234 



THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XII. 



power of the Deity, upon this principle : the influ- 

 ence of i7itellect on matter * producing the created 

 being in the King ; and this the noblest work of 

 the Creator being put forth in lieu of the whole 

 creation. But the same apology cannot be offered 

 for the latter ; and to the servile flattery of some 

 members of the priesthood, and to the abuses intro- 

 duced under the Ptolemies, is to be attributed this 

 great profanation of the religious customs of the 

 Egy})tians. 



* Vide supra, p. 185. ; and infia, p. 248. 



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Offerings of onions made by a priest to his deceased parents. 



