Collingwood (himself soon to die) mourned the loss of Ball.
Private Correspondence, ed. E. Hughes:
To his sister. November 1, 1809
.. Adml Thornbrough is very ill, and when I heard last from Malta, Ball was in a dangerous state. . . .
To Rear-Admiral Purvis, November 19 [1809]
I will answer your kind letter tomorrow. I am sadly hurried . . . The Ajax is come but I have not read half the letters. Ball's death is a great grief to me.
To his sister. Ville de Paris, Port Mahon, November 25, 1809
. . . Sir Alexr Ball is dead, and in him Malta has lost a governor who supported the interests of England with great ability. The Maltese adored him; he kept all quiet and in good order. I do not know any who can do it like him. I lament him much. We were midshipmen together when I went to America with Adml Graves in the year 74 and have been great friends ever since.
P. 254, note: In his letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty Collingwood stated that Ball's services 'both in his naval and civil capacity were eminent. . . . His loss in the Island of Malta, where he was adored, is not to be estimated.' Letter Book, xii, fo. 197
Selected Correspondence, ed. Newnham Collingwood:
TO LADY COLLINGWOOD. Ville de Paris, October 30, 1809. . . . Admiral Thornborough has been out of health some time; he is impatient to get home to Bath, and is urging me very much to allow him to go. I do not like to part with so firm a man. He would be a host to me in battle. Sir Alexander Ball, too, I hear is very ill. There is hardly in England another person fit for Governor of Malta. He has all the knowledge and qualities for it, which few men have. These are great drawbacks on me.
TO LORD RADSTOCK. Ville de Paris, November 3, 1809. . . . By the last accounts I heard from Malta, Ball was very ill, — almost hopeless. I love him, and am in despair for him. He cannot be replaced in Malta, nor is there a man in England qualified to govern the Maltese but himself. They are all too little or too great.
["too great", i.e., too lofty]
TO J. E. BLACKETT, ESQ. Ville de Paris, Minorca, Jan. 1, 1810. Thus the years roll on; and as the season comes round, I congratulate you, at the same time, on entering a new year of the world and of your life, which, I hope, you will enjoy in health, and pass in happiness and comfort. . . . I have been very unwell lately. The physician tells me that it is the effect of constant confinement, which is not very comfortable, as there is little chance of its being otherwise. Old age and infirmities are coming on me very fast, and I am weak, and tottering on my legs. I had a great loss in the death of Sir Alexander Ball. He was an able and industrious man; and I fear Malta will never be so well governed again. We were Midshipmen together, and have always been on terms of the greatest friendship. . . .
(E.Hughes) The Duke of Northumberland writes to Collingwood: Teignmouth, January 10, 1810 . . . I am truly grieved that this Country shou'd have lost so usefull a servant as A. Ball. I heard much of the Ability he showed in his Government of Malta and the affection the Maltese had for him, from an officer long resident in that Island. I believe the Cabinet have made as good a choice as they possibly cou'd and have done in appointing Sr R. Keates to succeed him. I only lament that such an Active and able officer shou'd be taken just now from the service of our Fleet. But from your Lordship's account, I am a little reconciled ot it and believe that the Government of Malta, in the present situation of Affairs in the Mediterranean, is an Affair of the first consequence.
_________________ My mind . . . is like a bow for ever bent.
- Collingwood
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