of this great warrior; the bravery with which he forced the passage of the bridge of Lodi, will never be forgotten. It was successful, and put him in possession of Lombardy, though with a great loss of men.

During this time the Austrians obtained reinforcements, and they made many attempts from the side of the Tyrol and the Venetian states, to compel the republicans to raise the siege of Mantua. Buonaparte did not fail to take advan tage of the want of skill and the numerous errors of his enemy, and to profit by them; his central position afforded him an opportunity of engaging and beating one after the other the different corps of the opposing army under Generals Wurmser and Alvinzi. The battles of Castiglione and Rivoli, among others gave, abundant proofs of the tact of Buonaparte, and Mantua at length capitulated. In the meantime, the Pope, the King of Naples, and the minor Italian princes, had been compelled to make peace at the expense of great sacrifices. The Austrians being still determined to try the fortune of war, Buonaparte penetrated through Friuli into Germany, and advanced within thirty leagues of Vienna. He was, however, not seconded in time by the French armies on the Rhine; and the Archduke Charles, his opponent, having collected a large force, which rendered victory doubtful to the republicans, and defeat highly dangerous. Buonaparte deemed it politic to resort to negociation. The Austrian cabinet readily consented, and the result was the signing of the preliminaries of Leoben, on the 16th of April, 1797, which left the French in possession of the Netherlands and other conquests, and established a republic in Italy.

The treaty had hardly been concluded before he declared war against, and overthrew the republic of Venice, and took possession of its fleet, arsenals, treasures, and dominions. He found means, in the midst of these achievements, to bestow some attention on the Cisalpine republic, which he had established at Milan. He afterwards signed the definitive treaty with the Austrians, at Campo Formio. Having concluded his labours in Italy, he returned to Paris, and was received with the utmost rejoicings and respect by the con stituted authorities and the people.

The directory now nominated him general-in-chief of the expedition which they had meditated to land on the shores of England. He set out to the coast, and issued a variety of

proclamations against the tyrants of the sea," but the im possibility of carrying the resolve of the directory into effect, induced him to return to the capital.

His views had, indeed, long been directed to another quarter. The taking possession of Egypt, it is roundly asserted, was planned by himself; and the directory, who had already experienced the value of his military skill, prepared an expedition. On the 19th of May, 1798, Buona parte sailed from Toulon, with a fleet of thirteen ships of the line, nearly as many frigates and corvettes, and an immense number of transports, with 40,000 men, being the flower of the French army, and the most precious part of the French marine. Malta was taken by the advanced guard of this expedition, and the ancient government was superseded by a revolutionary one. The expedition then proceeded for Egypt, where they landed on the 2d of July, after having narrowly escaped the British squadron. Buonaparte had established himself nearly a month at Cairo, when he was apprised of the destruction of his fleet. Admiral Brueys, who had represented to him the danger of remaining on the coast, had received positive orders to remove, but the fatal result of his neglect shewed that the general was right. After this disaster, Buonaparte found himself separated from France, and for the moment, the army lost all hopes of returning. He, nevertheless, occupied himself in organizing the republican system of government. He created munici palities, national divans, and introduced to their notice the doctrines of the rights of man. But the mussulmans were not ripe for these doctrines, and his labours were lost on them. While he was preparing for fresh encounters, he received information of the disasters which were sustained by the republican armies in Italy and Germany. Being au thorised, by his instructions, to return to France, he, without much preparation, took measures for embarking secretly, and in the night of the 23d of August, 1799, set sail homeward, with a few officers who were devoted to him.

On the 9th of October, 1799, he landed at Frejus, and' hastened to Paris, where his presence, so unexpected, produced on the one hand much satisfaction, and on the other some disquietude. He addressed a letter to the directory, justifying the measures which he had pursued, and explaining those parts of his conduct which were the objects of cen

sure by the party who did not approve of the war in Egypt. This period was the commencement of the most remarkable era of his life. All parties equally sought General Buona. parte. He was well aware of the firm hold which he had on the public opinion, and on.which he had already grounded his hopes of support, and of obtaining the ascendancy. The directory, indeed, recognised his consequence, for in conjunction with the two councils, they gave a fête in honour of him, in the Temple of Victory. Sieyes and Barras were at that time the leading men in the government; the latter of whom had, for two years, conceived the project of restoring monarchy, not doubting that Buonaparte would coincide with him. The plan was confided to Buonaparte, but the latter had other objects in view.

After many conferences with Sieyes, and many of the leading members of the legislative bodies, he, by private letters, convoked a meeting of the then members of the council of ancients, on whom he could rely, in which was disclosed the project in view. The consequence was, that the sittings of the legislature were transferred to St. Cloud, and General Buonaparte was charged to take all the necessary measures for the safety of the national representation: the troops of the line, and the national guards, were placed under his orders. Called to the bar of the assembly to hear the decree, he made a speech to the following effect:-"The national representation was perishing," said he, "you knew it, and you are resolved to save it. It shall not perish. Le febyre, Berthier, and the rest of my brave comrades, are devoted to maintain and defend the republic. In such cir cumstances all its friends rally together; they swear, as I do, fidelity and devotedness to the republic: its tranquillity will be the result of our cath."

On the 19th of November, the directory, generals, and an immense crowd, repaired to St. Cloud, where the soldiers occupied all the avenues. The council of ancients assembled in the galleries; that of five hundred, of which Lucien Buonaparte was the president, met in the Orangery. Buonaparte entered the hall of the ancients, and addressed them in a spirited speech, vindicating his own character, and calling on them to exert themselves in behalf of liberty and equality. In the council of five hundred, meanwhile, a vio lent scene took place. Several members demanded an en

quiry into the reason, why the meeting had been transferred to St. Cloud. Lucien Buonaparte endeavoured to calm the storm which was evidently rising, but the proposition had created a great deal of heat, and the cry was- Down with the Dictator! No Dictator!" At that moment Buonaparte entered the hall with four grenadiers. Several of the mem bers exclaimed-" What does this mean? No sabres here! No armed men!" while others descended into the hall and. surrounded him, collaring him, crying out-" Outlaw him! Down with the Dictator!" At this moment General Lefebyre came to his assistance, and they retired together. Buonaparte mounted his horse, and leaving Murat to observe what was going on, he sent a piquet of grenadiers into the hall. These grenadiers, conducted by Murat, entered at the charge step to the sound of the drum, with bayonets fixed, when Lucien declared that the representatives who wished to assassinate his brother were audacious robbers in the pay of England. He then proposed a decree, which was immediately adopted, to this effect:-"That his brother, and all those who had seconded him, deserved well of their country; that the directory was at an end; and that the executive power should be placed in the hands of three provisory consuls, namely, Buonaparte, Sieyes, and Roger Ducos."

A legislative committee, chosen from the two councils, then, in conjunction with the consuls, framed a constitution, which was known as the constitution of the year 8. By this fourth constitution Buonaparte was declared first consul, and Cambaceres and Le Brun second and third, or assistant consuls. The same commission created a senate, a council of state, a tribunate, and a legislative body.

He now published a proclamation to the French people, in which he declared that he desired peace, that he had sought it with England, but that the English government had refused to listen to any terms. Under these circumstances, France had nothing left but to shew to the distur bers of the public peace, that she could maintain tranquillity. The result of these measures was preparations for carrying on a vigorous war, and he looked to Italy, the theatre of his first glory, for the stage to commence operations. He assembled the army, and addressed the soldiers in a procla mation, in which he said, he did not want them " to assist in

defending their own frontiers, but to invade the states of their enemies." He left Paris towards the end of April, 1800, with a well-appointed army, for Italy. He passed the Great St. Bernard by a wonderful march, burst into Italy, and, after several minor successes, he utterly defeated the Austrians, under General Melas, at Marengo, on the 14th of June, 1800. The vanquished general purchased the safety of his army by the surrender of Italy into the power of the conqueror.

This battle, and that of Hohenlinden, enabled Buonaparte to dictate the conditions of peace to the House of Austria. The result was the re-establishment of the Cisalpine republic. In the interior of France, the efforts of the royalists were frustrated, and La Vendée was compelled to submit to the republic.

Just at this moment, also, the object next Buonaparte's heart was on the eve of being accomplished-a peace with England! Peace had been concluded with Russia and Por tugal, he had meditated for Switzerland, and he had given to the Italian republic a new constitution, placing himself at the head of that government; and, shortly after, England recognised in him the chief magistrate of France. Peace was concluded at Amiens on the 27th of March, 1802, the preliminaries having been signed some months before. The accomplishment of this object secured to him the consulate for life.

This elevation produced him enemies among the envious and wicked; all parties in England united their prejudices against the revolution and Buonaparte, and under various pretexts, recommenced the war. On the 24th of Decem→ ber, as he was passing in his carriage through the Rue St. Nicaise, at 8 o'clock in the evening, a machine was exploded, and Buonaparte saved his live only by the merest chance. This cowardly and wicked attempt had the effect of killing and wounding several persons, and of damaging most of the houses in the quarter where it was made. An inquiry took place, when it appeared that the conspirators had filled a barrel with combustible matter, placed it on a small carriage in the street before named, and with it a rifle-gun; it was so placed as to obstruct the carriage of Buonaparte. The con sequence of the inquiry was, that not less than 130 of the