THE SOUL IN THE CLAY.
At Port Said the travelers left the French steamer to wait for the
English ship which was on the way from Southampton. It came in on the
evening of their arrival, and they went on board. They were glad to do
so, for the few hours in Port Said convinced them that it was a tougher
place than they had ever seen on the frontier.
At daylight next morning the ship proceeded on her way through the canal.
Our travelers were on the deck, watching the scenery.
Finally Jordan said: "This looks like Arizony, only more so. Arizony
looks as though thar war a strike among the mechanics and it war never
finished. This looks like it were finished once and then ther perprieter,
not bein' satisfied with ther contractor's job, smashed it. They tell me
ther mustang is ther blood-horse run down by starvation 'nd abuse, 'nd
in-breedin', but mostly from in-breedin'. This country looks ez though it
hed been ruined ther same way precisely. I shouldn't wonder but it wur
true. Them old Faros wuz big fellers; so war Sesostris and ther hull race
of the old chaps from ther Shepherd Kings down, and they useter call this
'the granary of the world,' didn't they?
"And old Cambysis cum here on a robbin' expedition?
"Well, it's clear enough since then things has been goin' ter ther dogs
heah. I tell yo', Jim, civilization gone to seed is wuss than 'riginal
barbarism.
"Them chaps as bilt the pyramids and obelisks war powerful men. They
must er hed sum pride in the kentry or they wouldn't been so everlastin'
perticelar 'bout their gravestunes, and this must uv been a different
kentry from what it are now. Yo've seen men as has lived too long. It's
so, I reckon, with patches of this old world. Anyway, I ain't buyin' no
sheers in Egypt, leastways not on the showin' these croppin's make."
When the ship passed into the Gulf of Suez the temperature was something
fearful.
"This wur the water that divided, wur it not?" asked Jordan.
"Yes," said Sedgwick, "this is the water, I believe."
Jordan was silent for several minutes. At last he said: "No mistake 'bout
thet story, Jim?"
"Why do you ask?" was Sedgwick's response.
"Nothin' much," said Jordan, "only hain't yo' noticed ther newspapers
don't hardly ever git things right?"
Sedgwick acknowledged that he had known them to make mistakes.
"Hain't it jest posserble," said Jordan, "thet what war really the fact
war thet the Gipshins war drowned jest ter git 'em outer ther misery in
this cussed place, and ther Jews war saved jest ter punish 'em?"
"I never thought of that," said Sedgwick. "But if the weather then was
anything like it is now, the theory is not improbable."
"'Zactly," said Jordan. "From ther other side over there ther Israelites
started for Canaan, didn't they?"
"I believe so," was Sedgwick's reply.
"It must uv been like goin' from Tuscon to Fort Yuma in August, don't yo'
think, Jim?" said Jordan.
"Very like, I believe," said Sedgwick.
After a pause Jordan spoke up again: "Jim, it ain't for me ter try ter
understand much, but ther kentry 'round heah and ther people we has seen
kinder breaks me up. They tell us over ther to ther right, man fust cum
outer his wild state; ez yo' has it, that 'ther cradle of civilization
war fust rocked.' For five thousand year, they has been a-tryin'. Look at
'em now! Then over on the other side, the chosen people of God pulled
out; they flourished; they killed their enemies, built cities and
temples; hed big talkers and writers and fiters; fixed up language thet
thrills a man's soul jest ter read it now; made a starter thet the
world's been a-follerin' ever since, and right and left ther whole world
are blasted, and no one wud ever think thet God's smile once lit this
region. If this showin' makes ther balance sheet fur five thousand years,
what's ther use in tryin'?"
"True," said Sedgwick. "In everything, the ancient man was the equal, if
not the superior, of any men who live to-day. As soldiers, orators, and
writers, the utmost men hope for is to emulate them, never to excel them.
A famous English orator not long ago said that he had often been called
upon to address boisterous men who had gathered in mobs for mischief, and
that the only time he had ever succeeded in quelling such a gathering and
turning them completely over to the side of order and peace, was when he
had repeated to them his own translation of one of the impassioned
orations that Demosthenes had flung with all the majesty and power of
his eloquence at an Athenian mob twenty-two hundred years ago. No modern
sculpture equals the ancient; no modern song or eloquence; and then
there have come down to us lessons in patriotism, devotion to duty,
self-abnegation and valor, which will thrill great hearts as long as
civilization shall last.
"Only in one thing that I can note does the modern man excel his ancient
brother. The world is more merciful than of old. Prisoners of war are
no longer sold into slavery or killed; woman has ceased to be first a
plaything and then a slave; in exalting woman, man has been exalted,
and the perfect modern home had no parallel in the ancient world. The
influence that the Cross gave out is still spreading and softening the
hearts of men."
"May be," said Jordan, "but, Jim, it's a mighty big undertakin' to
civilize men. Here's all Africa over here ter the right whar only the old
rule prevails; man is a monstrous brute; woman is wuss nor a slave."
"That is true, Tom," said Sedgwick. "The cruelties practiced there are
almost enough to make one doubt the divinity of man and the mercy of
God."
"Yet who knows?" said Jordan. "What are a few thousand years ter God?
Thar must be somethin' behind, or men wouldn't hev been born. Ther other
day in London thar war a man carryin' a flag on a short staff thet hed a
glitterin' p'int. He war preachin' on ther street corners thet men hed no
souls; thet ther man ez sed he hed a soul war a fool, 'nd he asked whar
ther souls war, 'nd ef any surgeon hed ever cum upon a soul when
dissectin' a body, or on ther place whar ther soul hed lodged in ther
man's lifetime.
"I wur listenin' 'nd thinkin'. After awhile he finished 'nd then a
gentle, kind-faced man stepped outer ther crowd 'nd sed he: 'What are
thet bright metal on ther end of y'r flag-staff?' Ther man sed it war
aluminum. Then the kind-faced man asked what aluminum cum from. Ther
other answered: 'Clay.' 'Jest common clay?' asked ther man. 'Jest common
clay,' said ther other. 'How long since ther beautiful metal war
discovered?' asked ther kind-faced man. 'It war within ther last half
century,' war the answer. Then the kind faced man made a discourse
sunthin' like this:
"'Yo' want a wisible proof thet man hez a soul. Ef yo' hed lived sixty
year ago 'nd men hed told yo' ther wur in common clay a metal ez bright
ez silver, ez ductile ez gold, with almost ther tensile strength uv
steel; sunthin' thet could be worked inter eny form, indestructible under
ther usual destructive agents of ther world, yo' wouldn't ha' believed
it, would yo'? Yet it war thar all ther time. Fur thousands of years, men
delved in clay. Ther wheels of ages ground it inter powder, which ther
winds blew away; when men died, other men sed, 'They is turned ter clay,'
which signefied ther utter degrerdation o' death; but ther men what bilt
ther Bable Tower, hed they but known ther secret, mighter from thet same
material have bilt a dome higher nor St. Paul's, thet would uv shone like
burnished silver 'nd would hev retained all its strength 'nd splendor,
notwithstandin' ther erosion uv time 'nd ther abrashin' uv ther ages,
even till now, tho' since then two hundred generations uv men has lived
and died.
"Still, yo' think thet ther power thet put thet imperishable,
indestructible, stainless soul in ther clay at our feet, war less
thoughtful, less wise, less merciful when he created man in His own
sublime image? Ther chemist found this property in clay after er thousand
nations hed spurned it under ther feet; this soul in clay, which will not
tarnish, which can be drawn out inter finest wires and thinnest leaves;
hev yo' ther audacity ter proclaim thet ther subtle chemistry of death
cannot reveal anything bright and indestructible fur man, when these pore
mortal senses shall have spent ther energies; when this pore body shall
uv fallen back ter dust 'nd ther clearer light shell 'ave dawned."
"It war a great sermon. The unbeliever shambled shamefaced away, 'nd I've
been er thinkin' uv it ever since."
"It must be true," said Sedgwick. "Somewhere must be kept the records of
the hearts that break in silence, of the eyes that grow dim in straining
at signals on heights beyond the vision of mortal man, of hands that lose
their hold on immortality, because of the merciless buffetings of the
world.
"This looks like a wrecked world around us, but there was a splendor here
once. Here the alphabet of the stars was first traced out, and the order
of their shining processions made known; here barbarism was first beaten
back; the first code was made here; here were originated the sciences of
architecture and of war; here the arts of agriculture and mechanics were
born; and here was lighted and kept bright the flame of knowledge until
it became a beacon to the world, that, before that light was kindled, was
altogether dark.
"The tides of the sea advance and recede. It may be so with nations. The
earth was made habitable by convulsions that rent its crust, the storms
that beat upon it, and by the grinding of glaciers; the pressure
necessary to create the rocks and coal measures was brought to bear; the
continents were upheaved; the seas were beaten back; the world was loaded
for a limitless voyage, before the vapors were rolled back, the full dawn
was born.
"We cannot see far, but if this life is all there is to us, then, indeed,
it is a pitiful failure. If our thoughts and longings are bounded by this
little span of life, then there is no balance-sheet for mortality. The
gift of life is then not worth the expense of supporting it.
"But, if, like the earth, the beatings and upheavals and sorrows are but
the preparation for the perfect dawn, with peace in its coming, with the
increase of immortal flowers in its air; if there are to be a time and
place where there is to be full fruition, then it is different, and we
can afford to smile as the frosts of disappointment chill us, as the salt
spray of misfortune is dashed in our faces.
"Tom, with such gifts as are given us, we must do the best we can for
ourselves and our fellow-men; must do it with faith and courage, do it
with gentleness and in truth, and with a purpose so high that we shall
never fear anything except to do the wrong.
"And all the rest we may leave to God."
It was hot and calm all the voyage through the Red Sea, the straits,
and Gulf of Aden, till, when rounding the stormy cape of Guardafui and
the ship swept out upon the broader ocean, the barometer dropped rapidly
and a furious storm came on. It was really a mighty gale, and the
heavily-laden ship labored exceedingly.
At its height, Sedgwick and Jordan stood watching the majesty of the
forces exhausting their fury around them, when Jordan said:
"Jim, I needed this. Yo' know how grand ther other ship wur; yo' know how
great and strong this ship are. Well, watchin' both, a senseless kind uv
pride cum over me, and I sed ter myself over and over, 'This ere ship cud
outride any gale whatever blow'd.' Look now! It's only a toy on ther
water when God's wind goes out ter battle with God's everlastin' seas.
"Cumin' over, I stopped and tuk a look at Niagry. It wur grand, but a
dozen Niagrys wouldn't make one hurrycane out ter sea. I can't explain
what I wanter, but I mean as how God's majesty is nowhar else revealed as
when his hurrycanes is sent ter paint a picter on ther face of a mad
ocean. Nowhar else did I ever feel thet small as when watchin', as we is
now, all these forces that is makin' the commotion 'round us. They all
show us what pitiful weak creaters we is, and ther man who ever watched
one storm at sea and ever arter dares to hev one feelin' uv pride or
scornfulness, that thar man are weak somewhar and makes a spectacle of
hisself."
But the storm was weathered safely; the temperature grew cooler as the
ship stretched away to the South, and after a generally prosperous voyage
the steamer dropped anchor in Port Natal roadstead.