munications with Egypt, of the island's blockade, and
of co-operation with the Turkish and Russian fleets in
the Archipelago, but specially of protecting the Sicilian and Neapolitan coasts. So annoyed was he at the
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 223
King's inaction, that he even told Lord Spencer that
" Naples sees this squadron no more, except the King,"
who is losing " the glorious moments," " calls for our help." By mid-October Nelson himself had set out
first for Malta, and, after a brief interval of return, for the deliverance of Leghorn. Before the month's close
the King and General Mack had started on their ill-
starred campaign; before the year's end a definitive
Anglo-Sicilian alliance had been signed, and Gren-
ville's former attitude reversed.
The very day of Nelson's departure drew from him
the tribute to Lady Hamilton which was in Pettigrew's
possession, and a facsimile of which accompanied the
first volume of his Memoirs of Lord Nelson.
" I honour and respect you," it ran, " and my dear friend Sir William Hamilton, and believe me ever your
faithful and affectionate Nelson " the first letter, as
" his true friend " Emma recorded on it, written to her " after his dignity to the peerage."
The girl who, after the bartering Greville trampled
upon her affections, had been gained into grateful at-
tachment by Hamilton, with the covert resolve of be-
coming his wife and winning her spurs in the political
tournament, had at length carved a career. Greville's
neglect of her self-sacrifice had not hardened her, but
her tender care of Sir William was fast assuming a
new complexion. She had twice saved his life; she
had perpetually urged his activities; she still watched
over him. But, under her standards of instinct and
experience, she was half gravitating towards the per-
suasion that they might warrant her in taking her fate
into her own hands. She hated "half measures"; neck or nothing, she would realise herself. Her chief
cravings remained as yet unsatisfied. Womanlike, she
had yearned for true sympathy. Here was one willing
and eager to listen. She had long been in love with
224 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON
glory. Here was a hero who personified it. She had
sighed for adventures in the grand style. Here was
opportunity. She wavered on the verge of a new
temptation. She felt as though her wandering soul
had at last found its way. Yet, in reality, she still
groped in a maze of contending emotions, nor would
she stop to inquire by what clue her quick steps were
hurrying her: the moment was all in all. She still
identified her intense friendship with her husband's.
Disloyalty still revolted her in its masked approaches;
and yet she struggled, half -consciously, with a " faith unfaithful " that was to keep her " falsely true."
Omitting further historical detail, we may turn at
once to the part played by Emma with the Queen at
Caserta as her hero's vice-gerent during his nine weeks'
absence. Her heart was with the ships, and she pined
to quit the villeggiatura for Naples.
It was, in her own words, with Nelson's " spirit "
that Emma inflamed the Queen, from whom she was
now inseparable. The King still looked to Austria,
and thought of little else but his daughter-in-law's
coming confinement. The Queen, who had hesitated,
at last caught the promptness of Nelson's policy. Gen-
eral Mack had arrived, but a thousand official obstacles impeded his preparations. " He does not go to visit the frontiers," wrote Emma to Nelson, " but is now working night and day, and then goes for good, and I
tell her Majesty, for God's sake, for the country's
sake, and for your own sake, send him off as soon as
possible, no time to be lost, and I believe he goes after to-morrow." The suppression of the Irish rebellion
had removed yet another spoke from the Republican
wheel. " I translate from our papers," said Emma,
" to inspire her or them, I should say, with some of your spirit and energy. How delighted we both were
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 225
to speak of you. She loves, respects, and admires you.
For myself, I will leave you to guess my feelings. Poor
dear Troubridge stayed that night with us to com-
fort us. What a goo'd dear soul he is. ... He is to
come down soon, and I am to present him. She sees
she could not feel happy if she had not an English ship
here to send off. . . . How we abused Gallo yester-
day. How she hates him. He won't reign long
so much the better. . . . You are wanted at Caserta.
All their noddles are not worth yours." There were
affectionate mentions of Tyson and Hardy, with the
hope that the " Italian spoil-stomach sauce of a dirty Neapolitan " might not hurt the invalid, but that perhaps Nelson's steward provided him " with John Bull's Roast and Boil." Then followed her enthusiasm over
Nelson's honours, and her wrath at the stint of home
recognition, which have been echoed already. In the
same long letter, containing, as was her wont, the diary of a week, she resumes her political story. She and
her Queen had been ecstatic over the Sultan's lavish ac-
knowledgments of Nelson's victory.
"The Queen says that, after the English she loves
the Turks, and she has reason, for, as to Vienna, the
ministers deserve to be hanged, and if Naples is saved,
no thanks to the Emperor. For he is kindly leaving
his father in the lurch. We have been two days des-
perate on account of the weak and cool acting of the
Cabinet of Vienna. Thugut must be gained; but the
Emperor oh, but he is a poor sop, a machine in the
hands .of his corrupted ministers. The Queen is in a
rage. . . . Sunday last, two couriers, one from Lon-
don, one from Vienna; the first with the lovely news
of a fleet to remain in the Mediterranean, and a treaty
made of the most flattering kind for Naples. In short,
everything amicable . . . and most truly honourable.
T'other from their dear son and daughter, cold, un-
226
friendly, mistrustful, Frenchified; and saying plainly,
help yourselves. How the dear Maria Carolina cried
for joy at the one and rage at the other. But Mack
is gone to the army to prepare all to march immedi-
ately." And here, too, is the place of that dramatic outburst, cited in the Prelude, where Emma extended
her left arm, like Nelson, and " painted the drooping situation," stimulating the Queen's decision in face of those hampering obstacles on the part of Gallo and the
King, which proved so unconscionable a time in dying.
" In short, there was a council, and it was decided to march out and help themselves; and, sure, their poor
fool of a son will not, cannot but come out. He must
bring 150,000 men in the Venetian State. The French
could be shut in between the two armies, Italy cleared,
and peace restored. I saw a person from Milan yes-
terday, who says that a small army would do, for the
Milanese have had enough of liberty." She depicts the horrid state of that capital, the starvation side by si
de with the rampant licentiousness of the Jacobins " putting Virtue out of countenance by their . . . libertin-
age. . . . So, you see, a little would do. Now is the
moment, and, indeed, everything is going on as we
could wish." Emma has ,been hitherto and often
painted as the Queen's mouthpiece. She was really
Nelson's, and her intuition had grasped his mastership
of the political prospect. Was she not right in de-
claring that she had " spurred them on " ? The Queen had been actually heartened into resolving on a
regency, a new fact which reveals the political di-
vergences between the royal pair at this period. ' The
King is to go in a few days, never to return. The
regency is to be in the name of the Prince Royal, but
the Queen will direct all. Her head is worth a thou-
sand. I have a pain in my head, . . . and must go
take an airing. . . . May you live long, long, long
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 227
for the sake of your country, your King, your family,
all Europe, Asia, Africa, and America [Emma is on
her stilts once more], and for the scourge of France,
but particularly for the happiness of Sir William and
self, who love you, admire you, and glory in your
friendship." Sir William's new name for Nelson was
now " the friend of our hearts." And these hearts were certainly stamped with his image : " Your statue ought to be made of pure gold and placed in the middle of London. Never, never was there such a battle,
and if you are not regarded as you ought and I wish,
I will renounce my country and become either a
Mameluke or a Turk. The Queen yesterday said to
me, the more I think on it, the greater I find it, and I feel such gratitude to the warrior, . . . my respect is
such, that I could fall at his honoured feet and kiss
them. You that know us both, and how alike we are
in many things, that is, I as Emma Hamilton, she as
Queen of Naples, imagine us both speaking of you.
... I would not be a lukewarm friend for the world.
I ... cannot make friendships with all, but the few
friends I have, I would die for them. ... I told her
Majesty we only wanted Lady Nelson to be the female
Tria juncta in uno, for we all love you, and yet all
three differently, and yet all equally, if you can make
that out." . . . And Lady Nelson, accordingly, she
congratulated twice, both on the Queen's behalf and
her own.
Nelson returned for a fortnight in the earlier days
of November, more than ever dissatisfied with the
Neapolitan succours and the Portuguese co-operation
at Malta. There, with strong significance in view of
next year's crisis at Naples, he had notified the French, who rejected his overtures, that he would certainly disregard any capitulation into which the Maltese General
might afterwards be forced to enter. He learned the
Memoirs Vol. 14 8
228 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON
decision for definite war, and the King's reluctant con-
sent at length to accompany the army to Rome. No
sooner had Garat been dismissed, than the French de-
clared war also. Force, then, must repel force, for
the Ligurian Republic meant nothing but France in
Italy. Throughout, moreover, Nelson's guiding aim
was the destruction of Jacobinism, which, indeed, he
regarded as anti-Christ. He collected his forces and
set out for Leghorn, which soon surrendered (although
Buonaparte's brother Louis escaped the blockade),
landing once more at Naples in the first week of De-
cember. At first Mack and the Neapolitan troops pre-
vailed, and Prince Moliterno's valour covered the
cowardice of his troops. The King entered Rome;
the Queen's mercurial hopes ran high. But her ex-
ultation was short-lived. Before the end of the first
week in December Carolina wrote to her confidante
that she now pitied the King intensely, and " would be with him/' " God only knows what evils are in reserve. I am deeply affected by it, and expect every
day something more terrible. The good only will be
the victims. . . . Mack is in despair, and has rea-
son to be so." The French Berthier proved an abler, though not a braver, general than the Austrian, but
Mack had raw and wretched levies under his com-
mand ; his officers were bribed and their men deserted.
Rome was retaken; a retreat became unavoidable, and
by the second week in December that retreat had al-
ready become a rout. From the close of November
onwards the Queen grew more and more despondent,
though Duckworth's naval success at Minorca, the
promise by the Czar Paul of his fleet, and the retire-
ment of the Republicans from Frosinone had cheered
her. She was very ill, and fresh home conspiracies
were in course of discovery.
Emma still lingered in her neighbourhood at Caserta.
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 229
Beseeching Nelson not to go ashore at Leghorn, and
rejoicing at the unfounded rumour that his " dear, venerable father " had been made a bishop, she informed him that the King had at length issued a clear manifesto. The army had marched, the Queen had just
gone to pray for them in the cathedral. She announced
the King's triumphal entry into Rome from Frascati;
she hoped the best from the battle of Velletri, fought
even as she writes. " Everybody here," she assured Nelson, " prays for you. Even the Neapolitans say
mass for you, but Sir William and I are so anxious
that we neither eat, drink, nor sleep ; and till you are safely landed and come back we shall feel mad." The secret of Nelson's movements and preparations she
will never betray, nor would red-hot torture wrest it
from her. " We send you one of your midshipmen,
left here by accident; . . . pray don't punish him.
Oh ! I had forgot I would never ask favours, but you
are so good I cannot help it." And then follows a tell-tale passage : " We have got Josiah. How glad I was to see him. Lady Knight, Miss Knight, Carrol, and
Josiah dined to-day with us, but alas! your place at
table was occupied by Lady K. I could have cried,
I felt so low-spirited."
Is it a wonder that Nelson was moved? One can
hear how her confidence impressed him. Shortly after
his return he frankly avowed, " My situation in this country has had, doubtless, one rose, but it has been
plucked from a bed of thorns." This, then, was no
waxen camellia, but a rose whose fresh scent contrasted
with the hot atmosphere of the court and the prickles
of perpetual vexation.
The reader must judge whether such efforts and
appeals, this developing energy and tenderness, were
the manoeuvres of craft. It is patent from the corre-
spondence that Emma's inter jectional letters, which
230 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON
think aloud, answer epistles from Nelson of even
tenor. A comparison, moreover, with her girlish
epistles to Greville shows a sameness of quality that
will stand the same test. She remains " the same
Emma."
Nelson rejoined the Hamiltons at a critical moment.
His wise forecast that unless Ferdinand
and Maria
coveted the fate of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette,
flight alone could save them, was fast being justified.
The nobles, jealous of English influence, were now
thoroughly disaffected. Gathering reverses incensed
a populace that was only too likely to be frenzied
should their King prefer escape Sicilyward to trust in
their tried loyalty. As yet Naples had been free from
the French, but the likelihood of invasion grew daily;
and even in June Neapolitan neutrality had been known
to be merely nominal. The proud Queen, as we shall
find when the dreaded moment arrived, would rather
have welcomed death than retreat. But Acton, at
present in Rome, had slowly come to concur with the
trio of the Embassy.
The melodrama of the actual escape, on which new
manuscripts cast fresh lights, must be reserved for a
separate chapter. " The devil take most Kings and
Queens, I say, for they are shabbier than their sub-
jects ! " had been Sir Joseph Banks's exclamation to Sir William Hamilton in 1795. At this present end of
1798 the devil (or Buonaparte) proved especially busy
in this particular branch of his business.
CHAPTER VIII
FLIGHT
IT is clear all along that Emma chafed against
vegetation. Tameness and sameness wearied her,
and she longed for historical adventures. She
had now lit on a thrilling one indeed. To aid in plan-
ning, preparing, deciding, and executing a royal escape
in the midst of revolution, on the brink of invasion,
and at the risk of life, was a task the romance and
the danger of which allured her dramatic fancy. That
it did not repeat the blunders of Varennes was largely
owing to Nelson's foresight and her own indefatigable
energy. And omens for they each believed in them
must have appeared to both. Before the battle of the
Nile a white bird had perched in his cabin. He and
Emma marked the same white bird when the King was
restored in the following July ; and Nelson always de-
clared that he saw it again before Copenhagen, though
it was missed at Trafalgar. It was his herald of vic-
tory. Nor under the auspices of triumph was death
also ever absent from the thoughts of the man, who
accepted, as a welcome present from a favoured Cap-
tain, the coffin made from a mast of the ruined
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