126 EEMINISCENCES OF A SPORTSMAN. 



The king was rather short, well made, and having an 

 intelligent countenance. He appeared to be about fifty. 

 There were also present two young Princesses, twins, 

 about the age of seventeen^ both extremely pretty, — one 

 of them was married the following year to an Archduke 

 of Austria. Victor Emmanuel, late Duke of Aosta, 

 remained in Italy in the hope of regaining his Continenal 

 dominions through the British Cabinet ; but the peace 

 of Amiens, 1803, being broken, the French advanced to 

 Naples, which obliged him to embark for Sardinia, 

 where he arrived, 17th February 1806, secured from 

 sudden attacks by his close alliance with England. 



The king paid much attention to the improvement of 

 the militia of the island, and to the encouragement of 

 agriculture. An attempt was also made to correct the 

 principal vice of the island, assassinations, by disarming 

 the lower class of the people, and enacting other salutary 

 reforms ; but the means at the king's disposal were very 

 limited. I heard that the British Grovernment allowed 

 the king 20,000/. per annum, chiefly for the maintenance 

 of a regiment of Guards, and a small cavalry corps. 

 As I mentioned, the Sardinian horses are very compact 

 and well made, and as the Sardes are excellent riders, 

 this small corps, above 250 men, had a very martial 

 appearance. Some of the most wealthy families of 

 Piedmont had been reduced almost to a state of penury, 

 their estates having been confiscated by the French 

 Eepublic and Bonaparte. 



vessel oiF Sardinia, and brought Lucien and his family prisoners to 

 Malta, where they were treated with much kindness by the governor, 

 Sir Hildebrand Oakes, and subsequently sent to England. Lucien 

 had a fine collection of paintings of the Italian school, and considerable 

 property on board. Sir Robert Barry, his officers and crew, very 

 generously gave up the whole to Lucien. 



