"My Lord,--I am honoured with your Excellency's letter of this evening, and in my public situation I have the honour to acquaint you that I consider your Excellency as an officer serving under my command, and standing precisely in the same situation as an English Rear-admiral, junior to me; which is, having no power or authority to give the smallest order to any Ship or Vessel but those who I may think right to place, by order, under your command. "I have the honour to be, etc., "Horatio Nelson." But the same day, being grateful to him for favours past and to come, in his character of diplomatist he wrote to him as follows:-- "Off Malta, October 24th, 1798. "My Lord,--Having answered your public letter as my duty called me to do, I beg leave to assure you of my very great respect for your character, and that I shall not ever forget your zeal in the blockade of this place. If your Excellency had recollected, I am confident your knowledge of service would not have occasioned you the trouble of writing me a letter. On service with us it is necessary for the Commander-in-Chief, or the Officer Commanding by order from the Commander-in-Chief, to give the Superior Officer, when thought right to detach, orders to take such Ships, and Captains of such Ships to obey their superior Officer serving under the Commander-in-Chief or detached Commander. In the present orders to your Excellency, no ships are placed under your orders but those of Her Most Faithful Majesty. "I am, etc., "Horatio Nelson." "Her Most Faithful Majesty" was of course the Queen of Portugal. At Malta he did nothing beyond sending a _cartel_ to the French General and Admiral summoning them to surrender Valetta, which they were within an ace of doing, although our Admiral knew perfectly well the place was impregnable to a force much superior to anything he had to bring against it. But the Frenchmen plucked up their courage at the last moment, so there was nothing for us to do except to sail back to Naples, leaving a blockading force. We had comparatively little intercourse with the people on shore, for the Admiral found it hard to get over his contempt for their braggadocio and feebleness in attack, though there is a surprising amount of persistence in the Maltese character. I, and I suppose other officers in the _Vanguard_ (I was now promoted lieutenant), were more interested in rumours of love than rumours of war. My Lady's undisguised admiration for the Admiral was naturally a fruitful topic of conversation. It was still only a laughing matter: not that any one ever laughed at our beloved Commander--the jest was at her.