His exclamations of joy prevented the king from keeping up his
incognito. Then Senator Casabianca, Captain Oletta, a nephew of Prince
Baciocchi, a staff-paymaster called Boerco, who were themselves fleeing
from the massacres of the South, were all on board the vessel, and
improvising a little court, they greeted the king with the title of
“your Majesty.” It had been a sudden embarkation, it brought about a
swift change: he was no longer Murat the exile; he was Joachim, the King
of Naples. The exile’s refuge disappeared with the foundered boat; in
its place Naples and its magnificent gulf appeared on the horizon like a
marvellous mirage, and no doubt the primary idea of the fatal expedition
of Calabria was originated in the first days of exultation which
followed those hours of anguish. The king, however, still uncertain of
the welcome which awaited him in Corsica, took the name of the Count of
Campo Melle, and it was under this name that he landed at Bastia on the
25th August. But this precaution was useless; three days after his
arrival, not a soul but knew of his presence in the town.
Crowds gathered at once, and cries of “Long live Joachim!” were heard,
and the king, fearing to disturb the public peace, left Bastia the same
evening with his three companions and his Mameluke. Two hours later he
arrived at Viscovato, and knocked at the door of General Franceschetti,
who had been in his service during his whole reign, and who, leaving
Naples at the same time as the king, had gone to Corsica with his wife,
to live with his father-in-law, M. Colonna Cicaldi.
He was in the middle of supper when a servant told him that a stranger
was asking to speak to him—he went out, and found Murat wrapped in a
military greatcoat, a sailor’s cap drawn down on his head, his beard
grown long, and wearing a soldier’s trousers, boots, and gaiters.
The general stood still in amazement; Murat fixed his great dark eyes on
him, and then, folding his arms:—
“Franceschetti,” said he, “have you room at your table for your general,
who is hungry? Have you a shelter under your roof for your king, who is
an exile?”
Franceschetti looked astonished as he recognised Joachim, and could only
answer him by falling on his knees and kissing his hand. From that
moment the general’s house was at Murat’s disposal.
The news of the king’s arrival had hardly been handed about the
neighbourhood before officers of all ranks hastened to Viscovato,
veterans who had fought under him, Corsican hunters who were attracted
by his adventurous character; in a few days the general’s house was
turned into a palace, the village into a royal capital, the island into
a kingdom.
Strange rumours were heard concerning Murat’s intentions. An army of
nine hundred men helped to give them some amount of confirmation. It was
then that Blancard, Donadieu, and Langlade took leave of him; Murat
wished to keep them, but they had been vowed to the rescue of the exile,
not to the fortunes of the king.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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