A C R 



A C R 



and tl»oug1\ nineteen Syrian merchants were robbed and ignomi- 

 nioufly put to death, fatisfadlioii waj witlihtlJ. The Suk.m 

 Khahl refented this condurt, and marched again'.l Acre, at 

 the head of a large army, furniflied with a tremendous train 

 of artillery. After a liege of 73 days the double wall was 

 forced, by the Modems, the pruu-ipal tower yielded to their 

 engines, the city wa lloniied, and death or flavcry was the 

 lot of fixty thouUnd Chrilliaus, The foitrcfs of the Tem- 

 plars was dcihoyed, the grand malKr killed, and of 500 

 knights, 10 only fui-vived : who probably ftificred on a 

 fcaffold /fays Oibboii) in the unjult and cruel proferiplion 

 of the wnole order. Few of the fugitives, among whom 

 were the king of Jcrufalcm, the patriarch, and the great 

 mailer of the holpital, cfcapcd the dangers of the fca, and 

 fafcly arrived in the illand of Cyprus. This difaibouf; event 

 happened (lays Maimdrtl in his journey, ^\c. p. 55.) on 

 May 19, J2()\. He adds, that-the abbefi of the nunner)-, 

 in oitler to avoid that violation which wns apprehended from 

 the liccntioufnefs of the Saracen victors, ordered the young 

 nuns under her care to mangic their faces, letting an exam- 

 pie io her own perfon, that they might thus become the ob- 

 jecls of averfion inllead of brutal defue. The .Saracens, 

 difappoirrted and inflamed with refentment, put them all to 

 the fwoixl. 



After the expulfion of the crufaders. Acre exhibited a 

 fcene of magnificent ruin, and remained in a grat degree 

 defolated and dti^rtcd lul jbcvjt theyear 1750, when it was 

 fortified by Daher, an Aribian fcheik, who obtained the 

 appellation of Prince of St. John of Acre, and maintained 

 his independence againft the whole force of the Ottoman 

 empire, till the year 1 775, when he was bafely aflaflinated by 

 order of the Ottoman Porte, at the advanced age of 86 

 years. He was ailpred by his people (fays Savar)-, Letters, 

 vol. ii. p. 200.) whom he had through life defended againll 

 the tyranny of the Pacha, and yet by this tyrant he was be- 

 trayed and murdered. 



At a later period Acre has been rendered, by the works 

 of Djezzar, one of the principal towns upon the coaft. 

 The mofque of this Pacha is much admired. The bazar, 

 or covered market, is not inferior to the bazars of Aleppo, 

 and its public fountain is fuperior in elegance to thofc of 

 Damafcus. Thefe improvements were deiigned and execut- 

 ed by the Pacha himfelf. The place, however, t!iou^;h its for- 

 tifications had been often repaired, was very weakly de- 

 fended ; and in the fpring of 1799, it was found necelTa- 

 ry to ftrengthen its fortifications, in order to guard againft 

 the apprehended alfault of the French army under Bonaparte. 

 The P^cha Djezzar, who had aftually evacuated Caiifa, 

 a town at the foot of Mount Carmel, furrovmded with a good 

 wall, and flanked with towers, and who had difarmed the 

 caftle which defended the fort and road, had reafon to dif- 

 trufl his fecurity at Acre. He was therefore preparing to 

 make good his retreat» and to convey away his women and 

 treafure, when Sir Sidney Smith anchored in the road of 

 Caiffa with an F.nglifh fquadron, and deputed a French en- 

 gineer (Col. Philipeaux) to aid him in fortifying the town. 

 This engineer caufed the fortrefs to be repaired, which was 

 fortified after the mode of thj 12th century, with courtines 

 flanked with fq,uare towers. The Pacha, thus affifted and 

 animated, determined to co-operate with the Englifh fqua- 

 dron in the defence of the town. Kleber, however, with 

 the French advanced guard, had taken pofTeffion of Caiffa'; 

 and Bonaparte had completed the inveftment of Acre, when 

 his battenng-pieces and llores fell into the hands of the 

 Englifh. This lofs decided the fate of the town ; and 

 though the French renewed and varied their attacks, they 

 were repeatedly repuKed by the garrifon in concurrence with 



the marines of the li^nglidi fquadron, under the conjnand 

 ot the Commodore, Sir Sidney Smitli. After multl|)lied and 

 ineparable lodes, it was found alnuill impofiibic to reduce a 

 place, defended with fo much intrepiditv, and polfefling a 

 variety of advitntages which it is belides our puipoft mi- 

 nutely to detail. Bonaparte at lergth determined to raifc 

 the ficge, and announced his refohitior. to the army, which 

 began its march on the 20th of May, the 6lft day after 

 breaking gi-ound. Djezzar did not perceive for two days 

 that the trendies were evacuated, fo that the French army 

 had an opportunity of continuing its march without molel- 

 tation, ravaging tiie couiitrv', burning llie iiarvilti, and de- 

 llroying the defences of the poits, the magazines, and all 

 the refources which the Turks might have uled in approach- 

 ing the frontiers of F.gypt. Kkhei (onncd the rcnr-guaid 

 with his divifion, which, after ha\iiig crolTed the defart, 

 embarked at Tineh for Damietta. Bonaparte left a rtrong 

 garrifon at Cattich, and entered Cairo with the rell of the 

 army, 26 days after the raifing of the fiege. 



The afpeft of the field of carnage on this occafioti wag 

 horrible. The ditches and the revcrfesof the parapet* were 

 filled with coi-pfes, and the air itfelf was infeCied for v.anL 

 of an opportiMiity to remove the wounded whom the Turks 

 'eft unmallaered, and to bury the dead. Notwithllaiidnig 

 the fingularfpinJ and very extraorduiar)' exertions m?nifelttd 

 :n this fiege, both by the ad'ailants and the befieged ; huma- 

 nity on botli fides mud lament the aggnvvattd circumllanu.'s 

 of cruelty and diilrefs that attended it. 



The principal articles of commerce at Acre, are corn a«d 

 cotton : but the trade is monopolized by the Pacha in his 

 own hands. The French have ufually had a confnl in this 

 place, and RufTia a refident. Aae is fitnatcd 27 miles S. 

 of Tyre, and about 70 miles N. of Jerufalem, N. lat. 32° 

 40'. E. long. 39° 25'. 



Acre, is ufed in the dominions of the Mogul, with re- 

 gard to his revenues, in the fame fenfe with Tack, for the. 

 fum of 100,000 rupees ; eight rupees being equal to about 

 one pound llerling. 



Acre denotes a quantity of land, containing fotu-fquare 

 ROODS, or 160 fquare folks or pkrchi s. The word> 

 perhaps, is formed from the. Saxon a<:ere, or German acker ^ 

 field, or the Latin ager. Salraafuis derives it from acra, 

 ufed for acana, a land-meafure among the Ancients, con- 

 taining 10 feet. The term acre formerly meant any open 

 ground or field, as Gallle-acre, Well-acre, and not a de- 

 terminate quantity of land. 



By the culVom of countries, the perch differs in quati- 

 tity, and confequently the acre of land :. it is commonly 

 iCi feet ;. but in Staffordlhire it is 24 feet ; in other 

 counties 28 feet ; and in foine parts of England 18, 21 feet. 

 According to the ilatute 34 Hen. VIII. concerning the 

 fowing of flax, it is declared, that i6q perches, i. e. 16 ia 

 length> and 10 in breadth, or in that proportion, make ait 

 acre; and the ordinance for meafvulng land, 35 Edw. 1. 

 agrees with thii account. And therefore, as tlie.llatutc length 

 of a pole is 54 yards, or i6i feet, the acre will contain 484Q 

 fquare yards, or 43,560 fquare feet. Moreover, as the 

 chain, ufed in meafuring land, is four poles or 22 yards in 

 length, the fquare chain will be 484 yards, and the acre 

 will be 10 fquare chains. And a mile being 1760 yards, or 

 80 chains in length ; the fquare mile will be J760X 1760 

 = 3,097,60c fquare yards, and contain 80 X 80 := 64CO 

 fquare chains, or 640 acres. Some old farmers dillinguiflx 

 between feed -acres and ftatute acres ; the foi-mer being a 

 vague meafure, determined by the proportion of feed uled 

 in fowing it, and therefore depending on the fertility or bar. 

 rennefs of the foil. 



The. 



