alexandria and her schools-第23章

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ian　society；　as　their　dogmatic　ferocity　ruined　Alexandrian　thought。　　The　Creed　which　taught　them　that　in　the　person　of　the　Incarnate　Logos；　that　which　was　most　divine　had　been　proved　to　be　most　human；　that　which　was　most　human　had　been　proved　to　be　most　divine；　ought　surely　to　have　given　to　them；　as　it　has　given　to　modern　Europe；　nobler；　clearer；　simpler　views　of　the　true　relation　of　the　sexes。　　However；　on　this　matter　they　did　not　see　their　way。　Perhaps；　in　so　debased　an　age；　so　profligate　a　world；　as　that　out　of　which　Christianity　had　risen；　it　was　impossible　to　see　the　true　beauty　and　sanctity　of　those　primary　bonds　of　humanity。　　And　while　the　relation　of　the　sexes　was　looked　on　in　a　wrong　light；　all　other　social　relations　were　necessarily　also　misconceived。　　〃The　very　ideas　of　family　and　national　life；〃　as　it　has　been　said；　〃those　two　divine　roots　of　the　Church；　severed　from　which　she　is　certain　to　wither　away　into　that　most　cruel　and　most　godless　of　spectres；　a　religious　world；　had　perished　in　the　East；　from　the　evil　influence　of　the　universal　practice　of　slave…　holding；　as　well　as　from　the　degradation　of　that　Jewish　nation　which　had　been　for　ages　the　great　witness　for　these　ideas；　and　all　classes；　like　their　forefather　Adamlike；　indeed；　the　Old　Adamthe　selfish；　cowardly；　brute　nature　in　every　man　and　in　every　agewere　shifting　the　blame　of　sin　from　their　own　consciences　to　human　relationships　and　duties；　and　therein；　to　the　God　who　had　appointed　them；　and　saying；　as　of　old；　'The　woman　whom　Thou　gavest　to　be　with　me；　she　gave　me　of　the　tree；　and　I　did　eat。'〃

Much　as　Christianity　did；　even　in　Egypt；　for　woman；　by　asserting　her　moral　and　spiritual　equality　with　the　man；　there　seems　to　have　been　no　suspicion　that　she　was　the　true　complement　of　the　man；　not　merely　by　softening　him；　but　by　strengthening　him；　that　true　manhood　can　be　no　more　developed　without　the　influence　of　the　woman；　than　true　womanhood　without　the　influence　of　the　man。　　There　is　no　trace　among　the　Egyptian　celibates　of　that　chivalrous　woman…worship　which　our　Gothic　forefathers　brought　with　them　into　the　West；　which　shed　a　softening　and　ennobling　light　round　the　mediaeval　convent　life；　and　warded　off　for　centuries　the　worst　effects　of　monasticism。　　Among　the　religious　of　Egypt；　the　monk　regarded　the　nun；　the　nun　the　monk；　with　dread　and　aversion；　while　both　looked　on　the　married　population　of　the　opposite　sex　with　a　coarse　contempt　and　disgust　which　is　hardly　credible；　did　not　the　foul　records　of　it　stand　written　to　this　day；　in　Rosweyde's　extraordinary　〃Vitae　Patrum　Eremiticorum；〃　no　barren　school　of　metaphysic；　truly；　for　those　who　are　philosophic　enough　to　believe　that　all　phenomena　whatsoever　of　the　human　mind　are　worthy　matter　for　scientific　induction。

And　thus　grew　up　in　Egypt　a　monastic　world；　of　such　vastness　that　it　was　said　to　equal　in　number　the　laity。　　This　produced；　no　doubt；　an　enormous　increase　in　the　actual　amount　of　moral　evil。　　But　it　produced　three　other　effects；　which　were　the　ruin　of　Alexandria。　　First；　a　continually　growing　enervation　and　numerical　decrease　of　the　population；　next；　a　carelessness　of；　and　contempt　for　social　and　political　life；　and　lastly；　a　most　brutalising　effect　on　the　lay　population；　who；　told　that　they　were；　and　believing　themselves　to　be；　beings　of　a　lower　order；　and　living　by　a　lower　standard；　sank　down　more　and　more　generation　after　generation。　　They　were　of　the　world；　and　the　ways　of　the　world　they　must　follow。　　Political　life　had　no　inherent　sanctity　or　nobleness；　why　act　holily　and　nobly　in　it？　　Family　life　had　no　inherent　sanctity　or　nobleness；　why　act　holily　and　nobly　in　it　either；　if　there　were　no　holy；　noble；　and　divine　principle　or　ground　for　it？　　And　thus　grew　up；　both　in　Egypt；　Syria；　and　Byzantium；　a　chaos　of　profligacy　and　chicanery；　in　rulers　and　people；　in　the　home　and　the　market；　in　the　theatre　and　the　senate；　such　as　the　world　has　rarely　seen　before　or　since；　a　chaos　which　reached　its　culmination　in　the　seventh　century；　the　age　of　Justinian　and　Theodora；　perhaps　the　two　most　hideous　sovereigns；　worshipped　by　the　most　hideous　empire　of　parasites　and　hypocrites；　cowards　and　wantons；　that　ever　insulted　the　long…suffering　of　a　righteous　God。

But；　for　Alexandria　at　least；　the　cup　was　now　full。　　In　the　year　640　the　Alexandrians　were　tearing　each　other　in　pieces　about　some　Jacobite　and　Melchite　controversy；　to　me　incomprehensible；　to　you　unimportant；　because　the　fighters　on　both　sides　seem　to　have　lost　（as　all　parties　do　in　their　old　age）　the　knowledge　of　what　they　were　fighting　for；　and　to　have　so　bewildered　the　question　with　personal　intrigues；　spites；　and　quarrels；　as　to　make　it　nearly　as　enigmatic　as　that　famous　contemporary　war　between　the　blue　and　green　factions　at　Constantinople；　which　began　by　backing　in　the　theatre；　the　charioteers　who　drove　in　blue　dresses；　against　those　wild　drove　in　green；　then　went　on　to　identify　themselves　each　with　one　of　the　prevailing　theological　factions；　gradually　developed；　the　one　into　an　aristocratic；　the　other　into　a　democratic；　religious　party；　and　ended　by　a　civil　war　in　the　streets　of　Constantinople；　accompanied　by　the　most　horrible　excesses；　which　had　nearly；　at　one　time；　given　up　the　city　to　the　flames；　and　driven　Justinian　from　his　throne。

In　the　midst　of　these　Jacobite　and　Melchite　controversies　and　riots；　appeared　before　the　city　the　armies　of　certain　wild　and　unlettered　Arab　tribes。　　A　short　and　fruitless　struggle　followed；　and；　strange　to　say；　a　few　months　swept　away　from　the　face　of　the　earth；　not　only　the　wealth；　the　commerce；　the　castles；　and　the　liberty；　but　the　philosophy　and　the　Christianity　of　Alexandria；　crushed　to　powder　by　one　fearful　blow；　all　that　had　been　built　up　by　Alexander　and　the　Ptolemies；　by　Clement　and　the　philosophers；　and　made　void；　to　all　appearance；　nine　hundred　years　of　human　toil。　　The　people；　having　no　real　hold　on　their　hereditary　Creed；　accepted；　by　tens　of　thousands；　that　of　the　Mussulman　invaders。　The　Christian　remnant　became　tributaries；　and　Alexandria　dwindled；　from　that　time　forth；　into　a　petty　seaport　town。

And　nowcan　we　pass　over　this　new　metaphysical　school　of　Alexandria？　Can　we　help　inquiring　in　what　the　strength　of　Islamism　lay？　　I；　at　least；　cannot。　　I　cannot　help　feeling　that　I　am　bound　to　examine　in　what　relation　the　creed　of　Omar　and　Amrou　stands　to　the　Alexandrian　speculations　of　five　hundred　years；　and　how　it　had　power　to　sweep　those　speculations　utterly　from　the　Eastern　mind。　　It　is　a　difficult　problem；　to　me；　as　a　Christian　priest；　a　very　awful　problem。　　What　more　awful　historic　problem；　than　to　see　the　lower　creed　destroying　the　higher？　to　see　God；　as　it　were；　undoing　his　own　work；　and　repenting　Him　that　He　had　made　man？　　Awful　indeed：　　but　I　can　honestly　say；　that　it　is　one　from　the　investigation　of　which　I　have　learntI　cannot　yet　tell　how　much：　and　of　this　I　am　sure；　that　without　that　old　Alexandrian　philosophy；　I　should　not　have　been　able　to　do　justice　to　Islam；　without　Islam　I　should　not　have　been　able　to　find　in　that　Alexandrian　philosophy；　an　ever…　living　and　practical　element。

I　must；　however；　first　entreat　you　to　dismiss　from　your　minds　the　vulgar　notion　that　Mohammed　was　in　anywise　a　bad　man；　or　a　conscious　deceiver；　pretending　to　work　miracles；　or　to　do　things　which　he　did　not　do。　　He　sinned　in　one　instance：　　but；　as　far　as　I　can　see；　only　in　that　oneI　mean　against　what　he　must　have　known　to　be　right。　　I　allude　to　his　relaxing　in　his　own　case　those　wise　restrictions　on　polygamy　which　he　had　proclaimed。　　And　yet；　even　in　this　case；　the　desire　for　a　child　may　have　been　the　true　cause　of　his　weakness。　　He　did　not　see　the　whole　truth；　of　course：　　but　he　was　an　infinitely　better　man　than　the　men　around：　　perhaps；　all　in　all；　one　of　the　best　men　of　his　day。　　Many　here　may　have　read　Mr。　Carlyle's　vindication　of　Mohammed　in　his　Lectures　on　Hero　Worship；　to　those　who　have　not；　I　shall　only　say；　that　I　entreat　them　to　do　so；　and　that　I　assure　them；　that　though　I　differ　in　many　things　utterly　from　Mr。　Carlyle's　inferences　and　deductions　in　that　lecture；　yet　that　I　am　convinced；　from　my　own　acquaintance　with　the　original　facts　and　documents；　that　the　picture　there　drawn　of　Mohammed　is　a　true　and　a　ju