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Bonaparte has often made his boast, that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea, that his was kept in order, and increasing, by staying in port; but he now finds, I fancy, if emperors hear truth, that his fleet suffers more in a night, than ours in one year; however, thank God, the Toulon fleet is got in order again, and I hear the troops embarked, and I hope they will come out to sea in fine weather.
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From a letter to Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, written while aboard HMS Victory and dated March 14, 1805. Quoted in full in Captain Edward Pelham Brenton (1824), The Naval History of Great Britain from the year 1783 to 1822, Vol III London: C. Rice, p. 406.

 

Horatio Nelson

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