The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-04-10

IL was Jan. 26 1855, little NOR
than eleven years ago, that khartoum
the capital of Egypt's equatorial prov
; inces, was stormed and its inhabitant
massacred and its commander, the Ia
nous Chinese Gordon, slain on Thu
steps of the governors palace. Al
though Gordon was nominally in thu
service of the Khedive of Egypt, ye
England was then, as now, the actua
ruler of Egypt, and the fall of khar
toum was humiliating and disgrace
full blow to her. And now after al
these years she is moving to avengt
Gordon's death or to suffer more bit
ter humiliation.
A look at the map of Africa vii
show why the Italian diasters IN Abys
sinia have brought about this immi-
nent attack upon the Mahdist power.
The regions that are ruled by the fol
lowers of the Mshdist are bordered on
the north by the Sahara desert and
Egypt, on the east by the Italian strip
of Africa and by Abyssnia. To the
south ana west lie the Congo Free
State and the English and French and
German territories in Western Africa
| There is no more interesting and ro-
mantle drama in the history Of modern
| Africa than that which is concerned
with the rise and progress and decay
of the Mahdist power. Until Slatin
Pasha escaped from the Mahdists
| year ago, after twelve years of captiv
| ity in their capital. and published his
account of the Mahdists. almost moth
ing was known about them. Whe ther
or not you have ever before been in
| terested in the great events that have
been happening in Africa in the past
twenty years. you will be intensely in
terested after you have read this re-
markable book. The man who annuun-
ces himself as the Mahdist was Ger
ainMahomet Ahmed, a low born Don
gowali, whose family was laughed at
for insisting that 1t was descended
from the great Mahomet. This All.
med became a sort of fanatical rec
cluse, reading theology and renouncing
all the snares of the world and grad
ually getting a local fame as a holy
man. He denounced the leader of
his sect for departing from some of
the injunctions of the prophet and the
story of his defiance and Of his stern
opposition To the degeneracy of the
time spread far aud wide among the
ties Of the Soudan and made his name
everywhere synonym for picty. But
as the Dongowali race we're universal
~ despised there being proverb
that "a Dongowali is devil in the
skin Of man no one thought of him
as the Mahdi. But he began 10 think
of himself as that very person, had
visions, asserted that Mahomet held
long talks with him, and finally con
fide TO a few intimate friends who be
lieved or pretended to believe, him.
Soon he was working miracles with |
great ease and frequency and was car
rying on secret correspondence with |
leaders of disaifected tribes all through |
the Soudan.
His miracles proved that he was a |
true successor of Mahomet His furi /
Gus zeal, his quite undeserved reput |
alton for an ascetic life and his |
promises to redress wrongs and usher
in the golden age completed his ere
dentials. At the first attempt of the
authorities To restrain
him and his small band of fanatical
followers the contiagiations burst in
fury and spread from one end of the
Soudan to the other. Before the au
thorities could do more an army of
b undred thousand men, every man
Eager to die for the new religion, was
the equatorial provinces to
he Mahdi's rule. After the fall of
the Mahdi ruled supreme,
with the khaifa as his chief adviser.
Both wnere ignorant and licentious
)igots, pretending to be strict disciples {
If the religion, but secretly giving
themselves up to the most shocking I
drunkenness and Righteousness. The {
lahdi built himself capital on the
,ank Of the Nile opposite khartoum.
That was on the site of the village of ,
)mdurman, and retained its name.
There he strengthened his army and
that he was about to start
n the grand expedition of conquest j
nto Europe and Asia. He sent letters i
o Queen Victoria and various other |
European rulers, including of course /
he Sultan, calling upon them to sur
ender and become his vassals and
1ahdists.
But a few months after the fall of
lhartoum the Mahdi died. He was t
AIKEN off by the typhus fever which $
)und him an easy prey on account of
is debauchery. Following out the
the Khalifa Abdullah :,
aigned in his stead. The death of the =
lahdi SO plainly falsified his prophe
les as to himself that the element of D
eligious fanaticism in the Mahdists Z
eakened steadily from the day of the i
announcement that he had died. And
ne Khalifa soon became an ordinary G
riental despot The Mahdi was ig- a
GRANT but he could at least read and i,
rite his native Arabic. But the
halifa can neither read nor write. G
e looks upon all education with hor D
n. He believes only in the most 5,
rutal ignorance. He has no idea of c
Improvement of any kind. He does
IT wish his people TO communicate :,
it'll the outside world in any way. y.
e allows none to enter his dominions :,
I'd forbids any one to leave or try to l.
ave. He is suspicious of every one =,
arful of his life, fond of torture and :,
urder, libertine and an encourager ~
libertinism.
He is enormously vain, believing re
lplicitlv that the whole earth does "
thing but think of him and tremble Ia
the thought. He has had nothing to
IT reverses in his wars with sur 81
unding peoples. He has seen no less p"
an % per cent of his people carried vi
way by pestilence and has seen the "
Dst terrible diseases prey upon the Az
ST, reducing his subjects to b.si