The Sicilian dialect, also, has caught something of the different languages spoken by the various peoples who have successively inhabited the island, though softened by the poetical genius of the natives, and rendered suitable for verse. The peculiarity of Sicilian music is mentioned by Dr. Burney[[73]] in his history of that science. It was delightful to hear it on fine moonlight nights from the vessels and boats that entered or crossed the bay. The sailors used to sing many of those hymns which afterwards had such great success in England.
Of flowers they were particularly fond, and cultivated them with great care. They also displayed great taste in arranging flowers to decorate their rooms, and in the adjustment of drapery. The rocky ground and coast of Palermo were covered with the Indian fig, or prickly pear as we call it. The leaves are very large, and the fruit, which the common people devour greedily, is said to be remarkably wholesome. The Sicilians generally enjoyed excellent health, and I suppose there is hardly any civilised country where so little medicine is taken. Cold water was the usual prescription for bruises and abrasions, and it always worked a speedy cure, after more scientific applications had failed.
A grand dinner was given on the 4th June, 1799, at our minister’s, and there was a ball at Court in the evening. About this time I remarked a very singular phenomenon. I observed a little island opposite to us, of a picturesque form, and apparently not much more distant than Capri is from Naples. Whenever there were a few light clouds in the horizon I could clearly distinguish it, but if the sky happened to be entirely cloudless, I could see nothing of it. In answer to my inquiries, I was told that there was no such island visible, and that I must have mistaken a cloud for one. Still I persisted in my belief, because it had always the same shape, and at last I sketched it. On showing this drawing to some of our officers, they said that it resembled one of the Lipari islands which lies at a short distance from the rest of the group. The image of this islet had been reflected on the light clouds when they were at a certain angle to its image in the sea, something in the way of the fairy palaces at Messina of which so much has been said.
Soon after our king’s birthday most of our ships sailed for Naples, where Captain Foote, in conjunction with Cardinal Ruffo, had already succeeded in checking the progress of the enemy. A capitulation had been accepted, which was not sanctioned by the Court, and afterwards became the cause of much animadversion. Commodore Troubridge very wisely forbore interfering with the political concerns of the Neapolitan government. He had the command of the ships which were now despatched for the recovery of that kingdom, and proved completely successful. The islands were retaken, and the fortresses surrendered, with the assistance of a very few regular troops, Neapolitans and Russians. The commander of the Russian troops had said that the Castle of St. Elmo could not be taken in less than three months, and by an army some thousands strong. The commodore, however, captured it in a fortnight, with a few hundred seamen and others. The Sicilians would have it, that it was through the help of Santa Rosalia, whose festival occurred about that time.
The king then went with Lord Nelson to take once more possession of his capital, where he established a council of regency, and afterwards returned to Palermo, where the queen and the royal family had remained.
It was during the absence of our fleet and of Sir William and Lady Hamilton, who had accompanied the king, that my mother’s lengthened sufferings came to an end, and that I was deprived of her enlightened judgment for my protection and guidance, and of her animated and instructive conversation for my comfort and delight. She had sustained many trials with fortitude and dignity. Her mind was clear and penetrating, and her heart warm and generous.
When Sir William Hamilton and Lord Nelson came to take leave of her before their departure for Naples, she had particularly commended me to their care, and, previous to their embarkation, Sir William and Lady Hamilton had left directions with Mrs. Cadogan[[74]] that, in case I should lose my mother before their return, she was to take me to their house. That lady came for me, and I went with her to our minister’s, knowing that it was my mother’s wish that I should be under his protection; and I must say that there was certainly at that time no impropriety in living under Lady Hamilton’s roof. Her house was the resort of the best company of all nations, and the attentions paid to Lord Nelson appeared perfectly natural. He himself always spoke of his wife with the greatest affection and respect; and I remember that, shortly after the battle of the Nile, when my mother said to him that no doubt he considered the day of that victory as the happiest in his life, he answered, “No; the happiest was that on which I married Lady Nelson.”
It is painful to reflect on the scenes that passed at Naples; and no one can have a greater dislike than myself to political executions, because, however legally just they may be, they are revolting to humanity, and do no good to the cause which they are meant to uphold. On the contrary, they create a feeling of exasperation, and excite compassion in favour of the guilty. But it is only right to say that Caraccioli was taken in arms against the forces of his sovereign, that he was tried by a court-martial of Neapolitan officers, and executed on board of a Neapolitan ship. I grieved for his fate, and still more for his defection, but many strange misrepresentations have been circulated on this subject.[[75]] The queen, who has been accused of so much vindictive cruelty, was, to my certain knowledge, the cause of many pardons being granted. And there was one lady in particular whom she saved, who was her declared enemy, and at the head of a revolutionary association.
There was for many months a Spanish squadron at Palermo, that being a neutral port, but it dared not venture out to sea for fear of being taken by our ships, which kept a sharp look-out after it. The officers seemed to be quite domiciliated at Palermo, and the commodore appeared to be a very good-natured, obliging man, though, from etiquette, he could not visit the English.
Lord Keith,[[76]] who had the chief command in the Mediterranean, arrived one day, with his lady, on board the Queen Charlotte, a noble three-decker. He often slept on shore at our minister’s, and always brought with him his flag-lieutenant and secretary. He expressed himself glad to see me, from having known and esteemed my father, and he was very civil to everybody, though, from his desire to restore the discarded queues, he afforded not a little embarrassment to many of the younger officers. Lord William Stuart used to tie a few hairs together, and, whenever he met Lord Keith, made him the drollest bow imaginable, twisting his head round to show the attempt at a pigtail. Lord William had great comic humour, and was an excellent dancer, but as commander of a ship of war, the Lion, he was strictly exact to his duty, and never made a difficulty or complained of a hardship.