The troops proceeded as far as Anapseer, on the banks of the Ganges, and their formidable appearance produced the intended effect. In the following year, in consequence of the murder of Mr Cherry, at Benares, and the apprehension thereby excited, of an insurrection to support the deposed Nabob of Oude, the army returned, through the Rohilla country, to Lucknow; but all remained quiet, and Colonel Mackenzie, after about three years spent in India, left the regiment, and, on the first of January 1800, embarked at Calcutta, along with Major Duncan Munro, his old friend and brigade major, on their return to England, where they arrived, after a very tempestuous and perilous voyage.

They had very nearly been lost off the Cape of Good Hope, and were there detained a very considerable time, in order to refit.

A short period of domestic enjoyment and repose now succeeded, and endured till January 1802, when the sudden death of his wife dissolved an union which had subsisted for nearly seventeen years, with the most cordial harmony, and purest conjugal love. She left him two sons and two daughters, who have all survived him; and in their highly promising dispositions, he found some consolation under the weight of his inexpressible affliction. His eldest son, now a lieutenant in the Coldstream Foot Guards, he lived to see employed in active service (finally as his own aide-du-camp), in a way that filled him with the most pleasing presen

timents.

On the dissolution of Parliament, in 1802, he offered himself as a candidate to represent the county of Cromarty, and was unanimously elected. In the same year he was

promoted to the rank of majorgeneral.

Soon after the renewal of the war with France, in 1803, General Fraser (for he had now assumed that name after the death of his mother) was placed on the staff in England, and commanded successively at Winchelsea, and several other towns, till December 1805, when he was sent, in company with Lieutenant-General Francis Dundas, and under the orders of Lord Cathcart, to the Electorate of Hanover, where, however, they did not long remain; for, early in 1806, it was judged expedient to recal the troops, and leave Hanover in the occupation of the Prussian army.

In summer 1806, the General was dispatched to Sicily, and serv ed there for several months, under General Fox. In this year, and while absent in Sicily, he was chosen, by a very great majority of votes, to represent the county of Ross in Parliament, and he continued, till the day of his death, with the approbation of his constituents, to hold that distinguished and honourable situation.

In March 1807, with a force of about 5000 men, he embarked at Messina, by directions from General Fox, and sailed for Egypt, with orders to take possession of the port of Alexandria. On the 16th of that month he anchored before it, but with less than half the troops which had set sail with him, the remainder having parted company on the voyage. Learning, however, that reinforcements to the garrison were speedily expected, the General did not hesitate. On the 16th and 17th a landing was effected; on the 19th the troops occupied the position on which the British army, under Sir Ralph Abercromby, had, six

years

years before, fought the memorable battle of Aboukir; and on the 21st, a day never to be forgotten as the anniversary of that celebrated victory, and of the fall of the immortal Abercromby, the place was surrendered by capitulation.

was,

The unfortunate events, which subsequently occurred, are too recent to require being stated in minute detail. The apprehension of famine rendered indispensible an attack upon Rosetta. The officer, to whom a detachment was entrusted for this purpose, unfortunately ventured to march into the town, without any previous examination; and the result that the troops, after a severe loss, including that of their commander himself, were obliged to retreat to Alexandria. A second attempt was equally unsuccessful, and its consequences still more distressing; for, owing to the treachery of the Mamelukes, on whose assistance General Fraser had been instructed to rely, one detachment, led by a very gallant officer, Lieutenant Colonel Macleod, of the 7th, was entirely cut off,

No degree of blame, on account of these disasters, was imputed, or imputable, to General Fraser ; but the plan of the expedition itself has been often censured, particularly with a view to the inadequacy of the force employed, and the inaccuracy of the information under which it was undertaken. In about six months after the capture of Alexandria, it was evacuated, in consequence of directions from government, after a short negociation with the Government of Egypt; and the British troops returned to Sicily, and thence to England.

In spring 1808, the General accompanied Sir John Moore, who was sent with an army of 14,000 men, to the assistance of the King of Sweden. This army, however,

never landed in the Baltic, propositions having been made by his Majesty for its employment on services which were not consistent with the directions of the British government. The particulars of the extraordinary conference between the Swedish government and the British general, on this occasion, 'have never fully transpired; but it is well known that the king, enraged at Sir John's refusal to comply with his wishes, put him under arrest; and it was with some difficulty he reached the fleet, and immediately set sail, on his return to England, with the army under his command.

This army was immediately employed in a different quarter. General Fraser, along with Sir John Moore, embarked with it for Portugal, where they arrived in August 1808, after the battle of Vimeira, and the signature of the armistice, which terminated in the convention of Cintra.

In the Spanish campaign which ensued, and of which the particulars must be in the remembrance of every reader, General Fraser commanded a division of the army; and, in the glorious action at Corunna, he was stationed in a position where a just reliance on his firmness gave security to the right of the British line, It is worthy of mention, that before the engagement, Sir John Moore acquainted General Fraser. that he had been strongly advised to make a proposal to the enemy, offering to embark quietly, and quit Spain, if not molested. General Fraser expressed a decided opinion against such a measure; on which Sir John earnestly grasped his hand, saying, that he rejoiced to find that his sentiments so exactly coincided with his own firm determination. By the lamented, but glorious death, of that gallant general, he sustained the loss of a friend whom he loved and admired

and

and he warmly concurred in all the sentiments regarding him, which were so feelingly and elegantly expressed by Sir John Hope, in the close of his dispatch, addressed to Sir David Baird, on that memorable

occasion.

› General Fraser, when he landed in England, in January 1809, immediately after the battle of Corunna, was in a very indifferent state of health. His constitution, naturally robust, was visibly impaired by the fatigues he had undergone, and the vicissitudes of clinate to which he had been exposed, in the course of his military service; but when it was proposed to him to serve under Lord Chatham, in the fatal expedition to Walcheren, in spite of the alarms of his friends, and his own consciousness that his health was broken, his high principles of selfdevotion induced him, with alacrity, to accept a command, and he embarked in the month of July, while actually labouring under an attack of inflammation in the lungs, which it was found difficult, by the best medical treatment, to remove.

Immediately, when a landing was effected in Walcheren, General Fraser was detached against Fort der Haak, Ter Vere, and Ramakins, all of which having surrendered, he joined the army before Flushing, and, during the siege of that place, displayed his usual activity, in spite of severe illness, which he was at the utmost pains to conceal, till farther struggle against it was in vain; and, in a state of the utmost debilitation, he returned to England, attended by his son.

On his arrival in London, the physicians declared that his cure must be a work of time, and that the greatest attention was requisite; but they argued favourably of his final recovery, provided he were kept perfectly quiet and undisturbed. He was accordingly re

moved to the house of his brotherin-law, Sir Vicary Gibbs, upon Hayes Common, in Kent, where he was nursed with the utmost tenderness. His chearful composure, and an apparent abatement of the alarming symptoms, inspired the most joyful hopes; but little time was allowed for the indulgence of these; and, on a change to the worse, it was too truly announced that he could not survive 24 hours. He retained to the last the entire possession of his faculties, and, in his dying moments," as in the whole tenor of his life, displayed a placid. and chearful resignation to the Di`vine will. It was on the 13th September, 1809, at the age of 51, that he breathed his last. It had been his own desire that he should be buried near the place of his death, wherever that should happen; and accordingly his remains were interred at Hayes, in the presence of a very small number of chosen friends.

His person was tall and athletic, his countenance mild and expressive, his manners easy and unaffected. He was not much addicted to laughter, but his smile was full of benignity, and uncommonly pleasing. His temper was uniformly calm and unruffled; his affections warm and steady; his mind was clear and penetrating, firm and decided. In his relations of husband, father, and friend, he was truly exemplary. Perhaps the most strik ing feature of his character was his active and unwearied zeal in the promotion of the welfare and inte-. rests of others. The kindness and generosity of his disposition were felt by all within their reach. Even reproof from him was felt as kindness, being softened by every pos sible allowance for the offender, while it was directed to the correction of the offence. He was chaste and temperate in his habits; and it

was

Account of the Present State of Literature in Iceland. *

vels.

That such a person should have gained many friends, without making one enemy: should, without studying the arts, or even aiming at the acquisition of popularity, have become universally beloved wherever he was known; should have won the love and admiration of the soldiery, the respect and esteem of his fellow-officers, and the distinguished approbation of the Commander. in Chief, and of every general under whose orders he served, and should have inspired his family and friends with sentiments of the most exalted love and veneration, can excite no surprise. The event of his dissolution produced, accordingly, a very powerful sensation. To his nearest connexions, and most intimate friends, who had vainly promised themselves the highest delight in the enjoyment of his society, during the evening of his life, the blow was altogether overpowering; but the sorrow occasioned by his death was not confined within so narrow a sphere; and the writer of this sketch has seen, in his native county of Ross, many a rough and hardy cheek moistened, when the mention of his name brought back upon the mind, with the warm tide of honest tenderness, the recollection of his gentleness, his kindness, and his worth.

"Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus "Tam Cari Capitis."

HE historical and poetical writLings which the early litera ture of Iceland produced, are by no means generally known among the Icelanders of the present time; such studies being principally confined to the priests, and to those of the higher classes. The calamities which oppressed the Island during the 15th century, and which entirely extinguished the celebrity, and almost even the name of the people, interposed a sort of barrier between the ancient Icelanders and their posterity. Learning was restored under an altered form; the works of former genius were only partially revived; and these circumstances, together with the changes progressively taking place in the language of the country, have removed from the possession of the present race of people, all the more striking evidences of the ancient condition of their community. A great number of manuscripts are still to be found in the churches, and in the houses of the priests and principal inhabitants; but, with few exceptions, they are all of modern date, and are merely the representatives of works which were intended for publication, but which the poverty of their writers, or other circumstances, have unavoidably suppressed. The greater propor

tion

*In our Number for January last, we presented our readers with a pretty full analysis of Sir George's publication. Yet, considering the great variety of interesting

information contained in that valuable: work, we cannot omit the temptation of enriching our pages with a few farther extracts, which cannot fail, we think, to be generally acceptable.

tion of the Icelandic manuscripts which derive value from their antiquity, have been gradually transferred to Copenhagen, and deposited in the public or private libraries of that metropolis. Here they have been carefully collated, with a view to the publication of those which were found most remarkable or important; and it is principally through this channel that the earlier writings of the Icelanders are known to the present inhabitants of the country. The valuable editions of these writings printed at Copenhagen, have come into the possession of all who bear a literary character among the Icelanders; and a few editions of the works of this period, which have been printed in the island, have given a further diffusion to this branch of knowledge among the people. It is, however, by no means general; the tales and traditions which now prevail in the country, relating for the most part to more recent times, and being in few instances derived from the Sagas and poems, in which the events of antiquity are described.

Among those individuals of the present day who have made the early literature of Iceland an object of study, the name of Finnur Magnuson may particularly be mention ed. This young man, who holds the situation of public pleader in the courts of law at Reikiavik, and is distinguished by his classical acquirements, has bestowed very great attention upon the early writings, and especially upon the ancient poetry of his country; and is considered to have a more intimate knowledge of them than any other person in the island. He has likewise been enabled, from his residence on the spot, and from his family connections with several eminent Icelanders, to collect some manuscripts of considerable value from their age

and rarity. The industry and success of Professor Thorkelin in the same pursuits are more generally known; but the long absence of this gentleman from Iceland has lessened, in some degree, his connection with the modern literature of the country.

In describing the state of knowledge among the present race of Icelanders, their attainments in languages and in classical literature must particularly be noticed. This is one of the first of those circumstances which engage the attention and admiration of the stranger, in visiting the island. He sees men whose habitations bespeak a con dition little removed from the savage state; who suffer an almost entire privation of every comfort or refinement of life; and who, amid the storms of the surrounding sea, seek, in their little boats, the provision upon which alone their families can scarcely depend. Among these very men, he finds an intimate knowledge of the classical writings of antiquity; a taste formed upon the purest models of Greece and Rome; and a susceptibility to all the beauties which these models disclose. While traversing the country, he is often attended by guides who can communicate with him in Latin: and, arriving at his place of nightly rest, he not unfrequently draws forth from the labours of his little smithy, a man who addresses him in this language with the utmost fluency and elegance. This cultivation of the ancient languages has been common among the Icelanders from an early period in their history; and it will be seen from the Preliminary Dissertation, that many of the principal works which distinguish their literature, and especially those of the historical kind, have been composed in Latin. At the present time, this language forms a part of the

education