Française, at the representation of the tragedy of Mahomet, was seen to stop his ears with his fingers, and yet to be greatly moved by all the affecting scenes of the play, and even to shed tears. When asked to explain this conduct, he said :-" If you wish to judge correctly of the articulation of actors, you should listen to them without looking at them; if you are desirous of determining whether their gestures and actions are proper, you should fix your eyes on them without hearing what they say. I know all the best pieces by heart, and therefore I am susceptible of being moved by the pathetic parts, when the gestures and motions correspond with them. Few actors can pass this ordeal; I have tried many experiments of this sort; and, were I to make my remarks public, some of the principal of them would feel humbled. The case of Le Sage, the celebrated author of Gil Blas, sanctions my conduct;-when so deaf that he could not hear any conversation, he went to see his pieces acted, and did not miss a word. He said that he never was better able to form a judgment of his Comedies, and of the merit of the performers, than since he had lost his hearing; and my own experience convinces me that he was right."-This anecdote may furnish hints worthy of attention to our theatrical connoisseurs.

The Author's descriptions of the several Cantons of Switzerland possess great merit; and that which he gives of Appenzell is highly interesting. The soil, he says, is unfit for the vine, for corn, for fruit of all kinds, and even potatoes will not grow there; yet such are the effects of industry and civil liberty, that the population of this Canton averages seventeen hundred for every square league; exceeding that of the rich plains of MiJan, the fine regions of France, or the wealthy territories of the United Provinces. The necessaries of life are not only every where to be obtained, but a sort of luxury prevails in these sequestered retreats. It is in these rural Cantons, that our politicians and legislators ought to study the art of rendering men happy. It is here that one pities the folly of those sons of ambition, who only aspire to enlarge the boundaries of empire. Madmen! know that the more wide your empire, the worse is it governed, the less is there of protection, the weaker is the sentiment of love of your country, the more unequal are the fortunes of men, the more corrupt are manners, the more frequent are tumults and commotions, the more provocations are there to cupidity and avarice, the more is idleness in repute, and vice kept in countenance.'

Much entertainment and some instruction are to be derived from this work. If the style of it had been less careless, if the Author

6

Author had been more sparing of his quotations, and if his allusions had been less forced, it would most probably have attracted considerable notice.

ART. VIII.

Tableau de l'Egypte, &c.; i. e. A Picture of Egypt during its Occupation by the French Army; with the relative Position, and Distance, of the principal Places, a Sketch of the Political Economy, and some Details respecting its Antiquities; together with an exact Account of the Proceedings against Soleyman, the Assassin of General Kleber. By A. G..... D, Member of the Commission of Arts and Sciences at Cairo. 8vo. 2 Vols. Paris. 1802. Imported by De Boffe. Price 14s. How often is the dish of the French Egyptian Expedition to be re-cooked and served up to the public! It seems to be a favourite viand on the other side of the channel; for, though it has already been hashed and fricasseed in various shapes, it continues to make its appearance, and to maintain a fashionable pre-eminence. On us it begins to operate like a thricetold tale, when we grow languid and yawning at the repetition of repetitions. The author of this additional picture of Egypt does not profess to give any thing new; he modestly cautions us against expecting to find in it any matter to satisfy an enlightened curiosity; and he avows that his only object was to inform the general reader concerning the position of the French army, and to give a few of the most striking particulars of Egypt and its inhabitants. He lays some claim, indeed, to novelty of method, in endeavouring to make the reader present at the scenes which he describes: but we must demur to this claim, since we observe no peculiarity in this respect; modò me Thebis, modò ponit Athenis, is the general character of all good writers of voyages and travels. The plain fact seems to be that M. G-D kept memorandums during his residence in Egypt with the French troops; that he wished, on his return to his own country, to tell his own story; and that, with the addition of official papers and other quotations, he has contrived to swell it to a satisfactory magnitude.

Of two introductory letters, the first is dated from on board La Sensible Frigate in Toulon roads, and gives an account of the author's journey from Paris to the place of embarkation, of his unpleasant voyage down the Rhône, of his distress at Toulon on not being able to obtain any pay, and of his being reduced to the alternative either of going aboard the frigate or of going to gaol, the second, written from Malta, details the effects of sea-sickness on the crew, and the shameful and unfeeling plunder of the Maltese by the French soldiery.

By

By such prefatory matter, we are prepared for the invasion of Egypt under the command of General Bonaparte. To an account of the landing of the troops, is subjoined a description of Alexandria, eked out with a quotation from Volney and the paper on Pompey's pillar which was given in the Mémoires sur l'Egypte. The destruction of the French fleet, by the squadron under Lord Nelson, excites suitable lamentations; and the details of this memorable action are said to be given from the report of an eye-witness:-after which, the author recounts his own hair-breadth escapes in his progress up the Nile towards Cairo, and his observations on the buildings and customs of the inhabitants of that city. In order to mark the difference of manners prevailing between the French and the Egyptians, he says that there is nothing in the conduct of the former by which the latter were at first more surprized and shocked, than by the sight of the women walking in the streets with their husbands, having their faces uncovered. A woman who, before our arrival, should have ventured on such conduct would infallibly have been stoned; however, they became insensibly habituated to this custom; and it has been reported to me, though I do not vouch for the authenticity of the relation, that some Egyptian ladies, whether from curiosity or from some other motive, returned ceremonious visits with uncovered heads.'

The character of the Arabs is shortly sketched, and the difficulty of punishing them is explained:

They live on very little; and if pursued they plunge themselves into the desart, that ocean of sand, where scarcely a small bird can procure daily subsistence, and where it is impossible for us to follow them; for if, as they say, the food of one inhabitant of an Egyptian village would support five Arabs, that of a Frenchman would support ten. They make but little bread, and that is of the worst quality. The meal, which is coarsely ground in a hand-mill, is mixed with water, and baked under the cinders. They eat dates, and drink water, or camel's milk. They never eat meat, except on extraordinary occasions. When they receive any person of distinction, they roast a whole sheep, and serve it up entire on the table. This is their most splendid repast.

Their horses are accustomed to the same abstinence. They drink but once in the course of a day, and know not the taste of hay. Their usual food consists of about 5 or 6 lbs. of barley per day; so that an Arabian horseman, with 60 lbs. of barley, the same quantity of water, some dates, and a little meal, can traverse the desart for the space of ten days; taking only into the account some wells in the desart, the position of which is well known to the Arabs.'

The manners of the Egyptians at their meals are not less disgusting to an European than those of the wild Arabs: ..

They have no chairs, but sit on the ground cross-legged like taylors. The table is on the same level. Forks and spoons are never employed, and very rarely a knife. They use their fingers, and eat out of the same plate; if there be any sauce, each sops his bread in it *; and the master of the house will present to his guest, by way of compliment, the remainder of the piece which he himself has partly devoured. They all drink out of the same vessel, passing it round from one to the other.'

Bonaparte's proclamation, after the insurrection at Cairo, is said to have produced the greatest effect, and to have paved the way for his being regarded as a Prophet. Does the author mean to insinuate that the Egyptians were about to transfer their affections from Mahomet to the Corsican Saint?

In the account of Bonaparte's journey to Suez, it is related that the General passed the Red Sea on horseback, as happily as Moses but that, in returning, the tide was so high that he had nearly experienced the fate of Pharaoh and his host. This anecdote is enriched by the important information that, though Bonaparte travelled on horseback, his carriage drawn by six horses followed him across the desart.

In a few lines, the narrative of the expedition of Desaix to Upper Egypt is dispatched; and, instead of any of its interesting details, we are presented only with the following compliment, scarcely worth insertion. The inhabitants of Fayoum, one of the most beautiful provinces of Egypt, on having witnessed the valour and constancy of the troops, said one day to General Desaix; "Sultan! you ought not to give bread to your soldiers; they ought to be fed with sugar.”

On the picture of Egyptian customs and manners, including many indelicate and disgusting descriptions, as well as various particulars (often repeated) of the different people and religions occurring in that country, we shall not enlarge. We also omit the mention of the preparations for the Syrian expedition, the account of the storming of Jaffa, and the character of Dgezza Pacha, though they form a kind of introduction to the account of Bonaparte's discomfiture at Acre; which, à la Française, is glossed over in the following manner :

We have just received the news that Bonaparte has raised the siege of St. Jean d'Acre, after having made great devastation in that city; and that the army, in its return, so burned and destroyed every thing, as to make it impossible for the enemy to attack us by land, at least for a long time to come. The Pacha of Acre has received a lesson on this occasion which he will no doubt remember; and if it has not been so complete as one might expect, we must attri

* In satisfying other wants of nature, they are not more delicate ; see p. 140.

bute

bute it to a misunderstanding which prevailed in the army. It is indeed said that General Kleber shewed little disposition to second the operations of the Commander in Chief."

What a lame and dishonourable statement! Rather than do justice to the skill and intrepidity of the English, a misunder standing is imagined to have subsisted between different branches of the French army; and the blame of miscarriage is thrown on poor General Kleber! It is confessed that the French lost many men in this expedition: but the idea of defeat is not admitted; and, to keep up the deception, on the return of the remainder of the army to Cairo, it was marched through the Gate of Victory, and the helmet of each soldier was decorated with a branch of the palm-tree. Pretty conceits to give a false colcuring to facts !-By the subsequent victory over the Turks at Aboukir, the French are here reported to have taken glorious revenge for the naval victory obtained over them by the English, in the preceding year, in the bay of the same name.

As there is no kind of arrangement in this work, the reader will not be surprized to learn that the orders and proclamations of Bonaparte, on his sudden departure from Egypt, are immediately preceded by an anecdote of a boy swallowing scorpions ; and that the minutes of the army are followed by accounts of insects and reptiles. Some reflections, however, are introduced on this unexpected conduct of Bonaparte, which is stated to have thrown his friends into the greatest consternation, and to have been reprobated with a degree of virulence by his successor. (P. 195.) Kleber, who is in general a favourite with the author, highly disapproved, it is said, of this expedition to Egypt, which he attributed to Bonaparte's ambition; and the sufferings of the French in a foreign climate, where every man felt himself in a state of exile, increased his party against the Commander in Chief. Aware of the objection which will occur to every reader, the writer adds; You may be surprized, then, that Bonaparte should have conferred the chief command on his enemy, when he might have given it to Desaix, who was an equally good General, and not less in possession of the confidence of the soldiers.' The following is the reply: We must believe that Bonaparte, who never acts without a motive, was not willing to displease a considerable party of the army, and that he confided in the honour and loyalty of his successor.' This is one of those ingenious explanations by which nothing is explained. Unfortunately, the proclamation of Kleber, imme diately on his being invested with the chief command, is so far from marking in the most distant way any enmity towards the flying General, that the first sentence offers the strongest apology for this departure.

The