ues the historian, it is unjust
thus to deprive men of the means of obtaining subsistence, and of
providing for their families, how much more unreasonable must it be to
imprison those by whom the implements were used!

To prevent the accumulation of debt, and to protect the interests of
the creditor, another remarkable law was enacted by Asychis, which,
while it shows how greatly they endeavored to check the increasing
evil, proves the high respect paid by the Egyptians to the memory of
their parents, and to the sanctity of their religious ceremonies. By
this it was pronounced illegal for any one to borrow money without
giving in pledge the body of his father, or the tomb of his ancestors;
and, if he failed to redeem so sacred a deposit, he was considered
infamous; and, at his death, the celebration of the accustomed funeral
obsequies was denied him, and he could not enjoy the right of burial
either in that tomb or in any other place of sepulture; nor could he
inter his children, or any of his family, as long as the debt was
unpaid, the creditor being put in actual possession of the family
tomb.

In the large cities of Egypt, a fondness for display, and the usual
allurements of luxury, were rapidly introduced; and considerable sums
were expended in furnishing houses, and in many artificial caprices.
Rich jewels and costly works of art were in great request, as well
among the inhabitants of the provincial capitals, as at Thebes and
Memphis; they delighted in splendid equipages, elegant and commodious
boats, numerous attendants, horses, dogs, and other requisites for the
chase; and, besides, their houses, their villas and their gardens,
were laid out with no ordinary expense. But while the funds arising
from extensive farms, and the abundant produce of a fertile soil,
enabled the rich to indulge extravagant habits, many of the less
wealthy envied the enjoyment of those luxuries which fortune had
denied to them; and, prompted by vanity, and a silly desire of
imitation, so common in civilized communities, they pursued a career
which speedily led to the accumulation of debt, and demanded the
interference of the legislature; and it is probable that a law, so
severe as this must have appeared to the Egyptians, was only adopted
as a measure of absolute necessity, in order to put a check to the
increasing evil.

The necessary expenses of the Egyptians were remarkably small, less,
indeed, than of any people; and the food of t