Washington sentinel., 1898-05-14

80 avail himSelt ot the present affair IN
dlsband the guard.
EGYPT AND THE SUEz CANAL.
Ne1U AIge.
AS Egypt" is such a conspicuous
WORD In present day history. we ma,
wen give glimpse OF the past history
OUT OIL which the present state of tbinos
has grown. To begin, Fevnt nod
civilization so ancient tha. history is
silent about it. 1t goes back thousands
and thousands of years. The isr,bsr
oack 1t goes the more elaborate ara
rehned does the civilization appear
nave been. What we generally regar,,
as Egyptian antiquities"-tba 60,
stone figures and gaudy mummy cases
an the British Museum-belong to the
iatei periods, to an Egyptian civiIiza
ton SO modern" as to be coevaI with
Moses In the Boolak Museum IN Cairo
olslnferred from the earth, are dainty
toys, clever wood carving and most
exquisite ornaments and iewelrv
winch belonged to the earlier and 90
scure period.
The aboriginal uynastIes of Fovnt
came to an end rather more than zoo
years before the Christian era. Alter
mat Egypt was subject successivelv TO
Fersias Greece, Rome andIthe BYZANTINE
Empire OF the East. From the latter
she was wrested, more than 600 W
alter Christ, by the first generals oi
Mahomet. AT that time Eevpt was
nominally a Christian country, but the
Christianity presented to her was one of
obscure dogma and perpetual inter-
neCine persecution, The bui. of her
Populaflon was glad to change the gov.
ernment, and in character, learning and
humanity the early MosIem leaders
were at least on par with their con-
temPorarles Of Christendom. There.
Y re- though the Egypt of to-day has in
population representatives of everv
'ce under the sun, it is yet mainly
d copied by two races-the descendants
Oi the ancient Egyptians. the builders
oi the pyramids, and the descendants
otthe Moslem Arabs. who conquered
the country. The line between these is
not always easily discernable, since
most OF the Egyptians became MosIens.
and thus according to MosIem custom
were absorbed by their Moslem rulers.
"A remnant, however, resisted all the
prosecutions which eventually arose,
remained true to their ancestral Chris.
tan creed, and are known today as
"Copts."
In course Of time the Ottomans of
Asia Minor and TuEkey became the
chiel MOslem race. A troop OF Turkish
slaves employed by a Governor of
Egypt presently seized the supreme
power there, which they and their des-
cendants, as the "Mameluke Caliphs,''
held for nearly 800 years. But they
held Egypt as a separate Power until
1917, when it was conquered and an.
nexed by the cruel but capable Sultan
Selim l. For more than three hundred
years the Porte held Egypt, at the end
OF which time the then Vicerov. an
Alba nian, Mehemet Ali, succeeded in
making Egypt almost a self-governing
country. but still paying tribute to
Turkey, and obliged to do it feudal
services and to pay difference TO its
wishes. Also, strongly Turkish ele-
ment, both racial and social, remained
in the aristocratic ruling classes to say
nothing OF the Khedivial family itself
Mehemet Ali was so ambitious and so
capable that, but for the Intervention of
"the Powers" of Europe, he would
probably have seized Constantinople
itself His son Ibrahim, another cruel
but clever general, only reigned for two
months. He was succeeded by his
nephew Abbas, ferocious and gloomy
bieot. He and his successor, Said, used
to exercise their soldiers by causing
them to fire at the beautiful monuments
OF the Mameluke Caliphs. In bis greed,
Abbss tore down many Of the costly
marble panels in the mosque built by
Mehemet Ali, and substituted painted
wood; and he was so thoroughly aware
OF the deserved hatred in which he was
held by his subjects that he always kent
at his palace troop offully caparisoned
camels, that he might be in readiness
to take flight from his capital at any
moment. Abbas was succeeded by his
uncle, Said--a son Of Mehemet Ali-and
this brings us within the range Of the
present day complies tions, since II was
in Said's day that the Suez Canal was
commenced, and it is that network of
Western finance" in whose meshes
Egypt has been struggling ever since.
The Suez Canal is itself no advantage
to Egypt; nay it diverted from Egyptian
ports and railways a large and increas-
ing transit traffic of great revenue value,
yet 1t has cost the Egyptian treasury in
all more than <I7, 600. Said was
not only induced to take up nearly half
OF the capital originally subscribed, but
he.consented to supply SO per cent. ofthe
laborers required, by forced recruiting
among his subjects-the very people
upon whose agricultural home industry
the prosperity Of Egypt depended. He
also sold the company great tracts Of
land contiguous to the Canal for E7A.-
600, and made other land concessions.
said died in 1868, and was succeeded
by his nephew Ismail, who, recognizing
the folly OF impoverishing his own tax
payers by driving them to labor which
enriched neither them nor himself, sub.
mitted the case to the arbitration OF
Napoleon lll.-th' emperor ofsharpers
and commentaries. His award com.
PEELED Ismail to lose heavily on the
Encouragement of his bad bargain. One