sequently, they were the only judges, physicians, and astronomers. In both countries, the religion of the priests was carefully kept secret from the people; and the consequence was that the most grotesque and monstrous forms appeared on the surface of society, while high spiritual allegories and profound metaphysical inquiries were concealed behind the veil. Both countries were originally governed by priests, and afterward kings were chosen from the warrior caste, but were regulated and controlled by the priests. In both countries society was divided into castes, of which the sacerdotal was the highest. In both, the priests married, but there was no female priesthood. Both had a language for sacred purposes, which was different from the vernacular tongue. Both believed that bathing in holy rivers, or being drowned in them, would confer peculiar sanctity. Both believed there was an immense reservoir of waters above the firmament, whence those rivers flowed. Both believed in a fifth element above our atmosphere, called ether, which the gods breathed, as mortals breathe air. In both places, priests taught to the higher castes that all souls emanated from One Universal Soul, in successive gradations. Both taught that there were ascending spheres of existence above this earth. Both taught the transmigration of human souls into animals. The same animals were considered sacred in both places. There was similarity in their religious festivals and processions, especially in the custom of carrying their sacred images from one temple to another, in great four-wheeled cars. The architecture of ancient Egypt bore a striking resemblance to that of India. Both suggested the idea of grottoes or caverns, and were characterized by the same. style of ornaments. The pyramid was a form prescribed for sacred buildings in both countries, therefore a truncated pyramid generally formed the main entrance to the temples. There was always a sanctuary into which none but the priests entered, and the outer courts were for the people. Both decorated their temples with flags on festival occasions. Both made similar offerings to the gods. The trial of

departed souls by the Judge of the Dead is sculptured on Hindoo and Egyptian walls, and they are so similar that one might be mistaken for the other. Their astronomical systems were alike. They represented the signs of the zodiac by the same emblems, consecrated a day to each of the seven planets successively, and made the same calculations concerning alternate destructions and reproductions of this world. It is said by the learned, that the Egyptian language bears very few and slight analogies to the Sanscrit; and no traces of the hieroglyphic writing have yet been discovered in India. But Bruce, the traveller, says that the language spoken at Masuah, not far from Meroë, is substantially Sanscrit. Many places mentioned by Mungo Park, in his Second Journey to Africa, have Sanscrit names, which are actually current in India at the present day. The Nile was formerly designated by a Sanscrit word, signifying dark blue; and the same name was anciently given to the river Indus. Alexander the Great thought he had discovered the source of the Nile in India. He was probably misled by the coincidence of names, and the crocodiles and lotus-blossoms, which abounded in both rivers. Blumenbach, the celebrated naturalist, had in his possession the skull of an Egyptian mummy, and of a Hindoo; and he said they bore a more striking resemblance to each other than any other two skulls in his collection. Paintings on the walls convey the same idea of similarity in their persons. In both places, the higher castes are represented with a lighter and brighter colour than the lower, who are more darkened by exposure to sun and wind. Denon says the pictures of couches, chairs, and other articles in ancient Egyptian tombs, obviously indicate that they were made of a species of wood brought from India.

If the Egyptians still existed as a nation, and had preserved their old customs and Sacred Books, as the Hindoos have done, it would doubtless be easy to find many more resemblances. But Egypt has passed away from the face of the earth, and only by persevering industry has learning been able to trace a few of her footsteps. What we know

of her history and opinions is mainly derived from the testimony of wise and illustrious men, who were drawn thither by her renown for knowledge in arts, sciences, and religious mysteries. Abraham is supposed to have lived nearly four thousand years ago. That Egypt was already famous in his time is testified by Josephus, historian of the Jews, who informs us that Abraham went down thither, to become an auditor of the priests, and compare their religious ideas with his own.

Herodotus, the oldest Greek historian, visited Egypt about four hundred and forty-eight years before Christ, to collect materials from the priests, who were celebrated for having carefully preserved the records of past ages. His history has come down safely to the present time.

In less than a hundred years after, Plato, the most celebrated of the Greek philosophers, was drawn to Egypt by the renown of priestly schools at Heliopolis, and resided there several years. Many of his writings are preserved, and they contain frequent allusions to the Egyptians.

Strabo, author of a Greek geographical work, describing the manners and customs of different nations, went to Egypt about fifty years after the Christian era. Heliopolis, eclipsed by the new city of Alexandria, was then going to decay, and the priests were no longer among the most learned of their age; but they talked of departed glory, and pointed out to him their once famous schools, and the house where Plato had resided. This book is also extant.

The ancient Egyptian priests claimed immense antiquity for their country. They told Herodotus that Egypt was originally governed by gods; of whom there first reigned a series of eight, then a series of twelve, then a series of twelve more; that these rulers had uniformly one Superior among them; and the last of them were Osiris and his son Horus. By this government of gods it is naturally supposed they meant successive orders of priests, each with a Sovereign Pontiff, bearing the name of the deity to whose service he was devoted, and by whose oracular directions VOL. I.-13

he professed to govern. Thus if a priest of Ammon was chosen ruler, they called it being governed by Ammon; if a priest of Osiris was elected, they called it the government of Osiris. From the reign of Osiris to their king Amasis, they reckoned fifteen thousand years; and Amasis reigned five hundred and sixty-nine years before Christ. Herodotus says: "On this subject, the Egyptians have no doubts; for they profess to have always computed the years, and to have kept written accounts of them with the minutest accuracy." It was customary for every high priest of Ammon during his life-time to deposit in the great temple at Thebes a statue of himself. They pointed out to Herodotus three hundred and forty one of these colossal wooden images, assuring him that no one of them was the statue of a god, but all were mortal men, and priests, in a direct line of succession from father to son; all of them after the reign of the gods. Allowing three generations of men to be equal to one hundred years, he computed that this succession required an interval of eleven thousand three hundred and forty years.

We are in the habit of calling the Greeks the ancients, but they considered themselves a nation of yesterday compared with the Egyptians. Plato visited Egypt about three hundred years later than Solon, the lawgiver of Athens; and he informs us that when Solon inquired of the priests concerning ancient affairs, he perceived that, compared with them, neither he nor any other of the Greeks had any knowledge of very remote antiquity. When he began to discourse concerning what seemed to him the most ancient events, such as the Deluge of Deucalion, one of the oldest of the priests exclaimed: "Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always children. All your souls are juvenile; neither containing any ancient opinion derived from remote tradition, nor any discipline hoary from its existence in remote periods of time. You mention one deluge only, whereas many have happened."

These statements of Egyptian priests are rejected as fabulous; but the great antiquity of their country is proved

beyond dispute by sculptures and hieroglyphic writing, cut into the solid rock of ancient temples, tombs, and palaces. The dry climate and sandy soil were favourable to their preservation. There was no frost to heave them, no rainy season to corrode the durable material. For centuries after this wonderful people had passed away, their gigantic memorials stood in the solitude of waste places, seldom seen by the eye of man. The marvellous accounts of travellers at last attracted general attention toward them, and within the last half century, France and England have devoted much money and learning to the careful investigation of these stupendous monuments. The task was attended with difficulties apparently insurmountable; for the secret of hieroglyphic writing had been lost for ages, and no man could reveal it. But when the French army were digging the foundations of a fort, at Rosetta, in Egypt, they found a large block of stone containing an inscription in three different characters; one in Greek, one in the common Egyptian writing, and one in the sacred characters used only by the priests. Underneath them all, it was recorded that the same inscription had been ordered to be engraved in three forms. The Greek language was familiar to scholars, and a clue to the other unknown characters was thus obtained. But the stone was much mutilated, and though several names remained in the Greek portion, unfortunately only that of Ptolemy remained in hieroglyphics. The base of an obelisk, with an inscription in Greek and in hieroglyphics, was afterward discovered at Philoe. The names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra in hieroglyphics were well preserved, and the letters common to both were written in the same manner; they were therefore concluded to be signs of sound, which we call letters. This feeble ray of light was applied by learned men of different nations, with inconceivable perseverance and ingenuity. One after another added something to the stock of knowl edge, until at last an available system was formed. The Coptic language is a relic of the old vernacular tongue of Egypt, and various writings were preserved in it. M.