helped to win many a battle. His reign lasted from 1808 until 1815,
and was no less distinguished than that of Joseph's. The fall of the
Napoleonic régime was followed by the fall of Murat, and the
despicable and treacherous Ferdinand became again the king, and
brought back with him the same tyrannical habits that had made his
previous rule so disastrous to the kingdom and to himself. No
whitewasher, however brilliant and ingenious, can ever wipe out the
fatal action of the British Government in embarking on so
ill-conceived a policy as that of supporting the existence of a
bloodsucking government, composed of a miscreant ruling class headed
by an ignoble king, all living on the misery and blood of a
semi-civilized population. It is a nauseous piece of history, with
which, under sagacious administration, we should never have been
connected.

The main idea was to humble the pride of France, that thenceforth
there might be peace in Europe. The Neapolitan revolutionists believed
that the French intention was to set up a free government and deliver
them from an unbearable despotism. Quite naturally, the Court took an
opposite view in believing that it foreshadowed deportation, so they
lost no time in proclaiming it to be conquest and merciless plunder.
Nelson urged the vacillating King to advance against the French, to
trust in God's blessing being bestowed upon him, his army, and his
cause, and to die like a hero, sword in hand, or lose his throne. The
King, always dauntless in the absence of danger, replied that he would
do this, trusting in God and Nelson. His Majesty, in tickling the
Admiral's susceptible spot by associating his name with that of the
Deity, doubtless made a good shot, and had Nelson's sense of humour
been equal to his vanity, he might not have received the oily
compliment with such delightful complacency.