Nelson's Palms

"Remember," said Horatio Nelson, as he lay dying on the quarter-deck of the Victory, "I leave Lady Hamilton as a legacy to my King and country that they will give her an ample provision to maintain her rank."

The grateful nation, which thought Emma Hamilton's rank little better than a whore's, took him at his word. To a respectable brother, the Rev. William Nelson, went an earldom, a 3,000-acre estate, Trafalgar, in Wiltshire and a pension of -L-5,000 yearly to be paid to his heirs forever. To Emma went nothing; she died ten years later, a raddled and penniless old woman, in France.

Last week Emma had her revenge. After 140 years and -L-700,000 of payments, His Majesty's Government announced a plan to terminate its last "perpetual" pension. The amiable, doddering, 88-year-old fourth Earl or his 85-year-old brother Edward will continue to collect while they live. To keep the next heir, Edward's 55-year-old son Albert, from starving, the Government obligingly plans to remove the family entail from Trafalgar House. When and if it is sold, future heirs will retain only an empty earldom, a coat of arms, and the bitter comfort of the Nelson family motto: "Let him wear the palm who has deserved it."

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