A symbolical picture is given of a stormy conference between_ the representatives of liberty and the' myrmidons of authority. It seems that Moses and Aaron threatened to unchain the forces of revolution if Pharaoh refused the claims of justice. The turning of Aaron's road into a snake signifies that the strength of a downtrodden people, now kept in leash, might easily become a source of terror and anarchy.
But the sorcerers of Egypt did the game with their rods, which signifies that force would be met with force, whips turned into scorpions, and rebellion punished with massacre And so the menace ing debate went on until the threat of rebellion prevailed and Pharaoh wag almost persuaded to come to terms. That was, I feel sure, the gist of the scene that is here reduced to the brevity of an ideograph. And I need not remind you that it stanes for a struggle which is always near to breaking out, and as a matter of fact has been reproduced before our very eyes both in Russia and in Turkey, not to speak of incidents much _nearer home. A few years ago in Russia the democratic leaders] snake, found their opportunity his rod, and they became serpents." challenging the Government, and in the circumstances of. the time, argument and persuasion soon dissolved into Sanguinary action, and for a while Hell seemed to be on holiday. In Turkey on the other hand the threat of revolt has been countered by -the threat of oppression and massacre. Ihe sorcerers of the Turkish government, the military chiefs who lead the young Turk party, have again and again let the forces of authority get out of hand in murderous assault, and the subject nationalities have been overwhelmed with savage retribution.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.