Omaha daily bee., 1889-07-14

necktie bow in his white turnover collar,
such as you buy on lower Broadway for
25 cents, and his cuffs, though scrupuously
clean, had not the polish OF the American
Chinese laundry.
The Khedive Of Egypt is good French
scholar, and he has learned to speuk English
within the past few years. Our talk was
carried on in English, and his highness chat
ted freely, now and then breaking out in
chucklng laugh as something amusing en-
tered into the talk, and again growing sober
and Impressive as he discussed the more
sober problems OF his reign. In speaking OF
his life as khcdive, he said;
~ am told that many people envy me my
position. They say that am young man.
and that my lot must bea pleasant one
rhey do not understand tho troubles that
surround me. Many a tImc | would nave
been glad TO have laid down all Of the
honors havo
ron REST ASp PEACE.
''My ten years of reign have been equal TO
forty years Of work and Of worry. If life
were matter of pleasure would be fool
to remain on the throne. believe, however,
that God put man on the world for purpose
other than this, Duty, not pleasure, is the
chief end of man. l do the best can for
my country and my people, and feel tho
happiest when do tho most work and when
my work is the hardest"
AS the khedivc said these words thought
of tho thorns which have filled the downy
pillow of his reign / thought of how, upon
his entering manhood, his father 1smail was
deposcd and he was put upon the throne.
thought OF his troubles under the foreign
dictaton of the past, of the plots and nearly
successful rebellion of Arab Pasha, of the
revolution of tho Mahdi and of the vulture-
like creditors who to-day are grinding Egypt
between their upper and neither millstones,
of the plottings and the intrigues, of tho
danger of assassination, and of the other
dangers which arc ever present about the
throne of an oriental monarch, and / could
appreciate why his mouth hardened and his
eyes grew serious when hc uttered the above
remark.
The talk then turned upon the condition
of Egypt and its future but as to this the
king was reticent He spoke proudly of tho
reforms which he had inaugurated IN gov
ernment and Of the fact that now, though
the taxes were heavy, every peasant knew
just what his taxes were 70 be and that they
were honestly collected. He spoke of the
improvements Of the courts and said that
the pasha and the felahin now stood on the
same footing before the law. "When came
to the throne,' said he, "the people were
surprised that uut the prince on the same
footing as other people before the courts.
Now, thank God there is no difference in
justice. The prince and the felah are the
same in our courts and the former may be
punished like tho latter
Coffee and cigarettes were at this point
brought in by the servants of the palace.
The coffee was In Turque. 1T was served
in little china cups in holders of gold fill
gree shaped like an egg cup, and each cup
held about three tablespoonsful OF rich,
black coffee as thick as chocolate and as
sweet as .noasses. There was no saucers
nor spoons, and tried in my drinking to
follow the khedive. / took the holder in my
fist and gulped down half the contents of
the cup ut swallow. 1t was as hot as
liquid fire. l could feel the top of my mouth
raising In a blister, the tears came into my
eyes and my stomach felt as though it had
taken
AN INTERNAL TURKISH BATH.
1t was lucky that at this moment the khe
pive had just addressed a remark to Consul
General Cardwell, who sat on the other side
of him, and he did not notice my emotion.
He took the boiling mixture without wink
ing and went on talking as though his
throat was used to liquid fire. l was sur
prised to see him refuse the cigarette, and l
asked him if he did not smoke. He replied;
mo, neither smoke nor drink l do
not drink on two grounds. believe man Is
better off without it, and what is OF more mo-
ment to me it is against the laws of life
as laid down in the Koran, We do not be-
lieve 1t right to drink anything intoxicating
and good Mussulmen drink neither wine nor
liquor. 1 believe that every man should be
faithful to the religion which he processes.
My faith is that of Islam and | try to follow
1t as we'll as | can. l am not liberal in IT,
however, and tolerate oil religions and all
sects in my kingdom. We have Copts, Jews
and Christians, and your missionaries are at
work in the land. They make very few con-
versions, If any, among the people of my
faith. but they have schools in upper Egypt
which are doing much in the way of cduca-
ton. You ask me as to my attendance upon
the Mosque. Yes, go regularly, and it was
a surprise to the people of the court when
attended the Mosque Immediately after my
| accession"
Colonel Cardwell here spoke of the khe-
| dives knowledge of the Koran and cited the
| fact that his majesty.
KNOWS THE WHOLE BooK by HEART
! and that he can commence at any point and
reCite it from one end to the other. There is
no doubt that the khedve has as much faith
| in his religion rs we have in ours, and he eX-
pressed himself here, intimating that every
| man should abide by the faith of his fathers.
| He referred to Mohammedan conversions in
Africa and to the fact that there are more
than one hundred millions Of people in the
| world who believe the same as he does. He
| spoke Of the band of one hundred American
| Catholics who are stopping in Egypt on their
| way to the holy land, and was interested in
| Colonel Caldwell's description of the pill
| grimage which they are taking, in following
the footsteps of Jesus and Mary. He spoke
| of the immense amounts brought into Egypt
by tourists, and SAID that it bettered The
| row at the prospect that Colonel Caldwell
would, with the change of administra-
ton, probably be recalled and another
consul general appointed, and he told
| sonai letter to the president of the
| United States without the Knowledge of
| Mr.. Cardwell, asking him to retain him as
his consul general to Egypt. Throughout
the whole conversation the talk was of the
| most cordial and unceremonious character,
and left the palace with the impression that
the khedive of Egypt is man Of great COM
mon sense, and OF more than ordinary abil-
| ity.
The khedive stands we'll with his people,
| and leading men of Cairo tell me he would
do much for Egypt If he were not hampered
| by foreign Intervention. He gave up num-
ber of his palaces year or so ago and he is,
for u king, most economical. He has as far
| as can learn, no extravagant habits and no
| vices, and he lives within the half million
| dollars, which is known as his civil list
| Had other khedives OF the past been equally
| careful, Egypt would be rich country to-
| day instead of a mortgaged one He is a
man of strong domestic tastes, and though a
Mohammedan and an oriental king, he is
THE HUSBAND OF BUT ONE WIFE,
| and h o Is as true to her as the most chaste
American. A friend of his gave me tonight
talk he recently had with him upon this
subject, in which the khediye expressed
himself strongly in favor of monogamy: 81
saw" said he, sin my fathers harem, the
disadvantages of plurality of wives and of
hgving children by different wives, ana / de-
cided before l came to manhood that would
marry but one woman and would be true to
her. l have done so and / have had no
| reason to regret it,"
Mo-. Af lrl,A ..sG G..l