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 already stated, was involved. Troubridge, with touching
fidelity, pleads with him to shun the temptations by which he is
beset. "I dread, my Lord," he says, "all the feasting, etc., at
Palermo. I am sure your health will be hurt. If so, all their saints
will be damned by the Navy"; and then he goes on to say, "The King
would be better employed digesting a good Government; everything gives
way to their pleasures. The money spent at Palermo gives discontent
here; fifty thousand people are unemployed, trade discouraged,
manufactures at a stand. It is the interest of many here to keep the