Epitome of the Progress of Kalural ^Scieiice. 5T 



From the enumeration of these high attainments of the Egyp- 

 tians, which, it appears from history, were peculiar to that peo- 

 ple, we may reasonably expect, that all the vestiges of philosophy, 

 which we find in the early history of barbarous nations, were 

 derived from Egypt. We shall see how true this is, in relation 

 to the Greeks, when we come to consider the period of their 

 connection with Egypt. But we must first advert to the cosmogony 

 of the Jewish people, preserved in so remarkable a manner, in 

 * the book of Genesis : a venerable monument of ancient opinions, 

 where the highest propositions of natural philosophy, are occa- 

 sionally treated in a manner surprisingly consistent with the 

 present received opinions of the order of nature. In conducting 

 our readers along the historical chain of these ancient periods, 

 they will be struck with the proper and natural order, assigned 

 to the details of that cosmogony. It is there stated, that after 

 the surface of the earth was prepared, and exposed to the in- 

 fluence of light and heat, aquatic animals were first created, 

 next plants, then terrestrial animals, and last of all, man, with 

 dominion over them all. This order of succession is consistent 

 with reason, and must have been narrated by a superior mind. 

 Had this cosmogony been an idle invention, like some of the fan- 

 ciful creations in the Vedas and Puranas, it is probable the order 

 w^ould have had a less natural character, and perhaps the inven- 

 tor would have created the animals before their food. But here 

 we see things luminously narrated after the true order of nature, 

 and consistent with the most refined discoveries of geology. We 

 must, however, remember, that Moses, to whom these ancient 

 books of the Hebrews are attributed,* had been brought up by 

 the Egyptian priests, and had been probably instructed by them 

 in their arts, and their most recondite philosophy : he appears to 

 have been in every sense fitted for the high station Providence 

 had allotted to him, when he was constituted the deliverer, and 

 the lawgiver of his nation. 



About fifteen centuries before our era, the disturbances in 

 Egypt caused various emigrations. Cecrops carried the mysteries 

 of Isis, or Ceres, into Greece, and about sixty years later, Cadmus 

 brought over from Phoenicia, the oriental alphabet, which was 



* It will not escape the philologist, that the Hebrew words " Ish," a man, and 

 " Isha," a woman, are contained in the names of the Egyptian deities, Osiris 

 and Isis. 



Vol. I.— 8 



