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MAGAZINE.

MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

No. 223.]

FEBRUARY 1, 1812.

of VOL. 33.

As long as those who write are ambitious of making Converts, and of giving their Opinions a Maximum o Influence and Celebrity, the most extensively circulated Miscellany will repay with the greatest Effect the Curiosity of those who read either for Amusement or Instruction.JOHNSON.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

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.

HIS is perhaps the most splendid, Tas 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 entirely useless, with out the succeeding deliveries. The price of 1501. 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 laraisons; 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 niemorial of the glory of a modern conqueror, who, with out possessing the magnanimity or dis interestedness of Alexander, affects to follow his career, and retrace his foot steps.

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.

self an architect of eminence; Cécile, 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 con-

tents:

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 philoso phical 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, This part is executed by Balyne, him by which they governed both the princes MONTHLY MAG., No. 223.

THE ARCHITECTURAL PORTION.

A

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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 inha bitants reckoned themselves the most ancient nation in the universe, although they were supposed by some, to have migrated from Ethiopia. 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 cow, 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 Jength 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 Bagoas, an Egyptian eunuch, who gave his flesh to cats, and converted his bones into the handles of swords.

After Alexander had conquered Da.

rius, Egypt fell under the dominio 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 na and the country was ruled by that fami 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 mistr 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 ad that then seemed pregnant with soun policy, instituted the military corps 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 his 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

alt

al nations, and thus hoped to render Egypt, once more, the centre of the commerce of the world. But he was cut off, in the midst of his great projects, by his own brother-in-law; and the Turks, for a time, obtained a seeming ascendancy. The Mamalukes, however, once more raised their heads, and, although the Porte was permitted to send a bashaw to Egypt, yet that officer was confined as a state-prisoner, in the castle of Cairo, and considered merely as the ambassador of the Sultan.

after conquering the enemies of his country, panted only for the happiness and the prosperity of mankind. Instead of being prompted by ambition, to undertake the Egyptian expedition, we are assured that his sole motives consisted in the generous wish of delivering the inhabitants from slavery, of restoring agriculture, and of replanting the banished arts and sciences on the banks of the Nile. The dissertation concludes with an appeal to the Genius of History, to consecrate his exploits, to attest his glory, and to render the French name respectable among the nations of the earth.

It must be candidly acknowledged, that, in respect to paper, typography, and engraving, the work in question, in every respect, forms an epoch in the history of printing. P. H.

SIR,

N reading the account of the gi

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This was the state of the country when Buonaparte, who had sustained the declining fortunes of France, conceived the idea of the conquest of Egypt. That event is too recent to require either comment or illustration. Suffice it to say, that, after collecting ships and troops, with engineers, geographers, and men of letters, he sailed on an expedition, the object of which appears to have been kept a profound secret. His first To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. acquisition was the island of Malta, which had so long been in possession of a body of military knights, commanded by a Grand Master. Thence he repaired to Egypt, obtained possession of Alexandria, where he appears to have committed dreadful ravages, and then marched against the Mamalukes. While contending with these bold and warlike borsemen, his fleet was attacked by a squadron under Nelson, and experienced such a signal defeat, as to have great in fluence on the fortunes of France, and the conduct of both her allies and her enemies. The subsequent escape of Buonaparte, and the humiliating capitulation of his companions in arms, are events pregnant with great consequences. Some part of this narrative is of course more honourable to England than to France; but it is evident, from the immense sums expended on the work now under consideration, that the emperor still cherishes the memory of his Egyptian expedition, and that he is proud of his exploits in a country, whence his troops have been expelled by those of a rival nation, and where he himself could not possibly attain any well-earned laurels, either by conquering barbarians on the banks of the Nile, or succumbing to Mussulmen, under a Christian leader, at the siege of Acre.

The author of the historical preface is at great pains to flatter the vanity of the Emperor Napoleon. In almost every page, he is considered as a hero, who,

gantic plans for forming new tidal channels for the Thames, between LongReach Tavern and Dartford, and Nine Elms in Battersea, with a view to convert the intermediate parts of the old channel into vast floating docks for vessels, and for making a tunnel under the new channel, in East Ham Level, I am induced to state, that an able civil engineer, Mr. Benjamin Bevan, who was, on one occasion (3 or 4 years ago), consulted by the Rotherhithe Tunnel Company, at that time suggested, and has repeatedly since conversed with me and others, on the details of a plan, similar to that which is now announced, of forming a spacious and perfect road tunnel, under the line of an intended new channel for a river; a scheme, which to me, and those whom I have conversed with on the subject, appears perfectly and safely practicable, wherever large bends of a river, unin cumbered with houses admit of its adop tion; as does also the plan which I publicly suggested in 1805, of laying a tun、 nel at short lengths at a time, in sufficient dry excavations, made within a very large conical tub, (open at both ends) that could be repeatedly moved forwards as the work proceeds, wherever the straightness of a river, or the previous occu pation of its banks by houses (as at Rotherhithe), may prevent the diversion of the same to a new channel,

I

SIR,

T is a subject of much regret that, in

As an inhabitant of the metropolis, I To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. beg however to protest, and call on all those who value the healths and lives of their fellow-citizens, to join me, in protesting against converting the present tidal channel of the Thames through London, into a stagnant "dock or basin," on account of the nuisance and destructive pestilence, which must infallibly follow, from the immense accumulation of putrid filth, which the sewers of this vast town hourly carry into this channel, where nature has provided an effectual antidote, in the incessant motion of its waters, and which these rash schemers would at once stop.

Ashover, Derbyshire,
Oct. 12, 1811.

JOHN FAREY, SEN.

the progress of knowledge, so little is yet known in the science of Meteorology. The Monthly Magazine has, from its earliest existence, been a record of facts collected from accurate observation, which it is hoped may, at some period, be found of use to the philosopher, who shall undertake to extend the limits of our knowledge in this particular department of science: with this view we again present, in addition to our monthly reports, a summary of facts for the whole of the year that is lately concluded. The following is the average heat for the years 1810 and 1811; the average height of the barometer for each month is the year, and the whole year also; likewise, an account of the quantity of rain in depth, as it fell in the successive months.

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It will be seen from the above table that the average heat of each month, excepting January and September, for the year 1811, was greater than that of the several months in 1810, and the average temperature of the year was almost three degrees greater for the last, as a whole, than that of the preceding year. The thermometer was lowest on the 10th and 30th of January, on which days the mercury was at 190 and 200: the greatest degree of heat in the whole year was 78°, which occurred on the 11th of September; on three or four other days the thermometer was as high as 77°; the hottest months of the year, compared with the same months is other years, were March, April, and May.

The quantity of rain which has fallen

the year.

the last year, compared with what fell in the year 1810, (see Monthly Magazine, vol. 31, p. 25) is very nearly equal, and it will be found, by referring to the table, that the proportion may be reckoned as agreeing with, or governed by, the ave rage height of the barometer for each successive month: thus, in January the quantity of rain was so small as not to be noticed, and in that month the barometer was remarkably high: in February the barometer was very low, and the quantity of rain considerable. The month of July may be regarded as an exception to the general rule: in this month there were five inches in depth of rain, though the mean height of the barometer was more than 29.6. In this part of our island July is usually a wet month,

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We are again obliged to mention that our annual observations with regard to the direction of the wind vary from those reported by the attendants at the apart ments of the Royal Society: according to them the south-west wind prevails, but with us the westerly and north-westerly

winds are most frequent.

North

Direction of the wind in 1811.

South

West

East

North-west

North-east

South-west
South-east

No. of days.

18

11

96

32

65

38

48

57

365

In January there was much severe weather, some thick fogs, the wind blowing from the northerly points. February was rather mild, and very wet, and in the course of it there were heavy falls of snow. March was dry, the temperature mild, the air bright and serene, every appearance denoting an early spring. April was a warm month, and dry, the wind came chiefly from the easterly points. May was remarkable for the rain which fell; it was also a very hot month for the season: the rains were accompanied with thunder and lightning, The hot days in June were frequently attended with severe easterly winds, which, though productive of very little effect on the thermometer, are felt severely by the animal frame, chiefly by the brisk air carrying away the heat of the body. July was wet and rather cold, without thunder or lightning, and the wind north-north-west. In August there were no sultry days, but the weather was regularly warm, and adapted to the month. September was a dry month, distinguished for the constant appearance of a most brilliant comet, which continued visible till the close of the year. For observations on this beautiful body

we refer to Mr. Lofft's papers, p. 266,.
vol. 32, of the Monthly Magazine, and
other parts of the same volume. The
mouth of October was warmer than that
month usually is in this climate, the
mornings were foggy, but the days ex-
ceedingly bright. On the evening of the
19th the fog was so thick as to render
travelling exceedingly inconvenient, and
November was
even dangerous.
markable for the large quantity of rain
that fell in the course of it. During the.
month of December the weather was
mild.

Highgate, Jan. 11, 1812.

re

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

HE Old Testament, as the founT dation of history, chronology, and modern theology, claims the attention of every thinking person, whatever be the degree of faith which he attaches to the miracles and supernatural agency recorded in it. Among the chief stumbling-blocks of infidelity, may be mentioned the supernatural longevity of the antediluvian patriarchs, whose alleged duration so far exceeded the vital impulse of animated existence, as to throw discredit on the whole of the sacred writings. Many hypotheses have been. invented, to solve this difficulty; but, as they could not be made to accord with all the dates and circumstances, they have usually ended in the disappoint ment of their inventors.

I have, however, lately met with a new hypothesis, in a disquisition on another part of the Holy Scriptures, which, if applied to the fifth chapter of Genesis, appears likely to afford a solution of this long-contested problem.*

The numerals of the Old Testament appear on this hypothesis to have been exaggerated by the different modes of arithmetical notation, in fashion at different ages of the world, and among Hence a Greek or different nations. Roman transcriber would mistake all the distinctions of Hebrew notation, and a Hebrew transcriber himself, at the distance of a few hundred years, would be likely to mistake the more ancient notation of that language, particularly after the invention and general introduction of the Arabic notation.

The distinctions too, which varied the

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