approaching, when such proffered services as those of Nelson's could no longer be slighted; the war of the French Revolution broke out, and on the 30th of July, 1793, he was appointed to the Agamemnon, 64, and placed under the orders of Lord Hood, in the Mediterranean. It was at this period that his acquaintance with Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British Minister at the court of Naples commenced, an intimacy fraught with the most pernicious consequences, both to his fame and domestic peace. Many reasons may be urged in extenuation of the facility with which he gave himself up to the influence of this fatal passion. The ambassador himself had gained a considerable reputation as a man of science; his wife was a woman of pleasing manners, and, by the aid of her talents for intrigue, had acquired great authority with the Neapolitan court. Applauded by the envoy, flattered by the king of Naples, and intoxicated by the admiration of Lady Hamilton, Nelson seems to have surrendered almost without a struggle. This connexion coloured all the events of his after life.

Being dispatched from thence to Tunis, Nelson fell in, on the way, with five sail of the enemy, to whom he gave chase, and succeeded in engaging one of them; but the action proved indecisive. Soon after this he was sent with a small squadron to operate on the Corsican coast, the inhabitants of that island having solicited the assistance of England in their efforts to throw off the yoke of the French. During several months he was engaged upon this service, and almost every day employed in actual fighting, the results of which are thus summed up in his journal: "One hundred and ten days I have been actually engaged, at sea and on shore, against the enemy; three actions against ships, two against Bastia, in my ship, four boat actions, and two villages taken, and twelve sail of vessels burnt." After recounting the mode in which his services had been neglected, he adds, "but never mind, I'll have a gazette of my own." It was at the siege of Calvi, a town in Corsica, that he lost the use of one of his eyes; a ball struck the ground near him, and drove the sand into his eye with such force as to destroy it: the next day he was at his duty, toiling as desperately as ever.

The next service in which Nelson was engaged, was with a portion of the French fleet of twenty-two sail, which had sailed out from Toulon with express orders to bring the English to action wherever they could find them. The fleet, under the Admiral Hotham consisted of fifteen sail of the line, and a partial engagement ensued between the hostile squadron; Nelson, in the Agamemnon, outsailed the rest of the fleet, and engaged the Ca Ira, 84, which having had her main and fore-top masts carried away, was in tow of a frigate. In the early part of the action the Agamemnon suffered severely from the fire of the enemy; but the genius of her commander soon devised an expedient by which, for the space of two hours, he poured his fire into the devoted vessel, without ever allowing the possibility of a single gun being brought to bear from either side upon him in return. This was effected by putting his helm a-starboard, and hauling up the after-sails, before giving the broadside, and then, having delivered her fire, bracing up the after-yards, putting the helm a-port, and standing after her again. The engagement continued the whole of the day, and was renewed the next morning, and the Censeur having taken the Ca Ira in tow, Nelson was obliged to engage both single-handed, and captured them after a determined resistance: for this action he was made colonel of marines, and sent as commodore, with eight frigates under his order, to co-operate with the Austrian army off the coast of Italy. The object

a struggle; and the admiral was persuaded to retract his previous order, and to issue a notice permitting the trade to be carried on as usual. Nelson without hesitation disobeyed the command. He knew that the law of England was in his favour, and having explained the reasons of his conduct to Sir Richard Hughes, the admiral, he sent word to the custom houses, that all foreign vessels found trading after a certain day would be made prizes of. Four American vessels, found in the Bay of St. Nevis, refused to depart, alleging that they were not the property of citizens of the United States, but, on examination, the actual facts were elicited, and Nelson seized them without hesitation. The storm raised against him in consequence would have quelled the spirit of any man of ordinary character. The admiral at first threatened to supersede him; but Nelson had won over all the officers of the squadron to his own way of thinking, and the menace was never carried into execution. On shore, however, the hostility did not so easily subside; the whole of the population were against him, and actions for damages to the amount of £40,000 were brought against him by the masters of the vessels which he had captured. For two months he was in daily hazard of being arrested; and, though the ships were subsequently condemned, and, in reply to a memorial addressed by him to the home government, orders were sent out that he should be defended at the cost of the crown, yet it was not for many years afterwards that the prosecution of the lawsuits against him was finally abandoned. The propriety of his conduct was freely admitted by the administration, but the honour which should have been bestowed upon Nelson, was, with the singular perversity which seemed in those days to be the rule of the ministry, conferred upon the commander-in-chief, who had done all which lay in his power to thwart the very measures which he was lauded for carrying into effect. This injustice was deeply felt by Nelson, and he was not slow in expressing his disgust. Indeed, so much had occurred to render him discontented with the service, that, on his return to England, he had resolved to wait upon the first lord of the admiralty, and resign his commission. Secret information of this intention was conveyed to Lord Hood, who, on the occasion of his arrival, wrote him a letter, requesting to see him immediately; and, by a little judicious compliment upon the value of his services, and the honour of presenting him to the king, banished for a time his sense of being neglected. This was not, however, the only time that Nelson was doomed to experience the mortifications which governments usually keep in store for those whose labours have in any way benefitted their country.

During his stay in the West Indies, Nelson married. His wife was the widow of Dr. Nisbet, by whom she had a son, afterwards a captain in the navy. Mrs. Nisbet was but eighteen at the time of her second marriage, and for many years her marriage with Nelson seemed to have been productive of mutual happiness; a blessing which the subsequent passages of their wedded life too fatally shewed was not destined to be permanent. The lady seems to have been in every way worthy of his respect.

On being paid off from the Boreas, Nelson, with his wife, took up his residence at the parsonage of his father, where he employed himself in agriculture and field sports. But his restless spirit sighed for more congenial occupations, and he sent numerous applications for a ship to the Admiralty, but without success; and his letters at this period are full of complaints of the injustice displayed to him by the government. A time was, however,

approaching, when such proffered services as those of Nelson's could no longer be slighted; the war of the French Revolution broke out, and on the 30th of July, 1793, he was appointed to the Agamemnon, 64, and placed under the orders of Lord Hood, in the Mediterranean. It was at this period that his acquaintance with Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British Minister at the court of Naples commenced, an intimacy fraught with the most pernicious consequences, both to his fame and domestic peace. Many reasons may be urged in extenuation of the facility with which he gave himself up to the influence of this fatal passion. The ambassador himself had gained a considerable reputation as a man of science; his wife was a woman of pleasing manners, and, by the aid of her talents for intrigue, had acquired great authority with the Neapolitan court. Applauded by the envoy, flattered by the king of Naples, and intoxicated by the admiration of Lady Hamilton, Nelson seems to have surrendered almost without a struggle. This connexion coloured all the events of his after life.

Being dispatched from thence to Tunis, Nelson fell in, on the way, with five sail of the enemy, to whom he gave chase, and succeeded in engaging one of them; but the action proved indecisive. Soon after this he was sent with a small squadron to operate on the Corsican coast, the inhabitants of that island having solicited the assistance of England in their efforts to throw off the yoke of the French. During several months he was engaged upon this service, and almost every day employed in actual fighting, the results of which are thus summed up in his journal: "One hundred and ten days I have been actually engaged, at sea and on shore, against the enemy; three actions against ships, two against Bastia, in my ship, four boat actions, and two villages taken, and twelve sail of vessels burnt." After recounting the mode in which his services had been neglected, he adds, "but never mind, I'll have a gazette of my own." It was at the siege of Calvi, a town in Corsica, that he lost the use of one of his eyes; a ball struck the ground near him, and drove the sand into his eye with such force as to destroy it: the next day he was at his duty, toiling as desperately as ever.

The next service in which Nelson was engaged, was with a portion of the French fleet of twenty-two sail, which had sailed out from Toulon with express orders to bring the English to action wherever they could find them. The fleet, under the Admiral Hotham consisted of fifteen sail of the line, and a partial engagement ensued between the hostile squadron; Nelson, in the Agamemnon, outsailed the rest of the fleet, and engaged the Ca Ira, 84, which having had her main and fore-top masts carried away, was in tow of a frigate. In the early part of the action the Agamemnon suffered severely from the fire of the enemy; but the genius of her commander soon devised an expedient by which, for the space of two hours, he poured his fire into the devoted vessel, without ever allowing the possibility of a single gun being brought to bear from either side upon him in return. This was effected by putting his helm a-starboard, and hauling up the after-sails, before giving the broadside, and then, having delivered her fire, bracing up the after-yards, putting the helm a-port, and standing after her again. The engagement continued the whole of the day, and was renewed the next morning, and the Censeur having taken the Ca Ira in tow, Nelson was obliged to engage both single-handed, and captured them after a determined resistance for this action he was made colonel of marines, and sent as commodore, with eight frigates under his order, to co-operate with the Austrian army off the coast of Italy. The object

of the expedition was, however, entirely frustrated by the cowardice and incapacity of the Imperialists; and Nelson had the mortification of seeing the whole of Italy overrun by the republicans. Had the counsels of the commodore been listened to and seconded with even ordinary spirit, the result would have been of a very different nature.

Under the advice of Admiral Sir John Jervis, Nelson next effected the evacuation of Corsica, and afterwards, in the Minerva frigate, captured a Spanish frigate, the Sabina, which was, however, subsequently re-taken, and a squadron of the enemy heaving in sight, he was for some time in imminent danger of being captured himself. Having proceeded in search of the Admiral, who was at sea, engaged in looking out for the Spanish fleet, he fell in with the enemy, and carried the welcome news to him on the 13th of February, 1794. He was ordered to hoist his head pennant on board the Captain, 74, and on the following morning the action commenced. The Spanish fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line, six of which were three-deckers, and one of four decks, with ten frigates, and a brig: the English had fifteen sail of the line, four frigates, a sloop, and a cutter. Admiral Jervis, by a masterly movement, broke the enemy's line, and cut off nine ships from the main body, and then directing his attention to the rest, made a signal for each ship of his own squadron to tack in succession. Nelson, who was in the rear, foresaw that an obedience to this order would give an opportunity to the enemy either to join the vessels which had been cut off, or to get away without coming to a battle; he therefore paid no attention to it, and ordering his ship to be wore, dashed into the centre of the hostile squadron, and choosing his antagonist by the same rule, as a veteran tar observed, which prompts a school-boy in his selection of an apple, to make prize of the biggest, laid himself alongside the Santissima Trinidada, of 132 guns. The Culloden, Captain Troubridge, advanced to his support, and the two daring Englishmen found themselves obliged, for an hour, to bear, unassisted, the fire of five first-rates and two seventy-fours; the Blenheim then came up, and the Salvator del Mundo and the San Isidro shrinking from the murderous conflict, struck to Collingwood in the Excellent. But the situation of Nelson was most critical, for at this time he had entirely to sustain a combat with five of the enemy's vessels. The Culloden was crippled, and had drifted astern, a complete wreck, and the Blenheim had gone a-head to seek new opponents. The Excellent, for a moment, diverted the enemy's attention, by pouring in a tremendous fire into the colossal Santissima Trinidada; the San Nicholas now fell aboard the San Josef, the Captain ranging alongside the former vessel, and Nelson finding his ship utterly disabled, called for his boarders, and, preceded by a soldier of the 69th, jumped through the quarter-gallery window, sword in hand; the Spanish officers resisted with some show of bravery, but the cabin doors were forced, the brigadier was killed retreating to the quarterdeck, and Nelson making his appearance on the poop, found his sailors engaged in hauling down the Spanish colours. But the hazard of the hour was not yet overcome; the Spanish admiral, in the San Josef, opened his fire upon the handful of conquerors, and Nelson saw that he must either consent to see his prey snatched from his grasp, or achieve a still greater conquest; the alternative did not require a moment's consideration. Hastily planting sentinels over the numerous prisoners, he called his men to his side again, and led the way on board the San Josef, shouting "Westminster Abbey or victory!" The Spaniards were paralysed by the audacity of the

attack, and in a few minutes the huge vessel was wholly in the power of the daring assailants. Perhaps, in the annals of naval warfare, it would be found impossible to cite another such instance of successful rashness.

For his services upon this occasion, Nelson was rewarded with the Order of the Bath. The dignity of rear-admiral had been previously conferred upon him; but the most important of the consequences resulting from the victory, was the just estimation which was from that time made of his genius and courage. It was of no moment that Sir John Jervis received an earldom for an achievement which was actually performed against his orders; men penetrated through the thin veil of official secresy, and saw in Nelson the hope of the country. From that moment his existence became national.

The admiral now hoisted his flag on board the Theseus, and took the command of the inner squadron, at the blockade of Cadiz. It was whilst engaged in this task, that he headed a midnight attack upon the Spanish gun-boats, and was assailed, in the heat of the conflict, by their commander; twelve men to twenty-six, and no aid from superior skill, the contest was of the most deadly character, and, but for the heroic bravery of his coxswain, Sykes, the career of Nelson would have been terminated that night, and perhaps the history of the European world wholly changed. It was not until eighteen of the Spaniards had been killed, and every man of the survivors wounded, that they resigned the combat.

The next service in which Nelson was engaged, was the unfortunate attack upon Teneriffe, for the purpose of capturing the Spanish galleons, which were supposed to have put into the bay of Santa Cruz. He took with him four ships of the line, three frigates, and a cutter, and having arrived off the town, and made the necessary arrangements, threw about a thousand men, at night, into the boats of the squadron, and made for the landing place, with the intention of storming the town. But the star of Nelson's fortune had nigh, upon this occasion, suffered a total eclipse; many of the boats were stove by the surf, and the seamen, who landed in safety, found that they had only escaped one danger to encounter another, almost equally imminent. The Spaniards were prepared for the attack, and uninterrupted sheets of musketry blazed upon them at every step, whilst forty pieces of cannon kept up a continual storm of grape-shot and canister. To advance was impossible, and in a short time two thirds of the assailants were destroyed. Nelson himself had not got his foot ashore, when a ball passed through his right arm, and he fell, catching his sword with the other hand. Fortunately, his son-in-law, Lieutenant Nisbet, was at hand, who took off his handkerchief, and applied it as a tourniquet; and a bargeman, named Lovell, tore up his shirt to make a sling for his beloved commander. They rowed back with him to the ship; but on the way, Nelson insisted upon going to the relief of the Fox cutter, which was sunk by the fire of the enemy, and he actually saved some of the crew with his own remaining hand. After displaying prodigies of valour, the survivors on shore concluded a capitulation with the Spaniards, by which it was agreed, that they should be allowed to return to their ships unmolested. Nelson's arm was amputated, but the operation was unskilfully performed, and for three months afterwards he suffered excruciating pain. Contrary to his expectations, his return to England was welcomed with congratulations; civic honours were bestowed upon him by the chief cities of the empire, and a pension given to him of £1,000 a year.

The rules of the service required that, previous to the issuing of this grant,