DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15#0018
8 THE GREAT PYRAMID.
fare. For though one could understand his own
subjects hating him while he was all the time
working for their good, it is obvious that his
memory would not have been hated if some im-
portant good had eventually been gained from his
scheme. Many a far-seeing ruler has been hated
while living on account of the very work for which
his memory has been revered. But the memory of
Cheops and his successors was held in detestation.
May we, however, suppose that, though Cheops
had not the welfare of his own people in his
thoughts, his purpose was nevertheless not selfish,
but intended in some way to promote the welfare
of the human race ? I say his purpose, because,
whoever originated the scheme, Cheops carried it
out ; it was by means of his wealth and through
his power that the pyramid was built. This is the
view adopted by Professor Piazzi Smyth and
others, in our own time, and first suggested by
John Taylor. ' Whereas other writers,' says Smyth,
' have generally esteemed that the mysterious per-
sons who directed the building of the Great Pyramid
(and to whom the Egyptians, in their traditions,
and for ages afterwards, gave an immoral and
even abominable character) must therefore have
been very bad indeed, so that the world at large
has always been fond of standing on, kicking, and
fare. For though one could understand his own
subjects hating him while he was all the time
working for their good, it is obvious that his
memory would not have been hated if some im-
portant good had eventually been gained from his
scheme. Many a far-seeing ruler has been hated
while living on account of the very work for which
his memory has been revered. But the memory of
Cheops and his successors was held in detestation.
May we, however, suppose that, though Cheops
had not the welfare of his own people in his
thoughts, his purpose was nevertheless not selfish,
but intended in some way to promote the welfare
of the human race ? I say his purpose, because,
whoever originated the scheme, Cheops carried it
out ; it was by means of his wealth and through
his power that the pyramid was built. This is the
view adopted by Professor Piazzi Smyth and
others, in our own time, and first suggested by
John Taylor. ' Whereas other writers,' says Smyth,
' have generally esteemed that the mysterious per-
sons who directed the building of the Great Pyramid
(and to whom the Egyptians, in their traditions,
and for ages afterwards, gave an immoral and
even abominable character) must therefore have
been very bad indeed, so that the world at large
has always been fond of standing on, kicking, and