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 ■ W L ' ! U. -.IJ ■ . ' i ' -. i ^9-^ % tf ' -J^^ 
 
 t 
 
 « 
 
 iJxrriRES 
 
 <t» 
 
 EGYPT AND ITS MONUMEiNTS, 
 
 AS ILLUSTlIATlVn OF i^CHirTl'KD; 
 
 By the Re^. M, liarvfj, 
 
 MhiikUr of fit*-' Frm Chxi-'-.h, 
 
 %T. JOHN'S, NE^VFOUNDLAND 
 
 I 
 
 A^i. John' ft, K. jr., 
 TnoMAS MoCoNNAir. 
 
 Viintcd (it the. Ki^yreti Office, 
 1857. 
 
1 
 
 r 
 
 ^ii 
 
 ■^ 
 
LECTUEES 
 
 
 ON 
 
 1 
 
 EGYPT AND ITS MONUMENTS, 
 
 AS ILLUSTRATIVE OF SCRIPTURE ; 
 
 By the Eev. M. Harver« 
 
 Minitter of the Free Clmrchy 
 
 ST. JOHN^S, NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 T II ~»- i f~i " ■ - r I I ~ ii ~ i - i 1 1 iT i » 
 
 a 
 
 St. John**, iV. F.f 
 Thomas McConnan. 
 
 Printed at the Exjrrcst Office. 
 1857. 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 «' Tboufflits on the Poetry and Literature of the 
 
 Bible." 
 
 PRICE NINE PENCE. 
 
 " Those lectures arc highly honourable to their author. Full 
 of literary enthusiasm, they exhibit a happy appreciation of the 
 chief characteristics of sacred poetry ; and in the glow of sym- 
 pathetic eloquence the lectures have themselves become poetical. 
 They are calculated to send the reader to some portions^ of 
 scripture with fresh eyes, because with new expectations."— 
 Engliah Presbyterian Messenger. 
 
 " A very superior production. The writer is thoroughly 
 in love with his subject ; his style finely harmonizes with it ; 
 and over the whole discussion ho throws a rich glow of religious 
 fervour, which is very refreshing and instructive. One natur- 
 ally is led to put this little treatise alongside of a similar thing 
 wh'ch lately came from the pen of Dr. Hamilton of London ; 
 and it is saying a good deal of Mr. Harvey's tract when we 
 give it as our opinion that it can stand such a comparison. Aa 
 regards mere style we greatly prefer it. We commend this 
 littie treatise most heartily, hoping that it is only^ the first-fruita 
 of much that is yet to come to us from the colonies."— Seottish 
 Guardian. 
 
 " The Committee can without hesitation appeal to it as a most 
 creditable specimen of the literary ability and scholarship of the 
 ministers by whom our important colonial stations are now in 
 course of being supplied."— i2ej?or« of the Colonial Committee^ 
 presented to the General Assembly of the Free Church, May, 
 1854. 
 
 " To treat such a subject as it deserved required no ordinary 
 share of ability. Mr. Harvey has executed his task in a man- 
 
 I 
 
mm 
 
 
 m 
 
 ucr that reflects the highest credit on hitn, as a critic and a 
 icholar. Without cxtoiwivo erudition and a tine taste, ho could 
 not have produced this pamphh^t. IJut he hrin;^8 to the ehicida- 
 tion of his Huhject what is (juito as necessary an Hcholurshij) — a 
 a riglit appreciation of the moral grandeur and tlie spiritual heau- 
 tioa of the Hil)le. It is the Hj)lendour of the theino that gives 
 dignity to its literature, and life and heauty to its |)oetry. Tlio 
 author realizes this and makes his readers feel it too.' — Irluh 
 Preihyterian. 
 
 ** Testimony of iVineveh to ihc Veracity of the 
 
 Bible." 
 
 PRICE ONE SHILLING AND THREE PENCE. 
 
 " An excellent addition to our * Christian Evidences' — popular 
 in manner, graphic an<l well put in form. From the religious 
 system, military usai:;es, costumes, arehit(^cture, t&c., of the 
 Assyrians, Mr. Harvey deduces several telling arguments for 
 the veracity of Scripture." — Edinburgh WitnuH^. 
 
 " In perfect sohrioty wo say that it has but seldom been our 
 lot to road a pami)hlot of so fascinating and instructive a charac- 
 ter. Wo have in it the whole marrow of Layard's three 
 volumes, and especially those parts that have a more direct and 
 immediate bearing on revelation ; and all this, not in the form of a 
 skeleton detail of facts, but garnished and embellished with the 
 products of a fine glowing imagination, and of a chaste, elegant 
 style." — Halifax Witness. 
 
 '' In arranging his facts, and analyzing the wonderful dis- 
 coveries of the ancient capital. Mi*. Harvey exhibits a familiar 
 ac(iuaintance with ancient history, a powerful and fervid imagi- 
 nation, and a discriminating judgment. The results of tlio 
 whole investigation are brought to bear with all the force of 
 irresistible logic on the verities of the Bible." — Irish Preiby- 
 terian. 
 
 *^ Lectures on the Harmony of Science and 
 
 Kevelatlon." 
 
 PRICE TWO SHILLINGS AND SIX PENCE. 
 
 " The man of Soionee, who is an enlightened Christian, can 
 easily show how his knowledge that came supernaturally from God, 
 
if 
 
 and hia knowlctl;?o attaliiablo b^ the ordirmry excrc'wo of liii 
 faculties, on the luatcrijiis fununlied l»y the uurrounding uni- 
 verse, cait co-exirit niul uiutuully illustrate each other. Mr. 
 Harvey has dune so, in the work hvA'urv iw, in a nsatmcr that 
 will call forth the admiration and applaiwo of every intelligent 
 reader. Ho has Buooeeded in uuiking *' the new fauiiliur and 
 the familiar now." TopicH that are uHuallv looked upon tt^^ dry 
 and uninviting, in his hands are fresh, lucid and attractive. 
 • • * • Seioneo, [M)pularizcd and chriritianizcd, is at pre- 
 Bont the fi^rcat desideratnni in our literutiirc. We are therefuro 
 very glad to meet Mr. Harvey in the field ; and we hope that 
 the present work is hut an earnest of what will yet come from 
 his [)en." — Halifax Prctbytmaih Witnetft. 
 
 "Wo called attention, some time ago, to two works by Mr. 
 Harvey, both of which reflect on him the higlu 4 credit, as an 
 able liud accomplished man. The present voIuuk fully sustains 
 his reputation. He has gi'appled with the arguments drawn 
 from Geology in a masterly style ; and nothing can be more 
 satisfactory than the nmnnei in which ho points out the perfect 
 concurrence in the testimony of nature and revelation." — Irith 
 Preabyterian. 
 
 " This is no ordinary book. It Is the production of a mind 
 highly gifted, well cultivated, and of refined taste, — a mind that 
 has explore I ), with skilful earnestness, the Works and the Word 
 of God. The present work not only sustains, but is calculateil 
 to increase gi'catly the author's popularity. In it he xuidortakea 
 one of the highest and most important exercises which can en- 
 gage the Christian divine — the harmonizing of science and 
 revelation. He has brought no small amount of reading, talent 
 and reflection to bear upon the various topics which he has 
 discussed. He has done, in harmonizing the sciences, especially 
 Geology with Revelation, what McCosh has done in his " Method 
 of the Divine Governinojit" — condensed and popularized what 
 has been previously written in a dry and I'Dimal manner. By 
 a clear conception of the laws of nature, and a right use of the 
 laws of Bible criticism, by a lucid arrangement, and by a grace- 
 ful, poetical and truly iacinating stylo, he has rendered plain and 
 pleasing, what to many was dark and painful. W^e most cor- 
 dially recommend the v(jlume to all who love the Works and the 
 Word of God."- Arnuujh Guanlian. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 , — 0' " ■■ 
 
 Lkotuiie I. 
 
 Cloflo connection of E;^vf)t with Snored Iliiitory. Gc();^at)liy 
 of Egypt. Vast iiiiti(|uity iukI )^ran<l aHHoriutionH. Ori- 
 gin ot the Egypti}u»3. The ruco not Negro .... 1 
 
 Lectiiue ir. 
 
 History of E^yrnt. Necessity of revisinj; o\ir poptilar 
 Chronology, lloll of Egyptian Monarcha . . . . V,\ 
 
 Lecture iir. 
 
 Monuments of Egypt — Memphis — The Pyramids — Tho 
 Sphinx — City of On — Deuderali — Thebes — Luxor — Kar- 
 nao 20 
 
 Lecture iv. 
 
 Hieroglyphics. Key to their interpretation. High civili- 
 zation of the Ancient Egyptians. Their arts and dis- 
 coveries 84 
 
 Lecture v. 
 
 Egypt in tho time of Abraham. The Patriarch's Emigra- 
 tion. Striking corroborations of Scripture .... 43 
 
 Lecture vi. 
 
 Joseph in Egypt. Egyptian customs, embalming, tomb- 
 paintings, monuments, as confirmatory of tlio Bible . . 52 
 
 LeCHTRE VII. 
 
 Israel in Egypt. Tomb-picture of the Israelites making 
 brickij. Illustrations of their buudago 03 
 
 / 
 
IllOTL'RI viir. 
 
 ftltl 
 
 The PlagtM, M illustratod hy thu natural jihenoinoim of 
 ^'i^V^ •. 73 
 
 LlOTUHl IX. 
 
 Lracl in the VViMoniMi. Tho (Joldon Calf. Mttking (.f 
 tho Tal>«nmclo. Vnmin' (JannenU. Urim and Thuiu- 
 
 iMitn 
 
 81 
 
 Lecturk X. 
 
 Direct Historical fionfirmatioim of Scripture from tho Menu- 
 ujont8. Conclusion 80 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Pago 12, lino 5, for "hard-worn," road "hard-won/* 
 " 20, " 21, for "camosoon," road "came." 
 " 20, " 2t), for " Antonoy," road " Antony." 
 " 20, " U, for " whoBcholdera," read " whoso house- 
 holders." 
 
 Page 22, lino 9, for " deep drunk," road " deep sunk." 
 " 28, " 5 from bottom, for " Holospolis," read " IIoHo- 
 polis." 
 
 Page 78, " 20, for " accomplished," read " accompanied." 
 
81 
 
 PREFASE. 
 
 8(! 
 
 JltiYiT waa of old the Mono of tho most startling and ex- 
 tended sorios of wondora ever wrought by " tho fingor of 
 God." Tho world still roadn tho narrative of thoso miraculous 
 ovontrt • ith a thrill of awe and wondor ; and, in our own day, 
 this ftjoling ha« boon deepened l)y tho unlookod for corrol)ora- 
 tions and illustratioiw of tho sacred history, i)rought to light by 
 researches amon^ the ruins of Ancient Egypt. It wan a re- 
 mark of Voltaire that " tho Egypt of tho Bible was a mistake." 
 Tho sneering, sceptical philosopher fancied that an acquaintance 
 with the monuments of tlio Nile-valley would speedily dissipate 
 all faith in the veracity of the writer of the Pentateuch, and 
 convict iiim of writing a romance, in utter ignorance of Egypt's 
 history, geography, natural phenomena, people, laws and cus- 
 toms. In God's providence, old Egypt haa been raised from 
 the dust of centuries ; hor mysterious hieroglyphics have been 
 deciphered ; the broken links of her history have been restored ; 
 and now, after an interment of tw(«ity centuries, she appears in 
 court to confront tho sublost infidelity that haa yet impugned 
 tho truth of the Bible. Tho result is all that the Christian 
 could wish for, and far moro than tho most sanguine could havo 
 anticipated. Infidelity has, m this attack, boon completely dis- 
 comfited ; tho Bible has gained a fresh victory. Tho " Egypt 
 of Moses" has been proved to bo tho Egypt of history. Hia 
 picture of that land of wonders has been shown to be accurate 
 in tho minutest details. His references to Egyptian history, 
 modes of life, natural history and physical phenomena, havo all 
 been confirmed by tho most rigid and impartial investigations of 
 modern research ; and of each and all hia statements the verdict 
 

 t»ow is, this isi TiiT'Tii. Wo cannot too mucli ftdmlrt .J adoro 
 the Divine Wisdom, that haa kept these wonderful monumental 
 cvid«nce3 stored under the desert sands for centuries, and 
 brought them to light in an age when such testimony was es- 
 pecially needed. Intellectual scepticism is thus met and foiled 
 with its own weapons. 
 
 In tlie following Lectures I hava attempted to bring together, 
 in a popular form, the results of moderii researches among tho 
 ruins of Ancient Egypt, so far as they are illustrative oi cor- 
 roborative of the Sacred History. Having been delivered to a 
 popular audience, it was necessary to avoid lengthened and 
 minute details, and to dwell only on the more important and 
 striking particulars. 
 
 M. H. 
 
 St. John's, n. F., 
 
 9tu Nov., 1857. 
 
idore 
 
 ontal 
 
 and 
 
 ,8 08- 
 
 biled 
 
 thcr, 
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 cor- 
 . to a 
 
 and 
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 H. 
 
 LECTUUV: T. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 It is well known ;-o you, as roaclors of the Bible, how closely 
 the history of Egypt is connected with tho inspired history 
 of tho Hebrews. To no other country do wo find so 
 many references, in tho earlier books of tho Old Testament, 
 as to Egypt ; and no other nation influenced tho destinies of 
 the chosen raco so largely as the Egyptian. It was on tho 
 banks of tho Nile that Israel, from a few individuals, multiplied 
 into a nation of three millions of souls ; and when at the Exodus, 
 tliat people started into national and spiritual life, and turned 
 their faces towards tho promised land, with such a mighty des- 
 tiny to accomplish, they carried with them much of the civiliza- 
 tion and culture, and many of the arts with which they had 
 come into contact in Egypt. It would seem as though God had 
 selected this country, "as the fittest training ground for that 
 nation through whom ho meant to influence the world. At the 
 tiino of Israel's captivity Egypt was by far the most civilised 
 spot on the face of the eirtb. A monarchy had existed for 
 ages— laws, remarkable for their wisdom, and the whole machi- 
 nery of government were in operation— stately pyramids, 
 temi'les and (tfilaces covered the land ; and all the arts that 
 beautify and blecs human existence had attained a high degree 
 of excellence. Tlie Hebrew na; ion, notwithstanding tlie bard- 
 Bhips of slavery, benefitted vastly by contact with a people so 
 advanced andVefined ; and carrii d from Egypt the gei 3 of a 
 material civilization which they aided in developing and s}. read- 
 ing over the world. Their great leader, to whom the world 
 owes more than to any other man, was fitted, in pait, for his 
 weighty mission by being '* k nrncd m all the wisdcni of the 
 Egjptians" — to his Hebrew firo there was added the intellec- 
 tual culture of E.ypt. Then, after the settlement in Canaan, 
 the poiiticai and comms-rciai intercourse litwccn tho two riat:cv.s 
 
2 
 
 ^;asi close and continuoJ : and at lenfH, n rv. » ,. , 
 c.pated slave race espoused rdau.h?ornVfrr''^l '^ "'' ''^*''"- 
 Whatever may bo said of S. ' r® ''^"^''^-^ ^'^'^^''^a^^^ 
 liouao of E.ypt on Xj\l TV- '"""''« ^^''^'^ t'»« royal 
 
 grandeur oftifllltdTho^n;'!; of' /""J "^'"'^ "^ ^''° 
 proud dynasty deigned thus o u to t , '^^th n'l "l"' "p"-' ^'" 
 Jn after ages, the Hebrews foirml fu " '^'*'^'^" ^ ''"ce. 
 
 K^ypt'sai^n; when stTs'lr ^^^iri's,""- ^"i-'^'S"' 
 sceptre of the world. It is owin JT. / '' ^^'^"^ ^^'' ^^'^ 
 
 not ordy in the Pentateuch h f . T ^'''^^'^^tances, that 
 
 prophe^cal books of htodTest^r^^^^^^ '"^^'^•^' ^"^ 
 
 are so numerous. As student. If ^rirn '"^^f^^^^^s to Egypt 
 no other country w^rlS I km'^'"' therefore, the?e is 
 becomin.. acquaLed V''''V?.^hou d feel more desirous of 
 cient ^^TPt Te Irl ie n i ?'^-^'"« ^^'' characteristics of An- 
 >rhieh i°n'^t;:c?b"e me t'b S^ '^7^ '''''' ^-''-^'"'^ 
 «o powerful and domrant l^u ^ "v .^:o "•^'' "'' " ''^™° 
 with an element which mn^lL 1 ■•?'"'"" '"to contact 
 and through this ctnuel™ ' ., \%y;;': » ^^^^^^ thought, 
 cient Egypt, therefore, is neither dstan norT"J '"''"''' ,- ^^"" 
 to it by spiritual ties-lwe ur^ n'rirn '''"''" ''"'^^'^ 
 and immortal in that beque t J ' ,;' ;'^^ /"''.^ '« ^^l^^^blo 
 man thought and toil lef tn H ' ""^' ;^^'br"W, Grecian, and lio- 
 
 Nile, all thisid ra a V a'nd .' T"! ''■ .'", '^"'^ "^' ^^- 
 glowing life. Four thousaS" ve ^s ' o t';' 1 "^ T ^''"^^' 
 to.lmg for us under the kindlir^ -s tr'^F 'r ''''' ^''?;'^ 
 It not, therefor(3, worth knowin Z\ : ^i 1\ ^'^3'1'tian sun. la 
 far th'ey were viX ous o 3ef ^Z '^ ' '^ 'T^ thou,ht--how 
 what plight and circTn ta efl^vti;:;, 'r, -^'1' '' ''''-'- 
 earth-ball on whose green surf^c. 2 d^^eit while ciu.g.ng to this 
 
 Just because hum^^re^Jts tat i "L" tt'h '""^' ^^^^^^• 
 tuous with jovs and .orrows Whl "' ^°^"™S' <uni»l- 
 
 of its many^coloued r 1 a e s I l-°7' '"? ^'^' ^'^^'"^"^ ^"° 
 but feel a glowin. inte e in nr .'"'V^ '""''^^ ''^ ^^'^'"«t 
 buried under the^I^es Tf^iL ^''^'^' ''^'' "^^ «'^'«P ^^^PIv 
 
 ied^':;:;^i:;ft v^ .!r b^r "'^ ^^^!;^"^ -"-- 
 
 the last few years that ^r. hi "^^^'"^^z ^nd it is only within 
 any extent. bTso ene "eticallv'f l^^' ^''' '''''''' ^'«^"«^d to 
 been of late pursued ha tX' '"''''''^^'^^y l'«« ^^o study 
 acquaintance vith he \u'eonh ' • TJ ^'' "^^'^^ r^^fect 
 
8 
 
 better perhaps than many of us know tho state of " tlie dange- 
 rous clasica", who aro \Wuvj^ b'kIo by side with ua, in the hovels 
 of poverty or tho courts and lanes of our great cities. It is but 
 a fow yeard since tho key to tho raystoiious hieroglyphics which 
 cover tlioir monunonte, was discovered ; and now thcao inscrip- 
 tions Can bo re.i 1 almost as readily and certainly as Hebrew or 
 Greek. Their tombs present pictures of their arts and domestic 
 and soaial life, so perfect as to leave nothing to be desired. 
 Tiielr pyranids hnvu yield 'd up their secrets,— their temples 
 have boGn explored— their sphinxes unriddled— the awlul 
 " veil of Isis," thoir favourite goddess, has been hfted ; and wo 
 can now boast of pofsessing an acquaintance with the life, litera- 
 ture, arts and roll -ion of the old Egyptians, which is rarely 
 attainable regarding any race that belongs to tho mighty past. 
 And when wo find the im[>ortant bearing many of these disco- 
 veries have or» that volume which is our guide and comforter in 
 life and death,— the striking confirmations and illustrations ot 
 scripture thev sup; ly— we are neither superstitious nor fanaticr.l 
 in affirming th :t the hand cf God is visible in bringing these to 
 li.'ht at the present eventful crisis. When as yet these re- 
 bs^arches were in th.ir ii.fancy, infidelity raised a shout of tri- 
 umph, and boasted that the Bible was now reduced to the 
 condition of -old wives' tables"; a very different tale has to 
 be told now, when scu nee has perfected her discoveries.^ Judj- 
 in<' from what has token ) lace, in reference to the sciences ot 
 gedo-y and aslionomv in connexion with revelation, and the 
 brilliant confiruvUions' of scripture thus obtained ; and adding 
 to these the rosuUs ot researches amon,^' the remains of antiquity, 
 we are jnstified in believing that infidelity is destined to be 
 annihilated by the very weapons it had impiously laid hold ; 
 and that , hilosophv, as religion's handmaid, will completely 
 overthrow the scepticism of the age, and triumphantly vindicate 
 
 the inspired volume. , i n ^ !«« 
 
 The main object I shall keep in view, throughout these lec- 
 tures, iuo bri.i before you whatever in the recent discoveries 
 among the ruins ot Kgvpt has any bearing, illustrative or confir- 
 matoiy, on the statements of the Bible In domg so, it will bo 
 necessary to present you with at least an outline of these impor- 
 tant researches, xMth their results. We shall first glance at hr 
 country— then at the people-their history and achievements ; 
 and we shall then be prepared to place side by side, and com- 
 pare the records ot the liible and those of th© monument.'^ ot 
 
 '^We' shall first endeavour to form some idcu ot the country 
 
worKI were 0^ the bankrl H ^'^'''^I'oa in the ancient 
 
 valleys of ?ho E nhra?^, TiL-^ ^^n '"'"^"-•^ ^^^i'**' ^1^« 
 valley of thoNiloH^?; ^'gna and Ganges ; in Africa, tho 
 
 fort ifty ho oil a 1 tlK '? ^?' '?"'«"^^d '^'^^'f-^''^ 
 leisure for eLc?il l! m '^^ '^ cultivation gave man 
 created whicW^^^ - w wants 
 
 As a country, un.loubtem v l" ', ? • ^'I' ^'^''"^'^t'on advanced, 
 tl.o face of^ho oarh n'i. f^ " "'" •"''' remarkahio on 
 fertility, reclaimed bvthnun/ ""^cT ^^'^ '^ extraordinary 
 deserts^ of Af ^ca The v2 h'^'^I ^'1'' ^''"^ *''« P^''-»>^^1 
 
 e.'ctflnds, from souih tfnorlh h^n. '"f ^^''''' *'^^ ^''^ «--•« 
 of no g,;at Ivaton On th '^'T two ranges of mountains 
 
 Jmgo sand-plah's! kr^^vn as tho S.'hf" '''^?f '^''' ^^''«^' ^''° 
 menco, and stret l^rav .> 4 00^?n'r V^^ '!'^'^^' «°'^- 
 Atlantic, reaching on Jh^ south to T ' " 'l'" '^''''' '^ *''° 
 Tho eastern boundary of the N e v^Il "P. ''"'" °^ ^^^'•'«^- 
 interrupted only bv {hi Z. ^^^^y '^ ^he deserts of Arabia, 
 
 over nearly 4,000 miles. iC ^>vu i. o ' ?"' 'f^'^.'^'"" 
 very centre of 8,000 miles of Ll^^ ,' ?" T\ '" ''^° 
 ley 3 but limited Willnn!. • • ^^'"^ ^'"'^^nt of the val 
 
 0/517 mileT its aver ^w dth a'7'' ''^ ''''V' ^^ ^^^^^-'^ 
 arable land at ^'goIj fouare 'ill 'vt ' '"^ '^° ^'^'^"^ ^t' 
 exceeded seven millions 'Sc Tntv'f%r^"'"°" "^^^^ 
 owing to tho river Nile wht h J • ^ l • '^'-^P'^ '^ <=ntirely 
 traverses the whole enrt of T '" '^" '"'^^'^^ '^^ ''^^^^<^^' 
 course of moro than two fn °^*^^^,^-«"ntry, and after a 
 into the Med tor Inean ill^f^/.^l'^^.^^i^charges its waters 
 of Abyssinia and the soufh o ^'^P^^'.^ ''«'"«' '" the mountains 
 annually abn t he 9U T ^^^'"' '^'''' ^^^ ^''^er to rise 
 
 depositi^ng au v r thelrte\rt °T'7 ''^ banks-thus 
 loam washed down f om the t.h Pf ^ ^"'' ^^''^' «""vial 
 watering and le.tiliz n?t c 'u^J'^ti the interior, and 
 the waters of tho N;je have rPhi-^ . / *''" ^^'*"^^^' ^^'«tice 
 The labours of the lllZuT^^t^ Z:f'-^' f'^""^^' 
 «;> soon as the waters have rcc d« oH '""'"^' '''' '^^^' 
 almost unnecessary; and two or nr A ' "P^'^^^'^^'S being 
 
 quently secured, ^f ho km .J' ? '^'' '''^^^"' ^«" ^e fre^ 
 have been employed for at in L" "'''^''' ^''^ inhabitants 
 this natural proc^ess o7 iSt ion rf'? '^.>' ^^'fi^ial n.eans, 
 
 ;U-iently,enct;mousartifi^^S a^ dt'^"'"!'^"""^^' ^"^' 
 ^-^. stream over tho a.ddeser;;^^tij;;.:^T^S^^^^ 
 
tlio dry season. Tho utmost skill and attention v,'Cvq requisite 
 in opening and closing tho flood-gates at tho proper moaient ; 
 and itnmonso toil was necessary in raising the water from tho 
 urtiticial reservoirs and carrying it over tho fields. 
 
 One consequence of Egypt being surrounded by burning 
 deserts on all sides is, that the atraosphcro is extremely dry. 
 The parched sands around abstract from tho atmosphere tho 
 great agent in tho decomposition of matter — namely, tho mois- 
 ture. In consequence, the remains of all ancient structures 
 are preserved in a state of perfection almost surpassing belief, 
 and entirely without a parallel in any other country. Hero tho 
 gnawing *' tooth of thue" may be said to have almost suspended 
 its operations. Tho destruction that has taken place is tho 
 work of man, not of time's " effacing finger." The great mon- 
 uments are but little corroded — the paintings but little oblite- 
 rated, There are temples in Egypt that have been roofless for 
 2,000 years ; the paintings on their walls retain their colours 
 almost as fresh as when first laid down ; — the sculptures have not 
 lost even their original polish. Tombs when opened are found 
 to contam baked meats, fruit, flowers, linen, cakes of ink and 
 reed pens, books on rolls of papyrus, and articles of delicate work- 
 manship, quite unchanged during the lapse of between 3,000 and 
 4,000 years. Hud the monuments that strew tho banks of tho 
 Nile, been placed in any other climate, they would long since 
 have been reduced to their original elements ; and we should 
 now possess no records of Egypt's greatness, When fragments 
 of ih''ra are now brought to France and England, they rapidly 
 crumble uules'i carefully preserved by artificial appliances. In 
 the rainless climate of Egypt they are able to resist the great 
 disintegrating pr jcess of nature for many centuries. Are we to 
 suppose that it is merely a matter of blind chance that Nine- 
 veh's ruins have been so carefully and curiously covered over 
 and preserved till the present day, and that Egypt's remains 
 have been far mare carefully kept from destruction ? Is it pre- 
 sumptuous on our part, when we find both presenting themselves 
 as most valuable and striking witneaees on behalf of God's word, 
 to interpret their preservation as the result of a divine purpose ? 
 The questioning, sceptical spirit, that as a disease, has seized 
 upon the minds of many, in the present day, requires some such 
 antidote. From these mat.v'jls philosophy will now derive her 
 best weapons for combating Uiddelity ; and the valuable results 
 reached even now, after such a brief investigation, give promise 
 of far more important disclosures in a coming age. 
 
 But though Egypt is so remarkable in its physical cpaforma 
 
6 
 
 tion, as to resemble no other country, tlio great events of wliich 
 it has been tlio scene, throw around it a far profounder dcieo 
 of interest. Places are important chiefly from connexion with 
 human thoughts and feelings — heroic deeds mako hallowed 
 ground. Scotland points to her field of Bannockburn, and to 
 tho graves of her martyrs, as sacred spots; and Switzerland to 
 Morgarten, whco tho strong arm of William Tell led tho chargo 
 for freedom. Tho little brawling stream of tho Alma, till lately, 
 poured its waters, unnoticed and unknown, into tho IJIack Sea ; 
 — now it is world-renowed as tho spot Avhero tho chivalry of 
 Franco and England hurled to tho dust tho legions of a rapaci- 
 ous despot ; and for years to corao many a pilgrim will go there 
 to muso over tho resting place uf tho bravo, and traverse tho 
 ground where the north and west met in terrific death-struggle. 
 Ln tho year 1798, Napoleon carao to Egypt, big with tho 
 scheme of founding an eastern empire, to which a swift solution 
 was given before iho wails of Acre. Tho battle of tho Pyra- 
 mids was about to commence ; and wishing to elevate the enthu- 
 siasm of his army to the highest pitch, their leader exclaimed, 
 " soldiers, forty centuries look down upon you from these pyra- 
 mids" — and tho meanest soldier there felc tho force of that ap- 
 peal, as he fought under tho shadow of tlioso hoary structures. 
 Wonderful as it may seem, it is true that tho time-crust of nearly 
 4,000 years has gathered upon these " piles stupendous,"— and 
 that forty centuries have notched themselves in these massive 
 >Yall3 of granite. Their date carries us back to the ages after 
 tho deluge, when human culture first began to develope itself on 
 the banks of tho grand old Nile, and reared, thus early, these 
 enduring monuments of its infant strength. What ideas they 
 suggest of the genius and skill of that primeval race, that, long 
 before Abraham left the valley of the Euphrates— before Jeru- 
 salem, Tyre, Athens, Carthage or Rome had a name, built these 
 
 stono mountains, as the grand sepulchres of their monarchs. 
 
 Think of the events on which they have looked down in so- 
 lemn grandeur. The father of the Hebrew nation gazed upon 
 them, during his brief visit to Egypt, and perhaps mounted to 
 their summit, like the traveller of to-day. Jacob, Joseph and 
 his brethren, may have stood on the same elevation ; Moses, 
 too, and Aaron, with some of their contemporaries, may havo 
 scrambled up their granite steps. From afar pilgrims came to 
 visit them. Two illustrious names among these sliine conspicu- 
 ons— Homer, whose martial lyre thrilled the heart of humanity, 
 vVv ^u«io uuiuic v-uiiot, iiud ujc uaiJKs or iiic iNiie, aiul per- 
 baps here recited fragments of his Iliad and Odyssey to some 
 
*ca; 
 
 so- 
 
 sympatlietlc aonU ; aud mlld-oyoa IloroJotaa, Iho fatlior of all 
 who couiposo history, came ami conversed with tho Egyptian 
 Stigofl and Priests, and devoted " Euterpe," one of his nmo 
 books, to a description of the peerless land of wonders. From 
 tlic same classic soil of Greece came Thales, Plato and Pytha- 
 ^roras, tho masters of Grecian thought,--aud Solon and Lycur- 
 ^us, lawgivers, to drink at Egyptian fountains of wisdom, and to 
 bo initiated in her science, religion and laws. In fact Greece, 
 the world's teacher, drew tho germs of her art, poetry, litoraturo 
 and religion from tho common mother of human culture. Uo- 
 man Htrabo and Tacitus, too, camo here for inspiration and 
 knowledge. And then what names of men great in deeds of 
 arms are associated wHh tho land of the pyramids ! The haugh- 
 ty Ncbuchaanez''«.r of Babylon, and the tiorco Persian Cambysea 
 thundered hero as conquerors and destroyers ; the Macedonian 
 Alexander, with his glittering legions, followed after. Julius 
 C«3ar and Mark Anthony were victors here, and were both van- 
 (tuished by tho peerless Cleopatra, " tho serpent of old ^ile. 
 At length Paganism, that had held supremo sway for centuries, 
 fell betbre Christianity ; and great names adorned the christian 
 church of EL'ypt— Origen, Athanasius, Augustine flourished 
 hero ; and the rocks aud caves of tho ISilo swarmed with ancho- 
 rites and monks. But soon a new race of conquerors swept 
 over tho land and scattered tliam all— the thunders of tho fierce 
 Moslems were heard, and the religion of Mahomet was establish- 
 ed, commencing its reign characteristically by tho destruction 
 of the priceless treasures of the Alexandrian library, where for 
 GOO years had been gathered all that was valuable in ancient 
 literature. And then, advancing to modern times— when tho 
 volcano of the French revolution poured its lava streams oyer 
 the world, Egypt became the battle-ground of the contending 
 armies, and Napoleon, Nelson, and Abercrombie were actors lu 
 the bloody drama. How the imagination faints in surveying the 
 crrandeur of Egyptian history and endeavouring to recall (ho 
 past. Her embattled hosts, in days of old, as tho scidptures 
 record, returning victorious, brought captive kings from Europe, 
 Africa and Asia, and rich spoils from distant India itselt, and 
 rendered her for ages the dominant power of the earth. Her 
 magnificont capital, Thebes, of « tho hundred gates," that even 
 in the time of the Trojan war sent out Memnon with 200 chari- 
 ots and 20,000 horsemen to the plains of Troy ; her majestic 
 temples, Luxor, Karnac, Philae ;^ her obelisks, colo«si,^sphinxcs, 
 tuiabs and pyramids ; her embalmed mummies of suC" sncion 
 date that 
 
s 
 
 ' Antl(|uit}- ai)i).\ir.s to havp l»«>«iiii 
 Long after tlu>ir primi'val race wai run"— 
 
 ?L"Z „?/"';'"' '" '"''.''•"« *'''' ''"'^'<^^^J^ '^"'^ ^'^»' an into- 
 lost that attaches to no other spot on earth. Lot us danco lor 
 
 an mstant at the hi.tory of this great and powerful race. 
 
 Iho first question that presents itself has roferonco to the ori- 
 gm of the h^7pt,uns How was the land of K^ypt orinjiuallv 
 reopled ? We turn for informatio,» to the inspirc^d record lu 
 
 Av^rl^'fo !).?■/?. '• r ''"^h" '^"^^ ^''° ««"^ '^' Noah that 
 ventfoi thoutof the ark were Shorn, Ham and Japhoth ; and 
 1 am .s the father of Canaar.. Those are the sons of Noah and 
 ol .n rn''"' '° T''".'' '"''"' overspread." And a;4ain 10th 
 1>; 'nn P ^"^f^'\r« ^^ iia'n, 'Jush and iM.lraim and 
 ,Von f? . ?r"'*"- . ^^^^ ''" «"^ throughout the Old Testa- 
 mc t that M,zrt.m the name of Ham's second son, is applied 
 
 Be Ides ,n Psalm 78 51 v. and elsewhere, Egypt is named 
 "the tabernacles of ifam." We have thus )rec>sely the same 
 
 M r!;!'.° r ^'^Tl? '^''\ '^'«'""'^^ ^'^y^' ^'^« =^l«"i^«^l h 
 hnlT' '.f,'",'/ ",'•"' ^''"' ^^ ^^^« ^■^'' l>«>ioving Canaan to 
 have been settled by las youngest son. In confirmation of this 
 we find from the hieroglyphics that have been deciphered that 
 the l<-gy ptians themselves were in the Iiabit of calling their 
 country the land of Khemo or Ham, In the general aUotmcmfc 
 of^^rr.tor.es to tl. children of Noah, there forcSf^itiregC 
 was assigned ^,o M.^rana; and at an early period after the de- 
 uge he em,g,ated here, accompanied, in all probubilit;, bj Fi s 
 
 m V r f '""• ^V'"' '" "?''''""' ^^^ f^^ ^^'« ^^rld >ii;on this 
 pa ty of emigrants, mounted on their dromedaries, wended their 
 toilsome way across the isthmus of Suez, and turned up the fir t 
 
 lust, ry and monumental remains of tho Egyptians confirm 
 most exact y, tho biblical record regarding tL&in Tho 
 
 ^'^gro vauoty of ho human race, and came ori^ally from 
 
 Mv^evol'rr t'' ^"'^ '^ '^'' ^"^^"^^ «f Africa, is now en 
 fX ^- Pj^t'^- ^'^' conformation of their skull ; their colour, 
 ha and foature^s prove them to have been, a. th; Bible rep "e- 
 
 ' e ' 1,;. . [ Ir'^'"'- ^^ ^''"''' ^^'^ ^^^••^ ''^'"'d'-^" ot' Africa, 
 not I, n ']"J Negroes, wore Ham's descendants or not, cun- 
 >t be proved ; but there i. j.gt a. much evidence for believing 
 tlicm to have been tho diil.lr*>Ti of (^ij-v. ^.. t„..i._.i. . , ' *» 
 «.l.l-ins that cli^to has -.^dacJi'Tut' mS""ji:™j:; 
 
obiervablo botween them and the Semitic and European races. 
 It will occur to you as strange that the richciit and most Tertile 
 country of the earth should be assigned to a son of IJam, and that 
 he should bo the progenitor of the most civilized and j)Owertul 
 nation of antiquity, llow docs all this accord with the fact thac 
 the divine curse was pronounced against Ilnm? Was he not 
 the father of all the African tribes, and were they not all cursed 
 as his descendants, so as to be '* servants of servants" to this 
 day ? This notion long universally held, und still so current, 
 rests, I think, on no Scriptural foundation. The pio| hetic de- 
 nunciation of Noah is recorded thus. — '* Cursed be Canaan ; a 
 servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren " The curse 
 therefore was pronounced, not against limn, or Cush, or Miz- 
 raini, or Phut, but against Canaan, Ham's youngest son. It 
 would seem that, contrary to the divine nrran^ieinent, Canaan 
 seized upon Palestine, the land destined for the chosen race ; 
 and the curse was prospectively uttered, Noah being jiilted with 
 a foreknowledge of his evil deeds. The Israelites under Joshua 
 ejected, slaughtered, or subjugated the doomed race of the Ca- 
 naanitcs. The curse rested on them not umlescrvedly ; for in 
 deeds of wickedness and in gross, revolting forms of idolatry, iu 
 which human sacriBces largely mingled, they kurpasped all other 
 nations. But while Canaan was tlius branded, the other three 
 sons of Ham, with their descendants, were undnemed ; and, in 
 point of fact, were made partakers of the richest earthly bless- 
 ings. Nimrod, the founder of the Assyrian empiri?, was a great- 
 grandson of Ham, and the Mizraimites peopled r'^'ypt. These 
 two nations were for centuries the world's rulers and teachers ; 
 bein:^ advanced in all the arts of life, while the others were in a 
 state of barbarism. Thus the idea that a curse rested on all 
 Ham's descendants is disproved by fact, and hsis no i^crf tural 
 support. The wronged I>iegro race may or may not be his off- 
 spring ; but there is no divine doom gone forth against them to 
 afibrd the shadow of an apology foj their oppressors. 
 
 What a aoloiun feeling steals over the mind, as wo contem- 
 plate the ruins of ancient Kgypt, and muse over its broken 
 columns, its fallen temples and riffled tombs ! Here are — 
 
 " The eternal pyramids, 
 Memphis and Thebes, and Avhatsoo'cr of strange, 
 Sculptured on alabaster obelitik, 
 Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphmx, 
 Dark Ethiophia, on her desert hills, 
 Conceals. Among the ruined temples there, 
 Slupuudjus coluuit.s, and wild images 
 
10 
 
 Of rtioiT thnn man, wfM>n» iinrhlo <1«tmnna wntch 
 
 'ITio '/AHlinc'n lirnjtiMi iiiy«i«r) , aikI dutul iiicii 
 
 Hniij^ tlu.Jr iniito thmightu oii (h» imUu wiiU» •muml.'* 
 
 Hor« wo find oursolvc* poring ovor memoriala of the world'i 
 youth, and learching into 
 
 " Tlio thrilling mwtvln of'tho birtli of time.'* 
 
 Awcnd, In imagination tlio great pyramid of Clieops. What 
 a landscapo spreads around! Tlio saciod gtiram of Nile— 
 whoso origin ii aa great a mystery as in tlio duyn of Mo^cg-, 
 wmds along; tho rich, gryen valloy gleama under Egvpt't 
 cloudless sky— the mountains that 
 " Liku giant* wtand 
 To sontiiicl onclianU«l land," 
 
 Shut it in on each sldo ; and the burnin:; boundless desert of 
 Libya shines bohind tho hilU, stretching away, a voiceless sand- 
 ocean, for thousands of railea. You are standing there on the 
 sepulchre of a King who constructed, as he tho.i;»lit, an eternal 
 mausoleum, where his embalmed dust would never be disturbed 
 But the robber has been there centuries ago, and no man know» 
 what becam.- of the royal tenant. Around the base of the py- 
 ramid spreads the necropolis, or burying-place of ancient Mem- 
 phis, tho city where Joseph lived and ruled; but what bus been 
 the fate of the millions who lay down here for their long sleep, 
 |!^^"'« J;;!*®." «"°^ Pa'"3 to preserve their bodies from destruc- 
 tion? Iheir tombs have been violated ; tho mummv-merchant 
 traffics 111 their remains, ar.d disputes over thom f jr the paltriest 
 sum .---Ihe oraven, crouching Arab wraps his tobacco in the 
 cere-cloths of Memphis's proud nobles, and boils his kettle with 
 tho wood of their coffins— they are transported to distant lands 
 and grace the Museums of Vienna, Uerlin, Paris and London ; 
 and thus becomo the toys or curiosities of the pallid children of 
 the west. What a destiny for the kwii^'s, priests and nobles of 
 mighty Egypt, who once made the world tremble before them » 
 How suggestive as to tho fate of nations now strugglin-^ for 
 dominion—of kings who.-e armies are now vexing "tho silent 
 ear ol night" with their clangour and shouts ! Whds^ museums 
 Bliall yet collect fragments of our works ;— whose eyes shall open 
 m astonishment at the sight of an enbalmed Anglo-Saxon of tho 
 19th century? Shall th« museums of those great empires, 
 whose loundations are just laid down in California, Australia 
 and the isles of the South Sea, contain illustrations of our civi- 
 lization ? Shall Macauley's fancy be realized of a new Zealand- 
 
 er gketehinir Hie r>'"«"» "*■ *i* d~..i>- v _ «_ i • . 
 
 -- a«...u»ujj .«o i.....„ V, ^y, X aui 3 srum it uroKen arcii of 
 
u 
 
 Union Uridine ? What p«opl«t poasewed g««fliitij^lj tM eU- 
 ■leuU of peniiaa«nojf oquaily with thoac who baiU the pj?ra!iji<l« 
 ami reared th« Momnotiiuoi? And yd they, and «!»! lhc}f ont- 
 ward onvironmenti, hivo vaniihcd, leaving? only •* a wreck be- 
 hind." Tho tools with which they wrought hare, loftg eln^e, 
 become oxidee of metale :— the toiUn^ slavea whoM hamJ* Mated 
 theae great |)ilea liave, thousands of years a^o, g«ne away Mn 
 the still country ** where the servant is free from hia inrt»t*r" 
 and the hail-storms arc unfclt. Tlio bodies of their inasfters— 
 now ♦' <iuitc chop-fallen"— are covorod in glass cai««i and gazod 
 upon by the doraocracy ot London or Paris, as muininies adown 
 whose dusky checks human tears onco rolled. And silence 
 " deep as death" has hushed all the turmoil of the hustling 
 millions who fretted their Itttio hour on I fo's stage here ; their 
 battles, victories, world-shaking convulsions, all stilled now ; like 
 a(tmo more tavern brawl ; and the glancing atari are shining 
 down, bright as ever, from their serine depths, over the ruined 
 ihrines and temples of fillon Kgypt ! What a flood of recollec- 
 tions rushes upon the memory ; from Mizraim to Queen Vic- 
 toria; Paganism, Chriitianity, Mahonietanism ; Jews, Persi- 
 ans, Greeks, Romans, Moslems, the CrusaderB, the French 
 Eevolution ! What a train of conquerors, travellera and scho- 
 lars passes before us— Cambysos, Caosar, Napoleon, Homer, 
 llorodolus — all vanishol ! 
 
 And yet that old lilgyptian lifs U not entirely lost to u0. 
 These monuments link us to the days of old. We enter their 
 tombs and find around the walls, most accurately painted, the 
 minutest details of E-^yptian life as it was passing before the eyes 
 «f the artists. The bl:uiket of night is thus arawn nside— the 
 veil of 3,000 years lifted, and we look here myflteriously into 
 the land whorj dwelt our fathers, " who though dead yet 8|.eak 
 to us " We thought them vanished as though they had never 
 been ; but lo ! here they are, given back to us wondroudy, on 
 these walls ; and we w.ilk with them in their fields and enter 
 their houses and mingle in their sports and entertainments. Hero 
 is a kindred country, inexpressibly dear to us bocause our bro- 
 tlieri* dwelt here ; and we feel a mysterious bond uniting us to them. 
 We long to know h)W they livid— with what purposes and expe- 
 ii-^nU — with what views of the unseen and eternal. In the dim 
 ino-.nlight of memory, that past shines sad and yet holy. Rightly 
 viewed it is n )t to he mourned as dead That grand old Egypt 
 b'»re its part in the (levelojmient of the present Whatever was 
 n)hlo and good in it bloomed in G'oeco and Rome ; lives yet io 
 Oiii- westerti civuismion, uuu uuu uqwi uic. 
 
 TT \; Ut V 
 
 
IS 
 
 Uunking, in<lfpetkin|;itill, in many an uniuin* jted wty. Mm 
 uur pninoyal fatljeri m K^pt Uught un. Mankind i. 0..0 liv- 
 ing whoU. A cloud of wimesiss gathers round ua itill, t.f our 
 broUiora who have preoadad ua ; aud we aro thtir haira-tta 
 luherUora of thair hard-worn carninKa. .Should we not rave- 
 renoo-nay love them ? 'Jhan^a aftgr all i. noedful. and view- 
 od anghfc haa m it notUiuK dreadful. It indioatea prog.tia, and 
 tella ua that the old mothodi being iniuffioient for the ever- 
 JhTdua^t *"*"■«'•• ««»^* resources of maa's soul, must drop to 
 
 •• Ol.l l«.ftvi'« fail And the ol.l fruit docajri, 
 Fttdt'H for over tho prinjuv»l worth. 
 
 " Griovo wc not for thii, l>iit rather find 
 A nuw »plcn(Iour in thu attiial time. 
 Kv»>r pronent in the F.»"-nal mind, 
 Kvor Mlmll tho faifliful Bcokur find, 
 Ever lintun to thu itarry chiuij." 
 
LBCTURE n. 
 
 HISTOUY OF EGYPT. 
 
 Wo «a!v, in the Iwt lecture, how Mixraitn, son of Htm, itarted 
 from tho valloj of the Euphratoi, turnod hi* stops westward, and, 
 settling oil tho banks of tho Nile, became the progenitor of the 
 Egyptian nation. It is strange to find the same impalse, which 
 led tho grandson of Noah to become the first eaigrant, still in- 
 fluencing tho nations of tl>e earth, and urging the swelling tido 
 of population, with over increasing force, towards the lands of 
 tho sotting sun. The fir*t small rill that flowed west ard from 
 the sunny plains of Bhinar, has become a mighty atream, and 
 still rushes in tho same direction. The march of tho nations hai 
 not varied ; but, with steady tramp, has been from cast to west 
 —their faces, like firc-worehippers, turned devoutedly towards 
 the declining sun. Over Egypt tho current flowed to Greece, 
 Italv, Germany, France, Spain, England— sending off branches 
 to tfie north and Bouth— while tho grand stream still held its 
 undoviating ctnirso. Very early it must have crossed the straits 
 of Behring, and peopled America with the Red-skinned Races. 
 In duo time, however, it found another path westerly, across the 
 Atlantic— established its outposts in the wide forests and broad 
 savannahs of the new world— and, after a time, brought up its 
 main body and reserve. And what a spectacle do wo behold, 
 in these days, when our ships have bridged the ocean, and our 
 railways cover the land ! Tho eager rush of the nations is still 
 to the west. Millions have leaped on tho shores of America, 
 and tho cry is still " they come— they come." Wo hear their 
 trampling march, and their watchword " westward ho !" From 
 tho reeking, crowded lane of iho great city the pale workers 
 come, glad t) breathe a wholesome atmosphere and behold the 
 groun earth and tho h'lv sky. From tho region where popula- 
 tion is 80 dense that labour docs not meet with its duo reward, 
 and tho poor man aska in vain for " leave to toil" — from its 
 
14 
 
 liiin;:^Gr-bitten lands wlicro fover and famine aro smitin;^ down 
 their thousands — thoy como ; and loaviui^futherliind behind, not 
 without a sigh, bound ;^ladly on tho shores of tho western workl. 
 And young, ardent, adventurous s})irits, rejoicing in the strength 
 of manhood, turn their stops in the saino direction, where a for- 
 tilo continent is waithig to be planted utid reaped — where mines, 
 •with untold treasures, are inviting tho worker, and boundless 
 forests are waving for the gleaming axe of tho woodman. Tlio 
 last remnant of the gicat Celtic race will, in a few years, ha\ o 
 completed their Exodus, and found a happier lioine on this tide 
 tho Atlantic. The strong Saxon worker, and the sober German 
 too, aro occupying the wastes ; and by tho end of tho century 
 one hundred millions will have spread themselves over the north- 
 ern portion of America. Thus this great march of mankind, 
 whose van was led by Mizraim, in tho grey dawn of time, con- 
 tinues still an^ is ever increasing. The earth has ^rown beau- 
 tiful and fertile before them — the daik tangled forest has become 
 the flower-clad vale — the swamp has been transformed into the 
 smiling mead where innocent childhood sports, and the j layful 
 lamb skips joyous — " the desert has rejoiced and blos^iomcd like 
 the rose." — This strong human instinct is thus working out the 
 great designs of Providence. It is owing to the same impulse 
 Miat we are here, on the most eastern isle of the western world ; 
 and even those who aro farthest west are instinctively and irre- 
 sistibly seeking another " far west." 
 
 Very beautiful and cheering it is to mark, how along with 
 this mighty flovT of the human race, another greater, though less 
 conspicuous, movement has been going on with equal paco. 
 The religion of God has been, all along, advancing, hand in 
 hand, Avitli the advance of civilization and population. Abraham, 
 " the father of the faithful," was the first honoured instrument, 
 in God's hand, for bearing it westward. From the valley of 
 the Euphrates, the great stream of life flowed^ and from the 
 same spot the father of the Hebrew nation came, in search of a 
 new home. He is guided by God to the most central land on 
 the face of the earth, between the east and the west ; and to his 
 posterity it is assigned. True religion has here a home and a 
 centre of influence, while the rest of the world is in the darknees 
 of heathenism. Here the empire of faith is founded ; and tho 
 chosen race, the connecting link between heaven and earth, en- 
 joyed, for centuries, the light and blessedness of revelation. 
 The Great Deliverer is born here; and the imperfect and in- 
 troductory dispensation closes. The streams of population 
 meantime have rolled away west ; but swiftly the true religion 
 
15 
 
 follows. Paul seizes tho banner of the cross and plants it in 
 Alliens, Corinth and Rome. Jt was an important day for human- 
 ity when Augustine waved it on tho shores of Britain — when 
 ColunJ)U8 planted it on the margin of the new world— still more 
 so, when the Pilgrim Fathers reared it, in more unsullied purity, 
 on Plymouth Rock. And now it has been borne over the west- 
 ern continent, to the shores of the far Pacific. England 'a car- 
 rying it whereever one of her sons plants his foot ; so that 
 where tho homo of civilization is reared, there tho nltar of reli- 
 gion is erected ; and one day civilization and Christianity, in 
 their onward and united march, will girdle the globe, and the 
 kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God 
 and of his Christ. Thus abreast of the great march God has 
 ordered it that his religion should advance. What cheering 
 hope for the future havo wo here. Tliat Cod, who said of old 
 to Abraham *' come to the land that I will show thee," is with 
 us still, guiding the mighty tide of human action ; and the pro- 
 mise, " in thee shall a*, the families of the earth be blessed" — 
 he is fulfilling each day with a deeper blessedness. 
 
 It is impossible to fix, with any precision, the date of Miz- 
 raim's arrival in Egypt; but possibly it was not long after tho 
 great dispersion on the plains of Shinar. We must then allow 
 a spaco of three or four hundred years to elapse, before bia 
 dcsccndanta had become sufficiently numerous and advanced in 
 civilization to erect the first pyramid. Now when Abraham 
 arrived in Egypt, according to the account given in Genesis, he 
 found a monarchy and ii powerful nation in existence. Tho 
 pyramids and other monuments furnish indisputable evidence 
 of having been in existence long before Abraham's visit. Wo 
 cannot, in fact, suppose less than 550 or GOO years to have in- 
 tervened between Mizraim and Abraham : — a shorter period 
 would not be sufficient to allow of such a growth as the patriarch 
 found in the valley of the Nile. But according to the chrono- 
 logy of Archbi>.aop Usher, which is attached to our Bibles, we 
 loast condense all the events between Mizraim and Abraham 
 into a space not exceeding 200 years ; for Usher dates the 
 deluge B. C. 2348 years, and the birth of Abraham B. C. 
 2000 years. In fact it is now admitted by the best authorities, 
 as the results of the most cautious and profound study of Egyp- 
 tian antiquities, as well as that of other records, that our receiv- 
 ed chronology must be revised, and the date of the delugo 
 thrown back several centuries. I need scarcely tell you that 
 the dates placed in the margin of our Bibles, arc no part of the 
 inspired word, any more than the table of contents placed at tho 
 

 16 
 
 bMinning of each chapter. These dates simply «»' on a com- 
 putation made by a very able and excellent man, Archbishop 
 fjsher; and were prefixed to our authorized version by act ot 
 Parliament. But being simply the work of man, they may be 
 ri'^ht or wrong ; and we are at perfect liberty to question their 
 co°rrectne33. They are like opinions expressed by various com- 
 mentators, in reference to the mefining of the text-^not authori- 
 tative, but open to debate and correction. The ablest and best 
 men, in all ages, have differed in opinion respecting the chrono- 
 locry of the ?arly events recorded in Scripture ; and there is 
 still considerable diversity. Usher's computation was founded 
 on one particular version-that of the Hebrew text, given to us 
 by the Maronito Jews ; bat the highest authorities have rejected 
 his system as being now untenable. The Septuagint version of 
 the Old Testament, made in the year B. C. 240, possesses high 
 authority ; and on chronological points is confirmed by Jose- 
 phus. This version places the deluge nearly 900 years earlier 
 than the period fixed upon by Usher. The learned divine, Dr. 
 Hales, dutes it 807 years before that marked in our authorized 
 version. Looking at the text of Scripture alone, there is no 
 reason why wo should not adopt the Septuagint date '3i4t> a. 
 C. for the deluge ; or Dr. Hales's of B. C 3155. Late disco- 
 veries seem to settle the question, and to call imperatively tor 
 an extension of our ordinary chronology. How far this exten- 
 sion may go cannot as yet be determined with exactness : but 
 yfQ have seen that the authority of Scripture is in no way im- 
 pu'Tued by an addition of 800 or 900 years to the world a 
 annals, between the deluge and the birth of Abraham.-- 
 There is nothing as yet brought to light by Egyptian research- 
 es, that is not perfectly reconcilable with the extended chro- 
 nology of the Septuagint and Dr. Hales. And we may rest 
 assured that so long as the investigations of science are conduct- 
 ed faithfully, and ::cri|.ture interpreted fairly, no want of har- 
 mony will be found between the results. When our chronology 
 is perfected, no discrepiuicy will be discovered between it and 
 the revelations of tiie IJible. . 
 
 We find nothin.:^ like ti continuous history of Egypt in the Old 
 Testament— onlv' occasional references to it, in connexion with 
 that of tlie ilobriiwrf We have therefore to draw upon other 
 sources, in tracin;; the pro>;res3 of that energetic race who peo- 
 pled liie Nilotic vulK'V. "The monuments of all kinds— pyra- 
 mids, temples, romhs and obelisks, with their hieroglyphic 
 inscriptions, furnish many valuable materials for the historian 
 of Egypt. In ad«'iition to those, the wriiinga of the ancient ai3= 
 
 I 
 
17 
 
 torians are of great iraportanco. In the year B. C. 260 there 
 lived in Sebennytus, a town in Lower Egypt, a learned Egyp- 
 tian high priest and Sacred Scribe, named Manetho. At iho 
 command of the reigning King, Ptolemy Philadelphus, he com- 
 posed, in the Greek language, a history of the Kings of Egypt, 
 extendinf* from the earliest times to the invasion of Alexander 
 the Great,— B. C. 332. Ilia history was compiled from the 
 most authentic source/J, and under the most lavourable circum- 
 stances for obtaining accurate information. Literature has to 
 bewail the loss of this valuable record. The discovery of a 
 copy of Manetho'a work would be celebrated as a jubilee by the 
 learned world. Fortunately, a few fragmentary extracts from 
 his history have been preserved by Josephus, Eusebius, and Ju- 
 lius Africanus: and the fact that the sculptures corroborate 
 these with much precision, leads us to pbce great reliance upon 
 his testimony, and to deplore the loss of his annals the more 
 deeply. Sixty years after Manetho, Eratosthenes, superin- 
 tendant of the Alexandrian Library, composed an historical 
 work on Egypt, which has also been lost ; and is only known 
 to us by a few extracts copied by later writers. He was a 
 Greek by birth, and is not reckoned by any means so reliable 
 an authority as Manetho. Besides these, we have the works of 
 Josephus, the Jewish historian, who wrote at Rome soon after 
 the destruction of Jerusalem ; and those of Herodotus who 
 visited Egypt about B. C. 430, and those of Diodorus who 
 wrote about B. C. 40. With these helps, then, let us attempt 
 a very brief outline of the early annals of Egypt,— commencing 
 our voyage down the stream of time from the age of Mizraim., 
 who, according to Scripture, colonized the land. 
 
 Supposing the deluge to have occurred, on the authority of 
 the Septuagint, B. C. 3246, we may conjecture that Mizraim^a 
 immigration into Egypt took place somewhere about B. G. 
 2800°or 2850. The first form of government was, doubtless, 
 the patriarchal, for a time ;— the eldest of each tribe would 
 govern it, as a father control? his family. We gather, from 
 vaiioiis sources, that in Egypt, this patriarchal rule, in a few 
 generations merged mto a hierarchical or priestly form of 
 government. Various tribes having formed a union, their 
 elders, combining as they did, in their own persons, the char- 
 acter of religious guides and the functions of the ci' il ruler, 
 would now constitute a priesthood, wielding secular authority ; 
 and, in a short time, would become hereditary rulers by divine 
 right. Thus the patriarch, who led the worship of his house- 
 hold and offered sacrifices on their behalf, became the priest, 
 
18 
 
 hedgt'd round hy a kin 1 of divinity, and having an official dig- 
 nity; and the mild sway of the father of the tribe passed into 
 the despotic authority of the hieraroh. And yet, in the 
 abstract theory of such a government, is there not something 
 commendable ? Man needs spiritual and temporal guidance, for 
 
 is he not weaii and ignorant — darkness around him on earth 
 
 deeper darkness hanging over the grave ? Whence comes he 
 and whither does he go ? What is that dread blackness rolling 
 round all the world into which at death he must plunge ? Is 
 there any seer — any God-sent prophet, to unriddle this strange 
 mystery ? And when such appears, shall he not reverentTy 
 hear his words, make them his life's guidance, and gladly bow 
 down to the revealer, who gives sunshine to his soul, changing 
 his night into day, and ciiasing away the dark phantoms of 
 doubt and unbelief ? The true priest (using the word in its 
 christian sense of a religious teacher) ivho gives light to the 
 soul of man, is, verily, worthy of reverence. He who is quali- 
 fied to lead in the spiritual worship of God — who takes charge 
 of the two greatest of human concerns, — religion and intellec- 
 tual culture — has the highest claims on the regards of mankind. 
 Alas ! that what is so noble in theory should be so difficult in 
 practice '.—that there should have been so many priests of dark- 
 ness— foul, selfish and ignorant — enemies of the light and prey- 
 ing on their follows,— giving them only the show of that spirit- 
 ual guidance for which they are crying in vain ! — Mankind are 
 thus often driven to rebel against their nominal priests, and rude- 
 ly to fling them aside as radiators, not of light, but of darkness. 
 The Egyptians felt tliis very necessity ; and after submitting to 
 a priestly government for a length of time, they cnst it aside ; 
 
 doubtlese it had become thoroughly corrupt and injurious. 
 
 Their deliverer from priestly tyranny now became the object of 
 their reverence — his strong arm had burst their fetters and made 
 them freemen; and with heaven-rending acclamations and 
 pious gratitude they name him " king ' — the " kennmg" or 
 knowing and able man. They bestow on him the title of Phrah 
 — or as we translate it P/taroaA— signifying the sun ; — for is he 
 not the emblem of the god of day— dillusing light and joy 
 around? Their first Pharoah was Menes— a name great and 
 venerable in Egyptian history. The ecclesiastical and civil 
 power were now, to some extent, separated ; and the royal 
 authority restrained by certain laws— a great step towaids the 
 attainment of civil liberty. King Menes founded the great 
 cities Memphis and Thebes, which were the respective capitals 
 oj Lower and v/pper l^-gvpt ; consolidateu u\a empire and car- 
 
10 
 
 ricd on a series of awccessful wars ; and thus laid (he founda- 
 tion of Egypfs greatness. The most probable date of his reign 
 is B. C. 2700. He also commenced that sjstem of canaliza- 
 tion, which afterwards rendered Egypt the most fertile country 
 of the earth, and the granary of the world. Many monuments 
 attest the veneration attached to his name by his countrymen. 
 The historian Manetho, already referred to, enumerates 81 dy 
 nasties or lines of Kings who reigned in Egypt, from the time 
 of Menes till the invasion of Alexander the Great in the year 
 832 B C— in all 378 Kings. Many of these however were 
 contemporaneous, not successive dynasties. Passing over the 
 first three of these dynasties, of which we know only the names, 
 we come to the fourth. The first three Kings of this dynasty 
 were the builders of the oldest pyramids, and their names, in 
 harmony with Manetho's list, have been deciphered lately on 
 these great structures ;— the oldest being Shoopho— commonly 
 known as Cheops. We are compelled to drop the veil, in a 
 great measure, over Egyptian history, from the building of the 
 pyramids till the 16th dynasty. During this long interval 
 Egypt enjoyed seemingly a season of prosperity, — temples 
 were erected — tombs prepared for millions--art8 and science 
 were cultivated, The reigning lines of princes were chiefly 
 from Memphis and Thebes. The celebrated queen Nitocris was 
 the last of the sixth dynasty ; and Sesostris one of the twelfth. 
 A marble tablet, found at Abydos m Upper Egypt, contains a 
 list of the sovereigns of the 16th dynasty ;— and the first of 
 these is Osirtasen I. a name second only to that of Menes. — 
 He seems to have been a wise and good sovereign ; and during 
 his long and prosperous reign Egypt rose to a pitch of greatness 
 unknown before. It is believed that Abraham visited Egypt 
 either during the reign of this prince or that of his successor. — 
 During the reign of the last king of this 16th dynasty a foreign 
 invasion occurred ; and the country was subjugated by a Phoe- 
 nician tribe, called the Hyksos or Shepherds. The dominion of 
 the Shepherd kings lasted about 511 years ; they were expelled 
 by Amosis, the first monarch of the 18th dynasty. The 18th 
 dynasty proved to be a most powerful line of kings ; and under 
 them some of the greatest public works were executed, such as 
 the lake of Moeris— the temple-palaces of Karnac Luxor and 
 the Memnonium, and the vocal statue of Memnon. The 19th 
 and 20th dynasties were distinguished by the foreign conquests 
 they achieved ; and the victorious arms of Egypt were then 
 carried far into Asia and Africa under Rameses 2nd and 3rd 
 
 aiid Thothmes ord. 
 
 T_ 
 
 lU 
 
 the yc 
 
 yeas 
 
 It |i tiWW ofn hr.<4 an Virxrntl&Tk 
 
 o n OQU ^,n «,.'' 
 
king, namod Shtehak, pillaging the teroplo of Jeruaalom and 
 laying Judoa under tribute. Tlie same king protected Jeroboam 
 when he fled from the vengeance of Solomon. The power of 
 the Pharoahs now began to decline — that of Assyria being in 
 the ascendant. Tirhaitah is mentioned in Scripture as assisting 
 Ilezekiah against Sennacherib ; and he was tibic fut a time to 
 restore the influence of Egv "t in Syria — Pharoah-Necho on- 
 gaged in war with the king uf Assyria and slew in battle Josiah, 
 king of Judah, who had taken part with the Assyrian monarch. 
 Assyria, however, after a time vanquished, and Nebuchudnezzar, 
 king of Babylon, defeated Pharoah-Nccho--" smote his army at 
 Carchemish" and seized on all the fSyrian possessions of Egypt. 
 The great empire of the Pharoahs was now tottering to its fall ; 
 and having lasted more than 2000 years, it yielded to a new 
 j)Ower — that of Persia. C'ambyses, son of the great Cyrus, 
 overran the whole valley of the Nile, destroying and plundering 
 the temples, palaces and pyramids ; and the old home of civi- 
 lization was wasted by a fierce military despotism and became 
 tributary to Persia. This occurred in the reign of Psamraeni- 
 tus — the last of the Pharoahs ; and in the year B. C 625 — 
 Alexander of Macedou came soon as a deliverer from the Per- 
 sian yoke ; and under him commenced a new era of prosperity 
 and magnificence. His successors known as the Ptolemic-s, 
 reigned nearly 300 years. The celebrated Cleopatra was the 
 last of this race ; and the battle of Actium, between the fleets 
 of Antony and Augustus Caesar, introduced into Egypt the 
 dominion of Rome. And now " the kingdom of iron that break- 
 eth in pieces and subdueth all thing," ruled over the land of the 
 Pharoahs ; and Egypt became a province of the huge Roman 
 empire. Owing to its fertility, it proved to bo one of Rome's 
 most valuable possessions ; and, as in the days of Abraham and 
 Jacob, was the great food-depot for the civilized world. The 
 wheat-laden ships of Alexandria bore the corn of Egypt to the 
 Imperial city, whose house-holders looked to it as a regular source 
 of supply. Two of the Emporors, Adrian and Severus visited 
 Egypt, and attempted some important improvements. During 
 the reigns of Claudius and Aurehan the renowned Zenobia, 
 queen of Palmyra, laid claim, in virtue of her descent, to the 
 throne of the Ptolemies ; but her efforts were vain against the 
 legions of Rome — she was defeated and carried into captivity. 
 In Egypt, Christianity had to sustain a fierce struggle with the 
 adherents of paganism ; and only triumphed finally upon the 
 conversion of Constantine. At length the giant-power of Rome 
 began to decline, and her legions had to be recalled from Egypt, 
 
tl 
 
 ftr.l other romote provinces, in order to resist the inroads of th© 
 barbarians on the banks of the Danube and Tiber. Finally 
 came the sword of the military prophet of Arabia, and figvpt 
 passed under Mohammedan rule. The descendants of Maho- 
 met now ascended the throne of the Pharoahs ; and, with the 
 exception of the brief occupancy by the French under Napoleon, 
 the countr^y has remained since under the same power ; and m 
 population, wealth and fertility has declined to a very low ebb. 
 To enter upon the modern history or condition of Egypt would 
 not bo consistent with tho design of these lectures ; and we 
 shall content ourselvcfi with this brief and rapid sketch ; — and 
 close the present address wiih one or two reflections. 
 
 What an idc i we obtain of Egypt's greatness, and of the 
 strength and permanency of her national life, when we consider 
 thnt from Menes, her first king, to the time of Cambyses, the 
 I'ersian conqueror, 378 sovereigns lived and ruled on the banks 
 of the Nile. Granting that some of these dynasties were con- 
 temporaries, ruling in different parts of Egy|)t at the same time, 
 as is generally admitted, yet what a congress of monarchs have 
 we here ; and what a grandeur attaches to a kingdom that can 
 boast of its 378 kings ! Since the time of the Heptarchy till 
 the present hour, England has had but some 60 sovereigns ; 
 and all existing monarchies are but babes of yesterday, when 
 contrasted with the sovereignty of the ancient Pharoahs. The 
 imagination tries to recall these long lines of crowned heads, and 
 to marshal them in their oider. "With what pomp and grandeur 
 they moved about, — what braying of trumpets before their cha- 
 riots, — what multitudes of kneeling, trembling slaves around 
 them ! — We picture their glittering pleasure boats, as tl cy 
 were wafted up and down the broad stream of the Nile — liom 
 Memphis to Thebes — from Heliopolis to Ph)lae. We think of 
 Cheops and his train going to inspect the great pyiamid in 
 whose interior he is to repose — watching its progrcs.^; with enger 
 interest and urging on the clustering swarms of ^orkujen. Wo 
 picture the great Rameses visiting his tomb, which for yeais wbh 
 being hewn out of the rock ; and all his victories and deeds 
 painted around its walls by the ablest artists. We rfcall tiit 
 graceful form of Memnon — the warlike Thothmes and IShishak, 
 atid Necho — with Nitocris and Sesostris ; — we fancy tiiMB 
 robed and sceptred, offering sacrifices to Osiris, conse^«ftlilig 
 Lnxor or Karnac — or leading their glittering steelclii iMtts 
 
 dreams of ambition sets huge armies in motion — overthrows king- 
 dom! — convulses the world — far moro perhaps than a similar 
 
dream of r^ar Nicholas in the prr^icnt day. And then their h.igy, 
 toilin;^ subjects oh.sclini; thcs,. avenues of Sphinxes-cleav- 
 ing, in the Kianuo quarry, thoH h.igo obe)isks,-rai8in« those 
 enormous blocks of sto.o to the tcps of pyramids or ten.ples- 
 d:gg.ng thousands of miles „f irri^ntin- canals-swcatinir at the 
 brick-kiln-p anting, sowing, reaping !-\Vhat a clamour and 
 din resounded along the banks of silvery Nile !-IIow labour's 
 thousand hammers rang for centuries here ! But it is all over 
 hjng years ago-deep drunk in the silence of ancient night — 
 Ihe renowned sovereignty of the Pharoahs, like all other sove- 
 reignties, njust depart ; and these 878 kings must lie down side 
 by side-their hot life-fever oooled-and thev hear not the 
 tramplmg of new generations over them, '' any more, for over." 
 VV rapped in gummed cloths, and sweet spices-enclosed in pon- 
 derous sarcophagi, thoy are entombed in the solid rock, or built 
 into the heart ot a pyramid, hoping to cheat corruption and to 
 Tjff'IT"' V^V" jl«a^»>; '" «o»emn and lonely grandeur, from 
 Uie common herd of n.ankind. Vain hope l-vainer prido !- 
 Thoir royal sohtu.le has been broken-their'select society unce- 
 
 ZZ? ^ ^'"'"'"^'^ '^''''•/" ^"«^"' «'-°>« «»d heads sold as 
 Si T- ""T- ^""".^' ^^'''' ^"PO'-'^titious Bucoessors ; and 
 ^ie.rdust IS undistinguishabie from the sand of the desert— 
 Every traveller may enter their violated tombs, and finds them 
 gone ,-no master of the house within,-no master of the 
 
 ZlZTVI^r' '.T"° ^^^'^'"o '^^-''^^ or kneeling slave 
 around ! We look with interest on the field of the cloth of gold, 
 where two poor foolish monarchs once met and strutted and fum- 
 n«rl^'tr!^'" ^^'' 'r''^ ^'"^•^''•^'' but what is this com. 
 
 Bleen ' Ann" '^"' ''^T' ''^? '^'""^ '^^ ^^^^'» ^'^ '^eir long 
 Bleep !-And now, perhaps, their dust forms part of the poor 
 mud-cabm of the tawny Arab ! ^ *^ 
 
 r««^"^^^''' ''''"?''^? itwell-w.i3 there not soraethin- great 
 h cl '"t- .^''^ '""?^ ^^ '''''' r-ns-they are hSman ?o 
 made in tb/" T!l 't"" ''""''^ '^''^ ^^'^'^ l»"™an souls, 
 
 mentoes of the thoughts of 8000 years a co-of worship law 
 sSr*' ''"P';P' -tt-der,'h«man'effort. Uey'le^^e. 
 Z tZJT f ^' '^ ^""^'" progress-one step towards 
 ^ii P?n • ,'^^^^ '^V'?' "^ '^''^ ^''^^ P'-oc^sses through 
 b^^i^r A%'%'''^^^ ^'^^'"g ^"^ ''^^^ >"to a loftier aSd 
 .?!^ir''''yT^"^ '^ ^« ««" now traverse the earth in our fire- 
 v»a.;u«, unu uio ocean m our steam-driven ships— and " make 
 a nautical time-piece of the heavenly lumina ie^s "-^and create 
 an English literature and a British"^ Empiieril is because we 
 
can begin whore tho Egyptians ended ; and inheriting the fruit 
 of their toils, wo are ablo to add, without measure, to our stock 
 of knowledge — 
 
 " All cliani^oH, nought is lo«t. The forms arc changed— 
 And that which hoa bcun, m not what it was,— 
 Yet what han Iwen, 18." 
 
 Egypt and its kings and people must vaniab ; but the past time, 
 with all its errors and sins, is not lost-— 
 
 " Nothing in tho world can periiib, 
 Death is lif'u and Ilfu is death. 
 All we lovo and all wo cberivh 
 Uies to breathe a nobler breath." 
 
LECTURE in. 
 
 MONUMENTS OF EGYPT. 
 
 Every nation expresses itsolf moat powerfully in itv works of 
 art. If you go into any country and study tlto buildin^^s, sta- 
 tuary and paintings, you may IVom these form a correct impres- 
 sion of the mental and moral condition of the people— of their 
 peculiar genius and force of character, and the phase of civiliza- 
 tion at which they have arrived. Here we may read the mind 
 and heart of the people—their conceptions of the beautiful, true 
 
 and good—their hopes and fears their ideas of duty and 
 
 destiny. Man is a spirit incarnate,— a spirit manifesting itself 
 through a material form ; and his thoughts that range the uni- 
 verse, he feels impelled to express through materiul shapes ; 
 and thus to give to his " airy nothings a local habitation and a 
 name.' Hence ho hews the marble into life— covers the can- 
 vass with forms ot beauty—builds palaces and temples. Art 
 has Its roots deep in the inner life of a people. More especi- 
 ally in all times has religion been tiio mother of art, producing 
 here all that is grandest and most beautiful. Under her inspi- 
 ration the marble has been chiseled into beauty, and taken the 
 loveliest shapes of devotion, full of hymns and prayers. It is 
 this has fired the soul of all the great sons of art, and created 
 temple, mo'jque, cathedral, dome and altar. Thus the soul of 
 man, in its loftiest flights, instinctively does homage to that for 
 which It was originally created. It is emphatically true of 
 iigyptian art, that it sprang from the religion of the people, and 
 Bymbolicully embodied their faith. Hence their architecture 
 vas vast and stupendous as the system on which it rested. 
 Jlivery thmg to the eye of the initiated, was, xn some way con- 
 nected with their divinitioa nr xvn,-a^.it^ T.> r„o* ,.,« ^ 
 
 inat all thoie great structures whose ruins now strew the banks 
 Of the JMiIe, and draw admiring travellers from all nations, were 
 
orifinillj produced by tht wligioni faith of th« poople. In 
 Ukinn » brief glance at tb«M let ua begin with ibe world-re- 
 nowned pyramids. 
 
 Tho traveller, in lailiiig up the Nile, after leaving Aleitli- 
 dria, arrtres in two or throe dayti at the modern city of Cairo— 
 aocientlj Momphia, the capital of Lower Egypt, and tirt moel 
 aiioiont of its citien. lie walks out into the great plain thai 
 stretchea westward from tho city ; and at the distance of fire 
 miles from tho rivor, the far-famed group of the great pyramidi 
 ufOizohaie seen, gleaming white again, the clear, oloudleia 
 sky. It is a sight, once beheld, will never be forgotten ;--bul 
 like tho first glimpse of Mount Ulanc, or the Falls of Niagarp, 
 will bo indelibly stamped on moraorv's tablets and mingle inl 
 dreaming and waking thoughts to life's close. Like all truly 
 great objects, the pyramids grow upon you aa you become more 
 familiar with their outlines ; and it is only after a lengthened 
 txamination, that their immensity impresses itself on tho mind, 
 or that vire get an idea of their huge bulk and the enormoui 
 amount of human labour involved in their erection. They are 
 based on a ledge of rook that rises about 100 feet above tho 
 level of tho surrounding desert; and thus havo the advantage 
 of a commanding position. There are three principal pyrnmtdi, 
 greatly superior in point of sise to tho others ; and of there, 
 alone we shall now speak. The oldest and the largest of all 
 was built by Shuphoo or Cheops, as he is commonly called. 
 The stones that formed the apex and outer casing have been re- 
 moved, and of these tho Mahommedan mosques of Cairo have 
 been built. Little did king Cheops imagine to what an ignoble 
 use the stones of his tomb would be applied. The perpendicu- 
 lar height of this great pyramid is 450 feet— being 110 feo» 
 higher than St. Puul's Cathedral, and 43 feet higher than Bfr. 
 Peter's in Rome. The original height was 480 feet. Jt covers 
 an area of thirteen acres in extent, and at the base is 80.^8 feet 
 in circumference. In form it is a square, tho sides sloping in- 
 wards. It was originally built in steps or terraces ; and the 
 workmen advanced from stage to stage by scaffolding ; and ihon 
 smoothed the surface with an outside casing of granite as they 
 descended. It is said that more than 260,000 men were em- 
 ployed for 20 years in its erection. Herodotus says that Kn 
 inscription in the interior gave 12,600 talents as the expense of 
 
 f)roviding the workmen with onions and other vegetables. €o- 
 onel Vyae estimates tho masonry at nearly seven mUlionetoni- 
 weight of fctone. What a mountain of solid masonry coverrrtg 
 13 acres with its baao ! The nvramid is built due north and 
 
•outh, M are ill h« othori. On the Qortf..rn franf. about f,0 fool 
 from the baw, the «,ii,auc.) to tho grcut ,.,le was di^.-overfd l! 
 wai a narrow opcim.i; of throe feot au.l u haif i„ wuUh amlfour 
 fMt an.l a h.l in height. Thi. tunnel do-con.I. it" t inle 
 f.or at an angle ot 20 .lo;<reo.; a.,.! at about M20 f«ot u.n ha 
 mou h u opon, ,nto a .ubtorranoa.. chambor culloa the wlu 
 Ti^Ui under the apex of tho pyranud. and far ben uh u iTaie 
 bemg cu out of the .ol.d rock on which it «ta,uU. 11 t X' 
 tion to h.. duu.ond.ng channel, .. .ther a-ocnding 1 ,1 
 oponi.nto the tunnel at about .JO foot uom the .nouth.^ 'j'fia 
 conducts up .u, .nol.ned plane to what is cali.d tho ♦' ,uoo '. 
 chamber," an apartment 17 feet long, 14 wide and I'j .il 
 A Bumiar passa^o lead- to - the king'Iohambor"-.. {4 ect ufj 
 
 Lli;-;;r"r /•; •''«''• '^''''•' «»''«'ber is nned with^ 1 1- 
 boautdully polwhcd granite, lloro wa« four.d n Barcopha^juH or 
 Htono oolhn of red granito 7 feet and a half in IcngtH .ule[ 
 
 ith 'Ifodv :;Ti''u- ^' ^^" '^""^ tenantloss-tht lid llLtered 
 --the body tho k.ng gone— an unknown robber had violated 
 the roval ton.b porhaps many centuries before. No inscVit tions 
 were found on the sarcophagus ; but, on some of Uc stone ?n 
 Uo interior were found some rude hiero'Iynhics t .« ..^iMi 
 
 ':ir;:i '"""'" '"-"" "'""'• •'""'«''"■« r^™"." ",""[;■; 
 
 o.ll'.'rr'iT'' "' "'° l''"" l"^" Py""^'"'' «"•" !""!' by « king 
 called t ephrencs, arid stands ot a short diatatico from 0,o fi ,1 
 
 yUuoluro.t rcso.„l,los tl,o furm.r, .„d «1,™ c ," red ,y I m 
 
 cdobratod I clzo,, „, 181,!, a »arcool,aj5„a «». found s„,,kn lo 
 
 floor cent ,an„K tl,o bones of a b„ll-doubtlc.., ono ol 1,„ e 1\ 
 
 aivi nty. What a coinuu.ntarjr is this on the ,l..-radcd re iL.ioii. 
 I^onditmn o this groat pooplo ; when in tho debaarnlt, o SJ 
 bruto-worshlp they raised this splendid niauseleuinr he b 
 of a bull ! Iminenao sums were lavished on the burial-ritcs of 
 ho sacred animals. Alas, without a revelation to X de, thl 
 
 ?'zy:?;^re:r:tr"t^S^;^^a:dir^- 
 
 The third pyramid was opened by Colonel Vyse, and im par- 
 cophagua. wc.gli.ug three ton. was, after mucl/labour ot on 
 aod slupped lor England. Unfortunately tho vessel in° which 
 .t was embarked wa. wrecked ; and now ft lie in 1 ' ro kv 
 
I 
 
 Tiiitf 
 
 bed. Ttio wooden eoffln, howovor, wm prca«rvcd, and no^T 
 ndoriti tKo HriUth Mtifiautii, having inieribed on it tho namA of 
 (ho kiii^ whose duAt onco repopod within. liid naum wm Men* 
 kera — more commonly written Mykorinuji. This pyramid id 
 but htiU' tho lizi) of tho other two ; iti granite casing in pcrfeot, 
 •—00 that in point of beauty and {ircscrvation it turpancs thoi« 
 alreitdy desiorihiMl. 
 
 Around tho nitu of thfl ancient Meraphi«i, on a lino extending 
 about 2.') n.iU'H ulong tlio river, there are upwards of 20 pyra- 
 mids of variouH dimc>nRiona<—nono of them approucliitig in niio 
 thoio wo have been examining. They are all surrounded by 
 innumcrnhio tombs, pita, and excavations, excIuBivcly d( dioatcd 
 t ) tho dead, — and though counth'ss thousands of mummies hata 
 been removed and destroyed, during tho last lAOO yeura count- 
 icsii thousands still remain undisturbed in this liug'^ city of 
 tho dead, thut served as a burial ground to ancient Memphis for 
 HO many generations. Tiierc are pyramids in other r'aces in 
 Kgypt, but they are comparatively inaignifieant. Various opi- 
 nions have been entcrta-ned reganling the puiposo of theso 
 mighty piles of htono. The idea that they were used for astro- 
 nomical purposes is now entirely exploded, hir John Horschcll 
 after tho most careful examination pronounces agniriBt it. Nei- 
 ther is there any proof that they were connected in any way 
 with tho practice of tho mysterious religious rites of l''g}'pt. 
 Tliey are no\Y regarded by tho best authorities as tcinbs and 
 nothing more. Kings and perhaps f|ueoiis wore buried in them, 
 Hnd posaihly members of tho royal household. It was for- 
 merly a favourite theory that the cajitivo Israelites erected them ; 
 and many needless lamentations have been utterod over their 
 Bcvcro Bufrt'rin;:^ when toiling as slaves at these work's under a 
 burning sun. Fearful sutVcrings there were no doubt in the pro- 
 cess of erecting thcni ; hut it is aatisfactory to know that the 
 Israelites bore no portion of these ; for the pyramids of Mem- 
 phis were all erected long before Abraham's \i3it. And after 
 all, we have no proof tint tho building of thcs'^ gro-it Ptructurea 
 involved any amount of cruelty, or caused inconvenience or op- 
 pression to tiie country. Perhaps their erection was no mora 
 felt than tho buililing of St. r'aul's or tho New Houses of Par- 
 liament in Kni.'l:md. We aro (juite ignorant as to the mechani- 
 cal contrivance T by which the cnoririOiis blocks of llraeHtcne Avero 
 hoistiid to such a height by the workmen ; but most prohsibl}' 
 each was raised stop by step till it reached its bed. The <jMar- 
 ries from which tl stone was obtained are about nine miles die- 
 
 fan^. fpf\ri\ i\\a «r.t'i>qr».i/l j 
 
S9 
 
 Our notice of a few more of the most striking monuments of 
 Hgjpt must of necessity be verj brief. As an appendage to the 
 pyramids, because close to them, we may glance for a moment at 
 tht renowned Sphinx— an enormous statue having the breast, 
 neck and shoulders of a human being joined to the body and 
 MW3 of a lion. It reminds us of the winged human-headed 
 bulls of the Nineveh ruins ; and in all probability served a simi- 
 lar purpose, in connexion with their re! ^^ious ceremonies. In 
 dimensions however it far exceeds the Nineveh bulls. It is in a 
 couching posture and almost buried in the sands of the desert. 
 After a partial removal of the sand, the paws were seen stretch- 
 ed out 50 '' et in advance of the body. In front of it were 
 found the appendages of a temple— granite tablet and altar.— 
 Ihis huge colossal statue, the largest ever made, is cut out of a 
 solid mass of limestone,— the whole length being 180 feet— the 
 height, from the belly to the top of the head 62 feet— circum- 
 ference of the forehead 102 feet. The nose has been mutilated, 
 and the face was painted red. The features however have a 
 very sweet and placid expressicn— a mixture, it is said, of the 
 Nubian and Egyptian oast of countenance. It is the strangest 
 object in this land of wonders— erected we know not by whom, 
 or when, nor can any one do more than conjecture what was its 
 mysterious import. There it stands and has stood for centuries, 
 with raised head above the sand, gazing eastward amid the sur- 
 rounding desolation, as if expectantly,--bland and solemn— 
 "staring right on with calm eternal eyes which dropped not 
 when Cambyses, Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon, with all their 
 glittering hosts, swept by. What scenes— what generations 
 those calm eyes have looked upon ! Did Abraham or Joseph 
 look up m wonder at the mysterious face— or shudder at the 
 Idolatrous ntes of which it was the object ? The desert sands, 
 drifting against it, are gradually eflFacing the features ; though 
 It may retain its expression for centuries to come. What hands 
 wero those that chiseled the great form out of the rough rock ! 
 What a mind that struck out such a conception ! There it re- 
 mains— aa unriddled wonder and mystery, as it has stood ge- 
 Deration after generation. Who can tell whether advanciuir 
 Knowledge will ever unveil it ! 
 
 There is another interesting object near the modern city of 
 i.airo--tiie site of the ancient Helospolis, or city of the sun- 
 called m the history of Joseph "On," and in the Prophecies 
 of Isaiah the city of Destruction." It was celebrated of old 
 lor a great temple of the Sun ; now a solitary obelisk marks the 
 spot where it stood. It is full of interest to us because Josooh 
 
I 
 
 w 
 
 29 
 
 'mntvicci the Jau^^htcr of the high priost of On ; and in all pro- 
 lability Mosos, uikIqi- tho guiilanco of the learned priesthood of 
 llcliopolia, studied the mystic lore of Egypt. Tho Greek Plato 
 and iSoloii and ilerodotiu walked it3 orange groves. Near this 
 spot ara shown tho sycamore treo under which Joseph and 
 ^lary with tho infant Saviour rested— the fountain from which 
 they drank and the grotto in which they resided. Of courso 
 there id nothing but vague tradition to support the statement — 
 still it awakens our interest — 
 
 " IJmlor a palm-tree by the green old Nile, 
 
 Lulled on Illy mothcr'ti breast the fair child lies, 
 
 "With dove like hreatliings and a tender smile, 
 
 lirooding above the slumber of IiIh eyes ; 
 
 Wliile through the stillness of the burning skies*, 
 
 T.o, the dread work of Egypt's buried kings, 
 
 Temple and pjvamid beyond him rise, 
 
 llegal and still as everlasting things, 
 
 \'ain pomps ! from him with that pure Uowing cheek 
 
 Soft shadowed by his mother's drooping heart." 
 
 Leaving Cairo and sailing up tho Nile, the traveller steps 
 ashore on his voyage, to view the celebrated temple of Dende- 
 rah, where of oUl was observed tho worship of Athor, the 
 Egyptian Venus, whoso figure is seen still among the magnifi- 
 cent sculptures, along with the sweet matronly face of the God- 
 dess Isis. In front of this old temple is a portico erected _ia 
 comparatively modern times ; and in its ceiling is the Zodiac 
 that once created such a sensation in the world. Yvhen the 
 French pJ/dosophers who accom^ anied Napoleon_ to Egypt ex- 
 amined this zodiac they were unanimously of opinion that it en- 
 tirely exploded the Scriptural chronology ; and must have been 
 from 4,000 to 17,000 years old when the Christian era commenc- 
 ed.Infidelity,then so rarapant,hailed the discovery with a shout of 
 triumph. Years rolled on— a key to the hieroglyphics was dis- 
 covered ; and the learned Frenchman ChampolUon came and 
 read on the zodiac of Denderah the title of Augustus Coezar. 
 Never did infidelity receive a more complete discomfiture. 
 That which in the arrogance of ignorance it demonstrated to bo 
 17,000 years old at the birth of Christ, was now proved to have 
 been constructed 110 years after his advent. The length of 
 the temple of Denderah is 220 feet— its breadth 120. 
 
 lassing by temples, tombs and hosts of monuments of minor 
 interest, the voyager on the Nile arrives at length at the re- 
 nowned Thebes—the capital of Upper Egypt. This city is 
 caiiod in Scripture No — or Nu-Amtaoa — by the- Creeks Pics- 
 
do 
 
 5nh''nr.^'" ^'' "^'J^' ^^ J^»o "^^^t magnificent rulus, strewed in 
 rich profusion on both banks of the river-temples palaces 
 obel,8^coo8s,, sphinxes, toob., the remains of a%irthafc 
 was flourishing m all its glory 18G0 years before ChX.t „ i 
 was sung of by Homer as' haLg " a'huTdr c gat^^^^^^ 
 ^nothing to be compared with those majestic ruinfof Thebe 
 What wld-renowned names of which we find the rea Ity here ■ 
 --the statue of Memnon, fabled as uttering mysterious^ musi J 
 
 temple of Luxor-the palace of tho Memnonium-the tombs of 
 the departed kings of Theban dynasties !-all clusteredTn thiJ 
 Bingle spot. The vocal statue of Memnon is noronly a pate 
 ed up remnant of the original which was broken. The hcH ig 
 
 the'" ;; T oldlvT t°"^"^ ' ^'"^^^ '''^'^ Melt iV 
 tne gracetui old mjtli of paganism, was Iho sou of Aurora iml 
 
 Tytho killed hy Achilles at the siege of Troy. As Aurora But 
 o lVh°,^ '.'"'"f r-"' """■"'"« ''"fi''»' '■ays struck on the C 
 ?:r:l;?„d'':rintfet'X!'fe7r^ 
 
 hTtC^^e^ttX"^^^^^^ 
 
 dawn day Some account for this by sa, podn" U to hi o 
 od th," L™"; °^ "•' P™'? "''» '" '""^ conceal dc^ufproS'c" 
 
 lit. {h rr. T"^'-"'^"' '^■■'''''" " BcientL- 1 y by 
 snowing that in certain eiroumalances granite rocks hail th» 
 morning with organ music, owing to tho diffe;cnce of t mr,.r» 
 tare between the subterranean Snd outerair ifal e"S" 
 wo listen in vain no,v for the wondrous music. In serene rl 
 of°.het U %fVZ '°°'''"S ■- sad solcmnitv upon 1 e ru r s 
 
 „n.?A,, ^ '-f hebes-kiugly still and majestict'hough shattered 
 —one of the oldest and noblest works of art. One? I stood In 
 company with other mighty statues in front of a "rcattmr e 
 of which no a wreck now remains. Mysterious, "od-lfke Mem 
 
 Ti7t!™ .'"r/ ''"' '"'1 onacted beneath 'thrsl adow -" 
 
 the temple of Lu/er to at fare of ?ie g!y' i y'^'oTf "fr 
 
 Grander still is the ^=ity and' temple ot Kf.4c "^An avenueTf 
 
 .=vtg« ivarnuc with Luxor. This grand en- 
 
 Grander still is the 
 
 
strewed in 
 3, palaces, 
 I city thofc 
 h»-i3t, and 
 ." Thoro 
 f Thebes, 
 litjr here ; 
 'US music 
 rnac — tho 
 i tombs of 
 3d on this 
 ' a patch- 
 bciglit is 
 non, says 
 irora and 
 urora put 
 J the lips 
 ic issued 
 n Krape- 
 veral in- 
 10, attest 
 at the 
 i to have 
 produc- 
 cally by 
 mil the 
 empera- 
 events, 
 :ene rc- 
 10 ruins 
 lattered 
 tood, in 
 temple 
 Mem- 
 low ! 
 ious in 
 i" them 
 marka- 
 imovcd 
 ne was 
 —from 
 ris !^ — 
 nue of 
 [J en- 
 
 trance was more than n mile in length — lined with Sphinxes 
 on each side, having rams' heads and lions' bodies. To tho 
 eye at a distahcoKarnac presents a very forest of obelisks, tera- 
 phs and columns. Tho groat tcmplo fronts the river, and con- 
 tains the celebrated hall of Karnac, unsurpassed in majestic 
 ;:randeur. Ti»o central avenue of this hall contains twelve mas- 
 sive columns, each sixty six feet high and twelve in diameter. 
 Tho hall itself is 170 feet by 329 ; and the temple is nearly 
 two miles round. Sculptures, recording the triumphs of Shi- 
 ihak who invaded Judca, adorn tho walls. Next to the pyra- 
 mids the great hall of Karnac is Egypt's proudest monument. 
 Those^ who visit it describe tho effect as overpowering. Its 
 date is 1920 years before Christ — its builder Osirtascn I. 
 Grand and majestic inconceivably is that great forest of columns 
 — 134 in number — the lowest 42 loot high and 9 feet in diame- 
 ter — that supported tho roof of the vast hall. Here the heart 
 cannot but bow in reverence, and do justice to the great raco 
 that projected and executed such a work. Tho grandest ruin 
 of the world i? undoubtedly the hall of columns in tho temple 
 of Karnac. That tho human miad conceived it — that hands 
 like our own fashioned it — gives us loftier ideas of humanity — 
 of rnan " tho paragon of animals." 
 
 These short glimpses of some of the great monnments must 
 suffice. We must pass over the Mcmnonium and the magnificent 
 ruins in the holy isle of Philae, dedicated to tho god Osiris ; his 
 resting place too — for the solemn Egypiian oath was " by him 
 who sleeps m Philae." It is strange to find that the oldest of 
 tho Egyptian buildings are at the same time the largest — that 
 the oldest buildings in the world arc the largest and most mag- 
 nificen- in the world. AVe search in vain for any thing to 
 compare with tho pyramids, the temples and statues of this 
 mystic land. Great men truly must the architects have been 
 — great and noble workers the race who built them. In 
 strength, majesty and solemn grandeur, they will be the world's 
 models till the end of time. What a faith was that which 
 reared these piles — what a power that could command their 
 performance ! We think of the white-robed priests that walked 
 these aisles — offering prayer, incense, and sacrifice here — 
 century after century — to Osiris, Isis and their son Horus— tho 
 sacred triad—to Egypt's countless gods. Their temples aro 
 all in ruins now— their idolatry blotted out — their hidden sanc- 
 tuaries trod by every passing foot. Wretched Arabs build 
 
 tQcir liuts 
 
 words of Schiller— 
 
 aguinSb 
 
 tug Vims vf their proud temples. lu tho 
 
.12 
 
 Tli«iiitellig!ljlu foim.i f-r am-icnt poel*, 
 Tlic fair huinaiiitios ol old ruli'.rlon, 
 Tlio power, tlie l)o;iiil,y and tlic m.ijoslv, 
 That lad their haunt in dale or piiiy inoniitain 
 Or foroat, by slow stream or pebbly t<i>riiig, 
 AH these have vanished ; 
 They live no longer in the iliilh of reason." 
 
 nT,\u*^S"%' r"m'^"^ '^'"'''"'^ ^'^"'^^ ^'^' '•cccntly arisen 
 ;0T. tho banks of the Thamo3,-the new Crjstal Pulacof-tbero 
 IS one department named tI,o Egyptian court, in which aro 
 accurate re-production3 of tho most striking at'chitectura re- 
 mains, a3 well as some of the chief statuarf and paintin-^s of 
 
 age up he Nile, we can lorm a very accurate conception of the 
 venerable rums strewed along itg banks, by paying a vhit o 
 «ie people a palace at Sydenham, and rambling Uirou^h tho 
 Egyptian court. Every thing here is thoroughi; Egvptian--a 
 
 ouginals. Yoa approach the court through an avenue of lions 
 
 ;;rlr?" ^°'^ ''" ^^^^^^^^ '''' ai-P^-oadied-and these n 
 are cast from a pair, now in the British Museum, brought f om 
 a temple on the Nile. Over the three entranced of tlfe facade 
 13 tae winged globe and usual protecting divinity of entrances • 
 and on the fneze is the following ins?ription,^in the ancTent 
 hieroglyphic chara.tcrs-the styl?and Egyptian mode of ex 
 pression being also preserved. ^' In the ifi year o the rei 'a 
 of her Majesty, the ruler of tho waves, the royal dauSr 
 Victoria lady most gracious, the chiefs .rchite^ts, cu^rs 
 
 llZTtZZ] f' Pf.-^ and ganlens, with ^ thZ nd 
 columns, a thousand decorations, a thousand statues of chiefs 
 
 hnnJf i\':^^^'"r^ ^''''^^ ^^''^^^^^ flowers, a thousand 
 
 nX Pp 'f ^'- ^}l^'''^ are copies of monuments of the Phaia- 
 
 ra'n^hfS'e'nf n''r"\P^^^f'^' ^^--ff-^ing specimens 
 P^^nf '^V ^ " °''^^'' °^ architecture to be met with in 
 
 fi eal Ramees 't^ T^K'}'^^^ ^'^^ o? the victories of the 
 Se fa?aro7\vhTch"is': :"':V"r"''' tho hall of columns; 
 Memnomura • \ml t^ ? i^eproduction of a portion of tho 
 frmns irthe tern ?^^^ are copied from the hall of 
 
 reduced .cale Si::^!,^;^;;^/;,^^^ '^ ^°"^^^^" ' ^^/^ 
 "o wiiougti liii;^ hixW YiQ como to a model 
 
88 
 
 ftf the tomplo of Aboo Slmbel in NubJa, which was excavated 
 from the rock by Ilamcscs Hd, nearly 1600 B. C— and first 
 discovered by the traveller, Burckhardt, and afterwards excava- 
 ted by Belzoni. The model is about one-tenth of the ori.anal 
 and 18 perfect in every respect. We cannot ennumerato tho 
 various other objects of interest— temples, porticos, tombs 
 colossal fin;ures, sculptures, and paintin-s of the Egyptian 
 Court. Without a visit, description can merely give us a faint 
 idea of the contents. But when wo reflect on the vast and 
 varied number of objects covered by this single roof— the magar 
 feme of knowledge hero stored up— the apparatus of instructiou 
 lor myriads that is in operation in this people's college, and 
 -when we take into account the noble object for which it ia 
 erected— the mental enlightenment of all nations— we feel that 
 all Egypt 3 monuments are poor, contrasted with Britain's* 
 Crystal Palace. Our country boasts of no nobler monument of 
 her greatness. It is an epitome of the whole past ; a record 
 of man s grandest achievements in science and art, built by no 
 despot's command, but by the efforts of a free people. In th© 
 language of the hieroglyphic inscription already quoted, w<* 
 Bay— "Mayitbeproaperoua." 
 
 9 
 
i«f 
 
 LECTURE fV.. 
 
 EGYPTIAN LITERATURi nVlLlZATlOJT, 
 
 «.«^T-?ff 7u- T"". ^ I"^"*^'^ ^^^""^^' '^'^ ''^^^ '^i- ^Tito a letter ■ 
 we httle think ^vhat a woncleHul result is before our eye Tn 
 those pnn cd or penned characters that cover the M sYeet of 
 mper It we could only trace back, step by step the tocess 
 By which man haa arrivec! at the art of printL, what ar extra 
 ordinary history we should have ! What a record orhuman 
 toil and endeavour-of failure and triumph-of thou hZ 
 ingenuity overcoming difficulties~of victories gaLd by brave 
 
 hereon ; and thu3 does ),attIo against iblivion, a™ ames S 
 self H-.tli 11,0 p«t, and transmits himself to the C'e Or « 
 an Amor.eau Indian, he writes Im first linos of hilrv '-fl 
 
 so that all uttered words or m uttelJX tl ^ ^'™^" '^°^^<^ ^ 
 
 to the eve and m-Vof ->?V T '""^'^^'' '^" ^^ presented 
 
 eye ana m..a oi otncr« ; and now words are chiseled on 
 
«8 
 
 i-Tiosr. 
 
 B a letter, 
 r eves, in 
 il sheet of 
 
 process 
 an extra- 
 )f human 
 hou<,'htful 
 hy brave 
 effort of 
 
 (vent — to 
 liable to 
 )f stones 
 memorial 
 llies him- 
 Or, as 
 ^ry with 
 ho tjikus 
 •e of the- 
 re (lura- 
 itline on 
 • Hav- 
 ethcr as 
 thoughts 
 3ess, he 
 J words 
 Tom his 
 fore the 
 ian and 
 iers be- 
 
 1 voice ; 
 epcnted 
 eled on 
 
 ftra«jt(J and marble, in addition U> tho Hculpturod form^ and a« 
 explanatory of them. Tho leaves of the papyrus-plant, tho 
 tlay or wax tablet, tho roll of imrchmont, and laHtly the leaf 
 of paper, receive, in succession, the written characters. Tlien 
 
 came another great thought— that of moveable types from 
 
 which have llowcl far more important results to humanity than 
 from all the campaigns of Alexander, Ccesar, and Napoleon 
 combined. The slow labour of tho pen could now be dispensed 
 with, and copvists wore disbanded. The range of thought was 
 multiplied inflefinitely, one mind might now commune with all 
 other mmds— " winged words'' were no longer a figure of poetry 
 When once a printed sl^eet was thrown off. Knowledge was now 
 tho heritage of man— not of a favoured few. Look back now 
 at the whole process ; see how, like all our precious things, tho 
 grand result had to be achieved in sweat anc' struggle, with toil 
 Of hand and brain. Contrast the first stop with the last— tho 
 rough heap of stones— let us call it with Jacob "Galeed"— 
 the heap of witness, or the wampum belt and skin picture, with 
 the bound and gilt volume of the 19th century. What a course 
 we have travelled over, from picture-writing on bark of trees, 
 to the I " lication of the London Times newspaper, recordin*' 
 each mormng a fragment of world-history, which, by steam 
 power, 18 rapidly circulated over the civilized portion of the 
 fearth, and will be condensed into history for the perusal of un- 
 born generationa. Think of that great depot of infoi-mation— 
 that laboratory of history— The Times' Office !— how many 
 watchful oyes are looking out on its behalf as correspondents in 
 city and country— how many busy pens noting down events— its 
 agents mingling even with the charging hosts— couriers gallop- 
 ing-posts flying— steam-boats dashing aside the billows- 
 engines panting over the land— telegraph wires pouring in their 
 winged words and lightning-impelled intelligence— news from 
 the Arctic Regions— from the Himalaya Mountains— from the 
 seat of war— from Vienna and Paris up till half-an-hour a<^o ;— 
 news on all subjects of human interest, from a great battle to 
 the over-turmng of a carriage in the street— from the hi'^hest 
 range of science to the price of cabbagea— here it is alf con- 
 densed, arranged, printed, at the rate of many thousand copies 
 in the hour, and scattered over the world. This is the way we 
 construct our wampum belts in the present age, and get ready 
 our raw materials for history. Who can question the reality of 
 human progress, looking at aU this ? What may the future not 
 
 reach, considerlnc thnt *>nn>» 
 ments of the present at command ': 
 
 
 □tcu 
 
 
ee 
 
 Now the nncitnit I'Vyptiaiis, moiuo (»f whom, in the shape r»f 
 muiniiiiert, luv now Hlccpui-^ uiuli.stui'becl amid the din of mighty 
 London, und have boon in that wlocp for 2 or JlOOO years, had 
 precisely thi^ winic thirst for news that we have — were as ai.xi- 
 ous to know what was jj;nit)^ on at a distance, and to tell posterity 
 wlgit thoy had accoiupiishcd, us wo are at this moment. 
 Lot us see how they recorded tiicir thou<;;lits and trunamitted 
 intelli;:;encc. Kvery one hjis heard of the E;/yptian hierogly- 
 phics or ciiaracters to\uid sculptured on the ancient monumenta. 
 'I'heir mode of writing was called hict'oi/lj/phU', a term derived 
 from two (J reek words si^^nifyinj^ "' the sacred writing," under 
 tho im})rcssion that it was knowi only to the priests, who kept 
 it a profound secret, ami employed it solely in reli<.dous subjects. 
 This is now known to be a mistake, as the kno>vled.<i;o of it wuh 
 eonmion to all classes of tho ancient Egyptians, who used it for 
 all purposes. The name, however, is still retained. We saw 
 that jiictiu'c-writin<^ was, in all probability, the first attempt of 
 man in recording his thoughts. When tho Spaniards first 
 invaded Mexico, they found this mode of writing in existence. 
 Tho intelligenoo of the landing of Cortez and his followers, was 
 transmitted from tho sea-side to tho capital by means of accurate 
 drawings of the soldiers, tlieir arms, horses, and vessels. The 
 ancient Mexicans had not advancetl beyond this rude metlujd. 
 Tho Egyptian hieroglyphic writing was in advance of this a 
 long way ; and, in fact, was the transition or stepping-stone be- 
 tween it imd our own alphabetic writing. Whi.e it retained 
 some portion of the origirxal picture-writing, it combined Avith 
 this certain characters as symbols ; and, besides, introduced the 
 great and im[)ortant })rinci}tle of uiakhig certain signs represent 
 Hounds — thus taking the first step in syllabic or alphabetic 
 ■writing. In fact, hieroglyphic writing was a combination of 
 three mode; of expressing ideas, which may be regarded as so 
 many steps in the process. 'Wc first step was to convey the 
 idea of an object by painting a figure of it ; — the picture of 
 man, for example, (leno-'ed a nuin — a crescent represented the 
 moon. This would go l>ut a short way in expressing thought; 
 and accordingly to remedy its defects, another set of chainctere 
 was introduced as symbols, by which certain ideas were intended 
 to be conveyed more or less connected wiih or suggested by the 
 object given. Thus tlie image of the sun Avas used to represent 
 day — a crescent expressed a mouth, as being the sign of the 
 moon — a bee was the emblem of a king, because a sort of 
 monarchy existed in the hive, — -justice was signified by an ostrich 
 feather, because ull the feather^ on the body of that bird are 
 
 * 
 
S7 
 
 '•'t 
 
 \ial. Thirt then is synil)olic writinj:;, ami \vaf» the socond fltcp 
 
 ■ jfj 
 f 
 
 vf the pvi ;es3. The most ijn|»<.rtaiit tn!l<nv(Ml :— viinons n-pre- 
 
 8i'iitative:< of Hoimd wore i 
 
 nti'.HluciMl, liv takinii, to doiioto each 
 
 ?a are 
 
 kjtt(!i', those ohJoctH, the iiamt'H of which, in their hiii;;ua;;o, 
 bogau with tho initial or iirst Hound of tliat doMi^nation. Thi.s 
 brief description nnist Hutficc to ^'ivo you .S4)im' slii-iht i<loa of those 
 8tran<^e ;,'rou|vH of characters called liier.);:;lyphio, anion-; which 
 are found W'^nvM of almost every thin;; in earth and heiiven — 
 men, heantn, hinls, fisiien, flowers and fruits, dress, household 
 utensils, and tools. Their mystery has now heen miveiled, after 
 tho most paiidul and lahorious study, and their meaiiin;:; <le- 
 ciphered. 'J'he key which led to the whole of this ^'rnnd dis- 
 covery, was the Rosotta Stone, as it is called, a sinall nionunieiit 
 dug up hy tho French when in Egypt, havin;; sculptured on it 
 an hiscription in the ancient hierof<;lyphic character, and its 
 translation into demotic Egyptian, and tinally into (ireek. This 
 precious fragment is now in the British Museum. Tlu^ ablest 
 8cholai-s were for years emi)loyed in studying its characters in 
 ^•onnexion with oth(*r inscriptions. The names of Dr. Young, an 
 Englishman, and ChampoUion, a Frenchman, are innnortalized 
 in connexion with tko discoveries of which it furniiUv'd the key. 
 This is not the place to describe tho steps of their profound in- 
 vestigation ; suffice it to say, that the result has been to enable 
 i,flodei-n investigators to read oft" the inscriptions on the morui- 
 ments of the Nile, and to furnish us with a wonderfully jierfect 
 knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. The veil that shrouded 
 the whole in darkness has been rent ; and now, aided by tho 
 hieroglyphics, the paintings and monuments, we gaze back upon 
 this great section of the past, as it stands out bright and clear — 
 a little island in the vast cii-cumambient void. Till lately wo 
 believed that the dead night had engulfed t]\e whole— that all 
 was gone, as if it had never been ; and lo now it rises up from 
 the sepulchre, in new and beautiful lit'o ; and we find ourselves 
 lookhig into a kindred fatherland, warm with a luunan interest, 
 'i'licse mysterious-looking figures take forui and life at the magic 
 touch of science, and Inx'ome vocal — nay elocpient. They .v:;^ 
 the hand-writing of our dead lathers — their letters to us, \v\ itten 
 HOOO years ago, only opened and read now ; and we knov,- now 
 the thoughts that throbbed in their brain so long a.:',o. Au«i 
 these characters. wc call hieroglyphics, so cumbrous and strange, 
 were the organic filaments of our own printed spoech — the fir>t 
 formative efforts of man in giving wings to his thoughts ; ha i' 
 they not been, no steam-drivon printing-pre^'S would lie working 
 to-day — no milli(»i^ of new Testaments wo\ild be sent to ( iiin;\ 
 
$8 
 
 no Bihles would be within tho poor raan*i cal.in, How tmlv .!« 
 
 wo <iW(.ovci Ih.u u:..u;,'h the uM ,,^ iomuiuuily }H'n.sii!n<T y.'t 
 whatever ,m ^^ooil in it lives ami is perrnniul, tanuut fUc, un.J 
 occomua liu ovi.rviimltipIyin<r «cud for tho future. Only th. 
 Kr:iri rmn« ot ol.l E^rypfc uimoar now, hut our civilization is the 
 urojiU una uovoiopmeut of K^'yptian thought. Tho old v;miahoi 
 put out of iw ruins over springs the now— 
 
 " I looked, niiido tint du!<t nlotul rolled, 
 The WaNter HCfmod thw Hiiildor too : 
 Up«prini,'inpt from (he ruin old 
 
 J MftW (lu! I1«W. 
 
 •' 'Twas but thn luin o< the fad. 
 The wa»tiiiK of tho wroiiji and ill ; 
 VVhato'or of good (h« old liunj h-id 
 Was living still. 
 
 *' 'i«J«" I'cart. tho Waster builds aKain, 
 A charmed li/lt old poodnevs liath ; 
 Ihe tares may perish, but the uiaiu 
 In not for doath. 
 
 •'God works it» all t'jin^ ; all obey 
 HiH first propulsion from thn Mijjht'; 
 Ho! wake and watch, the world is Kray 
 With laorning lij^ht." 
 
 Hiero;<lyphic8, thc;n, involved the principleof alphabetic writing 
 
 by, oondon.ed themselves into compact letters. The ancient 
 Egyptian, wore r>o,sseH.ed of hooks us appears from vari'ous 
 evidences. In some of tho oldest montnnents tho ir.k-st aid and 
 styhis or reed-pen, are sculptured. Clentens of Alexa ria a 
 competertt auth,.rity, declarf. that in his day the l^^r haS 
 t'e^;";??'^ 'r-^"- ^'^""'^ "«'■« c-omLn,es^!;iJ^epic 
 jealous of Ilomer (hai-es hi;a with havin- derivc.l many of 
 
 Itn^TTT ^'''\'^' lil>fary of sacred books, over thfen: 
 "mc iclo' . tl''" 'n ^^'^^'^^^^ ""'» Hi^'oificantinscription- 
 
 he t 1 Vof r r"7"''^' ^' ^^^ ^^"^'^'^"'^ *'> «"^^ thatof all 
 Tus r'th. ^^^7' 1; orature one hook only has come down 
 dve ; o ii r. ' ' 'V^ ^»;''^«lyFJ'ieal papyrus ; and the name 
 ft Im bfo ;\ "P'f 'rr^f ^ ^""'-■^ " *f'« ^^^'^^ <>i' t^e Dead." 
 tr HofoZZ '^'-^ \y ^''^'''''^ "^ ^^^'-J'" ' ^«'l i« f-^^id to 
 
 on of .o2 fT "' ^''"":T ^*' ^^' '^'''^^ ^»<^ the transmi-,^.^ 
 \mi of souls. How we could wish that time had spared t? us 
 
n 
 
 mcm€ of the works of their «roat writew ! Sl.ull the hlcrature 
 of Kn-'laud ever Ikj uh c(.mi)h!tely Hwallowed up uiul iorgotteu— 
 41 Htray leaf or hagincut uiuuo going down to some rcmota 
 
 ^BeslL the poMC88ion of the art of writing, at such an 
 early period, there are multit.ideH ..f other cireunwtanco* at- 
 tc^^tmg the hi-h civilisation of th« ancient KKyptiaim. ton- 
 Bider, for example, their treatment of the feumle Kex. I Ley 
 stand alone among all the eastern nations of aiitwiuity, m re- 
 Hoecting, educating, and honouring woman aa liiglily us our- 
 Htdves. This is at once a proof of their rohnement and 
 4«ivilization, and their proudest mark of distinciinn ahoye all 
 others— that they first appreciated woman s intellectual ana 
 moral endowmenta— value.l her puritVuig and elevatmg Hocial 
 virtues, and respectc<l her domestic and civil rights. Precotionco 
 was given to them over men ; and the wives and daughters of 
 kings succeeded to the throne, like the male hmnches of tho 
 royal family. Nor did they keep them secluded as easterns 
 generally (lo, but extended to them the utmost freedom, so that 
 thev attended i)ublic festivals unveiled, in comimn^y wilh their 
 husbands or relations. "They knew" says VVdkinson nx hii 
 beautilVd popular account of the t]gyptians, •' that uidess women 
 were treated with renpect, and made to exercise an inHuenco 
 over society, the standard of public opinion would soon be 
 lowered, and the manners and morals of men would siifter ; and 
 in acknowledging this, they pointed out to womert the very re- 
 sponsible duties they had to poHbrm to the ('(mimunity. V>e 
 have also unciuestionablc proofs that the lOgyptians were tar 
 superior to their contemporaries in humanity— another evidence 
 of their advanced condition. The N ine vol sculptures show that 
 the Assyrians wore deeply tainted with the vice of cruelty, and 
 that they gloried in torturing and maiming their prisoners m 
 cold blood. No such records of ferocity are to be tound among 
 the Egyptian sculptures— no flaying or impaling or hewmg to 
 pieces of i)risoners ; and had these been ntitioual characteristics, 
 they would have been without fail represented. Still more, we 
 meet with positive proof of thoir humanity. " One particular 
 sculpture represents a sea-fight in the time of llamcses M ; and 
 the Egyptians are seen, both in the ships and on the shore, 
 rescuing the enemy, whoso galley has been sunk, from a watery 
 grave ; and the humanity of that people is strongly argued, 
 whose artists deem it a virtue, worthy of being recorded among 
 tho glorious actions of their countrymen."* Prisonei-s are 
 
 us 
 
 t Wiikitisun. 
 
r<»pffii«ntod u lK)un.I aiul wnt away from tho fid.l • hut t^ 
 
 It in vory «urpriHin« to fi,Hl nrtn oM i,, K.^t 8000 venn 
 
 How marvllouM, f..r ..xamphs to fl,„| tl.mn arnuttHitod with tho 
 
 urn l«H «hiMM onimiuMit. knosv,. to ht- of ,i„ ..,,li,.r luM-iod ft 
 
 ';: ri u-^rir •^''''"*■'^'^^^"•^ "■""•• '••• '^ *•''-•' 
 
 wrio nn.i i,i..(Mi. (,., i;,„ ,,„.c,(ic ^ruv tyi.f wliich i. i|,,, «,,,„« 
 
 t, '"" ytrnw ji;^o. Ihvy had jiLso t m» art of MtuinitiLr trhiHA r.P 
 vano... eolnur., «o ,u, to countnrfoit tho e.„n d. rt„thv. 
 « lothorprocMou. MtonoM ; a.ul ovor. ..f introdud !. 1^^^ 
 c I ...n, .no tho mim va^o, to whi.-h our RnrorKMin "^.rkmn, a e 
 
 Z ul- M l'^'''". ^■"'''<"""'«»''I' attempting imperfectly 
 that ,n vvhieh the K;ryntian« had miecee-hvl » |oni aJ Thev 
 
 ^' till ;;iaHS, in all prohahi itv hv me/um nf A... i:„. j 
 I.Mnaki„« heaueiful p,!,,vlai„ Zf. Ll , L who «; Til e 
 
 -'^'o, just as U V ,nrl ' ,'^" 'L'^ *^'^'''' ^^'^"'^ 4,000 years 
 
 He seems to ^-- the wooden figure of a harking croco- 
 
 le scorns to have W favourite toy with the youn^tera of 
 
 Wilkluiga. 
 
 -^B5a«sr'.™«aM!»l 
 
4} 
 
 Ifljpi, m\ no aoubt often Mnrti to ll^p their infttntllo cnc«. 
 tK butcher b wen MhurpeniiiK hi« knife on a uteel *i4i»p4nKUHl 
 before him, jtist M \m nucei'iMor liid thtM nmrnini^ ; and the 
 circular V\n\'>' uwmI hy ('nrri««r« in Mem in tlio hiindu 'if Uu'ir 
 pro«loc«?rtM<)rH,<»n tho ol.l.'Ht nioninnentK of th«' Niio. One hej^inrt 
 to j^ek doiihtful whrthcr there \a really anythini^ now umler tho 
 nun, iind U> «|UOHtion whoUier we are not travcrMin;; tiio smno 
 traek <»ver a;j;ain that viM tnxl hy thin ancient {woph'. 
 
 L<M.kin>^ i)ack now at E;i;yptian eiviUzution, and^ conm<lerinj5 
 tho achievements of tiiirt j/reat race on the hankn of tho Nile ho 
 many conturio« ago, the llioui^ht arinoy, how hIow in hniuan pro- 
 gttiti, — Ijow many ehln and Howh it Inw had — how ofien it li:ui 
 b«en wor:4t<Ml and lieaten hack- -how hard a Htru^^glo it hii.< 
 carried on for very existence ; and after all, eompaiinK the old 
 vi\i\\ th« new, have wc n«)t reason for diKappoiiitmont that «o 
 Binall an advance lian heen j^aitu'd ! Is otu- motion really pro- 
 j;reii.'iive ; (»r, like the pendulum, are wo otily deserihinj^ over 
 a>;ain the Hamo are of a circle ? With attainments Huch an 
 thoMO (if the K,s^ptianH to Htart with, why did not their Hucce*- 
 ROM take j^aniier strides ? Why do wo not find ourselves on a 
 iiij^her lovel ; and less ovironed hy sin atnl misery, after so 
 many centuries have flown past ? >Vo caimot pretend to solvo 
 coujplotuly such a vast problem ; hut wo can seo enough to give 
 conUdenco in the reality of human progress, and to awaken 
 faith in a still brighter future. The course of history pvcsenta 
 '• a migiity maze, but not without a plan." This wonderful uni- 
 verse, of which we find ourselves a part, is no mere chaos, grind- 
 ing on under tho guidance of a blind necessity, creating without 
 intelligence atid destroying without a purpose ; but it is a God- 
 croatud Cosmos — a place of order and beauty — and at the helm 
 of events sit divine wisdom and goodness. It is our Father's 
 worlil wo live in, and his ptu-poses of mercy are working out 
 glorious results. Looking back at the (hirk ages of barbarism 
 through which our race bas passed, wc feel saddened, and wiui- 
 der Mhy tho golden ago has not come, and why man has had to 
 tight his way u[)wards against such odds ; and we arc ready to 
 cry out '^ how long Lord how long." But let us remember 
 " one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand 
 years as ono day." Coiuitles.-! ages rolled over our globe before 
 it became fitted for the habitation of man ; enormous periods 
 " dragged their slow length along," during which there was no 
 intelligent creature on earth to comprehend (Jod'a works, or 
 render him worship. Sup)M)so we could have looked upon the 
 Condition of our planet when tlie Saurian race were its monarcln 
 
49 
 
 ---wben tie iguanadon, ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus ^er« 
 
 pursiung tiieir prey through its forests and swamps, could wo 
 
 have imagined then the world of beauty and brightness that waa 
 
 to toUow when man would appear upon the scene ? As little 
 
 oa:. we conjecture future progress from the present, or set 
 
 bounds to the in-rolling tide. The future will outvie the present 
 
 if ta^ the present outvies the paat. This Egyptian civilization, 
 
 beautifully as it bloomed, was but a small oasis in the midst of 
 
 a surrounding desert ; and often and often were such bright 
 
 spots overwhelmed by the in-rush of barbarism. Wo have 
 
 more cheering grounds for hope now ; because our modern 
 
 civilization has spread widely and gathered strength, so as to 
 
 defy the destroyer. Let us look to the futurp, then, in humble 
 
 but cheerful trust, relying on the promises of that word that 
 
 never fails, and 
 the gospel of Christ. 
 
 exercismg 
 
 faith 
 
 in the regenerating power of 
 
 Thif wi;?rh^.r*^l"' ""?' *^t ''°''''*"' ®^«'' 'eap'ngsoraethinR new, 
 
 ^orl dipt into the future far as human eye could see. 
 
 Saw he vision of the world and aU the wonder that ^ould be ; 
 
 vZl , *^^*''''"' ?^ "".? •=°"'™erce, Argosies of magic sails, 
 
 T l?h« J Purple twihght dropping down with cosily bales ; 
 
 In hP Pr.!'"^"""? *'7«bbed no onger. and the battle-flags we^ furUd, 
 
 Jn the Parliament of map, the federation of the world : 
 
 iSlfp l'°n "°""'u" u u f"'' '*'"" ^o^'i a fretful realm in awe, 
 And the kmdly earth shall sjumber, lapt jp universal law." 
 
 ^Tenny ion's Loektley //aW^ 
 
 »"»"'*''=''^«IS**«iB«El^»a 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 ABRAHAM IN EGYPT. 
 
 One of our most distinguished Uving authors, remarkable foj 
 his intense worship of heroes, and the earnestness with which 
 he has hiculcated this species of reverence,* ha. said that un^ 
 versal history, the history of what man has accomphshed m this 
 ZmX at bottom th/ history of the great men who have 
 worked here." "They were the leaders of men— tliese great 
 ones-the modellers, patterns, and, in ft wide sense creators ot 
 whatsoever the general mass of men contrived to do or to 
 attain." " The soul of the whole world's history ^he adds 
 ** it may iustly be considered, were the history of these. ihere 
 is much truth, I think, as well aa profound meamng in this 
 remark ; especially if we connect with it the higher and mora 
 important truth that those whom we name " great men: are so 
 by the ffift and grace pf God, aiid have been raised up by hmi, 
 aid qualified to work out his great purposes towards the human 
 race. All the worth they have possessed and all the mfluence 
 they have wielded, traced to its origm, is seen to proceed from 
 th/soLircc of all goodness and wisdom ; so that, if we have right 
 viev^s and feelings regarding their mis^on,^ we may and we 
 should reverence and admire the men ; for in so doing we are 
 but doin^ homage to what God has wrought. All his purposes, 
 of mercy and grace God has accomphshed by the agency of man. 
 He has ever spoken to us by the gentle voice of our brother man. 
 His highest revelation has reached us through "Godmanilest 
 in the fle8h"^deity robed in humanity. Consider the long 
 sweep of ages that were mtrpductory to the gospel dispensaUon, 
 and you will find that the great men of those times, more espe. 
 cially those whose fives and writings fom the bulk ot the UW 
 Testament, were just those through whom God was oommumca. 
 tin^' his will, or by whom he was accomplishing his work, tf reat 
 men, therefore, are our benefactors, because through them ^od 
 communicates his blessings to the world. 'Ihey have been 
 raised up by him to beautify, advance arid bless their Mice^ 
 
 « Curly I«. 
 
i 
 
 44 
 
 And how much do we owo iiirli mm r mi t 
 tho burden and heat of Z dn^ ,i . °^ Y^° ""• »» l"""'" 
 l.»ve entered nto their ul ?~r '"^ '"'? ';*'"'«''' ""'l »« 
 - Lear., they have gSetHhoir wSld left it f *•"'".' 
 
 !:Kr„t-ed'^^n;rdr? 
 
 the glob^^eavS tt^nTver^Tmi'nrer ""^^ 'T ""•"'"'^ 
 spin'ual iveivlth, and incre^ed H n 1 Z,'™' ""'"'-'"l <»■■• 
 They have fousltnoblraStdi r °f .'"'■•'•■"' happiness. 
 
 and;.„ fbr «.%L baKf ^ rSrm^ff'^'r? tr"^."™'' 
 ti-aeed up to their ori.-in TJe7 Ti greatest blessings, 
 
 or deed 'of some go„7„"; ^ft 71 " T"'" 'T *' *"''^*' 
 enough that our spiritual freedombe..™ ,^^"7^^ '"''' 
 astronomy w th Newton nnr on- i^ , ., ^^"^ -Luther, our 
 
 Honour to the ^ood ?he wi.. n""? t'^ ^^^^^^P^^ ^^^^ ^^<^on. 
 vants of God andte' btrClftln ^ |" T^ «- ^ 
 and most gracious law nf n^^i m .^? -^^ ^* ^^ ^ g^'eat 
 manifested, 'not only have 1 £ ' f *^' ^'^^ ^"'-^^^t^^^ «^ey 
 beyond th^ ^avfC aiso^- T"'^ ^«^«^ortaHty in themselves, 
 
 tha't their nobTede^d^^l^l^rd^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ' - 
 
 invested in their fe^wZrll ■ ^?u ^'-^^ ^"^^'*'^« ^^^ safely 
 mankind. They a e ^^i;;' ^^a^ ^^.^T -*-— Messing Jl 
 struggles and hard vvarfaro Th • ^^^P'"' "' ^"^ ^^^^'^^ 
 the property of Z- rlco2'^ J ' ^"''^""'' ^"^^ ^^^^om are 
 c^ man^ind^ Became LvhiTVT"'''^ *^ «P^"^"^^ P^^ver 
 of the intellectuaranrS..! IJ?-^'^'^^^^^^ 
 it could otherwise have b^oT 3 il'' f *^/^ ^^^^' ^"S^"- ^han 
 and happy place. Just .. nf .u.^ ^^"'V' ^ "^^'"^ ^^autiful 
 ^e host of Israel cheei-in' tL ' *^' ^^'1^?* "^ «^^ ™«^^^ ^^fore 
 so do our noble ones noSTho'' '"^ ^^?Pf "» *^« ^^^^^^^^^ 
 We shall have to t'l^onr h "^"^ ^"'^ f^?^^^" *^^ ^^^«h. 
 lectures, to a portion of fW ^^*"^*^^"' ^« this and succeediaig 
 pre-emiriently Teamen wo uT' '"^- ^^^"«^«^ents of thref 
 sense of the^t^rl-namdv 11 T'"' V^ '^' ^'S^''' ««^^ ^^^^t 
 men whose faith lid nSV. m'"^''^' '^'^^''^P^' '^'^'^ ^loses,- 
 ohiM -in Christendom rtKfL ?" ? "' ^^i"' ^'^^' ^^^^«^» ^^^^y 
 them so far as tS n.m ^^''^'''•^^ ^^^ ^^all only view 
 
 Egypt, for th^ tZoToTor -""'t^^ ''''^' '^' ^"^t^^J of 
 with that furnishrbvthc rlT'"'f '^' ''''^'^''''^ ^'^^^^^ 
 the banks of the^ile"^ "' '^ '^"^^'1'"^^ discovered on 
 
 atJTcs and d( 
 
 a 
 
 penaaiiis, (|uitted 
 
 iiUl|MJ!IKW»i>>ii.iS««MMlBS» 
 
46 
 
 the banks of tho Euphrates, and turned his face westward in 
 leareh of a new home. From " Ur of the Chaldeos" e^- 
 monced the moHt important emigration of our race, and tho 
 leader was Abraham. One can fancy the figure of a venerablo 
 man, rather past the prime of life, sittnig oh the back of hw 
 dromedary,— around him his servants and flocks, while a long 
 line of camels stretches away, bearing the wives, children, and 
 valuables of the party. Most likely there was nothing at all 
 remarkable in the appearance of this migrating party ; it re- 
 sembled the movement of one of the Non.ade tnbes that the 
 traveller meets to-day in the east, for their manners and cus- 
 toms are stereotyped and change not. And yet this quiet, un- 
 pretendmg mo^-cment was an epoch in the history of our race. 
 Just think for a moment of the events that connect theiAselves 
 ^vith the name of Abraham. The settlement of the Jewish 
 nation, his descendants, in the land of Palestine,-the preserva- 
 tion of the church of God there— the promised Messiah bora, all 
 nations blessed,thus, in the " father of the faithful. Not a re- 
 deemed spirit before the throne, but has reason to bless (xod lor the 
 call of Abraham-^the first step, as it were, in the' great schetoe ot 
 redemption. He was beyond comparison the most momentous 
 man to the world of his age, or perhaps of any other age. 
 His life furnishes us still with some of our noblest reh^ous in- 
 struction. Mahometans, Jews, and Christians ahke, still rever- 
 ence the name of Abraham. <.. j j 
 The mi<^rating party still moVe westward, day alter day, ana 
 wearied wfth their long march, they at length halt m the lovely 
 vale of Moreh, where their leader builds his first altar to 
 Jehovah, and consecrates the land by a first act of worship. 
 Soon after, a famine compels him to turn his face southwards 
 and take refuge for a time in the land of Egypt ; and it la with 
 this part of his history we are now chiefly concerned, ihe 
 question arises whether the picture of Egypt presented m this 
 story of Abraham, corresponds with what we learn ot the state 
 of the country at that time from other sources, especially trom 
 the monumeirts still existing ? Is the Egypt of Abraham s 
 history real or ideal— a fancy sketch by an imaginative miter, 
 as the infidel would have us believe, or a life-picture,— a faction 
 or a fact? Here is an admirable test of the veracity of the 
 sacred writer. Let us see whether it can stand the examination. 
 The whole narrative occupies but ten verses of the l^th chapter 
 of the book of Genesis. The incidents are few and briefly 
 told. On reachinrr the borders of Egypt, Abraham found the 
 complexion of the women darker than that ot tearaU m wu^, 
 
4« 
 
 Ittd bcooming apprehensive that her personal appearance imAi 
 
 TlUt r nrl'V.' ''' fW Pharaoh T rnare^h, 
 waa led to repreaont her as his aister. His feara were not un 
 
 founded Thc^fame of Sarah'a beauty soon reached the ears of 
 Pharaoh and he took the woman into' his house with theTnTen- 
 tion of placing her in his harem. By divine judgments ho was 
 made aware hat she was Abraham's wife, and no? hU shtlr 
 and he immediate y dismissed both, and reniunced hL intendol' 
 Abraham then, with his relatives and dependants went up o^i 
 of Egypt. Such are the main incidents of the narrative .r^ 
 yet brief though the ule be, it embodies some ver^BtSg ^ 
 important facts regarding Egypt. The first poinlthat Se8 
 usm this representation is, that Egypt, in the days of Abraham 
 
 ZT.uT^""a '• r^'T^'"'^ f^''"^^' governmen^t anT was^^ 
 wealthy and civdized country. The monarch is cklled Pharloh 
 -a general designation for tL sovereigns of Egypt-" ZZ- 
 ^e mentioned, and the existence ofl royal Srt isSed 
 We saw in a former lecture, how early civilization made way in 
 till lana ; so that long before Abraham's day, great monum^nS 
 
 ^ZZ f ""^f- ''"^^ '""^y ^^^^ arisen where arTand go^ 
 ernment and a certain social condition were already in exfstencl 
 The evidence of the monuments, taken along with the hsto^ 
 bngs preserved by Manetho, most completely corrobmte t^^^^ 
 
 pala^s tombs and pyramids adorned the bajiKthe 1*^ 
 
 dftdJcmaforl J !,„• ° X *= sun,— -tho monarch beino- so 
 
 des gnated as being the centre of influence and happiness on 
 earth, as the sun was in the heavens. The record on tlm 
 monuments show that this title wa^ invariabirapplied to aU the 
 native sovereigns of Eo-vnt m a ^^r^^^n 7 PP"®^ ^^ ^",1"® 
 ^th.the statement ofVf ijMe! ST ISaXCtf 
 Migning sovereign waa caUed " Aaraoh " ™* ** 
 
 AbXmrwifr n„ V'Vf"" T^'^ important partdcnlara. 
 
 ... -.e^ro ra-., a„d laeir paiutmgs represent them, in 
 
4r 
 
 i^oorciance with this, as being not so dark as the blactc raoe« of 
 A^crrtTt the same time of a much deeper brown tmgo 
 tlnuJhe Asiatics, so that to their eyes it waa quite na ural that 
 c u 1 ..Us... m " vorv fair." Another more stnkmg cor- 
 SatL; tow er, appl^ars. In the east, the invariable 
 ^rn^tice is and has always been, that whore women appear m 
 ^ Ir > Jl,lv vPil their faces. How comes it then that Sarah, m 
 
 W^ the storv here— a contradiction of ascertamed fact Just 
 tL reverse^- there is in this a beautiful instance of mcidental, 
 S^dcs S coiS^^ which is the most satisfact<n-y testimony 
 rtruth. From the evidence of the monuments and paintmgs 
 Lnnears that l!gypt was an exception to the general onental 
 tScrof vl^^^ faces of women. Here they enjoyed as 
 Lch freedom as^'among ourselves at the present day, and ai^ 
 Tared in public with uncovered faces. Every indulgence and 
 fiberty seem to have been afforded them among the Egyptians 
 Kro represented mingling, at public entertainments, and 
 in social intercourse with the men, on the same footing as 
 European ladies at present. ChUdren, too, appear m company 
 Sead of being shut up in the harem, as is «^^f «;^7^^jf; 
 eTst The dresses of the ladies are very rich and costly. 
 The^e facts then show how correct are the representations of 
 the sacred writer in the matter under consideration. Abraham, 
 travelhng in Egypt, would, as a matter of course, observe the 
 Sms of thf country. Hence Sarah appeared unveded. 
 AnoTr particular of the story is worthy of attention Pha- 
 fa^h gave Abraham " men-servants and^ maid-servants -in 
 other words, presented him with domestic slaves, male and 
 female Among the latter, we may remark m passmg, was 
 nit; in all probability, of whom Ishmael ^as bom, thus 
 Kalf Egyptian in blood ; and we find that he espoused an 
 Stianwhen he settled in the wilderness of Paran The 
 nSon arises whether slavery existed in Egypt at this tmie. 
 Tis melancholy to find in the earliest records of our race, evi- 
 dences of the prevalence of this oppressive and unjust form of 
 8eSe%hich,in the civilized world, has not been wholly 
 Shed till ths day. There can be no question as to the 
 eSence of domestic^lavery among the Jews; their slaves 
 betfo? the most part either captives in war, or forei^ers 
 that"had been purchased. StUl so many humane restrictions 
 were hitroduced, that it wa. a very different mat er from the 
 odious and cruel restriction that now passes by that^name^. m 
 fact the slaves were a kind of humble depenuanis oi ou. ^ 
 
 
M 
 
 m 
 
 48 
 
 kold anrl wore possessed of many privileges and indulfiencoa 
 In J^gypt the monuments show the existence of thrSico 
 from a verjr early date. Wc find pictures of some of them 
 Ulidergomg punishment at times ; but also of otlZwho eem 
 to have been treated with nmch kindness. ()ne reLse^tatfon 
 shows them trembling and cringing before their uperirrs^e^^^^^^^ 
 vji h rods by overseers, and sometimes threatened w'thTformi^ 
 able whip wielded b^ the lady of the mansLn orscif In 
 other cases the relatfon subsisting between the SI; and 
 
 chL: r ' Tr U ''. f ' «r ^^ -^d moreTffSnato 
 
 We have seen that 1^1 '^1 '^''''^ ^''''''' ''' ^^^^"^ question! 
 ne nave seen that Abraham was compelled bv a fiimine in 
 Canaan to sojourn for a time in Rf^vnf Wfi • ^ "- J^'^ni»»e m 
 
 Hwch ho ES '^?!-'°"*i5: %.""'• *"' *» "'« PO'f^rfW 'tote 
 JU^O ». .0 would We treated one 5 hbown" ;;;i;c; fSi 
 
 lit 
 
40 
 
 despots being accustomed to transplant into their haremi who* 
 ever they please. The occurrence is nrociaely such as we 
 might expect to take place, in view of the relative position of 
 the parties concerned, and the known habits of eastern nations. 
 And after all there is much to be commended in the conduct of 
 Pharaoh. So soon as he discovered the true relationship of 
 Abraham and Sarah he dismissed them with many presents,— 
 " rich in gold and silver," and with all thou* possessions they 
 were permitted to retire unmolested. This speaks volumes for 
 the generosity, justice and hospitality of the Egyptians, and the 
 refinement of manners at which they had arrived. It was also 
 entirely in accordance with eastern usages that Abraham should 
 receive the king's presents. To deolino them would have been 
 an unpardonable insult. In addition to slaves, these gifts con- 
 sisted of sheep, oxen, he-asses and she-asses, gold and silver. 
 An able infidel writer endoavom-ed, some time ago, to take an 
 objection to the Mosaic narrative, on the ground that none of 
 these animals was found in Egypt. An examination of the 
 monuments has entirely overturned his objection. The oldest 
 monuments contain numerous representations of asses, large 
 flocks of sheep were kept especially around Memphis, the city 
 where Abraliam was, and camels too are discoverable. No 
 horses are mentioned, though Egypt abounded in an excellent 
 breed, and the reason is at hand. In Canaan horses were not 
 used till centuries after the days of Abraham ; so that in such 
 a time and country, this gift would have been entirely useless to 
 him. Every minute item in the narrative, when carefully ex- 
 amined, goes to establish its historical character more accurately 
 
 and fully. 
 
 We shall briefly glance at but one other circiimstance con- 
 nected with the narrative. You will recollect that in the history 
 of Joseph it is said " every shepherd was an abomination to the 
 Egyptians ;" and yet we find here Abraham, a shepherd-prince, 
 engaged in this occupation, received in a friendly manner at tha 
 court of Pharaoh ; and we naturally inquire were not shepherds 
 an abomination in the time of Abraham as well QB of Joseph ? 
 Now the reply to this involves a very important corroboration of 
 the history. It has been already mentioned, m sketching the 
 history of Egypt, that at one time the northern portion was 
 overrun and held in subjection by a race of Nomade Chiefs, 
 called Ilyksos, or shepherd-kings, while the upper portiwi waa 
 ruled by native sovereigns. Manetho, the historian of Egypt, 
 Bo«a fkoTT t.o;fmo«l nt. Mfimr^hia for many vears, and were ftnaJly 
 expelled by the sovereigns of Upper Lgypt. Now, if Abraham, 
 10 
 
60 
 
 hu 
 
 the land of th< 
 
 - il<', wa" not an abomination a* 
 
 being a HliepJiord, it wa« because that part of E>yrnt in which 
 ho an-ivcd, was tlion under the dominion of the shepherd khi^, 
 who would take no exception to him on account ot his occum- 
 tioa. llaU^H plucoa the birth of Abraham 2,ir)8 B. C. ; at this 
 period the Hhephenl-kin^s licid away in Lower Egypt, and con- 
 tinued until noarly the period of tlie Exodus. There wa«, 
 therefore, abundant reanon why Abraham should not he donpised 
 or hated as bein^r a shepherd ; and here a;?ain appears a beauti- 
 ful and strikin;^ incidental confirmation of the history as recorded 
 in the book of Genesis. Had an ima;]pnative writer sat down 
 to construct the sb.ry, how utterly impossible that he could have 
 written it so as to receive such corroborations as those from the 
 . most unexpected and unforeseen sources ; and if drawin;? upon 
 his ima;?!nation, how difficult, or rather impossible, for him to 
 avoid fallin.i; into errors that would now be infallibly detected by 
 modern researches. Truth alone can stand strict and stem in- 
 vestigation, and rejoices to come to the light. How wonderful 
 to find these monuments preserved so long amid the ravages of 
 time and the still more ruinous mutilations of man, and now 
 called into court, and lifting up their testimony on behalf of 
 Gad's word ! Now, if the history be a record of 'facts, in these 
 mmor particulars, it is only common sense to infer that in the 
 more important supernatural parts it is also no less truly a 
 record of facts ; so that we arrive thus at the conclusion that 
 God spoke to Abraham— made a covenant with him— founded 
 his church by him— imparted the promise of a Messiah through 
 him to Israel ; and thus the foundation of our faith is securely 
 laid. The subject of our investigation, therefore, is most in- 
 timately connected with our most cherished hopes, with that 
 religion which we love to clasp to our hearts, as our guide and 
 comforter m life and death. Whatever deepens and strengthens 
 its foundations we are bound to welcome ; and those discoveries 
 which in our own day Providence is bringing to light, demand 
 surely our earnest attention. 
 
 ^ Looking at the brief narrative of Abraham's visit to Egypt, 
 m the sacred pages, we are almost inclined to wish that more 
 ample details had been given of that wondrous scene that must 
 have met his eye— of that old form of civilization on which he 
 looked by the sacred stream of the ancient Nile. How we 
 should like to know what he saw and heard, to get a little life- 
 picture of that long-buried past, and lifting the thick veil that 
 wraps It round, to view the Ejivnt of Abraliam's <la,v ' What 
 kind 01 place was that old iMemphis, where he was 'invited to 
 
61 
 
 lination a.i 
 
 b in which 
 
 3rd kiii^, 
 
 ifl oocum- 
 
 . ; at ttm 
 
 , and con- 
 
 i«re wart, 
 
 ! doHpise(i 
 
 a boauti- 
 
 recordcd 
 
 sat down 
 
 )uld have 
 
 from tUo 
 
 rin;? upon 
 
 r him to 
 
 tected by 
 
 stern in- 
 
 vonderful 
 
 iva/j^ea of 
 
 and now 
 
 behalf of 
 
 , in those 
 
 at in the 
 
 3 truly a 
 
 sion that 
 
 -founded 
 
 through 
 
 securely 
 
 most in- 
 
 f'lth. that 
 
 uide and 
 
 engthens 
 
 scoveries 
 
 demand 
 
 ) Egypt, 
 lat more 
 lat must 
 vhich he 
 [low we 
 ittle life- 
 veil that 
 What 
 vited to 
 
 the Court of IMiaraoh ; and where ho loft Sarah when ho went 
 out to 8fi0 the I'yraniids in its neigliboiirhood, or to muse over 
 its necropolis, even then largely tenanted by the dead ? Doubt- 
 loss the mechanic and tradesman and labourer were plying their 
 respective callings just as now. Labour, in dust and sweat, 
 was making her anvil ring with swift and heavy strokes just as 
 today. And all those forms of industry, we find pictured 
 around t\w walls of their tombs, were then in living exis- 
 tence ; — they were ploughing, sowing, reaping, and housing the 
 grain in granaries — bout-making — uuumfacturing baskets and 
 p,ttery — hunting, wrestling, and going through their military 
 gynnmstic exercises. Here a pyramid was piercing the cloudfl, 
 in the course of erection ; there a majestic temple was growing 
 up, the sculptors and builders at work, perhaps, on some of those 
 ruius now covered witli the time-crust of ages ; and here a 
 group of workmen were hewing out in the solid rock, the tomb 
 of a king or a noble. Armies wore mustering for the war — 
 the " shoutings of the captains" tilled the air — armaments were 
 getting ready for Syria or Africa — the broad Nile was all alive 
 with the white sails. Here a caravan of merchants arrives, and 
 there a troop of unhaj)py slaves marches by for the market 
 place of Memphis. Thus, the great current of life rolled along! 
 And as Abraham gazed on the beautiful sun-lit landscape, and 
 the fertilizing waters of the ancient stream, and the scene of 
 splendour, industry and wealth around, he learned that God'a 
 goodness was not confined either to the counti-y of his birth or 
 the land given to him and his posterity by the promise of God. 
 One cannot but think he would return from Egypt full of new 
 thoughts — a wiser and perhaps a sadder man. Sadder, because 
 he would there behold idolatry in its most revolting shapes — 
 *' the glory of the incorruptible God changed into an image 
 made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four-footed 
 beasts and creeping things" — and he would receive additional 
 proof that the greatest of mankind intellectually, wanting the 
 knowledge of God, may be morally and religiously the meanest 
 and most degraded. Doubtless, the soul of the patriarch was 
 stirred withhi him at the sight of Egypt's idol worship ; and he 
 would bless that God who had called him out of the darkness of 
 heathenism in Mesopotamia and destined him and his race to be 
 living wtnosses against idolatry. The sacred writer has given 
 \is no details of Egyptian life — this was not consistent with the 
 object of his history ; and yet the imagination loves to re-creat« 
 the past, and cull up again the Ibrms that trod these "wastea. 
 
LECTURE Vr. 
 
 JOSEPH IN EGYPT. 
 
 Onr of the most remarkahlo UiingH connected with the ancient 
 ll-gyptianfl was th-Jir oxtroino concern rej^'ardin^ their condition 
 alter death and tlio care with which they endeavoured to pro- 
 Beryo the body from which the vital spark had fled. No other 
 nation, of ancient or modern times, has dinnlayed so much 
 anxiety or expended so much skill, in order that " the taber- 
 nacle of clay should be guarded from corruption. We have 
 all read or heard of the embalming of the E-yrptian*--raany of 
 U8 have gtued, with strange feelings, upon the face of a mmnmy 
 in some of our museums. It is most marvellous to think that 
 this extraordinary people attained to such perfection in the art 
 ot embalming, that we can now look at a veritable Egyptian who 
 
 T„Ti k . . . , . " walked abont 
 
 In I hebes a streets three thousand years ago." 
 
 There are the features still accurately delineated— the hair and 
 nails fresh aa if buried yesterday— the complexion a deep, dark 
 brown, shining as though polished—the whole form swathed in 
 innumerable toids of linen. Since some friendly hand pressed 
 rtown those eyehds in the sleep of death, throe thousand years 
 Aave rolled past ; smco some fond, weeping relative dropped 
 the last tear on that dusky face and looked a last fai-eweU, what 
 changoa has earth witnessed ! 
 
 *• The Roman empire has begun and ended, 
 New worlds have risen, we have lost old nations, 
 And countless kings have into dust being humbled, 
 vv tiile not a fragment of its flesh has crumbled." 
 
 Here wo find ourselves, face to face, with a subject of the 
 1 haraohs— perhaps with one of the roval raeo iti,filf_nr w;fK « 
 pncafc or noble of old Thebca or Mcmphis-a'princesVor" a 
 
I the ancient 
 sir condition 
 ired to pro- 
 No other 
 1 80 much 
 ' the tabor- 
 We have 
 8 — many of 
 ' a miunmy 
 ) think that 
 ti in the art 
 yptian who 
 
 abobt 
 
 10 hair and 
 deep, dark 
 swathed in 
 nd pressed 
 sand years 
 dropped 
 swell, what 
 
 i, 
 
 3ct of the 
 -or with a 
 'ess or a 
 
 63 
 
 beauty of tho ancient vanislied raci. That hand perhapn has* 
 offtjred inconno to Oairif, or rained a nUmo in the walls of 
 Karnac, or helped to nxpil the dotofltcd Hhcrpherd kingn from 
 tho Hucrod territory "f the Nile. The thou^htn of three thouHand 
 year« a«o beat wiUiin that head and made that hear*, w) long 
 Btill in death, throb tumultuous with joy or grief. Could those 
 closed lips but open and titter the th*)ught8 that have lK)unflod 
 within, what Hccretn «ho»ild wo diHCover ! Tlie hiero^lyphica 
 would become elxjuont ; the mysteries all luminous. There is 
 more than mere fancy in tho beautiful addre8H of Horace Smith 
 to a mummy, when he says 
 
 " Perchance that tery hand, now pinione 1 flat 
 Hm hob-*-nobl>««l with I'haraoh glaw to ^laM ; 
 Or (Jnmpntl a haU-pennv in IIo<in«r> hat, 
 Or doflud thui« own to let Qiu'«ii j'i'lo pans, 
 Or h«hl, by Soloinon'i own invitation, 
 A torch at the great temph^'u dedicatipn. 
 
 •• Didtit thou not hear thfl pother o'er thy head, 
 When the groat IVrsiian toncinoror, Cainbyse*, 
 Mar<>hed arini«ii oVr thy tomb with tliuiidiTing treaJ 
 O'ertlirew Osiris, Urut, Api«, Im, 
 And shook the pyranudu with H-ar and wonder, 
 ^hon the gigantic Meoinon tell anunder. 
 
 •' If tho tomb's mcn'tn may not Im» ronfe*ied, 
 
 The nature of thy private liftf unfold :— 
 
 A heart has throbbi-d beneath that leathern breast, 
 
 And tears adown thv dusky cheeks have rolled ; — 
 
 Have children cliuibed those knee« and kiweiJ (h;.t fac« ? 
 
 >Vhat ia thy name and station age and race ? 
 
 « Statue of flesh ! Immortal of the ilead ! 
 Imperishable type of evanesccrure I 
 VoslhumouH mm, who quittVl thy narrow bed, 
 And Htandcst undeoayed witinu oitr presence, 
 Thou shalt hear nothing till the ju.iyiuient morning, 
 \N'h«n the great Trump shall tlirdi ibee with its warning ! 
 
 «' Why should this wortldess tepjument en«lure, 
 If its undying guest he lost for over? 
 (> let us keep the soul embalmed and pur* 
 In living virtue; that when both must S'V»r, 
 Although corruption may our frame consti iie, 
 The immortal spirit in tho akios may bloom." 
 
 In one of the apartments of tho British Museum, the visitor 
 is shown the famous fossil-man of Gaudaloupe. This is no other 
 than the body of a human being petrified, changed into stone by 
 the action of certain ui^ewtd, and locked up taus m a iUue-stwiie 
 
1 f 
 
 54 
 
 ■Fcml mention of th . ,.r.K;«HH^f ^7''■ •' ''•'"■••'•"*^^«'' h« fimi 
 
 •noe in commion wit \ ^ u ^ItT' It^'"" I"' ''^ 
 
 urnlr-r tho heautiful, niinplo 1 S' "' , ^^" '"^^« '^'1 thrilled 
 
 ?- « literary pcrfo La.r L ""Z """^f '"'' vi.we.l Hiu.ply 
 
 ;• •Nl.av.,.Mtere<l with fr. IU,^L^ .^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^'""/-'"X and oM 
 
 •e ..nchantin^r Htory. Ifow m nv^T '^ T"''^ "^'^^ tears „ver 
 
 ?t« pa^oM ! What ioHsoiH r T-^ ''?!:^^ '"^^« throbh...! over 
 
 ;ntoyoun,.«onerou. CllV'i^f^/";'' '"'^1 love ha. it inured 
 
 the .•.reu.nHtauce that wo he Loil T''? '"l'''^ "l''"''"^'^ ♦'■''"» 
 .>;'ntaMe tr:„,„a(.ti„n. Sur,2e il^ ''"f"''^' ** reality-a 
 
 I » a pretty ....stern tale-^TCLt '' '^ I*"' '"«•'"' *^''^^r\h.^ 
 t'on ; and then tho.^.h we n U ^ l^'. ^""''^'^ '^^' '^" "'"^K"'-' 
 »t.»ry, finely to/d, ItT influo ee 1 ' "''?''^' '^."'^ '"' i'ltere.Jtir.. 
 «a«t no li.j,t on tl.e way Tf^ il' ^" *"'"''"•'• ' '^ ^^""''^ 
 e^son; cuine with no L^dt '„''""'' ' V^onch no dlvh,^ 
 level with (,ther fictions u.v T""""''-^- *^^"'"«« it to a 
 [77- ^"vv, late dil: Ir:,; : ;-JV -''-. «" it« moral 
 »""'''l a f ii(( onmtrtiinl^v J x. "^ the runw of K,rvi,t 
 it^ relbre.K., loT 'iulir^'lv.'.,^ the story, by corn ?^! 
 
 '»^?-» ''V the hand ^f th^ , t a t i f" '''^''r'^ ''' ^^'^' -P'o 
 2^'>."ary, hore we havo h" '" , '^'^f "'', ' '"• '^ the story ie i,n- 
 
 f'*outed ,vith the R..vr.tii *y. -^'^ '■'>'■'' *^'^t of bein-r eon- 
 
 ."^ even brighter and nmre tTrueti I '"'"i ^^ ""'^ ''^'^^ '^^"''^'•o 
 "'t<',jth..s to, a little. '^ttiuctive than before. h,t us enter 
 
 •/'Hoph was ^oid'hy'lt'^'rethren tr '" *'" ""^''^^'^'^ i« that 
 ;''"^''ftes by descent, an Mi.tr.^''"";"'- *"''«' >vho were 
 ^^^'^e 1.0 w..., carried t^ K Lf" T T^^"^" ' ^»<1 h 
 ]^ow, what .vay the n.onmn..?^ i T'"''''^ there as a slave 
 
 It appears fro^ the ^y^^uX^^^^ *^"''« representation ? 
 - An.bs, who n^^^:C^'^Zl:Tt^^^^^^^^ 
 
 "V"---"- lu uie eastern 
 

 ip# of miim- 
 np at whotio 
 'ill itM Mtonjr 
 r (Ittrk coro- 
 iiu natioriM ! 
 
 1, wo find 
 o Hpcrtking 
 of ti.i|K)rt- 
 uil thriliud 
 'P*». It iit 
 vod nimply 
 ino hiirimii 
 'ivat«>(l ull 
 t< and old 
 tcurn over 
 !)I)(m| over 
 it iKiured 
 inxH from 
 vaWty — a, 
 
 descrihes 
 iinugiiia- 
 
 iteroxtin^ 
 
 it Would 
 
 iH) divino 
 it t<) a 
 
 ts nionil 
 
 mpuriii;^ 
 
 people 
 y be iin» 
 tor of a 
 in;; con- 
 it may 
 
 1 befoi-o 
 IS enter 
 
 is that 
 were 
 nd by 
 
 slave, 
 ation ? 
 unites, 
 astern 
 
 frontier of Knyi't, were the trad^m of iho«« dayt, nhc^ were In 
 the habit of carrying t«> Cananii th«' eorti, wine, oil, iind linen of 
 K^rvpt, and retiiniiiiK to K^Vpt with the M[)ieery, balni, ui}irh, 
 ttiiJ minerals of Canaan. An iuinieime demand oxinted in 
 Eg^t for Hpicery, f»>r the pnrpo«« chiefly of cndmhning ; and 
 the triho into wh(«e hand* Joseph fell, were laden with this artiele, 
 aceopdin;j( to the hjuihhI narrative. 'Hie monuments mention cer- 
 tain wells in the desert, and the entahli»hinK of Htationn for their 
 pre rviition hy an K^yi)tian monarch of tho IHth dvna«ty, in 
 onler that tlieHc caravans mi^^ht ho ahle to traverHo the wilder- 
 no«.s in Hafety. The price paid for .loMefih ii* deelarerl to have 
 Iwen twenty piccert of silver. <'oined money whs unknown for 
 conturieH al'terwanlM, and i1m> |treeioiiH metalM pjimed h\f weight, 
 in rin^H, barn, and lup^nts. Thw Mli;;ht circuniHtanco in worthpr of 
 notice as Hhowi?»j< the harmony between the customs of the time, 
 and tho statements of tho lliblo. The monuments lepresent 
 money alwa^'s in rin;j;H or bam. Tho pnrchase and sale of 
 Joseph as a slave, is represented us <|uite an ordinary occurronce 
 of those days. This representation is amply <;onfiinied fliid illus- 
 tnited by tlie niotnmientH of the times of .loKenn and those immedi- 
 ately j)recedin^ bitn ; and it appears from tliene, that merchnnts 
 
 were le * ' ' '" "' ' ' '' " ' * 
 
 In se vend paintings 
 
 ong in the habit of bringing slaves from Canaan to Kgypt. 
 oral paintings found in the toinbH,Canaanite men and Wdmen 
 are represented peHorming an posturers, tumblers, and juggler;* 
 before tho princes of Kgy[>t as they sit at tlu'ir ban»|uets ; ami 
 hundreds ot Canaanite slaves are depicted wrestling and fight- 
 ing as gladiaU)r8. A still more remarkable proof of tire traflic 
 in slaves with Canaan, has lately come to light. It is n pictiiro 
 of the ceremonies that took jilace on the <lelivery <»f thirty-seven 
 makers, or pounders <»f t^tibium (or powdered antimony for tho 
 eye) which were purchased by a king who reigned about a^ 
 century before tiio time of Joseph, from a king or petty (•hi<'f 
 of tho Jel)usites, a Canaanitish tribe. The hieroglyphics un- 
 derneath it have Ihjcu deciphered, and read thus :—" The de- 
 livery of tho stibimn-iuakcrs whidi the great chief of the 
 Jebusites hath brought, even 87 captives of l\is club." Thus, 
 the evidence of the monmuents makiis it certain that ( 'anaanitish 
 slaves were regularly brought into P^g.vpt, confirming the history 
 in a most satisfactory manner. 
 
 Tho name of Jos'eph's j)urchasor in Egypt was ^' Potipher," 
 tho meaning of which is " he who belongs to or is devoted to 
 the sun." At the head of the Delta stood the magnificent city 
 of On or Helio|M»lis, fiimous for the niuiil)er, magnitude and 
 beauty of its leinples, wiiich were all dcdicjitc-u to the svm. 
 
56 
 
 Hence tlie name On, Ileliopolis, or the city of the sun. The 
 name of Joseph's master intimates that this city wtw the place 
 of his residence. There are at this moment great numbers of 
 Egyptian obeUsks in Rome, which the emperors caused to be 
 transported there ; and all of these wore brought from the 
 ruined temples of lleliopolis. I mentioned in a former lecture, 
 that only a single obelisk remnins upright at this day, marking 
 the sand-coverod ruins of On ; it is, however, about a century 
 older than the time of Joseph, so that when his eyes rested on 
 it, it had stood there more than a hundred years. The reigning 
 Pharaoh of the time was named " Aphophis," * and Potipher 
 was " overseer of his plantations," according to some trans- 
 lators, or " chief of the executioners or body-guard," accord- 
 ing to others. Joseph was made steward or overseer over 
 his house. It is interesting to find in the tomb-paintings, 
 numerous delineations of Egyptian stewards overlooking the 
 tillage of the land, or the aifairs of the household ; so that 
 the office was evidently characteristic of Egjrptian life. 
 The crime of which Joseph was falsely accused implies the 
 existence of a custom peculiar to Egypt, as compared with 
 other oriental countries — namely, the freedom of woman, and 
 the unrestricted intercourse of the sexes. Now, had a fictitious 
 writer been weaving a story made up of probable inferences, he 
 would have represented the Egyptians as according with other 
 oriental nations, in shutting up women in a harem. The author 
 qf the Pentateuch does not do so ; but in accordance with the repre- 
 sentations of the monuments, ho represents females as in the en- 
 joyment of perfect hberty. Hence the possibility of the crime 
 with which Joseph was unjustly accused. Numerous proofs, 
 too, occur of the life of ease, luxury, and self-indvdgence led 
 by the haughty dames of ancient Egypt, and even instances of 
 the profligacy of their manners are not wanting. 
 
 When in prison, Joseph is represented as interpreting the 
 dreams of the chief baker and butler of Pharaoh. These 
 offices were of the highest possible consideration in Egypt, and 
 were often held by princes of the royal blood. The chief 
 butier had charge of the king's vineyards and cellars, as well as 
 the office of cupbearer to PBaraoh. It is a curious fact that 
 Herodotus and other Greek writers declare that the vine did 
 not grow in Egypt, and on this the infidel writers of last century 
 were accustomed to found an objection to the Mosaic narrative, 
 and to declare that the writer had fallen into an error in speak-' 
 
 * See Osbora's " l»ra«l In Egypt." 
 
67 
 
 inz of the juice of the grape in connexion with Egypt. Lato 
 
 reiarches have completely established the veracity of he 
 
 Bacred writer Tombs of this period contain pictures of the 
 
 Se process of the vinter's art-from the plantmg and water- 
 
 ^.gtfCvlitocks 
 
 velel to vessel, and stowing it in earthen jars H^^odotu « 
 
 iK^Jdi^g^E^^^^^^ 
 
 wSfaco Bfluos a voice in vindication of the sacred volume. 
 
 ^'K Came -uroe « learn that f ^^fanj w« ^^j 
 
 customed to prepare pastry "(^^l^^ tombs toeiSed from 
 «a hread These articles are found m the tombs, kneaflea irom 
 
 Ltyo wheat, in the form of a triangle, a «'-.»"' J'f'„^ 
 
 L h^i,^r According to the dream of the baker ho was 
 
 ::r^L^hr^e b^ke4 up'on to head J^^ T'^b??, tn^ 
 
 usXse flat ™ker-basketa, of which, from the 8h«P«. ?°« 
 
 bemg smgular m h.8 «f » ' ^" ? '"^i,,;, heads in baskets placed 
 "^ .trfbe oZr " When tirU and daughters of the 
 Princes of feypt we represented serving their parents at 
 rer tbev cSrv upon their heads three baskets, and m the 
 •^ 'n^.,?one LTo baked meats. In crossing the open 
 "PP^nf the raises of topt. the viands thus carried would 
 courts of the PaJ-'"*' ."'^^P Jhis land the ibis, the eagle, and 
 UT^voUtr^peld so sacrecl that t^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 of ihem would incur *e f n^'|«: „tE»yptf X^ 
 voracious creatures haunted the «'*;^^ °' MPV"" ^i^dly the 
 no little i»oonye„ience to the .nhaWa^te. I^IlTge of 
 
 TnS't^^sephw. called ouy^^P^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 '''"""•\lph''^h"Ml Sntal nations cherisl,ed the 
 came m »»*?/»"'"'';; i' regarding the loss of it as a dis- 
 'g:::t'lt"ndfX S V^a T^Ument, the He.rews 
 
 » Israel in Egyp*- 
 
58 
 
 regarded it. The Egyptians, however, did not share In this 
 leehn^^ Tlio monuments and paintings represent the male 
 Egyptians, for the most part, as beardless. It was, therefore 
 entirely in accordance with Egyptian usage that Joseph, who 
 had been several years in prison, and who, not being an Egyp- 
 tian, had permitted his beard and hair to grow, should shave 
 both before entering the royal presence. This casual and 
 slight allusion to a peculiar custom, attests strongly the truth of 
 scripture, and proves that the writer was no mere romancer. 
 
 In the second of Pharaoh's dreams, mention is made of 
 " seven ears of corn coming up on one stalk." It is worth 
 knowing that the species of wheat called the Egyptian, formerly 
 and now, cultivated extcnyively on the Nile, possesses the 
 peculiarity of bearing several ears on one stalk. This species 
 is not known to have flourished out of Egypt in those days ; so 
 that here is a reference to another special characteristic of 'the 
 country. 
 
 Pharaoh, we are told further, called for the magicians and 
 wise men of Egypt, to interpret his dreams. Now, do the 
 antiquities of Egypt make known to us any order of men 
 corresponding to these V Of the magicians we shall have to 
 speak in a future lecture. The '' wise men" were an order of 
 priests, whose office it was to attend to the pursuit of what was 
 accounted wisdom in Egypt. They were called the "holy 
 scribes," and were the learned men of their nation ; or a*s 
 they arc named in scripture " wise men," or " sages" by 
 classical vyriters. These men were applied to for aid and ex- 
 planation in all things which lay beyond the ordinary circle of 
 human knowledge and action. Thus in cases of severe sick- 
 ness they were applied to in order to determine whether recovery 
 was possible or not ; in times of pestilence they used magic arts 
 to avert the disease, and the interpretation of dreams and also 
 divination belonged to the holy scribes. They were but in the 
 discharge of their ordinary functions when called in by Pharaoh 
 to interpret his dreams. 
 
 Upon Joseph's elevation to office and honour, we read 
 "Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon 
 Joseph s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and 
 put a gold chain about his neck, and made him ride in the 
 second chariot which he had." The ring, here spoken of, was 
 a signet or seal ring, delivered precisely as it is at this day to 
 the kmg's chief officer, for the purpose of attesting his official 
 acts as the acts of royalty by its impress. The more u.'^ual 
 mode m the east, of autlieuticating a document is, not bv a 
 
r)9 
 
 written si^aturc, but hy a seal. The orientals have seals on 
 which their names and titles are engi-aved ; with these they 
 make impressions, with thick ink, on occasions when we w()uld 
 affix our signatures with the pen. In giving to Joseph his ring, 
 therefore, Pharaoh gave him the use of that authority and 
 power which his own signature possessed. Numbers ot these 
 signet rings, older than the days of Joseph, are now in many 
 collections of Egyptian antiquities. ^ - ,. „ « 
 
 Joseph was also arrayed in " vestures of fine linen. i^roni 
 the earliest periods Egypt waa famous for its manufacture ot 
 linen. The pictures in the tombs represent the whole process 
 of steeping, beating, spinning, and weaving the flax most 
 minutely ; and the whole bears a striking resemblance to our 
 modern mode of manufacturing the article. An immense 
 quantity of linen was required for wrapping the dead, it bemg 
 unlawful to use any other substance for that purpose. All the 
 mummy-cloths are found to be of a coarse linen cloth. Wilkin- 
 son says " from the few representations that occur, m the tombs 
 of Thebes, it has been supposed that Egyptian looms were ot 
 rude construction, and totally incapable of producing the hne 
 linen so much admired by the ancients. But the quality ot one 
 piece of Unen found near Memphis, fully justifies the praise 
 bestowed upon it, and excites equal admiration at the present 
 day, being, to the touch, comparable to silk, and not uiferior in 
 texture to our finest cambric." ^ .. rr v xr, 
 
 Pharaoh, we are told, changed Joseph s name to " Zaphnath 
 Paaneah," which is supposed to signify " the sanour ot the 
 age," and gave him in marriage " Asenath, daughter of Poti- 
 pherah, priest of On." It i curious enough that Champolion 
 read the name "Asenath" on an Egyptian rehc of enamelled 
 earth in the cabinet of the French King, Charles 10th ; thus 
 proving that there was such a person. The name means wor- 
 shipper of Neith," the titular goddess of Sais. in Jigypt, 
 priests ranked very high-the high-priests taking station next 
 to the monarchs ; so that in marrying Joseph into an Egyptian 
 family of distinction, Pharaoh meant to give stability to the new 
 and extraordinary powers with which he Imd invested hira. 
 Herodotus speaks of the priests of On or Hcliopo is as the 
 most learned in the country; and it was the nsua resort ot 
 foreigners who wished to learn the wisdom of the E|^yptians. 
 It w^ here that Plato studied thirteen years under the Heliopo- 
 lite priests. The alUance, therefore, was highly honourable to 
 Joseph, and designed to mark tlie high estimation in which lie 
 stood with the monarch. 
 
m 
 
 w 
 
 69 
 
 It is rcraarkfihle that the famine which lasted seven years, Is 
 represented as extending over all lands, including Egypt itself. 
 In ordinary cases, when there was scarcity in other countnes, 
 their inhabitjints looked to Egypt for a supply of food ; that 
 land being dependent, not on local rains, but on the overflowing 
 of the Nile for its fertility ; but in this instance Egypt also 
 suffered. History attests that famines in Egypt have been of 
 frecnient occurrence ; the difference of even a few feet above 
 or below a certain point, in the swelling of the river, proving 
 equally destructive to the productions of the coimtiy. The 
 occurrence of such a famine as described in the Mosaic history 
 is quite conceivable, now that we know the causes on which the 
 rising of the Nile depends. It might happen, for instance, that 
 the tropical rains in Abyssinia were abundant, so that the over- 
 flowing of the i-iver would be quite an average one, though all 
 the neighbouring countries were parched with drought ; or it 
 might happen that the rain-clouds from the Mediterranean 
 should be drifted in another du-ection, and in consequence the 
 tropical rains prove deficient ; in which case Egypt would suffer 
 from drought and famine, in common with the neighbouring 
 countries. So it happened, in God's providence, during the 
 seven years of famine. Had the writer of Genesis been draw- 
 ing upon his invention, when composing the history, he would 
 scarcely have ventured on describing what, at first sight, seems 
 an improbability— that Egypt should suffer from famine at the 
 same time as the surrounding regions. 
 
 On the death of Joseph, we are told " they embalmed him 
 and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." Herodotus tells us there 
 were three modes of embalming, according to the rank and 
 wealth of the individual. The first and most costly he says 
 was thus gone about. "They commence by extracting the 
 brain from the nostrils by a curved iron probe, partly cleansing 
 the head by these means, and partly by pouring in certain 
 drugs ; then, making an incision in the side with a sharp Ethiopian 
 stone, they draw out the intestines through the aperture. Hav- 
 mg cleansed and washed them with palm-wine, they cover them 
 with powdered aromatics ; and afterwards filling the cavity with 
 powder of pure myrrh, cassia, and other fragrant substances, 
 trankmcense excepted, the^jr sew it up again. This being done, 
 they salt the body, keeping it m natron during seventy days, to 
 which penod they are strickly confined. When the seventy 
 days oj-e over, they wash the body and wrap it up entirely in 
 bands of fine linen, smeared on their inner side with gum, 
 which the Egyptians generally use instead of glue. The rela- 
 
61 
 
 tions then take away the body, and have a wooden caao made 
 ill the form of a man, in which they deposit it ; and when fast- 
 ened up they keep it in a room in their house, placing it upri;i;ht 
 against the wall. This was the most costly method of enibalm- 
 inf'.'* In the second mode oil of cedar, he says, and natron 
 alone were employed ; and in the third or cheapest fashion, 
 used by the poorer classes, the body was simply cleansed and 
 salted with natron. Wilkinson classifies the Egyptian mummies 
 in correspondence with these different methods thus: — " Ist. 
 Those preserved by balsamic and astringent substances, and 
 filled with a mixture of rosin and aromatics, or with asphaltum 
 and pure bitumen. Mummies of this kind, if filled with resin- 
 ous matter, are of an olive colour, and are dry, light, and 
 easily broken, with the teeth, hair, and eyebrows well preserved. 
 Some of them are gilt on the surface of the body, others on the 
 face only, or the head and feet. The mummies filled with 
 bitumen, are black, the skin hard and shining as if varnished. 
 The second class are those preserved by natron, and also filled 
 with resinous substances. The skin is hard and elastic — it re- 
 sembles parchment and does not adhere to the bones — the 
 countenance is little altered, but the hair is badly preserved. 
 The third class are salted, and have been submerged in vessels 
 containing pitch in a liquid state, which has penetrated the body 
 and forms with it an undistinguishable mass. These are the 
 most numerous, and are black, dry, heavy and difficult to break. 
 Neither eyebrows nor hair are preserved, and there is no gilding. 
 The last class are those that are simply salted and dried. They 
 are badly preserved — the features destroyed — the bones are 
 detached from their connexions with the slightest effort, and 
 they are white like those of a skeleton. The cloth enveloping 
 them falls to pieces upon being touched." This must suffice to 
 give us some idea of the Egyptian mode of embalming. The 
 art is of exceedingly ancient date in Egypt, mummies beingfound 
 bearing the date of the oldest kings. It is probable the custom 
 originated in their reUgious beUef, that the continuance of the 
 soul in the region of happiness was dependent on the preservar 
 tion of the body. It was not abandoned till the introduction of 
 Christianity. The biblical record thus is entirely corroborated 
 as to embalming being practised as early as the time of 
 Joseph ; and in the account of Jacob's embalming, mention is 
 made of seventy days as the period of mourning — the time 
 specified by Herodotus as occupied in the whole process. The 
 coffin,.too, in which Joseph was placed, though not used in other 
 
 comnioii ia Egypt, And, in accordance 
 
 
62 
 
 i 
 
 with tlic custom of tho country, " the coffin of JoRcph, upon 
 the lid of which woh moulded with plaster and coloured as 
 exact a liketiess of his countenance as art in Ef^rpt could accom- 
 plish, would occupy a very conspicuous and moat honourable 
 place in tho house of Ephraim his first horn. Mumniies, in 
 ancient Ei!j^{)t, were heir-looms highly valued, and upon cer- 
 tain occasions were given as pledges for loans of money. Tho 
 fragrant odour, emitted by the spices in wliich they were em- 
 balmed, made them welcome inmates in halls of entertainment ; 
 BO much so that the intennent was often deferred for centuries, 
 80 that many successive generations were frequently ranged 
 upright against tho walls of the grand hall of entertainment in 
 the family mansion. TRey were in short exactly as the family 
 portraits of the great houses of modern times." * 
 
 The mummy of Joseph was, 400 years after his death, borne 
 by the Israi^lJtes to the tomb of his ancestors in Canaan. 
 Doubtless, during part of the interval, it rested in a tomb in 
 Egypt. A curious discovery has lately been made of the ruins 
 of a tomb of a pi ia e of Egypt, whose name was Joseph written 
 in hieroglyphics. It is over against Memphis, and near tho 
 largest pyramid. He bears the title of " director of the gra- 
 naries of Egypt." It may be that here rested the body of 
 Egypt's preserver, till his kindred bore it with them at tho 
 period of the Exodus. Or it may be that his successor took his 
 title and name along with his office — a practice then common ; 
 and that this is his tomb. About the identity of the name 
 Joseph, there seems to be no question. f 
 
 * OsborDo'B Israel ia Egypt. 
 t Israel in Egypt. 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 ISRAEL IN EGYPT. 
 
 In studying the great story of the mighty past, tlio history 
 of our race, we are struclc with the circumstance that each 
 nation seems to have pursued its own {)athway towards civiliza- 
 tion, and to havf worked out its own development, separately 
 from the others. Wo see, as it were, a great army moving for- 
 ward in distinct dotachments, under different commanders ; and 
 though they have the same destination, yet they act indepen- 
 dently, often without even any communication, or any reference 
 to the interests of the whole. Separattd from one another hy 
 jieas, mountains or deserts, and having but a slight degi-eo of 
 intercourse, the various nations have had to work out, each 
 for itself, the great problem of life, to strike out its own dis- 
 coveries and inventions, its science, art, Uterature, philosophy, 
 and religion. In nothmg does the present differ from the paat 
 more, than in the means of rapid intercourse now possessed, 
 and the consequent interchange of ideas and circulation of 
 thought now going on among the different branches of the 
 human family. Formerly this was unkno^vn or enjoyed in the 
 most imperfect degree ; and in a state of isolation, each nation 
 had to act without aid from others, and make what advances it 
 could, m life's lessons, without benefiting by the labours of its 
 neighbours. Thought travelled slgwly and uncertainly, jealous- 
 ies hatreds, and fierce wars prevailed, so that nations seldom 
 met except in the battle-field, and unaided, each took its own 
 way. It is not difficidt to discover the benefit of all this, and 
 to see wisdom in such an arrangement. A greater individuaUty 
 and strengi of purpose were thus cultivated ; self-relianoe, the 
 noblest of human attributes, was developed ; ingenuity and 
 thought put more upon the stretch, so that whatever of what 
 was great and noble tlidre might be in any race, was called 
 forth without being overshadowed by others. We are well 
 aware, in these days, of the value of the division of labour, and 
 to what perfection it has carried m^r^j of the arts and sciences. 
 
f»( 
 
 And ao, too, tho di virion of labour among the nations, attained 
 Hftmothing of tho Kamu result. Each took up some particular 
 fanii of truth, uiid thus bestowing upon it an undiviacd atten- 
 tion, carried it to a higher perfection than could otherwise have 
 been attained. Some groat problem was thus solved by each ; 
 Bonio grand discovery reached ; some practical art applied to 
 tho wants of existence ; some grand idea worked out in all its 
 devolopenicntu ; somo mode of life tested by the individual 
 nation. Tho Assyrian and Egyptian, separated widely, woro 
 each doing somothing not achieved by the other, in the great 
 developoment of humanity ; and on tho banks of tho Tigris and 
 Eui)hrate8, and by tho silvery stream of the Nilo alike, wero 
 the mighty plans of Providence carried forward, by which our 
 race has been slowly raised from one stage of progress to 
 another. In fact, the great army, in separate divisions, wore 
 unconsciously workhig towards one end, and, under one com- 
 mjindor, were, unknown to themselves, carrying ono fortress 
 after another ; and thus forwarding tho plan of the gi-and cam- 
 paign. And now, when the time has arrived for the whole de- 
 tachments to bo united, in order to achieve some greater result, 
 of which wo can as yet discern but the outline, see how in 
 God's wonder-working providence, the means of commimicatiou 
 are made ready, and now at work. The giant arm of steam is 
 rapidly bringmg about the union of tho nations, so long separat* 
 ed. Our iron roads, steam boats, and telegraphs, are gradually 
 making all nations one ; and causing, by tho rapid interchange 
 of ideas, all arts, discoveries, philosophies, to become the pos- 
 session of the whole. Culture is ceasing to be national merely, 
 and rapidly becoming cosmopolitan ; in other words, v,c inherit 
 now, not merely what our nation has previously attained, but 
 what the ages have won for us. All past ages come foi*ward 
 and lay their contributions at our feet. Tho printing press 
 |)re3ent3 us with all that is valuable in Roman, Grecian and 
 Hebrew thought ; in Hindoo and CMnese research ; in Assyrian 
 and Egyptian civilization. The barriers of the nations are re- 
 moved — '" many run to and fro" — in the language of prophecy, 
 and in consequence, " knowledge is increaaed." All separate 
 toilers, in the mines of knowledge, noyt know what others have 
 accomplished and are achieving, and stand shoulder to shoulder 
 aiding one another as brothers. A new thought or discovery 
 now makes the circle of the civilized world very speedily, often 
 indeed travelling on the lightaing's pinion. The second half of 
 the 19th century is inaugurated by the Great Exhibition in the 
 world's capital ; and aU nauons meet io djiiplay the results of 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT. 
 
 TllE grand purpoae involved in that extraordinary display of 
 miraculous power which .led to the dclivcrauco of Israel from 
 bondage in Egypt, was to convince Pharaoh and hin Horvanta 
 that the God of the llebrcwa, whom ho knew not, and refused 
 to obey, was the Omnipotent One, before whoso might and 
 majesty the idols of Egypt, in whom they trusted, must shrink 
 into utter insignificance and weuknoBs. The idols of Egypt 
 were utterly disgraced and proved worthless in the great con- 
 flict ; and thus not only was Israel rescued by a strong arm, 
 but idolatry was rebuked and overthrown. And in this, as in 
 all divine dispensations, God adapted the instrumentality ho 
 employed to the condition and circumstances of the individuals 
 with whom he was dealing. Pharaoh, an idolater, is to bo 
 wrought upon so as to consent to Israel's departure ; and reli- 
 gious faith in Jehovah is to be awakened and cherished in tho 
 heart of tho chosen race. The glory of tho Lord has to bo 
 magnified in the sight of Israel and Egypt. This could only bo 
 accomplished by a series of miracles which Moses and Aaron 
 were commissioned to execute. The servants of tlie Egyptian 
 idols entered into conflict with them, and thus from the nature 
 of the case, the contest was one of miracles, and these must in- 
 creasingly become miracles of judgment. The might of thcLord 
 Jehovah against the wisdom of Egypt — this is the key to these 
 great transactions which have stirred the heart of humanity 
 ever since. 
 
 Did we thoroughly understand the idolatry of Egypt, wo 
 should find, I believe, that every miracle wa.s a blow directed 
 against their gods and absurd religious superstitions. As it is, 
 we are able to show that several of them poured disgrace and 
 contempt on their idols. And, in addition, this also is to be 
 borne in mind, — that all the plagues had a foundation in the 
 natural phenomena of Egypt, and were connected with ordinary 
 occurrences ; the supernatural, miraculous element consioting 
 
ill their comIn>!; &iv\ dopartln;^ at the f)re<lictu»n and won! of 
 Ood't commissioned sorvanti. Hiiil iiud lociwtn for oxiun(»lo, 
 were or-^asional visitations in T'^rypt ; hut now they woro nmd* 
 iniiaculoufj scour^oi, b^ appcariri^' and di.s..|)p«!ivnn<» at tho com- 
 inai. 1 of MosM. '^f^ fMpt rnatiunil uiw thus hlondod with tho 
 natural. And w^ un wfi? tlio advantage ^^inwl by thin. A 
 Btux'osHion of 8ii' uig ' unpit'ccdontod terrors would not havo ho 
 etfoctually hIiowp that " Johovah vtm God in the midat of their 
 land," ordcfinx and alterin;,' events with which thoy woro 
 fainiliur, and holioved to l>o luuior the guidanoa of thei>- own 
 idols. TluH was tho idolatry of R;.'ypt more thorough i re- 
 buked than by a serie.s of Rti.ui^o si^g and won<leri* ucn'ei- 
 witnosjwd before ; while at the tuimo time we have thus an m- 
 direct to^it to a[)ply to tho history of tho traasactions, derived 
 from our knowledge of Ancient K^i»t. Lot m ;?lanco at tha 
 different mirucles and pla;i;uo.s with thin view. 
 
 When Moses and Aaron appoiirtsd in ti»e presence of Pharaoh 
 thuy were fir4 rcijuired by a sign to authenticate their misHion 
 from God. Aaron accordingly ca*t down his rod, and it be- 
 came a serpent. The wise men and sorcerera wo are told diil 
 80 with then- staves and they also became serpents. Modern 
 research has thrown light i tho sleight-of-luind process by 
 which those sorcerers were able to present tho sombliinc! of a 
 miracle. Serpent chai-ming is one of tho most curious and as- 
 tonishing practices of tho east. It is now ascertained that thoro 
 14 in Egypt a species of serpent called llage ; and that tho 
 Psylli, or serpent charmers, by a piu'tiouliu- prennure on the 
 nock, can render tho inflation of the animal so intense that it 
 becomes torpid and rigid, and, when held out, has precisely tho 
 apiwarance of a staff; and then by seizing it by tho tail, and 
 rubbing it betwiMMi their hands, it is roused and returns to its 
 natural state. Jannes and J.imbres, who, aa we learn else- 
 where, were the c;q)ert jugglers wlio withstood Moses on this 
 occasion, entered with serpents, thus stu[.ified, in their hands ; 
 and throwing them down they returned to litb--their staves 
 apparently becamy serpents. But their inferiority was dis- 
 covered—the real rod of Aaron being changed into a real 
 Berpent, devoured tlicirs. 
 
 The first plague was the miraculous change of tho water into 
 blood. It is not necessary to suppose that there was a change 
 mto real blood ; but that the water bocamo red as blood and 
 acqmred such properties that tho fi)h died, and tho Egyptians 
 could not drmk of it. It is a very common form of ijobrc^w 
 f-^t-ua. wj tA^iiLSJi Miin.uui-.^^ f)v iui.;ijuty. iTi,)w, ihn\ jgaui ^e 
 
ftuJ advantage Uthv. of a natural oceiUToncc lu Egypt, auti tlmt 
 it WM traaifortuti<l iuto a uttriujW. iJuriag ono puHod of tho 
 ruling of tho Nile, tho tvutora bocom > u firnwiiish, rod colour, 
 rtfseiuhUng blood, owing to tho rod earth waHhed down tVom tho 
 luuutitains of /khyBiiiuii. Tho mlraoulou?* element apjKjarod in 
 tho change sudiU'uly tiil.iu;^ place at the word of Mosos, when lio 
 lifted up hii rod ; nnd also iu th> unprocodoutod oircuawtauDO 
 that the water then usually a^^ccahh* to tho tiwto, and wholo- 
 »ome, boc.imo utterly loatlijwiae, and destroyed tho fwh. Ik'- 
 sidcs, the water in all the domestic vohhoIh and tanks and canaU 
 "was sirrsUarly change 1, which could nut hav»; f>oen caused by tlio 
 rod earth of lf»o river. The Nde \ .w to lo Ei^yptians an 
 object '»[' worship, and ro;;;arded as aflfordin;^ the m Ht delicioua 
 >vator ui the world. Tluw at onco tlio pridf* and idolati-y of 
 Egypt were humbled. The magicians were able by their 
 jugj^lory, t > produce a similar chan^^e o" a small ,icnlc, so as t-o 
 deceive Phaiudi; ind most probably tluy accomplif^hcd it by 
 Homo chcm d process, the posaibihty of which any i ienii.st can 
 readily explain. Colourless liquids can oaaily be dealt with so 
 lUat on "expoHuro to Jio air or li^ht they \ ill assume tho ap- 
 poarauco of blood, or other colours dr-' 1. Tlio whole minuto 
 particulars of tho story indicate a jx.. ct iamilianty, on tho 
 pan of the ritor,with the occurrences and practices of Tjiypt; 
 and show that ho .^03 roferrui;^ to Uioso witli unj)remcditated 
 phupUcity and truthfulness. 
 
 In tho second pi iguo — that of frogs— tho God of nature 
 availed liimsf'lf of anuthor natural appearance, to vindicate his 
 power boforc Pha.-aoh and before E;;ypt. So soon as the Nile, 
 and tho canals of irrigati 'n conueotod with it, are bank-full, tho 
 cxuborant moisture aroii c.^ from their summer torpor, into life 
 (! ud activity, the tVo^s of the Nile, in nu ibori inconceivable to 
 those who have not been in hot countri . Rvcn in ordinary 
 yoars, the aimoyancc of these loathson? oreiii-urcs, nij^ht and 
 dav, gives some idea of what 'his plagii ■ must have boon. In 
 the whob^ of this fearful succi^sion of judgments there i not 
 one mo: personally revoltin;^ than the plague of frog.s. I'ho 
 very pal^co uf ^^^liaraoh, — >hi'^ halls ' f state — 'his secret oham- 
 bcr.s, and even the food cf Uansolf and family are uT polhited 
 by them. Tho miracle here soem-i « have been in the o '^ 
 mous multitudes of this creature sudd -uiv called into cxistom , 
 and especially in compelling them, contrary t* their usual habits, 
 to quit the mai hcs of tho Nile and extend thomselvrs over the 
 dry land. In this judgment, again, thoir idolatry warf rebukod. 
 A. wreatiuv, Swv -'S-' ki tl5$ Kgvntian inytliolo|jr^= aiu' ' ' ' '- 
 
 hijfbly 
 
76 
 
 honotiw*! by them, was mwh tho infltrtrnvnt of thoir affliction, 
 HO that th'7 were «M»mp«ll{Ml to rc;;ard it with •ii:4;;viHt aiiii horror. 
 Their ihni, l'thah,tho cn'fitivo power, waw rcproH«wit(>.l with tho 
 hca«l of a fro;^. The Mkill of »he ma^ioiauH wum abh», hv thair 
 8lei«ht of hand, to docolvo Pharaoh, ho om to mhwv him to 
 behove that they too wore able to copy th<' ut <.f Mo., i. 
 
 Thor»» has boon muoh (iincusMion an to th«' wimhI tlmt ( '.nMfitnt- 
 0(1 tho third plap;iio ; hut tho hoHt hihiical wholiUH nvc now 
 agreed that tho Holirow word wlionid he trannhitcd " ^natfi" — 
 not " Hco" as in o»ir version. Hero again wo find a natural 
 occurrence intonsifiod into a tniraolo. VVhon tho ovorHow of 
 tho river roaclioH tho surface of th(* country, the fine dust, on 
 being moistened, muids forth innuniorable hontu of gnats and 
 flies. The oggH that pnxhico tiioin were hiid in the rotiring 
 waters of the foiinor flood, and having nuitunMl iti tho interval, 
 thoy vivify, so soon an tho (hist is inoistonod. Aa the flood 
 advances slowly onwards a black line of living insects, oji its ex- 
 treme edge, moves with it. Once more tho (Jod of the whole 
 earth avails himself of a natural event actually occurring in tho 
 course of the year in Egypt. Aaron lifts his rod over the teem- 
 ing dust and the swollen gonns of insect Ufo that are mingled 
 with it break forth into mos(iuitoo8. Hero tho art of th(! magi- 
 cians utterly failed them ; and they abandoncil the <jonflict as 
 hopeless, declaring that this was " the finger of Ciod." 
 
 The creatjire that was made tlu^ instrument of punishment 
 in the fourth plague, is now giMiorally allowed to have been not 
 tho "fly," as our version has it, but tho Egyptian " beetle." 
 " Tho ycarabaeus, or sacred beetle, was held in high honour 
 and worship among this singular people. It was, in fact, an 
 emblem of the sun, to which deity it was peculiarly sacred, and 
 also of Pthah, or tho creative power. It was both venerated 
 when alive and embalmed after death."* Tho exhibition of 
 these venerated vermin, as tboir tormentors, invudhig them in 
 their most private retreats, and covering tho public ways so 
 abundantly that tho land was corrupted by their immense num- 
 bers, must have been most painful and humiliating to tho Egyp- 
 tians, who were thus compelled to loathe and destroy crcaturea 
 that thoy separately adored. How imftrosaivo too, in the eyea 
 of the Hebrews, nmst have been this humiliation of Egypt's 
 id(jl3, which, perhaps, from long residence, many were incUued 
 to reverence. 
 
 Connected with this plague there is a remarkable circvimstanco 
 
 * Kitto* 
 
77 
 mentiontvl in the narrativo. When it tUMf^t ^^^^^' ' "'"'if 
 
 [ho hu.1/' The reply of W... wm--- U ^ wc «uu.h.. 
 Iho alK)ininiitioii of tlio EKyptiaiu* bofonj their eyw tiul w m 
 U.!y not -tone ««? Wo will «.. thr.c .lavi jo«n.cy .nU> U.o 
 " lirue.« ana Kacrifico U> tho h.r.l our (}<hI" Now, hero w » 
 re croi^o U. eerUin t:«yptian i.Uuu, an.l cu.U>,nH . nch, fnuu t o 
 ovXneo of tho umZU.. w« know to havo boon aotiml ly 
 «r. vaW.i thi n an.l wo thuM obtain a valuable corroboration of 
 S^i od na^^^^;^^^^^^^ Tho moaning of M.,i.oH'i reply wtu, that 
 to iX itt coil.1 not pffor thoir HacrincoH in Kgypt, bocaum) 
 t oir 1 vo« w ouM havo l)Oon taken if thoy killed, ovo,. ,n Kacn- 
 fi 0% rir" .■nu.l aaercd in Egvpt. Vo havo ^ --ly Boon 
 tha many aniiuuln woro sacrod, auT: wtro wornhiprnMl m Kgypt. 
 Trk llono of thoBO, ovon by accident, waM invariably puu.Hl.od 
 ; Ui Imth Now tho animals which tho iHraolit.. would offer 
 h Baerifico woro tho ox, Uio cow, tho ahoop and goet-all 
 
 whid woro Bacrod in Eg^pt. .Mohos »'"^"\~f '^t 
 EjzvutianH would havo ri«on in a body, aii<l in their rohgio'W 
 Shfonzv wo*.l have maHsacred tho Israol.toH had they ofterod 
 C L^crTlil. Such prociHoly, wo tind, wa8 tho state of fooU 
 b^ii K^r It is on rocori that a lloman ambasBador when 
 i^Eiy ;f miintontionally killo<l a cat; and ovon ho Baerod.ioj^ 
 of hi« character could not save him ; tho populace rose and 
 
 Thrnmi"piaguo, tho destruction of animal, like Uio pro- 
 
 cedi " lui L foundation in natural causes. When ho mun- 
 
 Satk,^'o ho Nilo advanced considerably, all tho low-lying 
 
 ?,^tu 08 woro under water, and it was an anxious time for tho 
 wast irts were ui ^^ , ^j^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ 
 
 t::.Tbl^a^f 'aisod^'S lovd'of the water ; and in 
 ?ho lav tU thoy woro driven into tlio higher grounds, whoro 
 irLlnmld browse upon tho young shoots of tho lonUls, sprout- 
 i?i S^^ S mud alK,voL sm-faco of tho water. Numor- 
 ov^'tonSlp^ntings .how tho hordBinen in constant and anx^oi^ 
 Tond^ CO upon thorn at this 8cason-8omo m papyrus raits 
 
T8 
 
 plashy mud, bj men armed with heavy whips. The cattle suf- 
 fered greatly from those operations, so contrary to their usual 
 habits, and at this season were often attacked with wide-spread 
 and fatal epidemics). In the same paintings with cattle in the 
 water, are frequently represented diseased cattle and herdsmen 
 adminiatcrhig raedicino to them." * Now, in the fifth plague, 
 this ordinary occurrence was taken advantage of and transform- 
 ed into a miracle. And mark how distinctly divine power is 
 made to appear in the transaction. Not only docs the fatal 
 murrain seize upon the horned cattle, but upon the horses and 
 camels of the Egyptians ; and yet, the cattle of the Israelites, 
 exposed to the same unhealthy influences, and intermixed with 
 those of Egypt, were entirely exempt from the disease — not one 
 of them died, while the others perished. 
 
 When the inundation is at its height, it is customary to burn 
 all the weeds and stubble that have been previously gathered 
 from the low grounds and collected on the highest mounds out 
 of the reach of the overflow. Here tliey arc set on fire and 
 burnt to ashes. A religious festival was held, called " the feast 
 of the greater burning," and the process was accomplislied with 
 certain idolatrous usages. It is said to be a strange and beauti- 
 ful Kight in the thick darkness of an Egyptian night, to see the 
 river rolling along between two broad belts of fire. The north 
 wind blows fiercely at this season, and drives clouds of white 
 ashes, from these piles of burned weeds, all over the land, 
 covering often the persons of the inhabitants with the light 
 and feathery particles of the ashes. And here wx' have a com- 
 ment on the 6th plague. " And the Lord said unto Moses and 
 imto Aaron, take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and 
 sprinkle it towards heaven in the siglit of Pharaoh, and it shall 
 become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and sliall be a boil 
 breaking forth with blains on man and beast." Wo can now 
 see the possibility of this " small dust" diffusing itself over all 
 the land, as it was the season of the great burning ; and of this 
 cir(5umstance di\dnc wisdom took advantage to inflict disease on 
 the Egyptians, at the very time when they Avere engaged in 
 their idolatrous rites. Their magicians and priests, it is recorded, 
 suffered most severely from this infliction. 
 
 The next plague Avas that of thunder and hail. Between the 
 months of November and February, storms of hail and rain, 
 accompanied with thunder and lightening, are not uncommon in 
 the Delta and middle Egypt ; so that the event was not a new 
 
 * Oibarna's lira*! in E^vnti 
 
19 
 
 light 
 
 creation. Tlie mlriicnlons clement appeared in its coining aa 
 ])re(licte(l by Moses, and in the land of Goshen being entirely 
 tree from it. Over the elements, Egypt's idol-gods were be- 
 lieved to preside ; and thus, a fearfully destructive storm 
 desolating the land at the command of Moses, a greater than 
 they was seen to be present in the midst of them. No fabling 
 of the priests — no enchantment of the magicians can veil the 
 truth iVotn the eyes of all Egypt. And hence we find Pharaoh, 
 hypocritically penitent, and humbling himself before the ser- 
 vants of God, eutreaiing the removal of the visitation. 
 
 Locusts are not very co'mmon in Egypt, though they are oc- 
 casionally seen. They c )me from the Arabian desert and are 
 wafted over the Red Sea. With this the narrative of the 8th 
 plague accords most exactly ; for we arc told a strong east wind 
 brought them back. The intensity of the visitation appeared 
 in the fact, that thoy covered the whole face of the earth, so 
 that the land was darkened by them. If you wish to obtain a 
 vivid conception of the results of a flight of locusts and tho 
 appalling appearance they present, you have but to open the 
 2nd Chapter of tlio prophecies of Joel, and there you will find 
 the visitation depicted with the pen of inspiration. 
 
 Tiicre is a very remarkable natural occurrence in Egypt 
 which seems to illustrate the plague of darkness. About the 
 middle of April, a west wind sets in strongly, and continues to 
 blow from that qaarter for about fifty days, — it is hence called 
 by the Arabs the llamsin </r Chamsin. In consequence of 
 blowing over the parched Sahara desert, it is excessively dry 
 and loaded with fine particles of the sand. " Occasionally it 
 freshens into a hurricane, and sweeping before it the light sands 
 of the desert, precipitates them in columns and drifts upon the 
 Nile valley. The sufferings of man and beast during these 
 dreadful storm??, in ordinary years, baffle description. No man 
 leaves his dwelling, for to'^face a violent gust would be certain 
 death by suffocation. Those who are overtaken by them wrap 
 their faces in their mantles and lie prostrate on the ground, as 
 their only chance of life. Tho fight of noon-day is but a red 
 angry twilight. At intervals, the darkness is total while the 
 heavy drifts pass the sun's disc."* Thus is this terrible sand- 
 storm described by one who was long resident in Egypt. He 
 adds, " it is impossible, by any expedient to keep the sand out 
 of the houses. So saturated is tho air Avith sand that it seems 
 to lose its transparency, so that artificial fight is of little service. 
 
 * Osborna . 
 
80 
 
 Tho sand also gets into the oves, producing opthahnia, so that 
 men " see not one another. Now it mav have been that 
 God, as in tho previous inflictions, caused this natural occur- 
 rence to act superoaturallv, so as to manifest his hand and be 
 evidently miraculous. The ordinary sand storm never lasts 
 more than a few hours ; but this raged incessantly for three 
 whole days, appeared according to the prediction, and subsided 
 at the command of Moses. In intense and universal misery it 
 iurpassed all the previous plagues. 
 
 In his last great work in the land of Egypt, God's method of 
 procedure underwent a marked change. He wielded tlw) com- 
 mon element of the material world no longer, but summoned 
 the angel of his pregenco to smite the firsb-born in every house- 
 hold. From Pharaoh to his meanest subject there is a cry of 
 bitter wailing all over the land, save in the district of Goshen. 
 And thus was Israel's deliverance extorted from the despot of 
 a proud superstitioiisj nation, who had resisted the command of 
 Jehovah and called forth to conflict the gods of Egypt. Those 
 very elements of nature which they had deified and ignorantly 
 worshipped were wielded as scourges to chastise their folly ; and 
 Jehovah was seen to be God m Egypt as well as in Israel. 
 
65 
 
 their separate efforts, and to learn from one another. Do wo 
 not justly gather cheering thoughts regarding the [uture of 
 humanity from all this ; and anticipate a tune when that 
 reUgion which alone secures progress and happmess, hero aiid 
 hereafter for man, shall encircle the globe with its benign in- 
 fluence. And as we look back at the paat, and study tho 
 mighty plans of Providence, and mark the slow progress ot our 
 race, and yet see good still triumphant over e\il, let us learn tx)— 
 
 " Live with the Anpels hope and faith ; 
 Fwth will unlock the solid skies ; 
 Hope through the shadowy gates of death, 
 Shows God and paradise. 
 
 " Learn the great lesson, to forbear ; 
 Do what ye can, not what ye would ; 
 And often be content to spare 
 Some evil for much good." 
 
 It 19 very wonderful how, in working out His mighty plans, 
 God makes evil accomplish tho purposes of good; its iniurioua 
 tendency being counteracted and made an instrument of benefi- 
 cence. We have a striking instance of this m the slavery of 
 the Israelites in Egypt, to which we are to turn our attention 
 this evening. Their oppressors meant them evil, but mark how 
 good results. In Egypt, the descendants of Abrabam came 
 ^U contact with the most advanced form of civilization then m 
 S^^stence and, under the severe discipline of the task-master 
 ^ev were not only trained to labour and hardy endurance, but 
 ttiey acquired all the arts and discoveries of their oppressors ; 
 ail their science and skill, and bore away these with them to the 
 promised land, where by Hebrew genius they were earned to 
 Tt higher developments, and diffused more widely. Let us 
 enter for a little into the story of the captivity m Egypt. 
 
 Owing to the important services rendered to Egypt by 
 Tosenh the Israelites obtained important privileges, and, by 
 Sr^hophis, tliey were placed on a level with the Egyptians, 
 fnd°permitted to settle apari;, in the fertile land of Goshen 
 F^om a variety of considerations, too numerous to mention it is 
 now satisfactorUy ascertained, that the land of Gosh pn stretched 
 Ingte pS^ branch of the Nile, and formed the eastern 
 barrfer of Egypt, towards Palestine and Arabia the quan.rs 
 £ whence they most dreaded invasion. The Egyptians 
 neeld it but littk for pastoral purposes, and it was consequent- 
 W bnt thinlv neopled. In permitting the Hebrews to occupy it, 
 IrlSo^y wa« -^ '-^ dispossessed, but the new comers 
 11 
 
6C 
 
 I 
 
 yrcre fixed in the only unoccupied part of Egypt adaj)ted t» 
 theii' calling, wor6 kept apart from the K^ryptians, and, above 
 all, formed a barrier, on the defenceless side of Egypt, against 
 the predatory hordes of the desert. Q'he account of' the Bible 
 ijs thus entirely in accordance with ascertained facts. ' 
 
 In this fertile land, the sacred narrative informs ua, " they 
 multijjlied and waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled 
 with them." A new king at length arose " who knew not 
 Joseph" — a new dynasty most probably came to the throne, 
 perhaps one of the Theban lines, whc cared nothing regarding 
 the services of Jose})h ; and alarmed by the rapidly increasing 
 numbers of the Israelites, he reduced them to the condition of 
 slaves, and " set over them task-masters." It is now believed 
 by the best Egyptiologists that this took place in the reign of 
 Pharaoh Ramses. Tliis portion of the narrative receives a 
 striking illustration and corroboration from a practice common 
 in the ancient world. Those who were sojourners and strangers 
 within or without the gate, in any country, Avere liable to have 
 forced services required of them. We may learn how universal 
 this custom was from the fact that Solomon lui.l recourse to it 
 when building the temple. In 2 Chron. II., 17th verso, we 
 read — " And Solomon numbered all tlio strangers in the land 
 of Israel, after the numbering whei-ewith David his father had 
 numbered them ; and they Avere found 153, GOO. And he set 
 70,000 of them to be bearers of burden-, and 80,000 to be 
 hewers in tne momitains, 3,600 to be overseers to set the people 
 a work." 
 
 The bondage became more and more severe ; " they made 
 their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick, and 
 in all manner of service in the field." Thus were they made 
 to work at the drudgery— the mere brute labour, both of the 
 field and of the city. The works upon which the Israelites 
 were compelled in this way to labour, would be in groat part of 
 a monuiueiital character, for this at all times was the prevailing 
 taste jn Egyj|t. " They would be marched in gangs to the 
 (juarries, and employed both in the hewing of blocks of stone 
 and granite, and in the transport of them across the desert, 
 liko the Canaanites in the roi/rri of Solomon. They were also 
 employed in makhig bricks qi: jNile mud wherewith to build the 
 huge })recincts of the temples, and cloisters for the priests."* 
 Mechanical contrivances in those days being of a vei-y priniiilve 
 description, human labour would be in great demand. Le- ua 
 
 * Se« Oiborn'i Iiraei in Egvpt, p,248. 
 
•7 
 
 now inqiiiro how far the testimony of the monuments confirm! 
 tho Bible-narrative. Numerous representations occur among 
 the tomb-pauitings of taskmasters standing over slaves at work, 
 and punishing thorn with tho stick. The custom is thus shown 
 to have been thoroughly Egyptian. The Israelites are said to 
 have been employed in making briok. Wilkinsor snys " tho 
 use of crude brick baked in the sun, was universal m Upper 
 and Lower Egypt, both for public and private buildmgs ; and 
 the brick fiol<l gave abundant. occfupation to numerous labourers 
 throu-^hout the country. These simple materials were found to 
 be peculiarly suited to the climate ; and the case, rapidity, and 
 cheapness with which they were made, offered additional recom- 
 mendations." As to tho use of straw, the narrative is cor- 
 roborated by an examination of brick brought irom ihebes, 
 bearing- the stamp of a King of the 18th dynasty, the period 
 of the° captivity. RoselUni says "the bricks which are now 
 found in Egypt, belonging to the same period, always have straw 
 rain<-led with thorn." The bricks of one of the smaller pyra- 
 mids at Dashoor, are of fine clay from the Nile, mingled mih 
 chopped straw. The intermixture giv(5S the bricks an astonish- 
 in'- durability. Thus, even in tho most minute and seemingly 
 'trivial particulars, are modern researches and discoveries tur- 
 nishin-' most incontrovertible testimony to tlie veracity ot the 
 Bible."^ A still more striking and important discovery bsarmg 
 on this part of the narrative remains to be conrsidered. 
 
 To the student of the Bible, one of tho most mterest-a-' an- 
 tiquities of Egypt is a painting found in a tomb near iii-ibes 
 representing, it is believed, the Hebrews as they were engaged 
 in making brick under tho eye of the taskmasters. Ll:e dis- 
 coverer was the eminent Egyptiologist, RoseUmi ;, and the tol- 
 lowincr it, his rlescription of this important pictorial representa- 
 tion " " Of the labourers" represented, he sf>ys, " some are 
 employed in transporting the clay in vessels— some m mter- 
 miivdin- it with the straw— others are taking the bricks out ot 
 the lovm and placing them in rows-still others, with a piece of 
 wood upon their backs and ropes on each side, carry away tho 
 bricks already burned or dried. Their dissimilarity to the 
 Ecryptiaii'^, appears at the first view ; the complexion, physiog- 
 
 noray, am 
 
 permit us not to be mistaken in supposing 
 them to bo 'L.:bi'ews. Among the Hebrews, four Egyptians 
 very distinguishable by tiieir mien, figure and colour, (which is 
 of the usual reddish brown, while the others are of what we 
 call flesh colour) are seen. Two of them, one sitting, the other 
 Btanding, carry sticks in their hands, ready to fall upon t»o 
 
:^z 
 
 ! 
 
 :r^ 
 
 68 
 
 otJier Ei^ptians, who arc hero represented like tlic Hebrews, 
 one of tlicin carrying upon his Bhoulder a vessel of clay, and 
 the other returning from the trans j)ortation of brick, carrying 
 his empty vessel to got a new load." Such is the explanation 
 furnished by the accomplished scholar and antic^uarian, llosel- 
 lini ; and we could not desire a more competent or unexception- 
 able witness. There can scarcely bo a doubt that here we have 
 an actual pictorial representation, by an Egyptian artist, of tho 
 Israelitish slavery, as described in tho book of Exodus. Tho 
 physiognomy of the labouring figures is uimiistakeably Jewish, 
 their colour is lighter than tho Egyptian, and they wear their 
 hair and boards. They are also marked with splashes of clay, 
 and their whole appearance indicates the most servile degrada- 
 tion — the taskmasters \uth uplifted sticks urging on their sore 
 toils. The hieroglyphical inscription over tho painting reads 
 " Captives brought by his Majesty to build tho temple of the 
 great Go.l." It is scarcely possible to over-rate the vast hn- 
 portanco of this memorial of the sojourn of Israel in Egypt. 
 And mark how wonderful tho way in which, under God's Provi- 
 dence, it has r-'iHihed us. A high court officer of Pharaoh, 
 named Roschere, was overseer of public works, and had charge 
 of a number of the Israelites employed on the royal works. 
 Ho dies, and in accordance with Egyptian usages, the events of 
 his life and tho nature of his occupation are painted around the 
 walls of his tomb. Among others, the progress of a public 
 building, of which he had been overseer, is represented ; and 
 the enslaved Israelites are the workmen. An Egyptian painter 
 thus records, alter his own fasliion, the transactions which tho 
 ins[)ircd penman was employed in embodying in history. The 
 tomb is closed and carefully preserved for nearly 4,000 years. 
 In the middle of our IDth century it is discovered and cxaminod. 
 There are the colours fresh as when laid on, not a figure ob- 
 literated. The written history now stands confronted by the 
 pictorial record, and what is the result ? Is there a contradic- 
 tion of the Mosaic narrative ? Does even the slightest flaw in 
 the story ai)pear ? Jnst the i;«vcrae. The minutest particulars 
 arc accui-ately corroborated, the very straw represented as being 
 mixed with the clay ; the blows of the brutal taskmasters aro 
 seen desceiKling on the oppressed Hebrews. This is something 
 more surely than merely the result of blind chance. God is 
 
 thus calling up witnesses from the tombs closed 4,000 years 
 ^g^ . t,._.^ .... .. t.: ^ „„4 „:, ...!,«„«;,. 
 
 bear 
 
 ,„, -., — „- testimony to his own word, and silence the guiu- 
 lyer. This is quite a parallel instance to that of Layard fiiul- 
 g the particulars of Sennacherib's camtniign agauist Judea, 
 
 sayer 
 hi 
 
aiui 
 
 The 
 
 60 
 
 Rculpturcl on tlio wall^^ of tlio monarch's^ pj.bco, .it'<l coi.njtning 
 the sacred record in the most minute i-JirticularB. Iho tact ot 
 thin TMiintin- bein- found in a ton.h at 'riicl.oH, wlndi ib a con- 
 8i.lcral.lo distance fn.m the land of (Josi.en, Hccnm to mtnnato 
 tliat the captives were distributed in different pm-s over the 
 land, and eu.ploycd on various public w..rks. lo tins repre- 
 sentation the narrative in Exodus corresi>onds for we rc^d the 
 people were scattere,! abroad tbrou-hout all the land ot K-ypt, 
 to iatlicr stubblo instead of .-.traw," and were employed in 
 all manner of Bcrvice in the field." One other circumstanco 
 deserves attention. Some of the labourers arc Kjryptians of a 
 degraded class evidently, and arc min-le( with the Israelites m 
 th? servile work. iNow the narrative mtoms us that when the 
 Israelites dej.artcd from E-ypt, they were accompanied by a 
 mixed multitude" of some miserable aiul degraded class o 
 Egyptians, whose condition must have been very wretched 
 when they cl>osc to cast in their lot with the wandering He- 
 brews They were, in fact, their fellow-slaves ; and hey are 
 represented thus in the painting under consideration Here we 
 have another valuable illustration and confimation ot the IJiblo. 
 The one serves to make the other more luminous. 
 
 The Hebrews being very numerous, vast numbers of them 
 were employed on the public works, and there ore w-c should 
 rxncct tic rcicm of the monarch who enslaved th(>m to be sig- 
 naUzcd by thereat number of monuments he erected, having 
 such an unlimited command of human labour. Such precisely 
 we fiiKl to be the ca.e. The testimony of all ancien au horities 
 rCarding Sesostris Ramses, is perfectly unitorm " He was 
 one of the greatest monarchs that ever sat upon the thro e of 
 E 'ypt. He built in every city a temple to the city god He 
 mSdc enormous additions to the t.mplo of P ha at Memphis. 
 He Lilt a chain of fortifications ulong the entire iiorh-en stern 
 Wi^ir of his kin'^dom, to defend it from the attacks oi the 
 Sandt^^^^^ lil^owise erected mounds to keep 
 
 out the waters of the overflow from many cities which had sut- 
 ?ered from this cause."* His engineering works, for tho dis- 
 tribution of the waters of the Nile, were o the same col.>ssal 
 character Now, mark how this corresponds with the repre- 
 seSion of the Bible. No king of Emt, either before or 
 Xr him, had such an amount of forced human labour at his 
 S^La At least half a million of able-bodied Hebrews must 
 tyTbeen thus available ; so th^t he was actually able m one 
 
 « Osborne, 258 p. 
 
70 
 
 Vife-timo to aociompliah moro ilian all tho kings put together that 
 jirecedcil or lollowed him lor -000 yeai-s. '1 his stands out jw 
 an unquofltionahlo fact in tiio history of K;^yi)t. Aud nothing 
 ig sufliclont to explain this extraordinary circuinstanee, hut the 
 scriptural aceount of tho auhtU; and (h'(!oitful policy wherohy 
 he made the Israelites slaves. Tho whole vast array of monu- 
 ments, many of them remaining to this day, which Sesostris 
 Ramses erected, is thus a testimony to tho truth of the Mosaic 
 narrative. 
 
 The oppression under which tho Israelites groaned, waxed 
 more and more severe ; brutal cruelty was added to their 
 burdens ; murder, in its most revolting form, lifted its red right 
 arm in tho midst of them. A royal order was issued command- 
 ing all male infants to l)o yni to death as soon as horn. Tho 
 Kacred narrative informs us that the edict was primarily ad- 
 dressed to tho midwives, " of whom tho name of the one was 
 Shiphrah, and of tho other Puah." In Egypt every branch of 
 the healing art was hereditary, and so identified with religion 
 that the practitictners were all priests. The two personages, 
 therefore, to whom Pharaoh gave this instruction, wore probably 
 " ladies of high rank, priestesses, at the head of the college or 
 guild of their profession, throughout Egypt." * They were to 
 usue to tho entire body of their subordinates a secret order, for 
 which they were to feign a revelation from the goddess their 
 patroness. Either tiioir humanity or their superstition prevented * 
 them from ol)oying ; and the divine favour was, in consoquenco 
 manifested towards them, in giving abundant prosperity to tho 
 houses of their husbands as their outward reward. Such we 
 take to be the meaning of the verse translated rather obscurely 
 in our version thus : — '' And it came to pa,s8 because the mid- 
 wives feared God tliat ho made them liouses." 
 
 The darkest hour of the night is that which precedes the 
 dawn. When the bondage was at the worst, the deliverer was 
 born. We may infer from the facts recorded in the book of 
 Exodas, that Amram, the head of the tribe of Levi, and hia 
 family were household slaves, attached to one of the royal 
 palaces. When the birth of Moses took place, the mother's 
 acquaintance Avith the character and habits of a princess who 
 was the daughter of Pharaoh, suggested to her nn expedient 
 for s.'uinu' her child's life. A tomb lias been discovered lately, 
 which is believed to be that of this princess who preserved the 
 Jife of Moses. Her name was Thouris, the daughter of 
 
 * Oiboruw, 
 
71 
 
 Pharaoh Rnmf»M. A roliji^oufl feativnl o^rnrrod in which «h« 
 horo u prominont part ; and to prepare for it who went <lown to 
 bathe in the sacred wat«M-s of the river. Jocliehcd, the mother 
 of the c'liild, hein« a household slave of the palace, would bo 
 awaro of the movnnotits of the princes-*. She, accordin;^ly, 
 put the bariket with her intant in the place whore the proce^aion 
 wouhl ar.proach the bank of the river, atvl set her fellow-alavo 
 and sirttcr to watch it afar off. " The sta;^o, or <iuav bv which 
 the princ(5fis would do.Hcoud tb the water, would, no doubt, have 
 an enclosure fenced off from the rest of the river to keep out 
 the cro(M)dilei*, and within this the babe was in comparative 
 safety."* What the poor trembling mother expected, took place. 
 The cries of the holpless forsaken ba})e to\iched the woman's 
 heart of the priuccss, and she resolved to save it in spite of her 
 father's cruel edict. The child's mother was calletl to bo the 
 nurse ; and thus, in (Jod's providence, the only individual who 
 could effectually shield the child was uuulo his protector ; while 
 his Ilobrcw m^tlior had char;^e of hi-t childhood and •vouM use 
 all a mother's gentle iuHuence to impress his heart with rever- 
 ence aiiil love for the Qo(\ of his tathers, and attachment to hia 
 oppressed race. The royal favour too would secure for him the 
 best education E-vpt could furnish. Thus was Moses fitted 
 for his 'n-eat mission, '•learned iu all the wisdom ot the 
 Ec-VPtians," and yet endowed with the noble lL^l)rew genius, 
 and having his memory stored with the great traditions of his 
 race. Thus over does God raise up and (luali^y the man tor 
 
 his work. , . - « . 
 
 I close the present lecture with a l^nef reference to a cor- 
 roborative circumstance connected with the history. We are 
 told that Moses was committed to an ark of bulrushes, daubed 
 with slime and i)itch. The word translated '• bulrushes" desig- 
 nates the Tnoyrus plant, not strickly speaking a rush, but one 
 of the family of sedges. I'he stem is six feet long, and is used 
 for a varietv of purposes, as for making boats, sails, mat.-, 
 clothes, and 'paper. Only in Egypt were boats constructed ot 
 it • and the custom survives to tliis day in Abyssinia. In the 
 representation, therefore, of the 1)oat tor Moses being formed 
 of the papyrus plant, the sacred writer is sustained by tacts,— 
 such precisely was the custcmi in Eo;vpt nt that time, biit m no 
 other country. The slime and yAch were the mud or slime of 
 the Nile wliich is wouderfully tenacious, mixed with pitch, and 
 permitted to liardcn, and thus would form a perleccly w.fcter- 
 
 * O.txjri.e. 
 
72 
 
 #! 
 
 tight lining for Uio papynw boat of tho infhnt It if* (furious to 
 find that at this day tlio uativoa of F/gjpt (Muploy tho Nile mud 
 in a similar manner. When descending tho stream with a hoa y 
 cargo they build a wail of tiiis mud on tho gunwales or sides of 
 their boats and pennitting it to dry, are not afraid to lotid the 
 vcBSol uniil tlie water rises al)ovo tho wood work of tho boat. 
 Thus do researches among tiie long closed tombs of Egypt, and 
 inauiros into tho manners and customs of its living inhabitants 
 alitco produce, on all hands, proof upon proof, that this book is no 
 "cunningly devised fable," but truth without any admixture 
 of error. 
 
 r^W! 
 
ISRAEL IN THB DESERT. 
 
 tUm the multitude ,7«'^»" ~°r^^ SCXd cla««!3 of the 
 mdtitud»-^»mp-foHow.« ™d ott^^^^^^ ^„„ „,l„4 
 
 thoir nuinbora to aooy ™™" . „ thomaroh. Fancy 
 
 the idea of Buoh a bo. f hum» ^'^/J^^' ^^ „t,^i,. and 
 
 tho wholo poP»'?*'°» "'.■"*?; of W' '3 doubled, or that of 
 cattle, or that of the P""«'P»''7 « J) „''^^e h„iy, aud we 
 Soothnd, collected tage her and n ^gj, ""^^ J;„ „t „f 
 
 ™y get some ;''»?». "t^et^lve th« h.«t, «ith- 
 faith on the part ot theu: R^»»lv frtheir want«, into a parched 
 r "1.^ 'tuhral th g h rt':f a -peci.l 'and ever-ruling 
 SencetleTavodL^lj^d^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Sit— ^'rc;'r:i-dt^^^^ 
 
 ders wrought in Egypt- , -agga™ of the Bed Sea ; 
 
 We cannot dwell on ho ""Xraffil in the wilderness, 
 but m.u.t hurry on to tal"= » ?'»^» toTwe might expect to 
 left to their "wn."'"""™'? I?,* .hXoJodge they tad ao- 
 fi„a them calling into '••''ll'l^'l^ ;';''j^^'S^^^ 4 which, 
 quired in Egypt, and !'''"^ZllAhZ^t^mmr with, on the 
 
 I r Xm: SsS;' ^^ct^Z^L. of this l«dy 0. 
 banks of "'%f'"'-„Hehrow8hv race, hut from long remdenco, 
 
 etmgrants. ^h^™^" ""^'"S^^ in ideas, mannen,, cuB- 
 had become *orou)?Wy '^^V" Uwroughly embued were 
 
 toms and modes of hie. 1" '^';.'l'^ij-„,ed from the nati»e- 
 they with EOT"™/I'"r^Vu^' S paSar ot now know- 
 bora subjects of Ph'^^'"^ » '^ Tho had just manifested hi. 
 iBg and reverenc,„g J*^"'* J»^ „,^„t therefore to find 
 &ir«.eXp^ Traiuin/api^aringateverytep; 
 12 
 

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 WEBSTER, MY. U580 
 
 (716) 87i-4503 
 
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 82 
 
 and that they should, in all the arranp;oracnt8 of their new posi- 
 tion, wilh reference to laws, devotional habits, and domestic 
 usages, assimilate their institutions to those they had loft behind 
 them. From our ac(iuaintancc with ancient Egypt we are now 
 able to illustrate many < f the peculiarities of the Jewish institu- 
 tions, and to discovei a reason for their appointment ; and we 
 got, moreover, an admirable test for verifying the historical 
 accuracy of the books of Mosos. Supposing the Hebrews to 
 depart from Egypt, as described, does the picture of their life 
 in the wilderness, as drawn in the Pentateuch, represent them 
 as we know from other sources, a people cmbued with Egyp- 
 tian ideas and usages must hav^ been? If the writer be a 
 romancer, then his representations of Israel in the desert, will 
 be contradicted by researches among the antiquities of Egypt ; 
 but if there be an accordance on these points, we obtain strong 
 additional testimony to the veracity of the author of the Pen 
 tateuch. Let us look into this matter for a little. To examine 
 it thoroughly would require a volume ; and we can only indicate 
 a few of the more interestiug particulars. 
 
 You are all familiar mih the narrative of that transaction in 
 which the Israelites forgot the God who had delivered them, and 
 set up a golden calf as the object of their worship. Here a 
 great many points present themselves for consideration. To be 
 able tc make such an image of gold, implies a very high ac- 
 quaintance with the art of working in metals. Now, was it pos- 
 sible for a people coming out of Egypt, to possess such know- 
 ledge ? Let the monuments and tomb-paintings answer. From 
 an examination of these, Wilkinson in his great work on Egypt, 
 declares that the Egyptians had attained early to a most mar- 
 vellous perfection in metallurgy. " The sculptures of Thebes" 
 he says " and Beni Hassen show that numerous gold and silver 
 vases, inlaid work, and jewellery were in common use." He 
 gives a wood-cut, copied from one of the tombs, representing 
 the whole art of the goldsmith in its various processes, and 
 proving the great advancement they had made in this branch. 
 Much of the chemistry of the art was probably as famiUar to 
 them as it is to us. Hebrew workmen, trained in Egypt, 
 would therefore have no difficulty in casting such an image. 
 But why make it in the form of a calf ? They had learned 
 among other things to worship the idols of Egypt ; and one of 
 the most conspicuous of these was Apis, the sacred bull of 
 Memphis, under whose form Osiris was worshipped. The 
 living Apis was kept at Memphis ; but representative images 
 of him were made all over Egypt in the shape which the 
 
;83 
 
 Israelites imitated. Herodotus tells us that the worship of 
 Apis was accompauicd w'th dances and songs ; and in this wo 
 find the Israelites following Egyptian usages. No fictitious 
 writer could have imagined a transaction which is thus accurate- 
 ly verified by modern ueaearch. Moses, we are told, burnt and 
 reduced the golden calf to powder. Wilkinson furnishes an 
 explanation of this. Modern chemistry employs tartaric acid 
 and reduces gold to powder. Natron, which was in common 
 use in Egypt, produces the very same result. When gold ia 
 thus reduced and then made into a draught, aa Moses treated 
 it, it has a most nauseous taste ; and in making them drink it, 
 he wished to increase the punishment of their disobedience. 
 Only a well-informed chemist could have accomplished this ; 
 and we now know that one learned in all the wisdom of tho 
 Egyptians, as Moses was, would be quite equal to the task. 
 
 The making of the tabernacle, in like manner, implies a 
 cultivation of the arts and an abundance of costly materials, 
 which could only be accounted for by a reference to the skill 
 and wealth of Egypt. The sculptures and paintings of Egypt 
 show people employed in all the work that would be necessary 
 to make the tabernacle ; and for generations the Israelites had 
 been familiar with all this. The condition of tho Jews in the 
 wilderness, as described in the Pentateuch, is precisely such aa 
 we should expect from our knowledge of Ancient Egypt ; and 
 only on the supposition that fihe books of Moses are historically 
 accurate, could we imagine a writer able to originate and sus- 
 tain the close Egyptian relationship which we encounter at 
 every step of our progress. Let uS take a few specimens by 
 way of illustration. Precious stones, with engravings on them, 
 we are told, were set upon the ephod and breastplate of the 
 high-priest. The Efyptians were perfectly famiUar with the 
 art of cutting and polishing precious stones ; and our museums 
 contain specimens of engraved signet rings and bracelets older 
 than the days of Abraham. The boards of the tabernacle were 
 overlaid, we read, with gold. Wilkinson tell us that "in 
 Egypt substances of various kinds were overlaid with gold-leaf," 
 of which specimens exist dating long previous to the Exodus. 
 The brazen laver was made of brazen mirrors offered by the 
 women. Wilkinson tells us that this mirror was one of the 
 principle articles of the toilet with the women of Egypt, being 
 of mixed metal, chiefly copper, most carefully wrought and 
 highly polished. The golden candlestick was ornamented with 
 golden flowers. The monuments repeatedly show these flowers 
 most tastefully and gracefully constructed. The covering of 
 
M 
 
 ih« tabernacle TTas of leather ; and wo leam from the monu- 
 ments that the trade of making leather was one of the most 
 important branches of Egyptian industry. We have actual 
 epecimens of their leatlier in our museums. The straps of a 
 mummy found at Thebes are of the finest leather, and havo 
 beautitul figures stamped upon them. At Paris there is an 
 Egyptian harp, the Avood of which is covered with a green 
 morocco, cut in the form of a lotus blossom. The cloths of tho 
 tabernacle and the priests' garments, as described in the Pontar 
 teuch, imply an acquaintance with tho arts of spinning, weav- 
 ing, dyeing, and embroidering ; and we find all these arts 
 represented in the sculptures and paintings of Egypt ; and 
 from the most ancient times they were renowned for their skill 
 in these branches. 
 
 The dresses as well as the ceremonies of the Egyptian priest- 
 hood are profusely delineated in the sculptured and pictured 
 monuments ; and when we attentively study those of tho 
 Hebrew priests, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that 
 some of them were copied from those in use in Egypt. Indeed 
 the more carefully we study the whole Hebrew ritual, the more 
 clearly do we see that, for wise and gracious ends, divine wis- 
 dom saw it best to embody many Egyptian ceremonies, care£ijlly 
 guarded, modified and purified from all contact with idolatry, 
 and applied to the worship of the true God. These Egyptian 
 ceremonies had, for generations, been familiar to the eyes of 
 the Hebrews ; and in condescension to their circumstances and 
 weakness, God was pleased to retain certain of these forms and 
 to change them so as to be appropriate only to the worship of 
 Jehovah. He dealt with them as with children, and gradually 
 trained them by outward symbols so as to rise to a pure spiritual 
 worship. And in allowing them to retain Egyptian ceremonies, 
 purified and changed, there was no compromise with idolatry. 
 j[n the christian church we have modifications of Jewish usages 
 — witness the Passover, some of whose outward forms were re- 
 tained, and the whole changed into the sublime spiritual service 
 of the Lord's supper ; but this does not prove christians to be 
 Jews, or imply that we recognize Judaism as binding on us. 
 The fact is that all ceremonies, being of necessity arbitrary, 
 mean nothing but what, in the view of the worshipper, they are 
 meant to symbolize ; so that it is of little consequence whence 
 they were originally derived — the great matter is what are the 
 spiritual ideas which they embody and symbolize ? The resem- 
 blance between the ritual of the Hebrews and the ceremonies 
 of the Egyptians, is an unquestionable fact that cannot be got 
 
 
sr, 
 
 c monu- 
 tho most 
 e actual 
 •aps of a 
 md havQ 
 ro is an 
 a groen 
 18 of the 
 le Pontar 
 ig, weav- 
 lese arts 
 pt; and 
 heir skill 
 
 m priest- 
 pictured 
 of the 
 sion that 
 Indeed 
 the more 
 ivine wis- 
 carefijlly 
 idolatry, 
 Egyptian 
 } eyes of 
 mces and 
 forms and 
 worship of 
 gradually 
 ) spiritual 
 romonies, 
 I idolatry, 
 sh usages 
 3 were re- 
 al service 
 ians to be 
 ig on us. 
 arbitrary, 
 , they are 
 ;e whence 
 at are the 
 he resem- 
 eremonies 
 aot be got 
 
 over. But it no more militates against the reverence due U* 
 the ritual of Israel, as appointed by God, than the Jewish origiu 
 of our ceremonies lessens our reverence for them as of divine 
 appointmi3ut. in this arrangement we see the act of a kind 
 parent dealing with the weakness of children. They were ac- 
 customed to the pomp and splendour of Egyptian ceremonies ; 
 and had they been at once transferred to a high spiritual system, 
 without any outward syml)ols r forms, it is plain their minds 
 would not have been equal to enter ii 'o it, and they would have 
 been more easily drawn into idolatry. This tendency to outward 
 ceremonies, so natural in their case, was met, limited and guided 
 by the adaptation of their ritual, as far as ustoful and consistent 
 with God's purposes, to the notions which they had imbibed. 
 The ceremonies were a necessity adapted to their weakness ; 
 and to a very limited extent ceremonies are still necessary to 
 the worship of God ; but to multiply these is to go back to the 
 childhood of humanity. 
 
 We shall now briefly indicate a few points of resemblance 
 between the Jewish and Egyptian rituals. The Hebrew priests 
 ministered at the altar, and in the holy place with covered 
 heads and naked feet, and were reiiulred to le scnip/. usly 
 clean, bathing daily before they commenced their ministrations. 
 Thus it was too with the priests of Egypt. The priestly gar- 
 ments with the Jews were to be of linen ; such was the Egyptian 
 practice. The ephod was precisely sii^ilar in shape to that 
 worn by the Egyptian priests of the highest rank ; and the em- 
 broidered girdle worn with the ephod was the same as in Egypt. 
 The breastplate of the high priest bore twelve jewels, on each 
 of which was engraven the name of one of the tribes ; the Egypt- 
 ian priests also Avore a breastplate with an idolatrous symbol 
 which was removed when it was adopted into Hebrew worship. 
 
 The terms Urim and Thummim were used to indicate tlio 
 breastplate which Aaron wore at certain times, on occasions 
 connected with giving judgments. The Septuagint translation 
 of the Bible, which was made in Egypt, renders these words by 
 two Greek terms, signifying " Ught" and " truth" or "justice,'* 
 and this suggests an Egyptian origin. Wilkinson says, " when 
 a case was brought in Egypt for trial, it was customary for the 
 arch-judge to put a gold chain round his neck, to which was 
 suspended a small figure of truth, ornamented with precioui 
 stones. This was, in fact, a representation of the goddess who 
 was worshipped under the double character of truth and jus- 
 tice ; and whose name ' Thmoi' appears to have been the 
 origin of tho Hebrew Thummim — a word, aocordiu|{ to ikt 
 Sqptuagint translation. Implying trutli." 
 
li 
 
 lectuhe X. 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Even though the hoary romains of Ancient Bqv[ l»ad no 
 bearing on the narrative contained in the pages ol the liible, 
 they would amply repay the profoundcat investigation. Ihcy 
 are the only existing records of one of the great primeval races 
 of mankind, who gave the most powerful impulse to the whole 
 current of human existence, and most decidedly influenced and 
 moulded the present. The race has,^ centuries since, utterly 
 vanished from eaHh, but their foot-pnnts are deeply impressed 
 here ; and from these wo can discover what they were, ana 
 wliat work they accompUshed. Every fragment oi Old Egypt, 
 therefore, is precious— every sculptured stone, painted tomb 
 and mouldering monument is elo(iaent, and helps us 
 
 «'To summon from the sha'lowy past 
 The forms that onue have been." 
 
 As bright-eyed scieujc pursues her inquiries, the whole rises 
 up in a clear and beautiful light, and Ancient Egypt appears 
 before us, as a little life-island in the vast shoreless ocean of the 
 past. An eminent geologist was able to describe the form, 
 habits and character of an extinct pre-adamite race of animals, 
 merely from some foot-prints which they had left on the solt 
 sandstone, when in the course of formation ; and wlien after- 
 wards the petrified remains of these creatures were discovered, 
 the conjectures of the geologist were wonderfully verified, and 
 proved to be astonishingly accurate. How strange, that trom a 
 few foot prints made thousands of years before the creation ot 
 man, the animal that left these traces could be re-constructed 
 and its natural history written ! No less wonderful is the pro- 
 cess by which Ancient Egypt has been disinterred— her history 
 constructed from pyramids, tomb-paintings, and long silent hiero- 
 glyphics, her laws deciphered, her social habits depicted, her 
 art, Uteraturc and religion all made clear — 
 
87 
 
 ** Tho8« acM have no memory— but they left 
 
 A record in thu deaort, columnn strown 
 
 On tho waste Hands, and otatiioH titllen and cloft, 
 
 Heaped like a host in battle overthrown; 
 
 Vaat ruins where the mountain's ribs of stono . 
 
 Were hewn into a city ; streets that spread 
 
 In the dark earth, where never breath han blown 
 
 Of heaven's sweet air, nor foot of man dures trend 
 
 The long and perilous ways — the cities of tho Duad." 
 
 And now we can call around us, and converse with, tho so 
 primeval men 
 
 " Whose distant footsteps echo 
 Through the corridors ot time." 
 
 " Though dead they yet speak to us." Not their embalmed 
 forms alone speak to our hearts, though we camiot gaze without 
 emotion on the dust that once was animated by a human soul ; 
 but their temples, statues, pyramids — all are full of meaning. 
 Cold must be the heart to which the great past speaks with no 
 kind, fraternal voice ; unworthy the mind that can only sneer or 
 discover faults and sins when standing over tho mouldering dust 
 of our buried kindred ! Be it our part 
 
 " To reverence still the ancient fano 
 Where once man's hii^hest lore wan taught, 
 Tliat blossomed stone, that pictured pane 
 Was once a poet's thought. 
 
 And looking at all this, what a grand task lies before tho 
 future historian, when all the rich materials shall be gathered to 
 his hand — to weave the scattered fragments into one great, 
 harmonious story of our race, setting the whole to rich 
 music — telling of human errors and sufferings in notes of 
 sadness — breaking into paeans of gladness over the triumphs 
 of humanity — painting the decay and ruins of empires and 
 cities, as they withered and were rolled up as a scroll, in 
 tones of mournful pity, yet of bright hopefulness, knowing 
 that the night was but the herald of the morning, that death 
 ever passes into life, and that lovelier and nobler develope- 
 ments will spring from the ashes of the old. All this history, 
 when it comes to be rightly written, in the spirit of philosophy 
 and religion, will accomplish, and will tell a lofty continuous 
 story of our race, showing that all nationalities enshrined tho 
 self-same human soul, made originally in the image of its 
 Creator, and still amid all its sins and failures, retaining traces 
 of its divine origin ; and making it clear that all the changes 
 
f/f 
 
 88 
 
 I 
 
 ri 
 
 11 
 
 I 
 
 ftnd wnTiilalonB «f the pant have been wfttchod over and ordered 
 by tRat Omnipotent One without whom not a Bparrow tallB to 
 the ground. The grand Icsflon of the past is hope, not despair- - 
 trust, not doubt— faith in God and faith in mac. 
 
 •' Etil comes and evil goea, 
 But it moves me never ; _ 
 For the good, the good, it growl, 
 Buds and blossomu tver. 
 
 " Winter still succeeds to springs 
 nut fresh springs are coming, 
 Other birds are on the wing» 
 Other bees are humming. 
 
 We saw in last lecture that among othei* influencos of Egvpty 
 discoverable in Hebrew institutions, many portions of their 
 reliLdous ritual r.ad an Egyptian origin. Thono forms and cere- 
 monies ^vith which, during the bondage, they hud bccomo 
 famihar, wore, by divine wisdom, purified from eveir taint of 
 idolatry, and adapted to the worship of the one, true Ood. In 
 all this we saw the kindness and the wisdom of a father dealing 
 'with children. Debased by idolatrous practices— gross and 
 material in all their religious ideas, the Israelites required to bo 
 trained to a spiritual worship by means of ceremonies, symbols 
 and outward forms— the senses were to be employed as aids in 
 impartmg spiritual truths, and by means of visible tlnngs they 
 were taught to rise to the invisible. Since, then, ceremonies 
 'were to .them a necessity, it seemed good to inhuite wisdom to 
 make use of those with which they were already lamihur, rather 
 than to impart others entirely new and strange. Egyptian 
 forms, therefore, modified and purified, were appointed; and 
 the grand ideas which were afterwards more fully and nlearly 
 expressed in the gospel revelation, were embodied in these, so 
 as to be adapted to the circumstances of the people, bucli we 
 find was the divine plan of procedure on the nitroduction of 
 Christianity. The only ritual observances in the christian 
 church are Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but these were not 
 entirely new observances— they retained Jewish torms and atr 
 tached to them a new and grander significance, and made them 
 refer to new objects and embody other ideas. v\ e do not tind 
 that the circumstance of Baptism and the Lord's Supper being 
 in outward form, modifications of Jewish Baptism and the nto 
 of the Passover, renders them less divine or significant of 
 mjspel truths to our mind ; and in like manner the Egyptian 
 oripn of acme of the Jewish ritual observances did not detract 
 
99 
 
 from their value or render them Iom d\mo In th(j eyca of the 
 Irtraolites, nor should it do m to us. The mere ori^nn of • 
 ceremony ig of little importance, the main thing is ita'spirittial 
 import to tho mind of the worshipper. On tliii priueipl* there- 
 fore, we have no hoflitnfion in admitting that many of tho 
 Uehrow forma wore modelled on the Egyptian ; and so far from 
 allowing that this makes an^ thing for tho cause of infidelity, 
 we hold that it is a mark ot divine wisdom and condescension 
 m the circumstances, and furnishes a striking testimony to tho 
 truth of tho whole narrative. It is precisely what wo mi"ht 
 expect in tho case of a people coming out of Kgypt afto'r ft 
 residence there of some centuries. 
 
 In addition to tiio ephod, girdle and bi^eastplate of tho priests, 
 and the Urim and Thummim peculiar to tho nigh-priest, wo may 
 n<)tice a few other pouitn, of resemblance between the two rituals. 
 From tho evidence of tho monuments, it appears that the Egyp- 
 tians wei'o accustomed to put inscriptions on their houses both 
 inside and out. Divine wisdom took advantage of this estab- 
 liahed ciintom, and conunanded the Israelites to write the law 
 upon their door-posts and theii* gates, so that it might be con- 
 tinually before thoir eyes, and fixed in their memories. In the 
 monuments, wo find frequently processions of priests, carrying 
 Bicred shrines or arks, by staves ptisaed through rings in tho 
 sides ; and those aro in some instances precisely of tho size and 
 shape of tho holy ark of tho Israelites, which waa to them a 
 visible symbol of tho presence and majesty of Jehovah. Then 
 again, tho very customs forbidden to the Hebrews wore ancient 
 and established usages on the banks of the Nile, and theroforo 
 customs, to which, from their training, they were peculiarly in- 
 clined. I need not remind you how strictly and iternly every 
 thing having tho slightest trace of idolatry was prohibited. 
 The Egyptians adored the sun, moon and stars ; to the Jews 
 such worship was forbidden under the penalty of death. Tho 
 statues of men, beasts and birds, were worshipped in Egypt ; 
 tho Israelites were forbidden to bow before any carved imago.' 
 Many of the Egyptians marked their bodies in honour of thmr 
 gods ; the Jews were forbidden thus to cnt their flesh or make 
 any mark unon it. It was a practice in Egypt to bury food in 
 the tombs oftheir friends ; the Jews were forbidden to set apart 
 any fruit for the dead. The Eg^ tians planted groves of trees 
 in the spacious court yards oftheir temples ; Moses forbade tho 
 Jews t» plant any trees near the altar of the Lord. Theso 
 regulations, and many others that might be enumerated, did time 
 permit, wore ol -arly directed againat the idolatries of Egypt 
 
ijNf^ 
 
 
 i 
 
 90 
 
 and drsij^od to keep the ch<vion people jwro fVom tho«o practiref 
 iuU) which tlu'y were luoHt liable lo full. Now the morminenM 
 which »how that these were K^ptian usageH, hear Htrikinj? tes- 
 timony that the reUtion hctwcen brae! ami Kjiypt wan f«uch om 
 it iH (lo8crihe«l in the Bible U) have been ; an<l only on the Hup- 
 TKwition that the Pentateuch iri a record of factM, caii we explain 
 these extraordinary coincid«nce« hetwoen the religiouM ccre- 
 inoniea of the two nations. 
 
 It would bo oaHy if our limita allowed, to pniimerato many 
 other points of reHeniblanco or op|)oHition in their re«poctiyo 
 ohaorvancert. For example, the arran^ementH of the tabernaclo 
 80cm in mai\y rcHpects to have been iwxlelled on those of an 
 Egyptian temple. The court^tho holy and most holy phi'^'rt 
 —the cherubim, or compound win;4ed fi;^urei4 on the mercy-«eat, 
 had their counter[.artH in K^ptian usa;^crt ; and were so freed 
 from all idolatrous Hi^^iifioance, and conrtecrate<l to the worship of 
 Jehovah, as to become suitable and instructive symbolH in tlio 
 spiritual worship of the chosen people. In the sacrifices of tho 
 Israelites, too, and other rites, a similar resemblance is dis- 
 cernible ; and these were baptized into tho lofty and pure 
 service of God's sanctuary, embody in<? to tho Jews the very 
 same spiritual truths on which our faith now rests. It is well 
 that wo should bo aware of those very important facts, winch 
 modern research has brought to light. They cannot ho con- 
 troverted or ignored, and they have an imi)ortant bearing 
 on the Old Testament Scriptures. Writers holding uifidel 
 omnions, have endeavoured to make use of thcse» as of all 
 now discoveries, to prove tho human origin of tho Jewish taith 
 and worship : and no doubt, to christians, there is something at 
 first si<'ht startUng in these views ; but just as in the discover- 
 ies of "geology and astronomy, a more perfect knowledge dis- 
 plays the harmony between revelation and the results of 
 science, and strengthens and confirms the bulwarks of our 
 faith. The view I have presented to you regardmg the Egyptr 
 ian ori'nn of these outward fonns of the Jews, is, I think, at 
 once satisfactory to the mind and strongly corroborative of tho 
 siicred narrative. All difficulty vanishes when the circum- 
 stances of the Israelites arc placed in their true light, iho 
 testimony of Egypt to tho truth of revelation, is not loss 
 powerful and striking than that of Nineveh. 
 
 Lcavin" the Pentateuch, we now advance to a period long 
 subseiment to the Exodus. In the reign of Rohoboam, the sou 
 of Solomon, wc find it recorded in tho 12th chapter of the 
 second book of Chronicles, that Judea was invaded by bhishak, 
 
01 
 
 ft kin;? of Kgypt. Wo arc toW that "ho camo with 1200 
 chari<)tj<,*^an<l tlireo ncoro thouwuid horsoiiuMi, and tho jwoplo 
 woro without iiunih«r that oatne out of E^pt — the Tiuhinis, tho 
 8ukkiriw,aiul tho Kthio|iift!iM." Tlio hurnifitttion ami [>onitenco 
 of KeholMmui, under tho waniin^H of Sheinaiah tho nrophot, 
 averted fruin liiin the cahunitv of the entire loiw of his km^iloin, 
 hut wliilo tho I^iord declaroil that ho should not ho utterly do- 
 Htroyed, lio novorthelejw »d<led tliat tho pooplo should ho 
 servants of Shiahak — that in, HhouUl he made his priwujorH. 
 Shinhak oaino and took away tho treasurcH of the hoiwo of tho 
 Lord and tho king's treaHures, and reduced the kingdom to tho 
 contiition of a conquered province. This Shishak wjw the head 
 of tho twentv-Hecond (iyiuwtv of Egyptian kings. Now liko 
 most monarchs, he was fond of recording his victories ; and 
 on his return horr.e ho caused a magnificent series of sculptures 
 to bo executed along the walls of tho j^reat tomplo of Kaniac, 
 in commemoration of his success aglimst Jerusalem. Those 
 sculptures, liko those of Sennacherib at Nineveh, liavc been 
 preserved amid llio universal wreck ; and now are called up as 
 witnesses on behalf of the Bible. When the great Egyptiologist, 
 C'hampollion, was in Egypt, on his voyage up tho Nile, he landecl 
 for an hour or two about sunset to snatch a hastv view of tho 
 ruins of Karnac ; and on entering ono of tho halls ho found a 
 picture representing a triimiph, in which were sixty-three pri- 
 soners, each indicatmg a city, nation or tribe ; and ui the third 
 lino ho observed one particular figure having underneath this 
 inscription, in hieroglyphic characters—" Judah melek Kah," 
 which Champollion translated " King of tho country of Judah." 
 The name of Shishak appears hero repeatedly ; so that hero 
 was an actual record of tho invasion and conijuest recorded in 
 the 12th chaptijr of second Chronicles. On the same picture 
 were shields containing, in liieroglyphics, the names Beth- 
 horon, Mogiddo, Mahanaim and some others — all towns through 
 which IShishak passed, on his invasion of Judea. Champollion 
 believed that tho figure liaving the inscription, " King of 
 Judah" underneath, represented King Rehoboam himself ; so 
 that, in all probability, wo have hero a likeness of Solomon's 
 son, executed by an Egyptian artist. A copy of it may bo 
 seen in many illustrated worbs on tho anti(iuities of Egypt. 
 Thus the monuments in tho temple of Karnac tell the same 
 story precisely as tho Bible, in regard to the invasion of Judah 
 by Shishak, and the fact of his carrying away prisoners from 
 the conquered land. This is the more valuable, because the 
 sculptured memorials of the Jews in Egypt are, as we might 
 
.1$^*^ 
 
 %%j^ei, T«rt f«w. No nation erer p«rp«tu»t>« it* own ihnmt 
 auk dofoftt ill it! monmuisnu ; im<l, in m much tho KjryptuuBi 
 ^cro utterly hurailinUMl atul vai.MuiHlica, n»d tlicir anny WM 
 »imihilat«d hi th« twriixi of tho I'lxoihw, wo 'ihould iiut expect 
 to find thorn recording their own defeat* in their ttMnplei or 
 tombt. Wo have already Heon, however, that one memorial of 
 Iiiraol in Kiorpt hwi been moat 8iuK'>lf^'-ly preiervcd— namely 
 the pointinir of the Jcwi«h ilaveB maUin;? *'"*''^' I" "*« ^T''. ''' 
 one of rhamoh'i overicor« of puhlie worlcM. Tho reumnuni; 
 meinoriali! are scanty, hut not without tlu-ir v.iluo. I he namo 
 of Phoraoh Necho, who, on his mareli against Nehuchartneatzar, 
 was asMailod hy Joeinh, Kini of Juduh, in the valley of Me-id- 
 do, haa been deciphered in tho monuments ; alio tho nnnic« of 
 Pharaoh Hophra and iSirlmkah, kin;? of Ethiopia, nKmtionedm 
 scripture. That thcao wore really V'v.v^-^, an described m Uio 
 Bible, ifl cstablirtlied by this in<lopendcnt te.^timony. 
 
 Tho task which I proposed to mvaelf, in ontonng on tho 
 present course of lectures, is now completed. What I attempted 
 woi to apply the results of modem investi^mtDiis among the 
 the antiquities of Ancient E-ypt, to tlio illu^tiation and cor- 
 roboration of scripture. I am not awaro ot having, so tar an 
 niv knowledge goes, omitted anything of importance, that has 
 yet come to light in comioxion with Egj-pt, having any bearni;* 
 on revelation, either as elucidating or eonfimung the sacred 
 text Tho whole course of hivostigation and discovery among 
 the venerable remains of old Egypt, fonns one of the most pr.)- 
 foundly interesting chapters in tiie history of man s patient and 
 laborious search aftei* truth, amid the most serious .lithcult.es. 
 It is enough to awaken a noble feeling of pride regarding those 
 exalted capacities with which the Creator has endowed man s 
 BouU when wo look back at the course of those profound studies 
 among Egyptian ruins, by which such gh.rious triumphs have 
 been gained. The process by whicli those strange-Uwkmg 
 hiorordyphics, that for centuries had been dumb and raeanmg- 
 less, baffling all the ingenuity of Grecian and Roman sages 
 havi been deciphered and rendered cloiiuent, in our own lt)th 
 century, is one of those triumphs of genius, that must bo 
 ranked among the very noblest achieved by the human mind. 
 AU future difliculties seem to vanish, and cease to be formida- 
 ble to man's progress, when we think of this victory ; and like 
 Napoleon we feel inclined to banish tho word "impossible 
 from our vocabulary. And then, let us connect with this thd 
 brilliant historical investigations to which it fuiniahed the kev,— 
 tbo pwtioat effort! by whiiok tko broken Unka in tho chain ha?o 
 
Wn rcpftlre<«~Uie giM in thu lUalory of our nc*. flll«d up 
 
 ^}U| , ma<lo to riit up out of tho doe,, ,ught of tho put, ami r^ 
 v«itHifeM,«ce moro " Uie dlmj««. of ih.rm.x,n** to t^l .i own 
 ^j7, .0 thnllm. and P.ll If hu.nun intoret E e . uZ 
 
 da.ico.ot tho .ky" have be«,» unwindod, Lo „ot more dS 
 or won. orf..l than tho«o by which hoaj^ of ruin« and^ 
 fraKment« have boon inado to awumo form* of beauty and har^ 
 inonv, and onler evolved out of aonftiiion. Only a Trt hM 
 
 5»'« who'ier''''" '*'^^^'' ^'''^^ *"^ UwtiftU th«« will bf 
 
 J hf t4li,irmK foo'.tepi i. tfw path ..f njrht. 
 K»rh ^loain of clearer briphtnaM shfitl to m4. 
 Jn mnrn w.furer d»y hi« bol.l.ir tight, 
 All blended, likn |||« Pn„.l)ow'fi radiant braid. 
 1 our y«t, and Mtiil nhAll fwur, the btaxa 
 that caouot fade." 
 
 bai!;"iT^'S'' ^^"'^«,'^"' chapter, too, In Ood'a Provldenea, 
 have wo hero ! Egypt wa« almost an unknown land flfty-sovoi 
 years ag.»^its treasures wopo unknown to tho aoholars of 
 Europo-an .mponctrablo veil hung over itn mysterious ruin«. 
 Uno result of that groat moral carUuiuako, tho French Revolu- 
 tion, was the mvas.on of Egypt by Nftpoloon Bonaparte. He 
 brought With him a staff of eminent siiontiac oxpLerH, who! 
 on heir return to trance, made known to the worfd tho rosulti 
 of their discovonos m a great work on Egypt. True thov 
 wore all deeply tainted with the fashionable^nfidelity of their 
 age and country ; and fancied they had hit on discoveriea on 
 the banks of tRo Nilo, which t^ould oomplotoly explode tho 
 8tatement« of tho Bible, md overturn Christianity. C resiS? 
 ha^ been the ver^ reverse of thoir expectations ; and from those 
 same ruined shrines and long^losod tombs, the Bible has re- 
 ceived the most wonderful confirmations ; and every word 
 having reference to Egypt, has boon proved to be the truth! 
 without any adimxture of error. Thus does God over-rule tho 
 evU mtentions of men so as to make them do tho work of good 
 Invogtigations pursued at first with the avowed object of over! 
 throwing Christianity, result in strengthening its foundations 
 immeasurably Napoleon, too, was made the instrument of di». 
 covenng the key to the hieroglyphic characters. One of hii 
 engineers, m digging the foundations of a fort, Ughted on tht 
 

 ws^ 
 
 94 
 
 
 i 
 
 hecnmadc m dcciphcnu- the "t^Ji^etory of Abcrcrombio 
 be darkness aiul ^'l^^'' ^^^"^ J ^n^" « e%'^^^^^^^^ 
 
 ?.:rr\t" m— ""^ Me; of .-nt intellect wev^^ 
 
 up to pursue the mvcBti^ations ^o ^'^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Youn^, Champollion, Wjlkmson, ai d Br^^^^^^^ g^ 
 
 capacTtiea and reverent hearts, P^^^^"^ ^J^^t to the results 
 Christian can, v^ith pf ^"^^.^/"^ *"3^ that book 
 
 of their stupendous labours as witnesses on Dena _ 
 
 ^•hich contains God's reveiation to man We hve ^^^^^^^ 
 dinary and eventful times-no man can ^^y, amia i ^^^ 
 convulsions and charip,cs, wha a day may b^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 may, from our experience ot ^^^ P^^^^^^ the divine 
 
 all these stirring events will '^^''^ ;^^, "^^[^j " Amid all the 
 .vord to have " free course ^^^J^^ ^^^^^^^ been 
 
 searching investigations of an ^g/^^^^^^^^^ 
 Tnultiplied>vith unprecedented speed-anud^^^^^^^^ 
 
 many false systems, and .^^^^^'J^^, ^/^^ '^^ There never 
 strength by every fresh advance <>f^^^7^^^^^^ the most 
 
 was a time of such unscrupulous ^^^f «S ^^^ ^^ ^any a 
 
 revered opimons as dunng ^1"; ^^^ ^ ^^^ stage and 
 
 time-honoured absurdity has bee^^^^^^ history, has, 
 
 consigned to obhvion. ^^^^^{^ ^^^'^^^ fu ^I ^g myth or childish 
 sinceSiebuhr's researches, ^^f^^/^f^^^LXe, b 
 fable. " It has been a nem^s t^-^ ^or^ mfg^^ ^, ^ ^^^^^ ^^_ 
 
 been a noble time for the Jiibie. ^"^ ^. f Lieutenant 
 
 plored, and from ite waters *^^^,7Xn°it^ s^^^^ 
 
 Lynch and the travels of l^^^/^^^j^^^^^ The very stones of 
 
 Tiished striking confirmations f ^j^^^^^^^^^^^^ Jrd seems, 
 
 Petra cry aloud ; and many a veise ot J^^^J ^ . ^^^ ^ock 
 
 as it .vere, to be graven ^^^^^^^ ^ Je eSy, where is 
 
 for ever. Scepticism ^«, ^^"S/^ jf ^u^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Nineveh the great city of three day s J^^^^^^^^g^^^tions are 
 
 of Egypt are lifted; ^^^/^^ .^^is a — of these 
 
 timel^ God gives the ^vord and the e is a resur^ embalmed 
 
 witneVses-the silent tombsjhermned^^^^^^^^^ ^he ^^^ 
 
 dead— all come forward and testily ^f ':,'i. . g^ys in his 
 penned by Moses 3,000 years ago Lord » sa^^^^^^^ 
 Wk on the ea.t that when tee^ h. met wi ^ ^^^^ ^^^ 
 scholar Cavilia, who said to him— in my j 
 
 * Dr. Juuiei 'iaiailloa. 
 
95 
 
 Hcau and Didorot, and bcllov^wl mtTar.ir « i m , 
 to E«ypt and t}.e scriptur AiuiZ L^^ P!';Io.soj>hcr. I canio 
 It would be difficult Ullt f pyramids converted me." 
 
 rreiudices:rsVudVur^et^^^^^^^ "^'^^ ^^/'-tdo 
 
 E.ypt, without arHving at k condSThnf ^^ '" 
 
 Moses are at once genuine and auth^ Hel' w^^^^^ 
 lawgiver, who witnessed all ho describes nnJ ,n 7- • '^}^'' 
 and forcible narrative of facte Thnf;!.? f "^^?T" ^ I^'^'" 
 the Bible wo every dav stron .Hii' a '"''^'^T ^^'^*^»««3 of 
 
 ititernal evidence is Yuf^enfiur"-^^^^ extending, while the 
 in God's vonde^wJ^iri^rovS^^^^^ I'^^^^'y- And, 
 
 full^' done in the cas^of t^o ^ ' J ^.^'^ ^''®" «^ ^"ccess- 
 
 illustrating and Ifi^ing^ "stale'"^^^^^^ ^'^ ^ 5 
 
 manners and custom<? J ihl ^^ V ,^ ^^^"^° *" ^^'^ 
 therein, has no'tr he * o''^^^^^^^^^^ T """"'''T' ^"^"^^^^^^^ 
 the books of the^oTd ^S" ^'nf ^ eTue^v^rit ?• '" 
 wantnig, and it seemod tr^ K,„^o^ * • " venhcationa 
 
 could t sup^LTXrlchTLrof'f"''"'!"^ **' "'^y 
 buried nationVstand before us nndTL .1, T' ''"'."<"' ^o"* 
 
 And now my humble task is done, however weaklv or ;,„ 
 
 the dcHve^tfihr le^rhr rher';:^^^^™^ 
 
 any case thought has been awakened or stimulated »1ll'-'" 
 
 ivtx Thereri^trof''T?-^^^^^^ 
 
 your confide t TS ,S has Sn^LXTd'^fV 
 reverence and affection for the Bible have bSSlS idTf 
 
 aTo-rdaKr eSfr "•^^" "-oe^^^S i^" 
 
 A ^f ''?-''®^ *'''?' *''°'®» «^«'* t'^e evening's close. 
 And whispered to my restless heart repose 
 Go breathe it m the ear, of all who doubt and fear 
 And say to them " be of good cheer." ' 
 
 Ipngues of the dead, not lost, but speak from death', A...f 
 Like fiery tongues at Pentecost ' ^ ^ "^®'* 
 
 Glimmer as funeral lamps, amid the chills and damns 
 01 the vast plam where death encamps." ^