rules, that time and intercourse with other nations produced little change in these particulars. Plato, in his Republic, introduces the following remark in a dialogue: "The plan we have been laying down for youth was known long ago to the Egyptians; that nothing but beautiful forms and fine music should be permitted to enter into the assemblies of young people. Having settled what those forms and that music should be, they exhibited them in their temples; nor was it lawful, either in painting, statuary, or any branches of music, to make any alteration, or invent any forms different from what were established. Upon examination, therefore, you will find that the pictures and statues made ten thousand years ago, are in no one particular better or worse than what they now make."

But after all these deductions, the Egyptian ruins are not only sublime and impressive, but often extremely beautiful. Many of the sculptured animals are spirited, and all travellers agree that the countenances of gods and mortals are remarkable for simplicity, sweetness, and serenity of expression. Harriet Martineau says: "I was never tired of trying to imprint on my memory the characteristics of the old Egyptian face; the handsome arched nose, with its delicate nostril; the well-opened, though long eye; the placid, innocent mouth, and the smoothrounded, amiable chin. Innocence is the prevailing expression, and sternness is absent. Thus the stiffest figures and the most monotonous gestures convey only an impression of dispassionateness and benevolence. The dignity of the gods and goddesses is beyond all description, from this union of fixidity and benevolence. If the traveller be blest with the clear eye and fresh mind, and be also enriched by comprehensive knowledge of the workings of the human intellect in its various circumstances, he cannot but be impressed, and he may be startled by the evidence before him of the elevation and beauty of the first conceptions formed by men of the Beings of the unseen world."

The architecture of Egypt greatly resembles that of Hindostan. There are the same gigantic proportions, the

same flat roofs of ponderous stone, supported by the same massive columns; the same herculean labour in the excavation of tombs and temples through the solid rock of everlasting hills, the same gloomy cavernous effect of the interior, the same colossal images, the same infinity of sculptured figures everywhere, painted in the same bright colours.

The ruins of Egyptian Thebes are well known as the most wonderful in the world. Its date ascends beyond the records of history. Homer celebrates it as "the city with a hundred gates;" and he wrote nearly a thousand years before Christ. Existing monuments prove that it must have been in full glory more than three thousand years ago. Belzoni says: "The most sublime ideas that can be formed from the most magnificent specimens of our present architecture would give a very incorrect picture of these ruins. It appeared to me like entering a city of giants, who, after a long conflict, were all destroyed, leaving the ruins of their various temples as the only proofs of their former existence." The most celebrated of these structures is now universally known under the name of El Karnac. It faces the Nile, with which it is connected by an avenue a mile long, with gigantic sphinxes on each side all the way. Diodorus describes the walls as twenty-four feet thick, and a mile and a half in circumference. They have twelve principal entrances, each composed of several towers and colossal gateways, beside other buildings attached to them, in themselves larger than most other temples. On each side of many of the towers are colossal statues, from twenty to thirty feet high. The large building, supposed to have been the royal palace, was built more than three thousand years ago, by Ramses the Great, commonly called Sesostris. It is entered through an open colonnade, and up an ascent of twentyseven steps. These lead into a covered hall, so spacious that a large European church might stand within it. The ceiling, of unhewn blocks of stone, is sustained by one hundred and thirty-four columns, sixty-five feet high, and

thirty in circumference. The whole hall, from top to bot tom, is covered with sculptures relating to religious worship. In several places an Ark is represented, as carried on poles, resting on the shoulders of priests, and followed by a procession of people. There are likewise branched candlesticks, tables with loaves of bread, and cherubim with extended wings. The number of these sculptures is so great that no one has been able to count them, much less to copy them. Another colonnade beyond leads to a succession of apartments covered with sculpture representing domestic scenes, mixed with religious ceremonies. All these are painted in vivid colours, which still retain their brilliancy. The ceiling of the central room is painted blue, studded with constellations of stars. Denon says: "One is fatigued with writing, one is fatigued with reading, one is stunned with the thought of such a conception. It is hardly possible to believe in so much magnificence even after having seen it." The ancient existence of libraries is proved by these ruins. Champollion found on a doorway representations of Thoth and a feminine deity, who presided over arts, science, and literature. Above their heads were, "Lord of the Library," and "Lady of Letters," carved in hieroglyphics. Fragments from the History of the Greek Hecatæus inform us that he saw this grand edifice more than five hundred years before Christ. He says it then contained a library of Sacred Books, over the entrance of which was inscribed, "The Remedy for the Soul." Near the palace is the great Temple of Karnac, one of the sublimest specimens of Egyptian architecture. It has a lofty magnificent gateway, more than sixty-two feet high, of richly sculptured sandstone. This leads to a gallery of colossal rams, which indicate that the precincts were sacred to Amun, commonly called Jupiter Ammon. The grandeur of the interior corresponds to the external decorations. Heeren says: "This temple is without doubt one of the most ancient that now exist in Egypt, yet both this and the palace are built of materials taken from edifices more VOL. I.-16*

ancient still." Every year the statue of Amun was carried in solemn procession into Libya, over a space of nine or ten miles. Almost the entire road was lined with temples, colossal statues, and long avenues of gigantic sphinxes. Richardson says: "It is impossible to conceive anything more impressive than the view which must have burst upon the sight of the enraptured votaries, when, at the close of the solemnity of bringing back their god, they entered the grand Temple of Karnac to replace him in his shrine, with harps and cymbals, and songs of rejoicing."

About two miles from El Karnac is the great Temple of Luxor, supposed to have been built two centuries earlier. Here likewise deities are represented surmounted by the inscriptions, "Lord of the Divine Writings," and "Lady of Letters." Belzoni, describing this place, says: "The avenue of sphinxes leading to the great temple inspires the visitor with devotion, and their enormous size strikes him with wonder. Each side of the gate leading to the inner courts are seated immense colossal figures, as if guarding the entrance of the holy ground. Farther on is the magnificent temple dedicated to the Great God of Creation. I entered it alone. The sun was rising, and long shadows from groups of columns extended over the ruins, while rays of light struck on the masses in various directions, forming views that baffle all description. How can I describe my sensations! I seemed alone in the midst of all that is most sacred in the world. A forest of enormous columns adorned all round, from top to bottom, with beautiful figures, and various ornaments; the graceful shape of the Lotus, which forms their capitals; the gates, walls, pedestals, everywhere adorned with symbolical figures, representing battles, processions, feasts, offerings, and sacrifices, all relating no doubt to the ancient history of the country; the sanctuary formed of fine red granite, with various obelisks standing before it, proclaiming to the distant passenger, 'Here is the seat of holiness;' the high portals seen from afar through the openings to this vast

labyrinth of edifices; the various groups of ruins of other temples within sight; all these had such an effect upon my soul, as to separate me in imagination from the rest of mortals, exalt me on high over all, and cause me to forget the trifles and follies of life. My mind was impressed with such solemnity that for some time I was unconscious whether I was on terrestrial ground, or on some other planet."

In the vicinity of Thebes are wonderful excavations in the granite of mountains, similar to those described at Ellora and Elephanta, in Hindostan. Some are very extensive, with winding stairs leading to small apartments in all directions. Some have deep shafts or wells, and at the bottom of the wells passages to smaller apartments, with endless winding recesses. In these cavernous depths are a multitude of colossal statues of all the gods. The various halls and chambers are covered with hieroglyphic writing and painted sculptures, the colours of which are still fresh. and glowing. Here Belzoni discovered the alabaster sar-cophagus. Speaking of the apartment where it was found, Harriet Martineau says: "We enjoyed seeing the whole lighted up by a fire of straw. I shall never forget that gorgeous chamber in this palace of death. The rich colours on the walls were brought out by the flame; and the wonderful ceiling, all starred with emblems, and peopled with countless yellow figures, was like nothing earthly." One priestly tomb in these excavations occupies an acre and a quarter of the heart of the rock. Here is the sepulchre of the Pharaoh who pursued the Hebrews into the Red Sea. "Five lines of tribute-bearers show how extensive was his dominion. They are of various costumes and complexions, bringing ivory, apes, leopards, gold, and among other offerings a bear;" as if the extreme North also acknowledged his power. The faces of the Pharaohs on these monuments are likenesses. This carries back the art of portrait-sculpture into high antiquity.

Memphis, much farther down the Nile, was founded by the first king Menes, who, all agree, must have lived between