between which and Damietta, along the fea-coaft, the whole is defart and wild. Here, pilgrims pay for permiffion to vifit the Holy Land. This city is furrounded by a wall, without a ditch, and defended by ftrong towers, provided with cannon. Trenches were opened, batteries were erected, and a practical breach was made in the wall. Not withftanding two defperate forties, and every exertion on the part of the garrifon, about four thoufand frong, the principal tower was taken, and the greater part of the brave garrifon was put to the fword: with a view, no doubt, of firiking terror into other parts of Palestine, and wherever Buonaparte might direct his march.. About three hundred Egyptians, who escaped from the aflault, were fent back into Egypt, and reforted to their families. The French found, in the towers of Joppa, ten pieces of cannon, and about twenty indifferent fiege - pieces, either iron or braís.

Buonaparte, having made himfelf mafter of the towers of Joppa, ordered the inhabitants to be spared. About fifteen fmall trading veffels were found in the harbour. The conqueft of Jaffa, according to the report of fir Sidney Smith, coft the French above one thoufand men. Buonaparte then formed a divan, compofed of the principal Turks of the town. He allo gave orders for taking every neceffary measure for the defence of the place. Jaffa proved a fituation of the higheft importance to the army: it became the port, and the entrepot, of every thing that was to come from Damietta and Alexandria. From Jaffa, Buonaparte wrote the following

letter to Ghezzar Bafhaw, dated the ninth of March:

"Since my arrival in Egypt, I feveral times informed you, that I had no defign to make war against you; and that my only object was to expel the Mammalukes. You returned no answer to the overture which I made you. I announced, that I defired that you would drive Ibrahim Bey from the frontiers of Egypt; but, inftead of that, you fent troops to Gazá: you formed there large magazines, and gave out, that you intended to march against Egypt. You, indeed, began to put this plan in execution; and you threw two thousand of your troops into the fortrefs Arifch, which is only fix miles from the frontiers of Egypt. I was obliged, then, to depart from Cairo, to direct, in perfon, the war which you feemed to invite. The diftricts of Gaza, Ramley, and Jaffa, are already in my power. I have treated with generofity fuch of your troops as furrendered at difcretion, but I have been fevere towards thofe who violated the rights of war. In a few days, I fhall march against Acre. But why fhould I go, to deprive an old man, with whom I am not acquainted, of the few remaining years of his life! What are a few miles more of territory, in comparifon of thofe which I have already conquered! And, as God grants me victory, I will, like him, he clement and merciful, not only towards the people, but towards the great. You have no folid reafon for being my enemy, fince you were that of the Mammalukes. Your government is feparated from that of Egypt by the diftricts of Gaza, Ramley, and impaflable

marches.

marches. Become my friend, be the enemy of the Mammalukes and the English, and I will do you as much good as I have done you hutt; and I can ftill do you more. Send me a fhort answer, by fome perfon invested with full powers, that I may know your views. He needs only to prefent himself to my advanced guard, with a white flag; and I have given orders, to my ftaff, to fend you a pass of fafety, which you will find here annexed. On the twenty-firft of March, I fhall march against Acre; I muft, therefore, have an answer before that day."

The verbal answer of Ghezzar was, "I have not written to you, because I am refolved to hold no communication with you. You may march against Acre when you pleafe. I fhall be prepared for you, and will bury myfelf in the ruins of the place, rather than let it fall into your hands."

The army marched to Zetta, under the tower of which it paffed the night. On the fixteenth, they encamped at Sabarieu, after extricating themfelves from the narrow paffes of mount Carmel, on the plains of Acre. A divifion of the army, under general Kleber, marched against Caiffa, which the enemy abandoned at their approach. On the feventeenth, late in the evening, they arrived at the mouth of the little river of Acre, which is at the distance of about fifteen hundred fathoms from the fortrefs. The night was employed in conftructing a bridge, over which the whole army paffed, at break of day, on the eighteenth.

The city of Acre (anciently called Accho by the Hebrews and

Phoenicians, and afterwards Ptolemais by the Greeks) was, by the French, called St. Jean d'Acre, on account of its being the refidence of the knights of Jerufalem, which they defended against the Saracens. It is the laft and moft fouthern city on the Phoenician coaft. It was a confiderable place, fo early as the Ifraelitifh judges, fince we find that the tribe of Afher could not drive out its inhabitants. After being in the poffeflion of the emperor Claudius, it fell into the hands of the Turks and Arabs, who kept it till the holy war, when it was retaken by the Chriftians, in the year 1104. The Turks took it a fecond time, under Saladin. It was wrefted from them a fecond time, in 1191, by Guy, king of Jerufalem, Richard I. king of England, and Philip, king of France. It was then given to the knights of St. John, who held it, about one hundred years, with great bravery. But a difpute, concerning the poffeffion of it, among the Christians themselves, gave an opportunity to fultan Melech Seraf, with an army of one hundred and fifty thoufand men, to reduce it again under the Ottoman yoke, in the year 1291. The greater part of the inhabitants fled, for refuge, to the island of Cyprus. Acre was immediately entered and plundered by the Turks, who made a horrible flaughter of those who remained in the city, rafed its fortifications to the ground, and deftroyed all its noble edifices, as if they could never take fufficient revenge upon it, for all the blood it had coft them, or fufficiently prevent fuch flaughters for the future. It was in this city that our Edward I. then a prince,

received

received a wound with a poifoned

arrow.

Acre, by its excellent fituation, feems to enjoy all the advantages to be derived from fea and land, being encompaffed, on the north and eaft fide, by a fpacious and fertile plain, on the weft by the Mediterranean, and on the fouth by a large bay, extending itself from that city to mount Carmel. Thefe advantages pointed it out as a fit entrepôt for commerce, to Fac. cardino (not improperly called the great), chief of the Drufes, who, towards the end of the fifteenth century, threw off the Turkish yoke, fortified Acre with additional tow ers, and, alfo, that it might be inacceffible to the Turkish gallies, depofited large maffes of ftones in the deepest parts of the entrance into the harbour. Without the harbour, in the bay, there were roads where veffels lay at anchor, and to and from which the commerce with Acre was carried, in lighters, or boats. The Drufes,* like the Arabs, maintain an independence, almoft total, on the Ottomans. Their fubmiffion to the Porte is rather nominal than real. Tribute, very irregularly paid, is the only proof or fymbol of fubjection. The Marco nites, a fect of Chriftians anciently diftinguished by the appellation of Neftorians (a term well known in ecclefiaftical hiftory), live among, and, indeed, form a part of the Drufes. The Marconite Chriftians have, in the prefent day, a college, even in the Vatican, in Rome,

where there is a fociety for propagating and cherishing all fects of Chriftians acknowledging the Roman-catholic religion. The Marconites, in external matters and ceremonies, are the fame with the ancient Syrian church; in articles of belief, or fpeculation, the fame with the Romish. In the times of Faccardino (who carried on a correfpondence and commerce with India, as well as the Grecian iflands and Italy), the most opulent and commercial, and, indeed, the most accomplished, noble-minded, and princely family in Europe, was the Medici, who gradually arofe, through the ufual gradations in democracy, to the fovereignty of Florence, and the dependent districts, under the names of the great dukes of Tufcany. Faccardino paid a vifit to Cofmo de Medici, at Florence: he was received, at the court of Cofmo, with the most elegant hofpitality, and returned to Syria, and St. John d'Acre, accompanied by all manner of artifts from Italy. Bridges, high-ways, palaces begun (though, unfortunately, not finished), improvements in navigation and fortification, and agriculture and commerce, as well as fome approaches towards literature and fcience, in Syria, were the effects of the vifit, paid by Faccardino the great, to Cofmo de Medici.-Soon after the death of Faccardino, Acre fell again under the dominion of the Turks.

On the eighteenth of March, the French army, having crofled the

little river of Acre, encamped upon an infulated eminence, that was near to, and parallel with the fea. On the twentieth, the trenches were opened, at about one hundred and fifty fathoms from the fortress.

A project for a general attack on Buonaparte, by fea and land, had been concerted between the British and Turkish governments. A defcent was to be made, by the bafhaw Ghezzar, on the frontiers of Egypt, on the fide of the defart of Syria. Ghezzar was to be fupported by an army, which was to march acrofs Afia minor, from Damafcus; and the combined operation of these armies, from Syria, was to be favoured by a diverfion, towards the mouth of the Nile, by Mourad Bey, who, though forced to retreat before the advances of the French, was yet in confiderable ftrength, and would be joined by bodies of Arabs. It was to direct the execution of this plan, and to contribute towards its execution, by maritime co-operation, that fir Sidney Smith had left Portfmouth in the preceding autumn, on board the Tigre, of eighty-four guns, and failed for the Levant, where he endeavoured to haften the preparations for this campaign in Egypt. Commodore Hood continued to block up the port of Alexandria, and the mouths of the Nile. He had experienced the impracticability of burning and deftroying the ficet of tranfports, and French frigates, without a debarkation of troops confiderable enough to attack Alexandria. Sir Sidney, informed of the firft movements of Buonaparte, endeavoured to detain him, by making attempts on Alexandia, which he bombarded, with

out farther injury to the French than finking two tranfports.

In the mean time, Ghezzar fent timely notice, of the approach of Buonaparte, to fir Sidney Smith, on whom the command of the British naval force, in the Archipelago, had devolved, after the departure of commodore Trowbridge.

Sir Sidney, on the 7th of March, 1799, proceeded towards the coast of Syria, and, on the eleventh, arrived before Caiffa. On the fifteenth, he fieered for St. John d'Acre, to concert measures with Ghezzar, having got the ftart of the enemy by two days, which he employed in making preparations for the defence of the place.

On the fixteenth, about eight in the evening, after a chace of three hours, the commodore, fir Sidney, took, off the cape of Carmel, the whole French flotilla, under the command of Eydoun, chief of divifion, laden with heavy cannon, ammunition, platforms, and other articles, neceflary for Buonaparte's army to undertake the fiege. This artillery, confifting of forty-four pieces, was immediately mounted on the ramparts of Acre, again the lines and batteries of the enemy, as well as on gun-veflels. The latter were employed with the greatest fuccefs, against the enemy's fire. The nature of the ground, however, permitted the French to carry their trenches within half mutket-fhot of the ditch of the place.

a

The French, on the thirtieth of March, having effected a breach in the wall, on the north-eaft part of the town, endeavoured to take it by aflault, but were vigorously pulfed by the garrifon, with confi

derable

derable lofs. The ditch was filled with dead bodies. The troops of Ghezzar afterwards made three fuccefsful forties. The object of the laft was to deftroy a mine, which the enemy had conftructed under the covered way, to the northward, in order to fill up the ditch, near the breach. The Englith took charge of this enterprize; and, while two thoufand Turks took charge of the fortie, they jumped into the mine, and, finding that the works were not quite finifhed, tore down the fupports, and deftroyed the whole conftruction. After this, an uninterrupted fire was kept up, from the fortrefs of Acre; the artillery being ferved by English and Turkish artillerymen, who had fet out for Acre, from Conftantinople, on the fifth of March. Thefe men were placed under the immediate command of colonel Phelippeaux, the chief en gineer in the place, to whofe councils, plans, and unwearied exertions, the fafety of Acre, and the important confequences that followed, were, by the moft intelligent part of the Anglo-Turkish gar rifon, principally attributed. As the town of Acre ftands on a rectangular point of land, in the form of a fquare, of which two fides are wathed by the fea, the British fhips, in the bay of Acre, were enabled to contribute the protection of their guns, to the garrifon, and to the working parties, detached from thofe fhips, who were employed in throwing up two ra

velines, or half-moons. Thefe, taking the enemy's neareft approaches (advanced within ftone's caft, in flank), confiderably impeded his operations. The enemy having nearly made a lodgement on the crown of the glacis, and mined the tower forming the inward angle of the town-wall, which is compofed of curtains and fquare towers, after the manner of the twelfth century, Buonaparte, who had tranfported the cannon he found at Jaffa, and effected a breach on the fourteenth day of the fiege, attempted to form, but was repulled. Repeated allaults were equally unfuccefstul.

It was judged to be the best mode of defence, by the garrifon, to make frequent forties, in order to keep the enemy on the defenfive, and to impede the progres of their covering-works.

Agreeably to the plan of opera tion already mentioned, and in the execution of which Ghezzar was very active, a number of Mammalukes, who had followed Ibrahim into Syria, the janissaries of Damafcus, troops from Aleppo, Maugrabins, and others, advanced with an intention of joining the Arabs and Naploufians (inhabiting the ancient Samario), and attacking the French army at Acre, on one fide, while the troops of Ghezzar, fupported by the fire of the British hips, fhould attack them on the other. Neither a detachment of Klcber's divifion, under general Junot, which had taken post at Na

zareth