The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-06-12

UH0 JOuIuCy bHIOuSu ASJPtJ N>uuid, tuo DoScIt
and Palestine-a journey which was to close
his useful and brilliant life. The appendix of
the book is taken up with corrections of
the false and ungenerous statements of Mr..
Glennie, who little appreciated his advantages
in being the casual companion of Mr.. Buckle
during his Oriental journey. The conceit,
stupidity and narrowmindeaness of Mr.. Glen
MES notes of the voyage deserve tho lively and
severe castigation with which the biographer
Of Mr.. Buckle has honored him in whipping
him around the monument of the great man.
The limits Of newspaper review cannot in
clude enough of this fine memoir to give more
than hint of its contents, and awaken an in
terest in the public mind to learn the details of
the life of the writer of works already classic
in the difficult departments of history and po-
litical economy.
A remarkable and suggestive work is the
True Story of the Exodus of Israel, volume
upon the history of Egypt as it is
to be studied from the stupendous
monuments and the hieroglyphic witt
ings which remain TO us of its civilization.
The work from which this volume is compiled
by Mr.. Francis H. Underwood, is an extended
one upon Monumental Egypt by DIR. Brugsch.
The German antiquarian has studied for thirty
years by means OF research and exploration,
the conditions of Egypt under the rule of the
Pharaohs. To begin, near the foundation of
time the Great Pyramid was built nearly 900
c., and says Mr. Underwood,
Egypt had a school of architecture and
sculpture, q recorded literature, religious cere-
monies, mathematics, astronomy, music, agri-
culture, scientific irrigation, the arts of war,
ships, commerce. workers in gold, ivory, gems
and glass, the appliances of luxury and the
insignia OF pride, ages before the race of He
brews had been evolved from the fierce Semitic
tribes of the desert.
The Book of the Dead" volume of pre-
cepts of poetic and solemn beauty, was written
ages before the stone tables were carven on
Sinai; and its thin leaves Of cracking papyrus
were laid in the tombs of kings never to be
stirred by any breath from their mouths for
evermore, nor moved until the air of our own
day touched them. The prayer of King Khuna-
ten and his pious queen still throb with life as
we read it, translated from its strange letter.
ing The records and traces of the life of
Egypt are numberless and scattered as the
sands of the sea; but with incredible zeal and
labor enough has been set in its place to assure
the historian that something is known, and
more remains to be discovered concerning
most wonderful people. To general readers,
as Mr.. Underwood says, it is chief matter of
interest that Egyptian history is involved with
that of the Jewish captivity and exodus. 1t
was Princess Meri, daughter of the great
Ramses, who found Moses in his green cradle
rocking on the Nile. Aahmes was the con-
queror and successor of the pharaoh whose
steward was Joseph; Minepah was pharaoh
when the Red Sea parted and let the Israelites
pass, and he with his horsemen was drowned.
The description of Egyptian civilization so far
as known, is of so complete and admirable
social structure, that it leads the reader to con-
slider if indeed we surpass old Egypt in sacoir
uicre. The charity, justice and gayety of the
Egyptians form an attractive national charac-
ter; in inventions and comforts they were not far
behind ourselves, and for all the regal splendors
of the pharaohs, the republican principle was
strong in the public mind Of Egypt. The chill
dren of rich and poor were educated together
and every stimulus was applied to ambition.
Every man was the maker of his own fortunes,
and upon the tomb of many noble, high in
court favor, was written in simple praise,
His ancestors were unknown people," The
fault of the Egyptian nation was tyranny, and
the enslaved tribes labored with groans and
tears to build the immense pyramids to the
honor of their oppressors. The poetry of
Egypt was superb; and of this some songs re-
main, triumphant ode of the poet Pentam is
not unknown; and the present volume quotes a
song in praise of the god Anon, by an un-
named singer. Aahmes recorded his victories
in as clear and soldierlike fashion as Gen.
Grant telegraphed his; and the pathetic
prayer of Khunaten has already been
mentioned. 1t was carved below pictures cut
in the solid rock, representing the king with
his family. So great is the variety of infor-
nation contained in the volume, that the
temptation to recount even the most striking
points must be resisted. The selections made
from DIR. Brugsch's larger work are chiefly
those which bear upon the relations of Egypt
with the Israelitish tribes. Following the
scrptural account and tracing the course of
the lsraeites, he points out the errors of trans
lators and commentators, and gives his testi-
mony in accord with the Biblical narrative.
Mr.. Underwood's valuable and notable addi-
tion to the literature of ancient history can
not fail to impress the public mind with the
worth and interest of the monumental in
scriptions of Egypt, and will be widely read
and enjoyed. map cffAncient Egypt is con-
tanned in a pocket of the volume
Among biographies none is more charming,
more entertaining or more refined than the
Diary and Letters of Frances Burney. Ma
dame D'Arblay, lately reprinted by Messrs.
Roberts OF Boston. Portland: Loring, Short
q Harmony AS the author of Evelina Ca
millaand Cecilia, she was extremely admired in
her own day for the delicacy truth and spright.
illness of her novels; and, though they seem
rocco romances to us, their superiority to con-
temporary novels is not the less striking AS
Miss Sarah G. Woolsey (who has edited the
present edition of Mime. D'Arblay's Let.
ters) very justly says "To be superseded and
crushed by the very weight and magnitude Of
their own following is no uncommon fate with
books which have led the way to new litera
ry departure; ; and novels which are the ligh
record OF the age, the mirrored likeness OF
it, seem strange after the fashion of the time
is passed by su .a--..
As if mine image in a glass
srl Should tarry when myself am gone.
But it is less with the authoress of these ad-
mirable novels than with Fanny Burney as a
woman that the reader wall be charmed. OF
he first twenty-six years of her life scarcely
any record remains; but one imagines her in
a kindly circle, growing up with her sisters
In the care of an affectionate and very solici.
tous father. The diary opens with the year
ITS, Just after the anonymous publication Of
Evelina; and Miss Burney gives very amusing
| accounts of the cat-and-mouse fashion in which
she played with her literary secret. Her letters
at this period are gay and girish, though not SC
| graceful as they later become. The authorship
of Evelina was not slow of discovery, and wa
followed by Cecilia. Miss Burney's talent at
| tracted the attention of Queen Charlotte, wht
| gave her position as her personal attendant
This office, which much gratified Mis-
Burney's father, was one of absolut,
slavery, rendered doubly severe by the cruelt,
of the Mistress of the Robes, Mrs. Schwellen
berg. This lady, being Miss Burney's imme
diate superior in office, exercised the most zeal
GUS spite; and the reader can only wonder a
l and admire Miss Rurnav,v Sxyoox,o,. of -.