Horatio, Lord Viscount, the son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, was born on the 29th of September 1758, at the parsonage-house of Burnham-Thorpe, a village in the county of Norfolk, of which his father was rector. The maiden name of his mother was Suckling; her grandmother was an elder sister of Sir Robert Walpole, and the subject of this notice was named after the first Earl of Orford. Mrs Nelson died in 1767, leaving eight out of eleven children. Upon this occasion her brother, Captain Maurice Suckling, of the navy, visited Mr Nelson, and promised to take care of one of the boys. Three years afterwards, when Horatio was only twelve years of age, and with a constitution naturally weak, he applied to his father for permission to go to sea with his uncle, recently appointed to the Raisonnable of sixty-four guns. The uncle was accordingly written to, and gave a reluctant consent to the proposal. "What," said he, in reply, "has poor Horatio done, who is so weak, that he should be sent to rough it out at sea? But let him come; and the first time we go into action a cannon-ball may knock off his head, and provide for him at once." The Raisonnable, on board of which he was now placed as a midshipman, was soon afterwards paid off, and Captain Suckling removed to the Triumph, of seventy-four guns, then stationed as a guard-ship in the Thames. This, however, was considered as too inactive a life for a boy, and Nelson was therefore sent a voyage to the West Indies in a merchant ship. "From this voyage I returned," he tells us in his Sketch of my Life, "to the Triumph at Chatham in July 1772; and if I did not improve in my education, I returned a practical seaman, with a horror of the royal navy, and with a saying then constant with the seamen, 'Aff, the most honour; forward, the better man.'" While in connection with this guardship, he had the opportunity of becoming a skilful pilot, an acquirement which he afterwards had frequent occasion to turn to account.

Not many months after his return, his inherent love of enterprise was excited by hearing that two ships were fitting out for a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole. From the difficulties expected on such service, these vessels were to take out none but effective men, instead of the usual number of boys. This, however, did not deter Nelson from soliciting to be received, and by his uncle's interest he was admitted as coxswain under Captain Lutwidge, the second in command. The voyage was undertaken in consequence of an application from the Royal Society; and the Honourable Captain John C. Phipps, eldest son of Lord Mulgrave, volunteered his services to command the expedition. The Racehorse and Carcass, bombs, were selected as the strongest ships, and the expedition sailed from the Nore on the 4th of June 1773, and returned to England in October. During this voyage Nelson gave several indications of that daring and fearless spirit which ever afterwards distinguished him.

The ships were paid off shortly after their return, and the youth was then placed by his uncle with Captain Farmer in the Seahorse, of twenty guns, which was about to sail for the East Indies in the squadron of Sir Edward Hughes. In this ship he was rated as a midshipman, and attracted attention by his general good conduct. But when he had been about eighteen months in India, he felt the effects of the climate of that country, so perilous to European constitutions, and became so enfeebled by disease that he lost for a time the use of his limbs, and was brought almost to the brink of the grave. He embarked for England in the Dolphin, Captain Pigot, with a body broken down by sickness, and spirits which had sunk with his strength. But his health materially improved during the voyage, and his native air speedily repaired the injury it had sustained. On the 8th of April 1777 he passed, with much credit to himself, his examination for a lieutenantcy, and next day received his commission as second lieutenant of the Lowestoffe, of thirty-two guns, then fitting out for Jamaica. In this frigate he cruised against the American and French privateers which were at that time harassing our trade in the West Indies; distinguished himself on various occasions by his activity and enterprise; and formed a friendship with his captain, Locker, of the Lowestoffe, which continued during his life. Having been warmly recommended to Sir Peter Parker, the commander-in-chief upon that station, he was removed into the Bristol flag-ship, and soon afterwards became first lieutenant. On the 8th of December 1788 he was appointed commander of the Badger brig, in which he rendered important assistance in rescuing the crew of the Glasgow, when that ship was accidentally set on fire in Montego Bay, Jamaica. On the 11th of June 1790 he obtained the rank of post-captain, and with it the command of the Hinchinbrook of twenty-eight guns. As Count d'Estaing, with a fleet of 125 sail, men-of-war and transports, and a reputed force of 25,000 men, now threatened Jamaica from St Domingo, Nelson offered his services to the admiral and governor-general, Dalling, and was appointed to command the batteries of Fort-Charles at Port-Royal, the most important post in the island. D'Estaing, however, attempted nothing with this formidable armament, and the British general was thus left to execute a design which he had formed against the Spanish colonies. This project was to take Fort San Juan, situated upon the river of that name, which flows from Lake Nicaragua into the Gulf of Mexico; to make himself master of the lake itself, and of the cities of Granada and Leon; and thus to cut off the communication between the northern and southern possessions of Spain in America. Nelson was appointed to the command of the naval department, and distinguished himself greatly in the siege of Fort San Juan and in taking the island of St Bartolomeo. Pestilence, however, decimated the crew of the Hinchinbrook; and her gallant young commander, prostrated by sickness, was compelled to return to England. He was taken home in the Lyon, by Captain, afterwards... Admiral, Cornwallis, to whose care and kindness he believed himself indebted for the preservation of his life. In three months, however, his health was so far re-established that he applied for employment; and being appointed to the Albemarle, of twenty-eight guns, he was sent to the North Seas, and kept there cruising during the whole winter, which he did not at all relish. In this cruise, however, he gained a considerable knowledge of the Danish coast and its soundings. On his return he was ordered to Quebec, and during the voyage the Albemarle had a narrow escape from four French sail of the line and a frigate, which, having come out of Boston, gave chase to her. Confiding in his own skill and piloting, Nelson, perceiving that they gained on him, boldly ran among the numerous shoals of St George's Bank, and thus escaped. In October 1782 he sailed from Quebec with a convoy of transports for New York, where he joined Lord Hood, and accompanied him to the West Indies. At the peace of 1783, the Albemarle returned to England, and was paid off.

After his arrival in England, Nelson, finding it prudent to economize his half-pay during the peace, went to St Omer, where he remained till the spring of the following year. On his return, he was appointed to the Boreas, of twenty-eight guns, which had been ordered to the Leeward Islands as a cruiser. Whilst on this station, where he found himself senior captain, and consequently second in command, he evinced the utmost zeal and activity in protecting British interests, and in causing the Navigation Act to be respected, especially by the Americans, who had attempted, under various pretences, to establish an independent commerce with the West India Islands; a line of conduct which involved him in much trouble, without procuring him reward or even acknowledgment—the thanks of the Treasury having been transmitted to the commander-in-chief, who had thwarted instead of encouraging him in the discharge of an arduous and important duty. On the 11th of March 1787, Nelson married the widow of Dr Nisbet, a physician, and daughter of Herbert, the president of the island of Nevis. The Boreas returned to England in June, but was not paid off till the end of November, having been kept nearly five months at the Nore as a slop and receiving ship. Nelson was still in a very precarious state of health; and this treatment, whether proceeding from intention or neglect, excited in his mind the strongest indignation. His resentment, however, was appeased by the favourable reception which he met with at court, when presented to his Majesty by Lord Howe; and having fully explained to that nobleman the grounds upon which he had acted, he retired to enjoy the pleasures of domestic happiness at the parsonage-house at Burnham-Thorpe, which his father had given him as a residence. But the vexatious affair of the American captures was not yet terminated. He was harassed with threats of prosecution, and, in his absence on some business, a writ or notification was served on his wife, upon the part of the American captains, who now laid their damages at £20,000. When presented with this paper, his indignation was excessive; and he immediately wrote to the Treasury, that unless he was supported by government he would leave the country. "If sixpence would save me from prosecution," said he, "I would not give it." The answer he received, however, quieted his fears; he was told to be under no apprehension, for he would assuredly be supported; and here his disquietude upon this subject seems to have ended.

At the commencement of the French war, it was judged expedient again to employ Nelson; and on the 30th of January 1793 he was appointed to the Agamemnon, of sixty-four guns, and placed under the orders of Lord Hood, then holding the chief command in the Mediterranean fleet. Being sent to Corsica with a small squadron, to co-operate with Paoli and the party opposed to France, he undertook the siege of Bastia, and in a short time reduced it. The place capitulated on the 19th of May 1794. He next proceeded in the Agamemnon to co-operate with General Sir Charles Stuart in the siege of Calvi. Here Nelson had less responsibility than at Bastia; he was acting with a man after his own heart, who slept every night in the advanced battery. Here Nelson received a serious injury. A shot having struck the ground near him, drove the sand and small gravel into one of his eyes. He spoke of it lightly at the time, and in fact suffered it to confine him only one day; but the sight of the eye was nevertheless lost. After the fall of Calvi his services were, by a strange omission, altogether overlooked, and his name was not even mentioned in the list of wounded. Nelson felt himself not only neglected, but wronged. "They have not done me justice," said he; "but never mind, I'll have a gazette of my own." And on another occasion the same second-sight of glory led him to predict that one day or other he would have a long gazette to himself. "I feel," said he, "that such an opportunity will be given me. If I am in the field of glory, I cannot be kept out of sight."

Lord Hood now returned to England, and the command devolved upon Admiral Hotham. Tuscany had now concluded peace with France; Corsica was in danger; Genoa was threatened; and the French, who had not yet been taught to feel their inferiority upon the seas, openly braved us on that element. Having a superior fleet in the Mediterranean, they now sent it out with express orders to seek the English and engage them. In the action which followed between the English fleet under Admiral Hotham, and that which had come out from Toulon, Nelson greatly distinguished himself, manoeuvring and fighting his ship with equal ability and determination; and when the action was renewed the following day, he had the honour of hoisting the English colours on board of the Ca Ira and the Censeur, which both struck to him, and were the only ships of the enemy taken on that occasion. About this time Nelson was made colonel of marines, a mark of approbation which he had rather wished for than expected; and soon afterwards the Agamemnon was ordered to Genoa to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian forces. This was indeed a new line of service, imposing multifarious duties, and involving great responsibility; yet it was also one for which Nelson had already evinced a singular aptitude, and in which, had he been at all seconded by the land forces, his assistance would have led to important results. Through the gross misconduct, however, of the Austrian general, Devins, the allies were completely defeated by an army of boys, and the French obtained possession of the Genoese coast from Savona to Voltri, thus intercepting the direct communication between the Austrian army and the English fleet. After this disgraceful affair, the Agamemnon was recalled, and sailed for Leghorn to refit, being literally riddled with shot, and having all her masts and yards seriously damaged.

Sir John Jervis having arrived to take the command in the Mediterranean, Nelson sailed from Leghorn in the Agamemnon, which had now been repaired, and joined the admiral in St Fiorenzo Bay. When the French took possession of Leghorn, he blockaded that port, and landed a force in the Isle of Elba to secure Porto Ferrajo. Soon

---

1 Nelson urged the admiral to pursue the enemy, and follow up his advantage to the utmost; but the latter replied, "We must be contented; we have done very well." The captain of the Agamemnon did not understand such timid reasoning. "Had we taken ten sail," said he, "and allowed the eleventh to escape when it had been possible to have got at her, I could never have called it well done." He adds, that if his advice had been followed, they would have had such a day as the annals of England never produced. afterwards he took the island of Capraia; and the British cabinet having resolved to evacuate Corsica, he ably performed this humiliating service. He was then ordered to hoist his broad pennant on board of the Minerve frigate, Captain George Cockburn, and to proceed with the Blanche to Porto Ferrajo, and bring away the troops and stores left at that place. On his way thither he fell in with two Spanish frigates, the Sabina and Ceres, the former of which, after an action of three hours, during which the Spaniards lost 164 men, struck to the Minerve. The Ceres, however, had got off from the Blanche; and as the prisoners had hardly been conveyed on board of the Minerve when another enemy's frigate came up, Nelson was compelled to cast off the prize and go a second time into action. But after a short trial of strength, this new antagonist wore and hauled off; and as a Spanish squadron of two sail of the line and two frigates now came in sight, the commodore made all sail for Porto Ferrajo, whence he soon returned with a convoy to Gibraltar. Off the mouth of the Straits he fell in with the Spanish fleet, and reaching the station off Cape St Vincent on the 13th of February 1797, he communicated this intelligence to Sir John Jervis, by whom he was now directed to shift his broad pennant on board the Captain, of seventy-four guns. Before sunset the signal was made to prepare for action, and to keep in close order during the night; and at daybreak on the 14th the enemy were in sight. The British force consisted of two ships of 100 guns, two of 98, two of 90, eight of 74, and one of 64, with four frigates, a sloop, and a cutter; the Spaniards had one ship of 136 guns, six of 112 guns each, two of 84, and eighteen of 74, with ten frigates and a brig. The admiral, Sir John Jervis, made signal to tack in succession. Nelson, whose station was in the rear of the British line, perceiving that the Spaniards were bearing up before the wind, with an intention of forming line and joining their separated ships, or of avoiding an engagement, disobeyed the signal without a moment's hesitation, and ordered his ship to be wore. This at once brought him into action with seven of the enemy's ships, four of which were first-rates. After a desperate conflict, in which Nelson was nobly supported by Troubridge in the Culloden and by Collingwood in the Excellent, the Salvador del Mundo and San Isidro dropped astern, and the San Josef fell on board the San Nicolas. The Captain being now incapable of further service, either in the line or in chase, Nelson directed the helm to be put a-starboard, and calling the boarders, ordered them to board. The San Nicolas was carried after a short struggle, Nelson himself boarding her through the cabin windows. The San Josef was instantly boarded from the San Nicolas, the gallant little commodore leading the way, and exclaiming, "Westminster Abbey or victory!" This was the work of an instant; but before Nelson could reach the quarter-deck of the Spanish ship, an officer looked over the rail and said they surrendered. This daring achievement was effected with comparatively small loss, and Nelson himself received only a few bruises. The Captain, however, had suffered severely in the action. She had lost her fore-topmast; not a sail, shroud, nor rope was left; her wheel had been shot away; and a fourth part of the loss sustained by the whole squadron had fallen upon that single ship. As soon as the action was discontinued, Nelson went on board the admiral's ship. Sir John Jervis received him with open arms, and said he could not sufficiently thank him. For this victory the commander-in-chief was rewarded with a peerage and the title of Earl St Vincent; whilst Nelson, who, before the action was known in England, had been advanced to the rank of rear-admiral, was knighted, and received the insignia of the Bath, and a gold medal from his sovereign.

In April 1797 Sir Horatio Nelson, having hoisted his flag as rear-admiral of the blue, was sent to bring away the troops from Porto Ferrajo; and having performed this service, he shifted his flag to the Theseus, a ship which had taken part in the mutiny in England. Whilst in the Theseus he was employed in the command of the inner squadron at the blockade of Cadiz. During this service his personal courage was eminently signalized. In a night attack upon the Spanish gun-boats (3d July 1797), his harge was assailed by an armed launch, carrying twenty-six men, whilst he had with him only the usual complement of ten men and the coxswain, besides Captain Fremantle. After a severe conflict, hand to hand, eighteen of the enemy were killed, all the rest wounded, and the launch taken. Twelve days after this rencontre, Nelson sailed at the head of an expedition against Teneriffe. Having been ascertained that a homeward-bound Manilla ship had recently put into Santa Cruz, the expedition was undertaken in the hope of capturing this rich prize. But it was not fitted out upon the scale which Nelson had proposed; no troops were embarked; and although the attack was made with great intrepidity, the attempt failed. The boats of the squadron being manned, a landing was effected early in the night, and Santa Cruz taken and occupied for about seven hours; but the assailants, finding it impracticable to storm the citadel, were obliged to prepare for retreat, which they effected without molestation, agreeably to stipulations which had been made with the Spanish governor by Captain Troubridge, whose firmness and presence of mind were conspicuously displayed on this occasion. The total loss of the English in killed, wounded, and drowned, amounted to 250. Nelson himself was amongst the wounded, having, in stepping out of the boat to land, received a shot through the right elbow, which shattered the whole arm, and rendered amputation necessary. Nelson was now obliged to return to England, where honours awaited him sufficient to cheer his mind amidst the sufferings occasioned by the loss of his arm. Letters were addressed to him by the first lord of the Admiralty and the Duke of Clarence; the freedom of the cities of London and Bristol was transmitted to him; he was invested with the Order of the Bath; and he also received a pension of L1,000 a year. His sufferings from the lost limb, however, were long and painful. In April 1798 he had so far recovered, however, as to hoist his flag on board the Vanguard, and was ordered to rejoin Earl St Vincent. Immediately on his arrival, he was despatched to the Mediterranean with a small squadron, to ascertain, if possible, the object of the great expedition which was then fitting out at Toulon. He sailed from Gibraltar on the 9th of May for the Mediterranean, with three seventy-fours, four frigates, and a sloop of war. On the 19th the squadron reached the Gulf of Lyons; and on the 22d a violent storm inflicted very serious injury on the Vanguard; but after extraordinary exertions, the Vanguard was refitted in four

---

1 The memorial which, as a matter of course, he was called upon to present on this occasion, exhibited an extraordinary catalogue of services performed during the war. It is dated 1st October 1797, and addressed "to the King's most excellent Majesty." It stated, that he had been in four actions with the fleets of the enemy, and in three actions with frigates, in six engagements against batteries, in ten actions in boats employed in cutting vessels out of harbour or in destroying them, and in taking three towns; that he had served on shore with the army four months, and commanded the batteries at the sieges of Bastia and Calvi; that he had assisted at the capture of seven sail of the line, six frigates, four corvettes, and eleven privateers of different sizes; that he had taken and destroyed nearly fifty sail of merchant-vessels, and had actually been engaged against the enemy upwards of one hundred and twenty times; in which services he had lost his right eye and right arm, and had been severely wounded and bruised in his body. This memorial alone, apart from the splendid additions which he afterwards made to it, is perhaps without a parallel in our naval history. Nelson days, and he received a reinforcement of ten ships of the line and one of fifty guns, under the command of Commodore Troubridge. Baffled in his attempts to get sight of the French fleet, he kept scouring the Mediterranean waters under a press of sail night and day for nearly two months, till, on the 1st of August 1798, he came in sight of Alexandria, and at four in the afternoon descried the French fleet. For several days previous to this the admiral had scarcely taken either food or sleep. He now ordered his dinner to be served, whilst preparations were making for battle; and when his officers rose from table to repair to their several stations, he said to them, "Before this time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage, or Westminster Abbey."

Bruyes, the admiral of the French fleet, had moored his ships in Aboukir Bay, in a strong and compact line of battle; the headmost vessel being close to a shoal on the north-west, and the rest of the fleet forming a kind of curve along the line of deep water, so as not to be turned by any means on the south-west. The advantage of numbers, both in ships, guns, and men, was in favour of the French. They had thirteen ships of the line and four frigates, carrying 1196 guns, and 11,230 men. The English had the same number of ships of the line, and one 50-gun ship, carrying in all 1012 guns and 8068 men. The English ships were all seventy-fours; the French had three 80-gun ships, and one three-decker of 120 guns. Nelson, according to the preconceived plan of attack, resolved to keep entirely on the outer side of the French line, and to station his ships, as far as he was able, one on the outer bow, and another on the outer quarter, of each of the enemy's, thus doubling on a certain portion of their line. The battle commenced at half-past six o'clock, a little before sunset. As the squadron advanced, the enemy opened a steady fire from the starboard side of their line into the bows of the leading British ships. It was received in silence, whilst the men on board of each ship were employed aloft in furling the sails, and below in tending the braces and making ready for anchoring; a proceeding which told the enemy that escape was impossible. Four ships of the British squadron, having been detached previously to the discovery of the French fleet, were at a considerable distance when the battle commenced, and on coming up, the Culloden, the foremost of these ships, suddenly grounded in the darkness, and, notwithstanding the greatest exertions, could not be got off in time to bear a part in the action. The first two ships of the French line had been dismayed within a quarter of an hour after the commencement of the action; and the others had suffered so severely that victory was already certain. At half-past eight o'clock the third, fourth, and fifth were taken possession of. In the meantime Nelson had received a severe wound on the head from a langridge shot, which cut a large flap of skin from the forehead, and occasioned such an effusion of blood that the injury was at first believed to be mortal. But when the surgeon came to examine the wound, he found that the hurt was merely superficial, and requested that the admiral would remain quiet. Nelson, however, could not rest, and having called for his secretary, had begun to dictate his despatches, when suddenly a cry was heard upon deck that L'Orient was on fire. In the confusion, he found his way up unassisted and unnoticed, and having appeared on the quarter-deck, immediately gave orders that boats should be sent to the relief of the enemy. It was about ten minutes after nine o'clock when the fire broke out in L'Orient. Bruyes was dead. He had received three wounds, yet would not leave his post; and when a fourth cut him almost in two, he desired to be left to die upon deck. In the meanwhile the flames soon mastered the devoted ship, and by the light of the conflagration, the situation of both fleets could be perceived, their colours being clearly distinguishable. About ten o'clock the ship blew up with a tremendous explosion, which was followed by a pause not less awful. The firing immediately ceased; and the first sound which broke the silence was the dash of her shattered masts and yards falling into the water from the vast height to which they had been projected by the explosion.

The combat recommenced with the ships to leeward of the centre, and continued till about three in the morning. Of thirteen sail of the line, nine were taken, two burnt, and two escaped; and of four frigates, one was burnt and another sunk. In short, it was a conquest rather than a victory. The French fleet had been annihilated; and if the English admiral had been provided with small craft, nothing could have prevented the destruction of the store-ships and transports in the harbour of Alexandria.

Nelson was now at the very summit of glory. Congratulations, rewards, and honours were showered upon him by all the foreign states and powers to which his victory promised a respite from French aggression. In his own country he was created Baron Nelson of the Nile and of Burnham-Thorpe, with a pension of £2000 a year for his own life and those of his two immediate successors. A grant of £10,000 was voted to Nelson by the East India Company; the Turkish company presented him with a piece of plate; the city of London bestowed honorary swords on the admiral and his captains; and the thanks of the Parliament and gold medals were voted to him and to all the captains engaged in the action. In the distribution of rewards he was particularly anxious that the captain and first lieutenant of the Culloden should not be passed over because of their misfortune. "It was Troubridge," said he, in addressing the Admiralty, "who equipped the squadron so soon at Syracuse; it was Troubridge who exerted himself for me, after the action; it was Troubridge who saved the Culloden, where none that I know in the service would have attempted it."

Having made the necessary arrangements in regard to the prizes, and left a squadron before Alexandria, Nelson stood out to sea on the seventeenth day after the battle, and early on the 22d of September appeared in sight of Naples, where the Culloden and Alexander had preceded him, and given notice of his approach. Here he was received with every demonstration of joy and triumph, both by the royal family and the people; and it was here he formed that unfortunate connection with Lady Hamilton which exercised so baneful an influence on the rest of his life. The state of Naples at this period was deplorable. The king, like the rest of his race, was passionately fond of field sports, and cared for almost nothing else. The queen had all the vices of the House of Austria, with little to mitigate and nothing to ennoble them. The people were sunk in ignorance, and debased by misgovernment; at once turbulent and cowardly, ferocious and indolent, irreligious and fanatical. Nelson was fully sensible of the depravity and weakness of all by whom he was surrounded; yet, seduced by the blandishments of the queen, the flatteries of the court, and the pernicious

---

1 A claim has been more than once put forward on behalf of Captain Foley of the Goliath (afterwards Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, G.C.B.), as having the merit of suggesting this mode of attack; but after carefully examining the evidence brought forward in support of this claim, Sir N. Harris Nicolas, in his edition of Nelson's Dispatches, vol. iii., p. 62, &c., is inclined to think that it is unfounded.

2 To remind the sea-king of his mortality amid the torrents of praise and adulation which were poured upon him after the victory, an eccentric idea occurred to Captain Hallowell of the Swiftsure, of presenting his chief with a coffin made of part of L'Orient's mainmast. Nelson set great store by this present, and was actually buried, as the gallant captain of the Swiftsure desired, "in one of his own trophies." (Nelson's Dispatches, &c., by Sir N. H. Nicolas, vol. iii., p. 88, &c.) influence which Lady Hamilton now began to exercise over his mind, he suffered himself to be implicated in transactions which, to say the least of it, were not calculated to bring honour to his country, or to heighten his own fame. The defeat of Mack at Castellana, and the advance of the French towards Naples, were followed by the flight of the royal family, who were conveyed by Nelson to Palermo. After this an armistice was signed (10th of January 1799), by which the greater part of the kingdom was given up to the enemy; and this cession necessarily led to the loss of the whole. Naples was occupied by the French under Championnet, and the short-lived Parthenopean republic soon afterwards established. But the successes of the allies in Italy speedily changed the face of affairs, and prepared the way for the restoration of the exiled monarch.

Relying on the diminished numbers of the enemy, whose force had been greatly reduced, the royalists took the field, and Cardinal Ruffo appeared at the head of an armed rabble, which he called the Christian army. Captain Foote, in the Seaborse, with some Neapolitan frigates, and a few smaller vessels, was ordered to co-operate with this force, and to give it all the assistance in his power. Ruffo, advancing without any plan, but ready to take advantage of any accident which might occur, now approached Naples. Fort St Elmo, which commands the city, was garrisoned by French troops; but the castles of Uovo and Nuovo, commanding the anchorage, were chiefly defended by the Neapolitan “patriots,” the leading men amongst them having taken shelter there. As the possession of these castles would greatly facilitate the reduction of Fort St Elmo, Ruffo proposed to the garrison to capitulate, on condition that their persons and property should be respected, and that they should at their own option, either be sent to Toulon or remain at Naples, without being molested in their persons. These terms were accepted, and the capitulation was signed by the cardinal, the Russian and Turkish commanders, and also by Captain Foote as commanding the British force. But Nelson, who soon afterwards arrived in the bay with a large fleet, made a signal to annul the treaty, declaring that he would grant no other terms than those of unconditional submission; and notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of the cardinal, the garrisons of the castles were delivered over as rebels to the vengeance of the Sicilian court. This questionable transaction was followed by the execution of Caraccioli. This aged prince, a man who hitherto had borne a high character, and who was a commodore in the Neapolitan navy, had, from some motive or other, joined the enemy; and after being tried by a court-martial of Neapolitan officers assembled on board the British flag-ship, was found guilty, and sentenced to death. This sentence Lord Nelson ordered to be carried into execution the same evening, on board of the Sicilian frigate La Minerva. As a reward for these services, which have, in the judgment of many, left a blot on the scutcheon of the great admiral, Nelson received from the Sicilian court a sword splendidly enriched with diamonds, in addition to the dukedom of Bronté, with a domain worth about £3000 a year.

After the appointment of Lord Keith to the chief command of the fleet in the Mediterranean, Nelson was so deeply mortified that he made preparations for his return to England; and, as a ship could not be spared to convey him thither, he travelled through Germany to Hamburg, in company with Sir William and Lady Hamilton, and having embarked at Cuxhaven, landed at Yarmouth on the 6th of November 1800, after an absence of three years from his native country. He was welcomed in England with every mark of popular respect and admiration; in the towns through which he passed the people came out to meet him, and in London he was feasted by the city, drawn by the populace, thanked for his victory by the Common Council, and presented with a gold-hilted sword studded with diamonds. He had now every earthly blessing except domestic happiness, which, in consequence of his infatuated attachment to Lady Hamilton, he had forfeited for ever. Before he had been three months in England he separated from Lady Nelson, after much uneasiness and recrimination on both sides. On taking final leave of her, on 13th January 1801, he emphatically said “I call God to witness there is nothing in you or your conduct I wish otherwise.” His best friends remonstrated against this causeless and cruel desertion; but their expostulations produced no other effect than to make him displeased with them, and dissatisfied with himself.

The three northern courts of Denmark, Sweden, and Russia, had now formed a confederacy for the purpose of setting limits to the naval pretensions of Great Britain; and as such a combination, under the influence of France, would soon have become formidable, the British cabinet instantly prepared to crush it. With this view a formidable fleet was fitted out for the North Seas, and the chief command of it given to Sir Hyde Parker; under whom Nelson, who had recently been made vice-admiral of the blue, consented to serve as second in command. The fleet sailed from Yarmouth on the 12th of March 1801; and on the 30th of the same month, Lord Nelson, having shifted his flag from the St George to the Elephant, led the way through the Sound, which was passed without any loss. The Danes had made every preparation for a determined resistance. Besides, the navigation was little known and extremely intricate; all the buoys had been removed; the channel was considered as impracticable for so large a fleet; and in a council of war, held on board of the flag-ship, considerable diversity of opinion prevailed. Nelson, however, cut short the discussion by offering his services for the attack, requiring only ten sail of the line and the whole of the smaller craft. Sir Hyde Parker assented, but gave him two more line-of-battle ships than he had asked, and left everything to his own judgment. On the morning of the 1st of April, the whole fleet moved to an anchorage within two leagues of the town; and about one o’clock Nelson, having completed his last examination of the ground, made the signal to weigh,

---

1 In connection with this whole matter, the heaviest accusations have been again and again brought against Nelson. He has been accused of “treachery,” in annulling the treaty of capitulation, and of “murder” in the execution of Francesco Caraccioli. The entire question has been subjected to a minute and careful examination by Sir N. Harris Nicolas, in an Appendix to the third volume of his edition of Nelson’s Dispatches, where he endeavours to mitigate or remove the weighty charges brought against the brave admiral. The impression left upon the mind of the reader by the vast amount of evidence therein accumulated is, that while Nelson was possibly wrong in suspending the capitulation, even although its conditions were not executed, nevertheless, “the intentions and motives,” to use the words of Lord Spencer, then first lord of the Admiralty, and a statesman of great humanity of character, “by which all his measures were governed, were as pure and good as their success was complete.” Nelson believed at the time that he acted correctly, and retained the same opinion to the end of his life. It must, however, continue to be deeply regretted that he should have seen it his duty to suspend the treaty, as often as the dark consequences are contemplated which ensued after the rebels were handed over to the Neapolitan authorities. It may be proper again, to the execution of the old Neapolitan commodore, who commanded the republican gunboats, and fired upon the Neapolitan frigates, Sir Harris pronounces it as his deliberate opinion, in view of all the evidence of the case, that “it is indisputable that Caraccioli, and the other Neapolitans who fought against those forces, had, according to the law of every nation in Europe, committed high treason of a flagrant description, and that they were consequently rebels.” The justice of the sentence was therefore unquestionable; and the question of humanity could only be fairly pronounced upon by those who know the entire circumstances in which Nelson was placed. which was received with about throughout the whole division destined for the attack. They weighed with a light and favourable wind, the small craft pointing out the course to be followed; and the whole division, having coasted along the shoal called the Middle Ground, doubled its farther extremity, and anchored there just as the darkness closed, the signal to prepare for action having been made early in the evening. As his anchor dropped, Nelson exclaimed, "I will fight them the moment I have a fair wind."

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

Between one and two o'clock, however, the fire of the Danes slackened; by half-past two the action had ceased, except with the Crown batteries, and one or two ships which had renewed their fire, though with but little effect. At this critical moment, Nelson, with his accustomed presence of mind, resolved to secure the advantage he had gained, and to open a negotiation. He retired into the stern gallery, and wrote to the Crown Prince thus: "Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson has been commanded to spare Denmark when she no longer resists. The line of defence which covered her shores has struck to the British flag;—but if the firing is continued on the part of Denmark, he must set on fire all the prizes he has taken, without having the power of saving the men who have so nobly defended them. The brave Danes are the brothers, and should never be the enemies, of the English." This, after an interchange of communications, led to an interview between Nelson and the Crown Prince, at which the preliminaries of negotiations were adjusted; and a treaty was at length concluded, by which the northern confederacy was dissolved, and the maritime superiority of Britain unequivocally recognised.

For the battle of Copenhagen, Nelson was raised to the rank of viscount, and, on the recall of Sir Hyde Parker, appointed to the chief command in the North Sea. His complaints in his correspondence (vol. iv. of Dispatches and Letters) are loud and indignant, however, that the gallantry of his captains had not, as after other great battles, been rewarded with medals, and that the city of London had withheld its thanks from those who won that brilliant victory. "I long to have the medal for Copenhagen," he said, "which I would not give up to be made an English duke." But the medal never came.

Having settled affairs in the Baltic, Lord Nelson returned in a frigate to England. But he had not been many weeks ashore when he was called upon to attack the flotilla which had been prepared at Boulogne for the threatened invasion of England. The enemy were fully prepared, however, and though nothing could exceed the gallantry with which they were assailed, the enterprise proved unsuccessful. He now desired to be relieved from this boat-service, thinking it an unsuitable employment for a vice-admiral; and his wishes were speedily gratified by the signature of the preliminaries of peace.

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

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

Having landed at Portsmouth, Lord Nelson at length received news of the enemy's fleet. After an inconclusive action, in which they had run the gauntlet through Sir Robert Calder's squadron on the 22d of July, about 60 leagues west of Cape Finisterre, they had proceeded to Ferrol, brought out the squadron which there awaited their arrival, and with it entered Cadiz in safety. Upon receiving this intelligence, Nelson again offered his services, which were willingly accepted; and Lord Barham, then at the head of the Admiralty, gave him a list of the navy, desiring him to choose his own officers. No appointment could be more in unison with the feelings and judgment of the nation. The Victory, destined once more to bear his flag, was refitted with incredible despatch; and such was his impatience to be at the scene of action, that although the wind proved adverse, he worked down the Channel, and, after a rough passage, arrived off Cadiz on the 29th of September, the day on which the French admiral, Villeneuve, had received peremptory orders to put to sea the very first opportunity. Fearing that the enemy, if they knew his force, might be deterred from venturing to sea, he kept out of sight of land; desired Collingwood to hoist no colours, and fire no salute; and wrote to Gibraltar to request that the force of the fleet might not be inserted in the gazette published there. The station which he chose was some 50 or 60 miles to the westward of Cadiz, off Cape St Mary's.

On the 9th of October Lord Nelson communicated to Admiral Collingwood his plan of attack. The order of sailing was to be the order of battle. His object he declared to be close and decisive action. "In case signals cannot be seen or clearly understood," said he, "no captain can do wrong if he place his ship alongside that of an enemy." This was what he called the Nelson-touch. It was a mode of attack equally new and simple. Every one comprehended it in a moment, and was convinced that it would succeed. In fact, it proved irresistible.

Villeneuve, relying upon the information he had received, put to sea on the 19th, and at daylight, on the 21st of October 1805, the combined fleets were distinctly seen from the deck of the Victory, formed in a close line ahead, about 12 miles to the leeward, and standing to the southward, off Cape Trafalgar. The British fleet consisted of 27 sail of the line and 4 frigates; the enemy's fleet of 33 sail of the line and 7 frigates. But their superiority was greater in size and in weight of metal than in numbers; they had 4000 troops on board; and the best riflemen who could be procured, many of them Tyrolese, were dispersed throughout the ships. Soon after daylight Nelson came on deck, and the signal was made to bear down on the enemy in two lines, upon which the fleet set all sail; Collingwood, in the Royal Sovereign, leading the lee line of 13 ships, and Nelson, in the Victory, leading the weather line of 14. Having seen that all was right, he retired to his cabin, and wrote a devout prayer, in which, after beseeching the Almighty to grant a great and glorious victory, he committed his life to the God of Battles; and in another writing which he annexed in the same diary, he bequeathed Lady Hamilton as a legacy to his king and country, and commended to the public beneficence his adopted daughter, Horatia, desiring that in future she would use the name of Nelson only. Blackwood went on board the Victory about six, and found him in good spirits, but very calm, and with none of that exhilaration which he had displayed on entering into battle at Aboukir and at Copenhagen. With a prophetic anticipation, he seems to have looked for death with almost as certain a conviction as for victory. His whole attention was fixed upon the enemy, who now formed their line with much skill on the larboard tack. Then appeared that signal—Nelson's last signal—which will be remembered as long as the language or even the memory of England shall endure:—"England expects every man to do his duty." It was received throughout the fleet with a responsive burst of acclamation, rendered sublime by the spirit which it breathed, and the determination it expressed. "Now," said Nelson, "I can do no more. We must trust to the great disposer of all events, and the justice of our cause, I thank God for this great opportunity of doing my duty."

On this memorable day Nelson wore, as usual, his admiral's frock-coat, bearing upon the left breast the various orders with which he had at different times been invested. Decorations which rendered him so conspicuous a mark to the enemy were beheld with ominous apprehension by his officers, especially as it was known that there were riflemen on board the French ships, and it could not be doubted that his life would be particularly aimed at. This was a point, however, on which it was hopeless to reason or remonstrate with him. "In honour I gained them," said he, when allusion was made to the insignia he wore, "and in honour I will die with them." Nevertheless, Captain Blackwood, and his own captain, Hardy, having represented to him how advantageous it would be to the fleet were he to keep out of action as long as possible, he consented that the Temeraire and the Leviathan, which were sailing abreast of the Victory should be ordered to pass ahead. But the order was unavailing; for these ships could not pass ahead if the Victory continued to carry all her sail; yet, so far from shortening sail, Nelson took an evident pleasure in pressing on, and rendering it impossible for them to obey his own order. As the enemy showed no colours till late in the action, the Santissima Trinidad was distinguishable only by her four decks; and to the bow of his old opponent in the action off Cape St Vincent he ordered the Victory to be steered. In the meantime, an incessant raking fire was kept up on the Victory; and as the ship approached, Nelson remarked, "This is too warm work to last long." She had not yet returned a single gun, though by this time fifty of her men had been killed or wounded, and her main-topmast, with all her studding-sails and booms, shot away. A few minutes after 12, however, she opened her fire from both sides of her deck, and soon afterwards ran on board the Redoubtable, just as her tiller ropes were shot away. Captain Harvey, in the Temeraire, fell on board the Redoubtable on the other side; and another enemy's ship, the Fougueux, fell on board the Temeraire; so that these four ships formed as compact a tier as if they had been moored together, their heads lying all the same way. The lieutenants of the Victory now depressed their guns, and fired with a diminished charge, lest the shot should pass through and injure the Temeraire; and as there was danger that the Redoubtable might take fire from the lower-deck guns, the muzzles of which, when run out, touched her sides, the fireman of each gun stood ready with a bucket of water, which, as soon as the gun had been discharged, he dashed into the hole made by the shot. In this situation, the Victory kept up an incessant fire from both sides, directing her larboard guns on the Bucentaure and Santissima Trinidad.

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

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

The total loss of the British in the battle of Trafalgar amounted to 1587. Twenty of the enemy struck, and of the ships which escaped, four were afterwards taken by Sir Richard Strahan. But unhappily the fleet did not anchor, as Lord Nelson with his dying breath had enjoined; a heavy gale came on from the S.W.; some of the prizes went down, some were driven on the shore, one effected its escape into Cadiz, others were destroyed, and four only were, by the greatest exertions, saved. Still, by this mighty achievement, the navies of France and Spain received a blow from which they were not destined soon to recover; the gigantic combinations of Napoleon, with a view to a descent upon England, were completely baffled; and the success of his campaign of Austerlitz was in a great measure neutralized. The remains of Lord Nelson were buried at St Paul's, on the 9th of January 1806. It is needless to add, that all the honours which a grateful country could bestow were heaped on the memory of the man who had achieved this unequalled victory.

In Lord Nelson's professional character were united all the highest qualities of a great commander,—wonderful foresight, prompt judgment, never-failing presence of mind, ardent zeal, unbounded confidence in the resources of his own mind, and that intuitive decision in the midst of difficulty and peril which is the distinguishing attribute of great military or naval genius. His daring was without rashness, and his enterprise founded upon the most skilful calculation; his ardour never outran his understanding, nor his love of glory a due consideration of the material and moral means by which alone success can be obtained. His talents for command were of the highest order, and he knew the invaluable secret of inspiring other men with confidence in him, as well as with confidence in themselves. But the best character which can be drawn of him is the history of his achievements, all stamped with the impression of his genius; and, that nothing might be wanting to the consummation of his renown, he departed in a bright blaze of glory, leaving to his country a name which is her pride and boast, and an example which will continue to be her shield and her strength. (See, in particular, the Dispatches and Letters of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, 7 vols., Lond. 1844–46; also Southey's Life of Nelson, in 2 vols. 12mo; Life by Clarke and M'Arthur, 8vo; Ekins' Naval History, 4to; and James's Naval History, 6 vols. 8vo.)

Nelson, Robert, the author of several works on practical religion, was the son of a wealthy London merchant, and was born in 1656. After attending St Paul's School, he studied at Cambridge as a fellow-commoner of Trinity College. On his entrance into active life, his worth and accomplishments raised him to a high place in the estimation of the learned. He became the bosom-friend of Tillotson; and in 1680 was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. But not until 1691, at the conclusion of a series of visits to the Continent, did his character as an earnest friend of religion and philanthropy begin to appear in its full excellence. He became a liberal patron of charity-schools; and there was not a scheme for propagating religion, either at home or abroad, to which he did not afford substantial encouragement; while at the same time his pen was perseveringly employed in advocating practical religion. It was while engaged in performing the pious task of writing the life of his old tutor, Bishop Ball, that he contracted his last illness. His death took place in 1715. Nelson's best-known works are,—A Companion for the Festivals and Feasts of the Church of England, 8vo, 1704; The Great Duty of Frequenting the Christian Sacrifice, 8vo, 1707;

---

1 Lord Nelson's brother, the Rev. William Nelson, D.D., was created Earl Nelson of Trafalgar and of Merton on the 20th November 1805, with an annual grant of L6000, and with permission from His Majesty to inherit his deceased brother's Sicilian dukedom of Bronté. Besides L100,000 for the purchase of an estate, L10,000 were voted to each of the hero's sisters. His dying request in behalf of Lady Hamilton and his "adopted daughter Horatia Nelson Thompson," the British nation saw fit to utterly disregard. The one he left, in a codicil to his will, written a few hours before he died, "a legacy to my king and country;" and the other "to the beneficence of my country." "These," continues the document, "are the only favours I ask of my king and country at this moment, when I am going to fight their battle;" yet it appears from Pettigrew's Memoirs of Nelson, vol. ii., that this codicil was virtuously concealed by the hero's reverend brother until the parliamentary grant to himself was duly completed. The subsequent years of the unfortunate Lady Hamilton's life one had rather pass over. She died at Calais in extreme poverty and great distress on the 6th January 1814. Nelson's daughter, Horatia,—respecting whose maternal extraction Sir N. H. Nicolas has diligently collected so much unsatisfactory information (Nelson's Dispatches, &c., vol. vii., pp. 369–396), in his attempt to remove the generally received and most obvious opinion on the point,—was married in February 1822 to the Rev. Philip Ward, an English clergyman. Some endeavour has recently been made, it seems, to assist her children in entering upon life, with the design, probably, of atoning in some measure for the neglect shown to the dying request of the hero of Trafalgar. NEMEAUSUS (the modern Nîmes), a city of Gallia Narbonensis, was the capital of the Voce Carcomici, and was situated on the road between Italy and Iberia. As early as the reign of Augustus it was a colony; and in the days of Strabo it possessed the Jus Latii, and was on that account independent of the Roman governors. The territory of Nemausus comprised twenty-four populous villages. Its most notable product was cheese, which was exported to Rome. There are still remaining many striking monuments of the splendour of the ancient city of Nemausus. The principal of these are a spacious amphitheatre, a temple called the Maison Carrée, a structure known as the Tour Moyne, and the famous Roman aqueduct, named the Pont du Gard. (See Nîmes.)