his tall grenadiers--a feat that was actually
performed by Lannes, Berthier, Massena, Cervoni, and Dallemagne. It
was all one. Bonaparte alone was the hero of the day. He reigned
supreme in the hearts of the soldiers, and he saw the importance of
this conquest. At St. Helena he confessed to Montholon that it was the
victory of Lodi which fanned his ambition into a steady flame.

A desire of stimulating popular enthusiasm throughout Italy impelled
the young victor to turn away from his real objective, the fortress of
Mantua, to the political capital of Lombardy. The people of Milan
hailed their French liberators with enthusiasm: they rained flowers on
the bronzed soldiers of liberty, and pointed to their tattered
uniforms and worn-out shoes as proofs of their triumphant energy:
above all, they gazed with admiration, not unmixed with awe, at the
thin pale features of the young commander, whose plain attire bespoke
a Spartan activity, whose ardent gaze and decisive gestures proclaimed
a born leader of men. Forthwith he arranged for the investment of the
citadel where eighteen hundred Austrians held out: he then received
the chief men of the city with easy Italian grace; and in the evening
he gave a sumptuous ball, at which all the dignity, wealth, and beauty
of the old Lombard capital shone resplendent. For a brief space all
went well between the Lombards and their liberators. He received with
flattering distinction the chief artists and men of letters, and also
sought to quicken the activity of the University of Pavia. Political
clubs and newspapers multiplied throughout Lombardy; and actors,
authors, and editors joined in a paean of courtly or fawning praise, to
the new Scipio, Caesar, Hannibal, and Jupiter.

There were other reasons why the Lombards should worship the young
victor. Apart from the admiration which a gifted race ever feels for
so fascinating a combination of youthful grace with intellectual power
and martial prowess, they believed that this Italian hero would call
the people to political activity, perchance even to national
independence. For this their most ardent spirits had sighed,
conspired, or fought during the eighty-three years of the Austrian
occupation. Ever since the troublous times of Dante there had been
prophetic souls who caught the vision of a new Italy, healed of her
countless schisms, purified from her social degradations, and uniting
the prowess of her ancient life with the gentler arts