Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-10-22
Build for Eternity


on his Eastern tour, entitled, 'From the
Pyramids to the Acropolis, or What 1
Saw in Egypt and Greece Confirmatory
of the Scriptures" His text was Isaiah
xix, 10, 20: In that day there shall be
an altar to the Lord in the midst Of the
land of Egypt and at the border thereof
to the Lord And it shall be for a sign
and for a witness"
Isaiah no doubt here refers to the
great pyramid at Gizeh, the chief pyra-
mid Of Egypt. The text speaks of a
pillar in Egypt ard this is the greatest
pillar ever lifted; and the text says it is
10 be at the border of the land: and the
text says it shall be for witness, and
the object of this sermon is to tell what
this pyramid witnesses. This sermon is
the first of course of sermons entitled,
From the Pyramids to the AcropOliS, or
What | saw in Egypt and Greece Con-
frmatOry Of the Scriptures"
We had, on q morning Of December,
1850, landed in Africa Amid the howl
ing bOatmen at Alexandria we had come
ashore and taken the rail train for Cairo,
Egypt, along the banks of the most
thoroughly harnCSScd river Of all the
world-thG river Nile. We had, at even
tide, entered the city of Cairo, the city
where Christ dwelt while staying in
Egypt during the HerOdic persecution.
1t was our first night in Egypt. No de-
StrOylng angel sweeping through as once,
out all the stars were out and the skies
were filled with angels Of beauty and
angels Of light, and the air was as balmy
as an American June. The next morn
lng we were early awake and at the win
dow, looking upon palm trees in full
glory OF LEAKAGE, and upon gardens Of
fruits and flowers at the very season
when our homes far away are canOpied
10y bleak skies and the last leaf of the
forest has gone down with the cquinOC-
tials.
But how can | describe the thrill of
expectation, for to-day we are to see
what all the world has seen or wants to
See-the pyramids We are mounted for
an hour and q half's ride. We pass on
amid bazaarS stuffed with rugs and car
pets and curious fabrics of all sorts from
Smyrna, from Algiers, from Persia from
Turkey, and through the streets, where
we meet people of all cOlorS and all
garbs, carts loaded with garden prOduc-
lions, priests in gowns, women in black
veils BedOuinS in long and seemingly
supertluouS apparel, JaniSsaries in
Jackets of embroidered gold-out and
on toward the great pyramids; for though
there are siXty-nine pyramids still stand
ing, the pyramid at GiZeh is the monarch
Of pyramids. We meet camels grunting
under their load, and sec butfalOes on
either side browsing in pasture fields.
The road we travel is for part of the
way under ClumpS Of acacia, and by long
rows of sycamore and tameriSk, but
after awhile it is path of rock and
sand, and we find We have reached the
margin Of the desert the great Sahara
DESERT and We cry out to the dragOman
Us we see huge pile Of rock looming in
sight "DragOman, what is that?" HIS
answer is, The pyramid" and then it
seemed as if we were living q century
every minute. Our thoughts and emo
tons were too rapid and intense for ut
teranCc, and we ride On in silence until
we come to the foot of the pyramid
spoken of in the text, the oldest struct-
uro i'll all the earth, 1000 years old at
least Here it is. We stand under the
shadow Of a structure that shuts out all
the earth and all the sky, and we look
up and strain our vision to appreciate
the distant top, and are overwhelmed
while we cry, THE pyramid. The pyra-
midi
l had started that morning with the
determination of ascending the pyramid
One Of my chief objects in going to Egypt
was not only to see the base Of that gran
ate wonder, but to stand on the top of
1t. Yet the nearer | came to this eternity
IN stone the more my determination was
shaken. Its attitude to me was simply
appalling. A great height has ALWAYS
tn ,,A,Nt lir,, I, \
AS we diSmOuntCd at the base of the
pyramid | said: "OtherS may go up it,
but not |. | will satisfy myself with a
view from the base. The ascent of it
would be to me a foolhardy undertake
ing"
Eat after had given up all iGea of as
e1endmg found my daughter was de-
tcTmincd to so. and I could not let her
so with strangers, and 1 changed my
mind, and we started with guides 1t
cannot be done without these helpers.
Two or three times foolhardy men have
attempted it alone. but their bodies came
tumbling down unreCOgnizabe and life
less. Each person in our party had two
or three guides or helpers. One of them
unroled his turban and tied it around
my waist, and he held the other end of
INC luIUIu dts IL matter VI safety.
Many of the blocks Of stone are four or
five feet high and beyond any ordinary
human stride unless assisted. But. two
Arabs to pull and two Arabs to push, |
found myself rapidly ascending from
height to height, and on to attitudes
terrific, and 1T last at the tip top we
found ourselves on d leyel space of about
thirty feet square.
Through the clearest atmosphere we
looked off upon the desert, and Off upon
the winding Nile, and off upon the
Sphinx with its features of everlasting
stone, and yonder upon the minarets of
Cairo glitterng in the sun, and yonder
upon Memphis in ruins, and off upon the
wreck Of empires and the battlefelds Of
ages, a radius of view enough to fill the
mind and shock the nerves and over
whelm ones entire being.
After looking arOnnH for awhile and a