of punishment or of reward, continued to constitute, to the very end of the Egyptian empire, the most important tenets inculcated by the religion of the people.

Of the manner in which this tenet was taught to the people in a sensible manner, I exhibited a curious specimen in a former Lecture; [Table 5.] and here, perhaps, I may be permitted to observe, that this weighing of souls, such as it was represented by the Egyptians, has been exhibited nearly in the same manner, by most of the pagans, and generally by the primitive Christians. It is not an uncommon thing, even in this country, to meet in some old churches with paintings of this sort. Among other instances, I am told that on the screen in the church at Preston, a village not far from Brighton, a fresco painting still exists, in which two souls are weighed against one another. Although the painting be much injured, on account of having been white-washed, it is still sufficiently perfect to allow a beholder to comprehend the nature of the subject: and I have seen a print, in which the Archangel Michael is represented weighing the souls of the dead, thrusting those whose good works are found light to his left hand, where they are seized upon by the devils, who are waiting for them, while those whose virtues cause the scale to preponderate in their favour are turned off to the right, and introduced to St. Peter, previously to their being admitted into Paradise.

And here I cannot avoid referring to a pas

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sage of one of your celebrated writers, in his elements of the philosophy of the human mind, which must be considered extremely elegant in expression, and profound and just in sentiment. He is speaking of the different opinions of mankind, on the important question of religion and morality. "The variety of systems," he says, "which they have formed to themselves concerning these subjects, has often excited the ridicule of the sceptic and the libertine; but if, on the one hand, this variety shews the folly of bigotry, and the reasonableness of mutual indulgence; the curiosity which has led men, in every situation, to such speculations, and the influence which their conclusions, however absurd, have had on their character and their happiness, prove, no less clearly on the other, that there must be some principles from which they all derive their origin, and invite the philosopher to ascertain what are these original and immutable laws of the human mind. In truth, the more striking the contradictions, and the more ludicrous the ceremonies, to which the pride of human reason has thus been reconciled, the stronger is our evidence that religion has a foundation in the nature of man. When the greatest of modern philosophers (Lord Bacon, in his Essays) declares, that he would rather believe all the fables in the legend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is without a mind; he has expressed the same feeling,

which, in all ages and nations, has led good men, unaccustomed to reasoning, to an implicit faith in the creed of their infancy; a feeling which affords an evidence of the existence of the Deity, incomparably more striking than if, unmixed with error, and undebased by superstition, this most important of all principles had commanded the universal assent of mankind. Where are the other truths in the whole circle of the sciences, which are so essential to human happiness, as to procure an easy access, not only for themselves, but for whatever opinions may happen to be blended with them? Where are the truths so venerable and commanding, as to impart their own sublimity to every trifling memorial which recalls them to remembrance; to bestow solemnity and elevation on every mode of expression by which they are conveyed; and which, in whatever scene they have habitually occupied the thoughts, consecrate every object which it presents to our senses, and the very ground we have been accustomed to tread? To attempt to weaken the authority of such impressions, by a detail of the endless variety of forms, which they derive from casual associations, is surely an employment unsuited to the dignity of philosophy. To the vulgar, it may be amusing in this, as in other instances, to indulge their wonder at what is new or uncommon; but to the philosopher it belongs to perceive, under all these various disguises, the working of the same common nature; and in the superstitions of the

later ages of the Egyptian religion, not less than in the lofty visions of Plato, to recognise the existence of those moral ties, which unite the heart of man to the Author of his being."

The justice of these observations will appear, in a more striking manner, in a future Lecture, on the origin of idolatry.

LECTURE VII.

History of figurative hieroglyphics—Their general use amongst mankind-Explanation of the Mexican mode of writing by representation of the object-Alterations introduced by the Egyptians-Causes which must have produced them-Attempt at explaining some of the characters.

I HAVE now explained, in as comprehensive a way as I could, the whole of the discoveries which have been made hitherto in the decyphering of hieroglyphics. Our scholars may now, by the assistance of the Coptic language, and with comparatively little trouble, read almost any and every inscription which can be found amongst the Egyptian monuments. But although this may be a great satisfaction, yet there are other topics connected with this celebrated country of Egypt, which now command our attention. Who, for instance, were these dreaded Hyk-shos, or shepherd kings? Who was the Pharaoh that protected Joseph, and admitted the Israelites into Egypt? Who was the other Pharaoh who opposed Moses? What were the celebrated mysteries of Isis? What was their nature and their import? Have they been the cause, or have they been the consequence, of ido