

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 Harapollo 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 



