| The people of Genoa having imbibed the principles of democratical liberty,
and tumults having arisen between them and the adherents of the old government,
and they not being able to stem the torrent, sent deputies to Bonaparte
at Montebello, where a convention was concluded on the 6th June, 1805, by
which the government of the Genoese republic acknowledged the sovereignty
to reside in the body of the citizens of its territory. The legislative
power was entrusted to two representative councils. Municipalities were
established in the communes and districts, on the model of France, and a
committee was charged with framing a constitution, and all the laws of the
Republic, with a reserve of doing nothing contrary to the Catholic religion.
The provisional government was to extinguish faction, grant a general amnesty,
and unite the people in rallying round the public liberty. France agreed
to give her protection, and even the assistance of its armies, to facilitate
if necessary the execution of these articles, and maintain the integrity
of the territory of the Republic. This new modelled affair was named, "The
Ligurian Republic." |
