The Sun.
London, England, 1837-02-06 00:00:00

sign countries, rather than for the graphic details
wh'ch they may give of the 'scopes, scrapes, surprising
adventures, wonderful fortitude, and presence of mind of
their authors, will lose very little of the pleasure which
awaits them, by commencing the perusal of Captain
Scott's Narrative, at the' beginning of the fourth chapter
'of the second volume. From that to the close it is full
of moat important matter, particularly the gallant Cap-
. • •
tam s suggestions respecting the expediency of recog-
: nizing Mehemet Ali as Sovereign of Egypt, and ob-
taining from the Egyptian Viceroy the island of Candia,
,
by means of which England could effectually baffle the
fr -
3'f 'designs of Russia in the East. As Mehemet Ali
King of Egypt, the Sultan having failed to
El•Bl"""teilike' him to submission by force of arms, Captain
If Scott- is of opinion that England could easily persuade
the Porte to recognize his independence ; and that for
'such an act the newly recognized Monarch would cede
Candia to England, now a source of weakness rather
than of strength to him. Once in possession of Candia,
England could easily protect by her fleet the whole
Egyptian coast, cover Greece, and shelter the Porte
from all future attempts at conquest on the part of
Russia. MehemetAli, finding it to be his true interest to
cultivate the closest alliance with the only power in the
world capable of enabling him to bid defiance to the
Czar, would cheerfully co-operate with us in opening a
direct communication with India, so that we might cal-
culate on trebling our present trade with the several
nations of the East. France would not think of taking
umbrage at placing Concha in the hands of Great Britain
while we remain passive to her conquests in Africa.
Such are Captain Scott's views, and they unquestion-
ably tieserve consideration.
The lovers of light, and occasionally instructive
reading, will find in these volumes much to interest them.
The gallant authorrelates all his adventures in a straight-
r :forward dashing style, such as we only meet with in the
- records of military 'or naval life. His descriptions of
the scenes.which he witnessed are graphic—now and
then ludicrously so. According to his report, which
we see no cause to doubt the truth of, the condition of
the Egyptian population is greatly improved ; and with
respect to an intercourse with foreigners in general, they
are three centuries in advance of what they were when
Mehemet Ali assumed the reins of government. An
"Englishman's head is now as safe on his shoulders in
Cairo as it would be in Paris, and his dress is equally
as respected as if he stood among his own countrymen.
Robberies are in a great measure unknown, and the
country, if not very prosperous, is rapidly improving.
The following account of the gallant author's interview
with the Egyptian Viceroy will be read with interest :
" Previously, however, to my presentation at Mohammed
Ali's court, accident had given me a sight of him. Strolling
one morning through the citadel, a fine looking old man,
mounted on a handsome charger, and attended by a single sais
on foot, rode by me towards the gate leading to the city.
He bowed on crossing my path, but fancying his salutation
was intended for a friend—.who, I imagined, was close behind
me—I did not return it. He repeated this compliment,
which, of course, I then acknowledged by a removal of my hat.
" Waiting for the first coming up of my friend, I inquired,
" ' Who is that very polite old gentleman ?' "
"' Who !—why, the Viceroy.' "
"' What I the merciless tyrant, Mohammed Ali ?' "
"' The same.' "
And does ho ride into the city without a guard ?' "
"' Even so ; you may see him there most days. if you will
only be in the main street at his usual hour of taking exercise. '"
" So much, thought I, for the tales told in England of the
detestation in which this " sanguinary monster" is held by all
classes of his subjects.
" A few nights afterwards my introduction took place.
My visit was paid at night, it being during the Fast of the
Itharnadan. The reception-room used on these occasions is
'in a palace contiguous to that of the Viceroy, which contains
also many of the public offices and the apartments of the Se-
cretary for the Home Department.
" We alighted at a handsome portico, and, passing through
at long wide passage, paVed with slabs of marble, arrived at a
kind of ante-roonf, crowded with attendants, dragomans, &c.
From thence we passed into a large room, filled with persons
of all kinds, making their prostrations most devoutly to the
eastern cardinal point; and from it we were ushered into the
presence chamber, a long and handsome apartment at the fur-
ther extremity of which sat the Egyptian sovereign.
" Mohammed Ali was attended by one only of his secre-
taries—a young Armenian—who translated the Viceroy's con-
versation into French, styling him always ' Son Altesse.'
The introduction -was made without ceremony, the Consul-
General merely mentioning the names of the different pre-
sentees.
" His Highness repeated the names of each person very
distinctly after him, and then requested us to be seated, adding
we were welcome to his dominions. .
" In person, Mohammed Ali is short, and rather corpulent,
but perfectly erect. His dress was studiously plain, being
composed entirely of blue cloth.- A handsome Cashmere
shawl was folded round his loins; white silk stockings, yellow
slippers, and a white muslin turban, completed his costume.
He wore no jewels of any kind upon his person—not even a
ring; but the pipe which he held in his hand and occasionally
applied to his lips was blazing with diamonds and other pre-
cious stones.
" He is decidedly a handsome old man ; but his fine grey
beard is hardly in keeping with his vivacity and personal acti-
vity. In the expression of his quick and piercing eye, there
is more of jocoseness than cunning ; and, if his high and
ample forehead does not give the lie to the assertions of his
detractors, it forms the exception to the rules of Spurzheim ;
for never did I sco the organ of bcnovolence more strongly
developed.'.
" A peculiarity in his mode of wearing the turban--close
down over his eyes—takes off much from the fine character of
his countenance, concealing his handsome forehead, compress-
ing the eyebrows, throwing the eyes into shade, and giving
them a sinister expression, which is foreign to them. But
when, in the course of conversation, he becomes animated, and
pushes back his turban, which he has a habit of doing, the un-
favourable impression is instantly removed.
" He conversed with much freedom, joked and laughed a
great deal, and was evidently in a gossiping humour. Though
he does not profess to understand the French language, yet it
struck me that he had some knowledge of it, from the manner
in which he often anticipated the answers made to his obser-
vations, before the interpreter had translated them into Turkish.
" Having been informed that I had lately travelled through
the Delta, he asked me a variety of questions as to the route I
had taken—what I thcught of the state of cultivation, &c. I
Was rather amused, on one occasion, when the conversation
flagged for a moment, at his jokingly desiring the interpreter
to request the Consul-General to say something. Son Al
terse dit, dites quelque chose P was the literal translation of the
terms in which this unregal though sufficiently despotic corn-
' , viand, was conveyed.
" Shortly after our arrival, we were presented with some
thick sugarless coffee, served up in filagree silver cup-holders,
tidily set with brilliants. This, I was informed, was no in-
considerable honour. The Chilbouque is a mark of distinction
.•
.reserved for persons of very exalted rank, which, being esti-
mated according to his Highness's ideas, is oftentimes rather
ludicrously bestowed.
t• As in all Turkish apartments, the furniture was very
scanty, consisting merely of India chintz window-curtains, and
Divan round three sides of the room, the cushions of which
were covered with the same materials.
From the ceiling a very handsome cut-glass chandelier
Was suspended ; and, on the floor, stood six massive 'silver
candlesticks, with feet about a yard in diameter, and disposed
in two rows, so as to form a kind of avenue leading up to the
• presence. A seventh, of a more portable size, was placed near
the others, as I first thought, to make up the mystic number,
seven ; but I afterwards found that it was kept at hand to
enable the Viceroy to read any papers that might be presented
to him,

0

" Our visit lasted, altogether, about an hour. During the
whole of that time, the apartment was open to all such persons
as had the usual right of entree, as well as to those whose
names had. been given in, as requesting an audience—if foreigners, through the Consuls of their respective nations."
The embellishments of these volumes consist of a
number of views from drawings on stone, some of which
are Very well executed. We recommend the work to the
notice of every class of readers.

. AL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.
CoThum. _London, 1837.
The Part before us is the ninth, and is embellished
with three portraits—the first, of Sir Sidney Smith,
the veteran hero of .Acre, who, it may be remembered,
sent Bonaparte a challenge ; the second, of Sir Edward
Codrington ; and the third, of Captain Brenton, the
Editor of this Naval History. The second is a striking
• likeness ; of the correctness of the two others, we cannot
speak. In the literary contents, we find an animated
account of the putting down of the revolt and piracies
in the West Indies.

SCOTTISH MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
There is an admirable criticism on Charles Lamb
In this number, rather too enthusiastic perhaps, but
showing. in every page a thorough acquaintance with
the works of that quai;it and subtle humourist. We
agree with all that the writer says in praise of " Elia,"
and of the masterly criticisms eii Lear and 'floprth ;