erect upon the quarter-deck of his unconquered vessel, and exclaiming to those around him, 'Behold, brave comrades, behold the new spoils which await our valour-We are the sons of NeptuneRemember the Nile !'" A description of the Battle is then given :— "Thrice the proud islander advanced, confiding in his might, to break our close formed Naval wall. Thrice repulsed by Spanish heroism, he sees that victory doubtful which he fondly thought within his grasp. Who can paint his disappointment and his rage, when he beholds that flag, once so proud, humbled before the Standard of Spain? It is not on skill, it is not on valour, but on numbers, that he now depends for victory." The death of Alcedo, Castaños, Móyua, and other Spanish worthies is then noticed: "But you fell not, generous and devoted band, you fell not without due vengeance. The blood of Englishmen, flowing in streams, inundated their vessels, and Albion dismayed, contemplated, with looks of gloomy horror, the heaps of dead which now freighted her proud Armada-Nelson, too, fell there,........but think not, brave shade, think not when I name thee, it is to insult thee in thy dying hour-No, as an Englishman, I hate thee; as a Hero, I admire thee!" "Tambien Albion pasmada Los montes de cadáveres contempla, Como Ingles te aborrezco; héroe te admiro!" The writer next depicts the effect produced upon the English, when, instead of— "Beholding their Hero wafted up the Thames in all the pomp triumph, they see him carried on its bosom, a pale and rigid corpse a striking example of the nothingness of human pride, and a signal holocaust for the misery he had inflicted upon Spain." "O golpe, ó suerte! El Támesis aguarda De las naves cautivas El confuso tropel, y ya en idea Goza el aplauso y los sonoras vivas Que al vencedor se dan. O suerte! El puerto Solo le verá entrar pálido y yerto: Exemplo grande á la arrogancia humana, Digno holocausto á la afliccion Hispana." Each Ship is represented as a volcano, when Heaven interes, and suddenly commands the winds to separate the rious combatants. The winds obey, and rush upon the red Vessels: L "At this fresh assault, the trembling mast goes by the board. The resistless Ocean bursts through the ship with hideous roar; she sinks, while her drowning crew exclaim, 'We perish, but we perish fighting!'" A third Poem is called "The Naval Battle of the 21st of October," by Don José Morales de Fuentes. After a highly complimentary dedication to Rear-Admiral Don Antonio Escaño, the Poem commences by invoking never-fading honours upon the Spanish nation and its illustrious heroes, among whom are included Gravina, Alava, Cisneros, Galiano, Cagigal, &c. The departure of the Fleet from Cadiz, gives the Poet an opportunity of describing that City, which he styles the "rico Gaditano Emporio," as seen from the bay; then follows an account of Nelson's attempt to surprise the Spanish Fleet by night, but which was defeated by the vigilance of Gravina. At day-break Nelson "Inflamed with impious rage for the loss of his arm, and revolving in his mind the glories of the Nile and Copenhagen, no sooner descries the flag of Cisneros fluttering in the breeze than he aspires to make the Trinidad his prize, and rushes to the fight, exclaiming in tones of furious command, 'let Spanish blood in streams be made to flow."" "Ardiendo Nélson en venganza impia, Corra en arroyos la Española sangre!" He is repulsed by Alava. The destruction on board Lord Collingwood's Ship, and the death of many gallant Officers. then follow. Nelson is represented as burning with increased ardour to take the noble Vessel of Cisneros, and thus secure the applause and gratitude of his countrymen, when after returning to England he shall sail in triumph up the meandering Thames. But these anticipations are, together with his life, suddenly destroyed by a murderous ball which strikes him down: he dies "Nelson se inflama, y á la rica presa quando de parte á parte, Cae " The storm which followed the Battle, next occupies the Poet; and he closes by invoking the "Sea to curl up its 368 avenging waves, and bury in its fathomless abyss, those En tu abismo insondable, Por el brio Español desmantelados !” The preceding Poems were noticed in the Monthly Review for 1806; together with another entitled, "Rela cion en la que se elogia sencillamente, á los Heroes del combate del dia 21 de Octubre, &c. The author having enumerated the Spanish Officers of distinction who were killed or wounded, adds: "Pero aunque son tan sensibles Pues su pérdida mas monta Que la de los otros Gefes, Los diez mil hombres de tropa, Los ciento cincuenta De Oficialidad briosa, y dos Y diez y nueve navios Que han perdido en la derrota !" "But though our losses are great, we have the satisfaction of seeing the vain-glorious English mourning the lamentable death of their great Admiral, in whom all their hopes were centred; for the loss of Nelson is of greater moment than all the other Chiefs, the ten thousand soldiers, and the hundred and fifty-two brave officers, and the nineteen ships of which this engagement deprived us. Of the "Sombra de Nelson," which was reprinted in the Diario de Carthagena of the 5th and 6th January 1806, the Reviewer says―― "The whole performance is marked with considerable elegance and dignity of language, and abounds in images and descriptions, which are grand and impressive. The inferiority not only of the two poems above mentioned, but of several produced on the same theme on our own side of the water, to this work of the imagination, reminds us of the assertion of Waller, who, when Charles the Second complained that his panegyric on Cromwell was superior in poetical merit to the congratulation presented to himself on his restoration, is said to have replied, Poets, Sir, succeed better in fiction than in truth.' 4 New Series, vol. 1. p. 523. MISS HORATIA NELSON THOMPSON, (NOW MRS. WARD.) There is so much mystery respecting LORD NELSON's only child. HORATIA, and so much interest naturally attaches to her who, next to his Country, was the object of his dying thoughts, and whom he solemnly "bequeathed to the beneficence of his Country," as one of the only two favours he asked "of his King and Country at the moment when he was going to fight their Battle," that all of her history which has been discovered ought to be stated. The Register of the Parish of Marylebone, contains the following entry : "Baptisms, 1803. May 13, HORATIA NELSON THOMPSON, B. 29 October, 1800." That Lord Nelson believed himself to be the father of this child, is placed beyond dispute by his whole conduct towards her; but there is great doubt who was her mother. It has been generally supposed that she was the daughter of Lord Nelson by Lady Hamilton; but although many facts are calculated to raise such a presumption, the Editor is authorized by Mr. Haslewood, long the confidential friend and professional adviser of Lord Nelson, to declare, in the most positive manner, that Lady Hamilton was not its mother. The name of the mother is known to Mr. Haslewood; but he is prevented by a sense of honour from disclosing it. Lady Hamilton always said that the child's mother was a person of high birth, and she has left a written declaration that she was great to be mentioned"." 66 too Before adducing documentary evidence upon the subject, it is proper to give the only two verbal statements that are known to the Editor-namely, those of Thomas Allen, Lord Nelson's servant; and of a Mrs. Johnstone (who is dead), the daughter of Mrs. Gibson (now also dead), the Nurse to whose care the infant was intrusted soon after its birth. Allen's statement is as follows:- "One day, towards the latter end of January 1801, while Lord Nelson was living in Halfmoon Street, and when he was dressing for dinner, a female who appeared to be very near her confinement, and much agitated, came and inquired for Lord Nelson. He (Allen) recognized her as the sister of a merchant at Genoa, and who had a brother a Lieutenant of the Navy. On Allen's informing Lord Nelson, he immediately desired him to call a hackney-coach, and to say nothing concerning it to the servants. He got into the coach, and drove off, not returning for a couple of hours. Allen also said that she came over in the Seahorse, Sir William Fremantle, who was acquainted with the whole story. He further added, that he heard afterwards that she died in her confinement." Upon this statement it is to be observed, that though the main facts may be correct, nearly all the details are erroneous. 5 Vide p. 388 post. The This statement was made by Allen to the Reverend Philip Ward, about the year 1825. VOL. VII. 2 B Seahorse was not commanded by Captain Fremantle, in 1800; nor did that Ship arrive from the Mediterranean in the latter part of that year, or early in 1801. Lord Nelson quitted London on the 13th of January 1801 for Plymouth, and did not return to Town until the 24th of February, when he remained there only two days. He sailed on the 2nd of March from Spithead, for Yarmouth, and thence to the Baltic. If, therefore, the circumstance related by Allen did occur, it must have been between November 1800, and the 13th of January 1801; but Mr. Haslewood declares that it is not true. Mrs. Johnstone's statement is, that— "Lady Hamilton brought the child to her mother's house in a hackneycoach one night, and placed her under her charge, telling her that she should be handsomely remunerated. She was unattended, and did not give the nurse any information as to the child's parents. The nurse declared she was no more than eight days old. This was either in the month of January or February; and Mrs. Gibson said she could never make out why her birthday was kept in October. She remained with the nurse till she was five or six years old. Lady Hamilton constantly visited her: Lord Nelson was frequently her companion in her visits to her, and often came alone, and played for hours with the infant on the floor, calling her his own child." According to this account, the child was born in the month of January or February; and though the year is not mentioned, it was certainly in 1801: hence the date assigned to her birth in the register of her baptism, viz., the 29th of October 1800, must have been purposely misstated, the reason for which has not been discovered. The documentary evidence is of two kinds-first, autograph letters in the possession of Mrs. Ward, which have been carefully examined by the Editor; and secondly, the letters printed in the volumes entitled "The Letters of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamil 7 This statement was made to Captain James Ward, of the 81st Regiment, by Mrs. Johnstone, under the following circumstances. Miss Horatia Nelson married in 1822, the Reverend Philip Ward, and in 1828, while Captain Ward was staying with them at his brother's curacy of Bircham Newton, in Norfolk, Mrs. Ward (who had lost sight of her nurse, Mrs. Gibson, for some years) received a letter from her daughter, Mrs. Mary Johnstone, inquiring after her. Mrs. Ward requested Captain Ward to call upon Mrs. Johnstone on his return to London, and to obtain any information she possessed respecting her parentage and infancy, &c. He did so, and Mrs. Johnstone made the above statement to him, adding that she had many letters about the child, which had been written to Mrs. Gibson, as well as a portrait of her, which Lord Nelson had given to Mrs. Gibson, while she was under her care, which she would, if Mrs. Ward wished it, send her. The offer was accepted, and thus the letters from Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson to Mrs. Gibson, in the text, came into Mrs. Ward's possession. In communicating to Mrs. Ward the result of his interview, Captain Ward wrote on the 18th of September 1828, "I have seen Mrs. Johnstone; she is the little deformed woman whom you recollect. She appeared very much pleased at hearing of you, although the poor creature was under great affliction, her husband (whom I understand was a most respectable man and comfortably off) was then nearly dead. I have since called twice, and find he is no more, so that probably I may not see her again for some days. I sat with her an hour, and she gave me the following information about yourself, which probably you have heard before." It may be observed, that Mrs. Johnstone was most respectable character and in good circumstances, and had no pecuniary nworthy motive for communicating these facts. |