6 THE SEA. 



but a few years back was such a familiar feature of the reach of the Thames in front of 

 Greenwich. She was of 2,164 tons burden, and, having been launched in 1765, is now a 

 good 112 years of age. Her complement was 841 men. From the first she deserved her 

 name, and seemed destined to be associated with little else than success and triumph. Nelson 

 frequently complains in his journals of the unseaworthiness of many of his vessels ; but this, 

 his last flag-ship, was a veritable " heart of oak," and endured all the tests that the warfare of 

 the elements or of man could bring against her. 



The good ship of which we have spoken more particularly is now enjoying a well-earned 

 repose, after passing nearly unscathed through the very thick of battles inscribed on the most 

 brilliant page of our national history. Her part was in reality a very prominent one ; and a 

 glance at a few of the engagements at which she was present may serve to show us what she 

 and other ships like her were made of, and what they were able to effect in naval warfare. 

 The Victory had been built nearly thirty years when, in 1793, she first came prominently 

 to the front, at the occupation and subsequent siege of Toulon, as the flag-ship of Lord 

 Hood, then in command of a large fleet destined for the Mediterranean. 



France was at that moment in a very revolutionary condition, but in Toulon there 

 was a strong feeling of loyalty for the Bourbons and monarchical institutions. In the 

 harbour a large French fleet was assembled some seventeen vessels of the line, besides 

 many other smaller craft while several large ships of war were refitting and building; 

 the whole under the command of the Comte de Trogoff, an ardent Royalist. On the 

 appearance of the British fleet in the offing, two commissioners came out to the flag-ship, 

 the Victor//, to treat for the conditional surrender of the port and shipping. The Govern- 

 ment had not miscalculated the disaffection existing, and the negotiations being completely 

 successful, 1,700 of our soldiers, sailors, and marines were landed, and shortly afterwards, 

 when a Spanish fleet appeared, an English governor and a Spanish commandant were 

 appointed, while Louis XVII. was proclaimed king. But it is needless to say that the 

 French Republic strongly objected to all this, and soon assembled a force numbering 

 45,000 men for the recapture of Toulon. The English and their Royalist allies numbered 

 under 13,000, and it became evident that the city must be evacuated, although not until 

 it should be half destroyed. The important service of destroying the ships and maga- 

 zines had been mainly entrusted to Captain Sir Sidney Smith, who performed his 

 difficult task with wonderful precision and order, and without the loss of one man. Shots 

 and shells were plunged into the very arsenal, and trains were laid up to the magazines 

 and storehouses; a fire-ship was towed into the basin, and in a few hours gave out 

 flames and shot, accompanied by terrible explosions. The Spanish admiral had undertaken 

 the destruction of the shipping in the basin, and to scuttle two powder-vessels, but his 

 men, in their flurry, managed to ignite one of them in place of sinking it, and the explo- 

 sion which occurred can be better imagined than described. The explosion shook the Union 

 gunboat to pieces, killing the commander and three of the crew; and a second boat was blown 

 into the air, but her crew were miraculously saved. Having completed the destruction of the 

 arsenal, Sir Sidney proceeded towards the basin in front of the town, across which a boom had 

 been laid, where he and his men were received with such volleys of musketry that they 

 turned their attention in another direction. In the inner road were lying two large 74 -gun 



