What would not France do at the bidding of this magician, who by a single sweep of his wand had raised her from the dust of humiliation and made her the leading power on the Continent! The young officer, now so distinguished, had married in the early part of his career the widow of M.de Beauharnais, one of the victims of the Reign of Terror.

During his absence in Egypt, the Directorate, and the Legislature, and the people had all become embroiled in dissensions.
Things were falling again into chaos, with no hand to hold them together.

Discontent was rife, and men were asking why the one man, the little dark man who knew how to do and to compel things, and to maintain discipline, why he was sent to the Nile and the Pyramids! Josephine, from Paris, kept Napoleon informed of these conditions.

So, leaving his army in charge of Kleber, he unexpectedly returned.

He knew what he was going to do; and he also knew he could depend upon the army to sustain him.