A CHAT ABOUT AMBASSADORS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1880, 2 December 1887, Page 31

A CHAT ABOUT AMBASSADORS.

The person of an ambassador is considered inviolable. This law prevailed in the ancient world ; because it was for a breach of the "international agreement" that Alexander the Great laid the city of Tyre in ruins. And nothing was better fitted to rouse the ire of Roman patricians than an insult dona against the person of their legates or ambassador. In modern times, there have been instances of this " inviolable " law being disregarded ; thus, Dr Donislaus was murdered at the Hague in 1649 ; and in our day we have seen the natives of Cabul storming the British Residency in that city and slaying Cavagnari (the Queen's deputy) and most of his associates. Such occurrences mark the time as a period when passion and blind fury are the guides of reason. Further, to intercept an ambassador going through the territory of a third party is a great and culpable offence. The Sultan had no scruples in treating the envoys of his enemies with the greatest severity; for whenever war broke out, the ambassadors were placed in a prison called the Seven Towers, and kept there until all hostilities ceased. The Turkish Government continued this practice up to the year 1827. During the reign of George 111, the British ambassador in the person of Lord Whitworth was insulted by Bonaparte, at that time First Consul of France. Lord Granville, from his place in the House of Lords, had declared that France by her warlike preparations was aitfully at war with Britain, and demanded an explanation of Bonaparte's conduct. Whitworth at the time was the British envoy. When the representative of Britain was announced, Napoleon, who had been frolicking with his nephew, entered the audience chamber, and thus accosted Whit•worth: " And so you are determined to go to war." " No," replied his lordship ; "we are too sensible of the advantages of peace." "We have already," continued the First Consul, " been at war for 15 years, and it seems you wish to fight for 15 years more ; and you are forcing me to it." Then turning to the other ambassadors who were standing near, Bonaparte exclaimed: "The English wish for war ; but if they are the first to draw the sword, I shall be the last to sheathe it. They do not respect my treaties. In future, they must be covered with black crape." Then resuming his conversation with Lord Whitworth, in an angry and insulting tone, he said : "If you wish to light, 1 will fight also. You may kill France, but never intimidate her." In his excitement, Bonaparte threw himself into a threatening attitude, and even raised his cane, while Lord Whitworth laid his hand upon his sword. ! This insult to Britain in the person of its envoy produced a profound sensation throughout Europe, and it was also one of " provocative " causes that led up to Waterloo. But the British themselves had not always respected the rights of ambassadors, for during the regime of Cromwell the brother (Don Fantaleon Sa) of the Portuguese envoy was put to death. Don Pantaleon was a reckless fellow, and while in the Exchange, London, with about 30 associates, he started an altercation with the bystanders, which terminated in a free fight, in which one man was killed. The offenders took refuge in the house of the Portuguese ambassador, and this latter individual, according to his rights, refused to give them up, and wished that Cromwell might be made aware of the circumstances of the case. When Cromwell heard of the matter, he gave the envoy two alternatives — either to deliver up the offenders, or be

delivered himself and all his 'company into the hands of the taob. The forme* was preferred. Pantaleon wa's'atraigned, but refused to plead. An -instrument of torture, how■ever, soon changed his mind ; and a verdict of guilty was tfiturned against Pantaleon and ifchree of his friends. Many plans were tried to persuade Cromwell to grant a reprieve, but he was inexorable, saying : " Blood has been spilt, and justice must be satisfied." And the only concession he would grant was that Pantaleon, in consequence of his nobility, might be beheaded, instead of suffering the ignominous death of hanging. Ambassadors are also exempted from the law of the country in which they are sojourning. The spot on which their houses are built becomes their territory, which fact is made known to all, by the hoisting of the embassy's flag. This is not all, for no servant or other member of the ambassador's train can be arrested without their chief's consent. And the only redress obtainable by an insulted person is to appeal to the ambassador, and failing his approval, to carry the matter further and lay it before the court which has sent out the embassy. In the reign of Queen Anne an ambassadorial quarrel occurred between England and Peter the Great, whose ambassador had been taken out of his coach in London and arrested for debt. Peter demanded that the sheriff of Middlesex and all others concerned should be punished with instant death ; but Queen Anne directed her secretary to inform this autocrat that " she could inflict no punishment upon the meanest of her subjects unless it was warranted by the law of the land " ; and politely added " that she was persuaded he would not insist on impossibilities." To appease, however, the clamour of the other ambassadors, who made common cause in the matter, a bill was passed through Parliament to prevent such occurrences for the future, and with this the Czar had to be satisfied. The embassy is entirely free of all imperial taxes, and crtn also get goods from abroad free of duty. ' With regard to local taxes, the ambassador, if he chooses, can refuse to pay such. In the matter of postage the ambassador is on a footing of equality with all men ; still, he can despatch free of charge his own couriers bearing his reports and other missives. These messengers are also looked upon as inviolable. In the days when travelling was done for the most part by means of the stage coach, ambassadors had a prior claim to all post horses.— Chambers' Journal. THE JEWS OF JERUSALEM. The Movement to Repossess the Holy land. The Talraudic and Rabbinic Jews of Eastern Europe have a longing for the land o£ their fathers, o£ which the Israelites of Western Europe and of America know almost nothing. Trained in the traditions of centuries, they believe that God is especially present in the Holy Land ; that the Jew who dies within the sacred borders goes directly into heaven, while those of other lands must first pass the purgatory of Gehinnom. The Messiah will . first appear in Palestine, and the dead of that country shall rise first, and only they will receive again the spiritual body which was lost in Adam's fall. Such faith and hope, augmented also by the persecution of their people in Russia, Roumelia, and elsewhere, have driven thousands and thousands of Abraham's children to Jerusalem, there to end their days and be interred in the sacred soil. The result of these causes is that at no time since the expulsion of the Jews from Palestine by the Emperor Hadrian, 130-140 A.D., has the number of these people in Jerusalem been as large as it is now. For many decades no Jew was allowed to set his foot on the sacred soil. Benjamin of Tudela, in 1170, reports only 200 Jewish families in Jerusalem, 50 in Tiberias, 30 in Ramie. In 1525 there were 300 families in Jems-ilem, 10 in Hebron, 300 in Saphed. Only in the present century has the immigration increased to a notable extent. In 1858 there were 6000 Jews in Jerusalem, and at present 14,000 (about one-half of all the inhabitants of the city). The Jews of Palestine, like all that are scattered over the globe, are divided into two classes — the Sephardim, or Spanish, and the Ashkenim, or German Jews. To the former belong all from the Orient, North Africa, Italy, France, and Holland, and are so called because Spain, under the Moorish rule and later, was for a long time their second home until expelled by the ruler of the land 400 years ago. The Spanish-Jewish dialect still betiays their long residence on the Peninsula. The Ashkeuim embraces all the Jews in and from Central and Eastern Eiuopc. Originally thoir chief seats were in Germany, from whence they emigrated to Poland, Galicia, Russia, and other Eastern lands. The Jewish-German jargon is a sadly mixed language, although it is used for literary purposes quite extensively. Representatives of the Sephardim Jews have been in Palestine for centuries, but the Ashkenims found their way thither only during the prcsen fc century. In language, tradition, history, character, and form of worship, the two classes are so different that they do not associate with each other. Each party has its own synagogue. In Jerusalem the Sephardims have nine houses of worship, their rivals only two, but both very pretentious buildings. Each congregation has a separate organisation; but the upper rabbi of the Sephardim, being recognised by the Turkish Government as the " Cacham Bashi," is also the authorised representative ' of the Ashkenim. In addition to these synagogues, there are also about 60 prayer or study rooms in the city for worship. The "learned men " (Chachamins) of the Sephardim, who devote their whole time to the study of law, about 290 families in all, are supported by the collections sent from Western Europe, North Africa, and the Orient. The others, with the exception of about 250 who live by begging, are tradesmen or working men. The Sephardim congregations number 7260 souls.* The Ashkeniin, forming a total of about 6660 souls, are supported by the so-called " Chalnka," or collections raised among the Jews of Eastern Europe. This money is divided among all, clergy and laymen, but the 255 teachers' families receive larger portions. According to a Jewish writer of prominence, L. A.

Franki, the suras that were sent to Jerusalem in I^Bs were about '50,000d0l for the Sephardim and 38,000d0l for the Ashkenim. The report of the Berlin meeting of the Alliance Israelitique for 1885 says that nearly 2,000,000fr are now sent there annually. This money is distributed by the rabbis, who use none of it for the permanent physical, mental, or moral improvement of their people, but divide it according to the needs of the moment. Their control of it enables themjjto exercise a tyrannical sway over all who must look to them for their daily bread. Some enterprising Western Jews, with enlightened views, have laboured for the permanent improvement of their co-religionists in Palestine. M. de Rothschild has erected a home for the poor '; Sir Moses Montefiore has done a similar work ; two hospitals have been established, endowed, and are well equipped. But all this does not suffice for the wants of these people. Especially are the sanitary arrangements in the Jewish quarter in a terrible condition. Thus in a single year, the Jewish hospitals had 1143 patients, and medicine was given in ho less than 23,095 cases. Philanthropic enterpriss has also within the past years established agricultural colonies in order to offer work and the means of support to the thousands who have by persecution been driven from Russia and elsewhere. Down to 1885 seven such colonies had been established, with a total membership of 13,000 to 14,000. The leading colonies are those of Saphed, El-Bukaiah, Akko, and Nazareth. The first of the kind was that of Joppa, established by the alliance in 1870. The leader in these enterprises was the venerable Sir Moses Montefiore. At present the London Society has 24 missionaries at work in Jerusalem, Joppa, and Saphed, under the direction of the Rev. A. H. Kelk.- New York Independent. THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. Their Origin— Arrival and Dispersion over the Continent — Strange and Sevolting Customs -Infanticide and Cannibalism— Belief in a Future Existence-Language, The arrival of a time when the last of the Australian race upon this continent will have disappeared appears to be almost inevitable. Eleven years have elapsed since the remains of Trucanini, the last of the aboriginal inhabitants of Tasmania, were committed to the earth at the Cascades, near Hobart, in the presence of the then Premier and a large assemblage of people of note connected with the island. At some future time it is to be feared the historian of this group of colonies will be called upon to record the passing away of the only surviving representative of a people who must have boon numbered by j hundreds of thousands at the period of the j discovery of Australia. " Wherever the European Ims tiocl," writes Darwin, in his "Journal of Researches," "death seems to pursue the abcriginal." And he remarks ( that, independently of the evident causes of destruction, " there appears to be some mysterious influence generally at work." This is ordinarily overlooked by writers on the subject, who hold alcoholism and European vices and diseases to be exclusively responsible for the withering away of the indigenous races, j But it is worth while to reflect upon such teslimony as that of Mr H. W. Bates, in his "Naturalist on the River Amazon," where, speaking of the extinction of the Passes as a nation, he observes that "it fills one with regret to learn how many die prematurely of a disease which seems to arise on their simply breathing the same air as the whites." And elsewhere, when alluding to this disease, which is known as defluxo among the Brazilians, he states that "it has been known to break out (among the Indians) when the visitors were entirely free from it, the simple contact of civilised men in some mysterious way being sufficient to create it." And we remember to have read in some book of travel, the title of which has escaped us, that something similar to the defluxo— which is a common cold, running into a slow fever, sometimes terminating in consumption— has been known to break out suddenly among the inhabitants of an island upon the mere approach of a European vessel, even although its officers and crew were perfectly healthy at the time. With such mysterious agencies: at work in addition to those which we know of, the prospective disappearance of the Australian aborigines is merely a question of time. And as they have no historians, no literature, and no art, except of the most rudimentary kind, they will pass away "unwept, unhonoured, and unsung." It would be v misfortune if such a branch of the human family were allowed to perish without an authentic record being preserved of Their Origin, History, Languages, Customs, and Habits, their place of landing on this continent, and the routes by which they spread themselves over its surface. And these arc precisely the points upon which Mr Ourr, an early settler in Victoria, has undertaken to enlighten us, in the four volumes which have been printed and published at the expense of the Government of that colony. He commenced collecting the material for it 14 years ago. He has placed hiinsclf in c immunication with gentlemen qualified to furnish him wil h valuable information residing in all parts of Australia, and he has produced a work which is a monument of patient industry, protracted investigation, and systematic arrangement of laboriously-collected' .facts. Mr Curr believes tho Australian race to be of African origin, and the grounds upon which he has arrived at this conclusion are fully set forth in the sixth chapter of the first volume; but they are too numerous for recapitulation; one of the strongest is that words which are very general in Australia are likewise found in tho negro languages ; and comparative philology is now universally admitted to be one of the most valuable instruments we can use for solving the problems of ethnology. Upon the subject of the th'st landing of the negroes on this continent, and of their first dispersion, -vfr Curr's theory is this : — "That the ancestors of the Australian race landed on the northwest coast many ages back, and their descendants spread themselves over the continent (peopling it as they wiuit) by travelling along the north, west, and east coasts, and also through the interior; and that their occupation became complete in that portion of the south coast which lies between Streaky Bay and Laccpede Bay." Upwards of 90 '

tribes are enumerated as occupying, or having occupied, our own colony, and in procuring the vocabularies of these, as well as many interesting particulars of their manners and customs, Mr Cur'r has engaged the cooperation of many residents in Queensland, all tending to show unity of origin and identity of usages and practices to a very considerable extent. Cannibalism was one of these, as well as infanticide ; and Mr W. M. Mowbray, at that time commissioner at the Hodgkinson goldlield, mentions that the tribe inhabiting the granite range close to the head of the Mitchell river have been known to roast and eat their, own children ; while these, prior to the coming of the whites, were killed for the most trivial offences. On the Cloncurry river, The Blacks Were Accustomed to Eat Their Head, " in all cases, no matter what the cause of death, disease or accident ;" the corpse being cooked by means of heated stones in an earth 'oven; but this revolting practice seems to have fallen into desuetude since the advent of European settlers. Young . men and women were fortunately excluded from this loathsome banquet. The Oonoomurra tribe, between the Flinders and the Cloncurry, also feasted on their dead, " when not too much emaciated bj illness." Polygamy was common among them, and infanticide was an ancient practice. Their method of killing the marsupial rats, which arc sometimes as numerous as those which caused Bishop Hatto to shut himself up in the Mausethurm, on the Rhine, was as amusing as it was simple. "As a man sat smoking at night he would have in one hand a string, to the end ef which a piece of meat was tied, and in the other a switch ; the rats followed the meat which the man drew towards him, and met their fate from a blow of the switch. In this way a single man would kill 50 in an evening, 200 and 300 being killed at a hut, their numbers apparently remaining undiminished." Infanticide is described as being pretty general among the natives belonging to the Birria tribe, occupying country near the junction of the Barcoo and Thomson rivers, because, although marriages commonly take place between 14 and 1(5, no children are allowed to be reared until their parents reach the age o£ 30 or thereabouts "In the drought of' 1370-7 they ate all their children." It is strango to find Australian savages resorting in grim and deadly earnest to the very practice which Dean Swift, with mordant irony, recommended the Irish to pursue in his " Modest Proposal " for decreasing" I.he surplus population. Among the ecccntricitiesof Australian cannibalism must be mentioned the custom formerly prevalent among the blacks of the Breeaba tribe, whose country is on one of the head waters of the Burdekin. " Prior to the coming of the whites," writes Mr Hodgkinson, " children who died from natural causes were eaten, not by their parents or brothers, but by their cousins and other more distant relatives of the male sex." One would like to know the restraining motive in the former case. A belief in good and evil spirits appears to be almost universal among the natives; and the Pegullohirra tribe, in the neighbourhood of Cape river, personify their devil, or goin, much asjhe is represented in some of the frescoes of mediaeval Italy. He is supposed to be "an old man with claws like an eagle and feet like an alligator, who occasionally in the dark tears people to pieces." It is interesting to learn that they '• have a vivid belief in a future life. When a blackfellow dies whose actions during life have been what they hold to be good, he is said to ascend to Boovala— to the Creator, literally good— where he lives much as he did on earth, less the usual terrestrial discomforts." , . . "To the man who has led a bad life death is thought to be simple annihilation." Mr Brough Smyth, in his work on the Aborigines of Victoria, states that he could never discover any thing among them approaching to religion, and gives it as his opinion that- "they have no religious notions or ideas whatever." But if one tribe in the north-east of this continent is found to entertain the idea of a great creative power, of a future life, and of retribution hereafter, is it likely that such a conviction or belief is exceptional ? It is a point worth clearing up, because it has an important bearing upon the question of the African origin of the Australian race ; inasmuch as we have it on the authority of those best acquainted with the inhabitants of the "Dark Continent" that "a native African would as soon doubt his present as his future state of being." Of the linguistic portions of Mr Curr's valuable work, it is enough to say that they present, for the first time, vocabularies collected from all parts of this continent, as also from Tasmania. Beside which, the appendices contain vocabularies gathered from New Guinea, the Loyalty and other islands, as well as from Africa and the Malay Archipelago, for the purpose of facilitating comparison with the Australian languages and dialects ; while in the Atlas are given 63 words as spoken by each of nearly 20Q tribes, together with their respective habitats ; and we notice, as a proof of the common origin of the race, that as many as 112 tribes make use of the work " murra," or some modification of it, when they want to signify the hand ; while it may be mentioned as something diverting to English ears that in 23 instances " mamma," or a cognate word, is used to express " father." On the other hand, " paapa," or variations of it, are employed by nine tribes in the sense of " mother." In conclusion, we may compliment the Victorian Government upon its liberality in bearing the cost of printing and publishing a work of this magnitude, a work which reflects the highest credit upon Mr Curr, whose only reward will be the honour which attaches to its production. — Queenslander. ROYALTY AT WORK. The Archduke Rudolf of Austria is at present engaged on bringing out a large illustrated work on the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, to which his wife, the Crown Princess Stephanie, has contributed some few articles. The editorial committee decided that she should be paid on the same scale as the other contributors, the only question was how this was to be done. The committee solved the difficulty by presenting her Imperial Highness with a savings-bank book containing the amount in the name of her little daughter, the Archduchess Elisabeth.

' The princess gratefully accepted her first earned money on behalf of her child.— Freie Presse. Queen Maiia Pia of Portugal spent several weeks last summer at a seaside resort near Lisbon, where she took frequent walks along the shore. Her way usually led her past a potter's cabin; where she often stopped to watch the man at his work. At last she decided to become his pupil, and in a comparatively short time she learnt the art of pottery. To-day, her majesty is the first ant^ wealthiest potter in Lisbon. Now, as her husband, King Dom Louis of Portugal, is a famous sculptor, aud their eldest son, Crown Prince Dora Carlos, is an accomplished blacksmith, the Portuguese royal family need have no anxiety about the future if " anything should happen."— El Dia. The German ambassador in London, Count HatzEeldt, is the owner of an oil painting which the Commander of the Faithful, Sultan Abdal Hamid, painted for him with his own hand and presented to the Count on his departure from Constantinople, as a token of high esteem and gratitude for his diplomatic services. The painting represents a group of Circassians encamping with their horses near a well, in the light of a bi vouack fire, and bears a copper plate with the inscription : " Peint par SaMagestele Sultan Abdul Hamid et presente a M. le Comte de Hatzfeldt, Ambassadeur d'AUemagne a Constantinople, 1881."— Le Phare dv Bosphore.