390 ■ FRANCE. 



Lucien Bonaparte, laid down his badge of office on the table, and 

 resigned ; upon which the doors of the hall were opened, and an 

 officer entered with a guard, exclaiming, " General Bonaparte orders 

 the hall to be cleared." The order was carried into effect in a few 

 minutes. 



The sittings were resumed in the evening, and Lucien Bonaparte 

 took the president's chair. A decree was passed, abolishing the 

 -directory, and appointing a consular government of three, namely, 

 Sieyes, Bonaparte, and Roger Ducos, who all appeared, and took the 

 oath to be faithful to the republic ; after which, the council adjourned 

 its sittings till the 20th of February. On the same day, the council 

 of ancients met also at St. Cloud, the proceedings of which day were 

 almost a copy of those of the council of five hundred. They likewise 

 voted the abolishing of the directory, the appointment of a consular 

 executive of three persons, and then adjourned till the 20th of Feb- 

 ruary. By the same decrees, sixty -one members were expelled from 

 the legislative body ; and thus was the national representation, and 

 the vaunted constitution of the third year, overturned by one man, 

 and the bayonets of a few soldiers. 



A new constitution was then formed, which was accepted by the 

 armies, and, apparently at least, by the people. By this constitution, 

 the whole of the executive, and indeed all other power, was vested 

 in the first consul, general Bonaparte, who entered on the administra- 

 tion of his government by making propositions for commencing nego- 

 tiations for peace. His applications to the government of Great 

 Britain on that subject have been already mentioned in our account 

 of the affairs of England. He afterwards made similar applications 

 to the court of Vienna, but his overtures, which indeed appear to 

 have been sufficiently vague, being rejected by both those powers, 

 the most active preparations were made on all sides for the prosecu- 

 tion of the war. 



The last campaign had closed with the taking of Coni, and the 

 retreat of the French army into the territory of Genoa, which was 

 now the only important place in Italy that remained in its possession. 

 The Austrians took the field on the 6th of April 1800 ; and Massena, 

 who commanded the French army, was attacked by general Melas, 

 and forced to retire to Savona and Vado, whence he was compelled 

 to fall back to Genoa, with the remainder of his army, which consist- 

 ed of 18,000 men. In Genoa he defended himself during two months 

 with the most determined obstinacy, and did not surrender till every 

 hope of succour had vanished ; till every kind of provision had been 

 exhausted ; till 15,000 of the inhabitants of the city had perished by 

 the famine, and his army was reduced to only 8000 men. Genoa was 

 given up to the Austrians on the 5th of June. 



In the mean time Bonaparte, having assembled an army at Dijon, 

 put himself at the head of it on the 6th of May, passed the moun- 

 tains St. Gothard and St. Bernard, and surmounting apparently in- 

 superable obstacles, entered Italy, where he immediately made him- 

 self master of Milan, Pavia, Piacenza, Cremona, and the whole course 

 of the Po. The Austrian general Melas appears to have been so con- 

 fident that it was impossible for an army to enter Italy by the route 

 the French had taken, that he took no measures to oppose the pas- 

 sage of Bonaparte till it was too late. At length he dispatched gene- 

 ral Otto with thirty battalions, to stop the progress of the French 

 army which was marching towards Piedmont ; but that general was 



