Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1891-11-12
GOSPEL OF PYRAMIDS.
Or. TALMACE'S DISCOURSE At
BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.
His & astern Tour.--ss W hat I Saw In
Egypt and Greece ConfirmasOry Of
the ScriPsures.''

sermon was the nrSt OIL D series ne In
tended preaching on his eastern tour,
entitled What I saw in Egypt and
Greece confrmatory of the scriptures.
HIS text was Isaiah 10: 10, 20; ''In that
| day shall there be an altar to the Lord
| in the midst of the land of Egypt and
q pillar at the border thereof to the
Lord And it shall be for sign and
for a witness"
great pyramid at Gizeh, the chief
Of q pillar in Egypt. and this is the
greatest pillar ever lifted; and the
text saws it is to be Mt the border of
the land, and this pyramid is at the
border of the land; ana the text says
| it shall be for witness. and the OBJ
jrct of this sermon is to tell what this
pyramid witnesses.
We had, on q morning OF December.
1889, landed in Africa. Amid the
bowling boatmen at Alexandria we
had come ashore and taken the rail-
train for Cairo, Egypt, along the
banks Of the most thoroughly har-
messed river of all the world-the river
Nile. We had, at even-tide, entered
the city of Cairo, the city where
Christ dwelt win 9 staying in Egypt
during the Herodic persecution. 1t
was our first night in Egypt.
But how can describe the thrill of
expectation. for to-day we are to see
what all the world has seen or wants
to see-the pyramids. We are mounted
for an hour and halls ride. Though
there are sixty-nine pyramids still
standing, the pyramid Of Gizeh is the
monarch of pyramids.
We stand under the shadow of a
structure that shuts out all the earth
and all the sky and we look up and
strain our vision to appreciate the dis
tant top, and are overwhelmed while
we cry 1.-THE pyramid! The Pyramid"
Four thousand years old at least.
l had started chat morning with the
determination of ascending the pyra-
mid. One of my chief objects in going
to Egypt was not only to see the base
Of that granite wonder. but to stand
on the top Of It Yet the nearer I
came to this eternity in stone the more
my determination was shs ken. Its
altitude to me was simply appalling.
! A great height has always been to me
. most disagreeable sensation. As we
dismounted ut the base of the pyra-
mid said, 'Others may go
up 1t, but not l. will
satisfy myself with view from
the base. The ascent Of IL would be to
me . foolhardy undertaking" But
after had given up all idea Of ascend
Ing, l found my daughter was de-
termined to go. and could not let her
60 with strangers, and l changed my
| cannot DO done without these helpcra
Two or three times foolhardy men
have attempted it alone, but their
bodies came tumbkng down unrecog-
nizable and lifeless. Each person in
our party had two or three guides or
| helpera One of them unrolled his tur-
ban and tied 1t around my waist and
he held the other end of the tur-
ban as . matter Of safety. Many
, of the blocks of stone are four
or i've feet high and beyond any
| ordinary human stride unless assisted.
But, two Arabs to pull and two Arabs
to push, found myself rapidly ascend
ing from height to height, and ON. to
attitudes terrific, and AZ last at the tip
top We found ourselves on q leve-
space of about thirty feet square.
Through clearest atmosphere we
looked of upon the desert, ana of
upon the winding Nile, and of upon
the Sphinx with its features of ever
lasting stone, and yonder upon the
minarets of Cairo glittering in the sun,
and yonder upon Memphis in ruins,
| and OF u9on the wreck OF empires and
| the battle-felds of ages, radius of
view enough to I'LL the mind and shock
the nerves and overwheim ones entire
being.
After looking around for awhile, and
kodack had pictured the group, we
descended. The descent was more
trying than the ascent, for climbing
you need mot see the depths beneath,
but coming down it was impossible not
| 70 sec the abysms below. But two
Arabs ahead to help us down. and two
J Arabs to hold 40 back, We were low
! cred, hand below hand, until the
ground WAS invitingly near. and amid
tho iarRon Of the Arabs we were safe.
~ landed. Then came one Of the most
wonderful feats Of daring and agility.
! One Of the Arabs solicited . dollar,
! saying he would run mp and down the
pyramids In seven minuteA We would
rather have given him dollar not to
| 70, but this ascent and descent In seven
| by the watch In seven minutes he went
| W tAV wy OuV W00 O0SA 080Au ~ WIG
base.
What IN antiquity! It was ut least
! 1000 years old when tho baby Christ
was carried within sight OF 1t by his
3 fugitive parents. Joseph and Mary.
Tho storms Of forty centuries have
drenched. bombarded II. shadowed it.
/ flashed upon il, but there it stands
ready to take another forty centuries
OF atmospheric attack If the world
! should continue to exist Tho oldest
buildings Of the earth arc juniors to
this great senior Of the centuries
Herodotus says that for ten years pre-
pArations were being made for the
building Of this pyramid. II has
e2, III 900 cubic feet Of masonry. One
hundred thousand workmen 1t ono
time toiled in it, erection. To bring
the stone from the quarr,es . cause
way 60 feet wide was built The top
, stones were lifted BY machinery such
- the world knows nothing of to-day.
It b :46 70 4 each aldo Of the base.
The structure 10 $50 feet high, higher
than the cathedrals Of Cologne. Stras-
burg, Rouen, St Peters, and St
Paula No surprise 10 me that IL was
put at the head Of the seven wonders OF
+, the world.
Iwom6er ma that tina ,nouusa,u Al