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Lately pushed forward towards Turin, disregarding the hostile fortresses in his rear.

These events had come with startling suddenmess upon the King of Sardinia, who had no idea how much of victory could be crowded into a angie fortnight by a half-starved army, with a striping for a commander-in-chief. To secede from the coalition, and propose first an armistice,

then a peace under conditions which left the French free to pursue the campaign against the Austrians in Lombardy, was the only method of prving his own crown. He made peace arrdingly, and Bonaparte led his troops onward to the Adige. The young general told his Es plainly, in a spirited address, that "they bad as yet done nothing, because much still remed to be done." What he had already done, however, was more than the Convention had effected in three years. He had broken the coalition, and compelled the King of Sardinia to put his Ta peace footing. The cession of Nice and hary to France, and the expulsion of the Royalist grants from his dominions, with the surrender fmportant fortresses to the French, were the itions on which peace was granted to the A. Old General Beaulieu fell back as the vicBras French advanced. On the 3rd of May, the *tory of Fiombo, and on the 10th, the exploit

the Bridge of Lodi, where, to the surprise of bs enemies, he charged at the head of a column

diers across a narrow bridge over the Acca in the face of a murderous cannonade, cem fresh reputation; and here it was that the soldiers, delighted at his courage, gave

the bonourable nickname of the "Little Corporal," "There's no understanding it at all," tist an old Hungarian officer, a prisoner wa Bonaparte conversed incognito in an. We have against us a young general is in front of us at one moment, harassing at rear in the next, and presently hovering on rank There's no knowing where to take

Now, this way of carrying on war is datle, for it's against all rule." The ritory of Lodi opened all Lombardy to the Fronth; and soon afterwards Bonaparte made amphal entry into Milan. Parma and Mada, small duchies, were glad, like Sardinia, tamare separate trenties; and the Neapolitan and papal governments followed their example. By the end of June the tricolor of the French epic was waving over every fortress in Lomady are Mantua alone. Here the Austrians

ned to make a last stand for the posses of Italy. Beaulieu had thrown up his com sad, after being discouraged by numerous

reverses. Four Austrian armies were successively despatched by Austria for the relief of Mantua. The first, under the veteran Wurmser, was beaten by Bonaparte at Castiglione, on the 5th of August; the second was destroyed in the battles of Roveredo and Bassano. The third, under Alviney, perished in the tremendous three days' conflict at Arcola. The fourth army represented the final effort of the Austrian Court against those whom it called the French Banditti. The genius of Bonaparte triumphed once more at Rivoli, where a crushing defeat put an end to the efforts of Alvincy, who retreated to Tyrol, with the loss of half his men. Provera, in command of the Vienna volunteers and the rest of the army, was obliged to surrender with his troops, and Mantua fell into the conqueror's hands, after a four months' siege, during which the garrison of 30,000 men had diminished to 12,000,

BONAPARTE CONCLUDES TREATIES.

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The Papal Government, that had commenced hostilities against the French, in the hope that the victory would be with Austria, was now glad to obtain peace by the treaty of Tolentino. The Directory, thinking Austria would be anxious for peace, sent General Clarke into Napoleon's camp as an envoy to conduct the negotiations. young commander haughtily repudiated any interference with what he considered his rights. "If you come here to act under my instructions," he said to Clarke, "I shall always be happy to see you; if not, the sooner you return to those who sent you the better." But the idea of making peace with the Directory was still too bitter to be enter. tained by Austria. "In Vienna we know nothing of a French Republic," was the reply, at once haughty and childish, made to the first proposal of the French to negotiate. But the other Powers had by this time learned the necessity of recognising that new but exceedingly real and formidable power. Prussia and Saxony had come to separate accommodations with the French; and Russia, where the crack-brained Em⚫ peror Paul had just succeeded to the unscrupulous Catherine, was disposed to remain neutral, Still it required further defeat and humiliation before Austria at length, when Vienna itself was menaced, yielded to necessity; and the preliminary peace of Leoben was followed by the definite treaty of Campo Formio, the first great triumph of Napoleon as a negotiator. In the first article of their treaty the Austrian commissioners set down that their emperor recognised the French Republic. "Strike that out," said Napoleon. "The Republic is like the sun. None but the

blind can fail to see it. We are our own masters, and shall establish any government we prefer." Perhaps he already contemplated in his secret soul the day when the French Republic should be changed into an Empire. He himself relates that after the terrible passage of the Bridge of Lodi he became conscious of his own strength; and, confident in the unbounded attachment and devotion of his soldiery, the idea entered his mind that he might become a decisive actor in the political arena. "Then first," he says, "arose the spark of great ambition."

THE EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION.

He returned to Paris paramount in reputation and fame. Not only did he, like Coriolanus, "bring victory in his pocket; " he had negotiated a treaty which put France in a new pcsition before the world. No one could affect to despise or undervalue the Republic that had dictated peace to Austria. He was now the idol of the Parisians, who crowded the streets when he was expected to pass, and shouted his praises in the streets. The Institute enrolled him among its members; the Directory gave entertainments in his honour. He seemed rather to withdraw himself from these demonstrations, and declined more than one intended fête. Concerning the people, he declared bitterly that they would shout just as noisily if he were being taken to the guillotine. Excepting in a military sense, he had little taste for outward pomp. But though he bore his honours molestly enough, a deep distrust was engendered in the hearts of the Directors, who could not but feel apprehensive when they contrasted their own waning influence with his popularity; nor could they fail to note the outspoken sentiments of the soldiers now returning from Italy; for not a few of these rough-andready swordsmen were for turning the lawyers out, and making the "Little Corporal" king. But he was not a man to spoil a chance by impa tience. The pear is not yet ripe," he said, and allowed the Directory to nominate him as commander-in-chief of a new warlike undertakingan expedition for the conquest of Egypt, with the ultimate intention of operating against the possessions and influence of the English in India.

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When Bonaparte embarked for Egypt from Toulon, in May, 1798, he was fully aware that the Government in France was tottering. "They cannot long retain their position," he said to Bourrienne, speaking of the Directors. "They know not how to do anything for the imagination of the country." He knew the French people well. From the first, the enterprise was surrounded

with great perils. Nelson was in the Mediter. ranean, with a fleet, in search of the French. The fleet, with the army of 14,000 men on board, however, succeeded in crossing to Africa. Here Bonaparte signalised himself by deeds greater than the achievements of Italy; for he had to fight against the climate, the superstitious fears of his soldiers, and the hatred and fanaticism of the natives. He marched onward, conquering, to the cataracts of the Nile. At the battle of the Pyramids he inflicted a heavy defeat upon the Mamelukes, his ingenious plan of battle here being founded on his observation of the clumsy nature of the enemy's artillery. Early in 1799 he marched into Syria, occupied El Arish and Gaza without much difficulty, and took Jaffa by storm. His soldiers faced the horrors of the simoom and of the waterless desert as heroically as they encountered the foe; and their leader, by cheerful participation in their hardships and toils, attached them still more closely to him. When the order was given that the army should march on foct. the horses and mules being reserved for the sick and wounded, he refused to have a horse retained for his own use, but walked at the head of his men. When the plague broke out at Jaffa, and despondency among his army increased almost to despair and panic, he visited the hospitals himself, examined the poor stricken sufferers, and shamed many waverers into courage by his intrepidity. At St. Jean d'Acre he met with an unex. pected and serious check in besieging that fortress, the chief stronghold of the Pacha Ahmed, known as Djezzar, the butcher. Here he found himself opposed to the English sea-lion, Admiral Sir Sydney Smith, who had thrown himself into the fortress, and was the life and soul of the defence. For two months Bonaparte perseveringly con tinued the siege-a great army advancing to raise it was defeated by him at Mount Taborbut was compelled to retrace his steps to Egypt. Then Capitar Pasha appeared with a great force before Aboukir, which he took. Napoleon, how ever, inflicted a tremendous defeat upon him, and re-took the place. It was at the end of July, 1798. Brave General Desaix had also had good success in Upper Egypt; but it could not escape the sagacity of Napoleon that the whole great enterprise was a failure. Immediately after the landing of the army in Egypt, Nelson had ap peared and annihilated the French fleet in the battle of the Nile on the 1st of August, 1798. The blow inflicted on the French had been terrific, and so far as the prospects of the Egyp tian expedition were concerned, fatal. The communication between France and Egypt was

st; and sooner or later the army, weakened by war and sickness, must be at the mercy of the

BONAPARTE'S RETURN; THE 18TH BRUMAIRE. Eren's were also happening in France which arnced Bonaparte, even through the fitful atches of intelligence he obtained, that the pear was ripening, and might be plucked by another, if he remained absent. The powerlessness and efficiency of the Directory, with its two Houses of the Ancients, and the Five Hundred, became more manifest every day. In Italy there had tern loss upon loss, and not even the heroic inth of Joubert at Novi had been able to bring back victory to the French arms. Accordingly Papare quitted Egypt secretly, after transferring the command of the army to brave outape Kleber, destined soon to perish under the hand of an assassin. On the 22nd of August, Naprien embarked with a few friends at Alexdria, and thence made his way to his native Apart, and so home to France by way of Frejus. He was received by the people with acclamaand his journey to Paris was a triumphal ps. The Directory received him with sickly ales of distrust, and with that welcome" which the faint heart would fain deny, but dare not." Awe-organized conspiracy enabled him, on the rated leth Brumaire (9th of November, 17, with the assistance of his brother Lucien, and tacked by the troops, to effect a coup d'état toverturn the government of the Directory, the Cranch of the Five Hundred being driven out

the hall of assembly at the point of the taybet. Some of the more tardy of the deputies ad even to escape by the windows. It was a modern adaptation of Cromwell and the Long Parlamenta piece of brilliantly successful reason. The semblance of patriotism and zeal far the public good was maintained, as a cloak Iration. Bonaparte professed himself full fgration against the unfaithful guardians

Lad lost the fruits of the brave soldiers'

Lucien summoned an assembly of the tractable of the members of the two ils; and after Bonaparte and the soldiers been thanked for what they had done, a new Frtment was instituted. Three consuls, of

Bonaparte was to be the first, should and at the head of the state. Two commiswere appointed to decide on a new conA new ministry was appointed, and tulate began. From this time we have tok upon Napoleon as a ruler; for as first be held the whole power in his hands;

his nominal colleagues were entirely swayed by his will; and of the republic, the name alone remained. A phantom council, a senate, existed, but it was only to give a constitutional colour to the dictator's will. From the establishment of the consulate, until that transitional form of government merged into the empire, Bonaparte was gradually but surely doing away with every. thing that bore the republican stamp. This could not escape the observation of many; and yet his popularity was immense. All seemed to look to him. The great mass who desired peace, thought his strong hand could best maintain it. The soldiers, smarting under the disgrace of the last two years, looked to him to re-establish their former renown. Even the Royalists indulged a whimsical expectation, that as he had acted the part of Cromwell, he would take up the character of General Monk, and pave the way for a Restoration, in the person of the Bourbon Louis XVIII.; and propositions in this direction were absolutely made to him by agents of the exiled family. He repulsed them with contempt. He had not gathered the pear to hand it over to another.

THE CONSULATE; CAMPAIGN OF 1800;
GREATNESS OF BONAPARTE,

The Consul began his administration of affairs by making proposals of peace to Austria and England. The autograph letter he addressed to George III. was answered by a dry, formal despatch, by an under-secretary of state. George III. with his old-world prejudices, was not the man to respond to a personal advance from the upstart Corsican. From Vienna he experienced a similar repulse; and now he had put himself in the right with the French people, who fully believed the war to be forced upon him against his will. The martial spirit revived in France in full force. Masséna was fighting in Italy against terrible odds. Mélas, the Austrian, had 180,000 men to op. pose to his 40,000. A great army of reserve, 60,000 strong, was raised in France. Napoleon, led this force over the great St. Bernard in May, 1800, and then by the Simplon and the St. Gotthard into Italy. Thoroughly planned, and elaborated with masterly strategy, the campaign of 1800 was brilliantly successful, and the great battle of Marengo, on the 14th of June, made Napoleon once more master of Italy. The victorious army was put under Masséna's command; and Bonaparte returned to Paris, higher than ever in the estimation of France and of Europe.

Brilliant successes of other generals, especially of Moreau, compelled the Austrians to make over

tures for peace. Moreau's splendid victory at Hohenlinden (Dec. 3rd, 1800), paved the way to the treaty of Luneville, and at length, at the beginning of 1802, the treaty of Amiens was signed, the only peace ever made between Napoleon and the English Government.

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But the peace of Amiens, the result of the short supremacy of a whig ministry, was not likely to be of long duration. Between the governments of England and France there was a rooted antipathy. George III. and his court could not frankly acknowledge the title of Bonaparte as head of the State, where the indispensable qualification of legitimacy was wanting. their eyes he was from first to last the Corsican usurper, against whom every stratagem was permissible. "I did not usurp the crown," was Napoleon's defence. "It was lying in the mire. I picked it up. The people placed it on my head." And here he was right. The people looked upon him as identified with the triumph of the republic over invading kings-as the man who having risen by his transcendent talents, had declared that the career should be open to talent, and showed himself ready to promote men on their merits, without reference to birth or station. "The old privileged classes and the foreign cabinets," said Napoleon, "hate me worse than they did Robespierre." And here again he was right; for the very extravagance of the hideous "Terror" enabled them to hold up that wretched fanatic as a warning example of the evils of democracy, while under the Consulate the Republic flourished, and the work of reconstruction went steadily on. Neither side had confidence in the other. England saw with natural distrust how the consul's ambition grew with his fortunes. It was evidently his intention to make France the dominant power in Europe, and himself the despotic ruler of the French nation. To this end he worked with marvellous perseverance and sagacity; and in many respects the four years during which he ruled over France as first consul were marked by great and signal benefits that have left the mark of his hand upon the best institutions of the land he governed, in such a way, that in common justice they should be to some extent set against his subsequent errors and crimes. He aspired to be the head, not of a faction, but of the whole nation, and therefore at the outset of his rule set himself to conciliate all parties alike. Gradually he cleared the Government of the absurdities with which the revolutionary period had surrounded it. The ridiculous revolutionary calendar, with its decades and rain month, wind month, and fog

month, was abandoned; many of the emigrants were allowed and even encouraged to return to France. Public worship was re-established in churches. Furthermore, during the consulate, and indeed during his whole rule, a spirit of unflagging energy was shown, in the improvement of agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing industry. Great public works were undertaken in France and in the countries subordinate to her rule. The road over the Simplon, for instance, is a monument of the greatness of Napoleon in this direction. Education, science, and art were all promoted by encouragement and reward; and by healing the wounds of the revolution, and working incessantly for the prosperity of France, the first consul built up his power in the hearts of millions of the French people.

But alas for the other side of the picture!When the nation's confidence had once been fully gained, it was lamentably abused. Ambitious this man had always been-ardent, strenuous and aspiring; but while engaged in the hard struggle with fortune, prudence and sagacity had kept that ambition in check. But he had now, like Wolsey, to bear on his shoulders" a weight which would sink a navy-too much honour;" and, as Shakespeare says of the great Cardinal, it proved with him also" a burden too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven." His ambition became more and more ungovernable, and developed at last into the perfection of selfishness. He no longer looked upon himself as the trustee of the enor. mous empire whose destinies he wielded; but regarded that empire, and indeed the whole world, as bound to minister to his greatness. "Ye have my glory!" was in substance his answer to the exhausted but devoted people who appealed to him for rest and freedom. France, like a generous horse, bore him bravely through the burden and heat of a long battle day; he, like a merciless rider, pressed the willing horse until it fell exhausted beneath him.

FROM AMIENS TO AUSTERLITZ; NAPOLEON THE EMPEROR.

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The peace of Amiens was not ten months old when its approaching termination was seen. The English had promised to evacuate Malta, but hesitated to do so in view of the warlike preparations of France, and that power's negotia tions with Spain. Napoleon, already irritated against England by the attacks upon him in the newspapers, for he hated anything like a free press, insisted on a literal carrying out of the treaty, and resented the interference of England in continental politics. Lord Whitworth, the

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English, and General Andreassy, the French, Ambassadors, left Paris and London almost maitanecasly, so that they met at Dover. On the 18th of May, the English Government declared war. The French ships in English parts were seized and declared forfeited; the first consul, on his part, detained as prisoners of war all English residents in France. This rewal of the war was thus surrounded with creamstances tending to embitter the contest which continued until the fall of the Empire.

A new coalition of nations against France was tow brought about-the third since the fall of the monarchy. The prime mover in this measure

Pitt, who had once more been called to the bad of affairs. The powers who united with England were Sweden, Russia, and Austria. Ire was good reason, on the part of England at least, for making every preparation. Napoleon tad publicly declared his intention of invading t country. He had assembled a large army the heights near Boulogne, with the avowed pse of crossing the channel, for which purpose a number of flat-bottomed boats had been pared. The "army of England" was a ang menace; and the excitement in Enga was shown by the enrolment of 150,000 volunteers, and the augmentation of the regular my. In 1804, the Consulate gave place to the Empare. By an enormous majority of votes it was declared by the French people that the head of the state should assume the title of Emperor. Angly, Napoleon was crowned, with Josephine, at Notre Dame, in December, 1804. The state now assumed a more military aspect than ever. A new nobility was created, of erals who had distinguished themselves. From among these also were chosen those famous marshals who surrounded the Emperor's throne. The establishment of the legion of bar, into which the private soldier who disfished himself by courage, could equally it the general gain admittance, was another ep indicative of military achievements in contration. It was evident that the year 1805 wil be a stirring and memorable time.

Whether Napoleon ever seriously intended this

correspondent." Very suddenly and rudely was the illusion dispelled. At the end of August the Emperor suddenly broke up his camp, marched his army with unexampled speed across France, formed a junction with the armies raised by several of his marshals, and led 300,000 troops against southern Germany.

The allies were completely taken by suprise. Würtemberg and Baden made a treaty with Napoleon; who, advancing in his usual rapid way, completely surrounded the army of the veteran Austrian, General Mack, near Ulm. Mack was obliged to surrender, with all his force, and Ulm fell into the victor's power. Thence he marched to Vienna, which had no alternative but to receive the victorious invader within its walls. Meanwhile the great Russian army was coming to the scene of action. Napoleon, who loved to choose his own fightingground, took up a new position in Moravia, near the capital Brunn; and here was fought, on the 2nd of December, the tremendous battle of Austerlitz. The victory he here gained threw all Napoleon's previous triumphs into the shade. Fifteen thousand prisoners and a hundred pieces of artillery fell into his hands. Austria was humbled, and compelled to sue for peace; and the Russian army had to retreat in such confusion as precluded its rallying for some time.

The treaty of Presburg, signed on the 20th of December, after the Emperor Franois had personally visited Napoleon in the camp, broke the power of Austria, and made France the arbiter of the Continent. Thus the campaign closed with brilliant triumph for the Emperor.

But there was one notable exception. On the 25th October, the very day of the capitulation of Mack, at Ulm, the combined French and Spanish fleet had been attacked by Nelson at Cape Trafalgar, near Cadiz. Every Englishman knows the glorious story of that day. The victory that Nelson purchased with his life involved not only the defeat but the utter destruction of the French fleet, and from that day until the end of the war, ten years later, the French were never able to meet the English in a general engagement at sea. It has been well said of Napoleon's power, that it resembled the fabled might of those goblins who were struck helpless when they encountered a stream of running water. On land his word was omnipotent; but while France was

tapon England will always remain doubtf: Many considered the threat to be simply a atagem to divert attention from the real point attack; but Pitt thoroughly believed in it, dwnld hear of nothing else. A parliamentary gaining victories all over the Continent, her

tr

er told him of the receipt of a letter from arrespondent, speaking of a great massing of the Rhine frontier. "Then, sir," said the Fe Muster, "you have a very disaffected

ships were hiding in harbour or hurrying from port to port, flying from British cruisers. The Nile had been a noble triumph for England, but the victory of Trafalgar was greater still, and

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