General de Burgh, who commanded at the Isle of Elba, did not think
himself authorised to abandon the place till he had received specific
instructions from England to that effect; professing that he was unable
to decide between the contradictory orders of government, or to guess at
what their present intentions might be; but he said, his only motive for
urging delay in this measure arose from a desire that his own conduct
might be properly sanctioned, not from any opinion that Porto Ferrajo
ought to be retained. But Naples having made peace, Sir John Jervis
considered his business with Italy as concluded; and the protection of
Portugal was the point to which he was now instructed to attend. Nelson,
therefore, whose orders were perfectly clear and explicit, withdrew
the whole naval establishment from that station, leaving the transports
victualled, and so arranged that all the troops and stores could be
embarked in three days. He was now about to leave the Mediterranean.
Mr. Drake, who had been our minister at Genoa, expressed to him, on
this occasion, the very high opinion which the allies entertained of his
conspicuous merit; adding, that it was impossible for any one, who
had the honour of co-operating with him, not to admire the activity,
talents, and zeal which he had so eminently and constantly displayed.
In fact, during this long course of services in the Mediterranean, the
whole of his conduct had exhibited the same zeal, the same indefatigable
energy, the same intuitive judgment, the same prompt and unerring
decision which characterised his after-career of glory. His name was as
yet hardly known to the English public; but it was feared and respected
throughout Italy. A letter came to him, directed "Horatio Nelson,
Genoa;" and the writer, when he was asked how he could direct it so
vaguely, replied, "Sir, there is but one Horatio Nelson in the world."
At Genoa, in particular, where he had so long been stationed, and where
the nature of his duty first led him to continual disputes with the
government, and afterwards compelled him to stop the trade of the port,
he was equally respected by the doge and by the people; for, while
he maintained the rights and interests of Great Britain with becoming
firmness, he tempered the exercise of power with courtesy and humanity
wherever duty would permit. "Had all my actions," said he, writing at
this time to his wife, "been gazetted, not one fortnight would have
passed, during the whole war, without a letter from me. One day or other
I will have a long GAZETTE to myself. I feel that such an opportunity
will be given me. I cannot, if I am in the field of glory, be kept out
of sight; wherever there is anything to be done, there Providence is
sure to direct my steps."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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