Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1877-02-03

Some twenty years ago a Mr.. A. c.
Harris went with his daughter, Miss
Selma Harris on tour to Egypt. He
found under the floor Of an old tomb in
Thebcs iorge roll Of papyrus covered
with inscriptions. 1t was one hundred
and thirtv-nine feet by sixteen and a half
inches broad, and looked something like
a stair carpet. MIR. Ha.ri- hopGht u at
a comparatively small price Miss Selma
Harris felt convinced that it was treas
ure, and 70 make sure against accidents,
She get her"e'f 10 tn immeuse work Of
tracing sign and letter Oil It upou pnper
Of equal extent. She succeeded in max
ing a fac qmiL OF il. Her father died and
the LADY i0Dk q house Rt EOumel Dvk,
Alexandra. 4 fe-e ears Sgp an eEplo-
sion occurred in the house, which wa, re-
duced to fragments. OF its contents the
two chief treasures alone escaped un-
harmed, the papyrus and Miss Selma
herself The great Egyptian atchrolo-
gi2t, NJ DrugsCh Boy, examined the Papy'
rus and told the Ehedi7e # rs great
value, and the Egyptian government
offered the sum Of $4,000 for it. But
Miss harrIs would NIT pnlt with it, She
brought it to England, when the British
museum purchased it for larger sum,
and from that time 70 this DR., Birch and
hi, corps of tg plolorsts have been De-
ciphering it, while scribes have been en-
gagged in copying 1t. 1t has now been
printcd-n a sufficient number to supply
the museums Of Europe, and of America,
if they want with accompanying
trmslatons OF the text ana learned notes
thereon.
1t proves to be a complete record Of
the lite and works Of Rameses H., and
statement of the condition of things at
Thches 1900 years ago. We leafn fiohl
it what the lhoDan5 saw and heard at
church and What they had for dinner,
such as fish, waterfowl, pigeons, oil,
bread and wine. We are introduced to
the beauties of Rameses's harem Much
Of the record i remarkably realistic, but
it i, somewhat confusing 10 find that
among hcsa rcalstic portions is an ac.
count OF how Ramescs III. went 10 bcli
and there played at draughts with Isl,
for the golden kcrchief, which he Won
Moreover the last five sections Of the
scroll consist of an address--a sort Of
yalcdictorv-u.tCred fran ithc same re-
gion (iIades) by the monarch, in Which
he rectes the great victories he ha,
achieved, the hundreds OF thousands o.
cattle he has bestowed on the temples
the slaves he has bre~ented them, and
implores them to be loyal to his sdc5ts
sor, Ramcses ~. Such mixture o
possible fact and certain fable may puzzle
| any one who tries to bring actual history
ont Of the papyrus; but one thing stand,
tout cear-the character of Ramese'
/ himself The half million head Of cattlt
| he claims to have bestowed oil the tGdt
may he as mythical as his game o
draugbts with Isis, the Egyptian Proser
pine, but whether in hell or earth the
suItanc self satisfaction Of Ramescs III
| is unquestinnable
There is a statue Of George III. in the
| GuildhalI, with an inscription placed
there during his lifetime by aldermani(
courtiers, in which the characteristics
of the angel Gabriel are attributed tC
him, with few of the selectcst attrib
utes Of the seven sagcS. The poor kinl
was mad at the time and England wa
ground under the heel Of the prince
regent, nevertheless the true portrait o
/ tho l.iuu. and his times may be derived