€56 



Retrospect of French Litrraiure — Miscellanies, 



under its own fovereigils, h;i(J for many 

 ccntujics become si pre)' to all the fo- 

 rci.;ncrs wno h.ul luccccflcfl cacli other 

 in tiie domination of thaf. country. 



Afi or having mentioned the warrior?, 

 and (i<.fcribed their vcllinenls, he parti- 

 ciiiai iles ttifc ancient ufji^es and manners 

 of that people, all of wiiith he compares 

 with iheir fituation • at the prci'ent d.iy. 

 Tiie {Icltiils wliich follow chiclly relate to 

 agriculture, and are ihe refult «f his 

 own obii?rvations, in the two provinces 

 where he was employed to fupcrintend 

 the difuibution of tiie waters of the Nile 

 durinu the inundation. 



Under the article entitled " Naxiija- 

 tion and Commerce," he infifls on the 

 iuipollibility of re-ellal;hniin£: the canal 

 of comaiuniraliou between the two fcas 

 acrofs the illhmus of Ir-uez ; but he at 

 the fame time propofes one in another 

 i'iireciion, between Kencli and KoiVeir. 

 While treatiiifT on this fubjett, he cnlcis 

 into an interelHni; difcnlVion relative to 

 the elevation of the waters of the Red 

 Sea aljovc tliofe of the Mediterranean. 



The editor has not neglected a delcrip- 

 tioa of anituiUs and plants ; he has even 

 prefcntcd iiis readers witli a lliort dilfer- 

 tation on medicine, in tiie courfe of 

 %\liich he defcribcs the procefs recurred 

 to by himi'elf for curing an ophtlialniy 

 and a pellilential fever, of whirh lie was 

 near becoming the victim. But the ar- 

 ticle in which he indulges moll is that 

 relative to the tine arts. He begins by 

 iixins; the general eharacler of the archi- 

 tecture of the Egy])tians : for he ob- 

 ferves, that painting, and even I'culpture, 

 were but accefl'orics to that art, fo llal- 

 terinj; to their monvmental mania. 



He then proceeds to furuilli the moll 

 curious details relative to the temples, 

 the labyrinth, the pyramids, the obelilks, 

 the inl'ulatuJ colinnne, and the pharos. 

 It is not without aftonifliiuent we learn, 

 that one of the pyramids, of which he 

 furnilhos the dimenlions, contains a futK- 

 ciency of materials to build a wall of 

 three metrca in height, and which, in 

 point of cxtetit. wouUl nearly furronnd 

 the whole kingdom of S|>ain. Accord- 

 ing to the calculations to be fouad here, 

 Pompey's column at Alexandria is form- 

 ed of a finale block of panite, which 

 weighs 265,105 kilo^rainims. 



While treating of the temples of Den- 

 dirah and Efneh, the editor takes care 

 to make mention of the curious zodiacs 

 contained in ihem ; but he ia content to 

 Jlate, without attempting to lolvc, the 

 rjuefiioii reji^jve to the tiiipolition of the 



J'gni which compofc thefe nioniunents of 

 ancient afironomy. 



He next lays down the diracnfions, as 

 taken by Inmliull, of the large interior 

 ch;wiber in th.e open pyramid ; and thence 

 deduces, by means of very ingenious de- 

 duction:-, the exact meafure of the 

 Egyptian cubit, which we know only by 

 a couiparii'un witli the Roman foot. He, 

 at the fame time, coufiiois his fuppofi- 

 tions by a reference to rhc cubit (lill in 

 ufe among the Meky:is of the ifle of 

 Raondah. Tiiis article Jj terminated by 

 an account of the relic;ioQ, the funerals, 

 and manner of embalming among the 

 Egypt jails. 



'lb(^ Libyans are the next people who 

 are bronglit on ll.e fccne ; and under 

 this (icuo:iiii)ation the editor compre- 

 hends all the nations who inhabit the 

 borders of the Mediterranean, from 

 Egypt to tlie pillars of Hercuies. On 

 this occafi^n, he finds room for a dilfer- 

 tation Oil tlie f)afes. M. Martin had 

 been inrtrnCtcd by the commander-in- 

 chief, Meiiou, on iiis return from a fur- 

 vey of the lake IMccris, to proceed to 

 the Little Oafi^; for which purpofe he 

 was to leave Medina at the fame time 

 that ?L Rafteiiau-Dchlle, his colleague, 

 intended to viiit the ;:rcat Oalis, in com- 

 pany with General Don/elot, who was to 

 proceed iiy the way of Siouth ; but the 

 occurrenc* of extraordinary events pre- 

 vented the completion of his journey. 

 Yet, notwitbftanding this, he had ob- 

 tained a variety of information from cer- 

 tain iniiabitants of 0<ijh Parra, whom 

 he had kept during ten days at Medina 

 cxprefsly for that purjiofe. 



Alia, which conltitutes the fccond fub- 

 divifion of this volume, comprehends the 

 Indians, tiie Chinefe, the Arabs, the 

 Medes, the Alfyrians, the I'crfians, the 

 Parthians, the Scythians, tiie natives of 

 Aiia Minor, the Syrians, and tiie Jews. 

 Tlie culloms, manners, and tiie religion 

 of the lall of thcfc nations, which lias 

 fmco extended itielf, with more or lets 

 modificiilion, over nearly the whole of 

 tile globe, necElVanly includes a variety 

 of curious details relative to the patri- 

 archs, &c. Tlie editor, taking the text 

 of the Sacred Scriptures for his guide, 

 exhibits the Ifraelites both before and 

 al'ter the Mofaic law, and fpeaks not only 

 of their great legillator, but of the pro- 

 phets who followed him. 



He defcribcs tlie tabernacle, the ark, 

 the altar of perfumes, the golden candlc- 

 ftick, the brazen lea, and, finally, the 

 temple of Jerufalera. He alfo enters 



into 



