Napoleon Bonaparte 47 5 The eyes of the world are centered upon you, from those of the English, famed in arts and trade, to the wild and hide- ous Bedouin. Soldiers, your destiny is a glorious one, because you are worthy of all that you have accomplished and of the fame which you enjoy. You will die with honor like the brave men whose names are inscribed upon this pyramid, 1 or you will return to your country covered with laurels and a source of wonder to all. During the five months which we have been absent from Europe we have been the object of constant solicitude on the part of our compatriots. To-day, forty millions of citi- zens celebrate the advent of representative government ; these forty millions are thinking of you, and are saying, "It is to their labors and to their blood that we shall owe a general peace, tranquillity, Nourishing commerce, and the advantages of civil liberty. "' One of Bonaparte's companions in Egypt reports the following conference between the general and the muftis, or expounders of the Mohammedan lav. Whilst at Cairo, Bonaparte, on a visit to the pyramids, seated himself on the Soros and held a long conversation with the muftis. "Glory to Allah! " said he; "there is no other God but God. Mohammed is his prophet and I am his friend. Muftis ! the divine Koran is the delight of my soul and the object of my contemplation. I love the Prophet, and I hope erelong to see and honor his tomb in the Holy City. "But my mission is first to exterminate the Mamelukes. If Egypt be their portion, let them show me the lease that God has given them. But the angel of death has breathed upon them : we are come and they have disappeared. The days of regeneration are come. He that hath ears, let him hear. The hour of political resurrection lias struck for all 424. Bona- parte in- forms the Moham- medans that he is their friend. 1 A wooden pyramid on which were inscribed the names of the offi- cers and soldiers who had already fallen in Egypt.
