Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-10-24

ten.
Well, Of what is this Cyciopsan masonry a
sign and q witaesss Among other things
OF tne proionyation OF human work com
pared with the brevity Of human life In
all the four thousand years tais pyramid has
only lost eighteen feet in width, one sill Of
It's square at the base changed only from
seven hundred an | sixsv-sour feet to seven
hundred and forty six feet, and the most OF
that eightesn feet taken of BY architects to
furnish stone for building in the city OF
Cairo. The men who constructed the pyra-
mid worked at It only few years and then
put down the trowel, and the compass, and
the square, and lowered the derrick which
had lifted theponderoas weights; but forty
centuries has their work stood, and it will b.
good for forty centuries more.
All Egypt has been shaken by terrible
earthquakes ami cities have been Frustrated
or swallowed, but that pyramid has delied all
volcanic paroxysms 1t has looked upoa
some OF the greatest battles ever fought
since the world stood Where ara the men
who constructed it, Their bodies gona to
dust and even the dust scattered Even the
sarcopAagus in which this kings mummy
may have slept is empty.
So men die but their work lives on. We
are all building pyramids not to last four
THOUSAND years, but forty thousand, forty
million, forty trillion, forty quadrilloil,
lOA " EDE d-N1lle we Wleiu IH9
trowel, or pound with the hammer, or meas.
IRE with the yari stick, or write with the
pen, OF experiment with the scientific bat.
terry, or plan with the brain, AMI for while
tine foot walks and the eve sees, and the ear
hears an the tongue speaks All the good
words or bad words we speak ara spread out
into one layer for pyramid. All the kind
deeds or malevolent deels we do are spread
+! out into another layer. All ths Christian or
another layer. All the indirect influences of
our lives are spread out in another layer.
Then the time soon comes when We put
down the implement OF toll and pass away,
but the pyramid stands
The pyramid is a sign and witness that
big tombstones are not the best way OF
keeping ones self affectionately remem-
berel. This pyramid AMI the sixty nine
other pyramids still standing were built for
sepulchers all this great pile OF granite AMI
limestone by which we stand to- day, to cover
the memory of dead king 1t was the great
Westminster abbey of the ancients. Some
say that Cneops was the king who built this
pyramid but it is uncertain. Who was
Cheops anyhow? All that the world knows
about him could be told in few sentences.
Tne only thing certain is that he was bad
and that he shut up the temples of worship,
and that he was hated so that the Egyptians
were glad when he was dead.
This pyramid OF rock seven hundred and
forty feet each side of the square base and
four hundred aud fifty feet high wins for
him no respect. II bone of his arm or foot
had been found in the sareophagus beneath
the pyramid, it would have excited no more
veneration than the skeleton Of a clmel
bleaching on the Ljbyan desert: yea, less
generation, for when saw the carcass OF a
camel by the roadside on the way to Mem
phis, | said to myself, Poor thing, wonder
of what it died. We say nothing against
the marble or the brouzs of the metropolis.
Let all the sculpture and iiorescence and ar
borescence can do for the places OF tue dead
be done, if means will allow it. But II ate!
one is dead there is nothing left TO remind
the world OF him but some pieces of stone,
there is but little left.
While there seems to be no practical uSe
for post norton consideration later than the
time of ones great grandchildren, yet no ono
wants to be forgotten as soon as tne obs 9quie5
are over. This pyramid, which lsaiao says
is a sign anda witness, demonstrates tnat
neither limestone nor r4t granite are com
petent to keep one affectionately remen-
bered; neither can bronze; neither can
Parian marble; neither can Absr iesa
granite do the work. But there Is somethln
out of which to build an everlasting m)n-
ument and that will keep ons freshly 70
n1efnpere1 -FOUR THOUSAND years yea for,
ever and ever. 1t does not stand in marble
yards. 1t is not to be purchased at mourn
ing stores Yet it is to be found in every
neighborhool, plenty OF it, inexhaustibie
quantities OF it. Ii is the greatest stuff in
the universe to bull molu meats out OF. [
refer to the memories of those to whom wa
can do Kindness, the memories of those
whose struggles We may alleviate, the mem
cries OF those whose souls we may save.
A minister passing along ths street every
daV I0Ok ad M AMI Sn,i1o1 fD n bab
window The father and mother wondered
who 1t was that thus pleasantly crested their
child. They found out that he was the pastor
of a church They said, 1--WE must 90 and hear
him preach" They went and heard him and
both were converted to Col Will there be
any power in fifty million years to erase
from the souls of those parents the memory
of that man who by his friendliness brought
them TO God2 Matthew Cranswick. an
evangelist, said that ne had the names of two
hundred souls saved through his singing the
hymn, Arise, my soul, arisew Will any OF
those two hundred souls in all eternity forget
Matthew Cranswic2? Will any of the four
hundred aud seyenty-nine women and chill
dren imprisoned at Lucknow, India, waiting
for massacre by the Sepoys. forget Havelocs
and Outram and Sir David Beard, who broke
I in and effected Their rescue2
/ As II Egypt that December afternoon.
+ 1882 exhausted in body, mind aud soul, we
mounted to return to Cairo. We took our last
/ looz Of the pyramid at Giz91 And you
t know there is something in the air toward
( evening that seems pro iuetiye OF solemn anl
tender emotion, and tlat great pyramid
/ seemed to be hunanizsl and with lips Of
stone it seenel to speak AMI cry out:
Hear me, man, mortal and i'm Mortal!
My vo,c9 is tine voice of Col He designed
me. Isaia said I would be sign and a
witness. saw Moses when he was lad.
! witnsssel ths long procession OF the Is
raelites as they stare to cross the Red Sea
aud Pnsraoh's host i'll pursuit of them.
Toe falcons an thu eagles Of many cen
turtles have brushed my brow | stoo
+ here when Cleopatra's barge landel with her
sorcaries, AMI Hypatia for her virtues was
slain i'll yonder streets. Alexan Ter the
Great Seostrts AMI PtoIemy admired my
/ proportions Herodot'Is aul Pliny sounded
my praise. / am old, am very old. Fol
i thousands OF years | have watched the com
ing AMI going o, generations. They larry
only little while. but they make everlast-
ing impression, | bear on my side the mars
Vt the trov vel au caisal OF th0ss who more
I than four thousan years ago expired. Be
/ ware what you do, oh, man for what yol
do will last long after you are dead
II you would be affec5ionately re
inemoered after You are gone, trus
not to any earthly c1mmemoratiou.
any astronom 81 who stu lied tis heaven;
from my heights or any king WIN was sep
ulchered in my bosom. lam slowly passin :
away. am a dying pyramid l shall yet
/ lie down in the dust of the plaiu, and tbs
sands of the des ri shall cover me, or When
the earth goes | VIII 90. But you are im
mortal The feet with whica you clmbe
my sides today will turn to dust, bus yo,
/ have soul that will ouSlass ma AMI all my
( brotherhood of pyranids Live for eternity
Live for Cod With ths shadows of the
evening now falling from my side. pro
nouuce upon You n bene1ic5iol Take il
with you across the Mediterranean Take il
with you across the Atlantic. Go only i.
great Let all the earth keep silence before
Him Amen"
And then the lips OF granite hushed, and
the great giant OF masonry wrappe himself
again in the silence OF ages, aud as | rode
away in the gathering twilight, this course
of sermons was projected
Wondrons Egypt Land of ancient pomp anc
pride
Whers Beauty walks By hosry Runs side
Where plenty rsigns aud still the seasons smile
And rolls--icl gift Of God -exhaus.Iess Nile.
S7hiquanga-A Queer African Dish.