1827.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



203 



What could our Prince do, who lias not yet ac- 

 quired much experience, and who finds himself in- 

 volved in a situation the most difficult, but fall on 

 the advice of a man (Duke of Berwick), who enjoys 

 the confidence of the king his father (grandfather) ? 

 How can he discriminate and judge of himself, 

 that, the counsels he receives are too timid, and 

 that he must give himself up to M. do Vendome, 

 against whom three-fourths of -the army are en- 

 rage.l? This is the cause of the outcry against our 

 Prince ; he has not thought of justifying himself; 

 he has not given any explanation, nor has he charg- 

 ed any person to take up his defence : events have 

 been unfortunate, the minds of the people are 

 soured, his virtue has excited all the discontented 

 against him; while his declaration about the Jan- 

 senists makes all that party his enemy ; the hatred 

 against the Jesuits falls upon him, on account of 

 his confessor ; the cabal which M. de Cambrai 

 (Fenclon) t* said to have at court, brings still 

 more obloquy upon him. Nothing is now spoken 

 of but Telemachus, in which he has taught the 

 Prince to prefer a pacific king to a conqueror : 

 all this causes the outcry of which you hear ; some 

 say that he. wished Lisle to be captured, in order 

 that we might be forced to make peace ; while 

 others assert that he wanted to restore the place, 

 because the King had taken it unjustly; others 

 again say, that he docs not wish for any fighting, 

 from the/t-ar of losing human l.ves, $c. 



The letters will illustrate the account 

 given of Madame de Mairitenon's character, 

 by the Due de St. Simon who to be sure 

 was no friend of hers, but still a very honest 

 man. 



On the days of business, says he, Madame de 

 Maintenon,- in whose apartment the ministers 

 transacted affairs with the king, sat by, reading 

 or working tapestry. She quietly heard all that 

 passed, and rarely threw in a word. The word 

 was still more rarely of any consequence. The 

 king often asked her advice, addressing her in a 

 playful tone, as your solidity, or your reason- 

 ableness. She answered slowly and coldly, scarcely 

 ever betraying a prepossession for any thing, and 

 never for any person ; but the ministers had their 

 cue If by chance the king at first fixed on her 

 candidate, it was well, the ministers were sure to 

 agree ; and they contrived to hinder the mention 

 of any other. If he showed a preference for any 

 other, the minister read over his own list, rarely 

 recommending any one directly, but hinting at the 

 objections to all, so as to leave the king perplexed. 

 In this embarrassment he often asked the advice 

 of the minister, who, after balancing the good and 

 bad qualities of all, shewed a slight preference for 

 one. The king hesitated, and frequently in that 

 stage referred to Madame de Maintenon; she 

 emiled, affected to be incapable of judging said 

 || something in favour of another candidate, but at 

 last, sometimes slowly, as if deliberating, some- 

 times, as if hy a sudden accidental recollection, 

 returned to the candidate whom s-hc had prompted 

 the minister to recommend ; and in this manner 

 she disposed of all favours in France. 



Recollections of Eyypt, by ftarones? I'on 

 Minutoli ; 18$7. These very agreeable re- 

 collections are recorded by the lady of Baron 

 AJinutoli, known by his splendid work on 



Egypt. She accompanied her husband in 

 his voyage up the Nile to the Isle of Ele- 

 phant! na. The party landed at Alexandria, 

 proceeded to Cairo, and were received with 

 the most courteous attention by Mahomet 

 Ali. Under his auspices, with every accom- 

 modation that regenerated Egypt could sup- 

 ply, they Fet out after -visiting the Pyra- 

 mids, of course for the upper provinces. 

 Visiting Thebes, and other places on the 

 banks of the river on their way, they reached 

 Syeni, from which place they proposed still 

 to work up to the Cataracts. But Syeni 

 was destined to bound their progress to the 

 south ; for Mahomet Pacha, son of Mahomet 

 Ali, and governor of Upper Egypt, to whose 

 protection the party had been especially re- 

 commended by his father, refused _ his per- 

 mission, on the ground that the island of 

 Philae was occupied by Albanian troop?, and 

 that as he could not answer for their safety, 

 he would not lake the responsibility. They 

 were, therefore, obliged to return to Cairo ; 

 from which, place, after a short stay, they 

 proceeded homeward by the way of Da- 

 mietta. 



The subject of antiquities the lady leaves 

 very much to her lord, and confines herself 

 chiefly to a narrative of the tour detailing, 

 in an animated style, the few events they en- 

 countered some perils and more frights 

 some peculiarities in costume and manners, 

 and a visit to the Pacha's harem. Of the 

 women she says generally and not at all 

 according to the usual representation 



All that I have been able to learn by personal 

 observation, and what I was told by several Le- 

 vantine ladies, concurs to prove that the situation 

 of the women in the East is not so unhappy as 

 we generally fancy it to be. The different races, 

 and sects, of which the present population is com- 

 posed, have, it is true, this in common, that they 

 shut up their women ; and the Cophts, though 

 Christians, observe this custom with much more 

 rigour than even the Arabs themselves ; but thia 

 privation of liberty is only imaginary, and extends 

 no farther than to prohibit them from appearing 

 i:i public without a veil, which is a kind of cloak 

 of black silk, which hides their form and their face 

 in a frightful manner, and to exclude them from 

 the society of the men. They are, notwithstanding, 

 perfect mistresses at home, and exclusively com- 

 mand the slaves in their own service, who, in spite 

 of the favours of their masters, are no less depen- 

 dent on the wife than on the latter. As their 

 dwelling is always separated from that of their 

 husband, they have a right to prevent him from 

 entering it, by placing before the door a pair of 

 slippers, which is a sign that they have company. 

 The husband, who dares not appear in the pre- 

 sence of another person's wife, is obliged to respect 

 this indication ; and the German proverb, which 

 says that a man is under his wife's slipper may be 

 perfectly applicable in the East. When they wish 

 to visit any of their friends or relations, the husband 

 has not the right of opposing them ; and, attended 

 by a faithful slave, they sometimes absent them- 

 selves from home for several weeks together. 

 Under the pretext of these visits, I was assured 

 that they allow themselves incredible liberty ; i0 



