Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 3.djvu/29

 MOSES 9 Adopted into the immediate family of the supreme monarch and earthly god ; standing almost at the apex of the social pyramid which had for its base those toiling millions ; priest and prince in a land where prince and priest might revel in all delights everything that life could offer to gratify the senses or en- gage the intellect was open to him. What to him the wail of them who beneath the fierce sun toiled under the whips of relentless masters ? Heard from granite colonnade or beneath cool linen awning, it was mellowed by distance to monotonous music. Why should he question the Sphinx of Fate, or quarrel with destinies the high gods had de- creed ? So had it always been, for ages and ages ; so must it ever be. The beetle rends the insect, and the hawk preys on the beetle ; order on order, life rises from death and carnage, and higher pleasures from lower agonies. Shall the man be better than nature ? Soothing and restful flows the Nile, though underneath its placid surface finny tribes wage cruel war, and the stronger eat the weaker. Shall the gazer who would read the secrets of the stars turn because under his feet a worm may writhe ? Theirs to make bricks without straw ; his a high place in the glorious pro- cession that with gorgeous banners and glittering emblems, with clash of music and solemn chant, winds its shining way to dedicate the immortal edifice their toil has reared. Theirs the leek and the garlic ; his to sit at the sumptuous feast. Why should he dwell on the irksomeness of bondage, he for whom the chariots waited, who might at will bestride the swift coursers of the Delta, or be borne on the bosom of the river with oars that beat time to songs ? Did he long for the excitement of action ? there was the desert hunt, with steeds fleeter than the antelope and lions trained like dogs. Did he crave rest and ease ? there was for him the soft swell of languorous music and the wreathed movements of dancing girls. Did he feel the stir of intellectual life ? in the arcana of the temples he was free to the lore of ages ; an initiate in the society where were dis- cussed the most engrossing problems ; a sharer in that intellectual pride that cen- turies after compared Greek philosophy to the babblings of children. It was no sudden ebullition of passion that caused Moses to turn his back on all this, and to bring the strength and knowledge acquired in a dominant caste to the life-long service of the oppressed. The forgetfulness of self manifested in the smiting of the Egyptian shines through the whole life. In institutions that moulded the character of a people, in institutions that to this day make easier the lot of toiling millions, we may read the stately purpose. Through all that tradition has given us of that life runs the same grand pas- sion the unselfish desire to make humanity better, happier, nobler. And the death is worthy of the life. Subordinating to the good of his people the natural disposition to found a dynasty, which in his case would have been so easy, he discards the claims of blood and calls to his place of leader the fittest man. Coming from a land where the rites of sepulture were regarded as all-important, and the preservation of the body after .death was the passion of life ; among a people who were even then carrying the remains of their great ancestor, Joseph,