James Harrison - The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Vol. I (of 2)

J >> James Harrison >> The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Vol. I (of 2)

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

THE LIFE OF
_THE RIGHT HONOURABLE_
_HORATIO_ LORD VISCOUNT NELSON:

BARON NELSON OF THE NILE,
AND OF BURNHAM-THORPE AND HILBOROUGH IN THE COUNTY OF NORFOLK;
KNIGHT OF THE MOST HONOURABLE MILITARY ORDER OF THE BATH;
DOCTOR OF LAWS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD;
VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE WHITE SQUADRON OF HIS MAJESTY'S FLEET;
DUKE OF BRONTE, IN FARTHER SICILY;
GRAND CROSS OF THE ORDER OF ST. FERDINAND AND OF MERIT;
KNIGHT OF THE IMPERIAL ORDER OF THE OTTOMAN CRESCENT;
KNIGHT GRAND COMMANDER OF THE EQUESTRIAN, SECULAR, AND CAPITULAR,
ORDER OF ST. JOACHIM OF WESTERBURG;
AND
HONORARY GRANDEE OF SPAIN.

BY MR. HARRISON.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

Lord Viscount Nelson's transcendent and heroic services will, I am
persuaded, exist for ever in the recollection of my people; and,
while they tend to stimulate those who come after him, they will
prove a lasting source of strength, security, and glory, to my
dominions.

_The King's Answer to the City of London's Address
on the Battle of Trafalgar._

LONDON:
=======
Printed, at the Ranelagh Press,
BY STANHOPE AND TILLING;
FOR C. CHAPPLE, PALL MALL, AND SOUTHAMPTON ROW,
RUSSELL SQUARE.
1806.

TO
THE KING;
AND
HIS SUBJECTS, IN EVERY QUARTER OF THE GLOBE,
FORMING WHAT IS DENOMINATED
THE COUNTRY;
_THESE MEMOIRS_
OF
_LORD NELSON'S LIFE_,
WHICH WAS SO HONOURABLY DEVOTED TO,
AND SO GLORIOUSLY LOST IN,
THEIR SERVICE,
ARE MOST HUMBLY AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY
JAMES HARRISON.

LONDON,
JANUARY 4,
1806.

* * * * *

ADVERTISEMENT.

Never, perhaps, was a greater panegyric pronounced on any human being,
than that which is comprised in the motto to this biographical account
of Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, delivered from the lips of the
Sovereign who had experienced his worth; and who, with a noble
gratitude, deigned thus publicly to acknowledge, and record, the
transcendent heroism of his Lordship's meritorious services: heroism and
services, the recollection of which, His Majesty generously anticipates,
must not only exist for ever in the memory of the people; but, by
continually stimulating future heroes, prove a perpetual source of
strength, security, and glory, even to the country itself. A reflection
worthy of a King! Inciting to heroism, by the consideration of a more
enlarged motive than seems to have been heretofore sufficiently
regarded; and thus entitling himself to participate the very praise he
is so liberally bestowing. The expressive voice of gratitude is thus,
sometimes, surprised by a similar unexpected but grateful echo; and the
rays of royalty, beaming with their fullest lustre on a brilliant
object, are in part reflected back to their source.

The general history of the world, to almost every part of which the
influence of Lord Nelson's services may be considered as having in some
measure extended, must most assuredly preserve the remembrance of one of
it's chiefest heroes; and the future historian of our own country, in
particular, will not fail exultingly to dwell on each of his Lordship's
great and glorious victories, with all the animated and enegertic glow
of conscious dignity and truth.

Still, however, we are desirous to know more of so exalted a character
than any general history can with propriety supply. We wish to see him
not only as a hero, but as the hero of a respectable historian; and are
anxious, with a laudable zeal, for such minuteness of detail, in the
developement of every circumstance, not only relative to his public and
professional character, but even to his private and domestic
transactions, as is to be alone expected from what may be denominated
the more humble labours of the biographer: who, nevertheless, must not
be permitted to boast much of extraordinary humility, if he pretends to
combine, in a single picture, any tolerable portion of that sublime
grandeur, and that delicate simplicity, which constitute the Iliad and
the Odyssey of literature.

To produce a work not altogether unworthy the hero whose life it
records, is the utmost that his present biographer can reasonably hope
to accomplish. Even this, he freely confesses, he must have despaired of
ever effecting, had he not been indulgently honoured by the kindest
communications from some whose near affinity to the immortal
Nelson, is evidently more than nominal; who not only have the
same blood flowing in their veins, but whose hearts possess a large
portion of the same unbounded goodness, generosity, and honour: as well
as from other dear and intimate friends, professional and private, who
were united to his Lordship by the closest ties of a tender reciprocal
amity.

Encouraged by such generous aids, the author may be allowed to boast
that he has, at least, a considerable store of novelties to offer: it
will be for the public to judge, on perusing the work, how far he has
succeeded in making a suitable arrangement of the excellent information
acknowledged to have been thus bountifully and benignantly afforded him.

Particular acknowledgments will be seen in the preface, to such of the
family and friends of Lord Nelson as may have generously assisted the
researches of the author; the number of whom are likely, from obvious
circumstances, to be considerably augmented during the progress of the
work.

It may seem scarcely necessary to add, that the preface, though always
placed, as the very name imports, at the beginning of a book, is usually
the last part printed.

* * * * *

PREFACE.

There are few works, the authors of which can possibly be permitted to
recommend them as worthy of universal regard, without the imputation of
intolerable vanity; an imputation little likely to be diminished by the
consideration, that other writers, over whom a decided preference is
claimed, may have previously occupied the same subject.

A Life of Lord Nelson, however, replete with original anecdotes, many of
them from the mouths of his lordship's nearest and dearest relatives and
friends, with whom the author has, for many months, been honoured with
an almost constant communication; and abounding in a profusion of
interesting letters, and extracts of letters, written by the hero
himself, which have generously flowed in, from all quarters, to aid the
biographer; he may surely, without the charge of presumption, these
facts being self-evident on the slightest inspection, be allowed to
assert, must necessarily be entitled to very general notice and esteem.

So numerous, indeed, have been the invaluable documents kindly tendered
to the author's acceptance, that he has not only been under the
necessity of greatly enlarging his original design; but may, probably,
at a future and no very distant period, feel encouraged to present those
who have so indulgently expressed their approbation of his present
labours, with a sort of supplementary work, not necessarily attached,
but still more minutely illustrative of many circumstances which relate
to the life and character of this greatest and best of heroes and of
men.

It is not without painful sensations, that the author feels compelled to
notice the many dishonourable insinuations which have been promulged by
bold speculators on public credulity: some of whom, by prematurely
publishing, have already sufficiently evinced their want of genuine
information; and others, after the most illiberal reflections on all
contemporaries, have found it expedient entirely to abandon their own
boasted performances, or to wait the completion of the very work which
they have thus meanly and insidiously laboured to depreciate, before
they could possibly advance.

This biographical memoir, like the character of the immortal man whom
it proudly aspires to commemorate, rests on no false claim. It offers
not any meretricious attraction to the eye; it submits itself, wholly,
to the understanding, and to the heart. Should it fail considerably to
gratify the one, and powerfully to interest the other, it will be in
vain for the author to urge, however true, that he has exerted himself,
with a due sense of the dignity of his subject, and of the difficulty of
the task, to produce a work which, though it can never sufficiently
honour the incomparable hero, should as little as possible disgrace the
kind contributory aids, and the generous patronage, which he has had the
distinguished favour to receive from so many estimable and illustrious
personages. To add a list of names, might seem ostentatious; but,
certainly, such a list would contain almost every great and virtuous
character allied to his late lordship, in the bonds of affinity as well
as of friendship. With most of these, it will ever constitute the chief
pride and happiness of the author's life, that he is also permitted to
boast a considerable degree of intimate friendship; and, in the
delightful retreat of Merton Place, surrounded by all who were most
dear to the heart of the hero, in consanguinity as well as amity, have
many of those valuable anecdotes been obtained, with which the work is
so abundantly enriched.

Prompted to this undertaking, by a strong sense of conviction, that our
chief hero, when his character was clearly understood, would be found as
eminently good as great, the biographer has fearlessly endeavoured
freely to investigate transactions of the utmost delicacy in private
life; and he is fully prepared to assert, and as far as possible to
prove, that there seldom has existed any human being adorned by the
practice of so many positive virtues, so little sullied by any actual
vice, as that immortal man, the chief particulars of whose history will
be found, the author may, at least, be permitted to maintain, most
faithfully recorded in the work now confided, with all it's
imperfections, to the just judgment of the world; a tribunal which
seldom fails doing compleat justice, either sooner or later, to all the
merits both of heroes and of authors, of men as well as of books.

THE LIFE
OF
_LORD NELSON_,
DUKE OF BRONTE, &c.

* * * * *

When we survey, with rapture, the state of an exalted hero, arrived at
all the honours which it is possible for a human being to receive from
the gratitude, the veneration, and the love, of his fellow-mortals;
seen, as he then is, like a luminary of the first magnitude in the full
blaze of meridian glory, we are generally too dazzled by the lustre we
behold, to penetrate, or even to reflect on, the circuitous, the
tedious, or the perplexed path, through which he may have been
constrained to pass, in pursuit of the splendid destiny at length
happily attained.

In this sublime situation, we have lately beheld a British naval hero,
who has scarcely ever been equalled, and certainly never surpassed. As a
nation, we have been charmed with his brilliant refulgence; we have been
cheared by his vivifying influence; and we lament the short duration of
his splendor with a grief so general, that it appears to be without
parallel in the history of any age or country.

To trace the progress of this heroic and inestimable character, through
the various vicissitudes of his eventful life, from it's commencement to
it's close, with all the accuracy and minuteness which circumstances
will admit; contemplating and comparing the several causes and effects
which may have retarded or accelerated the progress of his public
career, which may have blessed or embittered his private comforts; is
the arduous task of the present biographer: who holds, with a trembling;
hand, the pen that would presumptuously aspire to record, with suitable
dignity, the history of one of the very greatest and most successful
naval heroes that has ever yet astonished and adorned the world.

Lord Nelson, Duke of Bronte--for he always, very properly, signed with
both these titles, from the moment of obtaining them--was the offspring
of parents on each side highly respectable.

The family of the Nelsons had been long resident in the county of
Norfolk: they possessed, for many years, and their posterity still
possess, a small patrimony at Hilborough, with the patronage of that
rectory.

The Sucklings, likewise a Norfolk family, of lofty alliances, have been
resident at Wooton nearly three centuries.

On the 11th of May, in the year 1749, the Reverend Edmund Nelson, son
of the then venerable Rector of Hilborough, and himself Rector of
Burnham-Thorpe, was married to Catharine daughter of Dr. Maurice
Suckling, Rector of Basham in Suffolk, as well as of Wooton in Norfolk,
and a Prebendary of Westminster.

By this union the Nelson family gained the honour of being related to
the noble families of Walpole, Cholmondeley, and Townshend: Miss
Suckling being the grand-daughter of Sir Charles Turner, Bart. of
Warham, in the county of Norfolk, by Mary, daughter of Robert Walpole,
Esq. of Houghton, and sister to Sir Robert Walpole, of Wolterton, whose
next sister, Dorothy, was married to Charles, second Viscount Townshend.

The honour, however, so conferred, has since been abundantly recompenced
to all these illustrious families, by a single Nelson, the offspring of
this very union; to whom, in their turn, they may now proudly boast
their alliance, without any degradation of dignity.

Of these virtuous and most respectable parents, was Horatio Lord
Viscount Nelson born, at the parsonage house of the rectory of
Burnham-Thorpe, on Michaelmas-day 1758: a place which will be ever
renowned for having given him birth; and a day of annual festivity,
which every Briton has now an additional motive to commemorate.

He was their fifth son, and their sixth child: his eldest sister, Mrs.
Bolton, the amiable lady of Thomas Bolton, Esq. by whom she has a son
and four daughters, being about three years older than her renowned
brother.

There had been a former son christened Horatio, who only survived about
twelve months; and another, named Edmund, after the father, who also
died in early infancy: both of whom are entombed in Hilborough church.

The name of Horatio, or Horace, which is thus once more destined to live
for ever honoured, was doubtless adopted, and persisted in by Mr. and
Mrs. Nelson, as a compliment to the memory of their noble relative, the
first Lord Walpole; brother of the highly celebrated Sir Robert Walpole,
afterwards first Earl of Orford. It was then little imagined, even by
the boundless partiality of parental affection, looking forward to
sanguine hopes of a powerful family patronage, that this infant could
ever possibly live to eclipse all the glory of his most brilliant
ancestors!

The name of Maurice, after Dr. Maurice Suckling the grandfather, and his
son Captain Maurice Suckling, had been previously given to another son,
born May 24, 1753: who held a situation in the Navy Office, and died so
recently as the year 1801, three days after receiving news of the battle
of Copenhagen; leaving a widow, but no issue.

Had this last gentleman survived his illustrious brother, he would, of
course, have succeeded to his lordship's titles; which now devolve,
augmented by an earldom, on the Reverend William Nelson, Rector of
Hilborough; the sole remaining brother of this numerous family, most of
whom died in their minority. The Earl, who was born April 20, 1757,
married, in November 1786, Sarah daughter of the Reverend Henry Yonge,
of Great Torrington in the county of Devon--cousin to the Right Reverend
Philip Yonge, late Bishop of Norwich--by whom he has issue,
Charlotte-Mary, born September 20, 1787; and Horatio, born October 26,
1788, successor-apparent to the honours of his immortal uncle.

Of the whole eight sons, offspring of Lord Nelson's parents, it seems
remarkable that only the present Earl ever had any issue; while, of
their three daughters, one died in her infancy, and the two who reached
maturity, Mrs. Bolton and Mrs. Matcham, have both several children: Mrs.
Bolton, as already noticed, having five now living; and Mrs. Matcham,
her amiable younger sister, the lady of George Matcham, Esq. being the
mother of no less than three sons and five daughters.

We usually expect, that the life of a great character should commence
with some early indication of his future excellence. This, being an
apparent principle in nature, is probably just. That divine genius, of
whatever description, which "_nascetur, non fit_;" is born with a man,
and not possible to be made or acquired; must, necessarily, exist at his
birth, whatever may be the period when, or the circumstance by which,
the dormant spark is first awakened into action. Parents, it is true,
are in general great observers of infantine occurrences; and very apt to
be presageful of wonderful results expected from trivial causes. Few
parents, however, are so blessed, as to have children who possess
genius: of those who are, some silently treasure up their hopes, which
may be buried with them in an untimely grave; some are too incessantly
busied in the cares of providing for a numerous offspring, to be capable
of indulging minute attentions to any particular infant; and some are
altogether unconscious, or regardless, of the presence of genius, amidst
the clearest manifestations of it's existence. To most other persons,
but the parents, if we except a good old grandmother, or an artful or
affectionate nurse, the actions and the sayings of a child seldom afford
much interest; and the relation of them often gives rise to no
inconsiderable degree of animosity. The parents of other children, and
even the other children of the same parents, not unfrequently hear such
praises with distaste and aversion; and, if they do not soon entirely
forget them, it is, perhaps, only because their unextinguishable envy
condemns them to preserve the remembrance of the circumstance by which
it was originally excited.

These, among various other causes, prevent our always becoming
acquainted with the early occurrences which distinguish genius, even
where they soonest appear: but, genius is not always apparent in early
infancy; and, where it is, every hero does not, like Hercules, find a
serpent successfully to encounter in his cradle.

Of Lord Nelson's infancy, from whatever causes, scarcely any anecdote is
now preserved. That which may, probably, be considered as the first, has
often been related; but never, heretofore, in a manner sufficiently
accurate and circumstantial.

At the very early age of not more than five or six years, little
Horatio, being on a visit to his grandmother, at Hilborough, who was
remarkably fond of all her son's children, and herself a most exemplary
character, had strolled out, with a boy some years older than himself,
to ramble over the country in search of birds-nests. Dinner-time,
however, arriving, and her grandson not having returned, the old lady
became so excessively alarmed, that messengers, both on horseback and on
foot, were immediately dispatched, to discover the wanderer. The
progress of the young adventurers had, it seems, been impeded by a
brook, or piece of water, over which Horatio could not pass; and, his
companion having gone off and left him, he was found ruminating, very
composedly, on the opposite bank. It is not ascertained, whether his
companion had got across the water, or gone back again by the way they
had approached it: whether the young hero was meditating how it might be
passed; or too weary, or unwilling, to retread all his former steps. Who
shall pretend to say, that this child, thus sitting, in a state of
abstraction, by the side of an impassable piece of water, might not
first feel that ardent thirst of nautical knowledge excited, the
gratification of which has since led to such glorious consequences! Be
this as it may--for even himself, if living, might not now be conscious
of the fact--it is perfectly well remembered that, on his being brought
into the presence of his grandmother, the old lady concluded her lecture
respecting the propriety of children's rambling abroad without the
permission of their friends, by saying--"I wonder, that fear did not
drive you home."--"Fear, grandmama," innocently replied the child, "I
never saw FEAR; what is it?"

Perhaps, the frequent repetition of this anecdote, and the admiration
which the sweet simplicity of the child's wonderful answer must
naturally create in the bosom of every virtuous friend, had no small
share in fixing his heroic character. He had never seen fear, he knew
not what it was. What a reflection for an incipient hero, when he became
capable of comprehending the full force of his own artless expression!
If he ever lived to see fear, it was only in the enemies of his country;
if to know it, it was only by name.

There seems good reason to suppose, that his invincible spirit was
visible at an early age, as well as his generally mild and amiable
disposition. He was a prodigious favourite with his indulgent mother:
who was herself a woman of considerable firmness and fortitude, though
of a delicate habit, as well as of great meekness and piety: and, in one
of the little customary strifes of brothers, the present earl being his
antagonist, when requested, by some friends, who were alarmed at the
noise, to interfere in behalf of the youngest, is well recollected to
have replied, with the utmost composure, and a very visible satisfaction
depicted on her expressive countenance--"Let them alone, little Horace
will beat him; let Horace alone!"

The brother of Mrs. Nelson, Captain Maurice Suckling, married to a
sister of the present Lord Walpole, was a naval commander of very
considerable skill and bravery: he frequently visited his sister; and
was, also, particularly fond of Horatio. He had, doubtless, heard the
anecdote respecting fear; to which, in his own person, he felt himself
as much a stranger as his little nephew: and, probably, was the first
friend to hail and encourage the future hero.

His sister, partial to the honourable profession of her brother, would
naturally interpret every proof of her darling son's attachment to his
uncle's person, his conversation, or even any of his professional
habiliments, as well as each appearance of spirited resolution which he
occasionally displayed, into an inclination, as well as fitness, for the
service. She, like the Holy Mary, "kept all these things, and pondered
them in her heart:" but, she lived not to behold the accomplishment of
her cherished hopes!

The principles of piety were carefully implanted in his infant mind, by
the example, as well as precepts, of both parents; and, amidst all the
tempestuous passions by which mankind is agitated during his progress
through the various scenes of active life, these principles could never
be eradicated from his bosom.

The celebrated grammar-school at Norwich, called the High School, of
which a Mr. Symonds was then master, and which was afterwards
superintended by the learned Dr. Parr, has the honour of having given
him the first rudiments of a respectable education. How long he
continued at Norwich school is not now known, any more than the
particular reason why he quitted it. From thence, however, he went to
the grammar-school at North Walsham; and was placed under the tuition of
the Reverend Mr. Jones, whose abilities are said to have then acquired
much celebrity.

It seems likely, that this removal might take place at the period of his
mother's death, which happened on the 24th of December 1767; being about
nine months after she was delivered of Mrs. Matcham, her eleventh and
last child.

The death of this excellent lady was a severe loss to her affectionate
husband, and his infant family; who do not appear to have experienced
any very substantial proofs of friendship from their illustrious
relatives in general, after Mrs. Nelson's decease. It is, indeed, but
too common for the affluent to neglect those of their humbler kindred
who have a numerous offspring; as if marriage were a crime, and the
fruits of virtuous love a reproach rather than a blessing. The Reverend
Mr. Nelson, however, was never in necessitous circumstances; and, as he
felt no solicitude for any self-indulgences not always within his reach,
he was enabled to effect the respectable establishment of all his
children, without that assistance, or those attentions, which he might
naturally have expected, and which it would certainly have been pleasing
to receive.

The good grandmother, at Hilborough, however, did all in her power to
promote the happiness and comfort of her son's children; and her
kindness and affection supplied, as much as it can be supplied, the want
of a mother. She was a fine old lady, and possessed uncommon wisdom,
with extreme goodness of heart. Her faculties were so lasting, that she
could see to read the smallest print, and execute the finest needlework,
till the close of her prolonged life, which extended to ninety-three
years.

Captain Suckling, too, seems to have formed one exception, at least, to
the almost general indifference on the part of their maternal relations.
He continued his occasional visits; and engaged, the first moment
possible, to take Horatio under his immediate protection.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24