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352 NOTES.Egyptians likewrse were the first that said the soul of man isimmortal, that after the death of the body it passes successivelyinto the bodies of beasts ;that after having passed through thebodies of terrestrial animals, as well ofthe water as of the air,it comes again to animate the body of a man, and that it accomplishesthis round in the space of three thousand years. SomeGreeks have given out this doctrine, as if it had been their own,some sooner, some later, and I know who they are, but willnot name them." Persia has generally been reckoned the parentof magic, but from Moses' whole account of the Egyptiaamagicians, this may be fairly doubted. Indeed their progressin this art, the most respected of all the arts of antiquity, is soincredibly astonishing, that, had it been transmitted to usthrough any other channel than that of the sacred records^ itiv'ould have been regarded as a downright fiction. In superband colossal structures they stand unrivalled in the page of history.Their early acquaintance with hieroglyphics is wellknown.As early as the time of Moses they must have had theuse of letters, for it was here (by a special interposition of Di-Tine Providence) that he received his education. In a word,it is clear from the whole history. of Pythagoras, that Egyptliad, at that period, attained a higher pitch of perfection, in thearts and sciences than any other nation then known. That theGreeks received the doctrine of the Metempsychosis from theEgyptians is clear from the testimony of Herodotus in the passageabove quoted, but whence i\\Q Celts received it, is morethan I shall pretend to determine.It is, however, certain that this was one of their chief doctrines.Cassar says, (lib. 6. cap 14.) In primis hoc voluntpersuadere ;non interire anhnas^ sed ah (diis post mortem iratusire ad alios atque hoc maxime ad virtutem excitari putant^ melumortis neglacto.— i. e. " It is their chief study to inculcate thisdoctrine, thatsouls do not die, but that, after death, they passfrom one body to another; and by this means liny thiiik theyare in (he highest degree excited to virtue, when the fear ofdeath is laid aside." Of all authors, Ciusar is most to be de-