CVIII. Memoirs of a Campaign with the Ottoman Army in Egypt, from February to July 1800: containing a Defcription of the Turkish Army-The Journal of its March from Syria to EgyptGeneral Observations on the Arabs, and on the Treaty of ElArifh, with an Account of the Events which followed it. By Mr. J. P. MORIER, private Secretary to his Excellency the Earl of Elgin. With a Map of Egypt. 8vo. pp. 100. 4s. Debrett.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION—A Description of the Turkish Army-The different Troops of which it is compofed-Their Difcipline-Manner of marching-Encampment, &c.Journal of the March of the Turkifh Army through the Defert between Syria and Egypt; with general Obfervations on the Country and the Arabs-Obfervations on the Treaty of El-Arish, with an Account of the Events which followed it.

EXTRACTS.

INSUBORDINATION OF A TURKISH

ARMY.

"A TURKISH army may well be compared to an armed rabble; with this difference, that, inftead of being a lawless mob, led away by the impetuofity of paffion, or by the impulfe of the moment, the power of a chief may keep up a certain degree of fubordination, which, however, goes only as far as he is poffeffed of more or lefs energy of character, and often will not prevent diforders, fuch as the plundering of villages, and quarrels between whole corps of the fame army. Among many inftances of the fpirit of infubordination common to Turkish troops, I had an opportunity of being witness to a scene, when encamped at Catièh, which amufed me much. The Albanian troops, to the number of 7000, were encamped near the Grand Vizier; soon after dark they became merry, and, as their only de

monftrations of mirth confift in shout-
ing, and firing off their mufkets with
ball, they very foon became trouble-
fome. The Grand Vizier fent án of-
but no fooner had thofe orders reach-
ficer to them with orders to defift;
ed them, than it was a fignal for in-
creafing their fire, which now re-
fembled the file-firing of a regiment
on field-days. The practice of firing:
with ball for amufement is fo common
in a Turkish camp, that one is in con-
tinual danger of being shot: my tent
was pierced in many places; and I
once difcovered a fellow deliberately
levelling his musket at my hat, just
time enough to get out of his way."
P. 19.

ENCAMPMENT AT EL-ARISH.

"THE view of the camp the morn ing after my arrival at El-Arifh, was to me a very fingular fight, as I believe it was original in its kind. The ground upon which it stood was ir regular, and a perfect defert of white fand, with no other figns of vegetation clufter at a small diftance. The tents, than a few date-trees, which stood in a which are of different colours and fhapes, were irregularly ftrewed over a fpace of ground feveral miles in circuit; and every thing that moved , was confpicuous to the eye, from the white ground of the landicape. The whole refembled a large fair; a number of the foldiers who ferve without pay carry on a traffic by which they fubfift; there are, befides, tradefmen of all defcriptions who follow the camp: fome keep coffee-houses, which are diftinguished by a red flag; others are horse-dealers; and a number of public cryers are conftantly employed in defcribing to the multitude things loft, or in felling divers articles at auction. This fcene of confufion is certainly more cafily conceived than told; but a very ingenious definition of it was given by a Turk, who was afked to defcribe their manner of encampment. Thus,' faid he, pulling from his pocket a handful of paras*, and throwing them carelefly on a table.

"To this ftate of diforder they join a ftupid sense of security, which may ; at all times expose a very large force to

"A fmall filver coin."
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be

be deftroyed by an inferior. None of the precautions that are thought ne ceffary to prevent furprife in armies much better able to withstand a fudden attack, are even thought of in a Turkifh army. The moment in which I landed at El-Arifh prefented me with a moft remarkable inftance of this ftate of infecurity. It was late at night; I walked through the midft of the camp without being once challenged; indeed, I do not remember meeting with a human creature: the only figns that indicated the abode of man were the tents, and about them horfes, camels, and affes feeding. The ftillnefs which reigned reminded me of the wandering but peaceful lives of our forefathers, rather than of the army of a defpot moving to conqueft. I might have been a fpy, or an incendiary; and I fhould have escaped with impunity." P. 22.

THE BEDOUINS

"ARE the inhabitants of the deferts; they lead a wandering life, and are formed into large and small tribes. The weaker contracts an alliance with the ftronger, and every tribe has a limit within which it may range; and to tranfgrefs that limit is often to declare war. Their property confifts in camels, horfes, and fheep: the plundering of travellers is another refource. The more determined carry their depredations into the villages, and even to the very walls of Cairo.

"Confidered as enemies, they are defpicable; as friends they might be ufeful.

"The French were at firft conftrained to keep upon the defenfive, for the swiftnefs of the Bedouins' mares favoured their escape with impunity. This first gave the French the idea of forming a corps mounted upon

dromedaries, which, with the ad vantage of being difciplined, would poffefs the only one by which the Arabs eluded a purfuit, The dromedaryt, which is, properly fpeaking, a very fmall and active fpecies of camel, is indefatigable, and requires little nourishment. Thofe compofing this troop are made to go through a num ber of evolutions, and when attacked they are formed into a hollow fquare; they kneel, a cord which is thrown round one of the knees prevents their getting up, and thus they afford a breaft-work for the foldier. By the eftablishment of this corps, the French were enabled to surprise fome of the neighbouring tribes. in their retreats. Yet a purfuit into the defert is always attended with danger, because the Arabs alone knowing the watering. places, will entice the enemy out of the way till night favours their own efcape, and leaves him in danger of perishing with thirst.

"The Arabs are very much afraid of fire-arms; fo that a small number of troops may attack a whole tribe; for they take to flight as foon as one or two fall. They have been found dangerous by those who have betrayed the leaft fymptoms of fear; for their long fpears and their fwift mares give them the advantage when they be come the purfuers.

"The prominent trait in an Arab is, being falfe; and this general principle may be laid down-that very harfh treatment will procure respect, when the leaft indulgence will have a contrary effect.

"The uninterrupted state of independence which the Bedouins have enjoyed for ages, has made them defpife every offer of alliance with the French; and if force has brought any tribe to enter into compact with them, it has been momentary, and with a

*«There is a fecond clafs of Bedouin Arabs, who cultivate the country bordering upon the deferts."

"The moft convenient and the only way of travelling in this country is upon dromedaries. The traveller need not encumber himfelf with food for his animal, as a very feanty allowance of beans fuffices for many days journey. They ride upon convenient faddles; and the animal is fo docile, that he is guided only by touching him with a small stick on the fide that he is to turn. Some have a ring through each noftril, which ferves as a bit to a bridle fastened to them. They walk very faft; and their trot is swift, but very inconvenient." "Their arms confift of a mufket with match-lock flung round the arm; a fabre, and a long fpear, which they carry in the hand.”

view

view to take advantage of that state of fecurity, in order to commit greater depredations than before." P. 57.

killed and forty wounded; the Turks loft about nineteen pieces of cannon." P. 88.

BATTLE OF HELIOPOLIS.

"EARLY on the 20th, hóftilities began on the part of the French, by the fire from fixty pieces of cannon on the Turkish advanced pofts, commanded by Nafouf Pafha, at Mataria*, five miles diftant from Cairo.

"At eight A. M. the Grand Vizier marched with the whole of his army to the plain between the villages of El-Hanca and Mataria. The French army, confifting of fifteen thousand men, including cavalry and dromedaries, were drawn up in two strong lines, extending from El-Kubbi towards Boulac, flanked on the right by

CIX. Senilities; or, Solitary Amufements in Profe and Verfe; with a curfory Difquifition on the future Condition of the Sexes. By the EDITOR of "The Reveries of Solitude," "Spiritual Quixote," "Columella," &c. Small 8vo. pp. 306. 6s. Longman and Rees.

CONTENTS.

PARTI. PROSE. Thirteen Effays on mifcellaneous Subjects.PART II. POETICAL. The Seat of Happinefs-Il Penferofo; or, the Seat of War-Twenty panegyrical Pieces.-PART III. Twenty humorous.-PART IV. Twenty-four mifcellaneous.

a wood of date-trees and part of their
artillery. In this pofition they pa-
tiently bore the attacks of the Turks,
who contented themselves with ho-
vering about the French lines in par-
ties of twenty or thirty men, and fo
fcattered about the plain as to make
no impreffion upon them. The Ja-
niffaries were the only infantry that
engaged in this fkirmish-for it des
ferves no other name. They were
oppofed to the left of the French, but
fo totally unfupported by cannon, and
latterly fo fhort of ammunition, that
they made but little refiftance. About
noon the French began to advance in
line: the Turkish army was then a
fcene of the utmoft confufion. Forty
thousand men that had really not beenOnce more, and I have done !'
engaged were feen flying in all direc-
tions: the Grand Vizier, at the head
of his attendants, endeavoured, more
than once, but in vain, to rally this
daftardly rabble. At one P. M. he
was himself obliged to retire; for by
this time the French were endeavour-
ing to cut off his retreat by marching
in two oblique lines: thefe he had
permitted to approach within a mile
of him, mistaking them for his own
troops; and it was not till Captain
Lacy, of the Engineers (who had re-
connoitred the enemy), apprized him
of his danger, that he could be per-
fuaded to rise from his fofa, and leave
his pipe.

EXTRACTS FROM THE PREFACE.

"IN the reign of Charles II. when the clergy could preach two hours at a ftretch, and make nothing

of it; as foon as the preacher perceived his foporific eloquence begin to take effect, in order to roufe the languid attention of his audience, and give them hopes of a speedy releafe, he would exclaim with great emphafis,

"The lofs on both fides was very fmall; the French stated theirs at ten

Of

this expreffion I fhall avail myself, not to gain the attention, but to oltain the pardon of the public for having fo long trefpaffed on their pa tience; and I affure them, in the language of show-men, This is pofitively

the last time of performing. Thofe indeed who are acquainted with the advanced age of the author, and the many infirmities and afflictive circumflances, too often the concomitants of old age, will wonder how he could poffibly amufe himfelf with fuch trifles, particularly with those pieces which he has ventured to call Humorous; many of which appear in this mifcellaneous collection.

"But, in the first place, not to plead the force of habit, most of them

The fituation of the ancient Heliopolis."
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were

were written fome years fince, and are only the quifquitia, or neglected contents of his port-folio. But as fome of them feemed not totally void of merit (in their kind), though he is convinced no one can take the fame pleafure in fuch middling poetry, as the author does, he thought they might amuse the idle reader, as they had done the idle writer of them.

"It must be observed, in the next place, that laughter is by no means an unequivocal fymptom of a merry heart. It is a remarkable anecdote of Carlini, the drolleft buffoon that ever appeared on the Italian ftage at Paris. A French phyfician having been confulted by a person subject to the moft gloomy fits of melancholy, advised his patient to mix in fcenes of gaiety and diffipation; and particularly to frequent the Italian theatre: And if Carlini does not difpel your gloomy ' complaint,' fays he, 'your cafe must be 'defperate indeed.' Alas! Sir,' faid the patient, I myself am Carlini; and while I divert all Paris with mirth, and make them almoft die with laugh'ter, I myself am dying with melancholy and chagrin.'

"As for thofe lighter pieces then, in this volume, they are fo far from being the offspring of cheerfulness or gaiety, that they were written to divert my thoughts from fome afflictive circumftance, when I could not attend to more serious or important meditations.

gale puts the fails of a windmill in motion. Yet this propenfity has rarely been indulged, unlefs in his morning rides; which he is under a neceffity of taking daily, on account of his health.

"But, after all, I am afraid it will be faid, and with fome degree of truth, that a confiderable part of his life has been paffed in doing wrong things, and making apologies for them. But what Pope fays of poets in general, may be applied on the prefent occafion: Yet, Sir, reflect: the mischief is not great;

Thefe madmen never hurt the church or ftate:

Allow him but his plaything of a

pen,

He ne'er rebels or plots like other men.' P. 1.

thor fometimes claims indulgence for "To conclude: As a young auhis first performance, on account of his youth; the author of this farraginous collection deprecates the feverity of criticism for this his laft production, on account of his advanced age; being above twenty years past his grand climatrix.

advice to the juvenile part of my ac"However, I would bequeath this quaintance:

"My young friends! avoid bad company, gaming, fabbath-breaking, and-writing verfes.

P. 9.

"An Octo-genarian Scribbler.”

EXTRACTS.

ON CONVERSATION.
Μισώ μνήμονα Συμπόλης

mory.'

"But the author will probably be accused of a culpable degree of adulation for the many complimentary pieces which he has addreffed to his fuperiors in ftation or fortune, or other external advantages. To which he 'I hate a pot-companion with a good mecan only fay, as he has before faid on fimilar occafions, That his encomiums have always been the effufions of gratitude for favours received;' and not the fnares of flattery for any that he expected; and therefore may at leaft be deemed difinterested.

"He has always been more inclined to panegyric, than to fatire: and having an habitual tendency to rhyming, unfortunately contracted in his youth, every incident, pleafing or difpleafing; every civility, or every flight from a great man; a fafcinating fmile, or mortifying neglect, from a beautiful woman; every accidental circumflance of this kind, will fet his fancy to work as mechanically as a frefh

"THERE cannot be a more fevere fatire on the ufual ftrain of convivial converfation, than is implied in this proverbial maxim of the ancient Greeks. It betrays a consciousness of the trifling, if not abfurd or reprehenfible kind of communication which too often prevails on thofe occafions. The moft cautious and referved, in the freedom of focial intercourfe frequently let fall fome remarks or expreffions which they would with to recall, or would bluth to have remembered or repeated. And the herd of jovial companions generally talk at random, or indulge themselves in fuch incoherent, unmeaning loquacity, as

can