a foreigner, a tyrant, than rifque the hurting their cats, or any of the facred animals. At their final reduction by the Romans, the feveral' provinces were engaged in a very fierce war about their gods, a dog, a lion, a crocodile, and the reft, which was to have the preference, and be reputed the fuperior deity: till the Romans, partly beat, and partly laught them out of that fo foolish ftrife, having eafily made themfelves masters of their country, and got their perfons, and all they poffefled, in their power.

"Nor had the Egyptians really any reputation for wisdom but during thofe times that their neighbours were favage, and had none. While the inhabitants of Greece and the other more barren countries were wholly taken up in fearch and toil for for food, and the common neceffaries of life, Egypt, being rendered exuberantly fruitful by the yearly inundations of the Nile, and productive of thofe neceffaries without any confiderable labour, the Egyptians had time on their hands, which the neighbour nations wanted, to confider of methods of living. They therefore formed themselves into communities, fettled under a government, built houses, fuch as they were, improved on the common diet, acorns, chefnuts, and fuch things as grew chiefly upon trees and fhrubs, by finding out better fruits, bread-corn, and other things. They made cloaths; fell, by degrees, into fome little practice of art and embellishment, painting and fculpture. The Greeks, all this while, were wild, dwelling in caves and woods. Some of thefe, happening to make excurfions into Egypt, long after Mofes and the Ifraelites had dwelt amongst, and much improved, the Egyptians, feeing there vait numbers of people, and a fo much different face of things from what they had left at home, fell into loud acclamations of the Wisdom of the Egyptians.

Our author proceeds to examine farther into the works of art, among the Egyptians; particularly their buildings; for whofe extraordinary duration he accounts, while he condemns their mode of construction, as uncouth, inconvenient, or use- ́ lefs. He next confiders their drefs; which, he obferves, was remarkably rude and mean. Of their boafted art, in preferving dead bodies, he gives a ludicrous account.

"It will," fays he, "be thought by fome, that I do not do the Egyptians juftice, unless I make fome acknowledgement of their art in preferving their dead bodies fo found and intire, as we fee they are, thorough fo many ages. This, therefore, I fhall not neglect faying fomething to, and much will not be needful. And first, it will not be improper to look a little into the reason that induced them to take all this care and pains about the dead. They were of opinion, that, upon the death of any perfon, the foul, quitting the body, tranfmigrated into fome other. That, upon the decease of this likewife, it betook itself still to another; and fo on, till it had paffed all creatures, belonging both to the air, the fea, and land; when, after a revolution of three thousand years, it returned to the body that it firft abandoned, entering and habiting it afresh. This doctrine will, I believe, hardly be infifted upon as an inftance of the Wisdom of the Egyptians, any more than the practice ef that nation in purfuit of it. For they only took care to preserve the

bulk

hulk and outer parts of the body, whilst they drew out the brains, the bowels, and intrails, all except the heart and kidney, and caft them away to perish and rot. So that the foul, at its return, must be forced either to take up with a body that was deftitute of brains, and the greater part of the bowels; which furely would have afforded it but a very indifferent habitation, or else it must have these reframed to its ufe and furnished forth anew; and then nobody will be well able to imagine why the rest of the body might not as well have been framed "by the fame means, without all this trouble of preferving it and, in truth, but in a very forry manner after all. If it be confined to the ufe of fuch limbs and members as it will meet with under the Egyptian fhrouds, it will have very miferable instruments to work with, and fuch, indeed, that will be fo little ferviceable to the ends of life, motion, and action, that it were as well to have none; and all the labour of the embalming is just to no purpose at all. But to wave all this, and confider a little the manner of it, we have fome of these mumies before us, and may fee in what fort they are preserved. Befides, Herodotus, Diodorus, and others of the Antients, that had been there, and made their obfervations upon the Egyptian conditure, have given us an account of all the drugs made ufe of, and the whole procefs of the ordering the body. In which, bateing the ceremony and folemnity that was peculiar to this nation upon all occafions, there was nothing that was confiderable or extraordinary. Nor indeed is it fo much owing to their skill, or method of conditure, that these bodies endure found and entire through fo many ages, as to the warmth, the drynefs, and goodness of the air in that country. When once they are removed thence, and tranfported to other parts, they are apt enough to decay, unless great care be taken of them. And I myfelt faw here a mumy, brought formerly out of Egypt, that, after it had been for fome time in our more humid air, began to coorrupt and grow mouldy emitted a fœtid and cadaverous fcent, and in conclufion putrified and fell to pieces."

Of the ftate of the Egyptian mufic he gives a moft contemptible defcription, at the very time when fome of the best forts of mufical inftruments were in ufe in Judea.

From the arts of ancient Egypt, our author proceeds to enquire into the ftate of Science in that country; confidering, in order, their religion, laws, hiftory, philofophy, phyfick, geometry, and aftronomy.

"As to their religion, the Egyptians," fays our author, "paid a mighty worship all over the country to their ancient princes, the first founders of the kingdom: to Ofiris, who was the fame with Hammon, and with Ham, the fon of Noah, who immedi ately after the ranfaction at Babel, came down in perfon and fettled here: to Ifis his wife, and Horus their fon. They were, from all antiquity, extremely fond of the notion of the tranfmigration of fouls, and would have it, that Ofiris, after his death, tranfmigrated into an Ox. Upon this account it was that all Egypt ever worshiped this creature with the highest pageantry and folemnity. They dedifated temples to his fervice; indeed the moft confiderable in all the

country,

country. In these he lived, and was fed, and hither the people re, forted to receive oracles from him. He had great numbers of priests continually pretent, being fet apart wholly for his fervice, and they too of the highest rank and quality in the kingdom, fome even of the royal family. Belides which there were great numbers of boys tinging hymns to the honour of him, as alfo lictors, and other officers, in continual attendance. Whenever he came forth, and fhewed himself openly to the people, there was an univerfal joy, every body appeared in the greatest Iplendour, and a feltival was folemnized thorough the whole country. The time of his birth was yearly celebrated with no lefs folemnity, for teven whole days together; and, when he happened to dye, all Egypt went into mourning, his body was embalmed, interred in the most folemn manner they could devife, and they were under the highest confernation and anxiety till they had found out another like creature of the fame colour, and with the fame marks that the former had. In fine, an ox was their principal deity, and this the highelt worship in all the

country.

"This ox was adored thorough all Egypt, as were alfo dogs and cats, the ibis, hawk, lepidotus, and Oxyrrhinus. Indeed all the animals that were produced throughout the whole country, were reputed facred, and all of them worshiped in fome place or other. Even thote that were enemies to human nature, and of all others the most noxious and injurious to the people. Lions, bears, wolves, crocodiles, and ferpents, were all adored here, fed, and treated with great obfervance. Of this laft species of divinities furely the, had no want, fince Egypt produced perpents without number, which were extremely venomous and fierce. The advocates of the Egyptian theology, who are wont to put this practice of the worthip of animals upon a principle of gratitude, and faid the inhabitants pa'd them that regard becaufe of the good and benefit they received from them, will hardly find that the worthip of these iaitmentioned comports well with that notion. But yet so high was their devotion to thele creatures, though thus mitchievous and pernicious, that they thought thoje pćalons who were b.t by afps, the most poisonous ot all ferpents, or jeix d'and devoured by crocodiles, very happy and acceptable to the dely. Bendes thofe animals already recited, there were others that were likewile adored there, as eagles, cows, monkies, goats, and sheep. And fince thefe laft were woriped in that country, it can never be thought fange that every Shepherd thould be an abomion to the Egyptians. It is the proper employ of thepherds to proFugate theep, and fat them for flaughter: a thing that muft needs be decitable to a people who allowed them priefts for their attendance, who adored them, and were fo very far from being brought to kill them, that they would not fo much as tafte of mutton or of kid; at the fame time that man's ficth was an allowed dish among them, and what nobody there had any need to ferople.

Lauaris animalibus abftinet omnis
Menia, Netas illic foetum jugulare capellae

Carnibus humanis vefci licet.

It was for the fame reafon, that the Egyptians might not cat with the Bee, that being an abomination to the Egyptians. For, as an ar cient writer oblerves, the Hebrews cat thofe very animals to which the

Egyptians

Egyptians paid a religious reverence. But to proceed. At Anubis they adored a living man; where were altars erected, and facrifices offered to him. That one man fhould fall down and worship another, deport himself to him as a god, and confult him as an oracle, which Minutius Felix affures us was done there, would be furely very extravagant any where but in Egypt; where a great part of the country, among their other remarkable dieties, worshiped alfo beetles, one of the vilest and meanett of all infects; and where beans, vetches, leeks, onions, and even cheese, were revered as so many gods,

"Nor did they thus," continues our author, "beyond all measure, worship only the animals that were living, but even the dead too. Nay had every where images of them for their adoration. Strabo tells us the image in their feveral temples, was no where in shape of a man, but of fome fort of animal or other: and this probably it was that drew upon them that rebuke of the satyrist,

Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam.,

"Amongit the reft they worshiped the figure of an ox, in imitation of which doubtlets the molten calf in the wilderness was made by the Ifraelites; who had feen fo many inftances of like fort in Egypt, out of which they were fo lately retreated. It was affuredly in oppofition to that unreasonable cuftom that the fecond precept of the decalogne was framed; not to make any graven image, or likeness of any thing in heaven, the earth, or the water, to bow down and ferve; and that the Jews were forbidden to make gods of filver and of gold.

"Their addrefs to the facred animals, and the treatment of them, was very extraordinary. They had priests in great numbers, attending their fervice; and thefe likewife of the highest rank and quality in all the country. They put prayers and made vows to them for the prefervation or recovery of their healths, as there happened to be occasion; and alfo during great heats, peftilence, or other public calamities. Thefe creatures were poffeffed of the most ftately temples of Egypt; which were likewife fet off with gold, with filver, and the nobleit furniture that could be invented. Their bodies were attired and adorned with the finest and richett cloths. They were wont to have bot baths provided for them; to be anointed with the fwertet ointments; and cented with the most fragrant incenfes and perfumes. The people adored and worshiped them wherever they found them; and this in the moft public manner, as a thing very glorious and honourable; many of them when they went abroad, in a fort of oftentation' carrying with them marks and infignia of the animals they revered, or were under their care and adminiftration. And the creatures they thus worshiped being males, they took great care to procure them the finest and bandJomeft females they could, of the fame kind, to ferve them as concubines. The whole country, ail except Thebais, was under a perpetual and ftanding tax, for the maintenance of the facred animals, They made plentiful provifion of all forts of meats, ot cakes, fiveet-meats. fjh, raw, boiled, reafted, for the entertainment of the dogs, cats, and the reit that would eat fuch meats. For others, as the bulls, sheep, and the like, they had grain, hay, grass and paflure, provided for them. Each of those that were worthiped had a field dedicated peculiarly to them, and fet apart for their repaft. It was, by the laws of Egypt, death tor

any

any man to kill one of these creatures wilfully. Nay, if a cat, or Ibis, happened to be killed, though accidentally and without defign, the perfon that did it was fure to be murdered immediately by the rabble, in the most cruel manner, without ever staying for any legal process for his condemnation. To avoid which and out of mere fear of fuch a fate, whenever any man happened to find either of these creatures dead, he was wont, before he came near it, to cry out with great lamentation, and proteft he found it dead. Nay, fo deeply implanted in their minds was this fuperftition, and fo obftinate were they in it, that Diodorus avers he was an eye-witness of a tumult about a Roman foldier's killing of a cat by mere accident, which the king himfelt could hardly ap peafe; though all were fenfible that this might exafperate the Romans to the destruction and fubverfion of the government, and that they at that very inftant were feeking an occafion of a breach and quarrel, in order to the fubduing and reducing it under the power of Rome. And during the time of a famine in Egypt, which was fo extreme that the inhabitants killed and eat up one another, not a man would be brought to touch one of the facred animals.

Amidst the abfurd attachment to their brutal divinities, an inconfiftent refentment was, it seems, fometimes exerted against them.

There was a practice that had obtained in Egypt, which muft needs be very furprizing, if any one thing can be thought fo among people where every thing was fo prepofterous and astonishing. In time of any great drought caufed by extreme heat of the weather, which in that climate is fometimes fuch as to be hardly fupportable, or when the country laboured under any raging diffemper or other public calamity, they took fome of the animals they worshiped 'afide in the dark, and there first menaced and terrified them, in order to oblige them to removė the calamity. But, if that did not ceafe in a little time, they fairly knocked them on the head and flew them. This was very plain dealing with them indeed; but men lefs bigoted and fuperftitious would have been apt to infer that thofe creatures that could not fecure themfelves against fuch menaces and infults, were not over-likely to fecure theit votaries against thofe calamities they were preffed with, which were affuredly more remote and more out of their power. But indeed a little thought and reflection would foon have fpoiled all, by difcarding and putting an end to all the parts of fo very foolish a worship. Nor was this the only abfurdity committed by the Egyptians in the perfor nance of their worship. At Papremis many of thofe that came to the temple were wont to bring with them clubs of wood, and there were ufually prefent above :000 perfons. As foon as the facrifices were performed, and the offices at an end, they fell upon each other with Tuch fury and violence, that Herodotus, who happened to be prefent, and a fpectator of one of these religious frays, avers, he was not able to imagine but that many of them mult dye of the bruifes and wounds they received. When he came to enquire into the meaning of this rior, the account they gave him was, that the mother of Mars for merly dwelt in that temple; and he, when grown to man's ftate, coming hither to lie with her, her attendants, not knowing him, re 1 ...

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