AND LOWER EGYPT. 117 



commerce, by the cultivation of science, and by 

 prodigies of art : Buonaparte has rescued the re- 

 mains of that very city out of the hands of barba- 

 rians, whose presence sullied the ruins of it ; he 

 has restored it to the general commerce which its 

 position ensures, and which will recall its ancient 

 splendour. It is not easy to determine whether of 

 these two heroes, the founder or the restorer, will 

 excite most admiration in the eyes of posterity. 



Toward the eastern extremity of the crescent, 

 formed by the new bridge, and near the coast, are 

 two obelisks. It has been agreed to give them the 

 name of Cleopatra s needles, though it is by no 

 means certain that they were the work of that 

 Egyptian queen. To her likewise have been as- 

 cribed, without any one historical proof, the exca- 

 vations which go by the name of Cleopatra s baths, 

 and the construction of the canal which still con- 

 veys the waters of the Nile to the cisterns of Alex- 

 andria : a piece of homage rendered to the great 

 qualities of the last queen of the race of the 

 Ptolemies. Thus, while the name of the men 

 who reared most of the astonishing edifices of an- 

 cient Egypt, is absolutely unknown, posterity care- 

 fully preserves the memory of a woman, rendered 

 illustrious by her magnificence, her genius, her 

 heroic character, and her incomparable beauty; of 

 the woman, whose charms triumphed over the 



1 3 greatest 



