frrirdnat Ciammunitatitato,
NOTES OP PORTLAND, ME.
Portland, the Forest City, as it has been
termed, is like Jerusalem, " beautiful for situa
tion." It stands at the head of a magnificent
bay. An island guards the entrance, and forms
a breakwater against the billows of the Atlantic
securing, quiet anchorage, whatever storms may
rage. The channel admits vessels of the largest
size, and preparations were made to receive the
" Great Eastern," as it was ascertained that no
other harbor on our shores was as capable of float.
ing the great Leviathan. Although so far,north,
there is scarcely ever any obstruction by ice, and
the Canadian lines of steamers for half
,the year
land at Portland on account of. the ,difficulties
presented in the navigation of the St. Lawrence.
The natural scenery is exceedingly picturesqne,
said to be second only to the. Bay of . 4aples for
beauty. In the, distance the. White Monntainis
can be distinctly. traced—Mt. Washington, worthy
of its name, rising high above all the rest:. • The
bay itself is decked with numerous islands, three
hundred and sixty-four it is said, sonic consisting
of a few acres, others Small ,patches of•verdure or
wave-washed rocks. The city stands on a, pro
montory projecting into the bay, and the elevated
sides of which form beautiful promenades,- and
afford I magnificent views •of the surrounding
scenery,. The , streets of the city are irregular,
and as they
,wind in, all directions, .new views are
presented at every turn. Tbe, side walks are
generally lined, with rows, ,of lofty elms, ..whose
arching branches ,often cross the ,street. The.
houses are neat, and often handsome, many being
in the villa style. The dfeadful fire which oc
curred on the 4th, of.july, 186 . 6, and which raged
for two nights and the intervening day,,destrnyed l
the prinoipat.portion of the, bnsiness .part ; of , the
city, and masses of ruins and scathed and charred
trees still show how terrible, must have been its
desolating c9urse. By this calamity 1,50,0 dwell
ings were burned, besides eight churches, four
school-houses, eight, hotels, all the banks, ,and.- number. of the, public buildings, some of them
very splendid structures. One-third of the city
was destroyed, and about twelve, thousand persons
were left homeless.., 'lt may give an idea of the
extent of the conflagration to mention,that if all
the buildings consumed were placed in a line,
they would, form a frontage of seventeen rni,les!
It is surprising to, find how large a part of the
burnt district has been rebuilt, and what magni
ficent edifices have been erected or are in pro
gress. The City flail, which was designed for
t'ie Legislature, ia a splendid buildinai and in
addition to apartments for various offices it
.con
tains
, ••••
tains a room for public meetings which will ao
commodate comfortably about 2500 persons. The
Roiniii Catholic Cathedral is a large building,,
with a lofty spire. The interior is painted in a
gorgeous &tyle, but the other internal arrange
ments are not yet complete. A gilt cross about
eight feet'hia t; .h was raised to the summit of the
spire, on the Sabbath afternoon, in the presence
of a vast multitude of spectators: The bishops
in gaudy decorations spriuhled : holy water, pro
nounced some sentences in Latin, and delivered
an address in English., About two ,tundred
girls, dressed in white,- with pink . scarfs, ,and
garlands of`flowers, chanted a hymn. The
"Romanies •of Portland are chiefly, immigrants
from Ireland or Canada, and, comparatively, few
in number.
CHURCHES-rPAYSQWP, (gt&Vg.
The Churches of Portlandrepresent nearlyr all
denominations except Ithe Presbyterians. They
are about thirty.in number. ' The . building in
w hich the. renownect Dr.,Payson, preached was
consumed by the fire, but a large and: handsome
structure hasleen commenced by the Congrega
tion.on another site ; to haiel the ;naive of the.
Payson Memorial Church. Jts >present pester
is Rev. Dr. Carruthers, originally .a Scotch Pres
byterian, who` hi. filled, the pulpit- for nearly
twenty-five years... He is: a worthy successor .of
the great and good man, whose memoryds cher
ished‘with such,profound regard by.all who, have:
readolis Memoir, and especially' by4hose who
had the privilege of hearing him preach. Some
few..,ef, these f l o survive,: and speak of ,hitn, with'
the,greatest reverence, and love, His - grave ; in,
the public cemetery, is :marked by a, ,small
lisk, ap:tnuperous garlaxtd.s of evergreens placed,
upon it,,,testify,that his remains rest in an hoii
ored grave. • • .
PUBIIO.IBtHOODS—COLORED GRADUATE:,
The public schools-Of Portland are numerous
and well attended: l One 'large -building will' ad
c3mmodate.l.soo , The numbei in all
the schooli is 10,463, or :about' one-third of the
entice: population. ' 'The' High 'School 'numbers
-71.7,:' pupils, male 'an& female. Its graduation'
exercises were held on the 15th of July at the
City Hall. Addresses were delivereikby a nut&
of young ladies, as well as ,by young gentlemen.
Arnow , the former was a colored girl of intelli
gent and serious Countenance and very modest
dePoitment r who had attained a high rank in the
schOol and seemed to be treated by her class
mates, as well as by the teachers and trustees of
the school, and by all the audience, as if there
was no degradation in ler sable skin, Her name
is Isidoila" Mayo, the first of her race to enjoy
equal advantages which she has proved her
jelf worthy to receive.
HOSPITALITY TO THE CONVENTION
It was gratifying to find that the citizens of
Portland manifested so much interest in " the
meeting of the Convention. At the Meeting of
Welcome, the Mayor of the city presided and
some of the most distinguished ministers and
others delivered addresses. Among others Dr.
Carruthers alluded to the spirit of petty bigotry
manifested in the suspension of Mr. Geo. H.
Stuart for hymn singing, and• .communing with
other Christians. Arrangements had been made
for an excursion in the beautiful Bay, but "a
dense mist at the time deeiguated, prevented
There were, however, many instances of private
hospitality, which those who have received them
will not ,readily, forget. T e
:pßoartaloTa. LAW.
The - *Titration of= Portland is'about 32,500,
endseentsicemarkable for good ordert. This is
no doubt owing in a very gieati;degree to thee
Prohibitory Liquor Lair. •Intokkating liquors
can be• sold "only by a person aPpOinted forthat
purpose by. the city authorities; and' under 'such
restrictions as , greatli.dirnittish: use. • „Not a
`drunken man is to be `seen 6246 streets; and the
'boisterous. brawls which other places are
altnotit unknown. • Thereis an intelligence, a'
cheerfulness;` a quiettidereliability •in the
Manner of the people whiCh indicates that the
soul'has not become the captiveof a great vide,
biitdis master 'of itself.' Those who wish to
knoir what effect a Prohibitory Law would have
'may fortn au 'opiniontby visiting Portland ;
.1 • • OMICRON.
- IMPRESSIONS 'or
It was a wretched night Passing froni' 13elfaSt
. ,
to Glasgow . The boat' was ' goodd enough, but ,
veryinuch`crowded'with'phisengere, and 'the for
ward deck was 'stowed liq'''Closely with cattle as' ,
theY could stand. The poor creatures'' could not'
,
rest themselveshylying''d6wn, or by- changing.
'their 'position in any Way. The cabin was almost
insufferably close, and yet it was' so cold on deck,
that only
.. ,
that only with' tar our' wrappings' could we make
`it tolerable -to `remain up. There was 'a stiff
breeze, and"While'it was 'not exactly rough, 'there
was' sufficient lie ogon to make some of 'the psi ;
magus sick. One of the sufferers was a young
Scotchinan iif my room. We were very early on'
deck next morning, not later 'than five o'clock,
and found Our steamer discharging part of her
cargo at Greenock; on the Clyde. The. Clyde is
a small'river at Greenock and Glaigow, not wider
than our SChuylkill, but the 'channel is kept deep
by the constant operations of the mud inaohinea.
The tide was out, So we'made our 'way up very
- slowly from Greenock; `sometimesahutting off
steam' entirely. For' a long way &ma below
Glasgd4 the'.. - shotee Of the river 'are lined with
shiP4ardS, and vessels of all sizes were in various
Stages of' oompletiOn.-'This shiP-bililding forms,
a large'part of the business of Glasgow, and fur
. - •
liiehes employment for thonsands'of 'people. We
_ ,
came
,opposite the city at eight O'clock,' but we
were not landed until the boat could be turned
round - head 'down stream, the
i:. and asiboat was.
. 2 • 'k
almost as long as the river is wide, "this was ''
no
slight thing to- do. But we reached our hotel
(Mclean's) at nine "O'clOck, not too lite to have
a snbstantial Sapich - breakfait of 'coffee, steak,
chops, omelet, iboebread - and hitter and goose
berrY jam:' - "A Scetcli 'breakfast is' no trifle, and
as, we had'eaten nothing-for eighteen . hours, we
were in favorable eireumitances to appreciate. t..
,We' spent' two day& In Glasgow.t
sit, is
the
business-metropolis of Scotland, and is the third
city ii dieA Britaink wealth. The population,
including 'su' bUrlis t ,. iti not much 'Short Of 500,000.
The city is supplied with` pure waterrkom Loch
- Katrine; fortY 'Miles distant ? at a ,cerat for the con-,
strnetion" Of , the works of about` $5',600,600 of
'our money I could not help wishing .liciia 2,
delphia were as well Off* in .this . respect. The ,
new part'ef the city, and Much 'Oflt is . neW; is'
well laid out, with broaesfieets, and the'houses
of the, merchantsand'ihe irjellthy classes ! in the
west' end are very'handsoine indeed. ,Their Park
is ineMbrnonly - fine and4ell . kept. In this pari,
of the city the new Thitirepity is loCated, and the
buildings are magnificent.
't
.But - thft part 6f - the City which interested 'me`-
most wag the. old city'Of'Glasg4. ' And ihe.first,
place we visited was the' Cathedral. This is very
old, having tea built in iheavelfth century, in
the reign of David I. - Originally 'of i rtVnise it'
'Was; for Roman :Catholic" "worship; init; in - i.ll
Reformation it passed, with - all other Church
proPertY; into the hail& of the 'Protestanta:
The revenues of the 'Cathedral - were at - One . time
i ' h ' f a l l en' . tli`'
very Jarge, but ,a large part asto . e
UniverSit l iPf"Glasiiii,'ind a part tojtthecrr"'
Service
, is held Only . on :Siindays, according -- to
the "form of, the - Established Kirk of - Scotland,
Which'i,s the Presbyterian Chnrchf This service
is held in the choir, which is itself as large as
St. Mark's church, Philadelphia, and the nave
and transepts are not seated. -
~. ' - ' "
Within late period: the GovernMent has re
paired`-and renewed Certain parts Of the Cathe
dral,.
whiCh I liad fallen much into ' decaY, and
within ten or ,fifteen years, the city of. Glasgow
and the West of Scotland have combined to re-il
new the'iindOws with stained 'glasS; after a cer:
tain arrangemenor Scripture illustration. It
is very Prettlindeed, buth ardly in unison With`
the character of the hail ing;"and 4he . various'
d
windows supplied by individnals or fainilies have
the coats of' arms of the contributors so promin-
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1869.
ently emblazoned, that one hardly'lpows which
was the prinie motion, the beautifying of the
old Cathedral, or the glorification of the con
tributors.
But the crypt was specially interesting to me,
for it was here that Rob Roy gave his mysterious
warning to_ Frank Osbaldiston. (How easy to
idealize Scott's characters !)
" Conceive Tresham," says the author of Rob
Roy, "an extensive i range of ;low brown, dark
and twilight vaults, such as de used for sepul
'chres in other countries, and had long been
dedicated to the same purpose in this, a portion
of which' was seated -with, pews, and •used as 'a
churbb. The part of the vaults 'thus occupied,
though capable of containing a• congregation of
many hundreds, bore - a small proportion to the
•darker.. and more extensive caverns whichryawn
around what may be ternied'the inhabited space.
In' those , waste regiond of oblivion, dusty, banners
and tattered escutcheons indicated the 'graves•of.
those who were once, doubtless, princes in Israel.
Inscriptions which could only be read by the
painful age: ,; as obsolete
Ate act of devolopal (charity 'which ;they
invjted• the:. Passeggel:Bl4o,,my for the ,
!souls of those whose bodies rested ;beneath.?
The church-yaritabout the Cathedral, is closely
.coverolawith flat- grave-stones, so closely._ that
but Tittle grass grows ,between, them. , Some are
of great age. ; Jnst over the, ravine .is* the Ne
,gropolisi sod; on the tombs of the , sleepers, may'
be. read ,many,ol;the best names in the history.
of Scotism". ; it•
The obi UniversityiofrGlaspw is: about to be
removed, to. the new buildings an the- WestlEnd;
We were-foirtunate.enough:to Call` lute the ,hands'
of one• of the Professors,^Who - kindly:shoWed us
,through that part of .the,i building which.:would
most , interest strangerso The old law. is, still
unrepealeck that the preCinctstof4he University
are alind.of •sanctiary, and 'no person, however
guilty r ean be arrested I:teref by the civil authori:
,pies,• but the , , , Faculty of the University have full
authority, and can adjudge the case as a court,
with-fullest sanctions:
'drove through: the city in the afternoon,
~o*, into the .newest ,tind 'best part, and down
through the Salt, Market, where Baillie Nicol
Jarvie lived; which is now the worst part. But.
it, ierno worse than the lowest-parts'of New York
and , Philadelphia.ci Their wet 'passed out, over the
bridge , where Rob Roy and Frank met at.mid
night,•into the coutitry,:which is.'very.beautiful
all about here.
, [n the evening—it is not dark until , towards
(midnight—the streets gift. the c old town are ,full of
pe'pple, order/3r ..lind,'"quiet, thought pleasure,
, seekers.. , ,ArAstreet corner was ablind man,
reading irra, louitharslf,voiee, easily.heard above
all the noise of. the 'throng, passagerljlin , raised
letterepprinted for the: blind, from-Eeelesiastes.
• Spmetimes a group Would Lather, round; him for.
a few mcimentsiand, listeu w and drop penny.%
his !hat, and paaa on. ,fie 'had ehoseri a place of
mucht resort, near a public; fountain, and ,no one
, •
,treated him with rudeness.. •
I The next clay t wit devoted to' Ayr -and the
"Land of Burne," forty miles away on the,eoast.
A§ we approached' the { lowly, the .rciad was - near
thesea, and•Aileie-Vriii 'was very proMineiii, far
cint in the bosom= of tile' water.' at': Ayr, we
took' Carriage fcir ~.lloway;' and made our way'to
-" Barns' cottage,'? - a low;(thatchetlicottage 'of-the
plainest kind. The mini whirele , tiriiS born is
liciinted out, which seems to have been -the
kitchen, or liviaghroom , of i the house. Here
was 'the . recess :where' at bed formerly stood, a
=fiery common: .usage inioScciteh-litChens=heie'
was the 'samedresser,lalmosttitoin =by"
tinual scrubbings; and'atill very alean—lierecwai
'the samostone iloor that his barefeet Often tred .
,upon, the:eame,low Ceiling his-eyes rested' On in
:his infancy .and childhood. lHere was the parlor,
the best toorn'of therfamily, piiclbablY 'used 'alio ‘
as a bed-room in-thOse clay's are sold
there now) ;. an d now there' iB' a; large' robin' built
as an addition to the house +fora dibingzreoilifor
file gentlemen who have' bought tlie . prtiperty,r
atkd now keep it from`destruetionil
Having- seeiv all about' the house where ti
Poet was 'born; we 'piiEsed' - on' l to Kirk Allnwiy,
so famons-in . 4 Tam O'Shanter!! at is ' . 4.1144v
ruin, only' the walls remaining ' But there is
still
"The wizmowed ;bunker 'in the Batt,
Vh re Eat ;A u ld kgeh in shape of, Wlieast.":
There' ereEstill the,walls,_ofiAshieh it is
"Coffins stood rote:id-like iipin presses; •
That showed the deaddn , theii last!dre,sses." '
We leouldlfaney We 'saw the 'very spcit where
Tam , sat .o'n jhis =gra3 mare, lOOking through. the
window•at the Kirk which • •1,
' "Seemed iu a bleeze "
and the'viitc:hes engaged in t at dreadful dance
—and could in fact conceive the tremendous
Change, when he unluckily uttered those words,
at which . ; .."
"in an instant all'wtis:dari,"
rushmadeh'
and `the athim Jon thg e d ows
and over the stonewall by the ipfuriated witches,
•
and 'the scamper down the hill—the break neckspeeil to which the mare was urged by her mas
ter's fright and her own, windinge narrow
7 1 fl'
way, to bridge over the Dion—the key-stone
barely reached; and the loss of the mare's 'tali;
for- the moment we regarded t ewhole thing, as,
rear, and enjoyed it extremely. Later in the
day, in Ayr, we saw the tavern where the said
Tam and Sourer Johnny sat and caroused on
that awful night, when
"The wind blawed as t'would blaw its last."
We sat in their chairs, and tasted the liquid, of
which it was said :
,6 With two-penny we fear no evil,"
but did not proceed to the Usquebaugh, with
which—but I will not continue the quotation.
We looked at the Monument as we walked
"dow,ti the'bridge . ; it is modern, and well done,
and a just tribute to the genius of the man, who
was certainly a true poet, whatever else may be
said of him. But we lingered on the bridge.
It was one of the:brightest days of all the sum
mer. - The foliage was in its richest luxuriance,
the air wee-laden with the fragrance of the haw
thorn, and the birds Were singing around' us
everywhere. We leaned' over the walls of - the
narrow bridge, - steep and high; 'we looked down
into , the clear waters of 'the Doon to its pebbly
bottiird, Nid sang '• •
" Ye baiikeand braes of bonnie Dom,"
with an appreciatlon of the scene, such as we
never Could haVe had except on
,the very spot.
Evei:Y allnsion in the verses to the surrounding
scenery was literally sustained. •
On the way back' tAi GhTgew, We' t stopped - at
Paisley, a manufacturing city, and specially note=
worthy kir its shawls, and aS the'place - Where the
famons Coats' spocil cotton; known to the
ladies, is made. One of the MeSs're;.' Coats, Who
married a New York lady; politely showed us
through the •establishment. They employ about
nineteen hundred operatives, chiefly girls. The,
works are going day and night, from Monday
till Satiirday--two sets of hands alternating, yet
they . can't, meet the , demand which comes frem
all quarters of the world. !hence we, went to'
the shawl mills, where we saw fine shawls'in the
looms (all hand-looms), the weavers at work, witli.
eft: treaale,and . Shuttle some of them old'rrin` t.
Who have spent , all their lives here at 'these
koms. The work .was very leautiful, but the
fashion is not now for "Paisley shawls,'' and the
trade is dull. ,
We left Glasgow next day for Edinburgh, via
the Trossachs. The road,led .us by Dunbark•n
castle, of which we had a view, as we passed up
the Clyde, thence "to Bullock station, on Loch
Lomond. Here we took steamer through the
.lake (which reminded us much of Lake Win
nepisaukee, in New Hampshire, and naturally
not any more beautiful),to Inversnaiil, where we
took eriacheS, all outside seats, to some place.with
an, npwriteablu and unprotiouncOa.ble name, on
Loch Katrine. We had a most delightful trip
on' this most beautiful of all the Scotch likes
(hUt not more beautiful than ‘ our. own 'Lake
George), one of 011 F -fellow passengem reading
aloud to us the "Lady of the Lake"'as we glided
.1 1 0. 1
along. We passedth sluices - of the G,hisgow,
water-works, and then along and ,altnost around
" Ellen's .Isle," not to observe the little,
bay and the "silver strand" where the fair Ellen.
Obtained her first interview with , the Kni.ht of
Snowdon: , Reaching the hotel, at five o'clock,
we had dinner at six, and started back at, once
for a ride of a mile to the lake (the hotel is at,
that dibtatice from,'Katrine), through the beauti
ful pass of the Trossachs, and dismissed 'the car
riage, intending to walk hoMe We took a hoat,
with a strong ilighlauder to row us, and went
`back to: Ellen's Isle, landed ~end exPlUred it,.
There is no trace of the place
" Where for retreat in dangerous hour,
Some chief had framed a rustic liovre'r.4 rc
But -we enjoyed the romance none the less for
this. Ellen's lale will be famous many a year to
come. It is a rock, some three acres in extent,
all over wooded, and , at this , season, covered with
the blue ,hells. One of our party read again
such,parts of thepoem as were descriptive of the
Isle, and then having had a most delightful time, ,
we walked back to our hotel through this grand,
and beautiful pass, trying to point Out the era..
where 'Fitz James met .Roderiek Dhu. Beach:
ing ‘ the hotel ate 9 P M., Still light as day almoA,
we were regaled with some music froiri bagpipes,.
theyoung people running up , to the windoWS in,
the tewei,:and waving their handkerchiefs in the
inOek=hereid style—and then to a welllarned
BBC.
i I THE PYRAMIDS AND, THE 1041.ig
OILE'ONOLOET..
• It is a common supposition among the unsci
entific public, that:the North Tole of the _VAarth's
axis always,
,points to t e same s r —the polar
star or "lode star.". At present, the North pole,
points to no star whatever,, butse „, nearly to 'one
star, (the bright, one in the constellation of the
Lesser i Pear) that that is for practical purposes
regarded as a Polar star. At various periods in
the world's history. in the past, other stars have
been real or a,pproximate polar, stars; at tther
periega, yet, in the' uture, yet ether stars will ,: be
our polar stars,—real or approximate. The pole,
of theearth isin truth describinc , a circle the
heavens —a circle ,which it. Will, complete, in
near1y,2;6,600 years from its beginning.
The, pole points to-day to the.place in the hea
vens towards which it was directed nearly 26,000,
years ago,—far back in "the geological ages."
Since then it has described a circle on the sky,
as with a mighty, and slowly moving wand.
tweaty-six millenniums hence, it will again
point, to the spot which it points at to day, hav
ing again described the same circle among the
stars which lie near the north pole of the heavens.
This fact was known very early to the astrono
mers, and, as in early ages all science was a , so..
elated with mystery, so this was. It was said by
the Egyptians that this period of nearly 26,000
years was the " great year" or the "year of res
titution." All the world's life and history were
revolving in a circle like that thus described by
the pole. However great and manifold the
changes which were to take place, hoWever wide
the sweep of revolution, all would at, last work
back to where the world started.. -At, the end of
a "great year" all things would return to their
primal condition.
In six of the Egyptian pyramids, there are
long passages looking to; the North. Scientific
men have examined them and found that they
dp not look at the present polar star, nor at any
.that was known as, a polar star within any period
of known Egyptian _history., 13 . nt they find that
about the 4000th year befOre,Pui• Era. (hese pas
sages if then built 'would hate -e out on a
star (Alph:a Diaconis) at which the earth's axis
exactly pointed: In pearly .... 6,o,oo;years from
that daie, those passages Wrili - looic out on tie
same star.
Is it not most probable that the builders of
those Pasaies regarded' the . year 4000 (or 4004)
B C as the'beginning` of 'n3ares'life upon earth,
and'ilierefore thaf "great year"
whose COrnpleddn'ivtitdd he'itseertaitied by an ob
servitiOn. 61'6601' those same - passages? That
they had to' the "great year" in their
erection, Seleiltifa l ineit concede. •1713 at date more
probable•tor - then - i'to'begin that year from, than
the'year beginnh3gT -
Some sai,itits say: "NV: 'Thoe' passages, in
stead of confirming the Mosaic chronology, refute
it.' These passages must themselves have existed
as early as. 4000 8., O. They must have been
bUilt to look out ,upon that star, at a time when
that was our polar star." .:I cannot see the force
of 'sne,h; reasoning. : .-The vanity of man had not
riSen those,days to a pitch so high, as, to fix on
their own times as the great terminus a quo of
history. Least, of all were the. Egyptians likely
to" fix ,on that period as the beginning of the
great, ‘`year of restitution," which was to bring
back all things to theirpritnitive state.. ,On the
face of the case, the balance of probability is im
mensely in favor of the first supposition, viz:
Egypt dated the beginning of hunian history from
about 4000 B. C. ' ' •
As a furthe'r confirmation of this supposition,
we may draw tin the hnitals of a neighboring peo
ple; who, at ' , ail' early 'period' of their history,
sustained a very close relation'td the Egyptians.
The earliest iacords of this people bear the name
of :one; who by a strange providence was brought
up in an Egyptian court; at a time when the
national religion and' the national glivernment were
most closely associated. was th'erefore edu-
Cated by - the priests, the great regesifories of the
national learning. His works' `evince among
Many characteristics, three which we shall espe
eidlly, notioe ,
1.. They evince- the greatest care in the col
lection , of , those genealogies which were of such
immense importance at the period of the world's
life, when the f:arpily, was the social unit. 2.
They evince a very,niasked poetical temperament
in their author, snakes would be more likely to
be attracted than repelled by histories and gene
alogies which should, trace the world's age for
millenniums and myriads.of years . into the dim
past. 3 : They . evince the
_closest acquaintance
with Egyptian matters, being full of those casual
and matter-of fact. allusions which show that he
.was not drawing on knowlectae, obtained from
travellers, but referring to thinr,s,,well known to
"his public" and hinaself. So much, is this the
case, that multitudes of passages would be =in
telligible to us were it not that we possess explan
ations of Egyptian customs from travellers of the
Greek nation. , •
Now this observer
~and author,—thus said by
tradition and shown by fact to occupy the best
po'ssible ,position for becoming acquainted with
the Egyptian,,clironology,—and at , least not.dis
qualified by
any mental idiosyncrasy for record
ing . 'what he knew—this man, we say, fixes, the
date of man's creation at the year indicated by
tie pyramids, viz. 400 . 9 11 13. p. Is his testimony
the, less weighty that hitiame-is ; lllqap ?
!What is there against Moses and the Pyramids
in this, matter ? .410:of genealogiosi.most pro
fbably of contemporary pdynasties, , ,,which have
been treated as they.clo land in Vermont, where
therplant corn on.the upper side
and then stand
it on
.edge and,plaqt,potapes on. the under. Our
sceptical Xgyptologists (not, the best• of their
class) pilpl., these conteMporary dy na sties
one upon the other and built up a new Tower of
Ebel, whose top reaches to heaven, but confu
sion •MIMI be Upon them. Not man of them
blit !Wows' more of-Egyptian , history; than Mos , s
ULTONIENEIS.
does::,
'--;Vietor inamiel, of Italy, has his private
library in'Tittf Palicein' Florence, and a French
journalistilwho lately visited it, says he found
Scarcely any books have.their leaves out.. If this
be trtu3,,it ; *quite int keeping with. the state of
the people when the
,last census showed that of
the twenty-two millions of inhabitints in the
country, over seventeen millions c'o'uld neither
read or silrite.
•
111) . lien an' his'just published a large volume
an the life of St.'•Paul %aid to .be - character iz. d
by, the same imagination that marked Lis •, Lite
of',Christ;" so that a plain reader of the Book
of Acts would scarce recognize the hero.