Aboukir castle having won,
Our hero thought it best to run.
The bravest man will run away,
When it is dangerous to stay;
But, as he to his troops declared,
By him all dangers should be shared,
And that on no account he’d leave them,
’Twas proper he should now deceive them.
The cunning he display’d in fight,
He manifested in his flight.
On some pretence, it seems, he wrote
To certain generals a note,
Acquainting them with what he wanted,
The time and place, too, he appointed.
These generals, so well they fared,
The fame of his desertion shared.
When to th’ appointed place they got,
Nap was already on the spot;
And, what of all things made them glad,
The military chest he had!
He left his army,—but we find
He left these words for them behind:
‘This parting grieves me sore, altho’ meant
To be for only a short moment.’
BUONAPARTE LEAVING EGYPT.
For an Illustration of the above see the intercepted Letters from the Republican General Kleber to the French Directory respecting the Courage, Honor, and Patriotism of ——, the Deserter of the Army of Egypt.
This caricature is presumably by Gillray, although it is not signed by him; and, as it was published on March 8, 1800, it is absolutely prophetic, for Napoleon is pointing to a future imperial crown and sceptre. This is especially curious, as it shows how, even then, the public opinion of England (of which, of course, the caricaturist was but a reflex) estimated him.
CHAPTER XVIII.
NAPOLEON’S ARRIVAL IN PARIS—HIS POPULARITY—DISSOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF FIVE HUNDRED—GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENE—NAPOLEON, SIÈYES, AND DUCOS NAMED CONSULS.