(fotttell 3ttti»et0itg ffiibrarg 
 
 BERNARD ALBERT SINN 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 NAVAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 BERNARD A. SINN, '97 
 
 1919 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DA 87.1.N42C56 
 
 Life of Lord Viscount Nelson, duke of Br 
 
 3 1924 027 918 055 ...o.,. 
 
Xo'\ 
 
 'Im 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027918055 
 
W.M''fVl'ra,l.i.7ti^' Siv^r 
 
 £i3i1^li3/ iy MMowyo'. So.TcUl3diM.Xi!ndon,2farck3jSo8. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 LORD VISCOUNT NELSON, 
 
 DUKE OF BRONTE, &c. 
 
 By T. 0. CHURCHILL. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 ENGRAVINGS 
 
 OF it's most 
 
 STMI1K.ING AND MEMOMABILE INCIDENTS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BT T. BENSLET, BOLT COURT, 
 
 FOR J. AND W. MACGAVIN, 107, NEW BOND STREET; AND SOLD BY R. BOWYEK, 80, PALL 
 
 MALL; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, PATERNOSTER ROW; RIVIN6T0NS, ST. 
 
 PAUL'S CHURCH YARD; WHITE, FLEET STREET; PAYNE, PALL MALL; 
 
 FAULDER, NEW BOND STREET; CARPENTER, OLD BOND STREET; 
 
 ARCH, CORNHILL; BLACK, PARRY, AND KINGSBURY, 
 
 LEADENHALL STREET; HARDING, ST. JAMES's 
 
 STREET; AND SHEPPARD, BRISTOL. 
 
 1808. 
 
f 7 
 ,/ 
 
TO 
 
 THE KING 
 
 THIS work: 
 
 IS. 
 
 WITH HIS MAJESTY'S GRACIOUS PERMISSION, 
 
 MOST HUMBLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 BV 
 
 HIS FAITHFUL AND DEVOTED 
 
 SUBJECT AND SERVANT, 
 
 ROBERT BOWYER. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 1 HE object of the following memoirs, published under his Majesty's 
 patronage, has been, to give a faithful and authentic account of a man 
 who rapidly filled a glorious career of such splendid actions, as can sel- 
 dom fall to the lot of a single mortal: and by the aid of the graver to 
 exhibit to the eye the most striking scenes of his life, which cannot fail 
 it may be presumed, to be highly interesting. As a proof how much 
 fidelity of representation has been studied, where it was to be obtained, 
 it may be proper to inform the reader, that Mr. Bromley, whose reputa- 
 tion stands too high to need our praise, went to Chatham for the pur- 
 pose of making an accurate delineation of such parts of the Victory, as 
 were necessary to be introduced into the scene of the hero's fall; and 
 by conversing with those who were present on that mournful occasion, he 
 has been enabled to represent it with the greatest truth and fidelity, in 
 the manner in which it really happened. Several artists too were 
 stationed to make drawings of the funeral procession, and of the cere- 
 mony in St. Paul's, from the diiferent points of view; so that their faith- 
 fulness may be depended upon, as may that of the representations of 
 the coffin and funeral car. 
 
 The letter, of which a Jiac- simile is given, will be sufficient to ex- 
 emplify his haiid- writing; and if fewer have been copied than was at 
 first intended, it was for the purpose of reducing the price of the work 
 
VI 
 
 within a moderate compass; at the same time that such as are introduced 
 in the course of the narrative will be found characteristic of the man, 
 and not foreign to the purpose. 
 
 Should the reader miss a few anecdotes, that have been detailed in 
 various publications; let him bear in mind, that it was our object to in- 
 sert nothing, of the authenticity of which we were not fully persuaded: 
 at the same time they are of no importance to the general character of 
 the hero, which was too strongly marked in the whole tenour of his 
 life to be mistaken. For the authenticity of such as appear here for the 
 first time we can safely vouch. 
 
 The memoir written by himself having been already before the 
 public, and being merely a brief enumeration of facts, that are here 
 given more at large, to have introduced it would have been superfluous. 
 
 With these few pi-eliminary remarks, we submit to the candid 
 reader the following brief, but we trust faithful, memoirs of a man, 
 who will ever be marked among the few, that appear to be called forth 
 occasionally to meet the exigencies of the times, and effect the purposes 
 of Providence. In whatever light we view him, he claims all our ad- 
 miration. From the earliest period of his life he appears to have 
 possessed that unappalled courage, which is a stranger to fear, though 
 divided by a delicate line from that fool-hardiness, which is blind to 
 danger. Bravery, however, though essential to a hero, is but an inferior 
 feature of his character, which he shared with many of the meanest of 
 his followers. He possessed that sound judgment, which always knows 
 how to act; that promptness of decision, which seizes as it were intui- 
 tively the proper moment for action; and that firmness, which no threat 
 no authority, no dread of blame in case of failure, could deter from 
 pursuing what he felt to be right. He was not the warrior alone, but 
 the statesman also; and, whether we view him at sea or on shore,, in the 
 
vn 
 
 day of battle, or in the hour of negociation, he claims equally our ap- 
 plause. Add to these the care and attention he bestowed on the health 
 and comforts of his seamen, which, in conjunction with his courage, 
 notwithstanding his strict regard to discipline, rendered him the idol of 
 those under his command ; the modesty with which he attributes to 
 others the highest degree of merit, while he passes over what relates to 
 himself in silence; and the piety with which he ascribes to God what 
 too many in the present day would have been inclined to arrogate to 
 themselves. To particularize the instances, in which these features are 
 severally marked, would be superfluous : they are all conspicuous in the 
 various actions here recorded. But we must not omit to animadvert on 
 one imputation, which his enemies have laid to his charge; and to which 
 even some of his fiiends, from a superficial view of things, have been 
 led to give credit: the imputation of vanity, which is inconsistent with 
 a virtue we have just attributed to him. 
 
 The modest man, who, with a mind capable of conceiving perfec- 
 tion, is sensible he has not reached what it is indeed impossible for man 
 to attain, if he love glory, will be desirous of public applause; as it will 
 convey to him the gratifying sentiment, that he has not entertained too 
 high an opinion of himself, and that he has not sought after fame in 
 vain. Such a man will appear to be actuated by motives of vanity, and 
 thus labour under an imputation he by no means deserves. But the 
 vain man seeks the strongest breath of incense for it's own sake : if he 
 be but exalted above his fellows, whether it be by his merit or their 
 demerit, by the voice of flattery or the acclamations of fear, it matters 
 not to him; to be distinguished from the herd is all he seeks. The man 
 of real worth would rather be the last in a band of heroes, than the lord 
 over a herd of slaves; and, if he be a man of modesty, leaving to others 
 
vm 
 
 to place him in his proper rank, he will receive their suffrages with plea- 
 sure, that may perhaps make him appear to court them with eagerness. 
 We do not mean to say, that his lordship was wholly exempt from 
 the failings incident to humanity : man is at best but an imperfect crea- 
 ture. His imperfections, however, were not of a nature to aifect his 
 public character: they served only as shades, to mark him for a mortal. 
 
 
LIFE OF LORD NELSON. 
 
 THoroii it is now obvious to every one, that the ocean affords not only the 
 most ready and convenient medium of intercourse between remote parts of 
 the globe, but the means of annoying an enemy with most facility, and at 
 the same time the securest protection, to those who are masters of the sea, it 
 was long before men were sensible of it's value, which even now is but begin- 
 ning to be justly appreciated. It is true there were nations, even in remote 
 ages, who availed themselves in some degree of the resources it offers. The 
 Phenicians cultivated the art of navigation with success ; and Tyre and Sidon 
 acquired both opulence and strength by the pursuit of maritime commerce. 
 From a very feeble beginning, the city of Carthage, originally a Phenician 
 colony, grew into such power by the same means, that she long contended for 
 mastery with Romej brought that mighty and warlike city to the brink of 
 destruction^ not when 'in it's infancy, but when matured in strength; and had 
 probably completed it's overthrow, but for radical defects in it's own constitu- 
 tion, and the jealousy of party. On this occasion. the-JRamana^^saw, that a 
 maritime force was indispensable to contend against a maritime people, and 
 created a navy for the purpose. At a subsequent period, too, they perceived 
 the necessity of a fleet, to crusti the pirates that infested their seas; and this 
 achievement was not one of the least laurels, that adorned the brow of the 
 great Pompey. Yet though the Romans were compelled, on these and some 
 other occasions, to employ a naval force, they never became a maritime 
 people ; but neglected the sea, whenever they could do it with safety. 
 
 To all these nations, however, it was for the most part a narrow field, and 
 to them the ocean was nearly circumscribed by the shores of the Mediterranean, 
 and bounded by the pillars of Hercules; though the spirit of enterprise led the 
 Phenicians, indeed, a& far as the. southern extremity of Britain, and on the 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 other side of the Strait's Mouth they reached the Canaries, or Fortunate 
 Islands, as they were called by the ancients. These, however, were a kind of 
 Fairy land^ except to a very small number. 
 
 At a subsequent period, the hardy nations of the north sent forth troops 
 of adventurers on the ocean, who harassed and plundered the defenceless 
 coasts, pursuing their predatory excursions still farther and farther, as they 
 were tempted by success, or repelled by growing resistance, till they entered 
 the Mediterranean, and even reached Sicily, where a Norman pirate established 
 a kingdom, and many of his descendants continued to sway the sceptre. 
 
 The British isles, lying so conveniently at hand, were infested at an early 
 period by these freebooters : nor did they receive any material discomfiture, 
 till the talents of the great Alfred fitting out a fleet, the ships of which were 
 of a construction superior to any then known, gave them a complete overthrow. 
 Neither did he suffer his ships to decay, or his sailors to lose their expertness 
 by lying idle in harbour, as soon as this purpose was accomplished ; but stationed 
 squadrons to cruise on different parts of the coast, and thus protect their 
 country against invasion. 
 
 Of the successors of Alfred, however, most wanted the foresight, and many 
 probably the means, of keeping up a naval force, the necessity for which was 
 not immediately seen. In those times, indeed, the country was by no means 
 ripe for establishing that commerce, which is the only substantial basis of 
 maritime power ; nor M'as the rest of Europe in a state to foster it. The ex- 
 ertions of Alfred, therefore, and his splendid and beneficial successes, could 
 not, at once, change the bent of the nation ; but they were an illustrious pre- 
 sage of it's future greatness. 
 
 From that period, though it had long intervals of inaction, the energy of 
 British valour on the main occasionally burst forth with great lustre when 
 duly roused; as the Friench experienced to their cost, vjien Edward III at- 
 tacked a fleet of theirs of four hundred sail, of which he took two hundred 
 and forty, with the loss on their side of thirty thousand men. 
 
 The fifteenth century produced a great change in the face of maritime 
 affairs, and opened such a field of enterprise, as the most sagacious mind could 
 
not have foreseen, or the most sanguine have presutaed to hope. After the 
 fall of the Roman empire, some of the Italian states, particularly the Genoese, 
 and still more the Venetians, had acquired almost unbounded wealth by their 
 commerce, though confined to the narrow waters of the Mediterranean. But 
 this received a fatal blow, and soon dwindled to nothing, when the discovery 
 of a new continent, equal in extent to Europe and Africa together, and of a 
 direct maritime intercourse with the East Indies, by the way of the Cape of 
 Good Hope, gave such a scope to adventure, as strikes the mind with astonish- 
 ment; and the more it contemplates the event, and the consequences that 
 have since arisen from it, the more it is filled with admiration. 
 
 It was this extraordinary incident, that called forth the spirit and talents 
 of a Drake, a Cavendish, and a Howard; by whom the boasted invincible 
 Armada, a fleet, the very appearance of which was sufficient to appal any but 
 the most determined courage, was forced to falsify it's name, scarcely a shat- 
 tered remnant of it regaining it's ports. 
 
 Since that period a succession of naval heroes has ably sustained the 
 honour of their country, and defended her claim to the proud title of mistress 
 of the ocean. In this career, a Blake, a Russel, a Rooke, a Boscawen, a Hawke, 
 a Rodney, and a Howe, have immortalized their names ; and we have now to 
 we,ep over the bier of a Nelson ; who, cut off in the flower of his age, lived 
 long enough for himself, not for his country. Yet the flame that animated his 
 breast is not extinct; and we trust will niever be extinguished, as long as the 
 name of Britain remains. Enow of her gallant sons are ready to tread in the 
 footsteps of their immortal predecessors; and, to display their prowess and 
 talents, want but occasion to call them into action. 
 
 Horatio was the fifth son of the Rev. Edmund Nelson, rector of Burn- 
 ham Thorpe, a village in the county of Norfolk, within a few miles of the sea 
 coast. His mother was Catharine, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Maurice Suckling, 
 a prebendary of "Westminster. His paternal ancestors had long possessed a small 
 patrimony at Hillborough, near SwafFham, with the patronage of the living. 
 His maternal, the Sucklings, have been seated at Wotton, in the same county, 
 
4 
 
 near three centuries ; and through them he was allied to some noble families, 
 as his mother was the grand-daughter of the late Sir Charles Turner of War- 
 ham, in Norfolk, by Mary, daughter of Robert Walpole, Esq. of Houghton, 
 and sister to Sir Robert Walpole, first Earl of Orford, to Horatio, the first 
 Lord Walpole, and to Dorothy, the wife of Charles, Lord Viscount Towns- 
 hend. It was not for him, however, to boast his pedigree, whose actions 
 would have ennobled any descent. 
 
 For his early education he was indebted to the high school of Norwich, 
 and to a private seminary at North Walsham, to which he was afterward 
 removed. But here he remained not long, for, when he was twelve years of 
 age, a favourable opportunity appeared to offer for his outset in that profes- 
 sion, in which he was destined to attain such eminence. 
 
 Toward the close of the sixteenth century. Sir Richard Hawkins discovered 
 those islands near the Straits of Magellan, which are known by the name of 
 Falkland ^ and in the reign of Charles II a settlement on them was planned, 
 but not carried into execution. The conduct of the Portuguese in the Brazils 
 taught Lord Anson the benefit, that might be derived from a settlement near 
 the southern extremity of America; and in consequence his lordship for- 
 warded the scheme, when he presided at the board of Admiralty. The design 
 giving offence to the court of Madrid, and meeting with opposition at home, 
 was again dropped: but it was at length effectually revived by Lord Egmont; 
 and in 1764 Commodore Byron was sent out to form a settlement on those 
 islands, which he did on the western shore of one of them-, under the name of 
 Port Egmont. In the same year Mr. Bougainville can-ied out some colonists, 
 and landed them on the eastern coast. Both these appear to have been 
 ignorant of each other's arrival. The French, who were merely private ad- 
 venturers, being quickly weary of their scheme, disposed of their fort and 
 other buildings to the Spaniards, who took possession of them in 1766. The 
 dissensions that arose about this period, in the nation, on account of the affair 
 of John Wilkes, it may be presumed, encouraged both the French and 
 Spaniards to meditate a rupture with Great Britain; and as the first step 
 toward it, the Spaniards seized on the settlement of Port Egmont. This was 
 
on the 4th of June, 1770. To avenge this insult to the British flag, an arma- 
 ment was ordered to be fitted out, and a war was expected by many. Captain 
 Suckling; who had eminently distinguished himself in the preceding war, by 
 defeating, with two sixties and a sixty-four, four French ships of the line, a 
 forty- four, and two frigates; being appointed to the command of the Raison- 
 nable, a sixty-four gun ship, his nephew was taken on board by him as a mid- 
 shipman. But this prospect soon closed on him ; for hostilities were presently 
 stayed by a convention, not much to the honour of our nation, or the credit 
 of those who conducted it. 
 
 This did not quash the predilection of young Nelson for the sea, and, as 
 he had no longer an opportunity of pursuing his career in the navy, he made 
 a voyage to the West Indies in a .merchant-vessel, commanded by Mr. John 
 Rathbone, who had served on board Captain Suckling's ship, in the memorable 
 engagement noticed above. But this voyage was altogether uusuited to the 
 ardent mind of our youthful sailor, and, affording no field for his ambition, 
 he was prepared to quit it with disgust, and embrace some other course of 
 life. .Thus he was on the eve of being lost to that profession, of which he 
 proved so illustrious an ornament; but Providence had not destined him to a 
 life of inglorious ease. 
 
 Though the dispute with Spain had terminated, and a war had been pre- 
 vented from 'immediately taking place, government had the prudence to per- 
 ceive, that it was necessary for us to maintain a naval force in the East Indies 
 superior to that of the French, who had sent a considerable fleet thither; to 
 protect the West Indies against any attempts of the Spaniards, should a sud- 
 den rupture take place; and to be prepared for defence at home, for which 
 purpose twenty of the best ships in the navy were put into commission, to be 
 employed as guardships. When young Nelson returned home from his West 
 India voyage, he found his uncle, Captain Suckling, in consequence of these 
 measures, had been appointed to the command of the Triumph of seventy- 
 four guns. To him, therefore, he immediately repaired with alacrity, and 
 was again received upon his quarterdeck. 
 
 While we were in this state of preparation, the powers that appeared to 
 
view us with hostile eyes were deterred from proceeding to extremities, and 
 thus a damp was thrown on our young midshipman's ardour, which was ill 
 adapted to the inactive life of a guard-ship. This circumstance, again, would 
 probably have crushed in the bud the future hero, had he not happily been 
 placed under the care of a man, who knew how to avail himself of it, and 
 turn it ta advantage. Aware of his ambition to become a thorough seaman, 
 Captain Suckling held out to him as a reward, if he attended to his duty with 
 diligence, that he should be permitted to go in the cutter and decked long- 
 boat, attached to the ship of the commanding officer at Chatham. Thus em- 
 ployment was given to his talents; and hence he became a skilful pilot for the 
 Swin Channel, as far as the North Foreland, and from Chatham up to the 
 Tower. This tended likewise to give him confidence in his abilities, and 
 initiated him into the practice of navigating difficult passages. 
 
 When he had made himself master of this business, his mind probably 
 would soon have languished for want of something to employ it. Fortunately, 
 the spirit of discovery, by which the present reign has been so eminently dis- 
 tinguished, was just at this period set in motion. At diffisrent times sanguine 
 hopes had been entertained of a north-east or north-west passage to the East 
 Indies, and various unsuccessful attempts to realize them had been made. 
 These attempts, however, were insufficient to produce conviction, that such a 
 passage was impracticable; and, in consequence, two vessels were iStted out, in 
 the year 1773, at the expense of government, for a voyage of discovery toward 
 the north pole. As the greatest danger was to be apprehended from the shocks 
 of vast masses of ice, strength of construction was particularly necessary in the 
 ships; and accordingly two bomb-vessels were chosen for the purpose. The 
 command of the expedition was entrusted to Captain Phipps, afterward Lord 
 Mulgrave, in the Racehorse; and he was accompanied by Captain Lutwidge, 
 now an admiral, in the Carcase. They were directed to penetrate as far as 
 possible in a direct course toward the pole, where the sea was asserted by some 
 to be perfectly open; to endeavour to ascertain whether a passage were prac- 
 ticable or not; and to make such astronomical observations as might prove 
 beneficial to navigation. 
 
J\'Ji'. Jl'irAi/ifft^-r, ,.-,-jj?p 
 
 J^hjfied hy A.£owya: So.JPaU MaJl. London, MinrTv 3.z8o/i . 
 
From the hazardous nature of the voyage, and the great hardships the 
 mariners might be exposed to undergo, it was expressly enjoined by the Ad- 
 miralty, that no boys should be admitted on board either ship. But th« 
 enterprising! genius of the youthful Nelson impelled him with an ii-resistible 
 desire to accompany the expedition, aiid he was so earnest in his solicitations j 
 that Captain Lutwidge was prevailed on to admit him into his ship, in the 
 humble capacity of cockswain. On the 2d of June, which was before- he had 
 attained the age of fifteen, the ships sailed; and he conducted himself in sucK 
 a manner during the voyage, as to obtain the particular notice of the com- 
 modore, who was led to form a high opinion of him. Indeed, in, such ^li 
 enterprise, occasipns of displaying that intrepidity of mind, which no danger 
 could appal, no hardships subdue, must inevitably occur. On the last day of 
 July, the ifavigators found themselves in a very perilous situation. Being off 
 the Seven Islands, a cluster to the north of Spitzbergen, in latitude 80° 21', 
 they, suddenly found their ships, surrounded by immense fields of ice,' and 
 wedged fast between them. They endeavoured to cut a passage to the west- 
 ward, by sawing through the pieces of icey some of which were twelve feet ift 
 thickness ; but their utmost united eSertions for a whole day were uiialble to 
 move the vessels more than two hundred yards. On this occasion, young 
 Nelson was entrusted with the command of a four-oared cutt6r and twelve 
 men, for the purpose of exploring channels and breaking the ice. It was not 
 till the gih of August they were extricated from their danger. On the 7th 
 the wind had changed, and on the 9th, the ice having separated, they were 
 carried into the open sea. 
 
 Another adventure, that occurred while they lay exposed^ to this immi- 
 nent hazard, serves strikingly to mark the character of our youth. On one of 
 those clear and intensely cold nights, he was missing from his ship. Imme- 
 diate search being made after him, but to no purpose, he Was given up for 
 lost. At length, when the sun had illumined the horizon, his astonished ship- 
 mates discovered him, armed with a musket, at a great distance on the ice, in 
 eager pursuit of a bear of uncommon size. The lock of his piece having 
 received some damage, it would not go off, and he had pursued the huge 
 
8 
 
 animal in hopes of tiring it out, and dispatching it with the butt-end of his 
 weapon. Being reprimanded by Captain Lutwidge on his return, for quitting 
 the ship without permission, and asked in a severe tone what motive could 
 have induced him to attempt such a rash step ; he answered with the utmost 
 simplicity, " I wished. Sir, to get the skin of that fine bear for my father." 
 
 When this expedition returned home, having penetrated to the latitude 
 of 81° 36' north, and traversed seventeen degrees and a half of longitude, be- 
 tween that and 79°, a squadron was equipping for the East Indies. As nothing 
 could be better calculated for the improvement of his nautical skill than such 
 a voyage, the young Horatio immediately sought an opportunity of encounter- 
 ing the extreme of heat, after having just experienced it's opposite, the intense 
 cold of the frigid zone. At the age of fifteen, it cannot be supposed that he 
 should be sufficiently sensible of the imprudence of such a step ; or, if he were, 
 that it should have checked the ardour of a favourite pursuit; but it gave 
 his constitution such a shock, as it never afterward recovered. He was in 
 consequence admitted on board the Seahorse, of twenty guns, under the 
 command of that brave Captain Farmer, who, in 1779, perished with such 
 calm heroism on board his ship, the Quebec, which accidentally took fire in 
 an engagement with la Surveillante, a French vessel of much superior force. 
 Here he was, at first, stationed in the fore-top, but soon removed to the 
 quarterdeck; and in this ship he visited almost every part of the Indian seas 
 from the head of the Persian Gulf, to the extremity of the Bay of Bengal. 
 
 His continued ill health, brought on, probably, by the transition from 
 one extreme of climate to the other, induced Sir Edward Hughes, by whom 
 he was always treated with great kindness, to send him home to England, in 
 the Dolphin. On the 24th of September, 1776, this ship was paid off at 
 Woolwich; and, on the 26th of that month, he received from Sir James 
 Douglas, harbour admiral at Portsmouth, an order to act as lieutenant of the 
 Worcester of sixty-four guns, Captain Mark Robinson, then under sailing 
 orders for Gibraltar with a convoy. On board this ship he remained only • 
 till the following spring; and though the weather happened to be uncom- 
 monly boisterous during the greater part of this time, while on a winter's 
 
froof 
 
 JPubKshtai hyJUpwyir, io.Fdll Mill,Zamlm,,llbrchialeS. 
 
9. 
 
 cruise in the Bay of Biscay, Captain Robinson liad sucli confidence in his 
 seanianshi|), that he, often observed, he felt as much security at night when 
 Nelson had the watfch upon deck, as when the oldest officer on board had the 
 charge of the, vessel. 
 
 On the "8th of April, 1777, being then but eighteen yfears arid half old, 
 Mr. Nelson passed his examination, and. acquitted himself with such ability,- 
 that on the following day he received a second lieutenant's commission for 
 the LowestofFe, a thirty-two gun frigate, commanded by Captain William 
 Locker, in which he sailed for Jamaica. While cruising in this vessel a cir- 
 cumstance occurred, that.emiriently m^rks the undaunted resolution he was 
 ever known to possess. In a strong gale of w;ind and heavysea a sail appeared 
 in sight, to which the LowestofFe gave chase. On coming up with her, she 
 proved to be an American letter of marque, and struck to the British frigate. 
 The LowestofTe's boat was hoisted out immediately, and the first lieutenant 
 sent to take possession of her; but the sea ran so high, that he durst not 
 venture to clap her on boar dj and returned without effecting his purpose. 
 " Have I then no, officer that can board the prize?" exclaimed Captain Locker, 
 with vexation. On this the master, -who was near the gang\yay, was just going 
 to jump into the boat, when he found himself suddenly stopped by X^ieuteuant 
 Nelson, who caught him by the arm, with these words: " 'Tis my turp first: 
 if I come back, 'twill be ypurs." The reader will, of course, anticipal;* the 
 event: the gallant youth achieved, what his senior was afraid to attempt. 
 
 A small schooner being equipped as tender to the LowestofFe, our young 
 lieutenant solicited the command of her, as a post in which his active mind 
 would find more occupation. Of this situation he availed himself, to acquire a 
 more perfect knowledge of the coasts, and render himself a complete pilot 
 for many intricate passages, particularly those among the Keys, or clusters of 
 small islands and rocks, to the north of Hispaniola. 
 
 In 1778, Rear Admiral Sir Peter Parker arrived on the Jamaica station, 
 and soon after appointed Mr. Nelson third lieutenant of the Bristol, of fifty 
 guns, on board which he carried his flag. In this ship he was, in a short time, 
 advanced by rotation to the post of first lieutenant, and on board her his ser- 
 
10 
 
 vices in this station terminated ; as on the 8th of December he obtained th« 
 Badger brig, with the rank of master and commander. In this vessel he 
 received orders to protect the Moschetto shore and Bay of Honduras, against 
 the depredations of the Americans; which service he so ably performed, that/ 
 when he quitted this station, he received the unanimous thanks of the settlers, 
 with expressions of their deep regret. 
 
 While the Badger was lying at Jamaica, in Montego Bay, his Majesty's 
 ship Glasgow, Captain Lloyd, arrived there, and in two or three hours was set 
 on fire by the carelessness of the steward in drawing off some rum, which he 
 was stealing out of the afterhold. On this occasion, the presence of mind of 
 Captain Nelson, and his strenuous exertions, were eminently conducive to the 
 preservation of the vessel and her crew. 
 
 On the 11th- of June, 1779, when he had not yet attained the age of 
 twenty-one, Mr. Nelson was raised to the rank of post captain. He had now 
 been only nine years at sea, and of these he had served but eight in the navy ; 
 yet, though so young a man, he had made such excellent use of his time, 
 and displayed his courage and abilities in such a conspicuous manner, that 
 his superiors, who were capable of justly appreciating true merit, could 
 rely with confidence on his doing honour to their appointment. He had 
 made himself not only an excellent seaman, and an able officer, but a skilful 
 pilot; a. qualification frequently of the highest necessity, and of the advantages 
 of which he was early sensible, though by too many it is fair from sufficiently 
 cultivated. And here let it be observed, since the life of Nelson cannot fail 
 to be considered as a pattern by every young man, whose mind is fired by the 
 ambition of distinguishing himself in the true field of British glory, that 
 neither courage, nor skill, nor judgment alone forms a sufficient basis for 
 promotion. He who would outstrip his competitors, and rise to eminence, 
 must possess them all in the highest degree ; for if either be wanting, or even 
 defective, the others will be of no avail, or at least can qualify a man only for 
 a subordinate station. 
 
 The Hinchinbrooke of twenty guns was the ship, to the command of 
 which Captain Nelson was now appointed. He was still at Jamaica, when the 
 
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 Il'-KTir7t?W(.7fr7/ ,--.7yZp, 
 
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11 
 
 aTrival of Count d'Estaign at St. Domingo with a numerous fleet and a largfe 
 body of troops gave reason for expecting an immediate attack on the chief of our 
 West India islands, and one of the most valuable appendages to the British 
 crown. On this occasion, the command of the batteries at Port Royal, the most 
 important post on the islan^l, was entrusted to Captain Nelson. Here, however, 
 he had no opportunity of distinguishing himself; as d'Estaing, having taken 
 St. Vincent's and Grenada', and been repulsed at St. Lucia, returned to the 
 American coast, without having made any attempt on Jamaica. 
 
 In the beginning of ithe year 1780, an expedition was planned^ by. Gover- 
 nor Calling of Jamaica, against Fort Juan, on the river St. John, which is the 
 outlet of Lake Nicaragua into the Gulf of Mexico. A detachment of the 
 60th regiment, the corps of Royal Irish, and a body of volunteers, under the 
 command of Captain John Poison, were accordingly embarked on board the 
 armed ship Horatio, two armed brigs, three armed sloops, and an armed 
 schooner, and sailed from Kingston on the 2d of February, under the direction 
 of Captain Nelson,, in the Hincliinbrooke, When they reached the Spanish 
 coast. Captain Nelson quitted his ship, to superintend the transporta!tion of 
 the troops up a river, to the navigation of which all the English were total 
 strangers, as none but the.Spaniards had visited it since the time of the hue? 
 cancers. Not only in thisj however, but in the subsequent military operations, 
 <lid he eminently contribute to the reduction of the fort. He stormed one df 
 the enemy's outposts'on an islandJn the river,, constructed fresh batteries, and 
 turned their own guns up0n the Spaniards : arid it appears from the dispatches 
 -pf Captain Poison, that scarcely a gun was fired against the fort, but was 
 pointed by Captain Nelson, or by Lieutenant Marcus Despar'd,- who acted as 
 chief engineer. 
 
 The health of Captain Nelson, already impaired, suffered considerably by 
 his strenuous and unremitted exertions in such a climate : and though he 
 joined the Janus of forty- four guns, to which he was now appointed, taking 
 his passage to Jamaica for the purpose in the Victor sloop, it continued rapidly 
 declining, in spite of all the medical assistance that could be given himj and 
 the kiud attention he received from Sir Peter Parker. In consequence of this 
 
12 
 
 he was obliged to return to England in the Lion, with the hon. Captain Wil- 
 liam Cornwallis, now Rear Admiral of England. 
 
 On his arrival he was sent by the physicians to Bath, where he remained 
 near three months before he recovered the use of his limbs. While he was 
 in London, Captain Locker, under whom he served in the West Indies as 
 lieutenant, and who from that period cherished a sincere friendship for him, 
 was desirous of having his portrait, for which he accordingly sat to Rigapd. 
 Respecting this picture, he thus expresses himself in a letter he wrote to his 
 friend from Bath. "I hope, when I come to town, to see a fine trio in your 
 room. When you get the pictures, I mustbe in the middle, for, God knows, 
 without good supporters I shall fall to the ground." Agreeably to this request, 
 which marks the natural humility of his disposition. Captain Locker placed his 
 portrait between those of the present admirals George Montagu and Sir Charles 
 Morice Pole. 
 
 As soon as his health appeared to be tolerably reestalslished, he was 
 eager to solicit employment, and in August, 1781, received the command of 
 the Albemarle of twenty-eight guns. With this ship he was stationed in the 
 North Seas till the spring; so that, after having endured the intense heat of a 
 tropical climate, he had to combat the severity of a northern winter. 
 
 In the following April he sailed with a convoy, under the command of 
 Captain Pringle, for Newfoundland and Quebec, where he expected to winter: 
 and though he had been told by Mr. Adair, the surgeon general, that, if he 
 were sent to a cold damp climate, it would make him worse than ever, 
 motives of delicacy prevented hini from applying to Admiral Keppel, to alter 
 the orders he had received from Lord Sandwich, though many of his naval 
 friends had advised him to make the application, and had no doubt of it's 
 success. On this station, however, he continued only till the fall. During 
 this period, as he was cruising off Boston, he was chased by three line of 
 battle ships and a frigate, all of which being better sailers than the Albemarle, 
 they gained on him very fast. In this emergency, relying on his skill in 
 pilotage, he ran in among the shoals of St. George's Bank, which soon obliged 
 the larger ships to desjst from a pursuit they could no longer continue without 
 
13 
 
 the most imminent hazard. The frigate, however, persevered, and was come 
 nearly within gunshot, when Captain Nelson backed his maintopsail, and 
 prepared for engagement : on this the Frenchman thought it advisable to put 
 about, and return to his consorts. In relating this event, in a letter to an 
 intimate friend. Captain Nelson does not assume the slightest merit to himself, 
 but in the handsomest manner pays a compliment to another, by ascribing 
 the retreat of the frigate to a dressing Captain Salter had giving the Amazone, 
 for daring to leave the line of battle shipsi 
 
 While Captain Nelson was at Quebec, he became enamoured of the 
 daughter of a publican, who had only her beauty to recommend her. Her 
 charms, however, made such an impression on him, that he resolved, to 
 make her his wife; and nothing but the strongest exertions of an intimate 
 friend, and his urgent representation of the imprudence of the match, pre- 
 vented it from taking place. 
 
 In October, 1782, he sailed from Quebec, having under his charge a con- 
 voy for New York. There he joined the fleet under the command of Lord 
 Hood, with whom he immediately became a candidate for a line of battle 
 ship. His lordship wrote him a highly flattering letter on the occasion, for 
 wishing to leave New York for a station of service, promising him his friend- 
 ship, and took him with him to the West Indies. On this occasion he did 
 not sail with the fleet, but was kept forty-eight hours after it's departure: a 
 circumstance that promised him pecuniary advantage, but which he regretted, 
 lest it should deprive him of an opportunity of signalizing himself. 
 
 Here he continued till the conclusion of the war, in the beginning of 1783. 
 This event had not long taken place, before he was ordered home ; and on his 
 way attended his Royal Highness Prince William Henry, on his visit to the 
 Havannah. When Lord Hood introduced him to the prince, he told his 
 , , royal highness, who was then, to use Captain Nelson's own phrase, a seaman, 
 that, if he wished to ask any questions relative to naval taptics, there was not 
 an officer in the fleet could give him more information. 
 
 As soon as the Albemarle arrived at Portsmouth, she was paid off"; and, 
 in the autqmn, Captaiji Nelson, after having visited his friends, went over to 
 
14 
 
 France, in company with Captain Macnamara, to pass the winter there, ou 
 account of his health. To make himself master of the French language was 
 likewise an object with him, for which purpose he fixeJ at St. Omer's, where 
 he remained till the spring: at this place he met with the Prince of Zwey- 
 brucken, who had been his prisoner in the West Indies, and who gave him a 
 very pressing invitation to Paris, in return for the civilities he had shown him 
 on that occasion, though igoorant of his rank. 
 
 In the spring he returned to England, and soon after his arrival was ap- 
 pointed to the Boreas of twenty-eight guns, and ordered to the West Indies, 
 on the Leeward Island station. This appointment required not a seaman mere- 
 ly, but a man of intelligence; and of that firmness of mind, which neither 
 the threats nor the chicanery of interested parties can induce to swerve from 
 the line of duty it has adopted upon sound principles. The Americans, who, 
 while subjects of Great Britain, had enjoyed peculiar advantages in their trade 
 to the West Indies, were still unwilling to forego these, though they had re- 
 nounced her government. Motives of private interest, combined with former 
 habits of intercourse, induced the West India planters. to support their claim 
 of not being considered as foreigners; and even the governors and custom- 
 house officers favoured their pretensions, asserting, that the navigation act 
 gave them a right to trade. Captain Nelson was a man of too sound judg- 
 ment not to be sensible, that the Americans were now as much foreigners as 
 any other nation, and to be considered so in their intercourse with our 
 islands. Accordingly, after having intimated with firmness to tlie Ameiicans, 
 and to our own civil officers, the line of conduct he felt it his dilty to pursue, 
 he seized several American vessels, which he found, in defiance of this warn- 
 ing, slill persisting in carrying on a trade, that he could not but deem contra- 
 band. Nor was this all, for he clearly perceived, that, if it were winked at, 
 the views of the loyalists in settling Nova Scotia would be completely jdefeated : 
 and at the same time he was persuaded, that from this connivance the Ameri- 
 cans would soon become the carriers of our islands, and next wrest them out 
 of our hands. On this occasion he was involved in an awkward dilemma. The 
 admiral on the station had suffered himself to be persuaded, that naval officers 
 
15 
 
 had no right to interfere in such a business without particular orders; and, in 
 consequence, wrote to Captain Nelson, enjoining him to do nothing in con- 
 tradiction to the measures of the governor and officers of the customs. Thus 
 finding himself obliged to disobey either the orders of his commanding officer, 
 or the express injunctions of an act of parliament, by which naval officers are 
 directed to see the provisions of the navigation act enforced; and being re- 
 duced to the necessity of making an option between two opposing authorities ; 
 he very laudably and boldly resolved to comply with what he justly considered 
 as his paramount duty. At the same time he wrote to the admiral, stating to 
 him his reasons for this conduct, and endeavouring to convince him of his 
 errour. At this disobedience of his orders, the admiral was so offended, that 
 he was going to send an officer to supersede Captain Nelson : but it being re- 
 presented to him, that the brders he had issued were probably illegal, he 
 reconsidered the matter, and, as soon as his reason was convinced, much to 
 his honour, thanked Captain Nelson for having set him right. 
 
 By this spirited and resolute conduct, he incurred the hatred of all those", 
 whose interested measures he thwarted, to such a degree, that he could not 
 leave his ship with safety to his person, as suits were instituted against him 
 for damages, to the amount of ^^40000; and attempts were made to arrest him, 
 in defiance of law. His undaunted mind, however, was neither to be seduced 
 nor intimidated from pursuing the path he had prescribed to himself; and 
 consciousness of rectitude of intention enabled him cheerfully to endure all 
 the unpleasaatness of his situation ; to alleviate which, he himself confesses, 
 the society of Captain Collingwood, who was destined so ably to second him 
 at Trafalgar, greatly contributed. Numerous complaints were of course made 
 against him ; but, on an examination of his conduct, he had the satisfaction 
 to find it completely approved by government. 
 
 In the latter end of the year 1 786, Captain Nelson was joined by Prince 
 William Henry, in the Pegasus frigate; and as his senior, and consequently 
 
 » The president of Nevis, Mr. Herbert, forms, at least, one honourable exception. He generously offered to 
 become bail for Captain Nelson, if he chose to suffer an arrest on the occasion, to the amount of ^lOOOO, ob- 
 serving, that the captain had done no more than his duty, though he was one of the greatest snfferers by it. 
 
16 
 
 oommantling officer, behaved in such a manner, as to secure the friendship 
 and esteem of his royal highness, whose regard for him was not diminished as 
 long as he lived. From the royal sailor, in March, 1787, he reteived the 
 hand of Mrs. Frances Nesbit, widow of Dr. Nesbit of Nevis, and daughter of 
 William Herbert Esq., senior judge of that island. In the following June, 
 having been three years on this station, he returned to England, conformably 
 to the regulations adopted for the naval service in time of peace, and on the 
 30th of November the Boreas was paid ofiFat Sheerness. 
 
 After this long series of continued active service, with only two short 
 intermissions, and these required for the restoration of his health, Captain 
 Nelson withdrew to the quiet enjoyment of domestic life, at the Parsonage- 
 house of Bumham, which his father gave up to him for the accommodation of 
 himself and his family. Here his time was spent in rural occupations, and in 
 solitary retirement, but not in idleness. His mind was busied in revolving 
 and digesting the experience it had acquired, and in improving the materials 
 of that future eminence, the solid basis of which was already laid. 
 
 No sooner did the dispute with Spain, respecting the affair of Nootfca: 
 Sound, in 1790, threaten a rupture with that power, than Captain Nelson 
 repaired to town, to make an offer of his services. They were not accepted, 
 however, as there were too many senior claimants : neither were they wanted j 
 for though a fleet was equipped, as commander in chief of which Lord Howe 
 hoisted his flag on board the Charlotte, yet the affair was so soon brought into 
 a train for an amicable tei-mination, that most of the ships were again put out 
 of cornmission before the end of November. 
 
 But he was not destined to enjoy much longer the quiet of rural life. An 
 event, that will form a memorable epoch in the history of the world ; an event 
 that has embroiled all the states of Europe, has produced such changes in 
 them, as from a long established system of policy might have been deemed 
 impossible, and the effects of which have been felt in every quarter of the 
 globe; was fated to involve this country in a war, which, though it slept for a 
 short interval, is not yet terminated. At the close of 1792, ministry avowed 
 their intention to commence hostilities with France; and, on the Soth of 
 
17 
 
 January, 1793, Captain Nelson was appointed to put into commission the 
 Agamemnon of sixty four guns. The character he bore, where he was best 
 known, enabled him soon to man his ship, every one in his neighbourhood 
 inclined to the service being desirous of serving under such a commander; so 
 that his crew was chiefly composed of mea of Norfolk. In this ship he was 
 ordered to the Mediterranean, under Lord Hood, and there let slip no oppor- 
 tunity of exerting himself, and rendering his gallantry conspicuous. 
 
 When Lord Hood took possession of the port of Toulon, Captain Nelson, 
 who after having been at Tunis with Commodore Linzee, was sent to cruise 
 with a few frigijtes between Corsica arid the coast of Italy, being off Oneglia 
 on the 31st, thence dispatched the earliest advice of this affair, through the 
 medium of Mr. Trevor, our minister at the court of Turin: and on the 11th 
 of September, he arrived at Naples with the intelligence, in consequence of 
 which, his Sicilian Majesty sent off two thousand of his best troops, to I'ein- 
 force the garrison of Toulon. These troops, commanded by Brigadier General 
 Pignatelli, embarked on the l6th on board two seventy-fours, two frigates, a 
 sloop of war, and a transport, but did not arrive at Toulon till the 27th. A 
 second division, consisting of an equal number, arrived at Toulon on the 5th 
 of October. It was found impracticable, however, to retain possession of the? 
 town against the numerous body of troops brought by the French to attack it, 
 and accordingly it was evacuated by the allied forces on the 18th of Decem- 
 ber; Lord Hood remaining with part of the fleet to block up the port and that 
 of Marseilles, while Viceadmirals Ilotham and Cosby were sent to Leghorn 
 or Porto Ferraia, as they were much in want of wine and provision, having 
 taken on board a great number of the inhabitants of Toulon, who dreaded 
 the vengeance of the republicans. 
 
 In the mean time Captain Nelson had fallen in with four French frigates 
 and a corvette, on the 21st oi October, which he engaged. After a sharp 
 action for four hours, the French vessels hauled their wind, and sheered off; 
 but the Agamemnon was so disabled in her masts and rigging, that she was 
 unable to pursue them. At this time Captain Nelson could muster only 345 
 men at quarters, upward of a hundred of his crew being absent in prizes, or 
 
 D 
 
18 
 
 left at Toulon. The cowardice of the French, however, in running away from 
 the crippled Agamemnon, gave them but a short respite, as two of them fell 
 into our hands at St. Fiorenzo, one at Bastia, and one at Calvi. 
 
 As it now appeared to him, that the maritime war in the Mediterranean 
 was at an end, he regretted his absence from Toulon, at the time Sir Charles 
 Pole was detached by Lord Hood to the West Indies, as it prevented him 
 from being a candidate for a service, which he expected would be more active. 
 In this, however, he was mistaken j and it was happy for his country, as well 
 as for his own glory, that Providence destined him to remain for greater 
 achievements, than the other hemisphere could have afforded. 
 
 When, in the beginning of the year 1794, it was thought advisable to 
 annex Corsica to the British crown, and Lieutenant General Dundas and Lord 
 Hood accordingly went upon this expedition. Captain Nelson superintended 
 the landing of the guns, mortars, and storesj and afterward had the command 
 of a brigade of seamen serving at the batteries on shore. Captains Hunt, Bal- 
 len, and Serocold, who was killed before Calvi, being under his orders. St. 
 Fiorenzo was the first point of attack ; and the Martello tower having surren- 
 dered on the l6th of February, and the strong redoubt and batteries of the 
 Convention being carried by storm on the 17tli, after a severe cannonading of 
 two days, the enemy abandoned the tower of Forneli, and two considerable 
 sea batteries dependant upon it, in the same night, and on the 19th retreated 
 to Bastia. 
 
 Our sea and land forces having taken possession of the town, forts, and 
 harbour of St. Fiorenzo, proceeded next against Bastia, which made a stout 
 resistance, and held out till the 22d of May. During this siege, a promising 
 young man, who had been committed to Captain Nelson's charge, fell by his 
 side; and he transmitted an account of the melancholy event to his father, 
 Mr. Evan Davies of Swansea, with his own hand. If any thing can soften 
 such tidings to a parent, it must be the manner in which they are conveyed ; 
 and of such a kind was this letter, in which are the following expressions : 
 " From the nature of our profession, we hold life by a more precarious tenure 
 than many others, but when we fall, we trust it is to benefit our country. So 
 
19 
 
 fell your souj by a cannon ball, under my immediate command, at the siegft 
 of Bastia. I had taken him on shore with me, on account of his abilities and 
 attention to his daty," Much is here said, in a few words, without the least 
 parade or ostentation. It is addressed at once to the head and to the heart. 
 
 On the 9th of June, Captain Nelson was detached by Lord Hood to 
 Bastia, to embark the troops, which were designed to lay siege to Calvi, on 
 the opposite side of the island. In conformity to his lordship's orders, he 
 conveyed them to Martello Bay, where Lieutenant General Stuart embarked 
 on the 15th. As the general expressed a wish, that no time should be lost in 
 commencing the attack of Calvi, Captain Nelson readily consented, in Lord 
 Hood's absence, to proceed to Port Agra, where a landing was effected on the- 
 igth of June ; and, in the course of the same day, the army encamped upon 
 the Sierra del Capuccine, a ridge of mountains, three miles from the town of 
 Calvi. This town was strong in point of situation, well fortified, and amply 
 supplied with heavy artillery. The exterior defences, on which much labour 
 had been bestowed, consisted in the Star Fort Mozello, built of stone, and 
 bomb-proof, on which ten pieces of ordnance were mounted, with a battery 
 on it's right, flanked by a small intrenchment. In the rear of this line,, which 
 covered the town to the westward, a battery of three guns was placed on a 
 rocky hill to the east. And on the plain, to the south-west. Fort MoUino- 
 chesco, on a steep rock, commanded the communication between Calvi and 
 the province of Balagnij and was supported by a frigate of forty guns, and 
 another of twenty-eight, moored in the bay, so as to rake the intermediate 
 country by their fire. But the principal difficulties arose from the height of 
 the mountains, and rugged, rocky surface of the country it was necessary to 
 penetrate; which presented such considei-able obstacles to the usual mode of 
 attack, that it was judged expedient to adopt rapid and forward movements^ 
 instead of regular approaches. In conformity to this plan, the seamen and 
 soldiers were laboriously employed in making roads, dragging guns to the tops 
 of the mountains, and collecting military stores, for the purpose of erecting 
 two mortar and four separate gun batteries on the same night. The principal 
 of these was to be thrown up within seven hundred and fifty yards of Fort 
 
20 
 
 Mozello. On the IQtli this fort was carried by the bayonet, after a new 
 battery had been constructed within three hundred yards of it, on the preced- 
 ing night. Fort Mollinochesco having been taken likewise, and the shi{)ping 
 withdrawn under the protection of the town, the united efforts of the navy 
 and army completed three more gun and mortar batteries in nine days, within 
 six hundred yards of the town itself. The fire of these soon drove the enemy 
 from their guns; and in eighteen hours after it was opened, the garrison 
 sent proposals for a capitulation, which terminated in the expulsion of the 
 French from Corsica. 
 
 During this siege, while Captain Nelson was at the advanced battery 
 manned by the seamen j where he' and Captain Hallowell alternately relieved 
 each other in the command every tWenty-four hours, he experienced a serious 
 loss. A cannon shot from the works of the enemy struck the parapet near 
 him, and drove some particles of saiid into his right eye. The consequent in- 
 flammation produced a thickening and opacity of the cornea, by which the 
 passage of the rays' of light was obstructed, so that the sight of the eye was 
 lost; though the organ was little injured to appearance, having only acquired 
 somewhat more fulness or prominency. 
 
 Soon after the reduction of Corsica, Lord Hood quitted the Mediterra- 
 nean. Captain NelsoA had entertained hopes of jmying a visit to his native 
 country about this period, but the moment he beheld, a prospect of an active 
 campaign, he gave up all thoughts. of it. The principal opportunity he had 
 of distinguishing himself under Lord Hood's successor, Viceadmiral Hotham, 
 with whose confidence he was equally honoured, was in the chase and engage- 
 ment of theFrench fleetj on the 13th and 14th of March, 1795. On the &th, in 
 the evening, our fleet, consisting of thirteen sail of the line, and a Neapolitan 
 seventy-four, being then in Leghorn Road, Admiral Hotham was informed by 
 express from Genoa, that a French fleet of fifteen sail of the line was at sea. At 
 the same time the Mozelle frigate made a signal from the offing, that a fleet was 
 in sight. At daybreak the next morning, our squadron put to sea. The ad- 
 vanced frigates kept them in view, but from the ships of the line they were not 
 visible till the 12th. On the morning of the 1 3th, one of them being discovered 
 
JlroTnicy dj. , 
 
 W.Jir.nTrj7!n4t,y>, jo.}f. 
 
 JtiATished T}y MSowytr.SoJiUlMalCZoTidan.JiiartJij.iSoS . 
 
21 
 
 without her topmasts, Captain Freemantlej in the Inconstant frigate, had an 
 opportunity of exhibiting a good proof of British enterprise, hy attacking, rak- 
 ing, and harassing this eighty gun ship, till the Agamemnon came up, when he 
 was, very ably seconded by Captain Nelson; who did her so much damage, as 
 to disable her from putting herself again to rights. At this time these vessels 
 were at such a distance from the fleet, that they were obliged to relinquish the 
 attack, on the approach of some other ships of the enemy's line, one of which 
 presently after took the crippled vessel in tow. At daylight on the 14i;h these 
 two ships being observed considerably to leeward of the enemy's fleet. Admiral 
 Hotham cQntrived, by carrying a press of sail, to cut them oflF; though the 
 French admiral bore down to their assistance, and commenced an engagement 
 for the purpose ; but he soon thought proper to sheer off, and leave the two 
 shipsj le Censeur and le Ca-ira, formerly la Couronne, to their fate. One of 
 these ships had thirteen hundred men on board, the other a thousand, a very 
 large body of troops having been embarked in the fleet, for the purpose of 
 retaking Corsica. The master, Mr. Wilson, was the only officer wounded on 
 board the Agamemnon, though the eagerness of her commander foi- close 
 action, occasioned her twice to be called off by signal from the admiral. On 
 this occasion, the French attempted a new mode of fighting, constantly firing 
 shells from some of their guns, and from others redhot shot, for which pur- 
 pose they had furnaces fitted up on board their ships. This was done by ex- 
 press orders from the convention, but the event gave them no reason to boast 
 of the innovation. A promotion of flags in the navy having taken place. 
 Captain Nelson was made one of the colonels of marines on the 6th of June^ 
 in consideration of his numerous services this war. On the 4th of July, he 
 was sent from St. Fiorenzo, in the Agamemnon, with the Ariadne and Moselle 
 frigates, and Mutin cutter, to Vado Bay, to cooperate with the Austrian 
 general, de Vins, in the recovery of Genoa : having orders to call off" that 
 port, and take with him the Inconstant and Southampton frigates, that were 
 lying there, if from the intelligence he might obtain at that place he should 
 deem it necessary. On the morning of the 7th, Admiral Hotham was greatly 
 surprised to l^arn, that this little squadron was returning into port pursued by 
 
22 
 
 the enemy's fleet, which, from the letter of General deVins, he had every 
 reason to suppose was at Toulon. Though the ships were in the midst of 
 watering and refitting, the extraordinary exertions of the officers and men 
 enabled the admiral to get under way that night, as soon as the land wind per- 
 mitted him to move; but it was not till daybreak on the 13th, that he came 
 in sight of the enemy's fleet, consisting of seventeen sail of the line, and six 
 frigates. He was then off" the island of Hieres to the eastward, with a west- 
 north-west wind blowing very hard, and six of our ships bending maintopsails, 
 in the room of others that had been split by the gale in the night. After forming 
 the line, and carrying all the sail that could be done without breaking it, the 
 enemy appeared desirous only of getting away; so that the admiral was obliged 
 to make the signal for a general chase, and for the ships to take suitable sta- 
 tions for their mutual support, and engage the enemy as they came up with 
 them in succession. The gale, however, being succeeded by baffling winds 
 and calms, only a few of our van, led by Admiral Man in the Victory, could 
 come up with the enemy's rear, which they attacked about noon. In the 
 course of an hour, one of their sternmost ships, the Alcide of seventy-fout 
 guns, struck her colours ; but the rest, favoured by a shift of wind, got so far 
 into Frejus Bay, while most of ours were becalmed in the offing, that it was 
 impossible to effect any thing more; and those of our ships that engaged had 
 got so near the shore, that the admiral found it necessary to call them off, just 
 as the Agamemnon, and the Cumberland, Captain Rowley, were again getting 
 into close action. Unfortunately the Alcide caught fire in the foretop, before 
 our people could take possession of her, and only three hxmdred of her crew 
 could be removed on board our ships before she blew up. 
 
 Captain Nelson, having proceeded to, Vado Bay agreeably to his former 
 instructions, learnt while 'there, that a convoy laden with arms and ammuni- 
 tion had arrived at Alassio, a place occupied by the French; and proceeded 
 thither with the Inconstant, Meleager, Southampton, Tartar, and Ariadne 
 frigates, and Speedy sloop, on the 26th of August. In less than an hour he cut 
 out nine vessels, four of them armed, and destroyed two, without the loss of a 
 single man killed or wounded, though some of the enemy's cavalry fired on 
 
23 
 
 the boats when boarding the vessels near the shore. The town itself was de- 
 fended by two thousand soldiers, otherwise he would have done the enemy 
 still more injury, by landing and destroying their magazines of provision and 
 ammunition. "His officerlike conduct," these are the. words of Admiral 
 Hotham in his dispatches, " upon this, and indeed upon every occasion where 
 his services are called forth, reflects upon him the highest credit." 
 
 Sir John Jervis, now Earl St. Vincent, having succeeded Admiral Ho- 
 tham in the command of the Mediterranean fleet, promoted Captain Nelson 
 to the rank of commodore, and sent him with the command of a small squa- 
 dron to the Gulf of Genoa. While on this station, on the 25th of April, 
 1796, the commodore received information, that a convoy laden with stores for 
 the French army had anchored at Loana. Immediately he proceeded thither, 
 taking with him the Meleager, Diadem, and Peterel sloop ; but to his morti- 
 fication, found on his approach, that, instead of a convoy of some force, there 
 were only four vessels, one of which was armed. These were lying under the 
 batteries, which opened on our ships as they approached : but they were kept 
 in check by the fire of our squadron, under cover of which the boats boarded 
 the vessels and brought them oS*; though they were opposed by a heavy fire 
 of musketry, as the vessels lay very near the beach. The vessels consisted, of 
 one ship of four brass and four iron cannons, and twenty brass swivel guns, 
 laden with corn and rice; a ketph, with muskets and cases of ammunition, a 
 galley, with a cargo of wine; and another with corn. 
 
 At two in the afternoon of the 3 1st of May, being off' Oneglia, the com- 
 modore observed six,sail running along shore, which appeared to be French. 
 Knowing the great consequence of intercepting the cannon and ordnance 
 stores, which he had information were expected from Toulon to be landed at 
 St. Pietro d'Acena, for the siege of Mantua, he made the signal for a general 
 chase; on which the vessels, hoisting French colours, anchored close under a 
 battery. Having directed Captain Cockburn of the Meleager to lead in, by 
 three o'clock both the Meleager and Agamemnon were anchored in less than 
 four fathoms water, as the Petetel and Speedy sloops very soon were likewise. 
 After a short resistance from the battery and armed vessels, the whole were 
 
24 
 
 taken. The boats with great gallantry and alacrity boarded the commodore of 
 the convoy, through the fire of three eighteen pounders she can-ied, and of 
 one eighteen pounder in the gunboat, and a brisk discharge of musketry from 
 the shore, which was kept up during the whole time, the enemy having cut 
 their cables as soon as they surrendered. The prizes were a ketch of three 
 eighteen pounders, four swivels, and sixty men : a gunboat of one eighteen 
 pounder, four swivels, and thirty men; a brig of 250 tuns, laden with brass 
 twenty-four pounders, thirteen inch mortars, shells, and gun carriages ; a 
 ketch of 120 tuns, with brass guns, mortars, shells, and gun carriages; ano- 
 ther of 100 tuns, with brandy and bread; and a third of 100 tuns, with Austrian 
 prisoners. Another ketch of seventy tuns, laden with wheelbarrows and in- 
 trenching tools, was destroyed. 
 
 The wealth of the Bi'itish subjects settled at Leghorn proved too tempt- 
 ing a bait for the French army in Italy, to find protection from the neutrality 
 of the Grand Duke against a man, who, even at that time, paid little respect 
 to the law of nations, whenever he perceived any advantage would accrue to 
 himself from infringing it. Fortunately the French had given so many proofs 
 of their treachery, and the little reliance to be placed on their professions or 
 good faith, that the English were on their guard ; and took measures for their 
 security, the moment they learnt, that the enemy had set foot in the Tuscan 
 dominions. In consequence, on the 25th of June, all the English residents 
 began to embark tiieir goods, with themselves and families, on board the mer- 
 chant ships and transports, of which there were twenty-three lying in the 
 mole; so that the greater part of the valuable effects in their warehouses, with 
 all the naval stores, and about 340 oxen, for the use of the fleet, were saved, 
 ^nd conveyed to Corsica, under the protection of Captain Freemantle, in the 
 Inconstant. They put to sea on the 27th, on which day, about noon, the 
 French entered Leghorn, and began firing at the Inconstant from the batteries; 
 and at ten o'clock that evening, Commodore Nelson came in with the Melea- 
 ger, which he added to the convoy, remaining himself at anchor otF the Ma- 
 dora, in the Captain of seventy-four guns, on board which ship he had hoisted 
 his broad pendant, to blockade the port, and stop any British vessels, that 
 
might arrive there without being apprised of the French having taken posses- 
 sion of Leghorn. 
 
 When the Viceroy of Corsich, then Sir Gilbert Elliot, now Lord Minto, 
 perceiving he should soon be obliged to abandon that island, deemed it ex- 
 pedient to acquire possession of the island of Elba, Commodore Nelson went 
 with Major Duncan on this expedition, which he accomplished with his 
 wonted ability and success. Having made good his landing, on the 9th of 
 July, he placed his own ship, the Captain, within half pistol shot of the prin- 
 cipal bastion, and summoned the governor to surrender. This spirited con- 
 duct so intimidated the garrison, that they were induced to capitulate imme- 
 diately, and give him possession of Porto Ferraio without resistance, though 
 defended by a hundred pieces of cannon. This purpose being effected, and 
 Sir Gilbert Elliot feeling himself under the necessity of evacuating Corsica, 
 Commodore Nelson superintended the embarkation of the Viceroy and British 
 troops at Bastia, on the 15th of October, and conveyed them in safety to Porto 
 Ferraio. He then joined the fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis, in the bay 
 of St. Fiorenzo. 
 
 Some naval stores having been conveyed from Corsica to Porto Ferraio, 
 and left there. Commodore Nelson was dispatched from Gibraltar, where the 
 fleet then lay, to bring them to that place. For this purpose he removed his 
 broad pendant to the Minerve frigate, Captain George Cockburn, of thirty- 
 two guns, and was accompanied by the Blanche, Captain d'Arcy Preston, of 
 thirty-two. On the igth of December, at night, they fell in with two Spanish 
 frigates, when the commodore immediately attacked that which carried a 
 poop-light, and directed Captain Preston to bear down and engage the other. 
 It was forty minutes after ten when the commodore brought the Spanish 
 frigate to close action, and this was continued without intermission till half 
 after one, when the Spaniard struck. She proved to be la Sabina of forty 
 guns, commanded by Don James Stuart, and had a hundred and sixty four 
 men killed or wounded in the action. The Minerve lost seven men killed, and 
 thirty-four wounded, was much cut in her rigging, and had all her masts shot 
 through. The prisoners were scarcely removed, gnd the Minerve had but just 
 
26 
 
 made sail with her prize, which had lost her mizenniast, in tow, wlien another 
 fi'jgate was perceived bearing down on them, about four in the morning, whose 
 signals evinced, that she also was a Spaniard. Immediately the commodore 
 cast loose la Sabina, and directed Lieutenant Culverhouse, who had the 
 charge of her, to stand to the southward, while he encountered this fresh ad- 
 versary. The action began at half after four, but in littk more than an hour 
 the Spaniard sheered off, and thus escaped the fate of her consort. Presently, 
 however, three more ships were perceived bearing down upon the Minerve; 
 and the hopes of the commodore and his gallant crew, that they were only 
 frigates, and that one of them might be the^'Blanche, were soon at an end, for 
 as the day began to dawn it was discovered, that two of them were Spanish 
 ships of the line, and the other a frigate, which had now joined the vessel they ■ 
 had just defeated. At the same time the Blanche was at a considerable dis- 
 tance to windward with her opponent, which had likewise struck, but the 
 approach of the enemy's ships had prevented Captain Preston from taking 
 possession of her. In this seemingly almost hopeless situation, the officers 
 and men of the Minerve strenuously exerted themselves to repair her damages, 
 so as to enable her to carry sail. But this could not have saved her, had not 
 Lieutenant Culverhouse gallantly held on his course in the prize, though re- 
 peatedly fired into by the Spanish frigate that had recently come up, so that 
 at length the Spanish admiral was induced to quit the chase of the Minerve, 
 and join his comrades in the chase of la Sabina ; which, however, did not 
 strike, till both her fore and mainmasts Were carried away as well as her 
 mizen. This enabled both the Minerve and the Blanche to effect their escape 
 from a force so very superior, after such a smart engagement. 
 
 In the account of this action, which the commodore transmitted to the 
 commander in chief, he ascribes the whole merit of the action to Captain 
 Cockburn, his officers, and crew: yet, without in the least detracting from the 
 high praise justly due to them, we may fairly presume, that the presence of 
 the gallant commodore could not fail to have animated them in the great ex- 
 ertions they must have made. 
 
 On the 29th of January, 1797, Commodore Nelson sailed from Porto- 
 
27 
 
 Ferraio on his return to Gibraltar, bringing with him Sir Gilbert Elliot and 
 his suite. On his passage he performed another service, that of reconnoitring 
 the principal harbours of the enemy in the Mediterranean. 
 
 As he found, on his return to Gibraltar, that the fleet had sailed through 
 the Gut, his eagerness to join Sir John Jervis would not let him remain there 
 longer than till the next morning. On the 1 1th of February, he was chased 
 by two Spanish ships of the line, and at the Mouth of the Straits fell in with 
 their whole fleet, which had come out of Carthagena. Having escaped by 
 outsailing them, he joined Admiral Jervis on the 13th, and, having given 
 him an account of the number and situation of the enemy, rehoisted his 
 broad pendant on board his former ship the Captain. This he had scarcely 
 done, before the admiral made a signal to the fleet to prepare for action, and 
 another for them to keep in close order during the night. 
 
 The public dispatches of the admiral give but a brief account of the vic- 
 tory that followed, his first captain, Sir Robert Calder, being charged with 
 them, who was of course able to supply all the deficiencies of the narrative. 
 On this occasion the odds were great indeed: the Spanish fleet consisted of 
 twenty-seven sail of the line, carrying 2288 guns; the English only of fifteen, 
 carrying 1232 guns. Some of the Spanish ships, however, sailed badly, and 
 few could boast of the seamanship either of their crews or of their officers, so 
 that when Sir John Jervis came in sight of them on the 14th of February, he 
 found them much scattered, and sailing in no regular order. Of this circum- 
 stance he skilfully availed himself, and by carrying a press of sail was enabled 
 to cut off about one third from the main body. These he. engaged without 
 delay, totally defeated them, and captured four, before the rest, several of which 
 never ventured into action, could get near enough to render them, any effec- 
 tual assistance. It is natural to presume, that the commanders of the Spanish 
 ships that came into action were among the bravest of the fleet : in fact, 
 they stood a severe conflict, having scarcely a mast standing, when they 
 struck ; nor were the Captain and Culloden, which bore the brunt of the 
 battle, in a state to continue at sea, till they had been refitted in Lagos Bay. 
 
 In this engagement Commodore Nelson had the singular good fortune 
 
28 
 
 eminently to distinguish himself, boarding and carrying two Spanish ships, one 
 of eighty guns, the other of 112, in succession, passing from one to the other. 
 A better or more authentic accoupt of this action, it may be presumed, cannot 
 be given, than in the words of Lieutenant Colonel Drinkwater, the historian 
 of the celebrated siege of Gibraltar, who had come from Porto Ferraio with 
 Commodore Nelson, and being now on board the Lively frigate, with Sir Gil- 
 bert Elliot, who oply waited to bring home the news of the event, had the 
 most advantageous opportunity of observing the progress of the engagement. 
 
 " When the Spanish admiral, who was to windward with his main body 
 consisting of eighteen ships, found the other nine cut off to leeward, he made 
 a movement apparently with a view to join them. This design, however, was 
 frustrated by the timely opposition of Commodore Nelson, whose station, in 
 the rear of the British line, afforded him an opportunity of observing this 
 manoeuvre: his ship, the Captain, had no sooner passed the rear of the 
 enemy's ships, that were to windward, than he ordered her to wear, and stood 
 on the other tack towards the enemy. 
 
 " In executing this bold and decisive manoeuvre, the commodore reached 
 the sixth ship from the enemy's rear, which bore the Spanish admiral's flag, 
 the Santissima Trinidada, of l.'je guns, a ship of four decks, reported to be 
 the largest in the world. Notwithstanding the inequality of force, the com- 
 modore immediately engaged this colossal opponent; and for a considerable 
 time had to contend not only with her, but with her seconds ahead and astern 
 each of thi'ee decks. While he maintained this unequal combat, which was 
 viewed with admiration, mixed with anxiety, his friends were flying to his sup- 
 port : the enemy's attention was soon directed to the CuUoden, Captain Trou- 
 bridge, and, in a short time after, to the Blenheim of ninety guns. Captain 
 Frederick, who opportunely came to his assistance. 
 
 " The intrepid conduct of the commodore staggered the Spanish admiral 
 who already appeared to waver in pursuing his intention of joining the ships 
 cut off by the British fleet; when the Culloden's timely arrival, and Captain 
 Troubridge's spirited support of the commodore, together with the approach 
 of the Blenheim, followed by Rearadmiral Parker, with the Prince George, 
 
'KKW-Tdnn-Tt^n soilp. 
 
 J^ErTied 'by M^owya: So.J'all MaU,Ztm^n.,M(avhj.2So^. 
 
S9 
 
 Orion, Irresistible and Diadem, not far distant, determined the Spanish ad- 
 miral to change his design altogether, and to throw out the signal for the ships 
 of the main body to haul their wind, and to make sail on the larboard tack. 
 
 " Not a moment was lost in improving the advantage now apparent ill 
 favour of the British squadron : as the ships of Rearadmiral Parker's division 
 approached the enemy's ships in support of the Captain (Commodore Nelson's 
 shijp) and her gallant seconds, the Blenheim and CuUoden, the cannonade be- 
 came more animated ahd imptressive. In this manner did Commodore Nel- 
 son engage a Spanish three-decker, until he had nearly expended all the am- 
 munition in his ship, which had suffered the loss of her foretopmast, and 
 received such considerable damage in her sails and rigging, that she was 
 almost rendered hors dix combat. At this critical period the Spanish three- 
 decker, having lost her mizenmast, fell on board a Spanish two-decker of 
 eighty-four guns, that was her second ; this latter, consequently, now became 
 the commodore's opponent, and a niost vigorous fire was kept up for some 
 time by both ships within pistol shot. 
 
 " It was now that the comniodbre's ship lost many men, and that the 
 damage already sustained," through the long and arduous conflict which she 
 had maintained, appeared to render a continuance of the contest in the'usual 
 way precarious, or perhaps impossible. At this critical moment the comino- 
 dore, from a sudden imptilse, instantly resolved on a bold and decisive mea- 
 sure j and determined, whatever might be the event, to attempt his opponent 
 sword in hand: — the boarders were summoaedj and orders given to lay his ship 
 on board the enemy. 
 
 "" Fortune favours the brave; nor, on this occasion, was she unmindful of 
 her favourite. Ralph Willett Miller, the commodore's captain, so judiciously 
 directed the course of his ship, that he laid her aboard the starboard quarter 
 of the Spanish eighty-four :— her spritsail yard passing over the eneiny's poop, 
 and hooking in her mizen shrouds ; when the word to board being given; the 
 officers and seamen destined for this perilous duty, headed by- Lieutenatit (now 
 Sir Edward) Berry, together with the detachment of the 69th regiment, com- 
 irianded by Lieutenant Pearson, then doing duty as marines, on board the 
 
30 
 
 Captain^ passed with rapidity on board the enemy's ship ; and, in a short timci 
 the San Nicholas was in the possession of her intrepid assailants. ., The com^ 
 modore's ardour would not permit him to remain an inactive spectator of this 
 scene. He was aware, the attempt was hazardous, and he thought his presence 
 might animate his brave companions, and. contribute to the success of this 
 bold enterprize ; he, therefore, as if by magic impulse, accompanied the party 
 in this, attack, passing from the fore-chains of his own ship into the enemy's 
 quarter r gallery, and thence through^ the cabin to the quarter-^eck, where he 
 arrived in time to receive the sword of the dying commander, who had been 
 mortally wounded by the boarders. He had not been long employed in taking 
 the necessary measures to secure this hard-earned conquest, when he found 
 himself engaged ii^ a more arduojas tas^^. The stern of the three-decker, his 
 •former .opponent) was placed directly amidship of the weather-beam of the 
 prize San Nicholas, and from her poop and galleries the enemy sorely annoyed, 
 with musketry, the British who had boarded the San Nicholas. The commo-? 
 dore was not long in resolving on the conduct- to be adopted on this moment- 
 ous occasion; the two Alternatives that presented themselves to his unshaken 
 jnind were, to quit the prize, or instantly board the three-decker. Confident 
 in the bravery of his seamen, he determined on the latter. Directing, there- 
 fore, an additional number of men to be sent from the Captain on board the 
 San Nicholas, the undaunted commodore, whom no danger ever appalled, 
 headed himself the assailants in this new attack, exclaiming: — ' fVestminster 
 Abbey,' or glorious- Victory!^- . ^ 
 
 " Success in a few minutes, and with little loss, crowned the enterprise. 
 Such, indeed, was the panic occasioned by his preceding conduct, that the 
 British no sooner appeared on the quarter-deck of their new opponent, than 
 the commandant advanced, and asking for the British commanding-officer 
 dropped on one knee, and presented his sword; apologizing, at the same time 
 for the Spanish admiral's not appearing, as he was. dangerously- wounded. 
 For a moment Commodore Nelson could scarcely persuade himself of the 
 reality of this second instance of good fortune : he, therefore, ordered the 
 Spanish cpmmandant, who had the rank of a brigadier, to assemble the officers 
 
ir.£r<7Tnlcy drl. 
 
 Proof 
 
 KILW'.Trhh.Tlim ■-■.olf. 
 
31 
 
 on the quarter-deck, and to direct means to be taken instantly for communi- 
 cating to the crew the surrender of the ship. All the officers immediately ap- 
 peared; and the commodore had the surrender of the San Josef duly con- 
 firmed, by each of them delivering his sword. 
 
 " The cockswain of the commodore's barge had attended dose by his side 
 throughout this perilous attempt. To him the commodore gave in charge the 
 swords of the Spanish officers, as he received them; and the undaunted tarj 
 as they were delivered to him, tucked these honourable trophies under, his 
 arm with all the coolness imaginable. It was at this moment also, that a 
 British sailor, who had long fought under the commodore, came up in the 
 fulness of his heart, and excusing the liberty he was taking asked to shake 
 him by the hand, to congratulate him upon seeing him safe on the quarter- 
 deck of a Spanish three-decker. 
 
 " This new conquest had scarcely submitted, and the commodore returned 
 on board the San Nicholas, when the latter ship was discovered to be on fire 
 in two places. At the first moment appearances were alarming ; but the pre- 
 sence of mind and resources of the commodore and his officers; in this emer- 
 gency, soon got the fire under. 
 
 " A signal was immediately made by the Captain for boats to assist in 
 disentangling her from the two prizes ; and as she was incapable of farther 
 service until refitted, the commodore again hoisted his pendant, for the mo- 
 ment, on board la Minerve frigate ; and in the evening shifted it to the Irre- 
 sistible, Captain Martin ; but as soon as the Captain was refitted, he rehoisted 
 his pendant on board the latter ship." 
 
 For such a victory, over a fleet so superior in number, the rejoicings could 
 not fail to be great throughout the nation ; and the gallant conduct of Com- 
 modore Nelson, in particular, was the theme of every one's praise. The king 
 conferred on the commander in chief a patent of an earldom, with the title of 
 St. Vincent; and on Commodore Nelson the order of the Bath, with the 
 privilege of wearing the gold medal, which was bestowed on all the admirals 
 and captains in the fleet, suspended by a blue and white riband round the 
 neck, in the same manner as the admirals, not from the third and fourth but- 
 
32 
 
 tonhole as the captains. A promotion in the navy likewise took place, in 
 which Commodore Nelson was made rearadmiral of the blue. 
 
 When the admiral had got the prizes and crippled ships in a state to put 
 to sea, he proceeded to Lisbon to refit, and left Commodore Nelson in the 
 Irresistible, with two other ships of the line, off Lagos Bay, to look out for 
 the viceroy of Mexico, who was expected there with two first rates and a 
 seventy-four. Our small squadron, however, was not so fortunate as to meet 
 with them ; and the Captain being now refitted, the commodore removed his 
 broad pendant to his former ship. 
 
 In April he hoisted his blue flag at the mizen, and was soon after detached 
 to Porto Ferraio, to bring away the garrison, it being judged expedient to 
 evacuate the island of Elba. On the 27th of May, he was appointed to the 
 command of the inner squadron of the fleet blockading the port of Cadiz, 
 where he observes he lay barely out of shot of a Spanish rear admiral. On the 
 2d of July, the Terpsichore frigate, with the Thunder bomb, having a detach- 
 ment of artillery on board, and the Urchin gunboat, joined the fleet from 
 Gibraltar; and the following night, conformably to the orders of Earl St. 
 Vincent, Admiral Nelson made his dispositions for a bombardment. By the 
 good management of her commander, Lieutenant Gourly, assisted by Mr. 
 Jackson, master of the Ville de Paris, who volunteered his services, the Thun- 
 der, covered by the gunboats, with the launches and barges of the fleet, was 
 placed within 2500 yards of the walls of Cadiz, near the tower of San Sebas- 
 tian. The shells were thrown frotn her with much precision, under the direc- 
 tion of Lieutenant Baynes of the Royal Artillery ; but unfortunately it was 
 soon found, that the large mortar was materially injured by it's former ser- 
 vices. Admiral Nelson, therefore, judged it proper, to order the Thunder to 
 return under the protection of the Goliath, Terpsichore, and Fox, which had 
 been kept under sail for this purpose. In the mean time the Spaniards had 
 sent out a great number of gun and mortarboats and armed launches, to 
 attack the bomb vessel; which Admiral Nelson perceiving, he led on his boats 
 against them with great gallantry, and was so well seconded, that he pur- 
 sued the Spaniards close to the walls of the town, and brought off two mortar 
 
 .3iai..3iai 
 
1i 3','i'. ■ T7i,jtmi .-•cuip. 
 
 Jhihluhed' l>y Jt.Bowya: do,TaU MiU/,£<mdorh.2dhrdi3..iSoB . 
 
53 
 
 boats, and a barge launch of one of their ships of war. On this occasion the 
 rear admiral's boat, in which were only ten men and the coxswain, beside 
 himself and, Captain Freemantle of the Seahorse, was laid alongside, by Don 
 MichaelTyrasop, the commander, of the Spanish flotilla, in a barge launch 
 carrying tvrenty-six men. The Spaniards fought resolutely hand to hand, but 
 were at length overpowered, eighteen being killed Outright, and all the rest, 
 including the commander, being wounded, before they yielded themselves 
 prisoners. John Sykes, Admiral Nelson's coxswain, who had accompanied 
 him in boarding the two Spanish sliips ofF Cape St. Vincent, was severely 
 wounded in defending his gallant comntander; and Captain Freemantle was 
 likewise .wounded fighting by his side, though but slightly. , 
 
 On the night of the 5th the admii'al ordered a second bombardment, 
 under the direction of Captains Bowen of the Terpsichore, Miller of the 
 Theseus, and Waller of the Emerald; and appointed Mr. Jackson, master of 
 the Ville de Paris, to place the Thunder, Terrour, and Strombolo bomb vessels. 
 "This bombardment produced considerable effect in the town, and among the 
 shipping ; ten sail of the line, among which were the flag ships of the Admirals 
 Mazzaredo and Gravina, being obliged to warp out of the range of the shells 
 with muchprecipitation. Mr. John Hornsey, acting lieutenant of the Sea- 
 horse, is mentioned by the commander in chief as having distinguished him- 
 self in a very remarkable manner on this night. 
 
 The admiral meditated another bombardment on the 8th, under his 
 own direction; but the wind blew so strong down the bay, that he could not 
 get liis vessels up to the point of attack in time. 
 
 This service was soon interrupted by another, in which the brave ad- 
 miral .and his associates gained nothing but honourable wounds. Lord St. 
 Vincent having been led to believe from a variety of intelligence, that the 
 town of Santa Cruz,' in the island of "Teneriffe, was vulnerable, and that a 
 considerable quantity of treasure had been landed there, determined on de- 
 taching a squadron against it. For this enteiprise he conceived he could not 
 select a fitter officer than Rearadmiral Nelson, whom, therefore, he dis- 
 patched on the 15th, in the Theseus, with the CuUoden, Captain Troubridge, 
 
34, 
 
 and the Zealous, Captain Samuel Hood, both of seventy -four guns, the 
 Emerald, Captain Waller, of forty-four, the Seahorse, Captain Freemantle, 
 of thirty-eight, the Terpsichore, Captain R. Bowen, of thirty-two, and the 
 Fox cutter, of fourteen. Captain Gibson, under his orders. The Leander, 
 Captain Thompson, of fifty guns, which arrived at Cadiz from Lisbon on the 
 18th, was sent after to join him. 
 
 At one o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th, being off the place of their 
 destination, Rearadmiral Nelson made the general signal to anchor; and at 
 half past five the whole squadron had anchored a few miles to the northward 
 of Santa Cruz. Sir Horatio had previously issued instructions for a thousand 
 men, including marines, from the different ships, to be prepared for landing, 
 under the direction of the seven captains of the ships of the line and frigates, 
 all of whom had very handsomely volunteered their services; and at six he 
 made the signal for the boats to be ready to proceed according to the orders 
 already given. At eleven o'clock, between six or seven hundred men being 
 embarked in the boats of the squadron, a hundred and eighty on board the 
 Fox cutter, and seventy or eighty in a boat that had been captured, they 
 pushed off in six divisions, under Captains Troubridge, Hood, Thompson, 
 Miller, and Waller ; Captains Freemantle and Bowen attending the admiral, 
 to regulate the attack. At half after one they had got within half gunshot of 
 the Mole Head, without being discovered, when the alarm bells rang, and 
 thirty or forty pieces of cannon, with musketry from one end of the town to 
 the other, opened upon them. The night being extremely dark, only the ad- 
 miral, and Captains Thompson, Freemantle, and Bowen, with four or five 
 boats in the whole, could find the Mole ; which was instantly stormed and 
 carried, though defended by four or five hundred men, and six twenty-four 
 pounders. The guns were spiked; but such a heavy fire of musketry and 
 grapeshot was kept up from the citadel and houses at the head of the Mole, 
 that the assailants could not advance, and were nearly all killed or wounded. 
 On this unfortunate occasion, a ball wounded Admiral Nelson in the rjo-ht 
 arm, not long after he had landed. Though he immediately fell, his party 
 pressed on with such eagerness, that it was unobserved, till he was missed by 
 
ll'-ff. W.-rHTiTvpi'ii .f.i,7p. 
 
 Proof 
 
 AhUi-hed lyM^oyvya; 8o.£iU/ J!^^.£and(m.Marchi.i8f'S. 
 
'3§ 
 
 his son-in-law. Lieutenant Nesbit. The lieutenant immediately turned back, 
 and after some search found him lying on the ground, apparently lifeless. 
 Having bound up the wounded limb with his neckcloth, he took his father-in- 
 law, in his arms, carried him to the beach, and with the assistance of a few 
 sailors put him into a boat, in which they conveyed him on board his ship; 
 It is said, that, before lie had fainted from loss of blood, with his left hand he 
 recovered his sword, which had been given him, with an injunction never to 
 part with it while he had life, by his uncle. Captain Suckling, who valued it 
 highly on account of it's having been bequeathed to him by Admiral Walpole, 
 being the sword the admiral carried when he lost his arm in vanquishing the 
 enemies of his country. 
 
 In this attack of the Mole, Captains Thompson and Freemantle were both 
 wounded, and Captain Bowen, who had greatly distinguished himself in the 
 Terpsichore, lost his life. 
 
 Meantime Captains Troubridge, Hood, Miller, and Waller, had landed^ 
 with part of the boats just to the southward of the citadel ; passing through 
 a raging surf, which stove almost every boat, and wetted the whole of theii< 
 ammunition. Notwithstanding this, they passed over the enemy's linewall 
 and batteries, and formed in the great square of the town, where they took 
 possession of a convent. From this post they marched against the citadel, but 
 found it far too strong for them to attempt, their whole force amounting only 
 to ahout eighty marines, as many pikemen, and a hundred and eighty seamen 
 with small arms. 
 
 At daylight Captain Troubridge found from prisoners taken, that there 
 were 8000 Spaniards in arms, and a hundred French, with five fitldpieces, 
 assembled at the entrance of the town; and as he saw the impossibility of 
 getting any assistance from the ships, at seven o'clock he sent Captain Hood 
 with a message to the governor, offering, if he should be allowed freely and 
 without molestation to embark at the Mole Head, taking ofFsuch of our boats 
 as were not stove, and being supplied with others to carry off the people by 
 the governor, that the squadron now before the town should not do it any 
 injury. The governor observed in answer, that they must surrender them- 
 
36 
 
 selves prisoners of war : to which Captain Hood replied,, that his commanding 
 officer had directed him to say, if the terms now offered were not accepted in 
 five minutes, he would set the town on fire, and attack the Spaniards at the 
 point of the bayonet. On this the governor immediately acceded to the pro- 
 posal, and Captain Troubridge marched his party with colours flying to the 
 Mole, where they embarked; the Spaniards furnishing as many boats as were 
 necessary to supply the place of those of ours that had been stove. 
 
 The noble and generous conduct of DOn John Antony Gutterez, the 
 Spanish governor, ought not to be passed over in silence. No sooner had he 
 accepted the terms, than he directed pur wounded men to be received irito 
 the hospitals, ordered all our people to be supplied with the best provision 
 that could be procured, and told Captain Troubridge, that the ships were at 
 liberty to send on shore to purchase whatever refreshments they might want 
 while they lay off the island. 
 
 Our loss in this unsuccessful expedition was very great. Beside those who 
 were killed and wounded on shore, the Fox cutter, in approaching the town, 
 received a shot under water from one of the enemy's batteries, which sunk her 
 immediately, and her commander. Lieutenant John GibsOn, and ninety-seven 
 men were drowned. Several of the boats experienced a similar fate. 
 
 In the morning of the 27th the squadron got under way, and continued 
 standing off and^ on, till they had received on board the remainder of the 
 officers, seamen, and marines, who had been left ashore in the hospitals; when, 
 after having committed the body of Captain Bowen to the deep with the 
 honours of war, they sailed to rejoin the fleet off Cadiz. - 
 
 Rearadmiral Nelson's arm had been amputated above the elbow as soon 
 as he was brought on board; but it was found necessary for him to repair to 
 England on account of the injury he had sustained; and as the wound Captain 
 Freemantle had received in his arm appeared to require change of climate. 
 Lord St. Vincent thought it advisable, to send home the Seahorse with him. 
 
 When he was first introduced to the king, after his arrival, his majesty ex- 
 pressed his regret at the loss of his arm, and the impaired state of his health,^ 
 by which his country might perhaps be deprived of his services in future. To 
 
37 
 
 this he spiritedly replied, "I can never think that a loss, which thei perform- 
 ance of my duty has occasioned; and so long as I have a foot to stand on, I 
 wiir fight for my king and country;" 
 
 What he had already performed and suffered for his country and his king 
 being considered as deserving a recompense, it was resolved, that a pension of 
 a thousand a year should be conferred on himj but custom required, that he 
 should state his services in a memorial to his majesty, previous to the passing 
 of this grant. In compliance with this custom, he drew up the following suc- 
 cinct statement, from which some idea of his activity and enterprise may be 
 formed. . \ 
 
 " TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, 
 
 " The Memorial of Sir Horatio Nelson, K. B., and a Reafadmiral in your 
 
 Majesty's Fleet, 
 
 " HUMBLY SHOWETH, 
 
 "That during the present war, your memorialist has been 
 in four actions with the fleets of the enemy, viz. on the 13th and 14th of 
 March, 1795 j on the 13th of July, 1795j and on the 14th of February, 1797; 
 in three 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 with 
 the army four months, ar^d 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 ; 
 and taken and destroyed near fifty sail of merchant vessels; and your memo- 
 rialist has actually been engaged against the enemy upwards of one hundred 
 and twenty times. In which services your memorialist has lost his right eye 
 and arm, and been severely wounded and bruised in his body. All of which 
 services and wounds your memorialist most humbly submits to your majesty's 
 most gracious consideration. . , 
 
 " HORATIO NELSON." 
 
 October, 1797. 
 
38 
 
 The freedom of the city of London having been voted to Sir Horatio 
 Nelson, in a gold box; of one hundred guineas value, for his bravery and con- 
 duct in the British service; he attended the lord mayor. Sir William Ander- 
 son, at the chamberlain's office, on the 28th of November. After he had 
 received the box, containing the freedom of the city beautifully written and 
 illuminated, the customary oath taken by every freeman was administered : 
 after which Mr. Chamberlain Wilkes thus addressed him : 
 
 "EEAEADMIRAL sir HORATIO NELSON, 
 
 " I GIVE you joy; and with true satisfaction I return you 
 thanks in the name of the lord mayor, aldermen, and commons of the city of 
 London, in common council assembled, who have unanimously voted you the 
 freedom of the capital, for your distinguished valour and conduct in the 
 favourite service of the navy, and particularly against a very superior force of 
 the enemy off Cape St. Vincent, on the 14tli of February last. 
 
 " Many of our naval commanders have merited highly of their country 
 by their exertions; but in your case there is a rare heroic modesty, which 
 cannot be sufficiently admired. You have given the warmest applause to your 
 brother officers, and the seamen under your command; but your own merit 
 yon have not mentioned even in the slightest manner, and the relation of the 
 severe and cruel wound you suffered in the service of your country is trans- 
 mitted to posterity only by your noble commander in chief. 
 
 " May you long live to enjoy the grateful benedictions of the country 
 which you honour and protect !" 
 
 To this Admiral Nelson answered : 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " Nothing could be more gratifying to me, (as it must be 
 to every sea officer) than receiving the high honour this day conferred upon 
 me in becoming a freeman of the great city of London. And I beg you to- 
 believe, and to assure my fellow citizens, that my hand and head shall ever be 
 exerted, with all my heart, in defence of my king, the laws, and the just 
 liberties of my country; in which are included every thing that can be bene- 
 ficial to the capital of the empire. I beg leave to return you. Sir, my sincere 
 
39 
 
 thanks, for the very flattering expressions you have honoured me with on this 
 occasion." 
 
 It was not till the 13th of December, that the surgeon by whom he was 
 attended reported him fit for service; and it is worthy of remark, that on the 
 8th he had delivered with his own hand, to Mr. Greville of St. George's, Han-- 
 over Square, the following memorandum, which was read in the church the 
 Sunday after. " An officer desires to return thanks to Almighty God for his 
 recovery from a severe wound, and also for the many mercies bestowed upon 
 him." 
 
 The ship which had been intended to carry his flag not being ready, 
 he hoisted it on board the Vanguard, on the IQth of December, but did 
 not get to sea till the April following. On the first of that month, he 
 sailed from Spithead with a convoy for Lisbon; but while they were off the 
 back of the Isle of Wight, the wind came round to the west, and obliged 
 them to return to St. Helen's. On the Qth he sailed again with the convoy, 
 and on the 29th joined Lord St. Vincent off Cadiz. 
 
 At this time the French were fitting out a formidable armament at 
 Toulon, with transports for the conveyance of a large body of forces. Bona- 
 parte, signalized by his great and recent successes in Italy, was to have the 
 command ; and not only military officers, but men of science, not only shot 
 and shells, but philosophical instruments and printing presses, chemical ap- 
 paratus, electrical machines, and airballoons, were to accompany the expedi- 
 tion. These preparations were all perfectly adapted to a permanent establish- 
 ment in Egypt, which was talked of publicly as the destination of the fleet, 
 while an air of mysterious secresy was affected. But the character of the 
 French, for a propensity to practise deception was too well established, for 
 our commanders to place implicit confidence in these appearances, which they 
 had too much reason to suppose might be employed merely as stratagems of 
 war; and therefore it was judged prudent, not to act decidedly upon this sup- 
 position, but to watch their motions, and to wait for something less equivocal. 
 
 Conformably to this plan, Rearadmiral Nelson sailed from Cadiz in the 
 Vanguard, the day after his arrival, with the Orion and Alexander of seventy- 
 
40 
 
 "lour guns each, the Emerald and Terpsichore frigates, and la Bonne Citoyenne 
 sloop of war. He touched at Gibraltar, which he left on the 9th of May, and 
 nothing material occurred till the 22d, when, being in the Gulf of Lyons, a 
 sudden squall assailed the squadron. The Vanguard being exposed to the 
 strongest vein of the tempest, all her topmasts, and soon after the fore- 
 mast, were carried away, and her bowsprit sprung in many places. At this 
 time, the French fleet could not have been many leagues distant, as it had 
 sailed from Toulon that very day. When the gale had abated, the Alexander 
 took the Vanguard in tow, and bore up for Sardinia 5 the Orion looking out 
 ahead, to endeavour to get a pilot to conduct them into the road of St. Pierre, 
 all the frigates having parted company during the gale. On the 24th, they 
 reached that roadstead with very great difficulty, and hoped to have received all 
 the succour their distressed state required from a neutral power. The gover- 
 nor, however, felt himself under the necessity of refusing this from dread of 
 the French ; but he had neither the means, nor at bottom the inclination, to 
 prevent the British ships from coming to an anchor. Under this apparent 
 compulsion, they obtained from him such assistance, as, with the resources 
 our seamen always have in themselves, enabled Captain Berry, aided by Sir 
 James Saumarez and Captain Ball, to equip the Vanguard with a jury fore- 
 mast and main and mizen topmasts, fish the bowsprit, and get to sea again 
 with topgallant yards across in four days. 
 
 The following extract of a letter written by Admiral Nelson to his wife, 
 on this occasion, strikingly depicts his feelings and his sentiments. 
 
 « Vanguard, St. Peter's Island, off Sardinia, May 24, 1 798. 
 "my DEAREST *ANNY, 
 
 " I OUGHT not to call what has happened to the Vanguard, 
 by the cold name of accident; I believe firmly it was the Almighty goodness, 
 to check my consummate vanity. I hope it has made me a better officer, as I 
 feel it has made me a better man ; I kiss with all humility the rod. , Figure 
 to yourself, on Sunday evening at sunset, a vain maa walking in his cabin^. 
 with a squadron around him, who looked up to their chief to head them to 
 
41 
 
 glory, and in whom their chief placed the firmest reliance, that the proudest 
 ships of equal numbers belonging to France would have lowered their flags ; 
 and with a very rich prize lying by him. — Figure to yourself on Monday morn- 
 ing, when the sun rose, this proud conceited man, his ship dismasted, his fleet 
 dispersed, and himself in such distress, that the meanest frigate out of France 
 would have been an unwelcome guest. But it has pleased Almighty God to 
 bring us into a safe port, where, although we are' refused the rights of hu- 
 manity, yet the Vanguard v/ill, in two days, get to sea again as an English 
 man of war." 
 
 The admiral was too eager to execute the orders he had received, to think 
 of sailing to Naples, or any other friendly port, where he might have received, 
 without difficulty, all the assistance for getting his ship properly refitted, 
 which her condition seemed to demand; nor did he ever express the slightest 
 intention of shifting his flag to either of the other vessels, which would have 
 appeared desirable to many, from the peculiar circumstances of his own. 
 Happily when they got to sea, the Vanguard was found to sail and work as well 
 as her consorts, though apparently in such a crippled state. 
 
 On the 4th of June, the squadron reached the place of rendezvous, and 
 on the 5th the Mutin, Captain Hardy, brought the admiral the pleasing in- 
 telligence, that Captain Troubridge had been detached with ten sail of the 
 line and a fifty-gun ship, to reinforce him. With this addition, he observed 
 to Captain Berry, he should deem himself a match for any hostile fleet he 
 could encounter in the Mediterranean, and his only desire was to fall in with 
 one. 
 
 The squadron being spread, on the 6th of June, anxiously looking out for 
 the expected reinforcement^ several vessels appeared in sight, which the ad- 
 miral was informed, by a sail he spoke with, were Spanish ships richly laden. 
 But prizemoney was no object to a mind absorbed by grander views, and he 
 would not for the sake of it delay a moment his coui'se to meet the promised 
 ships, that he might pursue the enemy, of whose departure from Toulon 
 he had received certain intelligence. The Alexander, being on the look out, 
 had stopped one of the ships: but Captain Ball, finding she had on board 
 
 G 
 
42 
 
 eighty or ninety priests, driven from Rome by the cruelties and persecution of 
 the French, thought it would be an act of humanity to permit the ship to 
 continue her voyage ; and accordingly released her, and joined the admiral, 
 bringing with him a few volunteers from the Spanish vessel, chiefly Genoese, 
 who expressed their desire of the honour of serving in the British fleet, and 
 their detestation and resentment of the ill usage they had experienced from 
 the French. 
 
 At noon, on the 8th, the man at the masthead descried ten ships with all 
 sail set, standing upon a wind, in close line of battle. An exchange of private 
 signals showed them to be British ships of war, and before sunset the ardently 
 desired junction took place ; an event which was certainly accelerated by the 
 great nautical ability and zeal of Captain, now Rearadmiral, Sir Thomas Trou- 
 bridge. The admiral had neither received instructions what course to steer, nor 
 any certain intelligence respecting the destination of the enemy's fleet: thus 
 he was left entirely to his own judgment, on which the commander in chief 
 could rely with perfect security. At the same time he had the happiness to 
 find, that it was unnecessary to give the captains of his squadron directions 
 for being in constant readiness for battle. In this point their zeal anticipated 
 his utmost wishes ; for the decks of every ship were kept perfectly clear night 
 and day, and every man was ready to be at his post at a moment's notice. He 
 had likewise the satisfaction to perceive, that the men were exercised daily both 
 at the great guns and small arms, and that every thing was in the best state of 
 preparation for an engagement. 
 
 As the French had sailed with a northwest wind, the admiral conceived 
 it most probable, that they were really destined for Egypt. At least this 
 convinced him, that they were gone up the Mediterranean : but, that he 
 might not act too rashly on a probable conclusion, he sent the Mutin to Civita 
 Vecchia, to get intelligence there or along the coast of Italy, while he stood 
 for Corsica, which he reached on the 12th of June. Having yet gained no 
 information, though he had spoken with several vessels, he continued his 
 course between Corsica and Elba, steering to the northward of the little island 
 of Pianosa, a passage through which neither fleets nor large ships are accus- 
 
43 
 
 tomed to sail; and was rejoined off the coast of Italy by the Mutin, which 
 brought him no intelligence, all the zeal of Captain Hardy for this purpose 
 having been exerted in vain. Hoping that he might be more successful at 
 Naples, which also lay in his way up the Mediterranean, he proceeded thither. 
 Making the summit of Vesuvius on the l6th, he dispatched Captain Trou- 
 bridge in the Mutin, to learn what he could from Sir William Hamilton. 
 Captain Troubridge returned with nothing more than a report, that the 
 French were gone to Malta. On this the admiral determined to take the 
 shortest course, passing through the Faro di Messing, for which the wind was 
 favourable. While he was sailing through this strait on the 20th, many boa'ts 
 came off to him from Sicily with great demonstrations of joy, as soon as they 
 found it vas a British squadron; for they were apprehensive the French 
 meant to attack them, after having taken Malta. Here he was informed by 
 the British consul, that the island of Malta had actually surrendered, and that 
 the French fleet lay at Goza. 
 
 On this he immediately formed a plan for attacking them at anchor, and 
 hastened on with all the sail he could carry. On the 22d, at break of day, 
 the Mutin spoke a Genoese brig just come from Malta, the master of which 
 brought intelligence, that the French had sailed from that island on the 18th, 
 with a fresh gale at northwest. Immediately the admiral made the signal to 
 bear up, and stand to the southeast with all sail. From this time till the 29th 
 of June, the squadron spoke only three vessels, two of which were from 
 Alexandria, the other from the Archipelago, but neither of them had seen 
 any thing of the French fleet. They made the Pharos this day, and neared 
 the land till all the ships had a distinct view of both the harbours of Alexan- 
 dria, but no enemy was visible in either. The Mutin stood in, and sent a 
 boat on shore, when the bashaw appeared equally surprised at the sight of a 
 British squadron, and at the information that he might expect an attack from 
 the French. 
 
 It was natural to presume, that the French would have steered the 
 shortest course for Alexandria, had Egypt been the place of their destination; 
 and as the English had done this, sailing from nearly the same point a few days 
 
44 
 
 after tliem, it was not probable, that our squadron could have passed their 
 fleet without perceiving it, so as to reach the port to which it was bound be- 
 fore it. The fact was, the French had shaped their course first for Candia, 
 and thence bore away for Alexandria, thus making a considerable angle, and 
 sailing more slowly on account of the great number of transports with them : 
 while our small squadron, being obliged to sail in close orders was confined to 
 a small space, had. no frigates that could be kept on the look out, and, 
 while eagerly pressing on, passed them probably in the night between Candia 
 and the coast of Barbary, the distance of which is about sixty leagues. This, 
 however, was a circumstance, which it was impossible for Admiral Nelson to 
 conceive at the time; and therefore he stood over to the coast of Caramania 
 without delay, in order to reacli some quarter, from which he might obtain 
 intelligence, and where he could supply his ships with water, as their stock 
 of this indispensable article began to 'grow short. x 
 
 On the 4th of July he made the land, and then continued his course 
 westerly, carrying a press of sail with a contrary wind both night and day, and 
 steering along the south side of Candia, till on the 18th he made the island of 
 Sicily. The Vanguard had had no opportunity of taking in water since the 
 6th of May, so that her stock, as well as that of several other ships in the 
 squadron, was nearly exhausted. Accordingly the admiral determined to 
 enter the port of Syracuse, though there was no person in the fleet acquainted 
 with it; but the skill and judgment of the officers carried in every ship with 
 safety. This port had no regular watering place for a fleet, yet the great 
 exertions of the officers and men completed this necessary service in five days, 
 and on the 25th the squadron once more put to sea. 
 
 At Syracuse the admiral was still unable to obtain any positive informa- 
 tion! respecting the enemy : but it appeared, that they had not been seen in the 
 Adriatic Sea, or in the Archipelago, or to go down the Mediterranean to the 
 westward. Egypt, therefore, was still the most probable place of meeting 
 with them ; but, as the admiral presumed some authentic intelligence might 
 be procured in the Morea, he steered his course thither, and on the 28th 
 reached the Gulf of Coron. Here the fleet was not detained more than three 
 
45 
 
 hours, owing to the diligence of Captain Troubridge, who was dispatched 
 into Coron in the Culloden. He was informed by the Turkish Bashaw, that 
 a numerous French fleet had been seen off Candia about a month before, 
 standing to the south-east j this determined the admiral to bend his course 
 foi" Alexandria once more, and he crowded sail for that port. The Alexander 
 and Swiftsure had been sent forward to reconnoitre on the evening of the 31st 
 of July, and came in sight of the harbour the next day at noon. It's appear- 
 ance at this time was very different from what it was on the former occasion, 
 as it was full of vessels of various kinds, on board some of which the French 
 flag was descried. This was a gratifying sight to all our squadron, who now 
 considered their pursuit at an end. 
 
 In conducting the evolutions of a fleet there are many obstacles, which 
 are not easily surmounted ; and for this reason the simplest mode of engaging, 
 that in a line, had been generally adopted. The advantage of a deviation 
 from this plan on some occasions had been perceived ; but, where every par- 
 ticular movement is to be directed by signal, at the instant, various circum- 
 stances may prevent the signal from being observed in time, at least by some 
 of the ships ; to say nothing of the irregularities of wind and other occur- 
 rences, that may thwart it's execution ; and when a captain has obeyed a 
 signal, and done all it commands, he may be at a loss how to proceed, till he 
 receives fresh directions. The penetrating and judicious mind of a Nelson 
 was not only aware of this, but conceived it's proper remedy: revolving in his 
 imagination the various ways and circumstances in which he might encounter 
 the French fleet, he had digested a particular plan of attack for every probable 
 case of wind and position: but this was not all, whenever opportunity oc- 
 curred he had every one of his captains on board the Vanguard, and un- 
 folded and explained to them his ideas on the best modes of engaging the 
 enemy, to ensure success; thus they were made fully masters of his intentions, 
 and knew how to proceed when once they got sight of the enemy, so that very 
 few signals were necessary, to enable all the ships to act in concert, as if ani- 
 mated by one mind. 
 
 From the number of troops embarked on board the French fleet, and 
 
46 
 
 the command being given to the man whom they had styled the conqueror oif 
 Italy, Admiral Nelson sagaciously concluded, that an expedition had been 
 planned, which the land forces would be capable of executing, should even the 
 transports alone reach the j)lace of their destination. To frustrate this, there- 
 fore, he had arranged his forces in three divisions, the central consisting of six 
 ships, and each of the others of four. Of these smaller divisions one, which- 
 ever of them it was that happened to be in the most suitable position, was to 
 pursue the transports, and sink or destroy as many as it could; while the other, 
 in concert with the central division, was to attack the ships of the line. By this 
 judicious plan there can be no doubt, but the expedition to Egypt would have 
 been defeated, had he fallen in with the French on their voyage. Perhaps 
 too, a Brueys and a Kleber might have been still living; and the waves have 
 passed over that head, which now wears an imperial crown. But it was other- 
 wise ordained, and the navy of France was destined to such a total overthrow, 
 as under these circumstances it could scarcely have experienced. 
 
 While the Alexander and Swiftsure were looking into the harbour, the 
 rest of the squadron kept in the offing. The Zealous, Captain Hood, first 
 descried the enemy lying at anchor, in line of battle, in the bay of Aboukeer, 
 which was then on his larboard bow. On his communicating this by signal, 
 the admiral immediately hauled his wind, it then blowing a topgallant breeze 
 from the north-north-west, and the whole squadron, observing him, did the 
 same. The signal for calling the Alexander and Swiftsure into the fleet was 
 followed by that to prepare for battle, and another to express the admiral's 
 intentions of engaging the enemy's van and centre as they lay at anchor. His 
 design was by this proceeding to secure the victory, and afterward make the 
 most of it, as circumstances might allow. 
 
 The French were moored in a compact line, close in with the shore, 
 their line forming a very obtuse angle, and being flanked by several gun- 
 boats, four frigates, and a battery of guns and mortars on an island in the 
 van. Their position presented the most formidable obstacles, and appeared to 
 secure them the most decisive advantages, as they had nothing to attend to but 
 their artillery, on their superior skill in which the French greatly pride them- 
 
47 
 
 selves, and certainly not without reason: but the admiral viewed all these 
 with the eye of a seaman determined on attack, and resolved to conquer or 
 perish in the attempt. 
 
 Each ship, having got a bower cable out abaft and bent forward, continued 
 carrying sail, and standing in for the enemy's fleet, in close line of battle, 
 sounding all the way, as not an officer on board was acquainted with the place. 
 The CuUoden having unfortunately grounded on the point of a narrow shoal, 
 in rounding the island, the Goliath and Zealous led the attack, and, with the 
 Orion, Audacious, and Theseus, taking their station between the enemy's van 
 and the shore, were immediately in close action. The Vanguard was the first 
 ship that anchored on the outside of the enemy, engaging le Spartiate, the 
 third ship in the French line, within half pistol shot. Our leading ships, as 
 they stood in, were unavoidably exposed to receive the whole fire of the 
 broadsides of the enemy's vessels into their bows 5 yet the necessary hands 
 were employed aloft in furling the sails, and on deck hauling the braces, with 
 the greatest coolness, preparatory to casting anchor. But when the Vanguard 
 had taken her station, she covered the approach of the ships in the rear, 
 which were following in close order. The Leander of fifty guns was not of 
 sufficient force to venture to lie along side of any of the French ships ; Captain 
 Thompson, therefore, who commanded her, very judiciously dropped anchor 
 athwart hawse of le Franklin, of eighty guns^ and opened on her a raking fire, 
 every shot that missed le Franklin striking I'Orient, the flag ship of the 
 
 admiral. 
 
 The action began just at sunset, which was about half past six, aijd by 
 seven the fleets were enveloped in darkness, broken only by the fire of their 
 cannon, which at intervals illumined the whole hemisphere. Previous to this, 
 however, the English ships had hoisted their distinguishing lights on a signal 
 from the admiral. Within twelve minutes after the commencement of the 
 action, le Guerrier, the headmost ship of the enemy, was dismasted j and in 
 ten more the two next, le Conquerant and le Spartiate, were both reduced to 
 the same condition nearly at the same moment. In the heat of the engagement 
 Admiral Nelson received a very severe wound in the forehead, over the right 
 
48 
 
 eye, from a piece of langrage shot, the shock of which was so great, that it 
 
 would have struck him down, had not Captain Berry, who was near, caught 
 
 him in his arms. Being taken down to the cockpit, the surgeon, who was 
 
 dressing some of the wounded seamen, immediately hastened to attend his 
 
 commander; but he, with the greatest composure, refused his present assistance, 
 
 saying, he would take his turn with his brave fellows. At this very time he 
 
 imagined,' and not without reason, from the violence of the blow and the 
 
 great effusion of blood that ensued, that the wound would prove fatal; and 
 
 under this persuasion he employed himself in delivering some confidential 
 
 nnessages to his various friends, and more particularly one which he wished to 
 
 be conveyed to his wife by the chaplain. He likewise appointed Captain 
 
 Hardy of the Mutin to be captain of the V^anguard; and afterward took an 
 
 affectionate leave of Captain Louis, who commanded the Minotaur, and whom 
 
 he had sent for expressly, that he might have the satisfaction of thanking 
 
 him in person for the assistance he had rendered the Vanguard in the height 
 
 of danger. "My dear Louis," said he, "farewell I shall never, if I survive, 
 
 forget the obligation I am under to you. Whatever may become of me, my 
 
 mind is at peace." Such were his sentiments, and such his conduct, on this 
 
 awfol occasion. 
 
 When the surgeon, conformably to his express injunctions, had done what 
 was necessary for those who were previously wounded, he advanced to the 
 admiral, and unbound his head. Wliile he was removing the handkerchief, 
 and inspecting the wound, all was silence, and every eye was intent on the 
 countenance of the surgeon, there to discover what they had to hope or 
 to fear. On examination he had the satisfaction to find, that the wound, 
 though extensive, was superficial, and not likely to be attended with any bad 
 consequences. The news was received with transport, and diffused joy 
 throughout the whole ship with rapidity; for never was a commander more 
 sincerely beloved. A striking proof, that courage and kind treatment will 
 ever win the affections of seamen, even to one who maintains the strictest dis- 
 cipline among them. 
 
 Meanwhile, I'Aquilon and le Souverain Peuple, the fourth and fifth ships 
 
W Br.^n.J, >> .M. . 
 
 Pro9f 
 
 Jr.K.W.'Ji-Jun.ffy'T, \.-atZp. 
 
 J^lCrhed I'/ R.Bowya-. Fall Maa.Zon3/7?h.Marchax8oS. 
 
49 
 
 in the line, had struck their colours about half after eight o'clock, and were in 
 our hands. Captain Berry had sent Lieutenant Galway of the Vanguard with a 
 party of marines, to take possession of le ^partiate; and the boat returned 
 with the French captain's sword, which Captaih Berry carried down to the 
 !|dmiral: at the same time he had the pleasing intelligence to communicate, 
 that rOrient, I'Heureux, and le Tonnant, . thotigh our people had. not yet 
 taken possession of them, might.be considered as absolutely in our power. 
 Unfortunately, at ten tninutes after^nine, a fire wasobsetved on board I'Orienty 
 which appeared to proceed from the cabin,< and advance with great rapidity, 
 so that the whole of the after part of the ship was presently in flames. The 
 admiral, being informed of this circumstance, came upon deck immediately, 
 though suffering greatly from his wound. The first consideration with him 
 was concern for so many lives exposed to the most imminent dangerj and 
 accordingly he directed Captaih Berry, to make every exertion to save as many 
 as possible. A boat, the only one that could. swim, was instantly dispatched 
 from the Vanguard, and the example was immediately followed by other 
 ships, that were in a condition to do it. "Thus the lives of about seventy 
 Frenchmen were saved. 
 
 i . The light diffused on all the surrounding objects by the flames, that rtosei ' 
 from rOrient, enabled the admiral to discern with more certainty the situa- 
 tion of the two fleets, the. colours of both being rendered clearly distinguish- 
 able by it. The firing was still kept up in part to leeward of the centre, till 
 about ten o'clock, vyheh.rOi'ient blew up with a tremendous explosion. An 
 awful pause and deathlike silence then ensued for about three minutes, when 
 the wreck of the masts, yards, and other materials, that had been carried to a 
 vast height, fell down into the water, and on board the surrounding ships. A 
 portfire from her fell into the maintopgallant- royal sail of the Alexander, but 
 the fire it occasioned was extinguished in about two miriutes by the activity of 
 Captain Ball. The gallant Brueys, though he foresaw the defeat of his fleet, 
 did not live to see it's fate, or that of his own ship. Early in the action he 
 had been slightly wounded in the head, and likewise in the arm, but would 
 not quit the deck. Soon after he received a shot in the belly, which nearly 
 
50 
 
 cut him in two; and, sensible he had not long to survive, he desired to be left 
 to die at his post, which he did in about a quarter of an hour. 
 
 After the pause occasioned by the tremendous scene, that caused the de- 
 struction of the French admiral's ship, the firing recommenced with the ships 
 to leeward of the centre, and continued till twenty minutes after ten. From 
 this time not a gun was heard for ten minutes, when the firing was again re- 
 vived, and did not totally cease till near three o'clock in the morning. At five 
 piinutes after five in the morning, the two rearmost of the enemy, le Guil- 
 laume Tell and le Genereux, were the only ships of the line that had their 
 C0l9urs flying. A few minutes before six, I'Artemise, one of the frigates, 
 fired a broadside, and immediately hauled down her ensign; yet, after having 
 thus surrendered, the French captain basely set fire to the ship, and then 
 made his escape to the shore with part of his crew. Another frigate, la Se- 
 rieuse, had been sunk by the fire from some of our ships; but, as her poop 
 remained above water, her men were saved upon it, and taken off by our 
 boats in the morning. The Eellerophon, her masts and cables having been 
 entirely shot away, could not keep her station abreast of I'Orient, but had 
 drifted out of the line to the lee side of the bay, a little before that ship blew 
 up; and in the morning the Audacious was dispatched to her assistance. At 
 eleven o'clock le Genereux and le Guillaume Tell, with the two remaining 
 fi'igates, le Justice and le Diane, cut their cables and stood out to sea. Cap- 
 tain Hood, in the Zealous, gallantly attempted to prevent their escape; but 
 as there was not another ship of the whole squadron in a condition to make 
 sail and support him, he was recalled by signal. 
 
 The whole of the second of August was employed in securing the French 
 ships that had struck, all of which were completely in possession of the British 
 squadron, except le Tonnant and le Timoleon. As these were totally dis- 
 masted, and in consequence could not escape, it was natural to leave them to 
 the last. On the morning of the third, however, le Timoleon was set on fire 
 by her crew, and le Tonnant cut her cable, and drifted on shore; but the 
 latter ship was soon got afloat again by the exertions of Captain Miller of tlie 
 Theseus, and secured in the British line. 
 
51 
 
 The Culloden, which had grounded in coming in from the over anxiety of 
 Captain Troubridge to begin the action, could not be gotten off till the morn- 
 ing of the second ; and she was then found to have struck with such force, from 
 the rate at which she was going, that her rudder was beaten off, and her bot- 
 tom very considerably damaged. Indeed, she let in the water so fast, that 
 the crew could scarcely keep her afloat with all her pumps going. On this 
 occasion, the abilities and resources of Captain Tronbridge's mind were ad- 
 mirably exerted, and availed him greatly. In four days he had a new rudder 
 made upon his own deck, which was immediately shipped, and the Culloden- 
 was again in a condition for service, though still very leaky. Captain Trou- 
 bridge, to his great regret, had thus been rendered unable to assist in the day 
 of battle; yet his zeal and activity after it were not useless, as he kept up a 
 communication with the shore, and had the address, notwithstanding the 
 vicinity of the French garrisons, to procure a supply of fresh provision, onions, 
 and other necessaries, which were served out to the sick and wounded, and 
 proved of essential benefit. 
 
 The attention of the admiral, who knew the wounded of his own ships 
 had been well taken care of, was immediately directed to those of the enemy. 
 He established a truce with the governor of the fort at Aboukeer, and through 
 him made a communication to thie commanding officer at Alexandria, that it 
 was his wish, as much as possible, to alleviate the misfortune of the wounded 
 Frenchmen, whom, therefore, he was willing to allow to be taken ashore to 
 proper hospitals, with their own surgeons to attend them. To this proposal 
 the French readily assented, and it was carried into execution the next day. 
 
 During the battle, the Arabs and Mamelukes, who naturally considered 
 the enemies of their foe the French as friends to themselves, lined the shore, 
 awaiting the event with anxious expectation: and, as soon as they saw victory 
 had declared decisively for the British arms, their exultation was almost as 
 great, as if the conquest had been their own; their joy being testified by illu- 
 minations for three successive nights, which spread over the whole coast and 
 country, as far as the eye could reach. This tended still more to depress the 
 minds of the unfortunate prisoners, who could not avoid concluding, that 
 
52 
 
 their calamity, great as it was, had not come alone, but that their countrymen 
 on shore had likewise experienced some signal defeat. 
 
 We have already had occasion to notice the religious tendency of Admiral 
 Nelson's mind, when mentioning his rec^pvery from the loss of his arm : the 
 beginning of his dispatches, in which he gives an account of this victory, 
 breathes the same spirit: and, though it may be supposed his time and attention, 
 as well of those of all the officers in his squadron, must have been pretty fully 
 occupied in repairing the damages sustained by their own ships, and in secur- 
 ing those of the enemy, on the morning of the 2d he issued a memorandum 
 to the several captains of his squadron, recommending to them a public 
 thanksgiving for the victory. Conformably to this, service was performed on 
 the quarterdeck of the Vanguard at two o'clock that day, by the Rev. Mr. 
 Comyn; and the other ships followed the example of the admiral, though it 
 was not convenient to all at the same hour. This solemn act of gratitude to 
 Heaven appeared to make a very deep impression upon several of the pri- 
 soners, both officers and men; peihaps not the less for the great lengths the 
 convention had gone in it's endeavours to eradicate all religious principles; 
 and some of the former remarked, " it was no wonder such order and disci- 
 pline were preserved in the British navy, when the minds of the men were 
 impressed with such sentiments after a victory so great, and at a moment of 
 such seeming confusion." On this discipline and good order the admiral laid 
 particular stress in his thanks to the men and officers of his squadron, which 
 he issued the same day ; and, after this recent experience of their advantages, 
 the truth of such observations could not fail to be felt by every mind. 
 
 By this great blow the French army in Egypt was totally cut off from the 
 mother country, and reduced entirely to it's own resources, without any 
 hopes of succour, or means of retreat; for it's fleet, the only medium by 
 which it could maintain any effectual communication with France, was not 
 simply defeated, but totally annihilated. And it is remarkable, that not one 
 of the four ships, that escaped from Aboukeer, had the good fortune to re- 
 main long out of our hands; for le Genereux was captured by Admiral Nel- 
 son on the 18th of February, 1800, off Malta; le Guillaume Tell was taken 
 
 . i&..jB.i&..jB. 
 
53 
 
 off the same island by Sir Edward Berry, on the 31st of March j as was la 
 Diane by Captain Martin, on the 24th of August ; and, on the 2d of Sep- 
 tember, 1801, la Justice was found in the harbour of Alexandria, when that 
 taty surrendered to General Hutchinson. 
 
 On the 4th day after the action, the admiral dispatched Captain Berry in 
 the Leander, to carry an account of the victory to Lord St. Vincent, then ofF 
 Cadiz. This small ship, carrying only fifty guns, and being upward of eighty 
 men short of her complement, on the l6th fell in with le Genereux, the 
 seventy-four that had escaped from Aboukeer Bay. At nine in the morning, 
 being off Goza, the Frenchman brought her to action ; and Captain Thomp- 
 son defended his ship with equal skill and bravery till half after three. Being 
 then nearly a wreck, and in such a situation, that she could scarcely bring a 
 gun to bear on the enemy ; three officers and thirty-two men killed, seven 
 officers, including the captain himself, and fifty men wounded; all further 
 resistance was hopeless, and the ship was surrendered. 
 
 Apprehensive of such an event, the admiral had dispatched the honour- 
 able Captain Capel, of the Mutin sloop, to Naples, thence to proceed by land 
 to England with the news. He was likewise aware of the impoi-tance of the 
 event being known in our East India territories; and in consequence he 
 sent Lieutenant Duval, of the Zealous, over land to Bombay, on the 9th of 
 August, with the first account of the Frenph expedition to Egypt, and what 
 he had learnt of it's state and intended movements, from some dispatches of 
 Bonaparte, which he had intercepted the preceding day. 
 
 When the news of this important victory reached England, the most 
 enthusiastic joy pervaded all ranks of people. The man whose gallantry had 
 already assigned him a station in the foremost rank of fame, had annihilated 
 the French fleet in the Mediterranean, a fleet intended to cooperate with a 
 general, on whom France appeared to place all her hopes ; and thus nipped in 
 the bud an expedition, which was intended ultimately to give a fatal blow to 
 our valuable and extensive acquisitions in the East. An achievement so great 
 in itself, and important in it's consequences, could not possibly pass unnoticed, 
 or remain unrewarded. On the 2d of October, the intelligence reached 
 
64> 
 
 England, and on the 6th his majesty created the brave and successful admiral 
 a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile, and of 
 Burnham Thorpe, in the county of Norfolk. He likewise added an honour- 
 able augmentation to the arms he already bore, and to the supporters, which, 
 as a knight of the Bath, he had been authorised to use. At the meeting of 
 parliament, on the 20th of November, his majesty thus began the speech from 
 the throne, with which he opened the session : 
 
 " MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, 
 
 " The events which have taken place in the course of 
 the present year, and the signal successes, which, under the blessing of Pro- 
 vidence, have attended my arms, have been productive of the happiest con- 
 sequences, and have essentially promoted the prosperity and glory of the 
 country. The unexampled series of our naval triumphs has received fresh 
 splendour from the memorable and decisive action fought by a detachment of 
 my fleet, under the command of Rearadmiral Lord Nelson, which attacked 
 and almost totally destroyed a fleet of the enemy, superior in force, and 
 strengthened by every advantage of situation. By this great and brilliant 
 Tictory, an enterprise, the injustice, perfidy, and extravagance of which had 
 fixed the attention of the world, and peculiarly directed against some of the 
 most valuable interests of the British empire, has in the first instance been 
 turned to the confusion of it's authors, and the blow thus given to the power 
 of France has afforded an opening, which, wisely improved by other powers, 
 may lead to the general deliverance of Europe." 
 
 The next day, a vote of thanks to Lord Nelson for his very meritorious 
 conduct, in the signal victory obtained by him over the French fleet in the 
 Mediterranean, and to the officers, sailors, and marines, who served under his 
 lordship upon that glorious occasion, passed each of the houses of parliament; 
 and, onthe22d, the late Mr. Pitt, being the chancellor of the exchequer, com- 
 municated to the House of Commons the following message from his majesty : 
 
55 
 
 " His majesty having taken into consideration the signal and 
 meritorious services performed by Kearadrairal Lord Nelson, in the memorable 
 and decisive victory obtained over a superior French fleet, off the mouth of 
 the Nile, not only highly honourable to himself, but eminently beneficial to 
 these kingdoms; and his majesty being desirous to confer upon him some con- 
 siderable and lasting mark of his royal favour, in testimony of his approbation 
 of his great services, and therefore to give and to grant unto the said Rear- 
 admiral Lord Nelson, and the two next heirs male, to whom the title of 
 Baron Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe in the county of Norfolk 
 shall descend, for their lives, the net sum of two thousand pounds per annum j 
 but his majesty not having it in his power to grant any annuity to that amount, 
 or for a period beyond his own life, his majesty recommends it to his faithful 
 commons, to consider of the means of enabling his majesty to extend and 
 secure an annuity of two thousand pounds per annum to Rearadmiral Lord 
 Nelson, and the two next male heirs, to whom the title of Baron Nelson of 
 the Nile and of Burnham Thorpe in the county of Norfolk shall descend, in 
 such manner as shall be most advantageous to their interests." 
 
 On this occasion some debate arose; not that the voice of dissent against 
 the propriety of conferring honours and bestowing rewards on the hero of 
 the Nile was heard; but many expressed their dissatisfaction, that these honours 
 and rewards were not much gi-eater. It was probably owing to this, that an 
 additional thousand a year was voted him in the parliament of Ireland. 
 
 After the battle off Cape St. Vincent's Lord Nelson had presented to the 
 city of Norwich, as the chief town of his native county, the sword of the 
 Spanish admiral; he now presented to the city of London, as a return for the 
 freedom of the corporation bestowed on him on that occasion, the sword of 
 the French admiral, which was brought over by the Hon. Captain Capel, with 
 the following letter to the lord mayor : 
 
 " MY LORD, " Vanguard, Mouth of the Nile, Aug. 8, 1 ?9S. 
 
 " Having the honour of being a freeman of the city of 
 London, I take the liberty of sending to your lordship the sword of the com- 
 
56 
 
 mandlng French admiral, Monsieur Blanquet^ who survived after the battle of 
 the 1st, off the Nile; and request that the city of London will honour me by 
 the acceptance of it, as a remembrance, that Britannia still rules the waves 5 
 which, that she may ever do, is the fervent prayer of 
 
 " HORATIO NELSON." 
 
 A court of common-council was immediately held on the occasion ; the 
 thanks of the court were unanimously voted to Lord Nelson, and the officers 
 and men under his command; and the sword wasordered to be placed in the 
 most conspicuous part of the council-room, enclosed in an elegant glass case, 
 and with the following inscription on a marble tablet underneath : 
 
 " The sword of Monsieur Blanquet, the commanding French admiral, in 
 the glorious victory off the Nile, on the 1st of August, 1798, presented to this 
 court by the Right Honourable Admiral Lord Nelson." 
 
 At the same time it was resolved, that a sword of the value of two hun- 
 dred guineas should be presented to his lordship, as a testimony of the high 
 sense the city entertained of his public services ; and that the freedom of the 
 city, in a gold box of one hundred guineas value, should be presented to Cap- 
 tain Berry, as a mark of esteem for his gallant behaviour on the 1st of August. 
 To render the present as agreeable as possible to the brave admiral, the lord 
 mayor, Sir J. W. Anderson, in the letter, which he transmitted to him on ac- 
 count of the proceedings of the court, requested he would give directions re- 
 specting the devices, with which he should wish the intended present might 
 be ornamented, but this his lordship handsomely declined in the following 
 letter: 
 
 "sir, "Vanguard, Palermo, Jan. si, 1790. 
 
 " I HAVE only this day received your letter, when lord 
 mayor, of the l6th of October, and beg that you will convey to the court of 
 common-council my sincere gratitude for all their goodness to me, and assure 
 them it shall be the business of my life, to act in the manner most conducive 
 to the prosperity of the city of London, on which depends that of our country. 
 
57 
 
 I am truly sensible of your politeness in desiring me to say what particular 
 devices I should wish on the sword, which is to be presented to me by the 
 city of London; but I beg to leave that to the better judgment of my fellow- 
 citizens. Believe me, when I assure you I feel myself, 
 
 " Your most faithful and obliged Servant, 
 
 " NELSON." 
 
 " SIR J. W. ANDEESON." 
 
 A public body of far greater opulence, the East India Company, was so 
 sensible of the important service his lordship had rendered it, in parrying a 
 blow, that aimed at nothing short of it's total ruin, as to vote him a gift of 
 ten thousand pounds: and the company of Turkey merchants, to whose wel- 
 fare the victory of Aboukeer was little less esential, made him a valuable pre- 
 sent of plate. 
 
 The present of a gold medal from his majesty to each of the captains as 
 well as the admiral, was not peculiar to the present occasion, as it had been 
 conferred as a mark of honour on all those engaged in the victories under Earl 
 Howe, Lord St. Vincent, and Lord Duncan, The first lieutenant of every 
 ship in the action was made a master and commander; and the commander 
 of the Mutin sloop was promoted to the rank of post captain. 
 
 But in this list of honours and rewards the tokens of respect paid by in- 
 dividuals must no tbe passed over in silence. Alexander Davison, Esq., of St. 
 James's Square, whose intimacy with Lord Nelson had commenced at an 
 early period in North America, and whose house was the admiral's home 
 when in London, had a medal struck by Bolton to commemorate the victory. 
 He presented one of gold to every captain in the fleet, beside four to the ad- 
 miral, and one to his majesty and a few of the principal members of adminis- 
 tration; one of silver to every lieutenant, andevery officer of similar rank; one 
 of copper gilt to every warrant and petty officer; and one of copper bronzed 
 to every common sailor and marine. The Hon. Mrs. Dartier, whose celebrity 
 as a sculptor is well known, voluntarily made an oIFer to the city of London 
 to execute and present to it a bust of Lord Nelson, either in marble or bronze; 
 
58 
 
 which was eagerly accepted, and the bust, which is of marble, now stands in 
 the council-chamber at Guildhall. 
 
 The captains of the different ships presented his lordship with a magnifi- 
 cent sword, the hilt of which appropriately represented a crocodile; and many 
 trifling articles, formed out of the wreck of I'Orient, were sent to his lordship 
 by various officers in the fleet; which, though of no intrinsic worth, could not 
 but be valued by him as tokens of affection and regard. Among these, the 
 most memorable was that of Captain Hallowell, which accompanied him to 
 the grave. This was sent with the following note : 
 
 '( SIU Swiftsure, August, 1798. 
 
 " I HAVE taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin, made 
 of the mainmast of I'Orient, that, when you have finished your military career 
 in this world, you may be buried in one of your trophies; but that that period 
 may be far distant, is the earnest wish of your sincere friend, 
 
 " B. HALLOWELL.'" 
 
 His lordship is said to have been so much pleased with this present, that 
 he kept it for a long while in his cabin, and at length reluctantly consented to 
 it's removal. 
 
 Neither were the honours and rewards bestowed on his lordship confined 
 to this kingdom. When the news of the victory reached the Ottoman Porte, 
 the Grand Seignior directed a superb diamond chelengk, or plume of triumph, 
 taken out of one of the imperial turbans, to be sent to Admiral Nelson, with 
 a robe of scarlet cloth lined with the finest sable. He likewise sent a purse of 
 two thousand zechins, about nine hundred pounds sterling, to be distributed 
 among the British seamen wounded at the battle of the Nile. With these 
 presents a Turkish frigate was dispatched to Alexandria, the following note 
 having been previously delivered to Mr. Smith, his Britannic majesty's minis- 
 ter plenipotentiary at Constantinople. 
 
 " It is but latelyj that by written communication it has been made known 
 how much the Sublime Porte rejoiced at the first advice received of the Eng- 
 
59 
 
 lish squadron in the White Sea* having defeated the French squadron off 
 Alexandria, in Egypt. 
 
 "By recent accounts, comprehending a specific detail of the action, it 
 appears now more positive, that his Britannic Majesty's fleet has actually de- 
 stroyed by that action, the best ships the French had in their possession. 
 
 " This joyful event, therefore, laying this empire under an obligation, and 
 the service rendered by our much esteemed friend. Admiral Nelson, on this 
 occasion, being of a nature to call for public acknowledgment, his imperial 
 majesty, the powerful, formidable, and most magnificent Grand Seignior, has 
 destined as a present, in his imperial name, to the said admiral, a diamond 
 chelenglc, and. a sable fur, with broad sleeves ; beside two thousand zechins, 
 to be distributed among the wounded of his crew. And as the English minis- 
 ter is constantly zealous in his endeavours to increase the friendship between 
 the two courts, it is hoped he will not fail to make known this circumstance to 
 his court, and to solicit the permission of the powerful and august king of 
 England, for the said admiral to put on and wear the said chelengk and robe." 
 " Sept. 8, 1798." 
 
 When the Turkish frigate reached Alexandria, Admiral Nelson had sailed : 
 the effendi, therefore, who was charged with the delivery of the presents, took 
 his passage to Naples in the Alcmene frigate. On their arrival the effendi and 
 his -suite, thirteen in number, executed their commission with great gravity 
 and dignity, in the Oriental style. Having put on their robes of ceremony in 
 his lordship's antichamber, they presented the chelengk, robe, and purse on 
 cushions, as likewise a rose formed of diamonds, the gift of the dowager sul- 
 tana, and with the chelengk, the following letter, that the admiral might be 
 fully sensible of the honour conferred on him : 
 
 " Constantinople, Octobers, 1708. 
 
 " A superb aigrette, of which the marginal sketch gives but 
 an imperfect idea, called a chelengk, or plume of triumph, such as have been, 
 
 a The eastern part of the Mediterranean is called Ak Degniz, or the White Sea, by the Turks. 
 
60 
 
 upon every famous and memorable success of the Ottoman arms, conferred 
 upon victorious mussulman serasliiers, I believe never before upon an unbe- 
 liever, as the we plus ultra of personal honour, separate from official dignity. 
 The one in question is entitled rich in it's kind, being a blaze of brilliants, 
 crowned with a vibrating plumage, and a radiant star in the middle, turning 
 on it's centre by means of watchwork, which winds up behind. This badge 
 was actually taken from one of the imperial turbans, and can hardly, accord- 
 ing to the ideas of such insignia here, be considered as less than equivalent to 
 the first order of chivalry in Christendom — such, at least, was my view in the 
 donation." 
 
 The emperor Paul of Russia too sent Lord Nelson his picture in a gold 
 box set with jewels, estimated at two thousand five hundred pounds value, and 
 accompanied by a letter written with his own hand. The king of Naples, 
 beside many other gifts of less importance, pi-esented his lordship with a 
 diamond hilted sword, valued at five thousand pounds. But the intrinsic 
 worth of this appropriate gift was not the whole for which it was to be pri'zed; 
 it was the sword gi\'en to the king of Naples by Charles III, on his departure 
 for Spain, with these words: " With this sword I conquered the kingdom, 
 which I now resign to thee. Let it be possessed for the future by the first 
 defender of the kingdom j or by him who restores it to thee, should it ever 
 be lost." From the king of Sardinia his lordship received a box set with 
 diamonds, accompanied by a very affectionate letter : from the people of the 
 Island of Zante, a gold-hilted sword and a gold-headed cane, as to their pre- 
 server from slavery : and from the magistrates of Palermo the freedom of their 
 city, which constituted his lordship a grandee of Spain. 
 
 The records of modern history, at least, offer to our contemplation no 
 victory, that ever excited so much general applause as this of the Nile 3 no 
 victor, that was ever honoured with so many spontaneous marks of admiration 
 and esteem, not from his own countrymen merely, but from foreign nations. 
 Compared with these, what are all the forced congratulations, hollow tributes 
 of constrained applause, and triumphal arches erected by compulsion, that have 
 
61 
 
 graced the conquests or stigmatized the treacheries of a man, who has en- 
 slaved and impoverished half Europe, under the mask of disinterested friend- 
 ship, and with the pretensions of giving liberty to those, on whom he has 
 imposed the most galling chains ! 
 
 To return to our narrative. After having refitted his own ships and the 
 prizes in the best manner circumstances would allowj the admiral sailed from 
 Aboukeer Bay, leaving Captain Hood to block up the port of Alexandria with 
 four sail of the line and two frigates. He himself arrived at Naples on the 
 22d of September, where he found the Culloden and Alexander, which had 
 reached that port four days before him. The king of the two Sicilies imme- 
 diately went off in his barge to congratulate the admiral, as soon as his ship 
 was descried coming in, and remained on board the Vanguard till she had 
 come to an anchor. The admiral then attended his majesty to the shore, and 
 on his landing was received with the loudest acclamations. 
 
 Notwithstanding the severe blow the French navy had received, the great- 
 ness of his victory did not procure Lord Nelson a respite from his labours. 
 Malta, a place always considered of great strength, was still in the hands of the 
 French ; and two sail of the line, with three frigates, were in the harbour 
 ready for sea. This port, therefore, he deemed it necessary to blockade; and 
 accordingly dispatched Captain Ball with three sail of the line, a frigate, and 
 a fireship, for the purpose. On the 25th of October, the island of Goza sur- 
 rendered to Captain Ball, who took possession of it in the name of his Sicilian 
 majesty. 
 
 Meanwhile, the French having revolutionised the papal territory, his 
 Sicilian majesty had marched a large army, headed by himself and General 
 Mack, into the Roman republic, where the French had at that time a very 
 small force; while the combined fleets of England and Naples took possession 
 of the port of Leghorn. The king entered Rome on the 29th of November, 
 the French having retreated before him, leaving only a garrison in the castle 
 of St. Angelo. As soon as the French government had heard, that his Sicilian 
 majesty had entered the Roman republic in a hostile manner, it declared war 
 
62 
 
 upon him ; and their armies in that quarter having received reinforcements, 
 the Neapolitans were attacked at all points, routed and driven from Rome ; 
 and Naples itself was threatened with invasion in return. It was invaded; 
 and the French army, harassed by insurrections of the people against it on all 
 sides, the communication between it's different divisions intercepted, it's bag- 
 gage plundered or destroyed, and numbers of it's troops cut off by the insur- 
 gents, found itself master of the capital, in spite of the most obstinate and 
 determined resistance of sixty thousand Lazzaroni. 
 
 On the night of the 1st of Januaiy, 1799, the king had embarked on 
 board the British fleet, with the royal family, and the British, Austrian, and 
 Russian ministers, and was safely landed at Palermo, while his continental 
 territories were thus ravaged. To recover that part of his kingdom, now in 
 the possession of the French, who had overrun almost all Italy, required no 
 little effort. The successes of the Russians and Austrians cooperated power- 
 fully to this end; and Lord Nelson, who had been promoted to the rank of a 
 rearadmiral of the red, and hoisted his flag on board the Foudroyant in May, 
 was busily employed in the reconquest of Naples, and the expulsion of the 
 French from the southern parts of Italy, and even from the papal states, dur- 
 ing that and the two succeeding months. 
 
 When he arrived at Naples, though General Macdonald had been forced 
 to retire with his army, and join Moreau, the castle of St. Elmo and all the 
 fortresses remained in the hands of the French; and Cardinal RufFo had 
 signed an armistice not only with them, but with the rebels, most of whom 
 had, in consequence, embarked for Toulon, but were detained by contrary 
 winds. In this Cardinal Ruffb appeared to have exceeded the powers dele- 
 gated to him, and in consequence Lord Nelson prevented the ships from sail- 
 ing, till his Sicilian majesty's pleasure should be known. He likewise com- 
 menced his operations against the fortresses without delay; got possession of 
 the castles of Ovo and Nuovo on the 26th of June; and on the 12th of July, 
 the garrison of St. Elmo surrendered themselves prisoners of war. When his 
 Sicilian majesty was informed of the progress Lord Nelson had made, and that 
 
63 
 
 he had a prospect of succeeding in the enterprise, he quitted Palermo, arrived 
 in the bay of Naples on the 10th of July, hoisted his royal standard on board 
 the Foudroyant, and in two days found himself restored to his throne. 
 
 But though master of his metropolis, the French were still in possession of 
 Capua, and of Gaieta j against which Lord Nelson, who at the time so much 
 was effected under his command was so ill as scarcely to be able to sit up, dis- 
 patched Captain Troubridge on the 20th, with the marines of the fleet, and a 
 body of Neapolitan, Portuguese, and Russian troops. On the 28th the garri- 
 son of Capua surrendered themselves prisoners of war; and on the 31st Gaieta 
 capitulated likewise. The garrison in this place, having been merely blockaded, 
 not regularly besieged, were to be at liberty after they were sent to France. 
 It must not be omitted, that, while the French garrisons made terms for them- 
 selves, the Neapolitans who had taken part with them, and for whose hap- 
 piness and emancipation they had professed to have entered the country, 
 were wholly omitted in the treaties of capitulation, and abandoned, to the 
 vengeance of their sovereign j a vengeance afterward exercised upon. them in 
 such a manner, as to leave the king of the two Sicilies no claim to the charac- 
 ter of clemency or moderation. 
 
 The French being thus expelled from the Neapolitan dominions, his lord- 
 ship returned to Palermo with his Sicilian Majesty, whose standard still con- 
 tinued flying on board the Foudroyant. On the Qth of August he reached the 
 metropolis of Sicily, where his arrival diffused the utmost joy and festivity. 
 The entertainments given in his honour were truly magnificent. His statue 
 crowned with laurel was placed on a pedestal, in a temple erected to Glory: 
 " God save the King," and " Rule Britannia," Were sung by the band at the 
 Opera-House, the whole company, who had sedulously studied the English 
 pronunciation for the purpose, joining in the chorus ; and the battle of Abou- 
 keer, with the burning of I'Orient, were exhibited in fireworks. He was like- 
 wise raised to the dignity of Duke of Bronte, the domains and revenues of 
 which were estimated at three thousand a year. And this title was peculiarly 
 appropriate; bronte being the Greek word for thunder, whence one of the 
 
64 
 
 Cyclops, who in the ancient mythology were said to forge the thunderbolts of 
 Jupiter in the caverns of ^tna, liad the name of Brontes. 
 
 Meanwhile, his lordship, who thought nothing accomplished while any 
 thing remained to be done, dispatched Commodore Sir T. Troubridge to 
 blockade Civita Vecchia, while General Bouchard, with an army of near three 
 thousand Austrians, beside the Neapolitans, and those Romans who preserved 
 their loyalty, threatened Rome by land. Thus circumstanced, General Gar- 
 nier, who commanded for the French, did not hesitateto come to terms with 
 the English. The articles of capitulation were the same as had been granted 
 to the garrison of Gaieta : except that Garnier, much to his honour, refused 
 to acquiesce in delivering up those natives who had joined him ; and Commo- 
 dore Troubridge, though he could not avoid making the demand, in compli- 
 ance with the desire of his Sicilian Majesty, readily assented to their departure, 
 aware, as he was, from the late transactions at Naples, of the doom they had 
 otherwise to expect. Thus the figurative language of high-flown compliment, 
 in which Lord Nelson was told on his arrival at Naples, " that he would take 
 Rome with his ships," became no more than a simple truth. 
 
 By this capitulation, the various masterpieces of art, which had been 
 packed up, and conveyed on shipboard, in order to be transported to Paris, 
 were for the present preserved to Rome : and out of gratitude for his having thus 
 prevented the ancient metropolis of the world from being despoiled of it's 
 chief ornaments, it was resolvfed by several of the principal inhabitants, to 
 erect a moniiment to the British admiral in that city. On being informed of 
 this by our ambassador at Naples, his lordship wrote the following letter to 
 the gentleman, who was appointed to superintend the business : 
 
 DEAK SIE, "Palermo, December 19, 1799. 
 
 " Sir William Hamilton had been so kind as to 
 communicate to me the distinguished honour intended me by the inhabitants, 
 by you, and other professors and admirers of the fine arts at Rome, to erect a 
 monument. I have not words suflScient to express my feelings on hearing that 
 
65 
 
 my actions have contributed to preserve the works which form the school of 
 fine arts in Italy, which the modern Goths wanted to carry off and destroy. 
 
 " That they may always remain in the only place worthy of them — Rome, 
 are, and will be my fervent wishes, together with the esteem of, 
 
 " Dear Sir, 
 
 " Your most obliged Servant, 
 
 " BRONTE AND NELSON." 
 
 While their laurels were thus withering in Italy, the French were anxi- 
 ously desirous of retaining possession of Malta, which had been in such a 
 dastardly, or rather treacherous manner, surrendered to them by the late 
 Grand Master of the Order. But, impregnable as it's fortifications might be 
 deemed, it was impossible for the garrison to hold out without succour; and 
 this they appeared resolved at all hazards' to throw in,, having equipped every 
 ship they had in those seas for the purpose. To frustrate their intentions, 
 Viceadmiral Lord Keith, the commander in chief in the Mediterranean, 
 directed Lord Nelson, who had remained at Palermo in a state of ill health 
 till the beginning of the year 1800, to cruise to windward of the island of 
 Malta with a small detachment, while he himself lay close off the harbour. 
 On the 18th of February he was so fortunate as to intercept and capture le 
 Genereux, Rearadmiral Perree, the ship by which, after her escape from 
 Aboukeer, the Leander was taken. And on the 3(ith of March le Guillaume 
 Tell, Rearadmiral Dacres, was taken by the Foudroyant, then commanded by 
 his captain, Sir Edward Berry; Lord Nelson having been obliged to land in 
 Sicily, and remain on shore on account of his health. 
 
 This continued in such' a declining state, that he had no longer any pro- 
 spect of being able to resume an active station without imminent hazard, and 
 such a sacrifice the state of affairs in the Mediterranean did not appear to de- 
 mand. In consequence he was induced to strike his flag, and return to his 
 native country. With this view he repaired to Trieste; and though it was in 
 the month of June he landed on the continent, his ill health, and the delays 
 he met with on the road, prevented his landing at Yarmouth from Hamburg, 
 
66 
 
 before the 6th of November, The Queen of Naples, to express her gratitude 
 to him for her restoration to the throne, not only presented him with a por- 
 trait of her royal consort, with her cipher on the back, richly set with 
 diamonds, but accompanied him on his journey as far as Vienna : and the 
 reception he met with there from the emperor, at Prague from the Archduke 
 Charles, at Hamburg from the senate, and, indeed, wherever he passed, could 
 not fail to be highly gratifying to a man greedy of glory. 
 
 On his arrival at Yarmouth, he was received with every token of respect.. 
 He reached London on the 8th ; and, on Monday, the 10th, joined in the 
 procession that attended the lord mayor to Guildhall, having been invited to 
 the feast, to the great gratification of the numerous company. His presence 
 certainly did not tend to diminish the crowds usually assembled on such an 
 occasion; every window was full, and as he passed he was saluted with all the 
 expressions of Unboiinded applause. 
 
 After the company at the hall had regaled themselves with the good 
 things usually provided to grace the entrance into office of the first magistrate 
 of the metropolis, the sword, which had been voted to his lordship by the 
 city, ill consequence of the victory of Aboukeer, and executed against his 
 arrival, was presented to him in the name of the corporation, by Mr. Cham- 
 berlain Clarke, who addressed him in an appropriate speech. 
 
 To this his lordship returned the following answer, which was received 
 with loud acclamations : 
 
 *' SIR, 
 
 " It is with the greatest pride and satisfaction I receive 
 from the honourable court this testimony of their approbation of my conduct; 
 and with this very sword," holding it up in his hand, " I hope soon to aid in 
 reducing our implacable and inveterate enemy to proper and due limits — 
 without which this country can neither hope for, nor expect, a solid, ho- 
 nourable, and permanent peace." 
 
 While his lordship was in England for the recovery of his health, and 
 
67 
 
 enjoying a short respite from his laborious services, he sat to Mr. Bowyer for 
 his picture. On this occasion Mr. Bowyer introduced to his lordship Miss 
 Andras, modeller in wax to her majesty, a young lady not less to be admired 
 for the qualities of her heart than for her distinguished talents, and requested 
 that she might be permitted to avail herself of this opportunity, to take his 
 likeness also. His lordship consented with great affability; but when he was 
 seated, with Mr. Bowyer on one side of him and Miss Andras on the other, 
 he wittily observed, " that he was not used to be taken in this manner, star- 
 board and larboard at the same time." 
 
 Mr. Bowyer likewise took an opportunity of intreating Lord. Nelson, to 
 admit on his quarterdeck the son of a particular fi-iend, who had been two or 
 three years at sea as a midshipman, and was extremely desirous of serving 
 under his lordship. He supported his request by saying, that he was a dashing 
 blade, who he was sure would fight. His lordship said, the applications that 
 had been made to him for this purpose were numberless, and many from the first 
 nobility: but, if Mr. Bowyer were sure he would fight, it was a strong recom- 
 mendation to him, and he would take him ; but he might rely on one thing, 
 that no young man, who ever sailed with him, would get any promotion, but 
 on account of his merit. In the attack on Copenhagen, that soon after fol- 
 lowed, this youth volunteered to go in an open boat with messages, and on 
 different services of a very dangerous nature, as the balls were flying about him 
 in every direction; and these he executed greatly to his lordship's satisfaction. 
 On the 1st of January, 1801, Lord Nelson was made a viceadmiral of the 
 blue. It was intended that he should command a division in the Channel 
 Fleet ; and the San Josef of 112 guns, one of the ships he carried by boarding 
 off Cape St. Vincent, wa§ fitted for the reception of his flag. A business of 
 more importance, however, demanded his presence, as it was found expedient, 
 to make an attack on Copenhagen, for the purpose of crushing a confederacy 
 between the northern powers, that threatened to wound Britain in a vital 
 part. A confederacy headed by the Emperor Paul, but instigated, no doubt, 
 by the insidious and interested suggestions of French politics. To effect this 
 a fleet of eighteen ships of the line, four frigates, and thirty bomb-ketches 
 
68 
 
 and gun- vessels, was sent out under Sir Hyde Parker j and Lord Nelson 
 hoisted his flag, as second in command, on board the St. George of ninety- 
 eight guns. 
 
 This fleet, diminishetl by the loss of the Invincible, a seventy-four, which 
 struck on Winterton Sands, through the culpable negligence of the pilot, 
 sailed from Yarmouth Roads on the 12th of March, and anchored off Gille- 
 leve, on the northern coast of Zealand, near the entrance of the Sound, on 
 the 23d. As it was the wish of our government to avoid coming to extre- 
 mities, an envoy had previously been sent to Copenhagen, but without success; ■ 
 and it was equally in vain, that Sir Hyde Parker now addressed himself to the 
 governor of the fortress of Kronenburg, before he attempted the passage by 
 force, to know whether he were peremptorily determined on resistance. The 
 circumstance of wind and weather Jelayed our fleet till the morning of the 
 30th, when it passed the Sound, Lord Nelson leading the van, without sus- 
 taining the least injury from the Danish cannon ; but six or seven men were 
 killed or wounded on board the Isis, by the bursting of one of her own lower- 
 deck guns. 
 
 This, however, was but a slight prelude to the serious action, that was to 
 ensue in the attack upon the metropolis of Denmark. The city of Copen- 
 hagen is strongly fortified ; the opposite side of the harbour's mouth is de- 
 fended by the citadel ; and directly before the entrance to it are three small 
 islands surrounded by works called the crown batteries, on which upward of 
 a hundred pieces of cannon were mounted. In addition to these a line was 
 formed of twenty-five two-deckers, frigates, and floating batteries, moored 
 across the mouth of the harbour and along the shore of the island of Amak, 
 on which likewise some batteries were erected. On the 2d of April Lord 
 Nelson, having shifted his flag to the Elephant, a seventy-four, proceeded to 
 the attack with twelve ships of the line, four fi-igates, as many sloops, two 
 fireships, and seven bomb vessels, while Sir Hyde Parker with the remainder 
 of the fleet formed a reserve. Of his twelve ships, however, one could not 
 weather a shoal of considerable length, that lay between them and the enemy, 
 and two grounded upon it. Five minutes after ten the first of the Danish 
 
69 
 
 ships opened her fire on the Edgar, which led the British van; several of the 
 ships were presently in action, which in half an hour became general ; and 
 it was not till near two o'clock, that the fire, which had been tremendous, 
 began to slacken. By half after two the greater part of the Danish vessels had 
 struck, or were disabled. At this period, however, some of the British ships 
 were so much exposed to the fire of the crown batteries, that Lord Nelson 
 felt it requisite to propose a cessation of hostilities, to allow him quietly to 
 take possession of the ships that had struck, which he would otherwise have 
 been forced to destroy, without having it in his power to remove their gallant 
 crews. For this purpose Sir Frederick Thesiger was sent ashore in a boat 
 with a flag of truce, amid a very hot fire ; and, as the Danish defence was now 
 so much weakened, that the capital had every thing to dread, the Prince 
 Royal of Denmark was happy to embrace the offer of an honourable suspen- 
 sion of arms. On the same afternoon his lordship landed, and on the ninth 
 an armistice for fourteen weeks was signed, and ratified by the prince and the 
 British commander in chief; which was ultimately succeeded by a perfect 
 accommodation of the diflFerences between the two nations, and the dissolu- 
 tion of the northern confederacy. 
 
 Too much cannot be said in praise of the bravery of the Danes in this 
 action, which Lord Nelson declared to be far the most severe of all he had 
 ever experienced. Their own commander in chief estimated their loss in 
 killed and wounded at sixteen or eighteen hundred men; ours was nine hun- 
 dred and forty-three. Eleven of their ships were taken, two sunk, two burnt, 
 and three driven ashore and destroyed. 
 
 On this occasion his lordship evinced himself equally the statesman and 
 the warrior; and proved that he was capable not only of acting with the most 
 consummate wisdom in a case of trying emergency, but of seizing those critical 
 moments, of which intuitive discernment alone can avail itself, as the least 
 deliberation must lose them for ever. The applauses bestowed on him in both 
 houses of parliament, when their thanks were voted to the commander in 
 chief Sir Hyde Parker, his Lordship, Rearadmiral Graves, and the rest of the 
 officers and seamen, were great as they were merited; and, on the 19th of 
 
70 
 
 May he was raised to the dignity of a Viscount of the United Kingdom, by 
 the title of Viscount Nelson of the Nile, and of Burnham Thorpe in the 
 county of Norfolk. 
 
 As soon as possible after the convention with Denmark was signed, Sir 
 Hyde Parker proceeded into the Baltic with such ships as were fit for service, 
 leaving Lord Nelson at Copenhagen to repair those of the others that were least 
 damaged, and follow him. The rest of the vessels were to be sent to Eng- 
 land, with the Holstein of sixty-four guns, commissioned as an hospital ship, 
 the only one of the prizes that could be rendered at all serviceable. Sir Hyde 
 Parker had intended to proceed first to the attack of the Russian fleet, which then 
 lay at anchor at Revel ; but hearing on his passage thither, that the Swedish 
 fleet had put to sea to join the Russians, he judged it most advisable to steer 
 for the island of Bornholm, to intercept the Swedes, and thus prevent the 
 junction of the two fleets. He did get sight of the Swedes, but they imme- 
 diately retired to Carlscrona, and sought shelter under the batteries of that 
 port. 
 
 Lord Nelson, having employed himself with unremitting assiduity, to put 
 the ships into a condition to follow the rest of the fleet, on the 18th of April 
 ordered the guns of his flag ship, the St. George, to be taken out, and sent on 
 board an American ship ; the passage being too shallow for so large a vessel 
 without being lightened, most of the ships of the former squadron having 
 touched the ground, and two or three having been fast for a short time. The 
 wind, however, proving contrary, he could not attempt to get his ship under 
 way; and receiving intelligence that evening of the situation of the British 
 and Swedish fleets^ which was such as to give room for the expectation of an 
 engagement, he ordered his boat to be manned, that he might proceed in it to 
 the squadron, though he had then nearly ten leagues to go in an open boat both 
 against the wind and against the current that sets constantly out of the Baltic. 
 Aware, indeed, of the course the Swedish fleet would take, and that the com- 
 mander in chief would not fail to pursue it, he had resolved to continue his 
 voyage in this manner even to Carlscrona, if it were necessary ; but fortunately 
 about midnight he reached his former flag ship, the Elephant. In her he pro- 
 
71 
 
 ceeded with the fleet, and the next morning got sight of the Swedes, amount- 
 ing to nine sail of the line, lying at anchor under the protection of theif 
 batteries. 
 
 To avoid the carnage that would necessarily have ensued, Sir Hyde Par- 
 ker^ before he began the attack, sent ashore a flag of truce; and as soon as he 
 received an oflicial answer, in which his Swedish majesty, without trenching 
 on his own dignity and honour, expressed himself not averse to an accommo» 
 dation, or desirous of carrying things to extremity, he was preparing to leave 
 Carlscrona for the Gulf of Finland^ when a boat arrived express from the 
 Russian ambassador at Copenhagen. By this he was informed of the decease 
 of the Emperor Paul ; and that his successor, Alexander I, had accepted the 
 offer before made by the British government, to terminate the disputes by an 
 amicable convention. Sir Hyde Parker then retired with the fleet to Kioge 
 Bay, about three leagues south of Copenhagen, and there resigned his com- 
 mand to Lord Nelson. 
 
 Lord St. Helens having been sent to Petersburg to finish the negociation, 
 and there being no farther prospect of active service, Lord Nelson applied to 
 the Admiralty for leave to return to England on account of his health. This 
 was immediately granted ; but previously, on the 14th of June, by virtue of a 
 commission from his majesty, he invested Rearadmiral Graves with the order 
 of the Bath, on the quarterdeck of the St. George. This ceremony he con- 
 cluded with the following speech : 
 
 " Sir Thomas Graves, having fulfilled the commands of his majesty, in 
 investing you with the ensigns of the most honourable and military order of 
 the Bath, I cannot but express how much I feel gratified, that it should have 
 fallen to my lot, to be directed to confer this justly merited honour and special 
 mark of royal favour upon you ; for I cannot but reflect, that I was an eye- 
 witness of your high merit and distinguished gallantry on the memorable 2d 
 of April, for which you are now so honourably rewarded. 
 
 " 1 hope that these honours conferred upon you will prove to the officers 
 in the service, that a strict perseverance in the pursuit of glorious actions, and 
 the imitation of your brave and laudable conduct, will ever ensure them the 
 
72 
 
 favours and rewards of our most gracious sovereign, and the thanks and grati- 
 tude of our country." 
 
 On the 18th he took leave of the fleet in an address of thanks and com- 
 mendations to the officers and men in general, with the exception of the com- 
 manders of two gunbrigs and a bomb vessel, who had misbehaved; on the 19th 
 he resigned his command to Sir Charles Morice Pole, who had been sent out 
 to relieve him ; and on the first of July he landed at Yarmouth. 
 
 The moment his lordship set his foot on shore he repaired to the hos- 
 pitals, to inquire after the state of the seamen wounded in the late attack on 
 Copenhagen, and see that every succOur it demanded was afforded them. At- 
 tentions like these, when they proceed from the genuine feelings of the heart, 
 are of more value than all besides, that wealth or power can bestow: they miti- 
 gate the anguish of pain, alleviate the loss of mutilated limbs, or sweeten the 
 dying moments of him who has sacrificed his life in the service of his country. 
 When he quitted the town, the volunteer cavalry assembled and escorted him 
 to LoweslofFe, ten miles on his way. 
 
 Scarcely had he arrived in London when his services were again required. 
 The threat of invading England was an artifice, that had been repeatedly em- 
 ployed by France to alarm this country in former wars, and it was now re- 
 sumed with a more serious aspect than usual. Large bodies of troops were 
 assembled, and a very numerous flotilla was collected and equipped with great 
 expedition in various ports, to be ready to transport them across the channel. 
 The character of the head of the French nation, addicted to novel and des- 
 perate enterprises, furnished more reason to presume, that this was not a mere 
 bugbear. Acccordingly preparations were made on our part to oppose this 
 armament: camps were formed on our shores, and a number of light vessels and 
 small craft were stationed along our coasts. But our government was not con- 
 tent with acting on the defensive : it was resolved, that the French flotilla 
 should be attacked in it's grand rendezvous, the harbour of Boulogne. 
 
 For this purpose Lord Nelson received a commission, in a few days after 
 his arrival, appointing him commander in chief of a squadron employed be- 
 tween Orfordness and Beachy. Head, with all the gunvessels, fireships, and 
 
73 
 
 bombketches, as well as of the sea fencibles embodied within the same dis-^ 
 trict, and all the boats or floating defence vessels, on board which they were 
 appointed to act. On this he repaired to Sheerness, hoisted his flag in the 
 Unite frigate of thirty-two guns, and in a few days sailed from the Nore. 
 Hitherto the passage of men-of-war from the Nore to the Downs had been 
 always made by one track, thence called the King's Channel : but, as it must 
 be obviously desirable, that they should not be confined to this on all occa- 
 sions, his lordship thought proper to pursue a different course, and sail 
 through a channel presumed to be unsafe for ships of such dimensions. Btad 
 any accident happened to the ship, the reputation of Lord Nelson was too 
 firmly established to be injured by it : but, had it been attempted without suc- 
 cess by some young captain, it might have proved the ruin of all his future 
 hopes. Thus, by showing that the passage was practicable, he conferred a 
 benefit on the service, that few beside himself could have attempted without 
 imprudence. 
 
 His lordship arrived in the Downs on the 30th of July, and hoisted his 
 flag on board the Leyden of sixty- eight guns. He had under his command 
 the Ruyter and York of sixty-four guns each, the Isis of fifty, and several 
 frigates, with bombketches, fireships, and other vessels, amounting in the 
 whole to forty sail. On the 1st of August he weighed anchor, and stood across 
 the channel for Boulogne, before which place he appeared in the morning of 
 the .Sd. Having spent the day in reconnoitring, making arrangements for the 
 attack, and trying the range of the mortars, the squadron came to an anchor 
 about four miles from the town. At daybreak the next morning they got 
 under way; and the five bombs, having reached their appointed stations, be- 
 gan a little before five o'clock to throw shells at the vessels, twenty-four in 
 number, anchored in a line in front of Boulogne; avoiding, as much as pos- 
 sible, by his lordship's directions, to annoy the town, or injure it's peaceable 
 inhabitants. Three of the flats and one brig were sunk ; and six were damaged 
 and driven on shore, five of which hauled into the Mole at high water. 
 
 On the 6th his lordship quitted Boulogne, and repaired to Margate Roads 
 with his ships, leaving the smaller vessels in the Downs. After staying two 
 
74 
 
 days, without once coming on shore, he again put to sea, steering to the east- 
 ward, as if he meditated an attack on some of the ports of Holland. But this 
 was a mere feint; and, on the 15th, he once more arrived before Boulogne, 
 with a fleet at this time amounting to seventy sail of all descriptions. 
 
 It was now the object of his lordship, to bring off th^ enemy's flotilla 
 moored before the harbour; and, for this purpose, at half after eleven the 
 same night, the boats put off from the Medusa, his flag ship, their common 
 rendezvous, in four divisions, under the command of Captains Somerville, 
 Cotgrave, Jones, and Parker, with a division of howitzer boats under Captain 
 Conn. As the French were fully aware of the mode of attack, against vphich 
 they had to defend themselves, their vessels were provided with long poles 
 headed with spikes of iron projecting from their sides, and surrounded by 
 strong netting, traced up to their lower yard-arms; they had each a hundred 
 and fifty or two hundred soldiers on board, and were so close to the land, that 
 they were protected not only by the fire of the batteries, but by the musketry 
 of the troops stationed on shore. From the great strength of the tide like- 
 wise, the boats could not all come into action at the same time, and one of 
 the divisions was not able to fetch the enemy at all. Under all these disad- 
 vantages, a few of the vessels were carried: but, when their cables were cut^ 
 they were found to be. secured with chains ; and the enemy on shore, regard- 
 less of their own men taken prisoners on board, kept up such an incessant 
 fire on them, that it was found necessary to abandon them. Our loss was less 
 than might have been expected under such circumstances, amounting only to 
 forty-four killed, and one hundred and twenty-eight wounded. 
 
 The signing of preliminaries of peace between this country and France, 
 on the 1st of October, put an end to his lordship's naval services for a time, 
 yet he was not neglectful of his duty to the public in the house of peers. In 
 this dignified situation, he always manifested his integrity and firmness, when 
 occasion called them forth ; and delivered his sentiments briefly and forcibly, 
 whenever he conceived himself capable of elucidating the subject of debate, or 
 rectifying the opinions given by others, without allowing himself to be biassed 
 by deference to the judgment even of those for whom he entertained in gene- 
 
75 
 
 ral the highest respect. He sought not to gain admiration by his eloquence, 
 or to dazzle the understandings of his hearers: his aim was to convince by the 
 simple and perspicuous statement of a few leading facts, or a clear view of 
 some striking features, that had been overlooked. 
 
 Thus, when a motion was made in the House of Lords by Earl St. Vin- 
 cent, on the 30th of October, 1801, that the thanks of the house should be 
 given to Sir James Saumarez, for his gallant and distinguished conduct in an 
 action with the combined French and Spanish fleet off Algeziras, his lordship 
 said : 
 
 " He could not give a silent vote to a motion that so cordially had his 
 assent. He had the honour to be the friend of Sir James Saumarez. The 
 noble earl at the head of the Admiralty had selected that great officer to watch 
 the French in that important quarter, and the noble earl had not been de- 
 ceived in his choice. He would assert, that a greater action was never fought 
 than that of Sir James Saumarez. The gallant admiral had before that action 
 undertaken an enterprise, which none but the most gallant officer and bravest 
 seaman could have attempted. He had failed through an accident, by the 
 falling of the wind ; for he ventured to say, if that had not failed him. Sir 
 James Saumarez would have captured the French fleet. The promptness 
 with which Sir James refitted, the spirit with which he attacked a superior 
 force, after hjs recent disaster, and the masterly conduct of the action, he did 
 not think were ever surpassed." 
 
 Having then entered with some minuteness into the particulars of the 
 action, so as to exhibit it's merits in the most conspicuous point of view, he 
 
 added : 
 
 " That the desert of Sir James Saumarez would be less wondered at, 
 when the school in which he was educated was considered by their lordships. 
 He was educated at first under Lord Hood, and afterward under the noble 
 earl near him."— [Lord St. Vincent.] 
 
 A few days after, when the preliminaries of peace with France were taken 
 into consideration in the house, and the ministers were highly censured by 
 
76 
 
 many for consenting to give up Malta, his lordship thought it incumbent on 
 him to observe : 
 
 "That, when he was sent down the Mediterranean, Malta was in the 
 hands of the French; and, on his return from Aboukeer, it was his first ob- 
 ject to blockade the island, because he deemed it an invaluable service to 
 rescue it from their possession. In any other view it was not of much conse- 
 quence, being at too great a distance from Toulon to watch the enemy's fleet 
 from that port in time of war. In peace it would require a garrison of 7000 
 men, in war of twice that number, without being of any real utility. The 
 Cape of Good Hope would be equally detrimental if retained by Great Britain : 
 and, though it certainly ought not to be given up to the French, this cession 
 would be preferable to keeping it. Though the war had been long, he believed 
 his majesty had seized the first opportunity of making peace, and he was satis- 
 fied it was the best, that existing circumstances admitted." 
 
 In the debate that took place on the 21st of December, 1802, on the bill 
 for appointing a commission to inquire into abuses in the naval department, 
 and in the conduct of prize agents, he addressed the house as follows : 
 
 "my lords, 
 
 " In the absence of my noble friend, who is at the 
 head of the Admiralty, I think it my duty to say a few words to their lord- 
 ships, in regard to a bill, of which the objects have an express reference to the 
 interests of my profession as a seaman. It undoubtedly originated in the feel- 
 ing of the Admiralty, that they have not the power to remedy certain abuses, 
 which they perceive to be the most injurious to the public service. Every 
 man knows, that there are such abuses; I hope there is none among us, who 
 would not gladly do all, that can be constitutionally effected, to correct them. 
 Yet, if I had heard of any objection of weight urged against the measures in 
 the present bill, I should certainly have hesitated to do any thing, to promote 
 it's progress through the forms of this house. But I can recollect only one 
 thing, with which I have been struck, as possibly exceptionable in it's tenour. 
 
77 
 
 Itauthorizes the commissioners to call for and inspect the books of merchants, 
 who may have had transactions of business with any of the boards, or prize 
 agents, into whose conduct they are to inquire. But the credit of the British 
 merchant is the support of the commerce of the World; his books are not 
 lightly, nor for any ordinary purpose, to be taken out of his own hands. The 
 secrets of his business are not to be too curiously pried into. The books of a 
 single merchant may betray the secrets not only of his own affairs, but of 
 those with whom he is principally connected in business; and the reciprocal 
 confidence of the whole commercial world may be shaken, by the authorita- 
 tive inquiry of these commissioners; all this, at least, I should have feared as 
 liable to happen, if the persons who are named in the bill had not been men, 
 whose characters are above all suspicion of indiscretion or of malice. I may 
 presume it to be the common conviction of the merchants, that in such hands 
 they will be safe; since they have made no opposition to the bill in it's progress ; 
 and since they have offered no appearance against it by counsel at your lord- 
 ships' bar. And truly, my lords, if the bill be thus superior to all objection, 
 I can affirm, that the. necessities, the wrongs, of those who are employed in 
 the naval service of their country, most loudly call for the redress which it 
 proposes. From the highest admiral in the service, to the poorest cabin boy 
 that walks the street, there is not a man but may be iu distress, with large 
 sums of wages due to him, of which he shall, by no diligence of request, be 
 able to obtain payment ; not a man, whose entreaties will be readily answered 
 with aught but insults, at the proper places for bis application, if he come not 
 with particular recommendations to a preference. From the highest admiral 
 to the meanest seaman, whatever the sums of prize-money due to him, no 
 man can tell when he may securely call any part of them his own. A man 
 may have ^^40000 due to him in piize - money, and yet may be dismissed 
 without a shilling, if he ask for it at the proper office, without particular re- 
 commendation. Are these things to be tolerated? Is it for the interest, is it 
 for the honour of the country, that they should not as speedily as possible be 
 fedressed? I should be as unwilling as any man, to give an overweening pre- 
 
78 
 
 ference to the interests of my own profession. But I cannot help thinking, 
 that, under all the circumstances of the affair, your lordships will be strongly 
 disposed to advance this bill into a law, as speedily as may be consistent with 
 the order of your proceedings, and with due prudence of deliberation," 
 
 It was not long that Lord Nelson was allowed to enjoy the retirement of 
 Merton, alternated with his parliamentary duty; for, on the l6th of May, a 
 renewal of hostilities with France was announced to the house, and on the 
 20th his lordship sailed for Gibraltar in the Victory. For a twelvemonth 
 nothing was done, except annoying the enemy's trade, and destroying several 
 •vessels on their coasts; for the French dared not venture their fleet out of 
 portj while the English were at hand, though the admiral adopted every 
 manoeuvre he could devise, to entice them to sea. While such was his conduct, 
 it was commonly supposed at home, that our fleets were employed solely for 
 the purpose of blockading the enemy's harbours^ and cooping up their ships 
 within them ; and, conformably to this idea, the corporation of London voted 
 him thanks for the service he had rendered his country by blockading the port 
 of Toulon, and preventing the fleet there from putting to sea. This, however, 
 his lordship was not inclined to accept as a complirtient, as appears from the 
 following letter addressed by him to the lord mayor in consequence : 
 
 " MY LORD, - " Victory, August I, 1804. 
 
 " This day I am honoured with your lordship's letter 
 of April 9th, transmitting me the resolutions of the corporation of London, 
 thanking me as commanding the fleet blockading Toulon. 
 
 " I do assure your lordship, that there is not that man breathing, who sets 
 a higher value upon the thanks of his fellow-citizens of London than myself; 
 but I should feel as much ashamed to receive them for a particular service 
 marked in the resolution, if I felt that I did not come within that line of ser- 
 vice, as I should feel hurt at having a great victory passed over without notice. 
 
 " I beg to inform your lordship, that the port of Toulon has never been 
 
79 
 
 blockaded by me: quite the reverse; every opportunity has been offered the 
 enemy to put to sea, for it is there that we hope to realize the hopes and ex- 
 pectations of our country, and I trust that they will not be disappointed. 
 
 " Your lordship will judge of my feelings, upon seeing that all the junior 
 flag-officers of other fleets, and even some of the captains, have received the 
 thanks of the corporation of London, while the junior flag-ofiicers of the 
 Mediterranean fleet are entirely omitted. I own it has struck me very for- 
 cibly ; for, where the information of the junior flag-officers and captains of 
 other fleets was obtained, the same information could have been given of the 
 flag-officers of this fleet, and the captains ; and it was my duty to state, that 
 more able and zealous flag-officers and captains do not grace the British navy, 
 than those I have the honour and happiness to command. It likewise ap- 
 pears, my lord, a most extraordinary circumstance, that Rearadmiral Sir 
 Richard Bickerton should have been, as second in command in the Mediter- 
 ranean fleet, twice passed over by the corporation of London 3 once after the 
 Egyptian expedition, when the first and third in command were thanked, — 
 and now again. Consciousness of high desert, instead of neglect, made the 
 rearadmiral resolve to let the matter rest, until he could have an opportunity 
 personally to call upon the lord mayor to account for such an extraordinary 
 omission; but from this second omission, I owe it to that excellent officer not 
 to pass by it. 
 
 " And I do assure your lordship, that the constant, zealous, and cordial 
 support I have had in my command, both from Rearadmiral Sir Richard 
 Bickerton and Rearadmiral Campbell, has been such as calls forth all my thanks 
 and admiration. We have shared together the constant attention of being more 
 than fourteen months at sea, and are ready to share the dangers and glory of 
 a day of battle; therefore it is impossible, that I can ever allow myself to be 
 separated in thanks from such supporters. I have the honour to remain, with 
 the very highest respect, your lordship's most faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 " NELSON AND BRONTE." 
 
 The year 1805 opened with a prospect of more active service, which it 
 
80 
 
 did not falsify. The entrance of Spain into the war, as an ally of France, ex- 
 tended the occupation of the British fleet, and with it the hope of meeting 
 the foe. On the 15th of January the squadron, consisting of eleven ships of 
 the line and two frigates, that had long lain ready for sea in the harboiir of 
 Toulon, ventured to quit it's port, under the command of Admiral Villeneuve. 
 As Egypt was presumed to be the place of it's destination. Lord Nelson, hav- 
 ing effected his purpose of drawing it to sea by remaining out of sight of the 
 coast, shaped his course thither in pursuit of it. In vain, however, did he 
 traverse the Mediterranean; no French fleet appeared. 
 
 In the meanwhile Villeneuve, having met with a storm, returned safe into 
 port. His fleet being refitted, and his dreaded antagonist absent in quest of 
 him along the shores of the Mediterranean ; on the 30th of March he sailed a 
 second time, and called off^ Carthagena; but the Spanish ships, with which he 
 expected to have been reinforced, not being ready, he proceeded to Cadiz, 
 which place he reached on the Qth of April. Sir John Orde, who was stationed 
 off this port with only five ships of the line, was under the necessity of retir- 
 ing at his approach, which he was permitted to do unpursued. Here Admiral 
 Villeneuve was joined by a French seventy-four, and six Spanish ships of the 
 line under Admiral Gravina. 
 
 When it was known in England, that such a fleet had got to sea, with up- 
 ward of ten thousand troops on board, considerable alarm was excited. Nor 
 was it known for some time, whether the East or West Indies were it's object. 
 Meanwhile Lord Nelson was cruizing in the vicinity of Sicily, and it was not 
 till the middle of April he was assured they had quitted the Mediterranean. 
 Immediately on this he proceeded for the Straits, and on the 2d of May an- 
 chored in the bay of Tetuan, to take on board water and other necessaries. 
 On the 4th he sailed, but not being able to get through the Gut, put into 
 Gibraltar on the 5th. The next day he passed the Straits, and on the 10th 
 reached the bay of Lagos, where he took on board some stores from the trans- 
 ports, that had been with Sir John Orde's squadron, and sought shelter there. 
 The day following he sailed with ten ships of the line and three frigates in pur- 
 suit of the enemy, who had twenty-six sail, eighteen of which were of the line. 
 
81 
 
 On the 15th he had sight of Madeira; and on the 1st of June he was in- 
 formed by two vessels bound for England, that the combined fleet was at 
 Martinique, having passed Barbadoes ten days before they left it, which island 
 his lordship reached on the 4th of June, after a passage of twenty-four days 
 from Europe, 
 
 The admiral being here informed, that the fleets were gone against Tri- 
 nidad, immediately took on board two thousand troops, under the command 
 of General Sir William Myers; and, being joined by Rearadrairal Cochrane 
 with two ships, set sail the day after he arrived. His appearance off" Trinidad 
 on the 7th, in the morning, occasioned such alarm, that all the signals the 
 fleet could make were unable to prevent the troops from blowing up Fort 
 Abercrombie, and retreating to the town. This tended to persuade his lord- 
 ship, that the island was actually in the hands of the French ; but on his arrival 
 he found, they had not been there. In consequence, he sailed again on the 
 eighth to the northward, intending to take all the British West India Islands 
 in succession, till he found the object of his search. Reaching Grenada the 
 next day, he was there informed by the Jason frigate, that the enemy had left 
 Martinique the same morning, and shaped their course to the northward. 
 At Antigua this intelligence was confirmed, they having been seen from that 
 island steering the same course, which convinced him they were returning to 
 Europe. In consequence, he relanded the troops he had on board with all 
 possible dispatch, and hastened after them on the 14th of June, with san- 
 guine hopes that his pursuit would at length be crowned with success. 
 
 On the 13th his lordship dispatched the Curieux to England, and on the 
 15th, the Decade to Lisbon and the Martin to Gibraltar, with intelligence of 
 their route; and this was sufficiently early to enable Sir Robert Calder, who 
 had been sent off for the purpose with fifteen sail of the line, to intercept 
 them off Ferrol, on the 22d of July, and capture two Spanish ships, one of 
 eighty-four guns, the other a seventy-four. 
 
 The hope of taking the whole should Lord Nelson join him, which he 
 had daily reason to expect, if he could keep them off the land ; and the danger 
 to which his crippled ships must have been exposed after an engagement with a 
 
82 
 
 force still superior, though cotnpletely vanquished, from the considerahle 
 squadron then lying at Ferrol, which it would have been scarcely possible for 
 him to have escaped; induced Sir Robert Calder not to renew the action, but 
 to continue between the enemy and the land, so as to prevent their running 
 into Ferrol, and joining the squadron in that harbour. For some days he was 
 able to effect this ; but hazy weather coming on, the discomfited fleet escaped 
 first into Vigo, whence it afterward got to Ferrol, Thus the combined fleets 
 of France and Spain, having eluded the search of the man they dreaded, 
 reached Martinique on the 14th of May, captured the little fortress of the 
 Diamond Rock on the 27th, after a gallant resistance, and lain there near a 
 month without attempting any thing else, though so well equipped, were glad 
 to get into port with the loss of two of their ships, after having been chased 
 from one hemisphere to the other and back again, by a fleet scarcely more 
 than half their number. 
 
 After a fruitless pursuit. Lord Nelson arrived at Gibraltar on the 19th of 
 July, and having supplied himself with stores repaired to the bay of Tetuan, 
 where he lay from the 22d to the 26th, taking in water, and recruiting the 
 strength of his crews with fresh provision. On the 26th he repassed the 
 Straits, still in hopes of falling in with the fleets. Having gone in so close to 
 Cadiz on the 27th, as to assure himself they had not reached that port, he 
 steered for Cape St. Vincent, and then traversed the Bay of Biscay, without 
 gaining the least intelligence of them. Conceiving it probable, that they 
 might have attempted a descent on the western coast of Ireland, he next pro- 
 ceeded thither : but, finding himself disappointed there also, he deemed it 
 useless to pursue them further ; and, sending nine of his ships to join Admiral 
 Cornwallis off Brest, he returned to England in the Victory, accompanied by 
 the Superb. 
 
 Thus, for the space of seven months, his lordship had been in constant 
 pursuit of a fleeing enemy; and, during that period, he had twice traversed 
 the Mediterranean from one extremity to the other, and twice crossed the 
 Atlantic Ocean ; had explored the West India islands from Trinidad to An- 
 tigua ; and had scoured the seas from the Straits of Gibraltar to the north- 
 
83 
 
 western extremity of Ireland. So great, indeed, was his alacrity, that in sail- 
 ing from the hay of Tetuan to Barbadoes, from Barbadoes to Trinidad, from 
 Trinidad to Grenada, and thence to Antigua, from Antigua back to Gib- 
 raltar, during which time he embarked and relanded a considerable body 
 of troops, beside taking in stores and provision, he spent only seventy-eight 
 days. To all this he added the happiness of preserving his crews in perfect 
 health. 
 
 On the 18th of August, Lord Nelson anchored at Portsmouth; on the 
 20th arrived in London, where he was received with the applause and venera- 
 tion he merited; and on the 28th a deputation from the West India mer- 
 chants waited on him with an address of thanks, expressing their grateful 
 acknowledginents io him for his promptness in quitting the Mediterranean, to 
 protect our islands in the other hemisphere from the danger, with which they 
 were threatened. 
 
 On the 13th of August, a frigate, that had been stationed off Ferrol to 
 watch the motions of the combined fleets, discovered them putting to sea, to 
 the number of thirty- five sail, at least seven and twenty of which were of the 
 line, and immediately hastened home with the information ; and in the be- 
 ginning of September farther intelligence arrived, that they had got into 
 Cadiz, where they were blockaded by Viceadmiral CoUingwood, who, having 
 been joined by Sir Robert Calder, had under him twenty-six ships. After this 
 very short respite from his fatigues, Lord Nelson again prepared to attempt a 
 meeting with them ; and on the 13th, the Victory having been completely 
 refitted in the interim, for the purpose of bearing his flag once more, dropped 
 down to St. Helens. 
 
 The following day his lordship arrived at Portsmouth, and sailed the next 
 morning, having only the Euryalus frigate in company, without waiting for 
 five ships of the line and another frigate, under orders to join him, as they 
 were not quite ready. On the 18th, he called off Plymouth, and was joined 
 by the Thunderer and Ajax ; and in nine days made Cape St. Vincent, not- 
 withstanding he experienced some bad weather and foul winds in crossing the 
 
84 
 
 Bay of Biscay. On the 28th he joined Viceadmiral CoUingwood about five 
 leagues distant from Cadiz, where he saw the combined fleets at anchor. 
 ^ Understanding, that they were much in want of provision, cruisers were 
 
 stationed off capes St. Vincent, St. Mary, and Trafalgar, to intercept any sup- 
 plies by sea : the Euryalus and Hydra were ordered to keep off the mouth of 
 the harbour; and his lordship withdrew with the fleet to the vicinity of Cape 
 St. Mary, fifteen or twenty leagues to the westward; both to prevent the 
 enemy from being speedily acquainted with the strength of his fleet, and to 
 avoid the necessity of running through the Straits, if hard gales from the 
 westward should prevail. Three or four ships of the line were stationed in 
 the mean time between the fleet and the harbour, at convenient distances, to 
 perceive each other's signals, and thus keep up a communication with the 
 small squadron under Rearadmiral Louis, that still remained at no great dis- 
 tance from the harbour's mouth. 
 
 On the 1st of October this ofiicer joined the fleet with three of his 
 ships, the Canopus, Spencer, and Tigre, and sailed the next day with them, 
 and the Queen and Zealous, for Gibraltar, to procure a supply of provision, 
 stores, and water, of which they were much in need. On the 4th, how- 
 ever, he returned, having been informed by telegraph from the Euryalus, that 
 the ships in Cadiz were embarking troops, and preparing to sail. But as Lord 
 Nelson conceived this to be merely a stratagem of the enemy, to draw him 
 nearer Cadiz, and ascertain his force, he again directed him to proceed. 
 Between the 6th and 14th five sail of the line joined the fleet from England, 
 and one from Gibraltar. The Agamemnon, Sir Edward Berry, brought in- 
 telligence on the 13th, that she had been chased a few days before on the 
 coast of Portugal, by six of the enemy's ships. The same evening, to the 
 regret of Lord Nelson, Sir Robert Calder sailed for England in the Prince 
 of Wales; and on the 18th the Donegal, Captain Malcolm, left the fleet for 
 Gibraltar. 
 
 About half after nine in the morning of the IQth, the Mars, one of the 
 look-out ships, repeated the signal from those nearer the shore, that the 
 
85 
 
 enemy's fleet was coming out. On this, Lord Nelson immediately directed a 
 general chase to the south-east. The wind was at this time very light, with 
 partial breezes, chiefly from the south-south-west ; and the fleet made all pos- 
 sible sail. About two the Colossus and Mars communicated by signal the intelli- 
 gence, that the enemy was at sea. At this time his lordship, aware that all the 
 enemy's ships had the iron hoops on their masts painted black, while the 
 British, the Belleisle and Polyphemus ej^cepted, had theirs painted yellow, he 
 made known this circumstance to the fleet, as it would constitute a good mark 
 of distinction in the heat of battle, and ordered the two ships abovementioned 
 to paint theirs yellow likewise. 
 
 The fleet continued it's course under all sail till daybreak the next morn- 
 ing, when it was at the entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar, but no enemy was 
 to be seen. It then wore, and stood to the north-west, and at seven the 
 Phoebe made the signal for the enemy bearing north. At eight the Victory 
 hove to ; and Admiral CoUingwood, with the captains of the Mars, Colossus, 
 and Defence, came on board to receive instructions; after which the fleet 
 again made sail to the northward. In the afternoon the wind increased, and 
 blew fresh from the south-west. A little before sunset, the Euryalus commu- 
 nicated intelligence by telegraph, that the enemy appeared determined to go 
 to the westward: but their fleet wearing twice in the course of the night, 
 which was made known by signal from Captain Blackwoodj who never lost 
 sight of it, his lordship conceived it was their intention, to keep their retreat 
 open to the port of Cadiz. On this account he was careful, not to approach 
 them so near as to be seen by them before morning. 
 
 When day dawned, the enemy was distinctly visible from the Victory's 
 deck, formed in a close line of battle ahead on the starboard tack, standing 
 to the south, and about four leagues to leeward. They consisted of thirty- 
 three sail of the line, one of four decks, three three-deckers, and one only a 
 seventy-gun ship : the British of twenty-seven, of which seven were three- 
 deckers, and three only sixty-fours. 
 
 Soon after daylight his lordship came upon deck, dressed as usual in his 
 uniform frock, with four stars of different orders on the left breast, but with 
 
86 
 
 out his swordj which he appeared to have forgotten, as it lay ready on his 
 table. He was in high spirits, and felt so secure of a decisive victory, that he 
 observed to Captain Hardy, he should not be contented with capturing less 
 than twenty sail of the line. He afterward remarked, that the 21st of Octo- 
 ber was the happiest day in the year among his family, but did not assign the 
 reason of this. 
 
 The wind was at the same time westerly, but the breezes were very light, 
 with a long, heavy swell running; and the signal b^ing made for bearing 
 down upon the enemy in two lines, the British fleet crowded all sail. Vice- 
 admiral Collingwood, in the Royal Sovereign,led the lee line, consisting cff 
 thirteen ships j and the commander in chief, in the Victory, led the weather 
 line, of fourteen. After having gone upon the poop, to take a better Tiew of 
 the fleet, he retired to his cabin for a few minutes, and committed to paper 
 the following ejaculation : 
 
 " May the great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the 
 benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory; and may no mis- 
 conduct tarnish it, and may humanity after victoiy be the predominant feature 
 in the British fleet ! For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him that 
 made me; and may His blessing alight on my endeavours for serving my 
 country faithfully I To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is in- 
 trusted to me to defend. Amen, Amen, Amen." 
 
 He likewise wrote a codicil to his will, dated "October 21, 1805. Then 
 in sight of the combined fleets of France and Spain, distant about ten miles :" 
 in which he left Lady Hamilton as "a legacy to his king and country," at the 
 same time pointing out the services she had rendered the state, and mention- 
 ing his own inability to reward them ; and bequeathed to the beneficence of 
 his country his adopted daughter, Horatia Nelson Thompson. 
 
 As the Victory drew near the enemy, his lordship, accompanied by 
 Captain Hardy, and the captains of the four frigates, who had been called on 
 board to receive instructions, visited the diflFerent decks of the ship, addressed 
 
87 
 
 the crew at their several quarters, admonished them against firing a single shot 
 withoilt being sure of their object^ and expressed himself highly satisfied with 
 the arrangements made by the officers at their several stations. 
 
 About twenty minutes after seven the enemy, who were in very compact 
 order, wore in succession, and stood on the larboard tack with their heads to- 
 ward Cadiz., They kept a good deal of sail set, steering about two points from 
 the wind, with their topsails shivering; and formed a double line, the ships of 
 one being^ opposite the intervals of the other, so that they were not crowded, 
 though to our ships on their beam very little vacancy appeared between them . 
 Their admirals did not show their flags, but the Santissima Trinidada being 
 distinguished by her four decks, Lord Nelson ordered, the Victory to be 
 steered forher bow. The boats on the quarters, being found in the way of the 
 guns, were lowered down, and towed astern : and, about half an hour before 
 the enemy opened their fire, the signal was made by telegraph: "England 
 expects every man will do his duty." A signal was afterward made for the ships 
 to prepare to anchor after the close of the day. 
 
 As our ships bore down, the enemy fired a gun at a time, to ascertain 
 whether they were within range, and as soon as they discovered, that a shot 
 had passed through the Victory's maintopgallantsail, they opened their broad- 
 sides with a brisk fire. Soon after this, Mr. Scott, the admiral's secretary, 
 was killed: and it was not long before a double-headed shot struck one of the 
 parties of marines drawn up on the poop, and killed eight of them ; on which 
 his lordship directed Captain Adair to disperse his men round the ship, that 
 they might not suffer so much from being together. A few minutes after a 
 shot struck the forebrace bits on the quarterdeck, and passed between Lord 
 Nelson and Captain Hardy, a splinter from the bits bruising the captain's 
 foot, and tearing the buckle from his shoe, " This is too warm work. Hardy, 
 to last long :" said his lordship with a smile. 
 
 Before the Victory could close with the enemy, or had fired a single gun, 
 she had lost about twenty men killed, and had thirty wounded; and her 
 mizentopmast and all her studdingsails, with their booms on both sides, were 
 shot away. The enemy's guns had been pointed at her rigging, to disable her 
 
88 
 
 as she came down ; and they continued to fire so high, that she had not a man 
 killed on her lowerdeck during the engagement, and only two wounded by 
 musket balls. At twelve o'clock the Royal Sovereign began the action, by 
 breaking through the enemy's line, and at four minutes after the Victory 
 opened her fire from both sides. As it appeared impracticable to pass through 
 their line without running on board one of their ships. Captain Hardy clapped 
 her on board the Redoubtable, who, having fired her broadside, let down her 
 lowerdeck ports, that she might not be boarded through them. Soon after 
 the Temeraire fell on board the Redoubtable on her starboard side, and ano- 
 ther of the enemy on bofird the Temeraire, so that four ships of the line lay 
 engaging together in a compact tier, their heads being all the same way. The 
 starboard guns of the Victory were pointed downward, and loaded with a 
 diminished charge of powder and three shots each, that they might not carry 
 through both sides of the Redoubtable into the Temeraire : , and, as the 
 muzzles of the lower guns, \fhen run out, touched the side of the Redoubt- 
 able, the fireman of each gun stood ready with a bucket of water, and dashed 
 it into the hole made by the shot, that she might not be set on fire, wRich 
 would probably have involved both the Victory and Temeraire in her flames. 
 Indeed, notwithstanding this precaution, she was set on fire twice, in the 
 forechains and on the forecastle; and on both occasions the people of the 
 Victory extinguished it, by throwing water on it from their own gangway with 
 the utmost coolness and intrepidity. Some ropes or canvas on the booms of 
 the Victory too were set on fire by hand grenades, but presently extinguished, 
 without occasioning the least confusion, though the cry of fire was spread even 
 to the cockpit. 
 
 About fifteen minutes after one, as the admiral was walking in the middle 
 of the quarterdeck with Captain Hardy, and in the act of turning near the 
 hatchway, with his face towards the stern of the Victory, a musket ball from 
 the mizentop of the Redoubtable struck him on the left shoulder, and he fell 
 with his face on the deck. The ball entered just at the fore part of the 
 shouldei', slightly fracturing part of that prominence of the shoulder blade, 
 which is concerned in forming the jointj descended obliquely into the chest, 
 
~W. E.Worthm,lhm sculp. 
 
 V^SSreml^ 3/A. 
 
 Prr7of 
 
89 
 
 fracturing the second and third ribs; passed through the left lobe of the lungs, 
 dividing a large branch of the pulmonary artery in it's way ; entered the left 
 side of the spine, between the sixth and seventh vertebrae of the back, wound- 
 ing the spinal marrow, and passing" out on the left side; and lodged in the' 
 muscles, about two inches below the point of the right bladebone. The ball 
 carried with it part of the gpld'lace, pad, and double silk bag of the epaulette,' 
 as well as of the coat, aiU which were found^fiirmly adhering to it. Sergeant-: 
 major Seeker of the marines', and two seamen, immediately raised his lord-" 
 ship, and Captain Hardy> turning round, eagerly expressed his hope, that he 
 was not much hurt: to which he answered, " They have done for me at last,- 
 Hardy.'' — "I hope not," replied the captain'. "Yes," rejoined he, "my 
 backbone is shot through." 
 
 : As he was carrying down to the surgeon, he observed, that the tiller- 
 ropes, which had been shot away, were not replaced ; and sent one of the mid- 
 shipmen to Captain Hardy, to remind him of it, and desire new ones to be 
 rove. He then took out his handkerchief, and covered with it his face and 
 stars, that he might not be known as he passed. 
 
 Being'laid on a bedj and stripped of- his clothes, he complained of acute 
 pain in his back, and loss of sensation and motion in the body and lower limbs. 
 He felt every instant a gush of blood within his chest, and said he had feelings 
 that indicated the approach of death. His breathing was short and difficult; 
 his pulse weak, small, and irregular: he felt an ardent thirst; and frequently 
 called for drink, and to be fanned with paper.- His lordship soon became im- 
 patient to see Captain Hairdy, that he might learn how the battle Went on; 
 but it was more than an hour, before the circumstances of the engagement 
 would allow the captain to come below. When he came, they shook hands 
 affectionately, and Lord Nelson said: " Well, Hardy, how goes the battle 'i* 
 How f^oes the day with us?" — " Very Well, my lord :" answered the captain, 
 " we have got twelve or fourteen of the enemy's ships in our possession; but 
 five of their van have tacked, and show an intention of bearing down upon 
 the Victory. I have therefore called two or three of our fresh ships round us, 
 
 N 
 
90 
 
 and have no doubt of giving them a drubbing." — " 1 hope none of our ships 
 have struck. Hardy." — " '^o, my lord; there is no fear of th^t." 
 
 His lordship had insisted upon the surgeon's leaving him, to take care of 
 the wounded men : but, after some time, he sent to inform him, that all power 
 of motion and feeling below his breast was quite gone. On the surgeon's 
 coming to him, and inquiring whether his pain were still great, he declared it , 
 continued so very severe, that he wished he was dead : " yet," added he, in a 
 lower voice, " one would like to live a little longer too." 
 
 Nearly an hour after Captain Hardy had returned to the quarterdeck, he 
 came down to the cockpit again, to congratulate his lordship on the victory, 
 which he said was complete; though, as it was impossible to perceive every 
 ship distinctly, he did not know exactly how many of the enemy had struck ; 
 but he was certain fourteen or fifteen were captured. His lordship answered : 
 " that's well, but I bargained for twenty :" and then emphatically exclaimed, 
 '.' anchor. Hardy, anchor!" To this the captain replied : "1 suppose, my lord, 
 Admiral Collingwood will now take upon himself the direction of affairs." — 
 " Not while I live, I hope. Hardy," said the dying chief, endeavouring in vain 
 to raise himself in his bed. " No : do you anchor. Hardy." On this the 
 captain said: " Shall M^e make the signal. Sir?" — " Yes :" answered he, " for 
 if I live, I'll anchor." He then observed, that he felt in a few minutes he 
 should be no more: adding in a low voice, "don't throw me overboard. 
 Hardy." — " O no, certainly not:" the captain answered. "Then," rejoined 
 he, " you know what to do." The captain soon after left the cockpit; and, 
 at half after four his lordship expired, while Dr. Scott, the chaplain, was in 
 the act of rubbing his breast, and Mr. Burke, the purser, was supporting the 
 bed under his shoulders. His last words were: "Thank God, I have done 
 my duty." 
 
 Thus terminated the career of our hero, in the moment of a victory, that 
 cost the enemy nineteen sail of the line ; though, in consequence of the 
 heavy gale of wind, that came on immediately after, only four were brought 
 to England, the rest being sunk, or destroyed. It is supposed the ball by 
 
91 
 
 which he fell was purposely aimed at him, his dress, though no other than he 
 usually wore, rendering him so conspicuous. Several of his officers had been 
 apprehensive of this previous to the engagement, but not one of them would 
 venture to entreat his lordship to change his clothes, the surgeon excepted, 
 and he unfortunately could find no opportunity before he was ordered to his 
 quarters. There were only two men left alive in the top of the Redoubtable, 
 at the time the fatal musket was fired; one of whom was afterward killed 
 there, and the other was shot dead as he attempted to escape down the 
 rigging. The Victory had no musketry in her tops, his lordship having a 
 strong aversion to small arms there, fi'om the danger of setting the sails or 
 rigging on fire, a circumstance by which the French ship I'Achille was de- 
 stroyed in this very battle, as the Alcide probably was in the fight of Frejus Bay. 
 
 On this occasion, as we are informed by Dr. Beattie, whose authority, at 
 least with respect to the wounded, must be unquestionable, the Victory had 
 fifty-five men killed, and a hundred and two wounded: though the official 
 return mentions only fifty-two killed, and eighty wounded. For this, how- 
 ever, we may easily account, when we consider the difficulty of ascertaining 
 the exact number immediately after the action, from some being absent in 
 prizes, some who were slightly wounded perhaps not applying to the surgeon 
 till a few days after, and the gale that came on requiring so much attention. 
 The total loss in the whole fleet, as returned, was 423 killed, and 1 164 wounded : 
 though, if we make a similar allowance for deficiencies in the return of other 
 ships, the killed and wounded probably amounted to near two thousand. The 
 loss on board the enemy's fleet may be fairly estimated at three times as many, 
 including those who perished in the ships that sunk after the action. 
 
 When the battle was over the fleet was in a very perilous situation; many 
 dismasted, all shattered, in thirteen fathqm water off the shoals of Trafalgar; 
 and when Admiral Colhngwood, on whom the command had devolved, and 
 who had shifted his flag to the Euryalus frigate, in consequence of the disabled 
 state of the Royal Sovereign, made the signal to prepare to anchor, few ships 
 had an anchor ready to let go, their cables being shot. Providentially the 
 wind shifting a little in the night, most of the crippled ships drifted a little 
 
92 
 
 farther from the shore: but in the morning of the 22d a strong southerly 
 •wind blew, with squally weather; and on the 23d the gale increased so much, 
 that many of the ropes with which the prizes were towing broke. Ten of the 
 enemy too, that had not been much engaged, still hovered to leeward, in hopes 
 of picking up some of them ; so that Admiral CoUingwood thought it advis- 
 able to destroy such of the leewardmost prizes as he could clear of their men. 
 This was in part effected, and some were wrecked, but two or three that had 
 struck contrived to get into Cadiz; and, on the other hand, a Spanish first 
 rate, coming out of Cadiz a second time to endeavour to retake some of the 
 prizes, was herself captured, and afterward wrecked. Thus the enemy lost in 
 all nineteen ships, in this engagement: and the four van ships under Duma- 
 noir, which had made their escape to the northward, after firing not only on 
 our ships, but on the Fi'ench and Spanish that had struck lo us, as long as 
 they could venture to stay, were met with by Sir Richard J. Strahan, and all 
 taken. 
 
 The day after the battle, the body of Lord Nelson, stripped to the shirt, 
 and the hair cut off, was put into a large barrel of brandy, there being no 
 lead on board to make a cofhn. On the 28th the Victory got to Gibraltar, 
 and the cask was filled up with spirit of wine. The worst of her wounded 
 men being sent on shore, and her damages in some measure repaired, on the 3d 
 of November she sailed for England in company with the Belleisle. On the 
 5th they spoke with the squadron of Admiral CoUingwood, cruizing off Cadiz, 
 and proceeded for England, where they arrived in the beginning of December. 
 On the eleventh the Victory sailed from theNore, previous to which, the body 
 of Lord Nelson was examined, and, after part of his bowels, which began to 
 decay, were removed, wrapped in cotton, swathed from head to foot with 
 cotton bandages, and put into a leaden coffin, which was filled up with a solu- 
 tion of camphor and myrrh in brandy, and enclosed in a wooden one. On the 
 21st of December the body was taken out, dressed in a shirt, stockings, uni- 
 form waistcoat and breeches, neckcloth and nightcap ; put into the coffin 
 made from the mast of I'Orient; and covered with a shroud. This coffin was 
 enclosed in one of lead, which was immediately soldered up, and put into a 
 
93 
 
 wood€n shell. In this state it was conveyed to Greenwich Hospital, attended 
 by the Rev. Dr. Scottj and Messrs. Tyson and Whitby, in the yacht of Com- 
 missioner Gray. 
 
 On Sunday the oth of January, and the two following days, the Painted 
 Hall, in Greenwich Hospital was open from nine in the morning till four in 
 the afternoon, for the admission of the public to view his lordship's I'emaiJia 
 there, lying in state. The throng on the occasion was so great, that many 
 serious accidents occurred. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 8th, at ten o'clock in the morning, the several per- 
 sons, who were to attend the remains from Greenwich to Whitehall Stairs, 
 assembled at the Governor's House, within the Royal Hospital of Greenwich; 
 and soon afterward proceeded in the barges, according to the following order: 
 
 First barge covered with black cloth. Drums. Two trumpets, with their 
 banners, in the steerage. The standard, at the head ; the guidon, at the 
 door place ; each borne by a captain, and supported by two lieutenants of the 
 royal navy, in their full uniform coats, with black waistcoats, breeches, and 
 stockings, and crape round their arms and hats. Two pursuivants of arms in 
 close mourning, with their tabarts over their cloaks.; and hatbands and scarves. 
 Some servants of the deceased in mourning. 
 
 Second barge covered with black cloth. Four trumpets in the steerage. 
 Officers of arms habited as those in the first barge, bearing the surcoat, target 
 and sword, helm and crefet, and the gauntlet and spurs of the deceased. The 
 banner of the deceased as a knight of the Bath, at the head. The great ban- 
 ner with the augmentations at the door place, borne as in the first barge. 
 
 Third barge covered with black velvet, the top adorned with plumes 
 of black feathers, and in the centre upon four shields of the arms of the de- 
 ceased, joining in point, a viscount's coronet. Three banneroUs of the family 
 lineage of the deceased, on each side, affixed to the external parts of the barge. 
 Six trumpets, with their banners, as before, in the steerage. Six lieutenants 
 of the royal navy, habited as those in the other barges; one to each banneroll. 
 The body, covered with a large sheet, and a pall of velvet, adorned with six 
 
94 
 
 escutcheons. Clarencieux king of arms, habited as the other officers of arms, 
 and bearing, at the head of the body, a viscount's coronet, upon a black velvet 
 cushion. At the head of the barge, the union flag of the United Kingdom. 
 
 Fourth barge covered with black cloth. The chief mourner, with his two 
 supporters, and six assistant mourners; the four supporters of the pall; the six 
 supporters of the canopy, being admirals, and the trainbearer of the chief 
 mourner, being a captain in the royal navy, all in mourning cloaks, over their 
 respective full uniform coats, black waistcoats, breeches, and stockings, crape 
 round their arms and crape hatbands. The banner of emblems at the door 
 place, borne by a captain, and supported by two lieutenants of the royal navy, 
 habited as those in the other barges. 
 
 The barge of his majesty, and that of the lords commissioners for excut- 
 ing the office of lord high admiral followed singly ; and, immediately after, 
 the lord mayor in the city state barge ; after which came the barge with the 
 committee especially appointed by the corporation of London; the barge of 
 the committee for improving the navigation of the Thames; and the" barges 
 of the several companies of drapers, fishmongers, goldsmiths, skinners, mer- 
 chant taylors, ironmongers, stationers, and apothecaries; their respective 
 colours half staff. 
 
 The procession was flanked by gunboats and rowboats of the river fen-^ 
 cibles. Three of which preceded in order to keep the river clear for the line 
 of procession, and three guarded the rear. 
 
 While the procession was passing the Tower of London, the great guns 
 were fired, and, during the time of landing the body, and the several persons 
 from the four mourning barges, at Whitehall Stairs, the king's and Admiralty 
 barges, and those of the lord mayor and city companies, lay upon their oars. 
 
 The following was the order of the procession from Whitehall Stairs, 
 where the procession arrived about half after three, to the Admiralty, on foot. 
 Drums and trumpets. A pursuivant of arms. The standard, borne by a cap- 
 tain, and supported by two lieutenants of the royal navy. Trumpet. A pur- 
 suivant of arms. The guidon, borne and supported as the standard. Two 
 
95 
 
 trumpets. A pursuivant of arms. The banner of the deceased as a knight of 
 the Bath, home and supported as the guidon. Two trumpets. A herald. 
 The great banner, borne and supported as the last. Gauntlet and spurs, 
 helm and crest, sword and target, surcoat borne by heralds. Six trumpets. 
 Clarencieux, king of arms, bearing the coronet on a black velvet cushion. 
 Eight seamen of his majesty's ship the Victory, carrying, on a bier, the body, 
 covered with a black velvet pall, adorned with escutcheons, supported by 
 Viceadmirals Whitehead, Savage, Taylor, and Rearadmiral E. Harvey, two 
 on each side, under a canopy, borne by Rearadmirals Aylmer, Domett, T. 
 Wells, Drury, Sir Isaac Coffin, and Sir W. H. Douglas, Barts., with three 
 banneroUs of the family lineage of the deceased, carried by three lieutenants 
 in the royal navy, on each side. Garter, principal king of arms. Admiral 
 Sir P. Parker, Bart, the chief mourner, supported by Admirals Lord Hood and 
 Radstock, his train borne by Captain Blackwood, and followed by Viceadmirals 
 Caldwell, Hamilton, Nugent, Bligh, Sir Roger Curtis, and Sir C. M. Pole, 
 Barts., as assistant mourners. The banner of emblems, borne by Captain T. 
 M. Hardy of the Victory, and supported by two lieutenants in the royal navy. 
 The servants of the deceased closed the procession. Upon arriving at the Ad- 
 miralty, the body was there deposited privately till the following day, and the 
 persons who were in the procession retired. 
 
 On Thursday, the Qth, about nine o'clock in the morning, the nobility 
 and gentry, in mourning without weepers, and with mourning swords, the 
 knights of the several orders wearing their respective collars, the naval officers 
 (who had no particular duties assigned them in the solemnity) and the military 
 officers, in their full uniforms, with crape round their arms and hats, passed 
 through the gates at Constitution Hill and the Stable Yard into St. James's 
 Park; where the carriages were duly marshalled in a line of procession. 
 
 The order was as follows : marshals' men, on foot, to clear the way. Mes- 
 senger of the college of arms, in a mourning cloak, with a badge of the college 
 on his shoulder, his staff tipped with silver, and furled with sarsnet. Six con- 
 ductors, in mourning cloaks, with black staves headed with viscounts' coronets. 
 
96 
 
 Forty-eight pensioners from Greenwich Hospital, two and two, in. mouJ-ning 
 cloaks, with badges of the crests of the deceased on their shoulders, and black 
 staves in their hands. Forty-eight seamen of his majesty's ship the Victory, two 
 and two, in their ordinary dress, with black neck handkerchiefs and stockings, 
 and crape in their hats. Watermen of the deceased in black coats, with their 
 badges. Drums and fifes. Drum major. Trumpets. Sergeant trumpeter. 
 Rouge Croix, pursuivant of arms, (alone in a mourning coach), in close mourn- 
 ing, with his tabard over his cloak, black silk scarf, hatband and gloves. The 
 standard, borne in front of a mourning coach, in which was a captain of the 
 royal navy, supported by two lieutenants, in their uniform coats, with black 
 cloth waistcoats, breeches, and black stockings, and crape round their arms 
 and hats. Trumpets. Blue Mantle, pursuivant of arms, (alone in a mourning 
 coach) habited as Rouge Croix. The guidon, borne in front of a mourning 
 coach, in which was a captain of the royal navy, supported by two lieutenants, 
 dressed as those who bore and supported the standard. Servants of the deceased 
 in mourning, in a mourning coach. Officers of his majesty's wardrobe, in 
 mourning coaches. Gentlemen. Esquires. Deputations from the great 
 commercial companies of London. Physicians of the deceased, in a mourn- 
 ing coach. Divines, in clerical habits. Chaplains of the deceased, in clerical 
 habits, and secretary of the deceased, in a mourning coach: Trumpets. 
 Rouge Dragon, pursuivant of arms, (alone, in a mourning coach) habited as 
 Blue Mantle. The banner of the deceased, as a knight of the Bath, borne in 
 front of a mourning coacl\j, in which was a captain of the royal navy, sup- 
 ported by two lieutenants, dressed as those who bore and supported the guidon. 
 Officers who attended the body while it lay in state at Greenwich, in mourn- 
 ing coaches. Knights bachelors. Masters in chancery; and sergeants at law. 
 Solicitor general j attorney general; and prime sergeant. Judge of the Ad- 
 miralty; and knight marshal. Knights of the Bath. Baronets. A gentle- 
 man usher, (in a mourning coach) carrying a carpet and black velvet cushion, 
 whereon the trophies were deposited in the church. Comptroller, treasurer, 
 and steward of the household of the deceased (in a mourning coach) in mourn- 
 ing cloaks, bearing white staves. Younger sons of barons. Younger sons of 
 
THE F 
 
 ./W. fy R.Soii^ 
 
■ FUI^ERAL CAR 
 
 ^ R. Bowyer. ^o IhU-MfiU'. LcneCorv. March iS-cc 
 
97 
 
 viscounts. Judges. Lord chief baron of the Exchequer. Lord chief justice 
 of the Common Pleas. Master of the Rolls. Lord chief justice of the King's 
 Bench (a peer). Privy counsellors who were not peers. Eldest sons of barons. 
 Youngest sons of earls. . Eldest sons of viscounts. Barons. Bishops. Younger 
 sons of marquises. Earls. Eldest sons of dukes. Marquises. Dukes. Earl 
 marshal. Lord privy seal. Lord president of the council. Archbishop of 
 York. Lord chancellor. Archbishop of Canterbury. Dukes of the blood 
 royal. His royal highness the Prince of Wales. A herald (alone in a mourn- 
 ing coach) habited as the other officers of arms. The great banner, borne in 
 front of a mourning coach, in which were a captain and two lieutenants, as 
 with the other banners. Gauntlet and spurs, helm and crest, target and 
 sword, surcoat, in front of four mourning coaches, in which were heralds, 
 habited as before. A mourning coach, in which was the coronet of the de- 
 ceased, on a black velvet cushion, borne by Norroy king of arms, habited as 
 before, and attended by two gentleman ushers. The six lieutenants of the 
 royal navy, the bearers of the bannerolls, habited as before, in two mourning 
 coaches. The six admirals in like habits, who were to bear the canopy, in 
 two mourning coaches. The four admirals in like habits, who were to sup- 
 port the pall, in a mourning coach. 
 
 The body, under a canopy, and placed on a funeral car, decorated with 
 escutcheons, bannerolls, and emblematical devices. The car drawn by six led 
 horses. 
 
 His royal highness the Duke of York and staff. 
 
 Garter, principal king of arms, in a mourning coach, habited as the other 
 officers of arms, with his sceptre, attended by two gentlemen ushers. 
 
 The chief mourner, in a long mourning cloak, with his two supporters, 
 and his train-bearer, all in mourning cloaks. Six assistant mourners, in two 
 mourning coaches. 
 
 Windsor herald, acting for Norroy, king of arms, in a mourning coach, 
 habited as the other officers of arms, and attended by two gentlemen ushers. 
 The banner of emblems, in front of a mourning coach, in which were a captain 
 and two lieutenants of the royal navy, as with the other banners. Private 
 
9*8 
 
 chariot of the deceased. Private coach of the lord mayor. Relations of the 
 deceased, in mourning coaches. Officers of the navy and army, according to 
 their respective ranks, the seniors nearest the body. 
 
 When the procession arrived within Temple Bar, it was received by the 
 lord mayor, aldermen, sheriffs, and deputation from the common council. 
 The six carriages to the common council fell into the procession between the 
 deputation of the great commercial companies of London^ and the physicians 
 of the deceased : those of the aldermen and sheriffs, between the knights ba- 
 chelors and the masters in chancery : tiie lord mayor, on horseback, and un- 
 covered, bearing the city sword, between his royal highness the Prince of 
 Wales and the herald preceding the banner. 
 
 Upon arriving at St. Paul's Cathedral, the six conductors, forty-eight 
 pensioners from Greenwich Hospital, and forty-eight seamen of the Victory, 
 ascended the steps, divided, and ranged on each side, without the Great West 
 Gate of the church." The rest of those who preceded the body entered the 
 church, and divided on either side, according to their ranks; those who bad 
 proceeded first remaining nearest the door. The officers of arms, and bearers 
 of the baniiers, with their supporters, entered the choir, and stood within 
 near the door; and, as there was not sufficient space in the choir to admit a 
 large portion of the procession, only the nobility, gfeat officers of state, dukes 
 of the blood royal, and his royal highness the Prince of Wales, proceeded into 
 the choir, with those who had especial duties in the solemnity. Near the en- 
 trance of the church, the dean and prebendaries, attended by the choir, the 
 priests and gentlemen of his majesty's chapel royal, and the minor canons and 
 vicars choral of St, Petei-'s, Westminster, singing the first part of the burial 
 service, set by Dr. Croft, fell into the procession immediately after the great 
 banner, and before the heralds who bore the trophies. 
 
 The body, having been taken from the funeral car, was borne into the 
 church and choir by eight seamen of the Victory ; and the remainder of the 
 procession followed in the order as before marshalled. 
 
 The chief mourner, and his two supporters, were seated on chairs at the 
 head qf the body ; and the six assistant mourners, and four supporters of the 
 
W.Bnr-nlej del. 
 
 ^\KE. WcrtJim^TL .071^. 
 
 IiMisheS/ 'fy.^Sovyer. 8a.TaIlMaU.Laf}d(nhJdar<^xiSo8. 
 
99 
 
 pall, on stools on each side. The relations of the deceased also near them in 
 the choir. 
 
 The officers of the navy and army, who followed in the procession, re- 
 mained in the body of the church. 
 
 The carpet and cushion, on which the trophies were to be deposited, were 
 laid, by the gentlemen ushers who carried them, on a table placed near the 
 grave, and behind the place that was occupied by the chief mourner. 
 
 The coronet and cushion, borne by Norroy, king of arms, were laid on 
 the cofRn ; and the canopy borne over it. The bearer of the bannerolls stood 
 near those of the banners. 
 
 The gentlemen and choristers of the cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and 
 the Chapel Royal, having ascended the gallery on the east of the organ, where 
 the evening service was performed, the first lesson. Job xiv, to the end of the 
 15th verse, was read by the Bishop of Chester; and the second, 1 Cor. xv, 20, 
 by the Rev. Dr. Moss ; both canon - residentiaries. The Magnificat, set by 
 Mr. Atwood; the Nunc Dimittis; and the Anthem from Psalm xxxix, set 
 by Dr. Greene; were all performed in their proper places. 
 
 At the conclusion of the service in the choir, a procession was made 
 thence to the grave, with the banners and bannerolls as before; the officers of 
 arms proceeding with the trophies; the body borne and attended as before; 
 the chief mourner, and his six supporters, placed themselves at the head of 
 the grave; and the assistant mourners, and the relations of , the deceased, near 
 to them. 
 
 During this procession, a grand solemn dirge, composed for the occasion 
 by Mr. Atwood, was peformed by this gentleman. At the grave was sung, 
 " Man that is born of a woman," &c., the first part composed by Dr. Croft, the 
 latter by Purcell. The anthem, "1 heard a voice from Heaven," was sung, 
 as composed by Dr. Croft; and after the last collect was performed, from 
 Handel's grand funeral anthem: verse, " His body is buried in peace;" chorus, 
 " but his name liveth evermore." The remainder of the burial service was 
 read by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Lincoln, dean of St. Paul's. 
 
 The service at the interment being over, Garter proclaimed the style; and 
 
100 
 
 the comptroller, treasurer, and steward of the deceased, breaking their staves, 
 gave the pieces to Garter, who threw them into the grave. 
 
 The interment thus ended, the standard, banners, banneroUs, and trophies, 
 were deposited on the table behind the chief mourner; and the procession, 
 arranged by the officers of arms, returned. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER> 
 
 F0& PLACING THE PLATES.. 
 
 Head of Lord Nelson to face tlie Title-page, 
 Fac-simile of a Copy of a Letter from his Lordship to 
 follow the Preface. 
 
 Pursuit of the Bear to face page 7 
 
 Boarding the American g 
 
 Storming a Post at San Juan 1 1 
 
 Loss of his Eye before Calvi 20 
 
 Boarding the San Nicolas 29 
 
 Boarding the San Josef 30 
 
 Encounter off Cadiz 33 
 
 Affair of Teneriffe 35 
 
 Battle of the Nile 49 
 
 Batde of Trafalgar 89 
 
 The Funeral Car , , 97 
 
 Funeral gs 
 
 The CoffiUj to face the end. 
 
 T. Benfley, Printer, 
 Bolt Court, Fleet Street, London. 
 
JLOM® NEJLSON'S COFFIN, 
 
 WITH 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THE ORNAMENTS AND DEVICES. 
 
 The Coffin is made of stout Mahogany, and exactly six Feet 
 eight Inches long, tiventy-six Inches Iroad in its widest Part, 
 and nineteen Inches deep, covered -with rich black Genoa Velvet, 
 divided in Compartments and Pannels, ixAth no less than lO,00O 
 doulle gilt Nails. 
 
 No. 1. The principal Ornament at the Head represents a Monument 
 supported by Eagles, the Emblems of Victory, with the Portrait of the 
 deceased Hero in Basso-Relievo, surmounted by an Urn containing His 
 Ashes, over which reclines the Figure of Grief. At the Base are seen the 
 British Lion, with one of his Paws laid on the Gallic Cock, Sphinxes, and 
 other Trophies, intended to commemorate the memorable Victory which 
 the gallant Admiral obtained on the Shores off Egypt, and to indicate that 
 he might fairly claim the Sovereignty of the Ocean. 
 
 No. 2 is a Viscount's Coronet, the reward of his Services to his King 
 and Country. 
 
 Here follows the Depositum or Inscription Plate. 
 
 No. 3 is the first Crest granted to him by His Majesty after the Battle 
 of Cape St. Vincent, when his Lordship boarded and took the San Josef: — 
 the Motto is Faith and Works. 
 
 No. 4 is a weeping Figure, (a Cast from the Antique) wrapt up in 
 Drapery, &c. chaste and expressive. Symbols of Grief. 
 
 No. 5. On the left Hand Side of the Coffin, next to the Head, is the 
 British Lion with the Union Flag, the Supporter of England, as also that 
 of Lord Nelson's Arms. 
 
 No. 6. The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, with the 
 Motto, Triajuncta in Uno. 
 
 No. 7. Directly in the Centre is a beautiful Composition of Britannia 
 and Neptune riding triumphant on the Ocean, drawn by Sea-Horses and 
 led by Famej while Neptune is pointing to a Shield, which bears this 
 Motto, ^270 immortali. 
 
 No. 8 is the Order of St. Ferdinand, which he received from the King 
 of Naples, with its Motto, Fide et Merito. 
 
 No. 9 is a Crocodile, an Attribute in consequence of the glorious Vic- 
 tory of the Nile. 
 
 No. 10. At the Foot of the Coffin is a Naval Trophy. 
 
 No. 1 1 . On the right Hand Side towards the Foot is a Dolphin, the 
 noblest Fish of the Seas, and was formerly claimed by the Heir of France. 
 
 No. 12. The Order of St. Joachim, transmitted to him by the Emperor 
 Paul, as Grand Master of the Knights oi MaXia, junxit Amicus Amor. 
 
 No. 13. In the Centre on the left Hand are again Britannia and Nep- 
 tune riding triumphant on the Ocean, drawn by Sea-Horses, &c. as on the 
 opposite Side. 
 
 No. 14 is the Order of the Great Crescent, which was transmitted 
 to the Noble Admiral by the Imperial Sultan after the glorious Battle of 
 the Nile. 
 
 No. 15 is the Sphynx, the Emblem of Egypt. 
 
 No. 16. At the Head End of the Coffin are other Naval and Military 
 Trophies, with his Lordship's Arms on a Shield. 
 
 This Coffin was made by Mr. Chittenden, under the Directions of 
 Mr. France, Pall Mall; the Handles and Corner-Plates by Mr. Holmes, 
 under the Directions of Mr. Bidwell ; and the Ornaments and emble- 
 matical Devices composed and furnished by R. Ackermann, Strand.