The Peace of Versailles which closed the American War gave him leisure to visit France, there to study the language of his "country's enemies" and their writings on the subject of naval warfare. And now when the vast majority of naval officers were condemned to idleness on shore, he had the good fortune to be appointed to the command of the "Boreas" frigate, for service in the West Indies. Nelson signalized his arrival in the West Indies by refusing to acknowledge a half-pay officer acting as commis sioner of the dockyard at Antigua as his superior. He insisted on enforcing the Navigation Laws against the Americans, who by becoming independent had become foreigners. He called the attention of the government to the corruption prevailing in the dockyard of Antigua. His line impressed the admiralty as some what assuming, and his strong measures against the interloping trade brought on him many lawsuits, which, though he was de-. fended at the expense of the government, caused him much trou ble for years. In the West Indies on March 12, 1787, he married Frances Nisbet (1761-1831), the widow of a doctor in Nevis, whose favour he first gained by being found romping on all fours with her little boy under the drawing-room table. The marriage was one of affection and prudence, rather than of love.
Outbreak of War.—When war broke out with revolutionary France, Nelson was appointed (Nov. 3o, 1793) captain of the "Agamemnon" (64), and joined his ship on Feb. 7. From this date till June 180o, rather more than seven years, he was engaged on continual active service, with the exception of a few months when he was invalided home. This period is the most varied, the busiest, the most glorious and the most debated of a very full career. It subdivides naturally into three sections: (r) From the date of his appointment as captain of the "Agamemnon" till he was disabled by the loss of his arm in the unsuccessful attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife on July 24, 1797, he served as captain, or commodore, under Hood, Hotham and Jervis, successive com manders-in-chief in the Mediterranean. (2) After an interval of nine months spent at home in recovering from his wound, and from the effects of a badly performed operation, he returned to the Mediterranean, and was at once sent in pursuit of the great French armament which sailed from Toulon under the command of Napoleon for the conquest of Egypt. His victory of the Nile (q.v.), on Aug. r, 1798, placed him at once in the foremost rank among the warriors of a warlike time, and made him a national hero. (3) From his return to Naples after the battle of the Nile until his return to England in the summer of 1800, he was im mersed in Mediterranean affairs which, owing to his own pres ence there, tended to centre round the shores of Naples and Sicily.
The Mediterranean.—The first of these three passages in his life is full of events which must, however, be told briefly. In
May he sailed for the Mediterranean with Hood, and was en gaged under his orders in the occupation of Toulon by the allied British and Spanish forces. In August 1793 he was despatched to Naples to convoy the troops which the Neapolitan government had undertaken to contribute towards the garrison of Toulon. It was on this occasion that he made the acquaintance of Emma Hamilton (q.v.), the wife of Sir William Hamilton, minister at the Court of Naples. References to Lady Hamilton begin to appear in his letters to his wife, but, as might be expected, they indicate little beyond respectful admiration, and he makes a good deal of her kindness to his stepson, Josiah Nisbet, whom he had taken to sea. After the allies had been driven from Toulon by Napoleon, Nelson was employed throughout 1794 in the opera tions connected with the occupation of Corsica. In April and May he was engaged in the capture of Bastia, and June and July in the taking of Calvi. During the operations at Calvi, Nelson received a wound in his right eye which healed without leaving disfigurement, though the sight gradually faded. From the date of the occupation of Corsica till the island was evacu ated (1794-96) he was incessantly active. He served under Hotham, who succeeded Hood in the command, and was engaged in the indecisive actions fought by him in the Gulf of Lyons in March and July 1795. The complacency of the new admiral fretted the eager spirit of Nelson, who declared that, for his part, he would never think that the British fleet had done very well if a single ship of the enemy got off while there was a possibility of taking her. Happily he was detached to the Riviera of Genoa, where, first as captain, and then as commodore, he had an oppor tunity to prove his qualities for independent command by harass ing the communications of the French, and co-operating with the Austrians. In Sir John Jervis, who superseded Hotham, he found a leader after his own heart. When Spain, after first making peace with France at Basel, declared war on England, and the fleet under Jervis withdrew from the Mediterranean, Nelson was despatched to Elba on a hazardous mission to bring off the small garrison and the naval stores. He sailed in the "Minerve" frigate, having an other with him. After a smart action with two Spanish frigates which he took off Carthagena on Dec. 20, and a narrow escape from a squadron of Spanish line of battle ships, he fulfilled his mission, and rejoined the flag of Jervis on the eve of the great battle (Feb. 14, off Cape St. Vincent. (See ST. VINCENT, BATTLE oF.) The judgment, independence and promptitude he showed in this famous engagement revealed him to the nation as one of the heroes of the navy. Nelson receiving the swords of the Spanish officers on the deck of the "San Josef" became at once a popular figure.