[July 1803.
MY DEAREST EMMA,
Although I have wrote letters from
various places, merely to say “Here
I am,” and “There I am;” yet,
as I have no doubt but that they would all be read,
it was impossible for me to say more than “Here
I am, and well:” and I see no prospect of
any certain mode of conveyance, but by sea; which,
with the means the Admiralty has given me, of small
vessels, can be but seldom.
Our passages have been enormously
long. From Gibraltar to Malta, we were eleven
days: arriving the fifteenth in the evening, and
sailing in the night of the sixteenth that
is, three in the morning of the seventeenth and
it was the twenty-sixth before we got off Capri; where
I had ordered the frigate, which carried Mr. Elliot
to Naples, to join me.
I send you copies of the King and
Queen’s letters. I am vexed, that she did
not mention you! I can only account for it, by
her’s being a political letter.
When I wrote to the Queen, I said “I
left Lady Hamilton, the eighteenth of May; and so
attached to your Majesty, that I am sure she would
lay down her life to preserve your’s. Your
Majesty never had a more sincere, attached, and real
friend, than your dear Emma. You will be sorry
to hear, that good Sir William did not leave her in
such comfortable circumstances as his fortune would
have allowed. He has given it amongst his relations.
But she will do honour to his memory, although every
one else of his friends call loudly against him on
that account.”
I trust, my dear Emma, she has wrote
you. If she can forget Emma, I hope, God will
forget her! But, you think, that she never will,
or can. Now is her time to shew it.
You will only shew the King and Queen’s
letters to some few particular friends.
The King is very low; lives, mostly,
at Belvidere. Mr. Elliot had not seen either
him or the Queen, from the seventeenth, the day of
his arrival, to the twenty-first. On the next
day, he was to be presented.
I have made up my mind, that it is
part of the plan of that Corsican Scoundrel, to conquer
the kingdom of Naples. He has marched thirteen
thousand men into the kingdom, on the Adriatic side;
and he will take possession, with as much shadow of
right, of Gaeta and Naples: and, if the poor
King remonstrates, or allows us to secure Sicily, he
will call it war, and declare a conquest.
I have cautioned General Acton, not
to risk the Royal Family too long; but Naples will
be conquered, sooner or later, as it may suit Buonaparte’s
convenience.
The Morea, and Egypt, are likewise
in his eye. An army of full seventy thousand
men are assembling in Italy.
Gibbs and Noble are gone to Malta.
I am, you may believe, very anxious
to get off Toulon, to join the fleet.
Sir Richard Bickerton went from off
Naples, the day I left Gibraltar.
We passed Monte Christo, Bastia, and
Cape Corse, yesterday; and are now moving, slowly,
direct for Toulon.
What force they have, I know not;
indeed, I am totally ignorant: some say, nine
sail of the line; some, seven; some, five. If
the former, they will come out; for we have only the
same number, including sixty-fours, and very shortly
manned.
However, I hope they will come out,
and let us settle the matter. You know, I hate
being kept in suspence.
[July 8th.
I left this hole, to put down what
force the French have at Toulon. Seven sail of
the line ready, five frigates, and six corvettes.
One or two more in about a week. We, to day,
eight sail of the line to-morrow, seven;
including two sixty-four gun ships.
You will readily believe, how rejoiced
I shall be to get one of your dear, excellent letters,
that I may know every thing which has passed since
my absence.
I sincerely hope, that Mr. Booth has
settled all your accounts. Never mind, my dear
Emma, a few hundred pounds; which is all the rigid
gripe of the law, not justice, can wrest from you.
I thank God, that you cannot want;
(although that is no good reason for its being taken
from you:) whilst I have sixpence, you shall not want
for fivepence of it! But, you have bought your
experience, that there is no friendship in money concerns;
and, your good sense will make you profit of it.
I hope, the minister has done something
for you. But, never mind, we can live upon bread
and cheese.
Independence is a blessing; and, although
I have not yet found out the way to get prize money what
has been taken, has run into our mouths however,
it must turn out very hard, if I cannot get enough
to pay off my debts, and that will be no small comfort.
I have not mentioned my Bronte affairs
to Acton, as yet; but, if Naples remains much longer,
I shall ask the question. But, I expect nothing
from them. I believe, even Acton wishes himself
well, and safely removed.
I think, from what I hear, that the
King’s spirits are so much depressed, that he
will give up the reins of Naples, at least, to his
son, and retire to Sicily. Sir William, you know,
always thought, that he would end his life so.
Certainly, his situation must be heart-breaking!
Gaetano returned in the frigate.
I believe, he saw enough of Naples. He carried
his family money; and Mr. Falconet (Gibbs being absent)
will pay Mr. Greville’s pension to Gaetano’s
family. I have now [sent] Gaetano to the post:
and he desires, to present his duty; and to tell you,
that Mr. Ragland, from Sir William’s death, will
not pay any more pensions, without orders from Mr.
Greville.
Vincenzo has had none paid. He
is very poor; keeps a shop. His son wanted, I
find, to come in the frigate to me. I cannot afford
to maintain him; therefore, I shall give no encouragement.
Old Antonio was allowed a carline
a day; that is, now, not paid.
Sabatello lives with Mr. Elliot.
Nicolo, and Mary Antonio, have left
Mr. Gibbs, for some cause; Gaetano says, he believes,
for amore.
Francesca has two children living,
and another coming. She lives the best amongst
them, like gallant homme.
Pasqual lives with the Duke Montelione;
and Joseph, with the old Russian.
Your house is a hotel; the upper parts
are kept for the Marquis, the owner.
Mr. Elliot has taken the house of
the Baille Franconi, on the Chaia.
Doctor Nudi inquired kindly after
us; and all the women at Santa Lucia expected, when
they saw Gaetano, that you was arrived.
Bread never was so dear; every thing
else in plenty. The wages not being raised, Gaetano
says, the poor of England are a million times better
off.
So much for Gaetano’s news.
He desires his duty to Signora Madre; and remembrances
to Mary Ann, Fatima, &c.
[July 8th.
We joined, this morning, the fleet.
The men in the ships are good; but the ships themselves
are a little the worse for wear, and very short of
their complements of men. We shall never be better:
therefore, let them come; the sooner, the better.
I shall write a line to the Duke,
that he may see I do not forget my friends; and I
rely, my dearest Emma, on your saying every kind thing,
for me, to the Doctor, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Bolton, Mr.
and Mrs. Matcham, Mrs. Cadogan; whose kindness, and
goodness, I shall never forget.
You will have the goodness to send
the inclosed, as directed; and be assured, that I
am, to the last moment of my life, your most attached,
faithful, and affectionate,
NELSON & BRONTE.