l
quarters, and were formed into twelve companies." The Corsican chiefs
called a general assembly, in which "On donna la Corse a la Vierge
Marie, qui ne parut pas accepter cette couronne."[66] They were not,
however, to be left long without a king, for the following year one of
the strangest adventurers whom the world has ever seen made a bid for
the crown. He promised the islanders the support of the great powers,
and, with their aid, he undertook, if he were made king, to clear
Corsica of her enemies. Men whose fortunes are well-nigh desperate, are
of easy faith, and the conditions of this poor German Baron were
accepted.

[Footnote 66: Voltaire, "Precis du Siecle de Louis XV.," chapter xl.]

His name was Theodore. He was Baron Neuhof, in the county of La Marc, in
Westphalia. Horace Walpole, who had seen him, describes him as "a
comely, middle-sized man, very reserved, and affecting much dignity."
Boswell says that "he was a man of abilities and address." He had served
in the French army, and, later on, had travelled through Spain, Italy,
England, and Holland, ever in search of some new adventure. He had
passed over to Tunis, and, under pretence of conquering Corsica for that
power, had obtained a supply of money and arms. In a ship of ten guns
furnished by the Bey, but carrying the English flag, which Theodore had
the impudence to raise, he sailed to Leghorn. There he sold the ship,
and despatched his offers to the Corsican leaders.

He quickly passed over to the island. This was in the spring of 1736.
"He was a man of a very stately appearance, and the Turkish dress which
he wore, added to the dignity of his mien.... He had his guards, and his
officers of state. He conferred titles of honour, and he struck money,
both of silver and copper. There was such a curiosity over all Europe to
have King Theodore's coins, that his silver coins were sold at four
zechins each; and when the genuine ones were exhausted, imitations of
them were made at Naples, and, like the imitations of antiques, were
bought up at a high price, and carefully preserved in the cabinets of
the virtuosi." He boasted of the immense treasures he had brought with
him, and, as a proof, he scattered among the people fifty sequins in
small coins of a debased or worn out currency. "Il donna des souliers de
bon cuir, magnificence ignoree en Corse." He blockaded the seaport towns
that were in the occupation of the Genoese. "He used to be sometimes at
one s