The Project Gutenberg Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte

B >> Bourrienne, Constant, and Stewarton >> The Project Gutenberg Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte


The loss of the fleet convinced General Bonaparte of the necessity of
speedily and effectively organising Egypt, where everything denoted that
we should stay for a considerable time, excepting the event of a forced
evacuation, which the General was far from foreseeing or fearing. The
distance of Ibrahim Bey and Mourad Bey now left him a little at rest.
War, fortifications, taxation, government, the organization of the
divans, trade, art, and science, all occupied his attention. Orders and
instructions were immediately despatched, if not to repair the defeat, at
least to avert the first danger that might ensue from it. On the 21st of
August Bonaparte established at Cairo an institute of the arts and
sciences, of which he subsequently appointed me a member in the room of
M. de Sucy, who was obliged to return to France, in consequence of the
wound he received on board the flotilla in the Nile.

--[The Institute of Egypt was composed of members of the French
Institute, and of the men of science and artists of the commission
who did not belong to that body. They assembled and added to their
number several officers of the artillery and staff, and others who
bad cultivated the sciences and literature.

The Institute was established in one of the palaces of the bey's.
A great number of machines, and physical, chemical, and astronomical
instruments had been brought from France. They were distributed in
the different rooms, which were also successively filled with all
the curiosities of the country, whether of the animal, vegetable, or
mineral kingdom.

The garden of the palace became a botanical garden. A chemical
laboratory was formed at headquarters; Merthollet performed
experiments there several times every week, which Napoleon and a
great number of officers attended ('Memoirs of Napoleon')]--

In founding this Institute, Bonaparte wished to afford an example of his
ideas of civilisation. The minutes of the sittings of that learned body,
which have been printed, bear evidence of its utility, and of Napoleon's
extended views. The objects of the Institute were the advancement and
propagation of information in Egypt, and the study and publication of all
facts relating to the natural history, trade, and antiquities of that
ancient country.

On the 18th Bonaparte was present at the ceremony of opening the dyke of
the canal of Cairo, which receives the water of the Nile when it reaches
the height fired by the Mequyas.

Two days after came the anniversary festival of the birth of Mahomet. At
this Napoleon was also present, in company with the sheik El Bekri,' who
at his request gave him two young Mamelukes, Ibrahim, and Roustan.

--[The General-in-Chief went to celebrate, the feast of the Prophet
at the house of the sheik El Bekri. The ceremony was began by the
recital of a kind of litany, containing the life of Mahomet from his
birth to his death. About a hundred sheiks, sitting in a circle, on
carpets, with their legs crossed, recited all the verses, swinging
their bodies violently backwards and forwards, and altogether.

A grand dinner was afterwards served up, at which the guests sat on
carpets, with their legs across. There were twenty tables, and five
or six people at each table. That of the General-in-Chief and the
sheik El Bekri was in the middle; a little slab of a precious kind
of wood ornamented with mosaic work was placed eighteen inches above
the floor and covered with a great number of dishes in succession.
They were pillaws of rice, a particular kind of roast, entrees, and
pastry, all very highly spiced. The sheiks picked everything with
their fingers. Accordingly water was brought to wash the hands
three times during dinner. Gooseberry-water, lemonade, and other
sorts of sherbets were served to drink, and abundance of preserves
and confectionery with the dessert. On the whole, the dinner was
not disagreeable; it was only the manner of eating it that seemed
strange to us.

In the evening the whole city was illuminated. After dinner the
party went into the square of El Bekri, the illumination of which,
in coloured lamps, was very beautiful. An immense concourse of
people attended. They were all placed in order, in ranks of from
twenty to a hundred persons, who, standing close together, recited
the prayers and litanies of the Prophet with movements which kept
increasing, until at length they seemed to be convulsive, and some
of the most zealous fainted sway ('Memoirs of Napoleon').]--

--[Roustan or Rustan, a Mameluke, was always with Napoleon from the
time of the return from Egypt till 1814, when he abandoned his
master. He slept at or near the door of Napoleon. See Remusat,
tome i, p. 209, for an amusing description of the alarm of
Josephine, and the precipitate flight of Madame de Remusat, at the
idea of being met and killed by this man in one of Josephine's
nocturnal attacks on the privacy of her husband when closeted with
his mistress.]--

It has been alleged that Bonaparte, when in Egypt, took part in the
religious ceremonies and worship of the Mussulmans; but it cannot be said
that he celebrated the festivals of the overflowing of the Nile and the
anniversary of the Prophet. The Turks invited him to these merely as a
spectator; and the presence of their new master was gratifying to the
people. But he never committed the folly of ordering any solemnity.
He neither learned nor repeated any prayer of the Koran, as many persons
have asserted; neither did he advocate fatalism, polygamy, or any other
doctrine of the Koran. Bonaparte employed himself better than in
discussing with the Imaums the theology of the children of Ismael. The
ceremonies, at which policy induced him to be present, were to him, and
to all who accompanied him, mere matters of curiosity. He never set foot
in a mosque; and only on one occasion, which I shall hereafter mention,
dressed himself in the Mahometan costume. He attended the festivals to
which the green turbans invited him. His religious tolerance was the
natural consequence of his philosophic spirit.

--[From this Sir Walter Scott infers that he did not scruple to join
the Musselmans in the external ceremonies of their religion. He
embellishes his romance with the ridiculous farce of the sepulchral
chamber of the grand pyramid, and the speeches which were addressed
to the General as well as to the muftis and Imaums; and he adds that
Bonaparte was on the point of embracing Islamism. All that Sir
Walter says on this subject is the height of absurdity, and does not
even deserve to be seriously refuted. Bonaparte never entered a
mosque except from motives of curiosity,(see contradiction in
previous paragraph. D.W.) and he never for one moment afforded any
ground for supposing that he believed in the mission of Mahomet.--
Bourrienne.]--

Doubtless Bonaparte did, as he was bound to do, show respect for the
religion of the country; and he found it necessary to act more like a
Mussulman than a Catholic. A wise conqueror supports his triumphs by
protecting and even elevating the religion of the conquered people.
Bonaparte's principle was, as he himself has often told me, to look upon
religions as the work of men, but to respect them everywhere as a
powerful engine of government. However, I will not go so far as to say
that he would not have changed his religion had the conquest of the East
been the price of that change. All that he said about Mahomet, Islamism,
and the Koran to the, great men of the country he laughed at himself.
He enjoyed the gratification of having all his fine sayings on the
subject of religion translated into Arabic poetry, and repeated from
mouth to mouth. This of course tended to conciliate the people.

I confess that Bonaparte frequently conversed with the chiefs of the
Mussulman religion on the subject of his conversion; but only for the
sake of amusement. The priests of the Koran, who would probably have
been delighted to convert us, offered us the most ample concessions.
But these conversations were merely started by way of entertainment,
and never could have warranted a supposition of their leading to any
serious result. If Bonaparte spoke as a Mussulman, it was merely in his
character of a military and political chief in a Mussulman country.
To do so was essential to his success, to the safety of his army, and,
consequently; to his glory. In every country he would have drawn up
proclamations and delivered addresses on the same principle. In India he
would have been for Ali, at Thibet for the Dalai-lama, and in China for
Confucius.

--[On the subject of his alleged conversion to Mahometanism
Bonaparte expressed himself at St. Helena as follows:

"I never followed any of the tenets of that religion. I never
prayed in the mosques. I never abstained from wine, or was
circumcised, neither did I ever profess it. I said merely that we
were the friends of the Mussulmans, and that I respected Mahomet
their prophet, which was true; I respect him now. I wanted to make
the Imaums cause prayers to be offered up in the mosques for me, in
order to make the people respect me still more than they actually
did, and obey me more readily. The Imaums replied that there was a
great obstacle, because their Prophet in the Koran had inculcated to
them that they were not to obey, respect, or hold faith with
infidels, and that I came under that denomination. I then desired
them to hold a consultation, and see what was necessary to be done
in order to become a Musselman, as some of their tenets could not be
practised by us. That, as to circumcision, God had made us unfit
for that. That, with respect to drinking wine, we were poor cold
people, inhabitants of the north, who could not exist without it.
They consulted together accordingly, and in about three weeks issued
a fetham, declaring that circumcision might be omitted, because it
was merely a profession; that as to drinking wine, it might be drunk
by Mussulmans, but that those who drank it would not go to paradise,
but to hell I replied that this would not do; that we had no
occasion to make ourselves Mussulmans in order to go to hell, that
there were many ways of getting there without coming to Egypt, and
desired them to hold another consultation. After deliberating and
battling together for I believe three months, they finally decided
that a man might become a Mussulman, and neither circumcise nor
abstain from wine; but that, in proportion to the wine drunk, some
good works must be done. I then told them that we were all
Mussulmans and friends of the Prophet, which they really believed,
as the French soldiers never went to church, and had no priests with
them. For you must know that during the Revolution there was no
religion whatever in the French army. Menou," continued Napoleon,
"really turned Mahometan, which was the reason I left him behind."
--(Voices from St. Helena.)]--

The General-in-Chief had a Turkish dress made, which he once put on,
merely in joke. One day he desired me to go to breakfast without waiting
for him, and that he would follow me. In about a quarter of an hour he
made his appearance in his new costume. As soon as he was recognised he
was received with a loud burst of laughter. He sat down very coolly; but
he found himself so encumbered and ill at ease in his turban and Oriental
robe that he speedily threw them off, and was never tempted to a second
performance of the masquerade.

About the end of August Bonaparte wished to open negotiations with the
Pasha of Acre, nicknamed the Butcher. He offered Djezzar his friendship,
sought his in return, and gave him the most consolatory assurances of the
safety of his dominions. He promised to support him against the Grand
Seignior, at the very moment when he was assuring the Egyptians that he
would support the Grand Seignior against the beys. But Djezzar,
confiding in his own strength and in the protection of the English, who
had anticipated Bonaparte, was deaf to every overture, and would not even
receive Beauvoisin, who was sent to him on the 22d of August. A second
envoy was beheaded at Acre. The occupations of Bonaparte and the
necessity of obtaining a more solid footing in Egypt retarded for the
moment the invasion of that pashalic, which provoked vengeance by its
barbarities, besides being a dangerous neighbour.

From the time he received the accounts of the disaster of Aboukir until
the revolt of Cairo on the 22d of October, Bonaparte sometimes found the
time hang heavily on his hands. Though he devoted attention to
everything, yet there was not sufficient occupation for his singularly
active mind. When the heat was not too great he rode on horseback; and
on his return, if he found no despatches to read (which often happened),
no orders to send off; or no letters to answer, he was immediately
absorbed in reverie, and would sometimes converse very strangely. One
day, after a long pause, he said to me:

"Do you know what I am thinking of?"--"Upon my word, that would be very
difficult; you think of such extraordinary things."--"I don't know,"
continued he, "that I shall ever see France again; but if I do, my only
ambition is to make a glorious campaign in Germany--in the plains of
Bavaria; there to gain a great battle, and to avenge France for the
defeat of Hochstadt. After that I would retire into the country, and
live quietly."

He then entered upon a long dissertation on the preference he would give
to Germany as the theatre of war; the fine character of the people, and
the prosperity and wealth of the country, and its power of supporting an
army. His conversations were sometimes very long; but always replete
with interest.

--[So early as 1794 Napoleon had suggested that Austria should
always be attacked in Germany, not in Italy. "It is Germany that
should be overwhelmed; that done, Italy and Spain fall of
themselves. Germany should be attacked, not Spain or Italy. If we
obtain great success, advantage should never be taken of it to
penetrate into Italy while Germany, unweakened, offers a formidable
front" (Iung's Bonaparte, tome ii. p. 936), He was always opposed
to the wild plans which had ruined so many French armies in Italy,
and which the Directory tried to force on him, of marching on Rome
and Naples after every success in the north.]--

In these intervals of leisure Bonaparte was accustomed to retire to bed
early. I used to read to him every evening. When I read poetry he would
fall asleep; but when he asked for the Life of Cromwell I counted on
sitting up pretty late. In the course of the day he used to read and
make notes. He often expressed regret at not receiving news from France;
for correspondence was rendered impracticable by the numerous English and
Turkish cruisers. Many letters were intercepted and scandalously
published. Not even family secrets and communications of the most
confidential nature were respected.

About the middle of September in this year (1798), Bonaparte ordered to
be brought to the house of Elfy Bey half a dozen Asiatic women whose
beauty he had heard highly extolled. But their ungraceful obesity
displeased him, and they were immediately dismissed. A few days after he
fell violently in love with Madame Foures, the wife of a lieutenant of
infantry. She was very pretty, and her charms were enhanced by the
rarity of seeing a woman in Egypt who was calculated to please the eye of
a European. Bonaparte engaged for her a house adjoining the palace of
Elfy Bey, which we occupied. He frequently ordered dinner to be prepared
there, and I used to go there with him at seven o'clock, and leave him at
nine.

This connection soon became the general subject of gossip at
head-quarters. Through a feeling of delicacy to M. Foures, the
General-in-Chief gave him a mission to the Directory. He embarked at
Alexandria, and the ship was captured by the English, who, being
informed of the cause of his mission, were malicious enough to send him
back to Egypt, instead of keeping him prisoner. Bonaparte wished to
have a child by Madame Foures, but this wish was not realised.

A celebrated soothsayer was recommended to Bonaparte by the inhabitants
of Cairo, who confidentially vouched for the accuracy with which he could
foretell future events. He was sent for, and when he arrived, I,
Venture, and a sheik were with the General. The prophet wished first to
exercise his skill upon Bonaparte, who, however, proposed that I should
have my fortune told first, to which I acceded without hesitation.
To afford an idea of his prophetic skill I must mention that since my
arrival in Cairo I had been in a very weak state. The passage of the
Nile and the bad food we had had for twelve days had greatly reduced me,
so that I was miserably pale and thin.

After examining my hands, feeling my pulse, my forehead, and the nape of
my neck, the fortune-teller shrugged his shoulders, and, in a melancholy
tone, told Venture that he did not think it right to inform me of my
fate. I gave him to understand that he might say what he pleased, as it
was a matter of indifference to me. After considerable hesitation on his
part and pressing on mine, he announced to me that the earth of Egypt
would receive me in two months.

I thanked him, and he was dismissed. When we were alone the General
said to me, "Well, what do you think of that?" I observed that the
fortune-teller did not run any great risk in foretelling my death, which
was a very probable circumstance in the state in which I was; "but,"
added I, "if I procure the wines which I have ordered from France, you
will soon see me get round again."

The art of imposing on mankind has at all times been an important part of
the art of governing; and it was not that portion of the science of
government which Bonaparte was the least acquainted with. He neglected
no opportunity of showing off to the Egyptians the superiority of France
in arts and sciences; but it happened, oftener than once, that the simple
instinct of the Egyptians thwarted his endeavours in this way. Some days
after the visit of the pretended fortune-teller he wished, if I may so
express myself, to oppose conjurer to conjurer. For this purpose he
invited the principal sheiks to be present at some chemical experiments
performed by M. Berthollet. The General expected to be much amused at
their astonishment; but the miracles of the transformation of liquids,
electrical commotions and galvanism, did not elicit from them any symptom
of surprise. They witnessed the operations of our able chemist with the
most imperturbable indifference. When they were ended, the sheik El
Bekri desired the interpreter to tell M. Berthollet that it was all very
fine; "but," said he, "ask him whether he can make me be in Morocco and
here at one and the same moment?" M. Berthollet replied in the negative,
with a shrug of his shoulders. "Oh! then," said the sheik, "he is not
half a sorcerer."

Our music produced no greater effect upon them. They listened with
insensibility to all the airs that were played to them, with the
exception of "Marlbrook." When that was played they became animated, and
were all in motion, as if ready to dance.

An order which had been issued on our arrival in Cairo for watching the
criers of the mosques had for some weeks been neglected. At certain
hours of the night these cries address prayers to the Prophet. As it was
merely a repetition of the same ceremony over and over again, in a short
time no notice was taken of it. The Turks, perceiving this negligence,
substituted for their prayers and hymns cries of revolt, and by this sort
of verbal telegraph, insurrectionary excitement was transmitted to the
northern and southern extremities of Egypt. By this means, and by the
aid of secret emissaries, who eluded our feeble police, and circulated
real or forged firmans of the Sultan disavowing the concord between
France and the Porte, and provoking war, the plan of a revolution was
organised throughout the country.

The signal for the execution of this plan was given from the minarets on
the night of the 20th of October, and on the morning of the 21st it was
announced at headquarters that the city of Cairo was in open
insurrection. The General-in-Chief was not, as has been stated, in the
isle of Raeuddah: he did not hear the firing of the alarm-guns. He rose
when the news arrived; it was then five o'clock. He was informed that
all the shops were closed, and that the French were attacked. A moment
after he heard of the death of General Dupuis, commandant of the
garrison, who was killed by a lance in the street. Bonaparte immediately
mounted his horse, and, accompanied by only thirty guides, visited all
the threatened points, restored confidence, and, with great presence of
mind adopted measures of defence.

He left me at headquarters with only one sentinel; but he had been
accurately informed of the situation of the insurgents; and such was my
confidence in his activity and foresight that I had no apprehension, and
awaited his return with perfect composure. This composure was not
disturbed even when I saw a party of insurgents attack the house of M.
Esteve, our paymaster-general, which was situated on the opposite side of
Ezbekye'h Place. M. Esteve was, fortunately, able to resist the attack
until troops from Boulac came up to his assistance.

After visiting all the posts, and adopting every precautionary measure,
Bonaparte returned to headquarters. Finding me still alone with the
sentinel, he asked me, smiling, "whether I had not been
frightened?"--"Not at all, General, I assure you," replied I.

--It was about half-past eight in the morning when Bonaparte returned to
headquarters, and while at breakfast he was informed that some Bedouin
Arabs, on horseback, were trying to force their entrance into Cairo. He
ordered his aide de camp, Sulkowsky, to mount his horse, to take with him
fifteen guides, and proceed to the point where the assailants were most
numerous. This was the Bab-el-Nasser, or the gate of victory. Croisier
observed to the General-in-Chief that Sulkowsky had scarcely recovered
from the wounds at Salehye'h, and he offered to take his place. He had
his motives for this. Bonaparte consented; but Sulkowsky had already set
out. Within an hour after, one of the fifteen guides returned, covered
with blood, to announce that Sulkowsky and the remainder of his party had
been cut to pieces. This was speedy work, for we were still at table
when the sad news arrived.

Mortars were planted on Mount Mokatam, which commands Cairo. The
populace, expelled from all the principal streets by the troops,
assembled in the square of the Great Mosque, and in the little streets
running into it, which they barricaded. The firing of the artillery on
the heights was kept up with vigour for two days.

About twelve of the principal chiefs of Cairo were arrested and confined
in an apartment at headquarters. They awaited with the calmest
resignation the death they knew they merited; but Bonaparte merely
detained them as hostages. The aga in the service of Bonaparte was
astonished that sentence of death was not pronounced upon them; and he
said, shrugging his shoulders, and with a gesture apparently intended to
provoke severity, "You see they expect it."

On the third the insurrection was at an end, and tranquillity restored.
Numerous prisoners were conducted to the citadel. In obedience to an
order which I wrote every evening, twelve were put to death nightly. The
bodies were then put into sacks and thrown into the Nile. There were
many women included in these nocturnal executions.

I am not aware that the number of victims amounted to thirty per day, as
Bonaparte assured General Reynier in a letter which he wrote to him six
days after the restoration of tranquillity. "Every night," said he,
"we cut off thirty heads. This, I hope, will be an effectual example."
I am of opinion that in this instance he exaggerated the extent of his
just revenge.

Some time after the revolt of Cairo the necessity of ensuring our own
safety forced the commission of a terrible act of cruelty. A tribe of
Arabs in the neighbourhood of Cairo had surprised and massacred a party
of French. The General-in-Chief ordered his aide de camp Croisier to
proceed to the spot, surround the tribe, destroy the huts, kill all the
men, and conduct the rest of the population to Cairo. The order was to
decapitate the victims, and bring their heads in sacks to Cairo to be
exhibited to the people. Eugene Beauharnais accompanied Croisier, who
joyfully set out on this horrible expedition, in hope of obliterating all
recollection of the affair of Damanhour.

On the following day the party returned. Many of the poor Arab women had
been delivered on the road, and the children had perished of hunger,
heat, and fatigue. About four o'clock a troop of asses arrived in
Ezbekye'h Place, laden with sacks. The sacks were opened and the heads
rolled out before the assembled populace. I cannot describe the horror
I experienced; but I must nevertheless acknowledge that this butchery
ensured for a considerable time the tranquillity and even the existence
of the little caravans which were obliged to travel in all directions for
the service of the army.