IN LATER YEARS-1856-1905 567 



unspeakably precious to all Christian nations and to 

 every Christian man. At a later period, readings in the 

 works of Renan, Pfleiderer, Cheyne, Harnack, Sayce, and 

 others strengthened me in my liberal tendencies, without 

 diminishing in the slightest my reverence for all that is 

 noble in Christianity, past or present. 



Another experience, while it did not perhaps set me 

 in any new trains of thought, strengthened me in some 

 of my earlier views. This was the revelation to me of 

 Mohammedanism during my journey in the East. While 

 Mohammedan fanaticism seems to me one of the great 

 misfortunes of the world, Mohammedan worship, as I 

 first saw it, made a deep impression on me. Our train 

 was slowly moving into Cairo, and stopped for a time 

 just outside the city; the Pyramids were visible in the 

 distance, but my thoughts were turned from them by a 

 picture in the foreground. Under a spreading palm-tree, 

 a tall Egyptian suddenly arose to his full height, took 

 off an outer covering from his shoulders, laid it upon 

 the ground, and then solemnly prostrated himself and 

 went through his prayers, addressing them in the direc 

 tion of Mecca. He was utterly oblivious of the crowd 

 about him, and the simplicity, directness, and reverence 

 in his whole movement appealed to me strongly. At 

 various other times, on the desert, in the bazaars, in 

 the mosques, and on the Nile boats, I witnessed similar 

 scenes, and my broad-churchmanship was thereby made 

 broader. Nor was this general effect diminished by my 

 visit to the howling and whirling dervishes. The mani 

 festations of their zeal ranged themselves clearly in the 

 same category with those evident in American camp- 

 meetings, and I now understood better than ever what 

 the Rev. Dr. Bacon of New Haven meant when, after 

 returning from the East, he alluded to certain Christian 

 &quot;revivalists&quot; as &quot;howling dervishes. &quot; 



I must say, too, that while I loved and admired many 

 Christian missionaries whom I saw in the East, and re 

 joiced in the work of their schools, the utter narrowness 



