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

by Yelena Kopylova

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