1800.]

[HE ASSUMES THE STATE OF A SOVEREIGN.

393

not only for extinguishing Jacobinism, but for taking away even the semblance of liberty from a nation that did not understand it-a nation "indocile by temperament, yet accepting the arbitrary and even the violent rule of a sovereign more readily than the free and regular government of the chief citizen."*

The pacification of La Vendée was completed by the end of January, without any sanguinary struggle. The insurgents were won to submission by moderation, instead of being trodden into despair as they had been by the severities of the old republican authorities. Suwaroff had gone home after having been kept at bay in Switzerland; and the mad emperor Paul was won over by the courteous policy of the First Consul. Bonaparte had now only two enemies to contend with,-Great Britian and Austria. But these were by far his most powerful enemies. He must break up their alliance by some signal triumphs in Italy and Germany before he could be safe in his sovereign rule. To contend with Great Britain at sea would have been a vain ambition. He was now established in regal state at the Tuileries. He was surrounded by a Court, as glittering in dress, and almost as rigid in ceremonial, as that of the dukes and marquises at Versailles. He would have his own dukes and princes in good time. Meanwhile his fascinating wife would gather around her the fashion of Paris, as fashion then existed there. There were beautiful women, victorious generals, and submissive ambassadors, in those saloons; and there was no limit to the cost of the most luxurious display.

Madame de Staël has described these first days of the Consulate: "I saw the First Consul enter the palace built by kings; and although Bonaparte was yet far from the magnificence he has since developed, one beheld already in all who surrounded him an anxiety to do him homage after an oriental fashion, which would persuade him that to govern the world was a very easy thing. . . In ascending the staircase in the midst of the crowd who pressed around him, his eyes would rest neither upon one object nor upon any person in particular.

VOL. VII.

*De Tocqueville" France before the Revolution," book ii. chap. xx.

D D

394

ITALY--BONAPARTE TAKES THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY. [1800.

There was always something of the vague and careless in his physiognomy, and his looks only expressed what was always suitable to his character to show, indifference to fortune and contempt for men."* Madame de Staël had a hatred of Bonaparte; but she is perhaps not wholly unjust, when she says, "He has in his whole nature a foundation of vulgarity that even the gigantic reach of his ambition cannot always hide." From the luxurious grandeur of the Tuileries, from the flatteries of his sycophants, from his earnest work as chief magistrate, he resolved to depart for a season-to make an effort in his own person to recover the ground which had been lost in Italy. It was an infraction of the Constitution that the First Consul should command an army on a foreign soil. He did not stand upon such nice points of observance. But he would conceal his plans; and find safety in a new career of irresponsible glory.

There was an army of reserve formed at Dijon, to review which army Bonaparte ostensibly left Paris on the 6th of May. He inspected the troops, and quitted Dijon on the 7th. On the 8th he was at Geneva. He had

deputed one of his generals to inspect the pass of the Great St. Bernard. Can we pass?" said Bonaparte. "With great difficulty," replied the general. "Then let us set out," said the man who would have banished the word 'impossible' from his vocabulary. The Austrian general, Melas, with the main body of the army, was in the territory of Genoa. The object of Bonaparte was to seize Milan, and place himself between the Austrian army

"Sur la Révolution Française," tom. ii.

1800.]

war.

THE CAMPAIGN-BATTLE OF MARENGO.

395

and the emperor's dominions. Thirty-five thousand men, under general Lannes, went forward to cross the Great St. Bernard. The cannon were dismounted at the foot of the mountain, and dragged over on sledges and hollow trunks of trees. Lannes, and Berthier with another division, had crossed the mountain on the 16th. Bonaparte followed them from Lausanne on the 17th, with a young Swiss for his guide. The famous pieture by David represents the hero of a melo-drama in the grandest of "poses." Bonaparte went over the Alps like a very ordinary traveller, without danger, and suffering no privation. His army had difficulty enough with their munitions of He had not, like Cæsar, to fight many battles in these mountain passes. He only met with a slight resistance at Bard,-a fort which commanded the narrow pass in the valley below Aosta. Other divisions of the French army had crossed by the St. Gothard, the Simplon, Mont Genêvre, Mont Cenis, and the Little St. Bernard. Sixty or seventy thousand enemies were on the Italian side of the Alps without the knowledge of the Austrians. On the 30th of May Bonaparte was in Milau, having entered the city without opposition. The Austrian commander-in-chief, Melas, an aged man of large experiences and of well-tried bravery, was at Nice, from which he had driven the French under Suchet. He rapidly marched to encounter Bonaparte, whose advanced guard was on the Po. He was between Melas and another Austrian army at Mantua, on the Adda, and in the Tyrol. His situation was hazardous. If he lost a battle he could only retreat over the Alps by the passes he had crossed. Melas concentrated his forces at Alessandria. Bonaparte marched to meet him; crossed the Po at Piacenza; and took up his position in the plain of Marengo. On the 14th of June, Melas came out of Alessandria, and attacked the French. For some time he appeared to be winning a great victory. He had beaten the division of Victor, had driven Lannes back, and worn out with fatigue had gone back to Alessandria, leaving the triumph to be completed by general Zach. Desaix, who had very recently returned from Egypt, was ordered by Bonaparte to lead up a division to engage the advancing Austrians. Desaix turned the tide of battle, and was himself killed. The whole Austrian army now gave way: Marengo was won. The next day Melas asked for an armistice. By the convention of Alessandria, the Austrians lost all that they had gained in 1798 and 1799. They evacuated Italy as far as the Mincio, and gave up Genoa, and all the strong places in Piedmont and the Milanais. On the 2nd of July, Bonaparte was again in Paris. During his absence, various parties of republicans and royalists were formed against him, who might have shaken his power had his bold plan of a campaign been a failure. Marengo seated him firmly in the curule chair, which was to be exchanged for a throne.

The campaign of Moreau, who entered Germany at the head of a hundred thousand men, was a series of victories, until an armistice was concluded on the 15th of July. Hostilities were suspended whilst negotiations for peace were proceeding at Luneville. The preliminaries were signed on the 28th of July. But the emperor had entered into an engagement with Great Britain, that no peace should be concluded by either power which did not comprehend the two Allies. His resolution was fortified by a new loan. The emperor refused to ratify the preliminaries which had been agreed to at Luneville. Meanwhile, Malta, which had been blockaded for two years by the Euglish

396

MOREAU IN GERMANY-PEACE OF LUNEVILLE.

[1800.

fleet, surrendered to the British troops in September. Hostilities were revived in Germany on the 29th of November. The archduke John, who had taken the command of the Austrian army, crossed the Inn with a hundred thousand men, to attack Moreau, whose troops were concentrated near the village of Hohenlinden, about twenty miles from Munich. The forest of Hohenlinden lay between the imperial army and the position which Moreau had taken up. It could only be reached by two great roads through the forest of thick pine trees, and by cross roads rendered almost impassable by the snows and storms of a winter that had now set in. To describe this great battle on the difficult ground between the Iser and the Inn is a task for voluminous historians. The general reader will derive more vivid impressions from the spirited poem of Campbell than from all the exactness of strategie details. He will call to mind the picture of the evening, when "all bloodless lay th' untrodden snow,"-of the beat of drum" at dead of night,”—of the morning when the level sun scarce can pierce the war-clouds rolling dun," -of the deepening contest between "furious Frank and fiery Hun; "—

"Few, few shall part where many meet;

The snow shall be their winding sheet."

On that 3rd of December, the victory of Moreau was decisive. The French lost four thousand men; the Imperialists lost a far greater number, besides fifteen thousand prisoners and all their artillery. Moreau pursued the archduke John, and was on the road to Vienna. The archduke proposed an armistice, which was concluded on the 26th of December, the emperor engaging to negotiate separately for peace. Great Britain had released him from his pledge. The peace of Luneville was completed on the 9th of February, 1801.*

* See the Chronological Table of Treaties at the end of the next Chapter.

Commencement of the nineteenth century-Parliament opened-The king's opposition to concessions to the Catholics of Ireland-Mr. Pitt resigns in consequence-Mr. Addington prime minister-The king again becomes insane- The northern powers form a treaty of Armed Neutrality-Expedition against Denmark-The naval battle of CopenhagenNelson's victory-An armistice concluded-Assassination of the emperor Paul-Expedition to Egypt-Battle of Alexandria and death of Abercromby-The French evacuate Egypt-Preliminaries of peace with France-Negotiations of lord Cornwallis at AmiensDiplomatic disputes and difficulties-The peace of Amiens concluded.

A NEW CENTURY! The commencements of another Year, of another Decade, of another Century, are rarely marked by any corresponding changes in the affairs of nations; but they are suggestive of comparisons with other similar eras. At the commencement of the eighteenth century it has been estimated, upon the imperfect data of the Registers of Births and Burials, that England and Wales contained a Population of about five millions and a half. At the commencement of the nineteenth century a Census of the people had been taken, and it was found that England and Wales contained about nine millions. At the commencement of the eighteenth century, William III., from his death-bed, recommended the completion of a firm and entire Union between England and Scotland; and within seven years the Act of Union was passed. At the commencement of the nineteenth century, the