Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-10-10

=
ever To ever shall it be- And woe to him
who faileth!
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 of Abouthis. At ABB
outhis, within the temples, still do the
priests make orison, but me they know no
more; stiIl 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 fluttering banners, o
Abputhis, Haunting from thy pylon walls
and hear the chants as the long procession
winds from sanctuary to sanctuary.
o Abouthis, lost Abouthisi my heart goes
out toward theeI For the day comes when
the desert sands shall fill thy holy placesi
Thy gods are doomed, 0 Abouthisi New
faiths shall make o mock of all thy holies,
and centurion shall call unto centurion
across thy fortress walls. I weep-I weep
tears of blood; for mine is the weakness
that brought about these evils and mine
forever is their shame.
Behold 1t is written hereafter:
Here in Abouthis was born, !, Har-
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
Golfer of ivory an ureus of pure gold and
U.s1 IA Al ,1.,,c orsr har
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 LagidB was ended
for Ptelemy 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 Amenemhat,
who even then was full of years, for was
his only child and the child Of his age (she
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 OF 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:
'tHail to thee, fruit of my womb Hail to
thee, Royal childi Hail to thee, Pharaoh
, that shalt bel Hail to thee, God that shalt
purge the land, Divine seed of ekt-neb, the
Osirian. Keep thou pure, and thou shalt
rule and deliver Egypt and not be broken.
But if in the hour of trial thou dost fail,
then may the curse of all the Gods Of Egypt
rest upon thee, and 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 names, once more are worshiped
In the temples Of Egypt, and the staff OF
the 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 slept, so that
awoke with d cry.
| But my father, Amenemhat, the High
Priest, trembled, 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 if the matter should come
to the ears of Ptolemy, Pharaoh would send
his guards to destroy the life Of the child
| Of whom such things were prophesied.
| Therefore, my father shut the doors, and
| caused all those who were there to swear
upon the holy symbol of his Office, and by the
name of the Divine Three, and by the soul
of her who lay dead upon the stones beside
them, that naught of what they had seen
and heard should pass their lips.
But among the company was the old wife,
Atoua, who had been the nurse of my moth
or, and loved her well; and in these days,
though know not how it hath been in the
| past, nor how it shall be in the future, there
Is no oath that can bind a woman's tongue.
And SO it came about that by and by, when
the matter had become homely in her mind,
and her fear had fallen from her, she spoke
Of the prophecy to herdaughter, who nursed
me at the breast now that my mother was
dead. This she did as they walked together
| in the desert carrying food to the husband
Of the daughter, who was sculptor, and
shaped the pictures of the holy gods in the
tombs that are fashioned in the rock-tell-
ing the daughter, my nurse, how great
should be her care and love toward the child
that one day should be Pharaoh and drive
the Ptolemies from Egypt. But the daugh-
ter, my nurse, was SO filed with wonder at
what she heard that she could not keep the
tale locked within her breast, and in the
| night she awoke her husband, and, in turn,
whispered of it to him, and thereby conf
passed her own destruction, and the de-
struction of her child, my foster-brother.
For the man told his friend, and the friend
was spy of Ptolemy's, and thus the tale
| came to Pharaoh's ears. Now, Pharaoh was
much troubled thereat, for though when he
was full of wine he would make mock of
the Gods OF the Egyptians. and swear that
the Roman Senate was the only God to
whom he bowed the knee, yet in his heart
was he terribly afraid, as 1 have learned
from one who was his physician; for when
he was alone at night he would scream and
cry aloud to the great Scraps, who, indeed,
| Is no true God, and to other Gods, fearing
lest he should be murdered and his soR
handed over to the tormentors. Also, when
he felt his throne tremble under him, he
would send large presents to the temples,
and ask message from the oracles, and
more especially from the oracle that is at
PhilR. Therefore, when 1t came to his ears
that the wife of the High Priest of the great
died, been filled with the Spirit of Prophecy,
and prophesied that her son would be
Pharaoh, he was much afraid, and sum-
moning some trusty guards-who, being
Greeks, feared not to do sacrllege-he dis
patched them by boat up the Nile with Or
ders to come to Abouthis and cut off the
head of the child of the High Priest and
bring it to him in a basket
But, as it chanced, the boat wherein the
guards came was of deep draught, and the
time of their coming being at the lowest
ebb of the river, it struck and remained
fast upon bank of mud that is opposite
the mouth of the road that runs across to
the plains of Abouthis, and as the north
wind was blowing very fercely 1t was like
to sink. Thereon the guards of Pharaoh
called out to the common people, who la.
bored at lifting water along the banks of
the river, to come with boats and take them
The Papers Are Appreciated.
From the Paris Appeal.