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1046 THE LEADER. . [Saturday ,
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VILLAGE LIFE IN EGYPT. [SECOND AKTICiE.]...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Butler's Analogy V. Modern Unbelief. The...
imnishroeut of not having deserved it . That punishment awaits tis all , Jvpn here Even here we may have a foretaste of immortality in the expansion and elevation of our own natures . " Heaven , " according to one of the old divines , " is first a temper , then a . place /" Here , then , we make a pause . The first broad analogy chosen by Butler has been shown to be untenable , because the Punishments are so cruelly disproportionate to the offence . Eye for eye and tooth for tooth has been thought barbarous , but what are we to say ta damnation for disof all the in
belief ? The argument here treated is a type arguments Butler . He first undertakes to find some remote analogy , sufficiently general in its expression to prevent distrust , and he then quietly fills up that general outline with what particulars he pleases . Thus he gams assent to the general analogy of rewards and punishments taking place m a future state as in the present ; and having captured assent to this vague and general statement , he insists that he has proved the particular system of punishments taught in the Bible . In future articles we shall see further illustration of this sophistical method . ,,
1046 The Leader. . [Saturday ,
1046 THE LEADER . . [ Saturday ,
Village Life In Egypt. [Second Akticie.]...
VILLAGE LIFE IN EGYPT . [ SECOND AKTICiE . ] Village IAfe in Egypt , with Sketches of tjie Said . By Baylc St . John . 2 vols . * Chapman and Hall . We return to these agreeable volumes for further glimpses at Eastern life , in which they abound ; and first let us , by Mr . St . John ' s aid , correct a very general impression on the subject of BACKSHEESH . " Many travellers complain , very pathetically , that from one end of- Egypt to the other they were assailed with one continual cry for < backsheesh . ' There must be a good deal of exaggeration in this . It reminds me of the Frenchmen who constantly hear us English saying , ' Yes , yes , very good / because these are the only words of our language they know . Travellers arrive generally with tills one scrap of Arabic already in their possession , and fancy it is used on every possible occasion . As I have already said , it is appropriate in the mouth of every man who lias performed a personal service , and observes that you forget to remunerate him in the accustomed way . In some few districts , the women squatting by the roadside , or men working in the fields , having noticed instances of indiscriminate generosity on the part of Franks , try it on , if I mav use that expression ; but their hope of success is so vague , that should you stopras it were to comply , their first
impulse is to run away . Professional beggars , of course , persevere ; but the cry generally proceeds from impudent children , who do not pronounce the word in a supplicating tone at all , but as if they had noticed that it exasperates some touchy persons . Thus at Esneh , a dozen brats , black and brown , dogged us as we strolled round the walls , barking out , ' BacTcslieesh , ya Khaivagdh ! baclcsheesh , ya Khawagali !^— as if they thought they were uttering a direful insult . One little fellow , especially , worked himself up into perfect fury—lie might have been calling us dogs or Jews from his manner—and when avg turned round , made a bolt away in such bustle that he threw his head into the eye of one of his companions , and both rolled upon the ground . After a small turn-to with the injured one , he returned to the charge ; but when we held out some few fuddah pieces , he could not be induced to approach near enough to take them . The sweeping calumny to which I allude has its origin , no doubt , in the irritable virtue of the Political Economist school , which will thankfully receive a pension , but consider it a damnablo sin to
give a penny . " It is well now and then to console ourselves for that misfortune which we Britons somehow do not care to alleviate—the misfortune , namely , of not enjoying the " blessings of paternal government "—by reflecting that however great the misery of Liberty , thero arc still some trilling advantages in it . " To fight for one's country , " for instance , is one thing , but to be enrolled in the army as Egyptians are is another : —
" In the good old times of Mohammed Ali , a levy of troops much resembled a slave-hunt . Men were seized without any warning , wherever they could bo found ; : md the operation was performed so rapidly that , although an immense amount of misery was created , it w : is accompanied by comparatively little disturbance . The conscripts were cast , bound hand and fool , into the boats , and thus transported to head-quarters , when , by a liberal application of the koorbiish , they were soon converted into . slipshod heroes . Their wives generally followed them on foot , and such sis did not perish by the way contributed to inereji . se the pauper population of Cairo mid Alexandria .
"As is well known , the Kgyptiiin mothers prefer maiming their children to allowing them to be taken away for military service . Thus , some extract their teeth , whilst , others put out one of their eyes , cither by means of Hhiirp needles or the milky juice of the silk-tree . 1 have seen a lad whose foot had been held over ; i fir * ; when he was young , in order to lame him , that he might be preserved to his parents . Young men also mnini themselves , when their mothers have omitted the lender care , either by some of the above-mentioned moms or by cutting oil" one or two of ( heir lingers . Mohammed All ' s one-eyed regiment has often been mentioned . " II , seems to havo occurred to < lie advisers of . Abbas 1 ' asha that the method
pursued by his grandfather w ; is highly barbarous nnd uncivilized . He resolved , therefore , to proceed on an entirely new plan to organize a conscription in regular French style , and to take so many men from each district according to its population . At first sight , if we admit the necessity of an army , this seems a reasonable mode of proceeding enough ; 1 ) 111 , 111 practice it caused more protracted suffering , : md introduced more ; disturbance into the country , than the brutal proceedings oi the great l '; is ! m . ¦ " I have often heard persons , in whose minds the immoral idea , that One man may rightly l > e governed and disposed of by another is inerndienhly fixed , whilst , < lcplorin ir , as in duty hound , individual cases oi misery , speak with admiration of
any vigorous proceeding by which 'big , idle fellows , ' as they are pleased to call flu ; l ^ -ypfiun peasantry , are made to work , whether as soldiers or otherwise . Hut the truth is , that the fellahs , as I often take occasion to repent , art * not more idlo than other men ; and besides , if they were ho , the proper menus are not taken to reform them . They object , very properly , to being industrious or patriotic , on compulsion . ' Mold out inducements suited to their character and capacity , and they will be ready to become soldiers , or navigators , or whatever you please . I'ny thoni well , and with regularity above all ; do not allow them to starve under their uniform , and complain , as I * have heard them , that even their belts , however tightened ,
" On the present occasion , the duty of carrying out the conscription , instead of devolving on the Nizam , or regular troops , was entrusted entirely to the Sheikhs of the villages , with power to call in the assistance , when necessary , of that estimable rural police , the ArnaomVcavalry . Perhaps these officials were never engaged in an operation at once so invidious and so profitable . The Sheikh of Luxor , for example , had to provide twelve ' active young men '—such was the tenour of his order—but he was given carte blancJie in the selection . What an opportunit y for indulging any private hate , for straining a point in favour of a friend , or of a fa th er who was willing to purchase indemnity for his son ! The fortunes of the whole country population ( Cairo and Alexandria found favour and exemption ) were placed for a time at the mercy of a class of men , already so well disposed to bo tyrants . " No sooner did news of the intentions of Government circulate , than the whole
annot repress the pangs of hunger ; enable them to live without beggW knitting stockings , or trafficking ignobly on the beauty of their wives . This would be the way to destroy the prejudice against military life , and to prevent EgvDt from becoming a region of maimed , toothless blinkers . As to any other method more or less civilized , of robbing people of their right to dispose of their own time or labour in their own way , small is the credit of whomsoever may advise or introduce it . Indeed , if violence is to l ) e the order of the day , the rapid summary practice of Mohammed AH was far preferable to the hypocritical device adopted under his grandson .
country was thrown into a state of perturbation . Almost all work was suspended . Boys , young men , every one who supposed himself liable to seizure , fled away to the mountains , or hid in the places of refuge prepared for such an emergency by the people of old times . Every valley , every glen , every cave , quarry , and tomb , considered to be out of reach—not those , for example , visited ordinarily by travellers—were at once filled with fugitives . Wherever we went thenceforward , our movements were watched by files of men , squatting on the spurs of the hills , or moving in parallel lines with' us along the giddy summits of precipices , which wo could not venture to climb . Of course it was impossible for all these poor wretches to provide themselves either with sufficient food or with water . Their friends brought them the former , but they generally had to come down at night , along with the hyamas or the wolves , to drink at the pools or canals nearest their retreats . "
But we tura from these painful pictures to the more humorous side of things , and quote for the reader's amusement the following story , worthy of a place in all collections . Hak Hak is a hunchback child , who has been adopted by a Fellaha woman . After an account of his boyhood , the story thus proceeds :- ^~ " A little time after this , Hak Hak , who thought himself endowed by nature with the-capacity of a merchant , resolved to go to Cairo and seek his fortune . He took two dozen fowls in a kafass , went down to the river , begged a passage on board a boatand reached the great city in safety .
, " When 'Hak Hak got into the first street , he began by running against a camel-load of wood , and nearly blinding himself ; then he tumbled into a shop ; and afterwards he got beate n for entangling himself with a harim . On these three occasions he was called a pig , a dog , and a Jew ; but the people who abused him soon found that they were not his match in this respect , for he swore with more elegance and point than any Ulema . « At length , when his body was black and blue , and his throat hoarse , he thought it time to begin selling , especially as his fowls were half dead with hunger and thirst . So he sat himself down at a large gateway , and
said" ' Thus my wisdom suggesteth . This is a large house , and in a large House much is eaten . The cook will presently go forth to market . I will oiler my fowls , and she will buy them ; and the first stone of my fortune will he laid . " Presently a woman came forth ; and he addressed her , stating Ins case eloquently , and explaining all his anticipations ; for he thought to charm her by the volubility of his tongue and the beauty of his language . " When Hak Hak had stated his case , the woman said to him—« < O excellent and vigorous young man , I will buy thy fowls , winch will save me the trouble of going to market . Let me take them in , and I will bring tnw the money , for I have not enough with me . ' f , , " " immediately took up the kafass , and disappeared , leaving Hak J 1 « k a lighted with his dexterity . But the truth was , he had mistaken the gate . quarter for the gate of a house ; and the woman was a cunning thiei , wlio ¦ i ^ understood him to be open to deception . She went homo to her don , and it .
the trick she had played to u companion , who said— f " ' Not to be outdone by thee , I will go and rob this fool of Ins clothes . " Thereupon she went round by another way , and eamo to the place ^ Hak Hak was waiting for his money , and wns beginning to ho very nnpaUcn , . j happened that there was a well close by ; and as she pretended to > o v ^>' ° __ feeble , she leaned upon the ed ^ e as she crawled along . Suddenly nhe enedm " « <> Muslim ! O good people , help ! I have dropped my ring into 11 'is w . . " Hak link was the only person near ; so lie went up to her lirwUly , and * " < What wilt thou give mo if I dive and bring up the ring ?' " « () my son , ' replied she , ' I will give theo a piece of gold / ^^ " Ml is " a munificent reward , ' Hiiiri he ; and forthwith stripped and go into the well , » iiri began to dive . The first tinio he came up to ilio surluu ,
ing very hard pull "! pull" ! -and crying — " 'Oh , old mother , I find only a stone . ' " ' Try atfiun , ' cried she , as she gathered together his clothes . ^^ " He obeyed , and came up blowing pull " , \ ml \\ \ m \\\ and gasping , I ' « { nn old shoe . ' Hut she had gone ; whilst he , thinking she was Ht . ill waiting
a third time , nnd brought up a p iece of broken glass . ul )( i " He continued in this wise until he was quite tired , when lie chmln- l j | 0 found that the old woman had lied , leaving him naked and dirty as n wo ^ ^ was ashamed to go out into tlie streets in that p light , and began to roa ^ help . Mut . every time that the people came out of their houses to « ee the matter , lie popped in his head , being too modest to show hnnsell . ^ ^ "At length a man spied him from a window , and eonnng lort . li , < u rn ^^ from hi * hiding place , and took him into his house , and wa , sh e ( U . n . i an ] i ( iii . ( ily . and clothed him and fed him , and listened to his story , nf . winch be IH"h
When it was concluded he said , ( . Thoit " ' () I Ink Hale , a person of thy talent and beauty is misplaced m j "' ^ ]() badst better return to thy villu K « «»«! «•«« ' « 11 | '""" 'I , ' , || ,, it tW of ICair Hemmir think that all wisdom consists in u long beard , u ^ . j , have not been blessed with many hairs . I will give theo a case of it < ' <*« '
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 30, 1852, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30101852/page/18/
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