rade
not only of India and the far East, but also of the Levant; but the
enterprise could not have stopped there. The necessity of mastering
the Mediterranean and opening the Red Sea, closed to Christian vessels
by Mohammedan bigotry, would have compelled the occupation of stations
on either side of Egypt; and France would have been led step by step,
as England has been led by the possession of India, to the seizure of
points like Malta, Cyprus, Aden, in short, to a great sea power. That
is clear now; but it will be interesting to hear the arguments by
which Leibnitz sought to convince the French king two hundred years
ago.

After pointing out the weakness of the Turkish Empire, and the
readiness with which it might be further embarrassed by stirring up
Austria and Poland, the latter the traditional ally of France; after
showing that France had no armed enemy in the Mediterranean, and that
on the other side of Egypt she would meet the Portuguese colonies,
longing to obtain protection against the Dutch in India, the memorial
proceeds:--

"The conquest of Egypt, that Holland of the East, is infinitely
easier than that of the United Provinces. France needs peace in
the west, war at a distance. War with Holland will probably ruin
the new Indian companies as well as the colonies and commerce
lately revived by France, and will increase the burdens of the
people while diminishing their resources. The Dutch will retire
into their maritime towns, stand there on the defensive in
perfect safety, and assume the offensive on the sea with great
chance of success. If France does not obtain a complete victory
over them, she loses all her influence in Europe, and by victory
she endangers that influence. In Egypt, on the contrary, a
repulse, almost impossible, will be of no great consequence, and
victory will give the dominion of the seas, the commerce of the
East and of India, the preponderance in Christendom, and even
the empire of the East on the ruins of the Ottoman power. The
possession of Egypt opens the way to conquests worthy of
Alexander; the extreme weakness of the Orientals is no longer a
secret. Whoever has Egypt will have all the coasts and islands
of the Indian Ocean. It is in Egypt that Holland will be
conquered; it is there she will be despoiled of what alone
renders her prosperous, the treasures of the East. She will be
struck wit