"Prepare lunch for the King. Sandwiches."
In the angry discussion over this error, which was carried on in the Osmanli or Egyptian tongue, we heard "Allah" repeated several times; but the occasion required something more vigorous, and the rugged strength of the English language, now the imprecating language of the world, was mustered up, and a "Damn" was heard in the land where Pharaoh had ruled. The embassy apologised to the King, and the traffic of the railway was suspended during the delay of the train while an excellent lunch was prepared. Had Death a grudge against this Polynesian monarch? He had demanded "Royal Sandwiches" in London nearly sixty years before, and now he had wickedly instigated the guileless Egyptians to put before him a pile of sandwiches as a solemn reminder that he was stalking behind him, even at the foot of the Pyramids.
Looking from the window of the car, as we again rode through the desert, several points appeared just above the horizon in the western sky. "You see the Pyramids," said Sami-Pasha. "They are curiosities only," he said: "if you compare them with mountains, they are nothing; but they are grand because man made them. You will visit them to-morrow."
While we rested on the silk-covered divans the obsequious Egyptian servants tendered us, as usual, champagne and whiskey. The embassy did not touch them. 1f temperance be a virtue and drunkenness a vice, Islamism has absorbed all the virtue and turned over to Christendom an undisputed title to the vice. Sami-Pasha said that while the Koran forbade the use of wine, there was a prevailing reason for the abstinence of the Mohammedans in the poverty of the people and the lack of material out of which cheap spirits could be made. He continued:
"If the Arabs could raise potatoes like the Irishman, or grain like the Russians, the command of the Koran would not be kept as well as it is. But," he continued, "Europe will make drunkards of the Mussulmans within a century. When I see a tipsy Mussulman I know he is free from all religion and is a renegade, though he calls himself a Christian. We are Unitarians and do not believe that God forgives sin; if a good Mussulman gets tipsy and does mischief, he can't pray and be forgiven; but a Christian can get drunk a hundred times and he is forgiven each time if he repents. There may be no limit to his sin, but he is always forgiven if he repents; the Christians have the easiest religion of the world."
I asked him if he thought Christianity would not benefit the races who accept Islamism.
"There is much good in Christianity," he replied, "but if it prevailed in Asia, it would free the people from direct responsibility to God. Do the Christians of Europe obey the teachings of Christ? I have lived in England, and I have not seen obedience. There is more wickedness in London than in all Asia Minor or Arabia and Egypt; more drunkenness and immorality and crime. If the English people were forced to practise the teaching of the Prophet for twenty years, as we are, there would be such sobriety and temperance among the people that you would not recognise them. Christianity suits them, but Islamism is best for our people. I do not deny the greatness and wisdom of Christ. I believe in his teachings; the Koran does not condemn him; but Mohammed gave us a religion better suited to our people; it was the will of God. If Christianity is better for us, God will send it here; he knows best what we need, and he gives us what is best for us."
These were the thoughts of an educated Mussulman who had seen the world. In another conversation he said: "The Europeans do not understand us. It is impossible to separate religious from political faith; they unite Church and State, but Christians ask us to separate them. We do not proselyte; we tolerate all religions; but the preaching of the Western religion in our countries disturbs allegiance to the government. The Sultan is the leader of our faith and rules through the obedience of the people to him as the leader; the missionaries and the Americans say he is not a true leader, and that makes political treason."
I remembered that Chancellor Kent, in his "Commentaries," which form a text-book for lawyers, declares that the American government is founded on the principles of Christianity; the conclusions of this great American jurist and of this Mussulman statesman were the same,—that political and religious faith are interwoven and cannot be separated.
CHAPTER XX
Cairo — General Stone — The Pyramids — In the Khedive's Palace — Egyptian Donkeys — Drive through the Streets of Cairo — The Massacre of the Mamelukes — The Museum and Its Curator — Received atAlexandria by the Khedive — Palace "Number Three" — The Harem — Mohammedan Views of Woman's Position — The King Returns the Khedive's Visit — Jewelled Pipes and Coffee — Cups — The Khedive's Views on Polygamy — Egypt under the Lion's Paw — The King's Belief in His Divine Origin — Dinner with the Khedive — Political Unrest — Polygamy a Divine Institution — Leprosy — The Khedive's Stables — Ball at the Palace of the Ras — el — Tin — Captain Cook's Old Frigate, the "Resolution" — A Greek Beauty — Historic Ground: Alexander the Great, Julius Cresar, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra — Departure for Italy — The Vice — Regal Barge.
AFTER a journey of one hundred and forty miles we reached Cairo. We stepped out of the vice-regal carriage upon carpets laid over the stone pavements. The Minister of Foreign Affairs greeted the King and presented to him some of the high officials. Among them was General Charles F. Stone, an American soldier, who, after the Civil War in America, took service in the Khedive's army. I had known him in the early days of that war, when the political generals of the American Senate meddled in the military campaigns and had caused his arrest and imprisonment, without charges or trial, for many months; he was finally discharged and restored to service, but under this gross humiliation, had abandoned his native land and taken service with the Khedive. He was also most considerately assigned by the Khedive to attend our party. Passing through lines of Egyptian troops, we were taken to the palace of Kasr-el-Moussa, which had been closed for the season, but was reopened for the royal guest. The Khedive was spending the summer in Alexandria and had assigned a palace to the King whenever he should reach that city.
I asked General Stone why the Khedive was so hospitable to the King of a small domain of which he certainly knew little if anything. He replied that the reception of the King in the Orient was known to the Khedive's government, and though it had no diplomatic relations with Hawaii it would not refuse the courtesies which other nations had shown. We were again in the best of luck, for we did not expect it. Our travels in Asia had taken the edge off our curiosity to see the courts of the world, but we were now with another race and in the land of the Nile and the Pyramids.
We drove the next morning over a splendid highway to the Pyramids. Napoleon's battle with the Mamelukes interested the King more than the Pyramids; from a rising spot General Stone explained to him the movements and strategy of the battle; pointing out the ground over which the Mamelukes made their reckless charge upon the French infantry. The King thought that the generalship of the Mamelukes was open to criticism; General Stone agreed with him. The ride from the Pyramids to the Sphinx was made, as it is usually made, upon very small donkeys. The large frame of the King, with his clothing, so covered his donkey that its identity was lost; the King's legs nearly touched the ground; it appeared at a short distance as if a new and queer animal, more of man than beast, was moving about, supplied with two heads, six legs, and a tail. While in front of the Sphinx, the little donkey brayed, with his companions who carried the suite; the Sphinx did not smile, but a close observer might have noticed a slight cocking of an eye as he looked upon the new member of the zoological world.
In the streets of Cairo our vice-regal carriage had the right of way. Two Arabs dressed in white, with embroidered jackets and turbans, and legs bare below the knees, ran in front of it with long graceful steps, and struck those in the street who were in the way with long, slim poles, crying to all with loud, harsh voices to open the way for the Khedive's carriage. We saw what tourists usually see in the old city; the dreamy, weird life of the Arabian Nights; laden camels picking their way through narrow streets with their heads high in the air; de
formed beggars, and almost naked water-carriers; maniacal-looking dervishes tossing up their arms; veiled women in shrouds gliding by; and in the narrowest streets, crowded with donkeys and camels, great disturbance and frantic efforts to make way for our carriage. At the grand alabaster mosque on the citadel, overlooking the city, holy men received us at the entrance; servants placed on our feet cloth overshoes, which protected the polished floors. We were led through deep, shadowy archways, and between graceful alabaster columns, with rich colouring, to the ancient citadel. We stood on the quadrangle where the tragical massacre of the Mamelukes took place by the order of the perfidious Mohammed Ali. Fearing these aristocratic soldiers, whose ancestors had once ruled Egypt, he invited all of their great chiefs to a banquet of reconciliation in the citadel; they came on their splendid Arabian horses, and while they sat at a gorgeous feast the curtains suddenly fell from the sides of the great hall, and Mohammed Ali's soldiers opened fire on the guests. Only one daring young Mameluke escaped; he sprang from the table, mounted his horse, dashed through the inner gate as they were closing it, reached the parapet, leaped from it into the deep darkness below, rose from his steed's crushed body, and fled.
After we had dined and the King had retired, I followed General Stone to his headquarters. Here was an American, of a nation not a hundred years old, teaching a race that had been involved in wars for fifty centuries, how to fight. While the Egyptian sentinel slowly paced the stone pavement the General described the political disturbances and the immediate danger of insurrection.
We visited the Museum. The celebrated Curator was eloquent in his description of "mummies and things." His life, his joy, was in rummaging in the debris which the old centuries had packed away in decayed temples. What was musty gave him inspiration; the discovery of an ancient dish which the infant Rameses used five thousand years before gave him more pleasure than the regeneration of Egypt; the discovery of an embalmed rabbit was of more importance than the conservation of the waters of the Nile; he was enriching our knowledge of the past while the Egypt of to-day was in darkness; like the Chinese epicure, who finds his best dish in stale eggs, he found pleasure in nothing unless it was ancient.
The next morning we left for Alexandria in the vice-regal car, reaching the station at eleven o'clock. Carpets were laid on the stone pavements, and when the King stepped out of the car the Khedive, Tewfik, who succeeded to the vice-regal throne, a year before, took the King's hand, and led him to his carriage. This was driven, with a bodyguard of cavalry, to what is known as '' Number Three Palace," or the Palace of Mahmondieh, situated about three miles from the city, in extensive and well-kept grounds. The Khedive led the King to a large reception-room, and after a brief conversation committed him again to the care of Sami-Pasha and Abbati-Bey. The floors of the palace were of marble; the furniture was mainly European; divans of rich material lay against the walls. About fifty feet from the palace was a large, plain building, several stories in height. The shutters of its many windows were closed, and there was no sign of life within it. Before the doors sat large, fat eunuchs. Here lived about three hundred women, it was said, who were the wives of the former Khedive. We watched the shutters, and from time to time could see many of them open slightly, for the inmates were as curious to see the King as he was to see them. We warned the King that an unbridled curiosity might bring him to the bowstring and the deposit of his body in the Nile. Our distinguished companion, Sami-Pasha, told us that the Khedive was a monogamist, and these women were a legacy not altogether desirable; good faith forbade that he should turn them out in the streets. I asked him, as he seemed to invite discussion, about the life of the women of the harems. He replied that there was no hardship in it; that it was eagerly sought for; the harem was a condition of social life; these women, like birds born in captivity, were contented, for there were no contrasts of life in their experiences, which created a desire for change. "No doubt," he said, "they might become restless and miserable if they were allowed for a time the freedom of European life, but they know nothing about that freedom and are satisfied." I asked him if the thinking Mohammedans favoured any change in the institution of the harem. He replied that it was God's will that present conditions existed, and God would change them if it was best. His placid belief in predestination was as childlike as that of a stern Calvinist. He said he had seen much of life in Europe, and especially England, particularly the condition of women; Christendom had much to boast of, but more to be ashamed of; it immeasurably surpassed Islamism in its debaucheries. "The European women," he said, "did not appear to be happier than the Mohammedan women, and the lot of the wives of the poorer class was certainly not better than the lot of the wives of the poorer classes in Constantinople or Cairo; indeed, he said, he believed, and some intelligent Europeans held the same opinions, that Mohammedan women were in some respects better off. Monogamy, he said, might be one of the best forms of civilisation, but God knew what was best. He had allowed the best men, by the records of the Old Testament, to practise polygamy, and if He approved of it, why should men contradict Him?"
At five o'clock we returned the Khedive's visit. The State carriages, with Arabic crests on the door panels, took us to the palace within the city. The cavalry escort was unusually large, for it was said that the outskirts of the city were still open to the incursions of Bedouins.
The Khedive met his royal friend at the door with a very cordial manner. He led us through several large chambers, with furniture of a European rather than an Egyptian fashion, but extremely rich; divans were evidently more popular than chairs. As soon as we were seated in a group, servants placed before each of us a long pipe, with a bowl studded with diamonds. At each bowl a servant kneeled, filled it with tobacco, and lighted it. Coffee was served in gold cups also studded with diamonds. The Khedive was short, rather stout, and dark in feature; his smile was genial; there was no evidence of his father's stern and cruel nature. A physiognomist might call him irresolute and easy; the roaring sea of political troubles about him did not disturb him; he was outwardly as tranquil as the goat among the sacred and mischievous monkeys of Benares. He spoke the English language with ease and directed his questions to the King's travels in the Far East. The presence of two white men in the King's suite led him to ask if they were Hawaiians. The King replied that they were born in his kingdom and were his subjects, but were of American descent. The Khedive asked if he had any of his native subjects in his Cabinet. He replied that he usually did have at least one native, but generally he selected white men. The Khedive nodded to this answer and made no reply; his thought, I suspect, was this: "There now, even at the ends of the earth the Anglo-Saxons are grabbing everything." He was restless himself under English dominance.
When the King said he intended to leave shortly for Italy, the Khedive invited him to a State banquet in the evening, and to a State ball on the following evening. The conversation drifted into a comparison of the customs of the Egyptians and the Hawaiians. The Khedive asked if polygamy was practised in the Hawaiian kingdom, and when he learned that it was not, he said, "I have only one wife; I believe it is the best way. The people of Europe think it is best for us." He is, however, a true Mohammedan. His father Ismail, who was a cruel, cold, and extravagant despot, squeezing the life out of the fellahin, said to him when he was young, "Why do you remain a Mussulman? Go over to the Europeans. Be like me. I am now a Christian." He said that his children were receiving education in the English language. I knew that while he spoke the paw of the British lion rested on Egypt, and he was without the substance of power; no doubt he was more contented under that great paw than if he were exposed to the teeth of the European wolves that howled around the Pyramids. The King said he had been in the Suez Canal for a short distance. "Yes," said the Khedive, "it is a great work, but it has made much trouble for us." I asked him if he was proud of the wisdom of his uncle Said, who, when Khedive, built the Canal under the guidance of De Lesseps, though the English engineers said it was an impracticable sc
heme. He replied that the English did not believe in De Lesseps because he was a Frenchman. He turned to the King and said, "You must see De Lesseps when you are in Paris; he is a very able man."
When we had returned to our palace, and had cast ourselves on the divans, and were smoking the fragrant tobacco brought by the attendants, the King began to display his knowledge of Egyptian history. He said the Egyptians, like the Japanese, the Chinese, and the Siamese, traced the origin of their sovereigns to a divine source. I asked him if he believed that his own origin was divine. He said that though he was elected King it was quite probable that he was selected for reasons which were peculiar. This vague statement indicated to me that his mind was working on the subject. I told him that he was perhaps on the very spot occupied by Alexander the Great when he selected this site for the city; it was here that he fell in doubt about his own origin, and so he pushed out into the desert to the Temple of Ammon to get out of the priests a declaration that he was divine. Here was an excellent opportunity for him, the King, to take the Feather Cloak, Robert, and a donkey, push out into the desert to the same temple, and "suck" up some information about his own origin; he could bring back some of the hieroglyphics, which might be deciphered so as to declare his own divinity, and no doubt the Khedive would certify to its correctness. He would then return to his own people, not with some base information about useful things, but with the precious discovery that he came down from the gods. He made no reply to this, but afterward told his Chamberlain that the Minister trifled with very important matters. It had touched a subject on which the royal mind was reflecting from time to time.
In the evening we dined with the Khedive. About forty guests were present, men of different races, his own Cabinet, and intimate friends, the diplomatic representatives of England, France, and Austria, who had substantially taken the political power out of his hands. The table service was of solid silver, with, of course, flowers in profusion.
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