The sun., 1907-12-01
WI

VII.
Our author comedies that az first the
Austrians were completely victorious in
the battle Of MarengO, and would have
remained so had not DesaiG arrived with
his division intact. and supported by
charge OF Kellermans cavalry won back
for his chief the waveTing fortune Of the
day. With whatever difficulty gained. the
outcome Of Marengo changed the whole
situation in western Italy. The Austrians
threw up the game and agreed to a capitu-
Iation which secured for them free retreat
but made the French masters OF all the
country from Nice to the MinciO. with all
its fOrtresses
As for the extent to which Napoleon de-
serves to be credited with the victory OF
Marengo. our author acknowledges il was
not he who led the troops 30 Hral triumph
but his subordinate. Gen. Desaix. who
was killed in the fight. Neither does DR..
Lenz deny that for a long time afterward
the official accounts Of the battle continued
to misrepresent what had occurred. There
is no doubt that but for Desaix he would
have been a beaten man and most likely
ruined. Neverthe'--1 one can no more
challenge his right 70 the laurels Of Marengo
than Moltks's right to the laurels OF Grave
lotte, though there. too. the right wing.
behind which he and the King were posted.
was driven back" DIR. LEM sees that IL
was Napoleon whose orders Desaix obeyed
when he came back to the battlefield and
fell upon the enemy. Above all, his was the
decisive idea. the plan inspired by genius,
OF leading the French army over the Alps
and bringing il right into the middle OF the
dispersed enemy's positions. In measuring
the results Of Marengo. however. the fact
should not bo overlooked that peace was
not signed by Austria until some seven
months later. and might not have been
signed at all had not Moreau gained his
great victory at HohenIinden. 1t was the
laureIs won on that field by Moreau that
would not let Napoleon sleep.
There is no doubt that the Treaty Of
Lun4ville and the events which logically
followed justify the title Of -Restorer Of
Peace" bestowed by our author on Ma
poleOn. By that treaty Austria abandoned
all OF Italy except Venetia. The territory
Of the Cisalpine Republic was enlarged by
the annexation OF Modena and the Papal
legations. The Grand Duke OF Tuscany
lost his dominions. The Rhine throughout
ltB WnOle course became OuCo LuOTc Nuc chbt-
ern frontier Of France. Before the end OF
March. 1901. Ferdinand OF Naples came to
terms with the master OF Italy. resigning
his claims to the island Of Eliza and the
principally Of Piombino closing his harbors
against English ships. and agreeing to re-
ceive at Taranto and furnish supplies for
a French army corps that was to be sent on
to Egypt. In October OF the same year
Napoleon once more attached to France the
court OF Madrid and acquired from Spain
the cession of her Louisiana colony. Even
Portugal. though IL lay under the guns OF
English ships and ~as out OF NapOleon's
reach. bound itself TO proclaim a breach
with England and TO close its harbors against
the English flag.
In the same chapter the German biog-
rapher recognizes and explains the motives
which led the freethinldng Napoleon to
reestablish the Catholic religion In France
by n Concordat. His own mind. indeed.
never lost the atheistic bent which had been
given to Il in youth. Like Voltaire, he he'll
religion TO be good enough for cobblers
and Nservant girls" but. like Voltaire. he
acknowledged that for these IL was in
dispensable. He saw, as he said. In Chris
tianity not 90 much the mystery Of tho
incarnation % the mysesry cs social order.