ishments the ordinary rigour of the Convention. The popular societies and volunteer companies of the surrounding country and neighbouring towns, soon followed, with tempers averse to mercy or moderation. But when the destruction of public property came to be viewed in all its extent of vastation; when the remains of the magazines, the ruins of the forts, the halfburnt arsenals and half-saved ships, were seen yet smoking with hostile fire; when it was considered that the traitors of Toulon had given up to the enemies of their country, property which belonged to all France; which fed her pride, nourished her strength, and contributed to her safety; and when the troops beheld or remembered the number of their dead and wounded comrades; then indeed were the army and the people excited to furious indignation and unqualified revenge. A revolutionary tribunal was established by the deputies for the punishment, rather than the trial, of offenders. But it was found that the principal agents in the treason had fled with the allies. Of those who remained, few were culpable but in a venial degree. Nevertheless upwards of a hundred victims were selected and sentenced to be shot. General Dugommier discountenanced this ill-directed severity, and Bonaparte lost the favour, and braved the resentment of the government, by refusing to order the execution of the sentence, which was carried into effect by a detachment of the revolutionary militia.

Thus the wretched Toulonese suffered not only for the crime of their fellow-citizens and their own guilt, but for the bad faith of the allies. A melancholy but wholesome example of that retribution which awaits those who, in time of war, direct the dagger of the enemy against the bosom of their country. The indiscriminate sacrifice of these unhappy men was doubtless cruel, but every lover of his country must confess, that the popular resentment which overwhelmed them was natural, and that its effects were salutary, as they had a direct tendency to destroy the connection which had been formed, between the foreign enemies of France and her domestic factions (9).

It was at this siege that Bonaparte conceived a regard for Duroc, who rose so high in his confidence and favour. On the same occasion Victor, Suchet, St. Hilaire, and Marescot, first felt that ascendancy which they were destined so often to witness and so long to obey.

In effecting the reduction of Toulon, the commander of the artillery not only performed a most important service at a most critical moment, but, young and subordinate as he was, displayed the qualities of a consummate general; personal intrepidity, professional skill, humanity which neither interest could tempt nor power overawe, efficiency in collecting the means of warfare, and genius in kindling the enthusiasm of the troops, and in detecting in a complex and extended position the true point of attack. These qualities, which rank him with great captains, entitle him to the praise of history; but what is especially memorable in a record of his life, is that sublime judgment which enabled him to foreshow, with perfect accuracy of discernment, the consequences of a proposed operation, in the fears and necessities of the enemy. This crowns the glory of his success at Toulon, and associates it with all his subsequent victories, in which judgment bore so great, and fortune so small, a part.

The account of his conduct at this siege might be deemed unfaithful, were the offer of personal civility to his prisoner, General O'Hara, omitted. "All I ask," replied the latter, "is to be left alone, and to owe nothing to pity," with a dignity of mind, which, though obscured by a surliness of temper, was perceived and respected by Bonaparte (10).

General Dugommier, after completing the reduction of Toulon, was appointed to the command of the army of the eastern Pyrenees. He was desirous that Bonaparte should accompany him, and with a view of ensuring so important an acquisition, issued an order, directing that officer to follow him to the neighbourhood of Perpignan. But the committee of public safety, though tardy in acknowledging, and penurious in rewarding Bonaparte's services, were prompt and free in employing his talents. This they did by sending him in the opposite direction, and by assigning to him a duty, which, though it promised no accession of glory, was likely to be attended by unpleasant responsibility and vexatious difficulties. During its performance he received his promotion to the rank of brigadier-general, and instructions, after its completion, to rejoin the army of Italy, and take command of its artillery.

The recovery of Toulon, with the exile or punishment of its misguided inhabitants, although it had humbled the spirit of insurrection in the southern departments, had not extinguished it.

The English had been forced to relinquish their hold on this important station, but they had not done so without augmenting their own naval power, and impairing essentially that of France. Their flag in consequence ruled the Mediterranean, and the French territory on that sea, vulnerable from the factious temper of the population, was exposed more than ever to insult and aggression. It became therefore a matter of pressing importance to supply by fortifications on land, that protection to the coast which the fleets and forts of Toulon had formerly afforded. This task was entrusted to Bonaparte. It was barren and deterring; yet he performed it in a manner which was in the highest degree useful, and gave striking evidence of the analytical power of his understanding.

At that time, no rule had been observed in the construction of fortifications on the coast of France. Their numbers, situation, and strength, had been determined, not by the nature of the ground, or the degree of its exposure, but by the caprice of the government, or the interest or apprehensions of the local authorities. This gave rise to frequent altercations between the magistracy of the maritime towns and the officers of artillery, and left the coast but feebly defended. Bonaparte proceeded on a system, which was to leave nothing to the chances of ministerial humour, or to the effects of local importunity. Dividing the positions of this coast into three classes, of which the great naval stations were the first, important commercial harbours the second, and capes or promontories favourable to sudden descents the third, he prescribed, for each class, fortifications adapted to its importance and exposure. Supposing a scale of the expense of constructing them, to denote with sufficient accuracy the relative force and magnitude of these batteries, it may be observed that a fortification of the first class was to cost sixty thousand franes; one of the second, forty thousand; and one of the third, six thousand.

It appears that he assigned to these works ordnance of a calibre proportioned to the danger they were intended to repel, and embraced in his regulations the angle of elevation proper to be provided for in the gun-carriages at the various stations, according to the range which was expected to be covered by their pieces. The observations on this subject, which he dictated at St. Helena, must be useful to the engineers of all countries which are exposed to the annoyance of a maritime foe.

56

THE LIFE OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. [CHAP. III.]

While engaged in superintending these fortifications, he was an unwilling witness of the barbarous excesses of the populace and their leaders, at Marseilles. They seized upon a rich merchant named Hughes, whose age and infirmities would have entitled him to mercy, had he not been innocent. He was accused by these brutes, and by them pronounced guilty, of conspiring against the republic, although he was eighty-four years old, feeble, deaf, and almost blind. His real crime in their eyes was his enormous wealth, which was estimated at eighteen millions of francs. This the unhappy man offered to resign, only entreating that half a million might be spared to him, urging that, in the course of nature, he could enjoy it but a very short time. But neither his bribe, nor his tears, nor his age, nor his innocence, could soften the ferocity of the butchers around him, who thirsting for his blood as well as for his money, hurried him to the guillotine. The pain with which Bonaparte witnessed this murder, he expressed at St. Helena by exclaiming, "Truly I thought myself at the end of the world;" a form of speech which he employed to denote the strongest detestation and horror. It seemed that the nerves of his body as well as the feelings of his soul, shuddered to the quick at spectacles of cruelty.

It appears he always deemed the support he received at Toulon, first from Gasparin, and afterwards from Dugommier, instrumental in opening his way to fortune and to fame. The value of his services not only to the country but to themselves, greatly overpaid the general and the deputy; nevertheless, in his will, he left substantial memorials of his respect and gratitude for their names; thus, by a magnificent retrospect, looking from the melancholy end of his career, to its bright beginning.

CHAPTER IV.

From March 1794, to October 1795.

Bonaparte joins the army of Italy as general of artillery—His first aides-decamp-General Dumerbion-Position of the two armies-Strong camp of the Sardinians- Bonaparte's plan for dislodging them-Adopted by a council of war-Massena-Bonaparte's active operations-Their rapidity and success-Beats the Austrians-Takes Oneille, Ormea, and GaressioThe Sardinians dislodged and Saorgio taken by Massena, who drives them from the Col de Tende-Positions occupied by the French army-Their sufferings-Bonaparte's plan for uniting the armies of Italy and the AlpsPrevented by the events of the 9th Thermidor-Preparations of the allies— Plan proposed by Bonaparte for counteracting them-Carries it into execution-Its effects-End of the campaign-His chief occupations in autumn and winter-Madame Thurreau-Bonaparte's infatuation — Its probable effect on his fortune-Robespierre the younger-Anecdote-Bonaparte put under arrest-Released without trial-Zeal and fidelity of Junot-Bonaparte summoned to the bar of the convention, on a charge which is withdrawn-Attached to the armament prepared for an attack upon Rome-By his advice that project abandoned-Mob at ToulonSaves two deputies of the assembly-Rescues the Chabrillants-Rejoins the army of Italy-Ordered to take a command in the infantry — Is dissatisfied and proceeds to Paris-Visits his mother on his way and stops at Châtillon-sur-Seine-Anecdote-His interview with Aubry, the minister of war-His retort-Tenders his resignation—It is not accepted-Appointed to command the artillery of the army of the West-Kellermann's disasters -Danger of the Italian frontier-The committee of public safety consults Bonaparte-He draws up instructions which are sent to Kellermann-Is employed in the war office in directing the operations of the armies - His reputed idea of obtaining orders to seek a command in the army of the Grand Signior-Independent in his circumstances, though not rich-His disposal of his time while at Paris-His impression in society.

Having digested the order, arranged the position, and prescribed the structure of suitable fortifications along the coast of France, from the Rhône to the Var, general Bonaparte proceeded in March, 1794, to the head quarters of the army of Italy, which