NELSON, HonATto, the greatest of Britain's admirals, was b. on Sept. 29, 1758. at Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, of which place his father, Edmund Nelson, was rector. His mother's maiden name was Suckling, and through her he could claim a collateral kin ship with the celebrated sir Robert Walpole. As a child he was feeble and sickly; and throughout life his small, frail, and attenuated frame seemed to consort but poorly with the daring and impetuous spirit which " stirred and lifted him to high attempts." At the age of 13 he entered the royal navy, commencing his career in the Raieonnable. 64 guns, commanded by his uncle, capt. Suckling. Then, bven more than now, promotion in the first stages of the profession was determined by admiralty interest; and fortunately for him and for England, his uncle, shortly afterward becoming comptroller of the navy, was able to facilitate his rise. His promotion was nearly as rapid as it could be, and before he was quite 21 he had attained the rank of post-captain. which fairly opened the way for him to the higher honors of the service. Up to this time no opportunity had been afforded him of achieving any marked distinction, but to all who were brought into contact with him lie had already approved himself a bold and capable officer. Hence forward, for some years, he was nearly constantly employed in a variety of harassing services; and in all, his conduct was such that in no long time he had made for himself a brilliant reputation. His growing fame was as yet, however, chiefly confined to pro fessional circles, no very signal exploit having brought his name prominently before the public. But with the advent of the war with revolutionary France the time had come when he was to "flame amazement" on the world by a series of noble deeds, in the lus ter of which all other naval glory looks pale. In his obscurer years, he seems to have been cheered under what-pained him as unmerited neglect by that. prescience of a grand destiny, which has so Often preluded to of exceptional splendor. Thus, on one occasion, he writes: "They have not done me justice. But never mind. One day I'll have a gazette of my own." And subsequently the same confidence is expressed with something like the depth of a religious conviction: "One day or other I will have a long gazette to myself. I./bet that such an opportunity will be given me. I cannot, if I an in the field of glory,• be kept out of sight; wherever there is anything to be done, there Providence is save to direct my steps." In 1793 appointed to the Agamemnon, 64 guns, he took a distinguished part, among other services, in the sieges of Bastin and Calvi, in Corsica, losing an eye at the last of these; and in the celebrated action of sir John Jervis off cape St. Vincent with the Spanish fleet, to it maneuver of extreme and masterly dar ing, executed by Nelson in defiance of orders, that officer was mainly indebted for the splendid success obtained, and the peerage with which it was rewarded. Though in the
interval an expedition which he commanded against Teneriffe had failed disastrously, with loss to himself of his right arm in the assault, it was on all hands admitted that everything was done on the occasion which skill and valor in their highest combination could effect, and Nelson on his return to England in 1797, was received with general acclamation. He was invested with the order of the bath, and a pension of £1000 a year was voted to him. Being next year intrusted with a fleet, he signalized this his first inde pendent command of any magnitude by the stupendous victory of the Nile, memorable in naval annals as the completest annihilation of an enemy on record. See Anomun. Finding the French fleet—to 'which his own was considerably inferior in force—skillfully moored so as to defy ordinary attack, he adopted the novel expedient of doubling on the enemy's ships, and was rewarded with success the most consummate. Of the French line of battle, two ships only escaped to be afterward captured; and it was considered that solely to a wound in the head, which in the heat of the action prostrated Nelson, did even these owe their temporary safety. Honors were now from all quarters showered upon him; and in particular the gratitude and enthusiasm of his countrymen were sig nified by the title bestowed on him of baron Nelson of the Nile, and a grant of £2000 year for his own life, and the lives of his two immediate successors. For his services immediately subsequent, in effecting the expulsion of the French from Naples, the Neapolitan king rewarded him with the dukedom of Bronte and a domain of E3000 a year. These last honors, however, were in one sense dearly purchased. The single sus picion of a blot on his public fame is in regard of his relations with the corrupt court of Naples, and of certain questionable acts into which by these he was led. The only flaw in his private character was his infatuated attachment to lady Hamilton, the wife of the English ambassador, a woman of questionable antecedents, but perilous fascination, with whom he was here thrown in contact. The influence which she now obtained over him, she continued to the end to exercise. Early in life he had married, and married happily. If to the charms of an impure adventuress he sacrificed, on his return to England, the wife to whom before he had been tenderly devoted, it is not necessary to indulge in com ment. Let us compassionate the one cruel frailty of a man in all else and in his roper nature, as gentle and generous as he was brave.