MEMOIRS OF DISTINGUISHED FOREIGNERS. NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE. NAPOLEON, on the 17th October, 1797, signed the celebrated treaty of Campo Formio, by which the French Republic acquired all the Austrian Netherlands, and Austria consented to acknowledge the Cisalpine Republic, better known under the name of the Lombardo-Venetian Republic. On the 1st of December following, Napoleon, at the Congress of Rastadt, signed, with the Count de Cobentzl, the military convention relative to the reciprocal evacuation of the French and German territories. In the preceding month (November), the Directory had appointed Napoleon Commander-in-Chief of the armies destined to the invasion of England. On Napoleon's return to Paris from Rastadt, the popular sentiment in his favour rose to enthusiasm. The Directory now saw that the mighty genius of this young conqueror would infallibly place him at the head of the nation. They foreboded their own downfall; but, although replete with jealousy, they had not the courage to oppose the public feelings, and they therefore voted a great national fête in honour of Napoleon. The directory received Napoleon with theatrical pomp, and dressed in magnificent antique costumes; the conqueror eclipsed their splendour by the simple uniform of Lodi and Arcola. The Consuls of the Republic gave him a national fète equally magnificent, and decreed that the street in which he resided (La rue Chanteraine), should be called the Street of Victory. The Institute chose him as successor of Carnot, then proscribed as a royalist; Talleyrand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave him a great public fête; and the homage of royalists and republicans was equally offered at his shrine. Napoleon, having inspected the army on the coast, was convinced of the impracticability of invading England, and he returned to Paris with a resolution of proposing the invasion and permanent occupation of Egypt, a project which he had conceived, and the plans of which he had matured even during the activity and exertions of his campaign in Italy. This was a gigantic conception of attacking Great Britain in the East where she was more vulnerable; and the Directory, influenced by an anxiety to get rid of a man whose presence concentrated every ray of national admiration and esteem, immediately fitted out the expedition for the invasion of Egypt. Forty thousand land forces and ten thousand marines were assembled in the ports of the Mediterranean, and thirteen sail of the line, fourteen frigates and four hundred transports and smaller vessels were put under sailing orders at Toulon; the fleet was under the command of Admiral Brueys, and Vice-Admirals Villeneuve, (who subsequently commanded at Trafalgar), Duchayla, Decres, and Gantheaume. The land-officers were, Berthier, Caffarelli, Kleber, Desaix, Regnier, Lannes, Damas, Murat, Andreossy, Belliard, Menou and Zayonscheek, afterwards ViceRoy of Poland. One hundred members of almost every branch of art and science were attached to the expedition. Among Napoleon's aidde-camps were his brother Louis, Duroc, Eugene, Beauharnois, the son of the director Merlin, and Sulkowski, a brave and noble Pole. The squadrons of Genoa, Civita-Vecchia, and Bastia were ordered to join the Toulon fleet. Talleyrand was dispathed to Constantinople to conciliate the Divan. Even the smallest minutiae of this celebrated expedition were exclusively planned by Napoleon. But on the eve of its departure the whole of these plans were nearly frustrated by a threatened rupture between France and Austria; the populace of Vienna had assaulted the hotel of Bernadotte, the French bassador, who failing to receive protection or satisfaction from the Government, demanded his passports, and had left the German capital. In this apprehension of a war the hopes of all France were directed to Napoleon, and he was invested with unlimited authority to treat with the Austrian cabinet. He assumed the most dictatorial tone in his correspondence, and brought the dispute to a speedy and favourable termination. It was on this occasion that in a violent dispute with the Directory Napoleon threatened his resig nation, and when the Director Rewbell is said to have presented him with a pen, desiring him at once to sign it. Napoleon arrived at Toulon on the 9th of May, 1797, he made one of his usual bold and comprehensive addresses to the soldiery, told them not where they were going, but promised them victory, and the value of six acres of land to each private on his return. On the 9th of June the fleet reached Malta, the army disembarked, and the next day this impregnable fortress surrendered to Napoleon. Thus terminated the Order of the Knights of Malta, after it had existed 268 years. Napoleon liberated all the Mahommedan captives that the Catholic cruelty had kept prisoners in Malta. On the 22d of June, the Arabian towers and the minarets of Alexaudria announced to the army the destination of their voyage; four and twenty hours before, the fleet of Nelson had touched at Alexandria, in quest of the French. Napoleon appreciated his extraordinary good fortane in thus escaping by so short an interval, and he immediately ordered the landing of the troops, when a strange sail was seen in the offing"Fortune," exclaimed Napoleon, "wilt thou abandon me! I ask of thee but five days." The sail. however, was not of Nelson's fleet, it was a French frigate; Napoleon and Kleber landed together, and that night planted the tri-coloured flag at Marabou. In order to strike terror into the inhabitants, and to impress the people with an idea of the vigour of European armies, Napoleon did not wait the total disembarkation of the troops, but with one division, at two o'clock that Eur. Mag. March, 1823. morning, he took the town of Alexandria by assault. His proclamation to his troops commanded them to respect the manners, customs, and even the superstition of the country. He prohibited pillage and violence to females, and his orders were dictated by the most enlightened policy and liberal principles. His fear of our fleet induced him to hurry the landing of the army; and he gave those orders to the admiral, that had they been executed would, it has since been proved, have rendered its destruction by Nelson a matter, if not impossible, at least of great difficulty. General Desaix, with one division and two pieces of cannon, passed the desert, and arrived the next day at Demenhour, fifteen leagues from Alexandria. Kleber being wounded was left in command of the latter city, and General Dugua marched upon Rosetta, which he captured, in order to protect the entry into the Nile of the French flotilla, which was to accompany the army marching on the left bank to Cairo. Napoleon arrived and concentrated his troops at Demenhour, and appeased the seditious spirit which they had manifested against him. At break of day he marched upon Rahmanich; the troops were exhausted with excessive thirst and with the heat of the burning sands of the desert, when they suddenly perceived the Nile. They spontaneously rushed into the water, but had scarcely assuaged their thirst when they were attacked by the Mamelukes, who, however, were defeated by General Desaix's cannon. The French waited two days at Rahmanieh, when the flotilla having come up, they proceeded in the night towards Cairo. The flotilla in its passage up the Nile was attacked by a very superior force, which it beat off, capturing the armed vessels of the enemy. Napoleon hearing the cannonade on his left marched to support his vessels, and fought a very severe action at the village of Chebreis, where the Mamelukes left 600 men dead on the field. The army rested a day at Chebreis, and arriving the next day at two o'clock in the afternoon at Embabé saw the Mamelukes drawn up before the village, the pyramids being in rear of their left, and the F majestic Nile with the city of Cairo appearing behind their right. The French were animated by this coup d'oeil of ancient scenery, but they were almost dropping with fatigue and thirst, and the enemy were too sensible to allow them any repose. The Mamelukes inspired with rage and religions enthusiasm, and from their ignorance of discipline holding infantry in great contempt, threw their beautiful cavalry against the solid square of French foot. European discipline had the ascendancy; the Mamelukes left 3000 dead on the field, Embabé was carried at the point of the bayonet; 40 pieces of cannon, 400 camels, with all the arms, baggage, provisions, and treasure of the Mamelukes, were taken by the French. This desperate fight was called the battle of the Pyramids, and lasted nineteen hours. In the night, General Dupuy entered Cairo, and marched through its long, strait, and silent streets. Cairo had been abandoned by the two Beys who ruled over Egypt. Mourad Bey took the route of Upper Egypt; Ibrahim Bey marched upon Syria. Desaix was ordered to pursue Mourad, and to carry a fortified camp four leagues before Giza; he took up his position at old Cairo and at Boulac. A corps was sent to Elkanka (spelt in the map Elhanka) to watch Ibrahim. The army, headed by Napoleon, joined this corps, intending to drive Ibrahim out of Egypt. At Belbeis they fell in with a caravan, and rescuing the merchants from the Arabs escorted it safely to Cairo. At Salahie, Napoleon defeated Ibrahim, and drove him into Syria. He established Regnier's division at Salahie and returned to Cairo. On his route he heard of the destruction of his fleet at Aboukir. Thus shut up in the land that he had conquered, with a powerful army under his command, and with the means of founding seminaries of literature, of science, and of art, it is to be lamented that Napoleon did not direct his views to becoming the Sovereign of Egypt. He might have reclaimed the inhabitants from their erratic and predatory modes of life; have brought the country under a regular and established government, and Egypt being civilized might have been the focus from which the rays of civilization might have spread through the surrounding nations of Asia and Africa, giving a totally different character to the inhabitants of those beautiful but almost devastated regions. At the approach of the overflowing of the Nile, the people of Cairo preserve an ancient superstition of celebrating the deity or genius of the river. Napoleon skilfully availed himself of this opportunity to gain an ascendancy over the minds of the inhabitants. He presided at the festival in company with the Pacha of Egypt-he himself gave the signal for throwing the statue of the marriage of the Nile into the river-he scattered gold among the peoplebestowed the Cafetan on the principal officers, and performed the ceremony of putting the black pelisse upon the Molah or guardian of the Mekias, in which is enclosed the statue of the Nile river god. The air was rent with cries of Mahomet and Bonaparte. Shortly after, the birth of Mahomet was celebrated with the usual magnificence. Napoleon appeared at the ceremony in an eastern costume, he did all the honours of the ceremony, and accepted the title of Ali Bonaparte. At the departure of the caravan from Cairo to Mecca, he afforded it his protection, went through the ceremonies of the occasion, and with his own hand wrote a letter to the Scheriff of Mecca. But amidst all these ceremonies he was vigilant in establishing a vigorous government, yet having no means of supporting his army but by levying contributions, it was impossible to preserve the attachment of the inhabitants. Ibrahim and Mourad by their emissaries excited insurrection, which put the skill of Napoleon and the valour of his army to the severest test. The people, accustomed to the most degrading slavery, were insensible to the benefits which a regular government would have conferred upon them; and the military executions, and the destruction of whole towns in the revolted districts, roused the strongest hatred throughout the country. Independent of which, the Koran expressly denounces vengeance against all innovations in the laws and system of government; and which obstacle even the assumption of the Koran by Napoleon could not overcome: the French, therefore, maintained themselves solely by their superior force. On the 22nd September, 1798, the establishment of a republic in France was announced to the army, and Napoleon resolved to celebrate it with splendour. He constructed in Cairo an immense circus; it was surrounded by 105 columns, each bearing a flag with the name of one of the departments. In the middle was a colossal obelisk covered with inscriptions; seven antique altars were also loaded with trophies, and with lists of the names of those who had fallen in battle. At the entrance was a triumphal arch ornamented with a representation of the battle of the Pyramids, and amongst other inscriptions in the Arabian character was that of "There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet." The fact is, that Napoleon's situation was critical, and he saw the necessity of flattering the conquered as well as the conquerors. Hymns were, however, sung to him by the people, the burden of which was, that Allah had sent him to rescue the Egyptians from the yoke of the Mamelukes. Napoleon established at Cairo a Divan, composed of the most considerable citizens, and formed similar municipal bodies in the other towns. He established also the Institute of Egypt, with classes for mathematics, natural philosophy, political economy, literature and the fine arts. These formed a library, a cabinet of natural history, an observatory, a botanical garden, a la boratory, a cabinet of antiquities, and a menagerie. Egypt was now explored by the Sçavans with great zeal. Napoleon ordered them to ascertain the difference between the standards of the French and Egyptian weights and measures, and to compose vocabularies of French and Arabian words, as well as an Egyptian, Coptic, and European calender. Two newspapers, the "Decade Egyptienue," and the "Courier d'Egypte," were daily published; and, in short, Cairo seemed as if by magic to have been converted into a European capital. The French soldiery were assimilated as much as possible to the inhabitants, and all natives, indiscriminately, from the age of 16 to 24, were admitted into the French ranks. Three thousand seamen who escaped from the battle of the Nile reached the French army in safety, and were formed into a nautical legion. The gates of Cairo were closed every night to protect the city from the Arabs, and the numerous cloisters were destroyed, from the protection they might afford to the inhabitants in the event of insurrection. These precautions were absolutely nécessary, for the situation of Napoleon was critical in the extreme. Mourad Bey maintained his position in Upper Egypt in spite of the efforts of the sagacious and indefatigable Desaix. The English attacked the maritime towns possessed by the French. Generals Menou and Dugua could scarcely retain possession of Lower Egypt. The Arabs joined to the Felahs were in arms in the deserts, and the Directory of France, instead of performing their duty by negociating for the neutrality of the Turks, left their countrymen in Egypt to their fate. The English circulated throughout the country the sanguinary proclamations of the Turks, exciting the people to a religious war of extermination, and amidst all these difficulties, on the 22nd of October, 1798, the Cheicks excited the inhabitants of Cairo to rise en masse and massacre the French. Napoleon was at Old Cairo, when the people of Cairo assembled at the grand mosque, at the call of the priests. Arming themselves, they massacred General Dupuy, the commander of the town, and the brave General Salkowsky, the friend of Napoleon. The French, without distinction, fell victims to the fury of the populace, who closed the two gates of the city, repulsing Napoleon's attempt to enter by that of Cairo, and who at last forced his entrance by the opposite gate of Boulak. At this moment, what is a phenomenon in Egypt, the skies were obscured by clouds, and peals of thunder struck the superstitious Egyptians with terror, they conceived it to be an interference on the part of heaven in favour of their enemies; they implored the mercy of their conquerors, but the French had forced an entrance into the city and took a summary and a dreadful vengeance for their slaughtered companions. The cannon destroyed all their mosques, the gates of the city were beaten down, several of the cheicks or priests were sentenced to be shot, the city was deprived of its municipal Government, was put under that of the military, and was further subject to a heavy contribution; finally, the press was made the engine of subduing the people by disseminating Mahomet's anathemas against sedition. These measures were so effectual that this proved the last insurrection against the French. Napoleon afterwards brought Lower Egypt under his thorough command, and formed advantageous treaties with the Bedouin Arabs. He again gave to Cairo a municipal Government, consisting of sixty of the principal inhabitants; and, considering his authority as established, he set out out on an expedition to Suez to discover the remains of the great canal of Sesostris, which was intended to unite the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. His caravan consisted of 300 men, commanded by Berthier and Dammartin, and he was accompanied by Berthollet, Monge, Dutertre, Castaz, and Caffarelli - Dufalga. After three days travelling in the deserts he arrived at Suez, inspect ed the coast, crossed the Red Sea, and visited the fountains of Moses. He established more equitable custom-duties at Suez, communicated his orders to the Scheriff at Mecca, and received deputations from the Arabs, who solicited a peace from the French. Two leagues from Suez he discovered the remains of the great canal, which at two leagues further was lost in the sands. Returned to Suez, he learned that the advanced guard of Djezzar, Pacha of Syria, had occupied El-Arish, which is situated ten miles in the desert, and is the frontier defence of Egypt. This measure of the Pacha convinced Napoleon that war must have been declared between the Turks and the French. He hastened to Cairo, ordered on his way a corps of dromedaries to be formed, and marched directly with 10,000 men into Syria; Generals Bon, Kleber, Lannes and Regner commanded the infantry, Murat the cavalry, Dammartin the artillery, and Caffarelli-Dufalga_ the engineers. Vice-Admiral Perez, with three frigates, was to cross to Jaffa, and to carry the battering train; the army had 50 other pieces of artillery with them. In a few days Regnier took the town of El-Arish, destroyed a part of the garrison, forced the remainder into the castle, defeated the Mamalukes of Ibrahim Bey, making himself master of their camp. The English attempted a division by bombarding Alexandria, but Napoleon penetrated their de sign, and despising their efforts proceeded to El-Arish, arriving seven days after his departure from Cairo. He took the castle of ElArish, part of the garrison entered the French ranks, and after a dreadful march of 60 leagues the army arrived at the beautiful plains of the ancient Gaza; Gaza was captured, and in five days the French were before Jaffa. The town was well fortified, and garrisoned by numerous and choice troops. A breach being made, Napoleon sent a Turk, summoning the town to surrender, his messenger was beheaded; the town was then carried by assault, and the infuriated French committed a dreadful carnage in the garrison. The numerous dead infected the air and produced a plague. Napoleon established at Jaffa a Divan, a Grand Hospital, and garrisoned the place. Alarmed at the despair which the plague was spreading throughout his troops, Napoleon, accompanied by Desgenettes, the chief physician, and by Berthier and others, visited the infected; touched their sores, and thus inspired confidence into their troops. The army, after the numerous battles at Saffet, Nasareth, Sour (the ancient Tyre,) Loubi, Sedjarra, and Mount Thaber, and after capturing Kaiffa, arrived at Acre. The town resisted the French for 60 days. During this time the Firman of the Turks had raised against the French the whole population of Bagdad, and of the banks of the Euphrates. A large Turkish army was about to be transported into Syria by the Turk ish fleet, another was assembled at |