From: Copies of original letters from the army of General Bonaparte in Egypt, intercepted by the fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson. With an English translation (London, J. Wright, 1798-1800, 3 vols.), vol. 2, pp. 75-82.
TRANSLATION.
Alexandria (12 Therimdor), July 30th.
To the female citizen Blanc, Rue Helventius, no. 667, at Paris
My dear Life,
I 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 Francois 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 22nd of this month: I 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, has reduced us. We shall now be supplied with rice and corn; for the possession of Cairo will procure us provisions in abundance.
The questions now is, what the Grand Seignior will think of all this. And the English—will they keep the sea this winter? These are doubt, the solving of which is of the utmost importance to our existence in this remote country. Not that we are in want of articles 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 detained 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 Ireland(1), nothing is thought of it in France; but there are still three months proper for the attempt, and it may yet, perhaps, be made.
I am too much engaged in organizing the administration 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 Francois to his love out 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 soothe your agonies in a moment 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 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 thousand times for her father.—But no more: my eyes suffused 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 immediately; 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 slacks, and a thousand sailors are dispatched to Aboukir by land. 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 General 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 evident that the English are determined to sink or be sunk(2). We burn to know what has happened, but we shall be kept in suspense till nine in the morning.
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 success in attempting anything against us. The ports of Alexandria, flanked by batteries, and defended by nature, offer nothing but disgrace and death to an enemy 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(3) 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 affair) 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 apprehensive that they will return with more than they came,--and,I am sorry to observe, that this idea is gaining ground.
Such is this unfourtunate 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 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 government, 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, however, to be rather a distant object,--at any rate, you shall know our destination is my next.
The frigate which was going to France with dispatches from Marmont(4), 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 determined on with propriety, your husband will summon you to him with all the ardour of the most impassioned lover.
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 Francois
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1)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 contingencies,--yet, with want of every kind staring him in the face, with a prospect of a new enemy in the Grand Seignor, 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!
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 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 conduct 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.
(2)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”!!!
(3) Observe that this philippic on the the stupidity of his vanquished 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 politics, and prize their judgment at its true worth?
(4)Marmont is a young man of family and fortune. We do not know what posts he holds in the army, but as he is said to be a particular favourite of Bonaparte, it is probably an honourable and 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.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Frenchman Skeptical that the Arabs can be Subjugated
From: Copies of original letters from the army of General Bonaparte in Egypt, intercepted by the fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson. With an English translation (London, J. Wright, 1798-1800, 3 vols.), vol. 2, pp. 59-69.
TRANSLATION.
Rosetta, (10 Therimdor), July 28.
My dear Ramcy,
I 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 between Calais and Gravelines.
At length, at day-break on the 1st of July, we discovered 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(1) of the 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 received a volley of musquetry and stones from the Arabs, and then mounted to the assaulat 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 REVOLT was punished, but in the gentlest manner(2)! 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 received 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 several of our countrymen. At Alexandria the whole army had the greatest difficulty to find provisions or quarters. On the 5th, the 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 promised to return the next day, but they never appeared afterwards. It is probable they only came as spies(3).
The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, the divisions of Desaix, 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 Commander 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(4), however, when I received final orders to proceed to Rosetta, I amused myself with exploring the city of Alexandria. We endeavoured to trace out its ancient splendour amidst mountains of ruins, which seem to be merely those of the Alexandria rebuilt by the Arabs! We found scattered about fragments of columns various species of marble.
I went also to see the column of Severus, improperly attributed to Pompey(5); 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 city, you also see two pyramids, called Cleopatra's Needles!!! they are both situate on the coast, are between fifty and sixty feet in height, and about seven square feet. 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 evidently 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 beautiful bays (with no great depth of water), separated by a dike or causeway near 1200 yards in length, and reaching to the Pharos, that is to say, to the site of that ancient 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 in 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 incapable of resisting a single shot. In this fort were found a few arms, the shape and make of which clearly prove that they once belonged to the French who perished in the unfortunate expedition of St. Louis(6).
I shall say nothing more of this city; except that is 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 strong enough to do otherwise(7). For the rest, we respect 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.
I had orders, as I observed above, to proceed to Rosetta, distant about 12 leagues from Alexandria; I embarked with General Menou, who commands this province 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(8), 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 of palm trees, and sycamores, numbers of cattle, and houses. The gardens are full or orange, citron, and banana trees.
Rosetta, like all the other towns of the Levant, inhabited 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 receptacles of fleas, gnats &c. &c. To this moment, as I may 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 burning 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 memory), that Cairo was in the possession of the French, who entered it as conquerors, on the 22nd. This capture 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 harassed 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 thousand 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 Grand Seignior. A Sultana preserved all the Europeans 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 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 or 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 mostly 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 Ramsey, 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, your intended; to your worthy family; to Madame Grandcourt, Dufaux, and his son; Madame Becquet; Monsieur and Madame Durier; my friends Moreaux, Dufour, Eden, &c. ; and at Paris, to Madame Recicour, and Monsieur and Madame Benard.
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 volumes); and Volney, whom I had read, and whom I am now reading again! His work is well written, and his descriptions are very accurate(9). 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 fight(10)! This is not amiss; these Islanders ought to be well beaten: they should have staid in their wooden houses. These animals descend, I think, in a right line from Moses, who taught them to use the sea(11). They ought to confine themselves constantly to it, for the instant they get on land, the 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 Bashaw of Selim is, in whose name we profess to act? The taking of Cairo has filled them with terror and astonishment; 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 Mameloucs, the Beys, the oppressors of Egypt."
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1)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 honour of his historical precision, be it farther remarked, that the building of which he speaks, is not called the Tower of the Mameloucs, but of the Arabs, which is a very different thing;--but to notice every blunder of this nature, as we observed on a former occasion, is as far from our intentions, as our power, in the limits we have prescribed ourselves.
(2)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.
(3)We have here a complete explanation of a circumstance which otherwise we could only know from the event. The reader cannot have forgot the exhultation 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 miserable scene!
(4)In the original, 10 Messidor (the 28th of June), a most ridiculous blunder! There is no way of correcting it, but by supposing Girez to have confounded the old and new calendars 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.
(5)This is the hundredth time at least, that we have met with this expression, which after all is taken from Savary, “the Column of Severus, improperly attributed to Pompey.” Such a deplorable display of minute science amidst the grossest ignorance, 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 discipline. 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 present 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 delighted 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 INSTITUE, 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; not will their decline, we apprehend, be much retarded even by the EGYPTIAN INSTITUDE, though Bonaparte is ostentatiously inrolled amongst its members; and Tallien has descended from the dignity of a Senator, and almost a Director, to become the corrector of the press to Citizen Marc Aurele!
(6)Though Girez appears to have a very pretty notion of antiquity, which he manifests among other things, by mistaking an obelisk for a pyramid, and the ruins of a Greek wall for an indubitable specimen of Arabic masonry, we are still somewhat disinclined 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 conjectures; 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 cariorum. 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!
(7)We hope the reader has not overlooked Girez’ admirable reason for “using policy.” It is the true secret of their forbearance in every country which the French have over-run, and is worth whole folios on the subject. Bonaparte seems to have 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.”
(8)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.
(9)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 form an accidental stay of three hours at Deal!
(10)This curious paragraph, in which Giretz, at the distance of a thousand leagues, puts his correspondent in mind of what happened under his own nose, bears a strong resemblance to a 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 have no remarks on the authenticity of the intelligence which is conveyed to this deluded army.
(11)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 reputation 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.
TRANSLATION.
Rosetta, (10 Therimdor), July 28.
My dear Ramcy,
I 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 between Calais and Gravelines.
At length, at day-break on the 1st of July, we discovered 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(1) of the 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 received a volley of musquetry and stones from the Arabs, and then mounted to the assaulat 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 REVOLT was punished, but in the gentlest manner(2)! 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 received 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 several of our countrymen. At Alexandria the whole army had the greatest difficulty to find provisions or quarters. On the 5th, the 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 promised to return the next day, but they never appeared afterwards. It is probable they only came as spies(3).
The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, the divisions of Desaix, 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 Commander 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(4), however, when I received final orders to proceed to Rosetta, I amused myself with exploring the city of Alexandria. We endeavoured to trace out its ancient splendour amidst mountains of ruins, which seem to be merely those of the Alexandria rebuilt by the Arabs! We found scattered about fragments of columns various species of marble.
I went also to see the column of Severus, improperly attributed to Pompey(5); 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 city, you also see two pyramids, called Cleopatra's Needles!!! they are both situate on the coast, are between fifty and sixty feet in height, and about seven square feet. 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 evidently 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 beautiful bays (with no great depth of water), separated by a dike or causeway near 1200 yards in length, and reaching to the Pharos, that is to say, to the site of that ancient 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 in 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 incapable of resisting a single shot. In this fort were found a few arms, the shape and make of which clearly prove that they once belonged to the French who perished in the unfortunate expedition of St. Louis(6).
I shall say nothing more of this city; except that is 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 strong enough to do otherwise(7). For the rest, we respect 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.
I had orders, as I observed above, to proceed to Rosetta, distant about 12 leagues from Alexandria; I embarked with General Menou, who commands this province 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(8), 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 of palm trees, and sycamores, numbers of cattle, and houses. The gardens are full or orange, citron, and banana trees.
Rosetta, like all the other towns of the Levant, inhabited 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 receptacles of fleas, gnats &c. &c. To this moment, as I may 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 burning 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 memory), that Cairo was in the possession of the French, who entered it as conquerors, on the 22nd. This capture 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 harassed 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 thousand 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 Grand Seignior. A Sultana preserved all the Europeans 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 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 or 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 mostly 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 Ramsey, 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, your intended; to your worthy family; to Madame Grandcourt, Dufaux, and his son; Madame Becquet; Monsieur and Madame Durier; my friends Moreaux, Dufour, Eden, &c. ; and at Paris, to Madame Recicour, and Monsieur and Madame Benard.
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 volumes); and Volney, whom I had read, and whom I am now reading again! His work is well written, and his descriptions are very accurate(9). 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 fight(10)! This is not amiss; these Islanders ought to be well beaten: they should have staid in their wooden houses. These animals descend, I think, in a right line from Moses, who taught them to use the sea(11). They ought to confine themselves constantly to it, for the instant they get on land, the 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 Bashaw of Selim is, in whose name we profess to act? The taking of Cairo has filled them with terror and astonishment; 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 Mameloucs, the Beys, the oppressors of Egypt."
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1)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 honour of his historical precision, be it farther remarked, that the building of which he speaks, is not called the Tower of the Mameloucs, but of the Arabs, which is a very different thing;--but to notice every blunder of this nature, as we observed on a former occasion, is as far from our intentions, as our power, in the limits we have prescribed ourselves.
(2)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.
(3)We have here a complete explanation of a circumstance which otherwise we could only know from the event. The reader cannot have forgot the exhultation 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 miserable scene!
(4)In the original, 10 Messidor (the 28th of June), a most ridiculous blunder! There is no way of correcting it, but by supposing Girez to have confounded the old and new calendars 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.
(5)This is the hundredth time at least, that we have met with this expression, which after all is taken from Savary, “the Column of Severus, improperly attributed to Pompey.” Such a deplorable display of minute science amidst the grossest ignorance, 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 discipline. 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 present 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 delighted 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 INSTITUE, 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; not will their decline, we apprehend, be much retarded even by the EGYPTIAN INSTITUDE, though Bonaparte is ostentatiously inrolled amongst its members; and Tallien has descended from the dignity of a Senator, and almost a Director, to become the corrector of the press to Citizen Marc Aurele!
(6)Though Girez appears to have a very pretty notion of antiquity, which he manifests among other things, by mistaking an obelisk for a pyramid, and the ruins of a Greek wall for an indubitable specimen of Arabic masonry, we are still somewhat disinclined 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 conjectures; 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 cariorum. 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!
(7)We hope the reader has not overlooked Girez’ admirable reason for “using policy.” It is the true secret of their forbearance in every country which the French have over-run, and is worth whole folios on the subject. Bonaparte seems to have 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.”
(8)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.
(9)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 form an accidental stay of three hours at Deal!
(10)This curious paragraph, in which Giretz, at the distance of a thousand leagues, puts his correspondent in mind of what happened under his own nose, bears a strong resemblance to a 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 have no remarks on the authenticity of the intelligence which is conveyed to this deluded army.
(11)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 reputation 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.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Attrition Plagues French Army
From: Copies of original letters from the army of General Bonaparte in Egypt, intercepted by the fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson. With an English translation (London, J. Wright, 1798-1800, 3 vols.), vol. 2, pp. 48-51.
TRANSLATION
[Captain Gay]
Cairo (9 Therimdor), July 27th[1798]
Dear Father and Mother,
I have not been able to send you a line since my embarkation, 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 heals! 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 third, and many other things which have slipt my memory, and which I tremble whenever I think of(1).
Would you believe that for seventeen days we had nothing to subsist on but water melons! Such, however, 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 (2), 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 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. HORRIBLE THINGS WERE DONE(3)! Add, that in this dreadful interval, we had many battles to fight; all of which, however, we gained.
Arrived at length in the neighborhood 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(4), and that it consisted of no more than five thousand men. The 18th and 32nd 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 France, I will exert myself to the utmost to obtain my discharge at any price whatever. I can no longer endure 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 approaching 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.
Let me hear from you.—I please myself with thinking that the present will find you in good health. As to my own, it is excellent. The sea has been of infinite use to me. All my comrades are astonished at my being able to endure so many hardships, in a climate 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.
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1)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 words were yet reeking 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. Schecy (No. I.) relates, that after the General’s Proclamation, the prisoners 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.
(2)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 riveting 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 untrampled 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!
(3)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.
(4)Gay is not correct here. We know from better authority than this, that four out of the five divisions were engaged; though we believe the weight of the action fell chiefly on Regnier’s and Desaix’.
TRANSLATION
[Captain Gay]
Cairo (9 Therimdor), July 27th[1798]
Dear Father and Mother,
I have not been able to send you a line since my embarkation, 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 heals! 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 third, and many other things which have slipt my memory, and which I tremble whenever I think of(1).
Would you believe that for seventeen days we had nothing to subsist on but water melons! Such, however, 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 (2), 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 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. HORRIBLE THINGS WERE DONE(3)! Add, that in this dreadful interval, we had many battles to fight; all of which, however, we gained.
Arrived at length in the neighborhood 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(4), and that it consisted of no more than five thousand men. The 18th and 32nd 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 France, I will exert myself to the utmost to obtain my discharge at any price whatever. I can no longer endure 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 approaching 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.
Let me hear from you.—I please myself with thinking that the present will find you in good health. As to my own, it is excellent. The sea has been of infinite use to me. All my comrades are astonished at my being able to endure so many hardships, in a climate 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.
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1)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 words were yet reeking 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. Schecy (No. I.) relates, that after the General’s Proclamation, the prisoners 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.
(2)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 riveting 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 untrampled 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!
(3)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.
(4)Gay is not correct here. We know from better authority than this, that four out of the five divisions were engaged; though we believe the weight of the action fell chiefly on Regnier’s and Desaix’.
"O Most Lame and Impotent Conclusion!"
From: Copies of original letters from the army of General Bonaparte in Egypt, intercepted by the fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson. With an English translation (London, J. Wright, 1798-1800, 3 vols.), vol. 2, pp. 43-44.
P. S. ( 15 Thermidor) August 2nd [1798].
I am this moment setting out with General Le Clerc(1) on a secret expedition. Here then I leave grand Cairo, but I hope to return to it.
Sucy is a little better; he wishes to return to France; but he does not seem disposed to take me with him. Write to him on the subject. Once more, I embrace you.
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1)“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 unfortunate country, who would have expected, we say, to find him gaily setting out upon a fresh expedition, of which he avowed (not “secret”) purpose was the most flagitious and cruel robbery that was ever yet attempted! (we speak of the meditated seizure of the caravan.) But this is nature.
Heac ubi locutus faenerator Alphius
Jam jam futurus rusticus,
Omnem relegit Idibus pecuniam—
Quaerit Calendis ponere!!!
When we first found in some of these letters, sentiments of enlarged 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 sincere 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 disclaimers, “however he might write the style of gods,” that did not in some part or the other of his letter, like the Savant before us, betray the same infuriate passion 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.
P. S. ( 15 Thermidor) August 2nd [1798].
I am this moment setting out with General Le Clerc(1) on a secret expedition. Here then I leave grand Cairo, but I hope to return to it.
Sucy is a little better; he wishes to return to France; but he does not seem disposed to take me with him. Write to him on the subject. Once more, I embrace you.
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1)“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 unfortunate country, who would have expected, we say, to find him gaily setting out upon a fresh expedition, of which he avowed (not “secret”) purpose was the most flagitious and cruel robbery that was ever yet attempted! (we speak of the meditated seizure of the caravan.) But this is nature.
Heac ubi locutus faenerator Alphius
Jam jam futurus rusticus,
Omnem relegit Idibus pecuniam—
Quaerit Calendis ponere!!!
When we first found in some of these letters, sentiments of enlarged 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 sincere 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 disclaimers, “however he might write the style of gods,” that did not in some part or the other of his letter, like the Savant before us, betray the same infuriate passion 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.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
French Express Disillusion with the Egyptian Campaign
From: Copies of original letters from the army of General Bonaparte in Egypt, intercepted by the fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson. With an English translation (London, J. Wright, 1798-1800, 3 vols.), vol. 2, pp. 36-43.
[Note: Among the scientists brought along on the invasion were three botanists: Ernest Coquebert de Montbret, Alire Raffeneau-Delile, and Hyppolite Nectoux. This letter is probably from one of those three. - JRIC]
TRANSLATION(1)
Grand Cairo, (8 Thermidor) July 26th [1798].
It is after a most fatiguing march, without bread to eat, or water to drink, that the army is arrived here, 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(2). A soldier who had only loitered fifteen paces behind one of the columns was shot!
Savary has deceived us all with respect to Egypt. It is not that charming country view 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 inhabitants are savages, who have, in every respect, incurred 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(3).
The army marched to Demanhour the first day, and from thence to Rahmanie. The general preferred making a detour(4), that he might arrive the sooner at the banks of the Nile. I offered, on the march from Alexandria 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 notwithstanding we were told that we should all be satisfied here, the only desire of the generals and of the soldiers themselves, is to get back to France.
As for myself, my dear friend, it is by the most miraculous of all miracles that I am neither dead nor sick. Poor Milord(5) is not quite so fortunate. I am afraid he will not be able to support this country long; here is neither hay nor oats, and horses must therefore be content 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 overlooked 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.
I have seen from Gizeh [Giza], the place of head-quarters on the day of the famous battle of Boulac, the beautiful Pyramids(6). If we wish to have a nearer view of them, we shall be obliged to go in a body of three or four hundred! 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 neglected. "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 being assassinated, I will seriously set about preparing a little herbal for you.
I shall say at present either of the country, or of the matters 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 weakness. I have seen the dead and the dying, scattered heads and limbs, and my heart failed me no longer; here is a sufficient proof, then, of the possibility of accustoming one’s-self to carnage(7). I rode through the midst of three thousand slaughtered Mameloucs [Mamluks]; 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 VILLAGES, 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 ASSASSINATED; AND ALL THIS FOR WHAT? IN TRUTH, WE HAVE NOT YET DISCOVERED!”
The disgust of the army is universal. All the administrations 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 general ennui. I am still with the same commissary of war; but you must allow me to observe to you, that I have no inclination 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 subsistence of the troops), and that he found himself, as he ought to have foreseen, without the possibility of rejoining 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 difficulty 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 two fore fingers of his right hand: he supports his misfortune, however, with patience; which is more than he does the immense space that separates us from our country.
I am very seriously engaged on the history of our expedition: 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.
----------------------------------------------
[British Translators' Notes]
(1) 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 other regret than that (since it was to be done) it was done at home by noyades, mitraillades, or by any other of those sweeping methods of destruction which the dictionary 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 Toulon and Genoa, and the daring revolters against the authority of Massena at Rome, been this 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 recommending it to the reader’s most serious attention.
(2) Employés, in the original. It may also mean persons in official situations about the army, such as commissaries, agents, clerks, &c. &c.
(3) 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, sacrificed the companions of his victories and his crimes to the fears of the Directory, and cosigned them to inevitable destruction, with the same indifference that he did the remote and peaceable possessors of a few mud huts, and a waste of sand!
(4) 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 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 extraordinary 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 hardly practicable.
(5) His horse, which, from the name, we suppose to be an English 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 humor. The animal, however, appears to have fallen into the hands of a kind master.
(6) 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 affection of fondness, that is really disgusting.
(7) 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.
Macb. 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.
[Note: Among the scientists brought along on the invasion were three botanists: Ernest Coquebert de Montbret, Alire Raffeneau-Delile, and Hyppolite Nectoux. This letter is probably from one of those three. - JRIC]
TRANSLATION(1)
Grand Cairo, (8 Thermidor) July 26th [1798].
It is after a most fatiguing march, without bread to eat, or water to drink, that the army is arrived here, 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(2). A soldier who had only loitered fifteen paces behind one of the columns was shot!
Savary has deceived us all with respect to Egypt. It is not that charming country view 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 inhabitants are savages, who have, in every respect, incurred 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(3).
The army marched to Demanhour the first day, and from thence to Rahmanie. The general preferred making a detour(4), that he might arrive the sooner at the banks of the Nile. I offered, on the march from Alexandria 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 notwithstanding we were told that we should all be satisfied here, the only desire of the generals and of the soldiers themselves, is to get back to France.
As for myself, my dear friend, it is by the most miraculous of all miracles that I am neither dead nor sick. Poor Milord(5) is not quite so fortunate. I am afraid he will not be able to support this country long; here is neither hay nor oats, and horses must therefore be content 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 overlooked 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.
I have seen from Gizeh [Giza], the place of head-quarters on the day of the famous battle of Boulac, the beautiful Pyramids(6). If we wish to have a nearer view of them, we shall be obliged to go in a body of three or four hundred! 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 neglected. "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 being assassinated, I will seriously set about preparing a little herbal for you.
I shall say at present either of the country, or of the matters 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 weakness. I have seen the dead and the dying, scattered heads and limbs, and my heart failed me no longer; here is a sufficient proof, then, of the possibility of accustoming one’s-self to carnage(7). I rode through the midst of three thousand slaughtered Mameloucs [Mamluks]; 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 VILLAGES, 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 ASSASSINATED; AND ALL THIS FOR WHAT? IN TRUTH, WE HAVE NOT YET DISCOVERED!”
The disgust of the army is universal. All the administrations 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 general ennui. I am still with the same commissary of war; but you must allow me to observe to you, that I have no inclination 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 subsistence of the troops), and that he found himself, as he ought to have foreseen, without the possibility of rejoining 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 difficulty 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 two fore fingers of his right hand: he supports his misfortune, however, with patience; which is more than he does the immense space that separates us from our country.
I am very seriously engaged on the history of our expedition: 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.
----------------------------------------------
[British Translators' Notes]
(1) 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 other regret than that (since it was to be done) it was done at home by noyades, mitraillades, or by any other of those sweeping methods of destruction which the dictionary 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 Toulon and Genoa, and the daring revolters against the authority of Massena at Rome, been this 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 recommending it to the reader’s most serious attention.
(2) Employés, in the original. It may also mean persons in official situations about the army, such as commissaries, agents, clerks, &c. &c.
(3) 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, sacrificed the companions of his victories and his crimes to the fears of the Directory, and cosigned them to inevitable destruction, with the same indifference that he did the remote and peaceable possessors of a few mud huts, and a waste of sand!
(4) 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 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 extraordinary 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 hardly practicable.
(5) His horse, which, from the name, we suppose to be an English 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 humor. The animal, however, appears to have fallen into the hands of a kind master.
(6) 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 affection of fondness, that is really disgusting.
(7) 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.
Macb. 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.
French Fears of Mamluk Guerrilla War after Conquest of Cairo
From: Copies of original letters from the army of General Bonaparte in Egypt, intercepted by the fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson. With an English translation (London, J. Wright, 1798-1800, 3 vols.), vol. 2, pp. 27-31.
[The cover of the following letter was lost so the author is currently unknown.]
Grand Cairo, (8 Thermidor) July 26th [1798].
CRYING “hunger! Thirst! and heat!” We are arrived, after beating the Mameloucs [Mamluks], 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 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 attaches 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 conquests 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 Mameloucs 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 collecting a very considerable force—but we feel no alarm for 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 knowledge of the art of war, is found in any of their movements. 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, without eating or drinking. I fancy we are near akin to those devils who made the Madonnas of Rome roll their eyes . We work miracles still more astonishing here.
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 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.
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1) 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 miserable 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 advantage; 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.
(2) The writer alludes to the commotion 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 on 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 numberless passages, of miracles, “as good as the world ever saw”—all these are marks of the same spirit which has already met our solemn reprehension;--a spirit which laughs at the power of Heaven, and mocks all virtue upon earth; which commits “all iniquity with greediness,” and selects a parent’s bosom as the depositary 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 foremost in impiety, and yet vain of its recent triumph over the Savior of our world, rioted in daily sarcasms on “priestcraft, and superstition, and such-like old lumber-stuff of Christianity.” BACCHUS was again placed “at the right-hand of the Father,” and there appeared to be no end of the degradation and insult mediated 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 misfortunes of a helpless old man; or, in the words of the Mourning Chronicle, of “and 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 different 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 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 superstition 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 investigated, 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 the advantage of those who might otherwise have been suspected 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 astonishing one. The hand of the Lord is stretched out, the hand of him who “Alone worketh the 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
[The cover of the following letter was lost so the author is currently unknown.]
Grand Cairo, (8 Thermidor) July 26th [1798].
CRYING “hunger! Thirst! and heat!” We are arrived, after beating the Mameloucs [Mamluks], 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 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 attaches 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 conquests 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 Mameloucs 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 collecting a very considerable force—but we feel no alarm for 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 knowledge of the art of war, is found in any of their movements. 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, without eating or drinking. I fancy we are near akin to those devils who made the Madonnas of Rome roll their eyes . We work miracles still more astonishing here.
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 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.
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[British Translators' Notes]
(1) 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 miserable 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 advantage; 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.
(2) The writer alludes to the commotion 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 on 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 numberless passages, of miracles, “as good as the world ever saw”—all these are marks of the same spirit which has already met our solemn reprehension;--a spirit which laughs at the power of Heaven, and mocks all virtue upon earth; which commits “all iniquity with greediness,” and selects a parent’s bosom as the depositary 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 foremost in impiety, and yet vain of its recent triumph over the Savior of our world, rioted in daily sarcasms on “priestcraft, and superstition, and such-like old lumber-stuff of Christianity.” BACCHUS was again placed “at the right-hand of the Father,” and there appeared to be no end of the degradation and insult mediated 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 misfortunes of a helpless old man; or, in the words of the Mourning Chronicle, of “and 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 different 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 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 superstition 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 investigated, 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 the advantage of those who might otherwise have been suspected 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 astonishing one. The hand of the Lord is stretched out, the hand of him who “Alone worketh the 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
Friday, September 7, 2007
Bonaparte establishes the Egyptian Institute
From a Gutenberg e-text of Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, Memoirs of Napoleon, Volume 03, ed. and trans. R.W. Phipps., 1891:
The loss of the fleet convinced General Bonaparte of the necessity of speedily and effectively organising Egypt, where everything denoted that we should stay for a considerable time, excepting the event of a forced evacuation, which the General was far from foreseeing or fearing. The distance of Ibrahim Bey and Mourad Bey now left him a little at rest. War, fortifications, taxation, government, the organization of the divans, trade, art, and science, all occupied his attention. Orders and instructions were immediately despatched, if not to repair the defeat, at least to avert the first danger that might ensue from it. On the 21st of August Bonaparte established at Cairo an institute of the arts and sciences, of which he subsequently appointed me a member in the room of M. de Sucy, who was obliged to return to France, in consequence of the wound he received on board the flotilla in the Nile.*
In founding this Institute, Bonaparte wished to afford an example of his ideas of civilisation. The minutes of the sittings of that learned body, which have been printed, bear evidence of its utility, and of Napoleon's extended views. The objects of the Institute were the advancement and propagation of information in Egypt, and the study and publication of all facts relating to the natural history, trade, and antiquities of that ancient country.
On the 18th Bonaparte was present at the ceremony of opening the dyke of the canal of Cairo, which receives the water of the Nile when it reaches the height fired by the Mequyas.
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[Translator note:
--[The Institute of Egypt was composed of members of the French Institute, and of the men of science and artists of the commission who did not belong to that body. They assembled and added to their number several officers of the artillery and staff, and others who bad cultivated the sciences and literature. The Institute was established in one of the palaces of the bey's. A great number of machines, and physical, chemical, and astronomical instruments had been brought from France. They were distributed in the different rooms, which were also successively filled with all the curiosities of the country, whether of the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. The garden of the palace became a botanical garden. A chemical laboratory was formed at headquarters; Merthollet performed experiments there several times every week, which Napoleon and a great number of officers attended ('Memoirs of Napoleon')]--
The loss of the fleet convinced General Bonaparte of the necessity of speedily and effectively organising Egypt, where everything denoted that we should stay for a considerable time, excepting the event of a forced evacuation, which the General was far from foreseeing or fearing. The distance of Ibrahim Bey and Mourad Bey now left him a little at rest. War, fortifications, taxation, government, the organization of the divans, trade, art, and science, all occupied his attention. Orders and instructions were immediately despatched, if not to repair the defeat, at least to avert the first danger that might ensue from it. On the 21st of August Bonaparte established at Cairo an institute of the arts and sciences, of which he subsequently appointed me a member in the room of M. de Sucy, who was obliged to return to France, in consequence of the wound he received on board the flotilla in the Nile.*
In founding this Institute, Bonaparte wished to afford an example of his ideas of civilisation. The minutes of the sittings of that learned body, which have been printed, bear evidence of its utility, and of Napoleon's extended views. The objects of the Institute were the advancement and propagation of information in Egypt, and the study and publication of all facts relating to the natural history, trade, and antiquities of that ancient country.
On the 18th Bonaparte was present at the ceremony of opening the dyke of the canal of Cairo, which receives the water of the Nile when it reaches the height fired by the Mequyas.
====
[Translator note:
--[The Institute of Egypt was composed of members of the French Institute, and of the men of science and artists of the commission who did not belong to that body. They assembled and added to their number several officers of the artillery and staff, and others who bad cultivated the sciences and literature. The Institute was established in one of the palaces of the bey's. A great number of machines, and physical, chemical, and astronomical instruments had been brought from France. They were distributed in the different rooms, which were also successively filled with all the curiosities of the country, whether of the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. The garden of the palace became a botanical garden. A chemical laboratory was formed at headquarters; Merthollet performed experiments there several times every week, which Napoleon and a great number of officers attended ('Memoirs of Napoleon')]--
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