STATE OF AFRICA* 
481 
ther inherited the vices than the virtues of their an- 
cestors. Distinguished from the Arabs and the 
Turks by the profession of Christianity, and from 
the Christians, by their obstinate adherence to the 
heresy of Eutychius, they have been persecuted and 
despised by Christians and Mahometans, and this 
very contempt has tended to deteriorate their na- 
tional character. Various tribes have preserved 
their characteristic tenets and customs, in defiance 
of contempt and persecution, but none of them have 
been able to preserve, in this forlorn situation, the 
honour and dignity of the human character. The 
distinguishing features of the Copts are a dusky 
yellow complexion, unlike that of the Grecian or 
Arabian tribes, the hair and eyes of a dark colour, 
the lips thick, the features puffed, and the nose ra- 
ther elevated than flat, and sometimes even aqui- 
line. The similitude of the modern Copt to the 
ancient Egyptian, in the more characteristic fea- 
tures, and in the colour of the skin, is evinced, not 
only by ancient paintings and statues, but also by 
the appearances still observable in the mummies of 
Egypt, the bodies of an ancient generation of men, 
who have been raised from their sepulchres to de- 
monstrate the origin of their descendants. The 
characteristic features of every race of men, by what- 
ever causes they are produced, are difficult to be 
erased ; and the features of the Copts, which have 
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