The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-09-05

Lower Land. l, Harmachis, who cast
aside the opening flower OF our hope, who
| turned him from the glorious path, who
forgot the voice OF God in hcarkening to
the voice of woman. l, Harmachis, the
| fallen, in whom are gathered up all woes
as waters are gathered in a desert well,
who have tasted OF every shame why by
bctras al have BETRAYED, who, in losing the
glory that is here have lost Of the glory
that is there, who am utterly undone-I
| write, and. by Him who sleeps at Abouthis,
write the truth.
. Egypt! Egypt! dear land Of Khem,
whose black soil nourished up my mortal
part-land that l have bctrayed--O We
Gods Osiris Isis .-Horus .-ye Gods or
Egypt whom have betrayed!-O yc tenn
pies whose pyl0ns strike tho Sly; We tenn
pies whose faith have betrayed. q Royal
blood of the Pharaohs of Ed, that yet runs
within these wiihercd veins-whose virtue
have betrayed.-O Right divine Of Kings
betrayed by me % Invisible Essence Of all
Good. aud . Fate. whose balance rested
on my hand-hear me: and. to the last day
of utter doom. bear me witness that / write
the truth
What. then, is man. He is feather,
but a feather blown by the wind. He is d
fire. but Q fire born of the fuel. He is
spirit, but spirit having wings whcrewith
to sail TO either destiny. He may choose
the good, and on him doth rest the evil
that he does. He is the helm unto the boa.
of Fate: he is the shadow tina: goes before
the sword; he is the dream that presages
the truth. There is no Chance; for man in
his hour doth direct the Chance, and as
with stylus, doth map upon the tablet OF
the world the thing tina: he brought about.
So hath the Invisible dccrccd. and 50 for
ever TO ever shall it be. And woe to him
who faileth!
= Il !:
Even as write, beyond the fertile fields,
the Nile is running red as though with
blood. Bright before me beats the light
upon the far Arabian hills. and bright 1t
falls upon the piles If Abouthis. At Alb
cuthis. within the temples, still do the
priests make orison. but me they know no
more: still the sacrifice is offered. and the
stony roofs echo down the prayers Of those
who pray. Still from here. from this lone
cell within my prison tower. ], the Word OF
Shame. watch thy fu;tering banners. o
Abouthis. Haunting from thy pylon walls
and hear the chants as the long procession
winds from sanctuary TO sanctuary.
o Abouthis, lost Abouthis. my heart goes
out toward thee! For the day cones when
the desert sands shall iii thy holy places.
Thy gods are doomed, q Abouthis. New
faiths shall make mock of all thy holes,
and centurion shall call unto centurion
across thy fortress walls. | weep-I weep
tears Of blood; for mine is the weakness
that brought about these evils and mine
forever is their shame.
Behold it is written hereafter:
Hero in ahouflis Ns.aa \ lnro I uor
machis, and my father, the justified in
Osiris, was High Priest Of the Temple Of
Seth. And on that same day Of my birth
was born also Cleopatra the Queen Of
Egypt In those fields passed my youth
watching the baser people at their labOrs,
and going In and out at will among the great
courts of the temples. OF my mother
knew naught, for she died when yet hung
at the breast. But ere she died, so the old
wife, AtOua, told 10 me, she took from q
coffer of ivory an urasus OF pure gold aud
laid it on my brow. And those who saw her
do this thing believed that she was dis
traught of the divinity, and that in her mad
ness she foreshadowed that the day Of
the Macedonian Lagidn was ended
for Ptolemy Auletes (the Piper then wore
the double crown-and that Egypt's scepter
should once again pass to the hand of one
of Egypt's true and royal race. But when
my father, the High Priest Amencmhat.
who even then was full of years. for was
his only child and the child OF his age ishe
who was his wife before my mother having
been, for what crime know not, cursed by
Sekhet with the curse Of barrenness) l say
when my father ca me in and saw what the
dying woman had done, he lifted up his
hand toward the vault or heaven and adored
the Invisible, because of the sign that had
been sent. And even as he adored, behold !!
the Hathors filled my dying mother with the
Spirit of Prophecy, and she rose in strength
from the couch and thrice FRUSTRATED her.
self before the cradle where lay asleep,
the Royal asp upon my brow, and cried
aloud:
Hail to thee, fruit of my womb Hail to
| thee, Royal child! Hail to thee. Pharaoh
that shalt be! Hail to thee, God that halt
| purge the land, Divine seed OF N ekt-neb, the
Osirian. Keep thou pure, and thou shalt
| rule and deliver Egypt and not be broken.
But il in the hour OF trial thou dost fail,
| then may the curse Of all the Gods of Egypt
| rest upon thee, aud the curse OF thy Royal
forefathers, the justified. who ruled the
| land before thee, even from the age OF
Horus; then in life mayest thou be wretch
| ed, and after death may Osiris refuse thee,
| and the judges OF Amenti give judgment
against thee, and Set and Sekhet torment
thee, even until such time as thy sin is
purged, and the Gods Of Egypt, called by
| strange James, once more are worshiped
in the temples OF Egypt, and the stan of
tue Oppressor is broken, and the footsteps
| Of the foreigner are swept clean. and the
| thing is accomplished as thou in thy weak
ness shalt cause it to be done.'
And when she had spoken thus, the Spirit
Of Prophecy went out Of her. and she fell
dead across the cradle where Islept, so that
i awoke with Cry.
But my father, Amenemhat, the High
Priest. tlembled, and was very fearful both
because of the words which had been said
by the Spirit Of the Hathors through the
mouth OF my mother, and because what had
been uttered was treason against Ptolemy.
For he knew that il the matter should come
I" the ears Of Ptclemy. Pharaoh would send