The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 1Harrison, James
History
The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 1
Harrison, James
Admirals -- Great Britain -- Biography; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Biography; Nelson, Horatio Nelson, Viscount, 1758-1805
On the 1st of August, at noon, they had the happiness to descry the port
of Alexandria; with an aspect, however, far different from what it had
before presented to their disappointed view. They perceived, with
delight, that it now appeared filled with ships; and had, soon, the
undescribable transport to behold the French flag flying on board
several of them. A tumult of joy animated every bosom in the British
squadron, at sight of the enemy. The humblest individual felt himself a
hero; and had a great right so to feel, since every individual was
eagerly prepared to risque his life for the safety and glory of his king
and country. The brave admiral was calm, but no mortal can convey to
another the sense of ineffable delight which glowed in every fibre of
his frame. The bliss of his bosom, at this impressive moment, was that
of extatic perfection; for, it admitted not the smallest doubt of
success. His calmness was the result of his piety; for his noble heart
was pouring forth to Heaven the sacred effusions of gratitude,
anticipatory of the glorious conquest which he was about to prove the
honoured medium of atchieving. This perfection of bliss is felt but by a
few favoured mortals, and with none will it consent to abide. That it
was, for a moment, felt by the immortal Nelson, when he first beheld the
French fleet, a due consideration of his entire character, so powerfully
presses on the mind of his biographer, that he cannot resist the
temptation to tender it as an assumed fact.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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