e three weeks; for the naval part of
the Baltic entanglement was ended, as he had foreseen. A pleasant
picture of his daily life on board the "St. George" at this time has
been preserved for us by Colonel Stewart: "His hour of rising was four
or five o'clock, and of going to rest about ten; breakfast was never
later than six, and generally nearer to five o'clock. A midshipman or
two were always of the party; and I have known him send during the
middle watch[36] to invite the little fellows to breakfast with him,
when relieved. At table with them, he would enter into their boyish
jokes, and be the most youthful of the party. At dinner he invariably
had every officer of the ship in their turn, and was both a polite and
hospitable host. The whole ordinary business of the fleet was
invariably despatched, as it had been by Earl St. Vincent, before
eight o'clock. The great command of time which Lord Nelson thus gave
himself, and the alertness which this example imparted throughout the
fleet, can only be understood by those who witnessed it, or who know
the value of early hours.... He did not again land whilst in the
Baltic; his health was not good, and his mind was not at ease; with
him, mind and health invariably sympathized."

While thus generally pleasant on board ship, he resolutely refused
intercourse with the outside world when not compelled by duty. In this
there appears to have been something self-imposed, in deference to
Lady Hamilton. There are indications that she felt, or feigned, some
jealousy of his relations with others, especially with women,
corresponding to the frenzied agitation he manifested at the
association of her name with that of any other man, and especially
with that of the then Prince of Wales. Whatever her real depth of
attachment to him, her best hope for the future was in his constancy,
and that he would eventually marry her; for Sir William's death could
not be far distant, and matters might otherwise favor the hope that
both he and she cherished. Her approaching widowhood would in fact
leave her, unless her husband's will was exceptionally generous, in a
condition as precarious, her acquired tastes considered, as that from
which her marriage had rescued her; and her uneasiness would naturally
arouse an uncertain and exacting temper, as in the old days at Naples,
when Hamilton could not make up his mind. The condition of Nelson's
health furnished him an excuse for declining all civilities or ca