The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-05

turtles and very few Of the ciergymsn
who intone the liturgy know the mean
lhg OF word of it. The higher classes
OF the clergy can read and write it. but
no nNlng man can converse in 1t. The
sermon when there is one. is preached
N ARABIC The church service on Sun
DAYS and on holy days is about three or
tour hours long. AS the people stand
through all Of it. a Copt on his way to
churen may be seen carrying a erutch,
when he uses to support himself through
me firing ordeal. In view Of this custom
u Is all the more remarkable that the
goeTs.
The church interiors are much the same
as those Of the Greek Orthodox faith.
Ihere are no images, which are held to
De ldOlatTOus, but the priests have great
pride IN their pictures. Inc Madonna
ana child, St Joseph and the infant Je-
sus. st. George and the Dragon, and the
Child Jesus in the Temple are favorite
SUBJECTS for sacred art Some of these
pictures are many centuries old.
The Copts themselves are a distinct
race from all other inhabitants of Egypt
Their descent from the ancient monu-
meht builders of glorious Egypt mas been
admitted by the ethnologists, and it IS
proved TO the layman by the striking ia
clal resemblance between d COptic clerk
of today and the monuments of Rameses
Seti and the ancient kings.
Fartly from necessity and partly from
superior adaptability the COpts have
been the clerks and scrbes of Egypt
since soon after the Arab conquest. Inc
Arab despised the clerk. with his pen and
INK and account books. The COpt was
quick and accurate, so he took the place
OF DOokkeeper-in-Chief to the nation. An
Arab after centuries of Inaccurate think
ing ana no instruction In numbers. can
not be certain about anything which in
wolves the multiplication table. Very few
Arabs know their own age. All old m IN
are hundred. Everything is guessed
at. On the other hand the CODts are aC-
curate and have habits Of thought very
much like those of the Occidental world.
For that reason they have been valuable
allies to the cause of reform in Egypt.
They do not Ike the English because
they believe the English ought to throw
all MOslems out Of office and employ no
body but Christians. but at the same time
they have seized upon English civilization
with a rapidlty impossible to the MOslem
Arab.
The COptic women veil themselves az
do their MOhammedan sisters, yet the
church Is strict I'm enforcing mouogamy
and in prohibiting divorce for any other
than Biblical reasons. A Mosiem may
divorce his wife or his wives a { will with
or without reason. In this particular the
Copt Is, therefore, far superior to his
MOhammedan neighbOr The greatest
fault of the COpts is intemperance. The
devOut MOslem will not drink intoxicating
liquors. 1t is one Of the seven cardinal
sins denounced by the prophet. and all
MOSlems are total abstainers except those
who have come under European influ-
enCe. The COpt, like his Christian brother
In other lands, has advocated the middle
course of temperance, with the result
that many have fallen into the lower
path. On this account the Arabs look
upon the Copts as the lowest of human
creatures.
The patriarch Of Alexandria was al
most as conservative as the grand multi
Of El-AZhar university. He has objected
10 popular education for girls and has
p ade some trouble for reform movements.
But his chief fear was that too much
European and American schooling might
undermine the faith of his people Now
he is fighting the devil with fire" and
IS the most interchangeable founder OF
schools in Egypt. The Coptic church has
been awakened to the need of popular
education. What this new departure will /
DO for the ancient Organization no one
may predict with certainty.
The CCptc clergy looks askance upon
the activity of the Protestant mission
aries in Egypt, but the laity is inclined to-
extend brOtherly aid. The majority of
The accessions to Protestant churches are
from the ranks Of the Copts, vet there
give largely TO the mission schools. There [
are about a million COpts in Egypt. most /
II them living above the delta on the |
PIPER Mic. ReligiOusly, they represent /
the advance of the cause of modern edu-
cation; politically. they are the backbone /
IF the native sentiment which is in favor
Of continued British occupation.
The ignorance of their priesthood and
their failure TO recognize the fact that
cleanliness is next to gOdliness separate |
them widely from the Christians Of more
favored lands but their tenaCity and de- /
-otion are admirable. The oldest of the |
separate Christian churches cut off from
fellowship with any other Christians for /
many centuries. the descendants Of a
great race OF ancients. the Copts are the |
most interesting people Of Egypt
Copyright 1863, by Frederic J. HaskinD I
TOmorrow-Twentieth Century Egypt. I
VII American Missions and Schools