To add to the greatness and glory of his country was ever the highest object of this most renowned hero's ambition; and from his earliest youth he exhibited much of that dauntless spirit which afterwards rendered him the pride of England and the terror of her foes. It was by no favour or patronage that he rose to his subsequent height of grandeur, but by doing his duty to his king and country with energy, determination, and courage; and it is because he acted in such a manner that the hearts of Englishmen still swell with pride and gratitude at the recollection of his patriotic career and his glorious death.

He was born on the 29th of September, 1758, at Burnham Thorpe, in Norfolk, of which parish his father was rector. His mother, whose maiden name was Suckling, was grand-daughter of an elder sister of the great Sir Robert Walpole, and the infant, destined for such high renown, was named after his godfather, the first Lord Walpole.

How natural courage and determination were to his heart, is proved by an anecdote related of his very earliest boyhood. When almost a child, he one day strayed from home, in company with a cow-boy, to seek birds' nests; and not making his appearance at the dinner-hour, the horrible suspicion occurred to the family that he had been carried off by gipsies Their anxiety and alarm led to a most vigilant search being instituted, whereupon the future hero of the Nile was discovered sitting, with the utmost com-posure, by the side of a brook, which he found him-self unable to cross.

"I wonder, child," said his grandmother, when she found him restored in safety to the domestic circle, "that hunger and fear did not drive you home."

"Fear!" exclaimed the dauntless boy, "I never saw fear — what is it ?"

This was, perhaps, the first flash of the high spirit and courageous genius afterwards so signally displayed on many a bloody and memorable day.

When he was nine years old his mother died, and his uncle, Captain Suckling, of the Royal Navy, coming to pay a visit to the bereaved family, pro-mised to take care of one of the boys, though with no intention of its being Horatio, who was of a delicate constitution, and therefore not thought likely to distinguish himself on board a man-of-war. Perhaps the young hero himself had a very different opinion; and one can imagine him at once concluding that he was to be the man, naming his miniature ship after that in which his uncle served, sailing it in some pond by his father's rectory, and feeding his mind with visions of such glorious sea-fights as he had heard and read of, in most of which he himself would no doubt figure as the conquering hero.

He was sent, with his brother William, to be educated at North Walsham, in his native county, where, on one occasion, he showed the fearlessness and ambition of his nature in a way that won him the admiration of his schoolfellows. In the school-master's garden some pears, which were looked upon as lawful booty, had pleased the eye and quickened the appetite of the boys, but grew in such a position that the boldest of them feared to venture for the tempting and tantalising prize. Nelson, however, was not to be daunted; so, having himself let down at night by some sheets from the bedroom window, he was drawn up again with the longed-for fruit, and distributed it among his schoolfellows, without keeping any to himself, remarking, as he pouted his proud lip, that "he only took it because every other boy was afraid."

An instance of his high sense of honour is nar-rated. Being at home for the Christmas holidays, he and his brother set off on horseback to return to school, but came back on account of there having been a fall of snow, which the elder brother said was too deep to admit of their venturing on the journey. Their father, who doubtless considered the circumstances suspicious, was inclined to think otherwise, and requested them to make another attempt, telling them to return home if they found the road really dangerous; but he added, "Remember, boys, I leave it to your honour."

The snow was quite deep enough to have afforded a decent excuse, and Master William, who did not particularly relish the object of their journey, proposed and insisted that they should go back a second time; but Horatio was not to be prevailed on. "We must go on," he said; "remember, brother, it was left to our honour," and proceeding, they reached their destination in safety.

At twelve years of age he was again at Burnham Thorpe, spending the holidays along with his brother. Their father was then at Bath for the benefit of his health. Reading, in a local newspaper, that their uncle had been appointed to the "Raisonable," of sixty-four guns, Horatio requested William to write to his father, and say that he wished so much to go to sea with his uncle; and a letter was written ac-cording to his request.

Mr. Nelson, who seems to have duly appreciated the determined and energetic character of the boy, had always said that, whatever his son's walk of life, he would do his utmost to get to the top of the tree. Still he could not but think that it was simply a boyish aspiration that prompted this choice of a profession, and Captain Suckling considered him most unfit to "rough it out at sea." But who can say that the high-spirited and contemplative hero was not already indulging in those great hopes and high aspirings which made him, when a captain, exclaim that he would one day have a "Gazette" to himself? At all events it was resolved that he should try his fortune at sea; and on a cold, dark morning in spring, his father's servant arrived to take him from school, that he might join the ship, which was lying in the Medway. The parting from his brother and schoolfellows was sad and trying, as such scenes usually are; for early friendships are true and sincere, unlike too many of those formed when the heart is hardened by the vanity, coldness, and deceit of the world, "and the milk of human kindness" dried up in the struggles which manhood so fre-quently brings with it.

Nelson's father accompanied him to London, and put him into the Chatham stage-coach. On arrival he was set down with the other passengers, and, being in a strange place, was unable to find the ship. An officer, seeing him wandering about, and remarking his forlorn appearance, questioned him, and, being acquainted with his uncle, took him home, refreshed him, and directed him to the "Raisonable." When Nelson got on board the captain was not there, nor had his coming been intimated to any one; so with a heavy heart he paced the deck all day un-noticed, and it was not till the next that his presence attracted attention. Such was the reception met with by the motherless boy of tender age, sensitive heart, and feeble frame, on that element on which he was destined to play so conspicuous a part; whose sons he afterwards inspired with a zeal hardly ever before equalled, and to whose sovereignty he was ere long gloriously to vindicate the claims of his country. He never forgot the wretchedness which he felt during his first few days in the service; and with true nobility of soul always strove to make matters more pleasant to those in a similar position.

The "Raisonable" having been commissioned, on account of the dispute with Spain about the Falkland Islands, was paid off when it was settled; and Nelson, disdaining to be idle, went to the West Indies in a merchant-ship commanded by John Rathbone, an excellent seaman, who had formerly served under his relative as mate. Rathbone having, from some cause, conceived disgust with the navy, impressed Nelson with feelings of a like nature; and though the latter returned from his voyage a practical seaman, it was with a strong dislike to the king's service. Captain Suckling received him on board the "Triumph," and took every means to eradicate this prejudice. The vessel was stationed in the Thames as a guard-ship; and Nelson was promised a place in the cutter attached to the command-ing officer's ship at Chatham, if he attended well to his navigation. He thus acquired a confidence among rocks and sands, of which he often after felt the value. But such a life as that on board the "Triumph" was not sufficiently active or exciting for a youth born to aspire and to excel; so, hearing that there were two ships fitting out for a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole, his love of enterprise prompted him to request that he might be permitted to share the danger. There was some difficulty in his request being acceded to; but at length, by the influence of his uncle, he was taken as coxswain under the officer second in command; and the expedition sailed from the Nore on the 4th of June, 1773. The vessels encountered fearful perils, in all of which Nelson displayed his cha-racteristic courage and resolution. On making the land off Spitzbergen the ice became most alarming; and the crew being sent to find a passage into the open water, Nelson was entrusted with the command of one of the boats, with which he had the satisfac-tion of rescuing another, with its crew, from the attack of a host of enraged walruses. One night he and a companion secretly left the ship; and early next morning he was observed in almost hand-to-hand conflict with a huge bear. He was on the point of striking the animal with the butt-end of his musket, when a gun, fired from the ship, frightened it away. On being severely reprimanded, and asked by the captain how he could venture upon, so hazardous an encounter, he answered, "I wished to lull the bear, that I might take its skin home to my father."

On returning to England, the ships were paid off, and Nelson embarked on board the "Seahorse," bound for the East. During the voyage his good conduct attracted the attention of the master, on whose recommendation the captain rated him as a midshipman. By this time he had gained considerable strength; but, after eighteen months' service under an Indian gun, his health completely gave way; he was obliged to be brought home; and, being entrusted to the commander of the "Dolphin," he set sail for the land of his birth. His spirits had sunk with his strength, and an enfeebled frame and depressed spirits cast a shade over his soul. The discouraging thought that he should never rise in his profession was perpetually sweeping his mind and terrifying his imagination. But the darkest hour is ever before daybreak; the most severe mental depression is often succeeded by renewed hope; and it was after Nelson's gloomiest reverie, in which he pondered his want of influence, and the impossibility of reaching any point worth striving for without it, that a sudden glow of patriotism illumined his soul, and he exclaimed, "I will be a hero! my king and country shall be my patrons!" From this hour he was no longer a boy. It was fresh in his memory to the last, and he always referred to it with pleasure and satisfaction. In it, his great soul swelled beyond and broke the chains that had encumbered its free action and checked its mighty impulses. By means of kind care and attention on the part of the captain he was landed on his native soil in comparative health, and found that in his absence his uncle had been made Comptroller of the Navy.

Nelson was appointed acting-lieutenant in the

Worcester," then going to Gibraltar; and on the of April, 1777, passed his examination for a lieutenancy, and next day received his commission as second lieutenant of the "Lowestoffe," fitting out for Jamaica.

Such was the early career of this illustrious man, whose name was in a few years inseparably blended with his country's greatness and fame.

"By this time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage or Westminster Abbey," he said to his officers before the battle of the Nile. He was created a baron and rewarded with a pension of £2000; and when an opinion was expressed in the House of Commons that the rank should have been higher, Mr. Pitt answered, "That Admiral Nelson's fame would be coeval with the British name; and it would be remembered he had gained the greatest naval victory on record, when no man would think of asking whether he had been created a baron or an earl."

After the battle of Copenhagen, in which he took and destroyed the Danish fleet, he was raised in the peerage to the rank of viscount. Four years after came his great, his last, and crowning victory, at Trafalgar. Mortally wounded, he lived to know that the triumph was complete. The last guns fired at the flying enemy were heard just before he ex-pired, and his words were, "Thank God, I have done my duty!"

The patriotic devotion he manifested, and the heroic ardour he displayed, have had their reward in the enthusiasm which his splendid name gathers around it, and the veneration with which it is, and will long he, regarded by ail ranis and degrees of his countrymen.