Part 2 (1/2)

But when the four years were expired, France purchased the sovereignty of Corsica from the Genoese for forty millions of livres; as if the Genoese had been entitled to sell it; as if any bargain and sale could justify one country in taking possession of another against the will of the inhabitants, and butchering all who oppose the usurpation! A the enormities which France has committed, this action seems but as a speck; yet the foulest murderer that ever suffered by the hand of the executioner has infinitely less guilt upon his soul than the statesman who concluded this treaty, and the lorious resistance was made, but it was in vain; no power interposed in behalf of these injured islanders, and the French poured in as many troops as were required They offered to confirm Paoli in the supreme authority, only on condition that he would hold it under their government His ansas, that ”the rocks which surrounded him should melt away before he would betray a cause which he held in common with the poorest Corsican” This people then set a price upon his head During two cath; he was driven to the shore, and having escaped on shi+pboard, took refuge in England It is said that Lord Shelburne resigned his seat in the cabinet because theto prevent France frorandizement In one respect, however, our country acted as became her Paoli elcomed with the honours which he deserved, a pension of L1200 was iranted him, and provision was liberally made for his elder brother and his nephew

About twenty years Paoli re the friendshi+p of the wise and the adan, it seemed as if the restoration of Corsica was at hand The whole country, as if animated by one spirit, rose and demanded liberty; and the National asse the island as a departes of the new French constitution This satisfied the Corsicans, which it ought not to have done; and Paoli, in who that his country that they were about to enjoy a state of freedoned his pension in the year 1790, and appeared at the bar of the assembly with the Corsican deputies, when they took the oath of fidelity to France But the course of events in France soon dispelled those hopes of a new and better order of things, which Paoli, in coed; and perceiving, after the execution of the king, that a civil as about to ensue, of which no man could foresee the issue, he prepared to break the connection between Corsica and the French Republic The convention suspecting such a design, and perhaps occasioning it by their suspicions, ordered hiuillotine; and returning a respectful answer, he declared that he would never be found wanting in his duty, but pleaded age and infir the summons

Their second order was more summary; and the French troops, ere in Corsica, aided by those of the natives, ere either influenced by hereditary party feelings, or ere sincere in Jacobinisainst him But the people ith hiain invested with the authority which he had held in the noonday of his fame The convention upon this denounced him as a rebel, and set a price upon his head It was not the first time that France had proscribed Paoli

Paoli now opened a correspondence with Lord Hood, prolish would make an attack upon St Fiorenzo from the sea, he would at the same time attack it by land This promise he was unable to perform; and Commodore Linzee, who, in reliance upon it, was sent upon this service, was repulsed with some loss Lord Hood, who had now been compelled to evacuate Toulon, suspected Paoli of intentionally deceiving him This was an injurious suspicion Shortly afterwards he dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel (afterward Sir John) Moore and Major Koehler to confer with him upon a plan of operations Sir Gilbert Elliot accoreed that, in consideration of the succours, both military and naval, which his Britannic Majesty should afford for the purpose of expelling the French, the island of Corsica should be delivered into the immediate possession of his Majesty, and bind itself to acquiesce in any settleovernment, and its future relation with Great Britain

While this negotiation was going on, Nelson cruised off the island with a s in supplies Close to St Fiorenzo the French had a storehouse of flour near their only mill: he watched an opportunity, and landed 120 men, who threw the flour into the sea, burnt the ainst hileout all supplies, intercepting despatches, attacking their outposts and forts, and cutting out vessels from the bay,--a species of warfare which depresses the spirit of an enemy even more than it injures them, because of the sense of individual superiority which it indicates in the assailants--troops were landed, and St Fiorenzo was besieged The French finding theates, burnt another, and retreated to Bastia Lord Hood submitted to General Dundas, who commanded the land forces, a plan for the reduction of this place: the general declined co-operating, thinking the attempt impracticable without a reinforcement of 2000 men, which he expected from Gibraltar

Upon this Lord Hood determined to reduce it with the naval force under his co part of his fleet off Toulon, he came with the rest to Bastia

He showed a proper sense of respect for Nelson's services, and of confidence in his talents, by taking care not to bring with him any older captain A few days before their arrival, Nelson had had what he called a brush with the enemy ”If I had had with me 500 troops,” he said, ”to a certainty I should have storht have been carried Aret forward; but I daresay they act on a surer principle, although we seldo this partial action our ar reconnoitered the place, returned to St Fiorenzo ”What the general could have seen to make a retreat necessary,” said Nelson, ”I cannot comprehend A thousand men would certainly take Bastia: with five hundred and the AGAMEMNON I would atteht to be--almost invincible They really mind shot no more than peas” General Dundas had not the same confidence ”After mature consideration,” he said in a letter to Lord Hood, ”and a personal inspection for several days of all circue of Bastia, with our present means and force, to be a most visionary and rash atte” Lord Hood replied that nothing would be s than to have the whole responsibility upon hi to undertake the reduction of the place at his own risk with the force and means at present there General D'Aubant, who succeeded at this time to the command of the army, coincided in opinion with his predecessor, and did not think it right to furnish his lordshi+p with a single soldier, cannon, or any stores Lord Hood could only obtain a few artillery been embarked as marines, ”were borne on the shi+ps” books as part of their respective coe with 1183 soldiers, artillerymen, and marines, and 250 sailors ”We are but few,” said Nelson, ”but of the right sort; our general at St Fiorenzo not giving us one of the five regi idle”

These men were landed on the 4th of April, under Lieutenant-Colonel Villettes and Nelson, who had now acquired froed by the sailors up heights where it appeared alreatest difficulty, and which Nelson said could never, in his opinion, have been accoh less dexterous in such service, because not accustomed, like sailors, to habitual dexterity

behaved with equal spirit ”Their zeal,” said the brigadier, ”is almost unexampled There is not a man but considers himself as personally interested in the event, and deserted by the general It has, I am persuaded, made them equal to double their numbers” This is one proof, of many, that for our soldiers to equal our seamen, it is only necessary for them to be equally well commanded They have the same heart and soul, as well as the same flesh and blood Too much may, indeed, be exacted from them in a retreat; but set their face toward a foe, and there is nothing within the reach of human achievement which they cannot perform The French had improved the leisure which our military commander had allowed them; and before Lord Hood co that the ene old ones, and rendering the attempt more difficult La Combe St Michel, the commissioner from the national convention, as in the city, replied in these terms to the summons of the British admiral--”I have hot shot for your shi+ps, and bayonets for your troops When two-thirds of our lish” The siege, however, was not sustained with the firur On the 19th of May a treaty of capitulation was begun; that sa the troops from St Fiorenzo, General d'Aubant arrived with the whole army to take possession of Bastia

The event of the siege had justified the confidence of the sailors; but they theenerals when they sahat they had done ”I am all astonishment,” said Nelson, ”when I reflect on e have achieved; 1000 regulars, 1500 national guards, and a large party of Corsican troops, 4000 in all, laying down their arms to 1200 soldiers, marines, and seamen! I alas of opinion, have ever acted up to it, and never had any reason to repent it, that one Englishlish town, I am sure it would not have been taken by them” When it had been resolved to attack the place, the enemy were supposed to be far inferior in nued, and the siege publicly undertaken, that Nelson received certain inforence he kept secret, fearing lest, if so fair a pretext were afforded, the attempt would be abandoned ”My own honour,” said he to his wife, ”Lord Hood's honour, and the honour of our country, must have been sacrificed had I mentioned what I knew; therefore you will believe what e, when I had often proposals made to me to write to Lord Hood to raise it” Those very persons who thus advised hie of Bastia: Nelson, by whom it may truly be affirmed that Bastia was taken, received no reward Lord Hood's thanks to him, both public and private, were, as he hinal merits were not so mentioned in the despatches as to make them sufficiently known to the nation, nor to obtain for hiovernment those honours to which they so amply entitled him This could only have arisen from the haste in which the despatches ritten; certainly not from any deliberate purpose, for Lord Hood was uniformly his steady and sincere friend

One of the cartel's shi+ps, which carried the garrison of Bastia to Toulon, brought back intelligence that the French were about to sail froe done at the evacuation, and to fit out a fleet The intelligence was speedily verified Lord Hood sailed in quest of them toward the islands of Hieres The AGAMEMNON ith hi to his wife, ”that we may meet their fleet If any accident should happen to me, I am sure my conduct will be such as will entitle you to the royal favour; not that I have the least idea but I shall return to you, and full of honour: if not, the Lord's will be done My na to iven to you, except a sot a farthing dishonestly: it descends from clean hands

Whatever fate awaits me, I pray God to bless you, and preserve you, for your son's sake” With a mind thus prepared, and thus confident, his hopes and wishes seeratified, when the enemy were discovered close under the land, near St Tropez The wind fell, and prevented Lord Hood froned: boats came out from Antibes and other places to their assistance, and towed them within the shoals in Gourjean Roads, where they were protected by the batteries on isles St Honore and St

Marguerite, and on Cape Garousse Here the English ad to double on five of the nearest shi+ps; but the wind again died away, and it was found that they had anchored in coe shi+ps There was no way of effecting this passage, except by towing or warping the vessels; and this rendered the attempt impracticable For this time the enemy escaped; but Nelson bore in mind the admirable plan of attack which Lord Hood had devised, and there came a day when they felt its tremendous effects

The AGAMEMNON was now despatched to co-operate at the siege of Calvi with General Sir Charles Stuart; an officer who, unfortunately for his country, never had an adequate field allotted him far the display of those eminent talents which were, to all who knew him, so conspicuous

Nelson had less responsibility here than at Bastia; and was acting with aof hiht in the advanced battery But the service was not less hard than that of the for ourselves to death,” said he to Lord Hood, ”before any blaotten, that twenty-five pieces of heavy ordnance have been dragged to the different batteries, ht by seauns” The climate provedthe lion sun, as they call our season of the dog-days Of 2000 men, above half were sick, and the rest like sothe oaks, bowing before the stor disorders have attacked h for thereat; but Nelson received a serious injury: a shot struck the ground near hiravel into one of his eyes He spoke of it slightly at the ti the saot a little hurt that , not much; and the next day, he said, he should be able to attend his duty in the evening In fact, he suffered it to confine hiht was lost

After the fall of Calvi, his services were, by a strange oether overlooked; and his name was not even mentioned in the list of wounded This was no ways iovernht fully understand the nature of his indefatigable and unequalled exertions If those exertions were not rewarded in the conspicuous manner which they deserved, the fault was in the administration of the day, not in Lord Hood Nelson felt hilected ”One hundred and ten days,” said he, ”I have been actually engaged at sea and on shore against the eneainst Bastia in es taken, and twelve sail of vessels burnt I do not know that any one has done more I have had the comfort to be always applauded by my Commander-in-Chief, but never to be rewarded; and, what is , for services in which I have been wounded, others have been praised, who, at the same time, were actually in bed, far from the scene of action They have not done me justice But never mind, I'll have a GAZETTE of lory realised!

The health of his shi+p's company had now, in his oords, been miserably torn to pieces by as hard service as a shi+p's crew ever performed: 150 were in their beds when he left Calvi; of them he lost 54 and believed that the constitutions of the rest were entirely destroyed

He was now sent with despatches to Mr Drake, at Genoa, and had his first intervieith the Doge The French had, at this time, taken possession of Vado Bay, in the Genoese territory; and Nelson foresaw that, if their thoughts were bent on the invasion of Italy, they would acco ”The allied powers,” he said, ”were jealous of each other; and none but England was hearty in the cause”

His as for peace on fair ter herself to ht for theland, and the command devolved on Admiral Hothalooaining the ascendancy there Tuscany concluded peace relying upon the faith of France, which was, in fact, placing itself at her er We had taken that island for ourselves, annexed it foriven it a constitution as free as our own This was done with the consent of the majority of the inhabitants; and no transaction between two countries was ever itimately conducted: yet our conduct was unwise;--the island is large enough to form an independent state, and such we should have ht be needed; the Corsicans would then have felt as a nation; but when one party had given up the country to England, the natural consequence was that the other looked to France The question proposed to the people was, to which would they belong? Our language and our religion were against us; our unacco manners, it is to be feared, still ue they have ever been unrivalled; and it now becaht never to have been forgotten nor forgiven, their partisans were daily acquiring strength It is part of the policy of France, and a wise policy it is, to ith, by lofty language: and by threatening before it strikes; a system which, while it keeps up the spirit of its allies, and perpetually stimulates their hopes, tends also to dismay its enemies Corsica was now loudly threatened ”The French, who had not yet been taught to feel their own inferiority upon the seas, braved us in contempt upon that element”

They had a superior fleet in the Mediterranean, and they sent it out with express orders to seek the English and engage the of seventeen shi+ps of the line and five smaller vessels, put to sea Adhorn, and sailed immediately in search of them He had with him fourteen sail of the line, and one Neapolitan seventy-four; but his shi+ps were only half- but 7650 ht of theeneral action was expected; and Nelson, as was his custom on such occasions, wrote a hasty letter to his wife, as that which ht possibly contain his last farewell ”The lives of all,” said he, ”are in the hand of Him who knows best whether to preserve ”

But however confident the French governht be of their naval superiority, the officers had no such feeling; and after lish fleet, they suffered themselves to be chased One of their shi+ps, the CA IRA, of eighty-four guns, carried away her ate fired at the disabled shi+p, but received so ed to leave her Soon afterwards a French frigate took the CA IRA in tow; and the SANS-CULOTTES, one hundred and twenty, and the JEAN BARRAS, seventy-four, kept about gunshot distance on her weather bow The AGAMEMNON stood towards her, having no shi+p of the line to support her within several uns so truly, that not a shot missed some part of the shi+p; and latterly, the masts were struck by every shot It had been Nelson's intention not to fire before he touched her stern; but seeing how impossible it was that he should be supported, and how certainly the AGAMEMNON must be severely cut up if herto the occasion As soon, therefore, as he ithin a hundred yards of her stern, he ordered the helm to be put a-starboard, and the driver and after-sails to be brailed up and shi+vered; and, as the shi+p fell off, gave the enemy her whole broadside They instantly braced up the after-yards, put the helain This manoeuvre he practised for two hours and a quarter, never allowing the CA IRA to get a single gun from either side to bear on hiuns now, it was no longer with coolness and precision, for every shot went far ahead By this ti in tatters, her mizen-top-mast, ate which had her in tow hove in stays, and got her round Both these French shi+ps now brought their guns to bear, and opened their fire The AGAMEMNON passed them within half-pistol shot; almost every shot passed over her, for the French had elevated their guns for the rigging, and for distant firing, and did not think of altering the elevation As soon as the AGAMEMNON's after-guns ceased to bear, she hove in stays, keeping a constant fire as she ca worked, said Nelson, with as etting round, he saw that the Sans-Culottes, which had wore, with many of the ene to leeward The adnal for the van shi+ps to join him Upon this Nelson bore away, and prepared to set all sail; and the ene saved their shi+p, hauled close to the wind, and opened upon him a distant and ineffectual fire Only seven of the AGAMEMNON'swhich Nelson hi were very much cut, and she had many shots in her hull, and some betind and water The CA IRA lost 110 et a top-ht on the following lish shi+ps were taken aback with a fine breeze at NW, while the enemy's fleet kept the southerly wind The body of their fleet was about five miles distant; the CA IRA and the CENSEUR, seventy-four, which had her in tow, about three and a half All sail was made to cut these shi+ps off; and as the French atteht on The AGAMEMNON was again engaged with her yesterday's antagonist; but she had to fight on both sides the shi+p at the saallantly: the first lost nearly 300 men, in addition to her forth struck; and Lieutenant Andrews, of the AGAMEMNON, brother to the lady to whom Nelson had becoallant an officer as ever stepped a quarter-deck,” hoisted English colours on board them both The rest of the enemy's shi+ps' behaved very ill As soon as these vessels had struck, Nelson went to Admiral Hotham and proposed that the two prizes should be left with the ILlustRIOUS and COURAGEUX, which had been crippled in the action, and with four frigates, and that the rest of the fleet should pursue the enee to the utmost But his reply was--”We must be contented: we have done very well”--”Now,” said Nelson, ”had we taken ten sail, and allowed the eleventh to escape, when it had been possible to have got at her, I could never have called it well done Goodall backed ot him to write to the admiral; but it would not do We should have had such a day as, I believe, the annals of England never produced” In this letter the character of Nelson fully manifests itself ”I wish,” said he, ”to be an adlish fleet: I should very soon either do much, or be ruined: my disposition cannot bear tame and slow measures Sure I am, had I commanded on the 14th, that either the whole French fleet would have graced my triumph, or I should have been in a confounded scrape” What the event would have been, he knew fros and his own consciousness of power; and we also know it now, for Aboukir and Trafalgar have told it

The CA IRA and CENSEUR probably defended themselves with more obstinacy in this action, froiven; because they had fired red-hot shot, and had also a preparation sent, as they said, by the convention from Paris, which seems to have been of the nature of the Greek fire; for it becauish its flareat care in the captured shi+ps; like the red-hot shot, it had been found useless in battle Admiral Hotham's action saved Corsica for the time; but the victory had been incomplete, and the arrival at Toulon of six sail of the line, two frigates, and two cutters froave the French a superiority which, had they kno to use it, would ered the British Mediterranean fleet That fleet had been greatly neglected at the Ad Lord Chatham's administration: and it did not, for some tione home to represent the real state of affairs, and solicit reinforceencies of the time, and the importance of the scene of action But that fatal error of under-proportioning the force to the service; that ruinous econo a little, renders all that is spent useless, infected the British councils; and Lord Hood, not being able to obtain such reinforcened the cootten us” Another Neapolitan seventy-four joined Admiral Hotham, and Nelson observed with sorrow that this was lish fleet When the store-shi+ps and victuallers froht wonderful; and yet, had they not escaped, ”the game,” said Nelson, ”was up here At this moment our operations are at a stand for want of shi+ps to support the Austrians in getting possession of the sea-coast of the king of Sardinia; and behold our admiral does not feel hiive assistance in their operations” It was reported that the French were again out with 18 or 20 sail The combined British and Neapolitan were but sixteen; should the enehteen, Nelson made no doubt of a complete victory; but if they were twenty, he said, it was not to be expected; and a battle, without complete victory, would have been destruction, because another th Adland ”What they canhim with only five sail of the line,” said Nelson, ”is truly astonishi+ng; but all men are alike, and we in this country do not find any amendment or alteration from the old Board of Admiralty They should know that half the shi+ps in the fleet require to go to England; and that long ago they ought to have reinforced us”

About this time Nelson was made colonel ofwished for rather than expected It caht that his services had not been acknowledged as they deserved; and it abated the resentful feeling which would else have been excited by the answer to an application to the War-office During his four months' land service in Corsica, he had lost all his shi+p furniture, owing to the movements of a camp Upon this he wrote to the Secretary at War, briefly stating what his services on shore had been, and saying, he trusted it was not asking an iht be made to him which would be made to a land officer of his rank, which, situated as he ould be that of a brigadier-general: if this could not be accorded, he hoped that his additional expenses would be paid him The anshich he received was, that ”no pay had ever been issued under the direction of the War-office to officers of the navy serving with the army on shore”

He now entered upon a new line of service The Austrian and Sardinian armies, under General de Vins, required a British squadron to co-operate with the the French from the Riviera di Genoa; and as Nelson had been so , it was io He sailed from St Fiorenzo on this destination; but fell in, off Cape del Mele, with the eneave his squadron chase The chase lasted four-and-twenty hours; and, owing to the fickleness of the wind, the British shi+ps were sometimes hard pressed; but the want of skill on the part of the French gave Nelson es Nelson bent his way back to St Fiorenzo, where the fleet, which was in the , had, for seven hours, thehim almost in possession of the enemy, before the ould allow them to put out to his assistance The French, however, at evening, went off, not choosing to approach nearer the shore During the night, Ad sought the ene winds and vexatious calms, so common in the Mediterranean, rendered it impossible to close with theht on; and then the firingto ard, drew inshore; and the English fleet was becalmed six or seven uns, struck; but before she could be taken possession of, a box of combustibles in her fore-top took fire, and the unhappy crew experienced how far more perilous their inventions were to theration, that the French in their official account say, the hull, the masts, and sails, all seelish boats were put out to the assistance of the poor wretches on board, not more than 200 could be saved The AGAMEMNON, and Captain Rowley in the cu into close action a second ti directly into the Gulf of Frejus, where the ene closed

Nelson now proceeded to his station with eight sail of frigates under his co at Genoa, he had a conference with Mr Drake, the British envoy to that state; the result of which was, that the object of the British must be to put an entire stop to all trade between Genoa, France, and the places occupied by the French troops; for unless this trade were stopped, it would be scarcely possible for the allied armies to hold their situation, and i the enemy out of the Riviera di Genoa Mr Drake was of opinion that even Nice ht fall for want of supplies, if the trade with Genoa were cut off This sort of blockade Nelson could not carry on without great risk to himself A captain in the navy, as he represented to the envoy, is liable to prosecution for detention and daer was increased by an order which had then lately been issued; by which, when a neutral shi+p was detained, a coo was directed to be sent to the secretary of the Adainst her till the pleasure of that board should be cooes of shi+ps detained upon this station, consisting chiefly of corn, would be spoiled long before the orders of the Admiralty could be known; and then, if they should happen to release the vessel, the owners would look to the captain for daainst this danger, involved another danger not less to be apprehended: for if the captain should direct the cargo to be taken out, the freight paid for, and the vessel released, the agent eht prove fraudulent, and become bankrupt; and in that case the captain becas had happened: Nelson therefore required, as the only ed essential to the co the officers to ruin, that the British envoy should appoint agents to pay the freight, release the vessels, sell the cargo, and hold the a its officers ”I a,” said Nelson

”not only without the orders of my commander-in-chief, but, in some measure, contrary to him However, I have not only the support of his Majesty's ministers, both at Turin and Genoa, but a consciousness that I a and country Political courage, in an officer abroad, is as highly necessary as e”

This quality, which is as e as it is more valuable, and without which the soldier's bravery is often of little avail, Nelson possessed in an eree His representations were attended to as they deserved Admiral Hothaovernment akened to the injury which the cause of the allies continually suffered froes in ablecoeneral, al at the head of a troop of horse! I do not write less than froeneral and aides-de-camp, and my own little squadron, fully employ my time This I like; active service or none” It was Nelson's h these exertions He was at this tireat pain ”Poor AGAMEMNON,” he sometimes said, ”was as nearly worn out as her captain; and both must soon be laid up to repair”