a. He dictated all these orders to me
in his Cabinet.

In the position in which France stood with respect to Europe, after the
treaty of Campo-Formio, the Directory, far from pressing or even
facilitating this expedition, ought to have opposed it. A victory on the
Adige would have been far better far France than one on the Nile. From
all I saw, I am of opinion that the wish to get rid of an ambitious and
rising man, whose popularity excited envy, triumphed over the evident
danger of removing, for an indefinite period, an excellent army, and the
possible loss of the French fleet. As to Bonaparte, he was well assured
that nothing remained for him but to choose between that hazardous
enterprise and his certain ruin. Egypt was, he thought, the right place
to maintain his reputation, and to add fresh glory to his name.

On the 12th of April 1798 he was appointed General-in-Chief of the army
of the East.

It was about this time that Marmont was married to Mademoiselle
Perregaux; and Bonaparte's aide de camp, La Valletta, to Mademoiselle
Beauharnais.

--[Sir Walter Scott informs us that Josephine, when she became
Empress, brought about the marriage between her niece and La
Vallette. This is another fictitious incident of his historical
romance.--Bourrienne.]--

Shortly before our departure I asked Bonaparte how long he intended to
remain in Egypt. He replied, "A few months, or six years: all depends on
circumstances. I will colonise the country. I will bring them artists
and artisans of every description; women, actors, etc. We are but
nine-and-twenty now, and we shall then be five-and-thirty. That is not
an old age. Those six years will enable me, if all goes well, to get to
India. Give out that you are going to Brest. Say so even to your
family." I obeyed, to prove my discretion and real attachment to him.

Bonaparte wished to form a camp library of cabinet editions, and he gave
me a list of the books which I was to purchase. This list is in his own
writing, and is as follows:

CAMP LIBRARY.

1. ARTS AND SCIENCE.--Fontenelle's Worlds, 1 vol. Letters to a German
Princess, 2 vols. Courses of the Normal School, 6 vols. The Artillery
Assistant, 1 vol. Treatise on Fortifications, 3 vols. Treatise on
Fireworks, 1 vol.

2. GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS.--Barclay's Geography, 12 vols. Cook's
Voyages, 3 vols. La Harpe's Travels, 24 vols.

3. HISTORY.--Plutarch, 12 vols. Turenne, 2 vols. Conde,