The French army was now disengaged, and the main strength of the Austrians broken: but there still remained considerable divisions, without the dispersion, or the capture of which, the victory obained over them would not be complete, as they would either throw themselves into Mantua, join the papal forces, or retreat into the Imperial territories, where they would help to form a new army. For these reasons, as not a moment was to be lost in preventing the vanquished Austrians from effecting their retreat; on the very night of the fourteenth, as soon as the battle had terminated in favour of the French, visions were immediately dispatched to pursue every body of Austrians that still kept together. They had not quitted a strong position at Corona, near, Rivoli, where they remained in expectation of being able to collect and arrange their retreating troops,: but before this could be effected, a large division of the French, after marching with all expedition during the night of the fourteenth came upon their rear next morning, while they were attacked in front by general Joubert. They resisted vigor ously at first; but were at last thrown into disorder. Those who were able to make a retreat, directed it towards the Tyrol: but no less than six thousand were so completely surrounded, that they were obliged to lay down their arms.

Buonaparte himself, with a strong division, having left the necessary orders with general Joubert, proceeded, immediately after the bat tle, in quest of Provera, an Austrian general, who had, on several occasions, highly distinguished himself, by the skilfulness of his ma

nœuvres. He was at the head of ten thousand men, and had crossed the Adige, where he had forced the French, that guarded the passage, to retire, and he was now marching with all speed towards Mantua. But he was overtaken, early in the morning of the 15th, by general Augereau, who cut off the whole of his rear. He made his way, however, by a running fight, to the French lines of circumvallation at Mantua, where he arrived at noon, after losing two thousand men, and fourteen pieces of cannon. He was now reduced through this last, and the other encounters on his march, to no more than six thousand men. With this diminished force, he did not, however, hesitate to assault the entrenchments of the besiegers at the suburbs of St. George, by carrying which he would have secured his entrance into the city: but they were so strong and well defended, that he was repulsed. His situation was now such, that unless he could enter Mantua, he must yield to the enemy. To avoid this disactor, Provera made a resolute attack on the French, post of La Favorita, another suburb, while a strong detachment from the garrison supported him. But this attempt, which was made in the night of the fifteenth, in hope of surprising the enemy, failed in every point. The Austrians, who had sallied out of the city, were driven back by general Victor: and general Serrurier took a position between La Favorita and St. George, which secured this latter post, and enabled the corps stationed there to join that of Serrurier. Thus reinforced, he fell upon Provera's rear, while his front was occupied in the attack

of

ef La Favorita, and other troops advanced upon him at the same time: thus surrounded on every side, all hope of assistance from the garrison was given over, and he was compelled to surrender himself, with his whole remaining force, consisting of seven thousand horse and foot, and twenty-two pieces of cannon, beside all the baggage and ammunition. What added considerably to the misfortune of this day was the loss of the volunteer corps of young gentlemen of Vienna, who were all either slain or made pri

Soners.

This day decided the fate of Mantua. Though it continued to make a courageous defence, it was evident, that being now deprived of all reasonable hope of relief, all farther resistance would be fruitless, and would only add to the numbers that had fallen in this destructive siege. Ever day brought fresh tidings of the losses and defeats of the Austrians, who were pursued in all directions, and totally disabled from making any effectual stand.

The Austrians were, in the mean time, retreating to their strong holds on the Brenta, which Alvinzi was employed in rendering tenable against the pursuing enemy. But the expeditious movements of the French afforded them no respite. General Augereau crossed the lower Brenta, and advanced to Citadella, a place of strength, from whence he dislodged the enemy; while Massena, passing it in front of Bassano, compelled the Austrians to evacuate it with precipitation, though they had prepared to defend it. They withdrew to Carpanadolo, higher up the river; but were followed and defeated by the French, who forced their passage over the bridge at that place, after an obstinate conflict, wherein they slew and took upwards of a thousand of the enemy: this action happened on the twenty-sixth. Fortunately' for the Austrians, the heavy rains that ensued, preserved the remainder of them, who hasted, with all speed, towards the narrow passes of the entrance into the Tyrol. division of the French, under Joubert, overtook them, however, at Avis, and a part of their rear-guard was taken. They retired to Tortola, a place advantageously situated between the lake of Guarda and the Adige, where they made preparations to dispute the march of the French to Trent: but they were driven from this post, and fled to Reweredo, which they were also compelled to abandon to Joubert, wno, pursuing his success, made himself master of Trent. Here two thousand sick and wounded fell into his hands, and as many more had been made prisoners in the different encounters previously to the taking of this city.

The battle of Arcola had destroyed the fourth, and the battle of Rivoli the fifth, army opposed to Buonaparte. He had, since the commencement of this year, been victorious in eight engagements, two of them pitched battles, wherein the loss of the Austrians amounted to twenty-five thousand prisoners, exclusive of the slain, who were calculated at six thousand. The fatigues and exertions of the French had been such, that Buonaparte, in his dispatches to the directory, asserted that they had, while fighting at intervals, occasionally measured thirty miles of ground in a day.

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The Austrians had now posted themselves in force at Lavis, in tending to stop the progress of the French, by occupying the other side of the river Lavisio; but this intention was frustrated, by the rapid advance of Joubert, who forced them from this important position, after sustaining a great loss of their best troops, and in particular of a select corps of Hungarians. Here the division of Jonbert was reinforced by that of Massena, who had been equally successful; and in his pursuit of the Austrians, after the action at Carpanadolo, had taken several places of strength, and driven them to the other side of the Pradas, after seizing a large part of their baggage.

The Imperial armies were now totally expelled from Italy, and nothing remained to the emperor but the city of Mantua, which was so closely blockaded, and so vigo rously pressed, that no supplies of provisions, or of men, could enter. The garrison, despairing of all relief, began to think it time to surrender. Weakened by the great slaughter it had suffered in so many sallies, and by a contagions distemper, that committed great ravages in the city, the Austrians agreed, at length, to a capitulation, upon the second day of February. The terms were as honourable as the defence had been brave. The French general shewed a laudable propensity to pay due regard to the merit of his rival, who, notwithstanding his late ill success, was deservedly esteemed a warrior of the most distinguished rank. He granted him an escort of two hundred horse and seven hundred foot, whom he was permitted to select, together with thirty pieces of artillery: the gene

rals, and principal officers under him, were allowed, in like manner, to accompany him on their parole; the rest of the garrison remained prisoners of war.

The northern parts of the papak territories were already in the possession of the French, and it was expected that as soon as Buonaparte was free from inquietude, on account of the Austrian armies still hovering on the borders of Germany, and had secured the capture of Mantua, he would immediately proceed to Rome itself, and dictate the conditions of a peace.

The pope, in the mean time, relied upon the exertions of the emperor, and had determined to wait the issue of the operations of his army, under Alvinzi, firmly hoping that it would be more successful than those that had preceded it. Buonaparte was sincerely desirous of a pacification with the head of the Romish church, a respectful treatment of whom would, he was conscious, be highly gratify. ing to all the Roman catholic states and people. Prompted by these motives, and intirely averse to coercive measures, he wrote a letter to cardinal Mattei, prime minister to his holiness, requesting him to prevail on the pope to recommence pacific negociations, in order to prevent the march of the French armies into his territories, and to represent to him the inutility of arming his subjects against men who had overcome so many formidable enemies, and whom his own people were wholly incapable to resist.

This letter was dated the twentysixth of October, 1796. Buonaparte was then preparing to march against

against Alvinzi, who was at the head of a numerous army, and had obtained some successes over the French, which had revived the hopes of the Austrians, and their adherents. But the battle of Arcola, wherein these were completely defeated, and the subsequent advan tages gained by the French, made, at last, such an impression on the court of Rome, that, dreading to wait any longer for more fortunate events, the cardinal was directed to return an answer. This came to pass after the lapse of six weeks from the receipt of the general's letter. The motive for this delay being obvious, it was necessary to qualify it, so as to soften his displeasure at an answer being so long deferred. The cardinal laid before the general the anxiety of the pope to remedy the disorders that had so long distracted France, and the sacrifices he had consented to make of every worldly consideration, for the sake of restoring a good understanding between France and the Roman see. He complained that, not satisfied with these concessions, the French government,elated with the success of its arms, had made requisitions incompatible with the dictates of his conscience, and subversive of all christian and moral principles. Grieved at such into lerable demands, he had implored the assistance of heayen, to direct him how to act in so difficult a situation. Doubtless, said the cardi nal, he was inspired, on this occasion, by that holy spirit which had animated the primitive martyrs in the cause for which they suffered. Having laboured, in vain, to bring the directory to a more equifable way of thinking, he thought it necessary to resist them by open

force. He admonished the general to reflect, that the death which awaited men in battle was the commencement of eternal life and happiness to the righteous, and of everlasting misery to the wicked. Armed with this conviction, said the car. dinal, we shall oppose you with that confidence in the divine aid, which a just cause inspires. He reminded him that he was not invincible, and though infidels and pretended philosophers ridiculed the idea of assistance from heaven, yet, if Providence were pleased to interpose, the French would contend in vain against the power of the Almighty. He concluded, by telling the general, that if the French were desirous of peace, the Roman see desired it still more, and was willing to subscribe to any terms, conscientious and equitable, in order to obtain it.

Such was the purport of this remarkable letter, which, to speak truth, was written at a time, when the reasonings it contained were little calculated to influence the proceedings of such a people as the French. Nor did the court of Vienna itself testify much withingness to be connected with a power whose co-operations were likely to prove so feeble. But the solicitations of the court of Rome were so pressing, that the Imperial ministers, unwilling wholly to abandon the holy see to the controul of France, consented to join a body of troops to those that were now raising in every part of the papal dominions.

In this dereliction of the pope, the most fervent of his former adherents seemed, at this period, to agree without reluctance. So efficacious was either the dread, or the influence of France over the

councils

councils of Spain, that, notwithstanding the earnest supplication of the archbishop of Pigri, nuncio, at Madrid, for the interference of the Spanish monarch, in behalf of the Roman pontiff, he was answered, that the conduct of the court of Rome, respecting the French, was temporising and insincere, and that those who were entrusted with the administration of its political concerns, had, by their imprudent and erroneous management, brought them into so critical a situation, that it seemed adviseable, for the preservation of the person safety of the pope, that he should resign his temporal dominions, in order to secure the rights of the church, and to prove his disinterestedness, and the fervour of his piety, by an example that would prove so edifying to all the christian world. Such was the answer of the prince of peace, the Spanish minister's title, to the agent of a power that had formerly exercised an almost boundless in fluence over the minds of both the sovereign and people of the Spanish. monarchy.

This taunting and disdainful re ply to an humble and submissive address from a sovereign prince, who, though not powerful,still possessed a station of great dignity in Christendom, was considered equally by the Roman cetholics and protestants as even more impolitic than insulting. It was disgraceful to a prince of the Romish communion, and it yielded up tamely, and without need, the dominion of a very considerable portion of Italy, to a power which all Europe was become more interested than ever, in restraining within its former limits. The period when this transaction happened, which was the close of

September, 1796, shewed, at the sa ne time, from whence it originated. Spain had, a month before, concluded an alliance, offensive and defensive, with France, and a week after it declared war against England. But the truth was, that Spain was no longer its own mistress. It was become a dependant of France, and had so little left of its former spirit and consequence, that it did not dare to act otherwise than by the impulse of the French, who now directed the Spanish councils with a full consciousness of unresisted sway.

The situation of the Roman see

was, in the mean time, peculiarly difficult. That spiritual power, it had so long exerted over kings and nations, was totally vanished. Cunning and artifice were almost the only instruments of the smalle-timportance remaining to it, even among the princes and states of its own persuasion but even this was daily lessenings from the diminution of those religious considerations on which it was founded. The prin.. cipal motive, therefore, for not. suffering the downfal of the pope, had no reference to his spiritual, but merely to his political, character; which rendered it highly expedient to prevent the papal territories from being made the prey of the French, or of their adherents.

The court of Rome itself relied hardly upon any other motives for the assistance it so warmly solicized from that of Vienna. Thus evidently appeared from a letter, written by cardinal Basco, the Roman secretary of state to the papal nuncio at Vienna, and which was intercepted, and sent by Buonaparte to the directory. Herein all the

arguments