Some hours after receiving despatches from the Directory, Napoleon wrote
to the Archduke Charles to make overtures of peace to him; the Archduke
immediately answered that he would learn the opinion of his Court,
having no power to treat alone.
At last, on the 7th of April, 1797, the head-quarters were fixed at
Leoben, when Generals Bellegarde and Merfield presented themselves to
demand an armistice of ten days, previous to making a definitive peace.
The armistice was signed the same evening, but the French agreed to five
days only. The Austrian plenipotentiaries arrived at Leoben on the 13th
of April, and the preliminaries were signed on the 18th.
The scene in the picture is in a pavillion of the Bishop’s palace in the
midst of a garden. The French general is saying to the Austrian envoys:
“If we are not agreed upon that point, I continue my march, and behold
the road to victory!”
The picture contains some historical portraits; among others, Lavalette,
aide-de-camp to Napoleon, who wrote under the dictation of his general;
to the left of Lavalette are Louis Buonaparte and Eugene Beauharnais,
leaning his head on the future king of Holland. There are also portraits
of Berthier, Massena, Augereau, and Murat, then inseparable associates
of Napoleon.
[Illustration: PRELIMINARIES OF THE PEACE OF LEOBEN.]