, 1866-05-16
HEV'RT IN 1SCE


not q few Americans xithin the last decade.
To the extraordinary interest which It pos-
besses by It's remarkable history and strange
ylcissitudes, it adds to the settlers of the new
hemisphere the attraction Of bcing one Of the
oldest regions Of The globe. The first In
preston, however, on landing at Alexandra
Is fsr from conveying this sense Of remote
antiquity. The Alexandria Of the present
day i, on the contrary, altogether q modern
city, which from email population at the
beginning OF this century contains In 1866 mp
wards of four hundred thousand people, In
GLIDING Arabs from cvcry part Of Egypt. aud
the Barbsr, St2tcs AlbanIans, Greeks, ,Syrians
Jcwe, Turks, Copts, Italians, English, Ger,
toaus, Swiss, md fair epriukling Of .Ameri.
cans, including number Of missionaries aud
AImenian-Americanc converts 10 Protestant
Ism. Alexandra has nothing left Of her an-
cient political sp1endor. The commerce,
however, which, as G1bbon says. Il embraced
formerly the lucrative trade of Arabia and In
dia, and flowed through the port OF At1an-
drix to Lit. capital and the provinces OF the
Emptre, !" has recovered within the last and
present generation much of Its nncie1t actiY-
ity. 1t reaches in 1866 to n aggregate annual
value of tive hundred million piastres (about
hundred million dollars) imports and ex-
ports from aud to ell parts OF the world, half
Of tie trade being In Tie hhnda of the Eaelish
and ADglo-Greek merchants. This accounts
for the supremacy Of English influence,
agniust which the French Strive in vain with
their Suez Canal and political chfcancry. The
extensive English trat,c to and from British
India md CHM, contributes to enhance the
{ef rf Trht, flry1i Oh nff
much at home in -Ale1andria As lie would in
Malta or Gibraltar. The wealthier and more
distinguished CLASSES Of English touristsswarm
nowadays as densely In Egypt as the lorusts
In olden times. Many Of these dninty gentle.
men and ladies' rush to thc Nile to cs-
cape from the vulgar herd Of tourists on
the Rhine and in Switzerland, but with
out SUCCESS While my lady. and my
lord fancy themselves sheltered against
intzuaczs on the pyramids, they ind their
eervants suddenly 1ccosted by the family gro.
Ger Of Edgware Road and his bouncing danSh.
ter. What these exQuieites dcnounce as the
modern plague OF democracy dodSes them at
every step, even In the ancient land of the
Pharaohs, and makes them almost curse the
Arabs, who do Dot discriminate between the
gold OF the aristocrat and that Of the pie.
beian, but treat them all with the same elc-
CANT, though interested courtesy.
The great prcpondercncc Of tho English
element combines In Alexandria with the
1erantine characteristics Of the population,
and the ostenta1ious display OF the mougrel
| merchant princes, to destroy all illusions
OF those travellers who nrc In search OF 'tnn-
| tiquity." What preoccupies the Alc1an-
| dr1ans Of Tie present day is not vered ques
tious OF theology and philosophy but the rise
| and fall OF corn and cotton, and the prefer.
cnce given by the Pa.ha to Euglssh, Amc:i-
can or French traders In the purchase Of his
carriages and lis jewclry. But while the rar-
enous crowds that hang round the Pasha's
skirts nIe mainly adventurous and greedy
occldentals, the peculiar capriciousness
and layishness Of the Pasha il precmlnently
oriental. This parsonage is, at present,
on excellent Terms with tho aulsau OF Turkey,
md however proud this sovereign may feel OF
his suzeraiu right over Egypt, and however
much bis Viceroy may clatc against the quas,
political dependence OF his position, these
mutual feelings Of dastsust are 1ushed iu the
well Settled conviction that by falling ont
With each other they would only play into
the hands Of infldsl Franks, whom they BOTH
detcst. while at the same time they are united
by what Is called bond of despotlsm-botl
Sultan and Pasha gratifying NIL their pcrsoual
passions to their hearts content,
and grinding down their respective
| subjects In more pitiless manner
than ercr did any Of the PAGAN monarchs OF
ancient Egypt. The pasha Of Egypt monop-
olizes the best part Of Egyptian produce, and
the crops do not depend more upon the
rise and fall Of the Nile than their market val.
ne upon the will or the caprice OF the Pasha.
| It may therefore BE- truly said Of Alexandra
that while the commercial aspect Of the city
Is that Of christian civilization, the spirit OF
Its institutions Is that of heathcnish barbar-
ism. The Fellahs, or cnlivatora Of the soil,
arc in wsetched condition, and while the
wealth of the country Is sucked by the
Pashu aud his favorites and imperial Turkish
relatives and by grasping foreign merchants,
the non agricultural Arab population arc not
much better of than the peasautry. The
small shopkeepers are generally 1tallaus
Msltesc, Levantince and Jews. aud many o
the Arabs would be doomed to starve II II
we're not for the tic1r hArvest Afforded BY
tourists.
Some Of the Arab aud Turkish haunts
In Alexandria arc miserable novels
while the mansions ot upper tendon are fas
from being distinguished by taste, and are
simply huge and ostentatious tcncmcnts oi
essentially unculurated people, whose social
pretenslona are rfdiculously out OF proportion
to their Intellectual stature. Yet many oi
the ladies' have at least French or Italian
polish Of manners, and m appearance Of Gle.
guncc which Invests the Alcxandria fashion-
i rr}+J - int xfnSn At