Memoirs of Napoleon, vol 3 | Page 9

offered Djezzar his
friendship, sought his in return, and gave him the most consolatory
assurances of the safety of his dominions. He promised to support him
against the Grand Seignior, at the very moment when he was assuring
the Egyptians that he would support the Grand Seignior against the
beys. But Djezzar, confiding in his own strength and in the protection
of the English, who had anticipated Bonaparte, was deaf to every
overture, and would not even receive Beauvoisin, who was sent to him
on the 22d of August. A second envoy was beheaded at Acre. The
occupations of Bonaparte and the necessity of obtaining a more solid
footing in Egypt retarded for the moment the invasion of that pashalic,
which provoked vengeance by its barbarities, besides being a
dangerous neighbour.
From the time he received the accounts of the disaster of Aboukir until
the revolt of Cairo on the 22d of October, Bonaparte sometimes found
the time hang heavily on his hands. Though he devoted attention to
everything, yet there was not sufficient occupation for his singularly
active mind. When the heat was not too great he rode on horseback;
and on his return, if he found no despatches to read (which often
happened), no orders to send off; or no letters to answer, he was
immediately absorbed in reverie, and would sometimes converse very

strangely. One day, after a long pause, he said to me:
"Do you know what I am thinking of?"--"Upon my word, that would be
very difficult; you think of such extraordinary things."--"I don't know,"
continued lie, "that I shall ever see France again; but if I do, my only
ambition is to make a glorious campaign in Germany--in the plains of
Bavaria; there to gain a great battle, and to avenge France for the defeat
of Hochstadt. After that I would retire into the country, and live
quietly."
He then entered upon a long dissertation on the preference he would
give to Germany as the theatre of war; the fine character of the people,
and the prosperity and wealth of the country, and its power of
supporting an army. His conversations were sometimes very long; but
always replete with interest.
--[So early as 1794 Napoleon had suggested that Austria should always
be attacked in Germany, not in Italy. "It is Germany that should be
overwhelmed; that done, Italy and Spain fall of themselves. Germany
should be attacked, not Spain or Italy. If we obtain great success,
advantage should never be taken of it to penetrate into Italy while
Germany, unweakened, offers a formidable front" (Iung's Bonaparte,
tome ii. p. 936), He was always opposed to the wild plans which had
ruined so many French armies in Italy, and which the Directory tried to
force on him, of marching on Rome and Naples after every success in
the north.]--
In these intervals of leisure Bonaparte was accustomed to retire to bed
early. I used to read to him every evening. When I read poetry he
would fall asleep; but when he asked for the Life of Cromwell I
counted on sitting up pretty late. In the course of the day he used to
read and make notes. He often expressed regret at not receiving news
from France; for correspondence was rendered impracticable by the
numerous English and Turkish cruisers. Many letters were intercepted
and scandalously published. Not even family secrets and
communications of the most confidential nature were respected.
About the middle of September in this year (1798), Bonaparte ordered

to be brought to the house of Elfy Bey half a dozen Asiatic women
whose beauty he had heard highly extolled. But their ungraceful
obesity displeased him, and they were immediately dismissed. A few
days after he fell violently in love with Madame Foures, the wife of a
lieutenant of infantry. She was very pretty, and her charms were
enhanced by the rarity of seeing a woman in Egypt who was calculated
to please the eye of a European. Bonaparte engaged for her a house
adjoining the palace of Elfy Bey, which we occupied. He frequently
ordered dinner to be prepared there, and I used to go there with him at
seven o'clock, and leave him at nine.
This connection soon became the general subject of gossip at head-
quarters. Through a feeling of delicacy to M. Foures, the General-in-
Chief gave him a mission to the Directory. He embarked at Alexandria,
and the ship was captured by the English, who, being informed of the
cause of his mission, were malicious enough to send him back to Egypt,
instead of keeping him prisoner. Bonaparte wished to have a child by
Madame Foures, but this wish was not realised.
A celebrated soothsayer was recommended to Bonaparte by the
inhabitants of Cairo, who confidentially vouched for the accuracy with