Jane van Gelder

“ It was the Athens of America, and the residence of historians, orators, poets, artists, and the great men of every department of the sciences who existed in those days.
“What a subject for contemplation does this collection of ruins present to the reflecting mind! The seat of a powerful monarch, whose subjects (if we may judge from their works) were probably an enlightened people, existing and flourishing long before the continent of America was known to Europe, and yet a people whose customs, costume, religion, and architecture strongly resembled those of an enlightened nation of Africa.” ”

“ Lo, He will protect thy son and return him to thee safely. Pray unto the Lord for our sakes, entreat Him to give us grace and favour in the eyes of Egypt’s prince. Lo, had we not tarried thus long, we should have now been back with food; yea, back twice to thee, and with thy son in safety.”
And Jacob answered: “The Lord God give you grace in the eyes of the King and officers of Egypt. In Him will I put my trust. Arise, go unto the man, take with ye gifts, the best the land affords; the Lord will be with ye, and ye shall bring back to me your brothers, Benjamin and Simeon.” ”

“ And Joseph said to Pharaoh:
“Let not the King think that his dreams are two and distinct; they have but a single portent, and what the Lord intends doing upon the earth He has shown to Pharaoh in a vision. Let me advise thee, O King, how thou mayest preserve thy life and the lives of all the inhabitants of thy land from the grievous evils of the famine which is soon to drain and dry up its fruitfulness and its plenty. ”

“ Has the Lord withdrawn from us the mercy which He showed to our ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, that He has given us into the hands of Egypt’s prince to mock us and make merry with us?”
But Judah said, “It is just! Are we not guilty and sinful before the Lord? We sold our brother, our flesh. Why should we now complain that the favour God has lavished on our ancestors is denied to us?” ”

“ Are all things well with him?’ Thou hast not heard, as we have, of his power; over his people he is supreme; upon his word they go out, and upon his word they come in; his word governs, and the voice of his master, Pharaoh, is not required. Oh, my father, send the lad,—we cannot go without him; if thou refusest, we must see our children die with hunger.”
And Jacob said, in his sorrow: “Why did ye tell the man ye had a brother? Oh, evil, evil is this thing which ye have done!” “Give the boy into my hands,” said Judah, “and let us go down to Egypt and buy the corn. ”

“ And Pharaoh sent for Joseph and said to him: “Thou didst advise me to appoint a wise and discreet man to deliver the land from the anguish of famine. Surely, there can be none more discreet than thyself to whom God has made known all these things. Thy name shall no more be Joseph, but ‘Zaphenath-Päaneah’ (Revealer of hidden things) shalt thou hereafter be called among men.
“Thou shalt be second to me only, and according to thy words shall the land of Egypt be ruled; only upon the throne shall I be greater than thyself.” ”

“ And when Joseph learned that his father was upon the way he gathered together his friends and officers, and soldiers of the realm, and they attired themselves in rich garments and gold and silver ornaments, and the troops were armed with all the implements of war, and they gathered together and formed a great company to meet Jacob upon the way and escort him to Egypt. Music and gladness filled the land, and all the people, the women and the children, assembled upon the house-tops to view the magnificent display. ”

“ Receive the sacrifice for Thy whole people Israel, and preserve Thine own portion, and sanctify it. Gather those together that are scattered from us, deliver them that serve among the heathen, look upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that Thou art our God. Punish them that oppress us, and with pride do us wrong. Plant Thy people again in Thy holy place, as Moses hath spoken.” And the priests sang psalms of thanksgiving.
Now when the sacrifice was consumed, Nehemiah commanded the water that was left to be poured on the great stones. ”

“ Moses reigned in Ethiopia in justice and righteousness. But the dowager Queen of Ethiopia, Adonith, who was a wife to Moses in name only, said to the people: “Why should this stranger continue to rule over you? Would it not be more just to place the son of Kikanus upon his father’s throne, for he is one of you?” The people, however, would not vex Moses, whom they loved, by such a proposition; but Moses voluntarily resigned the power which they had given him, and departed from their land. And the people of Ethiopia made him many rich presents, and dismissed him with great honours. ”

“ I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. ”

“ The fury of barbarians, the enmity of nations, and the animosities of individuals, all subside at the view of this sacred land; nor ever have the coursers of Mars trodden it with their ensanguined feet. Everything that can present the image of war is rigorously banished; and even the animal most faithful to man is not suffered to remain in it, because he would destroy the weaker and more timid creatures. ”

“ The cruelty and the superstition of the Spaniards in New Spain are well known throughout the civilized world, so that it is needless to recount them here. These usurpers did all in their power to destroy every monument of the ancient Mexicans, under the ignorant impression that every building was a heathen temple, and every statue the image of a pagan god, to whom prayers and sacrifices were offered. They even built churches on the tops of some of the large Pyramids, thinking that these were temples, erected for the performance of idolatrous worship! ”

“ The decent deportment of the Peruvian monarch, the order of his court, and the reverence with which his subjects approached his person and obeyed his commands, astonished those Spaniards who had never met in America with anything more dignified than the petty cazique of a barbarous tribe. But their eyes were still more powerfully attracted by the vast profusion of wealth which they observed in the Inca’s camp. ”

“ In the first chapter of Genesis, Moses records the creation of heaven and earth with all the contents of each of them. Man, male and female, was created on the sixth day—not one couple, but many couples, as other animals were created; they were without number. And the Almighty blessed them, and told them to multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it; to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. ”

“ And let the King command the people of the land, that they shall each and every one gather and store up in the years of plenty of the produce of the fields, to provide for their wants when the ground shall be barren and the fields unproductive.”
And the King answered, “How knowest thou that thou hast read the dream aright?”
And Joseph said, “Lo, this shall be a sign that my words are true. A son shall be born to the King, and upon the day of his birth, thy first-born son, who is now two years old, shall die.” ”

“ From the peninsula of Corea Moses and his followers crossed over to the beautiful island of Japan, in the North Pacific Ocean, not far distant from the continent of Asia. The people inhabiting the numerous isles which compose the kingdom of Japan were savages—ignorant and superstitious, like the rest of the children of Nature, whom the Lawgiver had met in his journey, and whom he reclaimed from the darkness of ignorance to the knowledge of God and His commandments. ”

“ Moses became as a son to Thermuthis, the daughter of Pharaoh, as a child belonging rightly to the palace of the King.
The first exploit of Moses was as a general of the Egyptian army, which he led into Ethiopia; he marched by land, and on the way gave a wonderful demonstration of his sagacity. The ground was difficult to be passed over, because of the multitude of serpents; these it produces in vast numbers, and, indeed, is singular in some of those species, which other countries do not breed, and yet such as are worse than others in power and mischief, possessing unusual keenness of sight. ”

“ The small fleets which bring the offerings to Delos had already left the ports of Mycone and Rhenea, and other fleets appeared at a distance. An infinite number of vessels of every kind flew over the surface of the sea, resplendent with a thousand different colours. They were seen to issue from the channels which separate the islands, cross, pursue, and join each other. A fresh gale played in their purple sails; and the waves beneath their oars were covered with a foam, which reflected the rays of the rising sun.
“At the foot of the mountain an immense multitude overspread the plain. ”

“ The Spaniards having divided among them the treasure amassed for the Inca’s ransom, he insisted with them to fulfil their promise of setting him at liberty. But nothing was further from Pizarro’s thoughts. During his long service in the New World, he had imbibed those ideas and maxims of his fellow soldiers, which led them to consider its inhabitants as an inferior race, neither worthy of the name nor entitled to the rights of men. ”

“ At the foot of Mount Hor there is a remarkable place, called by the Arabs Wady Mousa, or the Valley of Moses; and the whole of this wild region is celebrated for its beautiful architectural remains. Travellers of our time are told by the Arabs that a great prince dwelt there, and they show them a noble edifice as Pharaoh’s Castle, and another equally beautiful as the Palace of Pharaoh’s daughter. ”

“ I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment ”

“ Every traveller, in viewing these wonderful remains is forcibly reminded of similar remains in Egypt and Nubia—unmistakable proof of the works having been executed under the guidance of the same inspired intellect.
The colonies left by Moses or Manu in the peninsula of India within the Ganges were distinctly traceable in the days of Alexander the Great, the southern colonists being swarthy, tall, and handsome, not unlike Ethiopians, whilst those of the northern latitudes were much fairer, and not unlike the Egyptians, and those still farther south were Jews. ”

“ He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
“They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children. ”

“ The land of Egypt is six hundred miles long, and is bounded by two ranges of naked limestone hills which sometimes approach, and sometimes retire from each other, leaving between them an average breadth of seven miles. Northwards they part and finally disappear, giving place to a marshy meadow plain which extends to the Mediterranean coast. To the south they are no longer of limestone, but of granite; they narrow to a point; they close till they almost touch; and through the mountain gate thus formed the river Nile leaps with a roar into the valley, and runs due north towards the sea. ”

“ The Spaniards eventually became masters of the whole empire, and in their endeavours to obliterate every record of its past history they burned everything they found which had any hieroglyphics or painting on it. Though only the ruins of monuments remain, yet these attest the superior ingenuity of the Peruvians. Ruins of sacred or royal buildings are found in every province of the empire, and by their great number demonstrate that they are monuments of a powerful people. They appear to have been edifices of various dimensions ”