GEORGE IT 
787 
land, A barrister named Theobald Wolfe Tone had some years before 
formed an association called the Society of United Irish-' 
» ; . 8 Irish 
men. Tone’s design was to secure the separation of Ire- Rebellion 
land from Kngland, and the erection of the former into ." 
an independent republic. "The movement was national rather than 
religious, many of its leaders being Protestants. It came to a head in 
the spring of 1798, For a time the rebels were successful ; but as they 
received no aid from France, their power gradually declined, and the 
vising was completely suppressed by the vietory gained by the royal 
roops at Vinegar Hill, near Enniscorthy, on the 21st of June. 
E6, It is now necessary to make a brief reference to a man whose 
history for nearly twenty years from this time was mainly the history 
»f Europe, Napoleon Buonaparte, a native of the island 
ȣ Corsica, had risen by sheer dint of military genius to Nanoleon 
he leading position in the armies of France. His mar- Darte, 
vellous abilities were equalled, if not surpassed, by his am- 
bition. He aimed at becoming not only the supreme ruler of France, 
but also the conqueror of Europe, and the virtual master of the world. 
Napoleon revolutionized the art of war in Europe. Tor the slow, 
cautious tactices that had hitherto prevailed, he substituted a awift, 
sharp, decisive mode of attack, by which he concentrated his strength 
on the weakest point of the enemy, and thus conquered him in detail, 
One of his grand designs was to attack the British power in India by 
landing a force in Egypt, subdning that country, and then gradually 
Hroceecding eastward. He so far carried out this ambitious purpose as 
to reach Kgypt with a French army early in the summer of 1798. On 
his way, he had seized Malta; and after his Jlanding in Egypt, he de- 
ieated the fanıous Mameluke cavalry at the Battle of the Pyramide, 
37. Buonaparte’s voyage to Egypt had been narrowly watched by 
Horatio Nelson with a well-equipped English fleet, The French ves- 
sels, however, had maintained a good lead up the Medi- 
serranean, and the troops had been some time landed, Et 
when Nelson sighted the hostile flect securely drawn up ) 
in Aboukir Bay, near Alexandria, "The French admiral thounght that 
his position near the shore, with a powerful battery to aid him on 
Aboukir Island, completely shielded him from attack, "This was a 
Most unsound conclusion. Nelson, with equal skill and courage, 
placed his ships between the French fleet and the shore, encauntering 
As they proceeded the fire of the enemy’s guns, Once inside the lines, 
the English vessels returned the fire with a vengeance. Nelson’s own 
ship, the Vanguard, went into action with colors streaming from all 
parts of her rigging. "The enemy made a brave but ineffectual resist- 
ance, "Their largest ship, the Orient, caught fire, and then blew up 
with a tremmendous explosion. The pathetic poem, beginning, “The 
boy stood on the burning deck,” relates to the son of the commander