Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1845-07-10

bility of character which conciliated
men Of opposite nations and various in>
terests and which bound upi one ter
rible engine Of strength. the Africans the
Spaniard. the Gaul, and the Italian.
Wherever he could bring his personal
influence to bear, there was he like Ma
poleon, successful whether it was con-
ciliating the savage, versatile. and sus-1
picious Gaul, IN winning over to him
The allies of Rome, or in seducing from
her the affections of her subjects.
Neither Of these great Captains was
merely a soldier. They were great
Statesmen, as competent to lead IN
Council as 10 command in battle
masters of the motives by which men
are actuated, Of the power by whch
thew are moved, and ever ready to
make use of them for their own ends.
Italy was the great field in which both
performed their most illustrious achiev-
ments, and to which each was most
attached. Their first campaigns were,
too, their most glorious. There is
nothing in ancient history to compare
with the passage OF Hannibal from
Saguntum to Canne-signalized as
that march was by the passage OF the
Pyremees, the Alps, and the Appe-
mines, and by the victories Of the Trcb-
bia, of the Lake Thrasymene, and OF
Canne. There is nothing in modern
history toconpare with the first ltal.
ian campaigns of Napoleon, in which
three Austrian armies were SUCCESS
lively destroyed by him. asthose OF the
Romans had been destroyed by Han
nibal. Napoleon's. Canne-Marengo
l was indeed reserved for a later day,
when he, too, had crossed the Alps;and
it was this victory of Marengo that
closed the first and most glorious peri
cd of Napoleon's career, when his vic>
tories were indeed fought for France.
] They were afterwards won for the
Emperor.
If we descend into details, we might
point out the correspondence between
the personal dangers run by these two
great warriors-by Hannibal when
marching through the marshes Of Arno,
which cost him an eye; by Napoleon,
when struggling in the swamp at Ar
cola. Each, too, received but two
wounds in their numerous battles
Hannibal, at Saguntum in the thigh;
Napoleon at TouIon, in the thigh: Han
nibal before Placentia, after the victory
of the Trebbia; Napoleon, before the
Ratisben, before the victory of Eckmul.
The world will never know the rea-
sons which restrained Hannibal from
marching, in accordance with the ad-
vice Of his general Of cavalry, Mago,
on Rome, after the battle OF Canne.
Such mind; so accustomed to victo-
ry, could scarcely have been overcome
by the greatness Of the opportunity;
there must have been stronger reasons
than that assigned by the Roman his.
torian-inability to make use of the
battles he won. The man who would
conceive the idea Of marching from
Spain to Italy, through the loftiest
mountains and the fiercest nations Of
Europe, to encounter the most power
:. full people Of the world, could not have
been deficient in moral energy and de.
4. cisions, But it is useless to speculate
e Hannibal did not march on Rome; nor
did Napoleon invade England, and in
J. future times one event may be regard
!. ed as remarkable as the other. For
e after all, what was the invasion O
e England to. the march TO Moscow
/. No more than. the advance upor
: Rome would have been to the march
from Spain 10 Italy. That which eact
:. of these chiefs did not do could moi
Q compare in point Of daring and difficult
!, ty with that which they did do. Blu
J. they were withheld by some cause, anc
n that decided their fate. The opportu
= nifty, once lost, never presented itsel
n again to either Of them. The Frencl
|. fleet, which might have carried owe
h Napoleon 10 England, was destroye,
e shortly after by Nelson at Trafalgar
e the army with which Hannibal Nigh
y have taken Rome was lost at Capea
o When he did approach within three
h miles Of the Eternal City, it was onI,
e to utten the bitter words, THAT some
Y times the wiII-sometimes the powe
IS of taking the City Of Rome, was de.
= MED him!"
The repulse Of Hannibal from Mol
= by Marocllus-the first check he re.
ceived after his great victories-rna,
If be compared to'that Of Napoleon be-
y fore St. Jean d'Acre; by Sir Sidne,
:. Smith. Itturned the current Of event
!. gave them another direction. Coul.
n Hannibal have taken Nola-a seaport
= like Acre, it would have opened all tb
h resources of Africa. Could Napoleo
T.