twenty-five years the population has decreased nearly one-fourthr Cairo contains, according to M. Mengin, 240 principal streets, 46 public places, 11 bazaars, on covered streets; 140 schools for the instruction of children, S00 public cisterns, 1166 coffeehouses, 65 public baths, and one miserable hospital for the reception of the infirin and insane. It contains besides, he says, 400 mosques, where mussulmen go to pray, to eat, drink and sleep; where merchants and money-changers carry on a traffic, and where loiterers pass their time in listening to story-tellers-these sacred edifices being still, as heretofore, dens of thieves.' We must be permitted, however, to doubt the writer's accuracy on this point; it being well known that Mussulmen hold their mosques in as great veneration as Christians do their churches. *་ མ་ 3 * The population is composed of Francs, or Europeans, Armenians, Greeks, Syrians, Christians, Jews, Turks, Arabians, and Copts, who are supposed, on every ground of probability, to be the descendants of the ancient Egyptians. The Francs are mostly from the shores bordering on the Mediterranean, and chiefly engaged in commerce and in the Pasha's new manufactories; they do not exceed one thousand, half of whom are in Alexandria, and the other half in Cairo. In spite of all the partiality and protection of the Pasha, the Turks Jose no opportunity of insulting and abusing these Christian dogs.' There are about two thousand Armenians, who reside principally in the capital, where they exercise every kind of trade, and are much concerned in money transactions with the government. The Greek Christians of Syria may be reckoned at 3000 in Cairo, and 1000 in the other cities of Egypt: they were formerly the wholesale merchants who supplied the land proprie tors and others with various kinds of articles, and were in general wealthy; but the monopoly of the viceroy has very considerably impoverished them. There are about five thousand descendants of the ancient Greek colonists, who form quite a distinct race from the modern Greeks: these people have lost their ancient language and speak a kind of Arabic; many of them are mariners, but in general they pursue the inferior and handicraft trades. M. Mengin reckons about four thousand Jews in Egypt, three thousand of whom inhabit a part of Cairo called after them the Jews' quarter, of which the streets are so narrow as to be almost impassable; the houses are dark, crowded together, filthy, and so infectious that, when the plague breaks out, the first inquiry is, if it has appeared in the Jews' quarter? Yet such is their affection for. this wretched abode, that an Egyptian Jewess meeting M. Mengin in Paris, said to him, with an accent of regret, Ah! Monsieur, où est le Kaire! où est le quartier Juif! The Copts, or descendants of the ancient Egyptians, are by far VOL, XXX. NO. LX. K K the the most numerous class of Christians in Egypt, amounting at least to 160,000, of whom about 10,000 inhabit the two most populous quarters of Cairo. In the towns they practise different trades, but the greater part labour on the lands; among the fellahs, from whom they are scarcely distinguishable. Under the government of the Mamluks the Copts were employed in taking an account of and collecting the revenues of the villages, and many of them still hold situations of this kind, and as writers about the court. In their manners they are austere and forbidding, generally silent, and wearing an air of melancholy; but they are said to be extremely tyrannical when in power. The Fellahs, who compose the chief part of the population of Egypt, are, at the present day, a distinct race of men, originally, in all probability, from some part of the East, and a mixture perhaps of ancient Egyptians, Arabians, and Syrians: they approach nearest, as we have observed, to the Copts; but they are rigid mussulmen, and as strictly observant of the religious rites and ceremonies laid down by their sheiks or priests, to whom they pay implicit obedience, as the Hindoos of those prescribed by the Brahmins. The change of government operates no change either in their customs, their manners, or their condition. They labour hard on the soil, and live in the most abstemious manner on dourra, dwell in cottages of unbaked bricks, are clothed in coarse woollen cloth, and sleep on mats: those in the towns exercise handicraft trades, and keep shops in the bazaars, which they only quit to attend the mosques. Like all orientals, they are fond of frequenting coffeehouses and listening to the tales of pretended magicians, or the rude music of strolling singers. They submit without murmuring to every species of ill treatment, and in meekness and apathy may almost be said to surpass the Hindoos. The tented Arab, hovering with his flocks along the borders of the fertile valley of the Nile, is the same in character, manners, and customs as he everywhere else is, and apparently has been in all times since the days of the patriarchs, regarding with disdain and proud independence all other classes of mankind, but more particularly those of his own nation, who, in his eyes, bave degraded themselves by taking up their abodes in fixed habitations, and whom he calls in contempt haty, or Arabs of the walls. Those who turn cultivators are equally despised, and considered in the light of fellahs, with whom an alliance by marriage, would be regarded as dishonourable. The Arab women have fine features and complexions; they are much fairer than the Egyptian women, and far more correct in their conduct. In cases of infidelity, the injured party takes the law into his own hauds, and the culprit is generally punished with death. M. Mengin assures us, that the notion so generally entertained of A of the females of Egypt living a confined and secluded life in their harems, is very far from being correct; that, on the contrary, whether married, or slaves from Georgia, Circassia, and Mengrelia, they are allowed to quit the harem whenever they please; and very frequently, accompanied by a confidante, leave the house under pretext of going to the bath, or of making visits, when the real object is to indulge in illicit amours. He tells a story, in order to prove that the refined wit and coquetry of an Egyptian female are not at all inferior to that of a Parisian; which, whether true or false, has very much the air of an Eastern romance, and, to our apprehension, of a very dull and clumsy one. We are by no means convinced, however, either by M. Mengin's assurances or his story, that the Egyptian women enjoy that liberty which he states them to do; we believe, that, like other oriental females, they are the mere slaves of their husbands' or their owners' caprices; and we are further persuaded that this degrading condition of the women is one of the greatest obstacles to the civilization of Egypt, and one of the last that will probably be removed, intimately connected as it is with the precepts of the Mahommedan faith. S Our Article has extended beyond the limits originally proposed; yet we cannot conclude it without recurring once more to the extraordinary person who presides over the destinies of this motley, population: we will, however, be brief. Mohammed Aly is well spoken of by most European travellers, and, we conceive, not altogether undeservedly, though the author whom we have already quoted (p. 501) appears to think otherwise. ' I sat on the divan,' he says, 'with my eyes fixed on him; I wanted to examine the countenance of a man, who had realized in our day one of those scenes in history which, when we have perused it, always compels us to lay down the book, and recover ourselves there he sat a quick eye, features common, nose bad, a grizzled beard, looking much more than fifty, the worn complexion of that period of life, and there seemed to be creeping upon him that. aspect which belongs to and betrays the grey decrepitude of lust. They tell you he is not sanguinary; men grow tired of shedding blood, as well as of other pleasures; but if the cutting off a head would drop gold into his coffers, he would not be slow to give the signal. His laugh has nothing in it of nature; how can it have? I can hear it now, a hard sharp laugh, such as that with which strong heartless men would divide booty torn from the feeble. I leave him to his admirers." We must not, however, form our judgment from the opinions of one who travelled post through the country, and had a single short interview with its ruler. It should be recollected that, when Mo KK 2 hammed hammed assumed the cominand, complete anarchy prevailed in every department. The country was distracted by the conflicting pretensions of the Mamlouks, aided by the Bedouin Arabs, the Albanians, and the Turks, with many rival chieftams.The soldiers were mutinous-the finances were exhausted property was inse cure-agriculture was neglected and commerce languished. Contrast this with the state of the country for the last sixteen years. Every thing is diametrically the opposite of what it then was. AIL rivality is put down-the Bedouin Arabs are submissive dhe mied litary controuled, lodged in barracks and tents, and regulafly paid the finances prodigiously increased-new articles of produce raised and trade carried on to an extent formerly unknown. The wholen country from Alexandria to Syene is perfectly tranquil, and travel+/lers pass unmolested, with as much freedom as on the continent. Egpyt, in 1804-6, was in many respects like France amder the jacobins; and the genius of the Pasha, on a more limited sphere, has often been compared to that of Buonaparte among the French. It is not pretended that the Pasha has not his failings, he has many but to estimate his character he should be judged by the standard o of other Mohammedan princes or governors of the despotico pashas of Syria or Turkey and which of all these can be com-.. pared to him? It is hardly fair to try him by our own notions of s excellence-by European standards, when every thing custom,1 religion, government is so different. His defects are those of education and example. His improvements are the fruits of his I own genius. h ART. X-Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and States men. By Walter Savage Landor, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. London.t 1824. Lo 2.990 OOKING back twenty or thirty years, we perceive Mr. s Landor very gravely occupied in the production of a little volume or two of poetry, which it does any man credit to have understood. We have read the poem of Gebir,' and recollect something of a wrestling match between a Nereid and a shepherd, the former of whom, being conqueror, carries off a lamb. This wrestfing proves however to be only the sea-nymph's mode of courtship; the happy couple, victor and vanquished, are united upon the surface of the ocean; their bridal bed is strewn at the bottom; and the admiring bridegroom is informed the next morning that he had become the progenitor of a mortal man above all mortal praise'Napoleon Buonaparte !* If we do not mistake, there were also a queen * In Mr. Landor's present work, Napoleon Buonaparte' is treated with as much contempt as any other person of eminence. We cannot resist giving an extract from · Gebir,' at queen of Egypt and a king of Spain, who persisted in building a city, though certam enchanters contrived that every thing which was built up in the day should disappear in the night. Poison and other serious occurrences brought the poem to a tragical end. We can add that, amongst much absurdity and obscurity, signs of intellectual, if not of poetical powers, excited expectations which Mr.Landor has allowed us to forget. Our hope was that time would have reduced to order a mind of some natural strength; but we believe, though Mr. Landor was no stipendiary soldier, his stuches suffered an interruption from his martial ardour during the Peninsulanbwar, and his achievements again came to an end from the difficulty of co-operating with ordinary beings. In short, Mr. Landor could neither write nor fight like any other person; this troop of horse must be trained at his own private cost, and his poems published for his own private reading. The nature of the present work is sufficiently explained by its title, to which we have only to add, that it is distributed into thirty-five conversations, maintained by distinguished personages of various ages and countries, under whose names Mr. Landor enjoys the opportunity of inculcating the most violent opinions of all parties; protesting of course against any of them being attributed to himself. The work being of a very desultory character, our remarks must be equally so. 1 The reader who is attracted by the names of Southey and Porson, (vol. ip. 89); and told to expect a specimen of their conversation, must have prepared himself for no scanty exhibition of wit, for much astute criticism, and deep erudition. How will he then be surprised to find, that these eminent individuals meet only A to agree upon the merits of Mr. Wordsworth's poetry! that they talk as if they were writing commentaries and tired of it, and that their dialogue is carried on with about the same speed of alterna Gebir,' which our readers may take as a specimen of the poem for better and worse. It occurs after the winning of the prize-lamb by the sea-nymph above mentioned, She smiled, and more of pleasure than disdain sbs Was in her dimpled chin and liberal lip Jaw And eyes that languished, lengthening, just like love. She went quiero Leaned, away. I on the wicker gate Could follow with my eyes alone. -12 91 The sheep she carried easy las a cloak. bine semiz bus: But when I heard it's bleating, as I did it's And saw, She hastening shoulder slip, bord or Struggle, and from her snowy Master (One shoulder it's poor efforts had unveiled,) To watch her; she was gone; gone down the tide ; tion, |