SEUME AND THE ENGLISH
63
Knight Hamilton, where he had continually the sight of Mt.
Vesuvius before his eyes. . .” (W, I, 318). He is referring here
indirectly to Hamilton’s interest in archeology, his series of ob-
servations on the action of volcanoes at Vesuvius and Etna in the
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, of which he
became a member in 1766, and his later works in this field. Seume
continues: . . one probably does him an injustice, if one con-
cludes from the locality of his amusements to a similarity of taste
with the beautiful Queen, who perhaps has been treated worse by
rumor than she actually deserves.” The Queen, of course, is Maria
Carolina of Naples, daughter of Maria Theresia, and the notorious
friend of Lady Hamilton with whom she intrigued behind the
back of King Ferdinand IV (il rè Iazzarone, as he was called) and
Sir Hamilton. Seume is very severe about the actions of Nelson
who was won over by the loyalists (of whom Lady Hamilton and
the Queen were the ring leaders) and who by far exceeded his
powers as commander of the British naval squadron by inter-
vening in the internal affairs of Naples. The story of Nelson’s
refusal to accept the capitulation of the Parthenopaean Republic
in Naples is well known, as is the fact that one of their leaders,
Prince Francesco Caracciolo (1732-1799), was court-martialed by
Italian officers aboard an English naval vessel in 1799, and many
other patriots hanged and shot as a result of it. Even Cardinal
Fabrizio Ruffo (1744-1827), the leader of the Royalist forces,
would not be a party to this action. Seume writes on the brutality
committed by the loyalists: “This happened under Ruffo, whose
humanity is even lauded here and there. The story of the patriots
of St. Elmo [fortress in Naples] is well-known. Nelson and his
lady, the former wife of Hamilton, nullified the capitulation in
the name of the government, and the hangman had his hands full.
. . . The name of the Admiral, and even more that of the lady, is
uttered generally with loathing and under curses, and one gives
proof for one’s assertions” (W, II, 151). Ruffo, too, comes in for
his share of criticism. Seume states, “In Naples people say pub-
licly that the Prime Minister, being half English, is selling the
Nation to the British” (W, II, 153). One notices that Seume is
indeed very critical of Nelson’s Neapolitan adventure.
Similarly, Seume’s sympathies are all with the Danes when he
discusses the Battle of Copenhagen of 1801 in Mein Sommer.
Remarking on the width of the Sound and its improper defenses,
he expresses the view that “not only Nelson but every other Briton
or Batavian could sail through it, if he has a good wind and a