October 21, 1805.

Early on the morning of September 14th, Nelson reached Portsmouth, and having dispatched his business on shore, endeavoured to elude the populace by taking a by-way to the beach; but a crowd collected in his train, pressing forward to obtain a sight of his face. Many were in tears, and many knelt before him and blessed him as he passed.

England has had many heroes, but never one who so entirely possessed the love of his fellow-countrymen as Nelson. All men knew that his heart was as humane as it was fearless; that there was not in his nature the slightest alloy of selfishness or cupidity, but that, with perfect and entire devotion, he served his country with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength: and therefore they loved him as truly and as fervently as he loved England.

They pressed upon the parapet to gaze after him when his barge pushed off;and he returned their cheers by waving his hat. The sentinels, who endeavoured to prevent them from trespassing upon this ground, were wedged among the crowd;and an officer, who (not very prudently, upon such an occasion) ordered them to drive the people down with their bayonets, was compelled speedily to retreat; for the people would not be debarred from gazing till the last moment upon the hero— the darling hero of England!……

At daybreak, the combined fleets were distinctly seen from the Victory's deck, formed in a close line of battle ahead, on the starboard tack, about twelve miles to leeward, and standing to the south. Our fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates; theirs, of thirty-three and seven large frigates. Their superiority was greater in size and weight of metal than in numbers. They had four thousand troops on board; and the best riflemen that could be procured, many of them Tyrolese, were dispersed over the ships.

Soon after daylight Nelson came upon deck. The 21st of October was a festival in his family,because on that day his uncle,Captain Suckling,in the Dreadnought, with two other line-of-battle ships, had beaten off a French squadron of four sail of the line and three frigates. Nelson, with that sort of superstition from which few persons are entirely exempt, had more than once expressed his persuasion that this was to be the day of his battle also; and he was well pleased at seeing his prediction about to be verified.

The wind was now from the west, — light breezes, with a long, heavy swell. Signal was made to bear down upon the enemy in two lines; and the fleet set all sail. Collingwood, in the Royal Sovereign, led the lee line of thirteen ships; the Victory led the weather line of fourteen.Having seen that all was as it should be, Nelson retired to his cabin, and wrote the following prayer: —

“May the great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet! For myself individually, I commit my life to Him that made me; and may His blessing alight on my endeavours for serving my country faithfully. To Him I resign myself, and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen, amen, amen.”

Blackwood went on board the Victory about six.Nelson,certain of a triumphant issue to the day, asked him what he should consider as a victory. The officer answered, that, considering the handsome way in which battle was offered by the enemy, their apparent determination for a fair trial of strength, and the situation of the land, he thought it would be a glorious result if fourteen were captured. He replied, “I shall not be satisfied with fewer than twenty!”

Soon afterwards he asked him if he did not think there was a signal wanting. Captain Blackwood made answer, that he thought the whole fleet seemed very clearly to understand what they were about. These Words were scarcely spoken before that signal was made which will be remembered as long as the language, or even the memory of England, shall endure — Nelson's last signal: “ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN TO DO HIS DUTY!” It was received throughout the fleet with a shout of answering acclamation, made sublime by the spirit which it breathed and the feeling which it expressed. “Now,” said Lord Nelson, “I can do no more. We must trust to the Great Disposer of all events, and the justice of our cause. I thank God for this great opportunity of doing my duty.”

He wrote that day, as usual, his admiral's frock-coat, bearing on the left breast four stars of the different orders with which he was invested. Ornaments which rendered him so conspicuous a mark for the enemy, were beheld with ominous apprehensions by his officers. It was known that there were riflemen on board the French ships, and it could not be doubted that his life would be particularly aimed at.

They communicated their fears to each other; and the surgeon, Mr. Beatty, spoke to the chaplain, Dr. Scott, and to Mr. Scott the public secretary, desiring that some person would entreat him to change his dress, or cover the stars; but they knew that such a request would highly displease him. “In honour I gained them,”he had said when such a thing had been hinted to him formerly, “and in honour I will die with them.”

Nelson's column was steered about two points more to the north than Collingwood's, in order to cut off the enemy's escape into Cadiz; the lee line, therefore,was first engaged.“See!”cried Nelson,pointing to the Royal Sovereign, as she steered right for the centre of the enemy's line, cut through it astern of the Santa Anna three-decker, and engaged her at the muzzle of her guns on the starboard side, “see how that noble fellow, Collingwood, carries his ship into action!” Collingwood, delighted at being first in the heat of the fire, and knowing the feelings of his commander and old friend, turned to his captain and exclaimed,“Rotherham, what would Nelson give to be here! '’

The enemy continued to fire one gun at a time at the Victory, till they saw that a shot had passed through her main-top-gallant sail; then they opened their broadsides, aiming chiefly at her rigging, in the hope of disabling her before she could close with them. Nelson, as usual, had hoisted several flags, lest one should be shot away. The enemy showed no colours till late in the action, when they began to feel the necessity of having them to strike! For this reason the Santissima Trinidad, Nelson's old acquaintance, as he used to call her, was distinguishable only by her four decks; and to the bow of this opponent he ordered the Victory to be steered.

Meantime an incessant raking fire was kept up upon the Victory. The Admiral's secretary was one of the first who fell: he was killed by a cannon-shot while conversing with Hardy. Captain Adair of the marines, with the help of a sailor, endeavoured to remove the body from Nelson's sight, who had a great regard for Mr. Scott; but he anxiously asked, “Is that poor Scott that's gone?” and being informed that it was indeed so, exclaimed, “Poor fellow!” Presently a double-headed shot struck a party of marines, who were drawn up on the poop, and killed eight of them; upon which Nelson immediately desired Captain Adair to disperse his men round the ship, that they might not suffer so much from being together.

A few minutes afterwards, a shot struck the fore-brace bits on the quarter-deck, and passed between Nelson and Hardy, a splinter from the bit tearing off Hardy's buckle and bruising his foot. Both stopped, and looked anxiously at each other;each supposed the other to be wounded. Nelson then smiled and said, “This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long.”

The Victory had not yet returned a single gun;fifty of her men had been by this time killed or wounded, and her main-top-mast shot away, with all her studding-sails and her booms. Nelson declared that in all his battles he had seen nothing which surpassed the cool courage of his crew on this occasion. At four minutes after twelve she opened her fire from both sides of her deck.

It was not possible to break the enemy's line without running on board one of their ships. Hardy informed him of this, and asked him which he would prefer. Nelson replied, “Take your choice, Hardy; it does not signify much.” The master was ordered to put the helm to port,and the Victory ran on board the Redoubtable, just as her tiller-ropes were shot away. The French ship received her with a broadside, then instantly let down her lower deck ports, for fear of being boarded through them, and never afterwards tired a great gun during the action.

—Southey

Words

anxiously,concernedly,

apprehensions,fears.

bayonets,spears or swords fixed on guns.

communicated,conveyed.

conspicuous,prominent.

declared,asserted.

despatched,conceded.

determination,resolution.

dispersed,scattered.

distinguishable,recognizable.

engaged,in action.

entirely,completely.

entreat,beseech.

exempt,free.

fervently,warmly.

humane,merciful.

incessant,unceasing.

invested,decorated.

necessity,need.

ominous,boding evil.

persuasion,conviction.

prediction,prophecy.

predominant,over-ruling.

prudently,discreetly.

splinter,chip.

superiority,ascendency.

surpassed,excelled.

tarnish,sully.

triumphant,victorious.

understand,comprehend.

Questions

What was peculiar in the feeling of Englishmen towards Nelson? How was this shown at his last departure? What presentiment had Nelson regarding the day of the battle? Who commanded the lee line? What did Nelson do when all was ready? What was his last signal? How did Nelson make himself conspicuous? Why did none of his officers request him to avoid this?Who began the attack?To what vessel did Nelson order the Victory to be steered?How had she suffered before she opened her guns?Why was the Redoubtable attacked?With what effect?

1805年10月21日

九月十四日清晨，納爾遜到達樸次茅斯，并把他的部隊派遣到岸上，試圖以繞道去海灘的方式躲避開大眾的視線；但是在他乘坐的那次列車上，人群擁擠過來，人們急切地想看到他的臉，一直向前推壓。許多人都流下了眼淚，在他走過去的時候，還有許多人跪在他面前為他祝福。

英格蘭有很多英雄，但是沒有一個人像納爾遜這樣擁有自己同胞所有的愛。所有人都知道他的心是如此慈善和無畏；他的本性，甚至不摻雜一絲一毫的自私貪心。他服務(wù)于他的國家時，會付出他全部的心靈、所有的靈魂和他所有的力量，全心全意地獻身其中；因此人們愛他，正如他如此真摯而熱烈地愛著英格蘭一樣。

人群壓在護墻上注視著他，他勇敢地推開他們，揮舞著他的帽子，回敬他們的歡呼。那些試圖去阻止人群侵犯納爾遜的哨兵們，卻被擠在了人群之中；一個軍官命令哨兵用他們的刺刀驅(qū)趕人群（在這樣一個場合，這樣做不是很謹慎），人們被迫迅速退去，因為他們不想讓人群直到他生命的最后一刻還凝視著這位英雄——英格蘭親愛的英雄。

天亮?xí)r，人們可以從勝利號的甲板上清楚地看到聯(lián)合艦隊的蹤跡，形成之前的戰(zhàn)斗將要結(jié)束的陣勢。在右舷，約下風(fēng)口的12英里處，這些艦船面朝南方待命。我們的艦隊包括27艘帆船和4艘護衛(wèi)艦；敵方則擁有33艘帆船和7艘大型護衛(wèi)艦。然而他們在尺寸和載重量方面的優(yōu)勢，甚至比數(shù)量上的優(yōu)勢更大。他們有4000人的部隊駐扎在船上；還有當(dāng)時世界上最好的步兵，其中不乏許多提洛爾人也分散在船上。

天剛亮不久，納爾遜來到甲板上。十月二十一日是他家族的一個節(jié)日，因為在這一天，他的叔叔薩克靈上校在無畏戰(zhàn)艦上，與其他兩艘艦船一起，打敗了法國的四支帆船中隊和三支護衛(wèi)艦中隊。納爾遜具有某種迷信的思想（然而，很少有人是完全不相信這種迷信的），他曾不止一次表達了他的意愿：這一天也可能會成為他戰(zhàn)斗勝利的一天；而且他興奮地等待著事實來驗證他的預(yù)言。

現(xiàn)在海風(fēng)從西方吹來，掀起一片持續(xù)的大浪。信號沖向了敵人的兩條戰(zhàn)線；艦隊揚起了所有的帆。皇家君主號艦上的科林伍德率領(lǐng)13艘艦船；勝利號率領(lǐng)十四艘艦船?？吹揭磺卸荚诎床烤桶嗟剡M行，納爾遜回到自己的小屋，寫下了以下的禱告：“愿我所崇拜的偉大的神，為了整個歐洲的利益，賜予我的國家一次偉大的、光榮的勝利；并保佑沒有任何一個不當(dāng)行為可以玷污它；將勝利賜予英國艦隊！至于我個人，讓我將我的生命托付給創(chuàng)造我的主，愿他祝福我為了服務(wù)于我的國家而進行的忠誠的努力。我愿服從于他，愿服從于我有責(zé)任去為之努力的正義事業(yè)。阿門，阿門，阿門?！?

布萊克伍德于大約6點登上了勝利號。納爾遜堅信這一天他會有所建樹，就問他什么才是勝利。這名士官回答說，考慮到敵軍如此漂亮的戰(zhàn)斗方法以及他們對雙方力量獲得公平對抗和占領(lǐng)這片土地的明顯決心，他認為，如果擊毀敵人的14艘船，這將是一個光榮的結(jié)果。他回答說：“少于20艘，我都不會滿意！”

不久之后，納爾遜問他，是否覺得現(xiàn)在的希望還不明顯。布萊克伍德上?；卮鹫f，他認為整個艦隊似乎非常清楚地了解他們將要做什么。他剛說完這些話，納爾遜就發(fā)出了最后一個信號：“英格蘭期待每個人各盡其責(zé)！”只要語言和英格蘭的記憶一直存在，這些話都將被人們永遠銘記。接受這一信號，整個艦隊的將士們都歡呼喝彩，因為它傳達出來的精神和表達出來的感情是如此崇高?！艾F(xiàn)在，”納爾遜爵士說，“我能做的只有這些了。我們必須相信所有事件的巨大推助力，還有我們事業(yè)的正義性。感謝上帝，給我這么好的機會，讓我完成我的責(zé)任?！?

在他寫下這些話的那一天，像往常一樣，他穿著海軍上將的外套，在左胸位置上佩戴的四顆星承載著他不同階段的責(zé)任。一個敵軍標記的飾品使他顯得如此引人注目，看見它的軍官們都會產(chǎn)生一種不祥的憂慮。眾所周知，在法國的艦船上有眾多步兵，而毫無疑問的是，他們會特別瞄準納爾遜。

他們把他們的擔(dān)心互相告知；外科醫(yī)生比提先生告訴納爾遜的秘書斯科特博士，希望有人能勸他脫掉他的衣服，或遮蓋住那些顯示出軍銜的星星；但他們知道，這樣的要求會使他特別不高興。“為了紀念我獲得它們，”當(dāng)有人暗示他脫掉衣服或遮蓋住徽章時，他這樣說道，“我會以死來紀念它們”。

為了切斷敵人通往加的斯的退路，納爾遜的縱隊轉(zhuǎn)向比科林伍德的艦隊更向北兩度；因此，艦隊的背線第一次參與到其中。這時，皇家君主號瞄準敵人的戰(zhàn)線，并轉(zhuǎn)向右方，切斷了圣安娜號尾部的三層甲板，并將槍口對準敵艦的右舷。納爾遜指著皇家君主號喊道：“看！看我們的同伴多么英勇！科林伍德帶領(lǐng)他的戰(zhàn)士們行動起來了！”

科林伍德在第一次開火后顯得格外興奮。他也知道他的指揮官和老朋友納爾遜正在試探，他轉(zhuǎn)向他的隊長喊道：“羅瑟漢姆，你看看納爾遜會干些什么！”

敵人繼續(xù)向勝利號瞄準射擊，直到他們的一次射擊穿過了位于勝利號頂端的一根桅桿。然后他們打開全部的舷側(cè)炮，瞄準勝利號最重要的繩索，希望她無法靠近自己。像往常一樣，納爾遜的身上懸掛了幾個標志，他害怕其中任何一個會被敵人射擊掉。在戰(zhàn)斗中敵人一直沒能給英國的艦隊造成威脅，因此后來他們開始覺得有必要放棄進攻！為此，納爾遜很早就熟悉的一艘艦船特立尼達號，正如他曾經(jīng)描述她的那樣，只有四層甲板是比較顯眼的；繼而，他命令勝利號掉頭轉(zhuǎn)向敵船的船首部位。

同時，敵軍也不斷向勝利號掃射。將軍的秘書斯科特是最早倒下的人之一：他是在與哈代的交談中被炮彈擊中身亡的。在一個水手的幫助下，海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊隊長阿代爾努力把尸體從納爾遜的視線中移開。斯科特曾非常敬重納爾遜。納爾遜不斷焦急地問：“那可憐的斯科特犧牲了嗎？”在被告知事實如此時，他叫道：“可憐的家伙！”此時，雙頭槍的炮彈擊中了海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊的隊員，并奪去了他們之中八個人的性命?；诖耍{爾遜命令阿代爾上校立即將他的戰(zhàn)士分散在船上的不同位置，這樣他們可能就不會遭受如此慘重的人員傷亡。

幾分鐘之后，一發(fā)子彈穿過納爾遜和哈代之間，打在了甲板前部的支撐位置上。碎片一下子把哈代的搭扣撕了下來并且擦傷了他的腳。兩個人都停了下來，神情焦急地看著對方，擔(dān)心對方受傷。然后納爾遜笑著說：“這激烈的戰(zhàn)斗，哈代會持續(xù)很長時間?！?

勝利號沒有做出任何回擊。到目前為止，船上有五十人在這次戰(zhàn)斗中死的死傷的傷。船的中桅連同船的所有帆桁全被射中。納爾遜宣布，在他一生所經(jīng)歷的所有戰(zhàn)斗中，他從未看到過哪一次的將士們擁有超過今天他的船員們這般的勇氣。12點零4分，勝利號開始從她的甲板兩側(cè)對準敵軍開火。

如果不登上敵人的一艘艦船，就根本不可能突破敵人的防線。哈代告訴納爾遜這一點，問他傾向于怎樣進行下一步行動。納爾遜說：“你自己選擇，哈代；這并不重要?！贝L下令駛向港口，當(dāng)她的分蘗繩索被打掉時，勝利號的船員們登上了敬畏號。英軍的將士們?nèi)康巧狭诉@艘法國艦船，然后由于害怕敵人再次從這里登船，他們立即放下了她的下甲板。而在整場戰(zhàn)斗中，他們從未嘗試向后方射擊。

——騷塞