12 THE EGYPTIAN EMPIRE. 



We may fairly presume that Egypt once possessed 

 its chivalry of the intellect, its heroic age, and that 

 the violent activity of thought generated by the love 

 of life, and developed by the love of power was 

 raised to its full zenith by the passion for art and 

 science, for the beautiful and the true. 



At first the Nile valley was divided into a number 

 of independent states, each possessing its own corpora- 

 tion of priests and soldiers, its own laws and system 

 of taxation, its own tutelary god and shrine ; but each 

 a member of one body, united by the belief in one 

 religion, and assembling from time to time to worship 

 the national gods in an appointed place. There, 

 according to general agreement, ratified by solemn 

 oaths, all feuds were suspended, all weapons laid aside. 

 There also, under the shelter of the sanctuary, property 

 was secure, and the surplus commodities of the various 

 districts could be conveniently interchanged. In such 

 a place, frequented by vast crowds of pilgrims and 

 traders, a great city would naturally arise ; and such it 

 seems probable was the origin of Thebes. 



But Egypt, which possesses a simple undivided form, 

 and which is nourished by one great arterial stream, 

 appears destined to be surmounted by a single head, 

 and we perceive in the dim dawn of history a revolu- 

 tion taking place, and Menes, the Egyptian Charle- 

 magne, founding an empire upon the ruins of local 

 governments, and inspiring the various tribes with 

 the sentiment of nationality. Thebes remained the 

 sacred city ; but a new capital, Memphis, was built at 

 the other end of the valley, not far from the spot 

 where Cairo now stands. 



By degrees the Egyptian empire assumed a con- 

 solidated form. A regular constitution was established 



