was duly carried out on the 30th of June 1799.

Caracciolo was technically a traitor to the king whose uniform he had
worn, but apart from the wave of revolutionary enthusiasm which had
spread all over the educated classes of Italy, and the fact that treason
to a government like that of the Neapolitan Bourbons could hardly be
regarded as a crime, there was no necessity for Nelson to make himself
the executor of the revenge of Ferdinand and Mary Caroline. His greatest
offence, as Captain Mahan remarks (_Life of Nelson_, i. 440), was
committed against his own country by sacrificing his inalienable
character as the representative of the king of Great Britain to his
secondary and artificial character as delegate of the king of Naples.
The only explanation of Nelson's conduct is to be found in his
infatuation for Lady Hamilton, whose low ambition made her use her
influence over him in the interest of Queen Mary Caroline's malignant
spite.

AUTHORITIES.--Besides the general works on Nelson and Naples, such as
P. Colletta's _Storia del Reame di Napoli_ (Florence, 1848), there is
a large amount of special literature on the subject. _Nelson and the
Neapolitan Jacobins_ (Navy Records Society, 1903), contains all the
documents on the episode, including those incorrectly transcribed by
A. Dumas in his _Borboni di Napoli_ (Naples, 1862-1863), with an
introduction defending Nelson by H.C. Gutteridge; the work contains a
bibliography. The case against Nelson is set forth by Professor P.
Villari in his article "Nelson, Caracciolo, e la Repubblica
Napolitana" (_Nuova Antologia_, 16th February 1899); Captain A.T.
Mahan has replied in "The Neapolitan Republic and Nelson's Accusers"
(_English Historical Review_, July 1899), "Nelson at Naples" (_ibid._,
October 1900), and "Nelson at Naples" (_Athenaeum_, 8th July 1899);
see also F. Lemmi, _Nelson e Caracciolo_ (Florence, 1898); C.
Giglioli, _Naples in 1799_ (London, 1903); Freiherr von Helfert,
_Fabrizio Ruffo_ (Vienna, 1882); H. Huffer, _Die neapolitanische
Republik des Jahres 1799_ (Leipzig, 1884). (L. V.*)

CARACOLE (a Fr. word, the origin of which is doubtful, meaning the
wheeling about of a horse; in Spanish and Portuguese _caracol_ means a
snail with a spiral shell), a turn or wheeling in horsemanship to the
left or right, or to both alternately, so that the movements of the
horse describe a zig-zag course. The term has been used loosely