th cut the Czar to the quick. It was
in vain that Napoleon now sought to lure him into Turkish adventures
by representing that France should secure the Morea for herself, that
other parts of European Turkey might be apportioned to Victor Emmanuel
I. and the French Bourbons. This cold-blooded proposal, that ancient
dynasties should be thrust from the homes of their birth into alien
Greek or Moslem lands, wounded the Czar's monarchical sentiments. He
would none of it; nor did he relish the prospect of seeing the French
in the Morea, whence they could complete the disorder of Turkey and
seize on Constantinople. He saw whither Napoleon was leading him. He
drew back abruptly, and even notified to our ambassador, Admiral
Warren, that _England had better keep Malta._[238]

Alexander also, on January 19th, 1803 (O.S.), charged his ambassador
at Paris to declare that the existing system of Europe must not be
further disturbed, that each Government should strive for peace and
the welfare of its own people; that the frequent references of
Napoleon to the approaching dissolution of Turkey were ill-received at
St. Petersburg, where they were considered the chief cause of
England's anxiety and refusal to disarm. He also suggested that the
First Consul by some public utterance should dispel the fears of
England as to a partition of the Ottoman Empire, and thus assure the
peace of the world.[239]

Before this excellent advice was received, Napoleon astonished the
world by a daring stroke. On the 30th of January the "Moniteur"
printed in full the bellicose report of Colonel Sebastiani on his
mission to Algiers, Egypt, Syria, and the Ionian Isles. As that
mission was afterwards to be passed off as merely of a commercial
character, it will be well to quote typical passages from the secret
instructions which the First Consul gave to his envoy on September
5th, 1802:

"He will proceed to Alexandria: he will take note of what is in the
harbour, the ships, the forces which the British as well as the
Turks have there, the state of the fortifications, the state of the
towers, the account of all that has passed since our departure both
at Alexandria and in the whole of Egypt: finally, the present state
of the Egyptians.... He will proceed to St. Jean d'Acre, will
recommend the convent of Nazareth to Djezzar: will inform him that
the agent of the [French] Republic is to appear at Acre: will find