vicious practice of medievalism, he himself being
sucked into the vortex and degraded into a common adventurer.
Disenchanted and bitter, he then turned to France. Abandoning his
double role, his interest in Corsica was thenceforth sentimental; his
fine faculties when focused on the realities of a great world suddenly
exhibit themselves in keen observation, fair conclusions, a more than
academic interest, and a skill in the conduct of life hitherto
obscured by unfavorable conditions. Already he had found play for all
his powers both with gun and pen. He was not only eager but ready to
deploy them in a higher service.

The city of Toulon was now formally and nominally invested--that is,
according to the then accepted general rules for such operations, but
with no regard to those peculiarities of its site which only master
minds could mark and use to the best advantage. The large double bay
is protected from the southwest by a broad peninsula joined to the
mainland by a very narrow isthmus, and thus opens southeastward to the
Mediterranean. The great fortified city, then regarded as one of the
strongest places in the world, lies far within on the eastern shore of
the inner harbor. Excellent authorities considered it impregnable. It
is protected on the landward side by an amphitheater of high hills,
which leave to the right and left a narrow strip of rolling country
between their lower slopes and the sea. On the east Lapoype commanded
the left wing of the besieging revolutionary force. The westward pass
is commanded by Ollioules, which Carteaux had selected for his
headquarters. On August twenty-ninth his vanguard seized the place,
but they were almost immediately attacked and driven out by the allied
armies, chiefly English troops brought in from Gibraltar. On September
seventh the place was retaken. The two wings were in touch and to
landward the communications of the town were completely cut off. In
the assault only a single French officer fell seriously wounded, but
that one was a captain of artillery. Salicetti and his colleagues had
received from the minister of war a charge to look out for the citizen
Buonaparte who wanted service on the Rhine. This and their own
attachment determined them in the pregnant step they now took. The
still unattached captain of artillery, Napoleon Buonaparte, was
appointed to the vacant place. As far as history is concerned, this is
a very important fact; it is really a matter of slight