Nelson's Lady Hamilton (14 page)

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shew my attachment to them, and the confidence I feel in the worthy Chevalier, whom I only beg not to compromise me."

The game was already begun. Ferdinand believed that he was successfully deceiving his clever Queen, while she did not scruple to abstract his secret documents and hand them, through Emma, to the British Ambassador to be forwarded to London. Lady Hamilton played a valuable part in this diplomatic business; but, as she herself failed to see, it was a subordinate part. She copied, she translated, she transmitted; but it is impossible to believe that Maria Carolina would not have done exactly the same, though with more difficulty, had Lady Hamilton been nonexistent. The Queen of Naples was not a woman to be turned from her aim by small obstacles; the absence or presence of the ardent and accommodating Lady Hamilton was not a vital matter to her political schemes, which were based on self-interest, hatred of the French, and the ambition natural to the daughter of Maria Theresa. She had a real liking and admiration for Emma, it is true: if Queens have friends she regarded Emma as one, but though friend, she was tool as well. Emma was peculiarly fitted to be the tool of ambition, for where her affections were engaged—especially where she could flatter herself that she was playing a brilliant and

exciting part in the full glare of the historic searchlight—she never stopped to ask for secret and subtle motions, to question whether she was being used. The mental attitude of the fly on the wheel, pleased at the dust he thought he was raising, is somewhat typically her own.

But once admitting that Lady Hamilton was not so paramount and so indispensable as she tended to imagine, the fact remains that she was in the very thick of political events of great importance to England and to Europe. Among the Morrison Papers is a copy in Italian of the King of Spain's letter to his brother Ferdinand, transcribed by Lady Hamilton and endorsed in Sir William Hamilton's handwriting : " Copy of the King of Spain's Letter to the K. of Naples, Augt. nth, 1795, having made Peace with the French Rep." As the letter is important, it is given nearly in full:—

" In my letter of 2 April I wrote to you that I was thinking of doing what would be possible for me to hasten on a solid and permanent peace which might enable mankind to pause from the horrors of a war so cruel and devastating as the present. The sad experience of three campaigns totally fruitless; the utter ruin of the Jacobins, the sworn foes of God and of all sovereigns, to whose fury has succeeded the moderate system of the actual government of France; the superiority which her arms everywhere maintain ; the disunion

and wont of suite generally but too much displayed among those powers which at first appeared the most interested in restoring in France good faith, order, worship and the throne; the treaties of peace and amity made by some of them with the Convention; the loss of some fortresses and of a considerable portion of my frontier provinces ; and lastly (what weighs with me most of all) the desire of sparing the blood spent as yet so vainly by my faithful people,— these are motives, dear Brother, which have induced me finally to abandon the hostile system which I accurately followed so long as I could employ and uphold my armies with any hope of remedying, by force of arms, the evils of France. But, having clearly discerned that opinion cannot be altered by force, and considering on the other hand that the security and tranquillity of my kingdom are the first of my duties, I have begun to treat with the French for peace, which, though not yet concluded, will I hope not delay long in being settled to the full satisfaction of the two nations, and above all to the advantage of my own, so far as can be hoped from the circumstances, critical enough, in which we find ourselves. Whatever may be the result of the negotiations on foot, you may rest assured that I shall never be forgetful of Italy, and far less of your own states, and that you will always find me ready to obtain for you the same benefit of the peace

'THE SPINSTRESS'

GEORGE ROMNEY

which I so much desire, proportionate to my own, as to which object, I have already made some proposals in your behalf, which I apprehend will be well received. God send that it may be for us a means more to the purpose for sparing the blood of the rest of our ill-fated family than war has hitherto been."

Through the agency of the Queen and of his wife, Sir William Hamilton promptly forwarded the news contained in this interesting document to his own Government in London.

From amity to alliance was not a long step with the King of Spain. The desire of " sparing the blood of his faithful people " was not so strong as his desire to strike at England in union with France. During the spring and summer of 1796 he wrote constantly in a hectoring tone to Ferdinand, and in August of the same year Acton wrote to Sir William Hamilton that "the odd and open threatenings of the King of Spain to his brother do not leave any room to hope for a separation from the French, or change in that Court of their strange and most shameful system."

It is round the King of Spain's letter to the King of Naples, announcing his intention of joining France and making war, that much of the controversy as to Lady Hamilton's services to England at this point of her career centres. Nelson's statement of the matter in the famous

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Codicil of Trafalgar Day is clear. " Lady Hamilton," he says, "obtained the King of Spain's letter, in 1796, to his brother, the King of Naples, acquainting him of his intention to declare war] against England; from which letter the Ministry sent out orders to the then Sir John Jervis to strike a stroke, if opportunity offered, against either the arsenals of Spain or her fleets. That neither of these was done is not the fault of Lady Hamilton."

In her Memorial to the King of England many years later, when compelled by her situation to bring her services to the attention of her country, Emma Hamilton recalls to George III " That it was the good fortune of your Majesty* memorialist, among many inferior services, t acquire the confidential friendship of that grea and august Princess, the Queen of Naples, you Majesty's most faithful and ardently attach Ally, at a period of peculiar peril, and when he august Consort . . . was unhappily constrain to profess a neutrality, but little in accordan with the feelings of his own excellent heart. B which means your Majesty's memorialist, among many inferior services, had an opportunity of obtaining, and actually did obtain, the King of Spain's letter to the King of Naples expressive of his intention to declare war against England. This important document, your Majesty's memorialist delivered to her husband, Sir William

Hamilton, who immediately transmitted it to your Majesty's Ministers."

This is a plain and simple statement which few people, considering all the circumstances, would have any difficulty in accepting as the substantial truth. But, unfortunately for herself, Lady Hamilton had a habit of exaggeration and a love of theatrical effect that could not rest content with anything so unadorned. In her Memorial to the Prince Regent, she added picturesque details which have tended to cast doubt on the authenticity of her claims. She refers again to her influence with the Queen of Naples, and goes on : "By unceasing application of that influence, and no less watchfulness to turn it to my country's good, it happened that I discovered a courier had brought the King of Naples a private letter from the King of Spain. I prevailed on the Queen to take it from his pocket unseen. We found it to contain the King of Spain's intention to withdraw from the Coalition, and join the French against England. My husband at that time lay dangerously ill. I prevailed on the Queen to allow my taking a copy, with which I immediately dispatched a messenger to Lord Grenville, taking all the necessary precautions; for his safe arrival then became very difficult, and altogether cost me about ,£400 paid out of my privy purse."

This Prince Regent Memorial contains several

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misstatements and exaggerations, of which the most glaring is that concerning the news of the King of Spain's intention to withdraw from the Coalition and join the French—events which occurred in two separate though succeeding years —being found in the single letter abstracted from Ferdinand's pocket. Emma's statement that she paid ^"400 out of her privy purse is also of doubtful accuracy, considering that her own yearly allowance was only ^200, and she always spent it up to the last penny. But because certain details are demonstrably mistaken, it is not fair to conclude the whole thing a fabrication —especially when dealing with a woman of Lady Hamilton's temperament. Both the Memorials were written many years after the event, and the confusion of two years is not an unnatural error. Her memory might well play her tricks with dates, though not so easily with facts and actual happenings, which have a firmer way of fixing themselves in the mind.

It is hardly necessary to go into minute discussion of this point The fact remains that a copy of the King of Spain's letter announcing his intention of entering into an offensive and defensive alliance with France—it could not have announced his withdrawal from the Coalition, for that was accomplished already—was obtained by the Queen of Naples and forwarded to England at her desire by Sir William Hamilton. Lady

Hamilton's share in the transaction is not vitally important. Whether or no she suggested taking the letter from the pocket of the unsuspecting King, as she proudly claims, is not a crucial matter. It may be a nice point of honour, but neither Emma nor Maria Carolina were given to sticking at trifles and the glory may fairly be divided between them.

It is sufficient for our purpose that Emma, at the time and years afterwards, believed quite honestly that she had rendered the British Government and Crown a considerable service in this matter, and Nelson believed so too. Writing at this time to Charles Greville, she informed him, with a half-childish exultation and much underlining—

"We have not time to write to you, as we have been 3 days and nights writing to send by this courrier letters of consequence for our government. They ought to be gratefull to Sir William and myself in particular, as my situation at this Court is very extraordinary, and what no person [h]as as yet arrived at; but one [h]as no thanks, and I am allmost sick of grandeur. We are tired to death with anxiety, and God knows were we shall soon be, and what will become of us, if things go on as they do now."

It is a quaint little sidelight on her truly feminine character that though " allmost sick of grandeur/' a few lines further on, in the same

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letter, she begs Greville to "send me by the bearer a Dunstable hat, and some ribbands, or what you think will be acceptable."

Identifying herself with the Queen of Naples and all her interests as she did, it was not surprising that Emma wrote, " God knows were we shall soon be, and what will become of us, if things go on as they do now." The weakness of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was apparent, and France took advantage of it to exact a compact at the close of 1796, by which the kingdom was bound to the crippling condition of not admitting more than four vessels of the Allies at one time to any Neapolitan or Sicilian port. But if Naples was thus compelled into a distasteful neutrality, the Queen took care to ignore both the letter and the spirit of this neutrality wherever possible. Forced by her weakness to be secret, Maria Carolina lost no opportunity of in secret defying France.

In the prevailing gloom and distress Nelson's name and deeds shone out with the promise of a better time, when French ships should not exult unchecked in the Mediterranean, nor French armies trample Italy. Even before the Battle of St. Vincent Nelson's name was beginning to acquire a peculiar worth and significance. He wrote to his wife in 1796: "A person sent me a letter, and directed as follows: ' Horatio Nelson, Genoa.' On being asked how he could direct in

such a manner, his answer, in a large party, was, 'Sir, there is but one Horatio Nelson in the world/ I am known throughout Italy, not a Kingdom, or State, where my name will be forgotten/'

It is a pity the name of the "person" who wrote that magnificently simple address has not been preserved. He showed a remarkable fore, sight.

The Hamiltons kept in touch with Nelson from the time of his short visit to Naples, in 1793, till they met again after the Nile. Sir William wrote to him early in 1796: "Lady Hamilton and I admire your constancy, and hope the severe service you have undergone will be handsomely rewarded."

There is no record and no reason to suppose that Nelson personally had made any special impression on Lady Hamilton during their brief meeting. But after St. Valentine's Day of 1797, Nelson became a name to conjure with, and we may be sure that Emma used it often to cheer the desponding Queen—promising, with her usual extravagant ardour, all that Nelson and England should do for her Sicilian Majesty. There is little doubt, also, that as she saw Nelson's star beginning its brilliant ascent towards the zenith, where it has shone ever since, she naturally tended to gravitate towards it—urged alike by her theatrical passion for eclat and her nobler love for great and glorious deeds. Nelson's