Proclamation to the Cisalpine Republic, Nov. 17, 1797.
"We have given you liberty. Take care you preserve it. To be worthy of your destiny make only discreet and honorable laws, and cause them to be executed with energy. Favor the diffusion of knowledge, and respect religion. Compose your battalions not of disreputable men, but with citizens imbued with the principles of the Republic, and closely linked with the prosperity. You have need to impress yourselves with the feelings of your strength, and with the dignity which befits the free man. Divided and bowed by ages of tyranny, you could not alone have achieved your independence. In a few years, if true to yourselves, no nation will be strong enough to wrest liberty from you. Till then the great nation will protect you."
