lay to the northward and eastward
of him being thus neutralized, Bonaparte found upon the land nothing
to oppose his will, or to contest his influence, in the smaller and
weaker nations to the southward and westward, close to his own doors,
but isolated from the rest of Europe, except by sea--a weighty
exception. Spain, reduced to virtual vassalage in the previous war, no
longer even pretended to dispute his orders. She was not engaged in
the present hostilities, simply because it suited him better to take a
money tribute from her, and to enjoy for French ships the benevolent
neutrality of Spanish ports, more necessary to them than to the
British. Moreover, if Spain joined in the war, Minorca, restored to
her at the peace, would be at the mercy of Great Britain, and Port
Mahon, the fine haven of that island, was always a menace to Toulon.
The harbors of remote Portugal, where Lisbon formerly had given
powerful support to the British fleet, were now closed to it for
offensive operations; and Nelson, within whose command its seaboard
lay, was strictly enjoined to refrain from any such use of them, even
from sending in prizes, except under stress of weather. In Italy,
Piedmont had been incorporated with France, while the Italian and
Ligurian (Genoa) Republics in the North were so identified with her in
action, and so submissive to her, that the capture of the latter's
ships was at once ordered by Nelson; and he recommended to his
Government that a formal blockade should be proclaimed of her ports,
as well as of Leghorn, where the French flag was flown on the same
staff as the Tuscan. The States of the Pope, intermediate between
these tributaries of Bonaparte in the North and his garrisoned
province in Naples, enjoyed only such precarious independence as he
from day to day allowed. But, mighty as was the growth of French
ascendency, as shown by these changes, the very advantages accruing to
France from her advanced maritime positions laid her further open to
the Sea Power of Great Britain. The neutrality of Genoa and Tuscany
could no longer embarrass the British admiral, as it had Nelson in
1795 and 1796. Offensive operations against them were now merely a
question of adequate force, and the South of France depended greatly
upon free access to their ports. Taking Piedmont from the King of
Sardinia, too, relieved any scruples the British might have concerning
their use of the island of Sardinia injuring a friendly monarch, a