either the menace from Italy nor the discontent of the islanders, but
the alliance of Spain with France. As Nelson foresaw, that event
endangered the communications with England. Ministers also knew that a
plan was on foot for a French invasion of Ireland, which, as we shall
see, was attempted at the end of the year. They therefore determined to
concentrate their forces for home defence and the protection of the most
important possessions, a decision which involved the abandonment of the
Mediterranean. Accordingly, on 31st August 1796, Portland sent orders
for the evacuation of Corsica and of Elba. For a few days in the latter
half of October Ministers revoked these orders, and bade Elliot hold
firm, their hope being to tempt the Empress Catharine to active
co-operation against France by the cession of Corsica to her. Whether
that wily potentate saw through this device is doubtful; for she died on
16th November. Her death put an end to the fleeting hope of opposing
France with an equality of force; for the bent of her successor, Paul I,
was at first towards peace.

Despite the comparative neglect of Mediterranean affairs by Pitt at this
time, they exerted a profound influence upon his career. In view of the
many claims upon the British navy, it was perhaps impossible to exert
upon the coast of Nice and Genoa the pressure which Elliot desired; but
the failure to do so in the spring of 1796 enabled Bonaparte to win the
triumphs which changed the history of the world. Further, the British
occupation of Corsica, scarcely less than that of Hayti, aroused keen
jealousy at Madrid, and thus helped to set in motion forces which for
the time checkmated England in the Mediterranean. Not until the
Spaniards were beaten by Jervis and Nelson could she stretch forth her
trident over that sea, first from Minorca and finally from Malta. The
loss of Corsica was keenly felt. For, had England made full use of that
island as a base of operations, Bonaparte could not have carried out his
Egyptian expedition in 1798. Austria also ascribed her overthrow in
Venetia and Styria to the withdrawal of the British fleet from the
Mediterranean. That step seemed a confession of pitiable weakness,
though in reality it enabled the Government to concentrate the fleet at
points more important than Bastia and Ajaccio.

Amidst the disasters at the end of the Flemish campaign of 1794 Pitt
sought to divert the energies of England to a more promising field.
Th