St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-08-06

centuries before the Lord Jesus Christ
was born, there reigned in Egypt one of
its greatest kings, Thothmes, the sec
ond of that title. He was such brave
and successful warrior that no nation of
either Africa or Asia could stand against
him. He brought even the far Oft King
of Nineveh into subjection, and COM
PEELED him to pay heavy tribute. He
was also noted hunter, and painting
shows him in the act of slaughterln2
l2O elephants. So proud became ThOth
mes through his unbrOken career of
successes, that he had his name engrav-
en- in one of the temples as 1.-THE living
good god, lord of the upper and lower
world, the lord of diadems !" At his
order, hundreds of men were set to
work to hew two Obelisks out of the
hard granite rocks at Syene, in South
ern Egypt, near where the Nile dashes
through the cataracts. He was deter
mined that the memory of his victories
and of his greatness should be preserv-
ed for ever on these pillars of stone.
After the patient labor of many months
the huge MonOliths lay finally separat
ed from the bed rock in the quarry.
They were then transported distance
of 500 miles..to HelIOpolis, or On, the City
of the Sun, near the delta of the Nile.
So the stone was moved across inclined
platforms on a raft, which had been
brought to the edge of the quarry, and
then it was floated down the Nile dur
ing an inundatIon. On its arrival the
granite was carefully polished. Next
the figures and Inscriptions were skill
fully inscribed, yet very slowly, on ac-
count of its extreme hardness. The
base of the Obelisl1 was then set within
a groove in the pedestal, and the en-
tire monument was raised to the per-
pendicular by building up a ridge of
earth beneath it.
The Obelisk which now lies in the hold
of the Dessong awaiting the decision of
the Central Park Commissioners as to
the exact site on which it shall stand,
together with its mate, stood as guardi-
an deltles, before the grand entrance of
the Temple of the Sun at On. They
were symbols of the rays of the rising
sun, as the pyramids to the westward
were of the slanting or setting rays. In
that idOlatrOus age, they were even wor-
shipped as divine images, and oblations
were offered to them. These monuments
may have been standing at On, when
Joseph became Vizier over Egypt, and
was welded to daughter of the priets
of On. 1t is hardly to be doubted, how
ever, that they were in their place when
Moses was being schoOled Sin all the
learning of the Egyptians" and that he
may have often looked upon their faces
While the Hebrews were sinking from
free shepherd life into bondage il
Egypt, another great and glorious
monarch arose. This was Rameses H., &
pOmpous, cruel king, as his own inscrip,
tions show. He was so boastful that he
often engraved praises of himself on the
monuments of earlier kings, and thus il
came that his deeds are mentioned OF
the Obelisks. 1t was this Rameses who
compelled the children of Israel to build
him treasure cities of brick as the Bible
records. The plaques and the Exodus
of Israel took place under the reign OF
his weaker son, Manephtha.
After the Romans had conquered
Egypt, centuries later, these two Obe-
lisks were removed from On to the city
of Alexandria, on the coast. They
were then set up before the new tenn
pie erected for the worship of the Ca-
sar of Rome, the then sovereign of the
world. This was the reign of the En-
peror Augustus, 1900 years ago, and
shortly after the death of Cleopatra,
the last Queen Of Egypt. In after years
the Egyptians gave currency to tra-
dition that she had conveyed these
monoliths to their new station, and so
it CHANGED that they have been ever
since known as Cleopatra's Needles.
In lapse of centuries one of these Obe-
lisks fell PROSTATE, and that is the one
which now adOrns the Thames En-
bankment, the other being the one so
successfully brought to this country by
Captain Gorringe. This Needle has
stood erect throughout the entire pc
riod of the Christian era, though a
part of its base has gradually worn
away, and the column has required to
be kept in position by inserting loose
stones. The inscriptions on the east
and south sides have also been some
what defaced, either by the action OF
the sea-breeze, or the steady cutting by
winds laden with sand from the desert
Still, it is in remarkable preservation,
and when set up will prove one of the
greatest attractions of this city. The
entire cost involved in bringing it here
will be about 100000, which, it is un.
derstood, is to be borne by William H
Vanderbilt, Esq. To the editor-in.
chief of the World, of this city, howev.
er, belongs the credit of first having
started the project and placed it il
such shape that its accomplishment
became an easy matter.