688 
ed daily, because every wind (1 
make use as much as I can of his 
own ideas and expressions), which 
blew from England, brought nothing 
but enmity and hatred against him. 
He now went back to Kgypt, and 
told me that if he had felt the smal- 
lest inclination to take possession of 
it by force, he might have done it a 
month ago, by sending twenty-five 
thousand men to Aboukir, who 
would have: possessed themselves of 
the whole country in defiance of the 
four thousand British in Alexan- 
dria. ‘That instead of that garrison 
being a means of protecting Egypt, 
it was only furnishing him with a 
pretence for invading it. This he 
should not do, whatever might be his 
desire to have it a colony, because he 
did not think it worth the risk of a 
war, in which he might, perhaps, be 
considered as the aggressor, and by 
which he should lose more than he 
could gain, since, sooner or later, 
Egypt would belong to France, ei- 
ther by the falling to pieces of the 
Turkish empire, or by some arrange- 
ment with the Porte. 
As a proof of his desire to main- 
tain peace, he wished to know what 
he had to gain by going to war with 
England. <A descent was the only 
means of offence he had, and that 
he was determined to attempt, by 
putting himself at the head of the 
expedition. But how could it be 
supposed, that, after haying gained 
the height on which he stood, he 
would risk his life and reputation in 
such a hazardous attempt, unless 
forced to it by necessity, when the 
chances were that he and the great- 
est part of the expedition would go 
to the bottom of the sea, He talked 
much on this subject, but never af- 
fected to diminish the danger. He 
acknowledged that there were one 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1803. 
hundred chances to one against him, 
but still he was determined to at- 
tempt it, if war should be the con- 
sequence of the present discussion ; 
and that such was the disposition of 
the troops, that army after army 
would be found for the enterprize. 
He then expatiated much on the 
natural force of the two countries. 
France, with an army of four hun- 
dred and eighty thousand men ; for 
to this amount it is, he said, fo be 
immediately completed, all ready for 
the most desperate enterprizes ; and 
England with a fleet that made her 
mistress of the seas, and which he 
did not think he should be able to 
equal in less than ten years. Two 
such countries, by a proper under- 
standing, might govern the world, 
but by their strifes might overturn 
it. He said, that, if he had not felt 
the enmity of the British govern- 
ment, on every occasion, since the 
treaty of Amiens, there would have 
been nothing that he would not 
have done to prove his desire to con- 
ciliate : participation in indemnities, 
as well as in influence, on the con-~ 
tinent ; treaties of commerce; in 
short, any thing that could have 
given satisfaction, and have testified 
his friendship. Nothing, however, 
had been able to conquer the hatred, 
of the British government, and, 
therefore, it was now come to the 
point whether we should have peace 
or war. ‘To preserve peace, the 
treaty of Amiens must be fuliilled ; 
the abuse in the public prints, if 
not totally suppressed, at least kept 
within bounds, and confined to the 
English papers ; and the protection: 
so openly given to his bitterest ene- 
mies, (alluding to Georges, . and 
persons of that description,) must 
be withdrawn. If war, it was ne- 
cessary only to say so, and to re« 
fuse 
