The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-11-11

1Q6 IOOC. hOW OO 1Ou SQppOoS 3SAo
on the deck of that steamer on the Nile l
looked off upon the canals and bitches and
elu;ces through which the fields are irri-
pated by that river, and then read in Isaiah,
stThe burden of Egypr-the river shall be
was1ed and dried up and they shall turn the
rivers far away and the brooks OF defense
shall be emptied and dried up; and tney
shall be broken in the purposes Thereon, all
that make sluices and ponds for fish,
While sailing on this river or stopping at
one of the villages, we see people on tne
banks who verify the Bible description, 1or
they are now as they were IN blpie tlmes.
Shoes are now taken of In reverence 10
sacred places. Children carried astrlde Ghe
mothers shoulder as in Hagar's time. Mo'
men with profusion Of jeweIry as when re
becca was affianced Lentils shelled into the
pottage. as when Esau sold his birthrlgat to
get such dish. The same habits OF saiuta-
zion as when Joseph and his brethren fell on
each others necks. Courts of law held un-
der big trees as in olden times. People max
ing bricks without straw, compelled py
circumstances to use stubble instead OF
straw
FLYING over or standing on the banks asln
Scripture days are famingoes, osPreys'
eagles pelicans, herons, cuckoos ana ouil-
fnches. On all sides of this river sepulcners.
villages of sepulchers Cities Of sepulcners,
Nations of sepulchers. And one ia tempted
to call it an empire of tombs. I never saw
such place as Egypt is for graves. Ans
now we understand the complaining sarcasm
of the Israelites when they were on the way
from Egypt to Canaan, because there are
no graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away
to die in the wilderness" Down the river
bank come the buffalo and the cattle Of kline
% drink. And it was the ancestors Of these
cattle that inspired Pharoah's dream Of the
lean kline and the fat kline.
Here We disembark little while for
Memphis Off the Nile to the right. Memphis
long time the capital. A city Of marble and
gold. Home Of the Pharaohs. City Of nine
teen miles in circumference. Vast colon
nades through which imposing professions
marched. Here stood the Temple Of the
Sun. itself in brilliancy sun shone on by
another sun. Thebes in power over thou
sand and hundred years. or nearly ten times
as long as the United States have existed.
Here Is recumbent statue seventy-hve feet
long. Bronzed gateways. A metropolis
called ,''the haven Of the blest." Here
Joseph was prime minister. Here Pharaoh
received Jacob. ALI possible splendors were
built up into this royal city. Hosea, Ezekiel,
Jeremiah ana Isaiah speak OF it as some
thing wonderful.
Never did I visit city with such exalted
auticipations, and never did my antlclpa-
tions drop so fiat. Not pillar stands. Not
a wall is unbroken. Not foundation tosses
in the sun. Even the ruins have been ruined
and all that remains are chips OF marble,
small pieces Of fractured sculpture and splin-
tered human bones. Here and there letter
of some elaborate inscription, q toe or ear
of a statue that once stood in niche Of palace
wall. Ezekiel prophesiei its blotting out,
and the prophecy has been fulfilled. ''Ride
on" Isaid to our party, land don't wait for
me-" And as stood there alone the city OF
Memphis in the glory OF past centuries re-
turned. And heard the rush OF her chari-
OTIS, and the dash of her fountains, and the
conviviality of her palaces, and saw the
drunken mobiles roll on the floors Of mosaic,
while in startling contrast amid all the re-
galities of the place I saw Pharaoh look up
into the face OF aged rustic Jacob, the shep-
herd, saying, ttHow old art thou@'
But back to the Nile and on and up till you
reach Thebes, in Scripture called the City Of
No. Hundred gated Thebes. A quadran-
gular city four miles from limit to limit.
Four great temples, two Of them Karnac
and Luxor, once mountains or exquisite
sculpture aud gorgeous dreams solidited in
stone. Statue Of Rameses II, eight hundred
and eighty-seven tons in weight and seven
ty.five feet high, but now fallen and scat
tered. Walls abloom with the battlefelds Oh
centuries.
The surrounding hills of rock followed
into sepulchers on the wall Of which are
chiseled in picture and hieroglyphics the
confirmation OF Bible story in regard to the
treatment Of the Israelites in Egypt so that
as explorations go on with toe work, the
walls Of these sepulchers become COM
mentaries of the Bible, the Scriptures
into everlasting stone. THebes mighty and
dominant five hundred years. Then she went
down in fulfllment of Ezskiers prophecy
concerning the City Of No, which was another
name for Thebes' 81 will execute Judgment
in No. I will cut off the multitudes Of No."
Jeremiah also prophesied, Thus saith the
Lord, will punish the multitudes Of No"
This city Of Thebes and all the other dead
cities OF Egypt iterate and reiterate the
veracity of the Scriptures, telling the same
story which Moses aud the prophets told.
Have you noticed how God kept back these
archaeological cUnfirmations OF the Bible un-
til our time, when the air is full Of unbelief
about the truthfulness Of the dear old book?
he waited until the printing press had been
set up in its perfected shape, and the subma-
rine cable was laid, and the world was in
telligeut enough to appreciate the testimony,
and then He resurrected the dead cities Of
the earth, and commanded them. saying:
"Open your long sealed lips aud speak!
Memphis and Thebes is the Bible trueT
"Truep responds Memphis and Thebes.
Babylon, is the Book Of Daniel truew
"rruer' responds Babylon. "Ruins Of Pal
.stine and Syria, is the New Testament
true?' ''Truep respond the ruins all the
D. Nd
Jerusalem to Damascus.
What mercy that this testimony of the
dead cities should come at time when the
Bible is especially assailed. And this work
will so on until the veracity Of the Scrip
lures will be as certain to all sensible men
and women as that two and two makes four,
as that an lsosceles triangle is one which has
two of its sides equal, as that the diameter
Of circle is line drawn through the centre
and terminated by the circumference, as
certain as any mathematical demonstration.
Those ancient cities lacked nothing but
good morals. Dissipation and sin slew them,
and unless dissipation and sin are halted,
they will some day slay our modern cities,
and leave our palaces OF merchandise ami
our galleries Of art and our city hall as fiat
in the dust as we found Memphis on the after.
noon Of that Thanksgiving day. And if the
cities 90 down, the nation will go down.
oh" you say. that is impossible; We have
stood SO lcng-yea, over hundred years as
a nation" Why, what OF that? Thebes
stood five hundred years. Memphis stood a
thousand yeurs. God does not forget. One
day with the Lord is as a thousand years and
thousand years as one day.
Rum and debauchery and bad politics are
more rapidly working the destruction of our
American cities that sin OF any kind and all
kinds worked for the destruction Of the cities
Of Africa, once so mighty and now SO pros
trate. But their gods were idols, and could
do nothing except for debasement. Our
God made the heavens and sent His Son to
v,d tho o,r oifiao mill ., 80