The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-09-03

p ~ VI 4. .
n clear. from Lady Burton's narrative thst
shs and her husband looked back on their TOO
brief soiourn IN Damascus ss the most delfEht-
full episode IN their married life. They met In
Damascus two most interesting and remark
able characters. the famous Abd-el-Ksdir ana
Lady marlborough. known there as the Hon.
Jane Dlgby el Mezrab." We are told that
Add ell Kadir at the time was dark. hand
some. misunderstanding man Of dignihed
bearing and complete self-possession. He
dressed in snowy white. both turban and bur-
nous. He wore on his person not single
ornament, except his jeweled arms. which
were splendid. He looked every inch sultan.
We are assured. too. that his mind was as ad-
mirable as his face. He spoke the perfection
OF Arabic. and. as It happened. both he and
Burton were master suf or. as one might say.
certified doctors in Moslem theology. No one
needs to be reminded Of his hopeless struggle
for the independence OF Algeria. OF his cap
ture and Imprisonment in France from 1S47 to
1852. The fact. however. 10 worth recalling
that It was ut the earnest request OF Lord Lon
donderry that Louis Napoleon set him free.
going to the prison himself to let him out and
treating him with the greatest honor. ADD
el-Kadir was then pensioned and sent to Da-
mascus. where he was surrounded by 500
IhltHlul hIkoEihub- hoEo ITO uiNiuOu hip siaO
between prayer. study. and business. taking
very little sleep. He was loyal to Louis Napo-
leon. but no loved tho English. When the mas
sacre OF 1880 took place In Damascus. he used
to sleep at his own door. lest whom any poor
Christian wretch should knock and petition to
be saved from slaughter. his AlGerians being
Moslems. shonld turn a deaf ear He saved
many in this way. besides sending guards
down to the converts Of women and to the
houses Of his friends.
Tho other remarkable person to whom We
have referred and Of whom tho Burtons saw
Q great deal in Damascus. was the Hon. Jane
Dlgby. Of tho family OF Lord DiGny. and
granddaughter. on her mothers side. OF the
Earl Of Leicester. She was married whom lit
Ito moro than seventeen to Lord EllenborouGh.
and was divorced after her olopement with
Prince Schwartzenperg Lady Burton firmly
refuses to believe In the half dozen or more OF
ostensible husbands who were reported to
have interviewed between Lord EllenborouRh
| and tho Arab sheikh. whom she eventually
married. About 1850. being tired OF Europe
| Lady Ellenborough. perhaps influenced by the
| example OF Lady Hester Stanhope. conceived
the idea OF visiting the East Proceeding
to Damascus. she arranged to 60 to Bagdad
| across the desert, and. to that end procured
| Bedouiu escort. under the command OF
Sheikh Mijwal. younger brother OF the chief
| OF a branch of the great Anezah tribe On tho
journey the young sheikh fell In love with the
beautiful woman. Who although then fifty
| three. was more attractive than half the young
| girls Of the time. and possessed all the quail
ties that could fire the Arab Imagination. 1t
| ended by his proposing to divorce his Moslem
| wives and to marry her: to pass hall the year
| in Damascus for her pleasure and half In the
| desert. where he might lead his natural life.
The romantic prospect OF becoming queen Of
| tho desert and OF the Bedouin tribes exactly
suited her wild fancies. and was at once &C.
copied. In spite OF the opposition made by
her friends and the British Consulate. she was
married according to Mohammedan law.
thereby losing her nationality and be-
coming Turkish subject For many
years she continued to live the faithful
wife Of the sheikh. to whom she was de-
votedly attached. When Lady Burton met
her she was 90 years old. but is described as
looking splendid in Oriental dress. and We are
assured that. had we seen her as a Moslem
| woman in the bazaar. We should not have called
her moro than "a. She lived. as her hus band had
promised she should. half year In romantic
house she had built for herself In Damascus.
The other half OF her life was spent in her hus-
bands Bedawin tents. whore thouRhihonored
and respected as tho queen OF her tribe. she
lived like any other Bedawin woman. wearing
| one DUO garment, muir III tWolouE
| plaits falling down to the ground. milking the
camels. preparing her husbands food and
serving it. giving him water to wash his
hands and face. sitting on the floor and
washing his feet, fetching him his cof-
fee. his sherbet and his narRhileh,
and Rlorying in all such servicea We are told
that she dictated to Lady Burton the whole
Of her biography. but this will never SEQ the
light. inasmuch as she was subsequently in.
duced. under pressure from one OF the mis-.
sionaries. to deny the authorship Of the work
Tho second Of Lady Burton's large volumes
contains an account OF visit to India and q
journal OF her husbands life in his last con-
| sulate at Trieste where he died on Oct 20
1890. In tho 10th year OF his age. AS wewould
not take leave OF her book without some
reference to her husbands literary achieve
ments. We can find space for only one moro in
cident Of q personal kind. This 10 the visit
paid to the Burtons at Trieste by Gen. Gordon.
One can see at glance how strangely inter
esting must have been the meeting between
two such men. each possessed OF n strongly
marked individuality. developed by an extra
ordinary experience. 1t is true. as Lady Bur
ton says. that the two mon stood forth al
counuerparts In this nineteenth century. and II
Is not surprising tnaC BIO Snoulu ToRdEu tuou
as almost equally Inflated. the one abandoned
and forgotten In tho desert, tho other al
lowed to stagnate and die In . small
foreign seaport There was. she says. THU
difference between them: Charles Gordon
spoke out all that Richard labored to conceal
He used to come and sit on our hearth rus
before tho fire In tho long winter evenings. ant
It was very pleasant to hear them talk. Gordon
had tho habit Of saying. There are only two
men In the world who could do such or such
thing: am ono. and you are the other.' Aftel
he became Governor OF the Soudan he wrote
to my husband as follows: You and are tn
only two mon At to govern the Soudan: II on
dies. tho other will be left l will keep tn
soudan. you take Darfur: and will give 20,
5000 year II you will throw M Trieste.
Richard wrote back: My dear Gordon: YOU
and are too much alike. could not sorv
under you. nor you under me- / do not ool
upon the soudan as o lasting thing. l hav