"Rome," he said, "combated Carthage by sea as well as land; and England was the Carthage of France .-- He was come to lead them, in the name of the Goddess of Liberty, across mighty seas, and into remote regions, where their valour might achieve such glory and such wealth as could never be looked for beneath the cold heavens of the west.

The meanest of his soldiers should receive seven acres of land;"-- _where_ he mentioned not.

His promises had not hitherto been vain.

The soldiery heard him with joy, and prepared to obey with alacrity.
The English government, meanwhile, although they had no suspicion of the real destination of the armament, had not failed to observe what was passing in Toulon.

They probably believed that the ships there assembled were meant to take part in the great scheme of the invasion of 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.