well as you, sir, I abhor the flames of war; as well as you, I wish to see an end put to the misery which it has caused. But I shall never, in any point whatever, exempt myself from what the honour of the French republic and of her arms requires. I am fully convinced that these sentiments must also be yours. Good faith and morality must prevail in treaties concluded between nations. The French republicans know not those stratagems which are mentioned in the papers of Mr. Mories. They know not any other behaviour than courage during the combat, magnanimity after the victory, and good faith in their treaties.

"One hundred and fifty Englishmen are prisoners of war here ;* had I followed only the dictates of republican magnanimity, I would have sent them back, without considering them as prisoners, for they were taken on the coast of Egypt, not with arms in their hands, and I am fully convinced that the consuls would have approved of it; but your allies have detained citizen and chief of brigade Baudet, adjutant of General Kleber, whose person ought to have been held sacred, as he had been sent with a flag of truce. Contrary to my principles and my inclination, I have, therefore, been forced to reprisals against

Alluding to the officers and crew of H. M. ship Centurion, which was wrecked on the cost.

your countrymen; but they shall be set at liberty immediately on the arrival of citizen Baudet at Damietta, who shall there be exchanged against Mustapha Pasha, and several other Turkish commissaries. If, sir, as I have no doubt, you have some influence over your allies, this affair will soon be settled, which interests your honour, and evidently endangers one hundred and fifty of your countrymen. I have the honour to repeat to you, sir, that with enthusiastic pleasure I shall see the termination of a war which has, for so long a period, agitated the whole world. The French and English nations are destined mutually to esteem, not to destroy one another; but when they enter into negociations with each other, it must only be done on conditions which are equally honourable to both, and promotive of their welfare. Receive, sir, the very sincere assurances of my esteem and high respect.

"I have the honour to be, &c.

(Signed)

"ABDALLAH BEY, J. MENOU."

This letter is certainly to the purpose, and just what might have been expected after so unhappy an event. It shows, also, the habitual respect in which our officer was held by his stern and desperate foes. It produced the following conciliatory and amicable answer.

Letter from Sir Sidney Smith to General Menou, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in Egypt; originally written in French; dated Jaffa, June 22, 1800.

"GENERAL, I received this evening the letter which you did me the honour of writing to me on the 20th instant. At the instant when I expected to see General Kleber, under the most favourable and satisfactory auspices, I learned, with the liveliest concern and the most heartfelt sorrow, his tragical fate. I immediately communicated the intelligence to the Grand Vizier and the Ottoman ministers, in the terms in which you announced to me that sad event; and nothing less than the certainty and detail with which you communicated it, could have induced their excellencies to credit the information. The Grand Vizier has declared to me, formally and officially, that he had not the slightest knowledge of those who had been guilty of the assassination; and I am persuaded that his declaration is true and sincere. Without entering into the particulars of this unfortunate event, I shall content myself with answering the articles of your letter that relate to our affairs.

"If the Grand Vizier has detained in his camp the aide-de-camp Baudet, despatched to him at

Jebli-il-Illam, it was because his excellency did not think proper to suffer any person to quit his camp at the moment when he saw himself surrounded by his enemies. Baudet was detained at Jebil-il-Illam in the same manner as the Turkish officers destined to serve reciprocally with him as hostages were detained at Cairo.

"This aide-de-camp was sent to the Ottoman squadron to be exchanged, according to your desire; and during that interval, his excellency the Captain Pacha having arrived here, the exchange was postponed in consequence of his absence from the squadron. When his excellency shall have joined the squadron, the exchange may be carried into effect, should you think proper, as the aide-de-camp Baudet is off Alexandria; but I cannot perceive why you make the release of one hundred and fifty English, who were shipwrecked at Cape Brulos, depend upon a transaction relating only to yourself and the Porte. I expect from your good faith and your justice, according to the regulations settled between both nations relative to the reciprocal exchange of our prisoners, which we are authorised to enforce, that you will allow Captain Buttal, his officers and crew, to return.

"Your promises expressive of the hope of reciprocity on my part cannot apply to this circum

stance, and I think it superfluous to offer you in return the assurance of my good offices in favour of any person who may be reduced to the painful situation which I have myself experienced. I am convinced that the Grand Vizier will sanction with his generous and dignified approbation all the humane proceedings which we may adopt with respect to one another. The tricks of warfare are unknown to us both, and while I shall continue to behave to you with the same candour and the same good faith which I have manifested to the present moment, I shall earnestly employ all my means to prevent any person on whom I may possess influence from pursuing a contrary line of conduct. Be assured that the hostile dispositions which have been recently announced, and which have acquired extent and publicity, may be appeased by the opportunities furnished to both parties by the present circumstances of mutual correspondence and communication, and that we shall at length be united by the ties of sincere friendship. In the mean time we shall prosecute hostilities against you with the means which we have hitherto employed against you, and we shall endeavour to render ourselves worthy of the esteem of your brave troops.

"The hostilities which you have committed without waiting for Admiral Keith's answer, who