s successor's
shoulders, and also of leaving the army "without a sou in the chest,"
with pay in arrear, and very little supply of munitions or clothing.

The other letters from Egypt were not less accusatory than Kleber's; and
it cannot be doubted that charges of so precise a nature, brought by the
general who had now become commander-in-chief against his predecessor,
would have had great weight, especially backed as they were by similar
complaints from other quarters. A trial would have been inevitable; and
then, no 18th Brumaire, no Consulate, no Empire, no conquest of
Europe--but also, it may be added, no St. Helena. None of these, events
would have ensued had not the English squadron, when it appeared off
Corsica, obliged the Huiron to scud about at hazard, and to touch at the
first land she could reach.

The Egyptian expedition filled too important a place in the life of
Bonaparte for him to neglect frequently reviving in the public mind the
recollection of his conquests in the East. It was not to be forgotten
that the head of the Republic was the first of her generals. While
Moreau received the command of the armies of the Rhine, while Massena, as
a reward for the victory of Zurich, was made Commander-in-Chief in Italy,
and while Brune was at the head of the army of Batavia, Bonaparte, whose
soul was in the camps, consoled himself for his temporary inactivity by a
retrospective glance on his past triumphs. He was unwilling that Fame
should for a moment cease to blazon his name. Accordingly, as soon as he
was established at the head of the Government, he caused accounts of his
Egyptian expedition to be from time to time published in the Moniteur.
He frequently expressed his satisfaction that the accusatory
correspondence, and, above all, Kleber's letter, had fallen into his own
hands.' Such was Bonaparte's perfect self-command that immediately after
perusing that letter he dictated to me the following proclamation,
addressed to the army of the East:

SOLDIERS!--The Consuls of the French Republic frequently direct
their attention to the army of the East.

France acknowledges all the influence of your conquests on the
restoration of her trade and the civilisation of the world.

The eyes of all Europe are upon you, and in thought I am often with
you.

In whatever situation the chances of war may place you, prove
yourselves still the soldiers of Rivoli and Aboukir--you will be
invincib