Part 4 (1/2)

replied the admiral: ”that we shall succeed is certain; who may live to tell the story is a very different question”

As the squadron advanced, they were assailed by a shower of shot and shells from the batteries on the island, and the enemy opened a steady fire frounshot distance, full into the bows of our van shi+ps It was received in silence: thesails, and below in tending the braces and ht for the French; ith all their skill, and all their courage, and all their advantages of numbers and situation, were upon that element on which, when the hour of trial comes, a Frenchman has no hope Admiral Brueys was a brave and able man; yet the indelible character of his country broke out in one of his letters, wherein he delivered it as his private opinion, that the English hadsuperior in force, they did not think it prudent to try their strength with him The moment was now co was instructed to decoy the English byoff the island of Bekier; but Nelson either knew the danger or suspected some deceit; and the lure was unsuccessful Captain Foley led the way in the GOLIATH, outsailing the ZEALOUS, which for some minutes disputed this post of honour with hi conceived that if the enemy were moored in line of battle in with the land, the best plan of attack would be to lead between theuns on that side were not likely to be , therefore, to fix himself on the inner bow of the GUERRIER, he kept as near the edge of the bank as the depth of water would ad opened his fire he drifted to the second shi+p, the CONQUERANT, before it was clear; then anchored by the stern inside of her, and in tenthis, took the station which the GOLIATH intended to have occupied, and totally disabled the GUERRIER in twelve minutes The third shi+p which doubled the enemy's van was the ORION, Sir J Saumarez; she passed to ard of the ZEALOUS, and opened her larboard guns as long as they bore on GUERRIER; then, passing inside the GOLIATH, sunk a frigate which annoyed her, hauled round toward the French line, and anchoring inside, between the fifth and sixth shi+ps from the GUERRIER, took her station on the larboard bow of the FRANKLIN and the quarter of the PEUPLE SOUVERAIN, receiving and returning the fire of both The sun was now nearly down

The AUDACIOUS, Captain Could, pouring a heavy fire into the GUERRIER and the CONQUERANT, fixed herself on the larboard bow of the latter, and when that shi+p struck, passed on to the PEUPLE SOUVERAIN The THESEUS, Capt Miller, followed, brought down the GUERRIER's re main and mizzen masts, then anchored inside of the SPARTIATE, the third in the French line

While these advanced shi+ps doubled the French line, the VANGUARD was the first that anchored on the outer side of the enemy, within half pistol-shot of their third shi+p, the SPARTIATE Nelson had six colours flying in different parts of his rigging, lest they should be shot away; that they should be struck, no British admiral considers as a possibility He veered half a cable, and instantly opened a tremendous fire; under cover of which the other four shi+ps of his division, the MINOTAUR, BELLEROPHON, DEFENCE, and MAJESTIC, sailed on ahead of the admiral In a few uns in the fore part of the VANGUARD's deck was killed or wounded These guns were three times cleared Captain Louis, in the MINOTAUR, anchored just ahead, and took off the fire of the AQUILON, the fourth in the enemy's line The BELLEROPHON, Captain Darby, passed ahead, and dropped her stern anchor on the starboard bow of the ORIENT, seventh in the line, Brueys' own shi+p, of one hundred and twenty guns, whose difference of force was in proportion of ht of ball, from the lower deck alone, exceeded that from the whole broadside of the BELLEROPHON Captain Peyton, in the DEFENCE, took his station ahead of the MINOTAUR, and engaged the FRANKLIN, the sixth in the line, by which judicious movement the British line reled with theof one of the French shi+ps astern of the ORIENT, and suffered dreadfully fro clear, and closely engaging the HEUREUX, the ninth shi+p on the starboard bow, received also the fire of the TONNANT, which was the eighth in the line The other four shi+ps of the British squadron, having been detached previous to the discovery of the French, were at a considerable distance when the action began It coht closed, and there was no other light than that froe, in the CULLODEN, then foreues astern He ca, as the others had done: as he advanced, the increasing darkness increased the difficulty of the navigation; and suddenly, after having found eleven fathoround; nor could all his own exertions, joined with those of the LEANDER and the MUTINE brig, which caet him off in time to bear a part in the action His shi+p, however, served as a beacon to the ALEXANDER and SWIFTSURE, which would else, froone considerably further on the reef, and must inevitably have been lost These shi+ps entered the bay, and took their stations in the darkness, in a manner still spoken of with admiration by all who remember it Captain Hallowell, in the SWIFTSURE, as he was bearing down, fell in hat seee sail Nelson had directed his shi+ps to hoist four lights horizontally at the mizzen peak as soon as it became dark; and this vessel had no such distinction Hallowell, however, with great judgment, ordered his men not to fire: if she was an enemy, he said, she was in too disabled a state to escape; but fro loose, and the way in which her head was, it was probable she lish shi+p It was the BELLEROPHON, overpowered by the huge ORIENT: her lights had gone overboard, nearly 200 of her creere killed or wounded, all herout of the line toward the leeside of the bay Her station, at this important time, was occupied by the SWIFTSURE, which opened a steady fire on the quarter of the FRANKLIN and the bows of the French admiral At the same instant, Captain Ball, with the ALEXANDER, passed under his stern, and anchored within-side on his larboard quarter, raking; hi up a severe fire of musketry upon his decks

The last shi+p which arrived to complete the destruction of the ene could be done that night to get off the CULLODEN, advanced with the intention of anchoring athwart-hawse of the ORIENT The FRANKLIN was so near her ahead that there was not room for him to pass clear of the two; he therefore took his station athwart-hawse of the latter in such a position as to rake both

The two first shi+ps of the French line had been dismasted within a quarter of an hour after the commencement of the action; and the others had in that time suffered so severely that victory was already certain

The third, fourth, and fifth were taken possession of at half-past eight

Meantime Nelson received a severe wound on the head froht hireat effusion of blood occasioned an apprehension that the wound was e flap of the skin of the forehead, cut fro blind, he was in total darkness When he was carried down, the surgeon--in the midst of a scene scarcely to be conceived by those who have never seen a cockpit in time of action, and the heroism which is displayed aerness, quitted the poor fellow then under his hands, that he ht instantly attend the admiral ”No!” said Nelson, ”I will take my turn with my brave fellows” Nor would he suffer his oound to be examined till every man who had been previously wounded was properly attended to

Fully believing that the wound was mortal, and that he was about to die, as he had ever desired, in battle, and in victory, he called the chaplain, and desired hi remembrance to lady Nelson; he then sent for Captain Louis on board froreat assistance which he had rendered to the VANGUARD; and ever mindful of those who deserved to be his friends, appointed Captain Hardy fro to the coo hoeon came in due time to examine his wound (for it was in vain to entreat him to let it be examined sooner), the most anxious silence prevailed; and the joy of the wounded men, and of the whole crehen they heard that the hurt was ave Nelson deeper pleasure than the unexpected assurance that his life was in no danger The surgeon requested, and as far as he could, ordered him to remain quiet; but Nelson could not rest

He called for his secretary, Mr Campbell, to write the despatches

Campbell had himself been wounded, and was so affected at the blind and suffering state of the admiral that he was unable to write The chaplain was then sent for; but before he caerness took the pen, and contrived to trace a feords,his devout sense of the success which had already been obtained He was now left alone; when suddenly a cry was heard on the deck that the ORIENT was on fire In the confusion he found his way up, unassisted and unnoticed; and, to the astonishment of every one, appeared on the quarter-decks where he iave order that the boats should be sent to the relief of the enemy

It was soon after nine that the fire on, board the ORIENT broke out

Brueys was dead; he had received three wounds, yet would not leave his post: a fourth cut him almost in two He desired not to be carried below, but to be left to die upon deck The flames soon mastered his shi+p Her sides had just been painted; and the oil-jars and paint buckets were lying on the poop By the prodigious light of this conflagration, the situation of the two fleets could now be perceived, the colours of both being clearly distinguishable About ten o'clock the shi+p blew up, with a shock which was felt to the very bottom of every vessel Many of her officers andto the spars and pieces of wreck hich the sea was strewn, others swi to escape from the destruction which they momently dreaded

Some were picked up by our boats; and soed into the lower ports of the nearest British shi+ps by the British sailors The greater part of her creever, stood the danger till the last, and continued to fire from the lower deck This tremendous explosion was followed by a silence not less awful: the firing immediately ceased on both sides; and the first sound which broke the silence, was the dash of her shattered ht to which they had been exploded It is upon record that a battle between two armies was once broken off by an earthquake Such an event would be felt like a miracle; but no incident in war, produced by human means, has ever equalled the sublimity of this co-instantaneous pause, and all its circumstances

About seventy of the ORIENT's creere saved by the English boats

A the many hundreds who perished were the commodore, Casa-Bianca, and his son, a brave boy, only ten years old They were seen floating on a shattered mast when the shi+p blew up She had money on board (the plunder of Malta) to the a wreck, which were scattered by the explosion, excited for solish which they had never felt froe pieces fell into theany person A port-fire also fell into the main-royal of the ALEXANDER; the fire which it occasioned was speedily extinguished Captain Ball had provided, as far as huer All the shrouds and sails of his shi+p, not absolutely necessary for its ihly wetted, and so rolled up that they were as hard and as little infla recommenced with the shi+ps to leeward of the centre, and continued till about three At daybreak, the GUILLAUME TELL and the GENEREUX, the two rear shi+ps of the enemy, were the only French shi+ps of the line which had their colours flying; they cut their cables in the forenoon, not having been engaged, and stood out to sea, and two frigates with them The ZEALOUS pursued; but as there was no other shi+p in a condition to support Captain Hood, he was recalled It was generally believed by the officers that if Nelson had not been wounded, not one of these shi+ps could have escaped The four certainly could not if the CULLODEN had got into action; and if the frigates belonging to the squadron had been present, not one of the enemy's fleet would have left Aboukir Bay These four vessels, however, were all that escaped; and the victory was the lorious in the annals of naval history ”Victory,” said Nelson, ”is not a nah for such a scene:” he called it a conquest Of thirteen sail of the line, nine were taken and two burned Of the four frigates, one was sunk, another, the ARTEMISE, was burned in a villanousfired a broadside at the THESEUS, struck his colours, then set fire to the shi+p and escaped with most of his crew to shore The British loss, in killed and wounded, amounted to 895 Westcott was the only captain who fell; 3105 of the French, including the wounded, were sent on shore by cartel, and 5225 perished

As soon as the conquest was coh the fleet to return thanksgiving in every shi+p for the victory hich Alhty God had blessed his majesty's arms The French at Rosetta, ith ement, were at a loss to understand the stillness of the fleet during the performance of this solemn duty; but it seemed to affect raceless and Godless as the officers were, some of them remarked that it was no wonder such order was Preserved in the British navy, when the minds of our reat a victory, and at atheir four shi+ps sail out of the bay unmolested, endeavoured to persuade themselves that they were in possession of the place of battle But it was in vain thus to atteainst their own secret and certain conviction, to deceive themselves; and even if they could have succeeded in this, the bonfires which the Arabs kindled along the whole coast, and over the country, for the three following nights, would soon have undeceived theyptians lined the shore, and covered the house tops during the action, rejoicing in the destruction which had overtaken their invaders Long after the battle, innu about the bay, in spite of all the exertions which were made to sink the and horror which the sight occasioned

Great numbers were cast up upon the Isle of Bekier (Nelson's Island, as it has since been called), and our sailors raised mounds of sand over them Even after an interval of nearly three years Dr Clarke saw the heaps of hu been thrown up by the sea where there were no jackals to devour theht loathsoues, was covered reck; and the Arabs found ements which were cast up, for the sake of the iron Part of the ORIENT's main-mast was picked up by the SWIFTSURE Captain Hallowell ordered his carpenter to make a coffin of it; the iron, as well as the wood, was taken from the wreck of the same shi+p; it was finished as well and handsomely as the workman's skill and materials would permit; and Hallowell then sent it to the ad letter:--”Sir, I have taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin made from the main mast of L'ORIENT, that when you have finished your military career in this world you may be buried in one of your trophies But that that period may be far distant is the earnest wish of your sincere friend, Benjae, and yet so suited to the occasion, was received by Nelson in the spirit hich it was sent As if he felt it good for him, now that he was at the summit of his wishes, to have death before his eyes, he ordered the coffin to be placed upright in his cabin Such a piece of furniture, however, was uests and attendants; and an old favourite servant entreated hith he consented to have the coffin carried below; but he gave strict orders that it should be safely stowed, and reserved for the purpose for which its brave and worthy donor had designed it

The victory was complete; but Nelson could not pursue it as he would have done for want ofcould have prevented the destruction of the store-shi+ps and transports in the port of Alexandria: four bomb-vessels would at that time have burned the whole in a few hours ”Were I to die this moment”

said he in his despatches to the Admiralty, ”WANT OF FRIGATES would be found stamped on my heart! No words of , for want of the: the blow had so shaken his head, that fro, and the perpetual sickness which accompanied the pain, he could scarcely persuade himself that the skull was not fractured Had it not been for Troubridge, Ball, Hood, and Hallowell, he declared that he should have sunk under the fatigue of refitting the squadron ”All,” he said, ”had done well; but these officers were his supporters” But, as and exertions, Nelson could yet think of all the consequences of his victory; and that no advantage froht be lost, he despatched an officer overland to India, with letters to the governor of Boypt, the total destruction of their fleet, and the consequent preservation of India froainst it on the part of this formidable armament ”He knew that Boet there; but he trusted that Alypt these pests of the human race

Buonaparte had never yet had to contend with an English officer, and he would endeavour to make him respect us” This despatch he sent upon his own responsibility, with letters of credit upon the East India Company, addressed to the British consuls, vice-consuls, and , ”that if he had done wrong, he hoped the bills would be paid, and he would repay the Colishman, he should be proud that it had been in his power to put our settleuard” The inforreat importance Orders had just been received for defensive preparations, upon a scale proportionate to the apprehended danger; and the extraordinary expenses which would otherwise have been incurred were thus prevented

Nelson was now at the suratulations, rewards, and honours were showered upon him by all the states, and princes, and powers to whoave a respite The first communication of this nature which he received was froypt was known, had called upon ”all true believers to take arht deliver these blessed habitations from their accursed hands;” and who had ordered his ”pashas to turn night into day in their efforts to take vengeance” The present of ”his inificent Grand Seignior,” was a pelisse of sables, with broad sleeves, valued at 5000 dols; and a diarette, valued at 18,000 dols, thethe Turks; and in this instance more especially honourable, because it was taken from one of the royal turbans ”If it orth a million,” said Nelson to his wife, ”my pleasure would be to see it in your possession”

The sultan also sent, in a spirit worthy of i the wounded The mother of the sultan sent him a box, set with diamonds, valued at L1000 The Czar Paul, in whoely compounded nature at this time predominated, presented hiold box, accoratulation, written by his own hand The king of Sardinia also wrote to hiold box set with dia hiranted these honourable augn: a chief undulated, ARGENT: thereon waves of the sea; from which a palm tree issuant, between a disabled shi+p on the dexter, and a ruinous battery on the sinister all proper; and for his crest, on a naval crown, OR, the chelengk, or plume, presented to him by the Turk, with thea sailor on the dexter, and a lion on the sinister, were given these honourable augmentations: a palm branch in the sailor's hand, and another in the paw of the lion, both proper; with a tri-coloured flag and staff in the lion's mouth He was created Baron Nelson of the Nile, and of Burnham Thorpe, with a pension of L2000 for his own life, and those of his two irant was moved in the House of Coree of rank ought to be conferred Mr Pitt ht it needless to enter into that question ”Admiral Nelson's fame,” he said, ”would be co-equal with the British nareatest naval victory on record, when nowhether he had been created a baron, a viscount, or an earl” It was strange that, in the very act of conferring a title, theconferred a higher one, by representing all titles, on such an occasion, as nugatory and superfluous True, indeed, whatever title had been bestohether viscount, earl, marquis, duke, or prince, if our laws had so permitted, he who received it would have been Nelson still

That name he had ennobled beyond all addition of nobility; it was the naypt, and Turkey celebrated him, and by which he will continue to be knohile the present kingdo as their history after theree of rank what should be the fashi+on of his coronet, in what page of the red book his name was to be inserted, and what precedency should be allowed his lady in the drawing-room and at the ball That Nelson's honours were affected thus far, and no further, ues in adht proper to allot was the h not of his service This Nelson felt, and this he expressed, with indignation, a his friends

Whatever may have been the motives of the ministry, and whatever the formalities hich they excused their conduct to thenitude of the victory were universally acknowledged

A grant of L10,000 was voted to Nelson by the East India Company; the Turkish Company presented him with a piece of plate; the City of London presented a sword to hiold medals were distributed to the captains; and the first lieutenants of all the shi+ps were promoted, as had been done after Lord Howe's victory Nelson was exceedingly anxious that the captain and first lieutenant of the CULLODEN should not be passed over because of their e hiot on shore was cohly established” To the Ade's conduct was as fully entitled to praise as that of any one officer in the squadron, and as highly deserving of reward ”It was Troubridge,”

said he, ”who equipped the squadron so soon at Syracuse; it was Troubridge who exerted hie who saved the CULLODEN, when none that I know in the service would have atte's express desire, was given to Captain Troubridge, ”for his services both before and since, and for the great and wonderful exertion which heoff his shi+p” The private letter from the Admiralty to Nelson informed him that the first lieutenants of all the shi+ps ENGAGED were to be promoted Nelson instantly wrote to the commander-in-chief: ”I sincerely hope,” said he, ”this is not intended to exclude the first lieutenant of the CULLODEN