BIOGRAPHIC SRETC MoHAMMED ALI PACHA was born in the year of the Hegira, 1182, corresponding, in the Christian era, to the year 1769. It is not unworthy of remark, that this year also, gave birth to Napoleon Buonaparte. Alike distin- guished for military genius, the characters of these chief tains are equally marked by i ambition, and unre- posing activity. Early education, the advantages of science, and a more prominent field of enterprise, have given to the h of one an eclat and brilliancy of success which are denied to the other. Yet, he who would learn to read and write, a the age of forty-five, as did Mohammed Ali, and from the humble calling of tobacco vender, rise to the throne of an extensive Empire, can be no ordinary man, and may bear some comparison with the Hero of France. with a disciplined army of 50,000 men, a navy of nine line-of-battle ships, and a revenue of twenty millions of dol- lars, he may be supposed to have the means of consolida- ting his power, of establishing his dynasty, and of maintain- ing his de facto independence. He desires to raise Egypt to the level of European civilization, surpassing that of the augustan age of El-Mamoun and Haroun el-Rashid. The patronage which he gives to arts and science; his encour agement of Europeans of talent; h is printing presses poly technie, elementary, and medical schools; his factories and