[Footnote 21:  A silversmith, who had given him credit when he set out to Italy for a dressing-case worth L50, was rewarded with all the business which the recommendation of his now illustrious debtor could bring to him; and, being clever in his trade, became ultimately, under the patronage of the imperial household, one of the wealthiest citizens of Paris.  A little hatter, and a cobbler, who had served Buonaparte when a subaltern, might have risen in the same manner, had their skill equalled the silversmith’s.  Not even Napoleon’s example could persuade the Parisians to wear ill-shaped hats and clumsy boots; but he, in his own person, adhered, to the last, to his original connection with these poor artisans.]

[Footnote 22:  The Directory broke off the negotiation in a most insolent manner, by ordering Lord Malmesbury to quit France within twenty-four hours:  this they did in their exultation after the 18th Fructidor.]

[Footnote 23:  Before leaving Paris, Buonaparte ordered his secretary to prepare a camp library, of small volumes, arranged under the different heads of Science, Geography and Travels, History, Poetry, Romance, Politics.  The “works on Politics” are six in number:  viz.  Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws, a compendium of Mythology, the Vedam, the Koran, and the Old and New Testaments—­all in French.]

CHAPTER XI

     The Voyage to Egypt—­Malta surrendered—­The French escape Nelson,
     and take Alexandria—­The March up the Nile—­The Battle of the
     Pyramids—­Cairo surrenders—­The Battle of Aboukir.

The French fleet was reinforced, ere it had proceeded far on its way, by General Dessaix, and his division from Italy; and, having prosperous winds, appeared on the 10th of June off Malta.  The Knights of St. John were no longer those hardy and devout soldiers of the cross, who for ages inspired terror among the Mussulmans, and were considered as the heroic outguards of Christendom.  Sunk in indolence and pleasure, these inheritors of a glorious name hardly attempted for a moment to defend their all but impregnable island, against the fleet which covered the seas around them.  The Parisian authorities had tampered successfully beforehand with some of the French knights.  Division of counsels prevailed:  and in confusion and panic the gates were thrown open.  As Napoleon was entering between the huge rocky barriers of La Valette, Caffarelli said to him:  “It is well there was some one within to open the door for us; had there been no garrison at all, the business might have been less easy.”