l the tale."

V

SAILORS' OPINIONS OF NOTABLE PUBLIC MEN

The old-time sailors held strong opinions on law, i.e., sea law. The
merits of military and naval notables and prominent politicians came
within the limit of their strange discussions. Their naval heroes were
Charlie Napier, Collingwood, Nelson and Hardy. They loved Napier best
of all because he dared to be kind to his men and fight their battles
for them against the authorities; they were never quite sure whether to
give the weight of their respect on the side of Collingwood or Nelson;
but as the latter came to grief at Trafalgar, he was generally given
the benefit of any doubt as to superiority, and his devoted Hardy was
regarded as a strong backer of the redoubtable national hero. They
never got over the idea that poor Nelson was shot from the maintop by
some of his own men and not by the French sharpshooters. It was a point
that could never be cleared up to their satisfaction, hence the
impression that his sailors must have had some grudge against him was
very prevalent. His association with the King and Queen of the two
Sicilies was said to have gone a long way towards giving him a swelled
head, and in truth it was no mean distinction to be on terms of
friendship with a daughter of Maria Theresa and sister to Marie
Antoinette. They believed that Nelson had been influenced by the king
and queen when in a soft-headed mood to commit an act that can never be
obliterated. It was not only cruel and heartless, but it had close
resemblance to a crime. "They talk," said they, "of the murder by
Napoleon of their duke (Duke d'Enghien), but was it not as bad of
Nelson to have Commodore Francisco Caracciolo tried by a court martial
composed of the prisoner's enemies (Neapolitan officers) which sat only
two hours aboard the _Faudroyant_ and found him guilty of rebellion
against his sovereign?" He was ordered by Nelson to be hanged at the
fore yardarm of the _Minerva_. The sight of this poor man dangling at
the yardarm must have had a revolting impression on the minds of those
who witnessed it, and the aversion of the public who merely heard of it
must have been equally well founded. No wonder that it was handed down
to subsequent generations of seamen, and caused them to say, as I have
heard them that, "Nelson should have left the dirty, bloody business to
his pal the King of the Sicilies and kept his own hands clean." They
always spoke of his death as retribut