1864 - J. Taylor - The Battle of the Standards

8/10/2019 1864 - J. Taylor - The Battle of the Standards

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TH

BATTLE OF THE STANDARDS


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TH

B A T T L E

O

T H E S T A N D A R D S

THE ANCIENT, OF FOUR THOUSA ND YEARS, AGAINST THE

MODERN, OF THE LAST FIFTY YEARS--THE

LESS PERFECT OF THE TWO.

BY J O H N T A Y L O R ,

AUTHOB OF

THE GREAT

PYRMIID,

W HY WA8 IT

BUILT?

ETC., M

THOU

BHALT HAVE

A

PBRPEDT AND

~ B T

EIGHT, A

PEBFEDT

AND JUST

MEASURE

SHALT TAOU HAVE

TEAT TRY

DAYS

YAY

BE L ~ G T H E N E D

N

TU B LAND

WHIOH

TEE LORDTBY GOD

GIVETH

~ ~ s s . - D e u t . xxv 15

L O N D O N :

LONQMAN, GREEN, LONOMAN, ROBERTS, GREEN.

1864.


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LONDON:

pQ YJ WKRT XLYOR AND CO.

QBC- PLACE,

? I N I I I U R ~ .


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P R E F A C E

U R

Motto from Deuteronomy points to a very

im po rta nt consideration viz.-That th e people who

main tain a perfect and jus t weight and a perfect and

just measure may expect lengthened days in the land

which G OD giveth t hem . If any people were ever

entitled to so great afavour i t might be the Inh abit ant s

of this Coun try. They have had the same measures of

Length Capacity and Weight from th e earliest time s;

and they have been blessed with a long and unbroken

series of peaceful Governments. G reater freedom from

external foes and from internal dissensions has not

fallen to the lot of any other nation.

Another remarkable peculiarity of our Country

is that it has been the home of the oppressed when

they have been exiled from other nations. He re the y

have met w ith personal safety and kind treatm ent. T he

fetters of the slave fall from him as soon as h e la nds

on our shores; yet we interfere not with the Laws of

other countries.

e

set them a good example and

would help them to follow ours as far as we may;

but without interferiug with their internal regulations

because we should object to the ir interm edd ling w ith

ours. If they wish to become one with us we sha ll be

glad to see them enjoy th e same liberty and th at kind

of Governm ent which sui ts them best; bu t we presume

not to dictate to any nation.


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viii PREFACE

Fo ur of the great Em pires of the W orld have risen,

flourished, and passed away, since the Great Pyramid

was constructed. O ur Gov ernm ent, which is th at of a

Nation al B rotherliood, alone is left,

as

if to shew M an-

kind, th at i t is p os ~i bl e o belong t o th e Rame original

Family

of

M an , without absorbing other states, or being

absorbed by any of them . W e are advancing towards

th e end of th e Christian Dispensation nd i t is most

satisfactory to see th a t we still retain th e same Standards

of Length, Capacity aud Weight, which were first

established, by an Unzuritten Revelation, abou t

7

years

before th e Jews were formed into a N ation by Moses

under the Laws of a Written Revelation.

It is to be hoped, that Wars may cease, Conquesta

be disclaimed; and instead of one Country becoming

greate r a t th e expense of another, or by it s downfall,

all may make common cause, and try to lessen, by th e

interchange of kind offices, the su dd e~ i nd uriavoidable

calamities which each map have to endure, mTe have

had happy experience of th is good feeling among th e

greate r pa rt of th e Colonies and Countries with w hich we

are associated, by the bounty which has been extended

t our own land in aid of our distressed operatives and

we are generally willing to shew th e same good feeling

toward others.

Oh mig ht we ll our lineage prove,

Give, and forgive,-do good, and love

By oft endearrnellts, i n k ind s trife,

Lightening t h e load

of

daily life "


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THE GREAT

PYRAMID,

A POEM,

A U T E O B O F A POKT'B CHILDREN, FOOTPATE E BETWEEX TWO WORLDS,

ETC., ETQ

1

DWELLING),ike greate st things, alone,

Nea rest to Heaven of earthly buildings, thou

Dost lif t thin e ancient brow

I n all th e grandeur of imm ortal stone,

And, like t h e Ce nturies' Beacon, stand-

Up-springing as a tongue of Fire,

To light th e Course of Time throug h Egypt's mystic lautl

2.

'T is not for Poet to inquire

hy thou wast built 1 and

wh n

1

Wh ether, in monumental state,

So g rea t thy~ e l f o tom b th e g rea t

Beyond t he ir fellow men 1

Or whether thou dost sti ll endure,

Work of dark tim es which thee d id raise,

To carry on t o future days

The notions of a natural Fait h impure 1

Or do st thou, i n th y bodily Magnitude,

N ot uninform'd nor rude,

Declare th e a bstra ct tie s w hich Science finds,

Seen by t h e light of geomtric minds,

I n fix'd proportions, eac h allied to each 1

O r dost th ou still, in inferential speech,

Reveal unto mankiud the

girth

Of the vastly rounded Earth;

B


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TH

GREAT

PYRAMID

And to th e busy hum an race

Bequeath a rule, to guide t he range

Of all th e minor Me asurements of Space,

W hich Tr c geta, an d gives, in endless intercha nge

3.

Thou pointest, like an Index, t o th ' extrem es

Of Time and Life. Fo r ever in thy sight

Rolls th at great River, th e High Pries t of Streams,

As consecrated by old Night

To minister to Memories of the

past.

H e comes on like a Conqueror,-not for blood,

But to subdue th e waste. Hi s waves have cast

More riches round them, as th e stream has roll'd

Thro ugh many climes it s solitary flood,

Tha n if the y surged in gold.

bleseBd Spi ri t of which no eyes behold

The Source whenca thou deecendest in t h y power

To bid t h e Desert flower.

Thus, from a Foun tain veil'd to mortal eye,

Heaven's bounty str eam s from high

To fertilize two worlds, an d cause t o bloom

T h e waste of Life, th e desert of th e Tomb.

4

And near the e th e Grand C ity spreads, where dwell

Spro uts from all modern nations, making there

A mi xtu re of moralities and creeds,

And customs and costumes, th at needs

Much tim e t o comprehend, nor less to te ll;

And half-suggests a prayer,

T ha t th e indignant Nile would rise, and hide

T h' Augean sights th at shock th e purer-eyed,

And throu gh th e chok'd str ee ts flush it s purifying tide.

6

A th in line part s the living from th e dead

A few steps forward, and we trea d

W here t h e long waate of ages wears th e pall

Of Deso lation t our footsteps'-fall

The Locust, rising from hie rocky bed,

Fl its t o some othe r spot, where h e alone

May share, without a peer, his Desert-bounded throne.


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A POEM

8

6

Stupendous pile th e thing s which thou hast seen,

I n t h y long life, pass by the e a dream-

This forms the Poet 's theme.

Fr om th y old Kings, ti l l now, th e a re a t have been

Subjected t o th y gaze. T hu t wondrous man,

Miscall'd th e MADM AN,n th y land began

To work his schemes, when Commerce rose,

By long-foreseeing Thought compell'd

To choose her Habitation nd th e Ea st

And Learning, in descending ages, held

I n Alexaudria,'s bowers he r intellectual f a q t .

7.

Different was he, th a t

Brand

of War, whose breath

Chang'd, like the fell Simoom, th e verda nt sod

Int o a waste- eniua of Crime and Death,

H e th e World's demon, and his Soldiers' god

Fo r stil l Reflection asks, for what great good

The F irst NAPOLEONtain'd th e peaceful Ea rth w ith blood.

8

And in this land th e Traveller y et may hear,

Att entiv e with historic ear-

o'er th e keel-plough'd deep

The battle -clam ours sweep,

Th e Voice of N EIAON ry aloud, to slip

Th e iron thunder-sho wer fro m ea ch recoiling ship.

9

Enduring pi le Thou ar t th e l ink tha t b in&

Th e Mem ories of reflective minds-

Vast

mass

of monumental rock sublime,

Tha t to the present Age doet join t h e Y outh of Time.

Th fs beautiful Poem was not received till after the Auth or hnd published his

Fir st Edition of the Gr eat Fyramid. He has much pleasure in addlng It now.-The

various causes, which h6ve made the Pyam id famous, an, touched on y MI S m

with that consummate Poetlc Art, of which he

s

so pmf our~d master.

Tlle Sonnet, which followa, waa originally s en t by Mr.8trong to the h d Mogcutm

whlch the Edito r conducted (from 1821

to

1824) wlth the aid of the Ibte John Hamilton

Reynolds and the la te Thomas Hood,

hid

valuable coadjutors.


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THE

UT PYRAMID

SONNETS.

SONN Z FROM

PETBOCCHL

Io chi& a1

orw d

a chi

mree

il p d e

Amplo edifido che qui a1 suol

traeuti

Ei non risponde, e pih veloci e presti

Fuggitivo per l aere i v d pande.

Dico

alla

FAMA u che all ammirande

Coae dbi

vita

e qneati avanxi e queati

C%ina elh

gli

occhi conturbati e m d i

Qualchi doglioai

alti

eoepiri tramande.

1 gi8

volgea maravigliando il passo

Quando sull' alta mole, altm in moatrs

Visto girsene

OBBLIO

di s eeo in saeeo

;

Ah tu, gridai, f o m apristi, ah mostre-

Ma

in tnono ei m'intarmppe, orrido e besclo

lo di chi fu non cun ;

desso B

nostra

T ~~H B UT E DY Y FRIEND EE REV.

CH~ LE

ST BOX^

M.A.

F . u s . ;

ND SmCE

BEPUBLISEEU

IN

TEE SECOND

ITIox

oe IS

Y S o ~ 862.

1 ask'd of Tnaz To whom arose

this

high

Majestic pile, here mouldering in decay

I

He answer'd not, but swifter sped his way,

With ceaseless pinione winnowing the sky.

To FAMEturn'd :

Speak Thou, whose sons defy

The

waste of years, and deathless works m y "

She heaved a sigh, as one to grief a prey,

And silent, downward cast her

tearful

eye.

Onward I paas'd, but ead and thoughtful grown

When, stern in aspect, o'er the ruin'd shrine

aw OBLIVION

ak

from stone to stone.

Dread Power " I cried, TeU me, whose vast design-

He check'd my further speech, in sullen tone ;

Whose o m t was, I care not

;

ow 'tia mine

"


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ESSAY ON THE STANDARDS

ETO.

H E appearance of th e Great Pyram id was sufficiently

T striking to arrest th e attention of all strangers

visiting Egypt even if the purport of it s erection were

un

known. O n th e left bank of th e Nile about seven miles

from Cairo is still to b e seen a group of Pyram ids of

various sizes called th e Pyramids of Gizeh th e largest

of which when perfect was abou t

76

feet in length on

each of th e four sides at th e base and about

86

feet i n

vertical height at the apex. I t

m s

originally cased over

with a dark-coloured marble like th e black marble of

Ashford in Derbyshire th e same th at is called Swine-

elone by mineralogists; bu t this became white by th e

action of th e sun in th e course of years an d where i t

is now seen i t i s of a bright straw-colour. Th e black

ma rble of Ashford has changed to a w hitish tin t even in

th irt y years. The re are two truncated columns of this

marble supp orting two beautiful antique vases in th e

gardens at.Chatsworth which columns are now bleached

throug ho ut of a dead white-yet they have no t been there

in th at position more tha n thirty years

as Sir Joseph

Pax ton informed me when saw them abou t thre e

years ago.

The Swinestone of Egypt was brought from the

Mo kattam quarry about fifteen miles higher up t h e


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6

A N ESS Y O N

River Nile, and was, like the black marble of Derby-

shire, capable of receiving a very high polish. I t ha s

often been asserted by some persons, th at the re never

had been any prismatic casing-stones placed between

I

th e limestone blocks of which th e kernel of t he Pyra-

mid is constructed

;

but, i n 1837, Colonel Howard Vyse

was so fortunate as to settle this question. H e dis-

covered, under th e d6bris on th e N orthe rn side of th e

Grea t Pyram id, two of th e casing-stones in their original

position; and , before any change was m ade i n them ,

Mr. Brettell, rt civil engineer, ascertained the angle of

their face with refereuce to its base, and found it to be

exactly 51' 50' 00 . The following remarks, o n th is

discovery, are made by Sir J o h n Herschel, i n th e last

edition of his

utlines of

Astronomy, 8v0, 1859, page

205 :

A t th e date of th e erection of th e G reat Pyramid

'.'

of Gizeh, which precedes by 3,970 years (say 4,000),

C

th e present epoch, th e longitudes of a ll the S tar s were

less by 55' 45' th an a t presen t. Calcu latillg from th is

''

datum th e place of th e pole of th e heavens amon g the

stars, it will be found to fall near

a Draconis

i t s

distance from that star being 3'

44

25 . Thia

being the

most

conspicuous star* in th e immediate

neighbourhood, was therefore th e Pole St ar a t th at

epoch. An d th e lati tud e of Gizeh being just 30'

North, and consequently th e altitude of th e N orth

Pole there also 30, it follows th at th e St ar in question

f

mu st have had, at ita lower culmination a t Gizeh, au

alt itude of 26' 15' 35 . Now i t is a remarkable fact,

r

ascertained by the late researches of Colonel Vyse,

la Draconia

is now an inconspicuous star of the fourth

magnitude, but there is distinct evidence to shew that it was

formerly brighter '


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T H E STANDARDS

O F

LENGTH,

ETC.

7

'

ha t of the nine Pyramids still existing a t Gizeh, six

(including all the largest), have the narrow passages

''

by which alone they can be entered (all of which open

''

ou t on the northe rn faces of th eir respective P yra-

mids), inclined to t he horizon downwards, a t angles as

follows :-

I First, or Pyramid of Oheops . . 260 41'

Second, or Pyramid of Cephren . 25' 65

Third, or Pyramid of Mycerinus .

.

26 2'

Fourth,

,,

9,

.

.

2 7 ' 0 '

Fifth

9, 9,

.

27 12'

Ninth

9

9

28 0

Mean . . 28047'

L L

Of the two Pyramids at Abousseir also, which alone

((

exist in a sta te of sufficient preservation to adm it

of th e inclinations of the ir entrance passages being

determined, one has th e angle 27'

5 ,

the other 26 .

A t t he bottom of every one of these passages, there -

((

fore, the then Pole S ta r must have becn visible a t i ts

lower culmination, a circumstance which can hardly

I

be supposed to have been unintentional, an d was

doubtless connected (perhaps superstitiously), with

he astronomical observation of tha t s tar, of whose

proximity to the pole, at the erection of these wonderful

structures, we are th us furn ished with a monumental

1864 - J. Taylor - The Battle of the Standards

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