INTRODUCTION. 



" All you who come into the world and go 

 out of it know this, that the gods hate impu- 

 dence." 



** Between the statues obelisks were plac'd. 

 And the learned walls with hieroglyphics grac'd." 



In the hieroglyphics of HarapoUo two 

 armies in battle array are represented by two 

 hands, one holding a shield, and the other a 

 bow. 



Trismegistus, the celebrated Egyptian priest 

 and philosopher, is said to have been the first 

 who taught his countrymen the art of record- 

 ing memorable events by this kind of symbo- 

 lical writing; perhaps he only improved upon 

 it by substituting signs which connected pic- 

 tures and characters, and formed regular 

 grammatical sentences, as the Egyptians seem 

 to have been the first who made this advance 

 in the science. 



The Chinese appear to have thrown out 



