In one of these letters, he says--"I have begged, almost on my knees, for money, for the present subsistence of the Maltese who bear arms." In another, a day or two after--"The court have all the inclination; but, to my knowledge, they have not cash enough for the common purposes of the government!" In a third, the day following--"The King of Naples has sent four thousand ounces, to assist the poor islanders who bear arms." His lordship adds, that this will do for the present; and, that the large sum required must come from the three allied courts. In a future letter, Lord Nelson observes, that this sum of four thousand ounces, was taken, for it was no where else to be had, from their Sicilian Majesties children, with the hope of being replaced with the money which Lord Grenville had so handsomely promised to the Marquis Circello. "The enormous expences," writes his lordship to Earl Spencer, "incurred within the last eight months, have drawn the king's chest very low; but, his majesty has never failed giving every thing I could ask." On the 31st of October, Lord Nelson, fully resolved that nothing should, on his part, be neglected, for the attainment of Malta, or the advantage of it's temporary chief, wrote a long epistle to the Emperor of Russia, as Grand Master. In which, he details the principal operations of this protracted siege; the various difficulties which had occurred, and those which still existed: with the admirable address, fortitude, and perseverance, of Captain Ball, in conciliating the inhabitants, relieving their necessities, and animating their nearly extinguished hopes; whose merits his lordship most earnestly recommended to the notice of his Imperial Majesty. His lordship had before applied for the order of Malta, for his friend Ball, in a letter to Sir Charles Whitworth; but, not having received any answer, he says, in a letter to Captain Ball, "I have now gone to the fountain head."