sible to read a page written in an Indo-European language, from Sanskrit to Keltic, without coming across some kind of dialectic process of which I do not remember a single trace in an Egyptian text.

Art.

But if the Egyptian mind must be considered as inferior in some branches of intellectual development, the world of Art, not indeed in its full extent, but in many aspects, ranging from mere elegance and prettiness to real beauty and sublimity, was revealed to it at a very early period indeed. Those who know Egyptian art only through our northern museums can have no adequate conception of what it really is or was. Almost all the objects in our museums have suffered by frequent locomotion, atmospheric influences, or other deleterious causes. You should see the freshness of the articles contained in the museum at Bulaq, which seem to have just come from the hand of the artist, or inspect some of the tombs which have not yet suffered from the vandalism of the moderns, or see the magnificent temples whose ruins have as yet escaped destruction. But, even on the spot, imagination must come to our aid if the past has to be realized.

Many of us have seen the Pyramids, and, as Dean Stanley says, "One is inclined to imagine that the Pyramids are immutable, and that such as you see them

now, such they were always. Of distant views this is true; but taking them near at hand, it is more easy from the existing ruins to conceive Karnac as it was than it is to conceive the Pyramidal platform as it was. The smooth casing of part of the top of the second Pyramid, and the magnificent granite blocks which form the lower stages of the third, serve to show what they must have been all from top to bottom; the first and second, brilliant white or yellow limestone, smooth from top to bottom, instead of those rude disjointed masses which their stripped sides now present; the third, all glowing with the red granite from the first cataract. As it is, they have the barbarous look of Stonehenge; but then they must have shone with the polish of an age already rich with civilization, and that the more remarkable when it is remembered that these granite blocks which furnish the outside of the third and inside of the first must have come all the way from the first cataract. It also seems, from Herodotus and others, that these smooth outsides were covered with sculptures. Then you must build up or uncover the massive tombs, now broken or choked up with sand, so as to restore the aspect of vast streets of tombs like those on the Appian Way, out of which the Great Pyramid would rise like a cathedral above smaller churches. Lastly, you must enclose two other Pyramids with stone precincts and gigantic gateways; and, above all, you must restore the Sphinx as he (for it

must never be forgotten that a female Sphinx was almost unknown) was in the days of his glory."1

I may perhaps appear open to the suspicion of overestimating the arts of ancient Egypt. I therefore cannot do better than refer you to the mature judgment of one who has written the History of Architecture2 with consummate knowledge, ability and taste.

"No one can possibly examine the interior of the Great Pyramid," says Mr. Fergusson, "without being struck with astonishment at the wonderful mechanical skill displayed in its construction. The immense blocks of granite brought from Syene-a distance of 500 miles-polished like glass, and so fitted that the joints can hardly be detected. Nothing can be more wonderful than the extraordinary amount of knowledge displayed in the construction of the discharging chambers over the roof of the principal apartment, in the alignment of the sloping galleries, in the provision of ventilating shafts, and in all the wonderful contrivances of the structure. All these, too, are carried out with such precision that, notwithstanding the immense superincumbent weight, no settlement in any part can be detected to the extent of an appreciable fraction of an inch. Nothing more perfect, mechanically, has ever been erected since that time, and we ask ourselves in vain, how long it must have taken before men acquired such experience and such skill, or were so perfectly organized, as to contemplate and complete such undertakings."

The walls of the most ancient tombs are decorated with pictures.

1 "Sinai and Palestine," p. lvii.

2 See also the whole fifth book of Mr. Fergusson's "Illustrated Handbook of Architecture."

now, such they were always. Of distant views this is true; but taking them near at hand, it is more easy from the existing ruins to conceive Karnac as it was than it is to conceive the Pyramidal platform as it was. The smooth casing of part of the top of the second Pyramid, and the magnificent granite blocks which form the lower stages of the third, serve to show what they must have been all from top to bottom; the first and second, brilliant white or yellow limestone, smooth from top to bottom, instead of those rude disjointed masses which their stripped sides now present; the third, all glowing with the red granite from the first cataract. As it is, they have the barbarous look of Stonehenge; but then they must have shone with the polish of an age already rich with civilization, and that the more remarkable when it is remembered that these granite blocks which furnish the outside of the third and inside of the first must have come all the way from the first cataract. It also seems, from Herodotus and others, that these smooth outsides were covered with sculptures. Then you must build up or uncover the massive tombs, now broken or choked up with sand, so as to restore the aspect of vast streets of tombs like those on the Appian Way, out of which the Great Pyramid would rise like a cathedral above smaller churches. Lastly, you must enclose two other Pyramids with stone precincts and gigantic gateways; and, above all, you must restore the Sphinx as he (for it

must never be forgotten that a female Sphinx was almost unknown) was in the days of his glory."1

I may perhaps appear open to the suspicion of overestimating the arts of ancient Egypt. I therefore cannot do better than refer you to the mature judgment of one who has written the History of Architecture 2 with consummate knowledge, ability and taste.

"No one can possibly examine the interior of the Great Pyramid," says Mr. Fergusson, "without being struck with astonishment at the wonderful mechanical skill displayed in its construction. The immense blocks of granite brought from Syene-a distance of 500 miles-polished like glass, and so fitted that the joints can hardly be detected. Nothing can be more wonderful than the extraordinary amount of knowledge displayed in the construction of the discharging chambers over the roof of the principal apartment, in the alignment of the sloping galleries, in the provision of ventilating shafts, and in all the wonderful contrivances of the structure. All these, too, are carried out with such precision that, notwithstanding the immense superincumbent weight, no settlement in any part can be detected to the extent of an appreciable fraction of an inch. Nothing more perfect, mechanically, has ever been erected since that time, and we ask ourselves in vain, how long it must have taken before men acquired such experience and such skill, or were so perfectly organized, as to contemplate and complete such undertakings.”

The walls of the most ancient tombs are decorated with pictures.

1 "Sinai and Palestine,” p. lvii.

2 See also the whole fifth book of Mr. Fergusson's "Illustrated Handbook of Architecture."