y.
He was, however, by temperament unfitted to lead a turbulent and
undisciplined people in time of stress, and in 1755, at his suggestion,
his brother Pasquale was invited to come from Naples and assume the
command.

Pasquale Paoli.

The first task of Pasquale Paoli, elected general in April at an
assembly at San Antonio della Casabianca, was to suppress the rival
faction led by Emanuele Matra, son of Gaffori's former colleague. By the
spring of 1756 this was done, and the Corsicans were able to turn a
united front against the Genoese. At this juncture the French, alarmed
by a supposed understanding between Paoli and the British, once more
intervened, and occupied Calvi, Ajaccio and San Fiorenzo until 1757,
when their forces were once more called away by the wars on the
continent. In 1758 Paoli renewed the attack on the Genoese, founding the
new port of Isola Rossa as a centre whence the Corsican ships could
attack the trading vessels of Genoa. The republic, indeed, was now too
weak to attempt seriously to reassert its sway over the island, which,
with the exception of the coast towns, Paoli ruled with absolute
authority and with conspicuous wisdom. In the intervals of fighting he
was occupied in reducing Corsican anarchy into some sort of civilized
order. The vendetta was put down, partly by religious influence, partly
with a stern hand; the surviving oppressive rights of the feudal
_signori_ were abolished; and the traditional institutions of the Terra
di Comune were made the basis of a democratic constitution for the whole
island.

Corsica sold to France.

As regarded the relations of Corsica all now depended on the attitude of
France to which both Paoli and the republic made overtures. In 1764 a
French expedition under the comte de Marbeuf arrived, and, by agreement
with Genoa, garrisoned three of the Genoese fortresses. Though Genoese
sovereignty had been expressly recognized in the agreement authorizing
this, it was in effect non-existent. French and Corsicans remained on
amicable terms, and the inhabitants of the nominally Genoese towns
actually sent representatives to the national _consulta_ or parliament.
The climax came early in 1767 when the Corsicans captured the Genoese
island of Capraja, and occupied Ajaccio and other places, evacuated by
the French as a protest against the asylum given to the Jesuits exiled
from France. Genoa now recognized that she had been worsted in the long
contest, and