1 FEBRUARY 1919, Page 15

NELSON IN THE WEST INDIES.

LTo THE ED/TOR or THE " SPECTATOR") SIR,—Mr. Marston's letter on the above subject is of consider- able interest, as no details of the cutting out of the two American vessels in Carlisle Bay have, as far as I know, yet

appeared in the various Lives of Nelson. In the Life of Nelson by Stonier Clarke and John McArthur the incident seems to be referred to in the following passage:—

" In May last I seised the first. I had the Governor. the Customs, all the planters against me. Subscriptions were 80011 fitted to prosecute me, and my Admiral stood neuter, though his flag was then in the roads."

I hove italicised the above as emphasising to what extra- ordinary lengths Nelson was prepared to go in carrying out what be considered IC: duly. Can one imagine, in the present day, a Captain in H.M. Navy taking such a step in the presence of his Admiral, or an Admiral standing "neuter " ? In the lame volume Nelson is quoted as saying "I ha: suits taken out against me, and damages laid at the enormous sum of J-10,000 sterling."--I am, Sir, Ac.,