Than all the every things. But this request Frank. What is't? Sus. That I may bring you thro' one pasture more The churlish storm makes mischief with his bounty. Frank. Is out yet will you leave me? Sus. What? so churlishly? You'll make me stay for ever, Rather than part with such a sound from you. Sus. Tush! I fear none; To leave you is the greatest I can suffer. Here the dog rubs against him; and, after some more talk, he stabs her. Sus. Why then I thank you; You have done lovingly, leaving yourself, Frank. Not yet mortal? I would not linger you. Or leave you a tongue to blab. Sus. Now heaven reward you ne'er the worse for me! I did not think that death had been so sweet, Nor I so apt to love him. I could ne'er die better, Let me for once be thine example, heaven; [Dies.' II. 452-459. We cannot afford for Mr. Ford; and what we more space any have said, and what we have shown of him, will probably be thought enough, both by those who are disposed to scoff, and those who are inclined to admire. It is but fair, however, to intimate, that a thorough perusal of his works will afford more ex ercise to the former disposition than to the latter. His faults are glaring and abundant; but we have not thought it necessary to produce any specimens of them, because they are exactly the sort of faults which every one acquainted with the drama of that age reckons upon finding. Nobody doubts of the existence of such faults: but there are many who doubt of the existence of any counterbalancing beauties: and therefore it seemed worth while to say a word or two in their explanation. There is a great treasure of poetry, we think, still to be brought to light in the neglected writers of the age to which this author belongs; and poetry of a kind, which, if purified and improved, as the happier specimens show that it is capable of being, would be far more delighted to the generality of English readers than any other species of poetry. We shall readily be excused for our tediousness by those who are of this opinion; and should not have been forgiven, even if we had not been tedious, by those who look upon it as a heresy. FROM THE MONTHLY REVIEW. A description of Egypt, or a collection of the observations and Researches which were made in Egypt, during the expedition of the French army. Published by order of his Imperial Majesty, Napoleon the Great. Folio. At the Imperial Press. Paris. 1809. Imported by De Boffe, London. First delivery. (Livraison) Price 841.; or on vellum Paper, with Proof-plates, 150%. REASONS both of a commercial and a political nature, made it impossible for Great Britain to look with indifference on the invasion of Egypt by the French, or to allow them to remain in the quiet possession of it: but a member of the republic of letters, if he were to restrict his regards solely to the interests of science, lierature, and the arts, would be induced to regret that they were not permitted to occupy this now degraded, though once illustrious region, some time longer. Never before did so large an army, as that of General Bonaparte, move to conquest with a complete corps of artists and scientific men attached to it; and not even the antiquities and natural productions of Europe have been explored with so much enthusiasm, skill, and effect. While the enemy do justice to our valour, even in the pages before us,-admitting in the preface to this magnificent work that we annihilated their fleet in the battle of the Nile, and destroyed all their schemes by the victories which we obtained over them on shore, let us not feel any reluctance in confessing that their plan was great; and that, during the period of their occupation of Egypt, their researches into the antiquities, natural history, and productions of that country, reflect the highest honour on the savans and artists who were employed on this occasion. We are presented with the result of their labours in the truly superb, expensive, and imperial publication, of which the first part is now before us, but which we can do little more than concisely announce, since it has but just reached our hands. We are, however, resolved to announce it, if it be only to inform our readers that this literary comet has appeared in our horizon. It issues from the press under the immediate sanction of the French ruler; and, large as the price of it is, we are assured that the very few copies, which the laudable enterprize of M. De Boffe has procured for this country, are already sold to our opulent patrons of the arts. This premiere livraison, or first delivery of the work, consists of eight volumes, of different sizes. Two volumes, imperial folio, contain a multitude of beautifully executed plates, representing the monuments of ancient Egypt, modern views of places, subjects of natural history, &c. &c. Of the same size, is given a volume containing an historical preface, and an explanation of the plates. Connected with these three volumes, but vastly surpassing them in magnitude, is A Geographical Atlas of Egypt and Syria, of atlantic form, measuring 4 feet 6 inches by three feet; forming a distinct department of the work; and containing general and topographical plans, views of monuments in their present state, plans, elevations, and sections of buildings,-architectural details,-bas reliefs,-statues,-ornaments, &c. To the rich exhibition, which is thus offered, are appended four volumes in folio, of the ordinary size; which are replete with illustrative and instructive memoirs on the modern state of Egypt, its natural history, and its antiquities. The historical Preface, which is written by M. Fourier, contains an amusing fund of introductory matter, at which we can only glance. He enlarges on the favourable geographical situation of Egypt,-sketches its various fortunes and revolutions at different periods,—and, while he adverts to its former elevation in arts, agriculture, and commerce, laments its present depression. We here find an open exposition of the motives and views of the French in the Egyptian expedition; and. the military events which distinguished it are fairly recorded, as well as the labours of the corps of literati, who, under the protection of the army, worked assiduously in their department. Care is taken to display at full length the benefits which Egypt was deriving, and would in future have derived more largely, from their institutions and instruction; and lamentations are poured over their expul sion by the English, which at once annihilated all the brilliant prospects that the French had formed. According to this account, Egypt contains an extent of surface measuring 1,800 square leagues, and has a population of 2,300, 000 inhabitants. On the natural productions of the country, it is remarked that, independently of wheat, rice, and other grain, and of the fruits of all kinds which it produces in abundance, it might derive still greater advantages from the culture of flax, sugar, and indigo.-Its indigenous plants are few in number: but its rich soil, the temperature of which gradually varies from the sea to the borders of Nubia, may be considered as a vast garden, calculated to receive and to preserve the richest productions of the universe.' It is unequivocally asserted, that the French were resolved on the junction of the Red Sea with the Mediterranean by a navigable canal, the practicability of which their engineers had completely ascertained; and the geographical situation of Egypt, as a point from which India could be assailed, is thus appreciated :-Placed at the entrance of Asia, (says M. Fourier) we could hence menace the rich possessions of our enemy, and carry confusion and war to the very sources of his opulence.' We are told that it was Bonaparte's design to have formed Egypt into a province of France; to have established an institution at Cairo for the advancement of Science, and for the investigation of antiquities; to have resuscitated agriculture and the arts among the present inhabitants of Egypt; and to have made it, as of old, the entrepôt of commerce between the East Indies and Europe. In proportion as the hopes of the French were raised, what must have been the mortification at our triumphs over them at Aboukir, and on the Banks of the Nile; for those victories have destroyed all their political visions, though to literature, to science, and the arts, their expedition has still produced a richer harvest than any which for centuries has been reaped in that celebrated region. The monuments of Egypt were never investigated with so much taste, so exactly measured, nor so splendidly exhibited, as by the men of genius whose joint labours have effected this truly unique publication; and the French literati, producing this book to the English, may exclaim with some consolatory feeling of vanity, in the language of our great Bard: "What though the field be lost, ALL is not lost." We understand that two other deliveries, each more expensive than the first, will be necessary to complete this work. So great has been the entertainment which only a very hasty inspection of it has afforded us, that we much regret our inability to transfer any of that pleasure to our readers, and our being obliged to tantalize them with an article, which will raise curiosity, but cannot gratify it. About the time of the arrival in England of this Imperial description of Egypt, a few illustrious individuals in this country were presented by the Emperor himself with his own portrait, in his robes, taken from a copper-plate which he keeps in his possession, and from which he suffers no impression to be thrown off without his express order and appropriation. We have seen one of these portraits, which represents a front view of Bonaparte; and as a specimen of the art of engraving, it does the highest honour to the French school. The Prince Regent, the Duke of York, and Sir Joseph Banks, are, we understand, the chosen few who have received this mark of attention; and one other is at present on view at Colnaghi's print-shop in Cockspur-street. If Napoleon would allow of its more extensive circulation, it would form an appropriate frontispiece to this pictoral delineation of Egypt. FROM THE MONTHLY REVIEW. Letters of Anna Seward; written between the years 1784 and 1807. In six volumes. Crown 8vo. 31. 38. Boards. Edinburgh, Constable; London, Longman and Co. 1811. IF, jealous for the honest fame of some illustrious dead, we have occasionally questioned the honour, and even the morality of ransacking drawers and cabinets, for the purpose of making collections of letters for general perusal, out of papers which were never designed to see the light,-if, in some instances, we have lamented the mistaken officiousness of friendship, and in others have reprobated the sordid motives which have operated in bringing the dead on the stage under circumstances highly to their disadvantage,-- we cannot, in the case now before us, yield to any feelings of this kind. As far as the editor is concerned, he is exonerated from all the usual objections which attach to the publications of posthumous letters, Miss Seward having bequeathed the MSS., from which these volumes were printed, to Mr. Constable of Edinburgh, for the express purpose of their publication; so that the wish of the author is no more than fulfilled*. How As a fac-simile of Miss Seward's hand writing, her posthumous letter to Mr. Constable is inserted after the preface. It is as follows: 'Sir, * July 17, 1807. In a will, made and executed since I had the pleasure of seeing you in April last, I have left you the exclusive copy-right of twelve volumes quarto, halfbound. They contain copies of letters, or of parts of letters, that, after I had written them, appeared to me worth the attention of the public. Voluminous |