Lady Hamilton

“ Hamilton springs to his feet. The King? Will he come in? No, it is time to go. Half a dozen men rush to fetch Emma’s cachemire and dispute as to who shall put it about her shoulders, and as they leave the door and emerge into the moonlight that spiritualizes her beauty with something unearthly fine and fair, they find the royal boat drawn up beside the Ambassador’s, and the “music” stationed in the bows strikes up a soft serenade to the English beauty—“eyes of light, smile of dawn” and so forth, a delightful flattery indeed. ”

“ It seems scarcely plausible that Lady Hamilton should have been as adaptable and sensitive to environment as she appears to have been—that she should have loved Greville with the loyalty and patient submission which she displayed, that she should have been so faithful and loving to Lord Hamilton until she met Nelson, and that she should have felt for the latter the irresistible passion which was the cause of her ruin. ”

“ In England Lady Hamilton insisted on making a parade of her hold over Nelson. Their child, Horatia Nelson Thompson, was born on the 30th of January 1801. The profuse habits which Emma Hamilton had contracted in Naples, together with a passion for gambling which grew on her, led her into debt, and also into extravagant ways of living, against which her husband feebly protested. On his death in 1803 she received by his will a life rent of £800, and the furniture of his house in Piccadilly. She then lived openly with Nelson at his house at Merton. ”

“ Every person now left the room, except Dr. Lushington (one of the executors) and Lady Hamilton. Dr. Lushington said, "You, my lady, or Lady Hood, must not quit the body." Lady Hamilton replied, "Then, sir, let it be me." Shortly afterwards, the alderman and Mrs. Wood went into the chamber of death, the alderman offering the services of his wife to assist in the last sad duties to the lamented queen. In the interval, Brunette, the queen's maid, said that her majesty had desired no one might go near her body except herself ”

“ She had no sympathy with his acute sensibilities, and his alienation was effected, though not shown, before he knew Lady Hamilton, by being heart starved, still more than by being teased and tormented by her sullenness. Observe that Sir A. Ball detested Lady Hamilton. To the same enthusiastic sensibilities which made a fool of him with regard to his Emma, his country owed the victories of the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar, and the heroic spirit of all the officers reared under him. ”

“ Lady Harte was interviewed as to her possibly becoming Lady Hamilton, all as duly provided by the laws of Great Britain and the Church of England; and it being ascertained that Lady Harte was willing, and also that she was not a sister of the deceased Lady Hamilton, Sir William and Emma were duly married.
At Naples, Lady Hamilton at once became very popular. She had a splendid presence, was a ready talker, knew the subtle art of listening, took a sympathetic interest in her husband's work, and when necessary could entertain their friends by a song, recitation or a speech. ”

“ I care little enough for it. Let them get another admiral to fight their battles when they want one! Yet she wrote to me after the Nile a letter that almost overwhelmed me with praise. Women—women!—the most changeable frivolous creatures on all God’s earth. I know but one who never changes; whose warm candid soul is always the same. Oh, if all were like that, what a world it would be! Do you drive out with Lady Hamilton to-day? ”

“ Hamilton was a match for any man [118] in the West Riding. The young damsels bore witness to the handsomeness of his face, the sweetness and spirit of his eyes, and the fineness of his figure; not forgetting the charmingness of his dancing. William himself, though sensible of the power of beauty, was not smitten, at least deeply, by any young lady. With very considerable sensibility, he had little of the delicate and sentimental: he liked a pretty girl when he saw her, and another pretty girl when he saw her; but without being the votary of languishing and pining love. ”

“ A quick smile flashed and was decorously concealed by Sir William’s bow.
“Then, madam, what is Your Majesty’s motive in this graciousness to Mrs. Hart and your humble servant?”
That question could never have been asked nor answered but for past relations—long past, but impossible to be entirely forgotten. The Queen toyed with the heavy paperweight of the bronze Caligula upon her table before she answered, and Hamilton, noting the worn lines in her face, the falsely black tresses which he had once thought so beautiful, remembered Greville’s maxim: “Nothing is so dead as a dead passion.” ”

“ Arnaud, with the polished grace of a man of the world, complimented Lady Hamilton upon her distinguished appearance. No woman ever loses her appreciation of a pretty compliment, and as for Gavin, Lady Hamilton was more touched than she would have acknowledged by his admiration. ”

“ We may judge how great a lady Betsy Schuyler had become when we read that at the Inaugural Ball the President distinguished Mrs. Hamilton, and one other woman, by dancing with them. She and her husband were included constantly in Washington's dinner and theatre parties.
The Hamiltons were not rich. "I have seen," writes Talleyrand, "one of the marvels of the world. I have seen the man who made the fortune of a Nation laboring all night to support his family." Hamilton, however, was not merely the most brilliant statesman of his day, and his wife was not only a charming society woman. ”

“ He will, at least, I hope, take Malta first. He does not seem at all conscious of the sort of discredit he has fallen into or the cause of it, for he still writes, not wisely, about Lady Hamilton and all that. But it is hard to condemn and ill-use a hero, as he is in his own element, for being foolish about a woman who has art enough to make fools of many wiser than an admiral. ”

“ But the conversation dwelt in the Duchess’s mind. Every day convinced her more strongly that Hamilton doted upon the wonder-girl. Why should he not be happy in his own way? A little courage and the thing was done. There was no doubt whatever in her mind that it would very much ease his own public position as well as Emma’s. The Queen’s words left little anxiety on that point. ”

“ I was in service under that great man for years, and I think that the whole episode of his unhappy marriage, and his much reprobated relation with Lady Hamilton, may be summed up in the fact that his was a nature that demanded to be monopolised by a woman. ”

“ At four o'clock, they sat down to an elegant dinner, at the Beaufort Arms, with the mayor, corporation, and most of the principal inhabitants. On the health of—"The Hero of the Nile!" being drank, his lordship arose; and, in an admirable speech, expressed his gratitude for their kind attentions. Lady Hamilton sung two songs, with her usual scientific taste, and superior vocal excellence, which quite enraptured the whole company. ”

“ They no sooner appeared in England than their beauty drew crowds after them wherever they went. Duke Hamilton married the second in such haste, that, having no ring ready, they made use of one from the bed-curtain. The Duchess was more delicate than her sister, with the most beautiful hands and arms in the world; but Lady Coventry was still handsomer, had infinite life and vivacity, the finest eyes in the world, nose, and mouth, excepting that both had bad teeth. Lady Coventry danced like a nymph, and was too kind a one. The Duchess always preserved her character. ”

“ The door opened noiselessly, and Sir Gavin Hamilton, dreadfully changed in appearance, but with the same indomitable coolness, appeared.
[Pg 303]
“The boy is right,” he said, turning to Lady Hamilton. “Men talk of atonement; how imperfect must it ever be! This boy hates me; it may be long before he feels otherwise. ”

“ Later he wrote to Hamilton: “Having gone a round of six hundred leagues at this season of the year, here am I, as ignorant of the situation of the enemy as I was twenty-seven days ago.” And again, “If I were now to die, the word frigates would be found written on my heart.” Maddening, if he had not been up-borne by the inner certitude that England and Emma gave him for an inward peace in the midst of turmoil.
He made for Syracuse for the food and water he owed to her—her only. And thence he wrote to her and to her husband, exulting. Guarded, for neither the Queen nor Emma must appear ”

“ When that business was settled, he, in the spring of 1651, took Lady Hamilton and all his family to France, and resided with Lord and Lady Ormond, near Caen, in Normandy, in great poverty and distress, till the Marchioness of Ormond, a lady whose mind was as exalted as her birth, went over to England, and, after much solicitation obtained two thousand pounds a year from her own and, her husband’s different estates in Ireland. ”

“ She sits, little hands with the new wedding ring clasped upon the arm of her chair. Some one has disturbed her meditation—her Excellency the Ambassadress is needed; she turns her face, the lovely oval chin and curved lips upon the happy beholder. The eyes under the long arched brows are full of gentle reserves and soft dignity. Not any Circe nor Cassandra now, but Emma Hamilton, herself at last. We may believe that Hamilton loved that picture, for it represented her as all he wished and believed her—worthy indeed of the great gifts he had given. ”

“ His health, however, originally delicate, had suffered by his Highland privations, and he was compelled to seek the milder clime of Lyons, where he died in 1754.
Hamilton was what is called a ladies'-man, but his attachments were not deep, and he rather flirted than loved. A Scotch lady, who was annoyed at his addresses, asked John Home how she could get rid of them. He, knowing Hamilton well, advised her to appear to favour him. She acted on the advice, and he immediately withdrew his suit. And yet his best poem is a tale of love, and a tale, too, told with great simplicity and pathos. ”

“ But here, his lordship being called aside to give judgment on the genealogy of a horse, the countess resumed the praises of Hamilton; and particularly celebrated the turn of his aspect towards an agreeable woman. “Your ladyship’s attractions,” said Hamden, [141] “would soften the looks of any man.” “Really, I have not the vanity to think that my ladyship’s attractions had entirely engrossed him, he seems to have a habit of making love, and conveyed stolen glances at two or three others. I think Miss Louisa Primrose, and that forward young pout, Lady Betty Ogle, will pull caps about him. ”

“ However, I strove to conceal my disappointment and chagrin, and appeared as lively as if I had no cause for regret. Speedily after my marriage, I was informed that the prince was not my legal husband; that, some time previous to our marriage, he had been united to Mrs. Fitzherbert, and therefore our engagement was null and void! I opened the sorrows of my heart to the good king. 'Ah! Ah!' said his majesty, 'I will befriend you, but my family will prove my ruin. They care not for any thing beside their own ease, and they, sooner or later, will lose the crown by such improper conduct. ”

“ I consider a human soul without education like marble in the quarry, which shews none of its inherent beauties, until the skill of the polisher fetches out the colours, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot and vein, that runs through the body of it. Education, after the same manner, when it works, upon a noble mind, draws out to view every latent virtue and perfection, which, without such helps, are never able to make their appearance. ”

“ When the fictitious beauty has laid by her smiles, when the lustre of her eyes and the bloom of her cheeks have lost their influence with their novelty; what remains but a tyrant divested of power, who will never be seen without a mixture of indignation and disdain? ”

“ Why does your royal highness refuse to answer my simple, but honest and honourable inquiry? What have I not endured since the moment I became your princess and wife? Heaven only knows, and heaven only can avenge my wrongs. It is now more than seventeen years since I gave birth to your lovely daughter, Princess Charlotte of Wales, at which time I did most certainly hope and also believe, that her royal father's affectionate recollections of her mother would not only revive, but be exemplified. ”

“ Hamilton, at this time, had been accosted by the Countess of Cockatrice, who whispered him,—“Why do not you ask me to dance with [134] you?” Hamilton observed, “Not having the honour of being in public known to your ladyship, I have foreborne an application that I did not know would have been well received.” She archly answered, “No application that so handsome a youth can make, can be ill received by a lady of any sensibility.” Our hero thus challenged, could not avoid acceptance, and the attention that politeness required, necessarily compelled his absence from Maria. ”

“ Indeed, my dear mother, I like anybody better than my disagreeable grandmother, and I can never permit myself to remain with her so long again. When I am at the castle, I am seldom allowed to see my grandfather, the king; and, when I do, he scarcely looks at me, and seems extremely unhappy. When my royal father goes to the castle, he is always with the queen alone, and very rarely pays a visit to the king." Such was the ingenuousness of the Princess Charlotte. She would immediately speak the truth, and defy all results, rather than act with dissimulation to please or conciliate any one. ”