"The Concert, forsooth!--there is no Concert, except the Concert of the French themselves to take all Europe. While the others are waiting for each other, the policy of these robbers is to take the small States, which cannot resist without the aid of the larger, and every one of them will supply its quota of armies and resources to be used against the larger, one by one, until they are all swallowed by the Beast with the Ten Horns. Cannot the Emperor see that the very life of his empire depends on his marching the best army he can put in the field to Italy, and clearing out the French? And as for the King and his blessed neutrality--why, his neutrality was only an alliance against England which prevented us destroying the whole of the privateers in North Italy at one sweep; for they all lay in the Mole at Leghorn, besides the corn-ships which were waiting to carry the French supplies, without which they could not maintain themselves a month in Italy. And yet we could not touch one of them, because the King was not at war with the French--the King who at that moment was marching at the head of his army against the French, in Rome, and who had already captured from them the Island fortress of Gozo!" "Surely you see what a difficult position he is placed in----" "And what about me, Madam? Am I not placed in a difficult position? Well, pass by the King--there is Malta. Over and over again have I been assured that Malta was just falling, and I do believe that if we could land a few thousand regular troops the place would not hold out long. The islanders are dead against the French; but the islanders have no money or food, and hardly any arms, but what we have given them. I have entreated Acton to send if it is only ten thousand pounds worth of food. He answers that the Treasury is empty, but the Queen herself has given up seven thousand ounces, and this will do something. A hundred thousand pounds spent in food now would save the kingdom. And as for all those stories about the French being on the eve of surrendering, they are sheer imagination. The French know that, unless something is done, of the two, Sicily is a great deal more likely to fall than Malta, and it is their policy to wait and see what becomes of Sicily. They know that Naples has fallen, long ago, and that there is every chance of Messina following unless we can get some British troops. And Mr. Duckworth will see that we don't do that. One would imagine that Minorca was all Europe; whereas Minorca is not fortified, and whoever has the stronger fleet can always have it. The Maltese adore Ball; they have made him a kind of Chief and President of their Parliament." "Then Malta, at any rate, is right?" "No; what can he do? He can only blockade the harbour to prevent provisions getting in, and that not very successfully. Besides, the smallest French squadron could make him draw off--he has so few English ships." "You will see to that, dear Nelson!"