’ . 
EE ce French National Inflitute. 
téligiows worfhip of the Pelafyi, and that of ‘the people “in 
‘Upper Egypt and Ethiopia ; as well as: from the traditions 
and geographical names common to the or iit 0 
the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians. . 4 
“Cit. Langles has already contefted with the Europeans 
the invention of the compafs; of paper, and of printing, in 
order to affign them to the Orientals.: In a new memoir 
on gunpowder he deprives the German monk, .Betthold 
Sehwart%, of the fatal honour of that terrible invention, and 
afferts that it was conveyed to us from the “Arabs, He 
affures us, that they made ufe of it, in 690, at the fiege of 
‘Metea y and he adds, that the Arabs derived it from the 
Indians, among whom it was known in the remoteft anti- 
quity, fince their facred books (the Vedam) forbid the'ufe 
of it in war. Cit. Laneles is of opimion, that a knowledge 
of thefe different mventions might have come ‘to us’ from 
othe Bafton the return of the crufaders. There is an inter- 
vali however, of two centuries between the laft erufade and 
the firfi typographical attempts of Guttemberg in the city of 
Strafbourg about the year 1440. Gunpowder was known 
searlier in Europe than printing ; but it does not appear that 
it was employed ‘there ‘in war before the battle of ‘Creci, 
where the Enelith had fix pieces of carmon. Ifthe eon- 
jeGures of Citizen Langles are well founded; ‘the: Euro- 
peans, at prefent, only carry back to the Eaft knowledge 
which we formerly borrowed from that quarter. Thus 
every thing changes on the face of the globe; the -arts are 
“Jo in one nation to be revived in another; nations: theni- 
felves are effaced and difappear ; and vaft accumulations: of 
“svater covered formerly thofe countries which we ibhabit at 
prefent. All this proves, that the fmall. globe upomewhich 
“we refide is very old; and that to live a century or two is 
nothing. We have fcarcely time to commence our fiudies. 
Cit. Langles read alfo a memoir on the Arabian lite- 
_rature, ‘Eisen ae 
Cit: Bitaubé read a memoir entitled Des Jugemens a: 
eet guelguc: 
