EGYPT AND WEST AFRICA

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 100, 21 January 1908, Page 8

EGYPT AND WEST AFRICA

LECTURE BY VERY REV.D.'.T, O'SULLIVAN. The Very Rev.:D. J. O'Suilivan. • S.M.A., . of Caii'o,- Egypt, did not limit hihiself to his announced subject of . "Egypt ahd the .Pyramids," ill his illustrated/lecture givim in the. Municipal .Concert Ilall last: evening. After showing his audience, in eloquent word pictures,', aided by some admirable limelight views, th't> tombs and-monuments and uncpi'niptpd deadof .that most, ancient land, .lie .took .them io the f over-haunted forests of West Africa, iii which Roman Catholic priests and Sisters ore working, and, .by' an-'abrupt transition.'- to the towns and lovely lakes of Ireland, which sends forth many of. the pnests. . There. Was a crowded audience, many people fieirig unable to gain admission. The lecturer'showed himself an able, elocutionist, with ,a'line appreciation of tho" great facts and' contrasts of history.' and-a senso of .Humour/ which enabled him to be as entertaining' on .'this lower levels of'his subject,' as.-he-was-impressive .on its heights: ... • The Mayor (the Iloh. T. W., IlislopX in introducing -the lecturer, referred to the great interest' whinh Egypt had for the scholar anil antiquarian. Speaking of the immense works that . the lecturer would mention, be pointed out that these we're built under the whip'of the slave-master, .and that thb 'same conditions did not obtaiit to-dav; 1 The Very Rev. I). J. O'Suilivan first referred to the work of Roman Catholic missions in West Africa and Egj.pt.; fn West -Africa there.are forty .million negroes, .and,' as the result of fifty years, of missionary 'effort,3o,ooo are now Christians. There are three Roman Catholic bishops, 200 priests, 100 Sisters, and 53. churches. 11. is a work of humanity, ns well' as of religion. In Egypt, . from 1500 to 1700'Mahi medans receive free treatment evorr day at soveii dispensaries that have been erected. The lecturer then gave a highly, interesting account of .Egypt- as it was in the; early j .Christian centuries,' and as it tan be seen to-day.- -Going far hack into the past,, he described the ancient city of .Memphis, which, 2000 years before the ' Christian "era; had a population of -two millions,, and a historv thai reached back' 2000 years. lii tho, time of Herodotus. 500 years n.c.. it extended for 27, miles along the bank; of the Nile, whoso overflow commenced to bury it beneath mud and debris in the eleventh centuvy. Pour, thousand years . before Christ the inhabitants of Memphis began to bury their dead on the desert fringe; now the cemetery of Memphis covers 70 square' miles' in area. Kings and queens and statesmen sleep in the mighty Pyramids, and millions of humble mortals in the sn.nd-'swept caves between them. Tho shrunken body of the great Pharaoh Sesostris, who ruled !1500 years' ago, was shown amidst flippant laughter. The lecturer gave a vivid description of his impressions on first seeing the Pyramids. He stated that every picture he had ever seen minimised the size and grandeur of these eternal' monuments. A large part of their impressiveness was caused by the fact that they, towered up lonely from the desert, there being no other object-within sight with which theyconhl be compared. Some boautiful views wore shown of Cairo,- the city which has 550 mosques, and of rural Egypt Tho West African.. pictures comprised views of forest scenery, negroes hollowing their canoes! village chiefs, a unlive orchestra, snakc-charmers, and the .mission workers and schools. - The Irish scenes were widely chosen, and were associated by the 'lecturer" with a ■ chain of humorous anecdotes, which considerably amused his audience. Hearty applause was given to. the Very Reverend Father at the conclusion of his lecture. ■ •

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