First Edition, March, 1906. RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. 9-27-09 Ee. TJ.J EDITOR'S NOTE THE Life of Nelson is an instance of a fine book which grew out of an article. Southey had become a regular contributor to the " Quarterly Review "in 1808, chiefly through the agency of Sir Walter Scott; and an article on Nelson, published in its columns, was the "small sketch" of which the Life was the enlargement. This "peerless model of short biographies," as Dr. Richard Garnett has termed it, appeared first in two volumes in 1813-two years before Waterloo, an auspicious time for an heroic cartoon to be published in England. However, the book was not at once a market-success, and Southey himself thought it as a work of literary art far inferior to other works of his which are, and not in every case advisedly, forgotten. The one companion work of biography, in which Southey excelled, is his Life of John Wesley, which appeared seven years later. His "Lives of the British Admirals," written for Lardner's "Cabinet Cyclopædia " (1833-40), cannot be compared with his " Nelson, "though his life of Lord Howard of Effingham, and his account of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in that volume, are admirably done, and in the vein which gave us the earlier work. The following is the elaborate table of the published works of Robert Southey (1774-1843): An early contribution—a protest against excessive floggingto his school magazine caused Southey to be expelled from Westminster; The Fall of Robespierre, A Tragedy (with Coleridge and Lovell), 1794; Poems, by Lovell and Southey (Bion and Moschus), 1795; Poems, 1797; Letters written 194701 during a Short Residence in Spain and Portugal, 1797; Thalaba, the Destroyer, 1801; Amadis of Gaul (trans.), 1803; Madoc, 1805; Palmerin_ of England (corrected by S.), 1807; Specimens of the later English poets, with Preliminary Notes, 1807; Letters from England by Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella, 1807; The Cid (trans.), 1808; History of Brazil, 1810-19; The Curse of Kehama, 1810; Omniana, 1812; Life of Nelson, 1813; Roderick, the Last of the Goths, 1814; Carmen Triumphale, 1814; Odes to Prince Regent, and others, 1814; The Poet's Pilgrimage to Waterloo, 1816; Carmen Nuptiale (Marriage of Princess Charlotte), 1816; Life of Wesley, 1820; A Vision of Judgment, 1821; The Expedition of Orsna and the Crimes of Aguirre (from the Edinburgh Annual Register), 1821; History of the Peninsular War, 1823-32; The Book of the Church, 1824; A Tale of Paraguay, poem, 1825: Vindiciæ Anglicanæ, 1826; "All for Love" and "The Pilgrim of Compostella, 1829; Sir Thomas More, or Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society, 1829; Life of Bunyan (prefixed to ed. Pilgrim's Progress), 1830; Introductory Essay to Attempts in Verse by John Jones, a Servant, 1831; The Devil's Walk (S. and Coleridge), 1831; Select Works of the British Poets, with Biographical Sketches, 1831; Life of Cowper (prefixed to ed. of works), 1833-7; Lives of the British Admirals, 1833-40; The Doctor, 1834-7; Memoir of T. Watts (prefixed to poems), 1837; Life of Rev. Andrew Bell (1st vol.), 1844; Commonplace Book, ed. J. W. Warter, 1849-51. Southey also edited :-Chatterton's Works (with Cottle); the Remains of Kirke White, with account of his life: Malory's "Morte Darthur "; and the "Annual Anthology.' He was editor of the Edinburgh Annual Register, and contributed largely to the Quarterly Review; some of his articles were published in 1832 as Essays Moral and Political "; his "Life of Cromwell " (from the Quarterly) was published, with his Bunyan, in 1844. 66 Collected Works and Selections.-Poetical Works, 10 vols., 1837-8, 1841, 1843, 1850; Life and Correspondence, ed. by his son, 1849-50; Selections from his correspondence, J. W. Warter, 1856. 1906. THE LIFE OF NELSON CHAPTER I : HŎRATIO, Son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, was born September 29, 1758, in the parsonage house of Burnham Thorpe, a village in the county of Norfolk, of which his father was rector. The maiden name of his mother was Suckling her grandmother was an elder sister of Sir Robert Walpole, and this child was named after his godfather, the first Lord Walpole. Mrs. Nelson died in 1767, leaving eight, out of eleven, children. Her brother, Captain Maurice Suckling, of the Navy, visited the widower upon this event, and promised to take care of one of the boys. Three years afterwards, when Horatio was only twelve years of age, being at home during the Christmas holidays, he read in the county newspaper that his uncle was appointed to the Raisonnable, of 64 guns. 'Do, William," said he to a brother who was a year and a half older than himself, write to my father, and tell him that I should like to go to sea with Uncle Maurice." Mr. Nelson was then at Bath, whither he had gone for the recovery of his health his circumstances were straitened and he had no prospect of ever seeing them bettered: he knew that it was the wish of providing for himself by which Horatio was chiefly actuated, and did not oppose his resolution; he understood also the boy's character, and had always said, that in whatever station he might be 66 B 66 placed, he would climb, if possible, to the very top of the tree. Accordingly Captain Suckling was written. to. What," said he in his answer, has poor Horatio done, who is so weak, that he, above all the rest, should be sent to rough it out at sea? But let him come, and the first time we go into action, a cannon-ball may knock off his head, and provide for him at once. It is manifest from these words, that Horatio was not the boy whom his uncle would have chosen to bring up in his own profession. He was never of a strong body; and the ague, which at that time was one of the most common diseases in England, had greatly reduced his strength; yet he had already given proofs of that resolute heart and nobleness of mind, which, during his whole career of labour and of glory, so eminently distinguished him. When a mere child, he strayed birds-nesting from his mother's house in company with a cow-boy: the dinner-hour elapsed; he was absent, and could not be found; and the alarm of the family became very great, for they apprehended that he might have been carried off by the gipsies. At length, after search had been made for him in various directions, he was discovered alone, sitting composedly by the side of a brook, which he could not get over. "I wonder, child," said the old lady when she saw him, "that hunger and fear did not drive you home." "Fear! grandmamma," replied the future hero, "I never saw fear: what is it?" Once, after the winter holidays, when he and his brother William had set off on horseback to return to school, they came back because there had been a fall of snow; and William, who did not much like the journey, said it was too deep for them to venture on. "If that be the case, said the father, you certainly shall not go; but make another attempt, and I will leave it to your honour. If the road is dangerous you may return: but remember, boys, I leave it to your honour." |