Biographs

Colonist, Issue 20, 29 December 1857, Page 4

Biographs

NELSON.

_ (From Lamartine'a celebrated European Characters.) The hero whose history we are about to narrate; is an Englishman; he has gained the most memorable naval victories of modern times over our allies and ourselves; nevertheless we shaU render amp]e^ustice t6 his xalour and distinguished actions. The individual. historian may b^a patriot, but universal history admits no personal feeling. Precisely because it is universal, it ou^tto be rigidly impartial in awarding j the merit and glory which celebrated men j of different nations have won for themselves throughout all ages. It acknowledges neither cause, birth nor country, and bows only to heroism, genius and virtue. Written for the benefit of all humanity, it considers everything that advances human nature as an increase of civilisation. National rivalries disappear before the elevation from which history contemplates characters and events. Hannibal and. Scipio, the champions of Carthage and Rome, are measured in the same balance. Both are men; history requires no more; it paints each with the same pencil; it describes with equal warmth the exploits of one and the other, for the admiration of future ages. Glory resembles truth; it has no frontiers," but shines forth for general instruction. -Because Newton ascertained in England the/universal law of gravity, France does not reject the discovery as an anti-national fact. Newton, in this light, ceases to be an enemy, and becomes a fellow-countryman, an announcer of revelation to the universe. What is true of science is "equally so of heroism. We acknowledge both under every flag, and describe them when they fall in our way. Narrow national pride may be wounded, but the morev expanded love of human nature will be" glorified and exalted. Posterity makes no 1 distinctions between citizens and foreigners, friends and enemies, victors and vanquished; it acknowledges only works and actions. Death nationalises the whole world in one. blended immortality. We have thought it necessary- to prepare our French readers by tbjese 'preliminary, 16n the spirit 4 and object of the present narrative, before' wp| proceed tb draw the character of an enemy Jwho recalls painfully to our hearts' Aboukir and Trafalgar, those fatal Water-5 loos of the deep, in which our navy was annihilated, while our courage, constancy and - name rose in reputation. Amongst; the illustrious men who have filled the fore* mostf rank's in "national contests, we have always felt most interested and dazzled by herpes ' $ the sea. The immensity, the power, the motion, the terrible attributes of the element on which they combat, seem tcP elevate them above the standard of hu-i manity.'VTKis is not a "vain, imaginative delusion, but a just estimate of their glory., The"Tariety and extent of natural or acqu;ired faculties which must of necessity; be; janiteoTJn /this same individual to constitutel a greafnaval leader astonish the mind) and raise the jjerfect' sailor beyond all compari-i: son above \ordinary warriors. The latter require only the single firmness which.faces ■ fire, unmovjgd; the former must;be endowed: with thej^uble valour which equally braves deatK«M; the fury of the elements. But* the>self-rpossession which suffices on shore will hardly be found efficient on the ocean. All: tte resources ' of intelligence must be combined with courage in the chief who directs the manoeuvre or the broadside from the quarter-deck of an admiral's vessel, or any other man-of-war. He must be en-

dowed with science, to steer his course by the heavenly bodies; unwearied vigilance, to [.[ preserve his ships from storms, and quicksands; skill; in handling sails, which regulate the immense machine: like a mas-ter-key; prompt darings to rush into fire through tempest,5 to seek one death through another; self-possession, which dictates when to strike, or how to parry, the decisive: blow; devotedness, which rises under the .certainty; of destruction, and sacrifices a-ship to save the fleet; the ascendancy of a master-mind, which forces all to look for safety in a single voice; decision, which acts with the infallibility of inspiration; obedience, which yields up strong conviction -to superior authority; discipline, which bows to the equality of established laws; a jcalm aspect, with a beating heart, toinspire- confidence in inferiors; manly grace

iand dignity of demeanour, to preserve in the close intercourse of a crowded ship the prestige which generals on shore maintain by seclusion and reserve, and which naval commanders miist keep, up in hpurly and close communion: a prudent boldness in assuming the risk of responsibility in sudden Emergencies, when a moment or a mangeAivre may decide the fate of an empire. Disasters, \yhich cannot be foreseen or calculated ;-- "dark nights, which scatter the squadron; storms, which swallow up vessels; fires^ which consume them; currents, which run ihem aground; calms, which neutralise them;, rocks, which dash them in pieces,-— to Foresee, provide for, and endure all these contingencies, with- the stoicism of a mind tMt fights hand to hand with destiny; a narrow deck, with few witnesses, for the field of battle; a thankless glory, always ready to disappear, which is lost in a moment, and frequently never reaches the ears of your country; a death far distant from all you love, a coffin shrouded in the depths of ocean, or cast overboard as a fragment of shipwreck! This is an epitome of the sailor! a hundred dangers for a single ray of glory! ten heroes concentrated in a single man! Such were the great naval warriors of France,' of Spain, of England. Such was Nelson, the first and last of these Titans of the sea.