940 
with which our ablest writers, of 
every succeeding age, have studied, 
and preserved these, and every 
other branch of antiquity, illustrative 
of the history, laws, and customs of 
our ancestors. Irom these sources, 
our ablest statesmen, our. wisest 
lawyers, our writers the most dis- 
tinguished in eyery branch of con- 
Stitutional or literary pursuit, have 
drawn their purest and amplest sup- 
plies; and though the language of 
the ancient chronicles was obscure, 
the style confused, and harsh, and 
many of the faéts uninteresting, 
from change of time and manners, — 
yet the public has long since ac- 
knowledged its debt of gratitude to 
those invaluable characters who 
edited and illustrated them for gene- 
ral use. 
Yet the greater part of our early 
chronicles, and all those which have 
been given to the public as the found. 
ation of the northern foreign histo- 
rics, by Saxo Grammaticus, Snorro, 
Torffeus, Adam of Bremen, and 
Nestor, their first writers, are long 
subsequent, in, point of time, to 
Cennfaclad, Flann mac Lonan, Mal- 
mura of Othna, Flann of Bute, Coc- 
man, and other Irish writers who 
preceded Tigernach, and whose me- 
trical fragments and lists of kings, 
exist in the Irish language and cha- 
raéters, and in ancient vellum MSS. 
now preserved in the library at 
Stowe. 
Some time must necessarily elapse 
before this great national work can 
be completed. Of the transcripts 
and Latin translations of the five 
first articles, part is already in the 
press, and much progress has been 
made in decyphering, translating, 
and collating several of the docu- 
ments that are classed under the 6th. 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1803. 
It is therefore to be hoped that the 
period is not very distant, when 
Doctor O’Conor will be able to look 
for the reward of his labours, in the 
gratification of haying contributed 
to that general mass of national in- 
formation, which, for succeeding 
centuries has been one of the most 
interesting and proudest ornaments 
of the British empire. 
History of the British Expedition to 
Egypt, §c. By Sir Robert Wilson, 
HAVING, in our preceding 
Vol.* already given an elaborate re- 
view of this justly celebrated work, 
it is not here our object to make 
any farther remark thereon, or even 
draw from it an additional extract, 
Our motive for offering any addi- 
tional matter, on a subject sufficient- 
ly discussed, originates in our desire 
of preserving, with some degree of 
propriety, in a repository not un- 
worthy of the high reputation of 
this gallant officer, a letter of his 
upon a most important subject, aris- 
ing out of the publication in ques- 
tion, and which we haye already 
contributed our feeble efforts to com- 
memorate. 
Sir R. Wilson’s publication pro- 
duced a very striking cffect both on 
the political and moral world: he 
was the firt writer ‘‘who entered 
the stupendous crimes of Bona- 
parte in Egypt, upon the records of 
his country, and thus rendered an 
essential benefit to mankind, by 
shewing, in its proper light, the 
Gallic idol, that all nations were cal- 
led upon to bow down to and wor- 
ship.” To the uncontroyerted, be- 
cause uncontrovertible, statement 
nade 
* Annial Register for 1802, page $35. é, 
