of accomodation, which they submitted to the French king.
These articles were thought too bold for a people in the situation of the Corsicans; and articles formed by the Genoese were approved by France: so that no accommodation could be brought about. Giafferi and Paoli published a spirited manifesto to their countrymen, concluding it with the noble sentiment of Judas Maccabeus: 'Melius est mori in bello quam videre mala gentis nostrae[1]. It is better for us to die in battle, than to behold the calamities of our people.'
M. de Boisseux did considerable hurt to the Corsicans; for, although his operations were slow, they were well conduced. He had even recourse to art; for he had a part of his troops drest exactly like the people of the country, and, by that device, they destroyed multitudes, and occasioned a strange confusion and dismay among the Corsicans, in so much, that till they came very near parties, who appeared upon the mountains and in the woods, they could not be certain whether they were friends or enemies. Meanwhile, more troops being sent from France, the transports were overtaken with a terrible storm, and some of them wrecked on the Corsican coasts, where
- ↑ 1 Maccabees, chap. iii. ver. 59.
