King Alfred was also a translator of the Scriptures. In his early years his education had been neglected, and much of his time as a young man was occupied riding his country of the Danes, and in its orderly government. When this was accomplished the attention of the King was directed to the subject of education, and such was his diligence and talent that he became one of the most learned men of the day, and, not content with the acquirement of knowledge for himself, he established numerous schools and colleges for his people. Alfred next resolved to throw open to his people in their own tongue and knowledge which till then, had been limited to the clergy, for such was the ignorance of the people that the King said that he
The Kongo, while not so long as the Nile, is greater in volume than any other river in Africa, is greater in volume than the Mississippi, and is second only to the Amazon. It drains a basin as large as half of the United States proper. The river has many tributaries, and its navigable water ways, if stretched out in one line, would reach about halfway around the globe. From its mouth at Matadi, about one hundred miles inland, the Kongo is more like a long lake than a river. It is five or six miles wide, and in many places three hundred feet deep. From Matadi to Stanley Pool, about two hundred miles, there is a series of cataracts; but above that to Stanley Falles are more than one thousand miles of open river, upon which steamboats can travel as well as upon the Mississippi or the lower parts of the Hudson. On the south the head waters of its tributaries are not far from the watershed of the Zambezi; on the north the headwaters come very close to those of Lake ALbert, Lake Victoria and the other headwaters of the Nile. The Kongo River is the only road by which the products of this vast region can get out to the ocean; and some large European trading companies have established factories and warehouses upon its banks. The most valuable product which the Kongo now gives to the world is rubber, after which come palm nuts and palm oil and ivory in the shapre of elephant tusks. Other exports are peanuts and coffee and copal, a gum that is used to make varnish. Tobacco is grown in all the native villages, and it may become an important article of trade.
In speaking of ancient writing materials a few minutes ago, it was said that stone slabs, metal plates, etc., were used. But there were many other records besides, preserved from the earliest ages and evidencing the truth of such documents. The most important of these have been called the Stone Books. Hours might be spent in describing these records on rocks and slabs and public buildings. They were the earliest forms of records, and the chief events of national history are found recorded in this way-- hieroglyphics or picture writing were first used. Later on, outlines of objects alone were indicated. From these, characters indicative of an alphabet followed, especially in Egypt. But for generations all these remained a sealed book to man, till the year 1799, when a French officer dug up a slab of black marble at a place called Rosetta, on the banks of the Nile. It contained an inscription in characters of three different kinds, one being from ancient Greek. As this was a language which could be translated, it was not difficult to decipher from this clue the two other inscriptions on the stone, and, the alphabet being thus mastered, all other similar inscriptions could be read. The stone, which proved so valuable is known as the Rosetta Stone, and is preserved in the British Museum. The walls of the Temple of Karnak on the Nile are covered with similar inscriptions giving accounts of Egyptian oppressions, and the doings of Joseph and the Pharaoh of his time. Till the discovery of the Rosetta Stone these inscriptions could not be translated and so were absolutely unintelligible. It is the same with the Pyramids and the Egyptian Sphinx. These not only speak forcibly today of ancient skill and scientific knowledge from an architectural point of view, but the inscriptions which the contain confirm the truth of Scripture and make surer still our confidence in its worth. And all this has come to us through the finding of the Rosetta Stone, whose picture is now before us.
A feature of interest in the handing down of the sacred text is the uniform character of the Hebrew language. No language changed so little as the ancient Hebrew. So, when documents in Hebrew character are found, it is comparatively easy to decipher them. But while the language itself has altered so little, the formation of the letters has varied with different periods, and because of this fact, experts have been able to fix the dates of the documents and to divide them into periods and often to determine whether they were genuine or spurious. We give in this view a fac-simile of writing on papyrus.
After the reigns of the wicked kings, Manasseh and Amon, the young king Josiah was raised to the throne. Having been brought up by his mother, Jedidah, in the fear and admonition of the Lord, he not only walked in the ways of God, of his Father, David, but he also again established and encouraged the worship of Jehovah. In the 18th year of his reign, the High Priest Hilkiah found a copy of the Book of the Law of Moses in the Temple. When the attention of Josiah was called to this, he at once humbled himself before the Lord on account of the sins of the people, and then summoned the Elders of Judah and Jerusalem and read the whole of it in their hearing. Our slide represents Josiah reading the Law to the people.
"Nicodemus answered and said unto him, 'How can these things be?' Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Art thou the teacher of Israel and understandest not these things?.....If I told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things.?...As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.'" John 2:9,10,12,14,15.
"And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you that even Solomn in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith!" Matt 6:28-30.
