was starving; and Napoleon from the treasuries of
Italy sent her unlimited supplies; sent her splendid works
of art. No wonder the impoverished people hailed him with
delight as their preserver. No wonder the purer aspirations
after liberty perished in the passion for conquest, spoils,
and that Frenchest of French vanities, "_la gloire_."

Napoleon has himself observed that no country in the world is more
distinctly marked out by its natural boundaries than Italy. The Alps
seem a barrier erected by nature herself, on which she has inscribed in
gigantic characters "Here let ambition be staid." Yet this tremendous
circumvallation of mountains, as it could not prevent the ancient Romans
from breaking out to desolate the world, so it has been in like manner
found, ever since the days of Hannibal, unequal to protect Italy herself
from invasion. The French nation, in the times of which we treat, spoke
indeed of the Alps as a natural boundary, so far as to authorize them to
claim all which lay on the western side of these mountains, as naturally
pertaining to their dominions; but they never deigned to respect them as
such when the question respected their invading, on their own part, the
territories of other states which lay on or beyond the formidable
frontier. They assumed the law of natural limits as an unchallengeable
rule when it made in favor of France, but never allowed it to be quoted
against her interest.

During the Revolutionary War, the general fortune of battle had varied
from time to time in the neighborhood of these mighty boundaries. The
King of Sardinia possessed almost all the fortresses which command the
passes on these mountains, and had therefore been said to wear the keys
of the Alps at his girdle. He had indeed lost his dukedom of Savoy, and
the county of Nice, in the last campaign; but he still maintained in
opposition to the French a very considerable army, and was supported by
his powerful ally the Emperor of Austria, always vigilant regarding that
rich and beautiful portion of his dominions which lies in the North of
Italy. The frontiers of Piedmont were therefore covered by a strong
Austro-Sardinian army, opposed to the French armies to which Napoleon
had been just named commander-in-chief. A strong Neapolitan force was
also to be added, so that in general numbers their opponents were much
superior to the French; but a great part of this force was cooped up in
garrisons