vy should not interfere. Six weeks later the
question was repeated; but the admiral replied that, after a
consultation with the flag-officers under his command, he refused
co-operation in what he considered a wild scheme. In this opinion he
was probably right, though Nelson possibly was reminded of Dundas's
objections to besieging Bastia. Nelson then went in person to Leghorn,
and saw Hotham. He asked to be given two seventy-fours and the
transports, to make the attempt himself. Hotham again refused a single
ship; but not only so, reduced Nelson's squadron, and ordered him, in
addition to his present duties, to reconnoitre Toulon continually,
"whilst he," said Nelson, scornfully, "lies quiet in Leghorn Roads."
It would almost seem as if the admiral thought that the time had come
for a little judicious snubbing, and repression of ardor in the
uncomfortable subordinate, whose restless energy conflicted so much
with his repose of mind. The fleet spent its time chiefly in San
Fiorenzo Bay or in Leghorn, making occasional cruises off Toulon to
observe the French navy in that port. The latter was undoubtedly its
principal care; but, being distinctly inferior to the British, it is
impossible to say why Nelson should not have been reinforced. If it
was due to the wish to continue so largely superior in numbers, it
certainly illustrates with singular appositeness the deterrent effect
of an inferior "fleet in being," and that that effect lies less in the
nature of things than in the character of the officer upon whom it is
produced. Moreover, the employment of adequate force upon the Riviera,
in active aggressive work under Nelson during the summer, when it was
practicable to do so, would have compelled the French fleet to come
out and fight, or the French army to fall back.

On the 1st of November Hotham struck his flag in Genoa, and departed,
bequeathing to his successors a military estate encumbered by the old
mortgage of the French fleet, still in being, which he might have
cleared off, and by a new one in the numerous and powerful batteries
of the Riviera, built and controlled by troops whose presence to erect
them might have been prevented by a timely action on his part. The
harm, being done, was thenceforth irreparable. As time passed, the
situation became more and more favorable to the French. The
reinforcements from Spain arrived, and gunboats and flatboats, fitted
out at Toulon, began to come upon the scene. Their appea