is applied to needful expences or unnecessary prodigality, rather than to soften the lot of the indigent, its original purpose. Ostentatious charities satisfy the scruples of the monarch, and blind the eyes of the people to this misapplication. The tax is not now applicable to land or houses, but to the merchandize imported into the country. The duties on these, when demanded of Mahometans, are taken under the name zecchât.

The second impost is the charage, which signifies the product of lands. It is intended to denote not only any tax on land but also on the persons of Dhummies, i. e. Christians and Jews; though in the latter case it receives the appellation of Jizie, the capitation tax or salvage for their persons, which, otherwise, according to the letter of the Koran, the true believer is not bound to spare.

The nature of the revenue of each province depended at first, sim a great measure, on the manner in which that province was originally acquired; and even now the same ditinction in some cases operates. Irak was to be protected under one condition of tribute, Egypt under another. The immediate successors of Mahomet appear to have been guided in many instances by sound policy, and to have tempered the rage of fanaticisin, by some attention at least to the wellbeing of even their heretical subjects. ན་ཪེ་མཚན་ ང་ཇ

The principal local tribute is a tax on land of two patackes each foddán all over the country; which, whether the effect of a compact between the Arabian victor and the natives, or an impost in force under the former government, was continued by Sultan Selim. Taking the cultivable lands in Egypt at 2,100,000 acres, this should give the sum of 12,900 purses, or 630,00ol. sterling; but at this time obly. two-thirds of these lands are actually cultivated, which reduces the sum to 420,000l. On the other hand, however, the Beys are not! contented with this legitimate revenue, but insist on receiving, Tin many instances, five or six patackes per foddan, which again raises : this single branch of revenue to a million and a quarter, or even more. There are, however, some districts in the Upper: Egypt, always several years in arrear.

The other articles are, the customs of Alexandria, Damiatt, Suez, Cosser, and what, is drawn from the commerce of Africa in its passage. : by Charge, Assiut, and at Kabira itself. Of these it is difficult to form any correct idea. The caravan with which I returned to Assiut paid, in duties on the commodities it brought, a sum not less. than 150 purses. I estimated the value of these commodities at nearly 2,300 purses, or 115,000l.

August.)

The Fizié is much less. considerable than it might be supposed from the following considerations. 1. That though there be many entire villages of Copts in the Upper Egypt, several of them are rebellious, and pay nothing. 2. The same people is very numerous in the towns; but a great proportion of them consists of ecclesiastics, or of persons in the service of the Beys, and both, these descriptions are exempt. The Greeks and Armenians are but few, and many of them pay the Jizie in other places, being only travellers. On the whole, I doubt whether that tax in Egypt amounts to more than 1,500 purses. The remaining revenue is made up of casualties; as forfeitures, small inposts, or tolls, passing on the Nile; and above all, the incalculable profit arising from continual plunder of all ranks and denominations. All the prostitutes, the public baths, the places where brandy is sold, &c. &c. are under a particular jurisdiction, and pay something to government. All the articles above enumerated form collectively the Miri or public revenue; 1200 purses of which should be annually forwarded to Constantinople; but it is retained by the Beys, under pretence of repairing mosques and other public works.

The Pacha receives for his whole expences one thousand mahbubs, or three thousand piastres per day. His establishment, however, is large, so that this is not esteemed a tich pashalik. count 1979 to

Murad Bey is accustomed to have from the mint daily, for his pocket expences, five hundred half mahbubs, and his wife the same. This amounts to fifteen hundred piastres, and is only a small part of his disbursements!

2 L

-The value of land in Egypt is far from being inconsiderable, as is evident from the large amount of the annual impost which is paid for indYet not having been presetit at the formalities of bargain and sale, I feel myself unprepared to give an exact estimate of it.

The same may be said of the value of labour; for as the agricul taral labourer is paid in the produce, a number of circumstances combine to diminish the value of what is thus received. 1-Comparing the wages of the husbandman with the price of other labour, I should be inclined to state them at about six medines, or one seventh of a piastre per day; whichi, as his toil is often remitted, cannot exceed forty-five piastres annually. Exclusively of the value of the peasants clothing, which lasts long, it is scarcely possible that the maize, lentils milk, butter, &c. on which he feeds, can amount to less that three paras or medines daily for each individual, no number t!།:t

AN ACCOUNT OF A MOORISH MARRIAGE,

THAT TOOK PLACE WHEN MR. PARK WAS IN CONFINEMENT.

IN the evening, the Tabula or large drum was beat to announce a wedding, which was held at one of the neighbouring tents. A great number of people of both sexes assembled, but without that mirth and hilarity which take place at a Negro wedding; here there was neither singing nor dancing, nor any other amusement that I could perceive. A woman was beating the drum, and the other women joining at times, like a chorus, by setting up a shrill scream; and at the same time moving their tongues from one side of the mouth to the other, with great celerity. I was soon tired, and had returned into my hut, where I was sitting amost asleep, when an old woman entered, with a wooden bowl in her hand, and signified that she had brought me a present from the bride. Before I could recover from the surprize which this message created, the woman discharged the contents of the bowl full in my face. Finding that it was the same sort of holy water with which among the Hottentots a priest is said to sprinkle a new married couple, I began to suspect that the old lady was actuated by mischief or malice; but she gave me seriously to understand, that it was a nuptial benediction from the bride's own person, and which on such occasion is always received by the young unmarried Moors as a mark of distinguished favour. This being the case, I wiped my face, and sent my acknowledgments. to the lady. The wedding-drum continued to beat, and the women to sing, or rather whistle, all night. About nine in the morning, the bride was brought in state from her mother's tent (attended by a number of women, who carried her tents, a present from the husband,) some bearing up the poles, others holding by the strings; and in this manner they marched whistling as formerly, until they came to the place appointed for her residence, where they pitched the tent. The husband followed, with a number of men leading four bullocks, which they tied to the tent-strings; and having killed another, and distributed the beef among the people, the ceremony was concluded.

WHEN, a lover has no rivals, he may occasionally neglect his mistress, with but little danger of forfeiting her favours: he has then no incitement to emulation. Thus stands the case with Mr. Colman. He has no managerial competitor-we will not insult him by mentioning Mr. Astley or Mr. Jones-and the public, his neglected mistress, must put up with his affronts. Mr. Colman has written a great deal, and, we presume, Mr. Colman thinks the public can never be satiated with what he has written. The Heir at Law,' the Iron Chest, 'the Mountaincers,' the Surrender of Calais,' Inckle and Yarico,' and other pieces from the same quarter, are always carefully announced for several days previously to their representation: but so much depends on the state of the atmosphere that, when Mr Colman has a full house, we think, he is more indebted to the dulness of the evening than the BRILLIANCY of his performances. It seems to be of small consequence to the Little Manager, whether a piece succeed or be damned, Blue Devils' appeared several times last season, and as often as they appeared they were commanded to the shades, whence they ought never to have returned; but this summer they remain in quiet unmolested possession of the theatre. What remedy have the public for this insult?They cannot say, 'Mr. Colman, you shall not conjure up these Blue Devils: nor can they say, Mr. Colman, we will go to the other house; therefore they have no proper alternative. Mr. Colman, we are informed, is writing a play for Covent-Gardan theatre. Why not write for his own? Perhaps he has private reasons. Surely, however, he might present something worthy of being beheld.

As to performers, every person who has been in the habit of attending the Hay Market theatre must have witnessed the wretched style in which pieces are got up at that house, Mr. Fawcett has, this season, the stage management: whether he have the engagement of actors we are not informed; but the list of male performers, in point of excellence, is-much as usual. The female side of the

house remains perfectly in statu quo. Having mentioned Miss De Camp, Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Davenport, and Mrs. Bland; to pass over the remainder in silence is the highest compliment we can pay them. With the exception of Miss De Camp, there is not an actress in the theatre capable of supporting a character in genteel or serious comedy: the latter certainly is not her forte. On tragedy we preserve a profound silence.

When there exists a scarcity of novelty or merit in performances, Managers generally endeavour to atone by bringing forward young actors. This summer, we believe, has only produced two first appearances. A gentleman made his debut in the character of Old Dornton, in the Road to Ruin,' and two evenings after, another came forward as Captain Belville, in Respectable mediocrity was the order of the day.

Rosina.

That our readers may not suspect us of partiality or injustice, we will present them with a few general remarks on the new pieces which this summer have been exhibited. As they are most of them published, and will speedily pass into our general review of literature, we shall not enter into minute criticism.

The season commenced with a three act play, under the title of Family Distress;' from the Self Immolation' of Kotzebue, adapted for representation by Mr. Pope. Not the dulness of the weather, with the combined names of Pope and Kotzebue, were sufficient to keep this piece on the stage-even of the Little Theatre.

A few evenings after was produced a Farce, in two acts, called Fortune's Frolic: written by a Mr. Allingham, and first performed at Covent Garden, on the 25th of May, for the benefit of Mr. Whitfield. Lord Luckwit, who had been privately married to, and had a son by, a poor illiterate woman, whom he had never owned, dies suddenly, and leaves this son, Robin Rougbead, who had been brought up as a country labourer, heir to his estate. Robin Roughead's unexpected acquisition of riches constitutes Fortune's Frolic.' This is the point of the story. The character of Robin Roughead is admirably calculated for a display of Mr. Fawcett's comic powers; but were this gentleman to acquire more simplicity, his performance would be more highly interesting to connoisseurs in the science of afting. With the exception of this character, the Farce possesses no recommendation.