1798.

TREATY OF CAMPO FORMIO.

187

CHAPTER XXXIX.

FRENCH EXPEDITION TO EGYPT-BATTLE OF THE NILE-NAPLES AND ITS COURT-CAMPAIGNS IN EUROPE-EXPEDITION TO THE HELDER -SIEGE OF ACRE-FALL OF SERINGAPATAM.

THE treaty of Campo Formio, by which Austria obtained terms highly advantageous to her interests, dissolved the offensive and defensive alliance of the continental powers, and left England alone in arms. The humiliation of this country was to be the last and the greatest achievement of French ambition; and it was manifest, from the rude repulse with which the pacificatory advance of the British Government had been met, that the rulers of France believed that the time had arrived when the rival of the old monarchy and the foe of the new republic must at length yield to the irresistible will of a power which aimed at universal dominion.

During the autumn and winter of this year, pre parations for a great armament were proceeding at Toulon, and other harbours in possession of the French. The army of Italy, clamorous for a promised donation of a thousand millions of francs, which the Directory were unable to pay, had been flattered by the title of the army of England, and appeased by the prospect of the plunder of this country. But whatever might be the view of the Directory, or the expectation of the army, Bonaparte had no intention of undertaking an enterprise so rash as a descent upon the coast of England, while the fleets of England kept possession of the seas. There was another quarter from which the British Empire might be 'menaced with a better chance of success. India

188 THREATENING CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH. CH. XXXIX.

could never be secure while Egypt and the great eastern port of the Mediterranean were in the possession of one of the great maritime powers. Egypt had been an object of French ambition since the time of Louis the Fourteenth; and if the country which bordered on the desert was considered worth having a hundred years before, how much more was it to be coveted when it had become the most convenient approach to a territory which offered the strongest temptations that had ever been held forth to conquest and rapine. It was for Egypt, therefore, that the great armament of Toulon was destined. The project was not indeed considered a very hopeful one at Paris; but such was the dread and hatred of the ruling faction for the great military genius which had sprung out of the anarchy of France, and of the thirty thousand creditors whom they were unable to satisfy, that the issue of the expedition which they most desired was, that it might never return from the banks of the Nile. Bonaparte himself, though he had once dreamed of being King of Jerusalem, already saw a more splendid crown within his grasp, and would have lingered at Paris to accelerate his destiny. A quarrel between the French ambassador at Vienna, and the government of the Emperor, afforded a pretext for delay of which he attempted to avail himself; but the Directory urged his departure. He offered to resign, as he had done before, when the fate of the Republic was in his hands. But his offer was now eagerly accepted. Rewbell put a pen into his hands, but Merlin dashed it to the ground. The affrighted Directory ordered their General to repair to Toulon. Napoleon, after some hesitation, obeyed. The pear, he said, was not yet ripe.

Fleet sails

The fleet, consisting of thirteen ships of the line, with several frigates, smaller vessels, and transports conveying twenty-eight thousand picked troops, with the full equipment for every

from Toulon.

1798.

SEIZURE OF MALTA.

189

kind of military service, set sail on the 14th of May. Attached to this singular expedition, destined for the invasion of a friendly country, and the destruction of an unoffending people, was a staff of professors, furnished with books, maps, and philosophical instruments for prosecuting scientific researches in a land, which to a Christian and a philosopher was the most interesting portion of the globe. The great armament commenced its career of rapine by seizing on the important island of Malta. Under the shallow pretence of taking in water for a squadron which had left its anchorage only two days, a portion of the troops were landed, and after a show of resistance, the degenerate knights, who had already been corrupted, surrendered Malta, Gozo, and Cumino, to the French Republic. A great amount of treasure and of munitions of war, besides the possession of the strongest place in the Mediterranean, were thus acquired without loss or delay. A conquest of such importance would have amply repaid and justified the expedition, if no ulterior object had been pursued. But Bonaparte suffered himself to be detained no more than twenty-four hours by this achievement; and having left a garrison of four thousand men in the island, and established a form of civil government, after the French pattern, he shaped his course direct for Alexandria. On the 1st of July, the first division of the French troops were landed at Marabou, a few miles from the city. Aboukir and Rosetta, which commanded the mouths of the Nile, were occupied without difficulty. Alexandria itself was incapable of any effectual defence, and, after a few skirmishes with the handful of Janissaries which constituted the garrison, the French entered the place; and for several hours the inhabitants were given up to an indiscriminate massacre. Bonaparte pushed forward with his usual rapidity, undeterred by the horrors of the sandy desert, and the sufferings

190

CAIRO TAKEN.

CH. XXXIX.

of his troops. After two victories over the Mamelukes, one of which was obtained within sight of the Pyramids, the French advanced to Cairo; and such was the terror which they had inspired, that the capital of Egypt was surrendered without a blow. Thus in three weeks the country had been overrun. The invaders had nothing to fear from the hostility of the people; a rich and fertile country, the frontier of Asia was in their possession; but, in order to hold the possession secure, it was necessary to retain the command of the sea.

Nelson sent in pursuit of the

French

The English Government, on their side, considered the capture of the Toulon armament an object of paramount importance; and Earl St. Vincent, who was still blockading the Spanish ports, was ordered to leave Cadiz, if necessary, with his whole fleet, in search of the French; but at all events, to detach a squadron, under Sir Horatio Nelson, on that service. The selection of the junior flag-officer on the station for this most important command was naturally resented by Sir William Parker and Sir John Orde, the senior admirals; but the judgment of the Commander-in-Chief coincided with that of the Board of Admiralty; and happily, in this instance, neither a regard to the claims of seniority, nor jealousy of superior merit, were allowed to mar the fortunes of England. Nelson left Gibraltar on the 8th of May, with three ships of the line, four frigates, and a sloop, with orders to cruise off the coast of Provence; and if he should thus be enabled to ascertain what the French were doing, to rejoin the fleet at Cadiz. He failed to obtain any more particular information than Lord St. Vincent already possessed as to the movements of the French fleet; but Nelson's opinion, from the first, pointed to Egypt as the place of its destination; and he was reinforced, on the 5th of June, with ten sail of the line. His frigates had parted company with

1798.

NELSON'S FLEET AT NAPLES.

191

him on the 20th of May, and never returned; a loss which greatly retarded, and in the event almost defeated, his operations. On the 20th of June, off Messina, Nelson heard of the capture of Malta, and the departure of the French fleet. On the 28th, he arrived at Alexandria; but to his great disappointment, he there found only a Turkish line of battle ship and four frigates. On the 20th of July, he reported to Lord St. Vincent, that after sailing six hundred leagues, he had obtained no tidings of the French fleet since they had left Malta. Two days afterwards, he obtained permission, through the influence of the British Ambassador, Sir William Hamilton, or rather through the influence of Lady Hamilton, with the Queen, to victual and water his fleet, at Naples. Nelson then sailed for the Morea, and on the 29th of July, the Culloden,' which had been sent forward, returned with the welcome intelligence that the French fleet had taken a southeasterly course from Candia four weeks previously. The Admiral then formed his squadron in close order, and steered straight for Egypt. On the 31st of July, the 'Alexander' and the 'Swiftsure' were sent to reconnoitre; but a signal from the 'Zealous,' at four o'clock in the afternoon of the 1st of August, announced the French fleet, sixteen sail, at anchor in line of battle, in the Bay of Aboukir. Nelson, having determined to fight whenever he came up with the enemy, whether by day or by night, immediately made the signal for action. Although the French fleet lay in an open roadstead, they had taken up a position so strong as to justify their belief that they could not be successfully attacked by a force less than double their own. They lay close in shore, with a large shoal in their rear; in the advance of their line was an island, on which a formidable battery had been erected; and their flanks were covered by numerous gun-boats. A prudent commander might have been