chase, and listen to all its excellencies: nor was it till his glee had in some measure sub. sided, that the paper could be presented to him. His indignation was excessive: and in the apprehension that he should be exposed to the anxieties of the suit, and the ruinous consequences which might ensue, he exclaimed, "This affront I did not de

serve! But I'll be trifled with no longer. "I will write immediately to the treasury; "and if government will not support me, I

am resolved to leave the country." Accordingly, he informed the treasury, that if a satisfactory answer were not sent him by return of post, he should take refuge in France. To this he expected he should be driven, and for this he arranged every thing with his characteristic rapidity of decision. It was settled that he should depart immediately, and Mrs. Nelson follow under the care of his elder brother, Maurice, ten days after him. But the answer which he received from government quieted his fears: it stated, that Captain Nelson was a very good officer, and needed to be under no

apprehension, for he would assuredly be supported.

Here his disquietude upon this subject seems to have ended. Still he was not at ease; he wanted employment, and was mor tified that his applications for it produced no effect.

،، Not being a man of fortune," he said, 66 was a crime which he was unable "to get over, and therefore none of the

،،

great cared about him." Repeatedly he requested the admiralty that they would not leave him to rust in indolence. During the armament which was made upon occasion of the dispute concerning Nootka Sound, he renewed his application ; and his steady friend, Prince William, who had then been created Duke of Clarence, recommended him to Lord Chatham. The failure of this recommendation wounded him so keenly, that he again thought of retiring from the service in disgust: a resolution from which nothing but the urgent remonstrances of Lord Hood induced him to desist. Hearing that the Raisonnable, in which he had commenced his career, was to be commissioned,

he asked for her. This also was in vain: and a coolness ensued, on his part, toward Lord Hood, because that excellent officer did not use his influence with Lord Chatham upon this occasion. Lord Hood, however, had certainly sufficient reasons for not interfering; for he ever continued his steady friend. In the winter of 1792, when we were on the eve of the anti-jacobin war, Nelson once more offered his services, earnestly requested a ship, and added, that if their lordships should be pleased to appoint him to a cockle-boat, he should feel satisHe was answered in the usual official

fied.

66

form: 66 Sir, I have received your letter "of the 5th instant, expressing your readiness to serve, and have read the same to 66 my lords commissioners of the admiralty." On the 12th of December he received this dry acknowledgement. The fresh mortification did not, however, affect him long; for, by the joint interest of the Duke and Lord Hood, he was appointed, on the 30th of January following, to the Agamemnon, of 64 guns.

CHAPTER III.

CONTENTS.

The Agamemnon sent to the Mediterranean.-Com-
mencement of Nelson's acquaintance with Sir W.
Hamilton.-He is sent to Corsica, to co-operate with
Paoli.-State of affairs in that island.-Nelson under-
takes the siege of Bastia, and reduces it.-Takes a
distinguished part in the siege of Calvi, where he
loses an eye.—Admiral Hotham's action.—The Aga-
memnon ordered to Genoa, to co-operate with the
Austrian and Sardinian forces.-Gross misconduct of
the Austrian General,

66

66 THERE are three things, young gentle-
man," said Nelson to one of his midship-
men, "which you are constantly to bear in
"mind. First, you must always implicitly
"obey orders, without attempting to form
66 any opinion of your own respecting their
"propriety. Secondly, you must consider
66 every man your enemy who speaks ill of
ແ your king and, thirdly, you must hate

"a Frenchman as you do the devil." With these feelings he engaged in the Anti-Jacobin war. Josiah, his son-in-law, went with him, as a midshipman,

The Agamemnon was ordered to the Mediterranean, under Lord Hood. The fleet arrived in those seas at a time when the south of France would willingly have formed itself into a separate republic, under the protection of England. But good principles had been at that time perilously abused by ignorant and profligate men; and, in its fear and hatred of democracy, the English government leagued itself with despotism :a miserable error, of which the consequences will long be to be deplored: for had not England, in unhappy hour, interfered, the rotten governments of the continent would then have fallen; and the continental nations, acquiring a revolutionary impulse and strength, at the same time as France, would now have been the rivals of France, instead of her prey. Lord Hood could not take advantage of the fair occasion which presented itself; and which, if it had been seized with vigour, might have ended