a memorial, distinctly stating his services, should be presented to his majesty; and a more brilliant one never met the eye of any sovereign. The following is

a copy:

:

"To the king's most excellent majesty, the memorial of Sir Horatio Nelson, K.B., &c., humbly sheweth,-That during the present war, your memorialist has been in four actions with frigates; in six engagements against batteries in ten actions in boats employed in cutting out of harbours, in destroying vessels, and in taking three towns. Your memorialist has also served on shore four months, and commanded the batteries at the sieges of Bastia and Calvi: that during the war he has assisted at the capture of seven sail of the line, six frigates, four corvettes, and eleven privateers of different sizes; taken and destroyed nearly fifty merchant vessels; and your memorialist has actually been engaged against the enemy upwards of one hundred and twenty times. In which service your memorialist has lost his right eye and right arm, and been severely wounded and bruised in his body.-All of which services your memorialist most humbly submits to your majesty's most gracious consideration. "HORATIO NELSON."

The year 1798 dawned upon England with chequered aspect. Upon the seas she was left without a rival, but her continental policy had been the most disastrous which could be imagined. Armies had been subsidised, only to be destroyed; coalitions had been formed only to be broken and dispersed in every direction. The soil of Italy offered no resting place to the foot of the avowed enemy of French domination; the continuance of the war had become impossible, from the want of resistance; and the oriental imagination of Bonaparte turned to the new worlds of conquest, which awaited him in the East. Armaments of the most extensive nature were known to be fitting out at Toulon, and the people of England were daily alarmed by rumours of meditated invasion. Orders were issued by the English ministry, to prevent, if possible, the sailing of the expedition, or, in the event of the enemy being enabled to put to sea, to attack him under any circumstances. Nelson was naturally selected for such a service, and sailed accordingly from Gibraltar, with three sail of the line and four frigates, to blockade the French fleet at Toulon, consisting of thirteen ships of the line, seven frigates, twenty-four smaller vessels, and two hundred transports. A storm, however, came on, which wholly dispersed the British squadron, and enabled the enemy to get out of harbour unmolested.

Nelson repaired his damages at St. Pietro, where he received a reinforcement of ten seventy-fours, and the Leander, 50; but the frigates which had been separated from him in the storm, were never able to rejoin him, and the loss of these "eyes of the fleet," as he termed them, was felt severely. No information could be obtained as to the course taken by the enemy, until news arrived that he had captured Malta; and now commenced a pursuit which is unmatched in naval history. Nelson sailed at once for Malta, but found that the French had left; he then bent his course for Egypt—their real destination; but he had out-sailed them, and reached Alexandria too Baffled in this hope, he steered for Candia, with no better success; from thence to Syracuse, back to the Morea, and again to the Egyptian coast, and on the 1st of August, after a pursuit of six weeks, descried the French fleet moored off the shore, in the Bay of Aboukir. He had previously neglected all consideration of personal comfort, but he now dressed himself as a bridegroom preparing for his marriage, and sat down, with his officers, to a

soon.

sumptuous entertainment. He had prepared for every accident, except that of defeat. The victory, he felt, was secure; the only doubt was, who should survive to narrate the story, and in this mood he exclaimed to them at parting, "Before this time to-morrow, I shall have gained a peerage, or Westminster Abbey."

In a far different spirit did the French admiral prepare for the inevitable conflict. Despite their acknowledged courage, the army of Egypt had trembled at the thought of encountering the terrible Englishmen upon that element where their supremacy had never been questioned with safety; and when in the midst of the disembarkation, a cry arose, that Nelson was in sight, Bonaparte passionately implored of Fortune to grant him one day more of favour. The troops were now beyond the reach of this danger; but as the English fleet came on in silence, the hope of the enemy died within them. The shore was covered with thousands of spectators, French and Arabs; and with the decline of that day's sun, faded away Napoleon's dream of universal empire.

The French fleet, consisting of thirteen sail of the line, and four frigates, was anchored as close to the shore as possible, which was further defended by batteries, and rendered inaccessible by shoals, so that an attacking force could only assail it from the sea front. Nelson, however, saw that, although it was not possible to turn their position, yet that as each ship of the enemy must of necessity be moored sufficiently distant from the others to allow of her swinging round with the tide, there must be room enough to allow an English vessel to anchor between them. He therefore ordered the squadron to anchor, one on the outer bow, and another on the outer quarter of each ship of the enemy, the effect of which would be, that every Frenchman would be placed between two English vessels, and vice versa, every broadside, throughout both fleets, being brought to bear upon an opponent. It was near nightfall, when the Goliath opened her fire upon the Guerrier, and in a short time the battle became general. Each ship, as she passed on to her station, gave and received the fire of the French squadron, and then, without delay, passed on, and anchoring by the stern, engaged her allotted opponent. No display of skill was needed; the guns on both sides were fought muzzle to muzzle. Within a quarter of an hour the action was virtually decided. At an early period of the fight, Nelson received a wound, which was thought to be mortal; a spent shot struck him on the forehead, and tearing the flesh, so that it fell over his face, produced the effect of total blindness. He was carried down into the cock-pit, but refused to be attended to until it became his turn with the rest of the wounded, and, without the slightest emotion, gave what were thought to be his dying commands. When the word was passed round the fleet that the hurt was not dangerous, the cheers of the sailors rose above the roar of the cannon, and if they had fought desperately before to avenge his loss, they now stimulated each other to renewed exertion for very excess of joy. No leader of men was ever loved with a more sincere affection.

When the morning dawned, the work of destruction had become visible. Of thirteen sail of the line, only two of the enemy had escaped by flight; the rest were in the power of the English. Two of the frigates escaped with them, only to be captured in a short time afterwards; but only one vessel of all that gallant fleet ever sailed again into a port of France. Well might Nelson

say that " victory was too poor a word to characterize such a result; it

deserved indeed the name of "a conquest."

"The Battle of the Nile," as our countrymen still love to call it, changed

the whole aspect of the war. The magnificent army which Napoleon had led from Italy and Germany, in the fond hope of founding a new empire in the East, and destroying the Indian sovereignty of Britain, found themselves condemned to what seemed a perpetual exile in a hostile land; their ruin rendered only more certain by victory. The truthfulness of their fears, the flight of Bonaparte, and their subsequent surrender to a British army, are matters for the pen of the historian of the times.

It is hardly necessary to say, that his own countrymen showered honours upon him, and that the governments of the continent, whose ruin he had so effectually, as it seemed, prevented, sought to testify their gratitude to their deliverer in every conceivable way. At home he was created a peer, by the style of Baron Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe, with a pension of £2,000 per annum. The East India Company voted him £100,000, and the City of London paid him a handsome compliment. The King of Naples conferred upon him the Dukedom of Bronte, a Sicilian fief, with a revenue annexed of £3,000 a year. The Grand Signior made him presents to the value of 25,000 dollars. The Emperor of Russia, and the King of Sardinia, each sent him an autograph letter of congratulation, with their portraits, set in diamonds. His name was mentioned with reverence throughout the civilized world, wherever valour had fame.

From Egypt Lord Nelson returned to Naples, where his presence assured the dissolute court of safety. After an interval of cowardly hesitation, the king joined the coalition formed against the French, and put his army in motion, and in less than a fortnight, his troops having lost forty men in their first and only engagement, the king was compelled to embark on board the British squadron, and seek refuge in Palermo. His flight was rendered necessary, not only by the advance of the French, but from the hostility to his government displayed by the disaffected spirits, who, in Naples, as throughout the rest of Italy, sighed for the restoration of traditional freedom. Nelson, who had foreseen the issue from the first, reluctantly co-operated with the miserable beings whose misdeeds were associated with the cause of "legitimacy," and blinded by his hatred of revolution, and misled by the counsels of Lady Hamilton, whose influence had now become all-powerful with him, made himself the instrument of insane policy and merciless vengeance.

As swiftly as the first movement had been carried into operation, a counterrevolution was effected with the aid of the English, and the castle of St. Elmo, in which the leading chiefs had taken refuge, was surrendered to the combined forces, upon security being given for life and property. Two days afterwards, Nelson arrived in the Bay of Naples, having on board the royal family, annulled the treaty, though it had been signed by all the contracting parties, and delivered the garrisons into the hands of the court, by whom they were mercilessly slaughtered. Amongst them was an Italian prince, seventy years age, named Carracioli, who had been forced to accept the command of the fleet by the revolutionists. It was in vain that he pleaded this compulsion, and the sacredness of the treaty. Nelson ordered him to be tried within an hour after he had been brought on board by a court-martial of Neapolitan officers, gave him no time to collect witnesses, and on his being found guilty, hung him at five o'clock the same evening. This is the only spot on the public character of Nelson, but it is a damning one.

of

In company with Lady and Sir William Hamilton, Nelson returned to England, through Germany. His progress was a triumph, and his arrival in his native country a summons to every true man to come forward and proclaim his loyalty to genuine worth and valour. Honours were heaped upon him by all classes of men; but the higher bliss of domestic happiness was gone, for in a few weeks he separated from his wife, never more to meet with her on this side of eternity.

The task of breaking up the Northern Confederacy, a treaty entered into by Russia, Denmark, and Sweden, for the purpose of wresting from England the dominion of the seas, was the next service in which Nelson was engaged. The conduct of the ministry, with reference to the choice of a commander of the naval expedition prepared on this occasion, shews an extraordinary degree of reliance upon fortune; for they nominated Sir Hyde Parker as Admiral-inchief, with Nelson as his subordinate officer. Perhaps they had taken into their calculations the extreme likelihood of Nelson's disobeying orders, when they happened to interfere with his own notions of propriety. If such was really the case, their sagacity must be deemed to have been prophetic.

After much fruitless negociation, and obstacles of all kinds, the British fleet found itself, early on the second of April, 1801, in front of Copenhagen. The Danes had made every preparation for the defence of their capital. A line of defence consisting of nineteen ships and numerous floating batteries, was formed along the edge of a shoal, which extends along the whole front of the city, and at the entrance of the harbour nearest the town were two islands, having upwards of a hundred guns mounted upon them, gun boats, bomb vessels, and warlike craft of all descriptions, were stationed at every point where it was thought this force could be of service, and in the highest confidence of success, the Danes waited the onset of their formidable opponents.

Nelson had volunteered to lead the attack; Sir Hyde Parker consented, and twelve sail of the line were given to him for the purpose; but three of them went aground before the action commenced, and the engagement was therefore in reality fought by nine English men of war. The contest was the most bloody which had been fought throughout the war. As fast as the gallant crews of the rafts and floating batteries were swept off by the murderous fire of the assailants, the vessels were manned by fresh crowds of devoted youth; flags which had been struck in despair were again hoisted, and at every moment a fresh battle was commenced, to be succeeded by fresh defeat and unintermitting slaughter. The Danes fought as men should do, with the smoke of their household hearths in sight; but they had to contend with foes as brave as themselves, and infinitely more skilful. In the heat of the action, Sir Hyde Parker, who had witnessed the disasters of the leading ships, and despaired of success against the desperate resistance of the enemy, made a signal to discontinue the action. It was of course reported to Nelson; but, putting up his glass to his blind eye, he exclaimed, "I dont see it! Damn the signal. Keep mine for close action flying!" The rest of the fleet looking only to their immediate chief, in like manner continued the battle which, had it terminated unsuccessfully, must have exposed the vice-admiral to the most serious consequences for disobedience of duty.

In four hours the whole line of defence was captured or silenced, with the exception of the batteries on shore, and Nelson, with his usual sagacity, saw

that the critical moment had arrived, when the advantages hitherto gained must either be surrendered or improved into victory. He therefore sent a letter on shore to the Crown Prince, in which he insisted upon the uselessness of further resistance, and expressed a wish to save the Danes "the brothers of the English." A negociation was instantly commenced, during which Nelson took the opportunity of removing his crippled ships out of the reach of the batteries, which must otherwise have inevitably destroyed them in their attempt to navigate this intricate channel, and afterwards went on shore to the palace, in the very midst of the excited population, whose navy he had destroyed with such dreadful carnage. After some difficulty, an armistice was concluded, by the terms of which the whole of the captured vessels were left in the power of the conquerors. The result of the battle was the overthrow of the Northern league; and the death of the Emperor, Paul of Russia, which took place soon afterwards, relieved England entirely from all apprehensions on the score of this formidable combination. The news of the victory was received at home in triumph; and Nelson, instead of being brought to a court-martial, was elevated to the dignity of a viscount, and soon afterwards appointed to the sole command of the Baltic fleet.

At the close of the year Nelson returned to England, and soon afterwards conducted an unsuccessful attack upon the French flotilla at Boulogne. The termination of the war relieved him from the necessity of continuing longer afloat, and enabled him to obtain that repose which was now become absolutely necessary to his existence, shattered as he was with wounds, and harassed by domestic troubles. He retired to an estate which he had purchased at Merton, in Surrey, and which he had left to the management of Lady Hamilton, who, with her husband, resided there during his absence. His leisure was devoted to the prosecution of efforts for the better regulation of the fleet, and in promoting the needful comforts of the seamen. Nothing that was defective escaped his notice, and no suggestion which he made but was characterised by his wonted intelligence.

The breaking out of hostilities again in 1803 called Nelson from his retirement to take the command of the Channel fleet, stationed off Toulon. For two years and three months he remained at this work, and only left his ship for three hours during the entire period. War being declared against Spain, the French fleet came out of Toulon to join the Spaniards, in January, 1805, and Nelson instantly started in pursuit of them for Sicily, where he had hoped to meet them; he then sailed to Egypt, and from thence to Malta, and, after contending with contrary winds, he appeared off the coast of Spain, still without any tidings of the enemy. From thence, after the most mortifying delays, he steered to the West Indies, which proved to be the course actually taken by the enemy; but here he was misled by false information, and, after going the round of all the islands, he learnt, to his infinite annoyance, that the combined fleet, though double his force, were hastening back to Europe, in hourly dread of being obliged to face him. The West Indies were saved, but a new danger threatened; it was probable that the coast being cleared by his absence, that the enemy might reach France before him, take on board the so called army of England, and land it on the Irish coast. The combined squadron had, however, been met on its return by Sir Robert Calder, who captured, after a partial engagement, two ships of the line; after which the enemy got safely into Cadiz; and Nelson, disappointed of his prey, returned to England.