Page:Memoirs of the life and gallant services of Admiral Lord Nelson.pdf/7

 of Admiral Lord Nelſon. 7 “ance of my duty has occaſioned; and ſo long as " I have a foot to ſtand on, I will combat for my " King and country." Previous to the iſſuing of a grant of 1000l. per annum, which ſecured to this gallant officer ſome public remuneration for the hardſhips he had en- dured, a poſitive cuſtom, required, thus a memorial of ſervice ſhould be drawn up: one more brilliant never met the eye of the Sovereign of a brave na- tion. Sir Horatio had then actually been engaged againſt the enemy upwards of One Hundred and Twenty Times ! Great, however, as had previouſly been the ſer- vices of this gallart ſeaman, it was in the year 1798 that a victory of the moſt important and glorious deſcription entitled him to fall more diſtinguished laurels. The government of France had ſent an expedition into Egypt, and it became that of Bri- tain to uſe every effort to render it ſucceſsleſs. In order to convey to our readers the moſt diſtinct idea poſlible of the merits of this action, we ſhall quote from a reſpectable publication (the Naval Chronicle) the narative of an officer concerned.-- " Sir Horatio Nelſon had been detached by Earl St. Vincent into the Mediterranean with the Van- guard, of 74 guns, the rear-admiral's flag-ſhip, the Orian and Alexander of 74 guns, the Emerald and Terpſicore frigates, and a Bonne Citoyenne ſloop of war. Nothing material occured to the ſquadron from the day it failed from Gibralter, which was on the 9th of May, till the 22d, when being in the gulph of Lyons, at two A. Mr a moſt violent ſquall of wind took the Vanguard, which carried away her topmaſts, and at laſt her foremaſt, and ſeparated! the fleet. The Britiſh ſquadron was then not many leagues diſtant from the French fleet under Bonaparte, which had on that very day ſet fall from Toulon. The