Thus, from the very peculiar nature both of the customs of Egypt and of its climate, we know more of the minute details of common life amongst its ancient inhabitants than perhaps of any other nation of antiquity. These remains have also furnished the materials whence its history (our knowledge of which was before derived only from a confused collection of fragments handed down to us by the Greek authors) has been already greatly elucidated, and will probably before long be to a considerable degree restored.

We have already seen that Egypt has, on many past occasions, greatly subserved the purposes of the Divine mercy; and there is a certain uniformity in the Divine dealings which justifies the expectation that the same instrumentality will generally be employed for the accomplishment of the same end; and, therefore, that on future occasions Egypt may powerfully aid the cause of the gospel. This consideration is of itself enough to excite the attention of the Christian to all that relates to that country; nor can he hear without deep interest that a vast mass of facts has been providentially preserved to us concerning the manners, customs, and arts of common life of its ancient inhabitants, from whom God's chosen people derived their civilization, and whose history for full 2000 years runs closely parallel with that of Israel. For it is no presumptuous interpretation of the purpose of God in his providence, to observe that an inquiring, searching spirit, demanding the proof of every thing, predominates in the minds of men at the present day, and from thence to infer the importance of this opening of a new and hitherto unexplored field of inquiry, and the value of the powerful array of

unanswerable evidence in favour of the Scriptures, which doubtless will be obtained from it. These and similar considerations encourage the hope that the philosophy of this age will be the instrument in God's hands wherewith he will oppose its infidelity.

CHAPTER III.

THE ARTS OF DESIGN AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

WHEN the children of Israel were finally delivered from all further apprehension of the pursuit of their task-masters, and were assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai to hear from Moses the commandments of the Lord, who had wrought this great deliverance for them, we find that they had made great progress in the arts of civilized life. The construction of the tabernacle, which was to be commenced immediately, taxed the ingenuity, the skill, and the taste of the people, as well as their contributions. Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, are distinguished by name as having been especially gifted by God with the talent which enabled them to excel "in all manner of workmanship: to devise cunning works, to work in gold, in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship;" and, as if entirely to exclude boasting from the sons of men on all subjects, it is declared that they thus excelled because they were filled with the Spirit of God, Exod. xxxi, 1-7. The arts of spinning, weaving, and dyeing, of working in wood, of casting and burnishing metals, and of polishing precious stones, were all called into

operation. Nor did it comport with the Divine wisdom to confine his requisition upon the skill of his people to the mere drudgery of human art. God will have man to serve him with the best powers that he has given. His sanctuary in the midst of them shall be for "glory and for beauty" as well as for utility. Embroidery, sculpture, engraving, art in the most exalted sense of the word, shall also be employed upon it; and it was in these rare and peculiar gifts that Bezaleel and Aholiab probably excelled.

Not only were the Divine communications granted, but the Israelites would avail themselves of the knowledge acquired during their long sojourn among the Egyptians, whose existing monuments show them to have attained a high degree of perfection, and who especially applied the art of design with a profusion unknown perhaps in any other country. Their temples appear to have been crowded with statues, and the walls covered with figures in relief and with hieroglyphic inscriptions. This was the case with the obelisks, the two colossi, and the propyla or truncated pyramids that stood on either side of the entrance to the temple. The gate-posts and lintels were in the same manner covered with devices, and so also were the whole exterior and interior of the sacred edifice, and every pillar, both within and without it, from the floor to the roof and from the gateway to the sanctuary. Gigantic figures in relief, with long columns of inscription in hieroglyphics, meet the eye everywhere. The tombs also were decorated and inscribed in the same manner; and even the smaller objects, which admit of removal, and which have therefore been transferred to the museums of Europe, present the same extraordinary profusion of figures in relief and hieroglyphic