1 account of a people very little known, but whofe hiftory is not uninteresting. The Drufes refide on the mountains known by the names of Lebanon and Antilebanon. The country they poffefs is held in fief: one part from the government of Sidon, and the other from that of Damafcus. A prince to whom they give the title of Emir, occupies the firft ftation in quality of lord paramount, but his power is extremely limited and confined; it extends not to the making of new laws, or of overawing the people. He is refponfible, however, to the Porte for the miri, or tribute of the mountain, and is therefore careful to exa&t the payment of it. This tribute is affeffed with equity on all the poffeffors of lands. The Drufes derive their principal riches from their mulberry trees, which are every where cultivated with the greatest fuccefs, and for the purpofe of feeding the filk worm. The produce of filk + is faid to be fufficient to pay the miri to the Grand Signior, to purchafe rice and linens from Egypt, which are abfolute neceffaries; and to procure to the people the feveral articles of pleasure and convenience with which they are fupplied by the French. The Drufes hold in equal deteftation the principles of Mahometanifm and Chriftianity. The religion of this people (fays our Author) is an enigma difficult to explain; they keep their doctrines a moft profound fecret. Their facred books are preferved with the moft fcrupulous punctuality; they are even buried under ground; and the explication of their myfteries is known only to a small number of their wife men.' Like the Bramins, however, they believe in the metempfychofis. But according to their fyftem, the tranfmigration of the fouls of reasonable beings has no relation to thofe of animals, the fate of which is wholly diftinct. They are of opinion that the foul of a Drufe, who dies in ignorance and libertinifm, pafles into the body of a man defined to live in indigence and humility; and that the foul of a perfevering fpiritualift, whom they hold in particular refpect, enters into that of an Emir, a Chick, or a rich husbandman, in expectation that the next and last appearance *About eighteen thousand pounds fterling, for the district of Sidon only. + One hundred bales of white filk, of one hundred and fifty pounds weight each, are annually exported to France. Egypt takes two thoufand bales; and the reft, which may be eftimated at about one thousand two hundred, are employed in the manufactures of Damafcus and Aleppo. Every bale, one with the other, is worth at leaft fixty guineas. In other particulars, fuch as their domeftic manners, drefs, &c. they greatly resemble Turks. of c s The of God and the Prophet will recompence him in a more glo rious manner. This people are remarkable for their love of liberty, and for the care they have taken to preferve it, though furrounded by We fhall felect two or three paffages tyranny and oppreffion. from Monfieur V. de P.'s book, which will bring our Readers acquainted, in fome degree, with the ancient as well as prefent ftate of Lebanon. When harmony and concord reign in thefe mountains, the Drufes are in a condition to make themfelves refpected. They have often refifted, with vigour, the united forces of the Pachas of Damafcus, of Tripoli, and of Sidon, leagued against them by command of the Porte. They had, about one hundred and fifty years fince, an emir named Fakreddin, who rendered himself famous by the The wars in which he engaged against the Ottoman empire. poffeffions of the Drufes under his reign were more extenfive than they are at prefent. This Emir had the addrefs to obtain from the Porte the government of all the maritime coaft, extending from Latichea to Joppa; and perhaps he would have accomplished his defign of throwing off the Ottoman yoke, and rendering himself independent, had he put lefs confidence in the auxiliary troops in his pay, and taken care to improve the valour and warlike fpirit of his own people. Defertion and treafon made him lofe by degrees all the low country, and reduced his dominions to their prefent limits. The Drufian people, fubjugated by thefe foreign troops, without energy, and without vigour, declined to the most abject condition; and Fakreddin, without refource to repair his misfortunes, purfued by his victorious enemies, was obliged to take fhelter in a cave, and at last was betrayed and delivered to the Turks, who beheaded him at Conftantinople, in the reign of Amurath the Fourth. It was this Emir who, during the long quarrels with the Porte, destroyed all the fea-ports of Syria, to prevent the Turkish gallies from landing there. The Emir Juffef has held the fovereignty of the mountain for about ten years. He is forty years of age, and had raised the highest expectations before the death of his uncle Man four, who having only two children, idiots, incapable of reigning, lodged in his hands the fovereign power. But he has not fuftained the idea which had been conceived of his courage and talents. During his reign, the Drufes have loft much of that confideration they enjoyed in Syria; and fuffering the Pacha of Sidon to feize the government of Baruth, which was become the appanage of the reigning prince, he is loaded with fhame and ignominy. For about forty years the Emir at the head of the nation had farmed, of the Pacha of Sidon, for one hundred and fifty purfes * a-year, the customs and government of Baruth, which is the only harbour of Lebanon. It was, in fact, his own property, and not The weakness or included in the general farm of the mountain. cowardice of the prefent Emir, about three years fince, deprived him * Eight thoufand pounds fterling. of of this fine government. The Pacha feized it, and established a diftin&t governor there, with the title of Maffellem. The fear of his tyranny has obliged all the rich merchants who dwelt there to retire to the mountains of Kefroan and Lebanon, where they live fecure from his oppreffions, waiting fome favourable revolution which may permit them to return to their abandoned habitations, and restore their commerce to its former activity.' The ftrength of this nation is confiderable, as will be seen by the following extract: The Drufes are a very numerous people; the tranquillity which they enjoy, joined to the beauty and temperature of their climate, attract in crowds the Chriftians of Syria, who fly from the tyranny of the Pachas. This nation can with ease raise fifty thoufand men, tolerably capable of undertaking the defence of their mountains and defiles. But this militia, affembled in hafte, and without difcipline, never atchieved any thing glorious when they left their mountains to defcend into the plains, where the little order they obferve gives too great an advantage to the cavalry of their enemies. Thefe armies are never any expence to the Emir; either the hope of pillage engages them to follow their leaders, or critical cir cumftances, fuch as the danger of the ftate, induce them to take up arms for the defence of their country. They then convoke the general affembly of the ftate: every Chiek, whether Drufe or Chriftian, is obliged to repair to the rendezvous, at the head of the young men of their respective villages. The chiefs only are on horseback. Every one comes armed with a mufket, a battle-axe, a fabre, and a pair of piftols; and it is understood that he is to furnish himself with powder, ball, and provifions. They encamp in the defiles, through which the enemy may penetrate, and have a great advantage by the agility with which they climb the mountains, and their knowledge of the paths and remote paffes. Their provisions are but little incumbrance; they confift of bread and cheefe only, which every foldier carries in a small leather bag hung to his fide.' The proclamation iffued by them on the approach of an ene my, breathes much of the ancient Roman fpirit and valour. I Heralds are fent to all the villages, in which they cry,-" Hr nour calls you. He who haftens not at the found of his voice is a man without honour." At this, all the women in the village affemble in the market-place; and to encourage the young men Their origin is not certainly known. Monfieur Puget de St. Pierre, who published in 1763 a book intitled, The Hiftory of the Drufes, a people of Mount Lebanon,' fuppofes that they are defcended from the first French troops which Godfrey of Bouillon carried with him to the conqueft of the Holy Land; and that they derive their name from the Count of Dreux. This idea is combated by Monfieur V. de P. though he has very little to offer in fupport of a contrary opinion. to fly to the defence of their country, they demand arms for themselves, and profeffedly for the fame purpose. The memoir concerning the Drufes' will be read, we think, with pleasure. We have perufed with admiration thofe pages of their hiftory, in which we are told of the noble ftand that they have very frequently made against the power and defpotism of the Turk, who has never been able to deprive them of the liberty they have long enjoyed, and which they feem determined to maintain and defend. - A fhort account is alfo given by our Author of the Mutualis, a people who inhabit a mountainous but fertile country, extending from the river of Sidon to the territory of Acra. But for this, and any farther information refpecting the Drufes themfelves, we must refer our Readers to the work at large. A.B. ART. XXII. The Life of M. Turgot, Comptroller General of the Finances of France in the years 1774, 1775, and 1776. By the Marquis de Condorcet, of the Academy of Sciences. Tranflated from the French; with an Appendix. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Johnfon. 1787. HE life of M. Turgot conftitutes but a small part of this work. M. de Condorcet's univerfal knowledge and great abilities would not fuffer him to be the mere relater of actions; he muft neceffarily enquire into the original fources and firtt caufes of the events which he records; we are confequently here prefented with many curious political speculations and opinions on government, and the art of finance. We fhall make a short abstract of the life of this illuftrious man; recommending, at the fame time, as worthy the attention of our Readers, the Marquis's thoughts on different fubjects relative to ftate affairs. Anne Robert James Turgot was born at Paris, May 10, 1727, of a very ancient Norman family. His father was, for a long time, provoft of the corporation of merchants. During this period, he was the object of general admiration; and the regularity and economy of his adminiftration procured him the particular refpect of the citizens. M. Turgot was the youngest of three brothers. The eldeft was intended for the rank of magiftracy,' which had been the ftation of his family for feveral generations; the fecond was deftined for the army; and Robert for the church. He had fcarcely attained the age at which reflexion commences, when he was refolved to facrifice all temporal advantages to liberty and confcience, and to pursue his ecclefiaftical ftudies, without declaring his repugnance to their propofed object. At the age of twenty-three years, he took his degree, and was elected prior of the Sorbonne. In confequence of this fituation, he was obliged to pronounce two Latin Uu3 orations. orations. These compofitions are, in the biographer's opinion, monuments which mark not fo particularly the extent of his knowledge, as a philofophy and comprehenfion peculiar to him- ! felf. The first oration has for its subject, the benefits which the human fpecies have derived from the Chriftian religion; the fecond gives the hiftory, and traces the progrefs, of the huma understanding. The time when it was neceffary for him to declare that he would not be an ecclefiaftic, was now arrived. He announc this refolution to his father by letter, fhewing the motives which induced him to decline the clerical order. His father conientes, and he was appointed Mafter of Requests * M. Turgot pre pared himself for this office, by particular application to the parts of fcience which are most connected with its functions and duties, viz. the ftudy of natural philosophy, as far as it reas to agriculture and manufactures, to the subjects of merchard, and the execution of public works, together with such parts of mathematical knowledge as lead to ap actical application natural philofophy, and facilitate the calculations that are fr quently neceffary in politics, commerce, and law, About this period he wrote fome articles for the Encyclopédi of which the most capital were, Etymology, Exiflence, Expan lity, Fair, and Foundation. He had prepared feveral othuis, b thefe five only were in erted; the periecution fet on foot agr the Encyclopédie hindered him from continuing to write in being unwilling that his opinions fhould be published in! work which was received with difapprobation by fome of t moft diftinguished people of that time In 1761, M. Turgot was appointed Intendant + of Limgs In this office he did much good. He gave activity to the l A Master of Requests in France,' fays the Author, is the f vant of the executive power, where the activity of that power braces every thing he is the inftrument of government in operations i of commerce and finance, in which, of all others, the public pr fperity is most interested; and he is called, more frequently than member of any other order, to take on himself the first offices of 2 miniftration. A Mafter of Requests is rarely without a confiderak! fhare of influence refpecting fome one of the provinces, or the whe ftate; fo that it feldom happens that his liberalit or his prejudices i his virtues or his vices, do not, in the courfe of his life, product great good or great mifchief.' The immediate authority of an Intendant lies within narres bounds. Directions in detail for carrying into execution the gener orders of adminiftration; the power of making provifional decina in certain cafes, and of adjudging others which respect commerce and finance fubject to an appeal to the council; fuch are nearly the function) |