New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-26


by Professor Petrle, without an excia'ha'io" -.
wander Not so very long ago 1t was thought
ir7nossible that there could have been wriuhs
in the time Of Homer Then It was conceded
that there might have been few scrloes scat
tered throughout the world before lVvo s. -
But these letters made 1t plain that Writihs WAS
as general an accomplishment for men OF AFFAIRS
on the east coast Of the Mediterranean almost
thirty-hve hundred years ago as il Is to-day
The art was not confined to capitals like Mem
phs and Babylon, but was practised regularly
at frontier outposts and mountain Lighthouses.
and in the tents Of nonadic chieftains 1t was
not q very convenient script which those people
used. but it served their purpose They compare
we'll with the small local official Of modern
times. One would say that II they came back
to earth now they could take up the business
of life just as II nothing had happened so far
as intelligence and education were concerned.
How little change there was in the government OF
Syrian cities from this remote period down - the
time of Roman supremacy is shown by letters
in which the municipalities are seen TO have
had practical home rule. When they quarrel
they appeal to the King of Egypt. but they
send embassies and transact business as bodies
Of free people. They send collective letters
as a people to the King. in place of the personal
letter which would be expected from a chief APP
pointed by the King IF we mourn" wrote the
/ people Of the town Of Dump. threatened with
siege and sack "the King will also have to
mourn" Then they apostropbize themselves in
! n manner which shows that Hebrew poetry had
/ It's models: And now Dump your city weeps'
and her tears running and there Is no neip
for us" The whole group Of letters relates 10
a national tragedy. the fall Of Egypt from her
/ position as a power In touch with all the world
70 the weakness and seclusion in which she
gradually decayed TIL the Persian came. she
must have been kindly suzerain. The Syrian
| tribes evidently hated to give up their loyalty
| to her.
The volume first mentioned and another by
/ Professor Petrie on religion and conscience In
ancient Egypt are In the nature OF footnotes or
an excursus to his history Of Egypt. Speaking or
religion the author develops his theory Of races
in Egypt each bringing its own customs
and its own worship. In this way he accounts
for much of the confusion observed In Egyptian
beliefs To the negro Egypt owed It's animal
worship; to the Libyans. with their Greek ann
| tiles the worship Of gods in human form ana
human character; TO Asiatics, the gods repre-
senting the elements Of nature. and TO the Runlc
race the worship Of abstract ideas embodied in
some symbocal form. To the negro Professor
Petrie credits the tomb haunting ghost and the
bird-shaped soul in which the Egyptians be-
lieved; to the Libyans the theory OF the blessed
Amenti that is Elysium; TO the Asiatlc. the
/ voyage Of the soul in the ship of the sun, and
to the Runic race. the development Of the
mummy system a religious practice. He ap-
pears to put these distinctions as hypothetical
But 1t is well known that something of the kind
is needed to meet the evidence from outside Of
all rIaip no n
beliefs shown sometimes in a single chapter Of
The Book Of the Dead" Professor Petrie
brings the modern statistical method to bear
/ on his theory Of conscience. But it must be con
fessed that he hardly seems to have matured
the theory as applicable to Egypt. What he
shows for the old civilization OF the Nile is
very practical. prosaic moral system In which
| there was deal Of polite self-seekng and very
little self-denal. After inspecting the precepts
| Of Ptah-hotep the list Of offences avoided by
the soul on trial in The Book Of the Dead" and
other collections OF maxms quoted. one wonders
how the Egyptian finally evolved under Chris
tanity the frlghtful asceticsm Of the Thebaid
in the old Egyptians" says Professor Petrie.
there is hardly single splendid feeling; there
is not one burst Of magnanimous sacrifice
there is not one heartfelt self-depreciation. They
are as canny as a Scot. without his sentiment.
as prudent as Frenchman without his ideals
as self-conceited as an Englshman. without his
family"
Readers who do not believe in the revelations
OF Spiritualist seanccs will doubtless criticise
much OF Mr. Fagg's book in almost the same
words which he bestows upon the visions Of
Swedenborg when he describes them as 'phan-
tas,nagora Of the subjective kind" Anything
can be proved about the supernatural world, II
the premises. which are always In aginary are
granted at the outset. But nobody believes In
anything supernatural except what he invents
for himself The wholly unreal character Of all
this sort Of speculation and its complete de-
pendence on individual idiosyncrases can be
tested by any one who will get a group Of per-
sons TO read say Dante's Inferno and give
separate accounts of It. The way they will
differ from each other and from their model will
startle one who has had experience with
such tests For that reason Mr. Flagg's pet
theories have little to do with the genuine value
| Of his book a really remarkable comparative
| stI1S Of ancient and modern magical beliefs
and practices He starts with the opinion
sanctioned by Herbert Spencer and others, thai
religion. and indeed ell faith in the supernatural
begins In ancestor worship But ancestor wor-
ship is merely the earliest form. he says Of
what is now called spritualism These two
ends Of the chain are linked together by the
constant recurrence Of similar beliefs in all ages
This persistent faith may prove only the visit
fulness Of mankind for life. or 1t may be hello
to prove that immortality Is a fact. Mr.. Flags
appears TO cherish the latter opinion. But this
fact is Of significance to nortals still physically
alive only on the supposition that the immortal
can be persuaded compelled TO give advice
and assistance The belief that they can b
controlled is all there Is that is Of import in re
lgon. But when the practices by which thu
control is sought are enumerated and examined
they are found not to be religious. but magical
The moral effects Of this magic are seen to b.
good by the example Of the Esquimaus. the Chi