all Italy, only Genoa and its small territory,” (situated beyond the bounds of Piedmont, or its fountains of waters,)" in the possession of the French, at the close of the year 1799."*

"The loss of the allies, in killed and wounded, has been stated by most competent judges, at thirty thousand, that of the French at forty-five thou sand,"―or, seventy-five thousand killed and wounded in the course of one campaign, all slain, as before, where the vial was poured out upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood.

But the dregs of the vial of wrath had still to be poured along other fountains yet untouched, and were exhausted at last on the plains of Piedmont.

In 1800 the armies of France in Europe were again under the command of Bonaparte: and Piedmont, which he formerly had conquered, was again his mark. In no part of Europe did he lead on an army to battle, from the time that he was first invested with the command till he was crowned as emperor, but solely amidst the rivers and fountains of waters. And when the directory fell, and the consulate was established in France, the new form of government was not less faithful to its task than the former; and Bonaparte, as consul, freely completed that which he first had begun at the dictation of the Directory.

"Bonaparte left Paris on the 6th of May 1800." -During the interval between the 15th and 18th of May, all the columns of the French army (60,000) were put in motion to cross the Alps :-one column by Mount Cenis, on Exilles and Susa; another by the route of the Little St. Bernard." On the 15th Bonaparte himself, at the head of the main body of the army, passed the Great St. Bernard, an immense

* Annual Register, pp. 291-307.

+ Ibid.

and apparently inaccessible mountain,"*" and the next morning, 16th May, the vanguard took possession of Aosta, a village of Piedmont, from which extends the valley of the same name, watered by the river Doria."+ "They advanced down the valley to Ivrea, carried the town by storm, combated and defeated an Austrian division at Romano. The roads to Turin and Milan were now alike open to Bonaparte." "Marches, manœuvres, and bloody battles," between the Austrian army and the other columns of the French, followed each other in detail; and Suchet took up a line on Borghetta.-Bonaparte formed the resolution to pass the rivers Sesia and Tesino, to push straight for Milan, to join 20,000 men who had crossed the mountains by the route of St. Gothard's. Bonaparte entered Milan. Pavia fell into the hands of the French; Lodi and Cremona were occupied, and Pizzigithone was invested; and Bonaparte, again occupying the place of Attila, fixed his residence in the ducal palace of Milan. The French occupied the best and fairest share of northern Italy, while the Austrian general found himself confined to Piedmont. Bonaparte, on his part, was anxious to relieve Genoa. With this view he resolved to force his passage over the Po, and move against the Austrians, who were found to occupy in strength the villages of Casteggio and Montebello. These troops proved to be the greater part of the very army which he expected to find before Genoa. The battle of Montebello was a most obstinate one. The tall crops of rye hid the hostile battalions from each other's sight till they found themselves at the bayonet's point, a circumstance which led to much close fighting, and necessarily to much slaughter.

*Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, vol. iv. pp. 250—256. † Ibid. pp. 262-268.

It was a conflict of man against man, and determined at a dear cost of blood. The Austrians retreated, leaving the field of battle covered with their dead. The remains of their defeated army were rallied under the walls of Tortona.

But the battle of Marengo decided the fate of Italy. The plain, on which it was fought, “seemed lists formed by nature for such an encounter, when the fate of kingdoms was at issue." The French occupied the plain. The Austrians concentrated their forces in front of Alexandria, divided by the river Bormida from the purposed field of fight. It was the last, long the most doubtful, and finally the most decisive battle of all the Italian campaigns, which had introduced a new era in war: nor was it less desperate and bloody than any of its predecessors for it was only after the Austrians" had been wearied with fighting the whole day and disordered with their hasty pursuit," and after "the plain had been filled with flying soldiers, and Bonaparte himself was seen in full retreat," that, on the advance of fresh troops from a distance to the field, the exhausted Austrian column was charged with new vigour, its ranks were penetrated, their army divided, and the whole French line, rallying at the voice of Napoleon, forced back their enemies at all points, who were pursued along the plain, suffering immense loss, and were not again able to make a stand, till driven over the Bormida.* The confusion at passing the river was inextricable," the river rolled red amidst the corpses of horse and men."+ It became blood.

We would refer the reader to the accompanying maps, and also to the sketch-map in the preceding

*Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, vol. iv. pp. 268-282, Hist. of Napoleon, vol. i. p. 223.

volume, for illustration of the successive campaigns, -remarking only that such was the effect of the last of the many battles fought in this single region, so full of rivers and numberless fountains of waters, that, in the words of Sir Walter Scott, "even Pitt himself, upon whose declining health the misfortune made a most unfavourable impression, had considered the defeat of Marengo as a conclusion to the hopes of success against France for a considerable period,Fold up the map,' he said, pointing to that of Europe; it need not be again opened for these twenty years.

"Almost all the loss sustained by the French in the disastrous campaigns of 1799, was regained by the battles of Montebello and Marengo." "Bonaparte set out for Switzerland on the 6th of May. Two months had not elapsed, and in that brief space what wonders had been accomplished ?" " Enough," says Sir Walter Scott, "had been done to shew, that as the fortunes of France appeared to wane and dwindle after Bonaparte's departure, so they revived with even more than their original brilliancy as soon as this Child of Destiny had returned to preside over them."+ And enough has been said to shew, how hitherto that destiny was accomplished, as it was written in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Napoleon became the avenger of the blood of the saints, against the king of Sardinia, the emperor of Germany, and the pope of Rome. And the like retribution was exacted of the French by the hands of Suwarrow. And enough may have been said to shew how the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and upon the fountains of waters, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, wast, and shatt be, † Vol. iv. p. 283.

Hist of Napoleon, vol. iv. p. 289.

because thou hast judged thus. For they shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judg

ments.

Events in history follow in their natural course, or maintain their due consecutive order. And one vial, like the judgments that preceded them, leads on to another. The connexion is too conspicuous to pass unnoticed by the historian. But it is not easy to see how more can reasonably be asked, than the unconscious adoption of the identical symbol. The concluding paragraphs of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, have, in this respect, more than once served us in good stead; and the concluding paragraph of the ninth chapter of Sir W. Scott's Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, which closes the narrative of his Italian campaigns, has these words, which may form an appropriate conclusion to the third, or introduction to the fourth vial. "It appeared as if Bonaparte was the SUN of France : when he was hid from her all was gloom, when he appeared, light and serenity were restored."* That sun, indeed, then began to arise, which not only dazzled France with its glory, but scorched Europe with its heat, and which, as speedily as it arose, has been blotted from the political horizon.

*Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, vol. iv. p. 285.