The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-12
British Desecrate His
Body
AT TER THE VICTORY
Morley to Make a Fuss in
Parliament.


It is said in London that John Nor
ley intends at the earliest opportunity
in the House of Commons to challenge
the soudan policy of the Salisbury ad-
ministration and raise debate there
on. Now that the glory and enthusi-
asm of Lord Kitchener's triumphal
progress in England have passed away
and the hero of Omdurman has gone
back to the Soudan to finish his daz-
cling program of capturing Africa from
the Nile TO the Cape, there is rapidly
coming TO the surface of the tide OF
public opinion in Great Britain a strong
feeling that everything that was done
IL the holy war of avenging Gordon
VIII not bear the very closest scrutiny.
Indeed some of the facts that have
been made public, mainly through the
graphic pen of the special correspond
ent of one of the London papers, are
OF such character as to shock the
sensibilities of all thinking Englishmen
and make them hope for the conceal
nent of any more such horror, if any
remains undisclosed.
This writer tells a fearful story of
I the butChering Of the wounded Sou
danese as they lay on the battlefield af-
ter hltchener's great victory had been
won over his fanatical and desperate
I enemy, He charges openly that the
! MANNED and dying were shot at and
| sabred without mercy, or heed for their
piteous appeals. In fact in all its de-
tail this picture, drawn as it is by an
/ EngIlshman, of one of the greatest Eng
llsh military achievements of our day,
is not of a kind that will comfort the
eve OF liberty loving Englishmen any
where, or make fascinating their gaze.
or course, it must be conceded that
Kitchener could not beat back the
dusky warriors of the desert with
squirt guns charged with rose water,
and also that he was not sent out on a
mission TO reason and argue for half a
century with the mahdfs followers as
| TO the folly of their hostility to the
/ British arms, and their base and cow
ardly murder of Gen. Gordon at Khar-
toum, a dozen years ago.
Kitchener was there for other bust
ness He was charged with the duty of
smashing the power Of the mahdi and
driving his followers and their stand
ard forever from the sandy plains of
| the Nile, and with that object solely in
view, it could hardly be expected, per-
/ haps, that he would confine himself en-
tirely to humanitarian methods.
But that all is not unanimity AS to
his plan Of campaign, may be judged
from the following incident that took
place recently in the house of COM
mons:
Quoting from the parliamentary re-
port;
Mr.. Scott lone of the members for
Manchester, and editor Of the Man
chester Guardian. the leading provin-
cial paper Of England)-I beg TO ask
! the under secretary for foreign affairs
whether he is in position to contra
dict the stories generally current to the
effect that, after the capture of Omdur-
man, the body of the mahdi was taken
| from its grave, mutildted and thrown
! into the Mile?
| Under Secretary Broderick-I under
stand that the body of the mahdi was
taken from it's grave and thrown into
the Nile. 1t was held by the sirdar
| Gen. kirchener) that supersIitious
! reverence which attached to the NAH
! dis memory might cause a recrudes-
| cence Of troubles in the Soudan, which,
in view of the history of the past six
! teen years. it was necessary to take ex-
ceptiOnal measures to avoid.
| Mr.. Redmond-May I ask what has
| been done with the remains?
! Secretary Broderick-Thrown into the
! Nile. (Cries of "Oh, oh.D
Another member asked whether in a
war with any civilized power such an
act Of Dissertation would be permitted,
but the under secretary made no re-
ply.
This brief airing of the matter in
parliament has evoked a good deal Of
warm discussion throughout the Coun-
try, of the temper of Which the follow
ing editorial extract from one Of the
metropolitan dailies may give some
idea:
IF the spaniards had left behind
them in Havana the casket containing
the bones of Columbus, would the
4 Cubans have thrown 1t into the harbor
in order to avoid rscrudescence? If
France or Germany were in deadly
grips tomorrow, and if II so happened
that the bugles of the cuirassiers blew
in the streets of Berlin and in the
squares of Potsdam, would French
hands lay impious hold Of the tomb of
I William, the first German emperor, OIL
4 desecrate the resting place of Won
MOltke, who brought death and earn
age, red ruin and havoc into their fair
land? Would not Europe cry out if
England bombarded St. Petersburg to-
morrow. and a landing party tore W
the slab that covers the bones OF SUI
varofP in the oliet crvnt I'm that "a.
mons rnnnasterv outside the civ walls
( in order that there might not be d re-
4 crudescence Of national feeling? Rut
\ the mahdi was only a poor fanatic. He
Id t;s ,,aonIe into hattie Ike a hero.
rriast ay16 If Auab had given hin, ma
rbi1,a e,uns instead Of Korans If he
49,. Sov. "a drill his soldiers az wei
O. be did how, Ia may his corpse vouId
p9 80. he faadino, the fishes If The
Mi when NsnoIeon vas in Epvnt
- 40 b,,pdred years ago he neve,
JUS uoL ~; 81 a.,.+Lirs On br7,ta1 nc t,ie