to art, and the zig-zag way; my brave Sir Thomas Troubridge went straight, for we had no time to spare.  Your royal highness will not believe, that I mean to lessen the conduct of the army.  I have the highest respect for them all.  But General Koehler should not have wrote such a paragraph in his letter.  It conveyed a jealousy which, I dare say, is not in his disposition.

     “May health and every blessing, attend your royal highness, is the
     constant prayer of your attached and obliged servant,

     “Bronte Nelson.”

Lord Nelson had, as it may be seen, signed his letters to foreigners as Duke of Bronte, from the time of obtaining that honour; but this epistle to the Duke of Clarence was one of the first in which he ever prefixed the word Bronte to his name when addressing any British subject.  It is probable, therefore, that he had, about this time, received his sovereign’s recognition of that Sicilian title.

Though his lordship had hitherto been unsuccessful in his repeated applications for troops at Minorca, he continued still to offer new reasons why they ought to be sent.  With the most unwearied exertions, did this great man constantly labour for the promotion of whatever related to the honour or advantage of his king, his country, and his friends; and his assiduities never relaxed, till he had secured the accomplishment of his object.  He tried, in particular, on this occasion, for the possession of Malta, all the arts of that powerful eloquence which flowed so naturally from his pen; and he might well say, as he did, in a letter of the 10th of November, to Mr. Nepean, “it has been no fault of the navy, that Malta has not been attacked by land; but we have neither the means ourselves, nor influence with those who have the power.”  In short, the history of this protracted siege, including all the military and political perplexities with which our hero’s naval operations were entangled, would alone form a volume of no inconsiderable magnitude.

It appears that, about this time, suspicions were entertained, by Sir John Acton, respecting our intentions with regard to Malta; which first manifested themselves in a remark addressed to Lord Nelson, that the flag of the order was to be hoisted, instead of the three flags, when that island should be taken.  This observation, he remarks, in a letter immediately written to Sir John, dated at Palermo, 18th November 1799, seems to convey, that his sentiments of respect for his Sicilian Majesty’s flag were lessened.  “I send you,” says his lordship, with that noble frankness, and prompt decision, for which he was ever remarkable, “two papers, on which my order to good Captain Ball was founded.  If I have erred, it is not too late to call back my order; and, if you think so, I shall be happy to meet your excellency, and the minister of England and Russia, on this subject.  There is not, I can assure you, that man on earth, who would so strongly unite the