SMITH, Sir (William) Sidney (1764-1840). Admiral.
Autograph Letter Signed to Lord Nugent at Lilies in Buckinghamshire, 3 pages 4to with address-leaf bearing red wax seal, Paris, 18 June 1818. Thanking him for his support during his 'painful state of suspense'.

'... I think I see besides your friendship for me and the feelings of family connection that noble public spirit which animates men of right mind to urge that public justice shall be done & this is a second link of the chain which will bind me to you.'

Smith spent the later years of his life in Paris, in part to evade his creditors, where he continued to brood on his dismissal in 1814 as second in command to Sir Edward Pellew in the Mediterranean.
 Following the Battle of Waterloo Smith arranged the evacuation of some of the wounded from the battlefield, but Wellington held a very low opinion of him. There may be some significance in the fact that the present letter was written on the third anniversary of the battle.
Provenance: from a collection formed by A.M. Broadley in 1903.

£125 [No: 24756]