Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

while I live, Hardy," said the dying Nelson, ineffectually endeavouring to raise himself from the bed; "do you anchor." His previous orders for preparing to anchor had shown how clearly he foresaw the necessity of this.

Presently calling Hardy back, he said to him in a low voice, "Don't throw me overboard;" and he desired that he might be buried beside his parents, unless it should please the King to order otherwise. Then reverting to private feelings," Kiss me, Hardy," said he. Hardy knelt down and kissed his cheek; and Nelson said, "Now I am satisfied. Thank God, I have done my duty!" Hardy stood over him in silence for a moment or two, then knelt again and kissed his forehead. "Who is that?" said Nelson; and being informed, he replied, "God bless you, Hardy." And Hardy then left him for ever.

Nelson now desired to be turned upon his right side, and said, "I wish I had not left the deck, for I shall soon be gone." Death was, indeed, rapidly approaching. His articulation became difficult, but he was distinctly heard to say, "Thank God, I have done my duty! These words he repeatedly pronounced, and they were the last words which he uttered. expired at thirty minutes after four, three hours and a quarter after he had received his wound.

[ocr errors]

He

Within quarter of an hour after Nelson was wounded, above fifty of the Victory's men fell by the enemy's 'musketry. They, however, on their part were not idle; and it was not long before there were only two Frenchmen left alive in the mizzen-top of the Redoubtable. One of them was the man who had given the fatal wound. He did not live to boast of what he had done. An old quartermaster had seen him fire, and easily recognized him, because he wore a glazed cocked hat and a 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 quartermaster, as he called out, "That's he-that's he," and pointed to 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 mizzen-top and found him dead, with one ball through his head and another through his breast.

The total British loss in the Battle of Trafalgar amounted to one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven men. Twenty of the enemy's ships struck, but it was not possible to anchor the fleet, as Nelson had enjoined. A gale came on from the southwest: some of the prizes went down, some went on shore; one effected its escape into Cadiz, others were destroyed; four only were saved, and those by the greatest exertions.

The death of Nelson was felt in England as something more than a public calamity: men started at the 'intelligence, and turned pale, as if they had heard of the loss of a dear friend. An object of our admiration and affection, of our pride and of our hopes, was suddenly taken from us; and it seemed as if we had never till then known how deeply we loved and reverenced him. What the country had lost in its great naval hero-the greatest of our own and of all former times-was scarcely taken into the account of grief.

So perfectly, indeed, had he performed his part, that the maritime war, after the Battle of Trafalgar, was considered at an end. The fleets of the enemy were not merely defeated—they were destroyed: new navies must be built, and a new race of seamen reared for them, before the possibility of their invading our shores 5 could again be contemplated.

It was not, therefore, from any selfish reflection upon the magnitude of our loss that we mourned for him the general sorrow was of a higher character. The people of England grieved that funeral ceremonies, and public monuments, and posthumous rewards, were all that they could now bestow upon him whom the King, the Legislature, and the Nation would have alike delighted to honour; whom every tongue would have blessed-whose presence in every village through which he might have passed would have awakened the church bells, have given schoolboys a holiday, have drawn children from their sports to gaze upon him, and "old men from the chimney corner to look upon Nelson ere they died.

[ocr errors]

The victory of Trafalgar was 'celebrated, indeed, with the usual forms of rejoicing, but they were without joy; for such already was the glory of the British Navy, through Nelson's surpassing genius, that it scarcely seemed to receive any addition from the most signal victory that ever was achieved upon the The destruction of this mighty fleet, by which all the maritime schemes of France were totally frustrated, hardly appeared to add to our security or strength; for while Nelson was alive to watch the combined squadrons of the enemy, we

seas.

felt ourselves as secure as now when they were no longer in existence.

The most triumphant death is that of the martyr; the most awful, that of the martyred patriot; the most splendid, that of the hero in the hour of victory; and if the chariot and the horses of fire had been 'vouchsafed for Nelson's translation, he could scarcely have departed in a brighter blaze of glory. He has left us, not, indeed, a mantle of 'inspiration, but a name and an example which are at this hour inspiring thousands of the youth of England-a name which is our pride, and an example which will continue to be our shield and our strength. Thus it is that the spirits of the great and the wise continue to live and to act after them.

achieved', gained.
alle viate, assuage'.
articulation, utterance.
ascertain'ing, deter'min-

ing.

calam'ity, disas'ter. celebrated, sig'nalized. congratulated,

ment'ed.

elapsed', transpired'.
enjoined', advised'.
ep'aulet, shoulder-badge.
expect'ed, antiç'ipated.
frustrated, baffled.
hand'-kerchief, a cloth of
silk or linen.
has'tened, hurried.
impa'tient, eager.

SOUTHEY, (6)

[blocks in formation]

compli

ineffec'tually, unsuccess'-
fully.

rec'ognized, identified. replaced', renewed'. rev'erenced, revered'. revert'ing, return'ing. sat'isfied, content'ed. sublime', grand. vouchsafed', grant'ed.

contemplated, med'itated. conveyed', carried. distinguished, char'acter

ized.

inspira'tion, divine in'flu

ence.

'Mizzen-top, a platform at the top of the lower mizzen-mast-the aftermost mast in a ship.

2 Rove, drawn through the blocks so as to connect the rudder with the steeringwheel. To reeve a rope, is to pass it through any block or ring-bolt. It is probably connected with reef, to reduce a sail-which is done by passing the reef-points or ropes through eyelets. The word reef properly belongs to the row of short ropes themselves, which, as they hang on the sail, have the appearance of the teeth of a rake or comb. Reef, as applied to a ridge of rocks, embodies the same idea.

The cockpit, a room under the lower gun-deck, in which the wounded are dressed.

Unless it should please the King.

| He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, on 9th January 1806.

Invading our shores.- Napoleon's plans for striking a swift and deadly blow at England, had been completed before the end of 1804. A great army-"the Army of England"-had been assembled at Boulogne; but it was necessary to have command of the Channel before this host could be transferred across it. With this view, he had ordered the combined fleets of France and Spain to sweep the Channel; but their complete destruction at Trafalgar frustrated Napoleon's design, and the Army of England" was at once marched against Austria.

[ocr errors]

The chariot and the horses of fire.A reference to the translation of the prophet Elijah, as described in 2 Kings ii. 11.

QUESTIONS. How did Nelson give an example of humanity? How was this ill requited? Where was Nelson struck? Why did he tell the surgeon to attend to the others in the cockpit? Whom did he become impatient to see? What news of the battle did Hardy bring him? What wishes did he express regarding his burial? What were his last words? What was the fate of the man who had shot him? How many of the enemy's ships struck? What was the great result of the victory? Why was it celebrated without joy?

EDINBURGH AFTER FLODDEN.

NEWS of battle! news of battle!Hark! 'tis ringing down the street: And the archways and the pavement Bear the clang of 'hurrying feet. News of battle! who hath brought it? News of triumph! who should bring Tidings from our noble army,

Greetings from our gallant King?1 All last night we watched the beacons 2 Blazing on the hills afar,

Each one bearing, as it kindled,
Message of the opened war.

All night long the northern streamers 3
Shot across the trembling sky:
Fearful lights, that never beacon
Save when kings or heroes die.

News of battle! who hath brought it?
All are 'thronging to the gate ;--
"Warder, warder! open quickly!
Man-is this a time to wait?"
And the heavy gates are opened:
Then a murmur long and loud,
And a cry of fear and wonder
Bursts from out the bending crowd.
For they see in 'battered 'harness
Only one hard-stricken man;
And his weary steed is wounded,
And his cheek is pale and wan:
Spearless hangs a bloody banner

In his weak and drooping hand— What! can that be Randolph Murray, Captain of the city band?4

Round him crush the people, crying,
"Tell us all-oh, tell us true!
Where are they who went to battle,
Randolph Murray, sworn to you?
Where are they, our brothers-children?
Have they met the English foe?
Why art thou alone, 'unfollowed ?--
Is it weal, or is it woe?"
Like a corpse the grisly warrior

Looks from out his helm of steel;
But no word he speaks in answer-
Only with his armed heel

Chides his weary steed, and onward
Up the city streets they ride;
Fathers, sisters, mothers, children,
Shrieking, praying by his side.

"By the God that made thee, Randolph !
Tell us what mischance hath come."
Then he lifts his 'riven banner,

And the asker's voice is dumb.

The elders of the city

Have met within their hall

The men whom good King James had charged To watch the tower and wall.

"Your hands are weak with age," he said,
"Your hearts are stout and true;

So bide ye in the Maiden Town,
While others fight for you.

And if, instead of Scottish shouts,
Ye hear the English drum,......
Then let the warning bells ring out,
Then gird you to the fray,

Then man the walls like burghers stout,
And fight while fight you may.
"Twere better that in fiery flame
The roof should thunder down,
Than that the foot of foreign foe
Should trample in the town!"

Then in came Randolph Murray,—
His step was slow and weak;
And, as he 'doffed his dinted helm,
The tears ran down his cheek:
They fell upon his 'corselet,
And on his mailed hand,
As he gazed around him wistfully,
Leaning sorely on his brand.
And none who then beheld him

But straight were smote with fear,
For a bolder and a sterner man

Had never 'couched a spear. They knew so sad a messenger Some ghastly news must bring;

And all of them were fathers,

And their sons were with the King.

And up then rose the Provost 5—
A brave old man was he,

Of ancient name, and knightly fame,
And chivalrous degree...............

« ПредишнаНапред »