that the miserable Vanni the creature of her in-
quisition had shot himself dead, and she loads herself
with reproaches. Massacre continued ; the very French
emigres were not spared by the Italian Jacobins.
Everywhere tumult, disgrace, bloodshed. The crowd,
calmed for a moment, still howled at intervals for their King, whose departure they now suspected. The
" cruel determination " had been foisted on her. Once on board, the Queen tells the empress, " God help us,
. . . saved, but ruined and dishonoured." To Lady
Hamilton she repeats the same distracted burden.
Discipline has vanished. " Unbridled " license grows hourly. Their " concert with their liberator " is their mainstay. Her last thoughts are for the safety of
friends and dependants, whom she confides by name to
Emma's charge. Her torn heart bleeds. Mack
despairs also, for Aquila is taken, " to the eternal EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 241
shame of our country." She trembles for the horrors that a cowardly people may commit.
The sky was clouded. There was a lull in the strong
wind off the shore, but a heavy ground-swell prevailed
as the appointed hour approached. The royal party
anxiously waited in their apartments the Queen's
room with its dark exit, so familiar to the romantic
Emma, for the signal which should summon them
through the tunnel to the water-side. On the Mole-
siglio, and at his station near the Arsenal, stood Thurn, muffled and ill at ease. It was the night of a reception given in Nelson's honour by Kelim Effendi, the
bearer from the Sultan of his " plume of triumph."
The exact sequence of what now occurred is difficult,
but possible, to collect from the three contemporary
and, at first sight, conflicting documents that survive.
There is the Queen's own brief recital to her daughter.
There is Nelson's dry official despatch to Lord St. Vin-
cent, accentuating, however, Emma's conspicuous
services. There are Emma's own hurried lines to
Greville, thirteen days after that awful voyage, which,
for three days and nights, deprived her of sleep and
strained every faculty of mind and body.
Let us try to ascertain the truth by collation. Nel-
son's account is brief and doubtless accurate :
"On the 2 ist, at 8.30 P.M., three barges with my-
self and Captain Hope landed at a corner of the Ar-
senal. I went into the palace and brought out the
whole royal family, put them into the boats, and at
9.30 they were all safely on board."
It is an official statement, which naturally omits the
Count in waiting, the password, the mysteries of the
secret corridor, which Acton in his letters, confirming
Emma's after account, had arranged with Nelson.
The Queen's short notice to the Empress of Austria
(hitherto unmarked) makes no mention of Emma's
242
name the Queen never does in any of her letters to
her daughter but further corroborates the melodrama
of the secret staircase winding down to the little
quay :
" We descended all our family, ten in number, with
the utmost secrecy, in the dark, without our women
or any one, and in two boats. Nelson was our guide."
Now let us listen carefully to Emma's own graphic
narrative. The hours named in it do not tally with
Nelson's, and after the long strain of the tragic occur-
rences, culminating in the death of the little Prince
Albert, she may well have been confused. They are
really irrelevant. The point is the real sequence and
substance of events, which, more or less, must have
stayed in her immediate remembrance. It will be
found that her vivid words bear a construction dif-
ferent from that which might appear at the first blush,
and it should be borne in mind that no possible motive
for distorting the facts can be alleged in this friendly communication to her old friend:
" On the 2 ist at ten at night, Lord Nelson, Sir Wm., Mother and self went out to pay a visit, sent all our
servants away, and ordered them in 2 hours to come
with the coach, and ordered supper at home. When
they were gone, we sett off, walked to our boat, and
after two hours got to the Vanguard. Lord N. then
went with armed boats to a secret passage adjoining to
the pallace, got up the dark staircase that goes into the Queen's room, and with a dark lantern, cutlasses,
pistols, etc., brought off every soul, ten in number, to the Vanguard at twelve o'clock. If we had remained
to the next day, we shou'd have all been imprisoned."
Reading this account loosely, it might be imagined
that Emma transposed the true order; that Nelson,
stealing with the Hamiltons away from the reception,
first brought them on board, and afterwards returned
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 243
for the royal fugitives. But the reverse of this ad-
mits of proof from her own statement. She, with her
family and Nelson, quitted the party at (as she here
puts it) ten. It took them two hours to reach the Van-
guard. Nelson saved the royalties, who were not on
board till " twelve." It is obvious, therefore, that (whatever the precise hour) the Hamiltons and Mrs.
Cadogan arrived on the Vanguard at the selfsame mo-
ment as the King, the Queen, their children, and grand-
child. The misimpression arises from the phrasing
" Lord Nelson then went with armed boats," etc., following the previous statement of their being at their
destination " after two hours." But this " then" as so often in Emma's thinking-aloud letters, seems an
enclitic merely carrying on disjointed sentences. It
may be no mark of time at all, but a mere reference to
what happened after they hastened from the enter-
tainment, having ordered everything as if they intended
to remain until its close. Otherwise they must have
" got to " the Vanguard long before the King and Queen, which, by her own recollection in this letter,
they do not. It will be noted from Nelson's recital
that the Vanguard could be reached in an hour.
What happened, then, seems to be this. After their
hurried exit, the Hamiltons accompanied Nelson on
foot. The Acton correspondence shows that, as has
appeared from the pre-arrangements, the Hamiltons
must have been of Nelson's private and unspecified
party. Together they went to their boat where, be-
fore their start, they awaited the separate escape of the royalties. Eventually the two contingents stepped on
to the deck of the Vanguard at the same moment and
together. But, in the interval, something must have
necessitated and occupied their attendance.
What was it ?
Here Emma's own account in her " Prince Regent's
244 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON
Memorial," more than fourteen years afterwards, perhaps comes to our aid. It has been discredited even as
regards the " secret passage " incident which Acton's letters reveal by distinct allusion. This is what Emma
says :
" To shew the caution and secrecy that was neces-
sarily used in thus getting away, I had on the night of
Effendi, who was sent by the grand seignior to Naples
to present Nelson with the Shahlerih or Plume of Tri-
umph. I had to steal from the party, leaving our car-
riages and equipages waiting at his house, and in about
fifteen minutes to be at my post, where it was my task
to conduct the Royal Family through the subterranean
passage to Nelson's boats, by that moment waiting for
us on the shore. The season for this voyage was ex-
tremely hazardous, and our miraculous preservation is
recorded by the Admiral upon our arrival at Palermo."
I venture, therefore, to suggest the following prob-
ability. Count Thurn is keeping watch, in accordance
with the preconcerted plan. Captain Hope and Nel-
son arrive at about 7.30 by Neapolitan time at the
Molesiglio. Leaving Captain Hope in charge, Nelson
hurries to the reception, as if nothing were in process, and, as designed, meets the Hamiltons and Mrs. Cadogan. Within a quarter of an hour they all sally forth,
walk to the shore, and proceed in Sir William's private
boat to the rendezvous, Emma, quitting her mother
and husband, hastens by the palace postern to the side
of her " adored Queen." The signal for the flight has already been made by Count Thurn. Emma accompanies the royal family to the winding and under-
ground staircase, up which Nelson climbs with pistols
and lanterns to conduct them. They all emerge from
the inner to the outer darkness. The royal family are
bestowed by Hope and Nelson in their barges. The
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 245
Hamiltons re-enter their own private boat. In another
hour they again meet on board the Vanguard.
Emma's temperament alike and circumstances forbid
us to suppose that, at such an hour, she would allow
herself to stay apart from the Queen. She lived, and
had for weeks been living, on tension. The melo-
drama of the moment, the danger, the descent down
the cavernous passage, the lanterns, pistols, and cut-
lasses, the armed boats, the safe conduct of her hero,
would all appeal to her. It was an experience unlikely
to be repeated, and one that she would be most unlikely
to forgo. Affection and excitement would both unite
in prompting her to persuade Nelson into permitting
her to assist in this thrilling scene. And it would be
equally unlikely that either she or Nelson would re-
port this episode to England. In any case, the incident
was one more of personal adventure than of necessary
help. What Nelson does single out for the highest
commendation in his despatches, what was published
both at home and abroad, and universally acknowl-
edged, what Lord St. Vincent praised with gratitude,
was her signal service before the voyage and under
that awful storm which arose during it, in which, by
every authentic account, she enacted the true heroine,
exerting her energies for every one except herself, car-
ing for and comforting all, till she was called their
" guardian angel." " What a scene," wrote Sir John Macpherson to Hamilton, " you, your Sicilian King,
his Queen, Lady Hamilton, and our noble Nelson have
lately gone through ! . . . Lady Hamilton has shown,
with honour to you and herself, the merit of your
predilection and selection of so good a heart and so
fine a mind. She is admired here from the court to
the cottage. The King and Prince of Wales often
speak of her."
It was not till seven o'clock on the morning of the
246 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON
23rd that the Vanguard could weigh anchor. Fresh
consignments of things left behind were awaited. It
was still hoped that riot might be pacified and disaf-
fection subdued. Prince Francesco Pignatelli had
been commissioned to reign at Naples during the
King's absence, and was nominated Deputy-Captain-
General of anarchy. During this interval of sus-
pense, a deputation of the magistrates came on board
and implored the King to remain among his people.
He was inflexible, and every effort to move him proved
unavailing. On the one hand, the Lazzaroni, incensed
against the Jacobins despoiling them of their King; on
the other, the French Ambassador, smarting under his
formal dismissal procured by Emma's influence, were
each precipitating an upheaval itself engineered by
French arms and agitators and used by traitorous
nobles, whom both mob and bourgeoisie had grown to
detest. While Maria Carolina's name was now ex-
ecrated at Naples by loyalist and disloyalist alike, her misfortunes called forth sympathy from England,
alarmed by the French excesses, and regarding the
Jacobin mercilessness as fastening on faith, allegiance, and freedom.
Not a murmur escaped the lips of the pig-headed
King or the hysterical Queen, though inwardly both
repined. From the Vanguard, ere it set sail, Maria
Carolina wrote her sad letter to her daughter. The
" cruel resolution had to be taken." Her " one consolation " was that all faithful to their house had been saved.
After two days' anxious inaction the Vanguard and
'Sannite, with about twenty sail of vessels, at last left the bay in disturbed weather and under a lowering
sky. Among the last visitors was General Mack, at
the end of his hopes, his wits, and his health : " my heart bled for him," wrote Nelson, " worn to a EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 247
shadow." The next morning witnessed the worst
storm in Nelson's long recollection.
And here Emma approved herself worthy of her
hero's ideal. A splendid sailor, intrepid and energetic, she owned a physique which, like her muscular arms,
she perhaps inherited from her blacksmith father. So
quick had proved the eventual decision to fly, such had
been the precautions against attracting notice by any
show of preparation, so many public provisions had
been hurried, that the private had been perforce neg-
lected. Nelson himself thus paints her conduct on
this " trying occasion." " They necessarily came on board without a bed. . . . Lady Hamilton provided
her own beds, linen, etc., and became their slave; for
except one man, no person belonging to royalty as-
sisted the royal family, nor did her Ladyship enter a
bed the whole time they were on board." Emma's
Palermo letter to Greville, which is very characteristic, will best resume the narrative :
" We arrived on Christmas day at night, after hav-
ing been near lost, a tempest that Lord Nelson had
never seen for thirty years he has been at sea, the like ; all our sails torn to pieces, and all the men ready with their axes to cut away the masts. And poor I to attend and keep up the spirits of the Queen, the Princess
Royall, three young princesses, a baby six weeks old,
and 2 young princes Leopold and Albert; the last, six
years old, my favourite, taken with convulsion in the
midst of the storm, and, at seven in the evening of
Christmas day, expired in my arms, not a soul to help
me, as the few w
omen her Majesty brought on board
were incapable of helping her or the poor royal chil-
dren. The King and Prince were below in the ward
room with Castelcicala, Belmonte, Gravina, Acton, and
Sir William, my mother there assisting them, all their
attendants being so frighten'd, and on their knees
248 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON
praying. The King says my mother is an angel. I
have been for 12 nights without once closing my eyes.
. . . The gallant Mack is now at Capua, fighting it out
to the last, and, I believe, coming with the remains of
his vile army into Calabria to protect Sicily, but thank God we have got our brave Lord Nelson. The King
and Queen and the Sicilians adore, next to worship
him, and so they ought; for we shou'd not have had
this Island but for his glorious victory. He is called
here Nostro Liberatore, nostro Salvatore. We have
left everything at Naples but the vases and best pic-
tures. 3 houses elegantly furnished, all our horses
and our 6 or 7 carriages, I think is enough for the vile French. For we cou'd not get our things off, not to
betray the royal family. And, as we were in council,
we were sworn to secrecy. So we are the worst off.
All the other ministers have saved all by staying some
days after us. Nothing can equal the manner we have
been received here ; but dear, dear Naples, we now dare
not show our love for that place; for this country is
je[a]lous of the other. We cannot at present proffit
of our leave of absence, for we cannot leave the royal
family in their distress. Sir William, however, says
that in the Spring we shall leave this, as Lord St. Vin-
cent has ordered a ship to carry us down to Gibraltar.
God only knows what yet is to become of us. We are
worn out. I am with anxiety and fatigue. Sir Will-
iam [h]as had 3 days a bilious attack, but is now well.
. . . The Queen, whom I love better than any person
in the world, is very unwell. We weep together, and
now that is our onely comfort. Sir William and
the King are philosophers ; nothing affects them, thank
God, and we are scolded even for shewing proper sensi-
bility. God bless you, my dear Sir. Excuse this
scrawl."
At three in the afternoon of that sad Christmas Day,
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 249
the royal standard was hoisted at the head of the Van-
guard in face of Palermo. The tempest-tossed Queen,
Full text of Memoirs of Emma, lady Hamilton, the friend of Lord Nelson and the court of Naples; Page 28