thing so justly as to a match laid to a long train of gunpowder;
and, as Englishmen are the same, the same feeling, the same enthusiasm,
was displayed in every ship; tears ran down the cheeks of many a noble
fellow when the affecting sentence was made known. It recalled every
past enjoyment, and filled the mind with fond anticipations which, with
many, were never, alas! to be realised. They went down to their guns
without confusion; and a cool, deliberate courage from that moment
seemed to rest on the countenance of every man I saw.

My captain, though not in the line, was no niggard in the matter of
shot, and though he had no real business to come within range until
called by signal, still he thought it his duty to be as near to our
ships engaged as possible, in order to afford them assistance when
required. I was stationed at the foremost guns on the main deck, and
the ship cleared for action; and though on a comparatively small scale,
I cannot imagine a more solemn, grand, or impressive sight, than a ship
prepared as ours was on that occasion. Her noble tier of guns, in a
line gently curving out towards the centre; the tackle laid across the
deck; the shot and wads prepared in ample store (round, grape, and
canister); the powder-boys, each with his box full, seated on it with
perfect apparent indifference as to the approaching conflict. The
captains of guns, with their priming boxes buckled round their waists;
the locks fixed upon the guns; the lanyards laid around them; the
officers, with their swords drawn, standing by their respective
divisions.

The quarter-deck was commanded by the captain in person, assisted by the
first lieutenant, the lieutenant of marines, a party of small-arm men,
with the mate and midshipmen, and a portion of seamen to attend the
braces and fight the quarter-deck guns. The boatswain was on the
forecastle; the gunner in the magazine, to send up a supply of powder to
the guns; the carpenter watched and reported, from time to time, the
depth of water in the well; he also walked round the wings or vacant
spaces between the ship's side and the cables, and other stores. He was
attended by his mates, who were provided with shot-plugs, oakum, and
tallow, to stop any shot-holes which might be made. The surgeon was in
the cockpit with his assistants. The knives, saws, tourniquets,
sponges, basins, wine and water, were all displayed and ready for the
first unlucky patient that might be pres