made their great discoveries, and in following them up, Spaniards and Portuguese, departing in opposite directions from the same peninsula, were astonished at meeting each other in the extreme parts of Asia. By these discoveries, the channels of trade were changed for ever; and Egypt lost the advantages she had derived from the enlightened founder of Alexandria. The ambitious spirit of the Europeans, rapidly proceeded to establish new relations between the most distant parts of the world, in the place of the ancient bonds which had united so many cities and states, and which were now broken. Impatient to employ their new means of acquiring power, they made use of the magnet to direct their course to undiscovered lands, and gunpowder to subdue the inhabitants. They found in the mines of America the precious metals that served to extend the trade of the East, and in the inhabitants of Africa, the tools for introducing new cultures into the Western continent.

Thus, then, the commencement of the 16th century marks a fatal epoch in the history of Egypt, the term of the final extinction of all its former greatness. Conquered and pillaged, it was delivered to the avarice of Turkish pachas, and at last fell into the most deplorable anarchy. The rebellion of several pachas induced the Ottoman Porte to extend the power of the Mameluke beys, and these, rising from the condition of military slaves, made themselves masters of the government, and left to the pachas but the shadow of power. Struggles arose between ambitious rivals, and were attended with unbridled excesses, and the most unjust and extortionate imposts upon the agriculture, the commerce, and the industry of the inhabitants, until the cultivators of the ancient granary of the world were reduced to the miseries of famine, in the midst of their fertile and inexhaustible fields.

In this debased and deplorable condition of Egypt, it became an object of the ambition of the French republic. But the vast schemes to which the occupation of this country was calculated to give rise, were crushed in embryo by the power of England; a triumph, which in this, as in various other cases, however vaunted at first by those who fondly believed themselves the supporters of sound religion and morals, has been disastrous in its effects upon Egypt, as well as in other countries. To the anarchy of the beys has succeeded a rigid despotism, the more severe, because partially enlightened, and which, in the monopoly of the whole trade of the country, adds to the labours and hardships of the unfortunate inhabitants, without improving their condition for the present, or holding out any hopes for the fu

ture.

* Preface Historique, p. xliv.

Whatever opinion we may entertain of the justice of the occupation of Egypt by the French, or of the political objects and military views it was intended directly to subserve, we must admit that the most extensive and liberal plans were entertained, and actually commenced, by which the happiness and prosperity of the country would have been in a measure restored.

In fact, the union of the arts of Europe, with a regular system of government, would speedily change the situation of Egypt. If agricultural industry were to be rendered secure in the possession of its products, and thus encouraged in its attempts, and its labour at the same time directed to proper objects, the results would be incalculable. The fertility of the soil is supported by the annual inundations of the Nile; and agricultural labour consists principally in the management of the irrigations, which this overflowing of the river renders practicable. At the present day, however, the distribution of the water is irregular and imperfect. The canals are traced without skill, and hence reach some districts in wasteful abundance, while others are wholly deprived of their benefits. In some places, want of knowledge leads to the weakening of the defences against the waters of the Mediterranean, which break in, and convert into sterile shores land capable of the richest productions. If the cultivated ground is inaccessible to the waters of the river, they are drawn from it by machines of the rudest description, and moved by the most expensive powers; while the want of a general system of police, permits the breaking of dykes and the diversion of the waters intended for the supply of distant districts. The inhabitants, in truth, from bad government and ignorance, cannot avail themselves of the liberality of nature, or employ their industry unless by ravishing the bounties of Providence from each other. All this might be remedied by a wise and firm government, and immense districts, now abandoned to the desert, might be restored to profitable cultivation.

Besides wheat, rice, and fruits of all descriptions, Egypt is capable of producing sugar, cotton, and coffee, and various other valuable products. It is true, that the native plants are few in number; but this fertile land, whose mild temperature varies by insensible degrees, from the sea to the confines of Nubia, may be considered as one vast garden, fitted to receive the richest vegetable productions of the universe.

Such are the natural advantages of Egypt; and, even the long prevalence of a vicious administration, has not been able to destroy them altogether. It is still capable of supporting nearly

• Preface Historique, p. li.

† Ibid. p. liii.

+ Ibid. p. liii.

three millions of inhabitants; and its capital, Cairo, is an opulent and populous city. Even the climate, so much dreaded by Europeans, was shown by the experience of the French army, to be by no means insalubrious.

The results of this famous expedition of the French, are to be found only in the vast increase which our knowledge of the ancient and modern condition of that country has received. For this, we are indebted to the Institute of Cairo; and its labours have been given to the world, in the most imposing and impressive shape, in the "Description de l'Egypte." This work is composed of many volumes of text, and a vast collection of plates, representing every object of interest discovered in Egypt. It includes representations of the antiquities, of the modern objects of curiosity, of the botany, the zoology, and the mineralogy of the country; and comprises a suite of correct geographi cal delineations. These last amount to fifty in number, and form, when united, one great general map, of such perfect execution in all its parts, that it may be truly said, that no European country has been more correctly represented. They comprise the whole extent of Egypt, from the cataracts to the sea, and extend from Alexandria on the west, to the position of ancient Tyre on the east.

In these plates, every ancient monument of the least importance is described and figured. Of these but few were known, even imperfectly, the greater part not at all, before the expedition of the French.† The geographical position of every remarkable monument has been ascertained, and is carefully designated on the maps; and, in addition, minute and accurate topographical surveys have been made of their vicinity; and not content with representing the present picturesque details of these magnificent ruins, in every point of view, great pains have been taken to ascertain their original state, and to represent them as they appeared in their pristine splendour. Every building has been carefully measured, as well as the dimensions of its principal and accessory parts, and exhibited by means of plans, elevations, and sections. This work does not contain the representation of a few isolated monuments, saved with difficulty from the ravages of time, but includes nearly all the principal structures of a nation, to which most others owe the origin of their institutions. That these are still extant, is owing to the climate, as well as to the nature of the buildings and materials themselves; and we find among them temples and palaces which can be at once recognised, as having been described by Hecatæus, Diodorus, and Strabo. The more ancient of these monuments were construct

ed, before the cities of Greece were founded; they have outlived the rise and fall of Tyre, Carthage, and Athens; and our posterity may still admire them, when most of the buildings now erecting by the present inhabitants of the globe, shall have ceased to exist.

The size of this work, and the vast number of plates it contains, render it too costly to be generally accessible. We know of no more than two copies, which have reached this country; to one of these, we have had an opportunity of referring. It owes its origin to the pride taken by Napoleon in his oriental exploits, and was supported chiefly by the patronage of his government. This patronage has been continued by the present reigning pow ers, who not only completed the work commenced under his reign, but have caused the publication of a second edition. It is sufficient, in order to give an idea of the vast labour which it has cost, to state, that the work commenced in Egypt, in 1798, has only been completed within the present year, and is, in its execution, as well calculated to exhibit the taste, the science, and the state of the graphic arts at the present day, as the monuments it delineates, are, to manifest the skill, the public spirit, and the vast power of the Pharaohs.

ART. III. JURISPRUDENCE OF LOUISIANA.

1.-La Coutume de Paris.

2.-Digest of the Civil Laws now in force in the Territory of Orleans. 1808.

3.-Las Siete Pantidas-Translated by L. M. LISAT and H. CARLETON, Esquires. New-Orleans. 1820.

4.-Civil Code of Louisiana. 1824.

5.-Louisiana Term Reports. 15 vols.

MOST of the states which compose this Union, even those which were formerly colonies of France and Spain, have retained or adopted the common law of England, as the basis of their municipal law. They have, from time to time, introduced such regulations and modifications, as were called for by their political organization, differing in particulars not very essential; but, in substance, it is the same system. There is however one great, and we may be permitted to say, eminent exception-one state, which, through every change of sovereignty, has uniformly and tenaciously adhered to the civil jurisprudence of its ancestors, originally from the continent of Europe. We mean the

state of Louisiana. We speak only of its civil jurisprudence, because in criminal matters, the modes of proceeding, and the definition of offences, have been borrowed from the common law of England, and the criminal law of the continent is entirely exploded. Although these facts are generally known to our readers, few, we believe, have taken the pains to institute a comparison between the two systems, or to examine minutely, so striking an anomaly. We have therefore thought an inquiry into the origin, the changes, and present state of the legislation of Louisiana, not unworthy of the liberal and enlightened curiosity of the day. It must necessarily be condensed, and confined to those striking peculiarities which are unknown to laws of English origin, together with those modifications which have grown out of their new political relations with a powerful federal republic.

Nothing can be imagined more discordant and bisarre, than the jurisprudence of France, at the period of the colonization of Louisiana. The different provinces, though politically united, and forming one monarchy, were governed by laws differing in many essential particulars. In some of the southern provinces, the Roman law still retains its authority, and those were therefore styled Pays du droit écrit; but the greater number had their local coutumes, and hence the designation of Pays coutumiers. Distinguished jurists have numbered as many as one hundred and forty different customs; and it was facetiously observed by Voltaire, in the last century, that "Un homme qui voyage dans ce pays-ci change de Loi presque autant de fois qu'il change de Chevaux de Poste. Les mesures sont aussi differentes que les coutumes; de sorte que ce qui est vrai dans le Faubourg de Montmartre devient faux dans l'Abbaye de Saint Denis."

In their origin, they were local usages, which, by long habit and tacit consent, had acquired the force of unwritten law; and which the tribunals were directed to respect in the decision of causes, as early as the year 1248, by an ordinance of St. Louis. Subsequently, however, successive monarchs, from Charles VII. to Louis XII., caused them to be reduced to writing, in the form of local codes; and they were ever after considered as written law, although styled customary, to distinguish them from the Roman civil law, which was, pur eminence, called the written law. The custom of Paris, which the colonists brought with them, as the law of the new colony, was first reduced to writing, by royal authority, in the year 1510, in the reign of Louis XII.; and was afterwards enlarged and amended in 1580. The Coutume de Paris is divided into sixteen titles, and subdivided into three hundred and sixty-two articles, and is justly referred to, as the prima legum cunabula of Louisiana. As such, we had prepared an abstract to lay before our readers, but we find that its length will prevent its insertion in the present article.