On Sunday, the 9th, his lordship arrived in London; and immediately proceeded to Nerot's Hotel, King Street, St. James's; where Lady Nelson, and his lordship's venerable father, who were just arrived from Norfolk, had taken up their residence. His lordship, who was dressed in a full uniform, with three stars on his breast, and two gold medals, was welcomed by repeated huzzas from a prodigious crowd, who had followed the carriage from the moment they knew who was arrived. These affectionate testimonies of public regard, were most courteously returned by his lordship, who bowed continually to the enraptured multitude. Every eye beamed with pleasure to behold him; every heart exulted in the possession of such a hero; every tongue implored blessings from Heaven on the honoured protector of his country. If these were the obvious feelings of those who could boast no nearer affinity than that of being the fellow-subjects of this exalted man, what was not to be expected from such as were closely allied to him by the ties of blood: the father, from whom he derived his existence; the wife, whom he had so disinterestedly selected from society, to participate in all his earthly honours and enjoyments? That his worthy father did, indeed, receive him with a heart which overflowed with paternal love, is not to be doubted: to the Christian and the father, however, was he indebted for the ardent and sincere embrace; while the tear of rapture was blended with that of regret, drawn by imputations of apprehended private guilt dreadfully detracting from the honourable list of his son's known public virtues. The duteous hero, unconscious of crime, happily perceived not, in his beloved father, any symptoms of suspicion. At the obvious coldness of her ladyship, however, the warmth of his affectionate heart felt a petrifying chill, which froze for ever the genial current of supreme regard that had hitherto flowed with purity through the inmost recesses of his soul. This is a topic which must, for evident reasons, be touched with a tender hand. Woe to the woman who, wedded to a man with superlative merits, whatever they may be, which are acknowledged and admired by all the world, feels alone insensible of her husband's transcendent worth! Where there is genius, the warmth of affection is seldom wanting; if it be not returned with ardour, it kindles into a fierce and dangerous flame. Lady Nelson's ideas were so little congenial with those of his lordship, that she is said never to have asked him a single question relative to that glorious victory which had so astonished the world. On the contrary, all the scandalous insinuations, and licentious remarks, with which the Jacobinical foreign journalists had filled their pestiferous pages, relative to our hero and his friends in Italy, and which had found their way into the most thoughtless and depraved of our own newspapers, were preserved for his lordship's immediate amusement. Without introducing the reader behind the sacred veil of the connubial curtain, let it suffice to say, that Lord Nelson rose at an early hour, and went to visit Sir William and Lady Hamilton; where, at least, he was always sure to behold the actual existence of conjugal happiness. He related, in a few words, the nature of his situation; and assured Sir William that, such was his misery, it would be mercy to dispatch him. These amiable friends did all they could to tranquilize his perturbed spirits; and their soothing consolations succeeded, at length, in calming the tempest by which his feeling bosom was so cruelly agitated. A temporary reconciliation was soon effected; the contrariety of sentiment, however, between the parties, gave but little hope of it's ever proving permanent. In the mean time, as the 9th of November happened this year to be Sunday, the Lord-Mayor's day, in London, was kept on Monday the 10th; and Lord Nelson, being particularly invited to the civic festivity, joined the procession in it's return. His lordship was accompanied by his inseparable friend, Sir William Hamilton; it having been long mutually agreed, between them, that they would never visit any place where both were not equally welcome. The carriage had no sooner reached the top of Ludgate Hill, than the citizens took out the horses, and drew him to Guildhall; the ladies, from the windows, all the way round St. Paul's Church-yard, along Cheapside, and down King Street, waving their handkerchiefs as the hero passed, and using every other expression of admiration and applause. After a most sumptuous dinner, to which the company sat down at six o'clock, had been succeeded by the usual toasts, a very elegant sword, richly ornamented—the handle being of solid gold, covered with blue enamel, and studded with diamonds, the guard supported by anchors, with the figure of a crocodile, as emblematical of the battle off the Nile—and which had been voted, as formerly mentioned, immediately after receiving information of that glorioas victory, was presented to his lordship by Richard Clarke, Esq. Chamberlain of the City of London; who, at the same time, delivered the following address.
"LORD NELSON!
"In chearful obedience to a unanimous resolution of the right honourable the lord-mayor, aldermen, and commons, of the city of London, in common-council assembled, I present your lordship with the thanks of the court, for the very important victory obtained by a squadron of his majesty's ships under your command, over a superior French fleet, off the mouth of the Nile, on the 1st of August 1798: a victory, splendid and decisive; unexampled in naval history; and reflecting the highest honour on the courage and abilities of your lordship, and your officers, and the discipline and irresistible bravery of British seamen; and which must be productive of the greatest advantages to this country, and to every part of the civilized world, by tending to frustrate the designs of our implacable enemy, and by rouzing other nations to unite and resist their unprincipled ambition.
"As a farther testimony of the high esteem which the court entertains of your lordship's public services, and of the eminent advantages which you have rendered your country, I have the honour to present your lordship this sword.
"The consequences of the action I am thus called upon to applaud, are perhaps unequalled in the history of mankind. A numerous army, which had triumphed in Europe over brave and veteran troops, commanded by officers of the most established reputation, landed in Egypt, under the command of him who now sways the Gallic sceptre, with designs of the most ambitious and extensive nature. One of their objects, as acknowledged by themselves, was to annihilate, by degrees, the English East-India trade; and, finally, to get into their possession the whole commerce of Africa and Asia. Such were the gigantic views of our implacable foe; and such confidence had they in the fleet which conveyed them, and in the station which it took on the coast of the devoted country, that it bade defiance to the whole navy of Britain: but, at this momentous period, the Almighty directed your lordship, as his chosen instrument, to check their pride, and crush their force as a maritime power during the present contest. The circumstances attending this grand display of providential interposition and British prowess, must interest the feelings of every Englishman. Had a space been chosen, to exhibit to the world a struggle for superiority in nautical skill, and personal valour, between the two greatest naval powers of the globe, none could have been more happily selected. The three grand divisions of the ancient world were witnesses; and the shores which had beheld the destruction of the Persian navy by the Greeks, and the heroic acts of Sesostris, now resounded with the echo of British thunder. To your lordship belongs the praise of having added glory to such a scene: the heroes we applaud, would themselves have applauded us; and he who, ages since, led his three hundred against an almost countless host, might on that proud day have wished himself a Briton.
"The thanks of your country, my lord, attend you; it's honours await you: but, a higher praise than even these imply, is your's—In the moment of unexampled victory, you saved your country: in the next moment, you did still more—you exemplified that virtue which the heathen world could not emulate; and, in the pious—"Non nobis Domine!" of your modest dispatches, you have enforced a most important truth—that the most independant conqueror felt, in the most intoxicating point of time, the influence and protection of Him whom our enemies, to their shame and ruin, had foolishly and impiously defied. May that same Power, my lord, ever protect and reward you! May it long, very long, spare to this empire so illustrious a teacher, and so potent a champion!"
To this highly respectable address, Lord Nelson instantly replied—
"SIR,
"It is with the greatest pride, and satisfaction, that I receive, from the honourable court, this testimony of their approbation of my conduct: and, with this very sword,"[Holding it up, in his only hand] "I hope soon to aid in reducing our implacable and inveterate enemy to proper and due limits; without which, this country can neither hope for, nor expect, a solid, honourable, and permanent peace."
His lordship was highly gratified with his city reception, on this day of annual festivity. He was ever a great friend to the grand display of a London Lord-Mayor's shew: not on account of the pageantry and parade of such a public spectacle; but, as he expressed himself to his friends, for the sake of it's beneficial effects on youthful minds. It was, he contended, a holiday without loss of time: since the hope of one day riding in the gilt coach of the Lord Mayor, excited a laudable emulation in the breast of every ingenuous city apprentice, which made them afterwards apply themselves, with redoubled diligence, to the business of their respective masters; and, by thus fixing them in industrious habits, could not fail of proving finally advantageous to themselves.