The Monticellonian. [volume] (Monticello, Ark.) 1870-1920, 1916-07-20

1oN amount u
~ nonsense has been written
~ about the spell of Egypt.
Gheapened by exaggeration,
vulgarized by familiarity, it has be-
come for many a picture post card
spell, pinned against the mind like the
posters at a railway terminus. The
moment Alexandria is reached, this
huge post card hangs across the
heavens, blazing in an over-eolored
sunset. composed Electrically of tenn
pie, pyramid, palm trees by the shin
ing Nile, and the inevitable Sphinx.
And the mOnstrosity of it paralyZes
the mind. Its strident shout deafens
the Imagination. Memory escapes with
difficulty from the inSiStent. gross ad-
vertisement. The post card and the
poster smother sight, writes Algernon
Blackwood. in Country Life.
Behind this glare and glitter there
hides, however. another delicate yet
potent thing that is somehow nameless
not acknowledged by all. perhaps be
cause so curious1y elusive yet surely
LCiL p9 tllI btNduSt 1t 10 81 Il dt III
tensely vital, certainly, since It thus
survives the suffocation of its vile eX-
aggregation. For the ordinary tourist
yields to it, and not alone the exca-
vator and archeoIogist; the latter, in
deed, who live long in the country
cease to be aware Of it as an outside
influence, having changed insensibIy in
thought and feeling till they have be-
come II; it is in their blood. An eff
feet is wrought subtly upon the mind
that does not pass away. Having
once gone down into Egypt" you are
never quite the same again Certain
values have curiously changed. per-
spectiYe has altered. emotions have
shifted their specific gravity, some at
titude 10 life. in a word, been empha-
sized and another. as it We're. oblit-
Grated. The spell works underground.
and, being not properly cOmprehenSi-
Bile, is nameless. Moreover, it il the
casual visitor, unburdened by anti
quarian and historical knowledge, who
may best estimate its power-the tour
list who knows merely what he has
cleaned. for instance. from reading
over Baedeker's general synopsis on
the voyage, He is aware of this float
ing power everywhere. yet unable to
fix it to definite cause 1t remains AT
large, eVasive, singnlarly fascinating
Creates Blur in the Mind.
All countries, of course, color
thought and memory. and work spell
upon the Imagination of any but the
hopelessly inanimate Greece, India
Japan. Ireland or the Channel islands
lehve their mark and imprint-wAence
the educational value of travel-psy.
chology-but from these the traveller
brings back feelings and memories he
can evoke at will and label He re-
turns from Egypt with a marvellous
blur All. in differing terms. report q
similar thing. From the first few
months in Egypt, saturated maybe
with overmuch, the mind recalls with
definiteness-nOthing. There comes tC
its summons colossal medley that
half StupefieS; vast reaches of yellow
sand drenched in sunlight that
stings; dim, solemn aisles of granite
silence; stupendous monoliths that
stare unblinking at the sun; the shin
ing river. licking softly at the lips OF
murderous desert; and an enormous
night sky literally drowned in stars. A
score of temples melt down into &
single monster; the Nile spreads
everywhere; great pyramids foat
across the sky like clouds; palm,
rustic in midair; and from governed
leagues of subterranean gloom there
issues roar of voices, thunderous vel
muffled, that seem to utter the hero
glyphics of forgotten tongue The
entire mental horizon, oddly lifted
brims with this procession of gigantic
things. then empties again without s
word of explanation. leaving litter ot
big adiectiVeS chasing one another