"MY LORD,
"I have to acknowledge the receipt of your lordship's orders of 27th June; and, as soon as the safety of his Sicilian Majesty's kingdoms is secured, I shall not lose one moment in making the detachment you are pleased to order. At present, under God's providence, the safety of his Sicilian Majesty, and his speedy restoration to his kingdoms, depends on this fleet; and the confidence inspired, even by the appearance of our ships before the city, is beyond all belief: and I have no scruple in declaring my opinion that, should any event draw us from the kingdom, if the French remain in any part of it, disturbances will again arise: for, all order having been completely overturned, it must take a thorough cleansing, and some little time, to restore tranquillity. I have the honour to be, with great respect, your lordship's obedient servant,
"Nelson."
"Right Honourable Lord Keith."
With these accounts of the operations at Naples, copies of which were transmitted by Lord Nelson, to England, for public information, his lordship wrote the following private letter to Earl Spencer; in which, among other interesting particulars, descriptive of his then state, he alludes to the impropriety of hastily detaching any ships for Minorca.
"Foudroyant, Naples Bay, 13th July 1799.