The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-06-29

! cancy. It was looking over and be-
yond everything of the present, and
far into the past. 1t was gazing out
over the ocean Of time, over lines of
century-waves which, further and fur
ther receding, closed nearer together,
and blended at once into one unbroken
tide, away towards the horison of re-
mote antiquity. 1t was thinking OF
| the wars Of departed ages; Of the em-
pires it had seen created and destroyed;
of the nations whose birth it had wit
! messed, whose progress ii had watched,
whose anihilation it haC noted; Of the
Joy and sorrow, the life and death, the
grandeur and decay of five thousand
slow revolving years. II was the type
of the attribute Of man Of faculty OF
his heart and brain. 1t was memory
ospection-wrought into visible,
tangible form. All who know what
pathos there is i'll memories OF days
that are accomplished and faces that
have vaniShed-albeit only i triflnS
score of years gone by-will have some
appreciation of the pathos that dwells
in these grave eyes that look so stead
fastlv back upon the things they knew
before history was born-before tradi-
ton had being-things that were, and
forms that moved, in i vague era which
even poetry and romance scarce knew
of-and passed one ty one away and
left the stony dreamer solitary in the
midst Of strange new age, and un-
comprehended scenes. The Sphinx is
grand in its loneliness; it is imposing
in its magnitude; 1t is impressive in
the mystery that hangs over its story.
And there is that in the overshadowing
majesty of this eternal figure of stone,
with its accusing memory Of the deeds
of all ages, which reveals to one some
thing CT what he shall feel when he
shall stand at last in the awful pres
ence of God"
The Obelisk or Egyptian needle, as
it is perhaps more generally called, IS
different kind of monument, having
no special appropriateness in connec-
ton with the other two. They are
tombs erected in memory of the dead.
The Obelisk is a historical monument,
found in the cities Of very ancient
origin like Alexandria, or amid the
ruins of very ancient cities like Mem
phis and Thebes. They correspond
rather to the Roman arch, or our sense |
less shaft. They are not so artistic and
interesting as the arch, but are at least
more so with their Inscriptions, than
our taleless and tasteless shafts. These !
obelisks are cut in single piece of
granite, sometimes 20 TO 81 feet high. |!
They are square, but slope gently up to
within few feet of the top, when they |
are brought to comic shaped point.
Egypt has been despoiled Of several of
the most interesting of these monu-
ments, taken down and carried Oft 10 |
other cities. New York has one stand |
ing in Central Park, present to that
city from the ex-Kedive, 1smail Pasha.
Doubtless many of your readers have
seen it there and can bear testimony |
with the writer to the incorrect pro-
portions represented in our picture.
London has one erected on the Thames
embankment. Rome has one standing
now on the "PiaZZa del Popolo,"
brought from Lgypt way back in the
time of the Romans by Augustus C;c-
sar and placed by him in the Circus
Maximus. But the most interesting, |
perhaps, Of all these obelisks, at least
the one that is made to appear to the
best advantage, stands on the magnitl-
cent "Place de la Concorde," at Paris.
1t was brought from Luxor (ancient
Thebes), in upper Egypt, and erected
in Paris during the reign of Louis |
Philippe in 1896. 1t is cut out of red
Egyptian granite and is about 10 feet
high. Itstand son pedestal Of French |
granite nearly 20 feet high, which gives
the entire monument a more COM
mandiug appearance than any Of the
others. All these obelisks are covered
from summit tC base with hieroglyphic
=
Inscriptions, which were long regarded
as kind of ornamentation, until less
than half a century ago Prof. Lepsius,
the famous Psychologist Of Berlin Uni
versity, discovered the key to their
translation. Since then the interesting
character of these obelisks as valuable
historical monuments has become
known to the world.
With the above brief and imperfect
description, I hope some of your read
ers may take more interest in our rude
Egyptian picture.
B. 0. ID.