one of the most illustrious families in 'ex- from being murdered by the "Christian istence, and at the head of the Neapolitan army," and admitting "that he was bound navy, followed his king, as we have seen, to account for his actions to those who to that island. His character stood very should be legally authorized by his Sicilian high among our own naval officers, to Majesty." Then they say," he escaped whom he was well known, having com- to the mountains-an action which by no manded, for a time, a Neapolitan seventy- means displayed the confidence of an honfour, ( Tancredi,) one of Admiral est mind;" as if a man, however innocent, Hotham's squadron, with which Caraccio- could trust the assassins who shot those lo took part in the actions of the 12th, whom they thought guilty, and who pre13th, and 14th of March, 1775. He was, sented the heads of those whom they murtherefore, a companion-in-arms of Nelson.* dered to our naval officers, who received We have also mentioned, that he returned most graciously such revolting presents. to Naples with the king's permission, and, "A price was immediately set on his head" of course, no longer in his service. He-that is, a reward offered to any one who was then obliged to take service under the should assassinate him-" and, on the 29th Government of Naples, from which he re- of June, 1799, before the arrival of the ceived protection ; and, on various occa- king from Palermo, this nobleman was sions, he commanded some boats which brought, in the disguise of a peasant, about fired at the English and Sicilian ships at nine o'clock in the morning, alongside Nelwar with the Neapolitan Republic. Before son's flag-ship, the Foudroyant." The first Nelson arrived in the Bay of Naples, Ca- question is: How did it happen that Caracciolo-if we are to believe the biogra- racciolo was brought from shore, where the phers of Nelson§-had already left the cas- king's authority was re-established, to an tles, and was at Calvirrano on the 23d of English man-of-war? If a price had been June, whence he wrote to implore Ruffo's set on his head, his being taken to the ship protection, through the Duke of Calvirrano, would lead one to suppose that it was there * Lord St. Vincent wrote of him to Acton in but we believe that the" price set on his that the reward was expected to be paid; the following terms:-"I have great obligations to the Chevalier Caracciolo for giving protection head" is one of the usual groundless stateto the trade bound from Leghorn to Naples and ments of the biographers. Caracciolo was Civito Vecchia lately, the escort having been betrayed by a servant. Colletta states, that found too weak to encounter the French priva- Nelson asked Caracciolo from Ruffo, and teers in the Channel of Piombino without his aid; and I have every other reason to be satisfied that it was supposed he did so to save him.t with his conduct during the short time the Tan- This seems the most probable version. If credi has been under my orders; and I greatly Nelson did not offer money to get Caraclament the necessity I am under to part with ciolo into his hands, he must have had rehim." 2d April, 1796.-BRENTON's Life of St. Vincent, i. 169. course to some other means for the purpose. The people who took Caracciolo were not under the orders of Nelson, but of Ruffo, Troubridge wrote to Nelson, on the 9th of whose prisoner Caracciolo was. It was April, 1799, that Caracciolo had refused service, (iii. 329,) and, on the 18th, that he was "forced natural to think that Nelson intended to to act" as he did (334); and Nelson himself save him, because no one would then suswrote on the 29th, that he (Nelson) believed him pect an Englishman, still less an admiral, no Jacobin in his heart-341. And although of unworthy motives; and because that Troubridge wrote, on the 1st of May, that he was satisfied that Caracciolo was "a Jacobin," he was very day, June 29th, Nelson gave notice obliged to admit, on the 7th of the same month, to all those who had served the Republic, that "Caracciolo saved Sorrento and Castella that if, within twenty-four hours for those Mare from being burnt."-358. Our navy were in the city of Naples, and forty-eight hours the allies of the cut-throats that plundered and murdered: Caracciolo, who preserved his fellowcountrymen's lives and property, was murdered by order of our Admiral, Nelson!!! § Clarke and M'Arthur, ii. 279. If this be Caracciolo cannot have left the castles without the knowledge and the assistance of the besiegers, who, we learn from a letter of Ruffo, published by Foote, (Vindication, p. 184,) whilst the capitulation was negotiating, had placed officers round the castles to receive those who chose to withdraw, "to assure them that they shall be forgiven." + Caracciolo fu solennemente congedato dal Re. Saggio Stor. § 37. true, Sup has never been published; and this summary by itself? ↑ Lib. v., chap. 1, § 4. for those within five miles of it, they did was accused, Nelson says, of rebellion, and not trust to the clemency of his Sicilian for firing at the Sicilian colors flying in Majesty, he would treat them as rebels. the Minerva, which are two crimes, though What passed on that fatal day is only learn- the inquiry was to be, whether the crime ed from Caracciolo's enemies; and even could be proved- and which crime it was, their account has been most industriously no one knows. Who was the accuser no mutilated by the apologists of Nelson. one knows. Nelson says, Caracciolo This renders it difficult to know how Nel- stands accused," without saying to whom son possessed himself of Caracciolo's per- and by whom. Only it is remarkable, that son. It may have been in consequence of on Caracciolo arriving on board the Foua request of Caracciolo himself, trusting to droyant, the accuser is as ready as the perthe honor of an Englishman, and a com- son who listens to him. De Thurn companion-in-arms. This much is certain manded the Minerva: he was most likely that, had not Nelson wished it, he had no the accuser, as he was the most important occasion whatever to receive Caracciolo on witness-and he, the President of what is board the Foudroyant. called a court, was thus judge, accuser, and witness. The five officers whom he was to choose, could not be of a high rank, as there was no Neapolitan fleet in existence: but who they were and what they were, no one has ever known-possibly men against whom Caracciolo had fired, and therefore as impartial as their President: they also Be that, however, as it may, Caracciolo by nine o'clock A.M. of the 29th of June, was taken on board the Foudroyant, by a 'mob of assassins, his hands tied behind his back, and with difficulty preserved from the indignities of our allies, by Sir Thomas Hardy, who immediately ordered him to be unbound, and offered him refreshments, were at hand. which were refused. Nelson at once, it is What is called the warrant, directs De said, issued the following warrant, address-Thurn and his associates to proceed not to ed to Count de Thurn, commodore and try, but to proceed TO INQUIRE whether the commander of his Sicilian Majesty's frigate, crime can be proved against Caracciolo, La Minerva :— and if the charge is proved, to report to Nelson what punishment he ought to suffer. "Whereas Francisco Caracciolo, a com-The court, therefore, that Nelson constitumodore in the service of his Sicilian Majesty, ted, was a court of inquiry, not a courtagainst his lawful sovereign, and for firing at martial-a court which was to report, that his colors hoisted on board his Majesty's is to say, to give an opinion as to the punfrigate, La Minerva, under your command, Hence it is, You are, therefore. hereby required and directed to assemble five of the senior officers under your command, yourself presiding. and proceed to inquire whether the crime with which the said Francisco Caracciolo stands charged, can be proved against him, and if the charge is proved, you are to report to me what punishment he ought to suffer." has been taken and stands accused of rebellion ishment, but not award it. that its members are said to have assembled on board the Foudroyant-an English manof-war, that is, part of England-in which no foreign tribunal can be legally constituted and acknowledged in its judicial capacity, but where, by an abuse of power, no doubt, an inquiry might be held purposely to save a man's life. The biographers of Nelson, without quoting any authority, tell us that No time seems to have been lost by Nelson; for by ten o'clock, what is called the trial, was begun on board the Foudroyant.« during the trial, which lasted from ten Within one hour, from nine to ten o'clock, o'clock to twelve o'clock, the wardroom of the the warrant was issued-communicated to Foudroyant was open, as is customary, to De Thurn-five officers collected, and the every one who chose to enter. Some account work begun. The warrant states what was of what passed, has therefore been preserved.* notoriously false, viz., that Caracciolo was Every thing appeared to be fairly and honora commodore in the service of his Sici- ably conducted." Jian Majesty," for he had resigned and had They do not tell us who accused Caracreturned to Naples with the king's per-ciolo-by whom he was advised—what witmission long before; and, if no longer in the service, it is difficult to see why not only Nelson, WHO HAD NO AUTHORITY WHATEVER, but any one else could order him to be tried by five or six naval officers. He Vol. VIII.-No. I. 44 *The logic of these twin biographers is exquisite. The wardroom was open, therefore we have some account of what passed therein. Better state who went in, and what they say. nesses and proofs were brought against him | opinion, never passed a sentence, but were -what witnesses and evidence were heard overruled by Nelson, if they attempted to in his defence. They only tell us, that a save the life of their illustrious countryman, man of a great family-of unspotted cha- by suggesting imprisonment, in the hope of racter, in his seventieth year, was suddenly better days. The real judges, accusers, taken among foreigners, and within three and witnesses, were Lady Hamilton, Lord hours-without trial-without sentence, Nelson and De Thurn, that is, three fordoomed to die. eigners, on board a foreign ship; and supported by foreign arms. For it is a mockery and a falsehood to say, that Caracciolo was tried by courtmartial. The warrant of Nelson-who had no power to issue, and probably did not then issue any warrant at all-was for holding a court of inquiry;--that he issued even such a warrant, is extremely doubtful; only a copy of it is to be found in "the Nelson papers," but not in the order-book; if the warrant had been actually issued, it was too important not to be entered. The narrative of a trial, by Clarke and M'Arthur, is a poetical invention of those unscrupu.lous historians who, in the face of the warrant which they first printed, had the courage to assert that Nelson had assembled a court-martial." Colletta who, though he had had the best sources of information, and had known and conversed on these events with Sir T. Hardy, had never seen the warrant-speaks of a court-martial being assembled, in which the warrant proves him to be mistaken, but relates that, "having heard the accusation and the defence, the court thought it would be right to see the documents and hear the witnesses for the defence, but Nelson wrote, 'there needed not any further delay.' And then that senate of slaves condemned Caracciolo to imprisonment for life; but Nelson having learned the sentence from De Thurn, answered-death-and death was substituted for imprisonment.”—v. 1, 2. Immediately after what is called the trial was over, that is at about twelve o'clock, Nelson issued another warrant, which is in the "Order-Book" in the following words: "To Commodore Count Thurn, Commander of his Sicilian Majesty's frigate La MinerSicilian Majesty, has been assembled to try va. Whereas a board of Naval Officers of his Francisco Caracciolo for rebellion against his lawful sovereign, and for firing at his Sicilian Majesty's frigate La Minerva; and whereas the said board of naval officers have found the charge of rebellion fully proved against him, and have sentenced the said Caracciolo to suffer death, you are hereby required and directed to cause the said sentence of death to be carried into execution upon the said Francisco Caracciolo accordingly, by hanging him at the foreyard-arm of his Sicilian Majesty's frigate La Minerva, under your command, at five o'clock this evening, and to cause him to hang there till sunset, when you will have his body cut down, and thrown into the sea." It is observable how contradictory Nelson would be if the first warrant was authentic. He says, in the second warrant, that a board of officers has been assembled, but he does not say by whom; then he adds that they were assembled "to try Caracciolo," and that they "sentenced" him, whilst in the first warrant they are assembled merely to inquire and report. At the What "this senate of slaves" ought to same time he avoids stating who these offihave done is easily said; but were they cers were, how many they were, and where free to give safely what opinion they liked, they had met. Then they are a "board of unprotected, on board a foreign man-of- naval officers," not a court-martial, and they war, commanded by a foreign admiral, who find the charge of rebellion proved, but had broken a capitulation, and turned the they say nothing of Caracciolo firing at the ships of his nation into prisons and bureaux Minerva. However, Nelson says they senof inquisition? Their commissions, their tenced him to death. WHERE IS THE SENliberty, their lives, were as much in Nel-TENCE? Has any one ever seen it or heard son's hands as the life of Caracciolo. Our where it was to be seen? Never. If a opinion is that the often-mentioned warrant" board" or "court" of any sort really is an after-thought-a document prepared agreed to any report or sentence whatever, to guard against the consequences of the where is it? Can it be believed that Nelmurder after its perpetration-that such son, who kept the report of the execution of Neapolitan officers as, besides De Thurn, Caracciolo-which the editor has carefully (and he was a German, and not a Genoese, printed, (iii. 399)—would not have kept as has been said in this country,) were either the report which he had directed called on board the Foudroyant to give an should be made to himself, or the sentence which he says was passed, if either had ever existed? The rest of this authentic second warrant betrays such a disregard of all decency, that it is hardly credible. Why-supposing even the whole procedure legal and fair, and Nelson the proper authority for seeing the judgment executed,-why the unprecedented haste in having Caracciolo put to death, five hours after a trial which lasted two, and for which he had only a few minutes to prepare? Why take from the King of Naples the power of pardoning, by murdering the man at once? The King was at Palermo-in twenty-four hours an answer would have reached Nelson-why not wait, and submit to him the sentence if it existed? And why the brutality of ordering a man of Caracciolo's birth and rank to be hanged, and his body denied the melancholy privilege of a Christian burial?* Contrast the noble conduct of the unhappy victim with that of his impatient murder er dreadful to me." execution of Caracciolo, could not be found when Parkinson tried to interest her in obtaining this last favor from Nelson. The Admiral and Lady Hamilton had the base satisfaction of seeing the order fully executed.* Persons have been at a loss to account for so much atrocity and hatred. Some have pretended that it was owing to envy and ill-will on Nelson's part towards Caracciolo; the most charitable have attributed it to a kind of spell of Lady Hamilton on Nelson, who was blinded by his passion for her; and this seems the most probable cause of his conduct. As to her it has been supposed that she was moved by her ambition to satisfy the revengeful disposition of her friend the Queen of Naples, added to her detestation of the Neapolitan nobility, who refused to receive her in their houses on account of her profligate life. But the apologist will * Some days after Caracciolo's body had been thrown into the sea (July 15th or 16th,) as the Foudroyant, with the King of Naples then on "I am an old man," said Caracciolo to board, stood out at sea, the body of Caracciolo Lieutenant Parkinson, "I leave no family to was seen erect, out of the water to the waist, lament my death, I therefore cannot be sup-making its way towards the ship. The King, posed to be very anxious about prolonging my terrified at the horrible and reproaching sight, life; but the disgrace of being hanged is asked in a hurried manner," what does he want?" The chaplain answered him as became a minister of religion: "I should say that he comes to implore a Christian burial." "Let him have it, let him have it," was the king's answer; and he retired to his room thoughtful and terrified, English minister, and the lady, soon made the (Colletta, v. 1. 6.)-But the English admiral, the king forget the mild answer of the poor priest, well calculated to inspire humane sentiments, The body floated in that extraordinary manner, owing to three double-headed shot, weighing 250 lbs., which were tied to its feet when it was thrown into the sea. The weight forced the body into an upright position, though it was not enough to prevent its rising to the surface, as it was intended to do. He asked Parkinson to intercede with Nelson that he might be shot!! and the noble lord refused, because, forsooth, "Caracciolo had been fairly tried by the officers of his own country."+ Can hypocrisy and cruelty go further? Alas! Caracciolo was not "tried" by order of his country, nor in his country, any more than by officers of his country. Lady Hamilton, who was on board, and who undoubtedly witnessed the * This brutality is officially and authentically proved to be Nelson's own. Thurn's report to Nelson of Caracciolo's murder is in the following words" Admiral Nelson is informed that the sentence on Francisco Caracciolo has been carried into execution in the manner which he has directed."―(iii. 399.) So that the sentence did not prescribe the kind of death; this at all events is confessedly Nelson's own doing. The Editor of the Dispatches says (p. 501) that Caracciolo appealed to Nelson "for pardon;" he ought to have known that there is no authori- | ty for this statement. Nor is it true he pleaded for mercy" to the Duke of Calvirrano. He implored protection" from the assassins, our allies Of Nelson be asked a second trial, and then the favor of being shot, and not " pardon." There is not one letter of Nelson, or one authentic word of his granting or imploring pardon for any one-not one word of mercy-not one word of pity for those whom he betrayed, and whom he assisted to murder. ↑ The Editor of the Dispatches, after having taken so much trouble in making the apology of his hero, very gallantly enters the lists in defence of the heroines. As to the Queen, it may be worth observing, that on the fatal 29th of June, Nelson sent to Palermo the Portuguese sloop Balloon with dispatches, to be delivered with all expedition" to her Sicilian Majesty IN PERSON," with directious to wait for an answer, and by no means to chase any thing either in going or returning—(iii. 397.) This shows the importance of the dispatches thus sent. And yet, not a trace of them, or of any answer. He will not admit that Nelson's judgment, previous to the arrival of the king, was perverted by Lady Hamilton(iii. 498)-and why he should say so, except ber cause Nelson himself declares, that when he disobeyed Lord Keith's orders, after the king was on board, he did so of his own accord-(iii. 409.) no one can tell. He is particularly angry at Capt. Brenton for having stated that he heard From the Foreign Quarterly Review. HOMMAIRE'S TRAVELS IN THE STEPPES not hear of these excuses, and stands bold- [the deplorable and infamous conduct of ly forward in defence of all that was done hat admiral; the more they are made acIn what capacity Nelson acted "has not quainted with the circumstances of the been ascertained," he says; yet he assumes case, the more will they feel disgusted with that he probably acted as Commander-in-his behaviour, and disavow any attempt to chief of the Sicilian squadron, as if proba-justify or palliate crimes which ought to bilities for which there is no ground- have been buried in oblivion, out of charity were enough to prove that a man had pow-to the memory of the guilty party, who er to order another to be put to death; he owes it only to the indiscretion of his sees no objection either to the constitution friends that they cannot now ever be forof the court, or to the trial-if there had gotten or forgiven. been one-taking place on board the Foudroyant, where Caracciolo was conveyed from his own country, and from under the authorities of his Sovereign. He assumes also that Caracciolo fired upon the Minerva, though the warrant for his execution, the only authentic document in existence signed by Nelson respecting this murder, says expressly that he was accused of it, but does not say that this was proved against him. Sir H. Nicolas is a barrister; will he stake his professional reputation on the legality of such proceedings? But Nelson may have had good intentions. Why, did he not know right from wrong? Had he not the feeling that capitulations were not to be broken any more than men hanged without trial, and without legal authority? But Nelson had a great horror of republic- UNTIL very recently, the most erroneous ans and rebels; and so had Robespierre of notions generally prevailed in this country royalists and aristocrats, and what of that? on almost every particular concerning the It is not by treachery and assassinations internal condition of the Russian Empire. that the cause of the throne and of rational Its remoteness, its vast territorial extent, liberty is supported. Englishmen have the prodigious numerical strength of its warmly applauded, and splendidly rewarded armies, and the gorgeous profusion with the important services of Nelson against which its travelled princes and nobles the enemies of his country, but the gene-strewed all the roads of Europe with their rous love of justice, the fairness, the manli- gold, suggesting fabulous visions of the ness, for which they are distinguished above all nations, will make them see through the unfair statements and the flimsy arguments by which it is vainly attempted to defend last that Lady Hamilton, in her last moments, uttered the most agonizing screams of repentance for this act of cruelty (murder of Caracciolo) The prince (Caracciolo) was ever before her eyes" (iii. 520 )The editor declares, upon the author ity of "a lady" who lived many years with Lady Hamilton, and who scarcely ever quitted her room during the last few weeks of her life, that Lady Hamilton never screamed or felt remorse. We are sorry for it, and for "a lady" too, who supposing it was not her duty to attend Lady Hamil on, in which case she is not an impartial witness-gives this evidence. A great admirer and personal friend of Nelson, who was near Lady Hamilton when she died, says that "her last hours were passed in wild ravings, in which the name of Caracciol was frequently distinguished."--Life of Nelson, by the Old Sailor, p. 485. Les Steppes de la Mer Caspienne, Le Caucase, La Crimée, et la Russie Méridionale. Voyage Pittoresque, Historique, et Scientifique. (Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, Southern Russia, &c.) By Xavier Hommaire de Hell. Paris, 1843-6. wealth that fed that astounding prodigality; |