312 f CLEOPATRA S IsEEDLE. 



erally about ten to one, or, in other words, the height was about ten times 

 the square of the base. The hieroglyphics on " Cleojoatra's Needle" were 

 from two feet to three feet long, cut two inches deep and three inches or four 

 inches broad, so that they could be read from a distance of fifty or sixty 

 yards. The inscrijDtion, besides recording the virtues and power of Thoth- 

 mes, recorded that the obelisk when setup was tipped with gold. This fea- 

 feature. was of course gone, but there was a slight ledge round the point at 

 the top which was no doubt made to receive a gold tip, or one of bronze 

 gilt. On the top of the obelisk of Luxor at Paris, which the French brought 

 from Egypt, there was a similar ledge or groove. The inscription on Cleo- 

 patra's Needle did not say in what city that obelisk was set up. Some ac- 

 counts had it that it was first erected at Thebes, and was afterwards re- 

 moved by Eameses to Memphis. Be that as it might, it was ultimately re- 

 moved to the ancient city of Heliopolis. The site of that city, once the 

 Oxford and Cambridge of the world, and at that time, it may be presumed, 

 covered with magnificent buildings, now presented one of the most astound- 

 ing spectacles which could be witnessed. Nothing remained .but a green 

 plain, in the center of which was a solitary obelisk, opposite t© which once 

 stood the stone now known as "Cleopatra's Needle." The latter was sub- 

 sequently removed to Alexandria. How it came to be thrown down in its 

 present position nobody knew. It had been conjunctured that an earth- 

 quake was the cause of its overthrow, but it was much more likely, Mr. 

 Dixon thought, that it was thrown down to get at the bronze tortoise on 

 which it was believed all these obelisks were placed. In 1798 the French 

 conquered Egypt, and they laid their hands on everything that was valu- 

 able or invaluable in the country. They carried off an enormous quantity 

 of Egyptian remains, and they proposed to carry off the Eosetta stone (now 

 in the British Museum), Cleopatra's Needle, and other antiquities. Before 

 they could do so, however, they were driven out of Egypt by the English, 

 and at the conclusion of that brilliant campaign, in which Sir Ealph Aber- 

 crombie fell, a great effort was made to secure Cleopatra's Needle, which 

 would when erected in London, form a fitting monument of one of the most 

 brilliant campaigns in which English arms had ever been engaged. The 

 army subscribed four or five days pay, and assisted by the navy, took steps 

 to remove the obelisk. They had hardly commenced, however, ere the red- 

 tape and pipeclay of those days sent forth an order to desist in the attempt, 

 as such work would be destructive of discipline and of the accoutrements 

 of the men. So the obelisk remained where it was. When Mehemet Ali 

 assumed the reins of power, he, wishing to please George III, presented the 

 Eosetta stone and many of the principal objects in the Egyptian Court of 

 the British Museum, together with Cleopatra's Needle, to the English na- 

 tion. The British Grovernment, however, had always declined meddling 

 with this obelisk, although repeatedly urged to bring it over. The expense 

 involved was made the great obstacle, although even so utilitarian a man as 

 Joseph Hume proposed to spend the national money in bringing over the 



