BEFORE TRAFALGAR

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 106, 1 November 1933, Page 3

BEFORE TRAFALGAR

AN UNSIGNED LETTER

CLAIMED GENUINE NELSON

(Special to the "Evening Post.") NELSON, October 31. There is in Nelson at the present time a valuable relic of Lord Nelson in what is claimed to be the original of his last letter to Lady Hamilton prior to his death at Trafalgar^ The letter, dated October 19 and 20, 1805, the two days preceding the battle, was unfinished, the text indicating that Lord Nelson intended to complete it following .the battle, aud for this reason it is not signed. The history of the letter is said to be that it was stolen by a midshipman on the Victory (who later'rose to be captain of one of his Majesty's ships) after the Admiral's death and has been handed down in that family, members of which came to New Zealand and brought the letter with them. The present owner desires the letter to be-, eoine the property of Nelson City. The letter reads: — "Victory, October 19, 1805, Noon, Cadiz, E.S.E., 16 leagues. "My Dearest Emma, the dear friend of my bosom. The signal has been made that the enemy's combined fleet are coming out of port. We have very little wind so that I have no hope of seeing them before tomorrow. May the God of Battle crown my endeavours with success; at all events I will take care that my name shall ever be most dear to you and Horatia both of whom I love as much as my own life, and as my last writing,before the battle will be to you, so I hope in God that I shall live to finish my letter after the battle. May Heaven bless you, prays' your Nelson' and Bronte^ October 20. In the morning we .were down to the mouth of the straights, but the wind had not come far enough to the westward.to allow the combined fleets to weather the shoals of Trafalgar, but they were counted as' far as forty sail of ships of war which I suppose to be 34 of the line and six frigates, A group of them was seen off the lighthouse of Cadiz this morning, but it Tblows 90 very fresh, and thick weather, that I rather believe they will go into the harbour before night. May God Almighty give us success over these fellows." It is interesting to note Lord Nelson's spelling of Bronte. If the letter is genuine, and there is every reason to believe it is, then the question of the correct spelling is definitely settled — Bronte, not Bronti. It has been suggested that the letter be sent to the British Museum to prove that it is authentic. It has been compared with an original letter of Lord Nelson's which was presented to the Nelson Institute and Museum by Sir George Grey, and the writing was found to be identical.