One of the first disappointments, after this recent honour, was the arrival of Captain Stephenson, to take the command of the Princess Charlotte; by which, his lordship feelingly observes, in a letter of the 7th, to Captain Ball, "poor Hardy was consequently turned adrift." He had, at this time, too, received a mortifying letter from General Sir James St. Clair Erskine: mentioning, that the twenty-eighth regiment was ordered to England; and that he was sure General Fox, who was every moment expected, would not, on any consideration, break his orders, for any object. With this disagreeable information, his lordship could not bring his mind yet to acquaint Captain Ball. On the contrary, he affects to anticipate, in the letter above mentioned, that he expects the answer from Minorca will be unfavourable to both their wishes; and expresses his intention of going to Naples, for assistance from the Russians and his Sicilian Majesty. He then, with exquisite kindness and address, introduces the extract of a letter from Earl Spencer; which liberally states, that Captain Ball, by his unparalleled vigilance and exertion, had indeed shewn himself worthy of the friendship with which Lord Nelson had honoured him. "I only send this, my dear Ball," says his lordship, "to shew that I do not forget my friends: as to honouring you, that is not in my power; but to render you justice, is my duty."
In the mean time, his lordship had, on the preceding day, thus expressed himself to Earl Spencer, on the subject of attention to orders, in consequence of this refusal of troops from Minorca—"Much, my dear lord, as I approve of strict obedience to orders—even to a court-martial, to enquire whether the object justified the measure—yet, to say that an officer is never, for any object, to alter his orders, is what I cannot comprehend. The circumstances of this war so often vary, that an officer has almost every moment to consider—What would my superiors direct, did they know what is passing under my nose? The great object of the war is—Down, down, with the French! To accomplish this, every nerve, and by both services, ought to be strained. My heart is," says this excellent man and true hero, "I assure you, almost broke, with that and other things." Then, speaking of the state of the blockade, he says—"If the enemy get supplies in, we may bid adieu to Malta. This would compleat my misery; for, I am afraid, I take all services too much to heart. The accomplishing of them is my study, night and day."
It is a singular circumstance, and merits high consideration, that while Lord Nelson thus strongly urges the necessity for both services to be equally strained; Sir Sidney Smith was most feelingly complaining, in letters dated off Rhodes, 29th September 1799, of the want of a cordial co-operation in General Koehler: who seems to have regarded Sir Sidney's gallant exploits on land as an improper interference with the military department; and to have made the subject of a long and formal complaint, what all the world has agreed to consider as fairly entitling him to immortal honour. On the receipt of these letters, which are written with a noble confidence in the kind and generous sanction of his lordship, Lord Nelson immediately wrote the following excellent letter to the Duke of Clarence. It certainly has, being addressed to a brother sailor, some strong professionalism; but it delicately claims, nevertheless, for Sir Sidney's conduct, the most decided approbation and applause, from a very competent judge of the duties of the profession.
"Palermo, 9th Nov. 1799.
"SIR,
"I beg leave to present to your royal highness, Captain Hardy, late of the Foudroyant: an officer of the most distinguished merit; and, therefore, highly worthy of your notice. He will tell you of all my arduous work in this country; and, that all my anxiety is, at present, taken up with the desire of possessing Malta. But, I fear, notwithstanding all my exertions, that I shall not get any British troops from Minorca: without which, the business will be prolonged, perhaps, till it is relieved; when all the force which we could collect would be of little use, against the strongest place in Europe. I am anxiously waiting the arrival of General Fox; and hope he will not consider the order for the removal of one or two regiments, of such great consequence as the reduction of Malta, by keeping them for two months longer in the Mediterranean. On the one hand, they must, in England, or on the continent, be like a drop of water in the ocean. By staying here, and employed, they would liberate us from our enemy close to our door; gratify the Emperor of Russia; protect our Levant trade; and relieve a squadron of our ships from the service: besides giving us one eighty-gun ship, two forty-gun frigates, a Maltese new ship of the line ready for sea, and two frigates. With these in the scale, I cannot comprehend that a moment can be lost in deciding. But, Sir, I find, few think, as I do—that, to obey orders, all perfection. To serve my king, and to destroy the French, I consider as the great order of all, from which little ones spring; and, if one of these little ones militates against it—(for, who can tell exactly, at a distance?)—I go back to obey the great order, and object; to down, down, with the damned French villains! Excuse my warmth; but my blood boils at the name of a Frenchman. I hate them all; royalists and republicans.
"My late letters from Egypt are, that Sir Sidney Smith is hurt at the notorious cowardice and want of discipline in the Turkish army; and I find, that General Koehler does not approve of such irregular proceedings, as naval officers attacking and defending fortifications. We have but one idea; to get close along-side. None but a sailor, would have placed a battery only a hundred and eighty yards from the Castle of St. Elmo: a soldier must have gone according 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.