[135] Lacretelle, tom. xiii., p. 187; Montholon, tom. iii., p. 187.
[136] "The duke is avaricious. His only daughter and heiress is married to the Archduke of Milan. The more you squeeze from him, the more you take from the House of Austria."—Lallemant to Buonaparte, 14th May; Correspondence Inédite, tom. i., p. 169.
[137] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 174.
[138] "The republic had already received, by the same title, and placed in its Museum, the chefs-d'œuvre of the Dutch and Flemish schools. The Romans carried away from conquered Greece the statues which adorn the capitol. Every capital of Europe contained the spoils of antiquity, and no one had ever thought of imputing it to them as a crime."—Thibaudeau, tom. i., p. 214.
[139] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 174.
[140] "Is it, then, so difficult for Sir Walter to justify the motive which induced Napoleon to prefer works of art? It was a motive too great and too praiseworthy to need justification."—Louis Buonaparte, p. 21.
[141] On the 7th of May, Carnot had written to Buonaparte—"The executive Directory is convinced, citizen-general, that you consider the glory of the fine arts connected with that of the army under your command. Italy is, in great part, indebted to them for her riches and renown; but the time is arrived when their reign must pass into France to strengthen and embellish that of liberty. The National Museum must contain the most distinguished monuments of all the arts, and you will neglect no opportunity of enriching it with such as it expects from the present conquests of the army of Italy, and those which may follow," &c.—Correspondence Inédite, tom. i., p. 155.
[142] Moniteur, 25th Floreal, 16th May.
[143] See also Lacretelle's "Digression sur l'enlèvement de statues, tableaux, &c."—Hist., tom. xiii., p. 172.
[144] See Letter of the Directory to Buonaparte, May 7; Correspondence Inédite, tom. i., p. 145; and Montholon, tom. iv., p. 447.