The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-11-04
BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW.
Rev DR.. iTalnage Continues His
Series Of Historical Sermons.
Trials and Trlbuiations Of tho Hebrews
in the Land of the Pharaohs-Out-
rages that were Prttcliced Upon
the Helpless People.

g The subject of DR.. Talmage's third
sermon In the series on the confrma-
tion Of Holy Scriptures which he found
in his journey from the Pyramids to
the Acropolis, was Bricks Without
Straw" His text was Isaiah xix. 1:
aThe Burden of Egypt" Following is
the sermon:
7 What Is all this excitement about in
the streets OF Cairo, Egypt this Decem-
Der morning in 1880? Stand backl We
hear loud voices and see the crowds Of
people retreating to the sides OF the
streets. The excitement of others bo.
comes our own excitement Footmen
come in sight. They have rod in the
hand and tasseled cap on head, and their
arms and feet are bare. Their garb Is
black TO the waist, except as threaded
with gold, and the rest is white. They
are clearing the way for an official dig
hitary in a chariot or carriage. They
are swift and sometimes run thirty or
forty miles at stretch In front OF an
equipage. Make wayl They are the
hEcUCbVlOOttu luCh Ou cut Ohb bOoh
die, for the human frame was not made
for such endurance. asked all around
me who the man in the carriage was
but no one seemed to know. Yes as l
fell back with the rest to the wall i
said, This is the old custom found all
mp and down the Bible, footmen run
ming before the rulers, demanding
obeisance, as in Genesis before Joseph's
chariot the people were commanded,
Bow the knee" and as / see the swift
feet of the men, followed by the swift
feet of the horses, how those old words
Of jeremiah rushed through my mind:
IF thou hast run with the footmen and
they have wearied thee, how canst thou
contend with horses?"
: Now, my hearers, in this course OF
sermons am only serving you as foot
man, and clearing the way for your
coming into the wonders Of Egyptology,
ssubject that would have You study
far beyond anything that-can be said in
the brevity Of pulpit uttersnce. Two
hundred and eighty-nine times does the
Bible refer to Egypt and Egyptians.
No wonder, for Egypt was the mother
Of nations. Egypt the mother OF
Greece; Greece, the mother OF Rome;
Rome, the mother Of England; Eng
land, the mother Of our own land Ac-
cording to that Egypt Is our great
great grandmother. On other Sab
baths / left you studying what they
must have been in their glory; the
Hypostle Hall OF Rarnac. the architects
ural miracles at Luxor, the Collonnade
Of Horemheb, the cemeteries OF Mem
phis, the value Of kingdom in one
monument, the SPHINX, which with
lips OF fstone speaks loud enough to be
heard across the centuries, Helipolif
and Zoan, the conundrum OF the arch
aelogists. But all that extravaganza
Of palace and temple and monument
was the cause of an oppression high al
heaven and deep as hell. The weight
ofthose blocks Of stone heavier thar
any modern machinery could lift camt
down upon the Hebrew slaves, ant
their blood mixed the mortar for th'
trowels.
We saw again and again on and alont
the Nile boss workman roughly smit'
subordinate who did not please him
II Is no rare occurrence TO see long line
Of men under heavy burdens passing b,
task masters at short distances, lashint
them as they 90 by into greater speed
and then these workmen, exhasste'
with the blasting heats ofth day, lynn
down upon the bare ground, suddenl.
chilled with the night air, crying out 4
prayer, "Yal Allahp "Ya Allah
which means OF Godl OF Godl Blu
what must have been the olden time
cruelty shown by the Egyptians toward
their Israelitish slaves is indicated by
picture In the Benz Hassan tombs, wher
man Is held down on his face by tw
men and another holds up the victim
feet while the officials beat the bar
back of the victim, every stroke, hav
no doubt fetching the blood.
Now you see how the Pharaohs coul
Afford TO build such costly works
cost them nothing for wages, nothin
but the tears and blood of the toiler'
and tears and blood are cheap dim
for devils "Briclfs without straw" ma
not suggest so much hardship until 20
know that the bricks were usuall
mado with crushed straw" stra'
crushed by the feet Of the oxen In III
threshing, and, this crushed straw d.
1isd 10 the workmeu, they had TO pic
up hare and there a piece Of stubble {
Rather rushes from tho waterside. IN
story ofthe Bibls issconfrmed by u
fact that many OF the brick walls
Egypt have on the lower layers bricl
made with straw, but the higher layei
OF brick made out Of rough straw, ,
rushes from the river bank, the trui
Of the book of Exodus thus written
the brick walls discovered by the mo-
ern explorers
That government outrage has alway
been characteristic Of Egyptian ruler
Taxation TO the point OF starvation WI
the Egyptian rule In the Bible times
we'll as Il Is Ia our own times A mo
ern traveller gives the figures concer
ing the cultivation Of seventeen acre
the value OF the yield of the field stat
in piastres:
Produco '...-..'s.s..ss ssss''''.. -.
Expenses. .....s.. zee. ..s.'s'" w
Clear produce. ."..... .........." ~
TnxeB........ 80. ......'' see. '''' W.
Amount cleared BY the farmer...... SiI
Or, as my authority declares, 70 p
cent Of what the Egyptian farm
makes, Is paid for taxes TO the goverl