Aur. VII. The Lett ns of Lord Nihon lo Lady Hamilton; 'with a S liave with- held them, we should still have hesitated about adding to their publicity by our notice, had \fe not come to L* sutMiod, tint even the private habits c jf such a man as Lord Neb-m, when t Lry me evidi need, as in this instance, by the mnh-ebtrd testimony if ins own letters, are mudn’ of history, and mint pass as mcli mto the records of the age. In noticing them, however, w r e idsall carefully avoid giving circulation to the anecdotes (not*, vve grieve tv) my, always the most creditable) which these volumes biing before m, of private individual?, whose connexion with the gioat man will certainly not prevent their names from re- turning to the shelter of oblivion immediately after their eaithly course is run. To preserve any ot these, can serve* no good pur- pose ; for the censor, coma ive, has no right to dng into no- tice tile vices oi t!ie lblhes winch he may meet on Ids legitimate field, if it appear that they have been can ied unfaiily ami forcibly I hither, out of the shade in which they were naturally deemed to live their little hour. The charge of bookmaking, to which tin’s publication is lia- ble be \ ond even the ordinary run of such works, may appear but trifling, after the grave accusations wc have been alluding to. It is proper, however, to notice, that the letters of Lord NeM>u occupy only about 2:i0 pages of the whole. The rest are lcLters of virions persons to Lady Hamilton — introduced under the pretence of illustrating Lord Nc Lon’s letters bill, in reality, bearing little or no reference to them ; and a very lew letters of Lady Hamilton herself— not half a dozen, and such as create no son of w Mi to >co more of til cm. The advertisement prefixed is a curious production. The mutual attachment, it is said, of Lord Nchon and Lady Ha- milton is*k> genera! !y known, that any * note*, however desire- 400 Lord Nelsons Letters to Lady Hamilton. Sept. able and explanatory, might not have been deemed perfectly <7e- forons l 9 Then, it scenic, some parts of the correspondence * have been suppressed from the most honourable feelings to in- dividuals, as they would certainly hate given pain.’ Now, though \ve cannot prove by quotations how little regard hiu bet, a paid to such a principle in this compilation, without renewing the offence, and giving additional pain to private individual-*, v J will veti tore to say, that there are many o( th * pages now ITfrbre us, which the persons wiio figure in them would gue no small por- tion of their whole worldly possessions to have ‘'Oppressed. A sort .of apology is made for not dedicating to the iJmisli Navy these volumes— containing the sad monument of the frailties and lol- lies of its brightest orn uncut ; and a promise', probably intent! ed as a threat, is held out, that a mass of other letter', in m Lord Nelson, on public and private' allair^, is preparing ior the press ; which, it seems are to throw 4 light on political trans- actions at present venj impio feclly toidct s f vud. * 1 he letters of Lord Nelson, now published, exhibit the pic- ture of a warm, affectionate and generous nature— little under the guidance of reason/ not a fall coniroulcd by prudence, giving way to every gust of feeling or pulsion, and prone to pt heart) expressions of the sentiments that inspiie it. We should, however, ill dis- charge our duty if vve stopt heic. Bill cxtieme, and more than seaman like impiudcnce, is not the amount of the charge which these effusions convey against lus conduct. There is percepti- ble also a culpable disregard <. f domestic tu>, and a neglect, ap- proaching to cruelty, of one \ horn he was bound by honour, as \/jiI as religion, morality, and law, to cherish. This neglect, llic consequence of an improper passion, seems (as frequently happens in minds otherwise \ irtuoieO t<> have rankled to a de- gree of hatred, from the workings oi self-reproach. Nor can a more melancholy instance be found of the maxim, th.u we aie apt to dislike those whom we have wronged, and thus preposte- rously to \isit on them the sins of our own injustice. Lord Nel- son was married to a most amiable woman, ol Ins own free choice, Ids equal in birth and fortune, and of suitably years; whose character through life is allowed to have been wholly without re- proach. ills letters to Jit i' were foimtrly published, \vc believe 1 > v bis own permission ; and we lemeriiocr to have read one, written in the year 17PS, in & mie leligious Magazine, where it was recorded for edification Mike. It breathed a pure spirit of piety and sell humiliation ; and a warm affection to his fair cor- respondent. Jim about that lime he tell m love with Lady Ha- milton ; and we verj so cm hud h::u ::o: m_:Jy vWmll) alienated 1814 . 401 Lord Nelson- s Letters to Lady Hamilton . from his wife, hut expressing a dislike of her, and in pretty plain terms hinting that she stood in the way of his happiness. Alter 1 Sil^ William Hamilton’s death, this feeling seems to grow strong- ^er; and these volumes contain undoubted proofs, that a desire th he relieved fimn the impediment was familiar to his mind, o t md, liy a strange inconsistency, sometimes present even in its iJ^Yotional moods. The effusions of his passion, with such trifles as lovers write about, and a pretty indiscriminate abuse of every man, woman and child, whom he has occasion to mention, except Sir Wil- liam and Lady Hamilton and one or two of their common •fi lends, not amounting in the whole to quite six privileged persons, make up the hulk, if not the whole, of lus letters. Such of our readers as are familiar with this species of com* position, will judge for themselves, and correct us if we air wron^ , hut we, who have uo knowledge of it except what we have gleaned from the specimens occasionally exhibited in par- liamentary and judicial proceedings, should pronounce Lord Nelson’s to he equal to the average of love-letters in point of ’literary merit. And although there is scarcely one observation to be found in them of any depth or acuteness, or even pleasant- ry, in short, above the level of the most empty talking, yet it would he ridiculous to doubt, that they might all have been produced by a person, who, when the fit was oflj could corre- spond upon business which he understood like an able and a great man. He sat down to throw upon his paper all that was in his heart — and left his head pretty much out of the party. Had Dr J uijnson written down the expressions of fondness which Ganick used to repeat from his hours of endearment with * his Tettif % * perhaps the result would have been worthy of a place in this publication. It is a common saying, that 4 Nelson was 4 nothing ashore ; ’ and the present volumes will he cited in sup- port of the remark. If, by this, it is only meant that he spent liis hours* of relaxation as all great men do, in a luxurious en- joyment of freedom, and a playful indulgence of all his feelings and fancies, voluntarily refraining from any severe exercise ot his faculties, and purposely idling his time away, there L perfect truth in the statement. His hours on shore ueie merely hu hone utbseniiV ; intervals of absolute vacancy and remission, such as other men have by half hours or minutes, or once a week ; and we imagine any other man of talents, taken unaware in one of his idle intervals, would be found much such a nm as Nelson, ihit the statement, we are pet Minded, is altogether erroneous, if it is intended to insinuate that had NVl-on braced his mint! to any object, though not oa ho u*vii cxmeiH, ne 402 Lord Nelson's Lilias to Lady Hamilton . Sept. would have pursued it with no better powers than are indicated in this publication : and, full of rhapsody, and meagre of almost every tiling like thinking, as the«c letters a me, we i very now Ur d then may descry a trace of vigour, sufficient to show that his talents were only dormant. f It is fit, however, that we should let the reader judge of th If unhappily it be true, that, to a certain degree, though far less than may he alleged, this gallant man’s hie held out Mich evil example, we must apply the only remedy within our reach, by freely ex- pressing the indignation which it excites, even in his case; and instead of letting the puny imitators of his faults find a shelter under his authority, we must let it be distinctly seen, that as not all the glories of his illustrious life can save his memory from tlie reproof’s of the virtuous and the wjsc, when they Contemplate his defects, — so the public indignation shall fall with overwhelm- ing force upon those who can only ape his imperfections. As well might they cite the example of Julius Ciesar fot enormities at which human nature Jiuddcrs ; — or of Lord Nelson himself, for the dreadful prostitution of the name and power of England, to purposes of murder and trcadie? v, — under the influence of the 18 M. 405 Lard Nelson'? Letters to Lady Hamilton . sain c woman who has now given his love letters to the world. — To return to these production* — \ \Vc must notice th*> tone of scurrilous abuse of almost all his «Hcp ( ls % especially in the navy. This may sometimes be traced, v/m doubt, to the ill humour of the moment; but generally it wjrbes from some personal interest, as a quarrel about prize- mo- f Ttcv ; or imm the circuimtaucc, which lie seems never to have ■ugiven, of the person in (juestion being either his superior o(- or a Lord of the Admiralty. But the thing never to be psircToncd, is when an interior officer gets into this latter station, and has or is thought to have, authority over him. It is pain- ful to see with what pertinacity he pursues Sir T. Troubridgn merely for this offence ; and no kindness is ever able to disarm him; on the contrary, lie takes ir all foi peifidy. Lord St Vincent (to whom he owed the fleet which conquered at tin? Nile) is habitually attacked in the same wav ; although his let- ters never mention Lord Nelson without the warmest expia- tions of admiration and esteem. Sir Alexander Bali and other*? fare little better. And then, when he has to deal with ordinary mortals, especially women, there is no coarse or scurrilous epi- thet that ho does not fling around him in profusion. So much so, that although these letters were addressed to his mistress, we dare not so iar often d common decency as to transcribe any one of them entire. The impatience of command which we have noticed, leads to a remaik 1 expecting tins great man’s public life, not umvorthv of retire. lie ^erins to have been formed by nature not only for the highest station — but for no other ; and to have been alike incapable' of occasionally falling into a subordinate part, and of contenting hirmeif with a share of any joint operation. Mr Sou 1 hoy, in lib life of him, is perpetually throwing out insinua- tions against the other officers who refused to concur in all Nel- son's projects ; as if those distinguished characters were bound to disobey oldens fmm home, in order to gratify the curiosity of this commodore — whose projects on shore would almost nlwav? have led to a mere experiment upon the bravery of English sol - diers and sailors. Nor docs he ever reflect that Lord Nelson, except at Tenet iffic, where he failed, was in point of fiet wholly confined to his own element, in the marvellous exploits which made him m> famous. If every commanding officer had acted so completely for himself, and with such disregard of orders or com- bined plains from home; nay, if only a very few officers had acted so, the speedy ruin of our affairs must have ensued ; the army and navy would have become one scene of confusion, Possessing Mich a commander, the government could not do 406 Lord Nelson's Letters to Lady llarriilton. Sept* bolter than give him its largest station, and an unlimited discre- tion in the employment of his forces ; but nothing short of wielding all t lie forces, military as well as naval, wherever he' went, would satisfy him ; and this appears to have V cr\y)iU? desire, as much when lie was a commodore with a lew sh, under him, as when he commanded the whole Mediterranean, and Atlantic. Nay, we find him very frequently interfering in ) matters purely civil, in political negotiations, and in affairs nectcd with the relation^ of peace or war, and of treaties actually pending, and wholly unknown to him — and sometimes against orders, and on notions of hi> own. His letters, (for he always appears to have been a gieat writer, whether in love or war), contained accounts of his motives, which were generally soi: e vague feeling of hi- own, or some notion of what was fitting the national character, without the least regard to reason, order, or calculation ; — Ins contempt of which he pretty freely expresses: And h' ollen t dks of 4 thn wing hi uself upon his count) y for 4 Ins deieme, * — as if the voice of the multitude, and not the or- der of the government, ware the proper rule of an officer. Of course Mr Southey always admires these flights ; and expresses his decided contempt of the other commanders who thwarted his hero, by refusing to disobey the commands of their supe- riors, and to entrust him with the disposal of their forces. The biographer, indeed, upon these occasions, seems to set himself up as a kind of Nelson also; and assumes the same superio- rity over Nelson’s brother office! s, a*, lie himself did. No calculating— no forethought — no prudential considerations lor Mr Sou tiny. You must fight a.vay without looking on one side or the other, if you would pxease him. And as for the infe- rior questions — of what advantage you are to get by it — how voti are to succeed — whether or not you are sure ol being who!- ly destroyed — these are the suggestions of narrow and timid iiuikN, who have novel yet learnt the true maxim, so decisive of all such subjects, and embracing the whole art military of that learned author — (hat by mere volition or determination to con- quer, any given force may perform any service required. We mention these tilings without any wish to detract from the ge- neral merits of Mr Southey woik ; of which we have former- ly said that we think \er\ highly. It i^ a more pleasing te.sk to turn from tlx frailties to the me- jits of the great man uho-e heart now lies exposed to view, in its most private, unVjuhed, and unrestrained effusions. Every here and thcie vo* '-. My dbaukst Emma, It is a relief to me, to take up the pen, and write you a line ; lor I have had, about four o’clock this morning, one of my dreadful spasms winch has almost enervated me. It is very odd f I was hardly ever better tlnn yes- terday. Freemantle stayed with me till eight o’clock, and I slept uncommonly well ; bur, was awoke with this disorder. My opinion of its effect^ some one day, has never altered. However, it is en- tirely gone otl, and I am only quite weak. The good people of Eng- land will not believe, that rest ot body and mind is necessary toi me ’ But, perhaps, this spasm m ty not come again th^se six month. I vox* $xm. NO. 4G. Jf) d t.ord Nelson's Letters to Lady Hamilton . Sep& had been writing seven hours yesterday ; perhaps, that had some hand in bringing it upon me. I joined the fleet late on the evening of the 28th of September, but could not communicate with them until the next morning. I believe, my arrival was most welcome ; not only to the cbmmander of the fleet, but also to every individual in it : and, when I came to explain to them the Nelson touchy it wa'Sf like an electric shock. Some shed tears, all approved — 44 It was" ** new, it was singular, it was simple ! ” and, from Admirals down- wards, it was repeated — “ It must succeed, if ever they will allow" 44 us to get at them 1 You are, my Lord, surrounded by friends 4< whom you inspire with confidence . 99 Some may be Judas’s ; but the majority are certainly much pleased with my commanding them 9 The thing least to be looked for, and certainly (he greatest curiosity in the work, is a Copy of Y r erses by this great com- mander. They are worth little for their poetical merits ; an-J yet any one of them is worth a volume of the wretched stuff contained in Lady Hamilton's letter to Mr Alexander Davidson, beginning with 4 I think, I have not lost my heart : Since I, with truth, can swear, 9 and ending thus, 4 Then, do not rob me of my heart, Unless you first forsake it ; And, then, so wretched it would be, Despair alone will take it . 9 II. 128. We extract the verses of Nelson as really much better. I Ir calls them i a few lines wrote in a late gale. 7 — 4 Though ’s polish’d verse superior shine, Though sensibility grace every line ; Though her soft Muse be far above all praise. And female tenderness hvpire her lays : Deign to receive, though unadorn’d By the poet'ie art, The lude expressions which bespeak A Sailor’s untaught heart ! A heart susceptible, sincere, and true ; A heart, by fate, and nature, toin in two : One half, to duty and his country due ; The other, better half, to love and you ! Sooner shall Britain’s sons resign The empire of the sea ; Than Henry shall renounce his faith, And plighted vows, to t.iEE ! And waves on waves shall cease to roll, And tides forget to flow ; Ere thy true Henry's constant love, Or ebb, or change, shall know. * I. 3U 1814. 409 Lord Kelson’s Letters to Lady Hamiltoh . We have now taken notice of the passages in this Correspond- ence which are the most pleasing, as well as those which are ! most calculated to grive offence. There is nothing little or mean, * however, in the failings to be remarked here, if we except the ^evidences which appear of the t\Vo lovers having been in a sort of plot to obtain for Lady Hamilton a legacy from the Duke of Queensberry. This Scheme, which seems to have been pretty hotly pursued, is every now. and then breaking out with an in- congruity somewhat laughable, in thtf middle of his highest rap- tures. Thus, * Captain Halloweli is So gdod is to take home, for me, wine as by the inclosed list ; and, if I can, Some honey. The Spanish honey is so precious, that if [any one has] a cut, or sore throat, it is used to cure it. I mention this, in case you should wish to give the Duke a jar. The smell is wonderful ! It is to be produced no where, but in the mountains near Rosas. The Cyprus wine, one hogshead, was for Bonaparte. I would recommend the wine-cooper drawing it off : and you can send a few dozens to the Duke ; who, I know, takes a. glass every day at two o'clock. I wish, I had any thing else to send you ; but, my dearest Lmma, you must take the will for the deed. 9 Tins epistle soars immediately to lighter regions. The 4 Lord 4 of Love,' is not scared away and made to 4 spread his light 4 pinions , 7 at smell of Cyprus wine and Spanish honey, and at sight of the ancient Duke and his two-o'clock glass ; — but the letter passes quite naturally from these low subjects, and concludes about 4 eternal attachment and affection , 9 and 4 for ever and 4 ever, ' and 4 your, only your , 7 See. Akin to this topic, is the state of Lad^ f Hamilton's finances, to which we find frequent allusions. There is a letter from her to Mr Addington, whom she implores to grant her a portion of 4 her ever- honoured husband's pension, ' bewailing 4 her irre- 4 parable loss, 7 stating that she is 4 most sadly bereaved , 7 hat- ing lost not merely 4 her dear Sir William , y but the enjoyment of his income* She subscribes herself (as many persons may in addressing the same worthy character), 4 with respect more than 4 she can well utter. * We have oft^n witnessed attempts to set up for this lady, some such claim tcrihe public boifnty, as she here prefers to the easy nature of the late minister, ahd as Lord Nelson urged not very decorously in his last- will. It would have been an insult, however, we must say, to the country, if SUch a prayer had been complied with. The public feelings were sufficiently outraged l^y the astonishing omission of Lady Nelson, in the honours and wealth bestowed on the family at Lord Nelson’s death. The Government, on that occasion, took part with his unwarrantable caprice, and neglected that amiable and excellent; Woman? (as all who have ever mentioned her name admit her Dd 2 110 Lord Nchon's Lei iers to Lady Itamilton. SeptV to be), merely because she had been most causelessly neglected by her husband. It encouraged the base and un-English feel- ings which too frequently lead, what is called fashionable society, io take the hu«band’a part, because he is the powerful party $ and to shun his innocent and ill-treated wife, only because she is 4 weak and unfortunate. Instances could be given with ease, of women avoided in the world, almost as scrupulously as if iliey had been divorced by iheir husbands ; and when you conic to ask why, the only answer is, that Aieir husbands have been liv- ing apart from them, to indulge in their own vicious courses, without having a shadow of charge to prefer in extenuation of this conduct. If, when Mr Pitt passed over the wife in thd grants of money, pension and peerage, (in the teeth of his own last precedent when Sir Ralph Abercromby fell), he had abo pensioned the other connexion — we might in vain have ransack- ed foreign courts for proofs of public immorality. As for Lady Hamilton herself, we see no right which she can have to com- plain. I Ter public services, we suppose, have been sufficiently requited by the public, whom she may formerly have served. The transactions in the Bay of Naples merited another kind of reward. And if she is now in want of money, she surely can - find no difficulty in obtaining assistance from the distinguished friends whose letters fill up this work. They would prefer, wc should think, contributing in cash, to afFording her their letters. And if one Noble and Right Reverend person is no more, whose gallantry graces these pages, and who, among other thing-, compares her to 6 Diana * — another, equally noble, though as yet only Reverend correspondent, survive.-, who surely cannot have forgotten bow often he w: her 4 obliged and faithful scr- 4 vant, f — called her 4 Lis dcarv, ’ — condescended to write jocose and free letters to her of a Sunday morning, between morning and evening service, — looked to her as his 4 best and truest 4 friend 1 for protection and advancement, — engaged her to ob- tain prebends 4 with six hundred a-year, and good houses ; * and inclosed a list of five Deans, 4 all old men. ' To him, and to such as him, who are wallowing in riches, and have given her claims on their gratitude, she is certainly entitled to look for o-sistance; not to the public, of whom she has deserved ill, and never more h) than by the present publication.