French were not such good seamen as Nelson, and, in consequence of keeping the wind nearly on their beam, lay in a deep trough of the sea, and rolled so heavily that their broadsides sometimes flew over and sometimes fell short of our ships. Still a raking fire swept the Victory's decks. Mr. Scott, the admiral's secretary, was killed by one of the first cannonballs, whilst in conversation with Captain Hardy, and near to Lord Nelson. Captain Adair, of the Marines, who soon afterward fell, immediately endeavored to remove the mangled body, but it had already attracted the notice of the admiral. "Is that poor Scott," said he, "who is gone? Presently, whilst Nelson was conversing with Captain Hardy on the quarterdeck, during the shower of musket-balls and raking fire that was kept up by the enemy, a double-headed shot came across the poop and killed eight of the marines. Captain Adair was then directed by Nelson to disperse his men more round the ship. A few minutes afterward a shot struck the fore-brace bits on the quarter-deck, and, passing between Lord Nelson and Captain Hardy, drove some splinters from the bits around them, bruised Captain Hardy's foot, and tore off his shoe-buckle. They mutually looked at each other, and Nelson, whom no danger could affect, smiled and said: "This is too warm work, Hardy, to last!" This was the climax of the battle. Our brawny sailors, stripped to the waist, their huge cable pigtails dangling at their backs, their skins black with powder or smeared with blood, were running out the guns, loading savagely, and firing fast as the wadded shot could be driven in. The captains were bellowing through their speaking-trumpets, the gunners' boys running to and from the magazines through showers of shot and splinters; the midshipmen firing at the enemy's tops with all the glee of schoolboys out at their first partridge shooting. The musketeers in the Redoutable's tops fired especially sharply whenever the smoke-cloud rolled away from the Victory, and there came a glint of the epaulets of our officers. In the French mizen-top there was a keen-eyed Tyrolese, in glazed cocked-hat and white frock, especially active. He was a fellow who, after hours of crag-climbing, had known a week's food and profit depend on the one shot at a steinbock, and he did not throw away his cartridges. At fifteen minutes past one, a quarter of an hour before the Redoutable struck, Lord Nelson and Captain Hardy were walking near the middle of the quarterdeck; the admiral had just commended the manner in which one of the ships near him was fought. Captain Hardy advanced from him to give some necessary directions, Nelson was near the hatchway, in the act of turning, with his face toward the stern, when a musket-ball struck the admiral on the left shoulder, and entering the epaulet, passed through his spine, and lodged in the muscles of his back, toward the right side. He instantly fell with his face on the deck, in the very place that was covered with the blood of his secretary, Mr. Scott. Captain Hardy, on turning round, saw to his horror the sergeant of marines, Secker, with two marines, raising Nelson from the deck. "Hardy," said his lordship, "I believe they have done it at last; my back bone is shot through." Some of the crew bore the admiral down to the cockpit, several wounded officers and about forty men being carried below at the same time, amongst whom were Lieutenant Rann and Mr. Whipple, captain's clerk, both of whom died soon afterward. Whilst the seamen were conveying Lord Nelson down the ladder from the middle deck, he observed, careless of his own sufferings, that the tiller-ropes had not been replaced, and desired one of the midshipmen to remind Captain Hardy of it, and to request that new ones should be immediately rove. He then covered his face and stars with his handkerchief, that he might be less observed by his men. He was met at the foot of the cockpit ladder by Mr. Walter Burke, the purser, a relation of the great orator, who, with the assistance of a marine supporting his legs, with some difficulty conveyed him over the bodies of the wounded and dying men for the cockpit was extremely crowded-and placed him on a pallet in the midshipmen's berth, on the larboard "You can be of no use to me, Beat- When the surgeon had executed his At half-past two the Santa Anna struck to Collingwood. When the Spanish captain came on the deck of the Royal Sovereign, he asked the name of the conquering vessel. When they told him, he patted one of the guns with his hand, and said smilingly: "I think she ought to be called the Royal Devil." The Bellerophon had also done well. At half-past twelve she had broke through the enemy's line, astern of the Spanish two-decker Monaca. She engaged her at the muzzles of her guns, blew up her hanging-magazine, and [Nov., captured her. She then ran on board of L'Aigle, a vessel crowded with troops. The tremendous fire soon left only fifteen but the fire from our lower-deck drove of our men alive on the quarter-deck; the French from their guns, and L'Aigle The lower-deck men had chalked on soon afterward struck to the Defiance. "Victory or death." The Bellerophon their guns, as their motto, the words, was three times set on fire, and three without fuss or excitement. A captain times the fire was put out, quietly, and of the marines, on his way to the cockpit to have his arm amputated, had apol ogized to Lieutenant Cumby for quitting the deck "for so trivial an oc casion." they, too, now gave way. The Spaniards had fought well, but nauta and Bahama had each lost four The Argohundred men, the St. Juan Nepomuceno three hundred and fifty. The men of the Santissima, unable to endure our fire, leaped overboard, and were helped into the Victory. The crews of five of the French ships, fought by us muzzle to muzzle, had shut their lower-deck ports, and deserted their guns. and in great anxiety about the action. In the mean time, Nelson lay in agony He kept saying: must be killed; I am certain that he is "Will no one bring Hardy to me? He dead." then came below, and, in a low voice, Mr. Bulkly, the captain's aide-de-camp, communicated to the surgeon the particular circumstances respecting the fleet which had detained Captain Hardy, but promised that he would take the first moment that offered to leave the deck. the number of the dead and wounded, The excessive heat of the cockpit, from increased the faintness of the dying admiral, and his sight now became dim. said feebly. "Who brought the message?" he "Bulkly, my lord," replied Burke. member me, Bulkly, to your father." "It is his voice," said Nelson. "Re deck in about fifty minutes, and anxCaptain Hardy came down from the iously strove to conceal his feelings. The friends shook hands in silence. Nelson spoke first: Well, Hardy, how goes the day with us?". "Very well. Ten ships, my lord, have midshipman, and twenty seamen and struck." "But none of ours, I hope ?" "There is no fear of that, my lord. Five of their van have tacked, and show an intention of bearing down upon us; but I have called some of our fresh ships round the Victory, and have no doubt of giving them a drubbing." Having said this, he found himself unable any longer to suppress his tears, and he hurried away. The firing continued, and the cheering of the men was occasionally heard amidst its repeated peals. With a wish to support his spirits, that were in some degree shaken by having seen the friend he so sincerely regarded, and from the increased pain, the agonies of excessive thirst, and the great difficulty of respiration, Burke said: "I still hope, my lord, you will carry this glorious news home."" "Don't talk nonsense," replied the admiral. "One would, indeed, like to live a little longer; but I know it to be impossible. God's will be done. I have performed my duty, and I devoutly thank Him for it." A wounded seaman was lying near him on a pallet, waiting for amputation, and, in the bustle that prevailed, was hurt by some person passing by. Nelson, weak as he was, indignantly turned his head, and, with his usual authority, rebuked the man for not having more humanity. Some time af terward, he was again visited by the surgeon. "You know I am gone-I feel it. I find," said he, "something rising in my breast, which tells me" (putting his hand on his left side) "I shall soon be gone. God be praised that I have done my duty. My pain is so severe that I devoutly wish to be released. Yet," said he, in a lower voice, "one would like to live a little longer, too!" and after a few minutes, in the same under tone, he added, "What would become of poor Lady Hamilton, if she knew my situation!" A spirited, fierce, rapid fire had been kept up from the Victory's starboard guns on the Redoutable for about fifteen minutes after Lord Nelson was wounded; in which time Captain Adair and about eighteen seamen and marines were killed, and Lieutenant Bligh, Mr. Palmer, NEW SERIES-VOL. VI., No. 5. marines were wounded, by the enemy's musketry alone. The Redoutable had been twice on fire in her fore-chains and on the forecastle, and, by throwing some combustibles, had set fire to the Victory's boom; the alarm was given, and it reached the cockpit; yet neither hurry nor trepidation appeared, and the crew, having put out the flames, immediately turned their attention to the Redoutable and rendered her all the assistance in their power. On the colors of that ship being struck-twenty minutes after Nelson fell-and there being no possibility of boarding her, from the state of ruin of both ships, the great space between the two gangways, and the closing of the enemy's ports, some seamen immediately volunteered their services to Lieutenant Quillam to jump overboard, and, by swimming under the bows of the Redoutable, to endeavor to secure the prize. But Captain Hardy thought the lives of such men too valuable to be risked by so desperate an attempt. When the firing from the Victory had in some measure ceased, and the glorious results of the day were accomplished, Captain Hardy immediately visited the dying chief, and reported that fourteen or fifteen vessels had already struck. "That's well!" cried Nelson, exultingly; "but I bargained for twenty." Then, in a loud and stronger voice, he said, "God be praised, Hardy; bring the fleet to an anchor." Captain Hardy hinted at the command devolving on Admiral Collingwood. Nelson replied, somewhat indignantly: "Not whilst I live, I hope, Hardy!" vainly endeavoring at the moment to raise himself on his pallet. "Do you," said he, "bring the fleet to anchor." Captain Hardy was returning to the deck, when the Admiral called him back, and begged him to come nearer. Lord Nelson then delivered his last injunctions, which were, that his hair might be cut off and given to Lady Hamilton, and that his body might not be thrown overboard, but be carried home to be buried, unless his sovereign should otherwise desire, by the bones of his father and mother. "Take care of my dear Lady Hamilton, Hardy; take care of poor Lady Hamilton." 36 He then took Captain Hardy by the hand, and observing that he would most probably not see him again alive, the dying hero desired his bosom associate to kiss him. He did so on the cheek. He stood for a few minutes in silent agony, then, kneeling down, he kissed his dying friend's forehead. "Who is that ?" said the hero. "It is Hardy, my lord." "God bless you, Hardy?" replied Nelson, feebly. Hardy then left him forever. son afterward said: Nel "I wish he had not left the deck; I shall soon be gone." Death was rapidly approaching. He said to the chaplain, "Doctor, I have not been a great sinner." And, after a short pause, "Remember that I leave Lady Hamilton and my daughter Horatia as a legacy to my country." His voice then became gradually inarticulate, with an evident increase of pain; when, after a feeble struggle, these last words were distinctly heard: "I have done my duty; I praise God for it." Having said this, the hero turned his face toward Burke, on whose arm he had been supported, and expired with out a groan at thirty minutes after four, three hours and a quarter after he had been struck. Within a quarter of an hour of his going below there were only two Frenchmen left alive on the mizentop of the Redoutable. One of them was the Tyrolese who killed Nelson. An old quartermaster recognized his hat and white frock. This quartermaster and two midshipmen, Mr. Collingwood and Mr. Pollard, were the only persons left in the Victory's poop; the two midshipmen kept firing at the top, and he supplied them with cartridges. One of the Frenchmen attempting to make his escape down the rigging, was shot by Mr. Pollard, and fell on the poop. But the old quar. termaster, as he cried out, "That's hethat's he," and pointed at the other, who was coming forward to fire again, received a shot in his mouth and fell dead. Both the midshipmen then fired at the same time, and the fellow dropped in the top. When they took possession of the prize, they went into the mizentop, and found him dead; with one ball through his head, and another through his breast. The last guns fired on the cowed and flying enemy were heard a minute or two before Nelson's great heart ceased to beat. They were his triumphant knell. Rear-Admiral Dumanoir, with four of the van, fired, as they passed, into the Victory, the Royal Sovereign, and the captured Spanish vessels, to the indignation of their vanquished allies. But the fugitives were unlucky, for Sir Richard Strachan bagged them all soon after. Our loss in this great and crowning battle was one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven men. Twenty of the enemy's ships struck, but only four were saved. A strong gale coming on that night from the south-west, Collingwood found it impossible to anchor. Spanish vice-admiral, Aliva, died of his wounds. Villeneuve was sent back to France, and, dreading a court-martial, destroyed himself on the road to Paris. The At home the greatness of the victory seemed to be forgotten in the greatness of the nation's sorrow. England now felt what a hero she had bred. Not the poorest man in the country but felt the loss as if his father had died. The national gratitude surged over. Nelson's brother was made an earl, with a grant of six thousand pounds a year; ten thousand pounds were voted to each of his sisters; and one hundred thousand pounds granted for the purchase of an estate. A public funeral was decreed, and a public monument in St. Paul's. The leaden coffin, in which he was brought home, was cut into relics. As he was lowered into the vault of St. Paul's Cathedral, the sailors, as if by agreement, tore the flag that covered his coffin into strips, to keep till their dying day, and then leave their children as heirlooms and incitements to glory. Nor was brave Collingwood forgotten. He was made a baron, and had a pension of two thousand pounds for his life, with an annuity after his death of one thousand pounds to his wife, and five hundred pounds to his two daughters. Two days after the battle of Austerlitz the dead body of Nelson arrived off Portsmouth. Austerlitz was a great blow, but it did not make up for Trafalgar. The body of Nelson lay in state at Greenwich on January 5, on the 8th it was taken to the Admiralty, and on the 9th was interred in St. Paul's, the Prince of Wales being present, and ten thousand soldiers of the line. Thirty-four years before, a thin sickly boy, the son of a Norfolk clergyman, had joined his uncle's ship, the Raisonnable, of sixty-four guns; this same boy, afterward the bulwark of England, was now laid in his sumptuous grave, and his grave upon fell the tears of a grateful and sorrowstricken nation. Our hearts of oak may turn to iron, our rough sailors to dexter. ous engineers, but will the memory of Nelson ever be forgotten while the blue sea girdles the chalk ramparts of Old England? London Society. LEAR'S FOOL. FICTION AND FACT. Two women, nobly nurtured, sister-twins "Am I not ever thus? More lonely still "Cannot you play the Fool at home?" I called him 'Nuncle.' But he said the word "I never thought to do so. Is it right For any one but him to read and judge? "Why, there you show a conscience keen as his. Well, no; you're right. He could not leave the task "Beware-beware, lest fiction's fools are fooled. "This is the name he could not speak to me;That choked his voice-that troubled all his thoughts. I am betrayed-betrayed! Take, take those flowers And shed their hateful blossoms on the wind! "One word "Not one!' |