Hamilton.

  They are both indignant and irritable at delay ag-

  gravated by intense disappointment. It was not only

  that he was still without news of the French. He had

  counted on the instant virtue of Acton's order, without

  the need of recourse to a secret charm. For Hamil-

  ton had been told only three weeks before by the Gen-

  eral that, in pursuance of it, " every proper order " for the British squadron " had been already given in

  Sicily," and " in the way mentioned here with the brave Captain Troubridge." Nelson had therefore good

  reason to hope for prepared co-operation. He had

  been met by farcical routine; and red-tape, even when

  most expected, always repelled and ruffled him. Nor

  so far had the Queen's letter of indemnity to the Gov-

  ernors been followed by the actual " open sesame "

  which she had promised as a last resort. For disap-

  pointment concerning Acton's order he was prepared,

  but not for the failure of his hidden talisman. So far

  the charm had not worked; a fresh letter from the

  Queen might still be required.

  " I have heard so much said," runs Nelson's first outburst which he entrusted to the Governor himself for

  transit " about the King of Naples' orders only to

  EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 209

  admit three or four of the ships . . . that I am aston-

  ished. I understood that private orders at least would

  have been given for our free admission. . . . Our

  treatment is scandalous for a great nation to put up

  with and the King's flag is insulted at every friendly

  port we look at."

  The second to Lady Hamilton is almost cool in

  ironical displeasure, a coolness betokening how unex-

&nb
sp; pectedly his cherished hopes had been belied:

  " MY DEAR MADAM, I am so hurt at the treatment

  we received from the power we came to assist and

  fight for, that I am hardly in a situation to write a

  letter to an elegant body: therefore you must on this

  occasion forgive my want of those attentions which I

  am ever anxious to shew you. / wish to know your

  and Sir William's plans for coming down the Medi-

  terranean, for if we are to be kicked at every port of

  the Sicilian dominions, the sooner we are. gone, the

  better. Good God ! how sensibly I feel our treatment.

  I have only to pray that I may find the French and

  throw all my vengeance on them."

  The omission in these lines of any specific mention

  either of the Queen or her letter, so far from being

  singular, is exactly what was to be expected. She al-

  ways stipulated in such matters that her name should

  never be breathed, nor her position jeopardised with

  the King, and in this instance Acton also had to be kept in the dark. It will be remembered also that Emma's

  letter inclosing the Queen's promise to Nelson ex-

  pressly stated that she was " bound not to give any of her letters," and, indeed, claimed its instant return.

  But meanwhile, on this very 22nd of July, a sudden

  change came over Nelson's tone; still more so, on the

  following day before he weighed anchor. Melancholy

  210 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  and annoyance gave way to delight. Something must

  have intervened to alter the face of affairs, something

  with which Nelson's temper accorded, and that some-

  thing was certainly not any sight of the French fleet.

  Delay had been removed.

  Shortly after these two epistles to the Hamiltons

  Nelson further penned his short but memorable

  " Arethusa " letter to them. Both Sir Harris Nicolas, and Professor Laughton following him, have denied

  the authenticity of this letter on the internal evidence of its style. They say that Nelson could never have used

  such a classical or poetical phrase as " surely watering by the fountain of Arethusa." But in the first place it is not, in Syracuse, poetical or classical, as every

  traveller is aware. Each Syracusan street-boy to this

  day calls the spring by the sea, with its rim of Egyptian cotton-plants, " the fountain of Arethusa." And in the second, if it were, it would be in accordance with

  many of Nelson's phrases caught from the Hamiltons.

  Professor Laughton has, I believe, gone so far as even

  to doubt that Hamilton about this period could address

  his friend as " My dear Nelson." He is mistaken.

  .Writing to Nelson a month previously, Sir William

  ends with " All our present dependance is in you, my dear Nelson, and I am convinced that what is in the

  power of mortal man, you will do."

  The " Arethusa " letter springs, it is true, from the suspected source of the Life of Nelson by the hireling

  Harrison that same Harrison who, perhaps, was one

  of those to embitter the darkening days and fortunes of

  Lady Hamilton, his benefactress. But it is sanctioned

  by Pettigrew, who, as a collector par excellence of Nel-

  son autographs, was, on questions of style, an expert

  of tried judgment; and it will be noticed with interest

  that "the laurel or cypress" passage (itself both poetical and classical) forms a feature also of his in-EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 211

  disputable " private " letter to Hamilton already noticed, and following immediately on his authentic an-

  swer to Lady Hamilton's newly found note of June

  17:

  " MY DEAR FRIENDS, Thanks to your exertions, we

  have victualled and watered: and surely watering at

  the Fountain of Arethusa we must have victory. We

  shall sail with the first breeze and be assured I will return either crowned with laurel, or covered with

  cypress."

  The " first breeze " did not apparently rise until the day following; and even if the "Arethusa" letter were a fabrication, which I can see no valid reason for

  supposing, we are able to dispense with its witness to

  Nelson's sudden relief of mood. He was now enabled

  to start about two days earlier than he had hoped, and

  on the 23rd, before departing, he wrote yet again to

  his dear friends in joyful gratitude, and in phrases im-

  plying that the long-deferred " private orders " had arrived, though the evidently guarded wording provides, as so often, against its being shown to General

  Acton. This letter's authenticity can hardly be

  doubted.

  " The fleet is unmoored, and the moment the wind

  comes off the land shall go out of this delightful har-

  bour, where our present wants have been amply sup-

  plied, and where every attention has been paid to us;

  but I have been tormented by no private orders being

  given to the Governor for our admission. I have only

  to hope that I shall still find the French fleet, and be able to get at them. . . . No frigates! " Even a fortnight later Acton still excuses himself to Hamilton.

  Assuredly throughout these quick transitions the un-

  dertone of Emma and the Queen is audible. Nelson

  212 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  knew what had really happened ; his commentators are

  left to guess the truth from disputed shreds of cor-

  respondence.

  Refitted and reheartened, Nelson, who, as ever, had

  long been rehearsing his plans to his officers, hastened with his fleet to Aboukir Bay. There is no need to recount that memorable struggle of the ist of August,

  which lasted over . twenty-four hours the daring

  strategy of a master-pilot, the giant L' Orient blazing

  with colours already struck, and exploded under a sul-

  len sky torn with livid lightning, the terrific thunder-

  storm interrupting the death-throes of the battle, the

  complete triumph of an encounter which delivered

  England from France, and nerved a revived Europe

  against her. Villeneuve had been outwitted; Brueys

  was dead ; so was Ducheyla. Even Napoleon's papers

  had been captured. Nelson stands out after the tur-

  moil, once more battered, once again far more zealous

  for the fame of his officers than his own, yet furious

  at the escape of the only two French frigates that

  avoided practical annihilation. Never was there a

  supreme naval encounter that exercised such a moral

  effect, and so defeated both the foe and anticipation.

  He was acclaimed the " saviour " both of Britain and the Continent.

  And his trust in the Hamiltons, his unshakable be-

  lief in Emma, were at once evinced by his giving them

  the earliest intelligence of what set all Europe tingling.

  Emma's ears and her husband's were the very first to

  hear it.

  The French had vaunted that Buonaparte would

  erase Britain from the map. In their desperation they

  still vowed to burn her fleet. Their insolence on

  Carat's lips had resounded in the streets and on the

  very house-tops of Naples. It was not long before that

  same Carat was to be curtly dismissed, before not a

  EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 213

  " French dog " dared " show his face," before at the opera " not a French cockade was to be seen " ; before
the Queen, half-mad for joy, addressed an English

  letter to the British sailors, doubtless with her Emma's aid, sent them casks of wine incognita, and presented

  Hoste with a diamond ring, before Britain and Naples

  had struck up a close alliance against the common foe.

  The world was a changed world from that of a

  week before. History had been made and was making.

  On Nelson's life, to quote Lord St. Vincent's words,

  hung the fate of the remaining Governments in Europe,

  " whose system has not been deranged by these devils."

  But for him Britain might have been France, and the

  Mediterranean a French lake. To the end of time the

  Nile would rank with Marathon, with Actium, with

  Blenheim. Nelson had entered the Pantheon of fame,

  he had embodied his country, he was Great Britain.

  He belonged to Time no longer. Emma's heart

  leaped, as she flew exulting with the first breath of victory to the Queen. So early as September the ist

  she had heard the triumph of which ministers and

  potentates were ignorant; she, the poor Cheshire girl,

  the " Lancashire Witch," whose dawn of life had been smirched and sullied; she, the eleve of lecturing and

  hectoring Greville, the wife of an ambassador whose

  lethargy she had stirred to purpose; she, the admired

  of artists, the Queen's comrade. Was anything im-

  possible to youth and beauty, and energy and charm?

  It had proved the same of old with those classical

  freed women Epicharis, staunch amid false knights

  and senators; and Panthea, perhaps Emma's own pro-

  totype, whose giftedness and " chiselled " beauty Lucian has extolled. Had she not from the first fed her

  inordinate fancy with grandiose reveries of achieve-

  ment ? Had she not burst her leading-strings ? More

  than all, had not Nelson, already in August, asked her

  EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  to welcome " the remains of Horatio " ? And now, in this universal moment, she had both part and lot. Was

  it wonderful that, throbbing in every vein, she swooned

  to the ground and bruised her side with Nelson's letter

  in her hand? We have only to read the series of her

  correspondence at this date with Nelson, to realise her

  intoxication of rapture.

  But there was more than this. It often happens that

  when glowing and inflammable natures, such as hers

  and Nelson's, have dreamed united visions, the mere