It is upon the bright things of
life we must fix our gaze if we would be of use in our day and
generation.
When in Alexandria we visited with deep interest the site of the
famous Alexandrian Library, in which lay stored the most precious
treasures of the world. Had it escaped destruction, how many
questions which have vexed scholars would never have arisen, and
how much ground which it has been necessary for genius to
reconquer would have come to us as our heritage!
The Cleopatra's Needle now in New York, the counterpart of the one
in London, was still in Alexandria when we were there. Seventeen
hundred years before Christ this huge monolith, which is cut out
of solid rock, was erected at Heliopolis, and it was transported
thence several hundred miles to its present site. It measures
sixty-eight feet in height, and is not less than eight feet square
at its base--one solid shaft of granite; but this is exceeded by
the one still at Thebes, which is a hundred feet high. It struck
me as a notable coincidence that the ingenious Frenchman who first
proved the truth of the supposed hieroglyphic alphabet should have
done so by assuming that the name repeated so frequently upon a
certain stone extolling the virtues of Ptolemy Soter, must be that
of the famous Cleopatra, and so it proved. Thus this extraordinary
woman, who filled the world with her name during her life, and for
centuries after, once more renews her tenure by linking herself
with the world's history two thousand years after her death.
Pages:
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333