de
camp', sent by General Kleber, who had the command of Alexandria, that
the General-in-Chief was near Salehye'h. He proceeded thither
immediately, and Bonaparte hastened back to Cairo, a distance of about
thirty-three leagues.

In spite of any assertions that may have been made to the contrary, the
fact is, that as soon as the French troops set foot in Egypt, they were
filled with dissatisfaction, and ardently longed to return home.'

--['Erreurs' objects to this description of the complaints of the
army, but Savary (tome i. pp. 66, 67, and tome i. p. 89) fully
confirms it, giving the reason that the army was not a homogeneous
body, but a mixed force taken from Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice,
Genoa, and Marseilles; see also Thiers, tome v. p. 283. But the
fact is not singular. For a striking instance, in the days of the
Empire, of the soldiers in 1809, in Spain, actually threatening
Napoleon in his own hearing, see De Gonneville (tome i.
pp. 190-193): "The soldiers of Lapisse's division gave loud
expression to the most sinister designs against the Emperor's
person, stirring up each other to fire a shot at him, sad bandying
accusations of cowardice for not doing it." He heard it all as
plainly as we did, and seemed as if he did not care a bit for it,
but "sent the division into good quarters, when the men were as
enthusiastic as they were formerly mutinous." In 1796
d'Entraigues, the Bourbon spy, reports, "As a general rule, the
French soldier grumbles and is discontented. He accuses Bonaparte
of being a thief and a rascal. But to-morrow the very same soldier
will obey him blindly" (Iung's Bonaparte, tome iii. p. 152).]--

The illusion of the expedition had disappeared, and only its reality
remained. What bitter murmuring have I not heard from Murat, Lannes,
Berthier, Bessieres, and others! Their complaints were, indeed, often so
unmeasured as almost to amount to sedition. This greatly vexed
Bonaparte, and drew from him severe reproaches and violent language.

--[Napoleon related at St. Helena that in a fit of irritation he
rushed among a group of dissatisfied generals, and said to one of
them, who was remarkable for his stature, "you have held seditious
language; but take care I do not perform my duty. Though you are
five feet ten inches high, that shall not save you from being
shot."--Bourrienne.]--

When the news arrived of the loss of