He now sent a letter to the Czar Paul, offering that, if the French garrison of Malta were compelled by famine to evacuate that island, he would place it in the hands of the Czar, as Grand Master of the Knights of St. John.  Rarely has a “Greek gift” been more skilfully tendered.  In the first place, Valetta was so closely blockaded by Nelson’s cruisers and invested by the native Maltese that its surrender might be expected in a few weeks; and the First Consul was well aware how anxiously the Czar had been seeking to gain a foothold at Malta, whence he could menace Turkey from the south-east.  In his wish completely to gain over Russia, Bonaparte also sent back, well-clad and well-armed, the prisoners taken from the Russian armies in 1799, a step which was doubly appreciated at Petersburg because the Russian troops which had campaigned with the Duke of York in Holland were somewhat shabbily treated by the British Government in the Channel Islands, where they took up their winter quarters.  Accordingly the Czar now sent Kalicheff to Paris, for the formation of a Franco-Russian alliance.  He was warmly received.  Bonaparte promised in general terms to restore the King of Sardinia to his former realm and the Pope to his States.  On his side, the Czar sent the alluring advice to Bonaparte to found a dynasty and thereby put an end to the revolutionary principles which had armed Europe against France.  He also offered to recognize the natural frontiers of France, the Rhine and the Maritime Alps, and claimed that German affairs should be regulated under his own mediation.  When both parties were so complaisant, a bargain was easily arranged.  France and Russia accordingly joined hands in order to secure predominance in the affairs of Central and Southern Europe, and to counterbalance England’s supremacy at sea.

For it was not enough to break up the Second Coalition and recover Northern Italy.  Bonaparte’s policy was more than European; it was oceanic.  England must be beaten on her own element:  then and then only could the young warrior secure his grasp on Egypt and return to his oriental schemes.  His correspondence before and after the Marengo campaign reveals his eagerness for a peace with Austria and an alliance with Russia.  His thoughts constantly turn to Egypt.  He bargains with Britain that his army there may be revictualled, and so words his claim that troops can easily be sent also.  Lord Grenville refuses (September 10th); whereupon Bonaparte throws himself eagerly into further plans for the destruction of the islanders.  He seeks to inflame the Czar’s wrath against the English maritime code.  His success for the time is complete.  At the close of 1800 the Russian Emperor marshals the Baltic Powers for the overthrow of England’s navy, and outstrips Bonaparte’s wildest hopes by proposing a Franco-Russian invasion of India with a view to “dealing his enemy a mortal blow.”  This plan, as drawn up at the close of 1800, arranged for the mustering of 35,000 Russians at Astrakan; while