ready cost the nation many lives and many thousands of pounds. The time will come, when, with less danger, the resources of England will be applied to the discovery of the treasures scattered through the whole of Nubia and Ethiopia, buried under the ruins of past grandeur, and hidden by the immense mountains of sand which cover the plains of the Thebaide.

The French Government has already dispatched no less a man than Champollion on an expedition of this kind; and I have already alluded to the discoveries he has made, which are but the harbingers of those he will undoubtedly make. I fear, however, that that learned traveller will direct his attention to other topics; and I do think that the French Government would not be inclined to supply the enormous expences attending an expedition on the plan I recommend. But I have no doubt, that if such an expedition was undertaken under the direction of a man of talent, well versed in the Hebrew, Coptic, and Arabian languages, possessing the indefatigable perseverance of Belzoni, and a mind well stored with solid and unprejudiced knowledge; I have no doubt, I say, that this man, by the discoveries he would make throughout the north-east of Africa, would give a new turn to our knowledge of antiquity, and surprise the modern nations of Europe by the account of the gigantic undertakings of the primitive inhabitants of that magnificent continent. Indeed the discoveries of the lamented Belzoni give ample

room to suppose that our expectation would not be deceived; and had he joined to his wonderful strength and remarkable perseverance a mind equally cultivated, we might at the present moment possess what will require the powerful assistance of time. In my own mind, I repeat it, I have no doubt, and feel not the least hesitation in asserting, that an underground communication existed between Thebes and Memphis; that the Pyramids themselves were connected with the system imagined by the Hierophantes, as well as the Government of Egypt; and that records of some sort must be found in these subterraneous abodes of the Egyptian priests.

As a concluding remark, I may mention, that it is very possible, that, from hieroglyphic inscriptions, if they could be found in sufficient number, very striking illustrations might be discovered of our sacred Scriptures. I have noted some in the course of these Lectures, and I may perhaps be permitted to conclude by a reference to them.

In one of the hieroglyphic inscriptions which I read to you, was seen the name of Potipherah; and there was seen also the name of Asenath. These hieroglyphics come from two different MSS., one of which is in the cabinet of the king of France, the other in the possession of the Earl of Mountnorris, and from a little enamelled statue. Observe, now, the text in the Bible, that runs thus, in Genesis xli. 45: "And he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti

pherah, priest of On." On, as I observed in a former Lecture, is the name the Egyptians gave to the town called Heliopolis by the Greeks.

Again; in one of the hieroglyphical inscriptions found at Karnac, we see the name of Osorchon. I produced one of the legends. Now Osorchon in the Coptic is called Zerach; and in the second book of Chronicles xiv. 9. we have, " And there came out against them Zerah, the Ethiopian, with a host of a thousand thousand and three hundred chariots."

Again; there were several of the Pharaohs who were called Ramesses; and this name perpetually appears in hieroglyphical inscriptions. It seems that out of respect for some of these princes, the Egyptians had given this name of Ramesses to some of their towns. Two of them are recorded in three different places of the Pentateuch. In Genesis xlvii. 11. we have, " And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, &c. in the best of land, in the land of Ramesses." In Numbers xxxiii. 3. speaking of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, we find, "And they departed from Ramesses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month," &c. And in Exodus i. 11. Moses, recording the hardships to which Pharaoh had condemned the Israelites, says, " And therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens; and they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pithom and Raamses."

Again; in our third Lecture I produced the

hieroglyphic legend mentioning the name of Chershak, or Shishak; and in the second book of Chronicles, the name of this prince is mentioned not less than three times in the twelfth chapter; first, in the second verse we have these words: " In the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem." In the fifth verse we read, "Then came Shemaiah, the prophet, to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem, because of Shishak, and said unto them, thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore I have left you in the hand of Shishak." And, lastly, in the ninth verse we have," Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all, and carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.”

Again; in the same third Lecture, I mentioned the names of two Pharaohs which Mr. Salt, our consul at Alexandria, had discovered among the ruins at Medinet-habou; and one of these Pharaohs was called Tiraka. Now in the second book of Kings xix. 9., we find this Pharaoh mentioned in these words, " And when he heard say of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, behold, he is come out to fight against thee."

Again; the name of the Pharaoh Necao, which is seen engraved and painted in many places of the ruins at Thebes, is mentioned in the second book of Chronicles xxxiii. 20., in these words: "After

all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho, king of Egypt, came up to fight against Carchemish, by Euphrates:" and it may also be added, that the hatred which the Egyptians entertained against the Hyk-shos, or shepherds, as it is mentioned by Manetho, and appears from the monuments, is also recorded in Genesis xlvi. 34., in the advice which Joseph gives to his brethren, in these words: "And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? that ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth, even until now, both we and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians."

And now that I am taking leave of hieroglyphics, I cannot but cast my eyes back on the different religious opinions which, from time to time, seem to have been held by the Egyptians. Originally, it seems, that the unity of God, and the certainty of a life to come, were the first and only tenets of their religion. But, obliged to speak to rude and ignorant people, the priests had recourse to symbols, to render more evident to the eyes of the vulgar, the different attributes of the deity. In progress of time, these symbols lost their primitive significations, and the figures, which were but an expression of these attributes, were afterwards considered as different and distinct deities, though not quite unconnected with the Supreme Being. Thus, the representation of the goddess Neith, and