After the splendid account of Buonaparte’s successes in the East, which our readers will find in another part of this paper,^[292] and which they will peruse with equal wonder and apprehension, it is some consolation to us to have to state, not only from authority, but in verse, that our government has not been behindhand with that of France; but that aware of the wise and enterprising spirit of the enemy, and of the danger which might arise to our distant possessions from the export of learning and learned men being entirely in their hands, ministers have long ago determined on an expedition of a similar nature, and have actually embarked at Portsmouth on board one of the East India Company’s ships taken up for that purpose (the ship Capricorn, Mr. Thomas Truman, Commander), several tons of savans, the growth of this country. The whole was conducted with the utmost secrecy and dispatch, and it was not till we were favoured with the following copy of a letter (obligingly communicated to us by the Tunisian gentleman to whom it is addressed) that we had any suspicion of the extent and nature of the design, or indeed of any such design being in contemplation.

The several great names which are combined to render this Expedition the most surprising and splendid ever undertaken, could not indeed have been spared from the country to which they are an ornament for any other purpose than one the most obviously connected with the interests of the empire, and the most widely beneficial to mankind.

The secrecy with which they have been withdrawn from the British public, without being so much as missed or enquired after, reflects the highest honour on the planners of the enterprise. Even the celebrity of Doctor Parr has not led to any discovery or investigation: the silent admirers of that great man have never once thought of asking what was become of him; till it is now all at once come to light, that he has been for weeks past on shipboard, the brightest star in the bright constellation of talents which stud the quarter-deck of the Capricorn, Mr. T. Truman (as before mentioned), Commander.

The resignation of the late worthy President of a certain Agricultural Board^[293] might indeed have taught mankind to look for some extraordinary event in the world of science and adventure; and those who had the good fortune to see the deportation from his house, of the several wonderful anomalies which had for years formed its most distinguished inmates,—the stuffed ram, the dried boar, the cow with three horns, and other fanciful productions of a like nature, could not but speculate with some degree of seriousness on the purpose of their removal, and on the place of their destination.

It now appears that there was in truth no light object in view. They were destined, with the rest of the savans, on whom this country prides itself (and long may it have reason to indulge the honest exultation), to undertake a voyage of no less grandeur than peril; to counteract the designs of the Directory, and to frustrate or forestal the conquests of Buonaparte.

The young gentleman who writes the following letter to his friend in London is, as may be seen, interpreter to the Expedition. We have understood, further, that he is connected with the young man who writes for the Morning Chronicle, and conducts the Critical, Argumentative, and Geographical departments. Some say it is the young man himself, who has assumed a feigned name, and, under the disguise of a Turkish dress and circumcision, is gone, at the express instigation of his employers, to improve himself in geographical knowledge. We have our doubts upon this subject, as we think we recognise the style of this deplorable young man in an article of last week’s Morning Chronicle, which we have had occasion to answer in a preceding column of our present paper. Be that as it may, the information contained in the following letter may be depended upon.

We cannot take leave of the subject without remarking what a fine contrast and companion the vessel and cargo described in the following poem affords [sic] to the “Navis Stultifera,” the “Shippe of Fooles” of the celebrated Barclay; and we cannot forbear hoping that the Argenis of an author of the same name may furnish a hint for an account of this stupendous Expedition in a learned language, from the only pen which in modern days is capable of writing Latin with a purity and elegance worthy of so exalted a theme, and that the author of a classical preface^[294] may become the writer of a no less celebrated voyage.

TRANSLATION OF A LETTER,
(IN ORIENTAL CHARACTERS)
FROM BAWBA-DARA-ADUL-PHOOLA,^[295]
DRAGOMAN TO THE EXPEDITION,
TO NEEK-AWL-ARETCHID-KOOEZ,
SECRETARY TO THE TUNISIAN EMBASSY.

We deeply regret this interruption of our oriental poet, and the more so, as the prose letters which we have received from a less learned correspondent do not enable us to explain the tactics of our belligerent philosophers so distinctly as we could have wished. It appears, in general, that the learned Doctor who has the honour of sharing the hammock of the amiable oriental, trusted principally to his superior knowledge in the Greek language, by means of which he hoped to entangle his antagonists in inextricable confusion. Dr. Darwin proposed (as might be expected) his celebrated experiment of the Ice-island,^[298] which, being towed on the coast of Africa, could not fail of spoiling the climate, and immediately terrifying and embarrassing the sailors of Buonaparte’s fleet, accustomed to the mild temperature and gentle gales of the Mediterranean, and therefore ill qualified to struggle with this new importation of tempests. Dr. Beddoes was satisfied with the project of communicating to Buonaparte a consumption, of the same nature with that which he formerly tried on himself, but superior in virulence, and therefore calculated to make the most rapid and fatal ravages in the hectic constitution of the Gallic hero. The rest of the plan is quite unintelligible, excepting a hint about Sir J. S.’s intention of proceeding with his ram to the celebrated Oasis, and of bringing away, for the convenience of the Bank, the treasures contained in the temple of Jupiter Ammon.

The Priority of Intelligence which has ever distinguished Our Paper will, We trust, receive additional lustre from the extraordinary News which We now lay before the Public. We received it by a Neutral Ship, which arrived in the River last night; and feel ourselves much indebted to the attention of our Correspondent, a Currant Merchant at ZantÉ, for its early communication. Without arrogating to ourselves that merit which is (perhaps) justly our due, We think ourselves justified in asserting that it is not only the earliest, but, if We are not much mistaken, the only account which will appear in the Prints of this Day respecting the Successes of BuonapartÉ.

COPY OF A LETTER FROM GENERAL BUONAPARTÉ TO THE COMMANDANT AT ZANTÉ.

“Victory still attends us. I inclose you a Copy of a Letter which I have this day written to the Directory. Health and Fraternity.

“The brave Soldiers, who conferred Liberty on Rome, have continued to deserve well of their Country. Greece has joyfully received her Deliverers. The Tree of Liberty is planted on the PirÆus. Thirty thousand Janizaries, the Slaves of Despotism, had taken possession of the Isthmus of Corinth. Two Demi-brigades opened us a passage. After ten days’ fighting, we have driven the Turks from the Morea. The Peloponnesus is now free. Every step in my power has been taken to revive the antient spirit of Sparta. The Inhabitants of that celebrated City, seeing black broth of my Troops, and the scarcity of specie to which we have been long accustomed, will, I doubt not, soon acquire the frugal virtues of their Ancestors. As a proper measure of precaution, I have removed all Pitt’s gold from the Country.

“Off this Island we encountered the Fleet of the Sultan. The Mahometan Crescent soon fled before the three-coloured flag. Nine Sail of the Line are the fruits of this Victory. The Captain Pacha’s Ship, a second rate, struck to a National Corvette. My Aide-de-Camp will present you with the model of a Trireme, which was found among the Archives of Athens. Vessels of this description draw so little water, that our Naval Architects may perhaps think them more eligible than Rafts, for the conveyance of the Army of England. Liberty will be sufficiently avenged, if the ruins of a Grecian City furnish us with the means of transporting the Conquerors of Rome to Britain.

“On landing at this Island, I participated in a Scene highly interesting to Humanity. A poor Fisherman, of the family of Themistocles, attended by his Wife, a descendant of the virtuous Phryne, fell at my feet. I received him with the Fraternal embrace, and promised him the protection of the Republic. He invited me to supper at his Hut, and in gratitude to his Deliverer presented me with a memorable Oyster Shell, inscribed with the Name of his illustrious Ancestor. As this curious piece of antiquity may be of service to some of the Directory, I have inclosed it in my Dispatches, together with a Marble Tablet, containing the proper form for pronouncing the Sentence of Ostracism on Royalist Athenians.

“KlÉber, whom I had ordered to Constantinople, informs me that the Capital of Turkey has proved an easy conquest. Santa-Sophia has been converted into a Temple of Reason; the Seraglio has been purified by Theo-Philanthropists, and the liberated Circassians are learning from our Sailors the lessons of Equality and Fraternity. A Detachment has been sent to Troy, for the purpose pf organizing the Department of Mount Ida. The Tomb of Achilles has been repaired, and the Bust of Briseis (which formed part of the Pedestal) restored to its original state, at the expense of the Female Citizen BuonapartÉ.

“The Division of the Fleet destined for Egypt has anchored in the Port of Alexandria. Berthier, who commands this Expedition, informs me that this Port will soon be restored to its ancient pre-eminence; and that its celebrated Pharos will soon be fit to receive the ReverbÈres which have been sent from the Rue St. HonorÉ.

“Baraguay D’Hilliers, with the Left Wing of the Army of Egypt, has fixed his Head-quarters at Jerusalem. He is charged to restore the Jews to their ancient Rights. Citizens Jacob Jacobs, Simon Levi, and Benjamin Solomons, of Amsterdam, have been provisionally appointed Directors. The Palace of Pontius Pilate is re-building for their residence. All the vestiges of Superstition in Palestine have been carefully destroyed.

“I beg you will ratify a grant which I have made of the Temple of the Sun at Palmyra to a Society of Illuminati from Bavaria. They may be of service in extending our future conquests.

“I have received very satisfactory accounts from Desaix, who had been sent by Berthier with a Demi-brigade into the interior of Africa. That fine Country has been too long neglected by Europeans. In manners and civilization it much resembles France, and will soon emulate our virtues. Already does the Torrid Zone glow with the ardour of Freedom. Already has the Altar of Liberty been reared in the Caffrarian and Equinoctial Republics. Their regenerated inhabitants have sworn eternal amity to us at a Civic Feast, to which a detachment of our Army was invited. This memorable day would have terminated with the utmost harmony, if the Caffrarian Council of Ancients had not devoured the greatest part of General Desaix’s État-Major for their supper. I hope our Ambassador will be instructed to require that Civic Feasts of this nature be omitted for the future. The Directory of the Equinoctial Republic regret that the scarcity of British Cloth in Africa, and the great heat of the climate, prevent them from adopting our costume.

“We hope soon to liberate the Hottentots, and to drive the perfidious English from the extremities of Africa and of Europe. Asia, too, will soon be free. The three-coloured flag floats on the summit of Caucasus; the Tigrine Republic is established; the Cis and Trans-Euphratean Conventions are assembled; and soon shall Arabia, under the mild influence of French Principles, resume her ancient appellation, and be again denominated ‘the Happy’.

“In the course of the next Decade I shall sail to the Canal which is now cutting across the Isthmus of Suez. The Polytechnic School and Corps of Geographical Engineers are employed in devising means for conveying my heavy artillery across the great Desert. Soon shall India hail us as her Deliverers, and those proud islanders, the Tyrants of Calcutta, fall before the Heroes of Arcola.

“The Members of the National Institute who accompanied the Squadron to Egypt, have made a large collection of Antiquities for the use of the Republic. Among the scattered remains of the Alexandrine Library, they have found a curious Treatise, in Arabic, respecting Camels, from which it appears that Human Beings, by proper treatment, may, like those useful animals, be trained to support thirst and hunger without complaining. Many reams of papyrus have been collected, as it is thought that during the present scarcity of linen and old rags in France, it may answer all the purposes of paper. Cleopatra’s celebrated Obelisk has been shipped on board the Admiral’s Ship L’Orient, cidevant Sans Culottes: Another man-of-war has been freighted with the Sphinx, which our Engineers removed from Grand Cairo, and which, I trust, will be thought a proper ornament for the Hall of Audience of the Directory.—The cage in which Bajazet was confined, has been long preserved at Bassora; it will be transmitted to Paris as a proper model for a new Cayenne Diligence.—I beg leave to present to the Director Merlin, a very curious book, bound in Morocco leather, from Algiers. It is finely illuminated with gold; and contains lists of the various fees usually received by Deys and their Ministers from Foreign Ambassadors. A broken Column will be sent from Carthage. It records the downfall of that Commercial City; and is sufficiently large for an Inscription (if the Directory should think proper to place it on the Banks of the Thames), to inform posterity that it marks the spot where London once stood.