ralissimo of the forces. The Archduke Charles saw that it was in vain to oppose the French, and he signed an armistice yielding all the Tyrol to his enemy. General Brun had succeeded over Bellegarde and had forced him to sign an armistice, giving up Mantua and every place of importance in the North of Italy; and Macdonald had surprised the enemy at Tarentum, so that in the depth of winter, in two months after the opening of the campaign, Austria had lost two large armies, had yielded up her strong places, and had submitted to the dictation of a conqueror at the gates of her capital. Such was the result of Napoleon's plan of the winter campaign of 1800. On February 9, 1801, the treaty of Luneville secured to France the entire left bank of the Rhine, and confined the Austrians to the line of the Adige, who also acknow. ledged the Cisalpine, the Batavian and Helvetic republics, and ceded to France the whole of Tuscany. The news of the treaty arrived in Paris on Feb. 12, amidst the celebration of the carnival, and perhaps never was capital so thoroughly electrified with joy, even the most firm royalists and republicans were enthusiastic in their praises of the First Consul.

Napoleon bestowed Tuscany on the King of Spain in reward for the fidelity of his attachment to France. Murat liberated the Papal territo ries from the occupation of the Neopolitans, and continued the King of Naples on his throne solely at the entreaty of the Emperor of Russia. Portugal, the faithful ally of England, was invaded by Godoy, at the head of a Spanish army, and the peace he compelled the Portuguese to sign at Badajos procured him his celebrated title of Prince of Peace. England now was the only enemy unsubdued by the French, and all the ports of the Continent were shut against her. Napoleon now formed a coalition against Great Britain, of Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Denmark, but which was as rapidly dissolved by Lord Nelson at the battle of Copenhagen. He however still planned a naval war against this country. Russia possessed eighty-seven sail of the line and forty frigates; Sweden

eighteen sail of the line and fourteen frigates; France fifty-five sail of the line and forty-three frigates, and she had at her disposal the marine of Holland and of Spain. The Emperor Paul had agreed to invade India with an army of 70,000 French and Russians, and the troops were to rendezvous at Asterabad on the

Caspian sea; but on March 24, 1801, the Emperor Paul was murdered in his palace in a manner shocking to humanity. Six days after this hor rible event the English fleet entered the Baltic, from which Europe inferred that the assassination of the Emperor had been designed with the connivance of Great Britain. Preparations were made for the invasion of England from Boulogne, and Admiral Gautheame sailed from Brest with 5000 men for the relief of Egypt, but was obliged to take shelter in Toulon. A second attempt to relieve Egypt under Admiral Linois was equally unsuccess ful; and 20,000 men, the remains of the army which Napoleon' had twenty months before transported to the banks of the Nile, now sur rendered to the English, and were conveyed to their native country according to the condition of their surrender. Napoleon signed a Concordat with the Pope, concluded a peace with Bavaria, and finally succeeded in his grand effort of obtaining a peace with Great Britain; the treaty of Amiens was signed on March 25, 1801, and in October following he signed treaties of peace with Russia and the Porte.

Napoleon on the 21st January 1802, constituted himself President of the Italian Republic. On 28th April he re-established the catholic worship throughout France. On 6th May a Senatus Consultum bestowed the first Consulate upon Napoleon for ten additional years. He established the Legion of Honor in reward for military or civil services rendered to the country. At length a question was suddenly proposed to the nation" Shall Napoleon Buonaparte be first Consul for life?" and of 3,577,885 votes, 3,368,259 were in the affirmative. The constitution was in other respects materially altered. Elba and Piedmont were incorporated with France. Parma was seized upon

by the French troops. Switzerland was next invaded. Louisiana was sold by France to the United States of America, for fifteen millions of dollars. At length England, roused by such rapid strides of power, renewed the war. A conspiracy was formed in Paris to destroy the first Consul, and Moreau, Pichegru, and Georges Cadoudal, were the chief accomplices. Georges was condemned and executed. Pichegru was condemned to death, but was found in jail strangled with his. neck-cloth. Moreau was personally admired and esteemed by the French; he defended himself with confidence, and was only banished. Napoleon had succeeded in gaining the attachment of the royalist-party in France, by the detection of the last conspiracy; the public solicitude for his prosperity was greatly increased, the army was devoted to his interest, and the whole nation was intoxicated by his brilliant successes, whilst the security he had given to property, by rescuing the country from anarchy and establishing a code of laws, had attached the upper classes to him by the

strongest of all human ties-the ties of interest. Thus circumstanced, it was with little difficulty that Napoleon effected his great object of destroying even the semblance of a Republican government, and of consolidating his already absolute power, by assuming the title and insignia of Royalty. We have thus traced this extraordinary character through a series of splen did achievements, which raised him from the station of a subaltern officer to the throne of the greatest empire that ever existed, excepting that of the Romans; and it must be apparent to every observer that as an Emperor he accomplished that, the very attempt at which would have stamped the proudest monarch of France with the stigma of insanity, rather than with the character of ambition. The empire of the Romans was more extensive than that of. Napoleon, but the Roman empire was the work of ages, and of a long series of illustrious characters-whilst the empire of Napoleon was a structure raised by his own hands, and created in the space of a few years.

THE annual exhibitions, which have for some years past taken place in the Gallery of the British Institution, of the works of the old masters afford some, although a very inadequate notion of the trea sures of ancient art, which from time to time have found their way into this Kingdom; and are scattered in the palaces and mansions of their royal, noble and opulent possessors. There can be little doubt that if by any possibility they could be congregated, they would form a mass of testimony to the glories of long-departed genius, which, bold as the assertion may seem, it would be difficult, since the pillage of the Continent which was accumulated at the Louvre has been dispersed by restoration to its respective pro prietors, for any single country in Europe to excel, either in extent or in quality,

It might naturally have been expected, that the sensibility to the beauties of art, of which this fact appears to manifest the presence, would, when combined with just and patriotic feeling, prompt the dispos sition to cherish by an honourable patronage the energies of our native and living artists. It might natus rally have been expected that our men of rank and fortune would not content themselves with being the laudatores temporis acti, and that they would cheerfully perform one of the most sacred of their duties, that of seeking out contemporary talents, and affording them the warm and liberal encouragement, without which it is in vain to hope that the delicate qualities of taste and genius can ever be brought to a happy ma turity. And yet it is a strange and melancholy truth, that, in the whole of this wealthy and populous em tire, there is but one individual to whom it has occurred to build a pris vate gallery for the reception of British pictures exclusively. The

Eur. Mag. April, 1823,

name of that individual is SIR JOHŃ FLEMING LEICESTER. He alone has proved his entire freedom from "that perverseness of taste, which refuses to be pleased with the efforts of genius, while the pleasure can be reciprocal; which affects apathy and indifference to all living merit, and disdains to bestow either praise or profit, till the one can be no longer heard, and the other no longer use ful." Let us not be mistaken We are far from being so unjust as to say that British art has not had many partial admirers and partial supporters; but we repeat that Sif John Leicester is the only indivi dual of his station in society, who has made so spirited, so extensive, and so well-sustained an exertion in its favour.

1

About five years, we believe, have now elapsed since Sir John Leices ter's Gallery, at his residence in Hill-street, Berkeley-square, was completed; and since, with a libe rality honourable to himself, gratifying to his friends and the public, and advantageous to the artists of whose chef d'oeuvres he had become the possessor, he adopted the prac tice of issuing a certain number of tickets of admission for a few successive Mondays in the spring. We have had the good fortune to be present on several of those occa sions; among them, on one of the Mondays of the last month, and we must say that we never spent a morning more delightfully.

While the shaft and capital of this pillar of British virtú consist of the works of living artists, its pedestal is very justly constituted of the pro ductions of their illustrious predecèssors; by whom the foundations of the British school have been so broadly and firmly laid. Among these are Sir Joshua Reynolds, Wilson, Gainsborough, Romney, West, Opie, Loutherbourg, Hoppner, Morland, Harlowe, Devis, &c. Of the

living artists, whose performances decorate this interesting gallery, the principal are Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir William Beechey, Turner, Thomson, Calcott, Howard, Hilton, Owen, Shee, Collins, Fuseli, Ward, Northcote, Barker, Atkinson, Leslie, Williamson, Vincent, Bone, &c.

Under the circumstances of the case, any thing like minute criticism would be unpardonable; even were most of these beautiful pictures not already sufficiently known to the public. If, however, without entertaining the slightest invidious intention, we were to venture to select a few of those which appear to us to be the most fascinating, we think we should be induced to name the following:

Boy and Grapes. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.-Admirable in character, chiaro-scuro and colouring.

View on the Arno. WILSON.There is perhaps no painter to whom so much rubbish has been falsely attributed by picture-dealers as to Wilson. This is a genuine and magnificent work, and is one of those which justly raised him to so high a rank among landscape painters.

Gottage Children. GAINSBOROUGH. A most interesting rustic group.

Titania, the Changeling and Puck. ROMNEY.-An unfinished, but exquisite specimen of the peculiar qualities of Mr. Romney as an artist. The expressive witchery of Titania's glance is in his happiest manner; and the whole canvas glows with rich and splendid, but harmonious colour.

Musidora. OPIE.-The style of this, like that of most of Mr. Õpie's works, is in strict analogy to the sterling English character; simple, firm, forcible, with an utter scorn of all trifling graces and intrinsic embellishment.

The Flight of Lot and his Daughters. WEST.-It is rarely that we meet with so successful a combination of figures and landscape. All the parts of the picture are in uni

son. Every thing contributes to the impressive relation of one awful tale of terror.

Avalanche. LOUTHERBOURG. The rich variety of Loutherbourg's palette, and the bravura of his pencil, are here admirably exemplified.

Sleeping Nymph. HOPPNER. This always appeared to us to be Mr. Hoppner's master-piece. We can scarcely persuade ourselves that breath does not actually issue from between those deliciously parted lips.

The Consolation. HARLOWE.The melancholy and premature death of this young and promising artist at the very moment when his powers, matured by travel and observation, were beginning to unfold themselves, no doubt deprived his country of a rich harvest of pictorial fame; of which this graceful composition seemed to be a pleasing

earnest.

Lady Leicester. SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE. One of the accomplished president's most elegant whole length portraits. It is not surprising indeed that he should exert himself on such an occasion.

Dutch Coast with Fishermen. TURNER. Of its class we will venture to pronounce that there is nothing finer in existence, either of ancient or of modern art. It is in Mr. Turner's very best manner. With rather more of finish than is usual to his pencil, there is all the breadth, grandeur and attention to the tout ensemble by which this extraordinary artist is distinguished.

The Pleiades Disappearing. HowARD.-Mr. Howard's poetical imagination and classical taste have here produced one of the most charming works of the British school. Well do we recollect the delight with which we first viewed it at one of the exhibitions at Somerset House; and well do we recollect the indignation and disgust with which we understood that it remained, not a day, not a month, but whole years, undisposed of! It is in good hands however at last.

Europa. HILTON.—Mr. Hilton has imparted a new interest to a frequently repeated subject by his mode of treating it. All the figures are replete with character and expression; and the sailing movement of the whole group is distinctly and finely indicated. Nor is this beautiful picture deficient in the less important considerations of light and shade and, colouring. The effect is simple and good; and the tones of the flesh, the drapery, and the background are quite Venetian.

Girl crossing the Brook. THOMSON.-This we believe was one of the earliest pictures the exhibition of which, at the Royal Academy, brought Mr. Thomson's fine talents into notice; nor, admirable as many of his subsequent works have been, has he yet been able to surpass it in grace and simplicity.

The Fortune-Teller. OWEN.-A forcible and expressive little composition. Who can look at the rustic visionary's face and not distinctly perceive that she is building many a superb castle in the air out of the materials with which the crone at

her elbow is abundantly supplying

her?

Little Hampton Pier. CALCOTT. -The unaffected truth and force of Mr. Calcott's pencil are here charmingly exhibited.

Sunrise on the Coast. COLLINS.— In subjects of this description, Mr. Collins is wholly unrivalled. The fidelity of his half-tints is such, that they seem those of Nature herself.

View of London. VINCENT. Grandly composed, and powerfully painted.

But we must check ourselves, or we shall run through the whole gallery. Here then we take our leave; again expressing our unfeigned admiration of the combined feelings of patriotism and love of art in which this noble project originated. How different has Sir John Leicester's conduct been from that of the, we fear not altogether imaginary, character of Timander; of whom one of the ablest artists and writers of the present day has expressed his honest scorn in the following nervous lines!

THIS is a very pleasing little exhibition, and few as the works are of which it is composed, nobody who visits it, unless, indeed, he be one of those prudent and sagacious persons who consider quantity to be of much more importance than quality, will complain that he has wasted either his time or his money.

The pictures of fruit and flowers, "painted from the choicest produc

tions of nature, in the gardens of France, while their archetypes were in all their freshness and pride," are extremely beautiful. The compo

sitions, both of form and of colour, are magnificent and gorgeous. The boldness of the handling (which is almost excessive) is a quality rarely to be met with in modern works in this class of art. The general management of the light and shade is