already harnessed to it . . . . When he left this post they
found in his cabinet 900 letters which he had not opened. He was an
eccentric lunatic, amusing enough sometimes, but a curse to
everything which depended on him " (Memoirs of the Duc de Raguse,
tome i. p. 410).]--

This alone can account for the First Consul's preference of him. But I
am far from concurring in what has been asserted by many persons, that
France lost Egypt at the very moment when it seemed most easy of
preservation. Egypt was conquered by a genius of vast intelligence,
great capacity, and profound military science. Fatuity, stupidity, and
incapacity 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