Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-03-06
xRxg TKyAcHERr.


Csuasfses
II cav that Oriental history Is little
more than the chronicle of succession
treacherics is 70 state truism' says .
wr;ter h the London Telegraph. Poison
and the dagger, the faithless mistress
and the false, friend, have done as mncn
TO shape the snnalsof the kastasarn'es
IN battle array or eeneralship or natonaI
courace. The blood OF empires mas
dra;ned out down the secret stairs oil pal
arcs. dyuastics been stabbed TO the
heart at garden posterns, the trusted
seryan, and the dancing-girl, the cow
ordly sentry or yenal captain have again
and again turned the course OF Asiatic
history. and great pitched fights long
held IN the balance by the equal vaiof
Of contending hosts, have suddenly
swupr round into utter disaster by the
critical desertion Of handful. 10
read the history Of the East Is 10
wonder that men should care 10
climb to heights from which pre-
cipitatc descent seems so easy and SO
inevitable. The perfumcd pipe which
the mogul smokes; the bouquet oil
roses the emir smells; the sherbet, Oh
fered by hands as fair as false. which
the raiah drinks; the yenison served up
TO the mirza's table, are, each OF them
in turn. the making Of great history, the
full-stops in dynastic chronicle. For
intrigue is the very heart and soul OF the
Oriental.
In the history of Hindostan treachery
supplies some chapters Of most exciting
interest. while in the fierce annals oil
anglo-India we know all too well how
pledges are broken and honor forsworn
have sent not only our soldiers but our
defenceless women and children to
bloody graves. The story OF Persia
steps from murder to murder and trea-
son to treason. The assassin. again,
is your history-maker in Arabia.
Read of the changes Of Egyp-
tan rule. The sceptre went
from faithless hand to faithless.
hand, and though the king might reign
the traitor ruled. Our recent cam
paigns have given us notable illustra-
tions of the fatal genius Of the Asiatic,
supplementing the hating yalor OF
people by the reckless heroism Of indi-
yiduals. Afraid to meet soldiers in the
open, fanatics were sent again and again
in Afehanistan to try and break their
way into our generals tents. That one
campaign alone almost sufiices for incl
dent in support of what we say.
We pierced the country at three
points, peace was won, and the
new ameer sat on the throne.
The Afghans were holding fes-
tiyity for the close of the Ramazan,
when the idea of numbering the British
envoy whose person the Koran enjoins
upon the faithful to consider most
sacred-was caught up, and at once,
needed by frantic mollahs, vast crowd
of armed soldiery rushed TO the resi-
dency. How Sir Louis Cayagnari and
his staf-Hamilton Kelly, and Jcn-
kyns, with some forty Of the gallant
"Guides held that burning building
for four hours, killing ten to one before
they fell dead to the last man round
their gallant and accomplished chief,
is matter Of old history now. But
England has not forgotten it,
that treachecy, and treachery alone.
robbed us of all the fruits of a
glorious campaign, and plunged this
country into another and futile war.
Then General Roberts was sent to the
front to punish and to conquer. lie
dashed into Cabul and smote the
fiercely-fghting tribes right and left,
and occupied the palace-citadel of the
capital. But again the traitor was at
work, and, while all seemed secure. the
Bala Hissar. owing TO the conniyance
of corrupt retainers of the British gene
raj, was being undermined, and sud-
denly one afternoon, when it had been
hoped the place would be full of troops,
the magazine and arsenal were blowG
up.
We need hardly go so far back as
even the Afghan campaign for illustra-
ton of Oriental faithlessness. The first
disaster of this Soudan warfare was
signal instance. Hicks Pacha, at the
head Of force that, when it had the
Mahdi's men in the open, defeated 1t
easily. was misled by guides sent out
for the purpose by the enemy into
broken country far from water,
where the False Prophets generals
had collected and ambushed their
forces. For three days the fight
ing lasted. but treachery had done its
work all too well. and so. entangled
in the hilly desert, fainting from thirst.
the Egyptian army, with all the Eu-
ropean officers accompanying it, was
cut to pieces. A few days later came
the rout at Tamanieb, where the bashi-
bazouks, who have so often by their
cowardice turned the scale of fortune,
failed in the moment of onset, and the
day was lost. Perhaps they thought
that they would purchase safety by
desertion. They have done so be-
fore. But they had sadly under
rated the hatred with which they
have inspired the oppressed tribes
of the Soudan, and they were butch
cred as they huddled together behind
behind the brave blacks, and not one
Of shem escaped. Or, later still, how
was it that the gallant Colonel Stewart
met his death? His steamer had struck
upon rock, so, shifting his stores to
an island and spiking his guns. he went
ashore, confiding to the pledges given
by the chief. With all respect and
ceremony he was made welcome,
assured that he should receive
the transport he asked for, and
invited to consider himself an
honored guest. An hour passed.
lie was sitting in a hut when one OF
the escort standing at the door on
guard saw the faithlcss chief come out
from an adjacent building, and, striking
the signal On metal water.jar, sum
mon from every side the assassins who
were waiting. In two bodies they
rushed upon their unarmed guests and
murdered them all. The corpscs were