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NELSON. 351 NELSON. a veiled attempt to aid N'apDleon. Xelson ad- vised an attack on the strongest member of the eoul'ederacy, Hussia ; but lii.s daring plan was . not I'ollowed, and instead the uliole llucl sailed lor Denmark, in a bold assault on the Uanisli lleet at Copenhagen, Kelson was victorious (April 2, 1801), and the Danes were compelled on April yth to sign an ai-mistiee, which tied their hands, but left the English free. It was during the en- gagement of April 2d that Nelson, having re- ceived an order early in the day to cease action, placed his telescope to his blind eye and said, "I rcall}' do not see the signal." On ^lay ,5, ISOl, Nelson was appointed commander-in-chief in place of Parker. He immediately proceeded to carry out his plan of attacking Russia, but found, when he arrived at Revel, that the Czar Paul had been murdered on JIarcli 24th, and his son and successor, Alexander I., was pre- paring to follow another policy. For his ser- vices in this campaign Nelson was created a viscount. lie rcturnecl to England and lived with the Hamiltons. After some slight service in the Channel, the Peace of Amiens closed the war. and on October 22, 1801, Nelson left his ship. Peace, however, proved of short duration, and on May 18, 1803, Nelson raised his flag on the Viciori; as commander-in-chief of the ilediter- ranean fleet. For two years he blockaded Toulon and kept a w-atchful eye on affairs, but Vil- leneuve escaped from Toulon with the French fleet on March 30, 1805. Napoleon was preparing at Boulogne to invade England, and for this pur- pose the different French fleets were to unite and cover the expedition. A most e.xciting chase fol- lowed, in which Nelson pursued Villeneuve to the West Indies and back to the coast of Spain, but the French admiral was unable to elude Nelson and the other English admirals long enough to give Napoleon any opportunity of crossing the Channel. Villeneuve finally put in at Cadiz and Napoleon marched against Austria, which had declared war against liim. Thus England was saved. Nelson now blockaded Villeneuve 'it Cadiz, but Napoleon was threatening to disgrace his ad- miral for not fighting, and consequently, when Nelson had to send six vessels to Gibraltar for water, Villeneuve seized the opportunity and started to leave his shelter on October 19. 1805, and on October 21st took place the faniotis battle off Cape Trafalgar (q.v.). Before beginning battle Nelson gave his now famous signal, "Eng- land expects that every man will do his dtity." The victory was complete, but Nelson was mor- tallv wounded, and died on the afternoon of October 21, 1805, with the words "Thank God. I have done my duty." By his final great victory he had destroyed the combined French and .Span- ish fleets, and Napoleon's hope of creating a naval power vanished forever. Nelson thus con- tributed innnensely to the final destruction of the Napoleonic ambitions, for without the control of the sea England would have been unable to wage her long contest. Nelson was buried at Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, on .lannary 9, 1800, amid extraordinary public demonstrations. BlBLlOGR.VPllY. JIahan. Life of Xelson (2d ed.. Boston, 1899). is the latest and best account. The best recent brief accounts are: LauLditon, yel/ion (New York, 1S95), and Russell. Horatio 'Setson (2d ed., ih.. 18991. The best and most complete of the old books is Clarke and JIcArthur, Life of Nelson (2d ed., London, 1848), though the best known is the popular and untrustworthy Southey, Life of Xelson (ib., 1813). Sclson's Disijiiielies iiitd Letters, edited by Nicolas (Lon- don, 1814-40)-, and The Xelson and Uamiltun Pa- pers, lloti-lalo, published by .Morrison (ib., 1893- 94), are the most imi)ortanl primary authorities. Jeallreson, Liuly Uainilloti and Lord Xvlson (2d ed., New York, 1897) and The Queen of Xaples and Lord Xelson (Loudon, 1889), and Giglioli, Xuples in 17'JV (New York, 1902), are the most recent books on the most perplexing problem in Nelson's life. NELSON, ,Sami-el (1792-1873). An Ameri- can jurist, born at Hebron, Washington County, N. Y. He graduated at Middlebury College, Ver- mont, in 1813. He then read law, removed to New York State, where in 1817 he was admitted to the bar, and began practice at Cortland. In 1820 he_was a Presidential elector on the Demo- cratic ticket. His long judicial career of half a century began in 1823, when he was appointed by Governor Yates a judge of the State circuit court. In 1831 he was promoted to be an asso- ciate justice of the New York State Supreme Court, and in 1837, by appointment of Ciovernor Jlarcy, he became Chief Justice of the court in succession to Judge Savage. In 1845 he was nominated by President Tyler as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Although he concurred with Chief .Justice Taney in the "Dred Scott" decision in 1857, and disapproved of the President's exercise of "war powers" during the Civil War, his loyalty was never questioned, and he was frequently consulted by Lincoln in judicial matters. He ranks as one of the greatest American authorities on admi- ralty and maritime law', and his prize-court deci- sions during the Civil War are of the utmost importance. In 1871 he was appointed by Presi- dent Grant as one of the Joint High Commission for the settlement of the Alabama claims (q.v.). NELSON, Thomas (1738-89). An American patriot, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was born at Yorktown, Va., and was the son of William Nelson. Governor of Virginia in 1770-71. He went to England in 1753, was educated at Eton and at Trinity Col- lege, Cambridge, and returned to his home at Yorktown in 17G1. He was a delegate for several terms to the House of Burgesses, and served in the Provincial Conventions of 1774. 1775, and 1770, introducing in the last the resolution by which Virginia's delegates to Congress were in- structed (May 15th) to propose a declaration of independence. From August, 1775, until May, 1777, when he was forced by ill health to resign, ho was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1775 he was for a time colonel of the Second Vir- ginia Regiment, and from August. 1777. luitil late in 17S2, he commanded the Virginia State forces, rendering valuable service at the siege of York- town (1781), where he showed his patriotism by ordering the gunners to fire upon his own man- sion, supposed to be the headquarters of Corn- wallis. In 1779 he again sat for a time in Con- gress, and was again forced by ill health to re- sign: in 1780 he raised a large sum of money, on his own security, for the State, and paid out of his own pocket the arrearages of two Virginia regiments ordered South ; and in the spring of