The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-28 00:00:00

A SKETCH OF KING THEODORE.

The following account of an interview with King Theo.
dore is taken from a volume of " Travels in• Abyssinia,"
published by Herr von Henglin, who saw him in April,
1862, on a second visit to Magdala :
"It was from a long distance, on the slope of a hill,
covered with a few clumps of trees, that we beheld the
camp of his Majesty the Negus—'Negus Negest
za
./Ethicpia, Theodore ll.' The King was sitting in the
midst of a circle of priests and officers, while in all direr.
tions spread long rows of tents arranged in groups ; the
lanes between were thronged with a many-coloured
crowd of soldiers, cattle, horses, and mules. A large open
space separated the ground on which stood the royal tents
and stables from the rest of the camp. Having gone
through the necessary toilette in a great hurry, we
started on our way, surrounded by torch-bearers, through
a long line of Life Guards. We found his Majesty in a
large tent, divided into two parts by a curtain of light
cotton sheets. Ile was dressed in a simple white
red-bordered schamma,' or cloak, and reclining
on a low divan, with carpets spread out in

front ; to his right stood his Etschege, or confessor, and
to his left several officers, together with princes of the
royal house. After greeting us in a kindly though
somewhat ceremonious manner, the Negus invited us to
be seated on the carpets to his right, and then entered
into conversation by means of an interpreter in the
Antlterian dialect. It has been the custom from the
oldest times at the Abyssinian Court that the sovereign
should not exchange words directly with strangers, but
only through a confidential person called the 'AI ' or
Mouth of the Negus ;' such visitors Must, moreover, be
attended by a Ealtradar,' or master of the ceremonies,
who looks to their corporeal wants. We began by tasting
some delicious mead and honey-brandy, served out in
magnificently cut-glass tankards, in doses sufficient
to upset a giant, and then, it being supper time, our
Baltradar ' inquired whe•her we desired meat, which
we might have, although it was in the season of the
strict Easter fast. On our reply that we preferred to
live according to the custom of the country, there
appeared instantly before us a capaeiens meaeb,' or
basket. covered with red cloth, and filled with fine
wheaten I,read, fruit, and pepper sauce ; a similar
basket, of like contents, was put-before the King's suite.
The latter fell to at once, and we imitated their example,
sitting cross legged around our meseb,' and answering
all the while questions put to us by his Majesty.
After finishing Our frmsal repast, which brought tears
into the eyes of our poor doctor, the pepper sauce
being too strong for hint, the conversation became more
and more lively, till at last the Negus threw off all
restraint, and began to converse with us directly in
Arabic, which he spoke very fluently. His Majesty had
greatly altered since my last visit, in the year 1853. It
seemed to me that his face had got darker ; however, the
fire of his shrewd and cunning eyes was still the same.
He spewed an excellent memory, reminding me of things
I had long forgotten ; among others, that we had once
exchanged the vows of brotherhood, and that I had told
him on that occasion he was the man to save Ethiopia
from ruin, and restore it -to its ancient glory. In
the end, I congratulated his Majesty upon the victories
he bad achieved since I had last been on a visit to his
Court, with which the audience came to an end, the King
telling us not to forget to ask for anything we might
desire, as all that he owned was at the disposition of his
friends. We had scarcely returned to cur tent, when a
number of royal servants arrived with presents—one bring-
ing a fit e marget,' or woollen cloak embroidered with
silk ; a second some beautiful crystal goblets, richly
gilded ; a third, several vessels with mead ; and a fourth,
a cow's horn, three feet long, filled with honey-brandy.
The next morning, and every morning after, a royal mes-
senger inquired after our health, in reply to which we
despatched Rumba to wish his Majesty 'good morning,'
after the custom of the country."

The following names of the principal persons who were
held itio captivity by King 'Theodore is taken from the blue-
book which was presented to Parliament a short time
ago :

1. Mr. H. rtaasam (Syrian), agent of the British Govern.
ment.

2. Mr. C. D. Cameron (English), British Consul at

Ards&

iowab.

3. Mr. L. Kerans (Irish), secretary to Consul Cameron.
4. Dr. Blanc (German).
5. Lieutenant Prideanx, officer in the British army.
G. It. M`Kelvey (Irish), servant to Mr. Cameron.
7. J. Makerer (French), ditto.
8. M. A. rardel (French), painter and teacher of lan.

gu4ges,

0. Rev. 11. A. Stern (German), missionary.
10. Rev. H. Rosenthal (German), missionary
11. Mrs. Rosenthal (English).
12. rev. J. M. Flad (German), missionary.
13. Mrs. Flad (German), and her three children.
14. Rev. W. Staigcr (German), missionary.
15. Rev. F. Brandeis (German), missionary.
16. 11. Sdhilier (German), natural history collector.
17. T. Essler (German), ditto.
It will be seen from one of the telegrams that sixty
prisoners in all were released, and are now on their way tc
Zoulla. Those not enumerated in the above list consist of
European workmen tempted to Abyssinia by Theodore,
and detained as captives.

A sad accident occurred at Chicago on Good
Friday. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary
was filled with worshippers, and the weight of the multi:
tilde caused a portion of the floor to give way, which,
raising a great dust, led some one to cry " Fire'" A
terrible panic ensued, and in the rush that was nixie for
the doors four women were crushed to death, and twenty
or more persons were seriously injured, three of them
having since died.
FIVE MEN DROWNED IN THR SOLWAY. —.A fatal
Firth on Sunday afternoon.
accident of a very disastrous occurredyotiu gmiennt,le Solvay
ti,mpk .ye
at Annan, set out from that port in a small boat, rigged
up with asail, and crossed the Solway Firth to Bowan*
on
protieweedseidiorhealftwhaa3t, a
to r oh
Vie Cumberland shore. They reached their. destinatlet
in safety, and in the afternoon set out for home witl
the sail swayed ovc7
tlnt7l: s;sneibablei'.:tdi dmeS•kosotrltolhyvb:Bl3:l')arnsfigteleadrdua• afnnrrdoi'lmts the boat capsized, ant
all the five men were thrown into the sea. Three of then
sank almost immediately, being quite unable to resist till
powerful. force of the ebbing tide, and were drowned
but the other two clung to the overturned boat, whicl
drifted down to the railway bridge which crosses OE
Firth below Bowncss. There, it is conjectured, the ancho.
twoad
opr
ts
taenntaloiescin,
acellaV,
carrying
!it,:
l'
yegr,ew stillaiatia
themselves, ibuntusg
eni
tagoicilertileoybaositai
increasing
dragged against the piles of the viaduct, for the boat swuni
t
llet
it
raoduens'll-;eraTteheeli
‘NN.l.lOhr‘svaotferthaleld sup
number of deaths to ATc.t:

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t o Tu,

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 1868.

Mr. GLADSTONE is certainly to be pitied, for his
grand intention of turning out the Government fell
very short last night, and hon. members seemed to
have exhausted all their eloquence and excitement
in dwelling on the glorious termination of the war
in Abyssinia, and in felicitating themselves that the
attack of the Fenian, in Australia, had not proved
fatal. Be this as it may, it is certain that the
debate was most tame and spiritless, so much so
that Mr. GLADSTONE himself lost patience at last,
and said that if there was not more animation in-
fused into it that night he would not be unwilling
that it should come to a close. Notwithstanding the
dulness of the affair, the debate occupied a
long time, and various propositions were considered.
Sir F. HEYGATE moved an amendment, to the effect
that so long as the Union existed the establishment
of the Irish Church should be maintained. The
voluntary principle, he declared, was inapplicable
to Ireland, and to follow Mr. GLADSTONE'S advice
would increase discord instead of lessening it. Mr.
DYKE, in seconding the amendment, made some
sharp thrusts at Mr. GLADSTONE ; first of all by
quoting passages from former speeches of the right
hon. gentleman in support of the Church being
maintained in Ireland, and finally by putting this
dilemma before him regarding the course he had
taken and persisted in contrary to advice and gene-
ral opinion. " Were the resolutions to have a pros-
pective effect ? if not it appeared that the House
were wasting time by a proceeding of a vague,
factious, and party-serving character. If the re-
solutions were prospective, would not the House in
passing them be doing a great injustice to the
members of the next Parliament by denying to them
the right of bearing any part in Legislation which
struck at the root of the religion which the people
of this country upheld ?" There was some force in
this argument quite apart from the technical diffi-
culty of the Irish Church question itself, and it
cannot be denied that Mr. GLADSTONE'S policy is
one thing, and his mode of urging it forward quite
another. Mr. W.kTKIN withdrew the amendment
of which he had given notice in consequence of Sir
F. lIEYGATE'S answering the purpose, but in some
respects Mr. WATKIN's was the best and most
likely to be carried of the two, for it proposes that
the question be left to the settlement of the new
Parliament, to be convened as soon as possible.
Mr. GORST also asked why the Liberals- had not
done anything during their quarter of a century's
tenure of office regarding this subject when they
appeared so anxious about it, and to have detected
its errors with such clearness and precision.
The debate, though tame on the whole, con-
tinued to contain some very bitter and unnecessary
taunts, and afforded another instance of the evil
which has been brought about by the extraordi-
nary course pursed by Mr. GLADSTONE. Mr.
lloßsmAN's long speech was very caustic, and
turned chiefly on the Government instead of keep-
ing to the point at issue. General PEEL said that
so long as a single Fenian existed he would say,
" Depend upon it, had it not been for Fenianism
these resolutions would not have been carried ;"
and certainly this may perhaps be true so far that
the present is a most unpropitious time for insist-
ing on tLe change being made. Mr. BRIGHT did
considerable damage to the cause he advocates so
strongly by stating in his speeches that Fenianism
was not to be wondered at considering the man-
ner in which Ireland was treated. Lord JOHN
MANNERS spoke very decidedly as to the line the
Ministry had adopted, and vindicated its character
from the aspersions which had been cast upon it:
Rat her a sharp discussion took place, when the ad-
journment of the debate was moved, and Mr.
GLADSTONE expressed a hope that the division
would be taken that night. Mr. DISRAELI de-
murred to this, and said that the Government
attached more importance to the first resolution
than they did to the others. Mr. AYRTON was
very eager upon the point, and urged the Premier
to do so at once. Mr. 11. WHITBREAD was also
indignant, and reminded the Government ,