I have long wished to visit the Sudan.  I doubt whether in any other region of the earth there is to be seen a more striking instance of the progress, the genuine progress, made by the substitution of civilization for savagery than what we have seen in the Sudan for the past twelve years.  I feel that you here owe a peculiar duty to the Government under which you live—­a peculiar duty in the direction of doing your full worth to make the present conditions perpetual.  It is incumbent on every decent citizen of the Sudan to uphold the present order of things; to see that there is no relapse; to see that the reign of peace and justice continues.  But you here have that duty resting upon you to a peculiar degree, and your best efforts must be given in all honor, and as a matter, not merely of obligation, but as a matter of pride on your part, towards the perpetuation of the condition of things that has made this progress possible, of the Government as it now stands—­as you represent it, Slatin Pasha.[3]

[3] One of the most distinguished officers of the Anglo-Egyptian Army whose well-known book, Fire and Sword in the Sudan, gives a graphic picture of the conditions England has had to deal with in the Sudan.—­L.F.A.

I am exceedingly pleased to see here officers of the army, and you have, of course, your oath.  You are bound by every tie of loyalty, military and civil, to work to the end I have named.  But, after all, you are not bound any more than are you, you civilians.  And, another thing, do not think for a moment that when I say that you are bound to uphold the Government I mean that you are bound to try to get an office under it.  On the contrary, I trust, Dr. Giffen, that the work done here by you, done by the different educational institutions with which you are connected or with which you are affiliated, will always be done, bearing in mind the fact that the most useful citizen to the Government may be a man who under no consideration would hold any position connected with the Government.  I do not want to see any missionary college carry on its educational scheme primarily with a view of turning out Government officials.  On the contrary, I want to see the average graduate prepared to do his work in some capacity in civil life, without any regard to any aid whatever received from or any salary drawn from the Government.  If a man is a good engineer, a good mechanic, a good agriculturist, if he is trained so that he becomes a really good merchant, he is, in his place, the best type of citizen.  It is a misfortune in any country, American, European, or African, to have the idea grow that the average educated man must find his career only in the Government service.  I hope to see good and valuable servants of the Government in the military branch and in the civil branch turned out by this and similar educational institutions; but, if the conditions are healthy, those Government servants, civil or military, will never be more than a small fraction of the graduates, and the prime end and prime object of an educational institution should be to turn out men who will be able to shift for themselves, to help themselves, and to help others, fully independent of all matters connected with the Government.  I feel very strongly on this subject, and I feel it just as strongly in America as I do here.