“A tool is sometimes more useful than an ally.” “Yes; but, as you said, the Emperor is mad, and it is better to disarm than to arm a madman. I tell you that two nations like France and England ought to be inseparable friends or relentless enemies; friends, they are the poles of the world, balancing its movements with perfect equilibrium; enemies, one must destroy the other and become the world’s sole axis.” “But suppose Lord Grenville, not doubting your genius, still doubts your power; if he holds the opinion of our poet Coleridge, that our island needs no rampart, no bulwark, other than the raucous murmur of the ocean, what shall I tell him?” “Unroll the map of the world, Bourrienne,” said Bonaparte. Bourrienne unrolled a map; Bonaparte stepped over to it. “Do you see those two rivers?” said he, pointing to the Volga and the Danube. “That’s the road to India,” he added. “I thought Egypt was, general,” said Sir John. “So did I for a time; or, rather, I took it because I had no other. But the Czar opens this one; your government can force me to take it. Do you follow me?” “Yes; citizen; go on.” “Well, if England forces me to fight her, if I am obliged to accept this alliance with Catherine’s successor, this is what I shall do: I shall embark forty thousand Russians on the Volga; I shall send them down the river to Astrakhan; they will cross the Caspian and await me at Asterabad.” Sir John bowed in sign of deep attention. Bonaparte continued: “I shall embark forty thousand Frenchmen on the Danube.” “Excuse me, citizen First Consul, but the Danube is an Austrian river.” “I shall have taken Vienna.” Sir John stared at Bonaparte. “I shall have taken Vienna,” continued the latter. “I shall then embark forty thousand Frenchmen on the Danube; I find Russian vessels at its mouth ready to transport them to Taganrog; I march them by land along the course of the Don to Pratisbianskaïa, whence they move to Tzaritsin; there they descend the Volga in the same vessels that have transported the forty thousand Russians to Asterabad; fifteen days later I have eighty thousand men in western Persia. From Asterabad, these united corps will march to the Indus; Persia, the enemy of England, is our natural ally.” “Yes; but once in the Punjab, the Persian alliance will do you no good; and an army of eighty thousand men cannot drag its provisions along with it.” “You forget one thing,” said Bonaparte, as if the expedition were already under way, “I have left bankers at Teheran and Caboul. Now, remember what happened nine years ago in Lord Cornwallis’ war with Tippo Saïb. The commander-in-chief fell short of provisions, and a simple captain--I forget his name.” “Captain Malcolm,” said Lord Tanlay.