Walter Scott - Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Volume II

The treaty was concluded at Paris, on the 15th May. For a copy of it, see Annual Register , vol. xxxviii., p. 262.

Victor Amadeus died of apoplexy, in the following October, and was succeeded by his son, Charles Emanuel.

See Correspondence Inédite, tom. i., p. 85.

See the speech in the Moniteur , No. 233, 12th May.

Montholon, tom. iii., p. 162.

" – procul obscuros colles humilemque videmus Italiam. Italiam! primus conclamat Achates; Italiam! læto socii clamore salutant."

Virg. Æneid , Book III. – S.

"Now every star before Aurora flies, Whose glowing blushes streak the purple skies; When the dim hills of Italy we view'd, That peep'd by turns, and dived beneath the flood, Lo! Italy appears, Achates cries, And, Italy! with shouts the crowd replies."

Dryden.

"The army, on reaching the Adige, will command all the states of the House of Austria in Italy, and all those of the Pope on this side of the Apennines; it will be in a situation to proclaim the principles of liberty, and to excite Italian patriotism against the sway of foreigners. The word Italiam. Italiam! proclaimed at Milan, Bologna, and Verona, will produce a magical effect." – Napoleon, Montholon , tom. iii., p. 165.

It was dated Cherasco, April the 26th, and sufficiently proves, that notwithstanding all their victories, many of the soldiery, nay, even of the superior officers, were still alarmed at the magnitude of the enterprise on which Napoleon was entering with apparently very inadequate resources.

Montholon, tom. iii., p. 169; Thibaudeau, tom. i., p 206; Jomini, tom. viii., p. 117.

Montholon, tom. iii., p. 172.

Moniteur, No. 241, May 20.

Montholon, tom. iii., p. 173; Jomini, tom. viii., p. 126; Thibaudeau, tom. i., p. 218.

"The loss of the French was only four hundred men." – Thibaudeau, tom. i., p. 218.

Moniteur, No. 241, May 20.

"Vandémiaire and Montenotte," said the Emperor, "never induced me to look upon myself as a man of a superior class: it was not till after Lodi that I was struck with the possibility of my becoming a decisive actor on the scene of political events. It was then that the first spark of my ambition was kindled." – Las Cases, tom. i., p. 150.

Montholon, tom. iii., p, 178.

"How subtle is the chain which unites the most trivial circumstances to the most important events! Perhaps this very nickname contributed to the Emperor's miraculous success on his return from Elba in 1815. While he was haranguing the first battalion he met, which he found it necessary to parley with, a voice from the ranks exclaimed, 'Vive notre petit Caporal! – We will never fight against him.'" – Las Cases, tom. i., p. 170.

Thiers, tom. viii., p. 207.

"It was in memory of this mission, that Napoleon, when King of Italy, created the duchy of Lodi, in favour of Melzi." – Montholon, tom. iii., p. 179.

Botta, tom. i., p. 431; Jomini, tom. viii., p. 179; Thibaudeau, tom. i., p. 234; Thiers, tom. viii., p. 208.

On the 20th, Buonaparte addressed the following remarkable order of the day to the army: —

"Soldiers! you have rushed like a torrent from the top of the Apennines: you have overthrown, dispersed, all that opposed your march. Piedmont, delivered from Austrian tyranny, indulges her natural sentiments of peace and friendship towards France. Milan is yours; and the republican flag waves throughout Lombardy. The Dukes of Parma and Modena are indebted for their political existence only to your generosity. The army which so proudly threatened you, can now find no barrier to protect it against your courage: neither the Po, the Ticino, nor the Adda, could stop you a single day: those vaunted bulwarks of Italy opposed you in vain; you passed them as rapidly as the Apennines. These great successes have filled the heart of your country with joy; your representatives have ordered a festival to commemorate your victories, which has been held in every commune of the republic. There your fathers, your mothers, your wives, sisters, and mistresses, rejoiced in your victories, and proudly boasted of belonging to you. Yes, soldiers! you have done much. – But remains there nothing more to perform? Shall it be said of us, that we know how to conquer, but not how to make use of victory? Shall posterity reproach us with having found our Capua in Lombardy? – But I see you already hasten to arms; an effeminate repose is tedious to you; the days which are lost to glory, are lost to your happiness. Well, then! let us set forth; we have still forced marches to make, enemies to subdue, laurels to gather, injuries to avenge! Let those who have sharpened the daggers of civil war in France, who have basely murdered our ministers, and burnt our ships at Toulon, tremble! The hour of vengeance has struck. But let the people of all countries be free from apprehension; we are the friends of the people everywhere, and more particularly of the descendants of Brutus and Scipio, and the great men whom we have taken for our models. To restore the capitol, to replace there the statues of the heroes who rendered it illustrious, with suitable honours, to awaken the Roman people, stupified by several ages of slavery – such is the fruit of our victories. They will form an historical era for posterity: yours will be the immortal glory of having changed the face of the finest part of Europe. The French people, free, respected by the whole world, will give to Europe a glorious peace, which will indemnify her for the sacrifices of every kind, which, for the last six years, she has been making. You will then return to your homes; and your countrymen will say, as they point you out – ' He belonged to the army of Italy .'" — Moniteur , No. 254, June 2.

On reading over this proclamation one day at St. Helena, the Emperor exclaimed – "And yet they have the folly to say I could not write!" – Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 86

Frederic, Duke of Parma, grandson of Philip V. of Spain, was born in 1751. On his death, in 1802, the duchy was united to France, in virtue of the convention of 1801.

Montholon, tom. iii., p. 173; Lacretelle, tom. xiii., p. 172; Thibaudeau, tom. i., p. 211. See the Treaty, Annual Register, vol. xxxviii., p. 233.

Hercules III., Renaud d'Este, last Duke of Modena, was born in 1727 and died in 1797.

Lacretelle, tom. xiii., p. 187; Montholon, tom. iii., p. 187.

"The duke is avaricious. His only daughter and heiress is married to the Archduke of Milan. The more you squeeze from him, the more you take from the House of Austria." – Lallemant to Buonaparte, 14th May; Correspondence Inédite , tom. i., p. 169.

Montholon, tom. iii., p. 174.

"The republic had already received, by the same title, and placed in its Museum, the chefs-d'œuvre of the Dutch and Flemish schools. The Romans carried away from conquered Greece the statues which adorn the capitol. Every capital of Europe contained the spoils of antiquity, and no one had ever thought of imputing it to them as a crime." – Thibaudeau, tom. i., p. 214.