The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-10-29

| iiSou VI I..o SoNcA WOHucTb Ol the "Orlu
1t has Il subterraneous room of rec
granite called the ''king's chamber ,
and another room called the "queen's
chamber" and the probability is that
there are other rooms yet unexplored.
For three thousand years this sep
ulchral room was unopened, and would
have been until today probably unopened
!n%"t@ not Il superstitlous impression got
abroad tnaC the heart of the pyramid
was filled with silver and gold and da-
monds, and under AL Mamoun an OK.
cavating party went to work, and hav.
Ing bored and blasted through hun.
dred feet of rock, they found no opening
ahead, and were about to give up the at
tempt when the workmen heard stone
roll down into a seemingly hollow place,
and encouraged by that they resumed d
their work and came into the under.
ground rooms.
Inc dlsappo1nt nent of the workmon
In hading the sarcophagus empty of all
silver and gold and precious stones was
SO great that they would have assas-
slnated AL Mamoun, who employed
the&, had he not hid in another part OF
the pyramid as much silver and gold d
as would pay them for their work at
ordinary rates Of wages and induced them
there to dig till they to their surprise
came upon adequate compensation.
l wonder not that this mountain of
limestone and red granite has been the
tas clnation of scholars, OF scientists, ol
intelligent Christians in all ages. Sir
John llerschel, the astronomer, said he
thought it had astronomical significance.
The wise men who accompanied Napo.
Icons army into Egypt went into pro.
found study of the pyramid. In 1865
Professor Smyth and his wife lived in the
empty tombs near by the pyramid that
they might be as continuously as possl-
BILE close to the pyramid which they were
investigating. The pyramid, built more
than four thousand years ago, being q
complete geometrical figure, wise men
have concluded it must have been div.
incly constructed. Man came through
thousands OF years to fine architecture,
to music, to painting, but this was per.
feet at the worlds start, aud God must
have directed it.
All astronomers and geOmetricians
and scientists say that it was scientlfical.
~ and mathematicsllY constructed be.
tore science and mathematics were born
From the inscriptions on the pyramid
from its proportions, from the points o.
the compass recognized in its structure
nom the direction in which its tunue els
run, from the relative position of the
blocks that compose it, scientists, Chris
tlans and iniidels nave demonstrates
that the being who planned this pyramiC
must have known the worlds sphericity
and that its motion was rotary, and how
many miles 1t was in diameter and cir
cumtcrcnce, and how many tons the
world weighs, and knew at what point
IN the heavens certain stars would ap
pear at certain periods of time.
Not IN tho four thousand years since
the putting up of that pyramid has a
single fact in astronomy or mathe
mates been found to contradict the
wisdom Of that structure. Yet they
had not at the age when the pyramid
was started an astronomer or an archi.
tect or 8 mathematician worth men.
t1oning. Who then planned the pyra,
mid? Who superintended its erection
Who from its first foundation stone to
its capstone erected everythingp II
must have been God. Isaiah was right
when ne said in my text, "a pillar shall
be at the border of the land of Egypt
and 1T shall be for sign and Witness ,
The pyramid is Gods first Bible. Hun
dreds, II not thousands, of years before
the first line of the Book of Genesis
was written, the lesson OF the pyramid
was written.
Well, of what Is this Cyclopean ma
sonry a sign and a witness? Among
other things-Of the prolongation OF
human work com pared with the hrevitv
of human life.
SO men die but their work lives on
We are all building pyramids not to
last four thousand years, but forty
thousand, forty million, forty trillion
forty quadrillion, forty quintillion
For a while we WELD the trowel, or
pound with the hammer, or measure
with the yard stick, or write with the
battery, or plan with the brain, and for
a while the foot walks. and the eye sees
and the ear hears, and the tongue
speaks. All the good words or bad
words we speak are spread out into one
layer for a pyramid. All the kind
deeds or maleVOent deeds we do are
spread out into another layer. All the
Christian or unChrlstian example we
set is spread out in another layer. All
the indirect influences of our lives are
spread out in another layer. Then the
time soon comes when we put down the
implement of toll and pass away, but
the pyramid stands.
If one of those granite blocks that
just touch with my feet on this Decem
ber morning in 1889 as the two Arabs
!; pull me and the two other Arabs push
me, could speak out and tell its history
it would say: "The place of my nativ
, ity WAS down in the great stone quarry
of Mokattan or Asswan. Then they
began to bore at my sides, and then tC
drive down great iron wedges, crushing
against me till the whole quarry quakeC
and Numbered. Then | was pried out
with crowbars and levers, scores of meI
putting their weight on the leverage
Then chains were put around me and
was hoisted with wheels that groaneC
; under the weight, and many workmer
, had their hands on the cranks anC
} turned until the muscles on their arm,
stood out in ridges, and the sweat rolled
from their dusky foreheads.
: Then l was drawn by long teams o
oxen, yoke after yoke, yoke after yoke
men L was put on an inclined plan
ana hauled upward and how man,
| iron tools. and how nunu l. =, - 10, n 49,,