New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-02-03

territorial The Pharaoh became the political
centre of Egyptian life and he built new capital
every generation. In Chadaea the town was the
centre OF the community and the greatest city be-
came the centre Of the nation. 1t military to
degree unknown in Egypt. The capital kept the
soldiery and the traders the brains Of the nation.
and the country was held with strong hand
The lack Of incentive left the Egyptians with
very rudmentary military system. In time of
peace the members of the soldier caste scattered
to the farms allotted them temporarily by the
State 1t was impossible under such conditions to
keep up the warke spirit and training that were
exhibited in Babylon and afterward TO a still
greater degree by Nneveh The want of force
made the King less potent over subordinate rulers
in Egypt than in Chadaea The great mobiles
held their own. They did not lose by disorder
They took part in changes of dynasty and in civil
wars The local organisms from the nome down
to the tiny peasant neighborhood with its inter
secting paths maintained themselves intact from
first to last. The national hierarchy was almost
a separate structure from that on which 1t rested
The one fuctuated, the other was permanent. IN
spite of large degree Of individual liberty, the
Egyptian masses were motionless. compared with
the classes. Under the immediate control OF the
priesthood they could. as rule, be looked upon as
the proper victims Of endless taxation and forced
labor.
Professor Maspero is naturally partial 10
Egypt He declares that life was pleasanter
there than in Chaldaea. and he appeals TO the
contracts and other writings pertaining to busi-
ness as showing that the Chaldaeans were uni
versaly greedy Of gain, exacting. itgious ana
almost exclusively absorbed in ma terial concerns.
In these characteristics the people OF ancient
Babylon might find their counterpart at the
yyn
gives of the condition Of laborer in Chaldaea
certainly compares favorably with that OF the
Egyptian peasant. If such one had holding
of his own and paid his taxes. nobody could
interfere with him, not even the King or the
State, without the cognzance OF the law. But
a man who lived beyond his means was sure or
getting into trouble OF a kind Still well known
He found 1t easy TO borrow money, but the rate
Of interest apparently never less IMAM ~
per cent and % per cent was not deemed en-
cessiye Under such conditions many who fell
into debt were unable to extricate themselves.
The rich men, aside from those whom the King
favored with gifts of land and treasure. and the
priests who sold the grain and gold and silver
brought by the pious to the temples. were the
travelling merchants They appear TO have
been class of adventurous men. not unlike those
whose figures are familiar in the Arabian tales.
subject to attack by robbers of the desert II
they entered a country WHERE was in prog
ress they were almost sure TO be plundered by
one party or the other. If they got out OF one
pettv kingdom alive, they were likely to be
captured in the next and the very least they
could expect was heavy fee to every chicttain
through whose territories they passed In inc
rivers their frail boats were in constant danger
of capsizrg or OF being drawn ashore and rihed
bv avaricious tribesmen. Nevertheless the trad
ers made their way throughout Asia Minor, ana
even into Egypt From the earliest times this
commerce was maintained. and thus there grew
I'D an acquaintance between the two foremost
countries OF the world. The traders carried
back to their own city not only the goods they
had obtained. but also a vast deal OF EXPERT
ence Only such information as II was in their
power to give could have tempted Chaldaean
rulers to long predatory marches. in which they
sometimes went as far as the Mediterranean
Sea These were not wars for conquest. but
mere excursions for booty. The first wars OF
conquest as the phrase was understood In later
times were those of Egypt against the Cushites
and Nubians These followed by an ac-
cession Of territory. They were really wars OF
self-defence in the modern sense OF the term
The new lands were at once guarded by Tort
resses the aim being TO secure frontier whlch
would be safe against ncursions from the upper
reaches of the Nile. BY sea there was niue
trade IN Chaldaea The Kings did not interest
themselves In commerce or in discovery. TN
the other hand, Egyptian statesmen were NOR
oughly alive to the importance OF trafhc by sea
They anticipated modern government expeui-
lions by fitting out costly fleets. which visited
distant regions and returned with strange trees
md nlants and animals and people. The gardens
ttffh
OF exotics. and the palaces Of the King and the
great mobiles were museums Of curiosities. AMI
mate and inanimate. Professor Maspero denies
that these expeditions were really the achieVc-
,oepts ~ Phoenician sailors under the patronage
NJ Epyptian Kings There was no reason, ne
thinks why this should have been the case
when Eeypt Itself could furnish many bold and
expert mariners
In the effort to find a defensbe frontier to the
southwark Egypt was led on from the conquest
Of one tribe to that OF another. until all Nuo!a
and then all Ethiopia acknowledged the SUI
premacy of Pharaoh The mines OF the new
country and its other products were an enaioss
source OF riches TO the conquerors. But Egypt
had not yet been tempted to any extenoed
forays into Asia Troops were sent occasionally
to chastise the tribesman beyond the Istnmus OF
Suez But Egypt, after her conquest in the
South appears to have suffered from series OF
internal commissions. The sceptre departed from
Tbebes as 1t had previously been taken away
from Memphis Political power was shifted 10
Xois in the Delta. The power Of the new line
Of Kings seems to have been mere shadow OF
the old Pharaonic supremacy. Under such rulers
the aristocracy revealed all its ancient diver
gencies and jealouses. The scene must have been
like that Of medieval Europe, with the toiling
Indifferent masses plodding along In their own
way. while above them all was turmoil and con-
fusion Kings succeeded each other rapidly. No
reign lasted longer than three years. some only
few months The governmental system was
strong enough to hold on to Its conquests. but II
had neither time energy to make new onss