96 TWO FACES UNDEK ONE HAT. 



government of Egypt. Had the Greeks been the first 

 conquerors of the country it is doubtful whether the 

 wisest policy would have kept its natives quiet and 

 content. For they were like the Jews, a proud, 

 ignorant, narrow-minded, religious race, who looked 

 upon themselves as the chosen people of the gods, and 

 upon all foreigners as unclean things. But they had 

 been taught wisdom by misfortune : they had felt the 

 bitterness of an Oriental yoke ; the feet of the Per- 

 sians had been placed upon their necks. On the 

 other hand, the Greeks had lived for centuries among 

 them, and had assisted them in all their revolts 

 against the Persian king. During their interlude of 

 independence the towns had been garrisoned partly by 

 Egyptian, and partly by Greek soldiers : the two 

 nations had grown accustomed to each other. Persia 

 had finally re-enslaved them, and Alexander had been 

 welcomed as the saviour of their country. The golden 

 chain of the Pharaohs was broken. It was impossible 

 to restore the line of ancient kings. The Egyptians, 

 therefore, cheerfully submitted to the Ptolemies, who 

 reciprocated this kindly feeling to the full. They 

 patronised the Egyptian religion, they built many 

 temples in the ancient style, they went to the city of 

 Memphis to be crowned, they sacrificed to the Nile 

 at the rising of the waters, they assumed the divine 

 titles of the Pharaohs. The priests were content, and 

 in Egypt the people were always guided by the priests. 

 The Rosetta Stone, that remarkable monument which, 

 with its inscription in Greek, in the Egyptian vernacu- 

 lar, and in the sacred hieroglyphics, has afforded the 

 means of deciphering the mysterious language of the 

 Nile, was a memorial of gratitude from the Egyptian 

 priests to a Greek king, to whom in return for favours 





