uaded the Nobatae, or people of Nubia,
to remove from their ancient habitations in the deserts of Libya, and
resigned to them an extensive but unprofitable territory above Syene and
the cataracts of the Nile, with the stipulation, that they should ever
respect and guard the frontier of the empire. The treaty long subsisted;
and till the establishment of Christianity introduced stricter notions
of religious worship, it was annually ratified by a solemn sacrifice in
the Isle of Elephantine, in which the Romans, as well as the barbarians,
adored the same visible or invisible powers of the universe.

At the same time that Diocletian chastised the past crimes of the
Egyptians, he provided for their future safety and happiness by many
wise regulations, which were confirmed and enforced under the succeeding
reigns. One very remarkable edict which he published, instead of being
condemned as the effect of jealous tyranny, deserves to be applauded as
an act of prudence and humanity. He caused a diligent inquiry to be made
"for all the ancient books which treated of the admirable art of
making gold and silver, and without pity, committed them to the flames;
apprehensive, as we are assumed, lest the opulence of the Egyptians
should inspire them with confidence to rebel against the empire." But if
Diocletian had been convinced of the reality of that valuable art, far
from extinguishing the memory, he would have converted the operation of
it to the benefit of the public revenue. It is much more likely,
that his good sense discovered to him the folly of such magnificent
pretensions, and that he was desirous of preserving the reason and
fortunes of his subjects from the mischievous pursuit. It may be
remarked, that these ancient books, so liberally ascribed to Pythagoras,
to Solomon, or to Hermes, were the pious frauds of more recent adepts.
The Greeks were inattentive either to the use or to the abuse of
chemistry. In that immense register, where Pliny has deposited the
discoveries, the arts, and the errors of mankind, there is not the
least mention of the transmutation of metals; and the persecution of
Diocletian is the first authentic event in the history of alchemy.
The conquest of Egypt by the Arabs diffused that vain science over the
globe. Congenial to the avarice of the human heart, it was studied in
China as in Europe, with equal eagerness, and with equal success. The
darkness of the middle ages insured a favorable reception to