The Red Cloud chief., 1891-11-06

oraries outShone by this one book
which you and | al carry TO church in
a pocket So methought amid the
OF Alexandrian libraries
But all aboard the Egyptian rail
train going up the banks Of the Nile!
Look out of the window and see those
camels kneeling for the imposition OF
their load And ! think we might take
from them a lesson, and instead of try
ing to stand upright in our own
strength, become conscious Of our
weakness and need Of divine help be-
fore we take upon us the heavy duties
OF the year or the week or the day. and
so kneel for the burden.
About here. under the valiant Murad
Bey, the Mamelukes, 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
i'm one Of the ~fiercest battles of all
time.
This ride along the Nile is m OF the
most solemn and impressive rides Of
all my lifetime, and our emotions
deepen as the curtains Of the night fall
upon all surroundings But we shall
not be satisfied until we a take a
ship and pass right ont upon these
%wondrous waters and between the
banks crowded with the story OF I'm
pires-
The pyramids in sight, the remains
OF cities that are now only a name. the
villages thronged with population.
Both banks crowded with historical
deeds Of forty or sixty centuries. d.
what a book the Bible is when rcad or
the Nile! AS we slowly move up the
majestic river | see IN each bank the
wheels, the pumps. the buckets for irri-
cation, and see n man with his foot on
the treadle of n wheel that fetches up
the water for n garden, and then for
the first time / understand that passage
in Deuteronomy which says Of the
Israelites after they had got back from
Egypt: 1.-THE land whittier thou
gocst in TO possess it is
not as the land of Egypt, from
whence we came out, where thow
sowedst thy seed, and wateredst
it with thy foot" Thea / understood
how the and could be watered with the
foot How do you suppose ! felt when
on the deck Of that steamer on the Nile
I looked off upon the canals and bitches
and ~sluices through which the fields are
irrigated by that river and then read in
Isaiah: 1.-THE burden OF Egypt; the
river shall be wasted and dried up: and
they shall be broken in their purposes
thereof, all that make sluiccs and ponds
for fish"
While sailing on this river or stopping
at one of the villages, we see people on
ton for they are O rs they were in
Bible times. Shoes are now taken off
in reverence TO sacred places. Children
carried astride the mothers shoulder
as in IIagar's time. Women with pro-
fusion of jewelryI as when Rebecca was
afianccd. Lcntils shelled into the pot
tage as when Esau sold his birthright
to get such a dish. The same habits of
salutation as when Joseph and his
brethren fell on each Others neck.
Courts of law held under big trees as
in olden times People making bricks
without straw. compelled by cir,um-
stances to use stubble instead Of straw.
Flying over or standing on the banks
as in Scripture days are ilamingoes,
ospreys. eagles, p%elicans, herons,
cuckoos and bullfinches On all
sides of this river sepulchres.
Villages of scpulchres. Cities of
sepulchreS Nations Of sepulchres- And
one is tempted to call it an empire of
tombs. never saw such n place rs
Egypt is for graves. And now we 80
derstaud the complaining ssSfcasm of
the israsli.ss<<neS they were on the
MSfrom Egypt TO Canaan: because
there are no graves in Egypt, hast thou
taken us away to die in the wilder
ness"
Here we discmbark a little while for
Memphis. off from h Nile To the
right Memphis. founded by the first
king of Egypt and for a long while the
capital. A city OF marble and gold.
Home of the Pharaohs- City nineteen
miles in circumference. Vast colon
nades through which imposing process
sions marched Here stood the temple
of the sun. itself in brilliance a sun
skone on by another SUM-. Memphis in
power over a thousand years. or nearly
ten times as long as the United States
have existed.
Here Joseph was prime minister.
Here Pharaoh received Jacob. All
possible spleudors were built up into
this royal city. Hosea, Ezekiel, Jere-
miah and Isaiah speak of it as some
thing wonderful. Never did l visit a
city with such exalted anticipations
and never did my anticipations drop so
flat Not n pillar stands Not a wall
is unbroken. Not a fountain losses in
the sun. Even the ruins have been
ruined and all hat remain are chips
OF marble. small pieces of fractured
sculpture and splintered human bones,
Here and there a letter of some elabor-
ate inscription, n toe or ear of n statue
that once stood in niche of palace wall.
Ezekiel prophcsicd its blotting ont and
the prophecy has been fulfilled.
But back to the Nile and on and up
called the city of No. Hundred-gatcd
Thebes. A q~uadrangular city four
miles from limit TO limit. Four great
temples, two of them karnac and
Luxor. once mountains of exquisite
sculpture and gorgeous dreams solidi-
fled in stone statue Of Rameses H.. So
tons in weight and seventy-five feet
high. but now fallen and scattered.
Walls abloom with the battlefelds Of
centuries. The surrounding hills of
rock followed into sepulchres, 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 rs
explorations go or with the work. the
walls of these sepulchres become com
mentaries Of the Bible. the Scriptures
originally written upon parchment
here cut into everlasting stone,
Thebes mighty and dominant 500
years Then she went down in fulfill
men. of Ezekiers prophecy concerning
the city OF No. which was another name
for Thebes: 81 will execute Judgment
in No will cut off the multitudss OF
No" jeremiah also prophesied: Thus