Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-10-26


must take a look at Alexandria.
was founded by Alexander the Grei
+. and was once the New York, the Par
the London of the world. Temple
palaces, fountains, gardens, pillar
and efIlorescent with all archtectur
b and Edenic grandeur and sweetne'
Apollos. the eloquent, whom in Ne
, Testament times some people tried
: make rival to Paul, lived here. He
Mark, the author of the second book
the New Testament, expired und
Nero's anathema. From here the sh
sailed that left Paul and the ere
struggling in the breakers of Melita.
Pompeys pillar is here, about on
hundred feet high, its base surrounde
by so much filth and squalor was gla
TO escape into an air that was breatl
able This tower was built in honor {
Diocletian for sparing the rebellion
citizens After having declared tina
he would make the blood run to hi
horses knees, and his horse fell wit
him into the blood and his knees red
dened, the tyrant took it for granted
that was a sign he should stop til,
massacre. and hence this commemora
tive pillar to his mercy.
This is the city to which Omar cam,
after building fourteen hundred
mosques and destroying four thousand
temples and thirty-tive thousand vii.
lagos and castles, yet riding in on a
camel with a sack of corn, sack of
dgs and a wooden plate, all that he had
kept for himself, and the diet to which
lie had limited himself for most of the
time was bread and water Was there
ever in any other man a commingling
of elements so strange, so weird, so
generous, so cruel, so mighty, SO weak,
so religious, so fanatical2
In this city was the greatest female
lecturer the world ever saw--Hypatia.
But the lesson of virtue that she taught
was obnoxious, and so they dragged
her through the streets and scraped
her flesh from her bones with sharp
oyster shells and then burned the frag-
ments of the massacred body. And
here dwelt Cleopatra, pronounced to
be the beauty of all time-although if
her pictures are correct have seen a
thousand women in Brooklyn more at
she was as bad as she
was said to be handsome. Queen, con-
lueress, and spoke seven languages, al
though it would have been better for
the world If she had not been able to
speak any. Julius Caesar conquered
the world, yet she conquered Julius
Caesar.
CoNQUERoR OF BOOKS.
But Alexandria, fascinating for this
Or that thing, according to the taste of
the visitor was to me most entertain
ng because it had been the site of the
greatest library that the world ever
'aw, considering the fact that the art
If printing had not been invented.
Seven hundred thousand volumes, and
Ill the work of slow pen. But down
{ all went under the torch of besiegers.
Built again and destroyed again. Built
again, but the Arabs came along for
is final demolition, and the four thou
and baths of the city were heated !
with those volumes, the fuel lasting six
months, and were ever fires kindled at |
uch fearful costl What holocausts of !
he worlds literature2 What martyr
lom of books How many of them |
ave gone down under the rage of ma
ions.
Only one book has been able to with
tand the bombardment, and that has
;one through without smell of fire on
IS lids. No sword or spear or musket
or its defense. An unarmed New Tes-
An unarmed Old Testament.
Yet invulnerable and triumphant.
There must be something supernatural
about it, ConQueror of booksl Mon
lreh of booksl All the books of the
Iges in all the libraries outshone by
his one book which you and can
larry to church in a pocket. So me-
thought amid the ashes of Alexandrian
Libraries.
But all aboard the Egyptian rail train
going up the banks of the Nile Look
Dut of the window and see those cam
sls kneeling for the imposition of their
oad. And think we might take from
them lesson, and, instead of trying TO
stand upright in our own strength, be
come conscious 'of our weakness and
need of divine help before we take
upon ms the heavy duties of the year
or the week or the day, and SO kneel
for the burden. We meet professions
Of men and beasts ON the way from
their days work, but alas for the
homes to which the poor Inhabitants
are going, for the most part novels of
mud. But there Is something in the
scene that thoroughly enlists us, 1t is
the novelty of wretchedness and "a
scene OF picturesque rags. For thou
sands Of years this land has been under
a very damnation Of taxes Nothing
but Christian civilization viii roll back
the influences which are spelling the
Egyptians. There arc gardens and
palaces, but they belong to the rulers.
About here, under the valiant Murad
Bey, the MaInelukes, who are the finest
horsemen In all the world. came like a
hurricane upon Napoleon's army but
they were beaten back by the French
la one Of the tlercest battles of all time
Then the Mamelukes turned thels
horses heads the other way, and In des-