Among the Egyptians, the Sphynx was the symbol
of religion, by reason of the obscurity of its mysteries. And, on the
same account, the Romans placed a Sphynx in the pronaos, or porch, of
their temples. Sphynxes were used by the Egyptians, to show the
beginning of the water's rising in the Nile; with this view, as it had
the head of a woman and body of a lion, it signified that the Nile began
to swell in the months of July and August, when the sun passes through
the signs of Leo and Virgo; accordingly it was a hieroglyphic, which
taught the people the period of the most important event in the year, as
the swelling and overflowing of the Nile gave fertility to Egypt.
Accordingly they were multiplied without end, so that they were to be
seen before all their remarkable monuments.
P. T. W.
* * * * *
THE SKETCH-BOOK.
NO. XLII.
* * * * *
WHITSUN-EVE.
_By Miss Mitford._
The pride of my heart and the delight of my eyes is my garden. Our
house, which is in dimensions very much like a bird-cage, and might,
with almost equal convenience, be laid on a shelf, or hung up in a tree,
would be utterly unbearable in warm weather, were it not that we have a
retreat out of doors,--and a very pleasant retreat it is.
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