Litchfield enquirer., 1876-11-16
From Harpers weekly. LORD NELSON.

Horatio Nelson, the greatest of Eng lands "amirals, was bon on the 18th of Septern gtr, 175S, ut Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, or which place his father was the rector As child he was feeble and sick ly; and throughout h1s life his small, ,frail. and attenuated frame seemed strangely out of harmony with the daring and im- petuous spirit that animated it. At the age of thirteen he entered the royal navy, and commenced his career in the Raison- nable, sixty-four guns, commanded by his uncle, Captain Sucking. Then, even more than now, promotion in the first stages of the profession was determined by Admi-. ralty interest, and fortunately for him and for England, his uncle shortly afterward became Comptroller of the Navy, and was thus able to facilitate his rise. His pro- motion was nearly as rapid as it could be made, and before he was quite twenty-one he had attained the rank of post-capt ain, which fairly opened the way for hlm to 1 the higher hOaers of the service. For some years following he was almost constantly employed ina variety of har- assing services; and in all his conduct was such that before long he had achieved for himself brilliant reputation. His grow ing fame was as yet. however, chiefly con- | fined to professional circles, no very sig nal exploit having brought his name prom inently before the public. But the advent of the war with France at the time of the | Revolution brought with 1t the opportu- | nity which he was to seize for the per- formance of a series of noble deeds in the lustre of which all other naval glory looks pale. ..s ......r ...-.........s.
 In 1793, appointed to the Agamemnon, ] sixty-four guns, he took distinguished part, among otber services, in the sieges of Bastia and Calyi, in Corsica. ! In the last of these engagements he lost an eye. | It was also about this time that the cele- brated action of Sir John Jervis with the | Spanish feet off St. Vincent occurred. To mannuvre of extreme and masterly dar- | ing, executed by Nelson in defiance of or | ders, that officer was mainly indebted for | the splendid success obtained. and the peerage with which it was rewarded. 1 Though in the interval an expedition | which Nelson had commanded aga1nst | Teneriffe had failed disastrously, with loss to himself of his right arm in the assault, | it was on all sides admitted that every l thing was done on the occasion which skill and valor in their highest cOmbina- tion could effect, and on his return to En- gland, in 1797, the hero, mighty in defeat, was received with general exclamation. He was invested With the order of the Bath, and pension of e1000 per annum was voted to him.
 The following year Nelson was intrust- ed with fleet, and he signalized this, his first independent command of any magni- tude, by the stupendous victory of the Nile, memorable in naval annals as the completest annihilation of an enemy on record. Finding the French fleet, to which his own was considerably inferior in force, skillfully moored so as to defy ordinary attack, he adopted the novel expedient of doubling on the enemy's ships; and was rewarded for his ingenuity by the most brilliant success. Of the French line of battle two ships only escaped, and these were afterward captured. Indeed, it was considered that these owed their tempora- " safety solely to @ wound received by Nelson upon the head, which prostrated him in the heat of action.
 Honors were now showered upon him, from all quarters, and the gratitude and enthusiasm of his countrymen We're particularly signifed by the title bestowed upon him of ''Baron Nelson of the Nile, and grant of e2000 year for hls own life and the lives of his two immediate successors. For the service that followed | this great achievement-the expulsion o1 the French from .Naples-the Neapolitan king rewarded him with the Dukedom o1 Bronte and domain equivalent to e30OC year.
 His next magnificent exploit was the battle of Copenhagen. in which, after a struggle of terrible severity, he shattered the naval power of Denmark, and along | A. A.1>. 1o1 1e northern kingdoms against England. Never were the characteristic and heroic qualities of the man more brilliantly dis played than on this most trying occasion. In the moral courage to accept responsi bllity at all hazards, no man ever surpass' ed him. In the heat of battle his chief, Sir Hyde Parker, in deadly anxiety as tc to the issue of what at distance seemed to be hopeless conflict, signaled him to discontinue action. Damn the signal !! , said Nelson, when this was reported tc him. "Keep mine for closer battle flying. That's the way I answer such signals. Nail mlne to the mast" And with the certainty of professional disgrace and ruin staring him in the face in case o1 failure, he worked out his grand tri- umph.
 Had Nelson's services ceased here, his fame would still have been assured as the greatest of England's naval heroes. But still greater triumph awaited him. In the early part of 1895, glowing with fierce ardor and impatience, he had chased hall round the world French fleet of nearly double the force of his own, whose com manders were frightened by the very ter TOT of h1s name On the morning of the memorable 21st of October of that year he realized the desire of his heart, and saw before him, within the bay of Trafal gar, the combined navies of France and Spain moving to meet him in open fight The glorious consummatiOn that followed is too familiar theme to need relteration Before night the power of France upor the seas was annihilated, and her threat ened invasion of England had become like vanished dream. But Nelson was no more. He died as such men wish to die, amidst the thunders of his mightiest victory.
 According to his biographers, the char acter of Lord Nelson was, for man of his great talent, unusually simple :. and trans parent. A more absolute singelness oi aim and aspiration it is difficult to imag ing. Literally on fire with ardor and passion of enthusiasm. he was driven by
  est of all sailors, he was a sailor and little else. His genius for command has prob ably never been excelled. His coolness foresight, promptitude, instant intuitive decision, and daring which at times ever approached temerity. were yet regulated throughout by the incest calculations of reason. As man, his nature was most noble and humane; he was universally be loved, and with his gallant brethren il arms his relations were especially tender and chivalric. With the exception of his unfortunate attachment to Lady Hamil- ton, there seems to have been no blot ei ther upon his public or domestic career.
 Throughout England anything in tho shape of relic of Lord Nelson hal been eagerly sought after, and some O. them have been made the subject not on ly of pamphlets and heightened cores pondence, but of actions at law. Any ih1ng which belonged to Nelson at tho critical moments of fhe battles of the Mil