nearly the entire
time,--directed the guns of the _Agamemnon_ with such destructive
force against the little city that when the land forces from St.
Florent appeared it was weakened beyond the power of resistance and
surrendered.[44] The terms made by its captors were the easiest known
to modern warfare, the conquered being granted all the honors of war.
As a direct and immediate result, the Corsican estates met, and
declared the island a constitutional monarchy under the protection of
England. Sir Gilbert Elliot was appointed viceroy, and Paoli was
recalled by George III to England. On August tenth fell Calvi, the
last French stronghold in the country, hitherto considered impregnable
by the Corsicans.

[Footnote 44: For a full account of these important
operations see Mahan: Life of Nelson, I, 123 _et seq._]

The presence of England so close to Italian shores immediately
produced throughout Lombardy and Tuscany a reaction of feeling in
favor of the French Revolution and its advanced ideas. The Committee
of Safety meant to take advantage of this sentiment and reduce the
Italian powers to the observance of strict neutrality at least, if
nothing more. They hoped to make a demonstration at Leghorn and punish
Rome for an insult to the republic still unavenged--the death of the
French minister, in 1793, at the hands of a mob; perhaps they might
also drive the British from Corsica. This explained the arrival of the
commissioners at Nice with the order to cease operations against
Sardinia and Austria, for the purpose of striking at English influence
in Italy, and possibly in Corsica.

Everything but one was soon in readiness. To meet the English fleet,
the shipwrights at Toulon must prepare a powerful squadron. They did
not complete their gigantic task until February nineteenth, 1795. We
can imagine the intense activity of any man of great power, determined
to reconquer a lost position: what Buonaparte's fire and zeal must
have been we can scarcely conceive; even his fiercest detractors bear
witness to the activity of those months. When the order to embark was
given, his organization and material were both as nearly perfect as
possible. His mother had brought the younger children to a charming
house near by, where she entertained the influential women of the
neighborhood; and thither her busy son often withdrew for the
pleasures of a society which he was now beginning thoroughly to enjoy.
Thanks