Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/512

 474 Readings in European History Destruction of the Venetian republic. Bonaparte disregards the instruc- tions of the Directory. Venetian territory was adjudged to the Cisalpine republic ; it is now in the possession of Austria. Another considerable portion, including the capital itself, fell to the lot of Austria in compensation for the Belgian provinces and Lombardy, which she ceded to France. . . . The Directory was far from being satisfied with the Treaty of Campo-Formio and with difficulty resisted the temptation not to ratify it. A fortnight before the signature of the treaty, the directors wrote to General Bonaparte that they would not consent to give the emperor Venice, Friuli, Padua, and the Venetian terra firma, with the Adige as a boundary. " That," they said, " would not be to make peace, but to postpone the war. We shall be regarded as the beaten party, independently of the disgrace of abandoning Venice, which Bonaparte himself thought so worthy of free- dom. France ought not, and never will wish, to see Italy delivered up to Austria." ... All this was, however, said in vain. Bonaparte made no scruple of disregarding his instructions. 423. Bona- parte's proc- lamation to his Egyptian army (Sep- tember 22, 1798). III. The Egyptian Expedition : the i8th Brumaire After the first disasters in Egypt, Bonaparte thus encouraged his troops : Headquarters, Cairo, 1st Vendemiaire, Year VII. Soldiers : We are celebrating the first day of the seventh year of the republic. Five years ago the independence of the French people was threatened, but you took Toulon; this was a harbinger of the ruin of our enemies. A year later you defeated the Austrians at Dego ; the following year you were on the summit of the Alps. Two years ago you were fighting for Mantua, and you gained the famous victory of St. George. Last year you were at the sources of the Drave and the Isonzo, and had returned from Germany. Who would have said then that you would to-day be upon the banks of the Nile in the midst of an ancient continent?