NELSON, Horatio, Lord Viscount, the greatest naval commander that any age or country has produced, was the son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, and was born on the 29th of September 1758, at the parsonage house of Burnham-Thorpe, a village in the county of Norfolk, of which his father was rector. The maiden name of his mother was Suckling; her grandmother was an elder sister of Sir Robert Walpole, and the subject of this notice was named after the first Earl of Orford. Mrs Nelson died in 1767, leaving eight out of eleven children. Upon this occasion her brother, Captain Maurice Suckling, of the navy, visited Mr Nelson, and promised to take care of one of the boys. Three years afterwards, when Horatio was only twelve years of age, being at home during the Christmas holidays, he read in the county newspaper that his uncle had been appointed to the Raisonnable of sixty-four guns, and immediately applied to his father for permission to go to sea with his uncle. The boy was then receiving his education at North Walsham; and his constitution, which was naturally weak, had been much impaired by an attack of the ague, at that time one of the most common diseases in England. But his father’s circumstances were straitened, and he had no prospect of seeing them bettered; he knew that it was the wish of providing for himself by which Horatio was chiefly actuated; he also understood the boy’s character, and conceived that, in whatever station he might be placed, he would, if possible, climb to the top of the tree. The uncle was accordingly written to, and gave a reluctant consent to the proposal which had been made to him. “What,” said he, in reply, “has poor Horatio done, who is so weak, that he should be sent to rough it out at sea? But let him come, and the first time we go into action a [7:16:82]cannon-ball may knock off his head, and provide for him at once.” The Raisonnable, on board of which he was now placed as a midshipman, had been commissioned on account of the dispute respecting the Falkland Islands; but as soon as the difference with the court of Spain had been accommodated, the ship was paid off, and Captain Suckling removed to the Triumph of seventy-four guns, then stationed as a guard-ship in the Thames. This, however, was considered as too inactive a life for a boy, and Nelson was therefore sent a voyage to the West Indies in a merchant ship, commanded by a person who had served as master’s mate under his uncle in the Dreadnought. He returned a practical seaman, but with no affection for the king’s service, and was received by his uncle on board the Triumph, then lying at Chatham, in the month of July 1772.

Not many months after his return, his inherent love of enterprise was excited by hearing that two ships were fitting out for a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole. From the difficulties expected on such service, these vessels were to take out none but effective men, instead of the usual number of boys. This, however, did not deter Nelson from soliciting to be received, and by his uncle’s interest he was admitted as cockswain under Captain Lutwidge, the second in command. The voyage was undertaken in consequence of an application from the Royal Society; and the Honourable Captain John C. Phipps, eldest son of Lord Mulgrave, volunteered his services to command the expedition. The Racehorse and Carcass, bombs, were selected as the strongest ships, and therefore best adapted for such a voyage; and they were taken into dock and further strengthened, to render them as secure as possible against the ice. Two masters of Greenlandmen were employed as pilots for each ship; and the first lord of the admiralty, Lord Sandwich, with a laudable solicitude, took care to see that every thing had been provided to the wish of the officers. The expedition sailed from the Nore on the 4th of June 1773, and in the course of the following month came in sight of Spitzbergen, whence they proceeded to Moffen Island, beyond which they discovered seven other islands situated in the latitude of 81. 21. north. But advancing further in search of an opening, the ships were beset with ice, in which they became suddenly wedged, no fissure nf any kind being visible; and in this critical situation they remained five days, during which they were exposed to the greatest danger, and would inevitably have been destroyed if the ice had been agitated by the slightest breeze. Fortunatelythe weather remained singularly calm, and the ice having itself begun to drift to the westward, the ships were at length got clear. The season was now so far advanced that nothing more could have been attempted, if indeed any thing had been left untried. But the summer had been unusually favourable; and they had carefully surveyed the vast wall of ice extending for more than twenty degrees between the latitudes of 80° and 81° without discovering the smallest appearance of an opening. The expedition returned to England in October, and shortly afterwards the ships were paid off.

During this voyage Nelson gave several indications.of that daring and fearless spirit which ever afterwards distinguished him. Having been appointed to command one of the boats sent out to explore a passage into the open water, he was instrumental in saving a boat belonging to the Racehorse from a singular but imminent danger. Some of the officers having fired at and struck a walrus, the wounded animal immediately dived, and having brought up a number of its companions, they all joined in an attack upon the boat. They wrested an oar from one of the men, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the crew could prevent them from staving or upsetting the boat, till that of the Carcass came up to their assistance, upon which the walruses, finding their enemies thus reinforced, dispersed.

Young Nelson exposed himself in a yet more daring manner. One night, during the middle watch, he stole unperceived from the ship with one of his comrades, and taking advantage of a rising fog, set out in pursuit of a bear. It was not long before he was missed. The fog thickened, and Captain Lutwidge and his officers became exceedingly alarmed for their safety. Between three and four in the morning the fog cleared away, when the two adventurers were seen, at a considerable distance from the ship, attacking a huge bear, which they were only enabled to keep at bay by a chasm in the ice. Captain Lutwidge, seeing their danger, fired a gun, which had the desired effect of frightening the beast; and, on their return to the ship, he sternly reprimanded young Nelson for conduct so unworthy of the office he filled. When asked what motive he could have had for leaving the ship to hunt a bear, he replied, “I wished to kill it, that I might carry the skin to my father.”

The ships were paid off shortly after their return, and the youth was then placed by his uncle with Captain Farmer in the Seahorse of twenty guns, which was about to sail for the East Indies in the squadron of Sir Edward Hughes. In this ship he was rated as a midshipman, and attracted attention by his general good conduct. But when he had been about eighteen months in India, he felt the effects of the climate of that country, so perilous to European constitutions, and became so enfeebled by disease that he lost for a time the use of his limbs, and was brought almost to the brink of the grave. He embarked for England in the Dolphin, Captain Pigot, with a body broken down by sickness, and spirits which had sunk with his strength. But his health materially improved during the voyage, and his native air speedily repaired the injury it had sustained. On the 8th of April 1777 he passed, with much credit to himself, his examination for a lieutenancy, and next day received his commission as second lieutenant of the Lowestoffe, of thirty-two guns, then fitting out for Jamaica. In this frigate he cruised against the American and French privateers which were at that time harassing our trade in the West Indies; distinguished himself on various occasions by his activity and enterprise; and formed a friendship with his captain, Locker, of the Lowestoffe, which continued during his life. Having been warmly recommended to Sir Peter Parker, the commander-in-chief upon that station, he was removed into the Bristol flag-ship, and soon afterwards became first lieutenant. On the 8th of December 1788, he was appointed commander of the Badger brig, in which he rendered important assistance in rescuing the crew of the Glasgow, when that ship was accidentally set on fire in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

In the course of the following year (11th of June 1799), he obtained the rank of post-captain, and with it the command of the Hinchinbrook of twenty-eight guns, an enemy’s merchantman, sheathed with wood, which had been taken into the service. As Count d’Estaing, with a fleet of 125 sail, men of war and transports, and a reputed force of 25,000 men, now threatened Jamaica from St Domingo, Nelson offered his services to the admiral and the governor-general, Dalling, and was appointed to command the batteries of Fort-Charles at Port-Royal, the most important post in the island. D’Estaing, however, attempted nothing with this formidable armament, and the British general was thus left to execute a design which he had formed against the Spanish colonies. This project was to take Fort San Juan, situated upon the river of that name, which flows from Lake Nicaragua into the Gulf of Mexico to make himself master of the lake itself, and of the cities of Granada and Leon; and thus to cut off the communication between the northern and southern possessions of Spain in America. Nelson was appointed to the command of the naval department, and that of the military was committed to a major in the army. But although the gene [7:16:83] ral’s plans were well formed, the nature of the country had not been studied so accurately as its geography. The difficulties which occurred in fitting out the expedition delayed it till the season was too far advanced; and the men were thus sent to adventure themselves, not so much against an enemy whom they might have beaten, as against a climate which would effectually do the enemy’s work. Early in 1780, five hundred men, destined for this service, were convoyed by Nelson from Port-Royal to Cape Gracias a Dios in Honduras; and, on the 24th of March, they reached the river San Juan, where Nelson’s services were to terminate. But not a man in the expedition had ever been up the river, or knew the distance of any fortification from its mouth. Nelson, however, not being one to turn his back when so much was to be done, resolved to carry up the soldiers, and, in spite of every difficulty, succeeded in conveying them a hundred miles up a river which none but Spaniards had navigated since the time of the buccaneers. On the 9th of April they reached a small island, called St Bartolomeo, which the Spaniards had fortified as an outpost, to command the river, in a rapid and difficult part of the navigation. Nelson, at the head of a few seamen, leaped upon the beach, and being gallantly supported by Despard, then a captain in the army, advanced against the battery, which he at once stormed, or, in his own phrase, boarded, driving away the Spaniards, and capturing their guns. The castle of San Juan, situated sixteen miles higher up, was the next object of attack. Nelson advised that it should instantly be carried by assault; but he was not the commander, and it was thought proper to observe the formalities of a siege. The attack commenced on the 13th, and the place surrendered on the 24th of April. But victory procured to the conquerors none of that relief which they had expected. No supplies of any kind were found; the castle itself proved worse than a prison; the huts which served as hospitals were surrounded with filth and putrid hides; sickness at length became general, leaving few men able to perform garrison duty; and the rains continued with scarcely any interval from April till October, when this baleful conquest was abandoned. Of 1800 men who had been sent to different posts upon this wretched expedition, not more than 380 ever returned. Nelson himself was saved by a timely removal, though not until after he had been seized with the prevailing dysentery. Having been appointed to succeed Captain Glover in the Janus of forty-four guns, he sailed for Jamaica; but on reaching Port-Royal he found himself so greatly reduced by the disorder, that he was compelled to ask leave to return to England, as the only means of recovery. He was taken home in the Lyon, by Captain, afterwards Admiral, Cornwallis, to whose care and kindness he believed himself indebted for the preservation of his life.

In three months, however, his health was so far re-established that he applied for employment; and being appointed to the Albemarle of twenty-eight guns, he was sent to the North Seas, and kept there during the whole winter, a mode of conduct which he deeply resented, as equally cruel to the individual, and detrimental to the service. In this cruize, however, he gained a considerable knowledge of the Danish coast and its soundings. On his return he was ordered to Quebec, and in consequence sailed for Canada. During this cruise, the Albemarle had a narrow escape from four French sail of the line and a frigate, which having come out of Boston, gave chase to her. Confiding in his own skill in pilotage, Nelson, perceiving that they gained on him, boldly ran amongst the numerous shoals of St George’s bank, and thus escaped. In October 1782, he sailed from Quebec with a convoy of transports for New York, where he joined Lord Hood, who, with a detachment of Rodney’s victorious fleet, was then at Sandy Hook. His professional merit was already so well known, that Lord Hood, on introducing him to the Duke of Clarence, who was at that time serving as a midshipman in the Barfleur, told his royal highness that, if he wished to ask any questions in naval tactics, Captain Nelson could give him as much information as any officer in the fleet. In November he accompanied Lord Hood to the West Indies, and continued there in active employment till the peace of 1783, when the Albemarle returned to England, and was paid off.

After his arrival in England, Nelson, finding it prudent to economise his half-pay during the peace, went to France, and took lodgings at St Omers, where he remained till the spring of the following year. In the interval he had lost his favourite sister, and formed an attachment for the daughter of an English clergyman, whom his straitened circumstances alone prevented him from marrying. On his return he was appointed to the Boreas of twenty-eight guns, which had been ordered to the Leeward Islands as a cruiser on the peace establishment. Whilst on this station, where he found himself senior captain, and consequently second in command, he evinced the utmost zeal and activity in protecting British interests, and in causing the navigation act to be respected, especially by the Americans, who had attempted, under various pretences, to establish an independent commerce with the West India Islands; a line of conduct which involved him in much trouble, without procuring him reward or even acknowledgment, the thanks of the treasury having been transmitted to the commanderin-chief, who had thwarted instead of encouraging him in the discharge of an arduous and important duty. He had, however, something to console him amidst his perplexities. Having become acquainted with an amiable and accomplished lady, the widow of Dr Nisbet, a physician, and then only in her eighteenth year, he made proposals of marriage, which were accepted, and they were married on the 11th of March 1787, the Duke of Clarence, who had gone out to the West Indies the preceding winter, being present, by his own desire, to give away the bride. During his service upon this station he had ample opportunities of observing the scandalous practices of the contractors, prize-agents, and other persons in the West Indies connected with the naval service, and he did every thing in his power to check them, although, unhappily, without success. The Boreas returned to England in June, but was not paid off till the end of November, having been kept nearly five months at the Nore as a slop and receiving ship. Nelson was still in a very precarious state of health; and this unworthy treatment, whether it proceeded from intention or neglect, excited in his mind the strongest indignation. His resentment, however, was appeased by the favourable reception which he met with at court, when presented to his majesty by Lord Howe; and having fully explained to that nobleman the grounds upon which he had acted, he retired to enjoy the pleasures of domestic happiness at the parsonage-house at Burnham-Thorpe, which his father had given him as a residence. But the vexatious affair of the American captures was not yet terminated. He was harassed with threats of prosecution, and, in his absence on some business, a writ or notification was served on his wife, upon the part of the American captains, who now laid their damages at L.20,000. When presented with this paper, his indignation was excessive; and he immediately wrote to the treasury, that unless he was supported by government he would leave the country. “If sixpence would save me from prosecution,” said he, “I would not give it.” The answer he received, however, quieted his fears; he was told to be under no apprehension, for he would assuredly be supported; and here his disquietude upon this subject seems to have ended.

During the time which he spent in retirement, he repeatedly requested the admiralty not to leave him to rust in indolence; but his various applications were unsuccess [7:16:84]ful. At the commencement of the French war, however, it was judged expedient to employ him; and, on the 30th of January 1793, he was appointed to the Agamemnon of sixty-four guns, and placed under the orders of Lord Hood, then appointed to the chief command in the Mediterranean. The limits prescribed to this article admit not of our entering into any details of his various achievements upon this station. The high opinion which Lord Hood entertained of his talents and ability, as well as courage, was manifested by the arduous services with the execution of which his lordship intrusted him. Being sent to Corsica with a small squadron to co-operate with Paoli and the party opposed to France, he undertook the siege of Bastia, and in a short time reduced it. The place capitulated on the 19th of May 1794. He next proceeded in the Agamemnon to co-operate with General Sir Charles Stuart in the siege of Calvi. Here Nelson had less responsibility than at Bastia; he was acting with a man after his own heart, who slept every night in the advanced battery. But the service proved not less hard than that of the former siege; twenty-five pieces of heavy ordnance having been dragged to the different batteries, mounted, and, all but three, fought by seamen. Here Nelson received a serious injury. A shot having struck the ground near him, drove the sand and small gravel into one of his eyes. He spoke of it lightly at the time, and in fact suffered it to confine him only one day; but the sight of the eye was nevertheless lost. After the fall of Calvi his services were, by a strange omission, altogether overlooked, and his name was not even mentioned in the list of wounded. Nelson felt himself not only neglected, but wronged. “They have not done me justice,” said he; “but never mind, 1’11 have a gazette of my own.” And, on another occasion, the same second-sight of glory led him to predict that one day or other he would have a long gazette to himself. “I feel,” said he, “that such an opportunity will be given me. If I am in the field of glory, I cannot be kept out of sight.”

Lord Hood now returned to England, and the command devolved upon Admiral Hotham. At this time the affairs of the Mediterranean wore a gloomy aspect. Tuscany had concluded peace with France; Corsica was in danger; Genoa was threatened; and the French, who had not yet been taught to feel their inferiority upon the seas, openly braved us on that element. Having a superior fleet in the Mediterranean, they now sent it out with express orders to seek the English and engage them. In the action which followed between the English fleet under Admiral Hotham, and that which had come out from Toulon, Nelson greatly distinguished himself, manoeuvring and fighting his ship with equal ability and determination; and when the action was renewed the following day, he had the honour of hoisting the English colours on board of the Ca Ira and the Censeur, which both struck to him, and were the only ships of the enemy taken on that occasion.^[1. Nelson urged the admiral to pursue the enemy, and follow up his advantage to the utmost; but the latter replied, “We must be contented; we have done very well.” The captain of the Agamemnon did not understand such timid reasoning. “Had we taken ten sail,” said he, “and allowed the eleventh to escape when it had been possible to have got at her, I could never have called it well done.” He adds, that, if his advice had been followed, they would have had such a day as the annals of England never produced. ] About this time Nelson was made colonel of marines, a mark of approbation which he had rather wished for than expected; and soon afterwards the Agamemnon was ordered to Genoa to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian forces. This was indeed a new line of service, imposing multifarious duties, and involving great responsibility; yet it was also one for which Nelson had already evinced a singular aptitude, and in which, had he been at all seconded by the land forces, his assistance would have led to important results. But there was no unity in the views of the allied powers, no cordiality in their co-operation, no energy in their councils. They acted upon no fixed principle, and their officers were distinguished only for their utter incapacity. Through the gross misconduct of the Austrian general, Devins, the allies were completely defeated by an army of boys, and the French obtained possession of the Genoese coast from Savona to Vol tri, thus intercepting the direct communication between the Austrian army and the English fleet. After this disgraceful affair, the Agamemnon was recalled, and sailed for Leghorn to refit, being literally riddled with shot, and having all her masts and yards wounded.

Sir John Jervis having arrived to take the command in the Mediterranean, Nelson sailed from Leghorn in the Agamemnon, which had now been repaired, and joined the admiral in Fiorenzo Bay. When the French took possession of Leghorn, he blockaded that port, and landed a force in the isle of Elba to secure Porto Ferrajo. Soon afterwards he took the island of Capraja; and the British cabinet having resolved to evacuate Corsica, he ably performed this humiliating service. He was then ordered to hoist his broad pendant on board of the Minerve frigate, Captain George Cockburn, and to proceed, with the Blanche, to Porto Ferrajo, and bring away the troops and stores left at that place. On his way thither he fell in with two Spanish frigates, the Sabina and Ceres, the former of which, after an action of three hours, during which the Spaniards lost 164 men, struck to the Minerve. The Ceres, however, had got off from the Blanche; and as the prisoners had hardly been conveyed on board of the Minerve when another enemy’s frigate came up, Nelson was compelled to cast off the prize and go a second time into action. But after a short trial of strength, this new antagonist wore and hauled off; and as a Spanish squadron of two sail of the line and two frigates now came in sight, the commodore made all sail for Porto Ferrajo, whence he soon returned with a convoy to Gibraltar.

Having completed this service, he immediately proceeded to the westward in quest of the admiral, being apprehensive lest a general action should take place before he could join the fleet. Off the mouth of the Straits he fell in with the Spanish fleet, and, reaching the station off Cape St Vincent on the 13th of February 1797, he communicated this intelligence to Sir John Jervis, by whom he was now directed to shift his broad pendant on board the Captain, of seventy-four guns. Before sunset the signal was made to prepare for action, and to keep in close order during the night; and at day-break on the 14th the enemy were in sight. The British force consisted of two ships of 100 guns, two of 98, two of 90, eight of 74, and one of 64, with four frigates, a sloop, and a cutter; the Spaniards had one ship of 136 guns, six of 112 guns each, two of 84, and eighteen of 74, with ten frigates and a brig. The disproportion was no doubt great, but it was in a great measure neutralised by the superiority of the British crews, and the tactical ability displayed by the British admiral. Before the enemy could form a regular order of battle, Sir John Jervis, by carrying a press of sail, came up with them, passed through their fleet, then tacked, and thus cut off nine of their ships from the main body. These ships now attempted to form on the larboard tack, either with a design of passing through the British line, or of running to leeward of it, and thus rejoining their friends. But only one of them succeeded, because, being covered with smoke, her intention was not discovered till she had reached the rear; the others were so warmly received that they put about, took to flight, and did not appear again in the action till [7:16:85]its close. The admiral being now at liberty to direct his. attention to the enemy’s main body, still superior in number to his whole fleet, made signal to tack in succession. Nelson, whose station was in the rear of the British line, perceiving that the Spaniards were bearing up before the wind, with an intention of forming line and joining their separated ships, or of avoiding an engagement, disobeyed the signal without a moment’s hesitation, and ordered his ship to be wore. This at once brought him into action with seven of the enemy’s ships, four of which were first-rates. But he was nobly supported by Troubridge in the Culloden; and the Blenheim also came to his assistance. The Salvador del Mundo and San Isidro dropped astern, and were fired into with tremendous effect by the Excellent, Captain Collingwood, to whom the latter struck. At this moment the Captain was closely engaged with three first-rates, the San Nicoas, an eighty-gun ship, and a seventy-four; the Blenheim was ahead, and the Culloden, crippled, had drifted astern. Disdaining the parade of taking possession of beaten enemies, Collingwood immediately ranged up, passed within ten feet of the San Nicoas, giving her a tremendous broadside, and then pushed on for the Santissima Trinidad of 136 guns. The San Nicoas having luffed up, the San Joseph fell on board of her, and Nelson resumed his station abreast of them, and close alongside. The Captain being now incapable of further service, either in the line or in chase, Nelson directed the helm to be put a-starboard, and calling the boarders, ordered them to board. The San Nicoas was carried after a short struggle, and the San Joseph boarded from the San Nicoas, Nelson himself leading the way, and exclaiming, “Westminster Abbey or victory.” This was the work of an instant; but before Nelson could reach the quarter-deck of the Spanish ship, an officer looked over the rail, and said they surrendered. This daring achievement was effected with comparatively small loss, and Nelson himself received only a few bruises. The Captain, however, had suffered severely in the action. She had lost her fore-top-mast; not a sail, shroud, nor rope was left; her wheel had been shot away; and a fourth part of the loss sustained by the whole squadron had fallen upon that single ship.

The Spaniards had still eighteen or nineteen ships which had suffered little or no injury; that part of the fleet which had been separated from the main body in the morning was now coming up; and Sir John Jervis made the signal to bring to. The enemy, however, did not venture to renew the combat; and, as soon as the action was discontinued, Nelson went on board the admiral’s ship. Sir John Jervis received him with open arms, and said he could not sufficiently thank him. For this victory the commanderin-chief was rewarded with a peerage and the title of Earl St Vincent; whilst Nelson, who, before the action was known in England, had been advanced to the rank of rear-admiral, received the insignia of the Bath, and a gold medal from his sovereign.

In April 1797, Sir Horatio Nelson, having hoisted his flag as rear-admiral of the blue, was sent to bring away the troops from Porto Ferrajo; and having performed this service, he shifted his flag to the Theseus, a ship which had taken part in the mutiny in England. Whilst in the Theseus, he was employed in the command of the inner squadron at the blockade of Cadiz. During this service, his personal courage was eminently signalized. In a night attack upon the Spanish gun-boats (3d of July 1797), his barge was assailed by an armed launch, carrying twenty-six men, whilst he had with him only the usual complement of ten men and the cockswain, besides Captain Freemantle. After a severe conflict, hand to hand, eighteen of the enemy were killed, all the rest wounded, and the launch taken. Twelve days after this rencontre, Nelson sailed at the head of an expedition against Teneriffe. It having been ascertained that a homeward-bound Manilla ship had recently put into Santa Cruz, the expedition was undertaken in the hope of capturing this rich prize. But it was not fitted out upon the scale which Nelson had proposed; no troops were embarked; and although the attack was made with great intrepidity, the attempt failed. The boats of the squadron being manned, a landing was effected early in the night, and Santa Cruz taken and occupied for about seven hours; but the assailants, finding it impracticable to storm the citadel, were obliged to prepare for retreat, which they effected without molestation, agreeably to stipulations which had been made with the Spanish governor by Captain Troubridge, whose firmness and presence of mind were conspicuously displayed on this occasion. The total loss of the English in killed, wounded, and drowned, amounted to 250. Nelson himself was amongst the wounded, having, in stepping out of the boat to land, received a shot through the right elbow, which shattered the whole arm, and rendered amputation necessary.

Nelson was now obliged to return to England, where honours awaited him sufficient to cheer his mind amidst the sufferings occasioned by the loss of his arm. Letters were addressed to him by the first lord of the admiralty and the Duke of Clarence; the freedom of the cities of London and Bristol was transmitted to him; he was invested with the order of the Bath; and he also received a pension of L.1000 a year.^[2. The memorial which, as a matter of course, he was called upon to present on this occasion, exhibited an extraordinary catalogue of services performed during the war. It stated, that he had been in four actions with the fleets of the enemy, and in three actions with frigates, in six engagements against batteries, in ten actions in boats employed in cutting vessels out of harbour or in destroying them, and in taking three towns; that he had served on shore with the army four months, and commanded the batteries at the sieges of Bastia and Calvi; that he had assisted at the capture of seven sail of the line, six frigates, four corvettes, and eleven privateers of different sizes; that he had taken and destroyed nearly fifty sail of merchant-vessels, and had actually been engaged against the enemy upwards of one hundred and twenty times; in which services he had lost his right eye and right arm, and had been severely wounded and bruised in his body. This memorial, which is dated “October 17θ7,” and addressed “to the king’s most excellent majesty,” is perhaps without a parallel in our naval history; yet what splendid additions were afterwards made by him to the catalogue of his services .’ ] His sufferings from the lost limb, however, were long and painful. A nerve had been taken up in one of the ligatures at the time of the operation, and besides, the ligature was of silk instead of waxed thread; a circumstance which produced a constant irritation and discharge, until at length, after three months of continual pain, it came away about the end of November. From that time the arm began to heal, and, as soon as he found his health re-established, he sent to a neighbouring church a form of devout thanksgiving to Almighty God for his recovery from a severe wound.

In April 1798, he hoisted his flag on board the Vanguard, and was ordered to rejoin Earl St Vincent. Immediately on his arrival, he was despatched to the Mediterranean with a small squadron, to ascertain, if possible, the object of the great expedition which was then fitting out at Toulon. He sailed from Gibraltar on the 9th of May, with three seventy-fours, four frigates, and a sloop of war. On the 19th the squadron reached the Gulf of Lyons, and on the 22d a violent storm inflicted serious injury on the Vanguard; the main-top-mast went over the side, the mizen-top-mast soon afterwards gave way, the fore-mast went in three pieces, and the boltsprit was found to be sprung in as many places. Captain Ball in the Alexander now took the disabled ship in tow in order [7:16:86] to carry her into the harbour of St Pietro, in Sardinia. Nelson, apprehensive that the attempt might endanger both vessels, ordered him to cast her off; but that excellent officer replied that he was confident he could save the Vanguard, and, by God’s help, he would do it. Previously to this there had been a coolness between Sir Horatio and Captain Ball; but from this time the former became fully sensible of the great merit of the latter, and a sincere friendship subsisted between them during the remainder of their lives. By extraordinary exertions the Vanguard was refitted in four days; the supply of water was also completed; and he received a reinforcement often ships of the line and one of fifty guns, which Lord St Vincent had sent to him under the command of Commodore Troubridge. That officer took with him to Nelson no instructions as to the course he was to steer, nor any certain account of the enemy’s destination. Every thing was left to his own judgment. But, unfortunately, the frigates having been separated from him in the tempest, had not yet been able to rejoin; and he was obliged to sail without them. The first news of the enemy’s armament was that it had surprised Malta. Nelson now formed a plan for attacking it whilst at anchor at Gozo; but on the 22d of June he received information that the French had left the island on the 16th, the day after their arrival. Thinking it clear that their destination was eastward, he accordingly made all sail for Egypt, and arrived off Alexandria on the 28th; but the enemy were not there, neither could any account of them be obtained. He then shaped his course to the northward for Caramania, and steered along the southern side of Candia, carrying a press of sail night and day, with a contrary wind. The want of the frigates was now severely felt; they were the eyes of the fleet, and if they had not been separated, he could scarcely have failed to gain information of the enemy. Baffled in the pursuit, however, he returned to Sicily, took in what stores he required at Syracuse, and on the 25th of July sailed for the Morea. The period of uncertainty was now approaching its term. On the 28th the squadron made the Gulf of Coron, and Troubridge having entered the port, returned with the intelligence that the French had been seen about a month before steering to the south-east from Candia. On receiving this information, Nelson determined to return immediately to Alexandria; and, accordingly, the British fleet, with every sail set, stood once more for the coast of Egypt. On the 1st of August they came in sight of Alexandria; and, at four in the afternoon, Captain Hood, in the Zealous, made the signal for the French fleet. For several days previous to this the admiral had scarcely taken either food or sleep. He now ordered his dinner to be served, whilst preparations were making for battle; and when his officers rose from table to repair to their several stations, he said to them, “Before this time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage, or Westminster Abbey.”

The French fleet had arrived at Alexandria on the 1st of July; and the admiral, Brueys, not being able to enter the port, which time and neglect had ruined, moored his ships in Aboukir Bay, in a strong and compact line of battle; the headmost vessel being close to a shoal on the north-west, and the rest of the fleet forming a kind of curve along the line of deep water, so as not to be turned by any means on the south-west. The advantage of numbers, both in ships, guns, and men, was in favour of the French. They had thirteen ships of the line and four frigates, carrying 1196 guns, and 11,230 men. The English had the same number of ships of the line, and one fifty-gun ship, carrying 1012 guns and 8068 men. The English ships were all seventy-fours; the French had three eighty-gun ships, and one three-decker of 120 guns. But any disparity of force on the part of the latter was more than compensated by their having such a commander as Nelson. That gallant chief has not left any detailed account of his plan of attack: but it was well understood by the squadron, and has been accurately described by several who assisted in carrying it into execution. It had been his practice, during the pursuit, to have his captains on board the Vanguard, whenever circumstances would permit, and to explain to them his own ideas as to the best modes of attack, and the plans which he proposed to execute on falling in with the enemy, whatever their situation might be. His officers were thus well acquainted with the principles of his tactics; and such was his confidence in their abilities, that the only thing determined on, in case they should find the French at anchor, was that the ships should form in the manner most convenient for mutual support, and then anchor by the stern. But the moment he perceived the position of the enemy, the thought instantly struck him that where there was room for a French ship to swing, there would also be room for one of his to anchor. He, therefore, resolved to keep entirely on the outer side of the French line, and to station his ships, as far as he was able, one on the outer bow, and another on the outer quarter, of each of the enemy’s, thus doubling on a certain portion of their line. When he had fully explained his plan of attack, Captain Berry, perceiving the scope of the design, exclaimed with transport, “If we succeed, what will the world say?” “There is no if in the case,” replied the admiral; “that we shall succeed is certain; but who may live to tell the story is a different question.”

The battle commenced at half-past six o’clock, a little before sunset. Captain Foley led the way in the Goliath, out-sailing the Zealous, Captain Hood, which for some minutes disputed with him the post of honour. As the squadron advanced, the enemy opened a steady fire from the starboard side of their line, into the bows of the leading British ships. It was received in silence, whilst the men on board of each ship were employed aloft in furling the sails, and below in tending the braces and making ready for anchoring; a proceeding which told the enemy that escape was impossible. Foley, in the Goliath, intending to fix himself upon the inner bow of the Guerrier, kept as near the edge of the bank as the water would admit; but his anchor hung, and having opened his fire, he drifted to the second ship, the Conquérant, before it was clear, then anchored by the stern, inside of her, and in ten minutes shot away her masts. Hood, in the Zealous, took the station which the Goliath intended to have occupied, and, in twelve minutes, totally disabled the Guerrier. The Orion, Sir James Saumarez, was the next ship which doubled on the enemy’s van. Passing to windward of the Zealous, she opened her larboard guns as long as they bore on the Guerrier, then passing inside the Goliath, sunk a frigate, hauled round, and anchoring between the fifth and sixth ships from the Guerrier, took her station on the larboard bow of the Franklin, and the quarter of the Peuple Souverain, receiving and returning the fire of both. The Audacious, Captain Gould, pouring heavy broadsides into the Guerrier and Conquérant, fixed herself on the larboard bow of the latter; and when that ship struck, passed on to the Peuple Souverain. The Theseus, Captain Millar, followed, and having brought down the remaining masts of the Guerrier, anchored inside the Spartiate, the third ship in the French line. Whilst these advanced ships thus doubled on the enemy’s line, the Vanguard was the first which anchored on the outer side, within half pistol-shot of the Spartiate. Nelson veered half a cable, and instantly opened a tremendous fire, under cover of which the four other ships of his division sailed ahead of the admiral. In a few minutes every man stationed at the first six guns in the fore part of the Vanguard was either killed or wounded; and these guns were three times cleared. The Minotaur, [7:16:87]Captain Louis, anchored next ahead, and took off the fire of the Aquilon, the enemy’s fourth ship. The Bellerophon, Captain Darby, passed ahead, and dropped her stern anchor on the starboard bow of the Orient, Bruey’s own ship, of 120 guns. Captain Peyton, in the Defence, now took his station ahead of the Minotaur, and engaged the Franklin, the enemy’s sixth ship, by which judicious movement the British line remained unbroken. The Majestic, Captain Westcott, got entangled· with the main rigging of a French ship astern of the Orient, and suffered severely from the fire of that three-decker; but she at length swung clear, and closely engaged the Heureux, the ninth ship, on the starboard bow, receiving also the fire of the Tonnant, the eighth in the French line.

The four remaining ships of the British squadron, having been detached previously to the discovery of the French fleet, were at a considerable distance when the battle commenced. Troubridge, in the Culloden, the foremost of these ships, was two leagues astern. He came on sounding, as the others had done; but as he advanced the increasing darkness augmented the difficulty of the navigation, and, in rounding the reef, his ship suddenly grounded, and, notwithstanding the greatest exertions, could not be got off in time to bear a part in the action. The Culloden, however, served as a beacon to the Alexander and Swiftsure, which entered the bay, and took their stations amidst the darkness, which was relieved only by the flashes of light from the contending fleets. The Swiftsure, Captain Hallowell, occupied the position from which the Bellerophon, overpowered by the huge Orient, had drifted almost a complete wreck, opening a steady fire on the quarter of the Franklin and the bows of the French flag-ship; and at the same instant the Alexander, Captain Ball, passed under his stern, and anchored within-side, on the larboard quarter of the Orient, raking that ill-fated ship, and keeping up a severe fire of musketry upon her decks. Lastly, the Leander, Captain Thomson, finding that the Culloden could not be got off, advanced with the intention of anchoring athwart hawse of the Orient; but the Franklin being near ahead, there was not room for him to pass clear of the two, and he took his station athwart hawse of that ship, in a position which enabled him to rake both.

The first two ships of the French line had been dismasted within a quarter of an hour after the commencement of the action; and the others had suffered so severely that victory was already certain. At half-past eight o’clock, the third, fourth, and fifth were taken possession of. In the mean time Nelson had received a severe wound on the head from a langridge shot, which cut a large flap of skin from the forehead, and occasioned such an effusion of blood that the injury was at first believed to be mortal. But when the surgeon came to examine the wound, he found that the hurt was merely superficial, and requested that the admiral would remain quiet. Nelson, however, could not rest, and having called for his secretary, had begun to dictate his despatches, when suddenly a cry was heard upon deck that the Orient was on fire. In the confusion, he found his way up unassisted and unnoticed, and having appeared on the quarter-deck, immediately gave orders that boats should be sent to the relief of the enemy. It was about ten minutes after nine o’clock when the fire broke out in the Orient. Brueys was dead. He had received three wounds, yet would not leave his post; and when a fourth cut him almost in two, he desired to be left to die upon deck. In the meanwhile the flames soon mastered the devoted ship, and by the light of the conflagration, the situation of both fleets could be perceived, their colours being clearly distinguishable. About ten o’clock the ship blew up with a tremendous explosion, which was followed by a pause not less awful. The firing immediately ceased; and the first sound which broke the silence was the dash of her shattered masts and yards falling into the water from the vast height to which they had been projected by the explosion. The combat recommenced with the ships to leeward of the centre, and continued till about three in the morning. At day-break on the 2d, the Guillaume Tell and the Généreux were the only ships of the French line which had their colours flying. Not having been engaged, they cut their cables in the forenoon, and stood out to sea, accompanied by two frigates. The Zealous pursued; but as there was no other ship in a condition to support her, she was recalled. Of thirteen sail of the line, nine were taken, and two burnt (the Timoleon having shared the fate of the Orient); and of four frigates, one was burnt and another sunk. In short, it was a conquest rather than a victory. The French fleet had been annihilated; and if the English admiral had been provided with small craft, nothing could have prevented the destruction of the store-ships and transports in the harbour of Alexandria.

Nelson was now at the very summit of glory. Congratulations, rewards, and honours were showered upon him by all the foreign states and powers to which his victory promised a respite from French aggression. In his own country, he was created Baron Nelson of the Nile and of Burnham-Thorpe, with a pension of L.2000 a year for his own life and those of his two immediate successors; a degree of rank which, though it might be the measure of ministerial gratitude, was by no means commensurate with the services for which it was bestowed on him. A grant of L.10,000 was voted to Nelson by the East India Company; the Turkish Company presented him with a piece of plate; and the city of London bestowed honorary swords on the admiral and on each of his captains. In the distribution of rewards, he was particularly anxious that the captain and first lieutenant of the Culloden should not be passed over because of their misfortune. “It was Troubridge,” said he, in addressing the admiralty, “who equipped the squadron so soon at Syracuse; it was Troubridge who exerted himself for me, after the action; it was Troubridge who saved the Culloden, when none that I know in the service would have attempted it.” As the ship had’not been engaged, however, it was thought necessary to make an exception as to the captain; but Nelson was desired to promote the lieutenant upon the first vacancy that should occur.

Having made the necessary arrangements in regard to the prizes, and left a squadron before Alexandria, Nelson stood out to sea on the seventeenth day after the battle, and early on the 22d of September appeared in sight of Naples, where the Culloden and Alexander had preceded him, and given notice of his approach. Here he was received with every demonstration of joy and triumph, both by the royal family and the people, and formed' that unfortunate connection with Lady Hamilton which exercised so baneful an influence on the rest of his life. The state of Naples at this period was deplorable. The king, like the rest of his race, was passionately fond of field-sports, and cared for almost nothing else. The queen had all the vices of the house of Austria, with little to mitigate and nothing to ennoble them. The people were sunk in ignorance, and debased by misgovernment; at once turbulent and cowardly, ferocious and indolent, irreligious and fanatical. Nelson was fully sensible of the depravity and weakness of all by whom he was surrounded; yet, seduced by the blandishments of the queen, the flatteries of the court, and the pernicious influence which Lady Hamilton now began to exercise over his mind, he suffered himself to be implicated in transactions which compromised the honour of his country, and deeply tarnished his hitherto unsullied fame. The defeat of Mack at Castellana, and the advance of the French towards Naples, were followed by the flight of the royal [7:16:88]family, who were conveyed by Nelson to Palermo. After this an armistice was signed (10th of January 1799), by which the greater part of the kingdom was given up to the enemy; and this cession necessarily led to the loss of the whole. Naples was occupied by the French under Championnet, and the short-lived Parthenopean republic soon afterwards established. But the successes of the allies in Italy speedily changed the face of affairs, and prepared the way for the restoration of the exiled monarch.

Relying on the diminished numbers of the enemy, whose force had been greatly reduced, the royalists took the field, and Cardinal Ruffo appeared at the head of an armed rabble, which he called the Christian army. Captain Foote, in the Seahorse, with some Neapolitan frigates, and a few smaller vessels, was ordered to co-operate with this force, and to give it all the assistance in his power. Ruffo, advancing without any plan, but ready to take advantage of any accident which might occur, now approached Naples. Fort St Elmo, which commands the city, was garrisoned by French troops; but the castles of Uovo and Nuovo, commanding the anchorage, were chiefly defended by the Neapolitan “patriots,” the leading men amongst them having taken shelter there. As the possession of these castles would greatly facilitate the reduction of Fort St Elmo, Ruffo proposed to the garrison to capitulate, on condition that their persons and property should be respected, and that they should, at their own option, either be sent to Toulon or remain at Naples, without being molested in their persons. These terms were accepted, and the capitulation was signed by the cardinal, the Russian and Turkish commanders, and also by Captain Foote as commanding the British force. But Nelson, who soon afterwards arrived in the bay with a large fleet, made a signal to annul the treaty, declaring that he would grant to rebels no other terms than those of unconditional submission; and, notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of the cardinal, who protested that a treaty solemnly concluded could not be honourably set aside, the garrisons of the castles were delivered over as rebels to the vengeance of the Sicilian court. The tragedy which followed formed an appropriate sequel to this disgraceful and infamous transaction. The aged Prince Caraccioli, a man of high character and great personal merit, was accused of having joined the enemy, and, after a sham trial by a court-martial of Neapolitan officers assembled on board the British flagship, found guilty, and sentenced to death; and this sentence Lord Nelson ordered to be carried into execution the same evening, on board of the Sicilian frigate La Minerva. He was arrested at nine in the morning, put on his trial at ten, condemned at twelve, and hanged at the fore-yardarm of the frigate at five o’clock in the afternoon, after which his body was cut down and thrown into the sea.^[3. After receiving sentence, Caraccioli requested Lieutenant Parkinson, in whose custody he was, to intercede with Lord Nelson for a new trial. He complained that he had not been allowed time to prove his defence, which was, that he had acted under compulsion; and, in particular, that Count Thurn, who presided at the court-martial, was notoriously his personal enemy. To this Lord Nelson answered, that the prince had been fairly tried by the officers of his own country, and that he could not interfere. But he forgot, that if he felt himself warranted in ordering the trial and the execution, no human being could ever have questioned the propriety of his interfering on the side of mercy. Caraccioli then earnestly entreated that he might be shot, declaring that the disgrace of being hanged was dreadful to him. Even to this supplication Lord Nelson lent a deaf ear, and told the lieutenant to go and attend to his duty. As a last hope, Caraccioli thought of an application to Lady Hamilton; and Lieutenant Parkinson went to seek her. She was not to be seen on this occasion; but she was present at the execution. Quis talia fando temperet a lacrymis9 Whilst horror thrills through our veins at the conduct of those parties, it is impossible to contemplate without emotion the fate of the aged patriot who was thus cruelly sacrificed. ] If any thing could deepen the indignation and abhorrence which these foul deeds are calculated to excite in every honourable and virtuous mind, it would be the circumstance that Nelson accepted from the Sicilian court a reward for services which leave such an indelible stain on his memory. In addition to a sword splendidly enriched with diamonds, he received the dukedom of Bronte, a title which seems to have greatly flattered his vanity, with a domain worth about L.3000 a year.

After the appointment of Lord Keith to the chief command of the fleet in the Mediterranean, Nelson made preparations for his return to England; and, as a ship could not be spared to convey him thither, he travelled through Germany to Hamburg, in company with Sir William and Lady Hamilton, and having embarked at Cuxhaven, landed at Yarmouth on the 6th of November 1800, after an absence of three years from his native country. He was welcomed in England with every mark of popular respect and admiration; in the towns through which he passed the people came out to meet him, and in London he was feasted by the city, drawn by the populace, thanked for his victory by the common council, and presented with a gold-hilted sword studded with diamonds. He had now every earthly blessing except domestic happiness, which, in consequence of his infatuated attachment to Lady Hamilton, he had forfeited for ever. Before he had been three months in England he separated from Lady Nelson, at the same time calling God to witness that there was nothing in her or in her conduct which he could wish otherwise. His best friends remonstrated against this causeless and cruel desertion; but their expostulations produced no other effect than to make him displeased with them, and dissatisfied with himself.

The three northern courts of Denmark, Sweden, and Russia, had now formed a confederacy for the purpose of. setting limits to the naval pretensions of Great Britain; and as such a combination, under the influence of France, would soon have become formidable, the British cabinet instantly prepared to crush it. With this view a formidable fleet was fitted out for the North Seas, and the chief command of it given to Sir Hyde Parker; under whom Nelson, who had recently been made vice-admiral of the blue, consented to serve as second in command. The fleet sailed from Yarmouth on the 12th of March 1801; and on the 30th of the same month, Lord Nelson, having shifted his flag from the St George to the Elephant, led the way through the Sound, which was passed without any loss. The Danes, upon whom the storm was now about to burst, were well prepared for defence. Upwards of two hundred pieces of cannon were mounted on the Crown batteries at the entrance of the harbour, and a line of twenty-five two-deckers, frigates, and floating batteries, was moored across its mouth. Besides, the navigation was little known, and extremely intricate; all the buoys had been removed; and the channel was considered as impracticable for so large a fleet. It was apparent, therefore, that the Danes could not be attacked without great difficulty and risk; and in a council of war, held on board of the flag-ship, considerable diversity of opinion prevailed. Nelson, however, cut short the discussion, by offering his services for the attack, requiring only ten sail of the line, and the whole of the smaller craft. Sir Hyde Parker assented, but gave him two more line-of-battle ships than he had asked, and left every thing to his own judgment. On the morning of the 1st of April, the whole fleet moved to an anchorage within two leagues of the town; and, about one o’clock, Nelson having[7:16:89] completed his last examination of the ground, made the signal to weigh, which was received with a shout throughout the whole division destined for the attack. They weighed with a light and favourable wind, the small craft pointingout the course to be followed; and the whole division, having coasted along the shoal called the Middle Ground, doubled its farther extremity, and anchored there just as the darkness closed, the signal to prepare for action having been made early in the evening. As his anchor dropped, Nelson exclaimed, “I will fight them the moment I have a fair wind.”

On the following morning, at half past nine, the signal was made for the ships to weigh in succession; at ten minutes after ten the action commenced, at the distance of about half a cable length from the enemy; and by half-past eleven the battle became general. The plan of attack had been complete; but seldom had any project of the kind been disconcerted by more untoward accidents. The Agamemnon was immoveably aground, at a distance which rendered her entirely useless; the Bellona and the Russell had also grounded in' a situation where they could not render half the service that was required of them; of the squadron of gun-brigs, only one could get into action, owing to the baffling currents; and only two bomb-vessels could reach their station on the Middle Ground, where they were to open their fire on the arsenal. Nelson’s agitation was extreme when he found himself, before the action began, deprived of a fourth part of his force; but no sooner was he in action than the wild music of the fight seemed to drive away all anxious thoughts; his countenance brightened, and his conversation became joyous, animated, and delightful. At one o’clock the enemy’s fire continued unslackened; and the commander-in-chief, despairing of success, made the signal for discontinuing the action. At this moment, whilst Nelson was pacing the quarter-deck in all the excitement of battle, a shot passing through the main-mast, knocked the splinters about. “It is warm work,” said he, “and this day may be the last to any of us at a moment; but, mark you,” he added, “I would not be elsewhere for thousands.” The signal-lieutenant now called out that the signal for discontinuing the action had been thrown out by the commanderin-chief. Nelson continued to walk the deck, and appeared not to notice it. At the next turn, the lieutenant asked if he should repeat the signal. “No,” replied Nelson; “acknowledge it.” He then called to know if the signal for close action was still hoisted; and being answered in the affirmative, said, “Mind you keep it so.” A little after, “I have a right to be blind sometimes, Foley,” added he, addressing the captain; then putting the glass to his blind eye, in a mood of sportive bitterness, which gives an inexpressible interest to the scene, “I really do not see the signal,” he exclaimed; and, after a pause, “Keep mine for closer battle flying; that’s the way I answer such signals; nail mine to the mast.”

Between one and two o’clock, however, the fire of the Danes slackened; and about two it ceased along the greater part of their line, and some of their lighter ships were adrift. But it was difficult to take possession of those which had struck, because the batteries on Amak Island protected them, and an irregular fire was still kept up from the ships themselves, the crews being continually reinforced from the shore. By half-past two, however, the action had ceased, except with the Crown batteries, and one or two ships which had renewed their fire, though with but little effect. At this critical moment, Nelson, with a presence of mind peculiar to himself, and never more signally displayed than now, availed himself of the circumstance to secure the advantage he had gained, and to open a negotiation. He retired into the stern gallery, and wrote to the Crown Prince thus: “Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson has been commanded to spare Denmark, when she no longer resists.

The line of defence which covered her shores has struck to the British flag; but if the firing is continued on the part of Denmark, he must set on fire all the prizes he has taken, without having the power of saving the men who have so nobly defended them. The brave Danes are the brothers, and should never be the enemies, of the English.” This, after an interchange of communications, led to an interview between Nelson and the Crown Prince, at which the preliminaries of negotiations were adjusted; and a treaty was at length concluded, by which the northern confederacy was dissolved, and the maritime superiority of Britain unequivocally recognised. For the battle of Copenhagen, Nelson was raised to the rank of Viscount, and, on the recall of Sir Hyde Parker, appointed to the chief command in the North Sea.

Having settled affairs in the Baltic, Lord Nelson returned in a frigate to England. But he had not been many weeks ashore when he was called upon to undertake a service which might have been equally well executed by a much inferior man. This was an attack on the flotilla which had been prepared at Boulogne for the threatened invasion of England. A force had been got together, with an alacrity that has seldom been equalled; and the attack was made by the boats of the squadron, in five divisions; but the enemy were fully prepared, and, though nothing could exceed the gallantry with which they were assailed, the enterprise proved unsuccessful. Owing to the darkness, the state of the tide, and the uncertainty attending all night attacks, the divisions had separated; and the great effort was not made with that unity which alone can insure success. In his letters to the admiralty, Nelson affirmed, that if our force had arrived as he intended, all the chains and the moorings with which the enemy’s flotilla were secured could not have prevented our brave seamen from bringing off the whole of them. Every thing that prudence could suggest had been done; no error had been committed; and never did Englishmen display greater courage. But he now desired to be relieved from this boat-service, thinking it an unsuitable employment for a vice-admiral; and his wishes were speedily gratified by the signature of the preliminaries of peace.

He had purchased a house and an estate at Merton in Surrey, meaning to pass there the remainder of his days, in the society of Sir William and Lady Hamilton. But the happiness which he had promised himself was not of long continuance. Sir William Hamilton died early in 1803. A few weeks subsequent to this event the war was renewed; and the day after his majesty’s message to parliament announcing the re-commencement of hostilities, Lord Nelson departed to assume the command of the fleet in the Mediterranean.

On the 20th of May 1803, he hoisted his flag on board the Victory, and having taken his station immediately off Toulon, he there waited with incessant watchfulness for the coming out of the enemy. This blockade proved one of the longest and most persevering that have been recorded in our naval annals; yet notwithstanding all his vigilance, the Toulon fleet put to sea on the 18th of January 1805, and shortly afterwards formed a junction with the Spanish squadron at Cadiz, Sir John Orde, who commanded off that port, having retired at their approach. Nelson had formed his own judgment of their destination, when Donald Campbell, then an admiral in the Portuguese service, went on board of the Victory, and communicated his certain knowledge that the combined French and Spanish fleets were bound for the West Indies. The enemy had five and thirty days start; but Nelson calculated that he should gain eight or ten days by his exertions. To the West Indies therefore he bent all sail, and on the 4th of June reached Barbadoes, whither he had sent despatches before him. Deceived by false intelligence, he then stood to the southward in quest [7:16:90]of the enemy; but advices having met him by the way, that the combined fleets were at Martinique, he immediately sailed for that island, where he arrived on the 9th, and received certain intelligence that they had passed to the leeward of Antigua the preceding day, and taken a homeward-bound convoy. It was now clear that the enemy, having accomplished the object of their cruize, were flying back to Europe; and accordingly, on the 13th, he steered for Europe in pursuit of them. On the 17th July he came in sight of Cape St Vincent, and directed his course towards Gibraltar, where he soon afterwards anchored, and went on shore for the first time since the 16th of June 1803. The combined fleet having thus eluded his pursuit, he returned almost inconsolable to England, to reinforce the Channel fleet with his squadron, lest the enemy should bear down upon Brest with their whole collected force.

Having landed at Portsmouth, Lord Nelson at length received news of the enemy’s fleet. After an inconclusive action, in which they had run the gauntlet through Sir Robert Calder’s squadron on the 22d of July, about sixty leagues west of Cape Finisterre, they had proceeded to Ferrol, brought out the squadron which there awaited their arrival, and with it entered Cadiz in safety. Upon receiving this intelligence, Nelson again offered his services, which were willingly accepted; and Lord Barham, then at the head of the admiralty, gave him a list of the navy, desiring him to choose his own officers. No appointment could be more in unison with the feelings and judgment of the nation. The Victory, destined once more to bear his flag, was refitted with incredible despatch; and such was his impatience to be at the scene of action, that although the wind proved adverse, he worked down the Channel, and, after a rough passage, arrived off Cadiz on the 29th of September, the day on which the French admiral, Villeneuve, had received peremptory orders to put to sea the very first opportunity. Fearing that the enemy, if they knew his force, might be deterred from venturing to sea, he kept out of sight of land; desired Collingwood to hoist no colours, and fire no salute; and wrote to Gibraltar to request that the force of the fleet might not be inserted in the gazette published there. The station which he chose was some fifty or sixty miles to the westward of Cadiz, off Cape St Mary’s. At this distance, he hoped to induce the enemy to come out, whilst he guarded against the danger of being caught by a westerly wind near Cadiz, and driven within the Straits. In the meanwhile the blockade of the port was rigorously enforced; and a line of frigates communicated between him and the squadron of eight or nine sail left before Cadiz, so as to give him the earliest intelligence of the enemy’s movements. The advantage of this plan was, that he could receive supplies and reinforcements without the enemy being informed of it; whilst, by preventing the entrance of neutral vessels into Cadiz, the combined fleets were deprived of both. Accident also contributed to mislead Villeneuve, by 'inducing him to doubt whether Nelson himself had actually assumed the command. An American, lately arrived from England, assured him it was impossible this could be the case, for he had seen the English admiral only a few days before in London, and at that time there was no rumour of his going again to sea.

On the 9th of October, Lord Nelson communicated to Admiral Collingwood his plan of attack. The order of sailing was to be the order of battle; the fleet formed in two lines, with an advanced squadron of the fastest-sailing two-deckers. The second in command, having the entire direction of his line, was to break through the enemy’s line about the twelfth ship from their rear; he himself was to lead through the centre; and the advanced squadron were to cut off three or four ahead of the centre. This plan was adapted to the strength of the enemy, and had for its object to render the two lines, and the squadron ahead, one-fourth superior in force to those they cut off. His object he declared to be, close and decisive action. “In case signals cannot be seen or clearly understood,” said he, “no captain can do wrong if he place his ship alongside that of an enemy.” This was what he called the Nelson-touch. It was a mode of attack equally new and simple. Every one comprehended it in a moment, and was convinced that it would succeed. In fact, it proved irresistible.

Villeneuve, relying upon the information he had received, put to sea on the 19th, and at day-break on the 21st of October the combined fleets were distinctly seen from the deck of the Victory, formed in a close line ahead, about twelve miles to the leeward, and standing to the southward, off Cape Trafalgar. The British fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line, and four frigates; the enemy’s fleet, of thirty-three sail of the line, and seven frigates. But their superiority was greater in size and in weight of metal than in numbers; they had 4000 troops on board; and the best riflemen who could be procured, many of them Tyrolese, were dispersed throughout the ships. Soon after day-light Nelson came on deck, and the signal was made to bear down on the enemy in two lines, upon which the fleet set all sail; Collingwood, in the Royal Sovereign, leading the lee line of thirteen ships, and Nelson, in the Victory, leading the weather line of fourteen. Having seen that all was right, he retired to his cabin, and wrote a devout prayer, in which, after beseeching the Almighty to grant a great and glorious victory, he committed his life to the God of Battles; and in another writing which he annexed in the same diary, he bequeathed Lady Hamilton as a legacy to his king and country, and commended to the public beneficence his adopted daughter, Horatia, desiring that in future she would use the name of Nelson only. Blackwood went on board the Victory about six, and found him in good spirits, but very calm, and with none of that exhilaration which he had displayed on entering into battle at Aboukir and at Copenhagen. With a prophetic anticipation, he seems to have looked for death with almost as certain a conviction as for victory. His whole attention was fixed upon the enemy, who now formed their line on the larboard tack; thus bringing the shoals of Trafalgar and St Pedro under the lee of the British, and keeping the port of Cadiz open for themselves. This was most judiciously done; and Nelson, aware of the advantages it gave them, made signal to prepare to anchor. But Villeneuve, though a skilful seaman, did not profit by this manoeuvre, nor attempt to evade the combat. His plan of defence was as well conceived, and as original, as that of the attack. He had formed his fleet in a double line, every alternate ship being about a cable’s length to windward of her second ahead and astern, and offered battle in the most handsome manner, being apparently determined to risk a fair trial of strength.^[4. Of the advantages or disadvantages of the mode of attack adopted by the British fleet, it may be considered as presumptuous to speak, since the event proved so completely successful; but as the necessity of any particular experiment frequently’ depends upon contin-gent circumstances, not originally’ calculated on, there can be no impropriety in questioning whether the same plan would succeed in all circumstances, and on all occasions. The original plan of attack was suggested on the supposition that the enemy’s fleet consisted of forty-six sail of the line, and the British of forty; it was intended to be made from the windward; and on the supposition that the hostile fleet would be in a line ahead, the British fleet was to be brought within gun-shot of the enemy’s centre, in two divisions of sixteen sail each, with a division of observation consisting of the remaining eight ships. The lee division was to make an attack under all possible sail on the twelve rear ships of the enemy; it was to break through the enemy’s line, and such ships as might be thrown out of their stations were to assist those of their friends who should be hard pressed. The remainder of the enemy’s fleet were to be left to the management of the commander-in-chief. Now, if this plan had been adhered to, the English fleet would have borne up together, and sailed in two lines abreast in their respective divisions, until they came up with the enemy; the plan which consideration had matured would have been executed; the victory would have been more speedily decided; and the brunt of the action would have been more equally felt. An attack made in two great divisions, with a squadron of observation, seems to combine every necessary precaution, under all circumstances. The power of bringing an overwhelming force against a particular point of an enemy’s fleet, so as to insure the capture of the ships attacked, and afterwards concentrating such a force as may be sufficient not only to protect the attacking ships from any offensive attempt which may be made against them by the unoccupied vessels of the enemy, but also to secure the prizes already made, will most probably lead to victory, perhaps to the annihilation of the greater part, if not the whole, of the fleet thus attacked. The mode of attack adopted with such success at Trafalgar had, however, few or none of these advantages. The attacking force was brought forward so leisurely and successively, that an enemy of equal spirit, and equal ability in seamanship and gunnery, would have destroyed the ships in detail one after another, carried on, as they were, slowly by a heavy swell and by light airs. This may easily be demonstrated. Besides, whilst the fleet was advancing to the attack on the 21st of October, the weather was exactly such as might have produced this result, seeing that when the battle began the sternmost ships of the British were still six or seven miles distant. By the mode of attacking in detail, and the manner in which the combined fleet was drawn up to receive it, the British, instead of doubling on the enemy, were themselves doubled and tripled on, and the advantage of applying an overwhelming force collectively was thus totally lost. The Victory, Temeraire, Belleisle, Mars, Colossus, and Bellerophon, were placed in such situations at the onset, that nothing but the most heroic gallantry and great practical skill at the guns could have extricated them. If the enemy’s vessels had closed up from van to rear, as they ought to have done, and if their crews had possessed a nearer equality in active courage, it may be doubted whether even British skill and gallantry would have availed; the position of the combined fleet being precisely that in which the British were desirous of being placed, namely, having part of the opposing fleet doubled on, and separated from the main body. The attack, however, succeeded, in spite of all these disadvantages; first, from the enthusiasm inspired throughout the fleet by having Nelson to command them; secondly, from the gallant conduct of the leaders of the two grand divisions; thirdly, from the individual exertions of each ship after the attack commenced, and the superior practice of the guns; fourthly, from the consternation spread throughout the combined fleet on finding the British so much stronger than had been expected; fifthly, from the rapid destruction which followed the attack of the two leaders, and which was witnessed by both fleets; and, lastly, from the loss of the French admiral’s ship early in the action. Nelson knew his means, and the power he had to deal with; he also knew that the means he adopted were sufficient for the occasion. But as the mode of attack executed at Trafalgar might be followed under different circumstances, and have a different result, it is right to state both its merits and defects; nor can this detract, in any degree, from the fame of Nelson, whose whole professional career was marked throughout by genius and originality, allied with heroic daring and judicious enterprise. ] On the other hand, Nelson, being certain of a triumphant issue to [7:16:91] the day, declared to Captain Blackwood that he would not be satisfied with less than twenty of the enemy’s ships. Then appeared that signal, Nelson’s last signal, which will be remembered as long as the language or even the memory of England shall endure: “England expects every man to do his duty.” It was received throughout the fleet with a responsive burst of acclamation, rendered sublime by the spirit which it breathed, and the determination it expressed. “Now,” said Nelson, “I can do no more. We must trust to the great disposer of all events, and the justice of our cause. I thank God for this great opportunity of doing my duty.”

On this memorable day, Nelson wore, as usual, his admiral’s frock coat, bearing upon the left breast the various orders with which he had at different times been invested. Decorations which rendered him so conspicuous a mark to the enemy were beheld with ominous apprehension by his officers; especially as it was known that there were riflemen on board the French ships, and it could not be doubted that his life would be particularly aimed at. This was a point, however, on which it was hopeless to reason or remonstrate with him. “In honour I gained them,” said he, when allusion was made to the insignia he wore, “and in honour I will die with them.” Nevertheless, Captain Blackwood, and his own captain, Hardy, having represented to him how advantageous it would be to the fleet were he to keep out of action as long as possible, he consented that the Temcraire and the Leviathan, which were sailing abreast of the Victory, should be ordered to pass ahead. But the order was unavailing; for these ships could not pass ahead if the Victory continued to carry all her sail; yet, so far from shortening sail, Nelson took an evident pleasure in pressing on, and rendering it impossible for them to obey his own order. As the enemy showed no colours till late in the action, the Santissima Trinidad was distinguishable only by her four decks; and to the bow of his old opponent in the action off Cape St Vincent he ordered the Victory to be steered. In the mean time, an incessant raking fire was kept up on the Victory; and as the ship approached, Nelson remarked, “This is too warm work to last long.” She had not yet returned a single gun, though by this time fifty of lier men had been killed or wounded, and her main-top-mast with all her studding-sails and booms shot away. A few minutes after twelve, however, she opened her fire from both sides of her deck, and soon afterwards ran on board the Redoubtable, just as her tiller ropes were shot away. Captain Harvey, in the Temeraire, fell on board the Redoubtable on the other side; and another enemy’s ship, the Fougueux, fell on board the Temcraire; so that these four ships formed as compact a tier as if they had been moored together, their heads lying all the same way. The lieutenants of the Victory now depressed their guns, and fired with a diminished charge, lest the shot should pass through and injure the Temeraire; and as there was danger that the Redoubtable might take fire from the lower-deck guns, the muzzles of which, when run out, touched her sides, the fireman of each gun stood ready with a bucket of water, which, as soon as the gun had been discharged, he dashed into the hole made by the shot. In this situation, the Victory kept up an incessant fire from both sides, directing her larboard guns on the Bucentaur and Santissima Trinidad.

But Nelson’s hour was now come. It had been part of his prayer that the British fleet might be as distinguished for humanity in victory as for bravery in battle. Setting an example himself, he twice gave orders to cease firing upon the Redoubtable, supposing she had struck, because her great guns were silent; for as she carried no flag, it was impossible instantly to ascertain the fact. From the ship which he had thus twice spared he received his deathwound. In the heat of the action, about a quarter after one o’clock, a musket-ball from the mizen-top of the Redoubtable struck the epaulette on his left shoulder; and he fell upon his face on the spot covered with the blood of his secretary, Mr Scott, who had been killed a short time before. “They have done for me at last, Hardy,” said he, as a serjeant of marines and two seamen raised him from the deck. “I hope not,” replied Captain Hardy. “Yes,” he rejoined; “my back bone is shot through.” But, though mortally wounded, he did not for a moment lose that presence of mind for which he was ever distinguished. As they were carrying him down the ladder to the cockpit, he observed that the tiller ropes, which had been shot [7:16:92]âway early in the action, were not yet replaced, and ordered that new ones should be immediately rove. He was laid upon a pallet in the midshipman’s berth, and, the surgeon being called, it was soon perceived that the wound he had received would speedily prove mortal; but this was concealed from all except Captain Hardy, the chaplain, and the medical attendants. Being certain, however, from the sensation which he felt in his back, and the gush of blood within his breast, that no human aid could avail him, he insisted that the surgeon should leave him, and attend to those to whom he might be useful. “You can do nothing for me,” said he. Suffering from intense thirst, and in great pain, he expressed much anxiety as to the fate of the action; and his countenance brightened with a gleam of joy as often as the hurra of the crew of the Victory announced that an enemy’s ship had struck.

At length he became very impatient to see Captain Hardy, whom he repeatedly sent for; but that officer could not leave the deck, and upwards of an hour elapsed before he could quit his station. When they met, they shook hands in silence, Hardy struggling to suppress his emotions. “Well, Hardy,” said Nelson, “how goes the day with us ?” “Very well,” replied the captain; “ten ships have struck, but five of the enemy’s van have tacked, and show an intention of bearing down on the Victory. I have called two or three of our fresh ships round, and have no doubt of giving them a drubbing.” “I hope,” said Nelson, “none of our ships have struck.” “There is no fear of that,” answered Hardy; upon which the dying hero said, “I am a dead man; I am going fast; it will soon be all over with me; my back is shot through.” Hardy, unable any longer to suppress his feelings, hastened upon deck; but, in some fifty minutes, returned, and taking the hand of his dying commander, congratulated him on having gained a complete victory. He did not know how many of the enemy had struck, as it was impossible to perceive them distinctly; but fourteen or fifteen at least had surrendered. “That’s well,” answered Nelson; “but I had bargained for twenty.” Then, in a stronger voice, he said, “Anchor, Hardy, anchor and again, most earnestly, “Do you anchor.” Next to his country, Lady Hamilton occupied his thoughts. “Take care of my dear Lady Hamilton, Hardy; take care of poor Lady Hamilton ;” and, a few minutes before he expired, he said to the chaplain, “Remember that I leave Lady Hamilton and my daughter Horatia as a legacy to my country.” The last words he was heard to utter distinctly were, “I thank God, I have done my duty.” He expired at halfpast four o’clock, three hours and a quarter after he had received his fatal wound.

The total loss of the British in the battle of Trafalgar amounted to 1587. Twenty of the enemy struck, and, of the ships which escaped, four were afterwards taken by Sir Richard Strahan. But unhappily the fleet did not anchor, as Lord Nelson with his dying breath had enjoined; a heavy"gale came on from the south-west; some of the prizes went down, some were driven on the shore, one effected its escape into Cadiz, others were destroyed, and four only were, by the greatest exertions, saved. Still, by this mighty achievement, the navies of France and Spain received a blow from which they have not yet recovered; the gigantic combinations of Napoleon, with a view to a descent upon England, were completely baffled; and the success of his campaign of Austerlitz was not only compensated, but in a great measure neutralised. It is needless to add, that all the honours which a grateful country could bestow were heaped on the memory of the man who had achieved this unequalled victory.

In Lord Nelson’s professional character were united all the highest qualities of a great commander; wonderful foresight, prompt judgment, never-failing presence of mind, ardent zeal, unbounded confidence in the resources of his own mind, and that intuitive decision in the midst of difficulty and peril, which, after all, is the distinguishing attribute of great military or naval genius. His daring was without rashness, and his enterprise based upon the most skilful calculation; his ardour never outrun his understanding, nor his love of glory a due consideration of the material and moral means by which alone success can be obtained. His talents for command were of the highest order, and he knew the invaluable secret of inspiring other men with confidence in him, as well as with confidence in themselves. But the best character which can be drawn of him is the history of his achievements, all stamped with the impression of his genius; and, that nothing might be wanting to the consummation of his renown, he departed in a bright blaze of glory, leaving to his country a name which is her pride and boast, and an example which will continue to be her shield and her strength. (See Southey’s Life of Nelson, in two vols. 12mo; Life by Clarke and M‘ Arthur, 8vo; Ekins’ Naval History, 4to; and James’s Naval History, 6 vols. 8vo.) (a.)

ΝΕΜΕΑ, in Ancient Geography, a place situated between Cleonae and Philus, in Argolis; but whether town, district, or something else, is uncertain. There stood a grove, in which the Argives celebrated the Nemean games; and there happened all the fabulous circumstances of the Nemean lion.

ΝΕΜΕΑΝ GAMES, so called from Nemea, a place situated between the cities of Cleonae and Philus, where they were celebrated every third year. The exercises consisted of chariot-races, and all parts of the pentathlum. These games were instituted in memory of Opheltes or Archemorus, the son of Euphetesand Creusa, nursed by Hypsipele, who, leaving him in a meadow whilst she went to show the besiegers of Thebes a fountain, found him dead on her return, and a serpent twined about his neck; and hence the fountain, before called Langia, was named Archemorus, and these games were instituted to comfort Hypsipele. Some, however, ascribe their institution to Hercules, after his victory over the Nemean lion; whilst others think that they were instituted first in honour of Archemorus, but intermitted, and afterwards revived again by Hercules. The victors were crowned with parsley, an herb used at funerals, and fabled to have sprung from Archemorus’s blood. The Argives presided at these games.