February appeared an extract of a letter from Turin," which swept away all the mystery: "The gazettes of late have talked a great deal of a certain M. Boswell, a Scots gentleman, who has been in Corsica. It was at first rumoured that he was a desperate adventurer, whose real name was M'Donald, and who had served during the last war in North America; but it has since appeared that he is a gentleman of fortune upon his travels, a friend of the celebrated John James Rousseau."

The reason for this sudden éclaircissement was, of course, that Mr Boswell was nearing home, where his wild stories could be officially disclaimed. He reached London on the very day this last item appeared. The fact was duly chronicled in the papers: "Yesterday James Boswell, Esq., arrived in town from his travels." However obscure the name may have been a month before, the reading public must by this time have been pretty familiar with it.

We shall now pass immediately to the beginning of Boswell's file in 1767. By that time the manuscript of the 'Account of Corsica' was well under way, and Boswell was resorting to strenuous methods of making the public aware of the fact. Every one who has read the preface to the book knows that he applied to the readers of the Chronicle' for a metrical translation of two epigrams by Seneca on Corsica,

and that from the many submitted he chose the translation offered by Thomas Day, the future author of 'Sandford and Merton,' then aged only nineteen. Boswell managed to publish himself no fewer than six long letters on the subject, in the course of which he contrived to drop a good many notices of his forthcoming publication. More than that, he sent in a translation himself, over the pseudonym "Humilis, Plymouth," with some flattering references to Mr Boswell and his 'Account of Corsica '! This amusing device, reminiscent of Master Petulant's practices-" call for himself, wait for himself; nay, and what's more, not finding himself, sometimes leave a letter for himself," we shall meet with more than once in what remains of this account.

In the spring of 1767 some of Paoli's men made an expedition and took the neighbouring island of Caprera. There were conflicting rumours regarding the event, and the Chronicle ' printed an extract of a letter from Mr Boswell" to settle the whole matter. Mr Boswell, one sees, was already accepted as the authority on Corsica. The letter tells about his being driven into Caprera by storm on his return from Corsicaa very pleasantly written letter indeed; and it ends with the inevitable notice of the forthcoming' Account': "The unavoidable occupations of a laborious employment have retarded my account of Corsica.

'SAM JONES."

We hear no more of Sam Jones, but two days afterward Boswell wrote again, this time over the initials "A. E.," to thank the Chronicle' for the great pleasure it had afforded him in printing the letter from "the gallant English soldier." As a matter of fact, this second letter, in order to appear when it did, must have been sent from Edinburgh some days before he had actually received the paper which contained Sam Jones's letter in print. "He is a brave fellow," says A. E.,

and he has chosen the only spot in Europe where there is at present any spirit of enterprise. I rejoice to see that the British and the Corsicans do so well together."

I should like to know how serious was the purpose behind those two letters. It is hard not to jump to the conclusion that Boswell was trying to enlist in Great Britain soldiers for Paoli, with whom, it must be remembered, the British Government had forbidden its citizens to have any intercourse. At any rate, the rumours that Paoli had a considerable British contingent were varied and persistent, and by no means were all of them invented by Boswell.

However that may be, there cannot be the slightest doubt

by his newspaper articles to work up so powerful a sympathy for Corsica in Britain that the Government would be forced to take sides with the brave islanders. These articles of his are of two kinds. As early as 18th April 1767, the Chronicle' had formally announced (in a paragraph composed by Boswell himself) that,

66

as many of our readers are desirous of being certainly informed whether they may depend on the authenticity of our Corsican news, we are allowed to inform them that whatever appears in the 'London Chronicle' under the articles of "Corsican Gazette or "Corsican Intelligence" is communicated to us by Mr Boswell, to whom regular information is transmitted by order of General Paoli."

It would seem that, in receiving Mr Boswell as official correspondent, the public was given very slender assurance of the authenticity of the news. As a matter of fact, that inference is unwarranted. Boswell has indexed this paragraph as "fact," and has marked none of the articles under "Corsican Gazette " or "Corsican Intelligence" as his own composi tions. It was quite beneath him to break faith after having given his name as a guarantee. But outside of those certified columns, where he could remain in complete anonymity, he revelled in political inventions of the most colourful description.

was

One who reads the newspapers and magazines of the period meets again and again with the dashing and romantic figure of the mysterious Signor Romanzo (the very name is redolent of romance), the Corsican courier, who moved across Europe with the thrilling adventures of a D'Artagnan. There never was a Signor Romanzo, any more than there a Sam Jones. Boswell invented him, and wrote all the accounts in which he figures. He was first heard of toward the end of January 1767, from Hamburg; he had called on the Earl Marischal and Sir Andrew Mitchell, his Britannic Majesty's ambassador at the Court of Prussia. He had "plenty of money about him, and by his air and manner it was strongly sus pected that he is a man of more distinction than he chuses should be known." On the 1st of March he was at The Hague, where he stayed a week. "He had an audience of three hours of Sir Joseph Yorke, his Britannic Majesty's Ambassador, to whom he was introduced by the Reverend Mr Richardson, his Excellency's chaplain, and by the Reverend Mr Maclaine, Minister of the English church, in whose house he was lodged. M. Formey, perpetual Secretary of the Royal Academy at Berlin, had recommended him to Mr Maclaine." These are all real people whom Boswell had met on his Continental travels, and, of course, they had no more seen the Corsican

courier than had Boswell himself. But they add a fine appearance of authenticity. Who could doubt the truth of so detailed an account?

Signor Romanzo next turned up at Utrecht, and then he actually came to England. On 28th March it was "reported the Corsican courier is arrived here, and that he was seen yesterday on the Royal Exchange."

Naturally, he did not tarry long. A few days later he was back at The Hague, where his maître d'hôtel gave out that his master had secured £100,000 extraordinary credit from the English merchants. Signor Romanzo was excessively loyal to his British friends. At Marseilles a French prince of the blood said something in his presence very disrespectful to the British nation, "and particularly against a great personage." Signor Romanzo replied "that the British were a nation of men and their King the best Prince in Europe. He said this with such an emphasis and so indignant a look that the Duke thought proper to call him out, and they fought behind the ramparts. The Duke was severely wounded, but Signor Romanzo escaped unhurt. The affair has done him great honour with everybody." Early in May Signor Romanzo returned home, and we learn that when he had an audience with Signor Paoli, "his Excellency insisted that the conversation should be in English." The political implications of the tale are obvious.

Signor Romanzo

most successful of Boswell's many political inventions in the cause of Corsica, but the others were equally interesting and startling. I can list only a few: the Grand Duke of Tuscany was about to set Corsica free; a quadruple alliance in favour of Corsica was being talked of in Europe; the Genoese admitted that the Corsicans were winning; the King of Prussia had written a very elegant poem entitled "L'Eloge des Corses " ; the Dey of Algiers had sent his agent, Mahomet Ruza Beg, with particular despatches to Paoli ; Prince Heraclius of Georgia had sent the General six beautiful camels, &c., &c.

The manuscript of 'An Account of Corsica' was ready for the press early in August 1767. On the 27th of that month the London Chronicle' published the following letter, which, to all appearances, had been sent in by a gentleman from Oxford. It had really been written by Boswell, and sent from Edinburgh. It is such a remarkable document that I print it entire :

"It is now a year and a half since all the Gazettes in Europe announced the tour made by that Gentleman to Corsica, and his interviews with the illustrious General Paoli; and it is some time since your paper has told us that a Book was preparing for the Press, in which we might expect to see a full and authentic relation of the affairs of the brave islanders.

"If it is not improper, I would beg, Sir, that you may insert this, as it may perhaps furnish an additional motive to hasten the publication.I am, Sir, yours, &c.,

OXFORD.

"B. M."

It is my intention to allow Boswell to speak for himself,

Chronicle'

"The study of History is so engaging to every one who has an enlarged mind, that it requires no allurements but those of proper information, fidelity, and accuracy. Elegance may render it still more agreeable. But to those who are really

doing. But I cannot refrain from remarking that in this campaign of advance publicity which he conducted for his own book, although he may have shown himself to be an egotist, he certainly did not reveal himself as a fool. James Boswell, Esq., returned to Genoa in December 1765 a