biographers has again secured for us a striking description of the
young captain's personal appearance, and of the impression produced by
his manner upon an interested acquaintance, who afterwards became a
warm friend and admirer as well as a frequent correspondent. The
narrator--then Prince William Henry, afterwards King William IV.--gave
the following account, apparently at some period between 1805, when
Nelson fell, and 1809, when the first edition of Clarke and M'Arthur's
Life appeared. "I was then a midshipman on board the Barfleur," Lord
Hood's flagship, "lying in the Narrows off Staten Island, and had the
watch on deck, when Captain Nelson, of the Albemarle, came in his
barge alongside, who appeared to be the merest boy of a captain I ever
beheld; and his dress was worthy of attention. He had on a full-laced
uniform; his lank unpowdered hair was tied in a stiff Hessian tail, of
an extraordinary length; the old-fashioned flaps of his waistcoat
added to the general quaintness of his figure, and produced an
appearance which particularly attracted my notice; for I had never
seen anything like it before, nor could I imagine who he was, nor what
he came about. My doubts were, however, removed when Lord Hood
introduced me to him. There was something irresistibly pleasing in his
address and conversation; and an enthusiasm, when speaking on
professional subjects, that showed he was no common being." The
Countess of Minto, in her Life of Lord Minto, speaks of Nelson's
"shock head" at the time (1794) when he was a frequent visitor at the
house of Minto, then Sir Gilbert Elliott, and Viceroy of Corsica; a
trivial detail, but confirmatory, so far, of the picture drawn by the
prince. The latter continued: "Nelson, after this, went with us to the
West Indies, and served under Lord Hood's flag during his
indefatigable cruise off Cape François.... I found him warmly attached
to my father [King George III.], and singularly humane. He had the
honour of the King's service and the independence of the British navy