clined displaying the first sentiment; and from a sense of independence, affecting the last (4).

Shortly after this practical abdication took place, manifestations of popular feeling indicated a general disposition in Milan to receive the French as friends and deliverers. A tree of liberty was planted in the public square; tricolored cockades, which were at first assumed timidly and rarely, soon appeared in such numbers, that a spectator observed "they must have sprung up from the earth or rained down from the heavens." A national guard, in which, for the first time, the nobles and high functionaries eagerly enrolled themselves with mechanics and labourers, was formed under the direction of the municipal authorities. The Austrian eagle, that double headed emblem of ceaseless rapacity and lethargic strength, was removed from the doors of the public buildings; and, on the portals of the Archducal palace was written "House to let; apply for the keys to the French commissary Salicetti." In a council composed of the corporate officers, and other prominent persons, it was determined to propitiate the favour of the victorious general by approaching him in terms of courtesy and friendship, and to submit to his clemency themselves and their capital.

Accordingly a deputation of citizens, headed by Count Melzi, a nobleman greatly respected for his patriotism and talents, proceeded to Lodi, and presenting to Bonaparte the keys of Milan, demanded his protection. They were favourably received, and the assurance was repeated to them that the war which was waged against Austria, was not designed to injure or offend the people of Italy. As the roads were already infested by banditti, composed of deserters and stragglers from Beaulieu's army, the deputies, upon taking their leave, were furnished with an escort of French cavalry. On the 14th, Massena took military possession of Milan, and, after quartering his troops within and around the walls, proceeded to blockade the citadel. The next day, Bonaparte himself made his public entry.

As this was a prelude to the series of similar and greater triumphs which awaited him, its details may deserve to be recorded in the language which was employed to describe it at the time. “The entry of General Bonaparte into this city has been a brilliant spectacle. Upon arriving at the Roman gate, he was saluted by the national guards, who presented arms before him. The officers of the corporation, and a number of the nobility rode out in court

equipages to meet; him and, in the midst of an immense and applauding multitude, paid him reiterated compliments. A strong detachment of infantry marched before him; he was surrounded by a guard of hussars; and followed by a long train of coaches; a body of the national guard of Milan closing the procession. In this order, the general proceeded to the archducal palace, where his quarters were established. The bands of music of the French army, and of the national guard of Milan, by turns, performed marches and symphonies. A dinner of two hundred covers was served in the palace, in the square before which, a tree of liberty was planted; while crowds of citizens expressed their enthusiasm in shouts of "Liberty for ever, Long live the Republic" (5).

Impatient to finish the expulsion of the Austrians from Italy, or at least to establish his army on the line of the Adige, Bonaparte did not suffer even the pleasures of a maiden triumph to allure him into the slightest remission of activity, but set about organizing a provisional government for Lombardy, with the same diligence and vigour which he had exhibited in conducting its conquest. A spirit of internal order and national independence, it was, on this, as on all similar occasions, the leading object of his policy to instil; and the principal difficulty with which he had to contend consisted in reconciling its promotion with the exaction of heavy contributions, and with the firm establishment of French influence.

Under the imperial sway, the seven provinces into which Lombardy was divided, were allowed to send deputies to a general council in Milan; where, superintended by the viceroy and a resident minister from Vienna, they exercised, in a limited degree, the powers of government. This institution, with authority less contracted and dependent, was suffered to subsist, and under the presidency of Count Melzi, to conduct the general administration of affairs. A national guard, officered by persons imbued with zeal for the emancipation of their country, and disposed to acquiesce in the protection of France, was organized in all the chief towns. That of Milan was commanded by the Duke of Serbelloni, a nobleman of great wealth and popular manners, who, with the principal officers, both civil and military, in the capital, took the oath of allegiance to the French General. The magistrates of corporations and of rural districts were, for the greater part,

continued in office, their commissions being renewed by the provisional government. Green, white, and red were adopted as the national colours; and a general impulse toward the foundation of free institutions was manifested by the inhabitants and encouraged by their deliverers.

But the instructions of the government, as well as the wants of the army and the promises of the general, required the adoption of measures tending directly to counteract the propagation of Italian patriotism, and the establishment of French ascendancy. To his soldiers, starving with hunger and cold in the Alps, Bonaparte had promised the wealth and abundance of fertile provinces and populous towns. These were now in his power; and could he have hesitated to reward the courage and exertions which enabled him to subdue them, out of tenderness for the feelings and opinions of the inhabitants, the instructions of the directory would have overborne all his scruples. In their despatch of the 7th of May, they said "It is the Milanese particularly which you are not to spare. Raise contributions there in money instantly, during the existence of the terror which the first approach of our armies will inspire.'

Under the necessity imposed by this state of things, Bonaparte caused seals to be placed on the doors of the public treasury, and issued a decree requiring that the funds of every description belonging to the viceroy, instead of being returned to the community from which they had been extorted, should be paid into the French military chest. On the 19th of May a proclamation appeared with his name and that of Salicetti affixed to it, calling on the inhabitants of Lombardy, by arguments studiously addressed to their feelings of patriotism and sense of justice, to prove that they deserved independence, by doing something to secure it; to make common cause with the French general in driving the Austrians out of Italy, and, in the advancement of that object, to furnish a contribution of twenty millions of francs, for the pay and support of the army; which, far from the frontiers of France, it was represented, was fighting for the deliverance of Lombardy from oppression. The burthen thus imposed was described to be inconsiderable when compared with the population and wealth of the country; while, to alleviate its inconvenience, the church plate, the funds in the city treasury, and those in the Mont de Piété, were directed to be received as parts of it. It was moreover di

vided into several instalments, its collection was entrusted to the agency of native citizens, and its distribution among the several provinces was regulated by the scale of apportionment, according to which, the tribute to Austria had heretofore been annually raised (6).

This measure, though fully justified by the laws of war, if the Italians were regarded as enemies (7); and by the principles of equity, if acknowledged as friends, was of a nature but too well calculated to generate popular disaffection. But the evil being as unavoidable as it was palpable and great, all that Bonaparte could do was to endeavour by care, conciliation, justice, and economy, to lighten its pressure, and obviate its recurrence. Accordingly articles in kind were made receivable from the contributors, at a fair valuation; the army agents were subjected to the strictest accountability for the due application of funds placed in their hands; and the rules of discipline were enforced upon all ranks, with redoubled energy and more vigilant exactness. The general himself set an example, which, while it supported the spirit of his orders, commanded the respect if not the emulation of his officers. Neither the allurements of beauty, nor the temptations of gold, were sufficient to surprise his discretion or prevail over his integrity. The lovely Grassini, who aspired to subdue the victor of Lodi, complained of a continence, which the neglect of her various and yet virgin charms, proved to be more inflexible than that of Scipio; and Salicetti, who in order to atone for former persecution, offered the instrumentality of his friendship at the expense of the fairness of his character, found Bonaparte as invincible against weapons of silver as weapons of steel. Entering the general's cabinet, this representative of the directory, who was invested with the power of official absolution, said, "the brother of the duke of Modena is here, with four millions of francs in cash. He is come, on the part of the duke, to beg your acceptance of this sum, and I, who know the affairs of your family, come to advise it. Neither the directory nor the councils will ever reward your services. This money is yours-take it without scruple and without noise. The contribution of the duke will be lessened in proportion, and he will be too happy in having acquired a protector." "I thank you," coldly replied Bonaparte, "but I am not going, for the sake of money, to put myself in the power of the Duke of Modena. I prefer remaining free” (8).

He appears to have been altogether insensible to the influence of property or wealth, and spurned the proposal of Salicetti, probably, without an effort. In regard to the approaches of beauty, his more than classical fortitude was no doubt assisted by his conjugal love; for, in a letter to Carnot, written about this time, he said, "I owe you particular thanks for the attention you have been good enough to pay to my wife. I recommend her to you; she is a sincere patriot, and I love her to distraction” (9).

Soon after his entrance into Milan, Bonaparte whose love for true glory made him admire every species of merit, adressed a letter of compliment and kindness to the celebrated astronomer Oriani. "The sciences," he wrote, "which ennoble the human mind, the arts that embellish life and trasmit great actions to posterity, deserve to be honoured in an especial manner by free governments." Thus encouraged, the modest astronomer waited on the general at his headquarters in the viceregal palace, where an interview took place, which, in one of his despatches, Bonaparte thus described "I saw at Milan the famous astronomer Oriani. The first time he came to see me, he was so much confused that he could not answer my questions. At length, recovering himself, he said. 'Pardon me; but this is the first time I ever entered these apartments, and my eyes are unaccustomed to such magnificence.' He appeared altogether unconscious that in these few words, he conveyed a severe reflection on the government of the archduke. I instantly had his appointments paid up to him, and hastened to encourage him by all proper attentions." It is not inconsistent with the infirmity of man, that eyes accustomed to survey the splendors of the firmament, should be dazzled by the decorations of a princely saloon. But, in this instance probably, the fame and presence of the young conqueror shed upon the material ornaments around him, a moral lustre, to which the faculties of the philosopher were not habituated, and before which they for a moment shrunk.

In the same spirit was the letter that Bonaparte wrote to the municipal authorities of Milan and Pavia, inviting them to assure the professors and students of the university of Pavia, who had fled at the approach of Augereau's division, of his favour and protection; and of his desire that they should return to Pavia, and renew their labours of instruction and study: "It is my desire, gentlemen, that the university of Pavia, justly celebrated on