Page:Memoirs of the life and gallant services of Admiral Lord Nelson.pdf/14

 14 The Life and gallant Services centre till twenty minutes paſt ten, when there was a total ceſſation of firing for about ten minutes; af- ter which, it was revived till about three in the morning, when it again ceaſed. The ſevere wound which Sir Horatio Nelſon received in this battle was ſuppoſed to have proceeded from langridge ſhot, or a piece of iron : the ſkin of his forehead being cut with it at right angles, hung down over his face. Captain Berry, who happened to ſtand near, caught the Admiral in his arms. On being carried into the cock-pit, where ſeveral of his gallant crew were ſtretched with their ſhattered limbs, and mangled wounds, the ſurgeon immediately came to attend on the Admiral. No, replied the hero, I will take my turn with my brave followers !—The agony of his wound increaſing, he became convinced that the i- dea he had long indulged of dying in battle was now about to be accompliſhed. He immediately there- fore fſnt for his Chaplain, the Rev. Mr Comyos, and begged of him to remember him to Lady Nelſon'; and having appointed his friend the brave Hardy, Commander of the Murine brig, to the rank of Poſt Captain in the Vanguard, he then with the utmoſt compoſure reſigned himſelf to death. The wound, however, was not mortal: this joy- ful intelligence quickly circulated through the ſhip. As ſoon as the painful operation of dreſſing was o- ver, Admiral Nelſon immediately ſat down, and that very night wrote the celebrated official letter that appeared in the Gazette. He came on deck just time enough to behold the conflagration of L'Orient. The Admiral knowing that the wounded of his own ſhips had been well taken care of, bent his firſt attention to thoſe of the enemy. He eſtabliſhed a truce with the commandant of Aboukir, and through him made a communication to the commandant of Alexandria, that it was his intention to allow all the wounded Frenchmen to be taken aſhore to proper hoſ-