th his own, and
to pursue them both at the same time. His son, the Duke of Montferrat,
was sent to drive the republicans out of Savoy and the Tarantaise; and
though the duke took the field several weeks too late, he drove the
French before him, took possession of the Tarantaise, and became master
of the whole of Upper Savoy and of a great part of the low country.
Instead of advancing rapidly upon Lyons, however, the Duke halted at
Aigur Belle; and Keller-man, hearing of his successes, rushed from his
camp at Tornns with reinforcements for the French camp at Conflans,
and being joined by other republicans from Annecy and the country round
Geneva, the Duke of Montferrat was obliged to retrace his steps, and to
abandon everything he had gained on the eastern side of the Alps. The
King of Sardinia had remained on the maritime Alps, and, like his son,
began operations by driving the republicans before him. Descending from
the crests of his mountain station, he made himself master of all the
advanced posts and works of the French; but on the 18th of October
he was repulsed with great loss at the bridge of Giletta, and then he
retreated by the roads through which he had come, leaving Nice to the
French, and depriving the English and Spaniards, with his other allies
at Toulon, of any hope they might have entertained of future assistance
from him.

Before war was declared against Great Britain, the French resolved
to make use of their sovereignty over the Mediterranean sea. Admiral
Truguet was sent with nineteen ships of the line and some frigates to
make the conquest of Sardinia, chiefly, it would appear, for the purpose
of obtaining corn from that exuberantly fertile island. It was imagined
by the French that the Sardinians, who were an unruly and turbulent
people, were ripe for revolt, and that, therefore, with their aid,
they would throw off the yoke of monarchy. But if the Sardinians were
turbulent they were not disaffected; and, moreover, they had a mortal
aversion for all changes, all projects, all foreigners, and all
interlopers. Truguet soon discovered their temper. He sailed into the
bay of Cagliari on the 24th of January; and as soon as he had anchored
his great ships in front of the town, he sent an officer and twenty
soldiers to summon the place, and to represent the advantages which the
islanders would derive from a union with the French republic. No sooner,
however, had the boat got within the range of their guns,