from the
invasion of England was in contemplation; for on board the admiral's
ship, L'Orient, were a hundred literary men and artists, mathematicians
and naturalists, who were certainly not required to enlighten the French
upon the native productions or the antiquities of the British Isles.
Bonaparte arrived at Toulon on May 9th, and issued one of his
grandiloquent proclamations to his troops. The armament consisted of
thirteen ships of the line, many frigates and corvettes, and four
hundred transports. The army, which it was to carry to some unknown
shore, consisted of forty thousand men. On May 19th this formidable
expedition left the great French harbor of the Mediterranean.

On the day when Bonaparte arrived at Toulon, Nelson had sailed from
Gibraltar, with three seventy-fours, four frigates, and a sloop, to
watch the movements of the enemy. Since the most daring of British naval
commanders had fought in the Battle of St. Vincent, he had lost an arm
in an unsuccessful attack upon the island of Teneriffe. For some time
his spirit was depressed, and he thought that a left-handed admiral
could never again be useful. He had lost also his right eye, and was
severely wounded in his body. But he had not lost that indomitable
spirit which rose superior to wounds and weakness of constitution. He
rested some time at home; and then, early in 1798, sailed in the
Vanguard to join the fleet under Lord St. Vincent. The Admiralty had
suggested, and Lord St. Vincent had previously determined, that a
detachment of the squadron blockading the Spanish fleet should sail to
the Mediterranean, under the command of Nelson. The seniors of the fleet
were offended at this preference of a junior officer; and men of routine
at home shrugged their shoulders, and feared, with the cold Lord
Grenville, that Nelson "will do something _too_ desperate." He was not
stinted in his means, being finally reenforced with ten of the best
ships of St. Vincent's fleet.

The first operation of Bonaparte was the seizure of Malta. His fleet was
in sight of the island on June 9th. He had other weapons than his cannon
for the reduction of a place deemed impregnable. The Order of St. John
of Jerusalem had held the real sovereignty of the island since 1530.
These Knights of Malta, powerful at sea, had formed one of the bulwarks
of Christendom against the Ottomans. They had gradually lost their
warlike prowess as well at their religious austerity; and Malta,
protec