their fourth ship, which became the “Minotaur’s” antagonist, had for a measurable time been able to combine her batteries with those of the “Spartiate” upon the “Vanguard,” and to this was probably due that the loss of the latter was next in severity to that of the “Majestic” and of the “Bellerophon.”  The inference is further supported by the fact that the worst slaughter in the “Vanguard” was at the forward guns, those nearest the “Aquilon.”

After his wound was bound up, Nelson was requested by the surgeon to lie quiet; but his preoccupation with the events of the evening was too great, and his responsibility too immediate, to find relief in inactivity,—­the physician’s panacea.  He remained below for a while, probably too much jarred for physical exertion; but his restlessness sought vent by beginning a despatch to the Admiralty.  The secretary being too agitated to write, Nelson tried to do so himself, and it was characteristic that the few lines he was then able to trace, blinded, suffering, and confused, expressed that dependence upon the Almighty, habitual with him, which illustrated a temperament of so much native energy and self-reliance, and is more common, probably, among great warriors than in any other class of men of action.  This first outburst of emotion, excited in him by the tremendous event wrought by his hands, was identical in spirit, and not improbably was clothed in the same words, as those with which began the despatch actually sent:  “Almighty God has blessed His Majesty’s arms.”

While Nelson lay thus momentarily disabled, important events were transpiring, over which, however, he could have exerted no control.  It has been mentioned that the “Culloden” was seven miles to the northward and westward of the fleet, when the French were first discovered.  Doing her best, it was impossible to reach the main body before it stood down into action, and the day had closed when the ship neared the shoal.  Keeping the lead going, and proceeding with caution, though not with the extreme care which led Hood and Nelson to make so wide a sweep, Troubridge had the mishap to strike on the tail of the shoal, and there the ship stuck fast, pounding heavily until the next morning.  The fifty-gun ship “Leander” went to her assistance, as did the brig “Mutine,” but all efforts to float her proved vain.  Meanwhile the “Alexander” and “Swiftsure” were coming up from the southwest, the wind being so scant that they could barely pass to windward of the reef, along whose northwestern edge they were standing.  The “Alexander,” in fact, was warned by the lead that she was running into danger, and had to tack.  As they approached, Troubridge, by lantern and signal, warned them off the spot of his disaster, thus contributing to save these ships, and, by removing doubt, accelerating their entrance into action.  As they rounded the stranded “Culloden,” the “Leander” was also dismissed from a hopeless task, and followed them to the scene of battle.