The Whig standard. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1843-1844, 1843-11-14
SKILL OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.


useful knowledge, than ourselves, they also in
of that splendid line of potentates, entitled the
10th Theban dynasty, and the extent of civiliza-
ton under their rule, was, that the practical,
chemical, astronomical, and mechanical knowl-
edge which they shared with the priestly (scien-
nhc) colleges, was in some respects equal to, in
some respects greater than, our own. They
made glass in great profusion (Dindorus Siculus,)
and burning-glasses and lenses for glasses. They
must have cut their delicate canoes by the aid
of microscopes. Ptolemy describes an asrolabe
they calculated eclipses; they said that the
moon was diversified by sea and land (Plutarch
de facie iun9 } that one lunar day was equal
TO fifteen of the earth )" that" the earths dame
ter was third of the moons )" and that :" the
moons mass was to that of the earth as to IL. +"
All these things show good instruments. They
made gold potable, (nferentially; Moses did so,
who was scribe brought up by the Sovereign
Pontiff, and nursed in the wisdom of the Egyp-
tians ~ an sart lost" till recently recovered by
French chemist. Their workmanship in gold
as recorded by Homer, and their golden clock
work, by which thrones moved, must have been
exquisiiely ingenious. They possessed the art
of lempering copper tools as to cut the hardest
granite with the most minute and brilliant pre-
cisiop. This art we have lost. We see the sculp-
tors in the act of cutting the inscriptions on the
granite obelisks and tablets. We see pictorial
copy Of the chisels and tools with which the ope-
ration was performed. We see the tools them
selves. There sculptors' chisels at the muse
UNI, the cutting end of which preserves its edge
while the blunt extremity is flatened
by the blows Of the mallet.) But our tools would
not cut such stone with the precision of outline
which the inscriptions retain to the present day.
Again, what mechanical means had they to
raise and fix the enormous imposts on the lintels
of their temples at Karnac? Architects now
confess that they could not raise them by the
usual mechanical powers. Those means must,
therefore, be put to the account of the sslost
arts" That they were familiar with the prin-
ciple Of Artesian wells has been lately proved
by engineering investigations carried on while
boring for water in the Great Oasis That they
were acquainted with the principle of the rail
road is obvious, that is to say they had artificial
causeways, levelled, direct, and grooved, 1.-THE
grooves being Amounted with OIL for the convey
ance from great distances Of enormous blocks of
of half the height of the monument. Remnants
Of iron, it is said have lately been found in these
grooves Finally, M. Arago has argued, that
they not only possessed knowledge Of steam
power, which they employed in the cavern mys-
teries OF their Pagan freemasonry (the Oldest in
the world, (which the Pyramids were the lodg-
esq but that the modern steam-engne is derived
through Solomon de Caus, the predecessor Of
Worcester, from the invention of Hero, the
Egyptian engineer. The contest of the Egyptian
sophos with Moses before Pharaoh, pays singular
tribute to their union ofs knowledge and power"
No supernatural aid is minated. Three of the
miracles of their naturel magic (see Sir D. Brew
ster) the jugglers of the east can and do now
perform. In the fourth, an attempt to produce
the lowest form Of lice, they fail. From the
daring ambition of the priestly chemists and
anatomists had been led from the triumphs Of
embalming and chicken-hatching Gmitatng and
assisting production of ife) to Frankenstein ex-
pertinent on the vital fluid and on the principle
Of life itself, perhaps to experiments like those
correctly or Incorrectly ascribed to Mr.. Crosse,
in the hope Of creating, not reviving, the lowest
form Of animal existence Westminster ReUiew.
POINTED SERMONS. -More than 100 years ago,
there graduated at Harvard University man by
the name of Rawson, who subsequently settled
in the ministry at Yarmouth, on Cape Cod. He
used to preach very pointed sermons Having
heard that some of his Pensioners were in the
habit OF making him the subject of their mirth
at the grog shop, he one sabbath preached dis
course on the text, And was the song of the
drunkard." His remarks were of nouing char
acter, so much SO, that many Of his hearers rose
and left in the midst Of the sermon. short
time afterwards, the preacher delivered dis
course still more pointed than the first, from the
text, "And they, being convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one" On this occa-
sion no one ventured to retire from the assembly,
but the guilty ones resigned themselves, with as
good grace as possible to the lash of their pastor
Why don't the Ladies stand on the steps ?-In
asking gentlemen why they, j. e. gentlemen,
stand on the steps and about the entrances Of
churches, before the Sabbath day services, we
have sometimes been told that it was to cool
themselves. We suppose this reason to be an
honest one, and hence it seems to us Just as good
reason for the ladies as the gentlemen Both
are often warm from a long walk to church, but
the ladies, with good sense Of proprety, sit
down in the house and fan themselves, while
the men cape and stare without We like to
see things I" go pair" as the man said, when he
whitewashed his wife's bureau, and therefore
we advise that either the ladies stand on the
steps with the men, or that the men go into the
house with the ladies. Advice gratis.