29 FEBRUARY 1896, Page 14

NELSON.

[r0 THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

SIR,—It appears from a note in the "Despatches and Letters of Lord Nelson," edited by Sir Harris Nicolas, that the ex- pression said to have been made use of by Nelson before the battle of St. Vincent (and which Sir Harris Nicolas- dis- credits), was "Westminster Abbey or Victory !" (See Despatches, Vol. II., p. 343, note.) Clarke and McArthur, however, state that Nelson at the close of dinner on the eve of the battle of the Nile, exclaimed to his officers, "Before this time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage or West- minster Abbey !" (See Despatches, Vol. III., p. 55.)—I am,.