The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-11-25
Amount cleared by the farmer ..... 315H

Amount cleared Dy the farmer ...s. olo>a
Or, as my authority declares, seventy per
cent. of what the Egyptian farmer makes is
paid for taxes to the government. Now,
that is not SO much taxation as assassination.
You say, "Why did they stand itg' Be-.
cause they had to stand it. You ses along:
back in the worlds twilight there was a
famine in Canaan. and old Jacob and his;
sons cane to Egypt for bread. The old mans
boy, Joseph, was prime minister. and Joseph;
Il suppose the father and the brothers called
him Joe, for it does not make any difference
how much O Toy Is advanced IN worthy sue.
cess, his father and brothers n sisters al
WAYS call him by the same meme that he was
called by when two years oldCoseph. by
Pbaraoh's permission gave TO his family,
who had just arrived, the richest part OF
Egypt, the Westchester farms or the Lancas-
ter farms of the aprien+s. Jacobs descend
ants rapidly multiplied.
After awhile Egypt took C turn at famine,
and those descendants of Jacob, the Israel
ties, came to a great storehouse which Joseph
had provided, and paid in money for corn.
But after awhile the money gave out and
then they paid in cattle. After awhile the
cattle were alP in possession Of the govern
ment, and then the Hebrews bought corn
from the government by surrendering them
selves as slaves.
Where was help to come from? Not the
throne, Pharaoh sat upon that. Not the
army, Pharaoh's officers commanded that.
Not surrounding nations; Pharsoh's threat
made them all trcmble. Not the gods Am
mon and Osiris or the goddess Isis, for
Pharaoh built their temples out OF the groan
Of this diabolical servitude. But one hot
day the Princess Ihonoris, the daughter of
Pharaoh, while in her bathing house on the
banks of the Nile, has word brought her that
there is a baby afoat on the river in a era
die made out of big leaves.
Or course there IS excitement all up and
down the banks, for an ordinary baby In an
ordinary cradle attracts smiling attention,
but an infant in a cradle Of papyrus rocking
on q river arouses not only admiration, but
curiosity. Who made that boat? Who
made it water tight with bitumen? Who
launched it? Reckless Of the crocodiles, who
lay basklng themselves in the sun, the maid
ems wade in and snatch up the child, and
first one carries him and then another car
ries him, and all the way up the bank he runs
a gantlet Of ~caresses, till Thonoris rushes out
Of the bathing house and says: Beautiful
founding, I will adopt you as my own. You
shall yet wear the Egyptian crown and sit
on the Egyptian throne"
Mol Mol Mol He is to be the emancipation
of the Hebrews. Tell it in all the brick
kilns. Tell it among all those who are
writing under the lash, tell it among all
the castles Of Memphis and Heliopolis and
Zoan and Thebes. Before him a sea will
part. On a mountain top. alone, this one
will receive from the Almighty q law that is
to be the foundation of all good law while
the world lasts. When be is dead. God will
come down on Nebo and alone bury him, no
man or woman or angel worthy to attend
the obsequies.
The child grows up and goss out and stud
les the horrors of Egyptian oppression and
suppresses his indignation, for the right
time has not come. although once for a min
ute he let fly, and when he saw a taskmaster
put the whip on the back of a workman who
was doing his best, and heard the poor fell
low cry and saw the blood squirt, Moses
doubled up his fist and struck him on the
temple till the cruel villain rolled over in the
sand exanimate and never swung the lash
again. Served him right!
But. Moses, are you going to undertake
the imposibilities? You feel that you are
going to free the Hebrews from bondage.
But where is your army: Where Is your
navyi Not q sword have you, not q spear