_Situation and Views of Buonaparte at this period--His politic
Conduct towards the Italians--Popularity--Severe terms of Peace
proposed to the Pope--rejected--Napoleon differs from the
Directory, and Negotiations are renewed--but again rejected--The
Pope raises his army to 40,000 Men--Napoleon invades the Papal
Territories--The Papal Troops defeated near Imola--and at
Ancona--which is captured--Loretto taken--Clemency of Buonaparte
to the French recusant Clergy--Peace of Tolentino--Napoleon's
Letter to the Pope--San Marino--View of the Situation of the
different Italian States--Rome--Naples--Tuscany--Venice._
[Sidenote: PRE-EMINENCE OF NAPOLEON.]
The eyes of all Europe were now riveted on Napoleon Buonaparte, whose
rise had been so sudden, that he was become the terror of empires and
the founder of states--the conqueror of the best generals and most
disciplined troops in Europe; within a few months after he had been a
mere soldier of fortune, rather seeking for subsistence than expecting
honourable distinction. Such sudden elevations have occasionally
happened amid semi-barbarous nations, where great popular insurrections,
desolating and decisive revolutions, are common occurrences, but were
hitherto unheard of in civilized Europe. The pre-eminence which he had
suddenly obtained had, besides, been subjected to so many trials, as to
afford every proof of its permanence. Napoleon stood aloft, like a cliff
on which successive tempests had expended their rage in vain. The means
which raised him were equally competent to make good his greatness. He
had infused into the armies which he commanded the firmest reliance on
his genius, and the greatest love for his person; so that he could
always find agents ready to execute his most difficult commands. He had
even inspired them with a portion of his own indefatigable exertion and
his commanding intelligence. The maxim which he inculcated upon them
when practising those long and severe marches which formed one essential
part of his system, was, "I would rather gain victory at the expense of
your legs than at the price of your blood."[228] The French, under his
training, seemed to become the very men he wanted, and to forget in the
excitation of war and the hope of victory, even the feelings of
weariness and exhaustion. The following description of the French
soldier by Napoleon himself, occurs in his despatches to the Directory
during his first campaign in Italy:--
"Were I to name all those who have been distinguished by acts of
personal bravery, I must send the muster-roll of all the grenadiers and
carabineers of the advanced-guard. They jest with danger, and laugh at
death; and if any thing can equal their intrepidity, it is the gaiety
with which, singing alternately songs of love and patriotism, they
accomplish the most severe forced marches. When they arrive at their
bivouac, it is not to take their repose, as might be expected, but to
tell each his story of the battle of the day, and produce his plan for
that of to-morrow; and many of them think with great correctness on
military subjects. The other day I was inspecting a demi-brigade, and as
it filed past me, a common chasseur approached my horse, and said,
'General, you ought to do so and so.'--'Hold your peace, you rogue!' I
replied. He disappeared immediately, nor have I since been able to find
him out. But the manœuvre which he recommended was the very same
which I had privately resolved to carry into execution."[229]
To command this active, intelligent, and intrepid soldiery, Buonaparte
possessed officers entirely worthy of the charge; men young, or at least
not advanced in years, to whose ambition the Revolution, and the wars
which it had brought on, had opened an unlimited career, and whose
genius was inspired by the plans of their leader, and the success which
attended them. Buonaparte, who had his eye on every man, never neglected
to distribute rewards and punishments, praise and censure with a liberal
hand, or omitted to press for what latterly was rarely if ever denied to
him--the promotion of such officers as particularly distinguished
themselves. He willingly assumed the task of soothing the feelings of
those whose relations had fallen under his banners. His letter of
consolation to General Clarke upon the death of young Clarke, his
nephew, who fell at Arcola, is affecting, as showing that amid all his
victories he felt himself the object of reproach and criticism.[230] His
keen sensitiveness to the attacks of the public press attended him
through life, and, like the slave in the triumphal car, seemed to remind
him, that he was still a mortal man.
It should farther be remarked, that Napoleon withstood, instantly and
boldly, all the numerous attempts made by commissaries, and that
description of persons, to encroach upon the fund destined for the use
of the army. Much of his public, and more of his private correspondence,
is filled with complaints against these agents, although he must have
known that, in attacking them, he disobliged men of the highest
influence, who had frequently some secret interest in their wealth. But
his military fame made his services indispensable, and permitted him to
set at defiance the enmity of such persons, who are generally as timid
as they are sordid.
Towards the general officers there took place a gradual change of
deportment, as the commander-in-chief began to feel gradually, more and
more, the increasing sense of his own personal importance. We have been
informed by an officer of the highest rank, that, during the earlier
campaigns, Napoleon used to rejoice with, and embrace them as
associates, nearly on the same footing, engaged in the same tasks. After
a period, his language and carriage became those of a frank soldier,
who, sensible of the merit of his subordinate assistants, yet makes them
sensible, by his manner, that he is their commander-in-chief. When his
infant fortunes began to come of age, his deportment to his generals was
tinctured with that lofty courtesy which princes use towards their
subjects, and which plainly intimated, that he held them as subjects in
the war, not as brethren.[231]
[Sidenote: CONDUCT TO THE ITALIANS.]
Napoleon's conduct towards the Italians individually was, in most
instances, in the highest degree prudent and political; while, at the
same time, it coincided, as true policy usually does, with the rules of
justice and moderation, and served, in a great measure, to
counterbalance the odium which he incurred by despoiling Italy of the
works of art, and even by his infringements on the religious system of
the Catholics.
On the latter subject, the general became particularly cautious, and his
dislike or contempt of the Church of Rome was no longer shown in that
gross species of satire which he had at first given loose to. On the
contrary, it was veiled under philosophical indifference; and, while
relieving the clergy of their worldly possessions, Napoleon took care to
avoid the error of the Jacobins; never proposing their tenets as an
object of persecution, but protecting their persons, and declaring
himself a decided friend to general toleration on all points of
conscience.
In point of politics, as well as religion, the opinions of Buonaparte
appear to have experienced a great change. It may be doubted, indeed, if
he ever in his heart adopted those of the outrageous Jacobins.[232] At
all events, his clear and sound good sense speedily made him aware, that
such a violence on the established rules of reason and morality, as an
attempt to make the brutal strength of the multitude the forcible
controller of those possessed of the wisdom, property, and education of
a country, is too unnatural to remain long, or to become the basis of a
well-regulated state. Being at present a Republican of the Thermidorien
party, Buonaparte, even though he made use of the established phrases,
Liberty and Equality, acknowledged no dignity superior to citizen, and
_thee'd_ and _thou'd_ whomsoever he addressed, was permitted to mix many
grains of liberality with those democratic forms. Indeed, the republican
creed of the day began to resemble the leathern apron of the brazier,
who founded a dynasty in the East--his descendants continued to display
it as their banner, but enriched it so much with gems and embroidery,
that there was little of the original stuff to be discovered.
Jacobinism, for example, being founded on the principle of assimilating
the national character to the gross ignorance of the lower classes, was
the natural enemy of the fine arts and of literature, whose productions
the Sans-Culottes could not comprehend, and which they destroyed for the
same enlightened reasons that Jack Cade's followers hanged the clerk of
Chatham, with his pen and inkhorn about his neck.[233] Buonaparte, on
the contrary, saw that knowledge, of whatever kind, was power; and
therefore he distinguished himself honourably amidst his victories, by
seeking the conversation of men distinguished for literary attainments,
and displaying an interest in the antiquities and curiosities of the
towns which he visited, that could not but seem flattering to the
inhabitants. In a letter addressed publicly to Oriani,[234] a celebrated
astronomer, he assures him, that all men of genius, all who had
distinguished themselves in the republic of letters, were to be
accounted natives of France, whatever might be the actual place of their
birth. "Hitherto," he said, "the learned in Italy did not enjoy the
consideration to which they were entitled--they lived retired in their
laboratories and libraries, too happy if they could escape the notice,
and consequently the persecution, of kings and priests. It is now no
longer thus--there is no longer religious inquisition, nor despotic
power. Thought is free in Italy. I invite the literary and scientific
persons to consult together, and propose to me their ideas on the
subject of giving new vigour and life to the fine arts and sciences. All
who desire to visit France will be received with distinction by the
government. The people of France have more pride in enrolling among
their citizens a skilful mathematician, a painter of reputation, a
distinguished man in any class of literature, than in adding to their
territories a large and wealthy city. I request, citizen, that you will
make my sentiments known to the most distinguished literary persons in
the state of Milan."[235] To the municipality of Pavia he wrote,
desiring that the professors of their celebrated university should
resume their course of instruction under the security of his protection,
and inviting them to point out to him such measures as might occur, for
giving a more brilliant existence to their ancient seminaries.
The interest which he thus took in the literature and literary
institutions of Italy was shown by admitting men of science or letters
freely to his person. Their communication was the more flattering, that
being himself of Italian descent, and familiar with the beautiful
language of the country from his infancy, his conversation with men of
literary eminence was easily conducted. It may be mentioned
episodically, that Napoleon found a remnant of his family in Italy, in
the person of the Abbate Gregorio Buonaparte, the only remaining branch
of that Florentine family, of whom the Corsican line were cadets. He
resided at San Miniato, of which he was canon, and was an old man, and
said to be wealthy. The relationship was eagerly acknowledged, and the
general, with his whole staff, dined with the Canon Gregorio. The whole
mind of the old priest was wrapt up in a project of obtaining the
honours of regular canonization for one of the family called
Bonaventura, who had been a Capuchin in the seventeenth century, and was
said to have died in the odour of sanctity, though his right to divine
honours had never been acknowledged.[236] It must have been ludicrous
enough to have heard the old man insist upon a topic so uninteresting to
Napoleon, and press the French republican general to use his interest
with the Pope. There can be little doubt that the holy father, to have
escaped other demands, would have canonized a whole French regiment of
Carmagnoles, and ranked them with the old militia of the calendar, the
Theban Legion. But Napoleon was sensible that any request on such a
subject coming from him, would be only ludicrous.[237]
[Sidenote: POLITIC CONDUCT.]
The progress which Buonaparte made personally in the favour of the
Italians, was, doubtless, a great assistance to the propagation of the
new doctrines which were connected with the French Revolution, and was
much aided by the trust which he seemed desirous to repose in the
natives of the country. He retained, no doubt, in his own hands, the
ultimate decision of every thing of consequence; but in matters of
ordinary importance, he permitted and encouraged the Italians to act for
themselves, in a manner they had not been accustomed to under their
German masters. The internal government of their towns was intrusted to
provisional governors, chosen without respect to rank, and the
maintenance of police was committed to the armed burghers, or national
guards. Conscious of the importance annexed to these privileges, they
already became impatient for national liberty. Napoleon could hardly
rein back the intense ardour of the large party among the Lombards who
desired an immediate declaration of independence, and he had no other
expedient left than to amuse them with procrastinating excuses, which
enhanced their desire of such an event, while they delayed its
gratification. Other towns of Italy,--for it was among the citizens of
the towns that these sentiments were chiefly cultivated,--began to
evince the same wish to new-model their governments on the revolutionary
system; and this ardour was chiefly shown on the southern side of the
Po.
It must be remembered, that Napoleon had engaged in treaty with the Duke
of Modena, and had agreed to guarantee his principality, on payment of
immense contributions in money and stores, besides the surrender of the
most valuable treasures of his museum. In consequence, the Duke of
Modena was permitted to govern his states by a regency, he himself
fixing his residence in Venice. But his two principal towns, Reggio and
Modena, especially the former, became desirous of shaking off his
government. Anticipating in doing so the approbation of the French
general and government, the citizens of Reggio rose in insurrection,
expelled from their town a body of the ducal troops, and planted the
tree of liberty, resolved, as they said, to constitute themselves a free
state, under the protection of the French Republic. The ducal regency,
with a view of protecting Modena from a similar attempt, mounted cannon
on their ramparts, and took other defensive measures.
Buonaparte affected to consider these preparations as designed against
the French; and marching a body of troops, took possession of the city
without resistance, deprived the duke of all the advantages which he had
purchased by the mediation of the celebrated Saint Jerome, and declared
the town under protection of France. Bologna and Ferrara, legations
appertaining to the Papal See, had been already occupied by French
troops, and placed under the management of a committee of their
citizens. They were now encouraged to coalesce with Reggio and Modena. A
congress of a hundred delegates from the four districts was summoned, to
effect the formation of a government which should extend over them all.
The congress met accordingly, engaged their constituents in a perpetual
union, under title of the Cispadane Republic, from their situation on
the right of the river Po; thus assuming the character of independence,
while in fact they remained under the authority of Buonaparte, like clay
in the hands of the potter, who may ultimately model it into any shape
he has a mind. In the meantime, he was careful to remind them, that the
liberty which it was desirable to establish, ought to be consistent with
due subjection to the laws. "Never forget," he said, in reply to their
address announcing their new form of government, "that laws are mere
nullities without the force necessary to support them. Attend to your
military organization, which you have the means of placing on a
respectable footing--you will be more fortunate than the people of
France, for you will arrive at liberty without passing through the
ordeal of revolution."[238]
This was not the language of a Jacobin; and it fortifies the belief,
that even now, while adhering ostensibly to the republican system,
Buonaparte anticipated considerable changes in that of France.
Meanwhile the Lombards betrayed much uneasiness at seeing their
neighbours outstrip them in the path of revolution, and of nominal
independence. The municipality of Milan proceeded to destroy all titles
of honour, as a badge of feudal dependence, and became so impatient,
that Buonaparte was obliged to pacify them by a solemn assurance that
they should speedily enjoy the benefits of a Republican constitution;
and, to tranquillize their irritation, placed them under the government
of a provisional council, selected from all classes, labourers included.
[Sidenote: Jan. 3.]
This measure made it manifest, that the motives which had induced the
delay of the French Government to recognise the independence (as they
termed it) of Lombardy, were now of less force; and in a short time, the
provisional council of Milan, after some modest doubts on their own
powers, revolutionized their country, and assumed the title of the
Transpadane Republic, which they afterwards laid aside, when, on their
union with the Cispadane, both were united under the name of the
Cisalpine Commonwealth. This decisive step was adopted 3d January, 1797.
Decrees of a popular character had preceded the declaration of
independence, but an air of moderation was observed in the revolution
itself. The nobles, deprived of their feudal rights and titular
dignities, were subjected to no incapacities; the reformation of the
Church was touched upon gently, and without indicating any design of its
destruction. In these particulars, the Italian commonwealth stopped
short of their Gallic prototype.[239]
[Sidenote: NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE POPE.]
If Buonaparte may be justly charged with want of faith, in destroying
the authority of the Duke of Modena, after having accepted of a price
for granting him peace and protection, we cannot object to him the same
charge for acceding to the Transpadane Republic, in so far as it
detached the legations of Ferrara and Bologna from the Roman See. These
had been in a great measure reserved for the disposal of the French, as
circumstances should dictate, when a final treaty should take place
betwixt the Republic and the Sovereign Pontiff. But many circumstances
had retarded this pacification, and seemed at length likely to break it
off without hope of renewal.
If Buonaparte is correct in his statement, which we see no reason to
doubt, the delay of a pacification with the Roman See was chiefly the
fault of the Directory, whose avaricious and engrossing spirit was at
this period its most distinguishing characteristic. An armistice,
purchased by treasure, by contributions, by pictures and statues, and by
the cession of the two legations of Bologna and Ferrara, having been
mediated for his Holiness by the Spanish ambassador Azara, the Pope sent
two plenipotentiaries to Paris to treat of a definitive peace. But the
conditions proposed were so severe, that however desperate his
condition, the Pope found them totally inadmissible. His Holiness was
required to pay a large contribution in grain for ten years, a regular
tribute of six millions of Roman crowns for six years, to cede to France
in perpetuity the ports of Ancona and Civita Vecchia, and to declare the
independence of Ferrara, Bologna, and Ravenna. To add insult to
oppression, the total cession of the Clementine Museum was required, and
it was stipulated that France should have under management of her
minister at Rome, a separate tribunal for judging her subjects, and a
separate theatre for their amusement. Lastly, the secular sovereignty of
the dominions of the Church was to be executed by a senate and a popular
body.[240]
These demands might have been complied with, although they went the
length of entirely stripping his Holiness of the character of a secular
prince. But there were others made on him, in his capacity of head of
the Church, which he could not grant, if he meant in future to lay claim
to any authority under that once venerable title. The Sovereign Pontiff
was required to recall all the briefs which he had issued against France
since 1789, to sanction the constitutional oath which released the
French clergy from the dominion of the Holy See, and to ratify the
confiscation of the church-lands. Treasures might be expended, secular
dignities resigned, and provinces ceded; but it was clear that the
Sovereign Pontiff could not do what was expressly contrary to the
doctrines of the Church which he represented. There were but few
clergymen in France who had hesitated to prove their devotion to the
Church of Rome, by submitting to expulsion, rather than take the
constitutional oath. It was now for the Head of the Church to show in
his own person a similar disinterested devotion to her interests.
Accordingly, the College of Cardinals having rejected the proposals of
France, as containing articles contrary to conscience, the Pope declared
his determination to abide by the utmost extremity, rather than accede
to conditions destructive, degrading, and, in his opinion, impious. The
Directory instantly determined on the total ruin of the Pope, and of his
power, both spiritual and temporal.
Napoleon dissented from the opinion of the Government. In point of moral
effect, a reconciliation with the Pope would have been of great
advantage to France, and have tended to reunite her with other Catholic
nations, and diminish the horror with which she was regarded as
sacrilegious and atheistical. Even the army of the Holy See was not
altogether to be despised, in case of any reverse taking place in the
war with the Austrians. Under these considerations, he prevailed on the
Directory to renew the negotiations at Florence.[241] But the French
commissioners, having presented as preliminaries sixty indispensable
conditions, containing the same articles which had been already
rejected, as contrary to the conscience of the Pontiff, the conferences
broke up; and the Pope, in despair, resolved to make common cause with
the House of Austria, and have recourse to the secular force, which the
Roman See had disused for so many years.[242]
It was a case of dire necessity; but the arming of the Pope's
government, whose military force had been long the subject of
ridicule,[243] against the victorious conqueror of five Austrian armies,
reminds us of Priam, when, in extremity of years and despair, he buckled
on his rusty armour, to oppose age and decrepitude to the youthful
strength of Pyrrhus.[244] Yet the measures of Sextus indicated
considerable energy. He brought back to Rome an instalment of sixteen
millions of stipulated tribute, which was on the road to Buonaparte's
military chest--took every measure to increase his army, and by the
voluntary exertions of the noble families of Rome, he actually raised it
to forty thousand men, and placed at its head the same General Colli,
who had commanded with credit the troops of Sardinia during the campaign
on the Alps. The utmost pains were taken by the clergy, both regular and
secular, to give the expected war the character of a crusade, and to
excite the fierce spirit of those peasantry who inhabit the Apennines,
and were doubly disposed to be hostile to the French, as foreigners and
as heretics. The Pope endeavoured also to form a close alliance with the
King of the Two Sicilies, who promised in secret to cover Rome with an
army of thirty thousand men. Little reliance was indeed to be placed in
the good faith of the Court of Naples; but the Pope was compared, by the
French envoy, Cacault,[245] to a man who, in the act of falling, would
grasp for support at a hook of red-hot iron.[246]
[Sidenote: INVASION OF THE PAPAL TERRITORIES.]
While the Court of Rome showed this hostile disposition, Napoleon
reproached the French Government for having broken off the negotiation,
which they ought to have protracted till the event of Alvinzi's march
into Italy was known; at all events, until their general had obtained
possession of the sixteen millions, so much wanted to pay his forces.
In reply to his remonstrances, he received permission to renew the
negotiations upon modified terms. But the Pope had gone too far to
recede. Even the French victory of Arcola, and the instant threats of
Buonaparte to march against him at the head of a flying column, were
unable to move his resolution. "Let the French general march upon Rome,"
said the Papal minister; "the Pope, if necessary, will quit his capital.
The farther the French are drawn from the Adige, the nearer they are to
their ultimate destruction."[247] Napoleon was sensible, on receiving a
hostile answer, that the Pope still relied on the last preparations
which were made for the relief of Mantua, and it was not safe to attempt
his chastisement until Alvinzi and Provera should be disposed of. But
the decisive battles of Rivoli and La Favorita having ruined these
armies, Napoleon was at leisure to execute his purpose of crushing the
power, such as it was, of the Holy See. For this purpose he despatched
Victor with a French division of four thousand men, and an Italian army
of nearly the same force, supplied by Lombardy and by the Transpadane
republic, to invade the Territories of the Church on the eastern side of
Italy, by the route of Imola.
[Sidenote: Feb. 3.]
Meantime, the utmost exertions had been made by the clergy of Romagna,
to raise the peasants in a mass, and a great many obeyed the sound of
the tocsin. But an insurrectionary force is more calculated to embarrass
the movements of a regular army, by alarms on their flanks and rear, by
cutting off their communications, and destroying their supplies,
defending passes, and skirmishing in advantageous positions, than by
opposing them in the open field. The Papal army, consisting of about
seven or eight thousand men, were encamped on the river Senio, which
runs on the southward of the town of Imola, to dispute the passage. The
banks were defended with cannon; but the river being unusually low, the
French crossed about a league and a half higher up than the position of
the Roman army, which, taken in the rear, fled in every direction, after
a short resistance. A few hundreds were killed, among whom were several
monks, who, holding the crucifix in their hand, had placed themselves in
the ranks to encourage the soldiers. Faenza stood out and was taken by
storm; but the soldiers were withheld from pillage by the generosity or
prudence of Napoleon,[248] and he dismissed the prisoners of war[249] to
carry into the interior of the country the news of their own defeat, of
the irresistible superiority of the French army, and of the clemency of
their general.[250]
[Sidenote: Feb. 4.]
Next day, three thousand of the Papal troops, occupying an advantageous
position in front of Ancona, and commanded by Colli, were made prisoners
without firing a shot; and Ancona was taken after slight resistance,
though a place of some strength. A curious piece of priestcraft had been
played off in this town, to encourage the people to resistance. A
miraculous image was seen to shed tears, and the French artists could
not discover the mode in which the trick was managed until the image was
brought to headquarters, when a glass shrine, by which the illusion was
managed, was removed. The Madonna was sent back to the church which
owned her, but apparently had become reconciled to the foreign visitors,
and dried her tears in consequence of her interview with
Buonaparte.[251]
[Sidenote: CAPTURE OF LORETTO.]
On the 10th of February, the French, moving with great celerity, entered
Loretto, where the celebrated Santa Casa is the subject of the
Catholic's devotional triumph, or secret scorn, according as his faith
or his doubts predominate. The wealth which this celebrated shrine is
once supposed to have possessed by gifts of the faithful, had been
removed by Colli--if, indeed, it had not been transported to Rome long
before the period of which we treat; yet, precious metal and gems to the
amount of a million of livres, fell into the possession of the French,
whose capture was also enriched by the holy image of our Lady of
Loretto, with the sacred porringer, and a bedgown of dark-coloured
camlet, warranted to have belonged to the Blessed Virgin.[252] This
image, said to have been of celestial workmanship, was sent to Paris,
but was restored to the Pope in 1802. We are not informed that any of
the treasures were given back along with the Madonna, to whom they had
been devoted.
As the French army advanced upon the Roman territory, there was a menace
of the interference of the King of Naples, worthy to be mentioned, both
as expressing the character of that court, and showing Napoleon's
readiness in anticipating and defeating the arts of indirect diplomacy.
The Prince of Belmonte-Pignatelli, who attended Buonaparte's
headquarters, in the capacity, perhaps, of an observer, as much as of
ambassador for Naples, came to the French general in secrecy, to show
him, under strict confidence, a letter of the Queen of the Two Sicilies,
proposing to march an army of thirty thousand men towards Rome. "Your
confidence shall be repaid," said Buonaparte, who at once saw through
the spirit of the communication--"You shall know what I have long since
settled to do in case of such an event taking place." He called for the
port-folio containing the papers respecting Naples, and presented to the
disconcerted Prince the copy of a despatch written in November
preceding, which contained this passage:--"the approach of Alvinzi would
not prevent my sending six thousand men to chastise the court of Rome;
but as the Neapolitan army might march to their assistance, I will
postpone this movement till after the surrender of Mantua; in which
case, if the King of Naples should interfere, I shall be able to spare
twenty-five thousand men to march against his capital, and drive him
over to Sicily." Prince Pignatelli was quite satisfied with the result
of this mutual confidence, and there was no more said of Neapolitan
armed interference.[253]
From Ancona, the division commanded by Victor turned westward to
Foligno, to unite itself with another column of French which penetrated
into the territories of the Church by Perugia, which they easily
accomplished. Resistance seemed now unavailing. The Pope in vain
solicited his subjects to rise against the second Alaric, who was
approaching the Holy City. They remained deaf to his exhortations,
though made in the names of the Blessed Virgin, and of the Apostles
Peter and Paul, who had of old been the visible protectors of the
metropolis of the Christian world in a similar emergency. All was dismay
and confusion in the patrimony of Saint Peter's, which was now the sole
territory remaining in possession of his representative.
But there was an unhappy class of persons, who had found shelter in
Rome, rather than disown whose allegiance they had left their homes, and
resigned their means of living. These were the recusant French clergy,
who had refused to take the constitutional oath and who now,
recollecting the scenes which they witnessed in France, expected little
else, than that, on the approach of the Republican troops, they would,
like the Israelitish captain, be slain between the horns of the very
altar at which they had taken refuge. It is said that one of their
number, frantic at the thoughts of the fate which he supposed awaited
them, presented himself to Buonaparte, announced his name and condition,
and prayed to be led to instant death. Napoleon took the opportunity to
show once more that he was acting on principles different from the
brutal and persecuting spirit of Jacobinism. He issued a proclamation,
in which, premising that the recusant priests, though banished from the
French territory, were not prohibited from residing in countries which
might be conquered by the French arms, he declares himself satisfied
with their conduct. The proclamation goes on to prohibit, under the most
severe penalty, the French soldiery, and all other persons, from doing
any injury to these unfortunate exiles. The convents are directed to
afford them lodging, nourishment, and fifteen French livres (twelve
shillings and sixpence British) monthly, to each individual, for which
the priest was to compensate by saying masses _ad valorem_;--thus
assigning the Italian convents payment for their hospitality, in the
same coin with which they themselves requited the laity.
Perhaps this liberality might have some weight with the Pope in inducing
him to throw himself upon the mercy of France, as had been recommended
to him by Buonaparte in a confidential communication through the
superior of the monastic order of Camalduli, and more openly in a letter
addressed to Cardinal Mattei. The King of Naples made no movement to his
assistance. In fine, after hesitating what course to take, and having
had at one time his equipage ready harnessed to leave Rome and fly to
Naples, the Pontiff judged resistance and flight alike unavailing, and
chose the humiliating alternative of entire submission to the will of
the conqueror.
It was the object of the Directory entirely to destroy the secular
authority of the Pope, and to deprive him of all his temporalities. But
Buonaparte foresaw, that whether the Roman territories were united with
the new Cispadane republic, or formed into a separate state, it would
alike bring on prematurely a renewal of the war with Naples, ere the
north of Italy was yet sufficiently secure to admit the marching a
French force into the southern extremities of the Italian peninsula,
exposed to descents of the English, and insurrections in the rear. These
Napoleon foresaw would be the more dangerous and difficult to subdue,
that, though he might strip the Pope of his temporalities, he could not
deprive him of the supremacy assigned him in spiritual matters by each
Catholic; which, on the contrary, was, according to the progress of
human feeling, likely to be the more widely felt and recognised in
favour of a wanderer and a sufferer for what would be accounted
conscience-sake, than of one who, submitting to circumstances, retained
as much of the goods of this world as the clemency of his conqueror
would permit.[254]
[Sidenote: TREATY OF TOLENTINA.]
Influenced by these considerations, Buonaparte admitted the Pope to a
treaty, which terminated in the peace of Tolentino, by which Sextus
purchased such a political existence as was left to him, at the highest
rate which he had the least chance of discharging. Napoleon mentions, as
a curious instance of the crafty and unscrupulous character of the
Neapolitans, that the same Pignatelli, whom we have already
commemorated, attached himself closely to the plenipotentiaries during
the whole treaty of Tolentino; and in his ardour to discover whether
there existed any secret article betwixt the Pope and Buonaparte which
might compromise the interests of his master, was repeatedly discovered
listening at the door of the apartment in which the discussions were
carried on.[255]
[Sidenote: Feb. 19.]
The articles which the Pope was obliged to accept at Tolentino,[256]
included the cession of Avignon and its territories, the appropriation
of which by France, had never yet been recognised; the resigning the
legations of Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna; the occupation of Ancona,
the only port excepting Venice, which Italy has in the Adriatic; the
payment of thirty millions of livres, in specie or in valuable effects;
the complete execution of the article in the armistice of Bologna
respecting the delivery of paintings, manuscripts, and objects of art;
and several other stipulations of similar severity.[257]
Buonaparte informs us, that it was a principal object in this treaty to
compel the abolition of the Inquisition, from which he had only departed
in consequence of receiving information, that it had ceased to be used
as a religious tribunal, and subsisted only as a court of police. The
conscience of the Pope seemed also so tenderly affected by the proposal,
that he thought it safe to desist from it.
The same despatch, in which Buonaparte informs the Directory, that his
committee of artist collectors "had made a good harvest of paintings in
the Papal dominions, and which, with the objects of art ceded by the
Pope, included almost all that was curious and valuable, excepting some
few objects at Turin and Naples," conveyed to them a document of a very
different kind. This was a respectful and almost reverential letter from
Napoleon to the Pope,[258] recommending to his Holiness to distrust such
persons as might excite him to doubt the good intentions of France,
assuring him that he would always find the Republic most sincere and
faithful, and expressing in his own name the perfect esteem and
veneration which he entertained for the person of his Holiness, and the
extreme desire which he had to afford him proofs to that effect.[259]
This letter furnished much amusement at the time, and seemed far less to
intimate the sentiments of a sans-culotte general, than those of a
civilized highwayman of the old school of Macheath, who never dismissed
the travellers whom he had plundered, without his sincere good wishes
for the happy prosecution of their journey.
[Sidenote: REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO.]
A more pleasing view of Buonaparte's character was exhibited about this
time, in his conduct towards the little interesting republic of San
Marino. That state, which only acknowledges the Pope as a protector, not
as a sovereign, had maintained for very many years an independence,
which conquerors had spared either in contempt or in respect. It
consists of a single mountain and a single town, and boasts about seven
thousand inhabitants, governed by their own laws. Citizen Monge, the
chief of the committee of collecting artists, was sent deputy to San
Marino to knit the bands of amity between the two republics,--which
might well resemble a union between Lilliput and Brobdingnag. There were
no pictures in the little republic, or they might have been a temptation
to the citizen collector. The people of San Marino conducted themselves
with much sagacity; and although more complimentary to Buonaparte than
Diogenes to Alexander the Great, when he came to visit the philosopher
in his tub, they showed the same judgment in eschewing too much
courtesy.[260] They respectfully declined an accession of territory,
which could but have involved them in subsequent quarrels with the
sovereign from whom it was to be wrested, and only accepted as an
honorary gift the present of four field pieces, being a train of
artillery upon the scale of their military force, and of which, it is to
be hoped, the Captain Regents of the little contented state will never
have any occasion to make use.[261]
Rome might, for the present at least, be considered as completely
subjugated. Naples was at peace, if the signature of a treaty can create
peace. At any rate, so distant from Rome, and so controlled by the
defeat of the Papal arms--by the fear that the English fleet might be
driven from the Mediterranean--and by their distance from the scene of
action--the King of the Two Sicilies, or rather his wife, the
high-spirited daughter of Maria Theresa, dared not offer the least
interference with the purposes of the French general. Tuscany had
apparently consented to owe her political existence to any degree of
clemency or contempt which Buonaparte might extend to her; and,
entertaining hopes of some convention betwixt the French and English, by
which the grand duke's port of Leghorn might be restored to him,
remained passive as the dead. The republic of Venice alone, feeling
still the stimulus arising from her ancient importance, and yet
painfully conscious of her present want of power, strained every
exertion to place herself in a respectable attitude. That city of lofty
remembrances, the Tyre of the middle ages, whose traders were princes,
and her merchants the honourable of the earth, fallen as she was from
her former greatness, still presented some appearance of vigour. Her
oligarchical government, so long known and so dreaded, for jealous
precautions, political sagacity, the impenetrability of their plans, and
the inflexibility of their rigour, still preserved the attitude of
independence, and endeavoured, by raising additional regiments of
Sclavonians, disciplining their peasantry, who were of a very martial
character, and forming military magazines of considerable extent, to
maintain such an aspect as might make their friendship to be courted,
and their enmity to be feared. It was already evident that the
Austrians, notwithstanding all their recent defeats, were again about to
make head on their Italo-German frontier; and France, in opposing them,
could not be indifferent to the neutrality of Venice, upon whose
territories, to all appearance, Buonaparte must have rested the flank of
his operations, in case of his advancing towards Friuli. So
circumstanced, and when it was recollected that the mistress of the
Adriatic had still fifty thousand men at her command, and those of a
fierce and courageous description, chiefly consisting of Sclavonians,
Venice, even yet, was an enemy not to be lightly provoked. But the
inhabitants were not unanimous, especially those of the Terra Firma, or
mainland, who, not being enrolled in the golden book of the insular
nobility of Venice, were discontented, and availed themselves of the
encouragement and assistance of the new-created republics on the Po to
throw off their allegiance. Brescia and Bergamo, in particular, were
clamorous for independence.
Napoleon saw, in this state of dissension, the means of playing an
adroit game; and while, on the one hand, he endeavoured to restrain,
till a more favourable opportunity, the ardour of the patriots, he
attempted on the other, to convince the Senate, that they had no safe
policy but in embracing at once the alliance of France, offensive and
defensive, and joining their forces to those of the army with which he
was about to move against the Austrians. He offered, on these
conditions, to guarantee the possessions of the republic, even without
exacting any modification of their oligarchical constitution. But Venice
declared for an impartial neutrality.[262] It had been, they said, their
ancient and sage policy, nor would they now depart from it. "Remain then
neuter," said Napoleon; "I consent to it. I march upon Vienna, yet will
leave enough of French troops in Italy to control your republic.--But
dismiss these new levies; and remark, that if, while I am in Germany, my
communications shall be interrupted, my detachments cut off, or my
convoys intercepted in the Venetian territories, the date of your
republic is terminated. She will have brought on herself
annihilation."[263]
Lest these threats should be forgotten while he was at a distance, he
took the best precautions in his power, by garrisoning advantageous
points on the line of the Adige; and trusting partly to this defence,
partly to the insurgents of Bergamo and Brescia, who, for their own
sakes, would oppose any invasion of the mainland by their Venetian
masters, whose yoke they had cast aside, Napoleon again unfurled his
banners, and marched to new triumphs over yet untried opponents.
FOOTNOTES:
[228] Louis Buonaparte, tom. ii., p. 60.
[229] Letter to the Directory, June 1; Moniteur, No. 264.
[230] Letter from Napoleon to General Clarke, 25 Brumaire, 15th Nov.
1796.--"Your nephew has been slain on the field of battle at Arcola. The
young man had been familiar with arms--had led on columns, and would
have been one day an excellent officer. He has died with glory in the
face of the enemy. He did not suffer for an instant. What man would not
envy such a death? Who is he that would not accept as a favourable
condition the choice of thus escaping from the vicissitudes of a
contemptible world? Who is there among us who has not a hundred times
regretted that he has not been thus withdrawn from the powerful effects
of calumny, of envy, and of all the odious passions which seem the
almost exclusive directors of the conduct of mankind?"--This letter,
remarkable in many respects, will remind the English reader of Cato's
exclamation over the body of his son--"Who would not be this youth!"--S.
[231] "Decrès has often told me, that he was at Toulon when he first
heard of Napoleon's appointment to the command of the army of Italy. He
had known him well at Paris, and thought himself on terms of perfect
familiarity with him. 'Thus,' said he, 'when we learned that the new
general was about to pass through the city, I hastened to him full of
eagerness and joy; the door of the apartment was thrown open, and I was
on the point of rushing towards him with my wonted familiarity, but his
attitude, his look, the tone of his voice, suddenly deterred me. Not
that there was any thing offensive either in his appearance or manner;
but the impression he produced was sufficient to prevent me from ever
again attempting to encroach upon the distance that separated us."--LAS
CASES, tom. i., p. 164.
[232] Even when before Toulon, he was not held by clear-sighted persons
to be a very orthodox Jacobin. General Cartaux, the stupid Sans-Culotte
under whom he first served, was talking of the young commandant of
artillery with applause, when his wife, who was somewhat first in
command at home, advised him not to reckon too much on that young man,
"who had too much sense to be long a Sans-Culotte."--"Sense!
Female-citizen Cartaux," said her offended husband, "do you take us for
fools?"--"By no means," answered the lady; "but his sense is not of the
same kind with yours."--S.--LAS CASES, vol. i., p. 144.
[233] _Second Part of King Henry VI., Act 4., Scene 2._
[234] "At St. Helena Napoleon had preserved a distinct recollection of
this celebrated man. He described his timidity and embarrassment at the
sight of the stately retinue of the staff, which quite dazzled him: 'You
are here with your friends; we honour learning, and only wish to show
the respect we entertain for it!'--'Ah! general, excuse me, but this
splendour quite overpowers me!' He, however, recovered his
self-possession, and held with Napoleon a long conversation, which
produced in his mind a feeling of surprise, such as he could not for a
long time overcome. He was unable to conceive how it was possible to
have acquired, at the age of twenty-six, so much glory and
science."--ANTOMMARCHI, tom. i., p. 368.
[235] Antommarchi, tom. i., p. 367.
[236] Antommarchi, tom. i., p. 135.
[237] Las Cases says, that afterwards the Pope himself touched on the
same topic, and was disposed to see the immediate guidance and
protection afforded by the consanguinean Saint Bonaventura in the great
deeds wrought by his relation. It was said of the church-endowing saint,
David King of Scotland, that he was a sore saint for the Crown;
certainly, Saint Bonaventura must have been a sore saint for the Papal
See. The old abbé left Napoleon his fortune, which he conferred on some
public institution.--S.
[238] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 382; tom. iv., p. 179.
[239] Montholon, tom. v., p. 179.
[240] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 384.
[241] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 386.
[242] Thibaudeau, tom. ii., p. 55; Letter de Cacault à Buonaparte,
Correspondence Inédite, tom. ii., pp. 114-125; Montholon, tom. iii., p.
387.
[243] Voltaire, in one of his romances, terms the Pope an old gentleman,
having a guard of one hundred men, who mount guard with umbrellas, and
who make war on nobody.--S.
[244]
"Arma diu sênior desueta trementibus ævo
Circumdat nequicquam humeris, et inutile ferrum
Cingitur"----
ÆNEID, Lib. II.
"He--when he saw his regal town on fire,
His ruin'd palace, and his entering foes,
On every side inevitable woes;
In arms disused invests his limbs, decay'd,
Like them, with age; a late and useless aid."
DRYDEN.
[245] Cacault was born at Nantes in 1742. During the Consulate, he was
chosen a member of the Senate. He published a translation of Lessing's
Historical Sketch of the Drama. He died in 1805.
[246] "La cour de Rome, au desespoir, saisirait un fer rouge: elle
s'abandonne à l'impulsion bruyante des Napolitains."--_Correspondence
Inédite_, tom. ii., p. 119.
[247] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 387.
[248] "This is the same thing as happened at Pavia," said the soldiers,
by way of demanding the pillage of the place. "No," answered Napoleon;
"at Pavia they had revolted after taking an oath, and they wanted to
massacre our soldiers who were their guests. These are only senseless
people, who must be conquered by clemency."--MONTHOLON, tom. iv., p. 18.
[249] Napoleon addressed them thus in Italian--"I am the friend of all
the nations of Italy, and particularly of the people of Rome. You are
free; return to your families, and tell them that the French are the
friends of religion, order, and the poor."--MONTHOLON, tom. iv., p. 19.
[250] Jomini, tom. ix., p. 307; Montholon, tom. iv., p. 7; Thibaudeau,
tom. ii., p. 220.
[251] "Monge was sent to the spot. He reported that the Madonna actually
wept. The chapter received orders to bring her to headquarters. It was
an optical illusion, ingeniously managed by means of a glass."--MONTHOLON,
tom. iv., p. 12.
[252] "It is a wooden statue clumsily carved; a proof of its antiquity.
It was to be seen for some years at the National Library."--MONTHOLON,
tom. iv., p. 13.
[253] Jomini, tom. ix., p. 311; Thibaudeau, tom. iii., p. 228.
[254] Montholon, tom. iv., p. 16.
[255] Montholon, tom. iv., p. 25.
[256] For a copy of the Treaty of Tolentino, see Annual Register, vol.
xxxix., p. 328, and Montholon, tom. iv., p. 18.
[257] "One of the negotiators of the Pope observed to Buonaparte that he
was the only Frenchman who had marched against Rome since the Constable
Bourbon; but what rendered this circumstance still more singular was,
that the history of the first expedition, under the title of 'The
Sacking of Rome' was written by Jacopo Buonaparte, an ancestor of him
who executed the second."--LAS CASES, tom. i., p. 98.
[258] "The Directory adopted the most insulting forms in communicating
with the Pope; the general wrote to him with respect. The Directory
endeavoured to overthrow the authority of the Pope; Napoleon preserved
it. The Directory banished and proscribed priests; Napoleon commanded
his soldiers, wherever they might fall in with them, to remember that
they were Frenchmen and their brothers."--LAS CASES, tom. i., p. 170.
[259] Montholon, tom. iv., p. 25; Thibaudeau, tom. ii., p. 287.
[260] Botta, tom. ii., p. 199; Thibaudeau, tom. ii., p. 239.
[261] For an interesting sketch of the republic of San Marino, see
Seward's _Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons_, vol. iii., p. 276.
[262] Botta, tom. ii., p. 252; Daru, Hist. de Venise, tom. v., p. 544.
[263] Montholon, tom. iv., p. 130.