mote parts of the columns had reduced the great odds against which the leading line-of-battle ships had at first to contend, the wonted superiority of the English soon became apparent. Before three o'clock ten ships of the line had struck. The fire on the poop of the Victory from the tops of the Redoubtable was so tremendous, that for a time it was almost deserted, upon which the French made a vigorous attempt to board; but they were quickly repulsed by the crew of the English vessel rushing up from below and engaging them at the muzzles of the muskets; and shortly after, the Temeraire having wafted nearer, poured in her whole broadside upon her crowded decks with such effect that two hundred men were swept away by the discharge. By degrees, however, the marksmen in the tops of the Redoubtable were picked off by the Victory's marines, and at length her whole masts and rigging fell across the Temeraire's bows, which, forming a bridge of communication between the two combatants, she was boarded and taken possession of by the crew. of the English vessel, which thus had the glory of capturing an antagonist on the right and on the left. Never had a ship been more gallantly defended: out of six hundred and fortythree men who composed her crew, only five-and-thirty reached the English shores. Shortly after the Bucentaur, which had never recovered the first broadside of the Victory, struck her colours, with Villeneuve on board, and the masts of the Santissima Trinidada, which had been exposed to a tremendous raking fire from the Victory, Neptune, Leviathan, and Conqueror, fell with a tremendous crash, and she was taken possession of when wholly disabled by a boat from the Prince.

While victory was thus every where declaring for the British arms, Nelson was lying in the cockpit, in the utmost anxiety to hear the details of the battle. As Captain Hardy could not for above an hour leave the deck, he repeatedly exclaimed, “Will no one bring Hardy to me? He must be killed he is surely dead." At length he came down: they Hardy in vain strove to suppress

shook hands in silence.

his feelings at that painful moment.

66

Well, Hardy," said

Nelson, "how goes the day with us?” Very well," replied Hardy; "ten ships have struck, but five of the van have tacked, and are coming down upon the Victory; but I have called two or three fresh ships round, and have no doubt we shall give them a drubbing." "I hope," said Nelson, "none of our ships have struck?" "There is no fear of that," re

:

plied Hardy. "I am a dead man," then said Nelson; "I am going fast it will be all over with me soon." Hardy then went up to the deck, but returned in about fifty minutes, and taking Nelson by the hand, congratulated him, even in the arms of death, on his glorious victory; adding that fourteen or fifteen of the enemy were taken. "That's well," replied Nelson; "but I bargained for twenty;" and then, in a stronger voice, added, "Anchor, Hardy, anchor. Do you make the signal. Kiss me, Hardy," said he. Hardy knelt down and kissed his cheek. "Now I am satisfied," said Nelson; "thank God, I have done my duty." His articulation now became difficult; but he was repeatedly heard to say, “Thank God, I have done my duty," and expired at half past four without a groan, leaving a name unrivalled, even in the glorious annals of the English navy.

The combined fleet now presented the most melancholy spectacle. In every direction were to be seen only floating wrecks or dismantled hulks. The proud armament, late so splendid, was riddled, shattered, and torn by shot. Guns of distress were heard on all sides, and in every quarter the British boats were to be seen hastening to the vessels which had surrendered, to extricate their crews from their perilous situation. Twenty ships of the line had struck, with Villeneuve, the commander-in-chief, and the Spanish admirals, Alava and Cisneros. One of them, the Achille, of seventyfour guns, had blown up after she surrendered; but nineteen ships of the line, including two first-rates, the Santissima Trinidada, of one hundred and thirty guns, and Santa Ana, of one hundred and twelve, were in the hands of the British and lay in mingled confusion alongside of their redoubtable

conquerors. In this extremity Admiral Gravina, with nine ships of the line, forming the van of the combined fleet, stood away for Cadiz; and Admiral Dumanoir, with four French ships, took to flight, pouring his broadsides, as he passed, not only into the British ships, but the Spanish prizes which had struck their colours: a circumstance which, although probably unavoidable, from the confused way in which friend and foe were intermingled, contributed not a little to augment the irritation between the two nations which this terrible disaster could not fail to produce. The British ships were too much occupied in taking care of their numerous prizes to be able to give chase; and Dumanoir stood out to the northward and got clear off, only, however, to fall into the hands of another squadron, and ultimately reach a British harbour.-ALISON.

N the middle ages, the belief was prevalent that particular individuals were gifted with supernatural powers, as instruments of a higher will, which explains the extraordinary character and conduct of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. After the death of Charles VI. king of France, in 1422, Henry VI. of England then a child of nine months old, was proclaimed king of France, according to the treaty of Troyes (1420;) his uncle, the duke of Bedford, acted as regent. France had been distracted for forty-two years, by civil dissensions. On one side were Queen Isabella, the duke of Burgundy, and England; on the other, the dauphin, Charles, who had been abandoned by his own mother, was supported by the Orleans party. This division, and the talents of the English generals, the earls of Somerset, Warwick, Salisbury, Suffolk, Arundel, Talbot, and Fastolfe, had reduced nearly all France to the dominion of England. The dauphin, a youth of nineteen, was crowned at

Poictiers as King Charles VII. He possessed many qualities proper for interesting his countrymen in his favour, and was wanting only in firmness and resolution. Still he maintained himself in France for the space of seven years. At length Bourges, and the territory belonging to it, were nearly all that remained to him. Paris, and the north of France, as far as the Loire, were in possession of the English. Salisbury had been besieging Orleans since October 12, 1428. The city was bravely defended by Gaucour. Its fall would have ruined the cause of Charles. In the valleys of the Vosges, on the old frontiers of Lorraine, in the village of Domremy la Pucelle (q. v.), on the banks of the Meuse, lived a peasant girl, Jeanne d'Arc, whose parents were common country people of reputable character, and in good circumstances for their station. In the midst of timid and superstitious persons, who were in continual trouble and alarm at the misfortunes of their country, Joan was quietly occupied in domestic employments, and sometimes in driving the cattle to pasture. Her history has been very minutely traced. The third volume of the Notices and Extracts from Manuscripts in the library of the king, by De l'Averdy (Paris, 1790, 4to), contains whatever is important respecting her, taken from twenty-eight manuscripts relating to her trial and condemnation. She was of a delicate frame, and uncommon sensibility of temperament. This, perhaps, was heightened by the circumstance of her being exempt from the common law of her sex; and Dufresnoy has remarked how this circumstance and her spirit of devotion may account for her visions. Her enthusiasm, and her habits of solitary meditation, explain the angelic voices and visions of the maid. While her companions were sporting beneath the Fairies' tree, the beautiful May (le beau Mai au l'arbre des fees,) not far from the fountain of Domremy-a tree which was once sacred to the Druids, and famous in many a ghostly tale-Joan was singing and dancing by herself, in pious enthusiasm, and binding garlands for the holy virgin, in the little chapel of "our Lady of Bellemonte," which she usually visited on Saturday. She was never a