ONE PAGE OF A.L.S. OF GENERAL BYNG, OCTOBER 27, 1727.
SIGNATURE OF ADMIRAL BYNG ON HIS WILL A FEW DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH, MARCH, 1757.
Only twelve months divide the death of Byng from the birth of Nelson, whose autographs are even more costly than those of the Elizabethan heroes of 1588. They now hold, as I shall presently show, the record as regards both price and interest. I have already alluded to the perils and pitfalls of Nelson forgeries. The collector must, of course, bear in mind the striking differences in the calligraphy of the great Admiral before and after the loss of his right arm in July, 1797. The earliest example I possess of Nelson's handwriting is a commission, signed on April 5, 1781, by him as well as by Lord Lisbourne, Bamber Gascoyne, and J. Greville. Nelson was then twenty-three. He was thirty-nine when he penned with his right hand the following historic letter to Earl Spencer:—
Lord Nelson to Earl Spencer.
Theseus, May 28 1797.
My Lord,—On my arrival from the Mediterranean two days past I received from Sir John Jervis your Lordship's Letter of April 3 together with a Gold Medal which the King has been pleased to order to be struck in Commemoration of the Victory obtained by His Fleet on the fourteenth of February last and which His Majesty has been graciously pleased to direct me the honor of wearing.
May I presume to say that when I observe the Medal that it must be a strong inducement for the continuance of my exertion for His Majesty and for my Country and my Country's Service and it shall be my pride to preserve it unsullied to posterity.
Your Lordship having from the moment of your coming to the Admiralty represented my services in the most favourable point of view to the King, allow me once more to return you my thanks together with those for the very handsome and flattering manner in which your Lordship have executed the King's Commands.