mations and
addresses intended for popular consumption?

Certainly Bonaparte's good fortune was conspicuous all through these
eastern adventures, and never more so than when he escaped the pursuit
of Nelson. The English admiral had divined his aim. Setting all sail,
he came almost within sight of the French force near Crete, and he
reached Alexandria barely two days before his foes hove in sight.
Finding no hostile force there, he doubled back on his course and
scoured the seas between Crete, Sicily, and the Morca, until news
received from a Turkish official again sent him eastwards. On such
trifles does the fate of empires sometimes depend.

Meanwhile events were crowding thick and fast upon Bonaparte. To free
himself from the terrible risks which had menaced his force off the
Egyptian coast, he landed his troops, 35,000 strong, with all possible
expedition at Marabout near Alexandria, and, directing his columns of
attack on the walls of that city, captured it by a rush (July 2nd).

For this seizure of neutral territory he offered no excuse other than
that the Beys, who were the real rulers of Egypt, had favoured English
commerce and were guilty of some outrages on French merchants. He
strove, however, to induce the Sultan of Turkey to believe that the
French invasion of Egypt was a friendly act, as it would overthrow the
power of the Mamelukes, who had reduced Turkish authority to a mere
shadow. This was the argument which he addressed to the Turkish
officials, but it proved to be too subtle even for the oriental mind
fully to appreciate. Bonaparte's chief concern was to win over the
subject population, which consisted of diverse races. At the surface
were the Mamelukes, a powerful military order, possessing a
magnificent cavalry, governed by two Beys, and scarcely recognizing
the vague suzerainty claimed by the Porte. The rivalries of the Beys,
Murad and Ibrahim, produced a fertile crop of discords in this
governing caste, and their feuds exposed the subject races, both Arabs
and Copts, to constant forays and exactions. It seemed possible,
therefore, to arouse them against the dominant caste, provided that
the Mohammedan scruples of the whole population were carefully
respected. To this end, the commander cautioned his troops to act
towards the Moslems as towards "Jews and Italians," and to respect
their muftis and imams as much as "rabbis and bishops." He also
proclaimed to the Egyptians his determination, while