his brother
remaining on the Egyptian coast. Elgin was far from being in accord
with Smith's general line of conduct, which was marked with
presumption and self-sufficiency, and in the end he greatly deplored
the terms "granted to the French, so far beyond our expectation;" but
he shared the belief that to rid Egypt of the French was an end for
which considerable sacrifices should be made, and his correspondence
with Smith expressed this conviction. When prepossessions such as this
exist among a number of men associated with one another, they are apt,
as in the case of Admiral Man consulting with his captains, to result
in some ill-advised step, bearing commonly the stamp of concern for
local interests, and forgetfulness of general considerations. The
upshot in this particular instance was the conclusion of a Convention,
known as that of El Arish, between the Turks and the French, signed on
board Smith's ship on the 24th of January, 1800, by which this army of
veterans was to be permitted to return to France unmolested, and free
at once to take the field against the allies of Turkey and Great
Britain, at the moment when Bonaparte's unrivalled powers of
administration were straining every nerve, to restore the French
forces from the disorganization into which they had fallen, and to
prepare for the spring campaign.

Smith, though present, did not sign this precious paper, which, in a
letter to Hamilton, he called "the gratifying termination of his
labours;" but he had in his hand the orders of his immediate superior,
and temporary commander-in-chief, to notify any "foreigner, general,
or admiral," that the execution of such an agreement would not be
permitted by the British Navy, and it would have been his own duty to
stop any ships attempting to carry it out, until other orders were
received. His powers as joint plenipotentiary having ceased, he was
now simply the naval officer. As it happened, Keith, who by this time
had relieved Nelson, brought out from England clear directions from
the Government not to allow any transaction of this kind; and although
he personally favored the policy of evacuation, feeling perhaps the
inconvenience of detaching ships so far from his centre of operations,
he was not a man to trifle with orders. Rumors of what was going on
had evidently reached him, for on the 8th of January, a fortnight
before the convention was signed, he wrote to Kleber a letter, which
he directed Smith to deliver