Napolion
16
Alexander Strong.
D
A
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E
Word Fred. DArley
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}
DC
225
.C8
1798
ہیں
5*
Chart of LOWER EGYPT, Mllustrative of BONAPARTES Intercepted Correspondence-
•
1
ME
D
Bequier or
Rósettà
Al Bukir
Road
Alexandria
Canal
Marabou or
Ioles' des Aruber
>
I T ERR A NE A N
Damietta
Rahmanie
DE L
T A
Miniet
Salame
Schebreki
Demenhur
Schabur
Commecherift
Road to
Cairo
Marine Leagues
5
ISTHMUS
of
Alkow
Abou Nachabe
Vardan
Elveracke
Oumidinar
Emb ab et
Bulac
pad to Damiett
CATRO
Gizeh Old Cairo
Old Canal
о
Canal
10
Pyramids
AA
A
Nile
River
London. Published Nov 27 1798 for LWright Piccadilly.
}
SU E Z
Suez
Red
Sea
Neele sculp!
COPIES
OF
ORIGINAL LETTERS
FROM THE ARMY OF
GENERAL BONAPARTE
IN
EGYPT,
INTERCEPTED
BY THE
THE FLEET
UNDER THE COMMAND OF
ADMIRAL LORD NELSON.
WITH AN
ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. WRIGHT, OPPOSITE OLD BOND
STREET, PICCADILLY.
1798.
[Entered at Stationers' hall.]
D LO
D
་་་།
rechase D F 2-19 $9
Libn.
Last
9-3-27
15455
INTRODUCTION.
THE Correspondence, of which the following
Letters make a part, was intercepted at different
periods, by the Turkish and English ships of war.
It consists of Official and Private Letters, whose
contents, perhaps, like those of a thousand others,
which have, at various times, fallen into the hands
of our cruizers, would have remained a secret to all
but Government, had not the French, by holding
out, first, a false account of the motive of this
famous Expedition, and then, by spreading the most
absurd and exaggerated accounts of its success ;
rendered it necessary to undeceive Europe, (still
trembling at the tale), by proving from their own
statements, that what began in wickedness and
fraud, was likely to terminate in wretchedness and
despair.
The Publication being thus determined upon,
the next step was to make such a selection from
the voluminous Correspondence in the hands of
Government, as, without gratifying an idle curio-
sity, or indulging a prurient inclination for scandal
a
ii
INTRODUCTION.
and intrigue, should yet leave nothing to be desired
with respect to the real situation of the Army in
Egpyt; its views and successes, its miseries and dis-
appointments. For this purpose, every thing that
was not illustrative of one or other of those objects
was suppressed: all private Letters, unless inti-
mately connected with the end in view, were pass-
ed over; and even those of Bonaparte (which have
been so shamefully misrepresented, and commented
upon by those fervid champions, of decency, the
Opposition Writers*), though not strictly and ab-
*The following paragraphs are taken from the Morning
Chronicle. We might have produced a hundred more of the
same kind, but these we think will be sufficient to convince
the reader, of the "superior delicacy" of that paper. When
he has considered them well, he will not be disinclined, per-
haps, to felicitate the French ladies, on the letters of their
lovers and friends. having luckily escaped such
and honourable hands!
delicate,"
"It is not very creditable to the generosity of Office, that
the private letters from Bonaparte and his Army to their
friends in France, which were intercepted, should be pub-
lished. It derogates from the character of a nation to de-
scend to such gossiping. One of these letters is from Bona-
parte to his Brother, complaining of the profligacy of his
wife; another from young Beauharnois, expressing his hopes
that his dear Mamma is not so wicked as she is represented!
Such are the precious secrets which, to breed mischief in
private families, is to be published in French and English!"
Nov. 24.
"After the public have been so long agitated with anxiety
and speculation respecting Bonaparte and his Expedition,
INTRODUCTION.
iii
solutely private, yet containing nothing that could
materially interest or inform the public, were laid
aside with the rest. We trust that we have not
admitted any thing that can raise a blush on the
cheek of our readers, either for themselves or for
us.
We might here close our Introduction, but as
the Egyptian Expedition has awakened curiosity,
and been the theme of much wonder, and applause,
and error, and misrepresentation; we do not think
we shall render an unacceptable service to the
reader, by enlarging a little on the subject.
The French have long turned their eyes towards
Egypt. The sanguine disposition of their Consuls
in the Levant, had ministered with admirable effect,
to the credulity, and avarice, and ambition, of this
restless nation, by assuring them that Egypt was the
Paradise of the East, the key of the treasures of the
Indies; easy to be seized, and still more easy to
they are at length to be gratified with the scandal and in-
trigue of which the private Letters from the General and his
Officers are fuli."
[Nov. 25.
"The private correspondence of Bonaparte's Officers, is a
curious specimen of public intelligence. It reminds us of
the weak and impolitic Ministry who persecuted WILKES.
When their fund of malice was nearly exhausted, they gave
out that he had written an indecent poem, which certainly
•has as much to do with the question of general warrants, as
Madame Bonaparte's chastity has to do with her husband's
Expedition through Egypt!"
[Nov. 26.
a 2
iv
INTRODUCTION.
be kept! There was not a Frenchman under the
old regimen, who was not fully persuaded of the
truth of all this; and certainly they have lost no-
thing of their ambition, their avarice, and their cre-
dulity, under the new.
What plans the Monarchy might have devised
for gaining possession of this "Paradise," we know
not. It could not hope to effect it by force.-But
the present rulers of France, who have trampled on
the powers of the Continent too long, and with too
much impunity, to think it necessary to manage
them now, could have no apprehensions of resist-
ance to their measures, and were not likely to be
scrupulous in the choice of means, to effect what-
ever purpose they had in view.
1
!
Egypt, however, though said and believed to
be a rich country, promised no immediate supplies
of plunder; and the project for seizing it would
still have remained in the port-folio of Citizen
Talleyrand, had not a circumstance happened that
made its speedy adoption a measure of necessity.
Every one knows that the Directory long since
engaged to make a free gift to the army, of a thou-
sand million livres, at the conclusion of a general
peace. This engagement, like many others, it seemed
to have forgotten; till the necessity of attaching the
troops to their interests, and thus enabling them to
perfect the Revolution of the 18th Fructidor, made
it necessary for the Triumvirate to renew their pro-
INTRODUCTION.
V
mise, and to revive the languid expectations of the
army.
None contributed more to the success of this
fatal day than the army of Italy, which, to the
eternal disgrace of Bonaparte, was permitted to
overawe the councils, and to assume to itself the
whole power of the state:
Such a service could not be overlooked: their
claim to a portion of the milliard became doubly
valid, and as the war in Italy was now supposed to
be at an end, thousands of them returned to France
to claim it.
Here began the difficulties of the Directory.
They had no money to give; but it was not expe-
dient to confess it: and the expedition to Egypt
was, therefore, brought forward, as an excellent
expedient for quieting the present clamour, and
providing for forty thousand veteran troops, inured
to plunder, and impatient of controul; who were
too sensible of their merits, to be quietly laid aside;
and too urgent in their demands, to be cajoled
with empty promises.
Hence arose the expedition to Egypt. The
plunder of the Venitian docks and arsenals, had
fortunately furnished them with a vast quantity of
naval stores, and with several ships of the line,
frigates, &c. With the former, they fitted out the
vessels in the port of Toulon; and they collected
transports from every quarter. While these prepa-
vi
INTRODUCTION.
rations were going on, the cupidity and ardour of
the troops were artfully inflamed by ambiguous
hints of an expedition that was to eclipse, in imme-
diate advantages, the boasted conquests of Cortes
and Pizarro.
To promote the farce (for such we are persuaded
it was), artists of all kinds, chymists, botanists, mem-
bers of the pyro-technical school in prodigious
numbers, and we know not what quantities of people
calling themselves Savans, were collected from
every part of France, and driven to Toulon in
shoals. When all these were safely embarked,
Bonaparte assembled the Italian army, (amounting
to 22,000 men), and after gravely promising them
on his honour, which he observed had ever been
sacred, that they should each receive on their return
money enough to purchase six acres and a half of
good land, took them on board, and tranquilly
proceeded to bury them all in Egypt.
On his route he collected near twenty thousand
more of the army of Italy-sturdy beggars, who
might have disquieted the Directory if they had been
suffered to remain in Europe, and who will now
contribute with their fortunate comrades, to fatten
the vultures of Grand Cairo.
We shall not stop to notice the capture, as it is
called, of Malta,* nor the various gambols that
* That event had been secured before Bonaparte left
Toulon, by the intrigues and largesses of Poussielgue: these
INTRODUCTION.
vii
were played by this unwieldy armament in the
Mediterranean, but having conducted it in safety to
Alexandria, return to make a few miscellaneous
observations on its outset, supposed destination, &c.
The first circumstance that strikes us, is the ex-
treme ignorance of the French, with regard to the
country they were going to desolate and destroy.
They had had connections with its ports for ages,
and yet they appear to have known no more of its
interior, than the inhabitants of the moon. This
want of knowledge was universal-from the Com-
mander in Chief* to the meanest soldier in the
army, all was darkness, and blind confidence in the
blindest of guides!
The "Savans" were not a whit better informed
than the rest-like Phaëton,
"They hop'd, perhaps, to meet with pleasing woods,
"And stately fanes, and cities fill'd with gods :-
""
and like him too, we imagine, they have found a
general conflagration, and a river!
Now we have mentioned these men, it may not
be amiss to inquire into the services the general
have been since laid open by the Bailli Teignie, and others;
and made the subject of a formal accusation against the
Grand Master Hompesch, by the Knights who have taken
refuge in Germany, Russia, &c.
* In a letter of Bonaparte's to the Directory; dated July
6th, he says, "this country is any thing but what travellers,
and story tellers represent it to be."
viii
INTRODUCTION.
literature of Europe is likely to derive from their
exertions; services, be it remembered, for which
the Directory, who forced them on board, have
already received the felicitation of all the "friends
of liberty."
The inquiry will be short. All the mention we
find of them, from the hour of their embarkation
to the present, is contained in Berthier's letter to
the Consuls of the Roman Republic. "The Sa-
vans Monge, Bertolet, Boursienne, &c." says he,
fought with the greatest courage; they did not
quit the General's side during any part of the action,
and they proved by their exertions, that in com-
batting THE ENEMIES OF THEIR COUNTRY,
every Frenchman is a soldier," &c.
Thus we find that the "enlightened geniuses of the
eighteenth century," who were to explore the con-
struction of the Pyramids, to dive into the Cata-
combs, to wind through the mazes of the sacred
labyrinth, to dig up the mystic volumes of Hermes,
and, in a word, to roam " with free foot" from the
*The cant of the French is even more shocking than
their enormities. They invade a friendly country, which
they wantonly devote to pillage and devastation; and the
leaders of this ferocious horde of savages have the detest-
able insolence to call the unoffending people whom they are
exterminating for the crime of endeavouring to protect their
lives and properties, and who are utterly and alike ignorant
of them and their sanguinary employers- THE ENEMIES
OF FRANCE."
INTRODUCTION.
ix
Cataracts to the seven mouths of the Nile: were
become mere men of blood, obliged to cling to the
troops for protection, and unable to advance a single
step to the right or left, beyond the reach of the
musquetry or cannon of the army!
But the imbecillity displayed in the outset of this
strange expedition, is not more extraordinary than
the obstinacy with which it has been held up to the
admiration of Europe. Either ignorance, or fear,
or Jacobinism, has been always at hand-to suggest
a greatness of plan, where there was little, in fact,
but blind hazard-to whisper a combination of
means amidst the want of every thing, and to pro-
mise infallible success to men whose every step
was attended with destruction and despair!
While the army was yet on its way to the place
of its destination, the old plans of the French Go- ^
vernment were in every mouth; and the wisdom
was loudly applauded which was to attach the Beys
to the invader, crush the dominion of the Porte,
and secure the country for ever to the "Great
Nation."
Bonaparte arrives, and reverses the whole scheme.
The Beys are now to be crushed, because they
alone have the power to resist: and the sovereignty
of Constantinople is to be upheld, because it is in-
efficient. The applause was louder than before!
"Better and better still," cried the sagacious disco-
verers of deep design in all the bedlam tricks of
X
INTRODUCTION.
France; "that country will gain more this way
than t'other" Vive la République !"-
Again, when it was found that no impressions but
those of hatred and hostility, were made on the na-
tives of Egypt, and that the conqueror barely held the
ground on which his army halted, we were suddenly
made acquainted with another and a greater scheme;
which we were seriously assured was the only ge-
nuine one, and which could not fail of success!
What was not done in Egypt, might be done in
Persia. The inhabitants of the southern coasts of
that country were opportunely discovered to have
the primitive religion of the Arabs, before it was
infected with Mahometanism; and with them,
"through the means of their venerable Patriarch,"
Bonaparte, it was known, had long since been in
correspondence. The clue of the mighty maze
which had so much puzzled mankind, was at length
discovered! Arabia was to be restored to liberty
and happiness, by the arms of France, acting on
one side of it, and by these innumerable and faithful
auxiliaries, on the other. The rest was plain enough.
Arabia being once organized, and in possession of
a Directory and two Councils, a free passage to
India was afforded, of course, through Mekran,
the region of friends and philosophers, and the
tyrant of the sea," driven with disgrace from
Calcutta!
•
It would be superfluous to send our readers to
INTRODUCTION.
bad i
xi
any author of credit, for a refutation of all this
absurdity; which yet has been dwelt on, by the
friends of France, with complacency and delight-
but if they should happen to look into Niehbur,
they will find, that there really are some wild Arabs,
a poor, and miserable, and half naked people, who
wander up and down the coasts of Arabia Proper,
and live on putrid fish! These Icthyophagi are the
enlightened savages, who, in conjunction with Bo-
naparte, are to diffuse the knowledge of liberty and
virtue through the Eastern world!
But it is not only the profundity of the General's
plans of conquest, that is so highly and so justly
celebrated his capacity of legislating for the coun-
tries he subdues, receives an equal share of ap-
plause; and his admirers would think they insulted
his reputation, if they forbore to mention, that he
added the political sagacity of Solon, to the mili-
tary science of Alexander.
The reader will find (No. X.) a Letter from Bo-
naparte, containing, what he calls, his "Provisional
Organization of Egypt;" if he will look carefully
into this, and into another curious Paper (Appen-
dix, No. VIII.) he will be inclined, we think, to
abate something of his admiration for this new
Solon.
The tenaciousness of the Eastern people for their
customs is proverbially great; yet they are to change
them at a word! The simplicity and invariable uni-
xii
INTRODUCTION.
formity of their dress is no less striking; ages pass
away, and find it still the same; yet they are now,
in obedience to they know not what orders, to trick
themselves suddenly out in tri-coloured shawls and
scarfs, and ribands, like the tawdry Jack Puddings.
of the Executive Directory.
All the complicated relations which bind the so-
ciety among which the General is thrown, are either
unknown or unheeded by him; one or two gene-
ral and barren provisions are made to represent all
those moral habits and local regulations which, with
an infinite variety, distinguished the former govern-
ment of this people.
But a remedy is at hand: if his laws will not do
of themselves, force will speedily make them effec-
tual. The military, under the command of a
French officer, are directed to be called in on
every occasion (p. 71.); this is the grand specific
for all! after a disgraceful and futile attempt at civil
wisdom, the whole is resolved into violence, and the
code of the legislator is thrust down the throat of
the people by the bayonet of the Conqueror!
But what could be expected from a man who had
already betrayed his incapacity in similar attempts
in Europe? Let his stupid admirers (for we must
now be serious), let his stupid admirers call to mind
his Italian "organizations" (the worthy prototypes
of his Egyptian ones), repeatedly changed by him-
self, and the instant he was out of sight disdainfully
INTRODUCTION.
xiii
changed by others. There too was the same po-
verty of conception. From his travelling cloke-
bag, he privately drew out the model of all legisla-
tion-the Constitution of 1795. This was copied
for great and small, and applied in all situations,
and to every people! Antiquity knew nothing of
this sweeping mode of legislation; they shewed a
condescension to the different customs and preju-
dices of those who fell under their management;
and a cluster of small and contiguous powers were
judiciously and humanely indulged with the posses-
sion of those laws which had long been dear to them,
and which removed them from each other in prin-
ciples and manners, as far as from "the center to
"the pole."
But Italy, which, in the judgment of our philo-
sophists, had once exhibited this weakness, was now
to be taught a better lesson. All moral conside-
rations were to be superseded by the supreme wis-
dom of the cloke-bag; and Republics, Monarchies,
and whatever else might be the distinctions of Aris-
tocratic government, were to be swept away with
the besom of 1795. What shall be the Constitu-
tion of Genoa? A Directory and two Councils.
What of Mantua? A Directory and two Councils.
What again of Bolognia? You are very tiresome:
look into page of the Constitution of 1795; what
does it say? A Directory and two Councils. Thus
it is. Ventum est ad summum fortune; and we make
xiv
INTRODUCTION.
laws quicker and better than the ancients-Achivis
doctius unctis! One undistinguishing rule domineers
over all the varied application of political wisdom,
and Minos, and Solon, and Lycurgus, are van-
quished by a single roll of paper triumphantly car-
ried through Europe, and speaking alike (whether
intelligibly or not) " to all people, and nations, and
languages and tongues."
From the legislative pretensions of Bonaparte,
we might now descend to the consideration of the
fraud, and hypocrisy, and blasphemy, and impiety,
and cruelty, and injustice, which he has never ceased
to display since the commencement of this famous
Expedition; but we are better pleased to leave them
to the faithful page of the historian, which we are
satisfied will one day hold them up to the just con-
tempt and execration of all mankind.
We shall indulge ourselves, however, with an
observation or two on his cruelty. We select this
vice, because Bonaparte has been celebrated by the
ignorant and malevolent of this country, for no-
thing so much as for his humanity! One man, of
whom we should say, if we could for a moment be-
lieve in the metempsychosis, that the spirit of Bishop
Bonner had taken full possession, has had the con-
summate folly to affirm, that Bonaparte, "his con-
solation and his triumph," preferred the preservation
of one citizen, to the melancholy glory of a thousand
victories.
INTRODUCTION.
XV
Where did this scribbler, who from his study in-
sults the feelings of his countrymen, and boasts of
his satisfaction in the success of their enemies, col-
lect his proofs of the tender concern of Bonaparte
for the life of a Citizen? Was it at the bridge of
Lodi, where he sacrificed six thousand of them to
the vanity of forcing a pass which he might have
turned without the loss of a man? Was it- ? but
why multiply questions, when there is not, perhaps,
a reader of a common newspaper in Europe (this
pestilent foe to the honour of his country except-
ed), who does not know that Bonaparte has wan-
tonly spilt more blood than any Attila of ancient
or modern times, who, with the same means, has
had merely the same ends to effect.
We may, perhaps, at some future time, take up
this topic at greater length; meanwhile we shall
content ourselves with referring to Boyer's Letter
(No. XXII.), and return to the subject of the Ex-
pedition,
We have called it a farce-we might, with more
justice, have called it a tragedy-It is, we are per-
suaded (but here we beg to be understood as speak-
ing only our private and individual opinion) a
deep-laid plan, of which the only actors in the se-
cret are the Directory and Bonaparte, and, perhaps,
Berthier. The main plot was to get rid of the
Italian army the subordinate one to conquer and
plunder what they could: if Egypt fell—so much
:
xvi
INTRODUCTION.
the better; if it did not-so much the better still.
The denouement was skilfully effected either way,
and the Government equally relieved!
But why then all this expence, this hazard of
their sole remaining fleet, this exposure of their
best and most skilful officers, of their profoundest
philosophers, of their most scientific men of every
kind?—These we confess are weighty and rational
objections, and if we could not answer them to our
own satisfaction, we would without hesitation, re-
nounce the opinion we have given, and adopt that
of our opponents in its stead,
We begin, then, with premising that the Direc-
tory do not set much store by their Savans; they
have exported several head of them to Cayenne,
a spot still worse than Egypt; and made a great
consumption of them at home, in noyades, fusil-
lades, &c. &c.—these, therefore, may be safely put
out of the question.
،
With respect to the expence'-to say nothing
of the hopes of repaying themselves by the plunder
of Malta, and Grand Cairo; * it was surely worth
something to effect the important ends they had in
view. The hazard of their fleet," indeed, seems
a more serious matter; but let it be remembered,
that the Directory had no idea that we could pos-
* This was not so chimerical an idea as may be imagined :
the l'Orient had more than half a million sterling in her,
when she blew up.
INTRODUCTION.
xvii
sibly send a squadron into the Mediterranean (a
sea which we had then abandoned for near two
years), strong enough to attack it: and here let us
pay the tribute of applause so justly due to the se-
crecy, and skill, and promptitude, with which this
most important measure was effected.
With regard to the "exposure of their best offi-
cers"-and here we make our chief stand-we say,
that the Government had no such design. They
were sent, it is true, because the army would not
move without them; but we have proof, little short
of mathematical certainty, that they were speedily
meant to be recalled to France. It appears from
some of Bonaparte's letters, that he had not the slight-
est idea of wintering in Egypt. "I shall pass," says
"the cold months in Burgundy, where I wish
you would look out some little place for me"-
Here, then, is the solution of the whole enigma.
Bonaparte was to leave his devoted followers to
moulder away in the undisturbed possession of
Egypt, and under some plausible pretence to re-
turn to Europe with his ablest officers, and with,
perhaps, a handful of the most ductile and tractable
of his troops.
he,
This plan, and no other, accounts for his keep-
ing the fleet on the coast, in spite of the remon-
strances of Brueys, and the evident danger to
which it was exposed-it was to carry back the
Conqueror of Egypt" in triumph to France;
b
xviii
INTRODUCTION.
and the Admiral, who was wholly unacquainted
with his design, fell a sacrifice at last, to a perfidy
which he could not comprehend.
THE FIRST OF AUGUST ruined all these fine-
spun schemes; and Bonaparte fell into the toils he
was spreading for others! All return is now impos-
sible, except as a fugitive, or a prisoner. He may
enter into the chambers of the Pyramids, and hold
conversations on the tomb of Cheops, with Imans,
and with Muftis; he may organize, and conquer,
and plant botanic gardens, and establish menage-
ries; he may pass from the Delta to the Thebaid,
and from the Thebaid to the Delta, with his train
of tri-coloured Cheiks, and be hailed as the ALI
BONAPARTE of the country-all is still but folly:
his final destruction can neither be averted nor de-
layed; and his unseasonable mummeries will but
serve to take away all dignity from the catastrophe
of the drama; and render his fall at once terrible
and ridiculous.
Before our readers accuse us of being too san-
guine in our expectations, or too precipitate in our
judgment, let them carefully peruse the following
Correspondence. They will find every officer in
the army dissatisfied with his situation, and impa-
tient to return to France; execrating the climate
and the country, and lamenting the folly that led
him to embark in so wild, and absurd, and hopeless
an expedition. They will find the whole army
INTRODUCTION.
xix
without tents, baggage, or ammunition, without
medicines, or wine, or brandy; with few of the
necessaries, and none of the comforts of life.
This was a faithful picture of their situation be-
fore the destruction of their fleet-what IT IS since,
they may easily conjecture. If, then, they will add
to this accumulation of misery and despair, the
inveterate hostility of the Arabs, the treachery of
the Egyptians, and the destructive warfare of the
Mameloucs, together with the nauseous and peculiar
diseases of the country, the intolerable heats, and
pestilential winds, the devouring myriads of venom-
ous insects, and the stench and putrefaction of ten
thousand stagnant pools, they will not, we imagine,
be much inclined to dispute the justice of our con-
clusions.
With respect to the Letters we have given, they
were selected, as far as was consistent with our plan,
with an eye to variety. They are, with few excep-
tions, extremely well written, and do credit to thẹ
epistolary talents of the authors: nor is this their
highest merit; they are friendly and affectionate;
and we see with pleasure that the cold-blooded rant
of a detestable and impious philosophy, has not yet
succeeded in extinguishing the social feelings!
One word more. We had very different motives
from those of raising a laugh, when we admitted
into the collection, the Letters of Guillot, Le Turcq,
We had it in contemplation to shew, that
&c.
b z
XX
INTRODUCTION.
い ​1
from the highest to the lowest, from the best in-
formed to the most illiterate, the sentiment of dis-
content and disgust is universal, that, far from
harbouring a thought of sitting down in Egypt, not
an individual in the army (so far, at least, as has
come to our knowledge) but turns with fond anxi-
ety towards home, and thinks, with horror and de-
spair, of a residence in this "terrestrial Paradise,"
even for a few weeks!
f
}
&
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
No.
´I. Louis Bonaparte, Aid-de-Camp to the Commander
in Chief, to Citizen Joseph Bonaparte. July 6.
II. Jaubert, Commissary to the Fleet, to his brother.
July 8.
*
III. Faubert, Commissary to the Fleet, to General
Bruix, Minister of Marine, and of the Colonies.
July 9.
page
Σ
II
25
IV. Admiral Brueys, to the Minister of the Ma-
rine. July 12.
37
V. Emanuel Perrée, General of Division, to Vice
Admiral Brueys. July 24.
46
VI. Colbert, to the Commissary at War, Colasse.
July 21.
SI
54
57
VII. D― to General Bournonville. July 26.
VIII. General Bonaparte to Admiral Brueys. July
27.
IX. General Bonaparte to General Kleber. July 27.
X. General Bonaparte to General Kleber, with a Copy
of the Provisional Organization' of Egypt. July
27.
XI. Damas, General of Division, to General Kleber.
July 27.
XII. Savary to Douzelot. July 27.
XIII. Rampon, General of Brigade, to his Brother.
July 27.
XIV. Boursienne, private Secretary to the Com-
61
67
73
80
89
xxii
No.
CONTENTS.
mander in Chief, to Louis Bonaparte, Aid-de-
Camp to the Commander in Chief July 27.
XV. Guillot, Captain of Brigade, to his Mother.
July 27.
XVI. R. Desgenettes to his Wife. July 27.
XVII.
to his Wife. July 27.
XVIII. Choderlos, Consul General at Aleppo to the
Minister for Foreign Affairs. July 27.
XIX. Rear Admiral Perrée, to Le Foille, Captain
of the Généreux. July 28.
XX. Le Turcq, Aide-de-Camp to General Berthier,
to his father, July 28.
XXI. Adjutant-General Boyer to the Commander in
-
Chief of the Army of England. July 28.
XXII. Adjutant-General Boyer to his Parents.
July 28.
XXIII. Dupuis, General of Division, and Gover-
nor of Grand Cairo, to his Friend Carlo. July
29.
page
92
94
99
104
110
118
122
128
135
163
>
XXIV. Le Roy, Commissary of the Marine, to Ad-
miral Brueys, July 29.
169
XXV. Duval, Commissary of War, to Citizen Tri-
pier, Agent for the Hospitals. August 1.
175
XXVI, Tallien to his Wife. August 14.
178
XXVII. Tallien to Barras, Member of the Direc-
tory. Aug. 4.
185
XXVIII. Aid-de-Camp Loyer to General Kleber.
Aug. 4.
"
189
XXIX. 7. Menou, General of Division, to General
Kleber. Aug. 4.
197
XXX. E. Poussielgue, Comptroller of the Expences
of the Army of the East to his Wife. Aug. 4.
201
CONTENTS.
xxiii
No.
XXXI. Rear Admiral Ganteaume to General Bruix,
Minister of the Marine, &c. Aug. 22.
XXXII. Abstract of the Engagement of the 1st Aug.
By the same, to ditto
APPENDIX.
I. Translation of the Proclamation issued by Bona-
parte, in the Arabic Language, on his landing
in Egypt
II. Proclamation of Bonaparte. June 22.
page
214
226
235
237
III. Orders.
June 24.
239
IV. Orders. June 28.
241
V. Translation of the Proclamation issued at Malta.
June 13.
242
VI. Orders. June 28.
244
VII. Proclamation. July
ibid.
VIII. Orders. July 3.
246
IX. Berthier's Letter to Admiral Brueys. July 27. 248
X. Bonaparte to the Commander of the Caravel at
Alexandria. July 1.
!
ibid.
COPIES
OF
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
No. I.
Alexandrie, le 18 Messidor, an 6.
Au Citoyen JOSEPH BONAPARTE, Député au Conseil des
Cinq Cens, Rue des Saints Pères, No. 1219, Fauxbourg
Germain, à Paris.
NOUS
us sommes en cette ville depuis le 14, mon cher
frère; elle a été prise d'assaut; je vais vous détailler
nos opérations, non en commentateur, mais telles que
j'ai pu les suivre.
Le 13, à la pointe du jour, nous decouvrimes les côtes
d'Afrique, que l'avant garde avoit signalées la veille;
bientôt nous fumes à la hauteur des Isles des Arabes, à
2 lieues d'Alexandrie, et la frégate la Junon, qui avoit
été expédiée pour amener le Consul de France de cette
ville, nous joignit.
Celui-ci nous apprit qu'une escadre Anglaise de 14
vaisseaux de ligne, dont deux à trois ponts, avoit passé à
vue d'Alexandrie, y avoit envoyé des lettres pour le Con-
B
2
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sul Anglais, et avoit appris la prise de Malte aux négo-
ciants; elle a fait ensuite route sur Alexandrette, comp-
tant sans doute que nous y avions été débarquer pour
nous rendre aux Indes par Bassora. Cette escadre avoit
été en effet signalée par la Justice après notre départ de
Malte: elle a eu la gaucherie de ne pas nous trouver.
Les Anglais doivent être furieux. Il faut être extrême-
ment hardi et heureux pour traverser une escadre nom-
breuse avec des forces moindres, un convoi de quatre
cens petits bâtiments, et enlever en chemin une place
telle que Malte, moitié par force et moitié par négo-
ciation.
Jusqu'à présent j'ai cru que la fortune pouvoit aban-
donner mon frère, aujourd'hui je crois qu'il réussira
toujours si les troupes gardent un peu de l'esprit national
qui les anime si bien.
Les Mamelouks savoient depuis trois semaines par des
bâtiments de commerce expédiés de Marseille, les détails
de notre embarquement; voyant paroître les Anglais,
ils crurent que c'étoit notre flotte; de manière que
lorsque nous parûmes réellement le 13, ils étoient prêts
à nous recevoir. La mer étoit grosse ce jour-là, les ma-
rins ne vouloient point que le débarquement eût lieu.
Les vaisseaux mouillèrent à deux lieues au large. La
journée se passa en préparatifs, et enfin à onze heures
du soir nous débarquâmes sur de petits canots avec une
mer et un vent très-orageux.
Nous marchâmes toute la nuit avec deux mille
hommes d'infanterie, et le lendemain à la pointe du jour
nous investimes Alexandrie, après avoir chassé diffé-
rents détachements de cavalerie; les ennemis se défen-
doient courageusement, l'artillerie qu'ils avoient sur les
tours et les murailles étoit mal servie, mais leur mous-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
3
queterie étoit très-bonne. Ces gens-là ne savent pas
broncher, ils donnent ou reçoivent la mort sur leurs en-
nemis. Cependant la première enceinte, c'est à dire,
celle de la ville des Arabes, fut enlevée. Bientôt après,
la seconde, malgré les feux des maisons. Les forts qui
sont de l'autre côté de la ville sur les bords de la mer
furent investis, et le soir capitulèrent.
Depuis le 14 on est occupé au débarquement des
troupes, de l'artillerie, et des effets. Le Général Désaix
est sur le Nil à Demenhour. Les autres devoient le suivre.
Le lieu du débarquement est à deux lieues d'ici à la
tour de Marabout, ou les Isles des Arabes. Les deux
premiers jours, il y eut beaucoup de traîneurs que la
cavalerie Mamelouk et Arabes harcelèrent; je crois que
nous avons perdu 100 tués et autant de blessés. Les
Généraux Kleber, Menou, et Lescalle ont été blessés.
Je vous envoye la proclamation aux habitants du pays,
et trois autres à l'armée. Elle a fait un effet merveilleux;
les Arabes Bédouins, ennemis des Mamelouks, et qui
sont, à proprement parler, des voleurs intrépides, dès
qu'ils l'eurent reçue, nous ont rendu une trentaine de
prisonniers, et se sont offerts pour combattre avec nous
les Mamelouks. On les a très-bien traités. Ce sont
des gens invincibles, habitants des déserts brûlants,
montés sur les chevaux les plus légers du monde, et ex-
trêmement braves. Ils habitent avec leurs femmes et
leurs enfans des camps volants, qui changent toutes les
nuits. Ce sont des sauvages horribles; cependant ils
connoissent l'or et l'argent, il en faut bien peu pour
causer leur admiration. Ils aiment l'or, mon cher frère,
ils passent leur vie à l'arracher aux Européens qui
tombent en leurs mains, et pourquoi faire? pour conti-
nuer ce genre de vie et l'apprendre à leurs enfans. Oh,
1
B 2
4
COPIES OF
Jean Jacques, que ne peut-il voir ces hommes, qu'il
appelle " les hommes de la nature !" il frémiroit de
honte et de surprise d'avoir pu les admirer.
Adieu, mon cher frère, donnez moi de vos nouvelles.
j'ai souffert beaucoup dans la traversée; ce climat-ci
m'accable, il nous changera tous. Quand nous revien-
drons on nous reconnoîtra de loin. Je suis un peu ma-
lade, et obligé de rester ici quelques jours, Tout le
monde part demain. Adieu, je vous embrasse de tout
mon cœur. Rappellez moi au souvenir de Julie, Caro-
line, &c. et au législateur Lucien; son voyage avec
nous lui eût été fort utile; nous voyons plus en deux
jours que les voyageurs ordinaires en deux ans.
Il y a ici de remarquable la colonne de Pompée, les
obélisques de Cléopatre, le lieu où étoient ses bains,
beaucoup de ruines, un temple souterrein, des cata-
combes, quelques mosquées, et quelques eglises; mais
ce qui l'est plus que tout cela, ce sont le caractère et les
mœurs des habitants. Ils sont d'un sang-froid étonnant.
Rien ne les emeut, la mort est pour eux, ce qu'est le
voyage d'Amérique pour les Anglais.
Leur extérieur est imposant: nos phisionomies les
plus caractérisées, sont des mines d'enfants en compa-
raison des leurs; elles ont plus que nous une variété
étonnante. Les femmes surtout couvertes d'un drap,
dont elles s'envelloppent et se couvrent la tête jusqu'au
sourcil; un linge (pour les femmes du peuple), leur
couvre le visage depuis le front, ne laissant que les ou-
vertures des yeux, de manière que pour peu que le linge
soit flétri, elles font peur.
Leurs forts et leur artillerie sont d'un ridicule achevé ;
ils n'ont point de serrures, point de croisées. Enfin ils
sont dans l'aveuglement des premiers tems.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
5
Oh! combien de misanthropes seroient convertis si
le hazard les jettoit au milieu des déserts de l'Arabie
Adieu, mon cher frère, tout à vous,
J. C. BONAPARTE.
P. S. Je vous prie, mon cher frère, de faire donner
de mes nouvelles à la citoyenne Coupry, ma vieille et
ancienne hôtesse, rue St. Honoré, No. 27, près le pas-
sage des Feuillans; lui dire que je n'ai pas eu le temps
de lui écrire, et que je me rappelle à son souvenir.
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria, July 6th, 1798.
To Citizen JOSEPH BONAPARTE, Deputy to the Council
of Five Hundred, &c.
We have been in this city, my dear brother, now four
days; it was taken by assault. I will attempt to give
you some account of our operations; not as a profes-
sional man, but as they appeared to me.
At day-break, on the 1st of July, we discovered the
coast of Africa; which had been seen, and announced
to us the evening before by signals. We were presently
off the Isles des Arabes, about two leagues from Alexan-
dria, where the Juno frigate, which had been dispatched
to bring the French Consul on board, rejoined us.
We learnt from the Consul that an English squadron
6
COPIES OF
of fourteen sail of the line (of which two were three
deckers,) had appeared off Alexandria, sent letters on
shore to the English Consul, and informed the merchants.
there of the capture of Malta; that it had then made
sail for Alexandretta, concluding, as it was supposed,
that we had gone there to disembark our forces, and
proceed to India by the way of Bassora.
This squadron had indeed been seen by the Justice,
after our departure from Malta; and yet it had the
aukwardness, or the stupidity to miss us! The English
must be quite furious. It required, I think, no common
degree of courage and good fortune, to run through a
numerous fleet, with inferior forces, a convoy of four
hundred transports; and to capture on our passage,
partly by force, and partly by negotiation, such a place
as Malta.
Till this day I had always a fancy that fortune might
one time or other turn her back upon my brother: now
I am persuaded, that she will never desert him, pro-
vided the troops retain but a little of that national spirit
which has hitherto animated them.
The Mameloucs had been informed three weeks
before, by some merchant vessels belonging to Mar-
seilles, of the embarkation of our troops ;-when, there-
fore, they saw the English fleet, they concluded it was
ours, so that when we actually appeared, they were
prepared for us The sea ran so high that day that the
officers of the marines would not permit the troops to
disembark. The vessels therefore came to an anchor
about two leagues from the shore: the day was spent in
preparations; and at length, about eleven at night, we
were put on board the boats of the fleet, with a rough
sea, and a very blowing wind.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
7
}
We marched that night with two thousand in-
fantry, and at break of day invested Alexandria, after
driving into the town several small detachments of ca-
valry. The enemy defended themselves like men; the
artillery which they had planted on the walls was
wretchedly served, but their musquetry was excellent.
These people have no idea of children's play: they
either kill or are killed. The first inclosure, however,
that is to say, that of the city of the Arabs, was carried;
and soon after the second, in spite of the fire from the
houses. The forts which are on the coast, on the other
side of the city, were then invested; and in the evening
capitulated.
Since the 2d of July we have been engaged in disem-
barking the troops, the artillery, and the baggage. Ge-
neral Désaix is at Demanhur, on the Nile; the rest of
the army is to follow him.
The place where we disembarked is about two leagues
from hence, at the tower of Marabout, or Isles des
Árabes. The two first days we had a number of strag-
glers cut off by the Arab and Mamelouc cavalry. I
imagine that we have lost about one hundred killed, and
as many wounded. The Generals Kleber, Menou, and
Lescalle are wounded.
I send you the proclamation † to the inhabitants of the
country, and three others to the army. The first has
produced an effect altogether astonishing. The Bedouins,
enemies of the Mameloucs, and who, properly speaking,
are neither more nor less than intrepid robbers, sent us
* This is inaccurate. It appears from several of the letters,
that a great portion of the army was engaged in the attack on
Alexandria.
† See the APPENDIX.
8
COPIES OF
+
back, as soon as they had read it, thirty of our people
whom they had made prisoners, with an offer of their
services against the Mameloucs. We have treated them
kindly. They are an invincible people, inhabiting a
burning desert, mounted on the fleetest horses in the
world, and full of courage. They live with their wives.
and children in flying camps, which are never pitched
two nights together in the same place. They are hor-
rible savages, and yet they have some notion of gold and
silver! a small quantity of it serves to excite their ad-
miration. Yes, my dear brother, they love gold; they
pass their lives in extorting it from such Europeans as
fall into their hands; and for what purpose!-for con-
tinuing the course of life which I have described, and
for teaching it to their children. O, Jean Jacques!
why was it not thy fate to see those men, whom thou
call'st "the men of nature?" thou would'st sink with
shame, thou would'st startle with horror at the thought
of having once admired them!
Adieu, my dear brother, let me hear from you soon.
I suffered a great deal on our passage; this climate
kills me; we shall be so altered that you will discover
the change at a league's distance.
I am not well at present, and shall be obliged to stay
here a few days longer:* every body else goes to-morrow.
Adieu, I embrace you with the sincerest affection. Re-
member me to Julia, Caroline, &c. and to the legisla-
tor† Lucien. He might have sailed with us to advan-
* It appears from Boursienne's letter (see No. 14.) that he was
still there on the 27th of July.
+ This word is marked in the original, and evidently alludes
to a piece of private history.
1
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
9
tage: we see more in two days than common travellers
in two years.
The remarkable objects here are Pompey's column,
the obelisks of Cleopatra, the spot where her baths once
stood, a number of ruins, a subterraneous temple, some
catacombs, mosques, and a few churches. But what
is still more remarkable, is the character and manners
of the inhabitants. They are of a sangfroid abso-
lutely astonishing. Nothing agitates them; and death
itself is to them, what a voyage to America is to the
English.*
Their exterior is imposing. The most marked physi-
ognomies amongst us, are mere children's countenances
compared to theirs. The women wrap themselves up
in a piece of cloth, which passes over their head, and
descends in front to the eyebrows. The poorer sort
cover the whole of their face with linen, leaving only
two small apertures for the eyes; so that if this strange
veil happens to be a little shrivelled, or stained, they
look like so many hob-goblins.
Their forts and their artillery are the most ridiculous
things in nature: they have not even a lock, nor a win-
dow to their houses; in a word, they are still involved
in all the blindness of the earliest ages.
Oh! how many misanthropes would be converted if
chance should conduct them into the midst of the de-
serts of Arabia.
Adieu, my dear brother.
Your's entirely,
L. BONAPARTE.
* Meaning, probably, a matter of little importance ;—but an
expression nearly resembling this, is proverbial amongst them.
10
COPIES OF
P. S. I beg, my dear brother, that you will let the
female citizen Coupry, my good old landlady, Rue St.
Honoré, No. 27, près le passage des Feuillans, know how
and where I am: tell her that I have not yet had time
to write to her, and that I desired to be remembered
to her.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
II
No. II.
Au Mouillage d'Aboukir, le 20 Messidor, An 6.
Nous voici, mon cher Jaubert, sur les côtes de l'Egypte;
nos braves ont entamé son territoire, et tout nous promet
qu'avant peu de tems, au despotisme imprévoyant des
Mamelouks, et à l'apathie des Egyptiens, auront succédé
un gouvernement créateur, et une émulation jusqu'à
présent inconnue parmi les habitants.
Nous sommes maîtres d'Alexandrie: nos troupes ont
occupé en passant Aboukir, ont pris Rosette, et ont con-
sequemment en leur pouvoir, une des principales bouches
du Nil. Je suppose que tu as sous les yeux la carte et
le Voyage de Savary, ou de quelqu'autre.
Le 13 Messidor, à six heures du matin, nous étions à
six lieues d'Alexandrie. La frégate la Junon eut ordre
d'aller à l'entrée du port remettre au Consul Français
une lettre ostensible, mais avec mission expresse d'em-
mener le Consul et tous les Français qui se trouveroient
dans la ville. Tout y étoit en combustion; depuis deux
mois on parloit de la descente des Français, on s'y étoit
mis en défense à la manière des Turc.
L'apparition qui avoit eu lieu le 10 d'une escadre
Anglaise de 14 vaisseaux, que le Gouverneur d'Alex-
andrie s'obstinoit à regarder comme Français, avoit re-
doublé les allarmes de la ville, et rendu de plus en plus
critique la position des habitans Français. Le Consul
obtint cependant trois heures pour se rendre à bord de la
12
COPIES OF
Junon; cette frégate l'amena sur l'Orient; on sentit la
nécessité d'agir promptement, soit pour arracher Alex-
andrie aux Anglais, soit pour mettre notre escadre à
couvert d'un combat qui eût été très-inégal dans le dés-
ordre d'un premier mouillage sur un fond inconnu.
La flotte Anglaise a joué de malheur, elle nous a
manqué sous la Sardaigne, elle a manqué ensuite le
convoi de Civita Vecchia, composé de 57 bâtiments, et
portant 7000 hommes d'Italie. Elle n'est arrivée devant
Malte que cinq jours après que nous avons quitté cette
Ile; elle est arrivée devant Alexandrie deux jours trop
tôt pour nous y rencontrer. Il est à presumer qu'elle
est montée jusqu'à Alexandrette, croyant que c'est là
que doit s'opérer le débarquement pour la conquête
de l'Inde. Nous la verrons enfin, mais nous sommes
mouillés de manière à tenir tête à une flotte double à
la nôtre.
Telle a été pourtant la position critique où nous nous
sommes trouvés le 13 au matin, que quelque prompt
que fut le débarquement, nous pouvions être surpris par
les Anglais au milieu de l'opération. Aussi dès quatre
heures du soir, le Général en Chef étoit-il sur une ga-
lère avec son Etat-Major, environné des canots et cha-
loupes des bâtiments qui avoient envoyés des détache-
mens pour la descente.
Le 14 au matin, le débarquement s'est opéré sur le
fort appellé Le Marabou, à deux lieues à l'ouest d'Alex-
andrie. Point de résistance! pas un canon au Marabou!
La troupe s'achemine par pelotons vers la ville; les
traîneurs ou ceux qui s'écartent, sont attaqués par des
´partis d'Arabes, et de quelques Mamelouks qui voltigent
çà et là. Il y a des combats particuliers où nous per-
dons quelques hommes. Arrivés à la ville, nos braves
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
13
éprouvent de la résistance. Des canons de 3 et 4 (et nous
n'en avions pas encore) des carabines, des pierres, tout
annonce la resolution de se défendre. Le Général Kle-
ber est blessé à la tête, le Général Menou en plusieurs
endroits. Mais à onze heures nous étions maîtres d'Alex-
andrie, et les tirailleurs qui se défendoient par les fenê-
tres étoient ou cachés ou tués. Les Mamelouks et une
grande quantité d'Arabes s'étoient refugiés dans le désert.
Restoit une partie des habitants fort étonnés qu'on ne
leur coupât pas le cou, et lisant avec extase la procla-
mation que le Général en Chef avoit fait imprimer en
Arabe, et que vous lirez surement dans les papiers pub-
lics.
Cette proclamation a donné lieu à deux singularités
remarquables. La veille nous avions pris quelques
Turcs et Arabes que nous avions retenus à bord; Il
s'agissoit de calmer leur imagination et d'en faire 'des
apôtres. Ce fut un prêtre Maronite de Damas (Chré-
tien comme nous) qui fut chargé de les leur lire et d'y
faire un petit commentaire. Quand vous verrez la pro-
clamation, vous jugerez comme ce rôle lui alloit.
Le jour de la descente, le contre Amiral Turc, qui
étoit dans le port d'Alexandrie avec la Caravelle (gros
vaisseau du Grand Seigneur) destiné à percevoir les
tributs de l'armée, envoya à bord de l'Orient son Capi-
taine de Pavillon avec un présent de deux moutons, pour
s'informer des projets de l'armée navale; on lui donna à
lire la proclamation; il s'en excusa sur ce qu'il ne savoit
pas lire l'Arabe, on y suppléa. Chaque passage qui trai-
toit de l'insolence des Mamelouks le faisoit bondir de
joie. Il demanda des proclamations pour la répandre, et
assura que le contre Amiral qui représentoit le Grand
Seigneur, donneroit à chacun l'ordre de bien accueillir
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COPIES OF
les Français; enfin il se retira très-satisfait après avoir
pris le caffé et mangé la confiture. La Caravelle est
encore dans le port avec son Pavillon de commandement.
Le 16, je descendis à Alexandrie avec l'Amiral; ce
qui avoit resté d'habitans, ainsi que les Arabes de la
campagne, me parurent assez bien remis de leur
frayeur, et assez confiants. On voyoit dans le Bazar
(marché) des moutons, des pigeons, du tabac à fumer,
et surtout force barbiers qui mettent la tête du patient
entre leur genoux et qui semblent plutôt prêts à
la décoler, qu'à lui faire sa toilette. Ils ont cependant
la main fort légere. Je vis aussi quelques femmes, elles
sont affublées de long vêtemens qui cachent absolument
leurs formes, et qui ne laissent découvert que les yeux,
à peu près comme les habillements des pénitents de nos
provinces méridionales.
Cette ville où l'on dit qu'il reste 10,000 habitans n'a
de l'ancienne Alexandrie que le nom, encore les Arabes
l'appellent-ils Scanderia. Les traces de son enceinte
annoncent qu'elle étoit fort grande et qu'elle a bien pu
contenir les 300,000 ames que les historiens lui donnent.
Mais le despotisme, l'abrutissement qui l'a suivi, et enfin
la découverte du Cap de Bonne Espérance l'ont succes-
sivement reduit à l'étate misérable où on la voit.
C'est un amas de ruines où l'on voit telle maison bâtie
de boue et de paille, adossée à des tronçons de colonnes
de granit. Les rues n'y sont pas pavées: l'image de
la destruction ressort bien davantage à la vue de deux
monuments qui seuls ont traversé intacts les siècles qui
ont tout dévoré autour d'eux. C'est la colonne de Pom-
pée et qui a été élevée par Sévère; je ne l'ai vue qu'à
une certaine distance, mais j'ai vu de près et mesuré de
l'œil l'obélisque appellée l'aiguille de Cléopatre; elle
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
15
est d'une seule pierre de granit très-bien conservée,
elle m'a paru avoir 72 pieds de hauteur, 7 à sa base, et
4 vers le sommet; elle est surchargée d'hiérogliphes sur
ses quatre faces. On voit çà et là quelques datiers,
arbres tristes, qui ressemblent assez de loin au pin, dont
la tige a été dépouillée jusques vers le sommet.
Tel est l'abord de cette terre dont l'intérieur est si
fertile, est qui sous un gouvernement éclairé peut voir
renaître les siècles d'Alexandre et des Ptolomées.
Arrivés au quartier Général à l'extrémité de la ville,
nous y trouvâmes un mouvement, un air de vie qui y
étoit inconnu depuis longtems, des troupes qui débar-
quoient, d'autres qui se mettoient en marche pour tra-
verser le désert vers Rosette. Les Généraux, les sol-
dats, les Turcs, les Arabes, les chameaux, tout cela
formoit des contrastes qui peignoient au naturel la Ré-
volution qui alloit changer la face de ce païs.
3
Au milieu de cette confusion paroissoit le Général en
Chef, réglant la marche des troupes, la police de la
ville, les précautions sanétaires contre la peste, traçant
de nouvelles fortifications, co-ordonnant les mouvements
de l'armée navale avec ceux de l'armée de terre, dé-
pêchant avec des Arabes soumis des proclamations aux
tribus épouvantées. Un grand exemple frappa dans ce
moment; un militaire fut amené qui avoit enlevé un
poignard à un Arabe paisible; le fait vérifié en un in-
stant, le militaire fut fusillé sur la place.
Aussi dès le lendemain une tribu entière de trois mille
Arabes envoya-t-elle au Général en Chef des députés
qui jurèrent avec lui, sous peines de l'Enfer, amitié entre
les deux nations. Ils ramenèrent des prisonniers parmi
les quels il se trouva une femme, ils l'avoient battues.
Cette tribu veut fournir des soldats tout armés, d'autres
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imiteront surement cet exemple. Guerre aux Mame-
louks! paix aux Arabes! tel sera le cri qui grossira nos
armées et qui balayera devant nous les oppresseurs de
cette partie du monde.
Je suis forcé de finir, le bâtiment part.
relu pour voir si on a fidelement copié.
Adieu.
་
Je n'ai pas
Suppléez y.
JAUBERT.
1
HERE
TRANSLATION. .
L'Orient, off Aboukir, July 8.
From JAUBERT,* Commissary, &c.
RE we are, my dear Jaubert, on the coasts of Egypt.
Our brave troops have already got footing in its territo-
ries, and every thing announces that ere long the impro-
vident despotism of the Mameloucs, and the apathy of
the Egyptians, will be succeeded by a creative govern-
ment, and by a spirit of emulation hitherto unknown to
its inhabitants.
We are masters of Alexandria. On our march we
seized on Aboukir and Rosetta, and are consequently
in possession of one of the principal mouths of the Nile.
* It appears from the next letter, which is under the same sig-
nature, and which the reader will find well worthy of his serious
attention, that Jaubert was Commissary to the fleet. The cover
of this letter is either lost or mislaid, but it was probably ad-
dressed to his brother, one of the generals of the French army in
Italy.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
17
Thou mayst trace our route on the chart to Savary's
Voyage, which I suppose thou hast before thee.
At six in the morning of the first instant, we were
within six leagues of Alexandria. The Juno was dis-
patched to the port with a letter to the French Con-
sul. This was the ostensible motive, but her secret
orders were, at all events, to bring him and all the
French in the city on board the fleet. Every thing
there was in confusion. A French invasion had been
openly talked of for the last two months, and measures
taken (as measures usually are taken by the Turks) to
prevent it. The appearance of an English: uadron of
fourteen sail on the 28th of June, and which the Go-
vernor obstinately maintained to be ours, had redoubled
the terrors of the city, and rendered the situation of the
French residents there, more and more critical. The
Consul, however, obtained permission to go on board
the Juno, on his promise to return in three hours; and
the frigate directly put to sea with him. On his arrival
* In the original it is "Savary's, or some other,"—what other
Jaubert might allude to we know not, nor, perhaps, the writer
himself; but certainly Savary's is good for nothing.
It is this man's rhapsodical and delusive panegyric on Egypt
which appears to have increased, in a considerable degree, the
old bias of the French government towards the seizure of that
country; it also seems to be the only Vade-Mecum of the Savans,
and leaders of the expedition, who appear to have placed an im-
plicit confidence in it. The former, at least as far as we know,
have not made any advances towards a recantation of their cre-
dulity; for, as the great Pangloss well observed, when he spat
out his last tooth in the hospital, “ it does not become a philosopher
to change his opinions;" but the latter have loudly and frequently
declared their sorrow and indignation at having been so miserably
misled.
C
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on board the l'Orient, the necessity of immediate mea-
sures became apparent, not only to anticipate the Eng-
lish in getting possession of Alexandria, but to shelter
our fleet from an engagement, which must be evidently
on unequal terms, in the confusion of a first anchorage
en unknown ground.
The English fleet has played with ill luck on its side-
first, it missed us on the coast of Sardinia; next, it
missed a convoy of 57 sail coming from Civita Vecchia,
with seven thousand troops of the army of Italy on
board. It did not arrive at Malta till five days after
we left it; and it arrived at Alexandria two days before
we reached it! It is to be presumed that it is gone to
Alexandretta, under an idea that the army is to be dis-
embarked there for the conquest of India. We shall
certainly see it at last, but we are now moored in such
a manner as to bid defiance to a force more than double
our own.
Such, however, was our critical situation on the
morning of the 1st, that in spite of the promptitude
with which we disembarked, we might have been sur-
prised by the English in the midst of our operations.
Apprehensive of this, the Commander in Chief, with
his Staff, was in his galley by four in the afternoon, sur-
rounded by the boats and shallops of the different vessels,
all full of troops, and ready for the descent.
On the morning of the 2d, a landing was effected at
Marabou, two leagues to the west of Alexandria—not
the slightest resistance! not even a piece of cannon at
Marabou! The army then advanced in platoons towards
the city; the stragglers, and those who marched at any
distance from the main body, were attacked by parties of
Arabs, and a few scattered Mameloucs, who hovered
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
19
about us. There were also a few partial engagements,
in which we lost some men. On our arrival, the en-
trance of our brave troops was opposed. A few. three
or four-pounders, (observe, that we had no artillery
with us) carabines, stones, &c. announced a resolution
to defend the city. General Kleber was wounded in
the head, and General Menou in divers places: but by
eleven o'clock we were in possession of Alexandria.
The aukward musquetry which attempted a defence by
firing from the windows, all hid themselves, or were
killed. The Mameloucs, and a vast number of Arabs,
took refuge in the desert. The few inhabitants who
remained were exceedingly astonished* at finding we
did not cut their throats, and read with transports of
joy, the proclamation + which the Commander in Chief
had previously printed in Arabic, and which you must
long before this have seen in the public papers.
This proclamation has given birth to two very singu-
lar circumstances. The evening before, we had seized
a few Turks and Arabs, and carried them on board the
fleet. The question was to calm their apprehensions,
* The astonishment of the remaining Alexandrines, at finding
the French did not cut their throats, may be tolerably well ac-
counted for (no offence to Mons. Jaubert's sagacity!) by a slight
perusal of Citizen Boyer's long letter to his father, (see No. XXII.)
After an indiscriminate massacre of these unoffending people
(unless it be an offence to dispute the possession of their lives and
properties, with a rapacious and blood-thirsty horde of strangers)
"for a space of four hours;" the trembling survivors might rea-
sonably wonder at their being spared, and read with pleasure (or,
if Mons. Jaubert will have it so, "with transports of joy,”) any
thing that promised a temporary cessation of the wanton cruelties
of their invaders.
+ See the APPENDIX, No. I.
C 2
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and make them our apostles. A Maronite priest from
Damascus (a Christian like ourselves) was ordered to read
it to them, and to comment on it as he proceeded.
When you consider the proclamation, you will judge
how well the part he played became him!
*
The day we landed, the Turkish Vice Admiral,
who was in the port of Alexandria, with the Caraval (a
large vessel belonging to the Grand Seignior), destined
to collect the tribute of the army, sent his flag officer on
board the l'Orient with a present of two sheep, and an
order to inquire into the destination of our armament.
We gave him the proclamation to read; he excused
* Jaubert would have made no bad coadjutor to Hebert, the
original Père du Chêne. The same impiety, the same disregard
of decency, and the same readiness to adopt every prejudice of
the people for the sake of turning them to the purposes of pillage
and proscription!
Hypocrisy of every kind is bad; but the hypocrisy of Atheisma
is monstrous! it adds cowardice to guilt.
Now we are on this subject, it may not be amiss to mention
that the passage before us puts the authenticity of Bonaparte's
proclamation out of dispute. Our readers cannot have forgotten
with what sturdiness the Opposition writers (out of a tender re-
gard, we suppose, for the pious memory of their favourite Chief)
first maintained that it was fabricated in this country, and then,
when it appeared in France mutilated and disguised—(as, on ac-
count of Spain, an open profession of Mahometanism is not yet,
perhaps, thought prudent)-with what versatility they veered
round, and allowed that Bonaparte had, indeed, published a pro-
clamation, but that it was only to be found in its genuine state in
the French papers!
We enter into no cavils with these gentlemen. Our translation
is made from a faithful rendering of the original Arabic, by the
Dragoman of our Embassy at the Port, and the reader who turns
to it, will perfectly comprehend the sneer of Jaubert at the part
played by the Maronite, or Christian priest!
1
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
21
himself on his ignorance, and it was read to him: every
paragraph that touched on the insolence of the Mame-
loucs made him leap with joy. He asked for some pro-
clamations to disperse, and assured us, that the Vice Ad-
miral, who represented the person of the Grand Seignior,
would give a general order for the friendly reception of
the French. At length, after drinking a cup of coffee
and eating some sweetmeats, he retired extremely well
satisfied.* The Caraval is still in the port with the Ad-
miral's flag flying.
I landed at Alexandria on the 4th, with the Admiral.
Those of the inhabitants who had remained, as well as
the Arabs of the neighbourhood, appeared to be tolerably
well recovered from their fright, and in a way of ac-
quiring a little confidence. There were in the Bazar
(market-place) sheep, pigeons, tobacco, and a number
of barbers; who place the head of their customers be
tween their knees; and who, at first, seem rather pre-
paring to twist their necks off than to shave them;
they have, however, a very light hand, and go through
their business skilfully. I saw also some women: they
were muffled up in long vestments, which left nothing
to be seen but the eyes; a mode of dress which put me
in mind of the penitents of our southern provinces.
This city, which is still said to contain 10,000 inha-
bitants, has nothing of the ancient Alexandria but the
name-the Arabs, indeed, call it Scanderia. The ruins
* We have given Bonaparte's address to the Vice Admiral in
the Appendix; it is in his usual style of insolence. With respect
to the farce played on board the l'Orient, by the Turkish messen-
ger, we do not believe a word of it; this, however, is certain at
all events, that if any such mummery took place, it was not the
Turk that was duped by it!
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of its former circuit announce that it was once a most
extensive place, and might well contain the 300,000
people which historians have given it. But the despo-
tism and stupor which followed that period, and the dis-
covery of the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope,
have successively reduced it to the miserable state in
which it now lies.
It is a mere heap of ruins, where you see a paltry
hovel of mud and straw stuck against the magnificent
fragments of a granite column! The streets are not
paved. This image of desolation is rendered the more
striking by being within view of two objects, which
have passed uninjured through the lapse of ages that has
devoured every thing around them. One is what is
called Pompey's Column, but which was raised by Se-
verus; this I have only seen at a distance: the other,
which is called Cleopatra's Needle, I have examined
closely. It is an obelisk formed of a single piece
of granite, exceedingly well prcserved. As far as I
could judge from my eye, it is about 72 of our feet in
height, 7 feet square at the base, and 4 towards the
summit; it is covered with hieroglyphics on every side.
A few date-trees are scattered here and there about the
country. It is a melancholy looking tree, which, at a
distance, bears some resemblance to a fir that has been
stript of all its branches to the top.
Such is the coast of this country, so fertile in the inte-
rior! and which, under an enlightened government,
might see once more revived the Age of Alexander and
the Ptolemies.
Arrived at head quarters, which are fixed near the
northern extremity of the city, we found an activity, an
appearance of life which we had not been used to for a
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
23
long time: some of the troops disembarking, others
preparing for their march across the desert to Rosetta-
Generals, soldiers, Turks, Arais, camels-all together
formed a contrast which presented a very lively picture
of the Revolution* which was about to change the face
of the country.
In the midst of this confusion appeared the Com-
mander in Chief, regulating the march of the army,
the police of the city, and he precautions to be taken
against the plague ;-tracing out new fortifications, com-
bining the operations of the fleet with those of the army,
and expediting, in conjunction with the Arabs who had
submitted, proclamations to the tribes who had taken
the alarm. A most striking example was made at this
instant a soldier was brought in, who had stolen a
poignard from a friendly Arab; the fact was ascer-
tained, and the culprit was instantly shot on the
spot.
In consequence of this, an entire tribe of Arabs, con-
sisting of 3000, sent deputies the next day to the Com-
mander in Chief, to swear a lasting friendship between
the two nations, under pain of damnation! They brought
with them some prisoners, among whom was one of
our women, whom they had beaten. This tribe will
furnish us with armed soldiers; others will assuredly
imitate their example. War with the Mameloucs,
peace with the Arabs! such is the cry which will swell
*This is no bad picture of the restless spirit of these people.
Whether abroad or at home, their expectations are the same. In
every chance-medley they discover the destruction of empires;
and a confusion of any kind (though but of men and camels,) is
to them the certain pledge of approaching revolutions!
24.
COPIES OF
our armies, and sweep before us the oppressors of this
part of the world.
I am obliged to break off-the vessel is going. I
have not time to read it over, to see if it be correctly
copied; this must be my excuse.
Adieu.
JAUBERT.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
25
No. III.
>
En Rade d'Aboukir, le 21 Messidor,
(Pour vous seul.)
Au Général Bruix.
Je vous rends un compte administratif par ma lettre de
ce jour, mon cher Bruix; je dépose ma circonspection
ordonnatrice pour vous parler de notre position dans ce
païs. Il n'y aura pas d'ordre dans ma lettre, parce que
je suis continuellement distrait par les demandes réité-
rées que vous savez qu'on n'épargne pas au mouillage,
et que d'ailleurs le bâtiment courier est prêt à partir.
En général les officiers de terre et de mer se sont
quittés froidement. L'entassement où l'on étoit pour
les logements, et la maigreur des tables devoient néces-
sairement produire ces effets.
Tous les ordres un peu importans ont dans le com-
mencement été donnés par le Général en Chef, par la
suite le Chef de l'Etat-Major Berthier les transmettoit à
l'Amiral. Ceux pour la descente soit à Malte soit à
Alexandrie ont été donnés le premier le jour même,
l'autre deux jours auparavant. Vous savez quelle dif-
férence il y a entre les préparatifs de mer et ceux de
terre: mais telle est la méthode du Général en Chef,
et tout a parfaitement réussi.
Malte est sans approvisionnemens, avec très-peu d'ar-
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gent, et une vente nécessairement éloignée de biens na-
tionaux. Une immense population y était nourrie par
l'ordre. Les secours de France ne seront pas, je l'imagine,
abondants; ceux d'Egypte ne sont pas prêts d'être réa-
lisés; c'est pourtant un point militaire bien intéressant.
Cinq ou six jours avant notre arrivée, la peste avoit
cessé à Alexandrie. Il y avoit pourtant au Port Neuf
un bâtiment qui en étoit infecté ; et d'où quelques ma-
rins s'étoient échappé dans la ville. Il n'est pas arrivé
d'accident; d'ailleurs vous savez que dans la grande
chaleur la peste n'a plus de prise en Egypte.
Vous rirez, peut-être vous autres Parisiens de la pro-
clamation Mahométane du Général en Chef; il a passé
par dessus les Lazzi, et elle produira un très-grand effet.
Vous vous rappellez celui produit par le cri magique,
guerre aux Châteaux, paix aux Cabanes. Le Général
en Chef arrivera au Caire avec une grande armée-
mais les divisions feront le resté.
Quand l'officier et le soldat virent Alexandrie et les
désert, qui l'environnent, ils furent frappés de stupeur.
Bonaparte a tout ranimé.
Les Arabes et les Mameloucs ont traité quelques uns
de nos prisonniers comme Socrate, dit-on, Alcibiade. Il
falloit périr ou y passer: un grenadier s'est fait tuer.
Ils n'avoient que battu les femmes qu'ils nous avoient
prises.
Le port d'Alexandrie est nul en approvisionnemens
maritimes, nul en établissemens. La conquête présente
plus de ressources, mais on en tirera par la suite un im-
mense parti. Alexandre fit tout dans un an.
Il est encore incertain si des vaisseaux de 74 peuvent
y entrer. Deux Venitiens de 64 y sont. On parloit de
faire décharger l'artillerie pour y entrer: mais qu'y
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
27
aurions nous fait ? et quand et comment serions nous
sortis ?
Nous sommes au mouillage d'Aboukir, à 5 lieues Est
d'Alexandrie, assez bon pour l'été. Il est intenable en
hyver. Les Anglois, (ils ont 14 vaisseaux et nous 13,
dont trois foibles,) sont dans nos parages; nous les atten-
dons; l'opinion générale étoit (mais aussi pouvoit-il y
entrer quelque sentiment personnel), qu'aussitôt le dé-
barquement opéré, nous aurions dû partir pour Corfou,
ou nous aurions été ralliés par nos vaisseaux de Malte,
de Toulon, et d'Ancone pour être prêts à tout. Le Gé-
néral en a décidé autrement. Le bonheur qui accom-
pagne ses opérations suivra aussi celle-ci. Au reste, nous
sommes ici sous le vent du fatalisme, et son souffle
ébranle un peu mes principes.
Comme les hommes sont imprévoyans dans les voeux
qu'ils forment! j'avois quelque velléité de rester Ordon-
nateur quelque tems à Malte: mais quand j'ai vu qu'au
moins la première année ce port ne recevroit ni de
France, ni d'Egypte aucun secours qui en rendît le sé-
jour supportable; qu'une population nombreuse souffri-
roit au moins pendant un tems les douleurs du passage
d'une organisation mauvaise, sans doute, mais stable, à
une organisation toute différente;-Je me suis dit;
"qu'une autre soit témoin de ces angoisses, et réser-
vons nos vœux pour Alexandrie." Là, j'ai eu tout à
faire, tout à souffrir, et du climat et des hommes, et je
me suis accroché plus fortement que jamais à l'armée
navale, décidé à suivre ses destinées. J'ai souvent jetté
les yeux vers la France, vers mes amis, mais je n'ai pas
regretté un seul instant les sacrifices que j'ai faits.
Adieu, mon cher Bruix, soyez heureux, réalisez vos
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vœux pour la restauration de la marine. Recevez les
assurances de mon tendre et éternel attachement.
JAUBERT.
Permettez que Madame Bruix, et Mademoiselle
Thérese trouvent ici mes hommages respectueux.
Je ne vous fais pas la relation de la prise d'Alexan-
drie. Je charge Forestier de vous lire les lettres que je
lui écris.
Comme il y a beaucoup d'indiscrétion dans cette lettre,
yous me ferez plaisir de la brûler après l'avoir lue.
IN
TRANSLATION.
(For your own private reading.)
At anchor off Aboukir, July 9.
To General BRUIX, Minister of the Marine, &c.
N my letter of this day's date, my dear Bruix, you
will find my official accompts. In this I shall venture
to lay aside my commissarial caution, and speak to you
unreservedly on our real situation in this country.
* This is the letter to which we particularly wished to call the
reader's attention. It owes, as he will see, its superior interest
to the great degree of intimacy subsisting between Jaubert and
the first minister of the marine, and which allowed him to speak
out, without hazarding a voyage to Cayenne.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
29
"There will be no connection in my letter; first,
because I have my attention called off every moment
by the repeated applications which, as you well know,
are never sparingly made by a fleet at anchor; and
secondly, because the vessel which carries the dispatches
is under weigh.
Generally speaking, the land and sea officers took their
leaves of each other in a very cold manner. The way
in which they were all crowded together for want of
room, and the scanty allowance to which they were
Confined, account for it naturally enough.*
* We have before us an official letter from Jaubert to Bruix,
dated on board the l'Orient the 4th of July. The letter in ge-
neral is not sufficiently interesting to be laid before the public,
but the concluding paragraph throws some light on this passage.
"Deux cents quatre-vingt-treize bâtiments composoient les
"convois de Toulon, Marseille, Genes, Ajaccio, et Civita Ve-
“chia ; ils étoient armés d'environ 4,500 hommes, et portoient
"outre l'artillerie destinée pour l'armée de terre, 22,000 hommes
"et 1,200 cheveaux."
"The transports from Toulon, Marseilles, Genoa, Ajaccio,
"and Civita Vecchia amounted in all to 293 sail; they were
“manned with about 4,500 men; and had on board, besides the
"artillery, 22,000 land forces, and 1,200 horses.
Now it appears from a variety of documents that the number
embarked from France and Italy, was about 40,000 (not picked
regiments and companies, but) picked men. If we now allow
5000 for the garrison of Malta, and for casualties on the voyage,
we shall find the number of troops distributed on board the ships
of war, to be something above 11,000-if to these we add the
staff of the whole army, we shall be able, as Jaubert says, to ac-
count naturally enough, for the coldness between the land and
sea officers, who had been thus packed together for near three
months.
It appears from Boyer's list (No.22.), which we know to be per-
fectly correct, that the ships of war consisted of 15 sail of the line,
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All orders of any consequence were at first given
out by the Commander in Chief; latterly the Admi-
ral has received them from Berthier, the head of the
staff. * That for our landing at Malta was issued on
the very day of our disembarkation. Two days only
were allowed at Alexandria. The immense difference
between land and sea operations can be no secret to
you; but such is the General's way of doing things!
As it is, every thing has completely succeeded.
14 frigates, and several corvettes, and smaller vessels. It may not
be improper in this place to mention their fate.—Of the 15 sail
of the line, 11 were taken and destroyed by Lord Nelson, two
made their escape to Corfou and Malta, and two are still in the
Old Port of Alexandria.-Of the 14 frigates, two were destroyed
in the great engagement, one taken by the Turks, another (the
Sensible) by our cruizers, eight are at this moment in the port
of Alexandria, and one is unaccounted for,-most probably it is
stopped in one of the Turkish ports.-Of the smaller vessels,
some have been destroyed, and some taken.
It is a pleasing circumstance, however, to consider, that of all
this vast armament, the greatest, as Boyer says, that ever ap-
peared in the Mediterranean (see his Letter, No. 22.) not one has
yet reached France; and we shall be much mistaken indeed if
ONE EVER DOES! The French may amuse themselves as much
as they please, and the Jacobins of this country may follow them,
in speculating to what fortunate empire the fleet will next convey
the blessings of liberty.-The blessings we know to be immense;
but the fleet will never leave Alexandria!
* This seems to shew a kind of contempt for Brueys. How it
originated we know not, but most probably in the ignorance and
presumption of Bonaparte, who, accustomed to have his com-
mands carried into instant execution, could not always brook the
delays occasioned by the nature of the sea service, and which his
inexperience in these matters might sometimes lead him to at-
tribute to a want of zeal or knowledge in the Admiral.
The influence of Bonaparte, in France is strongly marked in
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
31
Malta is without a supply of provisions-with very little
money-a sale of national property that cannot possibly
take place for some time-and an immense population,
which was wholly supported by the Order.* The sup-
plies from France will not, I imagine, be very abun-
dant; those from Egypt are not yet in a state of for-
wardness:-and yet the possession of the island, in a mi-
litary point of view, is of the utmost importance.
The plague ceased at Alexandria only five or six days
before our arrival. There was, however, in the New
Port, a vessel that had it on board: some of the crew
had landed and gone into the city; but we heard of no
accident that had happened from it; and besides, it is
well known, that in the great heats, the plague is no
longer infectious. You will laugh outright, perhaps,
you witlings of Paris, at the Mahometan proclamation ↑
of the Commander in Chief. He is proof, however,
this paragraph. Jaubert undoubtedly thinks him wrong, and yet
in a confidential letter written to the Minister of Marine, the
friend and patron of Brueys, he scarcely dares to breathe a doubt
of his infallibility.
* Here is a pretty specimen of the favours conferred by these
propagandists of liberty, &c. on the poor of Malta-the constant
objects, as we all know, and as we have all been told a thousand
times, of their peculiar protection and regard! They were wholly
supported, as Jaubert truly says, by the Order; yet the French
abolish that order, seize all its property to themselves, and leave
the poor inhabitants, like the canons of Boileau, “eperdus et be-
nis,” free, as they are pleased to call it, and starving! It is some
consolation, however, to find that the Maltese are not wholly in-
sensible of the kindness.
† The witlings of London (the Morning Chronicle, the Cou-
rier, and the other Jacobin papers) did better; they denied its au-
thenticity, and substituted in its place a proclamation fabricated
for the purpose by the Directory.
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}
against all your raillery; and the thing itself will cer-
tainly produce a most surprising effect. You recollect
that produced by the magic cry of GUERRE AUX CHA-
TEAUX, PAIX AUX CABANES.
*
The Commander in Chief will march to the attack
of Cairo with the grand army; the divisions will do the
rest. When the army first got sight of Alexandria, and
the deserts which surround it, both officers and men were
* "WAR TO PALACES! PEACE TO COTTAGES!"-It is for-
tunate for mankind that the French in the wantonness of success
sometimes put off the mask, and discover the features of the
Revolution in all their deformity! This "magic cry" (as it is
truly called) has set one part of Europe against the other. It has
furnished a topic for declamation to the cold-blooded philoso-
phists of every country; who, from their closets, have propagated
the destructive war-hoop from nation to nation, with all the en-
thusiasm of demons. It was in vain to tell the people that the
fall of one involved that of the other. They were long governed
more by words than by facts; and it was not till they saw them-
selves surrounded by the ruins of their smoking "cottages,'
while "palaces" frequently remained uninjured, that they began
to awake from their dream of inviolability, and curse at once the
authors of their delusion, and the agents of their destruction.
The poor in every country which the French have reached, have
been the chief sufferers; and, in consequence of it, among the
foremost to retaliate on their oppressors. Jourdan's grand army
was nearly annihilated by them in its flight, and Belgium and
Italy, and Switzerland which has no "palaces," are at this mo-
ment filled with an injured peasantry, breathing “curses not
loud but deep," and cutting off in secresy and silence, whole ar-
mies of their wanton and hypocritical destroyers.
The "magic cry" thank Heaven! has lost its power to charm,
and now remains a mere vox et præterea nihil, serving only to re-
mind its profligate employers of the mischief it once wrought,
and, as in the instance before us, to furnish an unfeeling allu
sion, or a witticism.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
33
struck with consternation. Bonaparte has revived their
spirits.
The port of Alexandria is absolutely destitute of
means, either for victualling or refitting a single ship.
But the conquest will soon enable us to draw immense
advantages from it. Alexander did every thing in a
year!
The Arabs and the Mameloucs have treated some of
our prisoners as Socrates is said to have treated Alci-
biades. There was no alternative but death or submis-
sion ;-one of our grenadiers chose the former. They
took some of our women too; but they only beat them!
It is not yet certain whether our seventy-fours can
get into the port. The two Venetian sixty-fours are
already there. There was a talk of getting out our guns
to enable us to enter. But in that case, what should we
do there, and when and how should we get out again?
We are now moored at Aboukir, about five leagues
to the east of Alexandria-the road is well enough in
summer; but in winter quite untenable. The English
are in our neighbourhood. They have fourteen sail, and
we thirteen, of which three are rather out of condition.
We are in expectation of them. The general opinion
(but this might be influenced in some degree by personal
considerations) was, that as soon as the debarkation was
effected, we should have sailed for Corfou; where we
were to be reinforced by the ships from Malta, Toulon,
and Ancona, and thus prepared for all events. The
General has decided it otherwise.* The good fortune
* If (which is far from being the case,) we had any respect for
the moral character of General Bonaparte, we should feel a con-
siderable degree of uneasiness at this passage-one of the most
important in the whole correspondence. It proves him to be a
D
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which attends all his operations, will not fail to follow
this:-for the rest-we are under the gale of fatalism,
and its breath shakes my principles a little.
base, and cowardly, and faithless calumniator of a brave man,
whose only crime was too strict an obedience to his own orders.
-But to the proofs.
In the General's official letter to the Directory, of which they
have somehow or other obtained a duplicate (for the original is in
our possession)—he says, "that to the 24th of July he believed
"that the Admiral had either sailed for Corfou, or entered the
port of Alexandria.”
Both these assertions are false, and the latter of them is infa
mously so. We have a letter of Bonaparte's written more than a
fortnight before the time he mentions, and in this he expressly
says, that "on account of a part of the channel which has no
more than five fathoms of water, the seventy-fours cannot en-
"ter the port."
"I then," continues he-(we must premise that we take our
translation from the Courier, a paltry paper, but of sufficient au-
thority in the present case,)—" I then" (that is on the 27th)
"wrote to him again, that he must not lose an hour, but either
"enter the port of Alexandria, or return to Corfou." This too is
a falsehood; for we have the very letter (see No. VIII.), and it
does not say a syllable of either: it mentions, as our readers will
see, the General's hopes that Brueys was then in the port; but
it mentions also, that he was to take no step (much less to sail
for Corfou) without further orders.
"On the 29th he wrote to me that he had found a passage for
"entering the port of Alexandria."-This we cannot contradict
of course, but we have every reason for believing it as unfounded
as the rest, and merely inserted to excuse his detention of the
fleet.
"It seemed to me that Admiral Brueys was unwilling to re-
"turn to Corfou before he had ascertained the practicability of
entering Alexandria."-How little must the " Hero of Italy"
have looked in his own eyes when he penned this sentence! It
appears not only from Jaubert's letter, but from a thousand con-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
35
How deficient in foresight are we all in the wishes
which we form! I had half an inclination to remain
Commissary for some time at Malta; but when I saw
that, for the first year at least, that port could neither re-
ceive from France nor from Egypt such supplies as
would render a residence there tolerable, and that a nu-
merous population would suffer, at least, for a time, the
agonies of passing from an organization, imperfect with-
out doubt, but long established, to one differing from it in
curring circumstances, that the sole wish of Brueys was, and had
been from the moment the debarkation was effected, to return to
Corfou; that he had been long convinced that the port of Alex-
andria could not receive him, though he continued his examina-
tion of its entrance; and that he was detained against his will on
the coast of Egypt, by the express and positive command of the
General himself.
On the other hand, it appears, that General Bonaparte was
so far from ordering the fleet to Corfou, that he had actually
written for the three Venetian ships which remained at Ancona,
(in the neighbourhood, as it were, of Corfou), to come and join
Admiral Brueys at Aboukir. This fact we have in his letter of
the 6th of July.—"J'aurois besoin que vous (that is the Direc-
"tory to whom he writes), m'envoyassiez le plutôt possible, les
"trois vaisseaux Venitiens qui sont à Toulon : j'enverrai cher-
"cher les trois qui sont à Ancone."-" If in this calamitous
❝event he was to blame,"-shame! shame!" he has expiated
"his faults by a glorious death”.
the gracious Duncan
Was pitied of Macbeth-marry, HE WAS DEAD.
The remainder of the letter we shall not notice, nor, indeed,
is it worth it. Such as it is, however, it has furnished his Jaco-
bin admirers in this country with fresh proofs of his veracity,
wisdom, and we know not what, at the expence of the unfortu-
nate Brueys. Those who have a taste for these things, may be
fully gratified by recurring to the Jacobin prints of the 29th and
30th of October last.
D 2
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every respect :—when I saw all this, I said to myself, "let
"somebody else be a witness to these dreadful distresses,
"and let me try my fortune at Alexandria." There I
had every thing to do, and every thing to suffer, both
from the climate and the troops-and I clung more
closely than ever to the fleet, determined to follow its
destiny. I have often turned my eyes towards France,
towards my friends, but I have never regretted the sa-
crifices I made in quitting Malta.
Adieu, my dear Bruix, be happy, and realize your
wishes for the re-establishment of the marine. Accept
the assurances of my affectionate and unceasing attach-
ment.
JAUBERT.
Allow me to present my respectful services to Ma-
dame Bruix, and Mademoiselle Theresa.
I say nothing to you of the capture of Alexandria. I
shall request Forestier to read his letter to you.
As I have been rather too open in this letter, you will
oblige me by throwing it into the fire as soon as you
have read it.*
* It is probable that Jaubert perished in the explosion of the
l'Orient, and cannot, therefore, have much to fcar from the
friends of Bonaparte, or from the Government. Had it been
otherwise, we confess we should not have been withheld from
publishing his letter by any consideration of the dangers to which
he might be exposed by it. We feel little solicitude for the fate
of a man, however able, who appears to be a villain upon prin-
ciple, and to assist, in pure gaiety of heart, in the infernal work
of Revolution, though he sees and clearly points out the train of
human woes that must follow its accomplishment.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
37
No. IV.
A bord de l'Orient, le 21 Messidor, an 6.
L'Amiral PRUEYS, Commandant les Forces Navales de
la République dans la Mediterrannée, au Ministre de
la Marine et des Colonies.
JEV
Citoyen Ministre,
Je vous ai écrit de Malte en date du 26 Prairial; je vous
rendois compte de l'arrivée de la flotte sur ce parage, et de
la prise de l'isle. L'armée et le convoi étoient sous voile
le 1er Messidor, et le 13 suivant nous arrivâmes dev..nt
le port-vieux d'Alexandrie.
Je m'étois fait précéder par la frégate la Junon pour
aller prendre le Consul, ce qui réussit parfaitement.
Le Citoyen Magallon neveu arriva le 13, et nous dit
que le 10, une escadre Anglaise s'étoit présentée en ligne
de bataille devant le port d'Alexandrie, où elle avoit de-
taché un brick, et qu'à son retour cette escadre avoit
dirigé sa route dans le N. E. On l'avoit jugé composée
de quatorze vaisseaux de ligne.
Le Consul nous dit qu'on s'attendoit depuis longtems
à l'arrivée des François; qu'il y avoit beaucoup de fer-
mentation et une grande inquiétude dans le pays.
Le Général en Chef désira être débarqué sur le
champ. Je fis mouiller l'armée et le convoi sur la côte,
et dans la nuit du 13. Six mille hommes furent mis à
terre dans une anse à l'Ouest du port-vieux auprès d'un
château nommé Le Marabou, distant d'environ deux
lieues de la ville. Personne ne s'opposa à la descente.
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Le 14 à midi, nos troupes étoient dans la ville, et trois
heures après le fort se rendit. Il y eut quelque résis-
tance à la muraille qui entoure la ville, mais elle fut bien-
tôt escaladée. On tira quelques coups de fusil dans les
rues par les fenêtres. Le fort tira quelques coups de
canon, et bref, tout se rendit.
Je débarquai toutes les troupes et les effets appartenant
à l'armée de terre, et le 19 ayant été reconnu que les vais-
seaux ne pouvoient pas entrer dans le port à cause du
peu de profondeur qu'il y a à l'entrée, je fis mouiller le
convoi et les Venitiens, et je mis sous voile pour aller
mouiller à la rade de Bequier, avec les treize vaisseaux
et trois frégates.
2
3
J'y arrivai l'après midi, et je formai une ligne de ba-
taille à d'encablure de distance. Le vaisseau de tête le
plus près possible de l'écueil qui nous reste dans le N. O.
et le reste de la ligne formant une ligne courbe le long
des hauts-fonds de manière à ne pas être doublé dans le
S. O. Cette position est la plus forte que nous puis-
sions prendre dans une rade ouverte, où l'on ne peut pas
s'approcher assez de terre pour y établir des batteries, et
où deux escadres ennemies peuvent rester à la distance.
qui leur convient.
Nos troupes sont entrées hier 19 à Rosette, et l'armée
est en marche pour le Caire.
Nous faisons entrer dans le Nil le plus de bâtiments
légers possibles, et le Général en Chef m'a demandé le
Chef de Division Perrée pour les commander. Cette
flotille a fait route ce matin pour essayer de passer sur
la barre de Rosette. Vous voyez que nous marchons à
la conquête de l'Egypte à pas de géant.
Il est fâcheux qu'il n'y ait pas un port où une escadre
puisse entrer; mais le port-vieux tant vanté est fermé
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
39
par des rescifs hors de l'eau, et sous l'eau, qui forment
des passages fort étroits, et entre lesquels il n'y a que 23
pieds, 25 et 30. La mer y est ordinairement élevée, et
vous voyez qu'un vaisseau de 74 seroit fort exposé,
d'autant qu'il seroit brisé un quart d'heure après y avoir
touché. J'ai offert, pour satisfaire au desir du Général
en Chef, dix mille francs au pilote du pays qui en-
treroit l'escadre; mais aucun n'a voulu se charger que d'un
bâtiment qui tireroit au plus vingt pieds d'eau. J'espère
cependant, qu'on parviendra à trouver un passage dans
lequel nos 74 pourront entrer: mais ce ne peut être que
le fruit de beaucoup de soins et de peines.
J'en ai chargé deux officiers intelligents, l'un est le Ca-
pitaine de frégate, Barré, commandant l'Alceste, et le
second le Citoyen Vidal, Lieutenant de Vaisseaux; s'ils
trouvent un canal, ils le baliseront, et alors on pourra
entrer sans beaucoup de danger. Le fond en dedans des
rescifs va en augmentant jusqu'à 15 brasses; mais la
sortie sera toujours très-difficile et très-longue; et dès-
lors une escadre y sera mal-placée. Je n'ai plus entendu
parler des Anglais; ils ont peut-être été nous chercher en
Syrie, ou plutôt je pense qu'ils avoient moins de 14 vais-
seaux, et que ne se trouvant pas en nombre supérieur,
ils n'auront pas jugé à-propos de se mesurer avec nous.
Nous attendons avec grande impatience que la con-
quête de l'Egypte nous procure des vivres ; nous en four-
nissons continuellement aux troupes, et tous les jours on
nous fait quelques nouvelles saignées. Il ne nous reste
que pour 15 jours de biscuit; et nous sommes dans ce
mouillage comme en pleine mer, c'est-à-dire, consom-
mant tout, et ne remplaçant rien.
Nos équipages sont très-foibles en nombre et en qua-
lité d'hommes; nos vaisseaux sont en général fort mal-
40
COPIES OF
armés, et je trouve qu'il faut bien du courage pour se
charger de conduire des flottes aussi mal-outillées.
Je ne crois pas devoir entrer dans de plus grands dé-
tails sur notre situation; vous êtes marin, et vous
sentirez mieux notre position, que je ne pourrois vous la
dépeindre.
Je vais vous transcrire le paragraphe de la lettre du
Général en Chef que je viens de recevoir :
"J'ai demandé au Directoire Exécutif, le grade de
"Contre Amiral pour votre Chef d'Etat-Major Gan-
"teaume; je vous prie de le faire recevoir. J'ai
"cherché par-là à donner une preuve d'estime et de re-
❝connoissance aux bons services, à l'activité, et au zèle
"qu'a mis votre Etat-Major, et en général toute l'es-
"cadre, à exécuter les ordres du Gouvernement.
(Signé)
BONAPARTE."
BRUEYS.
Salut et respect,
TRANSLATION.
On board the l'Orient, July 12th.
Admiral BRUEYS, commanding the Naval Forces of the
Republic in the Mediterranean, to the Minister of the
Marine, and of the Colonies.
I w
Citizen Minister,
WROTE to you from Malta on the 14th of June; in
that letter I gave you an account of the arrival of the
fleet at Malta, and of the capture of that island. The
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
41
ships of the line, and the transports were all under sail
on the 19th, and on the 1st of July we were off the old
port of Alexandria.
I had previously dispatched the Juno to bring the
Consul on board. Citizen Magallon (the nephew) ar-
rived on the 1st, and informed us that an English squa-
dron had appeared in line of battle off the port of Alex-
andria, on the 28th of June, that they had detached a
brig to the town, and that on its return, they had made
sail to the north-east. The squadron was supposed to
consist of fourteen ships of the line.
The Consul also told us that our arrival had been
daily looked for, for some time; that there was a great
fermentation in the country, and no inconsiderable de-
gree of uneasiness and apprehension.
The Commander in Chief desired to be put on shore
immediately; I therefore came to anchor on the coast,
and during the night succeeded in landing 6000 men in
a creek to the west of the Old Port, near a castle called
Marabou, about two leagues from the city: not the
slightest opposition was made to our descent.
The 2d, at noon, our troops were in the city, and in
three hours afterwards the fort surrendered. There was
some resistance attempted at the wall which surrounds
the city, but it was immediately scaled. A few shot
were fired into the streets from the windows of the
houses; the fort too, fired a few cannon; but every
thing was soon in our possession.
I disembarked all the troops, and the baggage belong-
ing to them, and on the 7th, having satisfied myself
that our ships of war could not get into the port for
want of a sufficient depth of water at the entrance, I
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ordered the Venetian ships,* and the transports, to come
to an anchor there, and stood off with the thirteen sail of
the line and the three frigates, with an intent of moor-
ing in the Bay of Bequiers.
I arrived there in the afternoon, and formed a line of
battle at two-thirds of a cable length, the headmost ves-
sel being as close as possible † to a shoal to the north-west
of us, and the rest of the fleet forming a kind of curve
along the line of deep water, so as not to be turned, by
any means, in the south-west. This position is the
strongest we could possibly take in an open road, where
we cannot approach sufficiently near the land to be pro-
tected by batteries, and where the enemy has it in his
power to choose his own distance.
Our troops entered Rosetta yesterday, and the army
is now in full march for Cairo.
We have pushed into this branch of the Nile as many
of our light vessels as possible; and the Commander in
* Le Dubois and le Causse, of 64 guns each, and two or three
frigates.
+ Never was there a more glorious testimony to the intrepidity
and skill of the British seamen, than this letter furnishes. The
French Admiral, a man of no common abilities in his profession,
and anxious, above all things, to secure his fleet from being
headed by an enemy, places his van ship as near the shoal as
possible (le plus près possible are his own words), and reposes in the
most perfect confidence, that nothing can molest him in that quar-
ter; and yet it was between this very shoal and ship, and through
this very passage, which, after an examination of twenty-four
days (from the 7th to the 31st of July), the French Admiral con-
ceived impracticable, that the gallant NELSON led his BRITONS
(the men whom the Morning Chronicle pronounced to be "with-
“out courage, and ready to resign their swords to every puny
"whipster") to victory, and everlasting Fame!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
43
Chief has asked me for the Chief of Division, Perrée,
to command them. The flotilla sailed this morning to
try if it be possible to get over the bar of Rosetta. You
see that we are marching to the conquest of Egypt
with the steps of a giant.
It is vexatious that there is not a port where a fleet
can enter; but the Old Port, of which we have heard so
much, is shut up by a reef of rocks, some under, and
some above, water, forming a number of narrow chan-
nels, where the depth is only from 23 to 25 and 30 feet.
The sea, too, is commonly very high: thus you see,
that one of our seventy-fours would be in no small
danger there, especially as she would inevitably go to
pieces in a few minutes after touching the ground.
To gratify the wishes of the Commander in Chief,*
I have offered a reward of ten thousand livres to any
pilot of the country who will undertake to carry the
squadron in; but none of them will venture to take
charge of a single vessel that draws more than twenty
feet. I hope, however, that we shall succeed in finding
a channel by which our seventy-fours may enter; but
this can only be the result of many laborious and pain-
ful experiments.
I have already engaged two intelligent officers in this
business; Captain Barré, commanding at present the
Alceste, and Citizen Vidal, first Lieutenant. If they
find a channel, they will buoy it for us; and then we
may enter without much danger. The depth within
the reefs increases to fifteen fathoms, but the getting out
* Here is positive proof of the falsehood of Bonaparte's asser-
tions respecting the sailing of the fleet. We beseech the reader
to bear this passage in mind, for we shall by and by return to it.
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COPIES OF
of the harbour will, in all cases, be very difficult, and
very tedious; so that a squadron would engage to a vast
disadvantage.
I have heard nothing further of the English. They
are gone, perhaps, to look for us on the coast of Syria;
or rather (and this is my private opinion) they have not
so many as fourteen sail of the line; and finding them-
selves not superior in numbers, do not think it quite so
prudent to try their strength with us. *
We look forward with the greatest anxiety to the
time when the conquest of Egypt shall furnish us with
provisions. We are now obliged to supply the troops
continually-every hour new drains are made upon us.
We have now only fifteen days' biscuit on board; and
we are in this anchorage just as if we were on the high
seas-consuming every thing, and replacing nothing.
Our crews are weak both in number and quality.
Our rigging, in general, out of repair; and I am sure
that it requires no little courage to undertake the ma-
nagement of a fleet, furnished with such tools!
I do not think it necessary to enter into any further de-
tails on our present situation. You are a seaman, and will
therefore conceive it better than I can describe it to you.
* We were sorry to find such a passage as this in Brueys' letter.
He was evidently a man of courage and capacity, and ought to
have known his enemy better. Such flights of vanity and imbe-
cillity are things of course in the dispatches of the Directory;
but this is not an official letter; it is evidently meant for the pri-
vate information of Bruix, and seems drawn up as a kind of
defence against the probable remonstrances of Bonaparte.
It is needless to observe how much the unfortunate Admiral
was deceived. His fate will not be altogether useless to his coun-
trymen, if it gives them juster notions of our "prudence,” with
equal, or even inferior numbers.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
45
Before I conclude, I will transcribe a paragraph from
a letter which I have just received from the Com-
mander in Chief:
"I have asked of the Executive Directory, the rank
"of Rear Admiral for your Chief of the Staff, Gan-
"teaume. I beseech you to appoint him.
him. I have
"sought by this to give a proof of my gratitude and
"esteem for the essential services, the activity, and the
" zeal manifested by your staff officers, and, generally
"speaking, the whole squadron, in executing the orders
"of the Government.
(Signed)
"BONAPARTE."
Health and respect.
BRUEYS.
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No. V.
A Gisé, le 6 Thermidor, an 6.
EMMANUEL PERRE'E, Chef de Division, au Vice Amiral
BRUEYS, Commandant en Chef la Force Navale en
station devant Alexandrie.
Citoyen Général,
DEPUIS notre séparation, je n'ai cessé de rappeller au
Général en Chef la position où je vous avois laissé;
ce à quoi il a pris beaucoup de part. Il a saisi la pre-
mière occasion qui s'est présentée pour vous faire passer
58 schermes chargées de différentes denrées.
Tant qu'à nous, notre position n'a pas été des plus
belles depuis notre séparation; le 25 Messidor, nous
avons rencontré l'armée ennemie au point du jour.
J'avais pour lors 3 canonnières, la galère, et le Cerf.
L'ennemi avait 7 canonnières portant du 24 et du 36.
L'affaire a commencé à 9 heures; deux de mes canon-
nières et la galère ont été abandonnées par rapport au
grand feu de l'ennemi, qui nous battait par mer et par
terre.
Il s'en était déjà emparé, mais le grand feu que fai-
sait le Cerf, et une autre canonnière l'ont obligé d'aban-
donners a proie. J'ai coulé bas leur canonnière com-
mandante, et la déroute s'est mis dans leur flotille; ils
n'ont eu que
le temps de fuir. Assurément si 3 de mes
meilleurs bâtiments n'eussent pas été forcés de céder, il
n'aurait plus été question de la flotille ennemie. J'ai eu
1
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
47
20 hommes blessés, et plusieurs tués. J'ai eu mon sabre
enlevé, et un peu du bras gauche, cependant j'espère
que cela ne sera rien ; je suis presque guéri.
La misère de la traversée ne peut se peindre. Nous
avons été réduits pendant quelques jours à ne vivre que
de pastiche, et toutes les heures la fusillade de la part
des Arabes, cependant toujours vainqueurs, à quelques
morts et blessés près.
Le Nil n'est pas tel qu'on me l'avait dit ; il est très-
tortueux, fort peu d'eau, puisque j'ai été obligé de laisser
le schebeck, la galère, et 2 canonnières, à 13 lieues du
Caire, où je suis arrivé, hier, à 8 heures du soir.
Le peu de tems dont je puis disposer, ne me permet
pas de plus grands détails. Notre armée a eu une affaire
très-vive avec les Mamelouks, dont-il a péri plus de 12
cents: notre perte est peu considerable; on l'évalue à
20 tués, et 150 blessés.
Salut et respect,
EMMANUEL PERRE'E.
P. S. Je vous prie, Général, de me faire passer 5 à 6
officiers intelligents, et une quarantaine d'hommes. Vous
m'obligerez, ainsi que le Général en Chef.
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TRANSLATION.
Gizeh, July 24.
EMMANUEL PERRE'E, General of Division, to Vice-
Admiral BRUEYS, Commander in Chief of the Naval
Force stationed before Alexandria.
Citizen General,
SINCE
our separation, I have lost no opportunity of
recalling to the mind of the Commander in Chief,
the situation in which I left you. He takes a lively
interest in it, and has seized the first opportunity which
offered, of sending you 58 vessels laden with different
articles.
As for us, our position has not been the most agree-
able since we parted. On the 13th of July we fell
in with the enemy's army, at break of day. I had
then with me 3 gun boats, the galley, and the Cerf.
The enemy had 7 gun boats, carrying from 24 to 36
pounders. The action began at nine; two of my gun
boats, and the galley were run on shore, and quitted by
the crews, on account of the terrible fire which the
enemy opened upon us from their boats, and from the
banks of the river.
The enemy were already in possession of them, but
the brisk fire from the Cerf, and the remaining gun
boats obliged them to abandon their prey.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
49
I sunk the vessel which carried their flag; confusion
immediately took place, and they had only time to make
their escape. Had not three of my best vessels been
obliged to give way, I should certainly have destroyed
the whole of their flotilla.*
I had twenty of my men wounded and several killed.
A ball struck my sword out of my hand, and carried
away a piece of my left arm. I do not think, how-
ever, that it will be attended with any bad conse-
quences; indeed, it is already nearly well.
I cannot describe to you what we suffered in this
expedition. We were reduced for several days to sub-
- sist entirely on water-melons; during which we were
constantly exposed to the fire of the Arabs, although,
with the exception of a few killed and wounded, we
always came off victorious.
The Nile is very far from answering the description
I had received of it. It winds incessantly, and is withal
so shallow, that I was compelled to leave the chebeck,
the galley, and two of my gun boats, thirteen leagues
below Cairo, which I reached yesterday evening.
The little time I have to spare prevents me from
entering into farther particulars. Our army has had
a smart action with the Mamelouks, who lost more
* This is admirable. Had he not been beaten and lost half
his fleet, he would have been victorious! The plain truth,
however, as appears from several letters, particularly from one of
Adjutant General Boyer's (see No. XXII.), who commanded the
land forces on board, is, that he was defeated, and only saved
from absolute destruction by the appearance of the van of the
army. Notwithstanding this foolish gasconade, General Perrée
seems to be a man of courage and abilities.
E
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than 1200 men. Our loss is very trifling; it amounts,
I understand, to about 20 killed, and 150 wounded.
Health and respect.
EMMANUEL PERRE'E.
P. S. Pray send me immediately five or six intelli-
gent officers, and about forty men. You will oblige
me very much, as well as the Commander in Chief.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
51
No. VI.
Tersi, le 7 Thermidor, an 6.
ク
​COLBERT à son Ami COLLASSE.
Je m'empresse, mon cher ami, de te donner de mes
nouvelles, et te dire quelques mots des souffrances, et
des désagrémens que nous avons éprouves.
L'incertitude où je suis encore du sort de mes effets,
m'a souvent fort inquiété. Je suis dans l'état de dénue-
ment le plus parfait, ayant pour me couvrir la chemise
et les effets que j'avois sur mon corps en partant d'Alex-
andrie. Ainsi, pour cet objet, je te prierai de confier à
Douzelot, s'il veut bien s'en charger, mes malles; ou
dans le cas contraire, tu pourrois les confier à un des of
ficiers chargés de faire parvenir les effets des demi-bri-
gades. Donne-moi, je t'en prie, quelques détails sur
ce qu'est devenu Daure, mon argent, et mes bijoux : je
n'en sçais pas un mot.
A présent que je t'ai parlé de mes affaires, je te
dirai, qu'il m'est presque impossible de te donner une
idée de ce que nous avons éprouvé; souffrances sur
souffrances, privations, mortifications, fatigues, nous
avons tout éprouvé de la première main. Les trois
quarts du tems mourir de faim. Tel est le tableau suc-
cinct de mon existence depuis que je t'ai quitté !
Quoique nos moyens soient plus grands, notre existence
n'en est pas plus heureuse. Eloigné de tous nos amis, je
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ne te parle pas du succès de nos armes : tu en entendras
assez parler.
Adieu, mon cher ami, penses à ce que je te demande;
songe que je suis nud, et que tu me rendras le service le
plus signalé.
P. S. Mille choses à Tellier.
Au Commissaire des Guerres,
COLLASSE, chargé du Ser-
vice de la Place d'Alexandrie.
}
Ton Ami,
COLBERT.
Terzi, July 25th.
COLBERT to his Friend COLLASSE.
I HA
HASTEN, my dear friend, to give thee some account
of myself, and to say a few words to thee on the hard-
ships and dangers we have experienced.
The uncertainty in which I still remain respecting
the fate of my baggage, gives me from time to time the
greatest uneasiness. I am almost in a state of naked-
ness, having nothing to cover me but my shirt, and the
clothes I had on when I left Alexandria. I beg thee,
therefore, to send me my trunks by Douzelot,* if he
*Douzelot's rank is not mentioned. He is the person to whom
Savary's Letter is addressed (see No. XII.), and appears to be
in some office of consequence.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
53
will have the goodness to take charge of them; if not,
by one of the officers commissioned to bring up the bag-
gage of the demi-brigade. Do, prithee, contrive to let
me know what is become of Daure, of my money, and
my jewels: I cannot hear one syllable about them.
So much for my private affairs; I must now tell thee
that it is hardly possible to form an idea of what we have
gone through: sufferings upon sufferings, privations,
mortifications, fatigues, we have exhausted them all!
three-fourths of the time we have been dying with
hunger! Such is the correct, but rapid sketch of my life,
since we parted.
At present, indeed, our means are more ample, but
our condition is not therefore more happy. Remote
from all our friends, I shall not enter into the details of
our military successes, thou wilt hear enough of them
from other quarters.
Adieu, my dear friend: think of my request: consi-
der that I am absolutely naked, and that thou wilt ren-
der me the most essential service.
P. S. Remember me to Tellier.
To the Commissary at War,
COLLASSE, Superintendant of
the town, &c. of Alexandria.
Thine,
COLBERT.
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t
No. VII.
Au Grand Caire, le 8 Thermidor.
Au Général BoURNONVILLE, No. 61, Rue du Faux-
bourg-Honoré, à Paris.
Nous sommes au Caire depuis 4 jours, mon cher
Général; notre marche a été très-pénible, sous un ciel
brûlant, sur des sables, et dans des déserts arides; souvent
sans eau, et sans pain: une attaque de vive force a pris
Alexandrie; un combat vif, mais d'un instant, a décidé
de la prise du Caire.
Je me porte aussi bien qu'il est possible de le faire,
dans un climat étranger, et qui ne me convient nulle-
ment; nous allons probablement prendre un peu de re-
pos ici; alors seulement, nous pourrons distinguer l'ef-
fet de la fatigue, de l'influence du climat, et décider si
nous vivrons long-temps ici..
Je ne vous écris pas, mon cher Général, autant que
je le désirerois; mais il faut que la lettre soit courte
pour qu'elle puisse arriver: peut-être la mienne est-elle
déjà trop longue. Oserois-je vous prier de mander à
ma famille, que vous avez reçu de mes nouvelles.
Croyez, mon cher Général, à tout mon attachement;
mille lieues de distance ne l'ont point affoibli.
D.
!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
55
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo, July 26th.
To General BOURNONVILLE,* No. 61, Rue de Faux-
bourg-Honoré, at Paris.
WE have been at Cairo four days, my dear General;
our march was of the most distressing kind, under a
burning sky, over sands, and arid deserts, without water,
and without bread! Alexandria was taken by storm, and
Cairo fell into our hands after a brisk but short en-
gagement.
I am as well as it is possible to be, in a climate so
different from our own as this, and which by no means
agrees with me. We shall probably recruit ourselves a
little here; we shall then be enabled to ascertain what
effects fatigue, and the influence of the climate will have
on our constitutions, and thus to decide if we can live
here for any length of time.
5
*This is a confidential letter, and seems to shew that Bour-
nonville was a little in the secret of the expedition, hence the hint
about the period that a Frenchman might live in Egypt, &c. The
remark on the danger of writing long letters we are not quite
certain we understand. It is probable (but this is a mere guess)
that it was feared they might excite the suspicions of the Com-
mander in Chief, or of the Directory. We have proofs before
us, however, that all which were destined to be put into the post-
office in France, are single letters, while most of those which
were trusted to private conveyance (by far the most numerous) ·
are double, treble, and sometimes more.
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COPIES OF
I have not written to you, my dear General, so much
at large as I could have wished; but if we desire to
have our letters reach their place of destination, we
must make them short: mine is perhaps, already too
long. May I venture to request you to let my family
know that you have heard from me.
Believe, my dear General, in my entire attachment;
no distance, however great, can weaken it.
D.*
* This is the only letter which appears with a single signature.
The author had undoubtedly his reasons for it.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
57
No. VIII.
Au Quartier général du Caire, le 9 Thermidor, an 6.
BONAPARTE, Membre de l'Institut National, Général
en Chef, à l'Amiral BRUEYS.
APRE's des marches bien fatiguantes, et quelques com-
bats, nous sommes enfin arrivés au Caire. J'ai été
spécialement content de la conduite du Chef de Division,
Perrée, et je l'ai nommé Contre Amiral.
Je suis instruit d'Alexandrie, qu'enfin on a trouvé une
passe telle qu'on pouvoit la désirer; et je ne doute pas
que vous ne soyez, à l'heure qu'il est, dans le port avec
toute l'escadre.
Vous ne devez avoir aucune inquiétude sur les sub-
sistances de l'armée navale; ce pays-ci est un des plus
riches que l'on puisse s'imaginer, en blés, légumes, riz,
et bestiaux.
J'imagine que demain ou après, je recevrai de vos
nouvelles; je n'en ai point eu depuis mon départ
d'Alexandrie.
Dès que j'aurai reçu de vous une lettre qui me fera
connoître ce que vous avez fait, et votre position, je vous
ferai passer des ordres sur ce que nous avons encore à
faire.
L'Etat-Major vous aura, sans doute, envoyé un rap-
port sur notre derniere victoire.
Je pense que vous avez une frégate qui croise devant
Damiette; comme j'envoie prendre possession de cette
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COPIES OF
ville, je vous prie de donner l'ordre à l'officier qui com-
mande cette frégate de se rapprocher le plus possible,
et d'entrer en communication avec nos troupes, qui y
seront lorsque vous recevrez cette lettre.
Faites partir le courier que je vous envoie pour
prendre terre à l'endroit qui paraitra le plus convenable,
selon les nouvelles que vous avez de l'ennemi, et les
vents qui regnent dans cette saison.
Je désirerais que vous puissiez y envoyer une frégate
qui aurait ordre de partir 48 heures après son arrivée
dans le port, soit de Malte soit d'Ancone, en recom-
mandant à l'officier qui la commanderoit de nous ap-
porter les journaux et toutes les nouvelles que lui don-
neraient nos agens.
{
J'ai fait filer sur Alexandrie une grande quantité de
denrées pour solder le nolise des bâtiments de transport.
Mille choses à Ganteaume, et à Casabianca.
Je vous salue.
BONAPARTE.
*
L
1
1
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Cairo, July 27.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Com-
mander in Chief, to Admiral BRUEYS.
AFTER
FTER a number of very fatiguing marches, and some
fighting, we are at length arrived at Cairo. I am ex-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
59
tremely well satisfied with the conduct of the Chief of
Division, Perrée, and I have therefore promoted him
to the rank of Rear Admiral.
I hear from Alexandria* that a channel, such as
we could wish, has been discovered; and by this time,
I flatter myself, you are already in the port with all your
fleet.
There is no occasion for you to be under any uneasi-
ness with respect to the subsistence of your men. This
country is rich in wheat, pulse, rice, and cattle, almost
beyond imagination.
I persuade myself, that to-morrow, or the day after
at the farthest, I shall hear from you,-which I have
not yet done since my departure from Alexandria.
The instant you inform me what you have done, and
in what situation you are, you shall receive further
orders from me respecting what we have yet to do.
Some of the staff-officers have undoubtedly given you
an account of our late victory.
I take it for granted, that you have a frigate cruizing
off Damietta. As I am sending troops to take possession
of that town, I must request you to order the captain of
* We shall not remark on the general strain of coldness that
runs through this letter; but merely call the reader's attention
for a moment to the passage we have marked: "I hear," he
says, " from Alexandria," &c. It looks as if the General's an-
xiety to detain the fleet had induced him to depart from the line of
fair conduct, and to tamper, unknown to the Admiral, with some
of the officers at Alexandria. Brueys (see his letter to the mi-
nister of marine, No. IV.) had already employed two persons
very well qualified (as he writes) to examine the ground, and
their report had not yet been made; so that there is something
extremely suspicious in the premature information thus obtained
by Bonaparte.
*
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COPIES OF
the frigate to keep as near the land as possible, and to
open a communication with our forces; who will be
in possession of the place by the time this reaches you.
Send-off the courier whom I have dispatched to you
immediately put him on shore wherever you think it
best. In this, you will of course be guided by what you
hear of the enemy's fleet, and by the winds which pre-
vail at this season.
I could wish that you would send him in a frigate,
which should have positive orders to stay no longer than
eight-and-forty hours in any port where she might land
him (whether Malta or Ancona)-in this case, you
might charge the captain to bring us back all the jour-
nals, and all the information which our agents may
have collected.
I have dispatched by the Nile, a prodigious quantity
of provisions to Alexandria, to pay for the freight of the
transports there.*
Say a thousand kind things to Ganteaume and Ca-
sabianca.
1
* See the next letter.
I salute you.
BONAPARTE.t
{
+ This is the letter of which Bonaparte speaks in his dispatches
of the 19th of August. If the reader has gone through it atten-
tively, which we hope he has, we will beg leave to ask him two
questions ;-first, whether he finds any mention of returning to
Corfou in it, which the General says there was?—and secondly,
whether the whole tenour of it does not militate against his (Bo-
naparte's) having the smallest idea of such a thing? When he
has answered these two questions, as we think he must, we will
not trouble him for his opinion of the General's veracity.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
61
No. IX.
Au Quartier général du Caire,
le 9 Thermidor, an 6.
BONAPARTE, Membre de l'Institut National, Général
en Chef, au Général de Division, KLEBER.
Nous avons au Caire, Citoyen Général, une très-belle
monnoye. Nous aurions besoin de tous les lingots que
nous avons laissés à Alexandrie, en échange de quelque
numéraire que les négocians nous ont donné. Je vous
prie donc de faire réunir tous les négocians auxquels
ont été remis les dits lingots, et de les leur redemander.
Je leur donnerai en place, des blés et du riz, dont nous
avons une quantité immense.
Notre pauvreté en numéraire est égale à notre richesse
en denrées; ce qui nous oblige absolument à retirer du
commerce le plus de lingots et d'argent que nous pou-
vons, et à leur donner en échange des denrées.
Je n'ai pas reçu de vos nouvelles depuis mon départ
d'Alexandrie. Vous aurez eu bien des fausses nouvelles,
de l'inquiétude. Je vous ai écrit souvent par les gens
du pays, mais je crains que les Arabes ne les aient in-
terceptées, comme je pense qu'ils ont intercepté les
votres. J'attends de vos nouvelles avec quelque impa-
tience. Vous en aurez sans doute en ce moment reçu
de France.
Nous avons essuyé plus de fatigues que beaucoup de
gens n'avoient le courage de les supporter. Mais dans
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COPIES OF
ce moment-ci nous nous reposons au Caire, qui ne laisse
pas de nous offrir beaucoup de ressources. Toutes les
divisions y sont réunies.
L'Etat-Major vous aura instruit de l'événement mi-
litaire qui a précédé notre entrée au Caire; il a été
assez brillant. Nous avons jetté deux mille Mame-
louks des mieux montés dans le Nil.
.
L'armée a grand besoin de ses bagages. J'ai envoyé
l'Adjuant-Général, Almeyras, avec un bataillon de la
85, et une grande quantité de vivres pour l'escadre, à
Rosette. Il est chargé d'embarquer à son retour, tous
les effets de l'armée, et de les escorter jusqu'au Caire.
Donnez ordre aux officiers des Etats-Majors des corps
chargés des dépôts, de les envoyer à Rosette.
Envoyez-nous nos imprimeries Arabe, et Françoise.
Veillez à ce que l'on embarque tous les vins, eaux de
vie, tentes, souliers, &c. Envoyez tous ces objets par
mer à Rosette, et vû la croissance du Nil, ils remon-
tront facilement jusqu'au Caire.
J'attends des nouvelles de votre santé ; je désire qu'elle
se rétablisse promptement et que vous veniez bientôt
nous rejoindre.
J'ai écrit à Louis de partir pour Rosette avec tous
mes effets.
A l'instant même je trouve dans un jardin des Ma-
melouks une lettre de Louis, datée du 21 Messidor,
ce qui me prouve qu'un de vos couriers a été intercepté
par des Mamelouks.
Salut.
BONAPARTE'
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
63
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Cairo, July 27.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Com-
mander in Chief, to the General of Division, KLEBER.
Citizen General,
THERE is here a very excellent mint. We shall
again have occasion for all the ingots* which we left
with the merchants of Alexandria in exchange for the
specie of the country; I request you, therefore, to
call together all the merchants with whom the said in-
gots were exchanged, and to re-demand them. I will
give them in lieu of the bullion, wheat and rice, of
which we have immense quantities.
Our poverty in specie is equal to our riches in com-
modities: this circumstance absolutely compels me to
take as many ingots as possible from the merchants, and
to give them corn, &c. in exchange.†
* These ingots were formed from the gold and silver previously
stolen by this rapacious freebooter from the church of St. John,
where the Maltese kept their public treasury. See the Letter of
the Bailly of Teigna, and the Manifestoes of the different com-
manders.
+ To force one kind of plunder on the merchants, by way of
payment, and then to take it from them again in exchange for
some other which can be more conveniently spared, is a proceed-
ing so perfectly consonant to the French ideas of justice, and has
been so frequently employed by them, wherever they have had
power to put it in practice, as their good friends and allies can
testify, that it scarce deserves notice.
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COPIES OF
I have heard nothing froin you since I left Alex-
andria. You have doubtless had many idle rumours,
and alarms. I have sent you several letters by the peo-
ple of the country, which I fear have been intercepted
But we would fain ask the General how the country can be
poor in specie, when it appears from his letter to the Directory,
written only three days before the present, that every Mantelouc
had three or four hundred pounds in his pocket. "The Mame-
loucs," says-he, (see all the papers of the 31st of October}
shewed great bravery. They defended their fortunes, for
"there was not one of them on whom our soldiers did not find
three, four, and five hundred louis"!!!
Now it appears from the same account, that the number of
Mameloucs engaged was 6000. It is but fair to suppose that
those who escaped were as rich as those who fell: 6000, there-
fore, multiplied by 400, the average of their fortunes, gives a
total of 2,400,000 louis-no despicable sum for a country so
poor in specie; and probably not a great deal less than what
might be found in the pockets, or even in the possession, of the
same number of people in any army in France-a country, as we
all know, so rich in specie !
Further; the soldiers must have found on the 2000 Mame-
loucs, who, as the General says in his letter to the Directory,
were killed, 800,000 louis, by the fairest calculation: now we
think that some method might have been found to persuade them
to resign their plunder for a time (especially as they seem to enjoy
few opportunities of wasting it); and thus to have spared Bona-
parte the mortification, and Kleber the infamy, of compelling the
merchants of Alexandria to take what they do not want, in ex-
change for what they cannot spare!
Shall we now be serious? We do not believe that the Mame-
loucs had a single louis about them: rich arms and clothing
they certainly had; and if the French should ever return home
(as, if it please God, they never will), they may probably turn
them to some account: at present, all these fine things are mere
incumbrances to them.
We do not know the reason of it, but we constantly observe
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
65
}
by the Arabs, as has most probably been the case with
those which you have sent me. I am now all impa-
tience to hear from you; as you have undoubtedly by
this time received intelligence from France.
We have undergone more hardships than many among
us had courage to support: at present, we are recover-
ing ourselves,a little at Cairo, which is not deficient in
supplies. All our troops have joined.
The Officers of the Staff will have acquainted you
with the military transaction which preceded our entry
into this place. It was tolerably brilliant. Two thou-
sand of the best mounted Mameloucs were driven into
the Nile.
The army is in the greatest want of its baggage. I
have dispatched the Adjutant-General Almeyras with a
battalion of the 85th, and an immense quantity of pro-
visions for the fleet, to Rosetta. He is commissioned
on his return to take on board his flotilla, all the bag-
gage, &c. of the army, and to escort it to Cairo.
Order the Staff Officers of the different corps, charg-
ed with the care of the magazines, to send them all to
Rosetta.
Send us our Arabic and French printing-presses. See
that they embark all the wine, brandy, tents, shoes,* &c.
that none of the army attempt to cajole Kleber. He is almost the
only one to whom things are represented as they really are—
And Bonaparte, whose letter to the Cockneys of Paris, repre.
senting Egypt as almost paved with gold, was scarce dry; sits
down to tell this sagacious and penetrating General, that there is
none to be found in it; and that he has no resource but the
plundered ingots of Malta!
* We have already observed that not one of these articles can
reach Cairo. The port of Alexandria is hermet ically sealed, and
F
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COPIES OF
Send round all these articles by sea to Rosetta: and
as the Nile is now upon its increase, they will find no
difficulty in passing up that river to Cairo.
I am anxious to hear of your health. I hope it will
be speedily re-established, and that you will be soon in
a condition to come and join us.
I have written to Louis* to set out for Rosetta im-
mediately, with all my baggage.
Since I wrote this, I have found in a garden belong-
ing to one of the Mameloucs, a letter from Louis-this
convinces me that one of your couriers has been inter-
cepted by these people.
A
Health.
BONAPARTE.
however urgent the wants of the army may be, they must learn
to bear them.
* His brother. He alludes to Boursienne's letter, see Nø,
XIV.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
67
No. X.
Au Quartier général du Caire,
le 9 Thermidor, an 6.
BONAPARTE, Membre de l'Institut National, Général
en Chef, au Général de Division, KLEBER.
Vous trouverez ci-joint, Citoyen Général, copie de
l'organisation provisoire de l'Egypte.
Vous nommerez le Divan, l'Aga, la Compagnie de
60 hommes qu'il doit avoir avec lui.
Vous ferez faire l'inventaire de tous les bien, meubles
et immeubles qui appartenaient aux Mamelouks. L'In-
tendant et l'Agent Français vont se rendre incessamment
à leur poste.
Vous ferez faire la levée de tous les chevaux pour la
remonte de la cavalerie.
Je vous prie de prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires
pour maintenir, la tranquillité et le bon ordre dans la
province d'Alexandrie,
Salut.
BONAPARTE,
F 2
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COPIES OF
(Copie.)
Au Quartier général du Caire;
le 9 Thermidor, an 6.
BONAPARTE Membre de l'Institut National, Général
en Chef.
ORDONNE.
Article Premier.
Il y aura dans chaque province de l'Egypte un Divar
composé de 7 personnes, chargés de veiller aux intérêts
de la province, de me faire part de toutes les plaintes
qu'il pourroit y avoir; d'empêcher les guerres que se
font les villages entre eux, de surveiller les mauvais
sujets, de les châtier en demandant la force au Com-
mandant Français, et d'éclairer le peuple toutes les fois
que cela sera nécessaire.
Article 2.
Il y aura dans chaque province un Aga des Janissaires
qui se tiendra toujours avec le Commandant Français.
Il aura avec lui une compagnie de 60 hommes du pays
armés, avec lesquels il se portera partout où il sera
nécessaire pour maintenir le bon ordre, et faire rester
chacun dans l'obéissance et la tranquillité.
Article 3.
Il y aura dans chaque province un Intendant chargé
de la perception du Miri et du Feddam, et de tous les
revenus qui appartenaient ci-devant aux Mamelouks, et
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
69
qui appartiennent aujourd'hui à la République. Il aura
chez lui le nombre d'Agens nécessaires.
Article 4.
Il y aura auprès du dit Intendant un Agent François,
tant pour correspondre avec l'administration des finances,
que pour faire exécuter tous les ordres qu'il pourroit re-
cevoir, et se trouver toujours au fait de l'administration.
(Signé)
Pour copie conforme.
BONAPARTE.
BONAPARTE.
Head Quarters, Cairo, July 27.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Com-
mander in Chief, to the General of Division, KLEBER.
ANNEXED to this, Citizen General, you will find a
copy of the provisional organization of Egypt. *
* We scarce know whether this famous code, which we do not
yet despair of hearing some enlightened senator call “ a master-
piece of human wisdom and integrity," be most distinguished for
its folly or atrocity. The people whom Bonaparte loudly pro-
fesses he came to relieve, are to have the liberty of paying the
taxes which they paid to the Mameloucs, to an Intendant assisted
by a company of fusileers, in the shape of agents, who, if
they (the people) do not appear fully sensible of the blessing thus
thrust upon them (as, God knows, may very innocently be the
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1
You will name the Divan, the Aga, and the company
of sixty men which he is to have with him.
You will cause an inventory to be taken of all the
goods, moveables and immoveables, which belonged to
the Mameloucs. The Intendant, and the French Agent
are on the point of repairing to their posts.
You will order a general levy of horses to be made,
to remount the cavalry.
I entreat you to take every precaution to preserve
tranquillity and good order in the province of Alexandria.
Health.
BONAPARTE.
case!) are, in the words of this great constitution-monger, "to
enlighten them!”
The reader will find more on this head in our Introduction, to
which we willingly refer him. To say the truth, we are glad to
escape from the subject, as we contemplate with no agreeable
feelings, the spectacle of a man (though that man be Bonaparte),
thus ignorantly, and wantonly, and barbarously playing with the
happiness of a nation, which never injured, perhaps never heard
of him, or his rapacious masters. One consolation yet remains,
and we honestly confess that we have not Stoicism enough, to
deny ourselves the gratification of enjoying it by anticipation.
Egypt is the last country that Bonaparte will ever insult with the
mockery of liberty: he has run his career of impiety and deceit,
of pillage and desolation :-
"The sun sets on his fortunes red and bloody,
"And everlasting night begins to close him."
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
71
(The Copy.)
Head Quarters, Cairo, July 27.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Com-
mander in Chief.
ORDERS.
Article 1.
There shall be in each province of Egypt, a Divan
composed of seven persons, charged to watch over the
interests of the province, to inform me of every griev-
ance, to prevent the contests which arise between the
different villages, to keep a steady eye over the turbulent
and seditious, to punish them by calling in the military
force under the French Commander, and to enlighten
the people as often as it shall be found requisite.
1
Article 2.
There shall be in each province an Aga of the Jani-
zaries, who shall constantly reside with the French
Commandant. He shall have with him a company of
armed men, natives of the country; with whom he shall
proceed wherever his services may be necessary to main-
tain good order, and to keep every one in tranquillity
and obedience.
Article 3.
There shall be in every province an Intendant, charged
with the collection of the Miri and the Feddam; and
generally of all the revenues which belonged heretofore
to the Mameloucs, and which appertain at present to
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COPIES OF
the Republic. He shall have with him the necessary
number of agents.
Article 4.
There shall always be with the said Intendant, a
French Agent; for the purpose of corresponding with
the Administrator of the Finances, for insuring the exe-
cution of such orders as he may receive, and for ac-
quiring a perfect knowledge of the system of adminis-
tration.
(Signed)
BONAPARTE,
A true copy.
BONAPARTE,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
73
No. XI.
1
A Boulac, près le Caire, le 9 Thermidor, an 6.
A KLEBER.
NOUS
ous sommes enfin arrivés, mon ami, au pays tant
desiré qu'il est loin de ce que l'imagination même la
plus raisonnable se l'étoit représenté ; l'horrible villasse
du Caire est peuplée d'une canaille paresseuse, accroupie
tout le jour devant leurs huttes infames, fumant, pre-
nant du caffé, ou mangeant des pasticques, et buvant
de l'eau.
On peut se perdre très-aisément pendant tout un jour
dans les rues puantes et étroites de cette fameuse capi-
tale. Le seul quartier des Mamelouks est habitable.
Le Général en Chef y demeure dans une assez belle
maison de Bey. J'ai écrit au Chef de Brigade Dupuis
actuellement Général et Commandant au Caire, pour
qu'il t'y fit réserver une maison; je n'ai pas encore sa
réponse.
La division est à une espace de ville appellée Boulac
près le Nil; une demie lieue du Caire: nous sommes
tous logés dans des maisons abandonnées et fort vilaines.
Dugua seulement est passablement.
Le Général Lannes vient de recevoir l'ordre d'aller
prendre le commandement de la division Menou, à la
place de Vial, qui va à Damiette avec un bataillon: il
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COPIES OF
m'assure qu'il refusera. Le 2º légere et le Général
Verdier sont en position près les Pyramides, sur la rive
gauche du Nil, jusqu'à ce que le point qu'il occupe soit
fortifié pour y placer un poste de cent hommes.
On doit établir un pont vis-à-vis Gizeh ; cet endroit
est en ce moment occupé par la réserve d'artillerie et
du génie. La division Regnier est au devant du Caire,
à deux ou trois lieues; celle de Desaix va venir au vieux
Caire, celle de Bon est à la citadelle, et celle de Menou
en ville.
Tu n'as pas d'idée des marches fatiguantes que nous
avons faites pour arriver au Caire; arrivant toujours à
trois ou quatre heures après-midi, après avoir souffert
toute la chaleur, la plus part du temps sans vivres, étant
obligés de glaner ce que les divisions qui nous précé-
doient avoient laissé dans les horribles villages qu'elles
avoient sou ent pillés; harcelés toute la marche par cette
horde de voleurs appellés Bédouins qui nous ont tué des
hommes et des officiers, à vingt-cinq pas de la colonne.
L'Aide de Camp du Général Dugua appellé Geroret a
été assassiné avant hier de cette manière, en allant por-
ter un ordre à un peloton de grenadiers à une portée de
fusil du camp; c'est une guerre, ma foi, pire que celle
de la Vendée !
Nous avons eu combat le jour de notre arrivée sur le
Nil à la hauteur du Caire. Les Mamelouks qui avoient
eu l'esprit de se placer sur la rive gauche du Nil nous
ont presenté le combat, et ils ont été rossés; cette ba-
taille se nomme celle des Pyramides; ils ont perdu sept
ou huit-cents hommes sans exagération aucune, il y a eu
une grande partie de ce nombre qui se noyèrent en vou-
lant passer le Nil à la nage.
Je desire bien savoir comment tu te portes, et quand
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
75
tu seras en état de venir prendre le commandement de
la division, qui est en de bien foibles mains. Tout le
monde t'y désire, et chacun se rélâche singulièrement
du service; je fais ce que je puis pour retenir chaque
partie liée entre elle, mais cela va très-mal. Les troupes
ne sont ni payées ni nourries, et tu devine aisément
combien cela attire de murmures; ils sont peut-être plus
forts encore de la part des officiers. On nous fait es-
pérer qui d'ici à huit jours, les administrations seront
assez bien organisées pour faire exactement les distri-
butions; mais cela est bien long.
Si tu viens bientôt ce que je souhaite ardemment, fais
toi escorter même sur ta barque par des fusilliers qui puis-
sent répondre aux attaques des Bédouins, qui ne man-
queront surement pas de se présenter sur la rive du Nil
pour essayer de te fusiller dans ta barque.
Le Commissaire Ordonnateur Sucy a eu le bras cassé
sur la flotille en remontant au Caire. Tu pourrois
peut-être revenir avec les chalouppes canonnières, et les
germes qui sont allé chercher les effets des troupes à
Alexandrie. Arrive! arrive! et arrive!
Tout à toi.
Amitié à Auguste, et à ses Collegues.
DAMAS.
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COPIES OF
TRANSLATION.
Boulac, near Cairo, July 27th,
To KLEBER.*
We are arrived at length, my friend, at the spot
so much and so eagerly desired! How different is it
from what the most cool and temperate imagination had
figured it to be! This execrable dog-hole of a city is
inhabited by a lazy set of wretches, who squat all day
before their filthy huts, smoking, and taking coffee, or
eating pumpions, and drinking water.
It is easy enough to lose ones-self for a whole day in
the stinking and narrow streets of this illustrious capi-
tal. The quarter of the Mameloucs is the only one
which is habitable; the Commander in Chief resides
there in a tolerable handsome house, which belonged to
one of the Beys. I have written to the Chief of Brigade,
Dupuis,† at present General and Governor of Cairo, to
reserye a house for thee. I have not yet received his
answer.
The division is quartered in a kind of town, called
Boulac, upon the Nile, about half a league from Cairo.
We are all lodged in houses deserted by the owners, and
This well written letter is from one of the best officers in
the French service; it is another proof of what we observed in a
former page, that Kleber had no attempts made on his credu.
lity; every thing is represented to him in its true light.
See a letter from him, No. XXIII.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
77
wretched enough in all conscience. Dugua's is the only
one which is tolerable.
General Lannes has just received an order to take the
command of Menou's division, in the room of Vial, wha
is going to Damietta with a battalion. He assures me
that he will not accept it. The 2d light battalion, and
General Verdier, are stationed near the Pyramids, on
the left bank of the Nile, till the position which he oc-
cupies can be fortified, so as to receive a garrison of a
hundred men.
A bridge is intended to be thrown cver the river,
nearly opposite Gizeh. The spot is at present occupied
by the reserve of the artillery and engineers. Regnier's
division is stationed two or three leagues in front of
Cairo; Desaix's is about to occupy Old Cairo; Bon's
is stationed in the citadel, and Menou's in the city.
Thou hast not an idea of the fatiguing marches we
made to get to Cairo; never halting till three or four
o'clock in the afternoon, after broiling in the sun all
days the greatest part of the time without food; obliged
to glean what the divisions which preceded us had left
in those detestable villages, which they had frequently
pillaged; and harassed during the whole march by
those hordes of robbers called Bedouins, who killed
not only our men, but our officers, at five-and-twenty
paces from the main body. The Aid-de-camp of Gene-
ral Dugua, called Geroret, was shot in this manner as
he was carrying an order to a file of grenadiers, not a
musket shot from the camp. It is a more destructive
war, on my soul! than that of La Vendée.
We had an engagement the day we arrived in the
neighbourhood of Cairo. The Mameloucs, who had
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the good sense * to place themselves on the left bank of
the Nile, offered us battle, and got a good beating. We
call it the Battle of the Pyramids; they lost (to speak
without exaggeration) seven or eight hundred men; of
these, a great portion perished in attempting to swim
across the Nile.
I wish very much to know how thou art, and when
thou think'st thou shalt be able to come and take the
command of the division, which is in very feeble hands.‡
* L'Esprit in the original; Damas speaks ironically. It is evi-
dent that if those brave and unfortunate men had not entered
into a pitched battle, but retired before the enemy to the right
bank of the Nile, and contented themselves with harassing them,
and disputing the passage, the whole army must in this case have
been destroyed. Nothing, in short, but a blind reliance on their
own courage, and a total ignorance of the European manner of
fighting, could have induced between three and four thousand men
(for this was their utmost number) to attack 24,000 of the best
troops of France, furnished with artillery, and bristled with an im-
penetrable fence of bayonets. That they should be defeated, is
not so wonderful as that they should be able to do any injury at
all to the French-which we yet find they did.
Bonaparte reckons his loss, in his letter to the Directory, at
150 killed and wounded; in another letter (not to the Directory)
he states the number to be 210; most probably it was greater
still. We are glad, however, to find from the authentic state-
ment before us, that the loss of the Mameloucs was not so great.
Damas reckons it at 700 or 800 men, and even so, he is appre-
hensive that he shall be suspected of exaggeration. This is more
than was necessary to teach us to read the rhapsodies of the Com-
mander in Chief cum grano.
+ These feeble hands are Dugua's; the division was intrusted
to him, in consequence of Kleber's wound, which detained that
General at Alexandria. The remainder of this letter is highly
important.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
79
Every body is desirous of having thee here. There is a
general relaxation in the service: I do all I can to pre-
serve unity among the different parties; but all goes very
ill. The troops are neither paid nor fed; and thou
may'st easily guess what murmurs this occasions:—they
are loudest perhaps among the officers. We are cajoled
with promises, that in a week's time the administra-
tions will be sufficiently organized to enable them to
make their distributions regularly-but a week is still
too long.
If thou com'st soon, which I most ardently wish,
take care to be escorted even on board, by a party of fu-
sileers, capable of securing thee from the attacks of the
Arabs, who will most assuredly make their appearance
on the banks of the Nile, and endeavour to destroy thee
in thy bark.
The first Commissary, Sucy, had his arm fractured
on board the flotilla, in his passage to Cairo. Thou
may'st perhaps come to us in the gun-boats, lighters,
&c. which have been dispatched to bring round the
baggage of the army from Alexandria.-Come, come,
prithee come!
Thine entirely.
My regards to Augustus and his Colleagues.
DAMAS.
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COPIES OF
1
b
No. XII.
Du Grand Caire, le 9 Thermidor, an 6,
Le Général Desaix me charge, mon cher Douzelot,
de te recommander de ne pas oublier ses effets, et nous
croyons qu'il est inutile de te recommander les nôtres.
Nous les attendons comme le messie; ne laisse absolu
ment rien.
4 Malles au Général Desaix.
I Porte-manteau, idem.
1 Forme à drapeau, avec une petite boite.
1 Secrétaire au Général.
2 Matelats-1 couverte de drap blanc.
1 Paire de draps.
I Housse, et I coussin de voiture. La voiture sur le
No. 54.
16 Caisses de sapin, marquées au Général Desaix,
contenant du vin.
1 Tonneau goudronné sur les deux fonds, contenant
du vin.
1 Barril de vinaigre.
5 Bouteilles de vin, dans le coffre du cabinet du Ci-
toyen Le Roi.
Tout cela étoit dans la soute du cuisinier de Daure.
A Clément.
1 Malle-il y a des adresses.
Porte-manteau-son hamac.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
8x
A Rap.
I Vache, I malle, et son hamac.
A Savary.
1 malle quarrée noire.
1 Id.--longue.
1 Porte-manteau bleu.
mon domestique, je l'at-
tends malade ou non.
I Caisse contenant des selles, elle est quarrée platte
forme en sapin, elle ferme avec une serrure.
Mon hamac si il est possible, au moins mon matelat,
ma couverture, mes draps, et mon traversin.
Si tu trouve moyen d'acheter quelques bouteilles de
bon rum, fais-le.
Nous sommes sans cuisinier, si tu en trouve un,
amène-le.
Dis à ton domestique de passer aux bâtiments de nos
chevaux, d'y prendre les effets de Joly-cœur, et de de-
mander au Citoyen Martin maréchal des logis au 20me
de dragons, le porte-manteau du dragon Alex. Timber
qui panse ici mon cheval.
Si tu éprouvois des difficultés pour embarquer la
voiture, le Général te prie de la débarquer, la faire
monter, et la placer en lieu sûr à Alexandrie.
Ton frère me charge de te dire d'apporter tout ce
qui lui appartient, ainsi qu'à toi, de ne rien oublier—
absolument rien.
N'oublie pas ceux de Bourdon.
Si tu ne peux pas embarquer ton cheval vend-le, ou
remets-le à l'artillerie, en prenant un reçu; nous t'en
trouverons un ici; ton frère en a 3.
Voici une chose dont nous te prions de t'occuper :
en traversant les déserts nous eumes une allerte de nuit,
dans laquelle nous perdimes la jument du Général De-
G
+
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saix, sellée, bridée du 7me hussards; les deux chevaux
de ton frère; le mien sellé, venant du 20me dragons,
une jument noire; celui de Rap du 7me hussards. Ce-
lui de Clément, courte queue. Ils prirent tous la fuite;
d'après les rapports, ils ont été arrêtés à Rosette, et
mis au dépôt de l'artillerie; si en passant tu pouvois
les découvrir, en prendre des reçus, l'on nous les paye-
roit ici.
Ton frère me charge de te dire ce qui suit: nous
vivons ici beaucoup plus mal que nous n'avons jamais
vécu de la vie. Pas une goute de vin, ni d'eau-de-vie.
-Ton frère te récommande de faire en sorte d'en faire
débarquer des bâtiments de Ċivita Vecchia, le plus que
tu pourras, et si il le faut un tonneau de l'un et de l'autre :
ne rien négliger auprès de Colasse.
Souviens-toi,-vin, eau-de-vie, et rum; il y a un
siècle que nous en avons le plus grand besoin. Il y en
a ici peu extrêmement mauvais, hors de prix, et l'on ne
peut s'en procurer.
Une chose que l'on te prie de faire, c'est d'embarquer
les ballots de souliers, et de chemises de la division,
comme équipages du Général Desaix; les soldats en
sont nuds-et on les prendroit pour d'autres.
Si tu as besoin d'argent, sers-toi du mien, et tiens en
compte.
Adieu, nous t'attendons; fais pour le mieux, surtout
souviens-toi que nous n'aurons de vin, et d'eau-de-vie,
que ce que tu apporteras, et que sur les 16 caisses de
sapin, 14 sont au Général Bonaparte. Au nom de
Dieu apportes-en du convoi, et de l'eau-de-vie. Toute
l'armée a la diarrhée à force de boire de l'eau. Pour
Dieu, du vin, de l'eau-de-vie, et du rum, et n'oublie pas
les effets du Général Beliard: ne lui laisse rien là-bas,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
83
que le moins possible.-Pour Mireur, tu sais qu'il a
été tué.
Adieu.
SAVARY.
L'on vous envoye 60 barques du Nil; il pourroit se
faire que l'on prît encore des tartanes à Alexandrie,
dans ce cas il faudroit tâcher de te mettre sur une.
-Amène mon domestique malade ou non, je le gué-
rirai ici.
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo, July 27.
GENERAL Desaix enjoins me, my dear Douzelot, to
request thee not to forget his baggage; and we are per-
suaded that it is unnecessary to put thee in mind of our
own. We look for it as anxiously as for the coming of
the Messiah-leave nothing behind, positively nothing.
Belonging to General Desaix.
4 Trunks.
I Portmanteau.
I Forme* with curtains, and a small box.
I Writing desk.
2 Mattresses, I white coverlet, I pair of sheets.
* Kind of settee, or stuffed cushion, to sleep on.
1
G 2
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1
1 Horse cloth, I chaise seat, and a chaise on board the
transport, No. 54.
16 Deal cases, marked with the General's name,
containing wine.
I Tun pitched at both ends, and containing wine.
1 Barrel of vinegar.
5
Bottles of wine in a coffer in Citizen Le Roi's
closet.
All which you will find in the bread-room of the ship.
To Clement.
I Trunk-his direction is on it.
1 Portmanteau, and his hammock.
To Rap.
Į Large leather case, I trunk, and his hammock.
To Savary.
1 Black square trunk.
I Ditto, long.
Blue portmanteau
Sick or not, I must have
my servant.
1 Case containing saddles-it is a flat square one, and
shuts with a lock.
My hammock if possible, and if not, my mattress,
my coverlet, my sheets, and my bolster.
If thou hast an opportunity of purchasing a few bot-
tles of good rum, do it.
We have no cook here; if thou can'st find one, bring
him with thee.
Tell thy servant to go on board the transport where
the horses are, and fetch Joli-coeur's baggage; tell
him too, to ask Citizen Martin, quarter-master of the
20th dragoons, for the portmanteau of the dragoon,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
85
Alex. Timber, who is with me at present, and looks af-
ter my horse.
If thou find'st any difficulty in embarking Desaix's
carriage, the General wishes thee to take it on shore,
have it put together, and then lay it up in some safe
place at Alexandria.
Thy brother charges me to tell thee to bring every
thing that belongs to him, as well as to thyself, and to
forget nothing-positively nothing.
Do not forget Bourdon's things.
If thou canst not embark thy horse, sell him, or turn
him over to the artillery, and take a receipt for him.
We will find thee one here; thy brother has three.
We wish thee to pay a little attention to what fol-
lows: In crossing the Desert one night, we had our
quarters beat up, and during the confusion, lost a mare
of General Desaix's, saddled and bridled (of the 7th
hussars), thy brother's two horses, my own, saddled (of
the 20th dragoons), a black mare, one of Rap's (of the
7th hussars), and one of Clement's, dock-tailed; they
all galloped off, and, as we hear, were stopped at Ro-
setta, and sent to the depôt of the artillery. If thou
canst discover them in passing that way, take receipts
for them, and we shall be paid the money here.
I write what follows, at the request, and, indeed, in the
words of thy brother; "We live here more wretchedly
"than ever we lived in our lives; we have not one drop
"of wine, nor even brandy." Thy brother intreats thee
to take measures for bringing on shore as much of both
as possible (not less than a tun of each) from the trans-
ports of Civita Vecchia. Remember to get all thou
canst from Colasse.*
* Commissary at war, and superintendant of the port, &c.
of Alexandria.
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COPIES OF
Do not forget; wine, brandy, and rum; it is an age
since we have been in the utmost need of them all.
There is very little here, and that little is extremely
bad, above all price, and not to be procured.
Another thing which thou art desired to do, is to em-
bark the packages of shoes and shirts for the division,
as well as the baggage of General Desaix. The men are
absolutely without either, and we fear they will be given
to others.
If thou art in want of money, take some of mine, and
set it down.
Adieu; we expect thee; do the best thou canst; above
all, do not forget that we shall have no wine nor brandy
but what thou bringest with thee; remember too, that
of the sixteen deal cases, fourteen belong to General
Bonaparte. In the name of God, bring us our baggage
and our brandy; the whole army is ill of a diarrhea,
with drinking water. In the name of God, WINE,
BRANDY, and RUM.* Don't forget the baggage of
* Anxiety cannot be expressed in stronger words than those
before us; it marks the distresses to which the French were re-
duced, and the urgent want of those indispensable articles of
health and convenience which were left at Alexandria, in the
most striking manner.
It is proper in this place, to inform such of our readers as may
not be well acquainted with the topical history of Egypt, that
Alexandria, where all the baggage and all the stores were left
when the army marched to Cairo, is situated in the Desert, pro-
perly speaking, and has no communication whatever with Egypt
(at least in its present circumstances) but by that branch of the
Nile which throws itself into the sea below Rosetta.
It follows, therefore, that while the coast is in our possession
(which it now completely is, by the glorious victory of the first of
August), nothing of consequence can pass; and the correspon-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
87
General Beliard; leave nothing at Alexandria, at least
dence between the two parts of the French army (that of Alex-
andria and that of Cairo) is nearly as impracticable (at least as to
any purpose of relief) as if the Atlantic rolled between them.
An army, indeed, might cross the Deserts, as Bonaparte's did,
but the French have not now any armies to spare; and if they
had, it is not sure that they would attempt it, after the experience
they have had of its difficulties and dangers. And even if they
should, nothing would be gained by it, for they could carry no-
thing with them; no, not a day's provisions, and if they ever
reached Cairo, it would be only to perish under the same wants
as those who preceded them.
One word more-it appears from some of these letters, that the
transports and troops at Alexandria were in the greatest need of
water and provisions; the latter, Bonaparte was sending them
from Cairo, in sixty schermes, or country boats, which, when
the latest of these dispatches were made up, had not reached Ro-
setta; and most certainly will never get to Alexandria.
What the wants of the grand army at Cairo are, our readers
have seen: we will take upon us confidently to predict, that they
will never be supplied; for if the little skiff that was creeping along
shore to Alexandria with these letters, could not escape the vigi-
lance of our indefatigable tars, how can larger vessels hope to do
it? Add to this, that the mouth of the Nile is exceedingly diffi-
cult to be passed, on account of the surf that always prevails
upon the bar, and asks a thousand precautions which can only be
taken in a time of full security.
What the effect of this want of communication may be at Alex-
andria, we know not; at Cairo it must be dreadful. "In the
name of God," says Savary, "bring us our brandy and our rum,
"for the whole army is ill of a diarrhea." Observe, this is the
army which Bonaparte and Berthier represent, in their official
dispatches, as in perfect health! We want no better test of
their veracity!
88
COFIES Or
as little as possible: as for Mireur,* thou knowst that
he is killed.
Adieu.
SAVARY.
We are going to send you sixty of the country
barks; there is a possibility of your finding some tar-
tanes at Alexandria, in that case I would have you en-
deavour to come in one of them. Bring my servant
with you, sick or well; I will cure him here.
"Mireur," says Bonaparte, in his official letter to the
Directory, dated July 24th, “and several other aid-du-camps,
❝and officers of the staff, have been killed by these wretches"
(the Arabs, who, if killing makes wretches, are certainly not
greater wretches than the French; some people may think not so
great); "the Republic has sustained a loss in Mireur; he was
"the bravest General I ever knew; and then follows some
impious rant about destiny, &c. We gather from the corres-
pondence, that the army are all turned decided fatalists. We do
not wonder at it, for, if we must speak our minds, we will ven-
ture to pronounce, that prudence or forecast had very little to de
with the expedition.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
89
No. XIII.
Au Quartier général du Grand Caire,
le 9 Thermidor, an 6.
RAMPON, Général de Brigade, commandant les 18me et
32me Brigades de Bataille.
JE
E vous avois promis, cher frère, dans ma dernière, de
vous écrire de la plus grande Ville du monde. Je m'em-
presse à vous prouver combien j'aime à vous tenir parole.
Il ne m'est pas possible de vous faire des détails sur
nos affaires, ni sur les privations que nous avons éprou-
vées dans notre marche; le départ du vaisseau ne nous
donne pas le tems; mais le rapport du Général en Chef
que vous verrez sûrement sur les papiers, vous mettra
au fait de tout. Milhot et l'ainé Rampon se sont dis-
tingués dans la bataille des Piramides, Milhot a été
nommé Lieutenant sur le champ de bataille, et Rampon
Sous-Lieutenant au me régiment d'hussards; il me reste
encore le cadet que j'espère de placer dans la première
affaire; d'ailleurs je suis assez content d'eux.
Adieu, cher frère, je désire que votre santé soit
bonne, ainsi que celle de ma sœur, quant à la mienne
elle est assez bonne; mais je suis très-fatigué, et les
chaleurs que nous éprouvons dans ce pays m'ôtent la
moitié de mes forces. Enfin, il nous faut de la patience,
du courage, et avec cela nous parviendrons peut-être à
revoir un jour notre chere patrie.
}
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Adieu, je vous embrasse bien tendrement, mille et
mille choses à ma sœur et à toute notre famille, et à nos
amis, et amies. Donnez, je vous prie, de mes nouvelles
à ma sœur Trappier, je n'ai pas le temps d'y écrire.
RAMPON.
Souillier, Milhot, et nos deux neveux me chargent de
vous dire mille choses.
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Grand Cairo, July.
RAMPON, General of Brigade, commanding the 18th and
32d Demi-Brigades of Battle.
I
Dear Brother,
PROMISED in my last to write to you from the largest*
city in the world; and I hasten to prove to you how
desirous I am of keeping my word.
It is impossible for me to enter into any details on
our present situation, or on the privations we under-
went in our march; the immediate departure of the
but so he was told at
* This is much for a Frenchman to say,
Paris, and so he will continue to repeat. Cairo is far enough
from being the largest city in the world, or even in Europe:
London itself is twice as large.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
91
vessel will not allow it--but the dispatches of the Com-
mander in Chief, which you will be sure to see in the
papers, will fully inform you of every thing that has
passed. Milhot, and the eldest Rampon distinguished
themselves in the battle of the Pyramids. Milhot was
made Lieutenant on the field, and Rampon second Lieu-
tenant, of the 7th regiment of hussars. I have now
only the youngest on my hands; and in the next action
that occurs, I doubt not but that I shall find an oppor-
tunity of providing for him-to tell you the truth, I am
extremely well pleased with them all.
Adieu, my dear brother; may you as well as my
sister, continue to enjoy your health: with respect to
my own, it is not yet to be complained of; but I am
fatigued to death, and the heats of this country take
away all my strength. In a word, we must have pa-
tience, and courage; with these, we shall one day or
other, perhaps, have the happiness of returning to our
dear country.
Adieu, I embrace you with the utmost affection-a
thousand and a thousand kind things to my sister, and
to all our family; to all our friends, male and female,
and to my sister Trappier, to whom I have not time to
write.
RAMPON.
Souillier, Milbot, and our two nephews, beg me to
say every thing kind to you.
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1
No. XIV.
Au Quartier général du Gisé, le 6 Thermidor.
Au Citoyen LOUIS BONAPARTE, Aide de Camp du Gé-
néral en Chef, à Alexandrie.
LE
E Général en Chef me charge, mon cher Louis, de
t'annoncer la victoire qu'il a remportée le 3 de ce mois
sur les Mamelouks. Elle a été complette; elle fut
donnée à Embabé vis-à-vis Boulac. On estime la perte
des ennemis, tant tués que blessées, à deux mille hommes;
40 pièces de canon, et beaucoup de chevaux. Notre
perte a été médiocre. Les Beys ont fui dans la Haute
Egypte. Le Général va ce soir au Caire.
Il me charge aussi de te dire de partir d'Alexandrie
avec tous ses effets, ses voitures et chevaux de Malte, sa
voiture de Civita Vecchia, pour Rosette, où tu trou-
veras des germes du païs, un bataillon de la 89me, et
l'Adjudant-Général Almeyras, avec lesquels tu remon-
teras le Nil et viendras au Caire. De tous ses effets tu
ne laisseras à Alexandrie que sa belle voiture de voyage.
N'oublies pas, mon ami, tous les effets que nous avons
laissés à Alexandrie: nous en avons tous bien besoin.
N'oublies pas non plus tous les vins, les livres, et les
deux caisses de papiers, sur lesquelles est le nom du Gé-
néral, et celui de Collot.
Je t'embrasse.
BOURSIENNE.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
93
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Gizeh, July 27.
To Citizen LOUIS BONAPARTE, Aid de Camp to the
Commander in Chief, at Alexandria.
THE Commander in Chief charges me, my dear Louis,
to announce to thee the victory which he gained on the
24th of this month, over the Mameloucs. It was com-
plete. It took place at Embabet, nearly opposite Bou-
lac. We reckon the loss of the enemy in killed and
wounded at about 2000 men; 40 pieces of cannon, and
a number of horses. Our loss was moderate. The
Beys are fled to Upper Egypt. The General marches
this evening to Cairo.
He charges me also to bid thee set out immediately
with all his baggage, (his carriages, and his horses from
Malta, and his carriage from Civita Vecchia) for Ro-
setta, where thou wilt find some boats of the country, a
battalion of the 89th, and the Adjutant-General Almey-
ras, with whom thou wilt ascend the Nile, and join us
at Cairo. Leave nothing of all thy brother's baggage
at Alexandria, but his handsome travelling carriage.
Do not forget, my friend, the baggage which we left
at Alexandria: we are all in the greatest want of it ima-
ginable; nor yet the wine, the books, nor the two pack-
ages of
paper, one marked with the General's name,
and the other with Collot's. I embrace thee.
BOURSIENNE,
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COPIES OF
No. XV.
1
E
Au Quartier général du Caire, le 9 Thermidor,
Je m'empresse, ma très-chère mère, à vous faire part
de l'arrivée de l'armée Française, à laquelle j'ai l'hon-
neur de servir, à Alexandrie en Egypte: pendant notre
traversée nous nous sommes emparés de l'isle, port ęt
ville de Malte, qui est à 1100 lieues de Toulon; main-
tenant nous sommes au Grand Caire, ville capitale
d'Egypte, distance de mille lieues de France.
J'ai beaucoup souffert pendant deux mois que nous
avons restés en mer; tous les jours je ne cessois de vo-
mir jusqu'au sang; lors que nous avons mis pied à terre
sous les murs de la ville d'Alexandrie, j'ai été guéri de
la maladie de mer, mais mes peines n'ont pas été ter-
minées.
Nous avons perdu 300 hommes en escaladant les rem-
parts pour nous rendre maître de la ville. Après quatre
jours de repos, nous nous sommes mis à la poursuite
des troupes Arabes, qui s'étoient retirées et campées dans
le Désert: mais la première nuit de marche me fut bien
funeste. J'étais à l'avant garde; nous tombames sur
un corps de cavalerie ennemi,et la vivacité de mon che-
val que vous avez connu, a causé tout mon malheur ; il
sortoit comme un lyon sur les chevaux et cavaliers en-
nemis, mais malheureusement en se cabrant il tomba à
la renverse, et moi pour éviter d'être écrasé, je me jet-
tai par côté. Comme c'était la nuit, je n'eu pas le tems
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
95
de le saisir; il se releva et partit comme l'éclair avec la
cavalerie ennemie, qui abandonna le champ de bataille.
J'avais mis ce que j'avais de plus mauvais sur le corps,
pour conserver ce qui était neuf dans mon porte-man-
teau, de sorte que je perdis mon cheval, tout harnaché,
mes pistolets, mon manteau, porte-manteau, tous mes
effets qui étaient dedans, ainsi que vingt-quatre Louis
en argent que j'avais reçus à Marseille pour mes appoin-
temens arriérés, et le plus essentiel encore est mon porte-
feuille, qui contenoit tous mes papiers.
Je me trouvai tout-à-coup depouillé de tout, et obligé
de marcher nuds pieds pendant 19 jours, sur le sable
brûlant et les graviers dans le Désert, car le lendemain
de cette malheureuse affaire, je perdis les semelles des
vieilles bottes que j'avois aux jambes; mon habit et ma
vieille culotte furent bientôt déchirés en mille mor-
ceaux; ne trouvant pas un peu de pain pour s'alimen.
ter, n'y une goutte d'eau pour s'humecter la bouche;
pour toute consolation je maudissais plus de cent fois le
jour, le métier de la guerre.
Enfin, le 4 de ce mois nous arrivames aux portes du
Caire, là où toute l'arme ennemie était retranchée, et
nous attendait de pied ferme; mais avec notre impé-
tuosité ordinaire, nous fumes l'attaquer dans ses retran-
chemens; au bout de trois quarts d'heure, l'ennemi eut
trois mille morts sur le champ de bataille; le restant ne
pouvant se sauver, se jetta dans le Nil, qui est une
rivière aussi forte que le Rhône, par conséquent il
furent tous noyés ou fusillés sur l'eau. D'après une
pareille victoire nous entrames, tambour battant, dans
la ville du Caire, et par conséquent maîtres de toute
l'Egypte.
Je ne sais, ma très-chère mère dans quel tems j'aurais
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COPIES OF
le plaisir de vous voir, je me repens bien d'être venu,
mais il n'est plus tems: enfin, je me résigne à la volonté
Suprême, et malgré les mers qui nous séparent, votre
mémoire sera toujours gravée dans mon cœur, et aussi-
tôt que les circonstances le permettront, je franchirai
tous les obstacles pour rentrer dans ma patrie.
Adieu, conservez vous, et mille choses à mes parents.
Votre fils,
GUILLOT.
TRANSLATION.
Dear Mother,
Head Quarters, Cairo, July 27.
TAKE the earliest opportunity of acquainting you
with the arrival of the French army, in which I have
the honour to serve, at Alexandria in Egypt. On our
passage we took possession of the island, port, and city
of Malta, which is 1100 leagues from Toulon; and
now we are at Grand Cairo, the capital city of Egypt,
which is 1000 leagues from France.*
*The French are poor geographers in general, but the ridi-
culous miscalculation above, is probably a mistake; it is, how-
ever, correctly translated. We have several other letters from
this unhappy youth, from which it appears that he is a Captain
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
97
I suffered a vast deal during the two months that our
voyage lasted. During the whole time, I was sea-sick,
without intermission, and brought up blood all day long.
When we set foot upon land, however, under the walls
of Alexandria, I was cured of my sea-sickness, but
my sufferings were by no means at an end.
We lost 300 men in scaling the ramparts of the city.
After a halt of four days, we set out in pursuit of the
Arabs, who had retreated and encamped in the Desert:
but the first night of our march was a very terrible one
for me. I was with the advanced guard: we came
suddenly upon a corps of the enemy's cavalry`; and my
horse, which you know was always a very hot one, was
the unfortunate cause of all my trouble. He sprung
forward like a lion, upon the horses and horsemen of the
enemy; but unluckily, in rearing, he fell quite back-
wards, and to avoid being crushed to death, I was ob-
liged to fling myself on one side of him. As it was
night, I had not time to seize him again: he got up,
and set off like lightning after the enemy's cavalry,
which was quitting the field.
•
I had put on all my old clothes, for the sake of pre-
serving my new ones, which were packed up in my
portmanteau; so that I lost my horse completely bridled
and saddled, my pistols, my cloak, my portmanteau,
every thing that was in it, my clothes, twenty-four
louis d'ors which I received at Marseilles to fit me out;
and, what is still worse, my port-folio, which contain-
ed all my papers.
ミ
​in the 25th half-Brigade. As he afterwards relates that the ene-
my's cavalry were all killed or taken, we hope we may congra-
tulate him on the recovery of his charger, and his new clothes.
H
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Thus I found myself in an instant stript of every
thing, and obliged to march barefoot for nineteen days
on the burning sand and gravel of the Desert; for the
very day after this unhappy affair, I lost the soles of the
old boots which I happened to have on my legs: my
coat and my old breeches were very soon torn to a thou-
sand tatters :-not having a bit of bread to eat, nor a
drop of water to moisten my mouth, all the comfort I
had was in cursing and d-mning the trade of war, more
than a hundred times a day
At last, on the 22d of this month, we arrived at the
gates of Cairo, where all the enemy's army was in-
trenched, and waiting for us with great boldness; but
with our usual impetuosity we marched to attack them
in their intrenchments; in about three-quarters of an
hour, they had 3000 killed outright; the rest not being
able to save themselves, plunged into the Nile, which is
a river as large as the Rhone-consequently they were
all drowned, or shot under water. After such a victory,
we entered, with drums beating, into the city of Cairo;
consequently masters of all Egypt.
:
I do not know, my dear mother, when I shall have the
pleasure of seeing you. I repent much and much of
ever coming here; but it is now too late in a word,
I resign myself to the Supreme Will. In spite of the
seas which separate us, your memory will be always
graven on my heart, and the moment circumstances per-
mit, I will break through all obstacles to return to my
country.
Adieu-take care of yourself-a thousand things to
my relations.
Your son,
GUILLOT.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
99
Armée d'Angleterre.
No. XVI.
Au Grand Caire, le 9 Thermidor.
R. DESGENETTES à la Citoyenne DESGENETTES, au
Val-de-Grace, Rue St. Jacques, à Paris.
Je t'écris enfin, ma chere épouse, du Caire, qui sera,
je crois, le terme de mon voyage.
Déjà je t'ai écrit deux fois en mer, une fois de
Malte, et un autre d'Alexandrie. Les occasions sont
rares, et peu sûres. Pour moi, je n'ai point reçu de tes
lettres: rien ne m'a appris ton arrivée à Paris.
Un jour je te raconterai tous mes voyages, les combats
que j'ai vus, et les dangers sans nombre que j'ai partagés.
Mon ami, l'Ordonnateur en Chef, Sucy, a été grave-
ment blessé d'un coup de feu, ainsi que le jeune
Lannes. Desnanotre qui m'étoit aussi recommandé
La Repede, a été fait prisonnier par les Arabes.
par
Les peuples de l'Egypte sont des sauvages féroces.
Les Beys, leurs maîtres, des oppresseurs orgueilleux.
Leur Mamelouks, c'est-à-dire, leur cavalerie d'élite, et
caste privilegiée n'a opposé à l'armée qu'un courage ir-
réfléchi. Tout cela est battu.
Il y a quelque chose que j'admire et que j'aime dans
les Turcs; c'est leur prédestination qui mène à des
résultats très-philosophiques, et qui s'arrange assez avec
mes circonstances, ma néanité, et mes destinées.
H 2
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COPIES OF
Il y a aussi des usages fort singuliers. On a jusques
à quatre femmes légitimes, sans compter les maîtresses.
Je ne sais tout cela qu'historiquement; mais ce que je
sais bien, c'est qu'on ne boit guères que de l'eau.
Voilà beaucoup de choses à raconter. Un peu de
nos affaires.
On ne nous paye pas, ma chere femme, et je n'ai
rien reçu depuis Toulon. Encore ne suis-je pas des
plus malheureux; car presque tout le monde a été pillé
ou forcé de jetter à l'eau ses bagages, et j'ai tout con-
servé.
En partant de Toulon, je t'ai envoyé 700 livres, un
peu plus ou un peu moins. Courtal a été chargé de
l'envoi qui l'eût je crois fait par les messageries. N'ou-
blies pas de m'en écrire, et dans plus d'une lettre, car
elles se perdent, sont prises, &c.
La lettre du Citoyen Girandi pour le Caire m'a été
utile; je suis logé chez le medecin en question, et je
l'ai placé dans l'armée.
Le Général en Chef m'a constamment traité avec
bonté, et j'espère toujours, ma chere Lolotte, t'embrasser
au tems convenu entre nous.
Embrasse Julien, tes chers parens, et ceux que nous
aimons.
R. D.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
ΙΟΙ
Army of England.*
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo, July 27th.
R. DESGENETTES † to the female Citizen DESGE-
NETTES, Val-de-Grace, Rue St. Jacques, Paris.
I WRITE to thee, at last, my dear wife, from Cairo,
which will be, I think, the boundary of my expe-
dition.
I wrote to thee twice on our voyage; once from
Malta, and again from Alexandria. Opportunities do
not often occur, and when they do, they are very un-
safe. Not a single letter of thine has yet reached me,
nor have I yet heard of thy arrival at Paris.
I will give thee hereafter a faithful history of all my
travels; the battles which I have seen, and the dangers
without number which I have shared.
My friend Sucy, first Commissary, is dangerously
wounded by a musket shot, as is the young Lannes.
* Desgenettes seems at some former period to have miscalcu-
lated his literary wants. His epistle is written on a supernume-
rary sheet of paper, prepared for the "Army of Italy," which
last words are very fairly printed at the head of it. These the
good Doctor has carefully erased, and in their place, substituted
"Army of England"-Such accuracy is above all praise!
+ From an official document lying before us, Desgenettes ap-
pears to be first Physician to the army;-a situation for which the
reader will conclude him to be specially qualified, before he has
gone through his letter.
His arm was fractured in passing up the Nile.
102
COPIES OF
Desnanotre, who was likewise recommended to me by
La Repede, is taken prisoner by the Arabs.
The natives of Egypt are ferocious savages: the Beys
their masters, haughty oppressors. Their Mameloucs,
that is to say, their best cavalry, their privileged cast,
opposed nothing to our army but a blind and inconsi-
derate courage: they were beaten, of course.
There is something in the Turks which I cannot
help admiring, and even loving-it is their predestina-
tion, which leads to results of the most philosophical
nature, and which accommodates itself surprisingly to
my circumstances, my nothingness, and my fates.
They have also some very singular customs here. A
man may have as many as four lawful wives, besides
mistresses. This I have only from hearsay; but I can
vouch from my own knowledge, that they drink scarce
any thing but water.
Here is a great deal of news for one letter--now to
our private affairs.
We are not paid at all, my dear wife; nor have I
received a single sous since I left Toulon. With all
this, I am far from being the most unfortunate; for
almost every body here has either been pillaged, or
compelled to fling his baggage into the river; and I
have saved all mine.
At quitting Toulon I sent thee 700 livres, more or
less. Courtal was charged to see them conveyed;
which was done, I believe, by the government messen-
gers. Do not forget to write to me about them, and in
more than one letter, for they are lost, taken, &c.
Citizen Girandi's letter for Cairo was of service to
me; I am lodged with the physician in question, and I
have in return placed him in the army.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
103
The Commander in Chief has constantly treated me
with kindness; and I still hope, my dear Lolotte, to be
with thee at the period we fixed on.
Embrace, Julien, thy dear parents, and all our friends.
R. DESGENETTES.
104.
COPIES OF
No. XVII.
Røsette, en Egypte, le 9 Thermidor, an 6.
J'ESPERE, bonne amie, que cette lettre te parviendra.
Je l'envoie par une occasion particulière, et c'est peut-
être la seule de toutes celles que je t'ai écrites depuis
Malte, qui te sera remise. Pour moi, je n'ai pas eu le
bonheur, depuis mon départ de Toulon, de recevoir des
tiennes. Il est cependant arrivé depuis six jours, deux
avisos, qui en ont apporté beaucoup.
Je présume que tes lettres auront été envoyées sur le
brick pris par les Anglois, alors je ne dois pas espérer
d'en recevoir sitôt; ce qui me désespère. Ma position
est si cruelle, que je succomberai, si je suis privé de
cette consolation. Tâche, ma bonne amie, de me tant
écrire, que je reçoive au moins une ou deux fois de tes
nouvelles. Tu dois bien penser que mes inquiétudes à
ton sujet doivent être grandes : je ne sais quelles sont
tes ressources. Je n'ai pu te faire passer que peu d'ar-
gent par le Capitaine Collot, et dans ce moment je ne
trouve aucune occasion de t'en envoyer. Je suis éloigné du
Citoyen Magallon de 35 lieues, et je prévois, qu'avant
mon arrivée au Caire, je ne pourrai t'en faire passer.
Je crois que nous nous sommes tous bien trompés sur
cette entreprise si belle et si vantée; je crois même, qu'en
réussissant à soumettre l'Egypte, nous aurons bien de la
peine à retirer de cette opération tout le fruit que l'on
ORIGINAL LETTERS
105
en attendoit. Nous trouvons partout beaucoup de résis-
tance, et plus encore de trahison: il est impossible à un
François de s'écarter seul de quelque portée de fusil de
l'endroit habité sans courir le risque d'être assassiné, ou
victime d'une passion affreuse très en vogue dans ce
pays, surtout de la part des Mamelouks, et des Arabes
Bédouins. Je connois plusieurs personnes qui dans la
ville même d'Alexandrie, ont été enlevées à la nuit
tombante, et ont subi ce sort affreux.
Rosette est beaucoup plus tranquille qu'Alexandrie,
les habitants en sont plus doux, et nous avons moins de
risques à courir; cependant nous mettons la plus grande
circonspection dans notre conduite particulière, et la
plus grande police, et même de la sévérité dans l'ad-
ministration générale.
Ce pays si vanté ne vaut pas sa réputation. L'endroit
le plus sauvage et le plus agreste de la France, est mille
fois plus beau; rien au monde de si triste, de si misé-
rable, de si mal-sain qu'Alexandrie (le port le plus com-
merçant de l'Egypte); des maisons de boue, sans autres
fenêtres que quelque trous couvertes d'un treillage de
bois grossier, point de toits aux maisons, des portes si
petites, qu'il faut se briser pour entrer; enfin, figure-
toi une réunion de colombiers vilains et mal bâtis, et tu
auras une idée juste d'Alexandrie.
A
Les rues sont toutes étroites, de travers, et point pa-
vées, de sorte que l'on est continuellement incommodé
de la poussière, et d'une chaleur excessive; ou bien,
s'il prend fantaisie aux habitants d'arroser le devant de
leurs cabanes, on passe d'un mal dans un pire, la pous-
sière se change en boue, il n'est plus possible alors de
marcher. Tout y est fort cher et fort rare; joins à cela,
la difficulté de se faire entendre, et mille autres dés-
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agrémens que je ne puis te décrire, et tu jugeras de notre
position.
Cependant il faut convenir, que depuis que je suis à
Rosette, je me trouve moins mal. Le pays est un peu
plus riant. Le Nil y procure un peu de verdure, et la
vue des palmiers, quoique bien monotone, puisque c'est
la seule espèce d'arbres qu'on y voit, recrée un peu les
yeux; mais rien n'est fait pour distraire l'imagination,
et tu dois bien présumer, que dans un pays tel que ce-
lui-ci, avec la peine, les inquiétudes qu'on y éprouve,
elle doit être dans une grande activité, et comme les ob-
jets sont tristes, les pensées y correspondent, et nous
vivons dans un chagrin perpétuel
TRANSLATION.
Rosetta, in Egypt, July 27th.
I HOPE, child, that this letter will reach thee; I send it
by a particular opportunity, and it is, perhaps, the only
one of all that I have written to thee since my departure
from Malta which will come safe to hand. As for me,
I have not once heard from thee since I left Toulon,
notwithstanding two advice boats have arrived within
the last six days, and brought a vast number of letters.
I presume that thy letters were put on board the cor-
vette which was taken by the English; in that case, I
cannot hope to hear from thee for some time, an idea
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
107
that distresses me almost beyond bearing. My situation
is so grievous, that I shall sink under it if I am deprived
of that consolation. Exert thyself, therefore, my love,
and write to me so frequently, that I may at least stand
a chance of hearing from thee once or twice. Thou
must needs be assured that my anxiety on thy account is
very great. I could send thee but a little money by
Capt. Collot; at present I have not the power of trans-
mitting a single sous. I am more than a hundred miles
from Citizen Magallon,* and I foresee that I shall be
able to send thee nothing before I get to Cairo.
I fear that we have all been terribly deceived with
respect to this expedition, so fine, and so cried up! nay,
I am even apprehensive, that if we succeed in conquer-
ing Egypt, we shall still find prodigious difficulties in
drawing from it all those advantages which we so fondly
promised ourselves. We experience every where a
great deal of resistance, and a greater still of treachery.
It is impossible for one of us to walk out alone a mus-
ket shot from any inhabited place, without running the
risk of being assassinated, or of becoming the victim of
a detestable passion, much in vogue in this country,
especially among the Mameloucs, and Bedouin Arabs. I
know several who were seiezd about nightfall in the
very streets of Alexandria, and compelled to undergo
this shocking outrage.
Rosetta is much more tranquil than Alexandria. Its
inhabitants are more civilized, and we are consequently
exposed to fewer dangers: notwithstanding this, how-
ever, we maintain the greatest circumspection in our
*Consul General at Alexandria. He was at this time with
the army at Cairo.
1
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individual conduct, and the strictest police, nay even a
degree of severity in our general administration.
This country, so much celebrated, is by no means
worthy of the character it has obtained; the most savage
and uncultivated spot in France is a thousand times
more beautiful. Nothing on earth can be so gloomy, so
wretched, and so unhealthy as Alexandria, the most
commercial spot in Egypt! Houses of mud, with no
other windows than a hole here and there, covered with
a clumsy wooden lattice; no raised roofs, and doors.
which you must break your back to enter; briefly,
figure to thyself a collection of dirty, ill built, pigeon-
houses, and thou wilt have an adequate idea of Alexan-
dria.
The streets are all narrow and crooked, and without
pavement, so that one is continually incommoded by the
dust, and excessive heat. When the inhabitants take it
into their heads to water the streets before the doors of
their hovels, the remedy is worse than the disease; the
dust is instantly converted into mud, and the streets be-
come altogether impassable. Every thing there is very
scarce and very dear; add to all this, the difficulty of mak-
ing ones-self understood, and the thousand other disagree-
able circumstances which I have not the power to de-
scribe, and thou wilt be able to form a tolerable opinion
of our situation.
I must, however, allow, that since I came here, I
have been less wretched. The face of the country is a
little more agreeable. The Nile produces a small quan-
tity of verdure; and the sight of the palm-tree, (though
extremely monotonous, from the circumstance of its be-
ing the only tree to be found here) in some trifling de-
gree refreshes the eye; but nothing is calculated to en-
1
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
109
gage or amuse the imagination, and thou may'st easily
conceive, that in a country like this, and in a situation
productive of so much pain and inquietude, that faculty
must needs be extremely active; as the objects around
us, therefore, are dark and gloomy, the thoughts neces-
sarily take a tinge from them, and we live in a state of
perpetual spleen and vexation -————————
The remainder of this interesting letter has received so much
injury as to be illegible. We regret it the less, as after the correct
and spirited picture of the country which we have just seen, the
writer probably returned to his own immediate concerns. We
know not who he is; it only appears from a few words which we
can make a shift to decipher towards the conclusion, that he was
first clerk to Poussielgue, Comptroller of the expences of the
army.
IIO
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No. XVIII.
Alep, le 9 Thermidor.
CHODERLOS, Consul Général de la République Française
à Alep et Dépendances, au Citoyen Ministre des Réla-
tions extérieures.
Citoyen Ministre,
C'EST le 27 Messidor que nous avons eu le premier
avis de la prise de Malte et du débarquement de notre
armée navale à Alexandrie. Cette nouvelle a été con-
firmée depuis par différentes lettres, soit de Chypre, soit
des échelles de la côte, mais jusqu'à présent, je n'ai rien
reçu d'officiel sur ce grand événement, de sorte que nous
flottons entre les nombreuses versions contradictoires
qui se débitent sur cette expédition, qui semble avoir
causé une grande commotion tant en Chypre que sur
toute la côte de Syrie. Sans chercher à pénétrer le secret
du gouvernement, je m'étonne cependant qu'une fois
la descente opérée, le Général, ou au moins le Consul
d'Alexandrie, n'ait pas adressé une circulaire aux Con-
suls des païs environnans, pour les mettre à portée de
tranquilliser les Turcs, qu'on doit bien supposer ne pas
voir d'un œil indifférent une expédition aussi formidable.
La contenance paisible que j'ai montrée dans cette oc-
casion, a beaucoup contribué à calmer la première effer-
vescence qui s'étoit manifestée non seulement chez les
Turcs, mais encore sur la grande majorité des Francs
de cette échelle.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
111
""
‹‹ le
"Quel que puisse être," leur ai-je dit à tous,
"but de l'expédition, vous ne devez faire aucun doute
qu'elle ne soit du consentement de la Porte. Atten-
"dons les nouvelles officielles de l'un et l'autre gou-
vernement, et jusques-là, reposons-nous avec con-
“fiance sur la connoissance que nous avons tous de
“l'ancienne et étroite amitié que règne depuis si long-
"tems entre les deux puissances.'
،،
J'ai fait valoir ensuite, l'avantage qui résultoit pour
l'empire Ottoman, de la prise de Malte par les Fran-
çois, et en effet, cette nouvelle a beaucoup servi à con-
trebalancer l'impression fâcheuse de nous savoir si voi-
sins avec des forces si rédoutables.
Dans ce moment Alep est tout-à-fait calmé : il n'y
auroit à craindre que l'effet que pourroit produire quel-
qu'une des versions exagérées que la frayeur dicte, et
que la frayeur peut adopter.
s'il
Le Pacha, tous les grands de la ville sont tranquilles;
У avoit quelque explosion à redouter, ce ne pourroit
être que de la part des Chérifs que le fanatisme pour-
roit porter à des excès, et dans cette supposition, je ne
serois pas étonné que les Jannissaires qui nous aiment,
ne prissent notre défense.
J'use d'une voie suspecte, Citoyen Ministre, pour
vous faire parvenir ce bulletin écrit à la hâte, attendû
que la seule occasion qui se présente, est celle d'un cou-
rier, du Ministre
, et qu'il faut toutes les pré-
cautions possibles, et même toutes les ruses imaginables
pour sauver les apparences qui pourroient mettre ob-
stacle au départ de ma lettre.
Salut et respect.
J. CHODERLOS.
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Par les raisons ci-dessus, le Citoyen Beauchamp ne
peut pas vous écrire. Le paquet se trouveroit trop volu-
mineux pour ne pas éveiller le soupçon. Il me charge
de vous donner avis, qu'il part après demain pour La-
takia, d'où il avisera aux moyens d'aller en avant.
TRANSLATION.
Aleppo, July 27.
CHODERLOS, Consul General of the French Republic at
Aleppo and its Dependencies, to the Citizen Minister for
Foreign Affairs.
IT
Citizen Minister,
T was not till the 15th instant, that we first heard of
the capture of Malta, and of the disembarkation of our
*This is the brother of the famous, or rather infamous La Clos,
known in this country as the author of Les Liaisons Dangéreuses,
and, in France, as one of the most active promoters of the Revo-
lution. He was at once the agent, and the instigator, of that
profligate idiot, Egalité; he was also a principal manager of the
Jacobin Club, of which he was President in 1790.
His talents for intrigue made him redoubtable to Robespierre,
by whom he was proscribed: he contrived, however, to escape,
and, in 1795, was selected by the government (to whom his abi-
lities and his want of principle were well known) as a fit instru-
ment for promoting their iniquitous designs in Syria.
To return to Choderlos. He was sent to Aleppo some time
after his brother (who was settled at Latakia) and on the same
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
113
troops at Alexandria. This news has since been con-
firmed by various letters from Cyprus, and from the
ports along the coast: to the present moment, how-
ever, I have received nothing official on these important
events; so that we are kept suspended, as it were, be-
tween the numerous contradictory stories which are pro-
pagated concerning this expedition; which appears to
have excited a considerable degree of alarm, not only at
Cyprus, but along the whole coast of Syria.
Without pretending to pry into the secrets of govern-
ment, I cannot help saying I am astonished that, when
the descent was once effected, the General, or at least
the Consul at Alexandria, did not address a circular let-
ter to the consuls of the neighbouring countries, to put
them in a way of quieting the apprehensions of the
Turks, who (as may easily be supposed) do not see
so formidable an expedition without some degree of
alarm.
The pacific language which I have continued to hold
on this occasion has contributed greatly to calm the ef-
fervescence which was beginning to manifest itself, not
only among the Turks, but even among a great majo-
rity of the French who are settled here.
iniquitous errand. His letter shews that he was equally well
qualified for the purpose. Much mischief would inevitably have
followed, had not the presumption and folly of their rapacious
masters precipitated measures, and plunged them in the abyss of
misery which they were wantonly preparing for others.
They are both ere this, we trust, in the Castle of the Seven
Towers: much too good a place of imprisonment for men who,
in strict justice, should long since have perished in the dungeons
of Robespierre.
I
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((
"Whatever," said I to them all, "may be the pur-
port of this expedition, you ought to entertain no
"doubt but that it is undertaken with the full con-
"sent of the Porte. Let us wait for authentic intelli-
"gence from our respective governments-and till then,
"let us confidently repose on the knowledge we all
"have of the strict connection which has now subsisted
"so long between the two powers."-(Precious villain!)
I then placed in the fairest point of view, the various
advantages which would accrue to the Ottoman empire
from our possession of Malta-and, to say the truth,
this circumstance had a considerable effect in counter-
balancing the disagreeable sensation, which the know-
ledge of having so formidable a force in the neighbour-
hood had already produced.
At this moment Aleppo is effectually quieted. I can
see nothing to apprehend but a sudden convulsion, pro-
duced by some of those absurd and exaggerated accounts
which terror frequently dictates, and which terror alone
is capable of adopting.
The Pacha, and all the Grandees of the city are tran-
quil. If there be any explosion to dread, it is on the
part of the Cheriffs, whom fanaticism may drive to vio-
lent measures and, in that case, I should not be asto-
nished if the Janizaries, who are fond of us, were to
undertake our defence.
I take advantage, Citizen Minister, of a mode of
conveyance, not altogether without suspicion, to trans-
mit you this letter, which I have scribbled in great
haste-because the only opportunity that offers is that
of the courier of the ***** Consul, and because it is
necessary to use every precaution, and even every arti-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
115
fice imaginable to save appearances, and prevent any
obstacles being raised to its departure.
Health and respect.
J. CHODERLOS.
The reasons I have just given, prevent Citizen Beau-
champ from writing to you. The packet would be too
voluminous not to excite suspicion. He charges me to
inform you, that he intends setting out the day after
to-morrow for Latakia, where he will take measures
for prosecuting his journey.
I 2
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No. XIX.
Au Grand Caire, le 10 Thermidor, an 6.
Le Contre Amiral PERRE'E, commandant la Flotille du
Nil, à son Ami LE JOILLE, Chef de Division, com-
mandant le Vaisseau le Généreux.
MON cher camarade, je profite de l'occasion de la Cis-
alpine pour te donner de mes nouvelles, comme je te
l'ai marqué par ma derniere.
paysan,
Je suis arrivé en cette ville le lendemain de notre ar-
mée, après avoir éprouvé toutes les privations possibles;
nous avons été jusqu'à six jours sans avoir autre chose à
manger que des pastiques, et pour dessert du pastique.
La fusillade roulait toute la journée de la part du
qui étoit commandé par des Arabes ou des Bédouins.
Je t'assûre que si ces hommes savoient tirer, nous ne
serions pas revenus un seul. A présent ils sont plus
raisonnables depuis que le Caire est à nous. Je regarde
en ce moment le Nil comme certain, ce qui nous per-
mettra la communication avec vous.
Tu apprendras avec plaisir que j'ai été promû au
grade de Contre Amiral sur le champ de bataille, après
l'affaire du 25. Assurément si j'avois été secondé par
une autre canonnière il n'auroit plus été question de
leur flotille, quoiqu'ils en avoient 7, et pour lors je
n'avois que 6 bâtiments, dont trois ont été abandonnés
et pris par les ennemis, qui ont eu l'audace de s'en em-
parer à portée de pistolet de moi.
Pour lors j'ai fait diriger toutes mes forces dessus,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
117
fait couler à fond la canonnière de l'Amiral, et je les ai
forcés à lâcher mes canonnières que j'ai réintegrées de-
suite. J'avois encore deux batteries de 12 canons de
campagne dirigées sur moi à très-petite portée. Les
troupes étoient très-éloignées et ne pouvoient me don-
ner aucun secours. Le combat a commencé à 9 heures
moins un quart, et a fini à une heure et demie que
notre armée les a mis en déroute.
Je t'assure que nous avons été trompés beaucoup sur
la navigation du Nil. Il ne peut y monter aucun bâti-
ment tirant plus de cinq pieds à l'époqued où j'ai monté ;
tant qu'à la fertilité du pays je crois que l'on a beau-
coup à décompter. La férocité des habitans est pire
que les sauvages; majeure partie habillés en paille.
Enfin le pays n'est pas de mon goût. Cependant après
la peine, le plaisir; en ce moment je suis assez bien,
tant pour les nourritures que pour les plaisirs. Les Beys
nous ont laissé quelque jolies Arméniennes et Georgi-
ennes, que nous nous sommes emparés au profit de la
nation. Je te prie, mon bon ami, de m'envoyer une
barique de vin: tu obligeras
Ton ami,
EM. PERRE'E :
Assure de mon amitié à tous mes amis.
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TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo, July 28th.
Rear Admiral PERRE'E, commanding the Flotilla of the
Nile, to his Friend, LE JOILLE,* Chief of Division,
and Captain of the Généreux.
I TAKE the opportunity of the sailing of the Cisalpine,
my dear comrade, to give thee some account of myself,
as I promised to do in my last.
* Le Joille escaped from the hands of Lord Nelson, and had the
good fortune, in his flight to Corfou, to fall in, and after an en-
gagement of six hours and a half, to capture the Leander, a ves-
sel at no time of half his force, and then enfeebled by her recent
engagement, and with scarce two thirds of her complement.
This is all well known :-what is not so notorious, though it
well deserves to be so, is the brutal behaviour of Joille to the
brave men, whose invincible courage (for they did not strike till
the Leander was absolutely ungovernable) would have entitled
them to the respect of a generous enemy. Would it be believed,
that the wounds of the gallant commander were not suffered to be
dressed for several days, and that the surgeon of the ship had his
instruments taken from him while he was employed in performing
an operation upon one of our unfortunate countrymen!!! Yet
all this, and more than all this, is perfectly true.
We are at a loss to know on what principle of sound policy, or
in conformity to what chapter in the code of candour, these and
other traits of wanton barbarity, of ferocious rapacity, on the part
of the French, are suppressed in our public statements. We
have heard of one council abroad, in which it was seriously pro-
posed to soften or conceal the insults of France, lest that country
should be irritated and we have seen one paper at home, which
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
119
I arrived here the day after our army, after expe-
riencing every degree of misery. We were six days
without any thing to eat but water-melons-water-me-
lons for our dinner, and water-melons for our desert!
The peasantry of the country, commanded by Arabs or
Bedouins, kept up a firing all day long about our ears.
I can assure thee, that if these people knew how to
level a musket, not a man of us would return alive.
They have been a little more complaisant since the cap-
ture of Cairo. I now consider the Nile as open; our
communications will, therefore, be more regular in
future.
Thou wilt hear with pleasure that I was promoted
to the rank of Rear Admiral on the field of battle, im-
mediately after the affair of the 13th. I am certain that
advised the same conduct.-Whether this was done through de-
sign or ignorance is not worth inquiry. We are surely too power-
ful to be insulted by the French, and we have too many means
of retaliation in our hands to dread their irritation.
Let it also be considered, that the publicity for which we con-
tend, is due to the brave men who are fighting our battles-it is
also due to the civilized world, of whom the French are the terror
and the pest-since there cannot be a more effectual method of
counteracting a nation, which derives much of its influence, and
more of its power, from the base and hypocritical'cant of superior
justice and humanity, than unfolding every act of unnecessary
cruelty, which their innate thirst of plunder, and of blood, in-
duces them to perpetrate.
We have gone out of our way to make these remarks; but we
hope the importance of them will excuse us.
To return to Joille.-We are happy to add, that he had not the
satisfaction of possessing himself of the colours which Lord Nel-
son had put on board the Leander. They were sunk previous to
the surrender of the vessel, together with the dispatches, and
letters of every kind,
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if I had been supported by one gun-boat more, we
should have seen the last of their flotilla, though they
had seven and I had but six, three of which were de-
serted by the crews, and in the possession of the enemy,
who had the audacity to seize them within pistol-shot
of my boat; it was then that I exerted myself to the
utmost, sunk the flag-vessel, and compelled them to
abandon my boats; which I afterwards put into a state
of service. I had besides, two batteries of six field-
pieces each opened upon me, at a very trifling distance ;
and the army was too remote to lend me any succour.
The engagement began at a quarter before nine in the
morning, and finished about half after one, when they
fled on all sides.
I can assure thee that we have been miserably de-
ceived respecting the navigation of the Nile. No ves-
sel that draws more than five feet can ascend it at the
period that I did; with respect to the fertility of the
country too, great deductions must be made, or I am
mightily mistaken. The ferocity of the inhabitants
:
*This is not the fact it was the appearance of the army
(though it might not be actually engaged) that saved him from
absolute destruction.
† It is curious to mark the progress of conviction amongst the
French. Alexandria is universally allowed to be detestable,-
there are no doubts expressed of that-" Oh! but then it will be
"delightful when we get to Rosetta!" "No," say those who
are stationed there, "Rosetta is not delightful at all, it is only a
"little less wretched than Alexandria." "True! but then the
"Delta! that is surely rich and beautiful; and then there is
"Cairo, the wealthiest, the largest, and the most magnificent city
"in the world!" "As for the Delta," says Perrée, "I have just
"passed through it, and I can assure you, that it is any thing but
"rich and beautiful. "And as for Cairo," exclaim a thousand
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
121
(
exceeds that of savages; most of them appear to be co-
wered with reeds or straw. In a word, the country is
not at all to my taste; however, after pain, pleasure, as
the proverb says. At present I am tolerably well si-
tuated, both with respect to my table and my other
amusements. The Beys have left us some pretty Ar-
menian and Georgian wenches, whom we have confis-
cated to the profit of the nation. Do, prithee, my dear
friend, send me a cask of wine; thou wilt confer an
obligation on thy friend
EM. PERRE'E,
Assure all my friends of my best regards.
voices in concert, "it is the vilest and most miserable dog-hole
on the face of the earth!" Thus delusion after delusion
passes away, and the French, who are as sanguine as they are
credulous, are finally resigned to disappointment and despair.
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No. XX.
Au Quartier général du Grand Caire, le 10 Thermidor.
LE TURCQ Aide-de-Camp du Général B. Chef de l'Etat-
Major, Général de l'Armée, au Citoyen LE TURCO
son Père.
DEPUIS
EPUIS votre lettre datée du 23 Floréal dernier, je
n'ai reçu aucune de vos nouvelles, cher père; vous devez
sentir combien cela doit m'inquiéter. Je n'ai rien né-
gligé pour profiter de tous les couriers que nous avons
expédiés pour Paris, de Toulon, de Malte, et d'Alex-
andrie, ainsi que celui-ci que nous expédions du Caire.
Je ne vous peindrai pas la position dans laquelle nous
nous trouvons tous dans ce pays; je me bornerai seule-
ment à vous dire, que nous avons tous été trompés dans
notre attente sur le pays de l'Egypte ; mais heureusement
pour moi, j'ai le bonheur de jouir d'une assez bonne santé,
c'est-à-dire jusqu'à ce jour, un des mieux portants de
l'armée. Je désire bien ardemment être de retour près
de vous, pour vous faire un tableau fidèle du pays,
d'après lequel vous jugerez aisément que nous devons
beaucoup nous y ennuyer sous bien des rapports.
Je vous joins ici, cher père, une relation de ce qui
nous est arrivé dans notre marche d'Alexandrie au Caire,
et des différens combats que nous avons eus pendant cette
marche, avec les Mamelouks et les Bédouins. Il vous sera
facile de juger de notre position dans ce désert, qui eût
été la défaite de l'armée sans le secours du Nil, branche
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
123
d'un fleuve qui se jette dans le Delta. Je termine, espć-
rant incessamment jouir du bonheur de vous raconter ces
faits extraordinaires moi-même dans vos foyers.
Je ne dissimulerai pas que c'est un grand avantage
pour moi, déjà ancien militaire, d'avoir fait un voyage
aussi important et aussi instructif, mais sachant ce qu'est
le pays et les privations en tout genre qu'on y endure,
je ne sais trop, si ce voyage étoit à recommencer, si je
l'entreprendrois; mais maintenant que j'ai supporté la
majeure partie des maux qui m'y attendoient je suis bien-
aise de le faire, et veux le suivre jusqu'à la fin.
Nous sommes au Caire depuis quelques jours; il seroit
possible que nous y restassions encore une quinzaine,
après quoi il est vraisemblable que nous dirigerons nos
pas en Syrie, vers la Haute Egypte; déjà une de nos
divisions est partie pour Damiette.
Je n'ai pas besoin de vous prier de communiquer cette
lettre et ma rélation à nos parents et amis communs,
particulièrement au Citoyen et à la Citoyenne Berthe,
nion frère marchand, et mon oncle Le Turcq, enfin
tous mes parents; dites-leur que je les embrasse tous
du plus profond de mon cœur, en attendant le plaisir de
les voir si je le peux sous six mois.
Le Général Berthier écrit par le même courier à son
père, ainsi que l'Huillier; il est nommé aujourd'hui
Sous-Lieutenant au 14 régiment de dragons.
Donnez-moi souvent de vos nouvelles et de toute ma
famille; n'oubliez pas le dragon. J'espère que mon
prompt recour l'indemnisera de la perte qu'il peut faire
par l'absence de ce long voyage que je suis forcé de con-
tinuer; mais dites-lui qu'il ne perd rien pour attendre,
que le Général Berthier m'a tout promis pour lui, et
sûrement il est homme à tenir sa parole.
{
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Je vous embrasse mille fois tous, et je suis pour la vie,
Votre fils,
LE TURCO
Dites-moi, je vous prie, si vous avez reçu des nouvelles
de César Berthe, qui se trouve ou à Milan, ou à Paris.
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Grand Cairo, July 28.
LE TURCQ Aid-de-Camp to General BERTHIER, Chief
of the Etat-Major, and General of the Army, to Citizen
Le Turcq, his father.
Dear Father,
SINCE
INCE your letter of the 12th of May last, I have not
received a single line from you: judge how wretched
this has made me. I have omitted no opportunity of
writing to you by the different couriers which have been
dispatched to Paris, from Toulon, Malta, and Alexan-
dria; and I now send to you by this, which is just
setting out from Cairo.
I shall say nothing to you of the situation in which
we find ourselves in this country, but content myself
with observing once for all, that we have been miser-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
125
avy deceived in our expectations respecting Egypt.
Happily for me, I have the good fortune to enjoy a
tolerable state of health,-that is to say, I have been,
down to the present hour, one of the healthiest in the
whole army. I long most ardently to return to you,
to lay before you a faithful picture of the country;
from which you will easily be enabled to comprehend
how many reasons we have to be disgusted with it.
}
I inclose, my dear father, a narrative of what be-
fel us in our march from Alexandria to Cairo, and of
the different combats we had to sustain with the Mame-
loucs and the Bedouins. You will form a judgment
without difficulty of our situation in the Desert. The
whole army would have been destroyed, but for the
assistance we derived from the Nile, a branch of a river
which throws itself into the Delta! I conclude with re-
peating my hopes that I shall speedily enjoy the happi-
ness of recounting these extraordinary events to you in
person, by our own fire-side.
I will not pretend to deny but that it is a great ad-
vantage for me, already an old soldier, to be engaged in
so important, and so instructive an expedition: but,
knowing what the country really is, and the privations
and sufferings to which we are exposed, I am not too
sure, that if it were to begin again, I should venture to
undertake it. Now, however, that I have overcome the
major part of the evil which awaited me, I am not ill
£
*. This narrative we have suppressed. It is in fact a tedious
and ill-written detail of the same operations which are related
with infinitely more ability by Boyer (No. XXII.); from whom
Le Turcq differs only, in his enumeration of the hardships and
losses of the army; which he states to be somewhat greater tha
Boyer does.
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1
pleased with what I have done; and have made up my
mind to persevere to the end.*
We have been at Cairo some days. It is possible that
we may stay here a fortnight longer, after which I
think it probable that we shall march to Syria towards
Upper Egypt. † One division is already gone to Da-
mietta.
I have no occasion to request you to communicate my
letter, and narrative, to our kinsmen and common friends,
particularly to Citizen Berthe and his wife, to my
brother the merchant, to my uncle Le Turcq, and in a
word, to all my relations. Tell them that I embrace
them with my whole heart, and flatter myself that I
shall have the pleasure of seeing them within six months.
General Berthier writes by this courier to his father,
so does l'Huillier, who is this day promoted to a lieu-
tenancy in the 14th regiment of dragoons.
Let me hear from you and all the family often. Do
* It is impossible to read this paragraph; in which Le Turcq
states his discontent so forcibly, in descanting on his happiness;
without being immediately put in mind of the professing readi-
ness of the reluctant Bull-calf.
66
Bull-calf. Good master corporate Bardolph, stand my
“friend, and here is four Harry ten shillings in French crowns
"for you. In very truth, Sir, I had as lief be hang'd, Sir, as
16 go: and yet, for mine own part, Sir, I do not care; but,
“ rather, because I am unwilling, and, for mine own part, have.
"a desire to stay with my friends; else, Sir, I did not care, for
"mine own part, so much.'
SHAKESPEARE.
+ This "old soldier" is rather young in his geography..
Upper Egypt is, not precisely in the road to Syria, any more than
any part of Egypt is in the road from France to England—a mis-
take which the whole army seem to have made, and which is in ai
fair way of costing them dear.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
127
not forget the dragoon. I hope that my prompt return
will indemnify him for the loss which he may sustain
by my long absence in this expedition, in which I am
forced to persevere-but tell him that he shall lose no-
thing by waiting. General Berthier has promised me
every thing for him; and he is surely a man to be de-
pended upon.
I embrace you a thousand times, and ever remain,
Your son,
LE TURCQ
4
Pray tell me if you have heard from Cesar Berthe;
he is either at Milan, or Paris.
་
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No. XXI.
1
Au Grand Caire, le 10 Thermidor.
L'Adjudant-Général BOYER, au Général en Chef de l'Ar-
mée d'Angleterre.
Mon Général,
NOTRE entrée au Grand Caire, fera sans doute, er
France, une de ces impressions qu'occasionne toujours
un événement rare; mais quand on saura l'espèce d'en-
nemis que nous avons eu à combattre, le peu d'art qu'ils
ont employé contre nos moyens, enfin la nullité de
leurs entreprises, cette expédition et nos conquêtes ne
paroitront plus si extraordinaires.
Nous avons d'abord debuté par un assaut livré à une
place sans défense, dont la garnison était de 500 Janis-
saires qui à peine sçavent tirer le fusil. C'est d'Alex-
andrie dont je veux parler; villasse ouverte de tout
côté, qui certainement ne pouvoit s'opposer aux efforts
de 25,000 hommes qui l'attaquèrent à la fois; nous y
perdimes néanmoins 150 hommes, qu'on auroit pu con-
server en sommant la place; mais il falloit commencer
par étonner son ennemi.
L'on a ensuite marché sur les Mamelouks; gens dont
la bravoure est si reconnue en Egypte. Cette soldatesque
qui n'a aucune idée de tactique; qui ne connoit de la
guerre que le sang que répandent leurs armes, a paru
la première fois en face de notre armée le 25 Messidor.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
129
D'abord dès la pointe du jour, ils ont fait voir toutes
leurs forces, qui rodèrent autour de notre armée, comme
des troupeaux marchant tantôt au galop, tantôt au pas,
par tas de 10, de 50, de 100, &c. Enfin d'une manière
aussi ridicule que curieuse, vingt fois ils ont tenté la
charge, mais trouvant partout un point qui leur offroit
une résistance à laquelle ils ne s'attendoient pas, ils
passèrent leur journée à nous tenir exposés à l'ardeur
d'un soleil brûlant; si nous eussions été plus entrepre-
nans ce jour-là, peut-être leur sort eût été décidé;
mais le Général Bonaparte temporisa pour connoître
son ennemi, et se mettre au fait de son genre de
guerre.
-
La journée se décida par la retraite des Mamelouks,
qui perdirent à peine 25 des leurs; nous remontâmes le
Nil jusqu'au 3 Thermidor, qui fut le jour décisif de la
puissance des Mamelouks.
Quatre mille hommes à cheval, ayant chacun un ou
deux valets, vinrent se heurter contre une armée d'élite.
Leur charge fut un acte de fureur, de rage, et de dés-
espoir. Ils attaquèrent Desaix et Regnier les premiers.
Leurs efforts furent bientôt renversés; les soldats de ces
divisions les attendirent avec assurance, et à dix pas un
feu de file fait sur eux, en jetta de suite 150 à terre.
Ils vinrent ensuite sur la division Bon, qui les accueillit
dé la même manière. Enfin après divers efforts inutiles,
ils prirent la fuite, et emportant leurs trésors, ils se jet-
tent aujourd'hui dans la Haute Egypte. Cette victoire
nous a donné la ville du Grand Caire, où nous sommes
depuis le 4 au soir.
Il faudroit être familier avec la langue du pays, et
outre ça, avoir le secret des grands, pour vous donner
K
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COPIES OF
une idée des ressources et des moyens que nous avons
trouvés dans cette ville; mais à en croire ceux qui se
plaignent, et les démandes de plusieurs Généraux qui
veulent retourner en France, il paroit qu'il y a un grand
mécontentement dans l'armée. En général, il est diffi-
cile de se figurer les maux qu'a soufferts l'armée pen-
dant 17 jours de marche; ne trouvant nulle part de pain,
ni vin, nous avons vécu de melons, citrouilles, volailles,
viande de buffle, et d'eau du Nil.
Voilà, mon Général, un recit succinct de nos opéra-
tions. On parle déjà de remonter l'Egypte, jusqu'aux
Cataractes du Nil; cette marche occasionnera beaucoup
de démissions.
Présentez, je vous prie, mes hommages respectueux à
Madame Kilmaine, et croyez moi
Votre subordonné,
BOYER.
Rappellez-moi, je vous prie, au souvenir de mes cama-
rades Rivaud, d'Arbois et Villard.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.,
131
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo, July 28.
Adjutant General BOYER, to the Commander in Chief of
the Army of England.
My General,
*
OUR entrance into Grand Cairo will doubtless excite
that sensation at home which every extraordinary event
is calculated to produce; but when you come to know
the kind of enemy we had to combat, the little art they
employed against us, and the perfect nullity of all their
measures, our expedition and our victories will appear
to you very common things.
We began by making an assault upon a place with-
out any defence, and garrisoned by about 500 Janiza-
* General Kilmaine. This is the letter of an experienced offi-
cer, giving an account to his superior, whom he neither dared,
nor, perhaps, wished to deceive, of such military operations as
fell under his immediate inspection.
The "account" we know, from the most indisputable autho-
rity, to be as correct as it is spirited. It derogates a little, it
must be confessed, from the wonderful prowess of Bonaparte
and his band of heroes-but what are we to think of a General,
who gravely tells of the difficulty of scaling the ramparts of a
town, which has scarce a wall or a gate that might not be forced
by a serjeant's guard! or of the prodigies of valour exhibited in
defeating a horde of brave but undisciplined troops, with a regu-
lar and well appointed army, of more than six times their num-
bers !
1
K 2
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COPIES OF
*
rics, of whom scarce a man knew how to level a mus-
ket. I allude to Alexandria, a huge and wretched
skeleton of a place, open on every side, and most cer-
tainly very unable to resist the efforts of 25,000 men,
who attacked it at the same instant. We lost, notwith-
standing, 150 men, whom we might have preserved by
only summoning the town-but it was thought neces-
sary to begin by striking terror into the enemy.
*
After this we marched against the Mameloucs; a
people highly celebrated amongst the Egyptians for their
bravery. This rabble (I cannot call them soldiers,)
which has not the most trifling idea of tactics, and
which knows nothing of war but the blood that is spilt
in-it, appeared for the first time opposed to our army on
the 13th of July.
From the first dawn of day, they made a general dis-
play of their forces, which straggled round and round
our army, like so many cattle; sometimes gallopping,
and sometimes pacing in groups of 10, 50, 100, &c,
After some time, they made several attempts, in a style
*It was a branch of this necessity, we suppose, that
prompted Bonaparte, with equal judgment and humanity, to
give up the inhabitants of Alexandria to indiscriminate slaugh-
ter for the space of four hours! Mr. Gilbert Wakefield tells us,
that this General (with whose character he appears to be as well
acquainted as he evidently is with most of those with whom he
meddles,)" prefers the preservation of a single citizen from
"death, to the melancholy glory that could result from a thou-
"sand triumphs of a conqueror wading through floods of slaugh-
"ter." All this is doubtless very fine and very true! and we
must, therefore, conclude that the General had just then forgotten
that the unfortunate Alexandrines were "citizens”—a circum-
stance the more to be wondered at, as he had not long before,
termed them so in his Manifesto.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
133
1
qually ridiculous and curious, to break in upon us;
but finding every where a resistance which they probably
did not expect; they spent the day in keeping us ex-
posed to the fury of a burning sun. Had we been a
little more enterprizing this day, I think their fate
would have been decided; but General Bonaparte tem-
porized, that he might make a trial of his enemy, and
become acquainted with their manner of fighting.
The day ended with the retreat of the Mameloucs,
who scarcely lost five-and-twenty men. We continued
our march up the Nile till the 21st, which was the day
that put a final termination to the power of the Mame-
loucs in Egypt.
1
Four thousand men on horseback, having each a
groom or two, bore down intrepidly on a numerous
army of veterans: their charge was an act of fury,
rage, and despair. They attacked Desaix and Regnier
first. The soldiers of these divisions received them with
steadiness, and at the distance of only ten paces opened
a running fire upon them, which brought down one
hundred and fifty. They then fell upon Bon's division,
which received them in the same manner. In short,
after a number of unavailing efforts, they made off; and,
carrying with them all their treasures, took shelter in
Upper Egypt. The fruit of this victory was Grand
Cairo, where we have been ever since the evening of
the 22d.
I should be familiar with the language of the coun-
try, and, what is of still more importance, in the con-
fidence of the Great, to be enabled to give you an idea
of the resources found in this city; but, from the com-
plaints I hear, and the demands of several Generals
who wish to return, I can easily perceive that there are
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vast discontents in the army. Generally speaking, it is
hardly possible to conceive the miseries endured by the
army, during its seventeen days' march; finding no
where a bit of bread, nor a drop of wine, we were re-
duced to live on melons, gourds, poultry, buffalo meat,
and Nile water.
Such, my General, is the succinct account of our
operations. There is a talk already of our ascending
the Nile as far as the Cataracts: an expedition that will
make a number of officers throw up their commissions.
I beg you to present my respectful homage to Madame
Kilmaine, and to believe me
Your subordinate,
BOYER.
Have the goodness to remember me to my comrades
Rivaud, D'Arbois, and Villard.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
135
No. XXII.
Mes cher Parents,
Au Grand Caire, le 10 Thermidor.
NOTRE entrée au Grand Caire est une occasion pour
moi de vous donner de mes nouvelles, et comme mon
intention est de vous mettre entièrement au fait d'une ex-
pédition aussi singulière qu'étonnante, je vais récapi-
tuler tous nos hauts faits du jour de notre départ de
Toulon.
L'armée composée de 30,000 hommes, embarqués
partie à Marseille, Toulon, Gênes et Civita Vecchia,
a mis à la voile le 30 Floréal, convoyée par 15 vaisseaux
de guerre, dont deux armés en flûte, 14 frégates, et
plusieurs autres petits bâtiments de guerre. Le convoi
en tout formoit un total de 400 voiles; depuis les Croi-
sades l'on n'avoit pas vu pareille armée dans la Médi-
terranée.
Sans calculer les dangers de l'élément sur lequel nous
voguions, ni ceux qu'un ennemi redoutable sur l'eau
pouvoit nous faire craindre, l'armée cingle vers l'isle de
Malte, où nous arrivons le 22 Prairial. Cette conquête
très-importante par elle-même nous coûta peu de monde.
Le 24 la place capitula, l'Ordre fut anéanti, le Grand-
Maître renvoyé en Allemagne avec de belles promesses:
tout enfin succède à nos vœux. Il ne falloit pas perdre
de tems, ni s'occuper trop à contempler et raisonner
l'avantage que nous tirions de l'occupation de Malte,
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une escadre Angloise forte de 13 grosses voiles, com-
mandée par Nelson, mouilloit dans les eaux de Naples,
et épioit nos mouvemens. Bonaparte instruit de la pré-
sence de l'ennemi, donne à peine à son escadre le tems
de faire de l'eau, il ordonne qu'on mette à la voile, et,
le 30 Prairial, l'armée et l'escadre sortent du port de.
Malte. Nous forçons de voile pour atteindre le second
but de notre expédition. Le 7 Messidor, nous signalons
l'isle de Candie, enfin, le 12 notre escadre légère signale
Alexandrie.
Le même jour, à midi l'escadre de l'Amiral Nelson
arrivoit en face du port de cette ville, et offroit aux
Turcs de mouiller dans leur port, pour les défendre con-
tre nous; cette offre refusée, l'Anglois met à la voile, fait
route sur Cypre, tandis que nous, profitant de toutes ses
fautes et utilisant son ineptie, nous descendons la nuit
du 13 au 14 sur Marabou ou la Tour des Arabes ; à la
pointe du jour, toute l'armée étoit à terre. Bonaparte
se met à la tête, marche droit sur Alexandrie à travers
un désert de trois lieues qui n'offroit pas même de l'eau
pour ressource dans un climat où la chaleur est insup-
portable.
Malgré toutes ces difficultés, nous arrivons sous les
murs; une garnison d'à peu près 500 Janissaires, les
défendoient.-Le reste de la population de la ville se
jette dans les forts, d'autres se portent sur leurs toîts.
Ainsi disposés, ils attendent notre attaque, la charge
bat, nos soldats se précipitent avec fureur sur les rem-
parts qu'ils escaladent, malgré la défense opiniâtre des
attaqués; plusieurs généraux sont blessés, entr'autres
Kleber. Nous perdons à peu près 150 hommes, mais
la valeur met fin à l'opiniâtreté des Turcs. Ceux-ci
repoussés de tout côté, se refugient chez leur Dieu et
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
137
leur Prophète; ils remplissent leurs mosquées; hommes,
femmes, vieillards, jeunes, et enfans, tous sont massa-
crés. Au bout de quatre heures, nos soldats mettent fin
à leur fureur-la tranquillité renaît en ville-plusieurs
forts capitulent; j'en ai moi-même fait rendre un où
700 Turcs s'étoient retirés. La confiance reprend enfin
dans la ville, et le lendemain tout étoit tranquille.
C'est ici le moment de faire une petite digression
pour vous mettre au fait du sujet qui nous amène sur
ces terres, et va engager Bonaparte de s'emparer de
l'Egypte.
La France, par les divers événemens de cette guerre,
et de sa révolution, perdant ses colonies, ses comptoirs,
verroit infalliblement décheoir son commerce, et un
peuple aussi industrieux seroit enfin obligé de négocier
en secondes mains les objets les plus essentiels de son
commerce; plusieurs probabilités font envisager comme
impossible au gouvernement, sinon de récupérer nos
colonies, du moins d'en tirer l'avantage que nous en
avions, surtout après la destruction et les horreurs qui
se sont commises, joint au décret d'abolition.
Pour s'indemniser d'une perte qui paroît presque
réelle, le gouvernement a jetté les yeux sur l'Egypte et
la Syrie, contrées qui par leur climat, la bonté de leur
sol, et leur fertilité, peuvent devenir les greniers du
commerce de la France, son magazin d'abondance, et
par la suite des tems l'entrepôt de son commerce des
Indes: il est indubitable qu'après nous être emparés
et organisés dans ce pays, nous pouvons jetter nos vues
plus loin, et par la suite détruire le commerce Anglais
dans les Indes, l'utiliser à notre profit, nous rendre les
souverains du commerce même de l'Afrique et l'Asie.
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COPIES OF
Toutes ces considérations ont engagé, selon moi, le
gouvernement à tenter une expédition sur l'Egypte.
Cette partie de la puissance Ottomane est gouvernée
depuis plusieurs siècles par une espèce d'hommes que l'on
appelle Mamelouks, qui ayant à leur tête des Beys,
méconnoissent l'autorité du Grand Seigneur, gouvernent
despotiquement et tyranniquement un peuple et un pays
qui entre les mains d'une nation policée, deviendront une
source de richesses.
C'est dont à ces Mamelouks qu'il faut faire la guerre
pour occuper l'Egypte; leur nombre est d'à peu près
8000, tous à cheval, ils ont 24 Beys pour les commander.
Il est important que vous connoissiez un peu ce que
sont ces soldats, leur manière de faire la guerre, et leur
armure et origine.
Tout Mamelouk est acheté-ils sont tous du Mont
Caucase, et de la Georgie. Il y a parmi eux beaucoup
d'Allemands, Russes, même quelques François. Leur
religion est la Mahometane. Exercés dès leur jeunesse
à l'art militaire, ils sont d'une adresse extraordinaire à
cheval, à tirer la carabine, le pistolet, à lancer des
traits, des masses d'armes, enfin à sabrer, l'on en a vu
couper d'un coup de sabre une tête de coton mouillé.
1
Chaque Mamelouk a 2, 3, même 4 domestiques.
Ceux-ci le suivent toujours à pié, même dans les com-
bats. L'armure du Mamelouk à cheval est de deux
grands fusils, que chacun de ses domestiques porte à
côté de lui. Ils ne les décharge qu'une fois; il saisit
ensuite deux paires de pistolets qu'il a autour de son
corps, puis huit flèches qu'il porte dans un carquois, et
qu'il jette fort adroitement avec sa main, puis se sert de
la masse d'armes pour assommer. Enfin sa dernière
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
139.
ressource sont deux sabres. Il saisit la bride entre ses
dents, armé d'un sabre dans chaque main, il court sur
son ennemi, et taille à droite et à gauche; malheur à qui
ne pare pas ses coups. Il en est qui taillent un homme
en deux. C'est à cette espèce d'hommes que nous allons
faire la guerre. Je vais actuellement entrer dans les dé-
tails des combats que nous avons essuyés de leur part.
Après avoir organisé à Alexandrie un pouvoir gouver-
nant, avoir assûré la communication sur les derrières de
notre armée, Bonaparte fait prendre pour 5 jours de
vivres à son armée, et se prépare à traverser un désert
de 20 lieues pour arriver à l'embouchure du Nil, et re-
monter ce fleuve si célebre jusqu'au Grand Caire, qui
est le premier but de son opération. Le 17 Messidor,
l'armée se met en marche, remonte à petites journées ce
fleuve, rencontrant quelques partis de Mamelouks qui
fuirent successivement à notre approche. Enfin, le 24
le Général Bonaparte apprend que les Beys ont marché
sur lui avec leurs forces réunies, qu'il doit être attaqué
le lendemain. Il organise sa marche de bataille, et prend
des précautions.
Bonaparte m'envoye avec trois chaloupes canonnières à
la découverte. Je pousse avec cette petite flotille 3 lieues
en avant de l'armée. Je descens successivement dans
tous les villages situés sur les deux rives du Nil, pour
avoir des renseignemens sur les Mamelouks. Dans les
uns, je suis accueilli à coups de fusil, d'autres viennent
au devant de moi, me reçoivent bien, m'offrent des vivres.
Dans un d'eux, il m'arriva un événement drôle et sin-
gulier, le Cheick du pays ayant réuni toute sa popula-
tion, pour venir au devant de moi, s'approche et me de-
mande de quel droit les Chrétiens venoient s'emparer
d'un pays qui appartenoit au Grand Seigneur. Je lui ré-
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COPIES OF
pondis que c'étoit la volonté de Dieu et de son Prophete
Mahomet qui nous y conduisoit; mais, me répliqua-t-il,
le Roi de France aura au moins prévenu notre Sultan de
cette démarche. Après l'avoir rassuré affirmativement
sur cette demande, il me demandoit comment se portoit
notre roi ? Je lui répondis, fort bien. Puis il me jura
sur son turban et sur sa barbe que j'étois parmi des amis.
Je profitai de la bonne volonté de ces gens, je recueillis
tous les renseignemens possibles sur les Mamelouks; puis
continuant mon chemin, je remontai le Nil, et mouillai
la nuit en face de Chebreiki, village situé au bord du
Nil, où etoient réunis les Mamelouks, et où eut lieu la
première affaire.
J'envoyai la nuit mon rapport au Général en Chef,
et lui communiquai tout ce que j'avois pu recueillir sur
les Mamelouks.
Le lendemain à la pointe du jour, je monte sur le mât
de ma canonnière, et découvre six chaloupes Turques
qui marchoient sur moi; au même moment m'arrivoit
une demi-galère de renfort. Je m'embosse contre ces bâ-
timents, et à quatre heures et demi, commença entre les
deux petites flotilles une canonnade qui dura cinq heures
de tems, malgré la supériorité de l'ennemi. Je tins
bon. Cependant il s'avança sur moi, et je perdis pen-
dant un instant la demi-galère et une canonnière; mais
il ne s'agissoit pas de se rendre, il falloit vaincre. Pen-
dant ces momens d'incertitude notre armée avançoit, et
je fus dégagé. Une canonnière Turque sauta en l'air.
Ainsi se passoit notre combat de flotilles, lorsque les
Mamelouks s'avançant sur notre armée, rodèrent autour
d'elle sans pouvoir l'entamer, sans pouvoir même faire
la moindre attaque sur elle. Il est à présumer, qu'éton-
nés de l'ordre qu'ils virent que présentoient nos colonnes,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
141
ils remirent à un autre jour le sort de leur empire et de
leur fortune. Cette journée aboutit à peu de chose;
les Mamelouks ne perdirent gueres que 20 ou 30
hommes, mais nous en tirâmes un grand avantage,
celui d'avoir inspiré une idée extraordinaire de notre
tactique à un ennemi qui n'en connoît aucune, et qui
ne sait guerroyer que par la supériorité des armes, l'a-
dresse, l'agilité, sans ordre, sans tenue, ne sachant pas
même marcher par pelotons, allant par hordes, donnant
sur son ennemi par bourasque et effarouché.
Les Mamelouks se retirèrent, nous laissant avancer
successivement sur le Grand Caire, où se donna l'affaire
décisive. Ce fut enfin le 3 à la pointe du jour, que l'ar-
mée se trouva à trois lieues du Caire, et à cinq des fa-
meuses et célebres Pyramides d'Egypte. C'étoit dans
cet intervalle que les Mamelouks, commandés par le
fameux Mourad Bey, le plus puissant des Beys, nous
attendoient. Jusqu'à trois heures après-midi, la journée
se passoit en escarmouches; enfin l'heure arriva; notre
armée, la droite appuyée aux Pyramides, la gauche au
Nil, près le village de Embabé, s'apperçut que l'ennemi
faisoit un mouvement. C'étoit en effet 2000 Mamelouks,
qui se dirigeoient vers la droite, commandée par les Gé-
néraux Desaix et Regnier. Jamais je n'ai vu soldats
charger avec tant de fureur; abandonnés tous à la rapi-
dité de leurs coursiers, ils fondent comme un torrent sur
les divisions, se mettent entre les deux; nos soldats,
fermes et inébranlables, les attendent à dix pas, puis
leur font un feu roulant accompagné de quelques dé-
charges d'artillerie; dans un clin d'œil, plus de 150
Mamelouks etoient à terre, le reste cherche son salut
dans la fuite; ils reviennent néanmois encore à la
charge, sont accueillis de la même manière; rebutés
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enfin par notre valeur, ils se rabattent sur notre aîle
gauche, pour y tenter une seconde fortune.
Le succès de notre droite encourage Bonaparte; les
Mamelouks avoient fortifié à la hâte le village d'Em-
babé, qui est sur la rive gauche du Nil, et y avoient placé
30 canons avec leurs valets et quelques Janissaires pour
en défendre les approches. Le Général ordonne la
charge sur ces retranchemens; deux divisions s'y ren-
dent, malgré une canonnade terrible. Au moment où
nos soldats s'y précipitoient au pas de charge, 600 Ma-
melouks sortent des ouvrages, investissent nos pelotons,
tentent de sabrer; mais au lieu de succès, ils ne trouvent
que la mort; 300 de tués restent à l'instant sur le champ
de bataille; les autres voulant s'échapper, se préci-
pitent dans le Nil, et y périssent tous; désespérés alors,
ils fuient de tous côtés, mettent le feu à leur flotte, en
font sauter tous les bâtiments, nous abandonnent leur
camp, et plus de 400 chameaux chargés de bagages.
Ainsi finit cette journée, au désavantage d'un ennemi
qui croyoit nous hâcher, et prétendoit qu'il est plus
facile de couper les têtes de mille Français que de cou-
per une citrouille et un melon (expressions Asiatiques).
L'armée poussa le soir même jusqu'à Gizé, demeure de
Mourad Bey, le premier des Mamelouks. Le lende-
main, nous passâmes le Nil sur des bateaux plats, et la
ville du Caire se rendit sans résistance.
Ici finit le récit de nos opérations militaires; j'en-
trerai actuellement dans les maux que nous avons soufferts
pendant nos marches; je vous ferai un petit historique
du
pays que nous avons parcouru et des habitants.
Remontons à Alexandrie. Cette ville n'as plus. de
son antiquité que le nom. ***** étonnans qui y sont
restés enfouis et ignorés au milieu d'un peuple qui à peine
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143
connoît qu'ils existent. Figurez-vous un être impassi-
ble, prenant tous les événemens comme ils viennent, que
rien n'étonne, qui, la pipe à la bouche, n'a d'autre occu-
pation que d'être sur son cul, devant sa porte, sur un
banc, ou devant la maison d'un grand, passe ainsi sa
journée, se souciant fort peu de sa famille, de ses enfans;
des mères qui errent la figure couverte d'un haillon noir,
et offrent aux passans à leur vendre leurs enfans, des
hommes à moitié nuds, dont le corps ressemble au bronze,
la peau dégoûtante, fouillant dans des ruisseaux bour-
beux, et qui, semblables à des cochons, rongent et dé-
vorent ce qu'ils y trouvent, des maisons hautes de vingt
pieds au plus, dont le toît est une plate-forme, l'intérieur
une écurie, l'extérieur l'aspect de quatre murailles.
Voilà les maisons d'Alexandrie. Ajoutez qu'autour de
cet amas de misère et d'horreurs, sont les fondemens de
la cité la plus célebre de l'antiquité, les monumens les
plus précieux de l'art.
Sortis de cette ville, pour remonter le Nil, vous ren-
contrez et passez à travers un désert nud comme la main,
où toutes les 4 à 5 lieues, vous rencontrez un mauvais
puits d'eau saumâtre. Figurez-vous une armée obligée
de passer au travers de ces plaines arides, qui n'offrent
pas même au soldat un asyle contre les chaleurs insup-
portables qui y regnent. Le soldat portant pour cinq
jours de vivres, chargé de son sac, habillé de laine, au
bout d'une heure de marche accablé par le chaud et la
pesanteur des effets qu'il porte, il se décharge, il jette ses
vivres, ne songeant qu'au présent, sans penser au lende-
main: arrive la soif, et il ne trouve pas d'eau ; la faim,
pas de pain; c'est ainsi qu'à travers les horreurs que pré-
sente ce tableau, l'on a vu des soldats mourir de soif,
d'inanition, de chaleur; d'autres, voyant les souffrances
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de leurs camarades, se brûler la cervelle; d'autres se
jetter armes et bagages dans le Nil, et périr au milieu
des eaux.
Chaque jour de nos marches nous offroit un pareil
spectacle; et, chose inouie; et que personne ne croira
facilement! C'est que l'armée entiere, pendant une
marche de 17 jours, n'a pas eu de pain; le soldat se
nourrissoit de citrouilles, de melons, de poules et quel-
ques légumes qu'il trouvoit dans le pays: telle a été la
nourriture de tous depuis le Général jusqu'au dernier
soldat; souvent même le Général a jeûné pendant 18 et
24 heures, parce que le soldat arrivant le premier dans
les villages, livroit tout au pillage, et que souvent il
falloit se contenter de son rebut, ou de ce que son in-
tempérance abandonnoit.
Il est inutile de vous parler de notre boisson: nous
vivons ici tous sous la loi de Mahomet, elle défend le
vin: mais par contre, elle nous fournit abondamment
l'eau du Nil.
Faut-il vous parler du pays situé sur les deux rives
du Nil? Pour vous en donner une idée juste et précise,
il faut entrer dans la marche topographique de ce fleuve.
Deux lieues au-dessous du Caire, il se divise en deux
branches; l'une descend à Rosette, l'autre à Damiette ;
l'entre deux de ces eaux est le Delta, pays extraordi-
nairement fertile, qu'arrose le Nil: aux extrémités des
deux branches, du côté des terres est une lisière, de pays
cultivé, qui n'a guere qu'une lieue de large, tantôt plus,
tantôt moins: passez au delà, vous entrez dans les Dé-
serts, les uns aboutissent à la Lybie, les autres aux plaines
qui vont à la Mer Rouge. De Rosette au Caire, le pays
est très-habité; on y cultive beaucoup de riz, du blé, des
lentilles, blé de Turquie : les villages sont les uns sur
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145
es autres; leur construction est exécrable, ce n'est autre
chose que de la boue travaillée avec les pieds et les mains
et entassée, des trous pratiqués dessus. Pour vous en
donner une plus juste idée, rappellez-vous les tas de
neige que font les enfans chez nous, les fours qu'ils con-
struisent resemblent parfaitement aux palais des Egyp-
tiens: les cultivateurs, appellés comirunément Fellas,
sont extrêmement laborieux, ils vivent de peu de chose,
et dans une malpropreté qui fait horreur: j'en ai vu
boire le surplus de l'eau que mes chameaux et mes che-
vaux laissoient dans l'abreuvoir.
Voilà cette Egypte si renommée par les historiens
et les voyageurs; à travers toutes ces horreurs, les
maux qu'on endure, les misères qui sont le partage
de l'armée, je conviens cependant que c'est le pays le
plus susceptible de donner à la France une colonie dont
les profits lui seront incalculables; mais il faut du tems,
et des hommes. Je me suis apperçu que ce n'est pas
avec des soldats que l'on fonde des colonies, les nôtres
surtout; leurs propos
ils sont terribles dans
les combats, terribles après la victoire, sans contredit les
plus intrépides soldats du monde; mais peu faits pour
des expéditions lointaines : ils se laissent rebuter par
un propos; inconséquens, lâches, ils en tiennent eux-
mêmes: on en a entendu dire, en voyant passer des
généraux: "les voilà, les bourreaux des Français"—et
mille autres de cette nature.
Le calice est versé, je le boirai jusqu'à la lie: j'aî
pour moi, la constance, ma santé, un courage qui,
j'espère, ne m'abandonnera pas, avec cela je pousserai
jusqu'au bout.
Parlons aussi un peu du Grand Caire. Cette ville,
L
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la capitale d'un royaume qui n'a pas de fin (ainsi l'appel-
lent les savans du pays) contient 400,000 ames. Sa
forme est un grand boyau rempli de maisons entassées
les unes sur les autres, sans ordre, sans distribution, sans
méthode, une populace semblable à celle d'Alexandrie,
sans connoissances, enfin le comble de l'ignorance; où
l'on régarde avec admiration celui qui sait lire et écrire ;
cette ville, dis-je, est néanmoins l'entrepôt et le lieu
central d'un commerce considérable; c'est là où abou-
tissent les caravanes de la Mecque, et celles qui viennent
des Indes. (Par ma première, j'aurai, occasion de vous
parler de ces caravanes.)
J'ai vu hier recevoir le divan que compose le Général
Bonaparte; il est composé de neuf personnes : j'ai vu
neuf automates habillés à la Turque, de superbes tur-
bans, des barbes, et des costumes qui me rappellent les
images des douze apôtres, que Papa tient dans l'armoire:
quant à l'esprit, les connoissances, le génie et les talens,
je ne vous en dis rien; ce chapitre est toujours en blanc
en Turquie. Nulle part autant d'ignorance, nulle part
autant de richesses, et nulle part aussi mauvais et sordide
usage du temporel.
En voilà assez sur ce chapitre: j'ai voulu vous
faire ma description; j'en ai, sans contredit, omis
bien des articles, le rapport du Général Bonaparte y
suppléera.
Ne soyez pas inquiet sur mon compte ; je souffre à
la vérité, mais c'est avec toute l'armée; mes effets me
sont parvenus. J'ai, dans nos adversités, tous les avan-
tages de la fortune; soyez tranquille, je jouis d'une
bonne santé.
Menagez vos santés; j'aurai, j'espère, le bonheur de
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147
vous embrasser avant un an, je sais l'apprécier d'avance,
et vous le prouverai.
J'embrasse bien tendrement mes sœurs,
Et suis avec respect,
Votre très-soumis fils,
BOYER.
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo, July 28th.
My dear Parents,
OUR
entrance into this city furnishes me with an
opportunity of writing to you; and as may design is to
*
This letter has embarrassed us considerably. It bears the
same signature as the preceding; and yet we can with difficulty
persuade ourselves that it was written by the same person. The
letter which the reader has just seen, is from a master hand, con-
fident of knowledge, and deciding on facts without periphrasis, or
affectation. The. present, which is also well written, and with a
sufficient knowledge of the transactions it records, is very inferior
to it in simplicity, and manly decision.
The writer is incessantly labouring to say every thing in the
finest manner, and doles out his little modicums of information
n a style of gravity and self-importance, that has sometimes made
us smile. › With all this, however, the letter is very creditable
to the author's abilities. It furnishes, besides, many important
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make you fully acquainted with an expedition no less
singular, than astonishing, I shall take the liberty of re-
capitulating our atchievements since the day we left
Toulon.
The land army, composed of 30,000 men, embarked
at Marseilles, Toulon, Genoa, and Civita Vecchia, set
sail on the 19th of May, under the convoy of 15 sail
of the line (two of which were armed en flute) * 14
frigates, and several smaller ships of war. The convoy
altogether formed a total of more than 400 sail; and
never perhaps, since the Crusades, had so large an
armament appeared in the Mediterranean.
facts, and it discovers, amidst a great solicitude to conceal it, that
the French troops have been miserably duped by their govern.
ment, and that they are rapidly hastening to total and irremedi
able distruction.
We were at first inclined to believe that the difference which
we remarked in the style and manner of the two letters might
originate in their being written to different persons: one an ex-
perienced commander, to whom it was necessary to represent
things as they really were! the other, a parent ignorant, per-
haps, of military affairs, and likely to be much better pleased
with a florid narrative of extraordinary events, than with a brief
relation of storming towns without walls, and gaining victories
without enemies!-But on reconsidering the matter, we think
the variation too considerable to be even thus accounted for.
We frankly confess that we have no other solution of the diffi-
culty to offer; and we, therefore, leave the whole to the reader :
only repeating our first assertion, that the writing and the name
subscribed to this and the preceding letter, are to the best of our
judgment the same.
* These were the Venitian sixty-fours. In his enumeration
of the forces embarked, Boyer omits those that were taken on
board, at Ajaccio, and who amounted to several thousands: his
list of ships of war is correct.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
149
Without calculating the dangers of the element on
which we were embarked, or those which we had to
apprehend from an enemy formidable at sea, we steered
with a favourable wind for Malta, where we arrived on
the 10th of June. The conquest of this important place
cost us but a few men. It capitulated on the 12th-the
Order was abolished, and the Grand Master packed off
to Germany with a budget of fine promises; in a word,
every thing succeeded to our wish. Time, however,
was precious-we had no leisure to amuse ourselves
with calculating the advantages to be derived from the
possession of Malta; for an English squadron of 13 sail
of the line, commanded by Nelson, was at anchor in
the Bay of Naples,* and watched all our motions. Bo-
naparte, informed of this, scarce gave us time to take
in water: he ordered the fleet to weigh immediately,
and, on the 18th of June, we were already in full sail
for the second object of our expedition. We fell in
with Candia on the 25th, and on the 30th our light ves-
sels made Alexandria.
Admiral Nelson had been off the city on the noon of
this very day; and proposed to the Turks to anchor in
the port, by way of securing it against us; but as his
proposal was not accepted, he stood on for Cyprus;
while we, profiting by his errors, and turning even his
stupidity to our own advantage, made good our landing
on the 2d of July, at Marabou. The whole army was
* It is unnecessary to say that this was not the case. Once for
all, we must observe, that we have seldom thought it necessary
to take notice of such geographical and historical blunders as
appear in this correspondence ;-the present letter, for instance,
has several of both kind; but we leave them to the reader.
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on shore by break of day, and Bonaparte putting himself
at their head, marched straight to Alexandria, across à
desert of three leagues, which did not even afford a drop
of water, in a climate where the heat is insupportable.
Notwithstanding all these difficulties, we reached the
town, which was defended by a garrison of near 500
Janizaries. Of the rest of the inhabitants, some had
thrown themselves into the forts, and others got on the
tops of their houses. In this situation they waited our
attack. The charge is sounded our soldiers fly to the
ramparts, which they scale, in spite of the obstinate de-
fence of the besieged: many Generals are wounded,
amongst the rest Kleber-we lose near 150 men, but
courage, at length, subdues the obstinacy of the Turks!
Repulsed on every side, they betake themselves to God
and their Prophet, and fill their mosques-men, women,
old, young, children at the breast, ALL are massacred. *
At the end of four hours, the fury of our troops ceases→
tranquillity revives in the city-several forts capitulate-
I myself reduce one into which 700 Turks had fled-con-
fidence springs up-and, by the next day, all is quiet.
It will not be amiss, I think, to make a short digres-
sion just here for the sake of informing you of the ob-
ject of this expedition, and of the causes which have
induced Bonaparte to take possession of Egypt.
* These, then, are the triumphs of the " Hero of Italy!" of
"the fond object of Mr. Wakefield's daily and nightly solici-
"tude!" of-but we dare not trust ourselves with the subject.
On this man, and his sanguinary admirers, be the blood of this
innocent people; and the ineffable contempt and abhorrence that
naturally follow cruelties without motive or end, and base and
abject panegyrics on their savage perpetrators!
$
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151
France, by the different events of the war and the
Revolution, having lost her colonies and her factories,
must inevitably see her commerce decline, and her in-
dustrious inhabitants compelled to procure at second
hand the most essential articles of their trade. Many
weighty reasons must compel her to look upon the re-
covery of those colonies, if not impossible, yet altoge-
ther unlikely to produce any of the advantages which
were derived from them before they became a scene of
devastation and horror; especially, if we may add to
this, the decree for abolishing the slave trade.
To indemnify itself, therefore, for this loss, which
may be considered as realized, the Government turned
its views towards Egypt and Syria; countries which,
by their climate and their fertility, are capable of being
made the storehouse of France, and, in process of time,
the mart of her commerce with India. It is certain,
that by seizing and organizing these countries, we shall
be enabled to extend our views still further; to annihi-
late, by degrees, the English East India trade, enter into
it with advantage ourselves; and, finally, get into our
hands the whole commerce of Africa and of Asia.
These, I think, are the considerations which have
induced the Government to undertake the present expe-
dition against Egypt.
This part of the Ottoman dominion has been for
many ages governed by a species of men called Mame-
loucs, who, having a number of Beys at their head, dis-
avow the authority of the Grand Seignior, and rule des-
potically and tyrannically, a people and a country,
which, in the hands of a civilized nation, would be-
come a mine of wealth.
To gain possession of Egypt, then, it is necessary t
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*
subdue these Mameloucs; they are in number about
8000-all cavalry-under the command of 24 Beys. It
is of consequence to give you some idea of these people,
their manner of making war, their arms, defensive and
offensive, and their origin.
Every Mamelouc is purchased-they are all from
Georgia and Mount Caucasus-there are a great num-
ber of Germans and Russians amongst them, and even
some French. Their religion is Mahometanism: ex-
ercised from their infancy in the military art, they
acquire an extraordinary degree of dexterity in the ma-
nagement of their horses, in shooting with the carabine
and pistol, in throwing the lance, and in wielding the
sabre; there have been instances of their severing, at
one blow, a head of wet cotton.
Every Mamelouc has two, three, and sometimes four
servants, who follow him on foot wherever he goes;
nay, even to the field. The arms of a Mamelouc on
horseback, are two carabines, carried by his servants—
these are never fired but once-two pair of pistols stuck
in his girdle; eight light lances in a kind of quiver,
which he flings with admirable dexterity; and an iron-
headed mace. When all these are discharged, he comes
*This is a better reason for declaring war against them, than
the peculations of a Bey who has been dead these twenty years.
But this is not the only instance in which the hypocrisy and false-
hood of Bonaparte have been completely detected and exposed by
the inadvertency of his agents. It is true, indeed, that we want
no testimonies but those of our own eyes and our own understand-
ing to convince us of his real motives; but still, it is not unplea-
sant nor unprofitable to be told of them, from time to time, by
persons whose information can neither be disputed nor denied.
We recommend the three or four paragraphs preceding this,
to the reader's serious attention.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
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to his last resource-his two sabres: putting, then, the
bridle of his horse between his teeth, he takes one of
them in each hand, and rushes full speed upon the foe,
cutting and slashing to right and left. Woe be to those
who cannot parry his blows! for some of them have
been known to cleave a man down the middle. Such
are the people with whom we are at war! I shall now
proceed with my narrative.
Having organized a government at Alexandria, and
secured a communication* with the rear of our army,
Bonaparte ordered every man to furnish himself with five
days' provisions, and made preparations for passing a de-
sert of twenty leagues in extent, in order to arrive at the
mouth of the Nile, and ascend that celebrated stream to
Grand Cairo-the prime object of his expedition. We
began our march on the 5th of July, and reached the
river by easy stages, falling in, on our route, with some
detached parties of Mameloucs, who retired as we ad-
vanced. It was not till the 12th, that General Bona-
parte learned that the Beys were marching to meet him,
with their united forces, and that he might expect to be
attacked the next day he marched therefore in order of
battle, and took the necessary precautions.
tr
:
Bonaparte sent me forward to gain intelligence, with
* We have spoken of this organization in our Introduction.
The "communication that was kept up with the rear of the
army," is almost too ridiculous to be mentioned. It never
existed, it never can exist, with Bonaparte's present numbers;
and every letter, and Boyer's among the rest, proves that before
the General was out of sight of Alexandria, his communication
with it was as completely cut off as if the Alps stood between
them!
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three armed sloops; with this little flotilla I advanced
about three leagues in front of, the army. I landed at
every village on both sides of the Nile, to gain what in-
formation I could respecting the Mameloucs; in some
I was fired at, in others received with kindness, and
offered provisions. In one of them I met with an ad-
venture as laughable* as it is singular: the Cheik of
the place having collected all his people to meet me,
came forward from the rest, and demanded to know by
what right the Christians were come to seize a country
which belonged to the Grand Seignior. I answered
him, that it was the will of God and his Prophet to
bring us there. But, rejoined he, the King of France
ought at least to have informed the Sultan of this step.
I assured him that this had been done; and he then
asked me how our King did? I replied, very well;
upon which he swore by his turban and his beard, that
he would always look on me as his friend. I took ad-
vantage of the kindness of these good people, collected
all the information I could, and continuing my route up
the Nile, came to anchor for the night opposite a village
called Chebriki, where the Mameloucs were collected
in force, and where the first action took place.
I sent off my dispatches to the Commander in Chief
* Boyer's ideas of humour are not extremely correct. We see
nothing very facetious in a blasphemous falsehood, nor in basely
availing himself of the name of his murdered King, to deceive a
hospitable stranger, ignorant alike of him and his nation. This
little anecdote is not, however, without its use; it proves with
what truth these secluded people are represented as having in-
jured the French; and with what justice they are delivered over
in consequence of it, to pillage, murder, and utter devastation!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
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that night; in these I gave him all the information I
had been able to obtain respecting the Mameloucs.
As soon as the day broke, I clambered up the mast of
my vessel, and discovered six Turkish shalops bearing
down upon me; at the same time I was reinforced by a
demi-galley. I drew out my little fleet to meet them,
and at half after four a cannonade began between us,
which lasted five hours; in spite of the enemy's supe-
riority, I made head against them, they continued never-
theless to advance upon me, and I lost for a moment the
demi-galley, and one of the gun-boats. Yielding, how-
ever, was out of the question, it was absolutely neces-
sary to conquer ;-in this dreadful moment our army
came up, and I was disengaged. One of the enemy's
vessels blew up. Such was the termination of our naval
combat.
While this was passing, the Mameloucs advanced
upon our army; they rode round and round it, without
finding any point where an impression might be made,
and, indeed, without any attempt at it. I presume, that,
astonished at the manner in which our columns were
drawn up, they were induced to put off to a future day
the decision of their fortune and their empire. This af-
fair was trifling enough in itself, the Mameloucs only
lost about 20 men, but we reaped a considerable advan-
tage from it, that of having given an extraordinary idea
of our tactics to an enemy unacquainted with any; who
knows of no other superiority in arms than that of
sleight and agility; without order or firmness, unable
even to march in platoons, advancing in confused groups,
and falling upon the enemy in sudden starts of wild and
savage fury.
After the retreat of the Mameloucs, we advanced
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upon Cairo, where the decisive action took place. It
was, in fine, on the 22d of July, that the army found
itself at daybreak about three leagues from Cairo, and
five from the so much celebrated Pyramids. Here the
Mameloucs, commanded by the famous Mourad, the
most powerful of the Beys, awaited us: till three in the
afternoon the day was wasted in skirmishes; at length
the hour arrived! our army, flanked on the right by the
Pyramids, and on the left by the Nile, perceived the
enemy was making a movement. Two thousand Mame-
loucs advanced against our right, commanded by Ge-
nerals Desaix and Regnier. Never did I see so furious
a charge! giving their horses the rein, they rushed on
the divisions like a torrent, and pushed in between them.
Our soldiers, firm and immoveable, let them come with-
in ten paces, and then began a rúnning fire, accompanied
with some discharges of artillery; in the twinkling of
an eye more than 150 of them fell, the rest sought their
safety in flight. They returned, however, to the charge,
and were received in the same manner. Wearied out at
length by our resistance, they turned, and attacked our
left wing, to see if fortune would there be more favour-
able to them.
The success of our right encouraged Bonaparte.
The Mameloucs had thrown up a hasty entrenchment
in the village of Embabet, on the left bank of the Nile,
in which they had placed thirty pieces of cannon, with
their valets, and a small number of Janizaries to defend
the approaches this entrenchment the General gave
orders to force; two divisions undertook it, in spite of
a terrible cannonade. At the instant our soldiers were
rapidly advancing towards it, six hundred Mameloucs
sallied from the works, surrounded our platoons, and
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157
endeavoured to cut them down ;-but, instead of suc-
ceeding, met their own deaths. Three hundred of them
dropt on the spot; and the rest, in their attempt to
escape, threw themselves into the Nile, where they all
perished. Despairing now of any success, the Mame-
loucs fled on all sides; set fire to their fleet, which soon
after blew up, and abandoned their camp to us, with
more than four hundred camels loaded with baggage.
Thus ended the day, to the confusion of an enemy
who were possessed with the belief that they should cut
us in pieces; and who had boasted that it was as easy to
cut off the heads of a thousand Frenchmen, as to divide
a gourd or a melon.*
The army marched on that night to Gizeh; the re-
sidence of Murat, the Chief of the Mameloucs. The
next day we crossed the Nile in flat-bottomed boats,
and entered Cairo without 'resistance.
Here ends the narrative of our military operations.
I propose now to give you some account of the miseries
we underwent in our march, together with a brief de-
scription of the country we have traversed, and of the
inhabitants.
Let us return to Alexandria.-This city has nothing
of its antiquity but the name-if there be any other
·
may
Boyer subjoins that this is an Asiatic phrase: -the phrase
be Asiatic for ought we know, but the idea we hazard little
in affirming to be European. It is but changing "Frenchmen"
to the "slaves of despots," and "cutting off heads” to “biting
the dust," and the dispatches of Bonaparte himself will furnish
Boyer with a thousand of those empty flourishes.
Ut nemo in sese tentat descendere, nemo ;
Sed præcedenti spectatur mantica tergo !
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relicks* of it, they remain utterly unregarded and un-
known, among a people, who appear to be scarce-con-
scious of their own existence. Figure to yourself a being
incapable of feeling, taking events just as they occur,
and surprised at nothing; who with a pipe in his
mouth, has no other occupation than that of squatting
on his breech before his own door, or that of some
great man, and dreaming away the day, without a
thought of his wife or family. Figure to yourself too,
a number of mothers strolling about, wrapped up in a
dirty black rag, and offering to sell their children to every
one they meet ;-Men half naked, of the colour of
copper, and of a most disgusting appearance, raking in
the puddles and kennels like hogs, and devouring every
thing they find there ;-houses of twenty feet in height at
the most, of which the roof is flat, the interior a stable,
and the exterior four mud walls. Figure to yourself
all this, I say, and you will have a pretty correct idea
of the city of Alexandria. Add, that around this mass
of misery and horror, lie the ruins of the most cele-
brated city of the ancient world, the most precious
monuments of the arts.
Leaving this city to ascend the Nile, you cross a
desert, bare as my hand, where every three or four
leagues you find a paltry well of brackish water. Ima-
gine to yourself the situation of an army obliged to pass
these arid plains, which do not afford the slightest
shelter against the intolerable heat which prevails there!
The soldier, loaded with provisions, finds himself, be-
* Here are two or three words obliterated in the original;
these we have ventured to guess at; we know not with what
success.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
159
fore he has marched an hour, overcome by the heat, and
the weight of what he carries, and throws away every
thing that adds to his fatigue, without thinking of to-
morrow. Thirst attacks him! he has not a drop of
water; hunger!-he has not a bit of bread. It was thus
that amidst the horrors which this faithful picture pre-
sents, we beheld several of the soldiers die of thirst, of
hunger, and of heat; others, seeing the sufferings of
their comrades, blew out their own brains; others
threw themselves, loaded as they were, into the Nile,
and perished in the water.
Every day of our march renewed these dreadful
scenes; and, what was never heard of before-what
will stagger all belief; the army, during a march of
seventeen days, never tasted bread-the soldiers lived
during the whole of this time on gourds, melons, poul-
try, and such vegetables as they found on their route.
Such was the food of all, from the General to the com-
mon soldier,-nay, the General was often obliged to
fast for eighteen or twenty hours, because the privates
generally arriving first, plundered the villages of every
article of subsistence, and frequently reduced him to the
necessity of satisfying himself with the refuse of their
hunger, or of their intemperance!
It is useless to speak of our drink. We all live here
under the law of Mahomet, which forbids the use of
wine; but, by way of indemnity, allows us as much
Nile water as we can drink.
Shall I give you some account of the country between
the two branches of the Nile? To do this properly, I
must lay before you a topographical chart of the course
and direction of the river.
Two leagues below Cairo it divides itself into two
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}
branches; one of which falls into the sea at Rosetta ;
the other at Damietta: the intermediate country is
called the Delta, and is extremely fertile. Along the
outer sides of the two branches, runs a slip of cultivated
land, broader in some places than in others, but no
where more than a league: beyond this are the Deserts,
extending on the left to Lybia, and on the right to the
Red Sea. From Rosetta to Cairo, the country is well
peopled, and produces a good deal of wheat, rice, len-
tils, &c. The villages are crowded together-their
construction is execrable, being little more than heaps
of mud trodden into some consistency, hollowed out
within; and resembling, in every feature, the snow
heaps of our children. If you recollect the shape of
those oven-like piles, you have a perfect idea of the
palaces of the Egyptians!
The husbandmen, commonly called Fellas, are ex-
tremely laborious; they live on little, and in a state of
filth and degradation that excites horror. I have seen
them swallow the residue of the water which my camels
and horses happened to leave in their troughs.
Such is this Egypt, so celebrated by travellers and his-
torians! In despite, however, of all these horrors, of the
hardships we endure, and of the miseries the army is
condemned to suffer, I am still inclined to think that it is
a country calculated above all others to give us a colony
which may be productive of the highest advantages ;*
* There spoke a true Frenchman. Every circumstance proves
that Egypt is wholly incapable of becoming a profitable colony to
France, and Boyer himself is fully convinced of it; yet, in spite of
his better knowledge, he drops the assurance of the fact, and in
the fallacious expectations of future advantages, consoles himself
for present disappointments !
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
161
but for this, time and hands are necessary. I have seen
enough to be convinced, that it is not with soldiers that
colonies are founded; above all, with such soldiers as
ours! Their language
(MS. illegible).
They are terrible in the field, terrible after victory,*
and, without contradiction, the most intrepid troops in
the world but they are not formed for distant expe-
ditions. A word dropt at random, will dishearten them
-they are lazy, capricious, and exceedingly turbulent
and licentious in their conversation-they have been
heard to say, as their officers passed by, "there go the
Jack Ketches of the French!" and a thousand other
thing's of the same kind.
The cup of bitterness is poured out, and I will drain
it to the dregs. I have on my side firmness, health,
and a spirit which I trust will never flag: with these I
will persevere to the end.
I have yet said nothing of Grand Cairo. This city,
the capital of a kingdom, which, to borrow the lan-
guage of the Savans of the country, has no bounds,
contains about 400,000 souls. Its form is that of a long
shaft or tunnel, crowded with houses piled one upon
another, without order, distribution, or method of any
kind. Its inhabitants, like those of Alexandria, are
plunged in the most brutal ignorance, and regard with
astonishment the prodigy who is able to read and
write! This city, however, such as I have described
it, is the centre of a considerable commerce, and the
spot where the caravans of Mecca and India terminate
their respective journies. (My next will give you some
account of these caravans.)
* Alluding, perhaps, to the massacre at Alexandria.
M
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I went yesterday to see the installation of the Divan,
which Bonaparte has formed. It consists of nine per-
sons.* And such a sight! I was introduced to nine
bearded automatons, dressed in long robes, and turbans;
and whose mien and appearance altogether, put me
strongly in mind of the figures of the twelve apostles
in my grandfather's little cabinet. I shall say nothing
to you of their talents, knowledge, genius, wit, &c.-
this is always a blank chapter in Turkey. No where
is there to be found such deplorable ignorance as in
every part of that country-no where such wealth, and
no where so vile and sordid a misuse of the blessing.
Enough of this. I have now, I think, fulfilled my
intentions: many topics have been doubtless overlooked;
but these deficiencies will be well supplied by the dis-
patches of General Bonaparte.
Do not entertain any uneasiness on my account. I
suffer, it is true, but the whole army suffers with me.
My baggage has reached me in safety; I have, there-
fore, in the general distress, all the advantages of fortune.
Once again, be easy; I am in good health.
Take care of your healths; in less than a year I hope
to have the happiness of embracing you. I know how.
to appreciate that happiness in advance, as I will one
day shew you.
I embrace my sisters with the sincerest affection, and
am with respect,
Your most obedient son,
* See the Introduction.
BOYER.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
163
No. XXIII.
Au Grand Caire, le 11 Thermidor, an 6.
DUPUIS, Général de Brigade, commandant la Place, à
son ami CARLO.
SUR terre comme sur mer, en Europe comme en
Afrique, je suis sur les épines; oui, mon cher, à l'ar-
rivée devant Malte, je fus en prendre possession et
détruire la Chevalerie; à notre arrivée à Alexandrie,
et après l'avoir prise d'assaut, je fus nommé comman-
dant de la place; aujourd'hui, après vingt jours d'une
marche des plus pénibles dans les Déserts, nous sommes
arrivés au Grand Caire. Cependant après avoir battu
les Mamelouks; c'est-à-dire, après les avoir mis en
fuite; car ils ne sont pas dignes de notre colère.
Me voilà donc, mon ami, revêtu d'une nouvelle dig-
nité que je n'ai pu refuser, lorsque l'on m'y a joint le
commandement du Caire; cette place étoit trop belle
pour moi, pour que je puisse refuser le nouveau grade
que Bonaparte m'a offert.
La conduite de la brigade à l'affaire des Piramides est
unique; elle seule a détruit 4000 Mamelouks à cheval,
pris 40 pieces de canon qui étoient en batterie, tous
leurs retranchements, leurs drapeaux, leurs magnifiques
chevaux, leurs riches bagages, puisqu'il n'est pas de
soldat qui n'aie 100 louis sans exagérer, et il y en a
plusieurs qui en ont 500.
M 2
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Enfin, mon cher, j'occupe aujourd'hui le plus beau
sérail du Caire, celui de la Sultane favorite d'I
brahim Bey, Soudan d'Egypte. J'occupe son palais
enchanté, et je respecte au milieu des nymphes, la
promesse que j'ai faite à ma bonne amie d'Europe;
oui, je ne lui ai pas fait une infidélité, et j'espère que
cela tiendra.
Cette ville est abominable, les rues y respirent la
peste par leurs immondices; le peuple est affreux et
abruti. Je prends de la peine comme un cheval et ne
puis encore parvenir à me connoître dans cette immense
cité, plus grande que Paris, mais bien différente: ah,
qu'il me tarde de revoir la Ligurie !
Oui, mon cher, quoique j'aye beaucoup d'agrément,
que rien ne me manque; où sont mes amis? où est la
respectable Marina je pleure sur notre séparation,
mais j'espère que bientôt je serai auprès. Oui bientôt,
car je m'ennuye diablement auprès d'eux.
Notre passage du Désert et nos diverses batailles ne
nous ont presque rien coûté. L'armée se porte bien.
On l'habille dans ce moment, et je ne sais pas si j'irai
en Syrie; nous sommes prêts. J'ai eu le malheur de
perdre ma..... à la prise d'assaut d'Alexandrie.
Donnez-moi de vos nouvelles, je vous en prie. Enfin
jugez de la lâcheté de ce grand peuple tant vànté. Je
me suis emparé de cette immense cité, le 5 du mois,
avec deux compagnies de grenadiers seulement. Cette
ville a 600,000 ames de population.
Adieu, mon bon ami, j'embrasse mille fois Marcellin,
sa mère, son père, son papa Carlo, et vos amis, et
croyez-moi pour la vie le plus dévoué de vos amis.
C. DUPUIS.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
165
J'écris par ce courier à Pijon et Spinola; dites à
Pijon qu'il est bien heureux d'avoir été exilé. Plût-
au-Ciel que je l'eusse été aussi. Je l'embrasse et la
famille. Mes amitiés, au pauvre Pietro.
J'embrasse Honoria, votre frère, et votre oncle.
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo, July 29.
DUPUIS, General of Brigade, &c. to his friend Carlo.
ON land as on sea, in Europe as in Africa, I am doom-
ed to be on thorns; *-Yes, my friend, on our arrival
at Malta I went to take possession of it, and to abolish
the Order on our arrival at Alexandria, and storming
it, I was made Governor of the place. At present, after
a most painful march of twenty days, we are arrived at
Grand Cairo, not, indeed, without beating the Mame-
* This is the strangest letter we ever met with. It is an in-
coherent rhapsody, which, if the author was sober when he wrote
it, proves him to be a singular, compound of madness and folly.
Such as he is, however, we see Bonaparte selecting him for the-
Governor of Grand Cairo! Yet on farther consideration, wẹ
do not think the General much less happy than usual in his
choice; for a wise man would not have accepted the post; and
a sane man could not have held it "to the purpose.”
も
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loucs, en passant; that is to say, putting them to flight,
for they are not worth our anger.
Here I am, then, my friend, graced with a new dig-
nity; which I could not refuse, since it was no less.
than the government of Cairo; a dignity much too fine
for me to refuse, when offered by Bonaparte.
The conduct of the Brigade at the affair of the Pyra-
mids is unique. It cut to pieces, itself, 4000 of the
Mamelouc cavalry, took a battery of forty pieces of
cannon, all their intrenchments, their colours, their
magnificent horses, and their rich baggage-since there
is not a single soldier who has not 100 louis d'ors, with-
out exaggeration; and many of them 500.*
In fine, my dear friend, I occupy at present the finest
seraglio in Cairo; that of the favourite Sultana of
Ibrahim Bey, Sultan of Egypt. I occupy his charming
palace, and I respect, in the midst of his nymphs, the
promise which I made to my dear girl in Europe→
No; I have not yet been guilty of one act of infidelity
towards her, and I hope, yes, I still hope to hold out.
This is a most horrid place. The streets are filthy
and pestilential; and the inhabitants hideous and bruti-
fied. I toil like a horse, and yet I cannot find my way
through this immense chaos, far more extensive than
Paris; but Heavens! how different!-O how I long
to get back to Liguria.
*Dupuis has repeated this contemptible falsehood, in a letter
which has found its way to Paris. "Our troops," says he, "roll
in gold, and are all mounted on huge asses, which gallop ventre à
terre!!!" This looks as if the Mameloucs had reserved, as
usual, the horses for themselves; which will be found, we ima-
gine, to be pretty nearly the case. The rest of the letter is too
absurd for notice.
ORIGI
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
167
Yes, my dear fellow, though I enjoy myself tole-
rably well, and want for nothing-yet where are my
friends? where is the worthy Marina? I weep like a
child at our separation : but I hope that I shall soon be
with her yes, soon, for I am d—nably sick of every
body here.
2
Our march across the Desert, and our battles, cost us
very few men. The army is in good health, and about
to be new clothed. I do not know whether I shall go
to Syria or not; we are all ready. I had the misfor-
tune to lose my (word illegible) at the storming of
Alexandria,
Let me hear from you, I beg.
paltroonry of this great people of
Finally, judge of the
whom we have heard
so much. I took possession of this immense city on the
23d of this month, with only two companies of grena-
diers. It has more than 600,000 inhabitants.
Adieu, my dear friend, I embrace Marcellin a thou-
sand times, his mother, his father, his papa Carlo, and
all friends, and believe me till death the most devoted
of your friends.
C. DUPUIS.
I write by this courier to Pijon, and Spinola-tell
Pijon that he was in high luck to be banished; would
*
* We know nothing of General Dupuis. From his connections
he appears to be a Genoese; but from his name and his mode of
thinking, a Frenchman. He is in extacy at his good fortune, and
longing to be rid of it! Proud of the government of Cairo, and
wishing he had been hanged, or banished, before he went on the
*
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to God that I had been so too! I embrace him and his
family. My regard to poor Pietro.
I embrace Honorio, your brother, and your uncle.
1
expedition which conferred it on him! He seems to reason some-
what in the manner of Sancho- To be sure, a Governor is a
"great man; but, if this is to be a Governor of Barataria, I
"would rather have staid at home, and kept goats."
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
169
No. XXIV.
Alexandrie, le 11 Thermidor.
LE ROY, Ordonnateur de la Marine, à l'Amiral BRUEYS.
Citoyen Amiral,
EN exécution des ordres du Général Kleber, il part
pour Rosette, un Agent des subsistances militaires. Je
lui donnerai une lettre pour le Citoyen Jaubert, qui
pourra joindre les instructions pour que les achats de
votre escadre, ceux pour les services de terre et de mer,
soit à Alexandrie soit à Rosette, n'occasionnent pas une
nuisible concurrence.
La conservation de la santé a nommé pour Le Be-
quiere, le Citoyen Ferrière, qui ira prendre vos ordres.
Le Capitaine de frégate, De la Rue, m'écrit de Ro-
sette, et me demande avec instance, des schermes. C'est
avec beaucoup de peine que je suis parvenu à en réunir
cinq, pour envoyer à vos ordres: on est à la recherche
de la 6me.
La prise du Caire va, je le pense, nous procurer plus
de facilité pour les transports; mais à tout événement
pour que le service de vos subsistances et votre eau, celui
de l'expédition, des effets de l'armée de terre, la corres-
pondance avec Rosette, la nécessité d'aller chercher de
l'eau pour Alexandrie qui sous peu en manquera. Tous
ces besoins m'engagent à vous proposer d'envoyer tel
bâtiment de guerre que vous jugerez à-propos à Da-
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miette pour en ramener à Rosette, le plus de schermes
possibles, qui seront mises à la disposition du Citoyen
De la Rue, pour être réparties suivant vos ordres.
La situation des malades, et leurs moyens de traite-
ment ne sont pas encore tels que je ne me vois forcé à
vous prier d'ordonner que les malades de votre escadre
soient évacués sur Rosette. La difficulté d'avoir des
matières a retardé l'expédition de la Madonna della
N-: vous l'aurez un de ces jours-ci.
Salut et respect.
LE ROY.
P.S. Que de peines, Citoyen Amiral, pour la moindre
chose! Le succès du Général en Chef, et de l'armée
de la République, vont, je l'espère, éclaircir notre
besogne.
Le Général Kleber vous réitère la demande de le
faire avertir, si vous ne pouvez faire prendre les paquets.
par le premier bâtiment que vous enverrez en France.
Le Général désire que nous envoions à Rosette un officier
qui assure les transports d'eau pour Alexandrie, et l'ache-
minement des effets de la cavalerie pour le Nil.
Voici ce que je propose, d'après l'avis de l'estimable
Guieu; choix dont je ne puis trop vous remercier.
1. Réunion des schermes de Damiette à Rosette, qui,
avec celles d'Alexandrie feront le service de l'escadre et
celui de ce port.
2. Les Macks transporteront au Caire les passagers
et les effets de l'armée.
3. Les Caisses suppléeront les chaloupes, lorsque
celles des tartanes ne suffiront pas.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
171
4. Employer d'ici à le Bequiere et à Rosette, tout ce
qu'il sera possible, de tartanes à voiles latines, et à peu
de tirant d'eau.
Salut, respect.
LE ROY.
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria, July 29.
LE ROY, Commissary of the Marine, to Admiral BRUEYS.
Citizen Admiral,
In obedience to the orders of General Kleber, an agent
for military supplies is about to set out for Rosetta. I
shall furnish him with a letter for Citizen Jaubert, who
will take measures for preventing the purchases made
for the fleet, and those for the army, either here or at
Rosetta, from occasioning a competition in the markets,
which will be injurious to both.
The Board of Health has appointed Citizen Ferrière
to the hospital at Aboukir. He will wait on you for
orders.
Captain De la Rue writes to me in the most pressing
manner, from Rosetta, for scherms (lighters). It is
with the utmost difficulty that I have been able to col-
lect five to send you-we are now engaged in looking
out for a sixth.
1
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1
I presume that the capture of Cairo will facilitate our
communications ;-but, at all events, the supplying the
fleet with provisions and water, the forwarding the bag-
gage of the army, the correspondence with Rosetta, the
nccessity of going to procure water for Alexandria,
which in a short time will be in want of it* - All
these urgent calls induce me to propose to you to dis-
"Proofs rise on proofs !" We mentioned in our observa-
tions on Savary's letter, (No. XII.) that the troops and transport
vessels at Alexandria, would shortly experience a scarcity of pro-
visions. We now find that a worse evil awaited them; for so
long since as the beginning of August, they were obliged to draw
their supplies of water from Rosetta! It is true that the rise of
the Nile towards the end of that month, would probably furnish
them with a precarious supply-but, on the other hand, as the
canal was entirely in the possession of the Arabs, and as it never
brought water enough to fill half the cisterns of the city, we may
reasonably doubt whether they derived much advantage from it.
Add to this, that the usual population of the city, which was
always (that is in modern times) scantily supplied with this indis-
pensable article, is about eight thousand, the French say ten:
now the garrison, the transports, and the ships of war there,
must make an addition to it of twelve thousand at least: so that
placing every thing in the most favourable light, it is impossible.
but that the want of water must by this time be most seriously
felt; an evil the more alarming, as not a drop can now be pro-
cured from Rosetta.
We may be accused of being too sanguine, but as we reason
from facts, and not from a vague reliance on we know not what
resources, to be found in the good genius of Bonaparte, we shall
be little affected by the charge-while we give it as our fixed
opinion, that the shipping at Alexandria (putting all attacks
upon it out of the question,) will soon be driven, by its wants,
to attempt an escape which must be fatal to a great part of it, or
to an unconditional surrender.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
173
patch one of the ships of war to Damietta, to collect as
many scherms as possible, and bring them round to Ro-
setta, where they may be put under the command of
Citizen De la Rue, and distributed according to your
orders.
The situation of the sick, and the means of taking
care of them, are not yet precisely such as to enable me
to dispense with requesting you to order all the sick of
your squadron to be put on shore in future at Rosetta.
The difficulty of refitting at this port has, hitherto, re-
tarded the sailing of the Madonna della N——; but
you shall have her one of these days.
Health and respect.
LE ROY.
P. S. What an infinity of pains, Citizen Admiral,
for the most trifling thing! The success of the Com-
mander in Chief will soon, I hope, alleviate or remove
all our difficulties.
General Kleber repeats his request to you, to let him
know if you cannot contrive to send his packets by the
first vessel which you dispatch to France. The Ge-
neral also desires you to send an officer to Rosetta, to
overlook the taking on board the water for Alexandria,
and the embarkation of the baggage of the cavalry on
the Nile.
Here is the outline of a plan which I have drawn up
for the purpose, by the assistance of the worthy Guien;
a man whose friendship I owe to your recommendation—
for which I can never be sufficiently thankful.
1. To convey all the scherms of Damietta to Rosetta,
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where, in conjunction with those at Alexandria, they
shall be appropriated to the exclusive service of the squa-
dron, and of this port.
2. The Macks shall serve as transports to convey the
passengers to Cairo, as well as the baggage of the army.
3. The Caisses shall supply the place of sloops, when-
ever a sufficient number of tartanes cannot be found.
4. To employ between this place and Bequier, and
between Bequier and Rosetta, as many tartanes as poș-
sible, with latin sails, and drawing little water.
Health and respect.
LE ROY.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
175
No. XXV.
Rosette, le 14 Thermidor, an 6.
DUVAL, Commissaire des Guerres, au Citoyen TRIPIER,
Agent des Hôpitaux Militaires.
L
Il est étonnant, Citoyen, que depuis un mois que
l'hôpital est établi à Rosette, vous l'ayez négligé à un
point qui est absolument impardonnable.
Point de paillasses, point d'ustensiles, point de médi-
caments, point de linge pour le pansement, en un mot,
manquant de tout, et les malades dans l'état le plus af-
fligeant. Vous ne m'alléguerez pas, je crois, que vous
êtes sans moyens ; vous avez d'abord tant par décade
pour subvenir aux besoins du service, vous avez en se-
cond lieu, le bâtiment No. 47, qui est chargé de tout ce
qui peut être nécessaire pour un hôpital de mille malades.
Outre cela, il existe un magazin général établi à Alex-
andrie.
Je vous somme donc, Citoyen, sous votre responsabi
lité, de me faire passer dans le plus bref délai, tout ce
qui peut être nécessaire, tant en effets qu'en médicamens,
pour un hôpital de 400 malades.
J'aurai soin de rendre compte de votre négligence à
l'Ordonnateur en Chef, ainsi qu'au Général en Chef,
et surtout si vous tardez de me faire parvenir ce que je
vous demande.
Salut.
DUVAL.
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TRANSLATION.
Rosetta, August 1st.
DUVAL, Commissary of War, to the Citizen TRIPIER,
Agent for the Hospitals, &c.
it not a wonderful thing, Citizen, that for near a
month, during which the hospital has now been estab-
lished at Rosetta, you should have neglected it to a degree
which is absolutely unpardonable. No straw beds, no
chamber utensils, no medicines, no linen for dressings;
in a word, a total want of every thing, and the sick in a
state of the utmost distress.
You will hardly allege, I fancy, that you are with-
out means--for in the first place, you have so much
a decade to supply all the wants of the service; and, in
the second, you have the transport No. 47, which has
on board necessaries of every kind for a hospital of more
than a thousand sick; add to these, the general maga-
zine which is established at Alexandria.
* This letter was written on the morning of the first of Au-
gust, previous to the engagement; it furnishes, as the reader sees,
another instance of the regard to truth which Bonaparte displays
in his public dispatches. "We have not a man sick," says this
veracious Chief, in which he is followed as usual by Berthier:
and yet we find 400 perishing for want of necessaries at Rosetta!
place reached with little fatigue, entered without striking a blow,
kept with no other precautions than a strict police, and supposed
to be the healthiest spot in Egypt!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
177
I summon you then, Citizen, on your responsibility,
to send me, without the smallest delay, every thing ne-
cessary, linen, &c. as well as medicines, for a hospital
of four hundred sick.
I will take care to give an account of your negligence
to the First Commissary; as well as to the Commander
in Chief; and especially if you shew the least remiss-
ness in sending me what I write for.
N
Health.
DUVAL
178
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JE
No. XXVI.
Rosette, ce 17 Thermidor, an 6,
E ne sais, ma chère bonne, si tu as reçu toutes mes
lettres. Depuis mon départ de France, je t'ai écrit une
fois de Bastia, deux fois de Malte, et une d'Alexandrie.
Depuis 5 jours nous sommes ici, attendant une occasion
pour aller au Caire, car il n'est pas sûr de remonter le
Nil sans escorte. Dans notre traversée d'Alexandrie
nous avons eu le bonheur d'échapper aux Anglois qui
étoient dans ces parages.
:
Au moment où tu recevras cette lettre l'on saura déjà
sans doute en France la défaite de notre escadre par les
Anglois. Nous sommes tous ici dans la plus grande con-
sternation. Je ne puis te donner aucun détail, parce que
nous ne les connoissons pas encore d'une manière posi-
tive ce qu'il y a malheureusement de trop certain, c'est
que le superbe vaisseau l'Orient est sauté dans le com-
bat. Placés sur une éminence qui dominoit la mer,
nous avons été témoins de cet affreux spectacle. Le
combat a duré plus de 24 heures: les Anglois ont dû
beaucoup souffrir. Nous ignorons encore combien nous
avons perdu de vaisseaux. J'ose espérer que les bruits
sinistres qui se répandent ne seront pas confirmés.
L'Amiral Brueys a été tué, ainsi que Ducheyla, et une
foule d'autres braves.
Ce n'est pas dans un premier moment que l'on peut
porter un jugement sur les causes de ce désastre affligeant
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
179
pour tout bon Français; il faut au contraire s'empresser
de repousser la calomnie qui ne respecte ni le malheur
ni la cendre des morts.
Quant à moi, j'écoute, j'observe, et ne crois pas qu'il
soit sage de prononcer au milieu des passions. Nous
partons demain pour le Caire; nous serons les premiers
qui annoncerons cette affligeante nouvelle à Bonaparte,
qui, je l'espère, saura juger sa position, et supporter
avec courage ce premier revers de la fortune. J'avoue
que je ne suis pas aussi tranquille sur l'effet que produira
cette nouvelle en France. Déjà je vois les ennemis de
Bonaparte, de celui des Directeurs qui est son ami,
sortir de leurs retraites, et agiter contre eux l'opinion
publique.
Les services passés seront oubliés, chacun voudra se
donner le mérite d'avoir prévu ce qui est arrivé. Les
partis, les factions mal-éteintes, se ranimeront, et pro-
duiront encore dans notre malheureuse patrie de nou-
veaux déchiremens.
Quant à moi, ma chère amie, je suis ici, comme tu
le sais, bien contre mon gré; ma position devient
chaque jour plus desagréable, puis que, separé de mon
pays, de tout ce qui m'est cher, je ne prévois pas le
moment où je pourrai m'en rapprocher; cependant rien
ne me fera trahir, et l'amitié et mes devoirs. Bonaparte
éprouve une chance malheureuse, c'est pour moi une
raison de plus de m'attacher plus fortement à lui, et
d'unir mon sort au sien.
Ne crois pas cependant, que je devienne jamais le
partisan d'aucune faction; le passé m'a assez éclairé
pour me rendre sage, et s'il pouvoit, ce que je suis bien
loin de penser, se présenter un ambitieux qui voulut ou
donner des fers à sa patrie, ou faire tourner les armes
N 2
180
COPIES OF
de ses défenseurs contre la liberté, alors on me verroit
dans les rangs de ceux qui se présenteroient pour le com-
battre.
Tu vois, ma chère bonne, que je sais prendre mon
parti, mais je te l'avoue bien franchement, je préférerois
mille fois être avec toi et ta fille, retiré dans un coin de
terre, loin de toutes les passions, de toutes les intrigues,
et je t'assure que si j'ai le bonheur de retoucher le sol
de mon pays, ce sera pour ne le quitter jamais. Parmi
les quarante mille François, qui sont ici, il n'y en a pas
quatre qui pensent autrement.
Rien de plus triste que la vie que nous menons ici! nous
manquons de tout. Depuis cinq jours je n'ai pas fermé
l'œil; je suis couché sur le carreau; les mouches, les
punaises, les fourmis, les cousins, tous les insectes nous
dévorent, et vingt fois chaque jour je regrette notre
charmante Chaumière. Je t'en prie, ma chère amie, ne
t'en défais pas.
Adieu, ma bonne Théresia, les larmes inondent mon
papier. Les souvenirs les plus doux de ta bonté, de
notre amour, l'espoir de te retrouver toujours aimable,
toujours fidèle, d'embrasser ma chère fille, soutiennent
seuls l'infortuné
TALLIEN.
Fais donner à ma mère de mes nouvelles.
Dans mon voyage j'ai fait une perte, M. Bellavoine
le jour de notre départ de Malte s'est endormi dans
quelque cabaret, et nous ne l'avons plus vu. J'ai priê
Regnault de me le renvoyer s'il se retrouvoit.
Minerve est toujours avec moi, il se porte très-bien.
ORIGINAL LETTERS,
181
TRANSLATION.
Rosetta, August 4th.
1
I
KNOW not, my dear girl, if thou hast received any
of my letters. Since I left France, I have written to
thee, once from Bastia, twice from Malta, and once
from Alexandria. We have been here near a week,
waiting for an opportunity to proceed to Cairo; for it
is dangerous to ascend the Nile without an escort. In
our passage we had the good fortune to escape the Eng-
lish, who are still in these parts.
Before thou canst receive this letter, the defeat of our
fleet by the English, will be known in France. We are
all here in the most dreadful consternation: I can give
thee no details, because we are not yet fully acquainted
with them ourselves; what is, unhappily, too well
known is, that that superb vessel the L'Orient blew up
during the engagement. Placed on an eminence which
overlooked the sea, we were witnesses of this horrible
spectacle. The combat lasted more than twenty-four
hours; the English must have suffered greatly. We are
still ignorant how many vessels we have lost; and I
venture to hope that the disastrous reports in circulation
will not be confirmed. Admiral Brueys was killed, as
was Ducheyla, and a number of other brave officers.
It is not in the first moments that we should form a
judgment on the causes of a calamity so distressing to
every good Frenchman. On the contrary, we should
182.
COPIES OF
anxiously endeavour to check that calumny* which nei-
ther respects misfortune, nor the ashes of the dead.
With respect to myself, I hear and observe, but do
not think it either safe or prudent, to pronounce amidst
the tumult of the passions. We depart to-morrow for
Cairo, and shall be the first to announce this afflicting
news to Bonaparte; who I hope will know how to appre-
ciate his situation, and bear this first reverse of fortune
with firmness. I frankly declare that I am not quite so
tranquil with regard to the effect this news may have in
France; I see already the enemies of Bonaparte and of
the Directort his friend, sallying forth from their retreats,
and agitating the public opinion against them!
* We see by this that the unfortunate Brueys was already be-
come the object of malevolence. It reflects some credit on Tal-
lien, that he did not join in the cry so unjustly raised against him;
and, indeed, though we have no great respect for Tallien, who
has ever been a man of turbulence and blood, we cannot but con-
fess, that this and the following letter, set not only his talents,
but his social feelings, in a very amiable and respectable light.
The cant of patriotism, however, we may be allowed to discre-
dit. We have heard the same language from every one of the
numerous demagogues who have desolated France. The instant
their power is established, their regard for their country knows
no bounds: all farther change is deprecated, and, if “ an ambi-
tious chief should arise," they are as determined as Tallien him-
self, to protect her, that is, themselves, against him. They fàil,
however, and make way for others, who, with the same profes-
sions of patriotism, are destroyed in their turn,-" and thus the
wheel of fortune goes around!”
Tallien's party is now at the head of affairs; this is an excel-
lent reason for him to wish to be quiet: the "holy work of in-
surrection" loses all its sanctity when employed against the suc-
cessful tyrants of the day; and they hate to be "plagued by the
bloody instructions which they have taught.”
† Barras.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
183
+
Past services will be forgotten, and every one will
assume the merit of having foreseen what has happened.
The parties, the half-extinguished factions, will re-in-
vigorate their mutual rage, and our unhappy country
will again be torn to pieces by new dissensions!
As for me, my love, I am here, as thou knowest,
much against my will,-my situation every day becomes
more and more irksome; since, separated from my
country, from every thing that is dear to me, I cannot
foresee the period when I may hope to rejoin them:
nothing, however, shall induce me to betray my friend-
ship and my duty. Bonaparte has experienced a re-
verse; this is an additional reason with me, for attach-
ing myself more firmly to him, and for uniting his fate
with my own.
Do not suppose from this, that I can ever become the
partizan of any faction; the past has sufficiently en-
lightened me on the score of prudence; and if it should
happen (which I am very far from supposing) that an
ambitious chief should arise, aiming to enchain his coun-
try, or to turn the arms of its defenders against its
liberty, you should then see me in the ranks of those who
would stand forward to oppose him.
Thou seest, my girl, that I know how to choose my
party; but I declare to thee, with the most perfect
openness of heart, that I had rather a thousand times be
with thee and thy daughter, in some retired corner of
the world, far from all the passions and all the intrigues
which agitate mankind;—and I assure thee, that if I
ever have the happiness of placing my foot once more
on the soil of my native land, nothing shall induce me
to quit it again. Of the forty thousand Frenchmen who
are here, there are not four whose determination on this
head is not the same as my own.
184
COPIES OF
Nothing can be more melancholy than the life we
lead here; we are in want of every thing. It is now
five days since I closed my eyes. I lie on the bare floor;
flies, bugs, ants, gnats, musquitoes, insects of every kind
devour us alive; and twenty times a day I regret our
charming Chaumière.* Do not, my love, dispose of it on
any account.
Adieu, my best Theresia, † my paper is drenched with
my tears. The delightful remembrance of thy goodness,
and thy love, the hope of meeting thee again, still ami-
able, still faithful, and of embracing my dear daughter,
are the sole support and stay of the unfortunate
TALLIEN.
Let my mother know that I am well.
I experienced a loss on our passage. The day we
left Malta, Bellavoine fell asleep in some tavern, and
never appeared afterwards. I desired Regnault to for-
ward him to me, if he should happen to light on him,
Minerva is still with me, and is very well.
*This is the name which Tallien has given to a house he pos-
sesses in the neighbourhood of Paris; and which, like the Thatch-
ed House in St. James's Street, is any thing but what it professes
to be. Chaumière means a thatched hụt or cottage.
+ His wife, Theresia Cabarrus.
ORIGINAL LETTERS,
185
No. XXVII.
Rosette ce 17 Thermidor, an 6.
Au Citoyen BARRAS, Membre du Directoire Exécutif de
France, à Paris.
DANS D
ANS ma dernière datée d'Alexandrie je n'avois, cher
Directeur, qu'à te parler des succès des armes Republi-
caines; aujourd'hui ma tâche est bien plus pénible. Le
Directoire est sans doute déjà informé de l'issue mal-
heureuse du combat que notre escadre a eu à soutenir le
14 de ce mois contre la flotte Anglaise.
Pendant plusieures heures nous eumes l'espoir d'être
vainqueurs, mais lorsque le vaisseau l'Orient eût sauté,
le désordre se mit dans notre escadre de l'aveu même
des Anglais, tous nos vaisseaux se sont bien battus;
plusieurs bâtiments ennemis sont démâtés, mais notre
escadre est presque entièrement détruite. Tu me con-
nois assez pour être assuré que je ne me rendrai pas
l'écho de la calomnie qui s'empresse d'accueillir les
bruits les plus absurdes ; j'observe et je m'abstiens quant
à présent de prononcer.
Tout le monde est ici dans la consternation; je pars
demain pour le Caire, porter cette nouvelle à Bonaparte.
Elle l'affectera d'autant plus qu'il devoit moins s'y atten-
dre: il trouvera sans doute en lui les moyens, sinon de
reparer une perte aussi grande, au moins d'empêcher
que ce désastre ne devienne funeste à l'armée qu'il com-
mande.
186
COPIES OF
Quant à moi cet événement malheureux m'a rendu
tout mon courage. J'ai senti que c'étoit dans ce mo-
ment où il falloit réunir tous ses efforts, pour triompher
de tous les obstacles que le sort ou la malveillance nous
susciteront.
Puisse cette désastreuse nouvelle ne pas produire en
France de résultats malheureux. Je suis à mon parti-
culier fort inquiet, mais je m'en rapporte beaucoup au
Génie de la République, qui nous a toujours si bien
servis.
Adieu, mon cher Barras, je t'écrirai du Caire, où je
compte être rendu dans 4 jours.
{
TALLIEN.
J'ai vu ici ton cousin qui n'est pas bien portant. Le
climat y contribue beaucoup : cependant il y a très-peu
de malades dans l'armée, quoique la chaleur soit exces-
sive et que souvent le soldat soit exposé aux privations
de tout genre.
Des nouvelles arrivées d'Alexandrie assurent que
deux vaisseaux, et deux frégates se sont échappés. Les
Anglais sont toujours devant Abouquir: ils paroissent
avoir extrêmement soufferts. Une lueur d'espérance.
reste encore; puisse-t-elle se réaliser!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
187
}
4
TRANSLATION.
Rosetta, August 4th.
To Citizen BARKAS, Member of the Executive Directory
of France, at Paris.
N
In my last, dated from Alexandria, I had only, dear
Director, to speak to thee of the success of the Republican
arms. At present, I have a much more painful task.
The Directory is, doubtless, informed ere this of the
unfortunate issue of our naval engagement with the
English.
During several hours we flattered ourselves with the
hopes of being victors, but the blowing up of the
L'Orient, threw the whole squadron into confusion.
The English themselves allow that all our ships fought
well;-many of their vessels are dismasted, but our squa-
dron is almost totally destroyed. Thou art sufficiently
acquainted with my disposition to be assured that I shall
never become the echo of that calumny which is already
anxiously busied in giving welcome to the most absurd
rumours. I hear every thing, and say nothing-the
affair is yet too recent to pronounce on it.
Consternation has overwhelmed us all. I set out to-
morrow for Cairo, to carry the news to Bonaparte. It
will shock him so much the more, as` he had not the
least idea of its happening. He will doubtless find
resources in himself—if not to repair a loss of such
188
COPIES OF
magnitude, yet at least to prevent the disaster from
becoming fatal to the army which he commands.
With respect to myself, this dreadful event has re-
stored me all my courage. I feel that the moment is
now come when it is indispensably necessary to unite
all our efforts to enable us to triumph over the numerous
obstacles which destiny, or malevolence, will not fail to
fling in our way.
Pray Heaven this disastrous news produce no bad
effect at Paris! I am, I confess, exceedingly uneasy
about it-though I have still some confidence in the
Genius of the Republic, who has hitherto so constantly
befriended us.
Adieu, my dear Barras. I shall write to thee from
Cairo, where I expect to be in four days,
TALLIEN.
I have seen thy cousin here he is not well; the
elimate does not agree with him. There are not many
sick in the army, however; although the heat is exces-
sive, and the men are exposed to privations of every
kind.
Letters from Alexandria assure us that two sail of the
line, and two frigates, made their escape. The English
are still off Abouquir: they appear to have suffered very
much. A glimmering of hope still remains: may it not
vanish like the rest!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.,
189
No. XXVIII.
น
Au Quartier général à Rosette,
le 17 Thermidor, l'an 6.
Au Général KLEBER, Général de Division, l'Aide de
Camp LOYER.
MON Général, j'arrivai hier matin à 7 heures sans le
moindre événement: au lieu de suivre la flotte nous
primes le large, ce qui nous réussit parfaitement: à
deux heures de la nuit nous passâmes à la vue d'une fré-
gate ennemie qui sûrement ne nous apperçut pas, ou ne
daigna pas s'occuper de nous.
Le Général Menou n'étoit point encore informé de
nos malheureux désastres: il m'a témoigné bien de l'in-
quiétude sur un convoi d'artillerie légère de 11 bouches
à feu, avec tous leurs attirails, et d'une quantité prodi-
gieuse de munitions de mousqueterie.
Il y avoit déjà longtems que ce convoi avoit été ex-
pédié pour l'armée, il n'avoit pu passer la barre du
Nil, il avoit dû aller mouiller à Abouquir, où des
germes devoient le décharger. De toute cette artillerie
il n'a été débarqué que 2 pieces de huit qui sont ici. Le
reste est exposé à être enlevé des ennemis, s'ils n'en sont
déjà maîtres. Le Citoyen Dumanoir pourroit à cet
égard vous donner quelques renseignements: avec quel-
ques troupes, on pourroit peut-être sauver ce convoi si
précieux pour l'armée.
190
COPIES OF
Je ne sais par quel motif l'Amiral Brueys relacha le
Cherif la veille de l'arrivée de l'escadre Anglaise. J'ai
cru que c'étoit par rapport à cet événement. Point du
tout, il a été envoyé ici, il a même promené quelques
heures dans la ville pendant l'absence du Général Me-
nou, qui à son retour le fit mettre à bord d'un aviso où il
fut consigné. Je suis bien fâché que vous ne m'ayiez
pas remis tout votre correspondance, pour mettre sous
les yeux du Général en Chef, la conduite plus que sus-
pecte de ce Cherif. Au reste les raisons principales qui
vous ont déterminé à l'éloigner d'Alexandrie me sont
connues, et je les rendrai au Général Bonaparte.
Les communications du Nil ne sont point encore li-
bres. Le Général Menou fait armer un aviso pour
mon départ. Je serois parti aujourd'hui sans des nou-
velles de l'armée qui lui étoient annoncées, et qui lui
sont arrivées. Un Adjudant-Général venant du Caire
arrive à l'instant, il est porteur du détail officiel de la
marche de notre armée et de ses combats, d'ordres de
faire rejoindre quelques dépôts et de systêmes d'organi-
sation pour le pays. Du reste l'armée est tranquille-
votre division est à Boulac. Le chef de bataillon Goyné
de la 25° m'a dit qu'elle n'étoit pas très-contente de votre
ret qu'elle regrettoit beaucoup que vous n'ayiez
pas été à sa tête.
Les divisions Desaix et Bon sont les seules qui aient
agi. D'après le rapport que vous avez dans ce paquet
nous avons fort peu souffert.
Le Général Menou est en traité de pacification et
même d'alliance avec quelques Chefs de tribus. Il es-
père convertir à lui la tribu qui a si mal reçu le Géné-
ral Damas. Un des Sous-chefs a déjà fait la paix, on
lui assigne un lieu de campement. Il vient prendre les
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
191
ordres du Général; puissent ces
menter!
conversions s'aug
Demain matin je pars avec le Cherif et beaucoup de
Français qui sont ici. Il nous faut 4 jours pour arriver
au Caire, autant et peut-être plus pour le retour à cause
des vents.
Ne comptez donc sur moi, mon Général,
que dans 10 à 12 jours. Je ferai toute diligence possible
pour vous revoir promptement. J'espère vous apporter
de bonnes nouvelles, qui vous tireront d'A . . . . . . et
de ses déserts, et vous rameneront sur les rives du Nil,
les Champs Elisées de l'Egypte.
Votre dévoué Aide de Camp,
LOYER.
Le rapport officiel de la marine sur la malheureuse
journée du 14, vient d'être remis au Général Menou.
Je vais l'emporter avec des dépêches.
192
COPIES OF
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Rosetta, Aug. 4.
Aid-de-Camp LOYER, to Citizen KLEBER, General of
Division.
My General,
I ARRIVED here yesterday morning at 7 o'clock, with-
out any accident: instead of following the rest of the
flotilla, we took a good offing-which answered ex-
tremely well. About two in the morning we were in
sight of an English frigate, * who certainly did not per-
ceive us, or, at least, did not condescend to take any
notice of us.
General Menou had not yet been informed of our
unhappy disasters. He expressed a great deal of unea-
siness to me for the fate of a convoy of light artillery,
consisting of 11 pieces, with carriages, sponges, &c.
and a prodigious quantity of musquet cartridges.
Many days have already elapsed since this convoy was
dispatched from Alexandria. Not being able to get
over the bar of the Nile, it had come to anchor at
Aboukir, where every thing was to be put on board the
light vessels of the country. Nothing, however, has
yet been disembarked of all this cannon, ammunition,
&c. except two eight-pounders. The rest is exposed to
• This is incorrect. Lord Nelson had no frigate with him at
this time; nor, indeed, till two or three days afterwards.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
193
the seizure of the enemy, if it is not already in their
possession. Citizen Dumanoir can give you some in-
formation on this subject: a detachment of troops may
not yet be too late, perhaps, to preserve a convoy so
necessary to the service.
I cannot conceive what motive could induce Admiral
Brueys to set the Cheriff* at liberty, the night of the
engagement. I took it for granted that he had been
some how or other released by that event-but no such
thing: he was sent here, I find, and had been walking
about the town for several hours, during the absence of
* Of this Cheriff we find the following account in a letter from
Alexandria. "Bonaparte endeavoured to gain the confidence
and friendship of the Cheriff; he decorated him with the tri-co-
loured scarf, and in every instance paid him the most distin-
guished attention. The Cheriff, laying his hand on his breast,
took Allah to witness that he would be grateful. But General
Kleber soon found that the traitor maintained a secret corres-
pondence with the Mameloucs. He therefore ordered him into
confinement on board the L'Orient; from whence he was put on
shore a little before the catastrophe.
The meaning of all this is-that Brueys, who was not in the
secret, thought the innocence of this man a sufficient reason for
setting him at liberty. We sincerely wish that the rest-(the
children of the most respectable families, who were barbarously
torn from their parents, as hostages, by the unfeeling Bonaparte
-"Bonaparte exigea pour otâges, les enfans les plus apparens
"du pays"-is the expression of the letter)-may have been
dismissed at the same time: but we fear they all perished in the
explosion of the L'Orient.
For the rest; this letter confirms the account of the horrid mas
sacre mentioned by Boyer (No. XXII.) "Tout ce qui resistoit
"a mordu la poussierè, et nos soldats brûlant de venger la mort
"de leurs compagnons d'armes, ONT IMPITOYABLEMENT PASSE
"AU FIL DE L'EPEE, LES RESTES DES TURCS QUI S'ETOIENT
* REFUGIES DANS UNE MOSQUEE."
“
1.
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COPIES OF
General Menou: on his return, however, the General
sent him on board an advice boat, where he remains in
custody. I am very sorry that you did not furnish 'me
with the whole of your correspondence, that I might
have laid before the Commander in Chief, the more
than suspicious conduct of this Cheriff. As I am ac-
quainted, however, with the principal reasons which
induced you to remove him from Alexandria, I will
mention them to General Bonaparte.
Our communications by the Nile are not yet quite
safe. General Menou is arming an advice boat to take
me to Cairo. I should have set cut to day, but for the
news from the army which has just reached him. An
Adjutant General is this moment arrived from Cairo:
he brings an official detail of the march of our army,
and of the combats it has sustained; orders to some of
the troops here to join without delay, and systems of
organization for the country. For the rest, all is tran-
quil. Your division is at Boulac. The chief of batta-
lion, Goyné of the 25th, tells me that it is far from
being pleased with your* r - - -, and that it regrets
exceedingly that you are not at its head.
The divisions of Desaix and Bon are the only ones
that seem to have been in action. You see from the
dispatches that our loss is trifling.
General Menou is about a treaty of pacification, and
even of alliance with some of the Chiefs of the tribes.
He has hopes of bringing over the tribe from which
General Damas suffered so much. One of the subordi-
nate chiefs has already made peace, and had a place of
* Representative. He means Dugua.-See Damas's letter to
Kleber, p. 78'
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
195
encampment assigned him. He has just been here to
know the General's pleasure-would to Heaven these
conversions may increase!*
To-morrow morning. I shall set out with the Cheriff,
and a great number of our people, who are quartered
here. It will take us four days to reach Cairo, and perhaps
as many to return, on account of the winds. Do not,
therefore, look for me, my dear General, in less than
ten or twelve days.t I will use all possible diligence to
rejoin you speedily. I hope to be the bearer of good
news-news which will remove you fro.n Alexandria
* Drowning men will catch at straws. We do not, therefore,
wonder to see the sensible Loyer flattering himself with the hopes
of advantages to be derived from the "conversions" of the Arabs,
notwithstanding he must have seen their fallaciousness. Bona-
parte had some time before, not only converted, but even asso-
ciated thousands of them to his army; so, ar least, he says, and so
all France repeats after him. And what were the important ad-
vantages derived from it? Hatred, and immediate desertion.-In
short, (for we are unwilling to awell on a subject so obvious to
every man of common information) every hope of maintaining an
alliance with such a people, is more absurd than the day-dreams
of a madman.
+ Loyer did not come back quite so soon as he expected. It
took him eleven days, only to reach Bonaparte, whom he met re-
turning from an unsuccessful attempt to rob the caravan: for
this we can confidently assure our readers, was the true purport
of the General's boasted expedition towards Syria.
He had with him, as he says himself, most of the staff officers,
with the divisions of Regnier, Lannes, and Dugua.—All chese,
however, were completely baffled, by the gallantry and skill of
Ibrahim Bey, and finally compelled to retreat with great loss
towards Cairo, without accomplishing any part of their object!
One regiment of grenadiers was nearly cut to pieces.-So much
for the conquest of Syria, so triumphantly announced, and so
gravely commented upon in the opposition papers!
O 2
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and its deserts, to the banks of the Nile--the Elysium
of Egypt.
Your devoted Aid-de-Camp,
LOYER.
The official dispatches of the marine on the calami-
tous event of the 2d, have just been remitted to Ge-
neral Menou. I shall take them with me.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
197
No. XXIX.
Rosette, le 17 Thermidor.
J. MENOU, Général de Division, au Général KLEBER.
QUEL malheur, mon cher Général, que celui arrivé
à notre armée navale! Il est affreux: mais il faut
prendre courage, et être encore plus grand que le mal-
heur.
Je ferai partir demain matin, votre Aide-de-Camp,
et le Commissaire sur un aviso pour le Caire. Je n'ai
point eu de détails d'Aboukir: n'ayant pas de cavalerie,
je n'ai pû envoyer personne par la plaine, et le bogatsch
est si mauvais, qu'il est d'une difficulté extrême à passer.
Il me reste encore quelques espérances que tout n'est
pas perdu. Si vous avez quelques nouvelles des tar-
tanes et autres bâtiments qui portoient de l'artillerie et
des cartouches, ainsi que d'autres effets nécessaires à
l'armée, je vous prie de me les faire connoître; car
nous en avons un extrême besoin ici, et au Caire.
Si on pouvoit aussi, sans danger, envoyer ici les
équipages restés à Alexandrie, cela seroit extrêmement
utile pour les faire passer au quartier général.
·
Au total, mon cher Général, donnez-moi de vos
nouvelles, et de tout ce qui vous intéresse, ainsi que des
débris de notre armée. J'envoie à Alexandrie un cou-
rier du Général en Chef: il vous porte des dépêcher
Ici tout est assez tranquille; mais il faut veiller!
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J'ai fait arrêter ici Coraïm, qui avoit été relâché de
dessus l'Orient. Je le ferai partir demain pour le Caire,
avec bonne et sûre escorte. Est-il vrai que vous m'en-
voyez Demui? Sa troupe me seroit bien utile, si elle
ne vous l'est pas. Salut et amitié franche, mon cher
Général. De vos nouvelles; de vos nouvelles.
TRANSLATION.
J. MENOU.
Rosetta, August 4th.
J. MENOU,* General of Division, to General KLEBER.
WHAT a calamity, my dear General, has befallen
our fleet! It is dreadful in the extreme: but we must
take heart, and rise superior to our misfortunes!
I shall dispatch your Aide-de-Camp + to-morrow
morning, together with the Commissary, in an advice-
boat to Cairo. I have had no details from Aboukir.‡
* Menou was wounded at the attack on Alexandria, and left
in consequence of it, with the command of Rosetta. The French
reckon him one of their best officers.
† Loyer. See the preceding letter.
They must have arrived soon after this letter was finished:
for Loyer's, which is dated the same day, says, they had then reach-
ed him, and that he was to take them with him to Bonaparte.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
199
Not having any cavalry with me, I cannot dispatch a
messenger over land; and the surf at the mouth of the
river is so violent, that it is with the utmost difficulty,
and danger we can pass it.*
I have still some faint hopes that all is not lost. If
you have any intelligence of the tartanes, and other
vessels, which had on board the artillery, cartridges,
and other necessaries of the army, I beg you to com-
municate it to me; for we are in extreme want of them
all here, and at Cairo.
If you could also, without risk, send round the
baggage of the army, it would be of the greatest con-
sequence, as it might then be forwarded to head quar-
ters.
Finally, my dear General, let me hear from you--
I am axious to know every circumstance relative, as
well to you, as to the ruins of our fleet. I am about to
send you a courier, which is just arrived from the Com-
mander in Chief; he has dispatches for you. Every
thing is tolerably tranquil here; but we are obliged to
keep a good look out!
I have again arrested Coraïm,† who had been released
on board the L'Orient, and sent on shore. I shall send
him to Cairo to-morrow under a strong escort. Is it
* Menou had a considerable number of horse at Rosetta, and
yet he did not think them sufficient to escort a courier to the
fort of Aboukir, garrisoned by Frenchmen, and not more than
eight or ten miles from the town! Can our readers wish for a
more convincing proof of the state of security in which the
French live in Egypt, or of the complete possession which they so
truly declare in their official papers, they now have of the country;
+ The Cheriff mentioned in Loyer's letter.
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true that you are thinking of sending me Demui? His
troop will be extremely serviceable to me, if you have no
occasion for it at Alexandria. Health and friendship,
my dear General. Let me hear from you; for God's
sake, let me hear from you.
J. MENOU.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
201
No. XXX.
Rosette en Egypte, le 17 Thermidor, an 6.
E. POUSSIELGUE, Contrôleur des Dépenses de l'Armée
d'Orient, et Administrateur Général des Finances.
Nous venons, ma bonne amie, d'être témoins du plus
sanglant et du plus malheureux combat naval qui se soit
donné depuis bien des siècles. Nous n'en savons pas
encore toutes les circonstances, mais celles que nous
connoissons sont affreuses.
L'escadre Françoise composée de 13 vaisseaux de ligne,
dont un à trois ponts de 120 canons, et 3 de 80, étoit
mouillée et embossée dans la mauvaise Baye d'Aboukir,
ou Canope, la seule qui existe sur la côte d'Egypte.
Depuis 8 jours il se présentoit souvent des vaisseaux
et frégates Anglois qui venoient connoître la position de
notre escadre, ensorte qu'elle s'attendoit à tout moment
à être attaquée. De Rosette à Aboukir il n'y a en ligne
droite que 4 lieues et demie; des hauteurs de Rosette
nous distinguions parfaitement notre escadre. Le 14
de ce mois, à 5 heures du soir, nous entendimes des
coups de canon; c'étoit le commencement du combat.
Nous montâmes sur les terrasses des plus hautes maisons,
et sur les petites éminences, et nous distinguames par-
faitement 10 vaisseaux Anglois; les autres ne s'apper-
cevoient pas. La canonnade fut très-vive jusqu'à 94
heures du soir, que nous apperçumes à la faveur de la
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nuit une très-grande lumière, qui nous annonça qu'un
vaisseau brûloit. Alors le feu du canon redoubla de
vîtesse; à 10 heures le vaisseau qui brûloit sauta avec
un bruit épouvantable, et qui s'entendit à Rosette comme
on entendit à Paris l'explosion de Grenelle. A cet ac-
cident succéda une nuit profonde et un silence parfait
pendant dix minutes. Entre la vue et l'ouie de l'explosion
il se passa pour nous deux minutes; le feu reprit et
dura sans interruption jusqu'à trois heures du matin ;
il cessa presqu'entièrement jusqu'à 5 heures, qu'il reprit
avec plus de vivacité que jamais. Je me portai sur une
tour qui est à une portée de canon de Rosette, et qu'on
appellé Aboul Mandour, de là je vis très-distinctement la
bataille. A 8 heures du matin j'apperçus un vaisseau
qui brûloit; au bout d'une demi-heure je vis tout-à-
coup sauter en l'air un autre vaisseau qui ne brûloit pas
auparavant; son explosion fut comme celle de la veille.
Le vaisseau qui brûloit s'éloignoit de la côte, le feu di-
minua insensiblement, et nous présumons qu'on est
parvenu à l'éteindre.
Pendant ce tems-là les canonnades redoubloient: un
gros vaisseau démâté de ses trois mâts etoit échoué à la
côte; on en voyoit d'autres parmi les escadres qui
étoient pareillement démâtés entièrement; mais les
deux escadres sembloient s'être mêlées, et nous ne pou-
vions distinguer les Anglois des François, ni savoir de
quel côté étoit l'avantage. Le feu a conservé toute sa
vivacité jusqu'à près de 2 heures après-midi du 15′; à
cette heure nous avons vu deux vaisseaux de ligne et
deux frégates mettre toutes leurs voiles au vent, el
prendre la route de l'Est; nous leur reconnûmes à tous
4 le pavillon François; aucun
François; aucun autre vaisseau ne
bougea, et le feu cessa.
2
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
203
Vers 6 heures du soir, je retournai à la tour d'Aboul-
Mandour pour reconnoître la position des escadres; elle
étoit la mêne qu'à 2 heures. Les quatre vaisseaux à
la voile étoient devant l'embouchure du Nil. Nous ne
savions que conjecturer; 24 heures s'étoient écoulées
sans que personne fut venu nous donner des détails, et
nous étions dans l'impossibilité de nous en procurer;
par terre à cause des Arabes qui étoient rassemblés
entre Rosette et Aboukir; par mer à cause de la diffi-
culté de sortir de l'embouchure du Nil au Bogasse.
Tu peux juger de notre impatience, de notre per-
plexité. Nous tirions un mauvais augure de ce silence.
Il fallut encore passer dans cette incertitude la nuit du 15
au 16. Enfin le 16 au matin, un bateau parti dans la
nuit d'Alexandrie, nous donna quelques détails mais
fâcheux; il nous dit que des officiers de l'escadre Fran-
çaise qui s'étoient sauvés à Alexandrie dans une cha-
loupe, avoient rapporté que dès le commencement du
combat l'Amiral Brueys avoit reçu trois blessures graves,
une à la tête et deux au corps, qu'il voulut rester à sa
place sur le banc de quart, et qu'un quatrième coup de
canon l'emporta par le milieu du corps. Que le Capi-
taine de Pavillon Casabianca avoit au même moment été
emporté d'un coup de canon. Qu'on s'apperçut alors
que le feu étoit au vaisseau, qu'on n'avoit pu parvenir à
l'éteindre, et qu'enfin il avoit sauté à 10 heures du soir.
Ils ajoutoient que notre escadre étoit abîmée et perdue,
que quatre vaisseaux s'étoient sauvés; mais que le reste
étoit perdu.
Je retournai à la tour. Je retrouvai les choses abso-
lument dans le même état que la veille, elles étoient
telles encore hier soir et ce matin.
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Voici comme le tout se présentoit à nos yeux en par-
tant de la tour d'Aboukir, vue à gauche, et suivant à
droite de l'horizon.
Le 1er vaisseau n'a point de mât, et porte pavillon
Anglois.
Le 2* et le 3º
pas le pavillon.
sont en bon état; on n'en distingue pas
Le 4° a perdu un mât.
Le 5º en bon état, et porte pavillon Anglois.
Le 6º a perdu son mât de hune, ce matin on y élévoit
un fock et une voile quarrée.
Le 7° est sans mât de perroquet.
Le 8e est rasé.
Le 9º est rasé, il lui reste son mât de beaupré.
Le 10 démâté de ses trois mâts, ce matin on attachoit
une voile au mât de beaupré.
Les 11°, 12°, et. 13° formoient une espèce de grouppe,
on ne comptoit que 7 mâts pour ces trois vaisseaux.
Le 14° n'a que son mât de mizaine.
Le 15° a perdu ses perroquets de mizaine et d'artimon.
Le 16º est entièrement rasé.
Le 17º a perdu son perroquet d'artimon.
Le 18° n'a que le mât de mizaine.
Les 19°, 20°, et le 21° forment un grouppe où l'on ne
voit que quatre mâts, et point de perroquets.
Le 22º est entièrement rasé et échoué; il a pavillon
Anglois, on travaille à´le remettre à flot, et à le mâter de
petits mâts.
Le 23º est en bon état, il avoit pavillon Anglois.
Le 24° est en bon état.
Voilà tout ce que j'ai pu distinguer. Il en résulte
que les Anglois, quoiqu'ils ayent eu l'avantage, ont été
extrêmement mal-traités, puisqu'ils n'ont pu poursuivre
ceux de nos vaisseaux qui s'en sont allés le 15.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
205
Depuis deux jours tous ces vaisseaux sont dans l'in-
action, et semblent anéantis.
Ce matin il nous est venu des nouvelles d'Alexandric
qui confirment nos pertes. Lc Contre Amiral Decrèts a
été tué, ainsi que le Vice-Amiral Blanquet Duchaila.
Le Tonnant est celui qui s'est battu le dernier. Du-
petit Thouars, qui le commandoit, a eu les deux jambes
emportées d'un coup de canon. Les vaisseaux sauvés
sont le Guillaume Tell, le ------, les frégates la
Diane et la Justice. On dit c'est l'Artémise qui a sauté
avant hier matin.
Il reste encore bien des choses à apprendre de ce
combat. On dit que l'Amiral Anglois a envoyé un par-
lementaire à Alexandrie, demander qu'on reçût et qu'on
soignât ses blessés qui montent à 1500. Il nous rend
tous nos prisonniers. J'ignore ce qu'on décidera.
Vous recevrez en France des relations officielles de nous
et des Anglois. J'ignore ce qu'elles diront; mais tu peux
compter sur ce que je t'écris, parce que j'ai vú.
Communique ma lettre à la Citoyenne Corancez.
Son fils se dispense par cette raison de lui donner ces
détails; d'ailleurs je l'occupe à autre chose. Déjà il a.
écrit six lettres, et n'en a reçu aucune. Je n'ai point
de nouvelles du Citoyen Mony, que j'ai nommé Agent
à Démanhour. Derancés qui avoit été malade, est bien
remis, il est avec moi. Martin se porte très-bien, et
n'a pas reçu un mot de sa famille. J'ai été le seul
heureux, puisque j'ai eu trois lettres de toi depuis que
je suis en Egypte. Il s'en est sûrement perdu plusieurs,
puisque les Anglois nous ont pris beaucoup de couriers.
J'ai fait faire ici mon portrait dessiné en profil par un
habile artiste, le Citoyen Denon. On le trouve très-
ressemblant; mais nous avons tant d'Anglois autour de
K
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nous que je n'ôse te l'envoyer, crainte qu'il aille en An-
glettere, ou au fond de la mer. Je voudrois bien te le
porter moi-même. Sois sûre qu'aussitôt que j'en aurai
la permission, que je ne cesserai de solliciter, je partirai.
Il n'y a pas de fortune qui puisse me retenir. Je con-
sentirois à arriver auprès de toi nud comme la main.
Du reste je me porte à merveille. Demain matin je
pars pour le Caire dans un joli bâtiment, avec le trésor et
le Payeur Général, deux avisos, 250 hommes d'escorte,
et plus de 40 passagers. J'emporte un superbe cheval
Arabe, dont un Cheick m'a fait présent ici. Nous al-
lons par le Nil. Adieu, ma bonne petite, aime-moi
toujours bien, et rappelle-moi au souvenir de tous nos
amis. Je t'embrasse ainsi que mes enfans, &c.
+
TRANSLATION.
POUSSIELGUE.
Rosetta, August 4th.
E. POUSSIELGUE,* Controller of the Expences of the Army
of the East, and Administrator General of the Finances.
WE have just been witnesses, my dear girl, of the
most bloody and unfortunate naval action that has been
* This man was originally a merchant of Marseilles; but hav-
ing a talent for intrigue, he was selected by the Directory, who
had frequently profited by his ingenuity, to corrupt and revolu
tionize the knights of Malta. How well he succeeded, the recent
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
207
fought for many ages. We do not yet know all the cir-
cumstances of it, but those that we do know, are hor-
rible.
The French fleet, composed of thirteen sail of the
line, of which.one was a three decker of 120 guns, and
three of 80, was moored in the incommodious bay of
Aboukir; the only station to be found on the coast of
Egypt. For the last week several English frigates had
frequently reconnoitred the position of our fleet; so
that it was in constant expectation of being attacked.
From Aboukir to Rosetta, in a straight line, is about
ten miles; so that from the heights of this latter place
our ships were plainly discernible.
The 1st of this month, at half after five in the even-
ing, we heard the report of several guns: this was the
commencement of the action. We immediately got
upon the roofs of the highest houses, and on the little
eminences, and clearly distinguished ten English ves-
sels; the others were not yet in sight. The firing was
surrender of that island declares but too plainly. He had, how-
ever, made himself too obnoxious to the Maltese to think of re-
maining there, and Bonaparte who, as the Cardinal Antici some-
where observes, "knows how to distinguish," advanced him, in
return for his eminent services, to the lucrative post in which we
now find him.
He is evidently a very able man; and his letter which we now
lay before the reader, is one of the most surprising instances
of accuracy of observation, and fidelity of description, that we
ever remember to have met with. It has been shewn to many of
our officers who were in the engagement; and they unanimously
concur in regarding it as a very extraordinary production.
It should be mentioned to the farther credit of Poussielgue
that he could at no time have been nearer than seven miles to the
scenes which he so correctly and minutely descr.bes.
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exceedingly brisk till a quarter after nine, when we per-
ceived, by favour of the night, a prodigious light, which
sufficiently announced to us, that some vessel was in
flames-at this moment the fire was brisker than ever.
At ten o'clock, the vessel which was burning, blew up
with a most tremendous noise, which was heard as
plainly at Rosetta, as the explosion of Grenelle at Paris.
This accident was succceded by a pitchy darkness, and
a most profound silence, which continued for about ten
minutes. The time that elapsed between cur seeing and
hearing the explosion was two minutes. The firing
now began again, and continued, without intermission,
till three in the morning: it then grew very faint till
five, when it recommenced with more fury than ever.
I now took my stand on a tower called Aboul-Man-
dour, about a mile from Rosetta, from whence I had a
clear and distinct view of the whole engagement. At
eight in the morning, I perceived a vessel on fire; about
half an hour after, another, which did not appear to me
to have been on fire before, suddenly blew up; its ex-
plosion was as dreadful as that of the preceding even-
ing. The vessel which was burning removed further
from the shore, the flames insensibly diminished, and it
appeared to us, that the crew had succeeded in extin-
guishing them altogether.
During this time, the contest raged with redoubled
fury: a large vessel, with all her masts carried away,
got on shore. Several others appeared totally dismast-
ed; but the two fleets were so intermixed, that we
could not distinguish whether they were French or Eng-
lish; nor possibly make out which side had the advan-
tage. The firing continued as warm as ever, till two in
the afternoon of the 2d; at which period, two sail of
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
209
the line, and two frigates, cut their cables, and make
sail to the eastward with all the canvas they could carry.
These vessels we clearly distinguished by their colours
to be French. No other vessel stirred, and the firing
ceased.
About six in the evening I returned to the tower of
Aboul-Mandour, to reconnoitre the position of the two
squadrons: it was the same as when I left it. The four
vessels under weigh were off the mouth of the Nile.
We knew not what to think of it. Twenty-four hours
were past, and not a soul arrived to give us any infor-
mation. To procure any ourselves was impossible; by
land, on account of the Arabs, who were assembled be-
tween Rosetta and Aboukir; and by sea, on account of
the difficulty of passing the bar, and the swell at the
mouth of the Nile.
Thou may'st judge of our impatience and perplexity.
We drew a very unfavourable augury from this silence:
we were compelled, however, to remain in this state of
uncertainty, all the night of the 2d. At length, on the
morning of the 3d, a boat, * which had slipped out in
the night from Alexandria, brought us some details;
but of a most melancholy nature. They told us that
some officers of the French fleet, who had escaped in a
shallop to Alexandria, had reported that soon after the
commencement of the action, Admiral Brueys had re-
ceived three dangerous wounds; one on the head, and
two in the body; that he still persisted in remaining on
the quarter-deck; and that a fourth shot had cut him
in two; that his first Captain Casa-Bianca, had been
* That which brought General Loyer. See his letter, No.,
XXVIII.
P
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killed at the same instant, by a cannon ball; that the
ship was just then perceived to be on fire; that they
could not succeed in putting it out; and that she had
finally blown up about ten in the evening. They added,
that our squadron was defeated and destroyed; that four
vessels only had escaped; and that the rest were in
the enemy's hands,
I returned to the tower, and found every thing pre-
cisely as it was the evening before. It was the same
yesterday, and is still so this morning.
I now present you with an exact view of the whole
scene, as it appeared to us: keeping the tower of Abou-
kir to the left, and directing our eyes along the horizon,
to the right.
The 1st vessel dismasted, carries English colours.
The 2d and 3d in a good condition, colours not to be
distinguished. The 4th has lost a mast.
The 5th in good condition; has English colours.
The 6th has lost a top-mast; this morning she hoisted
a gib and square sail.
The 7th has lost all her top-gallant masts.
The 8th has all her masts by the board.
The 9th ditto; except her bowsprit, which is stand-
ing.
The roth dismasted; this morning a sail was bent to
her bowsprit.
The 11th, 12th, and 13th, form a kind of groupe,
we can only see that the three vessels have but seven
masts between them.
The 14th has only her mizen mast.
The 15th has lost her mizen-top, and top-gallant
masts.
The 16th has all her masts by the board.
ORIGINAL LETTERS,
The 17th has lost her mizen top-gallant.
The 18th has lost her fore and main-masts
21I
The 19th, 20th, and 21st, form a groupe, with only
four masts standing-all the top-masts gone.
The 22d entirely dismasted, and on shore-has Eng-
lish colours; they are endeavouring to get her off, and
rig her out with jury masts.
The 23d in good condition; has English colours.
The 24th ditto. This is all that I could distinguish.
The result is, that though the English are victorious,
they have been very roughly handled: this is clear, from
their not being able to follow the four vessels that made
off on the 2d.
For two days, all these vessels have remained inactive;
they lie like logs in the water.
This morning intelligence is arrived from Alexan-
dria, which confirms our losses. Rear Admiral Decrès
is killed, as well Ducheyla. The Tonnant was the last
ship that struck. Du Petit Thouars who commanded
her, had both his legs carried away by a cannon ball.
The vessels that escaped are the Guillaume Tell and the
-; the frigates are the Diana and the Justice.
They say that it was the Artémise which blew up the
morning before yesterday.
There is much still to be learned respecting this en-
gagement. The English Admiral, th y tell us, has sent
a flag of truce to Alexandria, with a request that they
would receive and take care of the wounded, which
amount to 1500. He also proposes to send the pri-
soners on-shore. I have not heard what answer was
returned.
You will have in France the official relation of this
P 2
212
COPIES OF
event from both parties. I know not what they may
say; but thou mayest rely with the utmost confidence
on what I have written, because it is what I saw.
Communicate my letter to the female Citizen Coran-
cez-this will save her son the trouble of writing;
`besides, I have set him about something else. He has
already written six letters, and has not received an
answer to any of them. I have heard nothing of Citi-
zen Mony, whom I have appointed Agent at Deman-
hour. Dérancés, who has been ill, is quite recovered;
he is with me. Martin is well, he has not received a
single line from his family. I am the only fortunate
person, since I have received three letters from thee
since I have been in Egypt; many others have un-
doubtedly miscarried, as the English have taken several
of our couriers.
I have had my portrait paint‹ 1 in profile since I have
been here, by Citizen Denou, a skilful artist. They
tell me that it is extremely like--but we have so many
English about us, that I dare not send it, for fear it
should find its way to England, or to the bottom of the
sea. How happy should I be to bring it to thee myself!
Be assured that the moment I can obtain my discharge,
which I solicit night and day, I will quit this country.
No fortune in the world shall keep me here. I would
consent with pleasure to return to thee, as naked as I
was born.
For the rest, my health is extremely good. I set out
for Cairo to-morrow morning, in a handsome passage-
boat, with the military chest, the Paymaster-general,
two advice-boats, an escort of 250 men, and more than
40 passengers. I take with me a fine Arabian horse,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
213
which a Cheik here made me a present of. We go by
the Nile.
Adieu, my dear little girl, love me always well, and
remember me to all our friends. I embrace thee ten-
derly, as well as my children.
POUSSIELGUE.
214
COPIES OF
No. XXXI:
Alexandrie, 5 Fructidor.
Le Contre Amiral GANTEAUME, au Général BRUIX,
Ministre de la Marine et des Colonies.
Citoyen Ministre,
OBLIGE' de vous rendre compte du plus sinistre des
événemens, c'est avec une douleur amère que je m'ac-
quitte de ce triste devoir.
Onze vaisseaux pris, brlûés, et perdus pour la France,
nos bons officiers tués, ou blessés, les côtes de notre
nouvelle colonie exposés à l'invasion de l'ennemi, tels
sont les affreux résultats d'un combat naval qui a eu
lieu dans le nuit du 14 du mois dernier, entre l'armée
Françoise et celle Britannique aux ordres du Contre
Amiral Nelson.
Par l'habitude que vous avez-eu, Citoyen Ministre,
dans nos ports, durant le cours de cette guerre, il vous
sera sans doute facile de juger si dans un escadre armée
aussi à la hâte que le notre, nous pouvions esperer une
bonne composition d'equipage, et trouver dans des
hommes, rassemblés au hazard presqu'au moment du
départ, des Matelots et canonniers habiles et expéri-
mentés. La belle saison cependant, l'attention et les
soins des chefs, quelque hazards peut-être, avoient tel-
lement secondé cette escadre, qu'elle étoit parvenue,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
215
avec son convoi, sans perte ni accident, sur les côtes
d'Egypte.
L'Amiral vous aura sans doute déjà rendu compte
qu'à notre arrivée à Alexandrie, nous avions appris
qu'une escadre Angloise de 14 vaisseaux y avoit paru.
trois jours avant nous. Peut-être étoit-il convenable de
quitter une telle côte aussitôt que la descente avoit
eu lieu ; mais attendant les ordres du Général en
Chef, la présence de notre escadre devant donner une
force d'opinion incalculable à l'armée de terre, l'Ami-
ral crut ne devoir abandonner ces lieux, et pren-
dre au contraire, une position stable au mouillage de
Bequiers.
Cette rade par sa proximité avec Rosette, lui offroit
les moyens de recevoir les approvisionnemens dont l'es-
cadre avoit besoin, et de renouveller, quoiqu'avec des
peines et risques infinies, une partie de l'eau que l'escadre
consommoit journalièrement. Une ligne d'embossage
fut donc malheureusement déterminé dans un lieu ou-
vert, et que la terre ne pouvoit prótéger.
Des funestes avis reçus par des neutres, annonçoient
le retour de l'escadre ennemi: elle a été vue sur l'Isle
de Candie, faisant route dans l'Ouest. La manœuvre de
cette escadre, qui, supérieure à la notre, ne nous avoit
point attendu devant Alexandrie, qui retournoit dans
l'Ouest, quand nous exécutions nos opérations de de-
scente, qu'elle auroit peu facilement contrarier, établit
malheureusement l'idée qu'elle n'avoit pas ordre de nous
attaquer, et une trop grande et funeste sécurité.
Le 2 Thermidor, cependant, deux frégates ennemies
étoient venues nous observer, et le 14 à deux heures du
soir, l'escadre ennemi fut à la vue de la notre. Quar-
torze vaisseaux et deux bricks la composoient. Le vent
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COPIES OF
étoit au Nord, joli fraix. Elle s'avance sous toutes ses
voiles vers le mouillage de l'armée, et annonce le des-
sein de nous attaquer.
Les mesures que prit l'Amiral en cette occasion, la
résolution de combattre à l'ancre, et enfin, les résultats
de cette horrible affaire, sont détaillés dans un précis des
faits que je vous adresse ci-joint, et je les ai tracés tels
que je les ai vus dans cette cruelle et trop horrible nuit.
L'Orient incendié, ce fut par un hazard que je n'ôse
comprendre que je m'échappie au milieu des flammes,
et que je fus reçu dans un canot qui se trouvoit engagé
sous la voute du vaisseau, et n'ayant pu parvenir à bord
du vaisseau du Général Villeneuve, je me rendis après
son départ en ce lieu, d'où j'ai la douleur de vous trans-
mettre d'aussi tristes détails.
Le Franklin, le Spartiate, le Tonnant, le Peuple
Souverain, et le Conquérant ont été pris, amarinés,
mâttés avec des mâts de hune, et ont fait route avec l'es-
cadre ennemi, qui depuis le 30, a quitté cette côte, en
laissant une division de quatre vaisseaux et deux fré-
gates.
Le Mercure, l'Heureux, et le Guerrier, ont été in-
cendiés par l'ennemi. Les deux premiers avoient échoués
pendant le combat, et étoient crèvés quand l'ennemi les
a amarinés.
Le Timoleon hors d'étât de mettre à la voile, a été
volontairement jetté à la côte par le Capitaine Trulet,
et incendié, après avoir sauvé dans ses bateaux, et ceux
qui lui ont été envoyés, tout son equipage.
Les deux frégates, l'Artémise et la Sérieuse ont été
perdues, sans que l'ennemi en put profiter: la première
a été brûlée; l'autre coulée.
Les seules restes de cette déplorable armée se reduisent
}
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
217
donc à la division de frégates, corvettes, et flutes, qui
étoit mouillée à Alexandrie, et à celle du Général Vil-
leneuve, qui par une manoeuvre hardie, est échappée à
l'ennemi. Vous verrez par mon précis que cette divi-
sion est composée de deux vaisseaux, et de deux fré-
gates, le Guillaume Tell, le Généreux, la Diane, et
la Justice.
Placé par mon grade à la tête de notre malheureuse
armée, qui reste en lieu, l'Amiral Nelson m'a proposé
la remise des blessés et autres prisonniers. De concert
avec le Général Kleber, commandant la place, j'ai ac-
quiescé à cette proposition, et trois-mille-cent prison-
niers, dont 800 blessés, nous sont parvenus depuis le 17
Thermidor.
Par le moyen de cette communication, nous avons eu
quelques apperçus sur toutes nos pertes personnelles: ma
plume s'arrête en étant obligée à vous tracer ces malheurs.
L'Amiral, les Chefs de Division, Casa-Bianca, Theve-
nan, du Petit Thouars ont péri: six autres officiers
commandants, dont les noms sont ci-joints, ont été dan-
géreusement blessés. Je n'ai pu jusqu'à ce jour me pro-
curer un état exact des hommes morts et blessés, par
le refus que m'a fait l'Amiral Anglois, d'envoyer à terre,
les commissaires des vaisseaux pris, avec leurs rôles,
ainsi que vous le verrez par la copie du cartel arrêté
dans la rade de Bequiers, pour la remise des prisonniers
que je joins à cette lettre.
Depuis notre affaire, les croiseurs ennemis sont maî-
tres de toute la côte, et ils interceptent toutes nos com-
munications. Les jours derniers, ils ont arrêté le Che-
beck, la Fortune, que l'Amiral avoit envoyé croiser sur
Damiette. L'escadre Angloise, ainsi que j'ai eu l'hon-
neur de vous dire plus haut, est partie, à ce qu'on dit,
218
COPIES OF
pour la Sicile, le 30 du mois dernier, et la division
qu'elle a laissé en station sur les côtes, est composée de
quatre vaisseaux de 74 et deux frégates.
Par le soin qu'ont toujours les Anglois de cacher leurs
pertes intérieures, nous n'avons eu aucune donnée cer-
tain sur celles qu'ils ont éprouvées. On nous assure
cependant, que l'Amiral Nelson a été blessés dangé-
reusement à la tête; que deux Capitaines ont été tués,
et on cite enfin, deux vaisseaux, le Majestic, et le Bel-
lerophon, comme ayant eu 300 hommes hors de combat.
Dans la disposition où nous sommes, bloqués par des
forces ennemis trop supérieures, j'ignore encore, Ci-
toyen Ministre, quel sera le parti que nous pourrons
tirer du foibles moyens maritimes qui restent en ce port;
mais si je dois vous dire la vérité, telle que je la sens,
c'est qu'après un aussi grand désastre, je pense qu'il
n'y a plus que la paix qui puisse consolider l'établisse -
ment de notre nouvelle colonie. Puissent nos governeurs
nous la procurer solide et honorable.
Je suis avec respect,
GANTEAUME.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
219
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria, August 23d.
Rear Admiral GANTEAUME,* to General Bruix,
Minister of the Marine, and of the Colonies,
Citizen Minister,
OBLIGED
BLIGED to give you an account of the most fatal of
disasters, it is with piercing and heart-felt sorrow, that
I acquit myself of this melancholy part of my duty.
* Our last was from a spectator on shore. We now present
our readers (and we do it with great satisfaction) with a narra-
tive of the engagement, from one who was an actor in it; from
one who might have said with Æneas,
quæque ipse miserrima vidi,
Et quorum pars magna fui!
from Ganteaume, in short, Rear Admiral of the fleet, who was
on board the l'Orient during the action-which he describes with
the precision of a seaman, and the feelings of a patriot.
These dispatches are addressed to Bruix. They aře confiden-
tial, and such as would certainly have never transpired, but for
the event which threw them into our hands. If this correspondence
reach the minister of marine (which we have no doubt but it will)
he may still profit by it. We have given it with fidelity.
We think these two papers give the fullest account of the glo-
rious event of the first of August, that has yet appeared. It
should be observed, however, that the letters from our fleet
were all on board the Leander; and, as we have already ob-
served, were destroyed by her gallant commander, previous to
striking,-We are not, indeed, without a portion of information
220
COPIES OF
Eleven sail of the line taken, burnt, and lost for
France, our best officers killed or wounded, the coasts
of our new colony laid open to the invasion of the ene-
my; such are the dreadful results of an engagement
which took place on the night of the 1st instant, be-
tween our fleet and that of the English under the com-
mand of Admiral Nelson.
From the experience which you have had, Citizen
Minister, in our ports during the course of this war, it
will doubtless be easy for you to judge, whether the
crews of a fleet so hastily fitted out as ours, could be
reasonably expected to be well composed; and whether
we could hope to find amongst men collected at random
as it were, almost at the very instant of our departure,
able mariners, and skilful and experienced cannoneers.
The favourable season, however, the care and attention
of the officers, and, perhaps, a certain portion of good luck,
seconded the progress of the fleet so effectually, that, to-
gether with its convoy, it reached the coast of Egypt
without any accident whatever.
The Admiral has most assuredly informed you that
on our arrival at Alexandria, we learned that an Eng-
lish squadron of 14 sail had been there three days before
us. It would have been the most prudent step perhaps,
to have quitted the coast the moment the descent had been
effected; but the Admiral, who waited for the orders*
of the Commander in Chief (whose army naturally de-
on the subject; but still it is flattering to see a brave and able
officer, (for such Ganteaume is,) bearing testimony in his official
documents, to the superior courage and skill of our intrepid
countrymen.
* If we wanted any additional proofs of the falsehood of Bona-
parte, this paper would furnish it. To injure the reputation of
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
221
rived a great degree of confidence from the presence of
the squadron) did not think himself justified in quitting
the coast, but took, on the contrary, a strong position in
the anchoring ground of Bequiers.
This road by its proximity to Rosetta, enabled him to
receive on board the necessary supplies for the fleet;
and to replace, though with infinite risks and pains, some
part of the water that was daily consumed on board. It
was therefore, unfortunately determined to moor the
fleet in one line, in an open situation, and which could
not be protected from the shore.
Fatal intelligence received from time to time by neu-
tral vessels, announced the return of the enemy's squa-
dron. It had been seen off the Isle of Candia, steering to
the westward. The conduct of this fleet, which, though
superior to ours, had not waited for us before Alexan-
dria, but made sail to the west, while we were effecting
our disembarkation, which it might easily have thwarted
or prevented, unhappily confirmed us in the opinion that
it had no orders to attack us, and produced a boundless
and fatal security.
Brueys, and to insult his ashes, he asserts, as we have already
seen (No. III.), that this unfortunate Admiral detained the fleet
on the coast of Egypt contrary to his wishes; and here we have
Ganteaume, Commander in Chief of all the French Naval forces
in Egypt, expressly declaring, in direct contradiction to the as-
sertion, that Brueys only remained on the coast because Bonaparte
would not permit him to depart!
We have given our opinion on this subject (No. III.), and
probably said more than enough there to convince the blindest of
Bonaparte's admirers, that he is deficient in one quality at least,
of a great man; but we could not resist the temptation of making
"assurance doubly sure," and establishing his character beyond
all possibility of future doubt, by the unsuspected evidence of his
warmest friend.
222
COPIES OF
A
*
On the 21st of July, however, two of the enemy's
frigates reconnoitred us, and on the 31st, about two
in the afternoon, their whole fleet hove in sight. It
was composed of 14 sail of the line, and two brigs.
the wind was northerly and rather fresh. They bore
* Sir John Sinclair, who has taken his ideas of ships in the Me-
diterranean from flies in a milk-pot, ducks in a pond, or gilt boats
and streamers in a garden canal, very properly reprehends Mr.
Pitt for not having made the victory more complete, by causing
all the ships which were in quest of Lord Nelson, to find him!
And true it is, that if these two frigates, and two or three more
that were on the look out for the Admiral, had joined him pre-
vious to the engagement, they might have rendered him some
service. But the worst is yet to come: for we can seriously assure
Sir John, that if these vessels had not perversely found the French
fleet (for which their captains shall be broke when he is first Lord
of the Admiralty) while they were searching for ours, the victory
would have been as complete as heart could wish, not a vessel,
not a man would have escaped! It was these and other frigates
which afterwards appeared that alarmed the enemy, and occa-
sioned all those measures of precaution and security which we
find they took; and for which, if Sir John will be pleased to com-
pare the various dates of this and the following dispatch, he will
see they had sufficient time.
Notwithstanding all this, however, we are not inclined to be
very angry with the ships in question. It is thought by many
that their captains possess full as much nautical skill as Sir John
Sinclair, and nearly as much promptitude and zeal for the service
of their country; this we confess, is also our opinion, and when
we see SUCH MEN anxiously and ardently engaged on an element
which no human power can controul, and in a service which no
human abilities can effect at will, we are ready to conclude that
something more than a knowledge of agriculture is required to
enable us to judge of their merits, and something better than an
itch of finding fault, to justify an attack on the plans of the mi-
nister who employs them !
་
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
223
down with a press of sail on our fleet, and clearly an-
nounced a design to attack us.
The measures which the Admiral took on this occa-
sion, the resolution to engage at anchor, and the results
of this horrible affair, are detailed in the abstract,*
which I have subjoined to the present letter, in that,
I have delineated every circumstance as it appeared to
me on this too grievous, and too dreadfu night.
The L'Orient took fire. It was by an accident which
I cannot yet comprehend, that I escaped from the midst
of the flames, and was taken into a yawl that was lying
under the ship's counter. Not being able to reach the
vessel of General Villeneuve, I made for this place, from
whence I have now the mortification of transmitting
you these melancholy details.
The Franklin, the Spartiate, the Tonnant, the Peuple
Souverain, and the Conquérant are taken. They got
their top-masts up, and sailed with the enemy's squa-
dron, which quitted the coast on the 18th of August;
leaving here a small division of four ships of the line
and two frigates.
The Mercure, the Heureux, and the Guerrier have
been burnt by the enemy. The two first ran aground
during the action, and were bulged when they took pos-
session of them.
The Timoleon, incapable of making her escape, was
run on shore by Captain Trulet, who set her on fire,
after putting all the crew either into his own boats,
or into those which were sent him from the rest of the
fleet.
The two frigates, the Artémise and the Sérieuse were
* It follows this letter.
224
COPIES OF
destroyed, in spite of the enemy's endeavours to pre-
serve them; the first was burnt, and the other sunk.
The sole relicks then of this unfortunate armament
are comprised in the division of frigates, corvets, and
flutes, which are now at Alexandria, and in that of
General Villeneuve, who, by a bold manoeuvre,* made
his escape from the enemy. You will see by my Ab-
stract, that this latter division is composed of two ships
of the line and two frigates,-the Guillaume Tell, the
Genereux, the Diane, and the Justice.
Placed by my rank at the head of that part of our
unfortunate armament which remains here, Admiral
Nelson proposed to me to receive the wounded, and
other prisoners. In concert with General Kleber, com-
mandant of the town, I have acquiesced in his proposi-
tion; and three thousand one hundred prisoners, of
whom about 800 are wounded, have been put on shore.
since the 6th of August.
By means of this correspondence we have collected
some information respecting our personal losses. My
pen trembles in my hand while, in conformity to my
duty, I attempt to particularize our misfortunes.
The Admiral, the Chiefs of Division, Casa-Bianca,
Thevenard, Du Petit Thouars, are killed, and six other
superior officers, whose names are subjoined,* danger-
ously wounded. I have not yet been able to procure an
exact list of the privates killed and wounded, on account
of Admiral Nelson's refusing to send me the Commis-
saries of the captured vessels, with their rôles d'équipage.
* Genteaume does Villeneuve too much credit: the merit of
the escape (such as it is) is due to another person.
†These names do not appear; they were, probably, omitted
in the hurry of making up the dispatches.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
225
Since the action the enemy's cruizers are masters of
the whole coast, and interrupt all our communications.
The other day they captured the Fortune, a corvet which
the Admiral had sent to cruize off Damietta. The Eng-
lish squadron, as I had the honour of mentioning to you
above, sailed (it is said) for Sicily on the 18th instant.
The division which is stationed here, consists of four
seventy-fours and two frigates.
On account of the extraordinary care which the Eng-
lish always take to conceal their loss of men, we have
been able to procure no information on the subject that
can be relied on. We are assured, however, that Admi-
ral Nelson is dangerously wounded in the head, and that
two captains are killed. We are also told, that two of
their ships, the Majestic and the Bellerophon, had each
150 men killed and wounded.
In the situation in which we are, blocked up by a very
superior force, I am still ignorant, Citizen Minister,
what measures we shall pursue with the feeble maritime
resources that yet remain to us in this port; but if I
must needs speak the truth, such as it really appears to
me, I then say that, after so dreadful a disaster, I con-
CEIVE NOTHING BUT A PEACE CAN CONSOLIDATE
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR NEW COLONY, MAY
OUR GOVERNORS PROCURE US A SOLID AND HO-
NOURABLE ONE!
I am, with respect,
GANTEAUME..
a
୧
226
COPIES OF
No. XXII.
Alexandrie, le 18 Thermidar.
Précis du Combat entre l'Armée Navale Françoise, et celle
Britannique, aux ordres du Contre Amiral NELSON, et
dans la soirée et nuit du 14 au 15 Thermidor, an 6.
A DE
DEUX heures du soir le vaisseau l'Heureux signala 12
voiles à l'O.N.O. Nos vigies les apperçurent en même tems,
et en comptèrent successivement jusqu'à 16. On ne tarde.
pas à reconnoître ces bâtiments pour une escadre Angloise
composée de 14 vaisseaux, et 2 bricks.
Les ennemis faisant route, forçant de voiles pour le mou-
illage de l'armée, ayant un brick à sonder devant. Le vent
étoit au nord, joli frais.
Les bricks l'Alceste et le Railleur avoient eu ordre de
mettre sous voile, et de se lever au vent, pour empêcher la
manœuvre de cette mouche..
Les signaux de branle bas, et de se preparer au combat,
prevenir l'armée qu'elle combattra à l'ancre, rappeller les
équipages à leurs bords respectifs, avoient eu lieu à trois
heures.
Les chaloupes qui étoient à l'aiguade avoient également
été rappellées; un canot de l'Artémise avoit été détaché
sur les bancs de Rosette, pour prevenir les transports qui y
étoient mouillés, de l'apparition de l'ennemi; et enfin, les
frégates et les corvettes avoient eu ordre de verser leurs équi-
pages sur les vaisseaux.
L'escadre ennemi continuoit de s'avancer sur toutes voiles,
après avoir donné un grand tour aux brisans qui bordent
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
227
l'islė : elle avoit tenu le vent diminué de voiles, et annon-
çoit le dessein d'attaquer notre armée.
A cinq heures trois-quarts la batterie de l'islot avoit jetté
quelques bombes qui portoient sur les vaisseaux de tête de la
ligne ennemie. A six heures moins quelques minutes, le
Général avoit fait le signal de commencer le combat, et peu
de tems après, le deux avant gardes se cannonoient.
Plusieurs vaisseaux ennemis ayant diminué tout-à-coup
de voiles, avoient doublé la tête de notre ligne, et mouillant
leurs ancres avec le cable par derrière, avoient élongé en dra-
guant notre ligne du côté de terre, tandis que les autres
mouilloient à portée de pistolet, de l'autre bord: par cette
manœuvre tous nos vaisseaux, jusqu'au Tonnant se trou-
vèrent envelloppés.
Il nous parut que deux vaisseaux, en exécutant cette ma-
nœuvre, avoient échoués; mais l'un d'eux ne tarda pas à se
retirer.
L'attaque et la défense furent extrêment vives: tous les
vaisseaux de tête, jusqu'à notre matelot derrière, étoient pris
des deux bords, et souvent par la hanche. Dans ce désordre
et envelloppé d'un nuage continuel de fumée, il eut été dif-
ficile de distinguer les mouvemens de la ligne.
Au commencement de l'action, l'Amiral, tous les officiers
majors, le commissaire ordonnateur, et un vingtaine de ti-
moniers ou autres transports se trouvoient sur la dunette,
occupées à la mousquetterie. Tous les soldats, les hommes
mêmes de la manoeuvre étoient descendus aux batteries par
ordre de l'Amiral, à celle de douze il manquoit plus de la
moitié de son équipage.
Après une heure d'action le Général fut blessé à la figure
et à la main, et étant descendu à la dunette, il fut renversé,
et tué quelque tems après sur le gaillard derrière.
Obligé de continuer à nous battre des deux bords, on
avoiť abandonné la batterée de douze, mais celles de 24 et
de 36 continuoient leur feu avec la plus grande ardeur. Le
2
228
COPIES OF
}
Franklin et le Tonnant nous paroissoient être dans une posi-
tion aussi critique que la notre.
Les vaisseaux ennemis ayant exterminé nos vaisseux de
tête, se laissoient dériver en draguant, et prenoient divers po-
sitions autour de nous. Nous
par la tête, obligé à
filer divers fois du cable cu cu grelin, pour leur présenter le
travers.
Un vaisseau cependant ennemi nous combattant par stri-
bord, et presque à toucher, avoit déjà été demâté de tout
mât, et ne tirant plus, avoit coupé son cable pour se retirer
du feu, mais obligé à nous défendre contre deux autres qui
nous foudroyoient par la hanche de babord, et de bossoir de
stribord, on avoit été obligê de refiler du cable.
La défense des batterées de 24 et 36, continuoit avec vi-
vacité, quand le feu se manifesta sur la dunette par une ex-
plosion: nous avions déjà eu le feu dans un bateau, et ayant
fait couper l'ancre, nous nous en étions préservées. Un ha-
mac et des débris enflammés avoient également été jettés
à la mer à cette troisième fois le feu avoit fait dans un in-
stant des progrès rapides et dévorans parmi tous les débris
dont la dunette étoit couverte. Les pompes d'incendie avoient
été brisées par les boulets; les bailles, et les scéaux ren-
versés.
L'ordre de cesser le feu des batteries, pour que tout le
monde se porte à faire passer de l'eau, avoit été donné; mais
l'ardeur étoit telle que, dans le tumulte, la batterie de 36
continuoit son feu. Quoique tous les officiers ordonnassent
de faire monter tout le monde en haut, l'incendie avoit fait
en peu de tems du progrès désesperant, et nous avions peu
de moyens à lui opposer.
Notre grand mât et celui d'artimon étoient tombés, et
bientôt nous ne vimes plus de salut pour le vaisseau; le feu
ayant gagné tout le gaillard derrière et même la batterie de
douze.
Le Capitaine du vaisseau, et son second étoient blessés de-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
229
puis quelque tems. Le Général Ganteaume alors donne
l'ordre d'ouvrir les robinets et d'abandonner le vaisseau.
Le feu avoit pris à environ dix heures moins un quart, et
à dix et demie le vaisseau sauta en l'air, quoiqu'on ait eu la
précaution d'ouvrir les robinets. Partie de l'équipage se
sauva sur les débris, et d'autres y périrent.
Le combat continua toute la nuit à l'arrière garde, et au
jour nous distinguames que le Guerrier, le Conquérant, le
Spartiate, l'Aquillon, le Peuple Souverain, et le Franklin
avoient amené et s'étoient rendus à l'ennemi; le Tonnant
démâté de tous mâts étoit à queue, son pavillon haut; l'Heu-
reux et le Mércure échoués furent combattus et forcés d'a-
mener dans la matinée; l'Artémise brûloit à huit heures
du matin, et la Sérieuse étoit coulée par le travers du vais-
seau de tête.
Le Guillaume Tell, le Genereux, le Timoleon, la Diane, et
la Justice, leurs pavillons haut, se cannonèrent avec quelques
vaisseaux Anglois une partie de la matinée; mais cette di-
vision, à l'exception du Timoleon, mit à la voile à 10 ou 11
heures du matin et poussa au large.
Le Timoleon se jetta sur la côte, et nous avons appris de-
puis, que le capitaine, après avoir sauvé tout son équipage,
incendia, le 16 au matin, ce vaisseau pour empêcher qu'il ne
devint la proie de l'ennemi.
Tels ont été les résultats de cette horrible affaire, et nous
les avons tracés tels qu'ils se sont présentés à notre mémoire,
n'ayant pû conserver aucun papier ni note écrite.
Le Contre Amiral GANTEAUME.
230
COPIES OF
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria, August 5t
Abstract of the Engagement which took place on the night
of the first of August, between the French Fleet, and that
of Great Britain, under the command of Rear Admiral
NELSON.
Ar two in the afternoon, the Heureux threw out a signal
of 12 sail in the W.N.W. Our men on the look out, disco-
vered them at the same time, and counted successively as
many as 16. We were not long in recognizing these vessels
to be an English squadron, composed of 14 sail of the line
and two brigs.
The enemy steered for our anchoring ground, with a press
of sail; having a brig sounding a head. The wind was N.
and rather fresh.
The two brigs, the Alceste and the Railleur, were imme-
diately ordered to make sail to windward, to prevent the
enemy's light vessel from continuing her soundings.
The signals for stowing the hammocks, and making ready
for fight; for announcing the resolution of engaging at
anchor; and for recalling the men on board their respective
ships, were all made at three.
The long boats employed in watering were also recalled:
a boat was hastily dispatched from the Artémise to the
shoals of Rosetta, to acquaint the transports there with the
appearance of the enemy; and finally, the frigates and cor-
vettes were ordered to send as many of their men as possible
on board the ships of the line.
1
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
231
12
The enemy's squadron continued to advance with a press
of sail; after standing off to a considerable distance, to avoid
the breakers on the island, it hauled its wind, shortened
sail, and clearly manifested a design to attack us.
At three quarters after five, the battery on the little island
threw some bombs, which fell into the van of the enemy's
line. At 6, the Admiral threw out the signal for commen-
cing the engagement, and shortly after, the two headmost
ships began firing.
Several of the enemy's vessels having suddenly shortened
sail, had turned the head of our line, and letting 'go their
anchors, with a cable astern, had ranged along side, between
us and the land; while others had moored themselves with-
in pistol-shot of us, on the other side! By this manœuvre,
all our vessels, as far down as the Tonnant, found themselves
completely envelloped, and placed between two fires.
It appeared to us that in executing this manœuvre, two
of their vessels had run aground: one of them, however,
was immediately got off.
The attack and the defence were extremely brisk. The
whole of our van was attacked on both sides, and sometimes
raked. In this disorder, and involved as we were in conti-
nual clouds of smoke, it was extremely difficult to distin-
guish the different movements of the line.
At the beginning of the action, the admiral, all the supe-
rior officers, the first commissary, and about twenty pilots,
and masters of transports, were on the poop of the ship,†
employed in serving the musquetry. All the soldiers, and
sailors, were ordered to the guns on the main and lower
decks: the twelve pounders were not half-manned.
After the action had lasted about an hour, the Admiral
was wounded in the body, and in the hand; he then came
* See the Charts.
+ The l'Orient.
232
COPIES OF
1
down from the poop, and a short time after, was killed on
the quarter-deck.
Obliged to defend ourselves on both sides, we gave up the
twelve pounders; but the twenty-fours, and thirty-six's kept
up their fire with all possible ardour. The Franklin and the
Tonnant appeared to be in as critical a situation as ourselves.
Q
*
The English having utterly destroyed our van, suffered
their ships to drift forward, still ranging along our line, and
taking their different stations around us: while we (MS. il-
legible) van cut off, were frequently obliged to veer away
our cable, or our hawser, to enable us to present our broad-
side to the enemy.
One of their ships, however, which lay close to us on the
starboard side totally dismasted, ceased her fire, and cut her
cable, to get out of the reach of our guns but obliged to
defend ourselves against two others who were furiously thun-
* We take the opportunity of this passage to make a few ob-
servations.
It has been said in the French papers, and repeated in our ears
usque ad nauseẩm, that the fate of the day was undecided when the
l'Orient took fire; and questions have been gravely put by the
opposition writers, and still more gravely debated, as to the pro-
bable consequences of the engagement, if that accident had not
taken place.
These patriotic gentlemen, however, may now close their well-
meant discussions: we have it, happily, in our power to decide
the question for ever, by such authority, as they neither can nor
will, we believe, be inclined to dispute. We have the authentic
and irrefragable testimony of Admiral Ganteaume, that the van
of the French fleet was in our hands before that event took place:
and we have, secondly, THE EXPRESS AUTHORITY OF CAPT.
BERRY for saying that Six of their ships had struck before the
l'Orient was perceived to be on fire; and that not only HE, BUT
EVERY OTHER OFFICER, WHO WAS IN A SITUATION OF
JUDGING, IS PERSUADED THAT THE L'ORIENT HERSELF HAD
PREVIOUSLY STRUCK TO THE BRITISH FLAG!
}
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
133
dering upon us, on the larboard quarter, and on the star-
board bow, we were again compelled to heave in some of
our cable.
The 36 and 24 pounders were still firing briskly, when an
explosion took place on the aft of the quarter-deck. We had
already had a boat on fire; but we had cut it away, and so
avoided the danger. We had also thrown a hammock, and
some other things, which were in flames, over board, but
this third time, the fire spread so rapidly and instantaneously
amongst the fragments of every kind, with which the poop
was incumbered, that all was soon in flames. The fire
pumps had been dashed to pieces by the enemy's balls, and
the tubs and buckets rendered useless.
An order was given to cease firing, that all hands might
be at liberty to bring water; but such was the ardour of the
moment, that in the tumult, the guns of the main-deck still
continued their fire. Although the officers had called all
the people between decks, aloft, the flames had in a very
short time, made a most alarming progress, and we had but
few means in our power of checking them.
Our main and mizen masts were both carried away; and
we soon saw that there was no saving the ship; the fire
having already gained the poop, and even the battery on the
quarter-deck.
The captain and second captain had been wounded some
time before. General Gantcaume therefore took upon him-
self the command, and ordered the scuttles to be opened,
and every body to quit the ship.
The fire broke out about a quarter before ten, and at half
after ten the ship blew up, although we had taken the pre-
caution to open all the water-courses,
Some of the crew
saved themselves on the wreck; the rest perished.
The action continued all the night with the ships in the
rear, and at break of day, we discovered that the Guerrier,
he Conquérant, the Spartiate, the Aquillon, the Peuple
234
COPIES OF
Souverain, and the Franklin had hauled down their colours,
and were in the possession of the enemy. The Timoleon,
with all her masts gone, was dropt astern of the fleet, her
colours still flying. The Heureux and the Mercure which
had run aground were attaked, and obliged to strike in the
morning. The Artémise was set on fire at 8 o'clock, and
the Sérieuse sunk.
The Guillaume Tell, the Genereux, the Timoleon, the
Diana, and the Justice, with their colours still flying, were
engaged with some English vessels during a part of the morn-
ing, but this division, with the exception of the Timoleon,
set their sails, about 11 o'clock, and stood off to sea.
!
The Timoleon ran ashore; and we have since heard, that
the Captain, after landing all his men, set her on fire the
next morning, to prevent her falling into the hands of the
enemy.
Such are the results of this horrible affair; and we have
detailed them as they presented themselves to our memory
not having been able to preserve à paper or note of any
kind.
:
Rear Admiral GANTEAUME,
[235]
APPENDIX.
No. I.
Translation of the Proclamation issued by BONAPARTE, in
the Arabic Language, on his landing in Egypt.
In the name of God, gracious and merciful.—There is no
N
God but God; he has no son or associate in his kingdom.
The present moment, which is destined for the punish-
ment of the Beys, has been long anxiously expected. The
Beys, coming from the mountains of Georgia and Bajars,
have desolated this beautiful country, long insulted and
treated with contempt the French Nation, and oppressed her
merchants in various ways. Bonaparte, the General of the
French Republic, according to the principles of Liberty, is
now arrived; and the Almighty, the Lord of both Worlds,
has sealed the destruction of the Beys.
Inhabitants of Egypt! When the Beys tell you the
French are come to destroy your religion, believe them not:
it is an absolute falsehood. Answer those deceivers, that they
are only come to rescue the rights of the poor from the
hands of their tyrants, and that the French adore the Su-
preme Being, and honour the Prophet and his holy Koran.
All men are equal in the eyes of God: understanding, in-
genuity, and science, alone make a difference between them:
as the Beys, therefore, do not possess any of these qualities,
they cannot be worthy to govern the country.
Yet are they the only possessors of extensive tracts of
land, beautiful female slaves, excellent horses, magnificent
palaces! Have they then received an exclusive privilege
216
APPENDIX.
from the Almighty? If so, let them produce it. But the
Supreme Being, who is just and merciful towards all man-
kind,wills that in future none of the inhabitants of Egypt shall
be prevented from attaining to the first employments and the
highest honours.-The Administration, which shall be con-
ducted by persons of intelligence, talents, and foresight, will
be productive of happiness and security. The tyranny and
avarice of the Beys have laid waste Egypt, which was for-
merly so populous and well cultivated.
The French are true Mussulmen. Not long since they
marched to Rome, and overthrew the Throne of the Pope,
who excited the Christians against the professors of Islam-
ism (the Mahometan religion). Afterwards they directed
their course to Malta, and drove out the unbelievers, who
imagined they were appointed by God to make war on the
Mussulmen. The French have at all times been the true
and sincere friends of the Ottoman Emperors, and the ene-
mies of their enemies. May the Empire of the Sultan
therefore be eternal; but may the Beys of Egypt, our op
posers, whose insatiable avarice has continually excited dis-
obedience and insubordination, be trodden in the dust, and
annihilated!
Our friendship shall be extended to those of the inhabi
tants of Egypt who shall join us, as also to those who shall
remain in their dwellings, and observe a strict neutrality;
and when they have seen our conduct with their own eyes,
hasten to submit to us; but the dreadful punishment of
death awaits those who shall take up arms for the Beys, and
against us. For then there shall be no deliverance, nor shall
any trace of them remain.
Art. 1.
All places which shall be three leagues distant
from the route of the French army, shall send one of their
principal inhabitants to the French General, to declare that
they submit, and will hoist the French flag, which is blue,
white, and red.
APPENDIX.
237
Art. 2. Every village which shall oppose the French
army shall be burned to the ground.
Art. 3. Every village which shall submit to the French,
shall hoist the French flag, and that of the Sublime Porte,
their Ally, whose duration be eternal.
Art. 4. The Cheiks and principal persons of each town
and village shall seal up the houses and effects of the Beys,
and take care that not the smallest article shall be lost.
Art. 5. The Cheiks, Cadis, and Imans, shall continue to
exercise their respective functions; aud put up their prayers,
and perform the exercise of religious worship in the mosques.
and houses of prayer. All the inhabitants of Egypt shall
offer up thanks to the Supreme Being, and put up public
prayers for the destruction of the Beys.
May the Supreme God make the glory of the Sultan of
the Ottomans eternal, pour forth his wrath on the Mame-
loucs, and render glorious the destiny of the Egyptian
Nation.
No. II.
Proclamation of BONAPARTE, Member of the National
Institute, and Commander in Chief, dated on Board
L'Orient, June 22.
Soldiers,
You are going to undertake a conquest, the effects of
which upon commerce and civilization will be incalculable.
You will give the English a most sensible blow, which
will be followed up with their destruction.
We shall have some fatiguing marches-we shall fight se-
veral battles—we shall succeed in all our enterprizes. The
Destinies are in our favour.
238
APPENDIX.
The Mamelouc Beys, who favour the English commerce
exclusively, who have injured our merchants, and who ty-
rannize over the unhappy inhabitants of the banks of the
Nile, will no longer exist in a few days after our arrival.
The people, among whom you are going to live, are Ma-
hometans. The first article of their faith is, There is no
other God but God, and Mahomet is his Prophet.' Do not
contradict them. Act with them as you did with the Jews
and with the Italians, Treat their Muftis and their Imans
with respect, as you did the Rabbis and the Bishops. You
must act with the same spirit of toleration towards the ce-
remonies prescribed by the Alcoran, that you did to the Sy-
nagogues and the Convents, to the religions of Moses and of
Jesus Christ.
1
The Roman legions protected all religions. You will find
here customs which differ from those of Europe; you must
accustom yourselves to them.
The people among whom we are going treat women dif-
ferently from us; but in every country he who violates
them is a monster!
Pillage enriches but a very few men; it dishonours us, it
destroys our resources, and it renders these people our ene-
mies, whom it is our interest to have for friends.
The first city we shall arrive at was built by Alexander,
and every step we take we shall meet with objects capable of
exciting emulation.
!
(Signed) BONAPARTE.
APPENDIX.
239
No. III.
GENERAL ORDERS.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Com-
mander in Chief.
THE
Head Quarters, on Board L'Orient, 24th Junè.
Article 1.
HÈ-Generals who shall command any detached divisions
shall order the Commissaries at war, the Paymaster of the
Division, an Officer of the Staff, and a Cheik of the country,
to seal up the public treasures, and the houses and registers
of the revenue collectors of the Mameloucs.
2.
All the Mameloucs shall be arrested, and brought to
the head quarters of the army.
3. All the towns and villages shall be disarmed.
4. All the horses shall be put in requisition, and shall be
delivered to the Chiefs of Cavalry Brigades, who shall imme-
diately cause the soldiers to be mounted; for that purpose
they carry bridles and saddles with them. Officers, of what-
ever rank, are forbidden to take any horses till the cavalry
are all mounted. The men are forbidden to change their
horses.
5. All horses fit for the Artillery shall be delivered to
the Commander of the Artillery of the Division, who will
have harness and drivers ready.
6. The camels shall be hired and placed under the direc-
tion of the Commander of the Artillery. Those which shall
be taken from the Mameloucs, or which shall be taken from
the enemy, shall be employed in transporting the artillery
and ammunition, so as to diminish as much as possible the
number of ammunition waggons. There shall be one camel
in each division, at the disposition of the Officer of Engi-
neers, to carry the instruments of the Pioneers.
240
APPENDIX.
7. Every battalion shall have two camels to carry their
baggage. The chief of Brigade and the Quarter Master
shall have one camel to carry the military chest and the re-
gisters of the corps; but they are not to have camels till the
Artillery are supplied.
8. The Commanders of Artillery and of Cavalry shall
give receipts to the Commissaries at War for the camels,
horses, &c. which they shall receive.
9. The Commissaries at War shall send an account of
the state of the camels to the Chief Commissary; the Chief
of Brigade of Cavalry shall send an account to General Du-
gua; and the Adjutant-General to the Staff.
10.
The horses and camels taken from the enemy after
a battle, and after having killed the person who was on it,
shall be paid for in the following proportion; that is to say,
louis d'ors for a horse, and six for a camel. The General
of Artillery, and the Quarter-Master-General, shall pay for
those which are delivered to their respective corps.
4
II.
When all the Cavalry is mounted, the horses are to
be sent to General Dugua, and the camels to the park of
artillery.
12.
Every soldier who shall enter into the houses of the
inhabitants to steal horses or camels, shall be punished.
(Signed) BONAPARTE.
By order of the Commander in Chief,
ALEX. BERTHIER.
APPENDIX.
241
No. IV.
Head Quarters, on Board the L'Orient, June 28th.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Com-
mander in Chief.
ORDERS.
Article 1.
THE Admiral shall have the police of the coasts, and the
ports of the countries which shall be occupied by the army.
All the regulations which he shall make, and the orders
which he shall give, shall be put in execution.
Art. 2.
The ports of Malta and Alexandria shall be or-
ganized, conformably to the Admiral's regulation, as well
as those of Corfou and Damietta.
Art. 3. Citizen Le Roy shall take upon him the office of
Commissary at Alexandria; and Citizen Vavasseur that of
Superintendant of the Artillery.
Art. 4.
The Agents of the Administration of the ports
and roads of the countries occupied by the army, shall cor-
respond with the Commissary, Le Roy; from whom they
shall immediately receive their orders.
Art. 5. All the naval stores found in the conquered coun-
tries shall be secured in the magazines of the different ports.
Art. 6. All the sailors under thirty years of age shall be
put in requisition for the fleet.
(Signed) BONAPARTE.
A true copy.
R
JAUBERT.
242
APPENDIX.
LIBERTE'.
No. V.
E'GALITE'.
ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΑ.
ΙΣΟΤΗΣ.
ARME'E D'ANGLETERRE.
ΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΑΓΓΛΙΑΣ.
Au Quartier General de Malte le 25. Εἰς τὸ Γενικὸν Κεαρτιὲς τῆς Μάλλας ταῖς
Prairial, an 6 de la République
Française.
ETAT-MAJOR-GE'NE'RAL.
ORDRE DU GENERAL EN
CHEF.
ARTICLE PREMIER.
DANS l'Eglise qui appartient aux
Grecs, les Prêtres Latins ne
pourront pas y officier.
II. Les Messes que les Prêtres
Latins ont coutume de dire dans les
Eglises Grecques, seront dites dans
les autres Eglises de la Place.
III. Il sera accordé protection
aux Juifs qui voudroient y établier
leur Synagogue.
|
|
25 Γεωπόνο χρόνο 6 τῆς Γαλλικῆς Π.-
λιτείας.
ΣΤΑ ΤΟ ΜΑΓΓΙΟΣ ΓΕΝΙΚΟΝ.
ΠΡΟΣΤΑΓΜΑ ΤΟΥ
ΑΡΧΙΣΤΡΑΤΗ ΓΟΥ.
Αρθρον Πρῶτον.
Οι Πρεσβύται Λατίνοι δέν μπορῶν πολέ
ον νὰ ἱερεργῶν εἰς ταῖς Εκκλησίαις,
ὀπᾶ ἀπαρθενεύεν τῶν Γραικῶν.
Δευτερον. Η Λειτεργίαις, ὁπᾶ συνηθίζει
οι Πρεσβύται τῶν Λατίνων νὰ ψάλλεν εἰς
ταῖς Εκκλησίαις τῶν Γραικῶν, θέλει λέγον
ται εἰς ταῖς ἄλλαις Εκκλησίαις το Τόπο.
Τρίτον. Θέλει δωθεί προστασία τῶν
Εβραίων, ὁπῦ ἤθελαν νὰ συςήσεν την Συ-
ναγωγήνες.
IV. Le Général Commandant Τέταρτον. Ο Στρατηγὸς Εξεοιαςής θέα
remerciera les Grecs de la bonne . λει εὐχαρισήσει τὲς Γραικὲς, ὀπᾶ κατοικέν
conduite qu'ils ont tenue pendant le | εἰς τὴν Μάλταν, διὰ τὴν καλὴν διαζωγὴν
Siège.
ἐπὶ ἐμεταχειρίσθησαν ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ καιρῷ τῆς
πολιορκίας.
V. Tous les Grecs des Isles de
Malte et de Gozo, et ceux des Dé-
partemens d'Ithaque, Corcyre, et de
la Mer-Egée, qui conserveroient des
relations quelconques avec la Russie,
seront condamnés à mort.
VI. Tous les Navires Grecs qui
naviguent sous le Pavillon Russe,
s'ils sont pris par les Bâtiments Fran-
çais, seront coulés bas.
Signé BONAPARTE.
Pour Copie conforme.
Le Général de Division Chef de
l'Etat-Major-Général,
Signé ALEXANDRE BERTHIER.
Pour Copie conforme.
Le Général de Division,
Signé CHABOT.
De l'imprimerie Nationale de
Corcyre.
Πέμπτον. Ολοι οἱ Γραικοὶ τῆς Νήσο
Μάλιας, καὶ Γόζας, καὶ ἐκεῖνοι τῶν Πολιτο-
μεριδίων τῆς Ιθάκης, Κερκύρας, καὶ Αἰγαίν
Πελάγες, ὑπὸ ἤθελε ἔχει κάθε λογῆς ἀνα-
φορὰν μὲ τὴν Ρεσσίαν, θέλει παιδευθῶν
διὰ θανάτε.
Εκλον. Ολα τὰ Μπασιμίνα τῶν Γραι
κῶν, ὁπῦ Ἰαξιδεύων μὲ Ρωσσικὴν Σημαίαν
(Μπαντιέρα), ἐὰν πιασθῶν ἀπὸ τὰ Φραν-
τζίζικα Καράβια, θέλει καταβυθισθεν.
Υ' ποΓραμμένο
ΜΠΟΝ ΑΠΑ'ΡΤΕΣ.
Εξ ἀπαραλλάκια Α' ιΓράφει
Ο Στρατηγὸς τῆς Διαιρέσεως, Α'ρχηγός το
Στάλε Μα ιός Γενικέ,
Υπογραμμένο
ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ ΜΠΕΡΤΙΕ
Ε'ξ ἀπαραλλάκις Α' Γράφε
Ο Στρατηγὸς 1ης Διαιρέσεως
Υπογραμμένο
ΣΑΜΠΟ.
Από την 18 Γένες Τυπογραφίαν ἐν
Κερκύρα.
APPENDIX.
243
(TRANSLATION.)
EQUALITY.
LIBERTA.
EGUAGLIANZA.
ARMATA D'INGHILTERRA.
Al Quartier Generale di Malta li
25 Pratile, Anno 6 della Repub-
lica Francese.
STATO MAGGIORE GENE.
RALE.
ORDINE DEL GENERALE IN
CAPO.
ARTICOLO PRIMO.
NELLE Chiese, che appartengono
ai Greci, i Preti Latini non po-
tranno più officiarvi.
II. Le Messe, che i Preti Latini
costumano di dire nelle Chiese
Greche, saranno dette nelle altre
Chiese della Piazza.
III. Sarà accordata protezione agli
Ebrei, che volessero stabilirvi la loro
Sinagoga.
IV. Il General Comandante rin-
grazierà i Greci stabiliti a Malta,
della buona condotta, che tennero
durante l'Assedio.
V. Tutti i Greci delle Isole di
Malta, e di Gozo, e quelli dei Di-
partimenti d'Itaca, Corcira, e Mar
Egeo, che conserveranno delle rela-
zioni qualunque colla Russia saranno
puniti di morte.
VI. Tutti i Bastimenti Greci,
che navigano con Paviglione Russo,
se sono presi dai Bastimenti Fran-
cesi, saranno colati a fondo.
Sotoscritto BONAPARTE.
Per Copia conførme.
Il General di Divisione Capo dello
Stato Maggior Generale,
Sotoscritto
ALESSANDRO BERTHIER.
Per Copia conforme.
Il General di Divisione,
Sotoscritto CHABOT.
Dalla Stamperia Nazionale di
Corcira.
LIBERTY.
ARMY OF ENGLAND.
Head Quarters at Malta, June
13tb.
ETAT-MAJOR-GENERAL.
ORDERED BY THE COMMAN-
DER IN CHIEF.
ARTICLE I.
No Latin Priest shall officiate in
any Church appropiated to the
Greeks.
II. The Masses which the Latin
Priests have been accustomed to say
in the Greek Churches shall be said
in the other Greek Churches of the
Fort.
III. Protection shall be granted
to the Jews who may be desirous of
establishing their Synagogue there.
IV. The General Commandant
shall thank the Greeks for their good
conduct during the Siege.
V. All the Greeks of the Islands
of Malta and Gozo, and those of the
Departments of Ithaca, Corcyra, and
of the Egean Sea, who shall maintain
any connection whatever with Russia,
shall be put to death!!!
VI. All the Greek vessels which
sail under Russian colours, if they
fall into the hands of the French,
shall be sent to the bottom!!!
(Signed) BONAPARTE.
A true Copy.
The General of Division, and
Chief of the Staff,
(Signed) ALEXANDER BERTHIER.
A true Copy.
The General of Division,
(Signed) CHABOT.
From the National Press at Corcyra.
(Corfou.)
R 2
244
APPENDIX.
•
No. VI.
Head Quarters, on Board the L'Orient, June 28th.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute.
}
ORDERS.
Article 1.
THIS and the three following Articles relate solely to the
disposition of the transports, and, therefore, are not trans-
lated.
Art. 5.
All the French sailors on board the transport
vessels, shall be taken for the service of the fleet. Egyptian
sailors shall be taken for the transports.
Art. 6. All the vessels which shall return to Europe shall
have no more hands on board than are absolutely necessary.
of what nation soever they may be the surplus shall be put
on board the fleet.
(Signed) BONAPARTE.
No. VII.
A true copy.
JAUBERT.
Alexandria, July the
6th Year of the Republic
One and Indivisible, the of the Month of
Muharrem, the Year of the Hegira 1213.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Com-
mander in Chief.
For a long time the Beys, who govern Egypt, have in-
R
sulted the French nation, and covered her merchants with
injuries the hour of their chastisement is come.
APPENDIX.
245
For too long a time this rabble of slaves, purchased in
Caucasus, and in Georgia, has tyrannized over the fairest
part of the world; but God, on whom every thing depends,
has decreed that their empire shall be no more.
People of Egypt! you will be told that I am come to de-
stroy your religion: do not believe it. Reply, that I am
come to restore your rights, to punish usurpators; and, that
I reverence more than the Mameloucs themselves, God, his
prophet Mahomet, and the Koran!
Wisdom,
Tell them that all men are equal before God.
talents, and virtue, are the only things which make a diffe
rence between them.
•
Now, what wisdom, what talents, what virtues, have the
Mameloucs, that they should boast the exclusive posses-
sion of every thing that can render life agreeable?
If Egypt is their farm, let them shew the lease which God
has given them of it! But God is just and merciful to the
people.
All the Egyptians shall be appointed to all the public si-
tuations. The most wise, the most intelligent, and the most
virtuous, shall govern; and the people shall be happy.
There were formerly among you great cities, great canals,
and a great commerce. What has destroyed them all?
What! but the avarice, the injustice, and the tyranny of the
Mameloucs.
Cadis, Cheiks, Imans, Tchorbadgis! tell the people that
we are the friends of the true Mussulmen. Is it not us,
who have destroyed the Pope; who said that it was neces-
sary to make war on Mussulmen! Is it not us, who have
destroyed the Knights of Malta, because these madmen be-
lieved that it was the good pleasure of God, that they should
make war on Mussulmen? Is it not us, who have been in
all ages the friends of the Grand Seignior, (on whose desires
be the blessing of God!) and the enemy of his enemies?
And, on the contrary, have not the Mameloucs always re-
246
APPENDIX.
volted against the authority of the Grand Seignior, which
they refuse to recognize at this moment?
Thrice happy those who shall be with us! they shall
prosper in their fortune and their rank. Happy those who
shall be neutral! they shall have time to know us tho-
roughly, and they will range themselves on our side.
But woe, woe, woe, to those who shall take up arms in
favour of the Mameloucs, and combat against us! There
shall be no hope for them: they shall all perish.
(Signed) BONAPARTE.
A true copy.
(Signed) BERTHIER.
No. VIII.
A general Copy for the Executive Directors.
Head Quarters, Alexandria, July 3d.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Com-
mander in Chief.
ORDERS.
Article 1.
ALL the people of Alexandria, of what nation soever they
may be, shall be obliged, twenty-four hours after the publi-
cation of the present Order, to depose, in a place` marked
out by the Commander of the town, all their fire-arms.
The Muftis, the Imans, and the Cheiks, alone shall be per-
mitted to keep their arms, and to bear them.
Art. 2. All the inhabitants of Alexandria, of what na-
tion soever they may be, shall be obliged to wear the tri-
APPENDIX.
247
coloured cockade. The Muftis alone shall have the privi-
lege of wearing a tri-coloured shawl. The Commander in
Chief, however, reserves to himself the right of granting
the same favour to such of the Cheiks as shall distinguish
themselves by their knowledge, their prudence, and their
virtue.
Art. 3. The troops shall pay military honour to every
one who, in consequence of the preceding article, shall wear
a tri-coloured shawl; and whenever such persons shall visit
the superior officer, or any of the constituted authorities,
they shall be received with all the respect which is due to
them.
Art. 4. Foreign Agents, to what power soever they may
belong, are expressly prohibited from displaying their flags
on their terrasses. The Consuls alone shall have the privi-
lege of writing over their doors the nature of their employ:
" CONSUL OF
""
Art. 5. The present Order shall be translated, without
delay, into Arabic, and communicated to the most distin-
guished inhabitants. The Cheriff shall have it proclaimed.
through the town, that every one may be obliged to con-
form to it.
(Signed) BONAPARTE.
248
APPENDIX.
Army of
England.
I
No. IX.
Head Quarters, Cairo, July 27tb.
To Admiral BRUEYS.
SEND you, Citizen Admiral, some Mamelouc prisoners,
whose names are subjoined. You will have the goodness to
receive them on board one of the ships of the squadron, and
to send them to France by the first opportunity.
Health and fraternity.
ALEX. BERTHIER,
Names of the Mamelouc Prisoners.
Hassan,
Mamelouc.
Ibrahim,
Mamelouc.
Hali,
id.
Murat,
id.
Murat,
id.
Soliman,
id.
Juseph,
id.
Hali,
id.
Acmet,
id.
Mahomet,
id.
Haly,
id.
Chahin,
id.
No. X.
Head Quarters, on board the L'Orient, July 1.
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Institute, Comman-
der in Chief, to the Commander of the Caravel, at Alex-
andria.
THE Beys have loaded our merchants with exactions, and
I am come to demand reparation.
I shall be at Alexandria to-morrow; but this ought not
to alarm you. You are a subject of our great friend, the
Sultan; conduct yourself accordingly; but if you commit
the slightest act of hostility against the French army, I shall
treat you as an enemy, and you will have no one to blame
for it but yourself; for such a thing is far from my inten
tion, and from my heart.
Yours,
BONAPARTE.
FINIS.
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THE SECOND EDITION CORRECTED, OF
ARGUMENTS
FOR AND AGAINST
AN
UNION
BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
CONSIDERED.
1
:
N°1
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Le caire le
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Engraved for the Second Part of the Intercepted Correspondence,
parin pollie webtion des besartheidich
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fanta alastine mutitane decelle armies.
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N° 2
London Published March 31799 by JWright Piccadilly.
!
COPIES
OF
ORIGINAL LETTERS
FROM THE ARMY OF
GENERAL BONAPARTE
IN
EGYPT,
INTERCEPTED
BY THE
FLEET
UNDER THE COMMAND OF
ADMIRAL LORD NELSON.
PART THE SECOND.
WITH AN
ENGLISH TRANSLATION·
THIRD EDITION.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. WRIGHT, OPPOSITE OLD
BOND-STREET, PICCADILLY.
1799.
[Entered at Stationers' Hall.]
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE.
No. I. and II. are Fac-similes of Bonaparte's writing,
correctly made from a letter to his brother. (See p. 100.)
No. III. is his Seal.
No. IV. is a Fac-simile of Lord Nelson's writing, taken
from an indorsement, made by him on the cover of Bo-
naparte's letter. This, we believe, will be seen with
interest by every Englishman. There is a pretty story
of a Spartan matron, who, hearing her son grieve at his
lameness, occasioned by a wound received in battle, said
to him," Do not repine, my son, at your lameness,
"since every step you take, will put you in mind that
"you have done your duty." We believe Lord Nelson.
never grieved at his wounds; but if ever he feel mortified.
at his writing, his country may put itself in the place of
the Spartan matron, and say to him," Do not repine,
66
my son, at your writing, since every letter you form
"will put you in mind that you have lost your right arm
"in my service."
No. V. is a Fac-simile of Berthier's writing.
INTRODUCTION.
THE Public are here presented with a Second Part
of the Correspondence of the "Army of the East,"
-intercepted, like the first, by the joint vigilance
of the Turkish and English governments, and laid
before them from the motives already detailed.
The situation of the French troops, so faithfully
delineated in the former letters,* their losses by
fatigue and sickness, by open and secret warfare;
A
* One thing has struck us, in looking over these Letters,
as a singularity not easily to be accounted for. It is, that
amidst the mass of correspondence which has fallen into our
hands at different times, there should not be a single letter,
no, not a single line, from any man in the ranks! the officers
only write, the officers only pour out their sufferings and re-
grets to their friends; while the men who have been fre-
quently on the point of mutinying, who have suffered hard-
ships which have driven thousands of them to deeds of
desperation; who have been betrayed, and led to disgrace
and ruin through intolerable torments, rema n wholly silent!
How is this? are they interdicted from writing, lest they
should disclose too much? Are they--but we can form no
satisfactory conjecture on the subject.
a
}
ii
INTRODUCTION.
their utter incapacity of advancing or retreating,
their anguish, their despair, and their piercing
exclamations at finding themselves thus blindly
driven into the toils; would, we imagined, have
convinced the most incredulous, that their dreams
of conquest must be over, and that their active ope-
rations in future would necessarily be confined to
struggling with the mob of Cairo for a wretched
morsel of bread, till the periodical return of the
endemial diseases should sweep them away for
ever.
But we had ill calculated the perverse obstinacy
of Jacobinism. The French, and their faithful
echos in this country,* still persist in representing
*No point is so clearly ascertained as that the troops left
in possession of Alexandria are absolutely without money, and
in a condition little short of starving; yet the Morning Chro-
nicle, which, with the eyes of a lynx, examines the French
papers for consolatory matter respecting the fate of the Egyp-
tian Expedition, has produced the following paragraphs:
<<
Alexandria, Nov. 8th,
"We are very well here, and very tranquil. We have
good cheer, and are well paid; besides my pay as a General,
"I am allowed 1500 franks a month for my table”!!!
Morning Chronicle, Feb. 4,
Bravo! General Manscourt. Now for Bonaparte.
"Letters from Constantinople confess, at length, that
"there is no prospect of Buonaparte's failing in his object of
INTRODUCTION.
iii
Bonaparte as triumphant; as now threatening
India, now in tranquil possession of Palestine and
Syria, and now ready, in the words of that atheis-
tical driveller Volney, "to skirt the north of the
Black Sea, and fall like thunder upon the Da-
nube"!
It has been thought expedient, therefore, to have
recourse to a second selection of Letters from sub-
sequent captures. These, though not ALL pos-
terior in date to those already published, carry
on the awful history of this devoted armament,
in so full and explicit a manner, that whatever
doubts ignorance, scepticism, and malevolence
henceforth indulge, they will no longer be
may
<<
establishing a settlement in Egypt. He is daily more and
"more consolidating his power, and reconciling the inhabi-
"tants to his army. Numbers have joined his standard, and
"the Beys no longer molest him"!!!
Morning Chronicle, March 8th.
In a subsequent paper we are informed, " that the General
has 30,000 regular troops under his command, and an auxi-
liary army of 50,000 more, composed of Copts and Druses"!
also, “that he has embarked 400 sailors," (why not as many
thousands ?) on the Red Sea," to seize the Malabar Coast,
we presume, previous to the arrival of the rest of the fleet.
How much of this precious information is due to the
vigorous fancy of the Morning Chronicle, we know not;
but the following hint appeared in that paper on the 23d:
"It has been observed, that the French have not lately pub-
lished any intelligence respecting Buonaparte"! Macts—
1
2 2
iv
INTRODUCTION.
forward to express them.
Europe will thus be
suffered to attend to her more immediate con-
cerns, without having her fears excited, or her
safety threatened, by the fictitious atchievements
of an army that can never return to molest her,
and that has long since, perhaps, " ceased to
exist.'
99
When we published the First Part of these Let-
ters, we were not unaware of their importance (of
which we shall presently speak), nor without con-
siderable expectations of their extensive circula-
tion. But how infinitely short haye our most san-
guine hopes fallen of the reality! Besides the
prodigious numbers that have been disposed of
in Great Britain and Ireland, large editions have
been printed at Hamburgh, Francfort, and other
towns on the Continent;-thus no corner of
Europe is without a certain portion of informa-
tion respecting the expedition, on the success
and issue of which, the unbiassed reader may
speculate with a degree of probability seldom
hoped for in these cases, and still less seldom at-
tained.
In France, too, the letters, notes, &c. have
been republished, and, as it is said, with counter
notes. These we have not yet seen; but we have
been favoured with a REVIEW of the original
INTRODUCTION.
V
observations by the authors of the " Decade Philo-
sophique et Literaire." To this we had prepared a
reply, "from a full flowing stomach," when it
struck us, that the French editor and translator,
Citizen E. T. SIMON, had not improbably, so-
phisticated the original; for on no other principle
could we account for the false and calumnious
strictures of these critics. We know the caution
necessary to be observed by gentlemen who, in
"the freest of all possible Republics," write with
the Cayenne Diligence at the door, and are prepar-
ed to make every reasonable allowance for it; but
when the dread of that vehicle induces them to
fabricate or suppress evidence at will—quæ de-
deramus supra repetimus-we recall our indul-
gence, and judge of their proceedings with all
the inflexibility of justice. There is, indeed, a
possibility (as we have already observed) that the
Letters have not been fairly laid before them; and
we therefore withhold our remarks, till we shall
have received the Paris edition.
We observe, that the immediate agents of the
Directory are much displeased at the terms in
which we speak of the Army of the East. This
is well. When we speak, or even think, of the
perpetrators of such unheard of cruelties as these
men have committed in Italy and Egypt, without
vi
INTRODUCTION.
the keenest indignation, may we meet the contempt
of every good man, and still worse, the applause
of all we despise and detest!
The French, as the poor Cardinal Antici once
observed, "know how to distinguish;" but we
are not solicitous of their notice. Without con-
sidering what effect our strictures might have on
them, or caring whether they had any, we deli-
vered a plain, unvarnished tale. Our authorities
were submitted to the world; and if the fair
conclusions we drew from them have, as their
writers say, contributed to make their countrymen
feared and hated in every part of Europe, we sin-
cerely rejoice at it. This was the point we had in
view: but we took no crooked or indirect means
to attain it—and since a faithful narrative of their
enormities, recorded by their own pens, has had
the salutary effect of which their politicians speak,
the Egyptian expedition cannot be regarded in fu-
ture as wholly useless.
Of the motives for this expedition a pretty
ample account has been given in the Introduction
to the former Part. We have, therefore, nothing
to add here on the subject, but a simple declara-
tion, that all we have since heard and seen con-
cerning it, serves but to corroborate our former
opinion, and to place it almost beyond the
pos-
INTRODUCTION.
vii
sibility of doubt. THE ARMY OF THE EAST WAS
CERTAINLY MEANT TO BE SACRIFICED.
"But how," say the French critics (for they
-labour this point with uncommon earnestness
"how can this be true, when the son of the Di-
"rector Merlin was embarked in it?" This we
did not know before; but n'importe—if the Di-
rector Merlin himself had been embarked, instead
of his son, we should not have varied one jot in
our opinion. We never said, indeed we never
supposed, that Bonaparte and Berthier were doom-
ed to destruction with the rest; and we see no phy-
sical impossibility in completing the trio of sacro-
sancts with the "son of the Director Merlin.'
"But who can imagine for a moment,” con-
tinue they, "that the Directory, so sensible of·
"the merits of their armies, and so attentive to
their happiness, could wantonly destroy them?
"No one; the thing is impossible."
These gentlemen have a triumphant way of
putting their questions; they grow impatient too,
like Sisera's mother, and answer themselves. But
we are not quite so rapid. If they would consent
to reduce their proposition to a logical form, we
should strenuously deny the major, and force them
to begin a-new. But seriously; where does this
attention of the Directory to the happiness of their
viii
INTRODUCTION.
armies appear? In their treatment of that in ques-
tion, peradventure. Hear then the speech of Bo-
naparte to it, on the day of its embarkation for
Egypt.
"Officers and Soldiers!
"It is now some time since I have had the
"command of you. I found you on the live of
"Genoa, IN A STATE OF THE UTMOST MISERY: YOU
་ ་
WERE IN WANT OF EVERY THING; AND YOU HAD
SACRIFICED EVEN YOUR VERY WATCHES TO PRO-
CURE YOURSELVES BREAD"!!!-This is one glo-
rious proof, among a thousand, of the sensibility
of the government of France to the merits of their
armies, and of the interest they take in their hap-
piness!
Having completed our preliminary remarks,
it may not be amiss, perhaps, to recapitulate,
but in the briefest manner, the atchievements of
the "Hero of Italy," and the army he thus
harangued. BONAPARTE lands in the neighbour-
hood of Alexandria, professing his "faith in
"the CORAN, and his inviolable regard for the
"TURKS;" he then marches against that city,
which is wholly garrisoned by TURKS, and which
he forbears to summon,* that he may have a pre-
text for carrying it by assault and giving it up to
* See Adjutant-General Boyer's letter, Part First, p. 132.
INTRODUCTION.
ix
plunder and indiscriminate slaughter for the space
of four hours!* Streaming with blood, he then
pro-
claims, that he is come to restore the Egyptians
to the full possession of their property, which had
been invaded by the Beys, their oppressors ;" and
sets out for Cairo without money or provisions,
trusting entirely to pillage for the subsistence of
his
army!" The villages of the Egyptians" (say
all the letters public and private), "were sur-
rounded with heaps of grain, while their little
fields were full of nutritive and refreshing vege-
tables." ARE THEY SO NOW? Now, that the en-
lightened propagators of the Rights of Man have
rescued their inhabitants from the "oppression of
the Beys"? Ah, no! the fields are stripped of
every thing, and the heaps of grain carried off, to
exchange for more portable plunder, + and to pay
for the hire of the transports which imported this
exterminating plague.
* See Part First, p. 150. We take this opportunity of
correcting a mistake which we fell into respecting this
letter (No. XXII.) From the difficulty of making out the
writing, we attributed it to Adjutant-General Boyer, for so
we read the name. We are now convinced that it was Royer,
having since seen a letter of General Berthier's, in which this
officer is frequently mentioned. The reader will, therefore,
have the goodness to correct this misnomer, and wherever
the XXII. letter is quoted, to insert Royer instead of Boyer.
+ See Bonaparte's letter to Kleber, Part First, p. 63.
1
x
INTRODUCTION.
Still tormented with the thirst of rapine, Bo-
naparte has scarce taken possession of Cairo, after
defeating the Mameloucs, ere he proceeds with
the major part of his harassed forces, to seize on
the caravan. Baffled in this attempt by the supe-
rior gallantry of his opponents, he returns to his
former position; where, in the utmost distress for
money to quiet the clamours of his troops, who
had received no pay since they left Toulon, he at-
tempts to revive a farce which he had frequently
exhibited in Italy, with too much success.
selects a few wretches from the dregs of the
poor
He
populace, cloaths them in tri-coloured scarfs, dig-
nifies them with the name of Cheiks and Agas,
and thrusts them together into a large room,
where they are told they constitute a DIVAN; and
where, under the tuition of the General, and the
bayonets of the soldiery, they are to proceed with
due gravity to pass decrees for levying contribu-
tions, and despoiling their countrymen of their
lives and properties in the name of LIBERTY,
EQUALITY, and FRANCE!
The extreme ignorance of Bonaparte respecting
the manners, habits, &c. of the Eastern nations,
prevented him from discovering that the miserable
objects he had chosen for the government of Egypt
(Coptic scribes and Jew pedlars), were precisely
INTRODUCTION.
xi
the people to render it impracticable and hateful.
The contempt with which this description of per-
sons has been treated for ages, and the odium with
which they are universally regarded, are scarce
secrets to a school-boy out of France-and Bona-
parte and his Savans had yet to learn them! They
were learned however; for no earthly power could
force the people of the country to pay the slightest
attention to the mandates of such a ridiculous set of
bearded automatons :"* and the General, whose
wants became hourly more urgent, saw himself
reduced to the necessity of assembling a more re-
spectable Divan.
From this moment all is doubt and uncer-
tainty. A general insurrection seems to have fol-
lowed this meeting: but its immediate causes and
consequences are yet to be developed. Not a
single official letter has reached Europe since it
took place, and the few private ones which have
come to hand are more calculated to provoke than
to satisfy the public curiosity. It only appears
that hundreds, perhaps thousands, fell on each
side; but whether the French ultimately pre-
vailed, and have to look to a second insurrection
for their final extermination, or whether they
were cut off in that of which we speak, is a mat-
See Royer's letter, Part First, p. 162.
xii
INTRODUCTION.
ter of which this part of the world remains at
present in perfect ignorance. Our own opinion
is, that the " Army of the East" is by this
time a shadow of a shade; and that among the
few which may yet reach France after the recap-
ture of Alexandria (an event that must speedily
take place) not one will be found who shared in
the "immortal battle of the Pyramids," or the
triumphant “expedition to the confines of Syria”!
"But the French," exclaim the Jacobins,
"have received recent intelligence from Egypt,
and they tell us the army is in a more flourishing
state than ever." No doubt of it!-but we are
pleased with the interruption, because it gives us
an opportunity of making a few remarks for the
first and last time, on the subject of their boasted
intelligence.
We begin then with a bold assertion—it is,
that, with the exception of such packets as were
on board the Généreux, and which might; reach
Paris by the way of Ancona, THE DIRECTORY
HAVE NOT RECEIVED A SINGLE ORIGINAL DISPATCH,
NOR THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE A SINGLE ORIGINAL
LETTER FROM THE ARMY OF THE EAST, SINCE THE
CAPTURE OF MALTA. The first dispatches of Bo-
naparte and Berthier were taken by the Turks and
sent to Constantinople. There the Porte per-
INTRODUCTIOŃ.
xiii
mitted them to be copied by the different embas-
sadors; and those who are acquainted with the
politics of one of the Northern courts, who know
that the French have an active agent in every one
of its ministers, will not be long at a loss for
the manner in which they reached the Directory.
Private letters (that is to say, copies of them) have
found their way to France through the same chan-
nel; for most of the originals are in this country.
The uncontroulable dominion which we possess
in the Mediterranean, and the annihilation of the
French flag in that sea, have rendered what was
before a matter of extreme difficulty, almost an
impossibility. All the intercepted letters are full
of complaints of the want of intelligence: none
is received, and none is sent, unless to be taken
before their eyes by our cruizers. Nay, so com-
pletely are the French in Egypt secluded from the
world, that even in their last letters we find them
altogether ignorant of the three events which most
concern them, the hostility of the Turks, the revolt
of the Maltese, and the renewal of the war in Italy!
Bonaparte himself ("the undisturbed possessor
of Egypt," as he is styled) is so sensible of the
innumerable obstacles which oppose his commu-
nicating with France, that he has long since ceased
to attempt it in the usual way. From the period
*
xiv
INTRODUCTION.
of his defeat by Ibrahim Bey, he has ceased
writing altogether, and has had recourse to the
press. His official papers of every kind are printed
in great numbers, and trusted to itinerant Syrians,
Jews, &c. who frequent the Egyptian marts, and
who are paid for conveying them secretly to Scan-
deroon, Berut, or St. John d'Acre, in hopes of
finding some neutral vessel there that will under-
take to forward them to France. We have now
before us several copies of the General's last dis-
patches, which were discovered plaited into the
clothes of a Jew at Acre. Others have found
their way to Constantinople, and from thence to
France. But we would ask our readers, if they
can desire a stronger proof of the dreadful situa-
tion to which Bonaparte is reduced, than this ex-
pedient,―savouring so strongly of despair?
We must not permit this second selection of
intercepted letters to go into the hands of the
public without expressing our decided opinion
of the importance of the matter they contain,
and the signal benefits that will be derived from
them to the cause of political history. This,
indeed, we shall do with the greater readiness,
as the tendency of the publication has been un-
observed by some, and perverted by others. The
ill-informed, and careless have been able to
INTRODUCTION.
XV
discover but little in it; the secretly mortified
have affected to ask "cui bono?" while the tho-
rough-paced Jacobin, anxious only for the credit
of France, has boldly ventured on that from which
French confidence itself has shrunk, and unblush-
ingly questioned its authenticity.* The last class
of critics we、may safely leave to the judgment of
all who are capable of receiving a sincere impres-
sion from truth, and return to the object which
was first announced.
There have been former expeditions to the coast
of Africa; though conducted upon principles dif-
fering toto cœlo from that systematic plan of rob-
bery and proscription which seems to have directed
the present. The nearest approach they make to
each other, is in the miseries they have endured in
common. How much more impressive would be
our remembrance of the second voyage of Charles
V. and of the miserable adventure of Don Sebas-
tian, if one of the armies had poured out (through
the medium of an "Intercepted Correspondence")
its lamentations on the storm which so nearly
destroyed the whole fleet, and with it, every hope
of returning and the other vented its terror (so
dreadfully justified by the event) of the implacable
hostility of Muley Moluch! But they wrote no
* See the Morning Chronicle.
xvi
INTRODUCTION.
enemy
letters, or, if they did, there was no vigilant
at hand to capture them. It was reserved
by Providence for a master nation, in after times,
to suffer the long meditated scheme of blood to be
carried a certain length towards its completion;
then to close the fatal passage on the heels of the
emboldened invaders, and not only to cut them
suddenly off from every hope, but to hold forth
to the present age, and to all posterity, the alarm
and self-condemnation of the perpetrators of the
guilt!
And even if we looked at the Correspondence
with no higher view, never surely was there a
more interesting one submitted to the eye of the
reader. Every man must recollect how his feel-
ings have been checked, while a uniformity of
narration has deadened the interest which should
naturally spring from events of infinite variety
and moment. But HERE our liveliness of percep-
tion never abates, nor is our animation ever suf-
fered to languish. Not only are facts of the ut-
most importance described, but (what is rarely ta
be found in common history) the existing opi-
nions concerning them. All the writers are
pouring forth their undisguised thoughts on the
hazard of their situation, into the bosoms of their
families and friends. Their hopes and fears, their
INTRODUCTION.
xvii
credulity and repentance, their distress and their
presumption, all pass in quick and various review.
Their entire condition is before us;-quicquid
agunt, votum, timor, ira—in short, there is all
but the voluptas.
We turn, however, to a more serious object,
and wish to point out the peculiar uses to be drawn
from this Correspondence.
There is no instance on record in which the
history of a most important expedition has been
given, not only with such truth and dispatch, but
with so much salutary conviction for the future
repose and safety of mankind. That some who
have led, and some who have followed armies,
have described their operations is most certain.
But the vanity of one man, the error or interest
of another, affords but a slender ground (compa-
ratively speaking) on which to build historical
confidence; and in proportion as we recede from
the unbiassed testimony of numbers, the chance of
truth is lessened. This seems but a common re-
mark; but we shall have more than a common
use for it when the campaigns of Bonaparte in
Italy shall be given us (as has long been threat-
ened) from "AUTHORITY.'
Unfortunately there is no
spondence" from that army;
b
2
66
intercepted corre-
nothing, therefore,
xviii
INTRODUCTION.
remains to oppose to the "authority" which is to
overawe us but the settled incredulity of the intel-
ligent, against French falsehood labouring to dig-
nify and adorn French cruelty and rapine. But
if ever the Egyptian expedition should be officially
described by the authors of it, (of which we have
no doubt) and the mischiefs and miseries of it,
sunk or glossed over by the terrified and prostitute
"Savans," (and of this we have as little doubt,)
THEN Will these Letters rise up in judgment against
them!-THEN will the original depravity of the
plan be distinctly seen with the fatality of its exe-
cution! What began in iniquity ended in ruin.
Unceasing anxiety and distress marked every stage
of the accursed work, till the love of blood and
plunder finally sunk under the dreadful chastise-
ment it had voluntarily provoked.
And this leads us to the important consequences
to be derived to the world, not only from the failure
of the adventure, but from the declarations of the
adventurers themselves concerning it. We scruple
not to say, that if any thing is hereafter to preserve
Egypt from the restlessness of French rapacity, it
will be these collections of "intercepted letters."
They "speak daggers" though they use none."
And surely, if the total unprofitableness of the
country which has been coveted by them for so
E
INTRODUCTION.
xix
many ages; and the execrations of a whole army,
or those who sent them to certain destruction, have
any power to deter-this will be the LAST ATTEMPT
on the ever hostile sands of Africa.
One word more. The reader of these Letters
(especially if he has been accustomed to interest
himself in the events of other times), cannot but
be struck with that petty air of antiquarianism,
that small dealing in historical virtù, which so
many of them exhibit, and which, perhaps, will
be found to distinguish the French nation in most
of their excursions, whether in peace or war. But
though we should only smile if conversation were
disfigured, or correspondence unseasonably usurp-
ed by the affectation of such attainments, we must
be serious when the repose of mankind is sacrificed
to the never-ending pretensions of exorbitant power,
purposely disguised in the pursuits of a college of
Savans." We may safely allow some captain
(p. 63.),bursting with his new acquirements, to
describe to his wondering correspondent the "Py-
ramids, commonly called the Needles of Cleo-
patra"! We may safely allow his more mature
intelligence to correct a " vulgar error," (p. 62.)
and restore to Severus the pillar unjustly claimed
by Pompey! It had already been allowed to
b 2
XX
INTRODUCTION.
MONGE (who, as Bonaparte affirmed of him, was
an "excellent judge of such matters"), to stand
on the undoubted ruins of the Palace of Ulysses,
and to trace out the true spot where old Laertes
pruned his vines.-But what shall we say if Trea-
ties themselves are subjected to the influence of
these vague pursuits? If a Peace with one power
is to be determined by the exact boundaries (if
any soul can find them) of the NORIC Alps;*
and a piece of territory belonging to another is
to be purloined through a critical disquisition of
the ancient bed of the Rhine? These are dark
demands, but the object of them is sufficiently
clear; confusion is rendered eternal. Ere the
truth can be ascertained, Europe is exhausted
with war, or nations resting on their arms, wait
upon a never-ending congress of antiquarians!
They stake the public tranquillity upon conjec-
tures, which being exerted on things compounded
in a mass, rather than singly presented in any
determinate order, are necessarily devoid of pre-
cision. But their purpose is answered by it. Upon
these doubts they graft substantial power. They
* Private and more profitable reasons made them forego
this restriction first laid upon the Emperor. The claim upon
Prussia is not yet decided. When will it ?
INTRODUCTION.
xxi
go to war with Cluverius in their hands; and pub-
lic rapine is thus made to spring from an anti-
quated system of geography!
But we turn from their rapacity in Europe to
their folly in Egypt. A great discovery is now
made, which is to crown all the political preten-
sions hitherto drawn from the lucubrations of the
NATIONAL INSTITUTE! The line of the canal is
found which formerly joined the Red Sea to the
Pelusiac branch of the Nile., Commerce is at
length to be restored to its "wonted freedom,"
between the Eastern ocean, and the wealth of In-
dia is to be transferred to the new possessors of Da-
mietta! Euge! But to be serious. If the timidity
of
any person has for a moment been alarmed at
this menace to the prosperity of his country, he
may calm himself with the assurance, that at no
period of the world was the commerce of the East
maintained through the channel which is now
about to ruin us. That there was such a project in
antiquity, as that of opening the communication
of which we speak, is an historical truth: that
there was an attempt at the execution of it, is no
less true. The advantages which attended the
building of Alexandria were still disputed in some
degree, by that part of the Syrian coast to which
the trade of the East had found its way from a
xxii
INTRODUCTION.
very remote time: and the second Ptolemy seems
to have planned the scheme in question, in order
to decide the affair at once, by establishing a com-
petition of a carriage of goods entirely by water
against another of a mixed kind.
That Egypt usurped the trade of its rival is
certain; but it was not through the fancied canal
of Suez. That canal was never finished; or, if we
allow it to have been completed, it was speedily
abandoned, as not answering the purpose for
which it was intended. The navigation was
either too tedious or too dangerous; and, so far
from being the favourite resort of commerce dur-
ing successive ages, was suddenly stopped by the
very man who had planned it. In what more
convenient spot a port for the Eastern trade was
afterwards prepared, it does not belong to us to
say. It is sufficient to have proved that the
present plan is a chimæra. If Le Pere, and his
engineers (p. 88) would but look into Strabo-
but this we will not expect. We rather refer
them to a countryman of their own, whom they
would have done well to take in their pockets in-
stead of Savary. They will find in M. Ameil-
hon, one of their old Academicians, due men-
*
* Sur le Commerce des Egyptiens. The reader will find
the first part of it abounding with that amplification of doubt-
INTRODUCTION.
xxiii
tion made of the fallacious work they are about to
revive, and of the subsequent removal of the trade
to another place-a place much more distant
from the Nile, than Suez from Cairo; and re-
quiring, we presume, a far more effectual mastery
of the inland country, than is likely to accrue to
these momentary possessors of Egypt.
Thus far of their policy. It would have been
gratifying to us, if there did not remain a par-
ticular of another nature to be very solemnly
noticed. The general tendency of French prin-
ciples to corrupt all morals, as well as to over-
throw all government, has been matter of long
and melancholy observation. The letters from
Egypt, while they confirm this truth, add one
feature of peculiar horror to it. Those acts of
private licentiousness, over which the unprin-
cipled themselves have hitherto endeavoured to
throw at least some slender veil; that depravity
which has till now feared the indignation of vir-
tue;-all this the foul correspondence through
which we have travelled, fully and shamelessly
exhibits. Nay those whose more revered rela-
tion to us, whose years and sacred authority,
ful history, that rhetorical inflation which usually marks the
French inquiries into antiquity: but the second part is really
valuable, and would much benefit M. Le Pere.
xxiv
INTRODUCTION.
mankind has conspired to honour with the most
signal respect, PARENTS themselves are here
made the depositaries of their children's vices!
GRANDE NEFAS, ET MORTE PIANDUM.
To the Letters, we have subjoined the Address
of the Patriarch of Constantinople to the Greek
inhabitants of the isles of Corfou, Zante, Cepha-
lonia, Ithaca, &c. It is a very curious docu-
ment; and will, we doubt not, be read with a
considerable degree of interest. The friend of
religion and good order will recognize the sub-
stance of it, disguised as it is with many peculia-
rities; and the lover of ancient literature will
receive with cordiality so genuine a specimen of
the language yet used by the descendants of Xe-
nophon and Plato!
It has been observed by one whose knowledge
of the subject is as profound, as the eloquence
with which he treated it was masterly and com-
manding, that Opposition "seem to think, be-
"cause the Grand Seignior wears a long beard
"and a flowing gown, that it is absurd in the
highest degree to expect vigour or decision,
good sense or sound policy, from him." A
persuasion of the same kind probably prevails
among them respecting the Greek Patriarch. The
66
INTRODUCTION.
XXV
""
good man also wears a long beard and a flow-
ing gown;" and therefore (for we can think of
no other reasons) he must be wholly ignorant of
what is passing in the Western world! "But the
Declaration of the Porte" (we again quote from
Mr. Canning) is as masterly a composition, as
correct in principles of justice, and as sound in
principles of policy, as any state-paper that was
ever published by any cabinet in Christendom.
And we know not whether, amidst all the local
and religious prejudices which distinguish the
ADDRESS of the Patriarch of the Greek Church,
there be not to be discovered an insight into the
moral characters of nations, and an acquaint-
ance with the political questions which have at
various times agitated and convulsed them, that
may be sought to no purpose in the writings of
many pontiffs of the new Dispensation.
But it is not in this light (however important)
that we mean to speak of the piece in question.
We shall merely glance at it in connection with
the learned mission of the Savans: these men,
too, have furnished an Address* in Greek;
* We did not, as perhaps we ought to have done, call the
reader's attention to the sanguinary regulations of the modern
Draco, the "hope and consolation" of the hypocritical
whimperers over "suffering humanity"! The 5th and 6th
xxvi
INTRODUCTION.
•
which the reader will find in the Appendix to
the First Part of these Letters. Doubtless they
burnt with impatience to signalize their learning
in promoting the views of the Commander in
Chief; and scarcely were they landed at Malta
ere their zeal found an escape, in the composition
of the paper in question. That it has astonished
the people of Paris there can be no doubt, and
that is its chief advantage; for as to the Greeks
themselves, they will naturally conclude (what
indeed is the truth), that those who circulated it
were mainly ignorant of the proper style for the
persons they addressed. We wish not to fatigue
the reader with references, but, after perusing the
Patriarch's Epistle, let him turn to the letters
written by certain Greeks to the late Empress of
article of the paper in question are yet, we believe, unri-
valled in the annals of blood, and must stamp the brutal
commander who fabricated them with eternal shame and
disgrace.
Whatever may be the ultimate effects of Lord Nelson's vic-
tory, its immediate consequences must be highly beneficial
to the Greeks, who are devoted to death en masse, for what
can scarcely be termed an offence. They are snatched by it
from the grasp of a man who wantons in the desolation of
his species; and whose Code of Legislation, lettered on the
back LIBERTY AND EQUALITY, contains nothing, through
many a bloody page, but an eternal repetition of the words,
injustice, proscription, and murder"!
FC
}
INTRODUCTION.
xxvii
Russia, and which he will find in Eton's Survey
of the Turkish Empire.-All these the ancient
scholar will be able to read with but little diffi-
culty. Making allowance for an initial truncation
or two (which soon betray themselves by their
frequent recurrence), a leaning to one of the
tenses (future) in preference to the rest, a visible
attachment to potential indications, and a cum-
brous addition of the auxiliary to the inflected
verb, the use of which is still retained, the rest is
easy enough. But the Savans, who seem to think
that the modern Greek is to be found at the great-
est possible distance from the ancient, have heaped
the ruggedness of Pelion upon that of Ossa, have
added barbarism to barbarism, and sought to ob-
tain the praise of fidelity by every species of un-
couthness! Not so think the Greeks of the Ar-
chipelago, not so the Archbishop of Constantin-
ople. It is observable he addresses the very
people who are named in the French regulations,
but with a difference of language which clearly
teaches us what inference to draw from the com-
parison. In short, the Greeks themselves (unless
where foreign ignorance interferes to check them)
endeavour to recollect what they can of their an-
cient manner, and in their public addresses free
themselves in some measure from their colloquial
xxviii
1
INTRODUCTION.
or commercial corruptions. The Savans take the
opposite method, and make "confusion more con-
founded.""Rend, tear, pull,—that I may have
nothing about me like that rogue Peter." They
may be complimented by the NATIONAL INSTI-
TUTE,—they would be whipt at SAMos.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
No.
I. Shechy, Captain-Adjutant to the Staff of General
Bonaparte, to Citizen Le Maire. July 7.
II. Shechy, Captain-Adjutant, &c. to Citizen Doul-
cet. July 7.
III.
IV.
›
to his Father. July 26.
to Miot. July 26.
V. Captain Gay, to his Parents. July 27.
VI. Girez, to Ramcy. July 28.
page
I
9
25
32
45
52
Blanc. July 30.
70
VIII. Le Pere, to the Female Citizen Le Pere.
83
VII. B. Julien François, to the Female Citizen Le
July 31.
IX. Le Pere, to Citizen Beytz, Representative of the
People, in the Council of Five Hundred. Au-
gust 5.
X. Extracts from General Bonaparte's Letter to his
Brother. July 28.
XI. Sucy, First Commissary, &c. to Citizen Joseph
Bonaparte at Paris. August 5.
91
100
103
XII. C. Lasalle, Chief of Brigade, &c. to his Mo-
ther. August 7.
109
XIII. C. Lasalle, Chief of Brigade, Sc. to his Jo-
sephine. August 7.
116
XIV. Saint Genier, to his Father. August 9.
XV. Adjutant-General Lacuée, to his Uncle.
120
Au-
gust 14.
123
XXX
CONTENTS.
44
No.
XVI.
to Miot. August 15.
XVII. Pistre, to Citizen Pistre at Lyons. Au-
XVIII. Brigadier Dumas, to the Female Citizen
gust 16.
Dumas.
August 16.
XIX. Dezirad, Quarter-Master, &c., to the Fe-
male Citizen Adeline, at Marseilles. August
17.
XX. C. Fabregue, to his Brother. August 18.
XXI. General Bonaparte, to Rear Admiral Ville-
neuve, on board the William Tell, at Malta.
August 18.
page
138
144
153
158
161
166
XXII. General Bonaparte, to Citizen Menard, Com-
missary of the Marine at Malta. August 21. 171
XXIII. General Bonaparte, to the General of Di-
vision Vaubois, at Malta. August 21.
XXIV. Avrieury, to the Female Citizen Descorches,
at Paris. August 29.
174
177
XXV. Rear Admiral Ganteaume, to the Generals
commanding the Land and Sea Forces, at Malta.
September 2.
Official Documents, inclosed in Rear Admiral Gan-
teaume's Dispatches.
No. 1. Muster-Roll of the Crews on board the Ves-
sels, composing the Division in the Port of Alex-
andria, taken on the 26th of August.
No. 2. List of the Vessels composing the Flotilla of the
Nile, under the command of Rear Admiral
Perrée.
No. 3. Number of Seamen composing the Crews of
the Transports, at anchor in the Port of Alex-
andria, under the command of the Chief of Di-
vision, Dumanois Le Pelley.
187
192
194
195
1
CONTENTS.
xxxi
No.
XXVI. Le Roy, Inspector of the Marine, to Citizen
page
198
201
Poupet, at Havre. September 4.
XXVII. Le Roy, Inspector of the Marine, to Vice
Admiral Thevenard. September 4.
XXVIII. Jh. Eng. Calones Beauvoisin, Adjutant-
General, employed in the French Army in Egypt,
to the Executive Directory. September 5.
XXIX. Rozis, to his Friend Grivet. September 9. 213
XXX. Rozis, to his Brother. September 25.
XXXI. Address of the Patriarch of Constantinople,
to the Greek Inhabitants of the Isles of Corfou,
Cephalonia, Ithaca, &c.
209
222
228
COPIES
OF
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
PART II.
No. I.
Alexandrie, le 19 Messidor, an 6.
SHECHY, Capitaine Adjudant à l'Etat-Major du Géné-
ral BONAPARTE, au Citoyen LE MAIRE, à Paris.
E
Je voulois vous écrire, mon cher Le Maire, une longue
lettre lisez l'incluse; elle vous apprendra où nous en
sommes pour le moment. Dites bien des choses de ma
part à Madame Dumuy, et que j'aurai soin de lui faire
passer une lettre bien détaillée du Caire, où j'espère
pouvoir bientôt arriver avec le Général Bonaparte. Du-
muy est ici; il reste à Alexandrie pour y organiser divers
corps, traiter avec les Arabes Bedouins, dont vous avez
ci-bas quelques notices, et entretenir la correspondance
avec la métropole.
PART II.
B
4
COPIES OF
Nous faisons, mon cher Le Maire, un métier bien
fatiguant. Il n'y a rien de comparable dans cette guerre
avec celle de l'Europe. Nous nous estimons très-heu-
reux si nous pouvons avoir de l'eau et du biscuit. Nous
allons faire une marche de cinq jours à travers le Désert.
Cachetez la lettre au Citoyen Doulcet. Remettez, je
vous prie, la Note ci-jointe à mon oncle. J'ai écrit une
lettre bien longue à Madame Dumuy de Malthe. Je vous
ai aussi prévenu de l'envoi qui a été fait de mon affaire
d'avancement au Ministre de la Guerre par Berthier.
Voyez Tallien et Bruix; dites-leur bien des choses de
ma part. Engagez-les à faire terminer un objet si facile
à arranger. Voyez vous-même ce qu'il est possible de
faire. Donnez-moi beaucoup de nouvelles, et recevez.
l'assurance de mon amitié.
MAR. SHECHY.
Note. Les Arabes Bédouins se levent chaque jour de
très-bonne heure, se mettent à genoux et baisent la terre
deux fois en regardant le ciel. Au lever du soleil et à
l'apparition de la lune, ils font la même cérémonie trois
fois de suite, en tournant les regards vers cette planète.
Ils sont commandés par des chefs qu'ils respectent, ils
les saluent toutes les fois qu'ils passent devant eux, font
la plus grande attention à tout ce qu'ils leur disent, et
remplissent exactement leurs ordres.
Ils sont habillés d'une toile blanche de laine qui s'at-
tache à leurs cols, et dont ils jettent les pans sur leurs
épaules. Leurs bras sont nuds. Ils ont une espèce de
pantalon large qui s'attache aux genoux. La jambe est
nue, et n'ont qu'une sandale de cuire jaune au pied.
Les femmes sont habillées à peu près comme les
hommes. Elles portent leurs enfans sur le dos. Elles
ORIGINAL LETTERS,
3
sont considérées de leurs maris; elles ne mangent pas
avec eux. Comme les Scythes, ils s'établissent dans des
camps qu'ils transportent à volonté et selon les circon-
stances. Ils emportent avec eux toutes leurs familles,
qu'ils mettent sur des chameaux, dont ils ont un bien
plus grand nombre que de chevaux. Les femmes et les
enfans montent sur le dos d'un chameau, où se trouve
une espèce de cabane circulaire, dans laquelle elles sont
très-commodément couchées ensemble avec leurs en-
fans.
Ils se voyent souvent et sont très-familiers et com-
plaisants entre eux. Les personnes d'une famille ne
mangent jamais chez une autre.
Ils font des échanges
de marchandises ou autres objets d'utilité générale, sans
avoir besoin d'argent. Tout ce qui est pris appartient au
preneur; l'homme même, fait prisonnier, peut être
vendu par celui qui s'en est rendu maître, sans que
d'autres puissent avoir rien à y prétendre. Ils ont ce-
pendant pour habitude générale, de ne faire que déva-
liser sans tuer, à moins qu'on ne leur résiste.
Leur manière de vivre est très-dure. Ils vivent d'un
pain très-noir, cuit sur le crotin de leurs chameaux.
Leur eau, contenue pendant longtems dans des sacs de
peau de bouc, exposée toujours au soleil, est très-puante.
Ils trempent leur pain dans une espèce d'huile qui a une
très-mauvaise odeur; ils la recueillent au milieu des
sables du Désert, dans des sources qui ne sont connues
que d'eux seuls, et qu'on ne trouve 'qu'à une distance de
vingt lieues l'une de l'autre.
Chaque famille habite seule une même tente; elle est
commandée par un chef, c'est lui qui fait la guerre. Les
chevaux dont ils se servent uniquement dans toutes leurs
expéditions, sont tous de la plus grande agilité, tous sont
B 2
4
COPIES OF
sauvages et franchissent les montagnes les plus escarpées
avec la même rapidité qu'ils courent dans la plaine; ils
ne sont jamais ferrés.
Ce sont des officiers faits prisonniers chez les Bé-
douins, qui m'ont donné les détails ci-dessus. Je les ai
recueillis au moment où les chefs Arabes étoient chez
Bonaparte pour traiter avec lui.
Je n'ai pas assez de papier pour faire des enveloppes.
Faites celle du Citoyen Doulcet.
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria, (19 Messidor) July 7th, 1798.
SHECHY, Captain-Adjutant to the Staff of General Bo-
NAPARTE, to Citizen LE MAIRE, at Paris.
I wr
WISHED to write you, my dear Le Maire, a long
letter-Read the inclosed ;* it will inform you where
we are at present. Say every thing for me to Madame
Dumuy; and above all, assure her that I will take care
to send her an ample account of all our transactions,
from Cairo, where I hope to arrive soon, with General
Bonaparte. Dumuy † is here; he stays behind to or-
ganize the troops that remain, to treat with the Bedouin
←
* See the next letter.
+ This seems to be the person mentioned by General Menou
(Part I. p. 98.); his name, indeed, is spelt differently; but we
observe a great inaccuracy with respect to names, throughout
the whole of this Correspondences
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
5
1
Arabs, of whom you will find some account below, and
to open a communication with the capital.
We are engaged here, my dear Le Maire, in a most
fatiguing business. The wars of Europe have nothing
in common with this of Egypt. We reckon ourselves
fortunate in the extreme, if we can procure biscuit and
water. We are now preparing for a march of five days
across the Desert.
Put a wafer in Citizen Doulcet's letter; and pray be
kind enough to give the subjoined note respecting the
Arabs, to my uncle. I wrote a very long letter to Ma-
dame Dumuy, from Malta: I wrote also to you, in-
forming you, that the memorial relative to my promotion
had been transmitted to the Minister of War, by Ber-
thier. Call on Tallien and Bruix; give my remem-
brances to them, and intreat them to accelerate an affair
which may be easily arranged: try yourself too, what
can be done in it. Write me a long letter, and accept
the assurances of my friendship.
MAR. SHECHY.
Note.
THE Bedouin Arabs constantly rise at a very early
hour, drop on their knees, and kiss the ground twice,
with their eyes turned towards the heavens. At sunrise,
and at the first appearance of the moon, they repeat the
same ceremony three times, directing their face towards
that planet. They are commanded by chiefs, whom
they respect; they salute them whenever they approach
or pass them, pay the greatest attention to every thing
they say, and punctually execute all their commands.
Their usual dress is a piece of white woollen, which
6
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they fasten round their necks, throwing the corners over
their shoulders. Their arms are quite naked. They have
also a kind of pantaloon, reaching to the knee, where it
is fastened; the legs, like the arms, are naked: they
have all yellow slippers.
The dress of the women differs very little from that
of the men. They carry their children on their backs.
They are in good estimation with their husbands, though
they do not eat with them. Like the Scythians, the
Bedouins dwell in camps, which they move at pleasure,
and as circumstances equire. They carry with them
all their household on camels, of which they possess a far
greater number than of horses. The women and chil-
dren are placed on the back of one of these animals, in
a kind of circular cot, which affords them all a sufficient
space to lie down.
They visit frequently, and live in a state of great fa-
miliarity and kindness one with another; but it is ob-
servable, that one family never eats with another. They
exchange one kind of merchandize, or one object of
ge-
neral utility for another, without the intervention of
specie, of which they have no need. Every thing that
is taken belongs to the taker: nay, a man may be made.
prisoner, and even sold by him who made him so,
without any other person's pretending to interfere.
Their general practice* is not to put any one to death,
but only to rob him; unless he should be rash enough to
make resistance.
1
*Cependant, in the original; this word must have escaped
Shechy through inadvertence; he could not surely have
thought it strange, that those who were at liberty to sell their
prisoners, did not kill them.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
7
Their manner of living is very hard.
They feed on
baked on the
a species of bread extremely black, and
dung of their camels. Their water, kept for a long
while in bottles made of goats' skin, and constantly ex-
posed to the heat of the sun, is extremely offensive.
They dip their bread in a kind of oil of a most dis-´
agreeable smell, which they procure in the midst of the
sands of the Desert, from springs known only to them-
selves, and not less than fifty or sixty miles from each
other.*
* It is hardly necessary to caution the reader to receive as
little as possible of what the French pretend to give from the
information of Arabs, Copts, &c. As far as the senses are con-
cerned, they may generally be trusted, but no farther. What
the prisoners saw, we are willing to believe they related with fi-
delity; but when they proceed to tell us (from conversations, of
which they certainly understood not a single word) of wonderful
springs of oil found in the Desert, and kept secret from all the
world, but the French; we can only say, cras credimus, hodie nihil.
Bituminous and unctuous substances are sometimes, indeed, found
floating on the surface of small pools or lakes, and but 'tis
needless to enter further into the subject, on such authorities as
those before us.
The little picture of the domestic economy of the Arabs,
though rudely sketched, is far from being uninteresting. Their
simple expressions of pious dependence, their respectful attach-
ment to their hereditary chiefs, and their familiar and affectionate
intercourse with one another, cannot fail to prepossess the reader
a little in their favour; and raise them in his mind far above the
atheistical, turbulent, and unsocial horde, who, under the
guidance of a ferocious Corsican, have traversed a thousand
leagues of sea, for the "consolatory" purpose of exterminating
them!
When one considers, too, the poverty of these people, their
black bread, stinking water, and rancid oil, their burning sands,
and interminable deserts, one would imagine that they, at least,
8
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Every family has a tent to itself. It is under the
command of a chief, and it is he only who makes war.
Their horses, which are exclusively reserved for their
excursions, are inconceivably active; they are all wild,
and ascend the steepest mountains with the same
rapidity they run on even ground. They are never
shod.
}
All these details were given me by the officers who
had been made prisoners by the Bedouins on our land-
ing. I collected them at the instant that the chiefs of
the Arabs were with Bonaparte, arranging the terms of
the treaty.
I have no paper to spare for covers. You will, there-
fore, inclose Citizen Doulcet's letter, and direct it to
him.
would be secure from the rapacity and cruelty of France. De-
lusive thought! that nation has the eternal fever of the tiger;
and presses forward with blind and inconsiderate fury, to slake
its thirst in the blood of all it can reach, and overcome.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
No. II.
Alexandrie, le 19 Messidor.
SHECHY, Capitaine Adjudant à l'Etat-Major du Géné-
ral BONAPARTE, au Citoyen DOULCET, Rue St.
Fiacre, près celle du Sentier, à Paris.
Je profite du seul instant que j'ai pu avoir depuis la
prise de cette ville, pour remplir l'engagement que j'ai
contracté avec vous.
Notre voyage de Toulon à Malthe n'a été accom-
pagné d'aucun événement bien intéressant. Vous con-
noissez déjà toutes les particularités de la prise de cette
isle importante. Nous avons mis à la voile le 30 Prai-
rial au soir, et par un vent du N. O. qui règne continu-
ellement dans ces parages durant la saison actuelle, nous
avons poussé dans douze jours devant Alexandrie.
Le 13 au soir, après avoir donné tous les ordres né-
cessaires pour effectuer le débarquement dans la nuit, le
Général en Chef s'est embarqué à bord d'une galère de
Malthe, à l'effet de pouvoir approcher plus près de la
côte; malgré les conseils prudents des marins qui pré-
tendoient un débarquement impossible, à cause de la
violence des vents, et des rescifs qui remplissent la Baye
de Marabout, le Général Bonaparte a poursuivi son
projet de descente, et l'a fait effectuer dans ce point
même. Marabout est à trois lieues d'Alexandrie; j'étois
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COPIES OF
du nombre des officiers d'Etat-Major qui l'ont accom-
pagné.
Descendus sur la plage, nous avons rencontré les
Généraux Menou, Kleber, Bon, et Regnier: celui-ci
avoit très-peu de monde de débarqué; il a reçu ordre
de garder le point de débarquement; les autres sont
partis sur trois colonnes pour marcher sur Alexandrie.
Le Général en Chef et son Etat-Major, après avoir
dormi pendant deux heures sur le sable, se sont éveillés
pour se mettre à la tête des divisions. Celle Kleber oc-
cupoit le centre, et se dirigeoit droit sur la Colonne de
Pompée. Celle Menou étoit placée à la gauche de celle-
ci, et longeoit la mer. Celle Bon étoit à la droite de
Kleber, et marchoit sur la porte de Rosette. Nous
nous sommes mis à la tête de la division Kleber.
Nous apperçumes à la pointe du jour quelques cava-
liers qui s'avançoient sur nous, et qui, voyant que nous
n'avions point de cavalerie, sont venus nous tirer des
coups de carabine jusqu'à la portée du pistolet; mais
nos tirailleurs s'étant avancés rapidement au milieu des
collines qui bordoient nos flancs, les ont forcés à s'éloi-
gner. Nous continuâmes notre marche, toujours à pied,
jusqu'à près de 2 de lieue de la ville: à quelques pas de
là, nous trouvâmes une mosquée où étoit placée une
citerne; nous bumes avec délice d'une eau douce, que
les fatigues de la marche nous ont fait trouver des plus
agréables.
Arrivés à la Colonne de Pompée, nous y fimes en-
core une petite halte. Nos tirailleurs s'étoient cependant
avancés très-près des murs, et faisoient le coup de fusil
avec les Alexandrins, qui les bordoient de toutes parts.
Le Général en Chef m'envoya sous les murs de la place
reconnoître leur situation; j'approchai seul jusqu'à la
}
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
ΙΣ
portée de pistolet ; à peine commençois-je à considérer
les forts avec une lorgnette, que j'entendis subitement
les cris de plusieurs femmes et enfans qui paroissoient
sur les remparts. Aussitôt je fus accueilli par une fu-
sillade des plus vives: un volontaire placé à 30 ou 40
pas derrière moi tomba, blessé à l'épaule gauche.
Ayant rempli la mission qui me fut confiée par le
Général, je revins trouver quelques volontaires épar-
pillés dans la plaine; et après avoir retiré le volontaire
blessé par le feu de l'ennemi, je le conduisis avec eux
à la Colonne de Pompée, où étoit réuni tout l'Etat-
Major.
Le Général ordonne de battre la charge, et d'attaquer
sur tous les points. Nos troupes volent aux remparts,
et les franchissent dans un instant, malgré une grêle de
balles et de pierres qui n'ont pas laissé de nous tuer et
blesser du monde. Le Général monte rapidement sur
une butte assez élevée, qui commande et la ville et le
port à l'effet d'observer l'attaque. Les Généraux Kle-
ber et Menou furent blessés, l'un à la tête, l'autre n'a
eu que des contusions. Ces blessures ne sont point
mortelles.
Un des forts ayant été pris d'assaut, le Général m'en-
voya chercher les prisonniers à l'effet d'en tirer quelques
renseignemens. A mon arrivée, il me renvoya dans la
ville, pour y faire battre la générale, et ordonner aux
troupes qui y etoient entrées, et qui faisoient le coup de
fusil avec les habitans, d'en sortir, et de se mettre en
bataille sous la butte où il étoit placé.
Entré dans la ville, et voyant la conduite désespérée
des Alexandrins, qui ne cessoient de nous assaillir du
haut de leurs toits et de leurs fenêtres de coups de
pierres et de fusils, je me vis dans la nécessité de mettre
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vingt hommes de chaque côté des rues que je traversois
pour empêcher les mesures hostiles. Malgré cela les
coups de pierres ne laisserent pas de me blesser quelques
volontaires.
J'arrivai devant un petit fort gardé par une trentaine
de Turcs: ils me tirerent quelques coups de fusils; mais
voyant grossir la troupe, ils firent semblant de capituler
en posant leurs fusils à la terre, et en poussant des cris
effroyables.
Comme le Général m'avoit ordonné de n'attaquer
aucun des forts, mais seulement de donner les ordres de
faire bloquer tous ceux que je rencontrerois par les
troupes des diverses divisions, je jugeai à-propos d'ac-
cepter cette capitulation; mais au moment où j'em-
pêchois nos troupes de tirer sur le fort, un coup de fusil
tiré d'une maison voisine tua un grenadier placé à mon
côté. Il tomba sur mes genoux sans exprimer une
seule parole, et manqua de m'entraîner dans sa chûte.
Ne connoissant pas exactement la maison d'où étoit
parti le coup, et ayant devant moi un fort dont je
n'étois pas encore tout-à-fait maître, je me vis dans la
nécessité de continuer ma route sans venger la mort du
brave grénadier. Bientôt je me vis devant le principal
fort de la ville; il étoit déjà bloqué par la division Me-
nou, et bientôt après le capitaine du bâtiment de guerre
Turc, envoyé par le Général en Chef, fit mettre ce
fort en notre pouvoir, et successivement tous ceux qui
se trouvoient dans la ville.
Nous avons eu beaucoup de monde tant tués que
blessés, et dans l'attaque, et par les Arabes Bédouins,
que nous avions vus à cheval dès notre débarquement.
Ils sont venus sur nos derrières, et ont tué ou pris grand
nombre de traîneurs. Ces Arabes ressemblent aux
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
13
1
ancien's Scythes. Le monde est leur patrie; ils vivent
de rapines, &c.
Ces Bédouins sont divisés en diverses tribus, qui se
font souvent la guerre entre eux: ils sont très-redou-
tables; ils ne se mêlent jamais avec les autres peuples, et
ne veulent jamais retracter leurs habitudes ni leur ma-
nière de vivre ;-voilà la cause essentielle de leur force.
La Proclamation du Général Bonaparte, dont vous
verrez sans doute des exemplaires, leur ayant été com-
muniquée, ils ont de suite demandé à être nos amis,
même à faire la guerre avec nous contre les Mameloucs,
les oppresseurs du pays. Ils ont ramené au Général
une trentaine de prisonniers qu'ils avoient fait. Avant
d'avoir conncissance de la proclamation, ils ont traité
ces malheureux avec la plus grande dureté. Leurs
femmes leur ont' fait surtout éprouver les plus cuisans
tourmens; les enfans même à la mamelle se sont amusés
à leur'arracher les cheveux, et à leur déchirer le visage
avec leurs ongles; et ils étoient obligés de supporter cé
traitement avec patience, dans la crainte d'être encoré
plus maltraités par les Arabes eux-mêmes. Mais dès
que la Proclamation leur est parvenue, ils traitoient les
François avec douceur.
J'ai dérobé quelques instants à mon devoir pour vous
donner ces détails. Nous sommes si occupés que nous
n'avons pas même le tems de nous livrer au sommeil,
ou de prendre un morceau d'un méchant repas. Vous
ne pouvez pas concevoir la situation où nous nous trou-
vons en ce moment: elle est encore bien préférable à
celle que nous allons éprouver dans deux ou trois jours
au milieu du Désert. Nous devons nous mettre en
marche le 18 ou le 19.
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}
Je dois à l'intelligence de mon domestique d'avoir un
chameau que j'ai déjà fait munir de deux sacs de peau
de bouc pour porter de l'eau et du vinaigre; heureux si
je puis en avoir assez pour la route! Ce chameau .por-
tera une partie de mes effets, de ceux de quelqu'uns de
mes camarades, et des provisions pour cinq jours, qui ne
consistent qu'en biscuit dur, que nous avons été obligés
à retirer des vaisseaux.
La division Désaix marche; celle de Regnier doit la
suivre; celle de Kleber partira le 18° au matin, et celle
Menou le 18° au soir, Bientôt nous verrons le dénoue-
ment de ces projets. Pour le moment, le Caire est le
but vers lequel nous tendons; les Mamelouks battus,
j'ignore si l'on portera ses vues, plus loin.
Je dors en vous écrivant. Je suis excédé de fatigue.
Dès-que j'aurai quelques instants de tranquillité, j'aurai
l'honneur de vous donner des détails plus satisfaisants et
plus étendus. tù
* ༈ *༽༼ ༥
Je vous prie de présenter mes respects à Madame
Dumuy. Donnez-moi, je vous prie, quelques nouvelles.
Vous ne pouvez pas vous faire une idée des fatigues que
nous éprouvons : si nous revenons de cette expédition,
nous mériterons bien le Paradis; à bord des bâtimens,
nous regrettions la France; en Egypte, je crois que
nous regretterons les vaisseaux! Malgré toutes les con-
trariétés que nous éprouvons, le succès couronnera nos
enterprises; les contrariétés elles-mêmes sont pour nous
un présage certain de la victoire.
On me presse tant pour les dispositions de l'armée,
que je n'ai pas le tems de m'entretenir plus longtems
avec vous. Le neveu de Lanne, qui est ici, vous dit
mille choses.
MAR. SHECHY.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
15
1
TRANSLATION.
-
Alexandria, (19 Messidor)*, July 7th.
SHECHY, Captain Adjutant, &c. &c. to Citizen DoUL-
CET,† Rue St. Fiacre, at Paris.
L
I AVAIL myself of the only leisure moment I have
had since the capture of this city to acquit myself of the
engagement I entered into with you.
a
}
Our voyage from Toulon to Malta had scarce any
thing in it worth mentioning. You are already ae-
quainted with every particular respecting the capture
of that important island. We quitted it on the evening
of the 18th of June, and a north-west wind, which con-.
stantly prevails in those latitudes during the present sea-
son, carried us in twelve days to Alexandria.
+
* This and the foregoing letter appear to be post-dated by two
or three days: the mistake arose probably from haste, and is, in-
deed, scarce worth noticing.
us.
+ We know nothing more of Shechy than what his letters tell
His correspondent Doulcet de Pontecoulant was formerly
an officer in the Gardes-du-corps. He followed the general ex-
ample, deserted his benevolent master, and actively promoted the
Revolution which brought him to the scaffold.
He repented, we suppose, when it was too late; for we find
him in the list of the proscribed of the 18th Fructidor: he was,
however, so far pardoned, on account of his former services, as
to be permitted to withdraw to Switzerland. He is now, we see,
returned to France; on what terms we know not—probably he
has repented of his repentance, and is ready to begin anew. In
the Convention he was looked on as a Modéré !
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On the evening of the 1st instant, after issuing the
necessary orders for effecting an immediate landing, the
Commander in Chief threw himself into a Maltese gal-
ley, to get nearer the shore; and in spite of the prudent *
1
Shechy uses this word with a sneer, but without reason.
The landing was evidently dangerous; many of the troops were,
drowned in the attempt, and, according to several of the letters,
the General himself was in the most imminent danger of being
lost. But the fears of the English fleet prevailed over every
other consideration.
4
"such a sight
"He dreaded worse than hell;"
4
and, if he had, with a precipitation and want of forecast, which
myst for ever destroy his reputation as a General, fled from
Malta, without waiting to supply that important post with a suf-
ficient quantity of troops or stores, and without taking in water
for his own squadron (notwithstanding the remonstrances of
Brúeys), from a dread of being overtaken by Nelson; it cannot
be supposed that any circumstances could easily occur powerful
enough to detain him on board, when his escape now appeared to
depend on the exertions of a few hours, and was, moreover, fa-
voured by the night.
We have yet a few words to say on this subject.
The Morning Chronicle, with a disregard of truth and decency,
highly worthy of the cause which it espouses, after insinuating
that this Correspondence is a forgery, (not having heard, it should
seem, that its friends abroad allow it to be genuine), observes,
with a rancorous smile-
toujours
Le ris sur son visage est en mauvaise humeur.
--that "it is to be deposited in the British Museum-together
with the body of Bonaparte, to enable the English, who did not
dare to face him alive, to look at him dead"!!! Where did this
degraded and despicable paper learn, that the English feared to
face Bonaparte alive? Was it in the "AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE"
of Captain Berry, which describes, in plain yet forcible language,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
17
•
advice of the seamen, who insinuated that a debarkation
was impracticable, on account of the violence of the
wind, and of the reefs which fill the Bay of Marabout,
General Bonaparte persisted in his determination to land,
and actually did land in this very bay. I was one of
the Staff that accompanied him. Marabout is about three
leagues from Alexandria.
When we got on shore, we found the Generals Me-
nou, Kleber, Bon, and Regnier; the three former with
their divisions, the latter with only a few of his men
about him ; * he was therefore left to secure the landing-
place, while the others marched in three columns for
Alexandria.
The Commander in Chief and his Staff, after sleep-
ing for about two hours on the sand, got up, and put
the gallant Nelson, with an inferior fleet, pursuing this "dreaded
hero," with an eagerness that could only be surpassed by that
with which Bonaparte fled from him!
But the unnatural rage of the Morning Chronicle to sacrifice
the honour of this country to France, is too notorious to be far--
ther dwelt upon. Callous alike to shame and detection, it blun-
ders on, through universal hatred and contempt, from one igno-
rant and atrocious falsehood to another. The reader of the former
part of this work, (Introd. p. ii.) cannot have forgotten with what
consummate baseness it misrepresented the tendency of the pub-
lication, and, under the fulsome pretence of reprehending scandal,
(which was no where to be found in it), gave a loose to its own
darling licentiousness and impurity!
* Each of these divisions consisted of from five to seven thou-
sand men; the reader may therefore form a tolerable estimate of
the forces that attacked Alexandria. Boyer (Part I. p. 132.)
reckons them at twenty five thousand; and this, if we include the
unattached volunteers of the army, who were pretty numerous,
was, we doubt not, the amount.
PART II.
C
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COPIES OF
themselves at the head of the divisions.
Kleber's occu→
pied the centre, and marched toward's Pompey's Co-
lumn; Menou's was drawn up on its left, and coasted
along the sea; Bon's on its right, and directed its march
to the gate of Rosetta. I and my party put ourselves at
the head of Kleber's division.
At daybreak we discovered a few horse, who advanced
upon us, and, seeing that we had no cavalry, discharged
their carabines at us within pistol-shot; but some of our
riflemen having rapidly gained the sand hills on our
flank, soon forced them to retire. We continued our
march till we got within two miles of the city. Here
we found a mosque, with a cistern in it. We drank
with delight of the water, which the fatigues* of the
march made us think the sweetest we had´ever tasted!
Arrived at Pompey's Column, we made another short
halt. Our riflemen, meanwhile, had advanced close to
the walls, and were skirmishing with the Alexandrines,
who lined them in every part. The Commander in
Chief sent me forward to reconnoitre their situation,
strength, &c. I advanced alone, till 1 came within pis-
tol-shot-but had scarce begun to examine the forts with
my glass, ere I heard a sudden scream from the women
and children, that appeared in great numbers on the
ramparts; at the same moment a brisk discharge of
musquetry was made upon me. A volunteer who stood
about thirty or forty paces behind me was shot in the
left shoulder, and fell.
This "fatiguing march" was one of little more than a league.
The remark is of no farther importance than as it serves towards
elucidating the history of this "terrestrial paradise," where to
"travel but four foot by the square a-foot," as Falstaff says, "is
to break one's wind!”
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
19
Having executed the business entrusted to me by the
General, I went back to collect some volunteers who
were scattered about the plain; and having by their as-
sistance removed the wounded man, I had him conveyed
to Pompey's Column, where all the Staff Officers were
assembled.
The General ordered the charge to be beat, and an
attack to be made upon all points. Our troops flew to
the ramparts, and got over them in an instant,* in spite
* As, Heaven knows! they might well do; for we can assure
our readers, from the testimony of persons well acquainted with
those famous "ramparts," that many a park wall in this country
presents a more formidable aspect. The only danger to be ap-
prehended in this terrible escalade was, lest the assailants should
pull down the old wall upon themselves—and this, we find, they
actually did do; for General Menou, and several others, were
wounded by the fall of the stones which gave way beneath their
grasp !
If the catastrophe had been less tragical, we should have in-
dulged a smile at the parade of military arrangements made by
Bonaparte for getting possession of this defenceless place. "It
would have surrendered," says Boyer (Part I. p. 132.) "at the
first summons ;" and so it undoubtedly would-but then how
scurvily would this have sounded in the pages of the Morning
Chronicle, and the Redacteur! Hence the reconnoitering "within
pistol-shot," the beating of the générale, the scrambling over
the wall, &c. &c. Unparalleled atchievements, and, in the judg-
ment of the aforesaid papers, worthy of everlasting renown! Be
it so: and yet, we trust, very few of our readers will be so dazzled
by their splendour, as not to see that the instantaneous capture
of the city renders the subsequent massacre of its innocent inha-
bitants altogether inexcusable. Something may be allowed to
rage, when success is at length obtained after an obstinate and
destructive resistance. But Mr. Wakefield himself must excuse
us, if we do not feel inclined to make much allowance for a
man, or more properly a monster, who, at one and the same
C 2
20
COPIES OF
of a shower of bullets and stones, which killed and
wounded a great number of them. The General hastily
ascended a small eminence, which commanded both the
city and the port, that he might make his observations
on the attack. Kleber and Menou were wounded; the
one by a musket-ball in the head, the other by a fall.
Both are likely to recover.
One of the forts having been carried by assault, the
General sent me after the prisoners, in hopes of procur-
ing some intelligence from them; he then dispatched me
back to order the générale to be beat, and the troops who
were in the city, and engaged with the inhabitants, to
evacuate it immediately, and arrange themselves in or-
der of battle under the eminence on which he then
stood.
Having re-entered the city, and observed the despe-
rate conduct of the Alexandrines, who continued to as-
sail our troops with stones and musquetry from the roofs
and windows of their houses, I found myself reduced to
the necessity of lining the streets which I passed with
small bodies of men, to prevent those hostile measures.
In spite of all my precautions, however, several of my
people were wounded by the stones.
I came up to a small fort, which was garrisoned by
about thirty Turks; they discharged several muskets at
me; but seeing that my numbers were continually in-
creasing, they made signs of capitulating, by grounding
their arms, and uttering the most dreadful cries.
of
As the General had ordered me not to attack any
the forts, but merely to block up such as lay in my way,
moment, invests and carries an open place (for such in fact is
is), and then deliberately murders men, women, and children,
in their very mosques!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
21
by the troops of the different divisions, I judged it pro-
per' to accept of this capitulation; but at the very instant
that I ordered the troops to cease firing on the fort, a
musket-ball from an adjoining house killed a grenadier
close to my side. He fell across my knees, without ut-
tering a single word, and had nearly thrown me down
by his fall. As I could not precisely point out the house
from whence the shot was fired, and had before me a fort,
of which I was scarcely yet the master, I was obliged
to continue my route without taking VENGEANCE* for
the death of the brave grenadier. Soon after I found
myself before the principal fort of the city; it was al-
ready blockaded by Menou's division; and in a few mi-
nutes after, the Captain of a Turkish ship of war, dis-
patched by the Commander in Chief, put it into our
hands, as well as all the others which yet remained to be
taken.
We had a vast number of men killed and wounded in
our attack upon the city, and during our march, by the
Bedouins, whom we fell in with soon after our landing;
they hung on our rear, and killed and took a great num-
ber of stragglers. These Arabs resemble the ancient
Scythians: the world is their country, they live on ra-
pine,+ &c.
*
*
*
*
*
* This was a great pity-but be of good heart, citizen; Bona-
parte will enter the town as soon as it is completely in the power
of his troops, and then you, and they, and all, will have full leisure
to take "VENGEANCE," not only on the man who killed the
grenadier that would have killed him, but on his wife and child,
who are calling on heaven and earth for mercy!
+ Here follows a short account of the Arabs, which, as it is
merely a repetition of what is said respecting them in the former
2,2
COPIES OF
These Arabs are divided into different tribes, which
are frequently at war with each other. They are very
formidable, never associate with the rest of the world,
nor can ever be persuaded to adopt their customs, or
their manner of living. This, perhaps, is the true secret
of their power.
The Proclamation of General Bonaparte, (of which
you will, undoubtedly, see a copy), having been com-
municated to them, they instantly demanded permission
to become our friends, and even to make war in con-
junction with us, against the Mameloucs, the oppressors
of the country! They brought the General about thirty
of our people whom they had made prisoners. Before
they heard of the Proclamation, they had treated these
unfortunate men in the harshest manner; their women
especially, made them suffer the most cruel torments;
and even the children at the breast amused themselves
with tearing their hair, and scratching their face with
their nails; all which they were obliged to endure with
patience, for fear of worse treatment from the men. As
soon, however, as the, Proclamation was made known to
them, the French were treated with kindness.
I have snatched a few instants from my duty, to give
you these details. We are so busy that we have not
time to lie down, or to take a morsel of wretched food.
letter, we have omitted. Poor Shechy is a miserable historian ;
instead of comparing these people to the ancient Scythians, of
whom he knows nothing, and who had very little in common
with the Arabs, he should have looked out for a resemblance
nearer home. If the sentence had run thus-" These Arabs re-
semble the modern French: the world is their country, they live
on rapine, &c." few, we believe, would have thought of disput-
ing its accuracy.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
23
It is impossible for you to conceive the misery of our
present situation; which, yet, is infinitely preferable to
that which we are about to experience in the course of
three or four days, in the midst of the Desert. We
shall march the 6th or 7th.
I am indebted to the activity and good sense of my
servant, for a camel, which I am already preparing to
load with two goat-skin bags; one for water, and the
other for vinegar; happy if I find it sufficient for the
journey! This camel will also carry a part of my bag-
gage, and that of my comrades, and five days provisions,
consisting merely of hard biscuit, which we have been
obliged to procure from the ships.
Desaix's division is already on its march; Regnier's
is to follow it; Kleber's will proceed on the morning,
and Menou's on the evening of the 6th. We shall
speedily see the unravelling of all these projects; at
present, Cairo is the mark to which we tend. The
Mameloucs once beaten, I know not if we shall carry
our views farther.
I am asleep with the pen in my hand. I am abso-
lutely worn out with fatigue. As soon as I can find a
few moments of tranquillity, I will take the liberty of
sending you a more circumstantial and a more satisfac-
tory account of what we have seen and done.
Have the goodness to present my respects to Madame
Dumuy, and pray let me hear from you. You cannot
form an idea of the fatigues we have undergone. If we
ever return from this expedition, we shall richly deserve
Paradise. On board the fleet, we regretted France; in
Egypt, I fear, we shall have to regret the fleet! In
spite, however, of all the obstacles which we ex-
perience, success will crown our enterprize-nay,
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COPIES OF
obstacles themselves are, with us, infallible indications
of victory!*
I am so pressed for the regulations, &c. of the army,
that I cannot add another word. The nephew of
Lannés, who is at my side, desires to be remembered
to you.
MAR. SHECHY.
* Excellent. To augur success from the very circumstances
which oppose it, is, we believe, peculiar to the French.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
25
No. III.
Grand Caire, 8 Thermidor, an 6.
CRIANT "la faim, la soif, et la chaleur,” nous sommes
arrivés, après avoir battu les Mamelouks, au Grand
Caire. J'ai entendu, mon cher papa, de très-près les
boulets et les balles, mais elles ne m'ont heureusement
pas touché. J'ai regretté bien souvent de n'être pas
venu à Paris, et je me suis cru quatre ou cinq fois dans
l'impossibilité d'y retourner jamais. Enfin nous sommes
ici un peu plus tranquilles, et notre position est un peu
améliorée,
Il vous seroit difficile de vous figurer, mon cher papa,
le pays, les habitans, les mœurs, que nous avons trouvés
ici. Je suis persuadé que la relation, à laquelle je tra-
vaille dans ce moment, vous intéressera et vous divertira.
Il paroit que, d'après ce que l'on m'a dit, l'armée ne
restera pas toute ici. Une partie doit descendre dans la
Basse Egypte jusqu'à Damiette, une autre ira à l'Isthme
de Suez, et une troisième division suivra le cours du Nil,
en le remontant jusqu'à Thèbes. Telle est la distribu-
tion que l'on fait dans ce moment de nos forces. Je ne
vous la garantis pas, et il me paroit qu'il y auroit quelque
inconvénient à suivre une telle marche.
Les Mamelouks, quoique battus, peuvent se réunir.
Leur manière de faire la guerre authorise à croire que
le pays sur lequel nous sommes déjà passés, et dont
nous les avons chassé, ne doit pas être regardé comme
pris, puisque rien ne les empêche de revenir sur leurs
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COPIES OF
pas. Dans un pays où l'ennemi n'attache aucune im-
portance à conserver une position, il est difficile de le
décider à abandonner le terrein. Ce qui assuroit nos
conquêtes en Italic, c'est que l'Autrichien ne vouloit
pas passer outre du moment qu'il savoit devoir rencon-
trer sur son passage une forteresse occupée par les
François. Les Mamelouks nous attaquent à cinquante
pas, fuyent et reviennent le lendemain nous attaquer,
presque dans la même position dont nous les avions
chassés.
Ils s'occupent dans ce moment, à ce qu'il paroit, à
réunir des forces considérables; mais rien ne peut nous
intimider. Au reste; il faut rendre justice à leur peu
de
mérite et de talent. Si j'eusse commandé leurs troupes,
qui d'ailleurs sont très-braves, les Français ne seroient
pas arrivés si tranquillement au Caire. Aucune tactique
ni aucun élément de l'art de la guerre ne les conduit.
Ce sont des hommes bien montés à cheval, et bien armés,
qui viennent se faire massacrer. Le plus grand éloge
que l'on puisse faire de notre expédition, c'est de dire,
que les Français ont marché pendant près de quinze
jours sans presque boire ni manger. Je crois que nous
sommes de ces diables qui faisoient remuer les yeux aux
Madonnes de Rome; nous faisons même des miracles.
plus étonnants.
Adieu, mon cher papa, je vous embrasse et vous prie
de vouloir bien dire à tous mes frères et sœurs que bien
souvent dans les déserts de l'Afrique mon imagination
s'est tournée vers eux, et que j'ai bien souvent juré que
si jamais je me trouvais au milieu d'eux, je ne les quit-
terais jamais.
Ni les voyages ni les expéditions ne rendent heureux!
Adieu.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
27
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo (8 Thermidor), July 26th.
CRYING*" hunger! thirst! and heat!" We are
arrived, after beating the Mameloucs, at Grand Cairo.
I have heard, my dear father, the bullets and balls
whizzing very near me-happily none of them touched
me. Oh, how often I regretted that I did not go
to Paris before I sailed! more than once or twice I
thought it quite impossible that I should ever go there
again. At present we are a little more tranquil, and
our situation appears to be somewhat improved.
It would be difficult for you, my dear father, to form
an idea of the country, the people, or the customs, which
we have found here. I am confident that the account
* The cover of this letter, which is without any signature, is
mislaid. The writer of it is a worthy disciple of the new school:
ignorant, impious, and impure. The most shameless inmates of
a brothel, hardened by mutual consciousness of guilt, would not
dare to trust each other with the rank confessions which this mi-
serable profligate pours, without scruple, into the ears of his
wretched father.
It is unnecessary to add, that every thing of this nature is
carefully suppressed, through the whole of the Correspondence.
With this security, even the present letter may be read to advan
tage; it contains some strictures on the Mameloucs, which do
credit to the writer's sagacity, and appear to have escaped the
notice of his superiors.
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COPIES OF
of them, which I am at present preparing, will both
interest and amuse you.
It appears, from what I can collect, that the whole.
army is not destined to remain here. One part of it
will fall down into Lower Egypt, as far as Damietta ;
another will proceed to the Isthmus of Suez, and a third
will ascend the Nile as high as Thebes. Such is the
distribution which common report makes of the army
at this instant-I will not answer for its being correct;
and, indeed, it strikes me, that such a division of our
forces would be rather injudicious.
The Mameloucs, though beaten, may re-assemble.
Their manner of making war authorizes the idea, that
the country which we have traversed, and from which
we have just driven them, ought not to be looked upon.
as conquered; since there is nothing to prevent their
re-occupying it. In a country where the enemy at-
taches no kind of importance to the maintaining of a
particular position, it is very difficult to determine him
to quit the ground altogether. What secured our con-
quests in Italy, was the absolute refusal of the Austrians
to advance, the moment they discovered their route lay
near a fortress garrisoned by the French. The Mame-
loucs attack us at the distance of fifty paces, flee, and
return the next day to attack us, in the very position
from which we had driven them.
It appears that they are at present engaged in collect-
ing a very considerable force-but we feel no alarm at
it. For the rest; we ought to do justice to the little
merit they boast: if I had been at the head of their
troops, which are, after all, most gallant ones, the
French would not have arrived quite so easily at Cairo.
No trait of tactics, no appearance of the slightest know-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
29
ledge of the art of war, is found in any of their move-
ments. They are men perfectly well mounted, and well
armed, who come to be massacred! Thus you see, that the
greatest eulogium we have yet merited in this expedition,
is for having marched near fifteen days, as it were, with-
out eating or drinking. I fancy we are near a-kin to
those devils who made the Madonnas of Rome roll their
eyes.* We work miracles still more astonishing here.
* The writer alludes to the commotions excited against his
Countrymen by the miraculous indications here attributed to the
Madonna, and on every great occasion expected from her images
by the Roman populace. We say nothing of the opinion itself-
but the French use of it may yet be pointed out. It is made the
vehicle of every kind of vulgar abuse against religion itself, and
its divine economy. The profane and senseless allusion to Moses,
in another letter, and the assumption to themselves, in number-
less passages, of miracles, “as good as the world ever saw”—all
these are marks of the same spirit which has already met our so-
lemn reprehension;—a spirit which laughs at the power of Hea-
ven, and mocks all virtue upon earth; which commits "all ini-
quity with greediness," and selects a parent's bosom as the de-
positary of its obscenities !
This imaginary interposition of Providence took place in the
winter of 1797-8. Those who are in the habit of reading the
Jacobin papers, cannot have forgot the dull profanity with
which they abounded on the occasion. The M. C., always fore-
most in impiety, and yet vain of its recent triumph over the
Saviour of the world, rioted in daily sarcasms on priestcraft,
"and superstition, and such-like old lumber-stuff of Christiani-
'ty.
BACCHUS was again placed "at the right-hand of the
"Father," and there appeared to be no end of the degradation
and insult meditated against the persecuted JESUS, when the
news happily arrived that the French had dethroned and driven
the Pope from his home-and the interests of blasphemy were for
awhile forgotten in the savage howl of exultation over the mis-
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COPIES OF
Adieu, my dear father: I embrace you, and beg you
will have the goodness to tell all my brothers and sisters
that many a time, in the Deserts of Africa, my thoughts
have been directed towards them, and that many a time
fortunes of an helpless old man; or, in the words of the Morn-
ing Chronicle, of " an infirm and bed-ridden dotard!"
The following account of the transaction alluded to, is from a
resident on the spot. It is as simple as it is correct, and may serve
to shew those who have no religion, that they should not judge
from their own feelings, of the sincerity of those (whether priests
or laity), who have a great deal.-
“The images of the Madonna had moved their eyes in diffe-
"rent parts of the town, which, by favourable exposition, was
"supposed to be a manifestation of her peculiar favour to the
"Roman people. This miracle, however futile or false it may
66 seem to men of reflection, had so powerful an influence over
"the minds of the multitude, as to produce an enthusiasm little
"short of madness.
"I know it is common to impute every effect of religious su-
"perstition to the knavery of a designing priesthood. Hence,
"this popular credulity may be supposed to have originated in
"artifice; but, I believe, if the whole affair were to be truly in-
"vestigated, it would be found to have had its origin in the belief
“of a poor old man, who was paying his devotion to a Madonna
"at the Fontana di Trevi—and, as in the elements of the Catholic
“faith, the best informed are taught to believe (and do believe,)
"those things they cannot comprehend, so it ought not to be
"wondered at, that those who know less and believe more,
"should have felt themselves interested in a sign, that, to them,
"portended the salvation of their religion and their country.'
—(It should be observed here, that this was subsequent to the
death of the infamous Duphot, when the French were in full
march for Rome, breathing nothing but rage and revenge).-
"Of this opinion I am the more strongly persuaded, as no steps
"were ever taken to apply or direct this religious phrenzy to
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
31
I have sworn, if ever I was fortunate enough to find
myself in their company again, I would never, never,
quit them more.
Neither voyages nor wars make me happy! Adieu.
"the advantage of those who might otherwise have been sus-
<< pected to have been the authors of it."
To return to the letter.-We doubt much whether the French
will work any miracles in Egypt;-one, we believe, will be
wrought on them, and, in the words of the author, an astonish-
ing one. The hand of the Lord is stretched out, the hand of
him who “ALONE worketh great marvels," and we may address
the nations of the earth in the sublime and awakening language in´
which MOSES, on the same spot, once addressed the Israelites.-
"FEAR YE NOT, STAND STILL, AND SEE THE SALVATION OF
THE LORD, WHICH HE WILL SHEW YOU TO-DAY. FOR THE
ENEMY, WHOM YE HAVE SEEN TO-DAY, YE SHALL SEE THEM
AGAIN NO MORE FOR EVER." Exodus, ch. xiv. ver. 13.
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Egypte. No.6.
No. IV.
Grand Caire, le 8 Thermidor, an 6.
C'EST après une marche très-fatiguante, sans pain
pour manger, ni eau pour boire, que l'armée est arrivée
ici, après plusieurs combats dans lesquels elle est toujours
restée victorieuse. J'ai regretté bien souvent, mon cher
Miot, que ton amitié pour moi se soit portée à me met-
tre de cette expédition. J'ai vu assassiner plusieurs
de mes camarades, et mon existence au milieu de tant
d'événemens extraordinaires est une énigme pour moi.
Le bon Sucy lui-même n'a pas échappé au malheur qui
nous poursuivoit, il a été blessé au bras par les Arabes,
et il paroit qu'il en restera estropié. Notre avancement
dans les terres a été signalé par la perte d'un Général
Français et de quarante employés. A quinze pas d'une
colonne un soldat qui restoit en arrière étoit perdu.
Savary a trompé sur l'Egypte. Ce n'est pas ce beau
pays qu'il vantė tant, ni cette rosée balsamique que l'on
respire le matin. C'est le pays de la misère. Les
habitans sont des sauvages qui ont de toutes les manières
encouru la disgrace de la nature. Ils n'ont absolument
rien pour eux, et l'on doit se croire toujours au milieu
d'une bande d'assassins, lorsque l'on se trouve dans
quelque village de la Basse Egypte.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
33
1
L'armée vint de la première journée à Demanhour,
et de-là à Rachminie. Le Général préféra faire un dé-
tour et arriver plus vîte sur les bords du Nil. J'ai offert,
dans ma traversée d'Alexandrie à Demanhour, un louis
d'un verre d'eau. J'avois bu la mienne et l'avois distri-
buée entre mes amis.
Dans la relation de notre expédition, je m'étendrai
sur les malheurs que nous avons éprouvés, ils sont in-
nombrables et c'est avec le dégoût dans l'âme que toute
l'armée est arrivée ici: elle avoit placé toute son espé-
rance dans cette ville; combien elle a été trompée! et
malgré qu'on nous ait assuré que nous serions très-bien
au Grand Caire; l'unique desir des Généraux et même
des soldats est de s'en retourner.
Enfin, mon cher ami, c'est un miracle des plus mi-
raculeux que je ne sois pas mort, ni malade. Il n'en
est pas de même de notre pauvre Milord; je ne crois
pas qu'il supporte longtems le séjour de ce pays. Il n'y
a ni foin ni avoine, et les chevaux doivent se nourrir de
fêves et d'un peu de paille. S'il peut se rappeller son
séjour à Turin, il doit être bien à plaindre.
Je n'ai cependant pas oublié, au milieu de tous mes
maux, que j'ai toujours supportés avec courage, le bien
que je pouvois retirer de mon séjour ici, et mes obser-
vations ont porté généralement sur tout. J'étudie main-
tenant la langue, mais je suis sans grammaire, et la né-
cessité seule sera mon maître.
J'ai vu de Gisé où étoit situé le quartier général, le
jour de la fameuse affaire de Boulac, les belles Piramides.
Si nous voulons les voir de près, il faudra nous réunir
trois ou quatre cents. Il est impossible de sortir de la
ville, et Boza dernièrement fut poursuivi par quinze
PART II.
D
1
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Arabes pour avoir commis l'imprudence de s'écarter à
une portée de fusil.
Tu sens le danger d'herboriser, et tu connois que ton
herbier doit être un peu négligé. Tu me diras: dans la
route tu pouvois au moins ramasser les plantes que tu
rencontrois. Je te dirai franchement qu'il m'est venu
rarement dans la tête, avec les inquiétudes que nous avions.
et les maux que nous éprouvions, que je pusse rencontrer
une plante qui attirât assez mes regards pour me la faire
remarquer. Les botanistes sont mal placés à la guerre.
Tous ce que je puis, mon cher ami, c'est de te promet-
tre que
du moment que l'on pourra sortir de la ville sans
crainte d'être assassiné, je m'occuperai sur le champ de
t'organizer un petit herbier.
"/
Je ne te parlerai pas dans ce moment du pays, ni des
mœurs des habitans. Quoi qu'ils te soient déjà connus,
je me résume, lorsque j'en aurai davantage le tems, de te
donner quelques détails qui peut-être t'intéresseront.
}
1
Tu te rappelles sans doute combien l'aspect ou même
l'idée d'un criminel mort ou que l'on alloit tuer, me fai-
soit impression. La guerre chasse facilement cette foi-
blesse. J'ai vu des morts, des blessés, des têtes, des bras
épars, et mon cœur ne m'a plus manqué. Je connois
donc maintenant la possibilité de s'habituer-au carnage.
J'ai marché au milieu de trois mille Mamelouks tués;
Milord trembloit sous mes jambes, mes yeux s'arrêtoient
sur ces victimes de l'ambition et de la vanité, et je dis,
"( nous traversons des mers, nous bravons une flotte
Anglaise, nous débarquons dans un pays qui ne pensoit
pas à nous, nous pillons les villages, ruinons les habi-
taps, et violons leurs femmes, nous risquons de mourir
de faim et de soif, nous sommes sur le point d'être tous
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
35
assassinés, et tout cela, pourquoi? nous l'ignorons en-
core."
Le dégoût dans l'armée est général. Toutes les ad-
ministrations sont désorganisées. Il existe entre nous
tous un égoisme et une humeur qui fait que nous ne
pouvons pas vivre ensemble. Je m'occupe quant à moi,
et ne m'ennuye pas. Je suis toujours avec le même
commissaire des guerres, mais tu me permettras de t'ob-
server que je n'ai nulle envie d'attendre. l'âge de vingt-
cinq ans pour être commissaire des guerres. Ne m'ou-
blies donc pas, et pense que le plus vite que tu pourras
me faire revenir auprès de toi ce sera le mieux.
J
*
La carrière que je parcours dans ce moment est en-
tièrement avilie, et nous en sommes tous les jours aux
prises avec les Généraux. Le Général en Chef est le
seul qui nous écoute, mais il ne peut pas faire autre-
ment que de donner raison au militaire. I le ménage et
il craint que l'armée, qui murmure déjà quelque peu, ne
vienne à prendre un caractère plus sérieux. Enfin, penses
que Sucy est tombé beaucoup, que depuis Alexandrie
il n'a pas fait le service par la raison qu'il a eu l'impru-
dence de s'embarquer sur la flotille pour assurer, disoit-
il, la subsistance de l'armée, et qu'il s'est trouvé, comme
il devoit le prévoir, dans l'impossibilité de rejoindre l'ar-
mée. Enfin remarques encore que le climat fait que
nous sommes devenus, malgré nous, mous, et que nous
avons beaucoup de peine à nous déterminer de mettre un
pied devant l'autre.
Je laisse à ta sagesse et à ta prudence à réfléchir lá-
dessus, et je suis bien persuadé que ton amitié pour moi
fèra tout ce qu'elle jugera le plus convenable. J'atten-
drai avec impatience une réponse à cette lettre.
La blessure de Sucy l'empêche d'écrire, et il paroi
D 2
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qu'il ne pourra conserver que les deux premiers doigts de
sa main. Il supporte sa blessure avec patience, mais il
ne voit pas aussi tranquillement l'espace immense qui
nous sépare de notre pays.
Je m'occupe très-sérieusement de la relation de notre
expédition, et j'ai déjà ramassé plusieurs matériaux, que
je vais m'occuper de mettre en ordre. Adieu, je t'aime
toujours, adieu, mon cher Miot, quand pourrai-je te serrer
dans mes bras? écris-moi toujours.
P. S. Le 15 Thermidor.
Je pars dans l'instant-avec le Général Le Clerc, pour
une expédition secrète. Je laisse donc encore le Grand
Caire, mais j'espère y revenir.
Sucy va un peu mieux. Il désire revenir, mais il
paroit qu'il ne veut pas me ramener avec lui. Ecris-lui
en conséquence. Je t'embrasse encore.
TRANSLATION.*
Grand Cairo (8th Thermidor), July 26.
Ir is after a most fatiguing march, without bread to
eat, or water to drink, that the army is arrived here,
* At length we have a letter from one of the innumerable
Savans, whom Bonaparte dragged in his train on this far-famed
expedition. What he writes merits, and we hope will receive,
the deepest attention; it confirms, almost beyond the possibility
of a doubt, what was suggested in the Introduction to the First
Part, that the army was meant to be sacrificed; and leaves us no
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
37
and after many actions, in which it has constantly been
victorious. I have regretted a thousand times, my dear
Miot, that your friendship for me ever prompted you
to engage me in this expedition. I have seen numbers
of my associates assassinated, and my own existence,
amidst so many extraordinary events, is a riddle which I
cannot yet comprehend. The worthy Sucy himself has
not escaped the ill fortune by which we are all pursued;
he has been wounded in the arm by the Arabs, and will
probably lose the use of it entirely. Our march into the
country was signalized by the loss of a French general,
and of forty subordinate officers.* A soldier who had
only loitered fifteen paces behind one of the columns
was shot!
other
regret than that (since it was to be done) it was not done
at home by noyades, mitraillades, or by any other of those sweep-
ing methods of destruction which the Directory know so well to
employ, and which have, at various times, choked the Seine with
the carcasses, and swelled the Loire and the Rhone with the blood
of all that was innocent and virtuous; of an incorrupt peasantry,
of children, women, and priests.
Had this been done; had the importunate claimants of Tou-
lon and Genoa, and the daring revolters against the authority of
Massena at Rome, been thus quietly disposed of in the " good
old way,” it would have saved us many a pang which we have
felt in perusing these Letters; from seeing that the vengeance of
the Directory could not fall upon the refractory army without
involving in their destruction an unoffending, and, in their own
opinion perhaps, a happy people, whose hard fate is depicted in
the course of this well written letter, in language that must
wring every feeling heart. We conclude with again recommend-
ing it to the reader's most serious attention.
* Employés, in the original. It may also mean persons in offi-
cial situations about the army, such as commissaries, agents,
clerks, &c. &c.
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Savary has deceived us all with respect to Egypt. It
is not that charming country of which he boasts so
much; nor that balsamic dew that is drawn in with
the morning air. It is the country of misery! its in-
habitants are savages, who have, in every respect, in-
curred the disgrace of nature. They have absolutely
nothing on their side; and you may always conclude,
that you are in the midst of a band of assassins, when
you find yourself in any village of Lower Egypt.*
The army marched to Demanhour the first day, and
from thence to 'Rahmanie. The general preferred mak-
ing a detour,t that he might arrive the sooner at the
Oh, if the Egyptians wrote letters! But we wonder whether
our Savant ever thought of asking himself what THE FRENCH
WERE in the midst of these same villages of Lower Egypt? most
probably he never did. If any curious person, however, should
be tempted to put the question, we will endeavour to satisfy him.
They WERE "a band of assassins" infinitely more savage than
those they found there, led on by a hypocritical Cartouche,
who snuffed the scent of carnage like a vulture; and, amidst
the most whining professions of universal benevolence, sacri-
ficed the companions of his victories and his crimes to the
fears of the Directory, and consigned them to inevitable destruc-
tion, with the same indifference that he did the remote and
peaceable possessors of a few mud huts, and a waste of sand!
•
† To make a detour by way of getting the quicker to a given
point, would be admirable in the mouth of an Irishman; indeed
it is
is very well any where.
Setting aside the writer's ignorance of the topography of the
country, the simple truth is, that Bonaparte (who, like the old
Hermit of Prague, is supposed by these people to have some ex-
traordinary reason for every thing he does) had no “
preference"
in the matter. He merely took the common road; a camel-
driver would have done the same. In 'fact there was no other;
unless he had gone round by Rosetta, which, at that time, was
hárdly practicable.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
39
banks of the Nile. I offered, on the march from Alex-
andria to Demanhour, a louis d'or for a glass of water :
having drank and distributed all my own amongst my
friends.
In the relation of our expedition, I shall enlarge
upon the miseries we endured; they are innumerable:
and it is with bitter disgust of soul, that the whole army
is arrived at Cairo. It had placed all its hopes in this
city; how much have they been deceived! And not-
withstanding we were told that we should all be satis-
fied here, the only desire of the generals and of the sol-
diers themselves, is to get back to France.
As for myself, my dear friend, it is by the most mi-
raculous of all miracles that I am neither dead nor sick.
Poor Milord* is not quite so fortunate. I am afraid he
will not be able to support this country long; here is
neither hảy nor oats, and horses must therefore be con-
tent with beans, and a little chopped straw. If he has
any recollection of his manner of life at Turin, he is
mightily to be pitied.
However, in the midst of all my sufferings, which I
have hitherto supported with courage, I have not over-
looked the advantages to be derived from my temporary
residence here, and my observations have been directed
generally to every object that has presented itself. I am
now engaged in studying the language; but I have no
grammar, and, indeed, am likely to have no master but
necessity.
* His horse, which, from the name, we suppose to be an Eng-
lish one. The joke of calling him Milord is not a very refined
one, it must be confessed; but Savans have now and then odd
ideas of humour. The animal, however, appears to have fallen
nto the hands of a kind master.
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I have seen from Gizeh, the place of head-quarters
on the day of the famous battle of Boulac, the beautiful*
Pyramids. If we wish to have a nearer view of them,
we shall be obliged to go in a body of three or four hun-
dred! It is impossible to stir from the city; and Boza
was lately pursued by a number of Arabs, for having
imprudently ventured about a musket-shot beyond it.
You see now the danger of herborizing, and will
consequently surmise that your herbal is rather neg-
lected. "Yes," say you, "but in your marches you
may certainly collect such plants as fall in your way.
Shall I speak frankly? It has scarce ever entered my
head, what with the troubles we have had, and the
hardships we have undergone, that I should ever meet
with a plant sufficiently curious to attract my notice.
Botanists are woefully misplaced in an army! All that
I can do, my dear friend, is to promise you, that the
moment I can walk out of the city without fear of be-
ing assassinated, I will seriously set about preparing a
little herbal for you.
I shall say nothing at present either of the country,
or of the manners of the inhabitants. Although they
are in some degree known to you, yet I shall venture,
when I have a little leisure, to send you a few details
on those subjects, which may not perhaps be altogether
uninteresting.
You cannot have forgot how much the sight, nay even
the idea of a criminal executed, or about to be executed,
used to affect me. War is a sovereign remedy for this
*This is a strange epithet for the Pyramids; but the French
have learned from Savary to talk of the stupendous monuments
of ancient Egypt with a silly affectation of fondness, that is really,
disgusting.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
41
weakness. I have seen the dead and the dying, scatter-
ed heads and limbs, and my heart failed me no longer;
here is a sufficient proof, then, of the possibility of ac-
customing one's-self to carnage.* I rode through the
midst of three thousand slaughtered Mameloucs; Milord
trembled under me, while I fixed my eyes on those poor
victims of ambition and vanity, and said to myself,-
"WE CROSS THE SEA, WE BRAVE THE ENGLISH
FLEET, WE DISEMBARK IN A COUNTRY
WHICH
NEVER THOUGHT OF US, WE PILLAGE THEIR VIL-
LAGES, RUIN THEIR INHABITANTS, AND VIOLATE
THEIR WIVES; WE WANTONLY RUN THE HAZARD
OF DYING WITH HUNGER AND THIRST; WE ARE
EVERY ONE OF US ON THE POINT OF BEING ASSAS-
SINATED; AND ALL THIS FOR WHAT? IN TRUTH,
WE HAVE NOT YET DISCOVERED!"
The disgust of the army is universal. All the admi-
nistrations are disorganized. There exists among us a
selfishness, a fretfulness that absolutely incapacitates us
from associating together. With respect to myself, I
plunge into business, and thus escape the general ennui.
I am still with the same commissary of war; but you
must allow me to observe to you, that I have no in-
• There is a passage in Macbeth so perfectly applicable to
the sentiment before us, that we cannot resist the temptation of
laying it before the reader.
*
Mach. I have almost forgot the taste of fear.
The time has been, my senses would have cool'd
To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse, and stir
As life were in't. I have supp'd full with horrors;
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts,
Cannot once start me,
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1
clination to wait till I am five-and-twenty, to become a
commissary myself. Do not forget me then, and, above
all be assured, that the sooner you can obtain my recall,
the better it will be for me.
The career in which I am engaged at present, is a
most humiliating one, and we are constantly squabbling
with the generals. The Commander in Chief is the
only one who pays us any attention; but he is obliged,
at the same time, to wink at every thing in the officers.
He treats them with great delicacy, and evidently fears
that the army, which already begins to murmur, will at
no great distance of time, proceed to something more
alarming. In a word, take into your consideration too,
that Sucy has lost much of his influence; that since he
left Alexandria, he has executed no part of his office, on
account of his having had the imprudence to go on
board the flotilla (to insure, as he pretended, the subsist-
ence of the troops), and that he found himself, as he
ought to have foreseen, without the possibility of re-
joining them. Finally, take notice, that in consequence
of the climate, we are become, in spite of ourselves,
listless and inactive; and that we have the greatest dif-
ficulty in determining ourselves to put one leg before the
other.
I leave to your prudence and good sense to reflect on
what I have said; confident that your friendship for
me will lead you to what is fittest and best. I shall
look for your answer with impatience.
Sucy's wound prevents him from writing; it appears
that he will lose all but the two fore fingers of his right
hand: he supports his misfortune, however, with pa-
tience; which is more than he does the immense space
that separates us from our country.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
43
I am very seriously engaged on the history of our ex-
pedition: having already collected a vast quantity of
materials, which I shall immediately set about putting
in order. Adieu; I love you entirely. Adieu, my dear
Miot; when shall I have the satisfaction of locking you
in my arms? write to me, pray write.
P. S. (15 Thermidor) August 2d.
I am this moment setting out with General Le Clerc,*
* "O most lame and impotent conclusion!" Who would
have expected to see our Savant, after his pathetic description of
the miseries he had already contributed to bring upon this un-
fortunate country, who would have expected, we say, to find him
gaily setting out upon a fresh expedition, of which the avowed
(not "secret") purpose was the most flagitious and cruel rob-
bery that was ever yet attempted! (we speak of the meditated
seizure of the caravan.) But this is nature.
Hæc ubi locutus fœnerator Alphius
Jam jam futurus rusticus,
Omnem relegit Idibus pecuniam-
Quærit Calendis ponere!!!
When we first found in some of these letters, sentiments of en-
larged kindness and humanity, we were inclined to give the
writers credit for them, and spoke with cordial approbation (Part
I. Introd. &c.) of feelings which we imagined to be as sin-
cere as they were well expressed; but a farther acquaintance
with this correspondence has almost cured us of our credulity:
for we observed, as we proceeded, that there was not one of
those moralizing, those humane declaimers, "however he might
write the style of gods," that did not in some part or other of his
letter, like the Savant before us, betray the same infuriate pas-
sion for pillage and destruction, as the General himself, although
a keen perception of his own wretched situation, might lead him,
at the moment, to deprecate and deplore the wide spreading ruin
before him.
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COPIES OF
on a secret expedition. Here then I leave Grand Cai-
ro, but I hope to return to it.
Sucy is a little better; he wishes to return to France;
but does not seem disposed to take me with him.
Write to him on the subject. Once more, I embrace
you.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
45
No. V.
Au Grand Caire, le 9 Thermidor, an 6.
Cher Père et chère Mère,
Je n'ai pas pu vous donner de mes nouvelles depuis
E
mon embarquement, vu la difficulté des couriers. Je
présume que ma dernière vous sera parvenu en date de
Toulon.
Je voudrois pouvoir vous faire tous les détails de ce
qui s'est passé depuis notre départ de Toulon jusqu'ici;
je vous dirai seulement de gros en gros ce qui s'est passé.
La conquête de l'Isle de Malthe a été le début de la
campagne; après quoi nous avons continué notre route
jusqu'en Egypte. Le débarquement de l'armée s'est
fait à Alexandrie, qui nous a couté plusieurs braves mi-
litaires, qui ont perdu la vie sous les mûrs de cette ville
ancienne. De là toute l'armée s'est mise en marche sur
cinq divisions pour le Grand Caire, où nous sommes
enfin arrivés avec toutes les difficultés imaginables, ayant
souffert tout ce qu'il est possible de souffrir. Vous allez
frémir en lisant ce qu'il suit: nous avons marché pen-
dant dix-sept jours sans pain, sans vin, ni eau de vie, et
cinq jours sans eau, dans des plaines brûlantes, et l'en-
nemi continuellement à nos trousses. Figurez-vous que
nous avions à combattre des barbares, qui ne connois-
soient point les droits de la guerre, et par conséquent qui
exerçoient toutes les cruautés imaginables envers les
malheureux Français qui tomboient entre leurs mains;
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COPIES OF,
aux uns ils leur coupoient les oreilles, à d'autres, le nez,
à d'autres ils leur tranchoient la tête, et bien d'autres
choses que je n'ai plus dans la mémoire, qui me font
frissonner quand j'y pense.
Croirez-vous que pendant dix-sept jours notre nour-
riture n'a été que des pesteques et des melons d'eau, ce
qui a fait qu'un nombre infini de militaires sont morts
de faim et de soif! Nous ne pouvions pas attendre aucun
secours des habitans de ces contrées, attendu que ce
sont des sauvages qui nous égorgeoient à demi-portée de
fusil de nos colonnès.
Malgré les pauvres malheureux qui tomboient en dé-
faillance, nous étions obligé de marcher toujours en
colonnes serrées, parceque leur cavalerie profitoit du
moment où nous étions en désordre, pour nous charger,
et nous faisoient un mal considérable. Jours et nuits
nous étions sous les armes, ce qui nous causoit des fa-
tigues mortelles. 'Le mécontentement étoit peint sur
tous les visages. Les soldats étoient sur le point de re-
fuser de marcher. Plusieurs militaires se sont brûlé la
cervelle, d'autres se sont précipité dans le Nil; il s'est
commis des choses terribles. Encore, dans cet intervalle
nous avons livré plusieurs batailles que nous avons toutes
gagnées !
Enfin, arrivés aux environs du Grand Caire, nous
avons trouvé les Beys et Mamelouks, qui nous atten-
doient dans un camp retranché; malgré tous les ob-
stacles qui s'opposoient à nos succès, nous les avons
battus à plate couture; trois mille ont péri par le feu
et l'cau; il ne s'est pas fait de prisonniers. Il est bon
de vous observer, qu'il n'y a que notre division qui s'est
battue, qui n'étoit tout au plus que de cinq mille hommes.
La dix-huitième et la trente-deuxième se sont encore
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
47
couverts de gloire dans cette bataille célèbre, que l'on
appelle la Bataille des Pyramides.
Si nous avons bientôt le bonheur de rentrer en France,
je ferai mon possible pour obtenir ma démission à quel
prix que ce soit. Je ne puis plus me souffrir dans ce
maudit métier. Toujours se battre, à perdre la vie à
tous les instants de la journée! Au reste, je crois en
avoir assez fait; que chacun en fasse un peu. Je ne
suis plus avide de gloire, je l'ai été parcequ'il le falloit ;
maintenant je veux vivre tranquille auprès de vous.
Voilà où se borne toute mon ambition. L'on me fait
entrevoir un avancement prochain, mais je n'en veux
point. J'ai fait la guerre en Europe, mais je ne veux
plus la faire en Afrique, dans un climat aussi chaud.
Donnez-moi de vos nouvelles ; j'aime à croire que la
présente vous trouvera en bonne santé. Quant à la
mienne elle est des meilleures : l'air de la mer m'a été
salutaire.
Tous mes camarades ont été étonnés de ce que j'ai
pu
résister à tant de maux, et dans un climat où la terre
semble un brasier. Je finis en vous embrassant de tout
mon cœur, et suis avec respect,
Votre fils,
GAY, Capitaine.
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I
TRANSLATION.
Cairo (9 Thermidor), July 27th,
Dear Father and Mother,
HAVE not been able to send you a line since my em-
barkation, on account of the difficulty attending the
couriers. The letter which I wrote you from Toulon
was, I take it for granted, duly received.
I would willingly give you a detailed account of
every thing which has passed since our leaving that
port; but I must content myself at present, with a
general and cursory view.
Our campaign opened with the capture of Malta ;
after which we continued our route towards Egypt.
The disembarkation was made at Alexandria, and cost
us a number of brave men, who perished under the
walls of that ancient city. From thence the whole
army marched in five divisions for Grand Cairo; where
we arrived with the utmost difficulty, after suffering
every thing that was possible for man to suffer. You
will shudder at reading what follows. We marched
seventeen days without bread, wine, or brandy; and
five without water, over burning sands, with the enemy
close at our heels! figure to yourselves that we had to
combat barbarians, wholly unacquainted with the rights
of war, who exercised every species of cruelty upon
the unhappy men who fell into their hands: cutting
off the ears of one, the nose of another, the head of a
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
49
third, and many other things which have slipt my me-
mory, and which I tremble whenever I think of.*
Would you believe that for seventeen days we had
nothing to subsist on but water melons! Such, how-
ever, is the fact, and in consequence of it, an infinite
number of the troops died of thirst and hunger! We
could not expect any succour from the natives of these
countries, seeing they are savages,t who murdered us
within half a musket-shot of our own columns.
In spite of the number of poor wretches who dropt
from mere weakness, we were obliged to continue our
march in close order; because the enemy's cavalry took
Captain Gay, who trembles to think on what he has forgot,
has, not improbably, remembered what he never thought on!
Though the conduct of the French, whose swords were yet reek-
ing with the blood of their slaughtered brethren, would justify
any retaliation on the part of the Arabs; yet we much doubt
whether the practices here mentioned, ever took place. Shechy
(No. I.) relates, that after the General's Proclamation, the pri-
soners were dismissed unhurt: indeed, we are convinced that
these people never mangle such as fall into their hands; it is
plunder, not blood, they seek, for properly speaking, the Arabs
are not cruel.
+ Here again is another precious sentiment. No assistance,
it seems, was to be expected from the people whom they were
destroying, because-they were savages! But Gay is right. The
Swiss were no savages, nor the Flemings, nor the Dutch, nor
the Italians, and therefore the French procured succour from
them and therefore they found degenerate wretches amongst
them, eager to aid in rivetting the chains of their brethren, and
zealous to edge the sword that was to pierce the bosom of their
dearest connections! O may the nations that yet remain un-
trampled on, and unspoiled, profit from these letters, and in a
rejection of all communication with their destroyers, imitate these
unenlightened, or, if they will, "savage" Egyptians!
PART II.
E
1
1
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advantage of the slightest confusion in our ranks to fall
upon us; and always with considerable effect. Night
and day we were under arms, so that our fatigues were
altogether intolerable. Discontent was painted on every
face, and the whole army was on the point of refusing
to advance. A great number of soldiers blew out their
brains, and many flung themselves into the Nile. HOR-
RIBLE THINGS WERE DONE!* Add, that in this dread-
ful interval, we had many battles to fight; all of which,
however, we gained.
Arrived at length in the neighbourhood of Grand
Cairo, we found the Mameloucs awaiting our arrival
in an intrenched camp. In spite of all the obstacles
which stood in the way of our success, they were totally
defeated. Three thousand of them perished either by
our fire, or in the river; for we did not make a single
prisoner. I must observe to you that ours was the
only division which was engaged,t and that it consisted
of no more than five thousand men. The 18th and
32d acquired new glory in this famous battle, which
we now call the "Battle of the Pyramids."
If we have the happiness of returning speedily to
* There is great strength in this rude picture of the dreadful
state of the army; we scarce know whether it does not convey
it more forcibly and distinctly to the mind, than the elaborate
and eloquent description we have pointed out in the preceding
letter. Gay himself seems to have been deeply affected with it,
for we find him just below abjuring, with every mark of disgust,
any longer continuance in the service.
† Gay is not correct here. We know from better authority
than his, that four out of the five divisions were engaged; though
we believe the weight of the action fell chiefly upon Regnier's
and Desaix'.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
51
France, I will exert myself to the utmost to obtain my
discharge at any price whatever. I can no longer en-
dure this accursed business. Always hazarding my
life, and at every hour of the day!-For the rest, I
think I have done my part; let every one do a little.-
I am no longer greedy of glory; I was once, I confess,
because it was necessary to be so,-at present, my only
wish is to pass my life in peace, with you. This is the
sole object of my ambition. Some hopes of an ap-
proaching promotion are held out to me, but I want
none of it. I have seen service in Europe, but I have
no desire of seeing it in Africa, and in a country so hot
as this.
As
Let me hear from you.-I please myself with think-
ing that the present will find you in good health.
to my own, it is excellent. The sea has been of in-
finite use to me. All my comrades are astonished at
my being able to endure so many hardships, in a climatę
where the surface of the ground burns like fire!
I conclude, with embracing you, with all my heart;
being, with respect,
Your Son,
GAY, Capt.
E 2
52
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No. VI.
JE ne
Mon cher Ramcy,
Rosette, le 10 Thermidor, an 6.
Samedi, 28 Juillet, 1798.
E ne vous ai pas écrit depuis notre expédition de Malthe.
Vous au rezreçu, j'espère, la lettre que je vous ai écrite
du bord de mon vaisseau dans le port de Malthe: pour
ne pas me répéter, je poursuis.
L'escadre et la flotte mirent à la voile le 1 er Messidor,
et firent route vers l'Est. Le 6 nous découvrimes les
hautes montagnes couvertes de neige de l'Isle de Candie.
Le 11, une fregate signala la terre, et c'étoit les côtes de
la Barbarie. Le 11, nous découvrimes des côtes extraor-
dinairement plates et sabloneuses, parfaitement sem-
blables à celles entre Calais et Gravelines.
Enfin le 13, à 5 heures du matin, nous apperçumes la
ville d'Alexandrie. Ce jour à quatre heures du soir on
donna l'ordre du débarquement, qui s'effectua, malgré
une mer assez forte, dans une baye favorable à l'Est, et
à deux lieues de la ville. En cet endroit de la côte, est
une tour dite des Mamelouks. Le 14, 6 à 7000 hommes
sans aucune pièce d'artillerie assiégerent cette ancienne
et fameuse ville. Les Turcs tirèrent quelques coups de
Les François étoient déjà aux pieds des murs
ruinés de son enceinte; ils recevoient la mousqueterie
et les pierres des Arabes. Ils montèrent à l'assaut par
deux brêches qui existoient.
canon.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
53
Les Généraux Kleber et Menou furent blessés, mais
les Français entrèrent victorieux dans la ville à midi. Le
soir les Arabes et Turcs tirèrent sur les Français de leurs
maisons, nous y perdimes du monde. On punit cette
révolte, mais on se montra très-modéré. Cette première
conquête a couté cinq à six-cents hommes de part et
d'autre.
Les
Je débarquai le 15, sans être encore appellé, je par-
courus l'espace de deux lieues avant d'arriver à la ville.
J'eus le bonheur avec mon frère ainé d'y parvenir sans
malheur. Nous vîmes quelqu'uns de nos morts.
Français en général eurent la plus grande peine à pour-
voir à leurs vivres, et à se caser. Le 17, une députation
de douze à quinze Arabes Bédouins vinrent offrir leur
alliance au nom de leur tribu. Le Général en Chef
Bonaparte leur fit quelques présents et leur donna dix
louis à chacun. Ils devoient revenir le lendemain; ils
ont manqué à leur parole. Il paroit qu'ils ne sont ve-
nus que pour espionner.
Les 15, 16, 17, 18, et 19, les divisions des Généraux
Dessaix, Kleber, et autres filèrent sur Damanhour, ville
assez considérable, située sur le Canal d'Alexandrie à
10 lieues de cette ville. Le quartier général, le Géné-
ral en Chef, et le Général Cafarelli suivirent l'armée à
travers le Désert.
Toute la partie des sciences et arts qui eut ordre de
débarquer le 18, resta à Alexandrie jusqu'à nouvel or-
dre. Notre brigade des ingénieurs civils y est encore, à
l'exception de trois dont je suis un de ceux que l'on
semble avoir détaché pour suivre l'armée; mais jusqu'au
10 Messidor, que j'eus ordre d'aller à Rosette, je parcou-
rus la ville d'Alexandrie. Nous cherchâmes à reconnoî-
tre son ancienne splendeur à travers des monts de ruines
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qui ne sont aujourd'hui que celles d'Alexandrie rebatic
par les Arabes. Cà et là on ne trouve que des colonnes de
marbre de toute espèce. J'ai été voir la Colonne d'Alex-
andre Sevère, dite improprement de Pompée; elle est
placée hors de l'enceinte actuelle, elle a 104 pieds de hau-
teur en granite rouge; son fût est de 9 pieds de diamètre,
en a 56 de longueur, et est d'un seul morceau. En ren-
trant dans les murs on voit aussi deux pyramides, dites les
Aiguilles de Cléopatre. Enfin elles sont situées sur le bord
de la mer, elles ont toutes deux 56 à 60 pieds de hauteur
sur 7 pieds de face; l'une est élevée, et l'autre couchée
par terre. Les hyérogliphes dont les quatre faces sont
couvertes, indiquent qu'elles sont un ouvrage des anciens
Egyptiens; ils indiquent encore qu'elles ne sont pas
entières; elles ont été cassées, et cependant les deux py-
ramides sont chacune d'un seul morceau de granite
rouge. On travaille à leur enlèvement pour les trans-
porter en France.
Le nombre infini de puits et de citernes qui se trou-
vent dans cette ville, laisse entrevoir ce qu'elle a pu
être. En général les reservoirs d'eau sont encore très-
beaux, ils n'ont besoin que d'être curés. Quelques uns
de ces puits ont 40 et 50 pieds de profondeur, et 24 à
30 de diamètre, d'une belle construction: d'autres de la
même profondeur offrent des souterreins, soutenus par
deux ou trois rangs de colonnes posées les unes au dessus
des autres.
Le port d'Alexandrie est divisé en deux baies très-
belles, peu profondes, et séparées par une digue ou chaus-
sée de 5 à 600 toises de long, et qui se rend jusqu'au
Phare, c'est-à-dire, à l'emplacement de cet ancien et
superbe édifice, et d'où l'on découvroit les bâtimens à
trente ou quarante lieues en mer. Ce Phare n'est plus
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
55
aujourd'hui qu'un mauvais fort qui tombe en ruine, et au
milieu duquel est un minaret. Je l'ai visité; on y a
trouvé quelques pièces de canon, de longues couleuvrines
de 18 à 20 pieds, des mortiers en pierre; le tout abso-
lument hors de service, et ne pouvant plus résister à un
coup de canon. On a encore trouvé dans ce fort des
armes, dont la forme ne laisse pas douter qu'elles ne
proviennent des Français dans la malheureuse expédition
de Saint Louis en Egypte.
Je ne m'étendrai pas davantage sur cette ville. J'ajou-
terai seulement que les habitants quoique vaincus, ne
sont pas soumis, et ne le seront pas même de longtemps.
Nous devons ici user de politique, car nous ne sommes
pas assez forts pour agir autrement. Au reste on respecte
leur religion, leurs moeurs, et surtout leurs femmes. Il
est vrai que cette race féminine ici n'est pas très-engage-
ante; en général ce sont de vilains peuples.
J'eus ordre, comme je vous l'ai dit, de me rendre à
Rosette, distante de 12 lieues d'Alexandrie. Je m'en-
barquai avec le Général Menou, qui commande´provi-
soirement dans cette province. J'entrai dans le Nil le
24 Messidor. Nous passâmes avec quelque peine la
barre du Nil, l'effroi des navigateurs, et nous remon-
tâmes ce fleuve jusqu'à Rosette, qui est située sur la
rive gauche,-à deux lieues de l'embouchure du Nil. C'est
seulement de cette seconde et principale branche du Nil
que l'Egypte prend un aspect de verdure, que le con-
traste des sables et des déserts voisins embellissent en-
core. Le long des rives de ce fleuve on voit des bois de
datiers ou palmiers, des sycamores, de nombreux bestiaux,
de nombreuses habitations. Les jardins sont remplis
d'orangers, citroniers, et bananiers.
Rosette, comme toutes les autres villes du Levant, ha-
'
56
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bitées par les Turcs, est mal bâtie, sale; les rues sont
des allées étroites fermées par en haut. Les maisons
sont des répaires de puces, de moucherons. Jusqu'à
cette heure, nous n'avons, pour ainsi dire, été occupés
que du soin de notre subsistance, et du soin de dormir.
Les moustiques sont un véritable fléau; leur piquure,
la chaleur du soleil toujours brûlant, d'un ciel toujours
serein, embrasé, nous font passer des nuits cruelles. J'ai
beau me plonger dans les eaux bourbeuses du Nil, je
ne peux éteindre la chaleur de mon sang bouillonnant.
Mes fonctions à Rosette sont de lever le cours du Nil,
d'observer ce fleuve, ses crues, ses époques, son inonda-
tion, son embouchure, sa barre ou banc de sable, si dan-
gereux pour la navigation; enfin de présenter un mé-
moire sur la ville de Rosette considerée comme port. Je
suis logé sur le bord du Nil: de mon lit je vois le Delta;
nous n'avons pas encore mis le pied dans cette province
qui ne nous inquiète pas, parcequ'elle sera bientôt
soumise.
Nous avons appris hier, 9 Thermidor, (d'heureuse
mémoire) que le Caire étoit au pouvoir des Français,
qui y sont entrés en vainqueurs le 4 de ce mois. Cette
conquête a été l'affaire d'une bataille de quelques heures.
Les Mameluks au nombre de quatre mille cavaliers
sortis du Caire, se sont disposés à défendre l'entrée de
leur ville. Les Français, quoique harrassés et extenués
de fatigues, ont emporté à la bayonette une redoute assez
bien fortifiée et défendue par trente pièces de canon.
Ce fut l'affaire d'un instant. L'affaire devenue générale;
mille Mamelouks sont taillés en pièces, mitraillés, deux
à trois cents sont noyés dans le Nil; le reste épouvanté
prit la fuite; on entra dans la ville le feu embrâsoit
encore le palais ou maison des trois Beys qui s'étoient
་
1
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
57
emparés du pouvoir en méconnoissant l'empire du
Grand Sultan. Une Sultane a dérobé à la mort tous
les Français et Européens qui résidoient au Caire, en
les faisant retirer dans ses cours. Sans cette mesure ils
eussent été infailliblement massacrés.
La prise du Caire va ranger dans notre parti tous les
Turcs, qui n'osoient se décider par la crainte d'une dé-
faite. Malgré cela nous avons journellement à Alex-
andrie comme à Rosette des alertes. Avant-hier j'ai ac-
compagné le Général Menou dans une sortie qu'il fit.
Cette alerte étoit fausse, mais il n'en est pas de même
toutes les fois que les Arabes nous forcent de sortir.
Quand nous sommes arrivés à Alexandrie, la peste
regnoit encore dans quelques maisons Turques; elle y
regnoit aussi à Rosette. Mais dès le mois de Juin et
pendant les cinq ou six mois suivans, cette maladie n'est
pas dangereuse, elle ne se gagne plus. Le Nil est dans
sa crue, ses eaux sont très-bourbeuses, cela ne m'em-
pêche pas de m'y baigner tous les jours.
J'espère aller au Caire sous quinzaine, et aller plus.
haut voir les fameuses Pyramides et les autres monumens
de l'antiquité. J'espère et desire vivement de revenir
en France par l'Italie: fasse le ciel seconder mes vœux,
mes projets, revoir ma patrie, à laquelle un Français
ne peut renoncer!
Je crois que ma lettre partira pour France par la pre-
mière occasion; celle qui doit porter la nouvelle des
succès de notre armée. En vous écrivant, mon cher
Ramey, je vous prie de donner de mes nouvelles aux
amis de Calais. Vous voyez que je vous ai écrit longue-
ment. Cette lettre est la quatrième. Je n'écrirai donc
pas à Calais, je vous charge de me rappeller au souvenir
de Madame Wieyne, la future, de votre aimable famille,
ро
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de Madame Grandcourt, Dufaux jeune et vieux, Madame
Becquet, Mons. et Madame Durier, de l'ami Moreaux,
Dufour, Eden, et autres. A Paris à Madame Récicour,
Mons. et Madame Bénard.
Salut et amitié pour la vie,
GIREZ.
Note. Deux voyageurs en Egypte ont écrit sur cet
ancien pays; l'un est Savary; sa relation que j'ai lu
dans sa traversée, n'est pas très-exacte; son ouvrage est
en trois volumes. Le second est Volney que j'avois déjà
lu, et que je relis en ce moment. Son ouvrage est très-
bien fait, ses relations sont exactes; je vous engage à le
lire (en deux volumes).
Nous avons appris à Alexandrie la fameuse descente
des Anglais sur les côtes de France près d'Ostende. Ils
sont descendus avec 10,000 hommes, ils ont eu 4500
faits prisonniers, 1500 de tués, et le reste a pris la fuite;
il n'y a pas de mal à cela. Il faut que ces insulaires.
soient bien battus; ils devroient rester dans leur de-
meure de bois. Ces animaux descendent, je crois, en
ligne directe de Moyse, qui leur a enseigné à voguer sur
l'eau. Ils devroient s'y tenir renfermés, car en sortant
ils font voir qu'ils ne sont que des bêtes.
Malgré la Proclamation du Général en Chef aux
Turcs sur notre expédition, le peuple Egyptien, Turcs,
Mahométans, tous demandent où est le Pacha de Selim,
au nom duquel nous agissons. La prise du Caire les
a frappés de terreur et d'étonnement; ils paroissent en
être très-contents; ils disent en leur langue: "Dieu
s'est servi des armes des Français pour chasser les
Mamelouks, les Beys, les oppresseurs de l'Egypte.".
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
59
TRANSLATION.
I H
+
My dear Ramcy,
Rosetta, (10 Thermidor), July 28.
HAVE not written to you since we left Malta. You
received, I hope, the letter I wrote you on board my
ship, while she lay there-not to repeat what I have
already said, I take up my narrative from that day.
The ships of war and transports set sail on the 19th
of June, directing their course to the eastward, and on
the 24th we discovered the high lands of Candia, covered
with snow; the 29th, the look-out frigate made the
land (this was the coast of Barbary), and the same day
the whole fleet had a sight of it; it was exceedingly low
and sandy, resembling in every respect the ground be-
tween Calais and Gravelines.
At length, at day-break on the 1st of July, we disco-
vered the city of Alexandria. The same day, about four
in the afternoon, orders were given for landing the troops,
which was effected, in spite of a very heavy sea, in a
convenient bay about two leagues to the east of the
* Citizen Girez is not much more accurate in his geography
than the rest of his countrymen: the bay in which they landed is
not to the east, but to the west of Alexandria; and, for the ho-
nour of his historical precision, be it farther remarked, that the
building of which he speaks, is not called the Tower of the Ma-
meloucs, but of the Arabs, which is a very different thing;-but
to notice every blunder of this nature, as we observed on a for-
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city. On this part of the coast is a building, called the
Tower of the Mameloucs. The next day, six or seven
thousand men, unprovided with artillery, laid siege to
this ancient and celebrated city. The Turks discharged
a few pieces of cannon. The French were already close
to the ruined walls which surround it, where they re-
ceived a volley of musquetry and stones from the Arabs,
and then mounted to the assault by two old breaches!
The Generals Kleber and Menou were wounded, but
the French entered the city victoriously by noon. In
the evening the Turks and Arabs fired on our troops
from their houses, and killed some of them ;-this RE-
VOLT was punished, but in the gentlest manner!* This
first conquest cost us between two and three hundred
men. The loss of the enemy was equal to our own,
I went on shore on the 3d, though I had not yet re-
ceived orders to disembark, and walked five or six miles
to the city; which I had the good fortune to enter, in
company with my elder brother, without any accident
whatever. On our way we saw the dead bodies of seve-
ral of our countrymen. At Alexandria the whole army
had the greatest difficulty to find provisions or quarters.
On the 5th, a deputation of twelve or fifteen Bedouins.
came to offer us their alliance in the name of their tribe.
The Commander in Chief made them a few presents,
and, at parting, gave each of them ten louis. They pro-
mer occasion, is as far from our intentions, as our power, in the
limits we have prescribed ourselves.
* That is to say, by an indiscriminate massacre of men, women,
and children, for the space of four hours! Girez seems to have
pretty nearly the same notions of humanity as the Rev. Mr. W.
who, like him, perhaps, would call this resistance to the fury of
the
great nation, a REVOLT.
1
1
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
61
mised to return the next day, but they never appeared
afterwards. It is probable they only came as spies.*
The 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th, the divisions of De-
saix, Kleber, &c. filed off towards Demanhour, a pretty
considerable town, on the Canal of Alexandria, from
which place it is about 10 leagues distant. The Com-
mander in Chief, with General Cafarelli, and the rest
of the staff, followed the army across the Desert.
All the corps of the arts and sciences, which were
ordered to disembark on the 6th, are to continue at
Alexandria till farther orders. Our brigade of civil
engineers is still there, with the exception of three (of
whom I am one) who seem to have been detached from
it for the purpose of following the army. Till the 10th,t
however, when I received final orders to proceed to Ro-
setta, I amused myself with exploring the city of Alex-
andria. We endeavoured to trace out its ancient splen-
* We have here a complete explanation of a circumstance
which otherwise we could only know from the event. The rea-
der cannot have forgot the exultation with which not only the
letters in the First Part of this publication, but even the official
dispatches of Bonaparte and Berthier, speak of this alliance with
the Arabs, and of the mighty advantages to be derived from it.
Here then behold the venerable negotiators (vagabonds and
beggars) who were entrusted with the interests of the Arabs!
and contemplate the important drama to which the eyes of all
Europe were anxiously directed, begun and ended in one mise-
rable scene!
In the original, 10 Messidor (the 28th of June), a most
ridiculous blunder! There is no way of correcting it, but by sup-
posing Girez to have confounded the old and new calenders in
his mind (no uncommon-circumstance); and in that case, if we
} read 10th of July in the good old way, instead of 10 Messidor,
we shall probably be not far from the truth.
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dour amidst mountains of ruins, which seem to be
mercly those of the Alexandria rebuilt by the Arabs!
We found scattered about fragments of columns of
various species of marble.
*
F
I went also to see the column of Severus, improperly
attributed to Pompey; it stands without the circuit of
the present city; it is of red granite, 104 feet in height;
its shaft is 56 feet in length, and 9 in diameter, and is
formed of a single block. In returning towards the
*This is the hundreth time at least, that we have met with
this expression, which after all is taken from Savary," the Co-
lumn of Severus, improperly attributed to Pompey." Such a
deplorable display of minute science amidst the grossest igno-
rance, is not calculated to raise our ideas of the progress of the
disciples of the new school, to a very extraordinary pitch. What
real knowledge is still amongst the French, and we are convinced
there is still a great deal, was acquired under a very different dis-
cipline. With the scholars of the old regime will expire all that
is scientific and profound in France.
Literature has not received so fatal a blow since the days of
the National Convention, or (in the hypocritical cant of the pre-
sent time) of Robespierre, as by the horrid deportations of the 18
Fructidor. In the prison-ships of that period were confounded
men of the most varied accomplishments; men who had long de-
lighted and instructed Europe; and whose place the present
generation of crude, and shallow, and clamorous cognoscenti, will
ineffectually labour to supply. In spite of the NATIONAL IN-
STITUTE, in spite of the innumerable memoirs, essays, odes,
that issue daily from its countless mouths, and astonish the weak,
and overwhelm the wise, we are persuaded that the French are
gradually relapsing into barbarism; nor will their decline, we
apprehend, be much retarded even by the EGYPTIANINSTITUTE,
though Bonaparte is ostentatiously inrolled amongst its members;
and Tallien has descended from the dignity of a Senator, and
almost a Director, to become a corrector of the press to Citizen
Marc Aurèle !
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
63
city, you also see two pyramids, called Cleopatra's
Needles!!! they are both situate on the coast, are be-
tween fifty and sixty feet in height, and about seven
feet square. One of them is still standing, the other
lying on the ground. The hieroglyphics with which
the four sides are covered, indicate that they are the
works of the ancient Egyptians; they indicate also that
they are not entire. Both of these pyramids have evi-
dently been broken; and yet each of them was formed
of a single piece of red granite. We are endeavouring to
raise them, for the purpose of conveying them to
France!
The infinite number of wells and cisterns to be found
in this city, give us a pretty accurate idea of what it
must have been. Generally speaking, these reservoirs
are still very fine, and only require to be cleaned out;
some of them are from forty to fifty feet in depth, and
near thirty in diameter: others form subterraneous
vaults, which are supported by two or three rows of
columns, one over another.
The port of Alexandria is divided into two very beau-
tiful bays (with no great depth of water), separated by a
dike or causeway near 1200 yards in length, and reach-
ing to the Pharos, that is to say, to the site of that an-
cient and magnificent edifice, from whence vessels were
discovered at the distance of thirty or forty leagues. This
Pharos is nothing at present but a paltry fort, which is
tumbling into ruin. In the centre of it is a minaret,
which I examined. There are a few pieces of cannon,
some long culverines of 18 or 20 feet, and some stone
mortars: the whole absolutely unserviceable, and in-
capable of resisting a single shot. In this fort were
found a few arms, the shape and make of which clearly
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prove that they once belonged to the French who pe
rished in the unfortunate expedition of St. Louis.*
I shall say nothing more of this city; except that its
inhabitants, though vanquished, are not in a state of
complete subjection, nor likely to be so for a long time
to come. We must use policy here, for we are not yet
strong enough to do otherwise.t For the rest, we re-
spect their religion, their manners, and above all, their
women; these last, it must be confessed, are not
mightily engaging. In short, they are a hideous, and
abominable race.
* Though Girez appears to have a very pretty notion of an-
tiquity, which he manifests among other things, by mistaking an
obelisk for a pyramid, and the rnins of a Greek wall for an in-
dubitable specimen of Arabic masonry, we are still somewhat dis-
inclined to give him credit for the discovery of which he speaks
in this place.
To do him justice, however, he is not singular in his conjec-
tures; a letter (a copy) has found its way to France, in which
the same circumstance is mentioned. This has been printed in
the papers of the Directory, and, according to the established
custom, reprinted here, cum notis variorum. To judge from the
comments of the Jacobins on this famous discovery, it would
seem as if they thought the whole army of France might be
equipped from it. "A room," say they, "has been found in
the Castle, full of arms, supposed," &c.-" this will prove a
most valuable acquisition." Would any one suppose, after this,
that the treasure, of which their wishes lead them to speak with
such apparent satisfaction, consisted in nothing more than half-a-
dozen rusty halberds, and three or four unserviceable matchlocks,
dragged out of a dust-hole!
+ We hope the reader has not overlooked Girez' admirable
reason for "using policy." It is the true secret of their forbear-
ance in every country which the French have over-run, and is
worth whole folios on the subject. Bonaparte seems to have
}
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
65
I had orders, as I observed above, to proceed to Ro-
setta, distant about 12 leagues from Alexandria; I em-
barked with General Menou, who commands this pro-
vince provisionally. We entered the Nile on the 12th
of July, passing the bar, the terror of navigators, with
some difficulty, and ascended the river till we came to
Rosetta, which is situated on its left bank, about two
leagues from its mouth. It is only at this second,* and
principal branch of the Nile, that Egypt puts on a little
appearance of verdure, which is rendered still more
agreeable by the strong contrast of the neighbouring
Deserts. Along the banks of the river we saw many
dates or palm trees, and sycamores, numbers of cattle,
and houses. The gardens are full of orange, citron, and
banana trees.
Rosetta, like all the other towns of the Levant, in-
habited by the Turks, is wretchedly built, and full of
filth: the streets are narrow alleys, of which the houses
meet at the top; the houses themselves are the recep-
tacles of fleas, gnats, &c. &c. To this moment, as I may
committed a fatal mistake on this head at Cairo. He took his
measures better in Italy, where he seldom laid aside his policy
(which is a very expressive word in the vocabulary of a French
general), and began the work of pillage and murder till, in the
simple but expressive words of Girez, he was "strong enough
to do it."
* We do not quite comprehend this topographical view of
Egypt. It seems as if Girez supposed Alexandria to be situated
upon a branch of the Nile, a circumstance which, if we consider
that he remained there several days, exploring, as he says, the
circumjacent country, promises admirably for the fidelity of the
hydraulic charts which we find he has been so judiciously selected
to compose.
PART II.
F
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A
say, we have done nothing, thought of nothing, but
how to procure a little food and sleep. The musquitoes
are a real plague; their sting, the heat of an ever-burn-
ing sun, and of a serene sky always on fire, make us
pass most dreadful nights. In vain do I plunge myself
into the muddy waters of the Nile; I cannot extinguish
the heat of my boiling blood.
My employment at Rosetta is to take a plan of the
course of the Nile, to observe the river as to its rise,
its epochs, its inundations, its mouth, its bar, or bank
of sand, so dangerous to navigation, and, in short, to
present a memoir on the town of Rosetta, considered as
a port. I am lodged on the bank of the river, and can
see the Delta from my bed. We have not yet put foot
in this province; but that gives us no uneasiness, as we
know it will soon be in our power.
We learned yesterday (the 27th July, of happy me-
mory), that Cairo was in the possession of the French,
who entered it as conquerors, on the 22d. This cap-
ture was the consequence of an action of some hours:
the Mameloucs, to the number of four thousand horse,
came out of Cairo, and shewed a disposition to defend
the approaches of the city. The French, though har-
rassed and worn down with fatigue, carried with fixed
bayonets a redoubt tolerably well fortified, and defended
by thirty pieces of cannon. This was the affair of a
single instant; the action then became general; a thou-
sand Mameloucs were cut to pieces, or destroyed by
grape-shot, and two or three hundred drowned in the
Nile; the remainder took fright, and fled. Our troops
then entered the city; the fire was still preying on the
palace of the three Beys, who had seized the sovereign
power, and rendered themselves independant of the
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
69
Grand Seignior. A Sultana preserved all the Euro-
peans who resided at Cairo, by opening her palace to
them: without this act of humanity, they would have
all been infallibly massacred.
The capture of Cairo will bring over all the Turks,
who did not dare to join us before, lest we should be
defeated! In spite of this, however, we have daily
alarms both here and at Alexandria. The day before
yesterday, I accompanied General Menou in a sortie
which he made; it proved to be a false alarm; this,
however, is not always the case, when the Arabs force
us to march out.
When we arrived at Alexandria the plague was still
there; it was also at Rosetta: but from the beginning
of June, and the five or six months which follow it,
this malady is neither dangerous nor infectious. The
Nile is on its increase; its waters are extremely muddy;
this, however, does not prevent me from bathing in it
every day.
I hope to go to Cairo in a fortnight, and from thence
still higher up the river, to see the famous pyramids,
and the other monuments of antiquity. I hope, and
desire most ardently, to return to France by the way of
Italy. May heaven prosper my wishes, my projects, to
see once more my dear native land ;-wishes which a
Frenchman can never renounce !
I fancy that my letter will be sent to France by the
first packet, which is to carry the news of our success.
While I am writing to you, my dear Ramey, I beg you
to let my friends at Calais know I am well. You see
that I have written pretty much at length; this letter
is the fourth. I shall not write then to Calais, but will
trouble you to remember me to Madame Wieyne, yout
F 2
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intended; to your worthy family; to Madame Grand-
court, Dufaux, and his son; Madame Becquet; Mon-
sieur and Madame Durier; my friends Moreaux, Du-
four, Eden, &c.; and at Paris, to Madame Récicour,
and Monsieur and Madame Bénard.
Health and friendship during life,
GIREZ.
Two travellers in Egypt have written on this ancient
country. Savary, whose account I read on my passage,
and who is far from correct (his work is in three vo-
lumes); and Volney, whom I had read, and whom I
am now reading again! His work is well written, and
his descriptions are very accurate.* I could wish you
to read it (it is in two volumes).
We heard at Alexandria of the famous descent of the
English on the French coast near Ostend. They landed
with 10,000 men, of whom 4,500 were made prisoners,
1,500 killed, and the rest put to flight!+ This is not
* It should not be forgotten, that our engineer, who decides
so peremptorily on the accuracy of Volney's account of Egypt,
has not yet, as appears from his own letter, set foot beyond the
suburbs of Rosetta, the first town, as he truly says, on entering
the Nile. This is just as if an Egyptian should decide on the
descriptions of France by taking a cursory view of the sands of
Calais; and is not much unlike what was done by a half-witted
philosopher called De Pages, who went round the world, raving
after “virtuous savages;" and who pretended to characterize
the English from an accidental stay of three hours at Deal!
† This curious paragraph, in which Girez, at the distance of
a thousand leagues, puts his correspondent in mind of what hap-
pened under his own nose, bears a strong resemblance to z
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
69
amiss; these Islanders ought to be well beaten they
should have staid in their wooden houses. These ani-
mals descend, I think, in a right line from Moses, who
taught them to use the sea.* They ought to confine
themselves constantly to it, for the instant they get on
land, they prove themselves to be a very stupid race.
In spite of the Proclamation of the Commander in
Chief, to the Turks on our expedition, the Egyptians,
the Turks, the Mahometans, all ask us where the Ba-
shaw of Selim is, in whose name we profess to act?
The taking of Cairo has filled them with terror and as-
tonishment; they seem to be much pleased with it, and
say, in their own language," God has availed himself
"of the arms of the French, to drive away the Mame-
"loucs, the Beys, the oppressors of Egypt."
passage we once recollect to have seen in a letter from a back-
settler'in North America to his friend in London. "Give my
love to Abraham Turner, and tell him I have no news to send,
only I hear the parliament is dissolved.”
We make no remarks on the authenticity of the intelligence
which is conveyed to this deluded army,
* Girez, as Sir Hugh Evans says, has "prayed his piple ill."
If he will look into the history of Moses at his return, (for we
fear he will have no opportunity of doing it while he stays in
Egypt), he will find that Moses has little pretensions to the re-
putation of a teacher in navigation. His "descendants in a right
line" too, know almost as little of the matter as himself; but so
it ever is; ignorance and profaneness go hand in hand, and the
sneer of the scoffer is produced by the misconceptions of the
fool.
COPIES OR
No. VII.
Alexandrie, le 12 Thermidor, an 6.
A la Citoyenne Blanc, Rue Helvetius, No. 667, à Paris.
T
Douce amie, je t'ai écrit au commencement du mois.
Je m'impatientois de ne pas recevoir de tes précieuses
lettres; aujourd'hui j'en connois la cause. Les Anglais
ont intercepté nos premiers avisos partis de Toulon, ils
apportoient les premières lettres de tout ce qui m'inté-
resse sur la terre: oui, ton Julien François n'avoit
qu'une seule jouissance à désirer, celle de tes précieuses
lettres, et j'en suis privé. Ce sacrifice bien dur pour
mon cœur, je l'ajoute avec plaisir à tous ceux que j'ai
faits pour assurer une existence heureuse à ma Julie, et
à mes enfans.
Le 4 de ce mois, Bonaparte a pris le Caire; je m'y
attendois, et il falloit cette nouvelle pour supporter l'état
de pénurie où la communication du Nil, interceptée par
l'ennemi, nous jettait. Nous allons être approvisonnés
en ris, grains, et la possession du Caire va nous rendre
l'abondance.
Il s'agira de connoître comment le Grand Seigneur
va trouver tout ceci. Les Anglois tiendront-ils la mer
cet hiver? ce sont des choses à éclaircir pour notre ex-
istence loin de la France; non que nous ayons besoin
des objets de première necessité en Egypte; mais
par-
ce que les communications de mer sont précieuses dans
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
71
la situation où nous serons dans quelques mois après le
retirement des eaux du Nil. Enfin, quand nous en serons
là, nous verrons ce que les nouvelles de France nous
apprendront.
Tu sauras que j'ai lu les papiers publics jusqu'au 5
Messidor. Louis Bonaparte, qui est resté malade ici,
m'a tojours procuré les Gazettes qui sont arrivées par
les avisos. Je vois avec peïne que dans ce moment fa-
vorable à une descente en Irlande, on ne s'en occupe
pas en France; mais il y a encore trois mois propres à
cette tentative, on s'y décidera peut-être.
J'ai trop à écrire ici pour organiser les administra-
tions du Lazareth, et des postes de la côte, pour que je
puisse faire un journal historique de ce qui se passe ici
à tous ceux que je voudrois tenir instruits. Voici mon
projet à ce sujet : je ferai cet historique assez succincte-
ment, je te l'adresserai, douce amie, et tu le com-
muniqueras à Teinier, gazettier. Ceci pourtant sans
obligation, mais quand tu le jugeras convenable :
quelquefois même il est possible que je ne puisse te
donner qu'un apperçu rapide dans une lettre, et tu le
rapporteras de vive voix à nos amis, car les lettres de
Julien François à sa douce amie ne doivent être lues
que par celle qui les inspire.
O ma Julie, te voilà encore une fois au moment de
renouveller mon tître de père, et je suis loin de toi!
Pardonne mille fois, pardonne l'éloignement de ton
amant, qui ne pourra soulager tes souffrances dans un
moment si pénible et si doux pour toi. Je connois le
cœur de ma Julie; si elle souffre, elle éprouve toujours
un nouveau bonheur à donner à son époux de nouveaux
fruits de son amour. Ah! si du moins cette fois tes
vœux sont remplis, ma chère et gentille Camille te
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1
consolera de l'absence de son père. Si c'est un nouveau
garçon, que le nom de Tell puisse nous rappeller la
mémoire de celui que nous avons perdu.
Il me tarde de savoir ta délivrance, mais il me tarde
aussi de connoître si tu me donnes une Camille. Baise-
la mille fois pour son père. Mais c'en est assez, mes
yeux, baignés de larmes sensibles et douces, me forcent
de remettre la fin de cette lettre à un autre moment.
Ce 14 à midi-Il y a dans ce moment quatorze vais-
seaux Anglois en vue. On compte douze vaisseaux de
ligne et deux frégates; ces deux-ci sont venues à la
portée du canon d'Alexandrie, mais elles ont viré de
bord quand elles ont vu que notre escadre n'y étoit pas,
et cette escadre ennemie force de voiles pour se rendre
au Bekier, port à trois lieues de cette ville, où est
mouillée l'escadre Française, bien embossée, dit-on, et
en état de bien recevoir les Anglois.
mg
A 5 heures, nous voyons avec des porte-vues distincte-
ment l'escadre Anglaise, qui va mouiller au Bekier pour
attaquer notre escadre. Il est 5 heures et demie; la
canonnade commence ; et vers les 6 heures elle redouble.
Il est heures; la nuit se fait, et le feu redouble encore.
A 7 heures et demie; nous voyons l'horizon enflamé,
ce qui annonce l'incendie de quelque vaisseau. A 8
heures et quart, la canonnade. se ralentit; enfin à 9
heures, nous voyons le feu de l'incendie augmenter.
A 9 heures et quelques minutes, le vaisseau a sauté.
Quelle belle horreur, un ciel couvert de feu !
La canonnade se ralentit à 9 heures et demie, dans
ce moment on fait partir mille matelots et canonniers
pour aller au Bekier par terre. Il est 10 heures, le feu
ralenti, et la lune se leve à la droite du lieu où vient de
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
73
s'élever l'explosion du vaisseau incendié. Les Français
sont ici tous en armes, et nous sommes tous dans la
maison du Général Kleber, sur nos terrasses. On fait
partir des détachements d'heure en heure, pour aller au
Bekier renforcer les équipages de notre escadre.
A minuit, le feu qui n'a jamais cessé recommence
et redouble, il est clair que l'escadre Anglaise veut ou
couler la nôtre ou se faire couler. Nous brûlons de
savoir des nouvelles, mais jusqu'à neuf heures du matin
nous serons dans l'incertitude.
A 3 heures du matin le feu redouble encore, il a duré
une heure. A 6 heures le feu redouble encore. Il part
encore d'ici des matelots et des canonniers : il est 8
heures, le feu n'a pas diminué.
A midi il arrive un exprès de Bekier. O fatale nuit,
O fatale journée pour l'honneur Français! L'escadre
est détruite. Sur treize vaisseaux et quatre frégates,
deux frégates et deux vaisseaux Français ont mis à lą
voile et se sont sauvés. Je pense qu'ils auront été en
France vous porter cette triste nouvelle.
Mais ici je m'arrête, ma chère Julie, pour calmer tes
craintes. Les Anglais que les sottises de notre marine
élevent plus encore que leurs moyens, n'ont rien d'heu-
reux à tenter contre nous. Les ports d'Alexandrie
flanqués de batteries et défendus par la nature, n'of-
friroient que la honte et la mort à cet ennemi qui, je te
le repète, n'est formidable que de l'ignorance de notre
marine. Imagine-toi que notre escadre étoit disposée
pour être battue par les Anglais trois ou quatre contre
un; une pareille bêtise ne pouvoit échapper à un en-
nemí qui fait de la mer son élément.
Une chose qui te paroitra étonnante, c'est qu'au mo-
ment où je t'écris, trois jours après cette fatale affaire,
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nous ignorons encore l'état réél des vaisseaux Anglais ;
qui dit qu'ils en ont 4 à 5 de perdus, ou totalement hors
d'état de mettre en mer, qui dit qu'ils n'ont que 5 à 6
vaisseaux en état de faire route, mais je crains bien
qu'ils ne retournent plus qu'ils ne sont venus, c'est à
dire, qu'ils avoient 14 vaisseaux auxquels ils joindront
ceux qu'ils nous ont pris. Ce bruit-même semble s'ac-
créditer.
Telle est cette malheureuse affaire: mais laissons en-
core ces détails fâcheux, et rassure-toi sur le sort de
notre colonie. Nous sommes ici bien retranchés par
des batteries, et nous ne sommes mal que de ne pas
recevoir des nouvelles de France. O ma Julie, qu'il
me seroit doux tous les 15 jours au moins d'avoir une
de tes lettres!
On dit que Bonaparte laisse six mille hommes au
Caire, qu'il y a rétabli l'ancien gouvernement dépos-
sédé par les Mamelouks. Tu sens que c'est le moyen
de se faire un ami puissant dans le pays.
Nous attendons chaque jour à le voir paroître ici,
car après l'affaire de la flotte, il faut bien que Bonaparte
soit quelque tems ici. Déjà bien des gens pensent au
voyage dans l'Inde, ceci me paroit éloigné encore,
cependant tu sauras ce qui en sera par mes premières
lettres.
La frégate qui alloit en France avec les dépêches de
Marmont pour appeller son épouse ici, a été, dit-on,
prise; dans ce cas le départ de cette charmante femme
sera retardé, et en effet je vois de la folie d'appeller sa
femme avant que les circonstances soient assises ici
d'une manière invariable. Mais il appartient à Mar-
mont de hâter le voyage de son épouse; quant à celui
de ma Julie, aussitôt qu'il sera possible de le déter-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
75
miner, sois tranquille, ton époux t'appellera avec l'em-
pressement de l'amant le plus passionné.
Je ferme cette lettre, car on m'assure qu'un capitaine
part pour France. Puisse cette lettre te parvenir, douce
amie, avec les baisers que je mets sur ces lignes pour
toi et mes enfans.
Amour pour la vie,
B. JULIEN FRANÇOIS.
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria (12 Thermidor), July 30th.
To the female Citizen BLANC, Rue Helvetius, No. 667,
at Paris.
I
My dear Life,
WROTE to you about the middle of this month. I
was exceedingly uneasy at not hearing from you; but
now I know the reason: the English have taken the
first advice boats that were dispatched from Toulon;
they were bringing me the first letters respecting all
that is interesting to me on earth. Yes, your Julien
François had but one concern, that for your dear
letters; and those he is deprived of. 'Tis a sacrifice
that has cost me dear, but I add it with pleasure to
all those which I have previously made to procure a
decent competence for my Julia, and my children.
Bonaparte took Cairo on the 22d of this month: I
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expected it ; and, indeed, nothing less than this event was
necessary to enable us to support the state of privation,
to which the interception of all communication by the
Nile, had reduced us. We shall now be supplied with
rice and corn; for the
possession of Cairo will' procure
us provisions in abundance.
The question now is, what the Grand Seignior will
think of all this. And the English-will they keep
the sea this winter? These are doubts, the solving of
which is of the utmost importance to our existence in
this remote country. Not that we are in want of ar-
ticles of the first necessity in Egypt; but that a free
communication by sea is of the highest consequence,
in the situation in which we shall find ourselves a few
months hence, when the Nile is low-but enough,
when that period arrives, we shall see what the news
from France will say.
I must inform you that I have read the public papers
up to the 23d of June. Louis Bonaparte, who is de-
tained here by sickness, has constantly procured me
the Gazettes brought by our packets. I see with pain
that in this favourable moment for a descent on Ire-
land,* nothing is thought of it in France; but there
* This expression strongly marks the restless nature of these
people. Julien allows that the situation of the French army is
extremely critical; nay, that its existence depends on contin-
gencies,-yet, with want of every kind staring him in the face,
with a prospect of a new enemy in the Grand Seignior, and with
hatred and hostility kindling around him, his thoughts still turn
on INVASIONS; and, in the very jaws of destruction himself, he
is as anxious as ever to extend its ravages to a distant nation I
The calumniators of the Councils, as well as of the arms of
their country, will not do amiss in taking notice of this and other
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
my
are still three months proper for the attempt, and it
may yet, perhaps, be made.
I am too much engaged in organizing the admini-
stration of the Lazaretto, and of the positions along
the coast, to be able to compose an historical journal
of what passes here for each of those whom I could
wish to inform,—but I will tell you what has struck
me on the subject. I will draw up this journal as
succinctly as possible; I will then direct it, my love,
to you; and you shall send it to the newspaper-writer
Teinier. This, however, I insist upon your doing,
only when you yourself judge it not improper. It may
sometimes happen that I shall be able to send you only
a rapid sketch in a letter,—this you may report viva
voce to our friends, for the letters of Julien François
to his love ought only to be seen by her who inspires
them.
O my Julia! you are now once more on the point
of renewing my title of father, and I am far from you,-
pardon a thousand times, O pardon the absence of your
fond friend, who cannot sooth your agonies in a mo-
ment so painful yet dear to you.-I know the heart of
my Julia: if she suffers, yet she experiences a new
sensation of happiness in giving her husband a new
passages of a similar nature to be found in these letters. They
will see in them the secret opinion of the French themselves
(which, indeed, was fully justified by the event) on the ill con-
duct of their own affairs; and they will be convinced (though
we do not expect them to acknowledge it) that all wisdom and
all vigour are not the exclusive possession of an enemy, who
forwards an expedition only in the intervals of private feuds,
and sends it at last slowly prepared, and ill concerted, to open
destruction.
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pledge of her love. Ah! if your prayers are this time
heard, a sweet little Camilla will console you for the
absence of her father. If it shall prove a boy, may the
name of Tell recall the memory of that which we lost!
I long to hear of your safe delivery, but I also long to
hear if you have given me a Camilla. Kiss her a thou-
sand times for her father.-But no more: my eyes suf-
fused with tears of tenderness and delight, compel me
to postpone the completion of my letter.
Noon, August 1st. Fourteen English vessels are this
moment hove in sight. We make them to be twelve
sail of the line, and two frigates: these last came within
cannon shot of Alexandria, but on ascertaining that our
fleet was not in the harbour, they stood off again im-
mediately; and, with the rest of the ships, are now
making with a press of sail for Aboukir,-a port about
three leagues from this city, where the French fleet is
at anchor, strongly moored, as they say here, and in a
situation to give the English a good reception..
Five o'clock. We discern the English fleet very
clearly with our glasses. It seems about to drop
anchor at Aboukir, for the purpose of attacking us.
Half after five-The cannonade begins, and about
six, increases. Seven-It is now night, and the fire
still increases. Half after seven-The whole horizon
seems in flames; this shews that a ship is on fire.
Eight-The cannonade slackens a little. Nine-
The flames augment. A little after nine-The vessel
blows up! how tremendously beautiful! a sky covered
with fire!
Half after nine-The cannonade slackens, and a
thousand sailors are dispatched to Aboukir by land.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
79
Ten-The moon rises on the right of the spot where
the explosion took place. The French here are all
under arms.
We are assembled at the house of Ge-
neral Kleber, and on the terraces. Fresh detachments
are hourly dispatched to Aboukir, to reinforce the
crews of our ships.
Midnight-The firing, which has never totally
ceased, recommences with redoubled fury. It is evi-
dent that the English are determined to sink or be
sunk.* We burn to know what has happened, but
we shall be kept in suspense till nine in the morn-
ing.
Three o'clock -The firing increases in violence.
It has now continued an hour. Six-The firing still
increases, more sailors and cannoneers are sending off.
It is now eight, and the firing is as brisk as ever.
Noon-An express is arrived from Aboukir. O
fatal night! O fatal action for the honour of France!
the fleet is destroyed. Of thirteen sail of the line, and
four frigates, two only of each have made their escape.
They are sailed for France, to carry you, I imagine,
this dreadful news.
Here, however, I break off, my dear Julia, for the
purpose of calming your apprehensions. The English,
whom the stupidity of our marine contributes to raise
more than their own exertions, have no prospect of
* We know not how Julien will settle this matter with the
Morning Chronicle." What can the English do?” says that
patriotic paper," they are so disgraced that it will require
no efforts to disarm them: any puny whipster may get their
swords"!!!
1
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success in attempting any thing against us. The ports
of Alexandria, flanked by batteries, and defended by
nature, offer nothing but disgrace and death to an ene-
my who, I must again repeat it, are only formidable
through the ignorance of our marine! imagine our
fleet in a position which allowed the English to fight
them three or four to one! a piece of stupidity like
this* could not escape an enemy who has made the sea
his peculiar element.
It will appear very surprising to you, that at the
moment of writing this (three days after the fatal af-
fair) we should still be totally ignorant of the real state
of the English vessels. Some say that four or five
of them are lost, or, at least, incapable of keeping
the sea; while others insist that they have but five or
six in all, in a state of service, but I am very ap-
prehensive that they will return with more than they
came, and, I am sorry to observe, that this idea is
gaining ground.
Such is this unfortunate event: but let us have done
with these melancholy details; and do you still console
yourself with respect to the fate of our colony. We
are here well intrenched, and have little to complain
* Observe that this philippic on the stupidity of his van-
quished countrymen comes from the man who had said just
before,-"Our fleet is at anchor strongly moored, and, as they
say here, in A SITUATION TO GIVE THE ENGLISH A GOOD
RECEPTION."
Such is the foresight impudently arrogated in defiance of a
recorded opinion, a moment after the event had shewn that the
fleet might be insulted with impunity! When shall we learn to
distinguish the passionate starts of these people from sound po-
litics, and prize their judgment at its true worth?
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
81
of but the want of intelligence from France. O Julia!
how happy would it make me to receive a letter from
you at least once a fortnight!
We are told that Bonaparte has left six thousand men
at Cairo, where he has re-established the ancient go-
vernment, which was subverted by the Mameloucs.
You will allow that this is the way to procure us a
powerful friend in the country.
We expect him here every day, for in consequence
of our defeat, his presence for some time at Alexandria
is indispensable. Many people are already speculating
on the expedition to India; this appears to me, how-
ever, to be rather a distant object,-at any rate, you
shall know our destination in my next.
The frigate which was going to France with dis-
patches from Marmont *, in which he had sent for his
wife, was taken, I hear. In that case, the departure of
this charming woman will be delayed; and, to say the
truth, I do not see much wisdom in sending for one's
wife, before things are a little better settled. This,
however, is Marmont's concern.-For you, Julia, be
tranquil; the first moment your coming can be deter-
mined on with propriety, your husband will summon
you to him with all the ardour of the most impassioned
lover.
* Marmont is a young man of family and fortune. We do
not know what post he holds in the army, but as he is said
to be a particular favourite of Bonaparte, it is probably an ho-
nourable and a lucrative one. His wife, of whom Julien speaks
just below, is a daughter of Perregaux the banker; we believe,
an only one. They were married but a short time before the
expedition took place.
PART II.
G
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I am obliged to fold up my letter, for they tell
me that a vessel is on the point of sailing for France.
May it reach you in safety, Julia, with the kisses
which I have imprinted on every line for you, and
my children!
Ever yours,
B. JULIEN FRANÇOIS.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
83
No. VIII.
Alexandrie, le 13 Thermidor, an 6.
LE PERE à la Citoyenne LE PERE, rue du Fauxbourg
Honoré, No. 102, près *** à Paris.
E
Je crains beaucoup, ma chere maman, que ma dernière
ne vous soit pas parvenue. J'aime cependant à en
douter encore. Nous apprenons souvent que nos dé-
pêches sont interceptées par les Anglais, et le courier
qui vous portoit ma dernière ne sera peut-être pas arrivé
a Toulon.
Je vous mandois notre bonne arrivée à Alexandrie
après l'heureuse expédition de Malte, en quinze jours
de traversée. Je vous donnois quelques détails sur la
prise de la célèbre et bien triste Alexandrie; j'avois
inséré une notice que je vous priois de communiquer
à nos amis, et de faire passer à St. Germain; enfin, si
tout cela ne vous est pas parvenu, les Gazettes vous en
auront dédommagé.
Le Général en Chef est parti le 23 Messidor,
d'Alexandrie, et ce n'est qu'hier que nous avons reçu
de ses nouvelles et de celles de l'armée. Toutes les
communications par le Nil et par le Désert étant
interceptées par les Arabes, nous commencions à être
inquiets quand nous avons enfin reçu la nouvelle de
la prise du Caire, et de tout ce qui s'en est suivi.
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Gratien est à Rosette, et j'espère aller le joindre sous
peu de jours, et le prendre pour nous rendre au
Caire. Hyacinthe est toujours avec moi, mais il
seroit possible qu il nous quittât, si il obtient, comme
nous le desirons, un emploi plus sortable dans les ad-
ministrations militaires. Il est inscrit et bien recom-
mandé.
Nous nous portons tous fort bien, et si nous n'étions
pas privés du sommeil à cause des mille et une especes
d'insectes qui nous dévorent, nous nous trouverions
assez heureux au milieu de tous les embarras et de
toutes les privations que vous pouvez facilement nous
supposer. Nous sommes d'ailleurs fort occupés pour
le plan d'Alexandrie, et d'autres objets qui tiennent
de près à notre sureté et à notre existence. Nous
n'avons toujours point d'organisation, et j'entrevois que
nous formerons (à nous quinze ingénieurs) trois bri-
gades, dont les citoyens Girard, Bodard, et moi serons
les chefs. Une brigade reste attachée au port d'Alex-
andrie, et les deux autres seront chargées des projets
relatifs au Nil, et à sa jonction à la Mer Rouge. J'aurai
quelques droits comme ancien d'âge et de grade, de
choisir l'opération la plus marquante.
Nous vivons fort mal, et il nous en coûte fort cher,
quoique nous ayons des rations: à cela près, rien ne
nous surprend, car nous savons être encore dans le
désert de l'Egypte à Alexandrie, et que ce n'est qu'en
nous rapprochant du Nil et passant dans le Delta que
nous trouverons un pays riche de culture, et très-abon-
dant en denrées de toutes especes!
Je vais insérer quelques détails dans une liste que vous
trouverez incluse, je vous prie de la communiquer à nos
amis, et de la faire passer à Saint Germain.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
85
Mille choses de la part des trois frères à tous nos amis
et connoissances.
Hyacinthe écrit a Mr. Boursier qui sans doute, vous
communiquera les détails et nouvelles qu'il lui donne.
Adieu, bonne mere, nous vous embrassons de tout
notre cœur.
LE PERE.
P. S. Voilà bien trois mois d'une entière séparation,
ma cherc maman, puisque nous n'avons pas même le
plaisir de penser que nos lettres vous soient parvenues,
et qu'il ne nous en est point arrivé de vous. Nous
nous plaisons à croire que vous êtes plus heureuse que
nous; car indépendamment de la misère d'argent, nous
avons aussi à supporter celle du peu de ressources du
pays surchargé de plusieurs milliers de bouches. Mais
le defaut de nourriture n'est pas encore ce qui nous
manque le plus particulièrement; nous ne reposons
pas, et les insectes de toutes espèces ajoutent à nos
souffrances. Notre zèle ne se refroidit cependant pas
de tant de mal-aise. Nous attendons l'ordre pour aller
au Caire. Gratien est depuis quinze jours distant de
nous de dix lieues, et dans un pays moins ruiné.
Vous apprendrez avec plaisir les succés de nos armées
dans ce pays-ci. Le Pere vous fait une longue cir-
culaire et moi j'en adresse une à Monsieur le Boursier.
Adieu, ma chère maman, je vous embrasse de tout
mon cœur.
P. S. 18 Thermidor.
Je me dispense de vous donner les détails promis de
nos succès. La défaite de notre escadre dans l'affreux
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combat du 13º au 14°, est un revers qui nous laisse ici
comme des enfans perdus pour la mère patrie. Il n'y
a que la paix qui puisse nous rattacher à elle; mais
combien cet incomparable succès va relever les pré-
tentions des Anglais! nous avons l'âme, navrée mais
le courage et Bonaparte nous restent.
Je vous donnerois des détails, si je ne craignois que
ma lettre étant ouverte, ils ne devinssent un obstacle
à sa bonne arrivée. La prudence peut vouloir cette
mesure.
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria, (13 Thermidor), July 31st.
LE PERE to the female Citizen LE PERE, Rue du Faux-
bourgh Honoré, No. 102, near (illegible) at Paris.
I
AM very much afraid, my dear mother, that my last
never reached you; though I cannot yet persuade my-
self to resign all hopes of it. We learn that our dis-
patches are frequently intercepted by the English, and
the courier who took charge of my letter, never, per-
haps, arrived at Toulon.
I gave you an account in it of our safe arrival at
Alexandria, in sixteen days after our fortunate ex-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
87
pedition against Malta. I added some details on the
capture of this famous and most miserable city; and
I enclosed a note which I desired you to send to
St. Germain, after communicating its contents to
our friends. If nothing of this has reached you, I
can only hope that the Gazettes have made up for the
loss.
The Commander in Chief left this place on the 11th
instant, and it was only yesterday that we heard from
him. All the communications by the Nile and the
Desert being completely cut off by the Arabs, we were
beginning to grow very uneasy, when we received, at
last, the news of the capture of Cairo, and the subse-
quent movements of the army. Gratien is at Ro-
setta, where I hope to join him in a few days, and to
take him with me to Cairo. Hyacinth is still with
me; but there is a probability of his quitting us, if he
obtains (as we all wish he may) a more suitable place
in the military administration.-He is down for it, and
is well recommended.
We are all in good health; and, if we were not de-
prived of sleep by innumerable species of insects which
devour us alive, we should find ourselves tolerably
happy amidst all the embarrassments, and all the pri-
vations, to which you may easily conclude we are ex-
posed. We are, besides, fully occupied in fortifying
Alexandria, and on other objects which have an im-
mediate reference to our security; and, indeed, our
existence.
* Gratien, and Hyacinth mentioned just below, appear to be
Le Pere's brothers.
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Nothing is yet arranged; but I already divine that
we (myself and the fourteen engineers who are here)
shall form three brigades; of which I shall command
one, and Citizens Girard and Bodard the other two.
One brigade will remain attached to the port of Alex-
andria, the others will be charged with the execu-
tion of the projects relative to the Nile, and to its
junction with the Red Sea. I shall have some pre-
tensions, both as the oldest man, and the oldest officer,
to choose what I may conceive to be the most striking
service.
*
We live extremely ill, and in spite of the army al-
lowance, are at a considerable expence. With this
exception, we are prepared for every thing; for we
know that we are still in the desert of Egypt at
Alexandria, and that 'tis only in approaching the
Nile, and entering the Delta, we can find a country
rich in cultivation, and abounding in wealth of all
kinds! †
I intend to draw up a short account of our trans-
actions, and inclose it in the present letter. You will
have the goodness to communicate it to our friends, and
then transmit it to St Germain.
A thousand kind things from all three of us to
our friends and acquaintances. Hyacinth is writing
to M. Boursier, who will doubtless communicate to
you the details and news which he sends him.
* See the INTRODUCTION.
↑ We have already remarked in the First Part of this Cor-
respondence (p. 120.) on the absurd ideas of the French at Alex-
andria, respecting the resources of the Delta.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
89
Adieu, dear mother; we embrace you with all our
hearts.
LE PERE.
P. S. Here then, are more than three months, my
dear mother, of total separation! since we have not
even the satisfaction of thinking that any of our letters
have reached you; and not one of yours has reached us.
We please ourselves with fancying that you are happier
than we are for independently of the want of money,
we have also to support that of the few resources of a
country overcharged with many thousands of mouths.
Nor is this our greatest evil: we can take no repose;
and insects of all kinds add to our sufferings. Our zeal,
however, is not cooled by this accumulation of misery.
We expect an order to proceed to Cairo. Gratien has
been from us a fortnight. He is at Rosetta, about
ten leagues from hence, and in a country somewhat
less wretched.
You will hear with pleasure of the success of the
army. Le Pere is writing you a long circulatory letter,
and I am preparing one for Monsieur le Boursier.
Adieu, my dear mother; I embrace you with all my
heart.
P. S. August the 5th. Excuse me from giving you
the promised "account" of our successes. The defeat
of our fleet in the dreadful action of the Ist instant, is a
calamity which leaves us here as children, totally lost
to the mother country. NOTHING BUT PEACE CAN
* This postscript seems to be added by Hyacinth: in that
which follows Le Pere resumes the pen.
9。
COPIES OF
RESTORE US TO HER. But, gracious heavens! how
much will this incomparable victory raise the pre-
tensions of the English! we are all pierced to the soul
by it, but courage and Bonaparte still remain.
I would give you some details of the engagement,
were I not afraid that, as my letter is open, they
might prevent its ever reaching you. It is best, there-
fore, to be silent.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
gr
No. IX.
Alexandrie, le 18 Thermidor, an 6.
LE PERE au Citoyen BEYTZ, Représentant du Peuple au
Conseil des Cing Cents, à Paris.
J'IGNORE, Citoyen et ami, si mes précédentes vous
serons parvenues; j'en doute, parceque j'ai des raisons
d'en douter.
Jusqu'àlors les nouvelles ont été excellentes, aujour-
d'hui c'est le revers de la médaille que je vous présente.
Nos succès sont constants sur terre, tant que Bonaparte
les' organise, et nous espérons toujours le conserver;
mais sa tête et sa fortune n'accompagnoient plus notre
escadre. Affligez-vous avec moi en lisant ces détails.
Depuis la prise du Caire notre sort s'amélioroit sous
tous les rapports. Le nombre de nos partisans grossis-
soit, et notre sécurité étoit fondée; mais les Anglois, ces
fiers ennemis, enragés sans doute de notre succès, et de
nous avoir manqué partout, ne pouvoient plus douter de
notre présence ici, paroissent le 13 devant Alexandrie.
Ils marchent sur Aboukir, petit port distant de quatre
lieues à l'est, où notre escadre étoit mouillée en ligne
de bataille, et soi-disant embossée.
Ils connoissoient trop bien notre position, et leur con-
duite va le prouver. Les Anglois toujours à la voile,
fondent sur l'aîle droite de l'escadre, coupent la ligne,
se portent plusieurs sur chacun de nos vaisseaux, les
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écrasent tour-à-tour, sans que ces vaisseaux, paralysés
par l'ancrage, puissent manoeuvrer pour se secourir mu-
tuellement.
Le 13 à six heures du soir, l'action s'engage, le feu
devient terrible, et le combat sanglant; il dure jusqu'à
trois heures, reprend à cinq, et cesse à neuf. Les An-
glois, fort maltraités d'ailleurs, sont maîtres du champ
de bataille, et des débris de notre escadre. Nos vais-
seaux successivement démâtés, échoués, críblés, et
écrasés, enfin plus ou moins, deviennent la proie de
nos ennemis. Deux de nos vaisseaux et deux frégates
seulement trouvent leur salut dans la fuite, et vont por-
ter en France peut-être, la bien triste nouvelle de cette
défaite, dont il est peu d'exemple, et dont l'effet doit
nous être plus sensible encore ici qu'à la mère patrie.
Trois heures après que l'action fut engagée, le feu
prit malheureusement à-bord de l'Orient, et nous eumes
ici l'affreux spectacle d'un vaisseau embrasé ; il brûla
près d'une heure, et une explosion terrible le fit dis-
paroître. Nous ignorions, à la vérité, que ce fût un
vaisseau François, et le vaisseau amiral! Je n'ose pas
dire ce qu'il a péri de monde avec l'Amiral, et beaucoup
d'officiers distingués.
Les Anglois avoient quatorze vaisseaux et un seuf
brick, sans frégates. Nous avions treize vaisseaux,
quatre frégates, et quelques petits batimens. Notre po-
sition eut infalliblement doublé nos forces, si nous
eussions été plus près de terre, plus serrés en ligne de
bataille pour ne pas être coupés, et si nous eussions été
veritablement embossés; mais, mais,-que de mais?
Il faut cependant rendre hommage au courage de nos
marins, qui se sont battus comme des lions.
Le Général Bonaparte étoit au Caire, et sa tête et sa
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
93
fortune n'étoient plus compagnes de l'escadre. Il sera
d'autant plus affligé de cette catastrophe, que cette af-
faire ne se fût pas engagée, si l'Amiral avoit été plus
ardent à remplir ses intentions, qui étoit de faire entrer
l'escadre dans le port d'Alexandrie (où sont tous les bâ-
timens de convoi) aussitôt que les passes auroient été
bien connues, et elles se trouvoient déterminées depuis
quinze jours; mais, dit-on, des spéculations d'orgueil
s'opposoient à ce qu'il entrât dans Alexandrie; et voilà
comme de malheureuses considérations allument un ter
rible incendie!
Puissent les Anglois, occupés à se reparer pour re-
mettre à la voile, s'en retourner à Gibraltar, et ne rien
tenter, soit ici, soit à Malthe, soit ailleurs!
Nous autres gens-de-terre, nous ne perdons cepen-
dant pas courage, et notre confiance est sans bornes
dans Bonaparte.
Mes amitiés et respects à Madame, aux dames de
Gand, et à votre société.
Mille choses amicales à votre collegue d'Ostende (dont
le nom m'échappe, et aux Citoyens Hopsomère et Meyer.
Ma santé est bonne, et je suis fort occupé. J'es-
père me rendre à Rosette et au Caire incessament. Je
vous écris à la hâte pour profiter d'un aviso qui va
partir.
LE PERE.
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t
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria, (18 Thermidor) August 5th. .
LE PERE, to Citizen BEYTZ, Representative of the
People, in the Council of Five Hundred.
I K
KNOW not, Citizen and Friend, whether my former
letters have reached you; I am inclined to think they
have not, and this for several reasons.
Hitherto the news which I have had to send you has
been excellent: to-day it is my fate to present you with the
reverse of the medal. Our success by land is invariable,
and while we have Bonaparte to organize it, I flatter
myself that it will always continue so; but his judgment
and his fortune no longer influence and direct our fleet.
Weep with me, while you peruse the melancholy detail.
Ever since the capture of Cairo, our condition had
been improving in every respect.* The number of our
*This a mere gratis dictum. The famous battle of the Pyra-
mids (as it is modestly called by "the Hero of Italy") was
fought on the 21st of July. Cairo was entered on the 22d, and
Bonaparte's dispatches are dated on the 23d. It did not pro-
bably take less than five or six days to bring the news to Alex-
andria; but we are, luckily, not left to conjecture in the busi-
ness having the authority of the wiiter himself (see the preced-
ing letter) for saying that the news of the capture of Cairo
reached Alexandria on the 30th. Now, the engagement off
Aboukir took place on the night of the 31st, which leaves just
one day for the ameliorations so sens bly felt by Le Pere ! And
thus it is that Frenchmen deceive themselves and the world!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
95
partizans was increasing, and our security becoming
more and more assured; but the English,* those high
spirited enemies, frantic at having missed us every-
where, and become certain at length, of finding us
here, appeared off Alexandria, on the 31st ult. They
made sail for Aboukir, a kind of port about four leagues
to the east of the city, where our fleet was at anchor,
and, as it flattered itself, strongly moored.
The English were but too well acquainted with our
situation, as their conduct sufficiently proves. With
their fleet still under sail, they fell upon the right di-
vision of our squadron, broke the line (several of their
vessels falling upon each of ours) and entirely demo-
lished it, before any of the other ships, rendered useless
by their being at anchor, could move to its assistance.
The action began at six in the evening; the fire was
terrible, and the action bloody. It lasted till three in
* Our enemies seem to take a barbarous pleasure in mortify-
ing the Morning Chronicle, and in disclaiming, by anticipation,
the sacrifice it is so forward to make of English courage at the
shrine of Falsehood and of France. “The DISGRACED English,”
says that paper, FEARED TO LOOK BONAPARTE IN THE
FACE." "The HIGH-SPIRITED English," says Le Père,
re FRANTIC AT HAVING MISSED HIM, AND BECOME CERTAIN
OF FINDING US HERE, appeared," &c.
، ،
We hope this will prove a lesson to the M. C. and induce it
in future-not to do its country justice, this we cannot hope,—
but to be silent, when from the absurd and shameless nature of
its LIES, it must be manifest to all the world, that the French will
be compelled to reject them, with a blush at such unskilful at-
tempts to serve them. This is not the first time that they have
been driven to exclaim of the Morning Chronicle and its coad-
jutors,
Pol! occidistis, AMICI,-
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the morning, ceased for a short time, began again at
five, and finally terminated at nine. The English,
though greatly disabled, are masters of the field of battle,
and of the wrecks of our fleet. Our ships successively
dismasted, crippled, and more or less torn to pieces, are
become the prey of our enemies; two sail of the line
only, and two frigates, have found their safety in flight,
and are gone, perhaps, to France, to carry the most me-
lancholy intelligence of a defeat, of which there are few
examples, and of which the effects will be more sensibly
felt here, than in the mother country.
Three hours after the action commenced, the l'Orient
unfortunately took fire; and we had from this place the
dreadful spectacle of a ship in flames; it burnt for near
an hour, and then disappeared with a tremendous ex-
plosion. We were ignorant at the time, indeed, that it
was a French ship, especially the flag one. I want
courage to tell you how many brave men perished, and
how many distinguished officers.
The English had only fourteen sail of the line, and a
brig; we had thirteen sail of the line, four frigates, and
a few gun-boats. Our position would have infallibly
doubled our strength, if we had been a little nearer the
shore, formed in a closer line of battle, so as not to be
broken, and really and truly moored; but, but,—ah !
how many buts!
I must, however, do justice to the courage of our sea-
men, who fought like lions.
General Bonaparte was´at Cairo, and his judgment
and his fortune✶ were no longer companions of the fleet.
* This is the second time, in this letter, that those words have
occurred. To talk of the "judgment" of Bonaparte in a naval
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
97
He will be so much the more afflicted at this catastrophe,
as it could not have taken place, if the Admiral had been
more anxious to execute his plans, which were to carry
all the ships into the Port of Alexandria (where the
transports, &c. already were), as soon as the channels
should be properly surveyed, and that had now been
engagement is almost too ridiculous for a Frenchman. What his
"fortune" might have done, we know not; but if we are allowed
to say what we think on the subject, we shall just observe,
that though it would not have delayed the victory a single mo-
ment, yet if the General had been present, and either fallen like
the ill-fated Brueys, or been blown up like the innocent hostages
(Part I. p. 193), it "might have been truly salutary to the
army, which, by a speedy surrender, would have probably res-
cued itself from the lingering but inevitable destruction to which
his "judgment and his fortune," or, to call things by their true
names, his perfidy and his cruelty have destined it!
But did Le Père continue to think thus highly of the General?
We fancy not. A letter, which there is every reason to believe
authentic, but of which we certainly do not possess the original,
has been transmitted to one of the most respectable Journals on
the Continent, the Journal de Francfort, and inserted in its 332d
Number. It is from Le Père to the same Beytz, to whom
our letter is addressed, but is of a later date (10 Fructidor, Au-
gust 27.); and contains, besides a recapitulation of what we have
given above, several additional circumstances, highly worthy of
a place in this collection.
"Amidst a variety of distressing accidents; daily reduced in
our numbers by trifling checks, or rather by multiplied assassi-
nations, constantly on the alarm amongst a people heed-
less of the blessings of liberty, and whose ignorant superstition
menaces us without ceasing; obliged to take all those precau-
tions which are rendered necessary by an invasion, for which the
way has not been smoothed before hand; and reduced to a scar-
city of food, which can only be extorted from the natives by dint
PART II,
H
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done hear a fortnight. Speculations of pride, it is whis
pered, prevented this from being done; and thus it is
that mean and selfish considerations produce the most
terrible calamities.
Would to Heaven that the English, fully occupied
with the repair of their fleet, may return immediately
of money; we still flattered ourselves with the hopes of a fa-
vourable change, when the disastrous business of the 1st of Au-
gust came to overwhelm, to annihilate, and to mark our future
fortune, with the image of all the furies which are destined te
pursue us.
"Brueys, who fell like a hero, is become the scape-goat, and
will be obliged to carry off all the blame. It is said by many well-
informed people, that he wished to sail immediately after the de-
barkation of the troops, but that Bonaparte objected to it; and,
indeed, it is not easy to conceive why the General should obsti-
nately persist in compelling our fleet (which consisted at that
very time of fifteen sail of the line, twelve frigates, and a large
galley) to hide itself in the port of Alexandria, when it was
highly capable, if not of beating the English, yet certainly of con-
testing the day with them; and, at all events, was sufficiently
strong to return to Toulon, to protect the sailing of the second
expedition.
"What will become of is now, that we have the mortification
of being blocked up by three sail of the line and three frigates,
which take all our advice boats before our face, and deprive us
of all news and all succour. In vain do they attempt to fool us
on this head, with pretending that we shall be relieved, as soon
as the forces which we have at Corfou, Malta, and Toulon, have
joined. Children may be amused with such trifling; but we are
not quite simple enough to believe that Admiral Nelson will per-
mit this junction to be effected.
"The General has fortified Damietta, and several other im-
portant posts; he has also detached Desaix into the Said, after
Morad Bey. We ought to believe that Bonaparte has no in-
tention of precipitating our fate, by thus extending and dividing
;
1
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
99
to Gibraltar, without making any attempts on these seas,
either at Malta or elsewhere.
We who compose the land forces, however, still keep
up our courage; our confidence in Bonaparte is un-
bounded.
My best respects to your wife, to the ladies De Gand,
and to your little society.
A thousand friendly things to your colleague from
Ostend (I forget his name), and to the Citizens Hop-
somere and Meyer.
My health is good, and I have my hands full of bu-
siness. I hope to leave this place almost immediately
for Rosetta and Cairo. I write in haste that I may be
in time for the packet, which is on the point of sailing.
1
LE PERE.
his army but, I repeat it, without succours from France, our
future condition will be most miserable. We are enervated by the
climate, and tormented and harrassed to death by insects. Our
army is consumed by sickness and continual losses. Many of
our detachments of cavalry have already disappeared. Since the
last victims which I named to you, we have lost the Commissary
Jaubert, Peyres, and Renard. Such is our situation, which,
considering the rooted hatred of the Egyptians, and the never-
ending hostility of the Arabs, I must look on as the second vo-
lume of our ancient crusades, if the English persist in their inter-
ceptions. And, good Heavens! who knows but the Turks will
also declare war against us!"
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No. X.
TRANSLATION
Of the Extracts from General BONAPARTE's Letter to
his Brother. See the Fac Simile, No. 1.
Cairo (7 Thermidor), July 28th..
To Citizen JOSEPH BONAPARTE, Deputy to the Council
of Five Hundred, at Paris.
You
ou will see in the public papers the relation of the
battles, and of the conquest of Egypt, which has been
sufficiently disputed to add another leaf to the military
glory of this army. Egypt is the richest country in the
world, in wheat, rice, pulse, and cattle. Barbarism is at
its height. THERE IS NO MONEY IN THE COUNTRY;
NO, NOT EVEN TO PAY THE TROOPS. I THINK OF
BEING IN FRANCE IN TWO MONTHS
*
*THERE IS NO MONEY IN THE COUNTRY! It is worth ob-
servation, that this sentence was written the very day after Bona-
parte had declared in his official letters, to all Europe, that on
the bodies of the two thousand Mameloucs, who fell in the
"battle of the Pyramids," his soldiers had found 20,000,000
livres in specie !!! (First Part, p. 64.)
But this is not all,-it appears from the next line that Egypt
was expected to furnish money for the troops. This is a pre-
cious circumstance, and affords matter for deep reflection.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
101
Take your measures so that I may have a country
seat at my arrival, either in the neighbourhood of Paris,
or in Burgundy: I RECKON ON PASSING THE WINTER
THERE
Bonaparte left France, perhaps, without a single day's pay for
his army. The plunder of Malta, except a few ingots which
were distributed amongst the merchants of Alexandria, with a
view of being speedily reclaimed, was on board the L'Orient ; and
with the expected treasures of Cairo, and the grand caravan,
was, undoubtedly, destined to swell the private fortunes of the
General and his confidents: while the troops were to be left as
in Swabia, and Franconia, and Brabant, and Holland, and Italy,
and Swisserland, to support themselves by wresting from the
inhabitants, who are thus, in mockery, made “free, and `pros-
perous, and happy," the miserable reliques of the rapacity of the
officers, and the agents of Government!
If the reader has noticed the Introduction to the First Part of
this Correspondence, he has seen that we unequivocally de-
clined inserting such of Bonaparte's letters, as from their nature
did not materially interest the Public. One sentence, indeed, we
quoted (Introduct. p. xvii.) from the letter before us; and here
we should have rested, had not the French (see the Decade Philo-
sophique, No. 12.) made an ungenerous use of our reserve, and
insinuated that we had no authority for the passage in question,
because we forbore to produce the letter of which it made a part.
"C
Quant à Bonaparte," say the French critics (speaking of what
was advanced in the Introduction respecting the plan of getting
rid of the Italian army)" il s'est prêté à ce petit arrangement en
se proposant d'abandonner au premier instant ses camarades,
pour revenir passer l'hiver en Bourgogne." This is quoted with a
triumphant sneer, as a fabrication, perhaps, of the English
editors', too atrocious to be attributed to a person of Bonaparte's
well known justice and humanity. Good! we have now given
an extract from one of the General's letters, in which the ob.
102
COPIES OF
noxious expression occurs twice in the compass of a few lines;
the atrociousness, therefore, (if there be any, which we are not
inclined to deny) must be transferred elsewhere.
Now we are on this subject, we shall take the opportunity of
making a short remark.
When the First Part of this Correspondence was committed
to the press, no particular pains were taken to establish its au-
thenticity. It certainly did not enter into our contemplation,
that any description of persons could be weak or wicked enough
to deny, what was so incontestably proved by internal evidence,
(to say nothing of the Original Letters having been always open
to inspection), and the eveņt has proved, that any explanation on
our part, would have been altogether a work of supererogation,-
for, except the Morning Chronicle which " has taken a retain-
ing fee," to deny sturdily whatever compromises the honour of
France, and the editors of the Decade Philosophique, who
limit their doubts to the single passage we have mentioned,
doubts which they will now wish, perhaps, they had either not
entertained, or not expressed; we know of no one that has
called the authenticity of the Letters in question. Should there,
however, be such a person, we will once for all, solemnly assure
him, that we have given them in all and every part precisely as
they came from the hands of the original writers, without the
alteration, or addition of a single syllable, and with merely such
occasional omissions as we have already mentioned, and as a
regard for the delicacy of our readers seemed to render indis-
pensable.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
103
No. XI.
Au Grand Caire, le 18 Thermidor.
Sucy, Commissaire Ordonnateur, au Citoyen JOSEPH
BONAPARTE, à Paris.
MILLE
ILLE Occupations, mon cher Joseph, m'ont em-
pêché de vous donner jusqu'à présent de mes nouvelles
et de celles du Général; j'ai su d'ailleurs que vous en
aviez régulièrement. Les fatigues de la dernière marche
l'ont bien un peu éprouvé, mais il les a supportées, je
vous assure, mieux que tout autre. Avec lui seul
l'armée pouvoit surmonter les obstacles sans nombre
qu'elle a rencontrés, et que l'on ne pouvoit prévoir
d'après les renseignements fournis.
Il y a beaucoup à espérer de ce païs, mais il est des
succès auxquels le tems doit concourir. Je dicte, ne
pouvant encore me servir de ma main. On augure
bien de ma blessure. Ma peine est de ne pouvoir être
utile à votre frère, comme je le désirerais. Nous
sommes dans l'attente des nouvelles de Paris: il y a bien
des événements qui pourroient modifier notre position;
cette attente est toujours pénible.
Mes hommages à vos dames; le citoyen Hasselavere
se porte fort bien, il est employé ici dans l'admini-
stration des biens des Mamelouks. Adieu, conservez-
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moi de l'amitié pour le tendre attachement que je vous
ai voué pour la vie.
SUCY.
P. S. Vous savez que Louis, fatigué un peu de se
traversée, est resté à Alexandrie.
TRANSLATION.
Cairo (18 Thermidor), August 5th.
Sucy,* First Commissary, &c. to Citizen JOSEPH
BONAPARTE, at Paris.
A
THOUSAND Occupations, my dear Joseph, have
hitherto prevented my giving you any account of my-
self, or of the General: I was assured, besides, that
you regularly heard of him in the course of business.
The fatigues of the last march tried his constitution
a little: but he supported them, I can assure you, better
*This is the only letter which we find from the First Com-
missary. To judge from the frequent and respectful mention
made of him, Sucy must enjoy a high degree of consideration in
Egypt: this is not, perhaps, to be wondered at, when we con-
sider him as possessed of the most lucrative and important post
in the civil administration of the army.
His letter is no farther of importance, than as it shews the
utter impossibility of deriving any advantage from Egypt. To
7
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
105
than any other person. With him alone, the army
could have surmounted the innumerable obstacles which
it had to encounter, and which there was no possibility
of foreseeing or guarding against, from the information
it was supplied with.
There is much to be hoped for from this country;
but then this hope is of the nature of those which a
length of time alone can realize. I am obliged to die-
tate, not being yet in a condition to use my hand: the
surgeon thinks favourably, however, of my wound.
My chief pain arises from not being able to be as useful
to your brother as I could wish. We are all anxious
to hear from Paris. Many things may have happened
to affect our situation; and this consideration makes
our anxiety truly painful.
My respects to your ladies. Citizen Hasselavere is
in good health, and employed here in the administra-
tion of the effects of the Mameloucs.-Adieu. Preserve
your friendship for me, in return for the tender attach-
ment with which I have sworn to be ever yours.
SUCY.
say this in express terms, could neither be expected from Sucy,
nor would have been borne by Joseph Bonaparte: it is, there-
fore, represented as the country of hope. But to talk to a
Frenchman of a good to be produced by the slow progress of
time, is to hold an unintelligible language. The present, is all
that exists for him, and he snatches what it offers with an
avidity that shews at once his distrust, and contempt of the
future.
Volumes might be written on this subject, but we content
ourselves with referring to Bonaparte's Italian conquests for an
elucidation of our remark,
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COPIES OF
P. S. You know that Louis*, fatigued a little by
his voyage, was left at Alexandria.
* Louis Bonaparte, the General's brother. In the last French
papers which reached this country, it is stated that Louis Bona-
parte, accompanied by General Berthier, was arrived at Ajaccio
in Corsica. This we doubt. Berthier, we have some reason
to think, is the last man Bonaparte would part with; even
though his escape to Alexandria were feasible, which is pro-
bably not the case. With respect to Louis Bonaparte, who
had wisdom enough to decline marching into the country,
it is barely possible that he may have found his way back to
France; and therefore, whatever may be our private opinion,
we shall not, at present, call in question that part of the state-
ment.
It is difficult to conceive any thing more strict than the watch
kept by our vigilant tars over the ports of Alexandria. We
have seen several letters from the masters of those neutral
vessels which the French found there, and which Commodore
Hood has permitted to withdraw; and they all concur in saying,
that the severest scrutiny was made, not only of their papers, but
of their crews,—so that it was scarcely possible for any thing to
pass without discovery.
As to the vessels which the French took up in the several
ports of Italy, and for the hire of which Bonaparte has promised
to pay by the plunder of the Egyptian villages; they cannot stir.
Eleven of them, which madly attempted it, were taken in sight
of the place, and immediately burnt. With respect to the French
ships, the case is still more hopeless. To the danger of being cap-
tured by us, are superadded others of a much more formidable
nature, which they have provoked by their perfidy and cruelty,
and which they will not in future (notwithstanding their anxiety
to escape from " that land of horrors," be very forward to en-
counter. Three of their ships (we take the account from them-
selves) full of wounded men, and fugitives who had escaped
the vigilance of the Commandant of Alexandria, took advantage
of the night, and the temporary absence of our cruizers, and
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
10
}
slipped out. What was their fate? One of them, we hope it
was that with the wounded men on board, fell in with the
Zealous, and was captured. Another ran into Scyphanto, one
of the Greek isles, and was seized by the inhabitants. The
passengers and crew, amounting to fifty-four in all, were im-
mediately carried to Constantinople, and thrown into the dun-
geon of the galley slaves; while the Scyphantines were liberally
rewarded for their loyalty and zeal. The third put into one of
the harbours of Crete, where the people, who, as the French
editor very justly observes, are not modérés, put every man of
them to death, and sent their heads to decorate the gates of the
Seraglio.
Notwithstanding all this, it is not quite impossible but that
some one, more happy than the rest, may yet escape; and there-
fore the Directory contrive to amuse the relatives of their vic-
tims, by permitting their papers to notify from time to time the
arrival of this or that particular person in some distant port-
for it should be observed, that they are never said to have ar-
rived in France!
:
This is an admirable expedient; but it does not always suc-
ceed for as the French Government is without any intelligence
from Egypt, but through the medium of Turkey, or of this
country, it sometimes happens that the arrival of a man is an-
nounced, who, in the classical phraseology of their orators,
had ceased to live" son.e months before. Thus, they lately
gave us a letter from Leghorn, said to be written by a Citizen
Julien, who was just returned, full of good news from Grand
Cairo. This was an unlucky guess,τον δηδη κατεχεν φυσι
σου αια:
He
Citizen Julien's voyages had long been over.
was "assassinated,” as Bonaparte terms it in his official papers,
"with fifteen other Frenchmen, at the village of Askam.'
That is to say, (for we know the fact) he was sent with a com-
pany of grenadiers to plunder the village of its grain. The in-
habitants defended their property with a fury bordering on
despair, and in the conflict Julien and his fifty-six marauders
were killed.
It should not be forgot here that the "hero of Italy,” mad with
108
you 1
COPIES OF
rage and disappointment, sent, in his own words, "a strong di-
vision of the army" to pull down the few mud huts of this
wretched village, and exterminate the miserable inhabitants,-by
way of enlightening the rest of the Egyptians, we suppose, in
the saving doctrine of the true RIGHTS OF MAN.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
Log
No. XII.
*
Au Grand Caire, le 20 Thermidor.
C. LASALLE, Chef de Brigade du 22° Régiment de
Chasseurs à Cheval, à l'Armée d'Orient, à sa Mère.
Av
u moment de partir avec le Général en Chef, pour
aller au devant d'une caravane importante, dont les
Mamelouks se sont emparés, et qu'il faut leur arracher
des mains, j'apprends qu'on prépare un courier à partir,
ma très chère maman: les occasions sont si rares que je
ne puis laisser échapper celle-ci, sans vous donner de
mes nouvelles.
Ni la fatigue, ni la chaleur, ni la privation de vin,
n'ont altéré en rien ma santé; au contraire j'engraisse
à vue d'œil. Je ne regrette qu'une seule chose; ce sont
mes pauvres cheveux. L'extrême chaleur les fait tous
tomber. J'attribue aussi une grande partie de cette perte
au manque de poudre et de pomade.
Le Général Bonaparte, toujours prodigue de bontés
pour moi, m'a donné le commandement des hommes à
cheval du 7 d'hussards, et du 22° de chasseurs; me
voilà petit Général. Souvent il m'invite à dîner, et il
me place toujours à sa droite. J'ai une peine infinie à
former mon nouveau corps, délabré autant que pos-
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COPIES OF
sible; mais j'espere en venir à mon honneur à force
d'activité.
On nous assure qu'il arrivera d'ici à quelques mois,
des renforts de France, et que nous retournerons dans
notre pays. C'est le vœu de l'armée, qui, quoi qu'aussi
bien qu'il est possible pour le pays, a le cœur trop
Français pour ne pas préférer notre pays à celui-ci,
Nous avons déjà 800 chevaux Arabes uniques pour la
course. J'en ai trois. Les officiers de mon régiment
seconduisent fort bien à mon égard, et m'ont donné de
grandes preuves d'estime.
Heureusement, vu mon nouvel emploi, j'ai peu de
tems à réfléchir, et je suis trop fatigué le soir pour
rêver tout éveillé ; car sans cela je sens que je suc-
comberois à la peine que j'éprouve de me savoir loin de
tout ce qui m'est cher au monde, ma mère, mon père,
ma maitresse et mon fils. Quelques fois cependant des
idées, des regrets amers se présentent, je soupire, une
larme coule, et je cherche aussitôt à m'arracher de ma
mélancholie. O pauvre Charles, comme tu passes ta
jeunesse! O devoir, que tu es rigoureux!
J'espère cependant que par le même bonheur qui
m'accompagne au milieu des batailles, le ciel aura
respecté vos jours. Je me rejouis de baiser un jour
votre main respectable, de tarir par mes embrassemens
les pleurs que vous avez versés pour moi. O maman,
j'ai bien besoin de vous serrer dans mes bras!
Mon fidel Joseph est toujours avec moi; il m'est bien
utile, et je ne saurois dire les soins attentifs qu'il a de
moi. Je suis sure que Colin en a bien autant de vous,
aussi je lui promets bien un beau shall des Indes, &c.;
si nous prenons la caravane.
Adieu, bonne, recevez cent baisers bien tendres, et
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
III
présentez mon respectueux hommage à mon vieux père,
que j'aime et revere.
Amitié à mes amis, et respects à qui de droit.
CHARLES LASALLE.
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo, August 7th.
C. LASALLE, Chief of Brigade of the 22nd Regiment of
Chasseurs à Cheval, of the Army of the East, to his
Mother.
N
On the eve of setting out with the Commander in
ON
Chief, to intercept a most valuable caravan which the
Mameloucs have seized, and which must, at all events,
be wrested out of their hands, I learn, my dear mother,
that a courier is preparing to leave Cairo. Opportuni-
ties occur so seldom, that I cannot think of letting
this escape without giving you a line.
Neither fatigue, nor heat, nor the privation of wine,
have hitherto had the smallest effect on my health; on
the contrary, I get flesh every day. I have but one
thing to regret, and that is my poor hair, which is all
fallen off through the excessive heat; assisted, I believe,
in some degree, by my total want of powder and po-
matum.
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COPIES OF
General Bonaparte, always prodigal of his kindness,
has given me the command of the mounted troops of
the 7th hussars, and the 22nd chasseurs. Here I am
then, a little General! he often invites me to dinner,
and always places me at his right hand. I have an in-
finite deal of trouble to form my new corps, which is
in the most ruinous state you can possibly conceive,—
by dint of incessant exertions, however, I hope to suc-
ceed to my honcur.
We e are assured that in the course of a few months,
re-inforcements from France will arrive here, and that
we shall then return home. This is the wish of the
whole army, which, though as well circumstanced as
it is possible to be in a country like this,* is too
truly French in heart, not to prefer its native land` to
Egypt!
We have already 800 Arabian horses, excellent rùn-
ners, I have three for my own share. The officers of
*This is put gently enough of a place which we know every
man in the army regarded with horror,—but “
poor Charles"
dined too often with the General to speak out, especially after
being just put on the staff.
The paragraph, however, is important in another point of
view. It shows the profound hypocrisy and wickedness of Bo-
naparte, almost as clearly as his Catholic and Mahometan Pro-
fessions of Faith. He assures his devoted followers, that they
shall return to France as soon as re-inforcements arrive, when
he knew (as is proved by his letters) that he had sent for every
ship of war (by whose aid alone such arrivals were possible) to
protect his own escape with the accumulated plunder of Egypt,
while the army would be abandoned to its fate !
Providence, however, has frustrated the execrable design;
and, with that justice which so often defeats the schemes of in-
terested wickedness, decreed, that this Artificer of ill should
share the destruction he was exclusively preparing for others.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
113
my regiment behave extremely well, and have given me
many striking proofs of their esteem.
*
Happily, in consequence of my new employ, I have
little time for reflection, and am too much fatigued when
night comes, to dream broad awake.-Without this, I
feel that I should sink under the wretchedness I expe-
rience, from the consideration that I am far removed
from every thing that is dear to me in the world,-from
my mother, my father, my mistress, and my little boy.
Sometimes, however, sad ideas, bitter regrets ill
force themselves upon me; a sigh breaks forth, a
trickles down my cheek, and I hasten to tear myself
from my melancholy reverie.-O poor Charles! how
art thou passing thy youth! O duty! why art thou so
rigorous!
I flatter myself that the same kind providence which
has hitherto accompanied me in the heat of battle, has
also watched over your life.t I anticipate the pleasure
I shall one day have in kissing your honoured hand, and
in drying up, by my embraces, the tears you have not
ceased to shed for me.-O my dearest mother! I want,
* We have already noticed the frequency with which parents
are made the confidents, and sometimes the promoters, of the
licentious amours of their children, in these Letters. The pre-
sent instance, indeed, is venial, if compared--but enough; we
have done with the subject.
+ This is, perhaps, making Charles talk rather too much like
a Christian: but as the thought is awkwardly expressed in the
original, and as the young man seems really to retain some
vestiges of the "old superstition" of his country, we have let
it stand. The reader may be assured that we have not many
peccadilloes of this nature to answer for. Except in their oaths,
the French letters make few appeals to heaven.
PART II.
I
114
COPIES OF
-I cannot express how much I want, to fold you in my
arms!
My faithful Joseph is still with me. He is extremely
useful, and I cannot tell you how much I am indebted
to his care and attention. I have no doubt but that you
are just as much indebted to Colin for his, and I there-
fore seriously promise him a fine Indian shawl, &c. if
we seize the caravan.*
Adieu, take a thousand tender kisses, and present
1¿
It will afford no small satisfaction, we believe, to most of
our readers, to know that this valuable caravan escaped the
hands of this rapacious banditti. They came up with it, indeed,
as we learn from several of the Letters, but found it covered in
so masterly a manner by Ibrahim Bey, and so gallantly defended
by his handful of Mameloucs, that the French, after several in-
effectual attempts, and losing the greatest part of their new~.
raised cavalry (alas! for poor Charles!) were compelled to
make a disgraceful retreat before less than half their numbers!
It appears (and we mention it for the exclusive benefit of the
admirers of the "invincible Bonaparte," who commanded in
person) that the Mameloucs not only fought with more bravery,
but with more skill than their opponents; and that if Ibrahim
had not judged, and rightly judged, it more expedient to secure
his convoy, than to pursue his baffled enemy, very few of them
would have got back to Cairo, to amuse the world with
splendid narrative of their triumphant expedition towards
Syria!
In the contest we have mentioned, there were no cannon on
either side. The event furnished a most important lesson,
which we trust the Mameloucs will never forget. They will not
in future encumber themselves with an artillery which they can-
not serve, nor attack their enemies when protected by it. They
will content themselves with harrassing them, with falling on
detached parties unprovided with those formidable means of
offence; and their superior courage and activity will eventu*
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
115
my respectful duty to my aged father, whom I love
and revere.
My kind remembrances to all my friends, and re-
spects where they are due.
CHARLES LASALLE,
ally reduce the French to the necessity of surrendering at dis-
'cretion.
Though firmly persuaded of the truth of every syllable we
have set down, we should not have mentioned it on less autho-
rity than that of the French officers, from whose letters we have
taken all this, and might have taken much more; for they have
been beaten into truth, and mortified into humility.
I 2
116
COPIES OF
E
No. XIII.
Au Grand Caire, le 20 Thermidor.
C. LASALLE, Chef de Brigade, &c. &c. à sa
JOSEPHINE.
Je n'ai point encore reçu de tes nouvelles, ma regrettée
Joséphine. Le malheur a voulu que trois couriers qui
étoient arrivés à Malte ayant été chargés sur le même
bâtiment, les Anglais l'ont pris et on a jetté les lettres
à la mer. Elle a englouti bien des richesses, mais
jamais un trésor qui valut pour moi une lettre de toi!
Je vais partir dans l'instant avec le 7° d'hussards et
mon régiment. Le Général Bonaparte, qui m'accable
d'honnetêtés et de bontés, vient de m'en donner le
commandement. Nous allons au devant d'une caravane
dont les Mamelouks se sont emparés; elle est impor-
tante. Nous nous battrons, mais le bonheur et toi qui
m'ont toujours protégé, me préserveront encore cette
fois-ci. Tu as dû recevoir de moi trois lettres de Malte,
une d'Alexandrie, et voici la seconde du Caire. Je
ne puis t'écrire plus souvent. Je suis écrasé d'ouvrage
pour l'organisation de mon nouveau corps, qui est très-
délabré.
Ton frere me fait bonne mine, parce que tu n'es pas
ici. Je voudrois que ce fut le rebours. Que fait mon
petit? comme il sera beau quand je le reverrai! car je
reviendrai bientôt. Le Général Bonaparte a promis
que des troupes viendront bientôt nous relever. Mais
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
117
que je serai laid moi! la chaleur nous a rendus tous
noirs comme des corbeaux, et pour comble de malheur,
j'ai perdu tous mes cheveux.
1
Comment vas-tu de ta grossesse : mon Dieu! qu'il est
cruel de vivre dans l'anxiété sur tout ce qui m'inté-
resse! Le tems du bonheur est passé Si un instant je
cesse de travailler, mon esprit se livre aux réflexions
les plus noires. Je pleure, et personne ne partage ma
peine. Je ne connois personne dans le régiment; je
n'ai pas d'amis, pauvre Charles! tu as tout perdu,
puisque tu n'as plus ta Joséphine. Qu'au moins tu me
regrettes, et je serai un pe" consolé. Je pourrois
oublier que j'ai eu des jouissances au dessus de colles
que doivent avoir les humains; mais oublier que tu es
mon amie, et penser à vivre sans toi, c'est ce qui ne
peut entrer dans ma tête.
Adieu, je monte à cheval, et t'envoye cent baisers.
Ton
CHARLES.
I
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo (20 Thermidor), August 7th.
C. LASALLE, Chief of Brigade, Sc. Sc. to his
JOSEPHINE.
HAVE not yet heard from you, my much regretted
Josephine. Some how or other, the three couriers
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COPIES OF
which had reached Malta in safety, were unfortunately
dispatched from thence in the same vessel,-this was
taken by the English, and all the letters were thrown
into the sea.
It has swallowed worlds of wealth; but
never yet a treasure that equalled, in my esteem, a
single letter of yours!
I am on the eve of setting off with the 7th hussars,
and my own regiment. General Bonaparte, who over-
whelms me with kindness and attention, has just given
me the command of them. We are going to meet a
caravan which the Mameloucs have seized, and which
is very valuable. We shall certainly have a struggle
for it; but good fortune, and you, who have hitherto
protected me, will assuredly preserve me once more.
You ought to have received three of my letters from
Malta, and one from Alexandria: this is now the se-
cond from Cairo. I cannot write to you oftener. I
am absolutely worn out with constant exertions to
organize my new corps, which is in a most wretched
state.
>
Your brother regards me with kindness, because you
are not here: would it were the reverse! How is my
bantling? what a sweet little fellow he will be when I
see him again?-YES, I SHALL SOON RETURN-GE-
NERAL BONAPARTE HAS PROMISED THAT FRESH
TROOPS SHALL SPEEDILY ARRIVE FROM FRANCE
TO RELIEVE US. But then how ugly shall I be! the
heat has turned us all as black as crows; and, to com-
plete my misfortunes, I have lost all my hair.
How do you proceed in your pregnancy?-Good
heavens! how distressing it is to live in a state of con-
stant uncertainty respecting all that is dear to me!
The days of happiness are passed. If I cease to exert
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
119
myself but for a moment, my mind becomes a prey to
the most gloomy reflections. I weep, and no one par-
takes my grief. I have not a single acquaintance in the
regiment, nor a friend in the country. Poor Charles!
thou hast lost every thing in losing thy Josephine. Do
you at least regret me, and I shall not be wholly miser-
able. I may forget that I have been happy beyond the
lot of human nature, but to forget that you are my
best beloved, or to think of living without you, is what
can never enter into my mind.
Adieu :-my horse is at the door. I send you a
thousand kisses.
Your own
CHARLES.
* We ought not to dismiss C. Lasalle without remarking, that
his regiment (according to the General's dispatches) behaved ex-
tremely well. Charles himself, Bonaparte adds, "dropped his
sword in charging: he alighted to recover it, and was happy
ẹnough to regain his seat just as one of the most intrepid of the
Mameloucs was about to attack him." We conclude from this,
that he escaped his regiment, as we have already observed, was
cut to pieces.
:
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}
*
No. XIV.
Grand Caire, le 22 Thermidor.
Au Citoyen ST. GENIER, Directeur des Messageries
Nationales, à Toulouse.
Mon cher Père,
7
Vous devez être en peine sur mon sort; jusqu'à ce
moment nous en sommes quittes pour de grandes fa-
tigues. Nous sommes maîtres du Grand Caire depuis
quinze jours. Les Mamelouks sont à deux journées
d'ici. Ils perdirent deux milles hommes dans la prin-
cipale affaire que nous eumes avec eux. Le Général
Bonaparte est à leur poursuite. Dans peu j'espere de
vous embrasser ainsi que ma mère.
Après avoir débarquée à Alexandrie, nous nous
mîmes en route pour le Caire sans vivres, sans chevaux,
et avons été poursuivis jusqu'ici par des bandes d'Arabes
qui etoient à cheval, et qui nous ont harcelés singu-
lièrement. Au moment d'entreprendre cette route, le
Général, voyant que nous manquions de tout, nous dit ;
"Les vertus sont pour nous.
Dans une bataille sur le Nil, les Mamelouks ont pris
tous nos effets qui étoient embarqués et nous ont laissés
comme le jour que nous sommes né, avec ce que nous
avons sur le corps.
Mamet, ainsi que tous les officiers qui ont resté en
France sont remplacés; j'en suis bien aise.
Embrassez ma chère mère, &c.
SAINT GENIER.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
121
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo (Thermidor), August 9th.
To Citizen ST. GENIER, &c. at Toulouse.
My dear Father,
You
ou must be under some uneasiness about me. Hi-
therto we have got off pretty well, at the expence only
of amazing fatigues. We have been masters of Cairo
this fortnight. The Mameloucs are about two days
march from us: they lost two thousand men in the last
action. General Bonaparte is in pursuit of them. In
a little while I hope to return and embrace both you
and my mother.
After landing at Alexandria, we set out for Cairo,
without provisions or horses, and were pursued as far
as this place, by bands of Arabs on horseback, who
harrassed us in a terrible manner. Just as we were
setting out, the General, seeing us in want of every thing,
said to us << THE VIRTUES ARE ON OUR SIDE !"*
$
* How oft has the inclination to laugh outright at the absurdi-
ties discoverable in every part of this Correspondence, been
checked by bitter reflection on the enormities in which they have
usually terminated! the durate atque expectate cicadas of Nævolus
was not half so severe a taunt on the miseries of his followers, as
the ill-placed and incongruous exclamation of Bonaparte to his
starving army. What consolation they derived from it does not
appear ;-but if the reader will take into consideration that they
were just come from the slaughter of the Alexandrines, and were
immediately to enter upon that of the Egyptians, he cannot but
be mightily struck at the ALLIES here assigned them.
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COPIES OF
In an engagement on the Nile, the Mameloucs car-
ried off all the baggage which we had put on board the
flotilla, and left us as naked as we were born, with
nothing but what we had on our backs!!!*
Mamet, as well as the rest of the officers who staid
behind, have had their places filled up. I am glad of it.
Embrace my dear mother for me.
SAINT GENIER.
Here is the explanation of a circumstance which perplexed
as in the former publication. Many of the letters complain of
having lost all their effects on the Nile, while none of them in-
form us, in what manner. It now appears that the Mameloncs
were completely victorious in the engagement near Chebreiki,
that they took three of the gun-boats, which they plundered of
all the baggage, and that the remaining three would have shared
the same fate, but for the fortunate arrival of the army. This is
further confirmed by Brigadier Dumas, (No xviii.) and thus it is,
that letters in themselves of little or no merit, materially assist in
filling up, and perfecting in all its parts, the eventful history of
this stupendous expedition!
If the reader wishes to see how this affair is treated by the
commanders of the flotilla, let him turn to the letters of Rear
Admiral Perrée, and Adjutant-General Royer. First Parta
Nos. xix, and xxii.
ORIGINAL LETTERS,
123
No. XV,
Au Caire, le 27 Thermidor,
L'Adjoint LACUE'E à son Oncle.
Je n'ai reçu aucune lettre de vous depuis mon départ
E
de Toulon, mon cher oncle, et je crains bien que vous
n'ayiez reçu de moi aucune nouvelle. Je juge de vos
inquiétudes à mon ègard, par les bienfaits dont vous
m'avez comblé; jugez de la mienne par la reconnois-
sance qu'ils me commandent.
Cette lettre vous parviendra peut-être; un de mes
camarades la porte, et s'embarquera sur un neutre.
D'ailleurs les Anglais vainqueurs sont cependant assez
maltraités pour ne pouvoir tenir la mer, et laisseront,
j'espere pour quelque tems nos communications libres.
Avec quelle ardeur nous le desirons! depuis quatre mois
nous ignorons ce que sont devenus nos parents et amis.
Nous avions laissé la République entourée de factions,
et à peine quelques gazettes insignifiantes nous sont-
elles parvenues! tous les couriers ont été saisis; présage
bien sinistre le seul convoi qui portoit Tallien a été
respecté.
Si les dépêches du Général sont parvenues, vous
aurez appris que je suis blessé, quoique au premier
coup d'œil ma blessure est assez légère. La balle a
respecté la langue, le gosier, les vaisseaux sanguins, et
la mâchoire gauche. La
— a seule été
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fracturée; elle l'a été avec éclat, mais assez heureuse-
ment pour ne pas me défigurer. La playe va à mer-
veille, je puis parler et j'espere dans quinze jours
manger autre chose que de la bouillie, ou plutôt
manger, car depuis un mois, je ne fais qu'avaler. Les
chirurgiens prétendent que les eaux de Barege me
seront nécessaires, si non indispensables; je crois
qu'elles me seront agréables, et je serois très-disposé
à y aller, mais comme il est possible que le malheureux
combat d'Aboukir ne rende critique la position de
l'armée, et
à l'instant de la cicatrice, je resterai: mon sort sera
lié à celui de l'armée, quoique j'y serve avec peu, et
bien peu d'agrément, et quoique je sois bien sûr qu'on
ne me saura nul gré de ce sacrifice.
La campagne que nous venons de faire est sans con-
tredit la plus pénible qu'aient jamais fait les Français.
Nos marches forcées dans le Désert sous un ciel brûlant,
sur un sable plus brûlant, encore, notre disette d'eau
pendant cinq jours, de pain pendant quinze, de vin
pendant trois mois, sans cesse au bivouac, exposés à
une rosée perfide qui aveugloit les imprudents; tout
cela est bien plus terrible que les batailles et les sieges;
il ne faut que de l'élan pour celles-ci, il faut pour
l'autre du vrai courage, du courage de tête et d'âme.
Nous n'avons eu que deux batailles et trois ou quatre
combats, ou plutôt nous n'avons eu que deux boucheries.
Les Mamelouks n'avoient que de la bravoure, nous étions
instruits et disciplinés. Ils sont venus se briser sur
nos bataillons quarrés, leur imprudente valeur les a
fait se précipiter entre deux de ces masses redoutables
et ils y ont trouvé leur tombe. Vaincus et sans autre
espoir que de se sauver, ils fuyent avec leur bagage,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
125
1
its
Is ne sont plus à craindre, la constance du courage ne
sauroit être l'apanage de l'ignorance, elle n'en possede
que l'élan. D'ailleurs, quelques forts élevés à l'entrée
du désert et aux débouchés de la Syrie nous garantissent
d'eux; et ensuite où peut se recruter ce ramas d'esclaves?
Les Arabes, Bédouins, et les habitants sont aujourdhui
nos seuls ennemis. Les premiers sont indestructibles ;
voleurs par profession et par institution reçue de race en
race, il seroit plus difficile de les civiliser que de nous
rendre sauvages. Les liens de la société leur seroient plus
pénibles que les fatigues de cette vie affreuse, que l'habi-
tude et l'ignorance les empêchent de trouver horrible.
On ne peut que les éloigner et l'on y réussira en ren-
dant le pays à la culture, et creusant des canaux larges et
profonds, et bâtissant des fortins, de distance en distance,
Quant aux habitants, quelques têtes de Cheiks les
soumettront bientôt.
L'Egypte ne ressemble en rien à tout ce qu'en ont dit
nos écrivains. Son sol est fécond mais point abondant ;
la nature ne demande qu'à produire, mais c'est un
terrein nud et presqu'inculte. Ses habitants, dégradés
par l'esclavage, sont retombés dans l'état de sauvages,
et n'ont gardé de la civilisation que la superstition et
l'intolérance religieuse. Je les ai trouvés parfaitement
ressemblants aux nations de la mer du sud peintes par
Cook et Forster.
En un mot ce pays-ci n'est rien quant au présent;
il n'offre que de grands souvenirs et de vastes mais
éloignées espérances. Il ne valoit pas la peine d'être
conquis dans l'état actuel des choses; mais si des poli-
tiques, surtout des administrateurs habiles, s'en occu-
pent dix ans ; si dix ans nous y employons nos soins et
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nous y sacrifions ses revenus, il deviendra la plus belle
Colonie de l'Europe, et produira de grands change-
ments dans le commerce du monde.
Où sont-ils ces administrateurs? nous avons ici
l'homme capable de donner an goût d'Egypte la pre-
mière et grande impulsion, mais pas un capable d'ad-
ministrer, quoiqu'en ait dit la bavarde déesse . . . . Oh
combien de fausses réputations se sont faites en Italie,
et que de piédestaux qui resteront sans statues! d'ailleurs
le Français dont l'impétuosité convenoit pour cette con-
quête, seroit-il assez patient pour attendre. Toujours
pressé de recueillir, laissera-til mûrir dix ans, et comme
le sauvage de Montesquieu, ne coupera-til pas l'arbre
pour avoir le fruit? les premières mesures me donnent
le droit de le craindre.
Gurieux se porte à merveille à cette heure; il n'a
éprouvé d'autre maladie qu'une forte diarrhée; on le sur-
charge d'ouvrage, et d'un ouvrage bien indigne de lui.
On ne sait pas tirer parti de son talent, et l'on utilise
son activité en la profanant. Il philosophe d'un bout
dujour à l'autre que c'est ici le cas de mettre en pra-
tique ce qu'il a lu jadis et pensé depuis !
J'ai jusqu'au bout de ma lettre différé de vous parler
du malheureux Desna ****. Il est pris par les Bedouins
depuis plus d'un mois, et depuis cette époque on ignore
ce qu'il est devenu; ces voleurs ne l'auront pas tué,
mais s'il a été présenté aux Mamelouks il est perdu;
sinon, et qu'il ait pu résister aux fatigues et aux mauvais
traitements, nous l'aurons peut-être. Nous nous ac-
crochons tous à ce brin d'espérance; mais il est bien
foible. La perte d'un camarade est ici bien sensible,
mais surtout la sienne. Sa franchise, son coeur, et ses
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
121
sentiments m'avoient inspiré pour lui une amitié qu'il
partageait. C'etoit le seul ami de mon age que j'eusse
ici. Je ne tiens plus maintenant qu'à Gurieux. La
guerre a été bien funeste à l'état major; il n'y avoit
plus avant-hier que l'adjoint en état de faire le service,
tout a été pris et tué, quatre ou cinq blessés. Jamais
hussards ne firent un service pareil au nôtre, même
lorsque leurs combats étoient en Gênes. Je me rapelle
d'une vive partie de plaisir que nous fimes cinq sur
la plus haute montagne de Toulon; des cinq je reste
seul!
Le camarade qui se charge de vous remettre ou de
vous faire parvenir ma lettre, est le citoyen Veyssiere
chef-d'escadron au 18e; il a trente ans de service effectif,
et sept campagnes. Il auroit, par conséquent, droit à
une retraite, mais blessé ici et rongé par la pierre, il a
voulu rentrer en France. On lui a sottement conseillé
de donner sa démission, il l'a fait, elle a été acceptée.
Ne seroit-il pas possible cependant de lui faire avoir ou
sa retraite, ou une compagnie d'invalides? je vous prie
d'y employer tous vos efforts et votre crédit; vous rendrez
service à un des plus braves et des plus vaillants mili-
taires de la République, qui sort, le cœur pur et les
mains nettes, de la révolution et de la guerre.
:
Adieu; je vous embrasse de tout mon cœur ; j'em-
brasse ma tante; il me tarde bien fort de vous revoir
l'un et l'autre je voulois acheter des schals pour elle;
mais la caravanne a été détournée par les Beys et le peu
qu'il restoit ici, ont été enlevés à un prix fou; on les
achetoit vingt-cinq à trente livres, et ils étoient assez
communs. Je serai donc réduit à lui porter du caffé
Mocka.
€
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Adieu; mes respects au citoyen et à la citoyenne
La Cépède, au Général Clarke, à Brostaut, au Général
Servan, &c. Rappellez-moi au souvenir de Davignan,
Desages, Decok, Charles Maroit, Marecheski, &c. &c.
LACUE'E.
TRANSLATION.
Cairo (27th Thermidor), August 14-
Adjutant-General LACUEE, to his Uncle.
I HAVE received no letter from you, my dear uncle,*
since I sailed from Toulon, and I am very much afraid
that you have received none from me. I judge of your
anxiety respecting me, by the benefits which you have
heaped upon me; you may judge of mine respecting
you, by the gratitude they demand in return.
This letter, perhaps, will reach you. One of my
comrades is about to embark in a neutral ship, and will
He was,
* This uncle of Lacuée is a very respectable man.
we believe, a member of the National Convention, and is at
present in the Counsel of Elders. He was an officer under the
Monarchy, and, during the legislative Assembly, President of
the Military Committee. We know nothing of his nephew. It
appears that he is a man of abilities; and we recommend his
letter, which is not only admirably written, but full of important
matter, to the serious consideration of our readers.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
129
take charge of it. Besides, the English, though vic-
torious, are too much disabled to keep the sea,* and
will for some time, I flatter myself, leave our commu-
nications open.
With what ardour do we all wish it!
for four months we have now been ignorant of what is
become of our relations and friends. We left the Re-
public surrounded with factions, and all that has since
reached us has been now and then a paltry gazette!
every packet has been taken: a melancholy presage of
our fate! that which brought Tallient is the only one
which has had the good fortune to escape.
* The fate of this letter is the best refutation of this assertion;
which would not indeed been worth noticing, were it not for the
opportunity it gives us of making a short remark on the ignorance
in which the army were kept respecting the engagement of the
first of August. That we had conquered could not well be
denied, as the French fleet was annihilated: all that remained,
therefore, for Bonaparte, was to represent the English fleet
as nearly in the same state. This he did not fail to do; and
this checked, for some days, the murmurs and 'despondency
of the army. There is a letter from one of these deluded people,
which, after mentioning their defeat, concludes with assuring his
friend, upon the authority we have given, that the English
ships were unable to stir,—" or,” says he, “ reste à scavoir, &c.”
Now it remains to be seen what can be done against them, by the vessels
in the port of Alexandria, (the frigates and transports)—and the
writer actually buoys himself up with hopes of capturing or de-
stroying them!!!
+ The Lodi, which had nearly shared the fate of the rest. In
the original it is," the packet was respected;" and just below
we find that Lacuée's tongue was "respected." This is sad cant;
but it is not altogether new, for we find a curious instance of its
application in Vaillant. "A tiger, and myself," says he,
"" met
each other in the Desert. The noble creature surveyed me, while
1 gazed at him in my turn. We mutually respected each other,
and passed on!
PART II.
Κ
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*
If the General's dispatches have reached France, you
will see that I am wounded, though to all appearance
not very dangerously. The ball spared my tongue,
throat, blood vessels, and left jaw: the
fractured, or rather shivered a good deal;
not in such a manner as to disfigure me.
+
only was
but, happily,
The wound
is healing fast. I can speak, and in another fortnight
hope to be able to eat something besides broths: I
should have said, able to eat at all; for, in truth, during
the last month, I have only been able to swallow. The
surgeons say that the waters of Barege will be neces-
sary, if not indispensable for me. I think myself that
they will be proper, and feel a strong inclination to go
there; but as it is probable that the unfortunate action
of Aboukir will render the situation of the army rather
critical, and as there is an immediate prospect of my
wound's cicatrizing, I will stay. My fate shall be
linked to that of the army, although I serve with little,
indeed very little, satisfaction to myself, and although I
am perfectly sure that no one will feel obliged to me for
the sacrifice.
The campaign which we have just finished, is indis-
putably the severest in which the French have ever been
engaged. Our forced marches in the Desert, under a
burning sky, and over still more burning sands, our
want of water during five days, of bread during fifteen,
Lacuée is not mentioned as far as we can see by Bonaparte;
but Berthier speaks of him as having been wounded at the same
time with the first Commissary Sucy, in whose galley he was.
« L'adjoint Lacuée a reçu une balle dans la machoire, &c."
+ Probably right jaw; but the word is obliterated.
The original is illegible in this place; but we have endea-
voured to complete the sentence.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
131
and of wine during three months; our being continually
under arms, exposed to a treacherous dew, which blinded
all those who were not aware of it, all this is infinitely
more terrible than battles, and sieges. A little enthu-
siasm will do for these,-true courage alone for the
other; courage not only of the heart, but of the head
and the soul.
We have had but two battles, and three or four
skirmishes, or rather we have had but two butcheries:
the Mameloucs had nothing but bravery; we had dis-
cipline and experience. They rushed on to dash them-
selves in pieces against our squared batallions: their
unreflecting valour precipitated them between two of
these formidable masses, where they found their grave!
vanquished, and without any other chance of safety
than flight, they retreated with all their baggage. They
are no longer to be feared; the constancy of courage
can never be the portion of ignorance, which has no-
thing but its enthusiasm! Besides, a few forts erected
at the entrance of the Desert, and the passes of Syria,
will secure us from their attacks; and then, where will
this horde of slaves find recruits?
*
The Bedouin Arabs, and the natives of the country,
are at present our only enemies. † The former are
* Our philosopher reasons rather mal-à-propos. He has pro- .
bably discovered long before this time, that his rhetorical flourish
was a mere petitio principii: the ignorance of the Mameloucs still
remains to be proved, but the constancy of their courage is no
longer a question with the miserable remains of the French
army.
† Lacuée seems to derive consolation from a circumstance,
which would have thrown any other man into despair.
But mark the pretty plan of getting rid of those " enemies,"
K 2
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absolutely indestructible. Robbers by profession, and by
institutions handed down from generation to generation,
it would be more difficult to civilize them, than to bar-
barise ourselves! the bonds of society would be more
grievous to them than fatigues, which custom and igno-
rance prevent them from finding disagreeable. All
that can be done is to keep them at a distance; which
can only be effected by cultivating the country, digging
wide and deep canals, and erecting block-houses at
short distances. With respect to the natives, the heads of
a few Cheiks will speedily awe them into submission.
Egypt has not the slightest resemblance to what has
been said of it by our writers. Its soil, indeed, is
fruitful, but there is little of it. Nature asks only to
produce; but the land is bare, and almost uncultivated.
The natives, degraded by slavery, are relapsed into the
savage state, retaining nothing of their former civiliza-
tion but superstition and religious intolerance. I have
found them resembling, in every circumstance, the
islanders of the South Sea, described by Cook and
Forster.
In a word, this country is nothing at present. It
merely offers magnificent recollections of the past, and
who are only all the settled people of the country, and the sur-
rounding Arabs, who are as invulnerable as the harpies,
non vulnera tergo,
Accipiunt; celerique fuga, &c.
What they cannot do with the sword, however, they are de-
termined to effect with the plough-share; and all the sands of
Egypt are to be cultivated, that they may at length proceed with
tranquillity in the great work of colonization. In the expressive
figure of Solomon, "they will sow the wind, and reap the whirl-
wind!”
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
133
vast, but distant hopes of the future. It is not worth
conquering in its present condition: but if statesmen,
above all, if able administrators should undertake the
management of it for ten years;-if for the same space
of time we should employ all our care on it, and sacri-
fice the whole of its revenues, it might become the
most valuable colony of Europe, and effect an impor-
tant change in the commerce of the world!
*
But where are they,-these able administrators? we
have, indeed, the man here capable of giving the first
strong impulse to the taste of Egypt, but not a soul
equal to its administration,-whatever may be said to
the contrary by the babbling Goddess.
Oh!
how many false reputations were acquired in Italy!
and how many pedestals will now rest without statues!
Besides; are the French, whose impetuosity was well
adapted to the conquest of this country,-are they, I
say, endued with sufficient patience to wait for all this?
incessantly eager to pluck the fruit,-will they let it
ripen for ten years? and will they not, rather, like the
savage of Montesquieu, cut down the tree to have it
* If Lacuée means Bonaparte here, he differs from us toto
cœlo, in his estimate of the General's political talents. We think
(and we judge from his Italian regulations) that Nature never
formed a man less capable of giving what the writer calls "the
first strong impulse to the taste of a nation,”—unless, indeed, it
be the "taste" of pillage and desolation. But Lacuée, it may
be urged, might have some other person in view ;—of this we
can say nothing: we wish, however, to press this, and the fol-
lowing paragraphs, on the readers' most serious attention: refer-
ring them for what is said on the want of " able administra=
tors, &c." to the Note, p. 76.
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the sooner! the first measures which have been taken,
give me every reason to fear it.
Gurieux is perfectly well at present; he has had no
other complaint than a violent diarrhoea; he is over-
burdened with business, and, what is worse, with busi-
ness totally unworthy of him. Our people do not know
how to avail themselves of his peculiar talents, and
therefore endeavour to turn his activity to account by
profaning it. He philosophises from morn to night,
and has ample opportunity of putting in practice what
he formerly read, and has since reflected on.
I have postponed speaking of the unfortunate Desna
*to the end of my letter. He was taken prisoner
by the Arabs more than a month ago, and we have not
heard what is become of him since. These robbers
This name is effaced by a blot. We made it out Desnattoz;
But it is more probably Desnanotre, who is mentioned by Des-
genettes, Part I. p. 102.
The French, to whom these letters are infinitely dear, and by
whom they are anxiously and universally read, will perhaps
thank us for this scrupulous attention to names, that have little
in them to interest the curiosity of our countrymen. They will
recognise those of their fathers, brothers, &c.; and they will
inquire with avidity into their fate.
Now we are on the subject we will just mention, that in a
former letter, we found one inclosed for a "Citizen Perrin,
merchant at Sens," acquainting him with the death of his son,
who, as the writer expresses it, par le fatal arrêt du destin
devoit perir sur le Nil. This is probably the first intimation the
unfortunate father will have of his loss, The letter also laments,
in the most feeling manner, the general want of news from
France, and adds, that the English have taken twelve of their
advice-boats.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
135
have certainly not killed him; but if they have given
him up to the Mameloucs, he is lost. Should this not
happen to be the case, and he be able to endure fatigue
and harsh treatment, we shall probably have him again.
We all cling to this thread of hope, but it is very feeble!
the loss of a comrade is felt very sensibly here, especi-
ally of such a one as D. His numerous good qua-
lities had inspired me with a friendship for him, which,
on his side, was warmly returned. He was the only
friend of my own age, that I had in the army: Gurieux
is now all that is left me.
This campaign has been very fatal to our staff. The
day before yesterday the Adjutant General was the only
one we had capable of going on duty,-all the rest
are either killed, wounded, or taken. Never were
hussars engaged in so severe a service; no, not even in
the first Italian campaign! I call to mind a most agree-
able party of pleasure, which five of us made, before
we sailed for this country, on the highest mountain of
Toulon. Of the five, I only remain !
The person who has engaged to deliver or send
you this letter, is Citizen Veyssiere, captain of the
18th. He has served thirty years, and made seven
campaigns. He would consequently have been in-
titled to retire on a pension, but wounded in this
country, and tortured by the stone, he was eager to
return to France. Some one has stupidly advised him
to throw up his commission: he has done so, and it
has been accepted.-Would it not be possible still,
think you, to get him his pension, or a company of
invalids? I beseech you to employ all your efforts, and
all your credit in his favour. You will render an es-
sential service to one of the bravest officers of the
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COPIES OF
Republic, who retires with a pure heart and clean hands
from the Revolution, and the war!
Adieu.-I embrace you, as well as my aunt, with
all my heart. I can scarcely tell how much I long to
*
see you both again. I intended to have bought some
shawls for my aunt, but the caravan has been stopped
by the Beys, and the few which are to be found here,
have been raised to a most extravagant price. Five and
twenty or thirty livres have been given for a very com-
* We see by this that the plunder of the caravan was counted
upon, as a matter of certainty.
It is impossible to think, without indignation, of the coolness
with which these people looked forward to the commission of the
most atrocious acts, as things of course. They had wasted and
destroyed the fairest part of Europe, and they triumphed in the
impunity of their crimes.-But there was an EYE that marked
them! they were abandoned to their presumption, and they
rushed madly on destruction.
If there be a spectacle which sanctions a belief in the visible
interposition of Providence, and "justifies the ways of God to
man,” it is that of Bonaparte and his army. The man who
boasted, and perhaps thought, that he held Fortune in chains;
the legions, whose prowess and whose enormities struck Italy with
terror, and confounded the powers of Germany, are now the
sport of a weak and contemptible rabble,-of the Arabs, who are
scarce numbered amongst civilized nations, and of the mob of
Cairo, the most brutified, and savage in the universe! To become
the slaves of these outcasts of humanity, to serve their brutal
passions, and to minister food to their just vengeance,—to live
despised, and abhorred; to die unknown, and have their carcasses
flung to the dogs and vultures of the country, is now the only
fate that awaits them! Who does not see in this humiliating ca-
tastrophe, the operation of retributive justice; and who that sees
it, does not confess with the moral poet of antiquity,
Nec surdum, nec Tiresiam quenquam esse Deorum !
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
137
mon one. I shall, therefore, be under the necessity
of bringing her some Moka coffee instead of them.
Adieu; my respects to Citizen Lacepède and his
wife; to General Clarke, Brostaut, Servan, &c. Re-
member me to Davignan, Desages, Decok, Charles
Maroit, Marecheski, &c. &c.
LACUEE.
+
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COPIES OF
}
To
No. XVI.
Grand Caire, le 28 Thermidor, an 6.
Au Citoyen MIOT.
u verras, mon cher Miot, par la date de cette lettre,
que je te l'écris vingt jours après celle qui est dans ce
même paquet. Tu auras vu par le petit mot que je
joignis avant mon départ de cette ville-ci, que je par-
tois pour aller avec le Général le Clerc, faire une ex-
pédition secrette, qui avoit, comme je l'ai su, pour but
de nous emparer de la caravane de la Mecque, qu'Ibra-
him Bey avoit saisie. Elle n'a pas réussi, et nous avons
perdu dans cette affaire bien des hussards à cheval.
Tu reconnoitras facilement à ma vilaine écriture
que quelque cause doit naturellement m'empêcher de
conserver ma première manière. Je te dirai sans trop
t'épouvanter, que cette expédition m'a été tant soit peu
funeste, puisque j'ai eu le bras gauche tellement mordu
et abimé par un chameau, qu'il est hors d'état d'être
employé pendant un mois. Cet accident n'aura pas de
suite. J'ai eu ensuite les doigts de la main droite en-
dommagés de manière à ne pouvoir écrire. Il faut que
tu saches aussi que j'ai perdu mes bagages, et que je
suis resté avec une chemise sur le dos. Ma malle étoit
heureusement arrivée au Grand Caire, et je puis rétablir
mes pertes. Je supporte très-philosophiquement mes
malheurs, qui ne sont d'ailleurs pas bien grands; et le
plus grand de tous est, et sera toujours, de ne pouvoir
vous voir et vous serrer dans mes bras
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
139
C'est à Sallich, au-delà de Bilbis, dernier village
avant d'entrer dans le Désert, que nous avons appris la
triste nouvelle de notre combat naval, dans lequel nous
avons perdu plusieurs vaisseaux, entr'autres l'Orient, et
l'Amiral Brueys mort d'un boulet de canon. Tu dois
bien croire combien cet événement rend notre situation
embarrassante dans ce pays; et elle enleveroit l'espé-
rance à toute l'armée, si on ne connoissoit pas le génie
du Général en Chef qui la dirige. C'est donc en-
tièrement sur lui que nous nous reposons du soin de
nous tirer du pas dans lequel nous nous sommes en-
gagés. Puisse le parti qu'il prendra nous rapprocher de
notre patrie! Ce pays n'est pas fait pour nous.
Adieu, mon cher Miot, je t'embrasse de tout mon
cœur, ainsi que toute ta charmante famille, et la bonne
M
Boyat, qui est auprès de moi dans le moment, me prie
de t'assurer de son attachement. Il dit bien de choses
à Josephine, et à M. Si tu peux me faire revenir
n'oublies pas d'en saisir l'occasion. N'oublies pas aussi-
tôt que tu auras reçu cette lettre, d'écrire un mot à
Sucy pour l'engager à me ramener avec lui, en cas où
il partiroit d'ici.
D'après ce que Boyat m'a dit, il n'y paroissoit pas
disposé. Adieu.
{
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COPIES OF
TRANSLATION.
Grand Cairo (28 Thermidor), August 15.
To Citizen MIOT.
You will see, my dear Miot, by the date of this letter,
that it is written twenty days after that which you will
find in the same packet.* You will see too, by the con-
clusion of the former, that I was then on the point of
setting out with General Le Clerc,† on a secret expe-
dition, the object of which, as I afterwards learned, was
to seize on the caravan of Mecca, of which Ibrahim
Bey had possessed himself. This expedition has totally
failed, and we are returned with the loss of a number of
our new mounted hussars.
You will easily discover from this wretched scrawl of
a letter, that something has happened to prevent my
writing as usual. I will briefly tell you (to save unne-
cessary alarm), that this expedition has been a little,
* He alludes to his Letter of July 26th. See No. IV.
† General Le Clerc (as we should have observed in a former
letter) is much in the confidence of the Commander in Chief, to
whom he is related. He married, we believe, immediately after
the negociations of Leoben, a sister of Bonaparte's, in Italy, ex-
tremely pretty, and nick-named for her silliness, La Princesse
Folette. Her brother made her a present of 500,000 livres, on
her wedding day! This is the lady whom Bonaparte prevented
from seeing the opera at Bologna, because the company she had
chosen to attend her were not all of the first consequence! It
must be confessed, that this equalizing Chief has most aristocrati-
cal ideas of rank and fortune; ideas which, in a Corsican, and a
republican, are altogether surprising.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
141
D
and but a little, unfortunate for me; since I have had
my left arm so torn and bruised, by a camel, that I shall
not be able to use it for a month: there is, however no
danger. By a second accident, I had two of my right-
hand fingers so much injured, as to be scarce able to
hold a pen.
I lost, besides, every thing I took with me, except
the shirt upon my back. Luckily my portmanteau had
reached Cairo, so that I shall not be in want of neces-
saries. I support my misfortunes, which after all, are
not of the most important nature, in a very philosophi-
cal style; the greatest of them all, however is, and
always will be, the not having it in my power to see
you, and press you to my heart.
It was at Sallich, just beyond Bilbis, the last village
before you come to the Desert, that we first heard the
melancholy news of our naval action, in which we lost
a great number of vessels, and amongst the rest the
l'Orient; and had Admiral Brueys killed by a cannon
shot. You may easily conceive how embarrassing this
event must render our situation in this country. It
would deprive the army of every hope, if they were not
acquainted with the genius of the Commander in Chief.
It is entirely on him then, that we rely for the care of
extricating us from the perilous step in which we are
engaged. May the measures he may take, bring us
nearer to our country! EGYPT IS NOT MADE FOR
US.
Adieu, my dear Miot; I embrace you with all my
heart, as well as all your charming family, and the dear
M-
Boyat, who is now sitting by me, begs me to assure
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COPIES OF
of his attachment. He sends his respects to Jose-
you
phine and to M-
If you desire me to return, let slip no opportunity;
and above all, do not forget, the instant you receive this
letter, to write a word to Sucy, to induce him to take
me with him, in case he has any thoughts of quitting
this country.
By what I can collect from Boyat's conversation, hé
does not seem disposed to do it at present.*
2
Adicu.
* Our unfortunate Savant has already observed (No. IV.)
Sucy's reluctance to take him with him to France. Sucy himself,
we believe, will never revisit that country; but if it were other-
wise, if the poor man's letters had reached his friend Miot in
time, and if Miot had employed all his interest with the First
Commissary in his behalf, we are persuaded that all would have
been ineffectual. A botanist, and a man of sense! What pre-
tensions has he to be one of the chosen few who are to be per-
mitted to return? No, no, his fate was sealed previous to his
embarkation. For the rest, we do not know that he has any parti-
cular reason to complain; he has already seen, he says, many of
his associates fall around him (see his former letter), and he is
still in existence: nor can he justly blame the Directory; for if
they could deliberately consign to inevitable destruction more
than forty thousand of their best and bravest troops, to whom
they were under the highest obligation, why should they be sup-
posed to interest themselves in the fate of this whining compound
of philosophy and war, who has never yet, perhaps, rendered
them the slightest service! The idea is too absurd to be dwelt
upon.
When we observed above that we believed Sucy would never
revisit France, we were certainly very far from thinking that this
was already a matter of certainty. We have learned, since the
former part of this note was written, that he was on board the
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
143
vessel which ran into Candia, where he was put to death, toge-
ther with most of the passengers, by the inhabitants.
We are no advocates for a war of this savage nature; and the
resentment with which we speak of the army of the East, or of
England, proceeds from observing, that they are the butchers,
not the bold and generous enemies, of the devoted Egyptians.
With all this, however, we wish Sucy had fallen in some other
manner; though we cannot help being astonished at the pre-
sumptuous folly that could lead him to throw himself and his
companions into the hands of a people whom they had so grossly
injured. The impunity with which the French have long insulted
and trampled on the poor patient nations of Europe, has em-
boldened them to their destruction: they have at length found
an enemy worthy of themselves!
We know not whether the writer of this letter obtained his
wish to be permitted to accompany Sucy in his flight. If he did,
he doubtless shared his fate; it is more probable, however, that
he did not; and in that case, if a short respite (for it will be no
more) has its value with him,
Paucorum-
si tanti vita dierum
we may venture to congratulate him on the obduracy of the First
Commissary,
144
ORIGINAL LETTERS,
}
No. XVII.
1
Au Caire, le 29 Thermidor, an 6.
Au Citoyen PISTRE, demeurant au Bureau du Naulage,
Quai Vincent, No. 199, à Lyon.
JE
Je saisis avec empressement, mon cher ami, l'occasion
que me procure un de nos chefs d'escadron qui se retire
par démission, pour te faire parvenir cette lettre, dans
l'espoir qu'elle sera plus heureuse que celle que je t'ai
écrite d'Alexandrie; la frégate qui en étoit porteur ay-
ant, dit-on, été prise par les Anglais. Tu as sans doute
appris, qu'après une navigation assez heureuse, nous
nous étions emparés de l'Isle de Malthe, et que de là
nous avions fait voile pour l'Egypte. Nous sommes en
effet arrivés devant Alexandrie le 14 Thermidor, et nous
nous en sommes également emparés après une légère
résistance.
Je ne saurois t'exprimer, mon cher ami, l'étonnement
que j'ai éprouvé en entrant dans cette ville, jadis si
célèbre, dont il ne reste pas la moindre splendeur, et où
on ne trouve plus que les vestiges de quelques anciens
monuments, tels que la Colonne de Pompée, les Bains
de Cléopatre, &c. L'Alexandrie moderne n'est plus
qu'un amas de baraques de terre, formant des petites
rues fort étroites, d'une mal-propreté au-dessus de tout
ce qu'on peut imaginer; ce qui, joint à la chaleur exces-
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
145
sive de ce climat, fait qu'on y respire un très-mauvais
air, qui y amene chaque année la peste.
A-peine commençoit-elle à cesser ses ravages, lorsque
nous avons abordé; plusieurs bâtiments en étoient en-
core infestés dans le port, et j'ai encore vu porter en terre
des êtres vivants qui en étoient attaqués. Jeft'avoue
que ce spectacle, joint à l'air stupide et farouche des
habitants du pays, m'a navré le coeur. Je me suis de-
mandé à moi-même comment le gouvernement Fran-
çois avoit fait tant d'efforts, et exposé une armée de
quarante mille hommes, pour venir soumettre un peuple
si féroce et si abruti.
Tel est, mon cher ami, la question que je me suis
faite en mettant le pied sur ce sol brûlant, qui ne pré-
sente de toutes parts que des déserts immenses, entière-
ment dépourvus d'eau, dans l'espace de quatorze lieues
que nous avons traversées en partant d'Alexandrie.
Après cette cruelle traversée, où les troupes ont
beaucoup souffert de la chaleur et de la soif, nous nous
sommes approchés du Nil, dont les rives sont un peu
plus fécondes, mais toujours habitées par un peuple
également farouche. Pendant nos trois premières jour-
nées de marche, nous avons continuellement été suivis
par des Arabes, ou des Bédouins, qui sont des brigands
à cheval, accoutumés à vivre de pillage, et qui égor-
geoient ceux qui, épuisés de soif et de fatigues, ne
pouvoient suivre la colonne.
Nous avons enfin rencontré les Mamelouks, qui sont
des troupes que les Beys, au nombre de vingt-quatre qui
gouvernent l'Egypte sous leur domination, tirent de Cir-
cassie et de la Georgie, et tiennent à leur solde. Ces
troupes sont toutes montées sur d'excellents chevaux -
Arabes; elles ont voulu nous charger, mais le feu de la
PART II.
L
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COPIES OF
+
mousqueterie et du canon les a bientôt dispersés, et fait
retirer jusque sous les murs de Caire, où nous sommes
entrés le 3 Thermidor, après avoir complettement bat-
tu l'ennemi.
Je croyois qu'en arrivant dans cette ville, si célèbre par
son commerce avec l'Inde, nous y trouverions de tout
en abondance, et un peuple plus civilisé, mais mon at-
tente a été trompée, et, à l'exception des Européens
qui y sont établis, le peuple y est aussi barbare et aussi
ignorant qu'à Alexandrie.
D'après le léger apperçu que je te donne de l'Egypte,
tu peux
croire que l'armée n'est point contente de cette
expédition dans un pays dont les mœurs, la nourriture,
et la chaleur, ne s'accommodent nullement avec notre
manière de vivre en Europe. La majeure partie de
l'armée est attaquée de la dyssenterie, et quoique vic-
torieuse, finira par y périr misérablement, si notre gou-
vernement persiste dans ses projets ambitieux. Beaucoup
d'officiers donnent leur démission, et je t'avoue que je
la donnerois également si j'avois espoir de trouver
quelqu'emploi en France; mais dénué de ressources,
il faut prendre patience, et attendre que les événemens
apportent quelque changement dans la position critique
où nous nous trouvons.
Nous ne savons si notre séjour sera long dans ces
nouvelles contrées, et si nous porterons plus loin nos
conquêtes; mais il paroit qu'on est disposé à garder le
pays, car on y a déjà organisé des municipalités. Une
partie de l'armée est à la poursuite des Mamelouks, et je
crois qu'on fera tous les efforts imaginables pour les at-
teindre avant qu'ils se soient retirés dans la Syrie, puis-
qu'ils se sont emparés de la caravane des Indes, qu'ils
emmènent avec eux, et qui est un objet très-précieux.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
147
Adieu, cher ami, donne moi de tes nouvelles, dont je
n'ai point reçu depuis celles que je reçus à Gênes. Bien
des compliments à toute notre famille, et crois moi,
Ton sincere ami.
PISTRE.
TRANSLATION.
Cairo (29 Thermidor), August 16.
To Citizen PISTRE, at the Bureau du Naulage, Vin-
cent's Key, No. 199, Lyons.
*
I EAGERL
EAGERLY avail myself, my dear friend, of the op-
portunity afforded me by one of our officers, who
has thrown up his commission and got leave to retire,
to write you this letter, in the hope that it will be
more fortunate than that which I wrote you from Alex-
andria; the frigate by which it was sent having been
taken by the English.
You have heard, without doubt, that after a very
prosperous navigation we took possession of Malta,
from whence we again set sail for Egypt. We arrived
* Citizen Veyssiere, mentioned by Lacuée. See his letter to
his uncle.
L 2
148
COPIES OF
before Alexandria on the 2d of July,* of which we
also took possession, after a slight resistance.
I want words, my dear friend, to express the astonish-
ment I felt on entering this city, once so famous, but
which does not now retain the slighest vestige of splen-
dor, if we except a few scattered fragments of its ancient
buildings, such as the Column of Pompey, the Baths of
Cleopatra, &c. Modern Alexandria is nothing more
than a mass of mud barracks, forming a number of
little narrow lanes, of which the filthiness is beyond
imagination, and which, together with the excessive
heat of the climate, engenders a kind of stagnant and
putrifying air, annually productive of the plague.
It had not intirely ceased its ravages when we arriv↓
ed: many of the ships in the harbour were still infected,
and I myself saw several poor wretches, who were ill
of it, carried on shore! I will freely confess to you,
that this spectacle, joined to the stupid and ferocious
air of the inhabitants, cut me to the heart; and I said
to myself, "HOW COULD THE GOVERNMENT OF
FRANCE MAKE SUCH EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS,
AND EXPOSE AN ARMY OF FORTY THOUSAND MEN
* In the original it is le 14 Thermidor, (the 1st of August.)
The French, as we have had frequent occasions to observe in the
course of this work, are very far from being perfect in their new-
fangled calendar. Their Fructidors, and their Messidors, their
rain months, and their snow months, are strangely out of their
places in Egypt. A circumstance which has, probably, corrected
by this time, the ideas of some of their vagabond Savans, who were,
doubtless, in amazement at first, at the waywardness of nature,
in not reducing all climates to the climate of the Great Nation ;
and still more, at her presumption in venturing to deviate from
the calendar of a Directory and two Councils !
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
149
TO DESTRUCTION, FOR THE SAKE OF SUBDUING A
SET OF FIERCE AND PROTIFIED SAVAGES."
Such, my dear friend, was the question I put to my-
self on first setting foot on this burning soil; which
presents nothing to the eye but immense deserts, utterly
destitute of water; and one of which, extending more
than forty miles in breadth, we crossed in our first
march from Alexandria.
After this dreadful march, during which the troops
suffered prodigiously from heat and thirst, we reached
the Nile, whose banks are a little more fertile, but
whose inhabitants are not a whit less ferocious than the
Alexandrines. During the three first days of our
march, we were continually harrassed by the Bedouin
Arabs, a sort of banditti on horseback, accustomed to
live on plunder; and who cut the throats of all those
who, exhausted by thirst and fatigue, could not keep up
with the main body.
At length we fell in with the Mameloucs: these are
troops which the Beys, who, to the number of twenty-
four,* govern Egypt, draw from Georgia and Circassia,
* This again is taken from Savary (for we never get out of his
track), and, though repeated with the utmost confidence in many
of these letters, not a jot more correct than the rest of his
reveries.
The government of Egypt, says Niebuhr, (who in one page has
conveyed more real information on the subject, than is to be found
in some extensive volumes), is vested in a Bashaw, representative
of the Grand Seignior; sometimes, indeed, neglected, but whom
the invasion of the French will certainly restore to all his influ-
ence, and in eighteen Beys--for to this number they have now
been reduced for many years. These Beys are not, as is com-
monly supposed, all of Christian origin, purchased in their
childhood, and brought as slaves to Grand Cairo; so long since
150
COPIES OF
and keep in their pay. These people are all mounted
on excellent horses: they shewed a disposition to charge
us, but the fire of the musquetry and cannon soon com-
as 1762 (many years before Savary was in Egypt), five of them
were already of Mahometan families; and as the importation of
slaves from Mingrelia and Georgia has been constantly diminish-
ing, it is very probable that the greater number of the present
Beys are of the same description.
It has been also thought, that the military strength of Egypt
consists merely of 8000 Mameloucs: this too is a mistake.
Travellers may have been led into it, because the troops are not
assembled, exercised, and uniformly cloathed, after the Euro-
pean manner; but every Bey has his particular troops, which
consist principally of his vassals: some of them have as many as
2000; dispersed, indeed, about the country, but capable of being
collected at the first signal. There are besides many regiments
(such as those of Assab, Motasarraka, Tsjumlan, Tessekschan, &c.)
maintained by the State. The number of Janissaries too, in the
pay of the Porte, is considerable; and as most of the officers have
possessions in the country, they are all exceedingly attached to
the government. If to all these are added the hordes of Be-
douins, whose assistance may be easily purchased against a foreign
enemy, we shall find that Bonaparte will have to contend not only
with more troops, but with far more formidable ones, than he
had probably reckoned on.
We could enlarge with pleasure on the observations of this
well-informed traveller-but we forbear, as this note is already
long, and as we have a point to settle with the French Reviewers
of this Correspondence.
In the First Part, we took the liberty of expressing our surprize
at the general ignorance of the " Army of England ;
or, "of
the East," respecting Egypt. This appears to have given great
offence.-How, say the writers of the Decade Philosophique, Lite-
raire and Politique, "how" (we omit their passionate pream-
ble), can people who have never been in a distant country,
know any thing of it but from the accounts of travellers?
This, as a general remark, may be very well; but unfortunately
ORIGINAL LETTERS,
151
pelled them to retire under the walls of Cairo; which
we entered on the 21st of July, after having completely
routed them.
I had flattered myself that on our arrival at this city,
so famous for its commerce with India, we should find
"every thing in abundance, and a more civilized people
than we had hitherto met with; but I have been cruelly
disappointed. With the exception of the Europeans
who are settled here, the inhabitants are as barbarous
and as ignorant as those of Alexandria.
From the slight sketch which I have given you of
Egypt, you may easily conceive that the army is by no
means pleased with this expedition, to a country of
which the usages, diet, and excessive heat, are totally
repugnant to our manner of living in Europe. The
major part of the army is labouring under a diarrhoea;
and ALTHOUGH VICTORIOUS, WILL TERMINATE
ITS CAREER BY PERISHING MISERABLY, IF OUR
it has nothing to do with the point in dispute. Our surprize was
occasioned, as the critics must have seen, by observing, that in
a case where it imported them so greatly to collect the best infor-
mation, not a man in the army, nor in the long train of Savans
which followed it, should, as far as appears, have extended his
inquiries beyond the jejune pages of Volney and Savary,—when,
besides the earlier and fuller works of their own countrymen, the
judicious histories of Sandys, Shaw, Pocock, Norden, Niebuhr
(himself an host), and a number of others, lay, as it were, im-
mediately under their hands!
Enough for the present. If we return to the Decade Philoso-
phique, which is not improbable, we shall have ample opportuni-
ties of shewing, with what contempt of truth its conductors treat
the "enlightened people of France," and with what a daring
disregard of reputation they wilfully misrepresent the most
obvious facts.
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COPIES OF
J
GOVERNMENT PERSISTS IN ITS AMBITIOUS PRO-
JECTS. Many officers are throwing up their commis-
sions; and I freely confess to you, that I would also
throw up mine, if I had the least prospect of obtaining
any thing in France; but, deprived as I am of every
resource, I must persevere, and patiently wait to see
what change events may bring about in our present
critical situation.
I
We do not know whether we shall stay in these new
regions, or carry our conquests farther. To judge from
appearances, this country will be kept; for our people
are already engaged in organizing some municipalities.
A part of the army is in pursuit of the Mameloucs.
imagine every possible effort will be made to come up
with them before they effect their retreat into Syria ;
BECAUSE they have got possession of the caravan from
India, which they are carrying with them, and which is
an object of the utmost importance and value.
Adieu, my friend. Let me hear from you, which I
have not done since I left Genoa. I beg my compli-
ments to all our family, and remain,
Your's, most sincerely,
PISTRE.*
* We do not know Pistre's rank in the army. He writes ex-
tremely well, and his letter is one of the most interesting in the
whole collection.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
153
No. XVIII.
Au Caire, Capitale de l'Egypte, partie d'Afrique,
le 29 Thermidor..
DUMAS, Brigadier de la Compagnie No. 1. à la Citoyenne
DUMAS.
JE
Chère Mère,
E vous écris la présente pour vous informer de l'état
de ma situation, qui n'est pas des meilleures. Nous som-
mes dans un pays extrémement chaud, où on ne trouve
point de vin, pas même du pain, si nous n'eussions con-
struit des fours, excepté des mauvaises galettes que nous
ne pouvons manger et dont se nourrissent les habitans
du pays.
Je vous dirai que dans ce pays, il-y-a dixsept ans
qu'il n'y a pas tombé d'eau. L'Egypte serait inhabita-
ble si ce n'etait le Nil qui est le nom du fleuve qui
déborde tous les ans, et arrose tout ce vaste pays.
La
peste y est très-commune; le peuple y est barbare;
leur dieu est Mahomet, ils n'en connoîssent pas
d'autres. Dans cette ville il y a soixante mille Chré-
tiens, et le nombre de ses habitans monte à un mil-
lion qui sont très-tranquilles, et qui aiment assez les
François.
Nous avons marché cinq jours sans trouver l'ennemi.
Lorsque nous eumes joint le Nil, nous trouvames une
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flotille armée, qui s'était détachée de notre escadre, doné
une grande partie de la cavalerie à pied s'est embarquée
dont j'en étois du nombre; c'etoit le 24 Messidor, que
nous embarquâmes. Le Général Bonaparte, donna
ordre au commandant de la flotille de prendre l'avance
sur l'armée, ce que nous fimes.
Le 25 Messidor à cinq heures du matin, nous apper-
çumes les ennemis au nombre de dix milles, tous à cheval
qui côtoyoient le Nil, et avoient cinq chaloupes can-
nonnières qui le suivoient pas-à-pas: à six heurès le
combat s'engagea. Aprés quatre heures de combat, les
cinq chaloupes, qui avoilent fait un feu terrible sur
nous vinrent à l'abordage nous fumes obligés d'abandon-
ner nos chaloupes, et nous sauver du côté où l'ennemi
avoit le moins des forces: une demi-heure après notre
armée nous joignit, et chassa l'ennemi; nous reprimes
nos chaloupes, et la victoire fut à nous.
De là nous allames près du Caire, où nous avons eu
une bataille très-sanglante, dans laquelle les Mame-
louks ont perdu trois mille hommes, et nous n'avons pas
perdu cinquante hommes, ce qu'il ne vous sera pas
aisé à croire. Autre chose de nouveau, nous sommes
maîtres de toute la basse Egypte. On prétend que sous
peu de jours nous retournerons en France.
Adieu, chère mère, grande mère, sœurs et beaux
frères; je finis en vous embrassant tous du profond de
mon cœur.
1
DUMAS.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
155
TRANSLATION.
Cairo, the Capital of Egypt, in Africa,
(29 Thermidor), August 16th.
DUMAS, Brigadier of the Company No. 1, to the female
Citizen DUMAS.
Dear Mother,
THIS comes to inform you of the state of my situa-
tion, which is far from being of the best.-We are
in a country extremely hot, where we find no wine,
and what is more, no bread (if we had not built ovens
* We should apologize for troubling the reader with the cor-
respondence of Brigadier Dumas, were it not that his letter,
absurd as it is in other respects, gives the fullest account of the
defeat of the French flotilla on the Nile, which has yet come to
our hands. There is no doubt of the fact, for Dumas could
have no temptation, even though he might have the ability
(which, poor man! was far from being the case), to describe a
defeat that never happened; and, besides, as we have already
remarked, it is the only possible way of accounting for the loss
of the officers' baggage.
There is yet another circumstance in this letter worth mention-
ing; and that is, the report spread in the army of a speedy return
to France. Since it had reached Dumas it must have been very
general, for we do not give him credit for much active inquiry;
and, in this case, it strikes us as a matter of singular importance.
Unlike Italy in every respect, Egypt presented no temptations.
to the cupidity and licentiousness of the troops, and the idea of a
longer residence in it was therefore become intolerable to them.
To allay this impatience, the General seems to have thrown out
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COPIES OF
for ourselves), except a wretched kind of flat cake,
which we cannot eat; and on which the natives of the
country subsist.
must inform you, that it is full seventeen years since
any rain fell in this country. Egypt would be quite
uninhabitable, if it were not for the Nile, which is the
name of the river that overflows annually, and waters
all this immense country. The plague is very common
here; the people are barbarians: their God is Maho-
met-they know no others!!! In this city there are
sixty thousand Christians: the whole of its inhabitants
are reckoned at a million; they are very tranquil, and
appear mighty fond of the French.
We marched five days without meeting the enemy.
When we reached the Nile, we found an armed flotilla
which had been detached from our squadron; and on
which a great number of dismounted cavalry (of which
I was one), immediately embarked: this was on the
12th of July. General Bonaparte ordered the com-
mander to move forward, so as to precede the army;
which we did.
The 13th, at five in the morning, we perceived the
enemy, to the number of ten thousand, all mounted;
marching along the left bank of the Nile, and supported
by five gun-boats, which followed their movements.
At six the action began. After a contest of four hours,
the five gun-boats, which had kept up a terrible fire on
1
a hope of their leaving the country;-an expedient which, with
all due deference to his judgment, we conceive to be as dan-
gerous as it was wicked: for as it neither could, nor was ever
meant to be realized, it must, in the event, have exasperated the
feeling it was intended to remove.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
57
our flotilla, boarded us. We were obliged to abandon
our vessels, and flee to that part of the bank where the
enemy had the fewest troops. About half an hour after,
our land forces came up, and drove them back. We
then recovered our vessels, and victory declared in our
favour!!!
From thence we marched to the neighbourhood of
Cairo, where we had a very bloody battle, in which the
Mameloucs lost three thousand men, and we did not lose
fifty-a thing which it will be rather difficult for you to
believe! Another extraordinary circumstance! we are
masters of all Lower Egypt. IT IS STRONGLY RE-
PORTED THAT WE SHALL RETURN TO FRANCE IN
A FEW DAYS.
Adieu, dear mother, grandmother, sisters, and bro-
ther-in-law. I conclude with embracing you all with
the utmost tenderness.
DUMAS.
To this letter is subjoined a short note to a Mons. Sarrauson,
whom Dumas terms his honoured Concitoyen. The note itself is
nothing; but it concludes with a trait of minute politeness well
worth preserving. Dumas had begun on what we should call
the wrong side of the paper, and—but take it in his own words,
"Excusez, si j'ai mal tourné la feuille, un peu de distraction en
est la cause!"
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COPIES OF
No. XIX.
Au Caire, le 30 Thermidor, an &.
DEZIRAD, Maréchal de Logis au 18 Regiment de Dra-
gons, à la Citoyenne ADELINE, à Marseille.
JE
Ma chère Amie,
E profite de la commodité du Citoyen Veyssiere, Chef
d'Escadron de notre régiment, qui part aujourd'hui pour
France, pour te donner de mes nouvelles, et en même
tems pour te renouveller de nouveau le serment, que je
t'ai si souvent fait de t'aimer jusqu'à la mort. Oui, je
te le repète encore, et il n'y a pas un moment depuis
notre malheureuse séparation, que tu ne sois présente à
mes yeux, et que je n'accable de baisers ton cher por-
trait. Qui, chere Adeline, si tu m'aime comme tu me
l'as toujours témoignée, je te jure que nous finirons
ensemble nos jours. Helas! quand arrivera-t-il, l'heu-
reux moment d'une réunion si desirée ?
Depuis que nous sommes en Egypte, l'armée ne
cesse de souffrir. Les grandes fatigues que nous avons
éprouvés dans le Désert, la grande chaleur du soleil qui
faisoit sortir le feu de la terre, dépourvus absolument
de vivres, obligés de marcher continuellement, tout cela
est cause qu'il est mort beaucoup de volontaires qui
tomboient de foiblesse roides sur la poussiére.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
159
}
Nous avons eu plusieurs fortes batailles avec les Ma-
melouks, qui ont toujours été battus. Je te dirai qu' à
la dernière affaire j'ai eu mon cheval blessé.
Je te prie de dire mille choses honnêtes à Doux.
Dis-lui qu'il n'ait jamais la foiblesse de s'embarquer
pur venir dans ce maudit pays. Tu lui diras que
j'envie beaucoup son sort.
Je finis, ma douce amie, en t'embrassant mille fois,
et crois moi pour la vie,
Ton fidel ami.
DEZIRAD.
TRANSLATION.
Cairo, August 17th.
DEZIRAD, Quarter Master to the 18th Regiment of
Dragoons, to the female Citizen ADELINE, at Mar-
seilles.
My dear Love,
I AVAIL myself of the departure of Citizen Veyssiere,
Commodore, of our regiment, who quits us this morn-
ing for France, to send you a letter, and at the same
time to renew the vow which I have so often made, of
loving you to the last moment of my life. Yes, I re-
peat it once more-there has not been an instant since
our unhappy separation, that you have not been present
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to my view, and that I have not covered your dear por-
trai: with Fisses. Yes, Adeline! if you love me, as you
have always sworn you did, we will finish our days
together. Alas! when will the happy moment arrive
of a reunion so desired?
Since we have been in Egypt we have done nothing
but suffer. The immense fatigues which we expe-
rienced in the Desert, the prodigious heat of the sun,
which sets the very ground on fire, the absolute want of
food, and the necessity of continual marching, have
carried off a vast number of volunteers, who dropt
down dead at our feet from mere exhaustion.
We have had several severe contests with the Mame-
loucs; whom we have always defeated. In our last
affair, I had my horse wounded.
Say a thousand things for me to Doux: tell him
never to have the weakness to take shipping for this
infernal country; and add, that I envy his good fortune
exceedingly.
I conclude, my love, with embracing you a thousand
times. Believe me,
Ever faithfully your's.
DEZIRAD.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
161
No. XX.
Au Caire, le 1e Fructidor, an 6.
C. FABREGUE, au Citoyen Fabregue, Aide-Commissaire,
·
à bord de la Frégate la Mantoue, à Alexandrie.
Je saisis l'occasion qui se présente pour te donner, mon
E
cher frère, de mes nouvelles. J'aurois cru en reçevoir
des tiennes depuis long tems, mais j'en ai attendu vaine-
ment jusqu'à ce jour. Je souhaite que ta santé soit
dans un parfait état; jusqu'à présent je ne puis me
plaindre de la mienne, malgré les privations de toute
espèce et les fatigues continuelles que nous éprouvons
dans le Nil, où nous sommes malgré cela obligés de nous
battre contre les Bédouins et les Aràbes des rives du
Nil, que nous sommes dans le cas de parcourir avec nos.
avisos. Je ne me serais jamais attendu à faire une navi-
gation aussi pénible avec nos petits bâtiments; quelqu'
idée qu'on s'en fasse on n'approchera jamais de la
vérité; mais puisque nous ne pouvons rien changer à
notre destination, je dis Vogue la galère, et je nage.
Je viens d'écrire à mon épouse; j'espère que tu ne
négligeras pas d'en faire autant, pour la rassurer sur ce
qu'elle pourroit craindre de la suite du combat de
notre escadre, lorsque cette nouvelle sera parvenue à
Toulon.
PART II.
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Vous êtes, sans doute, mieux à même de savoir les
détails de cette affaire, et puisqu'il y a une poste établie
d'Alexandrie au Caire, je te prie, en me donnant de tes
nouvelles, de nous instruire, l'ami Fouque ou moi, de
ce qu'il en a été, et de notre position actuelle.
Les Mamelouks ont absolument fui loin de leur
domaine; ils sont partie dans les Déserts et partie dans
le Sahir, et ne peuvent pas, je crois, retourner sur leurs
pas de sitôt. Nous avons cependant à réduire encore
les Arabes Bédouins qui, se joignant aux habitants des
villages du Nil, nous obligent, de tems en tems à nous
battre; mais l'avantage est toujours pour nous, et nous
serons, autant qu'il sera possible, tranquilles sur leur
révolte, par les mesures que l'on va employer contre
eux.
L'ami Fouque et moi te prions de dire bien des choses
aux amis Ferrat, Morel, St. André, &c. de vctre bord.
Je finis par t'engager à me donner plus souvent de
tes nouvelles, et de te rappeller que nous sommes ici
comme en exil, pour nos pêchés sans doute; mais
patience; lorsqu'ils seront expiés, nous irons en
Paradis, et ce lieu pour moi n'est autre que ma bastide
de Toulon, ma femme, mes enfans, et toi que j'aimerai
toujours. Adieu; je t'embrasse et suis pour la vie,
Ton tendre frère,
C. FABREGUE.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
163
TRANSLATION.
Cairo (1st Fructidor), August 18th.
To Citizen FABREGUE, Extra-Commissary, on board the
Frigate la Mantoue, at Alexandria.
I EN
EMBRACE, my dear brother, the present opportunity
of writing to you. I have been in expectation of hear-
ing from you a long time, but have been hitherto dis-
appointed. I hope your health continues good; I have
yet had no reason to complain of mine, notwithstanding
the privations of every kind, and the continual fatigues
which we experience on the Nile, where we are ob-
liged, in spite of our exhausted condition, to contend
with the Bedouins and Arabs along the banks of the
river, as often as we have occasion to pass up or down
in our advice-boats.
I never expected to engage in so toilsome and danger-
ous a navigation, with such vessels as ours. Whatever
ideas you may form of it, you will never approach the
reality;—but as reflection will not change my destiny,
I can only say, Vogue la galère, et je nage,-Push for-
ward! luck is every thing.
I have just written to my wife; I hope you will not
forget to do the same, to remove her apprehensions
respecting the consequences of the defeat of our fleet,
when the news reaches Toulon.
You are, doubtless, more likely than we are to be
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acquainted with the particulars of that affair: and since
*
there is now a regular post established between Alex-
andria and Cairo, I beg that, when you write next to
our friend Fouque, or me, you will inform us how it
actually was, and what is the true nature of our pre-
sent situation.
The Mameloucs have absolutely fled far from their
domains:-they are partly in the Deserts, and partly in
the Said; and will not, I imagine, be in any great hurry
to return. We have still, however, to reduce the
Bedouin Arabs, who join themselves to the people of
the country, and compel us from time to time to come
to action. The advantage, it must be confessed, is
always on our side; and the measures we are now
taking will secure us, as far as it is possible, from their
revolt.
Fouque and I beg you to remember us to our friends,
Ferret, Morel, St. Andrée, &c. on board your vessel.
I conclude, by intreating you to write to me more fre-
* Fabregue's notion of the establishment of a “regular post,”
is rather singular. It appears from his own letter, that the advice-
boats were constantly attacked by the natives in their passage to
Rosetta; and we know, from equally good authority, that from
thence to Alexandria, they are exposed to still greater dangers,-
to the bore at the mouth of the Nile, and to our cruizers, which
it is almost impossible they should escape. Of this, amongst a
thousand instances, the fate of the letter before us is a convincing
proof.
The request to be informed of the real state of the action of
the 1st of August, is natural enough; for it appears from Bona-
parte's address to the army, which has been given in all our
papers, that though he did not expressly say that the English had
gained the day, he insinuated pretty broadly that the French had
not lost it.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
165
quently than you have hitherto done; and to call to
mind, that we are here, as it were, in exile,-for our
sins undoubtedly. But patience! when they are expi-
ated, we shall enter into Paradise; and Paradise, for
me, is neither more nor less than my country house *
at Toulon, my wife, my children, and yourself, whom
I shall always love.
Adieu; I embrace you, and am ever your affection-
ate brother,
C. FABREGUE.
* Bastide in the original; which is the name given to those
little seats which abound so much in the south of France, parti-
cularly in the neighbourhood of Marseilles, Toulon, &c,
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COPIES OF
No. XXI.
Au Quartier Général du Caire,
le 1 Fructidor, an 6.
BONAPARTE, Général en Chef, au Contre-amiral V1L-
LENEUVE, à bord du Guillaume Tell, à Malte.
J'AI reçu, Citoyen Général, la lettre que vous m'avez
écrite en mer à dix lieues du cap de Celidonia. Si l'on
pouvoit vous faire reproche, ce seroit de ne pas avoir
mis à la voile immédiatement après que l'Orient eût
sauté, puisque depuis trois heures la position que
l'Amiral avoit prise, avoit été forcée et entourée de
tous côtés par l'ennemi.
Vous avez rendu dans cette circonstance, comme dans
tant d'autres, un service essentiel à la République, en
sauvant une partie de l'escadre. Les Contre-amiraux
Gantheaume, Ducheyla sont à Alexandrie, ainsi que
tous les matelots, canoniers, soldats de l'escadre, soit
blessés soit bien portant, tous les prisonniers ayant été
rendus.
Les deux vaisseaux le Causse, et le Dubois, sont
armés ainsi que les frégates la Junon, l'Alceste, la
Minion, la Carrere, et les auires frégates Venitiennes.
Vous trouverez à Malte deux vaisseaux et une frégate.
Vous y attendrez l'arrivée des trois vaisseaux de guerre
Venitiens et de deux frégates qui doivent venir de
ORIGINAL LETTERS."
167
Toulon. Vous ferez vos efforts et tout ce que vous
croirez nécessaire pour nous les faire passer.
Mon projet est de réunir les trois vaisseaux que nous
avons à Ancone, celui que nous avons à Corfou, et les
deux que nous avons à Alexandrie, dans le port d'Alex-
andrie, afin de pouvoir contenir à tout événement l'es-
cadre Turque, et de tâcher ensuite à nous joindre avec
les sept vaisseaux que vous vous trouverez avoir alors
sous vos ordres, dont la principale destination dans ce
moment ci est de favoriser le passage des convois qui
nous arriveront de France.
Je donne ordre au Général Vaubois de vous fournir
cent François par vaisseau de guerre de plus, afin de
pouvoir avec ce renfort mieux contenir votre équipage
que vous completterez de tous les matelots Maltais que
vous trouverez.
Je vous salue et vous complimente.
BONAPARTE.
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Cairo (1st Fructidor), August 18th.
BONAPARTE, Commander in Chief, to Rear Admiral
VILLENEUVE, on board the Guillaume Tell, at
Malta.*
I
HAVE received, Citizen General, the letter which
you wrote me at sea, ten leagues from Cape Celidonia.
* On the cover of this, and the two following letters, was
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If it were possible to find fault with you, it must be
for not having put to sea immediately after the blowing
up of the L'Orient; since the position which the Ad-
miral had taken, had then been forced, and completely
surrounded for more than three hours by the enemy.
You have rendered in this circumstance, as well as in
many others, an essential service to the Republic, by
preserving a part of the fleet. The Rear Admirals,
Gantheaume and Ducheyla, as well as all the sailors and
soldiers of the fleet, whether wounded or not, are at
Alexandria; all our prisoners having been restored.
The two ships of the line, Le Causse, and Le Du-
bois, are manned and armed, as are the frigates, the
Junon, the Alceste, the Minion, the Carrere, and all
the other Venetian frigates. You will find at Malta
two sail of the line, and a frigate; and you will wait
the arrival of three Venetian sail of the line, and two
frigates, which are coming from Toulon. You will
make every effort, and do whatever you think necessary
to bring us the whole.
My plan is to unite the three vessels which we have at
.Ancona, and that at Corfou, with the two we have in
the port of Alexandria, that we may be enabled, at
written, " Pacquet contenant les dépêches du Général en Chef, pour
"Malte, à etre jetté à la mer en cas de rencontre de l'ennemi." Packet,
containing the dispatches of the Commander in Chief, for Malta, to be
thrown into the sea in case of falling in with the enemy.
It is needless to add that the activity of our seamen baffled the
General's precautions.
*The first thought that occurred to us on reading this most
important letter was, that Bonaparte, in the plenitude of his oc-
cupations, hal totally forgot there was such a people as the
English in the world. He arranges, we see, the departure and
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
169
all events, to keep the Turkish squadron in check;
and then, to make an attempt to form a junction with
the seven vessels which you will by this time have under
you; and of which the chief concern at present, is to
favour the passage of the packets, &c. which will be
dispatched to us from France.
I send an order to General Vaubois to supply you
with a hundred additional French troops for each ship
of war: this re-inforcement will fully enable you to
keep your crews in order; * these you will raise to their
arrival of his marine forces, with as much facility as if there
were no obstacles to their movements. He condescends, indeed,
to mention the Turkish squadron, which, at the time he wrote,
was not at sea, but of the English squadron, which had just
destroyed his own, which held him closely blocked up, and
which rode in undisputed sovereignty from one end of the Me-
diterranean to the other, he takes not the slightest notice.
When we found in the letters of Le Pere, and others, a hope
expressed that the English would return to Gibraltar, &c. we
passed it over as one of those involuntary reveries in which the
mind sometimes indulges, in spite of better knowledge. But
now that we see the "Commander of the army of the East,"
not only take up the same absurd idea, but act upon it, as if it
were a reality, we confess that we want language to express our
astonishment.
We have frequently heard, and from very respectable autho-
rities, that the merit of Bonaparte's Italian campaigns (such as it
is) should be attributed to Berthier. A few such letters as this
before us, would put the matter out of all doubt, for it is scarcely
possible that a man so totally devoid of consideration, as he here
appears, should ever be fit for any thing but a partizan; for a
desperate conductor of a desultory war, for an active and intrepid
leader of a horde of Cossacks !
* This looks as if there had been some mutiny on board the
Guillaume Tell, subsequent to the engagement. We believe
there was once a design of surrendering the ship to Lord Nelson,
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COPIES OF
full complement, by taking all the Maltese sailors you
can find.
I salute you, and send you my compliments.
BONAPARTE.
whether on the part of the officers, or crew, is uncertain ;—this,
however, we can say, that in either case it was not prevented by
Villeneuve, who is totally unworthy of the praises lavished on
him by Bonaparte.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
171
No. XXII.
Au Quartier Général du Caire, le 4 Fructidor, an 6.
BONAPARTE, Général en Chef, au Citoyen MENARD,
Commissaire Ordonnateur de la Marine, à Malte.
E
Je vois avec plaisir, Citoyen Commissaire, par votre
lettre du 15 Thermidor, que le Dego et la Carthaginoise
sont prêts à partir. A l'heure qu'il est le Contre-amiral
Villeneuve aura mouillé avec son escadre dans le port
de Malte. J'espère aussi que vous travaillerez avec la
plus grande activité à l'armement du troisième vaisseau,
et qu'avant un mois il pourra augmenter l'escadre de
l'Amiral Villeneuve. Je vous prie de mettre dans cette
circonstance plus de zèle et d'activité que dans toute
autre.
J'ai écrit en France pour qu'on vous fit passer cent
mille francs, et j'écris au Général Vaubois pour qu'il
vous aide de tous ses moyens. J'espère que vous serez
bientôt joint par le reste de vos vaisseaux qui sont à
Toulon.
Faites nous parvenir par toutes les occasions des
nouvelles de France. Les petits bateaux qui longent
la côte d'Affrique doivent pouvoir arriver sans difficulté.
Je vous salue,
BONAPARTE.
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COPIES OF
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Cairo (4 Fructidor), August 21.
BONAPARTE, Commander in Chief, to Citizen MENARD,
Commissary of the Marine, at Malta.
I
SEE with pleasure, Citizen Commissary, by your
letter of the 2d instant, that the Dego,* and the Cartha-
ginoise, are ready for sea. By this time, Rear Ad-
miral Villeneuve will have anchored with his squadron
in the port of Malta. I flatter myself too, that you
will apply yourself to the equipment of the third vessel,
and that before the expiration of a month, it will be in
a condition to augment the squadron of Admiral Ville-
I intreat you to use more zeal and alacrity
in this instance, than in any other.
neuve.
I have written to France for an hundred thousand
livres for you; and I am now writing to General
Vaubois to exhort him to assist you with every thing
in his power. I hope that you will soon be re-inforced
by the ships at Toulon.
* Two sixty-fours, belonging to the Maltese, which the
French, as Rear Admiral Perrée says, have confiscated to the
profit of the Great Nation. The latter vessel seems to have re-
tained its original name, but the former, we see, has been nick-
named by the modest "hero of Italy," after one of his early
victories.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
173
Let slip no opportunity of sending us news from
France. The small vessels which ply along the coast
of Africa might reach us, I should think, without dif-
ficulty.
I salute you,
BONAPARTE.
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COPIES OF
No. XXIII.
Au Quartier Général du Caire, le 4 Fructidor, an 6.
BONAPARTE, Général en Chef, au Général Divisionnaire
VAUBOIS, à Malte.
Il est indispensable, Citoyen Général, que vous four-
nissiez à l'Amiral Villeneuve tout ce qui lui sera néces-
saire, soit en approvisionement, soit en garnison, soit
en matelots, pour mettre en état les deux vaisseaux et
deux frégates qu'il a avec lui.
Les communications sont extrémement difficiles; je
n'ai point reçu de lettres de vous, mais je compte assez
sur votre zèle pour douter que la place de Malte ne se
trouve dans le meilleur état, et que vous n'employerez
tous vos moyens à nous captiver le peuple, et à nous
faire parvenir toutes les nouvelles qui pourroient vous
arriver de France.
BONAPARTE.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
175
TRANSLATION.
Head Quarters, Cairo (4th Fructidor), August 21.
BONAPARTE, Commander in Chief, to the General of
Division, VAUBOIS, at Malta.
THERE is an absolute necessity, Citizen General, for
your supplying Admiral Villeneuve with every thing
necessary (whether provisions, troops, or seamen), to
enable him to fit out the two sail of the line, and the two
frigates which he has with him.
Our communications are extremely difficult. I have
received no letters from you. I have too much confi-
dence in your zeal, however, to doubt for a moment
that the fortifications of Malta are in the best condition,
or that you will not make use of all the means in your
power to attach the people * to us, and to expedite all
the intelligence which may reach you from France.
BONAPARTE.
* In the original, captiver le peuple. Sweet, says the poet, are
the uses of adversity! the insatiate spoiler who spared nothing,
human or divine, at Malta; who stripped the poor of every re-
source, plundered the granaries, emptied the magazines, seized
the public treasures, may, the public curiosities,
Pocula adorandæ rubiginis, et populorum
Dona, vel antiquo positas a Rege coronas-
Who stripped the churches of their ornaments, the houses of
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COPIES OF
individuals of their little plate, and who carried the wantonness
of insult and outrage so far as to steal the archives of the island ;
(useless to him in every respect) the insatiate spoiler, we say,
since his reverse of fortune, is become tender and humane. His
thoughts turn to the people whom he injured in the full tide of
prosperity, and, trembling for the consequences of his perfidy
and his guilt, he writes a whining admonition to his officers to
"attach them to him by every means in their power!"
}
Hypocrite! what MEANS OF ATTACHMENT did you leave to
the troops, whom your avarice exposed to the just vengeance of
an injured nation? every thing which the Maltese regarded with
reverence or love, you took with you, or sent to France; nay,
such was your unbounded rapacity, that of the treasure you
found in the Church of St. John, you did not leave Vaubois a
single day's pay for the garrison, who, to this hour, have had
no other resource than public and private plunder!
ATTACH THE PEOPLE!-No, the people are not stocks and
stones; they will not always be robbed with impunity; nor will
they, unless by compulsion, kiss the hands yet reeking with the
blood of their wives and children:-ATTACH THEM!-No, your
repentance and your insidious kindness come too late. Before
your fleet had well lost sight of the coast, THE PEOPLE, stung
to madness by their wrongs, rose up as one man, cut off hundreds
of their oppressors, and are at this moment waging fierce and
inexorable war against those who, protected by numerous for-
tresses, have hitherto found means to retard the sure approaches
of captivity or death!
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
177
No. XXIV.
1
Alexandrie, ce 12 Fructidor, an 6.
A la Citoyenne DESCORCHES, Rue d'Anjou, No. 929,
Fauxbourg Honoré, à Paris.
ENCORE une; peut-être serez-vous plus heureuse que
moi, bien aimée, vous en recevez quelqu'unes probable-
ment, mais nous aucune. Celle que je vous ai écrite
de Malthe a été prise sur la Sensible; mais à notre ar-
rivée ici j'en ai écrit une qui a dû vous parvenir; une
par
le vaisseau le Guillaume Tell, après notre défaite,
et une par les vaisseaux Anglois.
Voilà les seules occasions que nous avons eues jusqu'à
présent. Celle-ci est aventurée, car le port d'Alexan-
drie est bloqué par trois vaisseaux et trois frégates, qui
sont, le Zélé de 74, commandant; le Goliath de 78
canons; Schwirt-sure de 74; l'Alchmene frégate, et
l'Emeraude frégate; la Bonne Citoyenne, id. Devant
Damiette il y a également un vaisseau, dont je ne me
rappelle pas le nom, et outre cela deux frégates, la For-
tune chébeck, qu'ils nous ont pris, et deux avisos, la
Torride, et le Léger. Ce dernier venoit de France
quand il a été pris, jugez du déplaisir. Toutes nos
lettres ont été la capture de l'ennemi, excepté les dé-
pêches du gouvernement, qui ont été jettées à la mer.
Parmi les lettres on a trouvé un portrait, qu'apparem-
ment quelque belle envoyoit à son cher ami; elles n'ont
PART II.
N
178
COPIES OF
pas de quoi se chagriner, car voudroit-on leur être in-
fidele, cela est impossible; il n'y a pas une femme ici
qui vaille la moindre de notre cher pays; elles sont
rares, quelques Européenes voilà tout. Pour les femmes
pays, les belles ne se montrent pas apparemment.
Celles que l'on voit font trembler.
du
Tous ceux qui viennent de l'intérieur disent qu'Alex-
andrie est la plus belle ville; hélas, que doit donc être
le reste figurez-vous un amas confus de maisons mal-
bâties, à un étage; les belles avec terrasse, petite porte
en bois, serrure id.; point de fenêtres, mais un grillage
en bois si rapproché qu'il est impossible de voir quelqu'
un au travers; rues étroites, hormis le quartier des Francs,
et le côté des grands. Les habitants pauvres, qui forment
le plus grand nombre, au naturel, hormis une chemise
bleue jusqu'à mi-cuisse, qu'ils retroussent la moitié du
tems dans leurs mouvemens, une ceinture, et un turban
de guenille; voilà leur appanage. J'espère que nous
irons au Caire, nous verrons s'ils sont comme ceux-ci,
alors j'aurai de ce charmant pays jusque par-dessus la
tête. Je m'enrage d'y être, ainsi que le cher
Nous désirons fortement et bien vivement retourner;
mais puisque nous y sommes tant vaut-il le voir. Les
restes de cette fameuse Alexandrie ne sont pas beaux;
nous verrons si Memphis a eu le même sort. La mau-
dite Egypte; sable partout! le limon que le Nil laisse
sur la terre en fait la richesse. Un homme qui a dans
le Désert un pays, peut cultiver autant de sable que son
pays fournit d'eau pour arroser tous les jours.
Mon courage est soutenu par l'espoir d'un prompt
retour.
- il se pourroit bien
qu'on l'envoyât, je vole dans vos bras, de là à mon ·
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
179
département, je voudrois m'y trouver cet hyver; le
tems passe malheureusement trop vite. Il se pourroit
bien que l'on fit quelque tentative, je serois faché de
ne pas m'y trouver.
Nous ferons peut-être voir que nos Bretons et Nor-
mands valent mieux que les Provençaux; cette mal-
heureuse défaite vient beaucoup de leur mauvaise conduite.
Tous les chefs venus de Brest, excepté un, ont été tués ou
dangereusement blessés. Je vois avec peine que l'Amiral
sera la bête de somme, il ne peut se défendre, chacun
le charge; il a peut-être des torts, mais pas tous ceux
qu'on lui donne et qu'on lui donnera. Gantheaume, son
chef de l'état major, fait Contre-amiral par le Général
en Chef, prendra, à ce qu'il paroit, à son retour du Caire,
le commandement des misérables forces qui sont ici.
Nous le désirons, et attendons avec impatience son ar-
rivée ;
cela soulagera, et nous verrons alors quelle
bordée nous devrons prendre, car faire un plan est une
chose impossible dans les circonstances; il faut que
nous allion's au Caire pour bien juger où nous ferons
voile selon les circonstances.
Que de gens attrapés, chère amie, tous ces faiseurs
de fortune, ou bien tous ces voleurs, ont le nez bas, et
voudroient retourner d'où ils sont partis, je crois. Je vois
avec beaucoup de plaisir que la plus grande partie aura
plutôt perdu que gagné; il y en aura quelqu'uns qui
feront de bonnes affaires, mais ce sera la minorité, et ils
auront bien sué. Les Arabes du Désert en ont expédié
plusieurs pour l'autre monde : ils harcelent tellement
les villes et villages, qu'à deux cents pas hors l'enceinte
on court de grands dangers: plusieurs personnes ont
été tuées de cette manière.
Murat Bey s'est retiré dans la Haute Egypte, où on
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COPIES OF
le poursuit sans succès. Ibrahim Bey en Syrie, on l'a
poursuivi inutilement; on a néanmoins atteint son ar
rière-garde, qui s'est supérieurement battue, et qui ne
s'est pas laissé entamer, de sorte qu'on l'a laissé con-
tinuer tranquillement sa route. Les richesses ont été
presque toutes enlevées; ce que l'on a eu a été très-
peu de choses. Je crains que l'on ne manque d'argent;
on en manquera certainement, si l'on veut exécuter de
beaux projets qui seroient bien utiles, qui coûteroient
immensement. Les gens du pays sont pauvres, il n'y a
pas de ressource de ce côté-là; il n'est resté aucun
Mamelouk; leur bravoure est étonnante. Tous bien
armés, intrépides à l'excès, ils sont venus se faire tuer
dans les rangs; aucuns ne se sont rendus.
Voilà tout ce que je puis vous dire pour le moment.´
Je ne vous parle que d'affaires, mais dans celle qui par-
tira en même tems par un autre bâtiment, qui sera plus
sure selon ma manière de voir, mon cœur s'ouvrira à
cette chère et bien aimée amie.
AVRIEURY,
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria (12 Fructidor), August 29th.
To the female Citizen DESCORCHES, Rue d'Anjou, N..
929, Fauxbourg Honoré, à Paris.
YET another letter. You may probably, my love, be more
happy than me; some of my letters may chance to reach
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
181
you; but I receive none of yours; that which I wrote
from Malta was taken in the Sensible; but on our ar-
rival here I wrote you one, which I think must have
come to hand. I sent you one, too, by the Guillaume
Tell, after our defeat, and another by the English fleet.
These are all the opportunities I have had; the present
letter is hazarded, for the port of Alexandria is blocked
up by three sail of the line, and three frigates: the
Zealous, the flag-ship; the Goliah, and the Swiftsure;
the Alcmena, the Emerald, and the Bonne Citoyenne.
Another ship of the line, whose name I do not recollect,
is cruizing before Damietta, with two frigates, the cor-
vette La Fortune, which they took from us, and two ad-
vice boats, La Torride and Le Leger. This last was
coming from France when it was taken; judge then,
how wretched it made us; all our letters fell into the
hands of the enemy, the official ones excepted,* which
were thrown over-board.
Amongst the letters, the English found a miniature,
which some fair one had apparently sent to her lover.
The ladies need not be much alarmed, for their swains
have not the power, if they had the will, to be unfaith-
* There was luckily no "exception," as the reader will see
by the following extract from Captain Hope's Letter to the Ad-
miralty.
"Though every preparation was made for boarding the Leger,
to save any dispatches she might have for Bonaparte, we could
not prevent their being thrown overboard; which was, however,
perceived by John Taylor, and James Harding, belonging to the
Alcmene, who, at the risk of their lives, dashed overboard, and
saved the whole of them.” Gazette, Sept. 30th, 1798.
It is pleasant to add, that these intrepid men have been grate-
fully remembered by their country.
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ful. We have a few, and but a few, European women
here; but the best of them are inferior in attractions to
the veriest dowdies of our dear native land. As for those
of the country, the handsome ones I fancy, keep them-
selves concealed; for those that we see absolutely
frighten us.*
་
Every person that comes from the interior of the
country tells us that Alexandria is the finest city in
Egypt. Good gods! what must the rest be then?
figure to yourself a confused mass of ill built houses of
one story, the best of them with a terrace; a little door
with a wooden lock, no windows but a lattice of wood,
of which the bars are so close that it is almost impos-
sible to distinguish any object through them; and little
narrow streets, except what they call "the Quarter of
the Francs," and the "Residence of the Grandees." The
poor inhabitants, infinitely the greater number, in a
state of nature, with the exception of a blue shirt, which
reaches half way down their thighs, and which is
tucked up more than half their time, a girdle, and a
turban dropping to rags. This is their whole ward-
robe !
I hope we shall soon go to Cairo; we shall then see
if the people of that city are like these; if so, I shall
have had my belly-full of this blessed country. I could
tear myself to pieces for coming here; so could my
dear friend ***.
We wish vehemently-ay, and very vehemently to
* Another letter says, "I never saw any thing so disgusting
as their women. A traveller called Savary" (this is a most
scurvy designation of the man on whose accuracy all France re-
lied) has had, I scarce know how, the stupidity (niaiserie) to
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
183
•
return to France; but since we are here it is as well to
see as much as we can. *The remains of this famous
Alexandria are poor enough; we shall see if Memphis
has any thing better to shew. This infernal Egypt!
nothing but a waste of sand. The mud which the Nile
leaves upon the ground constitutes all its wealth. A
man who has a tract of land in the Desert, may culti-
vate as much sand as he can find constant water for.
My courage is sustained by the hope of a speedy return.
t it may still be sent in that case I
shall fly to your arms, and from thence to my depart-
ment. I am anxious to be there this winter; time passes
away unhappily, too rapidly. It is not unlikely but that
some attempt may be made, and I should be sorry not
to be on the spot.
We shall perhaps, shew the world that the Bretons
compare these filthy objects to the Princess Nausicaa! I could
forgive him if his design was merely to laugh at the princess; but
he is quite serious."
* Avrieury seems to have thought of the old adage, tantum
valet quantum sonat; or perhaps he never thought at all of the
matter. His journey to Memphis was probably postponed. He
may therefore comfort himself (supposing these remarks should
ever fall in his way) by hearing that he has lost nothing by the
delay; for we can confidently assure him that Memphis has even
less "to shew" than Alexandria. Etiam periere ruinæ ; its very
ruins have disappeared.
† Here are two lines obliterated by a fold; it is impossible to
restore them, but their purport may be guessed at from what
follows. Avrieury, it should seem, flattered himself that if a
certain expedition took place, he should be recalled to engage in
it. The allusion is evidently to the projected invasion of Ireland.
One would think the Citizen had almost had enough of INVA-
SIONS. It appears from his own account, that the one he is at
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}
and Normands are rather superior to the Provencials.
This unfortunate defeat arises in a great measure, from
their bad conduct.* All the officers who came from
Brest, one only excepted, are either killed or dangerous-
ly wounded. I see with pain that the Admiral will be
made the pack-horse. He cannot help himself, and
therefore every body is loading him. He may have com-
mitted errors, but certainly not all that are charged, and
that will continue to be charged, upon him. Gan-
theaume, his chicf of the staff, who was made a Rear
Admiral by the Commander in Chief, will assume, as it
seems, on his return from Cairo, the command of the
miserable force we have here. We are all desirous of
it, and anxiously expect his arrival; this will console
us a little, and we shall then see what steps to take next;
for to form any plan here, in our present circumstances,
is impossible. Our destination must be ultimately di-
rected by the situation of affairs at Cairo.
What a number of people have been taken in, my
dear girl! All those sudden acquirers of fortunes, or
1
present engaged in, is not very consoling to his feelings; and we
can take upon us to assure him, that he would have found the
other productive of no extraordinary amusement. Alexandria,
we allow, has little to gratify his curiosity, but Mill-prison has
still less; as the envied partakers of the expedition in question
may one day let him know.
*There is something extremely unjust (but when was a
Frenchman just to the unfortunate ?) in attributing the defeat of
the 1st of August to the Provencials. They fought at least as
well as the Bretons and Normands, who if we may judge from the
fate of the Brest squadron on the coast of Ireland (which we
suppose was manned with them), have very little reason, what-
ever Avrieury may fancy, to boast of their superiority either of
conduct or courage.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
185
rather all those robbers, are pitifully down in the
mouth, and would, I believe, be very happy to return
from whence they came. It gives me a deal of pleasure
to see, that the majority of them will rather have lost
than gained by their speculations. Some, indeed, have
* As all the expeditions of France have been undertaken
with a view to plunder, their armies have been constantly fol-
lowed by large bodies of people of this description, prepared to
treat for such STOLEN GOODS as were of too unwieldy a nature
to be put up with the baggage.
Bonaparte never moved without a legion of these convenient
RECEIVERS in his train, who were always ready to purchase, at a
low rate, whatever he and his harpies could seize in the houses
of individuals, from the cottager to the prince, It is perhaps no
exaggeration to say, that this Chief of Brokers has sold, for his
own share, more furniture, plate, wine, pictures, busts, &c.
&c. than half the auctioneers in Europe.
Notwithstanding the swarms of " robbers" which, by Avrieu.
ry's account, followed him into Egypt, we do not find that the
number in Italy was at all lessened. We have before us the
JOURNAL of what took place on the seizure of Rome, written by
a man of integrity and observation, who was himself a witness of
what he relates. From THIS, we borrow the following passage:
“As soon as the Pope was removed, the Vatican and Quirinal
❝ palaces were opened, and an inventory made of every article.
"The company of brokers that followed the army were then per-
"mitted to purchase, upon their own terms, whatever they chose,
" and afterwards the Jews of the Getta were cailed in to take the
"rest.
“These brokers” adds the writer (Mr. Richard Duppa), "were
66 a number of monied men, from France, particularly from Lyons
"and Marseilles, who joined together a considerable capital to-
"wards supporting the army of Italy, when Bonaparte first
"crossed the Alps, with one express condition, of their having
“the refusal of any spoils that might be made, at a certain per
centage, for their own profit, upon a fair valuation, which va
"luation was to be made by themselves!"
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COPIES OF
done tolerably well, but they are very few; and few as
they are, have sweated pretty handsomely for what they
have got. The Arabs of the Desert have sent a good
many of them to the other world, These people infest
the towns and villages in such a manner, that at two
hundred paces from the walls, one is always in the most
imminent danger of being shot. Several of our men
have been destroyed in this way.
Murad Bey is retired into Upper Egypt, where he
has been pursued without success; Ibrahim Bey into
Syria; and he too has been pursued to no purpose.
Our troops, indeed, came up with his rear-guard, which
fought in a most gallant manner: and as we could make
no impression on it with all our efforts, we were ob-
liged to let it proceed tranquilly to its destination. The
rich caravan was almost all secured by Ibrahim; what
we obtained was scarcely worth taking. I am afraid
that we shall want money soon: I am certain we shall,
if we pretend to execute those fine projects, which will
undoubtedly be useful, but which will cost an immense
sum! the people of the country are poor; nothing,
therefore, can be expected from them.-There is not a
single Mameloục in the country. Their bravery is
astonishing: well armed, and intrepid to excess, they
rushed upon our ranks to be butchered. Not one of
them would accept quarter.
This is all that I can say at present. I have talked
to you in this letter only of business; but in another
which I shall send at the same time, by what I con-
ceive to be a safer mode of conveyance, I shall open all
my heart to my dearest and best beloved wife.
AVRIEURY.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
187
No. XXV.
Alexandrie, le 16 Fructidor, an 6.
Le Contre-amiral GANTEAUME, aux Généraux com-
mandants les Forces de Terre et de Mer, à Malte.
Citoyens,
C'EST avec la douleur dans l'âme que je vous préviens
que le 14 du mois dernier, l'armée navale de la Répu-
blique à été attaquée par celle Britannique, aux ordres
du Contre-amiral Nelson. Le combat commencé à
six heures du soir, n'a fini que dans la matinée du 15.
Après une résistance extrêmement opiniâtre, la force
l'a emporté, et notre escadre, inférieure par le nombre
des vaisseaux, la composition, et l'organisation des équi-
pages, a succombé.
Nous avons dans cette fatale affaire eu le malheur de
perdre onze vaisseaux brûlés ou amarinés par l'ennemi.
Presque tous les officiers commandants ont été tués ou
blessés. Depuis cette malheureuse affaire les ennemis.
sont maîtres de nos côtes, et ils interceptent toutes nos
communications, avec une simple division de quatre
vaisseaux et quelques frégates. Le reste de l'armée et
les prises ont fait route pour la Sicile.
3
Notre position intérieure est, cependant, satisfaisante.
Notre armée occupe toute la Basse Egypte. Le Général
en Chef est au Caire. Les Mamelouks ont été battus,
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}
detruits en partie, et dispersés. Un corps sous le com-
mandement d'Ibrahim Bey, s'est refugié en Syrie, et
Murat Bey à monté dans le Said. Le Général Desaix
est à sa poursuite, et personne ne doute qu'au premier
jour nous n'apprenions sa défaite. Maîtres alors de
toute l'Egypte, nous pourrons nous y maintenir, pour
peu que nous recevions des secours pendant l'hyver.
Je vous adresse avec cette lettre les dépêches du
Gouvernement. Veuillez les faire passer en toute dili-
gence.
Salut et fraternité.
TRANSLATION,
H. GANTEAUME,
Alexandria, September 2d,
Rear Admiral GANTEAUME, to the Generals command-
ing the Land and Sea Forces, at Malta.
"TIS
Citizens,
Is with anguish of soul I inform you, that on the
first of last month, the fleet of the Republic was at-
tacked and defeated by that of Great Britain, under the
command of Admiral Nelson. The action began at
six in the evening, and did not finish till the forenoon
of the next day. After a most vigorous struggle, force
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
£89
prevailed, and our fleet, inferior* both in the number
of vessels, and in the composition of their crews, yielded
the day.
* How could Ganteaume (evidently a man of sense) set down
this absurd and contemptible falsehood! He states the English
force correctly enough in the First Part (p. 230.), and he must
have known, while he was writing, that the " superiority," in
every thing (courage and capacity excepted) was on the side of
the French.
The number of vessels, it is true, was equal: yet if we con-
sider that the largest line of battle ship in the English squadron
was probably inferior in size to the smallest in that of the French;
that the latter had one ship of 120 guns, three of 80, four
frigates, several gun-boats, and a battery of guns and mortars
on an island in their van," to which we had nothing to op-
pose; we can have little hesitation in deciding the question of
superiority.
<<
In stating the number of vessels to be equal, it should be ob-
served, that we count the Leander in the line. How fit she
was for this, may be seen by comparing her size and force to any
one of the French seventy-fours opposed to her; to the Géné-
reux, for example, by whom she was afterwards captured.
We have now before us a letter written by Sir Edward Berry ;
from this we shall take the liberty of extracting the relative
statement of the force, &c. of the two ships.
“The Généreux, of 74 guns, is 193 feet 7 inches in length,
and 23 feet in depth; burden 2144 tons; carries thirty 36-
pounders; thirty 18 ditto; and four 42-pound carronades; com-
plement 700 men (when she fell in with the Leander she had
900.)
"The Leander, of 50 guns, is 146 feet 6 inches in length;
and 17 feet, 5 inches in depth; burden 1052 tons: carries twenty-
two 24-pounders, twenty-two 12 ditto, and six 6 ditto; com-
plement 343 men (when captured, she had only 282, boys in.
cluded) her masts, yards, and sails, those of a thirty-two gun
frigate."
Thus far Captain Berry. Whether the Morning Chronicle,
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COPIES OF
We had the misfortune, in this fatal contest, to lose
éleven sail of the line. Almost all the superior officers
were killed or wounded. Since this calamitous event,
the enemy is master of the coast, and intercepts all our
communications, with a small division of four sail of
the line, and a few frigates. The rest of their fleet has
sailed, with the prizes, for Sicily.
Our position in the interior is, however, satisfac-
tory. We are in possession of all Lower Egypt. The
Commander in Chief is at Cairo. The Mameloucs
have been defeated, destroyed in part, and dispersed. A
body of them, under the command of Ibrahim Bey, has
which denies this brave man courage in common with the rest
of his countrymen, will have the temerity to question his vera-
city, we know not,-should that paper, however, feel inclined to
do so, we think it lies in our power to assist it: we can furnish
it with a counter-testimony from a quarter which it has never
yet had the uncandidness to doubt; we mean from the French
themselves.
Extract of an official letter from the Captain of the Généreux.
Corfou, Sept. 1st.
"I have the pleasure of informing you that I am arrived at
this place with the English ship, the Leander, of SEVENTY-FOUR
guns, which I fell in with near Candia."-Here follow some
absurd lies concerning the action of the 1st of August, which we
omit.
"With respect to the Leander, I was obliged to engage her
for near five hours. She mounts SEVENTY-FOUR GUNS; 30,
24, and 12-pounders! I ought to have carried her in less than
an hour,” (this is true enough) "for we fought broadside and
broadside: during the action we fell aboard each other, and if
my crew had been a little more alert I should then have taken
her"!!!
LE JOILLE, jun.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
Igr
taken shelter in Syria, and Murad Bey has passed into
the Said. General Desaix is in pursuit of him, and no
one here entertains a doubt but that we shall speedily
hear of his defeat. In that case, masters of the whole
of Egypt, we shall be able to maintain ourselves in the
country, PROVIDED that we receive a little assistance
from France during the winter.
I send you, with this letter, my dispatches for Go-
vernment. Have the goodness to forward them without
delay.
Health and fraternity.
H. GANTEAUME.
192
COPIES OF
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, inclosed in Rear Admiral
GANTEAUME's' Dispatches to the Generals command-
ing the Land and Sea Forces, at Malta.
No. 1.
Etat des Equipages à bord des Bâtimens composant la Di-
vision dans le Port d'Alexandrie, à l'époque du 9 Fruc-
tidor, an 6º.
Muster-Roll of the Crews on board the Vessels, composing
the Division in the Port of Alexandria, taken on the
26th of August, 1798.
SHIPS OF THE LINE, AND FRIGATES.
Number of men.
Le Causse
608
Le Dubois
581
La Courageuse
334
La Junon
368
Le Meuiron
293
Le Cazzero
L'Alceste
Le Montenotte
Le Léoben
La Mantoue
228
278
រ
304
258
201
3453
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
193
SMALLER VESSELS. (Bâtimens Légers.)
Corvettes. Le Rivoly
Salamine
Number of men.
Alerte
Lody
Gun-Boats.—La Portugaise
Oranger
Aglaé
Packets, or Sloops } La Foudre
of War }La
Negresse
Chasseur
Indépendant
Vif
Chien de Chasse
Galley.-La Victoire
PART II.
་
81
126
82
102
103
88
102
69
75
94
48
60
65
400
1495
Alexandria (14 Fructidor),
August 31st, 1798.
Rear Admiral
>
GANTEAUME..
194
COPIES OF
No. 2.
Etat des Bâtimens composant la Flotille du Nil, sous le
Commandement du Contre-amiral PERRE'E.
List of the Vessels composing the Flotilla of the Nile, under
the Command of Rear Admiral PERRE'E.
Le Chebec, Le Cerf.
Le Demi Chebec, La Revanche.
}
SMALL SLOOPS OF WAR.
La Capricieuse.
Sans Quartier.
Pluvier.
Etoile.
Eclair.
Demi Galley. (Name not known.)
La Coquette.
L'Amoureuse.
GUN-BOATS.
L'Helene.
La Victoire.
L'Espérance.
Les états de situation d'équipage des bâtimens men-
tionnés ci-dessus ne nous sont pas parvenus.
The muster-rolls of the crews of the vessels above
mentioned are not come to hand.
H. G.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
195
No. 3.
Etat des hommes composant les Equipages des Convois
mouillés au Port d'Alexandrie, sous les Ordres du Chef
de Division, DUMANOIR LE PELLEY.
Number of Seamen composing the Crews of the Transports,
now at Anchor in the Port of Alexandria, under the
Command of the Chief of Division, DUMANOIR LE
PELLEY.
Toulon Transports
Marseilles
Ajaccio
Gênes
do.
do.
do.
Number of men.
533
569
185
995
Civita Vecchia do.
}
1
735
3017
Fait double au Bureau de la Majorité du Contre-
amiral Ganteaume, le 16 Fructidor, an 6.
Copied at the Office of the Majority of Rear-admiral
Ganteaume, September 2d, 1798.
Adjutant NICHOLAS JUGAN.
Examined, H. GANTEAUME.
These DOCUMENTS are of a most curious and important na-
ture. They enable us to complete, in some measure, the esti-
mate of the numbers sacrificed in this insane and wicked expe-
dition.
O 2
196
COPIES OF
In the First Part we reckoned the land forces at 42,000; and
this, we are persuaded, was rather under than over the amount.
In the French papers we find them estimated differently, i. e.
"Desaix's division, composed of three demi-brigades; Kle-
ber's, id.; Menou's, id.; Bon's, id.; and Regnier's of two;
forming in all fourteen demi-brigades; of which four of light
infantry, and ten of the line. Each demi-brigade consists of
2,400 men; total of infantry, therefore, 33,600. The cavalry,
commanded by Damas, consists of one regiment of hussars, one
of chasseurs, and three of dragoons; total 3,000,-making alto-
gether 36,600." But this is evidently under-rated, we shall, there-
fore, adopt our first number, 42,000.
The sea forces, as appears from the certificate of the French
Commissaries, delivered to Admiral I ord Nelson, on the fifth of
August, amounted to 10,710. In this the crews of the gun-
boats are not included, we shall, therefore, take them at 300.
On board the ships of the line, frigates, and smaller vessels
of war, in the port of Alexandria, there are, according to the
Schedule (No. 1.), 4,948. On the flotilla of the Nile (No. 2.),
averaging the crews at a hundred each, 1,500,-and in the dif-
ferenttrans ports in the port of Alexandria (No. 3.), 3,017. If
then we recapitulate those numbers,—
Land forces
42,000
Sea ditto.
11,010.
Ships, &c. at Alexandria
4,948
Flotilla on the Nile
1,500
Transports
3,017
62,475
We shall have a sum which, we believe, will not be far from the
truth.
There are yet, however, to be added, the swarms of specu-
lators, purchasers of plunder, robbers, as Avrieury justly calls
them (see the preceding letter) which, like vultures, always fol-
low the desolating track of a French army; before the reader can
accurately appreciate the whole number vomited forth by France
on this unhappy country.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
197
Disburthened Europe, while she condoles with Egypt on the
visitation of this eleventh, and worst plague, may yet congratu
late herself on its having at length removed from her wasted and
bleeding realms.-Nor need she fear its return. Scarce an indi-
vidual of those numerous thousands has yet reached France; and
few indeed, and scanty, will be their future arrivals!-The Di-
rectory have obtained their end: they are happy usque ad deli-
cias votorum; and we sincerely fecilitate them, and the civilized
world in general, on the probable extinction of a horde of tur-
bulent and cruel assassins!
198
COPIES OF
No. XXVI.
Alexandrie, le 18 Fructidor, an 6.
L'Ordonnateur de la Marine, au Citoyen POUPET, Com-
missaire de la Marine au Hayre.
1
Mes précédentes vous sont-elles parvenues, mon cher
MES
camarade? J'ai lieu de craindre que non, et malheureuse-
ment je suis privé des vôtres. Si vous êtes accablé de
besogne, je n'en ai pas moins ici. Sans moyens, sans
ressources, il faut tout créer, et dans quelles circon-
stances? lorsqu'on a été temoin, pour ainsi dire, des
affreux événemens du 14 du dernier.
Permettez qui je vous rappelle vos promesses à l'égard
de ma famille ; j'en attends l'exécution de votre amitiê
et de votre complaisance. Chargez-vous, mon cher
camarade, de compliments pour vos collaborateurs, et
recevez l'assurance de mon inviolable attachement.
LE ROY.
P. S. Il paroit que nous avons perdu nos camarades
Jaubert, Peret, et l'officier de santé en chef de l'escadre,
le Citoyen Renard. Vous aurez su les autres affligeants
détails avant la réception de ma lettre.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
199
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria (18 Fructidor), September 4th.
The Inspector of the Marine, to Citizen POUPET, Com-
missary of the Marine, at Havre.
HAVE
AVE any of my former letters reached you, my dear
comrade?—I am afraid not; and unfortunately I have
received none of yours. If you are sinking under the
weight of business, I am no less so.-Without means,
without resources, I have every thing to create, as it
were, and under what circumstances?-under those
of having been almost an eye-witness of the dreadful
catastrophe of the 1st of August.
Allow me to put you in mind of your promises re-
specting my family; I look for the execution of them
from your friendship, and your readiness to oblige.
Have the goodness, my dear comrade, to present my
compliments to your fellow labourers, and accept, for
yourself, the assurance of my inviolable attachment.
LE ROY.
P. S. We have lost our comrades Jaubert,* Peret,
* Our conjecture then was right (Part I. p. 36.) and Jaubert
perished in the explosion of the L'Orient.
How many of the writers of the First Part of this Corres.
pondence, and of those who are mentioned by them, have pe-
}
200
COPIES OF
and the first physician to the fleet, Citizen Renard.
The other distressing events you will hear of, before
my letter reaches you.
rished since their letters reached us! For the French themselves
we feel little regret.
-'tis the sport to see the engineer
Hois'd with his own petar.
They came to destroy, and they have been destroyed!—But
we deeply lament the fate of the innocent victims of their barba-
rity. The Cheriff Coraim (of whom the reader will find some
mention in the First Part, p. 193.) has, we see, been barbarously
put to death at Cairo, and had his hoary head paraded round the
streets, in the true style of Parisian expeditions.
>
When it is considered that the crime of this man (according to
the French themselves) consisted in his not being seduced by a
❝tricoloured scarf," to assist in the destruction of his brethren ;
and that he was only removed from Alexandria, as a temporary
measure of security, his being dragged to Cairo, and murdered
by Bonaparte, without evidence, (for that, Loyer says, was left be-
hind) must furnish the admirers of the General's justice and hu-
manity, and, above all, the Reverend Mr. Wakefield, with
fresh topics of " consolation and triumph!"
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
201
No. XXVII.
Alexandrie, le 18 Fructidor, an 6.
L'Ordonnateur de la Marine, au Vice-amiral
Citoyen Général,
THEVENARD,
y
JE E ne sais si mes lettres vous sont parvenues; mais il
a bien long temps que je n'ai reçu des vôtres. L'inter-
ception, ou plutôt la difficulté, des communications en
est surement cause. Des bâtimens que vous avez ex-
pédiés, le bateau Corse Egalité, le Vif, le Lody, sont
seuls parvenus. Le Léger à été pris en vue du port le 5
de ce mois. L'Anémone, chassée par les Anglais, a été
forcée de faire côte le 16. Partie de ses malheureux
passagers et équipages ont été victimes des Bédouins,
quelques uns ont été faits prisonniers par eux et rachetés
ensuite; on présume quelques autres prisonniers des
Anglois,
Le Général Ganteaume vous adresse, sans doute,
Citoyen Général, des détails sur les funestes événe-
ments du 14 du mois dernier. Permettez que je joigne
mes sentimens à ceux de douleur que vous éprouvez, et
comme ami de votre patrie et comme père. Votre
jeune fils a eu le bonheur d'échapper; il est embarqué
avec le Capitaine Capousique.
Permettez encore, Citoyen Général, que je vous
202
COPIES OF
prie de me rappeller au souvenir du Citoyen Giraudi.
Il sera je crois convenable de retarder les envoys dont
vous avez bien voulu vous charger, jusqu'à ce qu'il y
ait plus de sureté dans les transports.
Agréez l'expression de mon respectueux attachement.
LE ROY.
TRANSLATION.
A
I DO
Alexandria (18 Fructidor), September 4th.
The Inspector of the Marine, to Vice-admiral
Citizen General,
THEVENARD.
Do not know whether any of my letters have reached
you, but 'tis now a very long time since any of yours
have reached me; which I attribute entirely to the in-
terception, or rather to the difficulty of our communi-
cations. Of all the vessels which you have dispatched,
the Corsican brig Egalité, the Vif, and the Lodi, are
the only ones which have been fortunate enough to ar-
rive here. The Léger was taken within sight of the
port, on the 22d ult.; and the Anémone, chased by the
English, was forced to run aground the day before
* No, Mr. Inspector, the Anemone was not forced to run
aground, but as we probably know more of this circumstance
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
203
yesterday. Some of the unhappy passengers and crew
were murdered by the Arabs, others were made
than you do, and as it touches upon a matter which we have
very much at heart, we will take the épportunity of enlarging
upon it.
On the 2d of September (the day mentioned by Le Roy) two
of our frigates chased the Anemone, of four guns, and sixty men,
into shallow water, in the road of Marabout. As escape was
impossible, and resistance totally out of the question, the boats
were sent to take possession of her, as a matter of course. On
their approach, she first fired at them, and then, dreading their
resentment for such an unauthorized display of hostility, cut her
cable, and ran ashore. Here her crew was immediately seized
by the Arabs; all who attempted resistance were cut down on the
spot, and the rest stripped entirely naked. In this condition,
seven of them, among whom was the captain, contrived to slip
from their hands, and ran down to the beach, where, falling on
their knees in the water, they begged to be taken on board by
the men, whom, with a degree of insolence and rancour to be
found only in the modern French, they had just before wantonly
attempted to destroy! To say that those men were English, is
sufficient. "I AM HAPPY," says the brave commander of the
Zealous," to add, that the humanity of our people extended so
far as to swim on shore with lines and small casks to save them.
One young gentleman (midshipman of the Emerald) particularly
distinguished himself: he brought off the commander, Gardon,
at the hazard of his own life!" Gazette, Nov. 13th.
This was great, this was noble, this was truly English! Gardon
deserved to be run up to the yard-arm for a murderer; yet we
see the very youth, whose life he had treacherously endangered,
risking it again to save him!
And the men who could do this, are termed, by the Morning
Chronicle, " disgraced cowards!”
We proceed without apology. We feel, we confess, an inex-
pressible pleasure in dwelling on the merits of our brave tars;
and think, that whenever we have an opportunity of thwarting
204
COPIES OF
prisoners by them, and have since been ransomed,
and the rest, we presume, were taken by the English.
the base attempts of the Jacobin prints to sacrifice their honour
to France, it is an indispensable duty to seize it with avidity.
Every one knows the cruelties inflicted upon such of our
countrymen as had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the
French. They were confined (see the Report of the House of
Commons) in pestilent dungeons, starved, and sometimes poi-
soned. This the Morning Chronicle (for the other Jacobin
prints are beneath notice) denied, as long as denial was possible;
and when it was no longer so, insinuated, as the last piece of
service it could render the Directory, that "if the truth could be
fairly come at, we should find we had no great reason to com-
plain'!!
The TRUTH, happily, may be fairly come at; and we ear-
nestly intreat the reader to follow us with care through the im-
portant documents we are about to lay before him; after which
we will trust him to form his own conclusions on the
the "
we have to complain."
66
reason
We have just seen the conduct of the English to the French. Let
us now see that of the French to the English; when, not as in
the former case, after an unjustifiable assault,—but after gal-
lantly and honourably contending for victory, they were at length
obliged to yield to the superiority of force and numbers.
"When the French" (we quote from the letter of Captain
Berry, which we mentioned above) "took possession of the
Leander, they plundered the officers of all their clothes; even
the surgeon's instruments did not escape them. My sword was
torn out of my hand; but I recovered it, by insisting that I would
deliver it to Le Joille myself. He said to Captain Thomson and
me, you have fought well, I will only take care of your swords
till you quit the Généreux: but in this instance, as in every
other,. he broke his word with me.
"I did not save a coat but the one I had on, nor any
other article-when I remonstrated, he said he would lend ine
one." &c. &c.
But this, the Morning Chronicle will say, was immediately
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
205
General Ganteaume has undoubtedly sent you,
Citizen General, a detailed account of the fatal event
after the heat of action :-let us see then how these " generous
victors conducted themselves after their arrival at Corfou, where
they had leisure to deliberate coolly on the conduct of the men
whom they had captured, and whose unprecedented gallantry
would have extorted pity and respect from the wildest savages.
Here, again, "the TRUTH may be fairly come at," as our
readers will readily allow, we believe, after perusing the fol-
lowing dispatch.
My Lords,
Trieste, 3d Dec. 1798.
THIRTY seamen of the Leander which was taken and carried
into Corfou, arrived here from that island, the 20th ultimo;
these poor men were forced away in three small inconvenient
vessels, 10 in each, some of them badly wounded, and in a very
weak state, being obliged to lie on the decks, exposed to the in-
clemency of the season 17 days. On Friday, 10 more arrived
from the same place. The first 30, having finished their qua-
rantine of 13 days, came out this morning, much recovered, from
the attentions to their health and food. The last 10, have suf-
fered more than the others, being 23 days on their passage, and
so short of provisions, that, had not some passengers taken com-
passion on them, they must have perished. I am sorry to ob-
serve, the French behaved very badly to them in the shortness
of provision. I hope, by proper care, to restore these valuable
meritorious men to their country and families.
I have the honour to be, &c.
EDWARD STANLEY.
British Consul at Trieste.
Right Hon. Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
If the perusal of this dispatch awakes the same feelings in our
206
COPIES OF
of the first of August. Suffer me to join my heart-
felt sorrow to that which you must so poignantly
readers that it did in the breast of those to whom it is addressed,
our gallant countrymen will not have suffered in vain.
But while the French were thus exposing their prisoners, with
their wounds yet open, to the almost certain hazard of perishing
by shipwreck, or hunger, what was the conduct of the English to
theirs! It fortunately happens, that here too "the TRUTH may
be fairly come at ;"—and when we say that it proceeds from the
mouth of Mons. Niou, we presume that the Morning Chronicle
itself will acquiesce in the testimony.
Londres, le 12 9bre, 1798. (V. S.)
NIOU, Commissaire du Gouvernement Français en Angleterre, pour
tout ce qui est relatif à l'Echange et au Traitement des Prisonniers de
Guerre.
A Messieurs les Commissaires du Transport Office.
Messieurs,
Je suis arrivé ce matin du long et pénible voyage que je viens
de faire dans divers dépots de prisonniers de guerre François en
Angleterre.
J'ai l'honneur de vous renvoyer le passeport qui m'a été remis
à Edinbourg pour me rendre à Norman Crosse, et de là à
Londres. Veuillez recevoir mes remerciements de l'exactitude
que vous avez bien voulu apporter à m'envoyer cette piece.
Une indisposition m'empechant de sortir ce matin ; je ne peux
me rendre dans l'instant auprès de vous, pour vous entretenir
sur divers objets extrêmement importants. Je vous prie de
trouver bon que je m'y rende demain à l'heure que vous voudrez
bien m'indiquer.
On ne peut-être plus satisfait que je ne l'ai été dans ma tournée des
sentiments D'HUMANITE ET DE JUSTICE qui président à la conduite
des chefs qui dirigent, sous vos QRDRES, l'Administration des
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
207
experience, both as a lover of your country, and as a
father. Your youngest son has had the happiness to
prisons où les Français sont détenus. Il est bien doux pour mon cœur
L'avoir cet homage à rendre à la vérité.
J'ai l'honneur d'être, &c.
Nou.
!
TRANSLATION.
London, November 12th, 1798. (0. S.)
NIOU, Commissary of the French Government in England, for every
thing which relates to the Exchange, and Maintenance of the Prisoners
of War.
To Messrs. the Commissioners of the Board of Transports.
Gentlemen,
I AM arrived this morning after a long and troublesome jour-
ney which I have just made to the different depôts of the French
prisoners of war in England.
I have the honour to return you the passport which was for-
warded to me at Edinburgh, to enable me to proceed to Nor-
man Cross, and from thence to London. Be pleased to accept
my thanks for the punctuality with which you transmitted me
this paper.
་
A slight indisposition prevents my coming abroad this morn-
ing; I cannot, therefore, wait on you at this instant,—but I beg,
of you to allow me to call on you to-morrow morning, at any
hour which may suit you, as I want to have some conversation
on a variety of objects of the first importance.
!
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO BE BETTER PLEASED THAN I HAVE,
BEEN THROUGH THE WHOLE OF THIS JOURNEY, WITH THE
SENTIMENTS OF HUMANITY, AND JUSTICE, WHICH REGU-
LATE EVERY PART OF THE CONDUCT OF THE AGENTS, WHO
208
COPIES OF
escape: * he is now on board the vessel of Captain Ca-
pousique.
Let me intreat you, Citizen General, to remember
me to Citizen Giraudi. It will not be amiss, I think,
to stop the sailing of the papers which you have under-
taken to send us, till it can be done with less hazard.
Accept the assurances of my respectful attachment.
LE ROY.
DIRECT, UNDER YOUR ORDERS, THE ADMINISTRATION OF
THE PRISONS IN WHICH THE FRENCH ARE KEPT.
IT IS A
SATISFACTION, MOST DEAR TO MY HEART, TO HAVE AN
HOMAGE OF THIS KIND TO PAY TO TRUTH!
I have the honour to be, &c.
Νιου.
We make no apology, as we have already observed, for the
length of this note; indeed, it does not need it. If there be an
Englishman whose breast does not glow at reading 'such testi-
monies to the unwearied humanity of his country, contrasted,
as it here is, with the insolence, the rapacity, the rancour, and
the cruelty of France, he is unworthy of it,-and we resign him,
with ineffable contempt, 'to the friendship of the M. C. With that
paper he may turn with a malignant scowl from conviction, and'
exclaim, with equal baseness and stupidity, that "if the TRUTH
could be fairly come at, we should find we had no great reason to
complain."
* Admiral Thevenard's eldest son commanded the Aquilon, of
74 guns (one of the captured ships) and was killed in the en-
gagement.
TY
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
209
No. XXVIII.
St. Jean d'Acre, 19 Fructidor an 6°.
JH. ENG. CALONES BEAUVOISIN, Adjudant-Général
employé dans l'Armée Françoise en Egypte, aux Citoyens
Membres du Directoire Exécutif en France.
Citoyens Directeurs,
CHARGE' par le Général Bonaparte d'une mission im-
portante dans la Palestine, j'ai reçu ordre de lui, à mon
départ d'Egypte, de vous faire parvenir par toutes les
voies qui me paroitroient les plus sures, les imprimés
que vous trouverez ci-inclus. Peut-être vous auroient
ils déjà été transmis: mais nos communications avec la
France devenant de jour en jour plus difficiles, je regarde
comme très-favorable l'occasion qui m'est offerte de
vous donner des nouvelles de l'armée.
Notre position en Egypte est jusqu'à ce moment très-
brillante, et si le succès de ma négociation avoit ré-
pondu à l'attente du Général en Chef, j'eusse pu avant
mon retour auprès de lui, vous donner à l'avance quelques
certitudes d'un avenir plus heureux. Cependant, rien
n'est encore rompu, et il sera peut-être possible de
revenir sur mes pas.
Je suis forcé d'être laconique. Je remets ma lettre à
un Capitaine Ragusais, dont le bâtiment doit mettre à
la voile sous peu de jours. Je desire ardemment que
cette lettre puisse vous parvenir. Puissiez-vous en la
PART II.
P
210
COPIES OF
recevant être convaincus, Citoyens Directeurs, quà'
800 lieues de la patrie, nos cœurs y sont plus fortement
attachés que jamais.
Recevez au nom de tous mes camarades et du brave
Chef de l'armée Françoise, l'expression de tous nos
sentimens, et l'assurance de notre sincère et respectueux
dévouement.
JH. ENG. BEAUVOISIN,
Seul Français en ce moment dans la Palestine.
}
TRANSLATION.
St. Jean d'Acre (19 Fructidor), September 5th.
JH. ENG. CALONES BEAUVOISIN, Adjutant-Generat,
employed in the French Army, in Egypt, to the Citizens,
Members of the Executive Directory in France.
Citizen Directors,
CHARGED by General Bonaparte with an important
mission in Palestine, I received orders from him, on
my departure from Egypt, to transmit to you by every
mode of conveyance that appeared to me most safe, the
printed papers which you will find inclosed.* Per-
haps they have already reached you; but as our com-
munications with France are becoming every day more
¿
* See the INTRODUCTION.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
211
and more difficult, I embrace, with the greatest plea-
sure, the present opportunity of sending you the news
of the army.
Our situation in Egypt is, to the present moment,
highly brilliant and if the success of my negociation
had answered the expectations of the Commander in
Chief, I should have been enabled before my return to
him, to give you, in advance, some unquestionable as-
surances of the future, more brilliant still,-the busi-
ness, however, is not yet decidedly given up, and,
perhaps, it may be in my power to recover the ground
which I have lost.*
I am obliged to be laconic. I entrust my letter to
the Captain of a Ragusan ship, which will sail in a
few days. I most anxiously hope that it will reach
you. May you, while you read it, be convinced, Citi-
zen Directors, that at 800 leagues from our country our
hearts are more strongly attached to it than ever.
* We lament that it is not in our power to give the reader any
satisfactory account of the purport of this most curious letter.
'The writer seems to be one of those revolutionary missionaries
who have always preceded the march of the French armies, and
served the double purpose of corrupters and spies. His parti-
cular object, as has been observed, we have no means of know,
ing. It is some consolation, however, to be assured, that let it
have been what it may, it is completely frustrated; for soon
after the date of this dispatch, Beauvoisin was thrown into
prison by the Governor of Acre,
His brother (such, at least, we conclude him to be) has expe-
rienced a very different fate. "He has been condemned (in the
words of honest Dogberry) to everlasting redemption." Le Ci-
toyen Beauvoisin, (says Bonaparte) adjoint, ayant quitté le poste
qu'il avoit à l'avancée, et tenu des propos propres à decourager
le soldat, sera destitué, et renvoyé en France par la première
occasion!!!
P 2
212
COPIES OF
Accept, in the name of all my comrades, and of the
brave Commander of the French army, the expression
of all our sentiments, and the assurance of our sincere
and respectful devotion.
JH. ENG. BEAUVOISIN.
The only Frenchman at this moment in Palestine.*
* It is worth observing, that this line was written at the very
instant that the Jacobins of this and other countries were assuring
the world, that the French troops were masters of the whole of
Palestine! Sic transit, &c. &c.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
213
No. XXIX.
A Alexandrie, le 23 Fructidor, an 6º:
Rozis à son Ami GRIVET.
Mon Cher,
C'EST
EST avec bien du plaisir que je t'écris la présente,
espérant qu'elle aura le bonheur de te parvenir, malgré
les grandes difficultés que nous éprouvons depuis le
moment malheureux de la destruction totale de notre
escadre.
Au moment que l'armée de terre se bat comme des
lions, celle de mer se bat comme des lâches. Nous ne
devons nullement inculper les officiers subalternes des
cannoniers, et quelques matelots; mais une grande partie
avec les officiers supérieurs se sont battus comme des
traitres à leur patrie.
Nous habitons un pays où tout le monde se deplait à
la mort. Si l'armée l'avoit connu avant de partir de
France, nul de nous n'auroit embarqué, et auroit pre-
féré un million de fois la mort que de nous voir réduits.
à la misère où nous sommes: nous avons l'ennemi par-
tout; devant, derrière, et par les côtés; exactement la
Vendée! mais heureusement que nous avons battu, à
ce que nous croyons, les plus redoutables. 1°. Nous
avons battu les Arabes. 2°. Les Mamelouks. 3°. Les
Bédouins; presque tous cavalerie de petits chevaux
214
COPIES OF
allant dans les montagnes comme dans la plaine. Les
soldats se battent commes des Césars; il a réellement
fallu des soldats François pour les battre.
Nous nous sommes presqué toujours battus en ba-
taillon quarré; trois jours de suite à marche forcée
en bataillon quarré, différement nous aurions été tous
détruits. Dans le principe, il nous faisoit très-peu
de prisonniers, et s'il y en avoit quelqu'uns qui échap-
pâsent à la mort, ils etoient reservés pour leur passion
brutale.
Le pays d'Alexandrie n'est qu'un pays de sable pres-
que sans culture, où l'habitant mourroit de faim si les
voisins ne leur en procuroient. L'habitant qu'on nomme
les Arabes, sont comme les animaux pillant leur na-
tion comme l'étranger, toujours les armes à la main,
ne vivant que de rapines, toujours campés, menant avec
eux tous leurs ménages. Leurs camps ne sont que grattés
sur le sable; aujourd'hui ils sont dans un endroit, de-
main dans l'autre.
Le Grand Turc est leur ennemi juré; il n'a jamais
pu les vaincre ; il a fallu des François: ils ne craig-
nent nullement notre cavalerie; à dire vrai, elle est
très-peu nombreuse; ils ne craignent que le canon; ils
tombent sur les coups de fusils comme le sanglier court
sur le chasseur après qu'il est blessé; ils n'ont pas de
canons; s'ils en avoient, il n'y auroit nulle nation pour
les battre.
Nous avons resté plusieurs jours dans ce pays où nous
n'avons trouvé ni eau, ni pain, ni aucune espèce de
vivres, sans même pouvoir en tirer de nulle part: if
nous est mort dans l'espace de cinq ou six jours,
sans exagérer, de six à sept eens hommes, tous par
la soif.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
2 1.5
Ce pays de sable passé, nous arrivons du côté de la
ville qu'on nomme le Grand Caire, pay's très-riche par
son commerce, et très-fertile en grain: c'est là que la
grande bataille s'est donnée. Nous les avons en partie
détruits, ou noyés; ceux qui se sont échappés ont fui
dans le Désert pour se rendre dans l'Egypte, ou du côté
de Jerusalem. Nous les avons poursuivis jusque dans
la Haute Egypte, où nous les avons en partie fini de
détruire. Ceux qui ont pu fuir ont traversé le Désert
pour se rendre du coté de la Barbarie; j'ignore si nous
les y poursuiverons.
Nous sommes très-réduits:, avec cela il existe un
mécontentement général dans l'armée: le despotisme
n'a jamais été au point qu'il l'est aujourd'hui; nous
avons des soldats qui se sont donné la mort, en pré-
sence du Général en Chef, en lui disant, "voila ton
ouvrage!"-je ne puis t'en dire davantage; la suite
t'instruira du reste.
་
รุ
J'ose te prier, món bon ami, à la lettre que tu re-
cevras de mon frère, de vouloir bien passer ma malle
à l'adresse qu'il te designera; elle sera peut-être, à
celle de Dumoin à Auch. Enfin n'importe qu'elle
soit.
A
Tu peus
avoir ta retraite avant que nous ne rentrions
en France: j'ignore quel est celui qui peut commander
le dépôt. Il peut arriver que les effets se perdent ;
juge pour moi quelle perte! nous n'avons à espérer
que de sortir de ce pays comme de petits saint Jeans.
Il est dû aujourd'hui quatre mois d'appointemens;
nous craignons tous, que nous ne soyons obligés d'en
faire un don patriotique forcé pour le rétablissement
de la perte de treize vaisseaux de ligne, et d'une ving-
taine d'autres, soit frégates et autres bâtimens. Telle
216
COPIES OF
est la récompense qui nous attend du fruit de nos
travaux.
Tu pourras, mon ami, prendre un habit neuf dans
ma malle qui m'a été fait à Liege, avec vingt-quatre
livres en argent. Je pense que c'est ce que je puis te
devoir; si par cela il n'y en a pas assez, tu prendras ce
qu'il te faudra, pui tu mettras le restant de l'argent
dedans la malle; tu la feras bien fisseler, tu cacheteras le
dessus de la serrure en la remettant à la diligence: prend
mes intérêts je t'en prie comme un ami.
Si Durand et Jenot sont avec toi dis leur bien des
choses de ma part, et assure-les du bonheur qu'ils ont
d'être dans leur patrie.
Assure bien de mes respects ta chère épouse, et
embrasse mille fois ta famille pour moi, et crois-toi
bien-heureux de n'être pas venu nous joindre en Italie.
Je suis pour la vie ton bon ami.-
Rozis, Capitaine.
1
,TIS
TRANSLATION.`
Alexandria (23 Fructidor). September 9th.
Rozis to his Friend GRIVET.
Is with great pleasure, my dear friend, that I send
you the present, hoping that it will have the good fortune
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
21
to reach' you, notwithstanding the prodigious difficulties
we have been subjected to, since the unfortunate moment
of the total destruction of our fleet.
-
While the land forces fight like so many lions, those
of the fleet behaved like cowards! We ought not, in-
deed, by any means to blame the subaltern officers, the
cannoneers, and some of the seamen; but the major
pårt, together with the superior officers, certainly fought
like traitors to their country!
*
We inhabit a country with which we are all dissatis-
** A plain statement of the fact will shew with what justice the
érews of the French ships are accused by their countrymen of
acting like traitors on the first of August.
The following is a correct copy of the certificate given in by
the surviving commissaries and officers of the French fleet, and
recognized as authentic by the Government.
Number of men on board the thirteen vessels
captured or destroyed in the engagement of
the 1st of August (exclusive of the Hercules
gun-boat)
Sent on shore by Lord Nelson in consequence
of a cartel established between him and the
Commandant of Alexandria, and acknow-
ledged in the receipt of Capt. Barry, Com-
mander of the Alceste
Wounded, included in said cartel
1605}}
-
1 500
Escaped from the Timoleon while she lay on
shore (these were murdered by the Arabs)
Escaped from the Hercules (gun-boat)
Officers, carpenters, caulkers, &c. detained by
Lord Nelson
3105
8930
350
3705
50
200
Total destroyed
5225
If to these we add the wounded, we shall find, that of 8930, of
which the whole consisted, 6725, more than three-fourths, were
killed and wounded in an action in which they are said, by this
bloody minded Captain, to have "behaved like traitors!" Rozis
218
COPIES OF
{
fied, to a degree not to be conceived. IF THE TROOrs
HAD BUT KNOWN WHAT IT WAS, BEFORE THEY
QUITTED FRANCE, THEY WOULD HAVE PREFERRED
DLATH A THOUSAND TIMES TO THE MISERY. TO
WHICH THEY NOW FIND THEMSELVES REDUCED.
1
We have the enemy every where, before, behind, and on
each side of us; it is an exact counterpart of La Vendée.
Happily, we have defeated the most. formidable' of
them: 1, the Arabs; 2, the Mameloucs; 3, the Be-
douins; almost all cavalry, all mounted on active little
horses, that run as swiftly up the mountains as along
the plains. The troops fought like Cæsars, and, indeed,
nothing less than French soldiers could have defeated
such an enemy!
We were almost always obliged to engage, formed
into squares. In this inconvenient order of battle we
made three days forced march; and, indeed, to have
changed it would have been fatal to us all. The enemy
made but few prisoners at first; if they saved any from
death, it was only to render them subservient to their
brutal passions.
The country of Alexandria is merely a country of
sand, devoid of all cultivation; where the inhabitants
would perish with hunger if they were not supplied
with necessaries from the neighbouring districts. The
natives who are called Arabs, are a sort of wild beasts,
who pillage their own people as readily as strangers.
They are always afmed, live entirely on rapine, dwell
might (if he had pleased) have discovered a juster and much more
reasonable cause of their defeat, in the superior skill and intre
pidity of their enemies; but, except in the affair of his trunk,
he does not appear to have exerted any great portion of positive
inquiry.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
219
constantly in tents, and carry their whole household with
them. When they wish to incamp, they just trace out a
few lines on the sand; they are here to day, and there
to-morrow.
The Grand Turk is their sworn enemy: he has
never been able to subdue them; that was reserved for
the French to accomplish. They are not in the least
afraid of our cavalry: to say the truth, we have not
much of it; they are only intimidated by our artillery :
they rush upon our bayonets, as the wild boar does upon
the hunters when he is wounded. They have no can-
non; if they had, no nation on earth would be able to
subdue them.
pro-
We were many days without water or bread, or
'victuals of any kind; and even without means of
curing any. In five or six days, I speak without exag-
geration, we lost six or seven hundred men by thirst
alone!!! Having passed the Desert, we reached the
neighbourhood of the city called Grand Cairo, a country
extremely rich by its commerce, and very fertile in grain.
It was here that the great battle was fought; we killed
or drowned a part of them; while those who escaped,
fed into the Desert; some of them with the intent of
reaching Egypt, others the neighbourhood of Jerusalem!
We pursued them as far as Upper Egypt, where we,
in some measure, completed their destruction; * as
many as could escape, crossed the Desert with an in-
tent of getting to Barbary. I have not yet learned
whether we shall pursue them thither.
* Unless Rozis be in correspondence with Sir John Macpher-
son, who hoped the House would be in "some degree unani-
mous," we cannot account for his stumbling upon this expression.
The precious traits of geographical knowledge which precede it,
220
COPIES OF
We are exceedingly reduced in our numbers. Be-
sides all this, there exists a general discontent in the
army. Despondency was never at such a height be-
fore: we have had several soldiers who blew out their
brains in the presence of the Commander in Chief, ex-
claiming to him, "Voilà ton ouvrage;" "THIS IS
"YOUR WORK!" I can go no farther, time will ac-
quaint you with the rest.
I take the liberty, my good friend, of requesting you,
as soon as you shall receive a letter from my brother, to
forward my trunk to the place he shall direct; it will
be, perhaps, to Dumoin's at Auch; but that is a
matter of no consequence.
You will, perhaps, have retired from the army before
our return; and, in that case, I shall not know who
will have the charge of the depôt. It may thus happen
that my property may be lost; judge what a loss for
me! The best thing we can venture to look forward
to, is to quit this country like so many little St. Johns.*
We are already four months pay in arrear; and we all
fear that we shall be obliged to make a forced patriotic
gift of it, towards re-establishing the thirteen sail of the
line, and the twenty other vessels, frigates, &c. which
we have unfortunately lost. Such is the recompence we
expect, and such will be the fruit of all our labours!
we leave, without comment, to the admiration of our readers,
contenting ourselves with recommending to their most serious
notice, the paragraphs which follow, and which, as they merely
relate to the objects of sense and feeling, we would as readily re-
ceive from Rozis as from any philosopher in the army.
* Meaning, we believe, NAKED; such being the manner in
which the French had been accustomed, under the "old super-
stition, to see the infant saint represented in their churches.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
221
You may take for yourself, my friend, from the
trunk, a new coat, which was made for me at Liege,
and a louis d'or in money. This, I think, is about
what I owe you; if it be not sufficient, take what will
make it so; then put the rest of the money in the
trunk, cord it well, put a seal upon the lock, and see it
safe in the diligence. Act for me in this case, I beseech
you, like a friend.
If Durand and Jenot are with you, remember me
kindly to them, and tell them how happy they are to be
in their native country.
My respects to your wife: embrace your family for
me a thousand times, and believe yourself the most for-
tunate of men, in not coming to join us in Italy.
Ever yours most sincerely,
Rozis, Capitaine.
COPIES OF
No. XXX.
A Alexandrie, le 4ª Vendémiaire, an 7º
Rozis'à son Frère.
!
C'EST avec bien du plaisir, mon cher frère que je
t'écris la présente, espérant qu'elle aura le bonheur de
te parvenir malgré les grandes difficultés que nous
éprouvons à pouvoir faire passer la mer à nos lettres,
où le désagrément et la perte que nous avons fait de
toute notre escadre.
Dans ce moment les Anglois occupent toute la Mé-
diterranée; cela nous cause de désagrémens de ne
pouvoir donner de nos nouvelles en France, que par des
vaisseaux des nations neutres, encore faut-il qu'ils se
sauvent des Anglois pour passer, et s'ils sont pris ils les
brûlent.
Nous sommes donc partis de Rome, comme je t'ai
marqué dans ma dernière lettre de Civita Vecchia,
l'heure de notre embarquement. Tu as bien dû t'ap-
percevoir dans quelle situation j'étois: je t'assure que
j'ai éprouvé des disgraces; mais celle-là est la plus
forte; j'ai donc été forcé de partir d'une ville au mo-
ment de me voir heureux, d'épouser une femme char-
mante, avec beaucoup de bien, être obligé de partir
sans l'espoir de plus la revoir. Jamais je ne trouverai
pareil parti. Enfin, tel est mon sort!
Nous sommes donc partis sans savoir où nous devions
F
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
223
aller: arrivés devant l'isle de Malte, l'on nous dit qu'on
vient dans cette isle pour faire le siège de la ville. Dans
trois jours nous nous en rendons maîtres. Nous nous
reposons pendant cinq ou six jours; ce tems expiré,
nous mettons voile au vent sans dire nullement à
l'armée dans quel pays elle alloit. Nous voguons
ainsi pendant dix-huit jours; au bout de ce tems
nous appercevons terre, et nous nous trouvons en face
d'Alexandrie première ville de Turquie, rebelle au
Grand Turc.
L'on nous débarque; nous commençons à combattre
contre des nations qu'on nomme des Arabes, des Mame-
louks, et des Bédouins, nations les plus barbares. Les
premiers jours ils ne faisoient pas de prisonniers: quand
le Général, Bonaparte vit cela, il leur envoya un mani-
feste en leur langue, pour leur signifier que s'ils tuoient
nos prisonniers, il agiroit de représailles; malgré cela,
ils ont toujours continué.
Aujourd'hui nous sommes vainqueurs; dans un af-
faire seule nous avons fait
ou tué près de
dix mille, et les autres mis en fuite. Nous les pour-
suivons dans la Haute Egypte du côté de Jerusalem.
J'ignore quelle y sera notre destinée.
J'ai à te dire, mon cher frère, que j'ai une malle
entre les mains d'un de mes amis, maître tailleur de la
demi-brigade. Je lui écris en même tems qu'à toi pour
que cela n'éprouve pas de difficultés; tu peus donc
écrire en conséquence, et adresser ta lettre au Citoyen
Grivet, maître tailleur au depôt de la 88me brigade au
Fort Bareu proche Chambery. Il te la fera passer à
l'adresse que tu voudras. Pour cela je désirerai que
tu te rende à Auch, pour prier de ma part le nommé
224
COPIES OF
Dumont fils ainé marchand, pour qu'il te donne les
moyens nécessaires pour l'arrivée de ma malle, et dis
lui bien des choses de ma part. Sois persuadé qu'il me
rendra ce service; sois persuadé, mon cher frère, que
ma malle vaut bien la peine qu'on la reclame; il n'y a
dedans que du bon butin; tu y trouveras entre autre six
louis d'or, une paire de boucles en argent, beaucoup de
chemises, deux habits neuf, des vestes, des culottes de
drap blanc, des gillets blancs, deux paires de bottes, des
bas de fil et de coton, des bas de soie, beaucoup de
mouchoirs de poche, et plusieurs autres choses. Tu
garderas cela chez toi jusqu'à mon retour en France,
si j'ai le bonheur d'y revenir; sans cela, tu en pro-
fiteras.
Si d'ici en plusieurs mois que tu apprend que la demi-
brigade est rentrée en France, et que tu ne reçoive pas
de mes nouvelles, tu peux écrire au conseil d'administra-
tion de la demi-brigade, pour lui reclamer ce dont je
pourrois avoir, et si le tout arrive à bon port, tu don-
neras quatre louis d'or à Henriette, et quatre louis à
Joseph, et toi, tu profiteras de l'autre part.
Assure bien de mes amitiés ta chère épouse, mes
sœurs, et frères, et toute la famille, sans manquer ton
secrétaire, et crois moi pour la vie,
Ton bon frère,
Rozis, Capitaine,
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
225
1
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria, September 25th.
Rozis to his Brother.
"TIs with great pleasure, my dear brother, that I
write you the present; hoping it will have the good
fortune to reach you, in spite of the prodigious diffi-
culties we find in sending or receiving a letter by sea,
on account of the total destruction of our fleet.
The English are at this moment complete masters of
the Mediterranean; we are reduced, therefore, to the
disagreeable necessity of trusting all our correspondence
with France to neutral vessels: even these can only
hope to convey it, by escaping the vigilance of the
English; for if they are taken they are burnt.
We were marched from Rome, as I wrote to you in
my last. letter from Civita Vecchia at the moment we
were going on board the transports. You must have
discovered the state of my mind from that letter. I
have had misfortunes enough in my life, but never any,
I can assure you, like that which I then experienced.
I was forced to quit a charming girl, with a very pretty
fortune, when I was on the point of being made happy.-
Yes, obliged to leave her without any hope of ever
seeing her again! I shall never find such another match!
but what can be said?-'tis my hard fortune!
We went on board without knowing whither we
were going. When we reached Malta we were told
that our destination was to besiege that place, and in
three days we made ourselves masters of it. We staid
PART II.
e
226
COPIES OF
1
}
there five or six days to recruit ourselves, and then put
to sea, without the least information being given to the
army with respect to the place of its future destination.
We sailed for eighteen days, when we fell in with the
land, and found ourselves before the city of Alexandria,
the metropolis of Turkey, and in a state of open res
bellion against the Grand Seignior *
·
1
As soon as we were put on shore we began to fight
against certain nations, known by the name of Be-
douins: nations of the most barbarous kind. At first
they made no prisoners. When General Bonaparte
saw this, he sent them a 'Manifesto in their own lán-
guage, informing them, that if they put their prisoners
to death, he should be obliged to retaliate. Notwith-
standing this, they have not altered their conduct.
?
At présent we are victorious. In one action alone we
(word illegible) or killed near ten thousand, and having
put the remainder to flight, pursued them into Upper
Egypt, on the side of Jerusaleth!!! I have not yet
heard what will be our next expedition.
I must how inform you, my dear brother, that I
have a trunk in the hands of one of my friends, a
master tailor in the demi-brigade. I shall send to him
>
•
7
{
* We are almost weary of remarking on the gross ignoranċe
of the officers of the French army; and yet it is impossible not
to notice such passages as the above. Calling Alexandria the
capital of Turkey is what we should have some difficulty in ex-
cusing in a follower of the camp; but when we find a Captain
asserting that Alexandria was in a state of rebellion against the
Porte, and in consequence of it actually destroying the Turks un-
der the idea that he was obliging the Grand Seignior,-nous y per-
dons notre latin, and, indeed, our patience. Bonaparte seems
to have formed a just estimate of the capacity of his officers, and
to have made their unparallelled credulity the foundation of his
own unparallelled assurance !
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
227
1
by this conveyance that you may have no difficulty in
executing my commission. Write a letter, therefore,
and direct it to Citizen Grivet, master-tailor to the
depôt of the 88th brigade, Fort Bareau, near Chambery.
He will send the trunk wherever you order it. I would
have you repair to Auch, call upon Dumont's eldest son
(a merchant there) remember me kindly to him, and
request him, in my name, to assist you in facilitating
its arrival.-Be assured that he will render me this ser-
vice-be assured, my dear brother, that the trunk is
worth looking after. There is rare booty in it-You
will find, among other things, six louis d'ors, a pair
of silver buckles, a number of shirts, two new coats,
some waistcoats and breeches of white cloth, some
white under-waistcoats, two pair of boots, several pair
of thread and cotton stockings, some silk ones, a num-
ber of pocket handkerchiefs, and many other articles.
These you will take charge of till my return to France;
if I am ever happy enough to return there,-if not,
apply them to your own use.
If you ever happen to hear that the demi-brigade is
returned home, and, after a competent time, receive
no letter from me, you may then write to the Council
of Administration of the Brigade, for whatever belonged
to me; and if it reaches you in safety, I would wish
you to give four louis to Henrietta, and four to Joseph,
-the rest keep for yourself.
Present my love to your dear wife, to my brothers
and sisters, and to all the family, not forgetting your
secretary.
T
I remain, ever yours affectionately,
Rozis, Capt.
Q 2
228
COPIES OF
J
No. XXXI.
+ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΣ ΕΛΕΏ͵ ΘΕΟΥ͂ ᾿ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ
ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΥΠΟΛΕΟΣ ΝΕΑΣ ΡΩΜΗΣ ΚΑΙ
ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΗΣ.
४
Εντιμότατοι Κληρικοὶ καὶ τιμιώτατοι Πρόκριτοι, καὶ λοιποὶ ἅπας
ξάπαντες εὐλογημένοι Χρισιανοὶ τῆς Κερκύρας, Κεφαληνίας, Ζακίνθε,
Τζιρίγε, Ιθάκης, καὶ ἁγίας Μάυρας, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, τέκνα ἐν Κυρίῳ
ἀγαπητὰ τῆς ἡμῶν μετριότητος, χάρις εἴη ὑμῖν ἅπασι, καὶ ειρήνη, καὶ
ἔλεος παρὰ Θεῦ Κυρὶν παντοκράτορος, παρ ἡμῶν δὲ εὐχὴ, εὐλογίας
καὶ συγχώρησις. Οἱ πονηρὸς καὶ ἀρχέκακος ὄφις ἀφ᾽ ᾧ δολίως ἐπλά-
νεσε τὴν ἀνθρώτητα με πολυειδεὶς ἀπάτας καὶ τρόπες διὰ νὰ τὰς
σύρη ἐἰς τὴν ἀπώλειαν, τελευτᾶιον εἰς τὰς ἐσχάτες τύτες ἀιῶνας,
ἐπινοήσας τὸ γένος τῶν Γάλλων δεκτικώτερον τῆς πονηρίας, ἔχυσε δαψι
λῶς εἰς τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν τὸν ἰὸν τῆς ἀποςασίας πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ
ἀφ᾿ τὰς ἔφερεν εις μίαν ἀλληλομαχίαν καὶ εἰς ἐλεεινὴν βασιλοκτονίαν,
τότε ἀμέσως τὰς ἔῤῥιψε καὶ εἰς πάντελῆ ἀθεΐαν καὶ ἀσέβειαν. Καὶ
τῦτό, ἀφ᾽ ἡ ἀνωτάτω πρόνοια τῷ Θεῷ ἀπὸ ἄκραν φιλανθρωπίαν δὲν
ἀφῆκεν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπρονόητον καὶ ἀπερίσκεπτοι, ἀλλὰ τὸ
περιώρισε μὲ νόμος πνευματικὲς διὰ νὰ τὸ περισφίγγῃ εἰς τὴν τῇ Θεο
ὑποταγὴν, καθὼς τὴ δόμα το Θεῦ λαλει διὰ τὸ προφητάνακτος
Δαβίδ,, Λύχνος τοῖς ποσίμε ὁ νόμος σε καὶ φῶς ταις τρίβοις με καὶ
τὸ συνέδεσε μὲ πολιτικὲς ὅρες καὶ βασιλικὰς διοικήσεις διὰ νὰ περιφέρεια
ρῆται ἡ ἀνθρωπότης ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ψυχικῶς μὲν διὰ τῶν θέσων νόμων
τῆς θρησκείας καὶ τῆς πίσεως, σωματικῶς δὲ μὲ τὴν διοίκησιν τῶν
βασιλικῶν θεσπισμάτων. ὡσὰν ὑπὸ προγνωρίζει ἡ θεια δικαιοσύνη καὶ
φιλανθρωπία, ὅτι ἡ ἀνθρωπότης ἐκτραχηλίζεται εὐκόλως εις ανωδίας
ἐκσυνεργειας τῶ διαβόλε, καὶ ἀμνημονει τὸ φῶς τῆς θεογνωσίας . διὰ
τέτο κατέτησε τὰς ἐπιγειες βασιλέιας διὰ νὰ βατὰ ἐν κημῷ καὶ
χαλινῷ, κατὰ τὸν Δαβίδ, τὲς ἀνθρώπες εἰς τὴν ὀρθότητα καὶ εὐταξί
Οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐν κατὰ μίμησιν τῷ Θεῷ ἐἰσὶ διωρισμένοι ἐς τὸν
OLY.
A
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
229
४
η
αν
περίγειον τᾶτον κόσμον διὰ νὰ γυμνάζωσι τὰς ἀνθρώπες εἰς ὑποταγήν,
καὶ νὰ ἀναχαιτίζωσι τὰς ὁρμὰς τῆς κακίας μὲ τὴν δοθεισαν εις αὐτὸς
ἐξεσίαν παρὰ Θεᾶ, δι' αυτῇ γὰρ βασιλεις βασιλεύεσι, καὶ ἐικῆ τὴν
μάχαιραν ἐ φορῦσιν, ἀποφάινεται ὁ θειος ᾿Απόςολος Παῦλος, ἀλλ᾽
εἰς ἔπαινον τῶν ἀγαθοποιῶν, ἐκδίκησιν δὲ τῶν κακοποιῶν, ὅτι ἄν ἔλιπεν
ἡ βασιλικὴ ἐξεσία οι άνθρωποι ὡς ἐπιῤῥεπεις εἰς τὴν κακίαν,, ἔγκειται
γὰρ ἡ διάνοια τῇ ἀνθρώπε ἀπὸ νεότητος ἐπὶ τὰ πονηρὰ,, ἔμελλον να
κατεξανίσανται ὁ εἷς κατὰ τὸ ἑτέρε, ὥςε νὰ ἀνατατωθῇ τὸ πᾶν, καὶ
ἡ ἀνθρωπότης νὰ γίνῃ ἕνας κυκεών. Καὶ δι᾿ αὐτὸ τἔτο ὁ πονηρὸς διά-
βολος δια να φέρῃ τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα εις μίαν ἀκαταςασίαν, ἥτις
προέρχεται ἐκ τῆς ἀναρχίας, ὡς καὶ ἡ φιλοσοφία πρεσβένει, ἐκίνησε
τὲς Γάλλος εις βασιλοκτονίαν καὶ παρὰ χρημα ἀπεδείχθη φανερῶς
τε διαβόλε τὸ σκοπέμενον, ὅτι ἀφαιρεσεν ἀπὸ τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν καὶ
τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ὑποταγὴν, οἵτινες διὰ νὰ ἐλκύσωσιν εὐκόλως τις ανθρώπ
πως εἰς τὴν ἀσέβειαν τάυτην ὑπέκρυψαν τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἀποςασίαν, μὲ
τὸ δέλεαρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας καὶ μὲ τὴν πρότασιν τῆς ὁμοιότητος καὶ
ισότητος. καὶ ἀφ' * κατεπάτησαν τις θεσμὸς τῆς θρησκείας τῶν
ἠθέτησαν ἅμα καὶ τὲς ὅρες τῆς φιλίας, ὡς ἐνδομεν προφανῶς τὰς αντα-
ποκρίσεις ὑπὸ ἔδειξαν καὶ εἰς τὴν Οθωμανικὴν Κραταιὰν τάυτην βα-
σιλέιαν, ἥτις καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἀνάγκης δὲν ἀπεσράφη αὐτές. Αὐτοὶ δὲ
ἐξ ἐναντίας ἐφάνησαν προφανείς ἀντικειμενοι, καὶ δολίως μὲ διάφορα
γράμματα ἀπατηλὰ ἠθέλησαν νὰ ἐνοχλήσαν τὴν βασιλέιαν τάυτην,
καὶ νὰ διεχέιρων τὰς ὑποκειμένες λαός της εις ακαταςασίαν καὶ ἄνταρα
σίαν ὧν τὰ ἀποτελέσματα είναι ἄλληλομαχία φονοκτονία, καὶ λοιπά.
ἐφ' οις ὁ διάβολος χαίρει, καὶ ἀγωνίζεται ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐις αυτὰ νὰ καὶ
ταςήσῃ τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα. καὶ ἔτερα ἀπὸ τόσας δολιότητας ἐποίησαν
προφανῶς καὶ τὴν λῃτρικὴν ἀυτῶν ἔφοδον εις "Αιγυπτον. ὅθεν καὶ διὰ
τῦτο ἡ κραταιὰ βασιλέια αυτη δικαίως ἐκήρυξε πόλεμον διὰ ξηρᾶς καὶ
θαλάσσης κατ' αυτῶν διὰ νὰ ἐκδικηθῇ τῇ Θεια συνάσει αὐτὲς τὸς
ὀλετῆρας τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος, τὰς ἀντάρτας το Θεῦ, καὶ τὰς λυμεώνας
τῆς κοινῆς εὐταξίας καὶ ἐιρήνης. Καὶ ἐπὶ τέτῷ αὐτῷ συνεκάλεσε καὶ
συμμάχες ἰσχυρὸς βασιλεις τὸν τῆς Ῥωσίας, καὶ Βρετανίας τὲς καὶ
ὁμοφρονῦντας ἐἰς αὐτὸν τὸν ἔνθεον σκοπὸν, διὰ νὰ λυτρώσωσι τὴν άνθρω
πότητα ἀπὸ τὰ μέλλοντα κακὰ, καὶ νὰ διατηρήσωσιν εις τὴν οικεμένην
τὰς βασιλικὰς διοικήσεις ἐν τοῖς ὁρίοις ἀφτῶν. Ὅθεν ἡ Οθωμανορασί
1
230
COPIES OF
</
εν
να
να
να
T8
راع
η να
κοβρετανικὴ ἁρμάδα ἔρχεται ἐἰς τὰ μέρη ταῦτα ὄχι κατὰ
τῶν νήσων αυτῶν καὶ τῶν ἐγκατοίκων, ἢ νὰ ὑποτάξη αυτές.
ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον διὰ νὰ ὑποςηρίξῃ αὐτὲς εἰς τὴν ἀληθῆ ἐλευθε
ρίαν, καὶ νὰ τὰς ἀπαλλάξη τα ζυγᾶ καὶ τῆς τυραννίδος εις
ἃ ακεσίως ὑπέπεσον, καὶ νὰ τὰς ἀπολυτρώσῃ ἀπὸ τὴν μέλ
λεσαν ασέβειαν καὶ ἀθεΐαν ὁπᾶ κατ᾽ ὀλίγον ὁλίγον ἡ λύμη
τῶν Γάλλων θέλει μεταδώσει ανεπαισθήτως εις αὐτὲς, καὶ
εις τὲς αὐτῶν ἀπογόνες. Λοιπὸν ἐπειδὴ ἡ Ἐκκλησία το
Χρις προνοεί τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ δέεται αεννάως
ὑπὲρ πάντων, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπὲρ βασιλέων, καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων
τῶν ἐν ὑπεροχῇ ὄντων, κατὰ τὸν θεῖον ἀπόςολον. διὰ τῆ το διὰ
προςαγῆς τῆς κραταιᾶς τάυτης βασιλέιας διακηρύττομεν εις
ὅλες τὲς ὀρθοδόξες τὲς κατοικέντας ἐν ταις νήσοις Κερκύρας,
Κεφαληνίας, Ζακίνθε, Ἰθάκης, Τζιρίγο, αγίας Μαύρας,
καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, ὅτι θέλησις, σκοπὸς καὶ ἀπόφασις τῶν συμπ
μαχέντων βασιλέων, ὡς προειπομεν, ειναι, διὰ νὰ ὑπερασ
πισθῶσι τὸς ὅρες τῆς ἀληθειας καὶ κοινῆς ἐυταξίας καὶ
ἐιρήνης, καὶ νὰ ἐκδικηθῶσι τὸς ἀντικειμένες καὶ δολιοτρόπες
Γάλλος, ὅιτινες μὲ τὰ νάματα τὰ ἰοβόλα τῆς νομιζομένης
ἐλευθερίας ἐγγράφως τε καὶ ἀγράφως προσπαθᾶσι νὰ ἀπα
τήσωσι τὲς ἀνθρώπες, καὶ νὰ τὰς κρημνίσωσιν εἰς τὰ βάρα-
θρα τῆς κακίας καὶ ἀποςασίας. Καὶ προτρέπομεν πάντας
ὑμᾶς ὡς γνήσια μέλη τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸ Χρισέ, καὶ ζηλωτὰς
εἰνέκαθεν τῶν ὀρθῶν δογμάτων τῆς πίςεως τῆςτε ευταξίας καὶ
ευνομίας, ὅπως ἅμα τῷ λαβειν τήν ἡμετέραν Πατριαχικὴν
ταύτην ἐπιςολὴν, εὐθὺς ἀποδιώξητε ἀπὸ τὰς νήσες ὑμῶν
αυτὲς τὰς ἀποςάτας τῇ Θεῖ, καὶ ὑπέλες τυράννες τῆς ἀντ
θρωπότητος. καὶ ἐνέμενοι μὲ τὰς συμμαχέσας δυνάμεις να
συναγωνισθῆτε καὶ ὑμεῖς μὲ ζῆλον καὶ προθυμίαν εις αφα
νισμὸν τῶν ἀπίςων τέτων Γάλλων διὰ νὰ ἀξιωθῆτε παρὰ
Θεῖ μὲν ἐλέες, παρὰ δὲ τάυτης τῆς Κραταιᾶς βασιλέιας να
ἀπολαύσητε τῆς ἐλευθερίας, καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τῶν ἀρχαίων προ-
νομίωνσας ἐσόμενοι ἐλέυθεροι εἰς τὸ ἑξῆς πλέον ἤ εις κάθε ἄλλον
καιρόν. Πληροφορέμεν ἂν ὑμᾶς διὰ προσαγῆς καὶ βελῆς
ἀμεταθέτει τῆς κραταιᾶς τάυτης βασιλέιας, ὅτι θέλετε
ια
τα
ΤΟ
να
να
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
231
ΤΟ
기
​ΤΟ
2/
ท
έχει κάθε πληρεξοσιότητα εις τὸ νὰ ἐκλεξητε ὅποιον τρόπον
διοικήσεως θέλετε κρίνῃ εὔλογον πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον τῆς πα-
τρίδος σας ἢ τὸν τρόπον δηλαδὴ τῆς ἀριςοκρατικῆς διοικήσεως
τῆς Ῥαγάζης, ἤ ὅποιον ἄλλον τρόπον βεληθῆτε. Ὅθεν
μὲ τὸ νὰ γνωρίζωμεν ἡμεῖς καὶ ἐσμεν πεπληροφορημένοι
ἀναμφιβόλως, ὅτι ἡ διακήρυξις τ8 πολέμε τοτε κατὰ τῶν
Γάλλων είναι δικαιοτάτη. Καὶ ὁσκοπὸς τῶν τριῶν τέτων
Δυνάμεων ειναι ἔνθεος καὶ σωτήριος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Καὶ
ἡ ἀπόφασις αυτῶν περὶ τῶν νήσων τέτων τῶν ὑποπεσόντων
εις χείρας τῶν Γάλλων ἐξ ἀπάτης ειναι διὰ νὰ τὰς ἀπολυ-
τρώσωσιν ἀπὸ τὴν λύμην τῆς γαλλικῆς δολιότητος, ἢ μᾶλλον
ειπειν αθείας, καὶ ὄχι διὰ ἄλλο τι, προκαταλαμβάνοντες
πατρικῶς συμβολεύομεν καὶ ἐνισχύομεν πάντας ὑμᾶς μὲ τὴν
χάριν τε παναγία Πνέυματος, καὶ σᾶς παραθαρρύνομεν
ανενδιάςως ὀπε αυτοκίνητοι νὰ συνακολεθήσητε εις τον ἔνθεον
σκοπὸν τῶν ἐιρημένων Δυνάμεων, διὰ νὰ ἀπολάυσητε βεβαιως
καὶ ἀδιςάκτως τῆς ποθεμένης ἐλευθερίας σας, καὶ νὰ συ-
ζήσητε ἐἰς τὸ ἑξῆς μὲ πολιτικὴν ευνομίαν καὶ διοικησιν, ἥτης
θέλει είναι πρὸς Θεὸν ἀρετὴ, καὶ τὰς ἀπογόνες ὑμῶν σωτής
Bios
καὶ κλίμαξ τῆς αιωνίς ζωὴς καὶ μελλέσης μακαριό
τητος. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν εὐχετικῶς, ἡ δὲ τῇ Θεᾶ χάρις, καὶ
ἡ εὐχὴ, καὶ ἡ ἐυλογία τῆς ἡμῶν μετιόρτητος ἔτη μετὰ πάντων
ύμων.
ท
n
Εκ Μηνὶ Σεπτεμβρίῳ Ἰνδικιώνος Β.
να
232
COPIES OF
TRANSLATION.
GREGORY, by the Grace of God Metropolitan of Constan
tinople (New Rome), and Ecumenical Patriarch.
MOST dear and honoured Clergy and Nobility, and
summarily, all ye Christians of Corfou, Cephalonia,
Zante, Cerigo, Ithaca, Saint Maure, &c. our beloved
children in the Lord! grace be unto you all, and peace
and mercy from the Lord God Almighty; and from us
prayer, blessing, and indulgence.
The serpent, the origin of all ill, who first beguiled
mankind by various frauds and illusions, that he might
draw them to perdition, perceiving in these latter days,
that the French nation was more capable of wickedness
than any other, has poured without measure into their
souls the poison of apostacy; and having first instigated
them to civil war, and barbarous regicide, has finally
plunged them into every species of impiety and ungodli
ness. This mischief he has effected, notwithstanding
the supreme wisdom of God, and his love to mankind,
had never left them unprotected by his providence, but
had regulated them by spiritual laws, in order to keep
them in obedience to God (as he spoke by the mouth of
the Royal Prophet; "Thy law is a lamp to my feet,
"and a light to my path"); and had also bound them
by political institutions, and kingly governments, that
they might be preserved from a two-fold evil,-spiri-
tually, by the divine laws of religious worship; and
temporally, by the institutes of regal authorities.
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
233
For since the Divine Mercy foresaw that human na-
ture was prone to remissness of duty, and forgetful
of the light of divine knowledge, he appointed earth-
ly monarchs to keep them (according to David) in
the paths of virtue and good order. Kings, there-
fore, as the representatives of God, are distributed
through this lower world, to exercise men in the prac-
tice of obedience, and to preserve them from the paths
of error, through the authority intrusted to them by
HIM "through whom kings reign." The holy Apostle
Paul declares, "that THEY do not bear the sword in
vain, but for the praise of well-doers, and the punish-
ment of such as do evil;" so that if kingly power were
taken away, mankind falling precipitately into wicked-
ness (" for the thought of man is prone to evil from his
youth"), would rise up one against another, and the
world would become a chaos of misery.
Knowing this, the wicked one, that he might bring
mankind to that state of confusion which always fol-
lows a want of government (as right philosophy also
teaches), stirred up the French to murder their king;
then was made manifest his purpose, in seducing their
minds from obedience to God. But these French, that
they might draw all the world to their own impiety,
concealed their revolt from God under the specious bait
of Liberty, and the pretext of a perfect Equality. And
when they afterwards proceeded to trample under foot
all the duties of their religion, they set at nought all the
treaties of alliance, as we clearly see by their ungrateful
conduct to the Ottoman Porte, which, in the time of
their necessity had never deserted them. They, on the
contrary, shewed themselves openly hostile, and with
subtle and designing publications, craftily attempted to
234
COPIES OF
督
​trouble this empire, and force its subjects into anarchy
and rebellion, of which the consequences are, civil war,
murder, pillage, &c.:-and finally, after all these artifices,
they have made, in the face of the world, a piratical at-
tempt upon Egypt; on account of which, this mighty
empire has justly declared war against them by land and
by sea, that by the Divine Assistance, it may punish
these destroyers of mankind, these aliens from God, and
these perturbators and pests of the general peace and
good order of the world.
And for this purpose, our mighty Emperor has called
in his powerful allies, the Monarchs of Russia and Great
Britain, who having the same righteous end in view with
himself, will co-operate with him in freeing mankind
from the impending evils, and preserving the adminis-
trations of regal power, with all its constituted autho-
rities.
WHEREFORE, the fleets of the three allied powers
will speedily come into your parts, not against the Islands
and their inhabitants, to subdue them, but rather to
strengthen them in true liberty, to break the yoke of
tyranny under which they have unwillingly fallen, and
to redeem them from the impending impiety and atheism
with which the contagious example of the French
threatens speedily, very speedily, to infect them and
their posterity.
Finally, since the Church of Christ watches for the sal-
vation of mankind, and prays without ceasing for all, but
particularly for Kings, and for those who are in authority
underthem (according to the Apostle). WE, therefore, by
the command of this government, declare to all the or-
thodox inhabitants of the Islands of Corfou, Cephalonia,
Zante, Ithaca, Cerigo, St. Maure, &c, that the sole
ORIGINAL LETTERS.
235
will, intent, and purpose, of the allied powers is to ex-
tend the shield of their protection over the boundaries of
truth and good order, and peace; and to punish those
hostile and insidious French, who, with the poisonous
streams of their pretended Liberty, endeavour, by speak-
ing and writing, to deceive mankind, and to precipitate
them into the abyss of wickedness and apostacy. And
We exhort you all, as true members of the Church of
Christ, and zealous for the pure doctrine of faith, and
harmony, and obedience, on the receipt of this our Pa-
triarchal Epistle, to drive forthwith from your Islands,
those apostates from God, those pernicious tyrants of
mankind; and co-operating with the Allied Powers, to
assist personally, with promptitude and zeal in the dis-
comfiture of those faithless French; that so ye may
render yourselves worthy of the Divine Mercy, and
obtain from the Sublime Porte a liberty surpassing even
that of your ancient polity; for we promise that ye
shall henceforth enjoy more freedom than at any former
time. We therefore declare unto you, by the command
and unchangeable will of our Monarch, that ye shall
have full power to select whatever form of government
ye shall judge most conducive to the benefit of your
country, either the aristocratical constitution of Ragusa,
or any other that may please you better. For OUR-
SELVES, knowing, and being fully and unequivocally
convinced, that the present declaration of war against
the French is most just; and farther, that the scope and
design of the Allied Powers is truly the deliverance of
mankind; and that their intention, with respect to these
Islands, which have fallen into the hands of the French
by treachery, is to rescue them from the curse of Gallic
craftiness, or, to speak more truly, impiety, and nothing
236
}
COPIES, &C.
else; We do, therefore, in our fatherly care, earnestly
beseech and exhort you all, by the Grace of the Holy
Spirit, to concur personally, and with one accord, in
the laudable design of the aforesaid Powers; that so ye
may be firmly and immoveably possessed of the desired
liberty; and that ye may henceforth abide in that politi-
cal harmony, and good government, which will be pleas-
ing to God, salutary to your posterity, and finally lead to
eternal life, and a happy futurity. This is the sum of
OUR wishes. The Grace of God, and the prayers and
blessings of our spiritual jurisdiction, be upon you all!
The Indixwv, by which the Patriarch dates, is an epoch con
taining a cycle, or revolution of fifteen years; which, when ex-
pired, begins anew, and thus goes on without intermission.
According to the usual method of reducing it to our era
Ινδικιώνος Εν Μηνὶ Σεπτεμβρίῳ Β, should mean, September the 20
#798, the first year of the Indiction.
THE END.
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