by his own lack of confidence and
that of the army. In this disposition of mind, Kleber had sent one
of his officers to the vizier (who had entered Syria), to make new
overtures of peace. General Bonaparte, with a view to embroiling the
vizier with the English, had previously entertained the idea of setting
on foot negotiations, which, on his part, were nothing more than a
feint. His overtures had been received with great distrust and pride.
Kleber 's advances met with a favourable reception, through the
influence of Sir Sidney Smith, who was preparing to play a prominent
part in the affairs of Egypt. This officer had largely contributed to
prevent the success of the siege of St. Jean d'Acre; he was proud of it,
and had devised a _ruse de guerre_ by taking advantage of a momentary
weakness to wrest from the French their valuable conquest. With this
view, he had disposed the grand vizier to listen to the overtures
of Kleber. Kleber, on his part, despatched Desaix and Poussielgue as
negotiators to Sir Sidney Smith; for, since the English were masters of
the sea, he wished to induce them to take part in the negotiation,
so that the return to France might be rendered possible. Sir Sidney
manifested a disposition to enter into arrangements, acting as "Minister
Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty," and attributing to himself
a power which he had ceased to hold since the arrival of Lord Elgin
as ambassador at Constantinople. Poussielgue was an advocate for
evacuation; Desaix just the reverse. The conditions proposed by Kleber
were unreasonable: not that they were an exorbitant equivalent for what
was given up in giving up Egypt, but because they were not feasible.
Sir Sidney made Kleber sensible of this. Officers treating for a mere
suspension of arms could not include topics of vast extent in their
negotiation, such as the demand for the possession of the Venetian
Islands, and the annulment of the Triple Alliance. But it was urgently
necessary to settle two points immediately: the departure of the wounded
and of the scientific men attached to the expedition, for whom Desaix
solicited safe-conduct; and secondly, a suspension of arms, for the army
of the grand vizier, though marching slowly, would soon be in presence
of the French. It had actually arrived before the fort of El Arish,
the first French post on the frontiers of Syria, and had summoned it to
surrender. The negotiations, in fact, had been going on for a fortnight