observing that he trusts to nothing but his blockade for the reduction
of Malta; that there is yet no news of the emperor's movements, but move
he must; that all the lower order of the kingdom of Naples are ready to
take arms against the French; that ten thousand Albanese are near
Messina; and that ten thousand Russians are on that side Constantinople,
for the same destination, besides the Russian army passing the Tyrol.
"Apropos," he at length concludes, "the Emperor of Russia has sent me
his picture, in a magnificent box; but, this shall not prevent my
keeping a sharp look out on his movements against the good Turk."
Part of the money mentioned in this letter, as well as of the arms,
ammunition, &c. requested by the deputies, and three of the deputies
themselves, were conveyed, in La Bonne Citoyenne, by Captain Nisbet, to
Malta, in his return to Constantinople; who was charged with dispatches
for Sir Sidney Smith, Spencer Smith, Esq. his brother, and his
Excellency Constantine Upsilanti, at the Ottoman court. The remainder of
the arms, ammunition, stores, and money, with the other three deputies,
were sent to Malta by Captain Gage in the Terpsichore: who was
afterwards to deliver a letter from Lord Nelson to his Sardinian
Majesty, at Cagliari in Sardinia; to call at Minorca, for any dispatches
which Commodore Duckworth might have for the Earl of St. Vincent; and,
finally, to join the commander in chief at Gibraltar, or wherever else
the earl might happen to be.
On the 10th of March, General Sir Charles Stuart arrived at Palermo,
with the thirtieth and eighty-ninth regiments; who immediately departed
for Messina. This, his lordship observes, in a letter to Mr. Windham, a
few days afterwards, would not only save that important place from all
danger, but had already acted like an electrical shock over the whole
island, and must extend it's influence to Naples.
With abundant address, at this period, Lord Nelson offered himself as a
mediator between the Bey of Tunis and Bashaw of Tripoli, and his
Sicilian Majesty and the Queen of Portugal: for which purpose, he wrote
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