Lord Hood could not take advantage of the fair occasion which presented itself; and which, if it had been seized with vigour, might have ended in dividing France:--but he negotiated with the people of Toulon, to take possession provisionally of their port and city; which, fatally for themselves, was done.

Before the British fleet entered, Nelson was sent with despatches to Sir William Hamilton, our envoy at the Court of Naples.

Sir William, after his first interview with him, told Lady Hamilton he was about to introduce a little man to her, who could not boast of being very handsome; but such a man as, he believed, would one day astonish the world.

"I have never before," he continued, "entertained an officer at my house; but I am determined to bring him here.

Let him be put in the room prepared for Prince Augustus." Thus that acquaintance began which ended in the destruction of Nelson's domestic happiness.