lost it.  What was the result of that memorable expedition?  The destruction of one of our finest armies; the loss of some of our best generals; the annihilation of our navy; the surrender of Malta; and the sovereignty of England in the Mediterranean.  What is the result at present?  A scientific work.  The gossiping stories and mystifications of Herodotus, and the reveries of the good Rollin, are worth as much, and have not cost so dear.

The First Consul had long been apprehensive that the evacuation of Egypt was unavoidable.  The last news he had received from that country was not very encouraging, and created a presentiment of the approach of the dreaded catastrophe.  He, however, published the contrary; but it was then of great importance that, an account of the evacuation should not reach England until the preliminaries of peace were signed, for which purpose M. Otto was exerting all his industry and talent.  We made a great merit of abandoning our conquests in Egypt; but the sacrifice would not have been considered great if the events which took place at the end of August had been known in London before the signing of the preliminaries on the 1st of October.  The First Consul himself answered M. Otto’s last despatch, containing a copy of the preliminaries ready to be adopted by the English Ministry.  Neither this despatch nor the answer was communicated to M. de Talleyrand, then Minister for Foreign Affairs.  The First Consul, who highly appreciated the great talents and knowledge of that Minister, never closed any diplomatic arrangement without first consulting him; and he was right in so doing.  On this occasion, however, I told him that as M. de Talleyrand was, for his health, taking the waters of Bourbon-l’Archambault, four days must elapse before his reply could be received, and that the delay might cause the face of affairs to change.  I reminded him that Egypt was on the point of yielding.  He took my advice, and it was well for him that he did, for the news of the compulsory evacuation of Egypt arrived in London the day after the signing of the preliminaries.  M. Otto informed the First Consul by letter that Lord Hawkesbury, ill communicating to him the news of the evacuation, told him he was very glad everything was settled, for it would have been impossible for him to have treated on the same basis after the arrival of such news.  In reality we consented at Paris to the voluntary evacuation of Egypt, and that was something for England, while Egypt was at that very time evacuated by a convention made on the spot.  The definitive evacuation of Egypt took place on the 30th of August 1801; and thus the conquest of that country, which had cost so dear, was rendered useless, or rather injurious.

CHAPTER VII.

1802.