er, could
not meddle with politics; but he was not at liberty to suffer a fleet,
of which the intention was not yet known, to approach the guns of the
castle which he had the honour to command: and he requested, "if the
British admiral should think proper to make any proposals to the King
of Denmark, that he might be apprised of it before the fleet approached
nearer." During this intercourse, a Dane, who came on board the
commander's ship, having occasion to express his business in writing,
found the pen blunt; and, holding it up, sarcastically said, "If
your guns are not better pointed than your pens, you will make little
impression on Copenhagen!"

On that day intelligence reached the admiral of the loss of one of his
fleet, the INVINCIBLE, seventy-four, wrecked on a sand-bank, as she was
coming out of Yarmouth: four hundred of her men perished in her. Nelson,
who was now appointed to lead the van, shifted his flag to the ELEPHANT,
Captain Foley--a lighter ship than the ST. GEORGE, and, therefore,
fitter for the expected operations. The two following days were calm.
Orders had been given to pass the Sound as soon as the wind would
permit; and, on the afternoon of the 29th, the ships were cleared for
action, with an alacrity characteristic of British seamen. At daybreak
on the 30th it blew a topsail breeze from N.W. The signal was made, and
the fleet moved on in order of battle; Nelson's division in the van, Sir
Hyde's in the centre, and Admiral Graves' in the rear.

Great actions, whether military or naval, have generally given celebrity
to the scenes from whence they are denominated; and thus petty villages,
and capes and bays known only to the coasting trader, become associated
with mighty deeds, and their names are made conspicuous in the history
of the world. Here, however, the scene was every way worthy of the
drama. The political importance of the Sound is such, that grand objects
are not needed there to impress the imagination; yet is the channel full
of grand and interesting objects, both of art and nature. This passage,
which Denmark had so long considered as the key of the Baltic, is,
in its narrowest part, about three miles wide; and here the city of
Elsinore is situated; except Copenhagen, the most flourishing of the
Danish towns. Every vessel which passes lowers her top-gallant sails and
pays toll at Elsinore; a toll which is believed to have had its origin
in the consent of the traders to that sea, Denm