Beschreibung:

NELSON, Horatio, Viscount (1758-1805). Autograph manuscript memorandum [addressed to the Prime Minister, Henry Addington, Viscount Sidmouth], n.p. [London], n.d. [23 April 1803], complaining of his unequal financial treatment relative to his fellow victorious admirals Earl St Vincent and Viscount Duncan.
NELSON, Horatio, Viscount (1758-1805). Autograph manuscript memorandum [addressed to the Prime Minister, Henry Addington, Viscount Sidmouth], n.p. [London], n.d. [23 April 1803], complaining of his unequal financial treatment relative to his fellow victorious admirals Earl St Vincent and Viscount Duncan. 2 ¼ pages , 4to (245 x 197mm) , (¾ of the second leaf neatly excised, repairs at folds and outer edges of first leaf). Provenance : Edwin Wolf 2nd Collection; Christie's, 20 June 1990, lot 257; private collection. COMPARING HIS 'GREAT VICTORIES' WITH THOSE OF ST VINCENT AND DUNCAN, AND COMPLAINING AT HIS LESSER FINANCIAL REWARDS . 'The pensions to the Ad[mira]ls St. Vincent Duncan and Nelson were I suppose either granted for the Great Victories they obtained over the Enemy, or for enabling them to support the Dignity of the Peerage to which His Majesty was Pleased to raise them ... If Earl St Vincent obtained the pension of 2,000 £ a year in Gt Britain and 1,000 £ a year in Ireland, for the victory off Cape St. Vincent, and Vis[coun]t Duncan for that off Camperdown, Lord Nelson trusts that in any comparison the Victory off the Nile was equal to either of the others and therefore in strict justice his pension should have been equal'. If the criterion was to enable the men to support the dignity of the peerage, Nelson's wants are greater than the others, as they had raised respectively £100,000 and £50,000 in prize money, while Nelson had realised less than £5,000. 'This comparison is only made to the Battle of the Nile, since which time Lord Nelson was By His Majesty rasied to the Dignity of a Viscount for his Services in Commanding His Majesty's fleet when the Great important and Decisive Victory off Copenhagen was obtaind, but no Pension was given ...'. A cancelled fragment on the verso of f.2 refers to the wound 'in the Head at the Battle of the Nile for which wound he received no Pension ...'. Nelson's financial situation was somewhat precarious as Britain prepared to go to war again in 1802-3. Not only did he have debts of around £10,000, but he was supporting Emma Hamilton financially following the death of Sir William Hamilton on 6 April. Despite Nelson following this request for increased support with a direct appeal to Addington in the House of Lords, telling him 'I am your Admiral', and two subsequent reminders, a larger pension had still not been granted when he set off for Toulon in May 1803. Nicolas, V, p.59 prints the memorandum in a form close to the present text (but lacking the last fragmentary sentence) from an original then in the Sidmouth Papers, which apparently bore a date, place and signature: it seems likely that the present manuscript is a draft, and the excised portion may represent an original cancellation.