Volume I Part 1 (2/2)
Had this last gentleman survived his ill.u.s.trious brother, he would, of course, have succeeded to his lords.h.i.+p's t.i.tles; which now devolve, augmented by an earldom, on the Reverend William Nelson, Rector of Hilborough; the sole remaining brother of this numerous family, most of whom died in their minority. The Earl, who was born April 20, 1757, married, in November 1786, Sarah daughter of the Reverend Henry Yonge, of Great Torrington in the county of Devon--cousin to the Right Reverend Philip Yonge, late Bishop of Norwich--by whom he has issue, Charlotte-Mary, born September 20, 1787; and Horatio, born October 26, 1788, successor-apparent to the honours of his immortal uncle.
Of the whole eight sons, offspring of Lord Nelson's parents, it seems remarkable that only the present Earl ever had any issue; while, of their three daughters, one died in her infancy, and the two who reached maturity, Mrs. Bolton and Mrs. Matcham, have both several children: Mrs.
Bolton, as already noticed, having five now living; and Mrs. Matcham, her amiable younger sister, the lady of George Matcham, Esq. being the mother of no less than three sons and five daughters.
We usually expect, that the life of a great character should commence with some early indication of his future excellence. This, being an apparent principle in nature, is probably just. That divine genius, of whatever description, which ”_nascetur, non fit_;” is born with a man, and not possible to be made or acquired; must, necessarily, exist at his birth, whatever may be the period when, or the circ.u.mstance by which, the dormant spark is first awakened into action. Parents, it is true, are in general great observers of infantine occurrences; and very apt to be presageful of wonderful results expected from trivial causes. Few parents, however, are so blessed, as to have children who possess genius: of those who are, some silently treasure up their hopes, which may be buried with them in an untimely grave; some are too incessantly busied in the cares of providing for a numerous offspring, to be capable of indulging minute attentions to any particular infant; and some are altogether unconscious, or regardless, of the presence of genius, amidst the clearest manifestations of it's existence. To most other persons, but the parents, if we except a good old grandmother, or an artful or affectionate nurse, the actions and the sayings of a child seldom afford much interest; and the relation of them often gives rise to no inconsiderable degree of animosity. The parents of other children, and even the other children of the same parents, not unfrequently hear such praises with distaste and aversion; and, if they do not soon entirely forget them, it is, perhaps, only because their unextinguishable envy condemns them to preserve the remembrance of the circ.u.mstance by which it was originally excited.
These, among various other causes, prevent our always becoming acquainted with the early occurrences which distinguish genius, even where they soonest appear: but, genius is not always apparent in early infancy; and, where it is, every hero does not, like Hercules, find a serpent successfully to encounter in his cradle.
Of Lord Nelson's infancy, from whatever causes, scarcely any anecdote is now preserved. That which may, probably, be considered as the first, has often been related; but never, heretofore, in a manner sufficiently accurate and circ.u.mstantial.
At the very early age of not more than five or six years, little Horatio, being on a visit to his grandmother, at Hilborough, who was remarkably fond of all her son's children, and herself a most exemplary character, had strolled out, with a boy some years older than himself, to ramble over the country in search of birds-nests. Dinner-time, however, arriving, and her grandson not having returned, the old lady became so excessively alarmed, that messengers, both on horseback and on foot, were immediately dispatched, to discover the wanderer. The progress of the young adventurers had, it seems, been impeded by a brook, or piece of water, over which Horatio could not pa.s.s; and, his companion having gone off and left him, he was found ruminating, very composedly, on the opposite bank. It is not ascertained, whether his companion had got across the water, or gone back again by the way they had approached it: whether the young hero was meditating how it might be pa.s.sed; or too weary, or unwilling, to retread all his former steps. Who shall pretend to say, that this child, thus sitting, in a state of abstraction, by the side of an impa.s.sable piece of water, might not first feel that ardent thirst of nautical knowledge excited, the gratification of which has since led to such glorious consequences! Be this as it may--for even himself, if living, might not now be conscious of the fact--it is perfectly well remembered that, on his being brought into the presence of his grandmother, the old lady concluded her lecture respecting the propriety of children's rambling abroad without the permission of their friends, by saying--”I wonder, that fear did not drive you home.”--”Fear, grandmama,” innocently replied the child, ”I never saw FEAR; what is it?”
Perhaps, the frequent repet.i.tion of this anecdote, and the admiration which the sweet simplicity of the child's wonderful answer must naturally create in the bosom of every virtuous friend, had no small share in fixing his heroic character. He had never seen fear, he knew not what it was. What a reflection for an incipient hero, when he became capable of comprehending the full force of his own artless expression!
If he ever lived to see fear, it was only in the enemies of his country; if to know it, it was only by name.
There seems good reason to suppose, that his invincible spirit was visible at an early age, as well as his generally mild and amiable disposition. He was a prodigious favourite with his indulgent mother: who was herself a woman of considerable firmness and fort.i.tude, though of a delicate habit, as well as of great meekness and piety: and, in one of the little customary strifes of brothers, the present earl being his antagonist, when requested, by some friends, who were alarmed at the noise, to interfere in behalf of the youngest, is well recollected to have replied, with the utmost composure, and a very visible satisfaction depicted on her expressive countenance--”Let them alone, little Horace will beat him; let Horace alone!”
The brother of Mrs. Nelson, Captain Maurice Suckling, married to a sister of the present Lord Walpole, was a naval commander of very considerable skill and bravery: he frequently visited his sister; and was, also, particularly fond of Horatio. He had, doubtless, heard the anecdote respecting fear; to which, in his own person, he felt himself as much a stranger as his little nephew: and, probably, was the first friend to hail and encourage the future hero.
His sister, partial to the honourable profession of her brother, would naturally interpret every proof of her darling son's attachment to his uncle's person, his conversation, or even any of his professional habiliments, as well as each appearance of spirited resolution which he occasionally displayed, into an inclination, as well as fitness, for the service. She, like the Holy Mary, ”kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart:” but, she lived not to behold the accomplishment of her cherished hopes!
The principles of piety were carefully implanted in his infant mind, by the example, as well as precepts, of both parents; and, amidst all the tempestuous pa.s.sions by which mankind is agitated during his progress through the various scenes of active life, these principles could never be eradicated from his bosom.
The celebrated grammar-school at Norwich, called the High School, of which a Mr. Symonds was then master, and which was afterwards superintended by the learned Dr. Parr, has the honour of having given him the first rudiments of a respectable education. How long he continued at Norwich school is not now known, any more than the particular reason why he quitted it. From thence, however, he went to the grammar-school at North Walsham; and was placed under the tuition of the Reverend Mr. Jones, whose abilities are said to have then acquired much celebrity.
It seems likely, that this removal might take place at the period of his mother's death, which happened on the 24th of December 1767; being about nine months after she was delivered of Mrs. Matcham, her eleventh and last child.
The death of this excellent lady was a severe loss to her affectionate husband, and his infant family; who do not appear to have experienced any very substantial proofs of friends.h.i.+p from their ill.u.s.trious relatives in general, after Mrs. Nelson's decease. It is, indeed, but too common for the affluent to neglect those of their humbler kindred who have a numerous offspring; as if marriage were a crime, and the fruits of virtuous love a reproach rather than a blessing. The Reverend Mr. Nelson, however, was never in necessitous circ.u.mstances; and, as he felt no solicitude for any self-indulgences not always within his reach, he was enabled to effect the respectable establishment of all his children, without that a.s.sistance, or those attentions, which he might naturally have expected, and which it would certainly have been pleasing to receive.
The good grandmother, at Hilborough, however, did all in her power to promote the happiness and comfort of her son's children; and her kindness and affection supplied, as much as it can be supplied, the want of a mother. She was a fine old lady, and possessed uncommon wisdom, with extreme goodness of heart. Her faculties were so lasting, that she could see to read the smallest print, and execute the finest needlework, till the close of her prolonged life, which extended to ninety-three years.
Captain Suckling, too, seems to have formed one exception, at least, to the almost general indifference on the part of their maternal relations.
He continued his occasional visits; and engaged, the first moment possible, to take Horatio under his immediate protection.
The child, in the mean time, was acquiring the advantages of a good education, at North Walsham grammar-school; and it seems evident, from subsequent circ.u.mstances, that he must have been making considerable progress in learning, under Mr. Jones's able tuition, when he was suddenly withdrawn, at the tender age of only twelve years, from that respectable seminary, to commence his professional career on the perilous ocean.
About the autumn of 1770, when the aggressions of the Spaniards, who had violently taken possession of the Falkland Islands, so far alarmed the country, that a naval armament was prepared to chastise this indignity, Captain Suckling, having obtained the command of the Raisonnable, of sixty-four guns, one of the s.h.i.+ps put into commission on the occasion, immediately ordered his nephew from school, and entered him as a mids.h.i.+pman.
The youth, after being properly equipped for this situation, was sent to join the s.h.i.+p, then at Sheerness. It should seem, however, that his uncle could not at that time be on board, or any person whatever who knew of his coming: for he has been repeatedly heard to say, by one of his oldest and most esteemed friends, that he paced the deck, after his arrival from Greenwich, the whole remainder of the day, without being in the smallest degree noticed by any one; till, at length, the second day of his being on board, some person, as he expressed it, ”kindly took compa.s.sion on him.” It was then discovered, for the first time, that he was the captain's nephew, and appointed to serve on board as a mids.h.i.+pman. What a primary reception was this, for such a youth to experience! It did not, however, dispirit him; and he was, no doubt, now heartily greeted and encouraged, with the golden hopes always inspired, among young seamen, by the prospect of a Spanish war.
Whatever might be the extent of these hopes, they were destined to be speedily dissipated. The Spaniards very readily made such concessions as administration thought it expedient, at that juncture, to accept, respecting this business; Mr. Harris, his majesty's minister at Madrid, who had been recalled on the 21st of December 1770, was ordered to return thither on the 18th of January 1771; and, of course, all the s.h.i.+ps which had been just commissioned for that service, were directed to be immediately laid up in ordinary, and paid off.
This, on the whole, seemed no very auspicious commencement for the young hero. His father was in the condition of the country; he had incurred the expences of fitting out, for services which this compromise rendered unnecessary. Peace, however, while it can be preserved with safety and honour, is always preferable to war; and initiation in an honourable profession, where so much depends on seniority, though it may not be immediately productive, is undoubtedly better than nothing.
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