"The field of glory," said he, "is a large one, and was never more open to any one than at this moment to you.

Rome would throw open her gates and receive you as her deliverer; and the pope would owe his restoration to a heretic." But Sir James Erskine looked only at the difficulties of the undertaking.

"Twelve hundred men, he thought, would be too small a force to be committed in such an enterprise; for Civita Vecchia was a regular fortress; the local situation and climate also were such, that even if this force were adequate, it would be proper to delay the expedition till October.

General Fox, too, was soon expected; and during his absence, and under existing circumstances, he did not feel justified in sending away such a detachment." What this general thought it imprudent to attempt, Nelson and Troubridge effected without his assistance, by a small detachment from the fleet.
Troubridge first sent Captain Hallowell to Civita Vecchia to offer the garrison there and at Castle St.Angelo the same terms which had been granted to Gaieta.

Hallowell perceived, by the overstrained civility of the officers who came off to him, and the compliments which they paid to the English nation, that they were sensible of their own weakness and their inability to offer any effectual resistance; but the French know, that while they are in a condition to serve their government, they can rely upon it for every possible exertion in their support; and this reliance gives them hope and confidence to the last.