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"It must have been dreadful to have been awakened," said Edwin, "to such horrors."

"It must, my dear. The inhabitants were evidently endeavouring to escape, but in vain. There is a house, the threshold of which is inlaid with a black stone, as an intimation of the hospitality of the occupant. Seven skeletons were found in the front of it: the first carried a lamp, and the others had still something between the bones of their fingers, which they wished to save."

"It is shocking, papa, even to think of what happened to these towns."

"It is. I was going to remark, that there is an altar in a paved court, where, no doubt, sacrifices were offered. The hoop in which the basin for the coals was sunk, is elegantly decorated with rams' heads, connected by garlands of flowers. Within the basin, which is of baked earth, the very cinders left from the last sacrifice, nearly two thousand years, are seen as fresh as if they had been the remains of yesterday's fire. The great amphitheatre at Pompeii rears its head above that of every other edifice. It is a vast structure: it has twentyfour rows of seats, the circumference of the lowest of which is seven hundred and fifty feet. It is supposed to have held thirty thousand spectators. Reflecting on the ruin of these

cities, we may well exclaim, in the language of Holy Writ,' He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth! He toucheth the hills, and they smoke! Who would not fear thee, O king of nations! With God,' indeed, 'is terrible majesty!' But have you, Edwin, any thing more to mention ?"

"Yes, papa, there were some little articles of bronze from Pompeii."

"I think we may dismiss these, as the marble from Herculaneum has been so fruitful in observation."

"I have only one thing more, papa: it was a piece of stone from one of the Pyramids in Egypt. If it had been on the road, I am sure I should not have picked it up. Indeed, there was nothing remarkable in it at all, only that it came from one of the Pyramids."

"This, I think, Edwin, was sufficiently remarkable. But I know what you mean: it appeared only a common stone, of no value." "Yes, papa."

"As we are almost at home, you shall fetch me Dr. Clarke's Travels, out of the library. I think there is a brief account of his visit to the Pyramids. I was much pleased, when I read it some time since. I think it will gratify you and Emma, and be preferable to any observations of my own on the subject."

Page 139.

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After they had seated themselves in the drawing-room, Edwin soon attended to his papa's request. And when Mr. Howard had found the place, Edwin read as follows:

"By reflecting the sun's rays, the Pyramids appeared as white as snow, and of such surprising magnitude, that nothing we had previously conceived in our imagination, had prepared us for the spectacle we beheld. The sight instantly convinced us, that no power of description, no delineation, can convey ideas adequate to the effect produced in viewing these stupendous monuments. The formality of their structure is lost in their prodigious magnitude: the mind, elevated by wonder, feels at once the force of an axiom, which, however disputed, experience confirms, that in vastness, whatever its nature may be, there dwells sublimity.

"Having arrived at the bottom of a sandy slope, leading up to the principal pyramid, a band of Arabs, who had assembled to receive us upon our landing, were much amused by the eagerness excited in our whole party, to prove, who should first set his foot on the summit of this artificial mountain. As we drew near its base, the effect of its prodigious magnitude, and the amazement caused in viewing the enormous masses used in its construction, affected every one of us; but it was an impression of

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