The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-12-03
ABDURRAHMAN KHAN.

lover seems to find pleasure in the pur-
suit of his ambitions, as the dust that
arises from the feet of the flock is a
salve to the eyes Of the wolf pursuing
the flock" In my pursuit after the
welfare of Afghanistan, the more that
I see signs of change and progress the
faster / follow them, as lover fol-
lows the traces Of the footmarks of his
IDEAL which make him more eager to
keep on the road. / pray God to help
me in carrying out this duty for which
He has selected me from among other
men.
On many occasions get quite dis
couraged on account of the misbeha-
vior of my people, who keep on REBEL
ing, quarrelling and intriguing against
each other, and making false reports of
each other to me. have then to make
inquiries to find out the truth, and this
wastes more than half of my valuable
time; so that as | try to walk in the
steps Of progress they keep on pulling
me back. I get very weary, and some
times think that their position is I'M
changeable and their intrigues incura-
BILE, and that 1t is impossible to raise
them to that standard which would
make them equal to their neighbors in
strength and character. / feel that 1t
would be well for me to retire from
this life of everlasting anxiety and
struggle and take a quiet, peaceful life
somewhere else, leaving my people to
fight among themselves until they are
ruined. But this would be a cowadlry
t, f,,Ii1 +h,
ordained by the real Almighty Master
and Sovereign, for which He has crea-
ted me. I believe that a true lover
mudst never turn his face from the diff
ficulties that constantly come in his
way and he must look upon all the
naughty and mschievous play of his
beloved, and the cruelties shown to
him, as very pleasant pains and occu-
pations. The pains Of the lover are the
luxuries of his love; and the difficult
ties and anxieties of a reformer only
add to his enthusiasm and spur him on
to fresh exertions.
There is no fixed time and no proper
programme for me throughout the
twenty-four hours of the day and night
in which / work; go on working from
ing again until morning, like any labor
er. | eat when am hungry; and some
days / do not remember that have not
eaten my mealS-I forget all about it,
and ask my courtiers all at once, rails
ing my head from writing: Did I eat
my dinner to-day or not?" In the same
way when l get tired and sleepy, go
to sleep on the same bed which is my
chair for work, / do not require any
private room or bedroom, neither any
room for secrecy or for grand recep-
tons. There are plenty of such rooms
in my palaces, but / have no time to
spare, even to move from one room to
another. Of course I love to go to my
harem and spend an evening with my
family, and they are equally delighted
when pay these visits, but my time is
50 full that there is none to spare ex-
cept occasionally when I make it!
AS have said, there Is no fixed time
for meals or other personal needs; l
may mention that my usual custom is
to go to rest about five or six in the
rising again about two in the
afternoon. The whole time that I am
in bed my sleep is disturbed in such a
way that I awake nearly every hour,
and keep on thinking about the inn
and anxieties of my coun-
try; then | go to sleep again, and so on.
| get up between two and three in the
afternoon, and the first thing I do is to
see the doctors and hakims, who exam
inc me to see if / require any medicine.
After this the tailor comes in, bringing
with him several plain suits made in
The European style. ] choose one for
that days Use. After I have washed |
and dressed, my tea bearer enters, car
ryng tea and light breakfast Dur
ng the whole of the time, from the en- |
trance of the hakims until I have fin
shed breakfast, the usher, the secreta- |
ries, the nazir Cor Lord of the SeaD |
and one or two other officials keep on |
looking at me, and saying in their own |
minds, ooh, be quick, and let US each |
out our work before your | do not |
blame them for this, because the sec
'etaries have to take answers to all the
etters and documents and dispatches
If the day; the Lord of the Seal has to
seal all the orders for the daily expen- |
ses of the government, and to put all
he reports of the intelligence depart
nent which have been received since I
vent to sleep before me. The usher
has to introduce hundreds of people
Who have their cases or appeals to be
ried by me- or who have to be appoint I
ID on certain duties and services and
70 on. But no sooner do I appear at |
work after finishing my breakfast than
Jarious officials, my sons, and house
lold servants step in to take instruc-
ions for their various duties Every
,age boy of whom there are hundreds,
md men of the detective department
walk in with letters in their hands from
me or other suffering persons who re-
way I am crowded and surrounded by
% many who all want to have their
business attended to, as we'll as to show
heir 7eal to mo by giving me more
work. to do None of my fellow coun-
rymen have a tenth part so much to
10, 1 keep on working till five or six
he next morning, when 1 resume the
anne routine, just keeping a few min
ties for my meals. Even then, howev- J
II, my courtiers and officials keep on
skiing me questions-and, in fact, there
5 no rest for the wicked!
Since 1891, when l appointed my son
Jabibullah Khan to hold the public
!urbars instead of myself, the work
which / keep for myself and attend to
very day is as follows: Foreign office;
Intelligence department, political work,