void of all rhetorical adornments, in order that justice alone might be allowed to influence their decision,

The punishment of death was inflicted in many cases. This is not to be wondered at, when considering that these people were not influenced by the principles of the Christian religion, which surely are at variance with extreme or cruel punishments. I trust I may be able, before I finish this work, to make it evident, that the punishment of death is not founded on a belief either in the immortality of the soul, or in that of rewards and punishments after death. But the pharisaical are generally the strongest advocates of severe punishments, in order to impress on the minds of the people, a belief that they are actuated by the most sincere aversion to all that is evil.

Among the Egyptians perjury was punished with death, being considered a great crime, not only against man, but against the gods.

He who saw a man killed, or violently assaulted upon the highway, and endeavored not to rescue him, was punished with death. Though I certainly do not approve of the species of punishment which was to be inflicted upon the culprit, I think that society has an equal right to punish a neglect of duty, which seems to be so very natural as to attempt to save, in such a case, the life of a fellow-being, as to punish him who actually commits the fatal deed.

If the person who had seen another killed, proved that he had been unable to give him any assistance to save his life, he was, nevertheless, punished with a certain number of stripes, and was kept without food for three days, provided he had neglected to bring the murderer to punishment. A false accuser was sentenced to the same punishment the accused would have had to suffer, if found guilty. This appears to me to be a very just law. Every Egyptian was obliged to give in writing his name to the governor in the province where he lived, and also state by what means he subsisted. But if it was proved that he had given wrong information, or that he got his living in an unlawful way, then he was punished with death. Surely a punishment not at all in proportion to the transgression! This law is said to have been introduced by Amaris.

He that wilfully killed any person, whether freeman or slave, had to suffer death himself. This at least proves that the Egyptians did not entertain that irrational prejudice, which holds the life of a freeman as more sacred than that of a bondsman.

Parents who killed their children were not condemned to suffer the punishment of death, but to embrace the corpses of their murdered offspring for three days and three nights; a guard being constantly at their side, to see that the sentence was punctually executed.

Parricides were put to death in a way which caused the person guilty of this horrible crime, the greatest agonies, before life finally left the mangled body.

Mutiny and disorders of the soldiery were punished with marks of disgrace.

Rape was punished with death, and for adultery, the male offender received one thousand stripes, while the woman had to submit to the dismemberment of her nose. Surely, we cannot but condemn in the strongest terms, the infliction of so cruel and inhuman a punishment on the woman. As a curious contradiction of principles in legislation, we cannot forbear in this place to observe the attempt which in our days has been made by certain lawgivers, who seem to understand very little of the important office committed to their trust, to exempt the woman in such cases from all punishment whatever, and to visit on the other sex alone, the retributions of the law. Admirable wisdom, worthy of the age of progress! Brothers and sisters were allowed to marry each other* after the example of Osiris and his sister Isis-worshipped as divinities, and probably regarded solely as symbolical personages,-whose marriage was said to have proved an extremely happy one. From the circumstance that after the death of Osiris his wife Isis, would not contract any new matrimonial alliance, and as a widow ruled Egypt, in such manner as to gain the admiration and love of the people, the regal authority is said, from that time, to have been committed to females as well as to males, and that the power of the former was even greater, than that of the latter. Manetho, however, informs us, that the law permitting women to ascend the throne of Egypt, was introduced during the reign of Binothris, a king of the second dynasty; thus confirming the antiquity of this usage.

It is also said, that from regard to the memory of Isis, marriage contracts in Egypt generally, contained the promise on the future husband's side, to do every thing that pleased his wife. I suppose that the meaning was, that he should not interfere with the management of her household affairs; and thus far, I think that the husband ought to submit to the will of his wife. Usury was, in all cases, condemned by the law of Egypt. The creditor could not seize upon the debtor's person. This law was introduced by Bocchoris, one of the wisest kings of Egypt. He considered the person of every citizen as the property of the state. Solon borrowed this just and humane law from Egypt, when revising the code of the Athenians. Diodorus Siculus very properly remarks, that this law was much more consistent with justice and common sense, than that which allowed the creditor to seize the person, while forbidding him to take the plows and other implements of husbandry, belonging to the debtor.

• Against the abomination of this law, much has been said by those who have not given sufficient attention to the subject. We know that Abraham married his half-sister, and there can be no doubt that this custom prevailed generally, among the ancient nations, until the experience of its bad effects taught them wisdom.

It cannot be too often repeated, nor too deeply impressed on the minds of the people, that no civil right is so sacred as that of man's personal liberty, and that, therefore, all laws which permit the seizure of any personexcept on sufficient evidence of a criminal violation of law--are unjust, and unworthy of any nation that claims to be civilised or free. It is a mockery of liberty to tell us, that the person arrested will, generally, be permitted to give bail, for thousands of the poorer classes cannot procure bonds; thus, a poor man, though innocent, may often be committed to prison, while the wealthy criminal gives bail, and hastens to place himself beyond the reach of the law. Thus in consequence of such barbarous legislation, it often happens, that a man in England, or even in America, may be arrested, when, if he lived in some countries of Europe-where the political liberty of the people is more limited-his person, in the eyes of the law, would be held sacred, and he would be left unrestrained, until good proofs are obtained, of the crime of which he is accused. I know well, that there will be lawyers, and many others, who will say, that if the accused be not arrested on the first suspicion, he will flee from justice. Let him then flee; that is the best proof of his guilt; pursue him then, and if you catch the fugitive, you are surely justified in imprisoning him. Rather let ten guilty ones escape, than violate the sacred liberty of an innocent

man.

It appears that "the stick" was frequently used as an instrument of punishment in ancient times, as it is at this day, among the modern Egyptians. The bastinado is held in particular esteem in Egypt, and Sir Gardiner Willkinson relates that the people on the banks of the Nile say: "The stick came down from heaven, a blessing from God."†

In the mode of executing deeds, conveyances and contracts, the ancient Egyptians were peculiarly formal and minute, and a very extraordinary number of witnesses was required for these documents. In later times, during the reign of the Ptolemies, deeds of property commenced with a preamble, reciting the date of the king's reign at the time they were executed, with the name of the president of the court, and also that of the clerk, by whom they were written.

A remarkable feature in Egyptian law, was the sacredness with which old edicts and usages were upheld. They were as closely interwoven with the religion of the country as the laws of the Israelites and the Mahommedans are with their respective religions. It is to be observed that the reason of this veneration of ancient customs, was that they were regarded as having been derived from the Gods themselves; hence it was considered injurious to make any alterations in institutions so sacred. Few innovations were, therefore, allowed to be introduced, and not before

* Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2d, p. 40.

"Nezel min ésemma énebòat båraka min Allah."

fatal consequences had proved, that the gods were not entirely to be trusted as legislators. The people appear, however, generally, to have been convinced of the divine origin of their laws; but it must be admitted that, had these laws not been the production of wisdom and experience, the people would not so long have placed an unbounded confidence in them, nor regarded them as palpable proofs of the favor of the gods.

There were, however, among the Egyptian monarchs, a few who signalized themselves as legislators. As such are mentioned Mnevis, Sosyches, Sesostris, Bocchoris, Asychis, Amasis, and even the Persian Darius. The chief merit of the first of these appears to have consisted in his success in inclining the people to accept the laws, which he pretended to have received from Thoth or Hermes: "an idea," says Diodorus, "which many other ancient lawgivers have successfully adopted, who have inculcated a respect for the laws they themselves formed through the awe which is naturally felt for the majesty of the gods."

Amasis was particularly eminent for his wisdom and for the many salutary amendments he made to the Egyptian laws. These praiseworthy acts of his, seem to have been duly appreciated by the people who revered his memory. Darius also rendered himself deserving of the gratitude of the Egyptians, who acknowledged his merits by giving him the title of Darius the Divine.

I will here observe, that, though Egypt in later times was divided into three parts, as I have mentioned in another place, such was not the case in the earlier period of its history, when it consisted of only two divisions "The Upper and Lower Regions." This division was not only marked by a distinction in the administration of the laws, but was also indicated by a difference of language. Thebes was the capital of the one region, and Memphis of the other; and we know also that these regions constituted, at some period, quite separate kingdoms. In later times Egypt was divided into three provinces, of which the middle part, or Heptanomis, was subdivided into sixteen nomes, and the two other provinces into ten nomes each. Sesostris, or Rameses the Great, is said by Diodorus, to have caused Egypt to be divided into nomes. "The nomes," says Strabo, were subdivided into topardiæ or local governments, and these again into minor jurisdictions."

Every Egyptian monarch assumed the title of "Lord of the Two Regions," or "the Two Worlds," from the time that Upper and Lower Egypt constituted one kingdom.

For what we know of the Egyptian laws and institutions, we are chiefly indebted to Diodorus Siculus. Herodotus, in this respect, fails to give us all the information which he appears to have had good opportunity to gather relative to this subject during his visit to Egypt.

• Ammianus Marcellinus states, that Libya, at one period, was attached to Egypt; but without forming a part of Egypt Proper.

LETTER XXIII.

THE SCIENCE, LITERATURE AND ART OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

IT has long been a subject of inquiry among the learned, whether the earliest germs of science and art were originally introduced into Egypt from another land, or whether they sprang up from its own primitive soil. A true solution of the question would seem rather to refer the origin of Egyptian civilization to both these sources; for it most probably was the fruit equally of indigenous plants and engraftments from a foreign stock. There are many who think that knowledge was communicated from Egypt to the Hindoos and to the Chinese; nay, even that the latter were. originally an Egyptian colony. But it appears to me, that there is much greater reason to suppose the Egyptians received the first germs of civilization from the Hindoos, or that the first settlers in Egypt, at least those in Upper Egypt or Thebaïd, emigrated from India.

There existed a striking resemblance, which has generally been admitted, between the customs, the arts, the worship, and the mythology of the ancient inhabitants of India, and those of the people that dwelt in the earliest period on the banks of the Upper Nile. The temples, for instance, in the neighborhood of Bombay, are acknowledged to exhibit features the same as those of the sacred edifices of Nubia, not only as to the style of archi tecture, but also in their similar adaptation to the practice of the same worship. In both cases they consist of vast excavations hewn into a mountain or hill, and are adorned with huge figures, which typify the same powers of nature, or serve as emblems to indicate the same qualities in those beings that were supposed to rule the world. The cave of Elephanta in Egypt has, for instance, a striking resemblance to the excavated temples of Guerfeh Hassan. It can further be adduced in confirmation of the above hypothesis, that when the sepoys--the soldiers of India-joined the British army in Egypt, they imagined that they had found their own temples in the ruins of Dendera, and evinced much anger towards the natives for neglecting the ancient deities, whose images are still preserved. "There is a resemblance, too, in the minor instruments of their superstition-the lotus, the lingam, and the serpent-which can hardly be regarded as accidental. But it is chiefly in the immense extent, the gigantic plans, the vast conceptions, which appear in all their sacred edifices, that we most readily discover the aspirations of the same lofty genius, and the efforts to give expression to the same vast and sublime ideas. In India and in Egypt the hardest granite mountains have been hewn into the most striking, if