ry, had commenced a career of unwarrantable
conquest, for the simple purpose of self-aggrandisement, and her great
general, Bonaparte, had begun that course of successful warfare in which
he displayed those brilliant talents which won for him an empire,
constituted him, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, a hero, and
advanced France to a high position of tyrannical power. But brilliant
talents and success could not free him from the charge of being a
wholesale murderer.

To oppose such pretentions and practices was a bounden duty on the part
of those who loved justice, just as much as it is the duty of every one
who has the power to thwart the designs of, and forcibly overcome, a
highwayman or a pirate.

Observe, reader, that we do not intend here to imply an invidious
comparison. We have no sympathy with those who hold that England was
and always is in favour of fair play, while France was bent on tyranny.
On the contrary, we believe that England has in some instances been
guilty of the sin which we now condemn, and that, on the other hand,
many Frenchmen of the present day would disapprove of the policy of
France in the time of Napoleon the First. Neither do we sympathise with
the famous saying of Nelson that "one Englishman is equal to three
Frenchmen!" The tendency to praise one's-self has always been regarded
among Christian nations as a despicable, or at least a pitiable,
quality, and we confess that we cannot see much difference between a
boastful man and a boastful nation. Frenchmen have always displayed
chivalrous courage, not a whit inferior to the British, and history
proves that in war they have been eminently successful. The question
whether they could beat us or we could beat them, if tested in a fair
stand-up fight with equal numbers, besides being an unprofitable one, is
not now before us. All that we are concerned about at present is, that
in the war now under consideration the British _did_ beat the French,
and we rejoice to record the fact solely on the ground that we fought in
a righteous cause.

With these remarks we proceed to give an account of one of the greatest
naval victories ever achieved by British arms.

CHAPTER SIX.

THE BATTLE OF THE NILE.

After Napoleon Bonaparte had effected his landing in Egypt, the French
fleet was permitted to remain at Alexandria for some time, and thus
afforded Nelson the opportunity he had sought for so long.

For many previous days he ha