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LORD NELSON.

[Killed off Cape Trafalgar, OCTOBER 21, 1803.] HORATIO, Son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, was born, September 29th, 1758, at Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk, of which parish his father was rector.

At an early age he was placed at the high school of Norwich; and in his twelfth year, Captain Suckling, his maternal uncle, having obtained a ship, young Nelson was, at his especial request, entered as a midshipman on board the Raisonnable of 64 guns. On his return he was sent to the West Indies, and was subsequently received by his uncle, on board the Triumph, till the expedition, under Captain Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, to the North Pole, which he accompanied in the humble capacity of cockswain. In 1777 he passed the usual examination, and received his commission as second lieutenant of the Lowestoffe; and in 1778, being appointed to the Bristol, rose by seniority to be first lieutenant. Having sailed in this vessel to the West Indies, he was intrusted with the command of the batteries of Port Royal, then threatened by D'Estaing, and after a series of the most gallant enterprises, took the fort San Juan, in the Gulf of Mexico, in which service ne was so exhausted by fatigue, and the sufferings of a dysentery, as to be compelled to return to England in the Lion, commanded by Admiral Cornwallis.

In 1781, Captain Nelson sailed in the Albemarle, to the North; and it was in October, 1782, that he was first introduced to his present Majesty, then serving as a midshipman on board the Barfleur. In 1787 he married Mrs. Nisbet, of Nevis, and remained in England till 1793, when he was appointed to the Agamemnon, under Lord Hood, and eminently distinguished himself at Toulon, Bastia, and Calvi,-services, "which," said Lord Hood, "I cannot sufficiently applaud." At the siege of Calvi, he lost an eye; but his name was unnoticed in the Gazette, of which he justly complained, adding, with a feeling of confidence fully justified by subsequent events, One day or other, I will have a long gazette to myself. In 1796, he was raised to the rank of Commodore, and sailed to Porto Ferrajo; and in 1797, was engaged under Sir John Jervis, in the victory off Cape St. Vincent, for his distinguished bravery in which action, he was raised to the rank of rear-admiral, made a Knight of the Bath, and received the freedom of the city of London. On May 28th, 1797, Sir Horatio Nelson shifted his flag to the Theseus, and in the gallant attack on the town of Santa Cruz, received a shot in his right elbow, which rendered amputation requisite. Being forced to return home, by illness consequent on this, he received a pension for his services.

A spirit such as Nelson's could not long remain inactive, particularly when the country required his aid. In 1798 he sailed with a small squadron, to watch the Toulon fleet, and after a long and active pursuit, baffled in his exertions by frequent storms, and uncertain intelligence of the enemy's course, at last engaged them in the Bay of Aboukir, and gained the splendid victory of the Nile, uniting, as it was said in the House of Commons, all those qualities by which other victories had been most distinguished. For this he was created Baron Nelson, of the Nile, and of Burnham Thorpe, and for his subsequent services in Sicily, the king of Sicily conferred upon him the title of Duke of Bronté, with an estate of £3000 per annum.

After the appointment of Lord Keith to the command of the Mediterranean fleet, Lord Nelson returned home, from whence he sailed, under Sir

Hyde Parker, to the North Seas; and on the 30th of March, 1801, effected without loss the passage of the Sound. Well prepared as the Danes were for defence, the battle of Copenhagen occasioned a similar display of courage, ability, and judgment, as the battle of the Nile; it was the most terrible of all engagements, and as complete as any victory on record. Its immediate effect was a treaty which ended the war, by annihilating the northern confederacy.

Raised to the rank of Viscount, in the full enjoyment of the rewards and honours he had so eminently deserved, Viscount Nelson obtained a short repose at his estate at Merton, in Surry; but the peace being dissolved, the country, as it were, by one feeling, destined him to the command of the naval force then fitting out to engage the combined French and Spanish squadrons. On the 21st of October, 1805, he intercepted them off Cape TRAFALGAR, about sixty miles east of Cadiz, and the last memorable signal that he gave, was received with an enthusiastic shout of applause by the whole flect,-" ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN TO DO HIS DUTY." He himself led the way by attacking in the VICTORY the Santissima Trinidada, of 136 guns; and setting the example he had recommended, that humanity after victory should distinguish the British fleet, he gave orders to cease firing on the Redoubtable, supposing she had struck. From this ship, which he had thus twice saved, he received his death-wound. Wearing, against the advice of his officers, the stars of the different orders he had won, he became a mark for the riflemen, who lined the tops of their different vessels, thence taking their deadly aim. About a quarter after one, in the heat of the action, he was observed to fall on the deck, and, turning round to Captain Hardy, faintly exclaimed, "They have done for me at last, Hardy, my back-bone is shot through!" But even now, in pain and in the agonies of death, his presence of mind was still signally evinced; he issued his commands with the same calm judgment, and animated his men with the same courage he had so often displayed. He prayed for his country; and the last sounds which, at the close of his glorious carcer, elevated his spirit, sinking beneath the grasp of death, were the cheers of his men for victory-a victory, great, even by comparison with any of his own. His death was a calamity no advantages could soothe; he was stricken down when equally the object of our affection and admiration; men grieved not only for his loss as their greatest naval hero, but for their inability now to repay those services by which fame, wealth, and national safety were secured. Posthumous honours were, indeed, all they could bestow, but his memory has been cherished with a spirit and a feeling, before scarcely known, and it yet lives among us, the pride and glory of Britons.

He combined the qualities which chiefly raise and distinguish men; quick in perception, resolute in decision, executing his projects with the coolest. valour; amid the ardour of victory, he remembered mercy, and seemed as much to enjoy conquest as the means to save, as for the purpose of securing any other benefits it could bestow. He had one great object,-his country's good; one worthy ambition,her rewards; this was his theme, his motive, his pursuit: who has more contributed to secure the former?-who more merited the latter? He has left an example, the standard of all future excellence in his profession, and the guide and inducement to laborious and honourable exertion. S. H.

SUGAR, AS FOOD FOR ANIMALS. Not only do the inhabitants of every part of the globe delight in sugar, when obtainable, but all animated beings; the beasts of the field-the fowls of the air, insects, reptiles, and even fish, have an exquisite enjoyment in the consumption of sweets, and a distaste to the contrary; in fact, sugar is the alimentary ingredient of every vegetable substance encumbered with a greater or less proportion of bulky innutritious matter. A small quantity of sugar will sustain life, and enable the animal frame to undergo corporeal (from personal experience, I may add mental) fatigue better than any other substance; often have I travelled with the Arab over the burning desert, or with the wild Afric through his romantic country, and when wearied with fatigue and a noontide sun, we have sat ourselves beneath an umbrageous canopy, and I have shared with my companion his travelling provender, a few small balls of sugar mixed with spices, and hardened into a paste with flour. Invariably have I found two or three of these balls, and a draught of water, the best possible restorative, and even a stimulus to renewed exertion.

During crop-time in the West Indies, the Negroes, although then hard worked, become fat, healthy, and cheerful, and the horses, mules, cattle, &c., on the estate, partaking of the refuse of the sugar-house, renew their plumpness and strength. In CochinChina, not only are the horses, buffaloes, elephants, &c., all fattened with sugar, but the body-guard of the king are allowed a sum of money daily, with which they must buy sugar-canes, and eat a certain quantity thereof, in order to preserve their good looks and plump condition. There are about five hundred of these household troops, and their handsome appearance does honour to their food and to their royal master. Indeed, in Cochin-China, rice and sugar is the ordinary breakfast of people of all ages and stations; and the people not only preserve all their fruits in sugar, but even the greater part of their leguminous vegetables, gourds, cucumbers, radishes, artichokes, the grain of the lotus, and the thick fleshy leaves of the aloes. I have eaten in India, after a six months' voyage, mutton killed in Leadenhall-market, preserved in a cask of sugar, and as fresh as the day it was placed on the shambles. The Kandyans of Ceylon preserve their venison in earthen pots of honey, and after being thus kept two or three years, its flavour would delight Epicurus himself.

In tropical climes, the fresh juice of the cane is the most efficient remedy for various diseases, while its healing virtues are felt when applied to ulcers and sores. Sir John Pringle says, the plague was never known to visit any country where sugar composes a material part of the diet of the inhabitants. Drs. Rush, Cullen, and other eminent physicians, are of opinion that the frequency of malignant fevers of all kinds is lessened by the use of sugar; in disorders of the breast it forms an excellent demulcent, as also in weaknesses and acrid defluxions in other parts of the body. The celebrated Dr. Franklin found great relief from the sickening pain of the stone, by drinking half-a-pint of syrup of coarse brown sugar before bed-time, which he declared gave as much, if not more relief, than a dose of opium. That dreadful malady, once so prevalent on shipboard, scurvy, has been completely and instantaneously stopped, by putting the afflicted on a sugar diet. The diseases arising from worms, to which children are subject, are prevented by the use of sugar, the love of which seems implanted by nature in them. As to the unfounded assertion of its injuring the teeth, let those who make it visit the sugar-plantations, and look at

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HAPPINESS, like liberty, is often overlooked in the search after it. Young people, through inexperience, and sometimes those who are older, from sanguineness of temperament, expect more from life than it has to bestow. They consider happiness as a precious jewel never hitherto possessed, yet certainly to be found, though in what shape, place, or circumstances, it never occurs to them to define; it is with them a sort of vague ideal charm, always to be pursued, and as constantly eluding the grasp. Liberty, in like manner, with the same description of persons, does not consist in the absence of restraint, in the rational enjoyment of property, or preservation of rights. It is a loose ungovernable spirit of infringement on the privileges of others. The mere security derived under a just and equal administration of the laws, is no better than bondage in the eyes of what are technically known by the name of "radical reformers." All this is flat and tame; they must kick and fling to be assured that they are not confined; they must be permitted to do that which has neither reference to pleasure nor utility, merely to exercise the power which absolute freedom bestows, just as a child in a garden lays about him, and batters down the flowers on each side with the stick in his hand, without any need of, or desire for the things thus destroyed. We deceive ourselves much, in supposing that happiness of mind, any more than health of agreeable and convenient; but if the heart be oppressed, or body, depends upon place. Change of scene is often both there be " a thorn in the flesh," the Mordecai travels with us. We cannot run away from ourselves. To be happy in the limited sense which Providence permits, let us make home the centre of our enjoyments. The fulfilment of their claims, may be thought, by many, a strange receipt those little duties which are at every moment presenting for contentment; yet it is a very sure one, and if there ever was an axiom on the truth of which we may rely, it is, that "the mind is its own place." Instead of looking to new faces, and seeking in new situations for that undiscovered something, we know not what, which, upon approaching, will, like the sailors' "Cape Fly-away," always vanish, or recede, from our view; let us be assured, that in every condition of life, and in every spot of earth, much may be done with the materials that lie immediately around us; and if we evince no skill in the manufacture of these, we should not turn a wider range to profit.—Mrs. BRUCE. THE captain of one of Commodore Johnson's Dutch prizes, was used to relate the following anecdote :-One day he went out of his own ship, to dine on board another; while he was there, a storm arose, which, in a short time, made an entire wreck of his own ship, to which it was impossible for him to return. He had left on board two little boys, one four, the other five years old, under the care of a poor black servant; the people struggled to get out of took his two children, tied them into a bag, and put in a the sinking ship into a large boat, and the poor black little pot of sweetmeats for them, slung them across his shoulder, and put them into the boat. The boat by this time was quite full, and when the black was stepping into it himself, he was told by the master, there was no room for him, that either he or the children must perish, for the The exalted heroic weight of both would sink the boat. Negro did not hesitate a moment. "Very well," said he, "give my duty to my master, and tell him I beg pardon for all my faults"-and then, guess the rest; he plunged to the bottom, never to rise again, till the sea shall give up its dead. Memoirs of HANNAH MORE. O. N.

IN any adversity that happens to us in the world, we ought to consider that misery and affliction are not less natural than snow and hail, storm and tempest: and that it were as reasonable to hope for a year without winter, as for a life without trouble.-Howe.

ON SITTING AT EASE IN A COACH THAT WENT VERY
FAST.

As fast as this coach goes, I sit in it so much at ease,
that whilst its rapid motion makes others suspect
that I am running for a wager, this lazy posture, and
this soft seat, do almost as much invite me to rest,
as if I were a-bed.

The hasty wheels strike fire out of the flints they happen to run over, and yet this self-same swiftness of these wheels, which, were I under them, would make them crush my bones themselves into splinters, if not into a jelly, now I am seated above their reach, serves but to carry me the faster towards my journey's end. Just so it is with outward accidents and conditions, whose restless vicissitudes do but too justly, and too fitly, resemble them to wheels: when they meet with a spirit that lies prostrate on the ground, and falls groveling beneath them, they disorder and oppress it. But he, whose high reason and exalted piety has, by a noble and steady contempt of them, placed him above them, may enjoy a happy and settled quiet, in spite of all these busy agitations, and be so far from resenting any prejudicial discomposure from these inferior revolutions, that all those changes that are taken for the giddy turn of Fortune's wheel, shall serve to approach him the faster to the blest mansion he would arrive at.-BOYLE.

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WHIRLWINDS AND WATER-SPOUTS. THESE awful indications of changes in the atmosphere, are rarely met with in the temperate regions of the globe; but between the tropics they are of very common occurrence, and assume a variety of forms, not unfrequently spreading devastation over extensive tracts of country, destroying the produce of the earth, and scattering or sinking the proudest naval armaments. The tornado, the whirlwind, the waterspout, and the burning wind of the desert, are all known to us by the descriptions of travellers, but happily few of their disastrous effects come within our own experience.

These phenomena have been attributed by various authors to many different causes; some have supposed the whole of the effects to be caused by electricity; others have rejected this agent entirely, and considered the rarefied state of the air by the heat of the sun, to be the cause of the greatest portion of these convulsions of the atmosphere; but probably, in most cases, both causes are combined.

In a work recently published by Mr. Howison of the East India Company's service, we find the following description of these phenomena. "The waterspout may be considered the most appalling phenomenon that appears in the equatorial seas, and is of more frequent occurrence, and attains greater magnitude on the west coast of Africa, than in any I INVARIABLY experience a variety of sensations when I other part of the ocean. It does not always show survey the heavens" on a calm clear night, about the end itself under the same form, and on some occasions of the month of May. I can then inhale the sweets of it is stationary, while on others it moves forward the woodbine and other flowers, whose fragrance is drawn with varying rapidity. When a water-spout is about out by the gentle dews of evening. The nightingale breaks to be produced, the sea, however smooth it may the silence by his sweet and varied notes; and the full moon walking in brightness," and rendered still more previously have been, acquires a violent degree of beautiful by the lustre of so many shining stars, which agitation at a particular spot, and soon begins to appear in the wide extended firmament, completes the love-foam and boil up with a whirling and dashing noise. liness of this nocturnal scene. Then I begin to reflect upon my own insignificance, and to ask myself what I am, that the great Author of the universe should be mindful of me. His mercy, however, then presents itself to me, as well as his Majesty, and the former affects me more than the latter. I listen to the bird which appears to be pouring forth its little tribute of gratitude and praise, and my heart prompts me to do the same. The very perfume of the flowers seems to be an incense ascending up to heaven; and with these feelings I am able to enjoy the calm tranquillity of the evening.—JESSE.

66

IN gazing at monuments of antiquity, one of the most natural pleasures which the mind enjoys, is being by them fancifully transported to the scenes which they so clearly commemorate. The Roman amphitheatre becomes filled with gladiators and spectators; the streets of Pompeii are seen again thronged with people; the Grecian temple, is ornamented with the votive offerings of heroes and of senators; even the putrid marsh of Marathon, teems with noble recollections: while at home, on the battlements of our old English castles, we easily figure to ourselves barons proud of their deeds, and vassals in armour, faithfully devoted to their service: in short, while beholding such scenes, the heart glows, until, by its feverish heat, feelings are produced, to which no one can be completely insensible: however, when we awaken from this delightful dream, it is difficult, and, indeed, impossible, to drive away the painful moral, which, sooner or later in the day, proves to us, much too clearly, that these ruins have outlived, and, in fact, commemorate, the errors, the passions, and the prejudices, which caused them to be built.

But while looking up at the plain, unassuming pulpit of an old Lutheran church, one feels, long after one has left it, that all that has proceeded from its simple desk has been to promulgate peace, good-will, and happiness, among mankind; and though, in its old age, it be now deserted, yet no one can deny that the seeds, which, in various directions, it has scattered before the wind, are not only vigorously flourishing in the little valley in which it stands, but must continue, there and elswhere, to produce effects, which time itself can scarcely annihilate.-Bubbles from the Brunnen of Nassau

Presently a funnel-shaped tube is observed to descend
from the clouds, which always hang very low at such
a time, and to direct itself towards the turbulent
waters, as if to form a junction with them. This it
sometimes does, or rather appears to do, instantane-
ously, but more commonly not. Meanwhile, the agita-
tion of the sea increases, the tube grows larger, and the
superincumbent cloud descends to a lower level, and
at length, all these parts unite, and form a pillar of
water, fifty or sixty feet high, the base of which rests
upon the sea, while its top penetrates the overhanging
clouds, and is totally concealed by them.
pillar, perhaps, continues stationary for a few mo-
ments, and then disappears; but in other instances, it
advances steadily in one direction, and threatens
destruction to any ship that may lie in its course."

This

It has always been noticed, that these appearances are attended by baffling and variable winds, and sudden calms, and generally by some demonstration of the presence of electricity.

To explain the phenomena of the water-spout, let us suppose that, from some cause or other, say the heat of the sun, the air over some particular spot in the ocean has become so rarefied as to produce a kind of partial vacuum; the consequence of this will be, that all the denser parts of the atmosphere which immediately surround this spot, will have a tendency to rush forward from every quarter to one common centre, that is, the wind will blow from all quarters at once. If we suppose the currents of air to travel at the same rate as in the case of a hurricane, namely, from seventy to eighty miles an hour, we may well meet in the centre. conceive the immense force with which they would The result of this sudden concassion, would resemble in all points the effect of a water-spout or whirlwind.

The lines in the diagram represent the course of

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the air as it rushes from various parts to the centre c. Having reached that spot, it is clear that further progress in straight lines is at an end: either the opposite forces annihilate each other, and a calm is the consequence, or the streams of air must take another direction: some of these will, in their endeavour to escape the conflict, press with considerable force on the surface of the water, while others will be directed upwards, and reach the higher regions of the atmosphere. In the mean time, the currents that had pressed downwards, not being able, from the opposition of the water, to escape in that direction, are forced to the point of least resistance, that is, upwards, and a portion of the water, together with whatever may be on its surface, is carried up along with them.

If the currents of air were all moving with equal velocity, the course of the water-spout or whirlwind would be in direct lines upwards; but, as this is not the case, a rotatory, or whirling, motion is given to it, and the forces of the various currents will also oblige it to drift, as it were, on the surface of the sea.

When met with at sea, water-spouts are considered by mariners as dangerous visitants, and, in order to disperse them, large guns are fired. So great a concussion in the air is thus produced, as to alter the direction of the currents, and to destroy the waterspout.

The rushing together of air has been stated as the cause of the water-spout, and this view of the subject is borne out by the following fact, extracted from Dr. Franklin's letters." An intelligent whaleman, of Nantucket," says Dr. Franklin, "informed me,

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that three of their vessels, which were out in search of whales, happening to be becalmed, lay in sight of each other, at about a league distance, if I remember right, nearly forming a triangle; after some time, a water-spout appeared near the middle of the triangle, when a brisk breeze of wind sprung up, and every vessel made sail, and then it appeared to them all, by the setting of the sails, and the course each vessel stood, that the water-spout was to the leeward of every one of them."

The water-spout is considered as materially adding to the dangers of navigation, but how much more dreadful are the effects of a tropical hurricane. Alvarez de Nunnez, a Spanish admiral, lost the whole of his fleet, and great part of his crew, in one of these tempests off the Island of Cuba. "Such was the force of the wind, that no houses, or even churches, could oppose it. Nunnez's men hastened out of the town for fear of being crushed by the fall of the buildings, and were obliged to walk seven or eight in a cluster, grasping each other with all their strength, that they might not be carried away by the strength of the blasts. When the storm was over, Nunnez returned to the harbour, but all he found of his ships was only some broken pieces of rigging; from thence he proceeded along the shore, in quest either of his ships or his seamen, but meeting with nothing this way, he betook himself to the mountains; here, indeed, he perceived a boat lodged upon some trees, about a quarter of a league from the sea, and ten leagues further he found two bodies of his men, and some trunk-lids scattered about; the men were too much disfigured by bruises to be known. No less than sixty men and twenty horses perished by this hurricane. The whole country had a lamentable aspect; the blighted plains were covered with limbs of trees, and the naked hills were stript of their verdure."

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VOL. V.

149

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UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

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