While in this state of mind, he received from Sir Sidney Smith a packet of English and German newspapers giving news up to June 6th, which brought him quickly to a decision.

The formation of a powerful coalition, the loss of Italy, defeats on the Rhine, and the schisms, disgust, and despair prevalent in France--all drew his imagination westwards away from the illusory Orient; and he determined to leave his army to the care of Kleber and sail to France.
The morality of this step has been keenly discussed.

The rank and file of the army seem to have regarded it as little less than desertion,[121] and the predominance of personal motives in this important decision can scarcely be denied.

His private aim in undertaking the Eastern Expedition, that of dazzling the imagination of the French people and of exhibiting the incapacity of the Directory, had been abundantly realized.

His eastern enterprise had now shrunk to practical and prosaic dimensions, namely, the consolidation of French power in Egypt.