become qualified for admission into the higher class, it was necessary to have passed through those of the inferior degree: and each of them was probably divided into ten different grades. It was necessary that the character of the candidate for initiation should be pure and unsullied; and novitiates were commanded to study those lessons which tended to purify the mind, and to encourage morality. The honour of ascending from the less to the greater mysteries was as highly esteemed as it was difficult to obtain: no ordinary qualification recommended the aspirant to this important privilege; and independent of enjoying an acknowledged reputation for learning and morality, he was required to undergo the most severe ordeal*, and to show the greatest moral resignation; but the ceremony of passing under the knife of the Hierophant †, was merely emblematic of the regeneration of the neophyte. That no one except the priests was privileged to initiation into the greater mysteries, is evident from the fact of a prince, and even the heir apparent, if of the military order, not being made partaker of those important secrets, nor instructed in them until his accession to the throne, when, in virtue of his kingly office, he became a member of the priesthood and the head of the religion. It is not, how * I do not allude to the method of frightening the novice, which I do not suppose to have been practised on these occasions, especially in the initiation of the members of the priestly order; if, indeed, this was ever done in Egypt before the time of the Romans. + I suppose some of the headless figures in the tombs of the kings, at Thebes, refer to this ceremony. ever, less certain that, at a later period, many besides the priests, and even some Greeks, were admitted to the lesser mysteries; yet in these cases also their advancement through the different grades must have depended on a strict conformance to prescribed rules. On the education of the Egyptians Diodorus makes the following remarks:-"The children of the priests are taught two different kinds of writingt,-what is called the sacred, and the more general; and they pay great attention to geometry and arithmetic. For the river, changing the appearance of the country very materially every year, is the cause of many and various discussions among neighbouring proprietors about the extent of their property; and it would be difficult for any person to decide upon their claims without geometrical reasoning, founded on actual observation. Of arithmetic they have also frequent need, both in their domestic economy, and in the application of geometrical theorems, besides its utility in the cultivation of astronomical studies; for the orders and motions of the stars are observed at least as *Diodor. i. 81. Conf. Herod. ii. 36. writing, the sacred and the demotic." + Perhaps Diodorus and Herodotus both refer to the hieratic and enchorial, or demotic, without considering the hieroglyphic; but Porphyry and Clement of Alexandria are more explicit. The former states that Pythagoras (when in Egypt) became acquainted with the three kinds of writing, the epistolic, the hieroglyphic, and the symbolic; and the latter says, "that in the education of the Egyptians three styles of writing are taught the first is called the epistolary (enchorial, or demotic); the second, the sacerdotal (hieratic), which the sacred scribes employ; and the third, the hieroglyphic. Porph. in Vitâ Pythag., p. 15. Clem. Alex. strom. 5. vol. ii. p. 657. The Egyptian languages and characters I shall have occasion to notice hereafter. : industriously by the Egyptians as by any people whatever; and they keep record of the motions of each for an incredible number of years, the study of this science having been, from the remotest times, an object of national ambition with them. They have also most punctually observed the motions, periods, and stations of the planets, as well as the powers which they possess with respect to the nativities of animals, and what good or evil influences they exert; and they frequently foretel what is to happen to a man throughout his life, and not uncommonly predict the failure of crops, or an abundance, and the occurrence of epidemic diseases among men and beasts: foreseeing also earthquakes and floods, the appearance of comets, and a variety of other things which appear impossible to the multitude. It is said that the Chaldæans in Babylon are derived from an Egyptian colony, and have acquired their reputation for astrology by means of the information obtained from the priests in Egypt. But the generality of the common people learn only from their parents or relations that which is required for the exercise of their peculiar professions, as we have already shown; a few only being taught anything of literature, and those principally the better classes of artificers." Hence it appears they were not confined to any particular rules in the mode of educating their children, and it depended upon a parent to choose the degree of instruction he deemed most suitable to their mode of life and occupations, as among other civilized nations. In their minute observations respecting every event of consequence, Herodotus states that the Egyptians surpassed all other men; and "when any thing occurs," says the historian*, "they put it down in writing, and pay particular attention to the circumstances which follow it; and if in process of time any similar occurrence takes place, they conclude it will be attended with the same results." If the outward show and pomp of religion, for which the ancient Egyptians were so noted, appear to us unnecessary, and inconsistent with real devotion, we must make suitable allowance for the manners of an eastern nation, and bear in mind that the priests were not guilty of inculcating maxims they did not themselves follow; but on the contrary, by their upright conduct, and by imposing on themselves duties far more severe than those required from any other class of the community, they set an example to the people by which they could not fail to benefit. And the strict purification of body and mind they were bound to undergo, both as members of those sacred institutions, and as persons devoted to the service of the gods, not only obtained for them the esteem of the rest of the Egyptians, but tended also to ameliorate their own character; and their piety and virtuet were as conspicuous as their learning. *Herod, ii. 32. Though many enjoyed the comforts and luxuries of this world, it does not follow that they failed, on this account, in the practice of morality. We may, perhaps, feel disposed to blame the Egyptian priests for their exclusiveness in the study of religion, and in keeping concealed from the people those secrets which it imparted; but it was argued that being fully engaged in the temporal occupations of the world, the theories of metaphysical speculation were unnecessary for their welfare, and incompatible with their employments. They deemed it sufficient to warn them of their duty, and urge them to conform to the rules laid down for the encouragement of morality; and the dread both of a temporal, and a future, ordeal, was held out to them as an inducement to lead a just and virtuous life. Restrained by the fear of punishment hereafter, and by the hope of a happier state, and dreading the displeasure of their rulers and the severity of the laws, they were necessarily taught to command their passions, and to practise, or at least to appreciate, virtue; and respect for their spiritual pastors being heightened by the idea of their possessing superior talents, they obeyed their commands with deference and submission. It appears to have been the object of the priests to enhance the value of their knowledge, and thereby more easily to gain an ascendency over the minds of a superstitious people; a measure which naturally strikes us as illiberal and despotic: but if we remember how much the force of habit and the sanctity of established laws serve to reconcile men to the form of government under which they have long lived, we cease to be surprised at the fondness of the Egyptians for their ancient in |