this celebrated stronghold; and the number and vast strength of its military works, excite wonder and admiration. Numerous caverns and galleries, extending 2 or 3 miles in length, and of sufficient width for carriages, have been cut in the solid rock; forming safe and sheltered communications from one part of the garrison to another, without being exposed to the fire of an enemy in case of attack. Along these galleries, at intervals of 12 yards, are port-holes, bearing upon the neutral ground and bay; while trees, shrubs, and flowers of various kinds, have been planted at different points, both for ornament and utility. On the summit of the rock there are several barracks, towers, and fortresses, and the fortifications have been carefully strengthened at every vulnerable point. The total number of guns now mounted is said not to be less than 1000. Gibraltar surrendered to the British in 1704; and has since continued a brilliant appendage to the crown, although repeated attempts have been made to dispossess them of their conquest. The last and most important attack was made by the combined forces of France and Spain, in 1782-the operations were conducted on an extensive scale-the whole force by land and sea amounting to 100,000 men-a large army, aided by a fleet of 47 sail of the line, and 10 floating batteries, proof against shot and fire, assailed the fortress; but the incessant discharges of red-hot shot on the attacking forces, enabled the garrison, which was commanded by the consummate talent, and persevering fortitude of General Elliot, to defeat most signally this formidable combination-and Gibraltar yet remains the British "Key to the Mediterranean." "Imp. Gazeteer."

Horatio, Viscount Nelson, was born on Michaelmas day, 1758, in the parsonage house of Burnham Thorpe, a village in Norfolk, of which his father was the rector. In his thirteenth year he entered the navy as a midshipman, under his maternal uncle, Capt. Suckling, who, shortly afterwards being removed to another command, sent young Nelson on a voyage to the West Indies in a merchant ship. Upon his return he joined an expedition sent by the Admiralty on a voyage of discovery to the N. Pole, under the command of the Hon. Capt. Phipps. He was next placed by his uncle on board the Sea-Horse, of 20 guns, in the squadron of Sir Edward Hughes, bound for the East Indies. After a stay of about 18 months, his health was so enfeebled by the climate, that he was obliged to return home. In 1777 he passed his examination for a lieutenancy, received his commission, and set out for the West Indies, where our trade was harassed by American and French privateers. In 1779 he was made a post-captain; his promotion had been rapid, he was now 21, and all the honours of the service were within his reach. In 1782 he was ordered to Quebec, and while upon that station under Admiral Digby, he had a narrow escape from the French. Nelson's professional merit was well known at this period even, and, at his own request, through the influence of Lord Hood, he was sent to the West Indies, "the station for honour." In 1784, he was appointed to the Boreas of 28 guns, going to the leeward islands as a cruiser. On this station he found himself senior captain, and second in command. While here, his sense of duty induced him to enforce the navigation Act, in the case of American vessels trading with our islands, and this involved him to the "loss of health and risk of fortune." But although the government sanctioned and approved his conduct, prejudices had been excited against him, and upon his return to England, in 1787, he appears to have been so unworthily treated, as to determine him upon leaving the king's service in disgust. In 1793, he was appointed to the Agamemnon, of 64 guns, and was ordered to the Mediterranean under Lord Hood. He was employed in the following year in the siege of Bastia, a fortress of Corsica, which he reduced. He was next despatched to invest Calvi, the strongest place in the whole island, but which, after a siege of 51 days, surrendered. While engaged before this fortress, he received so severe an injury as to deprive him of the sight of one of his eyes. He was with Admiral Hotham, (on whom the command of the Mediterranean fleet

had devolved on the return of Lord Hood to England) in an action with the French in 1795; and was then ordered to Genoa with eight sail of frigates under his command, to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian forces. The same year he seized Elba, which belonged to Tuscany. In 1797 he rejoined Sir John Jervis, who had now assumed the command of the Mediterranean fleet, and was with that Admiral when he fell in with the great Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, in Portugal. The brunt of the action fell upon Nelson, as he really executed all the brilliant, decisive, and daring movements on his own responsibility, and which secured the victory. He was engaged with all the four ships taken, and took two of them with his own hand. Sir John Jervis was created Earl St. Vincent, and Nelson, who had attained the rank of Rear-Admiral, was made a Knight of the Bath. The beaten fleet retired to Cadiz, and Sir Horatio Nelson on three different occasions bombarded that place. He next made an unfortunate attack upon Santa Cruz, in the island of Teneriffe, and lost his arm by a musket shot though his right elbow. In 1798, Lord St. Vincent detached from his squadron off Cadiz, a small squadron under Nelson in pursuit of the French armament, having on board Bonaparte and his army, destined for Egypt. He sailed from Gibraltar, and directed his course to Naples, from thence to Messina, passed the enemy on the voyage, and reached Alexandria two days before the French expedition. He returned to Candia, again missed his antagonists, and held on to Syracuse, where he received supplies. From this place he sailed for the Morea, and from intelligence which he received in Greece, he determined to sail again for Alexandria. On this occasion he found the port crowded with ships. The squadron advanced to the attack, and at about 20 minutes past six, the French opened their fire. The number of ships was equal, but the French carried 1196 guns and 11230 men; while the English had only 1012 guns and 8068 men. Early in the action, Nelson received a severe wound on the head. Among the many hundreds who perished, were the French admiral, and Commodore Casa Bianca, with his son, a brave little fellow only 10 years old, who was combating at his father's side when he was struck, and resolutely refused to leave him. Of 13 ships of the line, 9 were taken and 2 burnt; and of 4 frigates, one was sunk and one burnt. For this brilliant conquest, Nelson was created Baron Nelson of the Nile. This was the measure of Mr. Pitt's gratitude, though not of the services of the hero, who had so completely overthrown so great an armament, and dealt so mortal a stroke to Napoleon and the French army in Egypt. From Egypt Lord Nelson returned to Naples, and while here he permitted Lady Hamilton, the wife of the English ambassador at that court, to exercise a most pernicious influence over him, and to sanction deeds, which have left a deplorable stain upon his public character. In 1801 he was employed to dissolve the northern confederacy, which had been formed by Russia, Denmark, and Sweden, under the auspices of Napoleon; and aimed at depriving Britain of her maritime importance. Nelson entered the Cattegat, and gallantly bore up the sound, towards Copenhagen. The cannonade was terrific, the carnage dreadful; above 2000 guns dealt death and destruction in a space not more than a mile and a halfin breadth, and notwithstanding the heroic deeds of the Danes, during a prolonged and desperate conflict, 6 sail of the line, and 11 huge floating batteries, were sunk, burnt, or taken. Nelson said "he had been in above a hundred engagements, but that of Copenhagen was the most terrible of them all." For his splendid service on this occasion he was raised to the rank of Viscount! In the autumn of 1803, Nelson was appointed to the command of the Mediterranean fleet. He took his station off Toulon, but after a time was compelled, by terrible gales of wind, to take shelter in the Gulf of Cagliari. To tempt the fleet out of Toulon, he also bore away for the coast of Spain. Villeneuve, during this absence, put to sea, and the combined French and Spanish fleets steered for the West Indies. Nelson, having learned their route, boldly followed with a very

inferior force, and arrived at Barbadoes. But the French fleet, having accomplished the hidden scheme of Napoleon, that of drawing Nelson away to the West Indies, returned to Europe. But Nelson having learned the direction taken by the enemy, at once perceived the ulterior combination implied by this movement, and despatched several fast-sailing brigs to put the Government on its guard. Meanwhile, Nelson had re-crossed the Atlantic, traversed the Bay of Biscay, approached the north of Ireland, and arrived at Portsmouth, where he was received with unbounded enthusiasm. He retired to his house at Merton, to recruit his exhausted strength; but there could be no rest for the hero of the Nile: he resumed the command, and hoisted his flag on board the Victory, of 90 guns. When he joined his fleet off Cadiz, "the yards were all crowded with hardy veterans, anxious to get a sight of their favourite hero; and peals of acclamation shook the ships when he was seen on the quarter-deck of the Victory, shaking hands with his old captains, who in transports of joy hastened on board to congratulate him on his arrival." So great, however, was the terror of Nelson's name, that Villeneuve, in spite of Napoleon's positive orders, hesitated to sail. By a stratagem, however, he was induced on the 19th October, 1805, to put to sea. He had 33 sail of the line and 7 frigates, with 4000 marksmen dispersed through the ships. The British fleet consisted of 27 sail of the line and 4 frigates. Nelson studiously kept out of sight until daybreak on the 21st, when the allied fleet was descried about 12 miles ahead, off Cape Trafalgar, in the S. of Spain. Nelson hoisted his last ever-memorable signal, " England expects that every man will do his duty," and bore down upon the enemy in two lines; one headed by himself, and Admiral Collingwood leading the other. At 10 minutes before 12, the furious combat commenced; a fire of such severity was opened against the Victory as she majestically took her station, as hardly ever before was directed against any single ship. Her first terrible broadside, however, with a deafening crash, killed or wounded four hundred men; and she continued to sustain a destructive conflict, keeping up a most deadly discharge. As Nelson was walking the quarter-deck, about a quarter after one, he was pierced by a shot from one of the French marksmen, not more than 15 yards distant; he fell on his knees, and supported himself for a few seconds with his left hand; but his strength failed, and he fell upon his left side. He was carried below, but all that could be done for him was to fan him with paper, and give him lemonade to assuage his burning thirst. Meanwhile the battle continued with unabated fury, and at the close of the day the victory was complete. Nelson lived long enough to know that a glorious victory had been gained, and at half-past four he expired without a groan, repeatedly murmuring in his last moments, "Thank God, I have done my duty." Nelson's crowning glory rescued England from all chance of invasion, and left her sovereign of the seas. All honours were paid to his remains, which were consigned to the grave in St. Paul's. Unbounded was the public grief at his untimely end, and when his flag was about to be lowered into the grave, the sailors who assisted at the ceremony, with one accord, rent it in pieces, that each might preserve a fragment as long as he lived.

..... •

Simple in his

"Lord Nelson was the greatest naval officer of this or any other nation. . . . . . Duty to his God, his king, and country, constituted the simple objects to which unrivalled powers and consummate genius were directed. desires, enthusiastic in his character, he was superior to the love of wealth. Devotion to his country was in him blended, with a constant sense of religious duty; and amidst all the license of arms, he was distinguished from the first by an early and manly piety. .. ..... His whole career, from his first entrance into the navy to the battle of Trafalgar, exhibited a pattern of every manly virtue. If a veil could be drawn over the deeds perpetrated at Naples, his public character might be deemed without a fault: but no human being was ever yet perfect; and with

his alloy of frailty, he has left us a name which is our pride, and an example which will continue to be our shield and our strength."-Southey. Alison. Pictorial Hist. of England.

17. George III. ascended the throne in 1760, in the twenty-second year of his age, and died A.D. 1820. What was his age at his death?

18. How long is it since the decisive battle of Waterloo, which was fought June 18th, 1815, between the French army, with Napoleon as its chief, and the British and their allies under the duke of Wellington?

The following account of the Battle of Waterloo is abridged from Sir Archibald Alison's History of Europe, and Gleig's Story of the Battle of Waterloo :— "The night of Saturday, the 17th of June, 1815, was one of incessant rain, accompanied with peals of thunder and vivid lightning. The soldiers were often ankle deep in water; yet cheerless and dripping as was the condition of those who had to lie down for the night in such a situation, it was preferable to that of those battalions who were stationed in the rye-fields, where the grain was 3 or 4 feet high, and soaking wet from top to bottom. Never was a more melancholy night passed by soldiers; but no feeling of despondency prevailed among them. Every man in both armies was aware that a great and decisive battle would be fought on the morrow. The great contest of 22 years' duration was to be brought to a final issue. The two great commanders who had severally vanquished every other antagonist, were now for the first time brought into collision. The field on which this immortal strife was to be decided, lies about 12 miles from Brussels, and extends about two miles from the old house and walled gardens of Hougomont on the right; to the hedge of La Haye on the left; while the great road from Brussels to Charleroi runs through the centre of the position, which is about three-quarters of a mile south of the village of Waterloo, and 300 yards in front of the farm-house of Mont St. Jean. The British army occupied the crest of a range of gentle eminences, dipping gradually into a valley, and crossing the high-road at right angles; while the French occupied a corresponding line of ridges on the opposite side of the valley. The whole front of the Duke's line was open: the intermediate space between the two armies being unenclosed, and the whole surface of the ground covered with tall corn or rich herbage, or else lay fallow. The morning of Sunday the 18th, opened with drizzling rain. Eagerly the men in both armies started from their dripping beds; but numbers were so stiff that it was with difficulty they could rise out of the water in which they had passed the night. The troops gazed on each other with respect, mingled with surprise. On the French side, eleven columns deployed simultaneously to take up their ground; like huge serpents clad in glittering scales, they wound slowly over the opposite hills, amidst an incessant clang of trumpets and rolling of drums, from the bands of 114 battallions and 112 squadrons, which played popular French airs. The formidable forces of France were seen in splendid array. Two hundred and fifty guns, stationed along the crest of the ridge in front, with matches lighted and equipment complete, gave an awful presage of the approaching conflict. The British army, though little less numerous, did not present so imposing a spectacle, from their being in great part concealed by the swell of the ridge on which they stood. No clang of trumpets or rolling of drums was heard from their ranks; silently, like the Greeks of old, the men took up their ground, thinking only of standing by each other, and doing their duty. I have then, these English !' exclaimed Napoleon. They exceed us by a quarter of their forces: but, nevertheless, nine chances out of

ten are in our favour.' 'Sire,' replied Soult, 'I know these English; they will die on the ground on which they stand before they lose it.' The British army on the ground amounted to 67,600 men, of whom 12,500 were horse; the French to 80,000, including 15,800 splendid horse: but the superiority of the latter in artillery was still greater. Napoleon had 250 guns, Wellington 156. The village clock of Nivelles was striking eleven when the first gun was fired from the French centre, and immediately from the left a column of 6000 men were moving against the wood of Hougomont. The English light troops fought stoutly in the wood, and slowly falling back, contested every tree, every bush, every sapling.' The wood around the chateau was carried by the assailants; but the garden and castle presented an invincible resistance. The English Guards soon after regained the orchard, which they held for the rest of the day. The chateau was soon after on fire and in part consumed. 'Meanwhile, the cannonade had grown extremely warm along the whole line; 430 guns on the two sides kept up an incessant fire.' It was now noon. Ney himself directed the attack on the left centre, and marched against the farm-house of La Haye Sainte with four massy columns numbering 20,000 men. Wellington perceived this formidable attack. He drew up the fine brigade of horse, under Sir William Ponsonby, and stationed them behind the hedge of La Haye Sainte, concealed from the enemy. A brigade of Belgians at this crisis gave way at the mere sight of the formidable mass of the French columns. Arrived within 20 yards of the red-coats, however, the French halted, and a murderous fire commenced. Picton ordered Pack's brigade to advance; and these noble veterans advanced with a loud shout, and poured in so close and well-directed a fire, that the French columns broke and recoiled in disorder. At this instant, the heroic Picton, as he was waving his troops on with his sword, and had just pronounced the words, 'Charge, charge! hurrah!' was pierced through the head with a musket-ball and fell dead. Kempt immediately took the command; the rush of horse was heard, and Ponsonby's brigade, bursting through or leaping over the hedge which had concealed them, dashed through the intervals of the infantry, who opened to let them pass, and fell head-long on the wavering column. The shock was irresistible; in a few seconds the whole mass was pierced through, ridden over, and dispersed; the soldiers in despair fell on their faces on the ground and called for quarter. In five minutes 2000 prisoners and two eagles were taken-one by the Greys and the other by the Royals-and the column was utterly destroyed. Nor was this all; this victorious brigade charged a second column, took 1000 more prisoners, seized five batteries, or forty pieces of cannon, and rendered them totally useless. While this fierce conflict was going on in the British left centre, Napoleon directed a vigorous charge against the centre itself. Heavy columns of horse and foot entirely enveloped La Haye Sainte, and began to advance beyond it. A Hanoverian battalion was at this juncture almost destroyed by the cuirassiers, before it could form square. The splendid regiments, forming Lord Edward Somerset's heavy brigade, were moved forward, and these fine troops, led by Lord Anglesea, bore down on the French cuirassiers, whom they fairly rode over, horses and men falling before their rude embrace, and a considerable number forced headlong over a precipice into a gravel-pit. Napoleon persisting in his attack on the centre, brought up all his cavalry; and for three hours this point continued to be the scene of mortal strife. But the British and Brunswickers, in spite of the incessant headlong charges of these steel-clad warriors, and of the long-armed Polish lancers, stood as if rooted to the earth; their rolling fire stretched these horsemen on the plain, and defied all their efforts to force a way through the hedges of glittering bayonets! The crisis at length arrived, and with his Guard Napoleon made a last desperate effort. At a quarter-past seven the first column, under Ney, advanced from the Charleroi road, and moved forward to the attack up the hill to