No. 223.]

[1 of VOL. 33.

For the Monthly Magazine. ANALYTICAL ACCOUNT of the MAGNIFICENT WORK just PUBLISHED by the FRENCH SAVANS, relative to EGYPT, at the EXPENCE of the FRENCH GO

VERNMENT.

THIS IIIS is perhaps the most splendid, as assuredly it is the most expensive, work that has appeared in Europe, since the invention of printing. The first livraison, or delivery, consists of two thin volumes, in grand folio, consisting of plates; there is also a third and correspondent one of letter-press, together with certain detached accounts, which render this portion ent entirely useless, without the succeeding deliveries. The price of 150l. for the fine, and 841. for the coarse paper, will render the amount very considerable, provided the work shall extend, as is intended, to two more livraisons; but it may be considered as a monument erected in honour of typography and the fine arts, and no doubt is intended as a lasting memorial of the glory of a modern conqueror, who, with. out possessing the magnanimity or disinterestedness of Alexander, affects to follow his career, and retrace his footsteps.

THE ENGRAVINGS.

The copper-plates, as may be easily supposed, are numerous and grand. Every-where we behold scenes and buildings that recall the memory of splendid actions, both ancient and modern; palaces, temples, pyramids, here attract the eye; there a river famous for ages; next we contemplate a pharos, the view of which is connected with memorable events; and finally, the shores of the Mediterranean sea, through which the French ploughed their way to the conquest of this remote part of the world, and where England triumphed twice; first, by means of her fleet; and, secondly, by her army. The designs were all made by men eminent in their respective professions.

THE ARCHITECTURAL PORTΙΟΝ.

self an architect of eminence; Cecile, another brought up in the same school; with these are included the names of Conte, Deviliers, Du Bois Aimé, and five or six more professional men.

THE NATURAL HISTORY.

This portion of the work is executed by Radonte, Geoffery, St. Hilaite, Boziere, &c. &c.

THE PREFACE.

The composition is intended to be divided in the same manner among those most conversant in their respective portions of science. The Historical Preface is the production of M. Fourier, and the following is a summary of its contents:

Egypt, a singular and extensive region, at once watered and fertilised by the Nile, and bounded on the east by Arabia, and on the west by the Libya of the ancients, has always been alike singular and famous. The great rivers of India are held sacred; but there is something peculiarly interesting in the stream which runs through this territory, for it has not only been held in high veneration by the inhabitants in all ages, but it is absolutely necessary to their comforts, and even to their existence.

M. Fourier begins his historical annals by mentioning the names of the great men of antiquity, who had travelled into Egypt. Among these are to be enumerated Solon, who, after having devoted a large portion of his time to philosophical and political studies, first visited Greece, and thence repaired to Memphis, and the various cities that then flourished on the banks of the Nile.

Pythagoras too made the tour of Egypt, after having obtained a prize at the Olympic games, and rendered him. self famous in his native country. While there, he obtained the confidence of the priesthood, and not only collected hints respecting the nature of the Gods, and the immortality of the soul; but also learned the secrets of that artful policy, as well as of those symbolical writings,

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and the people. Plato, also, the friend and disciple of Socrates, on the death of that great man, retired from Athens, with a view of visiting foreign nations. Accordingly, after spending some time in conversing with the most celebrated men in Greece, he repaired to Egypt, where the mathematician, Theodorus, then flourished; and where the tenets of the Pythagorean philosophy, and Metempsychosis, had been cherished.

In respect to its history, the name is supposed to be originally derived from Ægyptus, brother to Danaus. The inhabitants reckoned themselves the most ancient nation in the universe, although they were supposed by some, to have migrated from Æthiopia. The greater part of Lower Egypt is supposed to have been formed from the mud and sand of the Nile. The people were exceedingly addicted to superstition. Isis, supposed to be the daughter of Saturn and Rhea, was worshiped by them! According to some traditions, she married her brother, Osiris; and the ox and being the symbols of these two divinities, were highly respected. The priests of Isis, who appears to have been more honoured than her consort, were obliged to observe perpetual chastity; their heads

were

shaved; they always walked bare-footed; and they clothed themselves in linen garments. They never ate onions; they abstained from salt during their meals; and the sheep and the hog were forbidden animals. In addition to this, they were ordered to watch and worship during the night, at the foot of the statue of the goddess.

In tracing the annals of Egypt, those who presided over the worship of Isis, boldly asserted, that the immortal Gods were their first sovereigns, and that their monarchy had continued for 11,340 years. According to others, the kingdom of Egypt lasted 1663 years from its commencement, under Misraim, the son of Ham, 2188 years before Christ; to the conquest of Cambyses, 525 years B.C. The inhabitants, however, at length revolted from the Persians, and Amyrtæus became king. Psammetichus Nephereus, Acoris, Psammuthis, &c. succeeded. Artaxerxes III. surnamed Ochus, once more conquered Egypt, where he committed great cruelties; and was impolitic enough to kill the god, Apis: this occasioned his death, for he was poisoned by Bagōas, an Egyptian eunuch, who gave his flesh to cats, and converted his bones into the handles of swords. Afrer Alexander had conquered Da.

rius, Egypt fell under the dominion that prince, who constructed the c brated city of Alexandria, which at very day bears his name. On his dea this country, now become a provin once more assumed the appearance of independent Kingdom, under Ptoler His successors continued the same nam and the country was ruled by that fam until the time of Ptolemy Dionysius, w was the last king. He was succeed by Cleopatra, at once the sister and t wife of this prince; and also the mistre of Julius Cæsar and Mark Anthony, whose demise, during the reign of A gustus, Egypt became a Roman pr vince.

At length, a new race of conquero arose, under the denomination of M hometans; and Omar, the second calip of the successors of the prophet, e tended his victorious arms to the count which is the subject of this splend memoir. At the time of the crusade Egypt was governed by Noreddin; h son, Saladin, resolutely opposed th Christian adventurers; and, after fightin against them, with various success, retook Jerusalem, and dispersed the forces. It was he too, who, by an ac that then seemed pregnant with soun policy, instituted the military corps c Mamalukes, who afterwards assume the government of the country, havin advanced one of their own officers to th throne, about the middle of the thirteent century. At last, however, this singula species of government yielded to th prevailing fortunes of the Turks; who after many bloody battles, rendered thi province subject to their despotic sway The Ottoman Porte remained in posses sion of this interesting, but unhappy country, until the time of Ali Bey, who although said to be bred in the rites o the Greek church, was persuaded by his policy and his ambition to turn Mahometan. That singular man, taking advantage of bis own popularity, and the distressed state of the Turkish empire then engaged in a disastrous war with Russia, ascended the throne of the ancient Sultans of Egypt. Not content with this, he conquered several of the adjacent states, both in Arabia and Syria, and contemplated many other great and splendid undertakings. He particularly courted the protection of England, and an alliance with Russia; conceived the idea of fitting out a fleet for the express purpose of rendering himself master of the Red Sea; he then intended to have converted Suez into a free port, open to

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