ich it was unpleasantly
surrounded. Whatever could be effected, in such limits, was soon
arranged; and, as the autumnal season's advancement probably reminded
them of the spoliage which must speedily be expected to ensue in the
general verdure of the scene, innumerable evergreens were most
judiciously planted throughout the grounds; including a modest portion
of those laurels, beneath the shade of which the transcendent merits of
the heroic possessor so abundantly entitled him to repose. By pursuing
this excellent management, the charming gardens of Merton, in their
enlarged state, preserve a considerable degree of comfort and beauty
throughout the rigours of the severest winter.

Lord Nelson heard, daily, the progress which was making at the farm, and
it afforded him a pleasure of which he stood greatly in need. His health
was, at this time, very indifferent, and he suffered severely from the
cold winds of the autumnal equinox. Though, however, the preliminaries
of peace were now signed, he could not obtain leave of absence from the
Admiralty, to try the good effects of a little retirement at his new
dwelling, till the 22d of October, and then only for ten days. As if
this were not sufficient, he was agitated by the estrangement of his
father's affections, in consequence of the recent separation from Lady
Nelson; and pestered with anonymous threatening letters, in a way very
similar to those supposed to have been written by Mr. Barnard to the
great Duke of Marlborough. Every means were tried, by the friends of
his lordship, to detect the writer of these infamous incendiary
epistles, but without the desired effect. They, however, gave the hero
himself very little anxiety: he considered them, probably, as nefarious
attacks on his purse, through the medium of his character, and treated
every menace they contained with the most sovereign contempt. Such,
however, was our hero's filial reverence of parental authority, that he
could by no means regard his father's censure as a matter of light
importance, though he felt conscious of his own innocence and integrity.
This, indeed, was truly a source of sorrow; and he resolved fully to
satisfy his venerable parent's every scruple, and convince him how
cruelly he had been wronged by false and scandalous reports.

Early on the 22d of October, Lord Nelson quitted the Amazon, in the
Downs; and, immediately landing at Deal, set off post for Merton. On
arriving at this small village,