g
weakness.

Reaction of course followed, and he told Hardy he felt that in a few
minutes he should be no more. "Don't throw me overboard," he added;
"you know what to do." Hardy having given assurance that these wishes
should be attended to, Nelson then said, "Take care of my dear Lady
Hamilton, Hardy: take care of poor Lady Hamilton. Kiss me, Hardy." The
captain knelt down and kissed his cheek. "Now I am satisfied. Thank
God, I have done my duty." Hardy rose and stood looking silently at
him for an instant or two, then knelt down again and kissed his
forehead. "Who is that?" asked Nelson. The captain answered, "It is
Hardy;" to which his Lordship replied, "God bless you, Hardy!" The
latter then returned to the quarter-deck, having passed about eight
minutes in this final interview.

Nelson now desired his steward, who was in attendance throughout, to
turn him on his right side. "I wish I had not left the deck," he
murmured; "for I shall soon be gone." Thenceforth he sank rapidly; his
breathing became oppressed and his voice faint. To Dr. Scott he said,
"Doctor, I have _not_ been a _great_ sinner," and after a short pause,
"_Remember_, that I leave Lady Hamilton and my daughter Horatia as a
legacy to my country--never forget Horatia." This injunction, with
remembrances to Lady Hamilton and the child, he frequently repeated;
and he charged Scott to see Mr. Rose, and tell him--but here pain
interrupted his utterance, and after an interval he simply said, "Mr.
Rose will remember," alluding to a letter which he had written him,
but which as yet could not have been received. His thirst now
increased; and he called for "drink, drink," "fan, fan," and "rub,
rub," addressing himself in this last case to Dr. Scott, who had been
rubbing his breast with his hand, by which some relief was given.
These words he spoke in a very rapid manner, which rendered his
articulation difficult; but he every now and then, with evident
increase of pain, made a greater effort, and said distinctly, "Thank
God, I have done my duty." This he repeated at intervals as long as
the power of speech remained. The last words caught by Dr. Scott, who
was bending closely over him, were, "God and my Country."

Fifteen minutes after Hardy left him for the second time, the admiral
became speechless; and when this had continued five minutes, the
surgeon, who was busied among the other wounded, was summoned again.
He found him upon the verge of dissolution, t