Keith to the chief command in succession to Lord St Vincent.” At the time with which we are now dealing the latter disturbing element was not present, although he was considerably worried by the appointment of Captain Sir Sidney Smith as commander of a squadron in the Levant, “within the district which I had thought under my command.” “The Knight forgets the respect due to his superior Officer”: Nelson tells Lord St Vincent, “he has no orders from you to take my Ships away from my command; but it is all of a piece. Is it to be borne? Pray grant me your permission to retire, and I hope the _Vanguard_ will be allowed to convey me and my friends, Sir William and Lady Hamilton, to England.” Mr Thursfield makes no mention of this vexation, perhaps because the matter distressed the Admiral less than Lord Keith’s appointment. On the other hand, Nelson’s correspondence contains frequent reference to the gratuitous snub, which shows how deeply the iron had entered into his soul. “_I do feel, for I am a man_, that it is impossible for me to serve in these seas, with the Squadron under a junior Officer:--could I have thought it!--and from Earl Spencer!” is a typical instance. In the opinion of the same biographer, “the influence of Lady Hamilton, which ceased only with Nelson’s life, cannot have been the sole cause, even if it was a contributory cause, of an attitude and temper of mind which lasted only while other causes were in operation and disappeared with their cessation. The evil spirit which beset him, whatever it may have been, had been exorcised for ever by the time that he entered the Sound.[41]... Yet the influence of Lady Hamilton was not less potent then and afterward than it was during the period of eclipse. There are no letters in the Morrison Collection more passionate than those which Nelson wrote to Lady Hamilton at this time, none which show more clearly that, as regards Lady Hamilton, and yet only in that relation, his mental balance was still more than infirm, his moral fibre utterly disorganized.” With this verdict the present writer is in complete accord. Nelson is to be censured for his moral breach and any neglect of duty which may be traceable to it, but to condemn him to infamy is to forget his subsequent career and to consign to the flames many other great figures of history. CHAPTER XI The Neapolitan Rebels and their French Allies (1799) “_Speedy rewards and quick punishments are the foundation of good government._” NELSON.