We have reached the end of our long journey, and now we are ready to
turn back and start for home.
[Q] An Address to College Students at the close of a course of
lectures on Egypt and her Monuments. Illustrated by lantern
photographs.
The Reis is at his helm, the great sail is furled and bound closely to
the long yard; for, as the wind during the early spring blows here
constantly from the north, we must depend on the rapid current of the
Nile to bear us back to civilization: a river which, flowing through so
many generations of men from the unknown to the unlimited, not unfitly
typifies the course of history; and as, in imagination, we drift with
this historical stream, we can not fail to learn the lesson which the
associations and the scenes are so calculated to teach. That lesson is
the grandeur, the glory, and the immortality of the spiritual life of
man.
We go back six thousand years, and find the Sphinx, as to-day, looking
toward the rising sun, and pondering the problem of human destiny.
The pyramid-builders come, and erect those neighboring piles to preserve
their bodies when dead for that glorious destiny in which they trust.
The long procession of the Pharaohs passes, and each inscribes indelibly
on rocky walls his faith in the great God who holds human destiny in his
hands.
Moses comes, and leads out of Egypt the chosen people to prepare the way
for the expected Messiah.
The Assyrians and the Persians come, and, while seeking to read their
destiny in the courses of the stars, pay homage to the same great hope.
The Greeks come, and, even amid gross licentiousness and idolatry, erect
magnificent temples, in attestation of a belief in human destiny which,
however degraded, still survived.
The Romans come, and in this mystic land lay aside their legal codes,
and add their testimony to the same great truth.
The Christian hermits come, and make the storied stones of the Pharaohs
re-echo with their triumphant songs.
The Arab comes, and, as morning and evening he gazes into the East, sees
visions of the glorious Mecca of his hopes for which the Sphinx has
looked so long.
Last of all, the modern traveler comes, and he journeys in vain if he
does not recognize in all this aspiration and all this yearning the
attestation of those spiritual truths which to him the risen Christ has
revealed.
As in material nature every unemployed organ distinctly points to a
previous use or to a future fruition: so, in the spiritual world, every
striving is a promise of a possible good; and these yearnings of
humanity, which have come down through the ages, are as truly a promise
of the Eternal as were the words spoken to Abraham on the plains of
Mamre.
Coming home from the East, we can not fail to see, more clearly than
before, how artificial are most of the conventionalities of our modern
civilization, and how greatly such cares of the world tend to obscure
the great distinction between the spiritual and the material which is
ever present to Oriental thought; and this is especially true in our own
country, where the demands of material nature are so pressing, and where
the physical wants, which our highly artificial life entails, so
completely engross the attention of us all.
It is well to go away at times, that we may see another aspect of human
life, which still survives in the East, and to feel that influence
which led even the Christ into the wilderness to prepare for the
struggle with the animal nature of man.
We need something of the experience of the anchorites of Egypt to
impress us with the great truth that the distinction between the
spiritual and the material remains broad and clear, even if with the
scalpel of our modern philosophy we can not completely dissect the two;
and this experience will give us courage to cherish our aspirations,
keep bright our hopes, and hold fast our Christian faith until the
consummation comes.
My young friends, there are many who will tell you that the Sphinx has
merely propounded a riddle to the ages; and that the yearnings of your
young lives--like those of the early Egyptians, who set up this memorial
of their hopes--are merely a delusion and a snare.
Do not believe in any such pessimism.
It is merely the dying gasp of your animal nature! But give your utmost
efforts that these aspirations be not smothered by the cares and trials
which must come to you as they come to all.
Have faith in the Eternal who implanted those cravings in your nature;
and remember that all knowledge rests on the assurance that the Eternal
can not be false. Be loyal to the truth of that witness in your hearts,
and advancing years will only bring you increased reliance on the
promises he ever whispers to those who trust him; and he will certainly
lead you, at last--as he has led the faithful in all ages--into the
clear light of the perfect day.
My fellow-students, if these fleeting pictures of scenes which have
given me fresh courage, shall aid any of you in the conflict of life, my
object in these lectures will be gained, and however incongruous with
the associations of physical science such scenes may have appeared, you
will bear me witness that the great lesson they teach has constantly
been enforced in this place. The spiritual life of man recognizes its
exalted intellectual likeness in the life of Nature, and it is this
vision of the Omniscient which distinguishes and ennobles mental
culture, whether it be in the fields of science, of literature, or of
art.