. Domingo; for Napoleon abhorred
any mention of a _coup manque_, and strove to banish from the
imagination of France those dreams of a trans-Atlantic Empire which
had drawn him, as they were destined sixty years later to draw his
nephew, to the verge of war with the rising republic of the New World.
In one respect, the uncle was more fortunate than the nephew. In
signing the treaty with the United States, the First Consul could
represent his conduct, not as a dexterous retreat from an impossible
situation, but as an act of grace to the Americans and a blow to
England. "This accession of territory," he said, "strengthens for ever
the power of the United States, and I have just given to England a
maritime rival that sooner or later will humble her pride."[205]

* * * * *

In the East there seemed to be scarcely the same field for expansion
as in the western hemisphere. Yet, as the Orient had ever fired the
imagination of Napoleon, he was eager to expand the possessions of
France in the Indian Ocean. In October, 1801, these amounted to the
Isle of Bourbon and the Isle of France; for the former French
possessions in India, namely, Pondicherry, Mahe, Karikal,
Chandernagore, along with their factories at Yanaon, Surat, and two
smaller places, had been seized by the British, and were not to be
given back to France until six months after the definitive treaty of
peace was signed. From these scanty relics it seemed impossible to
rear a stable fabric: yet the First Consul grappled with the task.
After the cessation of hostilities, he ordered Admiral Gantheaume with
four ships of war to show the French flag in those seas, and to be
ready in due course to take over the French settlements in India.
Meanwhile he used his utmost endeavours in the negotiations at Amiens
to gain an accession of land for Pondicherry, such as would make it a
possible base for military enterprise. Even before those negotiations
began he expressed to Lord Cornwallis his desire for such an
extension; and when the British plenipotentiary urged the cession of
Tobago to Great Britain, he offered to exchange it for an
establishment or territory in India.[206] Herein the First Consul
committed a serious tactical blunder; for his insistence on this topic
and his avowed desire to negotiate direct with the Nabob undoubtedly
aroused the suspicions of our Government.

Still greater must have been their concern when they learnt that
G