INTRODUCTION. 29 



of Jupiter Hammon. It appears that hunting was the principal 

 occupauon seme centuries after the deluge. The world teemed 

 with Avild beasts ; and the great heroism of those times consisted 

 in destroying them. Hence Nimrod obtained immortal renown ; 

 and, by the admiration which his courage and dexterity B c 

 universally excited, was enabled to found at Babylon the ^ ' 

 first monarchy whose origin is particularly mentioned in 

 history. Not long after the foundation of Nineveh was laid by As- 

 sur ; and in Egypt the four governments of Thebes, Theri, Mem- 

 phis, and Tanis, began to assume some appearance of form and re- 

 gularity. That these events should have happened so soon after 

 the deluge, whatever surprise it may have occasioned to the learn- 

 ed some centuries ago, need not in the smallest degree excite the 

 wonder of the present age. We have seen, from many instances, 

 the powerful effects of the principles of population, and how spee- 

 dily mankind increase, when the generative faculty lies under no 

 restraint. The kingdoms of Mexico and Peru were incompai*ably 

 more extensive than those of Babylon, Nineveh, and Egypt, during 

 that early age ; and yet these kingdoms are not supposed to have 

 existed four centuries before the discovery of America by Colum- 

 bus. As mankind continued to multiply on the earth, and to sepa- 

 rate from each other, the tradition concerning the true God „ ~ 

 was obliterated or obscured. This occasioned the calling ,q 91 * 

 of Abraham to be the father of a chosen people. From this 

 period the history of ancient nations begins to dawn. 



Mankind had not long been united into societies before they be- 

 gan to oppress and destroy each other. Chedoiiaomer, king of the 

 Elamites, or Persians, was already become a robber and a conquer- 

 or. His force, however, could not have been very great, since, in. 

 one of his expeditions, Abraham, assisted only by his house hold 3, 

 set upon him in his retreat, and, after a fierce engagement, reco- 

 vered all the spoil that had been taken. Abraham was soon oblig- 

 ed by a famine to leave Canaan, the country where God had com- 

 manded him to settle, and to go into Egypt. This journey gives 

 occasion to Moses to mention some particulars respecting the 

 Egyptians, which evidently discover the characteristics of an im- 

 proved and powerful nation, The court of the Egyptian monarch 

 is described in the most brilliant colours. He was surrounded by 

 a crowd of courtiers, solely occupied in gratifying his passions, 

 The particular governments into which that country was divided. 

 were now united under one powerful prince ; and Ham, who led 

 the colony into Egypt, became the founder of a mighty empire. 

 We are not, however, to imagine, that all the laws which took 

 place in Egypt, and which have been so justly admired for their 

 wisdom, were the work of that early age. Diodorus Siculus, a 

 Greek writer, mentions many successive princes who laboured for 

 their establishment and perfection. But in the time of Jacob, two 

 centuries after, the first principles of civil order and regular go- 

 vernment seem to have been tolerably understood among the 

 Egyptians. The country was divided into several districts or se- 

 parate departments; councils composed of experienced and select 

 persons were established for the management of public affairs 

 granaries for preserving corn were erected ; and, in fine, the Egyp- 

 tians in that age enjoyed a commerce far from inconsiderable/ It 

 rom the Egyptians that many of the arts 3 both ^ F elegance 



