Sir Hyde; and the next day addressed a letter to him, worthy of himself

and of the occasion. Mr. Vansittart's report had then been received. It
represented the Danish government as in the highest degree hostile, and

their state of preparation as exceeding what our cabinet had supposed
possible; for Denmark had profited with all activity of the leisure

which had so impoliticly been given her. "The more I have reflected,"
said Nelson to his commander, "the more I am confirmed in opinion, that

not a moment should be lost in attacking the enemy. They will every day
and every hour be stronger; we shall never be so good a match for them

as at this moment. The only consideration is, how to get at them with
the least risk to our ships. Here you are, with almost the safety,

certainly with the honour of England, more entrusted to you than ever
yet fell to the lot of any British officer. On your decision depends

whether our country shall be degraded in the eyes of Europe, or whether
she shall rear her head higher than ever. Again, I do repeat, never did

our country depend so much upon the success of any fleet as on this. How
best to honour her and abate the pride of her enemies, must be the

subject of your deepest consideration."
Supposing him to force the passage of the Sound, Nelson thought some

damage might be done among the masts and yards; though, perhaps, not one
of them but would be serviceable again. "If the wind be fair," said he,

"and you determined to attack the ships and Crown Islands, you must
expect the natural issue of such a battle-- ships crippled, and perhaps

one or two lost for the wind which carries you in will most probably not
bring out a crippled ship. This mode I call taking the bull by the

horns. It, however, will not prevent the Revel ships, or the Swedes,
from joining the Danes and to prevent this is, in my humble opinion, a

measure absolutely necessary, and still to attack Copenhagen." For this
he proposed two modes. One was to pass Cronenburg, taking the risk of

danger; take the deepest and straightest channel along the middle
grounds, and then coming down to Garbar, or King's Channel, attack the

Danish line of floating batteries and ships as might be found
convenient. This would prevent a junction, and might give an opportunity

of bombarding Copenhagen. Or to take the passage of the Belt, which
might be accomplished in four or five days; and then the attack by Draco

might be made, and the junction of the Russians prevented. Supposing
them through the Belt, he proposed that a detachment of the fleet should

be sent to destroy the Russian squadron at Revel; and that the business
at Copenhagen should be attempted with the remainder. "The measure," he

said, "might be thought bold; but the boldest measures are the safest."
The pilots, as men who had nothing but safety to think of, were

terrified by the formidable report of the batteries of Elsinore, and the
tremendous preparations which our negotiators, who were now returned

from their fruitless mission, had witnessed. They, therefore, persuaded
Sir Hyde to prefer the passage of the Belt. "Let it be by the Sound, by

the Belt, or anyhow," cried Nelson,"only lose not an hour!" On the 26th
they sailed for the Belt. Such was the habitual reserve of Sir Hyde that

his own captain, the captain of the fleet, did not know which course he
had resolved to take till the fleet were getting under weigh. When

Captain Domett was thus apprised of it, he felt it his duty to represent
to the admiral his belief that if that course were persevered in, the

ultimate object would be totally defeated: it was liable to long delays,
and to accidents of ships grounding; in the whole fleet there were only

one captain and one pilot who knew anything of this formidable passage
(as it was then deemed), and their knowledge was very slight--their

instructions did not authorise them to attempt it. Supposing them safe
through the Belts, the heavy ships could not come over the GROUNDS to

attack Copenhagen; and light vessels would have no effect on such a line
of defence as had been prepared against them. Domett urged these reasons

so forcibly that Sir Hyde's opinion was shaken, and he consented to
bring the fleet to and send for Nelson on board. There can be little

doubt but that the expedition would have failed if Captain Domett had
not thus timeously and earnestly given his advice. Nelson entirely

agreed with him; and it was finally determined to take the passage of
the Sound, and the fleet returned to its former anchorage.

The next day was more idly expended in despatching a flag of truce to
the governor of Cronenburg Castle, to ask whether he had received orders

to fire at the British fleet; as the admiral must consider the first gun
to be a declaration of war on the part of Denmark. A soldier-like and

becoming answer was returned to this formality. The governor said that
the British minister had not been sent away from Copenhagen, but had

obtained a passport at his own demand. He himself, as a soldier, could
not meddle with politics; but he was not at liberty to suffer a fleet,

of which the intention was not yet known, to approach the guns of the
castle which he had the honour to command: and he requested, "if the

British admiral should think proper to make any proposals to the King of
Denmark, that he might be apprised of it before the fleet approached

nearer." During this intercourse, a Dane, who came on board the
commander's ship, having occasion to express his business in writing,

found the pen blunt; and, holding it up, sarcastically said, "If your
guns are not better pointed than your pens, you will make little

impression on Copenhagen!"
On that day intelligence reached the admiral of the loss of one of

his fleet, the INVINCIBLE, seventy-four, wrecked on a sand-bank, as she
was coming out of Yarmouth: four hundred of her men perished in her.

Nelson, who was now appointed to lead the van, shifted his flag to the
ELEPHANT, Captain Foley--a lighter ship than the ST. GEORGE, and, there-

fore, fitter for the expected operations. The two following days were
calm. Orders had been given to pass the Sound as soon as the wind would

permit; and, on the afternoon of the 29th, the ships were cleared for
action, with an alacrity characteristic of British seamen. At daybreak

on the 30th it blew a topsail breeze from N.W. The signal was made, and
the fleet moved on in order of battle; Nelson's division in the van, Sir

Hyde's in the centre, and Admiral Graves' in the rear.
Great actions, whether military or naval, have generally given

celebrity to the scenes from whence they are denominated; and thus petty
villages, and capes and bays known only to the coasting trader, become

associated with mighty deeds, and their names are made conspicuous in
the history of the world. Here, however, the scene was every way worthy

of the drama. The political importance of the Sound is such, that grand
objects are not needed there to impress the imagination; yet is the

channel full of grand and interesting objects, both of art and nature.
This passage, which Denmark had so long considered as the key of the

Baltic, is, in its narrowest part, about three miles wide; and here the
city of Elsinore is situated; except Copenhagen, the most flourishing of

the Danish towns. Every vessel which passes lowers her top-gallant sails
and pays toll at Elsinore; a toll which is believed to have had its

origin in the consent of the traders to that sea, Denmark taking upon
itself the charge of constructing lighthouses, and erecting signals, to

mark the shoals and rocks from the Cattegat to the Baltic; and they, on
their part, agreeing that all ships should pass this way in order that

all might pay their shares: none from that time using the passage of
the Belt, because it was not fitting that they who enjoyed the benefit

of the beacons in dark and stormy weather, should evade contributing to
them in fair seasons and summer nights. Of late years about ten thousand

vessels had annually paid this contribution in time of peace. Adjoining
Elsinore, and at the edge of the peninsular promontory, upon the nearest

point of land to the Swedish coast, stands Cronenburgh Castle, built
after Tycho Brahe's design; a magnificent pile--at once a palace, and

fortress, and state-prison, with its spires, and towers, and
battlements, and batteries. On the left of the strait is the old Swedish

city of Helsinburg, at the foot, and on the side of a hill. To the north
of Helsinburg the shores are steep and rocky; they lower to the south;

and the distant spires of Lanscrona, Lund, and Malmoe are seen in the
flat country. The Danish shores consist partly of ridges of sand; but

more frequently they are diversified with cornfields, meadows, slopes,
and are covered with rich wood, and villages, and villas, and summer

palaces belonging to the king and the nobility, and denoting the
vicinity of a great capital. The isles of Huen, Statholm, and Amak,

appear in the widening channel; and at the distance of twenty miles from
Elsinore stands Copenhagen in full view; the best city of the north, and

one of the finest capitals of Europe, visible, with its stately spires,
far off. Amid these magnificent objects there are some which possess a

peculiar interest for the recollections which they call forth. The isle
of Huen, a lovely domain, about six miles in circumference, had been the