queror, but at that period, as a deliverer. Nothing could be more brilliant than the CORTEGE which welcomed him to the capital of Lombardy; and which comprehended the greater part of the nobility and gentry, together with an immense po→ pulation. The rejoicings of the Milanese were undoubtedly sincere. The perverse policy of the House of Austria had led the Administration to treat the Italians somewhat in the same manner as the Sublime Porte governs the Greeks, or as Pharaoh took care of the Israelites; that is, by absorbing their wealth, discouraging their trade, prostrating their spirit, and disposing of their persons.

It was always a favourite maxim of Buonaparte, to subsist and enrich his troops and officers at the expense of the vanquished. Before, therefore, the last fragments of the feast which had been given to the French general, on his entrance into Milan, were consumed, or the inhabitants had found leisure to compose and reassure themselves, they were required, in common with the people of the other districts of Lombardy, to contribute their quota towards a fraternal present of 20,000,000 livres; which, it was delicately insinuated by a proclamation from Buonaparte, their new-found relations might, it was probable, be induced to accept. To speak seriously, the rigorous exaction of the French authorities, combined, probably, with the presumption and excesses of their soldiers, and for which they have in every age and under every form of government been remarkable, greatly exasperated the Italians. Only nine days had elapsed since the triumphal entry of Buonaparte into Milan, when the inhabitants, taking advantage of his departure for Pavia, rose against their dear brethren, (as they were entitled in the proclamations), demolished the tree of liberty, and trampled under foot the tri-coloured cockade. Buonaparte immediately returned with a small force, ordered a great number of hostages to be arrested, and those persons to be shot who had been taken in arms; holding at the same time the heads of the clergy and the nobility responsible for the public tranquillity; finally consummating the work of regeneration by permitting Milan to be pillaged by his soldiers. Whilst he was so

occupied, the insurrection extended itself at the same moment to Valenza, Pavia, and Lodi. The assassinations of the French became frequent, and the garrison of Pavia was disarmed by the people. The village of Binasco was attempted to be defended by a number of armed peasants. They were soon overcome; but Buonaparte directed the place to be burned. Pavia presented for some time a more serious resistance, the French garrison in the castle having been made prisoners; but the skill and resolution of Buonaparte's troops prevailed. As a punishment for their turbulence, he ordered the whole municipality to be shot, and 200 hostages to be arrested, and immediately sent into the interior of France.

It would be difficult to imagine a system of intimidation more complete or more decided than the one so rigorously adopted by Buonaparte. Like the disciples of Mohammed, he carried in one hand an unsheathed weapon, and in the other the manna of French liberty, and where the unfortunate victim was slow of conversion, the sword was always at hand to convince him of his error. From the tone and spirit of these acts, we collect that the governing principle in the mind of Buonaparte, even at this early period of his career, was that of military submission and passive obedience. The Duke of Modena now humbled himself before the conqueror, who, according to custom, only extorted money, provisions, and pictures. On entering the Venetian territories, Buonaparte addressed a proclamation to the government and subjects of that ancient republic, declaring that the French armies should preserve the most rigorous discipline, and pay for every thing they required in ready money.

At Borghetto, he attacked and routed the Austrians with the loss of 3000 men; and at Castelnuovo, captured several magazines. At this juncture, the Austrians were driven out of Italy, and compelled to retreat to the confines of Germany. On June 1st, Verona was taken; and in consequence of the strong remonstrances of Buonaparte, the Count de Lille, (Louis XVIII.,) was compelled to quit the Venetian territory. The continual defeats which had marked the career of the

brave, but unfortunate, Beaulieu, induced the Austrian government to confide the chief command of their Italian army to General Wurmser, an old and celebrated military tactician. Mantua, the strongest fortress in Italy, without the possession of which the conquests of Buonaparte were insecure, was now invested by a part of the French forces. Previous to his entering Tyrol, Napoleon issued, on the 14th of June, a proclamation to the brave and virtuous inhabitants of that romantic region, promising that his troops should maintain the strictest discipline, and pay ready money for whatever they might stand in need of, if the Tyrolese would remain tranquil; but threatening them with the utmost vengeance of military execution if they annoyed the march of the French.

Brilliant as had hitherto been his progress in Italy, the situation of Buonaparte was yet insecure. Commotions ensued in the imperial fiefs, and in Tortona, which were repressed in the same manner, and with the same rapidity as on former similar occasions. The recurrence of these insurrections among the inhabitants of a country known to abhor, and most deservedly so, their rulers, and to desire almost any event that would conduce to burst their bonds, is a proof of the unmerciful and impolitic rapacity of Buonaparte and his agents, and of the want of discipline in the French soldiers.

Free from the apprehension of an immediate attack from the army of Wurmser, and having provided for the maintenance of the sieges of the castle of Milan, and the fortress of Mantua, and the suppression of the insurrection in his rear, Buonaparte was enabled to amuse himself with the harlequinade of an expedition against the Papal territories. It would be only a meagre digression from more important matters, to enter into a minute narrative of the operations of this paltry contest: suffice it to say, that the efficacy of cowls, rosaries, reliques, and processions was tried, and tried in vain. The patron saints of the Vatican were absent from their charge, or else its thunders were harmless; for its soldiers were beaten and its subjects disaffected. After a triumphal march, in which Bologna, Fort Urbino, and Ferrara, surrendered with

out any previous opposition, the Pope was constrained to submit to an armistice on these disgraceful terms: that his Holiness should send as soon as possible a plenipotentiary to Paris, to obtain from the executive directory a definitive peace, by offering the necessary reparations for the outrages and losses suffered by the French in his territory; that the ports belonging to the Pope should be shut against the vessels of the powers at war with the Republic, and be open to French ships; that the French army should continue in possession of the legations of Bologna and Ferrara; that the citadel of Ancona should be put in the possession of the French within five days, with its artillery and stores; that the Pope should give up to the French Republic 100 paintings, busts, vases, or statues, in the choice of commissioners who should be sent to Rome; among these articles, was one enacting the bust in bronze of Junius Brutus, and that in marble of Marcus Brutus, both placed in the capitol, should be given up.

The progress of the war having brought Buonaparte to the frontiers of Tuscany, he availed himself of the opportunity to detach a column of troops to take possession of Leghorn, which surrendered without resistance. Seals were placed upon all English property, which was sought after by the French agents with indefatigable rapacity, and wherever found, immediately confiscated. The Grand Duke was compelled to invite Buonaparte to a sumptuous dinner at Florence, and during the entertainment, the French general received the tidings of the surrender of the castle of Milan, in which were found great magazines.

During this period of comparative leisure, Buonaparte exhibited another distinctive trait of his disposition, by the patronage he extended to literature and learned men, particularly the astronomer Oriani, and the illustrious members of the university of Pavia. Soon after the capture of Leghorn, Buonaparte conceived and executed à project for regaining his native island, Corsica, from the English. In this expedition he completely succeeded. The whole island was reduced in the space of three weeks, and the English troops con

strained to seek refuge at Porto-Ferrajo, in the island of Elba. At this period, whilst the war languished in the north of Italy, Wurmser was employed in re-organizing the Austrian army, which was powerfully reinforced, and had thrown up strong entrenchments from the head of the Lake of Garda, to the Adige. These works were carried by the French, after a brief, but severe, contest. Insurrections appeared in the Romagna, which were quelled by a division of the French troops under Augerau in the usual way. Devastation and blood tracked the footsteps of these pretended apostles of the rights of man.

The siege of Mantua, the bulwark of Italy, was vigorously pressed, and the town most gallantly defended. Desperate sorties were made by the besieged, some of which were to a certain extent successful; but in the event the French were enabled to open the trenches, and bombard the town in the most furious manner. Wurmser now formed a plan, the conception and execution of which proved the great talents of that veteran commander. Assembling his army, and concentrating its forces to a point, whilst the French were occupied in different directions, he suddenly broke through their line, on the side of the Lake of Garda, on 29th July. Following up his successes the two next days, he compelled the French to evacuate Brescia, Verona, and other posts, and to raise the siege of Mantua; on which occasion the artillery, and stores of the besiegers, were captured. The further advance of Wurmser was now impeded by Buonaparte in person, who rallied his troops, and in the affair at Castiglione, August 3d, compelled him to retrace his steps: still the position of the French was highly critical. In these reverses Buonaparte reaped the just reward of his cruelty to the Italian peasants. His excessive severity rendered the French so unpopular in Italy, that upon the first successes of Wurmser, before Buonaparte left the siege of Mantua, the French army was every where received with execration and insult. Their sick and wounded were refused waggons to convey them to

VOL. VI.