594 



RetrofpeSl of Domejiic Literature.— Hiflory, 



ftiadow of royalty ; and the volume con- 

 cludes with ibme of the early progreffes of 

 Jams. 



" ^he Hijiory of Egypt, from the ear- 

 iuj7 Accounts of that Country till the Ex- 

 fulfion of the French from Alc-candr'xo. in 

 the Year 1801. By James Wilson, 

 p. D." 



Egypt has been fo 1 -ng viewed as a land 

 of wonders, that we cannot imaaine a title 

 more attraftive than one that (hall afford 

 a proniife of its hiftory. Its early renown 

 for power, wealth, and fcience ; the ftu- 

 pendous works of art with which it is 

 adorned ; the various revolutions which 

 have laid it wafte ; and the degeneracy of 

 its prelent inhabitants ; are fubjefts too 

 Ihiking to leave a (light imprefiion on the 

 mind. Wuh Dr. Wilfon's hiftory, how- 

 ever, we cannot fay we were delighted. 

 Having fii^litly delcribedthe (ituation and 

 extent ot Egypt, its ancient inhabitants, 

 their hieroglyphics, arts, and fciences, he 

 . proceeds with the remoteft annals of the 

 country. In this portion of the work 

 much muft, of cour(e, reft upon corjec- 

 ture. Sefotlris the Second, he obferves, 

 would not be deferving of our notice, if it 

 *vere not 10 fuggeft the probability that, 

 while he was upon the throne, the opprefT- 

 ed IlVaelitts departed frum Egypt ; five 

 generations next fucceed, during which no 

 government is fpecifitd \ and even the 

 p»llage and profanations of Cambyfesare 

 pafled over in a manner too rapid tu fatisfy 

 the moft curfory reader. The firlt vo- 

 lume comprizes the hiftory of Egypt till its 

 entire conqueft by Auguftus ; the fecond 

 ex'eniis from the time when it became a 

 Roman province to the fall of the Borgitc 

 cynady j and the third from the com- 

 menctment of the Ottoman dynally to the 

 lurrtnder of Alex.indria to the Englifb. 

 While conjeftures en the formation ct the 

 Delta ; the height of the Nile during the 

 inundation , the Natron lakes ; the cities, 

 towns, and villages, of Egypt j Cleopa- 

 tra's needles ; Pompey's piiUr ; the trade 

 and commerce of Egypt ; its prefent in- 

 habitants ; their drels, manners, difeafes, 

 language, and religi n ; ail form topics of 

 inquiry at the conclufion. Altogether, the 

 hiffory of Egypt leems to have been too 

 lialiily compiled ; we an* rarely made ac- 

 quainted with the authorities whence the 

 principal materials aic drawn j and its 

 ftyle is very far below that wtiich the fo- 

 bcr dignity of hiltory requires. 



Of 3 minor kind, an.^ of courfe de- 

 .■%rving a lefs extended notice, is '' A fiort 

 Acdjunt of the Seitkmuit, Produce, and 

 J 



Commerce, of Prince of Wales Ifland, in 

 the Straits of Malacca, by Sir George 

 Leith, Bart." Though ftiort, it is fa- 

 tisfa8ory, and comprizes every important 

 particular that either the politician or the 

 general reader can wi(h to be made ac- 

 quainted with. 



Since Talleyrand has been fo great ati 

 aftor not only in the French Revolutir n, 

 but in all the rublequent fcenes of tyianny 

 which have marked the hiftory of his 

 coi,n;ry, we (hall not fcruple to place the 

 " Memoirs''' which have appeared of, him, 

 by the emigrant author of the Revolu- 

 tionary Plutarch, in the clafs of hiftory, 

 Ths atrocities, however, which are 

 afcribed to him, are fo numerous, and 

 the inftances even of early depravity fo 

 incredible, that we cannot but inquire 

 by what authorities the author has fup- 

 poried his afftrtions ; and when we find 

 that in many inftances he has no better . 

 grounds for them than thofe which were 

 afforded by defamatory pamphlts in the 

 moft turbulent part of the French revolu. 

 ticn, we can only pity his cieduliiy for 

 relying on fuch auihoiitiss, and condemn 

 his work as an iniult on the judgment of 

 tlif: public. I'allcyrand may be vicious, 

 he may be crafty, his mind niay be pol- 

 luted by the wortt vices that can diCgrace 

 humanity, and yet he will not be half the 

 monfter he is here reprefented. Lull, 

 murder, rapine, and apoftacy, are far from 

 being the ftrongeft features ot the pifJure, 

 If the only ohjeiil of the work is to excite 

 an abhorrence in iis readers againft the 

 prtftnt Government of France, we are 

 ioiry that the writer fhould adopt no btt- 

 ter means : belter were undoubtedly be- 

 fore him. 



" The Female Revolutionary Plutarch''^ 

 is confejedly by fime author as the " Me- 

 moir-- ot Talleyrand ;" but the " Anec. 

 dotes of the Cabinet of St. Cloud" are 

 only fuppofed to be fo. Their con- 

 tents aie of a nature fo fimilar to the 

 " Memoirs of Talleyrand," that the fame 

 chara6fcr, with a few modifications, will 

 apply 10 them. Such, aid i'odeliifive and 

 infljming, aic the repreftntations of inte- 

 rtfted emigrants. 



A work ot a curious and interefting 

 kind dilplays itiell in the following title : 

 " Hiforiciil Fragments of the Mogul Em- 

 pire, of the Moratloes, and oj the Engl'jh 

 Cuncems in Indojlan, from the Year 1659 ; 

 Origin 0/ the Englijh Efablijhmcfit and of 

 the Companf s "Trade at Broach and Sural ; 

 and a General Idea of the Government and 

 People of Iiidojian . ByRosertOrmb." 



Tl.B 



