Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Volume II

374

"The Mameloucs are an invincible race, 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 horrible savages, and yet they have some notion of gold and silver! a small quantity of it serves to excite their admiration. 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 continuing 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 these men, whom thou call'st 'the men of nature?' – thou wouldst sink with shame, thou wouldst startle with horror at the thought of having once admired them! Adieu, my dear brother. This climate kills me; we shall be so altered, that you will discover the change at a league's distance. Remember me to the legislator Lucien. He might have sailed with us to advantage; we see more in two days than common travellers in two years." – Louis Buonaparte to his brother Joseph, dated Alexandria, July 6th; Intercepted Correspondence, part i., p. 8.

375

See it in the Appendix to this volume, No. VII.

376

"You will laugh outright, you witlings of Paris, at the Mahometan proclamation of the commander-in-chief. He is proof, however, against all your raillery; and the thing itself will certainly produce a most surprising effect. You recollect that produced by the magic cry of 'Guerre aux chateaux, paix aux cabines!'" – Joubert to General Bruix; Intercepted Letters, part i., p. 31.

"I send you the proclamation to the inhabitants of the country. It 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 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." – Louis Buonaparte; Intercepted Correspondence, part i., p. 7

377

"It would be difficult to describe the disgust, the discontent, the melancholy, the despair of the army, on its first arrival in Egypt: Napoleon himself saw two dragoons throw themselves into the Nile. – One day, losing his temper, he rushed among a group of discontented generals, and addressing himself to the tallest, 'You have held mutinous language,' said he, with vehemence; 'it is not your being six feet high that should save you from being shot in a couple of hours.'" – Las Cases, tom. i., p. 206.

378

Jomini, tom. x., p. 407.

379

Las Cases, tom. i., p. 210.

380

Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 243.

381

"Pour toute harangue, Buonaparte leur addresse ces mots, qu'on peut regarder comme le sublime de l'éloquence militaire. – 'Soldats! vous allez combattre aujourdhui les dominateurs de l'Egypte; songez que du haut de ces Pyramides, quarante siècles vous contemplent!'" – Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 267.

382

Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 245; Miot, p. 50; Jomini, tom. x., p. 408; Thibaudeau, tom. iv., p. 184; Larrey, p. 13.

383

"About nine in the evening, Napoleon entered the country house of Murad Bey at Gizeh. Such habitations bear no resemblance to our chateaux. We found it difficult to make it serve for our lodging, and to understand the distribution of the different apartments. But what struck the officers, was a great quantity of cushions and divans covered with the finest damasks and silks of Lyons, and ornamented with gold fringe. The gardens were full of magnificent trees, but without alleys. What most delighted the soldiers (for every one came to see the place,) were great arbours of vines covered with the finest grapes in the world. The vintage was soon over." – Napoleon, Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 249.

384

Buonaparte made his entry into Cairo on the 26th of July. On the 22d, he issued from Gizeh the following proclamation: —

"People of Cairo! I am satisfied with your conduct. You have done right not to take any part against me: I am come to destroy the race of the Mamelukes, and to protect the trade and the natives of the country. Let all those who are under any fear be composed; and let those who have quitted their houses return to them. Let prayers be offered up to-day, as usual, for I wish that they may be always continued. Entertain no fear for your families, your houses, your property, and, above all, the religion of your Prophet, whom I love."

385

In a letter published in the Moniteur, No. 90, December 20, 1797, Buonaparte expresses the highest sense of Admiral Brueyes' firmness and talent, as well as of the high order in which he kept the squadron under his command; and concludes by saying, he had bestowed on him, in the name of the directory, a spy-glass of the best construction which Italy afforded. – S.

386

Intercepted Letters, part i., p. 219.

387

Mr. Southey's "Life of Admiral Nelson;" in which one of the most distinguished men of genius and learning whom our age has produced, has recorded the actions of the greatest naval hero that ever existed. – S.

388

Buonaparte, on the 19th of August, addressed, from Cairo, the following letter to the widow of the unfortunate admiral:

"Your husband has been killed by a cannon-shot, while fighting on his deck. He died without pain, and by the best death, and that which is thought by soldiers most enviable. I am keenly sensible to your grief. The moment which severs us from the object we love is terrible; it insulates us from all the earth; it inflicts on the body the agonies of death; the faculties of the soul are annihilated, and its relations with the universe subsist only through the medium of a horrible dream, which alters every thing. Mankind appear colder and more selfish than they really are. In this situation we feel that, if nothing obliged us to live, it would be much best to die; but when, after this first thought, we press our children to our hearts, tears and tender feelings revive the sentiments of our nature, and we live for our offspring; yes, madam, see in this very moment, how they open your heart to melancholy: you will weep with them, you will bring them up from infancy – you will talk to them of their father, of your sorrow, of the loss which you and the Republic have sustained. After having once more attached your mind to the world by filial and maternal love, set some value on the friendship and lively regard which I shall always feel for the wife of my friend. Believe that there are a few men who deserve to be the hope of the afflicted, because they understand the poignancy of mental sufferings."

389

"At ten o'clock a vessel which was burning, blew up with a tremendous noise, which was heard as plainly at Rosetta as the explosion of Grenelle at Paris. This accident was succeeded by a pitchy darkness, and a most profound silence, which continued for about ten minutes." – Poussielque to his Wife; Intercepted Letters, part i., p. 208.

"L'Orient blew up about eleven in the evening. The whole horizon seemed on fire, the earth shook, and the smoke which proceeded from the vessel ascended heavily in a mass, like an immense black balloon. It then brightened up, and exhibited the objects of all descriptions, which had been precipitated on the scene of conflict. What a terrible moment of fear and desolation for the French, who witnessed this awful catastrophe!" – Louis Buonaparte.

390

"I know not whether the Archbishop of Malines did or did not apply the term Jupiter Scapin to Napoleon; but to me it appears incontestable, that the name of Scapin would be much more aptly bestowed on the writer, a bishop and an ambassador, who could be capable of such impertinence towards the sovereign he represented." – Louis Buonaparte, p. 32.

391

"It is not true that in Egypt Napoleon showed himself almost persuaded of the truth of the mission of Mahomet. Doubtless, deceit and falsehood should be banished from the language of true policy, since as government ought to be, as much as is in the power of men, the image of God upon earth, its language ought to be that of truth and justice. This, however, does not preclude the right of respecting the religious worship and opinions of a conquered nation, and it was in this sense that the proclamations addressed by my brother to the Mussulmen should be regarded. They would not have been understood by these people, if they had not spoken their language. Whilst I was in Holland, I rejected at first the title of Emperor given to the King of Holland by the Sublime Porte; but upon expressing my astonishment I was assured that the Porte gave this title to the sovereigns of other countries, and that that of king would not be understood." – Louis Buonaparte, p. 34.

392

This conversation appeared officially in the Moniteur. Bourrienne, notwithstanding, asserts that Buonaparte never set foot in the pyramid. He acknowledges, indeed, that "with the heads of the Mahometan priesthood he held frequent conversations on these subjects;" but adds, "in all this there was nothing serious; it was rather an amusement. If he ever spoke as a Mussulman, he did so in the capacity of a military and political chief in a Mahometan country. On this depended his success, the safety of the army, and consequently his glory. It is true, he had a Turkish dress made for him, but only as a joke. One morning he desired me to begin breakfast without waiting; a quarter of an hour after, he entered in his new costume. Scarcely was he recognised, when we received him with bursts of laughter. He took his place with a gravity which heightened the effect, but found himself so ill at ease as an Oriental, that he soon went to undress, and never gave a second exhibition of this masquerade." – Bourrienne, tom. ii., p. 164.

393

Alluding to the capture of the island of Malta, and subjection of the Pope, on which he was wont to found as services rendered to the religion of Mahomet. – S.

394

Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 261.

395

Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 363.

396

"The night overtook us, the waters began to rise around us, when the horsemen ahead cried out that their horses were swimming. General Buonaparte rescued the whole party by one of those simple expedients which occur to an imperturbable mind. Placing himself in the centre, he bade all the rest form a circle round him, and then ride out each man in a separate direction, and each to halt as soon as he found his horse swimming. The man whose horse continued to march the last, was sure, he said, to be in the right direction; him, accordingly we all followed, and reached Suez, at midnight in safety; though so rapidly had the tide advanced, that the horses were more than breast-high in the water." —Memoirs of Savary, vol. i., p. 97.

397

Las Cases, tom. i., p. 211.

398

"While the army was passing through Syria, there was scarcely a soldier but was heard to repeat these lines from Zaire: —

'Les Français sont las de chercher désormais Des climats que pour eux le destin n'a point faits, Ils n'abandonnent point leur fertile patrie Pour languir aux deserts de l'aride Arabie.'

When the men found themselves in the midst of the Desert, surrounded by the boundless ocean of sand, they began to question the generosity of their general; they thought he had observed singular moderation in having promised each of them only seven acres – 'The rogue,' said they, 'might with safety give us as much as he pleases; we should not abuse his good-nature.'" – Las Cases, tom. i., p. 210.

399

See his despatch to the Directory, on the Syrian campaign. – Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 374.

400

Expédition en Egypte et Syrie, p. 148.

401

"I asked him about the massacre of the Turks at Jaffa: he answered, 'C'est vrai; J'en fis fusiller à peu près deux mille.'" – Memorandum of Two Conversations between the Emperor Napoleon and Viscount Ebrington at Porto-Ferraio, p. 12.

"I observed, that Miot asserted that he (Napoleon) had caused between three and four thousand Turks to be shot, some days after the capture of Jaffa. He answered, 'It is not true that there were so many; I ordered about a thousand or twelve hundred to be shot, which was done.'" – O'Meara vol. i., p. 328.

402

See Jomini, tom. xi., p. 403; Thibaudeau, tom. ii., p. 172; Savary, tom. i., p. 100; Bourrienne, tom. ii., p. 226; Martin, Hist. de l'Expédition d'Egypte, tom. i., p. 289.

403

O'Meara, vol. ii., p. 128.

404

See Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 372.

405

Philippeaux died during the siege, of a fever brought on by fatigue. Buonaparte spoke of him with more respect than he usually showed to those who had been successful in opposing him. One reason might be, that the merit given to Philippeaux was in some degree subtracted from Sir Sidney Smith. The former was a Frenchman, and dead – the latter alive, and an Englishman. – S. – "Sir Sidney Smith behaved very bravely, and was well seconded by Philippeaux, a Frenchman of talent, who had studied with me as an engineer." – Napoleon, Voice, &c., vol. i., p. 210.

406

Related by Miot as communicated to him by Murat. – S. – "Le sort de l'Orient est dans cette bicoque; la chute de cette ville est le but de mon expédition; Damas doit en être le fruit." – Miot, p. 184.

407

"La victoire est au plus opiniâtre." – Miot, p. 199.

408

Miot, p. 199.

409

Caffarelli was shot in the elbow, and died of the amputation of the limb. He had before lost a leg, which induced the French soldiers, who disliked him as one of the principal contrivers of the Egyptian expedition, to say, when they saw him hobble past, "He, at least, need care little about the matter – he is sure to have one foot in France." He had some days' delirium before he died; but Count Las Cases reports, (vol. i., p. 220,) that whenever Buonaparte was announced, his presence – nay, his name alone – seemed to cure the wanderings of the patient's spirit, and that this phenomenon was renewed so often as the general made him a visit. – S.

410

Las Cases, tom. i., partie seconde, p. 384. The extravagance of Napoleon's plan unavoidably reminds us of the vanity of human wishes. The cause to which he ascribes it is the mistake of a captain of a frigate, who, instead of forcing his way to Acre, against the opposition of two ships of the line, was unfortunately taken by them. This is a mode of reasoning which Napoleon was very ready to adopt. The miscarriage of his plans was seldom imputed by him to the successful wisdom or valour of an enemy, but to some accidental circumstance, or blunder, which deranged the scheme which must otherwise have been infallible. Some of his best generals were of a different opinion, and considered the rashness of the attack upon Acre, as involving the certainty of failure. Kleber is reported to have said, that the Turks defended themselves with the skill of Christians, and that the French attacked like Turks. – S.

411

O'Meara, vol. i., p. 331.

412

Warden's Letters, p. 156.

413

Voice from St. Helena, vol. ii., p. 333.

414

History of the British Expedition to Egypt, vol. i., p. 127.

415

Miot gives a melancholy, but too true a picture, of the indifference with which soldiers, when on a retreat, regard the sufferings of those whose strength does not enable them to keep up with the march. He describes a man, affected by the fear of being left to the cruelties of the Turks, snatching up his knapsack, and staggering after the column to which he belonged, while his glazed eye, uncertain motion, and stumbling pace, excited the fear of some, and the ridicule of others. "His account is made up," said one of his comrades, as he reeled about amongst them like a drunkard. "He will not make a long march of it," said another. And when, after more than one fall, he at length became unable to rise, the observation that "he had taken up his quarters," was all the moan which it was thought necessary to make. It is in these cases, as Miot justly observes, that indifference and selfishness become universal; and he that would be comfortable must manage to rely on his own exertions, and, above all to remain in good health. – S.

416

See Thibaudeau, tom. ii., p. 272; Martin, tom. i., p. 315; Desgenettes, Hist. Médicale de l'Armée d'Orient, p. 97; Larrey, Relation Chirurgicale de l'Armée d'Orient, p. 117; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 299. "I feel ashamed," says Savary, "to advert to the atrocious calumny; but the man whose simple assertion was found sufficient to give it currency, has not been able to stifle it by his subsequent disavowal. The necessity to which we were reduced of using roots as a substitute for opium, is a fact known to the whole army. Supposing, however, that opium had been as plentiful as it was scarce, and that General Buonaparte could have contemplated the expedient attributed to him, where could there be found a man sufficiently determined in mind, or so lost to the feelings of human nature, as to force open the jaws of fifty wretched men on the point of death, and thrust a deadly preparation down their throats? The most intrepid soldier turned pale at the sight of an infected person; the warmest heart dared not relieve a friend afflicted with the plague; and is it to be credited that brutal ferocity could execute what the noblest feelings recoiled at? or that there should have been a creature savage or mad enough to sacrifice his own life, in order to enjoy the satisfaction of hastening the death of fifty dying men, wholly unknown to him?" —Memoirs, tom. ii., p. 106.

417

Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 323.

418

"Brave Desaix! He would have conquered any where. He was skilful, vigilant, daring – little regarding fatigue, and death still less. He would have gone to the end of the world in quest of victory." – Napoleon, Antommarchi, vol. i., p. 376.

419

Jomini, tom. xi., p. 420; Thibaudeau, tom. ii., p. 297; Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 320.

420

Gourgaud, tom. iii., p. 328.

421

Miot, p. 249.

422

"Les Turcs maintenaient le combat avec succes; mais Murat, par un mouvement rapide comme la pensée, dirigea sa gauche sur les derrières de leur droit," &c. – Buonaparte to the Directory.

423

Gourgaud states, that from three to four thousand Turks were driven into the sea. Berthier calculates the number at ten thousand: "L'ennemi ne croit avoir de ressource que dans la mer; dix mille hommes s'y précipitent; ils y sont fusilés et mitraillés. Jamais spectacle aussi terrible ne s'est presenté."

424

"This is probably the only instance, in the history of warfare, in which an army has been entirely destroyed. It was upon this occasion that Kleber, clasping Buonaparte round the waist, exclaimed, 'General, vous étés grand comme le monde!'" – Thiers, tom. x., p. 323.

425

"Notwithstanding his unheard-of destiny, Napoleon has often been heard to say, in speaking of Sir Sidney Smith, 'Cet homme m'a fait manquer ma fortune.'" – Thiers, tom. x., p. 314.

426

See Las Cases, vol. iii., p. 11; Savary's Memoirs, vol. i., p. 112; and Miot, p. 265.

427

"There existed no secret correspondence, whether private or official. Ten months had already elapsed, and we were still without news from Egypt." – Bourrienne, tom. ii., p. 309.

428

Intercepted Letters, part iii., p. 38.

429

General Menou was the last person to whom Napoleon spoke on shore. He said to him, "My dear general, you must take care of yourselves here. If I have the happiness to reach France, the reign of ranting shall be at an end." – Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 13.

430

"In consequence of the news from Europe, I have determined to return to France. I leave the command of the army to General Kleber. The army will soon hear news of me: I cannot explain more fully. It grieves me to the heart to separate myself from the soldiers, to whom I am so tenderly attached: but the separation shall be but for a moment; and the general whom I leave at your head possesses the confidence of the government, and mine."

431

Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 13.

432

"Gantheaume informed me, that he saw, at Ajaccio, the house that was occupied by Napoleon's family, the patrimonial abode. The arrival of their celebrated countryman immediately set all the inhabitants of the island in motion. A crowd of cousins came to welcome him, and the streets were thronged with people." – Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 14.

433

Bourrienne, tom. iii., p. 4; Miot, p. 269.

434

Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 230; Madame de Staël, tom. ii., p. 211.

435

Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 176; Montgaillard, tom. v., p. 126; Jomini, tom. xi., p. 380.

436

Botta, tom. ii., p. 571; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 145; Thiers, tom. x., p. 26; Annual Register, vol. xl., p. 38.

437

See Southey's Life of Nelson.

438

Jomini, tom. xiv., p. 316; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 241.

439

Annual Register, vol. xl., p. 244.

440

"Suwarrow is a most extraordinary man. He dines every morning about nine. He sleeps almost naked: he affects a perfect indifference to heat and cold; and quits his chamber, which approaches to suffocation, in order to review his troops, in a thin linen jacket, while the thermometer is at ten degrees below freezing. A great deal of his whimsical manner is affected: He finds that it suits his troops, and the people he has to deal with. I dined with him this morning. He cried to me across the table, 'Tweddell, the French have taken Portsmouth. I have just received a courier from England. The king is in the tower, and Sheridan protector!'" – Tweddell's Remains, p. 135.

441

Jomini, tom. xi., p. 275; Thiers, tom. x., p. 279.

442

The term, it is scarcely necessary to say, is derived from the childish amusement, where two boys swing at the opposite ends of a plank, moving up and down, in what Dr. Johnson calls "a reciprocating motion," while a third urchin, placed in the centre of motion, regulates their movements. – S.

443

Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 58.

444

Thiers, tom. x., p. 269; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 397.

445

See ante, vol. i., p. 56.

446

Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 61.

447

"Ducos was a man of narrow mind, and easy disposition. Moulins, a general of division, had never served in war: he was originally in the French guards, and had been advanced in the army of the interior. He was a worthy man, and a warm and upright patriot. Gohier was an advocate of considerable reputation, and exalted patriotism – an eminent lawyer, and a man of great integrity and candour." – Napoleon, Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 60.

448

Thiers, tom. x., p. 346; Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 56; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 385.