them to the coast of Naples. "The
moment the Emperor moves," he wrote to St. Vincent, "I shall go with
all the ships I can collect into the Bay of Naples, to create a
diversion." Nothing certain can be said as yet, "whether all is lost
or may yet be saved; that must depend upon the movements of the
Emperor." Yet it was the hand of the emperor which he had advised the
King of Naples to force, by his ill-timed advance.

Troubridge rejoined the Flag at Palermo on the 17th of March, having
turned over the command in the Levant to Sir Sidney Smith, after an
ineffectual attempt to destroy the French shipping in Alexandria. By
this time matters had begun to mend. Calabria had returned to its
loyalty, and the insurrection of the peasantry against the French was
general throughout the country, and in the Roman State. The Directory,
taking umbrage at the advance of Russian troops to the frontiers of
Austria, demanded explanations from the latter, and when these proved
unsatisfactory directed its armies to take the offensive. The French
advanced into Germany on the first of March, and in Italy towards the
end of the month. But the action of the French Government, though
audacious and imposing, rested upon no solid foundation of efficiency
in the armies, or skill in the plan of campaign. Serious reverses soon
followed, and the fatally ex-centric position of the corps in Naples
was then immediately apparent.

Before this news could reach Palermo, however, Nelson had sent
Troubridge with four ships-of-the-line and some smaller vessels to the
Bay of Naples, to blockade it, and to enter into communication, if
possible, with the loyalists in the city. As the extreme reluctance of
the King and Queen prevented his going in person,--a reason the
sufficiency of which it is difficult to admit,--Nelson hoisted his
flag on board a transport in the bay, and sent the flagship, in order
not to diminish the force detailed for such important duties. Within a
week the islands in the immediate neighborhood of Naples--Procida,
Ischia, Capri, and the Ponzas--had again hoisted the royal ensign. On
the 22d of April the French evacuated the city, with the exception of
the Castle of St. Elmo, in which they left a garrison of five hundred
men. In Upper Italy their armies were in full retreat, having been
forced back from the Adige to the Adda, whence an urgent message was
sent to Macdonald, Championnet's successor at Naples, to fall back to
the northward