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CRITICAL SKETCHES.

ART. X.-Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petræa and the Holy Land. By Stephen Olin, D.D., President of the Wesleyan University. New York.

1843.

We shall proceed to lay before our readers a brief detail of the work at the head of this article. Although embracing a path pretty well trodden, it yet contains some novel illustrations of ancient matters, and occasionally a stray anecdote which we do not remember to have encountered elsewhere. The author of the work, it appears, is a Wesleyan. His assumption, and that of his sect, of honours due to the Catholic Church alone, will not, however, indispose us to treat his book with other feelings than those of fairness and impartiality. John Wesley, a schismatic from the church, and assuredly but a presbyter in it, could have no right to ordain other presbyters; and in our view had ceased, as a schismatic, to have any virtue of a clerical character in him. The Wesleyans will show their right to the priesthood at the Greek Kalends, but not before. Our author left the Piræus on the 19th day of December, 1839, on board the Lycurgus, for Alexandria. He bad recruited his health in Greece, by exercise, so as to enable him to undertake so long a route, although previously greatly debilitated in constitution. He reached Syra in 11 hours, and after some delay arrived at Alexandria on the 25th of December. The principal object on which his eye rested in the harbour was the Turkish fleet, betrayed to his vassal, Mahomet Ali, by that consummate scoundrel, the Ottoman admiral. The Egyptian fleet was moored outside of the Turkish. The two fleets formed as a whole not less than 60 vessels of war. Twenty were ships of the line, including several of 140 and 120 guns, and about as many were large frigates. It is not very clearly stated by Mr. Olin, but he intends to say that the 20 frigates are independent of 20 larger vessels, and the same number of smaller craft. Saving Mahomet Ali's noble structure, the very life of Alexandrian commerce, the Canal of Mahmoudieh, the descriptions of ancient and modern time of this interesting Saracenic city vary but little. Pompey's Pillar and Cleopatra's Needle have been so often described, that we shall spare our readers the many-told tale. Mahomet Ali has also been described by persons whose opportunity of access were so superior to those enjoyed by Mr. Olin, who only saw the pacha from a distance, and was not admitted to an audience, that little more could be learnt by

the insertion of his comments than is commonly known. Our traveller started for Atfeh by the canal of Mahmoudieh, which owes its name to Sultan Mahmoud, though the work of his rebellious vassal. During this part of the voyage our traveller enjoyed the company of Mr. Larking, the British consul at Alexandria; and that gentleman's statement of the exactions made by Mahomet Ali from the wretched Fellahs, perfectly confirms the numerous previous reports circulated to the same effect by both English and French travellers. Mr. L. informed Mr. Olin that the pacha's army amounted to 180,000 men, and his revenue to four millions sterling. Mr. Waghorn puts each item a little higher. The following anecdote is eminently characteristic, and we are indebted to Mr. Larkin for it :

"About three years since, the pacha's health declined, and he resorted to the advice of his physicians. They recommended a suitable regimen, and, among other things, the greatest moderation in his pleasures. He soon afterwards resolved to reduce his harem, and to dispose of the supernumerary inmates of it among the officers of his court and army. In pursuance of this design he ordered all the unmarried men who were of sufficient merit and rank to receive this token of his favour, to assemble at an appointed hour in the garden of one of his palaces. They were advised of his gracious intentions, and properly arrayed for the mode of procedure which had been chosen as most favourable to a judicious selection of husbands for the fair brides. The old lady who had the care of the harem, from a position where she was concealed from view, examined the physiognomy and port of each of the assembled bachelors, and, without farther ceremony, wrote down the name of the lady whom she thought best suited to a man of such developments. The assembly was then dismissed, and each man, on going to his house, received his bride. This honour was not without its disadvantages; since if it should unaccountably happen that a man was not exactly suited in his new wife, he was deprived of the distinguishing privilege of other Mussulmen. He had taken her for better or for worse, as no prudent courtier would incur the displeasure of the pacha by divorcing a wife received under such circumstances. The pacha has now only three wives, who are elderly women, and have little influence over him. He seldom visits his harem; and, what seems unnatural enough, according to our mode of thinking, the old ladies, who enjoy the distinguished honour of having been retained by him when the rest were disposed of in the manner above described, use all their influence to induce him to replenish his harem with young women. He is not disposed to comply with their request, and often speaks of his improved health and comfort under the present arrangement. The women married to the courtiers were not his principal wives, but properly concubines; always inferior to those who enjoy the dignity of wife. These, among other prerogatives, have the management of the younger women of the harem. The mother of Ibrahim Pacha was retained. Mohammed Ali gave a liberal dower with each of the discarded women."

Heavy indeed upon the voyage, in which Mr. Larkin was only a part passenger, after quitting Atfeh, are the charges made against Mr. Waghorn, for alleged imposition and exaction. We refer that gentleman to p. 48, vol. I. Our travellers, in Mr. Waghorn's boat, went up the Nile and reached Cairo. In this city Mr. Olin remained three weeks. Amid the sights of Cairo, the passage between the long walls, where the Mamelukes were butchered in cold blood by Mahomet Ali, of course is among the first. Mahomet Ali's only justification is an Oriental one,-that he knew that they intended to cut him off, and was therefore beforehand with them. This rests on the solitary assertion of the pacha, and no

Mameluke chief remains to tell the tale; though it is said among the current legends of the place, that one of the beys performed the stupendous leap of clearing the closed gates by which they made their entry. If so, he must have done it over a pile of the slaughtered bodies of his countrymen; but even this appears scarcely credible; still an Arab, mounted by a Mameluke, could do things that would bring us back to the days of chivalry; for neither horse nor rider lack the spirit that lends aid to that daring speed and wondrous energy that are so good at their desperate need. The Mamelukes were butchered when on safe conduct-when the invited guests of the pacha. Let the aged man get over that if he can,-'tis harder than the desperate leap of the daring bey; harder is it for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a blood-enriched despot to get into the kingdom of Heaven. The following description of Cairo is striking, though

not novel :

"From the city to the Nile, on the west, the rich alluvial plain is checkered with long avenues of evergreen oriental trees, and the outline is filled up with luxuriant fields of wheat and fruitful gardens, which furnish the teeming population of Cairo with a profusion of fine vegetables. Spacious villas, embowered among the verdant trees, and surrounded by high whitewashed walls; the various contrivances for irrigation-canals, and gutters formed upon the top of long earthen mounds, or low walls of stone; the huge, clumsy wheels, turned by buffalos, for drawing water; and then the unwieldy camels, moving slowly along under their enormous loads ; the multitudes of donkeys and horses, with their swarthy, almost naked drivers; and the gaudy, flowing dresses of their riders, swelling and waving in the incessant wind,-form altogether a scene unlike all that is seen in the western world, and full of interest and animation, though destitute of any very striking natural features, and certainly deficient in all that improves art and taste, contribute to the decoration of nature. Pass out of the city on the opposite side, and you are in the desert. No trees, no cultivated fields-not a shrub or a blade of grass is seen; as far as the eye can reach, is a sea of sand. The hills and vallies, which were, perhaps, once verdant and cultivated, have been inundated from the desert, and doomed to irreclaimable sterility. There are no suburbs on this side of the town. The sand has extended its desolations to the gates."

We regret that the tombs of the caliphs have not yet received more attention. On the 6th of January our traveller visited Heliopolis, the On of the Scriptures. Near this city, tradition says that Joseph and Mary, with the infant Jesus, found refuge from Herod. Heliopolis was for many years the capital of Egypt, before the building of Memphis. The house in it in which Plato studied philosophy was extant in the time of Strabo. The remains at Heliopolis are confined to a single obelisk (?). Shapeless masses of ruins are around in all directions. On the 7th of January, Mr. Olin, in company with some of his fellowtravellers, proceeded to visit the pyramids, of which he gives a moderately well executed design. They entered the Pyramid of Cheops, and give the usual detail of dark chambers, groping through passages. The sphinx also engrossed no small portion of their attention. It is deeply to be regretted that the sand is fast covering the excavations by Caviglia. These were extremely curious and important, the works of months of labour, and were rewarded with valuable discoveries at every stage. Why were they not further prosecuted?

The great pyramid is 732 feet square and 474 in height. The sphinx lies about 100 feet below the level of the base of the pyramids. To Mr. Olin's inquiries as to the state of religion in Egypt, very unsatisfactory replies were given. A respectable clergyman assured him that he had not met with one person who appeared to have any tolerable idea of salvation through Christ, or any hopeful marks of spirituality. In this censure he included Copt, Greek, Armenian, and Roman Catholic. The visible developement of the devotion of the Moslem, who never intermits his prayers, but despite all let or hindrance, performs them, seems to have struck Mr. Olin deeply. Protestant devotion certainly among this people must seem cold, but is notwithstanding true and real. Mahomet Ali, among his other appropriations, has not been nice with respect to the mosques; he has seized on many of their lands for his own use. He is no favourite with the Muezzin and the Mollah. Were Mahomet Ali weighed in the balance of either religious or popular estimation, he would not be sovereign of Egypt for one year. The mutilations which the people inflict on themselves to avoid entering the army, are so dreadful, that the pacha, in mercy or mockery, has instituted a one-eyed corps. The taxation of the produce and the confiscation of the mosque property equally contribute to place him at the acme of unpopularity. Our travellers purposed to start for Upper Egypt on the 15th of January, but this intention was frustrated by the various artifices of the low population of Cairo, and a boat little better than Mr. Waghorn's was at last procured; and Selim, a servant whom they had received on his recommendation, who had been imprisoned for stealing, and was just out when recommended to them, was dismissed, and to Upper Egypt they proceeded forthwith. In stopping at various villages where the voluptuous dancing girls showed themselves, in one of his walks Mr. Olin met with a field of mustard of not less than 20 or 30 acres; it was in full bloom, and some of it 10 feet high. This will give our readers some illustration, though Mr. Olin offers none, of that passage in Scripture, which speaks of the mustard as greatest among herbs, Xaxavwv, and not among trees as many persons are too apt to interpret the passage. A plant, growing 10 feet high may justly receive this appellation. The pacha's destructive operations on the borders of the Nile, in blowing up, for their materials, the ancient tombs, were witnessed by our travellers in numerous directions. Thebes, after a tedious passage through the numerous small villages, at length rewarded our travellers by its sight. A view of Luxor embellishes this portion of the book. Luxor, Esneh, Ombos and Philæ have had far worthier describers than our author; but though we share with him in the doubt of their assigned antiquity, we are fully convinced that antiquarian research will read, and has already partially read, much of the ancient character that he seems to look on as hermetically sealed for ever. At Syene and Assouan, our travellers terminated their voyage up the Nile. The Syenite quarries, which supplied Egypt with its vast materials, appear yet inexhaustible; but the same cannot be said of the celebrated Pentelican, which are likely to

be completely destroyed to furnish a wasteful supply for the palace of King Otho. When our travellers commenced their return, the natural feelings of Home, and Piety, and Faith, are beautifully given by Mr. Olin. We can well remember experiencing very similar sentiments in not very dissimilar regions. Carnac seems to have elevated the powers of our traveller beyond their ordinary level. We give no indifferent specimen :

"Nothing in this great temple so filled me with admiration as the finished workmanship and perfect preservation of this sanctuary. No product, however small, of Grecian, Roman, or even Gothic architecture, which has fallen under my observation, has half so much freshness. The fine blocks of red granite possess a peculiar and resplendent lustre, which it is inconceivable they should long retain after their separation from the native mass. The polish is perfectly preserved. The chiselling is deep and clear: the sharpest angles and most delicate lineaments have not suffered the slightest disintegration; and there are portions of the painting so fresh and vivid that nothing can be found to surpass it in the colouring of the Flemish or more modern schools. I lingered around this beautiful structure, reluctant to withdraw my eyes from the contemplation of so much elegance, and again and again I ventured to enjoy another view. I came to Egypt expecting to find nothing to admire in its ancient edifices but the massiveness of their material and the vastness of their dimensions. I have every where seen, in combination with these more imposing features of architecture, displays of noble conception, elegant taste, and exquisite skill. In none of these respects would the lovely specimen under consideration suffer by a comparison with the most admired productions of ancient or modern genius.

The whole length of this magnificent structure is 488 feet by 350 in width.

Belzoni's tomb is still great and beautiful; Bruce's, also, which drew down on the enterprising traveller volumes of abuse,-both were visited by our travellers. The colossal statue of Rameses struck them, as it does all who visit Thebes, with feelings of amazement. We extract

their description:

"It is of the syenite granite, and is probably the largest mass of stone ever wrought into human shape. It might have given the hint upon which Dinocrates conceived the grand idea of making a statue of Mount Athos. The pedestal upon which this fallen colossus once stood is twenty-nine feet long, seventeen wide, and nine in height. According to our measurement, the statue is twenty-three feet broad across the shoulders, and seven and a half thick, fifty-five in girth around the breast, and about thirteen feet from the shoulder to the elbow. It is five feet across the foot. Where not marred by the hammers of antiquarians and travellers, it has a perfect polish; and there are hieroglyphics upon the back and shoulders, finely executed. The face, eyes, nose, and ears have been especially obnoxious to the zeal of the curious, and retain little of their original expression or form. A formal head-dress descends on both sides of the neck to the shoulders in broad flaps, marred likewise by the hammer. We followed the bad example of others, and, with infinite toil, broke off some fragments and bore them away as memorials. This statue weighs by estimation 887 tons."

The reflections on Thebes, at page 272, are well worth deep consideration; and some little learning, even from our unpretending traveller, breaks forth. Our travellers again reached Cairo on February 21st. A valuable chapter is here given on Mahomet Ali and his government; but as we have to get on to Jerusalem, we must not stop in this place any longer. On March 2nd, 1840, our tra

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