inglorious period of our naval hero's life; it was at this time he formed that intimacy with Lady Hamilton which sullied both his public honour and private faith. By the king of Naples Nelson was created duke of Bronte, with a revenue of about £3000 a-year. From Italy Nelson returned, through Germany, to England, where he was received by his countrymen with rapturous enthusiasm.

In March, 1801, he sailed for the Baltic, as second in command under Sir Hyde Parker; and on the 2d of April he conducted the attack on the Danish fleet at Copenhagen. Nothing could be more formidable than the means of defence which the Danes had collected, or more gallant than the style in which they employed them; but the ardour of British seamen, guided by the skill and determined courage of Nelson, overcame all opposition, and, after several hours' hard fighting, his Danish majesty agreed to an armistice of fourteen weeks, during which the treaty of armed neutrality, so far as related to Denmark, was of course suspended. In the heat of this engagement, Nelson is reported to have exclaimed: "It is warm work; this day will be the last to many of us; but I would not be elsewhere for thousands!" Sir Hyde Parker, being prevented by the wind and tide from coming to his assistance, and feeling alarmed at the duration of the contest, at length made the signal for retreat; but Nelson exclaimed, "Leave off action now! d-- me if I do! I have only one eye,-I have a right to be blind sometimes." Then, putting the glass to his blind eye, he added, "I really do not see the signal." Shortly afterwards, he vociferated, "D— the signal!-keep mine for closer battle flying! That's the way I answer such signals. Nail mine to the mast!" In half an hour from this time the Danes began to slacken their fire, and several of their ships were forced to strike. Nelson, seeing that his boats were fired upon when they went to take possession of the prizes, wrote a note to the crown-prince, stating, "that he was commanded to spare Denmark, -that the line of defence which covered her shores had struck to his flag; but that if the firing was continued on the part of Denmark, he must fire the prizes, and the crews must inevitably perish." A wafer being brought, he called for sealing-wax; but a ball struck off the head of the boy who was bringing the candle. Nelson, however, ordered another to be brought, and sealed the note with the accustomed formalities, observing, that to show confusion and want of calmness, even in trifles, at such a crisis, might be attended with injurious results. An answer consenting to a truce was returned; and, on the 9th of April, Nelson landed to conclude the terms. On one point neither party would yield, and a Dane talked of renewing hostilities: "We are ready at a moment-ready to bombard this very night," was the reply of Nelson; and, as he passed through the state-rooms, for the purpose of discussing the subject with the crown-prince, he observed to the officer on whose arm he was leaning, "Though I have only one eye, I can see that all this will burn well." For his services on this occasion, Nelson had the title of Viscount conferred upon him.

Early in 1803 Nelson was appointed to the command of the Mediterranean fleet. He took his station off Toulon, and watched the French fleet in that harbour from May 1803 to March 1805. On the 31st of the latter mouth the enemy got to sea unobserved, and, passing the straits of Gibraltar, effected a junction with the Spanish fleet at Cadiz.

Nelson was now employed to pursue, and, if possible, bring them to an action. On the 14th of September his lordship embarked on board the Victory in Portsmouth harbour, and on the following day sailed for the coast of Spain. The following letter, written by Nelson shortly before his embarkation, to his friend Alexander Davison, Esq., is eminently characteristic of the man and the hero: "Day by day, my dear friend, I am expecting the fleet to put to sea, every day, hour, and moment; and you may rely, that if it is within the power of man to get at them, that it shall be done; and I am sure that all my brethren look to that day as the finish of our laborious cruise. The event no man can say exactly, but I must think, or render great injustice to those under me, that, let the battle be when it may, it will never have been surpassed. My shattered frame, if I survive that day, will require rest, and that is all I shall ask for. If I fall on such a glorious occasion, it shall be my pride to take care that my friends shall not blush for me-these things are in the hands of a wise and just Providence, and his will be done. I have got some trifle, thank God, to leave to those I hold most dear, and I have taken care not to neglect it. Do not think I am low-spirited on this account, or fancy any thing is to happen to me; quite the contrary. My mind is calm, and I have only to think of destroying our inveterate foe. I have two frigates gone for more information, and we all hope for a meeting with the enemy. Nothing can be finer than the fleet under my command. Whatever be the event, believe me ever, my dear Davison, your much obliged and sincere friend,-NELSON AND BRONTE."

On the 6th of November the following despatch was received at the admiralty from Vice-admiral Collingwood:

"EURYALUS, off Cape Trafalgar, October 22d, 1805. "SIR,-The ever-to-be-lamented death of Vice-admiral Lord-viscount Nelson, who, in the late conflict with the enemy, fell in the hour of victory, leaves to me the duty of informing my lords commissioners of the admiralty, that on the 19th instant it was communicated to the commander-in-chief from the ships watching the motions of the enemy in Cadiz, that the combined fleet had put to sea. As they sailed with light winds westerly, his lordship concluded their destination was the Mediterranean, and immediately made all sail for the Straits' entrance, with the British squadron, consisting of twenty-seven ships, three of them sixty-four's, where his lordship was informed by Captain Blackwood, (whose vigilance in watching, and giving notice of the enemy's movements, has been highly meritorious,) that they had not yet passed the Straits.

"On Monday the 21st instant at day-light, when Cape Trafalgar bore E. by S. about seven leagues, the enemy was discovered six or seven miles to the eastward, the wind about west, and very light: the commander-in-chief immediately made the signal for the fleet to bear up in two columns, as they are formed in order of sailing,-a mode of attack his lordship had previously directed, to avoid the inconvenience and delay in forming a line of battle in the usual manner. The enemy's line consisted of thirty-three ships, (of which eighteen were French, and fifteen Spanish,) commanded in chief by Admiral Villeneuve: the Spaniards, under the direction of Gravina, wore with their heads to the

northward, and formed their line of battle with great closeness and correctness; but as the mode of attack was unusual, so the structure of their line was new,-it formed a crescent convexing to leeward, so that in leading down to their centre, I had both their van and rear abaft the beam. Before the fire opened, every alternate ship was about a cable's length to windward of her second a-head and a-stern, forming a kind of double line; and appeared, when on their beam, to leave a very little interval between them; and this without crowding their ships. Admiral Villeneuve was in the Bucentaure in the centre, and the prince of Asturias bore Gravina's flag in the rear; but the French and Spanish ships were mixed without any apparent regard to order of national squadron. "As the mode of our attack had been previously determined on, and communicated to the flag-officers and captains, few signals were necessary, and none were made, except to direct close order as the lines bore down. The commander-in-chief in the Victory led the weather-column, and the Royal Sovereign, which bore my flag, the lee. The action began at twelve o'clock, by the leading ships of the columns breaking through the enemy's line, the commander-in-chief about the tenth ship from the van,—the second in command about the twelfth from the rear, leaving the van of the enemy unoccupied; the succeeding ships breaking through, in all parts, astern of their leaders, and engaging the enemy at the muzzles of their guns. The conflict was severe; the enemy's ships were fought with a gallantry highly honourable to their officers, but the attack on them was irresistible, and it pleased the Almighty disposer of all events to grant his majesty's arms a complete and glorious victory. About three P. M. many of the enemy's ships having struck their colours, their line gave way; Admiral Gravina, with ten ships joining their frigates to leeward, stood towards Cadiz. The five headmost ships in their van tacked, and standing to the southward, to windward of the British line, were engaged, and the sternmost of them taken; the others went off, leaving to his majesty's squadron nineteen ships of the line, (of which two are first-rates, the Santissima Trinidada, and the Santa Anna,) with three flag-officers, viz. Admiral Villeneuve, the commander-in-chief; Don Ignatio Maria d'Aliva, vice-admiral ; and the Spanish rear-admiral, Don Baltazar Hidalgo Cisneros.

"After such a victory, it may appear unnecessary to enter into encomiums on the particular parts taken by the several commanders; the conclusion says more on the subject than I have language to express; the spirit which animated all was the same; when all exert themselves zealously in their country's service, all deserve that their high merits should stand recorded; and never was high merit more conspicuous than in the battle I have described. The Achille, (a French seventyfour.) after having surrendered, by some mismanagement of the Frenchmen, took fire and blew up; 200 of her men were saved by the tenders. A circumstance occurred during the action, which so strongly marks the invincible spirit of British seamen, when engaging the enemies of their country, that cannot resist the pleasure I have in making it known to their lordships. The Temeraire was boarded by accident, or design, by a French ship on one side and a Spaniard on the other; the contest was vigorous; but in the end the combined ensigns were torn from the poop, and the British hoisted in their places.

"Such a battle could not be fought without sustaining a great loss

of men. I have not only to lament, in common with the British navy and the British nation, in the fall of the commander-in-chief, the loss of a hero whose name will be immortal, and his memory ever dear to his country; but my heart is rent with the most poignant grief for the death of a friend, to whom, by many years' intimacy, and a perfect knowledge of the virtues of his mind, which inspired ideas superior to the common race of men, I was bound by the strongest ties of affection; a grief to which even the glorious occasion in which he fell does not bring the consolation which perhaps it ought. His lordship received a musket-ball in his left breast, about the middle of the action, and sent an officer to me immediately with his last farewell,-and soon after expired. I have also to lament the loss of those excellent officers, Captains Duff of the Mars and Cooke of the Bellerophon; I have yet heard of none others.

"I fear the numbers that have fallen will be found very great when the returns come to me; but it having blown a gale of wind ever since the action, I have not yet had it in my power to collect any reports from the ships. The Royal Sovereign having lost her masts, except the tottering foremast, I called the Euryalus to me, while the action continued, which ship lying within hail, made my signals,-a service Captain Blackwood performed with great attention. After the action, I shifted my flag to her, that I might more easily communicate my orders to, and collect the ships, and towed the Royal Sovereign out to seaward. The whole fleet were now in a very perilous situation,— many dismasted,—all shattered, in thirteen fathom water off the shoals of Trafalgar,-and when I made the signal to prepare to anchor, few of the ships had an anchor to let go, their cables being shot; but the same good Providence which aided us through such a day, preserved us in the night, by the wind shifting a few points, and drifting the ships off the land, except four of the captured dismasted ships, which are now at anchor off Trafalgar, and I hope will ride safe until those gales are

over.

"Having thus detailed the proceedings of the fleet on this occasion, I beg to congratulate their lordships on a victory which, I hope, will add a ray to the glory of his majesty's crown, and be attended with public benefit to our country. I am, &c.-C. COLLINGWOOD."

It appears that Nelson was very deeply impressed with the idea that this action was to be his last. After all the necessary preparations for battle were completed, he retired to his cabin and prepared a sort of testamentary document in which he recommended Lady Hamilton, and his adopted daughter, to the gratitude of his country. On the morning of the 21st he put on the stars of all the different orders with which he had been invested; and on his secretary and chaplain remonstrating with him on the additional danger to which his life would be exposed if he appeared on deck with these insignia visible upon him, he replied. "In honour I gained them; and in honour I will die with them.” When Captain Blackwood took leave of him to proceed on board his own ship, Nelson shook him by the hand, saying, "God bless you, Blackwood! I shall never see you again." At a little after twelve his flag-ship, the Victory, opened her fire from both sides, and ran on the Redoubtable, from the main-top of which Nelson soon after received a musket-ball in the left breast, and fell. Two of his crew having lifted

him up, he exclaimed, "They have done for me at last; my back-bone is shot through." Yet such was the presence of mind he still retained in his mortal agony that, as they were carrying him down the ladder, he ordered the tiller-ropes, which had been shot away, to be replaced; and covered, with his handkerchief, his face and stars that the sight of him might not damp the spirits of the crew. On being told that the surgeon was about to examine his wound, he said, "It is of no use: he can do nothing for me, he had better attend to others." He then eagerly inquired how the day was going; and when informed that none of his ships had struck, he said, "I am a dead man; I am going fast; let my dear Lady Hamilton have my hair, and all other things belonging to me." He soon afterwards said, "The pain is so great that I wish I was dead;-yet I should like to live a little longer!-What would become of poor Lady Hamilton, if she knew my situation?" On hearing that fourteen or fifteen of the enemy had struck, he directed his captain, Hardy, to bring the fleet to anchor. "I suppose," replied Hardy, "Collingwood, my dear lord, is to command.' "Never!" exclaimed Nelson, "whilst I live." He spoke of his interment, and desired to be buried by the side of his parents, unless the king should order differently. After having again mentioned Lady Hamilton, and desired Hardy to kiss his cheek, he said to the chaplain, "Doctor, I have not been a great sinner." He then kept on repeating, “Thank God, I have done my duty!" and, after having heard the last guns which were fired, he expired at a quarter past four o'clock in the after

noon.

Twenty of the enemy's ships struck; but some of them escaped, and others were destroyed. The honours and rewards that his country would have rejoiced to have bestowed upon him, were conferred upon his relatives. Mrs Matcham and Mrs Bolton, his sisters, were voted £10,000 each; and his elder brother, the Rev. William Nelson, D. D., obtained an earldom, with a grant of £6,000 a-year, and the sum of £100,000 for the purchase of an estate.

Charles, Duke of Richmond.

BORN A. D. 1734.—died a. d. 1806.

CHARLES LENNOX, Duke of Richmond, succeeded to his father's tities and estate at the age of sixteen, and soon after entered the army. He was present at the battle of Minden, where he conducted himself with so much gallantry as to obtain the special notice of the commanderin-chief. In 1756 he took his seat in the house of peers, and attached himself to the whig interest. On the accession of George III. he was appointed a lord of the bed-chamber, but was soon after dismissed, for a reason highly honourable to himself, namely, his having boldly expostulated with the young monarch for his marked attention to his sister, Lady Sarah Lennox.

To the administration of Bute, and of his successor Grenville, the duke was a firm and active opponent. On the ministerial arrangement which took place under Lord Rockingham and the old whigs, supported by the duke of Cumberland, his grace was appointed ambassador