Copts and Moslems under British control; a collection of facts and a résumé of authoritative opinions on the Coptic question

Front matter

iUiftltUiUilkrtsMiJHii

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

Preface

BY

Professor A. H. SAYCE, D.Litt., LL.D., D.D.

Herodotus described Eg5rpt as the land of paradox, and the description still holds good. The Mohammedan Press of Cairo and Alexandria calls itself ' Nationalist,' and the young Mohammedan Effendis send telegrams to the Governments of Europe and ask them to unite in expelling the EngHsh infidel from the shores of their country and in leaving ' Egypt to the Egyptians.' English politicians and journalists join in telling us that Egypt is a Mohammedan country and that, consequently, such native rulers as are permitted to exist in it must be of the dominant Mohammedan faith.

As a matter of fact, the Mohammedan Egyptian who thus claims to represent ' Egypt and the Egyptians,' is, generally speaking, not an Egyptian at all. Until very recently his boast was that he was an Arab, of Arab descent, whatever his real origin may have been. What patriotism he possessed was viii PREFACE

religious rather than political, and his loyalty was engaged, not to Egypt but to Islam. Even to-day a very slight examination of so-called ' Nationalist ' claims is sufficient to prove that ' Nationalism ' means political independence only in so far as it brings with it Mohammedan supremacy.

The genuine Egyptians are the Christian Copts. They alone trace an unadulterated descent from the race to whom the civilisation and culture of the ancient world were so largely due. Thanks to their religion, they have kept their blood pure from admixture with semi-barbarous Arabs and savage Kurds, or other foreign elements whom the licentiousness of Mohammedan family life has introduced into the country. In Upper Egypt, it is true, where the conversion of the fellahin to Mohammedanism is a comparatively recent event, there is still a considerable amount of pure Egyptian blood in the Mohammedan part of the population, but even here large tracts were colonised in the Middle Ages by numerous bodies of Arabs and Beduins, and when religion ceased to be a barrier to intermarriage, these latter necessarily mingled with the fellahin converts. Elsewhere the Mohammedan population did not even pretend to belong to the same race as the conquered Egyptians. The neighbourhood of Cairo was colonised by Arab tribes, and the revolts of the Christian fellahin of the Delta during the first few centuries after the Mohammedan occupation were

PREFACE ix

followed by merciless massacres. If we would discover the real representatives of ' Egypt and the Egyptians ' we must go to the remnant which has maintained itself through twelve centuries of persecution, more especially in Upper Eg5rpt.

As Professor ^Flinders Petrie has remarked, the fact that through all these centuries of persecution the Copts should nevertheless have not only maintained themselves, but have even made themselves indispensable to their Mohammedan masters, is both a testimony to their extraordinary ability and a proof that they are indeed the children of their Egyptian fathers. They have kept alive the old traditions of education and culture through centuries of darkness, along with the Christian conception of family morality and all that this implies. And how much it does imply can be understood only by those who have lived for many years in a Mohammedan country and been brought into close contact with Mohammedan family life.

It is no doubt easy to find faults and shortcomings in Coptic Christianity, and the character of the Christian Egyptian. None of us are free from shortcomings, and it is certainly not for the Englishman, who has never known what religious persecution means, to criticise a people who have so stubbornly maintained their faith and whose faults are in great measure those which are the result of a struggle for self-preservation. Moreover,

X PREFACE

the charges so frequently brought against the Copts by uninformed politicians or passing tourists generally break down when confronted with facts. The late Prime Minister — the only pure-blooded Egyptian who has held office in the country in our own time — ^has never been accused of dishonesty even by his most fanatical enemy ; and Tewfik Bey, the hero of the garrisons of the Red Sea Coast, as Gordon was of the garrison of Khartoum, was a Copt. Whatever other faults they may have, the compatriots of Butros Pasha and Tewfik Bey ought not to be accused of dishonesty or cowardice.

During the last thirty years I have seen a good deal of the Coptic people, more especially of the younger generation, and I have found them to compare favourably with other nations. They have inherited the aptitudes and intellectual abilities of their forefathers ; their moraUty and conception of the family is that of a Christian people, in other words, of Western European civilisation ; and I see no reason why they should not again take the same high place in the civilised world that was taken by their Pharaonic ancestors. Egypt, as Sir Gaston Maspero once said to me, is the mother of most of the ideas that have since ruled the world, and the children of that mother are still with us, under the name of Copts.

Introduction

BY

Dr. a. J. BUTLER, D.Litt.

AUTHOR OF ' ANCIENT COPTIC CHURCHES OF EGYPT," ' THE ARAB CONQUEST OF EGYPT,' ETC,

This little work presents a clear and dispassionate statement of the Coptic grievances and the Coptic claims. I venture strongly to recommend it to all fairminded persons who desire to know the truth, and particularly to those who have been misled by British official reports or utterances into the belief that the grievances of the Copts are shadowy and unreal.

So far is this from being the case, so substantial and so serious are the injustices which the Copts suffer from under British rule, and which in a large measure have been created by British rule, that I do not hesitate to say that their position as an oppressed minority is a standing discredit and reproach to our boasted methods of government. The plan has been to show indiscriminate favour to the Muslims — ^with the not unnatural result of turning many of them into enemies of England and the English xii INTRODUCTION

occupation, to treat the Copts with stern disfavour, and to turn a deaf ear to all remonstrance.

For, strange as it may soimd, the Copts have been refused a hearing. Such a denial of common justice would seem incredible if it were not unquestionable. But it is the simple fact that both the Khedive and the British Agent in Egypt declined to receive a deputation from the Copts, and that when the Copts, who were thus condemned unheard, resolved to appeal to Caesar, they were informed by Sir Edward Grey that such matters must be settled on the spot. In other words, when a miscarriage of justice was alleged in Eg57pt and when the local authorities refused not merely redress but even a hearing to the sufferers, the British Government at home rejected all petition for inquiry on the ground that the refusal of a hearing by the Egyptian tribunal is final. It is an extraordinary example of that pernicious bias which seems to warp the whole policy of our Government in dealing with the different races and creeds in Egypt.

It seemed therefore, to myself, and to some other friends of the Copts, that the only resource left to them was to make an appeal through the public press to all those who, in these islands and beyond them, love fair play, and who cannot soothe their conscience with the doctrine that ' minorities must suffer,' when they see nearly a million Christians in Egypt denied equality of treatment and equality

INTRODUCTION xiii

of opportunity with their Muslim compatriots. Such, then, is the reason for this book. As far as I am able to judge, its tone is admirably calm and temperate, and the author has been obviously careful to avoid any expressions to which a Muslim reader might take exception. And this principle of avoiding all wild and wounding words is one which I hope will continue to govern all discussions, whether in the public press or out of it, between Christian and Muslim. For, through all the clouds and storms of persecution which have darkened and depressed the fortunes of the Copts, the teaching of history is clear, that Copt and Muslim have no innate antagonism, that each has qualities worthy of the respect of the other, and that the two can hve together and work together for the common good of their country in unity and amity.

And on this point let me say one word. It is not my intention here to argue any of the questions debated in this book ; but having known the Copts for upwards of thirty years, I have the highest opinion of their capacity and their character, and I do not believe that their best men are in any way disquahfied for holding posts of the highest responsibility. Of course it is an essential condition that anyone holding such a post, whether Copt or Muslim, should be able to reckon confidently on the reasonable support of the Government. But if that can be counted upon, as it ought, I for one should have xiv INTRODUCTION

no fear that a Coptic Mudir or Mamur would fail in tact or in justice, in kindliness or in courage.

But it is sad and humiliating to reflect that the friendly union of Copts and Muslims was practically an achieved result before the British occupation of Egypt, and that it has been destroyed by the policy of the British Government. To exalt the Mohammedan and to tread down the Christian, to license the majority and to curb the minority, is the policy which our Government has not avowed but practised, and presumably has deemed consistent with British traditions of upholding justice, impartiahty, and equality before the law, for all the governed. Sir Eldon Gorst, the exponent of this policy, has just passed away, and all criticism of his public life must yield for the moment to sympathy and to admiration of the gallant spirit in which he held his post to the end.

But his departure cannot fail to open a new chapter in the administration of Egypt : and every friend of the Egyptians, whether Mohammedan or Christian, may reasonably hope for a new era, in which the confessed errors of our recent policy may be rectified, and in which Muslims and Copts may be treated with equal regard as members of a single community who have to work together in mutual tolerance and mutual respect for the union and prosperity of their country.

Oxford, July igii.

Contents

Note

Preface by Professor A. H. Sayce, D.Litt., LL.D., D.D

Introduction by Dr. A. J. Butler, D.Litt. .

II

THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS OF EGYPT By JOHN WARD, Esq., J.P., F.S.A.,

AUTHOR OF ' PYRAMIDS AND PROGRESS,' ' OUR SUDAN,' ' THE SACRED BEETLE,' ETC,, ETC,

I AM glad to see that the Copts are at length coming fonvard to plead their claim that justice be done them. A people who have undergone persecution for 1500 years may bear traces of a downtrodden state of existence of many centuries in their demeanour of to-day. Still, they earn our Christian sympathies. Their cause, those who know them believe, is well worth their efforts, and should have full support and sympathy from Christians of every phase of faith. When people who know them well, such as Professor Sayce and Mrs. Butcher (who have spent much of their lives in, or working for, Egypt), vouch for the domestic virtues and honest, peaceful hves of the Copts, we can fully trust their confidence in this remnant of the ancient Christianity of the country.

The Copts suffer from certain disabilities tmder 14

THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS OF EGYPT 15

the British rule in Egypt which ought to be remedied, or our good name for justice and fair play will suffer. The survival of the Egyptian Christians under the tyranny of Moslem bigotry of over a thousand years is a wonderful fact. There are barely a miUion of them now — there must have been twenty millions at one time — ere they were crushed by Moslem

persecution. _^

Now that a Christian Power has brought the ancient land back to prosperity, it is the duty of that Power to give even-handed justice to this remnant of the ancient Christianity which once' pervaded the whole land from the Mediterranean to Khartoum. The ruins of ancient Christian churches are found all along the Nile, and I have seen, at Soba, on the Blue Nile, the remains of an important church bearing the cross upon its capitals. When Kitchener subdued the Mahdi hordes there were no Christians to be seen, any few left beyond the First Cataract were in hiding from Dervish cruelty between Assuan and Omduiman.

Few of the annual tourists visit Asyut. It is almost a Coptic (i.e. Christian) town. There the influential folk are Copts, and by their industry, honesty, and their intelligence and cleverness, they flourish, and many become rich in houses and lands and are able to educate their sons, sending them recently to English schools and universities. It is an interesting thing to visit the Copts in their i6 COPTS AND MOSLEMS

own homes. The Christian virtues are all practised. The man a husband of one wife. The lady of the house sits ' beside her husband at the family meals. The daughters, equally educated and equally valued with the sons. This sort of life is a sharp contrast to the Moslem system, where the poor women are despised or hidden away as something to be ashamed of. In the society of Christian families at Asyut I have spent most happy hours indeed, having been introduced to them by my friend. Professor Sayce, who had long known them.

Acting on the advice of English friends, the Copts have formed a Coptic Society, with a branch in London, for giving general information about their brethren in Egypt. They have purchased the rights of Mrs. Butcher's admirable ' Story of the Church in Egypt,' and hope to introduce these volumes to the notice of Christian visitors to the Nile. They have secured the powerful aid of Professor Sayce, who has been an annual visitor to Egypt for thirty years. They hope to get their modest demands, viz. equal consideration, with the Moslems, granted by the British rulers of Egypt by advocating their claims firmly but modestly, as 'tis their nature to. At present their children are compelled, in many districts, to learn the Koran in the schools which they are taxed to support. The British education authorities seem anxious to

THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS OF EGYPT 17

Moslemise these Christian children, and they should have our sympathy, being their fellow Christians.

I have visited the excellent schools of the American Mission at Asyut. No such system is followed there — but then they want to promote Christianity, while the British education authorities seem to desire to stamp it out. This must be remedied, and no doubt will be. Then there are other (unwritten) laws which prevent Copts of high character and brilliant parts from filling the higher offices such as Mudir (Governor of a Province) or Mamour (Governor of a District) — all these restrictions ought to be removed. Recently a Copt of high position and universally esteemed was elected as Prime Minister of Egypt. The Mohammedan bigots had him assassinated, and some of their newspapers went so far as to extol his murderer into a hero. This conduct should show our educational authorities in Egypt what their system of teaching Moslem tenets to Christian children may lead to.

I wish these interesting fellow Christians every success in their most estimable efforts to obtain fair play for their countrymen.

John Ward.

Postscript

Since the above was written important events have occurred. Sir Eldon Gorst, a good, honest gentleman, who tried to please all parties and i8 COPTS AND MbSLEMS

satisfied none, is dead, woj^ out with his ungrateful task. It was difficult to succeed Lord Cromer, the regenerator of Egypt.

The Copts are now likely to be treated with the consideration they deserve. Lord Kitchener has become the British Agent, in this capacity practically ruling the whole Nile Valley, from the Mediterranean to the Equator. One of the bravest and most upright of men, utterly free from bigotry and partisanship, there is little doubt but when he has time to study the Coptic question that what these poor folk — the survivors of the earliest converts to Christianity — demand, only fair play, will reach them at last.

They have shown themselves to be loyal subjects and grateful for all the blessings which the Anglo-Egyptian Administration have brought to their native land, and certainly deserve equality with their Moslem fellow-countr3mien.

J. W.

Ill

COPTIC GRIEVANCES AND THE COPTIC CONGRESS

The question of Coptic grievances is by no means a new one in Egypt. In its present form it dates back to the early days of the British Occupation. Now the Copts do not, and never have, doubted the material and lasting good which has been accompHshed since the administration of the country was placed under British control. It is said in some quarters that the fact of Britain being a Christian nation led the Copts to expect favouritism at the hands of the Occupationists. There can be no doubt that this statement, constantly reiterated, has gained considerable credence among a section of the English people, though no more false allegation could have been made. We have never asked for any favour at the hands of the Government. We have asked for justice and equality with other Egyptians, and for a full participation in the fruits which have resulted from the new regime.

One of our chief grievances lies in the fact that we are now denied many of the appointments which

19 c a had often been in the hands of members of our community in the past. Until 1882 there was no accusation of incapacity to fill administrative and other appointments levelled against us. Gradually, however, it was found that as posts formerly occupied by Copts fell vacant, they were filled with Moslems, and gradually the Coptic people began to view their future with anxiety. This anxiety was not uncalled for ; the Copt has already lost much of his former position in Egypt ; he is daily in danger of losing the little that remains.

As soon as it became evident that Moslem preference for the Moslems in the public service had become the recognised policy of the Government, the Copts took steps to put the matter before the authorities. They encountered, however, unexpected and ever-increasing difficulties. On some occasions the delegates were met with a courteous assurance that the subject should receive the careful attention of the Government ; on other occasions they were curtly informed that they possessed no grievances to discuss.

On January 26, 1911, a telegram was dispatched to London, through Renter's agency, in which the Coptic claims were ridiculed, and misconstruction placed upon their demands by the inclusion of a paragraph which made it appear that they had no grievances, and that they were working for separation. The following is the telegram referred to :

Sir Eldon Gorst visited the provinces where the Copts are chiefly settled and thoroughly investigated the question of the alleged Coptic grievances, but found that outside Cairo there were no serious complaints. Moslems and Copts, he declares, generally live together quietly if they are left alone, and the worst possible service to the Copts would be to treat them as a separate community. Sir Eldon Gorst found that Coptic educational interests everywhere received due consideration from the Provincial Councils.

This telegram caused great agitation among the Copts, and cables of protest were sent to the leading newspapers. These were duly pubhshed in most of the papers and were summarised in the Times of February 17, 1911, in the following manner :

We have been much astonished at Reuter's telegram giving the idsume of the opinion of Sir Eldon Gorst after his tour in Upper Egypt. It is very difficult for us to beUeve that the contents of the telegram correctly indicate the considered opinion of the British Agency. Sir Eldon Gorst spent a few hours in each place at which he touched, and it is not easy to see how he could have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into so complex a question as the treatment meted out to the Copts by the Provincial Councils with regard to their educational interests. Most of the Copts of Upper Egypt (who constitute the majority of the Copts) have complained, and continue to complain, of the injustice suffered by them at the hands of these Councils, an injustice which may be proved by a perusal of the minutes of the

Councils themselves. As an instance of this injustice : in Assiout Province the Copts pay about 32 per cent, of the taxes, but are compelled to fall back upon private education to satisfy their needs. The Copts have never asked to be considered as a separate community, but only claim equality of opportunity with their compatriots, and that religious belief should not be made a bar to advancement in the public services, a matter which leads to friction between the natives of the country. We earnestly ask for the assistance of the English people to obtain our just demands.

Finding it impossible to obtain equality of treatment with their Moslem compatriots in the manner which they were then pursuing, it was at length decided to hold an assembly at Assiout, at which all the grievances under which they laboured might be discussed and placed in a tangible manner before the Government. The holding of an Assembly was therefore announced, and, despite determined opposition on the part of the Government, it met at Assiout in March of this year.

The announced aim of the Congress was entirely pacific, it was in no sense to be a Coptic agitation against either the Moslems or the Government of Egypt.

That the Coptic delegates were genuine in their desire to preserve order is proved by the fact that there was no disturbance of any kind during the whole sitting of the Congress, and by the moderate tone adopted by the speakers. This orderly attitude was noticed by the local European papers in Egypt, and also by the correspondents of the leading English Press.

A full report of the proceedings at Assiout, including all the speeches made, was published in pamphlet form and was sent to all influential people in Egypt and to all interested persons in England. I do not, therefore, propose to deal with the discussions of the Congress in detail, but will confine myself to including in this book only the opening address of the Bishop of Assiout, which runs as follows :

Dear and Blessed Children, — You have organised this Assembly, but the failure of certain people to recognise your wisdom, your prudence, and your sincerity towards your countrymen has caused them to fear the result of your actions. My residence amongst you for fifteen years has enabled me to feel the fullest confidence in your good intentions. I am glad therefore that the Government has once more shown its trust in you. I have come to bless you in the name of the Lord, and to ask you to show wisdom in your discussions and so maintain the best possible relations between yourselves and your fellow-Egyptians, and to do nothing \^_^^-,^ which is not in accord with the wishes of our illustrious Khedive and his Government, whom may God preserve. May our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and guide you in all your actions. Amen.

Assiout was chosen as the best place in which this Congress could be held, because it is the headquarters of the Coptic community.

The Government, however, regarded the idea in anything but a favourable light, and on March 2, the following statement was pubUshed concerning it :

The Government does not regard the holding at Assiout of the Coptic Congress with satisfaction, fearing that the meeting there would agitate the mind of the pubhc, and prefers the Congress to be held in Cairo instead of Assiout. The Government has, however, given no orders to prevent the opening of the Coptic Congress at Assiout, as stated by some local papers.

It will be noticed that the Government feared lest the meeting should agitate the mind of the pubhc, and as a remedy it proposed that the Congress should not be held at Assiout where the influential inhabitants are Copts, but that Cairo, where the Copts are in a very small minority, should be chosen instead. How the Government arrived at the conclusion that Cairo was a better and safer centre for the holding of such an Assembly as this, must remain a mystery to all people outside Government circles.

On the day following the publication of the Government notice, which I have quoted, the Ministry of the Interior published an official statement to the effect that :

The Patriarch has just issued a circular addressed to the Coptic bishops and leading clergy, commanding them to advise their congregations to abstain from taking any part in the Congress on the ground that the meetings are likely to create fresh trouble in Egypt.

The Egyptian Gazette, the leading EngUsh paper of Egypt, comments upon the matter in a leading article on the following day in these words :

Whoever was the enemy of the Copts who pulled the strings to make the venerable ecclesiastic act as he did deserves to be congratulated on a master stroke of policy. The object of inducing the Patriarch to take such a course is quite clear. It was solely done in order that it might have an effect on public opinion in England. The articles of the Times correspondent depreciating the claims of the Copts and the inspired telegrams of Reuter's agency have not been as successful as was thought, so a cleverer scheme than any of these was concocted, and the Patriarch was brought upon the stage to see if some really striking effect could not be attained. ... Of course the idea is that now that the Patriarch has banned the Congress, his attitude will impress the British Government with the idea that the organisers of the Congress are a seditious gang of discredited Copts, who are under the ban of their religious chief and may be looked upon as outlaws. Sir Edward Grey will thus have a sound standpoint from which he can answer any questions in the House of Commons put by Coptic sympathisers by pointing to the action of the Patriarch as completely stultifying all the agitation. ... If the Copts really contemplate a serious agitation they must concentrate it on London.

That the Egyptian Gazette was not wrong in its conception of the construction which was to be placed upon the action of the Patriarch by the Goverimient, is proved by Sir Eldon Gorst's reference to the matter in his report which appeared two months after, when he says that the Congress was imrepresentative and was condemned by the Patriarch. Under these circumstances it may interest my readers to hear exactly what the Patriarch said upon the subject. I append the whole of his Encyclical :

To our well-beloved Sons, the Orthodox Copts of Egypt, whom may God preserve : — We have learnt that our beloved sons are about to hold a great meeting at Assiout of all delegates of the Coptic people in order to take counsel as to affairs of State, and that summonses to attend this Council have been sent out. It is our good pleasure to see our worthy children drawn together for the common weal, and we beg of the Ahnighty that He will bestow His blessing upon them and give His aid unto them. Howbeit a Council as aforesaid held by a portion of the Coptic people, in a town such as is Assiout, gives us some uneasiness and vexes us, inasmuch as the folk of these parts have no knowledge of Councils among their customs, and thus it may be that an occasion be found for men without foresight to act unwittingly. Therefore our fatherly loving-kindness and our great love for you all lead us to give counsel to our beloved sons to take thought about the things of the Copts in some other way than this, whereby a great assemblage of persons will be drawn to such a town, so that they may have a care lest their doings, which, in sooth, are aimed at the advance in well-being of the Copts, are understood otherwise, and do lead to exaltations of the spirit. Furthermore, we counsel them to have foresight and to weigh well what they do in order that they may attain the ends unto which they have set their minds.

We beg of God to help them, so that they may obtain satisfaction and to give unto them His grace. His blessing and peace. Signed,

The Patriarch of the Orthodox Copts.

It will be seen that His Holiness' objection is absolutely confined to the place where the Congress was to be held, for the rest he invokes the blessing of God upon its promoters.

The action of the Government in attempting to induce the Patriarch to proclaim against the Congress was not the only effort made to keep the question of Coptic grievances from securing the light of publicity. An attempt was made to influence the Copts through the intervention of the Foreign Consular agents. Many of the Copts in Upper Egypt are the Consular^ representatives of Foreign Powers, and most of them J were keenly interested in the proposed Congress^^' Acting under the request of the Government the Consuls-General in Cairo discussed the matter with these agents, but it came to nothing, as the agents flatly refused to abandon their connection with the Congress, and offered to resign their Consular positions should they be forced to do so.