ant of
combination, appeared to the First Consul the height of ignorance.
Forgetful of all the principles of strategy, of which Bonaparte's conduct
afforded so many examples, he opposed to the landing of Abercromby a few
isolated corps, which were unable to withstand the enemy's attack, while
the English army might have been entirely annihilated had all the
disposable troops been sent against it.

The great admiration which Menou expressed at the expedition to Egypt;
his excessive fondness for that country, the religion of which he had
ridiculously enough embraced under the name of Abdallah; the efforts he
made, in his sphere, to preserve the colony; his enthusiasm and blind
attachment to Bonaparte; the flattering and encouraging accounts he gave
of the situation of the army, at first had the effect of entirely
covering Menou's incapacity.

--[For a ludicrous description of Menou see the Memoirs of Marmont:--
"Clever and gay, he was an agreeable talker, but a great liar. He
was not destitute of some education. His character, one of the
oddest in the world, came very near to lunacy: Constantly writing,
always in motion in his room, riding for exercise every day, he was
never able to start on any necessary of useful journey. . . .
When, later, Bonaparte, then First Consul, gave him by special
favour the administration of Piedmont, he put off his departure from
day to day for six months; and then he only did start because his
friend Maret himself put him into his carriage, with post-horses
already harnessed to it. . . . When he left this post they
found in his cabinet 900 letters which he had not opened. He was an
eccentric lunatic, amusing enough sometimes, but a curse to
everything which depended on him." (Memoirs of the Duc de Raguse,
tome i. p. 410).]--

This alone can account for the First Consul's preference of him. But I
am far from concurring in what has been asserted by many persons, that
France lost Egypt at the very moment when it seemed most easy of
preservation. Egypt was conquered by a genius of vast intelligence,
great capacity, and profound military science. Fatuity, stupidity, and
incapacity lost it. What was the result of that memorable expedition?
The destruction of one of our finest armies; the loss of some of our best
generals; the annihilation of our navy; the surrender of Malta; and the
sovereignty of England in the Mediterranean. What is the result at