the sepulture, and rather peculiar epitaph, of the celebrated architect of this magnificent structure. The statue of the philanthropist Howard, by Bacon, bears on its pedestal this inscription, from the pen of the late Mr.Whitbread. "This extraordinary Man had the Fortune to be honoured while living In the Manner which his Virtues deserved: He received the Thanks Of both Houses of the British and Irish Parliaments, Our National Prisons and Hospitals, Which he traversed to reduce the Sum of Human Misery, Defeated various Efforts which were made during his Life, Which the Public has now consecrated to his Memory. For which County he served the Office of Sheriff He expired at Cherson, in Russian Tartary, on the 20th of Jan. 1790. He trod an open but unfrequented Path to Immortality, Excite an Emulation of his truly Glorious Achievements.' A ground-plan of the cathedral fronts the title-page of this handsome pamphlet. Letters on Public-house Licensing; shewing the Errors of the present System; together with a Proposal for their Cure. By a Magistrate for Middlesex. 8vo. pp. 31. pp. 31. Cadell and Davies. 1816. An able statement is here made of what this magistrate for Middlesex designates the errors of the present system :' but we doubt whether he should not have called them its abuses. The evils of which he complains do not, perhaps, arise so much from any vice in the law as it stands, as from the lukewarm inactivity and culpable neglect of some, and the interested and energetic interference of others, among those to whom the dis pensation pensation of the law is frequently intrusted. That principle, by which the most responsible gentlemen of a county (of whom the magistracy are supposed to consist) are to decide on all that seems peculiarly connected with the peace and regularity of their district, appears to be a good one, and preferable to any which would intrust similar authority in other hands. Though some evil may arise from a private canvas being attempted among those who are to decide on granting a licence, yet, if respectable men be placed in the commission, we should suppose that the numbers of them would in general be the best security against any undue influence being exerted in behalf of favoured individuals. Much, then, depends on the choice of persons to preside on the judgment-seat, and we are afraid that in some counties too great a laxity of selection has prevailed. The public are undoubtedly much obliged to those gentlemen who will undergo the fatigue and responsibility of a laborious and invidious office: but the duty must devolve somewhere; and the community should be well satisfied that the promptitude, which undertakes the labour, does not by one means or another seek its own reward. While, however, we do not see much to object to the general principle of the law, we are far from thinking that no improvements can be introduced: but we must at present decline the discussion relative to brewers and distillers being prohibited from holding public houses. On this and other topics, the suggestions of the writer of these letters are worthy of consideration; especially that proposition by which the magistrates may be required to agree or disagree respecting a situation pointed out to them on which a public house may be built, so that it may receive a licence when it shall be completed and a proper tenant be provided; instead of the present ruinous plan of requiring that a house shall be built and tenanted before a licence can be sought, at which period it is frequently refused, and the builder is ruined by the speculation. The compulsory clause, obliging the party to find security that the house shall be built, seems unnecessary; and we are not sure that much good would result from referring to the Court of King's Bench the decision whether the reasons for withholding or granting a license were good or bad, even if the practicability of such a reference, which we are inclined to question, were undoubted. The author says (p. 25.) that no prompt summary jurisdiction is given when houses become disorderly, and that only on one day in the year the decision is made:' but has he omitted to notice that the 7 James I. c. 10. and 26 Geo. II. c. 31. both make the licence void, and disqualify the publican for three years from obtaining another, by the first "for drunkenness," and by the second" for suffering disorders in his house?" The great number of Acts of Parliament, through which the regulations of the laws of licencing are dispersed, prove the necessity of a new arrangement of our Statutes, which indeed is visible in almost every subject to which legislation extends: but, now that we have to lament the death death of the noble promoter of that undertaking (Earl Stanhope,} we fear that we shall long and ineffectually continue to complain of this desideratum. CORRESPONDENCE. Our friend Nauticus assures us that we were right in our remark (see our last Review, p. 330.) respecting the Leander frigate; which ship, speaking from his own knowlege, he says, experienced no unusual inconvenience during the late severe battle at Algiers from the construction of her top-sides, by the recoil of her guns or from the shot of the enemy. Neither does he think that the circumstance of their want of greater thickness could operate to her disadvantage, except in cases of long exposure to severe weather. He mentions, however, a peculiarity in the building of this ship which is worth notice; viz. that the ports for her guns on the quarter deck, &c. are directly over the ports of her main deck, instead of being in the intervals, as usual: a deviation which he considers as liable to several objections. The poem on Marriage was intended for insertion in this Number before we received the letter respecting it, and will be found in page 441. We shall inquire about the subject of the note of An Old Friend. An error affecting the sense occurred in our last Number, owing to some obscurity in the MS., which the reader is requested to correct, viz. p. 260. 1. 26. for gone nine miles from Hellah,' r. advanced within nine miles of Hellah. The APPENDIX to this Volume of the Review will be published on the first of February, with the Number for January. GENERAL INDEX. In answer to the numerous inquiries and applications which have been made to us, respecting a new GENERAL INDEX, we have now to announce that this undertaking, comprizing the whole of the New Series of the Monthly Review, to the end of the present year, is in considerable forwardness, and will probably be put to the press in the approaching Spring. The plan of the former General Index will be observed: but some improvements will be adopted, and greater copiousness of reference be introduced, in the way of duplication, so as to render less likely any failure of search. It is calculated to form two large volumes in octavo.. ART. I. Histoire de l'Expédition Française en Egypte, &c.; i. e. The History of the French Expedition to Egypt. By P. MARTIN, of the Royal Corps of Engineers for Roads and Bridges, Member of the Commission of Sciences and Arts in Egypt, and one of the Contributors to the Description of that Country published by Order of the French Government. 8vo. 2 Vols. pp. 732. Paris. 1815. Imported by De Boffe. Price 148. THE HE idea of colonizing Egypt did not originate with the revolutionary government of France, but is well known to have at previous periods occupied the attention of the cabinets of Versailles and Petersburg: the latter of which had probably something of the kind in view when operations were carried on by the Russians in the Mediterranean in the year 1770; and the French are said to have contemplated the project at the time of their temporary naval preponderance in the American war. Still, the enterprize had too many difficulties for the cautious calculators of those days, and its execution was deferred till the wonders of the Revolution had familiarized the French with hazardous and gigantic efforts. In 1796 the failure of the intended invasion of Ireland, and in 1797 the destruction of the Dutch fleet by the battle of Camperdown, had shewn the impracticability of attempts against the immediate dominions of the British government, and prompted the Directory to point their efforts against our detached possessions. With this view, the conquest of Egypt APP. REV. VOL. LXXXI. promised Gg promised a variety of advantages; viz. the acquisition of ar indemnity for the lost colonies of France; the occupancy of a territory situated so as to excite our uneasiness for our Indian possessions; and, which was still more important, the means of expatriating, and converting into quiet and useful colonists, a number of individuals of disappointed prospects and unsettled habits in the parent-state. To these general considerations, we are to add the personal urgency of Bonaparte; who, whether from a belief that he could accomplish a grand point for his country, or from views of personal aggrandizement, was incessant in pressing the measure on the executive power. Though still young, he possessed with the public all the influence resulting from a brilliant debut in the military career, and with the government the weight arising from having been instrumental in the late triumph of his patron Barras over Carnot, Pichegru, and others of the moderate party. All these motives led to the adoption of this singular and adventurous enterprize, under circumstances that involved the certainty both of resistance by land on the part of the Turks, and of a very formidable opposition by sea on the part of the British. Fifteen years have now elapsed since the close of this expedition, and several accounts of it have been published both in England and France. Most of these have been noticed in our pages but almost all the French details, except that of General Reynier, have been perverted by a disposition to flatter Bonaparte. A time, however, says M. MARTIN, is now come at which the truth may be freely spoken with regard to the proceedings of that Chief, who, according to an expression of his own, has terminated his political career. I will not, however, make use of this freedom for the purpose of rendering him still more odious; a plain narrative of facts is my object; and that alone will suffice to remove the veil which prejudice. and political craft cast in former years over the actions of a man whose career was so destructive to France.' M. MARTIN has allotted the first part of his work very unnecessarily, in our opinion, to an historical account of Egypt from the earliest ages; beginning with the dynasties prior to the history of Greece, and coming down to the time of the Crusades and the conquest of Egypt by the Turks. Leaving these remote discussions to lovers of the history of the dark ages, we shall confine our observations to the proper object of this performance; viz. the occupancy of Egypt by the French during the three years between 1798 and 1801. This eventful period may be divided, with reference to the respective commanders, into three parts: 1st, The Government of Bonaparte, |