Sardinian and British Intervention, 1746.

Renewed French Intervention.

In 1743 "King Theodore," supported by a British squadron, made a descent
on the island, but finding that he no longer possessed a following,
departed never to return. The Corsicans, assembled in diet at Casinca,
now elected Giampietro Gaffori and Alerio Matra as generals and
"protectors of the fatherland" (_protettori della patria_), and began a
vigorous onslaught on the Genoese strongholds. They were helped now by
the sympathy and active aid of European powers, and in 1746 Count
Domenico Rivarola, a Corsican in Sardinian service, succeeded in
capturing Bastia and San Fiorenzo with the aid of a British squadron and
Sardinian troops. The factious spirit of the Corsicans themselves was,
however, their worst enemy. The British commander judged it inexpedient
to intervene in the affairs of a country of which the leaders were at
loggerheads; Rivarola, left to himself, was unable to hold Bastia--a
place of Genoese sympathies--and in spite of the collapse of Genoa
itself, now in Austrian hands, the Genoese governor succeeded in
maintaining himself in the island. By the time of the signature of the
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, the situation of the island had again
changed. Rivarola and Matra had departed, and Gaffori was left nominally
supreme over a people torn by intestine feuds. Genoa, too, had expelled
the Austrians with French aid, and, owing to a report that the king of
Sardinia was meditating a fresh attempt to conquer the island, a strong
French expedition under the marquis de Cursay had, at the request of the
republic, occupied Calvi, Bonifacio, Ajaccio and Bastia. By the terms of
the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Corsica was once more assigned to Genoa,
but the French garrison remained, pending a settlement between the
republic and the islanders. In view of the intractable temper of the two
parties no agreement could be reached; but Cursay's personal popularity
served to preserve the peace for a while. His withdrawal in 1752,
however, was the signal for a general rising, and once more, at a diet
held at Orezza, Gaffori was elected general and protector. In October of
the following year, however, he fell victim to a _vendetta_ and the
nation was once more leaderless. His place was taken for a while by
Clemente Paoli, son of Giacinto, who for a year or two succeeded, with
the aid of other lieutenants of Gaffori, in holding the Genoese at ba