in accomplished facts, Bonaparte pushed on his troops
to Cherasco.

Near that town he received the Piedmontese envoys; and from the pen of
one of them we have an account of the general's behaviour in his first
essay in diplomacy. His demeanour was marked by that grave and frigid
courtesy which was akin to Piedmontese customs. In reply to the
suggestions of the envoys that some of the conditions were of little
value to the French, he answered: "The Republic, in intrusting to me
the command of an army, has credited me with possessing enough
discernment to judge of what that army requires, without having
recourse to the advice of my enemy." Apart, however, from this
sarcasm, which was uttered in a hard and biting voice, his tone was
coldly polite. He reserved his home thrust for the close of the
conference. When it had dragged on till considerably after noon with
no definite result, he looked at his watch and exclaimed: "Gentlemen,
I warn you that a general attack is ordered for two o'clock, and that
if I am not assured that Coni will be put in my hands before
nightfall, the attack will not be postponed for one moment. It may
happen to me to lose battles, but no one shall ever see me lose
minutes either by over-confidence or by sloth." The terms of the
armistice of Cherasco were forthwith signed (April 28th); they were
substantially the same as those first offered by the victor. During
the luncheon which followed, the envoys were still further impressed
by his imperturbable confidence and trenchant phrases; as when he told
them that the campaign was the exact counterpart of what he had
planned in 1794; or described a council of war as a convenient device
for covering cowardice or irresolution in the commander; or asserted
that nothing could now stop him before the walls of Mantua.[43]

As a matter of fact, the French army was at that time so disorganized
by rapine as scarcely to have withstood a combined and vigorous attack
by Beaulieu and Colli. The republicans, long exposed to hunger and
privations, were now revelling in the fertile plains of Piedmont.
Large bands of marauders ranged the neighbouring country, and the
regiments were often reduced to mere companies. From the grave risks
of this situation Bonaparte was rescued by the timidity of the Court
of Turin, which signed the armistice at Cherasco eighteen days after
the commencement of the campaign. A fortnight later the preliminaries
of peace were signed between