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ftance therefore it would have been for the king to be fo liberal of his queen's charms, while he covers his own face with blue taffeta; but to imagine that the Abuna, a Coptifh monk bred in the defert of St. Macarius, would expofe himself naked among naked women, contrary to the usual custom of the celebration he obferves in his own church, is monstrous, and must exceed ail belief whatever. As the Abuna Mark too was of the reasonable age of one hundred and ten years, he might, I think, have difpenfed at that time of life with a bathing gown, efpecially as it was froft.

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Qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit falvus erit,' fays Alvarez. You-fay right, answers the king, as to baptifm; thefe are the words of our Saviour; but this prefent ceremony was lately invented by a grandfather of mine, in favour of fuch as have turned Moors, and are defirous again of becoming Chriftians.'

"I should think, in the first place, this answer of the king, fhould have let Alvarez fee no baptifu was intended there; or, if it was'a re-baptifm, it only took place in favour of those who had turned Moors, and must therefore have been but partial. If this was really the cafe, what had the king, queen, and Abuna to do in it? Sure they had neither apoftatized, nor was the company of apoftates a very creditable fociety for them.”

The next matter of importance paffing over the hiftorical parts of this work, which, relating to a barbarous people, can be of little importance-is Mr. Bruce's difcovery of the Source of the Nile, and this we have already extracted. This being the direct object of Mr. Bruce's celebrated journey, it may be expected by our readers, that we should comment on the credibility or incredibility of the expedition; and it was our intention to do fo: but our own reflections on this fubject having already been anticipated by a great and refpectable critic, we flrall give fuch extracts from him as meet our own ideas; and which may juftly be confidered as two opinions, confequently lefs liable to error or partiality. The critic proceeds

See page 193 et feq.

"Of the innumerable ftreams that feed the lake of Tzana, there is one that ends in a bog, to which Mr. Bruce was conducted by Woldo, a lying guide, who told him it was the fource of the Nile. Mr. Bruce, in a matter of far lefs importance, would not have taken Woldo's word; but he is perfuaded that, in this inftance, he spoke truth, becaufe the credulous barbarians of the neighbouring diftrict paid fomething like worship to this brook; which, at the distance of fourteen miles from its fource, is not twenty feet broad, and no where one foot deep; (vol. iii. p. 580) and again, (p. 593 of Mr. Bruce, and 194 of this Magazine) he fays, it is hardly fit to turn a mill, being lefs than four yards over, and not four inches deep.

"Now, it is almost unneceffary to obferve, that the natives of that country being, according to Mr. Bruce's report, pagans, might be expected to worship the pure and falutary tream, to which, with other extraordinary qualities, their fuperftition afcribed the power of curing the bite of a mad dog. Had he traced to this fource any of the other rivulets, which run into the lake of Tzana, it is not unlikely that he might have met with fimilar inftances of credulity among the ignorant inhabitants of their banks. Yet this would not prove any one of them in particular to be the head of the Nile; which, indeed, from his own and from preceding maps of the country, appears, like the hydra, to have many heads. We shall not difpute with Mr. Bruce, that he is the firft European that topographically defcribes the fpot which he marks out for this peculiar honour; but to his whole 13th chapter of book vi. we fhall oppofe an authority, which our readers of all claffes have an opportunity of confulting. This authority is nothing more learned than the map of Africa, in the fourth quarto edition of Guthrie's Grammar. The reader will there find the head of the Nile laid down in the 11th degree of N. lat. precisely as in Mr. Bruce's map; he will find the river running into, as well as out of, the lake, in the fame directions as laid down by Mr. Bruce; and he will then fee it winding its course northward, exactly as Mr. Bruce defcribes,

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"It would be trifling with the patience of our readers to fay one word more on the queftion, whether the Portuguese jefuits or Mr. Bruce difcovered what they erroneously call the head of the Nile. Before either they or he had indulged themselves in a vain triumph over the labours of antiquity, they ought to have been fure that they had effected what antiquity was unable to accomplish. Now, the river described by the jefuit Kircher, (who collected the information of his brethren) as well as by Mr. Bruce, is not the Nile of which the ancients were in queft. This is amply proved by the prince of modern geographers, the incomparable d'Anville, (at leaft till our own Rennell appeared) in a copious memoir published in the twenty-fixth volume of the Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres, p. 45. To this learned differtation we refer our readers, adding only to what M. d'Anville has there obferved, that it feems probable, from Diodorus Siculus, 1. i. c. 23. fub init. compared with Herodotus, l. ii. c. 28. that the ancients had two meanings when they spoke of the head or fource of the Nile; firft, literally, the head or fource of that great weftern ftream, now called the White River, which contains a much greater weight of waters, and has a much longer courfe, than the river defcribed by the jefuits and Mr. Bruce; and fecondly, metaphorically, the caufe, whatever it was, of the Nile's inundations. This caufe they had difcovered to be the tropical rains which fall in the extent of 16 deg. on each fide of the line, which made the Sacriftan of Minerva's temple at Sais, in Egypt, tell that inquifitive traveller Herodotus, that the waters of the Nile run in two oppofite directions from its fource, north into Egypt, and fouth into Ethiopia; and the reports of all African travellers ferve to explain and confirm this obfervation. The tropical rains, they acknowledge, give rife to the Nile, and all its tributary ftreams, which flow northward into the kingdom of Sennaar, as well as to the Zebec, and to

"Long before Herodotus, Homer gives to the Ægyptus, or Nile, the epithet Sumernç, qui cœlitus decidit, a river produced

many large rivers which flow fouth into Ethiopia, and then, according to the inclination of the ground, fall into the Indian or Atlantic oceans. Among thofe which fall into the latter, Mr. Bruce, vol. iii. p. 724. erroneously reckons the Niger, which on good grounds is believed, (fee the proceedings of the African Affociation, and particularly Major Rennel's Memoir) not to run into the fea, but to lose itself in the fands of Tumbuctoo. Such then, according to the Egyptian priefts, is the true and philofophical fource of the Nile, a fource difcovered above three thousand years ago; and not, as Mr. Bruce and the jefuits have fuppofed, the head of a paltry rivulet, one of the innumerable ftreams that feed the lake of Tzana."

We fhall now give Mr. Bruce's folution of the caufe which occafions the overflowing of the Nile.

"The opinion of Democritus was, that the overflowing of the Nile was owing to the fun's attraction of fnowy vapour from the frozen mountains of the north, which, being carried by the wind fouthward, and thawed by warmer climates, fell down upon Ethiopia in deluges of rain; and the fame is advanced by Agatharcides, of Cnidus, in his Periplus of the Red Sea. This opinion of Democritus, Diodorus attempts to refute, but we shall not join him in his refutation, because we are now perfectly certain, from observation, that Democritus and Agatharcides both of them had fallen upon the true causes of the inundation.

"Whatever were the conjectures of the dreamers of antiquity, modern travellers and philofophers, describing without fyftem or prejudice what their eyes faw, have found, that the inundation of Egypt has been effected by natural means, perfectly confonant with the ordinary rules of Providence, and the laws given for the government of the rest of the univerfe. They have found, that the plentiful fall of the tropical rains produced every year at the fame time, by the action of a violent fun, has been uniformly, without and fed by rains. Vid. Apollon. Lexicon Homeri, p. 280, voc. ALTETEOS.”

miracle;

miracle, the caufe of Egypt being regularly overflowed.

"There are three remarkable appearances attending the inundation of the Nile; every morning in Abyffinia is clear, and the fun fhines. About nine, a small cloud, not above four feet broad appears in the east, whirling violently round as if upon an axis, but, arrived near the zenith, it firft abates its motion, then lofes its form, and extends itself greatly, and feems to call up vapours from all oppofite quarters. Thefe clouds, having attained nearly the fame height, ruth against each other with great violence, and put me always in mind of Elifha foretelling rain on Mount Carmel. The air, impelled before the heaviest mafs, or fwifteft mover, makes an impreffion of its own form in the collection of clouds oppofite, and the moment it has taken pof. feffion of the fpace made to receive it, the most violent thunder poffible to be conceived inftantly follows, with rain; after fome hours, the sky again clears, with a wind at north, and it is always difagreeably cold when the thermometer is below 63 deg.

"The fecond thing remarkable is the variation of the thermometer; when the fun is in the fouthern tropic, 36 deg. diftant from the zenith of Gondar, it is feldom lower than 72 deg. but it falls to 60 and 59 deg. when the fun is immediately vertical; fo happily does the approach of rain compenfate the heat of a too-fcorching fun.

The third is that remarkable ftop in the extent of the rains northward, when the fun, that has conducted the vapours from the line, and fhould feem, now more than ever, to be in poffeffion of them, is here over-ruled fuddenly, till, on its return to the zenith of Gerri, again it refumes the abfolute command over the rain, and reconducts it to the line to furnish diftant deluges to the

fouthward."

After a variety of reasoning, which our limits will not permit us to detail, on the origin of Egypt, Mr. Bruce concludes, I hope I have now fatisfied the reader, that Egypt was never an arm of the fea, or formed by fediments brought down in the Nile, but that it was created with other parts of the globe at the same time, and for the

fame purposes; and we are warranted to fay this, till we receive from the hand of Providence a work of fuch imperfection, that its deftruction can be calculated from the very means by which it was first formed, and which were the apparent fources of its beauty and pre-ˆ eminence. Egypt, like other countries, will perish by the fiat of Him that made it, but when, or in what manner, lies hid where it ought to be, inacceffible to the ufelefs, vain inquiries, and idle fpeculations of man."

The concluding chapters of this võlume are-Inquiry about the poffibility of changing the courfe of the NileAnd, Account of the author's reception among the Agows, with their trade, character, &c.

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LETTERS and Memoirs of Princes the prefent collection is particularly fo, are always interefting to the Public; as being written at a time when Europe was nearly in a general flame, and when wildered in their conjectures. In our even the foundeft politicians were be-. extracts we shall endeavour to give the true character of Jofeph, in the affair of the Netherlands, and at the fame time preferve his opinion of other important political concerns. The Belgians com- . plain heavily of the Letters of January 30, and February 7, 1788.

"Vienna, Jan. 30, 1788. "My dear general d'Alton, I have received your letter, and faw with great fatisfaction the adequate manner in which you made your difpofitions on the 22d of January.

"It is effential that the public have been convinced that the military will no longer fuffer infult; and that they are determined to maintain, by force of arms, that which I have a right to demand.

The Nile rifes in the country of thefe people, who were, once, the most confiderable nation in Abyssinia.

"I am exceedingly obliged to you for it, and I request you to preferve the fame firmness in every inftance which may prefent itself; although I think this example, however moderate it might have been, will produce its effect.

"You did well in occupying the guard-room at the town-house, of which you will endeavour to keep poffeffion.

"Adieu, my dear general, I am defirous by this very poft, to teftify to you my approbation of your conduct. You will alfo inform the officer of the regiment of Ligne, who commanded the patrole which fired, that I am very well pleased with his prefence of mind, and the manner in which he conducted himself, and that he may expect promotion on the first vacancy."

"Could it be believed!" fay the Belgians in their Preface to thefe intercepted Epiftles-" This letter is in answer to the dispatches of d'Alton, relative to the 22d of January 1788; a day memorable in the history of Auftrian cruelty; a day that, ought eternally to be erafed from the Belgic annals; a day of blood, in which citizens of every age, drawn by curiofity into the great fquare of the city, were inmolated to the rage of military affaffins. This was the atrocious act which the emperor applauded! His praifes were beftowed on the vile fatellites of defpotifin; who, regardless of the rights of man, fed the blood of fo many innocent victims, affembled unarmed, and defenceless!

"This blood, which will everlastingly call for vengeance against those by whom it was fpilt, and against him under whofe command they acted, could not glut the rage of the tyrant, which it did but irritate: I request you to preferve the fame firmnefs,' faid he; I am defirous, by this very poft, to testify to you my approbation of your conduct. You will alfo inform the officer of the regiment of Ligne, who commanded the patrole which fired, that I am very well pleafed with his prefence of mind, and in the manner in which he conducted himself, and that he may expect promotion on the first

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of his fubjects! Teftifying his gratitude to the affaffins! Fromifing them rewards, and eager to fulfil his promife!"

"Vienna, Feb. 7, 1788.

"My dear general d'Alton, I have received your letter of the 28th of January, and I approve every step you have taken on this occafion to establish order and fubordination, as well as the fteadiness you have fhewn in repreffing infolence. The difpofitions you have made for future accidents are very proper; it is better to anticipate than to be anticipated. You may, therefore, detain the regiment of Bender as long as you think proper. I perceive how happily you turned into ridicule the youth who boafted his defign of affatlinating you, by going and fpeaking to him yourfelf; it is the beft manner of expofing and disconcerting fuch infolent boys.

"Vienna, Dec. 29, 1788. "My dear general d'Alton, I have received your letter of the 7th inftant.

"However defirous I may be to fuccour the indigent, and alleviate the fufferings of human nature, I yet cannot think it any part of the duty of the military to attend to thefe objects; ftill lefs do I think it belongs to them to hunt after applaufe in this manner. If any regulation be neceffary, it is for the government to confider of the means of affifting these poor wretches, and to the government you will commit this

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"Vienna, May 14, 1789.

My dear general d'Alton, I have juft received your letter of the 4th of this month, and am extremely obliged to you for the intereft which you take in my health. It is not yet in the situation I could with, to permit me to join the army. A continual intermitting fever, together with a complaint in the liver, have confined me five days to my bed, except that I rise for an hour or two in each day.

"I approve your difpofitions with refpect to the brigades, and have fent that which you have tranfmitted to me for Luxemberg, to the Council of War, in order to fee if they can find any means of arranging thefe matters with the department of the Netherlands.

"It mortifies me to fee difcontents fpring up anew. As the affembly of the ftates will be held in a few days, I hope the affirmative or negative of the celebrated theological queftion will lead every thing to order. If not, decifive measures must be taken to put an end to it for ever.

"I obferved, with pleafure, the good conduct of general Happoncourt (of which you exprefs your fatisfaction) as well as the teftimony which he gives of the zeal and fteadiness of Ranfonnet. Provided good is done, it is of little import, whether or not he affumes the title of adminiftrator; for prejudice often renders a name odious.

"With this, I return the original letter, for which you will have occa fion.

"The defign of employing officers in the open country to learn the difpofitions of the farmers and peasants, and to lead them to our wishes has its advantages, but it is alfo defective, and even dangerous. For, it is difficult, on all occafions, to find perfons qualified to enforce truth, and who poffefs the ability and patience neceffary to produce conviction in the mind. Yet each wishes for the reputation of having made fome discovery, forms his own particular judgment of it, and finishes by making falle reports, which induce error, and at the fame time beget fuf

* "Had the famé affaffinations been committed at Mons," fay the Belgians in their Preface, "as had been at Bruffels, the major would have had the approbation of the emperor; who, on the 1st of June, contents himself with only blaming his conduct, for not having fhed the blood of the citizens !

"The regret of the emperor was not of long duration. General d'Alton quickly gratified the wishes of this cruel monarch: he found agents vile enough to be eager to become the executioners of his fanguinary will, and who fteeped their hands in the

+"On the 4th of Auguft 1788, the foldiers, affembled in the city of Antwerp, that they might, in case of need, affift by main force those who were deputed to execute the orders of government, concerning the epifcopal feminary of that city, had the cruelty to fire on the pafling citizens, More than forty innocent perfons, men and women, were killed by a company commanded by one R. None of the cis

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picion among the people. Be perfuaded, my dear general, that it were better to be lefs minutely informed, than to employ a number of agents, more capable of embroiling affairs, than of restoring them to order.

"Adieu, my dear general. I impatiently expect to hear in what manner the deliberations of the affembly of the flates will end; and I beseech you to be zealous in ftrengthening Mr. de Trauttmansdorff in all his measures.

"Semlin, June 1,, 1788.

"You did very right in still keeping the regiment of Bender. If the major at Mons had oppofed force to the new volunteers who dared more than once to prefent themselves, I think the matter had been finished, at least for fome time, as at Bruffels.

"I approve of the arrangements which you deem to be neceffary during the meeting of the states of Brabant, in which every thing must be definitively fettled, or embroiled yet more than ever. I expect you will know the use of the military when occafion shall require them.

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Adicu, my dear general. We are here anxiously waiting the approach of the grand vizir, who choofing to give us the preference, advances with all his fuite. There are thirty thousand of his forces already at Vidin, and as many more at Niffa, which has induced innocent blood of their fellow-citizens. Louvain, Malines, and Antwerp in particular, beheld these scenes of horror. Ant werp faw its wretched victims fall f, the inhabitants ftill fhudder, when they pafs the places where they beheld armed men murder, without diftinction or pity, men, women, and children! The emperor heard the news; it was fent by his own troops; he knew that, at Malines, the mother and the infant, clinging to her bofom, both fell by the fame blow. He fhuddered not at fuch cruelties! On the contrary, they were his delight; as appears in his letters." tizens were in arms; no one oppofed the violent orders of government; one fingle proteftation only, by notary, had been read; the utmoft tranquillity reigned through the city, when this officer, covetous of promotion, and excited by the example of enfign Wuchetigh, imagined that the more people he should murder, in Antwerp, the greater might his hopes of reward be, from his kind mafter, joseph II."

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