"_Ville de Paris,_" PORT MAHON, _December 18th, 1809._

The truth is that I am so unremittingly occupied, that my life is
rather a drudgery than a service. I have an anxious mind from nature
and cannot leave to any what is possible for me to do myself. Now my
health is suffering very much, which is attributed to the sedentary
life I lead, and it may well be to the vexation my mind suffers when
anything goes counter. But when I _do_ come home, I hope I shall
not be thought to flinch, for I have worn out all the officers and all
the ships, two or three times over, since I left England.


Within a fortnight he wrote again:--


_December 29th._

I have no desire to shrink from a duty which I owe to my country, but
my declining health--the constant anxiety of my mind and fatigue of my
body--made me desire to have a little respite, and I asked to be
relieved from my command--a request which the Ministers seem to have
no disposition to grant to me, but if his lordship knew me personally
and was sufficiently acquainted with my sentiments he would know that
my request was not made without good reason. The service here requires
the most energetic mind and robust body--they cannot be hoped for in
an invalid, whose infirmities proceed from too long and unremitted
exertion of powers, but feeble at first.


Meanwhile, in Grosvenor Square, every item of news respecting the