Lastly, the apex
or crowning stone of the pyramid was no other than the antitype of that
stone of stumbling and rock of offence, rejected by builders who knew
not its true use, until it was finally placed as the chief stone of the
corner. Whence naturally, 'whosoever shall fall upon it'--that is, upon
the pyramid religion--'shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall
it will grind him to powder.'

If we examine the relations actually presented by the great pyramid--its
geographical position, dimensions, shape, and internal
structure--without hampering ourselves with the tenets of the new faith
on the one hand, or on the other with any serious anxiety to disprove
them, we shall find much to suggest that the builders of the pyramid
were ingenious mathematicians, who had made some progress in astronomy,
though not so much as they had made in the mastery of mechanical and
scientific difficulties.

The first point to be noticed is the geographical position of the great
pyramid, so far, at least, as this position affects the aspect of the
heavens, viewed from the pyramid as from an observatory. Little
importance, I conceive, can be attached to purely geographical relations
in considering the pyramid's position. Professor Smyth notes that the
pyramid is peculiarly placed with respect to the mouth of the Nile,
standing 'at the southern apex of the Delta-land of Egypt.' This region
being shaped like a fan, the pyramid, set at the part corresponding to
the handle, was, he considers, 'that monument pure and undefiled in its
religion through an idolatrous land, alluded to by Isaiah; the monument
which was both "an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt,
and a pillar at the border thereof," and destined withal to become a
witness in the latter days, and before the consummation of all things,
to the same Lord, and to what He hath purposed upon man kind.' Still
more fanciful are some other notes upon the pyramid's geographical
position: as (i.) that there is more land along the meridian of the
pyramid than on any other all the world round; (ii.) that there is more
land in the latitude of the pyramid than in any other; and (iii.) that
the pyramid territory of Lower Egypt is at the centre of the dry land
habitable by man all the world over.

It does not seem to be noticed by those who call our attention to these
points that such coincidences prove too much. It might be regarded as
not a mere accident that the great