World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Young Men's Christian Associations
On another occasion we were with the army of Australian and New Zealand
troops, as they were marching by the King at their last review before
going to the front. Fortunately, we had secured standing room near the
King's side, where we could watch every smile and action as he saluted
each passing battalion, and we could even hear him speak a kind word
now and then to some officer. There were generals to the right of us
and to the left of us, colonels, majors, captains, officers of every
rank, and prominent civilians; but the greatest man on that field was
the soldier himself. With what a swing those clean-cut young
Australian boys marched past; every man was a volunteer and part of
that great first army of over four millions of men who came forward for
the defense of the Empire without conscription.
Hundreds were playing in the massed bands, as the long file of men
marched by. But time and again the firm columns seemed to fade before
us, and we could not see them for tears, as we realized that many of
these brave boys were going forward to die for us. Above, a great
aeroplane was looping the loop and warplanes were darting to and fro.
Away on the horizon stood the great boulders of Stonehenge, erected
long before the time of the Saxons, the Britons, or even the ancient
Druids, by the sun-worshippers, who offered their human sacrifices on
the ancient altar there nearly forty centuries before. We looked at
those stones, where through a mistaken conception of God and an
inadequate conception of man, human sacrifices were offered long ago.
Suddenly we heard the crack of the rifles of a body of troops at
practice, moving forward in open line of battle. Today, through a
mistaken conception of God and a low conception of man, over 5,000,000
of men have already been killed, offered in human sacrifice; while many
millions in lands devastated are homeless, starving, or ruined in body
or soul--these are part of the offering, forced upon humanity by a
godless materialism, while a divided Christian Church stands by
impotent.
II
Let us now visit Egypt where we shall witness very different scenes.
Away on the distant horizon are the two triangular points, which grow
as we approach into the outlines of the great pyramids. Beyond are the
fifty-eight centers which have risen along the banks of the Nile, in
the metropolis of Cairo, and in the harbors of Port Said and
Alexandria, and which line the Suez Canal and dot the desert even out
into the peninsula of Mt. Sinai. The sun is setting as we climb the
great pyramid, which stands a silent witness to forty centuries of
history which have ebbed and flowed at its base, but surely no stranger
sight has it ever seen than these armed camps about it, engaged in this
titanic struggle of the world. Away to the south towards far Khartoum,
like a green ribbon in the yellow desert, stretches the irrigated basin
of the Nile. Beyond it is the bottomless burning sand of the Sahara.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account