Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-10-23
Bntld for Eternity.

pyramids to the Acropolis, or What !
s'w in Egypt and Greece Confirmotor,
Il the Scriptures. His text was Isaiai,
yig, 10, 20: SIN that day there shall bq
an altar to the Lord in the midst of ,be
land of Egypt and at the border thereof
10 the Lord. And it shall be for a s;nn
and for Witness"
Isaiah no doubt here refers tn tho
Great pyramid at Gizch, the chief nvr,.
mid OF Egypt. The text speaks Of ,
mar in Egypt, ard this is the greatest
par ever lifted; and the text saws II is
10 be at the border of the land: and tbo
,eyt says it shall be for witness and
The object of this sermon is to tell what
this pyramid witnesses. This sermon is
the first of course of sermons entitled
From the Pyramids to the Acropolis or
What | saw in Egypt and Greece Con.
arnatory of the Scriptures"
We had, on a morning of Decomhor
1850 landed in Africa. Amid the howl,
inc boatmen at Alexandria wc had COVE
ashore and taken the rail train for C.iro
Egypt along the banks of the most
thoroughly harnessed river of all the
world-the river Nile. We had at even
tide, entered the city of Cairo, the CITY
"ucio SAii u"elC Wullc staying in
Egypt during the Herodic persecution.
1t was our first night in Egypt No de-
stroying angel sweeping through as once.
but all the stars were out and the skies
were filled with angels of beauty and
angels OF light, and the air was as balmy
as an American June. The next morn
ing we were early awake and at the win
dow, looking upon palm trees in full
glory OF Leakage, and upon gardens of
fruits and flowers at the very season
when our homes far away are canopied
by bleak skies and the last leaf of the
forest has gone down with the eouinoc
tias.
But how can l describe the thrill of
eypcctation, for to-day we are to see
what all the world has seen or wants to
>ee-the pyramids. We are mounted for
an hour and half's ride We pass on
amid bazaars stuffed with rugs and car
pets and curious fabrics of all sorts from
smyrna, from Algiers, from Persia, from
Turkey, and through the streets, where
We meet people of all colors and all
sarbs, carts loaded with garden produc-
tons, priests in gowns, women in black
wells, Bedouins in long and seemingly
supcrtiuous apparel, Janssiarics in
jackets of embroidered gold-out and
on toward the great pyramid; for though
there are siXty-nine pyramids still stand
ing the pyramid at Gizeh is the monarch
OF pyramids. We meet camcls grunting
under their load, and sec butfaloes on
"!jher side browsing in pasture fields
The road we travel is for part of the
way under clumps of acacia, and by long
rows OF sycamore and tamerisk, but
after awhile it is path of rock and
sand, and we find we have reached the
margin of the desert, the great Sahara
desert, and we cry out to the dragoman
as we see a huge pile of rock looming in
SIGHT 'Dragoman, what is that?" HIS
answer is, 1.-The pyramid" and then it
seemed as if we were living a century
very minute Our thoughts and emo
tons were too rapid and intense for ut
terance, and we ride On in silence until
We come to the foot of the pyramid
spoken of in the text, the oldest struct-
lg' in all the earth, 1000 years old at
least. Here it is. We stand under the
shadow of structure that shuts out all
the Garth and all the sky, and we look
UP and strain our vision to appreciate
HE distant top, and are overwhelmed
while we cry, 1.-The pyramid! The pyra-
MD.
had started that morning with the
determination Of ascending the pyramid.
one of my chief objects in going to Egypt
was not only to see the base of that gram
!tc wonder, but to stand on the top of
II, Yet the nearer | came to this eternity
III stone the more my determination was
shaken. Its attitude to me was simply
appalling. A great height has always
been to me most disagreeable sensation.
As we dismounted at the base of the
pyramid l said ':Others may go up it,
but not l. l will satisfy myself with a
yirw from the base. The ascent of it
would be to me foolhardy undertake
Ag.'
But after had given up all idea of as
eehdlng l found my daughter was de-
tefmined to go. and could not let her
~ with strangers, and | changed my
mind, and we started with guides. 1t
cannot be done without these helpers.
l"o or three times foolhardy men have
tempted it alone. but their bodies came
iomDlns down unrccogniZable and life
'eSs Each person in our party had two
u three guides or helpers. One of them
Nnfoled his turban and tied it around
my waist and he held the other end OF
ILe turban as a matter OF safety.
Many of the blocks of stone are four or
Fefeet high and beyond any ordinary
human stride unless assisted. But: two
.'fabs to pull and two Arabs to push, l
-oind myself rapidly ascending from
light to height, and on to attitudes
}vFrllc, and at last at the tip top we
."lhd ourselves on level space of about
,"!riy feet square.
through the clcarcst atmosphere we
nVNed Off upon the desert, and Off upon
'& winding Nile, and off upon the
Fl''llX with its features of everlasting
,s''ie, and yonder upon the minarets OF
AFRO glitterng in the sun, and yondel
upon Memphis in ruins, and off upon tho
wreck of empires and the battleticds OF
"si> radius of view enough to NIL the
"s''d and shock the nerves and over
"Heim ones entire being
Alter looking around TO: awhile, and a
"ooak Lad pictured the group we de
.IeN"ed The descent was more trying
Wan the ascent, for climbing you neec
i'S see the depth beneath, but coming
S2%h 1t was impossible not to see Inc
SoSSln below. But. two Arabs ahead tt
IVY! us down and two Arabs to hold II:
, "SsN we were lowered hand below hanf