Nelson's Lady Hamilton by Meynell, Esther (surface ebook reader txt) 📕

full of tongues, each telling a different tale—real news mingled inextricably with baseless rumour. Conflicting issues were rendered yet more confused by the fact that Maria Carolina suddenly turned round, and from having begged Nelson to remain with her at Palermo entreated him to go to Naples. A letter of Lady Hamilton's to Nelson, dated June 12th, gives some explanation:—

" I have been with the Queen this evening. She is very miserable, and says, that although the people of Naples are for them in general, yet things will not be brought to that state of quietness and subordination till the Fleet of Lord Nelson appears off Naples. She therefore begs, intreats, and conjures you, my dear Lord, if it is

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possible, to arrange matters so as to be able to go to Naples. Sir William is writing for General Acton's answer. For God's sake consider it, and do ! We will go with you, if you will come and fetch us. Sir William is ill; I am ill: it will do us good."

Neither the entreaties of the Queen nor the illness of Sir William and herself were sufficient cause for undertaking the expedition; but Emma was always given to seeing things through the personal medium. Her own wishes, or—just as frequently—the wishes of those she loved became transmuted by some subtle alchemy into political reasons! But when dealing with the emotional Emma, the astute Queen adopted the reverse method, and presented her political schemes under the guise of personal desires. It is true that Maria Carolina was passionate and impulsive, and her passions sometimes got the better of her schemes, but in general her head ruled her heart quite successfully.

In this matter, for once, the King and Queen of Naples were united, and it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that they both used Nelson to accomplish their own ends, irrespective of his country's. They were to remain in security at Palermo while he thoroughly cleared Naples of rebels—and a very dirty business it was to prove, in which a name that outshone all the royalties of Europe was to get unfairly smirched. Nelson,

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who was usually so quick to condemn any symptom of cowardice, seems to have been curiously blind to the unheroic conduct of the Sicilian sovereigns.

Perhaps to cover his own conduct, the King sent his son to the flagship and gave Nelson most extensive powers. The fourth article of the Instructions runs : "All the military and political operations shall be agreed upon by the Prince Royal and Admiral Lord Nelson. The opinion of this latter always to have a preponderance, on account of the respect due to his experience, as well as to the forces under his command, which will determine the operations, and also because we are so deeply indebted to him for the zeal and attachment of which he has given so many proofs."

Nelson sailed from Palermo for Naples on the 13th of June; but when off Maritimo he heard definitely that the French fleet had left Toulon and was bound southwards, so he returned to Palermo to await Ball's and Duckworth's reinforcements. The Queen was much disappointed to see him again so soon. Writing to Ruffo on the 14th she says—

" The ill-luck which never deserts us has obliged the English squadron to return this morning to Palermo. It started yesterday with the finest wind possible. We said good-bye about eleven, when it was already under sail,

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and at five o'clock the squadron was out of sight. The wind was so propitious, that it would have been at Procida to-day; but it met two English ships halfway, coming as reinforcements, inasmuch as the French squadron had left Toulon and was approaching the southern shores of Italy. A council of war was held, and Nelson decided that his duty was to think in the first place of Sicily, then, getting rid of the passengers, troops ; and artillery which he had on board, to hasten to meet and to seek to beat the enemy. They returned with this intention. I can hardly tell you how grieved I was at this disappointment The squadron was superb, beautiful, imposing."

To Emma the Queen wrote on the same day—

" MY DEAR MILADY, — I am going to the Colli to take Francis to visit his father, and to give him an account of everything. I was exceedingly surprised to see the squadron return, though I felt sure that under the leadership of Lord Nelson it could only be on good grounds. I am sure to return at sunset, and I hope to have the consolation of seeing you and assuring you of my constant friendship. I am grieved at the news concerning your health. A thousand compliments to the chevalier, and to our brave and virtuous Admiral, from whom I expect great things."

A few days later Nelson learned that Cardinal

Ruffo — the Eminence whom Maria Carolina so flattered in her letters—had actually concluded an armistice with the Neapolitan rebels. As he held no powers to treat with the rebels, indeed had been expressly instructed not to do so, this behaviour wore a distinctly suspicious air. Nelson and the Hamiltons had always entertained doubts of Ruffo, and this piece of news, combined with the Jacobin taunt that he had returned to Palermo for fear of the French fleet—for Nelson was almost absurdly sensitive in regard to his professional honour, even when he had placed it at a height above the reach of mortal malice—decided him to make sail at once for Naples. Sir William and Lady Hamilton went with him in the Foudroyant. It may