England.
However this might have been, they had sent a considerable reinforcement
to Nelson, who then commanded on the Mediterranean station; and he, at
the moment when Buonaparte reached Toulon, was cruising within sight of
the port. Napoleon well knew that to embark in the presence of Nelson
would be to rush into the jaws of ruin; and waited until some accident
should relieve him from his terrible watcher. On the evening of the 19th
of May fortune favoured him. A violent gale drove the English off the
coast, and disabled some ships so much that Nelson was obliged to go
into the harbours of Sardinia to have them repaired. The French general
instantly commanded the embarkation of all his troops; and as the last
of them got on board, the sun rose on the mighty armament: it was one of
those dazzling suns which the soldiery delighted afterwards to call "the
suns of Napoleon."

Seldom have the shores of the Mediterranean witnessed a nobler
spectacle. That unclouded sun rose on a semicircle of vessels, extending
in all to not less than six leagues: thirteen ships of the line and
fourteen frigates (under the command of Admiral Brueyes); and 400
transports. They carried 40,000 picked soldiers, and officers whose
names were only inferior to that of the general-in-chief;--of the men,
as well as of their leaders, the far greater part already accustomed to
follow Napoleon, and to consider his presence as the pledge of victory.

[Footnote 21: A silversmith, who had given him credit when he set out to
Italy for a dressing-case worth L50, was rewarded with all the business
which the recommendation of his now illustrious debtor could bring to
him; and, being clever in his trade, became ultimately, under the
patronage of the imperial household, one of the wealthiest citizens of
Paris. A little hatter, and a cobbler, who had served Buonaparte when a
subaltern, might have risen in the same manner, had their skill equalled
the silversmith's. Not even Napoleon's example could persuade the
Parisians to wear ill-shaped hats and clumsy boots; but he, in his own
person, adhered, to the last, to his original connection with these poor
artisans.]

[Footnote 22: The Directory broke off the negotiation in a most insolent
manner, by ordering Lord Malmesbury to quit France within twenty-four
hours: this they did in their exultation after the 18th Fructidor.]

[Footnote 23: Before leaving Paris, Buonaparte ordered his secretary to
prepare a camp