the Culloden and Courageaux, to lead himself in the Agamemnon, and take or destroy the whole. The attempt was not permitted: but it was Nelson's belief, that if it had been made, it would have prevented the attack upon the Austrian army, which took place almost immediately afterwards.

General de Vins demanded satisfaction of the Genoese government for the seizure of his commissary; and then, without waiting for their reply, took possession of some empty magazines of the French, and pushed his sentinels to the gates of Genoa. Had he done so at first, he would have found the magazines full; but, timed as the measure was, and useless as it was to the cause of the allies, it was in character with the whole of the Austrian general's conduct and it is no small proof of the dexterity with which he served the enemy, that in such circumstances he could so act with Genoa, as to contrive to put himself in the wrong. Nelson was at this time, according to his own expression, placed in a cleft stick. Mr. Drake, the Austrian minister, and the Austrian general, all joined in requiring him not to leave Genoa: if he left that port unguarded, they said, not only the imperial troops at St. Pier d' Arena and Voltri would be lost, but the French plan for taking post between Voltri and Savona would certainly succeed: if the Austrians should be worsted in the advanced posts, the retreat by the Bocchetta would be cut off; and, if this happened, the loss of the army would be imputed to him, for having left Genoa. On the other hand, he knew, that if he were not at Pietra, the enemy's gun-boats would harass the left flank of the Austrians, who, if they were defeated, as was to be expected, from the spirit of all their operations, would, very probably, lay their defeat to the want of assistance from the Agamemnon. Had the force for which Nelson applied been given him, he could have attended to both objects: and had he been permitted to attack the convoy in Alassio, he would have disconcerted the plans of the French, in spite of the Austrian general. He had foreseen the danger, and pointed out how it might be prevented; but the means of preventing it were withheld. The attack was made as he foresaw; and the gun-boats brought their fire to bear upon the Austrians. It so happened, however, that the left flank, which was exposed to them, was the only part of the army that behaved well; this division stood its ground till the centre and the right wing fled, and then retreated in a soldierlike manner. General de Vins gave up the command in the middle of the battle, pleading ill health. "From that moment," says Nelson, "not a soldier staid at his post: it was the devil take the hindmost. Many thousands ran away who had never seen the enemy; some of them thirty miles from the advanced posts. Had I not, though, I own, against my inclination, been kept at Genoa, from eight to ten thousand men would have been taken prisoners, and, amongt the number, General de Vins himself; but, by this means, the pass of the Bocchetta was kept open. The purser of the ship, who was at Vado, ran with the Austrians eighteen miles without stopping; the men without arms, officers without soldiers, and women without assistance. The oldest officer, say they, never heard of so complete a defeat, and certainly without any reason. has ended my campaign. We have established the French republic; which, but for us, I verily believe, would never have been settled by such a volatile, changeable people. I hate a Frenchman: they are equally objects of my detestation, whether royalists or republicans: in some points, I believe, the latter are the best." Nelson had a lieutenant and two midshipmen taken at Vado : they told him, in their letter, that few of the French soldiers were more than three or four and twenty years old, a great many not more than fourteen, and all were nearly naked: they were sure, they said, his barge's crew could have beat a hundred of them; and that, had he himself seen them, he would not have thought, if the world had been covered with such people, that they could have beaten the Austrian army.

This

The defeat of General de Vins gave the enemy possession of the Genoese coast from Savona to Voltri; and it deprived the Austrians of their direct communication with the English fleet. The Agamemnon, therefore, could no longer be useful on this station, and Nelson sailed to Leghorn to refit. When his ship went into dock, there was not a mast, yard, sail, or any part of the rigging, but what stood in need of repair, having been cut to pieces with shot. The hull was so damaged, that it had for some time been secured by cables, which were served or thrapped round it.

CHAPTER IV.

SIR JOHN JERVIS had now arrived to take the command of the Mediterranean fleet. The Agamemnon having, as her captain said, been made as fit for sea as a rotten ship could be, Nelson sailed from Leghorn, and joined the admiral in Fiorenzo Bay. "I found him," said he, "anxious to know many things, which I was a good deal surprised to find had not been communicated to him by others in the fleet; and it would appear that he was so well satisfied with my opinion of what is likely to happen, and the means of prevention to be taken, that he had no reserve with me respecting his information and ideas of what is likely to be done,' The manner in which Nelson was received is said to have excited some envy. One captain observed to him: "You did just as you pleased in Lord Hood's time, the same in Admiral Hotham's, and now again with Sir John Jervis: it makes no difference to you who is commanderin-chief." A higher compliment could not have been paid to any commanderin-chief, than to say of him, that he understood the merits of Nelson, and left him, as far as possible, to act upon his own judgment.

The Agamemnon was expected to be sent home, and Captain Nelson had expressed a wish to return in her to England: but Sir John Jervis appears to have felt more unwilling to part with the captain than his ship. He offered to him the St. George, of ninety guns, and the Zealous, of seventy-four, both of which he declined he, at the same time, expressed a willingness, should the war continue, to hoist his flag under the new commander. They thus became mutually attached to each other; and, it is said, this was productive of envious feelings in the minds of some of his brother officers. Nelson resumed his command in the gulf of Genoa. So highly did the commander approve his conduct, that he promoted him to the rank of temporary commodore, and Nelson accordingly hoisted his pendant on board his old ship the Agamemnon. In the month of August, 1796, Nelson was established in permanent rank, in the Captain, of seventy-four guns, having a captain appointed to command under him.

For some time he had little opportunity of signalising himself. On one occasion, however, he was able to harass the French, and for a while to impede the career of a new conqueror-Buonaparte. Six vessels, laden with ordnance and ammunition, sailed from Toulon, for the seige of Mantua. With the aid of Captain Cockburn, in the Meleanger, he drove them under a battery, which he silenced, and pursued and captured the whole. Military books, plans, and maps of Italy, sent for Buonaparte's use, were found in the convoy. quence of this loss, the French were obliged to raise the seize of Mantua, and had it not been for the weakness and imbecility of the armies and councils of the allied powers, Austria might have well improved this success: but Buonaparte soon afterwards took possession of Leghorn. This movement caused Nelson to blockade that port, and land a British force on the island of Elba ;

In conse

his object being to obtain possession of Porto Ferrajo. He shortly after took the island of Capraja, about forty miles distant from Corsica, and formerly attached to that state.

In consequence of the war with Spain, it was determined, by government, to evacuate Corsica; and the admiral sent the information to Nelson in September. He ordered him, after co-operating with the viceroy, Sir Gilbert Elliott, in the evacuation of Corsica, to give every assistance in his power towards the completion of it. The fleet was also ordered to leave the Mediterranean. All this was so contrary to the instructions which had last been received, that in answer to Sir John Jervis, commodore Nelson observes: " The dispatches are wonderful: do his Majesty's ministers know their own minds ?” Subsequently in a letter to his wife, he 66 says, we are all preparing to leave the Mediterranean, a measure which I cannot approve. They at home do not know what this fleet is capable of performing anything and every thing. Much as I shall rejoice to see England, I lament our present orders in sackcloth and ashes, so dishonourable to the dignity of England, whose fleets are equal to meet the world in arms; and of all the fleets I ever saw, I never beheld one in point of officers and men, equal to Sir John Jervis's, who is a commander-in-chief able to lead men on to glory."

The following is Nelson's account of the evacuation of Bastia, and will be perused with interest by the reader :-" On the 13th of October, I was close in with Bastia before daylight, in the Diadem, Captain Towry. Before the ship anchored, I went on shore to the viceroy, landing opposite to his house. I found his excellency very happy at my arrival, and he immediately requested I would permit his most valuable papers to be sent off in my boat; for it was impossible to say how long they might be safe on shore. The viceroy then told me the state of the town and country; that a committee of thirty had sequestered all the property of the English, and that a plan had been laid to seize his person.

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From the viceroy I went to General de Burgh, who told me, that from the number of armed Corsicans, there was scarcely a prospect of saving either stores, cannon, or provisions. I submitted to him the propriety of shutting the citadel gate, in order to prevent any more armed men from getting into it, and that I would moor the ships opposite to the town. On my return from the general and the viceroy, the merchants, owners, and captains of privateers, came to me in tears, stating the fact of even a trunk with wearing apparel being refused them, and that they were beggars without my help; a transport's boat had, they said, been refused permission to leave the Mole until she was searched, and that a privateer was moored across the Mole head. I requested them to be quiet, and promised to leave nothing undone for their relief. *About ten a.m. the Egmont, Captain Sutton, arrived, which I moored the same as the Diadem. At noon, having made the signal for boats manned and armed, I ordered Captain Towry to proceed into the Mole with him, and to open the passage for all vessels which might choose to come out; with instructions to take the first English vessel which came in tow, and if he met with the smallest molestation, he was to send to the municipality in my name, and inform them, that if the least impediment were thrown in the way of getting any vessel out of the Mole, or embarking any property belonging to the English from the town, I would instantly batter it down.

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Captain Sutton very handsomely went to Towry's assistance; for on the approach of the latter to the Mole, the privateer pointed his guns, and a hundred guns were levelled from the Mole head. On this, Captain Sutton sent my message, and, pulling out his watch, gave them one quarter of an hour for an answer, when the ships would in five minutes open their fire. Upon this, the people from the privateer, and from the Mole head, even to the Corsican

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In the afternoon, an owner of a privateer came to me to say, he had forty hogsheads of tobacco, with various other goods in the custom-house, and that the municipality refused to deliver them. I directed him to go to the committee, and say I sent him for his goods, which if not instantly delivered, I would open my fire. In five minutes he returned with the keys, and said the committee turned as white as a sheet, and said not a word, but gave him the keys. At night they made an effort to get duty paid for some wine landed, and of course going to be embarked by an English merchant. I had only occasion to send word that I would pay them a disagreeable visit, if I had any more complaints. This was the last effort: from that moment not an armed man was seen in the streets. Bastia had never, it was acknowledged, been so quiet and orderly, since we had been in possession of the island.

"The viceroy consented to go on board my ship that night, which took off from the general and myself all concern for his safety. On the 15th in the morning, I landed my troops to take post at the viceroy's house, which covered our embarking place, and one hundred seamen as a working party: the general ordered about another hundred men from the troops for the same purpose, and the rest kept post in the citadel. We set heartily to work, and continued without intermission until the 19th at sunset, when I calculated we had saved about two hundred thousand pounds worth of cannon, powder, stores, and provisions, exclusive of baggage, household stuff, &c. &c., for the poor emigrees co ld not afford to leave a rag. Our boats never ceased night nor day.

No. 4.

E

"On the 18th, the French landed troops near Cape Corse, about thirty-six miles from Bastia. On the 19th, they sent a message to the municipality, desiring to know how they intended to receive them: if as friends, they demanded that the English should be prevented from embarking. In this state, nothing more could be attempted to be saved; therefore at twelve at night our troops quitted the citadel, first spiking the guns, and came to the north end of the town, where there is an open line of ground, on which they could act in case of being attacked. The French passing at the back of the town were in the citadel at one, a.m. From its blowing a gale of wind, it was dawn of day when the general and myself went into the barge, there not being one man left ashore and we took with us the two field-pieces brought down to cover our retreat."

Nelson was the last individual to leave the shore, and while stepping in his boat he turned to the mob, and with the utmost coolness exclaimed, "Now, John Corse, follow the natural bent of your detestable character-plunder and revenge."

At

In December, Nelson received an order to hoist his broad pendant on board La Minerve frigate, Captain George Cockburn, and to take the Blanche, Captain Preston, under his command, and proceed to Porto Ferrajo, to superintend the evacuation of that place. On his way he fell in with two Spanish frigates, the Sabina and the Ceres. He immediately engaged the ship which carried the poop light, and directed the Blanche to bear down and engage the other. forty minutes past ten at night the commodore brought the enemy to close action, which continued without intermission till half-past one. Notwithstanding the superior force of the Spanish vessel, the fire of the English was maintained with such effect, that the Sabina, of 40 guns (28 of which were eighteen pounders), struck. She was commanded by Don Jacobo Stuart, and proved to have had one hundred and sixty-four men killed and wounded during the action, in which she also lost her mizen mast. On board La Minerve only seven men were killed and thirty-four wounded.

Scarcely was this victory obtained and the prize taken in tow, than a frigate was seen advancing, which by her signals was found to be a Spaniard. At half-past four in the morning she came to close action with La Minerve, who cast off the prize, under the command of Lieutenant Culverhouse. After a trial of strength for above an hour, the enemy hauled off, "or I am confident," says the commodore, "she would have shared the fate of her companion." At this time three other ships were seen standing for La Minerve, and at the dawn of day Nelson had the mortification to perceive that they were two Spanish ships of the line and two frigates, and that the Blanche was far to windward. Notwithstanding all the exertions of the officers and men belonging to La Minerve to repair the damages she had sustained, all their labours for her preservation would probably have been ineffectual, had they not been assisted by a diversion of Lieutenant Culverhouse in the prize. A frigate repeatedly tired into her without effect, and at length the Spanish admiral quitted the pursuit of the commodore for that of La Sabina, which steered a different course, evidently with the intention of attracting the notice of the enemy; nor did she surrender till after the loss of all her remaining masts. In the meantime La Blanche had silenced her antagonist, but owing to the same unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, had been prevented from taking possession of her prize.

As soon as Nelson reached Porto Ferrajo, he sent his prisoner in a flag of truce to Carthagena, having returned him his sword: this he did in honour of the gallantry which D. Jacobo had displayed, and not without some feeling of respect for his ancestry. "I felt it," said he, “consonant to the dignity of my country, and I always act as I feel right without regard to custom; he was