The memorable mutiny of the Fleet at Spithead was followed by the rising of some unprincipled men, who by every means endeavoured to shake the allegiance of the soldiery. The Plymouth Company of Artificers in an especial manner distinguished itself by its open and soldier-like activity against these disloyal exertions; in a printed document, bearing date May, 1797, they avowed at that momentous crisis their “firm loyalty, attachment, and fidelity to their most Gracious _Sovereign_ and to their _Country_.” The declaration was well timed, and had the desired effect. Throughout the war in the Low Countries the Corps of Artificers rendered eminent service. One of their most important achievements was that of the total destruction of the Bruges canal. About the same time a company of Artificers was sent to Turkey to operate with the troops of the Sultan against Napoleon, in Egypt. There also they distinguished themselves alike by their active service and good conduct. A Turk having attempted to stab one of the men, was sentenced by the Turkish governor to death; this punishment, at the earnest entreaty of the commanding officer, was mitigated, the culprit being sentenced to receive fifty strokes of the bastinado, to be imprisoned twenty years, and to _learn the Arabic language_. In the West Indies the Artificers were exposed to worse than human foe. There the yellow fever decimated their ranks, but the conduct of the men throughout was both intrepid and humane, and in the despatches reference is frequently made to their exemplary conduct. When the mortality was at its height, three privates voluntarily devoted themselves to the burial of the dead, and worked on with unflinching ardour; surrounded by the pest in its worst form, inhaling the worst effluvia, never for a moment forsaking their frightful service, they laboured on inspiriting those about them by their example, until the necessity for their exertions no longer existed. In 1806 a company of Military Artificers was established at Malta, and remained a distinct and separate body. The necessity for an efficient body of trained artizan soldiers became, indeed, every day more obvious; and no expedition of any consequence was undertaken without a body of these men being included in the forces sent out. In America, in the Indies, East and West, on Mediterranean service, in the Peninsula, in the Low Countries, they were alike needed, and rendered excellent service. At home, also, they were continually employed in erecting new and strengthening the old fortifications, for it was anticipated that Bonaparte would visit our shores, and that stone walls as well as wooden walls would be required for our defence.