their victories, than the glory of delivering nations from tyranny. These ideas had spread far and wide among the Italians, together with the hope of seeing their country re-attain its independence and ancient splendour. The remem, brance of those celebrated names, that had done it so much credit of old, was now recalled with enthusiasm. Peculiar bonours were paid to the spot where Virgil was born. A monument was erected to his memory, and similar memorials were intended to perpetuate the fame of other illustrious men, who had adorned their country either in former times, or in modern ages. Numerous were the effusions and testimonials of their gratitude to the French, for reviving their expectations to recover those free governments, under which some of the Italian states had once made so flourishing a figure. While the tepublican army was advancing towards Rome, some of its many well-wishers in that city had already reared in their determinations a statue to its commander, with an inscription to commemorate the restitution of the senate and people to their primitive power and dignity. At Faenza, the inhabitants actually erected a triumphal arch to the honour of the French, and of Buonaparte, specifying their victory over the papal army, and securing thereby the liberty of that city. The fact was, that the governments exercised over the different people of Italy, in the ecclesiastical state especially, were fallen so low in the estimation of the public, that a large proportion of the inhabitants were heartily desirous of a change, The clergy in the pope's dominions engrossed all the authority, and the other countries were in the hands of foreigners. Hence the national spirit of the natives was extinct, and they felt no interest in the transac tions of their rulers, looking upon themselves, as wholly unconcerned either in the good or the ill success of their measures. While Buonaparte was putting the last hand to the settlement of differences with the court of Rome, and of the affairs of the newly constituted republics, the councils of the Imperial court were no less busily occupied in preparing the means of disputing, once more, the em pire of Italy, with this fortunate commander. The point, that seemed chiefly in contemplation, was whom to appoint successor to those generals, whom he had successively defeated. Several were proposed, and in truth, the Austrian armies were not deficient in officers of experi❤ ence and reputation; but the general voice seemed to pronounce in favour of the archduke Charles, His conduct and successes, during the last campaign, had made him very conspicuous, and his closing it with the taking of Kehl, and by compelling the French to retire within their own limits, had raised him a great name in all Germany, These circumstances determined the Imperial ministry to fix upon this young prince as the fittest riva to oppose to Buonaparte. In order to send him to the field, with all the advantages that could be procured, every exertion was made throughout the Austrian dominions, to furnish him with an army fit to revive the hopes of his family and his country, both which, rightly considered the efforts that [C4] were " were making for another trial of fortune, to be the last that could possibly be made. Full of this persuasion; a most formidable army was again collected, from the numerous divisions and garrisons in the Austrian service. Their patriotism and honour were equally excited by every motive that could stimulate either. To do the Austrians justice, they had displayed enough of both to preserve their character unsullied. But the extremity to which their sovereign and their country was now reduced evidently called for greater exertions than ever. The archduke Charles, though a prince of high spirit, and of an enterprizing disposition, was not by the public reputed an adequate match for Buonaparte. This latter had raised himself entirely by his talents and merit; but the former owed what he was evidently to his royal birth. No expectations were formed, by those who attended to their respective characters, that he would be able to cope with the abilities of the French general. The Austrians had been so completely defeated at the battle of Rivoli, that they had ever since been averse to take the field against the French. They were cautiously posted on the northern side of the Piava, waiting for the reinforcements of which the Archduke's army was chiefly to consist. The French, on the south of that river, and of the Lavisio, were watchful of their motions, constantly repelling them whenever they attempted to cross either. Part of February and of March were consumed in hostilities of this nature. As soon as the archduke had as sumed the command, the French determined to march against him, before he had received a farther addition to the strength already arrived. To this intent they advanced to the Piava, in three divisions. The first commanded by Massena, effected its passage over, near Feltri, on the tenth of March, and compelled the Austrians to withdraw to Belluno, higher up that river. The second division, under Serrurier, proceeded to Asola, in the neighbourhood of which, he also crossed on the twelfth, after putting to the rout a body of Austrians that opposed him. Several other corps were encamped near this one: but they did not venture to support it, and they all made a precipitate retreat, in apprehension of being surrounded and cut off by the two divisions that had already crossed, and by another that was then crossing the river. It was headed by general Guiaux, who advanced that very evening to Conagliono, and, on the next day, the thirteenth, to Sacali, where he overtook the rear guard of a large division of the Austrians, and made a number of prisoners. Massena, after taking possession of Belluno, pursued the enemy that was retreating to Cadora, and took some hundreds. On the sixteenth, all the French divisions directed their march to the Tagliamento. The Austrians were entrenched on the opposite side, in hope of being more successful, in defending the passage of this river, than of the Piava. The archduke commanded them in person, and was duly sensible of the necessity of stopping the progress of the French, and that, by passing this river, they would be able to over-run a large extent of country. This action, which both he and Buonaparte considered as decisive, began at mid-day. The French French were by this time arrived on the banks of the river, and the passage was immediately commenced. Their right and left, protected by a formidable artillery, were directed by Buonaparte, to cross the river, and to attack the enemy in flank, while the centre made its passage in their front. His orders were executed with the completest success. Both the cavalry and infantry of the Austrians were drawn up with the utmost skill, and behaved with so much firmness in their respective positions, as for a while to balance the fortune of the day : but the passage being at length effected every where, and the repeated charges of the Austrians having failed to make that impression upon the French, which was hoped, from the bravery of the soldiers, and the judgement of those who conducted them, it was found necessary to have recourse to a retreat. The principal loss, in this affair, fell upon the offieers of the Imperialists: one of their generals was slain, and several officers of rank were made prisoners, with some hundreds of men, besides those that were slain. The defeat of the Austrians was chiefly owing to the superiority of the French artillery. It struck them with such terror, that, after quitting the field of battle, they could not be prevailed on to make a stand. The archduke had taken an advantageous post at a village, where he proposed to maintain his ground, and risk another combat, the next morning; but the discouragement of his men, and the impetuosity with which it was assailed by the French, notwithstanding a dark and tempestuous night, compelled him to abandon his design. The Austrians were driven from their post, and it was with difficulty, that he effected his own escape. The passages of the Piava, and of the Tagliamento, decided the contest between the archduke and Buonaparte. The whole country to the north of these rivers now lay open to the French. The republican army spread itself immediately into every direction, the Imperial troops retiring before them with a visibly diminished resistance. These evacuated Palmanova, of which the French took possession, on the eighteenth, with immense magazines of provisions. They advanced on the nineteenth to Gradisca, a town of importance on the river Lizonzo. The Austrians were posted in force on the opposite bank; but the French having effected a passage, made themselves masters of the heights commanding the town, upon which it was obliged to surrender, and the garrison, consisting of the best troops in the archduke's army, were made prisoners of war to the amount of three thousand. Another French ́ division proceeding northward from the Tagliamento, drove the retreating enemy as far as Ponteba, after repeatedly defeating him, and making numbers prisoners, with vast quantities of stores. The capture of Gradisca was followed by that of Goritz, on the twenty-first of March. The Austrians withdrew from this place in such haste, that they left fifteen hundred sick and wounded in the hospitals, with all their provisions and stores. Both these town be longing to the emperor, the French commander settled a municipal government in them, on the republican form, declaring them in possession of all the rights and privileges they they were entitled to claim. He treated them altogether with marked lenity, in order, doubtless, to prepare the way for a ready submission, on the part of those cities and dis tricts, in the Imperial territories, which, in the course of hostilities, he would shortly be necessitated to reduce to his obedience. cepted by the victorious division, under Massena. The loss of the Austrians on this occasion, besides the slain, amounted to five thousand prisoners, among whom were four generals, thirty pieces of cannon, and four hundred waggons with all the baggage. This was a fatal day to the Imperial arms. It closed, in a man After the reduction of these two towns, a body of French was dis-ner, the hopes that had till remainpatched totake possession of Trieste, ed of better fortune, under the austhe only sea port belonging to pices of the archduke Charles, and the emperor on the Adriatic. It raised the opinion entertained of fell into their hands on the twenty- Buonaparte to the highest summit. third of March. Here, and in its What principally alarmed the court. vicinity, they found an immense of Vienna was the proximity of booty. the French army to the Hungarians, a people that had not forgotten the struggles of their forefathers,against the usurpation of the house of Austria, and the danger lest a similar spirit of resistance should be regenerated among them, especially as they had such recent causes of discontent. In the mean time, general Guieux and Massena were advancing, from the different quarters, to the borders of Carinthia. The former attacked the Austrians intrenched at Pusero, a strong position at the entrance of the narrow passes of Caporalto, into which he drove them with considerable loss. The latter possessed himself of Tarvis, a place on the opposite side of those passes; by which motion the Austrians, driven from Pusero, were inclosed between the two French divisions. A large body of Austrians marched from Clagenfurth, in Carinthia, to their relief, and assailed Massena at Tarvis, where a most obstinate battle was fought: but the Austrians were entirely defeated. Three of their generals were taken, and a celebrated regiment of Cuirassiers, almost destroyed. General Guieux had, in the mean while, pushed the Austriaus in the defile, as far as Lachinsa, a strongly fortified post, which he carried, however, after a resolute defence. They endeavoured to make a retreat; but were inter A specimen of the unconquerable, and, in truth,it may be said, insolent spirit,infused by the republican prin- ' ciples current among the French, had been exhibited by their prisoners in the hered.tary states, during the last summer. On the tenth of August, the day whereon the unhappy Lewis the sixteenth was dethroned, a number of them, con◄ fined at Ciagenfurth, the principal town of the province of Carinthia, celebrated this event, with marked exultation, in defiance, as it were, of the Austrian government. The formalities, that accompanied the observance of this day, were all calculated to manifest their hatred of royal power, and their attachment to republicanism, and especially to that equality of rank which admitted of no distinction among men, but but that which resulted from virtue and merit. The French prisoners in the Imperial dominions, were alike everywhere, in this respect, and seemed, in truth, to court the notice of the subjects of Austria, by the unre strained liberties they assumed upon all occasions of this nature. Their speeches, their songs, their devices, all tended to shew in what contempt they held all people that submitted to the government of kings, and how firmly they were determined never again to admit them into France. This demeanour of the French, under the very eye of the Austrian government, and in the heart of the empire, occasioned no small uneasiness to those who reflect with how much facility such notions might be propagated among the multitude, soured with the severity of their rulers, and oppressed with the manifold burdens laid upon them, for the maintenance of a war, which the majority of people disapproved in secret; though the dread of being punished for a manifestation of their sentiments, compelled them to feign approbation. It was now become unseasonable and dangerous to attempt the suppression of these sentiments among the great number of French dispersed in the towns on the borders of the present theatre of war The approach of Buonaparte, and his victorious army, had filled them with additional boldness; and strong sus picions were entertained, by the Imperial ministry, that in Hungary, and in Austria itself, they had adherents to their principles, numerous enough to for themselves into a strong party, were occurrences to favour their secret inclinations. The uninterrupted continuance of the French commander's good for: une grew daily more alarming. That part of his army, which had penetrated into the Trol, had kept equal pace with that under his own inspection. Joubert, who commanded it, had, with his usual activity and success, made himself inaster of most of the strong posts in that country; and, seconded by the many expert officers under him, had obtained some signal advantages. He surrounded a large body of I aperialists, on the Lavisio, where they had taken possession of advantageous ground, with an intention to dispute the entrance of the inner country. This body was chiefly composed of Tyrolean riflemen, famous for their dexterity in that manner of fighting. The combat was long and bloody, but terminated in the total overthrow of the Imperialists: two thousand were killed, and four thousand made prisoners. The remainder withdrew higher up the river, towards Botzen. They halted at Tramin, a situation of strength, where they made a vigorous defence. But notwithstanding the bravery and conduct of general Laudolin, their commander, they were at length completely worsted, their retreat to Botzen cut off,and all that could escape, forced to take refuge in the neighbouring mountains. After securing Botzen, Joubert directed his marca to Clausen, where the Austrians had assembled a great force. Here a furious conflict ensued, and success long remained doubtful, so strongly were the Imperialists posted. The centre of the French, headed by Joubert in person, secceeded at last, after repeated efforts, in breaking the ene my's line. This at once decided the |