The Nile Valley
The River Nile is the element which creates the special characteristics
of Egypt, and differentiates it from other parts of the Sahara Desert.
At its annual overflow this river deposits a rich sediment, which
makes the fertile plains on either side such a contrast to the brown
monotony of the desert. East and west of the Nile valley stretch great
wastes, broken here and there by green oases, and the general scenery
is too uniform to be interesting, the Delta itself presenting a richly
cultivated level plain, interspersed by the lofty dark brown mounds of
ancient cities and villages set in groves of palm-trees.
In Upper Egypt the Nile valley is narrow, and is bounded by mountains
inconsiderable in height, and which never rise into peaks. Sometimes
they approach the river in the form of promontories, and sometimes are
divided by the beds of ancient watercourses. These are sufficiently
picturesque, but otherwise the landscape is not striking. In colour,
however, it is remarkably so. "The bright green of the fields, the
reddish brown or dull green of the great river contrasting with the bare
yellow rocks seen beneath a brilliant sun and deep blue sky, present
views of great beauty."
Racial Origin
The question of the racial origin of the people of ancient Egypt is
one of great complexity. In graves and early cultural remains we find
traces of several races which at remote periods entered the country,
and concerning whom the data are so scanty that it is highly dangerous
to generalize about them. According to Professor Sergi of Rome, the
originator of the theory that a great civilizing stock arose at an early
period on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, the ancient Egyptian
belonged to the eastern branch of this race, along with the Nubians,
Abyssinians, Galla, Masai, and Somali. The evidence of language is
vague, for in this, as in other instances, it may only be cultural.
Another theory is that which would people the Nile valley in early times
with a pygmy race, who were dispossessed and driven out by the immigrant
Mediterraneans. The theory that the Mediterranean people entered Egypt
directly from their original home does not agree with that which would
make a stone-working race populating the country at an early period
emanate from Palestine. It would appear from a consideration of the data
that these were Mediterraneans who had had long practice in working
in stone in a country abounding in that material. These were probably
followed by successive immigrations from the east and from Arabia or its
neighbourhood, whence came a people cognate with the Babylonians and
conversant with their culture, which they had absorbed in a common early
home which cannot now be located. These imposed their Semitic vocabulary
upon the Hamitic syntax of the people they found in the Nile valley.
But although they revolutionized the language, they only partially
succeeded in altering the religion, which remained for the most part
of the Osirian type, blending later with the Horus hawk-worship of the
new-comers. There are not wanting those who think that these immigrants
from Arabia were Hamites, who attained to a high civilization in Western
Arabia, and, pressed on by Semitic hordes from the north, crossed the
Red Sea in vessels and made their first base in Egypt at Berenice.
The dynastic Egyptians, according to this view, are Hamitic, and
not far removed in physical type from the Galla of to-day, but had,
perhaps, some element of the proto-Semitic.[1] They are thought "to have
concentrated themselves in the narrow strip of fertility along the banks
of the Nile." It would indeed be difficult to discern where else they
could have concentrated themselves.
The dynastic history of ancient Egypt extends, at the lowest
computation, over a period of more than three thousand years. In view of
chronological difficulties, it has been found convenient to adopt the
dynastic system of reckoning chosen by Manetho, an Egyptian priest who
lived in the third century before Christ. Manetho divided the history
of Egypt into thirty-one dynasties, of which some twenty-six comprise
the period between Mena's Conquest and the Persian Conquest, while the
others cover the period of Persian, Hellenic, and Latin supremacy. With
the Persian Conquest, however, came the disintegration of the Egyptian
Empire, and at that point purely native history comes to an end.
Though Manetho's dynastic divisions have been adopted by modern
Egyptologists, his chronology is not so well received, though it is
supported by at least one distinguished authority--Professor Flinders
Petrie. The general tendency at the present day is to accept the minimum
chronology which is known as that of the Berlin School, which places
Mena's Conquest at 3400 B.C. and the Twelfth Dynasty about 2000 B.C.,
rather than that of Professor Petrie, which would place these events
at 5500 B.C. and 3400 B.C. respectively. It is customary to group the
various dynasties into three periods--the Old Kingdom, comprising
Dynasties I to VIII; the Middle Kingdom, Dynasties IX to XVIII; and the
New Empire, Dynasties XVIII to XXVI. These divisions, however, do not
imply any break in the course of Egyptian history, but are merely used
for the sake of convenience. The following Table compares the systems
of dating in vogue with students of Egyptian history, according to
Professor Petrie and the Berlin School, as represented by Professor
Breasted:
PETRIE (1906) BERLIN SCHOOL (1906)
B.C. B.C.
I 5510 3400
II 5247
III 4945 2980
IV 4731 2900
V 4454 2750
VI 4206 2625
VII 4003 2475
VIII 3933
IX 3787 2445
X 3687
XI 3502 2160
XII 3459 2000
XIII 3246 1788
XIV 2793
XV 2533
XVI 2249
XVII 1731
XVIII 1580 1580
XIX 1322 1350
XX 1202 1200
XXI 1102 1090
XXII 958 945
XXIII 755 745
XXIV 721 718
XXV 715 712
XXVI 664 663
XXVII 525 525
XXVIII 405
XXIX 399
XXX 378
Egyptian Exploration
Egypt, with its mighty ruins wrapped in silence and mystery, long ago
attracted the curiosity of the traveller, for the traditions of a high
civilization, of its religion, government, and culture, lingered in the
memory of man; and there, from temple, pyramid, palace, and city, he has
sought and gained actual and manifold proofs of the existence of that
ancient kingdom. And not only has its own history thus been unveiled
to the modern world, but intertwined therewith has been traced that of
other nations and powers, among them Persia, Greece, and Rome.
The earliest instance in this country of the collecting of Egyptian
antiques is in 1683, when a valuable stele belonging to the Old
Kingdom was brought from Saqqara and presented to the Ashmolean Museum
at Oxford, while in the eighteenth century some attempt was made at
planning and describing Egyptian ruins, and the identification of some
of the sites with cities mentioned in classical writings. In 1798 a
scientific commission, including artists and archæologists, accompanied
Napoleon's military expedition into Egypt, and much valuable work
was accomplished by these savants, the record of which fills several
volumes of the _Description de l'Egypte_, while the large collection of
antiquities gathered by them, including the famous Rosetta Stone, which
proved the key to the mystery of the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing,
came into British possession in the year 1801. Then, under Mehemet Ali,
Egypt was opened to Europeans, and from this time onward great numbers
of antiquities were taken from the country and found their way into
European collections and museums, especially the British Museum, the
Louvre, and those at Leyden, Berlin, and Turin. The largest collection
of Egyptian objects is that at Cairo.
Early Researches
In 1821 came the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone by Champollion,
and this added a new zest to exploration and collecting. Champollion
himself, together with Rosellini, was sent by the Governments of France
and Tuscany on an expedition to Egypt, and much was done in copying
stelæ and inscriptions. But the Prussian Government initiated a greater
undertaking in 1842, under Lepsius, who extended his researches from
Egypt into Nubia as far as Khartoum, and again into Syria and Palestine.
This expedition, with its scientific methods, yielded a wonderful
harvest of valuable results. The official preservation of the ancient
monuments and ruins against exploitation by dealers or destruction by
vandals was first undertaken by Mehemet Ali, who appointed Mariette to
this onerous post, and under his wise and able direction invaluable
work was accomplished. This has been developed under the British
suzerainty. The ancient sites are claimed by the Government, and the
Service of Antiquities has an annual grant of large dimensions and
employs many European and native officials. All provinces are included
in its survey, and no excavations may take place without its permission;
and this is granted to responsible persons only, and on the terms that
half of the antiquities discovered shall become the property of the
Egyptian Government, the other half going to the finders. Sir Gaston
Maspero, director of the Museum at Cairo, has made many brilliant
contributions to Egyptian archæology. As early as 1862 the Scottish
archæologist, Rhind, saw the necessity for some definite scientific and
comprehensive system of excavation if really valuable results were to
be obtained, and lamented the lack of any such methods in his time.
In 1883 this system of investigation was inaugurated at Tanis under
Professor Flinders Petrie. Everything, large and small, found during the
excavation of city, temple, or grave is collected and interpreted, and
made to yield its quota of evidence and information. This method gives
every object its value. Attention is not concentrated on one department
alone, hence nothing is wasted or lost, and knowledge of the arts and
crafts, the customs, the literature and religion of ancient Egypt is
slowly gathered, and all takes its due place in the pageant of history
unfolded before us.
Much of the mystery that hung over Egypt has departed, but the glamour
and fascination she exerted in the past are still as great as ever.
These are not lessened by our more intimate knowledge of her ancient
civilization, but rather increased a hundredfold. The silence of
centuries has been broken, the hieroglyphs have told their tale to
modern man, who listens with ever-deepening interest to the voice of
the Past. The drifting sand of the desert has been cleared away and
ancient buildings stand again in the sunlight and yield their secrets
veiled for so many centuries. The graves tell over again the unchanging
sorrow of death and the world-old longings of man. Apart from the
literary remains, papyri and inscriptions, the material results have
been immense. The ancient topography of the land has become known by
the remains of roads, canals, quarries, and mines. The sites of towns,
with the temples, fortifications, and private dwellings, have been
comprehensively treated, so that the record is almost complete from the
building of the foundation to the decorative designs of the artists.
The site of each city, again, is generally that of several belonging
to different epochs; the ruins of the older buildings were levelled
to an even surface and the newer one begun several feet higher. The
artificial mounds thus made are sometimes as much as 80 or 90 feet in
height. These foundations did not deter the Egyptian architects from
erecting lofty buildings, such as those in Memphis, for in several
cities walls exist to-day from 30 to 40 feet in height. To support
these they were thickened at the base and the floors vaulted. Amongst
the limestone remains of houses are often found fragments of sandstone,
granite, and alabaster quarried from some ruined temple, which shows
that the Egyptians of those far-away days did exactly the same as their
descendants, and despoiled the neglected and ruined monuments.
Town Planning
The plan of a town excavated shows the houses gathered closely around
the temple and its square enclosure. This served as fortress and refuge
if the town were attacked. The plan was regular in towns that were
built in one period, with wide paved streets running at right angles
and provided with stone channels to carry off water and drainage. The
buildings were arranged in line. In cities that were the product of
centuries there was, however, great irregularity--houses heaped in
mazes of blind alleys, and dark, narrow streets. There was generally
an open space, shaded by sycamores, used two or three times a month
as a market-place. The poorer classes were housed in hovels, rarely
exceeding 12 or 16 feet in length, and little better than the huts
of the fellaheen of to-day. The houses of the middle class, such
as shop-keepers, small officials, and foremen, were of a better
description, though rather small. They usually contained half a dozen
rooms, and some were two or three stories high, while narrow courtyards
separated them from the street, though more often the house fronted
directly on the road and was built on three sides of a courtyard. That
excellent sanitary and hygienic conditions were known in ancient Egypt
has been amply proved, for even poorer houses at Kahûn boasted a stone
tank, and this luxury was universal except among the very poor. At Tell
el Amarna, in the house of a high official of the Eighteenth Dynasty,
an elaborate bath and ingenious system of water-supply have been found.
The arrangements of the ordinary house were much the same as obtain
in the East of to-day, the ground floor including store-rooms, barns,
and stables; the next for living and sleeping; the roof for sleeping
in summer, while here also the women gossiped and cooked. An outside
staircase, narrow and very steep, led to the upper rooms. These were
oblong in shape, and the door was the only means of ventilation and
lighting. For decoration the walls were sometimes whitewashed, or
decorated with red and yellow, or painted with domestic scenes.
Palaces and Mansions
The palaces and mansions of the wealthy and great generally stood in
the midst of a garden or courtyard planted with trees surrounded with
crenellated walls, broken only by a doorway, which often indicated the
social importance of the family. At times it was a portico supported
on columns and adorned with statues; at others, a pylon similar to
those at the entrance of temples. "The interior," says Maspero, "almost
resembled a small town divided into quarters by irregular walls. In some
cases the dwelling-house stood at the farther end; while the granaries,
stables, and domestic offices were distributed in different parts of
the enclosure." Paintings and plans on walls of tombs, the remains of
houses at Tell el Amarna and of the palace of Akhenaten, have supplied
the means by which we learn these details. The pictorial plan of a
Theban house, half palace, half villa, is thus elucidated by Maspero:
"The enclosure is rectangular, surrounded by a crenellated wall. The
principal entrance opens upon a road bordered by trees by the side of
a canal or branch of the Nile. The garden is symmetrically divided by
low stone walls. In the centre is a large trellis supported on four
rows of small columns; to right and left are four pools stocked with
ducks and geese, two leafy conservatories, two summer-houses, and
avenues of sycamores, date-palms, and dôm-palms. At the back, facing
the entrance, is the house, two-storied and of small dimensions,
surmounted by a painted cornice." On one of the tombs of Tell el Amarna
is to be found a representation of the palace of Aï, who later ascended
the throne of Egypt. This is of large size, rectangular in shape, the
façade wider than the sides. The staircases running to the terraced
roof lead into two small chambers at each corner of the back wall. The
dwelling-house itself is contained within this outer building, and was
sacred to the family and its head, and only intimate friends had the
right of entrance. The remains of the ruined palace of Akhenaten at
Tell el Amarna also follows much the same plan, with the addition of
a pavilion for the queen's use, containing a large hall 51 feet by 21
feet. In this palace was another immense hall, its dimensions being 423
feet by 234 feet. It contained 542 mud pillars, 52 inches square. It
communicated with five smaller halls. "The pillars were whitened, and
the ceilings were painted with vine-leaves and bunches of grapes on a
yellow ground." Many of the mansions and houses afford some beautiful
specimens of the decorative art of those days. Remains of the domestic
architecture of the Old Kingdom are not numerous, but the general plan
seems to have been much the same as in the later periods. The small
antiquities discovered, such as utensils, clothes, weapons, amulets,
and other articles which have been found in great numbers, fill in the
picture of the domestic life of ancient Egypt; while temple and fortress
and monument tell of the religion, the warfare, and the enterprise in
that distant epoch.
These excavations cover a large area. Upper, Middle, and Lower Egypt
and Nubia have been extensively explored, likewise the Sinai Peninsula
and Syria, with its numerous tablets of conquest. In Nubia, states
an authority, owing to the poverty of the country and its scanty
population, the proportion of monuments surviving is infinitely greater
than in Egypt. Many temples, tombs, quarries, forts, grottos, and
pyramids have been found in a good state of preservation. In Upper
Egypt are to be found the great pyramids and the necropolis of Memphis,
with various smaller pyramids to the south, and it also boasts of the
stupendous ruins of Thebes on both sides of the river, the tombs and
quarries of Assuan, and the temples of Philæ, though these by no means
exhaust the list of sites which have been excavated, while it is well
known that many still hold mysteries as yet untouched.
Life and Law in Ancient Egypt
The existence of Egypt as a native monarchy stretched over such an
extended period that it is extremely difficult to generalize concerning
the method of its government or the life of its people. At the same
time no civilization with a record of thousands of years behind it
exhibits less change either in political or domestic affairs. It is
certain that once an agricultural mode of life was accepted by the
Egyptians they quickly contracted those manners and customs which they
retained up to the period of foreign invasion; and so far as the lower
classes are concerned, there can be little doubt that the stream of
daily life flowed on from century to century placid and unaltered. The
science of folklore has of late years proved to us how little alteration
the passage of time brings to the life and thought of a people whose
environment is such that outward forces are seldom brought to bear upon
them. Especially was this the case with the inhabitants of the Nile
valley, who for many centuries were sheltered by geographical and other
peculiarities from the inroads of other civilized races, and who by the
time that foreign invaders mingled with them had attained such a settled
course of existence, and were so powerfully influenced by tradition, as
to be practically immune from the effects of racial intermixture. It
must also be borne in mind that such invaders as Egypt knew would not
bring their womankind with them, and that their marriage to Egyptian
women would have the effect in a generation or two of completely
absorbing them into the native population, so that the racial standard
remained practically unaltered. Again, their numbers would be relatively
small compared with the population of Egypt. The environment of the
Nile valley is exceptionally well suited to the continuance of type,
as is evidenced by the persistence of form in its domestic and other
animals. Time and again have foreign sheep, goats, asses, and so forth
been introduced into it, with the result that shortly afterward they
became absorbed into the prevailing Egyptian type of their kind, with
scarcely any modification. The horse and the camel were comparatively
late importations into Egypt, and the tardy introduction of the former
is eloquent of the isolated character of the country.
The feudal system was general throughout ancient Egypt, and the Pharaoh
was chiefly employed in keeping his greater subjects in check. These
modelled their principalities upon the central power, and even such
as had no claim to royal blood kept up establishments of considerable
magnitude. Officials swarmed in the Nile valley, and it does not seem
that they were actuated by a very high standard of political morality,
or, at least in practice, they fell short of it. Members of the royal
family were generally granted high office, and this meant that the
country was in effect administered by an hereditary bureaucracy. A
chancellor or vizier was directly responsible to the monarch for
the condition of the country--its business, finance, and legal
administration.
Commerce
We know but little concerning the commercial affairs of ancient Egypt.
In all probability open-air markets were held. Currency was unknown
until the era of the Persian invasion, and until then rings of gold,
silver, and bronze were employed in exchange. Barter, however, prevailed
universally. Corn was, of course, the staple produce of Egypt, and
seems to have been exported to some extent to other countries, as were
papyrus rolls and linen; but practically all silver and copper had to
be imported, as had precious woods, the pelts of rare animals, ivory,
spices and incense, and stone for the manufacture of rare vessels. Many
of these supplies reached Egypt in the shape of tribute, but records
are extant of expeditions sent out by the king for the purpose of
obtaining foreign rarities. A great deal of Egyptian trade was in the
hands of foreigners. The Phœnicians evidently opened up communication
with Egypt as early as the Third Dynasty. In later times an extensive
trade was carried on with Greece, and Psammetichus I (_c._ 570 B.C.)
founded the town of Naucratis as the centre of Greek trade in Egypt.
Agriculture
Agriculture was the backbone of Egyptian wealth; the nature of the
soil--rich, black mud, deposited by the Nile, which also served to
irrigate it--rendered the practice of farming peculiarly simple. The
intense heat, too, assisted the speedy growth of grain. Cultivation was
possible almost all the year round, but usually terminated with the
harvests gathered in at the end of April, from which month to June a
period of slackness was afforded the farmer. A great variety of crops
was sown, but wheat and barley were the most popular; durra, of which
bread was made, lentils, peas, beans, radishes, lettuces, onions,
and flax were also cultivated. Fruits were represented by the grape,
pomegranate, fig, and date. Timber was scanty and, as has been said,
was mostly imported. In early times it was probably more abundant,
but the introduction of the camel and the goat proved its ruin, these
animals stripping the bark from the trees and devouring the shoots.
Wine was chiefly made in the district of Mareotis, near Alexandria, and
appears to have possessed a very delicate flavour. The papyrus plant was
widely cultivated from the earliest times; the stem was employed for
boat-building and rope-making, as well as for writing materials.
Legal Code
Egyptian law appears to have been traditional, and no remains of any
specific code have come down to us. Royal decrees and regulations
were promulgated from time to time, and these were usually engraved
on stone and carefully preserved. In the Ptolemaic period travelling
courts were instituted, which settled litigation of all descriptions;
but the traditional law of the country appears to have been well known
to the people and fully recognized by their rulers. A favourite way of
having a grievance redressed was to petition the king or one of the
great feudal princes. Courts sitting to hear specific cases were nearly
always composed of royal or territorial persons in early days, and in
later times of officials. The right to appeal to the king existed.
Evidence was given upon oath, a favourite oath being "By the king" or
"By the life of the king." Only occasionally was torture employed for
the purpose of extracting evidence. Penalties were various. In many
instances the accused was allowed to take his own life. For minor crimes
the bastinado or disfigurement by cutting off the nose, banishment or
fine, were the usual punishments. During the Old Kingdom decapitation
was the usual means of inflicting death. The drawing up of contracts was
universal, and these were, as a rule, duly witnessed. From the time of
the Twenty-fifth Dynasty these are discovered in abundance, and usually
refer to sales or loans. Although a woman could inherit property, she
had not the entire right of dealing with it, but, if divorced, her dowry
could not be forfeited. Many of these ancient documents deal with the
buying and selling of slaves. It is not clear, however, whether or not
the consent of a slave was necessary to his sale.
Science
Knowledge and learning of every description were, of course,
subordinated to the religious idea, which was the paramount
consideration in Egyptian life. With architecture we have dealt
elsewhere. It would seem that scientific operations of all sorts were
carried out, not by means of any given formulæ, but merely by rule
of thumb. Wonderful results were obtained by the simplest means, and
the methods by which the pyramids were raised are still somewhat of a
mystery. The dates of festivals were astronomically fixed; and it has
been stated that the pyramids and other large buildings were orientated
in the same manner. The beginning of the inundation of the Nile was
marked by the rising of the star Sothis or Sirius. A great many Egyptian
inventions appear to be of considerable antiquity, but the inventive
faculty of the race would seem to have been stunted or altogether lost
in later times. Attempts at progress were absolutely unknown even when
the Egyptians came into contact with foreigners, and all innovations
were looked upon askance.
The Peasantry
It is uncertain to what extent the people followed the nobility in
the very rigorous religious programme that these had set themselves.
That they were as deeply superstitious as their betters there can be
little doubt; but that they regarded themselves as fit subjects for the
same otherworld to which the aristocracy were bound is unlikely in the
extreme. Probably at the best they thought they might find some corner
in the dark realm of Osiris where they would not be utterly annihilated,
or that at least their _kas_ would be duly fed and nourished by the
offerings made to them by their children. The Egyptian peasant was
pre-eminently a son of the soil, hard-working, patient, and content,
with little in the way of food, shelter, and raiment--not at all unlike
the fellah of the present day. The lot of the Egyptian peasant woman
was, like that of her husband, one of arduous toil. She was usually
married about the age of fifteen, and by the age of thirty was often a
grandmother. The care of her dwelling and children was not, however,
permitted to occupy all her time, for at certain seasons she was
expected to assist her husband in the field, where she probably received
more blows than thanks. Justice was not very even-handed, and redress
for any individual of the peasant class was not easily obtained; it is
strange that the conditions under which the peasantry dwelt did not
foment rebellion. Probably the only reason that such outbreaks did not
take place was that the condition of servitude was too deep and that,
like most Orientals, the Egyptians were fatalists.
Costume
The fashion of apparel differed considerably with the dynasties. As
we have already noted, the Pharaoh possessed a peculiar attire of his
own, upon which that of the upper ranks of society was to some extent
modelled. The climate did not permit or encourage the wearing of heavy
material, so that fine linen was greatly in use. The upper portions
of the body were only partially covered, and amongst the nobility in
ancient times a species of linen skirt was worn. The women's dress
from the earliest times was a dress reaching from the armpits to the
ankles, with straps over the shoulders. The men's dress was usually a
form of loin-cloth. The wearing of wigs was practically universal, and
originated in prehistoric times. At some early period native ritual
had prescribed that the head must be shaved, so that the fashion of the
long peruke, or the close-fitting cloth cap with ear-lappets, became
practically a necessity. We find, however, that some ladies refused to
sacrifice their hair, and in the well-known statue of Nefert we notice
the bands of natural hair, neatly smoothed down over the brow, peeping
out beneath the heavy wig she is wearing. Practically all classes wore
sandals of leather or plaited papyrus.
In general appearance the Egyptian was tall, being considerably
above the European average in height. The race were for the most
part dolichocephalic, or long-skulled, narrow-waisted and angular.
In later life they frequently became corpulent, but during youth and
early manhood presented rather a 'wiry' appearance. They had, however,
broad shoulders and a well-developed chest-cavity. The examination of
thousands of mummies by Dr. Elliot Smith has proved that in later times
the Egyptian race greatly improved in physique and muscular qualities.
In character the Egyptian was grave, and perhaps a little taciturn,
being in this respect not unlike the Scot and the Spaniard; but, like
these peoples, he had also a strain of gaiety in his composition, and
his popular literature is in places eloquent of the philosophy of
_laissez-faire_. It is probable that the stern religious code under
which he lived drove him at times to deep disgust of his surroundings.
The Egyptian peasant's amusement at times took the form of intoxication,
and pictures are extant which show the labourer being borne home on
the shoulders of his fellows. Among the upper classes, too, it cannot
be denied that a philosophy of pleasure had gained a very strong
hold, especially in later times. They probably thought that if they
committed the _Book of the Dead_ to heart they were sure of a blissful
future, and that in this lay their whole moral duty. As regards their
ethical standpoint, it may be said that they were rather _unmoral_ than
_immoral_, and that good and evil, as we understand it, were almost
unknown to them. The Egyptians as a race possessed, however, an innate
love of justice and right thinking, and they will always take their
place in the roll of nations as a people who have done more than perhaps
any other to upbuild the fabric of order, decency, and propriety.