CHAPTER XXIV

.

1860-1864.

The Turkish authorities at Damascus, acting under the orders of Fuad Pasha, marked their sense of Abdel Kader’s humane intervention in behalf of the Christians, by sending him an order that his Algerines should deliver up their arms. Abdel Kader resented the order as an insult, and protested. “Never,” was his reply to this injunction, “will I submit to such an order, until Fuad Pasha has formally declared that I and my men have made a bad use of our weapons. In that case I will leave him to vindicate his conduct as best he can, with the European powers who have applauded my course of action.”

Being powerfully supported from an influential quarter, Abdel Kader succeeded in averting the indignity which the Turks had deliberately and maliciously meditated against him. The spirit which had dictated Fuad Pasha, and the Turkish authorities in general, then became apparent. A general disarmament of the inhabitants of Damascus had been commenced, and about six hundred muskets had already been collected, when the above-mentioned order was sent to Abdel Kader. When they failed to obtain the arms of Abdel Kader and his suite, the Turks at once discontinued the general disarmament. The measure had evidently only been a pretext for the infliction of a humiliation on the defender of the Christians.

The Christian powers covered Abdel Kader with the most distinguished marks of their gratitude and admiration. Letters, presents, and orders came from every side. France sent the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour; Russia, the Grand Cross of the White Eagle; Prussia, the Grand Cross of the Black Eagle; Greece, the Grand Cross of the Saviour; Turkey, the Medjidié of the 1st class. England sent a double-barreled gun, beautifully inlaid with gold; America, a brace of pistols similarly inlaid. The Order of Freemasons in France sent him a magnificent star. All these gifts and decorations were accompanied by letters of thanks.

But not only in the Christian world had the conduct of Abdel Kader, in the midst of the hideous scenes enacted through the fell working of Turkish fanaticism, created a deep sensation and elicited tributes of praise and general rejoicing. In the Mohammedan world also, a profound feeling of astonishment and abhorrence had been excited at the vindictive daring, the blind fatuity, and the sanguinary anti-Christian malevolence of a Mohammedan power which, while pretending to be amenable to the higher instincts of European civilisation, could thus stimulate to deeds of atrocity, gratuitously barbarous, and not even sanctioned or countenanced by the most ferocious and exaggerated doctrines of the Koran itself.

This feeling found its most eloquent exponent in the illustrious hero of the Caucasus. Schamyl, from his place of exile in Russia, addressed the following letter to Abdel Kader:—

“To him who has made himself celebrated amongst all classes, high and low; who by his numerous and precious qualities stands distinguished from the rest of men; who put out the fire of discord before it had time to extend; who rooted up the tree of enmity, the fruit of which is, as it were, a head of Satan. Praise be to God, that He has clothed His servant with strength and faith! We would speak of the true and sincere friend, Abdel Kader the just. Salutation to you! May the palm tree of merit and honour be ever fruitful in your person!

“Be it known to you, when my ear was struck with that which is hateful to the sense of hearing, and repulsive to human nature—I allude to the events lately occurring in Damascus, between the Mussulmans and the Christians, in which the former displayed a conduct unworthy of the professors of Islamism, and which can only lead to every kind of excess—a film spread over my soul, and my face, usually tranquil and serene, became covered with the shade of sadness. I cried out to myself, ‘Evil is on the earth and on the sea, by reason of man’s wickedness and perversity.’

“I was astonished at the blindness of the functionaries who have plunged into such excesses, forgetful of the words of the Prophet, peace be upon him:—‘_Whoever shall be unjust towards a tributary (a Christian), who shall do him a wrong, who shall lay on him any charge beyond his means, and finally, who shall deprive him of anything without his own consent, it is I who will be his accuser in the day of judgment_.’ Oh, the sublime words! But when I was informed that you had covered the tributaries with the wings of kindness and compassion; that you had opposed yourself to the men who do contrary to the will of the Most High God, and that you had conquered the palm of victory in the amphitheatre of glory—a success which you have richly merited—I praised you, as the Most High God will praise you in that day, when fortune and children will avail but little. Truly, you have realised the word of the great Apostle whom the Most High God sent as a mark of pity for his creatures, and you have opposed a barrier to those who rejected his great example. May God preserve us from those who transgress His laws!

“Impatient to testify the admiration I feel for your conduct, I hasten to address you this letter, as a drop out of the reservoir of my sympathies.

“The unfortunate, who through the working of the decrees of the Great Master, has fallen into the hands of the infidels.

“SCHAMYL, the Exile.”

To this sympathetic effusion Abdel Kader thus replied:—

“Praise be to God, the Master of worlds! May God be propitious to our lord Mohammed and all his brother prophets and apostles.

“This comes from him who has great need of his all-abundant mercies, Abdel Kader, son of Mehi-ed-deen, il Hassany, and is addressed to his brother and friend in God, the glorious Schamyl. May God be favourable to us and you, at home and abroad! May the peace and grace of God rest ever upon you!

“We have received your honourable letter, and your charming words have rejoiced our heart. That which you have heard about us, and which has given you such satisfaction, respecting our defence of the tributaries and the protection we gave them, both as regards their persons and their goods, according to our zeal and our means—all that, as you well know, is nothing but the fulfilment of the principles of our sacred law and of the dictates of humanity. Indeed, our law is the confirmation of all the best qualities, and embraces all virtues as a collar encircles the neck.

“Vice is condemned in all religions; and to allow oneself to be carried away by it is like taking a poisonous aliment into the stomach. Nevertheless, as the poet has said, ‘Man, in certain moments of trial, has a bandage over his eyes, so that he calls that desirable which is just the reverse.’ Truly it is a case to say, ‘To God we belong and to Him we return.’ When we think how few men of real religion there are, how small the number of defenders and champions of the truth—when one sees ignorant persons imagining that the principle of Islamism is hardness, severity, extravagance, and barbarity—it is time to repeat these words, ‘Patience is lovely; in God let us trust.’

“We were informed, some time ago, that you had arrived near the Emperor of Russia; and that this prince, treating you in a manner worthy of you, had loaded you with civilities and covered you with honour. We were told, moreover, that you had asked for permission to visit the holy cities (Mecca and Medina); and we pray God that he may prosper your demand and accomplish your wishes.

“Indeed, the Emperor of Russia is one of the most distinguished of sovereigns. He is one of those who desire to see the record of their exalted deeds preserved in books. We hope, therefore, that his magnanimity will grant you your wishes without difficulty. It is thus that the Sultan Napoleon III. has acted towards us. He has performed things for us which could never have entered into the mind of man. After all, it is in God alone that we must place our hope. He only has a right to our homage.

“ABDEL KADER IBN MEHI-ED-DEEN IL HASSANY.”

The tranquil current of Abdel Kader’s life, momentarily ruffled, but scarcely interrupted, by the terrific episode which had broken in on his retirement, now resumed its wonted course. The simplicity, the scrupulous regularity, the exact and unvarying conscientiousness which guide and influence his actions, operate upon the thread of his existence with all the harmony of fixed laws.

He rises two hours before daybreak, and is engaged in prayer and religious meditation till sunrise, when he goes to the mosque. After spending half an hour there in public devotions, he returns to his house, snatches a hurried meal, and then studies in his library till mid-day. The muezzin’s call now summons him again to the mosque, where his class is already assembled, awaiting his arrival. He takes his seat, opens the book fixed upon for discussion, and reads aloud, constantly interrupted by demands for those explanations which unlock the varied and accumulated stores of his troubled years of laborious study, investigation, and research. The sitting lasts for three hours.

Afternoon prayer finished, Abdel Kader returns home and spends an hour amongst his children—his eight sons—examining the progress they are making in their studies. Then he dines. At sunset he is again in the mosque, and instructs his class for one hour and a half. His professor’s duties for the day are now over. A couple of hours are still on hand; they are spent in his library. He then retires to rest.

Abdel Kader is punctual in his charities. Every Friday the street leading to his house may be seen filled with the poor, who are gathered together for their appointed distribution of bread. The poor who die (if utterly without means), not merely in his own quarter, but throughout Damascus, are buried at his expense. Every case of destitution has only to be brought to his notice to be instantly relieved. He lays out regularly more than £20 a month in charitable donations.

Abdel Kader had long cherished in his heart the hope and desire of being able, sooner or later, to complete his round of religious duties by a crowning act of devotion. In the eyes of the devout Mussulman, no earthly rank or dignity is to be compared to that which carries with it the glorious distinction of entitling its bearer to be called “the Fellow of the Prophet.”

To obtain this signal privilege, it is necessary to dwell continuously at Mecca or Medina for two years, or, at all events, to remain in the holy cities until two successive pilgrimages (Hadj) have arrived at and departed from those places. Abdel Kader now obtained the permission of his friend and benefactor, the Emperor Napoleon III., to prosecute his pious purpose. Being asked one day how he could bear to separate himself, at his age, for so long a time from his family, he replied, “It is true my family is dear to me, but God is dearer.”

He left Damascus in January, 1863; and, after staying a few weeks in Cairo, embarked for Djedda, and in due time reached Mecca. There he was received by the great body of Ulemas and Imams, who make that holy city their constant place of residence, with the most marked respect and consideration. The Shereef of Mecca ordered a couple of rooms, within the precincts of the Haram, to be placed at his disposal. He was overwhelmed by visitors. After ten days, he intimated that his period of reception was over. He begged to be left in undisturbed privacy and seclusion.

For the next twelve months he never quitted his hermit’s cell, except to go to the great mosque. His whole time was given up to sacred studies, meditation, and prayer. The fervour of his religious abstraction was stimulated by the most rigorous self-denial. He only allowed himself four hours’ sleep. He broke his fast but once in twenty-four hours, and then only to eat bread and olives. The severity and long continuance of this bodily and mental discipline told even on his iron frame. In the spring of 1864 he indulged in a short relaxation by going to Taif, a town delightfully situated in a mountainous region about fourteen hours from Mecca, and surrounded with flowing streams and delicious gardens.

Returning thence to Djedda he took ship, and in five days reached the port of Reis, six days’ distance by land from Medina. The whole of the intervening districts between Mecca and Medina, spreading far into the interior, and down to the sea-coasts, are infested by a race of Arabs called the Arabs Hurb. These demi-savages are hideous to behold. They wear little or no clothing. Their skins resemble burnt and crackling parchment. Their thick, shaggy, black hair floats wildly over their shoulders. They have few horses; but they themselves run like ostriches.

These Arab tribes are at perpetual war with the Turks. No caravan dares to cross these dangerous tracts without being strongly guarded. This duty devolves on Turkish troops, who run the gauntlet with hearts failing them for fear. They are generally attacked, mostly defeated, sometimes destroyed, the caravan reaching its destination naked and penniless.

Amongst the Arabs Hurb the name of Abdel Kader had for years been a household word. On hearing of his arrival at Reis, their Sheiks sent him a deputation requesting permission for them to be allowed to come and offer him their salutations. He replied, that as they were at open enmity with the Turkish Government, and as some Turkish officials were accompanying him on his proposed journey inward, he begged to be spared the distinction they would have offered him. They acknowledged the delicacy of the dilemma, and did not persist. For once, and solely for the sake of Abdel Kader, they allowed the caravan from Reis to reach Medina without the slightest molestation. The return caravan was attacked and plundered, and the Turkish guard cut to pieces.

Abdel Kader remained at Medina for four months, resuming, near the Prophet’s tomb, the course of life he had practised while at Mecca. The guardian of the sanctuary repeatedly invited him to examine all the precious treasures it contained—the votive offerings of diamonds and pearls and precious stones, and gold and silver, sent by kings, princes, potentates, and grandees, from all parts of the Mohammedan world. But Abdel Kader refused even to look at the treasures. He regarded them as a wasteful and useless prodigality, and a sinful misapplication of wealth, which might have been far better employed in works of general charity.

When the time for his departure arrived, the Arabs Hurb again pressed on him their services, and offered to escort him in perfect safety through the overland route of fourteen days to Mecca. He would have availed himself of their offer had not two Ulemas who were his travelling companions dreaded the fatigues of the journey; and not wishing to separate himself from his fellow-travellers, he was again obliged to decline these flattering marks of personal devotion and attachment. He returned to Reis, and reached Mecca by the way he had come, in time to be present at the rites and solemnities of the Beiram, for the second time. His object and his vow were thus accomplished. He now turned his face homewards, and in June, 1864, arrived at Alexandria.

Abdel Kader had just succeeded in achieving, after much toil and self- abnegation, the highest distinction to be attained in a religious profession pre-eminently dogmatic and exclusive. By a singular contrast, he now claimed to wear the badge of a society based and established on the principle of universal brotherhood. The Masonic body in Alexandria hastened to welcome the illustrious neophyte. The Lodge of the Pyramids was especially convoked for the occasion in the evening of the 18th of June. Abdel Kader was initiated into the mysteries; and to the privilege of being the “Fellow of the Prophet,” added the more time-honoured privilege of being “a free and accepted Mason.”

After staying a short time at Alexandria, in order to complete the requisite documents and arrange the necessary details which were to enable him to take possession of a large landed property, presented to him by the Viceroy of Egypt, he left for Syria, and reached Damascus towards the end of July, 1864. There, for the present, we leave this “great and complete man,” pursuing that career which he considers to have been marked out for him by destiny. Of this career he himself has said, “It was pointed out to me by my birth, my education, and my predilection. It is one which I ardently long to resume, and to which I never cease praying to God to allow me to return, now at the close of my laborious years.”

Though such, however, was the career which Abdel Kader had imagined for himself, an over-ruling Providence had ordained it otherwise. His career, as it stands before the public, is without a counterpart in the annals of great and extraordinary men, for its sudden and unexpected rise, for the strange variety of its phases, and the unlooked-for stages of its development. Never was there a career more completely typical of the riddle of human existence—never one which more completely illustrated the truth of the wise man’s saying—“A man’s goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his way?”

That career may now be recapitulated in a few brief sentences. A young Mohammedan Arab had devoted himself to the seclusion and religious exercises of the cloister. A crisis in his country’s fate called him reluctantly from his retreat to the head of affairs. The seeds of his latent genius burst forth at once into full-blown maturity. He shone with unrivalled splendour as the preacher and leader of a Holy War against the encroachments of a Christian power. He kept the armies of this great power at bay for fifteen years, with forces immeasurably inferior, and only made available by the fiery enthusiasm with which he knew how to inspire them. Twice he compelled his enemy to grant him advantageous terms of peace, and to salute him with titles of sovereignty.

All the while, he was moulding and forming an internal administration, which, rapidly superseding the wildest anarchy and confusion, presented a pattern of order, regularity, and justice. He laid the foundation of a Mohammedan empire. In his own person he offered to his subjects a model of bravery, fortitude, activity, perseverance, piety, and zeal. He yielded at length to overwhelming numbers. He surrendered to his Christian foes, on the express condition that they should conduct him, in the full enjoyment of complete and unrestricted freedom, to some other Moslem soil.

His enemies treacherously conveyed him to their own land. Their Government threw him into hopeless and apparently life-long captivity. A prince whose genius, like his own, had sustained him with unfailing trust and confidence through adverse fortunes, overthrew that Government and arrived at supreme power. The magnanimity of that prince restored him to liberty.

Then, by a wonderful turn in the wheel of fortune, this brilliant and uncompromising champion of Islamism was seen to take a marked and foremost place in the Christian world. He became a member of many of its literary and scientific bodies, corresponded on terms of equality and friendship with its most illustrious potentates; and finally, near the close of his ostensible career, saw his breast covered with the martial emblems of that very faith which, at its commencement, he had drawn his sword to resist and to defy! Truly, such a career is without its parallel in history.

Those who have perused the preceding pages will have found many grounds for salutary reflection. In the example there laid before them they will have been profitably reminded of the utter short-sightedness and uncertainty of all human calculations. They will, at the same time, have been instructed, edified, and encouraged, by the striking proof which it affords that the only really strengthening and peace-giving motives of human action are, a practical and persevering sense of duty, and a humble, cheerful, submissive, and unswerving trust in God.

THE END.

* * * * * VIRTUE AND CO., PRINTERS. CITY-ROAD, LONDON.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1:

“Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,

Wherein he puts alms for oblivion.”

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA.]

[Footnote 2: Mohammed.]

Transcriber's note:

pg 5 Changed: "at the the same time" to: "at the same time"

pg 47 Changed: "but, a a Mussulman, I looked" to: "as a Mussulman"

pg 50, pg 84, pg 160, pg 167 Changed: "Milond-ibn-Arasch" or "Milond ibn Arasch" to: "Miloud"

pg 127 Changed: "‘with animation, ‘I hope yet to restore" to: "‘with animation, I hope yet to restore"

pg 134 Changed: "the last were Abon Hamadi" to: "Abou"

pg 142 Changed: "Kader adjured them them to rally" to: "Kader adjured them to rally"

pg 148 Changed: "plates of the national dish—the _conscoussia_" to: "_couscoussia_"

pg 285 Changed: "abjured him to vindidate" to: "vindicate"