"Secondly, The British fleet under my command could never have returned the second time to Egypt, had not Lady Hamilton's influence with the Queen of Naples caused letters to be wrote to the Governor of Syracuse, that he was to encourage the fleet being supplied with every thing, should they put into any port in Sicily. We put into Syracuse, and received every supply; went to Egypt, and destroyed the French fleet.
"Could I have rewarded these services, I would not now call upon my country! But, as that has not been in my power, I leave Emma Hamilton, therefore, a legacy to my King and Country; that they will give her an ample provision, to maintain her rank in life.
"I also leave to the beneficence of my country, my adopted daughter, Horatia Nelson Thompson; and I desire she will use, in future, the name of Nelson only.
"These are the only favours I ask of my King and Country, at this moment, when I am going to fight their battle.
"May God bless my King and Country, and all those I hold dear! My relations it is needless to mention; they will, of course, be amply provided for.
"Nelson and Bronte."
"Witness,
Henry Blackwood,
T.M. Hardy."
This solemn call on his country can require no comment. Woe to the nation, which could dare to neglect such strong claims on it's justice and beneficence! The proverbial generosity of Britons will, no doubt, in due time, bountifully display it's accustomed munificence in favour of the parties.
The Honourable Captain Blackwood, who is a subscribing witness to the above codicil, after watching the enemy all night, had got on board the Victory about seven in the morning: and, with Captain, Capel, of the Phoebe; and Captain Prowse, of the Sirius; remained several hours in consultation with Lord Nelson. When his lordship became convinced, that the enemy could not possibly avoid an engagement, he displayed the highest degree of animation. Confident of victory, he said to Captain Hardy, and the other officers by whom he was surrounded—"They cannot now escape us! I think, we shall, at least, make sure of twenty of them. I may, probably, lose a leg; but that will be cheaply purchasing a victory." However, it is an undoubted fact, that when the Honourable Captain Blackwood, in taking leave of his lordship, previous to the action, observed that, he hoped they should, in a few hours, meet again; the hero replied, in a firm tone—"My dear Blackwood, I shall never again speak to you!" This was no sentiment of despondency, but a strong sense of the danger to be apprehended from so unequal a contest. The enemy's line consisting of thirty-three ships, eighteen of which were French, and fifteen Spanish; and the British fleet only twenty-seven: and, by the advantage of size, as well as numbers, they had a superiority of about three hundred and fifty guns. Ten thousand of their choicest troops were also distributed throughout the fleet, to ensure success by boarding; and their ships were furnished with fire-balls and combustibles of every description, in the hope of setting our's on fire. The French were commanded, in chief, by Admiral Villeneuve; and not by Admiral Decrées, as Lord Nelson had lately supposed would be the case; with Rear-Admirals Dumanoir and Magon: The Spaniards, by Admiral Gravina, commander in chief; with Admirals Don Ignacio Morea D'Alva, Don Domingo Guadalharas, and Commodore Don Baltazar. The structure of the enemy's line was somewhat new, as well as the intended mode of attacking them. It formed a crescent, convexing to leeward: every alternate ship being about a cable's length to windward of it's second a-head and a-stern, so as to seem a kind of double-line; leaving between them, when on their beam, a very small interval, and this without crouding their ships. Admiral Villeneuve, in the Bucentaure, occupied the centre; and Admiral Gravina's flag was borne by the Prince of Asturias, in the rear: but the French and Spanish ships appear to have been mixed, without any regard to national arrangement.