hs and conformed. The Pontiff, relying
on the final success of Austria, had virtually broken off
negotiations. Bonaparte informed the French agent in Rome that he must
do anything to gain time, anything to deceive the "old fox"; in a
favorable moment he expected to pounce upon Rome, and avenge the
national honor. During the interval Naples also had become refractory;
refusing a tribute demanded by the Directory, she was not only
collecting soldiers, like the Pope, but actually had some regiments in
marching order. Venice, asserting her neutrality, was growing more and
more bitter at the constant violations of her territory. Mantua was
still a defiant fortress, and in this crisis nothing was left but to
revive French credit where the peoples were best disposed and their
old rulers weakest.

Accordingly, Bonaparte went through the form of consulting the
Directory as to a plan of procedure, and then, without waiting for an
answer from them, and without the consent of those most deeply
interested, broke the armistice with Modena on the pretext that five
hundred thousand francs of ransom money were yet unpaid, and drove the
duke from his throne. This duchy was the nucleus about which was to be
constituted the Cispadane Republic: in conjunction with its
inhabitants, those of Reggio, Bologna, and Ferrara were invited to
form a free government under that name. There had at least been a
pretext for erecting the Milanese into the Transpadane Republic--that
of driving an invader from its soil. This time there was no pretext of
that kind, and the Directory opposed so bold an act regarding these
lands, being uneasy about public opinion in regard to it. They hoped
the war would soon be ended, and were verging to the opinion that
their armies must before long leave the Italians to their own devices.
The conduct of their general pointed, however, in the opposite
direction; he forced the native liberals of the district to take the
necessary steps toward organizing the new state so rapidly that the
Directory found itself compelled to yield. It is possible, but not
likely, that, as has been charged, Bonaparte really intended to bring
about what actually happened, the continued dependence on the French
republic of a lot of artificial governments. The uninterrupted
meddling of France in the affairs of the Italians destroyed in the end
all her influence, and made them hate her dominion, which masqueraded
as liberalism, even more than they h