Abd-el-Kader, once a sovereign Emir, and still one of the
most influential Mussulmans alive, with a grand pedigree and the re- putation of having saved the Christians of Damascus, has come to England. and gone away again. Nobody paid him any attention, and though he acknowledges through his secretary the kindness of the people who stared at him at the Crystal Palace, he is said to feel seriously hurt. We really manage this matter of entertaining very badly. Her Majesty will do nothing of course, the Prince cannot be everywhere at once, Ministers have too much to do, the Household await the orders they never get, and there is really no one to entertain in the name of the nation. As the world is governed by individuals, and the individuals by their amour propre, it is bad policy to affront them by a neglect which to Continentals seems intentional. Suppose Lord Sydney were told to earn his pay, or must we trust the Lord Mayor?
