A Confederate Soldier in Egypt: Part I, Chapter VI

The ancestry of the Egyptian peasant—His condition, past and present—Results of ages of slavery and wretchedness—Misrepresentations of his character—The kourbash and enforced labor—Efforts made to improve his condition during the reign of the present dynasty—The average Egyptian—The effect on him of his religion—Ismail's attempt to sweep away intolerance—Impossibility of reform in Mahometan countries except through a material change in the present religion.

THE most interesting person in Egypt, and one with whom acquaintance is soon formed, is the fellah. The descendant, not improbably, of those who built the Pyramids, we see him to-day a toiler in the mud, wearing nothing but a rag around his loins. Or perhaps he may be in some cases of the blood of those victorious warriors who followed the green banner of the Prophet into the heart of Asia, Africa, and Europe. In either case his descent is illustrious. But for many centuries the plight of the Egyptian fellah has been a wretched one. He has served as a beast of burden under foreign taskmasters during centuries of misrule. The inference would be that all vitality has been beaten out of him ; that though he wears the likeness of a man, harsh treatment has transformed him into a beast that cares for nothing except to crawl into its house when the day's work is done. Recent events, however, have shown very clearly that the fellah is not altogether the spiritless animal described by casual tourists, who take their opinions at second-hand from the dragoman employed to guide them in their hurried rush through the country. A writer in Blackwood's Magazine for August, 1881, who pretends to know the fellah, does not give his true character when he tells us that “ he is so accustomed to the lash that he rather prefers it,” giving an illustration which he avers came under his own observation while staying with an official who was repairing canals. His statement is that a man who had persistently shirked his work, seemingly overcome by conscience, voluntarily came to the official one day and said that he was prepared to go to work, but that he could not do so without being compelled. He had never in his life worked on a canal until beaten, and there was apparently something repugnant to his feelings in doing so, even for pay, without this salutary stimulant ; he therefore asked for a hundred blows of the kourbash upon the soles of his feet. The punishment was administered, though contrary to law ; the man's conscience was relieved, and he went to work in a happy frame of mind. Again, it is stated that under the Bondholder's rule the old device of the Inquisition, of beating confessions out of the people charged with crime, has been found necessary and is now in use. If this writer's statements are true, is it to be wondered at that riots accompanied by a cry against Christian rule so constantly occur ? The writer of the above-mentioned article, in giving the incident in illustration of the value of the kourbash, which recently came under his observation, says : “ It will be seen that it has too strong a hold upon the people to be readily abandoned, and, indeed, although it is nominally prohibited by law, its use is largely resorted to sub rosa—by the native officials, especially in the detection of crime.”

The Egyptian fellah, relieved from excessive apprehension, no doubt feels a natural exultation. Like many more favored races, he prefers enjoying his ease when not compelled to work, and congratulates himself that the time is past when he can be forced to it. It is not at all surprising that he shirks when called upon to labor on the canals and other public works without pay. It is of course right that at certain periods he should give his labor for the public good, as the country is purely agricultural, and, besides needing constant irrigation, is subject to inundations. The repairing of canals under such conditions is necessary for the general weal, and the right to impress labor has at one time or another been enforced among all nations. But in Egypt the right to compel the toil of the peasant class rested on no such necessity, but depended solely upon the caprice of tyrannical officials, high and low. Hard as it is upon the fellaheen, the system of government established by Mehemet Ali on the ruins of Turkish rule is a great improvement upon the wretched tyranny under which Egypt had groaned for two centuries before. The Turkish rule was a sort of feudal system under the Mamelukes, with a Turkish Pacha in nominal control. Complete anarchy reigned. The men of the governing class were aliens, having neither social ties nor personal interest in the country. The Turkish Pacha was an intriguer, who usually paid a large sum for his appointment, and who used his authority only to enrich himself. So long as his own revenues were received he cared little what the officials under him did to the fellaheen. This system of grinding misrule received its first great check from Napoleon at the Pyramids and from Kléber on the plains of Heliopolis ; the finishing stroke was given it by Mehemet Ali, the fisherman of Cavalla.

To understand properly the condition of things at the present time it is necessary to follow still further Mehemet Ali and his peculiar tactics in establishing his system of government. There was little that he would not sacrifice to his ambition, though it must be borne in mind that in all he did he moved like a man of sense toward a certain independence, which was really for the ultimate good of the people. Before claiming supreme power at the hands of the Sultan, it was necessary to break down all the petty governments around him and to consolidate them in his single hand. This Mehemet Ali did, at any and every cost. The last blow in silencing all conflicting interests was the crushing of the Mamelukes. Perfect and complete despotism followed. This accomplished, Mehemet's first step was to replace all officials of every rank by his immediate friends, holding tightly the reins of power, and thus it was that the fellah was ruled by one despot instead of many. The fellah was materially benefited in this change, for when acts of oppression came to the ears of Mehemet the remedy was swift and severe.

Seizing upon the whole country, the most of it a waste, he divided it out among his relations and high officers, and finally among the soldiers and fellaheen. Rich lands were given, with poor lands attached, which the holders were required to cultivate, so that the greater part of Egypt where the waters of the Nile could reach the land was brought under cultivation. It was so arranged that the taxes should fall more heavily upon the rich than upon the poor lands, and his decrees were so directed that the whole people, rich and poor, should become owners of the soil. Another consideration with him was the cutting, improving, and regular repairing of canals. It was his custom to superintend personally, and to compel his sons and the rich landholders to help and encourage the people to labor in this work of necessity. This gave rise afterward to what was called the corvée system of forced labor, which under the old soldier worked for the good of the people, though subsequently it gave rise to many abuses, as it could be perverted for the benefit of high personages. Vigilant in all departments, he wrought many improvements and changes, some of which remain to this day. He left to his successor the germ of a powerful and well-organized government, but of course could not legislate or decree against misrule and decay, when his great power should fall to the keeping of corrupt and weak descendants. Abbas, as already stated, reversed his whole system, introducing a new order of things and eschewing European influence both in commerce and government. It should be said in justice to him, however, that he took a deep interest in the welfare of the fellaheen, though he persecuted the rich ; but as he crushed out all other great interests, his people suffered. It can be truly said of Saïd that he was like a bright meteor. His sense of utility manifested itself in paroxysms. At last his people groaned under a deeper bondage than that which had oppressed them under the cruel Abbas. When Ismail seized the reins of the state he found Egypt £8,000,000 in debt, with a strong European control in all the departments. The interior economy of the state was administered only for the rich, and despite all the good intentions which had animated Saïd, everything was in the hands of officials who ruled solely for their own aggrandizement. Never in the history of any nation were there greater exactions ; the very last piastre was wrung from the poor wretches who tilled the soil. Such was the inheritance of Ismail Pacha. The Khedive, who commenced his reign in 1863, evinced every desire to build up his country and elevate the fellaheen who composed the great mass of the people. The just and upright motives which prompted him were patent to all intelligent observers of facts which were of daily occurrence. The conclusion early in his reign was that his ambition pointed in the direction of independent empire. Whether or not this was the case, it was clear that he was deeply interested in the amelioration and education of his people. There was nothing which so brutalized the fellah as the indiscriminate use of the lash. Ismail set his foot on this outrage, and never failed to mete out severe punishment to officials who exercised undue cruelty, when the facts were made known to him. He listened patiently to the murmurs of his subjects, and was always well pleased to remedy their grievances. The writer personally knew him to do many acts of the highest humanity, in righting the wrongs of his people at the expense of officials high in rank and importance. If there were no other public act to show the bent of his mind, his course in abolishing slavery would be sufficient. It matters little what may have been his reasons, the fact stands ; his act was of his own will, and he was in no way responsible to others. So far, then, he is entitled to the good opinion of the world. The abolition of slavery was part of the great policy he had marked out for himself. He instituted schools for the education of vast numbers of people, and did what no other Oriental had ever done—namely, established schools under the patronage of one of his queens for the education of the female children, believing that if you educate the women of a country you elevate the men. He introduced new systems of agriculture and the most approved modern improvements—cotton-gins, sugar-mills, refineries, and steam pumps for raising water and for irrigation. Vast forest plantings, railroad and telegraph building, and the cutting of many canals, not only to irrigate but to reclaim deserts, stand, with many other acts of beneficent policy, as monuments of his goodness and wisdom. Besides perfecting the harbor of Alexandria, he constructed a magnificent quay, which stretches a mile into the Red Sea at Suez, for the commerce of India ; dry docks equal to any in the world at Suez and Alexandria, and several iron bridges, notably the grand bridge across the Nile at Cairo. The construction of the Opera-House at Cairo is a monument to his taste in the fine arts. But for him and his liberal policy, notwithstanding the vast concessions of Saïd, the Suez Canal would never have been built. Tolerant of all creeds, he gave liberally of land to any denomination of Christians, and, Mussulman as he was, he was always willing to aid the progress of his country ; and though many persons, ignorant of the truth, still claim that the fellah is the same hewer of wood and drawer of water, the same abject slave that he was previous to Ismail's reign, he is really much better off than before, bad as his lot still is. It must be remembered that it took Europe many centuries to rise from a semi-barbaric condition, so far as the masses of the people were concerned. It was not to be expected that Ismail should have had the best government in the world. Visitors who lounged at their hotels in Alexandria and Cairo were shocked when they journeyed on the Nile to find that the people were not so enlightened as the shopkeepers about Cairo, forgetting that only a few years ago they were all but savages. Straightaway a tale of woe was unfolded, and newspaper articles, letters, and books were written for the humane to shudder over. Those whose experience of the country covers a decade or two can see great changes for the better ; and when we remember that Ismail forced civilization upon Egypt quite as far as it was possible to do so without creating a destructive revolution, it cannot be denied or doubted that he was a great reformer and benefactor. On the other hand, it is due to truth to admit the folly and wrong of Ismail's lavish outlay upon palaces and dinners, his waste of great sums on his harems and their gardens, his huge expenditure for iron-clads in the foolish hope of building up a navy, and his boundless extravagance in entertaining the world at the opening of the Suez Canal. The leeches who wantonly sucked the blood of the fellaheen, however, were the Sultan and the idlers about him. It is necessary to mention another great item of expenditure. This was the paying of hotel bills and the cost of steamboat excursions up the Nile for innumerable princes and other dignitaries. In visiting censure upon the head of Ismail for this last form of extravagance, however, it is necessary to remember the circumstances in which he was placed. His Oriental training had taught him that the offering of such hospitality was obligatory upon him, and when he offered it the visiting kings, princes, and dignitaries eagerly accepted it. Ismail believed, too, that in extending his splendid hospitality to foreign potentates and their representatives he was making his country attractive and winning powerful friends for himself on a throne which he knew was coveted. His hope that these his guests, who so gladly and greedily fared sumptuously at his expense, would give a thought to his welfare after the feasting was done, was founded in a now obvious, though pardonable, delusion. He was repeatedly assured that the increase in productions and the rise in the value of lands would more than balance all indebtedness. The investment of his enormous private fortune in landed estates, together with the extensive purchase of machinery and implements of agriculture, plainly show the confidence he had in the schemes into which he was persuaded. Disaster to the finances of the country and the ruin of his own fortune were the result. Neither the state treasury nor the Khedive personally was able to meet even the interest on the immense loans contracted by them, and creditors at once became clamorous.

The Egyptian learns rapidly, languages especially, but never goes deeply into anything. He displays some aptitude for mathematics, but rarely sufficient to enable him to apply his knowledge to practical affairs. This is obviously true of the Arab officers, even when educated in the Egyptian military schools or in Europe. The Koran is the Moslem's measure for all allowable science, literature, and art, and whatever oversteps its sacred metes and bounds is impious. The Mussulman is true to his faith. The precepts of the Koran form his character and shape his destiny. It penetrates every detail of his daily life, and rules even his most intimate domestic relations. It makes the yoke of the most crushing despotism the will of God. Even trades and professions are under its control. It is primarily responsible for the degradation of woman to the position of toy and a slave. Everywhere in Egypt and the Turkish possessions the harem is filled with women, the property of one man who controls it. Ismail abolished slavery and strove strenuously to enforce the law, but he was impotent to vanquish a habit so deeply rooted in tradition and the faith. Reforms may be attempted, and partial and temporary success attend the effort ; but there never can be any lasting advance in education, morals, or government without a radical change in the religion of the East. Slavery in the household is the same to-day that it has been for centuries. Though outside of the harem Ismail succeeded in abolishing it, he did not dare push the reform to its fullest extent. It was said he proposed to open the harem doors. I believe it ; but he was confronted by the stern protest of the leading men of his religion. Though a Mahometan despot, it is but justice to say that he struck at numerous time-honored customs, and endeavored to elevate his people in spite of themselves. But the task was beyond his strength. The Egyptian race will continue to languish under the iron heel of the so-called Islam, much of it really in contradiction to the Koran, until some Arab Luther shall arise to strike off their fetters. They have the old Israelitish idea that they are the “ chosen of God,” and intrench themselves in their besotted ignorance against every form of progress as something contrary to Allah's command. Their daily prayer is, “ O God, assist the forces of the Moslems and the armies of the Unitarians. O God, frustrate the infidels and the polytheists, thine enemies, the enemies of thy religion. O God, invest their banners and ruin their habitations, and give them and their wealth as booty to the Moslems !” In their daily lesson to their children they teach them to say, “ O God, destroy the infidel and the polytheist, thine enemies, the enemies of thy religion. O God, make their children orphans, and defile their abodes, and cause their feet to slip, and give them and their families and their household and their women, their children and their relations by marriage, and their brothers and their friends, and their possessions and their wealth, and their race and their lands, as booty to the Moslems, O Lord of the beings of the whole world.”

It is no wonder that these people are ignorant and superstitious, and are carried away by the pride of religion, when the same barbarous lesson is taught that led their ancestors to rapine and plunder, and is the doctrine implanted in the mind of the present generation. Under the strong government of Ismail, Christians were treated with apparent cordiality, and there were many evidences of toleration among numbers of the people. They often said : “ Of what use to convert a thousand infidels ? Would it increase the number of the Faithful ? By no means : the number of the Faithful is decreed by God, and no act of man can increase or diminish it.” As a rule, however, in his heart the Moslem contemns a Christian, and, strong in his belief, is proof against proselyting. It matters not whether he observes or neglects his own religion, he is equally fanatical in despising all others. The more elevated his position, the bitterer is his contempt for all others. I have never met with a single Mussulman who has left his faith or who ever proclaimed himself an unbeliever. While many make no outward show, thousands are very strict in the observance of their religion's rules. They never squander their devotions in private, but pray most demonstratively in public, “ to be seen of men” and esteemed as true believers. This public parade is considered highly praiseworthy. Many of their religious leaders value that and nothing else. Their profession relieves them from many burdens, and they work themselves into feigned ecstasies, professing to rely solely upon Allah for the future. To judge the whole people by this class, one would infer that they were all governed by unmitigated fatalism. But my acquaintance with the Eastern people in their every-day life justifies me in saying that if it ever was a controlling principle, they have greatly changed. I never knew one praying, or otherwise engaged, who did not keep a sharp lookout for danger ; or who, if interrupted in his prayer or in his meditations on nothing, did not curse the person interrupting him and all his relations for generations, and then take good care to get out of the way as fast as possible. I have never known a single instance where they suffered bodily harm rather than forego their prayer.

I knew an officer in the Egyptian army who, I believe, for nearly eight years never failed to fulfil all the obligations of his religion, which was an immense ordeal, besides attending strictly to all his duties as a man and an officer. He made the necessary ablutions five times a day. When not employed, he was mumbling a prayer or a chapter of the Koran. If there ever was a true Mahometan, he was one. Nevertheless, I have seen him get out of danger in the midst of the most earnest prayer, and have heard him congratulate himself heartily upon his luck in doing it, giving Allah, of course, credit for saving him. He has often interrupted his prayer to give me information he knew I wanted, and has then fallen to praying again. Mahometans have an idea that going to Mecca and Medina has a good deal to do with saving their souls. Though a Christian, I obtained for my Arab friend authority to go to the tomb of the Prophet and come back a Hadji. It seemed to me that the pilgrimage weakened his ejaculatory vigor. He thought his seat in Paradise safe, so it was no longer necessary to demonstrate before infidels and unbelievers. It is true I have seen large bodies of soldiers suffer massacre when strong enough to defend themselves and punish their enemies, but this I attribute to the cowardice of their officers, who fled at the approach of danger and left their men, accustomed to follow them blindly, to the mercy of the foe. When dealing with the Abyssinian war, however, I shall have to recount instances where, with death staring them in the face, their fatalism was unmistakable.

It is impossible to portray the condition of Mahometan countries better than in the few simple words of one of the ablest and most observing of our American travellers in the East. “ Wherever that religion exists, there follow inevitable despotism and slavery, by which it crushes man, as by its polygamy and organized licentiousness it degrades and crushes woman. Polygamy, despotism, and slavery form a trinity of woes that have weighed for ages like a nightmare upon the whole Eastern world.”[*]

So immense a fabric, founded upon superstition and cemented by ages, cannot, as the writer says, pass away in a day. I have already stated my conviction that the iron crust is broken and the “ fervid heat” is burning into the heart of Islam. “ The combined influence of civilization and Christianity” is slowly but surely sapping the foundations of Mahometanism, and the star which shone so brightly 1800 years ago is, I think, destined to shed its light once again in the East where it rose.