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Biographical pathway > 1797-1802 > At the Service of the Republic and of Letters in Bologna
At the Service of the Republic and of Letters in Bologna
Foscolo continued to play an active role in the political debate with newspaper pieces after arriving in Bologna from Milan in September 1798; together with his brother Giovanni Dionigi he founded the “Genio Democratico” and, after this publication was forced to close, the “Monitor Bolognese”. In these newspapers he published in instalments between September and October Istruzioni Politico-Morali (Political-Moral Instructions), a sort of revolutionary handbook for the people, starting with an article entitled Dell’indipendenza nazionale (Of the national indipendence). Foscolo sustained some principles inspired by reading Rousseau and Machiavelli: the sovereignty of the people as the basis of national independence; the independent composition of the army that must be formed by citizens and the need for an equal distribution of wealth. In December 1798 “Monitor Bolognese” also ceased publication.
In the meantime, constantly pressed by the problem of having to earn a living, Foscolo obtained the post of Assistant to the Chancellor and Secretary for Letters of the Court of the Criminal Section of the Department of the Rhine (Aiutante del Cancelliere e Segretario per le Lettere del Tribunale presso la Sezione Criminale del Dipartimento del Reno); he also reached an agreement with Bologna's Marsigli book trader to start publishing an incomplete novel, Le ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis, in September 1798.
When the triumphant Austro-Russian army arrived in the vicinity of Bologna in April 1799, Foscolo enlisted as a volunteer in the National Guard and took part in the re-conquest of Cento, when he was injured in the leg by a bayonet strike. Arrested and imprisoned in Modena by the Austrians, he was freed on June 12 by the French troops led by General McDonald and went with them to Genoa, after taking part in the battle of Novi on August 15.
 
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