—­[Napoleon, when at St. Helena, in speaking of the siege of Acre, said,—­Sidney Smith is a brave officer.  He displayed considerable ability in the treaty for the evacuation of Egypt by the French.  He took advantage of the discontent which he found to prevail amongst the French troops at being so long away from France, and other circumstances.  He manifested great honour in sending immediately to Kleber the refusal of Lord Keith to ratify the treaty, which saved the French army; if he had kept it a secret seven or eight days longer, Cairo would have been given up to the Turks, and the French army necessarily obliged to surrender to the English.  He also showed great humanity and honour in all his proceedings towards the French who felt into his hands.  He landed at Havre, for some ‘sotttice’ of a bet he had made, according to some, to go to the theatre; others said it was for espionage; however that may be, he was arrested and confined in the Temple as a spy; and at one time it was intended to try and execute him.  Shortly after I returned from Italy he wrote to me from his prison, to request that I would intercede for him; but, under the circumstances in which he was taken, I could do nothing for him.  He is active, intelligent, intriguing, and indefatigable; but I believe that he is ’mezzo pazo’.

“The chief cause of the failure at Acre was, that he took all my battering train, which was on board of several small vessels.  Had it not been for that, I would have taken Acre in spite of him.  He behaved very bravely, and was well seconded by Phillipeaux, a Frenchman of talent, who had studied with me as an engineer.  There was a Major Douglas also, who behaved very gallantly.  The acquisition of five or six hundred seamen as gunners was a great advantage to the Turks, whose spirits they revived, and whom they showed how to defend the fortress.  But he committed a great fault in making sorties, which cost the lives of two or three hundred brave fellows without the possibility of success.  For it was impossible he could succeed against the number of the French who were before Acre.  I would lay a wage that he lost half of his crew in them.  He dispersed Proclamations amongst my troops, which certainly shook some of them, and I in consequence published an order, stating that he was read, and forbidding all communication with him.  Some days after he sent, by means of a flag of truce, a lieutenant or a midshipman with a letter containing a challenge to me to meet him at some place he pointed out in order to fight a duel.  I laughed at this, sad sent him back an intimation that when he brought Marlborough to fight me I would meet him.  Not, withstanding this, I like the character of the man.” (Voices from St. Helena, vol. 4, p. 208).]—­

All our manoeuvres, our works, and attacks were made with that levity and carelessness which over-confidence inspires.  Kleber, whilst walking with me one