had taken, met the attack as if he had intended only to keep himself on the defensive; and this hesitation in the French general was construed by the Austrians into an indisposition to come to a decisive action. This error, however, was not of long duration. While the Austrians, confident of victory, assured at least of compelling the French to abandon the field, were endeavouring to force Moreau to some determinate purpose, they were astonished to find a French division in their rear, led on by Richepanse and Decaen. It was for this moment of surprise and confusion that Moreau waited; this moment of hesitation in the Austrian army was the signal of his attack the French generals Grenier and Ney poured down their divisions on the Austrian lines, and met half way those of Richepanse and Decaen. These last divisions, having innumerable obstacles to encounter, had performed prodigies of valour. Richepanse, cut off from the rest of his division, without looking behind him, had marched with five or six battalions directly into the midst of the Austrians. The imperial army, surprised, broken,overwhelmed, and panic-struck, endeavoured to retreat; but, ingulfed in defiles and woods, and surrounded by enemies, no mode of rallying or escape presented itself. In the space of a league and a half the carnage was horrible; the centre of the Austrian army had disappeared or perished.

But though the centre was destroyed, the right and left wings were yet sufficiently strong to keep the victory in suspense. The combat had lasted eight hours; and, after the affair seemed to have been completely decided, the French had to sustain several vigorous attacks

from bodies of reserve which had not yet been brought into action. The defeat of the centre drew on eventually that of the wings. The French remained masters of the field, with eighty pieces of cannon, 200 caissons, 10,000 prisoners, and a considerable number of officers, among whom were three generals. This battle was called the battle of Hohenlinden.

This victory was decisive of the campaign in favour of the French; but in order to prevail on the imperial cabinet to offer again or accept terms of peace, it was necessary to follow up with vigour this important conquest. Moreau, without losing time, or suffering the retreating army to muster its scattered forces, or recover from its surprise, marched directly upon the Inn, which he crossed (9th December) at Neupesen, between Rosenheim and Kuttein. The Austrians, who were in a state to make but little resistance, retreated to Stephenkirch. The dispositions of attack made by Lecourbe led them to make a further retreat behind the Salze; and the French, without much opposition, entered Salzburg. Continuing the pursuit, the French came up with the remains of the imperial army successively at Neumark, Voňaklapluch, and Lambach; at each of which passes engagements took place, which ended always in the further destruction of the Austrian army, and in the taking of cannon and considerable numbers of pri-. soners, among whom was the prince of Lichtenstein and his staff.

The battle of Hohenlinden, and the passage of the Inn, had thrown not only the court of Vienna, but the capital also, into the greatest confusion; and in proportion to the presumption of the former, was S. 3

now

now its terror and dread of seeing the French soon at the gates. One resource was still left, since that of arms had proved fruitless; and of that the imperial cabinet was sufficiently prudent at this crisis to take advantage. Prince Charles, who had been dismissed from the command of the army at the opening of the campaign, and who retreated into honourable exile, as governor of Bohemia, because he had freely declared his opinion respecting the events of the war, which the result had justified, was once more resorted to, as the saviour of his country. The court had flattered itself that his presence and efforts would once again establish an equilibrium of force with the French, and conceived hopes that its military affairs were yet retrievable. This charm was now dissolved; the prince, though adored by the army, found that this prestige was departed; and the soldier of every rank hailed his return, not as the hero who was to lead them to victory, but only as the herald of peace. The archduke, with whatever hopes he might have flattered himself at the moment of his recall, saw, on his arrival at the army, how utterly those hopes were destitute of foundation. Before he decided, however, on making a submission, which, from the circumstances of the French army and his own, he presumed must be almost unconditional, he resolved on making a last attempt. The at tempt was unsuccessful, the Austrians met with a most severe defeat, and, after losing 7 or 8000 men, withdrew in disorder behind the Ens. This new event at length convinced the imperial cabinet of the truth of what the archduke had re-iterated in his correspondence from the time of his recall, that

there was no safety for the Austrian monarchy but in peace at any rate, and on any conditions; since in the space of twenty days the army had lost seventy leagues of ground, 25,000 prisoners, 15,000 killed or wounded, 140 pieces of cannon, immense magazines of every description, while the enemy was in a position to dictate orders to the capital.

He

During former campaigns, Moreau had been considered in the light rather of a prudent than an enterprising general. He had at different periods exhibited great proofs of his skill in preserving from destruction retreating or routed armies, and had deservedly acquired the reputation and title of the French Fabius. The events of this campaign had exhibited him. under a new form, that of an ardent and daring chief, who nevertheless by the most profound combination and extensive foresight made fortune a faithful auxiliary. To any other person than Moreau, the position he held at the moment of signing this last armistice would have appeared tremendous. had plunged himself and his army into the very heart of Austria, leaving behind him, on his right, the Tyrol filled with troops, which amounted to 30,000 men, on his left the divisions of Klenau, Simbschen, and Riskenfield, besides the legion of Bohemia, forming more than 50,000. He was now a hundred leagues advanced before the armies of Italy, and the Lower Rhine under Augereau. Of the movements of the former he was yet uncertain; and the Gallo-Batavian army, from the opposition it met with, and the many desperate and bloody engagements which took place, had great difficulty to keep its positions in the neigh

bourhood

bourhood of Forckheim and Nuremberg. It was in this situation glorious indeed, but attended with no common danger-that Moreau accepted (27th December) the armistice that was offered, on condition that peace should without any further delay follow this third cessation of hostilities.

The winter campaign had but just opened in Italy, when this third armistice took place. In the interval between the second and third (18th October), the French, under the pretext that the rising in mass of the Tuscans under the orders of general Sommariva was an infraction of the private convention made at Castiglione, after summoning this general to disperse this irregular army, had entered Florence and Leghorn. The insurgents had withdrawn to Arezzo, which, after a most obstinate resistance, was taken by assault; and the whole body, except three hundred who took refuge in the citadel, and capitulated, were put to the sword. The Austrians some time after took possession again of Arezzo, and threatened Florence; but the rupture of the armistice announced by the army of the Rhine obliged them to concentre their forces, to await more serious operations. The Mincio was the line which divided the two armies; and as the invasion of the Venetian territory was the object of the French, the

Austrians had made extraordinary efforts for the defence of this river. After a valorous attack (28th December), and no less obstinate resistance, this passage was effected at Menzabano, but with an incredible loss of men on each side ;— the French made 8,000 prisoners. The army under Brune, aided by the army of the Grisons, which, after painful marches across the mountains, had descended into Italy, continued its march, crossed the Adige with the same loss of men on each side, and took post at Vicenza (8th January). Continuing their pursuit, the French crossed the Brenta, and found the Austrian army re-inforced, and drawn up in the plains of Salvaroza, where both sides prepared for a decisive engagement, which was to determine the fate of the Venetian territory. It was in this position that the armistice which had taken place in Germany prevented the further and useless effusion of blood in Italy. A convention for the cessation of hostilities was agreed on at Treviso (16th January) between the generals Bellegarde and Brune, by which the Austrians, retiring behind the Tagliamento, ceded to the French the fortified places they had left behind them untaken, including Mantua, which was given up by the subsequent convention at Luneville.

of these ruffians, and their intimate connexion with those who by law were appointed to decide on their guilt, rendering their arrest, and their judiciary examinations, illu, sory. The observations of the mipister were well founded. The western and southern departments of France were at this epoch over run by hordes of robbers, consist ing principally of those who had been disbanded by the royalist chiefs after the pacification of La Vendée, and who, either unable or unwilling to return to peaceful occupations, continued to make war on the public. The public diligences, and such persons as were known to have made purchases of emigrant-property, were judged to be lawful prey; and the daringness of these ruffians was carried to such a height, that public functionaries were sometimes killed on the high roads, or carried off from their dwellings, in order to purchase their liberty by a proposed equivalent in money; the former of which atrocities was committed on the bishop of Quimper, who was taken out of a public carriage, and coolly assassinated near Reines; and the latter, on the senator Clement de Ris, who was not rescued from his captors till after a fortnight's detention, and an engagement between the robbers and the regular military force.

The ineffective opposition which had hitherto been made to their multiplied depredations, or rather the encouragement which had been given to them by the spirit of party since the plunder of the public treasure, and the assassination of public functionaries were by this faction not enumerated in the list of crimes-had emboldened some of the chiefs to strike at once at the head, instead of mutilating in detail.

A plan was therefore formed for the assassination of the first consul. There were already in prison about ten individuals accused of having made this attempt in the month of September; and it appeared, by their voluntary confessions at the time they were arrested, that their project was to poniard him when he visited the opera. They were discovered at the moment of execution by one of their accom- ` plices; but the lenity of the government had hitherto prevented their punishment. The plan now projected, and which succeeded, `except against the particular object for whom it was concerted, was by means of gun-powder, and the construction of what has since been termed the infernal machine. This machine was a barrel filled with powder, into which was inserted a match, so as to cause the explosion at a calculated moment. This barrel, placed in a cart, was drawn into the Rue Nicaise in the evening (24th December), when a celebrated piece was to be performed at the opera, and which it was known the consul would attend. The Rue Nicaise being a narrow street, leading from the Tuileries to the opera, and in sight of the former, it was judged that he would pass through it a certain time after he ascended his carriage; but lest the velocity of his horses, and the burning of the match, should not keep pace together, the cart with the ma chine was so placed as to embarrass the passage. The coachman not only drove unusually fast, as the consul had exceeded the hour of the opera, but had the address, in driving through the street, to pass the cart which was meant to obstruct the way. The consul and his suite had gained

another