opes into the breasts of the exile family.

It was at this period that Napoleon published, in the _Moniteur_, a long
memorial, drawn up by General Sebastiani, who had just returned from a
mission to the Levant, abounding in statements, and clothed in language,
such as could have had no other object but to inflame the government of
England to extremity. Sebastiani detailed the incidents of his journey
at great length, representing himself as having been everywhere received
with honour, and even with enthusiasm, as the envoy of Napoleon. Such,
he said, were the dispositions of the Mussulmans, that 6000 French would
now suffice to restore Egypt to the republic; and it was in vain that
_General Stuart_, who represented the English king in that country, had
endeavoured to excite the Turkish government to assassinate him,
Sebastiani. Lastly, the report asserted, that the Ionian Islands would,
on the first favourable occasion, declare themselves French.

The English government reclaimed against this publication, as at once a
confession of the dangerous ambition of Buonaparte, and a studied insult
to them, whose representative's character and honour one of its chief
statements must have been designed to destroy, at a wilful sacrifice of
truth. The French minister replied, that the Chief Consul had as much
right to complain of the recent publication of Sir Robert Wilson's
_Narrative of the English Expedition to Egypt_, which contained
statements in the highest degree injurious to his character and
honour;[46] and had, nevertheless, been dedicated by permission to the
Duke of York. The obvious answer, namely, that Sir Robert Wilson's book
was the work of a private individual, and published solely on his own
responsibility, whereas Sebastiani's was a public document set forth by
an official organ, was treated as a wanton and insolent evasion.
Meanwhile the language of the press on either side became from day to
day more virulently offensive; and various members of the British
Parliament, of opposite parties, and of the highest eminence, did not
hesitate to rival the newspapers in their broad denunciations of the
restless and insatiable ambition of the Chief Consul.--"Buonaparte,"
said Mr. Wyndham, "is the Hannibal who has sworn to devote his life to
the destruction of England. War cannot be far off, and I believe it
would be much safer to anticipate the blow than to expect it. I would
advise ministers to appeal to the high-minded