re the invention of alphabets.

_Implied_, signified, denoted.

_Posterity_, succeeding generations, descendants.

_Immortalize_, to render immortal,--which means never-dying;
to perpetuate the memory of anything.

What is a Pyramid?

A solid, massive edifice, rising from a square, triangular, or other
base, gradually diminishing in size till it ends in a point at the
top. Like the obelisk, pyramids were sometimes erected to preserve the
memory of singular events, or to transmit to future ages the glory and
magnificence of princes; but oftener as funeral monuments and
receptacles for the dead, particularly kings.

_Triangular_, three-sided, having three angles.

_Diminishing_, growing smaller.

_Receptacle_, the place in which a thing is deposited.

Is it known who were the erectors of these Buildings?

No; it is a curious fact that the Egyptian pyramids, so celebrated for
their size and great antiquity, should have the time of their erection
and the names of their founders wrapt in such complete mystery. All
the different authors who have written concerning them, disagree in
their accounts of those who built them, and nothing certain is known
of their history.

_Founder_, one who establishes or erects.

_Mystery_, profound secresy.

What other nations excelled in the art of Building?

The Greeks and Romans, from whom we derive it, also greatly excelled
in this art. Grecian architecture was in its highest glory under
Pericles. Among the Romans, it arrived at its greatest perfection
under the Emperor Augustus. The five orders of ornamental architecture
invented by the ancients, at different times, and on different
occasions, are of Grecian and Italian origin. They are the Tuscan, the
Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, and the Composite; each possessing
its peculiar form and beauty, and found in all the principal buildings
of the Christian world.

_Christian_, professing the religion of Christ; the term is
applied to those who believe our Lord Jesus Christ to be the
only true God and Saviour of the world.

Who was Pericles?

A celebrated Athenian statesman, orator, and general, who gained
several victories over the Lacedemonians and other enemies of his
country.

Are all the species of ornamental building confined to those nations
already mentioned?

By no means; besides the Grecian and Roman orders, other civilized
nations poss