She may have been able to influence the despatch of provisions for the starving Maltese, and it was presumably on some such grounds that Nelson applied to the emperor of Russia, as grand master of the knights of Malta, to grant her the cross of the order. The emperor sent her the cross, naming her at the same time ‘Dame Petite Croix de l'Ordre de St. Jean de Jérusalem,’ 21 Dec. 1799 (ib. ii. 135; Nicolas, iv. 193 n.)
Her exaggerated claims have been counterbalanced by maliciously false charges. Of these the most atrocious is that which accuses her of being the virtual murderer of Caracciolo, who was executed for treason and rebellion on 29 June 1799; of having been present at his execution, and of having shown indecent satisfaction at his death. In the whole story as told (among many others by Brenton, Naval History, ii. 483) the only particle of truth is that Lady Hamilton was on board the Foudroyant at the time (Lomonaco, Rapporto al Cittadino Carnot, p. 80; Colletta, lib. v. cap. i.).
Whether from vanity, emotional enthusiasm, or genuine admiration, Lady Hamilton undoubtedly laid herself out, with too complete success, to win Nelson's heart. The two lived for and with each other, to the scandal of the whole Mediterranean station, keeping up all the time the extraordinary pretence of a pure platonism, which not only deceived Sir William Hamilton, but to some extent even Nelson himself, between whom and Hamilton there was to the last a feeling of warm friendship. It has indeed been suggested, though the probabilities seem to be against it, that till April 1800, when Lady Hamilton with her husband accompanied Nelson in the Foudroyant on a visit to Malta, their relations were really platonic (Pettigrew, ii. 640; Jeaffreson, Lady Hamilton, ii. 140). In the summer of 1800 she left Palermo in the company of her husband and Nelson. From Leghorn the party travelled homeward through Vienna, Dresden, and Hamburg, whence they crossed over to Yarmouth. Afterwards in London, at Merton, on tours of pleasure, or in different country houses, she and Nelson were seldom apart, except when he was serving afloat, and his devotion to her led directly to his separating from his wife. They kept up a pretence of purity and platonism, and their friends, as well as Nelson's sisters and relations, who treated Lady Hamilton well, regarded the relationship as innocent (Nicolas, vii. 394; Life and Letters of Sir Gilbert Elliot, iii. 284; Phillimore, Life of Sir William Parker, i. 230–1). A mystery long enveloped the parentage of Horatia, the child to whom Lady Hamilton gave birth on or about 30 Jan. 1801. Many years ago Pettigrew (ii. 652) quoted passages of a letter (1 March 1801) from Nelson to Lady Hamilton distinctly acknowledging the child as theirs. The original letter, in Nelson's handwriting, is now in the Morrison collection. This and other letters in the same collection, the tone of which is quite beyond doubt, make the close friendship between Nelson and Hamilton, which continued unbroken till Hamilton's death on 6 April 1803, truly surprising. Latterly indeed, with the peevishness of old age, Sir William expressed himself dissatisfied with the engrossing attention his wife paid to Nelson, but at the same time he added: ‘I well know the purity of Lord Nelson's friendship for Emma and me’ (Jeaffreson, Lady Hamilton, ii. 253). During his mortal illness Nelson sat by his side for the last six nights, and at his death ‘the pillow was supported by his wife, and his right hand was held by the seaman,’ who wrote a few hours afterwards to the Duke of Clarence, ‘My dear friend, Sir William Hamilton, died this morning; the world never, never lost a more upright and accomplished gentleman’ (ib. ii. 254). That this was hypocrisy is contrary to all that we know of Nelson's or even of Emma's nature, and we are driven to suppose that the two had persuaded themselves that their conduct towards the injured husband was void of offence.
Hamilton left a large property to his nephew, charged with an annuity of 800l. to Emma for her life; she also had 800l. in cash, and the furniture, paintings, &c., valued at about 5,000l. (ib. ii. 259). It appears, however, that she had already, unknown to her husband or Nelson, contracted debts—possibly by gambling—to the amount of upwards of 7,000l. (Greville to Lady Hamilton, 8 June 1803, Evans, Statement regarding the Nelson Coat, p. 37), and that from the first she was in straitened circumstances, notwithstanding Nelson's allowing her 1,200l. a year and the free use of Merton. Her application to the queen of Naples for relief was coldly received (Nicolas, v. 117, vi. 95, 99, 105, 181); and Mr. Addington or Lord Grenville, as first lords of the treasury, turned a deaf ear to all her memorials for a pension on the ground of her services at Naples. The queen and Lord Grenville have been unjustly blamed for refusing to reward services which they knew to be purely imaginary. During the last years of his life Nelson repeatedly expressed a hope of marrying her at some future day. His loss must have touched her keenly, but the repeated exhibition of herself fainting in public when Braham sang
