Him who seeth in secret; and thus we are supplied with a new and exceedingly interesting proof of the Divine authority of the Bible. A few more of the monarchs of Egypt and Ethiopia, whose names occur in Scripture, may be glanced at before I close this lecture. So. This name occurs on some of the monuments of Egypt, where, however, it is written S.B. But the B and V, or U, are interchangeable, and it therefore assumes the form of Su or So. Tirhakah, who drew away Senacherib from his purpose when he came up against good king Hezekiah. His name is written T.I.R.K. Pharaoh Necho, whom Josiah unadvisedly encountered, and was killed. We are told that Necho took away with him to Egypt, Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah; and it is not unlikely that other persons of distinction were made his prisoners. A cartouche borne by a half figure, evidently Jewish, has been found in Egypt; the hieroglyphics, within which may be read J.O.O.D.A-M.E.L.E.K-King of the Jews. Pharaoh Hopra. Supposed to be the same with king Apries mentioned by Herodotus. This is the monarch denounced by Jeremiah, in language very remarkable for its literal fulfilment—“ Behold I will give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life." Apries reigned very successfully for many years, and was so confident of his security, as to say the gods themselves could not dethrone him. He was at last, however, entrapped by his former friends, who had now become his "enemies." But those "who sought his life," not satisfied with his imprisonment, insisted on his being delivered up to their fury, and basely strangled him. He was succeeded by Amasis, against whom Cambyses marched, but who died before that conqueror reached Egypt. The country, however, as you are aware, fell under the Persian yoke, and for some time experienced the truth of that prediction which assigned to them "a fierce king," and "cruel lords," as their rulers. I have thus given an outline of Egyptian history. To go into all the details of their customs, rites, observances, and the magnificent buildings connected with them, would furnish materials for twenty lectures. The points on which I have chiefly treated, are those connected with sacred history and prophecy, and to those I have done very inadequate justice. Egypt at one time was the text-book of infidelity, and the timid Christian would tremble and turn pale at the very mention of it; the language of its astronomical and architectural wonders, being thought so contrary to the voice of sacred history. But now the tables are turned, and "the rod of the wicked," no longer "rests on the lot of the righteous." Egypt now unquestionably affords the strongest confirma tions of the prophetic, and the most useful illustrations of the historic, writings of the Old Testament. The puerile rites, embodied upon the walls of her tombs and temples, with all the feeble mannerism of the school-boy; the very deities themselves mapped out with mechanical precision like patterns for needlework; the cold and formal air of her gigantic statues; and above all, the beastly and degrading rites pictured on her monuments, prove her to have been, at the era to which they belong, great in nothing but wickedness, if we except a few of those mechanical arts, which afford no criterion of civilization or refinement. I am referring now to the period when, according to the sure word of prophecy, her princes had become fools, and her wise counsellors brutish; for there can be little doubt that at one time Egypt stood really high in the scale of nations, and from her proximity to the Jews, enjoyed that most excellent of all knowledge—an acquaintance with the God of Israel. But the stagnation of all her greatness seems to have soon followed the introduction of her abominable idolatries. We are by far too apt to lose sight of the stultifying effects of this worship of idols. " "They that make them are like unto them"-blind, dumb, deaf, senseless. If you wish a commentary on this text, look at Egypt, and see her princes and her potentates plucking an onion or a leek from their own garden to make it a god; rescuing a beetle from the dunghill, that they may offer supplications to it; or visiting with the severest penalty of the law, the man who even unintentionally caused the death of an ibis or a cat! Do we wonder by what process they could arrive at such a pitch of absurdity and degradation? The Bible leaves us no room for this— "Professing themselves wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to four-footed beasts and to creeping things." The God who instituted worship at the first, claims the sole right of directing us in the observance of that worship; for when expediency comes in with its suggestions, He who is a jealous God resists the insults offered to His Majesty, by the supposition that any amendment can be necessary to those modes of which he has made a revelation. Beware, then, of being wise above that which is written-love your own opinion less, and the dictates of your Bible more, and you will have no reason to complain of the result, even where it has reference only to mere human attainments. 432 POETRY. SWEET FLOWERS. Sweet flowers! Love-speaking flowers! Bright joys! Hope's cherish'd joys! And thou, thrice glorious sun, Whose crimson finger paints the gorgeous west; Emblem of earthly bliss! Hope, the heart's sun, paints all with brightest ray, Till dark reality encompasses Life's visions, and the phantoms pass away. Oh! for the immortal spring, Where gloom ne'er settles, nor decay destroys, Where flowers and sweets, and sun-shine crowd the past, Thou Giver of all good! Clear Thou my sight, to see where pleasure lies, Bedew my hopes with Jesus' precious blood, That I may grasp the bliss that never dies. Launceston. E. L. COPE. MALACHI iii. 16. THEN they that feared the Lord, spake offen, spake And interchange of soul; and God above, But this to speak the height of bliss they felt, H. Teape and Son, Printers, Tower-Hilt. |