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punishment of not having deserved it . Tliat punishment awaits us all , p VPT 1 iipre Even here we may have a" foretaste of immortality in the w V CJH Jl . lV' - * - * - ' - *—¦ w ^ j TT 99 J * J . 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 to damnation for disof all the in
belief ? The argument here treated is a type arguments Butler . He first undertakes to find some remote analogy , sumciently general in its expression to prevent distrust , and he then quietly fills up that general outline with what particulars he pleases . Thus he gains assent to the general analogy of rewards and punishments taking place in . 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 .
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VILLAGE LIFE IN EGYPT . [ second abticle . ] Village IAfe in Egypt , with Sketches of the Said . By Bayle 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 this 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 has performed a pe rsonal 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 may use that expression ; but their hone of success is so vague , that should you stop as 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 , Backsheesh , ya Khawagali ! hacTcsheesli , ya Khatvagah /'—as if they thought they were uttering a direful insult . One little fellow , especially , worked himself up into perfect fury—he might have been calling us dogs or Jews from his manner—and when we 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 damnable 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 Xiberty , there arc still some triflingadvantages in it . " To fight for one ' s country , " for instance , is one thing , but to he 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 be found ; and the operation was performed so rapidly that , although an immense amount of misery was created , it was accompanied by comparatively little disturbance . The conscripts were c ; ist , hound hand and fool , into the boats , and thus transported to
head-quarters , where , by a liberal application of the koorbsish , they wore , . soon converted into slipshod heroes . Their wives generally followed them on foot , and such as did not perish by the w ; iy contributed to increase the pauper population of Cairo and Alexandria . "As is well known , the Egyptian mothers prefer maiming their children to allowing them to hi ; taken away for military service . Thus , some " extract their teeth , whilst others put out one of their eyes , either by menus of sharp needles or the milky juice of the silk-tree . 1 have . Keen a lad whose foot hud been held over a fire when Ik ; was young , in order to lame him , that he might , be preserved to his parents . Young men also maim themselves , when their mothers have ; omitted the tender care , cither by some of the above-mentioned means or by cutting oil" one or two of their fingers . Mohammed All's one-eyed regiment has often been mentioned .
" It seems to have , occurred to the advisers of Abbas I ' asha that the method pursued by his grandfather was highly hiirburous and uncivilized . He resolved , therefore , to proceed on an entirely new plan -toorganize u conscription in regular French style , and to take so many men from each district according to its population . At first night , if we admit the necessity of an army , this seems a reasonable mode of proceeding enough ; hut in practice it caused more protracted suffering-, and introduced more disturbance into the country , than the brutal proceedings of the great I ' asha . " I have ; often heard persons , in whoso minds the immoral idea , that , one man may rightly be governed and disposed of by another is incradicahly fixed , whilHt
denlorin " , Jin in duty bound , individual runes of misery , Kjiouk with admiration of any vigorous proceeding by which ' bitf , idle fellows , ' as they are pleased to call the Egyptian peasantry , are made to work , whether as soldiers or otherwise . Itut the truth is flint the fellahs , as I often tako occasion to repeat , are not more idle than other men ; and besides , if they wore so , the proper means are not taken to reform 1 beni . They object , very properly , to being industrious or patriotic , ' on compulsion . ' Hold out inducements suited io their character and capacity , and they will lie ready to become soldiers , or navigators , or whatever you please . l ' ay them woll , and with regularity above all ; do not allow them to starve under their uniform , and complain , as l ' haves heard them , that eve" their belts , however ti ghtened ,
annot repress the pangs of hunger ; enable them to live without begging 0 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 Egvnfc , 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 be the order of the day , the vapid summary practice of . Mohammed Ali was far preferable to the hypocritical device adopted ; under his grandson .
" 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 Arnaout cavalry . 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 blanche in the selection . What an opportunity for indulging any private hate , for straining a point in favour of a friend , or of a father who was willing to purchase indemnity for his son ! The fortunes of the wholecountry 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 be tyrants . " No sooner did news of the intentions of Government circulate , than the -whole :
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 afc 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 we 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 , alongwith the hysenas or the wolves , to drink at the pools or canals nearest theur retreats . "
But we turn 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 boat , and 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 beaten 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 hirf match in this respect , for he swore with more elegance and point than any Ulema . " At length , when his body was black and bine , and his throat hoarse , h& 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 suggestetli . This is a largo bouse , and in a large housemuch is eaten . The cook will presently go forth to market . I will offer my fowls , and she will buy them ; and the first stone of my fortune will be laid . his elo
" Presently a woman came forth ; and he addressed her , stating case - quently , and explaining all his anticipations ; for he thoug ht 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 , which will save me the trouble of going to market . Let me take them in , and I will bring thee the money , for 1 have not enough with me' . " She ' immediately took up the kafass , and disappeared , leaving link Hak Jjeli-hted with his dexterity . Hut the truth was , he bad mistaken the pate ot a quarter for the gate of a house ; and the woman was a cunning thief , who i understood him to be open to deception . She went homo to her den , and rci » i « the trick she had played to a companion , who
said" < Not to be outdone by thee , L will go and rob this fool of Ins clothes . " Thereupon she went round by another way , and came to the place \ — Hale Hak was waiting for his money , and was beginning to be very nll I )! ll ' '" j- n ( l ' happened that there was a well close by ; and as sho pretended to be very o . feeble , she leaned upon the edge as she crawled along . Suddenly she cried o " ' () Muslim ! () good people , help ! I have dropped my ring into tins we ^ " Halt Hak was the only person near ; so he went up to her briskly , and Mil " ' What wilt thou give me if 1 dive and bring up the ring ?'
" ' () my son , ' replied she , ' 1 will give then a piece of gold . " < It is " a munificent reward , ' naid lie ; and forthwith stripped and ft * into the well , and began to dive . The first time he came up to the surluus ing very hard--pull "! puff ! —and erying - " 'Oh , old mother , I find only a stone . ' " ' Try again , ' cried she , as she gathered together his clothes . ^ " He " obeyed , and came up blowing pun " , pull" , pull " , and gasping , ' I "ivo an old shoe . ' Hut she had gone ; whilst he , thinking she was still waiting
a third time , and brought up a piece of broken glanH . ,- i i , m and " He continued in this wise until he was quite t ired , when he rliinim I ^ lound that ( . lit ; old woimni had Hod , leaving him naked and dirty »» > l wm' "' { for was ashamed to go out , into the streets in that plight , and began to roai a ^ help . Hut eveiy time that fho people came out of their houses to « eo the matter , he popped in his howl , being too modest to show lninsell . hi | U "At length a man spied him from a window , and coming forth , nuhh ^ from his hiding place , and took liim info bis house , and wiwhe < linn an . ^ and clothed him mid fed him , and listened to his story , at winch he laugl" .
When it was concluded lie said , -- _ 'I'hoii '• • () Hak Hak , a person of thy talent and beauty is misplaced in < , a . r <> . hndHt better return to thy villas ami trade them 1 have heard that t . J ^ of Kiifr Henimir think that all wisdom consists m a long lieuiu , '" ' hic | , have not been blessed with many hairs . 1 will give thee n chbo of n ccwmoi ,
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1046 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 30, 1852, page 1046, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1958/page/18/
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