whither he had gone a few days before to be invested with the
Order of the Bath, which was formally done by George III. in person on
the 27th of September. He was graciously received by the King, who
conversed with him after the ceremony, and by his manner throughout
made a lasting impression upon the mind of Nelson, whose loyalty was
intense. The Order of the Bath remained the most highly prized among
his many decorations. At the same time was awarded him a pension of
L1,000 a year.

He remained in London till near Christmas. Sir Gilbert Elliot, the
late Viceroy of Corsica, who about this time became Lord Minto, saw
him not long after his arrival there, as did also Colonel Drinkwater.
Elliot found him looking better and fresher than he ever remembered
him, although the continued pain prevented sleep, except by use of
opium. He was already impatient to go to sea again, and chafed under
the delay of healing, concerning the duration of which the surgeons
could give him no assurance. The ligature must be left to slough away,
for it was two inches up the wound, and if, in attempting to cut it,
the artery should be cut, another amputation would be necessary higher
up, which would not be easy, for the stump was already very short.
There was consequently nothing for it but endurance. To his suffering
at this time an accomplished surgeon, who sailed with him shortly
before Trafalgar, attributed a neuralgic predisposition under which he
then labored, and which produced serious effects upon his general
health.

A singular exhibition of his characteristic animation and temperament
was elicited by Drinkwater's visit. The colonel saw him shortly before
the naval battle of Camperdown, fought on the 11th of October. "One of
the first questions which Nelson put to me was whether I had been at
the Admiralty. I told him there was a rumour that the British fleet
had been seen engaged with that of Holland. He started up in his
peculiar energetic manner, notwithstanding Lady Nelson's attempts to
quiet him, and stretching out his unwounded arm,--'Drinkwater, said
he, 'I would give this other arm to be with Duncan[59] at this
moment;' so unconquerable was the spirit of the man, and so intense
his eagerness to give every instant of his life to the service."

Until the 4th of December his agony continued. On that day the
ligature came away, giving instant and entire relief. In a letter to a
friend, apologizing for delay in replying, he said