old to say, the conduct
of his ministry conduces to do more than the arms of the French--his
newly-acquired dominions will not keep to him. Active, not passive;
actions, are the only weapons to meet these scoundrels with. We can, as
your excellency knows, have no desire to distress the Grand Duke by our
conduct; on the contrary, it is our duty to support his royal highness
against the tyranny of the French. Your excellency will be so good as to
say, for me, to his royal highness, that an English ship of war shall,
as long as he pleases, remain at Leghorn, ready to receive his person
and family; for, unless the emperor acts speedily, the British flag will
be his only security. Tuscany has the choice, to act like men, and take
the chance of war; or, in a few weeks, to become another conquest of the
French, and to form a new republic." Speaking of Naples, he, says--"We
have heard nothing since the 19th; and, from those accounts, it is
difficult to say, what turn the mob will take; at that time, they were
certainly loyal. The nobility, to a man, Jacobins. Mack has disappeared,
and no one knows the route he has taken." Such, it appears, was the
uncertainty of the royal family of Naples, with regard to it's fate, on
the 28th, at Palermo; though, in reality, it had then been already
determined.
In fact, on the 25th, the following curious advertisement, for a grand
Te Deum, in consequence of this desirable event, was actually published
at Naples; and the archbishop, with the rest of the clergy, solemnly
assured the people, that great faith, and extraordinary prayers, had
induced their saint to testify his entire approbation of the measure.
"All the faithful citizens of Naples are invited to be present this
day, (Friday, the 25th of January 1799,) at two in the afternoon,
at the celebration of Te Deum; which the archbishop, accompanied by
the chapter, the clergy, the general in chief and staff of the army
of Naples, will sing in the cathedral church, to thank the Most
High for the glorious entry of the French troops into this city;
and who, protected in a peculiar manner by Providence, have
regenerated this people, and are come to establish and consolidate
our happiness. St. Januarius, our protector, rejoices in their
arrival. His blood miraculously liquified on the very evening of
the entry of the republican troops."
Lord Nelson, in the letter last mentioned, thus spea
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