The story of Lady Hamilton (7 page)

THE STORY OF LADY HAMILTON

lady of the "Attitudes," but once he knew his need and the woman who could satisfy it, the fatal breach was made—though for long Nelson was honourably unconscious of the road his admiration for Lady Hamilton was leading him. He found her not only beautiful and kind, but an able ally and ambassadress in political affairs. It was undoubtedly partly owingto Emma'sinfluence and intense partisanship for the Queen that Nelson was led to involve himself so deeply in the affairs of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies—he distinctly overstepped the simple duties of a British seaman, to " keep foreigners from fooling us." Hewasastatesman as well as a sailor, but his statesmanship for Sicily was the indirect cause of the wreck of his private life. He and the Queen of Naples and Emma were all ardently united in the wish that the King should declareopen war upon the French. In October Emma was with the Queen at Caserta and wrote to Nelson:—

"I flatter myself WE SPUR them, for I

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BATTLE OF THE NILE, AND AFTER

am allways with the Queen, and I hold out your energick language to her. ... I translate from our papers for her to inspire her, or them, I should say, with some of our spirits and energy. How delighted we Booth were to sit and speak of you. She loves, respects andadmiresyou. For myself, I will leaveyou to guess my feilings."

In reality Emma was little in the habit of leavinganyonetoguessher feelings—sheex-pressed them with a freedom and simplicity that led many people to call her vulgar. But once he had come under her spell Nelson delighted in her enthusiasm, however she might express it. "If IwereKingof England," she told him, "I wou'd make you the most noble present, Duke Nelson, Marquis Nile, Earl Aboukir, Viscount Pyramid, Baron Crocodile, and Prince Victory, that posterity might have you in all forms." In which she shows the defect of taste that would gild the lily, not realising that the simple name of Nelson was greater than any title which might be added to it. Emma's delight in 79

material honours is shown in the letter in which she informed Nelson of what is being sent him from Constantinople :—

" A pelicia of Gibelina with a feather for your hat of Dymonds, large, most magnificent, and 2 thousand Zechins for the wounded men, and a letter to you from the Grand Sig-nor. God bless him ! There is a frigate sent off on purpose. We expect it here. I must see the present How I shall look at it, smell it, taste it, toch it, put the peliceover my own shoulders, look in the glas, and say Viva il Turk !... God bless, or Mahomet bless, the old Turk; I say, no longer Turk, but good Christian."

From Caserta she wrote much to Nelson, tell him how political affairs moved at Court, of the cold conduct of Austria and of Mack's delays,though at last thearmy wasto march. Then we get Emma in her most soaring mood:—

" I flatter myself I did much. For whilst the passions of the Queen [were] up and agitated, I got up, put out my left arm like you,

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LADY HAMILTON AS "AMBASSADRESS"

Engraved by T. C. Appleton, after George Roinney, by permission

of Messrs Henry Graves & Co., Ltd., 6 Pall Mall, London,

owners of the copyright, and publishers of the engraving

BATTLE OF THE NILE, AND AFTER

spoke the language of truth to her, painted the drooping situation of this fine country, her friends sacrificed, her husband, children and herself led to the Block; and eternal dishonour to her memory, after for once having been active, doingherdutyinfightingbravely to the last,to save her Country,her Religion, from the hands of the rapacious murderers of her sisters, and the Royal Family in France, that she was sure of being lost, if they were inactive, and their was a chance of being saved if they made use now of the day, and struck now while all minds are imprest with the Horrers their neighbours are suffering from these Robbers. In short, their was a Council, and it was determined to march out and help themselves; and, sure, their poor fool of a son"[meaning their son-in-law,the Emperor of Austria] " will not, cannot, but come out. He must bring a hundred and fifty thousand men inthe Venetian State. The Frenchcou'd be shutin between thetwoarmys, Italy cleared, and peace restored."

Then she falls into a paeon of praise of Nel-81 F

THE STORY OF LADY HAMILTON

son himself—at this time her ardent admiration was about equally divided between him and the Queen of Naples: " But how every body loves and esteems you. 'Tis universal from the high to the low; do you know, I sing now nothing but the Conquering Hero. . . . God bless you, prosper and assist you in all you undertake; and may you live Long, Long, Long, for the sake of your country, your King, your familly, all Europe, Asia, Affrica, and America, and for the scorge of France, but particularly for the happiness of Sir William and self, who Love you, admire you, and glory in your friendship." She tells him: "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 willrenouncemy country and becomeeither a Mameluck or a Turk. The Queen yesterday said to me,' the more I think on it, the greater I find it, and I feil such gratitude to the warrior, the glorious Nelson, that my respect is such that I cou'd fall at his honuer'd

BATTLE OF THE NILE, AND AFTER

feet and kiss them.' You that know us booth, and how alike we are in many things, thatjis, I as Emma Hamilton and she as Queen of Naples—imagine us booth speaking of you. We touch ourselves into terms of rapture, respect, and admiration, and conclude their is not such another in the world. I told her Majesty, we onely wanted Lady Nelson to be the female triajuncta in uno, for we all Love you, and yet all three differently, and yet all equally—if you can make that out. Sir William laughs at us, but he owns women have great souls, at least his has. I would not be a lukewarm friend for the world.

" I am no one's enemy, and unfortunately am difficult, and cannot make friendships with all. But the few friends I have, I wou'd die for them. And I assure you now,ifthings take an unfortunate turn here, and the Queen dies at her post, I will remain with her. I feil loweitto her friendship uncommon for me."

Emma's boast of what she would do in a time of danger was no idle one—the quality of courage were hers in a marked degree, 83

THE STORY OF LADY HAMILTON

coupled with a sense of drama that carried her triumphantly through danger. As Greville said of her: "Emma's passion is admiration, and it iscapable of aspiring to anylinewhich will be celebrated, and it would be ind ifferent, when on that key, whether she was Lucretia or Sappho, or Sc?evola or Regulus; anything grand, masculine or feminine,she could take up."

The time was sufficiently perilous and threatening to test Emma's sterner qualities, TheKingof Naples and General Mack—that "strategist of unalloyed incompetency and unvaried failure "—had entered Rome triumphantly with their army: but that was the end of triumph. The French routed them completely, the King fled. As Nelson said with natural scorn: "The Neapolitan officers have not lost much honour, for God knows they have but little to lose ; but they lost all they had."

King Ferdinand, as has been said, fled home, bringing the war that was to have been diverted from his own territory right into the

BATTLE OF THE NILE, AND AFTER

kingdom, for the angry French followed him. And then ensued a time of tumult—" The King is returned here, and everything is as bad as possible," wrote Nelson. Naples was in a turmoil of terror, fear of the French driving the Lazzaroni to wild excesses, while a portion of the population was secretly in league with the foe. Revolution and bloodshed filled the air, and it suffices to say that Nelson himself, for the first and only time in his life, was driven to counsel flight. To this crisis Emma arose fully, both her dramatic and her practical instincts awake. She took the hapless and somewhat helpless royal family under her wing and helped to arrange their affairs for them. If they fled they must take their treasures with them, their gold, jewels, paintings, valuable vases, and furniture, not leavingthese things to bedespoiled by the hated French. Transport was provided by Nelson, who sent for the Goliathjm Troubridge in the Culloden and his squadron. The famous Vanguardw&s to carry the royal family and the Hamiltons. "Getting ready 85

THE STORY OF LADY HAMILTON

for sea," writes Nelson," and getting off the valuable effects of Her Sicilian Majesty in the night time." A day later they are "Smuggling on board the Queen's diamonds." For seven succeeding nights Lady Hamilton received at the Embassy cases containing the royal treasures, " to the amount, I am confident," wrote Nelson, " of full two millions five hundred thousand pounds sterling." These cases were conveyed secretly from the Embassy to the ships, for had the Lazzaroni guessed that their King was preparing to leave them they would have been almost ready to murder him and certainly would have detained him by force. The night of the 2 ist of December was the one fixed for the flight, and on that very evening Sir William and Lady Hamilton with Nelson attended a big reception in order to avert any suspicion of their imminent departure. In a letter to Greville, written after they had all reached Palermo, Emma gives an account of the whole adventure—an ad venture so much after her own heart:—

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"On the 2ist, 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 staircase that goes into the Queen's room, and with a dark lantern, cutlases, pistols, etc., brought off every soul, ten in number, to the Vanguard at twelve o'clock. If we had remained to the next day weshou'dhaveallbeenimprisoned." The royal family and their numerous belongings were safely and without alarm bestowed in the Vanguard, but when after two days' delay in waiting for further consignments of treasure and for refugees—the squadron up-anchored and sailed from the Bay of Naples, it was with a dropping barometer and prospects of foul weather. The next day a great stormstruckthem. "Itblew harder than I ever experienced since I have been at sea," said Nelson. 87

The royal family, with their children and attendants, were all prostrate with fear and sea-sickness—and little wonder, for the Van-^ar^'jsailsweresplittoshredsanditseemed at one time as though her masts would have to be cut away. Emma, in these terrifying circumstances, proved herself madeof heroic stuff. She was the mainstay and the nurse of the unhappy royalties, and her attention to their needs was so unceasing that, as Nelson said, "nor did her Ladyship enter a bed the whole time they were on board." On Christmas Day, 1798, the youngest son of the King and Queen died in the storm. The baby princeling, Emma tells Greville, was "six years old, my favourite, taken with convulsions in the midst of the storm, and, at seven in the evening of Christmas Day, expired in my arms, not a soulto help me, as thefew women her Majesty brought on board were incapable of helping her or the poor royal children."

The next day the battered Vanguard anchored at Palermo. Shortly after the landing ofthe royal party Emma wrote: " The Queen,

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SENSIBILITY

Paintedby G. Roinney; engraved by R. Earlotu

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whom I love better than any person in the world, is very unwell. We weep together, andnowthat is ouronly comfort. Sir William and the King are philosophers ; nothing upsets them, thank God, and we are scolded even for shewing proper sensibility."

All the cry was for "dear, dear Naples." Sir William complained that he had been driven from his comfortable Embassy "to a househere without chimneys, and calculated only for the summer." He grieved over his abandoned treasures: "We have left everything at Naples," his wife wrote, "but the vases and best pictures, 3 houses elegantly furnished,allour horses and our 6 or/ carriages, I think, is enough for the vile French. For we cou'd not get our things off, not to betray the royal family."