II. The Significance of Cairo

Extract

Among the many peculiarities of Egypt, not the least notable is her instinct for rejecting the foreign influences which her position at the gates of three continents renders exceptionally numerous. This power to repudiate what is alien seems to belong to the very genius of the land. It is, perhaps, a sign of the sufficiency and adequacy of Egypt for herself; an indication that within herself she finds what she needs for her existence and for her development, and that the outer world and its gifts are not required. Her ancient history is an eloquent witness of her own peculiar power; a power to achieve, to develop, and to realize the highest that is in her, only under conditions of comparative isolation, or under such conditions of contact as leave her full freedom of choice; and her less ancient, as well as her modern, history no less eloquently testify to the deadening effects of contact with the outer world.