Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1882-10-04

Most of the written remains of ancient
fyyp' are religious Mlny consist of
'vmns to the gols, ani have 4 pltho, of
heir own. Others are lists of oblations
n spOils taken in war These have no
more literary pretensions than an auction
er's catalogue or an inventory of furni.
ure. They give us, however, vivid
lea OF Egyptian belongings The man
fld productions and riches Of ancient
Egypt are nowhere set forth in more de
'all than in what is known rs the Great
Harris Papvrus," which contpins divers
# these summaries l. was found in
tomb. and measures 1913 feet long nv
"a inches broad Here we rc,d of the
rtrge of cedar with rivulets of ~ulI plated
mtSs and cabins Il formed with precious
stones; of houses with doors and lintels
# cold, surrounded by gardens planted
i,h all kinds Of fluits, and tanks for
vt'er fowl and fish. Besides these are
tranarles ot corn and treasures filed, or
emples presented, with a surprisinu
amount of miscellaneous property, paint
'plTi's of wine, honey, oil, linen over
oats embroideredscapa, incense, silver
dishes and ladies', rings, onions, ced.u
haIps. bundles of writing-reels, wax.
leather sandals turquoise, perfumes,
images, necklaces. wine. coorel bed.
clothes, etc. The most careful inventory
was made of the several items, and in
every case the exact amount of the arti-
cles in store seems TO be set down. For
instance. in one place we find record OF
o25,SlO crystal beads; in an other of 23,-
OOS pots of frankincense, while one "cedlr
rule figures by itself. Besides these
lead or dry goods we have astonishing
lists OF cattle and birds, especially pigeons
ducks and geese Here we are stru;k by
evidence of much that was emnenly blS
lnes1-likeand prosaic among the. old Egyp-
'lans. ills true that their religion especi
ally, at least 50 far as the offerings made
by the king represented the generosity OF
the people, was marked by marvellous and
abuadsnt devotion; the. adornmeuts OF
the temples not being brought to IL foGu,
IN SOME inner shrine, but shone in the
capping Of sacred obelisks with solid gold
md the covering Of huge holy walls in.
side and out with costly sculpture. Bu
though this indicates certain profuseness
of expenditure, nothing is more striking
than the minute economy and attention tt
details exhibited in what may be called
the sacred rent rolls, summaries of oba.
tons and the like. The chronicer care
fully distinguishes between the ''ducks
and the "ducklings." offered to Ra, the
sliced, salted and prepared fish the crowns
nosegavs. chains, and handfuls of flowers
and the exact amount iof these severa
items are set down. In the "Great Harri.
Papyrus.' now in the British museum
and translated in the "Records of the
Past' there are many of sthese entries
and in every case the totals of the good!
IN question are precisely recorded. There
are, G. g., 1,975.800 nosegays vegetables
it does not say what proportion of thes,
wsre onions-as against II 1000 nosegay
OF corn, and 3,410 of lotus. Thus, in thes
chronicles we have evidence of both ex
irene profusion and precise economy, o
the incest reckoning and the most liberia
| abundance. Good Words.