IN THE MASTERTON LIBRARY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8526, 2 September 1907, Page 5

IN THE MASTERTON LIBRARY.

(Specially Written for the Wairarapa \ Age. j MAHAN'S LIFE OF NELSON. No. XVI. History has afforded more than one example of a man of unusual power of mind coming under the absolute domination of a woman; the bi\--L known instance being that of Antor.y and Cleopatra. As a rule, howc>.-.. ;i : - . the man has been a man of a naturally amative disposition—a :ni";n whose strong mental powers bavj been set in a correspondingly strung physical frame. With Nelson, however, the circumstances were ve:-y different. Physically a weaki::--;.-, subject to frequent and long perh.dM of bodily suffering, mentally wrappe-.l up in his profession, and morally singularly pure-minded, and deeply religious, no one could have reasonably conceived him as capable of separating from the wife to whom he had been true for years, and yielding* to an absorbing passion for the wife of another. When Nelson met Lady Hamilton, after the Nile, she was-33 years of age, and had a very remark--aole history behind her. Born in Cheshire of extremely poor parents in the humblest walk of life, she had found her way up to London when little more than a child, and wasspeedily ruined. She attracted a man named Charles Greville, whorecognised, not merely her superficial loveliness, but something of the promise of her underlying character. He took her as his mistress, she being then not turned 17 years of age, and they lived together for nearly four years. Greville educated her, and she was genuinely fond of him and happy with him. His moral precepts were strictly utilitarian; consisting of impressing upon her the material advantages to accrue from the habit of self-control and the observance of external proprieties. Finding it desirable to marry to mend his fortunes, he consulted withhis uncle, Sir William Hamilton, on the best way of breaking with the girl. Hamilton was a widower, 55 years of age; he had been taken with, the girl, and the precious pair concocted a scheme by which the girl should go out to Hamilton at Naples, where he was British Minister, on the promise that Greville was to follow. When she found that Greville had deserted her, her grief was extreme, but anger came to her rescue and she proceeded to put Greville's precepts into practice against himself. She warned him that if he deserted her she would make Sir William marry her. As Greville expected to be his uncls's heir, this was a serious matter for him. He probably, however, deemed his uncle too old to be caught by the girl. But, by a persistent exercise of her fascinations, combined with an unyielding prudence, she succeeded, after five years waiting, in attaining her object, and on September 6th, 1791, she became Lady Hamilton. The comments of the men and women of fashion of the day upon her appearance and character are both amusing and instructive. She appears to have been loud in her manners and coarse in figure, but desirous to please, vivacious, and genuinely good-natured. She also possessed great ability as an actress, which was manifested by her presentation of what "are now known as Living Pictures. "Lady Hamilton's Attitudes," as they were called, were admitted by all who saw them to be a very fine and charming performance, in wliich every trace of either vulgarity or physical coarseness fell entirely away from he'-. Such was the woman. There were certain causes, apart from Lady Hamilton's personal charm, that rendered Nelson liable to fall under her spell. In the first place, he had no child. Had he been a father, it is impossible to conceive a man of his temperament acting ar he did. In the second place, his wife was peculiarly un • suited to him. Nelson lived in the clouds—what he had done—what he was going to do—what he would do if only his superiors hadthe sens 3 to permit him. These were the main themes of his private correspondence. But Lady Nelson does not appear to have been capable of appreciating or encouraging his ambitions. For example, she wrote to him en one occasion expressing the hope that he would in future leave hoarding to his captains as it was so dangerous. We can imagine with what feelings this suggestion was received by the inventor of "Nelson's Patent Bridge." It is evident that the ties of affection for his wife were already weakened, and when, after his victory at the Nile, he was received into Sir \Villiam Hamilton's house to be nursed back to health by a charming woman, who, probably, in all sincerity poured the delightful music of unstinted flattery into his ears, there is small wonder that he fell in love with his nurse. From then on Nelson practically lived at the ■ Hamiltons. During the remainder of his termin th 3 Mediterranean her influence upon his public actions was very great, the most remarkable occasion being that of the hurried court-mar-tial and execution of the Neapolitan rebel, Admiral Caracciolo. That the man deserved his fate was clear; but the haste with which the matter was carried out—while according with the hatred which Lady Hamilton and her bosom friend,, the Queen of Naples, bore towards the prisoner—was not in accordancewith the dignity of a British Admiral. Nelson and the Hamiltons returned together to England in November liiCO. There Nelson met his wife, and as she, very properly, declined to accept the position as regarded the Hamiltons, he separated from her and lived with the Hamiltons. Sir William to the end appeared to know nothing of the actual position; but whether he was actually deceived or whether he accepted the inevitable, is a question which can never be settled now. The mysterious girl Horatia was undoubtedly a daughter of Nelson's. In 1301 Nelson went out as ViceAdiniral under Parker in the campaign, which culminated in thedestruction of the Danish Fleet at Copenhagen. The attack in this light was left entirely to Nelson. Aii Parker did was to signal him to retire. But Nelson put his tolcsco; e up to his blind eye and stoutly declared that he could not see the

signal. On his return to England he lived quietly until 1803, when he went out on the long chase of the French fleet, which led up to Trafalgar. \