The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-11-02
THE BURDEN OF EGYPT.
TIE RUNS OF TIE FoorMEN IN
TIE STREErs OF CAIRO.


Point OF starvation-Slavsry in the
Land of the Pharnohs.
BROOKLYN. N. ", Nov. 1-The Taber-
nacle was thronged as usual this morning.
The vast edifice filed TO its utmost capacity
with eager listeners shows how the popular
preacher retains his power over the people.
Although he has been preaching in Brooks
lyn for more than twentysfour years, bic
audiences were never so large as now, ana
although the largest Protestant church in
America has been built for him there nevep
was a time when so many persons were
turned away for lack OF room. The subieot
Of this mornings sermon was "Bricks with-
out Straw continuation OF the series on
the confirmation Of holy scripture whicis
DIR. Talmage found in hls journey from tho
pyramids TO the Acropolis His text was.
Isaiah xviv., !: THE burden Of Egypt"
| What Is all this excitement about In thA
streets Of Cairo, Egypt. this December
| morning in 1881 Stand backl We hear
loud voices and see the crowds OF people re-
| treating to the sides Of the street. The exs
| citemsnt Of others becomes our OWE eroits-
ment Footmen come in sight. They hass
a rod in the baud and tasselsd cop on head.
and their arms aud feet are bare Their
| garb is black to the waist, except as threaded
| with gold, and the rest is white. They are
clearing ths way for an official dignltary in
q chariot or carriage. They are swift and
somstimes run thirty or forty
miles at strotch in front
OF an equpage. Make wayi They
are the tsetest-footed men on earth.
but soon die, for the human frame was not
made for sueh endurance. I asked am
around me who the man in the carriages
was, but no one seemed to know. Yet as q
fell back with the rest to the wall | said,
This is the old custom found all up aud
down the Bible, footmsn running before the
rulsrs, demanding obeisances as ia Genesw
before Joseph's chariot ths people we're conn
Inanded, Bow tho knee" and as | see the
swift feet OF the men, followed by the
swift feet OF the horseI, how those CID
words Of jeremiah rushed through mw
mind: III thou hast run with the foosmeu
and they have wsaried thee, how canst thou
contend with horsesF
Now, my hearers. in this course Of serS
mons | am only serving you as footmau.
and clearing the way for your coming into
the wonders Of Egyptology, a subject that
! would have you study far beyond any.
thing that can be said in tho brevity Of pal-
pit utteranoe. Two hundred and eighty-
nine times does the Bible refer to Egypt and
the 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;
< !EnEland, the mother Of our own
! land. According to that Egypt is
our at-great-Rrandmother On other
! Sabbaths left you studying what they
must have been in their glory; the Hypos-
! lyle Hall or karnac. the architectural mir
acles at Luxor tho Colonnado Of Horemheo.
the cemoteries at Memphis, the value of a
Kingdom ia one monument, the Sphinx.
which with lips OF stone speaks loud enough
to be heard across the centuries, Heliopoiis
and Aoan. the conundrum of archmolorists.
| But all that extrayagAnce of palace and
temple and monument was the cause of au
| oppression high as heaven, and deep as hell
| The weight OF those blocks of stone heavier
than any modern machinery could life
| came down upon the Hebrew slaves and
their blood mixed the mortar for the
| trowels.
We saw again aud again on and along
the Nile boss workman roughly smile 8
Q subordinate who did not please him. It
IL no rare occurrence to sec long lines OF
men under heavy burdens passing by task
masters at short distances, lashing them as
! they go by into greater speed and then these
workmen, exhausted by the blasting heats
| OF the day, lying down upon the bare
| ground, suddenly chilled with the night air.
crying out In prayer: "Yal Allah Yal
! AllahP which means Oh! God OH God
Bat what must have been the oldep times
cruelty shown by the Egyptians toward
their lsraelitish slaves is indicated by a pict-
| ure in the BENZ Hassan tombs. where n
man is held down on his face by two mem
and another holds up the victims feet willis
| the officials beat the bare back of the VIC.
tim, every stroke. have no doubt, fetchl
ing the blood.
Now you see how the Pharaohs cotild
afford to build such costly works 1t cost
them nothing for wages, nothing but the
tears aud blood Of the toilsrs, aud tears and
blood are cheap drink for devils. Bricks
without straw" may not suggest so much
hardship until you know that the bricks
were usually made with 'crushed straw
straw crushed by the feet of the oxen in the
threshing, and, this crushed straw denied "a
che worknlon, they had to pick I'D here and
there piece OF stnbble or gather rushes
from the water-side. This story of the Bibls
- confirmed by the fact that many of ths
brick wills os Egypt have on the lower law
ers brick made with straw, but the higher
layers OF bricx made out of rough straw.
| or rushes from the river bank, the truth oS
| the book Of Exodus thus written in the
brick walls discovered by the modern ex-
! plorers.
The governmental outrage has always
| been characteristic of Egyptian rulers
| Taxation TO the point of starvation was tbs
Egyptian rule in the Bible times as well asl
/ 1t IS in our own time. A modern traveller
| gives the figures concerning the cultivation
| OF seventeen acres the value Of the yield OF
the field stated in piasters
Frouuce. ,.......................iS 1902
Expenses. '...-......s..,.... 933lf
/ -
Clear produce Observation-Disclosures. e0sl<
la4es'..'.' '...''''.''.'... ...-......,.. 4s3
| Amount cleared by the farmer ..... 3f5I<
Or. as my authority declares, 20 per cent OF
what the Egyptian farmer makes, Is paid
| for taxes 30 the government. Now, this is
| not so much taxation as assassination.
What think you of thatl You who groan
under heavy taxes 10 America. have
heard that in Egypt the working people
have a song like this: 'They starve US,
| they starve us, they beat us, they beat US,
| but there's some one above, there's some ons
| above, who will punish them we'll, who will
| punish them we'll" But 90 per cent. of gov-
ernment tax In Egypt is a mercy as COM
| pared to what the Hebrew slaves suffered
| there in Bible times. They got nothing
but food hardly ft for dog, and their
| clothing was of one rag, and their roof a
! burning sky by day and the stars IT heaven
BY night. You say, why did they stand
| itf Because they had to stand il. You see
along back in the worlds twilight there
was famine in Canaan. and old Jacob and
his sons came to Egypt for bread. The old
mans bov Joseph, was prime minister, and
Joseph--I suppose the father and the broth
ers called him Joe, for it does not make any