Buonaparte, hearing of Nelson's victory, swears by his sword to extirpate the English from off the Earth [graphic]Gillray, James, 1756-1815, printmaker[8 December 1798]eng"Bonaparte, burlesqued, stands, swaggering, with legs astride, head in profile to the left. In his right hand is a sabre, dripping blood, inscribed 'Egalité'; he holds out the scabbard (chained to his waist) in his left hand. Under his right foot is a torn paper headed 'Nelsons Victory over the Fleet of the Republic'. He wears an enormous cocked hat decorated with feathers, aigrette, tricolour cockade, and crescent. The skirts of his double-breasted military coat fly back, reaching to the ground behind; round his waist is a voluminous fringed sash, in which are thrust a pistol and a jewelled dagger. He declaims, the words in a large label which floats up to the upper margin: ""What? our Fleet captur'd & destroy'd by the Slaves of Britain? \ - "by my Sword & by holy Mahomet I swear eternal Vengeance! - yes, \ - "when I have subjected Egypt, subdued the Arabs, the Druses & the Maronites; \ "become master of Syria, - turn'd the great River Euphrates, & saild upon it through \ "the sandy Desarts; compel'd to my assitance [sic], the Bedouins, Tuscomans [sic], Kurds, \ "Armenians, & Persians; form'd a Million of Cavalry, & pass'd them upon Rafts \ "six or Seven Hundred Miles over the Bosphorus, I shall enter Constantinople - \ - "Now I enter the Theatre of Europe, I establish the Republic of Greece, \ "I raise Poland from its ruins, I make Prussia bend ye knee to France; - \ "I chain up the Russian Bear, I cut the Head from ye Imperial Eagle; \ "I drive the ferocious English from the Archipelago - I hunt them \ "from the Mediterranean, - & blot them out from the catalogue of \ "Nations! - Then shall the conquer'd Earth sue for Peace, \ "& an Obelisk be erected at Constantinople, inscribed \ "To Buanoparte [sic] Conqueror of the World, \ & extirpater of the \ English Nation."" A French dispatch rider, dismounted from a camel whose head is on the left, stands full-face, gaping at the general, hat in hand and with a bundle, 'les Dépéches, under his arm. Behind Bonaparte (right) is part of a tent, of oriental type but decorated with tricolour."--British Museum online catalogueTitle etched below image.One line of text below title: See Buonaparte's speech to the French Army at Cairo, publish'd by authority of the Directory in Volney's letters.Sheet trimmed within plate mark.Temporary local subject terms: Victories: Reference to Nelson's victory in the battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798 -- Speeches: reference to Napoleon's speech at Cairo, 1798 -- Military: tents decorated with tricolors -- Camels -- French dispatch riders -- Literature: reference to Constantin François Chasseboeuf, Comte de Volney's (1757-1820) Letters.1 print : etching on wove paper, hand-colored ; plate mark 35.1 x 26.1 cm, on sheet 40.0 x 28.7 cm.Mounted on leaf 77 of volume 4 of 12.