After these repeated disasters, it might have been expected that the court of Vienna would have abandoned the contest in despair. But the event was different. Such was the constitution of the Austrian states, and the character of the people, that, with the assistance of British subsidies, the government was always able to recruit its armies; and on the Present occasion it was inclined to attribute its defeat to accidental causes, and to renew the combat, in hopes that the merit of its generals and soldiers might eventually produce a change in the fortune war. Its exertions were favored by the enthusiastic loyalty of nrany of its subjects. The Tyrolese, in particular, warmly resented Buonaparte's 'proclamation, in which, while he exhorted them to revolt, he threatened vengeance against the followers attached to the Austrian standard, and, in defiance of his menace, they pressed with zeal to reinforce the army under Davidovitch. As soon as the victory of Arcola had relieved Buonaparte from his apprehensions that Alvinzi might force him to raise the siege of Mantua, Massena was dispatched to the support of Vaubois, whose posts had been assailed by the Austrians, and was so successful in his enterprise, conducted with the usual celerity of the French armies, that the rear-guard of the imperialists, consisting of 12,000 men, were surrounded and taken prisoners on the heights of Campara, and in their attempt to escape, 300 were drowned in the Adige.

Every circumstance, and among others, the weak and ineffectual efforts of those Italian states which were friendly to the house of Austria, concurred with the military talents of the French general, to promote his success. The Venetians having discovered a strong predilection for the Austrian cause, by the service they had rendered the imperial armies, he availed himself of that partiality as a pretence for seizing on the castle of Bergamo, on the Milanese frontier, as a defensive measure, which might prevent his enemy from obstructing the communication of

his forces on the Adige with those of the country beyond the Adda.

When we reflect on the occurrences of this campaign, and on the character of the French people, we cannot be surprised at the exultation with which the government and nation received the captured standards presented in the hall of the convention; nor can we regard, without feelings of respect, the eulogies bestowed by the president of the directory on the heroes of Italy. The conclusion of his speech, however, in which he asserted that the first object of the French govern ment was universal peace, was strikingly and unfortunately refuted by the evidence of facts, and by the diplomatic history of the following year.

As the season was now too far advanced for the continuance of warfare among the mountains of the Tyrol, Buonaparte directed his attention to the settlement of Italy, and to the punishment of revolt. The power of the French over Italy, wasbecome so extensive and irresistible, as to render opposition, however just, wholly inexpedient. The secular princes had faithfully adhered to the treaties concluded with the French republic. The court of Rome alone was guilty of the most unwise violation of its engagements. In order more effectually to inflame the minds of the people against the republicans, the pope, and his priests, had recourse to the convenient artifices known by the name of pious frauds. The streets were filled with processions of saints and images; the zeal of all classes and conditions was enflamed, and the general enthusiasm cor-responded with the violence of the govern ment. Buonaparte, desirous of conciliating the affections of the Italians, was anxious to remain on terms of friendship with the head of the Roman church, conscious that a respectful treatment of the pontiff would be gratifying to the Italian states and people. Determined, therefore, to refrain from coercive measures, he addressed a letter to cardinal Mattoi, prime minister to his holiness, representing to him the inutility of arming his subjects against men. who had overcome so many formidable

eneties. To this letter no answer was returned till after the triumph of the French at the battle of Arcola, when the pope instructed the minister in his reply to assure the general of his anxiety to remedy the disorders which had so long distracted France, and to restore the relations of amity between France and the Roman see. He appealed to to the protection of the Almighty, and trusted to the justice of a conflict with infidels and pretended philosophers. A letter of this description addressed to a victorious general, at the head of a resistless army, was little adapted to interrupt his career, or change his resolution. His holiness in the mean time persisted in preparing for war, and endeavoured to awaken the interest of those powers who were chiefly interested in the preservation of the papal dominion. But circumstances and sentiments had changed since the period when the commands of a pontiff were sacred and imperative; and Spain herself, hitherto the chief support of papal domination, sent an answer, recommending the abandonment of all temporal power, and the devotion of the pontiff's leisure to the exercise of the heavenly virtues.

Buonaparte, perceiving that measures of conciliation were unavailing, resolved to recommence actual hostilities. He published a manifesto, charging the pope with a breach of the convention, and, having entered the Roman territories, issued a proclamation, assuring the inhabitants that he would protect religion as well as property, and warning them to abstain from any acts of enmity that might render them the victims of military vengeance. Every town and village that sounded the tocsin

the approach of the French, was threatened with instant destruction; and it was proclaimed that every district in which a a Frenchman was assassinated, should be declared hostile, and subjected to heavy contributions. After taking Ancona and Loretto, the French continued to advance into the territories of the church, directing their march to Macerata and Foligno. Their progress was contemplated by the court and people of Rome with the most unfeigned alarm, In the person of

Buonaparte they recognized a second Attila, arriving in the capital of the Christian world and of the arts, obtaining possession of its riches, destroying its monuments, and overturning the pontifical throne. All the rich and considerable persons of Rome prepared to quit that city, and his holiness himself determined to retire to a place of safety. The riches of Loretto and of Rome were packed up and sent to Terracina. The object of Buonaparte, however, was less to advance to Rome, than to excite the apprehensions of the pope, and determine him to agree to such conditions as he should prescribe. He was conscious that, without imprudence, he could not penetrate further into the papal territories. It was possible that the Austrians might endeavour to take advantage of his absence, and the distance of a part of his army. He would have been obliged for the purpose of securing the obedience of a vast country and of a city so populous as Rome, to weaken his army by numerous detachments; and the ensuing campaign would be commenced before the expiration of a month. These considerations induced him to take advantage of the first pacific overtures made by his holiness. Having received from cardinal Mattei a letter as affecting as it was dexterous, he returned an answer on the 13th of February, 1797, and announced to him that he granted his holiness five days for the purpose of sending a negotiator invested with full powers to treat for peace. To this letter he received a courteous reply; and, four plenipotentiaries arriving at his head-quarters, invested with full powers by the pope, their presence was immediately followed by the conclusion of peace. On this occasion Buonaparte returned to the pope the following answer.

I congratulate myself on having been able to contribute to your individual repose. I conjure your holiness to distrust those persons who at Rome are sold to the courts inimical to France, or who allow themselves to be exclusively guided by those malicious passions which always accelerate the ruin of states and empires. All Europe is acquainted with the pacific and conciliating virtues of your holiness. The French republic will, I hope, be always one of the truest friends of Rome. I send my aid-de-camp, chief of brigade, to express to your holiness the esteem and perfect veneration which I have for your person, and I beseech you to believe my desire to prove, on every occasion, the sincerity of that respect and reverence with which I have the honour to be your very obedient servant, BUONAPARTE, general-in-chief.

From the head-quarters at Tolentino."

The articles of peace were nearly the same with those of the armistice concluded in the preceding June. The principal conditions were, that the pope should transfer irrevocably to France, Avignon, the comtat Venaissin, the duchies of Bologna and Ferrara, and the legation of Romagna, that he should pay in two months, 15,000, 000 livres, over and above the 21,000,000 stipulated in the armistice concluded in the month of June, of which only 5,000,000 had been paid. It was stipulated that the French should remain in the possession of the eitadel of Ancona, till peace should be estab

lished on the continent, and of the provinces of Macerata, Umbria, Perugio, and Camerino, till the 36,000,000 livres due from the pope should be entirely paid. The articles. were confirmed, by which the gift of the statues, pictures, and precious manuscripts, was enjoined, and leave was given to convey to Paris the most valuable antiquities of Romagna, the duchy of Urbino, and the march of Ancona. Such was the price at which the pope, who had never declared war against the French, and who had only assumed the attitude of justifiable selfdefence, was obliged to purchase the preservation sf the throne of St. Peter. It cost him nearly the third part of the dominions of the church, and more than one year's revenues to satisfy the ambitious views and the rapacity of the French government.

After having acquired by this treaty new pecuniary means for the subsistence of his army, from the chests, out of which a treasurer, named Flachat, had stolen 6,000,000 of livres, (£250,000) Buonaparte proceeded to levy contributions on the grand duke of Tuscany and the republic of Venice. In this manner did the French accomplish their purpose of making the campaign at the expense of the neutral powers; while the latter, for the sake of a neutrality, which was constantly violated, made greater sacrifices than it would have required to defend the entrance of Italy against the French, or to drive them from its territory after they had invaded it.

D

In

URING the campaigns of 1796, the attention of the French was SO much occupied by military operations, that Britain encountered but little opposition to her maratime exertions, or to those military enterprizes which depended chiefly on naval co-operation. A considerable armament had been fitted out under general Abercrombie, to prosecute our successes in the West Indies. April, leaving Barbadoes, he sailed to the valuable settlement of Demerary, belonging to the Dutch, which speedily surrendered to the British arms. In the month of May he recovered the island of St. Lucia, and soon after quelled an insurrection excited by Victor Hughes. The British still main tained their conquests in St. Domingo. The French had entirely abandoned the settlement, and the people of colour and the negroes possessed the interior country, while the English occupied various parts of the coast. But here they were doomed to encounter an enemy much more dreadful than the French forces, in a pestilence so fatally known by the name of the yellow fever, which, having raged with destructive violence in all the tropical latitudes of the west, and extended to the northern climate of Philadelphia and New York, was still more malignant and dangerous in St. Domingo.

In Saldahna bay, a Dutch flect of seven

sail of the line, which had sailed in hopes of retaking the Cape of Good Hope, was captured by admiral Elphinston. The Dutch settlements in the east were reduced, and among the rest the island of Ceylon, one of the most important possessions in European India. In the Mediterranean, the Corsicans, openly declaring their attachment to the French republic, the British ministers judged it expedient to relinquish a settlement of which the expense and inconvenience counterbalanced the advantages. At the close of the year, the French, encouraged by reports of disaffection in Ireland, attempted, with thirteen ships of the line and a large body of troops, to make a descent at Bantry bay; but the stormy season dispersing the armament, the commander-in-chief, who had arrived at his place of destination, returned to Brest, with the loss of one ship of the line and two frigates. In this manner terminated a campaign as glorious to Britain as disastrous to her ally, and propitious to her enemy.

Among the domestic events of this year, the most remarkable were the birth of the princess Charlotte of Wales, and the general. election, in which the influence of the ministers universally prevailed.

The internal state of France little corresponded at this period, with foreign: triumphs, and the successes of her armies.