Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-12-01
BATTLE 0F THE NILE,
Where "the Boy Stood on the
 Burning Deck"
CAsABlANcA AND HIS FATE.

Ns
 Father and the Tragedy of the
 Doomed French Flagship. the Orient
 That was lucky child who in the oatter part of the last century escaped the ordeal of standing up before cir gle of relatives and friends-outw enthusiastic and admiring. inwardly often greatly bored-to repeat those well known if somewhat inaccurate lines that tell us how "the boy stood on the burning deck" Whether, nine times out of ten, the infant reciter or, for that matter, any of the members of the applauding family circle could have given the date and place of the occurrence may be doubtful. The forty Hines of Mrs. Hemans gave them all the history that they craved, and when the parrot-like performance closed with "faithful heart a sentimental maiden nunt would sigh, liberal uncle be- stow largesse to the extent of half crown. and that was all
 It was in 179S that young Casabi- anca, the ten-year-old son of the com modore of the French flagship Orient, stood amid the awful devastation of the battle of the Nile. Bonaparte had himself sailed in the i'll fated Orient from Toulon In the previous May, talk Ing with him good stock of bur gundy and also that famous camp H. brary" of cabinet editions, including forty volumes of English novels, in which the Bible and the Koran were classed under the head of politics" More important still for those who love the picturesque details of history and great men, he was accompanied by his then private secretary. Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, from whose always entertaining if not invariably accurate pen we have capital ac. count of the voyage to Egypt.
 Much of the time was passed by Ma poleon lying in his berth while Bonr- rienne read to him and in promoting discussions on various questions among the scientific and other distinguished men who accompanied the expedition. The flagship carried population of more than 2,o0O souls, and the cry of "Man overboard." was not infrequent. On these occasions Bonaparte display ed side of his character to which full Justice is not always done, Bour- rienne describes his agitation till res cue was effected as extreme. On one occasion a false alarm was raised dur ing the darkness of night, and the sup posed "man" proved to be the quarter of bullock which had dropped from the rigging. but Napoleon rewarded the rescuers even more literally than usual, pointing out that their exertion had been for what they believed hu- man life. &tFsfsSFf Sf$s
 i The fleet arrived off the coast of Af- rica on July 1, and here Bourrienne and his Memoirs" leave the squadron to accompany the army and his chief on land. Brueys, the French admiral, had during the voyage expressed fore pOuLISS uS to tHC lcSulI oI all ClSCuu- ter with the British fleet. Nelson, who sailed from Syracuse on July 9. was confident but we'll knew the price he might be called upon to pay. When Captain Berry said, If we succeed, what will the world say?" Nelson re- piled: There is no if in the case That we shall succeed is certain. Who may live to tell the story is a very differ ent question" For himself he made that famous anticipation, "A peerage pr Westminster abbey" The battle began at 6:30 o'clock, half an hour before nightfall. Nelson. on board the Vanguard. flew his colors In six places lest they should be shot hway. In a few minutes after the ship had gone into action the crews pf the first six guns were swept away by the terrible fire of the French fleet, and twice again during the fight were fresh crews called for. The shot which struck Nelson on the head tore from his forehead a piece of skin which, falling over his one useful eye, rendered him for the time being to- tally blind. Carried to the cockpit. he Insisted on taking his proper turn among the wounded for the surgeons attention. Sooa after 9 o'clock at night, while he was still below. cry arose that the Orient was on fire. Unaided and unnoticed in the confu- sion, Nelson made his way up, and presently from the quarterback his voice was heard shouting orders that the boats should be lowered to go to the assistance of the Orient's crew.
 The doomed French flagship had but Just been painted. and quantities of oil and infammable material filtered her deck. Brueys, the admiral, was dead, but Louis Casabianca and his little son were still on deck. At 10 o'clock the ship blew up. There came a burst of thunder sound," and, aI- though the commodore was not at the time lying unconscious of his son." as the poetess has 1t, for both were seen clinging to floating mast after the explosion, neither father nor son was among the seventy members of the crew who were saved by the Eng fish boats.
 From the mainmast and ironwork of the Orient Captain Hallowell of the Swiftsure had a coffin made. which "memento mori" he presented to the admiral that he might at the close of his career of glory be buried in one of his own trophies. Nelson received