262 
with the enemy, who by this time had ad- 
vanced to the entrenchments of Nasciar, and 
seized on all the artillery, now abandoned by 
the fugitives. A picquet of cavalry, sent by 
the grand master to the old city, was, nearly 
at the same time, refused entrance by the go- 
vernor, who, as well as the regiment sta- 
tioned there, stated that they were determin- 
ed not to quarrel with the French. 
«© Notwithstanding this general defection, 
the grand seneschal established his head- 
quarters at Floriana, the bailli de Clugny as- 
sumed the command of Fort Ricasoli, ‘the 
bailli Tomasi remained firm at his post, and 
the fire of the forts St. Elmo and Tigné pro- 
duced great execution; while a sally was 
made with a galley and two galliots, which 
cannonaded the French shallops, still em- 
ployed in carrying fresh troops, and sunk 
two of them. 
«« But the dawn of the succeeding morn- 
ing discovered that the enemy had encircled 
the city, stopped the supplies of provisions 
and ammunition, and were erecting redoubts 
to batter the place. On this the confusion 
soon became general; nine hundred of the 
regular troops refused to attack a post occu- 
ied by the enemy; whole companies of mi- 
ilia expressed a determination not to be shut 
‘up within the fortifications, and it was found 
necessary to relieve all the posts commanded 
by the Trench chevaliers. 
~ € At length the nobles, the advocates, and 
the burghers, who had retired from different 
parts of the island into the city, on the ap- 
proach of evening surrounded the palace of 
the grand master, and stated, that as there 
could no longer be any doubt of treachery, 
they had drawn up a declaration and _pre- 
sented it to the Dutch consul, intimating 
their resolution of surrendering to the French ; 
it was added, that they had requested him to 
transmit the capitulation to Bonaparte, either 
with or without the consent of the order. 
Several of the knights were at the same time 
massacred, a bloody head was carried about 
on a pike, and it was with great difficulty 
that the chevaliers of the priories of Castille 
and Bavaria could prevent the minister of 
Russia from being killed during the tumult, 
The doors of the council chamber were soon 
after burst open, the bodies of the murdered 
chevaliers presented to the members, and the 
sovereign himself threatened with death, 
«« During this dreadful period of suspense, 
Ransijcat, who had been released from _pri- 
son, l’ormosa, the consul of Holland, Dou- 
blet, the under-secretary of state, the bailli 
Frisari, and the chevalier Amati, minister 
from Spain, were sent by the insurgents to 
the French camp, where they obtained an 
armistice during twenty-four hours, and the 
terms of capitulation were immediately de- 
bated upon and agreed ; but neither the grand 
master, nor the council, nor the congrega- 
tion of state, afl\xed their signatures. 
«¢ At length the French entered the city, 
HISTORY, POLITICS, AND STATISTICS. 
and seized on all the posts; while Ransijeat 
and Doublet presided over the municipality, 
and regulated the internal police.” 
The third book begins with the cap- 
ture of Naples, and ends with that of 
Seringapatam. We know not whether 
these oriental transactions belonged to 
the proper subject of our author. The 
conquest of Mysore, would equally have 
taken place from motives of local ambi- 
tion and opportunity, whether Great 
Britain had engaged or not in the wars 
of the French revolution; and it may 
reasonably be doubted, whether the ex- 
tinction of a French interest in Hindos- 
tan, will not too speedily endanger the 
allegiance of the whole mass of our ori- 
ental possessions. The conquest of Ca- 
nada was the loss of North America; 
that of Pondicherry and Ceylon, and 
Mysore, may convince our Indian go- 
vernment, that it no longer needs an 
European protector. Under the mis- 
chievous subdivision of authority, be- 
tween the company and the board of 
controul, one of the parties will become 
discontented. The commercial opinion 
of London, will probably favour the al« 
liance of the state with the weaker pow- 
er, and occasion a wish for separation, 
under the pretence, or for the sake of 
obtaining that unrestricted intercourse ; 
which, if granted by the courage of our 
statesmen, would have operated as a 
connecting cement, and a thickening 
bond of union. 
The eighth chapter of this book nar. 
rates that unfortunate expedition to Hol- 
land, the causes of whose failure are still 
covered with a veil; which, for the in- 
struction of those who may have to re- 
new a similar attempt, it would. be de- 
sirable to draw aside. 
The fourth book opens with the ac- 
cession of Bonaparte ; and the unfortu- 
nate, the uncivil, the unwise, the unac- 
countable refusal of Lord Grenville to 
treat with him. It includes the affairs 
of Egypt, which are continued in the. 
fifth and concluding book, The sixth, 
and final chapter, records the negotia- 
tions which terminated in the treaty of 
Amiens. 
‘The results of this long and wide- 
wasting war, are thus, with condensed 
precision, summed up by the judgment 
of the author: 
«« The exertions of Britain during the re- 
volutionary war, are unequalled perhaps 14 
