and that of his Sicilian Majesty, who was the
faithful ally of his King. The solemn audacity of this statement
reveals a mind so far fallen to pieces by infatuation that it has lost
the power of discrimination.

It will be remembered that this gracious ally promised Nelson that he
would go forth at the head of his troops and conquer or die, and then
scampered off in front of his army through Rome to Naples, and, after
a few days' concealment from the mob, secretly bundled into boats with
his retinue on a stormy night of great peril, embarked on the
Admiral's ship, and sailed for Palermo.

Lady Hamilton is credited with planning (with heroic skill) means by
which the Royal Family could be taken to the shore, where Nelson was
to receive and convoy them in barges to the _Vanguard_. Lady Hamilton
had explored a subterranean passage which led from the palace to the
beach, and pronounced it a fairly safe and possible means of exit. The
plan apparently succeeded, and the royal party, after a few days'
precautionary stay in the Bay of Naples, were conveyed in safety to
Palermo, notwithstanding the hurricane that was encountered and only
weathered by a perfection of seamanship that was unequalled in our
naval and merchant services at that period of our trying history. The
voyage was not made without tragedy, for the youngest of the princes
became ill, and as it is always inevitable to attach a heroine to
circumstances that are sensational (when there is one at hand), their
Majesties in their grief fixed on her who had braved the perils of
investigating the possibilities of the subterranean tunnel which had
proved a safe though hazardous passage for the conveyance of
themselves and their vast treasure. Nor do they appear to have been
unmindful of her devotion to themselves during the storm, which was
the severest that Nelson said he had ever experienced--though this is
a platitude, as sailors are always prone to regard the last storm as
the most terrific of all! But that it was severe there can be no
doubt. We may be assured that the royal parents were not in a
condition to give succour to their stricken son, so he was vouchsafed
to pass beyond the veil in the arms of Lady Hamilton, who had bravely
defied the tempest and behaved with a compassion that must always
stand to her credit.

They arrived at Palermo the day after the young Prince's death, and
soon settled down to their gambling and other pleasures in which
Nelson, as