June. 1797. Istria, Dalmatia, with all the venetian islands in the Adriatic, lying to the north-west of the gulf of Lodrino; also the city of Venice, which the troops of France had entered and seized on the 16th of May, with a large portion of the dominion of that celebrated republic, whose existence thus terminated after a lapse of 14 centuries. On the 6th of June the republic of Genoa also ceased to exist, and, under the name of Liguria, became a sovereignty of France. Early in the month of June, which was some weeks before the order to disarm the french ships issued from the then dominant faction at Paris, rear-admiral Brueys, by the orders of general Buonaparte, sailed from Toulon, with a squadron of six sail of the line and several frigates, bound to Corfu. Here the admiral found and took possession of six venetian 64-gun ships, and six frigates. These were exclusive of three 64s and three frigates building at Venice, and exclusive also of 10 or 12 corvettes and 18 galleys lying in that harbour.* On the 13th of June, which was a few days after the departure of admiral Brueys, several transports laden with troops and provisions, and escorted by some frigates under the command of captain Guillaume-FrançoisJoseph Bourdé, also quitted Toulon, and on the 28th arrived at Corfu; where, soon afterwards, with the assistance of general Gentili and his army, the whole of the Seven Islands (subsequently known by the name of the Ionian Islands) were taken possession of and garrisoned. The names of the islands were retained; but the names of the ships general Buonaparte, by an assumption of power to which the directory subsequently gave their sanction, changed to those of the principal generals killed, and battles fought, in his campaign against Italy. Nov. On the 16th of November, which was about the time that rear-admiral Brueys returned to Toulon from his Mediterranean cruise, earl St.-Vincent * Victoires et Conquêtes, tome viii. pp. 185, 274. CRUISE OF REAR-ADM. BRUEYS.-MUTINY AT THE NORE. 91 detached from the british fleet, then lying in the 1797. Tagus, the 50-gun ship Leander, captain Thomas Boulden Thompson, the Harmadryad frigate, and a sloop of war, to Algiers, to settle some dispute with the dey; a service which captain Thompson executed to the approbation of the admiral. About this time a small british squadron, associated with five portuguese sail of the line, cruised off Cadiz and in the neighbourhood of the Straits, to prevent the french ships at Toulon, or the few spanish ones at Carthagena, from effecting a junction, if such was their object, with the fleet of admiral Massaredo at Cadiz. The concessions made by government to the sea- May. men of the Channel fleet necessarily comprehending the whole british navy, it was justly considered, that any lurking disaffection, that might exist in detached quarters of it, would disappear, the instant the benefits, of which all were to partake, became generally known. Hence a mutiny that had broken out at Sheerness on the 10th of May was expected to subside of itself, when the accounts of what had occurred at Portsmouth on the 15th should have reached the malecontents. Unfortunately the news seemed to fan, rather than extinguish the flame; and, by the 20th of the month, many of the ships lying at the Nore, and, soon afterwards, nearly the whole of those belonging to the North-sea fleet, hoisted the flag of defiance. The complaints of the Portsmouth mutineers having been, for the most part, founded on justice, the sympathy of the nation went with them; and very few persons throughout the kingdom did or could grudge the additional allowances, (many of them a mere exchange of the real for the nominal,) which the british sailor, after a hard struggle, got permanently secured to him. On the other hand, the mutineers at Sheerness and Yarmouth had no solid, nor even plausible ground of complaint. They appear to have been actuated by a mere mischief-making spirit, with scarcely a know 1797. ledge of the object they had in view. The nation, May. therefore, although it naturally felt some alarm at the magnitude and growing extent of this second eruption, came at once to the resolution of making a firm stand against it; a resolution that instantly rid the evil of more than half the terrors which its first appearance had inspired. The same motives, that actuated us in abridging the details of the Portsmouth mutiny, operate, in full force, on the present occasion. And if we decline, any more than we can avoid, to mention by name the individual ships whose crews were disaffected, it is because the mere naming of a ship, as connected with so disgraceful a proceeding, may tend to cast an undeserved stigma on a future ship of the same name; or even on the same ship, with a new and very differently disposed ship's company. The mutineers at Sheerness, in imitation of those at Spithead, chose two delegates from every ship, but went further, by appointing, as a president over them, a man of the name of Richard Parker. On board each ship was also a committee, consisting of 12 men, who decided, as well upon all affairs relative to the internal management of the ship, as upon the merits of the respective delegates. On the 20th of May the seamen prepared a statement, which they required vice-admiral Charles Buckner, whose flag was on board the 90-gun ship Sandwich, to transmit without delay to the admiralty. With the terms of it, they peremptorily demanded compliance, as the only condition on which they would return to obedience. The statement contained as many as eight articles, of which the first betrayed greater ignorance than one could suppose existed among men capable of discussing and drawing up such a document. It demanded, "that every indulgence granted to the fleet at Portsmouth should be granted to his majesty's subjects serving in the fleet at the Nore and places adjacent." Had this been the only item of the statement, the obvious answer that followed would have settled the affair to every one's satisfac- 1797. tion. But scarcely any one of the remaining seven May. articles was admissible, and most them were frivolous and unnecessary. On the 22d the admiralty replied to the seamen, pointing out how far the legislature had already complied with their wishes, refusing to accede to any further demands, and promising forgiveness if they would return to their duty. This answer served but to exasperate the delegates, who declared that nothing could be settled until three of the board of admiralty came down to Sheerness. On the following day the mutineers struck vice-admiral Buckner's flag, hoisting, in its stead, that dreadful emblem of mutiny, the red or bloody flag; and, in order to concentrate the scene of their operations, compelled all the ships which lay near Sheerness to drop down to the Great Nore. On the 24th the offer of pardon was repeated, and again rejected. The delegates frequently went on shore, and, headed by Parker, marched in procession, to the great dismay of the inhabitants: they also sent deputations up the river and elsewhere, inviting the crews of other ships to join them. Many did so, including a part of the North-sea fleet under admiral Duncan. In this alarming state of affairs, a committee from the admiralty, on the 29th, went to Sheerness. The delegates were sent for, and every conciliatory measure tried, but in vain. The mutineers moored their ships in a line across the river, and detained every merchant vessel bound up or down. The seamen, at length, began to perceive their desperate situation; and, after adopting various expedients and committing several enormities, became deterred by the active measures that were pursuing on shore to reduce them to obedience. They deputed captain the earl of Northesk, of the Monmouth 64, to endeavour to effect a reconciliation with government. The government, however, was firm; and, just as force was about to be applied, symptoms of dis 1797. union among the mutineers raised hopes that the confederacy was working its own dissolution. June. It is a singular fact that on the 4th of June, the late king's birthday, the whole fleet evinced its loyalty, by firing a royal salute and displaying the colours usual upon such occasions, the red flag being struck, during the ceremony, on board every ship except the Sandwich. In a day or two afterwards several of the ships deserted the rebels, and went for protection, either up the Thames, or under the guns of the fort at Sheerness. By the 13th the red flag had disappeared from every ship's mast-head; and the crews, in general, intimated a wish to surrender, provided a pardon was granted. At length, on the following morning, the crew of the Sandwich carried the ship under the guns at Sheerness, and quietly allowed Mr. Parker to accompany on shore a guard of soldiers, which vice-admiral Buckner had sent to arrest him. To make short of the business, this man was tried, convicted, and executed; as were many of the ringleaders. Some were flogged through the fleet, and others sent to prison. Thus was an end put to the Nore mutiny; a mutiny that, unlike the former, was as futile in its origin, as it happily proved unsuccessful in its issue ; a mutiny that, in the opinion of many, entailed on the british navy more disgrace than could be washed away by the most brilliant triumph. It is notorious, that a custom had long prevailed for the London police, when a culprit possessed wit enough in his roguery just to elude the letter of the law, rather than discharge him that he might commit, with increased confidence, fresh depredations upon society, to send him on board a ship of war. He was generally a plausible fellow, with a smattering of learning and a knowledge of the world; two qualities which ranked him very high in the estimation of the unsophisticated sailor. He sang a good song, or at all events, he told a good story, and became, in time, the oracle of the forecastle. He knew his business (that which had |