IX. ] THE GREA T RE VOL UTION. 1 79 17. Napoleon in Egypt, 1798. — On Buonaparte's re- turn he was greeted and followed as a hero, and he was as eager to take the command of a fresh army as the Directory could be to get rid of one whom they already began to fear. The special hatred of France was directed against England, since George III. had from the first refused to acknowledge the republic. An invasion of Eng- land was the fa^-ourite scheme of the Directory. But Buonaparte persuaded the Directors to send him on an expedition to Egypt, with vague promises of winning India from England, and marching on Vienna by way of Constantinople. He sailed from Toulon on the 19th of May^ JJ5.8j with 40,000 troops and a magnificentneeF, irictuding L'Orient, a hundred and twenty gun ship. He was followed at some distance by the English commander Nelson, with a fleet equal in numbers, but inferior in the size of his ships. On his way Buonaparte obtained the surrender of Malta, where the knights of St. John had grown too weak to avail themselves of their splendid defences. Leaving a garrison at Valetta, Buonaparte proceeded to land at Alexandria, whence they marched to Cairo. On the way he fought desperately with 6000 Memlooks, and 18,000 other troops. European firmness prevailed. The French formed in squares, against which the fiery horsemen dashed like the angry sea against rocks, till at last they were forced backwards on the Nile, and many perished in the waters. Buonaparte called this the Battle of the Pyramids. Entering Cairo, he did his best to gain the hearts of the Turks and Arabs, by pretending that the pure belief proclaimed by the French agreed with their own, and almost appearing disposed to become a Mahometan. Meanwhile he sent home the most ex- aggerated reports of his proceedings to the French papers, such as might most exalt him in the eyes of the Parisians. But a crushing blow was struck to his plans by the utter destruction of his fleet in the bay of Aboukir by Nelson. The French admiral, Briieys, was killed, his flag-ship L'Orient was blown up, and of the whole fleet only two escaped to bear home the tidings. Thus the army of Egypt was entirely cut off from home, unable even to obtain news, for Nekon had full command of the Medi- terranean, and blockaded Malta. There the French garrison held out for a whole year, but as no succour could reach them, were forced to surrender at last. Moreover, Sultan Selim II., instead of thanking Buona- N 2
