After a brilliant series of triumphs, Bonaparte returned to Paris on the 20th of November, 1797, where he was hailed with the most rapturous applause by the people. The most magnificent preparations were made for his reception; entertainments were everywhere given him; the sky resounded with the reiterated shout-"Long live the general of the army of Italy;" he obtained a scat in the Institute, and the troops returning to France made him the subject of their songs. Still, however, he was dissatisfied with the position he held. "I see (said he) if I loiter here, I am done for quickly, Here, every thing grows flat; my glory is already on the wane. We must to the East."
It has been asserted that in the early part of 1798, Bonaparte was commissioned “to prepare operations for invading England." With this object in view, he made a most minute examination of the coast, and continued to question sailors, pilots, smugglers, and fishermen, till he found the hazard of such an enterprise was too great. An army, however, was raised, and, to cover any future design of Napoleon, it was called “The army of England."
We now touch upon one of the most momentous periods of Bonaparte's astonishing career; we mean his invasion of Egypt, which under every point of view, may rank as a prodigy of human daring.
On the 20th of May, 1798, General Bonaparte put to sea, from the harbour of Toulon, on board L'Orient, of 120 guns, bearing the flag of Admiral Bruyès, for the purpose of taking the command of a fleet, which was collecting from the different ports under the dominion of the Republic of France. The voyage commenced with a propitious wind, and the first operation was the taking of Malta. During the continuance of the French fleet at Malta, it is said that the intelligence first reached Bonaparte that Nelson, having penetrated his design, was in
