With abundant address, at this period, Lord Nelson offered himself as a mediator between the Bey of Tunis and Bashaw of Tripoli, and his Sicilian Majesty and the Queen of Portugal: for which purpose, he wrote to Perkin Magra, Esq. the British consul at Tunis, as well as to the bey himself; and to the Bashaw of Tripoli, as well as to Simon Lucas, Esq. Consul-General at that court Mrs. Magra, and her family, it appears, were then residing in the hospitable mansion of Sir William Hamilton, as well as his lordship; for he says, writing to the consul, and mentioning his lady and family, "they will give you all the chit-chat of the place. Lady Hamilton is so good to them, that they in truth require nothing from me; but, whenever they think it right to go to Tunis, a ship of war shall carry them."
On the 17th, Captain Troubridge and Captain Hood arrived with the squadron from Egypt, where every endeavour to destroy the transports at Alexandria proved quite ineffectual. The French had, after the departure of Lord Nelson, very strongly fortified all the points of the harbour; and the transports could not be destroyed by shells, as all the mortars burst, and six fireships were lost in a gale of wind. This was a mortifying circumstance to our hero, and it did not come unaccompanied. Captain Troubridge was the bearer of Sir Sidney Smith's dispatches; which, with their usual fatality, again offended his lordship in one of the nicest points. The cause, and the effect, will at once be seen in the following most peremptory epistle.
"Vanguard, Palermo, 18th March 1799.
"SIR,
Captain Troubridge arrived here last evening: and, as he has delivered to me all the papers he received from you, amongst which I see a form of a passport; and Captain Troubridge tells me, that it was your intention to send into Alexandria, that all French ships might pass to France—now, as this is in direct opposition to my opinion; which is, never to suffer any one individual Frenchman to quit Egypt; I must, therefore, strictly charge and command you, never to give any French ship, or man, leave to quit Egypt. And I must also desire, that you will oppose, by every means in your power, any permission which may be attempted to be given by any foreigner, admiral, general, or other person; and you will acquaint those persons, that I shall not pay the smallest attention to any such passport after your notification: and you are to put my orders in force, not on any pretence to permit a single Frenchman to leave Egypt. Of course, you will give these orders to all the ships under your command. As I am very, anxious for the return of the Emma polacre, I have to request that you will not detain her more than two hours. As I shall hope to have a constant communication with you, through the means of the Turkish or Russian admirals, all letters for your squadron, I shall direct to be left in the Vanguard.
"I am, Sir, your very humble servant,
"Nelson."
"Sir William Sidney Smith,
Captain of his Majesty's ship Le Tigre."
Not even the judicious plan which his lordship was now busily engaged in arranging for the recovery of Naples, with all the other objects of his incessant care, could divert his attention from that grand object, the entire destruction of the French armament sent to Egypt. He had just received information of the, surrender of Corfu; and, about this time, a very elegant and flattering letter had been written to his lordship by the King of Sardinia, full of gratitude for the protection of the British flag in conveying him from Leghorn. In writing to the Earl of St. Vincent, after mentioning these subjects, with the return of Captain Troubridge's squadron from Egypt, he observes that it is his intention to send a small squadron, under that commander, into the Bay of Naples, "I wish, first," says his lordship, "to take the Island of Procida, which will secure a tolerable anchorage, and effectually blockade Naples. It must, also, have the effect of preventing the French from detaching any troops from Naples to to the provinces, who are all loyal. The court tells me, that twelve thousand Russians, and fifteen thousand Turks, are ready to cross the Adriatic, to land in the kingdom of Naples. If so, our squadron will create a powerful diversion." Having stated the reasons which have been seen for Captain Troubridge's failure at Alexandria, he adverts to Sir Sidney, who has now the blockade of that place. "I send you," says his lordship, "copies of my letters to him; for the victory of the Nile would, in my opinion, be useless, if any ship, or Frenchman, is suffered to return to Europe. I hope you will approve of my conduct; for, as a captain to an admiral, either Sir Sidney Smith, or myself, must give way. Bonaparte is at Cairo, not more than sixteen thousand strong. He must and will fall, sooner or later, if Sir Sidney Smith does not allow him to retreat by sea. As to myself, I am, at times, ill at my ease: but, it is my duty to submit; and, you may be sure, I shall not quit my post, without absolute necessity. If the emperor moves, I hope yet to return the royal family to Naples. At present, I cannot move; would the court but let me, I should be better: for, here, I am writing from morn to eve; therefore, you must excuse this jumble of a letter."
Neither of these letters, however, mention the very important circumstance of Captain Troubridge's having intercepted Bonaparte's dispatches, on his way to Constantinople; which is contained in the following communication to his Excellency the Honourable William Windham, for the purpose of having that satisfactory intelligence transmitted to England. This letter, as well as other dispatches of the 21st, to Mr. Windham, was written on board the Culloden; into which ship Lord Nelson had shifted his flag, having that day sent Captain Hardy to Tripoli with the Vanguard.