Page:Reflections upon ancient and modern learning (IA b3032449x).pdf/146

 In the first Place therefore, we may observe, That the Civil History of Egypt is as lamely and as fabulously recorded as of any Nation in the Universe: And yet, the Egyptians took more than ordinary Care to pay all possible Honours to the Dead, especially their Kings; by preserving their Bodies with Bitumen and resinous Drugs, and by building sumptuous Monuments to lay them in: This certainly was done to perpetuate their Memories, as well as to pay them Respect: It was at least as Ancient as Joseph's Time; how much older we know not. The Jews, who for another and a more sacred Reason, took care of their Dead, took equal Care to preserve their Genealogies, and to draw an Uniform Thread of their History from Abraham down to the Destruction of the Second Temple. Herein they acted consistently, and their History is a standing Instance of this their Care; whereas the Egyptian History is so very inconsistent a Business, that it is impossible to make a coherent Story out of it: Not for Want of Materials, but because their Materials neither agree with themselves, nor with the History of any other Nation in the World.