selves appointed the remainder. The Senate next named the 100 tribunes and the 300 members of the legislative body. The finances had been left by the Directory in a wretched state. Forced loans arbitrarily assessed had been, until then, the chief resource of the Government. To improve this state of affairs, the First Consul availed himself of the administrative skill of Gaudin, another functionary of the Bourbon rêgime. By the skillful measures of this very able man, a financial position which appeared desperate, ere long assumed a promising aspect. Confidence being restored, the merchants and bankers of Paris supplied a loan of 12,000,000 francs, the taxes were paid without difficulty, and money was no longer wanting for the expenses of the State. Twenty-thousand priests who had been banished were allowed to return to France. Public worship was once more allowed, and Sunday recognized as a day of rest.

France was still at war with Austria, England and the Porte. Napoleon wrote a letter to the King of England, expressing his desire of peace between the two nations. But this overture elicited only an evasive reply. Napoleon now turned all his attention to the war against Austria, being determined to expel them from Italy. His plan was laid with great skill and secrecy. Pretending to assemble an army of reserve at Dijon, in the heart of France, he suddenly led the real army from Switzerland across the St. Bernard, a pass 8,000 feet high, deemed impassable for artillery or carriages. The cannons were dismounted, put into hollow trunks of trees, and dragged by the soldiers; the carriages were taken to pieces and carried on mules. He overcame the Fort of Bard, on the southern declivity of the mountain, entered Milan in triumph, defeated the Austrian advance guard of 10,000 men, at Stradilla, and encountered their main body, 30,000 strong, on the plain of Marengo, on the river Bormida, on the 14th of June, 1800. Melas led the Austrians. It was an obstinate conflict, and at 4 P. M. the battle seemed lost to the French, when Desaix, arriving with a fresh division, attacked the advancing column, while Kellermann, with a body of heavy horse, charged it in the flank. The Austrian column broke and fled. General Zach, their second officer in com

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mand, and his staff were taken prisoners. That old and gallant officer, Melas, being overcome with fatigue, and thinking the battle won, had just left the field and returned to Alessandria, hence his escape. Desaix, who, with Kellermann, had changed the fate of this battle, was shot through the breast in the charge. The official Austrian report states their loss in this battle in killed, wounded and prisoners, at 9,069 men, and 1,423 horses. The French lost about 7,000. An armistice was concluded on the 16th of June between the two armies, by which Melas was allowed to withdraw his troops to the line of Mantua and the Mincio, while the French held Lombardy as far as the River Oglio, Piedmont and the Genoese territory, with all their fortresses, including Genoa and Alessandria.

Napoleon, having established provisional governments at Milan, Turin and Genoa, returned to Paris, where he arrived July 3d, and was received with the greatest enthusiasm. The First Consul, however, checked the exulting acclaim which greeted him on his return; he was aware of the tenacity of Austria, and though that Empire was glad to accept an armistice, he made great preparations to renew hostilities. Austria refused to treat for peace without England. Moreau defeated the Austrians commanded by the Archduke John, in the great battle of Hohenlinden, and advanced toward Vienna. The French in Italy drove the Austrians beyond the Adige and the Brenta. Austria was now compelled to make a separate peace at Lunéville, February 9th, 1801. Austria retained the Venetian territories; but Tuscany was taken away from the Grand Duke Ferdinand and bestowed upon Louis, son of the Duke of Parma, who had married a princess of Spain. Through the mediation of the Czar of Russia, with whom Napoleon was now friendly, the King of Naples also obtained peace. Pius VII. was likewise acknowledged by Napoleon, and left in full possession of all his territories, except the Legations which had been annexed to the Cisalpine Republic.

The First Consul, however, underwent a deep mortification by the successful result of an English expedition to Egypt, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie. Through this expedition

Napoleon lost the grasp of his conquests on the banks of the Nile. His projects for the destruction of England were blasted about the same time by Nelson's victory at Copenhagen, which destroyed the Northern Coalition. The sudden death of the Czar, who was murdered in his sleep through an intrigue of the palace, caused a complete change in Russian policy. His successor, Alexander, though friendly to France, refused to take part in a contest with England, which would have been ruinous to the trade of his Empire. Negotiations were now begun with England by the French, and the preliminaries of peace were signed at Paris on the 10th of October, 1801. The definite treaty was signed at Amiens, 27th of March, 1802. The principal conditions were, that Malta should be restored to the Knights of St. John, Egypt to the Sultan, the Cape of Good Hope to Holland, and the French West India Islands to France; England retained the Island of Ceylon.

During the refreshing period of peace which ensued, Napoleon did great things for the reconstruction of France. Finding no fewer than four hundred systems of administering the law in vogue, he assembled the ablest lawyers in France under the presidency of Cambacérès to bring the conflicting systems into harmony. The result was the production of several codes, civil, commercial, criminal, the whole of which are known as the Code Napoléon, perhaps the most glorious monument to his memory. 7

The judicial system had also been carefully revised, and a strongly centralized system of local government established. Another act of supreme importance was the restoration of the Catholic Church as the National Church by the Concordat made with the Pope. Though the Church had lost much of its ancient wealth, it was to receive an annual subsidy of ten million dollars. To the same period belongs the establishment of certain institutions which have remained essential parts of the organization of France. The University, which took the place of the twenty-one universities swept away by the iconoclastic Revolution, and united the whole teaching profession of the country into one body; the Bank of France, which has preserved its credit through the shocks of succes

sive revolutions; and the Legion of Honor, perhaps the most characteristic of his creations.

Napoleon was now at the summit of his career.

He was

the restorer of public order in France, the reformer of its laws and institutions, the asserter of its military glory. To the world he appeared no longer as the fierce and ruthless zealot of armed Democracy, but as the pacificator of Europe. It was time that he should be formally recognized and declared an imperial sovereign.

NAPOLEON'S FIRST ITALIAN CAMPAIGN.

Napoleon arrived at Nice on the 27th of March, 1796, and gave indications of the great designs which he was meditating, by the following striking proclamation to his troops: "Soldiers! you are almost naked, half starved: the government owes you much, and can give you nothing. Your patience, your courage in the midst of these rocks are admirable, but they reflect no splendor on your arms. I am about to conduct you into the most fertile plains on the earth. Fertile provinces, opulent cities, will soon be in your power: there you will find rich harvests, honor and glory. Soldiers of Italy, will you fail in courage?"

The plan of the young general was to penetrate into Piedmont by the Col de Cadibone, the lowest part of the ridge which divides France from Italy, and separate the Austrian from the Piedmontese armies, by pressing with the weight of his forces on the weak cordon which united them. For this purpose it was necessary that the bulk of the troops should assemble on the extreme right: a delicate and perilous operation in the presence of a superior enemy, but which was rendered comparatively safe by the snow which encumbered the lofty ridges that separated the two armies. Early in April, the whole French columns were in motion towards Genoa, while the French minister demanded from the Senate of that city leave to pass the Bocchetta and the keys of Gavi, that being the chief route from the maritime coasts to the interior of Piedmont. At the same time the Austrian, Beaulieu, in obedience to the directions of the Aulic Council, was,

on his side, resuming the offensive, and directing his columns also towards his own left at Genoa, with a view to establish a connection with that important city and the English fleet. . He left his right wing at Dego, pushed his centre, under D'Argenteau, to the ridge of Montenotte, and himself advanced with his left, by Bocchetta and Genoa, towards Voltri, along the seacoast.

The two armies respectively defiling towards the seacoast through the higher Alps, came into contact at Montenotte: the Austrian general having advanced his centre to that place, in order to cut asunder the French force, by falling on its left flank, and intercept, by occupying Savona, the road by the Cornice, which they were pursuing, from Provence to Genoa. The Imperialists, ten thousand strong, encountered at Montenotte only Colonel Rampon, at the head of twelve hundred men, whom they forced to retire to the Monte Prato and the old redoubt of Monte Legino; but this brave officer, feeling the vital importance of this post to the whole army, which, if lost, would have been cut in two, defended the fort with heroic courage, repeatedly repulsed the impetuous attacks of the Austrians, and, in the midst of the fire, made his soldiers swear to conquer or die. With great difficulty he maintained his ground till nightfall, and by his heroism saved the French army. The braye Roccavina, who commanded the Imperialists, was severely wounded in the last assault, and had to be removed to Montenotte. Before retiring, he strenuously urged his successor, D'Argenteau, to renew the attack during the night, and gain possession of the fort before the distant aid of the Republicans could advance to its relief; but this advice that officer, not equally penetrated with the value of time and the vital importance of that position, declined to follow. If he had adopted it, and succeeded, the fate of the campaign and of the world might have been changed.

When this attack was going forward, Napoleon was at Savona; but no sooner did he receive intelligence of it than he resolved to envelop the Austrian force, which had thus pushed into the centre of his line of march. With this view, having stationed Cervoni to make head against Beaulieu in