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

by Yelena Kopylova

  goodness, and elegance of manners, with a good educa-

  tion to fit her to move in that sphere of life which

  she is destined to move in." Not long afterwards he added that his dearest wish was that Horatio Nelson

  when he grew up, " if he behaves," should wed Horatia, and thus establish his posterity on Emma's foundation

  as well as his brother's, and this wish he embodied in

  one of his numerous wills.

  In these mysteries of melodrama it is impossible not

  416 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  to discern Emma's handiwork. As a girl she had de-

  voured romances and been thrilled by the strokes and

  stratagems of the theatre. The same leaning that had

  prompted the secret passage episode at Naples,

  prompted this also; and from her Nelson caught the

  pleasures of mystification. Nor can impartiality ac-

  quit her of planting some of her relatives on Nelson's

  bounty. Sarah Connor's salary is one instance;

  Charles Connor's naval cadetship is another. At this

  very time the youth, who was to end in madness, was

  discoursing to " her Ladyship " of Nelson's " unbounded kindness." It is true that the unworthier

  members of this family, especially Charles and Cecilia,

  took advantage of Emma to the close, and that she had

  to support all of them, including their parents ; but it is also true that Nelson's charities temporarily lightened

  her burdens.

  Nelson was now nearing the end of his Mediter-

  ranean vigil. The King and Queen of Naples

  despaired at his departure. Acton, in disgrace, had

  thoughts of taking his new wife to England. Nelson

  had tarried long enough in the scenes of his memories.

  " Nothing, indeed," he tells his " dearest Emma," " can be more miserable and unhappy than her poor Nelson."

  From February 19, 1805, he had been " beating " from Malta to off Palma, where he was now anchored. He

  could not help himself; none in the fleet could " feel "

  what he did ; and, " to mend his fate," since the close of November all his letters had gone astray, and he

  was without even the solace of news.

  And yet his energy was never more indispensable

  than at this moment. The French strained every nerve

  to meet the renewed vigour which characterised Pitt's

  brief and final accession to power. Directing their

  fleet to the West Indies, they hoped to strike Britain

  where she was most vulnerable, her colonies. Eight

  EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 417

  months' strenuous activity dejected but could not sub-

  jugate Nelson. " I never did," he assured Davison,

  " or ever shall desert the service of my country, but what can I do more than swim till I drop? If I take

  some little care of myself, I may yet live fit for some

  good service." He was dying to catch Villeneuve.

  Irritated at the command of Sir John Orde, destitute of

  " any prize-money worthy of the name," he could still waft his thoughts and wishes beyond the waves. It

  was not only each movement at Merton that he fol-

  lowed ; he cared for poor blind " Mrs. Nelson," while he sat beside the sick-bed of many a man in his own

  fleet. Nor did his vigilance concerning each veriest

  trifle that might profit his country ever diminish.

  Scott's descendants still cherish the two black-leathered and pocketed armchairs, ensconced in which, night by

  night, Nelson and his secretary waded through the

  polyglot correspondence, and those " interminable papers " which engrossed him. " His own quickness,"

  writes one of the latter's grandsons, " in detecting the drift of an author was perfectly marvellous. Two or

  three pages of a pamphlet were generally sufficient to

  put him in complete possession of the writer's object,

  and nothing was too trivial for the attention of this

  great man's mind when there existed a possibility of its being the means of obtaining information." Nelson

  insisted on examining every document seized in prize-

  ships, and so tiring proved the process that " these chairs, with an ottoman that fits between them, formed,

  when lashed together, a couch on which the hero often

  slept those brief slumbers for which he was remark-

  able." At the end of March he heard that the French were safe in port. Within three days his fleet was

  equipped and refreshed. He scoured every quarter,

  ransacked every corner, to sight the enemy in vain.

  Villeneuve had left Toulon to form his junction with

  418 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  the Spaniards and effect his great design ; Orde retired from Cadiz, where the junction was effected. Nelson

  ground his teeth and cursed his luck. By mid-April

  the French were reported as having passed Gibraltar

  with their colours flying. Nelson chased them once

  again, foul winds and heavy swells hampering his

  course. " Nothing," he wrote, " can be more unfortunate than we are in our winds. But God's will

  be done ! I submit. Human exertions are absolutely

  unavailing. What man can do, I have done." Orde's

  remissness in taking no measures for ascertaining their

  course over-exasperated Nelson. At last he heard of

  their East Indiaward direction. Though they outnum-

  bered him greatly in ships, and entirely in men, he

  swore that he would track them " even to the Antip-

  odes." Though, by the opening of May, the elements

  still defied him off Gibraltar, and the linen had been

  actually sent on shore to be washed, while the officers

  and men had landed, their observant commander per-

  ceived some indication of an east wind within twenty-

  four hours. Without hesitation he took the risk of his

  weatherwise observation. " Off went a gun from the

  Victory, and up went the Blue-peter." The crew was

  recalled, " the fleet cleared the gut of Gibraltar, and away they steered for the West Indies." He hurried

  with unexampled expedition to Martinique and Bar-

  badoes thus revisiting, in the last year of his life, the two scenes associated respectively with his love and his marriage. By the West Indies he was hailed as a deliverer, and it was their joy that first warned the

  French of the approach of the sole commander whom

  they dreaded. Nelson did not stay even to water his

  ships. The shrewd Villeneuve, who had once escaped

  from Egypt, hastened to escape once more, and his

  superior force fled like a hare from Nelson's fury.

  And Emma, meanwhile, was in an agony of sus-

  EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 419

  pense. To the incessant inquiries of Nelson's sisters,

  she could give no answer, for she could glean no news.

  At last letters arrived. He was longing to fly to

  " dear, dear Merton." He dared not enclose one of his " little letters," for fear of " sneaking and cutting," but he published for all to read " that I love you beyond any woman in the world, and next our dear

  Horatia." As for her, she paid visits. She threw herself into London distractions again she sought retire-

  ment. But the hard fact of debt stared in the face

  of all her emotions. Just before her return to Merton,

  her mother wrote to her : " I shall be very glad to see you to-morrow, and I think you quite right for going

  into the country to keep yourself quiet for a while;.

  My dear Emma, Cribb is q
uite distrest for money,

  would be glad if you could bring him the 13 that he

  paid for the taxes, to pay the mowers. My dear

  Emma, I have got the baker's and butcher's bills cast

  up; they come to one hundred pounds seventeen shil-

  lings. God Almighty bless you, my dear Emma, and

  grant us good news from our dear Lord. My dear

  Emma, bring me a bottle of ink and a box of wafers.

  Sarah Reynolds thanks you for your goodness to in-

  vite her to Sadler's Wells."

  While Emma lingered, bathing at Southend, Mrs.

  Tyson, returning from a visit to her there, described

  a pleasant day spent at " charming Merton " with

  " dear Mrs. Cadogan " : " She, with Miss Lewold "

  (Emma always left her mother a companion) " did not forget to drink my Lord's and your health. Tom Bolton was of the party. We left them six o'clock, horse-

  back, but, alas! I am got so weak that the ride is too

  much for me. ... I am, my dear Lady Hamilton,

  wishing all the blessings your good and charming dis-

  position should have in this life. . . . Your Ladyship,

  I beg, will pardon this and please give it to Nancy.

  Memoirs Vol. 14 14

  '420 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  ... I will be much obliged to look for a pair of silk

  stockings marked H.S. or only H., as they were given

  me at Bath, changed in the wash. . . . She has been

  very pert about them, and I will not pay her till I hear from you." Nor did old sailors forget to show Emma

  their appreciation. Captain Langford brought back

  for her from Africa a crown-bird and a civet cat, which

  must have astonished the Mertonites.

  Far removed from such trivialities Nelson still strug-

  gled to come up with that fleeing but unconquered

  fleet. Once more at Cadiz he gained fresh advices : it

  had been seen off Cape Blanco. He rounded Cape Vin-

  cent, the scene of his earliest triumphs. Collingwood,

  steering for the Straits' mouth, reported Cape Spartel

  in sight; but still no French squadron. Anchored

  again at Gibraltar, Nelson could descry not a trace of

  them. He went ashore, as he recounts, for the first

  time since June 16, 1803, and although it was " two years wanting ten days " since he had set foot in the Victory, still he would not despair. The French

  destination might be Newfoundland, for aught he

  knew; Ireland, Martinique again, or the Levant; each

  probability had its chance. He searched every point

  of the compass. He inquired of Ireland. He secured

  Cadiz. He sailed off to Tetuan. He reinforced Corn-

  wallis, lest the combined ships should approach Brest.

  At last he heard of Sir Robert Calder's brilliant en-

  counter, but problematic victory, sixty leagues west of

  Cape Finisterre. Pleasure mingled with disappoint-

  ment ; at least and at last he was free. On August 17

  he rode off Portland, at noon off the Isle of Wight. He

  anchored at Spithead on the following morning at nine,

  and with a crew in perfect health, despite unfounded

  allegations of the need of quarantine, he landed.

  All his family were gathered at Merton with Emma,

  who had sped from Southend to greet him. The next

  EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 421

  day saw him in Emma's and Horatia's arms. This

  was his real reward. The society that resented his

  isolation rushed to honour him. London was jubilant.

  Deputations and gratitude poured in on his privacy.

  But, rightly or wrongly, Merton was his Elysium, and

  from Merton he would not budge.

  " Thank God," wrote her lively cousin Sarah to Emma the day after his arrival, " he is safe and well.

  Cold water has been trickling down my back ever since

  I heard he was arrived. Oh ! say how he looks, and

  talks, and eats, and sleeps. Never was there a man

  come back so enthusiastically revered. Look at the

  ideas that pervade the mind of his fellow-citizens in

  this morning's post. Timid spinsters and widows are

  terrified at his foot being on shore; yet this is the

  man who is to have a Sir R. Calder and a Sir J. Orde

  sent to intercept his well-earned advantages. I hope

  he may never quit his own house again. This was my

  thundering reply last night to a set of cowardly women.

  I have lashed Pitt ... to his idolatrice brawler. I

  send you her letter. The public are indignant at the

  manner Lord Nelson has been treated." Outside his

  family he received friends like the Perrys. With re-

  luctance he acceded to the Prince's command that he

  would give him audience before he went.

  He had not long to remain. On September 13, little

  more than three weeks after his arrival, the Victory

  was at Spithead once more, preparing to receive him.

  Villeneuve must be found, and the sole hope of the

  French at sea shattered. Nelson's " band of broth-

  ers " were to welcome the last trial of the magic " Nelson touch." Emma 'is said to have chimed with, and

  spurred his resolve for, this final charge. Harrison's

  recital of this story has been doubted, but she herself

  repeated it to Rose at a moment, and in a passage,

  that lend likelihood to sincerity. Moreover, in a strik-

  422 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  ing letter of self -vindication to Mr. A. J. Scott, Nel-

  son's trusted intimate, she thus delivered herself in the following year, assuming his own knowledge of the

  fact : " Did I ever keep him at home, did I not share in his glory? Even this last fatal victory, it was I

  bid him go forth. Did he not pat me on the back, call

  me brave Emma, and said, ' If there were more Emmas

  there would be more Nelsons.' '

  Together with his assembled relatives she shrank

  from bidding him adieu on board. One by one all but

  the Matchams departed. On that Friday night of

  early autumn, at half-past ten, the postchaise drew up,

  as he tore himself from the last embraces of Emma

  and Horatia, in whose bedroom he had knelt down and

  solemnly invoked a blessing. George Matcham went

  out to see him off, and his final words were a proffer

  of service to his brother-in-law. At six next morn-

  ing he sent his " God protect you and my dear Hora-

  tia " from the George at Portsmouth.

  A familiar and pathetic excerpt from his letter-book

  bears repetition:

  Friday, Sept. 13, 1805.

  " Friday night, at half -past ten, drove from dear, dear Merton, where I left all that I hold dear in this

  world, to go to serve my King and country. May the

  great God whom I adore enable me to fulfil the expec-

  tations of my country, and if it is His good pleasure

  that I should return, my thanks will never cease being

  offered up to the throne of His mercy. If it is His

  good providence to cut short my days upon earth, I

  bow with the greatest submission, relying that He will

  protect those so dear to me that I may leave behind.

  His will be done. Amen. Amen. Amen."

  The humility of true greatness rings through this

  valediction.

  EMMA, LADY HAMILTON 423

  He seems to have felt som
e foreboding and his

  last letters confirm it that he would never return.

  During the two days on board before he weighed an-

  chor, each moment that could be spared from business

  was devoted to the future of Emma and his child. His

  thoughts travelled in his letters to every cranny of his homestead. A few hours after he stepped on deck,

  he asked Rose, come from Cuffnells, to bring Canning

  with him to dinner. Canning was not present when

  Nelson engaged his friend in a parting conversation

  about Bolton's business, and also the prosecution of

  Emma's claims, though she maintained eight years

  later that she understood them to have given their joint assurances on her behalf. He purposely embarked

  from the bathing-machine beach to elude the populace.

  To Davison, in sad privacy, while he was off Portland,

  he gave his last mandate for mother and child. He

  twice answered Emma's last heart-broken notes.

  " With God's blessing we shall meet again. Kiss dear Horatia a thousand times." " I cannot even read your letter. We have fair wind and God will, I hope, soon

  grant us a happy meeting. We go too swift for the

  boat. May Heaven bless you and Horatia, with all

  those who hold us dear to them. For a short time,

  farewell." The next day, off Plymouth, he entreated her to " cheer up," they would look forward to many, many happy years," surrounded by their " children's children." There are tears, and a sense of tragedy, in all these voices.

  Passing the Scilly Islands, three days later, he again

  conveyed his blessings to her and to Horatia. At that

  very time Miss Connor wrote prettily of her young

  charge to Charlotte, whose family the mother had

  joined at Canterbury. " She is looking very well indeed, and is to me a delightful companion. We read

  about twenty times a day, as I do not wish to confine

  424 EMMA, LADY HAMILTON

  her long at a time. . . . We bought some shoes and

  stockings and a hat for the doll. She is uncommonly

  quick. ... I told her she was invited to see a ship

  launched; every morning she asks if it is to be to-day,

  and wanted to know if there will be any firing of

  guns." How these trifles contrast with the coming

  doom, and lend a silver lining to the dark cloud hang-

  ing over the sailor-father ! Poor child, there was soon

  to be firing of guns enough, and a great soul, as well

  as a ship, was to be launched on a wider ocean. Emma