three British frigates, they would destroy the whole of Mohammed's fleet, if they had plenty of sea-room; and especially if it were blowing hard at the time of action, for then Egypt's vaunted ships would be useless." Both Mr. Wilde and Mr. Macbriar are right in their facts. As compared with the institutions and establishments of such a nation as England or France, those of Ali Pasha must of necessity be infantile and feeble, and sometimes ludicrously ill-appointed; but as compared with the state of Egypt twenty years since, they are a remarkable monument of ability and enterprise, having been planned and carried out by the energy and perseverance of one man of powerful mind, in opposition to the strongest habits and prejudices of his adopted country, and to the whole cast and colour of his own creed and education. Then as to the moral character of the Pasha's government, like Bonaparte, he is arbitrary and tyrannical upon principle; he determines to accomplish his purposes at whatever expence of suffering to others; and though courteous in manner, and not probably revelling in cruelty for its own sake, yet prepared to be as cruel as may be expedient to work out his plans, and reckless of human life to promote his own aggrandizement. scene. Our two travellers differ as much in general taste as respecting the proceedings of Mehemet Ali. We will instance this, in rather ludicrous contrast in a pyramid Mr. Wilde is by no means a romantic traveller, rather the contrary, but he warms when he begins to relate his visits to the pyramids ; whereas Mr. Macbriar looks at the matter as coolly as if he was looking at the architecture of a street in Leeds or Manchester, and wonders what associations the proud monuments of Egypt can awaken in a Christian mind but those of desolation and disgust. He is right in his moral; yet still there are scenes which may well awaken intense emotions, even while we carefully guard the understanding and the heart from the seductive influences which can varnish over pride and oppression, and make us forget the sufferings of millions, in contemplating the trophies which they raised for the barbarous gratification of some ruthless oppres Not (The Plain of Memphis.)—" It was now about sun-down, and as I sat upon one of the adjoining hillocks that crown this range of rock, while Paulo was preparing my coffee, I enjoyed the splendid picture that lay stretched beneath me, and mused upon the days of the past while fancy conjured up the recollection of far distant eras, and gave shape, form, and life itself to the undulating line of gray sand that occupied the space between me and the glowing fertile plain of Fayoum. This space, now so lone and desolate, was once crowded with the edifices, and noisy with the people of Memphis. withstanding the learned descriptions, as to the site of this vast city, by the savans of both ancient and modern times, the unpretending traveller who sits thus, with a view commanding the whole range of country, and the quotations of Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Strabo, fresh in his memory, may be able to advance an opinion as to its probable situation. It appears to me that Memphis stood not exactly at either of those two places, but lay along the whole length of the pyramids -extending from Dashour down to Geza, which latter it did not quite reach, as Pliny tells us the pyramids (evidently the large ones) were between Mem. phis and the Delta, one league from the Nile, two from Memphis, and near the village of Busiris. The vicinity of the tombs and pyramids is no doubt that alluded to by the prophet Hosea, who, speaking of the destruction of the Hebrews, says, Egypt shall fatten them up, and Memphis shall bury them.'Hosea ix. 6. "It was here the Pharoahs reigned; it was here a Joseph ruled, and an Herodotus was initiated into the Egyptian mysteries. It was here a Sesostris and a Rameses held their court; here, perhaps within my view, were executed those signs and wonders when the Nile, now glancing in the sunbeams, ran thick and red with blood, as the rod of the Israelitish law-giver was stretched over its dark waters; here plague and pestilence swept off millions, and those very rocks and caves that now surround me once flung back the midnight cry that rose throughout the land, when the firstborn of Egypt were smitten by the angel of destruction, who breathed his deadly mandate on the host of Pharaoh; and farther on the mental diorama moves till when Israel's bond-children rose to go, and countless numbers crowd the streets, laden with the spoil of their Egyptian lords; and lastly came in a still more recent age, the king Bokhtnasr, to avenge the wrongs of Judah, and receive the reward of conquest performed in another and a distant land; and a small volume which then lay before me, printed in a far distant isle, and in a language then unknown, tells me all this! "But all that was great or grand of Memphis is no more; the sand rolls its destructive wave along the ground whereon it stood, and Egypt lies beyond, its noble river margined by tall quivering palms; the hamlet's rustic music, the jackal's evening whine, and the pelican's plaintive note, are the only sounds that wake the stillness of this sequestered spot." (The Pyramid of Cephrenes.)-"I engaged two of the Arabs to conduct me to the summit of the pyramid of Cephrenes. I was totally unaware of the difficulty and danger of this ascent, and of its having been undertaken by but five or six travellers of late years; the natives themselves never scaling it but for some reward. Had I been acquainted with the difficulties to be encountered, I much doubt whether my enthusiasm would have induced me to venture up. "This, like the others, was first built in steps, or courses of enormous stones, each row placed the breadth of itself within the course beneath. Some stones in the base of this pyramid are larger than those of Cheops, and from four to five feet in depth, so that we had to clamber over them on our hands; but in this I was assisted by the guides, one an old man, the other about forty, both of a mould which for combination of strength and agility I do not think I ever saw surpassed. We soon turned to the north, and finally reached the outer casing on the west side. this was very laborious to be sure, All though not very dangerous; but here was an obstacle that I knew not how they themselves could surmount, much less how I could possibly master; for above our heads jutted out, like an eave or coping, the lower stones of the coating which still remain, and retain a smooth polished surface. As considerable precaution was necessary, the men made me take off my hat, coat, and shoes, at this place; the younger then placed his raised and extended hands against the projecting edge of the lower stone, which reached to above his chin; and the elder, taking me in his arms, as I would a child, placed my feet on the other's shoulder, and my body flat on the smooth surface of the stone; in this position we formed an angle with each other, and here I remained for upwards of two minutes, till the older man went round, and by some other means contrived to get over the projection, when creeping along the line of junction of the casing, he took my hands, drew me up to where he was above me, and then letting down his girdle, assisted to mount up the younger, but less active and less daring, climber of the two. We then proceeded much as follows:-One of them got on the shoulders of the other, and so gained the joining of the stone above, which was often five feet asunder; the upper man then helped me in a similar action, while the lower pushed me up by the feet. Having gained this row, we had often to creep for some way along the joining, to where another opportunity of ascending was afforded. In this way we proceeded to the summit, and some idea may be formed of my feelings, when it is recol lected, that all these stones of such a span are highly polished, are set at an angle less than 45', and that the places we had to grip with our hands and feet, were often not two inches wide, and their height above the ground upwards of four hundred feet; a single slip of the foot, or a slight gust of wind, and, from our position, we must all three have been dashed to atoms, long before reaching the ground. On gaining the top, my guides gave vent to sundry demonstrations of satisfaction, clapping me on the back, patting my head, kissing my hands, and uttering a low growl, which presently rose into the more audible, and to my ears, less musical cry of 'buckshese!' From all this I began to suspect that something wonderful had been achieved; and some idea of my perilous situation broke upon me, as I saw some of my friends beneath waving their hats, and looking up with astonishment, as we sat perched upon the top, which is not of us had just room to sit upon the to. At first, imagined these might have been carried up by hawks, but I soon heard the animals squeeling under where I sat. I could not discover the Arabic inscription mentioned by Wilkinson, on any of the stones; but I had far more interesting and absorbing objects to meet my attention, for the grandeur and extent of the picture that now presented itself from this giddy height, was almost as intoxicating as the ascent I had just completed. Around me lay the vast plain of interminable sand, that marked the Lybian and African deserts, the scorching, echoless wilderness which mingled with the clear blue of the atmosphere at the horizon. In a sloping vale, bounded by massive rocks, the unvaried hue of barrenness was enlivened by what appeared to me a narrow silver ribbon, that wound its tortuous course for miles and miles, as it seemed to rise out of the junction of sand and sky above, and was lost to vision as it sunk into it in a similar manner below. Its banks were green and verdant, with the richest foliage, and groves of waving palms were now and then relieved by the gleam of noon-day light, that glanced from the snow-white minaret, or the stately dome of a marabut. This ribbon was the river Nile-its banks the land of Egypt. "The thousand pinnacles of the mosques of Cairo rose to view beyond the goodly land; the white sail of the Kanghia looked but as a sea bird's wing; and the drove of camels, as a black dotted line upon the plain beneath. The whole of the pyramids were below me, almost at my feet. What remembrances; what inexpressible emotions must not the traveller ever feel, while viewing such an exciting picture, where the shadows of the past, and the realities of the present, rush together on his senses. Memphis and Heliopolis stood within my view; but these are gone, as are the people that raised those stupendous sepulchres. Battles have been fought round their base, the storms of above 3000 years have played harmlessly around them; men, the most renowned the world ever saw, have come to wonder at their greatness, and the earth itself has changed much of its external form since they were built; dynasties and kingdoms have passed away: the very bodies of the persons for whose use they were erected, were most likely ransacked for the bit of gold that may have ornamented them; yet, there they stand, as if waiting for the dawning of another transformation of our planet." Now let us see how quietly the good Methodist missionary treats all these fine matters. "There are only two things which incite most travellers to ascend the pyramids: one is, to say that they have been there; and the other, to obtain a view of the country, which is certainly grand. But it was too much for my dizzy head to sustain: for though pretty good at climbing up a steep place, I can never look down from a great height without shuddering; so that my swimming brain was much at ease when we reached the bottom. I thought that I should make a better hand at scrambling through the interior of the pyramid. Disencumbering myself, therefore, of hat and coat, I crawled upon all fours through the aperture; the Arabs leading the way with lighted candles. It was suffocatingly hot; and we were sometimes obliged to crawl upon our bellies, and again to climb the rocks; for which trouble and fatigue, we were privileged with a sight of some bare stone chambers, one of them containing a sarcophagus like a bath. I was almost tempted to ask, 'Is this all that is to be seen?' But remembering that it was antique, and was really the inside of a pyramid of Egypt, where everything must necessarily be marvellous, I prudently held my tongue, and wondered like others; though my amazement was excited in trying to guess what others found here to wonder at. I never visited a natural cavern that was not a hundred times more worthy of being seen; and, if enthusiastic antiquarians will pardon me, the rail-road tunnel under the town of Liverpool, and much more the tunnel under the river Thames, are a thousand times more marvellous." Mr. Macbriar did not find much opportunity in Egypt for direct mis gably diligent and persevering. Whether he is really, as in profession, a Mohammedan, or whether he is in hearta Deist and a despiser of all faiths, seems doubtful; but he is an Occidental rather than an Oriental in his measures. In direct opposition to the whole spirit of Mohammedanism, he determined to introduce into Egypt the arts, sciences, manufactures, and commerce of Christian nations; he invited foreign artizans to settle in his country; he instituted schools and colleges, and encouraged the studies of the Western world; he gave confidence to the merchant by the security of property, so that commerce found its way to his shores; he opened the land to travellers, who may now safely perambulate it to the remotest deserts, under his protection; he established courts of justice; promoted navigation ; and introduced unknown manufac sionary labour, at least in preaching; and the Wesleyan Missionary Society withdrew its mission from that country just as he was leaving it. But we are far from taking a despairing view of the prospects of Christianity in Egypt. We have already expressed our opinion respecting the ruler of that country; but though his personal character is violent and reckless, and his political ambition and his spirit of exaction are tyrannical, he has incidentally done much towards opening the regions under his sway for the entrance of Christian light. He has now ruled over Egypt for fiveand-thirty years, and for many years over Syria and other vast tracts, including a large part of Asia Minor; and his power is virtually acknowledged through. out the Arabian peninsula, except Muscat; as also in Ethiopia, Nubia, and Abyssinia, and to the interior of Africa. Over the pastures ;* and we have already nosage by the Red Sea to India, from the arrival at Alexandria to the exit at the Straits of Babelmandel, he is undisputed master. Thus powerful, he has everywhere exerted his influence to assimilate the countries under his sway to European habits. He found Egypt subjected to the execrable domination of the Beys, (Mamelukes) and strikingly corresponding to the predictions of Holy Writ: "The sceptre of Egypt shall pass away, and there shall be no more a prince of the land; they shall be a base kingdom." For ages these strangers had ruled her, and deplorable was her condition. Mehemet also himself was a stranger; an obscure Albanian, whose sword, and enterprising character, and powerful natural talents, though unaided by education, made him at first the right arm, and afterwards the victor, of his Ottoman masters. He is shrewd, penetrating, and indefati ticed his dockyards and arsenals. In his domestic establishment he has no harem; the arrangements of his court are simple and unostentatious; and he has even welcomed a pious English lady into his palace as an instructress to his children; and he allows persons of all persuasions to dwell in the land without being exposed to persecution on account of their creed. * It has been alleged that the manufacture of cotton must have been known to the ancient Egyptians, for that cotton-cloth has been found among the investments of some of the mummies. This proof, however, is not indisputable; for great numbers of manufactured mummies are imported into Europe; the investments of some of which, calico. British goods are exported to it is said, are indisputably Manchester Egypt, and though the mummy makers are very clever, they may have overlooked the distinction between cotton and singed the former for their purpose and linen; and have dyed, rotted, instead of the latter. The manufacture of flax is indisputably ancient. Surely under these circumstances Egypt ought not to be abandoned as a theatre for missionary operations, whether as regards the Mohammedan or the Coptic portion of its inhabitants. The Bible may be freely circulated; and facilities are not wanting for the institution of schools; that is, so far as the government is concerned; for the prejudices and bigotry of the people are strong, and a missionary must proceed with caution, so as not to raise popular disturbances. The wide prevalence of infidelity among the foreign part of the population, particularly the French, has not tended to give the natives any respect for the religious opinions of Europeans; and probably many of them have been shaken in their Moslem notions, without having acquired anything better; but even these disruptions are favourable to the introduction of Christian truth; and we seriously think, that, as soon as the present differences with Mehemet Ali are settled, British Christians ought earnestly, though discreetly, to address themselves to missionary efforts in Egypt; and we feel persuaded that their labour would not be in vain in the Lord. The Pasha is grasping, oppressive, and despotic in his government; but his innovating policy favours the attempt to introduce not merely European habits, but that which alone has given to Christendom its superiority and brightest hopes -its holy religion. Are the days of Cyprian and Augustine forgotten, that Africa is for ever to be despaired of? or rather is the universal declaration of Holy Writ forgotten, that the heathen were given to Christ for a heritage, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession; or the specific prediction that "Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands to God?" The fulfilment is certain; and may it not be that the remarkable events which have happened in modern Egypt will assist to open the way for the entrance of light and truth, and that this wretched land, the ancient and continued type of spiritual darkness and bondage, may become itself a focus of light and spiritual liberty to the benighted continent of Africa? From Egypt we pass over the Levant to Turkey (confining ourselves to its Asiatic side); but we must not delay time here, as we have to pass on to that most interesting of all lands, Syria. Very little has been attempted in modern days for the conversion of Turkey to the faith of Christ; indeed, we might say, almost nothing except the translation and dispersion of the Holy Scriptures as a ground work, and this rather for the degenerate Christians who speak the Turkish language than for Mohammedans. The obstacles in the way of religious intercourse with the votaries of the false prophet are very great; for not only by the laws of the Koran are tortures and death the lot of those who reject the superstition of their fathers, and embrace Christianity; so that a bar of adamant is interposed in the way even of preliminary inquiry; especially in Turkey, (for in Persia the people are less intolerant, and even court discussion); but the mixture of what is true with what is false, and what is virtuous with what is depraved, renders it far more difficult to reason with a Mohammedan than with a Pagan. The latter is a polytheist, and his notions of religion and moral duty are superstitious, debasing, and disgusting; but the Mohammedan-though much of his system is entitled to these epithets, yet acknowledges the unity of God: and he reads in |
