two monarchs whom we serve as myself; and may perdition seize the wretch who would do the least thing towards lessening that harmony!  And could it ever happen, that any English minister wanted to make me an instrument of hurting the feelings of his Sicilian Majesty, I would give up my commission sooner than do it.  I am open to your excellency; and, I think, you are so to me.  The interests of our sovereigns require it; and, I am sure, that we both only think of uniting the courts of London and Naples still closer together.  I am placed in such a situation—­a subject of one king, by birth; and, as far as is consistent with my allegiance to that king, a voluntary subject of his Sicilian Majesty—­that, if any man attempted to separate my two kings, by all that is sacred, I should consider even putting that man to death as a meritorious act!  Therefore, my dear Sir John, never, never, for a moment, think that I am capable of doing any thing but endeavouring to exalt the glory of their Sicilian Majesties.”

Nor was this the only prejudice which malevolence seems now to have been secretly exciting against our hero.  Though it has been sufficiently seen, that his lordship’s indefatigable endeavours for the possession of Malta, which were never surpassed, either in activity or address, had constantly in view the merited aggrandizement of his persevering, brave, and conciliating friend, Captain Ball—­for whom he had implored both emoluments and honours, which no consideration on earth could ever have induced him to solicit for himself—­some apprehensions of our hero’s diminished regard had been malignantly insinuated into the bosom of that worthy commander:  as appears from the following expressions, which occur in a letter written to him by Lord Nelson on the 24th of November 1799.  “My dear Ball, I love, honour, and respect you; and no persons ever have, nor could they, were they so disposed, lessen you in my esteem, both as a public officer and a private man:  therefore, never let such a thought come into your head; which was never more wanted to be clear from embroils, than at this moment.”  Then, fortifying his perseverance with assurances that Commodore Troubridge is immediately coming with ships, and Colonel Graham with troops, he thus affectionately proceeds—­

“But, my dear friend, your holding your post so long as you have, is matter of the greatest credit to you;” and, with unexampled kindness, concludes with thus arming his friend against the worst—­“If you are forced to quit the island, it cannot lessen your exertion or abilities; and do not let such an event, should it unfortunately happen, depress your spirits for a moment:  and believe me, as ever, your obliged and affectionate friend,

     “Bronte Nelson.”

These unpleasant events did not fail momentarily to affect his lordship’s sensibility, and with more permanency his health.  In every excess of anxiety, or even of joy, his heart continued to suffer a renewal of that agony which it had first experienced during his search after the French fleet destined for Egypt; and such were the ever-shifting scenes of his active life, that he was seldom, for many days together, exempted from the effects of it’s influence, by the occurrence of one or other of these causes.