He dictated the following summons:
God is merciful and pitiful.
General Bonaparte, whom the Arabs have surnamed the "Sultan of Fire," charges me to tell you that Djezzar Pasha commenced hostilities in Egypt by taking the fortress of El-Arich; that God, who is always on the side of justice, gave the victory to the French army, who recaptured the fortress, from which he desires to drive the troops of Djezzar Pasha, who ought never to have entered it; that Jaffa is surrounded on all sides; that the batteries will begin in two hours to batter down the walls with shot and shell, and destroy the defences; that his heart is touched by the thought of the harm that would befall the city and its inhabitants should it be taken by assault; that he offers a safe-conduct and protection to the garrison and the inhabitants of the city, and that he will consequently postpone the bombardment until seven o'clock in the morning.
The summons was addressed to Abou-Saib, the governor of Jaffa. Roland held out his hand to take it.
"What are you doing?" asked Bonaparte.
"Do you not need a messenger?" replied the young man, laughing; "it may as well be I as any one else."
"No," replied Bonaparte; "on the contrary, it had better be any one else than you, and better a Mussulman than a Christian."
"Why so, general?"
"Because while Abou-Saib may perhaps cut off the head of a Mussulman, he would most certainly cut off that of a Christian."
"All the more reason," replied Roland, shrugging his shoulders.
"Enough," said Bonaparte: "I do not wish it."