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papyri, and the swathings of mummies, but also 

 on the obelisks, that we find traces of this mixed 

 kind, which joins painting with hieroglyphical 

 writing. The lower part and the point of 

 Egyptian obelisks present in general a group of 

 two figures, which are in a state of action with 

 respect to each other, and which ought not to be 

 confounded with the isolated characters of sym- 

 bolical writing. 



When we compare the Mexican paintings 

 with the hieroglyphics, that decorated the tem- 

 ples, the obelisks, and perhaps even the pyramids 

 of Egypt ; and reflect on the progressive steps, 

 which the human mind appears to have follow- 

 ed in the invention of graphic means fitted to ex- 

 press ideas ; we see, that the nations of America 

 were very distant from that perfection which the 

 Egyptians had obtained. The Aztecks were 

 indeed but little acquainted with simple hiero- 

 glyphics ; they could represent the elements, and 

 the relations of time and of place ; but it is only 

 by a great number of these characters, suscepti- 

 ble of being employed separately, that the paint- 

 ing of ideas becomes easy, and approximates to 

 writing. We find among the Aztecks the germes 

 of phonetic characters : they know how to write 

 names, by uniting certain signs which are asso- 

 ciated with sounds : this contrivance might have 

 led them to the beautiful discovery of giving an 

 alphabetic form to their simple hieroglyphics ; 



vol. xiu. m 



