pable of it. And for the poets, if they had this science, they would know how to exclude what is proper to vanity from the speeches of heroes. I would have the teachers of youth instructed in it, that they might not stifle or neglect the powers of their pupils, nor attempt one discipline by the exercises of another. Ministers of the Gods should learn it, that they may know what quality or energy

they adore under the name of a God: for in their present ignorance they confuse the offices of all their deities, and invent abominable tales, under pretence of honoring them.

Soc. Offer my prayers with yours, excellent Phidias, for the happy advent of the new science. May the purpose it may serve more than counterbalance the evil it must bring. J. D. W.

No one can be long in Genoa without becoming acquainted with the striking characteristics of Massena. The heights around the city in which he struggled the crippled and deformed beings that meet one at every turn, pointed to by the inhabitants as the results of that awful famine Massena brought on the inhabitants, when besieged by sea and land he obstinately refused to surrender-are constant mementoes of that iron-hearted

man.

Andrea Massena's birth-place was only a hundred miles from Genoa. He was born at Nice on the 6th of May, 1758, and, while still an infant, was left an orphan in the world. Growing up without parental care, his education was neglected, and he was left to the mercy of almost any impulse that might strike him. An uncle, captain of an ordinary merchant vessel, took him to sea with him while he was a mere boy. But after having made two voyages, the young Andrea, then only seventeen years of age, enlisted as a private soldier in the royal Italian regiment, in which another uncle ranked as captain. This service seemed more fitted to his tastes, and he performed its duties with such regularity and care that he was made corporal. Long after, when scarred with his many battles and standing on the highest pinnacle of military fame-Marshal of France and Duke of Rivoli-he frequently spoke of this first promotion as affording him more happiness than all the after honors that were heaped upon him. From this he went up (gradually enough, it is true) to serjeant, and, finally, adjutant, where he stopped. Unable by the

most strenuous exertions and unimpeachable fidelity to reach the rank of underlieutenant, he at length, after fourteen years' service, left the army in indignation and, marrying the daughter of a shop-keeper, settled down as a common man in Nice. Here he doubtless would have remained and died a common man, but for the outbreak of the Revolution. Massena, like those other stern-hearted men who afterwards shook Europe so, heard the call for brave and daring spirits and immediately reëntered the army. At the age of thirty-five he found himself general of division, and had acquired in the army of Italy, where he served, the reputation of a man of great courage and skill. He was present at Montenotte, Millesimo, Arcole, Lodi, and through all that brilliant campaign of Napoleon in 1796, in Italy. He did not long escape the eye of the young Corsican who was astonishing Europe by his victories, and he soon began to look upon him as he did upon Ney, Lannes and Murat. He once said to him during this campaign, "Your corps is stronger than that of any other general-you, yourself, are equivalent to six thousand men." When peace was concluded with Austria, he was chosen to convey the ratification of it to the Directory, which received him in the most flattering manner.

While Bonaparte was in Egypt, Massena commanded the army on the eastern frontiers of France. On his return, Massena was intrusted with the defence of Genoa, invested by the Austrians and blockaded by the English. The next two or three years were passed at Paris or Ruel in comparative idleness. He bought

the magnificent chateau of Richelieu at the latter place, and scarce ever appeared at court. He was a strong republican, and disliked the pomp and show the First Consul began to gather around him. Bonaparte was aware of this, but still he felt he could not do without him; and so, when made emperor in 1804, he made him Marshal of France. The next year the defence of Italy was intrusted to him, and at Verona, and afterwards at Caldiero, he beat and completely routed the Archduke Charles and drove him out of the country. The year following this he commanded the army that accompanied Joseph Bonaparte to Naples and, by the successful siege of Gaeta, fixed the new king firmly on his throne. These were the years of his glory; and we find him the next year, 1807, commanding the right wing of the Grand Army in Poland. At the close of this campaign he was created Duke of Rivoli, and presented by Bonaparte with a large sum of money with which to support his new title.

In 1810, Napoleon placed him over the army in Portugal. Reducing Ciudad Rodrigo, after three months' siege, and taking Almeida, he advanced on Wellington, who retreated to the Torres Vedras. Here the English commander intrenched himself and bid defiance to Massena, who, finding himself unable to dislodge him, and famine and sickness wasting his army, was compelled to commence a disastrous and barbarous retreat into Spain. He was shortly after recalled, and from his infirm health and shattered constitution, was left behind in the fatal Russian Expedition, though he earnestly besought it. This ended his military career. He was at Toulon when Bonaparte landed from Elba. He could not at first believe the report, but he was soon convinced of its truth by a letter from Napoleon himself. Prince," said he, hoist the banner of Essling on the walls of Toulon and follow me." But the old Marshal refused to break his new allegiance till the surrounding cities had gone over, and the Bourbon cause was evidently lost. He took no part in the military preparations of Napoleon during the Hundred Days, and after the overthrow of the Emperor at Waterloo he was appointed by Louis commander of the National Guard, and was one of the council appointed to try Ney. But the old Marshal declared the court incompetent to perform such a task, and would have nothing to

66

do with the dishonor and murder of his old comrade in arms.

I have thus given a brief outline of Massena's career, in order to furnish a kind of reference to the reader when I come to speak of the battles in which this intrepid leader exhibited his great strength.

Massena possessed scarcely a trait either of the Italian or French character, though, from his birth-place, he might be supposed to exhibit something of both. He was not an impulsive man like Junot or Murat, nor an impetuous creature like Lannes. He was not easily excited, but when once aroused he was one of the most terrible men in Bonaparte's army. He was like an enormous wheel that requires a great deal of force to set it in motion, but when it does move it crushes everything in its passage. Perhaps the prominent trait in his character was fixedness of purpose. He was more like Ney in this respect than any other of Napoleon's marshals. His tenacity was like death itself. A battle with him never seemed over, unless he gained it. This obstinacy of resolution never forsook him. I do not know an instance in his whole career, where he appeared the least affected by the panic of others. The cry of sauve qui peut, never hastened his footsteps, or disturbed the regular movement of his thoughts. His own iron will was sufficient for any emergency. He wished no aid or sympathy from others to steady him. He fell back on himself in the most desperate straits with a confidence that was sublime. Amid the wildest hurricane of cavalry-face to face with a hotly-worked battery, while his dead and dying guard lay in heaps around him, or retreating before an overwhelming force-he was the same self-collected and self-poised man. Amid the disordered ranks he stood like a rock amid the waves, and hurled back from his firm breast the chaos that threatened to sweep him away. His stubbornness of will, however, was not mere mulish obstinacy; which is simply aversive to change of purpose, but was based on decisions which evinced the soundest judgment and a most active and vigorous mind. It is true that his hatred of defeat, combined with his stubborn resolution, sometimes caused him to err in exposing his men to useless slaughter. He was brave as courage itself, and constitutionally so. It required no excitement to bring him

up. He did not seem to be aware of danger, and acted, not so much like a man who has made up his mind to meet the perils that environ him heroically, as like one who is perfectly unconscious of their existence. His frame corresponded with his character, and seemed made of iron; his endurance was wonderful. He had one peculiar trait-he grew clear-headed amid the disorder of battle. It is said that on ordinary occasions he appeared dull and heavy, and his remarks were of the most ordinary kind; but the thunder of cannon cleared up his ideas and set his mind in motion. The effect of the first report of cannon, as it rolled heavily away over the field, shaking the plain with its sullen jar, was almost instantaneous, and his mind not only became active but cheerful. It was the kind of music he liked, and his strong, ambitous nature beat time to it. Neither was this a momentary excitement, but a steady effect continuing throughout the contest. Amid the wildest uproar of conflicting thousands buried in the smoke and tumult of a headlong charge-his thoughts were not only clear and forcible, but indicated the man of genius. Great emergencies often call out great mental and physical efforts; but there are few men whose minds the roar of artillery, the shock of cavalry, and all the confusion and disorder of a fierce-fought battle-field, brighten up into its clearest moods. Such a man must have within him the most terrible elements of our nature. This singular characteristic gave wonderful collectedness to his manner in the midst of the fight. In front of the deadliest fire, struggling against the most desperate odds, he gave his orders and performed his evolutions without the least frustration or alarm. He never seemed disheartened by any reverses, and fought after a defeat with the same energy he did after a victory.

This self-control-this wonderful power of will--rendering a man equal in himself to any emergency-is one of the rarest qualities in man. Those who judge of Massena's ability as a general seem to overlook this characteristic entirely, or place it on a par with mere animal courage. But blind, dogged resistance is one thing the same tenacity of will, combined with the powerful action of a clear and vigorous mind, is quite another. The former the most common man may possess, but the latter is found only in great men. It is mind alone that imparts that

prodigious power. Mere obstinacy secures about as many disasters as successes, but Massena acquired the title in the French army of "The Favored Child of Victory." No man could have won that title without genius. Nothing is more common than the absurd echo of Bonaparte's statements, that his generals could do nothing of themselves and were mere engines-terrible, it is true-which he brought to act on the enemy's ranks. Men talk as if those conquerors of Europe-the Marshals of Napoleon-wer mere senseless avalanches which he hurled where he wished. Such splendid achievements as were wrought in the wars with Bonaparte are the results of military genius, not animal courage. But even Napoleon, when on St. Helena, was inclined to praise Massena. "Massena," said he, "was a superior man; he was eminently noble and brilliant when surrounded by the fire and disorder of battle. The sound of guns cleared his ideas, and gave him understanding, penetration and cheerfulness. He was endowed with extraordinary courage and firmness, which seemed to increase in excess of danger When defeated, he was always ready to fight the battle again as though he had been the conqueror."

This is as true as any criticism Bonaparte ever passed on any of his marshals. The remark respecting his courage increasing "in excess of danger," is especially so. There seemed an exhaustless reserve force in him which came forth as the storm gathered darker and the dangers thickened around him. That force his will could not summon up-perilous crises alone could do it, and then his very look and voice were terrible. Towering in front of his shattered column, he moved like the God of War, amid the tempest that beat upon him. Sometimes, when moving into the very teeth of destruction, he would encourage his shrinking men by putting his hat on his sword and lifting it over his head, and thus, like a pillar of fire to his men, he marched straight on death. There cannot be a more touching eulogy than that passed on Massena and others by Napoleon when, sad and disheartened, he wrote from before Mantua to the Directory, informing it of his perilous position. Said he, "I despair of preventing the raising of the blockade of Mantua; should that disaster arise, we shall soon be behind the Adda, and perhaps over the Alps. The wounded are few, but they are the

élite of the army. Our best officers are struck down; the army of Italy, reduced to a handful of heroes, is exhausted. The heroes of Lodi, of Millesimo, of Castiglione, of Bassano, are dead or in hospitals. Joubert, Lanusse, Victor, Murat and Charlot are wounded; we are abandoned in the extremity of Italy. Perhaps the hour of the brave Augereau, of the intrepid Massena, of Berthier, is about to strike; what then will become of these brave soldiers?" In his moments of despondency he confesses how he leans on such men as Massena. Well he might, for a short time after, in the terrible fight in the dikes of Reno, and the passage of Arcole, another of his props went down in Lannes, and Massena escaped almost by a miracle. In the wasting fire to which he was exposed, Massena could not bring his men to charge, except by placing himself at the head of the column, and lifting his chapeau on the point of his sword above his head, and thus moving to the onset. It is said that his bearing on this occasion was magnificent. While his column moved along the dike, he was seen in front, bareheaded, with his glittering sword stretched high over his head, on the point of which swung his hat as a banner to the ranks that pressed after; while his hair streamed in the storm of battle, and his piercing eye flashed fire, as it surveyed the dangers that encompassed him. Thus, again and again did he advance to the charge through the tempest of shot that swept everything down around him, and by this course alone was enabled to maintain his ground during the day.

But with all Massena's bravery, and firmness, and genius, he had some traits of character that stained his reputation and dimmed his glory. He was rapacious, it cannot be denied-though not to the extent his enemies assert-and at times cruel. He seemed almost entirely wanting in human sympathy, and cared no more for the lives of others than for his own, which was apparently not at all. In the battle of Rivoli, which took lace the winter after that of Arcole, Massena exhibited that insensibility to atigue which always characterized him, and which he, by constant, unwearied discipline, imparted to his soldiers. In this engagement, Bonaparte opposed thirty thousand men to forty thousand. He arrived on the elevated plain of Rivoli at 2 o'clock in the morning of the

14th of January. The heights around were illuminated by the innumerable fires of the bivouac of the enemy, revealing the immense force he was about to struggle against. Nothing daunted, however, he formed his army under the light of the silver moon that was sailing through the midnight heavens, shedding its quiet light on the snow-covered Alps, and casting in deeper shadow the dark firtrees that clasped their precipitous sides; and by nine in the morning was ready for action. The Austrian columns, moving down from the heights of the Montebaldo, which lay in a semicircle around the French army, fell on the left with such power that it was forced back and overthrown. While the Austrians were following up this success, and the position of the French was every moment becoming more critical, the village of Rivoli, near by, suddenly rang with the clatter of horses' hoofs. Bonaparte, with his guard, was plunging through on a fierce gallop to the head-quarters of Massena. This indomitable chief had marched the whole night, and was now resting his troops before leading them into action. In a moment Massena was on horseback, and, forming his wearied troops into column, charged the Austrians in front with such desperation that they were forced to fall back, and the combat was restored. Bonaparte never called on the intrepid Massena in vain. The doubtful and bloody contest was at length at nightfall decided in favor of the French. But there was another Austrian army farther down on the Lower Adige, where Augereau's position was every hour be coming more critical. With a part of Massena's division, which had marched all the previous night, and fought with unconquerable resolution the whole day, he started for Mantua. These indomitable troops moved off as if fresh from their bivouacs, rather than wearied with a whole night's rapid march and a succeeding day of hard fighting, and marched all that night and the following day, and arrived after dark in the neighborhood of Mantua. At day-break the battle was again raging and, before night, Bonaparte was a second time victorious.

The next year found Berthier governor of Rome, and practicing the most extensive system of pillage on the poor pope and his Ecclesiastical States. The soldiers at length became exasperated with the excesses of their commander, and to check the insubordination, Massena was ap

pointed to supersede him. All the officers, from the captains down, had assembled and drawn up a protest against the conduct of Berthier. Massena, as soon as he assumed the command, ordered the insubordinate troops, except three thousand, to leave the capital. But they refused to march, and assembling again, drew up another remonstrancecomplained of Massena-accused him of pillaging the Venetian States, and practicing extortion and immoralities of every kind. Even his iron hand was not strong enough to reduce the soldiers to allegiance, and, throwing up the command, he

retired to Arena.

While Bonaparte was in Egypt, Massena, after suffering various losses, and being finally driven from Zurich by the Archduke Charles, at length retrieved his fame by a masterly movement around the city, and evinced not only his unconquerable tenacity by fighting his lost battles over again, but also his consummate skill as a general in arranging his plan of attack.

But perhaps there is no greater illustration of Massena's firmness, courage and force, than the manner in which he sustained

THE SIEGE OF GENOA.

After Bonaparte's return from Egypt, he appointed Massena over the army of Italy. Moreau at the head of a hundred and thirty thousand men was to advance on Swabia, while Napoleon himself, at the head of forty thousand, was to march over the Alps.

The 60,000 soldiers given to Massena had dwindled down through fever and famine to about 36,000 fighting men, which were required to defend both Genoa and Nice, though a hundred and twenty miles apart. Melas, with 120,000 soldiers in good condition, was the enemy he had to oppose. Leaving 50,000 in Piedmont to watch the passes of the Alps, Melas bore down with 70,000 on the gorges of the Appennines, for the purpose of cutting the French army in two, and shutting one half up in Nice, and the other half in Genoa. This he succeeded in doing; and though Suchet and Soult fought with unexampled bravery, the French line was divided, and Suchet and Massena separated from each other. The latter was now compelled to fall back on Genoa, with only 18,000 men. On the evening of the 6th of April, the Austrian flag was flying on the heights that overlooked the city; while at the

same time a British squadron was seen slowly moving up the gulf to shut it in seaward. Without the speedy appearance of a French army over the Alps, the army of Massena was evidently a doomed one. He knew that he could hold the place against all the force that could be brought against it; but the convoys of provisions which had been kept back by adverse winds, were now effectually shut out by the English blockading squadron; while the Austrian army sweeping in an entire line round the walls of the city cut off all supplies from the country, so that famine would soon waste his army. But it was in the midst of difficulties like this, that Massena's spirit rose in its strength. He seemed to multiply with exigencies, and there commenced with the siege of Genoa one of the most heroic struggles witnessed during the war.

Genoa is defended, both by nature and art, as I have never seen any other seaport. The Liguria Gulf strikes its head deep into the Appennines, so that the ground slopes from the very verge of the water up to the mountain. Two moles running from the opposite shores, almost cross each other, cutting off the extreme point of the gulf for the port of the city. Perpendicular walls rise from the water, forming the base of the houses that line the shore. Around these, cannon are planted, while forts are on every commanding point above the city. Added to this, a double wall surrounds the town, one six miles in circumference, the other thirteen. The outer walls, corresponding to the shape of the hill, ascend it somewhat in the form of a triangle. Two forts, the Spur and the Diamond, stood at the top of this triangle, protecting the fortified walls down on either side by their commanding fire. There were three other forts on the east side of the city, protecting commanding eminences that rose from the river Bisagno. On the west, or towards Nice, there were no forts, and the Poleevera comes pouring its waters into the gulf without affording any strong positions.

Thus defended, Massena saw the immense Austrian army slowly contracting its lines around the city, like a huge anaconda tightening its folds about its victim. Massena immediately resolved to attempt two desperate projects-one, to sally out on the east with his handful of men, and drive the Austrians over the Appennines-the other, to sally out on the west, and endeavor to cut the Austrian