'21st October.
He is a poor Briton who to-day, the centenary of Trafalgar, does not look back one hundred years: and thank God: that on that day brave men did their duty: and there is one of whom we cannot but specially think—Nelson: On the morning of the 21st of October 1805 when he prepared to give battle he was well nware that the greatest day of his life had dawned; and he had a strange premonition that it was to be his last, He is worth looking at as he paced the Victory that morning, and we shall take another look.
'A thin shattered man this Nelson with whose name Europe rings. His left breast is decorated with the stars' of the Orders he has been invested with, These same stars will. cause much sorrow ere this fatal day is'done, But he will wear them. "In honour I gained them and in honour I will die with them" he has said. before and his officers will not again remonstrate with bim. His left eye is sightless; the sands of Corsica found lodgment there, could tell how that was lost. His Right arm he has none: Teneriffe prow is scarred: a tale of the Nile. Such is the outward man his every sailor loves, And they: love him for he loves them, At Teneriffe when he was wounded and men were struggling the water he bade his helpers leave him and go to their assistance. "Let me alone" he cried: "I have may legs left and one arm." And they wound a rope round that one arm and he was hauled on board. At the Nile when severely wounded he refused assistance till his turn came! No wonder surely that. they lov him, And man's love is worth having for -after all' men are important factors in warfare; generalship But it is his genius that has placed hit in command of this fleet. As a middy he took infinite pains to master all the intricacies of his profession: as an admiral he is indefatigable in watching the. enemy. But he knows when to disobey. At St, Vincent and again at Copenhagen he deliberately acted against orders well knowing the risks and prepared to: accept them. "A. soldier obeys his orders and no more" he once said: significant words these from.a sailor who. thanked God he had done his duty: He knows too' when to act. Indecision irritated him beyond measure, "Leb it be by the Sound, by, the: Belt,-or anyhow" he told Parker "only lose nob one hour" and these words, show the temper of the man. In addition to these gifts he has the gift of self-confidence, the growth of constant victory. Captain Barry appalled at the vastness of the design of the Battle of the Nile exclaimed " If we succeed what will the world say." Lo which Nelson replied "There is no if in the case: that we. shall succeed is certain: who-may live to tell the story is a very different question." And this when the French thought their position unassailable, The enemy he is about to engage he hates with his whole soul. One day. when addressing a middy he told him there were three things he must ever bear in mind and the last and as it would seem the chief was "You must hate a Frenchman. you hate the devil." Times happily have changed since then. Not only does he hate them: he has a supreme contempt for them. This he once showed in a humorous way. The Albemarle, a captured Frenchman of which at one time he was captain, Was a most unsatisfactory ship and would not sail well unless going before the wind. How his eyes must have twinkled when he remarked that her former owners mush have taught her to rum away. But we must remember that Nelson lived in what was probably the most stirring of times, in a time when mon's passions were fed on hate. Moreover it was a righteous hate for France had run amok among the nations and had singled ovt Britain as the arch-enemy who must be got tid of.
With the enemy in sight and when all his plans were completed he retired to his cabin and wrote a solemn prayer to the God of Battles asking that He would grant a great victory. Nelson never doubted that the victory would be his but' he wanted it'to be the greatest of his many victories. He would not be satisfied with less than twenty he said. Half-an-hour before the battle began he hoisted his - ever-to be-remembered signal: At 12 the battle began: ab 12.45 Nelson was wounded: 4.30 he was dead.
As he lay. inthe cockpit of the Victory he thought'of. many things. The past hurried before him: the resent excited him; the future troubled him. As he surveyed the Paty. He was excited -for he knew vast he was satisfied he had done his he was dying and the issue was still undecided. As life ebbed impatience flowed. "Hardy, Hardy" he called and ere an answer came he called in "will no one bring me Hardy."
long no Hardy came but every now and then "huzza" "huzza" fell on his ears, At each huzza he smiled: he knew its meaning. At last Hardy was able to goto him and though his news did nob satisfy the dying man it gladdened bim, for already ten of the enemy had struck while all his flags were flying, When Hardy went again he. reported that fourteen or fifteen bad struck. "But" said Nelson "I bargained for twenty." To ensure that he would have them he told Hardy to anchor. Hardy thereupon hinted that Collingwood.was now in command. Collingwood in command! Nelson alive would not relinquish his command to any man not even to Collidgwood. "Not while L live, Hardy; do you anchor": and he tried to raise himself to see that he was obeyed. But the future now so near claimed all his remaining strength and to Hardy be made a few requests, Then he prepared to die. Not his the preparation of silence. The groans of the dying, the" huzzas of the living, the cursing of men, the. booming of cannon, all were commingled—a fitting death for one whose life had been a blaze of glory, It is difficult to estimate accurately the value of Trafalgar; bub to Britain it was inestimable, The safety of the mother country and her colonies was for many years secured while the activities of Napoleon were confined to narrower limits. With the smoke of Trafalgar Napoleon's dream of" world conquest vanished. And Tra-algar was good for France who was an. unwilling mistress whom he imesmerised and directed at will.. It was impossible that she could go on for ever supplying men and mone; to feed his. insatiable lust, knocks bring men and nations to their senses and France when clothed and in her right mind saw her folly. The pity is that the hard knocks did not come sooner.
Nelson requested that his body would not be thrown overboard—an unnecessary request,. That body was too precious to commit to the keeping of the deep: there was but one meet resting place for it, And s0 they bore him over the deep; bub not to Westminster. They bore him to St, Paul's and they laid him in its heart right under the Cross. He who stands beneath that Cross stands at the heart of our empire: he who lies there lives in our, hearts. His monuments to-day will be entwined with flowers; his memory with love. Britannia and her sons before their mighty dead will stand in solemn silence. France, and Spain too, will salute our dead hero, Nay the whole world will do him this reverence, ort Ctanxa's Wort ramp Broop Mix. rore—" The mot larching Blood Cleanser that science and medical skill have brought to light." Sufferers. from Scrofula, Scurvy, Eczema, Bed Legs, Skin and Blood Diseases, Pimples, and! Sores of any kind are solicited to giv ig it its value. Thousani wonderful oures b n effected by it! Bold everywhere at 2s. 9d. por bottle. Beware of worthless imitations and substitutes ADV, oii) ful ease
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.