Born 1758.—Died 1805.—George II.—George III.

This most famous of all the English admirals was the son of the rector of Burnham Thorpe, in Norfolk, where he was born, and went to sea first as a midshipman in the Raisonable, 64 guns, then in a West Indiaman. He afterwards returned to the Royal Navy, and saw service in the Arctic Ocean, the West Indies, and South America. He was a Commodore at the battle of St. Vincent, when he first boarded the San Nicholas, jumping through the cabin window, and then sprang on to the San Joseph, crying, “Victory or Westminster Abbey!” In 1798 Nelson fought the battle of Aboukir near Alexandria, in Egypt. The French admiral’s ship, L’Orient, blew up, and only two French ships escaped. Nelson was immediately created ‘Lord Nelson of the Nile.’ In 1805 he hoisted his flag on board the Victory, and fought the battle of Trafalgar, between Cadiz and Gibraltar. When grappled to the Redoutable, whose rigging was full of sharpshooters, a shot was fired through Nelson’s shoulder and spine, and he died three hours afterwards, cheered by the news that the French were totally defeated.