pit, to which his duties were confined, that Dr. Scott had rushed, almost frenzied, to the deck to escape the scenes of blood that crowded the surgeon's room. The fall of Lord Nelson at once sobered his mind, and he returned to his duty below. Mr. Beatty the surgeon had not noticed Lord Nelson when brought down, as his face and breast were covered with a handkerchief that his state might escape the notice of the sailors. Suddenly some of the wounded said, "Mr. Beatty, Lord Nelson is here; the admiral's wounded." Immediately the handkerchief was removed, and with the assistants he ran to take him from the bearers' arms, and place him in one of the midshipmen's berths. The first examination by the probe traced the bullet deep into the breast, and declared the dangerous nature of the wound. The questions of the surgeons elicited the presence of the worst symptoms. "He felt a gush of blood every moment within his breast; had no feeling in the lower part of his body; breathed with difficulty, and with a sharp pain at the lower part of the spine, where he declared he felt the ball break his back. The true nature of the wound was now declared to Lord Nelson, though concealed from every one else but the surgeons, the chaplain, and Hardy.

The battle still continued, and the cheers of the sailors told their dying admiral as each new ship of the enemy struck her colours. Heat and thirst tormented poor Nelson, and his constant cry was, "fan, fan-drink, drink," as the attendants fanned him with paper, and prepared lemonade to allay his thirst. The desire to see Hardy agitated him, and that captain's delay on deck filled his mind with the idea that death had made him another victim. "Will no one bring me Hardy," he cried; "He must be killed, he is surely dead." Mr. Bulkeley, the captain's aid-de-camp, assured Nelson that the circumstances of the battle required Hardy's presence on deck, and Nelson waited with greater calmness his coming. After a delay of a little more than an hour Hardy came down. They shook hands affectionately. "Well, Hardy," said Nelson, "how goes the battle? How goes the day with us ?" "Very well, my lord; twelve of the enemy have struck; but as five of their van have tacked, and show an intention of bearing down on the Victory, I have called two or three of our fresh ships round

I

us, and have no doubt of giving them a drubbing." "I hope none of our ships have struck." "There was no fear of that, my lord," rejoined Hardy. "I am a dead man. am going fast, Hardy; it will be all over with me soon. Come nearer to me. Let my dear Lady Hamilton have my hair, and all belonging to me." "I hope Mr. Beatty can hold out some hope of life," said Hardy. "Oh no," replied Nelson, "it is impossible: my back is shot through; Beatty

will tell you so. With another grasp of the hand Hardy

left the couch of his dying admiral.

The case of a seaman on board the Victory who had received a mortal wound in the spine, now recurred to Nelson's mind, and applying the knowledge which he had then obtained of the effects of such an accident, he applied them to his own case, and traced that loss of motion and feeling below his breast to its right source. "I know I am gone," he reiterated; "I feel something rising on my right side that tells me so. My pain is great, very great, so great that I could wish I was dead; and yet," he continued in a lower tone, 66 one would like to live longer." Fifty minutes had elapsed before Hardy returned from the deck, and again grasped the hand of his admiral and congratulated him on the victory, which was now complete. "The exact number," he added, "I cannot tell, but for certain fourteen of the enemy have struck." "That is well," was Nelson's reply; "but I bargained for twenty ;" and then he added with emphasis, " Anchor, Hardy, anchor." His captain suggested that Collingwood would now take on himself the direction. "Not while I live, I hope, Hardy," was the reply, as he strove in vain to raise himself from his bed. "No, no; do you anchor, Hardy." "Shall we make the signal?" "Yes," replied Nelson, "for if I live I'll anchor. In a few minutes," he added, "I shall be no more; don't throw me overboard, Hardy." "Oh no, certainly not," rejoined his captain. "You know what to do;" alluding to some previous directions, "take care of Lady Hamilton. Kiss me, Hardy. Now I am satisfied. Thank God, I have done my duty." Hardy stood for a minute or two regarding his commander, and then stooped and again kissed his forehead. "Who is that," said Nelson.

"God bless you,

"It is Hardy," answered his captain. Hardy," said Nelson, as they parted for ever.

His sufferings by pain, heat, and thirst, rapidly grew greater, and his constant cry was, "fan, fan-drink, drink." It was in vain that his steward moved him on his side, the pain increased, and in fifteen minutes after Hardy left Nelson was speechless. His last expressions were of thankfulness that he had done his duty. In the hopes of alleviating his sufferings, he was raised in a semi-recumbent position, but death now came on rapidly; he had lived long enough to hear the guns fired at the flying squadron of the enemy, and then the cold crept higher and higher, and after two hours and a half of suffering, Nelson died.

CHAPTER XII.

CONCLUSION.

The Results of Trafalgar and Loss of the Prizes.-The Feeling in England on Nelson's Death.-The Price of the Victory.-The Honours to the Corpse and the Family.-Conclusion.

GREAT and conclusive was the victory in the hour of which Nelson died. Eighteen hulks of the enemy lay among the British fleet as prizes, and the Achille was burning to the water's edge. Within a quarter of an hour after the fatal wound was given the Redoutable struck, and the contest ceased between her and the Victory, in which more than once fire had threatened to wrap her, and all the other ships that lay close together, in flames. From the position in which the admiral was when struck, covered in a manner by the large proportions of Hardy, and far from being the best dressed officer on the deck, it is more than probable that the shot was not intended for Nelson, or known to have killed him; but on board the Victory no such idea was entertained, and revenge for the fatal shot was a prominent feature in the rest of the action. The mizen top of the Redoutable soon became the aim of many good English marksmen, and ere long the man whom one of the midshipmen had marked as the man who had fired the shot, fell, pierced by a couple of musket-balls.

Where so many and great acts were being done on all sides, it is impossible to particularize the bravery and the skill of each of the contending ships. The fate of the

Belleisle, however, calls for some mention. From the time that this ship came up to the assistance of Collingwood, her position was one of extreme danger. On her starboard beam the San Juan Nepomuceno cannonaded her at some distance, on the same side the Fougueux ran her on board,

and came to close quarters, until called off by the fire of the Mars. After a short engagement the L'Aigle replaced the San Juan, and the Achille, on her larboard quarter, poured broadsides into her without experiencing much loss, so covered were the guns of the Belleisle with the wreck of her mizen-mast. Soon after two more Spanish ships, as they sailed by towards the rear, gave passing broadsides, and not long after another antagonist was added in the Neptune, a French seventy-four, that placed herself on the Belleisle's starboard bow. With her fore and mizen-mast shot off close to the deck, and her main top-mast overboard, the Belleisle continued to engage her three adversaries, until the Polyphemus passed between her and the Neptune, and drew off her fire, and in five minutes more the Defiance compelled the L'Aigle to attend to her alone, and the Swiftsure, passing under the stern of the Belleisle, engaged the Achille. As the Swiftsure passed, to show that though so battered and dismasted, the Belleisle was yet unconquered, that though her hull was nearly knocked to pieces, her anchors and boats destroyed, and her masts gone, she had not struck; a union jack was suspended at the end of a pike, and held up to view, whilst an ensign was being made fast to the mainmast. Her loss had hardly been proportioned to her position, though more than thirty of her people had been killed and nearly a hundred wounded, mostly very severely. "It was a severe action,' wrote Collingwood, no dodging no manoeuvring. They formed their line with nicety, and waited our attack with great composure; nor did they fire again until we were close to them, and they began first. Our ships were fought with a degree of gallantry that would have warmed your heart. Everybody exerted himself, and a glorious day they made of it. People who cannot comprehend how complicated an affair a battle at sea is, and who judge of an officer's conduct by the number of sufferers in his ship, often do him wrong. Though there will appear a great difference in the loss of men, all did admirably well, and the conclusion was grand beyond description; eighteen hulks of the enemy lying amongst the British fleet, without a stick standing, and the French Achille burning. But we were close to the rocks of Trafalgar; and when I made the signal for anchoring, many