both the Austrian Court and their general had other ends in view
than the cause of the allies. "This army," said he, "is slow beyond all
description; and I begin to think that the Emperor is anxious to touch
another L4,000,000 of English money. As for the German generals, war is
their trade, and peace is ruin to them; therefore we cannot expect that
they should have any wish to finish the war. The politics of courts are
so mean, that private people would be ashamed to act in the same way;
all is trick and finesse, to which the common cause is sacrificed. The
general wants a loop-hole; it has for some time appeared to me that
he means to go no further than his present position, and to lay the
miscarriage of the enterprise against Nice, which has always been held
out as the great object of his army, to the non-cooperation of the
British fleet and of the Sardinians."

To prevent this plea, Nelson again addressed De Vins, requesting only to
know the time, and the number of troops ready to embark; then he would,
he said, dispatch a ship to Admiral Hotham, requesting transports,
having no doubt of obtaining them, and trusting that the plan would be
successful to its fullest extent. Nelson thought at the time that, if
the whole fleet were offered him for transports, he would find some
other excuse; and Mr. Drake, who was now appointed to reside at the
Austrian headquarters, entertained the same idea of the general's
sincerity. It was not, however, put so clearly to the proof as it ought
to have been. He replied that, as soon as Nelson could declare himself
ready with the vessels necessary for conveying 10,000 men, with their
artillery and baggage, he would put the army in motion. But Nelson was
not enabled to do this: Admiral Hotham, who was highly meritorious in
leaving such a man so much at his own discretion, pursued a cautious
system, ill according with the bold and comprehensive views of Nelson,
who continually regretted Lord Hood, saying that the nation had suffered
much by his resignation of the Mediterranean command. The plan which
had been concerted, he said, would astonish the French, and perhaps the
English.

There was no unity in the views of the allied powers, no cordiality
in their co-operation, no energy in their councils. The neutral powers
assisted France more effectually than the allies assisted each other.
The Genoese ports were at this time filled with French privateers, which
swarmed out every night, and