when they look upon one of the grandest of natural objects, “The dread ambassador from earth to heaven.” BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS. : 77. Napoleon left Alexandriah on the 7th of July, 1798, being anxious toi force the Mamelukes to an encounter with the least possible delay. He had a small flotilla on the Nile which1 served tom guard his right flank the infantry marched over burning sand at some distance from the river. The miseries of this progress P were extreme. The air is crowded with a pestiferous insects, the glarer of the sand weakens most men's eyes,s and blinds many; water is scarce and bad; and the country had been swept clear" of man, beast, and vegetable. Under this torture even the gallant spirits of such men as Murat and Lannes could not sustain themselves: they trod their cockades in the sand. The commona soldiers asked, with murmurs, if it was here the General designed to give them their seven acres? Hee alone was superior to all these evils. Such was the happy temperament of his frame, that, while others, after having rid them of their usual dress, were still suffused in perpetual floods of perspiration, and the hardiest found it necessary to give two or three hours in the middle of the day to sleep, Napoleon altered nothing: wore his uniform a contemplent. e objets de la nature. i quitta Alexandrie.- impatient de. court délai possible. 1 qui. mà n à. 8 au. de la. P marche. chargé de.- -éclat éblouissant. les yeux de la plupart des soldats.- tet en.- "avait été complèteSous le poids d'une telle.- le courage ment dépouillée. A même d'hommes tels que.- se soutenir.- -eocardes. c'était là que. a Les simples. b en murmurant. davait dessein de. Lui.. f constitution.- corps. h après s'être dépouillés de leurs vêtements ordinaires.. noyés dans les flots d'une sueur continuelle.-- était obligé de.1 portait. buttoned, as at Paris; never showed a bead of sweat on his brow; nor thought of repose except to lie down on his cloak the last at night, and start? the first in the morning. 78. For some days nor enemy appeared; but at length scattered groupss of horsemen began to hovert on their flank; and the soldier who quitted the line, but for a moment," was surrounded and put to death▾ ere his comrades could rescue him. The rapidity with which the Mamelukes rode, and their skill as marksmen, were seconded by the character of the soil and the atmosphere; the least motion or breath of wind being sufficient to raise, a cloud of sand, through which nothing could be discerned, while the constant glare of the sun dazzled almost to blindness. It was ate Chebreis that the Mamelukes first attacked in a considerable body; and at the same moment the French flotilla was assaulted. In either case the superiority of European discipline was made manifest; but in either case also the assailants were able to retreath without much loss. Meantime the hardships of the march continued; the irregular attacks of the enemy were becoming more and more numerous;i so that the troops, continually halting and forming into squares to receive the charge of the cavalry bym day, and forced to keep up great watches1 at night, experienced the extremes of fatigue as well as of privation. 79. On the 21st of July the army came within sights of the Pyramids, which, but for the regularity mune goutte. — -"et pour tout repos, s'étendait. soir. -P était debout.. - Pendant. raucun. groupes épars. à voltiger.- "ne fut-ce qu'un instant.mis à mort. - pussent le secourir. galopaient. • le des par la nature.- -pour soulever.- bil était impossible de rien distinguer.- -l'éclat.- - presque à aveugler.- Ce fut à. e favec un corps considérable.- fut évidente. purent faire leur retraite.- devenaient de plus en plus fréquentes. *se formant en carrés.-'pour.- mdans le.- nde monter de longues gardes. dans la.- -Péprouvèrent.vue.-que, sans. -arriva en of the outline, might have been takent for a distant ridge" of rocky mountains. While every eye was fixed on these hoary monuments of the past, they gained the brow of a gentle x eminence, and saw at length spread out before them the vast army of the Beys, its right posted on an entrenched camp by the Nile, its centre and left composed of that brilliant cavalry with which they were by this time acquainted.a Napoleon, riding forward to reconnoitre, perceived that the guns in the b entrenched camp were not provided with carriages; he instantly decided on plan of attack, and prepared tod throw his force on the left, where the guns could not be available. Mourad Bey, who commanded in chief, speedily penetrated his design, and the Mamelukes advanced gallantly to the encounter. "Soldiers," said Napoleon, "from the summit of yonders Pyramids, forty centuries behold you! "i and the battle began. n с 80. The French formed into separate squares, and awaited the assault of the Mamelukes. These came on with impetuous speed1 and wild cries, and practised every means to force their passage into the serried ranks of their new opponents. They rushed on the line of bayonets, backed their horses upon them and at last, maddened by the firmness which they could not shake, dashed their pistols and carbines into the faces of the men. They who hadt fallen wounded from their seats, would crawl along" the sand, and hew at* the legs of their enemies with their scimitars. Nothing could move the French; the bayonet and the continued roll of musketry by de leurs contours.- -ton aurait pu prendre." chaîne lointaine.. tous les yeux.- — petite.- déployée. près du Nil.- a dont ils connaissaient déjà la valeur.du. - n'avaient pas d'affûts.- se prépara à.Le ne pouvaient être d'aucune utilité. -'s'avancèrent bravement. ces.- hsiècles. vous contemplent.se formèrent.1arrivèrent au grand galop.met en poussant des.————" employèrent. - pour.-P firent reculer.- contre elles.—'au visage.—Ceux qui étaient. u essay furieux de.aient de se traîner sur.- cimetères.- ébranler.. - de la fusillade. degrees thinned the host around them; and Bonaparte at last advanced. Such were the confusion and terror of the enemy when he came near the camp, that they abandoned their works, and flung themselves by hundreds into the Nile. The carnage was prodigious. Multitudes mored were drowned. Mourad and a remnant of his Mamelukes retreated to Upper Egypts Cairoh surrendered; Lower Egypti was entirely conquered. 81. ON GLORY AND AMBITION. "Glory is vain," said Belisarius to his friend; and do you think that victory is so sweet a pleasure?1 Alas! when thousands of men are stretched on the field of battle, can we give up ourselves" to joy? I forgive those who have met danger,P to rejoice in having escaped from it; but to a prince born with sensibility. of heart,s the day on which such a deluge of blood is spilled, and such floods" of tears shed, cannot be a day of rejoicing. I have more than once walked over a field of battle, and if a Nero had been in my place, he would have wept. I know there are princes who delight in war as they do in a hunting, and who expose the lives of their people as they would that of their dogs; the rage of conquest is a kind of avarice, which torments them, and which is never satiated. The province which has been invaded is contiguous to another which has not yet been attacked; ambition is la foule autour d'eux. rent. le.. - par centaines. b arriva près du.- se précipitéUn plus grand nombre. avec 'se retira dans. la Haute Égypte.- Le Caire.la Basse-Egypte.- croyez-vous.—'soit un plaisir si doux. mdes milliers de.-vous abandonner.- -opardonne à. -Pcourent les dangers.- d'en être échappés.- -"pour. -"sensible.—t où tant de flots de sang ont été versés. -parcouru plus d'une fois.-"aiment.- comme. -comme ils feraient de. " ruisseaux.- -ont coulé. và mãi manie. - m excited; new projects are formed; but, sooner or later, comes a reverse of fortune, which exceeds in affliction all the joy of past victories. Let us suppose, however, that everything succeeds; the conqueror, like another Alexander, pushes on to the limits of the world, and, like him, returns fatigued with triumphs, and a burthen to himself,” not knowing what to do with those vast tracts of land, an acre of which would suffice to maintain him,P and a few feet to bury him. I have seen in my youth the tomb of Cyrus, on which was written: "I am Cyrus, he who conquered the Persian Empire.r Friend, whoever thou art,s and wherever thy native country,* envy me not the scanty space of ground" which covers my ashes!" Alas! said I, turning aside, it is not worth while to be a* conqueror.-MARMONTEL. с THE RHINE. 82. I have often told you how fond I am of rivers. Ideas float upon their current as well as merchandise. For a everything in creation has its specific duty. Rivers, like gigantic trumpets, announce to the ocean the beauty of the earth, the fertility of the plains, the splendour of the cities, and the glory of mankind.But above alle rivers, I love the Rhine, which I beheld for the first time in the year 1839, in passing over the bridge of boats ats Kehl. Night had set in, and, as the carriage was proceeding at a walk,i I remember to have experienced a profound respect while1 traversing fs'irrite.- --8 tôt ou tard.- -h survient. * réussisse. lui-même. même.. -P pour le nourrir. 1va jusqu'au bout.m de ses.-one sachant que faire de.. -a quelques.— -empire des Perses.que soit ta patrie.- -" ce peu de terre. yeux. il ne vaut pas la peine. j'aime les fleuves.- - Car. d villes. h tombait. t en détournant les Je vous l'ai dit souvent. spécial.que je vis.- -8 à. entre tous les.. allait au pas. k que j'éprouvai.. Les fleuves. 1en. |