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I must beg to observe, that the detention of this Vessel's proceeds as a Droit of Admiralty, in my humble opinion, is a singular instance; and when their Lordships take into account that the poor Sailor who claims his due, has been for these two last years shut up from every comfort of the shore, and in want of his little pittance (almost the only thing he has made) to procure him some few necessaries of life, I am sure they will agree with me in the propriety of its being immediately paid.

I shall not here enter into the prompt payment of all Prizemoney being made general, as their Lordships must be well aware of the happy consequences of such a measure, by keeping the Seamen in good humour, and adding some few comforts to their situation. I am, Sir, &c.,

NELSON AND BRONTE.

PRIVATE DIARY.

[From Clarke and M'Arthur, vol. ii. p. 418.]

3rd August, 1805.

I feel every moment of this foul wind, but I trust in Providence that it is all for the best; although I, a poor weak mortal, suffer severely from the mortification of so apparently long a passage as this will probably be, from the continuance of Northerly winds. We are in Lat. 39° N., Long. 16° W., course West. No information; all night light airs'.

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* During Lord Nelson's passage from the West Indies, the following circumstance is stated by Clarke and M'Arthur (vol. ii. p. 417) to have occurred, and which, Southey says, more than any other event in real history, resembles those whimsical proofs of sagacity which Voltaire in his Zadig has borrowed from the Orientals:"

"An American Merchant Ship, spoken by one of the Frigates, had fallen in, a little to the Westward of the Azores, with an armed Vessel, having the appearance of a Privateer dismasted, and which had evident marks of having, been set fire to, and run on board by another Ship, the impression of whose stern had penetrated the top sides. The crew had forsaken her, and the fire most probably had gone out of its own accord. In the cabin had been found a Log-book and a few seamen's jackets, which were given to the Officer, and taken on board the Victory;

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[From a press copy in the possession of the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker.]

My dear Hargood,

Victory, August 5th, 1805.

Nothing but your desire to save the — of the Belleisle from the fate which would justly await him, should your charges against him be proved, could have induced me to allow of your forgiveness of such faults as his have been; and I sincerely hope that he will show his gratitude to you for this great proof of your goodness to him. I hope you will severely admonish him, and that his future conduct will show his sincere contrition. I am ever, dear Hargood, yours most faithfully, NELSON AND Bronte.

I am dreadfully uneasy at not getting a fair wind ;-I feel every moment an age, for the Enemy's Fleet may be off Ireland, or in the Channel. You were told by Telegraph that the Curieux saw the Combined Squadron on June 19th: I

and, with these, the Admiral immediately endeavoured to explain the mystery, and to discover some further intelligence of the Enemy. The Log-book, which closed with this remark, 'Two large Ships in the W.N.W.' showed, in his opinion, that the abandoned Vessel had been a Liverpool Privateer cruising off the Western Islands. In the leaves of this Log-book, a small scrap of dirty paper was found filled with figures, which no one could make anything of but Lord Nelson, who immediately on seeing it, remarked, 'They are French characters!' which probably stimulated him to a stricter observation. After an attentive examination, he said, 'I can unravel the whole: this Privateer had been chased and taken by the two Ships that were seen in the W.N.W. The Prize Master,. who had been put on board in a hurry, omitted to take with him his reckoning; there is none in the Log-book: and this dirty scrap of paper, which none of you could make anything of, contains his work for the number of days since the Privateer last set Corvo, with an unaccounted-for run, which I take to have been the chase, in his endeavour to find out his situation by back-reckonings. The jackets I find to be the manufacture of France, which prove the Enemy was in possession of the Privateer; and I conclude, by some mismanagement she was run on board of afterwards by one of them, and dismasted. Not liking delay (for I am satisfied those two Ships were the advanced ones of the French Squadron), and fancying we were close at their heels, they set fire to the Vessel, and abandoned her in a hurry. If my explanation, gentlemen, be correct, I infer from it they are gone more to the Northward, and more to the Northward I will look for them.' Subsequent information proved that he was correct in every part of this interpretation."

am sorry that Captain Bettesworth did not stand back, and try and find us out. I feel very unlucky. I need not say that I shall always be glad to see you.

PRIVATE DIARY.

[From Clarke and M‘Arthur, vol. ii. p. 418.]

8th August, 1805.

In summer time, coming from the Mediterranean, you must not expect to lose the Northerly wind, until you get into the Longitude of 17° W.

TO REAR-ADMIRAL LOUIS.

[From Clarke and M'Arthur, vol. ii. p. 418.]

“August 15th. P.M. noon, saw the Channel Fleet E. b. S.: twenty-four Sail of the Line, one Sloop, one Brig, one Cutter, and a Schooner.”—Signal Log.

"At 3, saw Ushant bearing S.E. b. E. eight or nine leagues. At 6, saluted Admiral Cornwallis in H. M. Ship Ville de Paris with fifteen guns, which was returned with eleven. Hove to. 7.45, filled and made sail."-Victory's Log.

Sir,

15th August, 1805.

I have only a moment to beg that you will be so good as to express, in the manner best calculated to do justice, the high sense I entertain of the merit of the Captains, Officers, and Ships' Companies, lately composing the Squadron under my command'; and assure their able and zealous Commanders, that their conduct has met my warmest approbation. I have only to repeat the high opinion I entertain of your distinguished conduct. I am, &c.,

NELSON AND Bronte.

3 On joining the Channel Fleet, Lord Nelson left all his Squadron except the Superb, with which Ship, pursuant to orders from the Admiralty, he was directed by Admiral Cornwallis, on the 15th of August, to proceed in the Victory to Spithead.

TO CAPTAIN FREMANTLE.

[From a press copy in the possession of the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker.]

My dear Fremantle,

Victory, August 16th, 1805.

I could not last night sit down to thank you for your truly kind letter, and for your large packet of newspapers, for I was in truth bewildered by the account of Sir Robert Calder's Victory, and the joy of the event; together with the hearing that John Bull was not content, which I am sorry for. Who can, my dear Fremantle, command all the success which our Country may wish? We have fought together, and therefore well know what it is. I have had the best disposed Fleet of friends, but who can say what will be the event of a Battle? and it most sincerely grieves me, that in any of the papers it should be insinuated, that Lord Nelson could have done better. I should have fought the Enemy, so did my friend Calder; but who can say that he will be more successful than another? I only wish to stand upon my own merits, and not by comparison, one way or the other, upon the conduct of a Brother Officer. You will forgive this dissertation, but I feel upon the occasion. Is George Martin' with you? If so remember me to him kindly. I have said all you wish to Admiral Murray, and to good Captain Hardy. Dr. Scott says you remember everybody but him. I beg my best respects to Mrs. Fremantle, and with the most sincere wishes that you may have the Neptune close alongside a French three-decker'. Believe me as ever, my dear Fremantle, your most faithful and affectionate friend,

NELSON AND BRONTE.

Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Calder's Action with a superior force off Cape Finisterre, on the 22nd of July, when two Spanish Ships of the Line were captured. For not having done his utmost to renew the Action, Sir Robert Calder was sentenced by a Court-Martial to be "severely reprimanded."

* At Copenhagen, where Captain Fremantle commanded the Ganges.

• Now Admiral Sir George Martin, G.C.B., G.C.M.G.

This wish was realized at Trafalgar, when Captain Fremantle commanded the Neptune of 98 guns.

Sir,

TO WILLIAM MARSDEN, ESQ., ADMIRALTY.

[Original in the Admiralty.]

Victory, at Sea, August 12th, 1805.

8

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having directed me, by their order dated the 26th October, 1804, to take the Tribune under my command, I beg leave to acquaint you for their Lordships' information, that Captain Bennett arrived at Gibraltar in December following; that after giving orders to the Ships at that place under my command, directing them to perform different services, he judged proper to proceed and cruize, and afterwards to proceed to England; and their Lordships by your letter of the 15th February last having disapproved of his conduct, and acquainted me that it was their intention to bring him to a Court Martial for not proceeding and putting himself under my command (which afterwards took place), I must in justice to myself and the other Flag Officers concerned, beg to represent to their Lordships that the Tribune captured some valuable Prizes on her cruize from Gibraltar to England, three-eighths of which, I understand, Captain Bennet has claimed as his own exclusive right, by which means myself, and the other Flag Officers on the Mediterranean Station, are excluded from what certainly justice, and as far as I interpret the Proclamation for the distribution of Prize-money, entitle us to. It is also proper to observe that several letters on His Majesty's Service, inclosing orders to any Captain or Commander whose Ship was intended by their Lordships to compose a part of the Mediterranean Fleet, were left with Commissioner Otway, to put themselves under my command, and join me agreeably to the Rendezvous, also inclosed in each of the said letters; but Commissioner Otway being absent at Malta, Mr. Pownall, the Store-keeper in whose charge the said letters on Service were left, did not, it appears, from the then sickly state of the Garrison, deliver one of them to Captain Bennett. And these particular circumstances, and the Proclamation above alluded to, stating in case any difficulty shall arise in respect to the said distribution not herein sufficiently

8 Vide vol. vi. p. 313.

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