cowardly in him to leave Nelson to bear the whole shame of the failure,

if shame it should be deemed." Under, a mistaken judgment, therefore,
but with this disinterested and generous feeling, he made the signal for

retreat.
Nelson was at this time, in all the excitement" target="_blank" title="n.兴奋；骚动；煽动">excitement of action, pacing the

quarter-deck. A shot through the mainmast knocked the splinters about;
and he observed to one of his officers with a smile, "It is warm work,

and this day may be the last to any of us at a moment:"--and then
stopping short at the gangway, added, with emotion--"But mark you! I

would not be elsewhere for thousands." About this time the signal-
lieutenant called out that number Thirty-nine (the signal for

discontinuing the action) was thrown out by the Commander-in-Chief. He
continued to walk the deck, and appeared to take no notice of it. The

signal officer met him at the next turn, and asked if he should repeat
it. "No," he replied, "acknowledge it." Presently he called after him to

know if the signal for close action was still hoisted; and being
answered in the affirmative, said, "Mind you keep it so." He now paced

the deck, moving the stump of his lost arm in a manner which always
indicated great emotion. "Do you know," said he to Mr. Ferguson, "what

is shown on board the Commander-in-Chief? Number Thirty-nine!" Mr.
Ferguson asked what that meant. "Why, to leave off action!" Then

shrugging up his shoulders, he repeated the words--"Leave off action?
Now, damn me if I do! You know, Foley," turning to the captain, "I have

only one eye,--I have a right to be blind sometimes:" and then
putting the glass to his blind eye, in that mood of mind which sports

with bitterness, he exclaimed, "I really do not see the signal!"
Presently he exclaimed, "Damn the signal! Keep mine for closer battle

flying! That's the way I answer signals! Nail mine to the mast!" Admiral
Graves, who was so situated that he could not discern what was done on

board the ELEPHANT, disobeyed Sir Hyde's signal in like manner; whether
by fortunate mistake, or by a like brave intention, has not been made

known. The other ships of the line, looking only to Nelson, continued
the action. The signal, however, saved Riou's little squadron, but did

not save its heroic leader. This squadron, which was nearest the
Commander-in-Chief, obeyed and hauled off. It had suffered severely in

its most unequalcontest. For a long time the AMAZON had been firing,
enveloped in smoke, when Riou desired his men to stand fast, and let the

smoke clear off, that they might see what they were about. A fatal
order--for the Danes then got clear sight of her from the batteries,

and pointed their guns with such tremendous effect that nothing but the
signal for retreat saved this frigate from destruction. "What will

Nelson think of us?" was Riou's mournfulexclamation when he unwillingly
drew off. He had been wounded in the head by a splinter, and was sitting

on a gun, encouraging his men, when, just as the AMAZON showed her stern
to the Trekroner battery, his clerk was killed by his side; and another

shot swept away several marines who were hauling in the main-brace.
"Come, then, my boys!" cried Riou; "let us die all together!" The words

had scarcely been uttered before a raking shot cut him in two. Except it
had been Nelson himself, the British navy could not have suffered a

severer loss.
The action continued along the line with unabated vigour on our side,

and with the most determined resolution on the part of the Danes. They
fought to great advantage, because most of the vessels in their line of

defence were without masts; the few which had any standing had their
top-masts struck, and the hulls could not be seen at intervals. The ISIS

must have been destroyed by the superior weight of her enemy's fire, if
Captain Inman, in the DESIREE frigate, had not judiciously taken a

situation which enabled him to rake the Dane, if the POLYPHEMUS had not
also relieved her. Both in the BELLONA and the ISIS many men were lost

by the bursting of their guns. The former ship was about forty years
old, and these guns were believed to be the same which she had first

taken to sea: they were, probably, originallyfaulty, for the fragments
were full of little air-holes. The BELLONA lost 75 men; the ISIS, 110;

the MONARCH, 210. She was, more than any other line-of-battle ship,
exposed to the great battery; and supporting, at the same time, the

united fire of the HOLSTEIN and the ZEALAND, her loss this day exceeded
that of any single ship during the whole war. Amid the tremendous

carnage in this vessel, some of the men displayed a singularinstance of
coolness: the pork and peas happened to be in the kettle; a shot knocked

its contents about; they picked up the pieces, and ate and fought at the
same time.

The Prince-Royal had taken his station upon one of the batteries,
from whence he beheld the action and issued his orders. Denmark had

never been engaged in so arduous a contest, and never did the Danes more
nobly display their national courage--a courage not more unhappily than

impolitically exerted in subserviency to the interests of France.
Captain Thura, of the INDFOEDSRETTEN, fell early in the action; and all

his officers, except one lieutenant and one marine officer, were either
killed or wounded In the confusion, the colours were either struck or

shot away; but she was moored athwart one of the batteries in such a
situation that the British made no attempt to board her; and a boat was

despatched to the prince, to inform him of her situation. He turned to
those about him, and said, "Gentlemen, Thura is killed; which of you

will take the command?" Schroedersee, a captain who had lately resigned
on account of extreme ill-health, answered in a feeble voice, "I will!"

and hastened on board. The crew, perceiving a new commander coming
alongside, hoisted their colours again, and fired a broadside.

Schroedersee, when he came on deck, found himself surrounded by the
dead and wounded, and called to those in the boat to get quickly on

board: a ball struck him at that moment. A lieutenant, who had
accompanied him, then took the command, and continued to fight the ship.

A youth of seventeen, by name Villemoes, particularly distinguished
himself on this memorable day. He had volunteered to take the command of

a floating battery, which was a raft, consisting merely of a number of
beams nailed together, with a flooring to support the guns: it was

square, with a breast-work full of port-holes, and without masts--
carrying twenty-four guns, and one hundred and twenty men. With this he

got under the stern of the ELEPHANT, below the reach of the stern-
chasers; and under a heavy fire of small-arms from the marines, fought

his raft, till the truce was announced, with such skill as well as
courage, as to excite Nelson's warmest admiration.

Between one and two the fire of the Danes slackened; about two it
ceased from the greater part of their line, and some of their lighter

ships were adrift. It was, however, difficult to take possession of
those which struck, because the batteries on Amak Island protected them;

and because an irregular fire was kept up from the ships themselves as
the boats approached. This arose from the nature of the action: the

crews were continually reinforced from the shore; and fresh men coming
on board, did not inquire whether the flag had been struck, or, perhaps,

did not heed it; many or most of them never having been engaged in war
before--knowing nothing, therefore, of its laws, and thinking only of

defending their country to the last extremity. The DANBROG fired upon
the ELEPHANT's boats in this manner, though her commodore had removed

her pendant and deserted her, though she had struck, and though she was
in flames. After she had been abandoned by the commodore, Braun fought

her till he lost his right hand, and then Captain Lemming took the
command. This unexpected renewal of her fire made the ELEPHANT and

GLATTON renew theirs, till she was not only silenced, but nearly every
man in the praams, ahead and astern of her, was killed. When the smoke

of their guns died away, she was seen drifting in flames before the
wind: those of her crew who remained alive, and able to exert

themselves, throwing themselves out at her port-holes. Captain Bertie
of the ARDENT sent his launch to their assistance, and saved three-and-

twenty of them.
Captain Rothe commanded the NYEBORG praam; and perceiving that she

could not much longer be kept afloat, made for the inner road. As he
passed the line, he found the AGGERSHUUS praam in a more miserable

condition than his own; her masts had all gone by the board, and she was
on the point of sinking. Rothe made fast a cable to her stern, and towed

her off; but he could get her no further than a shoal called Stubben,
when she sunk, and soon after he had worked the NYEBORG up to the

landing-place, that vessel also sunk to her gunwale. Never did any
vessel come out of action in a more dreadfulplight. The stump of her

foremast was the only stick standing; her cabin had been stove in; every
gun, except a single one, was dismounted; and her deck was covered with

shattered limbs and dead bodies.
By half-past two the action had ceased along that part of the line

which was astern of the ELEPHANT, but not with the ships ahead and the