Generals selected to command them possessed any military experience. The Commander-in-Chief, the German General Mack, was utterly incapable of leading a well-regulated army, much less a band of newlyformed troops of whose very language he was entirely ignorant.

In the meantime, I was envying the fate of my two brothers, who were beginning the campaign with their: respective regiments. Although so recently entered at the Military School, I was, on account of the proficiency I had made in my studies and by reason of the great scarcity of officers, created an ensign of artillery.

The undisciplined and ill-conducted Neapolitan army entered the Papal States towards the end of November. The French troops having withdrawn themselves thence, the Neapolitans entered Rome without the slightest difficulty, and there the Court established itself forthwith. After a few days of pretended and premature triumph, the King, alarmed by the victories of the French, no less than by the unmanageable state of his own army, fed precipitately from Rome towards Naples disguised in the attire of the Duke of Ascoli, first gentleman of the bed-chamber, and reached Caserta in the evening of the 11th. He would have shown more judgment if, instead of taking so inconsiderate a step, he had shut himself up with ten thousand men in the Castle of Gaeta. In that powerful fortress, and well provided with ammunition, he could certainly have prevented the enemy from penetrating into the interior of the kingdom. Another immense advantage of such a position was its standing on the open sea, with the facility which it offered for constant communication with the

capital, a circumstance which rendered it extremely well calculated for the defence of the country.

Notwithstanding the unfavourable condition of our troops, they might easily have given a great deal of annoyance to the enemy, had they been led by men possessing even an ordinary degree of military knowledge. A proof that this might have been the case is at hand in the instance of the French General Damas. Although then little experienced in the art of war, he sustained an engagement with great reputation, and what is still more to his credit, successfully executed a most able and honourable retreat whilst exposed to the constant fire of the enemy.

On examining the military operations of General Mack, it seems scarcely credible that Austria should have sent such a man to take the chief command of the army of the Two Sicilies. Although our troops were in the aggregate more numerous than those of the French, the columns sent to oppose the enemy were always far inferior to them in number. In like manner, our provisions were distributed in an inverse ratio to the number of troops to be supplied; the strong detachments not having wherewithal to live, whilst the smaller were revelling in comparative abundance.

The few right-minded and clear-judging persons whom the kingdom still possessed had at once foreseen, that with such a Sovereign and such a General nothing but mischance could attend the proceedings of our army. Accordingly, the disastrous effects of our campaign gave rise to no feelings of sorrow on their part; on the contrary, they hopefully anticipated that the foreign power against which we had been fighting would finally establish amongst us the rights of liberty, and that the

disgrace of our troops would be forgotten, or be looked upon as merely a transitory evil.

Immediately after his arrival at Caserta, the King issued an edict bearing a false date, and proceeding apparently from Rome. In this document, he called upon the people to rise and arm themselves in the defence of their religion, their Sovereign, and their liberty, promising to sacrifice his own life in support of their rights, and in the defence of their property and freedom. Such promises were ratified a little later by his flight into Sicily. After the publication of this edict, and of others of a similar nature, the country divided itself into two parties. The people were devoted to the King and his absolute power, to which they were utterly blinded by a state of mental exaltation which prevented them from seeing things as they really were, no less than by the efforts of fanatical priests, who under the mask of religious zeal instigated them to persevere, and caused them to rush headlong to resist the French and their allies. The smaller and more intelligent class of the nation declared itself in favour of liberty, and looked upon the invasion as an unavoidable and temporary evil.

The King returned to Naples, but learning that the enemy had entered the country, and was in possession of several of the most important strongholds, he was seized, in common with his Court, his ministers, and all their satellites, with such an abject terror, that he determined upon seeking his safety in flight. All the necessary preparations were made with the greatest possible mystery in order to hide the shame and pusillanimity of such an expedition. On the 20th of December, the Court embarked, carrying with them all the wealth and jewels of the crown, the most

valuable antiquities, the most precious works of art, and what remained from the pillage of the banks and churches, which had been lying in the Mint either in bullion or specie. Such a booty was enormous for the times, and amounted to no less than twenty million ducats. Early on the morning of the 23rd, a number of vessels were perceived to have cleared out of port during the night. From the royal standard floating at her mast-head, it was known that the King was on board the English vessel commanded by Nelson, which he had selected in preference to the Neapolitan frigate, under the orders of the brave Caracciolo. At the same time, printed placards were affixed to the walls of the city announcing that the King had passed over to Sicily, but only for a brief period of time, his object being to seek a plentiful supply of arms and men with which to return to the assistance of Naples. In the meanwhile, it was added, the Government of the city was entrusted to the Vicariocapitan-generale, the Prince Francesco Pignatelli. For three days the royal squadron was retarded by contrary winds; during which interval, deputations from the town, the nobility, and the magistracy went on board, supplicating the King to remain, and promising him to make every possible effort against the enemy. But all was of no avail: he remained inflexible to the entreaties addressed to him, and declared his intention of quitting the kingdom to be unalterable. The vessels set sail at the expiration of the three days; and tidings were soon received that they were baffled by a succession of contrary winds. The English ship in which the King and his courtiers sailed, had lost both her mast and her sail-yards; and, although commanded by Nelson himself, she had experienced the greatest difficulty in

making her way. The squadron finally came in sight of Palermo, but from the violence of the sea would have encountered great difficulty in entering the harbour, had not the captain of a frigate, Bausan, boldly braved the danger in an open boat, and safely piloted the royal vessel into port. A year after this circumstance, Bausan was exiled. At the same. time as Nelson's ship, Caracciolo arrived off Palermo with his vessel perfectly uninjured.

Immediately after the departure of the King, General Pignatelli separated the functions of the Government. He conferred the military department upon General Mack, and the civil upon deputies elected by the city. These deputies, after a Convention formed with the Vicario, (Pignatelli) suspecting him of having conceived evil designs against the public welfare, immediately organized a band of militia, strong enough to maintain the public order: this body of men was denominated the Civic Guard. They proceeded to decree that the power conferred upon the VicaricGenerale, should not be acknowledged; inasmuch as the statutes of the kingdom declared that in the absence of the King, the royal power devolved to the hands of the two bodies representing the nobility and the people, and could not be confided to a VicarioGenerale. The Vicario opposed this decree; but the town firmly held its ground until he was obliged to throw up his unconstitutional power. The pertinacity evinced by both parties gave rise to the formation of different bodies, representing the opposing opinions of the nation, and exposing the discordant state of the Government. On the one hand, the town endeavoured by every means to inculcate a spirit of subordination, and the maintenance of peace; whilst on the other, the