"Death to the Franks!" was the cry of every Egyptian--the cry that
was common to the Mameluke chieftain and the lowest fellah.
"Death to the Franks!" murmured the sheiks and ulemas with each
prayer. And when Bonaparte had secretly fled, this ominous cry
resounded through all Egypt--"Death to the Franks!"
General Kleber, Bonaparte's successor, was the first victim
sacrificed. At Cairo, on the grand square of the Esbekieh, under the
large sycamore at a corner of the harem of one of the Mameluke beys,
he was stricken down by the dagger of a fanatical Turk. And now
terror and dismay possessed itself of the whole army, and not only
were the Egyptians glad when the command came from Europe that the
French soldiers should embark, but the latter also esteemed
themselves happy when, from the decks of their ships, they saw the
yellow coast of Africa gradually disappear. Since then, bright,
happy days seemed to have come again for the proud Mameluke beys,
and happiness appeared to dawn again over the stricken land. The
English, who, off the coast of Egypt, had destroyed the French
ships, their armada, were now masters of the situation. They united
themselves with the Mameluke beys, and undertook to mediate between
them and the Turkish ruler.
"Egypt is to be blessed with peace, and they who have so long
contended with each other in bitter hostility are to extend their
hands to each other.
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