Like every man who catches a vision of a great need and undertakes
to meet it, Moses had to educate public opinion. Whatever the form
of government may be, whether monarchy or democracy, it must
ultimately rest upon the will of the people, and the shaping of
that will is often a statesman's task. In a democracy the
expression of the people's will is readily determined at every
election, although in many cases, owing to the number of issues,
this result is not clearly seen.
In a despotism like Egypt there is no ready expression of a
people's will. However great their sufferings, they must endure
until they feel that the evils of revolt are less than the evils of
oppression. Then, by means of a revolution, they carry out their
will. In what ways did the Exodus resemble, in what ways differ
from a revolution? Compare Moses with Washington or Samuel Adams
as leader of a revolution. During the last few years in China
there has been great dissatisfaction on the part of many millions
of the people with the rule of the Manchu dynasty. It was,
nevertheless, for many years the people's will rather to endure the
evils of a corrupt government than to take the risk of war. At
length, however, after years of propaganda by skilful leaders war
appeared to them the lesser evil and their will was carried out by
force of arms. The government, in this direct way, was forced to
recognize the will of the people and to grant their requests.
A statesman considers not merely his own views regarding the best
methods of governing his country or of gaining special ends, but he
must carefully consider also what plans can in practice be carried
out. In all free governments only those policies can be put into
effect that meet the approval of the people; and one of the
greatest gifts of a statesman is the ability to ascertain, with few
mistakes, how far his proposed policies meet the public will and
how he can so put his plans before the people as to convince them
of their benefits.
In the later days of the Egyptian bondage the Israelites made
frequent complaint of the oppression of the Pharaohs, bemoaning
their fate as serfs, but for many years after their sufferings had
become severe they had not yet been roused to a determination to
throw off the yoke of the oppressor. Even when Moses first
attempted to rouse them to make a struggle for freedom, he could
not breathe into them his own bold spirit. What measures did Moses
take to incite the Israelites to action? What measures did he take
to convince Pharaoh of his duty toward the Israelites? Did he
present his case truthfully? Was he justified in the measures
taken?
At length, not from the acts of the Israelites, but from the
plagues that afflicted the Egyptians and the insistent demand of
Moses, coupled with the belief that the plagues were sent on
account of divine displeasure, as a punishment for unjust
oppression, the Hebrews were enabled to escape. What is the
contemporary Egyptian testimony regarding the plagues? (_Hist.
Bible_ I, 176-7.) Do the earliest Hebrew records imply that these
were miracles or natural calamities peculiar to the land of Egypt?
The statesmanship of Moses led him to seize the opportune time for
freeing his people from bondage. Only the influence of the
religious sentiments among his people and their belief in Jehovah
together with the religious awe felt by the Egyptian rulers,
enabled him to take advantage of the circumstances so that he could
rescue his people. In most countries religion is a powerful
influence often made use of by rulers, sometimes for good,
sometimes for ill, to direct the action of their subjects. The
Greek church in Russia has for many decades been, perhaps, the most
important weapon by which the Russian Czars have kept their people
in peaceful submission. If China loses her Mongolian provinces, it
will be because the religious leaders of Mongolia are controlling
their people. Can you give in the United States an example of a
people largely dominated by the religious motive which controls
most of the affairs of their every-day life? How far was the
religious motive responsible for the settlement and upbuilding of
the New England Colonies? How far and in what ways may a statesman
to-day appeal to the moral and religious feelings of the people in
order to promote national and international welfare?