MEMOIRS OF THE REVEREND DR. SCOTT.

ALTHOUGH slight in substance, and dictated by a sense of filial piety rather than by any very critical examination into the im- portance of the subject, these Recollections of the Life of the Reve- rend A. J. Scott, D.D., Lord Nelson's Chaplain, are an agreeable and unaffected production. The claim of Dr. Scorr upon public attention mainly arises from his' connexion with NELSON, but his own life and character are not devoid of attractive points. He had an extraordinary aptitude for acquiring languages, and an ardent love of study, pursued under circumstances found by the generality of men to be very unfavourable to any kind of mental attention ; he was a man of curious and out-of-the-way learning, especially in divinity ; and combined the somewhat odd contrasts of an ardent bibliomaniac with taste in music and other elegant pursuits. To a manner pleasing by nature and cultivated by association with per- sons of high rank both English and foreigners, he united simplicity of mind and singleness of purpose. Quite inattentive to his own interest, or at least unversed in the best mode of pursuing it, he was a quick observer and a skilful diplomatist ; and was constantly employed by the officers he sailed with in collecting information and penetrating intentions. The agreeable and well-bred clergyman, ostensibly visiting a neutral place for health or pleasure, and occu- pied in disquisitions with poets and archeologists, the purchase of old books, or copying new music, seemed a harmless person enough to militaires and diplomats; but he had notwithstanding a shrewd- ness and penetration which enabled him to divine results from trivial circumstances, and to pump with delicacy and secrecy. In this occupation he was continually employed in the West Indies and the Mediterranean, both by Sir HYDE PARKER and by NELSON ; and at Copenhagen he had the difficult task of drawing the terms of the convention, the object being to gain our point without com- promising Denmark with other powers.

Dr. Scores career, at least in its earlier portion, had also some points that distinguished him from the common run of men : he was in a measure a child of luck. His father having died in cir- cumstances little above embarrassment, leaving a widow and se- Imre! children to the care of his brother, Captain Scorr, that gentleman, in 1772, took the future chaplain with him to the West

Indies, when be was only four years old. Here the boy lived in the house of Sir RALPH PAYNE, the Governor of the Leeward Islands,

whilst his uncle was employed in active service; and his first

lessons in reading were taught him by Lady PAYNE. In 1777, on his uncle's return to England, he was put to school, and subse- quently to the Charterhouse; spending great part of his vacations at Lady PAYNE'S, where he saw the highest society of the day,

and no doubt acquired the formal parts of his politeness of manner. His uncle, a quarterdeck disciplinarian of the old school, had in- tended that his nephew should go to sea ; but his abilities bad attracted attention at the Charterhouse, an exhibition of some 401- a year was granted him, and Captain Scorr was persuaded to let him go to college.

s' Unfortunately for young Scott, the next necessary consideration was, how this could be done in the least expensive manner ; and his uncle having made inquiries, the answer of course was, that the cheapest way of sending him to the university would be as a sizar. He was consequently entered as a sizar at gs. John's College, Cambridge. On his arrival there. his feelings were deeply amended by finding himself placed in a position so much beneath that to which all Lis former schoolfellows were admitted at St. John's and other colleges in the university. He remonstrated with his uncle, as naturally ignorant of usages and opinions in our universities; but in vain. Acting, as Captain Scott believed he bad done, on the very hest information and advice, and being in- disposed from professional habits of naval command to listen to what he deemed the idle complaints of an insubordinate youngster, he turned a deaf ear to all his nephew's representations. He reminded him how he had roughed it in his own career on a more boisterous element than the feather-beds of college, and ordered him to 'get rid of pride and do his duty cbeerly.' It was more easy, however, for the uncle to give such advice, than for the nephew to follow it. No one but an university-man can appreciate the distressing position of young Scott, and enter fully into his feelings. Prudence, no doubt, dictated that with his scanty allowance, suited to the situation of a sizar, be should decline associating with his former schoolfellows, who could afford expenses that must infallibly run him into debt. But, popular as he was with them, from his lively disposition, talents, and gentlemanlike manners—accustomed always to the best aooety, and naturally thoughtless about expense—it is no wonder that be should readily meet their advances, and, heedless of consequences, continue in their set."

The upshot was, that be took orders, and went out as chaplain with Sir JOHN COLLINS in the Berwick. In this voyage he laid the foundation of his future fortunes, such as they were, by be- coming acquainted with Sir HYDE PARKER and NELSON, with whose career his own was pretty closely connected till the battle of Trafalgar. On the death of his patron, he was thrown aside, not- withstanding a powerful interest, to vegetate on a small living in the gift of the Charterhouse; until Lady LIVERPOOL had it in her power to present him to Catterick, a parish in Yorkshire, which lie enjoyed till his death. In 1807, he married Miss RIDER; who died a few years after, leaving several children; by one of whom and her husband these Recollections have been published. Dr. Scorr died in 1840.

In the memoirs of the nautical divine, whose career we have in- dicated, there is no doubt some matter that is trivial, with a few letters of very little import ; but the Recollections are a pleasing and real work : the substance may be sometimes slight, but it is never out of place; what is written is written in good faith, not with a view to display or stuffing ; and something of a family elegance of manner pervades the publication. The matter directly relating to Dr. Scorr has always a biographical interest, and frequently the higher interest of character, especially as regards his book-buying propensities, the character of his studies, and his mode of learning a language. The collateral topics, if not always of much conse- quence, have the attraction of yet traditional names—as Lady HAMILTON, HARDY, and ethers. But the point of the largest interest is NELSON himself; and, though probably not much is told that is absolutely new, points are put in a more striking light, and with more of freshness and lifelike particularity. The following exhibits the untiring attention of NELSON, and a trait which was not so well known.

" Henries the graver employments above spoken of, Dr. Scott was in the habit of reading to his chief all the French. Italian, Spanish, and other foreign newspapers, which were sent regularly to the fleet ; and these were ransacked as well for the amusement as the information they contained. Dr. Scott had also to wade through numberless ephemeral foreign pamphlets, which a mind leas investigating than Lord Nelson's would have discarded as totally unworthy of notice; but he entertained a persuasion that no man ever put his band to paper without having some information or theory to deliver, which he fancied was not generally known, and that this was worth looking after through all the encumbering rubbish. His own quickness in detecting the drift of an author was perfectly marvellous. Two or three pages of a pamphlet were generally sufficient to put him in complete possession of the writer's object ; and nothing was too trivial for the attention of this great man's mind, when there existed a possibility of its being the means of obtaining information. " Day after day might be seen the Admiral in his cabin closely employed with lot secretary over their interminable papers. They occupied two black leathern arm-chairs ; into the roomy pockets of which, Scott, weary of translating, would occasionally stuff away a score or two of unopened private letters, found in prize-ships, although the untiring activity of Nelson grudged leaving one such document unexamined. These chairs, with an ottoman that belongs to them, (now treasured heir-looms in Dr. Scott's family,) formed when lashed to- gether a couch, on which the hero often slept those brief slumbers for which he was remarkable."

Upon this a remark may be offered. The opinion of NELSON is sound where publication has not become a fashion ; but in England, at present, reproduction in literature has reached such lengths that we question whether his opinion of the value of pamphlets would apply. As regards the " quickness" spoken of, we doubt if it avails for the object Neesost had in view. A few pages, no doubt, will enable one to form a strong opinion as to the skilled ability of the author, sometimes as to the value of the work, more rarely as to its scope; but if you want to get at some isolated latent thought of value, which often lurks in a mass of verbiage, there is no other mode than by running the eye through the book. It may not be worth the labour of finding, but if you would have it you must seek for it. However, let us pass on to other traits.

NELSON THE HERO TO BE LOVED.

Happily for Dr. Scott, all his services were, in the truest sense, labours of love. No man ever possessed in a more remarkable degree than Lord Nelson the power of exciting simultaneously affection for his person and admiration of his genius. Sir Pulteney Malcolm, whose extraordinary fate it had been to be intimately acquainted with Bonaparte, the Duke of Wellington, and our great naval hero, used to say (but perhaps with the partiality of a sailor) that " Nelson was the man to lore."

NELSON'S PERSONAL HABITS.

Lord Nelson was constantly studying the characters of those whom be had about him. and would lead them into discussions, in which he afterwards took no part, for the mere purpose of drawing out their thoughts and opinions; and even for debating the most important naval business, he preferred a turn on the quarter-deck with his captains, whom be led by his own frankness to express themselves freely, to all the stiffness and formality of a council of war. In accordance with this habit, he was very fond of conversing with Dr. Scott ; being interested by the originality of his thoughts, and the warm and enthusiastic manner in which he delivered them, as well as by the store of in- formation with which his indefatigable habit of reading furnished him. We are assured by an eye-witness, that often after dinner Lord Nelson would amuse himself by leading the Doctor into arguments on literature, politics, Spanish, and even naval affairs, and would occasionally provoke from him a lecture on navigation itself,—to the great entertainment of Admiral Murray, Captain Hardy, and other officers present.

PLAYFUL DECISION.

Lord Nelson's manner, apart from duty, was universally kind and even playful to all around him ; an amusing instance of which, as well as of his extreme quickness, occurred during this cruise in the Mediterranean. One bright morning, when the ship was moving about four knots an hoar through a very smooth sea, every thing on hoard being orderly and quiet, there was a sudden cry of " A man overboard !" A midshipman named Flinn, a good draughtsman, who had been sitting on deck comfortably sketching, started at the cry, and looking over the side of the ship, saw his own servant, who was no swimmer, floundering in the sea. Before Flinn's jacket could he off, the Captain of Marines had thrown the man a chair through the port-hole in the ward-room, to keep him floating, and in the next instant Flinn had flung him- self overboard and was swimming to the rescue. The Admiral having witnessed the whole affair from the quarter-deck, was highly delighted with the scene; and when the party, chair and all, had been hauled upon deck, he called Mr. Flinn, praised his conduct, and made him Lieutenant on the spot. A loud huzza from the Midshipmen, whom the incident had collected on deck, and who were throwing up their hats in honour of Flinn's good fortune, arrested Lord Nelson's attention. There was something significant in the tone of their cheer which he immediately recognized; and, putting up his hand for silence, and leaning over to the crowd of middies, he said, with a good-natured smile on his face, " Stop, young gentlemen I Mr. Flinn has done a gallant thing today—and be has done many gallant things before—for which he has got his reward ; but mind! I'll have uo more making Lieutenants for servants fulling overboard."

The death-scene has often been told, but in this volume it strikes us as possessing more nature and vividness—to sink the hero and show the man.

"The carnage on the deck of the Victory became terrific. Dr. Scott's duties confined him entirely to the cockpit, which was soon crowded with wounded and dying men ; and such was the horror that filled his mind at this scene of suffering, that it haunted him like a shocking dream for years afterwards. He never talked of it. Indeed, the only record of a remark on the subject was one extorted from him by the inquiries of a friend soon after his return home : the expression that escaped him at the moment was, 'it was like a butcher's shambles.'

His natural tenderness of feeling, very much heightened by the shock on his nervous system, quite disqualified him for being a calm spectator of death and pain, as there exhibited in their most appalling shapes. But he suppressed his aversion as well as he could, and bad been for some time engaged iu helping and consoling those who were suffering around him, when a tine young lieu- tenant was brought down desperately wounded: this officer was not aa are of the extent of his injury until the surgeon's examination, but on discovering it lie tore off with his own band the ligatures that were being applied, and bled to death. Almost frenzied by the sight of this, Scott hurried wildly to the deck for relief, perfectly regardless of his own safety. He rushed up the com- panion-ladder, now slippery with gore: the scene above was all noise, confu- sion, and smoke ; but he had hardly time to breathe there when Lord Nilson himself fell, and this event at once sobered his disordered mind. He followed his chief to the cockpit : the scene there has been painfully portrayed by those who have written the life of Nelson ; his Chaplain's biographer has little to add, but that the confusion of the scene, the pain endured by the hero, and the necessity of alleviating his sufferings by giving lemonade to quench his thirst, and by rubbing his body, of course precluded the reading of prayers to him in the regular form, which otherwise would have been done; but often, during the three hours and a half of Nelson's mortal agony, they ejaculated short prayers together, and Nelson frequently said, "Pray for me, Doctor." Every interval, indeed, allowed by the intense pain and not taken up by the conduct of the action or in the mention of his private affairs, was thus employed in low and earnest supplications for Divine mercy. The last words which Dr. Scott heard murmured on his lips were ' God and my country '; and he passed so quietly out of life, that Scott, who bad been occu- pied ever since he was brought below in all the offices of the most tender nurse, was still rubbing his stomach when the surgeon perceived that all was over. We subjoin part of a letter from Dr. Scott to Mr. Rose, in reply to some in- quiries from that gentleman as to Lord Nelson's mention of himself on his deathbed. It must be understood that this letter does not pretend to be a full description of what passed, but it will confirm accounts already given, and can- not fail to he highly interesting. " ' In answer to your note of the 10th instant, which, forwarded by way of Chatham, I received this morning, it is my intention to relate every thong Lord Nelson said, in which your name was any way connected. He lived about three hours after receiving his wound; was perfectly sensible the whole time; but compelled to speak in broken sentences, which pain and suffering

prevented him always from connecting. When I first saw him, he was appre- hensive he should not live many minutes, and told me so; adding, in a hurried, agitated manner, though with pauses, 'Remember me to Lady Hamilton! remember me to Huratia! remember me to all my friends ! Doctor, remember me to Mr. Rose ; tell him I have made a will and left Lady Hamilton and Ho- retie to my country.' He repeated his remembrances to Lady Hamilton and Doratia, and told me to mind what he said, several times. Gradually he be- came less agitated, and at last calm enough to ask questions about what was going nn : this led his mind to Captain Hardy ; fur whom lie sent and inquired with great anxiety, exclaiming aloud, be would not believe he was alive unless he saw him. He grew agitated at the Captain's not coming, lamented his being unable to go on deck and do what was to he done, and doubted every assurance given him of the Captain's being safe on the quarter-deck. At last the Captain came ; and he instantly grew more composed, listened to his report about the state of the fleet, directed him to anchor, and told him he should die, but ob- served he should live half an hour longer.

". I shall die, Hardy,' said the AdmiraL " Is your pain great, Sir ?'

" ' Yea, but 1 shall live half an hour yet : Hardy, kiss me.' The Captain knelt down by his side and kissed him. Upon the Captain leaving him to re- turn to the deck, Lord Nelson exclaimed very earnestly, more than once, 'Hardy, if 1 live I'll bring the fleet to an anchor—if I live I'll anchor—if I live I'll anchor': and this was earnestly repeated even when the Captain was out of bearing. I do not mean to tell you every thing he said. After this inter- view, the Admiral was perfectly tranquil, looking at me in his accustomed man- ner a ben alluding to any prior discourse. • I have not been a great sinner, Doctor,' said be. Doctor, 1 was right, I told you so : George Rose has not yet got my letter - tell him '—he was interrupted here by pain ; after an interval be said—' Mr. hose will remember—don't thrget, Doctor, mind what I say.' Tnere were frequent pauses in his conversation. Our dearly beloved Admiral other- wise mentioned your name, indeed, very kindly; and I will tell you his words when I see you ; but it was only in the two above instances he desired you should be told."

NELSON'S RELIGION AND DIVINITY.

Some remark on the private feelings of Lord Nelson will probably be looked for in the life of his Chaplain. To a question put to Dr. Scott as to Lord Nelson's religious sentiments, his answer was, " He was a thorough clergyman's son ; I should think he never went to bed or got up without kneeling down to say his prayers." Dr. Scott also said of him, that he had frequently expressed to hint his attachment to the Established Church, in which he bad been edu- cated; and he proved the sincerity of this by the regularity and respect with which he always had Divine service performed on board the Victory whenever the weather permitted. After the service, he had generally a few words with the Chaplain on the subject of the sermon, either thanking him for its being a good one, or remarking that it was not so well adapted as usual to the crew ; the Admiral being always anxious that the discourse should be sufficiently plain for the men, and his Chaplain, with the liability of a scholar, being some- times tempted into a too learned disquisition: more than once on such mew- sions has Lord Nelson taken down a volume of sermons in his own cabin, with the page already marked, at some discourse which he thought well suited to such a congregation, and requested Dr. Scott to preach it on the following

Sunday.

LADE HAMILTON AND HORATIA NELSON.

With regard to his unfortunate admiration of Lady Hamilton, we may safely say, that neither Dr. Scott, nor his other most intimate friends, believed in its criminality. Lord St. Vincent used to call them " a pair of sentimental fools," and it is a fact that Lady Hamilton never was a mother. Certainly, therefore, she had no connexion with Lord Nelson's adopted daughter; as to whose parent- age Dr. Scott never gave any clue, whatever he may have known on the sub- ject. But it has been thought by some, who witnessed Nelson's intimacy with royalty at Naples, and were aware that be had been warned of even the danger of assassination in consequence of it, that Huratia Nelson might lay claim to a far more illustrious origin than has been supposed. This solution, if a true one, accounts equally as well fur the miserable state of mind which Lord Nel- son's letters written from Naples betray, and which his biographers have at- tributed to his infatuated attachment to Lady Hamilton. It may be feared that this misery was the consequence of guilt ; but if so, such uneasiness was the conscientious compunction of an habitually upright mind.

A small portrait of NELSON is prefixed to the volume, which was engraved from a miniature by JACKSON, formerly in the possession of Sir TRomes LAWRENCE. It appears to have been chosen from Dr. SCOTT'S testimony to its likeness ; and besides something more of mass and decision of character than his other portraits generally convey, it has an expression of premature age, which the mere form does not warrant: the spirit looks older than the flesh.