give him the thanks of the City, for taking command of the
force destined to defend it against invasion, he wrote to request that
the motion might be withdrawn, on the express ground that no thanks
had been given those engaged at Copenhagen. "I should feel much
mortified, when I reflected on the noble support I that day received,
at any honour which could separate me from them." He alleged the same
reason, in the following September, for refusing to dine with the
Corporation. "Never, till the City of London think justly of the
merits of my brave companions of the 2d of April, can I, their
commander, receive any attention from the City of London." A like
refusal was sent to his invitation for Lord Mayor's day.

After the interview with Mr. Addington, the question of medals was
dropped. He had explained his position fully, and felt that it was
hopeless to attempt more, so long as the Admiralty was against him;
but when the Administration changed, in May, 1804, he wrote to Lord
Melville, the new First-Lord, enclosing a statement of facts,
including his correspondence with St. Vincent, and requesting a
reconsideration of the matter. "The medal," he said, is withheld, "for
what reason Lord St. Vincent best knows. I hope," he concluded, "for
your recommendation to his Majesty, that he may be pleased to bestow
that mark of honour on the Battle of Copenhagen, which his goodness
has given to the Battle of St. Vincent, the First of June, of
Camperdown, and the Nile." Melville, in a very sympathetic and
courteous letter, declined, for a reason whose weight must be
admitted: "When badges of triumph are bestowed in the heat and
conflict of war, they do not rankle in the minds even of the enemy, at
whose expense they are bestowed; but the feeling, I suspect, would be
very different in Denmark, if the present moment was to be chosen for
opening afresh wounds which are, I trust, now healed, or in the daily
progress of being so." So it resulted that for some reason, only dimly
outlined, no mark of public recognition ever was conferred upon the
most difficult, the most hazardous, and, at the moment, perhaps the
most critically important of Nelson's victories; that which he himself
considered the greatest of his achievements.

This unfortunate and embittering controversy was the most marked and
characteristic incident of his residence at Merton, between October,
1801, when he first went there, and May, 1803, when he departed for
the Me